Jukebox Letter 2020

[rhovanel]

Dear Jukebox Creator,

Thank you so much for creating something for me! I had such a great time participating in Jukebox last year and I'm really excited to be doing again - I think we could all use a bit of art and music right now. I’m always thrilled to receive anything that someone has made for me, so don’t worry, I’ll be happy with whatever you come up with. All of my prompts are just possible prompts, and if you have your own idea or plot bunny, you are welcome to chase it.

General likes:

For the most part, I’ve chosen songs with imagery and emotions that really speak to me, and I’m interested in fan works that flesh out the world and the feeling of a song. I particularly love science fiction and fantasy, and na and a lot of my choices lend themselves to those genres - but don’t feel obliged to do this.

I've only requested songs here - if these tracks have music videos, I probably haven't seen them or I'm not interested in them.

If you’re writing point-of-view characters, I would prefer adults over teenagers/children. And if you’re writing a relationship, I love F/F and M/M stories (feel free to change pronouns if you want to), but I'm also perfectly happy with M/F if it suits the story (and, of course, non-binary characters). 

Finally, most of these songs come from albums/bands I adore, and if you share my love for them, please feel free to include references to other tracks on their respective albums. 

Other likes:

• fanworks that play with form and narrative: epistolary, poetry, time loops, etc. And for Jukebox, feel free to use whatever tense you feel fits the story/song - I have no problem with first or second person stories
• angst - break my heart, author
• fanworks about storytelling and the power of narratives
• stories about women!
• found families
• bittersweet endings
• fanworks about the power of hope and persevering through difficult times 
• character studies
• mutual pining-happy ending narratives
• heists and adventures
• equal power dynamics between people
• characters who are competent and unapologetic about who they are
• relationships based in communication - talking, challenging and testing one another, wordy declarations/gestures of love
• banter and humour
• moments of quiet intimacy
• stars, trees, and the sea
• relationship tropes I am weak for (in no particular order): banter and bickering; gift giving; one person suddenly realising they’re in love with the other person; hurt/comfort; there’s only one bed; ‘holy shit they’re hot in that outfit’; fake dating; first time stories; talking/flirting/falling in love through dancing

Art likes: Honestly, if you’re drawing me something I will probably backflip out the window, because I have no artistic talent and am constantly in awe of what other people produce. I am fond of landscapes, mundane, slice-of-life moments, and non-sexual intimacy between characters. I love bold colours and interesting line work, and I like tarot style art, art nouveau, and comics (!!!). But really, anything is awesome, I am terrible at art prompts.


DNWs/Dislikes:

• no pandemics, no illnesses, no hospitals etc - not this year
• no PWP
• no A/B/O dynamics or mpreg
• no pairings with a major power imbalance (e.g. student/teacher, etc)
• no non-con or dub-con
• no incest or underage
• no stories with internalised prejudice as the main theme (homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, etc)
• no kidfic
• no abuse (physical or emotional)

Onto the specific requests!


Change of Time - Josh Ritter (Song)

I had a dream last night / And rusting far below me / Battered hulls and broken hardships / Leviathan and lonely

I adore this song. I love the nautical imagery, the sense of struggle and danger, and the feeling of grace and hope at the end. I’d love to know more about the narrator: who are they? Why do they dream of the sea? What has happened in their past, and what is changing now? And, of course, who is the person at the end of the song - their anchor, their “shorelines in the moonlight” - and what is their relationship? 

The dream is painted in such elliptical glimpses, and it’d be cool to see it fleshed out in more detail, in all its weird dreamlike logic. I’m also very taken with the title of the song - what, exactly, is this change of time? If you’re going for a fantasy/science fiction setting, I would lose my mind over a story about time travel here; alternatively, anything about the rhythms of life on the sea, or simply the ups and downs of living with sadness (this song is, like so many of my favourite songs, a metaphor for depression).


Conversation Piece - Julien Baker

If I had it my way I would be a ghost / And abandon the white sheet / God, it’s so hard to be seen

This is a beautiful love song about regret and sadness. I'd love to see something that explores the literal meaning of the song - I adore ghost stories and spooky romances. I can imagine this as either a ghost who falls in love with a human, or a ghost who returns to haunt a lost love. But this song is also about two people slowly fading away from one another, and that would also be cool to explore if you wanted to go less literal. I'm happy with any kind of tone, from angst to happy to bittersweet. 
 

The Curse - Josh Ritter (Song) 

Long ago on the ship, she asked "Why pyramids?” / He said, "Think of them as an immense invitation."

Josh Ritter is an incredible storyteller and this song is one of his finest - it’s so romantic, so tragic, and so rich in imagery and narrative. I’d love to see more of this story and these two characters - the archaeologist and the mummy who fall in love. There are so many moments in the song to flesh out (feel free to focus on one of them or to combine them). I’d particularly love to see something in the earlier stages of the song: what is the first thing he says to her? What do they talk about on the ship? What happens during their late-night museum escapades? Show me two people falling in love.

I’m also really interested in the curse itself. What exactly is it - is it an actual curse or is it just the inevitability of time and death, or maybe even the beautiful tragedy of love? And in that vein, what happens to the mummy after the events of the song? Might he be able to bring the archaeologist back to life, just like she did to him?


Foreigner's God - Hozier

Since some liar brought the thunder / When the land was godless and free

This song is quintessential Hozier: religion and desire and vivid imagery all mixed up together. I love the intensity of this song, the sense of a deep clash between two cultures, the lingering sadness and loss, and the impossibility of truly knowing another person.

I have all the usual questions here: who are these people? What happened here? I get real fantastical, mythic vibes from this song, so feel free to go for something big about gods and goddesses. But equally, and less literally, there's something really beautiful in here about culture clashes and learning to speak the language of someone you love (and the language of love and desire, perhaps), so a smaller story would be welcome too.


The Loneliness and the Scream - Frightened Rabbit

Can you see the blood on my sleeve? / I have fallen in the forest / Did you hear me?

I love this song's equal balance of desperation and defiance, of fear and hope, and of loneliness and connection, of depression and optimism. Scott Hutchison sung such powerful songs about all the complex emotions of life, and about clinging onto hope during tough times, which feels like exactly what we all need right now. I'd love something that explores that idea of hope dawning in the dark, and anything that fleshes out the imagery of the song (forests and isolation and found families). 

There's plenty of options here: an adventurer, a traveller, someone returning to a home they thought they'd left behind, or if you want to go metaphorical, someone finding their way out of depression. 

Thanks for the music, Scott. 

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - Arcade Fire

And the power's out in the heart of man / Take it from your heart, put it in your hand / What’s the plan?

I love the emotion in this song - it’s so angry and frustrated, but there’s so much passion and power in that rage. I’d love an exploration of the setting in this story, and the character of the narrator. Why are they raging against their life? What happens on this ‘darkest night’? 

There is so much wonderful imagery in this song - ice has covered up my parents hands, growing up in some strange storm, kids are swinging from the power lines - and it’d be cool to see some of this fleshed out. I’d love to see a description of what happens when the narrator goes out into the night, but equally, what happens afterwards. The song is very much a call to arms, and the question is: does anyone take up the call? 


Saturn - Sleeping At Last (Song) 

You taught me the courage of stars before you left / How light carries on endlessly even after death

This song is so beautiful, so sad, and even though it seems so simple, it has a real profundity that breaks my heart and builds it up again every time. I’d love to see something that explores the love story at the heart of this song - who the narrator is singing to, and what happens to them after their love has left.

I’m particularly taken by the final verse of this song, where the pronouns shift and the narrator takes on the story of the wonder of existence themselves. I’d love to see something that fleshes this out - are they passing on this message to someone else? Are they are the end of their own life, or preparing for their own journey into the unknown? Or is this a reunion (potentially after death)? 

This is entirely optional, but I get real science fiction vibes from this song - it makes me think of someone mourning an astronaut, or a member of an alien species who is travelling back across the universe. It gets me right in my Mass Effect feelings, if that reference works for you (but I’m obviously not looking for a Mass Effect fic). If you created a sci-fi story for me for ‘Saturn’, I would cry a thousand happy tears.


We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service

And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs / Pretending the echoes belong to someone / Someone I used to know

It's not hard to guess why this song is in my mind at the moment. Images of empty streets, being locked in a house, unable to go outdoors...it's all a bit too close to home. But give me your best post-apocalyptic narrative (although please see the note in my DNWs): what happened here? Who is the narrator, and how are they feeling?

I really love the title of this song: I'm always really taken with ideas and legacy and the things we leave behind, and the 'silhouettes' of the title could be as much about the metaphorical marks we leave on the world as the more literal meaning. If you're up for playing with form, I can imagine this song as a diary, or letters, or some other form of art that's left behind for future generations. I'm also really interested in the dissonance between the dark lyrics and the upbeat melody of this song, and that might be interesting to explore too.

 

Where Is Her Head - The National 

I think I'm running away / I feel the dark storm you bring, I can't take another day

This is such a wonderfully evocative, intense song: full of tension and anxiety and obsession, brimming with escalating passion and strange beauty. I love the tight repetition of both the melody and the lyrics in this song, and the way it constantly builds and builds without any release.

I'd be interested in anything that explores the atmosphere and characters of the song. Who is the titular woman in the song, and why does she inspire such anxious obsession? Who is the narrator? Why is there so much stormy emotion here? I can imagine this in all sorts of different ways - a romantic relationship, familial bonds, a strong, intense friendship, or even something more magical. And I feel like there's a fantastic opportunity here for something as strange and evocative as the song itself, so if playing with form is your thing, go for it.