Jukebox Letter 2019

[rhovanel]

Dear Jukebox Creator,

Thank you so much for creating something for me! This is my first time participating in Jukebox and I’m really excited about it. 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.

Change of Time - Josh Ritter;    The Curse - Josh Ritter;    Frozen Pines - Lord Huron;    Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - Arcade Fire;    Saturn - Sleeping at Last;    Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists;    Terrible Love - The National;    You Had Your Soul With You - The National;    Younger - The Mountain Goats. 

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 a lot of my choices lend themselves to those genres - but don’t feel obliged to do this! I seem to have chosen a lot of songs with nautical imagery, so if you want to make the ships in my songs space ships and the sea a sea of stars, go for it. 

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. I've also only requested fic, but if you happen to be here with a treat in mind, art/podfic is totally welcome (if you're generous enough to be making treats, you can do whatever you want).

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:

• stories 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
• stories about storytelling and the power of narratives 
• found families
• bittersweet endings
• stories about the power of hope and persevering through difficult times 
• character studies
• complex protagonists and antagonists - i.e. both with morally grey, but understandable, motivations
• 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

DNWs/Dislikes:

• 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 character de-aging (e.g. high school AUs)
• 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 it 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).
 

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?

One last note: this song is probably the one exception in my list in which I would prefer to stick to the specified pronouns.
 

Frozen Pines - Lord Huron (Song)

Cause I know I don't wanna stay here forever it's gotta be moving on / Oh, I don't wanna be the only one living if all of my friends are gone

Strange Trails is such a rich album and I could have easily nominated the whole thing, but this is the song that always grabs me - it’s so vivid and atmospheric. I love the imagery of a single person struggling to survive in a frozen wasteland, and to find someone they’ve lost. Who is this person? What happened, and why are they alone? And who are they searching/waiting for?

I’m particularly interested in what happened to leave this person in their current circumstances. It feels very post-apocalyptic, but it could also be some kind of fantastical cataclysm about the “strange light in the sky” (a fantasy setting for this song would be super cool). I’m also very interested in the person that they’re searching for - the narrator tells us that they “disappeared”, but did they do so deliberately? There’s something potentially really complex in their relationship, more so than just a person searching for a missing friend/lover - the song talks a lot about seeing clearly and seeing through lies. I’d love to see your take on this.


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?

Arcade Fire is my very favourite band and I agonised over which song to nominate/request, but this is the one I went for in the end. 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? 

As with my other requests, a post-apocalyptic/fantasy/science fiction setting would be amazing here, but it is not required. 


Saturn - Sleeping At Last (Song) 

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

Thank you to whoever nominated this - I hadn’t thought to do so myself, but oh my god, do I want a story about this song. It 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.
 

Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists (Song)

These currents pull us 'cross the border / Steady your boats, arms to shoulder / ‘till tides will pull our hull aground / Making this cold harbour now home

Another song about ships and the end of the world - I suppose I know what I like. The Decemberists are masters of storytelling, and The Crane Wife is full of violence and despair and tragedy, but it ends with such a beautiful moment of bittersweet hope. I love this song for its feelings of courage in the face in adversity, and the strong belief in the potential for a better future. 

I’d love to see an explanation of the world in this song. Who are these people? Where are they going, and what have they fled? I would love to see what happens when these people finally arrive to make their new home - is it as triumphant as the song hopes. I’ve always been interested in the fact that this song is largely in the future tense, which makes it feel like a story and a dream, something repeated to give people hope and the courage to persevere - it would be cool to see something about this.

This song has such great imagery - homes on the water, bunkers and dirigibles and cinnamon - take your pick! And as per my other requests, this song does lend itself to a post-apocalyptic/fantasy/science fiction setting, which I am always 100% here for.

 

Terrible Love - The National (Song) 

It takes an ocean not to break 

Oh, The National, band of my heart. I could have easily have just requested their entire catalogue, but I’ve tried to display some self-control. I love their dark, melancholy music, and their obtuse imagery. 

Every song by The National is my favourite song, but I will always come back to Terrible Love. I love this song for the way it combines hope and fear, for the incredible sense of weight, and for the lyrics that make absolutely no sense. For a song that’s mostly a few lines repeated over and over, there is so much possibiity in here, and I’d love to see anything that explores this particular terrible love. What is the relationship that the narrator is singing about? Who are these people? Why is the narrator so afraid, and what are they afraid of?

"It takes an ocean not to break" is possibly my favourite line in any song ever, so if you wanted to flesh this line out, I would love you forever. And if you want to go literal, by all means, bring in the spiders. 


You Had Your Soul With You - The National (Song)

You felt like heaven stood up in you / You said love fills you out / It moves you from the skeleton and pulls you around

I wasn’t sure about this when I first listened to it, but I am pleased to announce that I was so, so wrong - this is as good as The National have ever been. I’m mainly requesting this because I haven’t decided what it means to me - help me make sense of this song! Like so many songs by The National, this song is a collection of fascinating, but obtuse, images, and I’d love to see some of this fleshed out.

Who are the people in the song, and why is their relationship crumbling? What is the one thing that the narrator has left, and why can’t they see it? I'm interested in the tension between the narrator and their partner - their partner seems to be so full of love and feeling, and the narrator so empty. I’m also really taken with the title of this song - what does it mean to “have your soul with you”? I would love to see your take on this, whether metaphorical or literal (in a fantastical way, perhaps). 
 

Younger - The Mountain Goats (Song) 

It never hurts to give thanks to the local gods / You never know who might be hungry

Author, give me your best DnD campaign. I love fantasy narratives and I love the glimpses of the mission/quest/thing in this song - the “gleaming city gates”, the battle preparations, the offerings to the “local gods”, a ladder made of broken bones. I would really love to see the fantasy world fleshed out with some world-building, but I would equally love to learn more about exactly what’s happening in this song. What is this mission? What are the stakes?

And I’d love to know more about the narrator, who strikes me as an ageing adventurer/warrior/rogue/mage. Why are they thinking about their younger self? Are they remembering past glories, past mistakes? Have they come out of retirement for this battle?

I have a slight preference for something set within the fantasy world, but if you have an idea for a meta story about an actual DnD campaign, go for it.