![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dear jukebox 2014
Apr. 30th, 2014 08:11 pmDear jukebox writer,
Thanks so much for writing one of my songs! I really love all these songs, as well as have questions about them, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you write!
I have some suggestions below, but really, feel free to do whatever idea these songs give you. I picked these songs because they seem to have a lot of stories hidden in them, and if you find a story that's totally different from the ones I see offhand (and have thus provided vague prompts for), then I would be so thrilled to see that additional interpretation of the song.
Chanson de Melisande (Youtube, lyrics) - This is just a spooky song. Why are the daughters blind? Why are they locked up? Why are they expecting a prince, and why doesn't he come? What happens once the light goes out? This could be either dark and tragic or have an ending where they somehow manage to escape. Or both!
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) (Youtube, lyrics) - Okay, I know (vaguely) the history to this song, and that it's supposed to be a tribute to Syd Barrett etc. etc., but like all good songs, I think there's a lot more there that could be explored and fic written about. Who are the two lost souls? (One answer is a split personality, of course, but I feel like there could be a more compelling explanation.) Why are they in a fishbowl? Why the ironic refrain, "Wish you were here"? The heaven-from-hell, blue skies from pain, green fields from a cold steel rail… seems like it was just meant for a spaaaaace AU, or a cyberpunk AU, or a dystopian AU… It really seems like it could make a really great science-fiction story -- or really any kind of story: a coffeeshop of quiet desperation?
Ordinary Town - Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (Youtube, lyrics) - "Go home, go home" the mayor cried when jesus came to city hall, 'cause /This is an ordinary town, and the prophet stands alone/ This is an ordinary town and we crucify our own... I am curious about the story where Jesus comes to town and the Mayor tells him to go away because they are busy crucifying their own, thank you very much, he's just going to have to get crucified somewhere else... but really anything about this song would be very neat, don't feel like you have to be restricted to that!
Wings (Wild ARMs 3) (English Version) - Samantha Newark: Youtube, lyrics I discovered this song during last Jukebox when I kinda fell in love with it. I don't want anything about the video game (which I know nothing about in any case). It seems to me like it's calling out for an epic SF or fantasy story... though any other way you'd like to interpret it would be awesome. (Perhaps the "corridors" refer to hallways in a university history department? WHO KNOWS.)
They Can't Take That Away from Me - George Gershwin and Ira Gerswin (Song): Youtube, lyrics. Okay, this is the one where I actually want something specific: the dark sci-fi AU where memory wipes are on the table. If you signed up hoping to do a more conventional take, well… convince me! :) (I don't remember anything about Crazy for You, so don't worry about that canon at all.)
Der Zwerg - Franz Schubert: Youtube, lyrics. Another one I fell in love with during last year's Jukebox! What's going on? I suppose a love triangle would be the most "straightforward" explanation, but it just seems like there might be a more interesting story there, especially given the complicated and sometimes contradictory-seeming actions of the characters. (Especially given that the queen can... hear the stars prophesy to her? What?)
General: Things I love (I don't expect these by any means, this is just a random sampling of Things I Like): I love worldbuilding fic and plotty fic because I have a hard time writing it myself, but by the same token I know it is hard to write and I certainly don't expect it. I love character-driven fic that thinks hard about the ramifications of characters' choices. I love for there to be some sort of character arc or characters (and/or the reader) coming to a greater understanding of something or someone during a fic. I love and adore friendship/partnerships, especially platonic ones, of all gender-variety (although in these songs I don't know that it's a thing for any of them). I love it when all the characters are understandable rather than straight-out villainous or malicious, or where expectations of malice are subverted. I am more a fan of gen than anything else, but I'm open to both het and slash.
Things I don't like: gratuitous violence; I'm not a huge fan of anything above PG-13 and will probably skim over anything really explicit unless something about the explicitness itself plays into character or plot development, in which case all bets are off :) Darkfic is fine for any of these, as is any kind of AU (fantasy, SF, corporate, academia, cyberpunk ...?)
Seriously, if you wanted to write a story that was just inspired by the imagery in these songs, I would be so up with that. I want you to take one (or more!) of these songs and make something fascinating out of them, however you feel is the best way to do that, so don't let anything I've written here stop you from doing what YOU want to do with any of these songs! And thank you!
Thanks so much for writing one of my songs! I really love all these songs, as well as have questions about them, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you write!
I have some suggestions below, but really, feel free to do whatever idea these songs give you. I picked these songs because they seem to have a lot of stories hidden in them, and if you find a story that's totally different from the ones I see offhand (and have thus provided vague prompts for), then I would be so thrilled to see that additional interpretation of the song.
Chanson de Melisande (Youtube, lyrics) - This is just a spooky song. Why are the daughters blind? Why are they locked up? Why are they expecting a prince, and why doesn't he come? What happens once the light goes out? This could be either dark and tragic or have an ending where they somehow manage to escape. Or both!
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) (Youtube, lyrics) - Okay, I know (vaguely) the history to this song, and that it's supposed to be a tribute to Syd Barrett etc. etc., but like all good songs, I think there's a lot more there that could be explored and fic written about. Who are the two lost souls? (One answer is a split personality, of course, but I feel like there could be a more compelling explanation.) Why are they in a fishbowl? Why the ironic refrain, "Wish you were here"? The heaven-from-hell, blue skies from pain, green fields from a cold steel rail… seems like it was just meant for a spaaaaace AU, or a cyberpunk AU, or a dystopian AU… It really seems like it could make a really great science-fiction story -- or really any kind of story: a coffeeshop of quiet desperation?
Ordinary Town - Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer (Youtube, lyrics) - "Go home, go home" the mayor cried when jesus came to city hall, 'cause /This is an ordinary town, and the prophet stands alone/ This is an ordinary town and we crucify our own... I am curious about the story where Jesus comes to town and the Mayor tells him to go away because they are busy crucifying their own, thank you very much, he's just going to have to get crucified somewhere else... but really anything about this song would be very neat, don't feel like you have to be restricted to that!
Wings (Wild ARMs 3) (English Version) - Samantha Newark: Youtube, lyrics I discovered this song during last Jukebox when I kinda fell in love with it. I don't want anything about the video game (which I know nothing about in any case). It seems to me like it's calling out for an epic SF or fantasy story... though any other way you'd like to interpret it would be awesome. (Perhaps the "corridors" refer to hallways in a university history department? WHO KNOWS.)
They Can't Take That Away from Me - George Gershwin and Ira Gerswin (Song): Youtube, lyrics. Okay, this is the one where I actually want something specific: the dark sci-fi AU where memory wipes are on the table. If you signed up hoping to do a more conventional take, well… convince me! :) (I don't remember anything about Crazy for You, so don't worry about that canon at all.)
Der Zwerg - Franz Schubert: Youtube, lyrics. Another one I fell in love with during last year's Jukebox! What's going on? I suppose a love triangle would be the most "straightforward" explanation, but it just seems like there might be a more interesting story there, especially given the complicated and sometimes contradictory-seeming actions of the characters. (Especially given that the queen can... hear the stars prophesy to her? What?)
General: Things I love (I don't expect these by any means, this is just a random sampling of Things I Like): I love worldbuilding fic and plotty fic because I have a hard time writing it myself, but by the same token I know it is hard to write and I certainly don't expect it. I love character-driven fic that thinks hard about the ramifications of characters' choices. I love for there to be some sort of character arc or characters (and/or the reader) coming to a greater understanding of something or someone during a fic. I love and adore friendship/partnerships, especially platonic ones, of all gender-variety (although in these songs I don't know that it's a thing for any of them). I love it when all the characters are understandable rather than straight-out villainous or malicious, or where expectations of malice are subverted. I am more a fan of gen than anything else, but I'm open to both het and slash.
Things I don't like: gratuitous violence; I'm not a huge fan of anything above PG-13 and will probably skim over anything really explicit unless something about the explicitness itself plays into character or plot development, in which case all bets are off :) Darkfic is fine for any of these, as is any kind of AU (fantasy, SF, corporate, academia, cyberpunk ...?)
Seriously, if you wanted to write a story that was just inspired by the imagery in these songs, I would be so up with that. I want you to take one (or more!) of these songs and make something fascinating out of them, however you feel is the best way to do that, so don't let anything I've written here stop you from doing what YOU want to do with any of these songs! And thank you!
