Dear Jukebox DJ 2024
Apr. 19th, 2024 05:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minutia_rDear Jukebox DJ,
Hi there! May I compliment you on either your excellent taste in music or your willingness to try something new and create something for it, or both? In any case, I’m really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
I don’t expect you to treat every line of the song/frame of the video as canon the way you might for a book or TV show. If you want to do a close reading of the text, that’s cool! If some phrase or image or mood from the song or video suggests a picture or a story to you, then run with that and don’t worry too much about contradicting or fitting the rest of the canon in around it--and especially don’t worry about the prompts in this letter, which are really just there to give you ideas in case you’re stuck.
However, I do have a few Do Not Wants:
DNW (general):
-Long fic. Anything more than about 5000 words or so and I start getting anxious about reading and commenting in a timely fashion while still giving the story the attention it deserves, so I’d just rather you didn’t.
-Purely introspective stories with no action or character interaction
-Choose-Your-Own-Adventure/interactive/game-style fic
-Body image issues. I don’t mind brief mentions, but please don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on a character hating their body.
-It-was-only-a-dream type endings
-Torture for information (torture for fun/religious ritual/to enforce compliance is fine)/violent interrogation methods
-Any mention of Alcoholics Anonymous
DNW (smut):
-Sounding
-Infantilization
-That thing where one or more of the people involved doesn’t know what sex is or realize they’re having it
-Religion kink--like, using religious paraphernalia as sex toys, religious garb acting as fetish wear, or kinking on breaking religious vows of chastity. Sex with gods, devils, demons, or while being a god is okay and even great though.
General likes (fic): I really like all kinds of fic, from silly fluff, action and adventures and worldbuilding to smut and hurt/comfort. Feel free to take it darker, too: violence, character death, betrayal, consent issues sexual and otherwise, bad things happening to characters I like AND characters I like doing bad things. I’m open to different POVs and tenses, and unusual fic formats like poetry and epistolary/documentary fic. In terms of romance and/or sex, I like any number of participants (as long as there are few enough that you can keep track of all the anatomy) and any gender combination. In general, I'm open to alternate gender interpretations of characters in the songs/videos.
A brief and really not exhaustive list of story elements I especially like: Comfort after a nightmare, self-sacrifice, loyalty and trust issues, elections, platonic bed-sharing, hugs, language geekery, communication issues, breakups (either the kind where the original relationship is eventually patched up, or where the people involved manage to forge a different but still mutually satisfactory type of relationship afterward, or where nothing is okay again and everything hurts), ethical dilemmas, food porn and food preparation, parenting/childcare, exploration of canon-appropriate religious themes.
General likes (art): Bright palettes with jewel tones, especially turquoise and rose, but also monochrome with lots of shading. Curves, soft bellies and big noses; also, hair. The kind of character portrait where a lot of thought has gone into details of clothing, hairstyle, etc even if nothing in particular is happening. Loose sketchy comick-y things that illustrate a character moment or interaction. Hair-touching, face-touching, hand kissing, forehead kissing, hugs from behind. I also like things that incorporate text and images in various ways, like calligraphy, comics, maps and diagrams, and I’m really fond of watercolors and Art Nouveau-inspired stylings.
If you want to make me smut, here are a few of my (many) favorite kinks: D/s dynamics, informal kink negotiation that feels true to the dynamic of those particular characters (although under-negotiated kink or the assumption that the negotiation has taken place offscreen are also a-ok), magic/superpowers/highly advanced technology or whatever unique features of the setting or characters being used for sexual purposes, improvised restraints and sex toys, blades, slicing/tearing off clothes, fingers in mouths, loyalty kink, trust kink, praise kink--especially the kind where the praised party is somewhat reluctant or embarrassed to accept the praise (creepy praise kink like e.g. in scenario where a rapist praises their victim for being good while threatening them is also great), one or more participants not getting off during the scene but enjoying it anyway, semi-public or outdoor sex, awkward sex, situations where different participants have different understandings of what’s going on (as in, A thinks the sex is consensual but B is actually mind-controlled, or A is putting on a show for C, who unbeknownst to B is watching the whole thing, or A thinks it’s a casual hookup but B is in love and afraid to mention it because they don’t want to ruin what they’ve got, or whatever.) In general, I like a lot of weird stuff (and vanilla stuff too!) so if there’s something you want to write or draw, unless I’ve specifically DNW’d it, it’s probably okay.
Crossovers with outside fandoms aren't encouraged in this exchange, but if you wanted to cross over two or more of the songs I'm requesting, I wouldn't mind at all.
And now, on to the individual prompts:
Build Me Up From Bones - Sarah Jarosz (Song) youtube | lyrics
This is a love song between a twisted mockery of life and the necromancer who reanimated them, right? I’d love something that captures both the aching tenderness of it and the inherent horror behind the premise. Were the necromancer and the undead creature lovers in a previous life, and the necromancer refused to give them up after their death? Or is it more of a Pygmalion and Galatea situation, where the undead is a new person created to the necromancer’s specifications? Give me all the intense devotion and us-against-the-world (with torches and pitchforks) please!
Mean Well - Dear Reader (Music Video) youtube | lyrics
The lyrics suggest someone suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, or an experiment of Mad Science abandoned by their creator. I really dig the old-timey monster-movie aesthetic of the video, and the juxtaposition of the creepy and the mundane; the jerky and repetitive images might hint at the narrator being somehow unglued in time, stuck in a time loop or plagued by visions of the future/past? I'm interested in the relationship between the narrator and the individual they're addressing, and also about the people/other creatures attached to the "eyes everywhere" and if, in fact, they mean well.
I Go Like the Raven - Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer (Song)
I love the sense of place in this. I'd love to see how the narrator's magic works, whether it's through music, transforming herself, and/or summoning natural and supernatural allies to her assistance, and how she uses it to escape her abusive partner. The last verse also suggests that she might be passing one her wisdom to an apprentice or a younger generation, and I'd love to see that relationship too.
Pont Mirabeau - Ana Silvera (Song)
I love the sense of longing and unfulfilled possibilities in this song, and the kaleidoscopic imagery. Is the bridge a literal bridge, or a metaphor, or a nexus of supernatural power, or all three? Do the lovers ever unite, or are they divided forever? Or are they cursed to always join and part again?
NiNi - MaZu 媽祖 (Music Video)
Optional prompt: The juxtaposition of the primordial power of the sea and the goddess with the modern city is really intriguing. If you feel confident creating something set in real-world Taiwan (or the urban fantasy equivalent), that would be awesome; otherwise, I would be equally happy with something set in a secondary world. I'd like something that captures the destructive potential but also the guardian/protector nature of the goddess, and the relationship between her and her people.
If for some reason you want to stalk me, I am dead easy to stalk; I'm minutia_r (or occasionally minutia-r) here, AO3, tumblr, and probably one or two other places I don't recall off-hand.
Thank you! You are awesome, I am really looking forward to seeing what you make for me, and I hope you get great stories and/or art out of this exchange, too!
Hi there! May I compliment you on either your excellent taste in music or your willingness to try something new and create something for it, or both? In any case, I’m really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
I don’t expect you to treat every line of the song/frame of the video as canon the way you might for a book or TV show. If you want to do a close reading of the text, that’s cool! If some phrase or image or mood from the song or video suggests a picture or a story to you, then run with that and don’t worry too much about contradicting or fitting the rest of the canon in around it--and especially don’t worry about the prompts in this letter, which are really just there to give you ideas in case you’re stuck.
However, I do have a few Do Not Wants:
DNW (general):
-Long fic. Anything more than about 5000 words or so and I start getting anxious about reading and commenting in a timely fashion while still giving the story the attention it deserves, so I’d just rather you didn’t.
-Purely introspective stories with no action or character interaction
-Choose-Your-Own-Adventure/interactive/game-style fic
-Body image issues. I don’t mind brief mentions, but please don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on a character hating their body.
-It-was-only-a-dream type endings
-Torture for information (torture for fun/religious ritual/to enforce compliance is fine)/violent interrogation methods
-Any mention of Alcoholics Anonymous
DNW (smut):
-Sounding
-Infantilization
-That thing where one or more of the people involved doesn’t know what sex is or realize they’re having it
-Religion kink--like, using religious paraphernalia as sex toys, religious garb acting as fetish wear, or kinking on breaking religious vows of chastity. Sex with gods, devils, demons, or while being a god is okay and even great though.
General likes (fic): I really like all kinds of fic, from silly fluff, action and adventures and worldbuilding to smut and hurt/comfort. Feel free to take it darker, too: violence, character death, betrayal, consent issues sexual and otherwise, bad things happening to characters I like AND characters I like doing bad things. I’m open to different POVs and tenses, and unusual fic formats like poetry and epistolary/documentary fic. In terms of romance and/or sex, I like any number of participants (as long as there are few enough that you can keep track of all the anatomy) and any gender combination. In general, I'm open to alternate gender interpretations of characters in the songs/videos.
A brief and really not exhaustive list of story elements I especially like: Comfort after a nightmare, self-sacrifice, loyalty and trust issues, elections, platonic bed-sharing, hugs, language geekery, communication issues, breakups (either the kind where the original relationship is eventually patched up, or where the people involved manage to forge a different but still mutually satisfactory type of relationship afterward, or where nothing is okay again and everything hurts), ethical dilemmas, food porn and food preparation, parenting/childcare, exploration of canon-appropriate religious themes.
General likes (art): Bright palettes with jewel tones, especially turquoise and rose, but also monochrome with lots of shading. Curves, soft bellies and big noses; also, hair. The kind of character portrait where a lot of thought has gone into details of clothing, hairstyle, etc even if nothing in particular is happening. Loose sketchy comick-y things that illustrate a character moment or interaction. Hair-touching, face-touching, hand kissing, forehead kissing, hugs from behind. I also like things that incorporate text and images in various ways, like calligraphy, comics, maps and diagrams, and I’m really fond of watercolors and Art Nouveau-inspired stylings.
If you want to make me smut, here are a few of my (many) favorite kinks: D/s dynamics, informal kink negotiation that feels true to the dynamic of those particular characters (although under-negotiated kink or the assumption that the negotiation has taken place offscreen are also a-ok), magic/superpowers/highly advanced technology or whatever unique features of the setting or characters being used for sexual purposes, improvised restraints and sex toys, blades, slicing/tearing off clothes, fingers in mouths, loyalty kink, trust kink, praise kink--especially the kind where the praised party is somewhat reluctant or embarrassed to accept the praise (creepy praise kink like e.g. in scenario where a rapist praises their victim for being good while threatening them is also great), one or more participants not getting off during the scene but enjoying it anyway, semi-public or outdoor sex, awkward sex, situations where different participants have different understandings of what’s going on (as in, A thinks the sex is consensual but B is actually mind-controlled, or A is putting on a show for C, who unbeknownst to B is watching the whole thing, or A thinks it’s a casual hookup but B is in love and afraid to mention it because they don’t want to ruin what they’ve got, or whatever.) In general, I like a lot of weird stuff (and vanilla stuff too!) so if there’s something you want to write or draw, unless I’ve specifically DNW’d it, it’s probably okay.
Crossovers with outside fandoms aren't encouraged in this exchange, but if you wanted to cross over two or more of the songs I'm requesting, I wouldn't mind at all.
And now, on to the individual prompts:
Build Me Up From Bones - Sarah Jarosz (Song) youtube | lyrics
This is a love song between a twisted mockery of life and the necromancer who reanimated them, right? I’d love something that captures both the aching tenderness of it and the inherent horror behind the premise. Were the necromancer and the undead creature lovers in a previous life, and the necromancer refused to give them up after their death? Or is it more of a Pygmalion and Galatea situation, where the undead is a new person created to the necromancer’s specifications? Give me all the intense devotion and us-against-the-world (with torches and pitchforks) please!
Mean Well - Dear Reader (Music Video) youtube | lyrics
The lyrics suggest someone suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, or an experiment of Mad Science abandoned by their creator. I really dig the old-timey monster-movie aesthetic of the video, and the juxtaposition of the creepy and the mundane; the jerky and repetitive images might hint at the narrator being somehow unglued in time, stuck in a time loop or plagued by visions of the future/past? I'm interested in the relationship between the narrator and the individual they're addressing, and also about the people/other creatures attached to the "eyes everywhere" and if, in fact, they mean well.
I Go Like the Raven - Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer (Song)
I love the sense of place in this. I'd love to see how the narrator's magic works, whether it's through music, transforming herself, and/or summoning natural and supernatural allies to her assistance, and how she uses it to escape her abusive partner. The last verse also suggests that she might be passing one her wisdom to an apprentice or a younger generation, and I'd love to see that relationship too.
Pont Mirabeau - Ana Silvera (Song)
I love the sense of longing and unfulfilled possibilities in this song, and the kaleidoscopic imagery. Is the bridge a literal bridge, or a metaphor, or a nexus of supernatural power, or all three? Do the lovers ever unite, or are they divided forever? Or are they cursed to always join and part again?
NiNi - MaZu 媽祖 (Music Video)
Optional prompt: The juxtaposition of the primordial power of the sea and the goddess with the modern city is really intriguing. If you feel confident creating something set in real-world Taiwan (or the urban fantasy equivalent), that would be awesome; otherwise, I would be equally happy with something set in a secondary world. I'd like something that captures the destructive potential but also the guardian/protector nature of the goddess, and the relationship between her and her people.
If for some reason you want to stalk me, I am dead easy to stalk; I'm minutia_r (or occasionally minutia-r) here, AO3, tumblr, and probably one or two other places I don't recall off-hand.
Thank you! You are awesome, I am really looking forward to seeing what you make for me, and I hope you get great stories and/or art out of this exchange, too!
