Dear Juke-Box Fest writer....
Aug. 5th, 2013 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
measured_wordsDear Juke-Box Fest Writer!
Thank you very much for writing something for me. I want to say first of all that if you have a strong idea about what you want to go, please feel free to run with it! I have tried to give some general ideas of things that I think might be cool for the stories, but for the most part I'm pretty open to interpretations. I'm okay with any rating, I don't have any real squicks or triggers. I like things that are scary and creepy, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though okay I'm not sure if any of the songs I picked really lean that way). I don't need happy endings, but I do enjoy them. If you have different ideas though, lemme have 'em! I like character introspection, I like world building, I like plot. I like porn, but I prefer plot to go with it. Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please!
I am really excited for this fest, possibly more than is rational. I have a longstanding love of folk music and other forms of ballads and song-stories, and I like thinking about what we don't know as much as what we do. The canons we have to work with here are mostly pretty loose, and I'm excited to see where people go with them. I recognize that this is a lot closer to original fic than most fandom-fests, and I appreciate that it can be harder to make things up whole cloth, so really, thank you! Write what you want, what inspires you, and hopefully what is below has some good ideas if you;re feeling lost!
Song requests:
Invisible Light (Scissor Sisters)
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. what is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical trancendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
Sister Awake (The Tea Party)
when this beautiful cult of desire
has left you for dead
isolation will cradle the lies
of things left unsaid
what will it take
sister awake
This song is off an album that is probably my favourite album ever. Again, I find it very suggestive - what does the sister need to be awakened from? Or to? Is she a biological sister, a spiritual one, a cultural sister? Whose sister is she? Is this just about dating the wrong boy or running with the wrong crowd? Getting involved in a cult? A gang? Something more complicated? Vampires? Gangs of vampire cultists? I don't know, tell me, please!
Mama Loi, Papa Loi (Exuma)
I'll spit my spit,
In your spit.
Then let seven snakes,
Come up from the pit.
I'll stand under this mango tree.
Till you come, come to me.
This is a song by a Bahamian group from the 70's. This is a song about Obeah, a Caribbean spiritual practice informed by African traditions. The artist has a bunch of other songs about it, claiming to be an Obeah man - a practitioner who creates potions and amulets to summon and control the spirits. And Of course... make zombies. Not the flesh eating brainless kind, but the dead who are enslaved to perform service to the living. I love this song, I'm fascinated by it, and I would kill to see a story spun from it.
Witch of the Westmorland (Stan Rogers)
And it's down to the water's brim he's born the rowan shield
And the goldenrod he has cast in to see what the lake might yield
And wet she rose from the lake, and fast and fleet went she
One half the form of a maiden fair with a jet black mare's body
This song is not actually a traditional ballad, but it sure *feels* like one. I want to know more about the witch herself - who is she, why does she help this man (or others), how does her magic work, what is she, etc... Is she cursed? Blessed? Some kind of pagan spirit bound to her lake? Does she have the power to refuse at all, or are her decisions all her own? What does she do when she isn't providing magical protective-sex to wounded boys?
Or, if you want... tell me what happens to the knight after this. What does it really mean for him to have her protection? Does he regret it? revel in it? Does he just leave, or stay with her? Does he feel bound to her at all? Is he scared of her? In love with her? Feel free to use the one to tell me about the other, in either case, or some other Pov.
Rippin Kitten (Golden Boy with Miss Kitten)
Mommy, can I go out and kill tonight?
I feel, I feel like taking a life
Please, I wanna seal the kitchen knife
And feel, feel like taking a life
Who or what is this girl, why is she possessed of such violence, and why does she think her might get parental permissions for murder? She sounds so sad and lonely in this too. or - tell me about what happens if she gets her permission - does she go through with it? Is there someone specific she wants to kill? Does it satisfy her? And if she isn't granted permission, what does she do then? Does it hurt her, physically, mentally, emotionally, either way? Tell me moooore :3
Girl with One Eye (Florence + The Machine)
I took a knife and cut out her eye
I took it home and watched it wither and die
Well, she's lucky that I didn't slip her a smile
That's why she sleeps with one eye open
But that's the price she'll pay
I don't know which of the girls in this song I want to hear about more - the narrator or the girl with one eye. Or both - tell me what really happened between them, maybe? Tell me about how the girl with one eye is plotting revenge? Is this a physical or a metaphorical eye loss, and what does it mean to her now? Why is our narrator so callous? Are they assassins or spies or government agents or crime lords or aliens? Is this kind of courtship normal for whatever they are? Please, let me know! :D
I did think of something I thought would be neat, but this is entirely optional. But! If you have inspiration to cross over into multiple songs, I think some of them pair up pretty well - Sister Awake I think has a lot of potential to dip its toes into the stories of other songs (Witch of the Westmorland, maybe? Or Invisivble Light? Or even Mama Loi, Papa Loi?) Or Rippin Kitten and Girl with One Eye? Or whatever *you* think might be cool, if anything, dear author. I promise I am easy to please!
Thank you very much for writing something for me. I want to say first of all that if you have a strong idea about what you want to go, please feel free to run with it! I have tried to give some general ideas of things that I think might be cool for the stories, but for the most part I'm pretty open to interpretations. I'm okay with any rating, I don't have any real squicks or triggers. I like things that are scary and creepy, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though okay I'm not sure if any of the songs I picked really lean that way). I don't need happy endings, but I do enjoy them. If you have different ideas though, lemme have 'em! I like character introspection, I like world building, I like plot. I like porn, but I prefer plot to go with it. Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please!
I am really excited for this fest, possibly more than is rational. I have a longstanding love of folk music and other forms of ballads and song-stories, and I like thinking about what we don't know as much as what we do. The canons we have to work with here are mostly pretty loose, and I'm excited to see where people go with them. I recognize that this is a lot closer to original fic than most fandom-fests, and I appreciate that it can be harder to make things up whole cloth, so really, thank you! Write what you want, what inspires you, and hopefully what is below has some good ideas if you;re feeling lost!
Song requests:
Invisible Light (Scissor Sisters)
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. what is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical trancendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
Sister Awake (The Tea Party)
when this beautiful cult of desire
has left you for dead
isolation will cradle the lies
of things left unsaid
what will it take
sister awake
This song is off an album that is probably my favourite album ever. Again, I find it very suggestive - what does the sister need to be awakened from? Or to? Is she a biological sister, a spiritual one, a cultural sister? Whose sister is she? Is this just about dating the wrong boy or running with the wrong crowd? Getting involved in a cult? A gang? Something more complicated? Vampires? Gangs of vampire cultists? I don't know, tell me, please!
Mama Loi, Papa Loi (Exuma)
I'll spit my spit,
In your spit.
Then let seven snakes,
Come up from the pit.
I'll stand under this mango tree.
Till you come, come to me.
This is a song by a Bahamian group from the 70's. This is a song about Obeah, a Caribbean spiritual practice informed by African traditions. The artist has a bunch of other songs about it, claiming to be an Obeah man - a practitioner who creates potions and amulets to summon and control the spirits. And Of course... make zombies. Not the flesh eating brainless kind, but the dead who are enslaved to perform service to the living. I love this song, I'm fascinated by it, and I would kill to see a story spun from it.
Witch of the Westmorland (Stan Rogers)
And it's down to the water's brim he's born the rowan shield
And the goldenrod he has cast in to see what the lake might yield
And wet she rose from the lake, and fast and fleet went she
One half the form of a maiden fair with a jet black mare's body
This song is not actually a traditional ballad, but it sure *feels* like one. I want to know more about the witch herself - who is she, why does she help this man (or others), how does her magic work, what is she, etc... Is she cursed? Blessed? Some kind of pagan spirit bound to her lake? Does she have the power to refuse at all, or are her decisions all her own? What does she do when she isn't providing magical protective-sex to wounded boys?
Or, if you want... tell me what happens to the knight after this. What does it really mean for him to have her protection? Does he regret it? revel in it? Does he just leave, or stay with her? Does he feel bound to her at all? Is he scared of her? In love with her? Feel free to use the one to tell me about the other, in either case, or some other Pov.
Rippin Kitten (Golden Boy with Miss Kitten)
Mommy, can I go out and kill tonight?
I feel, I feel like taking a life
Please, I wanna seal the kitchen knife
And feel, feel like taking a life
Who or what is this girl, why is she possessed of such violence, and why does she think her might get parental permissions for murder? She sounds so sad and lonely in this too. or - tell me about what happens if she gets her permission - does she go through with it? Is there someone specific she wants to kill? Does it satisfy her? And if she isn't granted permission, what does she do then? Does it hurt her, physically, mentally, emotionally, either way? Tell me moooore :3
Girl with One Eye (Florence + The Machine)
I took a knife and cut out her eye
I took it home and watched it wither and die
Well, she's lucky that I didn't slip her a smile
That's why she sleeps with one eye open
But that's the price she'll pay
I don't know which of the girls in this song I want to hear about more - the narrator or the girl with one eye. Or both - tell me what really happened between them, maybe? Tell me about how the girl with one eye is plotting revenge? Is this a physical or a metaphorical eye loss, and what does it mean to her now? Why is our narrator so callous? Are they assassins or spies or government agents or crime lords or aliens? Is this kind of courtship normal for whatever they are? Please, let me know! :D
I did think of something I thought would be neat, but this is entirely optional. But! If you have inspiration to cross over into multiple songs, I think some of them pair up pretty well - Sister Awake I think has a lot of potential to dip its toes into the stories of other songs (Witch of the Westmorland, maybe? Or Invisivble Light? Or even Mama Loi, Papa Loi?) Or Rippin Kitten and Girl with One Eye? Or whatever *you* think might be cool, if anything, dear author. I promise I am easy to please!
