Measured Words

Dear Jukebox Operator,

It's time again! This is one of my favourite exchanges of the year - thank you for creating something for me!

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 work than most fandom-fests, and I appreciate that it can be harder to make things up whole cloth, so really, thank you! Write/Draw/Record what you want, what inspires you, and hopefully what is below has some good ideas if you're feeling lost!

I want to say first of all that if you have a strong idea about what you want to write, 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 and straight up horrific, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though 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. I don't know if any of these really lend themselves to porn, but if you think differently, lemme have it! Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please! Also, I am super into the idea of crossovers between any of the songs I'm requesting - I think some of them could go together pretty interestingly, so if there's an idea that strikes you along those lines please have at.

It you are a podficer or a podfic team - I'm super excited! I think writing a story you know is destined for an aural medium is a cool challenge, and I know the recording of a podfic can be pretty challenging itself, so major props for offering! In this case, since the canon is also aural I think it is an especially interesting pairing! I am a big fan of podcasted/podficed short fiction, but I don't know if I can give any specific likes/dislikes /o\

If you are an artist - I actually really enjoy pieces that have more abstract or symbolic elements to them, so if you want to play with themes and atmosphere rather than create something strictly representational from any of the songs I have requested, please feel free! I don't know if that makes things easier or not, but I appreciate you putting your talents to use for me, in whatever medium!

I am requesting Fanfic, Fanart, or Podfic for all requests (but treats in any media would be a delight).

onto the requests!
( The Seer Returns - Swans (Song) )

( Tongue-tied - Emily Portman (Song) )

( Ghost Story - Charming Disaster (Song) )

( Hard Road - Johnny Flynn (Song) )

( Wolf Like Me - Lera Lynn ft. Shovels & Rope (Song) )

( Wolf - First Aid Kit (Song) )

( Thrown Down - Fleetwood Mac (Song) )

( Sax Rohmer #1 - The Mountain Goats (Song) )

( Mr. Grieves - TV on the Radio (Song) )

Dear Jukebox Operator:

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 write, 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 and straight up horrific, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though 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. I don't know if any of these really lend themselves to porn, but if you think differently, lemme have it! Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please! Also, I am super into the idea of crossovers between any of the songs I'm requesting - I think some of them could go together pretty interestingly, so if there's an idea that strikes you along those lines please have at.

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!

It you are a podficer or a podfic team - I'm super excited, as I've never received a podfic for an exchange before! I think writing a story you know is destined for an aural medium is a cool challenge, and I know the recording of a podfic can be pretty challenging itself, so major props for offering! In this case, since the canon is also aural I think it is an especially interesting pairing! I am a big fan of podcasted/podficed short fiction, but I don't know if I can give any specific likes/dislikes /o\

If you are an artist - I actually really enjoy pieces that have more abstract or symbolic elements to them, so if you want to play with themes and atmosphere rather than create something strictly representational from any of the songs I have requested, please feel free! I don't know if that makes things easier or not, but I appreciate you putting your talents to use for me, in whatever medium!

I am requesting Fanfic, Fanart, or Podfic for all requests (but treats in any media would be a delight).

( Born Never Asked - Laurie Anderson (Song) )

( The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra - Anna von Hausswolff (Song) )

( Song: Nightmare - Artie Shaw (Song) )

( One of my Kind - Concrete Blonde (Song) )

( Mr. Grieves - TV on the Radio (Song) )

( Willie's Lady (Child 6) - Anaïs Michell & Jefferson Hamer (Song) )

I'm just putting a coin in the slot for now - I'll be punching in my selections shortly!

....I'm sorry if you matched to me I had forgotten I'd put up a placeholder and am the worst.

I'm going to at least copy over my general intro fro last year's letter but I am not sure if I will have a chance to expand my prompts from my sign up, so... I'm sorry, it's been a busy year :(

Dear Jukebox Operator:

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 write, 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 and straight up horrific, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though 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. I don't know if any of these really lend themselves to porn, but if you think differently, lemme have it! Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please! Also, I am super into the idea of crossovers between any of the songs I'm requesting - I think some of them could go together pretty interestingly, so if there's an idea that strikes you along those lines please have at.

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!

It you are a podficer or a podfic team - I'm super excited, as I've never received a podfic for an exchange before! I think writing a story you know is destined for an aural medium is a cool challenge, and I know the recording of a podfic can be pretty challenging itself, so major props for offering! In this case, since the canon is also aural I think it is an especially interesting pairing! I am a big fan of podcasted/podficed short fiction, but I don't know if I can give any specific likes/dislikes /o\

If you are an artist - I actually really enjoy pieces that have more abstract or symbolic elements to them, so if you want to play with themes and atmosphere rather than create something strictly representational from any of the songs I have requested, please feel free! I don't know if that makes things easier or not, but I appreciate you putting your talents to use for me, in whatever medium!

I am requesting Fanfic, Fanart, or Podfic for all requests (but treats in any media would be a delight).

I was honored with three! Thery are all excellent and I love them! Two of them were very last minute additions, the last of twhich literally appered in the ten minutes before the collection closed and I'd left work :V

Chosen

Mama Loi Papa Loi - Exuma (Song) (Share wasn't enabled on this one)

-I finally got a fic for Mama Loi, Papa Loi! VICTORY :V And it is cool, too - it is set in London, and it is about a little girl whose parents are dead, but who has a caretaker and a mysterious benefctor uncle...


---
First we lift our swords to heaven (1360 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: L'Assasymphonie - Florent Mothe (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Bitterness, Music, Inspired by Music, Treat, Jukebox Fanworks Exchange, Obsession, Female Characters
Summary:

Yas Delit is a composer who enjoys the patronage of the King.

Trouble is, she is a revolutionary at heart.

-This one is all about revolution and political dissent through music. I liked the main character a lot, probably because of her resentment and her efforts to undermine the society she feels shackled to.

---
Quest's End

Brun - Garmarna (Song) (share also not on this one... hmmm, interesting! I now have Additional Suspicions...)

-This is a reaaaaaaally interesting take on this song, where not only does the maiden manage to get the better of Brun, the man who was going to murder her as he had several others, but their contest is part of a much longer epic. Her role, if not less passive, exactly, is more premeditated. It has a really great atmosphere, and as much as I love the others, I think this one hist the most of my buttons. I was positively *spoiled* this year, all told - and the collection is full of other excellent stories as well! YOu shoudl go check them out!

Dear Jukebox Operator:

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 write, 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 and straight up horrific, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though 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 I don't know if any of these really lend themselves to porn, but if you think differently, lemme have it! Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please! Also, I am super into the idea of crossovers between any of the songs I'm requesting - I think some of them could go together pretty interestingly, so if there's an idea that strikes you along those lines please have at.

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!

It you are a podficer or a podfic team - I'm super excited, as this is the first time I've requested podfic for an exchange, and I think the rules this year are really interesting! I think writing a story you know is destined for an aural medium is a cool challenge, and I know the recording of a podfic can be pretty challenging itself, so major props for offering! In this case, since the canon is also aural I think it is an especially interesting pairing! I am a big fan of podcasted/podficed short fiction, but I don't know if I can give any specific likes/dislikes /o\

I am requesting Fanfic or Podfic for all requests (but treats in any media would be a delight).

On to the specifics!

( Bold Marauder - Sharon Knight (Song) )

( Burn Witch Burn - Ego Likeness (Song) )

( Eli - Bosnian Rainbows (Song) )

( Mama Loi, Papa Loi - Exuma (Song) )

( Murder in the Red Barn - Tom Waits (Song) )

( The First Kiss - Zombina and the Skeletones (Song) )

( Well Below the Valley - Sharon Knight (Song) )

( Where Evil Grows - The Poppy Family (Song) )

I was going to talk about these more, but then I ran out of energy :( But if anyone would like to know more about any of them, poke me in the comments and I'll answer any questions and so forth!

I write four stories! One one was for a song I had ever heard previously. I did two pinch hits and one treat :)

First - my original assignment!

Song: Fire in the Head by Sharon Knight
Embers Just Waiting for Breath (7306 words) by Measured_Words
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fire in the Head - Sharon Knight (Song)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Bards, Storytelling, songs, Bechdel Test Pass, Fae & Fairies, Ordeals, Faustian Bargain, Madness, Megaliths, Rituals, Fire, Pilgrimage, Folklore
Summary:

Efa goes to the Giant's Chair
To make a Feyre pact...

--

Then two pinch hits! Both were for songs I'd considered treating anyway if I'd had time. I was thinking maybe about drabbles to start with, so both of them turned out pretty short. But I think they were just as long as they needed to be :) Witch Hunt is the only song I already knew.

Song: Ringo by Lorne Green
Sparks (1049 words) by Measured_Words
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Ringo - Lorne Greene (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Narrator/Ringo
Characters: Ringo, Narrator
Additional Tags: Gunshot Wounds, Western, Bandits & Outlaws, gunfights, Character Death Fix, amateur surgery, Starting Over, Reunions
Summary:

Ringo: A spark of good, a spark of life, and a spark of somethin' else.

--

Song: Witch Hunt by Jack Off Jill
Called to the Dance (1015 words) by Measured_Words
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Witch Hunt - Jack Off Jill (Song)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Fire, Witches, Witchcraft, Circus, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Summary:

You might have been the best of us, the most powerful.

But you tried to put yourself above us. Above me. You said we were nothing.

You were wrong, but you can save your tears for the flames.

--

And finally the treat!

Song: The Wondersmith and his Sons by Astronautilis
The Long Con (2979 words) by Measured_Words
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Wondersmith and His Sons - Astronautalis (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters
Additional Tags: Vampires, Magic, Magical Realism, Family, Dysfunctional Family, Con Artists, Vampire Hunters, Exes, Brothers, Mild torture, Violence, Lies, Restraints
Summary:

All she has to do is find Evan.

That's all.

Maybe.

--

And that's all! I really do love this exchange though, and I encourage everyone to check out allll the stories, because they are on the whole very excellent! I can't wait for next year :D

I thought that would be a good name for a jukebox writer, but now mu brain is providing helpful coin slot entendres, so maybe not. Whatever, I'm going with it!

So, Dear Jukebox Operator:

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 write, 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 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!

( 7 (Prince and the New Power Generation) )


( The Green Valley (Puscifer) )


( Invisible Light (Scissor Sisters) )


( King Henry (Steeleye Span) )


( No Death (Mirel Wagner) )


( Mama Loi, Papa Loi (Exuma) )

Thanks so much, author/operator!

I meant to *officially* squee earlier, but it has been a busy and tiring couple of weeks. So basically I have no real excuse >.>

Anyway, I got *two* stories :D


Stories False and True (1971 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Witch of the Westmorland - Stan Rogers (Song)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Witch of the Westmorland, Knight (Witch of the Westmorland)
Additional Tags: Missing Scenes, Backstory, secrets and lies, Literary References & Allusions, needless puns, dogbreath
Summary:

"Was that your true shape, or is this?" He spoke to fend off the weariness from the long chase, the loss of blood, not from any hope of receiving an honest answer. She was, after all, a witch.

-<333 Ballads! I love this song so much, and my author did a wonderful job giving me... a lot more imnteresting questions, really! There is a possible backstory for the witch, and some very interesting backstory for the knight as well, and there is a lovely theme of uncertainty that runs through the whole thing. Even the knights future fate is an unknown... It balso ties in some other stories and ballads, some of which I recognize (Thomas the Rhymer, Tam Lin) and others I feel like I shoudl but can't *quite* place (the knight's princess >.>). Anyway, read it, it is lovely!


The price you pay (100 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Girl With One Eye - Florence + The Machine (Song)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Mutilation, Love/Hate, Drabble
Summary:

Why did I do it?

-A drabble for meeeee :D I love them in general and I'm happy to have gotten something for this song as well! yay treat! And I do think it is an interesting motivation for the act! So read it, it is pretty short after all ^-^ I have Suspicions about who it is by as well, but we shall see in a few days!

...is it sad that I already have a better idea what I want to nom for this next year than I do for what I want to request for yuletide this year? >.> *points at currently paying song*