Jukebox Exchange 2018

[kiraly]

Dear Jukebox Creator,

Hello! Welcome to my music library (or, well, a tiny portion of it). This is my first time participating in this exchange, so it’ll be interesting to see how it goes. I’m excited to see what you come up with, and I’m pretty easy to please. The prompts in this letter are to help get you started, but if you have an idea already, feel free to run with it! I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is, as long as you steer clear of my DNWs.
If you want to know more about me, feel free to poke around here (it’s mostly exchange letters, haha). You can also find me on Tumblr: worldsentwined or check out my AO3: Kiraly

General Likes:
In general I’m a huge fan of any kind of sci-fi or fantasy setting. A lot of the songs I’ve requested give me either post-apocalyptic or nautical vibes, but feel free to interpret that loosely. Maybe one of the characters is a sailor...or maybe their “ship” is a spaceship and they’re a space pirate! Maybe a character is a mermaid, or a robot space mermaid, or something else! In other words, don’t worry about deviating from the ideas I’ve suggested, I’d love to see creative takes on this. (And if you really aren’t into writing sci-fi/fantasy, I won’t be upset with a more mundane setting. Just write me a fun adventure!)

I really love character-driven stories with a lot of emotion. I’m all about the fluff, but I also enjoy angst with a happy ending - and a lot of these songs probably lend themselves to angst more than fluff. For gen fics, I love to see characters building friendships, working together, going on adventures, getting into (and out of) trouble. Anything with characters out in nature is pretty great too. For shippy fics, I have a huge weakness for cuddling, (mild) hurt/comfort, and, uh...characters getting soaked and having to snuggle to warm up, haha. Kisses are good (awkward or sweet or steamy). I’m also totally down for things like “characters have to share a bed for some reason” or other situations where the characters kind of get thrown together and then develop feelings for each other. And for a lot of these songs, I think a “characters meet, are separated by circumstances, and later reunite” scenario could be really great. (Or “lovers to enemies to lovers” maybe, if it’s romance you’re going for).

Oh, and I don’t really care if you keep the genders of the characters the same as listed in the song - I welcome characters of any genders and in any romantic combo (including trans and nonbinary characters). That said, I do have a particular love for femslash and for female protagonists in general, so I will be extra excited if you create something featuring the ladies. ^_^

I’ve requested art or fic for all of these, so do whichever you prefer! For art, I really enjoy a wide variety of styles, from sketches to watercolors to digital pieces. I love bright, saturated colors if you decide to work in color, but I also love greyscale and black and white. I think most of my fic prompts will work for art too, but if you don’t see anything you like, feel free to do your own thing. :)

Dislikes (Do Not Want):
Character death or maiming, including characters getting infected with some terminal disease. Some background violence is okay, but nothing too graphic (and no torture!) Abusive relationships. Incest. Sexual violence of any kind. Explicit sex (allusions to sex or situations that get kind of steamy are okay, just...keep it teen rated or lower, please).

Anyway, on to the songs!

A Bar in Amsterdam - Katzenjammer (Song)

Link * Lyrics

I get a very strong apocalypse feeling from this song - clearly something has gone down, people are hiding out, and they’re just waiting for the next storm to break over them. When I listen to this I get images of people huddling in abandoned houses, trying to stretch their supplies and plan their next move. Maybe the singer and “Mary” have formed a connection during all of this, and will have to band together to get through...whatever is about to happen.


Black Vessel - Pearl and the Beard (Song)
Link * Lyrics

This is one that gives me lots of nautical/seafaring vibes, possibly with mermaids? The chorus on this one seems to allude to a dangerous creature luring people under the water, but maybe it’s something different - maybe the sea herself is luring them, or maybe the mysterious sirens are calling people below the waves to save them. It also seems like the sailor isn’t entirely blameless here, so something exploring how they ended up in this situation would be cool.


From Finner - Of Monsters and Men (Song)

Link * Lyrics

This song always makes me think of a ragtag group of people on some long adventure, clinging to each other in order to keep going. The “far from home” line could mean anything - maybe they’ve left their home in search of a new one, or maybe they’re trying to get back home. Maybe “home” is a cottage by the sea, or a tree house, or a different planet, or something else altogether. If there’s a romance involved, how has the relationship changed over the course of their journey? Were the characters always close, or did they feel much differently towards each other at the beginning?


Patient Zero - Aimee Mann (Song)

Link * Lyrics

This one always gives me the sense that the protagonist’s life is going well on the outside, but really things aren’t as good as they seem. Maybe a celebrated hero has to figure out what life looks like after the (war/zombie apocalypse/epic space journey) is over. Maybe they’re haunted by secrets from the past, and have to find a way to work through it somehow. The “patient zero” part always makes me think of global pandemics or zombies, but there’s also potential to do something cool with the magic references.


Pistols at Dawn - Seinabo Sey (Song)

Link * Lyrics

I requested just the song for this because I didn’t want someone to have to commit to the music video, but the video has a lot of beautiful imagery if you want to use it for inspiration. Everything about this one speaks of conflict and power - maybe two lovers driven apart by different ideals, or caught up in a larger conflict that keeps them away from each other. There are a lot of elements that point to some devastation in the world where this is set - burning sky, the idea of “a world of our own” away from whatever is going on, things coming undone. I love the tension between closeness and separation that carries throughout the song, too; lines like “is that you reaching or you wanting to run?” and “stand down or showdown baby” give a strong sense of characters being drawn towards each other and pulling away at the same time.


Sailor and Siren - Kuinka (Song)

Link * Lyrics

This is another one that gives me a nautical feeling. I always think of longtime friends where one of them is pining after the other, and the one being longed after knows it and is just trying to convince their friend to move on. Maybe the story ends with things developing into a true romance rather than a one-sided infatuation, or maybe they find that their friendship is best as it is and find romantic love elsewhere. Possible character type suggestions: pirate crewmates (bonus points for lady pirates!), a human living near the sea and their mermaid friend, a human and a selkie, the captain of a spaceship and a cyborg or AI. (Or a spaceship captain and a space pirate?)


Saucy Sailor - The Wailin’ Jennys

Link * Lyrics

More sailors! This song has a pretty clear narrative with it already, but I think it’d be cool to explore some of the aftermath of this incident. I love the idea of the girl who spurns the sailor getting to tell the story from her side - in the song it feels like she just wants to marry for money, but on taking a closer look at the lyrics I feel like there may be more going on. Maybe she’s been propositioned by some Random Guy (I’d turn him down too!) and the parts that come afterwards are his way of making the story sound better from his perspective. Or maybe the sailor and the “fair one” are actually in love, but are driven apart by society’s expectations - the “fair one” is supposed to marry for money and doesn’t want to disappoint their family. It’d be cool to see this scenario played out where the “fair one” runs off to sea in the end, either to reunite with the sailor or to find their own way as a sailor. Or maybe the sailor, having been rejected, goes back to their ship and finds comfort in the arms of a crewmate. Basically this is what I think of as the “nautical soap opera shenanigans” prompt, haha.


Ship to Wreck - Florence + the Machine (Song)

Link * Lyrics

Another one with some nautical lyrics, but I feel like there’s lots of potential for creative interpretations. It seems like there’s an epic adventure going on, but maybe it’s only playing out in the singer’s head. I could see some kind of virtual reality game element, or maybe the singer is actually the creator of a spaceship who’s just now realizing their creation is deeply flawed. In terms of relationships, I feel like the singer may have a loved one who’s trying their best to help the singer through whatever this is. I can picture a “mad scientist” type character with an ever-present assistant, or an overworked sea captain relying on their first mate in a stressful situation.


The Woodpile - Frightened Rabbit (Song)

Link * Lyrics

(One note on this one - I find the music video really weird, so I’d rather you didn’t use it for inspiration! I only linked this particular one because it has the original vocals and doesn’t appear to be region-locked)

This is another one that gives me post-apocalyptic vibes - all that talk of being trapped in abandoned and collapsing buildings! I picture two people supporting each other while scavenging through the rubble of a dead society. The singer seems to struggle with social situations, but also feelings of loneliness, and it would be cool to see that explored. Maybe the person they’re singing to isn’t actually another human - maybe it’s a ghost, or an elemental creature. Maybe the “lit torch” refers to someone with fire powers, or the ability to make the singer feel something through their isolation. I also love the line about “secret tongues”, so maybe the characters have some kind of language barrier or have developed their own language to tie them together.


Oh, and just a note - I tested all the videos to make sure they work outside of my country (so they definitely work in the U.S. and Germany, at least) but in the event that something is region-locked for you, feel free to leave me an anonymous comment and I’ll try to find a better version.