merryghoul | Dear Jukebox DJ 2017

I'm

merryghoul. If you'd like to read my fic recs of sorts, they're located at

merryghoul.

For those passing by: I'm sticking to only offering and requesting fic for this exchange. I won't be asking for art and/or podfic.

My prompts are pretty much my straight-up interpretations of the songs and videos I'm requesting, but if you do get stuck, here are a list of things I like in fic: casefic, hurt/comfort, noir AUs, fairy tale and/or mythology AUs, angst, fluff, the friends to lovers trope, magical people and worlds, and pretend couples. My favorite kinks include knifeplay, spanking, bondage, begging, and femdom, but don't feel obligated to make the song we match on kinky in any way. Gen or shipfic is fine with any of these prompts with me.

I don't want the following: characters constantly getting hurt, vomitplay, schmoop, fics in the second person, fics centered on a character's pregnancy, any crossovers with other fandoms.

I've included YouTube videos and lyrics for everything I'm requesting. I'm based in the US, so if any of these links don't work for you, I apologize in advance.

jukebox_fest might have some alternative links for videos and/or songs.

Perfume Genius -- "Queen" (music video) | lyrics

Is this video about a closeted gay man who goes on an act of rebellion and commits suicide, all while thinking about these different personas that we see in the video? The thoughts of a man about to come out of a closet? Or is this a fantastic world where all these personas exist with the corporate people and cheerleaders seen near the end of the video? Or is it something else? Tell me.

The Smiths -- "This Charming Man" | lyrics

Is the narrator from a time where the language used in this song is more common, or is he a man from a more modern time who prefers the language of the past? How does the narrator define his sexuality? How bad is the hillside where the narrator's trapped after his bike tire's gotten a flat? How do the narrator and the man in the luxury car flirt after the man in the luxury car picks him up? Is the narrator convinced to "return the ring" after the man in the luxury car tells him to do so? What happens after the car ride?

Taylor Swift -- "Bad Blood" (music video) | lyrics

I feel there are so many directions you can take with this video. Don't be afraid to center on one part of it instead of trying to write a fic for the whole thing. I'd like any story you can come up with for this video. The organization that Catastrophe's a part of--how did it come to be? How and why did Arsyn and Catastrophe partner up, and why did Arsyn betray Catastrophe? How did The Trinity nurse Catastrophe back to health after she was betrayed? And how did The Trinity encourage her to exact revenge on Arsyn? Is she still present in Catastrophe's life after Catastrophe trains to exact revenge? What happens after the video ends? Or what about the other characters in the video? Do whatever you want with the video and/or its lyrics: I'd be delighted to see what you come up with!

Taylor Swift -- "Out of the Woods" (music video) | lyrics

Who did the woman lose before the start of the video? How did she initially end up on the beach? What causes her to generate this world? How does she do it? Why do the wolves chase her in the forest? Does she destroy the world she's created throughout the video, and why does she do it? What happens to the woman at the end of the video?

Andrew Bayer -- "Superhuman" (music video) | lyrics

I see the singer and the other man to be lovers in this video, and it seems their relationship has fallen apart. What happened prior to the video that lead up to this experiment? How did the singer and his lover end up in what appears to be an experiment? What is going on with this experiment, and who came up with it? Was his lover even in the building where the experiment was held in the first place?

Andrew Bird -- "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" | lyrics

How does the first person in this song end up on tarmac in North Platte with something hazardous? How does the second person end up on a bath mat in South Platte with something in a paper bag that hasn't been delivered? Do the two people end up meeting or not? Are their fates entwined? And how do they end up watching this panel show on the History Channel?

Paul McCartney -- "Pretty Little Head" (music video) | lyrics

The girl in this video leaves home, only to find city life hard to bear. After the narrator defends her from the denizens of the city, she goes home...or did she leave at all? Was the girl dreaming or daydreaming instead? Are these people shapeshifting gods? Is anyone in the video part of the hillmen mentioned in the song? Tell me more about this world.

Solange -- "Cranes in the Sky" (song) | lyrics

Ever since I heard the Song Exploder episode for this song, I've always like the idea that the narrator is singing about her woes and the chorus (especially the "don't you cry it, baby" and the toy harp ending notes) is similar to friends to family telling the narrator to keep pushing on despite the narrator's woes. I imagine this song is about a narrator constantly moving not only physically, but mentally moving through states, trying to find peace of mind. You don't have to go with this interpretative, but I'd love to see a narrator seeking for peace of mind, failing until they finally find that one thing that gives them peace. If you do decide to go with my interpretation of the chorus, who are these people telling the narrator to press on? Can the narrator see them? Are they communicating via phone/email/Skype/etc.? Are they otherworldly? Or are they something else?

Father John Misty -- "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" (song) | lyrics

It seems like, in this song, the singer and his love interest are digging up bodies of dead men at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, only to have multiple funerals to get it on while stoned. How often are the narrator and his love interest having their funerals for "Grandpa?" What is this "island and a tomb" the narrator speaks of? What else is the narrator unsure of?

Father John Misty -- "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" (music video) | lyrics

Unlike the song, the video features a woman who's attending funeral gatherings in the Hollywood Hills and causing havoc at said gatherings. Why is she going to these funerals, and what's driving her to act the way she acts? Why does she run out into the woods later in the video, and what is happening in the smokey red strobe light part? What happens after she's put in the van at the very last part of the video?