let me hear your voice tonight (
alexseanchai) wrote2013-08-04 10:11 am
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Entry tags:
jukebox_fest letter
Things I like: Ladies being awesome. Bechdel passing. People of color being awesome. Queer people being awesome. Femslash, het, slash, poly, gen. Porn, pornless shippy fic, gen. (Obviously I am not asking you to provide all my likes at once.)
Things I dislike: Underage. Non-con. Disrespectful treatment of anyone marginalized in any way, such as women, queer people, people of color, trans and genderqueer people, people with disabilities, people of religious beliefs other than Christianity... (Pay attention to that last one if writing "Abraham's Daughter" or "Crossroads" or "Poem of War".) Cross-generational sexual and/or romantic relationships, though if an involved character does not, in my head, have an age, then it won't bother me as long as all the involved characters are clearly adult. I can't really explain any better than that; this makes about as much sense to me as it does to you. Sorry about that.
Feel free to cross over songs, if you think it'll work.
"Abraham's Daughter" is about how the liminal moment of Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain for a sacrifice changes if Isaac (and Ishmael, not present) weren't Abraham's only children—if Abraham had a daughter, who loved her little brother and knew what was about to happen to him, and had enough skill with a bow to intervene.
I'm interested in the consequences of that moment. Both the immediate consequences to family dynamics and the long-term consequences to the Abrahamic religions and to any literature that alludes to or retells the Book of Genesis. I'm also curious whether Abraham's daughter is older than Ishmael, younger, or Ishmael himself Rule 63'd.
I'd really rather you ignored the bit where she doesn't have a friggin' name, though. Okay, her father didn't give her one—what did her mother call her? Or else have her choose a name for herself.
"Crossroads" is from the Ember Days soundtrack. It's about a woman looking for a lost lover (gender specified in movie, not in song; let's make the lover a 'he' for ease of distinguishing pronouns, but making the lover a 'she' or a neutral pronoun would be awesome). She doesn't need him, or anyone she might pray to for redemption or salvation or hope or help, but she wants him and she's determined to have him. And she's done something wrong, something for which she thinks she might need redemption or salvation. And, possibly as a result, someone's after her. I want that story.
The lyrics reference 'gods'; I observe that there's a crossroads goddess named Hecate and a crossroads loa named Papa Legba, though I'm not sure whether loa count as gods (it might be a difference in terminology, or vodouisantes might count only Bondye as a god, I don't know). The lyrics also reference 'angels' who are or were 'falling'; do with that what you will.
"My Story Is Not Done" is about a young woman, "Cinderella's dustbin daughter" and one of at least three sisters, who goes on adventures instead of waiting for a Prince Charming. I want to see those adventures. I want to see how she "challenge[s] what's forbidden".
"Poem of War" is from the Ember Days soundtrack. It's about three great wars between immortals: between the angels who listened when ordered to kill their children the nephilim and the angels who disobeyed, between the Greek gods and their parents the Titans, and between the summer and winter fae. (Sorry about the Eurocentrism.) The last line asks which immortal, singular, will win, implying that the three wars will intersect and lead to only one victor. I am interested in that intersection: how do these three mythologies interact?
"Shee An Gannon" is sort of a cross between Joseph Jacobs's story with the same title character and the story of Perseus and Andromeda. This Sidhe boy decides he's going to marry the daughter of a king of Ireland and asks the king what he has to do to win her, and it's well within his capabilities; this impresses the king enough that he abdicates in favor of the Sidhe. I want that story told in full, with a larger role for the princess than merely sitting on a rock waiting to be eaten.
"Star of the County Down" is a traditional Irish love song: the singer (who may be of any gender, and in fact I prefer the versions with female singers, but let's call the singer 'he' for ease of distinguishing pronouns) sees Rosie, falls in love with her at first sight, in at least one version (and that one's my favorite) sees her again and falls harder for her singing and dancing ability, and declares he won't do a bit of work or relaxation until he's married Rosie. I want to see that story told in full, with Rosie's perspective as well as the singer's.
I wrote a verse to follow up from Rosie's perspective, which you are of course free to ignore:
And why should I care? You haven't a prayer
Of winning me by looking good
Not with a suit and polished boot
When you're not farming like you should
No crops grow where the plow won't go
And you look the bumbling clown
I'll wed a man with a strong right hand
Says the star of the County Down
Things I dislike: Underage. Non-con. Disrespectful treatment of anyone marginalized in any way, such as women, queer people, people of color, trans and genderqueer people, people with disabilities, people of religious beliefs other than Christianity... (Pay attention to that last one if writing "Abraham's Daughter" or "Crossroads" or "Poem of War".) Cross-generational sexual and/or romantic relationships, though if an involved character does not, in my head, have an age, then it won't bother me as long as all the involved characters are clearly adult. I can't really explain any better than that; this makes about as much sense to me as it does to you. Sorry about that.
Feel free to cross over songs, if you think it'll work.
"Abraham's Daughter" is about how the liminal moment of Abraham taking Isaac up the mountain for a sacrifice changes if Isaac (and Ishmael, not present) weren't Abraham's only children—if Abraham had a daughter, who loved her little brother and knew what was about to happen to him, and had enough skill with a bow to intervene.
I'm interested in the consequences of that moment. Both the immediate consequences to family dynamics and the long-term consequences to the Abrahamic religions and to any literature that alludes to or retells the Book of Genesis. I'm also curious whether Abraham's daughter is older than Ishmael, younger, or Ishmael himself Rule 63'd.
I'd really rather you ignored the bit where she doesn't have a friggin' name, though. Okay, her father didn't give her one—what did her mother call her? Or else have her choose a name for herself.
"Crossroads" is from the Ember Days soundtrack. It's about a woman looking for a lost lover (gender specified in movie, not in song; let's make the lover a 'he' for ease of distinguishing pronouns, but making the lover a 'she' or a neutral pronoun would be awesome). She doesn't need him, or anyone she might pray to for redemption or salvation or hope or help, but she wants him and she's determined to have him. And she's done something wrong, something for which she thinks she might need redemption or salvation. And, possibly as a result, someone's after her. I want that story.
The lyrics reference 'gods'; I observe that there's a crossroads goddess named Hecate and a crossroads loa named Papa Legba, though I'm not sure whether loa count as gods (it might be a difference in terminology, or vodouisantes might count only Bondye as a god, I don't know). The lyrics also reference 'angels' who are or were 'falling'; do with that what you will.
"My Story Is Not Done" is about a young woman, "Cinderella's dustbin daughter" and one of at least three sisters, who goes on adventures instead of waiting for a Prince Charming. I want to see those adventures. I want to see how she "challenge[s] what's forbidden".
"Poem of War" is from the Ember Days soundtrack. It's about three great wars between immortals: between the angels who listened when ordered to kill their children the nephilim and the angels who disobeyed, between the Greek gods and their parents the Titans, and between the summer and winter fae. (Sorry about the Eurocentrism.) The last line asks which immortal, singular, will win, implying that the three wars will intersect and lead to only one victor. I am interested in that intersection: how do these three mythologies interact?
"Shee An Gannon" is sort of a cross between Joseph Jacobs's story with the same title character and the story of Perseus and Andromeda. This Sidhe boy decides he's going to marry the daughter of a king of Ireland and asks the king what he has to do to win her, and it's well within his capabilities; this impresses the king enough that he abdicates in favor of the Sidhe. I want that story told in full, with a larger role for the princess than merely sitting on a rock waiting to be eaten.
"Star of the County Down" is a traditional Irish love song: the singer (who may be of any gender, and in fact I prefer the versions with female singers, but let's call the singer 'he' for ease of distinguishing pronouns) sees Rosie, falls in love with her at first sight, in at least one version (and that one's my favorite) sees her again and falls harder for her singing and dancing ability, and declares he won't do a bit of work or relaxation until he's married Rosie. I want to see that story told in full, with Rosie's perspective as well as the singer's.
I wrote a verse to follow up from Rosie's perspective, which you are of course free to ignore:
And why should I care? You haven't a prayer
Of winning me by looking good
Not with a suit and polished boot
When you're not farming like you should
No crops grow where the plow won't go
And you look the bumbling clown
I'll wed a man with a strong right hand
Says the star of the County Down