It's a magical world

I went to Canada to hang out with some good friends from three continents and to see the total solar eclipse. It was pretty incredible and I really want to see another one. For the occasion I was asked to make a vid playlist. I've embedded the partial YouTube version, and also included the fully version as text, since it contains some vids that sadly aren't available on YouTube. I was trying for a mix of recent fandoms, stuff I'd really liked, and stuff I knew would play to the group and/or to the theme (hence the Utena vid and the playlist title). All in all it was a fun little way to procrastinate on packing and I should definitely VJ more often.

1. Higher Love (Everything Everywhere All At Once) by ultraviolet_catastrophe - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2022/works/43833622
2. You're Losing Me (Good Omens) by such_heights - https://archiveofourown.org/works/50105965
3. Don't Take the Money (Succession) by anoel - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fanworks_2023/works/51868108 
4. 'Til You Hit a Nerve (Knives Out/Glass Onion) by stardust_rain - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/53473336
5. The Hammer and the Nail (Andor) by stardust_rain - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fanworks_2023/works/51819472
6. Meet Me in the Woods (Moon Knight) by trelkez - https://archiveofourown.org/works/41190516
7. Velodrome (The Wheel of Time) by stardust_rain - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/53357635
8. Anti-Hero (Nimona) by starlady - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/52889407
9. Tubthumping (Cobra Kai/Karate Kid) by findmeinthealps - https://archiveofourown.org/works/39005154
10. Total Eclipse of the Heart Sword (Revolutionary Girl Utena) by shati - https://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=193108
11. Barbie World (The Locked Tomb) by absternr - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2022/works/44588569
12. Same As It Ever Was (Silo) by marah_sarie - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fanworks_2023/works/52141252
13. Live to Tell (Star Trek) by AurumCalendula - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fanworks_2023/works/52166974
14. Rainbow (Our Flag Means Death) by alpheratz - https://archiveofourown.org/works/39419124
15. Here It Goes Again (Moby Dick) by eruthros - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/53434966
16. I'm Gonna Be (40,000 Miles) (Around the World in 80 Days) by cosmic_llin - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/53018524
17. Gracie (Star Wars) by seeking_ferret - https://archiveofourown.org/works/41017956
18. The Adventure (Star Trek Prodigy) by cosmic_llin - https://archiveofourown.org/works/47826550
19. Northwest Passage (For All Mankind) by ExtraPenguin - https://archiveofourown.org/collections/festivids2023/works/53170666

The Vids
February
Life During Wartime (Andor) - Festivids 2022

June
We Belong (Thor: Love and Thunder)
Dancing in the Dark (Ms. Marvel)

December
Don't Be a Lawyer (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law)


( The Questions )

Happy New Year's Eve from Philly! Everyone else in our hotel is either a Penn athlete or attending a rave in center city.

The Vids
January
Stranger Companies (A Midsummer Night's Dream 2019) - Festivids 2020
Odds Are (Star Trek: Lower Decks) - Festivids 2020

June
The King & Queen of America (Wonder Woman 1984)
Fire with Fire (Terminator movies)

October
Prologue (Shadow & Bone)

( The Questions )

Happy New Year! I spent the holidays in Japan with my brother and had a very good time, though I find myself unable to summon much more than dread at the advent of 2020. The work has to be done regardless, I suppose.

The Vids
February 
Poor Sucker (The Manchurian Candidate [2004]) - Festivids 2018
Information Travels Faster (RDJ Holmes)

April
Caribbean Blue (seaQuest DSV) - Spring Equinox 2019

May
Renegades (Star Wars)

June
Rome (Star Trek: Discovery)

August
In the 99 (Nolan Batman)
Princesses Night Out (She-Ra & the Princesses of Power)

October
Another One Bites the Dust (Inglourious Basterds) - Autumn Equinox 2019

November
The Book of Love (Good Omens)

( The Questions )

Well, at least it's over.

The Vids
February
Missionary Woman (X-Men movies - alternate timeline)

April
The Last of the Real Ones (Star Wars Rebels)

July
Congratulations (Star Wars)

August
Hard Times (The Good Fight)
The Greatest (Star Wars Rebels)

November
Warrior (A Wrinkle in Time) - Autumn Equinox 2018


The Questions
Favorite
Honestly I am really, really pleased with all three of my Star Wars vids. My two favorites are The Last of the Real Ones and Congratulations, depending on my mood.

Least Favorite
This feels disloyal, but I think Warrior is the one that still could use more work, which is the closest to "least favorite" that I'll get.

Most Successful
Probably The Last of the Real Ones? I got some very nice comments on it from the BP organizers and from people at VividCon, though The Greatest also went down pretty well at Club Vivid.

Most Underappreciated by the Universe
Probably Missionary Woman. It's (deliberately) about the wrong character and I sent it to Escapade knowing that it was mismatched to the crowd. But I'm okay with that.

Most Fun to Make
In some ways, Missionary Woman, because I did most of it in the Sky Club during a six-hour delay on a trip to Hawai'i, and finished it later that same trip. In others, Congratulations, because it really is my id and my deepest fannish feelings about Star Wars in vid form. In still others, The Last of the Real Ones, because the vid grew and changed as the last few episodes of the show developed.

Hardest Vid to Make
In some ways, The Good Fight, because it's a very talky show, my rips didn't match, yadda blah… In others, Warrior was a struggle in ways that I think show. I still think the song choice was right, but I think the seams of the idea are a bit obvious, and I would have liked another week to keep tweaking things.

The Things I Learned This Year
Famous vidders are so nice! I had a truly wonderful time at VividCon and I'm so glad I went for the first and last time. Also, I really like Star Wars.

Planning for Next Year
I was able to meet my goal of six vids for this year, and I think six seems like a reasonable goal for next year too. I also continued my con submission strategy as per my goal, with five out of six vids being made for cons, and I definitely want to continue that in 2019, particularly with FanWorksCon and WisCon. I also want to get back on the VidUKon bandwagon, and I still have hopes of finishing a vid for the Vid Big Bang. My other goal is to try to consciously integrate some of the things and techniques, particularly on the FX side, that I learned at VividCon into my actual vidding practice. I also want to make a Steven Universe vid once I catch up to the current episodes.

I had such a good time at vividcon this past weekend, my first and last time attending. I got to see some old friends again for the first time in a while, and I  met a lot of great vidders and vid-watchers I had only known online or through their work, and everyone who I didn't already know was extremely welcoming. There were many tears over the course of the weekend, particularly from people who were long-time attendees, and while I felt the bittersweetness of it (and cried buckets at several point during Premieres), for me the experience overall was a delight from start to finish.

Do you remember what Guinan tells Picard about the Nexus in Star Trek: Generations? "It was like being inside joy." For me, that was VividCon, and above all Club Vivid, one of the best nights of my life. Seeing my last Club Vivid premiere live from inside the room, and having people applaud for it, was truly wonderful. For that in particular I have to thank absolutedestiny, whose skill as a VJ is mind-boggling. 

All good things must come to an end, but I am incredibly grateful that I got to experience this good thing for myself before its time ended. I said in the final wrap-up panel that I know the Force is with us, and I look forward to seeing the continuing art and people of VividCon further on up the road, particularly at fanworkscon. Until then, godspeed, rebels.

My streak of never being guessed for exchanges continues.  

I made the Narnia vid Heartlines for silly_cleo, and I made the Hogfather vid Get Behind Me, Hogfather! for mithborien. The latter is now available in the complete version, unlike the short vid that I posted for the anon period. 

And aurumcalendula made my excellent Handmaiden vid Never Look Away. 

See you at the next equinox!

As you can now see from the Equinox collection on AO3, I made the Star Trek Beyond vid We Are Who We Are for usuallyhats.

My vidders, both for Deep Space Nine, were kuwdora, with Pundits and Poets, and such_heights, with I Lived. ♥

On a personal note, I am at 2/3 for guesses, and I feel vindicated.

The Vids

February
All You Need Is Kill (Edge of Tomorrow)
The Call (MST3K 8x20, Space Mutiny)
Tonari no Gamera (Showa Gamera series)

May
Just A Dream Away (Star Trek: The Animated Series)

June
The One You Won't Forget (Agent Carter)

December
Are You Out There? remaster (Contact)


( The Questions )

source: Agent Carter
audio: Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox, "Timber"
length: 03:39
download: 84MB mp4 on mediafire
summary: Peggy Carter will be the one you won't forget. Or, Peggy saves the day, punches a lot of dudes, and gets the girl.
notes: Premiered today at Vidukon 2015. And many thanks to metatxt for beta watching!

AO3 page | tumblr post



I actually picked this song out for this vid before the show even aired--I knew I wanted to make a Peggy vid, and I knew I wanted something that sounded period-ish but had a modern sensibility, which basically meant that Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox were the first and only artist whose catalog I ransacked. Technically it's a 50s-style big band jazz cover of the female solo version (Ke$ha forever!), but then, the show itself doesn't necessarily have a strong sense of its own historical setting either. Luckily the show lived up to the lyrics, and provided me with the footage needed to make a vid about Peggy punching dudes and being a badass action hero. Punch some more dudes, Peggy!

( Lyrics )