Fanwork Recs - June 10, 2014

[helloladies]

Fanwork is awesome and sharing fanwork is even more awesome. Join us as we keymash and squee over our favorite fanwork, from fic (both written and podfic) to art to vids and meta and back again.

Recommendations included:

• Captain America: The First Avenger — art (1)
• Captain America: The Winter Solider — fic (1), art (1), meta (2), vid (1)
• Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell) — art (1)
• Homeland — vid (1)
• The Hunger Games — vid (1)
• MCU — vid (1)
• The Night Watch — fic (1)
• Orphan Black — vid (1)
• Person of Interest — vid (1)
• Supernatural — art (1)

---

[ART] [Captain America: The First Avenger] Agent Carter study by euclase
Euclase amazes me.

[META] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] portrayal of public history in the film by therealdeepsix (1,087 words)
More fascinating meta about the way history is used in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[FIC] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] That Kind of Day by Neery (5,438) (Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, OFC)
I read this story when it first came out but then lost it (or thought I had lost it, when I went to bookmark it I found it in the pile of untagged bookmarks, I'm a genius) so when I FOUND it again I gobbled it up because it's such a great example of an outsider point of view. The story is very claustrophobic and tense. I WAS REALLY WORRIED ABOUT THE CAT, OKAY, even though you want to believe things are fine it's still a very scary moment, but also sort of comical, because yeah, Bucky, you may be a bad ass assassin but that cat still shunned your lack of ability to see when you're being FAVORED WITH ATTENTION. And the gut-wrenching, "that was the mission" mid-fic. Ouch.

Predictably, now I want the sequel where Carolyn ends up working for Stark Industries somehow doing research that gets her on the wrong people's radar and has a reunion fic via Bucky sneaking into her (new) apartment, but this time to protect her. THINGS I WANT A LOT that are probably not in the cards.

[ART] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Steve/Bucky by fiveocock (NSFW)
I am always a sucker for art with handholding. I will accept all of it.

[META] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Natasha and self-blame
This is a collection of tag commentary meta by several different people based on a gif set. A lot of people I talk to say they don't "get" tumblr and how communication/criticism works on tumblr, and I didn't either until I actively tuned in to how some people used tags to communicate and provide critique. I LOVE the tags people included on this gif set to deepen our understanding of Natasha from one position to the other; two different readings, both of them interesting. Awesome.

[VID] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Problem by talitha78 (3:23) (Steve/Bucky)
Thanks to a head's up by goodbyebird I have basically imprinted on this vid and the sheer physicality of these complete assholes. THIS VID ITSELF IS A PROBLEM FOR ME.

[ART] [Supernatural] Castiel "Mythical" by sempaiko (Castiel)
I left this open in a tab for weeks because I find it so gorgeous; the use of light is especially great.

[ART] [Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell)] Fanception by paln-k
If you loved Fangirl, you've GOT to see this art. IT'S 150% PERFECT.

---

[FIC] [The Night Watch] not the squares of the cinema, but envelopes of affection by toujours_nigel (1,428 words) (Kay Langrish, Mickey)
Fan fiction for "The Night Watch" :D As Clare would say — pound the alarm! I'm always so in awe of people who write fic for books — it's a feat of strength. You not only have to get the feel and substance right, but you've got to decide whether to emulate the writing style, break totally free or go for a tonal similarity. And you have to do all that without dissolving into a puddle of poo self-confidence. Anyone who manages to complete a work on those terms is a wizard.

This is a short story about Kay and Mickey living their ordinary lives after the end of the novel. It's full of lovely detailing which is very reminiscent of Water's own careful descriptive choices. Then, at the end, it turns into a story about Kay rebuilding, which is what I want more than anything for her. I love when fic fulfills my dreams.

And, bonus — there's an interesting historical note included for context.

[VID] [The Hunger Games] Dyin' Day by killabeez (3:15) (Katniss, Haymitch) (Warnings: violence and death of children)
"Dyin' Day" strips everything back and gets to what feels like heart of "The Hunger Games" — the districts. I am especially fond of vids which focus the eye on the districts because I think they're the part of this SFF world that matter the most. Even though The Capitol and the games made a bigger impression on my brain the first time I saw "The Hunger Games", it's the districts that provide some of the most subtle, meaty content of the films. Its the importance of the districts that I keep coming back to when I think about both films.

Also, I remember seeing a lot of media 'shock horror' commentary when this film was released about how it used shots of kids killing kids as entertainment. I think vids and fan culture have done a great job of taking that element of the film seriously; showing how significant and horrifying that concept is, and also making clear how carefully the film often treats the lives and deaths of these children. I can't watch this vid without getting the impact of the poverty and the sacrifice in the districts, which is brought out in a quiet way through the lyrics and the use of ordinary, everyday shots from district life. Great job both creating a new work and showing off canon.

[VID] [Marvel Cinematic Universe] Hey Ho by thuviaptarth (2:56) (Warnings: Old film flicker. Camera flashes and other sudden bright lights. Action movie violence [PG-13]. Needles.)

This vid is so smart that I'm going to struggle to talk about it intelligently. It's a political vid which uses footage from "Iron Man", "Captain America", "Hulk" and "Agents of Shield" to examine how war is used in Marvel sources, and along the way it makes a variety of poignant observations. It examines the commercial side of war, war in popular media, political spin, war written on the body, and the link between superhero culture, war and kids — all in under three minutes.

The vid structures these wider points around a character study of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, and how the two different characters relate to war. The early footage sets Tony and Steve up in contrast. Tony is 'the favourite son' and 'the merchant king', the flashy war maker who name is on the ammo. The shot where he stands in front of an explosion in the sharpest suit on earth really got in my feels about early canon's, corporate douchebag Stark.

Meanwhile, Steve is the scrawny WWII soldier who takes recruitment posters personally. Like I said before, I don't even go here but I felt that shot in my soul! Steve is aligned with the star struck soldiers we see in the early part of the vid; the ones matched with lyrics about kids 'making brave and playing dead'. It's Tony the corporate development man vs. Steve the regular guy doing push ups for his country, which is an especially apt set up if you think that in "The Avengers" Tony and Steve are cast as almost natural opposites who are always at each others throats.

However, as the vid advances it uses comparison shots to show similarities between the two men. And by the end of the vid its not the two superheroes we're really focused on — it's the kids pulled into superhero culture. The kids who will maybe grow up to be goofy star struck soldiers sitting in cars that explode. And the lyric which keeps hitting home is 'the point of sale' as kids buy comics and play with action figures. This footage really reminded me of "Pacific Rim" where the kids play with kaiju action figures and the war is turned into a commercial industry. In fact, the way the vid commented on war and used footage to bring "background" groups like kids and ordinary soldiers into sharper focus reminded me of very much of the whole opening to "Pacific Rim". That was one of my favourite parts of the film, and I responded to seeing a similar style used in this vid.

I've also got to talk talk about that genius song choice! I love vids which use songs that differ in tone from the visual media they're matched with. I would never have expected a country song to work for the Hollywood, all action Marvel Universe, but the way the footage is cut totally sells it. I loved the use of such a strong chorus beat in a vid that focused on soldiers — very parade ground, but with a lightness of touch.

[VID] [Orphan Black] Root by gigglemonster (2:39) (Sarah, Helena, Art)
Ugh, I love Sarah vids. This one is all about messed up clone families and Sarah's struggles with belonging to this weird family, or any family at all. And it includes Art footage, which is a great way to make me happy (Art and Angie are the greatest).

[VID] [Homeland] Drumming Noise by anoel (3:50) (Carrie) (Warnings: Violence, shock therapy)
This is a linear vid that walks the viewer through key moments from series one and matches up the idea of 'a drumming noise' to a variety of elements. Probably my favourite theme is the way it matches Brody's finger tapping to drumming. A close second is the vidder's choice to link Carrie's drive, and her dedication to the wall of not-so-secret secrets, with the idea of a drumming, driving beat.

The shots set to 'I hoped that they would clear my mind' are also perfect - her sister's kids are totally church bells, ringing bright and strong around Carrie.

[VID] [Person of Interest] Call Me Maybe by talitha78 (4:04) (Reese/Finch)
Sometimes the combination of song and fandom just make a vid click for me, and that's definitely the case here.

I'm already a little too into Carley Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe" because of a certain Teen Wolf vid, so a POI vid that used the song always had a good chance of becoming a favourite of mine. Ben Howard's version of the song though — I was emotionally unprepared for strings and soft voiced lyrics that catch and hold. I liked how this vid pulled out all the little shippy moments, of which there are many, and mixed them in to fit the new twist of meaning that this version of the song brings out.

And although I blatantly came to this for Reese/Finch I loved seeing Kara appear. Carter is clearly my first lady of POI, followed by Zoe, but Kara is such a great character too. Might have to go look for some Kara vids soon.

Comments

[goodbyebird]

Yay thanks for the CA fic rec, I've basically been binging for days now and it's tough to hunt down stuff all by your lonesome ♥

(And I am not sorry about the talitha vid. At least I'm not alone in my compulsive rewatching of that damn thing.)