Fanwork Recs - May 12, 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:

• Avengers — fanvid (2)
• Captain America: The First Avenger — fanvid (2)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier — fanfic (1), fanart (4), fanvid (1), meta (1)
• Homeland — fanvid (2)
• Jurassic Park — fanvid (1)
• The Sarah Conner Chronicles— fanvid (2)

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Well, it's still Captain America time for me. It will probably be Captain America time for awhile yet. SORRY IN ADVANCE.

[VID] [Captain America: The First Avenger; The Avengers] The War Was in Color by settiai (6:15) (Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers)
I've gotten all nostalgic for TFA fan work, so I spent maybe a lot of time rewatching this vid the past few weeks. Everything about this vid makes me happy, from the song choice to the use of color. The first chorus, where it switches from black and white to color is still so affecting; I get chills even now. The second time this vid socks me in the heart is the use of the song title when Steve runs into Times Square. So much of this vid for me isn't just about war between nations, but also about internal conflict that's really hard to put into words. TFA was a film that really took this type of personal struggle very seriously, especially in regards to the losses Steve suffers. This vid teases that out even more, and then adds on a top later of feelings from The Avengers, too, because so much of the fight there was an internal struggle of very complicated individuals coming together as a team. But seriously, the clip/lyric choice at 3:27. I love this so much.

[VID] [Captain America: The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier] Always by caramarie (3:42) (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes)
If I had any talent whatsoever to make vids, this is the type of vid I would make. PERFECT MELODRAMA. As the vid description says, "It's nothing but some feelings." and it's 100% emotions from start to finish. My favorite part is every time this vid uses "forever and a day", like it knows exactly how to cause me pain. THANKS A LOT, VID.

[VID] [Avengers] In the Bullpen by caramarie (2:37) (Natasha Romanoff)
I've been having a lot of bitterness over Natasha lately and how I'm probably going to be 80 years old shaking my fists about how Marvel was a complete shit and never gave me my Black Widow trilogy. The world deserves a Black Widow movie, seeing as how they've given Natasha core roles in Avengers as well as The Winter Soldier, taunting us with how fantastic she is. This is an awesome compilation of just how rad Natasha actually is as part of this team; integral and clever and thoughtful and the skill to take you down with her thighs. 0:25 to 0:30 is my stop, with the sweeping of her hair and the mix of the lyrics. goodbye

[VID] [Captain America: The First Avenger] Sorrow by trelkez (3:31) (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter)
This vid is THE WORST and THE BEST. IT IS SO PAINFUL. The song choice alone is instant emotional pain and suffering for three long, miserable minutes. I don't cry at vids very often, but I do cry at this one every time I watch it, and the addition of The Winter Soldier makes it so much worse. I can't even listen to this song anymore; sorry, band, You are Screwed, this vid ruined me for your song. I'm a vast ocean made of nothing but tears. Every time I watch it I want to launch myself into an active volcano to stop the pain. THIS WAS TERRIBLE AND WILL RUIN YOUR DAY. EVERYONE WATCH IT.



[ART] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Steve, Sam, & Bucky by mechinaries
If you follow me on tumblr you'll know I have developed a serious, long term relationship with fan art in this fandom that's not going away. This picture makes me break down in laughter every time. Everything about it is perfect; everything about the continuations, from the confetti to the camera is the greatest thing. I love this.

[ART] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] the light before we land by sandara (Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes)
I love that this moment in the film has given fan artists open season on water scenes. I will take all of them.

[ART] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Cards Against Humanity by voodooling (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes)
I am not sure anything will top the comedy of this art for me. Maybe. It would have to be seriously funny, though. Sometimes I will just think about this piece while doing something random and unrelated and crack myself up. Then everyone around me just stares in horror while I have a laughter meltdown over a piece of fan art there's no possible way I can show them and have them understand.

[FIC] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Run Until the Road Runs Out by ignipes (5,264 words) (Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov)
I've been hand-selling this fic to people one at a time, determined to suck them into my reality where Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes become BFFs and Sam helps Bucky with feelings and Bucky helps Sam not get squished by bad guys and Bucky uses arm issues to come over and talk to Sam about his problems until he stops feeling the need to use it as an excuse at all. I just want friendship and lots of Sam being an awesome, competent friend like this story does. ;___;

[META] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] history in pop culture by therealdeepsix (892 words) (Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes)
Meta about the Smithsonian exhibit and its place in the narrative of he film. We see it at the beginning of the film, at the lead up to the final battle, and at the very end. This contextualizes some of what the scene might be trying to do. Pretty cool points, especially the beginning, with the discussion of curation.

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[VID] [Homeland] Collage by Joyo (03:32) (Carrie, Saul)

I decided to investigate the Festivids tags again and got sucked into a couple of "Homeland" vids.

"Collage" is about Carrie being ripped down and Saul rebuilding her out of her own endeavours. This is a boss theme. Basically, this is the vid that got me to like Saul when I usually experience *danger, danger* levels of concern whenever he's on screen.

This vid is so smart. Carrie's wall of doom and classified secrets is used as the central building block for its narrative, and this wall is used to bring in wider themes from the series. I especially like the way intercut footage shows Brody and scenes from the past as Saul rebuilds Carrie's documents in the correct pattern. Its a mixed media effect that fits well with the footage of Saul pinning all kinds of documents to the board and, with the addition of this footage, the board becomes a narrative device which allows the vid to show relevant, emotive backstory.


[VID] [Homeland] Breathing Under Water by alba17 (03:50) (Carrie/Brody) (Some scenes of war, including brief glimpses of dead children; some nudity)

OMG, it's a fluffy Carrie/Brody hurt-comfort piece made entirely from series one material! WOW! I would never even have guessed that such a thing could exist, because most of their romantic material comes in series two. It's everything I always wanted for one of my weirdest ships!

"Breathing Under Water" pulls out parallels between Carrie and Brody, and cuts these together with various shots, including pieces from their brief affair, to evoke a delicious hurt-comfort vibe. It's interesting to see the vid reconfigure clips where, in canon, Carrie is luring Brody into believing they're forming a genuine bond. I guess this reflects the way canon tries to convince the viewer that Carrie's behaviour is erratic and ambiguous (meh, I just didn't buy this element of canon - Brody was clearly a terrorist). The mix of shots ends up creating a compelling argument that Carrie and Brody are each other's escape route from scary lives and bad decisions.

I also liked seeing clips of Brody's family mixed in to this vid, as they show how important Jessica and the kids continue to be even after the affair. Dana - the girl who stopped the bomb! Are there Dana vids around that I should know about?

[VID] [The Sarah Connor Chronicles] Strange Angels by sanguinity (03:08) (Sarah Connor, John Connor) (Canon-typical violence, suicidal ideation, character deaths, dead bodies, and blood)

Right now, everything reminds me of Nyx from "The Bel Dame Apocrypha" trilogy, so unsurprisingly that I think this vid is Sarah as Nyx. It actually reminded me a lot of how Hurley's books are constructed as well because there's a lot of John's perspective in this video as well as Sarah's. You get to see the hard times Sarah goes through and understand her, but you also see the hurt she sometimes quite casually inflicts by being Sarah at people. Very reminiscent of Hurley's multi-perspective, empathetic books. The use of Sarah and John in the car just tears my heart, because it looks like he's convincing himself to laugh at the end, but also like he wants to laugh. Confused John Connor is possibly my favourite John Connor.

In this vid, you also get to see Sarah hurt as the people she cares about and protects have happy in moments that block her out. I am very invested in Nyx as a disposable shield - a useful object characters shelter behind when they're afraid who is rejected for her necessary, hard nature - and seeing a similar analysis of Sarah may have connected these two women in my head forever. Shaping yourself into someone who can protect people is often a thankless task in fictional lands.

[VID] [The Sarah Connor Chronicles] The Queen by beccatoria (03:38) (Full cast)

More flawless vidding from beccatoria. This is a real tear jerker for a thousand reasons, not least the perfect song choice.

[VID] [Jurassic Park] They Want More by bironic (03:31) (Dinosaurs) (Dinosaur-related violence, gore, cruelty to animals, morbid humor. One clip has possible overtones of sexual threat. There is lightning at :23-:24 and 1:18-1:19)

Renay, I found a "Jurassic Park" vid from the perspective of the dinosaurs :D I thought it was so clever how this vid used its song to give the dinosaurs a wicked, angry voice. I could almost believe Elton John's song was originally about raptors revolting against their human captors.

[ART] [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] Captain America/Frozen crossover by vegandragon (Steve/Bucky)
I DON'T EVEN GO HERE!

About a month ago, my Tumblr dash went 24/7 "Winter Soldier" and this fandom shows no signs of slowing down. Although I haven't seen the Captain America films yet, I'm pretty sure all the fan activity is going to push me towards them very soon. There is a lot of hot man-pain, a lot of history and a lot of adorable Bucky Barnes stuff out there. This is probably my favourite piece of cute right now though because crossing a fandom with "Frozen" makes everything better.

Comments

[renay]

JODIE JUST GIVE IN AND WATCH THE MOVIES. DO IT. #PEERPRESSURE

[goodbyebird]

LOOK AT YOU LADIES WATCHING VIDS :D

I must have blinked, because I missed those Homeland vids on the festivids list, must remedy when I get home! Oh, and fan_eunice made a fabulous vid for the show as well, called Barton Hollow.

[renay]

PROBABLY SOME VIDS WILL LEGIT SEND ME TO AN EARLY GRAVE. How do people have this many feelings all the time?

[goodbyebird]

ahaha I know! I actually make sure to ration out the vids I have available to me on my laptop, lest I get sucked into an endless cycle of vid watching(it's happened before). Actually slowly putting together my festivids rec list now. VIDS *_*

[renay]

EXCITED FOR FESTIVIDS REC LIST.

[bookgazing]

Link us to it when it's done!

[bookgazing]

Wow, so you were really not kidding about Sorrow. The idea of waking up so far from home just kills me.

[renay]

Welcome to my crippling pain funhouse. Pull up a box of tissues and faceplant directly into it.