Recs! (Inpired by Vividcon)

[rusty_halo]

I bring recs! All inspired by conversations or vids at Vividcon.

As I was telling several people, the story that had me in tears at the corner of Third and St. Mark’s was For Keeps For Good Forever by candle_beck. I guess you’d say it’s a darkfic–I found it creepy but also very lovely in a haunting way. It’s basically season three if Sam never found out about Dean’s deal. (And also if they were having sex and if Sam didn’t notice his own encroaching dark side.) I was listening to the podfic, which you’ll find here–I’ve been listening to all of her recorded Supernatural stories and so far every single one has been fantastic.

And now my favorite vids of the con (with the caveat that I skipped a bunch of vidshows so I may discover other favorites later):

On the Prowl by sisabet and sweetestdrain (Multi)
This was my favorite vid of the con. I'm sad that we ran out of discussion time because there were so many hands up that didn't get called and I could've talked about this for hours--I actually wandered around attempting to talk to strangers after the session was over because I wanted to hear peoples' reactions.

The challenge was "Self-Portrait" and the vidders' summary was "Where is our line?" What interested me was the diversity of reactions and interpretations. Most people I talked to seemed to be interpreting it as a moral question--at what point does our enjoyment of beautiful men in pain become disturbing/creepy/wrong? (One person I talked to was deeply offended and took it as a personal condemnation; another was delighted and took it as a celebration of her kink.) It fascinates me what our reactions reveal about ourselves and our level of comfort with our own kinks and our fear of being judged, because "Where is our line?" doesn't have to be a moral question at all, but simply a question of at what point does a kink turn into a squick. (Which also fascinates me for obvious reasons--who doesn't want to dwell on the nuances of her own kinks?)

(Given the identity of the vidders, it probably goes without saying that the vid is also brilliantly edited.)

Around the Bend by danegen (Multi)
I think pretty much everyone at the con adored this, and for good reason. It's so joyful, edited so well, and the variety of sources is amazing and wonderful.

Stay Awake by laurashapiro (Multi)
Holy fuck, this was terrifying. I liked it on three levels:

1) It was fantastically edited and the clips were chosen perfectly.

2) It points out a deeply fucked-up Hollywood trend, which is that even progressive shows with strong female characters have a tendency to menace those characters by threatening and violating their bodies.

3) And yet (as someone pointed out in the vid review) it's a reversal of the usual horror trope in which female bodies are portrayed as monstrous and "other." Here the point of identification is with the women, and the horror comes not from the womens' bodies but from the violation.

Want by destina (Supernatural)
SPN through the eyes of the Yellow-Eyed Demon. I like creepy things, obviously!

CITIHALL* by bradcpu (Futurama)
This was hilarious and obviously edited with great creativity and skill.

The Boy King by jmtorres (Supernatural)
This was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. The summary pretty much covers it: "Sam Winchester, the Death Sheep from Hell." I was sad that there was only one SPN vid in Premieres, but very happy that it was this good.

I Just Can't Wait to Be King by LC (Star Trek)
I very much disliked the new Star Trek movie and yet this still made me smile.

Sahara by snoo (Chicago Loop)
Why isn't this vid online?! It was an awesome vid from the history show--what if Dr. Bashir from Deep Space Nine and Lenny from Strange Days were having some kind of shared virtual reality Lawrence of Arabia-themed affair? What an amazing concept. Anyone know what the source was? (ETA: IMDB tells me it was A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, a 1992 TV movie sequel to Lawrence of Arabia.)

Wild Horses by dualbunny (Farscape)
A beautiful vid that reminds me of how much I love Aeryn and John. One of the things I enjoyed about this after watching it in conjunction with several other het vids (the Veronica/Logan one springs to mind) is how completely the John/Aeryn relationship avoids so many creepy het romance cliches like the man looming over the woman, grabbing the woman, or pursuing the woman despite her professed lack of interest. Just on a visual level, you can so clearly see that this is a relationship of equals. ♥♥♥ If I hadn't seen Farscape before, this vid would've made me want to watch it.

Ada by joyo (Inglorious Basterds)
I liked this because it was about how awesome Shoshanna was in Inglorious Basterds, and I was glad to hear a lot of people who had dismissed the movie going, "Wait, what, that was Inglorious Basterds?!" It made such a point about how the advertising for the film was directed toward the young male audience, to an extent that many women who would've been into it were totally unaware of the awesome female character it stars.

That said, I disagree with the claim I heard repeatedly that the vidder highlighted everything that's good in the movie and that you shouldn't actually go see it. I actually think that Shoshanna was the most significant character in the film, that the narrative didn't slight her at all, and that you should totally go see the movie so that you can see Shosanna in all her glory. (Even though, yes, you'll have to put up with some dumb Brad Pitt related stuff, though not nearly as much as the ads would have you believe. Plus it's a beautifully made film largely about the power of cinema, so you may also appreciate it on an aesthetic/thematic level.)

How Much Is that Geisha in the Window? by lierdumoa
I missed the Race and Representation vidshow but enjoyed the subsequent panel and caught up with some of the vids when I got home. This one is particularly powerful in pointing out the absence of Asian actors in the Firefly universe.

I came home from the con desperately wanting to see more Supernatural vids, so if you have favorites, please share your recs. :)

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.