176: Watch and Wait

[thefourthvine]

So. I have emerged from my traditional Yuletide-related November and December catatonia to the equally traditional late-December intimations of Yuletide doom. (I have written a terrible story that my recipient will surely hate! WOE.) (No, really, Yuletide is lots of fun, I love it every year and I advise everyone to do it. I just have the dooooooom right now.)

And many people are currently gearing up for either a joyous celebration of goodwill and family or a grim marathon of conspicuous consumption and shouting. (If the former, Merry Christmas! If the latter, courage - Christmas comes but once a year, and on Boxing Day I think you're allowed to hit something.) I do believe it's time for a few good vids.

The One That Proves That Bad Guys Really Do Have More Fun. Don't Stop Me Now, by charmax. Doctor Who.

I really do love the Doctor. (Most of all, I love the TARDIS, but the Doctor is a very close second.) I have even seen a whole season of Doctor Who, and I really liked it. So I find it kind of odd that when I truly love a DW vid, it often either a) is about a non-Doctor character or b) has a message I don't actually believe, like "Wow, the Doctor is a total tool." (Like, the other vid I considered recommending in this set was pretty much, "the Doctor ruins lives! If he comes near you, your only hope of future happiness is to punch him in the teeth and flee!")

This is a vid about the Master, who is definitely a non-Doctor character. I know almost nothing about the Master - he's a Time Lord, he's, um, yeah, that's pretty much where it ends - but I will say that, from this vid, it looks like he's the Doctor without brakes. He's also a tremendous amount of fun.

Too often, you see people who are cast down by the burdens of being bad, all crushed under the weight of taking over the world. Which, I mean - live a little, bad guys. No reason to be all angsty. Own your villainy! If you're going to put people in graves, at least have the courtesy to dance on them. And in this, the Master could serve as an inspiration to us all; he does not seem to suffer from Bad Guy Trauma, and he looks like he would dance on any grave you cared to fill. He might even have his own special song to sing while dancing on graves, and if he does, it would be a happy song. I respect that immensely.

And that is why you should totally watch this vid, even if you don't know the canon, even if you have no idea what a Time Lord is, even if you vaguely thought Doctor Who was some kind of medical show focusing on amnesia. This vid will, I promise you, bring a smile to your face even if you're expecting the Doctor to show up with a stethoscope and some memory cards. And if you couldn't pick the Master out of a crowd, not a problem. He's the really happy one. So come! Watch him take over the world with flair and style.

(If you do happen to know the canon, could you tell me what's up with the end bit of this vid, with the kid and the ring? It seems to be suggesting that the Master will rise again, but for all I know it could be a scene from an entirely different source.)

It's Like Slash Goggles for Normal People! Four Years, by Fabella, aka wistful_fever. Stargate: Atlantis.

OMG EEEEEEEEE <3!

Sorry. That really needed to be said. It's the summary of everything that follows, and, really, you can probably skip all my hysterical babbling and just go watch the vid if you'd rather. (This is the recommended course of action.)

But if you're curious about why I'm recommending this even though everyone else on earth has and also it only came out about five minutes ago - um. I can probably find something to say that isn't just dolphin noises. Let me just take a few breaths first.

Okay. Actual English-language commentary commences now. This is the classic, the perfect slash vid. If, in the future, anyone is looking to define the slash vid as a genre, I suggest just smacking this vid down and saying, "Watch." Fabella here shows what source looks like through slash-o-vision, and she does it a) mostly through body language (watch John!), which made me bounce up and down like a little girl, and b) with a narrative.

Because, okay, let's face it. Slash vids are fun when you're deeply into a pairing, but they can sometimes leave you a little bit, "Um. Yes, they're so totally doing it. And...?" Or, at least, they can if you're me, although I am well-known to be equipped with a heart made entirely of recycled tires and crustaceans. (The Grinch is my second cousin. Heart problems run in our family.) But this vid - there's a story in here, a classic slash narrative, and that just makes the vid, turns it from just another slash vid to the ultimate slash vid.

I mean, yes, fine. It's also perfectly (and interestingly) cut, with a great song choice and brilliant clip selection and all that. Yes. It is. But the heart of this vid, for me, is the slash, the pining, the story. (John is in love, and Rodney needs to be clonked on the head a few times.) And although you probably need to be into this pairing to love this vid, even if you're not, it's worth watching because - well, I don't think it can get any better than this.

(Also: OMG EEEEEEEEE <3!)

The Vid That Will Rise Again, and Keep Rising Until You Just Give in and Watch It, So Download It Already. You Will Not Be Sorry. All These Things That I've Done, by Lithium Doll, aka halcyon_shift. Angel the Series.

I dithered for a long time about recommending this one, because it was made for me. But I love it so much, and it makes me so happy, and I've waited almost a year to see if I love it less or want to recommend it less, and - well. Did I mention that I love it still, with all my (non-standard) heart? So, made for me be damned. I am still recommending it.

For me, this is Angel - Angel the series, Angel the person. This vid makes me think of a lot of things - well, I mean, five seasons, one vid, it's going to - but what I really think of is - okay. When I first heard this song, I thought it was just about Angel. When Lithium Doll asked me to explain how I thought it was about Angel, though, I kept talking about other people - Cordelia, Doyle, Wes, Gunn. And now, when I watch the vid, I think of Angel, yes, and I still love that big galoot, but mostly what I think of is something I saw in a Firefly vid: a hero is someone who gets other people killed. And it's interesting to me that a song that I thought was entirely about the hero's journey is actually, in vid form, a lot more about the people who support that journey, sometimes with their lives.

This vid also makes me happy because it's here, and for most of its pre-release existence, it could handily have won the Vid Least Likely to See Tomorrow award. I wasn't involved in the making of it at all, but I got regular updates, and they looked something like this:

LD: I have thirty seconds! Wanna see?
LD: I have a rough vid with blank spots!
LD: ...Now I don't have a computer.
LD: I have a new computer and a new draft!
LD: Um. Hard drives dead.
LD: Hard drives replaced. And now I have betas!
LD: The powers that be hate me and have taken my computer to prove it. Vid just about the only thing to survive. All betas lost. Also my will to live.
LD: I have resurrected the computer and the vid and am soldiering on, ever on. Shall we begin anew?
Me: For the love of god, post it before something ELSE dies.

What can we learn from this? Well, first, that Lithium Doll is a doughty fighter. And, second, that this is the vid that would not die - sort of an immortal, undead vid. But it sure got a lot of the files and hardware around it killed. In retrospect, I suppose we both should have been less surprised by this than we were.

But it hasn't gotten anything killed since its release (that I know about), so it's safe to download it and watch it now. And obviously you were meant to; a vid survives that many major computer disasters for a reason, people.

Sometimes a Cigar Is Just a Cigar. This Would Not Be One of Those Times. Detachable Penis, by the Media Cannibals: Sandy (sherrold), Alex (alexfandra), Gwyn (gwyn_r), Tina (who does not have a journal), and Rache (wickedwords); remastered by justacat. The Professionals.

Watching this for the first time earlier this year, I fully and clearly understood why justacat felt the need to digitally remaster this and thus preserve it for the fannish ages. Few vids have made me start laughing on the first clip, but this did. Actually, I was kind of giggling just from the opening screen, because people vidded this song! I would have bet, if you'd asked me, that this song was totally unviddable. I mean, it's a classic, yes - certainly a classic of penis minstrelsy - but it has spoken lyrics. And it's about a dude misplacing his detachable penis. These things do not say "vid song" to me. But that is why I am not a vidder, and also why the Media Cannibals are geniuses, because this is just about the best vid ever.

And, no, you don't need to know anything about the Professionals to watch this. (Trust me. At Vividcon, nestra did a pop quiz on me during a Pros vid. She said, "Which one is Doyle?" I had a fifty-fifty chance, and I got it wrong. My fannish shame is great, but my point is: I don't know from the Professionals.) Here's what you need to know: they're guys. With guns. And the Media Cannibals took those two salient facts and made - well. This vid.

It is wonderful and hysterical. It does a better job of cheering me up than all of YouTube. And it's about guns and penises. I don't see how anyone who calls herself a fangirl could not want to see this vid. And, thanks to justacat's dedicated remastering of the classics, you can. Go watch!

Comments

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

If you do happen to know the canon, could you tell me what's up with the end bit of this vid, with the kid and the ring?
I can't actually get the thing to play for me right now, but I've seen it before. I'm about 98% certain "the kid" was the eight-year-old Master who went crazy after looking into the Time Vortex (as you do). "The ring" survived the Master's body being burned on a funeral pyre. There was never an explanation given in the series, but fandom pretty much interpreted it as you do: The Master will rise again! DA DA DUUUUUUUUUM!

(Like, the other vid I considered recommending in this set was pretty much, "the Doctor ruins lives! If he comes near you, your only hope of future happiness is to punch him in the teeth and flee!")
Which you will either totally tell us about now or promise to rec in the future. RIGHT?

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

The Master will rise again! DA DA DUUUUUUUUUM!

Yay! Although I'm not sure he could ever be as much fun as he was in this incarnation. I was stunned when Best Beloved said, "Hey! It's Sam Tyler!" Because, wow. He's sure different as the Master.

Which you will either totally tell us about now or promise to rec in the future. RIGHT?

Right. (Obviously, I'm going the rec in the future route. You have my permission to bop me with something if I don't.)

[cobweb-diamond.livejournal.com]

Luckily, the Master does have his own little song. In one episode, he dances and lip-synchs to that Scissor Sisters song about murder. It's kind of awesome.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

That is insanely awesome. It's so wonderful to see villains having fun.

...I mean, not, you know, that I want to see the triumph of the evil or anything.

[halcyon-shift.livejournal.com]

Hey, it wasn't just constant computer death!

LD: And I send email and wait for response
LD: And wait a little more. Oh, hey, snow.
LD: Well, I don't want to stalk her. Again.
LD: I should just wait
LD: Okay, end of this month for sure
LD: So, about that email I sent..
TFV: Email?

(thank you for the rec! *smooch* )

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I WAS ALLOWED TO NOT INCLUDE THAT. ON ACCOUNT OF IT DID NOT WORK WITH MY METAPHOR. SEE? SOUND LITERARY REASONS.

...Yeah, I was pretty much the Worst Winner Ever, a title I continue to hold. Next Sweet Charity, you should auction off a Get away from TFV Free card. It would totally raise thousands, although I suppose it would be wrong to drag funds out of terrified vidders via threats. Probably there's a law or something.

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Cheers, that vid set me right up for my annual Winter Doctor Who Festival. Er, I mean Christmas Day. :)

from this vid, it looks like he's the Doctor without brakes. He's also a tremendous amount of fun.

Yeah, that's about the size of it. With, you know, a side order of pure evil. I think he does have a bit of Bad Guy Trauma, but luckily for us it's extremely well-hidden.

And I think we are probably supposed to infer from the ring scene that the Master will indeed rise again. It was accompanied by some mocking laughter IIRC, which only seems to confirm this theory.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I think he does have a bit of Bad Guy Trauma, but luckily for us it's extremely well-hidden.

See? THAT is the kind of quality villain behavior I look for. For the love of god, don't mope about your BGT. If you must be bad, be bad and happy, damn it.

*will probably start a campaign to wipe out gloomy bad guys*

It was accompanied by some mocking laughter IIRC, which only seems to confirm this theory.

Mocking laughter is an excellent sign. Prognosis: return imminent!

And happy Winter Doctor Who Festival. May your companions be merry and bright, and may all your TARDISes be - okay, blue.

[bleedtoblue.livejournal.com]

Own your villainy! If you're going to put people in graves, at least have the courtesy to dance on them.


Sage advice to villains everywhere.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Well, I have strong feelings on the topic. I will probably start a "leave the angst to the angels" campaign or something.

*plans*

[china_shop]

even if you vaguely thought Doctor Who was some kind of medical show focusing on amnesia

*dies* How are you so awesome?

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

It makes lots of sense! See, there'd be a doctor, and he'd be a neurologist specializing in amnesia cases. And sometimes he'd help people regain memories, and other times he'd uncover faked amnesia, and...wow. This would be the most boring show EVER. Much better that he's an alien with a banana and a screwdriver, really.

[kitaloon.livejournal.com]

I love the Master's character so much. Wear snappy suits and leather gloves, have practically-phone sex with their nemesis, make the theme song of their Grand World Takeover be horribly catchy Australian dance music; why don't all villains do these things? Also, he's really devastatingly attractive.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

He really is very, very awesome.

Wear snappy suits and leather gloves, have practically-phone sex with their nemesis, make the theme song of their Grand World Takeover be horribly catchy Australian dance music

I'm willing to negotiate on the music - a person could have a catchy samba or something, if he didn't like Australians or whatever - but otherwise, yes. I shall call this the Master/Lex Luthor school of villainy.

...Oo. Master/Lex Luthor. There's a pairing I either really, really want to see or must hide from RIGHT NOW.

why don't all villains do these things?

I don't know! I mean, if I was going to go to the devil, you can bet I would go with style. I would have a backing chorus! And dancers! And...woo, I just went to a bad '70s place, didn't I? So possibly I am not cut out to be a villain. But by god, I know what to expect from someone who is.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

That John/Rodney vid is, yes, in fact, one of the most fabulous slash vids ever.

(My very favorite is still lim's My Brilliant Idea (http://sublim.imeem.com/video/5-MRQkHo/my_brilliant_idea/), but this one comes close.)

And oh, "Detachable Penis," YES! I'm so with you. Even just thinking about it makes me giggle.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

My very favorite is still lim's My Brilliant Idea, but this one comes close.

My Brilliant Idea is indeed fabulous and all things wonderful, but I consider it a slash vid with extras, not just a pure slash vid. (Because lim, to my mind, brings a very unusual and fascinating sensibility to vidding. It's - hmmm, I don't really know how to describe it, but you know what I'm talking about, probably.) So Four Years is going to be my slash vid exemplar. (Of course we need vid exemplars. No, you may not ask why.)

And oh, "Detachable Penis," YES! I'm so with you. Even just thinking about it makes me giggle.

God. It is such brilliance. I love the twisted, twisted people who thought of doing that.

(Important Icon Query: Why is only Rodney in the hat? Is John anti-Christmas? Is he Rodney's elf? Is he Jewish? Is he...hmmm. Too tall to get a hat photoshopped on?)

[way2busymom.livejournal.com]

All These Things continues to be one of my most favorite Angel vids.

*makes happy happy noises*

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

*beams*

Is it not awesome? And Lithium Doll made it for MEEEEEE! Despite, um, the total failure of everything computer-related that the vid so much as looked at, and possible persistent hauntings and other supernatural artifacts. We persevered! And it was worth it! At least to me, although I did not have to do full-scale hardware replacement, so you will have to ask the Doll about her opinion.

Thanks for the love!

[sherrold.livejournal.com]

You got us all perfectly (Alex is http://alexfandra.livejournal.com/), and you're right -- we owe so much to Justacat we'll never be able to repay her. I'm glad you liked it! (Oh, and there's a trick for Pros, if you can imagine a New Yawk accent -- it's Doyle with the Cawrls.)

Re: Thanks for the VID!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

we owe so much to Justacat we'll never be able to repay her

Justacat is amazing. We should seriously look into a fannish cloning program, so every fandom can have a Justacat. (That would be incredibly helpful for Yuletide, too - think if we had a mini-elyn! An astolat secondus! They'd have time to run Yuletide and...hmmm. Sleep, maybe.)

Oh, and there's a trick for Pros, if you can imagine a New Yawk accent -- it's Doyle with the Cawrls.

Oh my god, I got it wrong AGAIN. I didn't remember which one Nestra asked me about - I just remembered that I guessed curls and I was wrong. So obviously she asked me about Bodie. (And that's so unfair. Bodie is a curly name! Doyle is a short-haired name! Am I allowed to blame the script writers instead of my lousy memory?)

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

The Master is another renegade Time Lord, pretty much the polar opposite of the Doctor. The Doctor fixes things. The Master fucks them up. A while back he used up his share of incarnations -- 13? -- and spent a while as a rotting hulk plotting in his (newer and working) TARDIS. Finally he stole a new body and was off again.

The two actually worked together on at least one occasion -- someone had messed with the equations that ran the Universe, and it was coming apart, and they figured out that compromising was preferable to dying.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *takes notes* Is this new-Who, too, or in classic Who, or what? (I get confused. There's a lot of Doctors running around.)

Finally he stole a new body and was off again.

You have to admire that. Okay, you don't HAVE to, but he certainly has a lot of joie de vivre.

The two actually worked together on at least one occasion -- someone had messed with the equations that ran the Universe, and it was coming apart, and they figured out that compromising was preferable to dying.

...Where are their PRINCIPLES? Surely they should prefer the end of the universe to anything resembling rapprochment.

Ah, well. Time Lords are different, perhaps.

[acari.livejournal.com]

! Four Years, by Fabella, aka wistful_fever. Stargate: Atlantis.

*throws up hands*

Not you, too. Am I honestly the only one who does not get why this vid is so great? The song is fun, I love John and Rodney to death but... argh! I watch this vid, again and again, and it does nothing for me, absolutely nothing. Stuff like that irritates me to no end; I want to squee too, damnit!

*sulks*

[ainsley.livejournal.com]

Not just you, but then I've never seen anything in any vid except for a bunch of images cut together. No story, no matching to the song, nothing. And I've only ever watched the vids that absolutely everyone recs.

Vids have talked me out of watching two source texts so far, in fact. *hangs head in eternal shame*

[ainsley.livejournal.com]

It was "Four Years" that made me give up on vids, sadly. Because if I can't see anything in the One True Vid of my One True OTP (so far), then my brain is broken, probably beyond repair. *is sad*

"Detachable Penis" was kinda funny, though. You could probably do the same thing with almost any show, which probably says a lot about the fetishization of guns in the US. (and maybe there's a slim hope for me. if there is, it's slim, but... i can has hope, pls?)

(in my defense, or my prosecution, I'm not sure which, it took me years to have any interest in fic. maybe fandom will wear down my resistance here, too.)

[acari.livejournal.com]

No, don't give up on vids! Did you watch Men of Devotion (http://chayiana.livejournal.com/5974.html) by chayiana? That's the vid I'd consider the One True McShep Vid. It's not technically perfect, but it is so. much. fun. I end up grinning like a lunatic every time I watch it. Oh, how I love their adorable dorkfaces.

[aurora]

Great vids, but especially the SGA and Angel ones are 'OMG Eeeeeeeeeeeeee'-worthy. ♥

[redfiona99.livejournal.com]

>>(If you do happen to know the canon, could you tell me what's up with the end bit of this vid, with the kid and the ring? It seems to be suggesting that the Master will rise again, but for all I know it could be a scene from an entirely different source.)<<

With the Master assume he'll be back. You know the many deaths of Daniel Jackson that just won't take? He's like the Master's less successful apprentice in that respect. He's been all out of lives for the past 20 years of the show, and still, he comes back.

He's totally the Doctor without breaks, no matter when he turns up. They're also soooo high school boyfriends - >>The Doctor : [Speaking of the Master.] "He used to be a friend of mine once... a very good friend. In fact, you might almost say we were at school together."<<

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

What a great set. Detachable Penis is one of my all time favorites, and I didn't know it was now in digital, YAY! Thank you for the heads-up.

Also, I'm totally saving the SGA one for Christmas Day. :)

[wistful-fever.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the rec! It was fabulous to hear about. :) I am, however, sorry to hear that the video doesn't work for everyone, but hey, YMMV and all that, I can't expect anything else. Videos can only reach so many audiences at once. In fact, after all the struggling with it, I'm lucky it's worked for more than just myself and the intended victim (semielliptical). Happy Holidays! :D

[ainsley.livejournal.com]

As one of the people who didn't get it, the only vid I've ever understood at all was the SPN "Women's Work" and that was because person after person after person told me what I was supposed to see before I watched it (and what I saw was mostly, okay, I see why they see that in it, rather than it clicking for me). So in me not getting it, you're in the company of every other vidder whose vids I've ever watched. (And I watched it twice, because the internets have been filled with people extolling its wonders, so I don't have much company in the not-getting-it thing.)

But I like Carbon Leaf now! It's a start, maybe.

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

Oh - recs! :)

Merry Christmas and all that. I'm looking forward to the Stargate Atlantis marathon on Sci-fi tomorrow :) and.. I have to finish up shopping. oh yea. I'm a last minute person.

Be careful of eating too many christmas cookies. We baked cookies all day today and my sister ended up in bed feeling misrable from nibbling too much. She's pregnant too, and I guess the extra sugar just threw her for a loop or something.

[apatheia-jane.livejournal.com]

Yep, the boy is Young!Master, going insane. Now he hears drums beating in his head permanently, as a call to war. He's a little grouchy about it, but he copes by taking over the world by making everyone else hear the same beat, and then rejoices with Rogue Traders "Here come the drums".

In case you haven't read it, I heartily rec shaggydogstail's Crazy in Love: A Case Study of Factitious Disorders and Relationship Breakdown in Gallifreyan Males (http://shaggydogstail.livejournal.com/288630.html).

[saffronhouse.livejournal.com]

Eeeee hee hee!

Your recs are as much fun as the vids themselves. (this is per usual, of course)

Thanks SO MUCH for posting during the christmas madness when we NEED IT MOST.

Smiling right now -- even though living a life very ordinary, a house full of relatives and no presents wrapped yet. Still: joy!

[eveningblue.livejournal.com]

1. "Detachable Penis" is so freaking excellent I can't stand it! It is perfection and it's great to know someone who isn't even a fan of the show also thinks it's awesome! (God, you just gave me a hankering to go and watch some Pros.) Something that makes this vid even better for fans is the context of the original clips. Obviously a casual fan can find the vid satisfying (as you have). But knowing the context of the clips (Doyle really DID "lose" his gun! they really are discussing buying it back in *that* clip) gives the vid an even richer layer of meaning and satisfaction for someone who knows the show. If that makes any sense.

2. Sigh. I just don't *get* "Four Years." I don't see the slash! God, what is wrong with me? (Two invocations of God already in this reply--it truly must be the Holy Season!) I have to admit that SGA slash vids that really work for me are humor vids. I just don't see the longing and heartache and angst that other fans see. There was recently a discussion in some comm of the moment McShep fans saw the slash, and many agreed that there was a moment in the pilot when John ran off some mathematical calculation and Rodney looked at him all gooey--I went back and watched it and saw *nothing*! ::weeps:: I love reading McShep but I just don't really see it in the show.

The Pros vid isn't even technically a slash vid and yet I see the slash bleeding out all over the place there. Why don't I see it in SGA? Seriously, is there a name for this condition that I seem to have?

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

Just letting you know that this post led to me tidying up my downloads folder, which led to me re-watching queenzulu's vid for Written by the Victors, which led to me deciding to try the podfic version and then spending 5 1/2 hours listening to it while wrapping presents, making gingerbread and accomplishing myriad other tasks. A very memorable way to spend Christmas Eve, so thanks!

Happy Yuletide!

[bitter-crimson.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that Detachable Penis vid is BRILLIANT! I, also, would never have guessed someone could successfully vid that song, but I love it. It kinda vaguely makes me want to look into watching that show, but ...nahhhh, I'll just enjoy watching the vid over and over again instead. ;D I'm so glad a digital remaster of it was made. I never get out into seeing vids in the "real world." *cough*

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

I checked your Angel tags and am thrilled to have found this post with the link to the amazing Angel vid!