frayadjacent: Close up of Pearl looking excited (SU: Pearl excited)
Title: Statuette
Fandom: Steven Universe
Vidder: fray-adjacent
Music: Emily Haines
Summary: I couldn't keep to myself. Pearl; order and chaos; collective joy and liberation in Steven Universe.
Notes: Contains spoilers for all of Steven Universe and a few clips from SU: The Movie and Steven Universe Future, but no spoilers for SU:TM and one spoiler for SUF, which might not be noticeable out of context. There are some fast cuts and fast motion but no flashing stutter cuts.
Premiered at (Virtual) VidUKon 2020

Download | Youtube | AO3 post

 

frayadjacent: peach to blue gradient with the silouette of a conifer tree (Default)
Previous years: 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

I've written an end-of-year vidding reflection post every year since I started vidding, and I want this year to be no different. But, once again, I only made two vids this year, so the usual meme doesn't quite make sense. Instead I'll follow the format I used a couple of years ago, a year when I only made one vid.

Vids I made this year:

Shed Your Skin: a Xena character study, made for VidUKon 2018.
Virginia Woolf: a Xena/Gabrielle vid.

Both of these are part of my 90s Lesbian Icon vid series (AKA Xena vids to Indigo Girls songs), which now has five vids.

What was your outlook on vidding a year ago?

Here's what I wrote at the end of last year's meme:
My goal is three vids again this year. I managed it last year, which I’m so pleased about because I only made one vid in 2016 and two in 2015. But two of the three vids I made in 2017 (Airplane and Partition) had significant work done on them in previous years. So making three vids again this year is still a step up in productivity.

Also, Xena Warrior Podcast has inspired me to  return to my Xena vid plans, and has also given me courage to go ahead and make one or two of the darker Xena vids I’ve thought about. Not all vids need to appeal to everyone. More than any other fandom, I vid Xena so I can have the kind of vids I want to watch, and sometimes I want to watch a vid that explores the sad and difficult parts of that show.
Regarding the first paragraph: I didn't meet my goal of making three vids, and one of those vids (Virginia Woolf) also had quite a bit of work done prior to 2018. Then again, it is five and a half mintues long, so there was still plenty of vid to make.

On the other hand, the second paragraph is referring specifically to Virginia Woolf, a vid that, among other things, attempts to deal with the Xena finale, Friend in Need. Everything I said in the second paragraph still holds true, and reading it makes me glad I finished Virginia Woolf, because I know I'll re-watch it a lot. Also, I have so many more Bard!Gab feels now than I did before I made that vid.

Xena Warrior Podcast continues to keep my fannish feelings high, which helps a lot with motivation. If you like Xena, or are considering watching it, I highly recommend it. I particularly like that they bring so much cinematic/film industry knowledge to the podcast. And that they like a lot of the same things about the show that I do. :)

How was vidding life in 2018?

I spent much of the year without a good physical space for vidding. I need a setup that accomodates, as much as possible, my chronic wrist and back injuries. I also got sucked into other hobbies this year, things that were OK but ultimately less rewarding than vidding is. And I was busy with work, like most people are, and tired at the end of the day. For all of these reasons, I often went months without vidding at all. But when I did, I really enjoyed it and was motivated to work consistently on it.

The usual meme has questions like "what was your favourite vid?" etc, and I don't want to answer questions like that when I only have two vids. But:
  • The usual meme asks what my favourite vid of the year is, and Virginia Woolf is possibly my favourite Xena vid I've made yet. Time will tell if it will beat Starkville.

  • The meme asks about the sexiest moment.The first five to ten seconds of the Callisto section of Shed Your Skin is in the running for sexiest thing I have ever done in a vid.

  • The meme asks which vid is most under-appreciated by the universe. Please excuse this moment of honesty/pettiness: As I've drifted a bit from LJ/DW-based vidding fandom, my sense of how well-received my vids are increasingly comes from Youtube views. Therein madness lies. I'm not the best vidder ever, but I think my Xena vids are pretty great compared to a lot of what's out there. But a lot of what's out there has orders of magnitude more views than my vids. I keep reminding myself of two things: 1) what many people want in a vid is not necessarily what I want to make. Plenty of Xena fans just want to relive their favourite scenes set to current music that they like, and that's fine. 2) *I* do truly enjoy re-watching my vids, and as said above, I started this vid series mainly because I wasn't finding the kind of Xena vids I wanted to watch. That's slightly less true now than it was in 2014, but still mainly holds.

What's the outlook on vidding next year?

I now have a home office with a desk that fits me, and so I'm cautiously optimistic that I will vid more in 2019.

I want to continue my Xena vid series. I also have an idea for The Good Place, and I plan to re-watch Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery which might lead to vid ideas. It would be nice to make vids for shows that people are currently fannish about -- although Xena fandom is pretty healthy. I've had a few Steven Universe ideas kicking around for a while, but one of them got Jossed by a big reveal earlier this year. I find that the scheduling of Steven Universe makes it difficult to plan vids. When I vid a show that's still airing, I like to vid it during a hiatus. SU has lots of hiatuses, but you never know how long they're going to be. Also many of them are so long that I completely forget that the show is still airing.
frayadjacent: Close up of late-season Gabrielle in black & white (Xena: Gabrielle)
[community profile] snowflake_challenge Day 3:

In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


1. [personal profile] goodbyebird iconned Xena: Warrior Princess! I have heart-eyes for these and will be grabbing some if/when I get my paid account back*.

2. I love [tumblr.com profile] maariamph's adult!Steven fanart. Favourites: watering plants; charging on lion; hanging out with Connie.

3. [tumblr.com profile] restfield's amazing Drusilla manip.

*I'm planning to re-purchase my paid account once I get back in the habit of posting regularly. Please don't take this as a subtle hint that I want someone to gift it to me!

frayadjacent: Close up of Pearl looking excited (SU: Pearl excited)
Title: Electric Lady
Fandom: Steven Universe
Song: Electric Lady (edited for length) by Janelle Monáe
Summary: Watch the water turn to wine
Premiered at VidUKon 2017

Content Notes: Occasional fast cuts and flashing lights. Song lyrics use "she/her" in a section about a character who canonically goes by "they". Spoilers through early Season 4. Feel free to ask specific questions about content.

Download | Tumblr | AO3

I do not have subtitles available yet for this vid. Lyrics for the edited version of the song under the cut below the embedded vid.



Lyrics )

frayadjacent: peach to blue gradient with the silouette of a conifer tree (Mindy Kaling)
Past memes: 2016 | Um apparently I only did this once before?

1. Your main fandom of the year?

Steven Universe, as last year. But also a certain creative decision made during Season 4 of The Mindy Project knocked my socks off and massively increased my commitment to that show.

I also listened to Hamilton A LOT, and spent way too much money buying tickets to see the show this year. But I never really got into the fandom side, so I'm not sure it counts.

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

Arrival. It was so beautiful and hopeful and wonderfully told, and I looooovvvved all the process stuff in it.

3. Your favorite book read this year?

Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho, for being delightful and filling my soul just when I needed it. Also Black Wolves by Kate Elliott, which was a slow burn but so good, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (narrated by Adjoa Andoh -- I alternated between reading and listening on this one), and the audiobook of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (narrated by Morven Christie and Lucy Gaskill).

4. Your favorite TV show of the year?

Steven Universe. This season of Orphan Black was also excellent, and left me happy that the show hadn't ended with three seasons as originally planned (and as I'd wished when S3 finished).

5. Your favorite online fandom community of the year?

Dreamwidth, but I haven't been engaged much with online fandom at all this year.

6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Underground -- but I think that might be the only new show I watched in full this year? I have not been watching much and when I do I generally rewatch old stuff for comfort, or watch my few ongoing shows: Steven Universe, The Mindy Project, and Orphan Black.

Underground got some flack for being more of an action-drama than its premise suggests, but I kinda loved it. I mean, why shouldn't runaway slaves get to be action heros? And the ending left me So Excited for Season 2.

7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

I finally read Uprooted, and while in some ways it was better than I expected, it was also a lot more violent than I expected and I just wasn't feeling it. Though calling that a disappointment is a major stretch. I mostly really liked the book.

8. Your TV boyfriend of the year?

Rahul Kohli from iZombie is outrageously attractive to me, so I'll choose him even though I only watched one episode of the show. Certainly not any of Mindy Lahiri's boyfriends.

9. Your TV girlfriend of the year?

Mindy Kaling. I have heart-eyes for her.

10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

Every. Single. Moment. of the Steven Universe episode Last One Out of Beach City
frayadjacent: peach to blue gradient with the silouette of a conifer tree (SU: pearl with roses sword)
I've really enjoyed all the Festivids I've watched so far. I've mostly watched vids for sources I'm familiar with, which is more this year than previous years thanks to things like Bunheads and Bedknobs and Broomsticks and (once I catch up with canon) Supergirl.

But of course I want to give a special shout out to the vid made for me, because it is awesome. I received Your Mother, a Saga vid focusing on Alana and Hazel, and it is gorgeous. I am pretty unfamiliar with comics vidding, and what the vidder did with visual effects was stunning. They also made fantastic use of the rhythms of the source, spoken word. And the vid has so much heart and determination just like Alana. I love it dearly.

Alas, I dropped out of Festivids due to a back injury. So I didn't make a vid.

I watched Frozen for the first time a few weeks ago, on an airplane. It was great fun and I regretted not having seen it in the cinema. I have hangups about the way Pixar et al draw people -- I like a lot of other things about their animation, but I think the people look weird and it bothers me and when I see previews all I can think about is how I wish their faces were hand-drawn. But Frozen made me think I ought to try and get over that, because I enjoyed it a lot and wished I hadn't watched it for the first time 2 years late on an itty-bitty screen.

On that same flight I also watched the first episode of iZombie. I dunno, maybe it was the delirium of being 13 hours into a 14 hour flight, but I liked it a lot. I read the comic for quite a while and enjoyed it at first, when it was "zombie uses brain-eating telepathy to solve murders". But the comic quickly became an apocalypse story that I found over-the-top and excessively plotty and incredibly boring. I'm thinking the tv series is unlikely to go down that route. The characters played off each other well and I found Liv and Ravi to be very compelling. Also Ravi is a rare example of a television character who is physically My Type. And he's a kind person which I find very attractive. So I enjoyed that as well. I haven't managed to watch any more but I hope to.

I'm slowly catching up on Supergirl. It's reminding me of early Buffy and most of Xena, in that I love the character interactions and yawn at the plots. But the characters are great. not so much spoilers as vague references to spoilers for the first ~9 episodes )

The latest Stevenbomb, from a few weeks ago, was possibly my favorite yet. This show just keeps knocking it out of the ballpark.
frayadjacent: Connie Maheswaran in cosplay with a black cape. Text says, "fangirl". (!fangirl)
1. Your main fandom of the year?

In terms of passion as expressed through reblogs of fanart on Tumblr, Steven Universe. It was also the fandom I was most excited about, in addition to my ever-present love for Buffy and Xena. But I did make the Buffy vid of my heart (even if it didn't quite live up to my hopes).

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

Wild. It was such a lovely film; Witherspoon's performance was great, plus it had so much beautiful US West Coast scenery, how could I not love it?

3. Your favorite book read this year?

The Outskirter's Secret, by Rosemary Kirstein. I re-read the whole series early in the year and that one's still my favorite, though I've come to adore The Lost Steersman almost as much.

I also read and fell for the Imperial Radch books this year, but I don't know how to choose a favorite. Most people say Ancillary Justice is the best, but Ancillary Sword introduces most of my favorite characters (Tisarwat! Mercy of Kalr! Kalr 5!) so I'm not so sure.

4. Your favorite TV show of the year?

Steven Universe!!!!!! I also thought Jessica Jones was excellent, though none of its characters really pulled me in and stole my heart (Malcolm and Luke came close a few times). I started Supergirl but am still only four or five episodes in, more for external reasons than not wanting to watch the show, which I enjoy very much.

5. Your favorite online fandom community of the year?

Dreamwidth, still, but I'm pretty active on twitter. I feel like both of those things are at least as much about chatting with/reading blogs by friends as they are about participating in fandom per se. A lot of this is because the things my friends are talking about are not what I'm into. Or I get into it after my friends have already kinda gotten over it. Also, for many reasons I find myself less inclined to discuss my fannish obsessions online than I used to. I do adore the Xena watch happening at [community profile] ladybusiness.

6. Your best new fandom discovery of the year?

Steven Universe!!!!! I remember when people on twitter were talking about it and I was like, "whatever, a kid's show about a little boy is not my thing." Especially because white male child prodigies are a trope that I hate. (Steven's not a child prodigy, but I might have perceived him as one before I started the show.)

But I gave it a chance and I am so glad, because now I can say I have three favorite shows instead of two. The plotting, the storytelling, the mythology, the characterization, the relationship-building, the political and ethical positions show show carves out: every single one of these things is well done. Mostly incredibly well-done. Plus the music is fantastic, art is lovely, the voice acting is incredible, the show genuinely makes me laugh, it can be downright creepy (in a good way) at times, and UGH EVERYONES FACE. It's one of those shows where my favorite character changes from episode to episode, because they're all so good. It is earnestly hopeful and that hope is earned. This show knows my heart.

7. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?

Orphan Black. Everyone has talked about how plotty that show is, and throughout S2 many criticized the show for how convoluted the plots were getting. I didn't care as long as I had my character beats -- Sarah being ruthless and loving and never stopping trying, Helena loving children and her sistras, Felix making me laugh and warming my heart, Siobhan being a badass -- and interesting relationship dynamics. But S3 really struggled under the weight of the plottiness. Only one episode really worked for me. The second half of the season was better than the first half, but I finished the finale wishing the show was over, feeling they'd wrapped it up in a pretty good place and I wish they'd just left it there, instead of introducing *more* new plot elements for a fourth season.

8. Your TV boyfriend of the year?

John Jacobi on Killjoys. On one hand I find it embarrassingly predictable how much I like him (he's funny, he's lower-case-n nice, he wants to do right in the world, he's not particularly muscley for Hollywood), on the other hand it's surprising because it is super rare for me to find male tv characters who I really like and connect to.

Honorary mention to James Olsen from Supergirl who is great.

9. Your TV girlfriend of the year?

Deedee Magno-Hall, who voices Pearl on Steven Universe. Yes I chose a character for boyfriend and an actor for girlfriend.  I love her voice and her performance! Also Rebecca Sugar. Also Xena, forever. <3

PS If I die tell Mindy Kaling I love her.

10. Your biggest squee moment of the year?

Hmm. When Steven began singing "Giant Woman" in the episode of the same name, and the whole show just clicked. spoilers for late S1 to mid S2 Steven Universe )

11. The most missed of your old fandoms?

I miss my old devotion to BtVS, when I would discuss it online all day and rewatch whole episodes just to see if I agreed with one of the points in someone's meta, and when I vidded Buffy early on. I don't think I'll ever have that level of fannish passion again.

12. The fandom you haven’t tried yet, but want to?

I've just started Sense8, which I like well enough so far. I keep meaning to try The 100, and The Legend of the Seeker, both of which I think I'd like. I just never want to take the time to watch new shows now.

I'm more excited about getting back into books. Reading feels a lot more accessible to me than television, since I can do it on the train into work and while eating breakfast and so forth. I'm also wanting a broader range of stories and characters than I often find on television. I just finished Black Wolves and am planning to read more Kate Elliott. I'm also planning to read Chris Moriarty's Spin series (on [personal profile] luzula 's very convincing rec) and Fire Logic (the, erm, logical choice from this "which lesbian SFF should I read" list, though that list has lots of candidates!).

13. Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?

More Steven Universe. I'm also looking forward to catching up on Supergirl and to Luke Cage's show. I might see Batman v Superman, or I might just wait for the Wonder Woman supercut.
frayadjacent: Close up of Pearl looking excited (SU: Pearl excited)
Is anyone watching Steven Universe? I would love to talk about the last two episodes: "Catch and Release" and "When it Rains".

spoilers )

What did you all think?

frayadjacent: Connie Maheswaran in cosplay with a black cape. Text says, "fangirl". (SU: connie fangirl)
The world probably needs more Connie icons, so I made a few. Feel free to take with credit! Comments/concrit are always welcome and appreciated.

Connie training with a sword in a strong defensive stance. Connie sitting on the beach, reading eagerly. Connie in her green and black cosplay costume, with a pink background
Connie with her sword drawn in a strong stance, text reads "Connie Maheswaran" Connie on beach reading, text reads "fangirl" Connie in cosplay looking excited, text says "fangirl"

frayadjacent: Close up of Pearl looking excited (SU: Pearl excited)
ALL I WANT TO DO IS WATCH STEVEN UNIVERSE

But I'm at a conference, and I promised Mr. Adjacent (who is as fannish as me about this show -- I think it's his favorite, like ever) I'd wait and we'd watch the whole Stevenbomb together this weekend. Well, actually it was a mutual promise.

But I am awash in Pearl/Rose feels and Steven Feels and Connie Feels and I have a hunch about Sardonyx and if my hunch is right it's gonna be AWESOME. Ugh, how can I wait four more days????
frayadjacent: peach to blue gradient with the silouette of a conifer tree (SU: Stevonnie)
I caught up completely on Steven Universe last night, and you guys THIS SHOW HAS STOLEN MY HEART. It's so good. I have that "I want to rewatch it all the time" feeling that I haven't had about a new show in a good long while. <3

A few favorite moments:

Spoilers for the first season! )

And[personal profile] beccatoria made a glorious SU vid: Blue/Pink (note it has major spoilers for the whole first season!)

frayadjacent: peach to blue gradient with the silouette of a conifer tree (!Adorkable)
I was pretty disinterested when The Mindy Project came out because I'm not usually drawn to stories that focus on romance (no disrespect to those who are, it's just not my cup of tea), and the whole "professional woman succeeds in work but fails in love" added an extra layer of unappealing. However, I read an interesting interview with Kaling in a waiting room magazine a couple years ago, and I adored Kaling's character in The Office. In December we finally got around to giving it a try.

At first I had mixed feelings. I loved Mindy Lahiri almost immediately. Her boisterous charisma, her love for her job, her romanticism, and most of all her confidence and unwillingness to apologize for herself, are all my fannish catnip. Also, Mindy Kaling has incredible comic timing and writes and performs her character so well. But everyone else was completely unfunny and uninteresting, the Dianne/Sam thing with Danny left me cold (that trope usually does) hot with rage at what an asshat he was.

But the show evolved, something with the writing or acting gelled and it started to work better for me, maybe mid or late S1. Though Mindy is still the center of it for me, I enjoy the show as a whole more than I did at first. I'm not thrilled about recent plotlines and I maintain that spoiler for season 3 ). But really, as long as she keeps being a badass gynecologist and eating doughnuts and making me laugh out loud more than most things on television, I'll be fine with whatever this show does.

In February we watched Empire and fell under the spell of Cookie Lyon. There was a lot to like, but Cookie and Porsha's dynamic was my favorite. The finale was so upsetting though! I just want everyone to unite against Lucious and support each other. (Actually I'm not sure I want Andre in on that.)

One thing I liked about it was that despite having an ostensible anti-hero main character, the show avoided the things I hate most about that trope by giving it a strong ensemble with all the characters having agency. I never feel manipulated into rooting for someone I detest because the show actively encouraged me to root for Cookie, or Jamal or Hakeem, often against Lucious.

Also, I have never seen a show that appeared to be written not just about, but also FOR, Black people, to the extent that Empire is. Like I feel like this show really doesn't care much about its white audience and is very interested in Black points of view. To the point that the show even employs a Black stereotype of a scheming, manipulative white woman. It's refreshing to see (not so much the stereotype I suppose, but the rest of it).

After mourning the season finale of Empire and the series finale of Parks and Recreation, we watched all of Broad City. I predictably fell in love with Abbi and her goofy face and their friendship. It has an unrequited lady-love thing that for some reason doesn't bother me. The show is fun and adorable and I liked it a lot. The season 1 finale -- directed by Amy Poehler! -- was my favorite episode.

I recently started watching Bunheads with a friend -- I haven't had a tv date with a friend since I left Seattle, so I'm really happy to be doing that. I spent the whole pilot going "WTF is happening I hate this trope why does [personal profile] chaila like this show well I guess I better trust [personal profile] chaila not to lead me astray oh the lead is having sex she likes and now she's dancing with Emily Gilmore things are looking up WAIT DID I HEAR THAT PLOT TWIST RIGHT IS THIS SHOW MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR MEEEEE?????". I spent the next two episodes basking in the glory of those last few minutes of the pilot and delighting in the general absence of men *anywhere*. And adoring Bunheads!Emily Gilmore. And the teenage girls who are all very cute. I'm looking forward to more.

Finally, we've recently started Steven Universe and it's super adorable and fun. I would like it to spend more time with all the Crystal Gems, I don't enjoy the scenes with Steven without the Gems as much as I do the whole group. I'm like 6 or 7 episodes in so no spoilers!

I'm still watching and mostly enjoying Elementary, but I don't have anything to say about it. At all, ever, lately, now that I think about it. :/ I do enjoy reading fannish interpretations on Tumblr, and I always love Elementary fic.

I stopped watching Sleepy Hollow after the episode early/mid S2 spoiler ). I didn't hate quit (though if anything were to get me to, that'd be high on the list), I just lost motivation, especially when I kept hearing general fannish unhappiness at it after that. I heard the finale was good. I still intend to watch it, it's just a matter of carving out the time and motivation.

Mr Adjacent and I started a Buffy rewatch about a year and a half ago, and we stalled out on season 6. Which used to be one of my favorite seasons, but lately I don't have it in me to watch characters I love suffer like that. Anyway, we finally pushed through (I watched the last 4 episodes without him) and are enjoying S7 quite a bit. I'll never be a S7 detractor -- though I do tire of Buffy's speeches.

I can't wait for Orphan Black to start up again!

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