random: fandom and music
Friday. Time for some Random!
I love music. I'm not that musical myself, and I'm extremely haphazard when it comes to expanding my listening, but I do love it. And, correspondingly, one of the things I love about fandom is how it has contributed to my musical awareness over the years. A fair amount of the stuff I listen to came through hearing it on a show or in a movie, and since getting into fandom more, through fellow fans' personal soundtracks and playlists.
Fanvids, on the other hand, I don't get into all that much. But other day I was sorting through some old bookmarks, and I came across the very few fanvids I ever bothered to bookmark. I don't watch many, and rarely past the 20-second mark, but these particular ones have stuck for one reason or another. They got me thinking about songs that I would never have found (or liked!) if it hadn't been for fandom, and someone linking them perfectly to characters or relationships or stories that I love.
And then I decided I wanted to share that love. Very specifically, for the purposes of this post, all the fanvids make use of songs that I honestly would not have found otherwise, but now can't help but love. I mean, there aren't many, but here they are anyhow.
(Incidentally, I'm not up on my reposting-fanvid-etiquette. If embedding them in this post isn't cool, I'll take them down and put links instead. It just seems easier to put them all here for now. And just to make super-sure, clearly, disclaimer: NONE OF THESE ARE MINE OR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME. I just like them.)
Also, all the vids obviously contain clips that could be considered spoilery for the shows in question if you haven't seen them.
This one was the first that really, really grabbed my attention, and it perfectly embodies the idea of music I wouldn't otherwise even care about:
HEROES
The poster's comment was that they'd been challenged to set a Heroes vid to Brittany Spears and make it badass. I SALUTE THIS KIND OF THINKING AND ALL THAT IT PRODUCED. Plus, Sylar and HRG are two of the only characters I found remotely interesting in the show (I haven't seen the fourth season and it's somewhere down low on my watch-list, which in itself isn't very long, which works well because I don't have a lot of time or opportunity to pursue it). Oh, Sylar. Messed-up characters are all very well, I suppose, if a-dime-a-dozen. It's the rare ones that gleefully revel in it and yet also struggle with it that are so much fun to watch. As has been noted, I have a Type. PaynoattentiontotheWrongofthat.
Speaking of the Wrong (*cough*Alpha*cough*), and shows that contain characters I like rather more than the show/story itself (and also songs that are really not my cup of tea but I now actually own and listen to):
DOLLHOUSE
Ran across this one recently, and reminded me how much I liked Adelle and Mr Dominic (and hells yes, I will commence shipping them happily, although some of Adelle's shirts are a little *headtilt* - Dom's suits, on the other hand, yes pls); in fact, I liked a far higher quotient of secondary characters in this show than in most of Joss Whedon's other stuff, and I'm not quite sure why that is. Possibly because nearly all of them are morally compromised right off the bat, rather than Noble and Woe, Broken in varying degrees; his immoral and amoral characters have always popped a little bit more, and here he finally had a grey setting rather than grey characters in a good-and-evil setting. It cut down on the sermonizing, anyhow.
LIFE
This one wasn't on YouTube; I ran across it being linked here, but it's the most skillful match-up of song, clips, character and story of any of these, so I really encourage you to click on the link and watch it.
I'll be honest, I started watching Life for the Damian Lewis factor (my mum loved The Forsyte Saga, which I found basically impossible to watch; I couldn't shake the sense that I was supposed to like Irene, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, although helloooo Rupert Graves; from what I did watch, though, I found Soames very compelling and yesalrightIhaveatvboyfriendType). It never quite hit its potential - it seems like there was too much studio meddling, trying to make it less raw and hard or something. Anyway, this fanvid is a beautiful portrait of Reese, and her relationship with Charlie viewed through the lens of her. I absolutely love it.
And yes, of course, I have some from Show. Although it should be noted that the more I love the source material, the more selective I become about its fanwork, so don't be surprised that I only have two.
SUPERNATURAL
This one takes its time in the progression of clips, and it's pretty straightforward - chronological, basically - but that slow pace becomes so foreboding, so inescapable, and really you don't have to be fancy with this story of theirs for it to hit hard. And my goodness, this song. Placebo's cover of it gives it the right tone, and the lyrics - perfect. Oh, Winchesters.
I think I first came across this through a tahirire rec. (I think? I'm pretty sure.) I hesitate to put the song on the level of Carry On My Wayward Son, but it certainly evokes the same sense of epic long-suffering, of grinding forward in the fight, step-by-cruel-step. And again, it really captures something fundamental and perfect about the boys' story. And the way they keep echoing each other. Oh, boys.
And lastly, my light-and-fluffy favourite of all, mostly because I am as completely and shamelessly smitten by the love story as the song itself could encapsulate (but also partly to palate-cleanse the intense angst of Show):
TOP GEAR
And I cannot explain the situation more perfectly for you than Clarkson, May and Hammond do, so here:
Hammond and Oliver, epic love story for the ages. ❤.❤ If you ever get the chance to watch Top Gear's Botswana Special, DO IT. It is a perfect hour of tv.
So, yeah. In, what, maybe five years of hanging out in the fandom zone, that's what I've come away with. What about you guys? What fanvids (or songs) just perfectly capture something about a show you love, or took you by surprise, or represent a pinnacle of fandomness for you? Or are there any songs you would fanvid to if you had all the time, clips, and talent in the world? Music is love, come share it. :)
I love music. I'm not that musical myself, and I'm extremely haphazard when it comes to expanding my listening, but I do love it. And, correspondingly, one of the things I love about fandom is how it has contributed to my musical awareness over the years. A fair amount of the stuff I listen to came through hearing it on a show or in a movie, and since getting into fandom more, through fellow fans' personal soundtracks and playlists.
Fanvids, on the other hand, I don't get into all that much. But other day I was sorting through some old bookmarks, and I came across the very few fanvids I ever bothered to bookmark. I don't watch many, and rarely past the 20-second mark, but these particular ones have stuck for one reason or another. They got me thinking about songs that I would never have found (or liked!) if it hadn't been for fandom, and someone linking them perfectly to characters or relationships or stories that I love.
And then I decided I wanted to share that love. Very specifically, for the purposes of this post, all the fanvids make use of songs that I honestly would not have found otherwise, but now can't help but love. I mean, there aren't many, but here they are anyhow.
(Incidentally, I'm not up on my reposting-fanvid-etiquette. If embedding them in this post isn't cool, I'll take them down and put links instead. It just seems easier to put them all here for now. And just to make super-sure, clearly, disclaimer: NONE OF THESE ARE MINE OR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME. I just like them.)
Also, all the vids obviously contain clips that could be considered spoilery for the shows in question if you haven't seen them.
This one was the first that really, really grabbed my attention, and it perfectly embodies the idea of music I wouldn't otherwise even care about:
HEROES
Click to viewThe poster's comment was that they'd been challenged to set a Heroes vid to Brittany Spears and make it badass. I SALUTE THIS KIND OF THINKING AND ALL THAT IT PRODUCED. Plus, Sylar and HRG are two of the only characters I found remotely interesting in the show (I haven't seen the fourth season and it's somewhere down low on my watch-list, which in itself isn't very long, which works well because I don't have a lot of time or opportunity to pursue it). Oh, Sylar. Messed-up characters are all very well, I suppose, if a-dime-a-dozen. It's the rare ones that gleefully revel in it and yet also struggle with it that are so much fun to watch. As has been noted, I have a Type. PaynoattentiontotheWrongofthat.
Speaking of the Wrong (*cough*Alpha*cough*), and shows that contain characters I like rather more than the show/story itself (and also songs that are really not my cup of tea but I now actually own and listen to):
DOLLHOUSE
Ran across this one recently, and reminded me how much I liked Adelle and Mr Dominic (and hells yes, I will commence shipping them happily, although some of Adelle's shirts are a little *headtilt* - Dom's suits, on the other hand, yes pls); in fact, I liked a far higher quotient of secondary characters in this show than in most of Joss Whedon's other stuff, and I'm not quite sure why that is. Possibly because nearly all of them are morally compromised right off the bat, rather than Noble and Woe, Broken in varying degrees; his immoral and amoral characters have always popped a little bit more, and here he finally had a grey setting rather than grey characters in a good-and-evil setting. It cut down on the sermonizing, anyhow.
LIFE
This one wasn't on YouTube; I ran across it being linked here, but it's the most skillful match-up of song, clips, character and story of any of these, so I really encourage you to click on the link and watch it.
I'll be honest, I started watching Life for the Damian Lewis factor (my mum loved The Forsyte Saga, which I found basically impossible to watch; I couldn't shake the sense that I was supposed to like Irene, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, although helloooo Rupert Graves; from what I did watch, though, I found Soames very compelling and yesalrightIhaveatvboyfriendType). It never quite hit its potential - it seems like there was too much studio meddling, trying to make it less raw and hard or something. Anyway, this fanvid is a beautiful portrait of Reese, and her relationship with Charlie viewed through the lens of her. I absolutely love it.
And yes, of course, I have some from Show. Although it should be noted that the more I love the source material, the more selective I become about its fanwork, so don't be surprised that I only have two.
SUPERNATURAL
This one takes its time in the progression of clips, and it's pretty straightforward - chronological, basically - but that slow pace becomes so foreboding, so inescapable, and really you don't have to be fancy with this story of theirs for it to hit hard. And my goodness, this song. Placebo's cover of it gives it the right tone, and the lyrics - perfect. Oh, Winchesters.
I think I first came across this through a tahirire rec. (I think? I'm pretty sure.) I hesitate to put the song on the level of Carry On My Wayward Son, but it certainly evokes the same sense of epic long-suffering, of grinding forward in the fight, step-by-cruel-step. And again, it really captures something fundamental and perfect about the boys' story. And the way they keep echoing each other. Oh, boys.
And lastly, my light-and-fluffy favourite of all, mostly because I am as completely and shamelessly smitten by the love story as the song itself could encapsulate (but also partly to palate-cleanse the intense angst of Show):
TOP GEAR
And I cannot explain the situation more perfectly for you than Clarkson, May and Hammond do, so here:
Hammond and Oliver, epic love story for the ages. ❤.❤ If you ever get the chance to watch Top Gear's Botswana Special, DO IT. It is a perfect hour of tv.
So, yeah. In, what, maybe five years of hanging out in the fandom zone, that's what I've come away with. What about you guys? What fanvids (or songs) just perfectly capture something about a show you love, or took you by surprise, or represent a pinnacle of fandomness for you? Or are there any songs you would fanvid to if you had all the time, clips, and talent in the world? Music is love, come share it. :)