Fuck Up The Friendship | The Professionals Fanvid

Maybe it's something, but let's not pretend.

Crosspost to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45244138

The First Post To The First Slash /Shipping Mailing List

The Date: October 19, 1992 ("it was almost 29 years ago") The Poster: sherrold* 

Context: the first pan fandom slash (shipping) mailing list, Virgule-L, was in its infancy. Safe spaces for women to talk about slash online were rare. And most fan fiction was distributed in print fanzines (which is why fanzine reviews like the one Sandy wrote were so important as a single fanzine cost $15-20 or around $30-40 in today's dollars.) Fan run conventions were the only way to meet other groups of fans and mailed letters and phone calls were the tenuous tethers that strung these fan groups together. The mailing list - and the Internet - was about to change...everything. ****************

Well, welcome to my adventure in mailing! I hope to have this set up soon as a 'real' mailing list, with it's own address. Until then, I only know one way for one of you to write to everyone at once. Just reply to a letter from the list, and answer yes, when it asks, 'reply to all'. So far there are 7 of us. I'll let everyone introduce themselves. I am Sandy Hereld,* I write as Alyx (often with a friend who used Alys) the pen name is *not* a secret. I started in "/" fandom in trek, moved to Pros, and now am very crazed about B7. I still love Pros, and like a lot of different fandoms, including Wiseguy, Starsky and Hutch, and Muncle. I helped run a slash con here in town last week, Virgule, and hope to make Escapade** this year (in February, in Santa Barbara--one of the list subscribers co- runs it--memberships still available), but not Revelcon.*** Maybe, if I get a new job, Media West. I've never been there, and I've always wanted to go. I just finished a great Multi-mediazine called Homosapiens Too. It has an interesting variety of fandoms and crossovers; even more important, there wasn't a single story that stunk (though I liked some better than others, of course.) Page count is Pros/Booker 18 pgs (Bodie/Booker) Eroica/Muncle 5 pgs (Eroica/Illya) Batman 4 (Batman/street punk) Nightflyers 6+ (cartoon, from the movie) TNG 5pgs (Beverly/symbiote) B7/TOS trek 5 pgs (Blake/Spock) Dangerous Liaisons 7 pgs (Valmont/Danceny) Damiano 2 pgs (from the R.A. McAvoy books) MUNCLE 2 pgs the usual Star Wars 4 (cartoon, original characters) Pros 4 pgs the usual B7 50 pgs (Blake/Avon) Perhaps I should mention at the there was a contest for most outrageous crossover pairing. My favorites were: The Right Place To Be (Bodie/Booker) by Arcane Annie & Stew--Bodie quits in a huff after an Operation Suzie, and is too embarrassed to go back; Booker has quit somewhat similarly. Seeing how stupid the other's foolish pride looks, they both learn things about playing roles and 'what really matters.' They also have pretty good sex. Do Blond's Really Have More Fun? (Eroica/Illya) by Barbara T. This definitely is set at a time when Solo and Kurykin are having some problems. The crossover is a fascinating one, and it works. (Anyone needing Erioca explained, just e-mail me. It is a pretty new/small fandom, but growing fast.) Brand New Day (Spock/Blake) by Jane Carnell follows immediately after Blake's pod makes planetfall after Star One. A great Blake, and if not a totally convincing Spock, it's close. Worth it for this scene alone. --Blake "What do you like?" "Anal penetration," "Which way round?" Blake inquired. "I am a telepath. It hardly matters. Whichever way pleases you." Valmont (Valmont/Danceny) by Stew -is a romantic, but very plausible retelling of the movie Dangerous Liaisons, all from Danceny's POV. For any that have read the book, you know it is told solely in letters and diary entries, so this collection of Danceny's diaries is very faithful to the original feel. It is also an amazingly concise retelling, squeezing 2 hours into 6 1/2 pgs. Submissive It Ain't (Pros) is basically just a sex story, but one firmly based in the very different personalities of Bodie and Doyle. Nice idea, beautiful sex, slightly weak ending. Puppeteer (Blake/Avon) by Bryn Lantry is a convoluted but beautiful story where: the action is in the emotions, everyone has multiple motives, and no one truly knows their own minds, much less understands their crewmates. A bit alternate, set sometime in the months before Star One but after Blake has already got the idea in mind, this is a wonderful character study of Blake and Avon, with Vila and Cally in strong supporting roles. Not my favorite type of story -- I think I prefer something a bit more straightforward, but undeniably compelling and well written. The other stories weren't dogs either... The Muncle story, Hanging In Time, by Y.J. is a very disturbing portrayal of the hurt-comfort syndrome in Illya, The Batman story will appeal to anyone who liked "The Dark Knight Returns" With All My Symbiotes -Susan Douglas- has some nice female slash. Why Couldn't It Be Me has gotten a certain amount of press as "Biblical slash." It does have two biblical characters in it, but it is just a vigniette, and has no overt slash content. A few caveats: I disliked the art in the first story, and was indifferent to the rest. I had a hard time reading the 2 cartoon sections; I thought the penning needed to be clearer, and the xerox needed to be darker for those sections. With those few quibbles in mind, I recommend the zine highly. It has an interesting collection of stories set in an amazing variety of universes. The editor is joining a growing number of publishers and putting the word count down -- 80,700, with 40,700 of it in Bryn's B7 story. It is available from Manacles Press here in the U.S. at  [address removed]. There is no U.S. price on the zine; it says to SASE Manacles Press, and I can't remember whether I paid $15 or $18 at the con. From Australia, it is available from the publisher...[address removed] $12 within Aust, $20 posted overseas airmail. (I assume that's $Aus)”

*Sandy passed away in July 2011 of cancer. One of our final joint projects was going  through our emails dating back 20+ years to find fandom history we could share

**Escapade is the longest running slash convention and is still held in Southern California (as of 2021)

*Revelcon is a slash friendly multi-fandom convention held in Texas. As of 2021 it is still running

Escapade 32 has started! Whoo hoo! Thank goodness for the online portion

part 6/6, Character reference sheets for The Untamed

I annotated these promo posters one night for my Mom, in order to help her keep track of the characters as she was watching the show - warnings for major spoilers in descriptions!  Posting these in case others find them useful!

I’m doing a panel on Bollywood on Saturday, here are my panel notes/handout: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sFqR3hkQ-bjBNfK5WmjhG-CpQHxD0I5DcEboAudWn80/edit?usp=sharing

And here is the video playlist that goes with it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHdnbcQrzjN4aDU1PUJ_8imqwAXaQnVYp

Working on my “why you should do fan art panel!

Elevator Music by k8+therobot

"when she passes, I smile, but she doesn't see"

Beta thanks: @anoel, @itisbeeing, thingswithwings, @arallara, @coffeejunkii, @momosandlemonsoda​

Remixed Media: Eartha Kitt, "The Girl From Ipanema," The Collection, 2006. Captain American: The First Avenger, 2011. Avengers, 2012. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014. Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015. Captain America: Civil War, 2016.

So, I made a thing. It is my first and concrit is quite welcome. :)

Today’s theme of Dynamics for @roswellnewmexicocreate seems like a perfect time to recognize our…

VIDDERS!

A few months ago, @cathexys and @escapadecon folks schooled me on what fanvids can be when well done. So now I can truly say that the Roswell fandom has some skilled vidders who highlight character dynamics in myriad new and delightful ways.

Fanvid creators worth checking out include:

@bisexualaliennerds

@changingthingslikeleaves (Nestra on AO3)

@isakvaltersnake

@ Kavitha (on YouTube)

Plus @rnmfanvids is well curated resource where you can find more!

Tagging Vids on AO3

As I search for vids for the Escapade dance party, I notice just how many there are on AO3 these days.

That’s awesome, and everyone should keep it up! AO3 has way better metadata than Youtube or anywhere else vids can be found. (Bilibili? Hahaha. A nightmare!)

So here are some tips for tagging your vids:

#1 - Don’t use the ‘Video’ tag!

Video - 10,372 uses currently (counting all subtags, of course). That’s small compared to fic on AO3, but it’s still a lot more than you might think!

My dudes, that tag is very, very general. It shows up on some fics that are about video. It’s tagged on works that are a youtube video where someone reads a podfic (I guess because they want words on screen or because that’s an easier embed than most audio-only ones?). It shows up on vlog/podcast stuff.

I do search by it because it’s the top-level tag for all vid-like things, but let me suggest picking something more specific for your own works.

#2 - So what are good tags to use?

Here are some canonicals that are in current use. They are all subtags of ‘Video’.

Fanvids (8,440) - vids of most sources, including Asian live action and Western animation

AMV (319) - anime vids, especially if you want to preserve the distinction in history/aesthetic/community

Lord King Bad Vid (14) - [subtag of Fanvids] OTT earnest yet bombastic vids (see Fanlore)

Vidlet (77) - [subtag of Fanvids] like a video drabble

Episode vid (5) - [subtag of Fanvids] vids of a single episode of TV

Embedded Video (2575)

Video Format: Streaming (867)

Video Format: WMV (109)

Video Format: AVI (99)

Video Format: MP4 (249)

Why is ‘Fanvids’ plural and ‘AMV’ isn’t? Your guess is as good as mine. But those are the current canonicals, so I would tend to go with them.

Here are some other useful canonicals that are not subtags of ‘Video’:

Vidukon UK Vid Convention 

Vividcon

Vividcon Challenge

My First Fanvid

Festivids

Download Available

Constructed Reality - a vidding-centric term for AUs

Fanfiction Trailer

Meta, Angst, Fluff, etc. (Lots of vidding genres have non-vidding-specific names and thus have canonicls already.)

#3 - Things I would NOT use

Tributes - too general, often Hunger Games fic or fic written in tribute to dead actors or something (Yes, I know it’s a standard vidding term on Youtube)

Fan Edit - no canonical; unpopular on AO3 and often used for graphics rather than video

LAMV, MMV, GMV, etc. - unpopular on AO3 and either unwrangled or syns of other tags

I have mixed feelings on those last ones. If you make a lot of GMVs and you want to popularize that term on AO3, I say go for it. If you’re doing live action vids, welcome to the land of oldschool fanvids and “vidding” culture. Leave your AMV-centric vocabulary behind.

#4 - Collections are your friend

In addition to tags, there are a number of collections that may be relevant to you, often for a particular convention vids were shown at.

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/EscapadeVids/profile

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/EscapadeCon/profile

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/vividcon/profile

And, of course, the vids made for specific exchanges will already be in those collections:

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Equinox/profile

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Festivids/profile

#5 - Anything else?

What do you think? Anything to add? Meta thoughts on vidding metadata?

Escapade 2019 Vid Show Playlist

Escapade is the longest running slash convention in the US. Every year it hosts a vid show of fanvids in front of a live audience. This year, fans have put together a streaming playlist of the vids that were shown over the weekend.   Just click on this link and the vid show should start playing. https://www.viddercon.com/forward/42

Caveat: the first vid is a password protected vid. When you run into  a password protected vid, the password can be found be in the info box below the vid. You will enter it, hit play and the playlist should start. If a vid pauses, no worries. Just click play and the playlist will resume

Please leave feedback to the vidders by clicking on the blue button "Comment On My AO3" page.  If there is no AO3 page, please click on on the logo (usually in the lower right hand corner) and it will take you to where the vidder has uploaded their vid and you can leave your feedback there

Finally, not all vids are included in the Escapade 2019 vid playlist.  

Bridges Burn - Jill, Kathy, and Kay - Rejseholdet (Unit One):  http://pteropus.com (download only)

Fire and the Flood - kat-byrd - The Professionals. A streaming version is here: https://www.viddercon.com/vid/15699520/

All Goes Wrong - kat-byrd - Starsky & Hutch.  A streaming version is here: https://www.viddercon.com/vid/15699522/ (warning: flashing/flickering images)

Bonus! Escapade received so many vid submissions this year that they were able to offer a 1 hr Overflow vid show. The playlist for the overflow vid show is here:   https://www.viddercon.com/forward/41

Coming soon : a vid playlist for the Escapade Dance Party. 

About the playlist host site Viddercon:  

Viddercon is brand new site (many months in the making) that allows fans to build playlists across multiple streaming video platforms. Playlists on this network allow for a mix of vids from You Tube, Vimeo, Peertube, Tumblr, etc. This site is a proof of concept and currently in its very early stages. It is being built by fans for fans. Fans currently working on the project are vidders Garfield (VidderKidder) and Morgan Dawn (MeeeDeee).

As you wander through the site, you may come across other convention vids shows, vid challenges or personal recommendation playlists. The convention vid shows are unofficial collections that the site has been using to test playlist creation and embedding under "real world" conditions. All playlists have been created using publicly posted info and all have been clearly marked as "unofficial".  Read more about the site via the FAQ:   https://www.viddercon.com/read/about-us/5/

EscapadeCon, FanworksCon, and ConFabCon are three upcoming conventions with vid shows. I think they're open to submissions, so you could send yours in.

Oh interesting! I wouldn't be able to go though and I think being in the same room would be at least half the fun

Escapade Convention Panel Suggestion Time

Right now I’m the only one? Not including the link because fucking tumblr, but go to escapadecon dot net and there’s a link on the front page

I just got a bookmark on my Radioactive Boyfriends fic that mentioned they had come from a rec at Escapadecon’s Longfic panel :O

A panel??  People were talking about my fic in A PANEL????  What did they say??  Did anyone happen to mention it’s noT FINISHED!?

omg :O

Escapade 2017 Debrief!

Got back from Escapade 2017 just in time for the epic amounts of snow happening on the East Coast. Wheee!

As always, however, a fabulous time was to be had at Escapade this year. If you didn't come, you should come next time. :)

Also, I made/premiered my very first vid ever at Escapade this year!! OMG, I still can't believe this finally happened.

I was a co-mod on four panels this year. I'm also starting a campaign to get everyone to take panel notes in sharable Google Docs. This year, I used my modding powers to make this happen three times! So, instead of trying to write a con report (which my brain is incapable of), I'm going to list the panel descriptions below and link to the Google Docs with the panel notes in them.

Panel Notes Escapade 2017:

Let’s Collab! New Forms of Collective Fan Creativity Mods: k8, Lola Panel Topic: Changing technologies mean that we collaborate with each other in ever-evolving ways when we create fic and vids. What are the possibilities for collaborating beyond geographic boundaries with digital technologies? How are you collaborating with fellow writers and vidders these days? Are you interested in finding new collaborators and new ways to connect? And are these new forms of collaboration creating new forms of creative fan work?

It’s Canon, But Is It Slash? Mods: k8, Aral Panel Topic: From K.J. Charles to C.S. Pacat, professional m/m writers are flourishing. But do these works scratch the same itch as slash? What do we like? What do we hate? What do we want more of?

The Kids Are Not the Problem Mods: Aral, k8, sinead Panel Topic: In recent years, media fandom has grown enormously. It has also scattered, spreading out to new platforms and meeting spaces. In response, you often hear talk about “the kids” versus “the olds,” Tumblr versus LiveJournal, or the problem of recruiting and retaining new fans. In this panel, let’s try flipping that script. Let’s assume the kids are not the problem. Instead, how can we change and grow? What awesome things are other fans doing/trying that people at Escapade should know about? Most importantly, what strategies can we use to leave our fannish bubbles and more fully experience fandom in 2017?

Feel free to share these notes and/or leave comments on them.

I spent too much of Escapade 32 weekend trying to get a good photo of my glossy con book cover. Luckily, the con released the images for us all.

:D Look at that! Bodie and Doyle inside the con hotel (Embassy Suites). 

*I don’t know the name of the cover art designer.

Escapade 2019 Vid Show Playlist

Since Tumblr blocks searches of posts with an external links: Go watch the Escapade 2019 Vid Show Playlist. 

Details here:  https://meeedeee.tumblr.com/post/183233203376/escapade-2019-vid-show-playlist

List of fandoms is in the tags.

#vidding  #fan vid  #fanvid  #vid farr