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Fiasco and vid recs!

Fiasco Game 2 - Sunday at 6:00PM
Players: Me, Milly, BradCPU, and kiki_miserychic
Playset: Pinnacle City (superheroes)
A supervillain with super-sensitive senses (except he has shitty vision), the amnesiac superheroine with sonic powers who desperately wants to eat something, her long-lost latte-powered son, and the government agent who keeps spilling her guts. Oh and there's a mystical statuette with a name sticker on the bottom, a circus tiger (or was it a lion), and ass biscuits (don't ask).

I should mention that, because we are weird people, we made Milly and Brad play mother and son. Also kiki_miserychic is freaking hilarious. And there's a Tumblr post related to this game.

Fiasco Game 3 - Sunday at 8:00PM
Players: Me, Rhoboat, Shati, and Mresundance
Playset: Touring Rock Band
The world's only Adele cover band that features a male diva vocalist and a combination piccolo- and double-headed-ukelele player is stuck in a podunk town in Iowa where the piccolo/banjo player happens to be related to nearly everyone several times over (including Frank. Well, all of them, but especially the one with freckles. No, the shorter one. The redhead. Yes, that one). Meanwhile, the tour manager is trying to keep the band together while getting sexual favors from the diva in exchange for crack cocaine (which is actually sugar cubes). That doesn't make him gay, though, right? Maybe the underage groupie can help him sort that out with the help of some corn-based bondage gear.

This game was completely insane and it gathered an audience who cheered on the most ridiculous suggestions and plot twists. I had waaaay too much fun.

After the games ended, I wandered the hotel a bit looking for people to say goodbye to and found... very few of them. It was eerily quiet for not even being midnight yet. Eventually I just gave up and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up, hugged some people at breakfast, then started the long, arduous journey back to Los Angeles via plane.

Overall, a very good con. I am in hug withdrawal right now. I was spoiled for hugs at the con and now there are very few hugs. I want more hugs! HUUUUGS.

Ahem.

It was lovely seeing all of the people that I saw. I am sad that there are a few people who I was really looking forward to hanging out with who I just didn't end up having the time to really connect with. Next year!

And now, have twenty vid recs:

The Amazing Sounds of Orgy (Repulsion) by

hollywoodgrrl
When Hollywoodgrrl told me the song she was using for this vid, I went to Rdio and listened to it. Then I came back and flailed at her. It's the song. It is so the song. However, what she does with the cutting really drives home the madness of the main character. This is an impressive, disturbing vid that is difficult to watch in a good way.

Baptism (Neon Genesis Evangelion) by

joyo
I don't watch Eva, but

echan does, so I have a very basic idea of the plot. What I love about this vid is that it works on two levels. As a Club Vivid vid, it's a series of shiny, colorful, if increasingly disturbing images and action sequences that wouldn't be out of place projected on a wall at a club, all to a very danceable beat. Sitting down and properly watching the vid, though, it's a pretty fucked up, angry dissection of child abuse within the context of the show. Utterly breathtaking.

Flora, Fauna, First Wizard of Cinema (Georges Méliès) by

cherryice
Can we just stop and appreciate that Cherry vidded, like, the birth of special effects cinema? And it was fun and bouncy and really enjoyable to watch? Let us bask.

I Fink U Freeky (Japanese cyberpunk body horror) by

absolutedestiny
I guess my recs this year are bouncing between "super fun" and "super fucked". This is super fucked. There's no other phrase for it. A master class in how to take the line between attraction and repulsion and start making complicated knots with it.

I'm No Superman (LEGO Batman) by

bananainpyjamas (dragonchic)
This is just so freaking adorable, I can't even. I just can't. Cannot. OMG. I want to squish li'l emo LEGO Batman.

Irresistible Force (Mass Effect) by

bradcpu
There was one vid that made me choke up this year. One. This is it. Now, it might be that I've spent ridiculous amounts of time with the Mass Effect universe and my crew (OH MY CREW), but yeah, this one hit me in the feels. It doesn't hurt that it is a tour de force of editing. I kind of hate this Brad guy for being so damn awesome.

Notorious (Spartacus) by

sweetestdrain
Super-dancey hardcore violence! Yaaaaaay! Some beautifully choreographed fight scenes and majestic blood sprays set to a pumpin' beat.

Open Your Houses (Twilight) by

sweetestdrain
We all know Edward Cullen is a creeper and this vid nails that. It's a very distressing vid, when you think of the cultural cachet this abusive asshole has built up with teenagers. I love the opening, which surrounds a single power-imbalanced shot of Edward and Bella with a lot of non-character shots to build the emotional thesis of the vid before we get to the lyrics.

The Party (Harold and Kumar) by

nakedbee
Despite the fact that only the first one is really a good movie, even by the standards of the pot comedy, I really love the Harold and Kumar series, largely because of the sometimes-antagonistic friendship of the two title characters. This vid really captures their essence and, when it was over, I let out a very happy sigh.

Past the Feeling (Once Upon a Time) by

anoel
Every Vividcon, Anoel brings her game up another level without fail. I don't know how she does it. This vid is both a really excellent character study of Regina and a technically accomplished piece of editing, with a fabulous call on the song (and song version, since it's a cover).

Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (infomercials) by

absolutedestiny and

joyo
GPOY.

The Polka Slayer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) by

bradcpu and

milly
Everything you love about Buffy the Vampire Slayer in an amazing polka medley that lovingly pokes fun at the show's seven year run while celebrating it at the same. A great way to close out Premieres this year.

Riverside (Tomb Raider) by

milly
Milly made a really excellent call with this vid. Instead of going with an action-y song that went with the action of the game, she picked a song that really fit with the internal, emotional journey that Lara goes through in the game. This becomes the story of Lara's transformation, as signaled by the opening comparison of mirror shots.

Run Boy Run (Game of Thrones) by

hollywoodgrrl
This vid is devastating. There's no other word for it. It will destroy you. Even if you're not up-to-date on Game of Thrones, the cutting works to backup the context, so even if you don't understand why it hurts, it still hurts.

Scream (Doctor Who) by

laurashapiro and

kass
Man, The Doctor is a creeper, too? Who saw that coming? Not me while I was dancing to this vid at Club Vivid. Another vid that works on one level while you're shaking your booty and another when you sit down and actually pay attention to it. Dang. This is dark.

Scream & Shout (Assassin's Creed) by

rhoboat
So kinetic. So enjoyable. I just... wow. I don't know how she does it, but this vid moves like a bird of prey.

Supremacy (James Bond) by

rhoboat
So Muse did a James Bond influenced song and it was only a matter of time before somebody did a vid. I'm really glad that it was Rho, because she uses the recognizable parts of the song as a way to bring us into a more intricate context -- the relationship between James Bond and M in the Daniel Craig films, but most specifically Skyfall. Extremely well-crafted.

Thrift Shop (remakes) by

bradcpu
Such a ridiculously perfect use of this song. This song is permanently lodged in my brain now, as is the crosscut image of the 1981 and 2010 Krakens rising from the deep.

Total Eclipse of the Heartsword (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Adolescence of Utena) by

shati
Just... just watch it. Seriously.

We're All Missing Mama (Peter Pan 1924) by

lola
This was a lovely use of classic cinema footage with added modern effects to give it some extra dazzle. I really loved the movement here and the storytelling and the in-vid use of intertitles. Just a heartwarming vid.
Just shy of twelve months until Vividcon 2014!

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