NaViMaMo Vid: i say fever [Farscape, John/Aeryn]

[beccatoria]

For teenygozer!

Title: i say fever
Video: Farscape
Audio: I Say Fever // Ramona Falls
Summary: love is a fever.

Direct download available here. 32 megs approx. RightClickSaveAs.

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Okay, so this is an actual vid not a vidlet. I tried and tried and tried to get the song down to under two minutes for my self-declared definition of a vidlet, because honestly, I was all, "yay, I'm sure I'm passed the stage of making accidental almost vids because I fall in love with the songs now!" AND YET. So, yes. Beautiful, beautiful song. Probably I would have done a better job if I hadn't done it over a three day weekend (because yes, I've been fiddling with this a little over a few days now lest people think I managed this entire thing in an afternoon!) and had a beta, but also, I'm glad I at least had a few days off to let it eat my brain because it would have broken my heart a little if I'd had to cut it down to only a minute. So, this isn't actually the whole song, but it is...most of it. Also, I always forget how much I love Farscape until it's on my screen again. I may not have thought it ended on the highest of its notes, but it never broke my heart, and that counts for an awful lot.

I will index and crosspost all vidlets at the end of November or when I've done all the prompts if I decide to keep going to finish them.

Comments

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE SO AWESOME!

And it was much better than my "fever" idea, so it's a double win for me. I like the cutting through the seasons with no regard for the order of the story, even though it makes it seem really sad.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Awesome, I'm glad you liked it. And yes, there's a loose structure in there, about the fallout from season three with the two Johns through to the end, but it's also full of very messy flashes back and forwards in the chorus. I was actually hoping it'd help with the messy, raw feel of the thing, so I'm glad it made it sadder even if it made it, well, sad.

Also, omgs, your icon. I LOVE that cap. I actually had a still of that frame (well actually a few frames before or after, when John's in the middle of blinking and it kind of looks like he's asleep) because it was...both hilarious and a kind of perfect representation of their relationship at that point.

[gabolange.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is beautiful. And interesting! I'm really, really bad at vid critique, so I'm not sure why I think it's interesting, exactly--something about the song, and the cutting, and mixing up the story, but I don't have the vocabulary for it. But interesting in a good, I-need-to-watch-that-again sort of way!

Oh, John and Aeryn!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Don't worry, I'm also bad at putting words into vids and I make them. ;) Needing to watch it again is the best kind of feedback to get, believe me!

Oh, John and Aeryn!

I'm so glad this turned into a vid.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Because, watching a couple of your vidlets today I was reminded again of my predominant feeling whenever I watch a vidlet, which is about the same feeling I get when I read really short ficlets and the like, which is: god, this is frustrating! ;-) Because all too often, there's a lot to love about these things, and then they just... end. And you can sort of sense the greatness that might have been, but never will be. Gah.

Anyway... dl'ing to watch now.

Re: I'm so glad this turned into a vid.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well I'm glad this one turned into a vid. It's interesting because in some ways I agree with you, but I think it depends on the vidlet. It's been interesting making this many because there are definitely some that I feel are "vid trailers" and others I think exist fully formed as they are. I also think that for me at least, there's sometimes a sense of "why can't it continue?!" that comes with vids and fic that you enjoy regardless of how long they are.

Certainly sometimes vidlets are the perfect form to explore a topic about which there...is very limited footage? For example, the Scar the Cylon Raider/Sam/Kara vid I know you've seen. Although I do grant that most of the vidlets I think exist fully formed on their own terms are at least around a minute.

Anyway, yes, vidlets. I LOVE THEM, but I appreciate I may be teasing people. ;)

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I love these two in vids. Seriously. I may have to watch this show and soon.

I have nothing thinky to say canon-wise but these two sizzle together on screen.

Thanks for longer vid!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, I love that you have an icon if you haven't even seen the show, but yesssss, watch it. If you think they sizzle together on screen in vids, wait until you see them on the screen.

Thanks for the feedback: I'm glad you liked it!

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I have an icon because I became mini-obsessed with them during my 30-Day vid meme. I even made a John/Aeryn vid recs list! For a show I don't even know!

But c'mom. It's John and Aeryn. :-)

[xdudeyoufuglyx.livejournal.com]

Awesome vid! Makes me want to re-watch the whole series, great job!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D Really glad you liked it!

[chaila.livejournal.com]

Oh DUDE. From the summary I almost expected this to be largely about how hot they are and while, being them, they are pretty hot in parts of this, mostly it's SO GLORIOUSLY FUCKED UP, in the best way. All the body switching weirdness and guns and violence! Also I have so much more Farscape context now so I get it! But this really captured how loving Aeryn just...beats him up (literally, this was an awesome way to start and then just go for broke with the concept) and makes him insane, because he dies, because she dies, because she leaves, because he can't stay sane without her, because he can't protect her when she's with him. It's so twisted up with violence as the universe tries to rip him apart and he tries to hold himself together with her, until he will BLOW IT UP FOR HER and then maybe DIE ANYWAY. In the show it's worth it for them both in the end, if only barely, but in this vid, dude, I'm pretty sure it isn't. Their angst is epic but earned, but man I am on board with this razor sharp version of it.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

YAY! I AM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT. And oddly thrilled that you understand better now, with context, why I bought how blowing up the universe could be fucked up and romantic, desperate and understandable. I might have Thoughts about the way it was framed in the mini series, but the underlying concept I am down with because it's where he was headed, where he needed to head, from, really, the end of the first season, and I am so glad the show went there. Somehow, right through the end of the fourth season, even after they'd driven him insane and killed him and broken them both six ways from Sunday, I was never sure, until the final episodes, if they'd, well, go for broke with the concept. That the violence, the messy, desperate emotion, and the way the violence permeates their love so completely I'm not sure a line can be drawn between the two (and yet how this still seems healthier and saner than the alternative, and lord only knows how), is incredibly gratifying to me.

Like you say, in the show it's worth it; in this vid, it isn't. But...in this vid, I also think that John would do the same thing again, that it's the only thing he could have done, even if it wasn't.

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Oh John and Aeryn!!! There's such an underlying current of hope in the way the show portrays their relationship--that it's worth it, that what they've got is more good than bad--that it's easy to forget that it's also this, and which side of "worth it" one comes down on really depends on which way the wind is blowing. One of the reasons I've always had irrational love for Xhalax Sun and the story of Aeryn's parents, generally, is that I love that the show was willing to say, "I know we're all rooting for John and Aeryn, but sometimes love is really fucked up and will destroy you, and here's who John and Aeryn could have been, under different circumstances." (Also, I have a type, and Xhalax is so it, but that's getting off-track!)

Nobody rolls their eyes quite like Claudia Black, huh? Well, nobody does a lot of things quite like Claudia Black. She is MAGIC!!!! Magical hotness in a leather coat, with a very big gun. *happy sigh* And John and Aeryn are the hottest couple in the history of ever, perhaps especially when they're also being destroyed by their love.

Mostly, though, SO MUCH THIS: I may not have thought it ended on the highest of its notes, but it never broke my heart, and that counts for an awful lot. Oh SHOW!!!! I will never love anything like I've loved you, and I'm kind of glad I can still say that with a smile.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

\o/ I'm so thrilled that the tone of the vid is coming across so clearly. How razor edge it is. How disturbing, but how viscerally it eats them both and us until I really don't know how they'd function apart (and perhaps if they were made to they would become Xhalax and Talyn).

I remember, recently, discussing The X-Files with you and how we both have this powerful desire to yell at early season Scully to just run, that it's not worth it. She'll lose too much. And it strikes me now how I don't feel that way about Aeryn, even though it might also be true. But...somehow even if it isn't worth it, I don't see where they could have drawn that line? Like, if you want to tell the story of being destroyed by your love and your quest and your need for the other person, here is how you do that and sell me on it. Even if I don't approve of the way they told every aspect of every story and kind of wish I'd never seen the final few PKW scenes.

I will never love anything like I've loved you, and I'm kind of glad I can still say that with a smile.

I agree absolutely with this, and it's a giant omission I don't have more icons of them because...well basically because I got my LJ right at the time I was shifting from Farscape to BSG fandom and...I dunno. For a while there I wondered if BSG was going to become my One True Show, but honestly, I think it's still Farscape, in all it's beauty and imperfections and failures. I'm not sure why I don't talk about it more. Maybe because it feels done, and, like you, the fact I can still say that with a smile is a source of immeasurable relief and solace.

I'm not coherent, but...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

I just got up at five in the morning to rewatch this several times, so... take that as feedback, for now. :D

Re: I'm not coherent, but...

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Aww, well I'm extremely happy to hear you liked it! But I do not endorse sleep deprivation. ;)

[dashan.livejournal.com]

This brings back so many memories. :) Thanks for vidding and sharing.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

You're welcome and thanks for the comment. I agree - I felt very nostalgic while making this. Oh Farscape, I really miss you.

[impatient-dream.livejournal.com]

So I've never seen Farscape (or Star Wars or Dr. Who, which is why I've been watching, but not commenting) but I had to comment on this one. Because, wow. This is going to sound strange but this vid was both twisty and a little twisted and I liked it. Between the song choice and the raw emotions in the clips you chose, it's really kind of amazing.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you - I'm really thrilled you enjoyed it even though you haven't seen the show - that's a really awesome thing to hear. The song is amazing for the emotional tone of Farscape - the raw emotion in the song is really a complement to the genuine context of the show. Farscape itself is very hard to quantify. It starts as a (to my mind) charming if kind of kitschy space show with awesome muppets, but it always had a surprising amount of emotional integrity and complexity in its stock plots and set-up where most of the characters didn't really like each other but had to get along because they were all escaping the same dudes. It's as it goes on that it becomes something altogether extraordinary - in my not unbiased opinion.

It's epic in scope and character development for its main characters and is probably one of the best epic/tragic/twisted star-crossed lovers tales I've seen.

The other thing about it that I like is that it's one of the only shows I know that changes genre on a week by week basis. I mean, it's always scifi, but it goes from tripped out comedy so surreal I'm surprised the networks signed off on it, to action comedy, to buddy action, to epic action, to epic tragedy, to personal tragedy, to intensive character studies, to romance (comedy, action, tragedy). It's really odd because it also manages to maintain a coherent tone even though it consciously changes from comedy to tragedy, deliberately, on an episodic basis (this is most clearly demonstrated from the second season onwards).

Um, anyway, I just felt I should pimp the show to you just a little, but really, it means a lot to me that the vid spoke to someone unfamiliar with it. :D And thanks for letting me know you were watching the others, even though I would not want you to feel obligated to do so! This LJ is a guilt-free commenting zone. :)

[impatient-dream.livejournal.com]

I have a bad habit of watching vids for shows that I've never seen (I'm trying to avoid most Fringe related ones so that I'm not totally spoiled) and I always think it's awesome to be able to follow a vidder's narrative even though I've never seen the source material. So that's totally kudos to you.

No pimpage necessary! Farscape is on the list, too, (it really is a long list) but I've been pretty spoiled as far as it goes, so I'm watching, anyway. (Not that I understood half of it, of course. I'm pretty sure context is everything with this show.) And I happen to think this is an awesome introduction to Farscape. If the complete series weren't so damnable expensive, I'd already have it and have watched it. I'm thinking it might be worth the splurge, anyway, since I like shows that are as complex as you've described this one to be.

I believe you've told me that before. ;) While watching Star Wars is also on the list, I've never really had the urge to watch Dr. Who. That kind of makes me sad now because River seems awesome. And I totally would be in it for the companions, not the Dr. I know myself that well.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay! Farscape is on the list! AND YES, ALSO STAR WARS. Even though, I dunno, it's hard to explain, but the movies are not really my favourite bit of Star Wars anymore. And the prequels really aren't that awesome, though I'm sure you know that they were polarising since you don't live under a rock. ;)

As to Doctor Who, I really can't recommend the new rebooted series for the most part, and the original is great fun by also incredibly camp and 70sish. But if you're just interested in River, I have a few friends who are watching the River Song show, since she's only been in six episodes (though there's one other one I'd recommend). So if you just wanna see the awesome, I'd recommend watching eps 8 & 9 of season 4 (during an era that wasn't overall great, but are River's introduction and written by the guy who took over running the show the next season), and then there's season five, with a new showrunner and a new actor playing the Doctor (I presume you know he's an alien who gets recast regenerates when he dies).

River's in episodes 4, 5, 12 and 13. I'd also recommend watching the first episode because it's got a lot of stuff that ties into the finale (12 & 13), so you'll get a lot more out of the storyline and River's part in it if you watch the season premiere too. Obviously there are some other major developments throughout and you'll get more if you watch all 13 episodes, but you can totally pick up most of that through previouslies and in-episode "flashbacks" so you should be fine. ;)

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

My god, I was right! FEVER IS THE PERFECT EFFED-UP AERYN/JOHN SONG! ::swoons::

You did a jaw-droppingly amazing job on my request, even more awesome than I had dared hope. I'm so happy you went for the full vid, you did both the song and the subject of the vid justice by expanding it beyond your usual vidlet parameters. The song is an odd mixture of reserved reticence followed by and explosion of raw passion and I thought it might serve the always-bizarre main love story of Farscape well. AND IT DID.

I'll be watching this vid over and over and over!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

IT WAS, IT REALLY, REALLY WAS. Thank you so much, the song was incredible and a wonderful opportunity to really explore the effed-upness of the two characters.

I'm really, really thrilled that you like what I did with it - especially with songs I fall so thoroughly in love with, it's always a bit nervewracking because I have much stronger empathy for how much the person who prompted might love the song too. Thanks again for such a great one.

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

Oh my, you make them angst beauuuutifully! :D

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :D

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Gah, this is simply one of the best John/Aeryn vids I have ever see and certainly the most uncompromising as far as the dysfunctional aspects of their relationship are concerned.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you. I really appreciate your feedback and am particularly pleased I managed to be, as you put it, uncompromising in my portrayal of it. Their relationship always struck me as, more than anything else, raw; I don't think either of them ever lied to themselves about the levels of dysfunctionality they experienced, even as they chose to throw themselves more deeply into it.

Thanks again for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Here via Farscape_Weekly.

Lovely vid!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen all of Farscape but this is such awesome imagery and editing. I love the *intensity* of this vid, perfect use of the song.

[kitsun3.livejournal.com]

Man, I just finished watching Farscape for the first time like last week, and this makes me want to go right back to the beginning and do it again! Oh, John and Aeryn, they're so perfect and so perfectly fucked up as a couple. :)

[amnisias]

2015 Love Meme

This is one of your vids on my hard drive, because it needs to be preserved for posterity if the internets go boom. This is one of the great Aryn/John vids out there. So sad, and so complex, but also tender. The show is long gone but I still come back to this one frequently for a Farscape fix.

[writedragon]

Another fantastic vid. You have great skill with timing, synching lyrics and music to images, and telling an emotional (bombshell) of a story. Well done!!