Little Miss Contrary

[gwyn]

I feel like such a craptastic journal person -- I hardly ever update anymore, I never have much to say, and then I go and do the opposite of what I say I'm going to do whenever I do post. I still have a Men Who Make Me Happy post and a review of the season 3 LFN discs sitting here, waiting to be done as I said I would, and I also finished updates for the two works in progress, but I only just finished rewrites on Measure to send to beta, and Ciudad is crawling along. I want to do the Buffy one first, though, just because those folks have waited the longest.

And then I went and did a poll so I could get people to tell me what vid to make next, since vidding is the only thing I'm halfway focused on lately, but I let threat of bodily harm push me in the opposite direction of the majority-rules voting. Which means I'm working on capturing for the Deadwood all-cast vid, even though most votes went to the Buffy & Angel all-cast humor vid, with the spooky Giles vid a close second. But what did I do instead, and in between capturing for the Deadwood vid? Went and got obsessed with a Sharpe vid idea, and am now about 40 seconds into it already. Sharpe wasn't even on my list, because I hadn't found a song for it, though not through lack of trying.

But I was listening to an Oysterband disc (of *course* it's Oysterband!) the other day for this Band of Brothers song possibility, and I hadn't heard this particular song in a long time, and I just was... guh. Sharpe and Teresa. So unbelievably perfect that it made me almost cry! God, I love the two of them so much. I think Lt. Richard Sharpe and Commandante Teresa is one of the greatest love stories ever told, and I'm just thrilled to have stumbled on this song, even though it takes me away from doing the vids I was supposed to do! The big problem is of course the visuals, since Sharpe the movies (especially the first two) look so damn awful (cheap bastards!). I want to try color filters a little this time, but I don't get them at all, to try to spruce this up, so I have a feeling I have lots of hair-pulling and advice-asking ahead of me, even though the vid itself will come together super fast.

I cannot be counted on to do as I'm told, or even as I tell people I will do. Sigh. I am sorry.

Comments

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

YAY DEADWOOD VID!

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

I am completely unqualified to offer any sort of vidding advice, but I am in love with the idea of your making a Sharpe/Teresa video. And I completely agree with you regarding the utter wonderfulness of the two of them as a couple! GUH!

[murklins.livejournal.com]

Hi, um, I'm mostly here to read your tF&tF fic, which I'm really enjoying, btw. But I just thought I should mention that for most of us LJ is a hobby. You likely started a livejournal because it pleased you to do so. Now is no different from then, I don't think, and LJ should still be about making you happier, not loading you down with guilt and stress. Most of us here have a handy grasp of obsession (understatement of the year, probably), and if you are gripped by ideas that take your time away from other ideas, I think we'll probably be sympathetic. :)

Yeah, this is just me chiming in to say "Go for it!" Where "it" is whatever tickles your fancy.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

You don't actually owe us anything, you know. Even if you ask for input on which vid to make next, you don't actually have to abide by what your readers/friends suggest -- this is your fun pastime and we really don't get to dictate what you do... *g*

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

Bad Vidder! As your punishment, you must now make a bad vid (aka sisabet's Vividcon party idea). And if you hold true to not doing what you're told, you'll make an amazing vid that will make us all happy.

devious are the ways of vidders.

[varina8.livejournal.com]

oooo, sharpe and teresa, the oysterband...i'm in heaven.

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

I voted for the BotW vid but either Deadwood or Sharpe would be excellent. I have nothing against Buffy and Angel (they were two of my favorite series when they were on and though I'm only beginning to get into watching vids I believe there are quite a few BTVS and/or Angel vids out there.

As far as Sharpe, love the man, the movies and the actor. I'm a slasher at heart but aside from a few OMC that Sharpe is paired up with, I much prefer to see him with Teresa. He loved her so much and I think his life would have taken an altogether different tac if she had lived.

So I'll be watching eagerly for the new vid.

BotW is not completely out of the picture, is it?

[lost2mercy.livejournal.com]

Oysterband. Yes! ;-)

And, psst, this is the most craptastic LJ person speaking, so, no worries on your part. *g*

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you know, it's funny, I like the slash pairing with Harper and all, but if push comes to shove, it's Teresa all the way. I guess I've just never been that strong of a slasher that it's my overriding interest, and I just can't imagine watching the first four movies and not loving her to pieces. She's just incredible, and she makes him incredible -- even more than he already is.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Hopefully your reading wait will be satisfied soon -- I'm getting near to the end of the next part of Ciudad.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, it's just... it seems cruel to get people's hopes up!! It's not that I'm never going to do them, either, just that I get very distracted...

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

You know... I honestly don't know if i could do that. I mean, I'm sure I've unintentionally made bad vids, or that there are people who think my vids are bad, but I'm never intending that, so I don't know if I could do that! Plus, the truth is, it would take too long, and there's just not enough time. But hopefully the Sharpe vid won't fall in that category.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey -- I'm giving myself goosebumps already and I'm only half finished. It's beyond perfect -- Spanish-like guitars, sadness and loss, true love... oy vey. I've had some vid songs that were dead on perfect for people before, but I don't know that I've ever hit pay dirt like this one. It's almost like they wrote it for Sharpe and Teresa.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I definitely will make the BotW vid -- it's very high on my list. I plan to make all the vids that were on my poll, I just wasn't sure what to work on next, as I have a big old case of ennui. But at some point, I hope to do all of them, check check check!

I really love the slashy relationship between Harper and Sharpe, and I've liked Sharpe with some of the other characters on the show (that one guy who was a traitor was a favorite of mine), but nothing sparked my heart like him and Teresa. He was so tender and sweet to her, and he adored her, yet he never treated her as anything but his strong equal, and he never tried to change her or make her be different. He loved the whole woman, and his feelings for her just resonate on the screen.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to think that at some point, I will have vidded a song from every Oysterband album except the live one. I haven't yet touched the one with June Tabor, but I'm pretty sure that's next. ;-)

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

hence, by deductive reasoning, your vid shall be Good (with a capital G, that rhymes with T...)

Ok, off to be silly elsewhere. am looking forward to seeing you soon.

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

Edited to correct the links Hopefully they work now. *g*

You know, while I adore Harper and Daragh O'Malley, and I can definitely see the slashiness between Harper and Sharpe, I never really cared that much for slash between the two of them. Go figure.

In the book Sharpe's Sword (and yes, I've had many slashy thoughts about Sharpe and Jack Spears), there is no 'Lass', it's Harper and Ramona who nurse Sharpe back to health, with Ramona very much in the background.

Probably my favorite Sharpe slash stories are 2 by Gloria Mundi called 'Pearl Trader' and 'Thief in the Night'
http://www.sharpetorium.info/fic/s-pearl.html
http://www.sharpetorium.info/fic/s-thief.html

and the Daventry series by Anon
http://www.sharpetorium.into/fic/davpage.html

Although this last is up to 303 parts and I still haven't been able to finish it all, it actually has the most realistic 'post-movies' Sharpe I've read to date.

The very first episode I ever saw was the one after Teresa dies and for awhile I just didn't get it. Then I broke down and bought the VHS sets (3 of them) and saw the whole thing from start to finish and I finally understand why Sharpe was so lost after she died.

Of course we'd all like to forget the fact that Jane ever existed, but I did like Lucille. She was actually quite a bit like Teresa but without her fire and it was more a comfortable, affectionate love rather than the soul deep type of love he had with the Commandante.

God, all this talk of Sharpe makes me want to go back to eBay. I priced the dvd sets once but put it on the back burner because I do have them on VHS. Oh the temptation!

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

Heh! I've never really been at all into the Sharpe/Harper ... it really seems to me that Sharpe likes the ladies. But Teresa is totally, TOTALLY just wonderful and awesome and I love how she and Sharpe spark of each other and how she gives him lessons in leading men and he teaches her that not every man is a horrible rapist and ... GUH! And it breaks my heart when he leaves their little girl behind. SNIFF! (By the way, movie Teresa is much more awesome than the book version!)

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

Of course we'd all like to forget the fact that Jane ever existed, but I did like Lucille. She was actually quite a bit like Teresa but without her fire and it was more a comfortable, affectionate love rather than the soul deep type of love he had with the Commandante.

I think Lucille is his second-best choice (although I do have a soft spot for the wonderfully devious Lady Anne) - she's the wife who's perfect for him in peacetime when he's turned his sword into a plowshare. And I like the idea that after all the battles and the heartache and the dying, he gets this more or less idyllic retirement on a farm in Normandy.

God, all this talk of Sharpe makes me want to go back to eBay.

Just butting in to say that I got mine from deepdiscountdvd, and the individual DVDs were about $11, which is about half off anywhere else (tho' the boxed set is pricier, go figure!) Hope that helps you out :)

[wadi-reem.livejournal.com]

just de-lurking to say: i fully support working on the sharpe vid. because, yeah. oh, yeah. :)

as you were...

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Oh jesus.

His name is Dick Sharpe?

*chortle*

Seriously, whatever you vid, your fans will enjoy. Well, I speak for myself.

[kassto.livejournal.com]

Sharpe and Teresa? Oh yes.

``Now there's a woman worth fightin' dirty for, sir.''

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

I love the equality and total lack of domesticity of Sharpe and Teresa's relationship. I look forward to seeing your take on it!

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

all this talk of Sharpe makes me want to go back to eBay. I priced the dvd sets once

The boxed set is on sale at Amazon UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006JNBM/qid=1123567387/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/026-4650275-2078856) right now for 60 pounds. MUCH cheaper than Amazon US or Canada.

[ms-artisan.livejournal.com]

Contrary is good, you know? Like irresponsibility it has much to recommend it. *g*

But aside from that, I mostly stopped by to say how much I like your grey, grey black theme. Gor-jus!

di

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I believe that -- my memory of the books (I think I only read the first five) is really hazy, since I read them a gajillion years ago. Assumpta Serna is a magnificent actress, and so I can see how she would make that character even cooler -- she was unbelievable in Matador, and I just adore her, period.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Would you believe I finished it last night? I can't -- basically I made a vid in a day. I put in some clips the night before, but overall I made most of it yesterday. I still have to do credits, though -- I wish I was better with this program, so I could make the kind of credits I would like to, but I can't figure out how.

It helps that the song is really short, and there were only four movies to capture from! But that still doesn't mean I have time to make a bad vid...

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by the fact that none of the folks who responded here, and who love Sharpe and are slash fans, are interested in Sharpe/Harper! When I first found the movies, that was the only slash pairing or interest I ever heard of... this is cracking me up! ;-)

You know, I hated Jane, but at the beginning, I could see why he would like her, and why she thought he was so incredible. They were just really wrong for each other, and when that became apparent, he found out just how shallow and selfish and gullible she was. He was used to strong women, and so I think he was beguiled by what he thought was strength, but was really just stubborn willfulness. And I liked Lucille, but at times she wasn't as fiery as I would prefer. I think you're right about that affectionate love... that's what's so hard. Everyone has to compare to Teresa!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Well, fortunately, the only people who ever call him Dick are morons and upper class twits of the year. Everyone calls him Richard or Sharpe. It's like a sign that you're a dumb dweeb -- you call him Dick.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Absofuckinlutely!!!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I think that's one of the things that I find most appealing -- he is so unbelievably tender and loving and besotted with her, but he never treats her as fragile, even when she is. And he never ever looks at her as "just a woman" and laughs at the people who do, because he knows just what she is. Yet he always treats her like a woman -- his lover, his wife, the mother of his child, his companion and confidante... guh. I just make myself all misty-eyed thinking of it!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

It's kind of nice, isn't it? Mostly it fit my mood... I wanted the all black one with white and gray type, but it was too hard to read for a lot of my entries. Next time I make a long post, though, I'll probably choose a different color scheme to make it easier to read. Or change it because it suits the mood -- I like the schemes they have for this layout a lot. But it's nice for my God is Nowhere mood these days.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

Vid!Farr! I am awed by your energy.

Did I mention I am so looking forward to Vividcon? I found out that when I return from the con, I must subject myself to a medical exam for ze disability benefits. So distraction and relaxation will be on my agenda. If you can, bring a copy of the Sharpe vid - I know Kay or Jill will have a portable DVD player.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I just posted it-- heee. But I will bring a disc.

It helped a lot that it's been deader than Deadonia at work. I get about one thing an hour to do, and then go back to waiting, so since I'm right by the Mac, I just piddle around with FCE, and take an assignment, then piddle, then work... makes for fast vidding when the song is short!

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

And then you get your ass kicked, eh?

*Awaits a beatin'*

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

After I factor in shipping I think I can do better if I just keep checking eBay. I already have them on VHS so it's not a pressing concern.

But thank you very much for letting me know :-)

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

I never heard of deepdiscountdvd, thanks for the heads-up, I'll give it a look-see.

I liked Lady Anne, too. If Sharpe had retired or been stationed back to England she could have been of help to him. She was always very up-front in her dealings which is something that Sharpe always appreciated.

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

Oh, I really like DDD - sometimes it's no less than the amazon prices, but it always is a good idea to compare.

I thought Lady Anne was always a very good friend to Sharpe although I think their social positions precluded their every marrying. But they were totally buddies who had sex occasionally. Because who can resist Sharpe ;)

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

I thought with Jane that Sharpe had this kind of "ideal English girl" and she fit the picture to a T (and he kind of had, in addition to his whole strong women fixation, a desire to rescue damsels in distress - which Jane also was...) In the books, it's made much more explicit that Jane is the sister of the odious Lt. Gibbons from "Sharpe's Eagle" and that Sharpe finds a locket with her picture on it on Gibbons' body and carries the locket for years before he meets Jane. So I think he idealized her in a way she didn't really warrant and they were very incompatible.