Quiet Awe-Talitha's LJ

New Vid: "Call Me By Your Name"--The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity

talitha78 — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 03:53:00 GMT

Whoops! I forgot to post this here. It was originally posted on April 4, 2021.

Title: Call Me By Your Name
Song Artist: Lil Nas X
Fandom: The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity
Relationship: Bo Ya/Qing Ming
Length: 02:25
Warnings: Lyrics very much not work-safe.

Vid Summary: Fun with phallic objects, a.k.a., the one where the giant snake is almost an afterthought.

Call Me By Your Name, 215MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Call Me By Your Name on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/647577558962044928/title-call-me-by-your-name-song-artist-lil-nas-x
Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30472824
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_/status/1378851806529388544

Vidder's Notes: I was obsessed with this song as soon as it came out, so I wanted to vid it toute suite. None of my current fandoms seemed like a good fit, but people on my friendslist had been talking about this movie called The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity and some of the ahem aesthetics looked like they might be a fit for the song. I had a day off on Friday, so I watched the movie, found it suitable, and whipped out this vid over the next two days. I had an absolute blast with this!

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Broccoli Casserole: The Untamed: The Untamed re-imagined as a Random Internet Drama
Levitating: The Mandalorian: Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) and Mando cuteness
Can't Get You Out of My Head: The Untamed: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Cry: The Untamed: Jiang Cheng and all of his feelings about Wei Wuxian
Forget the Past: Nirvana in Fire: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
The rest of my vids can be found here.

New Vid: "Broccoli Casserole"--The Untamed

talitha78 — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 20:54:17 GMT

Title: Broccoli Casserole
Song Artist: Lubalin
Fandom: The Untamed
Characters: Ensemble
Length: 00:57
Spoilers: Basically the whole show.

Vid Summary: Careful who your friends are. The Untamed re-imagined as a Random Internet Drama.

Broccoli Casserole, 82MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Broccoli Casserole on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/643685532127379456/new-vid-title-broccoli-casserole-song-artist
Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29589873
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_/status/1362976036116389892

Vidder's Notes: Having a little fun here, mashing up a viral Tik Tok song and The Untamed. I think Lubalin's videos are hilarious, and this song is a straight up banger. Also, I wanted to make a very quick vid to premiere at the 2021 Escapade vidshow.

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Levitating: The Mandalorian: Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) and Mando cuteness
Can't Get You Out of My Head: The Untamed: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Cry: The Untamed: Jiang Cheng and all of his feelings about Wei Wuxian
Forget the Past: Nirvana in Fire: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
The rest of my vids can be found here.

New Vid: "Levitating"--The Mandalorian--Grogu (Baby Yoda) and Mando

talitha78 — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 22:34:24 GMT

Title: Levitating
Song Artist: Dua Lipa
Fandom: The Mandalorian
Characters: Grogu (Baby Yoda) and Din Djarin (Mando)
Length: 03:28
Spoilers: All of Seasons 1 and 2.

Vid Summary: This masterpiece is my attempt to jam as many cute Grogu clips as possible into one vid. Also, I'm happily living in Denial Land. Come join me!

Levitating, 310MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Levitating on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/638878794033364992/it-seems-appropriate-that-my-last-vid-of-2020-is-a
Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28409862
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_/status/1343987022034300933

Vidder's Notes: It seems appropriate that my last vid of the year is a Baby Yoda vid since I have him to thank for a great deal of my emotional well-being this year. Him and Chinese dramas. Thanks, little guy!

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Can't Get You Out of My Head: The Untamed: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Cry: The Untamed: Jiang Cheng and all of his feelings about Wei Wuxian
Forget the Past: Nirvana in Fire: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
The rest of my vids can be found here.

Happy Holidays!

talitha78 — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 22:59:32 GMT

Happy Holidays from Bradshaw, Lily, and me! I hope everybody is having a good day.

Bradshaw as the most unjolly snowman in the world.

Lily's dress says "Santa Baby" because of course it does. :)

New Vid: "Can't Get You Out of My Head"--The Untamed (Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen)

talitha78 — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 23:40:16 GMT

I spent my vacation week eating mozzarella sticks and vidding the Untamed, as nature intended. This particular vid happened because I ran across this super creepy Kylie Minogue cover on Spotify and it reached across the ether, slapped me in the face, and demanded to be a Xue Yang vid.

Title: Can't Get You Out of My Head
Song Artist: Tom Snowdon cover of a Kylie Minogue song
Fandom: The Untamed
Pairing: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Length: 02:00
Warnings: Blood, death, and mayhem. See the pairing.

Vid Summary: I used the "Creepygirl" font for my titles. I think that says it all.

Can't Get You Out of My Head, 179MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Can't Get You Out of My Head on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/636001277439098880/i-spent-my-vacation-week-eating-mozzarella-sticks
Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27751771
Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_/status/1332465741912821761

Vidder's Notes: Special thanks go to teyla for generosity in the service of shiny vids.

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Cry: The Untamed: Jiang Cheng and all of his feelings about Wei Wuxian
Forget the Past: Nirvana in Fire: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
The rest of my vids can be found here.

Holiday Cards 2020

talitha78 — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 03:59:05 GMT

Sorry, Bradshaw, it's that time of year again!

Time to start thinking about holiday cards. Who doesn't like to get something fun in the mail, right? If I sent you a card last year, I intend to send you one this year, so please let me know if you have moved since December 2019. If you're new around here and would like to get added to my list, just let me know. Comments are screened, or you can send me a direct message.

As for me, I'm at the same address as I have been for the past 23 years (!!!). Hit me up for my address if you care to send a card my way, but that is by no means a requirement. I will send you one regardless. :) It's my mission to spread a little mailbox cheer in 2020.

Pets in Costumes

talitha78 — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 02:15:15 GMT

Hi Friends, long time no post. If you ever miss me, come find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_ That's where I'm hanging out these days, although I'm also tentatively wading into the world of Discord.

I hope everyone is coping as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. Things are going okay at Casa Talitha, to the point where my sister and I were able to muster up some excitement for Halloween costumes for the pets. With no further ado, here are Bradshaw and Lily in this year's ensembles.

First up is Bradshaw as Wolfgang von Barkenblut, the brilliant but troubled concert pianist.

This costume came about because my sister was looking for a way to re-use the troll wig from last year. She had the idea of painting it to make a scary, Bride of Frankenstein kind of effect. Bradshaw ended up looking more like Don King, but we're happy with it. My sister also had a shiny black shoe box that inspired her to want to make a piano. And, thus, Wolfgang was born.

Greetings from Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian!

I've been dying to dress Lily up as Baby Yoda, and my sister indulged me by making the little coat and buying the mask. We ordered the mask at the beginning of October and started panicking when it still hadn't arrived by last week, so my sister concocted a back-up.

I'm kind of fond of Bucket Mando. :)

New Vid: "Cry"--The Untamed (Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian)

talitha78 — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 02:09:27 GMT

I thought my first The Untamed vid would be an over-the-top Wangxian slashfest, but then this song exploded onto my consciousness, and it's such a perfect Jiang Cheng song that I had to vid it. Plus, it's only two minutes long, which seems like a good way to ease myself into the fandom.

Title: Cry
Song Artist: Ashnikko ft. Grimes
Fandom: The Untamed
Length: 02:17
Warnings: Some blood. Lyrics not safe for work.

Vid Summary: I'm a tough bitch, but I'm sensitive. Jiang Cheng and all of his feelings about Wei Wuxian.

Cry, 193MB mp4 file
Cry, 95MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Cry on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/633988256640483328/my-first-the-untamed-vid-but-definitely-not-the

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27408910

Vidder's Notes: This vid is dedicated to reppu, the Jiang Cheng apologist. Special thanks go to teyla for generosity in the service of shiny vids.

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Forget the Past: Nirvana in Fire: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
Somebody That I Used to Know (Sweet Dreams Mix): Thor/Loki vid (includes material from Thor and The Avengers)
The rest of my vids can be found here.

New Vid: "Forget the Past"--Nirvana in Fire

talitha78 — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 17:59:58 GMT

I'm five years late to the party, but I come to you bearing a Nirvana in Fire vid. After finishing The Untamed, I was looking for another slashy Chinese drama to binge, and Nirvana in Fire totally fit the bill. Since I'm so late discovering this fandom, there is already a ton of quality fic for it, and I've been reveling. Thank you to all the writers out there! You are heroes in these troubled times.

Title: Forget the Past
Song Artist: The Irrepressibles
Fandom: Nirvana in Fire
Pairing: Lín Shū | Méi Chángsū | Sū Zhé (this guy has a lot of aliases)/Xiāo Jǐngyǎn
Length: 04:37

Vid Summary: If you are looking to learn anything about the plot of Nirvana in Fire, this is probably not the vid for you. However, if you are looking to wallow in the epic love of a brilliant but chronically ill badass and his weepy warrior prince, then settle in!

Forget the Past, 156MB mp4 file
Click to download. Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts.

Streaming:
Forget the Past on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/616225490298093568/new-vid-nirvana-in-fire

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23809921

Vidder's Notes: With my last few vids being gen, it felt good to get back to my slashy roots with this one. I had doubts about the laser-focused, almost claustrophic concentration on the pairing, thinking, should I open this up a little more and bring in the rest of the show and its characters? Then I just said, fuck it. They're all I care about and they're all I want to look at. Let's do this thing!

Special thanks go out to lannamichaels for their generosity.

Standard disclaimer: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Recent vids:
Hasta Que Te Conocí: The Mandalorian: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin character vid
Ridin': The Mandalorian: Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Call Me Maybe: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
Somebody That I Used to Know (Sweet Dreams Mix): Thor/Loki vid (includes material from Thor and The Avengers)
The rest of my vids can be found here.

New Vid: "Hasta Que Te Conocí"--The Mandalorian

talitha78 — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 18:29:44 GMT

The Mandalorian is very inspirational, what can I say.

Title: Hasta Que Te Conocí
Song: Hasta Que Te Conocí (Live version at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes)
Song Artist: Juan Gabriel
Fandom: The Mandalorian
Character: The Mandalorian aka Din Djarin
Length: 06:20
Warnings: Spoilers for every last bit of The Mandalorian Season 1. Explosions and violence.
Vid Summary: The Mandalorian is feeling some feelings.

Hasta Que Te Conocí, 616MB mp4 file For the true die-hards!
Hasta Que Te Conocí, 149MB mp4 file
Click to download.

Streaming:
Hasta Que Te Conocí on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/190612958470/another-mandalorian-vid-title-hasta-que-te

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22533829

Vidder's Notes
This vid is dedicated to my Abuela María because she's a huge Juan Gabriel fan. I knew I wanted a Spanish-language song for my Mandalorian-POV vid, but I don't actually listen to much Spanish-language music. Luckily I stumbled across this song while in a YouTube spiral of watching "reaction" vids, specifically this one. The live version of Juan Gabriel singing this song has over 295 million views because it is just. that. good. I recommend checking it out.

Thanks to anyone who gives this over-six-minute-long, foreign language, *live* version vid a chance! LOL

Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts. Additional note: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Spanish lyrics
No sabia, de tristezas, ni de lágrimas,
Ni nada, que me hicieran llorar
Yo sabía de cariño, de ternura,
Porque a mí desde pequeño,
Eso me enseño mamá, eso me enseño mamá,
Eso y muchas cosas más
Yo jamás sufrí, yo jamás lloré
Yo era muy feliz, yo vivía muy bien
Yo vivía tan distinto, algo hermoso
Algo divino, lleno de felicidad
Yo sabia de alegrías, la belleza de la vida
Pero no de soledad, pero no de soledad
De eso y muchas cosas más
Yo jamás sufrí, yo jamás lloré
Yo era muy feliz, o vivía muy bien

Hasta que te conocí
Vi la vida con dolor
No te miento fui feliz
Aunque con muy poco amor
Y muy tarde comprendí
Que no te debía amar
Porque ahora pienso en ti
Más que ayer, mucho más
Yo jamás sufrí, pero desgraciadamente
era una noche como esta
cuando te encontré

English lyrics
I didn't know about sadness,
I didn't know about tears, or anything
That would make me cry
I knew about affection, tenderness,
Because ever since I was little,
That's what my mother taught me,
That's what my mother taught me
That and so much more

I never suffered
I never cried
I was so happy
My life was great
Oh

My life was so different, something beautiful, something divine
Full of happiness
I knew only about joy, about the beauty of life,
But not about loneliness,
But not about loneliness and so many other things too
I never suffered, I never cried,
I was so happy....My life was great

Chorus(x2)
Until I...met you,
I started to see life with pain
I was happy, I'm not lying
Even though with so little love,
And I realized too late,
That I shouldn't have loved you,
Because now I think about you
More than yesterday, so much more

I never suffered, but unfortunately
it was a night like this one
when I found you

Recent vids:
Ridin': The Mandalorian Baby Yoda vid
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Call Me Maybe: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
Somebody That I Used to Know (Sweet Dreams Mix): Thor/Loki vid (includes material from Thor and The Avengers)
The rest of my vids can be found here.

New Vid: "Ridin'"--The Mandalorian

talitha78 — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 20:03:34 GMT

Baby Yoda broke my vid block. Woohoo!

Title: Ridin'
Song Artist: Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone
Fandom: The Mandalorian
Character: Baby Yoda aka "The Child"
Length: 01:53
Warnings: Explicit lyrics, not safe for work. Spoilers for every last bit of The Mandalorian Season 1. Explosions and violence.
Vid Summary: Baby Yoda's ridin' dirty.

Ridin', 154MB WMV file
Click to download.

Streaming:
Ridin' on YouTube.

Tumblr: https://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/190369393745/baby-yoda-has-broken-my-vid-block-woohoo-title

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337797

Please do not re-distribute the direct download link. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts. Additional note: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

This vid is dedicated to my local enablers cienna, puckling, reppu, and svmadelyn.

Recent vids:
NO: John Wick 1 and 2
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Call Me Maybe: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
Somebody That I Used to Know (Sweet Dreams Mix): Thor/Loki vid (includes material from Thor and The Avengers)
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You): Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard: John McLane/Matt Farrell
The rest of my vids can be found here.

Troll family photos and holiday cards

talitha78 — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 21:31:07 GMT

Whoops! I haven't posted since April. Anyway, I'm still here and reading, but if you want Talitha content, you will have to head on over to Twitter, I'm afraid. That's the easiest place for me to post at this point in my life. https://twitter.com/talitha78_

To get your attention so that you will give me holiday card info, I present to you our Halloween costumes for 2019. We called this "For Whom the Bell Trolls." Since Lily couldn't come to any events with us, we decided to have her be there in spirit, as "little sister at home." Haha, we thought we were so cute.

The point of this post is to ask you about holiday cards. Per the usual, if I sent you one last year, I want to send you one this year, so please let me know IF YOU HAVE MOVED since December 2018. I have not, FYI. Also, if I have not sent you a card before, but you would like to start a new tradition, please comment with your address below. Comments are screened.

Fannish update: I have fallen hard for Chinese dramas: Guardian and The Untamed to be exact. Beautiful, melodramic boys. Love it!!

My thoughts on Avengers: Endgame

talitha78 — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 18:01:12 GMT

I don't have any particularly new or gripping insights into the movie, but if you're curious, here's what I thought.

I've seen the movie twice now, and I probably want to see it in the theaters at least one more time.

First, let me get the most important statement out of the way: both Steve and Bucky were incandescently beautiful in this movie. I was deeply aesthetically satisfied, which goes a long way toward reconciling me to any actual plot stuff I wasn't enamored with.

As far as movie-watching experiences go, my reaction is overall very positive. I had an absolute blast watching this movie, and the Thursday opening night audience was laughing, clapping, and screaming throughout. Our Saturday afternoon audience was very subdued, which was a bit of a bummer.

I felt a little weird about the whole fat-Thor thing, but not enough to keep me from laughing. I know people have been trigger warning for it, which is fair. Beyond the great comedy moments, Chris Hemsworth acted his ass off, and I love Thor more than I ever did. Plus chubby Thor can totally still get it. Hummina.

Natasha's death felt gratuitous. The first time I watched the movie, I was so taken aback I didn't even feel sad about it. At the second viewing, though, I cried. She's just so good. I hope, hope, hope they will do some magic to bring her back. I understand that people love Hawkeye, but I feel like he got way too much time in this movie. Frankly, I've never been a fan of the whole Clint with kids storyline, and I feel like there was a value judgment made where the person with kids deserved to live more, which I find icky.

Tony's death was well done and very affecting. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

The Steve ending was kinda eh. I appreciate that they didn't kill him off, but old, wrinkly Cap is not what I'm here for, so it was kind of deflating. I'm glad he got some happiness, but at what cost? It seems like a selfish and thoughtless thing for him to have done. I don't hate it, and it doesn't destroy the character for me, but it's not ideal. However, I've already started seeing fix-it fic popping up, so I feel like the fandom will be just fine with it. As norwich36 mentioned in her post, if Steve does not immediately run off to find Bucky and live in threesome bliss with him and Peggy, then there is no justice in the world.

This movie gives us so much to work with!! Fandom will take the great things in it, and leave the stuff we don't have a use for. There is so much fodder for alternate storylines. The Cap on Cap scene alone had better spawn reams of fic. In fact, the whole 2012 New York section of the movie was aces, giving us a new perspective on the denouement of the first Avengers movie, and so many hilarious callbacks.

Other stuff I loved:
Group therapy leader Cap
Head of Shield Natasha and her awesome hair
Rhodey's everything
Thor hearts Captain Marvel
"I went for the head"
Tony giving Steve back his shield
Carol as deus ex machina
Korg and Miek on the couch with the pizza box
Thor's fingerless gloves
Nebula's character arc
Thor getting closure with his mom
Loki running off with the Tesseract
Bruce's half-hearted "Hulk smash" in 2012
Scott and Rocket lightening the mood
All the ladies of MCU getting it done
"On your left"
Thor's beard braid
King Valkyrie
STEVE WITH THOR'S HAMMER
AVENGERS...ASSEMBLE
SAM WITH THE SHIELD
Bucky in black with the sad eyes

..and other things I'm probably forgetting. As I've said elsewhere: this movie is A LOT.

New Vid: "NO"--John Wick films

talitha78 — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 20:47:15 GMT

Whew, it's been a minute, huh? I can't believe my last vid was in 2015.

Title: NO
Song Artist: Meghan Trainor
Fandom: John Wick 1 and 2
Character: John Wick
Length: 03:36
Warnings: Lots of violence and gore. However, no animal harm is depicted or implied.
Vid Summary: No means no.

NO, 110MB WMV file
NO, 67MB mp4 file
Click to download.

Streaming:
NO on YouTube.

Tumblr: http://talitha78.tumblr.com/post/181958672875/hi-all-after-three-years-im-finally-back-with-a

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17397134

Please do not re-distribute the direct download links. Instead, refer people to one of my official vid posts. Additional note: Since I am making these vids purely for fun, I am not looking for criticism, constructive or otherwise. Thanks for understanding.

Slightly Triggery Vidder's Notes. Read with Caution:
I have Serious Thoughts about how nice it would be if all women felt safe enough to say "NO" the way that Meghan Trainor does, and also about how I read the John Wick movies as rape revenge fantasies, but mostly I made this vid because I find the song/source juxtaposition to be hilarious. Whether anyone shares my sense of humor remains to be seen.

Thanks go out to franzeska, puckling, and seperis who provided assistance/enthusiasm at pivotal moments.

Recent vids:
Radar: Kingsman: Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Harry Hart
The Heart Wants What it Wants: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Steve/Bucky
Problem: Captain America, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier: Bucky/Steve
Wrecking Ball: Thor, Thor 2: The Dark World, Avengers: Thor/Loki
Call Me Maybe: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Lights: Person of Interest: John Reese/Harold Finch
Civilian: Haven: Audrey Parker character study with Audrey/Nathan/Duke relationship
Somebody That I Used to Know (Sweet Dreams Mix): Thor/Loki vid (includes material from Thor and The Avengers)
Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You): Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard: John McLane/Matt Farrell
Do It Like a Dude: The Middleman: Wendy/Lacey
The rest of my vids can be found here.

Happy Holiday Photos

talitha78 — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 04:23:20 GMT

This year's Wall o' Cards is looking fantastic; thank you to everyone who contributed!! <3

Merry Christmas or Happy Tuesday greetings from Lily, Bradshaw, my sister (set designer, stylist, and photographer), and me!

Can you tell that Lily is supposed to be a penguin?

As always, Bradshaw's expression conveys how over it he is.

Here's this year's My Little Pony-themed holiday sweater. So much love.

And here are the Chihuahua earrings to complete the ensemble.

Some outtakes from yesterday's holiday photo shoot:

Lily made a token effort to escape, but mostly she was chill.

Bradshaw was absolutely thrilled with the proceedings, truly.

I hope everyone is having a pleasant couple of days, in whatever way you choose to celebrate. I'm off work until next year, so I have a lot of relaxation in my future. Bliss.

Holiday Cards

talitha78 — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 22:42:04 GMT

Bradshaw and I at the Urban Pooch Dog Costume Contest. Bradshaw was dressed as "Animal Activist" and I'm his support panda.

Lily the awkward unicorn.

OK, now that I've gotten your attention with pet photos, it's time to talk holiday cards. I've got them, and I'm hoping you want them. If you got one last year, I'm sending you one this year, but you have to tell me if you have moved since December 2017. Please and thank you.

If you have not received a card in the past but would like to start a new tradition, please put your address in a comment below, which will be screened. We like to dress Bradshaw and Lily in cute holiday outfits and put a picture of it in our cards, so you know you're gonna want some of that fun delivered to your home!

My address remains the same as it's been for the last 20 years, and if you need it, let me know.

By the way, I still read this journal every day, but I have a hard time mustering the energy to post. If you'd like to know what I'm up to, fashion-wise, I post my outfits of the day over on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talitha78_ . Love you all!!

Happy (if chilly) New Year!

talitha78 — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 03:47:58 GMT

The cold in Chicago has been brutal so far this year, but I was warmed by receiving a few more holiday cards from my wonderful friends. As far as I'm concerned, the holiday season can go right up until Valentine's Day, and I'm trying to persuade my sister to leave our little tree up until then. We'll see how that goes. :)

At any rate, thank you to duskwillow, hazel, condnsdmlk (haha, non-traumatizing card ftw), n00bli0us, yavannauk, and grammarwoman!

Now for your viewing pleasure, here's what Bradshaw and I look like when we're bundled up to face the cold.

December vacation: Florida and the Caribbean

talitha78 — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 06:12:13 GMT

I had the pleasure of taking the first couple of weeks of December off from work in order to travel to see deejay and her sister Candy in Florida, and then to join them on an eight-day cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. In Florida, we visited St. Augustine and Disney World, and on the cruise we had four ports of call: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos; St. Kitts, West Indies; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Amber Cove (Puerta Plata), Dominican Republic.

For those of us experiencing cold and snowy weather right now, I thought it might be nice to have some photos that reflect a different reality.

Christmas lights in Holly Hills, Florida.

St. Augustine's pedestrian mall with lots of fun shops.

Selfie in front of St. Augustine's Castillo San Marcos.

Selfie with glasses for the St. Augustine Night of Lights. You get on a little trolley and drive around town wearing these glasses that make all the Christmas lights look like snowflakes. Fun and a little trippy.

On December 1, we sailed out of Port Canaveral on the Carnival Sunshine. Here are some cruise ship photos:

Cabin selfie.

The Christmas tree in our cabin.

The swimming pool on the Serenity deck.

Sunbathing on the Serenity deck.

One of the ubiquitous towel animals, in this case an elephant.

Getting fancy in the dining room for formal night.

First cruise formal night. These cheesy photos never fail to amuse me.

Second cruise formal night.

The deck at night time.

Our first port was Grand Turk.

Another cheesy cruise photo upon disembarking at Grand Turk. They took these photos at every port, but I only bought the ones at Grand Turk. They're sort of repetitive.

The Carnival Sunshine docked at Grand Turk.

At Grand Turk we went on a snorkeling excursion that included a chance to kiss a stingray. Pretty awesome!

Margaritaville in Grand Turk.

Back aboard ship, with Grand Turk behind me.

Next port was St. Kitts where I got to have a close encounter with a monkey.

A craft market.

Adorable school children in uniform.

A random window I thought was pretty.

The crew aboard the catamaran that took us around the island.

Catamaran selfie.

Sitting on the netting on the catamaran.

Next up was San Juan, where I was interested to see how well they were recovering from Hurricane Maria. Things looked pretty good to me, but I only saw the most touristy sections of Old San Juan, and they made us get back on the ship by 2pm, so I can't say what it was like after dark.

San Juan selfie.

There were definitely signs of damage. Here you see the windows of the bank are boarded up.

This sign was still knocked down.

There is still debris in the water in the port.

I was using a new camera so I don't know how I managed to take this photo, but I like it.

A random sighting of ET on the streets of San Juan.

Back aboard ship, with San Juan in the background.

The last port was Amber Cove aka Puerta Plata.

A mound of amber at Amber Cove.

Braver people than I engaged in ziplining.

Waterfall selfie.

After we got off the cruise ship, we immediately headed to Disney World for a day of fun, even if it was a bit cold and crowded with the pre-Christmas rush.

I particularly enjoyed the Fantasy parade. Hippos and dragons, yay!

The day before I headed home, we stopped at Crabby Joe's on Sunglow Pier at Daytona Beach Shores, where I had a fish that I actually enjoyed: basa fish, or whiting. Tasted like chicken!

All in all, an amazing trip with wonderful friends!

Happy Holidays!!

talitha78 — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 22:49:29 GMT

I wish everyone a joyous holiday season and end of year in whatever way you celebrate!

As you can see, my annual Wall o' Cards is once again resplendent, thanks to the following lovely people: elsmoka, goss, spasticat, vix_spes, luvmax1, lunabee34, norwich36, dine, mahaliem, amalthia, tasabian, darlulu, fromward, silverscreengal, beloved4always, lamardeuse, svmadelyn, brokenmnemonic, lexii314, lapetite_kiki, maichan, isagel, enchanted_jae, and raspberry_splat.

Thank you again, so much!! <3 <3 <3

As many of you know, every year my sister and I take a holiday card picture with the animals dressed up in various adorable costumes. This year was no exception, and below the cut are the results.

Here is the official holiday card photo.

Here is an outtake. I laugh every time I look at this picture. The animals are so done with this nonsense.

Here are some closeups of the two costumes.

Lily dressed as a little angel when she's actually a little demon.

Bradshaw as a hilariously grumpy elf.

Here's a better view of my "ugly Christmas sweater". If you don't know about the Ikea monkey, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ80Zpi7N-E

Best wishes from my little family of weirdos!

Holiday Cards!!!

talitha78 — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 22:05:58 GMT

It's that time of year where I solicit addresses for the purpose of sending you a cheery card with a sticker of me and my pets wearing gaudy holiday-themed clothing. Woohoo!!

If I sent you a card last year, I would like to send you a card this year, so PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU'VE MOVED since December 2016. This is especially important for my international friends because I am going to start sending those cards out this very weekend. Please don't make me waste a stamp. *begs prettily*

If I have not sent you a card before and you would like one, by all means, let me know. I send to anywhere in the world, and reciprocation is not necessary, though certainly appreciated.

For your information, I am still at the same address I have been for the last 20 years. Let me know if you need the details.

Comments are screened, so you can enter your addresses here, or you can DM me, or you can email me at tallybub at yahoo dot com.

Happy Halloween

talitha78 — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 22:20:19 GMT

Happy Halloween from Lily and Bradshaw! Here are the photos of their costumes from this year.

Here's Bradshaw's photo shoot, with a Finding Dory theme. My sister assembled the amazing backdrop.

Lily in her pumpkin costume. She just would not keep her eyes open! Something about having that pumpkin hat on her head put her in a coma. The challenges of pet photography, I tellya.

Here are a couple of outtakes from the photo shoots.

Bradshaw attempts to maintain his dignity in the face of importunate shoving and poking.

Lily contemplates jumping out the window to escape her humiliation.

We later took Bradshaw's costume on the road, to the Urban Pooch Costume Contest.

My crafty sister turned the stuffed animals from the photo shoot into a mobile. When we registered for the contest, we called this costume, "Finding Dory--Ensemble." Oh, how this amused the judges! So pretentious, haha. Adding to the hilarity, my sister insisted that Bradshaw enter under his stage name, PeeWee.

Our primary motivation for attending the contest was the free photo by a professional photographer. Look at the happy family.

No one was more surprised than we when we actually won Most Adorable Costume! We had already taken off Bradshaw's headpiece and started disassembling the mobile when they pronounced him the winner. We scrambled to get ourselves put back together again before we headed to the stage.

We are the champions!!

2017 Spooky Pooch Parade at the Chicago Botanic Garden

talitha78 — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 22:32:08 GMT

Hello, Friends! 'Tis the season for animals to get into costume. Today I bring you photos from an event I attended on October 21, the Spooky Pooch Parade at the Chicago Botanic Garden. There were dogs in costumes as far as the eyes could see. So much cuteness!!

Some great Chihuahuas here to start us out.

Punk rocker.

I don't know what this is besides cute.

Popeye dog.

Matching Pooh Bears.

The perfect political candidate.

These pittie bunnies cracked me up with the way they were sitting.

Our first lion.

Assistance dogs by day, pirates by night.

This pioneer wagon ensemble was amazeballs.

Adorable penguin family.

My sister asked this guy if he was supposed to be edamame. No, they were two peas in a pod. I LOLed.

Another amazing ensemble, this time a lobster boil.

Little Bo Peep and her sheep.

Make way for the King.

For all the naysayers out there: people do put ketchup on their hot dogs.

All aboard the hippie bus.

Heidi.

The Pink Ladies and the T-birds.

How awesome is this succulent garden costume?

Another lion.

A little Fifties nostalgia.

Ghostbuster and Slimer.

A garden gnome.

Some kind of reference to Game of Thrones, I believe.

There was even a little squirrel tucked away in this flower box.

Life on the farm.

An ewok.

Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion.

The circus has come to town.

Captain America the Dog.

This float was operated by remote control and even had its own music. Mind blown.

A couple of bobby socks-ers.

Bath time.

Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

Come to the Dark Side, Luke.

This Chihuahua is ready to chomp.

Super Puppy is unimpressed with these shenanigans.

Wonder Woman was well represented.

This werewolf was never set down even once the entire time. My sister asked her owner, "Is she okay?" "Oh, yeah, she's just very spoiled." Look at that face!

UPS delivery.

Tootsie Roll.

Sushi dog.

Super Dog bringing a dignified end to this post.

A Week in Photos: Birthday, Vividcon, etc.

talitha78 — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 01:11:03 GMT

Another Vividcon has come and gone, and as usual, I had a great time hanging out with friends and occasionally watching vids. This Vividcon was extra special because I celebrated my birthday at the con. Everyone was super sweet to me, with special thanks due to deejay and anoel for the cards and presents--deejay even got me a cake with a little Captain America ring on it! *hearts*

This year in particular, I feel like I paced myself well, skipping the hotel breakfasts each morning in favor of sleeping and lounging around, and not staying up too late each night. I mostly hung out in the con suite and was able to connect with a few people whom I haven't been able to talk to much in previous years, which was really nice (waves at destina, celli and taraljc). I went to exactly one panel, bessyboo's excellent discussion of OT3 vids; I was tickled that she chose to analyze my Fastlane vid "3". I only went to a few vidshows: "These Vids Go to Eleven," (funny, over-the-top vids), Premieres (surprisingly to my taste with many light, funny, slashy, pretty vids), Club Vivid (fun!!!), and Challenge (a little heavy for me, to be honest).

I may come back to make some vid recs, but for now, I'll let the pictures do the talking. I didn't take photos of my fellow con-goers, so these are mostly of me.

The day before Vividcon kicked off, my co-workers threw a little birthday party for me, and here I am in my cake-eating dress. I called it my cake-eating dress because the pattern on it was so busy, I was confident nobody would notice if I got chocolate frosting on it. :)

Here is the aforementioned chocolate cake, along with a couple of gifts including a tiny Captain America key chain.

The key chain got added to the Captain America shrine on my desk.

On Thursday, by many considered the unofficial first day of Vividcon, deejay and I ventured into the city to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, eat dinner, and go to Hamilton (!!). This was my second time seeing it live, and it was just as wonderful as the first time. Here are some pictures from the zoo.

HIppos are my favorite animal, so the star of the show for me was the pygmy hippo. Golly, it was cute.

Here are the selfies I took at the Vividcon hotel. The mirror there made it appear as if I was entering into a slightly askew alternate universe, a Mirrorverse, if you will. harhar

Look, a red shirt selfie!! *gigglesnorts*

On Friday night after Premieres, deejay hosted a Wonder Woman party, and served birthday cake as well. It was great.

The card from deejay and her sister Candy was hilarious and featured a singing and dancing hamster. The present was delicious taffy. They know what I like!

I also got a card and pretty SwanQueen sticker from anoel:

When I arrived home from the con, I found a couple more cards waiting for me from norwich36 and spasticat.

Saturday night was Club Vivid, and here is my dancing dress.

Sunday night franzeska hosted a fabulously decorated room party on the theme of buddy cop shows in tropical settings (e.g., Miami Vice, Hawaii 5-0) and showed us a draft of her film school project. The hilarity!!

I will close with pet photos, as is my wont. First up is Bradshaw photobombing my selfie.

And here is Lily trying out a mohawk hairstyle.

Vividcon; plus size fashion; photo potpourri

talitha78 — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 20:28:04 GMT

Hi All! Since folks are doing Vividcon roll call, I just wanted to let you know I will be attending, Thursday-Monday. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my peeps at the penultimate Vividcon. It's gonna be intense, and next year is going to be off the charts, I bet. By the way, if anyone wants the Vividcon DVD set from last year (2016), I have three extra copies that I never got around to giving away. Just leave a comment, and a set could be yours for free. I will ship anywhere in the world. First come, first served. Mutual friends only. ETA: All DVD sets have been claimed.

Sorry I've been absent for so long, but I find I just don't have the energy for long-form blogging these days. If you wanna keep up with me, Twitter is the place to find me. https://twitter.com/talitha78_

I've been kinda obsessed with fashion recently and have been posting outfit of the day (OOTD) selfies pretty much every day for the last 10 weeks. I discovered the plus size fashion vlogging community back in May, and since then I've fallen into a spiral of watching "in the dressing room" videos and try-on hauls and spending waaaaay too much money on clothes. But I'm enjoying having a creative outlet again, so it's all good. Also, I really dig the fat acceptance and body positivity in the plus size fashion community, and I like knowing I can look adorable no matter what my size may be.

If you're curious, here are some of my favorite plus size vloggers:
Glitter and Lazers
Sarah Rae Vargas
Sometimes Glam
Passion Jonesz
Supple Chic
Shannon Miller
Sarah Anne
Estefany Alcazar
Daquana White
And I Get Dressed

And here are some of the places that I like to shop for clothes:
Torrid: http://www.torrid.com/
City Chic: http://www.citychiconline.com/
Lane Bryant: http://www.lanebryant.com/home
Old Navy (Yes, Old Navy does plus sizes now. It's awesome.): http://www.oldnavy.com/
Eloquii: http://www.eloquii.com/
Target: https://www.target.com/
Rebdolls: https://rebdolls.com/

Under the cut I'll post a few of my favorite outfits of the the day, as well as a potpourri of pet photos, etc. Hope you enjoy!

White floral dress from Lane Bryant, navy blue shrug from Torrid, shoes by Dansko.

Red and black dress from City Chic, necklace from Lane Bryant, black flats from Torrid.

Yellow dress from Eloquii, olive ribbon shoes from Torrid.

Blue parrot dress from Old Navy, cobalt chiffon shrug from City Chic, sandals by Crocs.

Earlier this month, svmadelyn and I trekked out to the suburb of Lisle, IL, to go to the "Eyes to the Skies" hot air balloon festival. It was amazing and I fell in love with the shark balloon. I named it Sharky and I wanted to squeeze it and hug it and take it home.

Here are Lily and Bradshaw celebrating Captain America's birthday, aka Fourth of July.

Speaking of Captain America, here's my shrine at the office:

I was running out of room on my toy shelf at home, so I brought my MCU figures to work:

Kinda random, but too cute not to share. These are edible fruit sculptures that my brother's mother-in-law made. She's very crafty.

An elderly friend of the family is a huge dog lover and is no longer able to keep her own dog due to health reasons. She requested that we bring Bradshaw along to her house for a visit, and I was a little dubious about how he would behave since he is not the most sociable of dogs. But he did the family proud. Here he is holding hands with our friend, Audrey.

Bradshaw sitting on Audrey's couch with the perfect pillow:

We recently had to take Lily to the vet, and here is my sister Jessica with Lily in the examination room, trying to console her with a kiss. Note Lily's attempted tongue slip. Cheeky girl.

And now for miscellaneous cute pet photos:

Lily is thinking about taking up vidding.

Lily is trying to tempt me into petting the belly. I know better.

Bahamas cruise, February 12-16, 2017

talitha78 — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:06:25 GMT

I'm finally getting around to posting my photos from the cruise I took two months ago. It was a short trip, only four days, with only two ports of call: Nassau and Freeport. Again, I went with the lovely deejay and her sister Candy, who introduced me to the wonders of a different cruise line, Carnival. Carnival ships are advertised as "fun ships," and I have to say, the atmosphere was very different than Holland America, which is the only other cruise line I have experienced. Carnival had more amenities, more pools and bars, etc. Also, better games, and more activities in general. On the negative side, it felt super crowded. There were hordes of people everywhere. Or at least that's what it felt like to this introvert. I enjoyed myself, though. We had a beautiful room with our own private balcony; that was sooooo nice. Anyway, here are some pics, if you're curious.

First of all, I have to share with you my cruise glamour shot, in all its cheesy glory:

Isn't that just the best? I lurve this kind of cornball stuff.

Sunset, the first day aboard the ship.

This was our ship, the Carnival Liberty.

The ship was quite beautiful.

The lido deck, aka the entertainment deck.

At night, they had movies out on the deck, and called it "Dive-in Movies" because you could watch from the pool if you wanted. For the most part, it was too cold to do that, but the deck chairs were comfortable, and we got to see Ghostbusters (2016) and Dr. Strange out under the stars.

The library was very small and tucked away in a hidden corner. A nice place to get away from the crowds.

The main dining room. Every night they made the serving staff get up on the tables and dance, I guess to show what a "fun ship" it was.

The casino. I swear this was the dumbest game I have ever seen.

I'll admit, I succumbed to the lure of bingo, even though I know the game was totally rigged in the ship's favor.

Our suite. My bed is not pictured, but it was a full-size fold-out bed, very comfy.

One half of our balcony. It was big enough for four chairs.

My favorite part of cruising thus far: the towel animals!

And now for the ports of call. First up, Nassau.

The straw market, where you buy all your knickknacks and souvenirs.

We went to Senor Frog's for lunch and I had a yummy frozen daiquiri. Virgin, because that's how I roll.

There was pirate stuff all over, including a pirate museum:

The next day, we were in Freeport.

More pirates!

Prettiness.

We were supposed to go snorkeling in Paradise Cove, but the waves were too choppy, and a lot of the beach sand had been washed away by Hurricane Matthew in November 2016. All around the island, one could see the remnants of the damage done by Matthew. Tarps on roofs, cars that had been thrown into the brush, knocked down trees. Nevertheless, the sun was shining, the water was bright blue, and I had a nice day at the beach even without the snorkeling.

Out on the balcony as the ship pulls away from Freeport.

Back in Florida, on my last day before flying home, we went to have dinner at a restaurant on Flagler Beach.