"The Sort-of-Do-It-Myself-Dreadful-Affair" journal is the home of vysila and is now friends only. Sorry.

I've been in media fandom for a long time and I write fanfic and make fanvids on a sporadic schedule. Mostly m/m slash.

If you think the title of this journal is really, really stupid, or you don't get the reference, you're probably not a Man from UNCLE fan. Which is a pity, because it's a great classic television program from the 1960's. Gorgeous guys, lots of snark, and hurt/comfort out the wazoo. Handcuffs! Shirtless men being whipped! Sexism run rampant! Entirely non-politically correct as only a 55-year old show can be - and soooo much fun.

The original Star Wars trilogy is another passion of mine. Been a fan since 1977. Unfond of the "Special Edition" versions brought out in the 1990's. In my headcanon, Han ALWAYS shoots first and Luke NEVER screams in the airshaft. Luke Skywalker has been my hero for 45 years now and I don't think that's going to change any time soon. Even less fond of the Disney sequel trilogy - it never happened far as I'm concerned.

All of my fanworks in both fandoms can be found in one handy spot: vysila on AO3.

I have a new fannish obsession - the Wheel of Time! The television series on Amazon Prime sucked me in and now I'm reading all zillion books of the series. Can creating fanworks be far behind?

Other than the obvious fannish content, you will find a fair amount of personal postings here. I'm in my late 60's and retired as of December 2020. My politics are liberal, not allied with any particular religious belief and I think your sexual preferences are nobody's business but yours. I do try to accept others as they are and am pretty easy-going.

This is a drama-free, flounce-free journal.

If you've stumbled upon TSODIMDA by accident but think you might be interested in reading, drop a comment to this post.

If this isn't the journal you're looking for, then move along. < /end Jedi mind trick >

February is always a difficult month for me. The days are still short and the weather is usually dreary and cold. The shortest month of the year never feels short enough to me! I was glad I had the 101 project to keep me busy.

The current political situation and war sure didn’t help either.

( Let's see what kind of progress I made in Month Seven, shall we?Collapse )

In February I read three more Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan. I am completely immersed in this sprawling fantasy universe.

( Read the ReviewsCollapse )

Yeah, I figured since I have spent much of this year so far reading the Wheel of Time series, I figured I might as well track it via the Book Bingo. Yesterday I finished book 4 in the series, The Shadow Rising, which is one whopper of a book. It was also an amazing and excellent read. So much happened in this book, just non-stop action and so many new characters, different cultures to learn. The history of the world is unfolding, like how the War of Power came to be and the Breaking of the World, and why certain societies developed. The seals holding the Dark One in his prison are being destroyed and the Forsaken (evil minions) are popping up all over. Our heroes are scattering across the world on their individual journeys and character arcs. The traditional citadels of power and stability are failing, torn by internal politics and civil war. Evil is spreading across the lands. The Last Battle between good and evil is coming (although it'll take another 10 books to get there, I'm sure.) I am so hooked. The series is a complex and long read, but hey, I'm retired and have time. Still highly recommending for fantasy lovers.

( So, here's another annoying bingo card to clutter up your reading page.Collapse )

Y is for:

You’ll Freeze Out There by catbeans

A 2017 pre-slash Han/Luke story: 2,277 words

How could I resist a Star Wars story written by someone calling herself catbeans? Plus the title matches current weather and what better way to handle the storms than by warming up with comforting fanfic?

This sweet little story is an expanded scene from The Empire Strikes Back, where Han goes out into a storm to rescue a missing Luke and gets more than he bargained for. This was a decent version showing Han’s unspoken devotion to Luke, and Luke’s realization that maybe there’s more going on here than friendship. I enjoy stories like this, where they are on the cusp of moving into a more intimate relationship – and yet the reader knows what is about to happen to them. A nice story, not one I’m likely to favorite, but decently written. She has more than 50 original trilogy stories on AO3, so I will probably read more of her fic.



Click on the fanfic bingo tag to check out all of the stories I've read so far.

M is for -

Misunderstood by arlathahn

A 2018 gen Luke and Leia story: 7,839 words
AO3 story summary: Leia Organa doesn't get Luke Skywalker.

I decided to start off with a thoughtful character study of the Skywalker twins (although they don’t know they’re related as yet). Before, during and after the first Death Star battle, Leia tries to understand this farmboy who turns the Alliance on its ear. I really liked this story and am sad that she only has two Star Wars stories in her credits.

I've seen the Fanfic Bingo card challenge popping up around my friends list and I decided it was time to join in. I'm doing Star Wars instead of MFU, though. Most of the fics (if not all) will be Han/Luke slash, because this is me.

26 fanfics in an entire year? Uh, yeah, totally doable.

January was a month for renewing and reviewing goals and progress. I’ve had to adjust a couple of goals because they just weren’t working and I hadn’t committed to them the way I’d hoped.

( My list, my rules, right? ;-)Collapse )

December was a difficult month for me. I’d like to say I ended the year on a high, productive note, but that would not be true. I struggled a lot and my progress suffered as a result. A combination of my usual doldrums in the winter months and an emotional ricochet from the autumnal cancer scare. Still, all was not lost, not by any means.

( Let's see how I did with my goals in December, shall we?Collapse )

Song Title: I Love Being Here With You
Artist: Peggy Lee
Length: 2 minutes, 44 seconds

Yeah, count me corny and sentimental. I made a thank-you vid to the MFU fandom at large because our 50th anniversary celebration and outpouring of creativity and enthusiasm was simply amazing. Consider this a big warm hug from me to everyone in the MFU fandom, especially those here on LJ.

Vimeo gave me a big fat raspberry when I tried to upload it - the gotcha of music matching - but YouTube let me go forward. The vid can be streamed either on YouTube or on AO3. Let's see how long it stays up on YouTube, shall we?

Streaming link on AO3 is here
Streaming link on YouTube is here

If the streaming site goes away, see this post for a download link. This vid has been encoded with the H.264 codec so if you do download, remember that you must also download and install that codec on your computer in order to view the vid.

Statistics:
Editing Software: Corel VideoStudio ProX 3
No. of Episodes: 19 (this surprised me, as most of the vid isn't episode footage)
No. of Clips: I have no idea. Lots, lots, lots

I hope no one is offended that I included samples of art work. The only person I asked permission of was the fabulously talented togsos, in order to use her adorable IK chibi. (Asking too many folks would have given the surprise away.) I also hope I managed to include all the comms, big archives & sites and especially all the wonderful fans who contributed in one way or another to our 50th celebration.

It was awesome.
YOU are awesome.

The best of birthday wishes to grey853 on your special day!

I just couldn't get enough of it.
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Tomorrow: Rockefeller Center and Top of the Rock!

I'm getting all confused now on what I did when, but I see I have left out the rest of the Midtown tour. After we left the most awesome Tudor City enclave with its fanciful towers and private parks, we strolled down 41st Street eastwards, when we began seeing interesting little brass plaques set into the sidewalk. They are called "The Library Walk" and lead all the way to the main Public Library at 5th and 41st. Each brass plaque offers a brief excerpt from a multitude of novels; I don't remember how many there were. I'm sure we caused a traffic jam because we had to stop and read them all!
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That's about all I have time for this evening - another post tomorrow! We still have Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue shopping and The Cloisters to drool over.

I'll say it again - I love New York! Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Wow, am posting more this weekend than I have in months! But there is so much to love and tell and show about this trip - even if I have to bore everyone else.

We also wandered around the Upper East Side a bit. I had hoped to stroll along First Avenue a bit further north, to glance down the side streets and speculate where would be the approximate location of UNCLE HQ, but time was not on our side. But we did manage to get over to a building where I think Napoleon and Illya might live.
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Yes, there is still more to see!

Once I could finally tear myself away from the beauty and elegance of Grand Central, we ventured out onto 42nd Street and I got my first view of Manhattan in nearly 50 years. Just glorious, the sense of excitement and buzz of energy, serious people rushing by, focused on their destination. People don't stroll in Midtown. Of course, it was about lunchtime when we got there, so perhaps they were just hungry for lunch!
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Once again I have gotten wordy and put in a lot of pictures, so I'll stop for now.

It seems I've gone about posting the photos and commentary about my NYC trip in haphazard order. Now, I'm going back to the beginning. Let me tell you, I was so excited I started snapping pictures as soon as I got off the plane. Yep, as touristy as a person can get...
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Next up - East 42nd Street, the UN area and the upper East Side

So now we've crossed Astor Place and found ourselves officially in the East Village, strolling down St. Mark's Place.
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Still more to come in the next post.

As promised, some more pictures of my NYC visit this past week. One afternoon we took the subway down to the Washington Square area, in the Greenwich Village area. I really do understand why so many fan writers place Illya as living here, as this area of the City has amazing energy and a real sense of being a neighborhood or true community, unlike some other areas of Manhattan. He would feel comfortable in the Village.
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Next post is about Veselka and the East Village.

So I am home from my big vacation in NYC and quite sad about being home. The trip was a blast and I completely fell in love with New York. Now I understand why my niece (who lives there) calls it "The Center of the Universe".
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Next post, I'll share some pictures of the Village and tell you about our dinner at Veselka.

Title: Everybody Wants to be a Cat
Artist: Brian Setzer
Length: 1 minute, 48 seconds

Inspired by a photo prompt in the section7mfu community here on LJ. The photo image appears at the end of the vid. It's an upbeat, fun gen vid, with no pretensions to anything other than Illya worship. Sorry, Napoleon girls, my last couple of vids have been Napoleon-centric and I thought it was time to give equally. Besides the photo prompt was so completely Illya - I instantly thought of this song!

Thanks to all those who responded to my post today asking for episodes where Illya sang, played an instrument or otherwise performed - that was a big help. My memory ain't what it used to be. ;)



The streaming link is on YouTube. For a while at least, until it gets blocked or taken down (why no, I'm not a pessimist, why do you ask?)

The download link for this vid is here. Vid has been encoded with H.264 codec. Download file size is 19.2 MB.

Statistics
Editing Software: Corel VideoStudio ProX3
No. of Episodes: 20 (I think)
No. of Clips: 46
Avg. Clip Length: 2.35 seconds
Special Effects: converted color clips to b&w; flipped a few clips for overall vid momentum
Transitions: Only 4 in the entire vid, 2 dissolves, one zoom and one crossfade
I completed this vid, from concept to upload, in less than 12 hours. Granted it's a short vid, but that's still a record for me.

YouTube has gone insane with its "improvements". It took me forever to log into my account because they changed my login! And now my YouTube account has to be linked to a google+ account? I do not like this. It's way more confusing to upload now than it ever used to be. How very annoying. Interestingly, some settings for the videos themselves must have been changed on YouTube, because I notice the vid proportions are slightly off. The titles are not precisely where they are supposed to be. Hmpf. YT is not earning much love from me today.