Dear Vidder Letter (Festivids 25-26)
Sep. 22nd, 2025 03:33 pmHello Festividder! Thank you so much for your gift! I have some notes below about my preferences but really I’ll be delighted to receive whatever you make!
Overall
I particularly enjoy ensemble vids and vids that are focused on non-primary characters or relationships, or vids about the backdrop / aesthetic / broad arc of the show. I like poly ships and monogamous ones. I enjoy vids that have a wide variety of types of shots - face close-ups, wide scenery shots, detail shots, etc. I generally prefer not to have lip syncing or diagetic dialogue.
Music
I enjoy a wide variety of types of music, and being introduced to great new songs & artists I've never heard before. I enjoy songs in any language (though I’m most familiar with English, German, Spanish, and Mandarin, in that order). Some of my favorite genres & musicians include (in no particular order):
- Heavy metal & Punk (System of a Down, REM, Nirvana…)
- Rap / Hip-hop (Lil Nas X, Todrick Hall, Cardi B, Dessa...)
- Celtic (Malinky, Kate Rusby, John Doyle, Great Big Sea, Halali...)
- Appalachian folk / bluegrass (Lady Maisery, Wailin’ Jennys, Carolina Chocolate Drops...)
- Indie folk (Grace Petrie, Indigo Girls, Dar Williams...)
- Country (Dolly Parton, Dixie Chicks, Kacey Musgraves...)
- Blues/Jazz/Swing (Keb Mo, Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald...)
- Pop music (Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Little Mix...)
- Musicals
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Dear Missy
Dear Missy is a story about two women who are very close friends who run a design magazine together, and all their friends who stick together and support each other!
This show is so good and I ship Shen Siyi with Lu Ke a lot! I love their “broke up in childhood because Shen Siyi couldn’t handle a relationship, then Shen Siyi tried to make up as an adult but still couldn’t handle a relationship” dynamic. I love SSY’s whole broken relationship with her parents, and her self esteem issues / disaster bisexualness in general. That said, it would be really cool to receive a Guan Yue character study - she’s great & deserves it! An art / design / architecture feelings / aesthetic vid would also be a lot of fun. Or a vid for the gaggle of Nouveau employees just trying to get through the day.
DNW: Lu Ke / Cheng Nan without the breakup. Focus on police plotlines.
Vida (2018)
Two estranged sisters reconnect after their mother’s death - with each other, with their mother’s wife (they didn’t know about), and with the community they had left behind. I wish this show had gotten another season but I’m so glad that we got as much as we did!
A queer joy vid for this source would be so good; I’d also love a focus on either Lyn or Emma (or both of them together!) and the special ways they’re fucked up disasters and/or how they grow over the series. Alternately I’d love character studies for any of the other main / side characters (except Nelson Herrera).
Soulmate Adventure
A classic wuxia hero’s journey / coming of age story, very Shonen vibes, except both main characters (and many side characters!) are women. This is generally considered to be an F/F (baihe) story.
A vid about that dynamic between Feng Ling Er and Bai Yu Xiu would be so great to see in the world! I’d also enjoy a character study of either of them showing off their badassery or personality or growth. An aesthetic vid or vid about the wider Jianghu upheaval would also be fun. But really extra down for anything here!
Couple of Mirrors
An assassin and an author fall in love and run away together.
I just love Yan Wei / Xu You Yi so much! Sure there’s a little murder now and then, but they’ve got each other’s backs so hard. I’d really enjoy a ship vid for them, or a domestic slice of life vid, or a “they’re really good at their jobs” vid, or a character study for either of them… Also totally down for a vid about the toxic Xu You Yi / Zhang Wan dynamic. Or an aesthetic vid!
DNW: Zhou Heng character study, Zhou Heng / Xu You Yi framed as healthy.
Lagaan
Fuck the caste system! Fuck the British! Victory via cricket! This was one of the first Bollywood movies I ever saw and remains my favorite.
A recruiter vid would be amazing but I’d also love a ship vid for Bhuvan / Gauri (or an OT3 with Elizabeth Russell) or a vid celebrating the Sports Anime of it all! DNW: Bhuvan / Elizabeth Russell (unless in the context of an OT3)
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is a classic scifi series that takes an optimistic (but not utopian) stance on the future, centered around a particular space station and the folks who run it. We got a 1080p remaster a few years ago!
! I would love to have a vid for Talia/Ivanova, either a fixit or really anything. I’d enjoy a G’Kar / Molari vid, because their dynamic and progression over the course of the series is one of my favorite parts of the whole thing. I also love Lyta Alexander; a character study of her fucking shit up or anything else would be fun! Or a vid about any of the less focal characters. DNW: Strong focus on Sinclair, Sheridan, Garibaldi.
Ruri Rocks
This is a delightful show about two high school girls who befriend two female grad students and do research / rock hunting together! Science! Geology! Rocks!
I would love to have a vid that really celebrates the science aspects of the show! Or something about their friendships or their growth over the course of the series. Really, though, anything would be amazing!
Steerswoman Series
This is a great book series about a post-apocalyptic (???) world where wizards wield great power and one of the main checks on their power is the steerswomen, who use the scientific method and exchanges of truth to expand knowledge.
Honestly I would be delighted by anything for this. Personally I ship Bel/Rowan, so something for them would be neat. Something focused on Rowan’s investigation of the falling star would be neat! Or just a general aesthetic vid.
Short films directed by Liu Yun Rui
Liu Yun Rui has directed a number of wlw short films that are beautifully produced and really try to push the limits of what they’re allowed to show under censorship. It would be so cool to see a tribute to them - shippy fluff, aesthetic, whatever. Context post by douqi; list of wlw short films; TheMovieDB; another douqi post.