Gift for Anoel by chaila (The Wire)

[fv_poster]

Title of vid: Dutch
Recipient: Anoel
Vidder: chaila
Fandom: The Wire
Music: Dutch by Dessa
Summary: Stringer Bell, life-ruiner.
Content notes: No standardized notes apply
Signed length: 03:27
Signed URL:

Link to signed vid post.

Lyrics
Mind your step I keep the overhead low
Just the bed and the books and the rotary phone
Chicago Manual of Style keeps the prose right crisp
The Minneapolis Edition, well it goes like this:

Well I talk way too fast
And I shoot from a glass
I keep Pope in the glovebox
Plath on the dash
And there's nobody shotgun
I got enough gas
To get Vegas by daybreak
I'm not coming back
I'm pushin this luck
All the way to the coast
I'm throwin it over
Just to see if it floats
I'm taking my chances,
I'm making my own
Cause I've been pretty impatient, I'm ready to go

I'm the book
That beat the speedreader
And I'm the card the dealers won't touch
And it's just not true I'm a maneater,
All the same, we should probablly go dutch

Careful kid with that wolf whistle
You never know what you'll attract
And you shouldn't make noise
To which you wouldn't wanna listen
What's good for the goose is good for the
Gander back...
And I'm packed and I'm out before dawn
Leave a tip on the sink, ah, the staff they worked hard
I hit rain, I hit sleet, but mostly weather stays good
Hit a deer on I-80, fucked up the hood
But you can't play for keeps if you never draw blood
You just brace and you breathe
You drive through the dust
You go through people and places
You hope the engine can take it
They get you up on the blocks on a regular basis
But innocence is over-rated
Based on what you haven't done
I don't need a poker face
Open book, smoking gun
Renagade agent, I got no taste for their races
I run on whiskey and risk and ennui and impatience

I'm the book
That beat the speedreader
And I'm the card the dealers won't touch
And it's just not true I'm a maneater,
All the same, we should probably go dutch

Love is like liquor it burns as it moves you
Far as I figure there's nobody fireproof
So thank you for the offer it truly was kind of you
I'd take you up on it, but just passing through
Cause I talk way too fast
And I shoot from a glass
I keep Pope in the glovebox, Plath on the dash
And there's no one in shotgun, I got enough gas
To get Vegas by daybreak
I'm not coming back
No I'm not coming back

I'm the book
That beat the speedreader
And I'm the card the dealers won't touch
And it's just not true I'm a maneater,
All the same, we should probablly go dutch

Comments

[marina]

AAAAH THIS VIDEO IS SUCH PERFECTION. The song choice, the editing, the fact that it is a flawless Stringer Bell tribute! Perfection!

[chaila]

Thanks so much, glad you liked it! STRINGERRRR.

[d_generate_girl]

I cannot tell you how accurate that summary is, ugh. This vid is perfect for Stringer, love every bit of it.

[chaila]

Ugh I know! Thank you, glad you liked it!

[kass]

Oh, wow. This is gorgeous. Reminds me of everything complicated and wonderful and awful about Stringer Bell and his Baltimore.

[chaila]

Thank you!

[delphi]

This is just fantastic.

[chaila]

Thank you!

[astridv]

That was perfect!

[chaila]

Thanks so much!

[kabal42]

That was so good. All those looks, the stories told between people, that you captured so well in this vid. Really excellent. I really felt it hit me when you did the scene with Avon and Stringer on the balcony to "I'm not coming back" repeated and echoing. Ouch. And giving him the last word with the sketch was a great touch.

[chaila]

Thank you! This show was so excellent at complex characters and their complicated relationships, the better to break my heart with. I love how you phrased it, giving Stringer the last word!

[caput_mortuum]

I love it!

[chaila]

Thanks!

[sophinisba]

So sexy and awesome!

[chaila]

ISN'T HE? :D Thanks!

[runawaynun]

I kinda wish Stringer Bell could have lived to today and then set up a legit pot empire in Denver and Seattle.

The last two images together are awesome. <3

[chaila]

I kind of wish Stringer Bell could have lived to take on all the Breaking Bad meth people and beat them with his pure charisma. And then retire and run a legit pot empire in Denver, where he regularly meets with, like, senators and stuff. STRINGER!

[frayadjacent]

Wonderful work, this captures Stringer Bell so well.

[chaila]

Thank you, he is amaaaazing! Why can't it be my job to vid Stringer Bell? :)

[happydork]

Woah. This is compelling and complicated and painful in all the right ways. I've just watched it through twice -- the second time to try to get something coherent to say about this that isn't just (the very valid) "alsd;kfj MY FEELS" -- and oh, you draw out some of the themes from the first three seasons so beautifully. The contrast between D'Angelo and Bodie, and how Stringer shapes both their lives. The growing distance between Stringer's version of business and Avon's, and how that's reflected in Avon's family ties and Stringer's lack of them. I love that the vid is bookended by McNulty's fascination with Stringer but otherwise ignores that one-sided obsession, letting our main context for the police in Stringer's life be shots without people in (cards on pinboards, numbers on wiretaps), dehumanised both in how they see him and how he sees them. AND ARGH THAT BALCONY SCENE WITH THE "I'M NOT COMING BACK" AND MY FEELS, SO MANY, ARGH. Yeah, really, from 02:35 onwards I've got nothing that's not keyboard mashing, seriously.

I love this vid, is what I'm trying to say. What a good vid. Yes.

[chaila]

MY FEELS! Thank you! This show was so good at those complicated themes, the parallels and contrasts between people. Stringer had such influence on everyone, and in some ways I didn't even notice how much until I put this together.

I love that the vid is bookended by McNulty's fascination with Stringer but otherwise ignores that one-sided obsession,

Yay I'm glad you picked up on that! It wasn't so much intentionally showing it as a dehumanized perspective (but oh yes), so much as I just don't think McNulty's one-sided obsession is anything interesting at all to Stringer, so there just kept being way more interesting people around Stringer to talkvid about. Stringer can ruin your life when he doesn't even care what you're doing! And I did like the contrast to Bunny, who I think is the only cop who did or could've seen Stringer for the complex person he actually was? Argh I need that backstory.

Thank you for the lovely comment! <3

[yourlibrarian]

Oh man, those scenes with "I'm not coming back" over them. Perfect fit.

[chaila]

Thank you! There was just no other choice for those lyrics. :)

[monanotlisa]

Oh, wow. This is stunning --

Hit a deer on I-80, fucked up the hood
But you can't play for keeps if you never draw blood

Ah, the juxtaposition…

Thank you!

[chaila]

Thank you!

[colls]

This is fantsatic

[chaila]

Thanks so much!

[were_duck]

This is SO gorgeous. The focus on hands, the way the motion is cut to the music, the feelings about Stringer Bell you are evoking... A+ brilliant!

[chaila]

Thank you! Ahh he is beautiful, he has hands and everything, I cannot. :) Ahem. Glad you liked it!

[renenet]

Stringer Bell! So awesome! I love it!

[chaila]

Stringer Bell, how so awesome? Thank you!

[ceciliaj]

fantastic vid!

[chaila]

Thank you!

[idella]

Fantastic!

[chaila]

Thanks!

[theleaveswant]

This is a frighteningly perfect Stringer character study. Whoa. Says so much about him and about all his social connections--the way he influences those around him and the way they influence him--so efficiently. *watches another five times*

[chaila]

Thanks so much! He's such a giant of a character, I'm glad this did him justice.

[shapinglight]

Brilliant vid!

[chaila]

Thanks so much!

[lacerta]

First the summary made me laugh and now it makes me cry. I love the focus both on String's aspirations (love the "impatient and ready to go" upwards movement towards the skyscrapes at 0:46) as well as on his relations and influence on the people around him. The chilling cut back to his smile at Bodie at 1:09 really stood out. D'Angelo matched with the deer that fucked up his hood is perfect, urgh. And AVON, oh Avon, from "the weather stays good" to that heartbreaking scene on the balcony. Awesome, awesome vid! (And always a delight to find Idris Elba vids set to Dessa.)

[chaila]

First the summary made me laugh and now it makes me cry.

Right?! I'm glad you think so, because this is exactly how I feel. I laugh because it's TRUE but then Bodie and Wallace and Dee and Avon and damn it, Stringer!

[such_heights]

Having not seen the show I can tell I'm missing a lot of the complexities of this but it is still really compelling and wonderfully edited. And I will eat a hat if the vidder is not who I think it is. *g*

[chaila]

:DDD Thank you! I'm glad you liked it even without source knowledge!

[thingswithwings]

This is SO GOOD - the ending made me laugh out loud! And all through you do such a great job of portraying Stringer Bell's canniness and carefulness. I'm going to have some thoughts about Idris Elba's face now.

[chaila]

Thank you! I cry, I laugh, I shake my fist at Stringer. Idris Elba's performance is pretty amazing with the canniness and carefulness and hands and looks, So this was pretty fun to make! I mean, in between the fist-shaking.

I'm going to have some thoughts about Idris Elba's face now.

Permanent. state. of. being. <333

[sarkastic]

Oh wow, this was so great. What a perfect tribute to Stringer and his arc.

[chaila]

Thanks so much!

[franzeska]

Exquisite editing!

[chaila]

Thank you! :)