Gift for SDWolfpup (Life)

[fv_poster]

Title of vid: Children's Work
Recipient: SDWolfpup
Vidder: LithiumDoll
Fandom: Life
Music: "Children's Work" by Dessa
Summary: children aren't as simple as we'd like to think
Content notes: Physical triggers (e.g., epilepsy or migraine: strobe lights, bright lights, "stuttery" cuts between 2-3 stills)
Length: 03:11

Right-click to download vid.

my father was a paper plane
my mother was a windswept tree
my little brother's nearly twice my age
he taught me how to meditate
I taught him how to read
I grew up with a book in my bed
I got these dark circles before I turned ten
heard my mother with her friends worry
it was something she did to get such a serious kid

now I've learned how to paint my face
how to earn my keep / how to clean my kill
some nights I still can't sleep
the past rolls back / and I can see us still
you've learned how to hold your own
how to stack your stones / but the history's thick
children aren't as simple as we'd like to think

before you came along I was a lone cub
fell in love with language / tried to tell the grown-ups
about the storm clouds / the weather in my head
hadn't learned the word for melancholy yet
then you came in five years behind
we thought you couldn't talk
turns out you were just shy
mom said it was serious / dad said you'd be fine
I thought you were the prophet of 1989
you were so tender
we thought something was wrong with you
so patient / we thought that you were deaf
you were so solemn / so tiny but so ancient
ma took you to see doctors / it scared he half to death
and I made you a library of tiny books
with spines two inches high
you didn't say too much, but smiled
taught me how to quiet down my mind

now I've learned how to paint my face
how to earn my keep / how to clean my kill
some nights I still can't sleep
the past rolls back / and I can see us still
you've learned how to hold your own
how to stack your stones / but the history's thick
children aren't as simple as we'd like to think

you slept in my bed / and if I kept quiet...
I could hear all the voices in your head
when the wagon tipped / I prayed over your body
I asked God to take the damage out on me
Ten years later / he finally gets the memo
sent it to accounting and knocked out my front teeth
but you came to
and took my hand and held my eyes and
me and you had a long walk home
so we decided not to cry
now we've got a grown up love
and I know that's how it's suppose to be
same old story mom gets Easters
lets dad have Christmas Eve
but I won't pretend I don't remember how unsual we were
the little mystic and his handler
all some children do is work

I've learned how to paint my face
how to earn my keep / how to clean my kill
but some nights I still can't sleep
The past rolls back and I can see us still

Comments

[stultiloquentia]

Holy shit. I have NO IDEA what this source is, but you told me a story that put my heart in my throat. That is some damned fine editing. Beautiful to look at, too.

[tablesaw]

http://www.hulu.com/life

Available in Hulu-enabled areas.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you for spreading the Life-love :D

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the show if you get to it :D

[kaydeefalls]

Oh, Dani. This is such a perfect encapsulation of her fierceness, and her flaws, and her life. Beautiful.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you!

[grimorie]

aj recced this and i'm so so glad she did because OMG. DANI. DANI AND CHARLIE AND THIS SHOW, THIS GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS SHOW.

I don't think I can ever sum up how I feel about this. How it starts with Dani and the fierce glare she sends and sets to tone for everything and I just. I LOVE IT TO BITS.

Thank you so, so much.

[astrothsknot]

if this was facebook, I'd like this comment five million times. This says everything I want to about this vid

[lithiumdoll]

Wow, thank you so much! I'm so glad it was enjoyed :)

[cofax7]

oh, that was awesome. I love Dessa, and this was used perfectly.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you! :D

[revolutionaryjo]

Dessa! Dani! Together at last! This is perfection. You've made me remember how much I loved this show.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you!

I miss it toooooo

[shati]

Wow, this was gorgeous -- I love the sense of movement. And now I miss Dani.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you!

[bedlamsbard]

OMG I love this. DANI! Dani and Charlie! Oh, Dani, I love her so much, and this is perfect for her.

[bedlamsbard]

I just need to come back to repeat how much I love this vid, because I keep watching it over and over again. I love the recurring imagery of Charlie's knife at "the history's thick", and the bridge with Dani and her father staring at each other before Dani takes off, and I love, love, the last bit of the chorus, with Dani handing Charlie badge and gun and knife as they're tossed aside. And badge and gun vs. bullet for "mom gets easters /dad gets christmas eve."

This vid is so fabulous, thank you so much for making it!

[lithiumdoll]

Heeee, thank you so much! Twice! I'm so glad the vid was enjoyed :D

[arduinna]

... Wow. I've watched this multiple times now, and am just blown away, every time. Amazing song choice, perfect editing. This is Reese, and Reese&Crews. Dani's story. Wow.

[lithiumdoll]

Thank you so much!

[astrothsknot]

is there a dlable version of this? I love it!

[lithiumdoll]

As soon as I can kick my ISP into obedience, there will be :) And, thank yoooou!

[serrico]

OH MY GOD. This--THIS--is the vid I've wanted to see about Dani--and Dani and Charlie, but mostly Dani, and her intensity and her mistakes and her work and her family and DANI--for YEARS.

You show the tangles of Dani's allegiances so well, how working with Charlie impacted her personally (*excellent* use of her glaring at her dad across the dinner table), how it became her and Charlie against all others.

I love the way you take the time to show us solid characterisations of Dani and Charlie as people.

I love the recurring motif of knives, especially the way you linked them with the lyrics referring to work.

...I pretty much just love this vid. LOVE it. :)

[lithiumdoll]

Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it :D (and thank you for the rec!)

[catwalksalone]

I am actually struggling to find words to express how incredible this vid is. All I can think is DANI and YES and that wordless sound you make when things are almost too much. Amazing.

[bingeling]

Wow! That was so perfect. Life is a show that I still miss a lot and you captured all the reasons why in this vid! The song choice is amazing and just. Ugh. So. Good!

[rivkat]

This is fantastic! You've matched canon to the lyrics so well.

[chaila]

I have not seen this show, but now I want to meet this character so much. This is fantastically edited, and I love the use of a song about siblings for what I'm guessing is a complicated cop partner relationship. I'm sure this would be even more powerful if I knew the context, but it's pretty damn good anyway.

[ladysorka]

This is fantastic. The song choice is completely perfect, and your editing has such a sense of movement to it. Oh, Dani. Oh, Charlie.

[felis]

Another person here who doesn't know the source and is still blown away by this vid. Great work.

[copracat]

That is fantastic. I want to watch it all again, the vid and the series.

[bessemerprocess]

This is brilliant and amazing and fucking out of the park home run awesome. The song choice is perfect and the editing tells such a deft story.

[sorrel]

I had almost forgotten how much I loved this show until I saw this vid. MAGNIFICENT.

[actiaslunaris]

This is so savage and beautiful and raw that I'm in awe.

[acari]

This is exactly why I loved Life. And the song is so, so perfect for Dani and for Dani & Charlie and their relationship, their complexities and entanglements and conflicts. Such a fantastic vid!

[potted_music]

Fantastic vid, and brilliant characterization of them both. Oh Dani <3

[icepixie]

I really like this look at Dani(& Charlie).

[ghostrunner]

This is amazing.

[alchemise]

Dani! Dani and Charlie! This was wonderful and makes me miss the show so much. ♥

[echan]

I must confess, when I watched Life I was so fascinated by Charlie I didn't have much focus for anyone else. This vid showed me I definitely need to rewatch and pay more attention to Dani. So many great moments in this.

[fajrdrako]

Beautiful! You captured Rees's character perfectly.

[laurashapiro]

Terrific. The story was crystal clear, the editing crisp and punchy. The whole thing is flawless.

[china_shop]

Wow! This is fantastic. *is blown away*

ETA: The transition at 0:39 is gorgeous, and I just adore how you used the dashboard angel.

[franzeska]

I love the intensity.

[esteefee]

jesus this is amazing, just amazing. powerful and sly, and goes down harsh and smooth just like a shot of tequila. just like Dani. <3 god, I miss this show.