I misunderstood the point of this ride

Another huge fanart roundup, courtesy of the summer where I only have the energy to manage job search stuff, draw fanart, and let my whole professional identity lie pretty much fallow. :D?

Okay, that sounded a little ... yeah. Actually, things are looking up in a big way! I have a pretty big deal second interview tomorrow, for a position I'm genuinely excited for which also pays better than I'd had any hope of, so. Fingers crossed. And I am having a ball with letting myself soak more or less exclusively in fannish material for a bit. :)

( America & Kmala's first date. <3 )

( A Teen Wolf collaboration with Ataratah! )

( Character death won't stop my shipping. )

( Revisiting six years ago. )

( Orphan Black & Sailor Moon doodles. )

This ... actually isn't quite everything, but I'll take a breath and save the rest for its own post. ;)

Sometimes you just have to post something to force yourself to stop tweaking it. I am not totally satisfied with this first piece of Welcome to Night Vale fanart ... hopefully I can improve on it? But here's a stab at Cecil Baldwin as played by Danny Pudi, because I find that particular casting kind of irresistible.

Mmmm, fanart, how I miss you. I continue to find myself completely swamped with projects, which I am certainly not complaining about, but still. I really want to do some kind of holiday exchange or something. I don't suppose anyone's heard anything about yuletart this year?

I had another thought, but ... IDK if people would be into it. I was thinking it might be fun to do some kind of tiny gift exchange with various of you lovely people. Kind of a mini-reversebang thing ... say, you write me a comment-ficlet with one of our shared fandoms/pairings/etc (probably I will post a suggested list or something), and I do a little illustration for you in return. Would there be any interest in such a thing?

I don't know, it's just an idea right now ... but per usual, I miss fannish participation (and my fanpeople)! And I'm in a multifannish mood.

In other news, I spilled tea on my poor old laptop a few days ago, and now I no longer have an apostrophe or down-arrow key. Not a debilitating predicament, but pretty annoying! Bah.

Hey guys, be a research resource for me? Share some fan-love?

Before bandom, I was just not ever the kind of fan who read/watched/listened to interviews with her favorite singers or bands. And it was one of the first things I kinda stopped doing. I'm starting a new project, though, and that is exactly the kind of thing I could use to help me get the wheels turning.

Obviously I will be hitting the google machines as soon as I get breathing space, BUT. If you have especial favorite interviews for bands or singers you love, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to point me at 'em, I would be deeply grateful! Bandom stuff that I have surely already seen is fine! Random whoever of whatever size is fine too! Stuff that contains funny stories, wacky hijinks, weird interviewer shenanigans ... especially valuable, moreso than just inspiring words about what it means to create art (which is usually my FAVORITE, but not as much applicable right now).

I just want to splash around in all the love for a bit. I want to know what YOUR favorites are.

Thanks guys. <3333 Oh man, I am excited about this.

So while I tragically cannot afford muskratjamboree this year, either financially or in terms of sheer amount of time and energy spent ... it looks like I will at least be coming to town (i.e. Bostonish) aroundabout that weekend. So I would like to seeeee people, I hope!

(I have yet to make any plans at all, including places to stay, but that happens to be during the latter part of my spring "break" and I have been needing to visit the area forever so my thesis madness and I will probably set up shop in various cafes and also do some socializing!)

In other news, my roommate is kind of acting like a human being this week. She has asked me how my day (or trip) was several times and engaged in conversation about the food she's making or the weather. This is progress (which is kind of sad, but I don't care)! It could be better, but this I can live with and be fairly happy.

Today is generally a pretty great day, I hope for you all as well. <3

I fail at dressing for season; my coworkers were standing around the kitchenette discussing how much they enjoy their summer wardrobes when I wandered in, all in black. Oops? I didn't even think about that; I chose this outfit for the skirt, because I'm not allowed to wear shorts in the office. Hmmm.

Also, last Friday I was mistaken for an employee of the Museum of Fine Arts twice (all in black again--I swear I do wear colors--with a red tie). Possibly I should work on this.

It's a little disorienting, as always, being back at work after a long weekend. Mine was full of hanging around making art while oliviacirce wrote, in my apartment and cafes, occasionally sharing thoughts about Charles Xavier's characterization; we cooked each other some delicious food, watched Return To Oz with my roommate (who has been after me about it forever), and went out Saturday night for a flaily fangirl dinner with aria, polarisnorth, everysecondtuesday, and the_wanlorn. I would like to spend my time like this, always.

Yesterday, the traditional 1776 viewing party at omnia_mutantur's house was made even a tiny bit more fabulous by a miniature intensityboat reunion (though of course we missed our absent members ♥).

So that was all lovely. I did have a couple of fandom-related jarring moments, oddly enough; I discovered quite a direct copy of this picture posted by a deviantart user, and also that the random (non-LJ/DW-based) fan awards I've had a piece nominated for has a rule against slash (or rather, "characters established in the series/Nikki Heat novels as straight but portrayed as gay," ugh). Fortunately, a gentle but firm request was all that it took to get the drawing taken down, so I'm very lucky there. I'm dropping the awards organizers a sharp note asking them to remove my work. Unexpected interactions with sections of fandom not my own ... always a bit weird.

This coming weekend, I'm off north to have a look around the apartment I'm almost certainly taking for the fall. I'm moving out of the Boston area in about a month! Everything just keeps speeding up, though I keep trying to find some stillness within it all.

I still owe a few people questions from a few posts ago. I'll try and do those soon!

Oh man, I've been trying to write this post all week, but work's been super busy all of a sudden ... and I seem to be experiencing something akin to senioritis, so I have to work a lot harder than usual to concentrate. /o\ I'm really behind on all your entries, too. I'll try and catch up!

Thank you so much for the sweet, sweet comments on the love meme, bbs. I can't tell you how good that made me feel. ♥ Also I rather loved commenting, so you folks should totally put your names down for those things more often. ;) I'm a gusher by nature but feel kind of awkward about it a lot of the time; I appreciate the opportunity of anonymity (or the illusion thereof, as I expect I can be pretty obvious).

I had a pretty lively weekend. It started with a German lesbian vampire movie, which was somewhat entertaining, although there was not nearly enough making out and the ending was disappointingly heteronormative. The audience was certainly quite attractive, and I had plenty of time to admire them, because the DVD started skipping twice. (This has never happened to me in a theater before, even a little arthouse place. The staff good-naturedly blamed Friday the 13th.)

On Saturday I went to a family friend's business school graduation, which would have been excruciating except for his four-year-old daughter. I spent the whole ceremony keeping her occupied and letting her take tiny video clips of me. "I'm going to put you on the computer!" She's also turning into a tiny ball of snark, but I can't say I mind that. :D

My father, meanwhile, attempted to convince me to read Moby Dick this summer in exchange for his reading Little Women. Which, I mean ... what? I have no idea why on earth he thought that was going to work. (I should note that there is absolutely no reason I can think of for his particular choice of text. I did love that book very much when I was about eleven, but that hardly makes it stand out from the crowd.) His mission to get me to read Melville has been going on for ... almost a decade, now, I think. (I have every intention of reading that book! I want to read that book! But not yet.) I told him that if he read Understanding Comics, I'd consider it.

There was also quite a lot of pleasant company and some delicious vegan carrot & coriander soup. (With apologies to a certain Famous Detective, I'm rather grateful I don't have a spice allergy. Mmmmm.)

Also there has been some exciting TV lately! My circle has already done a thorough job of expressing their delight over The Doctor's Wife, so I will confine myself to saying that yes, all of that, oh my god. ♥___♥ (Also, biting is like kissing. With a winner.) And as for the Castle finale, I just, holy fuck. In spite of being a show about murder, that's the one I usually go to for ... you know, fun times? Quips and general weirdness and hilarity? Which probably made the sucker punch (punches) that much more effective, really.

Additionally, I discovered this week that there is apparently a secret government lab (which contains, among other things, a cow) in the basement of the building where I work. (Although for future reference, tv writers: some portions of this particular illustrious university are sadly not beautiful and ivy-covered.)

Right, I should get back to work. I lost a big chunk of this morning (mid-post-writing) to finding out some very upsetting news about a neighbor of mine. Feeling a little shaken at the moment, and also, stuff to do. I'll have to do that catching up later, but I hope your weeks are going splendidly! Also, you should go vote in the Fandom Hot 20 poll (second part here). Aeryn Sun and Wendy Watson need some more love, for starters.

Right, so I don't usually write up my concerts because I really have no idea how to organize my thoughts about these things, but IDK. Last night was completely fabulous; ( have some rambling. )

I'm sad that I can't chase the band around the coast for the next week, but if that has to be my last MCR show for awhile (and it pretty much does; I have tuition to think about, meep), it was absolutely the right one. I had the best damn night. (My ears & legs are still killing me.) Thank you to everyone who was part of it; it was amazing to meet a lot of you for the first time. ♥ This is why I love this fandom so damn much, three years in.

Wow, okay, I needed that; just spent my whole night in, curled up with the second season of Castle and my sketchbook. It's terrifying how long it's been since I've had that much time to sit and draw. Clearly I can neglect my life of hermitude at my peril.

I've mostly been doing original work tonight, but I did finish up one very silly doodly thing, inspired by a stray comment from tuesdaysgone and fleurdeliser's latest OT3verse installment: ( because apparently, drawing semi-famous people in aprons is becoming my signature. )

It's good to be getting back on the horse. Apart from the ever-present original projects, I have some very intriguing commissions to do for my help_japan winners, and just wait until you guys see the trekreversebang art! I mean all of it ... got a sneak peek at everyone's work the other day, and it's one of the most stunning collections of challenge output I think I've ever seen. Hot damn, for serious.

Life has really been pretty great lately. The Patrick Stump show last week was fantastic (which totally took me by surprise and left me at a loss for words - jjtaylor had it covered, though, naturally), and in ten days I get MCR again. The weather has finally caught up to the season, too, and while this has prompted an avian riot to wake me up at four a.m. for the last couple of days, the dogwoods on Beacon Street are already in full flower and there were some forsythias blooming on my walk home today. And this weekend I might get to meet a few of my future classmates at an art festival in my hometown.

Now I just have to take care of a few things. Like, IDK, finally learning to drive.

Thank fucking goodness it’s a three-day weekend. I may, at times, have wondered if I was blowing this time of year out of proportion a bit, but really, not so much. Once again, I’m grateful that the windows on my floor don’t open – defenestration of particularly uncooperative faculty members does get a bit tempting now and then. (Seven more months ... and only three more weeks of Admissions season. I'll just keep daydreaming about dyeing my hair outrageous colors the second I can do that again, and maybe other things too.)

It’s just as well that bandom has eaten my brain again, really; it’s a pretty great distraction. A few days ago, I randomly dreamed that Greta Salpeter asked me out on a date and we cuddled in the middle of a big, sunny field (there was some sort of festival setting up nearby). My subconscious isn’t usually so fluffy, but it was nice. Of course, it’s probably only a matter of time before all the Grant Morrison-related ephemera I’ve been consuming catches up to me. (I watched the Disinfo speech a few days ago. I don’t even know, nor am I sure I want to. I do want to finally get back to reading The Invisibles, though.)

Seriously, how did this even happen? Fandom in comics and comics in fandom … I’ve watched the Talking With Gods documentary twice in the last week, so I suppose fanart is only a matter of time, really. Particularly since I seem to have made illustrating jjtaylor my fannish occupation of late.

Speaking of which! It was her birthday yesterday, a fact which helped me decide which scene from “The Detective’s Secret” I’d play with next. (I have a longish list.) Hope you like it, bb; happy belated! ♥

( Not going into the pool. )

It occurred to me recently that I miss using this space for conversation, rather than just as a slightly talky gallery. I’ve seriously gotten out of the habit of commenting and communicating on DW/LJ, and I’m finding getting back into it something of a challenge. Definitely want to do better on that.

In a slightly more interactive vein (and to prove that I do in fact have other fandoms still): there’s an interest-gauging poll going on for trekreversebang right now! That’s the reverse Star Trek bigbang where ficcers sign up to write stories based on fanart; an awesome idea that I’d love to see spread around a bit more. You guys should check it out.

Before I go work on my actual minicomic for awhile, one more thing I have to share: the spectacle of Pete Wentz interviewing himself. I still love his stupid face.

Say, artist-types, do you guys have any advice on portfolios (virtual or otherwise) for someone who's never been an art student?

The nontraditional cartooning program I plan to apply for is having an open house/portfolio review day in early March, and I'm trying to figure out what I should be showing them. ( A portfolio? What's that? )

Anyway, I'm rambling, but if any of you would share thoughts/experiences I'd appreciate it mightily. ♥ I am super excited about the event, and about finally getting to apply - I've been waiting for years! (Intentionally; I wanted to do some things first. But it was a little frustrating.)

So hey, how about that au_bigbang thing? It looks a little intimidating to me, but potentially really awesome too. (I know a couple of you are signed up, right?)

Has anyone watched the new Being Human yet? I need to get on that. (I did catch up on Dollhouse. And heard the "big" Buffy comic spoilers. Oh, what the hell, Joss.)