I misunderstood the point of this ride

I still have two My Chem icons, but neither of them really does justice to the way I'm feeling about them right now. Which is bemused with a slight edge of hysteria, honestly. My favorite band is back? Maybe?? One show for sure, and rumors of a tour and/or a new album. It's a little surreal.

California 2019. Those fucking trolls.

( Rambling herein, because apparently I need to work through some things. )

I am an absurdly sappy asshole, okay. Back to your regularly scheduled feed.

RAY TORO YOUR FACE.

I just. That was everything I needed today. I mean, the pineapple upside-down martini was nice too, and the intense conversations about Buffy and queer representation in late-nineties media and the value of poetry as an artform (I really love that one classmate a lot, he is great). But then I came home and got to see MCR playing Yo Gabba Gabba in the most bizarre little leg-baring parka costumes (except for ... blue long-eared abominable snowman Dewees?). Gerard is so absurdly earnest and Frank is gleeful and Mikey has his little smile ... but I can't stop staring at Ray Motherfucking Toro, who looks about as happy as I have ever seen anyone look. Ever.

I know I'm flailing incoherently right now ... I am still working on this final project sleep deficit, here, and not at my most articulate. But yeah. I love them. Also you guys. Hi. ♥

I really have no idea what fandom is doing to my brain lately. I fell asleep last night after watching part of this Grant Morrison panel from Comicon '08, which was delightful. Seriously, I love watching him talk more than most people. But then, I proceeded to dream that I was having a standoff with him in a doorway (I don't remember why, or who all the other people with us were), and I shot him in the shoulder. D: D: D: He was like, "psh, I'm okay" when I rushed over immediately after, but I woke myself up in dismay. WTF was that, subconscious? I mean, I appreciate the part where he let me look over concept sketches for a new comic (which apparently involved a rock band with some kind of Edwardian masquerade theme), but.

Oh dear. Too much Killjoys, possibly. Too much BLI!Patrick fanart-in-progress (and frankly, interviews like this one are not helping).

Which isn't to say that I can ever get enough of this band. Oh my goodness, Gerard Way, I am not sure my love for you can be textually rendered. "Don't ever let the media tell you what your body's supposed to look like. You're beautiful the way you are." ♥♥♥ Also, that is possibly the most coherent interview I've ever seen him give.

Bizarre dreams aside, all the distraction is appreciated, because work has been pretty tense lately; my boss had to take open-ended "informal familial leave" to take care of her sick mother, and as she's not very good at delegating, I've been trying to figure out how to take on a pile of essential tasks I have very little idea how to accomplish. Which may be fairly moot, as I've just learned that her mother passed away last night. There's still plenty to do.

Oh, I keep forgetting; white_lotus reveals are up. :) There's a whole bunch of lovely fic, art, vids & crafts to check out! I drew Some Like It Hotman, a short comic in which Sokka shows up to, ahem, drag Zuko away from his Fire Lordly duties for awhile. ;)

I've been buzzing around trying to make a few more art deadlines for next week (fan & original), but I did take the time to whip something up for theopteryx's Killjoy Art Meme. You should definitely check it out, and perhaps join in - theopteryx has thoughtfully provided a raygun template for decorating, if you don't feel like designing a whole Killjoy. Here's ( my Mary Sue contribution )

I enjoy the creative philosophy of this new MCR album so much. It feels absolutely perfect for where I am in my life right now (and so did TBP when I discovered it, though I was several years late on that one - funny thing).

I enjoy ... pretty much everything ELSE about it, too. I'm not sure I could nail down favorite songs, really, but "Vampire Money" is certainly up there. Also "Planetary (GO!)" and "Bulletproof Heart" for sure ... really, the only track I'm not completely in love with is "Summertime" (I like the New Wave style all right, but the lyrics aren't really clicking with me, IDK). I'm psyched to see them play some of it live (in a week already, yikes)! Anyone else going to the New York show with Gaslight Anthem? (Apart from the people I already know about, of course - you know who you are. ♥)

On another fannish note, I see that the white_lotus comm has opened Lunar New Year Exchange sign-ups. Okay, SERIOUSLY, guys ... there needs to be so much more Avatar: The Last Airbender fanwork around here. I rewatched the third season over the course of last week, and goddamn, that show. My heart. (This was only the second time I've watched the finale, and damn, Zuko and Iroh made me cry.)

I desperately want more fic, but if you don't write (like me), you can still participate! They're taking "fic, vids, art, icons, crafts, and (potentially) other stuff," which is deeply awesome; plus, the deadline isn't until the end of January! Of course, sign-ups do end this Monday already, so GET ON THAT. (The comm is on dreamwidth, but you don't need to have an account!)

I should probably get back to family times now, whoops. I'm so disoriented, after spending most of my fall in an art cave; the holiday season has never crept up on me this badly before.

Erm, so if any non-bandomers were completely confused by my incoherently giddy post last night? I was referring to the recently-released trailer for My Chemical Romance's upcoming post-apocalyptic concept album. Sorry about that, guys. I might be a TINY bit excited? :D

Also! yuletart sign-ups are officially open! All the lovely, talented fanartists on my flist should go join in the multifandom fun! Seriously, it's the most awesome time. I can't wait to find out what my assignment will be this year!

I have decided that I won't be participating in yuletide this year--for the first time since the fest started--because it takes more energy and inspiration than I have to spare right now. (I'll probably have to sit out the next couple years as well, because grad school.) SADNESS. :( I should probably stick to the one fest, although if anyone hears about any particularly tantalizing art-inclusive seasonal exchanges ... well. I'm going to have a lot of fannish motivation around that time, I b'lieve.

Inking over lunchbreak, whee.

Hey guys, heads' up - this year, yuletide Madness will be open to anyone with an AO3 account. (That's when you get to write fic of any length based on any of the unfilled prompts! I've only participated once, but it was a blast.) I don't have any invitations right now, but you might know someone who does - and the invitation queue generally seems to move at a pretty fast clip.

I'm polishing up my final story; should be able to have it uploaded whole hours before the deadline. ;) I wrote all day long yesterday! It was awesome. (Now I'm having third or fourth thoughts on this being my last year. /o\ Of course. Well, it's not like I have to decide now - although I'm also planning to apply to my wacky grad school of choice next year.)

In other news, Mikeyway is so fucking adorable. ♥

Happy Solstice, lovelies! Um. Some of your cards are totally going to be late. (Certainly the international ones I put in the mail today will be, as the lady at the post office smugly informed me. :/) I'm sorry! But ILU all to bits, you know. ♥♥♥

My epic meta-writing is pretty well over, for now (I haven't tried to do that in ages - it was more frustrating than I expected, and wow am I out of practice). But there are a few really good links I want to share with you this morning afternoon (whoops, where did the time go?).

blackboggart has a really fantastic post on artistic integrity and artistic responsibility. This is something I have been having a lot of trouble articulating, not just during this wank, but all year, and it goes above and beyond warnings wank or fandom context. Clear and pretty concise. You should read it.

impertinence has another good (brief) post about the use of "privilege," and the way in which this wank has illustrated the cult of silence surrounding sexual violence victims. There's some smart stuff in the comments, too, particularly from quiet000001.

giddygeek has a very reasonable post supporting the use of warning for triggery material. (I can't feel sorry for my anger and occasional severity, in previous posts; however, I appreciate and respect this calm rationality and I suspect others would as well.) She also calls out some truly disgusting behavior. While the individual who perpetrated it probably doesn't deserve fandom's attention, the act itself does, because it throws into sharp relief the very real social problems tied to this wank and some of the attitudes displayed during the course of it.

In other news, I am super excited about MCR doing vocal tracking! (GERARD SINGING. *_* I just want more of that in my life.) But I'm absolutely horrified by the news about Bob's dog. DDDDDD: I hope that fucking trainer gets what's coming to him.

Lastly, a brief Star Trek (reboot) rec: Reading Against/Reading With: Mastering the Oppositional Discourse in Textual Healing, by emeraldwoman. (I'm not supposed to be reading Trek yet, but it was short, okay.) So the Star Trek kink meme had this completely awesome prompt: Short essay section (50 points) Please apply the techniques of at least one school or theory of literary analysis to any of the following pairings [...] DUDE. So very much what I needed, last night. (Thank you so much, go_gentle. ♥)

I LOVE ALL MY CHEMICAL ROMANCES. ♥_♥ Just in case there was still any question about that.



Something else that I love? bexless' Unholyverse series. I Have Been All Things Unholy was basically my dream fic. (Since I was sixteen, I've occasionally been working on a foolishly epic comic concept about Catholicism and agnosticism that features the devil masquerading as a priest. I am kind of a theology nerd. There is nothing I love more than these sorts of themes.) I really wanted to do fanart for it - heck, I'd been wanting to do priest!Gerard fanart since my second week in bandom, when I first saw the photoshoot - but weirdly, I just didn't have any ideas. Last year was not a good year for art.

I did doodle this little panel the other day . . . of course, I forgot that Ray's actually supposed to be laughing when he says that line, but that bit cracks me up every time regardless.

But hey, it's a new year, I'm a whole new fanartist, and Staring Through The Demons proved . . . very inspiring. *g*

Three images below the cut, rated no higher than PG-13. About as spoilery as it gets, in case you're saving the series up to read when it's done.

( when you hover in the night like a holy vision )

Whew. I have been working on those for awhile now. :)

So last week I read The Old Straight Track by jjtaylor, in which Frank is a ghost and Gerard is his apartment's next occupant. There are hauntings and seances and metaphors and pining. Highly recommended, though beware the abrupt ending (she's working on the sequel :DDDD).

I love that fic, man.

Also, it was jjtaylor's birthday last week! So I drew this: ( Frank/Gerard, completely SFW )

All I have done this weekend is sit on my bed and draw MCR. (Well, practically.) I suppose I shouldn't do that.

Also, I have developed a stupid craving for obscenely sugary cereal (something I pretty much never eat). Damn you, Gerard Way! Pegwarming. I will never get tired of this fandom.

(This week I keep getting intrusive, personal IMs from people whose SNs I do not recognize. WTF?)

Finally got the mixtape to work! :D I know a lot of people have been having various problems with it, so I've re-zipped it and am uploading it for anyone who is still having trouble. [ETA:] mixtape part 1, mixtape part 2!

Between this and my ridiculous love for Gerard Way, this week is off to a fantastic start. Which is good, because I'm going to need the momentum (it's orientation, and work is crawling with new students, they are EVERYWHERE).

&Decaydance;

&My Chemical Romance;

♥