I misunderstood the point of this ride

I can't believe it's only Wednesday ... this week is seriously running roughshod over me. Putting K on a plane after only a week back was much harder than I anticipated, the winter doldrums are really starting to take a toll, and my dad's much-belated response to last week's email, well. It could have been so much worse. But I'm sad.

Basically, he said he was happy I was happy, and that a loving partnership is something he and mom have wanted for both me and my brother very much. So ... that part's good, that's a start. ( I'm going to cut this ramble here; sad/tricky family relationship things within. )

On a brighter note, I'm having so much fun working on this post about prompting for fanart! It's also kind of turning into a survey of different things fanart can do, a general sort of appreciation post. I'm planning to link to all sorts of examples from different artists/fandoms to illustrate my points.

I'm worried that it might get a bit out of hand, actually. Would anyone like to look it over for me when I have a draft?

tozka posted: pan-fandom meta newsletter is GO

I am super excited that someone is starting up a new meta newsletter in the tradition of metafandom! I very much hope it takes off.


Otherwise, alas, I am so cranky and low on bandwidth today that it's really pretty exceptional. Had a really amazing weekend at my favorite hotel-based multi-day kink event, so of course a lot of this is event drop and self-inflicted exhaustion (and soreness, which would be delicious if not for other factors) ... not to mention the freezing cold outside and in (due to some kind of HVAC problem), random building evacuations (also due to the same HVAC problem) and all the students coming back for the first day of classes. Other people keep coming to me to whine about these latter things, because I seem to be the office's official shoulder to cry on or something, and my usual reserves of sympathy are just ... absent. Blah!

I just want to go home and cuddle with my cat. And maybe take about twenty naps. (I slept so much yesterday, and yet.)

Oh jeez, I've gotten so bad at posting here. I have a whole backlog of things I keep meaning to talk about, Thor 2 and comics and Sleepy Hollow and goodness knows what else. For some reason I've taking to living on tumblr & twitter even though I really prefer DW. It's a mystery.

However. I wanted to let you guys know that the yuletart Weekly Challenges and Stocking Stuffer Claims have opened! Both are open to everyone, not just people who are signed up for the fest! You can wander in and cherry-pick a tasty prompt, or draw something for one of the challenges just because you feel like it. Yuletart is the best (I'm finishing up my first piece todaaaay)!

Also, processfest has opened with its first prompt: Where do you create? What does your work space look like? Everyone who makes things should totally get in on this one; it's bound to be fascinating.

Anyway yes. Maybe now that there's going to be this ongoing DW-centric thing this month, I'll get around to updating this thing a bit more! I have things to say, but ... well, I have a talent for overfilling my plate, let's just admit that. I can't wait to be posting new fanart soon, though!

Gaaaaah. It's ninety-plus degrees out, humid and sunny, and the air conditioning in this old building (the school, where I'm working 'til I find more gainful employment) is kaput. I feel like I've been put on a slow broil, here.

Here are some current fandom-related articles I've been reading lately, since I'm too fried to try and provide much in the way of my own content right now!

The Truth Of Wolves, Or: The Alpha Problem - written with urban fantasy fiction (mostly novels, I think) in mind, but interesting to reflect on with regard to Teen Wolf and TW fic. I was talking about the whole intensely stratified Alpha/Omega 'verse thing with a fannish friend a few weeks ago ... something I haven't exactly been surprised to see proliferating in TW fandom? But I was surprised to hear that she's been seeing it in other places (like hockey RPF, apparently?), and even being used separately from anything related to (were)wolves. IDK. It reminds me of how fascinating I found the concept of Recognition in ElfQuest (if anyone besides were_duck and myself have read that) as a kid, only to grow up and be kind of disturbed by the whole 'biological imperative" thing.

The Mary Sue's Star Trek: Into Darkness review - WARNING: not squeeful. A rather good, articulate analysis of the same problems I was having with the film.

Elementary, My Dear Joan Watson: An Egalitarian Sherlock? - a bit of a love-fest for Elementary and Joan Watson, cosigned 100%. I was trying to convince a non-fannish classmate of the show's amazingness some time back, and he was very dubious, citing less-than-gripping mysteries. Which I would only sometimes argue, but as s.e. smith writes, "On Elementary, the real case study is in human beings, not in criminology." Fantastic (platonic!) relationship dynamics FOR THE WIN.

Watsons, Hudsons, and Invisible Labour - a fantastic post by thingswithwings that does a beautiful job of articulating my thoughts on various Watson portrayals (and the reason why I always, always prefer the active, smart Watsons, and find Joan to be the most rewarding of all) ... and makes some really excellent point about the way Hudsons are and aren't (generally the latter) valued in Holmes adaptations. (I agree: I really hope we see MUCH more of Elementary's fantastic Ms. Hudson next season!) All outlining a point about decentralizing and reversing the worshipful, exceptionalist white dude genius centric narrative that I often find so troubling (even though I love Holmes, and so much of Holmes--canon and adaptation--is all about that).

Oh god, okay. Almost time to go. Tonight I am taking the excuse to go hole up in a movie theater and watch the story of another troubled white dude genius ... and his robotic armor. :p Finally.

OH MY GOD WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

Sorry guys, sorry. I just, I have been having such a fail day today. A fail weekend, really, when I really fell off my schedule and felt more stressed and less in control of myself than I have in weeks. And I just got off the phone after a really frustrating conversation with a totally clueless state health care customer service rep (because apparently she can't see why my therapist is getting denied payment and I'm not allowed to call provider services; she can't even give me the number to give my therapist) and ... everyone on twitter is losing their shit because FALL OUT BOY IS BACK.

So apparently I'm a little hysterical, and I apologize. Just. This song is fantastic, it's everything I've always loved best about this band, and there's a new album and a new tour and Pete, how did you know I needed this? The first years working in the adjacent classroom had better not get sick of this song because it's gonna be on loop for awhile.

So some of you are gonna go to the Boston show with me, right? *_____*

I'm not leaving for grad school for almost another two months, but I already feel as though I have no time for fandom. :( I really wish I could spend this summer hanging around enjoying Boston and reading fic, but alas, I am behind on everything. I've been working on this entry for a couple of days! (A whole bunch of you have posted intriguing bbbs, too. I won't be lacking for reading material for a long time, clearly ... when I can do it. ♥)

General fun things I have done recently include: making falafel with my new food processor, hanging out and drawing all day Saturday with ataratah (pretty much the best of pastimes), buying both a new suit and a new dress(!), and donating my neighborhood video store's copy of Labyrinth to my hometown library (which only seemed appropriate, since one summer in my teen years, I rented it seven times in one month). I'm really sad that the store is closing--it was a true community establishment--but I love that they're donating their entire collection, and that their customers are rallying around to pay for the effort.

Also, I finally saw X-Men: First Class. Which ... was something I found more interesting than genuinely enjoyable, to my surprise? IDK. I have thoughts, though the way I'm going, I doubt I'll manage to write them up coherently. I mean, basically, I want all the Raven fic, and some Alex/Armando, and Erik/Charles which acknowledges that Charles is a dick. (This isn't actually a critique of anyone's characterization; I've only read one story! I'm just kind of nervous.) Speaking of which, if you haven't read olivacirce's fantastic Don't Try This At Home, I recommend it highly. It's hot and appropriately fucked up.

So hey, here's my somewhat belated contribution to that question meme that was going around all last week!

Comment with "me me me" and:
- I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better. (This might take me a little while, so I'm sorry in advance for that!)
- Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
- Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions, if you want to.

were_duck ( asked me things )

Hmmm, I should get back to work. I'm sorry for being increasingly haphazard and unavailable lately! It's only going to get worse. (I mean, I'm really excited! More people to draw with, oh man, for that alone. But I miss being more active in fandom already.) I'm probably going to wind up creating a comic school filter; I'll have to put a poll up soon.

[ETA:] I almost forgot! Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III, what on earth is this? (I fucking love that man, have I mentioned?)

So scattered right now. There's been plenty happening in my life, but I'm not having an easy time making it cohere into a post. I've been listening to Vice & Virtues nonstop (countdown until I start reading lots of Brendon/Spencer: 5 ... 4... 3...), watching more Castle, and I went to see Travie McCoy & the Black Cards play in Boston with jjtaylor and ataratah (looking a touch out of place in my fedora and tie, I suspect). I cannot fucking deal with how much I love Pete Wentz, you guys. Also, Bebe is an adorable tiny dynamo, and I really like their energy together.

The weather continues to be mildly frustrating, but that's par for the course for a New England March. (I hope it warms up a little for you Muskrat folks.) Also, I've decided that what I really want for my birthday is more sleep, so I think I'm going to go hide at my parents' house for about a day or two. Maybe then I'll have the energy to participate around here a bit more?

Speaking of participation, bidding at help_japan has closed, but the auctions at help_japan are continuing 'til the end of the month. If you're thinking of putting something up yourself, though, you only have until tomorrow!

Oh, and because I'm hilariously paranoid about separating my fannish identity from my "public" one, some of you might find yourselves being followed by two of me on Twitter as of this morning. I just can't help myself. /o\

So I stepped off my bus this evening to find the entire neighborhood shrouded in darkness.

We've had a fair number of power outages before, but I've never come home to one; it was pretty eerie! As my roommate was off visiting her parents, and I could neither cook or draw in my apartment, I wound up heading down the street to my local comic shop (clearly the best place to be in an emergency); it was closed (like everything else on the block), but I'm friends with the guys who work there, so I wound up hanging around chatting about Battlestar Galactica and Jeopardy-playing computers. After an hour, though, I gave up and caught the first bus to somewhere with light and food.

I've been some flavor of cranky pretty much all day, and losing most of my cozy solo drawing night in did not particularly help. I'm just burnt out, which is pretty common for this time of year ... I need to get away from the city and decompress a bit. Fortunately I'm heading home to the Valley on Friday at last! There will still be snow, but it will be less filthy and congested and I will drink all the Haymarket mochas. While attempting to use really bright colors, meep. (Seriously, I am so excited for the picture I'm working on right now; I hope my Photoshop issues don't fuck it up.)

Also, this is definitely improving my mood: Gerard singing happy birthday to Grant Morrison at the Glasgow show tonight. ♥______♥ (Thank you, tuesdaysgone!)

Messy morning, but no snow day for me. Which I realize is just as well, or I'd only wind up working late trying to catch up later this week, but all the same.

Had quite a productive weekend, really; tried a new soup recipe (made of leaves and much tastier than expected - by which I mean, very), posted new fanart, got quite a significant chunk of minicomic work done, took in a play, and gave up on avoiding Grant Morrison fic. (Lines? What lines?) Had about fifteen other things I wanted to work on, but that's always the way.

I've been listening to Fall Out Boy an awful lot again lately, also. (I didn't even realize how much I missed them.) I've honestly been avoiding most news about related people since the breakup, with the result that I haven't heard any of the music various folks have been putting out. Should I?

[ETA:] I almost forgot! trekreversebang is open for sign-ups! Sign up to draw something, or write something based on a drawing! And even if you don't want to do that anyone can submit awesome prompts.

Having a much-needed cleaning day; my apartment is so dirty that I've been afraid to turn the heat up, so it's been a bit like sleeping in a refrigerator the last couple weeks. (My room is on the top corner of a brick building.) Turns out that I have nearly-endless work ethic for art these days, but very little for most other things. I honestly can't regret the trade-off.

So I haven't had much to contribute to the fannish economy lately, but here's something small! Awhile back, I had this amusing mental image during a conversation with jjtaylor about one of her works in progress:



The likeness isn't brilliant, but that's Brian Schechter on the left, and JJ herself on the right. She sometimes makes me want to draw an overly-meta series of comics about the relationship between writers and their work, but I'll leave it at this for now. ;)

I'll have other things to post pretty soon, but they'll have to be under rlock, as I'm putting them elsewhere (IRL even) under my real name. Sometimes I think about locking this whole journal, except for art posts ... it's something I've never wanted to do, but I've been getting twitchy again, and IDK. It seems to work really well for some people.