I misunderstood the point of this ride

Oh hey, my first yuletart piece, a Revolutionary Girl Utena jazz age AU, went up on Friday! I had a wonderful time revisiting one of my favorite old anime fandoms, and doing a bit of costume research is always a good time. ALSO, check out my flipping gorgeous giftart from ataratah! A deeply evocative moment between Teen Wolf's leading ladies (while Stiles snoozes, oblivious). <3

Here's some quick processfest catchup!

Day Four: Challenges. ( Head, meet wall. )

Day Five: Collaboration. ( If there's an umlaut, we flip a coin. )

Okay, I feel like that's plenty for one day; I'll try and get to today's prompt tomorrow, I think. I'm ready to go write now. Is the work day over yet?

Oh man, you guys. I don’t know if any of you are reading Young Avengers (I would recommend it!), but ... ( spoiler for this week’s issue! )

So I have had a whirlwind time lately. I finally have full-time (if temporary) employment, so I’m looking for an apartment. I went to my first play party last weekend (which was AMAZING) ... and made a professional connection in the middle of the playspace. (You know ... hanging out and taking comics while someone was being flogged off to the left, and there was a fisting scene happening somewhere behind me ...) This week I was approached by a major publisher with a work-for-hire project that I’m not particularly interested in, but still, super flattering. And I’ve been submitting to a bunch of professional anthologies! So many things.

So today I’m just vegging at ataratah’s house, hanging with her kitties and watching Sleepy Hollow. Which is pretty great, as it turns out! Super convoluted concept, but great characters.

ALSO:

Yuletart is a low-pressure and fun fest that celebrates the love of art in fandom. Beginner or expert, everyone who loves making fan art is welcome! We accept all types of fine art and crafts, and any fandom is welcome, regardless of size.

The exchange is hosted on Dreamwidth, but artists do not need a Dreamwidth journal to participate!DON'T MISS OUT - SIGN-UPS CLOSE SOON!
FAQ | SCHEDULE | SIGN-UPS

I'm really kind of grateful that MCR has gone and recorded an album I can get away with playing part of at work. It's hardly one of the main reasons I love Danger Days, but I really appreciate it.

Every once in awhile I find myself trying to explain why I love this band so much (not an uncommon experience, I think), and it's just impossible to do that in a totally unsentimental way. I mean, yes, fantastic fucking guitars and Gerard's snotty little voice and sweeping theatrical concepts and ray guns - and this album in particular is directly connected to the medium of my heart - but really? Music is alchemy to me, and first and foremost, My Chemical Romance always manages to remind me of who I am (and who I want to be). That's all the explanation needed, really. (And anyone who thinks The Black Parade is about despair can suck it, frankly.)

Of course, that doesn't come from them, not entirely. It's something that happens halfway between the instruments and my ears; it's an interaction. I think that's my favorite part. When I was younger and first trying to be an artist, I didn't really appreciate the real importance of having an audience for the things you create: it's more than just craving attention, and understanding that is kind of essential.

Er, okay, enough of that. Drive-by yuletart rec: I'm a completely biased beta, but this Slings & Arrows comic is amazing, and anyone who likes that show should read it yesterday.

I'm also really grateful for my own adorable gift. It's so understated and evocative and right. I want so much fic about Kate and Renee ... it doesn't even have to get them back together, I just want to explore the complexity of their past and the way their current identities and all their individual layers of influence interact. (Of course, I also want that in canon. Are you listening, J.H.W.?)

Oh hi, internet. It's been awhile. ♥

I'm actually still pretty snowed under with all this real-life business at the moment; grad school application is coming along nicely, I think, but there's a lot of it, particularly since I've sort of assigned myself extra work. The last month and a half or so has been a period of stepping-up for me, comics-wise, which feels great. (Sorry for vagueness; I'll probably make a locked post about original comics stuff in the near-ish future.)

I can't wait for November, though. Can't think when I've said that before, but it's going to be an amazing month for all kinds of fannish stuff. I can't decide what I'm more excited for, really; a new Batwoman comic, KILLJOYS, or that one new fic someone fabulous is currently finishing up. ;) Not to mention having time to read fic again, and draw fanart! I can't wait to get started on my yuletart assignment, which includes a choice between several fandoms I've been meaning to draw for long since.

If my yuletart person stops by: thank youuu. ♥ I think I probably gave you enough to be getting on with in my sign-up comment, so I'm not going to write out a lot of detail here. I can't wait to see what you come up with, though. :D

Staying out of yuletide is definitely the right choice this year, but I'm still excited as always to see what comes out of it, particularly since I've been enjoying some new/small TV fandoms of late. Well, I could be wrong; is Community small? I never looked for fic after the first season, but now I want all the Troy/Abed. And surprisingly, Annie/Troy/Abed. (Oh god, the chloroform scene. I couldn't breathe for laughing.)

Also, is anyone watching Nikita? I'm not quite caught up, but JFC, Maggie Q. *_* There are all kinds of problems with the show, but with (count 'em - sigh) four interesting female characters who actually interact, there's a lot I can get past. I can't decide what fic I want yet, but I'm definitely getting a fannish feeling. As long as the fic's focused on the women, that is; could not give less of a damn about Michael and his gratuitous manpain.

I have to run, but on my way out the door, a quick rec for the only fic I've read in ages: jjtaylor's Born To Motorbabies. A glimpse at the Killjoysverse that deals more in tangled emotions than rayguns, though there's a little of those too; sweet, hot, and a bit wrenching. It's a tantalizing first taste, and I want so much more (fic, album, comic).

There is probably something about hiatuses that makes you want to post more. This is really just quick linking, though.

First, yuletart nominations have just opened! If you participated last year, that means you should get your tail over there and nominate stuff. :D If you haven't participated, and you're a fanartist of any stripe, sign-ups will be opening in just over two weeks! Sign up. Seriously, it is the best fest I've participated in ever - multifannish and super-friendly! The contributions from past years are seriously amazing, too - go poke through the archives!

On a less happy note, via twitter - cleolinda has a couple more livejournal privacy breaches to warn you about.

(I do have a whole bunch of dreamwidth codes, by the way, if anyone out there is considering making the switch. Feel free to comment or PM me.)

Right, I'm gone again. /o\

My yuletide story is going agonizingly slowly . . . so per as usual, then! I know what's happening all the way through, thank god, but that doesn't make it easy to put my thoughts on the page. Seriously, these word things are frustrating! Writing with pictures (or preferably a combination) is so much easier. :/

But but but! yuletart has been delighting me throughout, and now I have art of my very own! :DDD Check out the hilarious (and pretty!) AOS OT3 comic panel that somebody drew all for me. (I am maybe a little overexcited and sleep deprived. But seriously!) I love everything about it, from the classic presentation to Spock's hilarious (but totes logical) thought bubble. Oh man, I am so happy right now.

Back to work. But. :D

Oh man, it has been an awesome week for fanart. glockgal's love meme is going to be my favorite thing for awhile . . . pages of new fanartists to browse through! :D Also, yuletart started posting today. There are already three kickass pieces up (in Futurama, Bleach, and Sandman respectively).

I've been randomly watching Buffy episodes all week (seasons 1, 3, and 5 . . . that was totally an accident), writing cards to old friends, and to further add to the procrastination nostalgia trip, I wound up drawing some random ( Kim Possible femslash )

Also, it occurred to me that, since it's the end of the year and all, maybe I should stop sitting on a couple of things. Awhile back, I was going to do a big fanart post for bexless's Heaven Help Us, but the main piece was really flopping and I put it aside for awhile. I might go back to it? But in the meantime, here are a couple of really small drawings. The first one's just directly from the text; the second takes some creative liberties.

( Not that I'm not glad to see you, Father, I just don't want you to- )

( This one gets warnings for blood and demonic possession. )

And now I should really go to bed, because tomorrow will involve some fairly epic errand-running.

Whee, so, I moved. My new place is pretty fantastic; the kitchen's a bit small (we're going to have to purchase extra storage, or we'll have to somehow choose between having food and having things to cook/eat with), but my room's bigger than the other and my new roomie has a pretty fabulous (eccentric) sense of decor. (I will probably picspam eventually, once I've had time to unpack and decorate a bit.) We broke in our shiny new TV by watching Beetlejuice over take-out pasta. I think things are going to be awesome.

Well, except that there's still nobody to replace me on my old lease. I refuse to panic. Things are not going to un-busy themselves for awhile yet, clearly.

And fandom's still lovely and distracting! I am psyched about my yuletart assignment, omg. Only it was a very good matching job (&mods;), and I'm having trouble choosing between four different fandoms. (guinsky says I can't do more than one piece. She's probably right.) I could maybe do a crossover? IDK IDK IDK.

(Dear Yuletart Santa: I don't have much to add, but I hope you have fun! I am already thrilled. Oh, and JSYK, there was no fandom order of preference there at all, for serious.)

I also wound up changing my yuletide ( nominations. )

I can't wait until nominations close, so I can start putting a to-offer list together! I'm intrigued by some of the album nominations, although I have to say . . . I don't really get some of them. There's no real overarching theme or common "characters" in Graceland, say, or Revolver, or most of Dar's albums. I know people enjoy stretching in all kinds of directions for this challenge, and I really enjoy watching them go, but I don't particularly see the appeal of writing fanfiction for something that doesn't really have a story to it in the first place. (I suppose that yuletide does seriously muddle the whole definition of "fanfiction" thing pretty regularly, too.)

As always, I'm just seriously excited to see what everyone comes up with this year.

Well, first and foremost: yuletart sign-ups are live! :DDD OMG, I am so excited for this. A little sorry that I got into Leverage just too late to nominate it, but still. I requested bandom (MCR), Farscape, X-Men, Star Trek (TOS or XI), and The Middleman (because hope springs eternal), and I offered a whole ton of stuff! Kind of have a feeling I'll wind up drawing Merlin, but we shall see. :D

I have so much artistic energy lately; it's awesome. I'm currently working on some guest comic strips for a friend, and I have a couple random fanart pieces going as well. (As usual, fanart's good for making me try different things: I've been avoiding Photoshop again, but some of those will require it.)

Also, have I mentioned that I love Leverage? *_* (I need to make some icons.) I've been having a pretty rough week with non-art things, so I canceled my plans for last night and wound up watching the first five episodes of the second season straight through (while cooking and drawing). I love all the characters so much (particularly Hardison and Parker, because I'm predictable), and it's one of the most fun, relaxing viewing experiences I've had in ages. It mostly doesn't piss me off! How strange. /o\ Plus, talk about a cathartic theme.

I wonder if it'll be eligible for yuletide? I haven't even thought about what I'm going to ask for yet. My two other big fannish preoccupations (bandom and Star Trek) don't remotely qualify, but I have no idea what Leverage fic is like (I will have to investigate).

Oh man, so, life. Last week was et up with roommate search, and as soon as that was accomplished (it was stressful at the time, but in retrospect very fast), the heat descended. I've been staying the hell out of my apartment as much as possible ("hell" being the operative word). Boo. Hiss. I've still only heard one of MCR's new songs, I still haven't watched the What A Catch video . . . not to mention, sit down with my sketchbook for more than five minutes at a time. Fortunately, it seems to be cooling down a bit. Maybe I should reconsider this A/C thing next year.

I have not been doing much fandomy stuff lately - mostly I've been sitting around reading political blogs, actual books (Dorothy L. Sayers for vacation, and now I'm rereading Stoppard's The Invention of Love ♥), and comics of course. Mike Carey's new book, The Unwritten, is pretty awesome. So meta! *_* (Thanks for the rec, fuschia. :D) I want to buy the huuuge Locas II SO MUCH, OMG, but it is expensive! I have been spending way too much money on things like #LOFNOTC shirts and Middleman DVDs.

Also, I've been attempting to slog through this tiny little fannish-injoke-nostalgia comic strip for sweetvalleyslut (seriously, it's eight panels; WHAT IS THE DEAL), but I seem to be in rut-land. (Hence having to drop out of bandgirlsbang. :(((( Which began posting today, check it out!) BUT. Here is the perfect (if early) bit of excitement to shake me out of that: yuletart is gearing up again! ♥

So hey, fanartists on my flist . . . if you haven't participated in this thing yet, you must check it out. It is AMAZING. I'm so excited; I am totally in the mood for multi/obscure fandom doings, and this year I should have time to pinch-hit! \o/ \o/ \o/