thefourthvine: Two people fucking, rearview: sex is the universal fandom. (Default)
Keep Hoping Machine Running ([personal profile] thefourthvine) wrote2009-05-03 03:41 pm

8 Days of Happiness: Fanart

As I remind myself endlessly when really cool memes are going around: I don't do memes. Except it occurred to me, when the eight days of happiness meme was going around, that I could in fact do that one. Because fandom brings me happiness! I can talk about one aspect of fandom that makes me happy, and provide a rec or two as an example, and I would be doing a meme. I formulated this plan as soon as I saw the meme and waited patiently for someone to tag me.

And then I remembered that a) most of my friends know I don't do memes, so they weren't going to tag me and b) even if they did, there was a good chance I wouldn't see it, because what with replying to comments and parenting the increasingly mobile and active earthling, I've been sort of sporadic on the friends list reading lately. So I decided to tag myself. Novel concept, yes, but I was not about to let a meme I could do pass me by.

So here I go. Eight days of fannish things that bring me happiness, part one: fanart.

The One with the Doughnut. This Is Where We'll End It, by [livejournal.com profile] zoetrope. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.

This is the work that got me looking at fanart. Because, okay. I had been traumatized by some fanart in the past. (Before I was in fandom, I was on a message board that spent some time making fun of fandom, and while I didn't get into that, it did mean horrific fanart was passed around very gleefully on that board. I had seen the kind of photomanips that make your eyeballs peel. Plus, three words: pregnant elf Blair.) I thought fanart was all the sort of thing that would keep you up at nights thinking of Legolas's horrible twisted neck pasted onto what was, quite clearly, the body of a weightlifter who had a lifetime membership in a tanning salon. (Once, I swear I saw Aragorn's head on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. The very thought still wakes me up in a cold sweat some nights.)

And, also, I am not a graphics person. I am a word person. And so I just assumed that even if there was good fanart out there - well, there is also good beer out there. Doesn't mean I want to drink it. (I am sorry,
[personal profile] norah. I am hoping you will love me anyway.)

But then - this. Which is a comic book, which I totally get, except it's about Fraser and Ray instead of homoerotic guys in tights manifesting their daddy issues. (Which is not to say that this is not homoerotic. No. Nor is it intended to suggest I have issues with guys in tights. Far from. But who knew comic books could also feature Mounties and cops with experimental hair? Not me! ...And now, of course, I am wondering where all the superhero AUs are in dS. People, please point me to the large number of dS superhero AUs I have tragically missed.)

So here we have a story. And some wonderful art. And the reason I started clicking on links to fanart. All this time later, This Is Where We'll End It can still make me happy - not just because of the story, but because this is where some love began, you know?

Plus, it's pretty. I think that's a definite bonus when it comes to fanart.

(And also, of course, there is Diefenbaker's OTP. That is one of my favorite comic book panels of all TIME. There could be an actual, canon comic book panel with Batman blowing Superman in midair, and I'd be all, "...Well, that's pretty good. But the Dief panel is better!")

The One with the Best Fictional Dog in the Universe. Lirael and the Disreputable Dog, by [livejournal.com profile] pentapus. Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series.

And just as we started with the piece of art I fell in love with first, here's the piece of art I fell in love with most recently.

Unsurprisingly, both these works involve dogs. (I'm so much more likely to understand art if dogs are present. I really would have gotten more from Art Appreciation, also known as Art for Philistines and Science Majors, both of which I happened to be, if Van Gogh and Rubens and Picasso had included more dogs in their paintings. (And also if we hadn't had the really weird art professor teach two weeks, including one full class of a guy being crucified on a Volkswagen - seriously, folks, if you ever have to bring the art love to people who think real and brilliant art is the periodic table, don't bring up people nailing themselves to cars. Especially not at 9:30 in the morning, oh my god. I was eating breakfast and suddenly a crazy dude was bleeding on his sunroof.)

See, I have such love for the Disreputable Dog - she is quite honestly one of my favorite characters in all of literature. And this is HER. (Plus Lirael, who I also quite like. It's not her fault that she's overshadowed by the Most Awesome Creature of All Time.) I would kill - maybe only a plant, but still, death would be involved - for an icon of the Dog. Because she is the definition of love.

And all of you people who have no idea who I'm talking about - SHAME ON YOU for not having already read Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series. Strong female characters! Strong female dog characters! The Library of the Clayr, which is up there in the top five of my favorite fictional libraries! And zombies, for you sickos who like that kind of thing. Really. Read these books.

And then come back and look at this picture for a while. Your heart will swell with happiness.
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)

[personal profile] luzula 2009-05-04 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
People, please point me to the large number of dS superhero AUs I have tragically missed.

There was a superpower challenge a while ago at [livejournal.com profile] ds_flashfiction. : )
ext_3673: Manny, from black books (Default)

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/ 2009-05-04 09:48 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the Garth Nix link. It's so cute!
ext_1788: Photo of Lirael from the Garth Nix book of the same name, with the text 'dzurlady' (Lirael - dawnglider)

[identity profile] dzurlady.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 10:25 am (UTC)(link)
I read 'Lirael and the Disreputable Dog, by pentapus. Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series' and actually made a noise that sounded like 'glick!' I was so happy. I am currently rereading Sabriel, only when I say rereading I mean listening to the audiobook version for the first time. (Over here's it's called the Abhorsen Trilogy (which will be tricky when the new books come out).) It is such a wonderful series, I adore it.

Ah ha, I got so excited I forgot to a) use my Lirael icon and b) say that I love 'This is where we'll end it' too.

Also, if I were ever going to cosplay I would do Sabriel (even though it is not a very easy costume to make and I can't sew). It would be so much fun!
Edited 2009-05-04 10:27 (UTC)

[identity profile] zoetrope.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, thanks for the rec :)

dS superpowers

[identity profile] nessreader.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)

You've prob read these but just in case
Dessert First: Want (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/642034.html)

Sageness:
Bravely my diligence..
(http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/612479.html)

Spuffyduds: Lift (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/632506.html) (well RayK gets accused of being superhero)

Akamine Chan: In Time (http://akamine-chan.livejournal.com/7170.html)

Re: Totally missing the point, I know

[identity profile] melodyunity.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the "Silence in the Library" library. I also have a deep and abiding fondness for the library in Robin McKinley's book Beauty, which is a retelling of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast." In it is a copy of every book ever, even the ones that haven't been written yet.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
The dS comic book really is fabulous, isn't it?

And I'm glad I'm not the only person who spent her early fannish years fearing fanart. I've never seen XF art, but I can believe it would be scary, just because it seems like the earlier fandoms were more inclined toward the OMG NO school of art. And even though I was admiring fanart before SGA - thank you, dS - SGA has some of the best, most original, and prettiest fanart I've ever seen. Just, really wow.

I love [livejournal.com profile] ileliberte, although I had somehow managed to miss that first one. Thank you for linking me to it!

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I love Lirael so very much. And I have no idea if it's a Yuletide fandom in terms of there being actual stories, but I know it gets nominated, because I volunteer to write it every year. I never get assigned it, though.

Hmmm. There has to be FF for it SOMEWHERE, right? (And by "somewhere," I mean "not on ff.net.") *makes note to investigate*
ext_2248: (Sai ^_^ - hikago)

[identity profile] macey-muse.livejournal.com 2009-05-04 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll have to add it to my list of 'fandoms to search for and/or will into existance with my mind'. right behind Zettel's Isavalta, and Wurts & Feist's Empire trilogy. Epic fantasy in book-form does not get enough fannish love :(

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! *clicks link*

(And you're in ANIMANGA fandom. Isn't there a rule that you have to love fanart?)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
Yay! I am so glad I linked to it, because everyone should see that.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Trust me, alcohol will not avail. I have a person on my friends list who has an ICON of pregnant elf Blair. I have tried everything in the world to get that image out of my head. There's no help for it.

*weeps softly*

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! *clicks hopefully*

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
Isn't it wonderful? I love it so much.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I knew you'd love it if you hadn't seen it already.

...New books? TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS.

(And if I did cosplay, I would be Lirael. Although Sabriel is awesome, too.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for the introduction to fanart!

Re: dS superpowers

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank you! I had missed some of these, somehow. *clicks links*
ext_2955: black and white photo of flying birds and a lamp-post (Default)

[identity profile] azdaja-dafema.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
Oh Abhorsen books, the amount of love in the WORLD cannot describe my love for thee.
ext_1788: Photo of Lirael from the Garth Nix book of the same name, with the text 'dzurlady' (Default)

[identity profile] dzurlady.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
All I know about is the Yuletide fic, so if you find more I'd love to know.
ext_1788: Photo of Lirael from the Garth Nix book of the same name, with the text 'dzurlady' (Default)

[identity profile] dzurlady.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
TFV, I AM BOTH EXCITED AND SLIGHTLY NERVOUS!

Here is some information from Garth Nix's Amazon blog (http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNKNKY3YXHEOS9W):
nyway, gather round folks! I have news. It's been reported in various industry publications, so I might as well post it here too: I will be writing two more novels set in the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. They will be published by Allen & Unwin in Australia and by HarperCollins US and HarperCollins UK.

The first, probably out in 2010, will be Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, which is the story of the young woman who eventually became Chlorr of the Mask. It takes place about 320 years before the events in Sabriel. The second is untitled, and is a sequel of sorts to Abhorsen, taking place several years later. It should be out in 2011. Both 2010 and 2011 seem like a long way away but no doubt will sneak up on me horribly when I least expect it. Sometimes I think time is a practitioner of the secret Welsh martial art of Llap-Goch.


There doesn't seem to be any more information about it out there. I hope we see Sam doing more cool Charter magic gadget making.
ext_3548: (Default)

[identity profile] shayheyred.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Damn, she caught me. Let me rephrase. I love anime and manga fanart, because it's already art. What I don't like is fanart with the likenesses of actual actors, like the gawdawful Pros and Man From UNCLE art I've seen -- some by very well known artists (Best/Worst example: what is often referred to as the "NAMBLA picture" of Napoleon Solo embracing a very, very young-looking Illya...holding a kitten. MY EYES!!!!)

[identity profile] firesprite1105.livejournal.com 2009-05-05 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I swear to god there's a special place in hell for [livejournal.com profile] brooklinegirl, because it's her fault I ever saw PregnantElf!Blair.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-06 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Oh oh oh oh oh. I don't know how I feel about that! Because, well, I'm frankly not that enthused about reading about Chlorr of the Mask - I like books with, you know, happier endings. I'm more enthusiastic about the sequel to Abhorsen, but there will be no Disreputable Dog, and I REALLY don't know how I feel about *that*.

But, but, Old Kingdom books! Always good! I don't know, [livejournal.com profile] dzurlady!

*dithers violently*
ext_1788: Photo of Lirael from the Garth Nix book of the same name, with the text 'dzurlady' (Default)

[identity profile] dzurlady.livejournal.com 2009-05-06 09:42 am (UTC)(link)
I know - on the one hand, Chlorr = more cool history about the Abhorsens; on the other hand, I really don't like sad endings either. I am torn!

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2009-05-07 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
This is a true fact. I love her, but she's going to have to pay for all the harm she's done to innocent fangirl minds.

Well. Relatively innocent, anyway.

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