Of This and Other Worlds

Two days ago I was lamenting (in an f-locked post, but don't worry, you didn't miss anything) my complete lack of interest or motivation when it came to writing -- not a good thing when you're in the middle of editing a novel that really, really has to get finished and out the door before the baby comes. I was also feeling rather discouraged when I looked back at the work I'd already done on the early chapters. However, simply admitting as much seemed to unblock some kind of mental jam, because as of last night I've finally whipped the Prologue into a shape I'm really proud of, and now here I am wishing fervently that I could hire a babysitter or something to look after my kids while I write! write! write!

However, the kids are still sick and I would not wish their germs upon a babysitter, so I will have to wait until later tonight to start tinkering again. In the meantime, I have made icons, including the one on this post, which I'm rather absurdly pleased with considering that the original artwork (which I drew last year and was never entirely happy with) didn't look nearly that good. Photoshop covereth a multitude of sins.

Look at this, thanks to carpediem1970's little script just posted on lj_nifty:

synaesthete7, lizbee, lydaclunas, penwiper26, hedda62, yahtzee63

The rumours of my delinquency when it came to giving anyone on my friendlist anything from their Christmas wish list in time for Christmas are, unfortunately, true. However, I do recall that a considerable number of you mentioned that you would like icons, and that is something that even in my current state of health*, I can actually do with some degree of enjoyment and success.

So, I am taking icon requests. If you'd like one, please leave a comment, and tell me:

a) what kind of icon you'd like (i.e. a particular fandom, character, pairing, subject, etc.) .
Feel free to put up multiple ideas for me to choose from, if you'd like a bit of a surprise; if you'd really like to be surprised, just leave it at "I'd like an icon," and I'll pick an interest off your User Info.

b) any other specifics you'd like me to incorporate
A favorite screencap, a particular line or snippet of text, a colour you'd like me to use (or avoid) -- if you don't supply any of these I'll just use my own discretion.

Go to it!

--
*No worries, it's nothing fatal, just inconvenient and wearisome. The lingering case of pink-eye doesn't help either.

Like this icon. House points to the first person who gets the reference.

So I did the latest Hogwarts Sorting Quiz, and then my computer crashed, so I couldn't blog the exact results as I'd planned. However, it came out something like this:

Ravenclaw - 91
Gryffindor - 88
Hufflepuff - 82
Slytherin - 31

Now, I've always known I was a Ravenclaw. Not brave (or impulsive) enough to be a Gryffindor, not hard-working or clannish enough to be a Hufflepuff, and I lack the necessary ambition, ruthlessness and/or cunning to be a Slytherin. I'm an analytical, introverted kind of gal who likes to play with words -- Ravenclaw would suit me to a T.

That being said, I was really surprised the other day when a friend of mine seemed to think that I was anti-Gryffindor. Because in truth I really have no particular preference, or prejudice, when it comes to the Houses at all. I've been known to complain loudly about the behaviour and attitude of certain Gryffindors, particularly James and Sirius: but if I made a top ten list of my most beloved canonical characters, it would be composed almost exclusively of Gryffindors. There are three canonical characters that I absolutely adore, to the point that they can practically do no wrong in my eyes: Mad-Eye Moody, Dennis Creevey, and Neville Longbottom. All Gryffindors.*

As for Ravenclaw -- well, I might be one myself, but I was pretty unimpressed by Cho Chang in the last book. Sometimes you can think about things too much, and it seems to me that she's doing that over Cedric, to the point where she just can't let him go and move on. And then, of course, there's Luna -- whose character I really enjoy in a lot of ways, and who reminds me a lot of myself when I was in school (wacky outcasts, unite!) but she too has a tendency to let her analytical tendencies run away with her.

Then there's Hufflepuff, which appeals to me because I have a soft spot for the underdog, and I admire loyalty and hard work. But on the other hand, the Hufflepuffs we've met in canon seem a little too quick to believe whatever they're told, and when one of their own seems to be threatened they immediately close ranks without stopping to ask themselves whether the threat is real, or whether they might be acting unfairly to those they exclude -- as Harry found out in CoS.

And finally, Slytherin. I have to say that in spite of finding Snape fascinating as an individual, and in spite of having written him and a couple of Slytherin OCs in a sympathetic fashion, I really don't have a soft spot for Slytherin House at all. As I had Dumbledore tell Maud in TPMA, ambition can be a noble thing -- but what I seem to see more often among Slytherins is a desire for personal power and a willingness to manipulate and deceive (or even coerce) other people in order to achieve the desired end, which worries me. However, I see no reason to suppose that this is true of every member of the House -- we just see that kind of behaviour from the Slytherins with whom Harry comes into conflict.

On the whole, I'd say that every House has its strengths and weaknesses, and I would never be inclined to judge a character's worth or likeability on the basis of which House they come from -- only on the way they behave, and to what extent they represent the best or worst traits of the House into which they were Sorted. Just because certain Gryffindors strike me as insensitive and arrogant, or certain Hufflepuffs seem gossipy and cliquish, doesn't mean that I expect the next Gryffindor or Hufflepuff I come across is going to be the same way.

In short, I am not a Houseist.

* * *

On an unrelated note, I've been trying to make a certain icon for myself ever since I came across a highly amusing comment on fanfic_hate regarding my Remus and Snape fic "Cold Water". But alas, I just can't seem to make the icon work. I spent a couple of hours tinkering with a piece of D&Lish fan art, but even with a bunch of filters and brushes the icon ended up looking completely blah, so I gave up.

So, I'm throwing the challenge open to my graphically inclined friends. Make me an icon using the phrase "Gratuitous Het Writer", and win my undying gratitude and a drabble featuring the characters and fandom of your choice.

Whaddya say?

--
* Admittedly, we don't know for certain that Mad-Eye was a Gryffindor, but he certainly seems like one, and I'm assuming that he is until JKR tells us otherwise.

I have been looking for hours, literally hours, for a site that has up-to-date 24 screencaps. I can't find any. All I can find is UK sites that are ten weeks out of date. I want a Michelle icon! Specifically, I want an icon of her pounding the glass to get the guard's attention (ooh, it would be cool to juxtapose that with an icon of Irina slamming the glass in S2 Alias to get Sydney's attention... but I digress), which would require screencaps from the most recent episode. Only nobody seems to have them...

Somebody must be capping the new episodes. Please, oh please, those in the know, where should I be looking?

Somehow -- and I only just discovered this -- my friends list Default View got messed up and only half of my actual flist was on it. Which means that for the past week, while I've been wondering at how quiet people were, I have been missing tons of your posts. And all of my syndicated feeds.

I have fixed the problem, but now I have a whole LOT of reading to do...

On a more cheerful note, I found this icon with all the others at the Fandom Escapist Election, and I just had to use it, because Zot!? Love. I'm sorry I can't credit whoever made it, since the site just gives a big long list of all the people who contributed icons and doesn't identify which person goes with which icon. But whoever you are, you have impeccable taste. Thank you!

I've found a couple of good step-by-step tutorials on how to make clear, attractive icons in Photoshop, most notably isabel0329's, but I still stink when it comes to doing text and I would love to see some more tutorials that deal with this issue. Right now, when I make an icon, it seems to take 2-3 hours on the average, of which I spend about 1/4 of the time on the picture and 3/4 mucking about with the text trying to make it look half-decent. This strikes me as a little excessive. :)

Anyway, if you've come across a decent tutorial in your travels, would you mind sharing the link in the comments? Thanks muchly.

Because lizbee thought it was unfair to go looking for Susannah and Geoff when I hadn't even done Imogen yet. And of course she was right, so here she is:

( The irrepressible Imogen Crump )

Because I stumbled across a Maudalike the other day while image-browsing, and it was too cool not to make an icon out of...