20 misc icons for somein30
Fandoms:
Parks and Recreation [4]
LOST [3]
Survivor [2]
Doctor Who, Dorian Gray (2009), Free!, Harry Potter, Les Misérables, Once Upon a Time, Sherlock, Steam Powered Giraffe, The Big Bang Theory, The IT Crowd, Twin Peaks [1 each]
Here's my set for Round 10 at somein30: Friendship book, an interpretative round where we use icons to talk about ourselves. I went with Extra Hard mode (instead of just subject choices, the composition/technical elements need to function as interpretative ways to represent facts about yourself). I chose this mode because doing exactly that is the only reason why hard interpretative challenges are my favorite types of challenges. I first meant to make a smaller set, but during the last week I got super inspired and wanted to go for a full set after all, so the rest was made in a rush, I hope this doesn't show too much. I wish this set had a cohesive style, but it turned out an odd mix of vibrant and muted icons, but maybe the grunge ties them together somewhat!
I don't expect anyone to read through my rambly explanations, feel free to just take a look at the icons :D Hope you find something to like - let me know what you think!
SOMEIN30 ROUND 10
[01-05]
[06-10]
[11-15]
[16-20]
[Explanations]EXPLANATIONS
1. What is your current profession or work/student situation? Software designer/developer, it's pretty much the perfect job for me!
2. What is your sexual orientation? I like people regardless of gender, I'm of the older generation that doesn't care about labeling everything specifically or debating the differences between bi/pansexuality, so I just went with a generic rainbow. But as you can see the rainbow is a bit muted and dark, which speaks of the fact that I have a hard time fitting into the LGBT+ group. At least in Finland, all of the LGBT palces and activites revolve around either the shallow partying/drinking culture or some sort of activism. Neither interests me at all, and I'm actually very closeted to all but a few specific people.
3. Your favorite genre of music I love many many genres, but my current favorite is catchy folk, especially the niche genre family of steampunk/dark cabaret. One of my favorite bands is Steam Powered Giraffe, I love their weird lyrics and catchy melodies. My favorite song by them is The Suspender Man, so I used these amazingly wise lyrics in my icon, as well as some typical steampunk imagery with gears and grunge and muted colors.
4. Favorite sport or physical excercise I love adventure parks! I couldn't think of a show that has those exactly, so I used a really fun-looking obstacle course from Survivor, close enough :D But then I realized just using an obstacle course isn't really an interpretation, so this is what I came up with: the icon itself has multiple levels and sort of takes the eye through a mini "obstacle course", making the eye jump from level to level, and the uneven sizes and weirdly angled shapes represent a sense of off-balance motion. Is this too far-fetched?? xD Also, extra explanations: my favorite unscripted show is Survivor and these two players (Kelley and Spencer) are my favorites from the American version. Flawless Kelley is my Survivor crush, and Spencer is the one I relate to the most since he's this hardcore strategist and superfan who has some... issues... with his social game.
5. Which animal do you relate to the most? Tarantula, because on the outside I look cute and small and innocent, but on the inside I'm full of venom and ready to bite anyone who annoys me :> As long as you leave them alone they're super chill and just like to lurk somewhere alone.
6-9. What are your most prominent personality traits?
6. Escapism - I just love to immerse myself in other worlds and completely forget about this one. I interpreted this by using a b&w cap of Clara in her everyday teacher role and making it seem like she's being cut and pasted out of that boring normal life onto this colourful space adventure scene.
7. I hate (most) people, but love (most) animals. Really straightforward, this April quote was perfect :D
8. A huge shipper. Shipping is my romantic life, and super important to me. In a sort of self deprecating way I used "now kiss" as text, as an acknowledgement that shippers are often mocked like in that meme where the shipper is depicted as kind of gross and unhinged. As for subject, I chose Rinharu not because it's my favorite (I'm not really sure what my OTP even is at the moment), but because it's a very typical "baity" ship that is clearly intended to be shipped without ever making it canon, so some people have a problem with that and I just don't, cause I never like canon ships anyway, resolving the crush ruins the intensity. Mutual pining is where it's at.
9. Terrible at dealing with other people's emotions, especially comforting people. I'm just not very empathetic unless it's a situation I 100% relate to or a person who I have special fondness for (so either a crush or one of the rare friends that I'm just super on the same wavelength with). I don't know what kind of reaction they're looking for and what I'm supposed to say, so it's just super uncomfortable for me and I'd rather just change the subject if that happens. This icon might look like the opposite of what I'm describing but Sheldon's delivery in this scene is epically awkward.
10. What do you consider your best characteristic? Imagination/creativity. I love my mind and what it can come up with - all these worlds and stories and characters and personal projects, not to mention that it's very much needed for my work which requires creative problem solving. So to symbolise a mind that can come up with weird things, I made this really weird icon with everything but the kitchen sink in it. The character is Luna Lovegood, she's definitely a "head in the clouds" type like me, so it's close enough, although iirc she may have been more on the conspiracy theorist side.
11-12. What do you consider your worst characteristic? (these are kind of the same thing from different angles)
11. Extra stubbornness. I'm 33 - very, very old - so at this point in my life I very much know what I think and feel about things, what I care about and what I don't want to have to care about, and there's not a lot that anyone can do to change my mind about anything. I chose a stubborn character in John Locke and also used a mountain texture to symbolize something hard to move.
12. Contrarian. I just get annoyed really easily, and when I do I feel so much antipathy that I start disagreeing out of spite. So this funny April quote really hits home for me: "I wasn't listening, but I strongly disagree with her".
13. Something that really annoys you? /S! In case you don't know what I'm talking about - sometimes online, especially on Reddit, I see people adding "/s" to signal that they're being sarcastic. Which is literally explaining the joke, aka ruining the joke. There are better ways to signal thay you're not being serious, emojis and smileys exist for this very reason. Could we bring back good old "xD"? Or maybe just trust that most people can read tone, and be fine with it not being 100%?
14. What is your vice/bad habit or guilty pleasure? ALL THE COFFEE, my life is fueled by coffee. I filled the background with repeating cups to symbolize that you definitely need more than one cup a day :D but then I realized that maybe using coffee to symbolize coffee doesn't actually fit the spirit of Extra hard mode, so I also used the colour of dark coffee for the background.
15. What are you like when you're upset? This is no surprise based on icons 11-12, but I'm super defensive, which I chose to represent with a castle wall, a defensive structure.
16. What kind of people do you respect the most? I'll always idolize a "lone soldier" type, someone independent who doesn't need others, who faces adversities and carries his problems without complaining and endures anything with a lot of mental strength and perserverence. I tried to depict this by making an icon where the person is in an epic scene alone and "shines" on his own, also another mountain to represent toughness/enduring the wear of time. Buuut, the subject choice was tricky cause I just couldn't think of anyone even remotely like this? It's a very old-fashioned trope that probably mostly exists in old action movies. So I went really off the wall here and chose to icon freaking Coach on Exile Island xD Yes he's a joke but this is how he at least fancies himself... Exile Island is this barren place where you have to survive alone, and he made it even harder for himself by choosing not to eat or drink (this may or may not be because he didn't know how to make fire, but we'll just ignore that for now). This is how he describes himself in that scene: "Inside, unbreakable. Unbending. Unyielding. Immeasurable. Immovable. Invincible." Who the hell describes himself like this?? He's just SO EXTRA all the time, what a legend. I do wish I could have half of his self confidence.
17-18. A quote that speaks to you the most
17. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Don't teach a man to fish, and feed yourself. He's a grown man, and fishing's not that hard." - Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation
It's funny, but also has a lot of truth in it, I just think everyone should take care of their own business before expecting someone else to solve their problems.
18. "Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist." - George Carlin
This speaks to me because I definitely was more of an idealist when I was younger, and I find it pretty natural that if you have a lot of hopes and expectations that don't get met, you're gonna have a different outlook on life and people. So I made a composition that looks literally like under the scratched surface of a cynic (Man in Black) there is an image of an idealist (Jacob). I chose these characters, because they have this age-old bet going on, with MiB claiming that people are only capable of destruction and Jacob wanting to prove him wrong.
19. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert? 100% introvert. This interpretation is obvious, I chose a character who doesn't have much of a social life (Ben mostly just interacts with people as his subjects and isn't beloved even among them), and I blended him with an island, a common symbol for being alone/separate.
20. Which moral alignment type fits you the best? Lawful Neutral. If I was a character in a story, I have no doubt in my mind that I'd be a villain, but since I don't like go out of my way to hurt people, I can't really see myself as "evil". So I chose Lawful neutral, and when I googled a bit and saw Javert as an example, I knew it's the best fit for me.
Phew, that was a lot! Feel free to use any you like, credit is optional ♥