EXTRA: 20inspirations
31 icons for 20inspirations
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
Alternates/Variations
And now the ramble.
Mostly they are all character arcs and stories as opposed to 'this one thing makes up character so and so'. I don't know. That seemed more limiting somehow so I avoided it, haha. As easy as it would have been to make an icon of Xena and slap 'Warrior Princess' on it and call it a day, I decided not to go that route because it would be less fun...for me. :D Abstract for the win?
Favorite Doomed Ship: Xena/Caesar
I wanted to...encapsulate each significant moment in their relationship. So each icon is the epitome of something that makes Xena/Caesar so compelling and the overall set tells each facet of their story if that makes sense. There's a lot of red because...well, I think Caesar's quote in the second icon pretty much explains that. Their relationship is so antagonistic, volatile, and passionate (both ends of the spectrum). Plus, Xena has a thing for wearing red when he's around. There's also a lot of black and white used because Xena sees Caesar in a very black and white way: she wants him or she wants him dead. There's nothing else in between. Inspirations for this set (from the inspiration post anyway) include: the first image, the slayground texture set, and the words (specifically: death which inspired #4). I also want to direct everyone to these four amazing texture packs by erzsebet which I used in #2 and #5. I should...probably explain what each one means since no one else will know. 1. Divide a woman's emotions from her sensibilities, and she's yours. Divide and conquer. 2. Caesar describes their relationship. 3. Divide and conquer again, but this time showing Caesar's different psychological effects on Xena's character (there are a lot, you guys). 4. Caesar and Xena die (at the same time, and oh my god I love how they cut between both deaths in The Ides of March; it makes everything ten times more brutal because you have Brutus betraying Caesar on top of Xena and Gabriel professing their love and *dissolves into a puddle of goo*). 5. Caesar proves that in each and every strand of their fate, he is destined to screw Xena over like the power hungry bastard he is. True facts. Xena being white here because she's awesome, and Caesar in shady black because he's conniving and awful.
Legend of the Seeker S2 Finale: Tears
There's a lot of duality in Tears; everything has more than one side to it, double meanings, good and evil, and everything. That, for me, was one of the things that made the finale so epic. So all the icons in this set have more than one level (usually representing each one of those meanings). 1. Was inspired by the layout of one of the textures in the texture set. I liked the clean look of it and the split halves, so I went with it. Cara's role, in my opinion, was smaller in the finale, but her character arc was really brought to this interesting, not-quote resolved end for me. She's been fighting this dual nature of love versus violence (or, I guess, violence as love) for the whole season as she's traveled with the Seeker crew, and the scene where she hesitates and can't shoot Kahlan is such a smaller but crazy important moment for her. So the smaller cap is violent motion whereas the top cap is this serene moment of hesitation that I think epitomizes that struggle. 2. Inspired by the words angst and heart (because I loved the use of prophecies in LotS and the biggest one for Kahlan was: as long as the Mother Confessor's pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail), and I loved the forced betrayal of Kahlan. That raw, rage driven confessed!Kahlan in the Con Dar was so far removed from the Kahlan we know (and even the dual version we met in Torn) and I love the contrast between that and normal Kahlan's rather controlled despair at killing Richard who is, essentially, her heart (again as we see in Torn). And of course this event (con dar!Kahlan killing Richard) is the catalyst that brought about the (second) Stone of Tears. So I wanted to sort of...epitomize those emotions and also (in terms of the set) epitomize that important plot line, I guess. 3. Nicci dies. Power hungry people die in Legend of the Seeker (and are then most likely brought back but that is so beside the point). Inspired by the word death again. 4. I think Richard being blindly led was such a great testament to a true hero's constant battle. It was brought up and foreshadowed in Creator (dumb clip show but important message, I think): how much of what a hero does is actually for the greater good? Why is their constant blood shed and killing labelled as good or right? How fine is that line? And then you have this guy, this Seeker of Truth and Justice (all capitals here) who rescues a child (good deed alert!), but is blind (literally and metaphorically) to the evil that's leading him by the hand. He has so much faith in this kid's innocence, in what he's saved, and he's just...wrong. He's doing the wrong thing, and he doesn't even know. And so, yeah, I wanted to icon that blindness which is...easy since they went for a literal interpretation as well. Go them. And you've got that...typical head up, doing the right thing hero pose (fun, heavenly-esque light included) plus the true horror blended in underneath. 5. DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS ONE?
The Five From Community
I don't really quite know where I was going with this set here. I know I started with, I guess, stereotypes that Community mocks, bright colors, and yellow. And it sort of evolved from there. Thus I do not have an individual explanation for each one. They just sort of happened. I know I had phrases! Little Annie Adderall, Troy the Wonderboy, Jeff the Cool Guy, and Britta the Love Interest. So the icons of Annie and Troy are bright, a little on the radio active side, and chaotic because they are trying so hard to step out of those high school roles and failing. And then you have Britta looking pretty and coy and shy like the perfect love interest (that she actually isn't). Jeff's...questioning his coolness hence the question mark, and he's confused because he believes in his cool guy label. And then some Duncan thrown in for fun, and I went for a fun, richly colored vibe because Duncan thinks he's cool but he isn't. DON'T ASK ME. I DON'T KNOW. Also, clearly, all from the Pilot episode which I love.
And Five More Xena...
After Legend of the Seeker, I was having fun with dualities and conflicts and opposites and whatever. So we've got 1. Ares' battle with mortality versus immortality (take one), but you kind of have to know the episode to understand why this shows that at all. (Texture) 2. The Bitter Suite's main plot line aka healing the rift (sort of). So you've got Xena and Gabrielle with all their bitter feelings and hate with the endgame of love. Personally the top half's better. Ha! (Reunite) 3. Seeds of Faith and that sort of complex grief that both Xena and Gabrielle experience with all these overlapping and confusing events that are set into motion because of his death as well. And, fyi, the scene is actually shot this way with the shots bleeding into and layering on top of one another. So the only editing by me in terms of blending is done to the bottom half. I was just mimicking. (Death, Aftermath) 4. Ahhh this scene is such a bitch to color, but, um, Ares finally tells Xena that he loves her to her face. And, ugh, this scene. It's awful because he's using this AS A DISTRACTION. So true to form, but you sort of hate his timing just a little bit. Where was I going with this? Oh right! So basically this is his half of their relationship from God Fearing Child onwards. 5. Xena's constant battle between being evil and giving into love. This is a pretty difficult task for her in the first three season especially in The Bitter Suite because that's right after Maternal Instincts which was the final straw in terms of the Rift and breaking her and Gabrielle apart. So, playing on #2, you have Xena planning to take revenge on Gabrielle versus her at the end of the episode looking at Gabrielle with a loving expression. And...color wise, love and goodness, for Xena, are actually warmer colors whereas hatred tends to be icy for her. Hence setting the scene where she plots revenge on the top of a snowy mountain. (Just as an interesting side note: Ares tends to be the opposite. His love is depicted in icy colors. See: confession of love is Hades, in the rain, and Xena's burial tomb being made out of ice, etc.)
OH MY GOD THAT WAS LONG. NO ONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THAT.
If you do though and you are familiar with the fandom (or not), feel free to ~discuss~ in the comments. That's always fun. :D
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
Alternates/Variations
And now the ramble.
Mostly they are all character arcs and stories as opposed to 'this one thing makes up character so and so'. I don't know. That seemed more limiting somehow so I avoided it, haha. As easy as it would have been to make an icon of Xena and slap 'Warrior Princess' on it and call it a day, I decided not to go that route because it would be less fun...for me. :D Abstract for the win?
Favorite Doomed Ship: Xena/Caesar
I wanted to...encapsulate each significant moment in their relationship. So each icon is the epitome of something that makes Xena/Caesar so compelling and the overall set tells each facet of their story if that makes sense. There's a lot of red because...well, I think Caesar's quote in the second icon pretty much explains that. Their relationship is so antagonistic, volatile, and passionate (both ends of the spectrum). Plus, Xena has a thing for wearing red when he's around. There's also a lot of black and white used because Xena sees Caesar in a very black and white way: she wants him or she wants him dead. There's nothing else in between. Inspirations for this set (from the inspiration post anyway) include: the first image, the slayground texture set, and the words (specifically: death which inspired #4). I also want to direct everyone to these four amazing texture packs by erzsebet which I used in #2 and #5. I should...probably explain what each one means since no one else will know. 1. Divide a woman's emotions from her sensibilities, and she's yours. Divide and conquer. 2. Caesar describes their relationship. 3. Divide and conquer again, but this time showing Caesar's different psychological effects on Xena's character (there are a lot, you guys). 4. Caesar and Xena die (at the same time, and oh my god I love how they cut between both deaths in The Ides of March; it makes everything ten times more brutal because you have Brutus betraying Caesar on top of Xena and Gabriel professing their love and *dissolves into a puddle of goo*). 5. Caesar proves that in each and every strand of their fate, he is destined to screw Xena over like the power hungry bastard he is. True facts. Xena being white here because she's awesome, and Caesar in shady black because he's conniving and awful.
Legend of the Seeker S2 Finale: Tears
There's a lot of duality in Tears; everything has more than one side to it, double meanings, good and evil, and everything. That, for me, was one of the things that made the finale so epic. So all the icons in this set have more than one level (usually representing each one of those meanings). 1. Was inspired by the layout of one of the textures in the texture set. I liked the clean look of it and the split halves, so I went with it. Cara's role, in my opinion, was smaller in the finale, but her character arc was really brought to this interesting, not-quote resolved end for me. She's been fighting this dual nature of love versus violence (or, I guess, violence as love) for the whole season as she's traveled with the Seeker crew, and the scene where she hesitates and can't shoot Kahlan is such a smaller but crazy important moment for her. So the smaller cap is violent motion whereas the top cap is this serene moment of hesitation that I think epitomizes that struggle. 2. Inspired by the words angst and heart (because I loved the use of prophecies in LotS and the biggest one for Kahlan was: as long as the Mother Confessor's pure heart beats, the Keeper is doomed to fail), and I loved the forced betrayal of Kahlan. That raw, rage driven confessed!Kahlan in the Con Dar was so far removed from the Kahlan we know (and even the dual version we met in Torn) and I love the contrast between that and normal Kahlan's rather controlled despair at killing Richard who is, essentially, her heart (again as we see in Torn). And of course this event (con dar!Kahlan killing Richard) is the catalyst that brought about the (second) Stone of Tears. So I wanted to sort of...epitomize those emotions and also (in terms of the set) epitomize that important plot line, I guess. 3. Nicci dies. Power hungry people die in Legend of the Seeker (and are then most likely brought back but that is so beside the point). Inspired by the word death again. 4. I think Richard being blindly led was such a great testament to a true hero's constant battle. It was brought up and foreshadowed in Creator (dumb clip show but important message, I think): how much of what a hero does is actually for the greater good? Why is their constant blood shed and killing labelled as good or right? How fine is that line? And then you have this guy, this Seeker of Truth and Justice (all capitals here) who rescues a child (good deed alert!), but is blind (literally and metaphorically) to the evil that's leading him by the hand. He has so much faith in this kid's innocence, in what he's saved, and he's just...wrong. He's doing the wrong thing, and he doesn't even know. And so, yeah, I wanted to icon that blindness which is...easy since they went for a literal interpretation as well. Go them. And you've got that...typical head up, doing the right thing hero pose (fun, heavenly-esque light included) plus the true horror blended in underneath. 5. DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS ONE?
The Five From Community
I don't really quite know where I was going with this set here. I know I started with, I guess, stereotypes that Community mocks, bright colors, and yellow. And it sort of evolved from there. Thus I do not have an individual explanation for each one. They just sort of happened. I know I had phrases! Little Annie Adderall, Troy the Wonderboy, Jeff the Cool Guy, and Britta the Love Interest. So the icons of Annie and Troy are bright, a little on the radio active side, and chaotic because they are trying so hard to step out of those high school roles and failing. And then you have Britta looking pretty and coy and shy like the perfect love interest (that she actually isn't). Jeff's...questioning his coolness hence the question mark, and he's confused because he believes in his cool guy label. And then some Duncan thrown in for fun, and I went for a fun, richly colored vibe because Duncan thinks he's cool but he isn't. DON'T ASK ME. I DON'T KNOW. Also, clearly, all from the Pilot episode which I love.
And Five More Xena...
After Legend of the Seeker, I was having fun with dualities and conflicts and opposites and whatever. So we've got 1. Ares' battle with mortality versus immortality (take one), but you kind of have to know the episode to understand why this shows that at all. (Texture) 2. The Bitter Suite's main plot line aka healing the rift (sort of). So you've got Xena and Gabrielle with all their bitter feelings and hate with the endgame of love. Personally the top half's better. Ha! (Reunite) 3. Seeds of Faith and that sort of complex grief that both Xena and Gabrielle experience with all these overlapping and confusing events that are set into motion because of his death as well. And, fyi, the scene is actually shot this way with the shots bleeding into and layering on top of one another. So the only editing by me in terms of blending is done to the bottom half. I was just mimicking. (Death, Aftermath) 4. Ahhh this scene is such a bitch to color, but, um, Ares finally tells Xena that he loves her to her face. And, ugh, this scene. It's awful because he's using this AS A DISTRACTION. So true to form, but you sort of hate his timing just a little bit. Where was I going with this? Oh right! So basically this is his half of their relationship from God Fearing Child onwards. 5. Xena's constant battle between being evil and giving into love. This is a pretty difficult task for her in the first three season especially in The Bitter Suite because that's right after Maternal Instincts which was the final straw in terms of the Rift and breaking her and Gabrielle apart. So, playing on #2, you have Xena planning to take revenge on Gabrielle versus her at the end of the episode looking at Gabrielle with a loving expression. And...color wise, love and goodness, for Xena, are actually warmer colors whereas hatred tends to be icy for her. Hence setting the scene where she plots revenge on the top of a snowy mountain. (Just as an interesting side note: Ares tends to be the opposite. His love is depicted in icy colors. See: confession of love is Hades, in the rain, and Xena's burial tomb being made out of ice, etc.)
OH MY GOD THAT WAS LONG. NO ONE NEEDS TO READ ALL OF THAT.
If you do though and you are familiar with the fandom (or not), feel free to ~discuss~ in the comments. That's always fun. :D