Oops. I did this meme without realizing quite how self-explanatory my icons are, which makes it more boring. But that won't be true of those who reply.

Taken from dagas_isa:

Comment with the word "ICONS" and I'll select six of yours for you to talk about in your journal.


"Butterflies!" When I started my fandom LJ, I  needed a happy icon, but neither Lulu nor Auron ever look happy. I saw this painting floating around, and after much hunting tracked it down. Problem: the website was all in Japanese except for a teensy caption saying "I  do not understand English"  and "Do not take without permission." So I emailed a screencap of my userpics page with this icon superimposed above it, circled in red with an arrow pointing to a gap between two icons and the question, "Permission?" I  repeated the request in the body of the message in Japanese by translating it into Japanese using Apple's dashboard translator, then translating the result back into English using 3 different translators. I figured if all 3 made sense, the Japanese probably wasn't too badly mangled.

The artist wrote back: "YES". Alas, I see that website has disappeared. The full painting is posted here, but there were many other good fanarts, so I'm guessing that's not the real artist's page.


Meet Samhain the Cat. Of course, she has her own shrine, because she is a goddess.


Chapter 9 of Love Her and Despair took place during a blitzball tournament, and I was having too much fun spoofing the atmosphere at the baseball games I attend at the stadium. I don't know about other sports, but baseball has these stupid free bobblehead giveaway nights that draw sellout crowds (at least for the Dodgers). So...who would they make into a bobblehead in Spira? Oh... of course!




One of my best icons for 100variations. It's how I imagine Auron/Lulu: fleeting, bittersweet, quiet moment of connection between two old souls well-acquainted with loss, stubbornly snatching an instant of life before they say goodbye.

I see Auron as like King Arthur yearning to go to Avalon to rest, making Lulu the psychopomp that befriends him during the journey. After all, spent most of her life learning how to let go of those she loves: her parents, Chappu, Ginnem, and (she thought) Yuna. I've also described my "Resurrection" image of Auron and Lulu as an inverse of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, in which Eurydice accompanies him to the edge of the Lethe, bids farewell, and comes back to live a full life.

A variant of this icon had "Just for now..." on it, a reference to an Imogene Heap song.

 "This IS my happy face!" This was one of my earliest icons, but I  recently redid it now that I understand lighting better. (Foolishly I keep using my laptop with to make icons while watching TV, and I think I'm super-saturating them). 

It was first attempt to portray Lulu as a final aeon, even before I wrote the pre-LHAD drabble that eventually turned into an 80K word saga. I love elemental magic and see her as alternately fiery, icy or thunderbolt-sharp. (Like owlmoose , I find water seems less obvious for Lulu.)

The orignal screencap was Lulu saying, "Don't you think we tried to stop her?"  This expression shows just how thrilled she was about that! Yet I love the fact that Lulu can be protective without being overprotective. She'll support Yuna, even if that means supporting her in a career move Lulu fiercely opposed.