Resisting Everything but Temptation

Day 13 - Rec at least three fanworks.

I'd really like to get back to regular recs, and this day's challenge helped, as I just went down the rabbit hole of my Pinboard links for several hours. I went from almost 500 untagged links down to 159 108, so, progress? Still a lot to read, though. But here, have some recs!

Become You by frayadjacent
Fandom: Xena: Warrior Princess
Type: music vid
Artist: the Indigo Girls

What I love about it: What don't I love about this vid? On a purely aesthetic level, I'm in awe of how confidently rhythmic it is, and how the vidder makes the most of a 4:3 source, using the juxtaposition of camera angles, framing, and flawless timing of internal action together with all the beautiful color palettes of the show (and the instrumentation of the song) to make a coherent whole out of episodes that were quite visually dissimilar. But more than that, the structural clarity takes my breath away, and fuses the many possible meanings of the song into a coherent and rich story of the three most important f/f relationships in Xena's history. I've never before seen or read a fanwork that weaves these three stories together so powerfully, and I can't imagine one that could. It makes me want to watch the whole show over again, yesterday.

Wake Up Next to You by maichan-art
Fandom: Supernatural
Type: art
Pairing: Sam/Dean

What I love about it: I think this is my very favorite of this wonderful artist's Supernatural pieces. While I particularly love the highlights on Sam's neck and shoulder and Dean's cheekbone contrasted with the soft shadows on Dean's face, it's the expression on Dean's face that does me in. Rendered with such tender skill and understated detail (the freckles! The uneven spiky eyelashes!), a wonderful and convincing likeness (so difficult!), and most of all, the beautiful expression of that quirking left eyebrow together with the relaxed evenness of his features. I could stare at him like this, so vulnerable and loved and knowing it, all freaking day.

A Failure of Gravity by ameliacareful
Fandom: Supernatural
Type: fic
Pairing: Gen

What I love about it: This is a S11 hiatus fic, and it worked for me in a way that few others have. I discovered this author thanks to a recent rec on spn_littlebro, and while I also loved the longer story they recced, this one really hit me hard. It plays on the theme of "only one of us is allowed to fall apart at a time." The dialogue is great, and one thing I particularly enjoy about this author's works is that both brothers are rendered with equal care and sympathy. I'm a Sam girl and always will be, but I love me some Dean, and there's not much I love better than a Sam-sympathetic author who also does right by Dean. This story also hits just the right balance of bleak and hopeful—a perfect mix for hiatus fic.

The Beginning of Always by hafital
Fandom: Highlander
Type: fic
Pairing: Duncan/Methos

What I love about it: Where do I begin? It's no secret to anyone that hafital hung the moon as far as I'm concerned—yet after all these years, she continues to astonish me with her gorgeous, emotional writing. This is probably my favorite perfect storm of tropes (amnesia! last chances! I thought you were dead! friendship turns to passion! trust issues!) with an added found family dynamic and subtlety of character exploration that makes it an all-time favorite. This story brings all the joy and pure pleasure of reading fanfiction by someone who knows the characters inside and out, and who strikes the perfect balance between heartfelt emotion and quirky, thorny relationships that must be handled and teased out with care.

So, something came up the other day that got me thinking about something I haven't really thought about before: expanding the K/S Archive (and possibly also the Highlander archive) to include art. It's sad that I haven't thought about this before. Fan art is a huge part of K/S fandom, and I adore looking at it, even though I can't afford to collect it. I've even done some, so I'm not sure why the absence of a good automated archive for artists never really registered for me.

I've just started poking around looking for good fan art archives, and thinking about how such an archive might work. I already pay for a good bit of storage space at slashcity that I'm not using, and adding more probably wouldn't be a huge expense.

There will probably be a poll or two around these parts in the near future, but in the meantime, I would love to get some input. Here's what I would think would be basic requirements:

The ability to:
- Create an account as an artist so that all your work could be found in one place
- Enter text captions or descriptions for a piece of art
- Enter other info such as zine and date of publication if applicable
- See thumbnails of the art before clicking on them
- View a larger version of the art without a lot of other visual distractions in the browser
- Leave feedback on each piece of art
- Save favorites
- View new uploads
- Be notified if your favorite artists update

Also:
- Security to prevent upload of corrupted/infected files
- Moderation and reporting features similar to eFiction

Possibly:
- Categories such as hand-drawn, computer generated, paintings, collage, other, etc.
- Further categories for icons, banners, wallpapers, and other shareable art
- Links to stories if the art has an accompanying story in the archive or elsewhere online

I did some quick surfing around, and didn't find any awesome fan art archives that I would use as a model, but there are probably one or two out there. Anyone have any recommendations? What am I forgetting? Are you interested in something like this existing? Do you think it would be useful in Highlander fandom, too? Thoughts, ideas?

ETA: I did look at fanart-central.net, and it might be the closest, but I don't like that it has ads and the categories are not obvious. I do like the grid with the thumbnails, though. And deviantArt obviously, as that's what I think I've seen most fan artists using, but I think that's the kind of place you only go to as a viewer if you know what you're looking for?