divided by blue

Three weeks for Dreamwidth: Name five characters from five different fandoms that you like

Seven of Nine (Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Voyager)

An intriguing character who joined Star Trek: Voyager mid-show. She’s a rescued Borg, whose journey to individuality continues throughout the remaining Star Trek: Voyager seasons. She’s reintroduced in Star Trek: Picard, where you find out what happened to her after Voyager came home. She’s strong, extremely intelligent, and charismatic. I loved her journey in Voyager and the backstory they gave her in Picard. I wish they did some more with her in that series, however, though I like how they ended the series for her.

Morrigan (Dragon Age: Origins)

The 'witch of the wild’, as she is called. She’s beautiful, powerful, and lovely sarcastic towards her companions throughout the whole story. I loved her character so much while playing the game. I know she’s also featured in other Dragon Age titles, but I haven’t come across her yet. I’ve only completed Dragon Age: Origins, and played just a part of DA2.

Sara Lance (Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow)

She almost drowned when a yacht she was on sank, but was picked up by members of the League of Assassins to become one of them. She cheated death several times, and had a great story arc in Arrow, and also -partly, in my opinion - in Legends of Tomorrow. I say partly because a lot of her character is left unexplored in the later seasons and they made a weird decision in season six that I really hated ( Spoiler )

Alti (Xena: Warrior Princess)

I wanted to include a character from Xena that was not one of the leading ladies and I was hesitating between Callisto and Alti. Both are great villains, Callisto’s psychology and past are better explained than Alti’s, but in the end I choose Alti because I just loved the character when I was young and watched the series for the first time. Alti is an evil shaman: alluring, ruthless, power-driven, and wants to pull Xena to the dark side. But she’s also very charismatic, thanks to the wonderful interpretation by Claire Stansfield. I loved every scene with her in it.

Éowyn (The Lord of the Rings)

One of the few powerful female characters in the Lord of the Rings saga. She wants to escape the life she has, but finds herself blocked from possibilities again and again, till she dresses up as a soldier and takes matters into her own hands and goes away to fight the war. She also suffers from her unrequited love for Aragorn, which is a sad part of her story. I read the books, and in that, she was described as someone who grew older with life passing her by, and was surrounded by an air of sadness. Though her story ends more happily in the books.

Three weeks for Dreamwidth: Have you written anything, fandom-related or original?

I don’t consider myself a writer, but I wrote a few things. Concerning original work, I wrote some five short comic stories in my native language, Dutch, which I drew too. The shortest was four pages, and the longest, I think, was something like 30 pages. I often have ideas for short stories (mostly things that would work in a comic), and sometimes write short things down that come to mind. Some are ideas, others are just some sentences that I like the sound of, or the image they create in my mind. A few weeks ago, I wrote the text for two other short comics I could make in the future (a one-page and a two-page one).

Concerning fandom writing, when I was about 20 years old, I wanted to write a Xena fanfiction story—general fiction, not romance, because I didn’t consider myself able to write that then. I started writing it in Dutch and quickly realized that I would have no use for it, as most fanwork is in English, and I didn’t feel comfortable writing it in English. I stopped writing the story, and it’s still stored somewhere on my computer, unfinished.

A few years ago, however, I decided to try to write a fanfiction story in English. I had just finished watching Star Trek: Voyager, and knew that Janeway/Seven of Nine was a popular subtext ship way back when the show aired. I had an idea for a tiny story taking place at the end of the show, mixed in with some details present in the Star Trek: Voyager book 'Full Circle’, which I was reading at the time. I posted it on AO3. For anyone interested, it can be read HERE. Please be aware that I couldn’t find a beta-reader for it, and with English not being my first language, there will be grammar errors in it. I started another story after that, a Legends of Tomorrow fanfiction, of which I’ve currently written 2/7 chapters.

I must say that, as far as writing is concerned, be it original (comic) stories or fan stories, it is something that I need to explore more to feel comfortable with it. When I write something like fanfiction, I write very slowly. The (short) comics also always take more time than I expect them to (the drawing as well as the writing). It sometimes makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. I need to explore a bit how to plan it correctly. I also need to explore what I can do with the short comics I made. One of them, a 15 page story I wrote back in college for an assignment, was planned to have 30 pages but I decided to split it in two ‘cause the assignment was just for a 15 page comic, and only make the first part. I still want to make the second part for that, too.

Three weeks for Dreamwidth: Do you draw original art, fan art, or both?

I draw both. I go through periods where I mostly draw original art (pen drawings and acrylic paintings), but for the past few months, I’ve mostly made fan art. These are pencil drawings of my current favorite lesbian ship, Mafin (Sueños De Libertad).

In many ways, this fan art has had a positive effect on my artistic practice as a whole. I felt that I didn’t feel much connection anymore with my original art, and making fan drawings of a couple I love so much has helped me reconnect with my artistic work. It also let me explore a medium (pencil drawings) that I’ve abandoned since my youth and rediscover it again.

I’ve been thinking of expanding it and maybe starting to make acrylic fan art paintings. I want to explore mediums in fan art that I usually only use for original art, but now try to use them in another way. This should be a fun experience.

I can safely say that I learned English by reading fanfiction. Xena fanfiction, back when the internet was young. Now, in the mid 2020’s, I find myself at a similar crossroad.

For a long time, I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish. But it wasn’t untill about a year ago now, in which I’m watching a Spanish telenovela with a sapphic couple, that I feel the same motivation I felt back in the day to learn a new language. About a year ago, I decided I wanted to be able to read Spanish fanfiction stories, so I set out to learn Spanish. Some daily Duolingo studying combined with a few other apps later, I can say that I’m now at a point where, with looking up words, I can read Spanish fanfiction. This is amazing.

It is amazing that fandom can have this impact and motivate you to learn a new language. I’m still on my language journey with Spanish. Though I understand it somewhat, I’m far from speaking the language. But the love for the language is something I owe to fandom and my love for sapphic ships. I’m excited to continue on this language journey.

Hi everyone, I’m Dawn (she/her), a queer artist and geek. On my page, you will find mostly personal musings about fandom, artistic things, sapphic stuff and books/fanfiction.

Regarding fandom, I’m currently mainly interested in Star Trek, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. I’m also a lifelong Xena fan. I love sapphic ships. The main one I’m currently watching is Mafin from Sueños De Libertad

Though I’m mainly interested in art, fandom and reading, I'm occasionally also into video & board games

The name of my page is a reference to Mark Rothko's painting Blue Divided By Blue.

Links to my art websites are in my profile.

If you enjoy my posts, please feel free to connect or leave a comment!