Banners for my stories

[MMADfan]

I've made a couple banners for my stories -- the banner for "Resolving a Misunderstanding" has also appeared in my sig, so you've probably seen it before. ;D
I'm not particularly talented at these sorts of things, but I had fun, and it's nice that the stories now have banners.

"An Act of Love" is in Lemons, so it's adults-only, but it's a story in response to a challenge over at Potter Place.

Here's my "RaM" banner.

[mmadlyinlove]

Meh likeh! ~mmadlyinlove~

[laundry basket]

Both are gorgeous ;D I especially love the picture of Min in the RaM one. You said it was Katharine Hepburn somewhere. Nice. And the one for "An Act of Love" is awesome. I like the color and the fading around the pictures. Good job

[MMADfan]

Here's a large version of the AAoL banner:

For obvious reasons, I'm using the small version in the story!

[MMADfan]

There's another banner at the end of the most recent chapter of Resolving a Misunderstanding, LXXIV: "The Lovely Couple," which is kind of a blend of the other two banners and features a third character from the story. I don't like the way the title came out on it, but don't want to fiddle with it anymore!

Anyway, here it is in large format:

The version in the chappie is smaller. (That link brings you to the part of the chapter that contains the banner; the chapter actually begins in a previous post.)

[laundry basket]

Ack! The one for "The Lovely Couple" is gorgeous! Min looks really pretty (Katharine Hepburn again?). Albus's picture is good too, and Quin looks somewhat familiar... for some reason I'm reminded of some sitcom star, I just can't remember who! (watch him be like, some obscure flute-playing genius or something, and me being totally off, lol!). Very nice banner! Well, I'm off to read the chappie!

[MMADfan]

thelaundrybasket said:

Ack! The one for "The Lovely Couple" is gorgeous! Min looks really pretty (Katharine Hepburn again?). Albus's picture is good too, and Quin looks somewhat familiar... for some reason I'm reminded of some sitcom star, I just can't remember who! (watch him be like, some obscure flute-playing genius or something, and me being totally off, lol!). Very nice banner! Well, I'm off to read the chappie!

Glad you like it! The reason Quin looks familiar is . . . he is a very well-known Irish actor. I (obviously) played with the photo a bit, so I'm not surprised you don't recognize him immediately. Should I let you guess? Yeah, I will. ;D
And, yup, Katharine Hepburn again. Found some pics that really lent themselves to the story . . .

[laundry basket]

Er, this will be a tad difficult as I'm in America and haven't got a clue about Irish people, but I'll give it my best shot, eh? Umm... a leperchaun?
No?
John... John Smith?
No?
I've got it!
Henry VIII! (or is it IIIV? I can never remember)
LOL!

[MMADfan]

thelaundrybasket said:

Er, this will be a tad difficult as I'm in America and haven't got a clue about Irish people, but I'll give it my best shot, eh? Umm... a leperchaun?
No?
John... John Smith?
No?
I've got it!
Henry VIII! (or is it IIIV? I can never remember)
LOL!

Umm, I'm in America, I'm in my mid-forties, and I've been drooling over him since I was about twenty. (Well, maybe I haven't exactly drooled in a while . . .) He's very famous. Actually, there are lots of Irish actors who are well-known in the States, now that I come to think about it, so maybe that wasn't a precise enough clue. He's pretty much always a leading man, his first wife died of cancer, and he was devoted to her throughout her illness, he's since remarried, you've probably seen at least one of his films. . . . Can't think of any other clues that wouldn't give it away. Except he looks great whether he's scruffy or he's wearing black tie. That help at all?

[Catwoman99]

*Raises hand in a Hermione imitation* I know! It's Pierce Brosnan, isn't it? How did you doctor it? He's a very good looking man, in any case.

I like the banners. One day I found myself at www.harrypotterfanfiction.com and I noticed that some stories there had banners. I thought that was a neat idea and was going to ask about it here, but got sucked into other things. Makes me want to make some myself.

[MMADfan]

catwoman99 said:

*Raises hand in a Hermione imitation* I know! It's Pierce Brosnan, isn't it? How did you doctor it? He's a very good looking man, in any case.

I like the banners. One day I found myself at www.harrypotterfanfiction.com and I noticed that some stories there had banners. I thought that was a neat idea and was going to ask about it here, but got sucked into other things. Makes me want to make some myself.

I'm glad you liked them.

You're right -- Pierce Brosnan it is! You get a big virtual tin of ginger newts! I use PaintShopPro (Photoshop is too pricey for me!) and I used various filters and effects, did quite a bit of smudging and softening of the background, then worked on the shadowing and lighting around the nose to make it appear slightly stronger. And (obviously) I "colorized" it as I did the others. And I thought he made a near-perfect "Quin," since I picture him rather like that. I haven't been able to find a "Gertie" yet . . . I'd make a banner with her on it, too, if I could just get the right person and the right picture of her.

I unfortunately can't use the banners over on Lumos, since SH has a prohibition against photomanipulations -- everything has to be original artwork or just "letters." I can't figure out what TPP's policy is, but since at least one of their own banners is a photo of Snape, I don't think they have a prohibition on it.

[laundry basket]

Pierce Brosnan, eh? Never heard of him. Of course, you guys are much older than I am (no offense! )so you'd probably know more. He is nice-looking, by the way. For some strange reason I keep thinking he looks like Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo in "I Love Lucy"), except, you know, he isn't Cuban

[MMADfan]

thelaundrybasket said:

Pierce Brosnan, eh? Never heard of him. Of course, you guys are much older than I am (no offense! )so you'd probably know more. He is nice-looking, by the way. For some strange reason I keep thinking he looks like Desi Arnaz (Ricky Ricardo in "I Love Lucy"), except, you know, he isn't Cuban

Desi Arnez? I thought you said you were young? LOL! Pierce Brosnan -- Bond, James Bond, a.k.a., Agent 007? Also in "The Thomas Crown Affair" (remake), "After the Sunset," "The Tailor of Panama," "Robinson Crusoe," "Dante's Peak," and tons of other movies? I'm sure you've seen him, you just haven't picked up on his name. However, I do like the notion that we know more, so . . . ;D Check him out on imdb. If you see an untouched photo of him, you'll recognise him better. Maybe. Or not!

[StormAngel]

o.0.. nice banners! I love the way you did that 'fade-in' thing around the photos.

[MMADfan]

stormangel said:

o.0.. nice banners! I love the way you did that 'fade-in' thing around the photos.

Thank you! Before I colorized, I tried to match the colors, then I smudged, pushed, and softened to blend. I only have a somewhat older version of PaintShopPro (7), but it works for me, especially considering how infrequently I use it and what I use it for. ;D

I usually make the banners in a large size in order to make them easier to work on, then I resize them for use -- it makes them better on the page, size-wise, but shrinking them also makes some of the imperfections fade away! *grin* Occasionally, though, as with the second "Resolving a Misunderstanding" banner (the one with Quin), shrinking it makes something worse -- I'm not pleased with the legibility of the title on that one once it's shrunk.

I noticed that a lot of people on the board use GiMP (sp?) -- what's that like? is it system-specific (like, Mac folks use it)?

[Catwoman99]

mmadfan said:

I noticed that a lot of people on the board use GiMP (sp?) -- what's that like? is it system-specific (like, Mac folks use it)?

No, I believe there are Windows and Mac versions. I use it and I have Windows XP. I didn't have Photoshop, nor did I really want to purchase it, so I tried GIMP, since it's free. I think it does a lot of similar things to Photoshop, but I have no basis for comparison.

[MinervaMcGonagall]

I love the banners. Good job.

[MinnyCat]

those are so good. How do you make them?

[MMADfan]

sonrisa895 said:

those are so good. How do you make them?

I use PaintShopPro -- an old version -- 7, I think. I just do each of the individual pictures separately (the colors and other effects), then put them on the background, and push, smudge, and soften to blend the edges, then I put in the text after that. I had fun with it. I think "An Act of Love" turned out the best, in retrospect.

[MMADfan]

Since all of my stories now have banners, I thought I would post them all here.

All stories can be found in their entirety on The Petulant Poetess -- this link leads to the page with all of my stories listed. (Many of the stories are also on ffnet if they are content-appropriate for that archive; I believe all of them are also here on the ADMM board, but any stories with lemony content have been edited on the board, with the lemons appearing only in the Lemons forum, whereas they are posted completely in unexpurgated versions on TPP.)

"Budding Charms" can be found in the "Somewhat-ADMM-Related" forum on this board, or in the "Fluff" forum on Charming Roots. The zesty portion is found in the "Lemons" section on each board.
(PG-rated, except for the lemon.)




"Circadian Rhythm," a set of drabbles, can be found in the "Somewhat-ADMM-Related" portion of the board (some of the drabbles are ADMM, however), and the lemony ones are in the "Lemons" section.
(PG-rated, except for the lemons.)




"Falling for Pomona" is in the "Somewhat-ADMM-Related" portion of the board, and also in the "Humor" section of Charming Roots.
(One-shot; G-rated, humorous.)




"Impressing Filius" is in the "Somewhat-ADMM-Related" portion of the board, and also in the "Humor" section of Charming Roots.
(One-shot companion to "Falling for Pomona"; G-rated, humorous.)




"Heat" is in the Lemons section of this board -- not ADMM, but still zesty!
(NC-17-rated.)




"Lemon Drabbles" is in the Lemons section of this board.
(R to NC-17-rated.)






RaM is in the Romance section of this board.
(PG-rated.)




AAoL is an ADMM fic posted in the Lemons section of this board.
Happy ADMM ending and LOTS of ADMM lemons, especially in the last few chapters.
(NC-17 rated.)

[Merriam]

I love them all.... :-)
But speaking of RaM...WHERE is your update?!
Sorry. I'm just a crazed fan suffering from fanfic withdrawal. Have mercy! (Mercy=update).

Meri

P.S. And it better be a long update, too.

[MMADfan]

merriam said:

I love them all.... :-)
But speaking of RaM...WHERE is your update?!
Sorry. I'm just a crazed fan suffering from fanfic withdrawal. Have mercy! (Mercy=update).

Meri

P.S. And it better be a long update, too.

If you want a long update, you will have to be more patient. I've been sort of unwell the last few days, so haven't written much. I had considered posting the first part of the next chapter, even though the entire chapter isn't finished yet, just to stave off the starvation and withdrawal, since the section is sort of self-contained, and then posting the rest of the chapter later in the week, but since it's only going to be about 4,000 to 5,000 words long as it is (a "normal" chapter, as opposed to a "long chapter"), it's probably best that I wait. It will probably just be frustrating to get a tidbit and wonder what happens next!

I'm glad you like the banners! If you're suffering RaM withdrawal, and you haven't read some of these stories, you could try them out. Some of them are set in the RaM/AAoL universe. "Heat" is not in the AAoL universe, that's for darn sure! It's very zesty, though.

"Falling for Pomona" and "Impressing Filius" are, more-or-less/kind of/conceivably, in the same universe as RaM/AAoL. Some of the Lemon Drabbles are, some aren't. "Presence" in "Circadian Rhythm" is set in the RaM universe. (That's in "Nights.") AAoL obviously is.

Anyway, try reading some of the other great fics on the board. Or check out my C2 on ffnet. I'm very glad you are enjoying RaM, though! It's always nice to know people are looking forward to an update.

[Merriam]

Yep, will do! I'll have to check some of these stories out.

Get well soon! I didn't mean to pressure you or anything (well, maybe I did, just a little). :-)

Meri

[MMADfan]

I've made another banner for my most recent story, "Obliging Minerva." It's set in 1957, and is RaM-compliant, so I've again used Kate Hepburn for young Minerva.

The story is a lemon one-shot, so the link (clicking on the banner) goes to the lemons forum.

[esoterica1693]

I'm curious how you and others envision Not-Quite-As-Old Albus. <g> Can you imagine any image other than the RH ones working? Granted that by 1957 he's well over 100, but he's still 35 yrs younger than he is when the books open. And in RAM when Minerva first knows him in 1943 he strikes one as being middle-aged, not old. I would imagine Vold War I aged him a lot, so would be intrigued to see how folks imagine him looking in the late 1940s and 1950s, with the wizarding world at peace, muggle society calm, etc.

[MMADfan]

esoterica1693 said:

I'm curious how you and others envision Not-Quite-As-Old Albus. <g> Can you imagine any image other than the RH ones working? Granted that by 1957 he's well over 100, but he's still 35 yrs younger than he is when the books open. And in RAM when Minerva first knows him in 1943 he strikes one as being middle-aged, not old. I would imagine Vold War I aged him a lot, so would be intrigued to see how folks imagine him looking in the late 1940s and 1950s, with the wizarding world at peace, muggle society calm, etc.

I can't imagine any others working unless I could draw -- mainly because of the hair and beard. Besides, I see the biggest difference being the colour of his hair. As I describe him in RaM, I see him in the late 50s as being grey with increasing amounts of white, whereas in the early 40s, I see him as being grey with a lot of auburn left (or auburn with some grey!), more so in his hair than in his beard. I don't see his face as having changed much between the late thirties when Minerva first meets him and the late fifties, when most of RaM is set. I think that by sometime in the 70s, he'll be all or mostly white-haired, though. I think the biggest difference between the way a Muggle would age and the way he (or another similar wizard) does is in his energy and his overall physical fitness, muscle tone, and so forth.

BTW, I've always thought that Maggie Smith, much as I enjoy her portrayal of Minerva and think she has the characterisation spot on, looks too old -- I would think that she would look as described in the books, with black hair still at the beginning of HP, perhaps looking more like someone in her 40s or 50s than someone who looks like a poorly aged 70-something skin-wise, anyway (maybe my family has good genes or something, or maybe MS smoked, but she sure wrinkled heavily, much more so than anyone in my family even into their 80s). But I still think she makes a good Minerva.

[esoterica1693]

BTW, these comments are not meant as a criticism of your banners! They're just kind of free-associating from them.

I've just always wondered how folks imagined Younger!Albus. I am a total sucker for intense blue eyes--I become absolute putty--though my personal taste runs toward matching them w/ dark hair rather than auburn. But mebbe I just haven't yet met the right ginger-haired chap.

There are lots of fanart *drawings* of Albus as a young man now that a certain Pairing Which Shall Not Be Named has gained fame, but I haven't agreed w/ any of the photo likenesses folks have chosen. Plus those pics are showing him at 18, not 108. <g>

I have found some pics of a younger RH, with an auburn beard, even (when he played the title character in "Äbraham" and on an album cover) but you're right--the long beard issue is major. No one wears a beard that long in real life, alas. <g>
ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BY4HGZQ9L._SS500_.jpg

eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=350443

and here is a really scary one:
www.bubblegum-machine.com/images/harris.jpg


I can imagine AD looking like this
einsiders.com/features/images/rharris.jpg
at some point in his life, but again the beard length is wrong. I am not talented enough w/ graphics programs to alter it, alas.

[Herzele]

I agree ... I think it's very difficult to picture any other actor as a young Albus, simply because of the beard and the hair ...

mmadfan said:

BTW, I've always thought that Maggie Smith, much as I enjoy her portrayal of Minerva and think she has the characterisation spot on, looks too old -- I would think that she would look as described in the books, with black hair still at the beginning of HP, perhaps looking more like someone in her 40s or 50s than someone who looks like a poorly aged 70-something skin-wise, anyway (maybe my family has good genes or something, or maybe MS smoked, but she sure wrinkled heavily, much more so than anyone in my family even into their 80s). But I still think she makes a good Minerva.

Yes, she smokes (or at least she used to, I don't know about now ...). And I think quite a lot, too ...

[MMADfan]

esoterica1693 said:

BTW, these comments are not meant as a criticism of your banners! They're just kind of free-associating from them.

I've just always wondered how folks imagined Younger!Albus. I am a total sucker for intense blue eyes--I become absolute putty--though my personal taste runs toward matching them w/ dark hair rather than auburn. But mebbe I just haven't yet met the right ginger-haired chap.

There are lots of fanart *drawings* of Albus as a young man now that a certain Pairing Which Shall Not Be Named has gained fame, but I haven't agreed w/ any of the photo likenesses folks have chosen. Plus those pics are showing him at 18, not 108. <g>

I have found some pics of a younger RH, with an auburn beard, even (when he played the title character in "Äbraham" and on an album cover) but you're right--the long beard issue is major. No one wears a beard that long in real life, alas. <g>
ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BY4HGZQ9L._SS500_.jpg

eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=350443

and here is a really scary one:
www.bubblegum-machine.com/images/harris.jpg


I can imagine AD looking like this
einsiders.com/features/images/rharris.jpg
at some point in his life, but again the beard length is wrong. I am not talented enough w/ graphics programs to alter it, alas.

Auburn being darker than most "gingers", you might just need to run into the right one, haha! But why do you think I have Quin have dark hair and blue eyes and have pictured him as a Brosnan-type right from the start! LOL! Gotta love that combo . . .

I searched high and low for another picture of RH that would be somewhat right for younger Albus when I first did the RaM banners, and happened upon a few of the ones you found, but none of them was quite right -- close, but no cigar. So I decided to just deal with the somewhat too white (well, too white) hair and beard and stick with the ones we had from the HP films. When I was reading the HP books before the films came out, I always pictured a Hepburn-type, so that was an easy choice, especially since I couldn't find any young MS pics that looked at all right. I am most pleased with the results in the RaM banners, and I'm not as happy with the "Obliging Minerva" banner, but I didn't want to fuss with it too much since I wasn't in the mood to play with graphics. I think that the AAoL banner is my favorite of the ones that have pictures of the characters on them. Of the others, I like the ones for my FFPS one-shots for their simplicity and the colors, and I think I like the Circadian Rhythm one the best of all the ones that don't have character images on them. (I've already done one for the AAoL sequel, and I'm pleased with that one, too, but I'm not posting it until I begin posting the sequel.)

I don't generally like a lot of fanart drawings, at least not for my purposes, because they tend to be cartoony. Also, having artists in my family has spoiled me. I can't draw worth a darn, but I'm very fussy in my taste. I also imagine that a lot of the drawings you refer to are of a very young Albus, and Minerva's parents weren't even born then, so they'd be way too young for the time period I'm covering. Especially since RaM is also using the original AD birthdate.