“Operas become Soap Operas. Soap Operas become Space Operas. Space Operas become Operas again. Our tales are first subversive then cliché; clichés are deconstructed then reconstructed. Examine closely even the greats and you’ll find their inspiration. But do not lament so with “Oh! There is nothing new under the sun!”, instead remember this:

Everything has been done, but not by you.”

An icon commission by the talented Amaet. http://amaet.tumblr.com/#_=_

When I was looking at those classic alien designs with their brightly colored skin, antennas, and entrancing beauty; I thought to myself “add wings and pop culture aliens become pop culture fairies”. The retro futurism fashion choice solidifying the aesthetic of the piece.

I’ve decided to consolidate my online presence with a more concise, iconic, enduring, and original username. I didn’t even live up to the moniker Fanblathering, quickly transforming into an art blog (though musing on my own ideas can still get quite long winded). Ah but that quest “who are you?”, surprisingly yet appropriately difficult to answer.

Well a life without imagination would not be one I’d be very inclined to live. I love stories but am oh so bored by ones in our mundane reality, take me far away, as far as you can. So I love speculative fiction, both Science Fiction and Fantasy. I have a particular love when these genres come together in what we call Science Fantasy. While I’m in no way a detractor; dystopias, horrors, tales of the melancholy are not my favorite. Perhaps such yarns can help us appreciate what we have, but life can be hard enough without pastimes also getting you down.

While drama and conflict are absolutely essential in any story worth telling, I prefer worlds I would like to escape to, not form. Thus when I look at Science Fiction, optimism prevails in where technology will take us. Such hope now existing mostly in the chrome plated past of rocket ships and fish bowl helmets. In fondness for worlds quite departed from ours, the popular fantasy derived from Tolkien and D&D is a daily influence; myths and magic, swords and sorcery. To look around and recognize your own reality as a fable.

Therefore it is of no shock that my own tales take place in such worlds such as Retra (the comic you see here and there on my feed). Surprisingly enough, I can’t say a name has really been coined for such an interaction beyond Science Fantasy. Is Star Wars and Warhammer 40k really indistinguishable from Treasure Planet? When Steampunk gets magic it becomes Gas Lamp. When fantasy comes to the modern world its Urban Fantasy. So what do we call it when Tomorrowland meets Narnia? When the Jetsons meet Harry Potter? When Start Trek meets Disk World?

Thus Fae-Ray; of fairies and rayguns. A pun I am quite fond of. And so I’ll sing its praise as the Anthem.