![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
You see, I have these personal "Rules" (okay, guidelines or, at least, preferences) for [non-default] icons:
1) I prefer to use icons I make for myself -- unless I find one that satisfies my other preferences and is also so beautiful, I can't resist snagging it (but only with permission, of course).
2) They should illustrate the dominant sentiment of the specific post to which they are attached.
3) It should be a sentiment that at least has the potential to be a relatively frequent recurring theme -- "one offs" aren't worth the time it takes to make one.
4) If I use an icon image celebrating a fandom, I prefer it to be a fandom I actually belong to. No matter how clever, funny, or beautiful an icon is, I won't snag a "Game of Thrones" or "Walking Dead" icon, for example ... But -- if I see a whole bunch of beautiful icons from a particular show, on a bunch of different friends' journals, I'll take those as recommendations to at least check a show out.
And finally -- and most important (in my mind):
5) The sentiment expressed in a fandom icon should be consistent with the sentiment expressed in the moment used to illustrate it. For example: screen-capping a character in a sad or angry moment, and sticking a silly or absurdist caption on it (or vice-versa) just strikes me as wrong.
So: each "Doctor Who" icon in my collection represents a moment where I've thought: "This show is expressing a truth about myself, and/or the world, and/or my relationship to the world, that I wish to share with others."
In the past (in the "Naughties", before the reboot) I had several different "Doctor Who" icons -- all inspired by the "Classic" era. This is the first time I've been moved to make a bunch of icons from the current season -- because this current season has moved me with its many small moments of emotional truth.
This latest icon was inspired by a string of disappointments and I was feeling down, and I really want to be distracted by talking about squeeful things, so:
"Can I talk about the planets, now?" (or maybe how we landed a probe on a freaking comet?).