A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a short-lived affair with re-runs of the cartoon, "Static Shock". It was your average mid-'90s kid superhero affair, but I was immediately drawn in by the complexity of the characters and even wrote some 'fic: That Way is my attempt at Richie-loves-Virgil, without going AU and involving meddling Christmas spirit OCs or extraneous bang-babies that take up way too much screen time; and Pierced is my expounding on Richie wearing an earring from the beginning of season two on.

(Tangential: As "Static" comic/slash fans will proudly natter about at the mention, the creator of the series made an official statement that Richie is, in fact, gay, which sort of canonized Virgil/Richie slash, even if it's never explored in the cartoon. It definitely made me a bit smug to know that it wasn't just slash goggles I was wearing, but an angle that the creators of the character had considered and approved of themselves. Anywho.)

The other day, I was directed towards a couple pieces of fanart for - gasp! - my story "That Way". In the first one, Richie angsts over how awkward things are between he and Virgil, once he's come out. In the second, simply titled Laundry Day, Virgil's sister, Sharon gets an eyeful when she begrudgingly delivers to Virgil his clean socks. Both pieces are absolutely adorable; also, it is really, really flattering to have someone think highly enough of something I've written to draw art for it. Thanks, Cherrie-Keane!

(Tangential the Second: Around the same time I got into "Static", I was also really fascinated by the character Mark Cohen from "RENT". Only recently, the wife and I were lucky enough to score tickets to a second whirlwind tour of "RENT" in Des Moines, with Anthony Rapp reprising his role as Mark. It was a treat, and had me thinking a lot about Richie again, and then, well, someone draws me fanart for a story written in 2006 that I'd all but forgotten about. I love how stuff works out like that sometimes.)