50 Guardian icons, episodes 1-5!

[extrapenguin]

So, the icon battle left me with the urge to make some more icons, but I didn't want to go to the next phase just yet, so I set my own mini-challenge: 10 icons per episode, starting from episode 1! Here are the icons from episodes 1 to 5, 50 in total. I made them roughly in order, and continued going with each episode until I had 10. Some of them are variants of each other, but there are multiple icons of each SID team member, Shen Wei, the Envoy, and some group/team ones, so I hope you can find something sufficiently pretty to stare at! If you want to use one, I'd be super honored; just leave a comment here.

The icons:
1-10 (episode 1)



11-20 (episode 2)



21-30 (episode 3)



31-40 (episode 4)



41-50 (episode 5)



Textures by hiraethe/alwaysbeenasmiler/jyuukoi, wolfbane_icons/jordannamorgan, and tropicalsundae/sparkling_eye.

More specific texture credits:
wolfbane_icons
Sunlace – 01, 02
Autumn Walk – 12, 34
Azteca – 16
Blazing Jasmine – 17
Ajisai – 18
Nevermore – 29
Frozen River – 33
Sunny Forest – 34
Steel Clouds – 34
Floral Fusion – 41
Burning Trees – 42, 45
Lily Pond – 44
Spidersilk – 45, 50
Winter Sky – 47
Haunted Swamp – 48

tropicalsundae
Light Textures Set #4, Light Colors, Vector Textures – 03, 08, 11
Light Textures Set #3 – 04, 46

hiraethe
Persephone – 05, 07, 39
Hades – 06, 23
Champagne Supernova – 10
3 Shades of Opal – 35, 40
Pantheon – 49

Others:
Icon #24 background is simple bucket fill with one of GIMP's own patterns/textures.
Icons #36-38 have the aurora background from this webpage.

(Alternatively, credits under the icon in the image hosting imgur album.)

Should you wish to ask me how I did x icon or y thing in z icon, go ahead! Mini-tutorials will be provided for all interested parties.

Comments

[firestar]

CAKE THIEF! XD So swiping a bunch of these. I love the Envoy in red one. Also the 'hands off my postgrad' and 'catnap' are some more faves. ♥

Also also, the last but one I can't help but hear in a London accent. XD ZYL's a Cockney lad now, sorry. XD

[extrapenguin]

Zhao Yunlan is a hardened cake thief who swiped and ate a cake, given as a gift, in front of its intended recipient! Slapping text onto icons has been surprisingly fun.

Traditional Chinese wedding robes are red, sooo ... one red-robed Envoy coming up for all your AU desires?

[firestar]

*cackles* Indeed.

[jo_lasalle]

Definitely swiping a few of these! The colours/textures are really interesting. I love the ones with Shen Wei's red mouth.

The episode 5 one of Shen Wei walking with the glittering lights cracks me up a bit - it's adorably sparkly! Princess Glitter Shen Wei! (It's pretty!!)

[extrapenguin]

♥ I'm super thrilled that people like my icons!

Shen Wei's red mouth truly is something to behold. The glittery ep 5 one has the textures called "Winter Sky", and this one looks like he's directing the weather, so please imagine Shen Wei singing about the cold never bothering him anyway. :P (He *could* stand to Let It Go in certain respects, surely. Let Zhao Yunlan take him on a vacation!)

[asya_ana]

Cute!!

[extrapenguin]

Thanks! ♥

[riventhorn]

Hands off my postgrad-- lololol :D

I'm also fond of Gao Changchang's \O/ expressions. And yay, a Lin Jing one!

[extrapenguin]

That's what Shen Wei was thinking when he appeared directly in front of the criminal (between him an Li Qian) and was perhaps slightly rougher than necessary. His postgrad who does the magic PowerPoint thing on his behalf, no touch!

There are two Lin Jing ones! (Plus ensemble icons.) One important guiding principle of mine was to get at least one and ideally two icons of every SID member into the set, lest it become something like 50 Shen Wei sadfaces. I also really like iconing the :o and wistful expressions, as they're so easy to fill with wonder and meaning!

[riventhorn]

lol, yes it could easily become all SW sadfaces. Or all ZYL flirting.

[extrapenguin]

Actually, Zhao Yunlan doesn't spend as much screentime flirting in these early episodes! He's more likely to be gesticulating and ribbing with his underlings and solving cases. The flirting moments are there, yes, but he's more likely to be suspecting Shen Wei of something or stealing his cake.

[lynndyre]

Hee! These are cool- I really like 7 and 8, and 42 and 47 are gorgeous, and Zhu Hong looks appropriately ready to mess people up. XD

[extrapenguin]

There's a story behind 6 and 7! The textures are called Hades and Persephone, and then I realized that Zhao Yunlan is a sort of Hades in reverse - he's a creature of the light who brought a creature of the darkness over to straddle the boundary between Dixing and Haixing - so of course I had to use those themed textures! And when I saw the way that one texture cupped the back of the Envoy's head... drool.

With 8, Guo Changcheng's expression was too funny *not* to iconize! He's hilarious. Zhu Hong also had a lot of good expressions that I had to use. Shen Wei, too, and I liked his plainclothes Envoy-ing in 47, and of course just had to take the opportunity to put him in a festive (wedding) color.

[lynndyre]

I love the idea of Zhao Yunlan as a reverse-Hades. Luring Shen Wei to come sit in the sunlight with him ♥

[extrapenguin]

He'd be ridiculously silly and call xiao-Wei "sunshine"! And given Shen Wei's reaction to being let out into the sunlight after that one unfortunate jaunt to Dixing, you can bet he'd plop down on the grass and sun himself in an excellent imitation of a cat while Zhao Yunlan grinned at him like an idiot.

[goodgriefcharlie]

Ooooh these are very shiny! I too love the catnap and professional cake thief ones, but I'm also really drawn in by the blue-purple-green light in #35. So pretty! Snagging those and #3 as well. Thank you!

[extrapenguin]

Yay! ♥ The funny text ones were lots of fun to make. I agree, colors are pretty and we should have lots of them.

[mekare]

Ha wonderful! That red Envoy one gives me ALL the AU feels. Or maybe a fairy tale AU with a masked ball? Who will write this?

I also love the Northern lights one, and #35 has such pretty colours!

Hands off my Postgrad and the sparkly Guo Changcheng amde me laugh.

Also, Chu from episode one looks suitably dramatic with that background. :-)

[extrapenguin]

Red is the traditional color for Chinese weddings, sooo... let you imagination run free. I would not at all be opposed to any fantasy AUs with masquerades!

Dixing has no aurorae, so of course Shen Wei would be all pining eyes when he saw them! (In fact, the text on 38 reads 地星没有北极光 very faintly.) They're such pretty colors.

Nothing quite like a bit of motion blur to make a lao-Chu look suitably dramatic! I'm glad some of them made you laugh as well.

[rheasilvia]

These are beautiful!! I am snagging a bunch. Thank you very much!

I particularly love icon #3, and have admired it when you used it before. Thank you for the opportunity to snag it myself. What does the writing mean, if I might ask?

LOL, Zhao Yunlan the hardened cake thief... and indeed, who you gonna call? ;-) Love the team icons, too, and the concept of 31, though it disturbs me too much to actually use it. Which is a compliment! And heee, Wang Zheng is so stern about popcorn! :-)

[extrapenguin]

Thank you!

The text on this icon is just ＂地星人＂ Dixingren/Dixingian/whatever you want to call it, but I emphasized the middle 星 (which means star) to drive it home that Shen Wei's people come from space and to tie with his starstruck eyes.

I had lots of fun ("fun") with 31, getting everything into place, and I really think that Shen Wei is kind of bad at being himself (vs his masks of Envoy and Professor), so I had to represent that in an icon. And episode 4 had a nice shot of the SID clock to go in the background as halo and warning.

[ranalore]

All of these are spectacular! I adore #4, lao-Chu is my favorite secondary character. Shen Wei's mouth and that drop of sweat just...what was I saying? Though the two following where he seems to be hugging himself make my heart hurt.

Zhao Yunlan has the best facial expressions, I swear. Beautiful icons are going to start me off right in this fandom. Thank you for making them!

[extrapenguin]

#4 came out suitably dramatic! I'm glad Shen Wei and the sweatdrop went down well :D The following two have the background text of "Does it hurt?" and then Shen Wei's answer of "It's nothing" because Shen Wei is nothing if not made for angsty icons.

Zhao Yunlan gesticulates and expresses himself all over the place! (How is a simple fan expected to survive???) I'm glad my icons could get you started in the fandom!

[china_shop]

These are so much fun! I especially love your episode 2 ones (though are 14 and 15 the same? I can't spot the difference).

[extrapenguin]

Hee! 14 and 15 have slightly different text, since I got two conflicting answers on how to ask "Are you hurt?"

[china_shop]

Ha! Proof once again that I Am Not Visual. ;-)

[yantantether]

These are so pretty! I'm snagging #12 because GUH

Ooh, and #5 too

[extrapenguin]

Yay! I'm glad you like them. #12 seems to be very popular.

[no_detective]

snagging 13 because it reminds me of the aesthetic of lola's new vid which ate my brain.

these are gorgeous - thank you!

[extrapenguin]

Thank you! Have fun using them! ♥

[crism79]

Thank you!!! And I really need to find a solution for my icon space shortage problem!!

So many precious shiny icons ^^

[extrapenguin]

I hear that if you give money to Dreamwidth, they will give you more icon slots... :P

[crism79]

*eyes credit card*

[kat_lair]

Pretty, pretty! Have saved a couple and will credit.

[extrapenguin]

♥

[abyss_valkyrie]

How did I miss this post?
I love the ones of Shen Wei and the text from episode 2.<3
Hands off my post grad is seriously too good! XD
34th icon and the aurora textures used in the Shen Wei icons-wow!
44,47,48 and the red Hei Pao icons are amazing!

[extrapenguin]

Thank you! I had lots of fun with this batch. Shen Wei is a very good base for text icons. I'm also glad you picked out 44 – I loved how it turned out!

[mecurtin]

I think I'm going to snag #39 for my "thinky ZYL" needs. What is the text behind him?

[extrapenguin]

It's

Shen Wei, age 32, Professor of Bioengineering at Dragon City University. Fell off roof of building in confrontation with Dixing criminal later taken away by the Envoy but was fine. Survived confrontation with another Dixing criminal with only what seemed to be a faked backache; criminal was stumbling backwards. Survived being choked by Wang Yike with seemingly no adverse effects. Acquired wound that healed suspiciously quickly in confrontation with face stealer. Appeared at face stealer crime scene despite no prior involvement.

Basically just a list of suspicions of Zhao Yunlan's re: Shen Wei.

[tinny]

Hee, I love the yellow ones for ep 1, and Lao Chu with the blue streaks. The "mei shi'r" ones for ep 2 as well as number 16. 31 is great, and so is 34, and the green northern lights ones, and 44 and 46.

[extrapenguin]

Thanks! I'm super satisfied with how 31 turned out, and streaky things (like lao Chu and 46) are my greatest weakness. *g*

[lynndyre]

I have committed a drabble partly inspired by 42 (and also friended you back because I thought I did but apparently fail)

[extrapenguin]

!!! AHH this is amazing! Shen Wei really looks good as a Red-Robed Envoy. ♥

[fashes]

Snagged the 2nd icon for ep 2. I love the framing and the saturation.

[extrapenguin]

Thank you! <3