#second head

[thingsidrawgohere]

Alright. I'm calling it done before it kills me. This is Second Head. It's an Art Book containing instances of the phrase "second head" in fanfics found on AO3. I'll explain much, MUCH more in the cut.

So when I say 'art book', I mean this is an intrinsic piece. I have no motivations aside from personal amusement and interest in outcome. A lot of money was lost/transmuted into free frustration in this project and I have no claims, obviously. I will prolly be the only person alive to read this.

THAT SAID. I have noticed in my years reading fanfic, there's a few linguistic shibboleths that arise in authors who also have experience in the mines. I think there's not a soul alive who hadn't wandered across a 'ministrations' when reading Narutos oral sexing. There's- Hold on. Here's some pix.

There's an impulse, I think, to in-group even when performing a creative act. A feeling that there are certain ways one Should go about the act, by virtue of seeing it performed that way. Especially so when 'training' at the act is often just Doing. Double Dog Especially when the act is exclusively for oneself with very little oversight. Which is to say, we make what we see and we make what we think we should make. At least, at first.

Now, I've been noticing 'grew a second head' (to insinuate surprise) in fanfic for some time. I've never seen it used Outside of fanfic. (Edit to add: I am not making the argument the phrase is from fanfic. Nor do I Believe it is from fanfic. Jesus Hopping Christ, people. That's not what this project is about.) That may speak to my own bad habits but it got me curious. So a friend and myself downloaded a mirror of AO3 from July of 2024. He did some code- Stuff to scan the mirror for "second head" and of the ~13 million works, ~70k (English) results were returned. That's a rounding error, honestly, but Far FAR more than I expected.

This book is 401 such examples that I personally selected for a variety of reasons. The number itself was arbitrarily chosen. Each page is separate fic, the roughly 300 words around our key phrase.

I don't think repetition or mirroring is a negative thing. I think it's quite charming. Nor do I think it's a sign of a 'bad' artist or 'bad' art. I think it's a signifier of personhood, of belonging, of enthusiasm. Of culture shared and wishing to share. I think it's real sweet. I always smile when I catch a 'grown a second head' in a work.

And it's really fucking funny when it's John Sherlock getting a sloppy toppy. Bless.

Edit: Fixed a very VERY funny error.

Edit: I am not making the argument that the phrase is exclusive to fanfic or, fucking forbid, FROM fanfic. I'm stating this Again because we skim here. Also- If you would like slamdunk my ass by stating the phrase predates the Internet or your GenX parents use it, please use 'sailboat' in your comment so I know you're specifically trying to kill me.

Edit Edit: You know what? Fine. I DO think this phrase came from fandom. I think ENGLISH came from fandom. I think YOU came from fandom. I think EVERYTHING came from fandom. The Sun, the Moon, the Seas- Fandom. Specifically Sonic Mpreg. The second head was Shadow the Hedgehog crowning. Congrats!

[atragedyreally]

If my mother could grow a second head to yell at me and my brother for two separate things at once, she fuckin would

[thingsidrawgohere]

But in all fairness, I can do this.

[thingsidrawgohere]

Well, now that I've posted the glamour shots, let's get In to It. This jackass. This Jack Ass. This build was a Nightmare. As shown in a previous post, I prototyped the figure cutout and I think l thought that would be enough. Dumb Baby Thought.

My first error was using the thinner, cheaper bookcloth for the yellow. My proto showed how hard the thicker material was to work with at such small scale BUT the thinner stuff FRAYS when cut on the bias. As such. So I'm dying by now.

I'm showing the sausage of the cover so you understand how HAIRY this shit was. I'm being vulnerable here. It's narsty.

At first, I had planned an Entirely different spine treatment but when I realized that was, in fact, insane And more work. I decided to use a black applique to mimic my OG idea. Not only did this make the hinge stiff as shit AND the black Also frayed but I decided to apparently Wing. It. on placement. Thus there's a fucking .25 misalignment. I'm fully thinking of redoing the spines at this point.

In FACT, For a Third Time. But I said no, dear heart, done is better than perfect. Which of course means I forgot to excise the few mils at the end of the boards near the flap. Monster gap. Monster Crooked Gap.

Oh, shit, The Endpapers! I got a Beautiful sheet of hand marbled bullshit but it wasn't right, stylistically. The whole thrum of this book is mild anxiety and alarm. I worked very hard to make such an ugly-to-look at book. So I went with this cheap paper that I sprayed as I did the book edges.

It was so thin that it creased Constantly when wet with the glue. I have a Fucking Wrinkle on my cutout paper that sent me to the fucking hospital. It did not. I'm lying for effect. But I was very upset.

I wish I could say how I feel about this final project. Highs and Fucking Looows.

[thingsidrawgohere]

Well. I just noticed I put the AO3 logo extremely plus wrong.

Well.

WELL.

Edit: Fixed it with surprisingly few problems. Some ruffled cloth fibers and a hint of glue shadowing but, for posterity, I'm putting the goof and fix here. I'll memory hole the pic on the glamour post. I think?

[scrambledsignals]

The Teardrop Explodes - Second Head

[thoughtzoo]

I have a zit the size of Jupiter. Just before my birthday. Haven't had one all year. Typical

[firewolf-pyro]

This is my second fursuit head ever made. Flameless or Lasair Lu. This one was again made without any references. I used semi expensive fur - the yellow stuff and really crappy fur. The red stuff if part of an old blanket. This one was made only a few months after the first one.