Icon Meme from Lokifan & Kikimay (In which my efforts to be frivolous don't turn out as planned)

[red_satin_doll]

I've never done a fandom "meme" before but kikimay picked up one from lokifan  that I couldn't resist:

Comment on this post with CONVERSE. I will choose seven (five if you prefer) userpics from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are using them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

FYI: The first sentence means that you reply by typing that word "converse" and then I choose 5-7 of your icons, which you get to explain in the comments thread. (For examples see lokifan's meme post - and yes, I had to ask how this worked.)

I tend to use icons in three ways: 1) to express mood, 2) to "pay tribute" to my favorite characters or episodes; Buffy is my favorite fictional character, hence she's my primary avatar; or 3) because the icon is artistic/aesthetically pleasing. I try to chose or make ones that I haven't seen elsewhere, or are overused images. Kikimay chose the following five from my own:

1) Laughing Dead Things:  One of the first BtVS icons I made; I wish I'd done a better job with it.. Most of my Buffy icons when Ifirst started my journal were very serious. I wanted something with Buffy laughing or smiling but also unique. Leave Me the White has screencaps from the outtakes or dailies of Dead Things, and the shot of Sarah breaking into laughter while trying to film the dream sequence is adorable. There are few things sexier than laughter. I also love the ironic contrast between that shot and the tone of the episode.

Full Disclosure: When I got internet service in my new apartment three weeks ago, I mulled over which Buffy episode to rewatch first. Something light and funny, perhaps, Life Serial, or....Oh who the hell was I kidding? It came down to two of my favorite episodes: "Who are You"and "Dead Things"; DT won by a hairsbreadth. The raw power of those two episodes, the way they parallel, bookend, and resonate with each other, including the similarity of the Buffy/Faith/Spike dynamics in each, the key role Tara plays in both eps, the literal or symbolic "identity hijacks", and the fact that WAY (and TYG) foreshadows S6 - is like nothing else I've ever seen on television. Frivolity, thy name is...not RedSatinDoll.

2) Tara does not approve: The official name for this one in my head is "Tara is not down with this shit." It shouldn't surprise you that Tara is the second most-frequent character in my icons.  (If it does: Welcome! Have a cookie and make yourself at home.) I found this one on www.fanpop.com by "Laurik 2007" ; it was one of the first icons I grabbed when I was setting up this journal. I needed an icon that expressed "strong disapproval" as opposed to "seething rage"; this image is strong and simple. It's also my reminder that Tara was more than just a "saint"; the fact that it's the scene in Tough Love just seconds before Glory attacks her gives it an unsettling quality as well.

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT: Can we agree that Tara enduring torture at Glory's hands almost silently, sacrificing her life, her mind, to protect Dawn is one of THE most horrifying moments in the entire series? Dawn and Buffy protected Tara in "Family" and here Tara returns the favor many times over. That is true courage, full stop. Why isn't she more frequently honored and celebrated in fandom for this?

  3) Chosen One purple: valyssia made this icon and gave me permission to use; it's been my default icon ever since. I had to have it the moment I clapped eyes on it: love at first sight. Purple is one of my favorite colors, Buffy is my favorite character, I love the late seasons; but none of those would be sufficient of themselves. This is one of the most exquisite and artistic icons I've ever seen in every respect. valyssia is as talented a visual artist as she is a writer, and this icon is a masterpiece of the form.

4) Winged!Buffy: Like Chosen One purple, this doesn't express an emotion per se except my love of Buffy, beautiful fanart, and my gratitude for a delightful gift from a beloved friend. I've talked about this one previously, but long story short: comlodge made me the Winged!Buffy image as a gift, inspired by brutti_ma_buoni 's fic "The One With Wings" .  I made it the image on my "welcome" post, and then with her permission created an icon of it, lightening the colors slightly in the spirit of Bottecelli's Primavera (Spring).

5) Dawn and Buffy: One of my favorite icons of those I've made. I love the Summers sisters, and had high hopes for plenty of interaction between them in S7. That didn't pan out but Him is one of the episodes that gave me hope - it's basically about the two of them, and the scene at the Bronze is one of my favorites. The argument feels so real of an older/younger sister dynamic, and I thought Dawn was going to slap Buffy when she mentioned Joyce. The scene just hurts and I hurt for both of them.

A few months back I made several Buffy & Dawn icons inspired by my love for them but also by kwritten's amazing meta series on Dawn and subsquent conversations. I originally was going to offer this out to everyone in an "icon dump" but loved it so much I decided to keep it. I love the contrast of Dawn in the foreground but out of focus, furious; Buffy in the background but in focus, obviously frustrated with herself and the situation. It makes a nice pairing with a couple of other icons I've done of them from Bargaining. with the focus reversed:

Bonus (i.e. cheat): I'm using one of my other favorites of the ones I've made here, Buffy & Tara Bargaining. I wanted a Buffy & Tara friendship icon and this was the first image where I got both of them together and got the image to my liking.

Comments

[snogged.livejournal.com]

I really like your icon discussion here. Very thorough. :D

I'll play...CONVERSE.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon! Ok - I already know about your default icon, so my picks are:
1) Frangelus 2) Snogged DBW 3) CST FTW 4) Fairy (which is gorgeous btw.) 5) Kitty Stalks at Midnight 6) Melanie 7) Spike/Willow/Carla

[snogged.livejournal.com]

1) Frangelus
-This icon was made by the delightful indulging_breck. I've always been a sucker for Angelus's twisted sexiness. He's dark and sinister, especially during his arc on A:tS. This icon captures the moment from "Release" when Angelus confronts Fred in the hotel and I really like how it captures the imitation of romance in that moment.

2) Dirty!Bad!Wrong! - This icon is one of several that ash_carpenter made. At one point, there was a members-only LJ comm where Ash, rockstarpeach. hello_spikey, jasonsnene, and I would challenge each other to write the darkest, baddest, and most wrong stories that we could think of. It was also an opportunity for us to form friendships that have stayed mostly solid over the years. :D

3) CST FTW- - This icon stands for Central Standard Time For The Win. It was created while I was part of a How I Met Your Mother Role-Playing Game and only two of us lived in Central Standard Time. The rest of the group lived on the East Coast. :D

4) Fairy - - Carla made this for me because fairies are awesome. :D

5. Kitty Stalks At Midnight - - First of all, I'm a big cat lover and wanted an icon to show my love. I was attracted to this one because of the animation. The way the sky lights up is just so cool!

6. Melanie - Melanie was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season 8. She was perky and delightful and had all the right moves. I was sold on her winning from the moment I watched her audition and she did not disappoint.

7. Spike/Willow by Carla - Another one of Carla's icons. I am huge fan of Spike/Willow and this is just another icon to express my love for the pairing. :D

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

And here I was looking for this on your LJ - having it all here does save me the bother of hithering-and-yoning, so thank you!

1) When I first started watching btvs and heard that people shipped Buffy/Angelus I thought who would do THAT? Then I finished the series and also readleni_ba's fantastic, stunning, Courting Sin 'verse: http://kitd_gemini.livejournal.com/tag/.timeline:%20courting%20sin

I haven't watched more than a couple of eps of AtS but, yes, I have a much greater appreciation for Angel(us) now than I did a year ago. Is there much F/An(us) fic? Is that a thing in fandom?

2) Oh that one just speaks for itself almost - but I couldn't resist hearing about it. (And you look so sweet and innocent, who'd suspect you have a dark streak? I wouldn't have w/out reading your fics.) I guess we all do? I'm glad those friendships have stayed strong - my best friend in the world is someone I met via an online forum almost ten years ago.

4) the fairy is just beautiful, full-stop.

5) the kitty one is animated? *looks carefully* Oh you mean the background. I kept waiting for the kitty to move *lol*

6) I assumed that was an actress - she reminds me of someone else I can't think who (I haven't watched that show.) But what I see of her smile is so engaging I can see just in that image why you'd fall for her.

7) That one I picked partly because it's a beautiful work of art - but, full disclosure, i also picked it because I thought "Carla" was another character in a fic this was made for and kept looking for her in the image.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I recalled you indicated a preference to have them here.

1) I don't know if there's much fic in the fandom devoted to Fred/Angelus, but I definitely recommend Mindfuck by ash_carpenter. It's a story outside her norms (see: male slash fic), but it's so unbelievably well written and so darkly sinister. I've also written a story for the fandom, which you can read here if you want to: Does The Mouse Scream? .

2) I love having a dark streak. It's fun. :P

5) That icon would be way cooler if the kitty moved too, but I am happy with it as is.

7) Sometimes I use the author in the description so I know which Spillow icon I'm choosing for that day.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the recs! I don't read a lot of AtS fics but in fact my knowledge of the show comes mostly from spoilers on the internet and from fanfics. (esp Illyria) I know the basics of the plotlines so I usually don't have a lot of trouble following along.

I love having a dark streak. It's fun.

There's been so much darkness in my RL that angst comes naturally to me; I'm not sure if I've learned to have fun with it myself. (I hate Hallmark card sentiments because they're so unreal - but then I look at some of my fics in my notebooks and think I probably find a lot of it too saccharine if I came across it online. Ugh) Sexually graphic fics are hard for me to read because of body violation issues from childhood (I cannot read spanking fics for instance), but I always appreciate ample warnings like you give, because I'd rather go in with full knowledge and "consent" as a reader. (I've come across a couple of nasty surprises now and again. Not fun.) I think I'm dipping my toes in the water slowly, but only with authors I already know and trust.

Sometimes I use the author in the description so I know which Spillow icon I'm choosing for that day.

That makes sense, you do have several; this one is especially striking visually.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

Do you think you'll ever watch A:TS? It's a great spin-off.

*hugs*

Reading dark fics can be tough, especially when authors don't warn. I really do my best to let people know what they're getting into. I had a situation once where I had failed to warn for a rape scene and a reader got really upset with me. I felt awful. I actually wish more authors would warn for the darker stuff. (Just for context's sake, the story in question is called Alpha Female . It's a "What If" story I wrote for Which Willow Fic-A-Thon back in 2007. It's about Willow getting turned into a hyena instead of Xander. It wound up being a Willow/Angel fic.)