I AM, THEREFORE I PROCRASTINATE: BUFFYVERSE TOP 5 NOW OPEN + MY FIRST BUFFYVERSE ICONS FOR 2014

[red_satin_doll]

Buffyverse Top 5 is OPEN today through January 19th for recs of any fan-created Buffyverse works either started or continued during the past year. (Check out the posting guidelines here.)

As I'm still kicking myself for missing the October Classic round, I'm determined to participate in this round with some meta and vid lists, especially as most rec lists consist entirely of fanfics. I'd also love to do an artwork rec list, or at least hoping other folks will be similarly inspired to do so as fanart. Meta , videos and artwork need love too! That said, I'll probably rec some of my favorite female-centric stories as well, because this has been a rich year IMO.

ETA: petzipellepingo just posted a top five meta recs list!  BLESS.

Searching for vids and meta from 2013,  I noticed that fannish activity is scattered or diffuse: fiction on LJ as well as ff.net and AO3: gifsets/animations and artwork on tumbler: meta (nonfiction) of all types including rewatches, analysis, love letters to the Buffyverse & et cetera scattered on Blogger, Wordpress, and various websites scattered hither and yon. This fandom isn't "dying" by any means, IMNSHO - it's alive and well and living on the internet.

And now for something completely different: my first (visual) love letters to the women of the Buffyverse for 2014. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to make text that was actually legible in iconson the Photobucket editing suite. I played around a bit and finally came up with a few things today I'm halfway pleased with, although I'm still not satisfied with the sharpness of some of these. Feel free to take any you like but give proper credit as always. ADVICE, FEEDBACK & CONCRIT IS WELCOMED AND ENCOURAGED.

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

6) 7) 8) 9) 10)

The first two of these I think of as "mini-metas" in icon form:
#1 from Band Candy: I'm intrigued by how much of the Summer sisters' personalities come from their parents, especially Joyce - including a proclivity for kinky sex and bondage games. Just sayin'. The Summers women like sex; it's unfortunate that Joss and the writers' hang-ups prevent a truly empowering sex-positive message for women. *le sigh*

#2 came about when I realized a few months ago that the destruction of the Buffybot in "Bargaining Pt 2" called back to Spike's promise to Dru in "School Hard"; but I couldn't bring myself to use the image of the actual moment the 'bot was pulled apart by the demon gang. I also realized that there are some intriguing parallels between Dru and Buffy as "madwomen", "seers", symbolic mother figures, and as Angel and Willow's "masterpieces" that I think deserves further exploration.

And of course #10 because there aren't enough Tara icons and I love that image, that moment from Bargaining. Like Buffy, Tara is a woman who overcomes the fear and shame of believing she's a "demon", finds astonishing layers of strength, is a protector at heart and "filled with love".

Comments

[wickedbish.livejournal.com]

These are all amazing, but I especially love the last one. I've seen every episode so many times that I can't currently bear the thought of re-watching the entire series from start to finish AGAIN, but I still grieve for Tara.

Oh my goodness, wait, do you have any more to say about Buffy being Willow's "masterpiece"? Because that . . . makes an awful lot of sense, really.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

but I still grieve for Tara.

Oh me too; and I've never grieved for any other fictional character, certainly not a tv character. there's just no way to make that "right" except by celebrating her as much as possible.

do you have any more to say about Buffy being Willow's "masterpiece"?

I'm glad you (as a Willow fan) asked, because I was terrified that I would offend the Willow fans on my flist with that comment without a sense of context; but I think you're probably on to what I'm implying.

I read a meta about Willow's arc by elusis_walks (?) sometime back, and the author said that part of the problematic nature of Tara's death for them was the fact that Tara ended her life as "Willow's objet d'art", molded by Willow; and I strongly disagree with that. Tara returned to Willow in Tabula Rasa of her own free will; it was her CHOICE, just as wooing Will in S4 was her choice.

IMO Willow's "masterpiece" in S6 was resurrecting Buffy; and it actually occured to me after thinking of the Drusilla/Buffy connections (two women connected to Angel and Spike, "madwomen" and "seers"); and the fact that both Angel and Willow have a problem with other people's free will, for very different reasons. (I"m NOT saying Willow is evil btw.)

Dru is Angel's masterpiece, his work of art (Lie to Me); he drives her mad and then turns her into a demon just before she's to enter the convent (holy sanctuary). He becomes her sire and does it for evil intent - to possess her, for his own pleasure - without regard for her free will. He does it with evil intent but ironically it may have had a positive result in the long run: "liberating" Dru from the strictures of Victorian society, and to her own sexual desires, an unlife of adventure she'd never have experienced otherwise.

Buffy's "last words" to Willow in The Gift is encouragement to use her powers against Glory but also to restore tara's mind. Willow's already entered Buffy's mind, she restores Tara to life, metaphorically; literally restoring Buffy to life is the next logical step; Tara was the "dry run" so to speak, or the initial sketch if you will. Buffy is torn from what she perceives as Heaven (holy sanctuary) against her will. Willow does so with good intent - to rescue Buffy, to make things better, but ironically her actions have short and long-term negative consequences in Buffy's depression and in giving the First an opening in S7.

Willow isn't prepared to play the role of Buffy's symbolic "sire" or "mother", and this actually makes a lot of sense to me considering her upbringing, which seems to have consisted of benign neglect on the part of her parents. Will just doesn't have to training or role models; she doesn't even have a single warm loving parent she connects to the way Buffy and Tara had with their mothers. Sheila Rosenberg fails to "see" Willow as she is (admittedly Willow probably hides a lot from her) and can't deal with the reality of the witchcraft; Willow in turn fails to "see" Buffy's anguish (which Buffy admittedly tries to hide) and can't deal with the reality of the situation.

I actually put some of the blame on Giles for this as well in failing to mentor Willow or steer her towards mentors when he knows personally the dangers of dabbling; in being willing to use her powers when it was convenient and then chastize her at other times; then abandoning all her as well as Buffy and Dawn. "You were the one I trusted to respect the powers of nature" is right up there on the list of self-serving rationalizations with "Your mother taught you everything you need to know about life." WTH, Giles?

[wickedbish.livejournal.com]

I just want to let you know that I am definitely not ignoring or forgetting this comment - I've been thinking about it in the back of my mind WITHOUT CEASING almost since the moment you posted it.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Oh good - I was worried I'd scared you away!

I just came across a short "Grave" Giles POV fic by punch_kicker15 from last February that says pretty much what I was trying to say about Giles' responsibility to Willow:
http://punch-kicker15.livejournal.com/794.html#comments

Punch_kicker writes a lot of Willow fic and does amazing characterizations of Willow and Giles particularly.

And full disclosure, I've had your new year's "resolutions" post on my mind every day and WILL reply to it this week, no fail.

[wickedbish.livejournal.com]

Oh good - I was worried I'd scared you away!

No, no, not at all! You just broke my brain a little bit. That's all.

[wickedbish.livejournal.com]

Okay.

So, the whole "what if Giles decided to retire & no one took it well because he was a total jerk with terrible timing . . . twice?" thing is probably one of the biggest reasons I loathe season six, and I've pretty much made peace with the fact that I'll never be able to express my disappointment any more eloquently than I just did - even if Willow had zero interest in learning anything about magic from him, he could have put her in touch with someone who knew someone who knew another witch who might teach her a thing or three - so I'll just leave that there.

But.

Oh my dear sweet goodness, yes, absolutely always yes to pretty much every single solitary tiny thing you have to say about Buffy being Willow's masterpiece. Even without the nifty "Drusilla was Angel's masterpiece" connection, that would be a remarkably apt observation, because here's the way I've always seen it:

In "Primeval," Buffy gave us a pretty big clue that she was a lot more powerful than pretty much any other Slayer throughout history . . . because she has friends everything is about Ponies.

In "The Gift," Buffy made sure that people - not just her friends - would be talking about how good she was at saving the world (a lot) for generations to come.

But in "Chosen," after a somewhat spotty season full of speeches, Buffy shattered all & any doubts and confirmed herself as the most powerful Slayer of all time by deciding to not only stop caring about the rules, but start changing them. Forever. As a direct result of her decision, nothing will ever be the same again.

And, the thing is:

She couldn't have done any of it without Willow.

And, the thing about that is:

Willow (probably) never would have become the most powerful witch in the world if she hadn't met Buffy. It wasn't obvious at first, but these two changed each other in ways they can never take back, and then they enabled each other to change the world. So, to my way of thinking, their BFF-ness is the most important relationship in the entire history of the show.

So, yes - "masterpiece" indeed.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

She couldn't have done any of it without Willow.

And, the thing about that is:

Willow (probably) never would have become the most powerful witch in the world if she hadn't met Buffy. It wasn't obvious at first, but these two changed each other in ways they can never take back, and then they enabled each other to change the world.

Well YES. Of course. (Someone once said to me that Willow was the "more trangressive" of the two, blah blah. Was it a contest? I must have missed that.) The fact that you emphasize the mutuality and what they did for one another over the usual one-up/one-down games makes me all kinds of happy.

Ok, ok I'm going to let this simmer in my mind over the weekend before I say anything else - you're making me think I do need a full rewatch to remember what I loved about their friendship. Because I think you just broke my brain right back.