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]

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.