Behold the icontest pimpage and icons most excellent

[red_satin_doll]

1) The beat that my heart skipped: Congratulations to the winners of btvs_hush challenge #272: dragonydreams, rua1412 and debris4spike for their superb entries. I looked at those entries the other day when I was voting and was so excited I almost forgot to breathe for a second. No, I'm not kidding. (Yes, I do need to get a life but never mind that right now.) They were all so much of a piece with one another; delicately atmospheric and melancholy, aesthetically pleasing and intellectually engaging. I wanted to know who made each of them and HOW, for goodness sakes; what were the artists thinking at the time, and how closely if at all do my perceptions match what they hoped to achieve.

Deadline for challenge 273 is Tuesday May 20th.

I never guessed that the Willow icon was Deborah's. She's a wonderful artist (see the Servalan icon I snagged for confirmation); but I thought I "knew" her style in general. This icon is on another level entirely. It suggests feminine mysteries revealed, from within a cave, the womb or a strange ansd rare flower. Becoming, but tenatively so. Rua's icon is a bit more subtle visually and I almost overlooked it at first; but there really aren't many nice Xander icons out there that I've seen, and I slowly fell in love with it. Which is a big deal because I'm not easily drawn to images of men, and Xander is an interesting character but hardly my favorite. This icon makes me want to cry; good lord, the expression on his face. He's so terribly young to be so old. He seems middle-aged already (is that what happens to children growing up in a war zone?) The effect at the corner reminds me both of a watercolor painting and the corner of a newspaper tossed on the curb. Old-tea coloring.

And likewise Dragony's Giles icon - so, so old, so melancholy; autumnal, fading, isolated. A reluctant parental-figure who was himself poorly-parented but is somehow expected to guide these children; a Watcher whose emotions and intellect are at constant war with one another, neither side quite winning out in the end; a man who wants love, who wants to connect but has no idea how, and who thrusts family and love away each time it comes to him because it's all he knows to do.

You may be shocked to read that #5 in that challenge was my alternate choice; I have no idea who made that one. Yes, I came within a hairsbreath of voting for a Bangel icon - of the EoD/Chosen kiss, no less. It's a simple crop - no distractions, the golden background gentle pushed back from the figures; the visual platonic idea of a "kiss" in our culture. You needn't even know the characters, the fandom or the context to get that far. A good icon starts with a good image. But again, this is muted, slightly hazy; the autumnal coloring suggests a relationshipp that exists somewhere between the lands of "perhaps someday" and "never will again".

2) I feel much the same sense of excitement looking at the entries for  slayerstillness challenge # 24 :the pleasure of trying to decode the icons, sift through the layers of meaning and intent - so much to unpack here. Voting deadline is Tuesday May 20 so do vote now, if you can bear making a decision. Again, very much an "all of a piece" feeling to the entries, which is all the more astonishing given the fact that the prompt was a "free for all". The artists could submit anything they liked, so I'd expect, well, a free-for-all in the literal visual sense - and yet a sense of (inter)connection is very much apparent here. Muted colors, subtle textures, the importance of line. Certain characters and themes are much in evidence: Willow and Giles, Bangel and Spuffy are all present and accounted for. I have a few favorites but I'll reserve gushing until after the winners are announced.

3) Sign ups for round 1 of btvsats20in20 icontest are now open - the deadline is June 4th, and themes can be found here. The comm is still open to anyone wishing to be a co-mod or banner maker. Thank you to debris4spike for making sure this was on my radar, and to bangel_4e for going above and beyond in answering all my questions and offering support, advice and feedback. oh_cheezit has posted her S7 Spike, Spufffy and Beneath You icons for this first round: SO LOVELY.

I don't know yet if I'll sign up for this round; I'm still taking my time learning about these 20in20 challenges; they seem daunting to me, but so did slayerstillness, otherworldlyric and btvs_hush at first. icontests have definitely pushed me to improve my own work both by doing and by the example of other artists.

4) Due to lack of entries dragonydreams extended Otherworldlyrics challenge 172 extended one more week - and you know what that means: I will be nibbling my fingers anxiously until May 23rd second-guessing the entries I sent in the other day and wondering "Should I switch one? I should totally switch one. No, I shouldn't. Yes, I should dear god the freakin' agony (was that supposed to be a secret? Um....) We all have one more week to get in our entries inspired by the Cure's "Watching Me Fall".

I had to read the lyrics of that song a couple of times before it sunk what was going on in it: a guy describing himself pick up a prostitute in Tokyo as is he's having an out of body experience. (Hey, I've never hired a sex worker, so what would I know?) She's described as if she were a stereotypical movie hooker, a doll, a siren or seductress rather than a human being - and he's the one "falling". Ok, so this guy has an itch to scratch and the money to buy himself an hour with a sex worker who is totally dehumanized in the song and he's complaining? Waa-waa, poor little me with my male priviledge and superior economic status and yet I'm morally helpless...oh give me an effing break. This is stuff is straight out of Genesis. Hey, dude, here's an idea if you're feeling dehumanized by the experience: start by treating the sex worker you hired for the hour as another human being.  Knowwhatimean?

Honestly, that song is just begging to be deconstructed. Possibly with a sledgehammer shovel a few well-made icons.

Comments

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

I'm honored you liked the Bangel icon so much, despite the pairing. It was mine too.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

*applause*

(Now I'm wondering if you also made any of the Bangel icons in slayerstillness which I may or may not have voted for *17* but I know you can't say so I'll just have to wait until after the winners are announced. I can be patient.)

I've really been aware lately that I've been unable to make any Bangel icons and I want to. The Anne icons I made for the last round of Slayerstillness were meant to be Bangel icons. Full disclosure: I did ship them in S2 when I watched the show two years ago. Buffy wanted to be with him, I wanted her to be happy. Simple. Even watching The Prom, I kept thinking "Dude, stay with her."

I can't get on board the "Relationship X should be the endgame for Buffy." I prefer "I like Buffy with Character X" or "I like this character/actor better personally". It's not a contest. But I'm kind of an outlier when it comes to shipping, I guess.

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

*bows*

I don't belong to slayerstillness, so no, those wouldn't be mine.

I don't ship Buffy at all. Honestly, I didn't really like her a lot of the time, especially in later seasons, so I didn't care who she dated. (Except I really didn't like her with Spike.) I did all my shipping around Willow and Giles (either together or with other people).

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I did all my shipping around Willow and Giles (either together or with other people).

Oh thank god you don't ship Buffy/Giles because I do NOT GET THAT one at all. i don't understand why Willow/Giles isn't more of a thing because it's canon she had a crush on him - the way she looks up at him in the early seasons, come on! I figured that out on my own.

It's weird but I can ship Giles with Joyce, Jenny, Willow, Olivia AND Anya; and Willow, I'm pretty flexible. Male, female, I can go either way and Willow is pretty darn shippable with just about everyone. I think it's Aly's charisma (I can see it on HIMYM - when Lily "jokes" about having a thing for Robin I'm not sure it's a joke.) I don't ship either of them with Buffy. Go figure.

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

I ship Giles with just about everyone except Buffy. I've written him with Willow, Oz, Ethan and Spike. Willow I've written with Giles, Oz, Spike, Angel, Lindsey. I like both of them with Xander too, but haven't written that.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Ethan! *slaps forehead* And yeah Giles and Buffy shipping is a big DNW for me.

Weirdly enough I find Willow more interesting either by herself or in the pairings you mention than with any of her canon lovers. I also ship her with Riley in S4, but only so I can kill him off instead of Tara *wicked cackle* And conversely I am more interested in Oz and Tara for themselves than as willow's partners.