The Tuesday edition of "I HAVE BEEN TERRIBLY, SORELY REMISS FOR NOT..."

[red_satin_doll]

1) Thanking: My personal Miss Psycho Pep Squad velvetwhip. For reasons. For everything.

Everyone who has helped me learn how to improve my art skillz: chasingdemons and comlodge, spikesredqueen, rua1412, eilowyn, and kwritten for introducing me to ipiccy in the first place. (If I've forgotten anyone please forgive me.) Ok, I did some thankin' yesterday but it bears repeating. The sheer GENEROSITY of folks in this fandom is overwhelming. My real life has been all kinds of suckitude; being here on LJ, diving into making art (aka keeping myself distracted) has been my bliss.Comlodge, debris4spike, and Chasingdemons all checked out ipiccy to make comparisons with gimp/PS and give me their reactions.

**

2) Pimpage happens here: My homegirl eilowyn made me an incredible gift: a Buffy Summers fanmix, with musical tracks by Coldplay, Florence Welch, Imogene Heap, Regina Spektor, Metric and more;  with incredible "album cover" art. I'm listening to it right now for the umpteenth time - Rilo Kiley's heartbreaker "A Better Son/Daughter" as a matter of fact. Perfect song for Buffy - keep fighting, keep smiling, keep hauling that load even if it kills you (and it certainly will). The entire mix is everything Buffy is - brave, frightened, loving, determined, uncertain, strong  -  everything all of us are: human. (Speaking of, "Human" by the Cinematics puts me in mind of Spike, actually, but that may be partly because of the lead male vocals. "I've been breaking my back with the weight of your heart." Break my heart now, why don'cha?) I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful gif but I'm grateful - and already addicted to it.

**

clockwork_hart1's "Conclusive Etymology of a Summers" is a lovely and tender portrait of Buffy's relationship with language beyond my ability to do justice with my own words: her wit, her stubborness, her intelligence, her hope; her silence in response to the fears that grip her heart.  This story completely owns my heart, so here's a piece of mine: my first fanfiction poster.

I am so happy with how this came out. SO happy and proud. As in, close-to-tears-happy. I didn't plan it in advance, it snuck up me while I was working on something else, and just came together with hardly any effort. That's the way it always seems to be. I'm wrestling with fear, self-doubt and sense of failure in my RL, but - I can do this now. I can do this.


pickamix generously offered suggestions for a more slender font style, which I tried to replicate here;  I love both variations.

Go read Lucy's fic, it's beyond wonderful. Then check out her multi-fandom icons and her other fics, including the delightful Buffyverse/Whoverse crossovers: the sensual "Teaching the Stars how to Set Themselves on Fire" (Dawn/Amy Pond); two Buffy/River Song fics, the funny/sexy "Straight on 'til Morning" and the answer to my request for "more, please" with it's prequel: "Greet Me with Nights and Summer"; Buffy/River Song plus wise, wry Dawn, slightly-befuddled Faith, a shout-out to Tara, badass women with swords and an apocalypse-y setting.  What more could I desire?

**

kikimay's fics and fanvideo: The epilogue to her post-series Fuffy fic Eros which is incredibly sweet and has a lovely Buffy/Giles scene. Fluffy Fuffy can be hard to get right, but if you've been reading along, Kiki makes sure it's well-earned. Our beloved Slayers deserve a little happiness, oui? (the entire story is rated NC-17 but this chapter is safely teen and up.) Her second fan video, "Bad Habit" takes on a serious subject: the ways that the Buffyverse women punish themselves and "self-mutilate" either literally or symbolically. It's been a while since I've seen a truly meta buffy fanvid that engaged larger social and psychological issues. She says she has plans to make a third video, inspired by "Conclusive Etymology of a Summers". I approve of this plan.

**

beer_good_foamy's latest btvs S6 fic, "Building Character" (thank you kikimay!) that rewrites S6 and Buffy's resurrection in a way that is probably more realistic - and subtly horrifying, or at least extremely ambiguous - than canon. It also builds on a series-wide subtext that becomes text in S5 - the "constructed" or created individual, the "doll" (shades of the Buffybot, April and Dawn). The gang tries to put Buffy together again, however much they think they "know" her, how much is unknown and left blank?

**

Don't forget to vote at slayerstillness Challenge 27, Hair Porn; deadline is midnight tonight, the 8th, in your time zone.  And check out the beautiful btvsats20in20 entries for two Season 5 episodes by starry_nightstarry_night (Intervention) and iconsoleander (The Body). Deadline for Round 2 entries is tomorrow, and I'll be able to start my entry post as soon as I get this post up. (The word "gulp" comes to mind.)

**

3) Finally, Wishing spuffy_luvr a belated Happy Birthday (July 1st.)  She hasn't been active in fandom since last fall, as far as I can tell, so I am also remiss in not dropping her a line because I miss her presence, the conversations and rants about: Spuffy canon vs fanon, fandom, politics, pretty much anything and everything - she brings intelligent, wit, and an independent, iconoclastic, no-nonsense attitude to everything in her sights. And the fic: she's known for her long Spuffy works but excels also at funny, sexy, tender Spuffy ficlets in which both partners in the 'ship are treated with affection and respect. The "it could have been canon" series she wrote for sb_fag_ends in October is all kinds of wonderful, and includes meta as well as fic. "No Earthly Remains" is something of a departure, focusing on Willow, Faith and Buffy post-Chosen; it stands next to kwritten's "You're Here, Too?" (Buffy, Anya, Willow) as one of my favorite fics dealing with the friendships of btvs' women, and Buffy's trauma and grief after the fall of Sunnyhell.

ETA: "Conciusive Etymology" poster Nominee for Best Banner in Wicked Awards Round 11:  

A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend: It goes without saying but just in case: "Don't even think about stealing or defacing my artwork or ye will be plagued by boils and all manner of afflictions".  The Miss Psycho Pep Squad icon is totally snaggable however. Have a nice day!

Comments

[baphrosia.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! :)

I'm around... just lurking. Lurking, lurking, lurking, and meanwhile trying hard not to get sucked back into the Buffyverse whilst I work on that whole original fiction thing. And hey, I've already received my first rejection letter, so I'm getting there!

Thanks for the shoutout! It prompted me to reread, and that reminded me that yes, I really do know how to put words together. It's been slow going these last few weeks - it can be hard to remain enthusiastic when the only comments you can expect on your writing for a good long while are 'thanks but no thanks'. I miss fanfic... Reviews have spoiled me, yo. But hey, I *do* have a story waiting in the wings - I wrote it months and months ago, in anticipation of Seasonal Spuffy. Which then went on indefinite hiatus... I think I might post it to the fagends ashtray if I don't see any signs of life from Seasonal Spuffy in the near future. Mostly because I really, really want to see *your* reactions to this story. Yes, you were the audience I wrote for this time. I may be lurking, but you are definitely in my thoughts. :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

HEY THERE YOU! *hugs you*

Yes, you were the audience I wrote for this time. I may be lurking, but you are definitely in my thoughts. :)

Oh my goodness I was? Really? I'm honored! *sits on hands* Even if you just post it to your site I'd love to read it!

Good for you for writing original fic and good luck with that manuscript! I haven't done that myself but my friend Kendra is a novelist and I get to see it through her - KEEP PLUGGING AT IT. You wil get a lot of rejections and then an acceptance out of nowhere. Stay strong, and believe your writing deserves to be seen.

Yes, you can put words together. In fact, you got better and better with every story you wrote cause that's how it works. It's about the craft and you're serious about your craft. I know that doesn't help when rejections come in. there is something warm and cozy about fandom isnt there? For all the crazymaking that's a part of it.

I apologize for not having a present for your birthday, a nice image or something. I've been tied up with the 20in20 and other things. After vacation next week I hope I'll have some ideas. I had you in mind when I made this for a slayerstillness challenge 24 but wasn't sure if you'd appreciate the irony - I assumed you would. You always get my snarky humor (it didn't win anything, go figure)

[baphrosia.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't care if it didn't win anything, I find it very visually appealing. I have to admit I'm not so much into the icons and banners and all that, but I can enjoy looking at them. :) I see you've been getting into it - and winning all kinds of things. Go you for finding another way to share your awesome voice with us all.

Here is where I confess that I am this close to wearing-a-tinfoil-hat-paranoid. There is no way I would enter my real birthday on a public site like this, which made for interesting times last year when everybody started wishing me happy birthday, and I had no idea why. At least I was prepared for it this year. But think of it this way. You're still early! And one can never have enough birthday wishes, whether on the day itself or a few weeks early. Thank you!!