red_satin_doll (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
red_satin_doll) wrote2015-03-28 04:09 am
red_satin_doll) wrote2015-03-28 04:09 am
Entry tags:
- art gallery,
- char: buffy summers,
- char: dark!willow,
- char: willow rosenberg,
- comm: btvsats20in20,
- fandom: btvs,
- form: icons,
- icon challenge,
- icon(ic) thinky thoughts,
- pairing: bangel(us),
- setting: s1,
- setting: s2,
- setting: s3,
- setting: s4,
- setting: s5,
- setting: s6,
- setting: s7,
- women of the buffyverse
btvsats20in20 ROUND 8: "Wiffy" (Buffy Summers & Willow Rosenberg)
ETA: My entries for Round 8 of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
btvsats20in20. I forgot to link back to the comm when I posted this last night/this morning, sorry!
I had initially meant to stick to a "Buffyverse in Wonderland" theme but my guiding inspiration this round turned out to be the Pop Art theme and the Category theme "movie genres". My Category icons were inspired more by movie posters than by the films themselves.
MANY kudos, kisses and roses to my wonderous Muse,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velvetwhip for all her help, ideas, support and inspiration. I can't begin to thank her adequately.
TEASERS:
One of my goals this round was to include images from all seven seasons of the series. I don't ship "Wiffy" (or "Billow", take your pick) sexually / romantically - but if it's a choice between that and hatin' on the ladies, I'll chose the love. (It's astonishing to me how often fans of one character hate on the other.) I certainly "ship" their friendship - the most important friendship in the Buffyverse - something fierce.
* The look of my "Grey" icon was inspired byspikesredqueen's gorgeous entry in her Lorne set.
"Stolen Claim" can be considered "Chosen" or "Bangel", works either way.
Some alts, not including banner versions:
1 - 4
4 was almost my Stolen Claim entry; I went back and forth on that one a lot. I don't do many romantically het shippy icons so I'm pleased with how it turned out.
5 - 9
10 - 14
I loved making these "movie posters". For the "prestige drama" I wanted to include text from the movie "The Hours" (Always the years, always the love, always the hours) but couldn't get it as I wanted. I like #5 just as much as my Cat 1 icon for the clarity of Buffy's face, but the entry version is more "atmospheric".
15 -18
My Evil icon could have fit very nicely into the movie genre set as "Horror film" (think schlocky 1980's slasher flick VHS graphic art.) "Dark Willow" seemed too obvious a direction to go for the Evil theme.
19 -24
25 -29
I couldn't resist making a personalized icon forbeer_good_foamy, who wrote the best-evah meta essay in praise of Beer Bad.
30 - 36
37 - 43
No, you don't need this many alts of this image, but that's ok - I do.
btvsats20in20. I forgot to link back to the comm when I posted this last night/this morning, sorry!I had initially meant to stick to a "Buffyverse in Wonderland" theme but my guiding inspiration this round turned out to be the Pop Art theme and the Category theme "movie genres". My Category icons were inspired more by movie posters than by the films themselves.
MANY kudos, kisses and roses to my wonderous Muse,
velvetwhip for all her help, ideas, support and inspiration. I can't begin to thank her adequately.TEASERS:
| 10 Themes | ||||
| Pop Art | Family | Food | Grey* | Duplicate |
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| Name | Stolen Claim | Wild | Monochrome+Text | Evil |
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| 5 Category |MOVIES | ||||
| Cat 1 Sci-Fi Thriller | Cat 2 Romantic Comedy | Cat 3 Bergman Drama | Cat 4 Slapstick Comedy | Cat 5 Indie Prestige Drama |
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| 5 Artist's Choice | ||||
| AC 1 | AC 2 | AC 3 | AC 4 | AC 5 |
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One of my goals this round was to include images from all seven seasons of the series. I don't ship "Wiffy" (or "Billow", take your pick) sexually / romantically - but if it's a choice between that and hatin' on the ladies, I'll chose the love. (It's astonishing to me how often fans of one character hate on the other.) I certainly "ship" their friendship - the most important friendship in the Buffyverse - something fierce.
* The look of my "Grey" icon was inspired by
spikesredqueen's gorgeous entry in her Lorne set."Stolen Claim" can be considered "Chosen" or "Bangel", works either way.
Some alts, not including banner versions:
1 - 44 was almost my Stolen Claim entry; I went back and forth on that one a lot. I don't do many romantically het shippy icons so I'm pleased with how it turned out.
5 - 9 10 - 14I loved making these "movie posters". For the "prestige drama" I wanted to include text from the movie "The Hours" (Always the years, always the love, always the hours) but couldn't get it as I wanted. I like #5 just as much as my Cat 1 icon for the clarity of Buffy's face, but the entry version is more "atmospheric".
15 -18My Evil icon could have fit very nicely into the movie genre set as "Horror film" (think schlocky 1980's slasher flick VHS graphic art.) "Dark Willow" seemed too obvious a direction to go for the Evil theme.
19 -24 25 -29I couldn't resist making a personalized icon for
beer_good_foamy, who wrote the best-evah meta essay in praise of Beer Bad. 30 - 36 37 - 43No, you don't need this many alts of this image, but that's ok - I do.
no subject
(Unrelated note - I wonder how did Buffy/Willow became so obscure ship nowdays, given all Wiffy material that canon offers.)
no subject
(Unrelated note - I wonder how did Buffy/Willow became so obscure ship nowdays, given all Wiffy material that canon offers.)
It's a totally related note! I found an essay on Near Her Always (thanks to
Willow and Buffy is a large and active ship on the net. It is not (yet) a ship in canon,
http://nha.magical-worlds.us/wbuffybear.php
Obviously written a number of years ago (either when the show was on, or else the "yet" is a reference to the comics). I ADORE the title of the essay and it actually served as a touchstone for me when I was making this set - I should have mentioned it as an influence. Because I want people to pay attention to their relationship in all it's complexities but to not forget the very real and deep love that's there.
But i had NO idea Wiffy was a large and active ship - either romantically or even as a friendship 'ship. Either I'm in the wrong part of fandom or the ardor has cooled quite a bit. What I see is more the opposite: fans of one who dislike the other, or ignore the other; a lot of energy going into the het canon and non-canon ships (Spuffy, Bangel, Spillow, W/A or whatever the heck they call that pairing. "Wangel"?) where the one female character interacts with the guy and the other girl is either excluded or spoken of in a derogatory fashion.
And i JUST DON'T GET IT. Yes, I LOVE Buffy. But Willlow was my original point of entry, the first character I identified with. The shift happened mid-series but I never hated Willow. And I don't hate Buffy. What gives? I understand they are two girls from very dysfunctional families; the dynamics are familiar because I was raised in a dysfunctional home. And even kids from the best homes and in the best circumstances make mistakes. They're having to grow up basically on their own and, oh yeah, save the world a lot.
Meanwhile there's a huge amount of Fuffy shipping with only a fraction of the interaction and shared screen time, comparatively.
I'd be fascinated to know when the "schism" happened. (I call it the HBiC wars)
no subject
About "whay there is Fuffy, but no Wiffy" - probably because Buffy/Faith offers relationsip dynamics very different from Willow/Tara (IMO, in a way, fuffy is a f/f version of spuffy - dysfunctional love/hate relationship at the beginning and redemtion/forgiveness at the end).
Buffy/Willow probably just too much resembles Willow/Tara, so people don't consider the non-canon pairing when there already is the canon one.
no subject
And the dynamics are super-similar to the ship war factions, where each "side" thinks they are so very different to the other , and their beloved favorite is so very different to the other, and they really aren't.
fuffy is a f/f version of spuffy - dysfunctional love/hate relationship at the beginning and redemtion/forgiveness at the end)
Total agreement there, you've summed it up perfectly.
Buffy/Willow probably just too much resembles Willow/Tara, so people don't consider the non-canon pairing when there already is the canon one.
That's an interesting point. But doesn't that contradict your statements about Spuffy/Fuffy ? Or really, any non-canon relationship shouldn't even exist if that were the case - why Spangel, Spander, Bander, and dear god WHY Buffy/Giles?
Never mind that the Buffy-Willow friendship IS canon, and central to the series.
Non-canon ships seem to fill a need (with me, Bara fills a need to see Buffy loved and cared for tenderly and give Tara a bigger role in the story than she got in canon). So what need does Wiffy NOT fill? People love friendship fics, but when I hear people talk about "the Scoobie gang" they mean specifically Xander and Willow.
Is it lack of at least one male character + lack of romantic / sexual chemistry = no interest? So even the friendship is neglected? *ponders*
no subject
IMO, f/m ship can't be a real substitute for f/f ship (or m/m ship), as many people tend to read almost exclusively het or femslash or male slash (epsecially when it comes to porn). Personally, I find it weird (ok, apart from the porn part, which I get), but it seems to be the case.
About Buffy/Willow friendship - yes, it's extremely weird. But there seems to be also a lack of any other female friendfip fics for Willow.
If we disregard PWPs, fics where Willow is allowed to have close relationship with other female except Tara are pretty rare. Het Willow ships/friendships are much more common. Do people feel that Willow getting close with other girl somehow betrays memory of Tara? (Or is it just my very non-representative reading circle?)
About Buffy/Giles - I don't ship it, but I get why it exists. Incest is a thing. (Also I don't get why Buffy/Giles and not Willow/Giles, which at least could be written more or less in-character.)
no subject
Well Kennedy still gets lots of hate for the sin of not being Tara (and I don't love Kennedy but I don't hate her either. I didn't love Tara at first sight either; another season or two I might have grown to really like her.) I don't understand why Willow's love for Tara precludes friendships; that makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Incest is a thing.
ICK.
Also? I swear that the majority of B/G shippers I've seen are all about woobifying their guy, glossing over his fuck-ups (you know, like every other shipping group does), portraying him as absolutely perfect AND putting Buffy down for not appreciating their beloved guy in canon. (Again, like every other shipping group.)
That said:
I don't get why Buffy/Giles and not Willow/Giles, which at least could be written more or less in-character
RIGHT??? I thought there'd be tons of it out there. Or why not more Giles/Anya (I wish they had gone their with the two of them.) Or Giles/Joyce. Or heck, how about Giles/Jenny or Giles/Olivia. There is canon support for all of these but...no, Giles/Buffy is the big thing.