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red_satin_dollMy entries for Round 13 of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
btvsats20in20 - actually ahead of deadline!
Beta: The erudite, eloquent, extraordinary and irreplaceable![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velvetwhip.
ETA:*Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) reserved for Gabrielle and are NOT snaggable. Sorry.
Resources:
Screencaps and movie posters from Bloodqueen, Screencapped and SMG-France.
Textures bycolorfilter, scoobyatemysnax and lookslikerain. Angel wing by Kyle Butler
Alts/extras:
1 - 6
7 - 13
14 - 18
19 - 23
I'd love to do this episode another round because there is SO much going on in this episode and so much fantastic imagery that I can't begin to cover it with one round. OTOH, I forgot how CREEPY this episode is, and how emotionally harrowing. REALLY creepy.
I tried as much as possible to emphasize the "victims" here, rather than the perpetrators; but also show how the victims fight back and resist victimization in their own ways. The moment depicting in the Truth icon when she sees through Hyena!Xander's facade ("Now I know") is one of my favorite Moments of Willow Badassery (TM). I remembered that Bob Flutie died terrified, eaten alive; I'd forgotten that before that he chased the pack down in a genuine rage because they killed the school mascot, and dragged them into his office, determined to put a stop to their rein of terror. Buffy manages to fight off Hyena!Xander if just barely escaping being raped or worse; then quips about it to Willow afterwards:
"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault...it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti."
On a side note: it's interesting that in the episode that focuses on hierarchies and bullying in high school, Cordelia and the Cordettes are nowhere to be found. It's interesting to consider where she would have fallen on the food chain if she'd been in the episode. Was Charisma Carpenter unavailable the week they filmed that episode?
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* Gabrielle has first dibs on the Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) icons;these are NOT snaggable.
But all other are entirely snaggable or make suitable gifts *lol*. Please give proper credit and do not claim as your own; do not post to other websites or archives without asking first. Comments and feedback are always appreciated!
** Crossover, AC1, Alts 20 - 23: Possession starring Sarah-Michelle Gellar as a woman whose brother-in-law body may or may not contain the soul of her comatose husband after both brothers are involved in a car accident. Think a cut-rate version of Jonathan Glazier's flawed masterpiece, Birth (2003).
***Crossover, AC2: Scream2 featuring SMG in a small role as the trope Buffy is meant to subvert: the helpless blond girl in the alley (or in this case, sorority house). Watching "Buffy" crying and begging for her life while being chased by a psychopathic killer is surprisingly unpleasant, btw. (Just saying.)
btvsats20in20 - actually ahead of deadline!Beta: The erudite, eloquent, extraordinary and irreplaceable
velvetwhip.ETA:*Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) reserved for Gabrielle and are NOT snaggable. Sorry.
| 10 Themes | ||||
| Orange* | Unusual Crop | Truth | Sepia+Profile | Retro |
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| Hot | Crossover** | Contrast | Angry | Yellow+Blue |
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| 5 Category |WHITE DECORATION | ||||
| Cat 1 | Cat 2 | Cat 3 | Cat 4 | Cat 5* |
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| 5 Artist's Choice | ||||
| AC 1** | AC 2*** | AC 3 | AC 4 | AC 5 |
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Resources:
Screencaps and movie posters from Bloodqueen, Screencapped and SMG-France.
Textures by
colorfilter, scoobyatemysnax and lookslikerain. Angel wing by Kyle ButlerAlts/extras:
1 - 6 7 - 13 14 - 18 19 - 23I'd love to do this episode another round because there is SO much going on in this episode and so much fantastic imagery that I can't begin to cover it with one round. OTOH, I forgot how CREEPY this episode is, and how emotionally harrowing. REALLY creepy.
I tried as much as possible to emphasize the "victims" here, rather than the perpetrators; but also show how the victims fight back and resist victimization in their own ways. The moment depicting in the Truth icon when she sees through Hyena!Xander's facade ("Now I know") is one of my favorite Moments of Willow Badassery (TM). I remembered that Bob Flutie died terrified, eaten alive; I'd forgotten that before that he chased the pack down in a genuine rage because they killed the school mascot, and dragged them into his office, determined to put a stop to their rein of terror. Buffy manages to fight off Hyena!Xander if just barely escaping being raped or worse; then quips about it to Willow afterwards:
"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault...it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti."
On a side note: it's interesting that in the episode that focuses on hierarchies and bullying in high school, Cordelia and the Cordettes are nowhere to be found. It's interesting to consider where she would have fallen on the food chain if she'd been in the episode. Was Charisma Carpenter unavailable the week they filmed that episode?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Gabrielle has first dibs on the Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) icons;
But all other are entirely snaggable or make suitable gifts *lol*. Please give proper credit and do not claim as your own; do not post to other websites or archives without asking first. Comments and feedback are always appreciated!
** Crossover, AC1, Alts 20 - 23: Possession starring Sarah-Michelle Gellar as a woman whose brother-in-law body may or may not contain the soul of her comatose husband after both brothers are involved in a car accident. Think a cut-rate version of Jonathan Glazier's flawed masterpiece, Birth (2003).
***Crossover, AC2: Scream2 featuring SMG in a small role as the trope Buffy is meant to subvert: the helpless blond girl in the alley (or in this case, sorority house). Watching "Buffy" crying and begging for her life while being chased by a psychopathic killer is surprisingly unpleasant, btw. (Just saying.)
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no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:44 pm (UTC)Crossover is one of my favorites - remember how that theme stumped me at first? It took a few experiments to get that right but it was worth it I think.
That is a technique I don't really know how to do, it just never comes right.
Ok now I'm just blushing! I did this in ipiccy so I don't know how well that translates into PS but I could try a "tutorial" sometime. ipiccy doesn't keep a record of all my layers like PS can so i'd be guessing - but for that one I simply layered two images without masking or cutting and took advantage of the light and shadows already in the images. So one layer was in Lighten or Screen mode, and I adjusted other filters of course. (Whereas for most of my blended icons there's some masking involved, so if I can avoid having to do it? yay!)
It really was the luck of two great images in this instance.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 09:47 am (UTC)Thanks, you're so kind! I tried it a few times in the last couple of months with PS but idk, it just never came out right :;)
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 06:13 pm (UTC)It take a lot of moving around to find the right fit and lots of times it's just luck.
I'll put a proper show and tell together but you'll get it right and then once you do it's addictive.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-17 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-19 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 12:13 pm (UTC)I think you did an awesome job with your set. I don't blame
My other favorites are truth, sepia+profile, contrast, seeing red, and hot. I'm also really digging Cat 1, AC 1, AC 2, and AC 5.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:50 pm (UTC)You name-checked the seeing red icon, yay! I wasn't sure about that one but I wanted to remember Flutie's strength and rage, even if it does him no good in the end. *RIP*
I was going to rewatch the episode and couldn't bring myself to do it - yet - just looking at the screen caps was intense enough. I'll have to though. I could do this ep as a claim five times over.
I dislike the very ending ( Giles conspiring to keep Xander's secret) but other than that it's an amazing episode. And for anyone who says that Xander doesn't have some darkness in him and he's just a nice, decent guy (there are people who think that) hello to the complexity people. He's a fascinating character but he's got major issues. (And no good male role models.)
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 01:22 pm (UTC)List of faves: sepia+profile (GENIUS. I LAUGHED. OMG WHY XDDD), hot, crossover (Which is, I think, one of the best on the set, maybe THE best. I love the clarity of the image), seeing red, yellow + blue (Your irony is delicious) CAT2, CAT4 (More slash icons plz!) AC2
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:16 pm (UTC)If I made you laugh, I'm satisfied. (the icon amused me and my lovely beta so I figured, what the heck.) I still always wonder when I make my sets, "Which ones will Kiki like?"
I love the clarity of the image
I'm really happy with that one too! I had two great images to work with.
(More slash icons plz!)
Well I don't do male slash often because it's not so much my thing but that shot - THAT SHOT HOW COULD I NOT - holy cow where's the fan fiction to go with it? Now I'm going to keep my eyes open for my subtext-y slash-y opportunities.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:47 pm (UTC)Ha-ha! *insert Leslie Knope's smiling face as she eats waffles*
Well I don't do male slash often because it's not so much my thing but that shot - THAT SHOT HOW COULD I NOT - holy cow where's the fan fiction to go with it? Now I'm going to keep my eyes open for my subtext-y slash-y opportunities.
I know, but I had to say it. The icon is SO CUTE and I love the coloring and the little heart. I adore cute icons for mainly menz who man.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:52 pm (UTC)I love the coloring and the little heart.
Thank you! That was going to be my Hot icon but I needed another one for the Category set (which turned out to be harder than I expected) and when I thought about the heart I just HAD to go there. :D
And since I have Wiffy icons in the AC set it balances nicely.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 02:48 pm (UTC)Congratulations hon, these are all great - and they remind me how much I love The Pack - it's spawned some great fic over the years
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:11 pm (UTC)And the cropped closeup of Cat 1 holds a world of emotion in it.
Thank you! It's a gorgeous image. Aly is all kinds of amazing in this episode.
they remind me how much I love The Pack - it's spawned some great fic over the years
Recommendations? (FYI: I don't love the ending of that episode and the "boys club" like, at all - but I decided to tone down my little rant considerably before posting this. But I'd be interested in well-written fics because I don't come across any. I need to widen my circle of acquaintance I guess?)
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 01:02 pm (UTC)And can I just say that somehow I managed not to notice ‘Crossover’ yesterday – god knows how, because it’s quite breathtaking.
As far hyena recs – hmm. One place I could point you at is my ‘Beastie Boy’ rec list. I have a series of genre based rec lists (inevitabily mainly Xander based), and that one is mainly hyena or vamp Xander, so you might want to take a look there.
However if it helps, the ones that spring to mind are Jane Davitt’s Predatory Acts. Spike does a reccie on the Hellmouth during the Master’s time and happens to run across a possessed Scooby. Naturally the vamp takes his new plaything home, but discovers that sometime toys have teeth. This is just so great and the hyena and the vamp together are beyond hot. The sequel is Preying on my Mind – it’s two years later, and there are some things Xander can’t forget.
Voices Carry by yin_again is way post-Chosen. Spike is bored in LA and keeps seeing things out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it’s his imagination, or maybe not.
And for something fluffy - Harmless Wolf Fun by
I feel very weird about self pimping, but what the hell, here goes. But please don’t feel obliged to read, and if you do, don’t feel obliged to like them! *g*
In Smoke and Mirrors, I wondered what would have been going through Giles’ mind if he’d been on hyena- Xander watching duty instead of Willow. This is short and Gen
And Next Time, was a very early one-shot for me when I tried to get into hyena-Xander’s head at the time he attacked Buffy.
Anyway, those are just a few that come to mind - if you try any of them, I hope you enjoy! :)
no subject
Date: 2015-10-17 04:37 am (UTC)And I just read Next Time and - WOW, so good! You don't pull any punches with that story and the language is astonishing.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-17 11:12 am (UTC)Thanks again for the kind words about Next Time. I'm grinning like crazy here :) - but not in a crazed hyena kind of a way, because that would be bad...
no subject
Date: 2015-10-19 03:06 pm (UTC)Well we can't have that now, can we? :D
you're very welcome; thank you again for the links to great stories!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 02:54 pm (UTC)Gabrielle
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 04:09 pm (UTC)As my beta-Goddess you absolutely have first dibs anyway on anything you like, that goes without saying.
Knowing that these will go to a good home makes it all worthwhile. :D
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 04:13 pm (UTC)THANK YOU!!!!!
Gabrielle
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 03:45 pm (UTC)And the thought about Cordelia... how it never occured to me before? It's really weird that she's missing from this ep.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 04:48 pm (UTC)how it never occured to me before?
It didn't occur to me until the other day when Gabrielle and I were talking about the episode and I suddenly noticed Cordy's absence.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 06:56 pm (UTC)I especially love Hot, Crossover, Contrast, Cat 5, AC 1, AC 2, AC 3, and AC 5
no subject
Date: 2015-10-15 08:06 pm (UTC)Contrast is one of my favorites btw, so I'm tickled you singled it out in particular. And yay to the Angel!Pig love! :D
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 07:11 am (UTC)Wow, you're making me see things in that icon I hadn't even been aware of, thank you! I love when people see things in my work that I don't. But you're absolutely right.
Aly is simply aces in that episode.
The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, October 15
Date: 2015-10-16 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 05:05 am (UTC)WOW!
These are absolutely amazing! Love the top three above the cut the most, the framing on Hot, AC1, 2, and 5 (I'm not in the mood for expressions of anger or confrontation right now), and Alt 2 (a softer, more "fairytale" alternative of AC4). Love, love, love the blue tone and mood of Contrast and Crossover -- I can't stop looking at them.
Thank you so much for sharing!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 06:22 pm (UTC)I really love those teaser images as well. I think crossover and contrast are two of my favorite icons I've made. The blue tones in those two coordinate so well don't they? It wasn't planned at all believe me.
(I'm not in the mood for expressions of anger or confrontation right now)
I couldn't even watch the episode again itself - the screen caps alone were too intense. And I know the feeling, very very much (these were actually difficult for me to do.) And I'm not going to pry but if you wish to talk about anything, here I be.
a softer, more "fairytale" alternative of AC4
I went back and forth on which one to submit!
I think because, growing up I never saw images positive images of LBGT couples and so I have a habit of wanting to give to slash couples the same gauzy romantic effects that Het couples get in the movies etc all the time. Whether or not that actually makes for better icons... (and I'm just shameless and I like bokeh and light textures anyway.)
Thank you so much for commenting!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-18 03:11 am (UTC)Oh, nothing specific, just that there seems to be a lot of negativity going around.
Anyway, wonderful icons!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-18 05:56 pm (UTC)just that there seems to be a lot of negativity going around.
There always is isn't there? People be crazy. Don't let 'em get you down sweetheart. (And there are people who will try.) Your optimism and spirit is such a gift.
And thank you for the compliments!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 11:23 am (UTC)Of course, I will always always adore that "Hot" smirk. I remember seeing it for the first time. My sister and I were floored.
"Crossover" is breathtaking. I can't help but stare at it.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-16 06:09 pm (UTC)BTW and shameless self-promo alert: I think you might also like my caged Xander icon for Whedon_elite
http://whedon-elite.livejournal.com/446406.html
(I have color alts of that but I have to keep them tucked in private until after the voting and then I'll flaunt them.)
aw the poor guy
Right? I feel bad for him - and he'd just been nice to Buffy a few moments earlier so I feel bad for her too. (That's also one more person she wasn't able to save or protect because one girl can't be everywhere. But that's gotta take it's toll - all the ones you knew but couldn't save never mind all the ones you didn't know about.)
The Slash one is totally awesome.
I couldn't resist that one. :D
"Crossover" is breathtaking.
Wow! Thank you so much that just makes my day!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-20 10:45 am (UTC)My absolute faves are crossover and AC1 (your blending is stunning!) but I also love orange, truth, hot, contrast, yellow/blue, C4-5 and AC 2 &4 but they are all terrific! I love seeing your progression as an icon maker - you've always had your own style and you just keep getting better and better with each batch <3
no subject
Date: 2015-10-20 05:33 pm (UTC)Which is to say, don't stop. :D
(your blending is stunning!)
Thanks! I'm super happy with those, more so Crossover; I wish the clarity was a mite better on AC1 - I should have removed all of the text but I was trying to retain some of the "movie poster feel." Lesson learned. I LOVE blending images but I'll do anything I can to avoid intricate masking if possible. (I'm finally watching video tutes on PSE.)
Crossover and Contrast are my favorites in terms of exceeding my own expectations.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-22 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-27 08:51 pm (UTC)Getting the two of them in the shot for a square icon was a bigger challenge than I expected.
love that you included the pig by the way
Yay! Gabrielle and I have dubbed him Angel!Pig or St Herbert. That was one of those goofy ideas that I just had to play with.
Thank you so much for the feedback, hon!