Your Town Cryer - Has Been Falling Down on the Job Lately

[red_satin_doll]

For which there is no good excuse - especially since I'll be away from the 'puter from Wednesday night onward. And there is much to see, much to do, much to promote! So let's get cracking:

Banner by tempertemper Oct 2015

First off, THANK YOU very much to the voters at slayerstillness for awarding my Buffy/DMP icon Best Crop in Round 54 and thank you tempertemper for the pretty pretty banner to go with! And congratulations to sweet_lyri, crazycordy and emmatheslayer for your wins this round!  The theme was "Roy G Biv" and we could submit up to 7 entries, one for each color of the rainbow (hence TT's clever banner design. As per usual I love her font choices here.)

 
My entries 1 - 7.  I was delighted when both 6 and 7 vied with one another in the Best Crop tiebreaker, but genuinely surprised that 7 led by a 2-1 margin. I would have voted for the vamp!Buffy icon myself.  Shows you what I know.

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whedon_elite: Vote for the best of the best out of 32 entries in Challenge 128 "Shades of Grey". Never mind that I haven't voted yet because I'm still making up my mind. (Did I mention there were 32 entries?) I've had a love affair with black and white photography going back decades, so this challenge is particularly pleasing to me - and what a stellar array of entries! (32, count 'em, 32.) Deadline for voting is sometime tomorrow (10/20) so don't delay on this one.

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seasonal_spuffy: The banner poll for Round 18, celebrating the comm's 10th Anniversary, is up! (10 years? Can you dig that?) 16 wonderous entries to choose from. Oh such pretty, pretty things to choose from....! Fortunately you have about a week before the poll is up per teragramm - and can we have a big round of applause for her work on the comm as the Ambassador of Art? But that said, don't wait around until the last minute and then find yourself out of the loop, ok?  (Did I mention it's the 10th Anniversary?)

This banner poll makes me wish there were a friendly, comfy forum where folks could get together and talk about the banners or about making fanart in general - how they were made, the artists' thought processes, the thought processes of voters and constructive critiques. I'm genuinely curious about all of these things and I love to learn from other people. But I know that's difficult to impossible because - 1) I know from personal experience that giving and receiving constructive criticism is a tricksy thing and too few people are versed in the art; leading to the 2) ugly, ugly implosions 3) potential for hurt feelings all around, and finally  4) a lot of our reactions to visual arts are emotional, not intellectual, and fall along the lines of "...but I know what I like."

Thoughts, Gentle Reader?

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btvsats20in20: Deadline for Round 13 is extended to Thursday, Oct 22. So if you have a last-minute jones to jump in, here's your chance. This is a very good thing because bangel_4e is back in the game and I wanna see her Buffy claim - and spikesredqueen's Willow claim. (For once I don't need an extension because I actually finished before the deadline - I think that's a first for me? Never mind that I pulled a few all-nighters *does exhausted happy dance*)

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If you haven't already voted in the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards, you have until October 31st to do so! The list of nominees is long and illustrious and I WOULD NOT wait until the last minute if I were you.

And far be it from me to tell anyone what to vote for but I am more than happy to make suggestions and thus make your life easier (all of the below are safe for general audiences). The below list doesn't reflect everything I voted for by any means; these are simply some of my favorites.

Answering Prayers - velvetwhip (Gabrielle) If you haven't discovered this story yet, you really do owe it to yourself.
Ipseity and Proud Trophies - spuffy_luvr
The Girls in Question - TigerDragon (AO3)
The Sound You Found For Me - punch_kicker15
red turns into green turns into yellow - lionheartedgirl (AO3)
In a Corner of My Soul - dragonyphoenix
Beautiful Butterflies - kikimay
Flight Patterns - eurydice72
Giles and the Mountain - rebcake
Undertow - faithtastic (AO3)
Somewhere Hot and Sharp and Shimmering - aliceinkinkland
Tricks are for Magicians - snogged

And now that you've immersed to overflowing in drama & angst here's some pure, unadulterated comedic fun:
Dirty Deeds - Imrryr (AO3)
blindr dot com, or, the importance of coconut-milk lattes to long-term success - antennapedia (AO3) I don't know this author, I don't ship B/G but this AU take is NOT to be missed.

Pretty much anything by the above-named authors, and also brutti_ma_buoni, rahirah, the_moonmoth and feliciacraft. My apologies to anyone I've overlooked or forgotten here.

A Vague Disclaimer is No One's Friend:

~ DO NOT RE-POST TO OTHER SITES (INCL. FANPOP) OR LJ COMMUNITIES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!

~ Take what  icons you like for personal use but please credit if used :)

~ No hotlinking!

~ Comments however are appreciated :)

~ All artwork by yours truly except where otherwise indicated.

Comments

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks for mentioning my story. And, ah yes, blindr dot com. Thanks for reminding me of this one.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

ah yes, blindr dot com

I think I stumbled on it a few months back (via Summer of Giles?) and it's fabulous isn't it? So many elements I normally don't go for - all human AU, B/G - done to perfection.

[the-moonmoth.livejournal.com]

Ah man thanks for the mention :))) so many good good good stories in this SunnyD round ETA: omg and congrats on your win, how rude if me not to say that first time ;) Are your icons up for grabs or...?

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

My icons are TOTALLY up for grabs! Only occasionally are they "spoken for" and then I'll let you know.

I forgot to add my usual disclaimers to this post( up for personal use, give credit, don't post to fan pop or other archives blah blah bitty blah....) I'll add that now, thank you for the reminder - and the feedback! I love it when my work finds loving homes.

so many good good good stories in this SunnyD round

There were more than a few categories where making a decision was actually painful - I hate having to decide between two or more things I like equally. I love getting prizes and winning but I hate voting.

ETA: good luck at SunnyD!

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Kudos on your award!!!! Thank you again for supporting Answering Prayers. It means the world to me.


Gabrielle

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

It's my pleasure and no less than your work deserves! I truly love Answering Prayers and I hope more people discover it.

[teragramm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the shout out for seasonal spuffy and my work as a mod.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all the work you're doing to make it easy for the rest of us.

Ten years is a pretty big deal, I'd say; and it's great to have someone who actually makes a/w actually in charge of the a/w competition. This fandom is so heavily weighted in terms of fiction, that's it's easy to overlook the visuals - or the very fact that we fell in love with the show (and Spuffy) watching them.

[sandy-s.livejournal.com]

Congrats on your win! I love that icon btw... :o) Happy for you!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you sweetie!

[feliciacraft.livejournal.com]

Congrats and thanks for the mention! A fan's work is never done! ;)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It's a full time job but somebody's gotta make sure people see and read the truly good stuff!

[kikimay]

Thanks for mentioning my story and congrats on the winning! Your violet icons just kick ass. (Also icon #2! The clarity of it is beautiful and Buffy's face. BUFFY'S FACE *grabs shoulders* *shakes*)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon! If you like #2 you might enjoy the alt versions (which I haven't posted yet but will let you know when I do.)

[snogged.livejournal.com]

Thank you for mentioning my story.
*hugs*

Congrats on your icon wins!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

How could I NOT mention it? :D

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the mention! I'm so pleased you enjoyed the story. I didn't expect it to connect with people the way it has. Congrats on all the exciting art things you have going and thanks for boosting the signal on the Seasonal Spuffy banners! There's so much tremendous art this round!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

We never know what people will like, do we? (My favorites of my icons and banners are rarely "fan favorites".) It's a truly wonderful story, I'm happy to give it a shout-out.

thanks for boosting the signal on the Seasonal Spuffy banners!

Thank you for helping keep it alive and kicking! This is only my second round but I'm getting the vibe from everyone else that this amount of banner entries is not the norm?

[aliceinkinkland.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks so much for mentioning my story! I'm so glad you liked it :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I do indeed!

I wish I could have given a proper shout out to everything on that list I loved but then it would have gotten obnoxious.

[baphrosia.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's me! Thank you!

And yay to you on your wins!

Did you make any of the Seasonal Spuffy banners? I was trying to decide which might be yours (I already voted, but I guess we shouldn't out who's who until voting is over). They're all gorgeous, but that last one, though. That's a picture worth a thousand thousand words. So much subtext.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Did you make any of the Seasonal Spuffy banners?

Nuh-uh, not sayin' until the vote is finished.

but that last one, though. That's a picture worth a thousand thousand words. So much subtext.

I will say that I almost voted for that one, and I have no problem with that one being the winner for this round - it deserves to be. I don't think an original painting has ever been the banner for the comm? I definitely cannot take credit for that one, but it's amazing. The composition and content are amazing.