red_satin_doll

....because HERE be 3 tiebreakers for Round 15 of

btvsats20in20. And we all know how

feliciacraft feels about tiebreaker voting but darn it, it's a happening thing and if it leads to more of her brilliantly satirical stanzas I make no apologies.

And HERE be voting for Challenge 135 "Red Heads" of

whedon_elite; 33 - count' em, 33! - gorgeous icons to choose from for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Best Crop, Best Color and Most Creative. Most rounds of WE lately haven't gotten enough entries to warrent the full voting slate; this time everyone came out to play and they brought their A-game.

Voting is such sweet sorrow.

And totally off-topic:

* I've read Buffy comic S10 #23 and overall I quite enjoyed it. I may at some point even choose to discuss it.

* Things I didn't know I needed in life until I saw them: I came across two Orphan Black/Buffy videos today on YouTube by Orphan Crack:
-- Orphan Black credits Buffy-style by Orphan Crack; spoilers for all three seasons.
I love how the credits list the characters rather than the actors. (Although it would be funny to see "tatiana maslany" repeated)
-- Orphan Black + Buffy musical episode sets the OB characters into the episode "Once More With Feeling", specifically the number "I've got a
feeling" and it works suprisingly well. The biggest giggle is Felix being assigned Xander's lines.

Banner for

lookslikerain,

whedon_elite Challenge 134 "Levels"; and banner for

slayerstillness Challenge 60. Thank you to everyone who voted my icon Most Creative!

sweet_lyri won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, Best Crop and Best Color;

crazycordy and

tempertemper earned Mod's Choice and

teragramm was awarded the oh-so-prestigous* Banner Maker's Choice for her witty and fierce Dawn icon:

Teaser:

1 - 2

#1 - Lens and optical flare light effects by daWiiZ on DeviantArt. The challenge this round was "levels" so I layered two or three light textures over one another, then created the repeat in ipiccy's collage setting. I also wanted a background that would suit the outer space setting of

lookslikerain's Firefly/Serenity icons.

#2 - The base image of torn paper and the grunge overlay are by AmaranthusCaudatus on DeviantArt. Thank you

teragramm for the link to this resource!

*Who am I making fun of here? Myself, obviously.

Header banners for

females20in20.

mylengrave requested banners from members so that she can switch out a new one every month:

Teaser:

All banners 990x300, click to view full-size.

3 - 4
Tatiany Maslany, Alison Brie and Sarah-MIchelle Gellar

5 - 6

7 - 8

*************

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 :)
~ Icons with blank space can be personalized upon request, they are not "bases".
~ If you wish to personalize because you have PS and more font or fx options than I do, by all means please ask first.

~ All artwork by yours truly except where otherwise indicated.

Next projects on my plate: icons for

whedon_elite,

slayerstillness and

actress_ic;
fiction posters for

velvetwhip,

kerkevik_2014 and

dragonyphoenix

1) For

slayerstillness Challenge 60 vote for your favorite icon for the third place position.

BTW, did you vote at

btvsats20in20 Round 15 yet? Good. Now have you signed up for Round 16 yet?

2) And by the by, did you know that

dragonyphoenix posted the artwork she commissioned from me for her excellent Anya/Snap crossover fic, The Letters (84 Charing Cross Road)? (TTH post here.) But you will have to read the story to find it because it's intergrated into the text. And FYI, the actual text of the artworks is entirely her concept. I just followed marching orders.

At AO3 she also included a marvelous story banner by Restfield aka

rbfvid.

3) My friend

kerkevik_2014 has been writing up a storm - a very quiet storm that snuck up on me and took me entirely by surprise. His latest is a Buffy/Faith fic, "Casablanca" (not to be confused with

shapinglight's fic) that is poignant and mournful and like all of his work is a prose-poem unlike anyone else's.

Last year I sort of asked him to write Buffy more often (actually I may have whined about it a little, but never mind that.) He's come through while remaining true to himself in his own beautiful way. This story is actually part of the birthday gift for

elisi, the 22'verse that includes stories of Spike and Illyri, Riley Finn, Xander and Buffy, etc. Also worth a look - a charming, gentle Tara, Dawn fic (post The-Gift): Like Seeing Your Very Own Self Looking Back at You.

See, not every post I put up is longer than the Constitution. Some are only as long as the Gettysburg Address. "Short and sweet" is a relative thing.

Or, the evolution of my New Year's greetings:

1) Here's to a happy new year!
2) It has to be better than last year?
3) Let's hope it doesn't suck.

On the other hand: Viola Davis is looking F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S on the cover of InStyle Magazine. It had this cover by Jan Welters at the doctor's office instead of the newstand version; and it looks more like the cover of Vogue circa 1977 than InStyle. I normally wouldn't line the bottom of a birdcage with that rag, but DAMN, that photoshoot. That woman.

******

Moving on.......It's been a while since I did a good old-fashioned promo post isn't it?

fassy is starting an new icontest comm and is seeking a mod or two to help run it. (There is already one volunteer but I imagine back-up can't hurt. And for the record, I saw Star Wars (the original of course) in the theater back in 19-mumblety-something, so I am still not used to seeing the name "JJ Abrams" in the same sentence with Star Wars.(Given the nightmare f**kfest that was the "prequels", I think I can learn to deal.)

Speaking of icontests:

*

whedon_elite: Icons for Challenge 135, "Red Hair" are due Sunday, January 24th by 3 pm EST. Make sure to scroll down the page and check out
the fabulous entries already submitted by

harlequinss_s,

teragramm,

all_malocks,

dixon,

emmatheslayer and

sweet_lyri. And I do mean "fabulous"; everybody's brought their A-game. At least in this little corner of the world 2016 is off to a roaring start.

*

slayerstillness: Challenge 61, "Reach Out and Touch Somebody" open for entries now through Friday Jan 29 midnight at your time zone.

*

btvsats20in20: Voting is open for Round 15 NOW through Friday January 22nd. Be sure to cast your votes for THEMES, CATEGORY, and ARTIST'S CHOICE.

Make sure to click ALL the buttons before you're done, and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask the mods. There are about -19-20 votes cast right now which is super but more would be great! I don't think we've ever hit at least 30 votes in a given round but I always think "ok this is the round..." (Back to the Optimist vs Realist conundrum and in my heart I always want the Optimist to win out.)

And because you've made it this far here are some lovely parting gifts: alts and extras from Round 15 plus new alts/ extras from Round 13. I also have a thinky thought or two along the way:

Teasers:

Round 13, "The Pack"

1 - 3

4 - 7

Crossovers with the movie "Possession" starring SMG.

Round 15: (Buffy-heavy at first. Of course. This is me, this is my brain on the Buffyverse.)

8 - 14

15 - 21

22 - 28
After I cleaned the cap up I finally saw that the picture on locker behind Buffy is vintage comic book art, possibly a blow-/print of a Roy Lichtenstein piece, with the SDHS "Razorbacks" pennant covering the eyes of a pretty blonde woman in the picture. Meta commentary on the storyline or just an inside joke? The fact that we see Cordy blindfolded later and no one can "see" Marcy Ross suggests either reading is possible. It seems to coincidental to be a, well, a coincidence.

29 - 34

35 - 40

41 - 45
The flashbacks in the episode look great as screencaps but they're hard to work with; they're overlit as opposed to the rest of the early seasons material, which tends to be underlit.

46 - 49

Also, I need to take some tutorials on working with skin tones for people of color, especially dark tones and not turn beautiful deep browns into weird shades of orange-red, or flat black. (We've just acquired PS btw, so I'm still fumbling along in ipiccy.) #49: for the theme "green" I thought, well, I'll just tint the entire icon to go with the chalkboard behind her. Except that it doesn't look very good. Green skin? Usually associated with sickness or aliens? I should have known better. Plus, "black" skin reacts differently to tinting than "white" skin does.*

But it's the second association that bothers me. Our culture has a nearly long history of excluding black characters and actors from science fiction, horror and fantasy in literature, film and tv, except as background filler or literal "space aliens", demons and monsters. People of color as people just did not exist, with count-on-one-hand exceptions.

This may be changing now, I guess - slowly - but this is the reality I grew up with and "it's starting to get better" (by whatever yardstick you want to measure "better") doesn't undo decades of absence. So it just makes me uncomfortable, even if I don't "mean anything by it", I'd rather not go in that direction.**

* I realize I'm still using phrases like "black" and "white" that were au courant when I was growing up...in the 1970's and '80's.

** Using my personal comfort as the yardstick here is arguably problematic.

*****

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 :)
~ Icons with blank space can be personalized upon request, they are not "bases". If you wish to personalize because you have PS and more font or fx options
than I do, by all means ask.

~ All artwork by yours truly except where otherwise indicated.

A collection of "random" pieces I have loved this year - click images or go to original links to view full size:
(ETA: This was a post that was meant to go on the

buffyversetop5 and I hit the send button a couple of minutes too late. *Note to self: learn time management techniques!*)

Gift to me by the amazing spikesredqueen February 2015

1) Birthday Banner for me by

spikesredqueen (February)
SRQ knows my love of the Buffyverse ladies. This pairs beautifully with

teragramm's WInged Buffy banner, no? And well-done manips never fail to impress me (because I've seen far too many bad ones).

MORE after the cut:

2) I Walk Alone art picspam set and banners by

comlodge for

seasonal_spuffy Round 18 (May)

comlodge took the "simple" flipbook concept and turned into something incredibly sophisticated; then she converted merged the images at my request into a single banner for my LJ. I know of few artists (if any?) who can combine luminousity and grunge effects in a single image.

3) Look Both Ways by

boiiko - the rightful winner of the

seasonal_spuffy Round 18 Banner Poll, and the only banner for the SS banner poll I've seen done in a hand-painted style. (It was actually done on computer, but it sure fooled me.) Almost elegantlly spare, the composition is deceptively "simple" and packed with layers of complicated emotions. More, please.

4) Out of My MInd from the btvs episode poster series by no-literally on tumblr. This is an ongoing project and every one of the posters is a masterpiece of graphic design; but I chose this one to display because of the incredibly clean, simple graphic that, like the other images on this list, is deceptively complex. Look close at the text and you'll see Spike's dream of kissing Buffy, floating above Spike's head - the dream and the dreamer visualized.

5) Wrecked from the btvs episode poster series by maradyeries on tumblr. , Haunting, jaw-droppingly gorgeous work in the style of "modern-day aesthetic" gifspams popular on tumblr right now.

And to celebrate a very special, generous, kind, supportive, incredibly talented person who is a dear friend, a superb beta-Muse and dedicated to her craft, cover art for

velvetwhip's fic, Civilian (Willow, Riley) plus icons.

She just posted the banner itself here along with links to other fabulous birthday presents she received. (Such as

angelskuuipo's fabulous Joyce/Angel fic "Hello From the Other Side" which has an absolutely brilliant "Why didn't I think of that? Why didn't anyone think of that?" premise that already has my imagining rewriting the entire canon to accomodate it. But I digress:)

Poster for Civilian v.1 (2016); shown full-size 650x500 pixels. Click image to go to

velvetwhip's story.

Final version cover art for Civilian by Velvetwhip made for her birthday Jan 14 2016 story link http://velvetwhip.livejournal.com/1625058.html DO NOT TAKE

More banners and icons after the cut.

Icons here are snaggable, the posters are not.

Alt versions 2 & 3 (reduced, click for full-size)

v. 2 cover art for Civilian by Velvetwhip made for her birthday Jan 14 2016 story link http://velvetwhip.livejournal.com/1625058.html DO NOT TAKE

v. 3 cover art for Civilian by Velvetwhip made for her birthday Jan 14 2016 story link http://velvetwhip.livejournal.com/1625058.html DO NOT TAKE

Icons 4 10:

Riley Finn icon from cover art for Civilian btvs fanfiction by velvetwhip made Jan 13 2016

Riley Finn and Tara Maclay icon from cover art for Civilian btvs fanfiction by velvetwhip made Jan 13 2016

Tara Maclay icon from cover art for Civilian btvs fanfiction by velvetwhip made Jan 13 2016

Willow Rosenberg icon from cover art for Civilian btvs fanfiction by velvetwhip made Jan 13 2016

I've wanted to make a poster for this story ever since I read it in June 2014; a general concept came to mind but I lacked the know-how to make it come together. I made an icon for the story last spring for Gabrielle using the same photo of Blucas. I really love that picture so surprisingly that was the easy part of the poster. The hard part was - everything else. I always knew I wanted "ghostly" images of Buffy and Tara hovering around Riley and WIllow because Civilian is a metaphorical (not literal in Buffy's case) ghost story; Willow and Riley's lives have been affected and are still shaped by the memories of their past lovers. Riley is a bit more melancholy here than in the story itself but the image means to imply the Riley that's hinted at offscreen more than him in the present moment.

Finding the right photo of Aly was the single element that held this project up the longest. The story takes place ten years after Chosen so I didn't want to use a photo from the series; I wanted something with gravitas as befitted the story and Willow's frame of mind, but I couldn't find one that had the right look for Aly and was of sufficient quality to work with. For someone with two major long-time tv series and several movies under her belt, she's incredibly hard to find photos for that fit the bill. I still haven't come across a fansite for her with a decent photo gallery. (Excluding sites like popSugar, etc.) She either tends to be photographed smiling or the few photos/screencaps I could find with the right mood were mediocre quality. The shot I ended up using is a cap from season 9 of HIMYM.

Resources: Photo of Marc Blucas via The Chosen Two (can also be found at Marc Blucas Source), photographer unknown. BtVS screencaps from Leave Me The White and Bloodqueen. Optical flares (light textures) on poster #3 by daWIIZ (Bessamer Azemi) on DeviantArt.

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 :) Posters 1-3 NOT snaggable.

~ No hotlinking!

~ Comments however are appreciated :)

~ All artwork by yours truly except where otherwise indicated.

So, I'm stalled on Day 3....whilst the Snowflake Challenge is at Day 9. Pretend to be shocked by my sad inability to do a simple daily meme. And bless the mods for this: Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

But first things first: THANK YOU THANK YOU to the amazingly generous benefactor who responded to my Day 2 wish and extended both my paid account and my extra icon space! This time I do know who my patron is, and I am overwhelmed by their kindness. I honestly didn't expect anyone to respond to my request, never mind so soon!

Second things second: THANK YOU THANK YOU to whomever nominated my fiction posters for

herself_nyc's Closure is a Silly Word and

spuffy_luvr's Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are in Round 11 of the

rwsawards! (I also know who nominated Closure and I can guess who nominated Come out Come Out, but I'm not certain.) There's plenty of spaces left on the nomination sheet, so make some deserving authors and artists happy! The nomination period is open until February 3rd.

Speaking of the poster for "Closure", let's get back to the Snowflake Challenge whilst I pretend to play "catch up":

Day 03

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

2015 was the year I think I began to come into my own as an artist. My technical skills have a ways to go but considering I'm still working in ipiccy and not Photoshop, overall I can say "not bad".

For this post I'm going to concentrate on my banners and posters and not on icons, which require their own post. I've got a few items to show off, I hope you don't mind? I tend to think in terms of groupings, projects and "genres" rather than individual pieces. In no particular order:

1) Awards Banners for Round 6 of

btvsats20in20 (January 2015): my first major art project of the year proper. More posters than awards banners, these were far more technically complex than any I'd attempted previously as I pushed myself to learn new techiques. And I think they are more "artistic" than any I'd done previously, if in a somewhat self-conscious way. I wanted to create awards banners that were works of art in their own right. I think this project helped determine the stylistic direction my artwork has taken this year. It also pushed me to depict characters and pairings I rarely do; in fact, the banner for

sweet_lyri may be the first time I'd created a romantic Bangel image.

Right click all images to view full-size.
All artwork by me unless otherwise noted. Icons on award banners property of their respective creators. Not snaggable.

FINAL_v1_AngelthemesbannerfortempertemperJan2015byredsatindoll_zps48a9ea45

Harmonybannerv3.1_starrynightthemesACwinners_byredsatindollJan2015

1 - 5

*****

2) I'm very pleased with all the artwork I made this past year for

seasonal_spuffy Rounds 18 and 19. The Spuffy Hands Banner is one the my favorite artworks I've ever made, I think I actually exceeded my expectations with that one and made something truly artistic. My banner for Round 19 isn't quite as "artistic" and is probably a little more traditional but it gave me an opportunity to hone my skills in terms of layers, textures and creating a convincing manip. And then the fiction posters for Round 19: the aforementioned "Closure" and

shapinglight's "Casablanca" . "Closure" is one of the few fiction posters I've made that has no alternate version, I made it at the very last hour of Round 19, but I was able to produce so quickly because I started with a draft of one of the alternates for Casablanca. Being able to "reuse, renew, recycle" is one of the benefits of digital artwork.

Round 18 spring 2015 entry banner 3 lyrics by Bastille

unsigned final entry for round 19 banner comp seasonal spuffy autumn 2015n

closureposterforherselfnycround19seasonalspuffy1200x960_signedRSD.png

6 - 10

*****

3) Fiction posters for

buffy_genfic: Each of these stories is very different to the others and I tried to capture what was special about each one, as well as convey what they all have in common - loving attention to the women of the Buffyverse, and each of these authors skillfully turns "heartwarming" into "heartbreaking" and back again. The also aforementioned poster for

spuffy_luvr's "Come Out Come Out" , actually isn't my favorite; I can see a lot of things I would have done differently, although I'm still pleased that the print and texture on the scrunchy look convincing. I'm happier with my other efforts: posters and icon for "Who's That Girl" by

velvetwhip , "Show you the World" for

aliceinkinkland - my favorite detail is the fact that the jeep actually looks like it's on that road and not a separate image that was pasted on top; and another poster for

spuffy_luvr, "Choose 1 for Ready, 2 for Not Ready" :

buffyskateficposter1.2_byRSDforspuffyluvr900x720.png

whosthathgirlposterforvelvetwhip_v3.9a500sq_RSD2015.png

showyoutheworldposterforaliceinkinklandaugust2015_rsd_1.2_600x402.png

Alt 9 for spuffyluvr round 2 buffy genfic exchange sept 2015

11 - 14

*****

4) Character Posters of Willow and Buffy for

spuffy_luvr's Ipseity I challenged myself to adhere to roughly the same size and compositional format for both. The poster of Buffy is a bit flashier and more dramatic, and the symbolism far more obvious (the fracturing of Buffy's image, the sense of entrapment), which is what I was going for, but personally I prefer the more subtle, melancholy one for Willow. I love how the textures in that one remind me of a vintage handkerchief or tablecloth and give the image a quiet "domesticity", while the sigils to the left add an exotic contrast and yet also balance the ghostly image of Buffy.

Poster 2 for Ipseity by Spuffy Luvr Willow variant

Poster made for Buffy chapters of Spuffy gen fic Ipseity by Spuffy luvr 2015

15 - 16

*****

5) Other awards banners: This past year I've made banners for

btvsats20in20,

slayerstillness,

whedon_elite and

character20n20; as well as unofficial "commissioned" nomination banners for

wicked_awards. And I discovered this year that as much as I enjoy making icons, I love making posters and banners. The larger space gives me more scope to play. (The fact that I've had to start wearing bifocals for the first time this past year undoubtedly has something to do with it. Larger image = easier to see.) And whereas an icon is like a haiku, where every single word must be absolutely perfect, larger images allow for more "mistakes" (that in the end may not be mistakes at all.) Making banners on a regular basis has been a fabulous way to practice, practice, practice, and someone ends up with a lovely image to show off on their own journals.

17 - 23

FINAL2_kwrittenbannermostcreativebyredsatindoll_SS39

3rdplacetierua1412banner533x338_byrsd_WErd113_final.png

we120_bestcropbannerwithicon1.2FINAL.png

we123_bestcropbanner_doubledutchess400x300_1.4.png

trumpetflowerbanner350x272modschoiceteragramm1.4.png

24 - 30

nomineebuttonbuffywickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.1final.png

therelishcollectionbannerforkerkevik2014_style2.1_byRSD2015_550x268.png

******

6) Last but most certainly not least:

velvetwhip's Answering Prayers was one of the projects that defined the year in fandom for me. The poster itself earned Runner Up in the

wicked_awards; I'm grateful for that and at the same time I'm still very dissatisfied with how the image turned out. It was definitely a learning experience (and it led to a commission for aadler's "All Ye Who Enter".)

answeringprayersbannerbyrsd2015_flamesversion1.4signed_zpsdt5fm2g4.PNG

version 2 as requested by the author August 2015

ETA: Poster for aadler's "All Ye Who Enter".

Of greater importance was the process of being a guest pencil (beta) for the story, the journey that Gabrielle took me on with Joyce, and the journey Gabrielle and I took together is something I'll be forever grateful for. And the story fills a real need: fanfiction that examines Joyce Summers and allows her center stage, that makes up for the way she was shortchanged in canon, is something that I've hungered for ever since I watched the series and it's all too rare, too difficult to find. Which seems odd given the number of mothers and/or maturing women in this fandom. And as usual with Gabrielle's work, I love that the story twists and deconstructs romance novel tropes and kept me guessing every step of the way. I'm incredibly proud to have had even a tiny part in bringing this story to fruition.

Reading Gabrielle's response to the Day 9 challenge: I fully intend to write another Joyce-centric story made my day. Possibly my year. That's how much I want her to write more Joyce-fic.

Day 04

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Draft a critical essay about a particular media. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of a Broadway show, a movie, a concert, a poetry reading, a museum trip, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Compose some limericks, haikus, free-form poetry, 5-word stories. Document a particular bit of real person canon. Take some pictures. Draw a stick-figure comic. Create something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I tried to fill

kikimay day 2 request for some amusing Buffybot banners. And what I came up with sucked rotten goose eggs, IMO. But Kiki would like to see them anyway and she has a habit of seeing the worth in icons I've rejected. However I also came up with some Michelle Trachenberg icons that I think are pretty snazzy and Kiki has spoken admiringly of MT's beauty so I hope she likes some of these:

32 - 34

35 - 39

40 - 44

See? The MT ones are much, much better than the Buffybot ones. You were well and truly warned.

Day 05

Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback. If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback.

Some works I've left feedback for in the past few days include Displacement and The Starfish by

spuffy_luvr on Elysian Fields, Chapter 17 of Dreams and Mirrors by

kikimay, feet been draggin' cross the ground by Celaenos, Go to Sleep by

evil_little_dog, Empty Hearts and Heavy Hands by Dactylgirl on EF; and in the art department I've left feedback for

comlodge's absolutely stunning self-portraits and

crazycordy's The Zeppo icon set for

btvsats20in20 Round 15. (And as it happens

crazycordy's birthday is today, so Happy Birthday and many more to come!)

And that's more than enough for one post, I should think.

I am participating in the Snowflake Challenge (on Dreamwidth) for the very first time - or trying to at any rate. I've never been much good at these "Post something every day" challenges, so let's see how this goes! The image below is a "static" image btw, not a link to the site because I can't get the link-y version to work, so clicking it will get you nowhere fast. *le sigh*

Day 01

In your own space, talk about why you are doing the Fandom Snowflake Challenge? What drew you to it as a participant? What do you hope to accomplish by doing these challenges? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ok this one is easy: I'm participating because it looked like fun last year, and because

velvetwhip encouraged me to do so this year. I don't think I mean to "accomplish" anything in particular except to see how many of these days I can actually cover. I usually avoid memes and daily posting types of things.

Day 2

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

This is gonna get slightly "political" so bear with me. My favorite part of this post is

akamine_chan's extremely astute observation: Asking for things is hard. We're socialized to not ask for things, and in a lot of ways I think that's not necessarily a good thing. We feel guilt and shame when we ask, and that makes us less likely to ask for help, for care and consideration and kindness, for respect, when we all deserve those things.I think this is spot-on.

I tend to think of this as an American tendency but perhaps it's a "modern" tendency - pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Be entirely self-sufficient. Don't admit to weakness. It's American "rugged individualism" writ large, but it's also useful to super-capitalism: instead of people living together in extended families we've been conditioned to believe that everyone living in their own "nuclear family" is the one right and true way to live. Everybody in their own home with their own tv, their own radio, their own computer and their own washing machine, etc means more stuff to sell, sell sell and keep the almightly GDP going. And even if you are receiving help or aid of some sort, we're conditioned to be ashamed of it, ashamed of ourselves as "failures".

ETA: A very very kind benefactor came through and granted my wish already with an extension of my paid account through 2018 AND even more icon space through the next year! I am just stunned and speechless beyond anything except to say THANK YOU to them. THANK YOU.

And thank you to everyone who I know would have done if you had the resources. I'm just overwhelmed by the love and support I've received here. And people wonder why I hang out in fandom.

And in keeping with the theme of being ashamed to ask for stuff, I do actually have one wish and this really makes me cringe to ask. The paid LJ membership that someone gifted me with a year ago expires on Jan 12; and I'm pretty sure that the extra icon space that someone else gifted me with will disappear on that date and I'll be back down to 6 icon spaces. I had assumed by this point in time that I would be working again and would be able to renew it on my own, but I simply can't justify even that small outlay when there are things like rent and groceries to cover. The only part of the paid membership I really do take advantage of is the extra icon gallery space. I feel really weird about asking if anyone would consider gifting me with another year's paid membership, but I that's exactly what I'm asking for. *gulp* I would be most grateful. (And please not at the expense of your own food, rent, etc.)

Barring that, some help in selecting and paring down my icons would be most appreciated. But I'll probably do a separate post on that as I haven't had time to think about what ones I would keep.

Beyond that, I always want more kindness and understanding towards Buffy Summers, and fics that don't portray her as simply the accessory for a supporting male character, or a stone cold bitch who exists only to be punished. I'm always on the look-out for more Buffy and Dawn fics that is about the sisters and again, not about a man in the center, and in fact 2015 saw some really wonderful Summers Sisters fic; so I'm hopeful that there's more of an appreciation of their relationship. I'm also hopeful that more folks are inspired by

velvetwhip's Answering Prayers and explore the character of Joyce Summers in ways that canon didn't bother to, and her relationship to her daughter. Spuffy fics that don't bash Willow or Drusilla? Yes please. Buffy and Tara friendship fics? Bring it on. Basically, anything that gives more face-time to the interrelationships of the women of the Buffyverse, not just for slashy porn and not to justify how "good" a male character is.

And I always wish for the various fandom factions and shipper factions to lay down arms, stop attacking each other, and see just how much we all have in common. We all want the same damn things for our beloved babies. We're all hurting over the things we were denied. Rather than attack each other, let's look for common ground - and attack TPTB who look down on fans with smug satisfaction and superiority whilst depending on us for their livelihood. 'kay?

So we made it to the flip side - Happy 2016, my friends! May it be better than 2015. (I say that every year. It never is better, but I always hope anyway.)

This was my "last hurrah" of 2015 (Good-bye old year, I won't miss you. At all.) and my first hurrah of 2016, for

btvsats20in20 Round 15.
Plus a special treat for the Giles/Angel shippers in the house! (Anyone?)

Teasers:

10 Themes
Close Crop	Red + White	Pastel	Surprise	B&W + Quote

Provided Texture	Green	Hair	Light Texture	Peaceful

5 Category \|SILVER & GOLD
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5

5 Artist's Choice
AC 1	AC 2	AC 3	AC 4	AC 5

For the first time ever, I attempted "slashy" Giles/Angle icons. Actually, this would be my first ever m/m slash-y* icons, period. I'm surprised that Giles/Angel isn't more of a "thing". Somewhere in the world I am sure there's a website filled with G/A fic of the two of them screwing each other senseless, but I haven't come across it. Not that I want to, tbh. (This may be a sign of the End of Days. Remember to pack a toothbrush.)
Enjoy - I think?

1 - 6

7 - 11

12 - 13

* I actually hate the words "slash" and "femmeslash". I know where they originate in this context but I think it's time to retire them. And yet, saying "my first gay male icons" doesn't quite sound right either.

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.

And for my very last fandom award and icon challenge of 2015 it's only fitting that the marvelous

tempertemper made the banner:

Banner by tempertemper for slayerstillness on LJ Dec 2015 - my last award of 2015

My Entries & Alts:

1 - 5

My original intent was to only use caps amoung the examples Starry provided; it didn't quite end up that way. Nor did I recall planning on making them so consistent color-wise. I did want to use unsual or rarely used caps as much as possible and I think I succeeded, especially with the two images from Where the Wild Things Are. The girlish pigtails bely the fact that she is someone who possesses a great deal of power and knowledge passed on by her mother and the women of her family. Tara's own power and knowledge are terribly underplayed after S4 and this is something I will never be happy about. Because it ends up being a double-whammy of the show's "issues with powerful women".

6 - 12

If I could resubmit these, I'd switch out #6 for #5; the rest I'm satisfied with.

You know the drill:

~ 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.

To celebrate her 10th anniversary as an icon artist,

fassy offered to make icons for a certain number of folks, and I was lucky enough to be the last person to make the deadline for requests. I asked for Buffy and/or Katniss (two of my favorite fictional ladies). I loved Catching Fire (the movie) and felt that Katniss was Buffy's spiritual heir.*

THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH! I adore these!

All icons below by fassy / destruction_box ; #1 - 4 not snaggable.

1 - 4

All the icons have now been posted at her graphics comm

destruction_box. Check out all 156 gems. Icons # 1- 4 are the ones she made especially for me and I LOVE them. I wasn't very specific about what I wanted; apparently I mentioned a maternal vibe (see the "spiritual heir" comment above)? She went with that, but in such a way that 1 & 2 are very open to interpretation. The vibe I get could be read as parallels, as mirrors; as sisters, even in a romantic sense, if one wanted to. I love the light, the glow and the softness of all 4 of these. The way Fassy balances softness with sharpness to avoid a hard, aritificial, hyperrrealistic quality is stunning. I love the warm/cool color balance in #2. And with 3 & 4, I'm an absolute sucker for work that can make monochrome palettes glow. And you know my love of sepia tones and effects.

#1 - 4 are not snaggable; but 5 - 7 are; I couldn't resist snagging these alts as well:

5 - 7

* Close, loving and fiercely loyal relationship with a younger sister who is really smart and cool in her own right? Check. Willing to die for said sister? Check. Skilled fighter? Check? Emotionally traumatized reluctant warrior who "soldiers on" regardless because she is needed? Check. Frequent thoughts of running away from her duty? Check. Uncomfortable relationship with a "sister warrior" who is far more comfortable with her own sexuality, the dark to the protagonist's light? Check. In the middle of a romantic triangle/quadrangle? Check. Turning against the patriarchial institution that tries to control her? Check. Am I forgetting anything?

P.S.: I haven't read the books, but I'm not bothered by spoilers.

P.S.S: For the record I'm actually a Katniss/Finnick shipper. I mean, their tension was off the charts in Catching Fire (the movie) and reminded me of a certain Slayer her bleached blond vampire lover. Ok, I know Finnick marries Annie - but there's still something of Spike in his devotion to the women in his life, particularly his "mother/mentor", as well as his bad boy persona that's just a cover for a heart of gold.

Whereas Peeta is kind of Riley - the decent guy who is the "college" romance, as opposed to the childhood sweetheart (Angel/Gale.) Ok, it's not perfect match but close enough. It's inspiration, not a carbon copy.

shapinglight mentioned that #7 & 8 of the artwork I made for her fic "Third Wheel" looked Christmas card-like (thanks to vintage card graphics from The Graphics Fairy) and, well, this happened:

christmascard1a_darlaangelturninggalwaybecomingframed600x552.png

Yes I considered adding a blood spatter or two but decided to "stay classy" this time. You're welcome.

And that's all the Christmas-y fluff you're going to get out of me this year, Gentle Reader.

"Third Wheel" (Buffy/Angel, Darla/Angel) is Glassdarkly (aka

shapinglight)'s entry in the 2015 IWRY Marathon, and inspired an art binge.

These banners in turn provided the inspiration for my icon set in

slayerstillness Challenge 57.

This is the second story by

shapinglight I've made posters for; the first being posters for Casablanca, for Round 19 of

seasonal_spuffy.

Teasers:

icon inspired by Third Wheel by Glassdarkly for 2015 IWRY Marathon

Click to view full-size (except icon #9)

1 - 2)

Buffy_2x21_B1_007lmtw_buffydarlablend2.2.1P__framed705x669RSD.png

705 x 669 each

3)

665 x 588

Confession (and warning for Angel-unfriendly thoughts): A year ago I said I "couldn't" do Bangel art. I've already proven myself wrong on that count, but I think it's significant that the primary power dynamic in this story - or at least the most intereting one to me - is not Buffy/Angel, or Darla/Angel but Buffy and Darla. I'm surprised by how few fics I've read draw on the parallels the series made between Buffy and Darla right from the opening scenes of WTTH (but then, I'm not a Bangel shipper so it may well be that there's more out there than I realize.)

If anything, the least interesting aspect of "Third Wheel" is, for me, Angel himself. He's a - well, a bit of a mope, and frankly just a little self-centered. (HIs first response to Buffy's nightmarish dilemma - and it is horrifying for both Buffy and Darla - is violence, then brooding and tears, as if he were the one most affected, not she. But to be fair, he does rally and prove himself to be the better man at the end.) Sometimes I have a hard time understanding why two such interesting, clever, powerful women as Buffy and Darla were drawn to him.

"Third Wheel" actually reminds me that I'm really not sure I ship Buffy with any of her canon lovers; it also adds weight to the argument that Darla, not Buffy, is Angel's "true love".

Without (hopefully) giving too much away,

shapinglight's description of how the situation initially affects Darla reminds me of how it feels when I feel an epileptic seizure coming on, and I love how that specificity of feeling, and the precision of her language and the details, give the weight and substance of "realism" to a fantastical story.

Lobby cards:

4 - 5 )

388 x 300 298 x 401

6 - 8 below are what I consider the "alt" versions (which sounds a little nicer than "rejects" doesn't it?)

6)

550 x 750

7 - 8)

thirdwheelforglassdarklybecomingframed3a_600x552RSD.png

thirdwheelforglassdarklybecomingearshotframed4_600x552RSD.png

600 x 552 each

9)

And of course, an icon to go with.

Sources:

The background textile in #1, 2 & 7 a detail of an 18th Century bodice in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute.
Vintage card "frame" in #7 & 8 courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

Black filigree layer in #4 by scoobyatemysnax for burnedbreads

Check out my Resources post for screencap sources.
Regretfully, I've forgotten the original source of the gold frame in #1, 2 & 5.

********************************************

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.

My set for Round 14 of

btvsats20in20.
Beta'd by the fantabulous

velvetwhip
Thanks to

bangel_4e for allowing me a small extension due to illness.

Teasers:

10 Themes
Desperate	In the Clouds	Enemy	Handwritten	Nose Down

Negative Space	Numbers	Safe	Circle	Kiss*

5 Category \|HORROR
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5

5 Artist's Choice
AC 1	AC 2	AC 3	AC 4	AC 5

* There was no "kiss" in the episode so I used the next best thing.

The Cordy icons were some of the most challenging and interesting to do, partly because I hadn't planned on making any Cordy icons when I started. Her fear is played entirely for laughs in the episode, hah-hah, vain, self-conscious, socially-aware girl is terrified of being a nerd on the chess team who wears frumpy clothes and has "ugly" hair. Hah hah.

Well, not so funny when you consider what the loss of social status would actually mean (as we will see in Season 3, when she's left isolated by both the Scoobies and the Cordettes); not so funny when you consider the fact that she's been raised in a culture where a woman's self-worth is traditionally rooted in the kind of husband she is able to "catch", and her appearance is her main tool or weapon in pursuit of a husband.

And not so funny when you consider the racial implications of how smooth, silky, manageable hair is prized over curly or "kinky" hair. The "right" kind of hair is the kind that you see in the shampoo adverts; the wong kind is anything else, regardless of your race or ethnicity, although it's identified non-whites. Which is why I myself, as a white female, didn't appreciate my own thick, curly mane until I was well into my 20's, because it was the "wrong kind of hair" and ergo, the implication that something was fundamentally wrong with me. (Also not funny - catching said mane on the button of a professor's peacoat on the bus during a field trip.)

The more I looked at the images of Cordy, the more I also realized how well her fears reflected or paralleled those of the other characters and fit into the episode; and so I wanted to have one of her and the one of Vamp!Buffy touching her own face in the Category set.

Most of the nightmares can be catagorized as Appearance or Performance, regardless of the gender of the dreamer. So Xander shows up nearly nude in class, Cordy has ugly hair and clothes that mark her as a social outcast, Buffy is turned into a vampire (appearance); Billy is beaten nearly to death for disapppointing his coach, Willow is forced onstage to sing an opera she doesn't know and can't make a sound, Buffy's mind goes blank during a test, and Giles mourns at the sight of Buffy's grave (performance). But these two catagories often overlap, and so Buffy's failure to kill the Master (performance) leads to her becoming a vampire (appearance.)

For the AC set I originally wanted to do all Vamp!Buffy, but that felt like it would have been sort of copy-catting sweet_lyri's all-Buffy AC set.

Alts & Extras? But of course!

1 - 5

6 - 11
#11 was inspired by a comment I read at the AV Club Buffy rewatch three years ago: "Would you think I was weird if I said I think Joyce is kinda hot?" And I thought, dude, I'd think you were were weird if you didn't think she was "hot". WTF? Because she's over the age of 30? GMAFB

12 - 16

17 - 21

22 - 25

26 - 31

32 - 37

38 - 43

44 - 47 suitable for customization. The background of 46 47 puts me in mind of an AU plot where Buffy and Joyce are in Istanbul and Paris fighting monsters, having grand adventures and doing a little shopping along the way: The Incredible Summers Women World Tour. (Featuring Dawn as Watcher Junior, of course.)

44 - 49

50 - 55

56 - 60

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.

Current Mood: sick

I finally posted my first proper post at the comm - artwork inspired by

shapinglight's wonderful short story "Casablanca". Check out my cover art and icons here. I would have had it finished on the 11th as I should have done but for my internet connection going kaput for several hours. Better late than never?

Teasers:

Also, I want to mention that

killing_kurare made the Buffy/OMWF icon that I snagged for my default icon because it gives me so many feels (do we still say that around here or is that passe?). Isn't it an insanely gorgeous, evocative little masterpiece?

Congratulations

sweet_lyri,

entwashian, and

harlequinss_s on your wins in

whedon_elite Challenge 129! Snag your banners here .

Congratulations

spikesredqueen,

starry_night,

sweet_lyri,

crazycordy and

tempertemper on your wins at Round 13 of

btvsats20in20! Banners here in the comments thread including my BMC to

gabby227's oh-so-elegant Cordy icon. BMC was a really tough choice this time around because there were so many I would have loved to honor:

starry_night's Wesley Icon, which I've already snagged, her Darla and her AC4 icons;

sweet_lyri's clever Crossover icon,

tempertemper's Cat 3 Amends icon,

crazycordy's Sepia+Profile icon (that theme was one of my favorites overall). So many beautiful things this round.

And if I didn't single out

spikesredqueen just now, it's because I'm well pleased that her icons were richly rewarded; her Category and AC sets in particular just rocked.

All banners by yours truly, icons by their respective artists. The background of the WE banner is based on a photograph I took in Old Lyme, CT a couple of weeks ago; I wanted the bright colors to contrast against the dark icons. The background of the 20in20 banners is a photograph by Susan Murphy from her art studio blog that I adjusted, adding addtional grunge textures to it for a warmer overall look. I love framing effects but I also love the back sides of frames and pictures; I like to see how things are made. I wanted to subvert the normal expectation of a pretty frame by showing off the beauty of the flawed backside. The font is meant to appear to have been printed on the paper except for the artists' names; I imagined a space there that someone filled with a big fat marker or paint brush.

But first things first: congratulations to

boiiko for winning the banner competition for Round 19 of

seasonal_spuffy - and deservedly so! Her design is absolutely unique and although there were many lovely banners that round, this one deserved to be the winner. Very different to any previous winners and the perfect fit for the 10th anniversary round. Since I love it when artists talk about their process, I have to recommend her "making of" post.

Awards banners by angelus2hot

**********

THANK YOU to the judges of the

wicked_awards,

spankedbyspike and

angelus2hot; winning a Wicked Award was something I wished for but didn't really expect to ever actually happen, so it was a total surprise when I got the news! Thank you for the beautiful awards banners and THANK YOU to the folks who nominated my icons, banners and wallpaper. I honestly do not know who nominated my work in three catagories and wish I could thank them properly. (Please feel free to out yourself/selves!)

Speaking of little birds,

velvetwhip (Gabrielle)'s Answering Prayers won Best Series (as well it should) and I could not be more pleased! (Her fic Easy also won Best Dark.)That my poster for it earned Runner-up Honors is just the icing on the cake, and is as much her award as mine, IMO, because her story was the inspiration. (That my poster earned Runner Up, and my icon first place, when I consider the competition, is truly special and extraordinary.)

I'm really tickled about that icon; I made it for

slayerstillness Challenge 47, "IWRY" a challenge I very nearly didn't enter because I'm not much of a Bangel shipper (or Angel fan), didn't submit my set until literally the last minute; but it's proved to be one of my winningest artworks. The Little Icon That Could. :D

Congratulations to all the winners but most especially my friends (in the art categories):

comlodge,

chasingdemons,

katekat1010 (her Giles banner is simply superb);

snowpuppies;

spikesredqueen;

halliwell;

debris4spike;

sweet_lyri;

sueworld2003; (in the video categories)

double_dutchess;

thedothatgirl; (in the fiction categories):

punch_kicker15, s[

the_moonmoth,

spuffy_luvr,

hello_spikey,

aadler,

beer_good_foamy, lion-hearted girl,

snogged,

shapinglight,

dragonydreams,

Check out the entire winners' list here.

aka I have been falling down on the job again - BADLY.

Time to get my groove back in gear. (Or something like that.)

btvsats20in20 Round 13: Today, Nov 1 is the LAST DAY* to vote for Artists Choice sets and icons, Category (White Decoration) sets and icons, and Themes icons. Don't forget to press ALL of the little vote buttons.

Today (around 3pm) is also the last day to submit your icons to

whedon_elite Challenge 129 "Dark Villains".

*Excluding the inevitable tiebreaker votes.

Congratutions to

whedon_elite Challenge 128 winners

fassy,

crazycordy,

sweet_lyri,

lookslikerain,

harlequinss_s and BMC recipient

sandy_s!

Click images below for full size or check out all the banners here. All banners by yours truly, 2015; icons by their respective artists.

The background image is from a photo I took this past weekend, when the clouds came down to meet the earth.

Banner Maker's Choice: Beneath You animated icon by

sandy_s As it turns out, ipiccy does not
preserve the animation when I insert the icon as a layer, so the banner loses the full effect, alas. *pouts*

Most times, BMC is a tough choice for me but not this round. THIS is a motion picture in miniature, the meat of the entire episode, of Buffy and Spike in S7, summed up in just a few images. It's evocative, emotional, tells a story, and is also beautifully made with rich deep blacks and a range of velvety grey tones.

Above all else it reminds me what fascinated and troubled me about those two characters, why I loved them when it was me myself and experiencing their arc three years ago; before I became aware of fandom and controversies and the did-she's/didn't she's. In other words, it's about love. (And bonus points from this Buffy-fan, it doesn't exclude her in order to prioritize him.)

If this is Sandy's warm-up act for

seasonal_spuffy, then bring it on, I say.

My entries: All these images are from the Pack; screencaps mostly from Bloodqueen and Screencapped.net. (The Xander icon is almost certainly from Screencapped.)

1 - 3

Alts:

4 - 7

Speaking of

seasonal_spuffy, have you voted for your favorite banner for Round 19 yet? And if not, why not? (Unless you don't ship the pairing, in which case, carry on.)

FYI I'll be away from the computer for the next 4 - 5 days so I won't be around to keep reminding you; ergo, mark it on your calender, kids, and I'll see you around the bend.

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.

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.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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?

**********************************

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*)

@@@@@@@@@@@@

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.

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Page Summary

And here I seek to disturb feliciacraft's peace of mind.....
I was actually productive yesterday....
Here be a tiebreaker....And shout-outs to fiction by Dragonyphoenix and Kerkevik2014
HERE'S TO A NOMINALLY TOLERABLE 2016 EVERYBODY!
5 FAVORITE PIECES OF FAN ART: ALL BANNERS (& POSTERS), ALL THE TIME
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!
I'm making an absolute hash of the Snowflake Challenge....and nobody is surprised by this.
Me Playing Catch-Up: Fandom Snowflake Challenge Days 1 & 2
btvsats20in20 ROUND 15: Out of Mind, Out of Sight (BtVS S1.11)
Oh, Tara:My last award for Slayerstillness of 2015
PRESENTS FROM FASSY! BEAUTIFUL BUFFY & KATNISS ICONS!
Because I am utterly incorrigible.....
Ghosts of Impossible Things: Artwork for "Third Wheel" by Glassdarkly (Shapinglight)
btvsats20in20 ROUND 14: NIGHTMARES (BtVS S1.10)
Happy 10th anniversary Seasonal Spuffy!
Congratulations to the winners of Whedon Elite and btvsats20in20!
A little bird told me...that I won two honors at the Wicked Awards!
Did I mention today is the deadline to.....?
In living color: Whedon Elite Challenge 128 banners
Your Town Cryer - Has Been Falling Down on the Job Lately

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Entries tagged with fandom: btvs

And here I seek to disturb feliciacraft's peace of mind.....

I was actually productive yesterday....

Here be a tiebreaker....And shout-outs to fiction by Dragonyphoenix and Kerkevik2014

HERE'S TO A NOMINALLY TOLERABLE 2016 EVERYBODY!

5 FAVORITE PIECES OF FAN ART: ALL BANNERS (& POSTERS), ALL THE TIME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!

I'm making an absolute hash of the Snowflake Challenge....and nobody is surprised by this.

Me Playing Catch-Up: Fandom Snowflake Challenge Days 1 & 2

btvsats20in20 ROUND 15: Out of Mind, Out of Sight (BtVS S1.11)

Oh, Tara:My last award for Slayerstillness of 2015

PRESENTS FROM FASSY! BEAUTIFUL BUFFY & KATNISS ICONS!

Because I am utterly incorrigible.....

Ghosts of Impossible Things: Artwork for "Third Wheel" by Glassdarkly (Shapinglight)

btvsats20in20 ROUND 14: NIGHTMARES (BtVS S1.10)

Happy 10th anniversary Seasonal Spuffy!

Congratulations to the winners of Whedon Elite and btvsats20in20!

A little bird told me...that I won two honors at the Wicked Awards!

Did I mention today is the deadline to.....?

In living color: Whedon Elite Challenge 128 banners

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

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