red_satin_doll

Click on all images below to view full-size (They don't look at all right downsized. 'tis most distressing.) All artwork by me unless otherwise noted.

redsatindoll_birthdaybannerbyspikesredqueen2015

Gift from my amazing friend and a jewel of this fandom

spikesredqueen for my birthday (Feb 2015, not snaggable)

"Winged Buffy" banner, a gift from the fantastically talented and generous

comlodge, (June 2013, not snaggable)

*********

*My LJ is Hugs Central (mostly.) Appropriate and consensual ones, of course. Safety and fun are at a premium here, so play nice with one another. Leave the weapons at the door, wipe your feet on the mat, and help yourself to some tea and homemade cookies.

...by any other name. (June 2014)

* Buffy is my Big Damn Hero and my #1 HBIC - because she's flawed and human and real. Because she loves deeply; she falls down but still fights, she grieves and endures, again and again. Because she breaks the rules and finds another way; because of her intelligence, intuition and wit. Because in watching her I identify with my own issues and strengths, and have a renewed appreciation for my mom as well.

* Because in talking about her with other fans, in telling my story through her, in voicing my truth, I discover that I'm not alone in my challenges, faults, and grief; that I don't have to be imprisoned by secrets and shame; and in sharing this, I can bring comfort to others. And because at the end of the day, Buffy gives me hope; and sometimes that's enough to make getting out of bed in the morning worthwhile. And because she is just so freakin' adorable, y'all.

*********

Keep Her Safe (alt 1) (March 2015)

* I love intelligent discussion of , and appreciation for , the ladies of the verse and their complex interrelationships at the core of the 'verse: mothers, sisters, mentors, students, friends, lovers, enemies, allies. The Buffyverse without it's women would be a cold, barren place: ("that bright optimism that becomes a great, raw wound-red in The Body" -

the_royal_anna ). They bear witness to one another, the hurt one another when they don't mean to, they love even when it's difficult and painful to do so.

* And yes, this also includes Kennedy. No vitriol. No joke. (Tara would not approve of the hate. A lot of the complaints I've seen about her are suspicously close to those lobbed at Buffy, btw.) Entitled? Yes. Arrogant? Uh-huh - and also loyal, courageous, stubborn and gentle. She's a "queer woman of color..that is allowed to be the hero."

* The Buffy & Tara friendship/connection is one of the most underappreciated aspects of the 'verse IMO. This WILL be rectified. I ~~don't~~ ship Buffy/Tara, ~~but~~ if that's what it takes to get fandom talking about them? A fangirl's gotta do what a fangirl's gotta do. (ETA 2014: I have seen the light of the true religion: Buffy/Tara shipping. I ship those girls so freakin' hard. Now say amen, somebody.)

081cb79e-e513-4fdc-a324-339c063eb76a_zpsc9186e21

My OTF/P (August 2014)

*In fact, let's just say "No bashing female characters, period." There's plenty of other places to do that, if that's your thing. The show's failures in terms of the depictions of women, of female sexuality, the lack of mature female characters, the massive fail in terms of race and class? Always up for intelligent, civil discussion and examination.

********

* OTOH, I do reserve the right to ~~bitch about~~ ~~call out their shit criticize~~ objectively analyze and take issue with certain whiny, self-absorbed males on the series and their collective patronizing jackassery. Don't get me wrong, I can understand them, sympathize with them, and so forth. Xander trying to be a "better man" than his father? Even when he gets it wrong? I heartily approve. (I'll still call him out on his shit, though.) It's simple math: Grow up, get real or go home. Also I welcome any and every opportunity to make fun of Angel. Particularly when penguins are involved. As well they should be.

********

I Walk Alone, another beautiful gift from

comlodge based on her FFL picspam series for Round 18 of

seasonal_spuffy.

* I 'ship Buffy&Spike S7 . Love in action is the hardest, most painful and most worthwhile work we can ever do - and IMO it trumps "true love" romantic fantasies every time. (That said, I fully support the right to ship Buffy with anyone you damn well please.) But he is not my central focus here. Nor are any of the men of the 'verse, except in terms of how they serve Buffy's story. It turns out the protagonist of the "Buffyverse" is some gal named Buffy. Weird, huh?

This post will be updated frequently. I'm including some examples when possible because a picture is worth a thousand words.

UPDATED 05 July 2016:

TEXTURES:

colorfilter - Their big 40 pack of icon textures (download link at Facebook here) is still the one I use most often and I haven't begun to scratch the surface of the hundreds of textures within. Also check out the pack of larger 800x600 textures. You can also find the sets posted individually on their journal. I've posted a few more examples of my icons using these textures in the comment thread here.

1-7

8-14

texturize - (Many thanks to

teragramm for rec'ing this community) One-stop shopping for anyone interested in creating and sharing textures. Be sure to read the comm's very informative "Bible" (guidelines) before posting or snagging. Most of the artists post links back to their graphics journals or to Deviant Art.

lookslikerain at

soaked. I've used more of their textures than anyone's except

colorfilter's:

icon for fanfic Ipseity by spuffy luvr 2015

15-20

whitebamboo:

21-23

jordannamorgan at

wolfbane_icons

scoobyatemysnax at

burnedbreads - includes tutorials. A tremendous variety of textures including soft glow, grunge, frames, abstract and geometric patterns in any one given set. I like their medium (300pixels) square textures for icons.

25 - 30

*

broken_places The graphics journal of

akilah92

* Evey-V at DeviantArt I like Ericka's soft, painterly, abstract textures, gradients, and text brushes:

31

*

sweetiepebbles Gallery of icon textures and bases at DeviantArt
* Yeonseb at DeviantArt Vast supply of textures and application resources
*

spiritcoda -

creativehangout is their LJ graphics gallery, or check out their DA gallery; some exceptionally pretty textures

FRAMES:
* FRAMEs & BORDERs for use - Flickr image sharing group
* Your Picture Frames - Most of the icon frames in my awards banners come from this site.
* Victorian Frame Company - Mostly HQ photos of antique-style wood frames with carved detail, includes unusual shapes such as rounds, oblongs and hearts:

32 - 33

SCREENCAPS for Buffyverse

slayerstillness has a list of Screencap Resources for BtVS and AtS, including all the ones I use most frequently; if you know of
any not on the list, send the links to

starry_night. Some of my favorites from the list:

* Pretty as a Picture complete screencaps for BtVS and AtS plus promo photos for Buf (ETA: 12/21/15 site currently defunct)

* Bloodqueen has all seven seasons of BtVS complete, is one of my primary sources

* Leave Me the White by

_jems_ Spuffy-centric so no S1 or S3 caps and the remaining seasons are incomplete; but some of the best quality
caps of the series I've found. (S2 is the most complete with 14 episodes capped.) Includes Dailies for Smashed and Dead Things.
S7 is spread out over three albums including two Miscellaneous albums.

* Buffy in HD ON Facebook Fan analysis of the problems with Fox's recent "HD remaster", galleries of screencaps, edits, comparisons

* Shadow of Reflection also has all seven seasons; quality if variable. The early seasons caps compare favorably with
Bloodqueen's; the later seasons are strangely distorted.

* Screencapped.net WiP; S1-2 of BtVS are complete; plus one file of promo shots from S1 and the screencaps for Bargaining.
Appears to be using a new cleaned-up source for it's caps (the so-called "high deflnition" version.) Has a lot of screenshots that
may not exist elsewhere, but can appear slightly compressed or distorted.

* The Chosen Two Gallery high-quality promotional and marketing images and magazine shoots of all the major and most of the
minor characters/actors in BtVS, AtS and Firefly.

* Kiss Them Goodbye Seasons 1 - 2 complete, partial season 3; also appears to be working off newer DVD's or Blu-ray sources but
the images tend to be more pixilated than other sources.

* promo-pictures on tumblr

* Buffy Universe and Angel DVD caps

Individual Cast Members Fansite Galleries:
* Sarah Michelle Gellar France - What it says on the tin. One of my favorite fansite galleries for all things SMG and constantly
updated. Photoshoot albums sometimes identify the magazine and the original photographer.
* Glamorous SMG - online since 2003, another fairly comprehensive source.
* Captivating SMG - relatively new (since 2013), it divides the Photoshoot section by years, which few sites do. Galleries for Sarah's other tv
series still incomplete or empty as of this writing.

*Marc Blucas Source
* Michelle Trachenberg Web

For other fandoms:
* All movie/tv caps on Leave Me The White. Extensive collection including Grease, Amelie, Dangerous Liasons, Terminator; Parks & Rec, Veronica Mars etc.
* Genre Caps HQ screencaps for several fantasy series: Jessica Jones and other Marvel series, Doctor Who (New Who); OUAT, Outlander, etc

OTHER IMAGE SOURCES
* The British Library offers over one million royalty-free digitized images from their vast archives going back to the 17th century.
* The Brooklyn Museum of Art happens to be one of the best art museums I've ever visited. If I had to choose between a visit here
and the Met, go to Brooklyn. In the meantime, their online collection has a stunning array of images.
* The New York Public Library Digital Collections Thank you

petzipellepingo for the heads-up!
* The Graphics Fairy and the Background Fairy - the wonderful team at Graphics Fairy provide thousands of free large HQ images
adapted from antique and vintage greeting cards, labels, valentines cards and assorted emphemera, DIY tutorials, craft projects,
etc.
* morgueFile
* Archive.org
* StevenJamesMorris at DeviantArt

TUTORIALS & GUIDES
*

good_tutorial What it says on the tin. The last post was 2013 but still plenty of useful information

With a great many apologies for extreme tardiness (and being totally MIA): THANK YOU to whomever nominated my artwork for Round 13 of the

wicked_awards. I have no idea who did but it's extremely gratifying. And I am THRILLED that one of the nominated works is the poster for

herself_nyc's "Closure (is a silly word)", for Round 19

seasonal_spuffy. That poster is the one thing I made the last year that I would have chosen, if I had decided to self-nominate. I'm really happy with how it turned out and honored that someone liked it enough to nominate.

Thank you also to whomever nominated my Category 2 Buffy icon for Round 17 of

btvsats20in20 . That took me by surprise as well and I am very grateful.

ETA: Also nominated was my Mr Gordo icon for

whedon_elite. Thank you

freecat15 for pointing out my oversight! *pets Mr Gordo*

nomineebuttonbuffywickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.2final.png

closureposterforherselfnycround19seasonalspuffy1200x960_signedRSD.png

Click thumbnail for full-size image

My entries for

btvsats20in20 Round 18; many thanks to

starry_night for allowing me to submit this past the deadline; my computer has been crashing continually the last few days. Not fun. Thanks also to my fantastic beta-Muse

velvetwhip.

Teasers:

10 Themes
Full Body	Black & White	Plus One	No Eyes	Upside Down

First Appearance	Nature	Object	Weakness	Release

5 Category \|PURPLE RAIN
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5

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

~ Icons with blank space can be personalized upon request.

~ 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.

And back from my perpetual AWOL-ery....

Tonight is the deadline to vote in Round 17!

Don't forget there are three posts for voting: Themes, Category Sets, and AC Sets;

There are only 14 - 16 votes cast so far in each post (there are always people who miss one, it seems), and for the most part I pretty much agree with how the vote is going; there are no egregious errors, no "wtf, people?"

The one exception is that I am surprised that the Content theme isn't more evenly spread; I thought that was one of the most difficult to decide among. (I confess I really like

debris4spike's Bangel icon from What's My Line? The "medieval" stained glass background is so richly and intensely colored, in contrast to the relative neutrals of Buffy and Angel's skin, hair and clothes. The dark shadows cutting across Buffy's torso and around the figures give them depth and solidity in contrast to the flat background, but the shadows also link the figures visually to the leading in the stained glass. It's a deceptively simple little icon but there's a lot of "there there" the more I look at it.

And don't even get me started on

crazycordy's beautifully subtle Faith AC set.

Some of of my icons are doing fairly well and I confess that makes me happy; after so many gen icon sets, doing a Buffy set was like a homecoming. When I was making the icons I had a "concept" for the AC set and put a lot of energy into it, but ironically the Category set, which I spent relatively less time on, is doing better, as it should. I think it came out more interesting and it's one of the better Category sets I've done.

For

btvsats20in20 Round 17. Many thanks as always to my Beta and Muse

velvetwhip:

Teasers:

Cat 2 nominated for Best BtVS Icon ("Something to Sing About") Round 13

wicked_awards, 2016:

10 Themes
Angst	Black	Content	Faceless	Clock

Smile	Levels	NS + Text	Far Crop	Not Human *

5 Category \|SING US A SONG **
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5

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

* Not Human: There were no episodes this season in which Buffy was "not human" (a la Vamp!Buffy in "Nightmares"), and because we haven't been informed at this point in canon that Slayer powers have demonic origin (aka the writers pulled it out of their derrieres ) I went with Angel vamping out to feed on Buffy in "Graduation Day 2".

** Category Inspiration: "Breathe (2am)" by Anna Natick: I decided to focus on the episode "Anne: for this set.
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe

Alts:

1 - 6

7 - 11

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.

~ 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.

The theme for Round 2 is "starcrossed lovers" ; I had snagged "Buffy" as my claim before the theme was announced so of course, my subject is Bangel. (Dedicated to

bangel_4e, who has recently announced she is going on hiatus from art and LJ for a while due to wrist pain. I am still moping about this.*) Also I have been dreadfully sick this weekend, hence the last-minute-ness of this post.

1 -5 represent star-crossed lovers, 6- 10 represent separation and longing, and we were allowed to have just one character of the pairing in these. As Buffy was my claim it felt natural for these to be Buffy-centric:

Teasers:

1 - 5

6 - 10

Alts:

11 - 15

bangel_4e's Buffy/Bangel set is much more gorgeous-er, of course, be sure to check it out. Especially since it's apparently her last (for a while.) But then again all the other sets submitted for Round 2 thus far are well-nigh awesome and deserve your attention.

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.

~ 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.

For

btvsats20in20 Round 16. Many thanks to my wonderful beta-Muse

velvetwhip!

Teasers:

10 Themes
Center Text	Party	Shadowed Profile	Personification	Plain Background

Bright Yellow	Dream	Flower Texture	Touch of Color	Fiery

5 Category \|TELL YOUR STORY ICONING
1.The Beginning	2.Conflict	3.Climax	4.Resolution	5.The End

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

I consider IRYJ to be one of the most underrated episodes of the series. Sorry, but I do not get the hate. It's got the introduction of Jenny Calender (did I mention I'm a G/J shipper?); and right off the bat foreshadows the idea that she is not what she claims to be; some great dialogue; a Willow-centric episode; Buffy looking out for Willow's welfare (she was only concerned when she realized Willow didn't actually know this "Malcolm") and the first instance in the series of me being truly afraid for Willow and her proving that she's smarter and more resolute than I gave her credit for.

And some of the stuff about computers and the internet turned out to be rather uncomfortably true.

Alts/extras:

1 - 7

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.

~ 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.

Breaking news: Congratulations to the winners of

whedon_elite Challenge 136:

harlequinss_s,

sweet_lyri,

nmcil12,

teragramm and

emmatheslayer! And THANK YOU to everyone who voted for my icons for giving my Robin & Nikki Wood Most Creative (tied with

harlequinss_s's lovely Willow icon). Of my four entries that icon is the one I have the most feelings about in terms of me trying to express my anger at the way Nikki and Robin's relationship was portrayed/sidelined/given short shrift in the series. I have feelings about this issue, which I'll explain once I have some pretty awards banners for the round to show off.

In the meantime, here are some pretty banners from

tempertemper for

slayerstillness Challenge 61. Thank you for voting my icons 2nd place and Most Creative!

I love how the neutral background makes the icons really pop. I confess I didn't really appreciate

teragramm's Wesley/Lilah icon until I saw it on TT's banner. Check out the rest of the winners and banners here. My entries:

1 - 5

As per usual, 1 & 2 are not the ones I would have picked to be winners. Those were the two I looked at and thought "oh crap, I wish I could do better than that. Ah, nobody will give those two a second glance." Especially since I rarely icon W/O & W/T. And I just adore the old-fashionedness of Oz's gesture.

Re: the Buffy & Willow icon, I went back and forth between #5 & 14 for the longest time (ie an hour or so) because I love the retro coloring of 14, especially the blue/white curtain in the background. (The pattern is a texture by

lookslikerain. Thank goodness for the off-white curtains in the screencap.)

Alts/extras:

6 - 11

12 - 14

Somewhat off-topic and spreading out my 15 minutes of fame past tolerable limits: I am very amused by the fact that excerpts of my conversation with buffy comics cover artist Steve Morris on DeviantArt re: his cover for S10.24 has shown up on both Slayalive and Buffyboards . My conversations with him have turned me into a fan btw; he always answers any questions or comments I've had and is a delight to talk to about the process of making covers, his inspirations etc.

Courtesy of the voters at Round 15 of

btvsats20in20, and the splendidly talented

tempertemper who outdid herself in her usual brilliant way. Thank you so much! I think my icons look the best they ever have in their lovely frames; the Light Texture and Close Crop icon really pop, and I can actually appreciate how nice the Category icons look as a set in ways I couldn't before. And I love the sly meta nod to the Category theme challenge (Silver and Gold) in the conception and execution.

This is why I enjoy winning because I get pretty pretty banners (and feedback and strokes); it's entirely pavlovian and I honestly don't care as much as I should. Even though I know it's probably childish of me. I really have never understood the folks who win at icontests and then don't ask for banners because they don't need them. You guys are better people than me, honestly. I'm shallow. Sue me.

And while I have your attention:

slayerstillness 26 entries in Challenge 61, "Touch Me"; voting deadline Tuesday Feb 2.

actress_ic has 28 entries in the very cool "vintage" theme of Challenge 111. Voting open until Thursday Feb 4.

GOEST THOU AND VOTE!

Thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who voted in

btvsats20in20 Round 15! I won Close Crop, Light Texture, and 3rd Place Category Set. Congratulations to

crazycordy,

sweet_lyri,

midnightisclose!

Congratulations to the winners at

whedon_elite Challenge 135 :

nadya149,

dixon,

harlequinss_s,

hermionesparkle,

heterodynes,

sweet_lyri; and for my Banner Maker's Choice Award,

teragramm. Congratulations! The theme this round was "red heads", check out all the winning entries and banners HERE.

My entries for Challenge 135 after the cut. Fandoms: BtVS, Avengers (MCU). Many many many thanks, as always, to my beta-Muse

velvetwhip for her input:

1 - 4

Arranged roughly from most painterly/stylized to photographic/realistic. I'm really pleased with how #1 and it's alts (below) turned out. I layered several textures by

lookslikerain that give it the look of a post-impressionist oil pastel by Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas or Toulouse-Latrec.

Alts and extras:

5 - 10

I couldn't resist stealing

teragramm's idea to make the Buffyverse ladies redheads. (Teragramm's are much superior, of course.)

11 - 15

16 - 20

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 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.

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.

"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.

This special 10th anniversary round of

seasonal_spuffy was the first time I'd actively participated with regular posts;

teragramm made special banners for all participants and customized this one for me. THANK YOU!

If you haven't had a chance to catch my three posts for Round 19, find them in the master list under "artwork" along with all the fabulous stories and artwork this round.

seasonalspuffyrsd_participationbanner10thanniversary2015byteragramm.jpg

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

Thank you for the Best Crop Award at challenge 56 of

slayerstillness and thank you

tempertemper for the beautiful banner!

Teasers:

1- 2

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

Thank you to Challenge 57 voters for Most Creative Award (a category I don't score very often so I consider it quite the desirable prize indeed), and thank you

starry_night for the Mod's Choice Award! The Dara in Becoming / Buffy in Halloween icons were all inspired by

shapinglight's entry for the 2015

iwry_marathon , "Third Wheel". The costume Ethan supplies Buffy has somewhat different effects than in canon, linking Buffy and Darla telepathically across the centuries. Banners for this round by yours truly; vintage dancer image, and floral "frame" in icon #6, from The Graphics Fairy.

3 - 7

8 - 11

12 - 16

17 - 22

Fun fact: when I looked very closely at the screencap of Angel's sketch of a lady in "Halloween", the text next to her reads, as best as I can decipher, "Sarah Goodfriend." I've often wondered if the drawing was a actually a portrait of one of his victims.

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

My awards for Round 14 of

btvsats20in20; thank you for everyone who voted for my work! Congratuations to

sweet_lyri and

gabby227 for their wins; their awards banners as well as all the winning entries can be seen here and here respectively. Banners by yours truly. For the background images I used my personal photos of New England skyscapes in a nod to this round's "In the Clouds" theme.

This is the third time I've won the gold medal for Category set, so it's a nice way to end the year. The Numbers icon is one of my favorites of this set, so I'm pleased and proud that the voters honored it.

I love the subtly and understatement of

gabby227's Faith icon, the way the softness of the light and coloring compliment the tenderness of the character's expression; bonus points for using an image I've not seen in an icon before.

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.

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Profile

red_satin_doll

My Website

June 2021

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Page Summary

My Corner of Buffyverse Fandom and Welcome To It
These Are A Few of My Fanart Resources
Belated thanks: I've been nominated at the Wicked Awards!
btvsats20in20 Round 18: When She Was Bad (S2.01)
Voting closes TODAY at btvsats20in20!
btvsats20in20 ROUND 17: BUFFY SUMMERS (SEASON 3)
10in30 Round 2: My Entries
btvs20in20 Round 16: I Robot, You Jane
Spreading out my 15 minutes of fame past tolerable limits...
My First (OOPS - second) Awards and Awards Banners of 2016!
Congrats to the winners of btvsats20in20 and whedon elite!
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!
btvsats20in20 ROUND 15: Out of Mind, Out of Sight (BtVS S1.11)
PRESENTS FROM FASSY! BEAUTIFUL BUFFY & KATNISS ICONS!
Ghosts of Impossible Things: Artwork for "Third Wheel" by Glassdarkly (Shapinglight)
I made some things - and I won some things! (A treasure trove of banners and icons)

Syndicate

Style Credit

Style: Ivory Alcea for Mobility by branchandroot
Resources: Mitsuba Aoi

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 01:12 am

|

Entries tagged with char: buffy summers

My Corner of Buffyverse Fandom and Welcome To It

These Are A Few of My Fanart Resources

Belated thanks: I've been nominated at the Wicked Awards!

btvsats20in20 Round 18: When She Was Bad (S2.01)

Voting closes TODAY at btvsats20in20!

btvsats20in20 ROUND 17: BUFFY SUMMERS (SEASON 3)

10in30 Round 2: My Entries

btvs20in20 Round 16: I Robot, You Jane

Spreading out my 15 minutes of fame past tolerable limits...

My First (OOPS - second) Awards and Awards Banners of 2016!

Congrats to the winners of btvsats20in20 and whedon elite!

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!

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

PRESENTS FROM FASSY! BEAUTIFUL BUFFY & KATNISS ICONS!

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

I made some things - and I won some things! (A treasure trove of banners and icons)

Expand Cut Tags

Profile

June 2021

Links

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Syndicate

Style Credit