red_satin_doll

* You still have time to vote in

slayerstillness Challenge 46! Or at least I think you do. As long as you don't see a "Voting closed" post from

starry_night in the voting threads, you can still cast your ballots. 14 fantastic entries - a couple of which just might be mine. (Guess which ones?) And a couple of which aren't mine, but I wish to holy heck I had made them. (Guess which ones?)

* Entries for Challenge 204 at

otherworldlyric are due midnight June 26th. Speaking of OWL, thank you to everyone who voted my Becoming icon third place in Challenge 203! Congratulations to

chic_c and

xclaire_delunex for their lovely winning entries this round; and thank you

dragonydreams for the wonderful banner! OWL was the very first icontest comm I ever participated in when I entered Challenge 162 last February but the last time I entered was Challenge 178 one year ago; so this feels like a homecoming.

The Becoming icon is my favorite of the three I entered so I'm very pleased voters liked it as well. My indirect inspiration for the color scheme was early 20th century postcards, valentines, book and periodical cover illustrations. #2, the Becoming/Chosen blend, was an experiement in layering and #3, from Chosen, was just a bit of fun for me.

1 - 3

Alts / Extras after the cut:

My favorites here are 4 & 6. I nearly submitted #7 instead of #3 - I love the dual images of Buffy and the softness of the larger image that belies her steely resolve, but I wasn't sure the image was entirely "legible" and the text isn't well intergrated. I was trying to suggest a street sign and in fact, "Lonely Street" is applied over a screenshot of the Sunnydale sign at the end of Becoming, but I don't think it translates the way I wanted.

4 - 9

10 - 13

14 - 16

Recently

tempertemper said she was taking a page from my book and promoted icontest voting specifically

otherworldlyric and

slayerstillness. I have to admit I had already stolen that book from

velvetwhip, who tirelessly promotes fandom activity of all sorts; but I'm very glad to be part of the chain. Shall we call it a library book and simply pass it around?

tempertemper also made a wonderful point about supporting icon/art communities that I think can't be said often enough. There are so many people in this fandom and so few voting at art competitions. As a visual artist I of course vote at fiction contests but I think writers oftentimes feel shy or uncertain about voting in art contests. Maybe a grade school teacher made a cruel remark about one's abilities. Maybe one has heard one too many "experts" insist that you have to have a particular sort of education in order to be able to "understand" art. This really shouldn't be so - art belongs to everyone and we all live, breathe, take in visual images every day. We are all incredibly sophisticated and well-educated simply by dint of exposure.

So in that spirit, here are some worthy art challenges in need of your vote:

Banner by moi for character20n20

slayerstillness Challenge 43 "Helpless" Wonderful work and one of my favorite buffyverse episodes - how do the entries end up so often looking go great and of a piece with one another as a group? I'm side-eyeing at least one or two in a "I don't know who made this but back off because I WANT this one" kind of way. *lol*

**

otherworldlyric Challenge 200 "Working for the Weekend" I really have to thank

tempertemper for bringing this one back to my attention. Some of my first awards were in this comm but I have not participated in a while, and have been very remiss in terms of voting and promoting it. This comm is also one of the most overlooked in terms of participation overall, which is a shame.

**

whedon_elite Challenge 116 "Spring Time" My love of the sepias and desaturated tones is well-known but it's nice to try something different and really welcome springtime in bright, light tones; the really interesting challenge is to come up with something "pretty and light" that also carries emotional weight. It's been a long, hard winter this year, hasn't it?

Finally, speaking of springtime, congratulations to all the winners of Round 68 of

character20n20.

setentpet asked meto make banners for those who had requested it:

roseemrys,

punk4life1315 and

spikesredqueen, and the gorgeous clear, springtime colors and the change of season inspired the colors and design of my banners. I indulged myself in a tie for Banner Maker's Choice:

spikesredqueen and

x_lostinthesun. Check them out here. I used a photograph I took in 2013 of roses in my landlord's yard as the base.

Two birds, one post:

**

whedon_elite Challenge 109 : vote for first, second and third place icons out of nine entries. (Permission granted to ignore my last post. Not as though anyone had a chance in heck of cranking out an icon with a one-hour warning. Although I would have loved to have seen that happen anyway.)

Challenge 110, "Emerald Green" has already been posted; hurrah for being fast and organized. Icons are due Sunday, February 8th by 3 pm EST.
Remember that this comm covers the entirety of Whedon's productions including Dollhouse, Firefly, Agents of SHIELD, Marvel Avengers and, oh yeah,
a little thing called the "Buffyverse". You may have heard of it?

** The deadline for

otherworldlyric Challenge 193 "Favorite New Thing" has been extended one week to midnight January 30th due to a conspicuous and total lack of entries.

Overdue congratulations are owed to the winners of Challenge 192

chic_c and

xclaire_delunex for their fabulous winners.

Thank you very much

starry_night for making these gorgeous banners, and thank you Lenore for the brilliant suggestion of the memorial banner #2 honoring Megan's participation in Round 5 of

btvsats20in20. Megan's original post on

pickamix journal with the entire set can be seen here.

pickamixround5btvsats20in20bystarry_night

pickamixparticipationbannerround5btvsats20in20_bystarry_night

01-02)

I think Megan would have been well and truly pleased with these banners. She took very meticulous care with her work and this set in particular, although she could be astonishingly modest. She would have approved of the care that's been taken with these banners to set off her icons, by the richness of color, by the mysterious and sensual quality of the patterns in the Best of banner.

Read the rest over at ficamix.......

Title courtesy of the lovely and witty

pickamix who asked me to do just that for two new comms:

pimp

b_verse_pub|Profile|

b_verse_pub

secret_slaying

b_verse_pub, "an oddly polite Buffyverse hangout"for polite and friendly discussion of the Buffyverse (no flames, no rudeness, and no trolls, open to all (and check out the amazing pub graphics)

and

secret_slaying, an anonymous BtVS/AtS TW challenge/awards comm that accepts work in all media (text, images, videos) made specifically for the challenge. Round 1 prompts are up and due December 15. Guidelines and prompts here, detailed rules are here ; incredible graphics also by

pickamix and

shaketheangel. (LOVE the banner that looks like a cork push-pin board.) Like icontests such as

otherworldlyric, the entries will be voted on anonymously, unlike any contest I've seen so far, (fr'instance the SunnyD Memorial Fanfiction awards, etc) works in all media are accepted, so check it out!

And speaking of the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards and

otherworldlyric....... (How did you know I'd work them in somewhere?)

* Voting open at Round 30 of Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards until NOVEMBER 30th; list of worthy nominees for your consideration here and the Rules here. Full disclosure: I'm still combing through the awesome stories; it's a great opportunity as always to check out fics I might have missed otherwise. Or have been tripping over for months and never got around to reading and how the heck did that happen, I wonder to myself?

* Vote for your favorite 3 icons out of 11 fab entries at

otherworldlyric Challenge 187, then get your entries ready for Challenge 188: The Love You Save May Be Your Own by Etta James (the Lioness! A little bit of Etta makes everything betta.)

* Vote now at

slayerstillness Challenge 35 Least Favorite Eps challenge for 1st and 2nd place (no 3rd place this round) plus Best Crop, Colour and Most Creative. I have a ton of admiration for fanartists who can take an episode (or character) they hate and not only spend quality time with it but turn it into gold, as the 11 entries this round are.

Then prep your entries for Challenge 36 "Ye Olde Vampyre Gang" dedicated to flashbacks of the Fanged Four pre-Sunnydale.

starry_night helpfully provided a list of all btvs & ats episodes with fanged four flashbacks plus some sample caps to choose from. I'm expecting awesomeness to the nth degree.

* The deadline for Round 5 of

btvsats20in20 has been extended until midnight, Tuesday, November 11 - THANK YOU

starry_night! At the moment only two folks including myself have not submitted our sets - but this also means that anyone who wants to jump in at the last minute, there's still a chance! I know there are folks who know how to use four days more wisely and productively than I know how to use an entire month. That's just plain truth.

* The deadline has also been extended for

otherworldlyric Challenge 187 "We are Fine" (Sharon van Etten) to midnight. Friday Nov 14, thank you

dragonydreams: It's okay to feel / Everything is real / Nothing left to steal / Cause we're alright / We're alright

I'd say "I'm thinking late seasons btvs but that's my automatic default mode anyway; the challenge for me is getting myself to look elsewhere.

*

dragonydreams and

rua1412 have announced a brand new icontest comm:

comicsontv_ic - a new icon challenge community, for all your favorite live action comic book shows! Check out the rules, the profile and have fun! I don't read comics but for those who do, it's a fun idea and I look forward to seeing the entries. (And also, I just really wanted an excuse to use this nifty gif they made for the comm. COBIE SMULDER FTW!)

ETA: I have no idea how Ms Smulders actually reacted to the finale of HIMYM but in my mind, it looked something like this. Anyone else?

Today (10/18) is the deadline for nominations at the Sunnydale Memorial Fanficton Awards Round 30; voting begins tomorrow and runs through November 30th. So if you haven't nominated your favorite fics of the year, now's the chance. Make sure you check out the Rules thoroughly; they're quite concise and clear. (Such as "Please nominate only one person per submission. I don't remember if that was a rule last round or not but if it was, holy smokes....

spuffy_luvr gave me a stern talking to for that one, and I deserved it.)

I'm in awe of all the work and time

dragonydreams and her team put into maintaining these awards; and I have to give a special nod to

pickamix's beautiful banners/graphics.

Speaking of

dragonydreams btw, she's back with a new challenge for

otherworldlyric! There was one entry so she's extended it a week; the deadline is now Friday October 24, so check it out.

slayerstillness: What I said in the title? THAT.

It's 4:45pm est my time zone and the deadline is midnight YOUR TIME ZONE. Isn't that convenient? More entries are always welcome. Once again I have no illusions about winning jack this round, I just wanted to stretch my muscles and get back in the game.

(Somehow, I managed to lose a really lovely Amends icons I'd made that I intended for submission. Literally, I cannot find it. PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one who has ever done that? LIe to me if you must, my dears.)

2)

otherworldlyric submissions are also due tonight at midnight for Challenge 181, "Eye of the Tiger". This time, I confess I've got nothin' (I tried to think of a vampire eye in really close up to go with the title of the song but that's really freakin' obvious isn't it?) but maybe YOU'VE got a little something-something?

1) Many congrats to the winners of

otherworldlyric challenge 180

pickamix and

dragonydreams! I'm not sure I've ever said how much I love the color-matching

dragonydreams does with her awards banners (buttons?) She makes the button look like a natural extension of the icon itself, and I ~~envy~~ appreciate that ability.

Full disclosure: I guessed the first place winner might be Megan's after I cast my vote because of it's wittiness and the perfect match of lyrics and image. I didn't guess who did the 2nd place winner - also Megan, as it happens. Girlfriend's got range. And if y'all have known me for at least five minutes, you know I DON'T CARE who made what or if I can guess according to style etc when I cast my votes. My love for someone, your friendship and kindness to me, has not now nor ever will win you a vote. I vote for the work. No apologies.

Challenge 181 has been extended a week, so you've still got time to come up with something to go with "Eye of the Tiger" and I am dying to see folks deconstruct that song or employ it ironically. Thrill me, people. I know you can do it.

Speaking of voting:

2) The voting posts for Round 3 of

btvsats20in20 are up! Themes, Category (Magnifying Glass) and Artists Choice.

Full disclosure #1: I would actually vote for some of my own work this time, were it not my own work.

Full disclosure #2: I'm not telling anybody to vote for me VOTE FOR THE WORK but that said, ~~I think my work is actually worthy of more votes than it's gotten so far darn it but you didn't read that here~~ is that a horrible thing to think or am I really REALLY deluding myself here?

Full disclosure #3: I've decided to hold back any alts and extras, inclluding banner/poster-sized work from this set, until after the voting is over in the interest of fairness. I want you to judge the work I submitted without having the memory of other stuff influencing you for better or worse. And I will probably stick to that policy in future Sound ok?

Vague disclaimer: I did not submit entries to the challenges pimped below, ergo I feel free to pimp and promote with impunity.

1)

dragonydreams has reposted the entries for

otherworldlyric Challenge 180 , because three entries "disappeared", unitl two of my personal favorites. (If I've told ya once, I've told ya a thousand times, kids - don't leave the screen door open!) All fixed now, so if you already voted, please vote again; and if you haven't voted yet, well, what are you waiting for?

I'll wait until after the winners are announced to state which are my faves this time. Let's just say I have my suspicions as to who made #3. Perfect, witty pairing of image and lyric that makes me laugh out loud? I have a short list of suspects. What? Don't look at me that way. Let's get real, that's almost half the fun of voting in these things for me now, as I become more familiar with individual styles - and with the how-tos of techniques.

Entries for Challenge 181, "Eye of the Tiger" are due Friday August 15th. (I remember that song when I was growing up. The '80's - power ballads, Tom Cruise and Ahnold, big overmuscled manly action stars, the Reagans, the Iron Lady, shoulder pads, hair frizzed to the 9th circle of Hell, high school, and my second ex-step-father...I DO NOT MISS THAT DECADE. Yeesh.)

2) Vote in

slayerstillness Challenge 29 "The Freshman" - 10 lovely icons to choose from (and this time? I'll be honest, I can't tell who the heck did what. They're just all terrifically pretty.) Because of the small field, there are fewer placements - vote for your top TWO icons plus Best Color and Best Crop.

I remarked to

starry_night not long ago that the fields of any given icontest challenge often have an "all of a piece" aesthetic quality to them, as if all the artists were on the same wavelength. That was certainly true in the "Hair Porn" and "Whiter Shade of Pale" Challenges and is very true this time as well. The focus is entire on Buffy and Willow and where Hair Porn entries tended to be neutral or earth-toned, this group is quite delicate in it's coloring- pastels balanced by saturated jewel tones and brights.

Challenge 30 is another "free for all" round, and the entries are due August 22. (My mom is going back home on the 20th, so I think I little icon-makeage will be just what the fangirl ordered.)

3) Check out xlittledreams's entries for Round 3 of

btvsats20in20, "Buffy Summers." So, so lovely, very bold and graphic, rich colors and strikingly clean and "modern". I can't choose a favorite, although AC1 is damned nifty. How is it possible to achieve such gorgeous image quality and clarity?

That leaves just one person who has yet to post their entries: moi. For the THIRD TIME IN A ROW. This is beyond comedy and well into pathetic. Deadline is tomorrow midnight and I'd damn well best get them done and posted, because I'm not going to have time to make icons once my mom comes to town. So what the hell am I wasting time for? Excuse me, Lady Tara awaits.

1) Congratulations to the winners of

otherworldlyric icontest Challenge 179 :

dragonydreams,

chic_c and

pickamix (she made an Oz icon! Let's hear it for neglected Buffyverse characters!)

Deadline for Challenge 180 is tonight August 8 at midnight.Like, an hour from now. As of two days ago there were no entries so hopefully....?

2) Tonight is also the deadline for

slayerstillness Challenge 29, "The Freshman". You're welcome. Speaking of, I never did thank

tempertemper for the lovely banner to go with my Mod's Choice award for

slayerstillness Challenge #27. I love the how the warm burgundy-red-brown tones compliment colors of Dawn's hair and Buffy's mouth, which I had barely noticed until I saw it framed this way - indeed, how well it compliments all the other winning icons in that round. The translucent quality reminds me of very fine, handmade marbelized art paper. And the simple red border around the icon emphasizes the intimate nature of the crop but also emphasizes the emotional "claustrophobia" of the situation for both the Summers sisters.

Here's all of my entries that round;the only ones I'm really pleased with are the Buffy&Dawn and the Beer Bad icons. I particularly liked crop on the Beer Bad icon. It and the Anne icon I entered were meant to be deliberately anti-hairporn, in terms of "pretty hair". I had just got done with the Vamp Willow project and wanted to play with some unglamorous imagery for fun. (And of course, a return to Buffy was pure playtime for me.)

My special shout-out to an icon that didn't win is

rua1412's Angel icon #8, which is so, so pretty I had to snag it. Yes, I snagged an Angel icon - and the world did not end. Wonders. Speaking of Angel,

3)

dragonydreams has posted

btvs_hush Challenge 280, "Angel" (the character, btvs imagery only). Y'all know I'm not so much into the wood but I gotta admit, the third image for challenge B is kind of dynamic and I can see doing something fun with that, if I had the time. (Or I could catch my breath from laughing because - image #1. The tai chi in dress trousers. I'm just sayin'.)

Although now that you mention it, the eyeliner...?

DO NOT look at me on any of these, I am not pulling anything out of the trapdoor for this one or or anything else until I get my Tara set finished for

btvsats20in20. Okay? (I'm hoping to finish by Monday BUT...I've been riding waves of "hey, I have a neat idea!" alternating with "I suck. Tara, sweetie I'm so sorry. And my new bifocals hurt my eyes until I can't see a damn thing, my neck aches and dear god WHY did I think this was a clever idea why will no one stop me? I have got to get a job do I have enough money to pay the September rent? And why oh WHY did I think having my mother come to visit for a week was going to be a good idea? Me her and my sweetie in the same house together for a week? JFC on a cheese cracker when will I get a lick of sense?" And various sundry items and pretty little bits and bobs of self-loathing of that sort. Fun.)

4) Speaking of

btvsats20in20, check out

tempertemper's wonderful Cordelia Chase entries for Round 3! (And don't forget to check out the other entries this round- stop by to say hi, and share the love with your friends!)

starry_night has very kindly extended the deadline at my request to the 12th. I hope not to need it but...I've said that one a time or two before haven't i?

And now off the 'puter and onto bed - these bifocals are killing my eyes, for realsies.

1) btvs_hush: Vote NOW for your three favorite entries in Challenge 278 "Chosen". "Now" as in, deadline 8pm tonight EST. Then grumble at me for not being more prompt with the pimpage. (I'm a big girl, I can take it.)

Then enter Challenge 279 which uses PR photos rather than screencaps, including what I think is probably the loveliest photo of Aly Hannigan ever taken - it is to her what Greg Gorman's S5 promo photos are to Sarah: celebrity/PR portraiture as art. Challenge deadline August 5th; ~~dollars to donuts that gets extended~~
ETA: Nope, this challenge WILL NOT be extended; thanks to pickamix for the heads up!

2) Vote NOW for your three faves at otherworldlyric Challenge 179! Some really deceptively delicate-but-strong and "oh gosh how did they do that text effect I LOVE that" entries this round. (And a certain manpire's cheekbones that are a special effect all by themselves YES I SAID IT.) Congratulate recent winners dragonydreams, xclaire_delunex and pickamix! (Ok, Challenge 176 is not immediately recent but whatever. Yay for new names and mixing it up!)

Then enter Challenge 180, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" by the one and only Celine Dion *snerk* Actually, she was sort of cute then with the '80's overprocessed hair and The Eyebrows. When a female celeb starts to make it big, The Eyebrows are always the first thing to go. Deadline on this Challenge is Friday August 8th.

3) Speaking of August 8th, the deadline for slayerstillness Challenge 29 "The Freshman" has been extended another week due to lack of entries. *cue big sighs of relief*

Six fine entries for

otherworldlyric challenge 178 are up now waiting for your VOTE! (I knew y'all would come through in the end.) And a due to the lower number of entries you only have to cast votes for your TWO favorites. Six entries (five if one is yours), two votes to cast - should be easy, mais oui? Easier than voting for 5 or fifteen or gosh knows how many in

btvsats20in20 or

slayerstillness, yes?

Well....no. Not if you're me at any rate. I stared. I studied. I removed my brand-new bifocals that I'm still learning to negotiate with/around. I jotted (mental) notes. Then I took a deep breath and hit the 'send' button. WHEN WILL THIS "DECIDING AMOUNGST EQUALLY GORGEOUS/DELICATE/DRAMATIC/CAPTIVATING ENTRIES" EVER GET EASIER? TELL ME, MY DARLING F'LISTIES! *le sigh*

Entries for Challenge # 176 "A Soft Place to Land" are due midnight July 25th.

On another note, indulge me while I thank the marvelous

velvetwhip for rec'ing my artwork in her Semi-Weekly Rec Lists. It really is an honor when someone in this fandom thinks I've done something of note and a singular honor from Gabrielle, who is such a treasure to this fandom and does so much to keep us all connected without a hint of ego, fanfare or fuss on her own part; just a heart as wide as the ocean, a willingness to share the goodies - and excellent taste. When I first came into this fandom I knew her only as "the Willow/Angel shipper par excellence", and have been so very lucky to discover the fantastic human being is she beyond that.

d251b6c1-5b11-47f1-b740-99258dd41e80_zps0517a4bf

My Landlord's Yellow Rose, 2014 - Vintage Postcard Variation

1) Thank you very much to

starry_night for awarding me a Mod's Choice Award in Round 27 "Hair Porn"! And thank you to everyone who cast votes for my icons! This award is particularly special for me because this Buffy & Dawn icon was the inspiration for the poster I made for

clockwork_hart1's "Conclusive Etymology of a Summers" (my first fanfiction poster, and I hope not the last). Congratulations all the winners of that round for their lovely entries:

rua1412,

teragramm,

tempertemper and

iconsoleander! And speaking of

starry_night:

2) Strike up the band and toss the confetti:

starry_night has joined comm owner

bangel_4e as a moderator of

btvsats20in20. A round of applause, please - two of the niftiest people in fandom coming together to make an already terrific comm even better. (Anyone else interested in joining the team of fandom's newest icon challenge site? Contact

bangel_4e.) And speaking of

btvsats20in20:

3) Your votes are needed for

btvsats20in20 Round 2 TiEBREAKERS!

bangel_4e has 4 tiebreakers posted. I've voted and encourage you to - and not JUST because one of the votes includes my own Vamp Category set. (Which should in no way be construed as me encouraging you to vote for my icons. I'm just encouraging you to vote for the best as you see fit, but by all means VOTE.)

This is actually a first for me so it's nifty whichever way it goes: the first time my work has been included in a tiebreaker vote, and the first time I've ever been able to hit the little "I'm nominated" button! Super-nifty, especially as it involves that set of icons, which I'm super-proud of whichever-which-way the vote goes. (Of the other three votes, the hardest for me to decide was the fourth one - a super-gorgeous Buffy set vs a super-gorgeous Willow set? Decisions, decisions....) And speaking of

otherworldlyric:

2) Ok, granted, we weren't talking about

otherworldlyric but I didn't want to break my segueway pattern and anyhow I'm talking it now: More entries are needed by Friday for the already-extended Challenge 178. Apparently

dragonydreams received only ONE entry thus far. (Guess who popped one off the night before she went hither and yon on her week-long sojourn in Vermont.) Come on darlings, you can do it. Can make the maximum three entries? Make one or two. Surprise yourselves! Your Patron Saint of Icons has every faith in you.

HERE

I don't know if this is typical of 20in20's because I've not done any others but I love how free and open the claims are - any character, any season, any pairing. It makes things easier and more of a challenge at the same time.

Is that typical of these sorts of icontests?

Here's hoping that some of the folks who had to drop out from round 2 can come and play this time? (A couple of folks promised Dawn icons and gosh durn, I want!) Or that some of my f'listies who haven't signed up before take a stab at it? No names mentioned, just sending the thoughtwaves out there.

And congrats to the winners of

otherworldlyric challenge 177

dragonydreams and

xclaire_delunex!

IRL news, we arrived safe and snug in our "cabin" and have managed not to murder one another - day one down, go us! *LOL* So what's going down - or up - in your world, Gentle Reader?

....with my ladylove on a weeklong trip to Vermont. I feel odd going now that I haven't any income coming in but everything was booked beforehand and my sweetie would lose her deposit, so there's nothing for it except to go and have fun, as

velvetwhip counseled me. And Gabrielle is never wrong. (Literally, yo.)

~~Try not to miss me too much~~ Oh who the heck am I kidding? Of course I want you to miss me! I already miss y'all and I haven't left the house yet! My computer access will be extremely limited for the next week and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms and separation anxiety. I'm also mildly freaked out that 1) we'll come back at the end of the week and the whole house will have burned down again, and 2) I'll misplace my beloved Euclid somewhere along the way. Although he insists on coming along and who am I to refuse him?

Anyhoodle in the meantime and until I return:

"Scroll Fragment 1"

Either a follow up of sorts to my poster for clockwork_hart1's "Conclusive Etymology of A Summers".
Or a poster that is waiting to find a fic of it's own. Will customize to order. (Snaggable, not stealable.)

***

Be kind and gentle to one another, and have fun. Make art, not war.

Vote in

otherworldlyric challenge 177 and enter icons in challenge 178 "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" (a song I was introduced to by Afterthebattle's excellent fanvid "Light 'em up".) Vote in

btvsats20in20 Round 2 if you haven't already. Submit entries in

slayerstillness Challenge 28 "Angel Investigations".

Gift the darling, darling

kikimay with a gift subscription, if one is able to do so; she would be most appreciative. (No pressure, no pressure, just planting a seed and letting it take root.)

You know I really have to find a way to not give away the farm in my post titles because - "what I already said" doesn't make for scintillating reading does it?

Don't worry, no essays this time - just go here and vote for the three best icons out of nine fabulous entries. Won't take but a moment. (I have to say, some pretty Spike and Angel entries this round. Yeah, I said it.

Your Madame Ambassador of Meta (according to

punch_kicker15) and Patron Saint of Icons (per

eilowyn, and when the heck did this happen anyway?) has been remiss in her duties. And is speaking of herself in third person. This cannot stand. So herewith:

** Foz Meadow's essay, Gender, Orphan Black and the Meta of Meta says everything I want to say, beautifully, cogently and eloquently, about our cultural aversion to supposedly "unlikeable" female characters, how we hold them to harsh judgements whether as protagonists/heros or villians, how we protect male characters and tend to forgive all their sins (Buffy gets a mention, of course, but so do Darla and Dru) Required and necessary reading for anyone who cares about the subject. Contains mild spoilers for all of S1 Orphan Black.
.
"And the more I watched, the more I found myself thinking: why is this quality, the idea of likeability, considered so important for women, but so optional for men – not just in real life, but in narrative?"

** Entries for

otherworldlyric Challenge #175 are due TONIGHT, Friday the 20th midnight EST US.

dragonydreams says that they could use a couple more entries for this challenge. (My beta-muse-god

wickedbish has thankfully NOT been remiss in his duties, quite the opposite, and so I may be able to pull one or two out of the hopper, we shall see. )

** Deadline for

slayerstillness Challenge 26 "The Same but Different" is tomorrow night, Saturday the 21st, midnight in your respective time zones. There are four sets so far from three people, which isn't very much. Remember, you can enter two sets in this challenge! However, due to RL stuff and lack of reminders

starry_night is willing to extend the deadline a week if folks ask.

And here be some icons, musings, prayers. verbiage and bonus questions for the final round of the home game version after the teaser and the cut:

Speaking of icons, I made some during the same session that produced "...by any other name..." and thank you everyone who stopped by to comment! Also thank you to everyone who responded to my silly Get it Done poster inspired by

infinitewhale's infinite wit, and turned my journal into a coffeehouse. Tis great fun!

01-03

04-05

(Can I get a job in this? Maybe at the Sears Photography Studio? Is Olan Mills still around?)
4 & 5 are *AHEM* not great, to say the least, *COUGH* but combining that light effect with the "snow" effect in ipiccy as fun and worth giving another try sometime.

Dear Powers that Don't Actually Be or At Least I Don't Believe You Be But How Would I Know, I Could Be Praying to a Bunch of SIngle-Celled Plankton or the Flying Spagetti Monster for All I Know:

Please don't let me look on this two months from now and only see the flaws and feel embarrassed, the way I now do about the Spuffy banner I made for comlodge's birthday that I was so proud of at the time - and definitely the one I made for velvetwhip's birthday because gee whiz I thought that was decent?- and 98% of the icons I've ever made - but now I want to tear up and start from scratch because I can do better than that.

Please let my VampWillow set for Round 2 of btvsats20in20 be as good as my friends think it will be, and not in a "gee that's nice, you tried honey" kind of way.

And please don't remind me that moaning about how ashamed I am of an artwork whilst simultaneously linking to it and self-pimping is, well, definitely sending a mixed message and hypocritcal at best. Because I already know. ~~And please don't take me too seriously when I pray that my ex-boss' product be half-rotten by the time he gets to the market.~~ Or do, your choice. Thanks bunches!

PS: I'm already embarrassed by #4 & 5 above anyway. Do I need to pray harder? Do you want cake?

And now, questions for those of you playing along with the home version:

1) Don't I have the BEST f'listies? I do. My peeps totally rock. (So technically that was a statement disguised as a question. Moving on...)

2) Should there be a law against white, middle-aged, college-educated, working or middle class suburban women using phrases like "my peeps totally rock"? Or at least a stern warning?

3) New LJ feature I LOVE: I start typing in a friend's name and LJ now brings up options for me to chose from NIFTY! Feature I hate: The new friends feed page: the whole damn thing, basically. Anyone else agree with me? What are you lovin'/hatin'/mehin' on with the changes?

3) If the world actually had been created by single-celled plankton, do you think it would operate more efficiently?

4) If the Powers that May or May Not Exist actually exist, would they eat cake?

I wanted to get these out to y'all earlier in the week but sucky life circumstances drained the life out of me for a few days. I'm very grateful for the love and supportive I've gotten this week from my friends here who have offered virtual arms and shoulders to cry on, and let me rant about things various, be it my personal distress so I don't curl up in a fetal position in the corner, or why I prefer Barney Stinson's honest deceptions to Ted Mosby's self-absorbed, pretentious, pseudo-sensitive crap but could never articulate it before.

The lesson, kids, is that none of us is really, truly alone, that it takes courage to say "I hurt" aloud and trust someone to hear that because it's so hard to do. That I have wonderful friends so even if my life is in pieces, I'm not a "bad" person to be so loved. And - upside! - I'm using some downtime to learn new-to-me digital editing skilz. Because I WILL get good enough to make meta-picspams that don't embarrass me, and pretty prezzies for my friends.

*****

*** Voting for Round 1 of btvsats20in20 is open until midnight June 16th, if you haven't had the chance to vote already for Themes, Category (B/W), and Artist's Choice. Looking at the results so far is proof positive that I'm a pretty poor judge of my own stuff. Or other people's I guess because there are some really fantastic icons by folks who happen to not be me that are NOT getting the love they deserve. So says I. I'm not telling you to vote for my stuff, of course, or what stuff by other people to vote for. Really. That would be wrong. But if you chose to catch my mental wavelength and read my mind, then there's just nothing I can do about that, is there?

*** Challenge 26 at slayerstillness is "The Same But Different". starry_night kindly responded to suggestions from teragramm and myself for a challenge that allows multiple icons of the same image. "For this challenge there will also be a slight change to the rules in that I would like you to submit a full set of five (5) icons. Voting will also be different in that you will be voting for your favourite sets, as well as individual icons...For this challenge only (for now…) you can submit up to TWO (2) sets of five icons." The deadline is midnight Saturday June 21st at our own time zones.

*** otherworldlyric Challenge 175 is set to the song "Stay with Me" by Hoobastank, deadline midnight Friday June 20th. I've never heard of the band or the song but the lyrics are simple and lovely and I started making an icon or two or....about 10 or so at this point, and at least three different crops of the same cap. Hmmm... As Willow says to Kennedy in "Get it Done", it's how I work. Ten years ago I made Moulin Rouge icons just for myself - i didn't know about LJ, about icontests or any such thing, so I was just having fun and making multiple variations of any one icon came naturally to me. It's much harder for me participating in challenges and trying to force myself to make fewer icons. So far? It hasn't worked. 5-9x the number I need is pretty much average. (Yes, I did the math.)

If I could have, my entries in Round 1 of btvsats20in20 would have been almost entirely variants of The Chain icon. Speaking of which... my alts/extras for this round. (Did I mention voting ends June 16th?)

Here be teasers:

I know I've mentioned it before but it doesn't hurt to repeat: all credit to kwritten credit for introducing me to ipiccy and to clockwork_hart1 for giving me instructions in how to make a collage in that program. I'm not trying to affect anyone's votes btw, and some folks don't want to be bothered with the blah-de-blah (if I weren't me I'd tell me to STFU) so I've grouped the icons first, directors commentary track afterwards - your choice to read it or not.

Here be Icons:

(01-04)

(05-08)

(09-11)

(12-14)

(15-17)

(18-20)

(21-23)

(24-27)

(28-30)

( 31-35)

(36-38)

(39-42)

(43-45)

And here be Artist's Commentary Track:

#01 -08 This set was such fun and my favorites of all my entries. Making them was like discovering the key to a door I'd never been able to unlock before. #1-3 are basically the same icon, with the addition of the Photo Collage effect from ipiccy. IThe exact arrangement, number/size of the photos, size and color of frames, the color of background and color within the frames all had to be chosen separately. Then I took #2 back to PB and used the Splash function to remove all the color and repaint some of the squares. (#3) Great practice in hand-eye co-ordination, especially redrawing the blood on her cheek while leaving the rest of the square grey.

For both #4 and my Comics entry I had to go back to the original icon #1, and readjust the arrangement and number of photos within the image each time, chose the color within the frames and the background colors separately. #4 has smaller "photos" and thus less background showing; I also learned something very important - don't bisect key facial features (nose and lips) right down the center.

For my final Comics entry I recolored and reshuffled everything, then added a separate light leak effect, something I see in icons all the time and have wondered how it was done. (Every week now I find myself looking at an icon and saying "I know how that was done!" And every day I look at an icon and say "How the heck was that done?") Photo Collage is a tricky effect; it's easy to overdo, but it doesn't mesh well with very realistic photographs because it has a very cartoon-like "drawn" or fake quality. With an icon from a comic book illustration, it's a perfect marriage.

#09-11 My first successful attempts at "blending" - really collage; I didn't know how to blend images seamlessly. And by "successful" I mean, "nominally better than a sharp stick in the eye".The effect reminded me those graphic movie magazines I grew up with in the 1970's but really not satisfied with the quality of it. I tried using a light effect from ipiccy to cover up the dividing line. It didn't work, but it looks like a prompt for a nifty "Cave Buffy and newly resurrected Buffy are thrown into an alternative universe together" fic. Anyone want to take that up?

Cave Buffy sort of skirts the edges of my claim (not really-real Buffy) but when I rewatched Beer Bad the second time after watching season 6, the visual parallels with Bargaining were one of those "once you see it you can't unsee it" things. Exhibit A in my "Beer Bad is aweseom and fandom doesn't give it respect" argument.

#12-17 First time with textures. #12 is the color version of my Cat #4 (black/white) entry and I think it works better with color. Poor Cat #4 - the only one of my entries not to draw any comment when I posted them and no surprise, it's my least favorite too. 14 is a combination of provided texture plus shine (rays of light) effect, which is where the yellow color comes from. These aren't pretty but they remind me of the artwork of William Blake and his friend and contemporary Henry Fuseli. Also, I apparently love to combine textures with the Shine effect because they both show up in three of my entries, separately or together. Should I be worried?

#17 was just sharpen, sharpen, lighten, blend the pixels, push the contrast, sharpen, blend one more time. I didn't realize how soft-focus the original cap is until I started playing with it. (If you are unaware of my feelings regarding Normal Again and Sarah's amazing performance in it, you must be new here. Welcome! Have a cookie!

#18-23 More provided texture plus shine effect, then pushing the color. I don't remember how I got those bands of purple in the Primeval icons (another applied texture maybe? I have no idea) and I couldn't have planned the way it goes directly into her eyeballs and curves around her chin. Happy accidents. These icons have a particular immediacy for me because I have epilepsy and a seizure is essentially an electrical surge in my brain that temporarily shorts everything out; I have no control over my own body. "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" And that's what I wanted to evoke visually - the sense of things gone haywire, the horror of losing control of one's own body.

#24-27 These icons from Amends and The Wish show how well some of the early season caps can be lightened without pixelating. I'm still surprised by how much detail I got - the pores on the skin, the makeup around her eye, the lines on her scar. The sadness on Wishverse!Buffy's face isn't noticeable in the original cap, which is very dark, but comes through when it's lightened ands took me by surprise. It's perfect - the lonely, wounded girl behind the tough exterior. She's not "Buffy as Faith" as some fans have said; Faith is full of piss and fire and would have emptied Giles' decanter and stolen another bottle for good measure. This girl, she's General Buffy, foreshadowed, but still very much Buffy. I really took the guideline "must show detail" to heart for the XCU - I was going to get every pore on her face if it killed me.

The softness and sheen of her hair and skin in the Amends icons is incredibly lovely in these and belies the horror of the moment. I turned the orientation of the cap to show off her expression better. She almost looks as if she is running very fast and shouting in alarm something in the distance, instead of lying in bed being killed/devoured by Angel in his dream. The man clings to her as his salvation, his second chance to be a good man; the demon would gleefully suck her dry. (Be careful what you wish for...)

#28-30 As with the Amends icon, I love the contrast of the warmth of this imagine and the context of the scene: "That's my guy." All these effects were done in ipiccy. I wanted the look of a drawing for 31-32 but I didn't like the Pencil Drawing effect in ipiccy, so I used the lines of one of the Light effects and removed the color. A lot of icon making for me is about trying to go around the back door to get what I want.

The First wearing Buffy's face is the (non-corporeal) manifestation of Buffy's fear of becoming a demon, inhuman, from "Nightmares" in S1 through S6, as well as soulless Spike's desires that she "try on my world for size". The fantastic, bitter irony of the formerly soulless vampire demon who once wanted her to be his companion, his lover, alone in the dark, needs the real Buffy - needs her humanity - more than ever to help him escape the darkness and evil he'd encouraged her to embrace. (Be careful what you wish for....)

#31-35 "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" series - the title of Keat's ballad is perfect for Faith's dream image of Buffy in TYG; the font is Princess Sophia in PB. I spent more time, and threw away more attempts, on this set than any other for the round. Beautiful images but the caps are so damn dark, and unlike the early season caps they don't emerge nicely when you brighten them, they just pixilate. I finally realized that when I downsize an image in ipiccy I get slightly better results in ipiccy than in PB because ipiccy seems to retain the quality of the image a bit better, but I still had to downsize and adjust in increments.

Tons of blending work - I bow low to the wisdom of comlodge's sage advice - especially on Sarah's nose, as well as on the background. Dear god, chasing that last little pixel at the tip of her nostril nearly drove me insane. I am well on my way to becoming the foremost expert on Sarah's nose - second to only her ENT doctor. (And look, Ma, I finally signed one of my icons! *lol*)

#36-42 From Nightmares - another reason you need to watch Season 1 if you haven't already. The seeds for the entire series are planted in S1, and Nightmares might just be the skeleton key to the psychology of Buffy Summers. (And it pays dividends down the line for Willow Rosenberg fans as well.) I hated losing that brick wall. Kicking myself for not paying better attention to the guidelines of that catagory. The NS+mono I entered with the shine effect has been getting almost the most votes of any of my entries but dear goodness me I loved the lines and texture of that brick wall. No special effects needed except brighten, sharpen and contrast. The "flames" of color revealed themselves. I painted in the silhouette with black to cover lighter pixels dotting her face and clothes.

#43-45 What's a brick wall without a little graffiti, even in the Hellmouth? Especially in the Hellmouth? Buffy the Ad Exec Slayer - there has GOT to be a btvs-Mad Men crossover somewhere. The phrase "She Comes" is the result of me mis-remembering Lord Byron's poem "She Walks in Beauty" but for this context I prefer my version - it could be hopeful (Make way for the Queen!) or sinister (Run for your lives!).

Voting is up NOW for

otherworldlyric challenge 173. 10 fabulous entries and at least one or two Willow/Angel shippy icons. Nifty.

Entries for round 1 of

btvsats20in20 are due June 4 but there are some fantastic entries in the meantime to enjoy. I am nearly done with my entries (and a little nervous about the quality because DAMN, there are some fantastic entries in this thing.)

I just have to chose favorite moment. And master the icon table template. And maybe redo another blending icon. Or settle for one of the ones I made today. How hard can that be, right?

And I am FREAKING OUT just a little.

I am also going blind.

Not literally but the moment when I stopped being able to see the little pixels on the screen clearly and my eyes are blurring from sitting here too long? I passed that exit 10 miles back, with no turnaround.

I thought I was going to have a hard time coming up with ideas for this. My problem is coming up with too damn many. Oy vey. I'm lovin' it btw but - break time, way past.

So while I step away - I asked

kikimay the other day about posting some other variations of my Buffy/Come Undone artwork and she said she would be interested. I'm trying to convince myself that it's ok to show this stuff off and I won't get any better as an artist hiding my stuff in a dresser drawer, so to speak. (But why do I still feel weird about it? Aside from the needing food and all that jazz...)

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June 2021

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Page Summary

The Only Road I've Ever Known
Spring is in the Air: Your fan art Town Cryer, Saturday Edition
Voting is up now at Whedon elite challange 109 and otherworldlyrics needs some entries
Megan's Banners for btvsats20in20 Round 5 by starry_night
PIMP LIKE THE WIND, SHE SAID Buffyverse Pub, Secret Slaying, SunnyD Memorial awards and more!
A Stay of Execut - I mean, the DEADLINES have been extended! *ETA last-minute HIMYM snark*
Last (and I do mean last) chance to nominate in Round 30 of SunnyD Memorial Fanfic awards
Entries Due TONIGHT midnight for Slayerstillness challenge 30 Free for All Round & OWL Challenge 181
Quick Like A Bunny: Congrats to the winners of Otherworldlyrics - and, Time for 20in20 Votin'!
I Procrastinate, Therefore I Pimp: Otherworldlyrics, Slayerstillness, and Other Good Stuff
If you think I sound fakey-cheerful you'd be right. Now on with the pimpage!
Icon challenge pimpage, the Sunday and It's Two Days Late Edition!
Summertime and the votin' is eas...nope, still just as hard. Does it ever get easier?
Your Patron Saint of Icons is on Vacay but Never Too Far Away Because:
SIGN UPS FOR BTVSATS20in20 UP NOW!
I'll be away for a little while....
Vote now at Otherworldlyrics challenge 175!
Why yes there are meta & other icontests out there and here be necessary reminders
I promised you alts and extras, alts and extras you shall have....BUT FIRST a word from our sponsors
She's Come Undone (pt2) and I'm not feeling too good myself

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Style Credit

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

Page generated Jul. 5th, 2025 06:17 am

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Entries tagged with comm: otherworldlyrics

The Only Road I've Ever Known

Spring is in the Air: Your fan art Town Cryer, Saturday Edition

Voting is up now at Whedon elite challange 109 and otherworldlyrics needs some entries

Megan's Banners for btvsats20in20 Round 5 by starry_night

PIMP LIKE THE WIND, SHE SAID Buffyverse Pub, Secret Slaying, SunnyD Memorial awards and more!

A Stay of Execut - I mean, the DEADLINES have been extended! ETA last-minute HIMYM snark

Last (and I do mean last) chance to nominate in Round 30 of SunnyD Memorial Fanfic awards

Entries Due TONIGHT midnight for Slayerstillness challenge 30 Free for All Round & OWL Challenge 181

Quick Like A Bunny: Congrats to the winners of Otherworldlyrics - and, Time for 20in20 Votin'!

I Procrastinate, Therefore I Pimp: Otherworldlyrics, Slayerstillness, and Other Good Stuff

If you think I sound fakey-cheerful you'd be right. Now on with the pimpage!

Icon challenge pimpage, the Sunday and It's Two Days Late Edition!

Summertime and the votin' is eas...nope, still just as hard. Does it ever get easier?

Your Patron Saint of Icons is on Vacay but Never Too Far Away Because:

SIGN UPS FOR BTVSATS20in20 UP NOW!

I'll be away for a little while....

Vote now at Otherworldlyrics challenge 175!

Why yes there are meta & other icontests out there and here be necessary reminders

I promised you alts and extras, alts and extras you shall have....BUT FIRST a word from our sponsors

She's Come Undone (pt2) and I'm not feeling too good myself

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