red_satin_doll

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.

The other day I mentioned

aliceinkinkland's "Show You the World" (Buffy and Dawn road trip fic) and you could certainly start there or anywhere among her fics on AO3 and find something sweet, or sad, or funny - maybe a combination of all three at once. And plenty of sexy stories - I love how she actually examines what desire looks like, and feels like, for women, how consent issues could be handled differently in our culture. In fact, Seeing a Different Shade of Red is one of the jewels in her crown because it's a meta-ish fic taht does just that. But so does Somewhere Sharp and Hot and Shimmering, where Tara helps Buffy become comfortable with her own desires.

Also I'm going to say happy birthday to

velvetwhip two days early because - my pattern is to say it two days late, if at all, and this is one birthday I don't want to let pass.

* A VERY belated THANK YOU to the unknown person(s) who nominated and then selected me as "Reviewer of the Month" for August 2015 at Elysian Fields! I'm still astonished and have no idea how that all happens (and I confess I feel something of a fraud for the honor, not having reviewed as frequently this month) but THANK YOU THANK YOU! It's a very kind welcome to the community.

ETA: And congratulations to

spuffy_luvr for being voted Author of the Month! Getting to be Reviewer of the Month as the same month as a dear friend and one of my favorite writers and person to share thinky-thoughts with? Is VERY cool.

* And a VERY un-belated actually on-time HAPPY BIRTHDAY to

feliciacraft! She had kind words for my Round 11 Joyce and Buffy icons the other day, so I thought she might appreciate this pretty thing. Enjoy your special day, week and month, Felicia!

buffyjoycestarlightglowrsd2015_771x414_happybdayfeliciacraft2.png

Since today is

spikesredqueen's actual birthday and I am actually NOT belated, for once, AND I've never made Willow/Faith * fantart, I thought I'd take a crack at something for her. Happy birthday Marie!

I've got the Power (Willow, Faith, 2015) Click for full-size image

*(whats the smushname for that pairing? Fillow? Fallow? Waith? Wiith?)

I cannot believe it's been a year since I wished my dear friend

eilowyn Happy Birthday(month) and here we are again! Only a day late, I wanted to make her a little something in return for the wonderful fanmix, artwork, support and friendship she's given me - Happy Birthday Lexi, you are a dear, dear soul, an amazing scholar, a intelligent and courageous woman and I am so proud of you on every level. Some Spuffy artwork for you my dear.

Click all images for full-size versions:

And a couple more variations:

Enjoy your birthday/week/month darling!

bangel_4e put up the voting polls for Round 4 of

btvsats20in20 yesterday but if you haven't checked it out and cast your votes: Themes, Category Sets & AC sets.

I have also been remiss in: Not having replied yet to everyone who so kindly came to give feedback for my Normal Again 20in20 set; I will amend that if after the weekend. I really appreciate everyone's comments. And for not mentioning that

kwritten was the inspiration for my Normal Again claim because I was working on some images from that episode for some fanfiction posters for her "Blurring the Lines" series (AU Buffy/Tara, Dawn), which I've not rolled out yet but she has given me her blessing to do so. Soon, very soon. Speaking of Kelsey, she is accepting fic prompt requests all this month; give her a shout.

It turned out that doing this ep was another case of life mirroring (not necessarily imitating) art; the icon I've ended up snagging for myself turned out to be a more accurate reflection of where I'm at lately than I'd like to admit. So, if I seem strange lately, don't pick up on irony or obvious humor, or burst into tears if you look at me cross-eyed*** politely ignore me and help yourself to another slice of cake.

Having said that: *deep breath*

Please feel free to offer constructive criticism should you have it of my 20in20set. Am I doing something wrong? What could I improve? Do I think they look better than they actually do? What obvious errors am I making that I'm not aware of? Am I repeating certain things far too often? I'm not speaking so much of the limitations of my tools as things like color, tone, light, composition - the basics. I don't know how to get the incredible clarity that many of y'all achieve and I am not going to get Topaz or any such but I would like to learn how to get there with ipiccy and/or Photoshop Elements (which my sweetie purchased for the computer, yay!) And FYI, I do try to use the thinnest, most elegant and simplest font I can in any situation, but I sometimes sacrificed elegance for legibility; ipiccy's font options are very limited.

This is not about me putting my work down but about saying, yes I've improved but I want to get better. And we all have blind spots in our own mirrors.

Just don't tear into me like a chainsaw,; constructive criticism if you please.

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

But that's not what the title of this post is about. It's about the fact that I was looking over the upcoming and belated birthdays I've missed on my f'list and somehow managed to delete all of them. Except

spikesredqueen, of about a month ago and I think I sent her birthday wishes (maybe?) And I didn't memorized the ones I'd deleted so here's what I do remember:

wickedbish, Beta Lord on High *heh*,

the_royal_anna,

rebcake,

dragonydreams, goddesses of this fandom who need no introduction and if they do, you need to fix that oversight;

pprfaith (who writes beautiful Buffy/Loki fic and who I found out about via

endeni in her usual brilliant way) and....the other people whose names I deleted and can't remember right now. *hangs head* To all my friends celebrating birthdays, Happy Release from the Womb Day!

02

No, this has nothing to do with anyone's birthdays. I just had fun.

04

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

ETA: Number the banners, and also

velvetwhip made an excellent point about the frames being unnecessary in the first two banners, which I sort of suspected in the case of #2 at least. For #5 I cropped the outer frame off #1 but left the black inner border and I like it better this way. Oddly enough I didn't save a version before i added the frame in ipiccy and I say oddly because that's become my habit SAVE EVERY STEP. So #2 is actually #6 with a frame tacked on.Because ipiccy isn't PS, you can't go back in and continue to make edits once you "save" and then close a file you're working on.

Which, granted, is the same as #4 but with diffferent text. Or, #3 is this before the addition of text, the crinkle texture and with a vintage coloring filter added (and I actually like the coloring in #3 better but if you're wondering HOW many variations do I really really need...you haven't seen my alts and extras for Round 4 yet, apparently.) :-P

** Pirate Bride

snogged returns to the world of fanart after an extended hiatus with this: "Mr Gunn Will See You Now" ("Fifty Shades of Gunn") a Gunn/Willow banner that is incredibly erotic. To call it "yummy" almost sounds dismissive; "perfectly scrumptious" works better. And yet, it's pretty much worksafe. (Unless a pretty lady in lingerie and a bare leg is a no-no in your office. Or implied interracial shipping. Or looking at fanart or anything not related to work and really, is this the kind of workplace you want to be in?) I've never considered that pairing but looking at her banner it suddenly seems perfectly right. Where's the faction for this ship? And, tell me again why m'lady has been away from fanart and denied us these lovelies for so long?

** Working in the Key of Light: Happy birthday to

pickamix, who started things off by giving all of us a gift: "Light Willow". A total turnaround aesthetically from a Mistress of the Dark Art(works): astonishing, unexpected and gorgeous. I'm kind of beyond words here because everything about it could have been, in lesser, hands, cliche - the butterfly wing texture; in her sure hands, nothing here is cliche, all of it is absolutely, meltingly lovely. It was the second thing to greet my eyes Sunday morning, after a proper cup of tea, and I began to tear up. Then I simply sat with it, studied it, took it all in - the way Willow emerges from the light, the way the texures wrap around her, embrace her. I could go on all day about it.

****

What unites these two artworks in my mind is their shared elegance: visually clean, uncluttered, nothing out of place. Simplicity of composition that belies the work that surely went into making both of these. Both of these have room to breathe and yet the composition in each one directs your eye exactly where the artists want it to be. You can roam around, you can go deeper (I can study these for quite some time to suss out the subtle, almost hidden layers), but your eye is not likely to fall off the canvas. That takes a sureness of touch that comes with talent, yes, but also intellegence and conscious practice of the craft. There's no way around it.

The presence of negative space in both goes a long way towards achieving that elegance; and this is a quality I need to study and learn from. My sweetie once described my writing as "too much velvet" for her taste. Too many adjectives, too much description, too much verbiage in general. And I find myself doing the same thing with artwork, especially now that I'm discovering layers and textures and oh boy is it easy to fill up the spaces and just because I can doesn't mean I should. Knowwhatimean?

****

Yesterday I thought to myself that if I were a fic author and received either of these artworks as a banner to go with a story I'd die of happiness, aka jump up and down and grin and hug myself uncontrollably. Silently, in my chair, so only I would know. (Ok, the grinning and hugging would actually happen. The jumping would be entirely mental but it would be intense.)THEN I'd show them off and say "Look what I got, y'all!"

But of course, I'm not not a fiction author, and not much of a writer at all, currently....

And then LOOK WHAT I GOT, Y'ALL!

"....yellow is the color of intellectual energy, positivity, but also jealousy and illness and in the yellow shirt there are birds flying (freedom) except that you go on and see the shape of the knife buried in the flesh and all the blood spilling. It's broken freedom and innocence lost...."

kikimay not only snagged my "There Once was a Girl" icon for her default icon, which is an honor all by itself; she wrote an analysis/interpretation of it! MY ARTWORK HAS BEEN META'D! And of course her commentary is as intelligent, concise and elegant as her prose. I always imagined I'd be writing the meta about someone else's work, never the other way around. Eventually I decided I wanted to provide the pictures to compliment for other people's words, instead of asking other people to provide them for me. (And at that point I knew

velvetwhip would be the ~~first~~ second recipient. it had to be her. ETA: clockwork_hart1 was actually the first person I made a banner for. Mind like a sieve over here.)

Now Kiki has provided the words to compliment my picture and so it goes. And this is addition to the honor of a Mod's Choice Award at

slayerstillness. The little icon that could.

I died of happiness....

...but then I came right away back because I've got to finish my set for Round 4 of

btvsats20in20, which is due Sept 27th. Have you seen the awesome entries so far by

spikesredqueen,

sweet_lyri,

pickamix, snowpuppies,

teragramm,

killing_kurare, and

oh_cheezit? Plus I needed to cast my vote on the current challenge of

slayerstillness, which I missed the boat on entering; therefore, doubly important that I participate as voter.

It's nice when we the artists vote for one another but there ARE MORE THAN 15 PEOPLE IN THIS FANDOM. I know there are. And if you can't or don't want to make icons, by all means vote. Your opinions count and don't let "Well I don't know anything about art" nonsense (because of some stupid thing your parents or your fifth grade teacher told you as a child) hold you back. YES YOU DO KNOW ABOUT ART. Of course you do! You're surrounded with it, you've taken it in your entire life. It's no different to voting in the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards even if you haven't written any works of fiction yourself.

My sweetie has a classmate in art college ten years ago who was a wonderful artist (pastel was her preferred medium and she could make a pastel painting look like it was done in oils), and just the sweetest person imaginable. One of their professors told her in class, in front of everyone, that she "lacked artistic intelligence". Need I describe my feelings towards this arrogant jackass in minute detail or can you just pick up the vibe of my loathing?

We all have "artistic intelligence". We just need safe space to practice it and express it, as artists and appreciators. (Without people to appreciate, there is no point!) I can say without hesitation that participating in icontests, and thanks to the wonderful community of folks here, I've been pushed farther and faster just the last six months than I could have imagined possible. And I haven't even begun to skim the surface of what's possible.

But I've gone on long enough, Gentle Reader: goest thou and vote, create, offer feedback and share the love - do your part to keep this fandom alive and lively. What medium of expression have you not explored, or are just beginning to? What holds you back? What ideas do you have for bringing new excitement to this fandom and what about it continues to excite you and keeps you interested?

My mom is here for a week long visit (so far everyone is getting along, yay!) and so I cannot stay but a moment:

1) HAPPY BIRTHDAY to

spikesredqueen! I hope life lets her come back again and stop by soon, I've missed the amazing artwork but more so the conversations, advice, support and friendship. I confess to being too "arted out" for a birthday card, so here's a better idea: check out her classic, timeless videos, icons, fanfics and art and let her know how much you enjoyed them.

2) Vote now at

btvs_hush, Challenge 280 "Angel" - and many thanks to

pickamix for the heads up! Deadline to vote is Sunday but why wait around and forget? That said - I confess I still haven't voted because I simply cannot decide between them. (Do I have to?) The fact that I am gazing at a batch of Angel icons (hell, at a batch of icons featuring any male character) and thinking, Oh, how lovely, and look at the creamy alabaster quality of his skin...may be a sign that the Apocalypse is coming and the End is Near because I just - don't swing that way, knowwhatimean?

* Congratulations to the winners of

btvs_hush Challenge 278

rua1412,

xclaire_delunex, and (a new name to me)

stepinsidelove! Entries for Challenge 279 are due TOMORROW August 5 and according to

dragonydreams there will NOT be an extension this round. (Many thanks to

pickamix for the heads-up on that fact.) So there's still one day to come up with something if you're quick and clever (and decidedly not me).

*

bangel_4e has posted her entries for Round 3 of

btvsats20in20, "Buffy Summers". I knew she'd come up with something to do Buffy proud and oh my did she ever. *This is me quietly resisting throwing in the towel...for the love of Tara I plod onward and I am really really overthinking this*

*

scribesds is looking for new members and feedback on the future of

writers_toybox, a comm for fanwriters looking for beta help, prompts, wanting to talk about writing etc. The comm has been primarily but not soley B/A-oriented up until now. Should it stop being a B/A community? Open up to other fandoms? Become a general writing forum? WHAT SAY YOU?

* A very happy birthday/week/month/year to - lots of people on my f'list (in no particular order):

ruuger,

clawofcat,

st_salieri,

darkgoddessgege,

zanthinegirl,

kerkevik_2014 (Ray),

blackfrancine,

sweetiepebbles,

ozma914 (Mark ~~Fields~~ Hunter),

bradcpu, and who am I missing? I apologize for the wishes en masse but people just keep gettin' born! I hope it was filled with something much nicer than heartache, misery, a boyfriend's soul going kablooey and an animated arm in a box. Unless any of that's your cup of tea.

1) Thanking: My personal Miss Psycho Pep Squad

velvetwhip. For reasons. For everything.

Everyone who has helped me learn how to improve my art skillz:

chasingdemons and

comlodge,

spikesredqueen,

rua1412,

eilowyn, and

kwritten for introducing me to ipiccy in the first place. (If I've forgotten anyone please forgive me.) Ok, I did some thankin' yesterday but it bears repeating. The sheer GENEROSITY of folks in this fandom is overwhelming. My real life has been all kinds of suckitude; being here on LJ, diving into making art (aka keeping myself distracted) has been my bliss.Comlodge,

debris4spike, and Chasingdemons all checked out ipiccy to make comparisons with gimp/PS and give me their reactions.

2) Pimpage happens here: My homegirl

eilowyn made me an incredible gift: a Buffy Summers fanmix, with musical tracks by Coldplay, Florence Welch, Imogene Heap, Regina Spektor, Metric and more; with incredible "album cover" art. I'm listening to it right now for the umpteenth time - Rilo Kiley's heartbreaker "A Better Son/Daughter" as a matter of fact. Perfect song for Buffy - keep fighting, keep smiling, keep hauling that load even if it kills you (and it certainly will). The entire mix is everything Buffy is - brave, frightened, loving, determined, uncertain, strong - everything all of us are: human. (Speaking of, "Human" by the Cinematics puts me in mind of Spike, actually, but that may be partly because of the lead male vocals. "I've been breaking my back with the weight of your heart." Break my heart now, why don'cha?) I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a wonderful gif but I'm grateful - and already addicted to it.

clockwork_hart1's "Conclusive Etymology of a Summers" is a lovely and tender portrait of Buffy's relationship with language beyond my ability to do justice with my own words: her wit, her stubborness, her intelligence, her hope; her silence in response to the fears that grip her heart. This story completely owns my heart, so here's a piece of mine: my first fanfiction poster.

Etymology version 1 (Lucy&#39;s favorite)

I am so happy with how this came out. SO happy and proud. As in, close-to-tears-happy. I didn't plan it in advance, it snuck up me while I was working on something else, and just came together with hardly any effort. That's the way it always seems to be. I'm wrestling with fear, self-doubt and sense of failure in my RL, but - I can do this now. I can do this.

pickamix generously offered suggestions for a more slender font style, which I tried to replicate here; I love both variations.

Go read Lucy's fic, it's beyond wonderful. Then check out her multi-fandom icons and her other fics, including the delightful Buffyverse/Whoverse crossovers: the sensual "Teaching the Stars how to Set Themselves on Fire" (Dawn/Amy Pond); two Buffy/River Song fics, the funny/sexy "Straight on 'til Morning" and the answer to my request for "more, please" with it's prequel: "Greet Me with Nights and Summer"; Buffy/River Song plus wise, wry Dawn, slightly-befuddled Faith, a shout-out to Tara, badass women with swords and an apocalypse-y setting. What more could I desire?

kikimay's fics and fanvideo: The epilogue to her post-series Fuffy fic Eros which is incredibly sweet and has a lovely Buffy/Giles scene. Fluffy Fuffy can be hard to get right, but if you've been reading along, Kiki makes sure it's well-earned. Our beloved Slayers deserve a little happiness, oui? (the entire story is rated NC-17 but this chapter is safely teen and up.) Her second fan video, "Bad Habit" takes on a serious subject: the ways that the Buffyverse women punish themselves and "self-mutilate" either literally or symbolically. It's been a while since I've seen a truly meta buffy fanvid that engaged larger social and psychological issues. She says she has plans to make a third video, inspired by "Conclusive Etymology of a Summers". I approve of this plan.

beer_good_foamy's latest btvs S6 fic, "Building Character" (thank you

kikimay!) that rewrites S6 and Buffy's resurrection in a way that is probably more realistic - and subtly horrifying, or at least extremely ambiguous - than canon. It also builds on a series-wide subtext that becomes text in S5 - the "constructed" or created individual, the "doll" (shades of the Buffybot, April and Dawn). The gang tries to put Buffy together again, however much they think they "know" her, how much is unknown and left blank?

Don't forget to vote at slayerstillness Challenge 27, Hair Porn; deadline is midnight tonight, the 8th, in your time zone. And check out the beautiful

btvsats20in20 entries for two Season 5 episodes by

starry_night

starry_night (Intervention) and

iconsoleander (The Body). Deadline for Round 2 entries is tomorrow, and I'll be able to start my entry post as soon as I get this post up. (The word "gulp" comes to mind.)

3) Finally, Wishing spuffy_luvr a belated Happy Birthday (July 1st.) She hasn't been active in fandom since last fall, as far as I can tell, so I am also remiss in not dropping her a line because I miss her presence, the conversations and rants about: Spuffy canon vs fanon, fandom, politics, pretty much anything and everything - she brings intelligent, wit, and an independent, iconoclastic, no-nonsense attitude to everything in her sights. And the fic: she's known for her long Spuffy works but excels also at funny, sexy, tender Spuffy ficlets in which both partners in the 'ship are treated with affection and respect. The "it could have been canon" series she wrote for

sb_fag_ends in October is all kinds of wonderful, and includes meta as well as fic. "No Earthly Remains" is something of a departure, focusing on Willow, Faith and Buffy post-Chosen; it stands next to

kwritten's "You're Here, Too?" (Buffy, Anya, Willow) as one of my favorite fics dealing with the friendships of btvs' women, and Buffy's trauma and grief after the fall of Sunnyhell.

ETA: "Conciusive Etymology" poster Nominee for Best Banner in Wicked Awards Round 11:

A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend: It goes without saying but just in case: "Don't even think about stealing or defacing my artwork or ye will be plagued by boils and all manner of afflictions". The Miss Psycho Pep Squad icon is totally snaggable however. Have a nice day!

Current Mood: happy

I wanted to do something special for

debris4spike's birthday and knew I wanted it to be Spike and/or Spuffy-centric. I confessed to her one day that it's very dificult for me to work with images of men in my icons and artwork. I have beloved brothers, uncles, cousins, male friends and coworkers; I enjoy a variety of male actors and characters in tv and movies. But actually working with images of men is another matter altogether. So I pushed myself with this. I was going to do a collage with Spuffy hand imagery, or various scenes throughout the seasons but when I looked at the screencaps for The Gift and nearly started crying, I knew where to focus. There is such a purity about this moment. And it's all in the eyes, in their faces:

d03ed568-d16e-4303-bd13-f8e7c26cbf0c_zps3f833ce6

01)

Is it bad form for an artist to say they're happy with their own work? Well, rubbish to that - I was so happy with how this came out, and so suprised by it. I didn't plan the way the curves of the borders echo the necklines of their shirts, didn't realize at first that Buffy and Spike look to be at eye level with each other as opposed to the screencaps; and wasn't aware at first how lighting their faces so and eliminating a lot of the details and shadows captured the feeling of - or my feelings about - the moment better, I think, than the screencaps themselves do. In the caps they both look very tense and somewhat guarded; here, he looks friendly and open, she looks sad and a bit exhausted, morally and physically. I was so happy with this I went overboard and made color variations, as one does:

Teaser icons - there's more to come...

Click all images below to view in full size:

38c3a81e-765b-4028-b44a-c49711ec38da_zps5092fe50

02)

These were made almost entirely in ipiccy. I made a collage and - did other stuff. I would tell you if I could remember! There were light effects, that I do recall. #3 was the original version I brought over to Photobucket; then I sharpened it quite and added the text.

082ec8b0-3078-4be5-be99-c9c6d4944e08_zps7061902d

03-04)

f6aeb58d-113c-404d-9f01-c84b562276c9_zps5169f75e

766ecc82-93c4-4c19-8d6f-af9d73f6dd56_zps43355a71

95da2d28-31b3-4447-ada9-6250f5a6a0e7_zps547c6e8a

05-07)

And then I remembered that Deborah is color-blind, and I worried she might not be able to see this very well. Looking at her icons I'm not aware of this except as she's mentioned it, so it's easy to forget. She's James Marsters fan, a Spike and Spuffy fan who also celebrates the great, interesting ladies in her icons: Buffy Summers, of course; her award-winning Willow icon for

btvs_hush Challenge 272 is one of my favorite icons of the year so far; as well as the women of Star Trek Voyager (esp Captain Kathryn Janeaway) and Blakes 7. See the Servalan icon I snagged for further confirmation. Check out the delicate colors of her Willow "Becoming" icon for Challenge 273, or her Broken and AC4 Blakes 7 icons for

season20in20 with their marvelously controlled and assured composition and color effects.

She may see "differently" but what an eye! And what a heart and soul to go with it.

So I made a mono+purple version just in case she couldn't see the images above properly; thankfully she assured me she can, and has given me permission to post all of these. She particularly liked the text effect in #8; that's Pacifico font from ipiccy, made using the "invert" effect in the pull down menu of the text adjustment box. Then the light leak effects layered over that give the grey lettering an unintentional (but nifty) ombre effect.

TG_collage_purplelight_HPtext_v3_zps85cb8e12

08)

I couldn't resist trotting out my landlord's rose as a texture again for the fun of it. A bit more lushly romantic than I usually allow myself to indulge in:

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baabaeb7-fb42-4fe6-8a25-c6dbeec8cef8_zpsbb8454cf

09-10)

Deborah asked me to pick one of the pieces above and make an icon of it for her, but I've not been able to do so successfully, 1-7 are just too busy as images to work successfully or maybe I just lack the skill and know-how. I tried using 8-10 but Buffy and Spike both end up looking so stern and Sarah's cheek pixilates something awful. I did better - marginally - going back to the original caps or using another image altogether.

11-14)

15-19)

I do like the way #19 looks like a mid 20th-century advert illustration. But by this point I hit the wall of my ability to stare at a man's face for hours on end, even a handsome one. I can't explain it. And 20-22 below are strange even by my standards. IF ANYONE OUT THERE CAN MAKE AN ICON OF ONE OF THE LARGER WORKS OR CAN TEACH ME HOW TO DO IT IN iPICCY, PLEASE PM ME.

20-22)

Want? DO NOT take or have without checking with the artist (moi) and nicely asking debris4spike first. Do not alter, claim as your own, hotlink or any of that nonsense that sensible, ethical people would never think to indulge in. 'kay?

bangel_4e very kindly extended Round 1 of

btvsats20in20 from June 4th to June 7th (midnight our time respective time zones).

Thank goodness, because I need 20 icons....I have about 69. Not counting the 40 or so I already deleted or moved to another folder. I completely scrapped the blending ones I did yesterday due to extreme suckage (and not the fun kind either.) My "smile" icon also sucks goose eggs and needs to be scrapped. In fact, I suddenly loathe a whole bunch of them because all I can see is the flaws. I know this because I've been staring at them - too long. And too closely. (I'm pretty sure staring at the icons with my eyeball about an inch or two away from this little screen would explain my headache. ~~Or it could be martians changing the radio frequency, but whateve~~.)But my ladylove took the wireless keyboard to work and left me with her older, slower "hey honey I don't think you've got enough files crammed on this thing" laptop instead. Which is slower and harder on my eyes, and doesn't allow me the same control that I'm used to in terms of the "mousepad" vs the mouse. (I can see why some people get those stylus pads that allow them to "draw".) And she's got it set up so the menu bar at the top plays "peek a boo" with me.

In fact, PB won't even show the image when I try to crop it. It won't let me do much of anything today. But I don't know if it's PB or if it's the laptop....*le sigh*

Sure, take away my french easel and my 100% Kolinsky sable hair size 1 brush with a brass ferrule and leave me with a used card table and the cheapest brush in the craft store. Take away my Corvette and leave me with a Datsun. Then take away the Datsun and leave me with a horse-drawn wagon - and then take away the darn horses. Eh, thanks anyway, I'll walk instead.

Also, I haven't kept up with any other icontest challenges currently, and I'm woefully behind in wishing

angearia,

teragramm,

chic_c and

leni_ba very, very happy birthdays.

I'm also woefully behind in in posting my own icons from recent challenges; in keeping up with the latest challenges; thanking everyone who voted my This Year's Girl icon "Best Crop" in

slayerstillness challenge #24, in thanking

tempertemper for the marvelously electrifying - pun completely intended - banner; and in giving a shout out to all the other winners as well as few personal faves. What a marvelous batch of entries.

*guilt sets in*

Happy Birthday to my friend

kikimay! Thank you for feeding my Fuffy cravings (most especially with chapter 5 of Eros; for educating me about Italian culture, religion and cuisine; being so supportive, funny, constant, kind and open-hearted. Here's a little late S4 Buffy hairporn just for you. I'd wrap it up in ribbons like a rose and deliver it straight to your door if I could. Luckily the internet is more reliable than American Airlines. (I can't speak for Air Italia.)

BTW Kiki, ave you seen

sweet_lyri's Buffy S4 icons for Round 1 of

btvsats20in20 ? Or her choice of S4 as her favorite season? You will like.
Or these female-centric buffyverse wallpapers or...all of her art is astonishing and gorgeous, first-rate artistically, emotionally and technically. You will find much to love.

Since I'll be away from the computer tomorrow I wanted to send a card from me, Marshall and Lily wishing the lovely

snogged a very happy birthday. Enjoy dinner with your parents sweetie, and all the good things that life has to bring you! Thank you for coming to my journal and commenting, being supportive and loving, bringing your cheer, tenderness and good humor to fandom so readily - and then gifting us with amazing stories that run the gamut from fluffy and hopeful to twisted, painful and darker than pitch. I have no idea how you do it.

comlodge "aka the Other Janice" (there's only the two of us in fandom, surely?)

LJ's notification system has been painfully on-again, off-again, hence my recent resolution to send birthday greetings directly by PM's, but it seems to be "on again" for the time being and I couldn't resist sending a little Spuffy love to the lady who has gifted me many hours of interesting, intelligent and funny conversations and so many lovely artworks, including Winged Buffy and "The One with Wings"; "Like Mother, Like Daughter" (Joyce and Buffy); "One Girl to Save the World"; "Prophecy Girl"; Buffy and Tara friendship banners "The Hurt Inside" and "Talk to Me" for

clockwork_hart1's equally lovely fic of the same name; and that's not even touching the surface of all her Spike and Spuffy artworks, Spike/Dru, her astonishing Illyria banners, her Photoshop tutorials and....well, if you're reading this you probably know her and her work quite well already. But there's always something I miss. Every one reminding me of the importance of perfect practice makes perfect, as she said to me recently. Talent and skill don't fall out of the sky like magic; they have to be worked at and earned.

(Oh, and she's a marvelous writer too, as it happens.)

Recently I made some Spuffy icons from After Life with

comlodge in mind for a

slayerstillness challenge focusing on negative space. I didn't submit them and have been squirreling them away for "the right moment". There's no time better.

1)

Snaggable as always, give proper credit please.

These were some of my first experiments with the "splash" function in Photobucket. (My personal favorite is probably #3.) #1 was meant to focus on the "negative space" by keeping ther color on the rug in the background, then eventually I reversed the color. It whispers "Joyce" to me, for surely Joyce picked it out and bought it, and the negative space in Buffy's life when she lost her mother. It links the two of them together, not just because they shared strong bonds with their mothers and Spike's friendships with the Summers women; but also in the way Buffy's loss was echoed by negative space in Spike's life created when Buffy died. Buffy is back in body, but still a "ghost", still more absence than presence; and Joyce can never return except in memory. There is still much work to do to fill the negative spaces, and in the end, maybe the holes can never be refilled in quite the same way. They can be ignored or acknowledged; we try to set everything back the way it was, or we can acknowledge that growth and new life can come from the damage of freshly-turned soil.

Which perhaps is why I reversed the coloring back to Buffy and Spike in the end rather than the rug - their hands and faces - focusing on life rather than death, on the flowers rather than the soil. Or maybe I'm enough of a romantic, after all. It's a moment of care and astonishing tenderness, and Joyce's presence is everywhere. Spike is at his best when he's most connected to Mater, the Mother Principle, never more so than here and in Touched; he goes wrong when he loses touch with that and tries to be the demon, the patriarch, tries to become what Angel taught him to be and what William never was. In this scene and in later in Touched, I dare say that he is doing what Joyce would have wanted, taking care of her brave but damaged little girl, keeping a promise to a lady.

We can write ten thousand h/c fics and I doubt they could hold as much power as this single image of two fascinating characters, played by two incredible actors with amazing chemistry at the top of their game.

Happy Birthday, Janice.

I may be a slacker, but Buffy isn't:

1) I was reading an elegant post-series btvs ensemble drabble by my friend Ray

kerkevik_2014 & he informed me that he couldn't access my journal from the library computer where he is (Scotland) because my site had been "censored". Me? Little ol' white bread good girl me? Censored?

MY PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION ARE RIGHT ON SCHEDULE! *lol*

2)

fttstar07 posted part 3 of her Getting To the Truth series re: Buffy's feelings for Spike in S7. Fun. (Granted, she posted a month ago but better late than never, right?)

3) An additional reminder, don't forget to vote for your favorite Faith icons at the

slayerstillness Challenge 18. I encourage y'all to not wait until the last minute *cough* because apparently LiveJournal is going to be out of commission for some updates around, say, 6pm EST in the US. (Hopefully, maybe, they'll get that little "failure to send notifications" problem fixed? Pretty please?)

4) And finally:

norwie2010's birthday was the other day, which gives me the perfect excuse to post some icons for his favorite episode, "Anne", which is also my favorite season opener alongside Bargaining. "I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are?" just might be the most sublime Buffy moment in the entire series.

As always, snag 'em if you want 'em just give proper credit.

1)

A bit of (free) advice for the belated birthday girl:

Dear Buffy,

If THIS is your lesbian best friend's idea of a vibrator...then it's probably time to get yourself some more lesbian friends.

For that matter, it's probably time your lesbian friend got herself some more lesbian friends.

And they say I'm off my game...what the hell am I supposed to do with this on patrol, massage the demons to death?

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

My friend

wickedbish and the folks at the Sunnydale Herald reminded me that Sunday the 19th (more or less) was Buffy Summer's 33rd birthday.
(The really-real Buffy, of course. Accept no substitutes.)

I like to think that where ever in the world Buffy might be, she'd be enjoying herself right now, doing what she does best: dancing, fighting, fucking; treating herself to a spa day with Dawn in Rome; watching the sun rise to greet yet another day she'd never thought she live long enough to see.

Falling a little in love with the light every where she goes in the world. Visiting Paris because her mother had longed to as a young woman, before babies and her husband's career got in the way - and steadfastly avoiding the Eiffel Tower. (There's facing your fears, Buffy decides, and then there's masochism. Buffy isn't a masochist anymore.)

Wondering what tomorrow will bring and marveling that she can conceptualize "tomorrow". Leading an army into battle, or counseling a single girl in the privacy of her office. (She doesn't spend a lot of time in her office, but she likes knowing it's there. And that it has a great view of the Thames, a sturdy lock on the door; and a dent in the wall next to the file cabinet that a certain someone made when the two of them were...hence the lock on the door.)

Still saving, and changing, the world - with a little help from her friends.

She's saved my life this year - a lot: helped me process and deal with immediate traumas and distant ghosts; offered me a safe space to laugh, to grieve, and sometimes a haven from "real world" cares for a little bit. I've found support, encouragement, and connection, even if I've had to bite my tongue or wanted to tear my hair out at times. (Admit it : we've all been there.) She opened the door to this little corner of the universe called "buffyverse fandom" that is comforting, confounding and glorious, much like Buffy herself.

For the lovely

velvetwhip

Now that a very kind anonymous friend has gifted me with a paid account, I'd thought about taking advantage of the v-gift feature and get you one,

Gabrielle, but none of them really suited, somehow. I'm better with words anyhow and if I get a little extravagent here,
it's no less than you deserve and probably inadequate anyway. So:

Lo these many years ago (or maybe just one year, but who's counting?) I'd gotten myself into a minor "kerfuffle" and wanted, needed to talk to someone about it. But I didn't know many people here, being a newbie in the neighborhood and all. My instincts finally told me to go to you. Sometimes my instincts get it right. You were calm, reassuring, non-judgemental, and thoroughly sensible, and that was exactly what I needed. And what you gave me then is what you continue to give: solid support. You're one of the best ambassadors this fandom has to offer: actively involved in multiple fandom awards, welcoming to any and all newbies like myself, semi-weekly fic rec lists,
not to mention your own astonishing, prolific output as an author.

You said something very simple to me in that conversation a year ago. "I like you". I was flattered but had no idea then just how big a deal that is. Because it is. You don't lack for friends or things to do in a day by any means; but you make time anyway to read my posts and comment on a regular basis. Kindness, thoughtfulness, enthusiasm and pure class seem to roll of your fingertips; if you have a mean bone in your entire body I haven't seen it. (And how in the world do you stay so organized?)

I don't know how you do it, but I'm so glad that you do, and that I can count you as a friend.

Happy birthday.

Do I need an excuse for more fic recs, all wrapped in shiny birthday wishes? Oh of course I do...there's that vacuum cleaner in the corner that is calling my name and THAT JUST WON'T DO. So, without further ado:

spike_1790 : Master fic list here. Mostly m/m slash especially Spike/Xander and Spike/Angel but also Spike/Andrew, Spike/Jonathan and even one Spike/Riley. (Why aren't there more fics about that pairing circa S5? Riley making secret trips to Spike's crypt for a little - "guy talk"? About Buffy. Riiiiiight. And I can offer you zero % financing and low monthly payments on this gorgeous bridge in Brooklyn....) "Daises", a character study of Dawn between The Gift and Bargaining won Best Drabble in the 2013 Absence of Light Awards: "Only one thing made her feel guilt. A single theft amongst many."
"Drowning, Not Waving" (Willow, Spike, Buffy, Dawn) spins silk from the sow's ear "Wrecked" and Willow's magic addiction plotline via five drabbles from various perspectives: "Of course she hadn’t intended it to be this way- just a thrill, right? Just a little bit of danger in a boring life. Something to make the pain go away. She hadn’t counted on feeling this connection, this… electricity."
"Dust You Are And to Dust You Shall Return" was originally intended as Spike/Xander and ended with no named characters, which probably increases it's power as an original work: "Our lives may have depended on it. Someone's probably did. We couldn't hear."

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

desoto_hia873's "All Set Down" is an AU-variation on The Gift, which is one of my fandom drugs. I rec'd it back in February, but it rewards re-discovery and re-reading; it also breaks one of my "rules" when it comes to fanfic: Don't "cut and paste" slabs of dialogue from the show/movie/etc and basically reproduce the scene that already exists...unless you're doing what desoto does: weaving scenes from the show with original scenes, changing each canon sequence slightly until the changes build into something entirely new and I'm glued to my seat trying to guess what will happen next. Then still glued in place even after I know how it's going to unfold.

Told from Giles' POV, it highlights the pragmatism he wears like a mask to hide his emotions, at terrible cost: "There will be no well-wishers meeting him there, no fond farewells from the children he grew to love and failed to protect. They can no more bear to see him than he can to look at himself." There's no way to read this, or to watch The Gift, and not recall Passion: the way the broken bodies of the two people he's loved most, Jenny and Buffy, are both laid out before him. And it's hard for me to read this and not be aware of the fact that one of Buffy's most important relationships is relatively underexplored in fics compared to "shippy" fics. There's far more Buffy/Giles, as far as I can see, than Buffy & GIles.

It also shines a light on Dawn''s courage; as

bone_dry1013 once said to me in reference to her, "Summers blood must be the blood of champions." Forget the silly deus ex machina; "All Set Down" emphasizes the true importance of "Summers' blood". "She straightens, lifts her chin, squares her shoulders, and rivets him in place with her stare.....there is no waver in her voice."

Desoto's master fic list here, various drabbles here.

Happy Birthday eilowyn (Lexi) - you're one of many people who make being here on LJ and this fandom in particular a genuinely joyful and intellectually-stimulating experience for me, which is a needful thing as of late. Thank you for letting me be "part of the conversation" and have a chance to use parts of my brain that have been gathering cobwebs since college. Here's looking forward to a better, brighter year ahead, and to many more conversations about the things we both love.

Ok, this is me trying to get back on track...I missed the deadline for this round of the Buffyverse Top 5 Classic Recs because I got the dates wrong on my calender; I've missed a zillion other birthdays in the last month: rebcake, snickfic, superplin, lostboy_lj, dragonydreams, coalitiongirl, treadingthedark, prophecygirrl....and that's just off the top of my head. I suck. The "I'm still dealing with the chaos and trauma of a housefire" excuse gets old fast. (And I just paraphrased Xander chastising Anya from one of my least favorite (most despised) moments of the series? Just take me out back behind the barn....)

My new excuse, however, "I haven't gotten a solid night's sleep in ages thanks to chronic pain AND hot flashes!" is one I can milk indefinitely.

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June 2021

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Page Summary

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!
Happy Birthday Aliceinkinkland!
Belated Gratitude to the Members of Elysian Fields and Unbelated Birthday Wishes for Feliciacraft
Happy Birthday Spikesredqueen!
Yes I am procrastinating but it's for a good cause! (pt2) HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILOWYN!
Destruction, Absolute...(or, I did not mean to hit THAT button) * ETA two edited banners*
Showing the Ladies Off (and pushing our comfort zones)...
Quick like a bunny: Happy birthday to Spikesredqueen! Plus, various sundry oddments and endments
The Monday edition! All the squee that's fit to post (that I recall off the top of my head)
The Tuesday edition of "I HAVE BEEN TERRIBLY, SORELY REMISS FOR NOT..."
Happy Birthday DEBRIS4SPIKE!
She's Come Undone (pt 3): Oh so THAT'S why I'm freaking out...
Oh The Merry Merry Month of (Kiki)may
Happy Birthday (just a little bit early) to Snogged!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COMLODGE!
WHILE I CONTINUE TO PROCRASTINATE: Reminders, Gloating, and Anne Icons for Norwie2010
HAPPY BIRTH MONTH BUFFY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!
Happy Birthday spike_1790 & desoto_hia873
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILOWYN!

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Style Credit

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

Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 10:02 am

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Entries tagged with happy birth month to...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!

Happy Birthday Aliceinkinkland!

Belated Gratitude to the Members of Elysian Fields and Unbelated Birthday Wishes for Feliciacraft

Happy Birthday Spikesredqueen!

Yes I am procrastinating but it's for a good cause! (pt2) HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILOWYN!

Destruction, Absolute...(or, I did not mean to hit THAT button) * ETA two edited banners*

Showing the Ladies Off (and pushing our comfort zones)...

Quick like a bunny: Happy birthday to Spikesredqueen! Plus, various sundry oddments and endments

The Monday edition! All the squee that's fit to post (that I recall off the top of my head)

The Tuesday edition of "I HAVE BEEN TERRIBLY, SORELY REMISS FOR NOT..."

Happy Birthday DEBRIS4SPIKE!

She's Come Undone (pt 3): Oh so THAT'S why I'm freaking out...

Oh The Merry Merry Month of (Kiki)may

Happy Birthday (just a little bit early) to Snogged!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COMLODGE!

WHILE I CONTINUE TO PROCRASTINATE: Reminders, Gloating, and Anne Icons for Norwie2010

HAPPY BIRTH MONTH BUFFY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELVETWHIP!

Happy Birthday spike_1790 & desoto_hia873

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EILOWYN!