red_satin_doll

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

christmascard1a_darlaangelturninggalwaybecomingframed600x552.png

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

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

New Sunnydale HIgh, same old problems:

I tried this joke in icon size (my latest alts/extras post) for Round 5 of

btvsats20in20; works better large I think.

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?

~~And also, to remind everyone to vote in the otherworldlyric icon challenge contest #162.~~
ETA:

dragonydreams just let me know that voting is closed and winners have been announced. Congratulations to winners

spikesredqueen and

chic_c !
(While I'm here I might as well send more kudos to

wickedbish for being such an awesome icon beta.)

Now go get some sleep - tomorrow's a long day, sweetie.

A very happy and peaceful whatever-the-heck-you-celebrate to everyone on my foist.
(And if you don't celebrate anything, that's cool too.)

You know it, Faith. (If I were anymore generic I'd be reduced to "have a nice day".)

When I realized that:
1) Buffy, Faith and/or Buffy/Faith (I can go either way) was starting to take up major real estate in my brain, my fanfic and in my
fandom conversations;
2) I can't decide from one day to the next which Summers sister I 'ship with Faith (I can go either way)
3) Buffy+Dawn+Faith+Tara = One True Family could totally be a thing in fandom;

...then it was way past time to get a new icon.

A.) Somewhere on the internet I saw an icon of Faith in Buffy's body in Who Are You, stroking Buffy's leg (now her own) in the bathtub with the text "Tell me again why Fuffy isn't canon?" (

eleusis_walks's meta on Faith and Buffy describes the "masturbatory" nature of that scene. Tell us again why Fuffy isn't canon, Mr Whedon?) ETA: Mystery solved : it's

beer_good_foamy's. Of course.

~~I haven't found that icon again but~~ I came across a trove of Buffy/Faith icons on the "Fuffy fanclub" at Fanpop.com. All of them were posted by a member named AcidBanter by the source is only given as "LiveJournal"; so I suspect that AB isn't the original artist.

My apologies therefore and if anyone here does know, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

I wanted to go with #2, "WIll fuck with your sexual orientation" or one of the funny ones with text to start, but my template shrinks the icons too much and I have this bizarre kink about legibility. It's a thing.(#3 's "subtext" is just barely legible in this template.) I may end up rotating all of these anyway, thanks to

elisi's instructions on how to do that by using the exact same keywords for the new icon as the one it replaces.

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

5.)

BTW, I haven't rewatched S3 in over a year btw so I'd forgotten how pretty Eliza was that season - and can anyone tell me what the what is going on in #8 below?

6.)

7.)

8.)

9.)

10.)

B.) Now this is the sad part: Because I'm limited to 15 icons, someone else had to get booted off the island. And y'all know I love my babies something fierce. *sniffle* This is where I needed to be strong and decisive. Most of my icons were DO NOT TOUCH just TRY to pry them out of my hot little hands and behold the meaning the word "fierce". That left four candidates:

I've used this one to represent: Lesbianism, friendship and/or solidarity, proof on Willow-centric journals that I don't hate Willow; and that moment is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. CHILLS UP MY SPINE every time I watch it.
BTW - the W/T "spiritual handfasting" will be echoed by B/S in Chosen, and perverted by Glory in Tough Love. Speaking of which, check out

clockwork_hart1 tribute fic to Tara's bravery and sacrifice in TL, "Shadows and Light". (Read it now and thank me later.)

Extremely useful for obvious reasons, and cute besides. Everyone needs a "huh"? or WTF? icon.

Do I really need another image from "Showtime"? Probably not. But it's useful for "fierce and determined" (as opposed to "extremely pissed off"). Buffy's the hand: when she sets out to get something done, shit gets done.
Also useful for "I have a lot of love for S7 despite the flaws"; "I actually do sorta-kinda think her wounds are a little sexy even if I'm too chicken-shit to admit it"; And of course: "Buffy is my Hero damn it! And she's the protagonist of the Buffyverse! Ergo it is my sworn duty to remind fandom of this fact every once in a while." (Believe me now and thank me later.)

Which leaves me with:

I know, sweetie, I know - it hurts me too. *sobs quietly* But it's the icon I probably use the least, and

comlodge 's original artwork will always have pride of place on my Welcome post. (Don't mind me, I'll be all righ...*curls up in fetal position and sobs loudly*)

I've never done a fandom "meme" before but kikimay picked up one from lokifan that I couldn't resist:

Comment on this post with CONVERSE. I will choose seven (five if you prefer) userpics from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are using them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

FYI: The first sentence means that you reply by typing that word "converse" and then I choose 5-7 of your icons, which you get to explain in the comments thread. (For examples see lokifan's meme post - and yes, I had to ask how this worked.)

I tend to use icons in three ways: 1) to express mood, 2) to "pay tribute" to my favorite characters or episodes; Buffy is my favorite fictional character, hence she's my primary avatar; or 3) because the icon is artistic/aesthetically pleasing. I try to chose or make ones that I haven't seen elsewhere, or are overused images. Kikimay chose the following five from my own:

1) Laughing Dead Things: One of the first BtVS icons I made; I wish I'd done a better job with it.. Most of my Buffy icons when Ifirst started my journal were very serious. I wanted something with Buffy laughing or smiling but also unique. Leave Me the White has screencaps from the outtakes or dailies of Dead Things, and the shot of Sarah breaking into laughter while trying to film the dream sequence is adorable. There are few things sexier than laughter. I also love the ironic contrast between that shot and the tone of the episode.

Full Disclosure: When I got internet service in my new apartment three weeks ago, I mulled over which Buffy episode to rewatch first. Something light and funny, perhaps, Life Serial, or....Oh who the hell was I kidding? It came down to two of my favorite episodes: "Who are You"and "Dead Things"; DT won by a hairsbreadth. The raw power of those two episodes, the way they parallel, bookend, and resonate with each other, including the similarity of the Buffy/Faith/Spike dynamics in each, the key role Tara plays in both eps, the literal or symbolic "identity hijacks", and the fact that WAY (and TYG) foreshadows S6 - is like nothing else I've ever seen on television. Frivolity, thy name is...not RedSatinDoll.

2) Tara does not approve: The official name for this one in my head is "Tara is not down with this shit." It shouldn't surprise you that Tara is the second most-frequent character in my icons. (If it does: Welcome! Have a cookie and make yourself at home.) I found this one on www.fanpop.com by "Laurik 2007" ; it was one of the first icons I grabbed when I was setting up this journal. I needed an icon that expressed "strong disapproval" as opposed to "seething rage"; this image is strong and simple. It's also my reminder that Tara was more than just a "saint"; the fact that it's the scene in Tough Love just seconds before Glory attacks her gives it an unsettling quality as well.

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT: Can we agree that Tara enduring torture at Glory's hands almost silently, sacrificing her life, her mind, to protect Dawn is one of THE most horrifying moments in the entire series? Dawn and Buffy protected Tara in "Family" and here Tara returns the favor many times over. That is true courage, full stop. Why isn't she more frequently honored and celebrated in fandom for this?

3) Chosen One purple: valyssia made this icon and gave me permission to use; it's been my default icon ever since. I had to have it the moment I clapped eyes on it: love at first sight. Purple is one of my favorite colors, Buffy is my favorite character, I love the late seasons; but none of those would be sufficient of themselves. This is one of the most exquisite and artistic icons I've ever seen in every respect. valyssia is as talented a visual artist as she is a writer, and this icon is a masterpiece of the form.

4) Winged!Buffy: Like Chosen One purple, this doesn't express an emotion per se except my love of Buffy, beautiful fanart, and my gratitude for a delightful gift from a beloved friend. I've talked about this one previously, but long story short: comlodge made me the Winged!Buffy image as a gift, inspired by brutti_ma_buoni 's fic "The One With Wings" . I made it the image on my "welcome" post, and then with her permission created an icon of it, lightening the colors slightly in the spirit of Bottecelli's Primavera (Spring).

5) Dawn and Buffy: One of my favorite icons of those I've made. I love the Summers sisters, and had high hopes for plenty of interaction between them in S7. That didn't pan out but Him is one of the episodes that gave me hope - it's basically about the two of them, and the scene at the Bronze is one of my favorites. The argument feels so real of an older/younger sister dynamic, and I thought Dawn was going to slap Buffy when she mentioned Joyce. The scene just hurts and I hurt for both of them.

A few months back I made several Buffy & Dawn icons inspired by my love for them but also by kwritten's amazing meta series on Dawn and subsquent conversations. I originally was going to offer this out to everyone in an "icon dump" but loved it so much I decided to keep it. I love the contrast of Dawn in the foreground but out of focus, furious; Buffy in the background but in focus, obviously frustrated with herself and the situation. It makes a nice pairing with a couple of other icons I've done of them from Bargaining. with the focus reversed:

Bonus (i.e. cheat): I'm using one of my other favorites of the ones I've made here, Buffy & Tara Bargaining. I wanted a Buffy & Tara friendship icon and this was the first image where I got both of them together and got the image to my liking.

Dawn Summers writes the Great American Memoir.

1) Funniest AU non-penguin Buffyverse fanfic of 2013? In my School Hard/Chosen post the other day

rebcake tossed out a witty suggestion about Buffy & Spike's final conversation in the Hellmouth taking a very different turn.

beer_good_foamy took up the challenge and ran with it in his usual brilliant way; here's the longer finished version, "Not in the Brochure" . I haven't laughed this hard since - since I read his newest AU penguin fic two weeks ago. Start polishing those fanfiction awards ~~statuettes~~ buttons now, y'all.

2)

eilowyn ' s recent post "Thoughts on Spuffy and Fandom" sparked a fascinating conversation about the 'ship wars, focused specifically on the labels and the invention of "smushnames" Bangel, Spuffy, etc. (I'm going to copy/paste my smushnames rant from the thread because I'm lazy: I hated "bennifer" etc long before I got into fandom because I find the concept loathesome - merging two people into one identity. It's ironic because I think the show is pretty consistent on the idea that losing oneself in another person is a bad idea. Buffy and Angel are a direct critique of this notion - magical snow notwithstanding.) But I enjoy reading about the history of this fandom, in part because it makes me grateful to be a newbie fan and have missed the bloodbath. Kumbaya and all that jazz.

Somewhere along the way

comlodge mentioned "Bike" as a tongue-in-cheek alternative to Spuffy and I - did the thing I promised I'd never do and wrote a prompt about Buffy and her menz and bikes, with lots of fluffy-Spuffy. If I were as brilliant as BGF I'd have actually turned it into a story but since I'm not I'm letting

comlodge 's muse do the work for me. (I'm sneaky that way.) She gave me leave to repost it here so someone else could also have a crack at it. So without further ado - or a don't:

Spike and Buffy (post-series) with one of those old-fashioned "bicycles built for two" (which Spike would want to give a go because that was state-of-the-art technology in 1880) but they'd argue over who got to sit in front and where they were even going; then she'd insist on having her own bike, and he'd' say "Fine, whatever! I didn't want you breathing down my neck anyway!" or snark about her bad driving:"You want to get yourself killed? Your funeral, Slayer." (Substitute "motorcycle" there and it still works.) Then they'd try to outrace each other and end up pretty much in a draw but squabble over who beat who by a hairsbreath. And then tease each other and laugh about it, and shag in a semi-public place, and kill the demons who interrupted them, then shag some more. (Because what's fanon Spuffy w/out snark and laughter and demon-killing and copious shagging? Bangel. Just sayin'.)

OTOH If it were Angel he'd insist on sitting up front, because he wants to be the chivalrous BDH, and she'd go along with it for a while because it's nice to let someone else take over for a while - until she realized he was lost and had to take over from him, despite his objections to the contrary. ("Angel, this is the tenth time we've passed that hill. Yes I know it's the same one!")

Whereas Riley would completely insist that Buffy sit up front and of course he didn't mind at all because he only wanted what she wanted and he loved her strength and competence - then spend the entire trip grumbling just under his breath that he wanted to sit on the front seat and she would have been able to read his mind and know what he wanted if she really truly loved him.

I forgot Parker, btw - Buffy would make the arrangements, be waiting with the bikes and the picnic basket and he'd never show up, then give her some crap excuse a day later about visiting his mom and "I'm sorry you assumed I wanted to go out on a picnic with you, I didn't think you'd take it so seriously."

You can tell by the relative lengths of the various paragraphs where my heart lies, right? If not I'll gladly explain - at length, with finger-puppets or flashcards, your choice. Anyone want to add Scott Hope to the mix be my guest, because I don't give a damn and can't be bothered to rewatch S3 just for him. But if memory serves, he's kind of a proto-Riley anyway. Have at it, kids.

There's a couple of items about Buffy Summers that I've seen in several fanfics and wondered if they were "canon" or "fanon" information. I don't trust my memory, especially when I've probably spent more hours at this point reading fanfiction than actually watching the show. (What that says about me I shudder to imagine.)

By "canon", I am of course referring to BtVS, seasons 1-7 only, not the comics (aka Get behind me, Satan!)

1) Is Buffy's given name "Buffy" or "Elizabeth"? I've read "Elizabeth Anne Summers" used in several fanfics and it feels like it might have been mentioned somewhere in S1-3 on the show, if at all?

Actually, I just wanted an excuse to post this screencap. But while you're here:

2) Does Buffy refer to herself in third person at any other point on the show except for Life Serial: "stupid Buffy" "freak Buffy"? A lot of stories have her refer to herself in this way, usually when she's berating herself, although generally not while drunk. (For someone who can't hold her liquor she seems to drink quite a lot of it in LS. Slayer metabolism, apparently.)

Also, she generally does so whilst kicking herself mentally over something regarding Spike, so do early season/Bangel 'ship writers have her referring to herself in this manner as well?

No, no further questions; I just love SMG in this episode so damn much I can hardly stand it. I mean - come on, Giles, how can you resist that face? Buttons and puppies are weeping in envy. Now do your duty to your Slayer and hand her the check without making her feel like it's an act of charity on your part.

I love Giles, I do. But damn it, he can be an ass sometimes.

I found this personality quiz i

ozma914's LiveJournal.

http://www.buddytv.com/personalityquiz/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-personalityquiz.aspx?quiz=40
I shoulda known. Willow was the first character I actually identified with on the show. Well, her and the Invisible Girl ~~hose name I have shamefully and ironically forgotten.~~ ETA: Velvetwhip reminded me that her name is Marcie Ross.) As it turns out,

ozma914 s Tara. Or was in '08. I wonder if that makes him my soulmate? (Which might be complicated, as I am actually a lesbian but, unlike Willow, I can't do magic.) I'm kind of dying to see wh

local_max urns out to be, just for fun.

Speaking o

ozma914, I've got recs for three of his marvelous short btvs fanfics, out of many:
"She Would be Thirteen". Superb. Xander, sometime post-Chosen, deals with one of the most difficult aspects of being a new Watcher. I'm trying to branch out a bit in my fanfic and meta reading because I'm pretty well burned-out on Spuffy fics for the moment, and it's a challenge to open myself up to understanding the boy a bit. This story is sad (angsty?) but not bathetic or sentimental; very true to canon characterization - I can imagine NB in this - which is one of my biggest criteria for fanfiction; and packed with layers of meaning and subtext in a very short pace of time. It reads somewhat like a prose poem; not a single wasted word here.

For something on the lighter side: Did you think that Joyce (the lovely Kristine Sutherland) was hideously underused on the show? Did you want to see more of life in Sunnydale from her perspective? Or wish they had bothered to tackle some of the realities of being a single working mom? I know I did. "To Start the Day" s one of the few, and like "She Would be Thirteen", it's spare and lovely, humorous, very much true to character. There's just not enough Joycean fanfic, IMHO. (See what I did there?)

And from "light" to damn downright cracky, his Dawn-centric fic "A (Somewhat Less Than) Forever Love" has one of my favorite Dawn/Spike reunions in fic, in two short lines of dialogue. Meanwhile, Dawn and Buffy deal with all of Buffy's past boyfriends. Xander, Willow, Giles and Faith make brief appearances. Giles cleans his glasses. Xander (almost) drools. Faith wears leather. Dawn snarks and fumes; Buffy chooses her words poorly. Angel, Spike and Riley are pretty damn petty, just the way I like them.

Happy holidays, everyone - whatever you observe, if you observe anything at all. Peace and blessings to all.

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Page Summary

Because I am utterly incorrigible.....
Snark Attack or, I knew I'd misplaced my sense of humor somewhere nearby (Lessons, The Gift)
Why yes there are meta & other icontests out there and here be necessary reminders
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS.....
Today's post brought to you by the need to throw SOMETHING on this journal no matter how silly...
Because I don't like to make assumptions except when I make assumptions:
New Faith/Fuffy icon - it was time (in which I blather, excessively)
Icon Meme from Lokifan & Kikimay (In which my efforts to be frivolous don't turn out as planned)
Where the Plot Puppy Gambols, Our Muses Will Follow
Canon-related questions for Buffyologists
Which BtVS character are you? (or, "What am I, twelve?") - and a fic rec

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

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Entries tagged with silly stuff

Because I am utterly incorrigible.....

Snark Attack or, I knew I'd misplaced my sense of humor somewhere nearby (Lessons, The Gift)

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

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS.....

Today's post brought to you by the need to throw SOMETHING on this journal no matter how silly...

Because I don't like to make assumptions except when I make assumptions:

New Faith/Fuffy icon - it was time (in which I blather, excessively)

Icon Meme from Lokifan & Kikimay (In which my efforts to be frivolous don't turn out as planned)

Where the Plot Puppy Gambols, Our Muses Will Follow

Canon-related questions for Buffyologists

Which BtVS character are you? (or, "What am I, twelve?") - and a fic rec