red_satin_doll

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

UPDATED 05 July 2016:

TEXTURES:

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

1-7

8-14

texturize - (Many thanks to

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

lookslikerain at

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

colorfilter's:

icon for fanfic Ipseity by spuffy luvr 2015

15-20

whitebamboo:

21-23

jordannamorgan at

wolfbane_icons

scoobyatemysnax at

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

25 - 30

*

broken_places The graphics journal of

akilah92

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

31

*

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

spiritcoda -

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

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

32 - 33

SCREENCAPS for Buffyverse

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

starry_night. Some of my favorites from the list:

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

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

* Leave Me the White by

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

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

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

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

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

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

* promo-pictures on tumblr

* Buffy Universe and Angel DVD caps

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

*Marc Blucas Source
* Michelle Trachenberg Web

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

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

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

TUTORIALS & GUIDES
*

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

Breaking news: Congratulations to the winners of

whedon_elite Challenge 136:

harlequinss_s,

sweet_lyri,

nmcil12,

teragramm and

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

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

In the meantime, here are some pretty banners from

tempertemper for

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

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

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

1 - 5

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

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

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

Alts/extras:

6 - 11

12 - 14

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

Thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who voted in

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

crazycordy,

sweet_lyri,

midnightisclose!

Congratulations to the winners at

whedon_elite Challenge 135 :

nadya149,

dixon,

harlequinss_s,

hermionesparkle,

heterodynes,

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

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

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

velvetwhip for her input:

1 - 4

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

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

Alts and extras:

5 - 10

I couldn't resist stealing

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

11 - 15

16 - 20

My poster for The Relish Collection Series (aka "the Femalehusbandverse") (2015) especially "The Female Husband" made for

kerkevik_2014. This poster is an adaption of one I originally made for Ray as an unofficial banner (#8) for the

wicked_awards at his request. He asked me to make some banners for his own nominated stories and wished for something female-centric rather than the male-centric official nominee buttons. I'd been meaning to make a fic poster for that series for some time and Ray's "commission" gave me an excuse:

Teasers:

therelishcollectionbannerforkerkevik2014_style2.4warm_byRSD2015_750x365.png

custom made nominee button at the request of ray jerk 2015

nomineebuttonbuffywickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.1final.png

therelishcollectionbannerforkerkevik2014_style2.1_byRSD2015_550x268.png

1-A

Nominee button custom made for Ray Kerk for Wicked Awards 2015

For his nomination, he used #3 at his journal. It's not in the style of the official buttons but I liked the way it came out. I then made myself a Fuffy-themed banner that I really like but again - not in the style of the official buttons so I've decided against using it. (The beautiful textures in both courtesy of

sweet_lyri.)

buffyfaiththechosentwo_crop3.4_goldengatebridge_600x450signed.png

3 - 4

nomineebuttonfaithwickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.2final.png

nomineebuttonfaithwickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.3final.png

nomineebuttonfaithwickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.1final.png

5 - 7

nomineebuttonbuffywickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.2final.png

nomineebuttonbuffywickedawards275x128_rsd2015_1.3final.png

8 - 10

angelus2hot gave me permission to make these but asked asked me to match the style and size of the official Angel and Lindsey ones made by

angelstoy. (I also had in mind the style and coloring of the SPN and X-Files buttons.) She gave me permission to use these buttons - and I'm happy to share but please remember these are not official site buttons.

Images of Eliza, Amber and Sarah from The Chosen Two Gallery.

A Vague Disclaimer is No One's Friend:
~ Want? Take, have for personal use but please credit if used.

~ DO NOT RE-POST TO OTHER SITES (INCL. FANPOP) OR LJ COMMUNITIES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!

~ No hotlinking!

~ Comments however are appreciated :)

Deadline for nominations for the 12th Round of the

wicked_awards is August 31st - check out the list of fiction/art nominees and music video nominees.

Thank you to the moderators at slayerstillness for giving me my very first award for an icon in Challenge #18 "Faith Lehane" ! Kudos to all the winners in this round :

iconsoleander,

spikesredqueen and

delta_dawn_rose - but all the submissions were creative and wonderful, so please go check them out if you haven't had the chance already.

And to make it even sweeter,

comlodge made the gorgeous banners:

Mods Choice: "I love the idea of this one – very creatively done. And I love how the lighting draws your focus right to her face."

The irony is that that had nothing to do with me; the shot was already beautiful. My favorite icons of those I've made, like this one, are generally the simplest. All I had to do was carefully bump up brightness, contrast and saturation; pick the right font, and add the frame. There's the irony of course in that it's the one submission I sent in which we're actually looking at Faith in Buffy's body, so the face we see is Sarah's, not Eliza's - but it's still the character of Faith, in what may be the turning point of her entire arc. (And is one of the most superb performances I've ever seen on television - can we take a moment to celebrate Sarah's intensity in that episode?)

Here are all five of my entries; the numbers beside them are the numbers assigned in the challenge voting (not in numerical order).

26)

13)

19)

25)

As per usual for me lately, I began this batch making icons that were fun, risque. or innocuous, (#8, 25) and then moved into darker territory. If I were to do it again I'd leave off 8 & 25, although 25 amuses me.

I think #26 was the best of the five I submitted, especially in terms of lighting and composition. Photobucket's "Covered by Your Grace" font has a somewhat "handwritten" look to it and often works well when the overall mood is one of intimacy, introspection, melancholy, sadness, etc. For the same reasons I like the "torn paper frame" of 26 & 13; it emphasizes for me a sense of things "bleeding in (or bleeding out)" of each other, of something incomplete,unstable, fissuring or merging; of things damaged but not entirely broken, and the strange beauty of imperfection.

Which is what the episodes "This Years Girl" and "Who are You" are about.

I've been fascinated by the parallels between Buffy, Faith and Buffy, Spike ever since I first saw

bradcpu's classic fan video on the subject, "Creep" (See the bottom of this post for more links.)

Ten years ago

the_royal_anna called Buffy and Spike in S6 "the most mesmerizing illustration" of the concept of "identity hiijack", but This Years Girl / Who are You essentially "foreshadow" nearly the entirety of S6 in two episodes. It's the definitive moment when Faith "hands off" her role as Buffy's primary dark mirror to Spike, so that she can move to AtS and continue her arc away from BtVS. There's the twin images of Faith and Buffy digging themselves out of their own graves, the sense of "victimization" each must overcome; mental instability and the damage that being "a killer" does to the soul; the direction of Buffy and Spike's relationship and the dark, tormented sexuality, so different from the light-hearted satirical version of Something Blue; the lie behind the dichotomies of "good/bad, dark/light" enforced by those in power (as represented by the WC).

Even the key role Tara plays in both as the outsider, as "the heart" and "the one who sees" (literally and figuratively as a "seer" and as one who bears witness) is highlighted in both WAY and DT and deserves a separate essay of it's own.

It's also an episode that calls both backwards and forwards: to Faith's words "If you kill me, you become me - and you're not ready for that" in S3's "Enemies", and forward to Spike's "I know you felt me...when I was inside you." When Faith steals Buffy's body she literally "gets inside" Buffy in ways even Spike can't begin to imagine. (No one else comes close except when Willow goes inside Buffy's head in The Weight of the World".)

I tried using a portion of the line from Enemies; "You become me" works beautifully when talking about Who are You; but I don't think it really comes across the way I'd intended it to visually.

1)

4 )

The sentence from Seeing Red actually works much better and is more powerful; but I used it with trepidation. I worried that using it would be too traumatic for some folks - looking up the actual dialogue on the Buffyworld transcript was hard enough for me as it was, but I got the wording wrong on my first effort, #14 below (I've watched that episode once and one time only, thank you very much.) Cutting the sentence in half, rather than using the entire line in a single icon, seemed to help "abstract" it slightly, remove it just enough from it's original context that it was easier for me to work with it here.

9)

10)

11)

12)

14)

The relationships are steeped in violence, misunderstanding, dysfunction and self-hatred - and yet, unbelievably, they manage to rise above it all and come to a state of grace with each other in Season 7. Buffy handing the Scythe to Faith in Chosen isn't as romantic, dramatic or as celebrated as her spiritual handfasting with Spike; but in the context of their history it represent a sea change in their relationship: a level of genuine forgiveness, trust and faith (pun intended) exists between them that never has before. Getting to that point was a long, hard-fought road:

15)

16)

17)

The other line of Spike's dialogue I borrowed is from "The Gift": "I made a promise to a lady." He's talking to Doc on top of Glory's tower about his promise to Buffy to protect Dawn "until the end of the world"; I often associate that line with Buffy's own promise to Joyce in Listening to Fear. But here I applied it to another "promise", albeit unspoken: Faith's wordless response to Buffy's "Don't - be afraid to lead them" in Empty Places. I was inspired by

blackfrancine's 2010 comment on the nature Buffy and Faith's expressions of love:

I think Buffy's way of nurturing (ie of loving) is to protect. To play mama bear to the helpless cubs of Sunnydale. So of course the Slayer's primary love language is to perform acts of service. Her whole life (and death) is about service. And it makes sense that it becomes her main way of understanding and expressing love (or maybe service always IS her love language--even before she is called. I could see this being a feature that binds Slayers--that they understand love through service. Because I'd argue that this is how Faith expresses love as well). So, through her slaying duties, Buffy (and maybe all slayers) expresses her love for their fellow man. [emphasis mine]

In S3, Faith is bound to the Mayor, her surrogate father-figure, by her assignments for him. When Buffy reluctantly advises Faith to lead the Potentials, it's entirely clear to me from Faith's demeanor that she listens and accepts her (symbolic) "grandsire's" words with all due seriousness. Handing off leadership to Faith is mostly an act of necessity and seems like a small thing, but in the context of their relationship it's absolutely seismic. Faith doesn't say a word but her intention is clear in her demeanor, her silence, in the fact that she is truly listening - something the two of them stopped doing with one another years ago. She made a "promise to a lady" and it's one she'll keep to the best of her ability.

I wanted to send #16 above because it was the only icon I'd made that had a close-up of Eliza's face, but I felt that it didn't "tell the story" in this context as well as image of Faith and Buffy together on the porch (15, 19).

This award is a particular honor for me because the quality of the icons submitted to past

slayerstillness challenges, technically and aesthetically, is consistently very high and represents some of the best examples of icons as works of art currently in this fandom. The editing suite I have in Photobucket is very simple and limited so I can't do the gorgeous effects and layering I see there. I wasn't as pleased as I was with the batch I made for the last

otherworldlyric icon challenge. I focused on Buffy and Faith rather than Faith exclusively. Plus I made these so last minute I didn't have time to ask

wickedbish for his advice as a beta. I honestly didn't think I had a shot at winning anything - and you'd be surprised how that takes the edge of anticipation off!

You know the cliche that if you want something you're supposed to visualize having or achieving it first in order to "manifest it in your life"? Well sometimes there is something to be said for thinking the opposite, or trying to practice "non-attachment" one way or the other, then being completely surprised and delighted when it does happen to come your way.

(Maybe I need to look into Buddism as a practice? *ponders*)

Here's the remaining icons from that set that I didn't submit, in no particular order of anything whatsoever. As always, snag 'em if you love 'em but please give proper credit to the artist. 'tis the polite thing to do.

18)

20)

21)

22)

23)

24)

27)

28)

And here are some links to some of my favorite Buffy and Faith, or Fuffy, fanfics and fanvids for your enjoyment - just the tip of the proverbial iceberg:

VIDEOS:

"Creep" by

bradcpu (downloadable zipped Xvid and WMV formats) is THE classic Buffy, Faith, Spike meta-video.
"Your Power is Rooted in Darkness" by Afterthebattle (YouTube) focuses on the Buffy & Faith parallels with Spike as a supporting player.

"We Must Be Killers" by jess9191 (YouTube) The first great fanvid of the year? It's already on my list for next January's Buffyverse Top 5.
"Who Are You, Really?: Episodic" by xxIrisHalox (YouTube) My favorite fanvid take on "Who Are You?" pairs brilliantly with my favorite WAY fanfic:

FICS:
"Who Am I? (The Warm Champagne Remix)" (DW) by

snowpuppies. (Buffy, Faith, Spike; Faith/Spike, implied Buffy/Faith) Superb, as always. Put this on your list for the next round of fanfic awards, please.
"Zen and the Art of Stake Maintenance" and "Of History" (AO3) by m_phoenix. Delicately haunting Season 7 AU and post-series Fuffy angst, respectively, both Buffy-POV. "Zen" fits canon astonishingly well; "Of History" is a masterclass in how to write in 2nd-person POV, as well as how to tackle adult sexuality and consent issues sensitively. (Thanks to

oni_9's rec on the most recent edition of the

su_herald.)

Finally, after all that angst, some fun and adventure are in order: try "The Girls In Question" fic series on AO3 by the wife-wife team of TigerDragon. The post-series installments "Reentry", "Investigations" and "Women, Fire, And Other Dangerous Things" read like a genuine "Season 8" - funny, exciting, a little angsty - if it had been written as female-centric Fuffy, with Dawn, Willow, fascinating OC multi-ethnic Slayers, and female villains who are a VERY dark mirror of Buffy and Faith, for the ride.

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*)

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Page Summary

These Are A Few of My Fanart Resources
Spreading out my 15 minutes of fame past tolerable limits...
Congrats to the winners of btvsats20in20 and whedon elite!
Poster Art: The Relish Collection by Kerkevik_2014 and unofficial Wicked nomination buttons
I WON AN AWARD AT SLAYERSTILLNESS! (And, I have things to say about Buffy and Faith - buckle up)
New Faith/Fuffy icon - it was time (in which I blather, excessively)

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

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 08:29 am

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Entries tagged with pairing: buffy/faith

These Are A Few of My Fanart Resources

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

Congrats to the winners of btvsats20in20 and whedon elite!

Poster Art: The Relish Collection by Kerkevik_2014 and unofficial Wicked nomination buttons

I WON AN AWARD AT SLAYERSTILLNESS! (And, I have things to say about Buffy and Faith - buckle up)

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