I think it's time to get a little variety back in the mix. So this time round I've included another couple faction, a major third-season character faction, and...a bit of a wild card. After all, the "big six" and the original couple factions are far from all there is.

I was asked a while back by Margie H. if I planned to do an icon for the Cousins of the Knight, which is the reaction faction created in response to UFfish slashiness. Well, here it finally is! The Vaqueras have been passed over up till now, along with all the third-season factions but the Perks (and, way back at the start, the Reese's Pieces). And then...there's that third icon. I decided to toss in something completely out of left field, and do one for the CaddyWhackers.

So here they are:




Cousins of the Knight:

The original CotK symbol consists of a pair of crossed swords; and the faction later elaborated this into a banner that adds a pocket watch, clearly a reference to the watch Nick gives to LaCroix in "Father's Day". You can see the banner here:



I did not attempt to reproduce this exactly; but I did think it important to incorporate the symbols. Finding a pair of attractive swords to cross was quite straightforward (and you will note that I used two quite different swords); and I picked out a suitable pocket watch, which I superimposed on them.

All this rather filled the icon. As a result, I was perplexed where to put the screen capture of Nick and LaCroix, not to mention the name of the faction. At first, I placed the picture over the watch, so that the two men seemed to rise from the open lid. However, after a day or so I decided that that was too similar to the icon I had done for the Unnamed Faction, where the screencap had been placed above the bowl of a spoon: Nick and LaCroix on the half shell, so to speak. Also, in order to make the picture fit, I'd had to reduce it to rather too small a size.

So instead, I positioned the name of the faction at the bottom, and used that as a base for the screen capture.






Vaquero/as:

I've provided this icon with alternative captions. In lists of factions, fans affiliated with Vachon are called Vaqueros. However, I've noticed that in practice they tend to use the feminine form, Vaqueras. I figured it would be best to give people the option of whichever version they prefer.

The original faction symbol for the Vaqueros is a helmet of the style favoured by the Conquistadores (called a "morion"), plus a quotation:



It was the work of...a little longer than a moment, but not much more...to google up some pictures of morions, from which I selected the one here. I then had the very considerable pleasure of looking through screencaps of Vachon and picking out a handsome specimen.

Because the picture of Vachon was rather dark, it really needed to be set off by a light background; but the morion was quite pale and hence better suited to a dark one. I decided therefore to use a nightscape of Toronto, with lighted buildings at the bottom and the sky above. This is also a nod to his present lifestyle: with his black leather jacket and motorcycle, squatting in an abandoned building, he comes across as very much the modern urban vampire.

I debated trying to fit in a guitar but—well, in the end, I just couldn't find room without making it all look too crowded.




CaddyWhackers:

Yes, that greenish background is snipped off the car. The colour shifts dramatically from one scene to another depending on the lighting. In this case, it filmed rather dark. As a result, though, the picture of the car itself contrasts well.

The licence plate number is, of course, the one used on the Caddy when it was filmed. However, I couldn't clip out a usable version from any of the screen captures. Instead, therefore, I found a website with pictures of a number of old Ontario licence plates, and used one from the mid-90s. I just replaced the numbers.