Just one icon this time round. I was asked by Susan B. if I planned to do one for the Nick and NatPack (NNPack). They're an old enough affiliation to have had one of the original faction pin designs, though its superimposition of a heart monitor screen on a large heart is..."rather too busy" is polite, I hope!



Anyway, I wasn't at all surprised when she said the faction had later voted on a new symbol. She pointed me to the store on their website, Mortal Love, where a good image of it can be found on a tile coaster:



( It was from some of the elements of this design that I came up with my icon. )

For those who've been following FORKNI-L for the last couple of weeks, there's no surprise. However, for those who are no longer on list, it might intrigue you to learn that Forever Knight fandom has a new faction.

Will it ever have actual members? Okay, that's a whole other question. Still, we've some of us been having fun! ( So what's been going on...? )

Three more small fry. One of these I've been hanging on to for a while—not because there's anything wrong with it, but simply because I didn't want to overwhelm people. However, on FORKNI-L, Andrew C. asked me if I was planning to do an icon for the Diviants, suggesting I use a Roman theme. I promised him their icon would be included in the next group I posted; so here it is.

The other two are much more recent. I just did them last week.

One is for the Academy. This isn't a faction that appears on any but the longest lists. Why, I don't know. I don't think I'm the only person with a soft spot for Aristotle, but few people declare the affiliation.

The third icon is for the Cross-Stitchers of the Knight. How many of them there were, I don't know: it was definitely a specialist faction, if there ever was! Its members were quite active within its parameters, though. There was a time when they did FK-themed cross-stitch projects and shared patterns with each other—and more, for some of them wrote a long round-robin story together.

( So what do the icons look like? )

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. ( Read more... )

This time round, you're getting icons for the Cousins and Light Cousins. I'm putting them together because I made them together: the latter is not only a fraction faction, but has a symbol that is derived from the one created for its parent.

Obviously, I was going to have to recreate first one, and then the other of the two symbols. That was a delicate job, but nonetheless fairly straightforward. Picking out the most appropriate components to complete the icons was another matter.

( So what do they look like? )

Finally, finally, the long-promised DP icon gets to see the light of day. And one of Nick's factions also gets an icon. (And about time too, I can hear some of you say!) The third icon is for the NatPack, one of the "original six". Their fraction factions will also eventually get icons, but...first things first, right?

( So what do they look like? )

Although it's not been long since my last set of icons, the fact is that two of these have been almost ready for a while, but needed that last bit of tweaking to bring them...well, as close to perfection as I could make them. The third was quick to make because it's based on a Die-Hards logo that I created over a year ago when I added my War 13 posts to my website.

( So, what do we have? )

Three more icons! (There are more in the works; but these are the ones that I'm satisfied are actually ready to go.)

( Read more... )

The Forever Knight episode, "Be My Valentine", is unusual in inspiring three different affiliations. It wasn't unknown for a faction to spring from a particular episode—one might even say "obviously" in the case of a guest star—but it was unprecedented for a single episode to result in so many.

Two of these were specifically related to Fleur, Nick's younger sister: her own faction (usually referred to as the "Fleur-boosters", which is a name I find rather less than aesthetically pleasing), and the Faithfuls (for the aborted relationship between her and LaCroix, which Nick thwarted).

However, it is the third faction that is named after the episode itself (or the day it celebrates). The Valentines are the affiliation for those who see potential in a relationship between Natalie and LaCroix. On the face of it absurd: she fears and loathes his influence over Nick, and he is appalled by Nick's quest for mortality, which she supports. On the other hand, there is that wary, fascinated scene between them at Azure....

( So, in honour of Valentines Day, I've made an icon for the Valentines faction. )

Over the last few days I've started work on a set of icons representing the various factions of Forever Knight fandom—or at least some of them (for, of course, there are a very large number of faction names, not all of which should be taken seriously).

At the moment, I have ideas for several. However, I've only actually finished three of them. Now remember, these are faction icons. So I've paid tribute—at least to some degree—to the old faction symbols, at least where there was one (and assuming I can work it in). Not all factions ever had symbols.

Of course, one would expect that I would start with the Knighties and Cousins, since they seem to be the largest factions; and then maybe I'd go on to do the NatPack, and Ravenettes, and Perks, and Vaqueras, and FoDs—and maybe the Die-hards and RatPack. Or toss in a few of the bigger couple factions.

No, of course not!
( I did icons for three other factions entirely.... )

First off, thank you for writing me a story about one of these women. While not all are equally "rare" in their respective fandoms, that's only because a couple of the fandoms are rare in their own right.

So...what do I like?( Read more... )

On Wednesday, I went for the final time to Dragon Lady Comics. I've been shopping there weekly (more or less) since I moved downtown in 1985. That's a long time; and I'm very much a creature of habit. The store opened in 1979, having been a mail order business the previous year; and, according to the owner, John Biernat, he remembers me shopping there on the very first day. I wouldn't have thought I was all that memorable! After all, we didn't meet again until seven or eight years ago. (He had a succession of managers look after the store.) Well, I guess there aren't all that many middle-aged women who collect comics. He must have had a mental image of "comic collector" that I totally didn't fit; and that made me memorable.

Anyway, the store did well for many years. It was badly hit by the recession, but staggered on—fewer employees working longer hours, basically. The final straw came last summer when the rent was hiked by about 25%. It was just no longer profitable to keep a storefront open. So the stock has all been moved to a warehouse for mail order sales.

If I was truly there on the first day, then I had to go in on the last day.

To cope with the shock, I took my camera down last December and snapped a lot of pictures; and then filled in some gaps last week, and again on Wednesday. I've put up a sort of "Memoriam" page on my website, too: full of reminiscences. It helps, I think, to get a perspective on the whole time I shopped there.

Fortunately, some local comics types haves wangled some financial backing to start a new shop about a block away. Not that they've rented a whole store: it's a room in space shared with two other comics-related businesses. Upstairs. (Street level stores are just too pricy.) Since John Biernat's getting out of direct sales, he let Joe take over the contract with Diamond Distributors; and he's the manager of the new store. I think most of the Dragon Lady regulars are moving to there. It minimizes the disruption to their routine.

Still, it's always a shock when things go.

Belatedly....

This was my first Yuletide—though not, I hope, my last. My sister has been doing it for several years now; her obvious enjoyment enticed me to take part this time; and I also found it to be a lot of fun. Of course, it didn't hurt that I was staying with her this Christmas. We showed each other our stories, got a bit of basic beta'ing from each other, and generally fed the mutual excitement. So here are a few comments I have about the things I wrote.
( Read more... )

Dear Author, let me thank you right up front for the story you are going to write—which, sight unseen, I'm sure is one that I will love.
( Read more... )

Although it hasn't yet been sent to FKFIC-L, "The Sun of Cairo" is now up on my website. To make its webpage (which is here), I went with a sky blue gradient coupled with a frame dominated by a sand-textured graphic. (The connection with Egypt should be obvious.) The fact that the sword I used as decoration is actually a claymore off a website of Scottish graphics—well, I'm no weapons expert to care a lot about accuracy, and it works visually.
( Read more... )

At this point, three of the four stories I wrote for the Dead Dog Party on fkcommentfic have been posted to FKFIC-L and put up on my website: "Gold Regrets", "A Cup of Coffee", and "The Flavour in his Mouth". Only "The Sun of Cairo" remains to go to FKFIC-L, though it is on the website. (I might have posted that this weekend, but instead wrote a ficlet in memory of last year's war.)
( Read more... )

When I HTMLed "Gold Regrets" (now on my website), I headed its webpage with a photo of Tracy. However, it is a heavily tweaked Tracy, one that is appropriate (I hope) for a story about her retirement. Police officers may usually retire a bit younger than the rest of us; but they're still in their sixties. Fortunately, blondes often keep some of their colouring for longer than brunettes do; and I'm sure Tracy would strive to maintain her fit figure. Still, I could hardly use any of screen captures directly.

So I picked out a suitable head'n'shoulders shot and went to work. The result is undoubtedly rough. However, it does serve its purpose (and the roughness is perhaps a bit less apparent, in as much as it's the only screen capture on the page). The original screen capture itself comes from the Knight Watchman site.

If you look at the following pictures, you can see what I did. The first one is the cropped screen capture, which comes from "Avenging Angel". The others are the two tweaked versions I did. Obviously, I blacked out the background. However, I also used Microsoft Picture Manager to tweak the colour. Tracy's skin has lost the bloom of youth and her hair is a bit silvered, as though it's well on the way to grey. (Blondes fade.) I then did a nasty bit of pixel by pixel work around the eyes and mouth using Microsoft Paint, roughening the colour and deepening lines—probably not as much as it really needed, but I wanted it to look natural.




My first tweak also slightly altered the colour of her dress and added more pearls. At that point, I was looking at "Gold Regrets" in terms of a farewell party. However, as I re-read the story, I realized that, if Tracy was getting a gold watch from the Chief of Police, this had to be an official party. So she'd be in uniform.

That entailed some time googling up pictures of Toronto police officers in uniform. I got the hat from one picture, and its badge from another! As for her uniform.... Well, I could cut'n'copy textures to cover the jacket, but the neckline was a real nuisance. Eventually I took one, used half of it to do one side of the tie and collar, reversed that for the other side of the tie, and shifted the collar up to the left, filling in the blanks. In other words, more nasty pixel-by-pixel stuff.

The result looks pretty crude, especially beside the original. I can only hope it works in context.

Finally, I've managed to squeeze out time to go back to fkcommentfic and do something about that last prompt I fancied—having got sidetracked last time out.

I didn't have time to do all the coding I'd like. When I get around to making its webpage, this story will need most of the special characters added. However, it got one quick revision at least. (And needed it, of course.) I'm sure I'll find typos and tweaks when I go back to it.

Anyway, "The Sun of Cairo" can be found here.

And another story posted to fkcommentfic. The joke, of course, is that this isn't the one I was thinking of when I went to bed last night. (Or should that be the night before last?) Anyway, I should have been on my way to bed tonight, but figured I'd knock off a mini-ficlet; so I was looking through the prompts trying to spot the one I'd been thinking of so that I could get the exact wording. Only this one popped out at me instead.

I could maybe have fitted it into five parts; but, having realized that my initial estimate of a mere four was wishful thinking, I decided to play it safe. As a "comment fic" though, it would qualify for fkficfest. It just kept on going and going as I wrote down what they all said. For something nearly 2K words, it certainly behaved like a ficlet!

You can find it here. I haven't even begun decorating the webpage for it. It's kept me up far too late as it is.

I've just posted another ficlet to the "Dead Dog Party" on fkcommentfic. (Isn't it fortunate that the deadline was extended?)

I don't know whether "A Cup of Coffee" is quite what havocthecat hoped for by the prompt. "Amanda Cohen is sharp, perceptive, and utterly loyal to the people that work for her. What is it that she's noticed - about Natalie, Schanke, and Nick - that she's never let on?". However, this is the idea that occurred to me—what can I say? You catch the bunny that pops out.

I should warn you that I've scarcely ever been in Starbucks, so I can only hope I haven't mortally mangled their many and varied offerings. I did do a bit of googling; but, after that, I could only contrive as best I might. If what I've written sound like nonsense...well, I can only say that Schanke buys coffee at "Buckstars"; and who knows what they serve? Right?

"A Cup of Coffee" turned out to be just that little bit longer than LJ allows, and had to be split in two. You can find it here.

In due course it will go up on my site, but this round on fkcommentfic still has a few days to run. Meanwhile, I have the pleasure of picking graphics!


Updated: 4 a.m.  I've now finished doing the webpage. It has a simple dark brown textured background that sets off the central panel, which is heavily outlined by a complex frame involving (among several others) a coffee bean graphic. The connection to the central motif of the story is incredibly obvious.   :)

I also used Microsoft Paint to draw a "Buckstars" coffee cup on the model of a Starbucks one. Resized down, it doesn't look too bad: a slightly larger version is at the top, and a little one is used to mark pauses in the story. It seems to work.