Those who have been following this series will know that I have been a little puzzled by the existence of two couple factions for Nick and Vachon, the Heartbreakers and the NightHaven (or Night Havens). Of course, it's hardly unknown for a character or even a couple to have more than one faction. However, if that is so, then faction lists usually make the distinction clear. For the Heartbreakers and NightHaven, though, I got descriptions like this one from the Forever Knight Faction Guide:

—  Heartbreakers --fans of Nick and Vachon; see also Night Havens

—  Night Havens --fans of Nick and Vachon; see also Heartbreakers

Oh, that is the sort of thing that is so helpful in telling them apart! So, on 2 August, I asked the FORKNI-L list for help. ( And you can find the details of the whole investigation (!) behind this LJ-cut. )

At any rate, it would seem that the Heartbreakers and NightHaven are, indeed, distinct factions—the latter being exclusively slash in focus. It therefore needs its own icon.

( So here it is.... )

Now that fkficfest is over, I feel free to post more faction icons without distracting anyone—myself included!

In fact, there are very few icons that I haven't at least started, though some do need a bit of tweaking. I think all the character-based factions have their icons now—well, unless someone comes up with the perfect name for an affiliation for a minor character as yet unbefactioned. On the other hand, there are still a number of couple factions whose icons have been made but not yet posted. I also have icons for a number of "miscellaneous assorted" factions.

For instance, among these five are a couple that are very assorted indeed.

( Read more... )

Here are another dozen icon patterns at the larger 350px size. Now that fkficfest is over, I'll do another post of new icons; but I thought I'd start by getting more of the enlargements up. People do seem to like to be able to see what they look like in detail.

( So here in alphabetical order are.... )

I don't know if cousinmary is following the creation of these icons. I hope she's at least glancing at the posts, for the factions represented here are all DP couple factions.

The largest of these, the CERK Perks, has already had its icon posted. (You can find it here.) However, there are three more (Tracy/Miklos, Tracy/Nick, and Tracy/Screed), all of which once had faction sites under Cousin Mary's aegis.

( Here are their icons.... )

Here are another batch of icon designs at the larger 350px size. Fourteen of them this time, half of which are for established factions.

I suddenly realized that I hadn't yet given you the design for the NatPack icon; so I start off with that and add the LabNatties' icon design. After that, it's a mixed bag—some of which actually go back a couple of months or so at least. (Boy, I've been doing this a fair chunk of the year, haven't I?)

( Well, the fans have come up with a lot of factions...! )

With these seven icons I'm going to finish up with "new" factions—or, at least, ones that are associated with guest characters, for there may still be the odd pairing or theme or prop as yet unbefactioned.

When I raised the matter on FORNI-L, I racked my mind (and the wiki) for a list of characters who lacked their own faction. During discussions, some of these had names suggested by people on list. Indeed, sometimes more than one name was put forward. At first, a measure of voting followed. However, the novelty seems to have worn off; so, with these later factions, I had to make the choice myself. Whoever came up with the name, all have been mentioned on FORKNI-L, whether there was much reaction or not.

So why have I bothered to make icons for them? (And why these, and not others?) Well, these are the ones for which I had an idea; and ideas can be darned insistent!

Obviously, none of these factions has actually got members...as far as I know. Mind you, the way factions seem to work, people are always free to declare the affiliation. That's how they all got started, isn't it?

( So here they are, in alphabetic order.... )

My! It's hard to believe I've got up to thirty posts, and still have icons yet to do!

This time, though, there's only one. It's for the Thong Throng—a mysterious faction that, when I first asked about it on FORKNI-L, got no reaction at all. However, a bit more research did bring up sufficient information to spark old neurons; and, after that, I was able to google to some purpose. (I should add that much here is owed to Nancy Braman, the FORKNI-L archivist; and Stephen Fellows, who supplied her with digests for a few months in 1996.)

If you look at The Forever Knight Faction List, you will be told that the Thong Throng is a joke faction "focused on... how can I put this delicately?... LaCroix's choice in under-garments". This is all true as far as it goes. However, there is more. Much much more. (Or less, given the construction of thongs.)

Once upon a time, there was a joke. Precisely who made the original joke is a matter of some dispute. However, the general consensus seems to be that Wicked Cousin Tippi had a lot to do with it. ( More details are hidden behind this cut. ) Suffice it to say that, over time, the joke evolved: the thong became purple silk, grape-flavoured, and apparently (at least at times) decorated with a feather. The joke evolved on list and at conventions; and Wicked Cousin Tippi contrived to work mention of the thong into several of her comic tales.

These discoveries made some unexpected work for me.

You see, at the time when I was creating icons for subfactions of the Cousins, I had made one for the Thong Throng. However, when all this judicious googling revealed the true object of their adoration, the icon clearly needed to be redone. A black thong decorated with little red hearts simply wouldn't do. It had to be empurpled.

( Here then is the finished icon.... )

Of the four icons in this post, two are for factions that have been the subject of at least some discussion on FORKNI-L recently; so I think I should get them up before I start posting icons for other affiliations entirely.

A few weeks ago, I asked for information about a number of small subfactions, and among those mentioned was the B.R.I.C.K.—though how many people claimed the affiliation for themselves I don't know. I suppose it depends on whether they take "Nick the Brick" to refer to Nick's frequent obtuseness ("thick as a brick") or, as some British fans aver, to refer to his staunchness in times of trouble.

When we bandied around names for a faction for Bourbon, it was suggested that "the Musketeers" be applied, not to his faction, but to one for Vachon's crew. However, it was quickly pointed out that one actually already existed. No, I'd never heard of it either; nor is it on even the longer faction lists. However, it is described on the Rat Pack website as one of their subfactions. Furthermore, it has its own Yahoo!Group. So, familiar or not, "the Crew" certainly deserves to have its icon.

The Unholy Alliance completes the trinity of trinities. (The icons for the Dark Trinity and Unholy Trinity have already been posted here and here.) I decided to run my preliminary design past the faction to make sure I'd got a satisfactory layout. Much tweaking resulted, which is why—if you check the name—you will find that this is Mark 7!

Last, but far from least, is an icon for the FoSiLs. Oh, dear! I think this has also gone through at least seven versions, too. It's been in the works for a long, long time. As Perry and Raleigh have already been pictured in the Woof Pack icon, I'm sure Sydney's fans have long since concluded I'm an ailurophobe.

( So here they are.... )

Here are another collection of icon designs done to the larger 350 pixel size. There are twelve of them altogether—six for established factions of various sizes and types, and six for new factions.

( Enjoy! )

The vote is in! Bourbon now has his own faction, demi-official in as much as the name got picked by consensus. Okay, not a lot of people bothered to mention a preference. However, the tally stands at three for the Musketeers versus two for the Bourbons.

We also have the Denied, for that name was unanimously chosen (albeit by only three people) for a faction for Emily Weiss.

With these, I toss in a couple of others that I've mentioned before in passing. Jenny Schanke has never officially had a faction, though she appears in a fair amount of fan fiction. So here's the icon for the Jenny-Poos. And, though an old and significant faction like the NatPack must cover a lot of ground, there should be room for a smallish subfaction of LabNatties.

( Here then are their icons. )

Factioneering is *f*u*n*—especially when it means that there will be more icons I can make. It's okay, I haven't rushed to judgment on any of the new names that have been discussed lately. (Do feel free to put in your own ideas or comment on the names others have suggested: I've summed them up in this post.

No, here are some of the icons I've made for factions that were suggested earlier—and not all by me, either! (Perish the thought.)

The first is for the Blue Knighties, the subfaction for casefic lovers, and anyone else who likes seeing Nick in his current mortal role as detective. I've been mentioning them for a few years now, so they're old news. Oldish, anyway.

Then we have the Sparklers and Sweet Alyssums. These came out of FORKNI-L factioneering back in April and May. There were several tongue-in-cheek suggestions for a faction for Spark, the young vampire who nearly kills Natalie in "A More Permanent Hell". It was Liz the Lucky who came up with the Sparklers. (Admittedly, at the time, she was more worried about the sparkliness of vampires. I hope this icon alleviates her fears.) A few weeks later, Andrew C. suggested that the Alyssums would be perfect for Alyssa, Nick's bride in "Dead of Night".

There are plenty of history buffs in Forever Knight fandom; and, if they never formed a History Buffs faction, it can only be because there was so much discussion of the details of Nick's past on FORKNI-L and the faction lists. I mentioned the affiliation in passing in War 13, and no one batted an eye.

As for the others—well, no one seems to object to repurposing the Vetterans name (indeed, remarks indicate that people feel it makes perfect sense). The last faction is one I put forward some weeks ago, to no comment at all.

( Yes, that makes six icons this time. And more factioneering in progress! )

There was a time when people tossed out new faction names on a whim—so lightly, indeed, that it turns out they can no often longer remember what they meant. Browsing around the longer faction lists, I've come across a strange and varied collection of names. And my curious questions on FORNI-L have led to some racking of brains, but only sometimes to answers.

Nevertheless, fans can have very long memories. So here you will find icons for the Not So Vestal Virgins, the Oops! Faction, and the Unmentionables. And there are more little factions to come. ( For now, though, amuse yourself with a glance at the icons for these ones. )

Here are some more enlargements for icons that I've posted. All have been done to the 350px size, which makes it possible to see more of the detail. (Previous enlargements can be found here and here.)

I'm going to start off with the three main Knighties icons. All three have had to be tweaked a little so that they look good at the full 350px size. They share a lot of common motifs, but used of course to quite different effect, ( as you can see. )


The remaining icons represent four major character-based and three couple factions whose "enlargements" have not already been posted. ( You can see them here.... )

Ah, Forever Knight fans are not all the innocent, sweet young things we pass ourselves off as. I give you fair warning: the icons in this post are

X-RATED
And don't blame me, for I didn't invent them. The factions that is, for I did create the icons. The factions, however, are strictly the private amusements of sundry of the Knighties.

( As for the feelthy peectures, they are decently hidden behind this lj-cut. )

Here are enlargements for some more of the icons that I've posted. All have been done to the 350px size. Again, it makes it possible to see more of the detail. (Previous enlargements can be found here.)

There are still others that might benefit from enlargement, but need some modification—usually around the border—to make the design work properly at the larger size.

( Here they are. )

Four more icons. Though the factions represented are not large, all, I think, will be familiar names to most of you.

I mentioned in my last post that I had made an icon for the Knights in Darkness—one of a set of coincidentally pink-toned icons that were all made in a single day. One by one, I've now posted them all. The Fleur-Boosters' icon has been waiting even longer (and why it got missed when I posted the collection for rarewomen I don't know, for I was keeping it back to post then, and somehow failed to). The Woof Pack, of course, is dear to the hearts of dog-lovers. How many people claim the affiliation is another matter, though the dogs turn up in UF war posts. The fourth icon...well, it's for one of those subfactions that was obviously a lot of fun at the time. And why not? Fun, after all, is the point of it all.

( Read more... )

A mixed group of smaller factions....

The first icon is one of three that I made in quick succession back in April, all of which turned out, for some reason, to have somewhat rosy tones. Now that would make perfect sense if pink were my favourite colour; but, though I esteem Tracy as a partner for Nick, I've never been a Perkulator. The Pit of Condemned Bimbos Survivalists' icon was in the last lot; this time you have the icon for the Knights of the Cross: the one for the Knights in Darkness is yet to come.

The second icon here gave me much more trouble; and I returned to it several times before I finally came up with something satisfactory. I knew immediately, though, that for the T & V Pack—short, apparently, for Tracy and Vachon Pack (and what it is with these "Pack" names, I don't know!)—I wanted to play with the idea of initials by using wooden blocks. You know: a common children's toy, with letters, numbers, or pictures on each face. For this younger couple, I fancied a return to the nursery, and intended to surround screencaps of the two of them with piles of wooden blocks. However, I just couldn't get the layout to work; and, in the end, I took a slightly different tack.

The last icon is the most recent, completed only a few days ago—and very nice it was, after all that FortuneCity business, to get back to playing with graphics.

( Read more... )

Now that the whole FortuneCity thing has died down a bit, I'm dying to get back to something resembling normal—so here are three more in my series of faction icons. (No, of course I haven't had time in the last couple of weeks to make any. These were made earlier. In fact, I even have a few more not yet posted.)

( We have here one icon for a character-based faction, one for a couple faction, and one...other. )

In honour of the rarewomen ficathon, whose reveal is today, I've been saving four icons featuring...um, well...rare women! Or at least women (and an f/f pairing) that are rare within Forever Knight fandom. Of course, that doesn't include Natalie Lambert or Janette DuCharme: they may be female characters in a rare fandom (alas! that our beloved FK is today considered to be rare!), but they are hardly rare within the fandom.

However, that cannot be said of Grace Balthazar, Myra Schanke, or Urs. Though beloved, none of these is the primary focus of much fan activity. They have their factions; but even in the heyday of FK fandom, there weren't a lot of members. They have their fan fic; but they do tend to appear mostly as supporting characters in stories about other characters. As for the one f/f couple faction, Natalie/Janette, that has also always been one of the smaller ones.

Rare women they may be. ( Nevertheless, even the smallest faction deserves its icon. )

On FORKNI-L recently there has been some...shall we call it "factioneering"? (We need a name.) Lest anyone imagine this is a modern amusement, let me point you to Olden Tymes, when Forever Knight was bright and shiny and new.

The first few factions appeared semi-spontaneously, though their names did not. (Go and re-read War One some time. It's quite enlightening.) By the time of the second war, however, people seem to have been tossing around ideas for names of new affiliations for minor characters. That was the era of the Scorpions, the Graces, the Myras...some of which stuck, but none of which was ever exactly large. ( War Two also saw some factioneering.... )