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Digest - <first ever> to 28 Oct 2010 (#2010-1)

Thu, 28 Oct 2010

There are 5 messages totalling 241 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. FK moment
  2. So what about those factions, eh? - Cousins and Knighties
  3. So what about those factions, eh? - whatever happened to the FoDs? (3)

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Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:23:28 -0400
From:    Laura Davies <bratling2@g.......>
Subject: FK moment

We were at Wal-Mart today and passed a semi with the words "Raven delivery
service" painted on the side.  I swear the owner *must* be a FK fan, because
the logo and the words were an exact copy of S1's Raven sign.

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Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:51:15 -0700
From:    Kate Kayhill <endlessknight.geo@y.......>
Subject: Re: So what about those factions, eh? - Cousins and Knighties

I can only comment on the Nick&NatPack (and perhaps the Lonely Hearts). Having
been one fan who was drawn to the love story between Nick and Nat,  I was
desperate to chat with like minded fans so I started an email list. As it
quickly took off, I held a contest for a logo design and a slogan to cement the
idea of a pack. The list built a steady stream fans eager to post fiction or
just chat. At it's height we had 321 N&NPackers on our main list, 285 on our
fiction list and 180 on our adult fiction list. The N&NPack have had 6 Mini
Conventions where anyone who could make it spent a weekend playing tourist
together as well as having a FK themed auction, with the money raised being
donated to the Toronto Hospital for Sick Kids. Many of the N&NPacks became
lifelong friends and have kept on the lists to keep in touch, even if the posts
are sporadic at best.

The Lonely Hearts was created by a few of us who were on  IRC chatting late one
night and discussing our disappointment with Nick's clueless state and figured
that it would serve him right if Nat had someone else to hang out with who would

not be so complicated. Vachon seemed the perfect fit, two lonely hearts seeking
to console each other. Lonely Hearts while fun to play with for a bit story
wise, did not have our hearts as Nick and Nat did, so eventually it disappeared
into FK history (plus some of the pack were threatening to force Immortal
Beloved stories on me if I didn't give up the Lonely Hearts).


Hope that helps answer how the N&NPack came to be.

Soulseeker
N&NPack Faction Leader



----- Original Message ----
From: Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>


The recent war has brought back to mind some questions I had about factions:
their origin, and why some are still around (and active in wars) and others
have more or less disappeared.  So I thought I'd just dither on for a bit,
and see how people react to my wonderings--especially those who were around
in the beginning and remember it all.




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Date:    Thu, 28 Oct 2010 06:41:12 -0400
From:    Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>
Subject: So what about those factions, eh? - whatever happened to the FoDs?

More maunderings....

Last time, I suggested that the Cousins were born in contrast to the general
Knightiness of FK fandom, focusing on LaCroix's perceived role (especially
in the flashbacks) as a type of Trickster figure, which then inspired the
establishment of a speifically Nick-focused faction.

After that, of course, more factions were pretty well inevitable.  By the
time of the first war, embryonic affiliations existed for five of the
regular characters--with the notable exception of Captain Stonetree.  There
were also people who refused to play favourites and played unaffiliated;
hence the sixth original faction, the Die-Hards.  Most of these factions are
still active today.

However, long long ago, the FoDs pretty well vanished.  There was one player
in War I--and he wrote a number of posts, developing a delightful story arc
that culminated hilariously.  So, the faction certainly goes back all the
way; but it's been several wars since the FoDs fought as a faction.  At one
time, though, they were active:  they had an e-group named "fodery"; and
they had a website.  A mere sketch of the website is preserved on the
Wayback Machine; but enough to know that it had some stories, a gallery of
pictures, a page of quotations, some sound files, convention pics--all the
usual sort of thing that one would expect to get on a faction site.  Also,
there were a couple of recipes.  However, the site vanished almost as soon
as the Archive Project recorded it:  some time just after 2 February 1999.
Of course, websites can vanish for a lot of reasons.  On the other hand, if
there's an active faction, it usually just gets moved to a different web
address.

Now, it seems unlikely that the FoDs' problem is related to Schanke's role
as Nick's partner.  After all, Tracy is usually depicted in the partner
role, too.  However, the Perks are still around.  They have fielded players
in all the wars since the Perks were created.

It also seems unlikely that people adore Tracy and feel bored by Schanke.
Anyway, that's not been my impression.  Quite the contrary:  there are quite
a lot of fans who, to this day, deplore the fact that TPTB insisted on
replacing Schanke with a leggy blonde.  Each of Nick's partners has
fans--deservedly, in my opinion.  They are very different characters, each
with strong positive qualities.

So, if it isn't something inherent in *Schanke* (and his role in the
series), then what is it?  Why are the FoDs effectively defunct?  (For that
matter, why were they always one of the smaller factions?)  Some of it can
be put down to happenchance, of course:  other bigger factions may simply
have had a strong faction leader, an active mailing list/chat room, several
good writers, a devoted webmistress....

I wonder, though, if there wasn't an inherent weakness in the character of
the FoDs as they evolved as a faction.  Every faction develops its own
nature; and sometimes this is only tangentially related to the
character/couple with which it is affiliated.  For the FoDs (as the
pronunciation of the name indicates), all revolved around FOOD.  In the
first war, for example, the lone FoD managed a cunning food-based ploy to
trap LaCroix.  In the second war, when there was a larger group of FoDs,
they decided to use garlic-containing foodstuffs as defensive weapons.  It's
cute as far as it goes; but it sort of made the entire faction a bit of a
one-trick pony.



------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:40:52 -0400
From:    L McDavid <mclisa1014@g.......>
Subject: Re: So what about those factions, eh? - whatever happened to the FoDs?

 Greer Watson suggested that the Knighties were formed as a reaction to the
Cousins.

>
>
> Not really, as to the development of factions.  The Cousins really started
> as LaCroix and the LaCroixettes, an alleged nightclub act, run by a lister
> who left a long time ago. Then came the famous incident of the two LaCroix
> fans who sent Sharon Scott the chocolate frogs, hence the renaming of the
> Cousins.  Most of us, although enjoying LC's deviousness (and the sexy way
> Nigel played him <g>), had a love-hate relationship with the character.
> During the  first few wars, some of us wrote him in situations that would
> now be considered attacks. As Laurie Fenster, one of the first heads of
> Cerberus put it, "poor LaCroix, the only character in more danger from his
> own fans than from the other factions."


Somewhere soon after the Cousins were formed, someone suggested formal
factions. The Knighties were an obvious choice.  Janette's followers, being
mostly female, starting calling themselves Ravenettes. The Die-Hards were
started by those who couldn't or wouldn't chose a faction, I think the
Natpack came along shortly afterwards. The main  thing is, the factions were
started deliberately at around the same time.



>
>
> ... FoDs pretty well vanished.  There was one player in War I--and he wrote
> a number of posts, developing a delightful story arc that culminated
> hilariously.


That's DonBassingthwaite. He is  now a professional with a number of books
to his credit.

  My impression is that the FODs are defunct simply because they never were
very numerous and all have now moved on to other fandoms.  It's a pity.

McLisa (Lisa McDavid)
"That will be trouble."
listowner, Forkni-l & Fkfic-l
mclisa1014@g.......

>
>
>

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:45:29 -0700
From:    "jerezfino@y......." <jerezfino@y.......>
Subject: Re: So what about those factions, eh? - whatever happened to the FoDs?

--- On Thu, 10/28/10, Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......> wrote:

> At one time, though, they were active:  they had an e-group
> named "fodery"; and they had a website.

Ah, I remember the FODERY list well ... I was part of it. I recall -- many years
ago now -- the FoDs organized a cookbook project with recipes compiled from
members. John Kapelos even submitted a recipe for it (a risotto dish that is
quite delicious and that I've made many times); everyone got a copy for a $20
donation to Covenant House, the FoD's chosen charity. I don't recall how much
was raised for Covenant House but, as a result of that project, they are still
one of the charities I donate to on a yearly basis. And I still have the
cookbook.  <g>


> It also seems unlikely that people adore Tracy and feel
> bored by Schanke. Anyway, that's not been my impression.

It was never my impression either. Although I liked Tracy, I have always felt
that Schanke was an infinitely more interesting character. Schanke also brought
a comedic element to the show that was missing when he left.


> Why are the FoDs effectively defunct?  (For that matter,
> why were they  always one of the smaller factions?)
> I wonder, though, if there wasn't an inherent weakness in
> the character of the FoDs as they evolved as a faction.

Yes, the faction was always a bit smaller than the others, possibly because they
were formed long after Schanke's character had exited the show and the focus
shifted to Tracy as Nick's new partner. I've always considered myself an FoD,
although I never played in any of the FK Wars with them, but rather with the
NNPack for the two wars that I actively participated in. It's also possible
that, like me, some of the FoDs were also affiliated with other factions and may
simply have devoted more of their attention -- and limited time -- to one of
those factions and just drifted away from the FoDs.


:) Boomer
   NNpacker, Knightie, FoD


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End of FORKNI-L Digest - <first ever> to 28 Oct 2010 (#2010-1)
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