FORKNI-L
Digest - 24 Oct 2010 to 25 Oct 2010 (#2010-205)
Mon, 25 Oct 2010
There are 4 messages totalling 156 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. So what about those factions, eh? - Cousins and Knighties (2)
2. WAR: Susan's War Tutorials #11, #12
3. Susan's War Tutorials #11, #12
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:18:57 -0400
From: Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>
Subject: So what about those factions, eh? - Cousins and Knighties
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.
Call this the first installment.
It seems to me that, to a very real degree, the fundamental faction for all
of us has to be a sort of proto-Knighties. And, yes, I am familiar with the
story of "Sharon Scott and the Chocolate Frogs, or How the Cousins Came to
Be". After all, it gets retold every now and then. We have it in the Wiki,
come to that: Susan Garrett wrote the first draft of our page on Factions,
and made sure to include the frog story. So I *do* know that the first
faction was the Cousins. But, let's face it, the hero of the show is Nick
Knight. If we didn't all love the guy (even when we deplore his
Brickishness), then we'd all long since have decamped for some other fandom.
So, inherently, there's a degree of Knightiness in all of us. However, that
basically goes without saying--and the point of factions is the saying.
If we all have an inherent Knightiness, then, where do factions come from?
I think that basically, since this is a herocentric series, people affiliate
with characters who they like *in addition* to Nick, or whose relationship
*with* Nick is one that they enjoy. That doesn't account for all the
factions, of course; but I think it covers most of the basic ones.
Now, as any teacher (or student) knows, in those exam questions where you
are asked to "compare and contrast", it is always easier to do the
"contrast" bit: differences are a lot easier to discuss. In Forever
Knight, the big difference--a vociferous difference!--lies between Nick and
LaCroix whenever they start to discuss vampires, humans, and the appropriate
relationship between the two (not to mention the transition between one
state and another). In other words, the Cousins were the first faction
because they are most obviously *different* from the fundamental Knightiness
of FK fandom.
With Cousins supporting the LaCroixian position that Nick should embrace the
vampire, that then focuses attention on the opposite point of view: that
Nick should quest for regained humanity: the Knighties (as a faction) are
then born *second*, as a focused reaction to the formation of the Cousins.
However, there is a lot more to the Cousins than simply their position on
Nick's eternal quest. All factions develop their own character or
personality; and the Cousins *were*, after all, born from chocolate frogs.
We need to look, then, not just at their stance on Nick but also the take
they have on LaCroix.
LaCroix's role in Season One (which was when the first factions formed) was
almost entirely restricted to the flashbacks, except for the series premiere
and a brief scene at the end of the season finale. This means that the
original fans believed that, whatever LaCroix might do in an episode, it
could not materially affect Nick in the present or impinge on his future.
As a result, it's possible to abstract his actions from his intent, and see
him as an arch-manipulator--a sort of trickster who twists situations
around. The Trickster is a universal character, of course, known by many
names across the cultures of the world. While there is a lot more to
LaCroix's character than that simple archetype, the Cousins seem to have
focused on this aspect of LaCroix. In other words, the origin of the
Cousins lies not so much with his *character* (which is complex) as his
*role* (especially in early episodes). It is true that, when they write him
into their stories, they generally show him as the autocratic Roman
ex-general (an aspect of his character). However, although other factions
do sometimes instigate "attacks", it tends to be the Cousins who start wars.
In other words, they have taken the Trickster role for themselves.
Greer
gwatson2@r.......
http://www.foreverknight.org/FK4
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:31:10 -0700
From: Walt Doherty <wdoherty5@c.......>
Subject: Re: So what about those factions, eh? - Cousins and Knighties
[LaCroix] . . . the autocratic Roman ex-general
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greer Watson"
Ah, yes, but as the "trickster", he much more resembles
Loge (from Wagner's Ring Cycle; that is, Loki the
trickster god from Norse mythology).
W
> 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,
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:55:40 -0700
From: NAT <nat1228@c.......>
Subject: WAR: Susan's War Tutorials #11, #12
Can someone help me, please? I wanted to combine Susan's war
tutorials into a single Word document to keep, but find that I'm
missing parts 11 and 12. Could someone kindly forward those to me or,
if you've already compiled them into a single ".doc" I'd happily take
that. My addy is "nat1228 at comcast dot net".
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
Nat
nat1228@c.......
PS -- please send to *me*, not to the list. :-)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:51:50 -0700
From: Liz the Lucky <lizthelucky@c.......>
Subject: Re: Susan's War Tutorials #11, #12
I did this.
Hugs and Kisses,
Liz the Lucky lizthelucky@c.......
twitter.com/lizthelucky http://www.lizthelucky.com/
Merc House Mommie
------------------------------
End of FORKNI-L Digest - 24 Oct 2010 to 25 Oct 2010 (#2010-205)
***************************************************************
Knight graphics and parchment background created by Melissa Snell and may be found at http://historymedren.about.com/
