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brightknightie) wrote2007-11-29 11:39 pm
brightknightie) wrote2007-11-29 11:39 pm
Entry tags:
Nouns of the FK Universe
The big project on Bright Knight over the past year has been developing the Character Directory (People of the FK Universe) and Stuff List (Places and Things of the FK Universe).
Both lists amuse me greatly, but if I have a pet of the two, it's the Stuff List. The Character Directory shines a spotlight on cool tidbits, such as that "David" is the most common name in FK (seven uses), that Officer Lipinksi is a recurring character (three episodes), and that the anchorman who appears in "Spin Doctor" and "Only the Lonely" is named Steve Tate and so could easily be related to talk show host Jerry Tate (of "My Boyfriend is a Vampire"). But the Stuff Lists wraps me warmly in an FK so tangible, so vivid, that it's as if I've walked off screen and into a larger universe. Surely the Kitten Club magazine in "Love You to Death" is related to the Kitten Channel that airs Foxy Boxing in "Hunters"? The list of fictional companies reveals a story equipped with a yellow pages of canonical services. And Azure is hardly the only restaurant in FK's fictional Toronto -- would you prefer to eat at Artie's with Schanke for the garlic special, perhaps, or Trattoria Roma with Don and Myra, Buckstar's with Tracy, Machelio's with the mob boss, or even Pizza Palace, where Natalie did not spend her twenty-eighth birthday? What about the Cherry Street Restaurant diner or the Hog Heaven bar? All completely canonical. It's so neat!
Yes, I am easily amused. :-) I began both lists in August of 2006, taking notes one episode at a time from "Dark Knight" forward. I slowed and temporarily stalled in third season, I'm afraid, but I'll pick up the pace again soon. Once I've finished the series, I have a few episodes to go back and double-check (due to notes that I didn't always transcribe soon enough to remember the meaning of my own scribbled marginalia ~g~).
Both lists amuse me greatly, but if I have a pet of the two, it's the Stuff List. The Character Directory shines a spotlight on cool tidbits, such as that "David" is the most common name in FK (seven uses), that Officer Lipinksi is a recurring character (three episodes), and that the anchorman who appears in "Spin Doctor" and "Only the Lonely" is named Steve Tate and so could easily be related to talk show host Jerry Tate (of "My Boyfriend is a Vampire"). But the Stuff Lists wraps me warmly in an FK so tangible, so vivid, that it's as if I've walked off screen and into a larger universe. Surely the Kitten Club magazine in "Love You to Death" is related to the Kitten Channel that airs Foxy Boxing in "Hunters"? The list of fictional companies reveals a story equipped with a yellow pages of canonical services. And Azure is hardly the only restaurant in FK's fictional Toronto -- would you prefer to eat at Artie's with Schanke for the garlic special, perhaps, or Trattoria Roma with Don and Myra, Buckstar's with Tracy, Machelio's with the mob boss, or even Pizza Palace, where Natalie did not spend her twenty-eighth birthday? What about the Cherry Street Restaurant diner or the Hog Heaven bar? All completely canonical. It's so neat!
Yes, I am easily amused. :-) I began both lists in August of 2006, taking notes one episode at a time from "Dark Knight" forward. I slowed and temporarily stalled in third season, I'm afraid, but I'll pick up the pace again soon. Once I've finished the series, I have a few episodes to go back and double-check (due to notes that I didn't always transcribe soon enough to remember the meaning of my own scribbled marginalia ~g~).
no subject
You're absolutely right. That's an excellent and important idea! Thank you very much. I will implement it this weekend, adding a column to distinguish fictional from real -- and unconfirmed. I should be able to include a link to a site or reference for anything that is real, too, which would also be handy for a fanfiction writer.
I'm a west-coaster, and I'm afraid I don't have much knowledge of Toronto outside television shows and news items. May I ask, would you be interested in identifying additional places and things that FK portrayed as they really are? I mostly know of real things that FK cast as fictional things (the Fluid Lounge as Janette's Raven, Casa Loma as Francesca's castle).
Hmmmm. Another possibility would be to delete the real things, and keep only the purely fictional ones. Or to add all the real things, including those we might presume everyone would recognize... something to think on: what gives the most value to the user?
Again, thank you!
no subject
I think people (like you) who don't know Toronto will need to have as full a list as possible, with the distinction made, of course. Otherwise, they'll simply spot omissions, and probably will just think that your list is incomplete.
With a full list, though, someone wanting to write an FK story can check and see which things were real, which weren't. And write accordingly. Putting "real-real" things into your story would add Toronto verisimilitude. Putting FK things in the story would add a different type of verisimilitude.
Of course, for the person who uses your list to avoid FKisms in a story set in another fandom—well, LaCroix no doubt has a special fate in store for them. But that's a use, too.
And yes, of course, I'd be glad to help.