Ravenettes
| Forever Knight Faction | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ravenettes |
| Abbreviation: | |
| Date(s): | late 1993 to present |
| Leaders: | |
| Founder: | |
| Type: | original faction |
| Focus: | Janette DuCharme |
| Wars: | 1-11, 14-15 |
| Community: | |
| URL: | Our Dark Lady of Forever Knight (Wayback Machine) Our Dark Lady of Forever Knight (FK Website Archive) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Ravenettes are a faction of Forever Knight fandom comprising fans who declare an affiliation with the vampire Janette DuCharme, one of the characters in the show. It is one of the original six factions that took part in the first Forever Knight War.
History/Etymology
In late 1993, in reaction to the establishment of the Cousins as followers of LaCroix, discussion on the ForKNI-L mailing list supported the creation of other affiliations, including one for fans of Janette. However, by the time of the first War in January 1994, there was still debate on an appropriate name. This did not stop members of the faction from taking part in the round robin, each using his/her own preferred terminology.
Some list members favoured the name "Ravenette", which they considered to be a portmaneau of Janette's name with that of the Raven. However, because this appears to have a feminine ending, some fans suggested that it would be more appropriate for male followers of Janette to call themselves Ravens. As well, a strong minority favoured instead calling the faction members "corbies" or "bonnie wee corbies".
By the second War (July 1994), the faction had largely determined on the "Ravenette" designation, though some still preferred "Raven" for the few male members, and the name "corbie" was used at least once. Over time, "Ravenette" has become the usual term. Out of deference to sensibilities, it is often officially written as "Raven/ette" in logos and titles.
From the start, the Ravenettes have used Janette's nightclub as their fictional meeting place in times of War.
The Ravenettes faction took part in Wars 1 through 11; and one Ravenette played in Wars 14 and 15. They did not participate as a separate faction in either War 12 or War 13. However, individual members did take part and sometimes declared their primary allegiance as Ravenettes even though they were playing with a different faction. In particular, in War 13, Chanda Keith wrote a small Ravenette story arc while playing nominally as a Die-Hard.
Faction Characteristics
Each Forever Knight faction has its own characteristics, and tends to appeal more to some fans than others.
In the flashback scenes characteristic of Forever Knight, Janette was noted for wearing clothes that were at the height of fashion for the historical period. In the present day, she typically wore evening gowns with a Goth flare, usually with elaborate jewellery, especially long earrings and chokers. In response to this, the Ravenette faction particularly appeals to fans with an interest in fashion.
In one of the opening posts of War 2, Janette is "administrative assistant" in charge of all the fan mail from people declaring their affiliation. This afforded the author the opportunity to describe the characteristics of members of some of the factions, including the Ravenettes:
Suddenly, there was an envelope between [Nick's] lips and [Janette's]. As she drew back, he sniffed it, then offered it to her. "One of yours, I suspect. There's a hint of Chanel. And . . . chablis?"
"Spoilsport." Snatching the letter from his hand, Janette stalked back to the other side of her desk. "At least my devotees have nice penmanship--or, if not, the sense to use some mechanical device. They have style, class, elan-- "[1]
Besides being fashionistas, many Ravenettes are also members of the Immortal Beloveds faction, and hence favour a romantic relationship between Janette and Nick Knight—from which it follows that they tend to disapprove of any romantic relationship between Nick and Natalie Lambert .
Faction Websites
The Ravenettes at one time had a faction website, Our Dark Lady of Forever Knight (archived), which was divided in focus between the character of Janette DuCharme; Deborah Duchêne (the actress who portrayed her); and Janette's nightclub and its employees. Among other things, it included small screen and sound capture archives from Forever Knight, and an archive of fan fiction focusing on Janette. Our Dark Lady of Forever Knight existed in January 1999 and remained on the web at least until August 2001. It has since been restored and added to the Forever Knight Website Archive.
For War 11, the Ravenettes created a small website, The Raven/ettes: Forever Knight War XI (archived) as a focus for their involvement as a faction. It included the permissions filed by participants and an archive of their posts.
Faction Symbol
The faction symbol for the Ravenettes is a stylized raven taken from the sign that was above the door of the Raven (the nightclub owned by the character) in the first season of Forever Knight.
Faction Icon
In 2012, Greer Watson created a set of icons for the Ravenettes as part of her project to create a set of icons for all the Forever Knight factions. The design composits a screen capture of Janette with one of a glass of blood, and positions the faction symbol on a large picture of the moon, also taken from a screen capture. The icon exists with three variant versions of the faction name: the most usual "Ravenettes", the masculine "Ravens", and the portmanteau form "Raven/ettes" often used in formal circumstances.[2]
References
- ^ Quoted from the section "Application Forthcoming" in the post "Applications" by Laurie Salopek, posted to FKFIC-L on 3 July 1994, and archived in the Wars section of www.fkfanfic.com[1] (accessed 13 January 2011).