Fringe's Origin Story

10/31/2012


For this week's Fringe Twitter event, I had to again use my tribute knife as my avatar. The hashtag #ShowNoMercy just fit so perfectly. I made a few changes to reflect the mood after "The Bullet That Saved the World." It is now facing downward, as after striking, the edge and the heart have been colored red, and the background has been changed to black. I've also added a feather for The Dove, who was mentioned in the last episode.

Would I show no mercy? I'm not sure. I do know that I have been in a rage enough to want to at one point, so I can't wait to see Peter in that place, to see if it rings true to me. I'm sure it will. Fringe is masterful with emotions.

Read much more about Resistance and see the unmodified version here.

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

A Little Bit About Me

10/28/2012


Taking a little break from hurricane preparedness for some Erin trivia. It will probably downgrade to a tropical depression anyway. Knowing my town, which seems to be protected by some kind of force field, we'll probably get a few gusts of wind. Storms seem to always go around us. Though, last year at the exact same time we got an unprecedented snow storm that knocked out power for 8 days, so maybe this will be just as much fun.

Oops, got off track. I started singing "Fix You" while I was cleaning my humidifier and some thoughts rearranged themselves into a post in my head. I decided to let them roam free. I was never a Coldplay fan. Not for any particular reason. I just haven't really had a chance to listen to too much. But the few songs I do know I absolutely love. I assume it's because of their association with Fringe. Yup, it's another Fringe post. Ha! I gotcha. But at least this one isn't too long and rambling. "Fix You," "The Scientist," and "Viva la Vida" are great and the passionate and talented people who made videos with those songs(among others) are examples of fans that are as amazing as the show.

If you haven't reached the end of season 2 yet, please look away. And if you haven't seen "The Bullet That Saved the World," don't you dare watch the last two.

Tears stream...down your face
when you lose something you cannot replace.
It's like Coldplay was made for Fringe.

Nobody said it would be this hard
I'm going back to the start.

I love how this one runs in reverse. It's brilliant. Peter's tiny coffin rising out of the ground is somehow more devastating.

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word.

Always felt like the mentality of this mad scientist who risked the world to save his son and has had to live with the burden. Such a perfect lyric. I've definitely posted this one before, but it deserves mentioning again for the love put into it. Sadly, I missed my chance because at the time I was only just getting into Twitter, so I didn't know about the #WhereIsPeterBishop effort.

And to prove I'm not just living in the past, here's a new Fringe video about Etta. The music is not Coldplay. They can't all be.

It can't be true that I'm losing you
The sun cannot fall from the sky.

Yesterday I died, tomorrow's bleeding.

If you're now addicted to Fringe videos, here are my YouTube playlists.

Abrams and Planes

10/27/2012


Does J.J. have a fear of them? Lost started tense with the aftermath of a plane crash. Fringe had everyone on a flight disturbingly turning to goo. And Revolution, which I just started watching today on Hulu (and will certainly be DVRing the rest), has planes falling out of the sky after the entire world goes dark, a moment that gave me chills. I bet Alias had something bad happen on a plane, too, but I don't remember. Hopefully, Revolution can keep the promise of the first few minutes and be even half as brilliant as Fringe, because I'm going to need something to take my mind off of that missing piece of television perfection come February.

Spartacus Legends Weapon Design Contest

10/25/2012


I entered some designs. Please see Vengeance is Mine...Also, I Entered a Contest for more and to vote.

My newest. I originally had the name Vengeance on it, but there was no time to finish before tomorrow's deadline. I don't know when the voting ends, but the contest is over on November 21, 2012.

Vengeance, Uploaded from the Photobucket iPad App

Photobucket

Fringe's Turning Point

10/24/2012


Well, it's finally almost time again for Fringe. They weren't on last week and, in truth, I wish they had more time off so the end wouldn't be so near. They're coming back with what I've read is a tear-jerker in "The Bullet That Saved the World."

As has been the usual since sometime late last winter or maybe early spring, I am going to be tweeting with a Fringenuity hashtag. The one for Friday, October 26 is #TurningPoint. Normally I participate in only the tweeting, lately scheduling them beforehand to not get distracted during the show. For this episode I actually made an icon instead of downloading one, because I didn't want to change from my current: a Fringe-inspired knife. All I had to do was add some words.

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

Here are a few of my previous tweets to serve as examples.

The Bullet That Saved the World

10/22/2012


After watching the commercial for the upcoming episode again, I think if anyone late to the party were to ask me why they should watch Fringe, this would be the video I'd show them. No words, no spoilers really, just a beautiful song and exciting visuals. It's just too damn bad they'd have to go through four seasons before getting to it. But at least they're four incredible, unmissable seasons.

Even I Make Fun of the Pöpli Kids

10/16/2012


For the very short history of this knife, check out A Little Bit of Purple.

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

Blade Without a Name

10/14/2012


For more about this weapon, go to The Nameless One.
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

For the Record Campaign #2

10/12/2012


This wasn't on YouTube when I posted about the latest Fringenuity campaign on Wednesday. It apparently was uploaded a few minutes after I finished it, though. Watch. Enjoy. There won't be many more of these.

If you don't know how you got here and are wondering what the hell you're reading, the campaign is a fan appreciation of Fringe. But it started last year as a way to get Fringe to trend on Twitter, an attempt to show Fox that the fans were there and would always be there for this exceptional series, hopefully helping secure another season. Near the end of last season, Fox noticed and integrated the Fringenuity hashtags - such as tonight's #ForTheRecord - into the broadcast instead of the regular #Fringe. Now the fight is over and we're just showing our love for this little show that eased its way into the hearts of millions around the world.

Related Article //
An Interview with Fringenuity

Thank You, Joel Wyman

10/10/2012


Dear Joel,

Though you will probably never see this, I feel I have to write it anyway. Fringe is the only show that's inspired me to design a knife, relearn how to draw so eventually I can create fan art, and write a blog post for 10 months, which is still unfinished at over 17,000 words because every time I try to edit it I add more. Fringe is also the only show that has ever made me lose sleep. Now it's the only one that has done so twice.
I was convinced, by the way the commercial for "Over There, Part 2" was edited, that Walter would be leaving. My favorite characters always seem to die, so I had no hope after he said "I never meant for any of this to happen." It felt like a goodbye. I loved this character so much after only two seasons, I was nervous and sleep deprived for the entire week. I've never felt like that with any show before. There was just something extraordinarily special about Fringe, but I knew I wouldn't be able to continue watching after it happened. It actually made me sick. Fun times.
Now I've had Yazoo playing in my head since the season premiere. That last, terrifically done scene kept me from sleeping well for five days. I would awake thinking of it after only a few hours. I kept playing this moment, the best of the series, over and over in my mind (and on the DVR until the damn thing screwed up again and erased it). Here it is, the culmination of everything the characters have struggled with for so long and it's devastating. While so many moments of Fringe have been unforgettable, this one somehow rose above all the rest with its sheer simplicity, deep meaning, peerless beauty, and, as someone said to me, pure poetry.
A broken man in a broken world sits in an abandoned taxi. When things seem at their lowest, when all is lost, music soothes him and a small, determined flower gives hope in the most artful scene in anything I've had privilege to witness. A wordless scene with an actor of endless talent and enormous heart, which maybe was breaking at that moment for the end, for this last chance to finish an exceptional show on its own terms, for gratefulness to the fans who rose up in defiance to give love and voice support. That could have been the end of the series right there...leaving us to assume that Walter regains his memories and our wonderful Fringe team wins, the world wins, and without another loss. Of course, it can't be that way as twelve more episodes follow, but it's a nice thought.
Please stop doing this to me. And please never stop. I am nervous about the series finale, the same way I was with all of the finales. One day I have faith you won't pull the rug out from under us and leave us curled up in the fetal position, and the next I'm sure that it can't possibly end well. I don't want to be moping around the house for days or weeks, spewing discontent on Twitter whenever I get the chance. I want Fringe to remain one of the few examples of beautiful, exciting storytelling that lived up to and somehow became more than everything it promised to be and will go down in television history as an experience not to be missed. I want it to be resilient, like that dandelion. I think it will, because, unlike other shows that I have loved and was ultimately disappointed by, Fringe has never once given me a reason to question that love. In the final moments I hope you give these indelible characters the end - and future - they so richly deserve. I know you will.
Well, I guess this actually turned into my thank you letter. A lot of life has gone by since you started. Thank you for getting me through the hard times and making the good times great.

Sincerely,
Erin Bates


Fringe TV Guide Cover and Ambergrams

10/10/2012


I don't get TV Guide anymore, but I voted in their fan favorite cover poll anyway. Fringe will never win, though, because it never wins anything, which is baffling to me. We've had to make our own awards (Blue Moon Awards, which I missed; Ambergrams, to which I donated). And probably every one of the other shows in the running has more fans...fans who will vote as many times as they possibly can. I will not. My time can be better spent heaping praise upon the creators and actors here or on Twitter. It just usually doesn't pay to get into an argument with people on Facebook or elsewhere, something I'm very familiar with seeing as how I've been writing a response to one for the last 10 months.

I was about to leave a comment to someone who said "fringe sucks !!!! The Vampire Diaries ROCKS!!" (Because, you know, the use of multiple exclamation points will surely convince others.) But I stopped myself. It would be useless. I've never seen more than the first episode of Vampire Diaries, because it didn't grab me the way Fringe did and there were too many other shows. It's great that she has a favorite show, but to spew hate for another without knowing anything is just ridiculous. This is some one who obviously doesn't know flawless acting when she sees it, or, more likely, she hasn't seen a single episode and is just fangirling. Anyway, I'm not getting into it, but I am going to share the comment I left after I voted.

While I watch five of these shows, no one deserves a cover more than the poignant, fun, and intelligent Fringe. It's the final season and the fans have been very vocal, doing everything and more (Fringenuity hashtags made it into the broadcast!) to keep it alive long enough to write a satisfying ending.

When you're done with the voting, why not consider donating to the Ambergram project? They're more than half way to their $2,500 goal, but they need some help to make it for filming's end in November.

Photobucket
Photo from Fringenuity.net.

For the Record Campaign for The Recordist

10/10/2012


I almost forgot to write about week's Fringenuity campaign. (See the rules here.) I was so busy with designing a Fringe tribute knife, and the rest of my time was nervously waiting to see if I had jury duty. I didn't. Yay! My third time being called, while it seems like they don't know the rest of my family exists.

Episode 3, "The Recordist," will be using the hashtag #ForTheRecord. Sarah Proost has made a beautiful set of icons that references the amazing last three minutes of this season's premiere, a scene no fan will ever be able to forget. I don't even need to see any others. It was an easy decision. Picking between the colors was a little bit harder. I wanted blue for Fringe's main color, but I went with red for how much heart this show has.

Photobucket

Forgiveness and Hope

10/09/2012


Uploaded from the Photobucket iPad App

The name of the weapon is actually "Resistance," but forgiveness and hope are two themes used beautifully in Fringe. I've wanted to make a tribute of some sort for a while, and since edged weapons are basically the only things I've drawn in the last ten years it had to be a knife. I became obsessed with them at some point and they took over a lot of my free time.

I haven't designed a new weapon in a while. I've been busy with converting my existing ones into nice digital versions, but I dropped everything for this. I wanted something that exemplified Fringe, so when I saw the dandelion in Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11 (episode links lead to spoiler-filled synopses), I knew I had to use that with the tulip from White Tulip. Then I needed some other touches, but it was so hard to keep it simple with so much material. I eventually may design some more.

So, for those who haven't seen the Fringe, or fans who are confused, what does everything mean? Without spoiling too much, I'll start with the handle and work my way up. The handle is reminiscent of the beacon, with it's blue, glowing groove, specifically the one in A Short Story About Love that delivered an important message. The smooth gradient didn't survive upload to Photobucket, though. How annoying.

The white tulip is a symbol of forgiveness. I knew from the start I had to incorporate it into the design and it had to be the way it appeared in the show, though the stem was elongated somewhat to fit the handle. That little tulip is such an important part that the audience at this year's Comic-Con held up printouts of it to show their love and appreciation.

The flower then flows into a heart. If I was allowed only one word to describe Fringe it would be that one. There is an abundance of it, more than any show I've seen, maybe with the exception of Doctor Who. But I now think of Fringe more than any other. Because I'm afraid of how it might end, yes, but also because the performances, especially by John Noble (@johnnob58004412), are overflowing with heart and talent.

The yellow dots above and below the heart go along with the glyphs to make different letters, one at any corner of a leaf, apple, flower, frog, seahorse, butterfly, hand, or face of smoke. I didn't incorporate glyphs, because it would have been just too busy.

Continuing the flow, because Fringe flows wonderfully from beginning to end, next we have the word "Resistance," which is what the characters are now...and really have always been. This is also a Muse song with the lyrics, "Love is our resistance." Love is what almost destroyed the world and love is what has kept these people together through everything. And for some reason, Muse songs keep naming my blades.

Finally, the word ends in another flower - really a dandelion seed - a highly emotional symbol that Fringe fans will never forget for the perfectly done last minutes of the final season premiere. I wanted to use an actual dandelion, but it wasn't going to look right. The whispy white seed looked better and it was in the beginning of the same episode.

The blue blade is for the blue opening titles in the main "blue universe." The word is red for the "red universe" opening titles we started getting in season 3, which is a very important thread in the show.

Okay, just a few more things. I promise. I wasn't going to use any actual glyphs, but then I realized I could shape the blade to look like a leaf. Hopefully, it came out leaf-like.

Finally, part of the spine is amber. At least, that's what I'm calling it. Similar coloring. Couldn't have a Fringe tribute knife without amber; it's played a big part. But inside that amber are the words "heed," "obey," and "serve." It's where those words and the Observers (except for August and September) deserve to be, stuck in amber forever. Not because they are preserved, but because they will never hurt anyone again.

Alright, that's one down. Can't believe I finished it so quickly. Now I have another Thank You to prepare, though I can do that closer to the end date, and my Neverending Fringe Post. Don't think I'll ever finish that. Aaahhh, time for lunch.

Related Posts // Please see the slightly altered version of this for the Twitter events #TurningPoint and #ShowNoMercy.

The Crack and the Dandelion

10/05/2012


PhotobucketImage courtesy of FringeFiles.com

I forgot to change my Twitter icon for tonight's Fringe appreciation campaign, because this week was crazy hectic. Still is, but I have to take the time for my beloved Fringe. But where the heck are they? Oh, there they are, buried in a comment below the Fringenuity post

This will be the one I use. I thought I would have to do this myself. Glad I can save time. It's almost exactly what I wanted, a shot of Walter in the cab during the most emotional scene of the entire series. That's a huge feat, because there have been countless such moments in Fringe, but this tops them all. Yes, even better than "Snakehead," where Walter is crying on a bench and you just want to give him a big hug and take him home, the entirety of the devastating "Peter," or Walter's vulnerability and defiance in the face of torture in this last season premiere, "Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11." It's the combination of the desolation, loneliness, and defeat turned on its head with the right song (because it's always been "a story of love") and a glimmer of hope, a single flower that found the crack in this darkness.

Photobucket

Tonight's hashtag is #AnotherWay, if you somehow didn't see it in the picture above, and you can start using it at 8pm EST. Only nice tweets to John Noble, Joshua Jackson, Joel Wyman, Michael Cerveris and Fox please. We don't need any haters. Fringe is already ending, so what's the point? These are good people who made an incredible show, became friends, and are now about to part. It's an emotional time. Don't you have shows you love? Go tell them en masse and make sure they stay on air to get the ending you think they deserve, as we did.

What's Worse

10/04/2012


And I do mean that. I will miss this show terribly. What makes it worse is the thought of everyone not only leaving television and fans behind to grieve this wonderful show, but that they will be saying goodbye to the people they work with, people who have obviously become a family themselves. How could they not? They all seem to really enjoy what they do. They are genuinely happy in interviews and people who meet them have nothing but great things to say. I will shed tears for both my loss and theirs. My hope is they are all cast quickly in anything that's even half as good as Fringe.

Where is Kacsa96?

10/04/2012


Thanks, Tumblr. I can't leave a message in someone's "Ask" box with a link. So, I'm doing it here instead, since this is my main site, and I ran out of room trying to break up the url into readable pieces.

Jasika Nicole is looking for someone who sent her a "really important and beautiful piece of fan mail recently." I happened to come across it on Twitter this morning and felt like trying to help, so I spent the last hour finding just about nothing.

Edit 10/7/12:
Everything below can be ignored because I think I found kacsa randomly while going through a few Fringe tweets at a stupid early time in the morning when I should be sleeping. He has the same first name, a very similar username, lives in the correct country, and mentions Jasika in his profile. And, oops, he already knows. Well, time to get to bed then.

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

Alrighty, before I give up completely and go back to work (which I'm really not liking today), I have two sites that probably won't be helpful, but I still hope. Kacsa96 doesn't seem to have much of a presence online, unless he uses different names. I only found profiles at Starity.hu and Tinrandi.hu. To actually read these just copy and paste into a Google search and click on "translate." You'll most likely have to join those sites in order to send a message, if that's possible. Good luck.

And if it was you, Jasika, you have been wonderful and Fringe is an incredible show that will stay with me forever.

Edit: This was bugging me. I decided to search Tumblr with just "kacsa" and found out by all the pictures that it means "duck." Still, that was no help. So, I Googled that word without the 96 and added Fringe. I don't know why I didn't do that before. That came up with a bunch of posts at TVLine.com, and one at GiveMeMyRemote, from a Kacsa. Don't know if it's the same person, but at least you can easily reply to those posts.

Eye on Emmy: As Fringe's Anna Torv Says One Sad Goodbye, She Braces for the Biggest One
Fringe First Look: Best Walter Promo Ever?
Fringe on the Bubble: Keep or Cut?
FRINGE: Blair Brown on Nina and Olivia’s New Relationship and the ‘Huge,’ ‘Complicated’ Episode 19