Crusader

The Crusader is the newsletter for the Kickstart the Knight campaign run by members of the Forever Knight mailing list fandom. The first three volumes were printzines, available through the mail. They were archived on the KtK website (now in the Forever Knight Website Archive).

After a hiatus, the newsletter resumed with an online edition which was published on the Nancykam.com website from Summer 2003 to Summer 2006.

Print Edition

• Volume One (1998)
  • No. 1 (January)
  • No. 2 (April)
  • No. 3 (May)
  • No. 4 (Summer)

• Volume Two (1999)
  • No. 1 (January)
  • No. 2 (April)
  • No. 3 (July)
  • No. 4 (October)

• Volume Three (2000)
  • No. 1 (January)
  • No. 2 (April)
  • No. 3 (July)

Online Edition

Most editions include pages on upcoming events, updates on the activities of FK actors, links to FK-related websites, and addresses for TPTB (for petitions).

Summer 2003

Index page of the 2003 Summer issue of Crusader (restored).

• Charity Auction - held in June, netted $125 - gifts were sent to the SciFi Channel's Bonnie Hammer, President of Programming, and Thomas Vitale, Senior VP of Acquisitions, Scheduling, and Program Planning, to thank them for airing FK in the past and to urge them to put it back into the lineup in the near future
• Memory Challenge - reissue of the Memory Challenge posed by Lynn Messing in 1997: what would happen if Nick was cured, but the cure made him lose his memory of everything that had occurred since that fateful night in 1228? - elicited two new stories:
  • "Awakening" by Doris Weiss
  • "Forever Weekend" by Cheryl Pillsbury
• fan written reviews of Lights, Camera, Auction Take 6, Cube 2: Hypercube, and Do Not Go Gentle (GWD's one-man show about Dylan Thomas)
• travelogue on Toronto by Nancy Kaminski

Fall 2003

Index page of the 2003 Fall issue of Crusader (restored).

Halloween edition. The reviews and travelogue of Toronto reappear from the previous issue.

• Halloween Challenge: write a Forever Knight fanfic that involves the theme of Halloween. The story can be serious or silly, long or short, as long as Halloween sneaks in there somehow. This elicited nine entries, on which readers voted. Their favourite was Kristen Fife's "All Hallows Challenge"; and she received the Great Pumpkin Candy Surprise (plastic pumpkin filled with packets of candy) in the mail, plus a graphic to post on a website to attest to her victory!
  • "Charade Unveiled" by PJ
  • "A Special Treat" by Doris Weiss
  • "My Samurai" by Mary Kroll
  • "Nick's Nightmare" by Cheryl Pillsbury
  • "All Hallows Challenge" by Kristen Fife
  • "Dia de los Muertos" by Megan Hull
  • "Eternal Rest" by April French
  • "Doma de Todos Almas" by Mom-Ra
  • "The Witching Hour" by Shadowstar
• "A Roman Feast" - menu and recipes for a Roman feast, plus info on how feasts were conducted, the food regular Romans ate, and the wearing of togas and Roman cosmetics and hairstyles
• "A Norman Feast" - menu and recipes for a Norman feast, plus info on medieval food and table manners

January-March 2004

Index page of the 2004 January-March issue of Crusader (restored).

Valentine's Day edition. The reviews and travelogue of Toronto reappear from the previous editions. A new review, for Do or Die was added. Besides these, there were the following:

• special Valentine's Day pages:
  • history of St Valentine
  • Valentine recipes
  • the Language of Roses
• Valentine's Day Challenge: write a Forever Knight fanfic that meets these criteria: stories must be about Valentine's Day and romance; any and all FK characters may be used; stories can be up to 7500 words long (short story length); crossovers are allowed, as long as the FK characters are primary. Readers voted on their favourite. The winner was Kristen Fife for "A Higher Power"; the prize was a box of Valentine's Day chocolates.
  • "A Higher Power" by Kristen Fife
  • "A Valentine Tale" by Cheryl Pillsbury
  • "Moving Forward" by Amanda Berendt
  • "Un Ange Ete Revenu a le Ciel" by the Chancellor Amethyst
  • "What's So Splendid About Isolation?" by Tamara
• Valentine's Day Auction: ran from 15 February to 22 February 2004, netting $1,476.29. The proceeds from this auction were used for a variety of petitions to TPTB, including asking for more FK merchandise, trying to get the series back on the Sci-Fi channel, encouraging Sony to produce DVDs for the second and third seasons, and donating money to the next LCA auction

April-June 2004

Index page of the 2004 April-June issue of Crusader (restored).

Once again, the reviews and Toronto travelogue from previous issues were repeated. In addition, there was a new review, of a Broadway performance of King Lear in which Geraint Wyn Davies appeared.

• Spring Auction - ran from 3-10 May 2004
• Didgeridoo Challenge - write a story that includes the sentence, "No, you can't do that with a didgeridoo." There were four entries, of which the first two tied in the initial reader vote, with a run-off. In the end, the winner was Linda Croft's "Ancient Magic".
  • "Ancient Magic" by Linda Craft
  • "Captive Audience" by White Zinnia
  • ""Dream Vacation" by Cousin Mary
  • "The Case of Mistaken Objects" by Edwina Hyde

July-September 2004

Index page of the 2004 July-September issue of Crusader (restored).

The Conversion Day edition. In this issue, the reviews and travelogue were dropped. In their place, for the first time, there was a Caption Contest in which readers were presented with a screen capture from the show and asked to supply comic/satiric captions for it.

• Conversion Day auction: ran in August.
• Conversion Day Challenge - a repeat of Erika Wilson's original challenge in 1998: How would Lacroix celebrate his Conversion Day? Do Nick and Janette give him presents? Does he have a party? Or does he ignore it completely? You decide—and write about it! (Once again, readers voted on their favourite story; and, for the first time, the list of stories and voting form were on their own webpages.
  • "Laugh Lines" by Allison
  • "To Be Remembered" by Karen B.
  • "Fire on the Mountain" by Amanda Berendt
  • "His Day's Rest" by Ell Hase
  • "Remembrance" by Cheryl Pillsbury
  • "Magnum Opus" by Tamara
• other Conversion Day pages:
  • "About Pompeii"
  • "Build Your Own Volcano"
• Caption Contest - ran from 4-11 August 2004 - the screencap was taken from "Ashes to Ashes", and showed LaCroix and Flavius looking at the marble bust

October-December 2003

Index page of the 2004 October-December issue of Crusader.

• Autumn Auction - ran from 5-12 October 2004 - proceeds were used to fund an ad in Sci Fi Magazine thanking TPTB for the soon-to-be-released second season DVDs and to ask for more
• Slinky Challenge - write a story in which one FK character is put together with one Slinky. The readers' favourite was Michelle Rosenberg's "Missing in Action", whose author received a slinky as a prize.
  • "A Gift From the Heart" by Karen B.
  • "Chance Encounter" by Kristen Fife
  • "Missing in Action" by Michelle Rosenberg
  • "The Present" by Kayla Gayle
• Caption Contest - the picture to be captioned was a publicity shot of LaCroix grabbing Nick by the throat. The winning caption was Danii's "Fine … LaCroix … If you … let me … go … I'll … stop singing … show tunes!"

Spring 2005

Index page of the 2005 Spring issue of Crusader (restored).

• Spring Auction - ran from 11-18 April 2005 - proceeds were used to fund an ad in Sci Fi Magazine thanking TPTB for the second season DVDs and to ask for more
• Tulip Challenge - write a story that involves an FK character and a single, real tulip. The winner would have received a silk tulip as their prize; but, in the event, there were no stories written.
• Caption Contest - entries submitted 11-25 April 2005, with voting 25-30 April, winner announced on 1 May. The picture to be captioned was a shot of Nick and Janette sitting close together

Fall 2005

Index page of the 2005 Fall issue of Crusader (restored).

Neither a writing challenge nor a caption contest was held.

The front page includes a notice that the KtK committee had sent to the Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance (MPICA) the sum of $1,100 that had been raised through the generosity of FK fans buying stuff in the KtK online auctions.

A further notice said that, from 15 October to 21 November 2005, KtK would be collecting emails from FK fans to send in a package to TPTB asking for the release of the third season of Forever Knight on DVD.

• Katrina Auction - ran from 20-27 September 2005 - raised $1,300, which was sent to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief

Spring 2006

Index page of the 2005 Spring issue of Crusader (restored).

An introductory article "What is KtK?" is added to the site.

• Spring Auction - the money raised was used to buy a cow for a needy family through Heifer International
• Caption Contest - returned after a one-issue hiatus

A poll was held, asking fans "Should KtK use auction proceeds for an ad or for charity?" The results were: 83.72% for an ad, to 16.28% for charity. As a result, it was decided that the proceeds of the next KtK auction would be used to purchase an ad in SciFi Magazine.

Summer 2006

Index page of the 2006 Summer issue of Crusader.

The site menu continues to be headed with the "What is KtK?" page.

• Summer Auction - ran from 21-28 June 2006 - raised $1,052, which was more than enough to place a full-page ad in SciFi Magazine
• Caption Contest - entries submitted 21-28 June 2006, voting 29 June to 13 July, winner announced on 15 July. The picture used was a screencap from "Near Death" in which Schanke is looking at a pickled brain in a large glass jar. The winner was Cousin Mary for her caption, "Man, they have to start cleaning the water cooler more often!" Her prize was four vintage issues of the "Haberdasher's Gazette", the John Kapelos Fan Club's newsletter.