"Welcome to the Party, Pal!"

Not a lot to talk about this time around, because there's not a lot of TIME! I know, I know, everyone's busy. I'm just dealing with my own time management, with a new job that's keeping me in the office every night until 7:00 to 8:00pm. Busy business, insurance. Not a lot of other life stuff to report (just working a lot...), so let's just jump right to the stuff!

This Time Around

Hot dog! I just looked back at the "Next time" section at the end of the last edition of "Gimme", and I realized I actually finished ALMOST everything I promised! What can I say...I like to over-promise. Got lots of stuff done when I got a serious Forte jones happening (and when you've got like an hour or two in your evening once you get home, not an easy thing to drum up!), but didn't get to the Forte Christmas story I wanted to do. Mainly because it stars EVERYONE ever in Forte, it's going to be a LITTLE big. Maybe next year. But plenty of eye-crossing masses of text this time around without it.

First in Forte 2000, I went NUTS working on the page. Something about getting the snazzy new color art on the index page got me to just keep running with it, and I redesigned the home page for (I hope) easier navigation with added visual pleasure. It cleaned up purty good.

And since last time, I have gone completely over the edge on getting Eryck Webb Forte 2000 art done. Can't help myself. It's an addiction. He's great, he's cheap, he seems to really enjoy drawing these characters, and he keeps putting up new eBay commission auctions every week. And I just keep gettin' 'em. So the Gallery page has grown massively. Okay, maybe not as massively as, say, an Americana Gallery, but pretty impressive nonetheless. It's very hard to pick any favorites, but ones that stand out for me are the Rainier shot, the Tinker shot, the Dyna Girl flyby shot and the Girls of F2K shot. Oh, and the Autograph Day shot is just beautiful. Really captures the whole feel of the Forte 2000 campaign, I think. Be sure to check 'em all out. All great stuff. And be sure to scroll down to the "Cover Gallery" part of that page. I had wanted to make a couple of F2K covers, so I ordered a couple of pieces just for that purpose (like the Forte 2000 #1 cover). I had so much fun making them, I started looking at some of the other art I had, and realized they'd make pretty good issue covers, too. So I went to town. Hope you have fun with them.

And the Characters page. Damn! That was a lot of work! It started when I began revamping the look of the site. Aaron correctly pointed out that the thrown-together NPC list below the main characters looked kind of crappy. So I started to get a redesign in my head...and got the idea to actually write bios for each NPC instead of just showing a pic. The minute I started, I knew it was a bad idea, because it was going to take me forever. It did. But I got it done. And I put Aaron to work big-time on the Armor Security section, because that's his baby. Aaron whipped out all the bios (I helped on a couple...and we asked Martin to do his own for his Armor character, "The Voice"), and I think the final result on them--on all the NPC pages on the site--is a whole lot of fun. We're pretty happy with the NPC Guide.

And then, just when I thought I was getting close to done with my stuff for this time, I started realizing something was missing. We had pages for the main characters. Pages for the supporting cast. But an element was missing. The bad guys. There was no info on the villains that have popped up in Forte 2000. I told myself that's something I'd do down the road...because starting that didn't just mean a bunch of bios to write, but a lot of Heromachine work on a lot of the villains that hadn't been visualized yet. It was insane to think about starting that before this deadline...but damnit, I did. And I had to finish. So there's a new Villain Guide, too. But a warning...if you haven't read all the Forte issues and stories yet, there may be spoilers within! Tread carefully, true believer!

And after missing out last time, I had to come back hard with new Forte 2000 issues. You have to understand...this "Dawn of Anubis" story, a big epic monster, has been in my head and planned out ever since I sat down with Kaye, Ben, Aaron and Kevin at the one glorious Forte 2000 live run at Ben and Kaye's place. The seeds were first set down there. And I've been needing to get on with it and get to the tale, the big lead-up to the earth-shattering Forte 2000 #150 conclusion.

I would have been happy just getting one done. I started Forte 2000 #147, and got all the way through the pretty large thing, and was satisfied...mostly. Except for the fact that I knew what was coming in Forte 2000 #148 and couldn't wait to get to it...especially since I'd gotten some AMAZING Eryck Webb art inspired by 148 events and I didn't want to have to keep it hidden for 2 more months! So, not meaning to, I dove right into 148. Went CRAZY with it...and I'm apologizing in advance for that. 148 is huge. It's a point in the overall story that was critical, and needed to be epic. And that, it is. It's huge, jammed with story, jammed with guest-stars, jammed with important character moments, and has a shocking ending that will leave long-time Forte fans feeling like...well, like Joss Whedon fans, I guess (you'd have to be a Serenity fan to understand...). My goal, with this whole story, has been to not only tear the Forte world up with the coming of a threat like nothing the world's heroes have faced before, but to cause catastrophic damage on a personal level to the characters of Forte 2000. In short, I wanted to shatter their lives. A lot of the Forte tales that Aaron, Kaye and I write are more fun and light-hearted. And I love them dearly. But every once in a while, you've GOT to drop the drama hammer. By the time the Dawn of Anubis is over, their lives are never going to be the same. I'm putting them through Hell, and I'm bringing you all along for the ride. I do hope you're able to make it all the way through the two issues, and again, I'm sorry...because that's a whole lot to read. But I promise you intrigue and action, shocks and tears, some surprises out of Forte history (get your Forte Indexes out, Forte members!) and whole HELL of a lot of property damage. And keep in mind, when you finish? That was only #148. Two issues left to go. In the words of Lt. Colonel Frank Slade? "I'm just gettin' wahmed UP!"

On the fiction front for Forte 2000 this time, just one piece from me, and it happened by accident. I was in the middle of writing #147, and I realized some of the moments I wanted to happen just wouldn't be the same in the more summarized and less personal "update method". So I stopped, and I started "Interlude", and I was very happy with the results. Happy because I hadn't gotten a chance to really get into these characters' heads for a while, or explore how they're reacting to everything that's going on. There were some character moments that really needed to happen, and some relationships that needed to be explored. But more, this story, a series of short F2K character vignettes, all taking place on the same night, sets up a lot of what's coming between then and the end of #150. So, again, I hope you take the time to read through. I should add, though, that my piece is not the only fiction on this section this time, and I HIGHLY recommend getting into Aaron's tales, "Family Matters" and "Mistletoe and Holly". "Family Matters", in particular, I just loved. I don't just love the main heroes of Forte 2000, but all the supporting characters that fill their lives, and Aaron really did an amazing job making them all come to life for me. And then it got ROCKIN...when the action kicks in, if you're like me, you're not going to be able to put it down. Don't miss either of those tales, please. You'll thank me later.

Speaking of fiction...sorry about the delay in Forge Chapter Two, but it's finally here. After a strong start on that, I suddenly got blocked, big time, and it took me forever to get my mojo back. Once I did, I finally got the sucker together. Since it's been so long, I also put a handy "previously..." paragraph at the top to remind you of what happened in Chapter One. And then we head right into Sydney "Mist" Todd-Strange's journey across the country to meet with some familiar faces (and one not-at-all familiar one) in her quest to get "Forge" going. And what the hell IS Forge? Well, this chapter, you find out. Lots of character stuff in here, and lots of trips down memory lane into Forte past, so it should be fun for old-time Forte players (and readers). I'm definitely back on with the Forge project again, and can't wait to get on to Chapter Three. This is gonna be fun. Hope you like where it's going and will want to stick around.

Next Time...On "The 'F' Word"...

Will I be this productive next time around? You're probably hoping not. I make no promises (or is that "threats"?). I do promise more great Forte art, and hope to continue things with Forge and get the first story all done, and hope to keep moving onward to the dramatic conclusion of the Dawn of Anubis story. And Martin has gotten me jazzed to get back to Omniverse, and I have been, little by little, working on my Del Oeste home page, and I hope to continue the tales of Tag and Dream Girl. And a recent piece of Windjammer art I got from Webb, along with all of K.C.'s great new Americana stuff, has gotten the ConTinuum spark lit in me again. We'll see. Until then, we'll see you in the 'Times...and Merry Christmas!

Michael O’Connell
He Who Believes a Dead Horse Named Forte Needs a Good Ass-whuppin'.