On my website... "Let's Go to the Ex!"
Last week, I provided the members of maryrenaultfics with a prompt; so I have, of course, been working on my own story. However, the "apple"-fic has not yet been finished, because I had a Forever Knight story that I was also working on. (What with spending a fair amount of time with my mother because of the holiday, I think it's fair to say that I've had a busy weekend!)
"Let's Go to the Ex" was sent to FKFIC-L on September 3rd, and just posted to my website. It had to be finished first, you see, because it had a "due date". It references the Canadian National Exhibition, which runs for the last two weeks of the summer, ending on Labour Day. So the story simply had to be posted on or by the holiday. (Now, though, I can get back to working on my "apple" story with a clear conscience.)
For the webpage for "Let's Go to the Ex", I wanted to give the impression of the carnival side of the Ex. At the same time, since the climax of the story is after dark, I wanted that as well. So, for the background, I worked on one of the many starbackings that I have collected. First, I tinted it to a rusty off-black: the CNE is, after all, held in a city; and city skies are never that pitch black you get in graphics. I also did a version with a yellowish tint, from which I trimmed out the stars to paste over the now-pink ones on the first version. Then, having tried out the result, I decided to blank out a fair number of the stars themselves. Let's face it, lights downtown wash out most of the sky in any big city.
To represent the carnival aspect of the setting, I selected graphics in red and gold for the borders to the story panel. However, I also went through the animated tiles that I'd collected from Light Speed Web Graphics, years ago when I started to make webpages. As far as I can tell, they don't exist any more; but that doesn't mean I can't use their animations. Too many, of course, would induce a migraine! Judiciously applied, though, they simulate the flashing lights that decorate the attractions on the midway.
"Let's Go to the Ex" was sent to FKFIC-L on September 3rd, and just posted to my website. It had to be finished first, you see, because it had a "due date". It references the Canadian National Exhibition, which runs for the last two weeks of the summer, ending on Labour Day. So the story simply had to be posted on or by the holiday. (Now, though, I can get back to working on my "apple" story with a clear conscience.)
For the webpage for "Let's Go to the Ex", I wanted to give the impression of the carnival side of the Ex. At the same time, since the climax of the story is after dark, I wanted that as well. So, for the background, I worked on one of the many starbackings that I have collected. First, I tinted it to a rusty off-black: the CNE is, after all, held in a city; and city skies are never that pitch black you get in graphics. I also did a version with a yellowish tint, from which I trimmed out the stars to paste over the now-pink ones on the first version. Then, having tried out the result, I decided to blank out a fair number of the stars themselves. Let's face it, lights downtown wash out most of the sky in any big city.
To represent the carnival aspect of the setting, I selected graphics in red and gold for the borders to the story panel. However, I also went through the animated tiles that I'd collected from Light Speed Web Graphics, years ago when I started to make webpages. As far as I can tell, they don't exist any more; but that doesn't mean I can't use their animations. Too many, of course, would induce a migraine! Judiciously applied, though, they simulate the flashing lights that decorate the attractions on the midway.