Welcome to my Dreambook, a free guestbook service from New Dream Network and the DreamHost!I am Jonathan, author of "The Dog Show", "The Great Pie-Eating Contest", "No Dinner Tonight" and "The Dark Past".
I made this dreambook as a place for Niklas fans to chat about Niklas' stories. I'll erase flames and abuse, so don't bother posting that junk here.The language of this dreambook is English. I do not have the time to examine every entry through translator programs to find out if a post is offensive. If I do not delete a non-English post, that is my mistake. Don't count on it not being deleted later.
This dreambook is not for prurient stories or for discussion of sexual fetishes. Nonexplicit discussions related to the sexuality of the Niklas and Friends characters will usually be considered on-topic (I said usually, not always).
I created this dreambook. I moderate this dreambook. My decision on what is acceptable is the only one which matters. You can like that or you can lump it.
Be considerate of the feelings of others when posting and your words will stay.
You may add your entry to those below by signing my Dreambook!
| Name (required): | Jonathan the Niklas Fan |
| Homepage URL: | http://niklasfans.proboards.com |
| Comments (required): | I have created a proboards forum for discussion of Niklas & Friends and related subjects. Registration is required in order to post, but anyone may view the boards.
You don't need to post there. I will continue to monitor and maintain this forum. I just think the proboards format may be more useful to some people. The only reason for requiring registration is so that I can ban trolls and other disruptive people. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | Heh. I find it funny that the T-shirts say "Vote for Megacosmo", when the way Megacosmo becomes the ruler of the MC 3001 galaxy in my teaser script is... quite more violent than an election ;-)
(No, don't worry, I'm not twisting the character into a bad guy, but I don't want him to be a mere Superman ripoff either. My vision of Megacosmo is a superhero who understands that extreme situations require extreme solutions, which includes killing bad guys.) BTW, Eidan, if I needed help in animating 3D models, could I ask you? Please note that I'm not talking about simple translations and rotations, I can do them right now. I'm talking about animations where the mesh changes its shape between a key frame and another. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/ |
| Comments (required): |
There's some information about Eidan's software on his background information page. The page isn't finished yet; it'll be corrected as necessary. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Thankyou Simon and Nikfan. Simon: Gave some info to James for you. Curious with same question for you. Didn't complete everything as message got long. Keep it up Perry. Just for the record, It sounds like you're doing something similar to me, but with a totally differnt character focus. I like that. I sounds interesting, and like we're doing complimentary work that will benefit ppl from different spectrums, and cover what a lot of different ppl want to see. You may make a megacosmo fan out of me yet:) Notice that Fabian has a MegaCosmo t-shirt in anticipation of the new series. martin actually gave it to him. They're gearing up for the new series!:) (If that new series is a trailer, that's fine too. I'm sure the community will find it very welcome. Regarding the software, I've given James some details regarding this. I haven't given all the details, as I may be changing part of my software, and actually just did. Have to see how it performs. that I didn't mention as I'll have to see how it goes, and decide what software I'll continue to use, or if I keep both.
all: Regarding Jonathan: I'm sorry if he's really toasty. I wasn't raised around white ppl, and my family isn't white. Jonathan looked quite white enough to me, until I place his image next to Niklas. If he's too toasty, remember, it's the end of summer in the virtual place he's at, and he's been playing outside almost the entire time. Winter doesn't last very long in a virtual environment (especially when the author lived where there wasn't winter, and rarely thinks of it.) He looked like a white boy to me, but if any of you think he looks too toasty, or rather anything other than having a healthy tan, and lots of vitimin D, then I can tone him down. Next to Nik he looks tanner. woops. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | Yep, I'm the one who made the Tron Legacy Keith fanart. No mistakes. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Eiden,
I just now went to the site, the new art looks great. Keep up the good work. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
The fan-art site has been updated. Use the link above this post. 1. Simon has provided a drawing that explains something in Keith's biography :-) See the remarks under the picture. Simon: I assume that the Simon who sent the picture is you. If there's any mistakes, mail me. 2. There's a preview of Perry's current project. The final version will be larger. If you've got suggestions for drawings after this one, send them in or post them. 3. The front page has been split, so the site has eight pages now. 4. The fan-art index has been expanded. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | Eidan: those renders are very cool. What program(s) did you use for them? |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/ |
| Comments (required): |
If the Bright Future link in the other post doesn't work, use the link above this one. There are some more changes: The new site has its own animations page now. So far, it just has the sample video from before but more may be added. Chapter 5 has been split off from chapter 4. A few edits have been made. If you couldn't see all of the Works in Progress page before, the problem should be fixed now. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | New works (art) are now available. Go to http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/
then press on works in progress to see some of the characters I have, but hadn't ever shown before. These include Fabian, Niklas, Martin, and Keith, though I think I may have posted Keith or one of them before. It took a while, as I wanted them to have a neighborhood to live in. There's nothing like trying to find a virtual 3d home for a virtual 3d character. I mean, they're hard to come by!:) I had them before, but have not given them a virtual home. I hope it's "Huck Fin" enough for everybody:) I also have the beginning of Chapter 5 for the Bright Future aliens. It's located at the end of chapter 4. Enjoy. Merry Christmas, happy Chinese new year, or something. Oh, if anyone likes, please deposit a million dollars into my account. Oh, don't have a million dollars either? Darn! Can't blame me for trying:) Would settle for a job as a commercial artist:) |
| Name (required): | the same person as before:) |
| Comments (required): | Completed the 1st drawing with background, though my computer is broken, and the person that loaned me theirs got mad, and doesn't feel like loaning it to me, so it may be a while before I can post it, especially since I haven't uploaded it yet. All you can do is pray I get access again until I fix my own. The one in question was a gift from me to study for college, but that's over. Yhe person in question is feeling ill, has been through a recent trauma, and thus gets irritated easily, but is a good person.
|
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | I'm referring to other characters other than the aliens which you're already familiar with. By believable backgrounds, I'm just referring to houses and things, as opposed to just grey, or an alien landscape. You can thus meet some of the cast of characters you're so familiar with. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Will work on a few characters that I've already done, but will add believable background, so you can meet some of the other characters, even if just in test images, and not yet in stories. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Thilion: I've received mail on the subject that I'll forward later. I'll add my own comments after thinking about the issues. |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Comments (required): | I think Eidan made a good point!
To be kind of neutral is always good (in my opinion). The current introduction on the new site has been translated by Bergil from the German version. It is somewhat longer and more explicit than the English version. The English version on the current (not new) site is indeed better in order to make it OK for moms and dads as well as their children. Some comics or stories are more explicit in respect of what message they want to tell, but then again, some comics / stories are quite neutral and apply to everyone, no matter what they think of the same or opposite gender, for example the Christmas Story by Onslow. I actually read it this year to my neighbors during the pre-Christmas get-togethers. They all loved it. Since the new site is not officially known yet, I didn't think too much about certain issues. I think Eidan made a good point. Maybe we should use the English version of the current site as the introduction for the new site as well - and translate it into all other languages. What does everyone else say? |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/ |
| Comments (required): |
And here's the link for Bright Future (above this post). This is a general site that includes the story discussed previously. It replaces the old Eidan site except for the animation, which hasn't been moved yet. In the future, new animations may go here along with essays and other material by Eidan. If you want to start a site like this, contact me. Feel free to comment on Eidan's points about the Niklas beta site here or in email. It should be noted that the beta is still under development. Nothing is final yet. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXSqCiwEyuo |
| Comments (required): |
Here's an alternate version of the link that Eidan posted earlier (above this post). If the other link doesn't work for you, try this one. It's the same video clip, March's Journey by Eidan Preliminary. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | p.s. I like flash, though I normally like and use lightwave, which is my favorite program. Use a lot of other common programs many of you are familiar with besides. whatever works. can hardly wait to see animation. Here's the 1st 2d animation out test done with march's 2d if you haven't seen it. Have recently made flame move, as it look lousy otherwise, but it was just a test. Have to look at bottom of page, after some test renders of some of the characters plus vitalians I drew for dark past, and bright future, which I also highly recommend.
http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/eidan/ |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | ps. looks like this is ooking to become a cooler site than ever. Special thanks to March for inventing the original aliens (I'm a fan, I bet you can't tell:) |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | They were bumping me off the net, and I didn't have time to edit the message, or finish it. I also wanted to say that the new site looks great. I like how the buttons are divided with aleans, non aliens etc. Good job! also I love the Jonathan story. Been there, don e that. I'd colorized a couple of squares, but there was the entire story already entirely colorized, and longer than before too! cool!
Also, cool, you're doing animation too. Sounds great. I had no plans to do mega cosmo, but you may make me a megacosmo fan too! I'll stick to aliens and huck fin type adventures, and wait to enjoy mega. What you describes sounds really cool, and yes, I know it's time consuming. Thanks from all of us! W |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | cool simon! I have several animations too, but have only posted one test of one.
Regarding the introduction of the new site. I have a special request to make regarding this, to make it user friendly to a much broader spectrum of ppl. I have a lot more material to offer, in the form of stories, 3d art, 2d art, animation, stories, etc, but I want to make sure this site is friendly for EVERYBODY, so that moms and dads can look at and like, and approve of, as well as their children. The original introduction was: "Hi, my name is Niklas. I'm the one to the left with the blond hair and those goofy freckles. I'll tell you in some cartoons and stories what happened after I told my best friends the truth. You should know, I love my friends, really! And guess what some of them, like Fabian and Jason, love me too! I always thought they'd say I'm weird, well, maybe we're all weird." this would appeal to anybody, regardless, and allow the reader to look at the material, and decide for himself if he wanted to stay, without giving any preconceived ideas. For example, regarding myself, I'm straight, married, and have children. this means I only find women attractive. I feel anything less would not bring as happy a life as that I live, never the less, and when I was growing up, I was just like like the characters from the Niklas stories, and went through many of the same situations, (AND THIS IS EXTREMELY COMMON) for which reason, I've provided quite a lot of top quality 3d material, and stories, and I wish to provide quite a bit more). (Just for the record, Niklas did like girls but was nervous around them. I thought they were stupid until a certain age. Most ppl feel this up to some age, but few will admit it. This site should be for them (us)too. Let's not scare them off.) In fact, our parents usually told us that we were not old enough to like girls, quite matter of factly. Girls played with dolls, and acted stupid. Ew!!! "Only a sissy would run around with a bunch of girls!" was our attitude. Of course, we had to admire SOMEBODY, so if it wasn't girls, it was going to be our best friend, or whatever. Having studied (very limited) psychology, this is normal, especially for a boarding school such as the one niklas belonged to. Most of my friends were like that, and the ones that weren't were wonderfully understanding. This is a huge percent of the population (though most won't admit it) and I believe this site is for them, and anyone else that's going through what Niklas described, or has children or friends going through that, equally. I feel the new introduction excludes a huge majority which might benefit from the site (many of whome who would never admit it, of course.) I would have gone avoided/gone right past, the present site, and gone right to the previous one over the introduction. The present introduction may also cause friends and family to make fun of the site, or worse, of someone on the site, without looking at the content first. I commend Dark Past on its treatment of that. I think that the original introduction would be far better, as I looked at the actual content of the site before judging it and would have gone my way without having taken look at a single page based on the present introduction, without even realizing what it is. You see, ppl don't like to get labeled, and the present introduction is aimed at only a tiny segment of those who act like those in the stories. In fact, I'm fascinated why those that do act that way tend more to get married, and stay married. My wife had some feelings regarding that. I'll share them later. En fin,almost everybody goes through a stage like that. Who wants to play with a bunch of girls that like to serve tea to barbie? Eww? I'ts normal, and as Niklas pointed out, nothing's ever provided to help ppl through that time, or to help ppl that are not going through that not make fun of those who are. I feel the old introduction is of a type that won't make other ppl make fun of those who are going through that, but the present one would make ppl around them, or looking over their shoulder, do just the opposite. I don't like to label ppl and don't think anyone that does is doing anyone a favor. When going through this phase as a kid, I'd never have admitted it. With that intro, I'd be outta there, and if I wasn't others around me would make sure I was, as it would cause them to make fun. I think this phase is a psychological safety net. I believe it helps ppl grow up to an age old enough to be responsible, and have the maturity to go out with the opposite gender, and thus helps prevent children having children, as they say. It's very common, and was originally considered the norm that kids would not like the opposite gender until they grew up enough to notice it. This was normal, but nothing was presented to help ppl through this stage. Niklas explained he was nervous round girls, though he actually already was interested. These segments are being left out. When I said I'd like to see the site be mainstreamed, that's what I meant. The original site was meant for everyone, including ppl like myself, with children going through that stage (as they were) or as I went through it myself. Thanks to having gone through that stage where I was too young to pay attention to girls who (yuck!) played with dolls, and other things I considered idiotic, when one came around paying too much attention to me, I couldn't have cared less what she thought, so I was anything but tongue tied. (girls tend to mentally mature about 2 years ahead of boys). Other boys liked here, but since they weren't going through that stage, they were afraid to talk to her. I wasn't. she was JUST a girl. Gee! A nosy one that insisted on hanging around, I couldn't figure out why. She was a knockout, but I didn't realize it yet. I eventually did, and married her. I acted just like niklas, going through that stage, and I got the girl because if it. That's part of what makes the cartoons so endearing too. "I can't dance" is exactly what I went through, though she figures out I don't know why, and left the floor she'd pulled me out to first. I later married her, and have been married to her every since. You see, we were mature enough to have a relationship by the time we did, and my friends that were like that like me (almost all of them) all have had long lasting relationships with their wife, while other's didn't. I think I understand why. The site brings back warm memories of the days and years leading up to that, and yet ppl don't realize how common this is, as most ppl (like daniel) don't want to admit it later in life. It's like those embarrassing baby pictures almost everybody has. I feel the old introduction I included at the start of the letter included all these ppl, including myself, which is why i write for the site, and even have several upcoming animations) and the new introduction would tend to exclude this vast number of ppl, and/or even put a stigma on this site, excluding a huge number of ppl that would benefit from it. Notice, I never call anyone a pre, or a pro anything. That's because behavior like niklas is practically no indicator of what the person will be like when they grow up, and is horribly common, due to the "ewww barbie dolls!" effect and ppl are going to admire SOMEBODY, thus it's usually their best friend. That's not strange or unusual, and when they grow up, and are mature enough to have a relationship with the opposite gender, THEN it comes. If it does before that, it often ends in disaster, then repeats itself in marriage, with ppl going from one partner to another leaving a trail of broken homes instead of a solid life long marriage to a single spouse. You see, those teen pregnancies turn into broken homes made by ppl that didn't mature enough before entering into a relationship, and often they never learn, rather stay in the rut of old habits, having learned to be permiscuous, thus ruining their and their family's chances to every be happy. May this site be dedicated to EVERYONE that is going through what the nik characters are, not to just some segment. I think it's doing a disservice to ppl to ppl to either say, "hey weirdo, let me punch you in the face cause you're weird" or "oh, that's fine, but it means you'll be that way the rest of your life, so let's label you, and forget about growing up and having a family. I know family is where most happiness lies, but you're doomed. Balonie. Niklas said "Hi, my name is Niklas. I'm the one to the left with the blond hair and those goofy freckles. I'll tell you in some cartoons and stories what happened after I told my best friends the truth. You should know, I love my friends, really! And guess what some of them, like Fabian and Jason, love me too! I always thought they'd say I'm weird, well, maybe we're all weird." Lets leave it at that. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Simon: The "intrinsic qualities" of peoples' efforts are fine, thank you. Email we've received suggests that "appeal" is not "only" for the aged. But good luck with the video. You have a good picture of what you want to do, so it should work out. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | I know what you mean by "irony", and I think I know what makes you say that what I wrote is ironic: the phrase "I want to make a teaser that could make ME a fan of Megacosmo".
Soon after I posted the message, I realized that I should've written "I want to make a teaser that could make EVEN ME a fan of Megacosmo". I didn't mean to say "I want to pursue my own vision and disregard everyone else's". I meant to say that I'm quite exacting when it comes to the spectacularity of movies, TV series or video games. That's why dated media just "don't do it" for me, not even those from my own childhood, if their only appeal is nostalgia. That's why I want to make something that can be considered cool by its own intrinsic qualities, something that stands on its own and not only can make others go "wow" but even myself. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Simon: That sounds like quite a project. I started to advise you to avoid Flash but I see that it's going to be "live-action", so this probably isn't an issue. But if you decide to fall back to animation later on, choose a format that can be transcoded to regular video. Flash isn't the best way to go. About the "be patient" part, I'd assumed that you might do something like comic-book covers. A teaser is obviously far more complicated. There's some irony here. I'll avoid commenting on the irony except to say, it probably feels good to be working on your own vision. Your vision, and nobody else's. Other people have been doing exactly the same thing. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | Woah, there's been a lot of activity here since I posted the last time. Well, I'm pleasantly surprised: I was used to the time when nobody posted here anymore.
Anyway, I want to answer James who asked when the Megacosmo artwork from me is coming. Well, what I have in mind isn't exactly "artwork", and I need time to learn how to use the software I need for it. You said that Megacosmo is a fantasy from Martin; my take on it is a little different. My premise is that in the Niklas universe there is a superhero TV show, with real actors and lots of special effects, titled "Megacosmo", and Martin is a huge fan of it. What I want to do is to put together a 1-minute live-action "teaser" (or "opening") for this hypothetical show, that explains the story, with a narration and a montage of action scenes, featuring myself as Megacosmo. I already wrote the opening monologue (supposedly spoken by Megacosmo himself) and I made a couple of test shots: one, completely in CGI, with spaceships moving around in space while the camera approaches a planet (Megacosmo's homeworld); another, with CGI objects over a real background, where I shoot an energy beam from my hands that sets a flying car on fire. However: 1) I'm aware that there's still much I don't know how to do (e.g. how to track the movements of the real camera with the virtual one so that I'm not forced to keep the camera still for FX scenes, or how to rig a 3D model with bones to make a CGI Megacosmo model that moves realistically) 2) I still haven't decided how to make a Megacosmo costume yet, although I have a couple of ideas that involve modifying a wetsuit In short, the only answer I can give to the question "when will it come out?" is "when it's done". Please be patient, I want to make a teaser that could make ME a fan of Megacosmo. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Here's a small event for our friends. Five Niklas pictures: * Some lost artwork by Niklas (seven sketches in two pictures) * A new Eidan 3D scene (from Bright Future, there's more at the story site) * An early version of one of the March aliens * And "Niklas Marbles" by Perry, guaranteed 100% traditional :-) It's all yours at the fan-art site. This will probably be the most varied update for a while. We hope that it's satisfactory. If you'd like to help make updates like this possible, send in your artwork. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/bright-future-story/ |
| Comments (required): |
Eidan has added some new 3D illustrations to chapters 3 and 4 of "Bright Future". Note: Chapter 3 has been split so there's four chapters now. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | James: Don't worry, it's just one story. It's easy to take care of. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): | Antek, Eidan, Jonathan, Nikfan, Patrick - You should all have received mail from me.
Eidan: I think I've caught up with everything. Please write again if there's any issues remaining. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Yes Eiden, If you have the traditional characters ready and are not holding them for some reason, then by all means bring them forth at any time you are ready. We'd love to see them.
And, yes, I always saw them as a sort of modern, more domesticated version of Tom and Huck, which simply means, of course, that they are regular boys with a penchant for a bit of grandiose adventure. Perhaps they don't have the same opportunity for this sort of thing as the boys of 19th century Hannibal, MO did, but that doesn't mean they willingly surrender to the "domestication" either. In fact, I think the ongoing theme, or crux, of most of the new traditional stories should be how they find and create ways to escape from the "forced domestication". I'm not suggesting that they should be turned into "bad boys", in fact I don't think that most young people want their fictional story characters, the ones they want to be able to look up to, to be impossible to emulate without they themselves incurring intractable "family problems". But Mark Twain made it possible for Tom and Huck and company to have all sorts of adventures, while retaining a certain story believability and the essential core "good at heart" character of the boys, while letting them be ornery scamps in just about every other way. His stories were, in large part, a humorous rollicking tale of how boys on the road to becoming men, manage to drink deeply from the cup of boyish life, with the stern adults who surrounded and hemmed them in from all sides, rarely the wiser. I think those of us who have the talent to create new Niklas stories, could find no better path to follow, whether the story is traditional or sci-fi based. Mischievous boys, and the crazy adventures they can get themselves involved with, including on occasion, adventures of the heart, will always make for good reading. And, I believe, before Edlund started it, no one had done that before and included gay and/or bi preteen characters (as the lead characters no less), along with str8 characters of course. Of course, in "Niklas world" the presumably str8 characters seem to still all be in the "str8 closet" or so it seems, lol. Oh well, perhaps they too will "blossom" as the new stories are told. It's neither here nor there, but I have on more than one occasion driven through the real Hannibal, MO. I never stopped, as I didn't have the time, but it seemed that most businesses there were named after something to do with Mark Twain or his characters. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | hiya. by the way nikfan said
Eiden, your art is great. I do very much like the 3D look, tho it is of course different from the traditional comic style, but its a good kind of different. In fact everyones art is quite good. I am glad we have a talented and growing cadre of artists and writers assembling around the Niklas world. I don't hate aliens, in fact I love science fiction. I really appreciate these comments by the way. I had been feeling kind of discouraged, as I often don't have much of a way to know if anyone likes my art, as goes for everybody else. I have many (most) of the traditional characters also, but haven't placed them in a context (already drawn them, but haven't posted them.) It's interesting that youd think of the stories as a tom sawyer type adventure, as this is exactly as I've always said. gtg! |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | I'm glad to see positive feedback. Nikfan: Thanks for having a sense of humor. We appreciate that. I realize that everybody has different situations, and some can write, some can't, some can, have things that get in the way. This page is for everybody, and I'm interested in comments from both writers and readers. I'm glad you didn't stay away this time, and admire your sense of humor.
James knew I was feeling discouraged, as often those that really like something a lot don't comment. There was a lot of content (and still is) that I'd never posted, because I wasn't sure if ppl actually liked it or not. Everybody has their own favorites, myself included. I'm there in under 30 seconds if March posts something, and am equally pleased with Jonathan's work. And yes, it's true that the stories often only make their true impact, and make sense best if the original stories are read first. Don't worry though, the missing material should soon all show up. Evidently everything's under construction. Note for everybody, including mye: I think what was being said is when one's wife /mother /mother in law, or whatever is looking at the recipies for fillet mignon, or tamales, getting ready to make supper 1) she may only have the ingredients to make one or the other, and 2) if that's possibly not the case, and you prefer the tamales, it might be best to say "I really love tamales" rather than say, "a lot of ppl like fillet mignon, but I don't care for it so much myself. If it's your mother in law that been in the kitchen all day fixing it for us, we'll probably get bread and water instead. If it's our wife, it'll be time to start that starvation diet.:) Emphasize the thing we like, and not what we don't like, and whether it's tamales or fillet mignon, as long as the person in question knows how to make it, if it's not what we were made this time, for whatever reason, it most most likely will be soon thereafter. Again, we appreciate the good sense of humor. It's what keeps us all going. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): | Nobody: I've passed your remarks on to March (who created the Niklas aliens).
Jonathan and Eidan (Dark Past and Bright Future, respectively) will see the remarks here. I'll make sure that some others, including Perry and Patrick, see them as well. People have made assumptions about my perspective. This seems like a good point to spell it out. The original Niklas ended five years ago. New material simply adds layers to something useful; a completed project that was intended to do some good. If people would like to draw or write now, I'll help out. They are the ones who will decide what they can contribute. Speaking of which, if you draw or write, drop me a line at the address above. And, for the traditionalists, there will be a "traditional" Niklas scene plus some lost Niklas art posted soon. Possibly an alien or two as well, but no sharks will be involved. :-) |
| Name (required): | Nobody |
| Comments (required): | Just for the record, my favorite part of the comics are the aliens. I've especially looked forwards to March's episodes and illustrations for some time. I also like the other episodes. All material's enjoyable, but that definately has to be my favorite. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/bright-future-story/ |
| Comments (required): | As EZ mentioned at one point, Eidan's "Bright Future" story has been updated; more has been added to chapter 3. Aunt Thelma, a "down to Earth" woman, confronts something that isn't quite "down to Earth". :-)
Edits may go back and forth as things are worked out, so if anything needs work when you visit, check again in a few days. Illustrations may be added later, chapters may be reorganized (joined or split), etc.; this is a work in progress. But it's an interesting take on things that people of all ages may enjoy. Eidan: I've emailed you regarding edits. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Just for the record, I realized, too late, that I had referred to James as Jason. My apologies. I'm bad at names to begin with, even if they're my own cousins' and even more-so if they're in a language other than my own. Even my own mother would go through half of our names before she hit the right one... it was funny. I'd just looked at a comic mentioning Jason, a character, and was thinking along these lines... since they both start with J. the fatal transition was made, and by the time I realized it, it was too late. Sorry James. (turns red).
I also didn't get to finish my post, which I will later try to do so summarizing it, as you can see, I am a person of few words (yeah right).... just lots and lots of paragraphs:) Oh well. One thing that I mentioned (I think) was that the aliens make more sense if you've read the original story by March, and won't make a lot of sense otherwise, as they are basically non-cannonical additional chapters. Don't worry. All the material will come back on the new site.... just give it a little time. You can still see the old site, and there it is, for the meantime. I welcome both readers and contributors, and often wonder what you think. What James, and not Jason (woops) was saying is that those who really like the work are more apt to not comment, and it's discouraging if you think nobody is reading what you're writing, but if a writing knows there's an audience that is really looking forward to reading his works, that's rewarding, and he usually will really look forword to puting them out there. I want to help those that are going through this, but also want to help parents who have kids who are, and friends who have friends who are, etc. I hate seeing ppl getting mad at each other over petty issues such as race, customs, and minor differences that don't really matter. gtg again. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): | I just noticed something I missed earlier.
Eidan said, "Just for the record, incidentally, Jason is the one most involved in writing real life type stories. I've seen some of it." I think Eidan is referring to me (James). There's a little confusion sometimes because the mail account says Jason. That was a reference to the Niklas character. I'll post another excerpt from the current project sometime. This project is fantasy with a real-life tone. In a sense, it's similar to the Arabian Nights concept mentioned recently. There's a boy who carries around a book in a backpack. The book, of course, is the story that he's appearing in. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Antek, Eidan, EZ, March, Nikfan, Thilion - You should have received new letters from me. Jonathan and Patrick - I owe you letters. The following is for those who might like to help with Niklas translations. This will eventually be covered in pages at the new site. But here is some information about a related feature. There are two types of comic story pages at the Niklas beta site: (a) Pages with normal text that's drawn as part of the comic. This is how comic pages are usually done on the Internet. (b) Pages that use "dynamic text" (or computer text). This is a new approach that has some advantages. Dynamic text means that text isn't part of a comic. Instead, it's added on top of a comic when the comic is displayed. This approach makes translations into different languages easier. It also saves room because one comic page can be used for different languages. The new Niklas site has a program that lets editors create dynamic text. This means that you can add text in your language to the speech balloons for a particular Niklas comic page. Only a few of the Niklas comics have been set up for this feature so far. But eventually the system should support all of them. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ's latest post reads as follows (just a rough translation): Hello again, dear friends, Sorry about the problem with the characters in my previous message; it seems to be related to accents and hopefully it won't happen again. Eidan, just expressing my sincere thanks; it's the least I can do. Good to know that you speak Castilian. I just read your update of Chapter 3 of "Bright Future". I really liked it, especially the part where they try to ... (The next couple of parts were untranslatable) The comic "sprites" approach sounds very interesting, because in terms of imagination and narrative I can manage everything, but I'm not as good at drawings. (I think I've got the next paragraph right, but I'm not sure.) As a separate note, "Long Summer" has been mentioned before and I was wondering if there is any link available because I haven't read this collection of stories. (EZ: You're the only person outside of the contributors who has shown any interest in "Long Summer" recently. I had thought about giving up the project but maybe we'll continue. This is a work in progress. I'll post a few more excerpts over the next week or two and we'll see what people think.) (EZ reposted his thoughts about "real" and "not real" stories.) I see that there have been many comments about stories that are "not real" (aliens, superheroes, etc.). In my opinion, both types of stories are just as beautiful and both do something for readers. The "real" stories help us feel (untranslatable) and to see that what we feel is normal; and that touch of timelessness in the stories produces the illusion that these adventures were happening somewhere right (untranslatable) which was just wonderful. Now, as to the "unreal" stories, it's not enough to say that stories can't be put into a "real" context, or that they have references which tie them to the past; we must look deeper and see the background that's implied (editor's note: the subtext). I, for example, liked "Bright Future" because, as Eidan explains at the start, the aliens in "Bright Future" are a metaphor for the acceptance of ethnic differences. (If I understand correctly, EZ likes the "Arabian Nights" idea and the new Niklas beta site.) (EZ and Eidan: The two of you may wish to work on a better English translation of the "Everyday Niklas" request. My version may not be accurate.) (EZ and Eidan: Los dos es posible que desee trabajar en una mejor traducción Inglés de la solicitud de perfil Niklas. Mi versión, probablemente no es exacta.) (EZ: "Everyday Niklas" would make a good project for some college courses. However, there may not be much response. Presently, this is a low-traffic forum. This should improve over time.) (EZ: Este sería un buen proyecto para algunos cursos de la universidad. Sin embargo, puede que no haya mucha respuesta. En la actualidad, este es un sitio lento. Sin embargo, esto debe mejorar con el tiempo.) (EZ: We have a small contribution for you. Go to "Dark Past" and read the "Cast of Characters" page. There are some small psychological profiles on that page.) (EZ: Tenemos una pequeña contribución para usted. Vaya a "Dark Past". Lea el "Cast of Characters" de la página. Hay algunos pequeños perfiles psicológicos en esa página.) Here's a request for everybody reading this. If it's not too much trouble, email me (EZ) your thoughts about "Niklas and Friends" characters: (a) Talk about some of the characters and give me your views on psychological profiles; how the characters might act in given situations, their phobias, etc. (b) Describe a possible event. What might happen in one of Niklas and Friends' day to day adventures? (c) And, finally, offer me your thoughts on what works in Niklas. For a normal Niklas and Friends story, what is allowed? My email address is: capitan.kuro@hotmail.com This is related to a project called "Everyday Niklas". I'm thinking about working on it in the near future (when I go on vacation). If I must say goodbye for now, I'll see you soon, my friends. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): |
hola de nuevo queridos amigos lamento mucho el problema con los caracteres en mi mensaje anterior, no se cual pudo ser el motivo de esto, pero por lo que veo tiene una aparente relacion con los acentos, en fin, espero no vuelva a ocurrir Edian, de nada, solo expreso mi sincero agradecimiento, es lo menos que puedo hacer. es bueno saber que usted habla castellano, de que parte es? en fin, acabo de leer su actualizacion del capitulo 3 de "un futuro brillante" me gusto mucho, en especial la parte en que tratan de hacer entender la verdad a la tia Thelma y los cambios de color de Toben. aunque me intriga lo que hicieron Jahv y Keyro con el resto del esqueleto en fin, ya lo sabre cuando sea el momento. James, de nuevo le pido disculpas por el trabajo que le causo con mis mensajes en castellano. vi lo relacionado con los comic "sprites" suena muy interesante ya que en cuanto a imaginacion y narrativa me manejo pero para todo lo relacionado con dibujos y comic no soy nada bueno. otra cosa, no es la primera vez que le escucho mensionar "Long Summer" y me preguntaba si existe algun link disponible ya que no creo haber leido algo de este compendio de historias este es un fracmento reescrito de mi mensaje anterior espero que ahora si no hayan problemas. "en fin, veo que han habido muchos comentarios acerca de las historias "no reales"(extraterrestres, heroes, etc.) v/s "reales"(cotidianas") en mi opinion, ambas son simplemente hermosas y aportan mucho a los lectores. las "reales" nos ayudan a sentirnos acompañados a traves de nuestra niñez al ver que lo que sentimos es normal, y ese toque de atemporalidad de las historias creaba(y sigue creando) la ilusion de que esas aventuras estaban ocurriendo en algun lugar justo en etos momentos lo cual era simplemente maravilloso. ahora, en cuanto a las "no reales" no hay que quedarse en que no puedan ser puestas en un contexto real, o que tienen muchas "ligaduras temporales"(comentarios o referencias a series y peliculas del pasado) sino que hay que ver el tras fondo de ellas, a mi por ejemplo me gustaron, ya que como Eidan lo explico en su historia "un futuro brillante" los extraterrestres son una vision de la aceptacion de las distintas razas y asi es como aborde esas historias en cuanto a lo expresado ultimamente de historias "reales" y "no reales" a modo de las "mil y una noches" me gusto mucho y me parece muy llamativa. " por ultimo, por ahora James, e visto la nueva pagina de Niklas, esta quedando maravillosa. a se me olvidaba(esto va para todos en general), si no es mucha molestia les podria pedir enviarme a mi correo una mini fichas de personajes "niklas y amigos" con por ejemplo(perfil sicologico, como actuarian cada personaje ante tal situacion o algun dato curioso como fobias ect.) ademas de ideas contextuales(alguna aventura cotidiana que les gustaria ver de niklas y amigos) y claro quizas una lista de lo que esta permitido en las historias niklas y amigos. todo esto por motivos de la historia "cotidiana niklas" que tengo planeado realizar en un futuro cercano(cuando salga de vacaciones) ahoraa si me despido por ahora, nos vemos pronto cuidence amigos mios |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | p.s.s. I hope nobody's feeling were hurt. I do often wonder what readers think, and look to the dreambook to kinda see. I think we're going to have a great deal of new content. Not everybody has to write. All we want and hope for is that 1) it's enjoyed, and 2) that it will hopefully be a positive influence on ppl. The aliens helped explain the way I grew up to my kids... not the green and the blue... just the circumstances, yet it helps as a parent... have a kid going through this phase? I makes them realize, "oh, I can talk about it". In my case it made my kids ask me, "do we all speak a different langauge and eat different food because you grew up in another country and were adopted?" Boy, that was a blunt question. Just wish it had been in that order. I guess it happend to me in the same order it happened to Jahv. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | p.s. I think ppl would better enjoy and understand the alien stories, and the rest, if they read the original ones first. It's kinda like reading harry potter 4 before reading harry potter 1. Not quite the same. We should have the full site up and running soon. the original is still out there though. we apologize for the delay.
my original stories were true to life tomsawyer type stories, illustrated in 2d by myself. I don't think anyone recalls them, and very few have read them as the were never part of the main site, and went defunct when the server it was on went non-free, and they erased them. I made the 1st ones about 10 yrs ago, along with the 1st alien 3d. it's not as good as the 3d today, so next to nobody has seen that part. I've written my own alien stories almost as long as I can remember, but the present ones are an offshoot of march's (not of jonathans - the only offshoot is the name, as it sounded logical if all the stories were united, which has always been my hope and intention. United, even if each are growing and kept separate, under a link that will unite them and allow all of them to grow independently. I highly recommend jonathans works after reading the main aliens, as it's just ike having new chapters from them to read, as basically, it is. wish the gest to all. gtg |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | sorry, I was about to lose my internet connection and couldn't finish. I'm borrowing one now, but still won't be able to finish... maybe tomorrow.
The original stories are about Niklas's childhood. The characters are real, andv really exist. Then some people, such as davvy started adding on, or contributing, adding his own childhood experience, but then integrating it with the other characters, whom lived in Germany. As you can probably guess, (correct me davey if I'm wrong.. you have before) Davy live rather not terribly far from the mississippi river, or at least not very far removed from the place where twain made these famous novels, and his childhood was somewhat shaped by this.... so it's no wonder that the site took on even more of that tom sawyer huck fin characteristics everbody liked... it was taken from real life, and real like that wasn't terribly different than that of saywer's time. After that, more stories were added by contributors such as March, who is excellent at sci-fi. A lot of what is included parallels cultures in many other countries, probably much more than he's aware. Been there, done that. The kids, like huck fin, and tom sawyer often daydreamed, and those have almost always been part of the site, and shown as that. daydreams. More recently there has been a lot of everything from nik batman to nik superman to you name it.... Each genre holds those who hold it as their favorite. I think nikfan, and some others would like it if there were maybe a button/link for realistic true stories, one for possibly the daydream type, one for sci-fi, and one for the superhero genre.... I think that's not such a bad idea.. We have to organize it somehow, so no, I'm not offended.. that's actually rather easy to do, and everyone would be apt to look at his favorite genre 1st, then the next, and the next, and so on. I think he's just saying he has a favorite genre. I'd of course go to anything by march 1st.. then go on the the other huck/fin type stories which i ALSO love, and so on, and he'd go in opposite order... everyone to their favorite section 1st, such as in a library. I'm also aware that not everybody can write/draw, etc, and I don't mind hearing ppls opinions who hope that, all thing equal I belive is teh expression, that if we were deciding between one genre or other, so and so says such and such is their favorite...as long as there's no bashing, which I don't think there was an intention of. Comments for me are welcome if they're not That sounintentionally malicious, which I don't think they were.d's ok. More on that later, as I'm running out of time. That might be a way to divide up the work. Jason's point is that of course it helps to know if ppl like our work, as that's the only thing we have to look forword to... requests for additional types don't hurt me as long as you don't say mean things Just for the record, incidentally, Jason is the one most involved in writing real life type stories. I've seen some of it. I really do appreciate it when I find out ppl like my work, but other types of work are also in the working. just for the record too, when I write about the aliens, it's only weakly veiled memories of my childhood. I wasn't an alien.... well, I guess I WAS an alien, just not one from another planet... and I wound up where I was in just about the same way as the characters from the story... no! not in a space ship!:) I wound up there for many of the same reasons, and had many of the same circumstances, such as not knowing what to do about not having a parent for thousands of miles.... and a family... and I was a funny color that made me stand out like a sore thumb next to my friends... and my family when I got one... Sorry... got to go. More on that later. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Nuevamente, da gusto oír tus comentarios EZ. Saludos.
Hi all.... I don´t have a constant connection to the net, and sometimes I get so busy creating, or in real life that I check in here, see nothing new posted, then the next time I get a chance, there´s more activity than on the Gutenburg press:) Nikfan, I finally read your original post, or she shark one. I sometimes can only read so far and then if I lose my connection can read no further. I read your later one, but had missed the primary original one. 1) I'm not offended by your comments, but glad to hear the aliens are not hated, hehe. Jahv will feel relieved, as he was starting to get a complex. I was actually doing a short illustration based on this, which I might get around to sharing. Knowing ppl out there enjoy what I do does help to keep it going, however..... You compared it to Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.... no that's just plain weird...:) You know why it's weird? It's weird because that's exactly how I see it:) Mark Twain was one of my favorite authors and that's exactly what I've always felt. You said: "To me, Niklas and his friends are to a degree a modern and more domesticated, suburban version of Tom, Huck and their friends. There was a huge amount of "play-pretending" and daydreaming in the Tom and Huck books, from a boy careening down the dusty street, pretending to be a steamboat, to Tom and Huck and friends pretending to be pirates, and then running away and later pretending to be dead and attending their own funeral (which ended hilariously, as did most of their misadventures). And, of course, there were a thousand other hi-jinks and adventures, some real, some briefly imagined, some detailed by the author Mark Twain, others only alluded to briefly." It's like you read my mind.... but only because it is a lot like that. You have stories of boys daydreaming, and having adventures taking a rowboat down the river, going skinnydipping and staying way to long until everybody was worried to death. ALL of this is straight out of Mark Twain's adventure from Tom Sawyer, as in the book, and later portrayed by Walt Disney, who captured all of the above. It was just boys acting like real boys. Keith has problems with his father, a brother is badly missed, davey longs for friends as he lives where neighbors are long apart and far between, or however the expression goes. (sorry,English isn't my primary language as some of you may have already guessed) This type of story make Mark Twain famous in the 1800s and he STILL IS a couple of centuries later. ppl loved his works because they were real.... boys acted real, and he didn't portray them as flawless and perfect beings, like everybody else... He made them act like they were real... Who doesn't like Tom Sawyer, and the umpteen million stories that have been born out of him? In this you're correct. The only thing we missed in the nick stories was nick or davey going to their own funeral (refering to the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin). Now I think something was lost in the translation from everybody (a saying, not literal) so let me attempt to translate: 2) Assumption a): Those of us who write and illustrate, might be, just might be, as apt to write one genre as another.... If all things are the same, knowing what the audience's favorites are might persuade us to write one genre over the other if we knew what readers' favorite genre's are. Actually that is partially true. Reading your comments, I don't think you meant to put down any genre or artist, rather say: "If you're torn between writing one genre or the other, the realistic ones are your favorites. I don't think you really meant any more than that. That seems fair. I love aliens, so you'll probably see a lot of that.... but I write all genres. got to go! will take into account. that seems ok. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Nikfan: You've asked me (in email) a question similar to the one you've asked Eidan; the question about ways for beginners to create comics. The answer, for the benefit of anybody who might like to try this, is that there are a few different approaches that are worth looking into. One possible approach is that people might be able to storyboard comic pages using small Niklas characters known as "sprites". This is how a group of amateur comics known as "sprite comics" are created. The people who make sprite comics are known as "spriters". It's a transitional form of art; spriters are typically people who'd like to draw comics but haven't picked up drawing skills yet. Sprite comics are low-resolution and limited in what the characters can do. But they're a possible starting point and they might be good for storyboard purposes. In some cases, it's possible that we'd redraw storyboards as full comics. If you'd like to see an example of a sprite comic, visit the fan-art site at the link above. I've posted one of mine as an example. This isn't a Niklas comic because we haven't created Niklas sprites yet. But if there's enough interest, we'll probably make something called a "sprite sheet" to get people started. If somebody is willing to invest additional time, there are other approaches that might come closer to the mark. One approach would involve the use of full-size Niklas components to create normal comics. We'll come back to this at a later date if people are, in fact, interested in spending the time. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Yes, quite right, I got Ancient Mariners name wrong. Comes from writing late at night. Sorry about that A.M.
Yes James, I certainly do give you permission to share my musings here or with others from this site via their email as you see fit, I trust your judgement. Eiden, your art is great. I do very much like the 3D look, tho it is of course different from the traditional comic style, but its a good kind of different. In fact everyones art is quite good. I am glad we have a talented and growing cadre of artists and writers assembling around the Niklas world. I don't hate aliens, in fact I love science fiction. I am a major fan of every kind of Star Trek and have read almost every single fictional Star Trek book there is (hundreds). And am a fan of science fiction from the old radio shows of my grandparents day, such as "X Minus One" and "Dimension X" and others (which I listen to for free on my Android smartphone--there's a great ap for that if anyone wants to check it out)...along with the golden age written science fiction of the Golden Age during the 30's thru the 60's. The original Battlestar Galactica when I was a kid, all the way to the present day Legend of The Seeker and Eureka. I am a sci-fi freak and proud of it. I'm glad you are working something up that will make new comics apparently easier to make. That is good. I wonder if it is something that would lend itself to, or if it did, if you would be willing to make it available as a Niklas site resource for the use of readers, especially the youngers? And anyone who might wish to try their hand at it. If that is not a good idea, or if you need to retain control of it for creative or copyright or other reasons, I understand. I'm just thinking out loud here again. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
There's a character-set problem with EZ's post; some of the text is garbled. So I can't translate the post completely, but I can summarize it. Eidan's response is translated afterward. EZ says: Hi, how have you been? One reason for for my prolonged absence is that university classes take up my time. I found the idea of a questionnaire interesting, so I'll answer the questions. (He's 20 years old. He's visited quite often and has been through everything, including the aliens stories. He uses a translator to read the text in Spanish.) (What he likes about Niklas) What attracted me in the first place were the characters and their daily adventures. I sort of immediately identified with them and I would have liked to have had friends like them as a child. (EZ talks about the aliens and other fantasy) I see that there have been many comments about the "not real" stories issue. In my opinion, both types of stories are just as beautiful and both do something for readers. (The next part is poetic but I can't translate it. Something similar to this.) The stories help us to see what we feel is normal. Additionally, a touch of timelessness in the stories creates the illusion that these adventures are happening in the right place and at the right time, which is just wonderful. (As a side note to Eidan, the "references" issue that you and I have discussed may be related to the touch of timelessness; though I have, of course, broken the rule myself in "Long Summer") (EZ liked the fact that Eidan's "Bright Future" is about acceptance.) (EZ also thanked me for my thank-you to him. And he apparently liked my DBZ-Keith story excerpt, which makes him the first person to comment on it. :-) (EZ may be planning a writing project.) No more to say for now. So, goodbye, and as always I wish everyone well and thank you for sharing, creating, and keeping alive these wonderful stories. * * * This is a rough translation of Eidan's reply to EZ: Hello! It's a pleasure to hear from others like me who speak Castilian. Do not worry... there will be much more content. It's good if you like aliens. Welcome! |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | ¡Hola! Que gusto oír de otros que hablan castellano como yo. No se preocupe... habrá mucho contenido más. Que bueno si le gustaron los extraterrestres. ¡Bienvenido! |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): |
hola, como han estado?, espero que bien, discúlpenme por mi prolongada ausencia es que la universidad me quita tiempo y ánimos me pareció interesante la idea del cuestionario por lo que lo responderé (A) ¿Cuántos años tienes? 20 (B) ¿Cuántas veces has visitado? muchas, me he leÃdo todo lo que e logrado traducir a español o lo que ya estaba en español, eso desde luego incluye las creaciones de extraterrestres (C) ¿Qué es lo que más te gusta del sitio? básicamente lo que me atrajo del sitio en primera instancia fueron los personajes y sus cotidianas aventuras, en cierto modo me sentà de inmediato identificado con ellas ya que en mi niñez me hubiera gustado tener amigos como ellos en fin, veo que han habido muchos comentarios acerca de las historias "no reales"(extraterrestres, héroes, etc.) v/s "reales"(cotidianas") en mi opinión, ambas son simplemente hermosas y aportan mucho a los lectores. las "reales" nos ayudan a sentirnos acompañados a través de nuestra niñez al ver que lo que sentimos es normal y ese toque de atemporalidad de las historias creaba la ilusión de que esas aventuras estaban ocurriendo en algún lugar justo en esos momentos lo cual era simplemente maravilloso. ahora en cuanto a las “no reales" no hay que quedarse en que no puedan ser puestas en un contexto real, o que tienen muchas "ligaduras temporales"(comentarios o referencias a series y pelÃculas del pasado) sino que hay que ver el tras fondo de ellas, a mi por ejemplo me gustaron, ya que como Eidan lo explico en su historia "un futuro brillante" los extraterrestres son una visión de la aceptación de las distintas razas y asà es como abordé esas historias en cuanto a lo expresado últimamente de historias "reales" y "no reales" a modo de las “mil y una noches†me gusto mucho y me parece muy llamativa. James, en cuanto a esto "I'll address EZ directly: Gracias. Le ofreció aliento. Usted ayudó a las personas que estaban muy cansados." no fue nada James solo he expresado lo que siento y he tratado de ayudar en lo que e podido, y lo seguiré haciendo. Por cierto su historia expuesta fue muy hermosa, combinar DBZ y Keith fue simplemente conmovedor, mas aun luego de leer "A Christmas Story" En fin, he pensado en crear una especie de historia “cotidiana†de niklas aunque en estos momentos se me hace imposible por la universidad, pero una vez que termine y salga de vacaciones creare algo. Me seria de ayuda algún contexto en el cual centrarme, quizás algo que les gustarÃa ver, además de una pequeña ficha de personajes( como son sicológicamente, como actuarÃan bajo ciertas circunstancias, si tienen alguna fobia o algo que no se haya expuesto en las historias anteriores) además de lo que puede y no ir en la historia En fin, sin mas que decir por el momento me despido, y como siempre les deseo lo mejor a todos y les doy las gracias por compartir, crear, y mantener vivas estas maravillosas historias. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Yes, there is comic creating software, that will help in the process. Been there, done that, have it. I really have it for motion picture, but will do the same thing alredy. Already "rigging" characters so I should be able to put out quit a bit of this, both mine, and based on already existing art.
Also, regarding the ppl that hate aliens, I hope it's aliens in general, and not the illustrations. Why? Becuase all types of stories are going to be provided. The aliens are only a part, and where some ppl love sci fi (me) others like completely different genres. That's understandable. You'll all get what you're asking for. I don't like many types of mystery novels, but that doesn't stop it from being good reading for those that do. My writing is a little similar to March's, and will probably sound like more of the same from the old site (I think.) We're lucky to have March here too, who I think is a wonderful writer. If ppl like my writing and/or illustrations, let me know. There's a lot more where that came from, and not all are going to be still. I'm already doing what the previous person was talking about. I just haven't told him yet. You see, I have to build up a series of backgrounds, characters, 2d props, 3d props, etc etc etc. It takes a while, but it's mostly already done. I also write more than sci-fi. Sci-fi just happens to be my favorite. Besides the martians, I've already illustrated most of the characters, including Fabian, Niklas, Keith, Martin, Davey, and others. I merely haven't put them where they are available to the public yet, while I'm concentrating on the aliens. I'm working on Mrs and Mr caulfield right now, and will probably have a grumpy old man (just the pic in this case) in the near future, depending on if people like what they see. The thing that motivates me is making ppl happy. I have a degree in commercial art, and also took writing at a university level, though I've made stories since I was a kid. I don't know if anyone LIKES my writing, but it's fun to do. So are the illustrations. I only want to make sure that a reasonable amount of ppl like them, and there will be a great outporing more if they do, and remember, not all of them are going to be still. Have a great night all! |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
If I understand correctly, Nikfan has given me permission to share some of his Niklas ideas. I'd like to present a suggestion he made that's both an interesting idea and a memorable word picture. Nikfan: If I've gotten anything wrong, please excuse me. But perhaps we should discuss writing further. The idea is to integrate the real-world Niklas series with other series by treating some stories as multi-level fantasies that are told as part of a Niklas Arabian Nights. We probably won't proceed quite like this, but the concept is worth sharing. This is an edited version of the original suggestion: If it was good enough for Scheherazade in "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights", which drilled down three or four stories deep at times, then it's good enough for our suburban lads. BTW, I loved that book as a boy. It was a hundred years old and falling apart at the seams, and an unabridged version as well. But I had no trouble keeping up with all the stories within stories, and I loved the technique. It seemed mysterious and it also kept me from getting bored with the old-style English that it had been translated into. Hmm... Niklas as a sort of "proto-gay / bi / questioning preteen" version of the Arabian Nights. Think of it as "A Thousand and One Suburban Nights", complete with Belly Button Monsters, superheroes, aliens, ghost stories, and so forth; interspersed, of course, with canonical stories set in the real world. There would be stories within stories, within stories, within stories -- told day after day and night after night. In backyards, with the boys between play, resting on sunny hillsides; they'd lay on their backs, imagining they saw the aliens in the drifting cloud patterns above and telling the stories of their adventures; or scenes in haybarns and attics, the boys telling each other stories and improving their skills at storytelling as they go along. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Nikfan: You said, "On another tack, I wonder if there is any kind of comic creating software that would make it easier and quicker to create the comic portion if it, that any of those involved in the art creation side of it wished they had?" I forgot to answer this earlier. There's more than one type of software. But the people involved have what they need. Except for one thing: positive feedback. I've been forced to explain to some of them that this is normal. If visitors don't like something, they'll certainly complain. But even if they do like something, positive remarks are remarkably rare. This is why I mailed people recently, asking them to comment on Eidan's works; the 3D versions of March's aliens. Eidan invested a great deal of time in them but very few people other than March himself (plus other writers and artists) said anything. And now, of course, there's plenty of remarks posted in this forum about how much some people dislike aliens. *That's* going to be helpful. Have I said Thank-You to the posters yet? Nikfan, if you're serious, this is the issue to focus on. The artists don't need software. They need respect or this side of the project has a limited future. As a separate note, if you'd like to take up computer drawing yourself, either 2D or 3D, write me and I'll explain some of the options. Some of the best options are free. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Nikfan: Thanks for writing. But would a sigh seem out of place? It isn't about "hurt feelings". Additionally, A.M.'s remark about admiring my efforts is appreciated but it's not relevant. This swarm of negative posts by Johnny Come Latelys who don't check to see what's happening is not going to help the project. You say that O.M. (actually, I think he goes by A.M., Ancient Mariner) just wants to put his two cents in? Read his post again. And Simon's. And, no offense intended, the third person's. These posts have not been "helpful", to use A.M.'s word. Here's a tip: Artists and writers like positive feedback. That doesn't mean that unwarranted praise is required. But recent posts have been based on false assumptions and have done more harm than good. I've responded to your post because your recent email messages have been conciliatory, creative, and interesting. But some people have lost interest in the recent subject. The Johnny Come Latelys are invited to set up their own creative teams and proceed as they see fit. I'll respond to future posts if there's something worth saying. And if somebody is interested in writing or drawing, or possibly helping with Niklas translations, they are welcome to email me. BTW You should think more about Arabian Nights Niklas. Your letter about that came alive, did you notice? It was almost poetic; the boy who read the original book was back for a few minutes. You're giving up on writing too easily. And I feel my own idea of linking the Niklas stories to create the multi-layer effect you wanted might work. As a separate note, I'll answer your latest email soon, but I'm too tired to do so right now. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Peace my brothers! We are all on the same side here, even if we sometimes have somewhat different visions.
James, you are correct, in effect, those who donate their time with no promise of reward, and especially under personally trying circumstances, should receive more latitude in what and how they choose to create. And should receive praise before critique, let alone criticism. I apologize for not approaching it that way myself, and for not writing you an email instead of posting. However, I think it is plain that OM was not intending to criticize anyone personally, but instead to put his own two cents in regarding the direction that he missed. He, like I, was merely trying to encourage the creation of more of the traditional type stories, not trying to hurt yours or anyone elses feelings. Let alone rile anyone up. I'm sure that when he reads this, that he, like I a few days back, will be a bit shocked that he managed to create a fuss where he really didn't intend to. It IS hard for us all, myself included of course, to remind ourselves that this is truly an all volunteer operation here--amongst reader/fans. Except, as you have pointed out, we have few readers, and far fewer volunteers. We need more of them, and if I myself had a "specific" short writing or editing job assigned to me...say a chore to "get the boys from this scene to the next, and make something like this, this and that other thing happen", perhaps I MIGHT be able to make it happen, I honestly don't know. I would prefer to correct spelling and grammar and tweak dialogue, but that's just the "lazy" in me. Problem is, I'm half afraid I might either like it and overdo it--or the opposite and not be able to write at all, or overthink the dialogue. I just don't know what I could expect from myself, since I've never done it before. On another tack, I wonder if there is any kind of comic creating software that would make it easier and quicker to create the comic portion if it, that any of those involved in the art creation side of it wished they had? Perhaps. if there is, we could all put our heads together and see if there would be a way to afford it together? That might be a way for some of us to help out, even if we can't create directly. I am not made of money, and right now after Christmas is a dry time for me in my business, but I am not broke either. In closing, I will leave you with Old Mariners closing paragraph, which says it well, and which I am sure he meant for all those who are contributing their time and creative energy to keep the Niklas project going. "We all have the same goal -- preserving this as a useful and enjoyable site for questioning young people. Let's remember that. And James, I do admire all the time, energy and devotion that you give to this website." Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
For fun, and to give the carpers something to carp about, here's a short piece from my own writing. This was originally going to be the basis for a Niklas comic-book story. I decided to use it as part of a novel as well. The comic book is off for now, but the novel will probably proceed. It's largely a Niklas project, but I'll probably do most of this in other parts of the Internet. There's been more support elsewhere. The use of DBZ is Perry's idea. To be clear, they don't have DBZ in Niklas's world; the reference here is a special case. I'll post an essay about what Niklas's world is actually like sometime. Patrick has written some fun scenes for the book. I might post one of those as well. * * * Keith clicked through the TV channels. “Machete”, seen it. “Gladys the Groovy Mule”, no. Commercial for Skittlebrau, skip it. “Murder, She Planned”, no. “Werewolf Women of Venus”, seen it. A strange kid's show on one of the Super High Frequency channels. He'd never seen this show. In fact, this channel was supposed to be static. Keith paused. It was a foreign show. He didn't understand the language. There was a dead Indian. Two boys. The Indian's son, Martin's age, and a boy with a tail, Niklas's age. They were casting some type of magic spell. A dragon appeared, a big one. The dragon looked down and the dead Indian was alive. The Indian boy was crying. He ran to his father, who was starting to stand up, and hugged him. It was a stupid show. Dead fathers didn't come back to life. Keith turned off the TV remote and threw it at the TV. He sat there for a minute or two and didn't think about anything. Keith noticed that he was crying, but it didn't seem important. There was a sound behind him and he realized that his stepfather was in the room. He'd been watching. That didn't seem important either. “Keith...” his stepfather said. “What.” “We received your grades today. They'd improved.” “So?” His stepfather paused. “Is there anywhere you'd like to go for dinner tonight?” He sounded different than usual. Keith thought for a moment. “Maybe.” * * * |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
A.M.: You said "I don't think that it is helpful to tell us that if we don't want to (or are unable to) submit our own stories and artwork, we should keep our opinions to ourselves. I've been away for over a year, primarily because of that message. Maybe other have been too. Is that really desirable?" I gather that you haven't finished reading what's actually been said. Let's try it this way: Who is it that you're talking to? Here's a hint: You've mentioned me by name, but it isn't me. Perhaps there is a well-furnished office somewhere with cubicles. Pictures of Niklas and Friends adorn the walls. Niklas himself is in the coffee room, getting donuts to prepare for a Board Meeting. The company stock has risen and everybody is going to be rich. Now there is plenty of money to fund projects of all types. Dozens of artists and writers sit by their phones, waiting eagerly for directions. The Executive Planning Committee weighs wise advice such as yours, makes decisions, and issues orders. The staff snaps to attention! Do you imagine that I am on the Executive Planning Committee? There *are* high-level discussions. But it doesn't really work like that. Thank you for your remarks about what is, and is not, "helpful". Would you like to know who the recent posts, including your own, have helped? Until recently, there *was* no Niklas project. The main project ended five years ago. As it happens, a few people invested time over several years to work on a few projects of their own. One person did so while dealing with a life-threatening illness; this was combined with treatment that was nearly as difficult by itself. A second person had gone through a similar illness and surgery about six months previously. Under slightly different circumstances, he might not have made it. A third person has been dealing with medical issues for some time now. He's rather tired, and he's probably not going to make it. But he still likes to be useful and wishes to contribute. A fourth person is dealing with real-life issues of a different nature. If you had the same issues, you'd put everything else aside. But he's both writing stories and creating artwork regardless. A fifth person, one of the most active contributors to this project years ago, left when the project shut down but returned recently. This was due to efforts made by the others; he told me that he was startled to see the progress that had been made. A sixth person, a promising writer and artist, is close to deciding whether or not he'd like to be involved. He's seen the recent negative posts. As have some of the others. May I pause to say to the negative posters, thank you for making it easier to recruit Niklas artists and writers. They often have real-life difficulties. But surely they will be pleased with benefits such as weeks of work with no pay, as long as they can look forward to feedback such as yours. By all means, keep this up. It is most helpful (to use your word, A.M.). But which artist or writer are you talking about? Whose works do you have a problem with, exactly? Me? The odds are that you haven't seen my writing. Maybe I'll post a piece that was going to become a new comic story. Then you'll have something to judge. This isn't about me. This is about the people who have done most of the actual work. People create for different reasons. One of them is to say things they'd like to say. The three "aliens" writers (March, Jonathan, Eidan) fall into this category. If you like, tell them they were wrong to do so. Go ahead; nobody will stop you. The other three are the team that was, in fact, planning the type of traditional Niklas story that you and others have been talking about; the first traditional Niklas comic in years. Aside from the Introduction comic page that we posted recently, that is. By the way, did you have a problem with the Introduction comic? If so, feel free to take it up with Niklas himself; we based that page on Niklas's own rough draft. A new multi-page Niklas comic has been under consideration for a while. We'd have been happy to discuss directions with anybody who wanted to be involved. You weren't one of them. Nor were any of the other people who have posted recently. Encouragement would have helped. But there's been little but negative feedback recently. It's all been from people who have shown up suddenly and who haven't taken the time to get the facts. People who know the score have been supportive. This includes, for example, Thilion, Antek, and EZ, plus a few others. I'll address EZ directly: Gracias. Le ofreció aliento. Usted ayudó a las personas que estaban muy cansados. And, Antek, I'll repeat something I've said elsewhere: Kontynuuj, aby napisać! But we're suspending work on the traditional comic story for the time being. Anybody reading this is free to do one themselves, of course. There simply isn't enough support or even positive feedback to justify new projects that involve that level of effort. As far as the "message" goes: You're confused about my role. Shall we clear up a few misconceptions? After the Niklas project shut down, I started the fan-art site. Subsequently, I acted as editor for "Dark Past" and other projects. I've made attempts to teach people rules of thumb for artwork and the structure of stories. In a few cases, I've included training for HTML, PC maintenance, and other technical issues. I've edited short stories and, in some cases, rewritten them. I've also made corrections to both 2D and 3D pictures. But the most important thing I've done is to encourage artists and writers to follow their own visions. Creative people who volunteer their time for free, especially those working under difficulties that you can only imagine, should go where their feelings take them. An editor is there to keep them from making wrong turns, or driving off the road altogether, but in the end the journey is theirs. You may not be able to create stories and artwork yourself, but you *could* offer your time. A while back, you chose not to do this. It was easier for you to simply leave and wait for something interesting to happen. And now that there's signs of life, you and others are coming out of the woodwork. We're glad to see you. But this is your tone: "Hi, folks. Sorry we weren't here to help cook the meal or set the table. And we won't help wash the dishes either. But we're hungry! What's for dinner? And be sure to include a good dessert!" If you're going to offer words of wisdom, take the time to learn the ropes first. This isn't about your right to have opinions. It's about respect that's been earned. I'll continue what I'm doing, to the extent that it's fun. This includes posting here, assisting with the new site, and, most importantly, working with artists and writers if they're interested. And if people wish to post more remarks about "directions", "nostalgics", "messages", etc., that's fine. But after tonight these posts aren't going to be a priority for me; or for some of the artists and writers that I'm presently working with. Some of us have received enough input to last us for a while. We're going to pull back a little and focus on other things. Email is welcome, regardless. People who take the time to write get responses. Additionally, their input is solicited as new projects move forward. As a side note, there's no reason not to do the proposed questionnaire. But traffic is too low for it to be very useful. Presently, I think there's only one young person who both visits and posts. One isn't a statistically significant number. :-) By the way, that young person is a contributor. He hasn't drawn pictures or submitted stories, but he's offered his time. He's more useful than any number of people who prefer to show up out of the blue and kibitz without bothering to get the facts. A few additional young people visit the main sites and, most likely, lurk here, but don't post here. For what it's worth, visitors (of all ages) are located around the world. |
| Name (required): | Ancient Mariner |
| Comments (required): | Hello everyone,
I agree with the sentiments expressed in Nikfan's letter of Jan. 3 . To me, the value of the Niklas stories is their sympathetic portrayal of the same-sex affection, and perhaps physical attraction, among "real" 11 or 12 year old boys. This realistic portrayal of day-to-day feelings and emotions, combined with first-rate art, is what gives the stories their value to young "pre-gay" readers. As James, Jonathan, Thiel and others grapple with how this site should evolve, we seem to lack some important information. How many young (15 and under, say) readers does this site have? What aspects of this site attracts them the most? How often do they return? Obtaining such information may be difficult, but perhaps we should ask. We could do this in two ways. (1) Jonathan could attach to the preamble to the messageboard the following questionnaire: (a) How old are you? (b) How many times have you visited? (c) What do you like most about the site? (2) A similar questionnaire could be made part of the introduction page to the site. This approach has its limitations (for example, respondants could lie about their age). But it might be worth trying. Once we have some answers, it will be easier to decide on the best direction for the site to take. Also, I don't think that it is helpful to tell us that if we don't want to (or are unable to) submit our own stories and artwork, we should keep our opinions to ourselves. I've been away for over a year, primarily because of that message. Maybe other have been too. Is that really desirable? We all have the same goal -- preserving this as a useful and enjoyable site for questioning young people. Let's remember that. And James, I do admire all the time, energy and devotion that you give to this website. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | A quick note to everyone. I had started a post earlier, but didn't finish it, and then while discussing creative ideas with James I managed to lose it. Anyway, here is a summary of some of it.
My post of last week was not intended to disparage anyones writing ability. The shark jump reference was one I shouldn't have made, having meant it (in essence) to convey my belief that the storyline would be hard to understand to new readers if it was not re-united somehow and quickly. I still am worried about that, but I realize that since I am not a story contributor that I should not look a gift horse in the mouth. [I wonder how that "gift horse" expression will sound in German, lol? Sorry Thillion. BTW, it refers to the practice of gauging the health and age of a horse by looking at his teeth. If the horse is a gift, it is not polite to do judge the horse that closely.] Anyway, I ruffled more feathers than I intended to, in my attempt to try to encourage a grand (or at least a gradual) sorting out of the storylines. For that I apologize. James and I have been in communication regarding ideas for the Niklas world. He has encouraged me to write, and while writing was what I thought I wanted to do when I went to college, that has fallen completely by the wayside in the intervening years. For now, I don't see me trying my hand again. I have informed James that he is free to share any ideas I have sent with any of the others that he wishes. Meanwhile, I wanted to follow up on mine and James and Thillions posts and let everyone know that there were no arguments or even serious disagreements brewing beneath the surfaces. I hurt James' feelings with my carelessness, and I apologized, and he got me back with his lighthearted and well-done shark jump picture. So all is well. Jonathan, I am sorry to hear that you have had some serious health problems, but I am glad you seem to have them under control for now, and I hope the prognosis continues to be good. It's good to hear from you again. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | Jonathan the Niklas Fan |
| E-mail address: | jonathan(underscore)nikfan(at)fastmail(dot)fm |
| Comments (required): | Hi folks. I'm still around and still monitoring this forum.
Regarding my problems while writing The Dark Past: "Difficult Circumstances" indeed. I don't intend to go into great detail on a public forum, but I can say that my problem was life-threatening and the treatments required were almost as bad as the problem. Although my prospects are now far more hopeful than not, there is still no certainty that the problem will not return. I'm not going to grumble about it. Life itself is a risk. I've made a start on a sequel to The Dark Past. I don't really have enough material yet to write the whole story, but I do have enough to get the boys as far as Korras. After that, I may need to pause writing for a few months while I ponder what direction the story needs to take. All of which is my way of saying "don't hold your breath while you wait". I will try to make the wait worthwhile of course. :-) Incidentally, people with knowledge of genetics may think that 64 DNA samples (as depicted in The Dark Past) would not be enough genetic diversity to sustain a population without introducing catastrophic genetic mutations due to in-breeding. Perhaps I need to point out that the Vitalian genome has very few mutations, due to their healing ability. The individual known as V'Kret was a mutation so rare that you could not expect another like him for another million years or more. It is entirely possible that a similar mutation will never again show up in the Vitalian race. Simply put, Vitalians are so genetically stable that siblings can (and occasionally do) marry and have offspring. This practice is vanishingly rare in Vitalian culture, but it is not forbidden. In fact, since there is no significant risk from disease or mutation and since what we call "rape" is practically impossible due to Vitalian Touch Empathy, you may assume that any interaction between Vitalians of any age is generally permitted in Vitalian culture. Vitalian social practices would, of course, be unwise in Human society since we cannot know each other's minds with certainty, and both disease and mutations are very real prospects to us. More bluntly: It's Fantasy! Treat it as such. I also have another story in mind which may become part of the Niklas "canon" (I consider all the "alien" stories including my spin-off to be "non-canon"). The new story will be similar in style to the three short stories I first wrote and which are part of the Niklas site. Remember "Mr John" at the delicatessen? I think he's too nice a person to abandon after only one story. A third story which I have begun thinking of is a possible final episode to the Grumpy Old Man story. I believe I have guessed correctly about where the story was going, but I don't know exactly how it was going to arrive (so to speak). I'll have a try at making something sensible and if Onslow returns, he can declare my episode "non-canon" and write his intended ending to the story. Thilion, we have an almost identical expression in English, "set in stone" (probably refers to driving a building's foundations right down into rock). I expect the expression you used refers to carving a message into rock, which is close enough to the English expression. Regarding what is "canon" and what is "non-canon" in the Niklas world, here is what I believe: * The Niklas "world" does not believe in Aliens from other planets, so any story with them is "non-canon". The Niklas characters may believe in Aliens, but they never actually show up in a truly "canon" story. * The same rules apply to ghosts and to anything supernatural or other-worldly. If something seemingly supernatural occurs, there will always be a "natural" explanation for it. The natural explanation may be very unlikely (leaving the reader to decide if it "really happened" or not) but a natural explanation will always be possible if the story is "canon". |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Antek, Eidan, Nikfan, Patrick: You should all have received new letters from me. The Russian text in the post below seems to be just a Hello. |
| Name (required): | Аноним А |
| E-mail address: | private@private.private |
| Comments (required): | Всем привет) |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
As promised, here's a new drawing by Perry. If you'd like to see a "shark jump" done properly, visit the fan-art site and you'll find "Niklas Shark Jump" near the top. The Fonz would be proud. :-) The link is above. Note: The Silver Eagle (i.e., the Botaran spaceship) came out slightly fuzzy but I may fix that later. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
1. Thilion said, "So, please tell us about ideas you have. Maybe we can put them in." Ideas are fine. But if you have ideas, consider working on them yourself. Do you want more "real-world" text stories? Let's see some story outlines. Would you like a new Niklas comic story? Try your hand at a storyboard; you can use stick figures if necessary. Do you speak multiple languages? Assist with translations. 2. Nikfan: I've received your letter and I'll reply in a day or two after some thought. 3. A bit of context might be useful here. It's been nearly three years since Perry and I started working on Niklas fan-art. We didn't set out to replace Niklas, or even to join the official project. There *was* no official project; work on "Niklas" ended about five years ago. There was no compensation for this other than comments, and those were few and far-between. We had no responsibility to meet anybody's expectations. Instead, we started something new in the hopes that it would evolve, and it did. Perry's skills have improved and his artwork is consistently novel and often fun. And it's about two years now since I started talking to Jonathan and Patrick. Patrick is both a 3D artist and a writer. You may see more from him soon. Jonathan's "Dark Past" had potential, so I encouraged him to work on it. The story was about aliens. So what? The characters were important to Jonathan and this is the story he wanted to tell. As the author, Jonathan had no obligation to anybody or anything but his own vision. I can't imagine people feeling that they're entitled to say otherwise. But of course they do feel this way. For what it's worth, "Dark Past" was completed under difficult circumstances. Most people wouldn't have been able to proceed. But the project *was* completed and it worked out quite well. People seemed to like both the site and the story. Incidentally, "Dark Past" went onto a new site and not the official one because, to put it as simply as possible, the official site was dead. I initiated and edited "Dark Past" with the intention of bringing "Niklas" back from the dead. The idea was to involve anti-bullying groups with this and other projects. I was going to put them in touch with Niklas (the creator) and see where this led. But to make what I had in mind work, I'd have needed people to step forward and help. Nobody did; instead, they posted wistful remarks about "Why isn't there more Niklas" or "I'd like it if Niklas came back". "Dark Past" is about aliens. It's not "grounded in the real world". However, at least we made an attempt to do something useful. And, actually, there's more to the story than aliens and the consequences of galactic wars. I'll come back to this in a minute. In the past year, Eidan and Thilion have joined us and March has returned. March happens to be the creator of Niklas's aliens, and somebody who contributed over the years as opposed to simply talking about things. His perspective on things carries some weight. While March is around, we're going to work on finishing some of his lost stories. Yes, they're about aliens; this is what he wanted to write about. And, actually, a couple are quite promising. But if you'd like to balance the "aliens" stories with "real-world" stories, you're free to write some. Eidan has led an interesting life. In fact, he's a real-life Morik in some ways. If you'd like to understand, watch the movie "Emerald Forest"; there are some parallels to what happened. The Botarans echo Eidan's past as well, in a different way. Eidan sees the March aliens as a way to talk about things and he'd like to do so. I've encouraged this. I've spent time setting up a new website and editing his story. And we're going to continue the project if circumstances permit. But Eidan's story isn't about aliens despite the fact that it focuses on the Botarans. As I've explained before, it's about families and the acceptance of differences. Worthwhile subjects, I think. Jonathan's story has some depth as well. These two writers are accomplishing more than any number of people who prefer to sit around and sigh. And Eidan is throwing in 3D artwork as well. If you're one of the sigh-ers, what have *you* done? Thilion, of course, has gone further. He's invested time and effort to bring the full project back, or at least to maintain it. All of these contributors have done something useful. But if you're one of the people who believes that your thoughts are as valuable as gold in and of themselves, as I've said before, input is welcome. |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.niklascomics.de |
| Comments (required): | Hi there,
first of all, as you know: English is not my native language. So I appologize in advance if I should use an idiom that I'm not aware of, like jumping sharks or so. There has been much discussion here which in my opinion is good! And, also IMHO, things said in a discussion are not cut into stone (I hope that from-German-translated idiom makes sense in English). Personally, I also like the "regular" Niklas stories better, but that doesn't mean I don't like the "branches" of other stories. They are interesting and exciting, too. Like James already said: new things that happen on the new site are sometimes for testing purposes, to see what others think of it. I would like to encourage everyone to be honest and say if he likes something or not. Or if he misses something. The new site has (kind of) endless possibilities to place new content. So, please tell us about ideas you have. Maybe we can put them in. Thilion |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
1. I made a mistake in the post below. I meant to say that Keith's stepfather has an unexpected realization, not an expected one. 2. As a separate note, if more people would like to talk about "nostalgics", "jumping the shark", etc., comments are welcome. However, it might be helpful to read older posts first. Better still, let's see what you can do. The project is an attempt to do something worthwhile. If you'd like to help, consider submitting creative works in addition to opinions. Note that your drawings or stories may be edited or revised extensively. Additionally, all content will be placed under a Creative Commons license. 3. Writers and artists appreciate feedback. If you'd like to see more from Perry, Eidan, Patrick, Jonathan, and others, send comments in. Even if they're about sharks. Which reminds me, a "Niklas Shark Jump" drawing will be posted soon. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Nikfan: Glad to see you're back, or at least lurking. If you'd like to talk, drop me a line and confirm that the old address still works. Regarding your primary concern: The main "Niklas" series could and perhaps should be viewed as a self-contained series that's set entirely in the real world. But the "aliens" stories are a fun branch off of the main series. "Dark Past" is an interesting branch off of that. And now "Bright Future" (Eidan's story) is a branch off of *that*. "Bright Future" happens to be about families and the acceptance of differences. It's a story that both educators and Niklas's target audience may like. And, though your input is welcome, you're not the target audience. There's some subtext that you, as an adult, may find interesting. For example, I've been meaning to talk to Jonathan about the fact that "Dark Past" has not one, but three Resurrections plus the implication that a fourth is yet to come. But the stories are for somebody else: the person that the author, in each case, used to be and that he wants to help, whether or not it's decades too late. Let's try another tack. If you're unhappy about the branches so far, it'll be interesting to see your reaction to "Long Summer". This is a full-length novel in progress. In "Long Summer", Niklas and his friends encounter a ghost. Jonathon and Keith hang out a bit. Jason and Jonathon play soccer. Tarzan, Tom Swift, and the Heterodyne Boys mingle with Niklas, Fabian, Randy, Tina, and the others. A young inventor named Buzz Conroy debates ethics with the Botarans. They're concerned about Buzz's creation Frankenstein Jr. Keith's stepfather has an expected realization. Randy goes on a few dates. Martin uses what he's learned from stories to deal with aliens who aren't the friendly type. Morik's people come to Earth to retrieve him. He isn't what they expected. Dorrians are devoted to rituals and structured art. Morik is less formal; he sees naked paintball as performance art. Note: The Morik chapter is based on a lost March story, just as the new Niklas Introduction comic is based on lost Niklas artwork. This isn't remotely a canonical Niklas book. The point is that it's fine regardless. If things come across right, and if "Niklas's" target audience approves, the project is worthwhile. "Real-world" stories are worthwhile as well. And I offered to work on "Grumpy Old Man", but there wasn't much input. Would you like to see a real-world story? Send me an outline and let's work on it. I've discussed related issues with most of the contributors here, including March, who created the aliens in question. I'd have discussed things with you, but you haven't been around. BTW March returned because people made contributions as opposed to kibitzing. And he didn't show up to kibitz himself. Here's a question for you: Are you a contributor, or a kibitzer? We'd be happy to keep you in the loop. But you'll need to contribute more than remarks about sharks, however helpful and informative they may seem. Speaking of which, let's get to that. You said, "The author never "jumped the shark" as the saying goes. I hope that is not what is in the process of happening here." Jumped the shark? The question of direction has been addressed before. See my posts to Simon. BTW Simon where are those Megacosmo and Captain Helmet drawings? This is the answer for now. "Real-world" Niklas is fine. Branches off of that series are also fine. You can talk about other people's efforts. Or you can show us what *you* can do. BTW For non-English speakers, "jumping the shark" refers to a TV show named "Happy Days". The term means relying on stunts because you can't write very well. The hero of "Happy Days" jumped over a shark. This was viewed as a sign that the series had passed its prime. You added, "A possibility might be to make the "fantasy/superhero" aspect of it an ongoing creative effort of the boys." There are two ways to look at it. Fantasies are creations of the boys. And they're real in their own context; branches off of the main world. Megacosmo is fantasy on Martin's part. Captain Helmet is also a pretend character. Does this preclude artwork by Simon? The March aliens may be Niklas's imagination in the original stories, but they're real at the same time. Even 7-year-old readers are fine with DC Comics' approach to the same issue, which is similar in some respects. You added, "This may already be a moot point given the direction things have taken, but I would like to see a deliberate and more thorough re-grounding of the "real Niklas boys" in the real world." Thanks for the advice. Do you have story drafts, drawings, 3D artwork, factual articles, poems, or other contributions to go with it? |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | The new site looks good. I had never seen the "original" look to the Niklas characters before the other day. They reminded me of the difference between the early Simpsons and how they looked a little later on.
I hope the focus in the new site remains on the boys being regular boys--who occasionally playact and have daydreams in which they are superheros or meet aliens. I have never said anything about this before, but personally I have never understood or gotten into the notion that the whole superhero/alien thing was ever meant to be anything more than simply that, regular boys who (as I did and still do) liked comic books, superheros and science fiction. I liked comic books, superheros and aliens and daydreaming and pretending as much (or more possibly) than the next boy; but I also liked Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and other more true to life adventure stories involving boys. To me, Niklas and his friends are to a degree a modern and more domesticated, suburban version of Tom, Huck and their friends. There was a huge amount of "play-pretending" and daydreaming in the Tom and Huck books, from a boy careening down the dusty street, pretending to be a steamboat, to Tom and Huck and friends pretending to be pirates, and then running away and later pretending to be dead and attending their own funeral (which ended hilariously, as did most of their misadventures). And, of course, there were a thousand other hi-jinks and adventures, some real, some briefly imagined, some detailed by the author Mark Twain, others only alluded to briefly. But through them all, they remained the same boys, never did they morph into real pirates or anything else for real, only in their imaginative minds and in their play. They had real life adventures for sure, and big and scary things happened in the stories, but the author never "jumped the shark" as the saying goes. I hope that is not what is in the process of happening here. This may already be a moot point given the direction things have taken over the past year or so, but personally I would like to see a deliberate and more thorough re-grounding of the "real Niklas boys" in the real world. And a clear cut line drawn between the purely fantasy/comic book/superhero/alien type of story and the modern Tom and Huck world of mischievous regular boys who merely daydream and playact these roles, as Edlund had them doing in their bedrooms, living rooms or the great outdoors. While I can see a role for an offshoot series of stories that don't purport to connect in any realistic way with the "real" boys of Niklas' neighborhood, except to use their visages and characters as a basis for the fantasy characters, I think, in that case, there should be a clear line of demarcation between those two utterly incompatible worlds. A possibility of how to realistically unite the two worlds, which only now occurred to me, might be to make the "fantasy/superhero" aspect of it, an ongoing creative effort of one or more of the boys, such as I think was alluded to a little by Niklas from time to time such as in the apparently true story "Daniel", as well as in a few of the Niklas comics. That way the stories involving the aliens and such would have a real world, grounded purpose for involving, what are in reality suburban boys. The aliens/superhero stuff would then simply become (or be re-acknowledged as) merely an ongoing creative project of theirs, one which might lend itself to "real world" discussions between the boys involving perhaps creative differences upon occasion, or other plot and story lines. It could involve stories of writing contests or other creative contests that they might enter either together or individually. It might lend itself to stories about the learning of the craft, and the introduction of one or more adult creative mentoring figures. All in all, I personally would like to see a certain plausibility, that is currently lacking re-introduced into the Niklas world, through either a complete severing of the two worlds (which I see as problematic at best, but preferable to the present fork or tangent approach, or whatever one wants to call it), or, alternatively, a re-grounding of the "fantasy Niklas characters" as being an outgrowth of daydreams and boyish fantasies (as it mostly was in the beginning). With the fantasy stories being simply a creative effort of the boys themselves. That way the superhero and alien angle could be told without thoroughly un-grounding the lads from suburbia as is currently being seemingly done, and in the process utterly confusing and possibly alienating newcomers, as well as people such as myself, from the storyline entirely. In a nutshell, I would like to see the Niklas world return to being a bunch of rambunctious boys (some of whom are exploring their feelings for each other and some of whom are not), having mostly self-generated adventures in a suburban setting, with occasional travels to country locations. And, to that end, perhaps other country cousins (kissing cousins, lol?) could be introduced (as was done in one story to a limited degree). Basically, the graphic novel or comic book version of a modernized "Tom and Huck and Friends" type of world, in which some of the boys are possibly gay or bi, and others are not sure one way or the other yet about themselves yet, some discover in the story that they are straight, and through it all they always (or almost always) end up remaining amiable friends. If I have gotten something completely wrong in my understanding of the fantasy direction that the Niklas characters have taken, then let me know. I freely admit that I have not read many of the fantasy Niklas stories, and only skimmed much of what I did read. It's not really been my cup of tea to be honest. I liked the "real world" stories much better. And I liked Niklas Edlunds coy, mysterious, and slightly naughty approach of storytelling better as well, no offense intended to anyone. But I have felt since this whole aliens and superhero thing started (or at least as it exited the realm of boys merely playacting in their bedrooms, living rooms and backyards), that the Niklas world was going, as Edlund put it in "Daniel", quite a bit "wide of the mark". I think we need to search for and hopefully find a way to bring the whole thing back into the realm of suburbia. If not the way I suggested, then another way perhaps? Perhaps, if one of the existing writers, or perhaps a new one that might like to try his hand, could re-unite the worlds and bring back the small town neighborhood charm of the original stories. And re-hook the fantasy stories under that umbrella of events and characters, it would be more cohesive and make more sense to newcomers and long time readers alike. Jonathan, my intent is constructive criticism, and these are things I have thought about ever since the Niklas world started drifting this way in the absence of Edlund. However, once the point is made, if what I have said upsets anyone, please take this comment down. My intent is to put in my two cents worth, not upset anyone or to cause division. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ: Gracias. Proyectos continuarán. De hecho, se ha avanzado en la actualidad (1 de enero). Una nueva página web ha comenzado. Si usted tiene amigos que escribir o dibujar, los envían a James. Everybody else: Here's a rough translation of EZ's latest post in Spanish. As usual, this isn't exact but it'll give you the idea. Hi, everybody. Happy New Year to you all. The best to you and your families, and I sincerely hope your goals and projects for the year are successful. (Editor's note: In the next paragraph, EZ is talking about Eidan's new site. There's a link above this post.) I saw the new page and I'm glad to see that the Niklas universe is continuing in this way. I'm sure that future generations will enjoy these wonderful stories quite a lot. (Editor's note: EZ, you're very kind :-) I'll keep an eye out for new edited comics on this side and (the rest is untranslatable). Anyway, thanks again for having created and shared these stories with the world. Goodbye for now. I'll see you soon. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
1. Antoni: I have Polish translations. They'll be posted over time. Niklas is now a fully international project. We'll count on you for things like Polish spelling corrections. Regarding the mixed-up pages that you noticed, expect issues like this for a while. It's a "beta" version of the site. That means it's being developed. But feedback is appreciated. 2. Everybody else: Happy Niks Year. :-) This project is officially alive again. This is good news because "Niklas" serves a purpose. The original writer-artist isn't going to return. However, whether we simply maintain things or add new material, it's likely to help where help is needed. It's ironic that somebody referred to the artwork I've posted (Saturday Morning Niklas, Hallowniklas, Jahv Solar, etc.) as being for elderly "nostalgics". He's older than the audience that "Niklas" was intended for. So are most of the people reading this. Some of you are my age, and I remember black and white television. :-) The point is that some people miss "Niklas", a series that ended half a decade ago. But, in most cases, they simply talk about it. That's "nostalgia". Nostalgia is fine, but if you experienced difficulties in real life when you were Niklas's age, remember something: this is still happening. It's the 21st century now, and somehow this is still acceptable because people don't do anything. And not everybody makes it through. The series isn't primarily for you. It's for those who are going through what you went through years ago. If the issue matters to you, put aside nostalgia and invest time in the project. If you'd like to write or draw, contact me. It doesn't matter if you're not up to speed. You may be surprised at how rapidly things improve. For an example, check out Eidan's new site. Most of the written material is brand-new, but his story (Bright Future) and poem (Botaran Night Before Christmas) show potential. Eidan focuses on families, relationships, and the acceptance of differences. Not tolerance, but acceptance. If this sounds right to you, maybe you have something to add. Eidan's and Perry's artwork should need no introduction at this point. Patrick's artwork is also promising. Feel free to join them. That said, everybody is welcome to visit and we do hope to post new material in 2012. 3. Yes, Simon, to be clear, some of this may be for older readers. For example, the antique relics here are looking forward to a "Legion of Niklas Heroes" set. :-) Actually, the Legion is still current. Warner Brothers produced a kids' version a few years ago (both U.S. TV and comic books), an adult version appeared around the same time on the U.S. TV series "Smallville", and the teenage version is still being published by DC Comics. The point here is that popular culture is fun. Do you begrudge contributors a bit of fun? "Nostalgic" artwork like "Niklas Dark Shadows", "Gold Key Star Trek", and "Davy Tarzan" is going to continue. So will inside jokes like "Botaran Name Puzzle". But this isn't the focus of the project. Note: People who remember the original Legion of Super-Heroes are welcome to write me with suggestions for the "Niklas Heroes" set. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): |
hola a todos feliz año nuevo a todos ustedes que este año que acaba de comenzar este lleno de salud y alegrÃa para todos y cada uno de ustedes y sus familias, que en este año vean realizados todos sus sueños y proyectos, les deseo sinceramente lo mejor vi la nueva página y me llena de felicidad el saber que seguirán adelante con este hermoso universo de Niklas estoy seguro que las futuras generaciones disfrutaran mucho de estas maravillosas historias seguiré atento a nuevos comics editados para aportarlos y asà contribuir con la nueva página en fin, de nuevo gracias por haber creado y compartido estas bellÃsimas historias con el mundo, adiós nos vemos pronto |
| Name (required): | Anthony |
| E-mail address: | antekcem@yahoo.pl |
| Comments (required): | Hi!
i have just seen the new site.... and yeah!!! there is part of "when Jonathon moved in" .... but...wait ... why is it mixed with "rollercoaster" ? it's nice to see, that there is (will be) a polish version. there are few mistakes , but hope that it will be fixed in future. (if any help with polish translation will be needed, i will be happy to help with it.) the short "introduction" part may be better ... hope to see the site completed before next new year ;) Anthony. |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Homepage URL: | http://www2.niklascomics.de |
| Comments (required): | Good morning and Happy New Year!
As promised here is the link to the new Niklas-Site (see above). Note: it is still in devlopment and in its BETA-phase. The startpage for instance is not what I had in mind. It still needs work. Let me know what you think about it. Any review will be welcome. Thilion |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.niklascomics.de |
| Comments (required): | Hello everyone,
an belated Merry Christmas! I have a visitor and thus aren't able to go online as much as I usually do. Thanks to EZ for the links to the spanish comic versions. I have downloaded them and mirror them on niklascomics.de. So far I have only changed "Todo excepto chicas" to display the spanish images, because it's relatively a lot of work. It will be easier to put them online on the the new site. I hope I will be able to get everything done that I have planned for the new site to put it online for New Year's day. Thilion |
| Name (required): | Holiday Pal |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.lincoln-shitting.com/images/lincoln-shitting.gif |
| Comments (required): |
I want to extend a heartfelt Holiday wish. Keep in mind that some of our Jewish friends need to be included here. So to EVERYONE, Merry Christmas! May this season bring forth the Joy of feeling that Holiday Spirit. Great site, keep up the good work!! |
| Name (required): | Anthony |
| E-mail address: | antekcem@yahoo.pl |
| Comments (required): | Hi you all there!
i know that it's late, but i was out from town for few days, so i wasn't able to send you any Christmas wishes . now I'm back, and i want to wish you Marry Christmas , and happy New year. have fun with friends and family . i feel great, and i hope that you are feeling good too. with best Wishes from Poland, Anthony. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://sites.google.com/site/arionkeyro/ |
| Comments (required): |
Merry Christmas. We have a few gifts for you: a lost Niklas comic page, some new 3D scenes, a Christmas poem, and the first two chapters of a new story. For the lost comic page and an explanation, go to the fan-art site and scroll down. The link is above my next post below. This is what Perry has been working on recently. For the other items, go to the link above this post. This is Eidan's new site. The site is under construction, so pages may be broken sometimes, but it looks good in general. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ, Feliz Navidad para ti también. Hay nuevos elementos para la Navidad: Una página de cómic grande, algunas escenas en 3D, un poema, y el comienzo de una nueva historia. Voy a publicar explicaciones más arriba en unos minutos. English translation: EZ, Merry Christmas to you also. There are new items for Christmas: A full-size comic page, some 3D scenes, a poem, and the beginning of a new story. I will post explanations above in a few minutes. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
This is a translation of EZ's latest Spanish posts. It isn't exact but it gives the idea. EZ says: I'm glad that the translated pages will be saved and not lost. BTW I saw your own pages and I love the pictures. The Fabian-Jeremy "Songbook" drawing gave me mixed feelings of grief and happiness. I hope there's a chapter in the future where they meet again. That would be beautiful. With some of the drawings, especially those based on "Gold Key", I wish I could have lived in that time and enjoyed all of them. (Editor's note: EZ is referring to the "nostalgic" drawings that Simon talked about previously and the original books, comics, or TV shows.) I'm also reading the stories "Nobody's Boy", "The Quest of Iranon" and "Rainstar". I'm especially interested in the latter, because I like interactive stories. (Editor's note: You'll find links for the sites that EZ is visiting at the bottom of the fan-art pages. Start with the link above this post. A couple of sites are broken, but most are working. If you work with me on a project, it'll be added to the list.) I've also read all the messages in this "Dreambook". The topics are very interesting. (EZ asked a question about Antony and Poland here that I couldn't translate.) I'm going now, thanks again for having created and shared with the world all these wonderful stories. P.S. I forgot the most important thing I wanted to say in my previous message. MERRY CHRISTMAS, I wish the best for each and every one of you this holiday season. I also hope that the New Year will be full of joy and see the fulfillment of your goals and dreams. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | a, se me olvido lo mas importante que les queria decir en mi mensaje anterior
FELIZ NAVIDAD, les deceo lo mejor a todos y cada unos de ustedes en estas fiestas y que el a;o que comienza este lleno de alegrias y que se cumplan todas sus metas y sue;os |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): |
me alegra saber eso, asi estaran mas seguras y no se perderan ^w^ emm, vi tu paguina, me encantaron las imagenes me dio una sensacion de pena y a la vez de alegria la imagen de jeremy reciviendo el cancionero de fabian, ojala en un futuro puedan crear un capitulo en donde se reunen nuevamente, eso seria muy hermoso. en fin, con algunas, especialmente las inspiradas en "Gold Key" me dieron ganas de haver vivido en ese tiempo para haber disfrutado de todas ellas tambien estoy leyendo las historias "NADIE BOY" , "La búsqueda de Iranon" y "RAINSTAR" esta ultima me intereza, ya e leido historias interactivas y estoy seguro que esta me gustara mucho. tambien me lei todos los mensajes de esta "Dreambook", hay temas muy interesante, por sierto han sabido mas de antonio de polonia? en fin, ya me voy, gracias de nuevo por haber creado y compartido con el mundo todas estas maravillosas historias, nos vemos |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ's latest post seems to be an explanation that the Spanish Niklas links he posted before are gone. He's also provided new links to replace the old ones. But I might post these pages on a more stable site; either this weekend or next week. Eventually they'll move to the official site. To EZ (translating the above): Hola, EZ. He copiado las páginas. Este fin de semana o la próxima semana, voy a crear un sitio web nuevo para ellos. Con el tiempo se trasladarán a la sede oficial. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | Hola, yo de nuevo
El foro del que les hable hace un tiempo tuvo una manutención por la cual los link de los comics de niklas and friends editados que les aporte quedaron obsoletos por lo que les aporto los nuevos link Anything but Girls! http://forosdz.com/shotacon-349/doujin-niklas-friends-todo-excepto-chicas-12232/ A New Kid In The Hood http://forosdz.com/shotacon-349/doujin-niklas-friends-un-nuevo-nino-en-el-vecindario-13204/ How to become a rockstar http://forosdz.com/shotacon-349/doujin-nicklas-friends-como-ser-una-estrella-de-rock-14277/ My favorite fairy tale http://forosdz.com/shotacon-349/doujin-niklas-friends-mi-cuento-de-hadas-favorito-12544/ estaré atento a nuevos comics o historias de Niklas and friends editados en el foro para aportarles los link nos vemos pronto |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Jose, thanks for stopping by. Check your email for some current information. |
| Name (required): | Jose |
| E-mail address: | Mitsuru.Lee@gmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://portraitsofhell.wordpress.com/ |
| Comments (required): | Hiya friends...long time no read you, maybe some remenber me, maybe not, maybe some never hear of me but thats ok i was here when the Niklas site just get famous, im glad you still here and get some new company.
Now im a writer with 2 books and 1 ebook publish and still working with photography i hope to know how is everybody...Happy holidays. PS: I wirte the Storie Mi primer Amigo or My first Friend here in the storie section ;P |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ says: (I couldn't translate the first two paragraphs completely. The first one was about writing in Spanish. The second one expressed regret for any confusion related to the authorship of "Dark Past".) I'm glad that my comments come across as nice. They simply express what the stories make me feel. The truth is that I'd have liked to have friends like these in my childhood, but I never had the chance. For this reason, reading these adventures, somehow I feel like I'm part of them, and it fills me with excitement and happiness. Hmm, one of my stories published here... truthfully, they're not comparable to the current stories. They wouldn't fit well with the theme of this site. I think, though, that I could write a story in the future that would fit. Yes, maybe I'll do that. O.K., I'll be waiting for (Eidan's) new story; I'm sure it'll be as good as any I've read yet. See you soon. Bye. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | siento mucho el trabajo que le ocasiono con mis mensajes en español
si, tengo claro que la historia "dark past" fue escrita por Jonathan, es que exprese mi mensaje de esa forma con la esperanza de que algún día lo lea, ya que por lo que veo el es el creador de este drembook, en fin, me disculpo por la confusión que le cause. me alegra que mis comentarios le sean agradables, tan solo expreso lo que sus historias me hicieron sentir. la verdad es que me hubiera gustado tener amigos como ellos en mi niñez, pero nunca tuve la oportunidad, por este motivo al leer sus aventuras me siento de alguna manera parte de ellas y eso me llena de emoción y felicidad. mmm, publicar una de mis historias aquí, la verdad me daría mucha vergüenza ya que comparadas con sus historias las mías son...mediocres creo que seria la palabra apropiada, además que no encajarían muy bien con la temática de esta página aunque creo que a futuro podría redactar una historia real de mi, si, quizás haga eso. ok, estaré esperando esa nueva historia, de seguro será muy hermosa al igual que las hasta ahora leídas nos vemos pronto adiós |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
EZ, gracias de nuevo. Sus comentarios son muy amables. Para aclarar un tema, "Dark Past" fue escrito por Jonathan. Yo era el editor. Si usted ha escrito cuentos, compartir las historias con el tiempo. FYI Eidan, un artista aquí, está trabajando en una nueva historia llamada "El Futuro Brillante". English translation: EZ, thanks again. Your remarks are very kind. To clarify one issue, "Dark Past" was written by Jonathan. I was the editor. If you have written stories, share them sometime. FYI Eidan, an artist here, is working on a new story named "Bright Future". |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
This is a rough translation of EZ's latest Spanish post. To the Spanish speakers here: I know the translation isn't 100% accurate, but hopefully it's close enough for forum purposes. EZ says: Hi, it's me again. I just wanted to let you know I've finished reading all the Niklas stories, including "My Friend is an Alien" by March. I loved the characters, especially Keyro and his brother, though the evolution of Prince Arion pleased me, especially the way he helped them escape in Chapter 11. I also liked "The Dark Past" very much. The story was interesting from beginning to end. It left me with an indescribable feeling, something between happiness about the arrival of the new friends and nostalgia related to their departure (with hope, regardless). It was certainly a beautiful story. (the next part is untranslatable) To quote the prologue of "Dark Past": "Sometimes, when you are an author, a story comes to you and demands to be told. Your every free waking moment seems to be occupied with thinking about the story until you have worked out most of the plot before your hand ever touches the keyboard. You feel as though the story is pounding against the inside of your skull, demanding to be let out. The story refuses to leave your mind until you write it down for others to read" I've written some stories, nothing at this level, but something very similar happened to me when I got started. The feeling developed in my head, and when I was finally able to share what I was thinking, I felt comforted. Something else that was said at "Dark Past" is worth mentioning: "A shared pain, for Vitalians, is a pain halved." I've always felt this way. For this reason, I've always tried to help friends and loved ones as they share their grief, their pain, and their burdens. Finally, thank you for sharing these beautiful stories and comics and I hope soon to read something new from Niklas and Friends. Sincerely yours. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | hola, yo de nuevo
solo queria informar que termine de leer todas las historias, hoy termine de leer My Friend is an Alien - by March y me encantaron los personajes, en especial Keyro y su hermano, aunque la "evolucion" que tuvo Prince Arion me agrado, especialmente cuando los ayudo a escapar en el capitulo 11- The Trial. ademas me gusto mucho su creacion The Dark Past la hitoria fue interesante de principio a fin dejandome una sensacion indescriptible al terminarla entre felicidad por los nuevos amigos y nostalgia por su partida aunque con esperanza, fue sin duda una historia bellisima. ablando de esto 2 cosas que me...sorpendieron se podria decir ya que referente a esos temas tenimos la misma conviccion o se acercan vastante el premiro en su prologo "Sometimes, when you are an author, a story comes to you and demands to be told. Your every free waking moment seems to be occupied with thinking about the story until you have worked out most of the plot before your hand ever touches the keyboard. You feel as though the story is pounding against the inside of your skull, demanding to be let out. The story refuses to leave your mind until you write it down for others to read" yo e creado algunas historias, nada al nivel de las de ustedes pero me a pasado algo muy parecido cuando las e empesado a desarrollar en mi cabeza y cuando finalmente las e compartido me e sentido reconfortado. lo otro fue algo que puso en el documento de informacion de los Vitalians "A shared pain, for a Vitalian, is a pain halved" yo siempre e creido en esto por esta razon siempre trato de ayudar con sus pesares a mis amigos y seres amados ya que asi comparto su dolor y alibiano su carga en fin, gracias a todos por compartir esas hermosas historias y comics y espero pronto leer algo nuevo de Niklas and friends, nos vemos |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Gracias, EZ. Puede enviar correo electrónico a mí. También puede proporcionar enlaces aquí. Cualquiera es bueno. English translation: Thanks, EZ. You can send email to me or you can provide links here. Either is good. To everybody else: These are Spanish translations of Niklas comics with the lettering inside the comics (as opposed to subtitles). Somebody else has provided similar Polish versions and a third person is working on German and possibly other languages. So we're doing well with translations. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Here's a rough translation of EZ's latest Spanish post: Hi, it's me again. I'd like to express just how I feel about these wonderful stories. And I'm happy to help and very pleased to know that this might be of service. As for the rest, each time the user adds another comic or story, should I send them by this means? Anyway, here's a list of the chapters published so far: "Anything but Girls!" http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-todo-excepto-chicas.663/ "A New Kid in the Hood" http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-un-nuevo-ni%C3%B1o-en-el-vecindario.1688/ "How to Become a Rockstar" http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-nicklas-friends-como-ser-una-estrella-de-rock.2786/ "My Favorite Fairy Tale" http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-mi-cuento-de-hadas-favorito.1003/ These are all so far. Each one provides a way to view online and also a direct download link. I hope they're useful. |
| Name (required): | EZ |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | Hola, yo de nuevo ^w^
De nada solo exprese lo que siento por sus maravillosas historias Me alegra que les sirvan de seguro el usuario estarÃa muy complacido de saber que sus ediciones les servirán a ustedes. En cuanto a los demas, cada vez que el usuario aporte otro comic o historia se las envió por este medio? En fin, aquà los linck de los capitulos editados hasta ahora Anything but Girls! http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-todo-excepto-chicas.663/ A New Kid In The Hood http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-un-nuevo-ni%C3%B1o-en-el-vecindario.1688/ How to become a rockstar http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-nicklas-friends-como-ser-una-estrella-de-rock.2786/ My favorite fairy tale http://forosdzhentai.com/threads/doujin-niklas-friends-mi-cuento-de-hadas-favorito.1003/ esos son todos hasta ahora, en cada tema hay una vista online y un link de descarga directa, espero que les sirva, nos vemos. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Hola EZ (Epilef Zerdna). Gracias por los comentarios Niklas. Envíanos el enlace para el foro en español. Podemos utilizar las imágenes editadas. English translation: Hello EZ (Epilef Zerdna). Thank you for the Niklas remarks. Send us the link for the Spanish forum. We might use the edited pictures. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Jonathan: Regarding the English-only rule, I've translated EZ's Spanish post and it's O.K. Here's the translation. It may have mistakes but should be close. EZ says: My English isn't that good, so I apologize in advance for writing this message in Spanish. I'd like to thank Niklas for sharing these beautiful stories. This site, or rather the Spanish translations, have received some attention at a forum that has posted some of them, including "Anything But Girls" and "How to Become a Rockstar". The poster has replaced the subtitles with text inside the balloons (hope this is O.K. :-) I just love the story and characters, so I did a Google search and came to this site. I immediately started reading the Spanish versions of the rest of the comics. (The next part wasn't translatable but it was about translating English to Spanish or the other way) I almost cried at the end of "Homesick". But I'm rambling too much with my comments. I'd like to offer thanks for this wonderful website and all of the content that I just found, including this guestbook. In closing, if this is repeating myself, excuse me, ... (The last past ended with an untranslatable comment about seeing ourselves) |
| Name (required): | EZ( siglas de Epilef Zerdna, nombre q uso en la red, jeje) |
| E-mail address: | capitan.kuro@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | emm, mi ingles es nulo por lo que de antemano les pido disculpas por escribir este mensaje en español.
solo querÃa expresarles mi agradecimiento por compartir estas historias tan hermosas. esta pagina o mas bien las historias q tienen subtituladas en español las conocà hace poco cuando un usuario de un foro al cual frecuento compartió el comic “Anything but Girls!â€(y esta continuando en orden descendente, ahora va en “How to become a rockstar) editado con el texto en el interior de los globos(espero que esto no les moleste :s) simplemente me encante con la historia y los personajes, por lo q busque en google XD y asà llegue a esta pagina comenzando de inmediato a leer los comic traducidos al español con los cuales a medida q avanzaba en las paginas y capÃtulos me encariñaba aun mas con los personajes y sus historias, luego hace unos dÃas trate de traducir las historias en ingles con el traductor de google XD y al darme cuenta q funciono(bueno, no muy bien pero mi mente y sentido común(?) me ayudaron a leerlas) y me gustaron demasiado enserio son todas fantásticas, solo me falta las de "My Friend is an Alien" que decidà por su cantidad de capÃtulos dejarla para el final. casi llore con el final de "Homesick" en fin, ya me estoy extendiendo demasiado con mi comentario. asà que me despido solo agradeciéndoles por esta maravillosa pagina y todo su contenido que por cierto hoy acabo de descubrir casi en su totalidad(como este libro de visitas que desconocÃa, jejeje) en fin(si repito demasiado “en finâ€, lo siento) nos vemos. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Simon: 1. You asked, Did the name "Gershon" follow the same pattern as the others? I don't recognize this one, but I may be overlooking somebody. Or you may be using another pattern that's just as valid. For what it's worth, "Gertak" (with the same first syllable) does match the original pattern. I'd prefer to explain by email; this would avoid spoilers for others. 2. You said, "the only updates in years were in your site." If you mean the artwork site, you may be forgetting about the "Dark Past" site and Eidan's page. As a side note, some of your remarks are coming across differently than you may intend. BTW For readers who like Eidan's works, his page may be moving soon. This is related to a possible expansion. 3. You said "I was thinking about giving backstories to characters that are also fictional in the Niklas universe, like Megacosmo and Captain Helmet. I had started by asking myself: What works could those kids be fans of?" That's a good idea. I have something similar in "The Long Summer". There are some scenes featuring TV shows, but I haven't used Megacosmo yet. He needs some thought. So far, I've mostly used things that are "shows within shows" in our universe. 4. You asked, "If I were to make Megacosmo or Captain Helmet-related artwork, and I made it in a way that those characters stood up on their own, without being pastiches of existing characters, would it be accepted?" If by "accepted" you mean go onto the main site, it's possible if the context makes sense and the tone is right. Based on your previous post, you're aware that these are reasonable requirements. Works would certainly go onto the current artwork site. Or how about an actual Megacosmo site? Backstory, maybe some comic-book covers (Megacosmo must have had a long run), etc. Further discussion should probably go to email. You have mail addresses for Thillion and myself. You can write to either of us about different parts of this. There are others as well, you'll meet some of them later on. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | James: thank you for the reply.
1) It's good to know that the guidelines for official Niklas material are stricter than those for fan contributions. It's just that, after the only updates in years were in your site, I was afraid that *all* Niklas material was going to become like that. But I'm glad that I was wrong. 2) Yes, I am aware that most people are familiar with Star Trek: that's why I excluded it from the references that might alienate the audience. After all, I consider myself a Trekkie too, even though I never went to a convention (but only because there was never one close enough to where I live) and I never wore Spock ears in public :-) 3) You're right, it never occurred to me that half of the active contributors were fans of 1960s/70s TV in their youth. I actually thought that one of them started the trend and the others just jumped on the bandwagon. Thanks for explaining that it was not the case. 4) I enjoyed the references in Botaran names: subtle enough not to interfere with the story, but recognizable enough for those who know what they're about. BTW, did the name "Gershon" follow the same pattern as the others? 5) After making the Megacosmo logo, I was thinking about making more artwork, but I desisted before I even started because I was afraid that it wouldn't have been accepted. To clarify why I thought that: it wouldn't have been about the Niklas characters per se, and not even non-canonical versions of them. Instead, I was thinking about giving backstories to characters that are also fictional in the Niklas universe, like Megacosmo and Captain Helmet. I had started by asking myself: "What works could those kids be fans of?" and then by making up origin stories that even I would like to watch as movies or TV series. However, nothing was done except inventing those stories in my head, because I wasn't sure that they would be in-topic. So now I'm gonna ask: if I were to make Megacosmo or Captain Helmet-related artwork, and I made it in a way that those characters stood up on their own, without being pastiches of existing characters, would it be accepted? |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.niklascomics.de |
| Comments (required): | Hi Simon,
James has said it all. To confirm what he has said: the new Niklas site will stay true to the original idea of the Niklas stories. But there will also be fan art and story branches. The old site also has fan art and one branch of the original Niklas stories: the alien-stories. I cannot say when the new site will be ready. There are several people working on it but we all do it in our free time. Now the Christmas season starts and we all might not have as much time to work on it because of all the fuzz and festivities that are usual for this time. Thilion |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Simon: Feel free to email me. I'll be happy to discuss the matter. For now, here's some relevant points. 1. Most importantly, I agree completely that Niklas isn't supposed to live in a particular time or place. Other people that I've talked to agree with this as well. The main Niklas project should therefore avoid explicit references to popular culture and even, in my opinion, to some devices such as cell phones. I've written about this previously in background notes for future Niklas stories. The notes have been reviewed by active contributors. I'll send them to you if you like. 2. However, fan artwork falls outside of this rule. If you're referring to "Niklas Gold Key" and similar projects, they're for fun; nothing more or less. They don't represent a direction for Niklas per se. For what it's worth, people laughed at Agathalique (Agatha as Angelique) in the "Dark Shadows" drawing whether or not they recognized the reference. Randabas (Randy as Barnabas) has also received favorable comment. A teenage Niklas fan wrote and said that Agathalique looked just like a teacher. I think that he's about 16 years old. He's hardly one of the elderly "nostalgics" that you're referring to. Other people have referred to scenes such as "Saturday Morning Niklas", "Legion of Niklas Heroes", "Hallowniklas", "Jahv Solar", "Brothers of the Spear", etc., as colorful and creative. It didn't matter to them if they recognized the characters or not. Actually, most people who were born in the past 50 years are familiar with the lineup in the "Star Trek" drawing. Also Batman and Robin in "Martin Dozes at Dawn". BTW For the "nostalgics" that Simon has mentioned, "Martin Dozes at Dawn" is based on "Robin Dies at Dawn". The 1960s version, not the one from a few years ago. Young folks who are curious can Google it. :-) 3. Similarly, some of the people here have read excerpts from the book "The Long Summer". The book includes both Niklas characters and characters from outside the Niklas universe. On the Niklas side, there's the usual group, plus the Dorrians (Morik's people, who come to Earth looking for him). Outside characters include Lord Greystoke, Tom Swift, Professor Roy Hinkley, Connie Brooks, the Brady Bunch, Miss Marple, the Heterodyne Boys, Buzz Conroy and Frankenstein Jr., and others. The plot involves mysterious storms, the corporation that owns Glenwood, a school play, a ghost, and a dimensional portal. Obviously, this wouldn't work as a canonical Niklas story. However, the point is that it's not intended to be one. It falls outside the scope of the main project. The main Niklas project, or any large creative project, is going to have branches. There's a canonical Niklas series. March's stories are a branch off of that. "The Dark Past" is a branch off of March's stories. All of this is good. As long as projects don't lose sight of their goals (and the Niklas project does have goals), creative offshoots should be encouraged. Note: March, who created the Dorrians, has reviewed what I've done with them so far and approves of the current text. They're interesting, though they don't see eye-to-eye with Morik. 4. There's something else that may not have occurred to you. I've talked to about ten active contributors over the past few years. This includes March, the creator of the Niklas aliens, and Jonathan, who has also written stories on the official site and who runs this forum. Half of the active contributors were fans of Gold Key, the Legion of Super Heroes, Star Trek, or 1960s-1970s TV when they were young. And 95% have expressed approval of the fan artwork. Some of these contributors have worked on multiple projects under difficult conditions, including illness. You, on the other hand, have donated a single Megacosmo logo. BTW You're credited for the logo at "Dark Past". If you'd like a pop-up icon for the Simon credit, send me a square drawing that's about 300x300 in size. I'll scale it down as necessary. The active contributors should be allowed to have fun with things. Your opinion is valued but if you'd like to understand what's going on, invest some time. Help to make a worthwhile project a success. 5. Despite what I've said about pop-culture references, they're likely to appear occasionally. As an example, March created the Niklas aliens. I assume you'll agree that he's entitled to sneak in a reference or two. Solve the "Botaran Name Puzzle" on the artwork site. I happen to feel that March's reference is amusing and not a problem. What about you? 6. To clarify something, most of the artwork that you've referred to isn't "by James Van Mason". I've suggested subjects and proposed revisions, and I've often made edits using the GIMP. I've also been told that I'm an adequate instructor for some things. But I'm not the artist. The artists include Perry, Eidan, Patrick, and others. They've invested time and effort, and this is appreciated. BTW If anybody reading this would like to try writing or drawing, drop me a line. Links for email and the artwork site are above this post. |
| Name (required): | Simon |
| Comments (required): | It's been long since I wrote a post here, and now I just read that the author agreed to transfer the property of the website to Thilion. While I generally think that this is a good think, there's also something I fear about the "new Niklas", especially after seeing the artwork by James Van Mason.
I really hope that it won't be so, but I'm afraid that the "new Niklas" will become full of decades-old pop-cultural references, that, while they may give a warm and fuzzy feeling to nostalgics who were kids in the 1960s and 1970s, would completely alienate who wasn't around at that time. I think that it was precisely to avoid this, that the author made as little references to pop culture as possible: so that anyone, even after decades, could easily imagine that the comics could be happening somewhere in that very moment. For example, consider "Just A Boring Day" where we see Niklas and Ralph playing with a console: while at a first glance, it looks vaguely like a Saturn or a Dreamcast (because when the comic was drawn, all disc-based consoles loaded the discs from the top like the Saturn and the Dreamcast), its design and the game it runs do not reproduce any actual console or game, so they do not make the comic dated. Compare it with the episode of "My Friend Is An Alien", where the characters discuss The Phantom Menace as "the new Star Wars movie". I considered it cool in 1999, because it made me feel as if Niklas was part of my life, but now it can only be considered as an unintentional period piece, because discussing The Phantom Menace as "the new Star Wars movie" sets the story firmly in 1999. In the same way, the characters discussing or pretending to be characters from works that were popular in the 1960s or 1970s, but only nostalgics care about now, would make the audience unable to imagine that the comics could be happening somewhere in that very moment, because nobody would do that. Note that this excludes Star Trek because it's not going to be forgotten any time soon, but even in that case there would be ways that would not make it feel dated and others that would. For example, a character asking another which captain is his favorite would be okay, but a character talking about "the new Star Trek movie where the bridge is white" would not be okay, because it would set the story in 2009, and not "somewhere in this very moment". Having said that, I repeat, I really hope that it won't be so and that any eventual new material appearing in the site will not be "by nostalgics for nostalgics". |
| Name (required): | T1mbo |
| E-mail address: | giggle_lips@hotmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.youtube.com/user/piper4seeformerly?feature=mhee |
| Comments (required): | I certainly hope Martin Muster is Niklas Edlund because I just sent him $25.00 through Paypal..... =/ |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Happy Thanksgiving. The artwork site has been updated (see the link above). There's four new pictures from Perry and Eidan, including two more in the Niklas Gold Key series (Niklas Star Trek and Niklas Dark Shadows). A few more pictures are in the queue and there are plans for new projects next year. If you'd like to contribute and you write or draw, feel free to send examples. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Haimo: Is this related to the Chinese Niklas translation that you expressed interest in before? Eidan is correct; context will be helpful. If you have the symbols, try putting them in a DOC file or a PDF. Send the file to me and I'll post the symbols for people to review. |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | I'm not sure if you're serious.... or if you just heard it and wrote it phonetically. the Meaning of a word in Chinese depends on the tone... whether it's at high low or medium tone and where the tone is rising or falling. The word most commonly associated with ching has a rising tone, and means please. something similar to wo hun would mean I'm very... shr with a going down from high to low tone means to be, ni hao ma means how are you in mandarin, but nei ho ma means the same thing in cantonese. Did you listen and phonetically copy something someone said that speaks both mandarin and cantonese? It's a lot easier if you can see the sybols, but I suppose they probably wouldn't even display here. If you wish to respond, I'm very well would be wo(low rising tone) hun(high rising tone because before hao) hao (low rising tone) in mandarin, or ngo (low rising tone) ho(high rising tone) ho (high rising tone again) as in cantonese the "very" is signaled by saying the word twice in succession. ng (low rising tone) means no in cantonese no vowel...just for the record. did you mean ng? If you're planning on learning chinese or cantonese chinese, I highly recommend it. The people and the culture are well worth it. The same goes for a couple or few other languages/dialects that I could mention.
1 is ching ching chong chong ching ching maybe it means changes of center 2 is won hung lo shr eng ni ho ma wang mang |
| Name (required): | haimo |
| Comments (required): | I need someone to translate following chinese expressions:
1 is ching ching chong chong ching ching maybe it means changes of center 2 is won hung lo shr eng ni ho ma wang mang |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Thanks for your comments on the 3d work. I appreciate it. It's nice to know people like it. There are many more to come. Also, thanks for keeping the site open. I have a few stories out there too, but haven't gotten to it yet.
p.d. I also write, but that's another story (pun intended:). |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Happy Halloween. Submitted for your approval, here's one of the largest updates we've attempted: Niklas Gold Key. If you're one step away from a rocking chair, come visit some friends you may remember from the 1960s or 1970s. If you're from the 1980s or later, take a look at how old-school comics were done in prehistoric times, before the modern (and never-ending) grim'n'gritty era. :-) Either way, you'll find Niklas Gold Key at the fan site. The link is above. The set includes ten full-size drawings featuring most of the Niklas characters and an essay on Gold Key. Subjects include Space Family Robinson (the basis for "Lost in Space"), Jahv Solar, Dr. Snivtor, Samsonathon, Turok and Andartin, Brothers of the Spear, and others. This set is by Perry; as usual, he's put time and effort into it. For those of you who know who Russ Manning is, check out the Magnus freewill robot. Manning would be pleased. Star Trek fans may notice that Gold Key Star Trek is missing; so is Dark Shadows. We'll probably add those two later, but we thought we'd release what we've got so far for Halloween. The rest of the site has been updated a little. For example, the picture index has been expanded. The Saturday Morning Niklas page includes a larger version of that scene. A few Dark Past scenes have been added (though you should visit Dark Past for the complete set). If there are broken links or other problems, I'd appreciate hearing about them. Note: If you like the Gold Key set and you write or draw, mail me at the address above. For what it's worth, these projects can be fun. |
| Name (required): | Ostrovsky |
| Comments (required): | Thilion: The new layout thing sounds cool and I'd love to read more of the Grumpy Old Man story!
I would really want to know why he would want to shut down the Niklas website and just not (I'm assuming ever) return to Niklas and Friends,besides the fact he's moved on to other things. But that's none of my business and I don't really expect an answer, it'd be rude to pry. :c Also: On my first post here I wrote how I wouldn't be able to read any of the additional Niklas comics cause it seemed almost impossible to find one...but then I checked on ebay a few days later and saw one for $20. With little convincing and permission I got it...and the stories are great! I particularly like "When Jonathan Moved In", and of course I just love the style of cartoons. But unlike most of my other books(er--comics) I keep this hidden cause I really don't want my friends (or family for that matter) to see it, I'd probably be ridiculed, or worse, in trouble. But still, glad I got it. |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Comments (required): | Hello everyone,
I've been quite busy during the summer. Now, during the colder seasons I have more time to spend online. I think that all the new images that have been posted on http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ are quite good. The 3D-images are really well made, too, expecially when you know how complex it is to create 3D-images like those. I thought it is time to let everyone know that Niklas Edlund (the author who created Niklas and friends) won't return to the "Niklas universe". He has moved on to work on other projects and is quite happy there. He was about to shut down http://www.niklascomics.de but I could pursuade him to consign the domain and all the content to me. The domain transfer is already in progress and should be completed in a few days. After the transfer is completed the startpage will be a placeholder until the data arrives at my place. We will exchange all his work via USB-stick. The page layout will be the same at first, but a new layout is already in progress. We have the written permission to use all of the characters created by Niklas and to continue the stories if we like to. For example there is still a missing episoide of "Grumpy old man". There is still more in the pipe, but before we haven't cleared things behind the scenes, that stuff has to be kept in the drawer. Thilion |
| Name (required): | Jonathan the Niklas Fan |
| Comments (required): | Just leaving a note so people know I'm still here and still checking this page each day.
I am also working (in my head only, so far) on a new story involving the Vitalians. I have a general idea of how I want the story to go and an overall plotline to follow, but I need to come up with a lot more "scenes" to join the plot together into a proper story. If I tried to write the story at the moment, it would probably turn out to be overwhelmingly boring! As to questions on "when will it be written", the answer as always has to be "when it's ready". It could be in a year. Or six months. Or five years. It just depends on how long it takes me to work out the whole of the plot. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Sunny: I've sent you email that covers everything you mentioned in your letter. If my letter doesn't show up, check your spam folder. I've also posted two of your drawings. If you'd like to make any changes, drop me a line. Everybody else: You can see Sunny's drawings at the link above. One of them is a work in progress; it may be updated further. If Sunny approves, there will be one or two more drawings later this week. |
| Name (required): | sunny |
| E-mail address: | sunny.comics@gmail.com |
| Comments (required): | Hello guys! I tried to do some sketches of Niklas today. It's not quite easy to get the right face expression! And I have troubles with hands :(
What do you think are the special attributes that make Niklas to Niklas? I mean I would say - it's his hair and freckles and of course his face shape. James: I mailed you some pics. Let me know what you think. It was just the first try and Niklas doesn't look quite himself. So I'll be glad for your suggestions. Ostrovsky: I'd love to see your pics, too! cu soon, Sunny |
| Name (required): | Ostrovsky |
| Comments (required): | James Van Mason: I'd like to submit fanart even though its not the best drawing...but I will!!
Sunny: I enjoy all the characters, but the one I like the most is Niklas, only because I can relate to him more than any other character. I also thought I had goofy freckles haha |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Ostrovsky: You mentioned you'd "drawn some fanart here and there". Continue drawing and the "unique way of drawing" you mentioned will evolve naturally. If you like, send in some examples for the fanart site. The link for the site is above. Sunny: It's a good cast of characters. I'm not sure I could pick a favorite, but I liked Jason enough to become a Van Mason. :-) Niklas experimented with print publications a few years ago. If that had worked out he might have looked further at business models. But there were distribution problems. People would like to buy the books but there's no simple way to get them. It's possible he doesn't feel investing more time in the business side of things would be productive. |
| Name (required): | Suny |
| Comments (required): | Hello Guys! Seems like there are still some new people (like me) finding Niklas' homepage now. Ok, I know some of you probably know Niklas and friends for a long time and have already discussed stuff like that but still... I'll just drop a question here...
Who's your favourite character and why? I really like Jason cause I guess I could identify myself with him in "How to become a rockstar" :) It's too bad that he wasn't involved too much into the space trip and all the alien stories... However I think the relationship between him and Jonathon in "Niklas and the Grumpy Old Man" is very cute :) Another thing -- I think Niklas should upgrade his donation page accepting bitcoins. What do u think guys? I mean -- I see that all this stuff is at least 5 years old but there's nothin like that anywhere. So I think Niklas has to get rich and famous ;) But the whole website and community looks to me very "underground" if you know what I mean... cu, Sunny |
| Name (required): | Ostrovsky |
| Comments (required): | I discovered Niklas comics a few months ago and I love them! The comics are all short and sweet, something nice to read on a rainy day. The art style is one of my favorite things about it and I've drawn some fanart here and there or done practice sketches in my spare time(but I still don't have a unique way of drawing any of the characters cause I'm not creative haha). I know the comics won't continue but I don't know why they stopped in the first place... (and darn it I can't read any of the additional stories!) |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://botaranscribe.bravehost.com/dpast/ |
| Comments (required): |
Sunny, thanks for stopping by. Presently, it appears that the official stories won't be continued. But you may enjoy "The Dark Past". I assume that you have the link, but others will find it above. There are additional Niklas stories in the official print collection, but it may be difficult to order the book outside Germany. |
| Name (required): | Sunny |
| Comments (required): | Hey guys! I found the Niklas' site just couple days ago and kept reading all the stories and comics the whole days long! And I must say -- I love them! It's too bad, I haven't found the site ten years ago when I was a frustrated lonely youngster deling with my hidden affection to a boy from my school. What I really love about Niklas and his friends is that they are honest and are able to express their feelings to each other. It just feels good to be a young boy again and have it much better than it could ever have been. But I'm getting friggin' sentimental :-)
Do you guys know, if the stories will to be continued? It would be really great to read more! Last update was 5 years ago :O Though I'm looking forward to read "The dark past" by Jonathan :-) XXXOOO, Sunny. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/eidan/ |
| Comments (required): |
1. Eidan's site has been updated. This is a minor update with three new pictures. There's one new picture (but two versions) of Toben and Jahv plus a third version of the Martin-Flower scene. 2. "Niklas Gold Key" will be posted in the near future; probably this month. If you're old enough to remember "Dr. Solar" (the 1960s version, not the grim'n'gritty 1990s character), "Mighty Samson", and "Space Family Robinson", this series might bring back a few memories. 3. A new Niklas fan project is in progress. It'll probably take a year or two, but "The Long Summer" might be worth the wait. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
haimo: Regarding a Chinese translation, it's certainly possible. Niklas isn't presently updating the main site, but if he didn't object, I could set up a Chinese translation site for a story you chose. However, I only speak a little Chinese, so somebody would need to provide the translated text. If there was some interest, I could do better than the current translations. They're English with the other languages added above; I could replace the English text with Chinese script. I assume that this might be Hanzi script, which I understand is similar to Kanji. But any type would work if it was composed in the shapes of the word balloons. By the way, if you're Chinese and know somebody who draws, ask them to draw me a Niklas scene. I've got an anime version of Martin on the fan-art site (see the above link) but no Chinese interpretations yet. |
| Name (required): | haimo |
| Comments (required): | I notice that you have niklas speaking different languages in one of the sites. What about him speaking Chinese. For example, the chong sound means middle or center, the ching sound may mean changes (taodeching, ching I) so would ching chong mean change the center or ching ching chong mean change the centers. Anyone want to answer and this is NOT offensive. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/eidan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Eidan has had a "Works in Progress" site for a little while. If you haven't seen the site, take a look. You'll find different versions of 3D Niklas scenes that he's working on, a short animation, and some remarks by the artist. The site was updated tonight. There's three new or revised pictures; nine total counting different versions. Eidan, thanks for investing time in this. To visit the Eidan site, use the link above this post. The link may change in the future. However, you can find the site by checking the links section at the regular fan-art site. As a side note, does anybody out there remember Gold Key from the 1960s? Perry is working on Niklas Gold Key; if you have comments related to Gold Key characters (Mighty Samson, Tom Morrow, Dr. Solar, Space Family Robinson, etc.), they'll appear with the drawing. Questions or comments may be sent to the email address shown above. |
| Name (required): | Timbo |
| E-mail address: | giggle_lips@hotmail.com |
| Comments (required): | hi folks
I remember this site as when it was new. It's just as important to me then as it is now. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
The Niklas fan site has been updated. Some new pictures have been added. There's two drawings by Perry (including "Saturday Morning Niklas", one of his largest projects to date), two 3D pictures by Patrick, and some zooms of "Saturday Morning Niklas". For an explanation of "Saturday Morning Niklas", see the description under the picture; there's a complete list of characters. The site has been broken up into five pages; the pages should load more quickly now. There's a thumbnail index near the top for individual pictures (not complete yet). Titles will pop up if you move the cursor over the thumbnails. Internet Explorer 6 should work better. Additionally, some new navigation links have been added. We hope that you enjoy the updated site. If you're an artist, feel free to contribute a drawing. To visit the site, use the link above this post. |
| Name (required): | Anthony |
| E-mail address: | antekcem@yahoo.pl |
| Comments (required): | hi.
my rats are fine, thanks. right now they are walking on my bad. i was on a climbing camp with two of my new friends. it was great. we are spending much time outside now, so i haven't time for computer now. greetnings from poland. Anthony. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Besyonok, Eidan, Jonathan, Nikfan, Patrick, and others: I was away for a few weeks unexpectedly. Thank you for writing. Everybody who sent a letter should have received a reply by now. I owe detailed answers in some cases and I'll start on those on Tuesday. Eidan: I've explained the "lack of response" in email sent tonight. I'm sorry for the delay and I'll try to respond promptly in the future. I've started going through recent mail and I'll answer every point. To begin with, the system speed issue hadn't occurred to me. Yes, if the computer is old, a width of 1024 pixels might work better. Nikfan: Switch to a lower-resolution world to fix your hair? If vitamins aren't doing the trick, sure. Eidan and I are probably headed for a resolution of about 1024x768; that should be high enough to give you more hair while avoiding negative effects. Anthony: Dzień dobry. Gratuluję regarding the new friends. BTW How are your pet rats? |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | I'm glad to hear it, good luck. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | Anthony |
| E-mail address: | antekcem@yahoo.pl |
| Comments (required): | HI.
yes, i'm still here. And yes, i had some friends now. i wasn't here from a long time, because i had some problems in school. now it's ok, and i have more time now. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Hey Anthony, are you still there? How are you doing, and have you found any friends yet? We haven't heard from you in a while. We hope you are ok.
Nikfan |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Eidan,
I read your long list of comments and, while I realize it is written to James, I believe #5 might be of use to me as well. You mention that "thinness of the hair at high resolution is a problem" and that the haircount can be increased but the computer it is on is old and sluggish. I also have this same problem. My haircount is VERY thin as well and has been getting worse ever since my early 20's. My "computer" that my hair is on is not really that old, but it IS rather middle aged, and I have definitely noticed that it is sluggish. Do you think this is the problem? I have tried to combat this sluggishness with vitamins, but have had limited success. Of course it was not sluggish in my 20's, but my haircount was nonetheless going down even then. My question is this, do you think I should continue to try to fix my brain so that maybe my hair will grow faster and thicker, or should I simply try to lower the resolution with which the world looks at my head so that my hair looks full? And would lowering the resolution of the whole worlds eyes risk making me look like the hair on my head is painted on like a plastic Ken doll? [lol]. Note: the resolution in my OWN eyes has already diminished so much over the years that if I haven't had a haircut in a while and I take off my glasses I do almost look like I have a full head of hair. So the technique you're talking about works. Now if I could just get the rest of the world to go half blind, lol. Sincerely, Nikfan |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | I assume the lack of response is due to the changes you requested being "firm". I assumed the same by the 1st day I didn't get one, and immediaely started on the changes. Some I wasn't sure if i could do, but I found I was able to without too much problem. I realized that I promised to make any corrections you wanwere adamant about, ted to keep the illustrations in keeping with the story, and I plan to keep that promise. since I only had sporadic access to the internet, and thus the story, I realize I mistakenly made white cryochambers where they were supposed to be dark, or black. I've corrected the problem, and am in the final stages of trying to get it to look good. I also sent some old illustrations that were just that - erold illustrations I recoverd that didn't reflect changes. These were just for anyone's enjoyment, and not intended as actual illustrations until they are corrected. Please be patient. You may have to correct me more than once before you are happy with the work, as I try to get it as close to what I think you want as I can, but only you can tell me if there are more changes that are lacking before they really are. I also sent some nonposed figures without background. Those are only to show you how work is progressing, and are not intended as final illustrations either. For example, I only now make the overalls needed for Jahv and Toben look correct, thus only now can start on the illustration with the propre illustration.
v-kaal: v-kaal now has bi-color irises, and hopefully I will be able to make them look even better. I also enlarged the antenae enough where they look well, but are not overly done, but only you can tell me if they're large enough. I'll naturally have to smooth out the grey patch in the middle, which needs more subdividing in order to do so is all. The example was only preliminary and not necessarily to be considered as final in any respect. Anything I asked was merely a suggestion, and if not agreable, I will make any corrections and changes you wish for, and in fact already have. They are not quite ready, but should be soon. I also need to know if there were anything I need to take into account that may have been a problem while preparing the last illustrations... so I can avoid those problems from the beginning. 1) you wanted the deathflower to be more transparent. I have done so, and hope it is to your liking. Please let me know if it's not to be able to make further modifications. 2) You requested I fix an error on a finger. I have done that, and hope it is satisfactory. (Remember that the old preliminary illustrations I dug up do not have the correction, but those were old, just so you could see how the work is progressing, and for people's enjoyment, and are not meant as permanant). I hope you got the figure witht the finger fixed, and that it is to your satisfaction. Let me know if it needs further modification. 3) I have made a background with dark cryopods, which I realized too late, is necessary to be in keeping with the story. My apologies that I didn't realize that at first until I re-read the story, and realized it was actually part of the story. I'll have a preliminary corrected version to you soon to see if you like it, for further review. Don't worry. If it needs further correction/more work, I'll make the necessary corrections. I said I would, and I will. 4) I should be able to get the blue and green reflective propertys for v-kaal and v-raan, as long as I don't have to model individual hairs, which would be too memory intensive. 5) The hair itself.... the thinness of the hair at high resolution is a problem. I can increas haircount, but the computer I'm using is old, and get's a little sluggish. Fixing my own might help this issue greatly. I'll have to look into the problem. Maybe a slightly lower resolution such as 1000 x something or 1200 x something might work in the meantime? Let me know if this continues to be a problem. 6) I know how to do a little more than I was letting on, though I do have some limitations, especially when related to computer power, but I have a surprise for you whenever you're satisfied with all the characters and props. (once you are the rest should not be terribly complicated. 7) Feel free to make more suggestions. Suggestions for change are fine/welcome. If I worked for a tv channed I'd be flooded with them all the time, so I should better get used to it:) (really) Feel free to request any more wanted changes, and I hope you have a great day. |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Thanks. I'm making some modifications to take some of the suggestions into account. Working on them. Best wishes for all. Hope to keep lights of the cryogenic generator in some form, as it looks kind of cool, though, if possible. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://botaranscribe.bravehost.com/dpast/ |
| Comments (required): |
Jonathan: To double check email, you should have a letter from me today named "Email, Niklas, Dark Past" and a previous letter dated July 7 or 8 named "Thursday". Eidan: I've received several letters and plan to reply by Sunday night. I feel that the Windows problem is the most important issue. M.H. and P.H.: I've responded to your letters and I look forward to talking further. Check spam folders if the answers didn't show up. Nikfan: Sent you a short note on Tuesday the 12th. If the temporary address that you were using has changed, please send me a letter from another account. P.F.: I have more information. Thought I'd mailed you but I don't see a letter in the sent folder. I'll resend later this weekend. |
| Name (required): | edn |
| Comments (required): | additional illustrations soon arriving for dp. computer broken email not working... etc. loaned for a moment |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://botaranscribe.bravehost.com/dpast/ |
| Comments (required): |
I received this letter from a Niklas fan named P.F. tonight. I'm posting it here with permission: "I'd like Niklas to know that the series did reach a few people. I heard of the site from my cousin, who at the time was 9 and in a mess about his own sexuality. Myself, had the site came out just 10 or 11 years before, it would have been a great help. I was a lot like Keith, one parent that counted, grew up in a bad neighborhood as the only gay kid, reacted to problems by becoming a bit of a bully though, sometimes extremely so. I have to say those stories hit a note with me, sort of a bittersweet wishful thinking, what life would have been if... I hope Niklas is well and enjoying himself, and he should know he saved one boy at least, and one former boy :)" |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
1. As a general note, the Niklas fan-art site will be updated soon. 2. Side issue: I've been working on a project related to comic books in general (history from the Silver Age on and future of the industry). If you have opinions on the subject or anecdotes related to collecting or other issues, send them in. 3. Remarks for four people: P.H.: You should have received a longer letter by now; I mailed it around the time that you sent your letter tonight. P.F.: Your note will be posted next (above this one). Eidan: I've sent you a short letter. I hope that things are going well. Jonathan: I sent a reply a little earlier. If the letter doesn't show up, let me know. |
| Name (required): | Jonathan the Niklas Fan |
| Comments (required): | Eidan,
While I think your work has the potential to add useful variety to my story, it needs some work before I'll be happy to allow the pictures to be added to the story site. I sent details to James so I assume he'll contact you soon. Try not to be discouraged. I'm just a "stickler for detail" and I need the details in the pictures to match the details in the story. |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | Will be putting out more drawings soon. Been working hard on them. Interrupted from time to time due to work, and famliy that wants tlc. Have a good one all. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Nikfan, I'd like to write to you; if it's O.K., drop me a line. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Sloven, I'm not sure what your game is, but your question is massively off-topic and seems designed to insult Polish people and start an argument.
How dare you try to back a boy into a corner about his own country. No matter what happened back then, neither Anthony nor anyone but a few of the most aged people alive today would be in the least bit responsible for it. I am very pro-Semitic myself and have nothing but contempt for the Nazi's, but subsequent generations are in no way responsible for the actions of previous generations. And furthermore, Poland was devastated by the Nazi regime. Blaming the whole people for the actions of some collaborators is reprehensible. You owe Anthony an apology and then either behave yourself, or shut the hell up! And, BTW, your eerie, off-topic writing style reminds me of a certain person who was banned by Jonathan earlier. If you are him, Jonathan has made it clear that you are not welcome to comment here. If you are not him, then either be still, or straighten up and fly right. Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
To clarify, Jonathan is the author of "The Dark Past", Perry did the original illustrations, and I'm the editor. Eidan did the two illustrations that were posted a few days ago. New illustrations by Eidan, Patrick, and Perry should be ready soon. |
| Name (required): | sloven |
| Comments (required): | to anthony:
they gave you good advice for meeting people. Here is general question. Do you learn about WW2 in schools and how many polisy suppsedley collaborated with germany, tho I realize some did help the jewish and other refugees? Did you know that before ww2 some areas of Poland were almost 100% jewish? Try your best to answer. Thanks |
| Name (required): | Eidan |
| Comments (required): | Hi Thillion. Thank you for your comments. I think the were right on the mark. As far as the "my friend is an alien" story, if I sounded at all like I had anything to do with its creation, I want to make it very clear that all the genius and all the credit belongs to someone called "March". He's the talent. Here I am only an illustrator, and then, only for the Dark Past. March is also the genius behind the excellent cartooning in "My Friend is an Alien, and if I ever convinced him to make a how too book or tutorials for artists, I'd be the first to purchase it. He's been extremely generous about the use of fan art, and fan literature, and I have reached a tentative agreement with the editor of My Friend is an Alien, and the author of "The Dark Past", granting them non-exclusive rights to use the material I provide them, which I do here also in public. Both are excellent sci-fi stories, sci-fi always having been my favorite. You should thus soon be seeing plenty of illustrations for The Dark Past, which include March's characters if they still agree they like them. I have asked them they allow me to offer some pictures of March's characters directly to March & Niklas, if they wished to display them someplace on their site, though Dark Past characters would remain on the Dark Past page unless they all decided to merge the effort, though I leave that to the editor and creator of Dark Past. My characters should be thought of as "actors" which pre-existed, and which I have merely modified, or sometimes used without change, such as Jahv and Jonathan, who already fit so close I thought I'd use them pretty much as is. I created Jahv, for example, as a character to tell people to help keep the earth green....ohhhhh, I see where the confusion comes from..... I didn't create Jahv.... rather I created a Martian character to promote green earth, based on a parady of my own childhood, which fit so close to the Jahv character that I decided to use him as a virtual actor to represent Jahv. In other words, I didn't create Jahv. I created a martian, who happened to look convenietly enough like him to use him as an illustration representing Jahv. All my other characters are adaptations of generic or non generic preexisting characters, that I've modified or not to look like the characters.
The reason I feel very close to the story is not because I authored it. I didn't. March is that genius, and an excellent artst on top of that, I might add. I feel so close to it because it reads like a parady of my life. (i.e. someone making fun of my life.) I'll explain that later when I have more time. Right now, I thank you for your comments, but fear I am in a hurry. You might find why I like the story so much unusual, and slightly humurous. Much looks like my life would in Mad Magazine. Yes, that sounds weird. Anyway, it give me a chuckle, but more on that later. |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://jvanmason.bravehost.com/nikfan/ |
| Comments (required): |
Two of Eidan's illustrations have been posted to the fan-art site. Use the link provided above. We plan to update "The Dark Past" as well. These are scenes featuring Morik and V'Kaal. Thank you, Eidan. Presently, new pictures are near the bottom of the first page. In the future, they'll be placed at the top instead. Note: Since the site is growing fairly large, we may add thumbnail galleries to aid navigation. |
| Name (required): | Thilion |
| E-mail address: | thilion@live.de |
| Comments (required): | That was quite a long response by eidan. I can relate to quite a few things he said. For example not being able to dance. I've never really learned it. I've been on the dancefloor at some special celebrations and tried not to step on any feet. I barely managed that.
Also, I never learned how to whistle on my fingers. I have a big brother, but we never had a good relationsship. He never tought me. The friends I've had as a child also never tought me, maybe because they didn't know how to whistle, either?. Now that I'm grown up I've tried it a lot of times, it never works. I can whistle like an owl using my hands, though. At least that. Eidan, maybe I have missed something (like Expo's comments - they are now deleted) but you are writing about the "my friend is an alien" characters like you have created them. Weren't they designed by Onslow? Have you been able to publish your drawings after you've lost your old PC? I'd like to see your art. Anthony, what Nikfan wrote about making friends is pretty much what I was about to say about it. Friendship grows, you cannot go out and expect to find it on the spot. Being a member of some kind of club or group (sports, scouts, church) is a very good start if you don't have peers living in your neighborhood. Church might be a start. You don't have to become very religous to join the community. There is a live outside the chapel. They usually have a parish hall (is that the proper term in English?), a house or place where they meet. I know that there are boyscouts in Poland. Try to check out the Web for information about boyscouts in your area. Or try joining a sports club. I'm a coach in a rowing club and I can say that I have seen a lot of friendships being made there. Some couples even got married after they had grown up and have children now. Rowing is a team sport. During training and on regattas you need the help of others (at least the young ones) and everyone in our group gladly helps out, and we usually don't have to tell them to do so. Only when you are interacting with others regulary you can find out whether someone could be your friend. Wikipedia has a good definition about friendship: * the tendency to desire what is best for the other * sympathy and empathy * honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart * mutual understanding and compassion * trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged) * able to go to each other for emotional support * positive reciprocity (mutuality) - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties. According to etymology, in the 16th century "friend" and "ralative" (next of kin) used to be the same. That's probably why "friends" have a good "relationship". "Relative" and "Relationship" sound quite alike. That sounds a lot more logical than it does in German since "the relative" and "relationship" don't sound similar at all ("Verwandter" and "Beziehung"). Well, no matter how much good advice you'll get online, you have to go out and get among other people. Let us know when you have found a group of people that you like, whether it is church, scouts, sportsclub, or whatever. |
| Name (required): | Nikfan |
| Comments (required): | Anthony and Eidan, perhaps I misspoke when I implied that Niklas the author had only intended his art and stories for gay youngsters. Personally, since I have never corresponded with him, nor read anything that I recall which spoke to the issue of his intended audience, I really don't know for sure. However the statement has been made to me in the past by others on this site, that he probably intended it more for gay kids than for adults of any persuasion. Or at least as I recall that was what was conveyed to me. I had not really thought about it very much before, at least not in the context that perhaps all these adults reading on the Niklas page and not many comments by youngsters, may have, in effect, caused him to lose interest. I do consider that plausible, however I figure he also intended it to help straight and of course bisexual kids as well. And to help straight kids to be more comfortable with kids who were different sexually.
Eiden, I think your suggestions to Anthony were good, and I hope he can find what he is looking for. Now, on another subject, EXPO!!...will you sir please immediately start making sense, or kindly shut the hell up!! Jonathan, I know this is your site, but for the good of everyone here, could you please delete expos nonsensical jabbering? Nikfan |
| Name (required): | James Van Mason |
| E-mail address: | jvanmason@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://botaranscribe.bravehost.com/dpast/ |
| Comments (required): | Eidan: I've emailed you to respond to your letter and to the comments here.
Thilion and Anthony: I've emailed you as well. Nikfan: It's been a while since you posted; welcome back. I agree with what you've said. |
| Name (required): | eidan |
| Comments (required): | your comments were good. Sometimes people do get so busy they just pay attention to the computer, and the similar things. Don't assume though, just because they don't say much, that people don't like you. Many people may think you're a great person, but are afraid to say hi, because they worry that YOU might not like THEM. I don't know if you're religious or not, but another really good place to find friends is in a church. Generally the people that want to go there are interested in being good to other people, and that's why they go there. though not everybody is nice all of the time.
Also, I'm so glad you made another comment you made. If you didn't I was going to make it. This site is for EVERYBODY. I am straight, married have children, and hope everybody grows up to do the same. It's the most rewarding thing you can possibly do in life. It's something that really makes you happy. When I was growing up, however, people always used to say, oh, I see you aren't old enough to be interested in girls yet. This was considered normal, becuase IT IS. Many people growing up go through a Niklas phase. Why? Girls played with dolls and things like that.... yuck!! That's the last thing in the world I wanted to do. When we grew up, we started having some of the same interests, and then girls were more interesting. I studied a LITTLE bit of psychology, and I think people make two mistakes. 1) to make fun of people going through a Niklas phase, when it's perfectly normal. 2) to assume that if someone goes through that phase, which is VERY common, to assume that they never will grow up, marry and have children. Most of my friends and I who acted exactly as niklas, grew up to be straight, marry, have children, and what has me fascinated with this site, is those of us who did go through that phase are the ones that have a really good marriage, and stay married. I'm going crazy trying to figure out why. I see people either pushing young people to have a relationship way before they're ready, or expect them to never grow up and have one at all. I believe parents should let children grow up at their own pace. Don't expect them to have a girlfriend before they're ready, and don't expect them never to, just because they don't now. I feel the former can lead to disaster, and I feel to ultimate failure of marriage late by entering into those things before they're ready to handle them; and the latter leads to missing the most wonderful and fulfilling thing of life. Marriage and children. It's very rewarding, and a wonderful thing in life. If they're going through a Niklas phase, I suspect much more than half of the people that grow up to have great marriages probably do at some point. Like them, support them, and let them grow up at their own pace. They're just as valuable as anybody else, and IT'S NORMAL. It almost used to be a given when I was growing up, and people just ignored it. My wife still makes fun that I CAN'T DANCE. That's a story on this site, if it's still here, and I went through exactly what happend there, except I managed to stay on the dance floor to be nice, and she finally (to my releif) left the dance floor when she discovered how lousy I danced because I never had. Hopefully she'll finally get through that stage and TEACH ME HOW, but that's another story. This site can be a good resource to open up a dialogue if a family member or friend is going through this. For us it worked like a charm, and I really appreciate it. Upon seeing the site, the family member realized he wasn't going to be disliked or made fun of over it. Now he's getting past that stage, but it made it very easy for him to get through. He realized he could go through it and didn't have to feel stupid. It's realy very very common, especially for people that go to boarding school like Niklas. Besides, many of the stories have really good story lines. I see them promoting the acceptance of other cultures and races, and even of interracial adoption. This is VERY important to me, as although there were never official papers, the government of the country I lived in considered me the object of an unofficial interracial adoption, and my mother, brothers and sisters basically discovered I had no parents to take care of my in the country, and raised me as their own. They were very good to me, and were all of a different color, and they took me in as a slightly older child, just as the davvy family did Jahv in the cartoon. I love sci fi, and was sometimes referred to as "the alien" because I was a funny color to them, though they weren't making fun, because they turned right around and said how they'd like to look like me, so they were only playing because they knew it wouldn't offend me, and because I confused a picture from a lander to mars with a favorite place to picnic in the desert I'd lived in before moving to the tropics, which was embarrassing. Most or all of the alien customs are actually customs in some of the countries I've lived in. I like the way the stoies encourage people to accept other races as they all have something to offer, and to be tolerant of others customs, even if they're differnt than our own. I'm a commercial artist, (starving artist, hehe) by trade, but am working in another field. That's why I want to illustrate the dark past. If you haven't seen this it's an excellent continuation of "my friend is an alien". It reads like a spoof on my life, which is why I also like it. (by the way, my real dad had plenty of grey suits... . I also want to get ready for television. I thought this would be a perfect way to get ready for it. My personal computer broke, so I was delayed, as all of the drawings were pretty much lost, so I had to recreate them. Terms: If I use my drawings, I reserve the right to use them where or when I may. They look like "my friends are an alien and dark past charactes" but are actually adaptations of other characters I have made. Jahv was for an advertisement to keep the earth green. I do not give up the right to use the characters I draw where and when I please, but will be happy to make them availabe to you free of charge to enjoy,if you like them and want to use them, as I feel this site promotes tolerance of distint races, colors, and ideas, and even promotes adoption. I congratulate you for this. If you accept the terms and like the illustrations I've finished the first few, and they will be made available in a few. I think you'll like them. (I'm making the space ship right now, and trying to make space suits, but have to ask about the ships design before I'm happy. |
