About

Strike the heart, not the bone

The Valiant Knife is a personal network of websites: a collective.Most sites here are of the fannish variety, and most of those dedicated to video games (and specifically, video game hairstyles) but there’re no hard and fast rules. I’ve been making hobby websites since 2002, when I created a blog in a fit of sixteen year old sturm und drang. I haven’t stopped. [tabs style=”default” css=”tabber”] [tab title=”The Name”]

About the Name

The Valiant Knife is a weapon found in Final Fantasy VI. It has a power level of 134, unique to Locke and gained automatically when he rejoins the party in the World of Ruin. The knife is one of the strongest weapons in the game, more for special properties than raw power.  It ignores defense and gains more power as the wielder loses hit points.  Everyone knows it’s hip to domain Square, and weapon names are always fair game.

I really like Final Fantasy VI, and my feelings for Locke can unfortunately be described in terms like squishy and fangirl. Since this is sort of a gaming collective, it makes sense to use a term from a videogame, no? But there’s a reason I didn’t name my domain after the Wing Edge. The Valiant Knife appeals to me in ways that go beyond Final Fantasy, beyond whatever made me fall in love with Locke at the age of nine. It’s meant to be evocative of chivalry’s darker side, the parts of heroism that take you with them. You know what that means: pretentious quote powers, activate!

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.

Now that phasers have been firmly to self importance, I think the double-significance of the name is, if not made more clear, sufficiently obscured by Lord Alfred’s smoke and mirrors. Originally this was going to be the domain’s epigraph. It’s not about videogames, but it’s worth thinking about anyway. After all, character shrines are a form of hero worship. I’ve followed many a nameless youth on his quest for revenge and glory. But what of the mother and the town he leaves weeping behind him? That’s the valiant knife. [/tab] [tab title=”FAQ”]

Frequently Asked Questions

The traditional FAQ page with the traditionally deceptive title. Here’s all the stuff people have emailed me about one (1) time before, as well as the stuff I just wish people would ask me but never do. I am reachablethrough other methods and dimensions if this list doesn’t do you in.

How much of this website can I copy/paste/steal?

Internet plagiarism’s really not my hobby-horse, but rest assured if you swipe my CSS or my header or my bio page (and yes all of the above has happened on multiple occasions) I will find out. I might not say anything, but I will find out and I will be annoyed. Some threat, right? While I don’t have the time or patience for internet pitchforks these days, I really appreciate some basic decency in not taking my hard work and claiming it for your own. And here’s the magical secret that makes this an actual question instead of obvious ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEALfiller: if you ask me first, want to credit, and do the whole thing above board, I won’t be mad at all.

I love your site! Can we be affiliates?

Affiliation requests are generally closed, because I update once every six months and keep this site open only to suit my twisted whims! In theory, all sites have individual affiliation requirements— I tend to affiliate with friends whose websites I like and with on-topic related character tributes. If you are a SEO form mailer robot looking to exchange links to up the google page rating, I’m not going to return your emails.

Where do you get your images?

Lots of places, I do try to credit with every layout. For the most part, browse ArtRenewal if you want high quality images of paintings, especially pre-Raphaelite works. Much of my videogame artwork comes from artbook scans donated to me by friends, and the rest is stuff I’ve scanned or in the public domain.

Where do you get your quotes?

A lot of places. I kind of collect them, especially for my websites. If you want quote sites, these are some of my favorites: The Quote GardenThe Columbia World of Quotation, and Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.

Do you host?

No. I used to, but not anymore. I’m really bad at it. You don’t want me. Try bubble.nu! [/tab] [tab title=”About me”]

About Me

me Alex is a Mental Organism Designed Only for Coding; she lives in Portland, OR with too much spare time on her hands. Her hobbies include attempting to resurrect the whig party and typing in the third person.

I’ve been making websites for a long time and because I assume my opinions are worth stapling onto the internet. I have a passion for SNES JRPGs and pop culture representations of women, for silly hats and speaking only in memes.

You can contact me at alex@valiantknife.org. [/tab] [/tabs]

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