I actually posted September's recommendation-of-the-month to my site days ago, so it's not quite as late as it looks from here. :-)

What's Good?  Sweet-by-bittersweet, Mary Co.'s "Last Things" runs happily-ever-after all the way into heaven.  It's unapologetically sentimental, and exemplifies a distinct and popular subgenre of N&N romance that, intriguingly, is almost never applied to any other FK characters.

        Any illusions that they might keep the change in their relationship a secret were quickly shattered. It took Don Schanke exactly seventy-two hours to figure it out, and he confided to Nick that if Myra hadn't been off at a Skin Pretty convention, and therefore unavailable for consultation, he would probably have tumbled to it sooner. So they gave up the pretense and she moved -- lock, stock and Sidney -- into the loft.

What's New?  In August, fkfic-l saw three new stories by two authors: ( List )

Many people have posted about this by now (much thanks to abby82 for cluing me on) and everyone should know!  If you've missed it so far, come catch up.  "Rich's ComixBlog" is featuring a project called Forever Janette.  (LiveJournal syndication of RSS Feed here; DreamWidth syndication of RSS Feed here.)

The praiseworthy art features functional resemblances and excellent composition.  It's set between season two and season three, where so many wonderful tales fit.  I've wanted to see FK as a comic for ages!  There are sixteen installments so far.  The creator seems to know his canon.

It's also a crossover with Doctor Who.  ( Spoilers )

What's good?  I'm pleased to get to feature "The Night Was Dark, and She Was the Owner" by Elisabeth as February's recommendation-of-the-month.  This ficlet crosses over with Highlander, but requires no HL knowledge to enjoy its full FK potential.

       "Buy the lady a drink?"
       The question, asked in the patois of her childhood by a vaguely familiar voice, triggered Janette's protective instincts. Even as she swung around, she clamped down on her body's impulse to flash fangs.
       Elbows resting on the wrought iron fence that separated the café tables from the pavement, he smiled at her. That nose, those eyes, that horrendous hair. He could be only one man. Methos, her memory supplied, along with a string of other, temporary, names.

-----
What's new?  In January, fkfic-l saw three stories finish posting, including the one that began in December.  (As a reminder, the line-limit doubled during January.  Post-count for story-length will be a whole new metric going forward.)

• "A Question of Loyalty" by dj_clawson (6 posts)
  
• "Rogue Vampire" by abby82 (1 post)
  
• "Lost Scene from 'Father Figure'" by Walt D. (1 post)
  

Four stories have completed their runs in February so far, including one that began in January and is the largest to post in almost four years.

leela_cat wrote, and batdina beta-read, several ficlets as personal holiday gifts this year, three of them FK, and one of them for me!

This is the first time leela_cat has written FK in, oh, vampire's years.  She was good then, but she's even better now.  Please consider reading these and lavishing her with thoughtful comments to encourage her to indulge FK again someday.

• FK: "Even a Fine Line Has Two Sides" for Natpacker amilyn. 300 words. G. Natalie, Sidney, Nick.
  
• FK: "A Strange Comfort" for Knightie me. ~1,090 words. G. Nick, Schanke, Natalie, Janette.
  
• FK/HL: "The Night Was Dark, and She Was the Owner" for Ravenette loreleif. ~1,200 words. G. Janette, Methos, Natalie.

Recently, in FK on my LJ Friends List:

• abby82 shared a new T+V vid to the song "Almost Lover" on December 17; this is one of precious few Tracy vids I've ever seen.  She also posted a new N&N story titled "Flight of the Imagination" (Rated R) on November 16.  (It has not yet appeared anywhere else.)  And on November 11, she posted about her works in progress, several of them FK, including a crossover with The Border.
  
  
• dj_clawson mused on vampirism and abstinence in FK and Twilight on November 23.
  
  
• amilyn added a link to her fanfiction to her LJ sidebar sometime before November 30 -- at least, I think she added it.  I think it was not there when I'd looked previously, but I'm not always alert to these things.  In any case, she's got five FK pieces and one FK/BloodTies crossover there, none of which, I believe, are in the usual FK archives.
  
  
• ithildyn, challenged to list all her holiday fanfiction, noted her "A Ghost of Winter's Past," with FK's Lacroix and HL's Methos, on December 8.  And on December 4, she recalled meeting ninjababe on IRC in the FK channel, back when.
  
  
• endaewen talked about updating her fanfiction site on December 13, with the Forsaken Fandoms award she won for her "Faire Things" (Best Fluff), and a new FK crossover ficlet with Highlander: The Raven, titled "The Raven In The Raven."
  
  
• pj1228 posted her episode-like second-season novella "Disclosures" on December 17.  I had the privilege of beta-reading this one, and she has said she is thinking of a possible sequel.
  
  
• There have been many wonderful memorial posts about tv_elf, some of them mentioning her FK fandom.  Thank you to everyone who has shared memories of her!  If you posted only to your own LJ, please consider cross-posting or linking your memorial post on the Horsechicks' memory post; that specific URL has been shared with her family and non-fannish people who love her and miss her.  (They're hard posts to make, I know. I keep crying when I try. I got to be at her memorial, though; the Horsechicks, bless them, characteristically dubbed it "Abby-Con," and that's amusing her no end, I'm sure.)

Recently, in FK on my Friends List:

• Potential Fanfic!  On October 3, ithildyn considered the c.1849 flashbacks in FK's "The Code," and how to cross FK with Magnificent 7.  Does the idea of Chris/Janette strike your fancy?
  
  
• Upcoming Ficathon!  On October 3, the oldschoolfic moderator confirmed that she is planning an end-of-year prompt-a-thon and story exchange.  (This is the community for out-of-production shows like FK.)
  
  
• New Fanfiction Posted!  On September 30, the current "Back-to-School"-themed oldschoolfic ficathon was due, and there are two FK stories this time!  (Naturally, there are also nice stories for other fandoms.)  For FK, we have:
  • "Twenty-Five Minutes" (G) by abby82 for the prompt: "the girl in the photo on Captain Amanda Cohen's desk" (~800 words).
    
  • "Fearful Symmetry" (PG) by me, for the prompt: "In 'Spin Doctor,' Nick says he had some remarkable students; how did he say goodbye to them?" (~7K words).
• Ficathon! DVDs!  On September 22, abby82 mentioned the galpalficathon FK prompts (available now, ficathon due November 16), and that the The Border (with CD and NB) is coming soon to R1 DVD.
  
  
• Meme!  On September 17, ithildyn posted an FK quotation meme.

Also, voting over at the forsaken_fandom awards is open through Monday, October 13 (Rules, FK List, FK Ballot).

Recently, in FK on my Friends List:

FK on Individual Journals

• On September 1, abby82 posted eight new FK icons (images, some artistic enhancement, no captions).  She also mentioned the fk_icons community, of which I hadn't known.
  
  
• On August 26, both wiliqueen and abby82 posted about the Gemini Awards nominations, which include Catherine Disher's work on The Border and Ben Bass in Would Be Kings.  (I've heard a lot about The Border, but Would Be Kings is news to me.)  Beyond those biggies, wiliqueen spotted Nahanni Johnstone (Wendy in "Dying for Fame") among the nominees, and abby82 shared photos and links while opining on GWD's and NB's TV work in the eligible period.

Multi-Fandom (Including FK) Communities

• On September 6, voting opened on the forsaken_fandom community for their awards (Rules, FK List, FK Ballot).  Some FK authors didn't approve their nominations; I hope they all got to hear about it and choose.  (It has crossed my mind to not vote, because I do not wish to read, nor endorse by a vote, the "non-con" category.  The rules allow underage voters to leave the "adult" categories blank; perhaps I will ask permission to do the same.  Anyway, it's on my mind.)
  
  
• On August 30, butterflykiki linked to the whattheficathon community, which is a crossover fiction exchange that could include FK in its next round, if it holds one, but there seem to have been no FK crossovers so far.
  
  
• On August 27, the oldschoolfic moderators introduced an optional modified challenge for those who didn't click with any of the original prompts.  Stories are due at the end of the month.  (abby82 and I are participating, so we're assured of some FK!)
  
  
• On August 26, the galpalficathon community went up.  This is a prompt-based, commitment-free ficathon focused on female friendship (that is, any positive platonic relationship between female characters: relatives count).  Many people are very excited about it, and prompting is open through Monday, September 8, so check it out!  Leave a prompt for Natalie and Janette, Janette and Urs, Urs and Tracy, Tracy and Cohen, ( the list goes on ).  I have not submitted any prompts yet, but I will (there are as yet no FK prompts there).

What's good?  This September, the recommendations project features a crossover that handles the sharp edges of third-season Forever Knight through the gloves of first-season Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Did you know that Joyce Summers was Natalie's cousin?  Well...

"Then, one night, they brought me a bag of body parts that decided to put themselves back together, get up from the table, slurp down a bag of blood, and push the boundaries of my universe beyond anything I ever expected."
            -- Natalie to Buffy, "Spring Break, Slayer Style," by wiliqueen, 1998

What's new?  In August, we had a new story on fkfic-l!  "Soliloquy, The One Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty-eighth" by Walt D. (one post).  Three cheers for Walt!

Recently, in FK on my Friends List:

• On August 11, graphiteslog sketched out a Forever Knight/Sapphire & Steel crossover that sounds quite sensible and intriguing.  (And if any of you have ever heard of Sapphire & Steel before, she would probably be gratified to learn of your existence.)
  
  
• On August 8, ithildyn pondered an FK/HL story she wrote in March, called "Shattered," which, to her surprise, ended up featuring Nick.  She mentioned an eventual sequel.
  
  
• On August 5, someone posted something noteworthy, under a lock.
  
  
• On August 2, abby82 recapped aspects of a recent "Curiouser & Curiouser" discussion on forkni-l.
  
  
• On July 20, abby82 recommended two FK f/f stories: Havoc's untitled Fleur/Kate piece, and also "What Makes a Mortal Interesting," a Janette/Natalie story I'd never seen before.

Recently, in FK on my Friends List:

• On July 16, amilyn posted "Somewhat Useful," a traditional drabble (100 words) featuring Schanke and Urs.  (Yes, you read that right.  It says, "Schanke and Urs."  Honest.  Credit the prompt to wiliqueen.)
  
  
• On July 14, ithildyn made remarks about a FK/Iron Man, Janette and Tony crossover idea.  I can only assume that egging her on would be a positive step, even though the story could never be posted to fkfic-l (rules, rules).
  
  
• On July 11, abby82 posted her Schanke vid "The Rockafella Skank" to a song by Fatboy Slim.  I am not familiar with this music genre, but the Schankeness is pure.  It's a light-hearted, totally pre-"Black Buddha" production.  (And it's the first vid she ever made.)

As for me, after a hectic, horrid, work week, I've used up just about all my hobby time this weekend reading and remarking on oldschoolfic ficathon stories by my fellow players, and thanking those who kindly replied to my story.  What I want to be doing now is taking greerwatson's advice and adding a "Relative Reality" column to my Places & Things of the FK Universe list.  Honestly, when I began it, I meant to list only the fictional things unique to FK (e.g. the Borchiver Award from "Can't Run, Can't Hide").  But I blundered into some that are quite real (e.g. Humbar Nurseries from "Only the Lonely") and greerwatson is very generously sharing her Toronto expertise to make the distinctions for the benefit of FK writers.  I hope to get that scrubbed and up this week, if not this weekend.  (What is it with Real Life, eternally interfering with fandom? ~g~)

Are there other FK-eligible ficathons on the horizon?  If not, I've promised much_madness that I'll try to address her taste for ficlets (101-1000 words) in some way.  And I still owe hearts_blood that NCIS/FK unbirthday crossover.

Icons.  My FK activity this week was creating a small flock of NatPack icons for wiliqueen.  I hope at least one strikes her fancy; any that do not catch her eye, I will recycle for general "up for grabs" consumption for any other icon-deprived NatPackers.  (I'll mark them so, when the time comes.)  I hope I'm building my icon-making skills as I go; it's a new craft, and I have a lot to learn!  In and around the new icons for wiliqueen, I also created just a few more for myself, including this (Gratuitous Icon Post!) one with Natalie, Nick and the Caddie from "The Fix."

Fanfiction.  Writing "Starwort" (that long Fleur story) for the ficathon was a bit of a "high," and I'm experiencing a low in its wake.  A friend who did not have time to beta before the ficathon is taking a look at the story now, and will let me know what I can fix in her areas of expertise before taking the story home to fkfic-l.  Trying to figure out where to begin a completely different new story, and not succumb to the morass of not writing for fun (only work), I'm playing with hearts_blood's request for a NCIS/FK crossover for her birthday; we'll see.

Analysis.  The last forkni-l digest I read came on March 22.  That's not far behind, by my standards these days, but there was this one post that week to which I would really like to respond -- at length, citing a whole alphabet soup of episodes, in the good old way -- but I can't well do so until I catch up on all the digests since, to see if someone has beaten me to the punch.  Ah, well.  Key thought?  The thing the poster assumed is true, well, it appears only in Lacroix's dialogue, and only after first season.  This leaves the very strong interpretive possibility that, as Nick and Janette's dialogue in the first season explicitly contradicts Lacroix on this point, Lacroix is either mistaken or lying, and either way, most probably trying to manipulate Nick!  Ah, well. :-)

This is not a crossover.  It's a parody.  But it has a smattering of parallel spoilers for the third season of the revived Doctor Who, because I inflicted on Nick and his Professor When show all the spoilers I was unable to duck in real life.

Our beloved brick is so good for this kind of humor, isn't he?  I had almost forgotten!

	•	Title:	"Professor When"
	•	Length:	~3,700 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on August 30, 2007
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	It seems everyone has seen the new season of Nick's favorite show -- except him.
	•	Setting:	Second season
	•	Characters:	Nick, Lacroix, Schanke, Janette, Merlin, Natalie, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Nick sighed. Putting away killers to atone for his sordid past was all fine and good, but no one should have to work on premiere night."

What's good?  For March, the FK recommendation-of-the-month project features Dorothy's novel "Evidence" (1998), set shortly after "Trophy Girl."  The Reese subplot (in and around a serial-killer cop plot, Renaissance flashbacks and some Natalie psychology) makes me think again that as Dorothy is most often publicly praised for her N&N romance content, her spot-on rendering of Reese is perhaps an underappreciated gift to the fandom.

What's new?  In February 2008, fkfic-l happily saw these two new stories posted.

• "What Would Happen" (an FK/Smallville crossover, adult) (1 Part) by abby82
  
• "Steamer Trunk Space" (a Janette vignette) (1 Part) by me

At least, I presume it was happily.  I was happy at the advent of new fiction, even though one of the stories was my own.  I would be happier if there were more, always.  Fandom does not live by discussion alone.

Again prompted by the season, I'm going to tweak this rolling retrospective out of chronology to bring up my one New Year's fanfiction, "An Appointment Unkept," which is also my one true crossover to date.  In this case, the cross is with Highlander.  The story is less about those lost than those who miss them.

	•	Title:	"An Appointment Unkept"
	•	Length:	~2,982 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L December 31, 2005
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Nick and Darius have a longstanding appointment, but neither of them make it.
	•	Setting:	Paris, New Year's Eve 1999
	•	Characters:	Original HL Immortal, Janette
	•	Quotation:	"She met his eyes, her own again a rich blue.  The depth of the sorrow there shocked him.  Carefully controlled, it nevertheless went down, and down, and down, perhaps without end."

Important to know: For the first time in a few years, we have a new list rule on ForKni-L.  Today's digest brought news of a moratorium on references to Moonlight, including the usual compare/contrast approach, because of too much Moonlight-only content since Friday's "Fleur de Lis" episode sparked such a flurry on list.

[Crossposted from forkni-l. Backdated.]

In addition to CBS's new Moonlight about a vampire private detective, I'm counting as familiar the outline of Fox's new New Amsterdam, about an immortal homicide detective.

By my calendar, today is the eleventh anniversary of the first airing of "Last Knight" (local syndication varied, of course).  I was thinking that these two new shows in the new fall schedules announced this week are a pleasant way to mark that anniversary.  Sure, okay, there are myriad influences, but today I want to think they are both FK-inspired. :-)

[Crossposted from forkni-l. Backdated. In reply to a comment that Kristen Lehmen's character on Drive is not as interesting as her character Urs on FK.]

In my opinion, the second hour/episode of Drive is where Kristen Lehmen's new character becomes interesting.  (Though of course I'm more interested in Urs, because she is of FK.)

Stated carefully to avoid spoilers, I'm only up to the second Drive episode of the four that have aired, but it was in the second (with the development of KL's character) that I began to think that this new show might touch on one of the things I love best in FK: quest structure, long-term striving.  While so far none of the characters seem to be driven by Nick's very particular choice-gone-wrong and redemption paradigms, there is an element of second chance or last chance that resonates with me on a similar frequency to FK.  ( Read more... )