This is the little story I posted to fkfic-l on the thirteenth anniversary of "Last Knight," written just because I wanted to post something new that day.  (The story has nothing to do with LK.)

My thanks to much_madness for the prompt of Tracy and Schanke discussing Nick, and to leela_cat and amilyn for the eleventh-hour scrutiny and scrubbing that let me post on time.  (tv_elf? Happy Easter.)

	•	Title:	"When Donut Met Button"
	•	Length:	~1,600 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L May 18, 2009
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Tracy receives advice from Schanke on partnering with Nick.
	•	Setting:	Shortly after "Outside the Lines"
	•	Characters:	Tracy, Schanke
	•	Quotation:	"Trust me: he's not so generous with his pats on the back that you can afford to brush them off."

What's good?  Enthused about alternate universes, coming off the new Star Trek movie?  For May, I'm excited to get to recommend a story set in FK's one canonical AU.  "Perchance to Dream: Ghost Song" (2009, rated R) by abby82 plunges beautifully, wretchedly into the "Curiouser & Curiouser" inversion.

Slowly, Janette's perfume surrounds him like a comfortable blanket and for a few precious moments Nick pretends this is exactly what he wants--the trappings of domestic bliss. ... Nick sneaks a look at his watch. If he leaves now, he can make it.

Happy tenth anniversary to the recommendation-of-the-month project!  In May 1999, the very first recommendation was of susanmgarrett's "Peerless Pressure."

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What's new?  In April, fkfic-l saw three stories by three authors.  ( List )

I began posting my oldschoolfic ficathon story to fkfic-l today.  I'm grateful to amilyn for the ficathon prompt, and her enthusiastic reception of the story!  And I'm obliged to my generous beta-readers (see the story's end note) as always.  This is the longest piece I've yet written solely from Natalie's perspective.

	•	Title:	"A Delicate Balance"
	•	Length:	~9,900 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L July 27-29, 2008
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Natalie takes a break from a murder investigation to attend an unusual memorial for her brother, while considering a new approach to Nick's condition.
	•	Setting:	After "1966."  Flashbacks to Natalie's childhood.
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Schanke, Richard, Sara, Nana, Janette, Grace, Stonetree, Tracy and others.
	•	Quotation:	"The mesmerism-enforced lie that had covered Richie's vampirism curdled on Natalie's tongue."

Addendum:  By the way, the fkfic-l "ACK" states that the posts are reaching 279 recipients.  (I presume that is "mail" and "digest," not "nomail," but I don't know for sure.)  Those of you who have FK fanfic you've posted on LJ but not the list, please do consider sharing with the biggest FK audience still assembled.  We miss you.

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.

I've spent most of my fandom hobby time lately working on my oldschoolfic ficathon story.  I got an FK prompt!  And I'm trying to deliver an episode-like response, cop-plot and all.  Eeep!  (Cop-plot stuff is hard.)  Yet in the "vacuum the cat" tradition of ducking the dreaded blank page by any means available, I've also made my second batch of "up for grabs" FK icons (below); the first was that Natpacker set, of course, and so I've now made a smattering of userpics for most other factions.  If you pick one up, please let me know, and credit as appropriate.  Constructive criticism is also welcome.

The original screenshots for many of these come from Nancy T.'s Knight Watchman; others come from Kristen's Knight Vision; and a few have actually been on my hard drive since the series was still on the air (uh, successive hard drives, that is ~g~).  I believe the FK logo GIF with the red letters was created by Nancy K.

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wiliqueen revived the "DVD Commentary" meme, sharing her thoughts on her 2008 BT fanfiction "Five Times Coreen..." (story / with commentary) and her 1993 FK fanfiction "To Drive the Cold Winter Away" (story / with commentary).  She asked for mine on my 2006 FK story "A Little Salsa Picante."

I put my commentary on my site this morning (story / with commentary).  Thank you, Wiliqueen, for reading the story, and for being curious for more!

I mentioned that the retrospective was over, so yes, indeed, this is a new one!  The idea crept up as I was getting ready for church on Good Friday; I wrote it that night.  This is the second-to-shortest FK piece I have ever posted, so perhaps much_madness will consider it another reply to her nudge for "ficlets."

	•	Title:	"Pro Terra Sancta"
	•	Length:	~1,200 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L March 23, 2008
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	On Good Friday, Schanke inadvertently reminds Nick of the Crusades, and Natalie notices.
	•	Setting:	1993 Toronto, Stonetree's Precinct
	•	Characters:	Nick, Natalie, Schanke
	•	Quotation:	"I pointed out that we indispensable public servants don't all get the four-day weekend that schoolgirls and saleswomen do, but did they listen to me?"

So the first thing I did after submitting my "We Love Female Characters" ficathon entry to the happy limbo of the moderated queue over at femme_fic was to switch out the image on my home desktop.  For two months, I've been looking at the characters who star in that particular story -- screenshots and manipulations at home, a symbol at work -- and it's time for a change!  I popped up a favorite from the tag of "Feeding the Beast" (image via NT's esteemed Knightwatchman), with Nick, Natalie and Schanke looking at his canvas -- Schanke pontificating, Nick credulous, and Natalie skeptical.

Didn't we use to have a term for the three of them together, an equivalent to the "Fang Gang" for the other character triad?  I can't seem to remember it.

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."

I wrote this story as a gift for tv_elf, who once wished for fanfiction featuring Schanke and Janette (as in scenes from "For I Have Sinned," "Hunters," "Partners of the Month" and "Close Call").  I don't know that I achieved the rhythm of the great canonical banter she had in mind, but I did my best.  The characters attend The Fantasticks because tv_elf likes musicals, and wiliqueen suggested that this was the musical of the Schankes' generation.

The narrative perspective is Myra's, and Bernice Applebaum from "If Looks Could Kill" makes an appearance (plus references to Norma Dean, Bernice's friend who died in the ILCK teaser).

	•	Title:	"Nice to Remember"
	•	Length:	~4,850 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L November 22, 2006
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Myra and Don Schanke's anniversary celebration proves more exciting than planned.
	•	Setting:	Between first and second season
	•	Characters:	Schanke, Myra, Janette, Others
	•	Quotation:	"You two had a date tonight?  I had no idea.  It's our anniversary, and he volunteered.  Oh, man.  Nick didn't stand you up, did he?  I mean, not that anyone would stand you up!"

And now the retrospective comes to my first (and still only) story from Schanke's perspective, and my first (and still only) through-and-through "cop plot" scenario.  I can't imagine why it took so long!  This genre is a ventricle of the heart of Forever Knight.  I'm still very pleased with this story, all in all.

The title comes from "Dark Knight," of course, where Schanke mocks what he perceives as Nick's weak stomach.

	•	Title:	"A Little Salsa Picante"
	•	Length:	~3,300 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on October 23, 2006
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Schanke's stomach rumbles through an early case with Nick.
	•	Setting:	First season
	•	Characters:	Schanke, Nick, Natalie, Others
	•	Quotation:	"And once again, the sight of some salsa picante lays low the mighty Detective Knight.  Do you realize, Natalie, that Mr. Pride of the Metro PD here cannot cope with a little ketchup on his crime scenes?"

Inserted 04/27/08: As part of the "DVD Commentary" meme, at wiliqueen's request, I've written a commentary on "A Little Salsa Picante."

My meta-parody "Grievances" is one of those few pieces that have never yet made it to fkfic-l.  I archived it on Bright Knight in 2001, but as far as I knew, no one read it until tv_elf recommended it on her LJ two years ago, when several people kindly commented on it.

It was my first attempt at comedy (well, since my contributions to the My Parental Units Invaded Earth and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt FK/DS/XF humor zine, anyway).

	•	Title:	"Grievances"
	•	Length:	~2,900 words
	•	Date:	Summer 2001
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Canonical characters organize to protest the working conditions in fanfiction.
	•	Setting:	Where characters await stories
	•	Characters:	Vachon, Fleur, Janette, Lacroix, Schanke, Cohen, Stonetree, Nick, Natalie, Others
	•	Quotation:	"Bad day on the fic list?  Let me guess -- you spent an entire shift making love to Tracy Vetter for no emotionally established reason in no logically explained manner, and you need an aspirin and a shower?"

 

This song-challenge story is the Nick-narrated companion to my Lacroix-narrated "Whence the Truce."  Each stands alone -- that was important for several reasons, not least because "Whence the Truce" appeared in a zine, not on list -- but they are nevertheless a prequel/sequel pair, my only one so far.

	•	Title:	"That Ain't Love"
	•	Length:	~9,100 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on May 21, 1999
	•	Rating:	PG-13
	•	Summary:	Nick struggles to hold on to his new life and hopes when Lacroix confronts him with old demands and desires.
	•	Setting:	After "Stranger Than Fiction"
	•	Characters:	Nick, Lacroix, Natalie, Janette, Schanke, Brianna
	•	Quotation:	"Do you think that ignoring my feelings will make them go away?  Do you imagine that if you pretend I'm a vampire like any other, I will be?"

 

Putting this fanfiction retrospective back on chronological track, the next story up is "England's Rose."  It seems peculiar now, over a decade later, on this side of 9/11 and war and all the rest, the volume of grief lavished on Princess Diana's loss.  But at that time, much of a generation saw a mirror crack, and felt their reflection shatter.  Natalie is part of that generation.

FK's timeline warps to accommodate this story.  "Nobody dies, nobody ever dies," so that the entire cast can register reactions.

	•	Title:	"England's Rose"
	•	Length:	~5,572 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L in September 1997
	•	Rating:	PG
	•	Summary:	Princess Diana's death distresses Natalie and reminds Nick of Queen Caroline.
	•	Setting:	August 31 and September 6, 1997; Flashbacks 1981 and 1783
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Sara, Grace, Schanke, Nick, Janette, Lacroix, Urs, Vachon, Screed, Tracy, Cohen
	•	Quotation:	"Natalie had turned nineteen the summer of the royal wedding, and there had been something inescapably exciting about watching this girl, her own age, walk onto the world stage."

 

Fluff.  Utter, unremitting fluff.  My first fiction response to "Last Knight" was apparently thoroughgoing denial wrapped in sappiness and sprinkled with humor.  Eeep!  A few years on, this would have been satire, but at the time, I meant it just as it is.

	•	Title:	"Happiness Is"
	•	Length:	~1,700 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L in June 1996
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Natalie and Nick chat about friends and family, happily ever after.
	•	Setting:	"Nobody Dies; Nobody Ever Dies"
	•	Characters:	Natalie, Nick, references to everyone else (that's right: everyone!)
	•	Quotation:	"How about you, Natalie Lambert Knight, love of my eight hundred and four years?  Are you happy?"