FK Recently: What you all have been up to (6/1/23-7/2/23)

From June, here are the Forever Knight items that I happened to see:

Ficathons, fests & communities that welcome FK

• fkficfest, an FK fanwork challenge, is currently releasing stories daily.
• sunshine_challenge, a posting challenge a la Fandom Snowflake, has 7 prompts throughout July.
• fandomgiftbasket, a gifting fest a la Fandom Stocking, has sign-ups through July 20, fills through Steptember 9, and reveals on September 10.
• rational_fiction_comm, a prompt meme for investigation and problem-solving tropes, has prompting through July 9, stories due September 16, and reveals on September 17.
• iddyiddybangbang, an idfic challenge, has sign-ups through July 17 with works due September 12.
• 1loulu5 is sponsoring an "Obscure Sorrows" challenge, with stories due July 29.
• allbingo's July theme is "fireworks."
• whatif_au's July theme is "radio/podcast AU."
• fancake's July theme is "spies & assassins."

FK fanfiction & other fanworks
Archive Of Our Own (AO3) Summary: 23 of the 1,290 FK works on the AO3 show a posting date in this period.

• FKFicFest stories:
  • "Masquerade" by Calliope24 (G, gen, ~13K words)
  • "A Conversation" by WaltD (G, gen, ~2K words)
  • "A Raven Tale" by dlyt (Unrated, gen, ~5K words)
  • "Prime Suspect" by PJ1228 (T, gen, ~8K words)
  • "Experiment 1260" by Nicholas_Lucien (T, gen, ~3K words)
  • "And that’s why drugs are bad, hmkay?" by TheFruitBat (G, gen, ~2K words)
  • "Life Imitating Art Imitating Life, or The Making of an Urban Legend" by dlyt (T, m/f, ~8K words)
• More FK stories:
  • "Summer Samba" by LittleBlackaPony (G, unspecified, ~2K words)
  • "Deja Vu" by LittleBlackaPony (G, unspecified, ~18K words)
  • "Sticky Wickets" by LittleBlackaPony (G, unspecified, ~7K words)
  • "Suburban Life" by LittleBlackaPony (G, unspecified, ~3K words)
  • "Passing Time" by Merfilly (G, gen, 361K words)
  • "Night Returns" by Flame_of_Anor86 (WIP) (G, multi, 2K words)
  • "A Simple Letter" by Merfilly (G, gen, 313 words)
  • "Doomed by Conviction" by rhodrymavelyne (unspecified, gen, 856 words)
  • "Are You Afraid of Me?" by sarah1228 (E, m/f, ~4K words)
  • "Unsteady" by sarah1228 (E, m/f, ~6K words)
  • "Dwelling in Infinity" by Celestial_Alignment (WIP) (xover) (part 6 of a series) (E, multi, ~85K words)
  • "What We Share" by rhodrymavelyne (xover) (unspecified, gen, ~2K words)
  • "Entanglements" by rhodrymavelyne (xover) (unspecified, gen, ~1K words)
  • "Death's Song" by rhodrymavelyne (xover) (unspecified, multi, 499K words)
  • "Dreams, Warnings, and Dubious Prizes" by rhodrymavelyne (xover) (unspecified, multi, 712K words)
  • "Remembrances and Rebound Ribbing" by rhodrymavelyne (xover) (M, multi, ~1K words)

FK news & conversation

• I saw 2 locked/filtered posts specifically mentioning FK in June (nothing public).
• I had hopes that a flash of FK might sneak its way into the new Overly Sarcastic Productions "Trope talk" episode exploring "Pinocchio plots" -- that is, stories where a non-human character wants to become human. It unfortunately didn't, but I'm going to mention the episode as FK-adjacent, anyway. Watch the video.

That's what that meant! (Finally getting a punchline from a Season 1 episode)

Oh, wow. I just today got a joke in FK that I've been missing all these many years. One very specific joke. From the tag of s01e11 "The Hunters." You probably understood this joke the first time you saw the episode! But I don't have the most keen social insight. All this time, I've vaguely wondered what was up with that exchange; did one of the actors blow a line, or was it just written a little awkwardly? No, no, it was entirely me not getting the joke:

NICK: All I'm saying is that Anderson was right. There's more to being a good cop than picking up dead bodies. And you're a good cop.

SCHANKE: Is this a compliment? I'll try not to get a swelled head.

NICK: You want me to tell you the truth?

SCHANKE: Yeah. Yeah, I want the truth.

NICK: You lost that battle a long time ago, Doughnut.

I take some comfort in that Schanke perhaps doesn't immediately get the joke, either. He looks confused!

The joke is that "the battle" Schanke lost "a long time ago" is to "not get a swelled head." It has nothing to do with being "a good cop," which is what Schanke was fishing for. After giving Schanke several paragraphs of unusually supportive reassurance after the episode's traumatic events, Nick pivots to making fun of Schanke in their more usual dynamic.

Facepalm. How could I have never grasped this before? But I do now, and it's lovely. First-season FK. Seriously. So good! Always. :-D