For those who like to ponder events in the existence of FK's Lacroix and Divia characters, I recently read an essay that might interest you: "How a Disaster Relief Program Changed the Roman Empire for the Better: Pompeii may symbolize catastrophe, but its aftermath provides a blueprint for rebuilding" by Annalee Newitz in The New York Times, March 6, 2021.

We naturally often focus on Pompeii for what existed before the Vesuvius eruption and what people suffered during the disaster. I, at least, had not thought to look into what happened after. According to this essay, many interesting things, including a relief and redistribution program about which Lacroix is sure to have had opinions. (I couldn't say whether Divia had opinions; she's an adolescent infused with terrible power and primordial evil; she probably didn't care much about economic and social structures.)

( some excerpts from the essay )

The story that I wrote for the 2015 fkficfest/fkficfest released very early in the game. (Thanks to lastscorpion for the lightning beta!) I'd love it if you read it! If you do, please consider letting me know what I should learn from this one to make the next more interesting and satisfying.

First, though, please check out all the other stories! There's something to tempt every FK taste.

On the AO3:	"Wake the Morning After"
Length:	14,995 words
Date:	August 2015
Rating:	PG-13
Characters:	Natalie, Nick, Schanke, Urs, Lacroix, Lili; original characters; "off screen" Serena, Feliks, Enforcers
Setting:	~2015; divergent reality; branched from canon in the hiatus between the first and second seasons
Summary:	Back in the day, Natalie cured Nick's vampirism; they got married. Two decades later, something has gone terribly wrong.
Quotation:	"Yet Nick had never stopped looking over his shoulder, never stopped expecting an ambush by the existence he’d left behind. Nick had told Natalie about many such dangers — his resentful surviving converts; hunters of vampires; cronies of Nick’s deceased “master,” Lacroix; and, first, foremost and always, the Enforcers, who kept the vampires’ secrets."

( Reflections on writing this story, with spoilers )

I've previously posted about the nice things that I received in my own Fandom Stocking this year, and about the neat things that I spotted in other people's Fandom Stockings, so tonight I thought I'd point out the items that I stuffed into some Fandom Stockings myself. I didn't create as widely or well as I'd have liked, but I did have fun writing:

• Highlander: "Lazarus Heart" (Methos/Alexa, 918 words, G) (beta-read by celli!) for beccadg's wish
  I'd never tried Methos/Alexa before, but the attempt turned out surprisingly satisfying for me. I hope that it works as well for readers, and doesn't bog down when I poke around inside Methos's head for a bit in the middle.


• Forever Knight: "In Pursuit of the Paladin" (Lacroix & Natalie with Nick implied, 991 words, PG) (beta-read by skieswideopen!) for pj1228's wish
  This led me to a new approach to the ever-vexing problem of how to write for fellow FK fans who personally prefer "dark" takes that I can't support, myself. Here, I imagined a "bright" scenario that I'd love, but told it from Lacroix's perspective. It worked better for me than some past, straining attempts to approach "dark" prompts, but I don't know whether it really bridges the problem of sufficient respect for preferences I can't share. Maybe it's better not to try? There are so few of us! Are mismatches better than no matches, or not?


• A handful of fanfiction "gift certificates" in FK and HL for stories to be posted to the AO3 sometime in 2014
  (Four have been redeemed/accepted so far. Coincidentally, that's the same number I still owe from the last time I tried this — you know who you are. ~grin~)

As you may know, my interpretation of Forever Knight considers the power of hypnotism perhaps the most insidious, corrosive temptation of Nick's vampirism. Unlike his supernaturally enhanced strength, endurance and agelessness, hypnotism requires an active decision each time he uses it. Unlike flying, which is also an active choice, hypnotism is by its nature an assault on another person's free will. Now, often, the storyline unleashes vampiric hypnotism strictly on the dangerous and depraved, or makes hypnotism the only choice to save a life in a certain situation; sometimes, it is employed on a smaller scale, to cause sleep or dull pain; occasionally (as with Tawny Teller in "Unreality TV"), Nick even gets permission before hypnotizing. Other times, however, he succumbs to the temptation to force people to do his bidding against their wills for no good or sufficient reason (as with Schanke washing the Caddy in "Close Call"). Of course this is tragedy. It demeans them and further corrupts him.

Each time the opportunity to use hypnotism arises, Nick should consider whether there is another way to achieve his goal, and, if not, whether his goal is truly worthy of the use of such a power. Naturally, inured by long habit, Nick more often acts first and thinks later, if, on hypnotism, he thinks at all. And that's part of the wonderful story of his Everyman struggle for redemption and whether — "Last Knight" aside — he (and we) may finally achieve tragedy or triumph.

This came to mind in response to an essay by Colbert King in today's Washington Post, which linked to an old (1992) essay in the Acton Institute's Religion and Liberty: "Power Corrupts" by Ben Moreell. Moreell writes:

"When a person gains ... power to force other persons to do his bidding when they do not believe it right to do so[,] it seems inevitable that a moral weakness develops in the person who exercises that power. ... [H]e eventually concludes that power and wisdom are the same thing. And as he possesses power, he must also possess wisdom. ... At this point, he begins to lose his ability to distinguish between what is morally right and what is ... expedient."

Above, I suggest how this recurring temptation harms Nick. Lacroix, though, is surely an even better illustration, from generalship through vampirism, of the effects on its wielder of the power to bend and break others' wills. "As he possesses power, he must also possess wisdom," Lacroix concluded of himself ages past, and never looked back. Nick is still fighting to distinguish between the right and the expedient. Lacroix long since ceased to recognize the distinction, if ever he did. (It's easy to suppose that Janette, as usual, would fall somewhere between, but instead I submit that we have too few instances of her hypnotizing people to place her firmly in comparison... except perhaps to float the hypothesis that she may hypnotize less often than Nick or Lacroix.)

To deny someone the freedom to think and remember as he wills is a horror. Even a slave has his thoughts and memories, surely? Such hypnotism is non-con/dub-con through a fantasy/sci-fi metaphor.

(Each to her own when it comes to squicks, of course! This just happens to be one of mine.)

What's Good?  February's recommendation-of-the-month is Susan G.'s "Lost and Found" (1999, PG, ~5K words), written for the charity fanzine A Taste of Forever and never posted to fkfic-l.  I was delighted to discover that she had placed it on her site!  This post-series story grants Nick and Natalie a human future together, but sprouts a new tragedy from the roots of Nick's original vampiric sin.

        "There's always hope. There has to be hope. You're a lot less pig-headed than I am--at least, your mother thinks you are. Maybe it won't take you eight hundred years to find your answer. Be smart. Have hope. Survive," added Nick, the last in a harsh whisper, placing his hand on his son's shoulder. "And remember that we'll always be there for you. We'll always love you."
        Richie's head turned, his expression doubtful--the weight of guilt in his eyes for the deeds of the past year adding instantly to the burden on Nick's soul.
        "We'll always love you," repeated Nick.

-----
What's New on FKFic-L?  January saw four stories by two authors on the email list.  February so far has seen none.  ( list with links )

This year's Yuletide scored two Forever Knight stories. Unusually for me — eternally behind on my fanfic reading — I jumped my own queue, downloaded the AO3 mobi files to my Kindle, and have read them while they're still anonymous. I enjoyed both in very different ways.

My remarks below contain spoilers! The ratings and warnings/tags in these reviews are mine as a reader, not those of the authors. Finally, please understand that, writing here in my own journal about [currently] anonymous stories, these are indeed actual, old-fashioned reviews, not comments nor recommendations. That is, they frankly consider both good and bad elements as I have fun musing and analyzing. (If you prefer to avoid negative opinions, please skip this post!)

"The Cross" (PG, Gen, ~1K words)
Characters: Lacroix, OMC
Warnings/Tags: Historical, Early Middle Ages, Vampire Violence, Mob Violence, Murder
( Review )

"A Dark and Stormy Night" (PG, Gen, ~9K words)
Characters: Nick, Tracy, Barbara, Natalie, Sydney
Warnings/Tags: Weather, Hurricane, Flooding, Policework, Homicide, Alcoholism, Family, Flashbacks, Historical, 1950s
( Review )

These are my half of the "door prize" drabbles (100 words each) written for the on-time players in FKFicFest 2011.  (See the whole slate for eight more by amilyn. My thanks to her for beta-reading mine, and for writing hers!)  They're assorted, answering a diversity of prompts.

	Available:	The Ficathon | My Fansite | The AO3
	Length:	8x100 words
	Date:	FKFicFest 07/29/11
	Rating:	Assorted
	Characters:	Nick, Natalie, Lacroix, Janette, Feliks, Reese, Jenny, Jody, Perry
	Quotation:	"She had been growing, working, straining toward this almost since she could remember, before her school chorus, back to her dad’s cassette tapes. Stravinsky, Parker, Lennon... even polka."

I wrote this story for pj1228 in the oldschoolfic winter 2011 event.  (This is the one with the Turkish bath, the blood supplier, and the teenage murder victim.)  Thanks to lastscorpion, skieswideopen and amilyn for beta-reading!  Thanks to celli and wiliqueen for brainstorming!

PJ is a Cousin, Dark Knightie and UFer who prefers "dark," so I found this assignment extremely challenging.  I aimed close to canon, hoping to achieve its openness to being read both ways; the crimes solved in this tale are more disturbing than my usual, and some may find them triggering, though all could have aired as written.

	•  Title:	"Cuts Deep" (also on AO3)
	•  Length:	~11,000 words
	•  Date:	Oldschoolfic 02/02/11, FKFic-L 05/02/11
	•  Rating:	PG-13
	•  Summary:	Nick and Schanke solve a vicious murder that reminds Nick of a miscarriage of justice in 1885 London.
	•  Characters:	Nick, Schanke, Natalie, Lacroix, Janette, Stonetree, Norma, Others
	•  Quotation:	"Schanke was right; Nick did know that feeling.  He took a deep breath of the clear spring night.  'We give the families closure, Schank.  And sometimes, with these high profile cases, the whole community needs that closure, too."

What's Good?  For March, I'd like to recommend Susan G.'s "Where There's No Smoking" (1994, ~2K words), in which a shrewdly observant Miklos keeps the Raven running as Janette attempts to walk away from her cigarettes. Primarily a vehicle for light character sketches from the bartender's perspective, the piece builds up a charge from brushing across canon surfaces including addiction and survival.

     Why he was bothering to warn Nick away was beyond him--the entertainment value alone... But Janette seemed to care about this demented vampire who wanted to return to mortality. And Janette was the boss. Again, it was a matter of self-preservation. Besides, he felt some sympathy for Nick. Anyone who'd spent that many years in Janette's company and hadn't walked into the sun deserved more than a little consideration.

-----
What's New on FKFic-L?  Four stories by three authors posted to the list in February, and two stories by one author have posted in March so far. ( list with links )

I've spent many a holiday reading fanfiction; I posted this new piece to FKFic-L on US Thanksgiving Day for anyone in that position this year.  "Heart's Ease" is a tidied-up take on the commentfic I gave hearts_blood in late September; she requested Natalie, Lacroix and "human!Nick" with his first cold in eight centuries.  Thanks to wiliqueen for beta-reading!

My previous post poked fun at the usual characteristics of my fanfic, so there's irony that this light little story runs off those rails.  If I didn't know, I wouldn't guess it was me.  (Would you?)

	•	Title:	"Heart's Ease" (also on AO3)
	•	Length:	~1,200 words
	•	Date:	Posted to FKFic-L on November 25, 2010
	•	Rating:	G
	•	Summary:	Soon after achieving a cure, Nick finds himself at the hospital.
	•	Characters:	Nick, Tracy, Lacroix, Natalie
	•	Quotation:	"You aren't going to spend a sick day on a little cold, are you?"