As this year's halfamoon comes to a close, lightbird did me the honor of remembering and recommending one of my old -- 2001! -- Forever Knight stories for the theme "One-hit Wonders." Read her kind rec.

"Kindred Spirits" (T, gen, ~13K words) is from Nick's perspective, but features Urs and Jacqueline (Ellen-Monika-Jacqueline of "Hearts of Darkness," the theme's "One-hit Wonder"), with cameos by Natalie and Lacroix, and "off-screen" actions by others.

This is one of my personal favorites of my own FK fanfic (it's even tagged "author's favorite" from back when that was a thing). I love these characters and the questions I think they raise. I hadn't re-read it in so long that I had literally forgotten just how it ends, and I made myself cry, if that's not too silly to admit. I now feel that (a) I should be daring like that more often in the present, so yay! '01 me and the beta-readers who helped me, and (b) wow, did I ever use oodles of unnecessary words and overlong sentences, so hey! '25 me take warning and never backslide. ;-) I was also surprised that the story was this long; in my memory, it was much shorter... because, in proportion to the norm then, it was indeed shorter.

Thank you, lightbird! You absolutely made my day.


(halfamoon has many assorted recs across fandom. If you haven't, consider taking a look?)

Reminder: I've converted my FK monthly recap ("Recently:FK" tag) into general fannish engagement ("Recently:Enthusiasms" tag). This may often include FK; it won't always.

Here are some recent fannish things I've happened to see and would like to share:

Ficathons, fests & communities

• Create & engage
  • halfamoon is an annual challenge over the first 2 weeks of February, celebrating female characters in fandom.
  • comment_bingo is a bingo challenge for commenting on other people's works. The current round runs through May.
  • alexcat hosts "Fandom 50," a challenge to make 50 fandom posts by the end of the year.
  • small_fandoms hosts miscellaneous events welcoming all small fandoms. Its February event is a "drabbleathon."
  • whatif_au hosts AU fanwork challenges. Its February-March challenge is "immortal AU."
  • trope_of_the_month is a themed fanwork community. Its February theme is "marriage & engagement."
  • allbingo is a very general bingo community: card generation, fan and original works, promos of other bingo events, etc. Its February theme is "Valentines." It's also hosting a complementary Valentines "thematic meet-and-greet."
  • pinchhits is a forum for advertising pinch-hits in fannish exchanges. Pick up an assignment and help out a fest!
• Enjoy & share
  • recthething is a general fanwork recs comm with open reccing.
  • fanart_recs is a general fanart recs comm with both signed-up and open recs.
  • fancake is a themed fanfic recs comm. Its February theme is "trans & non-binary characters."
  • het_reccers is a m/f fanfic recs comm with open reccing.
  • gensplosion is a gen fanfic recs comm with open reccing.

My current favorite PokéTubers

• MandJTVPlays
  Michael uniquely, delightfully fuses Pokémon fanfiction with abridged playthroughs. He's created his own "cinematic universe" of vivid original characters (all played by him), including most recently Orange (supposedly the previous champion who lost to Blue in the original Kanto games; an affectionate parody of a stereotypical "Genwunner"); most often the Team Sky Leader (originally a third evil team beside the canonical Teams Aqua and Magma, but now, after many stories, a redeemed defender of the sky); and most famously Grunty Boy (a clueless but ambitious Team Rocket grunt originally created to host in-video commercials).
• BirdKeeperToby
  Toby (currently on sabbatical) is a worldbuilding specialist. He shares fantastic theories and analyses of how the Pokémon world works (or would, you know, if it were real). He's best known for his "evolutionary tree of Pokémon life" but has also looked at the geography, history, culture, and especially legends of the Pokémon world. And he creates assorted fanstories, most recently a full fangame mock-playthrough, with commissioned fanart, of a region based on ancient Greece.
• SwagTips
  Ryan is hands-down the best Pokémon GO PvP IVs expert sharing in English. He also sometimes does quick breakdowns and opinions of new pokémon and new moves, but his bread-and-butter is IV math for hard-core PvPers only. (Everyone else, just use the CalcyIV app and don't worry about it. I do, myself, since I stopped organizing and playing tournaments (RIP Silph Road). But when there's a rare pokémon rising in the meta and I must invest my candy cautiously, SwagTips is my guru! The Rank 1 is not always the optimal choice at higher levels of play.)

I'm playing halfamoon '22 as a recommendations challenge...

For the sixth theme, "Sickness and Health," I'm torn between two favorites. So: bonus! One rec for health, another for sickness.

First, a rich take on Forever Knight's Grace Balthazar. This Grace is both the pathology professional we know and also a Gullah Herb Doctor with a supernatural role -- akin to Doctor Chung, Marian Blackwing, and Denise Fort. In letters from Grace to her mom, the story recaps much of canon from this fascinating perspective while quietly building a new subplot. It then diverges firmly with a burst of... wingfic! (Yes, wingfic.)

"Full of Grace" by LastScorpion
~7K words
T

Second, an unforgettable Highlander divergence in which Tessa lived through "The Darkness." The bullet entered just a little to the side, and everything was different. Tessa, Duncan, and Richie got decades more of life and love together. Now, Tessa, ill, sees her own death coming unstoppably this time and she worries, fears what it will do to Duncan. I have teared up every time I've read and re-read this story over the years.

"All That Glitters" by killabeez
~3K words
M

I'm playing halfamoon '22 as a recommendations challenge...

Will you excuse a self-recommendation for the fourth theme, "Arts and Letters?" Back in 2012's FKFicFest, I wrote a story run through with music, poems, and songs composed and performed. In the present, Urs and her new band secure a gig at the Raven. In flashbacks, Fleur involves herself with the new poetry of the troubadours.

"Chante à Nouveau" by Brightknightie
~10K words
Teen

I'm playing halfamoon '22 as a recommendations challenge...

For the second theme, "Politics," I recommend this Battlestar Galactica (1978) story in which we get to re-experience early canon from the civilian side with the main female characters. While that might at first seem far from the political struggles of the Council and Commander, this story shows the grassroots as the front lines in whether and how society will rebuild.

"Ragtag" by malinaldarose
10K words
G

For the month of January, in my corners of social journaling, here are the Forever Knight items that I happened to see:

Ficathons, fests & communities that welcome FK

• Auctions
  • fandomforoz is a fandom auction raising money for those hurt by the Australian fires.
• Events
  • fkficfest will play challenge-style. We're nominating prompts through 2/07, voting through 2/16, and posting our 3 winners 2/17. Stories of at least 500 words come due 4/19. Learn more.
  • waybackexchange is an exchange for canons more than 10 years closed. Nominations run through 2/11, sign-ups through 3/01.
  • halfamoon is a "free for all" 14-day event celebrating female characters in fandom. Learn more.
  • unusual_bearings is an exchange for stories focused on pregnancy. Nominations close 2/12, sign-ups 2/23.
  • villainous_big_bang is for stories of 15K+ words featuring villains. Eligibility vetting runs through 2/28.
  • unsent_letters_exchange is an epistolary fic exchange. Nominations are 2/20-29.
  • kingstoken is hosting a sci-fi/fantasy prompt meme.
  • rthstewart is hosting a 3-sentence ficathon.
  • elasticella is hosting an event called Femslash February Frenzy.
  • marchmetamatterschallenge will be a month-long encouragement to archive your meta works.
• Communities
  • fffc's February challenge is "Carnival around the world."
  • fancake's February round is "didn't know they were dating."
  • slashficlets is a community for m/m stories of 100-1000 words.
  • ushobwri is a community encouraging progress on works-in-progress.
  • picture_prompt_fun is a weekly challenge community where the prompts are pictures.
  • monthlysupergo is a monthly challenge community featuring classic fannish challenges.
  • sunshine_challenge, the summer sibling of the Snowflake Challenge, is confirmed for July.

FK fanfiction & other fanworks
Archive of Our Own (AO3) Summary: 4 of the 1,032 FK works on the AO3 show a posting date in this period.

• "Горечь крови" ("Bitterness of Blood") by fandom_Vampires_2020 (Russian) (Crossover) (Teen, m/m, 202 words)
• "Ночная смена" ("Night Shift") by fandom_Vampires_2020 (Russian) (Crossover) (Teen, gen, 599 words)
• "Дневник Люсьена Лакруа" ("Blog Lucien Lacroix") by fandom_Vampires_2020 (Russian) (G, gen, ~1K words)
• "Act Three" by amaruuk (Crossover) (unrated, m/m, ~17K)

FK news & conversation

• 1/21: greerwatson discussed FK in her Worldbuilder request. Read the post.
• 1/19: lightbird featured FK writer greerwatson for Snowflake Challenge #10, "Creator Who Inspired You," and recommended 3 of her stories. Read the post.
• 1/19: pj1228 listed 6 FK works in her fanfic year-in-review, and discussed her upcoming FK projects. Read the post.
• 1/11: lightbird wished for FK icons for Snowflake Challenge #6, "Wish for Fannish Things," and linked to an image gallery. Read the post.
• 1/07: greerwatson discussed FK in her Chocolate Box request. Read the post.
• 1/07: pj1228 described watching a series called V-Wars, because Nigel Bennett is in the premiere. Read the post.
• 1/05: celli and lightbird included fkficfest in Snowflake Challenge #3, "Promote your Favorite Fests." Read Celli's post and also read Lightbird's post.
• 1/02: chelseagirl mentioned FK in Snowflake Challenge #2, "My Fannish History." Read the post.
• 1/01: lightbird mentioned FK in Snowflake Challenge #1, "Introduce Yourself." Read the post.

For the month of February, in my corners of social journaling, here are the Forever Knight items that I happened to see:

Ficathons, fests and communities that welcome FK

• fkficfest, the FK ficathon community, announced the 2017 pre-game poll results.
  • Sign-ups will start no later than March 11.
  • Sign-ups will close at 11:59PM Pacific on March 24 (or maybe noon the next day).
  • Stories will be due May 27.
• halfamoon, the annual 2-week celebration of female characters, has wrapped up. (I don't know whether any FK characters appeared this year.)
• pbam, the "porn battle" fiction amnesty community, is accepting fills through March 15.
• onedeadplotbunny, a support/motivation creativity community, opened its latest round in February (no deadlines, no sign-ups).

FK fanfiction & other fanworks
Archive of our Own (AO3) Summary: 3 of the 748 FK stories on the AO3 show posting dates in February.

• "Paying the Piper" by dlyt (~2K words, G, gen) (part 1 of a series)
• "Ein Mädchen von edlem Geblüt" by LucySummerlove (WIP ~7K words, R, m/f)
• "Schmetterling und Nachtfalter" by LucySummerlove (WIP ~16K words, R, m/f)

FK discussion, meta & news

• 3/01: havocthecat relayed a Facebook conversation about FK on a VtM group.
• 2/25: pj1228 shared that Richard McMillan (who played Matthew in DtKY and Lindley in CRCH) has died.
• 2/01: pj1228 noted several actor appearances:
  • Geraint Wyn Davies on stage in Liv Stein in Toronto (ran through February 12)
  • Nigel Bennett on stage in The Audience in Toronto (ran through February 26)
  • Nigel Bennett on screen in xXx3 - The Return of Xander Cage (premiered on January 5)

Recently in FK on my LJ F-List and DW R-Page:

Ficathons, Fests and Communities

• fkficfest is polling on a 2011 game. 01/31 is the last day to reply.
• halfamoon, the annual fanwork (fic, vids, art, etc.) fest celebrating female characters, runs 02/01-02/14. All fandoms are eligible.
• purimgifts/purimgifts, the annual fest celebrating characters who are Jewish and/or women and/or persecuted by evil viziers has sign-ups through 02/05 (rules). All fandoms are eligible in this exchange-style game.
• On 01/07, fandom_stocking revealed that 7 stockings received FK content (fic, graphics, recs).
• On 12/31, senmut pointed out the new community 1sentencefic. All fandoms are eligible in this tables-style game.

Fanfiction

• On 01/17, senmut posted "Small Packages, Mighty Chaos" (G, ~500w., Lacroix & Divia).
• On 01/09, pj1228 posted "Winter Merriment" (G, ~1200w., Nick & Natalie) as a single file.
• Revealed on 01/07 in fandom_stocking:
  • By senmut: "Teaser AU" (PG, 200w., 1 post, Natalie & Janette)
  • By pj1228:
    • "Happy New Year with the Nightcrawler" (G, ~90w., 1 post, Lacroix)
    • "Winter Merriment" (G, ~1200w., 3 posts, Nick & Natalie)
  • By Me:
    • "Before" (G, ~200w., 1 post, Janette)
    • "Metamorphosis" (PG, ~500w., 1 post, Nick/Natalie)
    • “Method in Her Madness” (G, ~850w., 2 posts, Natalie & Nick)
    • "The Book Club Auxiliary" (G, ~1000w., 2 posts, Grace & Natalie)
    • "Getting Involved" (PG, ~1100w., 2 posts, Janette & Erica)
    • "For a Song" (PG, ~800w., 2 posts, Lacroix & Janette)
• 8 FK stories were uploaded to the AO3 in January 2011 (6 were crossovers).

Year in Review

• On 01/03, celli's 2010 review included her FK story "Health, Food."
• On 01/02, havocthecat's 2010 review included her FK stories "When Night Comes Down" and "Freedom of the Midnight Hour," plus her crossover "Four Notorious St. Trinian's Girls (& One Notorious St. Trinian's Teacher)."

Actors

• On 01/05, under lock, someone expressed glee at having purchased 2011 Stratford tickets to see GWD in multiple plays.
• On 01/03, under lock, someone reminded us that tickets can now be ordered for this year's Stratford festival, where GWD will play King Arthur in Camelot.
• On 01/01, under lock, someone positively reviewed GWD's stage work in Pensacola last autumn.

Airings
Chiller does not presently have even one showing of FK scheduled for February. :-(

(Aside: Is something weird with icons on LJ today?  My Schanke userpic is displaying as someone's fairy userpic.)

Recently, in FK on my LJ Friends List:

Ficathons

• Celebrating Female Characters.  The femme_fic ficathon, on 02/01, began accepting sign-ups.  They're unscreened this year, so take a look!  A wide variety of fandoms are offered.  Only one FK request is up so far, and while it's a very nice request, it would be outstanding if there were more.  (I'm hesitating over my sign-up because of Real Life obligations, or there would be two already.  But, you know, seduce me with more FK prompts and offers, right? ~g~)  Sign-ups are open through 02/28.
  
• Celebrating Claire Rankin Characters.  falcon_horus, from 01/23 through 01/28, collected prompts for her Claire Rankin-characters drabble-a-thon.  The prompts went up on 02/01, and there was a dash of conversation about Fleur and Natalie on 02/07.  All the drabbles posted so far are about Rankin's non-FK characters; I intend to produce at least one for Fleur.
  
• Female Characters, and also NC-17.  abby82, on 01/23, promoted two separate ficathon-style events, "Porn Battle VII" and halfamoon, for which FK is eligible.  The halfamoon community celebrates female characters, and their event runs 02/01-02/14.
  

Individuals

• Icons.  ithildyn, on 02/03, pointed us to her freshly updated icons-to-share page, which includes FK icons, among many others.
  
• Meme.  The "extras to order" fanfiction meme drew FK responses from hearts_blood here and from amilyn here.  And ithildyn here and havocthecat here offered, but no one asked them about FK.
  
• Actors.  pj1228, on 01/30, reviewed Just Buried, newly released on DVD (Region 1 only), which co-stars Nigel Bennett.
  
• Conventions.  Someone who posted under a lock on 01/29 announced the "Breakout Before Moonlight" con this summer in London, and noted that while it's mainly a Moonlight con, some longtime FK fans will be there.
  
• Nostalgia.  Someone who posted under a lock reminisced on 01/28 about a wacky multi-fandom round-robin story (including FK) that we participated in long ago.  Thanks for the memories!
  
• Wiki.  susanmgarrett, on 01/19, mentioned that she has been putting story listings on the Forever Knight Wiki, and invited authors to drop by and list their stories, or clean up entries. Separately, apparently someone had mislisted her as a Perk. Egad.
  
• Fiction and Actors.  abby82, on 02/01, posted a new story, "Illusions of Mortality," written for, um, "Porn Battle VII."  On 01/21, she shared scads of GWD photos from American Psycho 2 (2002), which she says was an intentionally campy movie costarring William Shatner.  Ger plays a psychiatrist.