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Forever Knight fanfic recs/reviews
One of my current fandoms, probably the most active one at the moment, is Forever Knight ... yeah, that cheesy '90s vampire show. I came upon a pretty good FK music video site awhile back, and I had been thinking about buying the DVDs anyway, and well ... now I'm back in the fandom and actively hunting for fics. Specifically, Schanke-centric fics and ones that play up the friendships (Nick/Nat/Schanke) from the first 2 seasons of the show.
This journal is intended to be largely for recommendations (fic, canon, whatever) so I think I'll start with FK. I have read or skimmed a ton of FK fic lately, but most of them were on FKfanfic.com which is currently down. It had better come back -- I hadn't even looked through a small part of the stories on it. This means I have to be considerably more resourceful now at searching for fics...
Since the site has been staked, here are a few good ones that I found elsewhere:
Cold Night on the Graveyard Shift by Jean Graham. One of my very favorite FK stories: not too long, a little bit wistful/sad but not too much so, cute and funny and tragic and heartwarming by turns. It's one of the few stories to seriously deal with the very early days of Nick and Schanke's partnership, when they're driving each other crazy and just starting to get to know one another. One of the really neat things about the friendship that develops between them in the series is that they're such utterly different people and they really did not like each other at first -- there was a lot to overcome. This story deals with the first few tentative steps over that wall.
Dark Side of the Glass. Another story by Jean Graham, this one falling into the ever-popular (but hard to do well) "Schanke learns Nick is a vampire" category. Schanke is often portrayed in fanfic as a borderline buffoon, and though he often played the comic relief on the show, he was also a cop, and (as Nick said in at least onoe episode) a *good* cop. So it's nice to run across a story that shows Schanke's level-headed, capable side -- maybe a little TOO level-headed at times, but generally in character. Certain aspects of the story seem a bit glossed-over -- Schanke sometimes appears to be dealing with this a bit *too* well -- and there's one credibility-stretching scene in which Janette is easily overcome by a human vampire hunter. Vampires are stronger than humans, faster than humans, with supernaturally sharp senses, and Janette has had many centures of experience at avoiding pursuit -- I really can't buy the idea of a human being able to sneak up on her and overwhelm her, on her home turf no less. But overall, this is a good story with some nice h/c and character moments.
Eyes of a Child by James Kythe Walkswithwind. Can you tell I'm a junkie for angst? Especially good angst. Like "Cold Night on the Graveyard Shift" (recc'd above) this one likens Nick's treatment at Lacroix's hands to modern-day child abuse -- only more overtly in this case, and considerably more time is spent dealing with the fallout. A case involving an abused child causes Nick's world to crumble around him, and Schanke helps him pick up the pieces. I would've liked the story better without the song lyrics at the end, but still ... definitely a personal favorite.
Partners by Cindy Ingram. Finally a Nick & Schanke friend fic that's sweet without being angsty! A short-ish story that offers one possible explanation for Nick and Schanke's switch in precincts between seasons 1 & 2.
More to come soon...
This journal is intended to be largely for recommendations (fic, canon, whatever) so I think I'll start with FK. I have read or skimmed a ton of FK fic lately, but most of them were on FKfanfic.com which is currently down. It had better come back -- I hadn't even looked through a small part of the stories on it. This means I have to be considerably more resourceful now at searching for fics...
Since the site has been staked, here are a few good ones that I found elsewhere:
Cold Night on the Graveyard Shift by Jean Graham. One of my very favorite FK stories: not too long, a little bit wistful/sad but not too much so, cute and funny and tragic and heartwarming by turns. It's one of the few stories to seriously deal with the very early days of Nick and Schanke's partnership, when they're driving each other crazy and just starting to get to know one another. One of the really neat things about the friendship that develops between them in the series is that they're such utterly different people and they really did not like each other at first -- there was a lot to overcome. This story deals with the first few tentative steps over that wall.
Dark Side of the Glass. Another story by Jean Graham, this one falling into the ever-popular (but hard to do well) "Schanke learns Nick is a vampire" category. Schanke is often portrayed in fanfic as a borderline buffoon, and though he often played the comic relief on the show, he was also a cop, and (as Nick said in at least onoe episode) a *good* cop. So it's nice to run across a story that shows Schanke's level-headed, capable side -- maybe a little TOO level-headed at times, but generally in character. Certain aspects of the story seem a bit glossed-over -- Schanke sometimes appears to be dealing with this a bit *too* well -- and there's one credibility-stretching scene in which Janette is easily overcome by a human vampire hunter. Vampires are stronger than humans, faster than humans, with supernaturally sharp senses, and Janette has had many centures of experience at avoiding pursuit -- I really can't buy the idea of a human being able to sneak up on her and overwhelm her, on her home turf no less. But overall, this is a good story with some nice h/c and character moments.
Eyes of a Child by James Kythe Walkswithwind. Can you tell I'm a junkie for angst? Especially good angst. Like "Cold Night on the Graveyard Shift" (recc'd above) this one likens Nick's treatment at Lacroix's hands to modern-day child abuse -- only more overtly in this case, and considerably more time is spent dealing with the fallout. A case involving an abused child causes Nick's world to crumble around him, and Schanke helps him pick up the pieces. I would've liked the story better without the song lyrics at the end, but still ... definitely a personal favorite.
Partners by Cindy Ingram. Finally a Nick & Schanke friend fic that's sweet without being angsty! A short-ish story that offers one possible explanation for Nick and Schanke's switch in precincts between seasons 1 & 2.
More to come soon...