switchbladeeyes | Recent Entries

I've now posted all chapters of my Grantchester fic, "Five Things That Never Happened on a Weekend in Brighton (and What Happened Instead)."

I had so much fun writing this story and it's my favorite Grantchester fic I've written so far.

Not just because Leonard and Daniel are my OTP, but because the story's (largely canon compliant) flashbacks also let me explore how they were relating to other characters during season 2.

I particularly enjoyed giving Sidney and Leonard a couple of heart-to-hearts. On the show, Leonard seemed to want to come out to Sidney in season 2, but we never actually saw it happen. I found it satisfying to write what that conversation might have been like.

I also enjoyed imagining how Geordie and Daniel related to one another. In the story, because they're both frequent visitors to the vicarage, they inevitably come into contact with one another. I don't think Geordie would have been happy about that at all. But somehow they must have eventually moved beyond it, given that they wind up on a group vacation together in season 6. So here, I give Geordie a little nudge.

When it came to all the things that never happened in Brighton, I liked the challenge of Leonard's characterization. Season 2 Leonard had romantic feelings for Daniel, but was entirely skittish about acknowledging them. I had to hold onto that characterization of season 2 Leonard (who was not as deliberate in pursuing Daniel as end of season 3 Leonard) while still getting him across the finish line of accepting and admitting his feelings for Daniel.

If any of that's of interest to you, check out:

Five Things That Never Happened on a Weekend in Brighton (and What Happened Instead) (rated Teen)

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

I keep meaning to bring more of my old "Oz" fics over to AO3. I finally got around to another one. I did make some revisions. Fresh eyes after a couple decades and all.

Anyhoo, during the fourth season, Tobias Beecher's young children were kidnapped, and his son's severed hand was mailed to him in prison. To say Beecher was distraught is an understatement.

This fic is set during that time. Here, Chris Keller tries to comfort him.

Don't (rated M for a bit of sexual content)

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

I won't be completing my fic in time for

fkficfest this year, but I am nonetheless pleased with my progress.

I took a WIP of mine and tore it down to the studs, worked through storytelling problems that were jamming it up, and started rebuilding it. I think that sucker is finally on the right track. This year's prompts also definitely helped!

Eventually I'll get there. Just not for the fest.

(Which is fine and why I only do low-presh fests like this.)

I am really looking forward to reading this year though. Always good stuff coming through from the fest to read!

I enjoy a good canon divergent "what if?" story.

In season 2 of Grantchester, Daniel Marlowe invited Leonard Finch to join him on a weekend getaway to the seaside town of Brighton, a queer hotspot.

Despite his attraction to and growing affection for Daniel, Leonard turned him down because internalized homophobia is a helluva drug. Their nascent relationship crashed and burned not long afterward.

So... what might have happened if Leonard had said yes?

Five Things That Never Happened on a Weekend in Brighton (and What Happened Instead) (rated Teen; I have posted two of six planned chapters)

In canon, all Leonard got was a postcard and heartache. What if it hadn't been that way?

Seen over at

thefruitbat's journal, an AMA-meme.

Ask me anything!

(Can, but does not have be fannish-related questions. Like if you're burning to know my favorite noodle shape, fire away.)

Excited for Grantchester's return to PBS!

I'm going to attempt to pace myself as this is the final season and I want to make it last (a challenge because all eight episodes are available now with PBS Passport!)

( Anyhoo, some thoughts. )

brightknightie noted in her journal, this past week was the 30 year anniversary of Last Knight, the series finale Forever Knight.

I'm still not over it lol

Last Knight is one of only two episodes of Forever Knight that I hate (the other being The Human Factor. There are other episodes that I don't care for, but these two are the only episodes that I actively despise).

When I saw LK, I definitely saw the closing scene for what it appeared to be: Nick kills Nat and LaCroix kills Nick. (Ugh, the season 3 body count of regulars. What a bloodbath. The only death I think that was well done was Screed. And even then, I wish they'd retained him for flashbacks.)

Only once I discovered online fandom and fan fiction did I become aware of and entertain alternative scenarios to the apparent deaths in Last Knight.

While I do find it plausible for Nick to fall into a deep, dark despair, that doesn't make for a satisfying ending. I don't find it plausible for Natalie to do the same or to goad Nick into doing vampire things in the circumstances presented. 'cause she's having a midlife crisis and Nick is about to skip town? I mean, REALLY?? (Contrast with the more believable circumstances of I Will Repay and A More Permanent Hell, both extreme outliers with life or death stakes.) I also don't find it plausible that LaCroix would stake Nick (I do find it plausible that LaCroix would be about to move on, but killing Nick on his way out? NO.)

I would have preferred if Ashes to Ashes had been the series finale because, despite the deaths of Urs and Vachon and the episode's giant plot holes, it ends on a hopeful note for Nick. It would not have been entirely satisfying as an ending because there's zero resolution vis-à-vis Natalie (but I'd have taken the annoyance of zero resolution over the both the literal and figurative assassinations of her character in Last Knight!)

Ashes to Ashes would have bookended well with the series premiere, Dark Knight, when it comes to Nick and LaCroix. Nick tries to kill LaCroix in DK, but saves him in LK. LaCroix goes from trying to thwart Nick's mortal quest in DK to admitting in LK, "For once, I'm glad of your incessant search for your humanity." So maybe Nick was freer to pursue his quest than we had seen previously.

What do you all think?

I'm having a bit of a fic writing dry spell. I haven't worked on anything in a couple months, TBH.

And I've really had a dry spell when it comes to writing for Forever Knight. My fannish brain got sucked into Grantchester last summer and has dwelling there ever since. But I miss FK, my OG fandom!

So I'm psyched

fkficfest is imminent! I hope it will break the dry spell.

Mayhaps one or more of the fest prompts will generate all new ideas.

Or breathe new life into a neglected WIP. They could really use it because this is the current state of affairs with them:

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. One of my favorite fannish events for sure!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate religiously and/or culturally.

The spouse and I are going to a screening of the 1970s Jesus Christ Superstar movie today, a movie of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera. The movie is kind of a trip if you haven't seen it.

The fun part is that Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the movie, will be there in person introducing the movie and doing a meet and greet after the show.

It's one of my favorite musicals (I love musicals!) and I saw Ted Neeley perform the role on stage a couple of times in the 90s, including once with Carl Anderson, who played Judas in the movie.

I have seen the stage musical many, MANY times. But not so much the movie. I think this will be fun!

Watch on YouTube

Edited to add: It was AWESOME. I'm putting a few addition remarks and pictures in the comments.

Masterpiece Mystery posted a preview for the new, and final (le sob!), season of Grantchester coming in June.

Watch on YouTube

I'm excited for it because this brief glimpse is a very pleasant one. I mean, there are going to be murders because there have to be. But this is the sweet and charming side of my emotional support murder show.

Glad to see Meg back and I fervently hope she and Alphy get together because (1) I really like both of them, and (2) I am petty and know this would just chap the bishop's hide. I can't stand the man. (Maybe the show will redeem him with some kind of self-reflection or something. But if he's just steamed and having to hold it in, I will be fine with that lol.)

No plot points revealed here so no knowing how things turned out with Alphy's season 10 cliffhanger knocking on the door at an address that may belong to his mother.

No guest stars shown either. I am crossing my fingers that Sidney and/or Will make an appearance. One can dream! (And, TBH, also Amanda. She's out there somewhere. I always hoped things turned out okay for her though her prospects seemed bleak at the time. Though this seems like the most unlikely possible guest return.)

Also, I need us to check in with Cathy and Mrs. C's boutique. My personal wish is that it is wildly successful and Geordie retires so Cathy can devote more time to thrive as a business owner.

Meanwhile, Larry hanging out socially with Leonard and Daniel... what is happening? I'm not sure I buy that. The show has certainly given Larry a ton of personal growth in the past few seasons (shockingly, I now like him), but those three chilling out in the same space at an outdoor event just not something I entirely buy. We'll see if the show makes it make sense.

Yes, I'm still hanging with my emotional support OTP, Leonard Finch and Daniel Marlowe from "Grantchester." They're getting me through some challenging stuff.

In season 8, the two hit a rough patch. Daniel became frustrated with Leonard for pouring so much of himself into his work that he left almost no room for anything else, including their relationship. Leonard took Daniel for granted and said very unkind things to him along the way. It got so bad that it seemed like their relationship was coming to an end.

When Leonard FINALLY came to his senses, he dashed off to Daniel's house and made an incredibly sweet and awkward declaration of his feelings, desperately hoping Daniel would be able to love him again. As it turned out, Daniel never stopped.

And…

And nothing.

Cut to the next scene. Not a kiss. Not a hug. Not even a tender touch with this reconciliation.

That could not stand. This fic plays out the entire canon scene, from Leonard's POV, and then carries them forward beyond it.

To Paraphrase Shakespeare (Rated E for some sexually explicit content, but it's mostly them talking and Leonard being all up in his feelings)

Leonard declares his love for Daniel. 🥹 🩷

Last night,

wawamouse,

trillingstar, and I were discussing what we thought of the term "lover" because of this scene from Heated Rivalry when Ilya met Shane's parents after Shane's dad accidentally discovered they were Together (and poor Shane is a nervous wreck):

I think of it as a dated term. Mostly because I have never heard anyone in my entire life refer to their romantic partner as their lover. (Though I have heard it used as a descriptor by third parties. IDK how to explain it. Like, Oh, she ran away with her lover.)

Anyhoo, this morning, I woke up and was like, LOL, that would have been funny on Grantchester when Leonard (also a bundle of nerves) was set to meet Daniel's parents. Therefore:

The actual scene from Grantchester is also pretty funny:

And then, of course, I was like, that would be funny adapted to Heated Rivalry. So here we are:

MAYBE I'M UNHINGED BUT I CRACK MYSELF UP!!!

Life's been coming at me real hard these past couple of weeks so shout out to my emotional support OTP, Leonard Finch and Daniel Marlowe, because writing fic for them has been keeping me sane 👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏼.

That time Daniel gave Leonard roses and then they watched Eurovision together 🥹.

From

snowflake_challenge:

Make an appreciation post to those who enhance your fandom life. Appreciate them in bullet points, prose, poetry, a moodboard, a song... whatever moves you!

This is such a nice one!

Shout out to the little slice of "Forever Knight" fandom here on DW and on AO3! I was so delighted to stumble my way back into the fandom a couple years ago after, well, decades. I surely do love chatting about the show and reading/writing the fic with y'all!

But an especially big shoutout to

thefruitbat, who has beta read soooo much of what I've written, not just for "Forever Knight," but also "Grantchester." Can't even say how much having that second set of eyes and added support helps!

"I said, brrrrrrrr, it's cold in here! There must be some trillingstar in the atmosphere!" I'm quite confident I would not have written so much fic these past couple of years if I hadn't found my way to

trillingstar's Discord server and started doing writing sprints with her and others, mainly

wawamouse, whose emoji game cannot be beat (thanks forever for 🥩🔨). Are we all writing in the same fandom? No. Am I even writing for the fandom the Discord server is focused on? Again, no. Are we still showing up to sprint, cheer each other on, and talk through any challenges? YES. It's awesome.

From

snowflake_challenge:

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

I love me a canon divergent alternate universe (AU) fic. I'm not big on AUs where the setting changes (though, like anything else, there are exceptions), but I love it when a story tweaks canon and then spins off the story from there. It's such an interesting way to explore the characters and their thoughts and feelings as things unfold differently than they did in canon.

I'm particularly fond of the "# things that never happened" format (I think it's usually five things, but the number of things doesn't really matter), probably because it just gives me more fic to read in one little bundle.

I'm sure how popular that format is these days (maybe it varies across fandoms), but it had a heyday in the early to mid-2000s, a peak fannish time for me.

I've written a couple canon divergent AUs in the past couple of years for "Forever Knight" (FK) fandom, both relating to the series finale "Last Knight" (because of course they do; I think every FK fan fic writer has probably dealt with that absolute gut punch of a series finale in their own way). Specifically:

Five Ways "Last Knight" Didn't End. Exactly what it says. Five ficlets set during "Last Knight" that tweak events to lead to different outcomes.

Dust to Dust. Completely sidesteps "Last Knight" and replaces it with this instead, picking up right after the penultimate episode, "Ashes to Ashes."

I certainly hope to write more canon divergent AUs because I love them. Because my current fannish writing obsession is "Grantchester," I have a WIP for "things that never happened on a weekend in Brighton" that explores what might have happened if poor, sweet, confused, closeted, and scared Leonard Finch hadn't turned down Daniel Marlowe's invitation to go to the seaside town of Brighton (a queer hot spot) during season 2.

In another fandom, Oz, I have a canon divergent AU rec that, in my mind at least, is legendary in the fandom:

My Wife and My Dead Wife. A completely AU season 3 (written before season 3 aired) that incisively and brutally tackles the whole Thing (with a capital T for sure) with Vern Schillinger, Tobias Beecher, and Chris Keller. (If you're unfamiliar with Oz, be forewarned, nothing in Oz is for the faint of heart.)

Have you ever written a canon divergent AU to tweak a piece of canon and replace it with what might have happened instead?

Happy New Year! 🎊

Time for one of my favorite fannish events, the Fandom Snowflake Challenge (

snowflake_challenge), running through January!

Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

Hello there! I enjoy writing fan fiction and chatting about fannish interests.

I only participate in low/no pressure fandom events and the Fandom Snowflake Challenge meets that requirement. 😁 I particularly love it because it provides a great opportunity to see what fun, creative, and interesting stuff folks are doing across all kinds of fandoms.

While I have a lot of interests, I only participate actively in a couple of very tiny fandoms (at present, mainly Forever Knight and Grantchester).

But I enjoy reading about what other people are doing fannishly even if I'm not otherwise involved in fan fiction or communities related to other fandoms. So what I hope to gain is learning about and exploring other people's fannish interests as well as sharing my own. 😊

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

Less fic completed this year than last year, but still quite productive for me with six total.

I only posted one Forever Knight story this year. I certainly wrote a lot for FK but only managed to finish the one. This was due to a combo of:

my FK WIPs skewing longer (so they're taking longer to finish), and
me getting swept up in writing fic for another fandom, Grantchester (I mean, why write in one tiny fandom when I could write in an even tinier fandom)

Anyhoo, drumroll, here are all the fics I completed and posted in 2025:

Forever Knight

Unpacking (rated Teen)

Set shortly after the events of season 3's "Sons of Belial," Nat and Nick finally deal with the emotional aftermath of the time in season 1 when Nick turned Nat's brother into a vampire.

This fic is for you if you're like, ohhhh yeahhhhhh, that was kind of a big deal and a resolution would be nice.

Grantchester

11 October 1955 (rated Teen)

When we first met the character of Daniel Marlowe in season 2, he was the prime suspect in the death of 15 year old Abigail Redmond. He had nothing to do with it, but nonetheless still played an unsavory role in her sad story.

In this fic, set a year and a half later, those events continue to haunt him. He can't quite seem to let her go, or is it the other way around?

This fic is for you if you enjoy exploring the lingering guilt of a good person who did a bad thing.

-----

The End and the Beginning (rated Mature for a couple brief descriptions in a make out scene, but it's not a spicy story)

The nascent romance between Daniel Marlowe and Leonard Finch in season 2 was repeatedly stymied by Leonard's outward ambivalence about the relationship stemming from Leonard's internalized homophobia. Everything between them crashed and burned when Leonard caught Daniel with another man. But that wasn't the end of the story.

In this fic, set near the end of season 2 through season 3, events unfold from Daniel's point of view.

This fic is for you if you enjoy stories that explore and fill in gaps in canon.

-----

What Happens Now? (rated Explicit for sexually explicit scenes)

Outside the Chapman wedding reception at the end of season 3, Leonard, at long last, accepted his feelings for Daniel. He kissed him and went home with him. This story goes into their first night together and the morning after.

This fic is for you if you enjoy love finally, finally requited.

-----

Struggling a Little with the Subtext (rated Explicit for a sexually explicit scene)

At the beginning of season 4, Leonard recited an original poem at the church fete. The poem was a tad... suggestive. In this story, Daniel clues him in to that fact.

This fic is for you if you enjoy lighthearted smut.

-----

Worth the Risk (rated Explicit for a sexually explicit scene)

In season 10, Daniel took a long trip to reconcile with his parents. Upon his return, he told Leonard that it went extremely well, but then also revealed that he had lied to his parents about the nature of his relationship with Leonard. (You know, "roommates.") That hurt Leonard deeply leading to an argument later that night. This story picks up at the end of the argument, carrying the characters beyond what we saw on screen.

This fic is for you if you enjoy stories with reconciliation and makeup sex.

-----

That's it.

As for 2026, we shall see.

I want to finish at least one of my FK WIPs. I expect I will finish more Grantchester fic because I've been bitten by the Grantchester bug and don't see myself giving it up anytime soon.