switchbladeeyes

So thefruitbat found an ebay listing where someone is selling a marked up copy of the Bridging the Knight auction catalog for $150. Bananas.

Bridging the Knight was a Forever Knight auction and convention held in California in 1997. Many costume pieces, props, scripts, and other miscellaneous items were auctioned off for charity at the event. I was there and still have things from it, including the auction catalog.

I had scanned my own marked up copy of the auction catalog over a year ago. I thought I had shared it, but looking at the number of album page views... I guess I didn't. Oops.

Early last year, I embarked on a scanning project that I have yet to complete. I know I shared a link to some of the photos from the event, but I guess I didn't share the link to the catalog scans. I think I probably meant to finish scanning the photos and then share the links to everything, including the catalog. But I didn't actually finish scanning the photos sooooooo... yeah.

Anyway, if you're like, I want to see the auction catalog, but I don't want to spend $150 to do it, here you go: https://www.flickr.com/gp/199526413@N07/7htbF7r0r4

This is marked up with the prices things sold for. I scanned all the pages except for the list of scripts just because those pages didn't seem that interesting. They have no pictures or funny little descriptions. Scripts averaged around $200-$250. Though the "Curiouser and Curiouser" script went for $675. Those pages also have my annotation "Coke Can, $150." The story behind that is detailed in the Forever Knight wiki here.

Four Forever Knight fics, one l’il Oz drabble, and one Oz ficlet. Not bad following a 16 year hiatus from writing fan fiction!

I also started importing some of my old fan fiction of yore to AO3.

Let's look at what I got done this year.

Forever Knight

So after not writing any fan fiction since 2007 (and no FK fan fiction since 1997), in a flurry of nostalgia for the 90s and Forever Knight specifically (for Reasons), I cranked out a story this past spring and posted it to AO3, which I also discovered this year. greerwatson happened to comment on it, alerted me that FORKNI-L still exists, and pointed me to Dreamwidth, which all kind of sucked me in to this pleasant little slice of fandom and got me interested in writing some more. Thanks, Greer! :-)

Poison in Their Blood

This is the one that kicked it off for me. Written rather hastily (I did a bit of clean-up on it several months later). Nat POV, coda to Ashes to Ashes with me trying to make some sense of one of the many nonsensical things about that episode: Nick being unscathed from Divia's attack. Also, I thoroughly enjoy a good power struggle so a tug-of-war between Nat and LaCroix is really at the heart of this. For my first fan fic in about 16 years, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Also, in weird coincidence, the title unintentionally echoes something from the novel "Dracula." I read "Dracula Daily" this year, which releases the novel over email in "real time" on the dates events occur in the story. On October 11, Mina Harker, who was starting to turn into a vampire, said of her condition, "There is a poison in my blood, in my soul, which may destroy me; which must destroy me, unless some relief comes to us."

WILD. I hadn't read the novel in probably over 25 years. I was startled coming across the line. I had no recollection of it (or, indeed, many events of story) so it was entirely a coincidence and certainly an interesting one given the subject matter!

Salt

LaCroix POV, post-Last Knight with Nick becoming mortal. This one actually started Nick POV and was only going to switch to LaCroix at the very, very end. But it was hard for me to convey a human lifetime in a succinct way so a vampire's perception of the passage of time worked better and also ended up fitting the "vibe" of the story better. I enjoyed hearing folks' take on the ending and what it would mean. I like to think the story is hopeful even though parts of it are quite sad. Your mileage may vary though.

This wound up in first person, which I don't prefer as a general matter (I don't dislike it, just more comfortable reading/writing third). I started to convert this one to third, but it "sounded" weird and very off to me when I did that. I think I'd spent so much time in first while writing it that I couldn't "hear" it in a different way by the time it was nearly done.

The Trilling Wire

Nick POV, case fic time. I like reading case fic. Turns out, I like writing it too.

The show had so many holes and played loosey goosey with canon, which gives us fans many writing opportunities to bridge the gaps. Things like, are we really just supposed to shrug off the final events of "Dark Knight”? And what on Earth compelled Nick to listen to LaCroix on the radio?

This story started out with the ending, which was going to be a standalone scene/fic. After really getting that end scene finished off, I decided maybe an entire plot should precede it so the tension could ratchet a bit. Also, it let me bring in the whole season 2 gang and solve a murder! Plus the flashbacks were super fun to write.

Hours into Days, Days into Years

Nick POV, even more fun times with case fic. Originally started in response to the "experiment gone wrong" prompt for fkficfest. Totally blew that deadline, but still liked what I'd written so decided to still finish it rather than abandon it. The flashbacks also let me resolve for myself the question of whatever happened to Andre.

Miscellaneous observations on the above

- I have been soooooo fortunate that thefruitbat beta read three of the stories, even sticking with "The Trilling Wire" after I said, so I know you've already beta read this, but I've added 11,000 more words, any interest in another go? :-D

- When I think back on what I liked most of these stories, I really liked the two case fics because I really, really enjoy writing Nick and Schanke working together and talking to each other. I will never NOT be salty about the show offing Schanke.

- I also quite enjoy writing LaCroix and he is in all four stories (though a smaller role in that last one). He's never boring to write because he's unpredictable. Maybe he'll be nice (in a vampire with an agenda kind of way), maybe he'll be a total dick, maybe there's not a clear line between those two ways to be for him lol.

- I have also observed that I vastly prefer writing dialog over descriptions. It's just more fun for me I think because it's easier for me to "hear" the characters than to describe what they're doing. I can visualize them, but conveying that in writing is a challenge.

FK fic reading and recs

Thanks to greerwatson's reconstruction of old FK archives, I got to read some old fics. I also enjoyed reading some old archived FKFIC-L faction war stories. That was such a hoot and a majorly fun journey down memory lane.

I also made the following fic recs:

- Quiet, Cold Heart by Bonnie Rutledge

- The Father, the Son, and the Unholy Ghost by Greer Watson

- A Hazard to Flight by dlyt

- The Last One by Susan Garrett

- What Lies Buried by PJ1228

- All The Rest Is Silence by Dorothy Elggren

- Rondeau by tolakasa

FK fic in 2024

I will probably keep writing Forever Knight stories because I've enjoyed it and have lots of ideas and starts. It's a fun world to write in. I'm determined to make the fkficfest deadline in 2024!

Also, I still think I can hit the "Five Things" prompt from November over at trope_of_the_month when amnesty is offered in January.

Oz

I ever so slightly dipped my toe back into writing Oz fic with a drabble and ficlet.

Stupid Questions

Just a l'il drabble set during the very first episode in a moment that felt like Dino Ortolani could have altered the path he was on, but then he didn't.

More Than One Prison

It's my toxic OTP of all time, Beecher/Keller. Drafted in a hurry "from the gut" (there's something to be said for that approach and it's encouraged here lol) and posted just this morning.

Is my grasp of the canon strong? No. Have I finished rewatching the show? Again no, I've barely started. Does any of that matter for this fic? For reasons that become apparent, I don't think so.

Oz fic imports

I wrote a decent amount of Oz fic 20-ish years ago and started importing some to AO3, but decided to hit pause on the rest until I rewatch the series.

So far, I've imported:

- Two Truths and a Lie

Beecher/Keller and a game. Not much happens here. It's an expression of how these two are with each other. This may be my favorite fan fic I ever wrote.

- Several old "Hard Time 100" responses

Hard Time 100 was an Oz drabble community on Livejournal a long time ago. Turns out, it's still around! And also here on Dreamwidth! I included the old ones in a "series" on AO3, but they're a series only in the sense that they are all responses to Hard Time 100 prompts and are otherwise unrelated.

Other Oz imports

I'll import more old stories to AO3 as I go back through the show. Part of this is because I can't entirely remember the contexts for a couple of the stories since it's been so long since I watched the show. I'm on the fence about importing one because it is sooooo dark, harsh, and violent (I mean, it's true to the show in those respects, but, tbh, I was kind of shocked re-reading it. We'll see.)

Also, due to an astounding turn of good luck, I was able to track down a "lost" fic of mine from a print zine (NSFW illustrations at link). trillingstar has a copy of the zine and scanned the story for me so I can transcribe it. I only remembered part of what the story was about so I quite enjoyed re-reading it. (It's an interesting experience reading things you wrote, but can't entirely remember.) I would like this one to go on AO3.

Oz fic in 2024

Who knows if inspiration will strike as I go back through the show. Maybe! It's not exactly a "fun" world to write in, but it presents some very interesting challenges based on how literally confined the characters are. A physical and emotional pressure cooker for all involved.

Other fandoms in 2024

I'm sure I'll keep importing stuff from other fandoms and have done several already.

I'd like to rewatch Highlander and import some fic as I rewatch the series, but that rewatch hasn't started yet. (There will be a lot of episodes to get through!) Unfortunately, I have not had luck tracking down a "lost" fic that was in this print zine. If anyone has a copy of the zine, give me a shout out. I thought I'd have more luck tracking this zine down than the Oz one since Highlander seems like a bigger fandom, but no dice so far. Post-Horsemen story that I only vaguely remember. Methos was kind of losing his mind or something. Like the Horsemen were taking him over? Some such. Cassandra and Duncan were in it. Mebbe I shall find it someday.

I've mentioned my "box of FK stuff" that has somehow survived many, many moves across the decades. I've finished combing through it and:

So many random things lol. Like why did I keep the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce's guide to dining in the area from "Bridging the Knight"?? And my con registration form? Flyers advertising cons I never went to? What for? Hahaha! There are certainly things I'm glad I kept like the con/auction program (with some autographs!) and auction catalogue. But who cares where you could get a bite to eat in San Ramon in 1997?

Turns out, I have a fuck ton more photos from "Bridging the Knight" than I previously thought. They were mixed in with photos from an unrelated, non-FK con so I had overlooked them. The new photos must have been from a different day because people are wearing different clothes. I also must have picked up film with a higher film speed because a number of the photos are much better quality/better lit than the earlier ones. At some point, I will figure out how to use my scanner and scan the ones of the actors and auction items. (I've been taking pictures of my other "finds" with my phone but, for some reason, phone photos of print photos don't turn out that well.)

I'm wearing a faction pin in some of the photos. I thiiiink it was a Cousin pin (it's small and faint in pictures so a little hard to make out). The pin was not among the stuff that has survived, unfortunately.

I have a couple print zines. Remember when that was a thing? One is full of funny stories and has very funny illustrations. I'll have to share those eventually. The other is a collection of LaCroix's quotes organized topically.

There's just a bunch of miscellaneous papers. Some must have been mailed to me and others I must have picked up at the con. Examples include an FK "fortune teller" (it's like a folded paper thing, also sometimes know as a "cootie catcher"), a pamphlet explaining the factions and faction wars (through war 7) along with faction symbols, a Caddy that you color in and cut out then tape into a 3 dimensional object, Kickstart the Knight stuff, various fan club flyers... it's quite a varied assortment.

There's a fan fic from 1996 that I printed out lol. I'll have to read it.

I'm sure I had more than this at one point, but not everything survived. Most particularly a bummer for me are most letters (postal mail) exchanged with other fans. I tossed a lot of old letters (not just these) about 5 years ago. I was purging stuff, re-read a bunch of letters, and didn't keep them. I'm kind of kicking my past self for it, but it was a moving situation and I had to get rid of a lot of things. Also not found was a playbill and newspaper clipping about a play I saw Ger in (it's funny that I distinctly remember clipping the paper). Maybe that will turn up somewhere else, but I think it unlikely.

I got a little misty-eyed going through the rest of this stuff!! FK was my first fandom, discovered not long after I got the internet in summer 1996. I was eventually involved in others and moved away from the FK fandom after a few years, but I have a real soft spot in my heart for it and that particular point in time.

Also occupying space in the box is some Highlander stuff, but that's a whole other fandom and a whole other fannish story...