"Darkness Shall Have No Dominion" by Deb H., 1994
- Short Story (2,524 words)
- PG
- Set in second season
Summary:
On Christmas Eve, the police search for a missing child.
Recommendation:
"Darkness Shall Have No Dominion" resonates with Nick's perspective. It weighs hope and despair, connection and alienation, through brisk action in the professional case of a missing child and the personal concerns of Nick's human friends. The story builds angst as well as suspense on references to flight, hunger, freezing night and burning day. At the last, as the lost boy is saved, the seasonal setting offers a flourish on what might or might not be a miracle. The story renews Nick's commitment in a manner not only satisfying, but triumphant.
Characters:
Nick, Schanke, Natalie
"Could They Choose Between" by Havocthecat, 2008
- Vignette (1,194 words)
- G
- Set after "Hunters," before "Feeding the Beast"
Summary:
Janette drops in on Natalie at the morgue.
Recommendation:
Janette's whim to take a closer look at Nick's mortal life triggers a miniature comedy of manners when she turns up, unexpected, in Natalie's domain. Character-appropriate banter bobs on the ocean of how much they all have yet to learn about each other at this early canonical point. Interestingly (and unusually for a first-season meeting between Janette and Natalie), "Could They Choose Between" builds its motivations up from Schanke taking refuge at the Raven in "Hunters," rather than from the "Cherry Blossoms" tag.
Characters:
Janette, Natalie, Nick
"Drowning" by Gryphonrhi, 2010
- Short Story (1,287 words)
- R (graphic violence)
- Set in third season
Summary:
Criminals attempt to murder the Nightcrawler to distract Detective Knight.
Recommendation:
This chilling interlude of villain-on-villain carnage characterizes Lacroix with thorough canonical resonance — cruel, possessive, territorial, clever — in a third-season context, out of Nick's sight, untethered by the agreement about "mindless killing" invading Nick's life. Lacroix's retaliation is elegantly repulsive. "Drowning" responds to a "worst-case survival scenario" challenge of "how to escape from a sinking car," and the use of Nick's beloved Caddy twists a knife; additionally, a passing mention of Tracy intrigues. This ruthless action drama celebrates the conundrum of Lacroix as Nick's antithesis and ally.
Characters:
Lacroix, Others
"Knighty-Knight, Nick" by Ann L., 1996
- Vignette (1,274 words)
- G
- Set as meta/commentary/rallying cry
Summary:
The cancellation experience is retold in the style of a children's picture book.
Recommendation:
Read it aloud. (Really!) "Knighty-Knight, Nick" punches out of its storybook packaging and the reader cheers for it. Silly and snide, grieved and nostalgic, rousing and defiant, it reawakens all the passions of the summer after cancellation. It may bring you to tears, or inspire you to write, or both. Some of the jabs at third season have lost force over the years, with new generations of fans who missed those controversies, but this self-aware narrative still shines, unmatched as a Forever Knight memorial beacon.
Characters:
Nick, Schanke, Janette, Lacroix, Natalie, People in Suits, Fans
"Strays" by Amilyn, 1997
- Short Story (2,487 words)
- G
- Set after the "Only the Lonely" flashbacks
Summary:
Natalie takes in the kitten who becomes Sydney.
Recommendation:
On FKFic-L, August used to be "Susan's Birthday Month," a time to honor Susan G.'s immense contributions to the fandom by producing an abundance of new fanfiction. "Strays" was Amilyn's addition to that happy tradition in 1997. A quiet, simple story of how Sydney (and Nick) came into Natalie's life, "Strays" illustrates how the stubborn, take-charge side of Natalie's personality is conjoined with the supportive, nurturing side.
Characters:
Natalie, Sydney, Nick
"Brown Paper Packages" by Susan G., 1995
(This author died in 2010.)
- Short Story (2,015 words)
- PG
- Setting indeterminate/FKFic-L War
Summary:
The characters read the fanfiction, but Natalie is not aware of quite all the genres available.
Recommendation:
"Brown Paper Packages" is a funny and subtly instructional "meta" tale. The characters are themselves, yet also consumers of fanfiction about themselves; seeking Nick in a canonical manner, Natalie pushes her way into a Raven where she is surprised by Janette printing, sorting and stapling adult-rated fanfiction from the email lists for distribution to Nick and Lacroix. This story offers gleeful nostalgia to fans who remember when new FK stories of all descriptions overflowed our ability to keep up with them... and also for those who remember, like this Nat, their discovery of those other genres.
Characters:
Natalie, Janette
"Happy Anniversary" by Kiki, 1996
- Short Story (4,525 words)
- PG
- Set after "The Human Factor"
Summary:
Exactly one year after "Be My Valentine," Natalie confronts Lacroix to save Nick.
Recommendation:
In this stirring confrontation, Natalie drops all her defenses in a bid to save Nick from Lacroix... and himself. Written while third season was still in progress, "Happy Anniversary" provides a sharp summation of the damage that season had inflicted, and predicts, with frantic foresight, the dire consequences of letting those wounds fester. This time, however, Natalie and Lacroix achieve a truce that frees Nick to find his own way. "Happy Anniversary" always shone with the energy of live canon; on the other side of "Last Knight," it also shares a shivery consciousness of last chances.
Characters:
Natalie, Lacroix
"A Strange Comfort" by Leela, 2008
- Short Story (1,085 words)
- PG
- Set after "Last Act"
Summary:
After Erica's last play, Nick falls into a bleak mood. Eventually, someone breaks through to him.
Recommendation:
Nick is known for his equal tendencies to impenetrable, melancholy introspection, and to sudden, wild hope. "A Strange Comfort" rolls out those traits by sinking Nick into a funk as he muses on his resemblance to Erica's suicidal rationale, and then rescuing him with proof that he is as connected as she was isolated. Gentle amusement mounts as Nick is annoyed (rather than reassured) by a string of phone calls showing how needed and wanted he is. A final affirmation breaks through when even Nick in this humor can no longer fail to see how big a positive difference he can make.
Characters:
Nick, Schanke, Natalie, Janette, Other
"July 22, 1916" by Valerie M.K., 2010
- Short Story (1,228 words)
- PG
- Set before the "Cherry Blossoms" flashbacks
Summary:
Nick patronizes a butcher in San Francisco's Chinatown on the night of a civil disturbance.
Recommendation:
The "Preparation Day bombing" is a real, historical incident. "July 22, 1916" uses it to generate a textured interlude from a period in which Nick strove to hide from Lacroix his struggles to achieve humanity; the story builds Nick's noble motivations into foreshadowing of the canonical fate of Nick's friend Mai Chung (in "Cherry Blossoms"). Tension between Nick and Lacroix, concentrated characterizations of Lacroix and Janette, and the thorny minutiae of Nick's quest together reproduce the ambiance of a first-season flashback.
Characters:
Nick, Lacroix, Janette, Mai Chung
"Where There's No Smoking" by Susan G., 1994
(This author died in 2010.)
- Short Story (2,471 words)
- PG
- Set after "Killer Instinct" and before "Black Buddha"
Summary:
Miklos keeps the Raven running while Janette tries to give up smoking.
Recommendation:
From 1989-1994, as a matter of public health, Canada implemented heavy taxes and fees in an effort to cut tobacco consumption. This story takes Miklos's view as those regulations find their way into the Raven and Janette's own smoking habit. Primarily an agreeable vehicle for the bartender's smooth, shrewd evaluations of each of the other characters, "Where There's No Smoking" may also remind readers of the first-season parallels of Janette and Schanke's respective tobacco addictions: with each other, immortal and mortal, and also with Nick's vampiric blood compulsion.
Characters:
Miklos, Janette, Nick, Lacroix, Alma, Others
"Beyond the Grave" by LastScorpion, 1996
- Short Story (2,361 words)
- PG
- Diverges after "Fever"
Summary:
When a strange vampire assaults Tracy, she has a near-death experience.
Recommendation:
This story responds to the "Discovery" challenge, which asked, "What would it take for Tracy to discover Nick's vampirism?" In this case, both physical evidence and metaphysical testimony! "Beyond the Grave" is humor-laced, with a light touch on heavy events, and a deft accumulation of minute references to canonical characteristics. Originally intended as part of a larger tale, this story leaves Vachon and Nick's experiences unresolved, but builds charmingly to Tracy's long-delayed enlightenment.
Characters:
Vachon, Tracy, Nick, Schanke, Others
"No Requiem" by Jean G., 1999
- Short Story (8,602 words)
- PG-13
- Diverges from canon after "The Fix," before "Black Buddha"
Summary:
Nick recovers his humanity just as all other vampires are falling victim to a sophisticated hunter.
Recommendation:
"No Requiem" begins with a traditional Nick/Natalie "happy ending," but soon shelves the romance to pitch the characters into a brisk, action-driven drama. Incorporating some concepts from "Fever" and "Killer Instinct," this story piles up threats on both the human and vampire sides. It capably folds relationship realignments into physical confrontations and harnesses the general existential crisis to contain Lacroix's personal threat to Nick and Natalie's achievement. Interestingly, "No Requiem" leaves implicit Nick and Natalie's differing ethical assumptions about vampire survival.
Characters:
Natalie, Nick, Lacroix, Janette, Cohen, Others
Please contact an author with feedback after reading her story. You may inspire her to write another! Your readership and responses are precious. Writers depend on readers.
Naturally, these fanworks are entirely fictional (there's no such thing as a vampire). Forever Knight was created by Parriot & Cohen and belongs to Sony. Feedback and suggestions are welcome; please let me know what you think. Thank you very much for reading!
