Sunshine Challenge 2020 - Prompt 1 (Red)

[greerwatson]

Okay, colours weren't quite the sort of challenge I was expecting. However, so be it. The first prompt is "red". And today is the 1st of July.

When I was a kid, Dominion Day (as it was then known) never meant a great deal in our family. We lived in the suburbs, and had little to do with municipal celebrations. I wouldn't say I celebrate Canada Day much today, either. However, this year has been kind of an odd one. There's been this bug going round. And it's a real bugger of a bug....

We've all spent most of the last few months in lockdown; and, in Toronto, we are only starting to come out of it now. For me, it's not been as bad as for many people. I've not got sick. (So far, fingers crossed.) I've not been affected financially. And I tend to be more than okay on my own; so isolation hasn't bothered me much. I initially thought I'd use the down time to DO something—say, write a couple of long plot bunnies do or a lot of work on Fanlore without interruptions. It didn't work out that way. I guess I've been more affected than I thought I'd be, probably by the stress of wondering what would happen. Anyway, I found it really hard to concentrate on any sort of big project.

So instead I wrote ficlets. Over April and May, I wrote twenty of them. All are Forever Knight (thereby demonstrating that, as far as I'm concerned, however many fandoms you may write, the oldies are still the ones you go back to for reassurance). Each features a different character or combination of them, since I posted them to both the old mailing list and AO3, and I wanted to amuse as many fellow FK fans as I could. Also, I'm a Die-Hard, i.e. in the old FK mailing list Wars, that was the faction I played with.

Die-Hards are not affiliated with any specific character or pairing. As a veteran of the last three Wars and my faction's war scribe, I take that as a challenge: I ought to be equally able to write everyone. At this point, I feel as though I almost have. By the end of May I was starting to feel a bit written out. I did have one plot left to write that had to be timed for Father's Day; but I had no particular idea for Canada Day.

However, the Sunshine Challenge inspired me. So I wrote "On the Grill". As I also put my fic on my website, I made it a web page with a red theme. This is partly in honour of the challenge, of course; but it also represents the barbecue to which Nick has been invited.

For those unfamiliar with Forever Knight, it's a TV show from the mid-90s whose hero is an 800-year-old vampire, Nick Knight, who wants to become mortal again. Feeling great guilt over his past, he tries to expiate this by working as a Homicide detective in Toronto. Half the cast relate to his job: his partner, Tracy Vetter; his boss, Capt. Joe Reese; and a pathologist, Dr. Natalie Lambert, who is colleague, friend, and confidant—and trying to help him find a cure. (The other characters relate to Nick's vampire life; but they don't come into this story.)

The main background I used for the webpage is a variant that I made from GRSites.com's misc236.jpg. Over this is a central panel that contains the story. This has a fancy border of nested tables, each with its own background tile. The broadest band in the border is a dark marbled pattern chosen to represent the coals of a barbecue. It is surrounded by narrower stripes in glowing orange.

Comments

[autobotscoutriella]

That fic is lovely, and makes me think that maybe I should check out Forever Knight sometime! And the webpage is beautiful - I love all the rich colors in that background.

[greerwatson]

Thank you! FK is an older fandom, but still has a small dedicated following.

fic

[oldtoadwoman]

That webpage is gorgeous.

This part tickled me:
Prudently, he drove the Caddy, even though it would take longer than flying.

Something about him having to put effort into remembering to act like a human.

Re: fic

[greerwatson]

Well, after 800 years, it's partly just remembering what century it is! Customs do change so much, you know.   ;)

[silveradept]

I only saw scraps of Forever Knight, but I remember liking what I saw, and it's nice to see that the fandom has stuck around and is producing work.

[greerwatson]

Not as many of us as there used to be, I'm afraid. But new stories do get uploaded now and then.

[quietmoon]

I love the web page for the fic, it's so pretty! Definitely makes me feel like I'm reading an old book or journal of an ancient (if orderly) vampire. :P

I haven't heard of Forever Knight before! The premise does sound fun though, so I'll add it to my list ^_^

[greerwatson]

When it comes to the modern day, Nick is a weird mixture of up-to-date and totally out of it. Which makes sense.

As for the webpage: thank you! Pretty well every story gets its own page. I'm glad you liked this one.

[enemytosleep]

I can so relate to the last few months being difficult to focus on larger projects. I'm glad you've been safe and mostly okay! I'm hopping over to AO3 now. I really appreciate the series description here as I've never heard of Forever Knight, but it sounds like it could be up my alley.

[greerwatson]

FK is an oldie but a goodie. There are quite a few stories on AO3. It was released on DVD some years back; and you sometimes find eps on YouTube, if you just want to try it out.

[impala_chick]

Really cool use of the prompt! And I had seen that fandom name before, but I appreciate the summary; it's an interesting premise.

[greerwatson]

One of the things I love about FK is the range of possible stories: casefic, worldbuilding, historical, ethical dilemmas, vampires, romance, etc. It really has something for everyone—at least, if you're into the fantasy side of things.