FK Bite-Sized Fic Round 2: FKFicfest '12 After-Party

[amilyn]

Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 8, the 2012 round fkficfest will be over, which makes it time for the dead dog party for those still inspired by their recent FK writing and reading.

This is the post for the drabble/ficlet/comment-fic stories that will make up the Dead Dog Party for fkficfest 2012. ANYONE may participate by writing, reading and cheerleading (all you

Comments

Reese or Screed

[brightknightie]

Neither Captain Reese nor Screed won a star turn in this year's game, though all the other characters recurring at their levels did. Might someone be inspired to write something focusing on Reese or Screed?

Re: Reese or Screed - "On the Doorstep"

[greerwatson]

This has already been posted to FKFIC-L and has a page on my website; but, as it was written specifically to address this, I think it can be posted to fkcommentfic as well, especially since not everyone here is on list, so they won't have seen it.

On the Doorstep
How do you tell a man his wife is dead and he wasn’t there to protect her? Not, thought Reese, that there was much the guy could have done to save her. But what words were right? He was off the street and out of practice-it was years since he’d talked to the bereaved-and now there were two dead cops on his watch, and another call still to make after this.

Yet it would not be words that told Cohen, Reese knew, but the sight of him grieving on the doorstep, in his uniform with all the brass.

Re: Reese or Screed - "On the Doorstep"

[brightknightie]

This is rather grand, and very in line with my personal tastes. Thank you for your efforts and consideration, as well as for sharing with us all a miniature story well worth reading. I'm sorry that it got snagged by an overzealous spam filter and overlooked for so long!

(I have been mostly offline from fandom for some weeks. Please forgive my slow reply. I expect to be on and off for some weeks yet, but to get to return to normal in November.)

We sometimes see Nick, Schanke and Tracy do notifications, but almost always it is in a context when they are playing double-duty as investigators as well as messengers, observing the bereaved for clues. Captain Cohen's death notification, of course, is different from most of those in having no tinge of suspicion and no need to investigate Mr. Cohen, as well as in being one of their own.

Come to think of it, we never got to see any of our detectives or captains in their formal uniforms, did we? Except that photograph of Cohen...

Re: Reese or Screed - "On the Doorstep"

[greerwatson]

The big photo of Cohen at the front of the squad room was obviously taken down when she died. However, what they did was move into its place a photo of the Queen that had been further down the wall, in a corner we rarely saw. I don't recall seeing a big photo of Reese, you're right.

Logically, there should have been one, somewhere along that wall-but maybe they couldn't be bothered with the expense of kitting Blu Mankuma out in a dress uniform just in order to photograph him for a prop.

Now, what was I saying, Reese said.

[waltd]

"You know," Reese thought to himself, "Stonetree let Knight get away with a lot: working alone, night shift only. You'd think Knight had some sort of hold over him." This only made his thoughts go further afield: "He does have a real commanding voice when he wants it. Almost Shakespearean, and very compelling. And, while considering that, and adding in his working only nights, his sun allergy - now, really, who's *allergic* to sunlight? - and then he's so pale . . . ."

Nick looked up at the Captain, read his expression, and concerned said, "Captain, you really don't believe any of that stuff do you. You /you/ know /know/ you /you/ really /really/ don't /don’t/ /don't/." (His voice faded like an echo.)

Reese said, "Huh, um, . . . what? Oh, no, 'course not. Now what's the latest on the Griswald case?"

Re: Now, what was I saying, Reese said.

[pj1228]

Another close call averted. Nice!

Re: Now, what was I saying, Reese said.

[greerwatson]

The series never showed this sort of thing; but it must surely have happened all the time. These guys are stupid!

Re: Now, what was I saying, Reese said.

[brightknightie]

Oh, poor Reese!

I've long found it intriguing that while Natalie objects to Nick using most of his supernatural powers, she seems to revel in hypnotism... on other people only, of course; she would doubtless object strenuously to its use on her. For myself, I believe that it cannot be good for Nick, psychologically or morally, to manipulate people this way (unless he genuinely has no other way to protect them).

Thanks for taking up Reese and sharing more of him with us!

Re: Now, what was I saying, Reese said.

[amilyn]

Very clever. I like it.

"Rat's Tail" by Greer Watson (PG, 298 words)

[greerwatson]

Tracy seldom spoke of Screed before his death. Vachon knew how she felt, of course. It was obvious whenever he mentioned his friend, in her guarded tones and her scent. After Screed’s death, he didn’t mention him at all.

“If anything happens to me,” Urs said once, abruptly, “I want you to leave me in the sun. If I can’t have a Christian burial, I’d rather just...go.”

“I’ll sweep you out with the dust,” he said, lightly. It wasn’t a joking matter (and he wasn’t surprised to see her wince), but it did shut her up. It was not something he wanted to think about

Re: "Rat's Tail" by Greer Watson (PG, 298 words)

[brightknightie]

I enjoyed reading "Rat's Tail"! And I'm happy for Screed to receive some representation in the game. You touch in varying degrees on Vachon, Tracy, Urs and Nick's attitudes toward Screed, and the impact (or lack of impact) of his death on each. I very much appreciate the bereavement story content; it's one of my favorite things.

>"It was not something he wanted to think about."

That sounds like Vachon and Urs as I know them: Urs bursting out with something serious suddenly after long dwelling on it, with Vachon simultaneously promising anything for friendship and pushing away the difficulties of being confided in and turned to.

>"Screed’s pitiful collection of ratsI'm no expert on Screed stories -- Libby would know :-) -- but I cannot remember anyone previously addressing the possibility that the pinned-up rats were a regular thing, were alive, and were left to starve on Screed's death! Fascinating! A perverse pet ownership... Without ever having pondered the situation, I had always supposed that the rats were dead and were

Re: "Rat's Tail" by Greer Watson (PG, 298 words)

[greerwatson]

You can drain fresh corpses; but things bleed better when they're alive, with the heart still pumping. (Not a nice thought, I agree.)

Obviously, live rats were employed when the scene required them to run across the floor, or the like. However, when staging the pegged-rats scene, they clearly used models-the brown version of the Ratsie-Wot-Killed-Screed (or however Libratsie spells it). Since these didn't move, I'm sure most people took them for dead. I doubt, though, if Screed would find it as practical as draining them live.

Checking NAT's screen caps, by the way, the container he uses is a jam jar.

Re: "Rat's Tail" by Greer Watson (PG, 298 words)

[greerwatson]

By the way, I've posted "Rat's Tail" to FKFIC-L. So I have also done the design for its webpage, which is now up on my site.