Guest recs: Death Fic

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

It was the Salmon Mousse!

Sometimes I just need a little deathfic. So this week I'll be reccing a series of Death, Near-Death, After-Death, and Not-Really-Dead due South fiction. The stories where a brush with death is just what the boys need to push them together. The ones where True Love is a bond that lasts beyond the grave. And a few that rip your heart out and stomp on it.

While avoiding spoilers, I'll let you know where each story stands on the angst to joy spectrum. Without further ado, here are four recs to start off the week.

katallison's Executor is a short classic of the death genre. It rates quite high on the angst scale, as Welsh presides over the bullpen after Fraser and Ray's funeral. (F/K, PG) But I actually prefer her Team Angst story, Go Gentle. Ray Vecchio travels North to visit Kowalski and Fraser, when he gets word that Fraser is dying of cancer. This story is utterly true to the characters. It is beautiful, gentle, and real. You will probably cry. But it's a good, cleansing cry. (F/K, PG-13, 9k words)

Now for something a bit more cheerful. isiscolo's Across the Great Divide takes a time-travel cliche and gives it a sharp twist. She uses due South canon of the after-life to bring us a story where Fraser receives a warning about the future and doesn't listen. Heavy on the angst, but with a happy ending. (F/K, PG-13, 16k words)

Here's something off the beaten path. Undone, by Maya Tawi, is a Tru Calling/due South cross-over. Harrison Davies visits Chicago, and through a series of fuck-ups, accidentally gets a nice Mountie killed. He's frantic to make things right, and not even a suspicious Ray, a freaked out sister, a determined Lieutenant, and a dead Fraser who thinks maybe he should stay that way are going to stop him. Even if you never saw the show Tru Calling, it's worth checking out this cross-over and the other two in the trilogy. Touches of angst, with a happy ending. (Harrison/RayK, pre F/K, NC-17, 140 pages)

My final rec for the evening is bertybertle's Oddness. Ray wakes up in the Borderlands with Fraser's dad. Confusion and some angst, with a happy ending. (F/K, R, 25kb)

Comments

[busaikko]

* happy sigh * I just love a good deathfic....

[hurry-sundown.livejournal.com]

*eavesdropping* Hah, why am I not surprised to hear that? After all, you wrote the fic that tore my heart out and stomped it into little pieces, even if you did give it a sort-of-happy ending. And I've had the most insane plot bunnies hopping around in my head for how to fix them, but I'd never want to, because "Ordinary Days" was so perfectly perfect.

[busaikko]

* dusts off your poor heart *

Sadly, busaikko's characters never live in worlds where there are miracle cures. Apologies! When I break 'em, they stay that way... probably part of the appeal of deathfic, because it doesn't get much more permanent than death. Er. Usually. Sometimes? *eyes Fraser's father uneasily*

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Actually, in a solid half of these recs, death is just an inconvenience. And sometimes a temporary one. That's just due South for you.

[busaikko]

death is just an inconvenience. And sometimes a temporary one.

Death cannot stop True Love! * hands you a Princess Bride flashback * Just got through enjoying Across the Great Divide... keeps on reading.... (Do you have the Goodwill story? That's a great box-o-tissues read).

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked 'Across the Great Divide'!

The Goodwill story? I'm not sure which one that would be. Toss me a link, or a full title? I want to check it out!

[busaikko]

You know, this made me realise that I have two full del.icio.us pages of dS deathfic links....

These are like deathfic PWPs: no plot, just death, heh:
http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/drama/leftovers.html Leftovers (POV of a disgruntled Goodwill employee, who takes a box of left-overs that are dropped by by a man in a GTO)
http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/bohemianstorm/justlikedrowning.html Just Like Drowning (as in, death is just like drowning)
http://pearlo.illuminatedtext.com/fiction/box.htm A Box of Pictures (short, with flashbacks, and lovely in its quiet life-going-on despite grief)
http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/0/goinghome.html Going Home (sweetly haunting. better w/out the epilogue, IMO, YMMV)

Ghost!fic:
http://spuffyduds.livejournal.com/91020.html#cutid1 Fraser!ghost
http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/6/noless.html No Less Radiant (Ray!ghost... but very funny as well) The prequel Unfinished Business is here (http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/6/unfinishedbusiness.html) but the author reccomends reading NLR first. THe third story in the series is Coming to Dinner http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/6/comingto2.html.

Ye Olde Deathfic:
http://viridian.mrks.org/dsbreaking.htm Breaking. They die in a crevasse. Yay! for Shriekback songfic!
http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/14/singingin.html Singing in the Ear. I love, love, love this. Ray dies on the Quest; Fraser, on returning to Chicago, takes over as Vecchio. Ray's a ghost. Bob's Fraser's partner. Not quite humourous, more like a hallucination, aching and strange.
http://www.squidge.org/dsa/archive/14/nevermorea.html A Series of Abnormal Circumstances (gen. Ray has AIDS)
http://ds-seekritsanta.livejournal.com/10051.html Sibylla Ti Theleis (Fraser's shot and dying; Kowalski brings him to Florida to say his goodbyes. Ray V POV and centric, but very nice Kowalski)

http://www.chezshay.net/stories/Ectoplasm.html
For the "Bad!fic" Challenge on Due South Flashfiction.
"Fraser dyes in a fire lol and his boyfriend Ray is so sad so he drinks a lot and wears black all the time and one night hes drinking beer and listening to Evanessences (omg such a great band!!!!) and he thinks maybe hell kill himself lol and he starts cutting and stuff and then fraser comes back as a ghost and says NO! lol and then ray cries and the power of his tears and the music brings Fraser back to life right there in Rays kitchen and now Rays tears are all of joy lol! Plese include lots of lyrics of my favorite band EVANESSCENSE! THEY ARE GR8 THEY WILL CHANGE YOUR LIVE!!!!"

.... and now I'm on part 1 of Undone, BTW. It's like having a syllabus or something.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, good stuff!

I was alreay planning to rec some of these, but now I want to put together TWO more rec posts. Thanks, busaikko!

Angst 401 - 'The Theory and Practice of Deathfic'

[busaikko]

* cackles * I can't wait!

(and some people doubt that I am in reality a cheerful person! I never could figure that one out *tongue in cheek*)

[akamine_chan]

Yay for deathfic.

Hmm. That sounded wrong on so many levels.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Hah! I knew I wasn't the only one. Go Team Angst!

[akamine_chan]

Oops, I forgot to put on my Team Angst icon.

Go Team Angst!

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! I will have to peek between my fingers reading the comm this week! *clings to icon*

:-D

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

You and me both...

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know which ones are safe!

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaay deathfic! *breaks out pom-poms* dessert_first spilled the beans on your rec theme a little earlier, and I was greatly amused. "Oh, good, Peaches is going to lighten things up around here!" These were great recs, of course, and I think you've given us a lot of variety so that those who don't eat their cornflakes with a healthy scooping of angst can find a story they like. Thanks for being our guest-reccer, K!

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Heh, my Angst-Queen rep requires a certain amount of regular maintenance. Actually, the majority of my death-fic have happy endings. I'm not sure if that's representative of the fandom, or if I just have a proclivity for that sort of thing.

[dessert-first.livejournal.com]

Yay! I especially like how you put them in ascending order of happiness. Very handy for us romancers! Thanks again for doing this, Keerawa!

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Super Sad -> Extra Happy! You are most welcome.