April After All, Breaking Cover/The Sporting Life, Easy

[izzybeth.livejournal.com]

i can only rec THREE? you guys are MEAN.

Title: April After All
Author: sprat
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: uh. the pants stay on?
Length: 2800 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: this is the fic i rec when i want to turn someone on to Ray/Ray. it just squeezes my heart in all the right places and makes me so happy. the Kowalski pov is a thing of beauty, and through Kowalski's eyes, Vecchio is smokin'. (ok, so it's pre-slash technically, but whatever.) this is my happy place fic. i love it.

( A brief excerpt )

April After All

Title: Breaking Cover [and] The Sporting Life
Author: Speranza
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: pants come off!
Length: short (flashfics)
Why I'm reccing this fic: am i allowed to do this? because technically this is one fic and its sequel, but they go together. this is probably what got me into Ray/Ray in the first place. it's Speranza, so you know it's gonna be awesome, but damn. it's funny, it's got plot, it's got stuff blowing up, it's got a fantastic Fraser, and it has clandestine orgasms. whoo-hoo.

( A brief excerpt )

Breaking Cover and The Sporting Life

Title: Easy
Author: brooklinegirl
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: pants are not only off but flung out the window.
Length: shortish-medium
Why I'm reccing this fic: porn. what the Rays are best at. (aside from fighting.) this has got to be one of the hottest things i've EVER read. porn porn porn. there is a god. written for the jewelry flashfic challenge, and it took me about five rereads to get past the SCORCHING HOT PORN to figure out why it qualified for said challenge. i'm perceptive.

( A brief excerpt )

Easy

Admin Post: Ray/Ray Challenge!

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

This week's challenge, my lovely fangirls, is the Ray/Ray challenge. (You're shocked! I know!) That's right - we want to you to rec us your very favorite Ray/Ray fics. Those stories that opened your eyes to the wonderful pairing of Ray Kowalski and Ray Vecchio! After you swore you'd never read the pairing, promised yourself it wouldn't happen, what's the fic that dragged you, made you leave poor Fraser all alone up in Canada while Kowalski and Vecchio have messy, dirty, fucked-up sex down in Chicago, all full of desperation and love and need and wonderfulness?

And for those of you, like me, who sort of came into the fandom fully vested in the cult of Ray/Ray-ness, what are your favorites? What is the one that make you moan with delight, the one that you force upon your very strict Fraser/Kowalski or Fraser/Vecchio friends and insist that it will open their eyes and show them that yeah, come on, if - just if! - Fraser and Kowalski break up, this is the safety net, this is the thing that saves Kowalski from falling to itty, bitty pieces and drinking himself to death in a lonely Chicago apartment.

Ray and Ray need each other, they want each other. They had the same partner; they married the same woman. They're fucked up, and they recognize that in each other, and together, they can put together the broken pieces in a way that works. Also: there's punching and sarcasm and huge amounts of unresolved sexual tension and they fuck if you blow on them.

So, go forth! Rec! Ray/Ray! Tell us which fics you love, and why, and how you came around to loving the pairing! And who knows, you might just convince someone to come over to the dark side with your sheer, unadulterated enthusiasm.

Uhm. Yes, okay, so the Ray/Ray Challenge is open until Sunday, November 26th! Have fun! Be dirty!

You Get What You Need, Close to the Chest, Refugees

[slidellra.livejournal.com]

I LOVE this challenge. I clapped my hands together and made incoherent squeaky sounds of joy, and then damn near broke my brain trying to narrow my picks down to three.

Title: You Get What You Need
Author: aerye
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: In the R/NC-17 range.
Length: 4000 words, more or less.
Why I'm reccing this fic: Because I love it more than words can express? Because aerye writes Ray/Ray perfectly? This story has absolutely everything, expertly layering the mundane routine of life that is such an important part of Ray/Ray with flirting, snarking, and supercharged emotions running under everything. Great Kowalski perspective with pissiness and sexiness and mercurial mood changes. It's a raw, hurty Kowalski who could just be spinning out of control into the bad place, except he's got Vecchio holding him together. And Vecchio! The bitching, the fond insults, the clothes, the love, the strength, and the stubborn, scared need. There's something both fierce and vulnerable about him that is just wonderful. And Fraser! I can't begin to describe the Fraser. Also check out the rest of her Ray/Ray, including the "prequel sort of thing" Speaking in Tongues.

( A brief excerpt )

You Get What You Need

Title: Close to the Chest
Author: Hth (hth_the_first)
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: Not porny. What are those not-porn ratings, anyway?
Length: 2700 words, more or less.
Why I'm reccing this fic: I just love the whole idea of this fic. It's Ray/Ray established relationship, Kowalski's 40th birthday party. It's Kowalski POV and full of wonderful kind-of-drunk!Ray mental tangents. Kowalski falls asleep with his head in Vecchio's lap and overhears Vecchio and Fraser talking. It's lay-the-cards-on-the-table time for guys who Just Can't Talk About Their Feelings. It's got that lovely, sharp thread of angst, but is also rich with humor and love and affection and tolerant, exasperated understanding.

( A brief excerpt )

Close to the Chest

Title: Refugees
Author: china_shop
Pairing: Ray/Ray
Rating: R
Length: 70K (12,300ish words. Yes, I really like word counts.)
Why I'm reccing this fic: It's Vecchio POV, and, despite my love for the recs above, I'm mad about Vecchio perspective on Kowalski. It's a stimulating read, as it hides some things from the reader, letting us wait for explanations while we try to piece together past and present events. It's Kowalski newly returned to Chicago, and he's at rock-bottom. Vecchio sweeps in with flair and a curled lip and some issues of his own. It's got a handy device to let them cohabitate without being friends or lovers, leading to these fabulous strange interactions as they circle around each other in Kowalski's crappy apartment. Plus, it has an awesome Frannie secondary storyline.

( A brief excerpt )

Refugees