due South Recs Redux

Title: Now I've just come ashore
Author: slidellra
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R
Length: short
Why I'm reccing this fic: slidellra has a true gift for language, pacing and storytelling: she's able to convey so much in a small space that even her shortest snippets have great meaning and resonance. I adore her writing, and I'm particularly taken with this piece. I return to it again and again, in both text and podfic form, and it always gives me a warm-squishy-happy glow of contentment. (As opposed to one of her other fabulous stories, such as Practicalities, or Ray and his thinking/feeling/wanting cock which just makes me feel, uh, glowy in other ways). S marries the best kind of erotic fiction with a poignant statement about intimate love in this fic, and sure, the sex in this is smokin' (blowjobs at the breakfast table, anyone?) but it's also tied to a sense of warmth and security. The last line leaves me breathless each and every time.

( A brief excerpt )

Now I've just come ashore

Title: East O' The Sun, West O' The Moon
Author: Hth
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski, Vecchio/Stella, Fraser/Vecchio
Rating: R
Length: long
Why I'm reccing this fic: Hth's ability to capture character voice using first-person narration is a pretty amazing achievement, and I think that particular skill is on perfect display in this trilogy of stories. Each piece is narrated in first-person POV by Fraser, Vecchio and Kowalski, respectively, and each piece is pitch-perfect in the way it captures each man and his complicated sexual and emotional connection to the other two. I think it's probably my very favourite due South fic (at least from a technical angle) and I re-read it at least three times a year. The subject matter is fascinating: Hth explores grief and terminal illness, unexpected parenthood, love, sex and sexuality, and Fraser and his Rays are revealed to be deeply flawed and brave men who seek connection and redemption at a high cost. I'm still a little awed by the narrative talent on display, but the story itself is a fascinating and involving read that should fill anyone's requirement for angst. I know there's a criticism to be made here about the use of the hated "Stanley" moniker, but I find it makes sense given the context and the explanation Hth's Fraser supplies. It's the only downside in a truly marvellous story, and I hope everyone who hasn't already read it (all two of you) will give this story a chance.

( A brief excerpt )

East O' The Sun, West O' The Moon
Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down
The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Title: Written on the Body
Author: Colleen
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski, Mark Smithbauer/OMC
Rating: NC-17
Length: Long
Why I'm reccing this fic: This four-part story is probably an unusual choice for "due South fic of my heart" because it only tangentially involves Fraser and Kowalski and the world of due South: I'd say it actually skirts the line of original fiction. Mark Smithbauer, the hunky hockey player and Fraser's childhood friend from "The Blue Line," is the central figure in this tale about an unexpected May/December romance. Further complicating things is the fact that it's an AU: "The Blue Line" never happened, and when Fraser appears midway through this story it's as shocking to the reader as it is to Mark Smithbauer. The spectre of Dira's Hockey AU looms large here, but I think Colleen does a great job of creating her own unique story about the highs and lows of a career spent in professional sports. Smithbauer is still in the NHL when this story begins, and he is trying to hold his life together and conceal a devestating secret. He's also determined to be alone, and sex for him has always been about satisfying a need, not about making connection. Into his life comes a young farm-team rookie named Todd, who seduces Mark with an easy, sensual charm and soon installs himself in Mark's bed and heart.

Their road to romance is a rocky one and is full of unexpected twists, complications and disappointments: the first half deals with Mark's selfish inability to connect, Todd's inexperience, and the difficulties and insecurities both men feel over establishing a long-term relationship. Once Fraser and Kowalski enter the picture things seem to shift into another gear, and by the end the story reveals itself to be a beautifully elegiac statement about the nature of undying love. Like Hth's story, this one plays with theme and character to produce a fully-dimensional portrait of a human life in all its beauty and complexity. And despite the nature of Mark's secret (I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't yet read this wonderful story) "Written on the Body" is, at the end, a celebration of life. Colleen could have easily recast this as an original novel, and I feel so lucky to have come across it in the due South fandom. It's an amazing read, and I hope you'll give it a shot if you haven't already.

( A brief excerpt )

mark's story, written on the body
interlude: contact
todd's story, written on the bones
epilogue: find the river

Title: Sibylla ti theleis
Author: Hth
Pairing Vecchio/Stella, Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R
Length Short-Medium
Why I'm reccing this fic:

I think this has to be one of the very finest Ray Vecchio fics out there, bar none. Ray is older in this fic and a little wiser: we see a lot of his marriage to Stella, his life in Florida (Hth puts a clever twist on his bizarre decision to open a bowling alley) and his relationship with both Ray and Fraser. All of it adds up to a complete portrait of a man who has been unhappy in his life, who has struggled to compensate with low self-esteem and anxieties about his place in the world, and who is finally able to come to terms with it all. This isn't an easy story to read, particularly when it comes to the ultimate fate of Our Favorite Mountie, but any reader new to the fandom will likely appreciate such a compelling, nuanced and complex look at Vecchio. It made me want to attempt to read TS Eliot, so that's something right there.

( A brief excerpt )

Sibylla ti theleis


Title: Exposures
Author: Dira Sudis
Pairing Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R
Length Short
Why I'm reccing this fic:

So we can all agree that Dira's favorite thing in the world is to rip out our hearts and stomp all over them, right? I mean, "Hawks and Hands" is pretty much 100,000+ words of that, plus hot sex. But I think she outdid herself with this short tale of death during a certain arctic adventure. It begins with a bush pilot's rather grisly discovery (this story ain't for the squeamish young newbie) and ends with one of the most bittersweet images I've encountered in written literature. I can't quite articulate how this story makes you feel: it breaks you down and makes you despair and yet still manages to convey the love Ray and Fraser share even in death. The images in this fic are, of course, striking: the whole story is told through descriptions of photographs salvaged from Ray and Fraser's expedition after they mysteriously disappear. The events of the Quest are pieced together from these fragmented images, and we bear witness to the discovery of a new love and the freedom that comes with it. The final tragic sequence (God, those words spelled out in instant coffee powder in the snow!) will stick with you for a long time, and the final paragraph is sublime.

Now, if we can just convince Dira to stop killing dogs, all will be right with the world :-)

Exposures

Title: The Fan
Author: Manna LaDroit
Pairing Fraser/Vecchio
Rating: NC-17
Length Long
Why I'm reccing this fic:

This was my first introduction to dS, read lo these many months ago. I remember mainlining the story and thinking at the time, "Geeze, what'll I do when I read through Manna's whole archive? How can there be anything in this fandom better than this?" How little I understood! But despite having read what must be hundreds of other stories, I think this old-school tale of Ray and Fraser getting stalked and kidnapped and having a bunch of other improbable things happen to them will appeal to a new fan. It does lack some of the humor and sophistication found in later dS stories, perhaps because when Manna was writing and posting regularly the fandom was in its infancy. I think she was badly burned in the Ray wars (she writes on her website that the show ended for her after Season 2, which, well, yikes!) but "The Fan" (as well as the rest of her oeuvre, like "The Cabin" and "Siren's Song") are definitely required reading. She made me an early Fraser/Vecchio shipper well before I discovered any RayK fic, and I still like her take on RayV and how he (slowly) comes to love and care for Fraser under fairly extreme conditions. I won't post an excerpt because I think the story is better read as a whole, but give it a whirl and show some love for the way things were before that scruffy Polish detective showed up.

The Fan