10:42 am - Admin Post: \o/ Twelve months. Five days a week of sharing the Due South love. Upwards of sixty people stepping forward and volunteering their time to rec. SO MANY fabulous people who stepped in and helped out estrella30 and I by making icons, banners, doing clips and screencaps and just - god, we have such a kick-ass community, don't we?
And now we bring this community to a close, after this year of excitement and fun and recs. We thank all of you who made this crazy-ass idea work, and that includes everyone who supports this community via comments, giving all of our reccers joy! Seriously, Due South wins at fandom, and we have all of YOU to thank.
06:51 pm - Ray/Ray: all fucked up (by brooklinegirl ) I know you'll be completely shocked to see me reccing Ray/Ray, but here you go. I've probably done this before; I'll likely do it again. Here is the thing about Ray/Ray: you get a lot of people saying, "Yeah, but there is ZERO canonical evidence for it! They share ONE EPISODE, and are onscreen for maybe TEN MINUTES together total. You are making that pairing up out of whole cloth, lady!"
And to that I say, well, you may certainly have your own point of view on the matter! It is a valid lifestyle choice to deny the appeal or even then possibility of Ray Kowalski and Ray Vecchio having hot man sex together. It's a line for a lot of people! I am clearly in the minority here!
But I also say: HEAR ME OUT. Because for me, the Ray/Ray factor isn't based on ten minutes of screentime. Saying it's based on that is to completely overlook the giant, huge, important plot point that is the entire canonical basis for seasons two and three: Ray Kowalski stepped in and lived Ray Vecchio's life. And sure, okay, he was barely pretending to be Vecchio. It was a thin ruse that got even more thin as the season went on. Ray Kowalski doesn’t look like, talk like, act like, or dress like Ray Vecchio. He doesn’t live with Vecchio's family, and there is a weird sexual chemistry between him and the girl who he's supposed to be pretending is his sister.
But the thing that Ray Vecchio and Ray Kowalski have in common is Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They are the only two American men to have partnered with him; they are the only two people who can testify, firsthand, how ( batshit crazy being partnered with the Mountie can make your life.Collapse )
One more day of ds_recs to go! Ms. shayheyred will be wrapping us up on Monday! Current Mood:mischievous
11:40 am - Love Letters (lilac_one) When the lovely brooklinegirl asked me to do one last rec about why I love Due South, I said yes without hesitation, partly because I'm apparently one of her minions, and partly because what could be bad?
So I thought about it for a while, and realized that the show is brilliantly written (see airinshaw's post of great quotes), but the main reason I adore it is because of the characters. So herein, my love letters to the Rays and Fraser.
05:38 pm - My favorite DS moments moosesal here with some favorite episodes and the moments that make the episodes stand out for me. These are the moments that I always want to share with friends when pimping the fandom. The moments that crack me up, break my heart, or crank up the libido.
Pilot I love so many things about the Pilot. My favorite bits: -- the parallel of the opening sequence with Fraser's father and the scene near the end with Gerard and the whole "they'll hunt you to the ends of the earth". Just ... that connection just gets me everytime, the importance of justice and truth without being cheesy. -- The bar scene where RayV is in trouble and Fraser knocks down the door? I just love when the tough guy grabs a beer bottle to use as a weapon and then drops it right into Fraser's hand when he sees Dief over his shoulder. It's so smooth and silly, but makes me grin so big. Go Dief! -- Fraser in the coffeeshop reading his father's journal with the voiceover. This scene kills me. PG is so beautiful there and it's sad and rips me apart in just the right way.
The Blue Line -- Fraser on skates. I think that covers it.
Hawk and Handsaw -- Fraser and Vecchio in straightjackets locked in a room. Oh the bickering. "Why do I always have to be the fulcrum?" "Stop moving Ray, you're dispersing the energy."
Victoria's Secret -- Fraser answering the door in his undershirt. I don't think I really need to elaborate on what that scene does to me. Moving on...
Vault -- Frannie -- The opening bit with Frannie and Vecchio bickering in the car is hilarious. -- Ramona Milano's performance in this ep is some of the best comedic acting in the series. She's a spitfire and her outfit? Rawr. Basically every scene with her in this ep cracks me up.
We Are the Eggmen -- Thatcher -- Thatcher goes to Fraser's apartment and he cooks for her. -- Thatcher and Fraser pursue the bad guys then get locked in the incubator room and there's sweating and then "Take off your tunic, Constable. That's an order." Good god the sexual tension. -- Thatcher throws eggs. "1.3 ERA over 30 games."
All the Queen's Horses -- Singing Mounties. What's not to love? -- Thatcher and Fraser locked together. Bobby pins, breasts, and teeth. Kissing on top of a train. I repeat, what's not to love? --
Juliet is Bleeding -- The funeral scene and the moments before when we see Elaine and Walsh and Vecchio in the precinct. And then the faces of Vecchio, Fraser, Huey, and Walsh as they carry the casket. It's such an incredibly moving scene. So well done. And the quiet and calm contrasted with the rest of the ep is just wonderfully done. -- Vecchio has some really great moments throughout this ep.
Burning Down the House -- Vecchio and Fraser on the phone. I love this whole good-bye scene. -- The wink. You know the one I mean. Kowalski winks at Fraser when they're still going through the whole 'who are you' bit and I just die. That is my Kowalski moment. -- "Don't touch my inner thigh."
Asylum -- Kowalski sliding on his knees inside the consulate door. The visual just makes my heart flutter. -- Ditto to Kowalski in the Mountie uniform. He's dorky, but it's somehow hot.
Mounty on the Bounty -- The fight. -- Fraser in that sweater shoveling coal. *dies* -- Fraser jumping on the barrels and catching the gun from Kowalski as the boat enters Canadian waters. And then his perfect aim. (This is my number one fav moment in all of DS.)
Doctor Longball -- Kowalski in a poncho. Getting undressed and wearing a baseball uniform aren't bad moements either, but the poncho. *wimper*
Odds -- Denny Scarpa (oh Stephanie Romanov, how do I love thee?) massaging Fraser. -- Fraser and Kowalski at the end, playing poker for air.
And finally, Call of the Wild There's a lot to love here, but my truly favs? -- The Ray/Ray fight (which launched some truly incredible fics) -- The Paratrooper Mounties because those parachutes are awesome and it's so freaking ridiculous how can you not laugh? -- Kowalski and Fraser stuck in the crevasse and then actually being found.
03:01 pm - Mightier than the sword (by airinshaw) Hi I'm Vonnie/airinshaw and I don't know how most people feel, but for me a good show becomes a great show when there are parts that I can quote to my friends.
I'd never watched Due South and only did because a certain friend of mine was suddenly squeeing about it left right and centre. So I watched for the slash - I was assured (correctly) that there was much. But I stayed because it's funny and touching and so quotable.
Therefore! I decided that my day of reccing (and look how early I got here today...) would be about the quotes. Quotes I find funny, ones that I think are clever and ones that quite simply make me happy in some way.
*wipes brow* That was fun! But I'm sure I've missed loads - and I know there are many more but I ran out of time. So, feel free to comment with quotes of you own or any favourites that I might have missed.
I have an insane urge to watch all four seasons again right now. Current Mood:amused
04:35 pm - All that and a bag of chips (by starfishchick) Hello, fellow Due South lovers! My name is Steph a.k.a. starfishchick. My thing is fic. More specifically, my thing is Fraser/RayK fic. (Positive comments re: F/K/V or Ray/Ray not withstanding, Tracey! Heh.) If it's well-written I'll read just about anything, but Fraser/RayK is my first, my last, my everything in between.)
All the recs I made previously still stand as fics that I consider very readable and re-readable, and now I would like to take a moment to mention a few fics I've discovered (or that have been written) since I made those original posts. (All Fraser/RayK.)
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Three Ways Fraser Didn't Tell Him, and Two More by joandarck. This is a story of courtship and frustration and realization - with quest scenes! - and it's lovely: So close, as they'd stood so many times, two bodies trying to touch without clearance from a higher authority, but now that slim safety barrier was removed and nothing would prevent them from falling into each other, towards mutual annihilation or something greater he could barely imagine.
Ray's body understood before his mind did, the fight or flight reaction changing to a different kind of alertness, as their physical awareness mingled into one charged field.
Tacit by malnpudl. This story is set on the quest, and has Fraser and Ray physically involved from the get-go, but with avoidance and deflection between the moments of physical intimacy. I selfishly wish this story was longer! (Not that there's anything wrong with it as it is, I just want to spend more time with these two in this situation. The first time Ray said "Fraser, about last night—" Fraser said, "Wouldn't you like another cup of coffee, Ray?" and "I'll go pack the sled while you finish up," and then he was gone. The second time he tried to bring it up, Fraser suddenly had to point out a supposedly interesting pile of turds: "Snowshoe hare scat, Ray; it's important for you to learn to read the signs." By the third time Fraser changed the subject, with hard eyes and a remark on the weather delivered in a voice sharp enough to cut glass, Ray got the message.
With the Grain by marginalia. A double-drabble about Fraser, with all the restrained punch that Jaci's writing bring. Packing for Chicago doesn't take long. Possessions weigh you down, in the body and the mind, and Fraser prefers to avoid attachment.
The Elevator Diaries by china_shop. A series of interconnected moments in elevators, on the way to a very important moment. And New Leaves, a brand-new fic of discovery and first-time kissing. "How—" Fraser cracked his neck, and veered a little closer so their arms were brushing against each other while they walked. "How long have you known that I, ah, about this?"
Ray shrugged and his knuckles brushed the back of Fraser’s hand. "Didn’t know for sure. Had a hunch."
And my most recent most re-read story, Hanged Man by cesperanza. The usual wonderful Speranza fare - great dialogue, wonderful details, good plot, hot sex, humour, angst - in a bit of a backwards way. The wall is striped with pink, then blue, then pink, as the Junior's Liquor sign flashes on and off and changes color. Ray lies there, massaging Fraser's neck and shoulders, and wonders how the hell this all happened, what the hell it all means. Him and Fraser, the way this went down--it seems, what did Welsh call it? Freakishly improbable--it's freakishly improbable that he and Fraser should have ended up like this, fucking in a cheap men's hotel. And yet here they are, and maybe it's just the neon light, but the air around them seems magical. It's like they've found a secret door into a room that doesn't exist; it's just a weird, safe space where they can fuck, a place that isn't shadowed by Fraser's portraits of the queen or Ray's framed pictures of Stella.
It's like a dream, and Ray's suddenly afraid that to question it is to break it, that this beautiful, iridescent moment will burst like a bubble. Pop.
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(You can find many more recs - mostly Fraser/RayK but also threesome, Ray/Ray and others - in my del.icio.us links!)
Thanks to the mods for creating and running this community so well - it's been a joy to participate as both a reader and a reccer! Current Mood:happy
12:02 am - Runamukluk, by kalpurna Fraser: Well, I grew up with my grandparents in Inuvik. Vecchio: Really? Is that downtown Inuvik or the outskirts? Fraser: More the outskirts.
Canonically, we know of three specific places that Benton Fraser lived as a child: Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, in the Northwest Territories, and Alert, formerly in the Northwest Territories, now in Nunavut. He also seems to have lived in the Yukon, and he must have gone to the RCMP training facilities in Regina (pronounced like "vagina", for reasons known only to Canadians), but that doesn't bear exploring at this juncture.
So, where exactly did our Constable Fraser spend his formative years? Armed only with my laptop, Rodney, a packet of Pringles, and Google, I set out on a quest to find whatever information there was on the Internets regarding Fraser's three hometowns.
And in closing, I will leave you with this charming photo essay on some guy's visit to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, featuring such gems as "An boat that has some sort of special significance for the town." Not to be missed. Current Mood:groggy
