Three longish fics
I've been on a fannish high lately, reading through some amazing new Due South fic (as well as some excellent stuff in other fandoms, shhhh!). Here are three stories from the last month or so that impressed me with their scope and their wit.
1. After the Nile by joandarck (F/K, post-CotW)
I love Joan's jittery Kowalski POV with all his raw defenses laid bare, alternating with Fraser being pragmatic and/or shocked at his own fallibility. The rhythm and poetry and attention to detail, jagged punctuation reflecting broken thoughts. Joan's mastery of oblique verbal and visual tells makes me ache with glee. This story is like a symphony -- all depth and percussion and vibrato. It has plot, it has yearning, it has OCs and Maggie, it has some fantastic fantasy/flashbacks. I don't think I can be more coherent about it. Read it.
2. Masquerade by slidellra and omphale23 (F/K, AU)
It took me a while to get into Masquerade: I don't know the original it's playing off, and the Kowalski characterisation here is shallow and slutty, wholly self-absorbed -- I wanted him to feel more. But wow, when it took off, it really took off. It skims a bright shiny surface of intrigue and banter (not to mention some really hot sex) and is littered with hilarious canon references. And this version of Ray grew on me, his vulnerability gradually sketched out in negative space. It wasn't long before I couldn't put it down, hooked and cooked. Exhilarating.
3. A Year, More or Less, in the Life by pir8fancier (Ray/Ray, post-CotW)
This is ambitious in a number of aspects: its scope and timeframe, and in the way it grounds itself in reality far more than most Ray/Ray so it has further to travel to get where it's going. It's a story that takes the prospect of alcoholism seriously, which I appreciated, and confidently moves each Ray through some hefty character development and self-realisation. It's by turns wonderfully tender and boyishly tough (in fact, it occasionally pushes the tough talk a little too far for my tastes, but it was worth it, so worth it for the tender). It shows what they see in each other, why they are where they are, and it even manages to make velour sweatsuits hot. It's solid, mutual hurt/comfort -- Ray/Ray at its best.
Warning for unlikeable!Stella characterisation (all off-screen).
1. After the Nile by joandarck (F/K, post-CotW)
I love Joan's jittery Kowalski POV with all his raw defenses laid bare, alternating with Fraser being pragmatic and/or shocked at his own fallibility. The rhythm and poetry and attention to detail, jagged punctuation reflecting broken thoughts. Joan's mastery of oblique verbal and visual tells makes me ache with glee. This story is like a symphony -- all depth and percussion and vibrato. It has plot, it has yearning, it has OCs and Maggie, it has some fantastic fantasy/flashbacks. I don't think I can be more coherent about it. Read it.
2. Masquerade by slidellra and omphale23 (F/K, AU)
It took me a while to get into Masquerade: I don't know the original it's playing off, and the Kowalski characterisation here is shallow and slutty, wholly self-absorbed -- I wanted him to feel more. But wow, when it took off, it really took off. It skims a bright shiny surface of intrigue and banter (not to mention some really hot sex) and is littered with hilarious canon references. And this version of Ray grew on me, his vulnerability gradually sketched out in negative space. It wasn't long before I couldn't put it down, hooked and cooked. Exhilarating.
3. A Year, More or Less, in the Life by pir8fancier (Ray/Ray, post-CotW)
This is ambitious in a number of aspects: its scope and timeframe, and in the way it grounds itself in reality far more than most Ray/Ray so it has further to travel to get where it's going. It's a story that takes the prospect of alcoholism seriously, which I appreciated, and confidently moves each Ray through some hefty character development and self-realisation. It's by turns wonderfully tender and boyishly tough (in fact, it occasionally pushes the tough talk a little too far for my tastes, but it was worth it, so worth it for the tender). It shows what they see in each other, why they are where they are, and it even manages to make velour sweatsuits hot. It's solid, mutual hurt/comfort -- Ray/Ray at its best.
Warning for unlikeable!Stella characterisation (all off-screen).