Author Profile: Denise Raymond

[thursdaynext-27.livejournal.com]

Author: Denise Raymond (rattlecatcher)
Website/link to fic: Fic at dueSlash and DSA
Fanlore page: http://fanlore.org/wiki/Denise_Raymond
First DS fic posted: 2000.
Full disclosure: A fan.
Pairings: F/K, Vecchio/Stella.
Style and strengths: Denise only wrote 5 Due South stories, but two of them would make a required reading list if there were a course on DS fandom. She has an uncanny ability to get into the heads of Fraser, Kowalski and Vecchio, so everything they say and think is spot-on accurate. Her Fraser/Kowalski are funny, passionate, loving and hawt, and at the same time her interpretation of Vecchio is so insightful it's had an impact on how I see the character on the show.
Other DS/C6D activity: Sadly, none.
Some favourites:

All the Comforts of Home (DS, F/K, NC-17, 300KB). Short version: Vecchio heads North to seek marriage advice from Fraser, and finds out that Kowalski's up there too, and they're engaged.

While the story goes wonderfully NC-17 at the end, what blew me away the first time I read it all those years ago was the crackling dialogue and pitch perfect POVs as the narrators shift between the three of them. Equal weight and attention are given to the three relationships here: Fraser and Kowalski's love, Vecchio and Fraser's friendship, and even Kowalski and Vecchio snarking their way to find common ground over past and current partners. This was also one of the first early F/K fics where I really liked Vecchio, from seeing how the Armando stint has affected him, to putting best friend's happiness over his own discomfort about Fraser and Kowalski's relationship.
( Excerpt... )

 
( Kowalski and Vecchio )

( Vecchio and Fraser )

 
( Part of the NC-17 section )

 

Chicago Tales (DS, F/K, Vecchio/Stella, NC-17, 850KB). Fraser and Kowlaski return to Chicago so Ray can settle his affairs. It ends up not being a good trip, what with all the coming out to friends and family and then Fraser getting kidnapped.

If All the Comforts of Home made me like Vecchio, then the sequel made me love him. Fraser and Kowalski are still funny and loving and hot. But the best part of Chicago Tales is Vecchio, who has to juggle Kowalski, Zuko and Armando to save Fraser, not to mention dealing with Dead!Pop, Frannie and Stella. Denise incorporated elements of the best Vecchio episodes (The Deal, North and Juliet Is Bleeding), and the result is one of great stories that you wish had been a real episode.

Oh yeah, and it also has one of the funniest scenes in all of DS fanfiction.
( Fraser and Kowalski )

( Kowalski and Stella. And Fraser )

( Why we needed a season with Kowalski and Vecchio as partners )

( Kowalski, Vecchio, Zuko and Armando )

Ray Saved from Drowning (DS, F/K, R, 28K). Four shorter pieces that perfectly capture Kowalski at pivotal moments: when he decides to take the Vecchio job, his first day with Fraser, the Buddy Breathing, and that conversation he and Fraser have on the way back from Sault Ste Marie (mentioned in All the Comforts of Home) where they acknowledge that there is something between them--even if they cannot agree what IT is.
( Excerpt... )

( Excerpt... )