[identity profile] mamaffy.livejournal.com
Author: Speranza, [livejournal.com profile] cesperanza
Website/link to fic: Speranza's Fiction
Fanlore page: Speranza's fanlore entry
First DS fic posted: January 2001
Full disclosure: I'm simply another one who loves her stories. In fact, her writing hooked me to fanfiction in the first place.
Pairings: She describes herself as a Fraser/Kowalski slasher with Vecchio friendship. Some flashfiction is Ray/Ray and there is some gen. She posted her last Due South fic in 2005 and is now primarily writing SGA fiction. She also wrote for The Sentinel, The West Wing, Dead Zone, and a couple of other fandoms. The links are on her site.
Style and strengths: She is just a wonderful storyteller. She can take an unusual idea (like Fraser, the criminal mastermind) and develops a detailed and convincing scenario that is true to canon, yet stretches it into something new. Her stories often have a complex overall plot with enough detail to make it unforeseeable. It's like watching the show sometimes, or reading a very good book with beloved characters. She involves crimes, action scenes, backstories, the bullpen, quirky events, and full-fledged OCs. Slash is plentiful and special but not always front and center. Every story has something different to it, and it's worth to read them all.
It's close to impossible to boil down the favorites to 3-5. Among her often recommended classics are also: Eight Sessions (amazingly insightful piece about Fraser and Kowalski in therapy), Passion (excellent Fraser backstory), Chicago's Most Wanted (exciting case-fic with a drift), Juggling Act (hilarious undercover-fic in a circus), and With Six You Get An Eggroll (convincing PCotW kid-fic scenario). Other Stories that I love madly are An Admirable Solution (Fraser seems to like his sex casual), Hanged Man (an affair in a motel), A Dare's A Dare (funny and hot crossdressing-fic), A Moment Of Insight (case-fic with special interference of the FBI), Wildly Dangerous Ways (accidental sex on the job), Interrogation (short and powerful, Kowalski interrogates Fraser), Next Of Kin (interesting Fraser/Stella scenario), and About A Dog (unusual Dief helps to solve a case). She wrote some excellent flashfiction, too, for example Number Eight (the boys in a gay bar).
Other DS/C6D activity: She wrote one Wilby Wonderful Story and a couple of HCL fics. The podfics and fanart for her stories can be found on her site. She also posted vids, but not for DS/C6D.
Community-wise, she is an archivist of the Due South Archive, moderates DS mailing lists, ran challenges, founded [livejournal.com profile] ds_flashback, and used to moderate [livejournal.com profile] dsreporter, [livejournal.com profile] ds_noticeboard, and [livejournal.com profile] ds_flashfiction. She published in the Duet Zines, won the Best Zine Award for The Bodyguard, and the Best Writer Award in 2003.
Some favourites
:

Beyond Embarrassment (Fraser/Kowalski, ~11,000 words)
Wonderful spin on the magical realism in Due South. It's angsty, emotional, and very exciting to read.
an excerpt )
Kowalski Is Bleeding (Vecchio, Fraser/Kowalski, ~40,000 words)
Vecchio rushes to be on Fraser's side when Kowalski goes missing. It's very angsty, has beautiful Fraser-Vecchio friendship, and great Vecchio POV. There is also a DVD commentary for this story that explains some of the decisions behind this fic, f.e. the slightly unusual format.
an excerpt )
Ping (Fraser/Kowalski, ~6,900 words)
One of her shorter stories, it's hilarious and much fun to read. Fraser pings on another man and Kowalski is not amused.
first few sentences )
Scrabble (Fraser/Kowalski, ~29,000 words)
At first, I was silly enough to ignore this piece because of the unusual format. The story is told with parallel Fraser- and Kowalski-POVs, presented in a table next to each other. It's just a trip to read, to see how their thinking differs (just look at the exerpt). There are links for two different browser versions to choose from.
an excerpt )
Some Strange Prophecy (Fraser/Kowalski, Vecchio ~53,000 words)
The arrest of Victoria worries Vecchio so much that he urges Kowalski to keep an eye on Fraser. And that is necessary. This story combines apparent lightness with intense worry. Great Vecchio cameos.
an excerpt )
sage: Still of Natasha Romanova from Iron Man 2 (Default)
[personal profile] sage
Author: [livejournal.com profile] crysothemis
Website/link to fic: Chez Crysothemis
Fanlore page: Crysothemis' fanlore.org wiki page
First DS fic posted: 1999
Full disclosure: Crysothemis and I are on each other's flists.
Pairings: Fraser/Kowalski, Fraser/Thatcher
Style and strengths: Crysothemis writes long, detailed, richly textured stories with a great sense of romance, partnership, and place. Fannish tropes abound, and her writing captures the fundamental sweetness of the show. Crys has a talent for capturing characters' voices and for writing humor. She has several novel- and novella-length stories, including fandom classic True North, as well as a few later short fics.
Other DS/C6D activity: Crysothemis had fic published in the zine Serge Protector and made quite a few story covers and several manips.
Some favorites:
IOU - FK, PG-13, a fabulous ep tag for Odds wherein Fraser collects his IOU on air. excerpt )

Double Vision/Single Truth - FK, Adult, the one where RayK finds a photo of Miss Fraser and misses the connection. excerpt )

Blind Justice - FK, Adult. The one where the consulate gets fumigated, Fraser gets poisoned, and Fraser has to go stay with RayK while they catch the bad guys. excerpt )
[identity profile] inathunderstorm.livejournal.com
Author: [livejournal.com profile] catwalksalone
Website/link to fic: Cat's Fic
Fanlore page: tbc OR [author]'s fanlore.org wiki page
First DS fic posted: June 2006
Full disclosure: Cat and I are on each other's flists; I think she is terribly lovely and awesome and talented, not going to lie! \cat/
Pairings: Ray/Ray, FKV, Ed/Greg, genfic!
Style and strengths: I love Cat's fic a lot, because she writes with so much joy and love for her characters that it practically leaps off the screen at you. Her stories are so vibrant, and seriously I'm not kidding--they are JOY INFUSED, okay, I *dare* you to read them and not agree with me. I love the way she writes humor, too, because it's so funny, omg. Seriously, her fics make me laugh out loud in my office and then have to figure out how to answer the "Hey, what's so funny?" question from my curious coworkers. She's got a great quirky brain that comes up with AU's that are actualfax made of awesome, like RAYS IN SPACE!--and I love how they stay so true to canon even in these awesomely different worlds she creates. Mostly, I really love how reading Cat's fics are an interactive emotional experience--you laugh and sniffle and go AWWWW right along with the characters, which is really, really awesome. Her sense of positivity about life really comes through her writing, no matter what, and I really like that a lot!
Other DS/C6D activity: She draws AWESOME AND HILARIOUS CARTOONS, and records podfics! Also, she has written Flashpoint and Slings and Arrows fic. And speaking of interactive, I love Don't Let Kowalski Interview the Perp, which is a guaranteed to make me flail around happily even though I've seen it 384923423 times. Also, I always kind of want to let Kowalski interview the perp even though I know I'm not supposed to. :( I CAN'T HELP IT, OKAY, HE'S JUST SO CUTE.
Some favourites:

Not In Front of the Kid (Ray/Ray, due South)
I looooooove this story. I've probably read it 2398423 times, because it fills my heart with glee. It's one of those stories I read when I feel sad, and I just get all warm and happy immediately. Kowalski and Vecchio end up raising Kowalski's heretofore unknown offspring, Harry. This is so hilarious and touching and real, I just love it. Harry is so wonderfully and believably written, and he's a character as much as Kowalski and Vecchio. This whole thing is believable and touching and inspiring and ADORABLE. *draws hearts*

Also there's a line in here about Vecchio being the Bookman that just cracks me up.

Okay and possibly I cry at parts of this and I don't even *have* kids.

Excerpt from Not in Front of the Kid! )

Cosmic Rays (Ray/Ray, due South AU)
Ray Vecchio and Ray Kowalski: Cosmic Cops. They traverse the solar system and bring in the bad guys! This is one amazing fic--a great story with great characters who stay completely true to canon (Frannie in this is MADE. OF. WIN.), I love the attention to detail Cat gives to the world she's created in this story, from the spaceship to the society at large and everything in between. *So* awesome, and one of the best AUs I've read in any fandom, hands-down.

Also if I didn't mention, it's very hot! And, because it's Cat, moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity!

This story also makes me cry, okay?

Cosmic Rays excerpt, with awesome Ray/Ray banter! )

Let the Sunshine In (Ray/Ray, due South)
You know those stories that just explode your heart into tiny, littler hearts? Possibly with sparkles? THIS IS ONE OF THOSE OKAY. It's a Ray/Ray first!time!fic, which means I loved it as an idea because my heart, she adores the first!time!fics. And while I love angst as much as the next hurt/comfort fan, even with Ray/Ray, one reason why I love this so much is that Ray and Ray are friends, and there's no punching, just bonding and being so adorably BOYS that I can't even handle it. They're dating and they don't even know it! *explodes into aforementioned sparkly hearts*

SO CUTE. Also, I bring to you the excerpt that makes me giggle out loud EVERY TIME. The part with the LIST.

Excerpt from Let the Sunshine In )

How the Ray was Won In this fic, Ray and Ray tell Frannie the Story of How They Came To Be In Love as they move in together. This fic is so vibrant and awesome, and HILARIOUS, and if you don't go AWWWWW at the end then I think maybe? Maybe you don't have a soul or something, I don't know. All I do know is, I made people read this who aren't even in our *fandom* because I love it so much. "I don't care that you don't know who they are, just READ IT." And they did, and they agreed about how it was pretty much made of awesome! Because it IS. The structure of the story is "three tasks" and involves a character who has moved beyond this mortal plane--very in keeping with the show itself--helping our two Rays find each other. Our two Rays who have to bicker and interrupt each other, of course, as they relate this story to Frannie--did I mention I kind of want to put "reading the way Cat writes Ray/Ray banter" as an interest in my LJ profile? Because I do. Also, I want to podfic this story so bad, but I'm afraid I will laugh, start crying, and then actually make the AWWWWWW noise out loud while trying to read it, therefore never managing to FINISH podficcing it.

At the end, Frannie exclaims, "That's so romantic and it doesn't even make me want to throw up. You guys!"

Word, Frannie. WORD.

Excerpt from How the Ray Was Won )
[identity profile] sprat.livejournal.com
Author: [livejournal.com profile] china_shop
Website/link to fic: http://www.stonesoup.co.nz/chinashop/fic/index.html
Fanlore page: China_shop's fanlore.org wiki page
First DS fic posted: 2004
Full disclosure: China_shop and I were fandom newbies together and have been on each other's flists for years. We often beta for each other and I <3 her greatly, so I am in no conceivable way objective.
Pairings: Ms. Shop was a diehard Fraser/Kowalski shipper when she first started writing in dS, but later branched out to Ray/Ray and then F/K/V and most recently Fraser/Vecchio and Fraser/Vecchio/Elaine. She's written other dS pairings, too, and also writes Hard Core Logo and Canadian actor RPS.
Style and strengths: I've already copped to being far from objective about China_shop's fic -- she writes like I wish I could, building entire stories on character insights and letting conflict unfold from the interactions of the principals in each fic. But the things I admire most, I think, are her attention to detail, her ability to mess with narrative structure and the way she writes humanity into the crackiest of premises (even the one with the duck).
Other DS/C6D activity: China_shop's Canadian Actor RPS is locked at the comm [livejournal.com profile] tinhat_valley; you can join the comm to see the fic. She moderates many dS communities and challenges, including this one, and organizes an annual New Zealand con, [livejournal.com profile] get__together.
Some favourites: [Note - China_shop is incredibly prolific and incredibly good, so choosing three favourites was impossible. I chose three stand-out examples of her writing at its best, instead; on another day, I would probably have picked three different ones.]

10 Reasons to Hate Ray Kowalski by Raymond Vecchio (due South, Ray/Ray, explicit, 16,900 words). In which there is a nonlinear structure and magic realism, but also a seriously heartbreaking story about Vecchio's struggle to find his way back to himself.
"Vecchio!" he insisted, shoving me against the wall with a thud, knocking the air out of me. Maybe knocking some sense in. His eyes were dark, like he was worried. Like he cared. "You're one of the good guys, remember? Remember that?"

Leaving Normal (due South, Fraser/Kowalski, 3377 words). This is an older story, but it's still one of my fandom favourites. Ray and Fraser are both gorgeously flawed and human, here, and I love Ray's voice.And see, this combination: Ray's apartment proving what a fucking mess Ray's life is, and Fraser being a superhero whose main superpower is figuring stuff out, and Ray's body letting on how turned on he is. This combination fills Ray with a deep awful dread, so that he knows, he just knows things can not go well here.

Soft Arithmetic (due South, Fraser/Kowalski/Vecchio, explicit, 5000 words). F/K/V futurefic in which Ray and Ray take Fraser in. The first F/K/V I ever loved, and still one of my favourites.
All of a sudden, this wasn't a game anymore. Ray felt bad, having even thought of seducing Fraser like it was a sport. This was Fraser. He needed them. And it looked like maybe, just maybe, he'd finally realised that.
[identity profile] spuffyduds.livejournal.com
Author: aristide, or cimmerians
LiveJournal: [livejournal.com profile] cimmerians
Fanlore page: tbc
First DS fic posted: Unclear--she seems to write under "aristide" and under "cimmerians," which is apparently a collective name but I think it's for two different parts of her writing persona rather than two different people, and under "aristide and bone," which I THINK actually IS two different people, so I'm leaving those out, though I like them, so that bone can get profiled separately.

The two favorites I'm linking to seem to represent the majority of her solo output, but, luckily, they're both long fics.
Full disclosure: Heh, I think the fact that I'm not sure how many people she is makes it clear that I don't know her to any meaningful extent.
Pairings: Fraser/Kowalski.
Style and strengths: Hilarious, spot-on RayK voice. And the sex, oh man, the sex. She manages to make the sex INSANELY hot without falling into the trap of shifting from a detailed, specific character voice into "generic pretty sex description"--the sex is STEAMING and it is still very, very clearly Ray and Fraser who are HAVING it.
Other DS/C6D activity: None that I can find, alas, and she seems to have drifted away from writing altogether, unless she's using a different name.
Some favourites:

Haven--a post-COTW, first-time, hurt-comfort with a bewildered cabin-fevery Ray and a heartbreakingly worried Fraser. Fabulous funny sex, and in one conversation the most perfect off-handed "oh YEAH, that is exactly how it had to be" description of Ray's feelings for Stella I've ever read.

Excerpt )

Haven

"Foreign Territory" is a first-time fic in which Ray really wants to impress Fraser with his derring-do, but is totally startled that Fraser is already impressed in another way entirely. He slowly acclimates to the idea in a multi-step, believable, completely hilarious way. Oh and there's the really unmissable scene with the vibrator. HEE.

Excerpt )

Foreign Territory
[identity profile] mergatrude.livejournal.com
Author: Colleen
Website/link to fic: fic archived at dueSlash
First DS fic posted: 2000, according to the DSA. (possibly earlier to the Serge lists)
Full disclosure: I don't know Colleen at all. If you do, and would like to add to this profile, please do.
Pairings: Fraser/Kowalski, Fraser/Smithbauer
Style and strengths: Colleen's stories were some of the first I read in the fandom, and I was immediately struck by their lyrical quality and emotional depth. There are fourteen stories at dueSlash and I love all of them, from the tiny vignettes to the Mark/Todd AU series.
Other DS/C6D activity: Not that I know of
Some favourites:
Everloving. Colleen calls this a snapshot moment. There's a world of love and sex and heat and joy and promise here, encapsulated in less than two hundred words. Too brief for an excerpt

Poses. First time, taking the chance, giving up trying to be what you think other people want. excerpt )
The Tennis Series, so-called because Colleen names the supporting characters after tennis players. There's Fraser and Smithbauer (so hot! One of my favourite minor pairings!) in I Remember You, working through the challenges to their relationship in respect, and the gorgeous but not saccherine kid-fic, Penny Serenade

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