Label your Rays
It's just one of those things where you think it should be common sense, but no, for some reason it's not. If you're going to use "Ray", would it kill you to let the reader know if it's Ray Vecchio or Ray Kowalski? I mean, it's not like I'm insisting you call him "Stan" or anything, even if I personally think there's only one true Ray, but if I'm trying to dig up a lost Fraser/Vecchio from the thousand metric tons of Fraser/Kowalski fics out there, I'd like some way to navigate without having to speed-read through every fic I come across just to figure out which Ray it is. After all, I abhor Kowalski, so I'd like to not have to be subjected to his presence in fanfic if I can help it. But if you, the writer, don't let me know which Ray you're writing, I can't avoid it, can I? And then when I realize it is Kowalski I'm reading (which almost always tends to be preceded by a moment of "who the hell is this guy?"), I become annoyed with fandom at large.
And I probably just stepped on 90% of fandom's toes right there.
Thing is, I don't want to annoy on Fraser/Kowalski fans. But I can't avoid you if you don't make it clear where you stand. I'm not going to like Fraser/Kowalski so the only thing I can do is run for the hills when I see it coming. But if I don't see it coming, then there's nothing I can do but be annoyed by it. So I'm just asking for a quick label, a hint, something early on in the story, even, to let me know it's Kowalski, not Vecchio. Or even a generic introduction on the author's page or something. Just let me know it's Kowalski so I can leave you alone and continue with my search.
And no, I cannot live in peace with Fraser/Kowalski because I loathe Kowalski and would like to see him forever wiped out of due South canon, but that's not going to happen.
And I probably just stepped on 90% of fandom's toes right there.
Thing is, I don't want to annoy on Fraser/Kowalski fans. But I can't avoid you if you don't make it clear where you stand. I'm not going to like Fraser/Kowalski so the only thing I can do is run for the hills when I see it coming. But if I don't see it coming, then there's nothing I can do but be annoyed by it. So I'm just asking for a quick label, a hint, something early on in the story, even, to let me know it's Kowalski, not Vecchio. Or even a generic introduction on the author's page or something. Just let me know it's Kowalski so I can leave you alone and continue with my search.
And no, I cannot live in peace with Fraser/Kowalski because I loathe Kowalski and would like to see him forever wiped out of due South canon, but that's not going to happen.