author profile: catwalksalone
Author: 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.
There was no mistaking him. The little heap of misery sitting on a chair at least two sizes too big for him, feet not even close to the floor, was the living spit of Kowalski, from his gangly frame to his red-gold hair, past the fullness of his mouth to the sharp set chin.
"Fuck," whispered Kowalski, and fumbled for Ray's hand, gripping it tightly. Ray squeezed back. This was big. This was bigger than big. This was the kind of big that made you dizzy just by trying to find the size of it. Kowalski had a kid. A kid that was all alone in the world now his mom had passed. Just like that they'd upped the size of their family 33%. Yeah, big. He squeezed again.
"What am I supposed to say?" Kowalski continued, as they hung back, the boy not appearing to have noticed them. "Hi, kid, sorry your mom's dead, I'm your daddy, want a hot dog?"
Ray snorted. "Kid's already scarred for life, Kowalski, do your worst."
Kowalski twisted Ray's hand sharply in retaliation, did a little shuffle-hop motion, squared his shoulders and said, "Okay, cover me. I'm going in."
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?
Ray's finger hovered over the button.
"You going to boot this time?"
Kowalski punched Ray lightly on the arm.
"How many times I got to tell you? It was unexpected. I wasn't expecting it. Gravity-light I can handle. I can talk the space talk and walk the space walk same as you."
Ray grinned.
"Just asking."
He pushed the button and the door slid open, nothing standing between them and the empty void of space. It never failed to take Ray's breath away. He stood right at the edge, twisted around and reached up to find the ring above the door. He clipped the krab he was holding through it and tugged to test the connection. It held.
"Okay, you follow me," said Ray.
"Like I have any choice." Kowalski indicated the cable that linked them together.
Ray gave it a tug.
"Be a good boy and you can have a new chew toy later."
"Oh, the wit. It burns."
"You just wish you were so talented. Sure you don't want to give me the toolbox, have both hands free?"
"You think I can't cut it just come out and say it." There was an edge to Kowalski's voice now. Ray backtracked.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, I was just being chivalrous."
"Chivalrous?"
"It happens."
"I'm good, thanks."
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.
Ray gingerly prodded his head. Yeah, still hurt. But no slipping into a coma thanks to Kowalski's vigilance, which had to be a good thing. He didn't know what he'd expected when Kowalski'd said he was staying the night. Maybe that he'd sleep on the couch, or clean the crap off the guest bed. He certainly hadn't expected Kowalski just to strip off and hop in with him. Had they just had a sleepover? Maybe he was five, just like the doctor thought. And maybe if she was right about that-?
Ray looked heavenward. "You gotta be kidding me, right? You'd think one of us would know."
He thought about it a lot over the next few days. There was plenty of time what with being stuck behind a desk until the stitches were taken out. He even took a new notebook out of the supply closet and started logging the evidence.
1. He hadn't had a date in three months. Kowalski neither, as far as he knew. Which led to
2. They spent most nights with each other, mostly just hanging out in each other's apartment, except sometimes. Which led to
3. Sometimes Kowalski bought tickets to games and didn't expect to be paid back. Sometimes Ray bought them both dinner and didn't expect to be paid back either. It was more than a quid pro quo thing.
4. If Kowalski was on stakeout he always called Ray with an update, or just to say hey. Ray did, too, even if he had nothing to say. It didn't feel right going a day without speaking. What if something happened? Which led to
5. Kowalski was #1 on Ray's speed-dial and the first person he thought of telling things to, good or bad. He was pretty sure he was #1 for Kowalski, at least, if he'd learned to program his goddamn phone. Dumb Polack.
6. When Kowalski walked into a room, any room, Ray was in, it didn't matter if they didn't even speak, just knowing he was there made Ray feel settled, at home. If he thought back, he couldn't remember when this had first started. It felt like it had always been the way things were.
7. Kowalski really, really wanted to teach Ray to ballroom dance. They'd start with the slow ones, Kowalski'd said and they'd never really moved on, despite how Ray didn't even look at his feet now.
8. There was this thing Kowalski did with his mouth and a beer bottle. Ray was pretty sure he didn't know he was doing it and every time he did Ray's palms would start to sweat and he couldn't look away.
9. If Ray were totally honest, when he'd seen the strip of hair on Kowalski's belly, he'd wanted to see where it led. He'd wanted it a lot.
Like any good cop, Ray reviewed the evidence. Several times. Whichever way he looked at it is seemed pretty clear, an open and shut case. He and Kowalski were dating. Or, Ray furrowed his brow, he was dating Kowalski and hadn't told him yet. Or maybe even the other way around. Whatever way it turned out he had a thing for the guy. A great big neon-painted freaking woolly mammoth of a thing. Wow. It was lucky his job didn't depend on his observational skills. Oh, wait.
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.
"Right then," said Vecchio. "Once upon a time there were two cops called Ray..."
An Introduction
Once upon a time there were two cops called Ray who met under circumstances that do not need exploring at this juncture. They had three things in common, including their name. Second, they both got the whole undercover thing, and third, they'd both been one half of the world's weirdest working partnership.
"Oh, Fraser," sighed Frannie. "I miss him."
"He's one of a kind, is Benny. I miss him too. But he's not the hero. This time. That'd be this tough guy over here." Vecchio patted Ray's knee and Ray felt his chest puff out a little. "Though, you know, traditionally heroes have a bit more meat on their bones."
"I have a fast metabolism. That's what makes my reflexes razor sharp."
"And your brain dull."
"Clever."
"Thank you."
"Tell the story."
"Okay."
The Rays met. They didn't exactly hit it off, but there was something there, some kind of connection so it didn't take long to bond. In a manly way. Then one Ray got shot and the other one vanished into the wilds of Canada to be eaten by polar bears or something so the first Ray ran off with the second one's ex-wife - it seemed to be the thing to do at the time. The end. Or that's probably what it should have been, but it wasn't.
Ray the second, also known as Kowalski, failed to get so much as nibbled by an Arctic hare so he got bored of attempting death by nature and came back to Chicago. Ray the first, meanwhile, was sunning himself in Florida and having lots of sex with Kowalski's ex-wife.
"Ow!" Vecchio rubbed the spot on his arm where Ray had punched him.
"That's for telling it wrong."
"What? I'm just telling it how it happened."
"And that's the problem, isn't it? That's not how a fairy tale works."
"So how does it work, Hans Christian Andersen?"
"You've got to start with the hero missing something. Like, I don't know, a kingdom or a name or whatever."
"Why?"
"Because then they can go and find it. Duh."
"Fine. You tell it."
"I will."
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.
There was no mistaking him. The little heap of misery sitting on a chair at least two sizes too big for him, feet not even close to the floor, was the living spit of Kowalski, from his gangly frame to his red-gold hair, past the fullness of his mouth to the sharp set chin.
"Fuck," whispered Kowalski, and fumbled for Ray's hand, gripping it tightly. Ray squeezed back. This was big. This was bigger than big. This was the kind of big that made you dizzy just by trying to find the size of it. Kowalski had a kid. A kid that was all alone in the world now his mom had passed. Just like that they'd upped the size of their family 33%. Yeah, big. He squeezed again.
"What am I supposed to say?" Kowalski continued, as they hung back, the boy not appearing to have noticed them. "Hi, kid, sorry your mom's dead, I'm your daddy, want a hot dog?"
Ray snorted. "Kid's already scarred for life, Kowalski, do your worst."
Kowalski twisted Ray's hand sharply in retaliation, did a little shuffle-hop motion, squared his shoulders and said, "Okay, cover me. I'm going in."
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?
Ray's finger hovered over the button.
"You going to boot this time?"
Kowalski punched Ray lightly on the arm.
"How many times I got to tell you? It was unexpected. I wasn't expecting it. Gravity-light I can handle. I can talk the space talk and walk the space walk same as you."
Ray grinned.
"Just asking."
He pushed the button and the door slid open, nothing standing between them and the empty void of space. It never failed to take Ray's breath away. He stood right at the edge, twisted around and reached up to find the ring above the door. He clipped the krab he was holding through it and tugged to test the connection. It held.
"Okay, you follow me," said Ray.
"Like I have any choice." Kowalski indicated the cable that linked them together.
Ray gave it a tug.
"Be a good boy and you can have a new chew toy later."
"Oh, the wit. It burns."
"You just wish you were so talented. Sure you don't want to give me the toolbox, have both hands free?"
"You think I can't cut it just come out and say it." There was an edge to Kowalski's voice now. Ray backtracked.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, I was just being chivalrous."
"Chivalrous?"
"It happens."
"I'm good, thanks."
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.
Ray gingerly prodded his head. Yeah, still hurt. But no slipping into a coma thanks to Kowalski's vigilance, which had to be a good thing. He didn't know what he'd expected when Kowalski'd said he was staying the night. Maybe that he'd sleep on the couch, or clean the crap off the guest bed. He certainly hadn't expected Kowalski just to strip off and hop in with him. Had they just had a sleepover? Maybe he was five, just like the doctor thought. And maybe if she was right about that-?
Ray looked heavenward. "You gotta be kidding me, right? You'd think one of us would know."
He thought about it a lot over the next few days. There was plenty of time what with being stuck behind a desk until the stitches were taken out. He even took a new notebook out of the supply closet and started logging the evidence.
1. He hadn't had a date in three months. Kowalski neither, as far as he knew. Which led to
2. They spent most nights with each other, mostly just hanging out in each other's apartment, except sometimes. Which led to
3. Sometimes Kowalski bought tickets to games and didn't expect to be paid back. Sometimes Ray bought them both dinner and didn't expect to be paid back either. It was more than a quid pro quo thing.
4. If Kowalski was on stakeout he always called Ray with an update, or just to say hey. Ray did, too, even if he had nothing to say. It didn't feel right going a day without speaking. What if something happened? Which led to
5. Kowalski was #1 on Ray's speed-dial and the first person he thought of telling things to, good or bad. He was pretty sure he was #1 for Kowalski, at least, if he'd learned to program his goddamn phone. Dumb Polack.
6. When Kowalski walked into a room, any room, Ray was in, it didn't matter if they didn't even speak, just knowing he was there made Ray feel settled, at home. If he thought back, he couldn't remember when this had first started. It felt like it had always been the way things were.
7. Kowalski really, really wanted to teach Ray to ballroom dance. They'd start with the slow ones, Kowalski'd said and they'd never really moved on, despite how Ray didn't even look at his feet now.
8. There was this thing Kowalski did with his mouth and a beer bottle. Ray was pretty sure he didn't know he was doing it and every time he did Ray's palms would start to sweat and he couldn't look away.
9. If Ray were totally honest, when he'd seen the strip of hair on Kowalski's belly, he'd wanted to see where it led. He'd wanted it a lot.
Like any good cop, Ray reviewed the evidence. Several times. Whichever way he looked at it is seemed pretty clear, an open and shut case. He and Kowalski were dating. Or, Ray furrowed his brow, he was dating Kowalski and hadn't told him yet. Or maybe even the other way around. Whatever way it turned out he had a thing for the guy. A great big neon-painted freaking woolly mammoth of a thing. Wow. It was lucky his job didn't depend on his observational skills. Oh, wait.
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.
"Right then," said Vecchio. "Once upon a time there were two cops called Ray..."
An Introduction
Once upon a time there were two cops called Ray who met under circumstances that do not need exploring at this juncture. They had three things in common, including their name. Second, they both got the whole undercover thing, and third, they'd both been one half of the world's weirdest working partnership.
"Oh, Fraser," sighed Frannie. "I miss him."
"He's one of a kind, is Benny. I miss him too. But he's not the hero. This time. That'd be this tough guy over here." Vecchio patted Ray's knee and Ray felt his chest puff out a little. "Though, you know, traditionally heroes have a bit more meat on their bones."
"I have a fast metabolism. That's what makes my reflexes razor sharp."
"And your brain dull."
"Clever."
"Thank you."
"Tell the story."
"Okay."
The Rays met. They didn't exactly hit it off, but there was something there, some kind of connection so it didn't take long to bond. In a manly way. Then one Ray got shot and the other one vanished into the wilds of Canada to be eaten by polar bears or something so the first Ray ran off with the second one's ex-wife - it seemed to be the thing to do at the time. The end. Or that's probably what it should have been, but it wasn't.
Ray the second, also known as Kowalski, failed to get so much as nibbled by an Arctic hare so he got bored of attempting death by nature and came back to Chicago. Ray the first, meanwhile, was sunning himself in Florida and having lots of sex with Kowalski's ex-wife.
"Ow!" Vecchio rubbed the spot on his arm where Ray had punched him.
"That's for telling it wrong."
"What? I'm just telling it how it happened."
"And that's the problem, isn't it? That's not how a fairy tale works."
"So how does it work, Hans Christian Andersen?"
"You've got to start with the hero missing something. Like, I don't know, a kingdom or a name or whatever."
"Why?"
"Because then they can go and find it. Duh."
"Fine. You tell it."
"I will."