Christmas Present, It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol, Departures
Title: Christmas Present
Author: dsudis
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R
Length: ~3,300 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: because it's a fascinating sharp AU left-turn after Good For The Soul. It's got Ray and Ray playing Battleship. And it's about Christmas. What more could you want?
Well, it's a typical story from dsudis: well-written, thought-provoking, a subtle AU that shows how Good For The Soul could have gone very, very wrong.
Fraser opened his eyes to see Ray-Ray Kowalski-perched on the foot of his bed, balancing something on his knee. Ray Vecchio sat in the chair where Ray Kowalski had been before, holding something similar, grumbling. "You're peeking, aren't you?"
"I'm not peeking, Vecchio. I'm just better than you."
"I should get the bed, y'know. I was here first."
"No you weren't," Ray said, absently, as he studied the thing on his knee, rolling a small plastic peg between his fingers. "If you were here first, you'd be on the bed. G7."
"God damn it, Kowalski!"
Ray looked up to grin at Vecchio, and then his eyes widened as he saw that Fraser was awake. "Hey."
Christmas Present
Title: It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol
Author: pir8fancier
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: NC17
Length: ~9,500 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: because pir8fancier normally writes such a believable Ray-voice (either Ray); here she shows us what a great Fraser-voice she has. This fic, written for the 2006 due South Seekrit Santa challenge, takes the familiar It's A Wonderful Life and gives it a due South twist. Fraser is idiotically protecting his heart in all the wrong ways, Ray is emotionally canny and dead!Bob actually helps...
I have to admit Ray was right. I am grief-stricken at the absence of all those things that I have come to realize signified how much we love each other. We do do love well. Small things. Sweetening Ray's coffee with candy, even though I disapprove heartily of both, being neither a sensible beverage nor an acceptable source of energy. Ray installing TIVO because it's apparently the only venue for accessing curling competitions, and if that isn't a commentary on the sad state of American sports I don't know what is. And Ray hates curling. Bowling with teacups he calls it. But he'll watch it with me, and I will pour him a cup of coffee heavily laced with Smarties during half-time. And... Oh. Dear God. I ache from the loss of all this.
It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol
Title: Departures
Author: nos4a2no9
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: PG13
Length: ~4,800 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: this was one of many wonderful stories that came out of ds_flashfiction's self-insertion challenge. Now, I'm a well-known for loving everything nos4a2no9 writes; I'm a big fan of hers and I don't try to hide it. But there are two things about this fic that make me want to squish Nos harder than normal.
One is the outsider's view of Kowalski. Nos' fictional self sees him for what he is: a middle-aged man, wiry and kinetic, with his own sense of rough charm and a smile that makes him beautiful. A little shy and self-effacing, someone good at kicking heads but maybe not so good at saying the important stuff. This is Ray Kowalski as we know and love him, given flesh and form through Nos' eyes.
Two is the outsider's view of nos4a2no9 herself. Also slightly shy, a little uncertain, an observant, intelligent person, determined to do the right thing even if it scares her a bit. Quirky and real, sweet and honest and beautiful. Enough of a glimpse of the real person to make us fall in love with her.
He's not the type I would have expected to step in. He looks like an aging hustler, strong and slim-hipped, his dishwater-blond hair gelled up into spikes that shouldn't look quite that good on a guy pushing forty. The new guy is taller than Business Suit but he's at least forty pounds lighter, and Suit looks like he knows how to throw his extra weight around. If Suit starts to get violent I'm not sure how the new guy will handle it. He's wiry and he moves with fluid economy of motion, but one of the things I learned growing up in a rough n' tumble logging town is that skinny guys don't do so well in a contest of raw strength.
Departures
Author: dsudis
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R
Length: ~3,300 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: because it's a fascinating sharp AU left-turn after Good For The Soul. It's got Ray and Ray playing Battleship. And it's about Christmas. What more could you want?
Well, it's a typical story from dsudis: well-written, thought-provoking, a subtle AU that shows how Good For The Soul could have gone very, very wrong.
Fraser opened his eyes to see Ray-Ray Kowalski-perched on the foot of his bed, balancing something on his knee. Ray Vecchio sat in the chair where Ray Kowalski had been before, holding something similar, grumbling. "You're peeking, aren't you?"
"I'm not peeking, Vecchio. I'm just better than you."
"I should get the bed, y'know. I was here first."
"No you weren't," Ray said, absently, as he studied the thing on his knee, rolling a small plastic peg between his fingers. "If you were here first, you'd be on the bed. G7."
"God damn it, Kowalski!"
Ray looked up to grin at Vecchio, and then his eyes widened as he saw that Fraser was awake. "Hey."
Christmas Present
Title: It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol
Author: pir8fancier
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: NC17
Length: ~9,500 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: because pir8fancier normally writes such a believable Ray-voice (either Ray); here she shows us what a great Fraser-voice she has. This fic, written for the 2006 due South Seekrit Santa challenge, takes the familiar It's A Wonderful Life and gives it a due South twist. Fraser is idiotically protecting his heart in all the wrong ways, Ray is emotionally canny and dead!Bob actually helps...
I have to admit Ray was right. I am grief-stricken at the absence of all those things that I have come to realize signified how much we love each other. We do do love well. Small things. Sweetening Ray's coffee with candy, even though I disapprove heartily of both, being neither a sensible beverage nor an acceptable source of energy. Ray installing TIVO because it's apparently the only venue for accessing curling competitions, and if that isn't a commentary on the sad state of American sports I don't know what is. And Ray hates curling. Bowling with teacups he calls it. But he'll watch it with me, and I will pour him a cup of coffee heavily laced with Smarties during half-time. And... Oh. Dear God. I ache from the loss of all this.
It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol
Title: Departures
Author: nos4a2no9
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: PG13
Length: ~4,800 words
Why I'm reccing this fic: this was one of many wonderful stories that came out of ds_flashfiction's self-insertion challenge. Now, I'm a well-known for loving everything nos4a2no9 writes; I'm a big fan of hers and I don't try to hide it. But there are two things about this fic that make me want to squish Nos harder than normal.
One is the outsider's view of Kowalski. Nos' fictional self sees him for what he is: a middle-aged man, wiry and kinetic, with his own sense of rough charm and a smile that makes him beautiful. A little shy and self-effacing, someone good at kicking heads but maybe not so good at saying the important stuff. This is Ray Kowalski as we know and love him, given flesh and form through Nos' eyes.
Two is the outsider's view of nos4a2no9 herself. Also slightly shy, a little uncertain, an observant, intelligent person, determined to do the right thing even if it scares her a bit. Quirky and real, sweet and honest and beautiful. Enough of a glimpse of the real person to make us fall in love with her.
He's not the type I would have expected to step in. He looks like an aging hustler, strong and slim-hipped, his dishwater-blond hair gelled up into spikes that shouldn't look quite that good on a guy pushing forty. The new guy is taller than Business Suit but he's at least forty pounds lighter, and Suit looks like he knows how to throw his extra weight around. If Suit starts to get violent I'm not sure how the new guy will handle it. He's wiry and he moves with fluid economy of motion, but one of the things I learned growing up in a rough n' tumble logging town is that skinny guys don't do so well in a contest of raw strength.
Departures