[REC] due South (264/365)
Unsurprisingly after yesterday, now I've got Queer as Folk on the brain, which is... not actually a good thing. It's already been a weirdly angst-ridden week for me. And thinking back to (*waves half-heartedly in the direction of 2005*) that whole thing is just not very helpful. So! So. Something better, and brighter and properly satisfying, yes? Let's talk due South. Let's talk 
Speranza.
I realize I'm not alone in this, but almost every one of this author's stories in this fandom becomes my New Favorite Fanfic Ever, as I'm reading it. Generally speaking, I can get some emotional distance after I'm done, and re-assess, and put the story in proper perspective. But right as I'm reading it? Impossible. She just... for whatever reason, it feels like she really gets these two, like her characterizations are exactly in tune with how I think of the characters. It's scary how internally consistent and yet still surprising and charming her stories can be. I've lost count how many times my jaw's dropped while reading one of her fics, yet felt as if whatever just happened was entirely, completely, the right thing in retrospect.
Until very recently, I had a favorite of hers. "Eight Sessions," definitely. And by "until very recently," what I really mean is, until I read the story below. Now I don't know anymore. I even gave it a few days, for things to settle, for me to some distance. I still don't know. "Eight Sessions" has more of a mystery at its heart, maybe, is maybe a tiny bit more plot driven. But this one sits better with me:
Hanged Man (Fraser/RayK (dS) | NR | 33,395 words)
"Fraser is fidgeting, and Ray's mouth twists into a smile because Fraser is fidgeting, and Fraser stands still for a living. Right now, though, Fraser seems to be trying hard to look awake and interested. Ray takes a tiny piece of his lip between his teeth to keep from laughing-because man, when you're boring the Canadians, things have gotten pretty fucking bad."
Author:
Speranza. Also available: @author's archive.
It starts as it always seems to start with them, in this author's stories - suddenly, with maybe a bit of warning but not much, and maybe a bit of (at least, feigned) casualness. The latter doesn't last, and they slide into something pretty much right away that that threatens to be bigger, more intense, more demanding than either one or both of them think. And then... the cracks in their respective worlds start to show, because... Well, because. Nothing that big can ever worm its way into anyone's life without causing cracks.
I'm being very generic about this description, I'll have you know. You'll maybe read the story and then scratch your head thinking, no, that's not the way it goes at all. But that's OK. It's just... my interpretation.
I buy this story so much, you've no idea. I buy the way they both react to what's happening, I buy their history, I buy everyone's reactions. I buy Thatcher, I buy Welsh, I buy Turnbull... honestly, there isn't a stitch of this story that wouldn't work just fine, as is, directly in the show. Minus the porn. But aren't you lucky that this isn't the show itself? You wouldn't want to miss out on this porn.
Gods, you guys. Read this twice. Read this twenty times, I dunno. It's amazing.
Beautiful, beautiful, happy place.
---
Further bits in my 2012 one-a-day slash recs experiment can be found on my rec: 365 tag ( LJ/DW)
(cross-posted from http://mementis.dreamwidth.org/93009.html -
comments @ DW - reply@DW)
Speranza.
I realize I'm not alone in this, but almost every one of this author's stories in this fandom becomes my New Favorite Fanfic Ever, as I'm reading it. Generally speaking, I can get some emotional distance after I'm done, and re-assess, and put the story in proper perspective. But right as I'm reading it? Impossible. She just... for whatever reason, it feels like she really gets these two, like her characterizations are exactly in tune with how I think of the characters. It's scary how internally consistent and yet still surprising and charming her stories can be. I've lost count how many times my jaw's dropped while reading one of her fics, yet felt as if whatever just happened was entirely, completely, the right thing in retrospect.
Until very recently, I had a favorite of hers. "Eight Sessions," definitely. And by "until very recently," what I really mean is, until I read the story below. Now I don't know anymore. I even gave it a few days, for things to settle, for me to some distance. I still don't know. "Eight Sessions" has more of a mystery at its heart, maybe, is maybe a tiny bit more plot driven. But this one sits better with me:
Hanged Man (Fraser/RayK (dS) | NR | 33,395 words)
"Fraser is fidgeting, and Ray's mouth twists into a smile because Fraser is fidgeting, and Fraser stands still for a living. Right now, though, Fraser seems to be trying hard to look awake and interested. Ray takes a tiny piece of his lip between his teeth to keep from laughing-because man, when you're boring the Canadians, things have gotten pretty fucking bad."
Author:
Speranza. Also available: @author's archive.
It starts as it always seems to start with them, in this author's stories - suddenly, with maybe a bit of warning but not much, and maybe a bit of (at least, feigned) casualness. The latter doesn't last, and they slide into something pretty much right away that that threatens to be bigger, more intense, more demanding than either one or both of them think. And then... the cracks in their respective worlds start to show, because... Well, because. Nothing that big can ever worm its way into anyone's life without causing cracks.
I'm being very generic about this description, I'll have you know. You'll maybe read the story and then scratch your head thinking, no, that's not the way it goes at all. But that's OK. It's just... my interpretation.
I buy this story so much, you've no idea. I buy the way they both react to what's happening, I buy their history, I buy everyone's reactions. I buy Thatcher, I buy Welsh, I buy Turnbull... honestly, there isn't a stitch of this story that wouldn't work just fine, as is, directly in the show. Minus the porn. But aren't you lucky that this isn't the show itself? You wouldn't want to miss out on this porn.
Gods, you guys. Read this twice. Read this twenty times, I dunno. It's amazing.
Beautiful, beautiful, happy place.
---
Further bits in my 2012 one-a-day slash recs experiment can be found on my rec: 365 tag ( LJ/DW)
(cross-posted from http://mementis.dreamwidth.org/93009.html -
comments @ DW - reply@DW)