#and Fraser needs Ray now

[syrupmap]

(sound on)

What if there was a scene that should have been, but was not, deleted on the tape Fraser made for their friends and family back home?

[gayvecchio]

Anyway, Benton Fraser and Ray Vecchio were in love.

[neurotic-escapades]

have I spent several nights designing RayK/Fraser book covers to vent my obsession with them YES

are they full of imperfections YEESS

do I need to post them to finally stop going over them OH YEAH and I just want to share them because they make me happy.

the color choices are based solely on the materials I have on hand since I am going to attempt to bind them all eventually to have them on my shelves (personal use only, no profit)

you might notice the distinct theme of purely @cesperanza fics because I am obsessed with their writing. I think I've read almost all their due south works by now. Go and read or reread their work and show some love. I am so late to this fandom but it is so alive and the content analysis is on another level.

(1) Eight Sessions using lineart by awesome schadenfreude523 on deviantart

(2) being a big fan of the fanart above this is my first ever attempt at lineart of my own (digital art is something I have never done before if we don't count MyPaint, and it is midblowingly overwhelming. I tried tracing a reference promo photograph. I think I am proud of how Diefenbaker came out but geez Ray is so hard to put into lines!)

(3) just Canva shenanigans but the fic link

(4) the design is heavily inspired by vaulteditions' vintage anatomy book designs. They are just so neat and satisfying. I found the picture of sled dogs on pinterest and can't find the original author so if you recognize it let me know.

(5) This one uses promo picture I subjected to heavy Canva abuse. I have actually finished binding it yesterday. Enduring Distance by speranza. It is my absolute fave, a fandom staple, if you haven't read it, it is sooooo goood. The binding was a pain, the galaxy brain when I finally figured out how to make it work with my joycricut, bookcloth and iron-on... unbelievable. Bookbinding is still something I am trying to get a hang of and it is testing my patience big time (I barely have any to begin with btw). The spine is misalinged, the page margins uneven but otherwise I am pretty happy about it.

So that's it. My first ever due south fandom post (sending love to everyone that keeps the fandom alive, I love each and every one of you even though from a distance thus far) and first fanbinding post *big breath aaaaand post*

[mortmere]

Lupine Bond (oil pastel painting)

Wolf pack behaviour among Arctic lupines. Ray is very soon going to be licked directly on the mouth. Who gets there first, Dief or Fraser?

Notes under the cut (they're long; I can't write anything short!)

Another day, another finished WIP - or rather, a new piece reworked from a nearly abandoned digital WIP. This idea had sat in the "rough photomanip" phase of my digital painting process for two or three years and was going to stay there because I was unable to find a usable reference photo for Ray (the one I had was blurry and entirely differently lit than everything else in the picture). There wasn't much else in the manip than the character references plopped on a stock photo of two guys sitting in a random field, and then I had a bunch of separate photos of Arctic lupines.

After drawing Dief admiring cherry blossoms with oil pastels earlier this year, I knew I wanted to paint the field of Arctic lupines with oil pastels, too, and of course I also wanted to see how these rough manips would work as references for oil pastel paitings, and how easily I could combine stuff from other reference pics on the spot. I'm happy to say it worked pretty well - this only took me three hours and didn't feel very hard - not that I was being very careful with their arms etc. I did suspect working like this was going to mean compromises in character likeness, and I wasn't wrong. :D Their faces are an inch and a half high on the A4 page, so not much room to fiddle with the blunt pastel sticks there ("CKR without a map" was a phrase that I repeated in my mind while I was working on Ray's face, wiping everything away and trying again - then I decided to keep everything really vague). But the lupines were just as pleasant to draw as I thought they would be! And the lupine creature in the middle, of course. 

You won't get through these notes without some speculation why lupines are called lupines. What do they have to do with wolves? There seems to be two theories. Some sources say Romans thought the plant was toxic to wolves, and that's it. The other theory is that lupines were considered predator-like because they can grow in very poor soil where other plants can't: people assumed they had robbed the soil of whatever other plants would need for growing. Sadly, where I live (Finland) lupines are just like that: they spread from gardens into wild nature decades ago and have now invaded huge areas, replacing many native plants. I think lupines are really beautiful in bloom - they are an essential part of early summer landscapes for me; the best time is right now! - but hardly anything else grows where they have taken root, and they're also very harmful to bumblebees. I was relieved that I could put my aesthetic love of lupines into this picture with a good conscience, because Arctic lupine is native to Canada - it is actually considered to enrich the soil and recommended as a garden plant, too. 

[variousqueerthings]

ohohohooooooo we just had s4ep3 👀👀👀👀👀

feel like ive gotta copy-paste some of the thoughts had onto here, rather than rewrite them, but suffice to say for the moment, big big character growth for one ray kowalski

the trajectory from early s3 to now as something that at first was very inward-facing (he's aware that his life isn't what he wants it to be, but he isn't at a point where he can pinpoint why and so he's at that stage of jerkily sharing and then withholding emotions, looking at himself and not taking in how others may feel (stella, fraser), and thinking more about how he feels bad, without knowing yet how to challenge that) to end s3pt1 (commitment to change) to these three episodes:

baseball: growing confidence in himself, less insecurity easy money: putting fraser's story first (on a meta level as well, s3pt1 very much pulled fraser back for a bit, and now he's slowly coming back into focus again at the point when ray is starting to take more action) ladies man: looking at his past and taking responsibility for those actions and how they affected someone else and the idea that it's never too late until it's too late (and he made it just in time!) (also like. none of that was his fault. but you get how he feels like it was his fault. and i think it's more that he probably felt like something was wrong about it all for years and it took him all this time to dare face her and ascertain for the first time that she Didn't kill her husband, so it's less that first mistake, and more the subsequent avoidance of trying to rectify it maybe.... things to think about. i am gonna go ahead and hc that beth and ray remain friends btw)

and throughout, he's been less and less ray vecchio. i believe mentioned off-hand in the first of these, but otherwise, he's stepping more and more into his own shoes/his own skin -- and a lot of it also (maybe?) related to those anger issues he has. because ep3 really started us off with that "hey, remember how ray has some really bad anger issues. let's see if he can make a conscious choice to work through those" which is what he did and ended with "guilt, sadness, shame, regret"... much much harder to feel, but he allowed himself to feel them, at last (and cry)

which is also interesting, because fraser is trying to facilitate that/support him and he's LETTING him now, it's more honest, more Real, unlike the false start back in early s3pt1 (especially episode 4 when ray was tryna work through his stella feelings in.... less than optimal ways... stellar ways.....)... which means im holding out for fraser to fall to pieces a little bit at some point as well, because he is Brittle!!!

if i think of this season as a mirror-ish to one another, albeit sort of shifted, because baseball was a bit of an outlier (bdth/easy money being about fraser losing something pivotal and needing to carry on, eclipse/ladies man dealing with events in ray's past that he feels shame about/hasn't been honest with himself about/needs recontextualisation in the present), potentially around episode seeeeven to mirror bounty hunter? throwing it out there as a maybe maybe, i could be overreading this mirror thing (we'll see)

but point is we're really seeing ray having floundered and struggled to identify his emotions and how to act, rather than react to the world and he's pushing against that! and he's feeling his feelings

(something... SOMEone........ who shall not be named.................... could do with? maybe?) (oh but see fraser's very well-adjusted, because he doesn't ever get angry or sad or lonely ever ever, he's Happy-go-lucky just doin' his job 😔😔😔) (fraser acknowledgement that he imagined killing his "father's killers"/gerrard and me like "i know bby, i saw you point a gun at him and throw a knife next to his head, but it's still 👀👀👀👀 to hear you say it out loud.... but also you're STILL doing it for ray's benefit and not your own, i think!")

[screwtheprinceimtakingthehorse]

I never find out 'til I'm head over heels

Coda for S01E16: The Blue Line

Tags: Mutual Pining, Kissing, Getting Together, First Kiss, Implied Sexual Content, Sleepovers, Insecurity, Jealousy

Ray’s exhausted. Hockey in the park in the dark, what the fuck had he been thinking? Well, answer’s easy: Fraser asked. It’s that frigging simple 99.9% of the time. Fraser asked, so Vecchio went. Into dumpsters, down sewers, right into the maws of death, and with a smile.

The man’s ruined him, with alarming precision, six ways from Sunday, right from the moment he horned in on that ill-fated entrapment attempt in the holding cells. So here Ray is now, exhausted and aching all over, back in the Riv and driving Fraser home. The man needs sleep more than Ray does, having run himself ragged all over town for that guy. Mark Smithbauer, all-Canadian hero, with his full head of hair and square jaw and everyone and their mother mooning over him. Everyone, including Fraser.

Ray clears his throat and keeps driving, doesn’t look over at Fraser sitting in the passenger seat. Can’t look over or he’ll see the sweat still on his forehead and the way he licks his lips. He’ll see the way he’s smiling, pleased with himself for having found Mark and crossed sticks with him.

Ray’s gonna drive Fraser home and then that’s it.

Read on AO3 ->

[flownwrong]

release, revolve, renew (due South fic)

Fraser/Kowalski + Vecchio/Stella, rated G; 3396 words

Summary: "You see someone every day for long enough, you think they never change. And then it's just—glimpses, and when you get a chance to look, they're a different person."

A/N: Written for @feroxargentea as part of @duesouthseekritsanta 2024. Thanks to @gueule for second opinion and support on this one!

read on AO3

About half an hour into their second date, Stella's eyebrows draw together and her eyes narrow for just a moment, but it's enough for Ray to swallow the rest of what he was saying. "I—Sorry. Was it something I said?"

"What?" she asks, distracted despite staring right at him.

"You looked—nevermind." He puts his fork down and reaches for his drink. The restaurant he picked is classy, but not obnoxiously so. He's had enough of lavish rooms used as extra muscle, of reaching for obscene bills to prove you're the one in control. It's easy to tell work stories here, Fraser stories. Like slowly shaking off a shell until he can recognize himself.

She recovers quickly and gracefully, mirrors him and picks up her wine, gives him the kind of smile that makes it clear he's not in on the joke. He wants to see it again and again, a hundred times.

"No, go on," she says, watching him over the rim of her glass, not quite assessing. "You have a good voice."

He preens, unable to hide it. Just two weeks back, he wouldn't have guessed any of it. He feels good, hopeful, for the first time in—too long to remember.

It's only later, unpacking at the new apartment, that he learns what that was all about.

"When are you gonna tell Kowalski?" he asks, carefully fishing out wine glasses from between packing chips.

Stella snorts. "You're good at delegating, aren't you?"

Ray shrugs. "I know squat about him, you've spent a decade married to the guy."

"Exactly. You know, the way you talk about Fraser—put some things into perspective for me," Stella says, gathering her hair up. "You talked about him a lot, back when you took me out the first couple times."

"You don't like him much, do you?" he asks, and she looks surprised. Hey, not like she's the only sharp one here. She hums in a way he's learned means let's get back to this later. "He was—he's my best friend," he says. Now that she's pointed it out, it's suddenly urgent to him that she knows it, the way Fraser gets under your skin, the way he just happens to you until you're changed by it. The way you don't want to let go.

"I know. It wasn't about Fraser. Or you, really," she says, and he doesn't know whether to be offended. She stares thoughtfully into the open cupboard. "I just don't think Ray—Ray Kowalski—anyway, it's not important. Write Fraser a letter." She elbows him out of the way, picks up the glasses and starts carefully arranging them on the shelves. "Bet you a hundred Ray's gonna read it too."

Ray feels like he's missing something here, but he also knows there's no danger in conceding this. She isn't gonna keep whatever she means from him for long. She takes her time taking things apart in her head; Ray likes it about her, that thoughtful focus, the need to get it right. She gets Vegas right, and that's more than he'd thought to ask for.

*

It's a lucky thing, really, that when the call comes at the Vecchio house, Ray is the one to pick up.

"Hello, Ray," Fraser says, so antsy the wire does nothing to hide it, and Ray did not expect this at all.

"Benny! It's good to hear your voice," he says, with a vague sense of déjà vu, hearing the confusion in his own words.

"And yours, Ray. I, well—"

"Raimundo!" Ma calls from the table, so loud he can barely hear Fraser over it. "Who is it?"

"Hang on a minute," to Fraser. "Fraser!" to Ma, covering the phone with his hand.

"Oh! Oh, how is he doing? When does he get back? Ask him—"

"I don't know," he yells, louder, "and I won't know unless you let me talk to him!"

"Well, tell him to come to dinner! Both of them!"

"Jesus! I will! Now let me talk!" He takes his hand off the phone. "Sorry, Fraser. You know how it is."

He hears loud snickering, clearly not Fraser's. Fraser makes a vague shushing noise. "Please tell Mrs Vecchio I'm very grateful for her rather, ah, enthusiastic invitation"—Ray snorts—"and that we'll be looking forward to that dinner."

It takes a few seconds for it to sink in: Fraser is coming back. With Kowalski. He was almost ready to bet on the opposite, on not seeing either of them for at least a few years, and now the presumption feels awkward.

"So," he says, "who did you want to talk to?"

"Well, you, Ray. I did call your house, didn't I?"

Shit, Fraser didn't really keep up to date up there. "You didn't get my letter, did you?"

"Oh—well, I suppose we did have to make some swift changes in our route near the end, and given the short notice, it's only natural that the post offices could not keep up, really—"

"Yeah, yeah," Ray waves him off. "I'll tell you when you get here. When do you get here, anyway?"

"Friday at four." An awkward pause. "I was actually calling to ask if you can pick us up, at the airport."

Ray is confused for a minute. Kowalski can drive—that much he has evidence of, what with his car being pretty successfully driven into a lake—and would probably insist on driving. Then he places the feeling of déjà vu, of talking to Fraser about airports and trains from far away, and feels so relieved he could break into song. "Jesus. Of course. I'll be there."

*

He finds a spot to park, pops his sunglasses on against the May sun glare and heads inside. He's early, and he's nervous. This feels like a do-over, and it's the first time he lets himself consider where he and Fraser stand now. He's not very successful. But hey, after all, he's here because Fraser asked.

It's Kowalski he sees first at the baggage claim, though, and Kowalski spots him right back, his shoulders squared defensively, a sight so oddly familiar it's impossible to miss. Fraser bends his head close to Kowalski's to be heard over the hum of the crowd and the loudspeakers, and he can practically hear the be reasonable tone Fraser uses that only makes you want to become more unreasonable. He shakes his head and gets up to meet them.

Fraser gives him a bear hug, and Kowalski doesn't bite his head off on the spot, actually thanks him for coming.

"Where can I drop you off?" he asks, starting the car.

"My place," Kowalski says, short, and throws a quick sideways glance at Fraser where he's crammed next to him in the backseat.

Ray nods and meets Fraser's eyes in the mirror. "Benny?"

"Oh, well," Fraser says and trails off, playing with the hem of the Stetson.

"I meant both of us," Kowalski says in a tone he probably thinks sounds gruff and holds Ray's gaze, expectant.

Ray shrugs, makes a mental note to tell Stella and pulls out of the parking lot. He feels like a gossiping schoolgirl and finds he doesn't mind. "Cool. Now if you're done shooting lasers outta your eyes, some directions would be nice."

*

"How is he?" Stella calls from the bathroom. Ray puts down the thin stack of house listings she printed out for him and looks at her in the mirror, watches her fingers as she swipes some cream on the tender skin under her eyes.

"Which one?" he asks, partly because he doesn't know, partly to get a rise out of her.

"Well, which one were you so wound up about?"

He gives it a serious thought. "Fine, I guess. Good. Both of them." It's unpleasant to admit he can't quite tell more than that. Fraser has never been too easy to read, but with Kowalski nearby and the whole world rearranging itself since they were actually close, Ray is less than fluent. "Why don't you come with? To Ma's dinner. You can judge for yourself."

Stella snorts and screws the lid back on the jar. "Like I can get out of it. No, I like knowing what you think."

"I think you need to come to bed. Gonna complain about not getting enough sleep tomorrow anyway."

"Shut up," she mumbles, warm and already halfway to asleep as she rests her head in the crook of his elbow.

*

Next time he sees Fraser, Ray's sitting on Welsh's couch, waiting for Stella to get out of whatever fiasco Fraser must've created to warrant her presence at the station in the first place.

"So, uh, does this mean Fraser's back to work?" he asks, when the i's are mostly dotted in his own retirement plans and Welsh gives him a hearty handshake.

Welsh sits back and stares at him like he's an idiot. "I would imagine so. Otherwise I have a vigilante running around with one of my detectives and a demotion coming. Don't you two talk?"

That stings a bit. "We, uh, haven't had a chance to catch up lately."

Welsh gives him a look that clearly says cut the crap and get on it.

He shrugs. "It's been a busy few months."

That's when he sees Fraser and Kowalski walk in, and he can't hear them through the door and the noise of the bullpen, but it's obvious Kowalski's worked up, hands flailing, getting right in Fraser's face. Fraser's playing the long-suffering card, and whatever they're arguing about, Ray definitely gets Kowalski here. But then Kowalski's face is white, not flushed from all the ranting, and he puts his hand on Fraser's shoulder and keeps it there even after he's given him a good shake, so maybe Ray doesn't get all of it.

"What did he do this time?" he asks Welsh, eyes still following them around the room.

"If I had to bet, I'd say our fair Constable either apprehended someone he shouldn't have, or ignored someone he should."

Ray nods. "And he still doesn't carry a gun."

"And he still doesn't carry a gun."

The door opens unceremoniously, and Stella walks in, tired and annoyed. "Lieutenant," she says, "I'd be grateful if next time you try to explain to Ray that not everything Constable Fraser says or does should be immediately followed by an arrest".

Ray chooses the monologue as cover to slip out of the office and find Fraser. Kowalski's wandered off, so he jumps at the opportunity. "Hey Benny," he says, "got any plans for tomorrow evening?"

"Not that I can recall," Fraser says, beaming. "What did you have in mind?"

Ray hesitates. "Whatever you're up for. Can't remember the last time you hung around for more than ten minutes at a time."

Fraser opens his mouth and closes it a couple times before he finds his words. "I'm sorry if I've given you the impression—that is—"

Ray has mercy on him. "Yeah, yeah, Kowalski couldn't spare you, could he? I get it."

Fraser looks genuinely offended, but Ray suspects it's not directed at him. "Well, he can definitely 'spare me' tomorrow. And he'll have Diefenbaker to keep him company."

"What, the wolf too good to hang out with the old gang now?" Ray laughs.

"Well, no, but he and Ray are going to see—a car exhibit."

"A car show? How come you aren't invited?"

"Oh," Fraser says, pursing his lips, "apparently, Diefenbaker appreciates it more."

Ray snickers. "Kowalski said that?"

Fraser actually sighs. "Well, Diefenbaker didn't deem it important to tell me himself, did he now?"

Ray shakes his head. "Never change, Benny."

He sees Stella emerge from the office and raise her eyebrows at him.

"Look, I gotta head out. I'll call you about tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm looking forward to it, Ray," Fraser says with genuine pleasure.

Ray watches him cross the room to Kowalski's desk, place a hand on Kowalski's neck, sees Kowalski close his eyes for a moment and roll his head, working out a kink Ray knows you get after about five minutes of staring at the papers. The gesture is familiar—he does that with Stella all the time.

"Home," Stella demands, "come on, stop gawking," and drags him out by the elbow.

"Home," he agrees.

*

He and Fraser end up stuffing their faces with burgers and shooting some pool. Fraser downs a beer, too, and Ray imagines him and Kowalski doing this up north, in some homey place in a city of several hundred, on their way back from the tundra—how else would he get Fraser to relax this much?

Fraser talks some about going back to work, a lot about Canada, and an uncomfortable amount about Kowalski. Not directly, but the guy is ever-present in the background of every anecdote, every plan Fraser mentions. It finally hits Ray, what Stella was getting at. He makes a mental note to ask if he sounded like this to her—but no, the clue was the fact that he didn't. It wasn't about you, really. Fraser doesn't just mention Kowalski a lot. He talks like he has never not known him, never been alone, which Ray knows couldn't be further from the truth. He talks about Kowalski like that's where he belongs. And he's back in Chicago. Ray guesses that's that and returns the favor.

"So, uh, about that letter."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ray. If it was in my power—"

"Benny, shut up and let me finish." He drains the rest of his second bottle. "So, Stella and I are getting married in August. And, uh, we're looking at houses. In Florida."

Fraser doesn't miss a beat. "Well, Ray, that's wonderful! Congratulations to you and Ms Kowalski—or, ah, I suppose that's not the appropriate address anymore."

Ray narrows his eyes. "You don't like her much, do you?"

Fraser tugs on his ear. "Ms Kowalski is a woman worthy of great respect and admiration, and I'm sure you're well-suited for each other." Which is a very roundabout way of saying I'm happy for you, but I don't get it at all. Ray kind of gets the sentiment. He's always found Stella's coldness towards Fraser curious, but now, when he knows it's returned, the common denominator is obvious.

"Hey, same to you and Kowalski. Jury's still out on admiration, though." Fraser doesn't blush, but his eyes go wide. Ray shrugs. "C'mon, Benny. It's not a state secret," he says, like the pieces didn't fall into place for him two minutes ago.

Fraser clears his throat, twice, but the corners of his mouth curl up. "Are you planning to join the department in Florida, then?" he asks and reaches for the check, clearly for something to do with his hands. Ray relaxes into his seat and lets him get it, figures Fraser owes him for not doing this whole hanging out thing sooner.

"Nah," Ray says, shrugging. "I think I've paid my dues with the force. It's been great. Some parts more than others." He gives Fraser a meaningful look, watches him smile.

"In that case—it's been a pleasure, Ray," he says and reaches his hand out for an actual handshake. Jesus. Ray rolls his eyes.

"Come on, I'm not saying goodbye. You'd better come see us down in Miami. We'll have enough room for two more."

Fraser grins, like he can't help it, then frowns immediately. "Should I, ah, tell Ray, or..." He trails off, awkward as ever when it comes to navigating tempers and touchy subjects. Ray has to admit he isn't feeling any more confident.

"Nah, Benny. Leave it to Stella. It's their business more than yours—or mine, you know?"

Fraser nods solemnly. Ray gives him a wink.

*

"It was good. He's good." Ray says, chopping the carrots. "It's weird, you know. Not that I don't know him anymore, just"— he shrugs—"different."

Stella hums absently and reaches across the kitchen island to pick up a piece of carrot. "You see someone every day for long enough, you think they never change," she says between bites. "And then it's just—glimpses, and when you get a chance to look, they're a different person."

He looks at her, head bent, reading glasses sliding down her nose, papers spread in a wide half-circle in front of her. Bare legs under the hem of her skirt, one crossed over the other, right foot swinging mindlessly. He's only been seeing her every day for a couple of months, and he does kind of think she will never change, not in a way where one day he looks up and doesn't recognize her.

"Not completely different," he says, adding the carrots to the pan.

Stella looks at him sharply over her glasses. "No, not completely."

*

Dinner is dinner. Doesn't matter what they're celebrating, it's always loud, and Ray doesn't know what half of the guests are doing there, and it takes two wine glasses to get the pinched expression off Stella's face.

When it gets too stuffy for him to handle the table anymore, he comes out on the back porch, and there Kowalski is, sitting on the steps, beer in hand, shoulders down and relaxed for once.

Ray sits down next to him. Kowalski gives him a look he can't quite read. Nowhere near hostile, though. "So," he says. "Florida, huh?"

"Chicago, huh?" Ray returns, smiling.

Kowalski looks down and is silent for a long time, long enough for Ray to groan internally and write the conversation off as a failure. But Kowalski says, "It's queer, you know. We didn't—have a whole thing about it. Just got two tickets, and that was that."

Ray nods. He already got how whipped Fraser is, but it still comes as a bit of a surprise that it was that easy, with Kowalski wound tighter than a spring when the Muldoon case went down.

"It's harder being friends with him when you're not running around trying to protect his ass, you know," Ray offers.

Kowalski snickers. "You say it like it's easy when you are."

"Well," Ray says, takes a second to think, "he can't be anything else, can he? At least when you're there all the time, you know. You know each other."

"Yeah," Kowalski says. "Guess so." He's staring into space, chewing on his nail, and Ray guesses it took way longer than it should have for him and Fraser to get where they stood.

"Oh, hey." Kowalski perks up, reaches into his back pocket. He gives Ray a slip of paper with some numbers in wonky block capitals.

"This better not be a shrink," Ray says, unfolding it, and Kowalski snorts, then suddenly looks down and scratches the back of his neck, bashful.

"Nah. At the show the other week, this guy—anyway, since I crashed your ride and all... well, call it. And, uh, call me if you need a hand with it."

Ray blinks in disbelief. At this point, he figured keeping a Riv was more trouble than it's worth. "Well, shit. Never expected you to be this sentimental."

Kowalski starts to smile, slow and delighted. "That's because you're not running around trying to protect my ass all day."

And then there's Fraser's voice calling out from somewhere in the house—"Ray!"—and when Kowalski turns his whole body instinctively at the sound, eyes bright, there can be no mistake whose name it is.

When it's finally dusk, and the air is getting too cold for lingering in the yard, Ray goes back in. The house is mostly empty and it's just Ma and him and a couple of late guests he isn't sure he recognizes passing him by in the hallway with goodbyes. The radio is on in the kitchen, slow notes, quiet strumming, and he can hear Stella hum softly over the quiet clinking of dishes and water splashing.

In the dark, finally empty living room to his left, he catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and when he turns to look, there's Benny, shuffling around slowly in an approximation of a dance, Kowalski's blond head on his shoulder, arms around each other.

He watches them for a moment, barely illuminated by the hallway light, then turns away and goes to help Stella with the dishes. He figures they've all got nothing but time.

[andrandiriel]

Well, that was absolutely bonkers

Just watched The Vault. God, they're so annoying and dysfunctional and I love them. I love Francesca. I am not sure what to think about the "hey, it actually *is* possible to have a bigger Mountie stereotype than Fraser" thing, gonna have to mull that over. There's some themes here, for sure. My friend kept looking over at me while Ray and Fraser were on screen and at one point he said "you're waiting for them to kiss" and like, haha funny joke because he's met me or whatever, but this is so much more complicated than "oooh, I ship it" and I think it calls for a season 1 rewatch. When I saw season 1, I wasn't really watching it with an eye toward Fraser/Ray. I found Ray a little bit annoying at first, sorry buddy. But I've softened up toward him considerably, and I need to watch season 1 again to figure out how his feelings toward Fraser develop, because I was mostly busy losing my mind over how much Fraser reminds me of like Carrot Ironfoundersson from Discworld. And watching Diefenbaker. For now, I'm like, oh. Oh. Ray adores Fraser (is he in love? maybe. but he definitely loves him) and he keeps getting reminded that Fraser's sense of duty to... what, people (protecting their... already FDIC-insured money? I guess?), his superiors, you name it, is *always* going to take priority over his own personal safety and Ray's, and that hurts and I really need to take the season 1 journey again to wrap my head around how long this has been going on. At some point I'm going to have to write some fic about Ray being head over heels for Fraser who will never feel the same way. Aaaauuuugh

[pigtailedgirl]

SECONDS OR GUILT PRIZES

Kowalski gave me his car to drive. Told me it was his and his father's pride and joy. That he knew I'd look after her because he saw how I looked after the riv. How much he knew I looked after things, seeing how my family relied on me. Missed me.

He'd only been driving his car the last couple months he explained. He'd left her with his Mom and Dad and figured his Dad wouldn't give her back. Wouldn't trust him with her. But he was wrong.

So, I know she's in good hands, he said.

His way of saying without word, sorry mine got yours in the bottom of Lake Michigan. Or other places far away.

I never liked sharing my car. My Dad told me a man without a car is nothing.

She is a beauty though. Classic muscle car. Enough gas in the tank to keep going.

---

He handed me the keys to his place in the same envelope. You need a place to crash, here you go Buddy, he'd wrote.

Had a big open space, you've gotta admit, for a bachelor place. And he filled it with a ton of shit. Nick-knacks everywhere, good god.

He knew I guess what it was like. Living in a place that you didn't want because you didn't want to have that alone space but you had no choice. The old was gone. Rent or time came due. Being displaced cause home is gone, the you at that home long gone and changed, or the force divorced from it. Asked to leave. You can't go back to the house if it's burnt out this time. You can't stay with the EX-wife when she wants to move on either.

All that's left is trying to fill the hole of what you were and wanted versus the what now, right?

So what if you up-end the place looking for traces -- Thinking; Why then did Fraser stay in his office?

---

You steal the Stella.

Charm and bamboozle and throw everything you have at it til she's smiling across the couch from you and letting you hold her hand a little too long as she encourages you to sip water and not pass out from the throbbing ache in your chest. "It's my heart beating overtime for you baby, not the bullet." Yeah that sounds smooth and not at all ridiculous.

She's actually your type. She's hard on the case, smart as a whip, and still shows she's got a side that cares about the effects.

You can see why they'd have been together.

How she mellowed the edge of her Ray's wildness but encouraged his spirit anyways. Helped him dream and strive to be the man he wanted to be.

You can fantasize about how good you'll be together.

She'll be just like Louise. Just as much a firing squad to you to shape up in correct notes and deposition.

She'll be just like Ange was at first. Wanting to share the bust. Craving her own with conviction. Won't be the past mistakes. If you'd have given her the credit and shared the load. Were home more off-shift. If only you'd stayed present. Stayed.

So what if you'll be retired by the end of the week, in witness protection the next, and never be fit to work another case in your life?

You made your choices.

Irene died to the senselessness of it and you thought heroism and undercover might finally solve it. Chapin would have told you the stupidity was striking you again in using that as a defence.

But you told him. You always pick the wrong ones, the wrong ways, and don't realize it until it's too late.

That's you with me Benny, or you now?

---

"Who the hell do you think you are, trying to propose to and take away my wife Vecchio?!"

What a great thing to wake to in a hospital bed half dead and with half a lung.

Feeling truly home because only at home was yelling a morning wake up call. Wasn't with Pops, who demanded the quiet, no, but it was the kids running down the stairs and Tony running the faucet and Frannie loudly bemoaning ruined beauty sleep and the smell of Ma's bacon cooking. Even Fraser's walls were thin and his neighbours loud in their demands of him. Of us. No wonder Kowalski fits right in.

Well guess I did a number on myself and really did pass out in Stella's arms. Long enough to bring back and lead in to one pissed polack.

Among others.

*pause*"...I do believe it's EX-wife Ray."

"Shut up, Frase. --The hell difference does that make? I loved and love her. You can't just take what's mine first!"

"Yeah." I say, and he doesn't even realize I'm not looking at him. Or that Fraser isn't either.

When he does, maybe then he's gonna be another level of upset.

I'll have to give him something to make it up to him. He's not that bad a guy after all and I'd hate to feel the guilt.

Strange to feel the slight weight of Fraser's stetson, resting there on the edge of my bed. The weight of his stare an odd happy anchor.

"It's pretty simple Kowalski", I manage to croak out through parched lips and a wicked forming grin, "I'm Italian. Don't mind taking seconds."

[syrupmap]

This has been posted a hundred times by now.. but we all need a reminder that Fraser is lusting after Ray pretty openly from time to time.

[toasttt11]

ow

December 9, 2023

Cameron looked up just as she saw a player on the other team coming at her and she was smashed into the board but that wasn’t what hurt, it was the large other player that smashed her tiny hand with his knee against the boards.

Cameron immediately felt something crack and knew something was wrong as she leaned against the board holding her dominant hand to her chest, “Ow.” Cameron quietly whimpered biting her lip from letting any tears fall not wanting that to be caught on camera.

Fraser froze as he watched everything in front of him before quickly snapping out and hurrying over to her and pushing the other player away from Cameron and towards their team so they could make sure he stayed away from Cameron.

Fraser wrapped his arm around her shoulder hoping it might help her a little as he watched the trainer rush across the ice and towards them, “Your okay.” Fraser whispered softly rubbing her shoulder softly.

Fraser grabbed onto her hand gently as the trainer started looking at her injured hand and he frowned seeing the uneasy look on the trainers face and knew it wasn’t good.

It did not help the hand she injured is her dominant hand, an injury is something you never want but for Cameron this is her draft year so an injury is a lot worse right now.

Cameron gave Fraser a reassuring nod as she skated over to the bench, there was only a few minutes left of the period.

Cameron was guided to the trainer room and immediately they looked at her hand and could see the swelling and bruising starting and they knew she would must likely need to get to the hospital, they took a an x-ray and saw multiple breaks and fractures in her hand.

The trainers helped Cameron get dressed into comfortable clothes just as Fraser was dressed after the game and knocking on the door.

“How bad?” Fraser questioned in concern the second he walked into the room and straight over to Cameron.

“I have to go to the hospital, they found a few breaks and fractures.” Cameron quietly told him, she knew she needed to call her dad.

“Let’s go then.” Fraser nodded determinedly and stepped out of the way so she could get off the exam table.

“You don’t have to-“ Cameron tried to protest even though she knew it would be easier if Fraser came with her.

“I want to.” Fraser sternly reassured her and she nodded reluctantly and stood up as she gingerly held her hand to her body trying to not groan at how much pain she was feeling.

Fraser wrapped an arm around Cameron’s shoulder as they walked out, he guided her making sure no one accidentally brushed against her, he led them to his car and they luckily carpooled for the game that day.

He opened the passenger seat and put a tentative hand on waist as he helped her into the car and he grabbed the seat belt pulling it across her and clicking it shut, he shut the door and walked around the car hopping into the drivers seat starting the drive to the closet hospital.

Fraser drove them and stayed silent as Cameron called her dad to let him know about her injury as she saw all the worried texts from him as Sidney was watching his daughter’s game.

Sidney promised he would be there in a few hours as he is going to head right now to the airport and luckily he didn’t have any games for three days but it’s not like he wouldn’t miss a game for Cameron especially with her hurt.

Fraser could tell Cameron was in a lot of pain and was trying to stay strong but he had no doubt it was a lot of pain.

They finally pulled up to the hospital and he immediately parked and hopped out of the car rushing to open the passenger door and helping Cameron out of the car.

Cameron was brought into a room and the doctors did another round of x-rays and it was determined she needed surgery immediately especially with how delicate hands are and how many of the bones in her hand was broken.

Cameron was given a room and she changed into a gown getting in the bed, she was biting her lip nervously, she has never had surgery before and by the time her dad gets here she will be done with the surgery.

“Hey.” Fraser spoke softly gently grabbing her non injured hand and squeezing it softly, he could tell she was nervous, “I’ll be here the whole time okay.” Fraser gently reassured the girl who he fell in love with at first sight.

“Ok.” Cameron nodded and took a deep breath trying to relax and focus on the fact Fraser is holding her hand rather than her upcoming surgery.

Fraser gently caressed her knuckles with his thumb watching as she slowly relax little by little.

The nurse came in to grab Cameron to take her to her surgery and Fraser could not follow her.

“You are going to do great Cam and before you know it you’ll be awake and it will over with and your Dad will be here.” Fraser softly whispered to her and Cameron slowly nodded sending him a small smile, Fraser leaned down and pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead and squeezed her hand once more before stepping back and watching her get rolled away.

Fraser headed to the surgical waiting area and he sat down looking at his feet not moving for a very long time until he heard someone rushing and Cameron’s name being said.

Fraser looked up and saw a frazzled Sidney Crosby at the counter, he took a deep breath as stood up walking over, “Mr. Crosby.” Fraser called out softly.

Sidney turned around at sound of his voice and hoped for once it was not a fan he was to stressed with Cameron to deal with anyone.

Sidney narrowed his eyes and immediately knew who called his voice, his daughter’s crush.

“Mr. Minten.” Sidney nodded his head.

“Just Fraser please. Did they tell you about Cam.” Fraser questioned gently noticing how Sidney has some of the same quirks as Cameron when she is anxious.

Sidney nodded his head as the nurse had just informed him everything, he knew his daughter would not be playing for awhile especially with the fact she hurt her shooting hand, selfish Sidney didn’t hate the idea of her not playing because she would be home for a bit.

“Good.” Fraser nodded and before he could say anything else a doctor walked of doors and into the waiting room.

“Family of Cameron.” The doctor called out and Sidney started walking and noticed Fraser staying put and gestures for Fraser to come too, Sidney may not personally know the boy but his daughter likes and trusts him and that is important to Sidney, Also Fraser stayed the whole time with Cameron something Sidney couldn’t be there for.

“Mr. Crosby.” The doctor nodded, “Good news is the surgey went very well, the not so great news is we had to a few more screws that we originally planned so we will have to monitor that as she heals to see if she will be able to keep all of them in permanently or some may need to be removed.”


Sidney let out a sigh, the news could’ve of been a lot worse.

“Thank you.” Sidney thanked the Doctor shaking his hand, “What would the recovery time be?” Sidney questioned.

“With how much she broke in her hand the recovery time will be a bit longer than a normal hand break, roughly around two months.”

Sidney nodded but felt pain that his daughter would be gone for so long during her season.

“And is she free to travel on plane?” Sidney questioned again, he planned to take her home as soon as possible.

“She will be, and we can coordinate rehabs and appointments for where she is going.” The doctor told him.

“Thank you.” Sidney smiled grateful and shook the doctor’s hand once more before a nurse told Sidney and Fraser they could go to her room as she was brought back and should be waking up soon.

Sidney grabbed his bag and followed Fraser as they walked through the hallway towards Cameron’s room.

“Thank you Fraser.” Sidney spoke up after quite a bit of silence, “For being there for my daughter today and all of the other days since she has met you.”

“Oh of course Mr. Crosby.” Fraser started talking but was politely cut off by Sidney.

“Just Sidney.” Sidney nodded, he knew how important Fraser is to Cameron and knew he needed to be kind with him.

“Of course Sidney.” Fraser smiled softly as they reached her door and they walked in seeing her still sleeping.

Sidney let out a long sight of relief seeing his daughter and dropped his bag walking over to her and gently kissed her forhead and brushed her hair out of her face.

Fraser walked around to the other side of her bed and gently grabbed onto her hand.

Fraser and Sidney stayed in silence for a good hour before Cameron’s eyes started to fluttered open.

“Hey CamBug.” Sidney softly whispered smiling down at her.

“Dad.” Cameron breathed out in relief feeling her shoulders loosen having her dad with her now.

“How are you? Are you in pain? Should i get the nurse?” Sidney started frantically asking looking exactly like a very protective father.

Fraser smiled softly as he watched the two, he knew Cameron has a very close bond with her father especially as it has just always been them but seeing them it was very sweet to watch.

“Dad. I’m okay. We can call the nurse in a bit.” Cameron softly cut off her father from asking more questions.

Sidney nodded letting out a breath.

Cameron seemed to just realize her hand was being held and turned seeing Fraser standing there, “Fras.” Cameron softly smiled feeling very touched that he was still here.

“Hi Cam.” Fraser softly replied back squeezing her hand.

“You stayed?” Cameron questioned in disbelief but the smile on her face was very olease something neither Sidney or Fraser missed.

“You were here.” Fraser simply answered back making Cameron’s face soften in complete fondness for the boy.

Sidney nodded slowly, any reservations he may of had about Fraser were gone then. He saw immediately how Fraser looked at his daughter like she was the stars in his skyline and Sidney knew Fraser was perfect for his daughter.

[gjdraws]

would you want more people to know about your Blorbo? // when it comes to Blorbos, do you have a type? // describe your Blorbo in 3 words // what’s the thing you love the most about your Blorbo? OK GONNA STOP NOW I JUST WANNA HEAR EVEN MORE OF WHAT U HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE BOI!!!! - vqt

@variousqueerthings you hear me yak about this all the time lmao BUT I'LL DO IT AGAIN

27. Would you want more people to know about your Blorbo?

I AM WORKING DOUBLE TIME TO GET PEOPLE INTO THE BLORBO. But the Blorbo is ⋆˙⟡Ray Vecchio⋆˙⟡ SIR ALAS YOU WERE SO BALD AND IT WAS THE 90s AND YOU WERE HAMSTRUNG BY CABLE TELEVISION AND LINEAR PROGRAMMING AND THE (first) CANCELLATION. Also Benton Fraser but he's so easy to love (so sayeth me and everyone on the show lmao)

19. When it comes to Blorbos, do you have a type?

Okay please of all people to ask this. YES FINE MAYBE I DO. He's gotta be:

Good - to the point of self destruction. Puts the greater good above himself always. You can't even argue with him the narrative's gotta be so strong. An IDEALIST. HE'LL GET BEAT UP FOR THE GREATER GOOD AND KEEP GOING.

VERY BIG MAN. BIG. TOTALLY capable of self preservation if it weren't for the Idealism. This makes it hurted worser when Big Idealist falls, bc you know he can take care of himself.

HAS TO BE FUNDAMENTALLY KIND - very important feature. He's not doing the Idealism out of anything except it must be done. He's a guy from a storybook, he's gonna push that rock up everyday like Sisyphus, he's Atlas holding the world up because it needs doing.

NEEDS AN ANGRY CARETAKER CHARACTER: Again very important. The caretaker will literally cut a bitch for being mean to the Idealist Guy. The idealist guy can totes take care of it themselves, or usually not really give a fuck but it's nice to know that there's someone pre-empting the kthxbai. Also: the caretaker is the one cutting a path free for the Idealist to do their thing. Give the caretaker a big fkn sword already bc the Idealist sure ain't carrying one.

Notable examples: Arthur Pendragon, Sherlock & Fraser (all strangely in red but that's just coincidence. Also look how Big they are *chinhands*)

9. Describe your Blorbo in 3 words

LORGE, GOOD, SOFT.

4. What’s the thing you love the most about your Blorbo?

The fact that Dief is basically his Id.

dOnT eAt the dOnUts Dief (sure Ray I'll have a pizza)

He'll [do the thing] or die trying - sure Fraser except you're exactly like this

You've become dOmestIcaTeD - Fraser I see you and I know you're a loser (and I love that for you)

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt like the universe actively conspired against something until I witnessed the production of The Flash.

Since 1991 there have been quite a few proposals for Flash movies, but they never really got off the ground for whatever reason. Following Barry’s debut in Justice League, a movie finally was announced before multiple delays due to rewrites, in particular to cut Ray Fisher’s Cyborg from the story after he went public about the awful shit he had to deal with under Joss Whedon. Things seemed hopeless until It director Andy Muschietti came onboard, at which point production on the film finally started to go smoothly. Sure, there were rumblings about Ezra Miller having episodes on set, but that’s just typical actor nonsense, right? Surely it couldn’t get any worse!

Look, I’m here to review a movie so I’ll keep this brief: Miller committed crimes. Lots of crimes. So many, in fact, you’d think they were method acting for the role of Reverse-Flash. The thing is, despite all of this, Miller was basically given a slap on the wrist by the studio, being forbidden from doing promos and press tours (oh no! The horror!). And as if the situation wasn’t already a fucking mess, while Miller’s crime spree was ongoing WB canned the nearly-complete Batgirl movie that featured Michael Keaton and Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser while simultaneously inflating The Flash’s budget to nearly $300 million with reshoots. It seems baffling to cancel a movie that was nearly done and that people were marginally interested in for the sake of a movie that people were losing interest in quickly due to its star’s erratic behavior, but remember: Leslie Grace isn’t white, while Ezra Miller is. WB is never beating those racism allegations at this rate.

With a normal movie, this is where the nonsense ends. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

This film was meant to smooth out the clusterfuck continuity of the “Snyderverse” with a soft reboot, with Henry Cavill filming a end-of-movie cameo alongside Miller, Gal Gadot, Keaton, and Supergirl’s actress Sasha Calle to establish the new direction of DC going forward. Unfortunately, the hierarchy of power at DC changed, and Gunn shot that down. While this meant the ending would probably not get people confused with regards to upcoming projects, it also meant the movie wasn’t going to really have any closure for the old universe. Affleck, Cavill, and who knows who else are just gone, and the future is just a big old question mark. At least Aquaman is safe, maybe?

Literally none of this news was very reassuring to fans. Nothing above is any good for a film’s perception to audiences under normal circumstances, but here we have all this news coming to a fanbase that genuinely did not want this fucking movie. The DCEU was already divisive when the film was announced, and Miller’s portrayal of Barry doubly so; the fact it was adapting Flashpoint was seen as lazy and uninspired, not to mention its not really a story that lets Flash stand on his own merits, making it seem more like this movie was just an excuse to reboot; it was a multiverse story in a day and age with an abundance of such stories, and it was releasing around the same time as Across the Spider-Verse to boot; and Gunn’s reboot plans meant this story was likely a narrative dead end. This movie had an uphill battle the likes of which haven’t been seen since Sisyphus.

But much like that mythological figure, the boulder came crashing right back down when the numbers came in. The movie would likely need to gross $500 million at minimum to break even after factoring in the reshoots and advertising, and it only managed half of that with a pitiful opening weekend followed by a massive 73% drop. It now sits alongside films like The Lone Ranger and Mortal Engines as one of the most expensive bombs in history, to the point where WB would have saved more money by cancelling it like they did with Batgirl. And despite glowing praise from the likes of Tom Cruise and Stephen King, it received middling reviews from mainstream critics.

Audiences haven’t been any less mixed, but considering most people weren’t particularly excited or invested in this film’s existence this is basically a miracle. Sure, there’s plenty of people out there saying this is the “worst comic book movie ever” like they do every time a new superhero movie drops, but even more people are saying they enjoyed the film… although even they tend to have some severe criticisms.

Even though I knew most of what was going to happen in the movie going in, I wasn’t really sure what to expect given everything surrounding the movie. But you know me, I’m willing to give almost any movie a chance, and bombs this big don’t happen every day, so even before it was voted on I was trying to make time to check it out. So sit down, microwave yourself a snack—

—and watch as I try and determine if The Flash is really that bad.

THE GOOD

The biggest shock of this film is that Ezra Miller is actually really good here.

Their Barry is still a bit of a goofball, but he’s clearly matured as a character since his precious appearances. They managed to make him much more charming and likable than he ever was, and this gets compounded when he interacts with the younger Barry and gets confronted with how annoying he was before. I think young Barry could have come off as really insufferable, but the fact he annoys everyone around him and also ends up maturing makes him a lot more endearing.

Miller really kills it with the emotional moments, particularly the ending encounter with Barry’s mom and the scene where old Barry snaps at young Barry. The film is really carried by the dramatic, emotional moments far more than any of the superheroics, and Miller manages to sell a lot of it very well. It was to the point where I started thinking, “I really wouldn’t mind if they stick around.” Then a scene where Barry says the Justice League has no real psychiatric help or where his younger self ends up repeatedly exposing himself in public by accident happens, and then I remembered, “Oh yeah, aren’t they a mentally unwell criminal?”

Unsurprisingly, Michael Keaton absolutely kills it in his role as Batman, but much more shockingly is that Ben Affleck's brief return as Bruce is pretty great as well. I always thought Affleck, much like Henry Cavill, was desperately trying to give a great performance while weighed down by bad writing; here, he gets an actual poignant scene where he talks to Barry about how dwelling on tragedies isn't the way to do things, and you should try and move forward instead. It shows he really could have been great if given better material to work with.

Okay, enough being nice to Affleck, I wanna talk about Keaton again. As much as the marketing hyped him up and as much as he is obviously the most blatant fanservice possible, it's still so cool to see him in the suit again. I am not immune to nostalgia pandering, and as corny as it could have been from anyone else, the zoom into his face when he says The Line really is a highlight of the movie. Keaton has a great deal of charisma, and while there are issues with Batman they aren't his fault at all. Most impressively, he doesn't steal the show away from Miller like I thought he would; he enhances the scenes he's in without stealing the spotlight completely from their performance. I feel like this is a problem in a lot of movies like this, where the lead gets overshadowed by a hyped up character, but somehow The Flash of all things managed to avoid this.

And as bad as the cameos could get, this movie gave two of the greatest cameos ever put to film with the return of the GOAT George Clooney Batman and, best of all, Nicolas Cage Superman from the unmade Superman Lives, fighting a giant spider to the death just as God intended. I am not immune to the charms of Nicolas Cage.

Overall, this movie presents us with a solid story, plenty of fun moments, great character dynamics, and more... for the first two acts, anyway.

THE BAD

Once this movie hits the third act, it basically just loses any and all focus and becomes a big dumb video game-esque battle against Zod and his forces in a bland desert landscape. While both Barrys admittedly get some pretty cool moments sprinkled in and Keaton’s Batman’s second death is actually a well done emotional moment, Supergirl ends up being completely wasted, with her sole role being to angrily scream and then die repeatedly.

This actually highlights the problem with Kara in this movie: She’s basically nothing but a plot device and has zero personality, and a good 80% of her dialogue is just angry screaming. As hot as Sasha Calle is and how much she obviously wants to make Kara compelling, she is given so little to work with that her efforts end up being fruitless. She does nothing of consequence after helping Barry get his powers back, and could be replaced or written out of the story and it would still make perfect sense.

Zod’s inclusion is pretty baffling as well, especially since they chose to water down one of the only good things from Man of Steel into a boring, generic doomsday villain. You can really feel that poor Michael Shannon would rather be doing anything else, and his bored performance just highlights how poorly implemented Zod is in the plot. Like, the Fladh has some of the best and most colorful DC villains in his rogues gallery, one’s that are often overlooked because Batman’s villains sell more toys. Why not highlight some of them instead of taking a Superman villain and stripping him of all personality to the point the actor clearly has no passion for the role? Cutting Zod would make cutting Supergirl even easier, and then two of the biggest problems with the movie are gone!

The third act does manage to mostly rerail itself once it goes back to Barry trying to unfuck the timeline, with only a disgustingly egregious bit of fanservice that I’ll discuss in the next section hampering it. But at the end, despite the incredibly based George Clooney cameo, there’s just so many unresolved and unanswered questions, with the biggest one being who killed Barry’s mom? Considering her death is what kickstarted the whole plot, you’d think this might come up, but it never does. A lot of other things come up and get dropped too, like whatever was going on with Batman in the opening, but maybe I’m just crazy for wanting elements introduced in a plot to have significance beyond just being there to be cool.

Even beyond that, there’s the fact that Supergirl and Keaton!Batman’s final fates are never really resolved, something that apparently wasn’t a problem in early versions of the film since they showed up alive in the final scene. As much as I loved seeing Clooney, I think trading him for getting some closure for Keaton and Calle would have been more satisfying.

Everyone harps on how bad the CGI is—and it absolutely is, don’t get me wrong—but for the most part I found it endearingly bad. Like the opening with the CGI babies? That’s too goofy for me to hate. But once the movie revolves into bland grey and black CGI bad guys and creepy deepfake celebrity cameos, I stop being quite so forgiving.

Oh, and on the subject of cameos, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one as pointless and unfunny as Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman showing up out of nowhere (complete with theme music) to make Bruce and Barry look like dumb assholes. Imagine thinking this was a good idea.

THE UGLY

The biggest point of contention surrounding this movie is the CGI necromancy used in the aforementioned cameo clusterfuck from the climax, which gives us George Reeve, Christopher Reeves, and Adam West posthumously reprising their DC roles in non-speaking appearances (there’s archived audio from West, but his cameo isn't really focused on to the point you can barely tell it's him) where they just stand there before the camera swoops around like in that Saul Goodman gif.

I think this is one of the very few times where I actually think the outrage is mostly justified. To be clear, I’m not getting mad on behalf of dead celebrities I never knew, and as long as the filmmakers went through the proper channels and the estates of these stars were properly compensated, I don’t have any legal objections. All of my distaste is coming from a subjective, moral standpoint.

I have never liked this CGI necromancy ever since Rogue One popularized it. I find it really gross and distasteful, and in most cases I think finding a lookalike actor would be preferable than playing Weekend at Bernie’s with a computer generated facsimile of a dead person. In The Flash, I understand having lookalikes would diminish the wow factor of the crossover, but there was an extremely easy workaround to this: Have cameos from all the living DC stars.

Was Brandon Routh not available to put on the Superman tights? Would it have been so bad to let Grant Gustin pop in for a cameo? They acknowledge Helen Slater, so why not Melissa Benoist? Hell, if you want to reference bad, campy movies, have Shaq show up as Steel or Josh Brolin pop in as Jonah Hex! Or even Ryan Reynolds, I’d bet he’d be down to return if you gave him a real suit this time!

Like there’s just no excuse for ghoulishly parading around dead guys when there’s so many alive guys you could use instead. People can complain all they want about the fanservice and cameos in the past few Spider-Man films, but at least they only had returning characters played by living actors. And when this movie already has the niche, out-there Nic Cage Superman cameo, proving they were down to do things as out there and inoffensively creative as reference unmade movies, it’s really just inexcusable. It doesn’t ruin the movie for me, but it makes me lose a bit of respect for the people who okayed this over less offensive cameo ideas.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

To my surprise, this film actually turned out to be pretty good. Not “great,” not “the best superhero movie ever,” but genuinely mostly good and enjoyable.

My opinion is that the movie is good in spite of itself. The third act is truly a hot mess, the stupid desert battle against Zod is awful and boring, Supergirl is depressingly pointless, so many plot points are just dropped or otherwise forgotten, and the CGI necromancy is nothing short of ghoulish. But the rest of the movie is truly a lot of fun. Barry and his younger self have a fun dynamic, Keaton really manages to take what little he’s given and show that he’s still got it as Batman, the Clooney and Cage cameos were delightful, and most importantly the emotional moments are actually effective.

I think with a bit more polish this film could have actually lived up to the hype around it. There is a great movie in here being suffocated by fanservice and CGI but still managing to get a few gasps of air regardless. I think if they’d kept the conflict more grounded or made Reverse-Flash the primary antagonist, things might have turned out better.

I think its score is pretty fair. My friend @huyh172 described this as “the worst good DC movie,” and it’s an assessment I fully agree with. It’s not as good as Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, the Snyder Cut, or Shazam!, and it’s definitely not as bad as stuff like Wonder Woman 1984 or Josstice League. It’s also a bit too enjoyable to be mid. It’s just a really solid movie held back from true greatness by some damning flaws… and really, that makes it the perfect capstone to the "Snyderverse," a cinematic universe that had some solid movies but was held back from greatness by incredibly bad ones.

[infiniteeight8]

Which ship has been your longest fixation? Like the longest you have made and/or consumed content? I was just thinking about this ship I was obsessed since 2018 and how at the start of 2024 just stopped to caring about it. And it isn't like I dislike it now I still think it's excellent but I just don't engage with their content which there's barely any sadly it's a dead fandom.

Oops, almost forgot to answer this! Sorry, anon, it got a little lost among prompts. LOL.

So this is an interesting question, because I'm what we used to call a fannish butterfly back in the day. I'm usually into a fandom for 1-2 years before moving on, and when I move on I almost never come back to the fandom at all. However, there are a few exceptions, each of which is unique in its own way.

Gibbs/DiNozzo (NCIS). I almost don't want to put it on the list because staying as long as I did was a huge mistake, but the fandom I was active in for the longest continuous period was early, early, early NCIS. Season 1-3 (or 4 maybe). I was trying really hard to stay solely because I felt like being a fannish butterfly was a bad thing. That was an awful mistake, it was really unfunny for at least a year or more at the end there. Would not recommend. Move on when it feels natural, folks. I don't read for these two anymore at all. 3 or 4 years total.

Fraser/RayK (due South). I never wrote for this fandom (unless you count a crossover ficlet), but I read for it voraciously. I got into it a couple years after the show ended (somewhere in the early 2000s), which means I was lucky enough to completely miss the Ray Wars. I am very thankful for that. I still occasionally got back and read fic for these two. Not often, but enough that an argument could be made that I've been in the fandom casually for around 20 years and counting.

Garak/Bashir (Star Trek: Deep Space 9). Another fandom that I never wrote for and which I didn't get into until the canon was long over. But just like due South, I still occasionally come back and read fic for them. Probably a little less time than due South, call it 15 years or so and counting.

Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf). This one is hilarious for two reasons: (1) I've never seen the show. I tried, and could not get past the first episode or two. While the show was on Netflix, I did skip through very episode to find all of Peter's scenes and I watched those. So I've seen the Peter Hale supercut of Teen Wolf. LOL. The Steter I love is the Steter I came to know through fic, and that's what I write. I make extensive use of the wiki when needed for writing. 😄 (2) Once upon a time, I asked Tumblr to recommend me a fandom because I wasn't finding one naturally. An anon recommended Steter. Teen Wolf was on the air at the time, and I took a quick look at the fandom and didn't think it was for me. Laugh at me now. LOL. Literal years later I was desperate for something to read, remembered that anon, checked out Steter fic, and the rest is history.

I read Steter for literal years before I wrote my first work for them. I didn't think I ever would. But the muse came knocking and I posted my first fic in January 2020. Been writing for them ever since, although mostly ficlets. I'd guess I started reading somewhere between 2015 and 2020. So maybe as much as 9 years.

[alexandramrobertson]

What's Next?

Northern Lights began a little over a year ago, when I was rewatching Due South on Netflix and wondering what a reboot would look like. Although I had no fan fiction experience, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

There would need to be younger characters: the adult children of Fraser and Ray V. Elizabeth came to me first, as the devoted daughter and friend, pathologically polite, determined yet sensitive, loyal to the point of myopia. Then Jon, who tries and fails to look tough but shows his courage where it counts, the estranged son who longs to understand his father.

I imagined where the canon characters would be, after twenty-five years of promotions, child-rearing, and failed relationships. For Thatcher, I tried to fill in a backstory that the series never gave her. I conjured an ensemble cast of secondary characters, from the quirky denizens of Bear Falls, to Francesca’s raucous brood.

And, most importantly, I needed a case to bring everyone back together.

But now that the fic is finished - what’s next?

Mostly, I’m going to focus on the original novel I’ve been writing alongside Northern Lights (a comedic high fantasy). I don’t expect to write another novel-length fan fiction soon, but I have ideas for some shorter adventures starring Elizabeth and Jon. And someone needs to drive Elizabeth’s car to Chicago (if only to get it away from Ray K).

I started this Tumblr specifically to engage with the Due South fandom on this platform, so I will probably be less active on here in the coming months. Don't worry, I'm not dead. I'm just writing.

[variousqueerthings]

rewatched the due south pilot again with someone new. gradually pspspspspspssss at everyone i know about this show.

but yeah, two scenes really stick out to me this time about ray in terms of core features in how i come at him:

the second time they meet: their first meeting did not go well, he thought fraser had ruined his case, he was generally quite done with Stuff (and later on of course we will learn more about why he's so run down), there's this stranger demanding his time, and oh- oops he's just insulted his dead father accidentally and, huh, this oddity of a person is taking it pretty well to be honest... the second time they meet is entirely on ray. he seeks fraser out having done research on the case, but first he apologises to him very sincerely for having said those words. that is the first, big thing that ray offers fraser (the next, of course, is giving over his entire life and soul to him, but i don't think he realised that in that moment...)

after he gets blown up and is lying in hospital: he apologises again, this time for screwing things up. we know by now that he had a bad relationship with his own five-years-dead father who never thought he was good enough, that he's struggling under his caseload at work, we've got a sense he isn't super respected there either, and although we've met his family which is actually very loving (if loud and argumentative) he's giving a sense of being pretty lost in the world at that point and nothing that happened before was his fault. he's been helping fraser, against his superior's wishes, done some good sleuthing/detective work, and saved fraser by putting himself in front of the explosion. and then he apologises

I feel like a lot of the time ray's thought about in terms of his abrasiveness with people generally, his shield against the world he's quick to assume the worst of people and doesn't let others in, but fraser neatly bypasses those walls. on purpose? by accident? bit of both? i think he does sincerely See more to ray in their first scene, the "like you, he is pretending to be someone he's not" line feels like it's talking about more than just ray having been undercover in the previous scene, and because he's fraser he never belittles or mocks or gets aggressive about ray's behaviours throughout their first meeting, which probably also draws him in on top of the need to Make Things Right

i think beneath some of the goofier stuff (which, honestly, i dont think theres thaaat much of, but id have to do a proper count and parallel how many times he's there as "comic relief" vs when fraser is, and also times where ray is shown to be extremely competent which is often -- maybe i'd wish for more dramatic episodes for him but that's more to do with how good marciano's acting is than a real disservice done to ray himself) and the more petulant/childish manifestations of insecurities (it's hard being friends with a Saint, as he puts it very fairly in my opinion, although i also think that line partially relates to some other stuff he'd said about Fraser Please Taking Better Care Of Himself throughout the whole season) there's this ray, and that core is quite obvious pretty much from the get-go

a ray who meets sincerity with sincerity and takes fraser in with honestly barely any prompting at all on fraser's part. a man who maybe was desperate for something/one to believe in, who isn't super macho about admitting fault, and then -- in the hospital scene -- a man who's so used to thinking of himself as a screw-up to the point that he'll apologise for getting blown up to save fraser

there's a lot ray gives fraser. for one thing, fraser would be dead multiple times over without him. but ray Needed him to appear in his life in order to get through the damn day. he saw some storybook larger-than-life weirdo and grabbed hold of him immediately and then realised that the rest of the world seemed to want to eat said weirdo alive and pretty much said over my dead body and he's done pretty well living up to that

did, though, very much appreciated fraser finally properly telling him in red white or blue how much he means to him and how valued he is, because ray doesn't always see it. (funnily enough, they had another bomb threatening to detonate at the time. almost a full circle)

two scenes in which ray says sorry, one in which he was right to do so and one in which he was wrong. there's more to it, but that's the... Thing im thinking about