Bindlestitch

Name:	Bindlestitch
Date(s):	2000-2005 (archive); mailing list 2000-present
Moderator:	Mary and Valeria
Founder:	Mary and Valeria
Type:	mailing list, archive
Fandom:	Due South
URL:
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Bindlestitch is a Due South archive and slash mailing list dedicated to kink of all kinds. It was unusual for being bi-Ray during The Ray Wars, as well as for being RPS-friendly. It was named for the tool used to repair Fraser's (cough) leather boots:

Ray V: And I thought we had nothing in common.
Fraser: Bindlestitch.
Ray V: You know, you gotta stop swearing in Eskimo.
Fraser: No, a bindlestitch is a tool used by a shoemaker for lifting laces off of the leather. Our poor box thief used a bindlestitch and the waxy residue - shoe polish.
Ray V: You're making this stuff up, right?
Fraser: No. ^[1]

Mailing List

The Bindlestitch mailing list was founded in April 2000 and described as "A kink friendly Due South slash list." The list's third message, posted by admin Valeria (aka Vali) on April 7, 2000, describes the list as follows:

What is Bindlestitch? Glad you asked. A Due South slash list favorable to any m/m or f/f pairing, and favorable as well to crossovers, kink, BDSM, parodies, MSTings and RPS, a.k.a. Real Person Slash or actorslash. Though Mary leans toward Vecchio and myself toward Kowalski, your listmums officially swing both Rays, so feel free to argue the point at length if you like...in the meantime, I'll be enjoying all those stories of Diefenbaker's secret longing for Benji. ;-) No het stories, please. 'Cause it's a slash list, y'see.^[2]

The list also allowed for RPF content, though they insisted that list members warn for that content by putting "Realslash" in the subject line as well as in the story file itself. You did not have to warn for minorslash, rape, or even death stories, but you did have to ask the author's permission before MSTing another writer's story.

Archive

A related archive of stories was also founded in April 2000. The Bindlestitch archive was described on a rec site as: "Due South archive and B-movie women's prison. "Bindlestitch--so named for the repair job done on Fraser's lovely, lovely boots--is two-Rays-friendly, kink-friendly, weirdness-friendly and, yes, actorslash-friendly (oh, horror of all horrors!). If you have a sense of humor and yearn to flee the corpse-strewn Vecchio vs. Kowalski battlefield, come and join us." ^[3] The archive vanished in 2005 and does not seem to be recoverable by the Wayback machine.