Bygones: Lifeline Chicago
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Bygones: Lifeline Chicago |
| Publisher: | Requiem Publications |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Grey |
| Cover Artist(s): | Cat's Meow |
| Illustrator(s): | |
| Date(s): | June 2004 |
| Medium: | fanzine, print |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Due South |
| External Links: | Lifeline Chicago on AO3 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Bygones: Lifeline Chicago is the second in a series of four slash Due South novels written by Grey. It is 204 pages and focuses on the Fraser/Kowalski relationship. Colour cover by Cat's Meow.
Series
- Bygones (February 2003)
- Bygones: Lifeline Chicago (June 2004)
- Bygones: Lifeline Canada (September 2005)
- Bygones: Recovery (2006)
- Bygones: Identity (2022)
Summary
From the publisher: "If you love angst, h/c, love, commitment, and don't mind some violence, adult language and situations, or the accurate depiction of depression/suicidal leanings in a character, this is the book for you. Ray and Fraser are settling into their relationship, but not without a few bumps along the way. Despite Fraser's efforts, Ray finds it more and more difficult to fight off his depression and remain sober. About six months after the end of Bygones, Ray gets a murder case that puts him in danger again. After he is nearly killed, Fraser takes him to Canada for safekeeping."
Interior Sample
Regarding the Series
The comments below were published in "Bygones: Lifeline Chicago" and is also online. It was written when the author was intending this series to be a trilogy, rather than a series of four.
BYGONES started out as a simple story idea. Ray would be stalked and attacked by a man he'd put In prison. Fraser would be there to help him through his recovery. It seemed straightforward enough for a hurt/comfort junkie like myself, no problem. It never occurred to me that the tale would become such a huge part of my life and pretty much run wild and take over.
I first wrote slash In the X-FILES universe in 1998, and then moved to THE SENTINEL shortly after that. I was so Involved with Jim and Blair, I always thought that If I ever wrote a novel, It'd be about those two. Little did I know that when I stumbled on a box of unlabeled DUE SOUTH tapes, that'd I'd be starting on a new path entirely.
Around this time, I seriously considered giving up fan fiction writing. I no longer found satisfaction with THE SENTINEL for many reasons. I had a lot of emotional and personal turmoil going on In my life. [personal details redacted] I was about to give up on fandom completely. Real life was just kicking my ass too hard to keep up.
Then something fateful happened, something I never saw coming. I started watching the first two seasons of DUE SOUTH, the episodes I remembered from the first broadcasts. I was amused, but not overly excited. I'd seen them before and though Paul Gross Is certainly delicious and worth watching, I just didn't see the slash appeal. Then when I viewed the start of the third season, "Burning Down the House", when Ray Kowalski was Introduced, I sat up and took notice. I wasn't just amused anymore. Now I was both smitten and inspired. The energy sparked off the screen between Fraser and the new and improved Ray, a chemistry I never saw between Eraser and the "other guy".
At that point [after watching "Call of the Wild"], I was still ambivalent about writing and particularly disillusioned with writing for the net. Bast offered me the outlet for my new passion by encouraging me to submit to fanzines again. I wrote my first DUE SOUTH story "Swallowing Thunder" for her fanzine BODY HEAT 2.
After that, it was all about Fraser and Ray. When the idea for BYGONES came to me, I told Bast about it, intending it to be a short story for one of her anthology zines, and started right In. It got darker and more complicated. I just kept writing more. It all seemed to come out of nowhere. When I finally finished the first part of the trilogy, Bast did a great job publishing a whopper of a zine, using two different formats, single and double columns and with artwork....
Or you can download it off the net at my web site at http://www.e-flc.com/~grey
I won't give a complete summary of it here, but If you haven't read It, I'd recommend that you do so before you try to read the second and third parts of the trilogy. You can still under stand the follow up stories, but you won't understand the full impact of the trauma Fraser and Ray have survived without reading it, too.
The first sequel to BYGONES, the second part of the trilogy, is what you have here, LIFELINE: Chicago. As you can gather from the title. It's set In the windy city. Be warned that this has turned Into an AU of sorts, since I've played with the canon timeline and have changed events and eliminated others. There is also harsh language, violence, and some very dark adult themes. I've provided a list of original characters from BYGONES at the back of the zine for your convenience. In this second part, Ray and Fraser are settling Into their relationship, but not without a few bumps along the way. Despite Fraser's efforts, Ray finds It more and more difficult to fight off his depression and remain sober. About 6 months after the end of BYGONES, Ray gets a murder case that puts him In danger once again. After Ray Is nearly killed. Eraser takes him to Canada for safekeeping.
That's where the third part will come In, LIFELINE: Canada. Again, that will be an AU, events being altered to suit my fancy and to allow Ray and Ben to have a life together beyond Chicago. The three stories had to be put In separate fanzines simply because of the length. All three are long and detailed. To try to put them In one book would just economically unsound.
The third part will hopefully be published sometime later this year or early next year, depending on how real life treats me.
I want to thank Bast, Shar, and Xfreak for their support. I couldn't do It without friends.
Enjoy the story.
Reactions and Reviews
Bygones by Grey from the due South fandom, F/RK. This might well have made it into the "best in fandom" category. Tense plot (realistically deals with rape and Ray's denial), good technical aspects, good layout, but it really looks like the author just got tired of writing the story. It's like the last chapters are just missing. The story is wrapped up with a few paragraphs when it should've been a few dozen to hundred pages. I really felt cheated by the ending, like I'd missed something important. It's a disappointing zine in that aspect.
[Nov. 2007] I recently went and reread this story and its sequels, which Grey finally finished. While the first story still held up well enough, despite the "hanging" feeling it would've left me with, I wish I'd avoided the sequels. When the author has to deal with a world outside of Ray and Fraser, the writing goes severely downhill. [1]