The Head Trip Series

Fraser/Kowalski Fanfiction
Title:	The Head Trip Series
Author(s):	lamardeuse
Date(s):
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	due South
External Links:	online at AO3
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The Head Trip Series is a Fraser/RayK fiction series by lamardeuse.

Reactions and Reviews

Okay, the subtitle for this terrific series of six interlocking vignettes is “six challenges in search of an effort”. Over at ds_flashfiction they do a weekly (now sorta bi-monthly) challenge-prompt thing that I’m sure we’re all familiar with. lamardeuse was apparently constructing her challenge responses slowly and as a result missed a bunch of deadlines. And so these six wonderful short pieces (all united as a larger story but told in separate chapters) were each inspired by different challenge prompts (darkness, door, Shakespeare, movies, etc). Got that? Good. The thing that really resonates about these pieces, aside from being chock-full of nutty due South goodness (dead!Bob! hot mansex! Diefenbaker!) is the way lamardeuse utilizes goofy subject manner and still manages to hint at much darker, disturbing issues. There’s a sequence in which a ghostly Ray (don’t ask) quietly watches Fraser torture himself with videotape from his happier days in Chicago, and there are one or two fairly devastating observations made about Ray’s absolute lack of self-esteem and inability to believe he could be desired by anyone. That’s sad stuff, and yet it doesn’t seem out-of-place in a fic that trades on magic realism and some fairly classic use of the Ray-voice to explore its complex themes. I think this cycle of six stories represents a lot of what we love about this fandom: great writing, hot sex, emotional catharsis and, yes, some angst as well. I hope this rec is new to most people, because I think it’s a sweet and genuine surprise in a fandom which yields so many treasures. Go read.