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ds_team_angstHullo everyone, and welcome aboard the Team Angst Train! I'm your evil overlordfriendly neighbourhood captain ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nos4a2no9, and I'm here to provide leadership, encouragement and gentle mocking of Team Romance.
china_shop and sageness will assign prompts soon since this is a fast-and-dirty challenge: we'll have four weeks once the dialogue prompts are handed out to write the angstiest fic we can possibly generate. Then our stories will be posted anonymously and matched up against a Romance competitor’s fic, folks will vote on which one they like better, and our team will take our well-earned victory lap and hand those Romance suckers our spare hankies. Easy as Ray Kowalski!
What I'd like to do before we get started on the stories is to spend some time discussing what "angst" actually means and how we can write those heartbreaking gems that are sure to garner us the votes we need to put Team Angst in the winner's circle. Most of you are old pros at the angst game (I thinkkatallison may have written something with angst content once, for example) but there are a few new faces on our team list and I thought it might be helpful to provide a few definitions and examples of angsty goodness.
"Angst" is a German word which means "anxiety" or "anguish"; it's most often applied to the Existentialist dread that comes from the realization that "the future is an unknown chasm [and] therefore, the choices that a person...makes are the determining factor in the outcome of one's future" (from apologetics.org). "Angst" as a genre term is used to describe a particular brand of fanfiction that includes elements of emotional distress or physical pain; while the ending of the story might be happy, the characters should go through some form of trial by fire and suffer physically or mentally (or both) over the course of the story. Insageness's sign-up post she suggests that angsty fanfic can include: "...ships passing in the night, deathfic, grief-fic, and fic about cases gone bad and stories fraught with desperate standoffs and gut-wrenching tension." As you can see there are a lot of ways to make our characters suffer.
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ds_team_angst stories should strike a balance between so-dark-they-hurt fics and lighter fare that puts Fraser and his Rays through the wringer but lets them emerge safely on the other side. Ideally our team should offer a range of stories that run from the crushing depression of deathfic to the slightly more optimistic h/c genre, bittersweet gen stories, or those post-CotW fics where Fraser and Ray live apart and are finally reunited after much trial and anguish. (What? I have a bias. Sue me.) Stories with a high angst quotient can include romance (unrequited love, intense longing, separation, misunderstandings, lust, alienation and reconciliation, etc) but the focus should be on the more emotionally turbulent aspects of the romantic relationship shared by your pairing(s) of choice, rather than fluffy snuggling and kittens and sunshine and puppies. That dreck is left up to Team Romance. :-)
Finding a good balance between romantic resolution and desperate longing might be a bit tricky, particularly for those of you who haven't written a great deal of dS fanfiction, but I'm going to run a few prewriting exercise that will get us warmed up and thinking angsty thoughts. I'd like to give everyone a chance to introduce themselves, too, and mention that while we'll keep the introductions and writing exercises public we'll hold beta and strategy sessions behind f-locked posts. We don't want theds_team_romance agents to steal any of our secrets! So make sure you lock your posts to this community once we move into the writing stage of the matchup challenge.
Once we get rolling I'd love to host brainstorming sessions and invite workshopping within the comm: we're a team and part of the fun of this challenge is offering one another support, help and encouragement. Remember, the better the individual stories are the better our chance of winning the competition! Whinging about how tough this subject matter is to tackle is welcome, and don't be shy about posting your rough ideas to the comm or putting up requests for a beta. We like our fic dark and our characters slightly bitter but we're a friendly group at the end of the day, and I hope this place will come to feel like a community as the weeks pass by.
*Whew* Okay, I think that covers most of the basic information you need to know as newly inaugurated members ofds_team_angst. I thought it might be fun to hold a "getting to know you" session over the weekend, so drop by at your leisure and comment to this post with answers to the following questions:
1. What made you decide to sign up fords_team_angst?
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
nos4a2no9, and I'm here to provide leadership, encouragement and gentle mocking of Team Romance. china_shop and sageness will assign prompts soon since this is a fast-and-dirty challenge: we'll have four weeks once the dialogue prompts are handed out to write the angstiest fic we can possibly generate. Then our stories will be posted anonymously and matched up against a Romance competitor’s fic, folks will vote on which one they like better, and our team will take our well-earned victory lap and hand those Romance suckers our spare hankies. Easy as Ray Kowalski!What I'd like to do before we get started on the stories is to spend some time discussing what "angst" actually means and how we can write those heartbreaking gems that are sure to garner us the votes we need to put Team Angst in the winner's circle. Most of you are old pros at the angst game (I think
katallison may have written something with angst content once, for example) but there are a few new faces on our team list and I thought it might be helpful to provide a few definitions and examples of angsty goodness."Angst" is a German word which means "anxiety" or "anguish"; it's most often applied to the Existentialist dread that comes from the realization that "the future is an unknown chasm [and] therefore, the choices that a person...makes are the determining factor in the outcome of one's future" (from apologetics.org). "Angst" as a genre term is used to describe a particular brand of fanfiction that includes elements of emotional distress or physical pain; while the ending of the story might be happy, the characters should go through some form of trial by fire and suffer physically or mentally (or both) over the course of the story. In
sageness's sign-up post she suggests that angsty fanfic can include: "...ships passing in the night, deathfic, grief-fic, and fic about cases gone bad and stories fraught with desperate standoffs and gut-wrenching tension." As you can see there are a lot of ways to make our characters suffer. The
ds_team_angst stories should strike a balance between so-dark-they-hurt fics and lighter fare that puts Fraser and his Rays through the wringer but lets them emerge safely on the other side. Ideally our team should offer a range of stories that run from the crushing depression of deathfic to the slightly more optimistic h/c genre, bittersweet gen stories, or those post-CotW fics where Fraser and Ray live apart and are finally reunited after much trial and anguish. (What? I have a bias. Sue me.) Stories with a high angst quotient can include romance (unrequited love, intense longing, separation, misunderstandings, lust, alienation and reconciliation, etc) but the focus should be on the more emotionally turbulent aspects of the romantic relationship shared by your pairing(s) of choice, rather than fluffy snuggling and kittens and sunshine and puppies. That dreck is left up to Team Romance. :-)Finding a good balance between romantic resolution and desperate longing might be a bit tricky, particularly for those of you who haven't written a great deal of dS fanfiction, but I'm going to run a few prewriting exercise that will get us warmed up and thinking angsty thoughts. I'd like to give everyone a chance to introduce themselves, too, and mention that while we'll keep the introductions and writing exercises public we'll hold beta and strategy sessions behind f-locked posts. We don't want the
ds_team_romance agents to steal any of our secrets! So make sure you lock your posts to this community once we move into the writing stage of the matchup challenge. Once we get rolling I'd love to host brainstorming sessions and invite workshopping within the comm: we're a team and part of the fun of this challenge is offering one another support, help and encouragement. Remember, the better the individual stories are the better our chance of winning the competition! Whinging about how tough this subject matter is to tackle is welcome, and don't be shy about posting your rough ideas to the comm or putting up requests for a beta. We like our fic dark and our characters slightly bitter but we're a friendly group at the end of the day, and I hope this place will come to feel like a community as the weeks pass by.
*Whew* Okay, I think that covers most of the basic information you need to know as newly inaugurated members of
ds_team_angst. I thought it might be fun to hold a "getting to know you" session over the weekend, so drop by at your leisure and comment to this post with answers to the following questions:1. What made you decide to sign up for
ds_team_angst? 2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
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Date: 2007-09-15 02:15 pm (UTC)Hi, I might be a little strange. Again I blame my German heritage.
2. The End of the Road! Beyond Embarrassment (that moment when you're not sure if she's just fucking with you or whether Fraser's really dead, because, well, dead!Bob? that blew me away, right there)! Kowalski's bleeding (first Speranza story I read - kind of set the tone)! Simply Ray! Pas de Deux!
3. Fraser, of course.
4. Polar bears always make me think of Knut. Turtle!
5. We'll kick their collective asses. ;)
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Date: 2007-09-15 09:11 pm (UTC)2. Yes! Yes! (God, yes! That moment!) Super yes! And...the AU dancing fic? That's a dark horse candidate for angst but I buy it :-)
4. Hee! Knut! He is the exact opposite of angst.
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Date: 2007-09-15 02:49 pm (UTC)2. Oh, dear, I suck at favorites lists, being totally scatterwitted and non-retentive. The top five that come to mind this morning: You Get What You Need; Eight Sessions; Acharnment; Broadway Hotel; In Your Corner. (Ask me tomorrow and you'd likely get a different list.) (Except YGWYN. That one stays.)
3. They are each uber-woobieish, in their own very different ways; it's like the Holy Trinity or something.
4. Bloodstained polar bears always make me think of Sisabet's fantastic "Icebound Stream" vid, which seems like an apt mascot for this endeavor.
5. Nah, they'll go down in a fluttering heap of satin bows and lace curtains and pink roses. And then we will stand over them in our black leather team jackets, and either (a) grin evil grins, or (b) let fall one single crystalline tear, depending on one's Angst Style.
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Date: 2007-09-15 09:15 pm (UTC)2. That's a damn good list! And perhaps I should have been more specific and said, "Your favourite fics of the moment."
3. *nods and nods*
4. I think the polar bear is suitable. I need to get a good screencap from that vid; if all else fails it would make a terrific Mod icon :-)
5. Crystalline tear! That's my style!
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Date: 2007-09-15 03:55 pm (UTC)I knew I wanted to do DS Match almost since I heard it was going to happen, because I haven't posted any fic in a long time and I thought it'd be a good way to get myself writing again. But I was planning to sign up for Romance until I realized, sort of last minute, that the frame of mind I'm in these days would probably make it impossible to write hearts and flowers and fluffy bunnies without, you know, stepping on them a little. Which is probably not what the mods intended. So: Angst it is!
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Oooh. Hm. I have way more than five. But okay -- off the top of my head: the "What It Is I See In You" series by Hth (not a hundred percent angst, but it has several perfect Moments of Angsty Bliss), "10 Reasons to Hate Ray Kowalski" by china shop, "Indulgence" by Mia, "Eight Sessions" by Speranza (or ooh, maybe "Ping"), and "Roots Rain" by Kat Allison.
(But see, I'm missing all the newer stories, and I'm sure there'd be some, only I'm bad at remembering things unless I've had a chance to read them a billionty times.)
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
It depends on who's writing them, I think. Fraser might be the fan fave for woobieness, but Aerye (for instance) can woobie the HELL out of either Ray.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
Heee. I dunno -- the turtle has a certain Eeyore-like appeal, but bloody polar bears have that nice sense of unapologetic, we'll-break-whoever-we-wanna-break,-so-there Angst. With a capital A.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Dude. You KNOW it.
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Date: 2007-09-15 09:21 pm (UTC)2. "Roots Rain" is absolutely my #1 choice. And yes! Hth! Her angst approaches the stratosphere of angstiness. (Angst-o-sphere?) Those others you mentioned were fabulous choices, too. I'm not being completely biased when I suggest that our genre of choice really does have the best representative fic, right?
3. *g* yes, and thankfully
4. Angst with a capital A! I love it!
5. YES!
(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-15 06:23 pm (UTC)So inconclusion: Eep! O_o
1. What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
I've read so much fabulous fic since I first watched dS this spring, and it made me keen to start writing a little bit again, and when I did everyone was so nice and welcoming that dS fandom felt like a place I'd like to hang out and play in for a while. :)
For me, angst over romance was a no-brainer - I've written it before (in my previous/first fandom, Farscape) and feel more confident about it, and also because I'm a complete novice when it comes to m/m prOn and didn't feel it would be fair to maybe handicap Team Romance with my ineptitude. :D
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Oooh, this is an evilly unfair question... at the moment, I'd say: Exposures, Executor, Aphelion, By the Sounding Sea, and Here at the End of All Things. [But also Dysmas, Unguarded Protectorate, Eight Sessions, Price of Distance, Ordinary Days and the Spring Cleaning series. And others, but I'll stop now. *g*]
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
I don't see RayV as much of a woobie - but it's likely my interpretation is skewed, because I don't read F/V; to me they will forever be BFFs. Fraser or RayK could be a tossup, depending on the writer & circumstances.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
Er, false? While I like the *idea* of the turtle, I have to vote for the polar bear. Especially if we're talking the bloody-faced bear from Icebound Stream - that's more angst than you can shake a stick at (not that shaking a stick at a gory polar bear is in any way a wise idea).
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Right! :::psychs self up:::
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Date: 2007-09-15 08:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-15 09:00 pm (UTC)I wanted to start writing again and this seemed like a good push...
As for why Team Angst...genetics. I'm part German (Weltschmerz, anyone?), part Japanese (which means it's not a good ending unless everyone dies in the name of honor - I've watched too many samurai movies as a small child) and part American mutt (which demands a happy ending).
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Near Wild Heaven, Ordinary Days, Keys, Exposures, Into The Wild, Under The Influence, Unguarded Protectorate, Beyond Embarrassment, Ruined - well, that's actually my top nine favorites.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Oh, Fraser, for sure! Hard crunchy outside, soft squishy inside...
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
False. I have a serious weakness for cute fuzzy animals covered in blood.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Yeah, from all their romantic candlelight dinners!
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Date: 2007-09-16 01:53 am (UTC)2. Good choices all. Man, I keep expecting people to repeat the same list but no, new stories keep popping up and they're always fabulous examples of longing and angst and sorrow. Oh, fandom. Soooo many treasures! And soon we'll add 17 new fics to the angst genre!
3. Fraser! *smishes him* I think he's my choice for Ultimate Woobie too. I just...the crying, in Victoria's Secret? Gets me every time.
4. Hehehe. So many votes for the polar bear!
5. Zing!
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Date: 2007-09-15 09:27 pm (UTC)For angst over romance? Let's see...I'm a Germanist, and something about schmoop eludes my comprehension. Based on reading the stories in
Why did I sign up for the challenge at all when I'm not a known quantity in the fandom? In the interest of brevity, I'll limit myself to saying that it's a chance to write in a supportive environment and hang out with great people, and to join a community with which I am familiar from years of lurkerdom and to which I perhaps have something to contribute.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
The angstiest dS story not already mentioned, IMO, is Some Strange Prophecy.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Fraser. I don't view RayV as a woobie, and RayK at least can connect with, not just suppress, his own woobieness.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
True. How do we know the turtle isn't hiding hir bloodsmears? Angst can be induced either (or both, of course) internally or externally. The bloodsmears are a powerful metaphor for the external, but, again, how do we know the turtle isn't also bleeding? A turtle, additionally, is a more powerful metaphor for angst. Polar bears are happy and cuddly and play with beach balls. (Maybe not when injured, but we see them playing with beach balls far more often.) Turtles carry the burden of their secret pains with them at all times, for the world to see.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Down, yes, but in a flood of its own tears. Fire scares me, and if it goes down in flames there's the chance that we could wind up immolated as well. But a flood, well, we're prepared. They aren't.
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Date: 2007-09-16 02:31 am (UTC)2. I'm so glad you signed up! And you definitely have something to contribute: this challenge was open to all comers with those mad post/refreshing skillz, and we're glad to have experienced dS writers on board as well as folks who've written mainly in other fandoms. Yay you for coming out of lurkerdom to play! I think it will be a fabulous experience and we'll all get to know each others' writing styles, quirks and personal preferences like we know our own. (Which, uh, is a good thing!)
3. Yes! I always think of it as "That porny road-trip fic" but you're totally write, it is brimming with angst. Poor Fraser!
4. You're...really bumming me out, about the turtle. If we could attach your comment to the turtle's picture, I think we've found our mascot :-)
5. Fair enough - they're going DOWN in a flood of tears!
(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-15 10:56 pm (UTC)What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
I vacillated a lot on this, but decided on angst for a few reasons. First, I just finished writing romance for McShep_Match, and wanted a change. I chose romance there, because to me, there's angst enough in the whole premise of that show (Stargate Atlantis), what with most everyone being light years from home, engaged in a war with life-sucking vampires. To me, dS is about the personal angst, the emotional and physical struggles Fraser and the Rays each face. There can be angst in their environment, too, but unless it's an AU, they're probably not fighting aliens or terrorists or the end of the Earth. Instead, the angst is in their own baggage, so to speak. I like that there is such good opportunity to explore their characters.And yes, since I at least a little bit romantic, I like the idea of them helping each other -- eventually, after a suitable period of woeful plottiness, of course;)
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
I'm going to have to hold off on answering this, because I tend to inhale fics and then lose track of them until I happen upon them again. (If only they were given secondary 'Friends" like titles, 'The One WIth The ___'. Since I'm supposed to be working on other fic at the moment, I'll have to come back to it when I have time to skim through some fic lists.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV? -- Hard to decide, their woobienesses (shut up, it is so a word!) differ so. Fraser is the beautiful doll in your grandparents glassed in cupboard that no one was allowed to play with, whose gears slowly stiffened shut. Ray K is like the popular toy of a few years past, still lkely to spin and dance and whirr, but somehow a bit more Emo, than Elmo. I don't really see Ray V as woobie, though of course he's got his own issues.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
Well, a polar bear would cause me a lot of angst, but the whole protective hardened shell thing fits the angst thing well. Perhaps the turtle for their emotional pain and self preserveration, and the bear for their protection of each other?
As for mascot suitability, it depends if we want to show a solid front, or tear team romance limb from limb. Either way, works for me.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right? No. Our icy resolve and the bitter coldness of the Yukon will douse their romantic cabin fic. We'll leave them shivering, huddled under blankets that smell like wet half-wolf.
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Date: 2007-09-16 02:35 am (UTC)2. That is an excellent idea! I think I'm going to redo my del.icio.us account and re-name everything using the Friends title system. MUCH easier to remember and it's user-friendly to boot! Score!
3. Angsty doll metaphor FTW! Poor Fraser and his stiff little gears. *sob*
4. Tear them limb from limb! DESTROY them! YES!
5. Ooh, I like how you think. :-)
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Date: 2007-09-16 03:26 am (UTC)Extended mocking from our esteemed team captain and my own stubborn nature. Also--my fics tend towards angst naturally. It's all that buried subtext
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Ooh! Resonant's Broadway Hotel, Speranza's Hanged Man, Dira's Hockey Fic, kat_allison's End of the Road
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Fraser, definitely. That crying, after Victoria!
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
False! Blood-smeared polar bear=ANGST
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
They will go down, suffocated under the weight of their schmoop. (It's like cotton candy.)
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Date: 2007-09-16 10:58 am (UTC)2. Hanged Man The Hockey AU! Broadway Hotel! And this End of the Road thing I keep hearing about. But that's only four, Jame. You fail.
3. Oh Fraser! But this shocks me, because I didn't think you really went for The Fraser and his incredible powers of woobiness. Vecchio, maybe, or even RayK, but not Fraser. Huh. The things you learn about people in arbitrary question responses.
4. POLAR BEAR!
5. Excellent. Their poor romantic little lungs will soon be full of spun sugar! Mwahahaha.
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Date: 2007-09-16 02:02 pm (UTC)1. It had to be angst. I mean, signing up at all was totally and completely your fault, nos. But, once I got through that, there was only angst. They say to write what you know, after all.
2. This is ha-ard. I like... Cesperanza's A Moment of Insight, Aukestrel's (unfinished and what it up with that?) Strange Loops, Dira's That Good Night, Kellie Matthews' When the Ice Goes Out, and, FTW, the PWP of Crying DOOM (or at least it was recced to me as a PWP, which may have been the problem in more than one sense) Nos' In the Deep.
3. RayK. It oughta be Fraser on the grounds of two murdered parents. WTF dS writers, WTF? But RayK's parents voluntarily abandoned him for however many years, his wife left him, he accidentally sent a woman to death row, and, unlike Fraser, he cannot stare at CKR all day to console himself. He has to make do with the red Mountie suit which makes Fraser look a little chubby around the neck. It's all angst, all the time.
4. True. For the reasons mentioned in my drunken Thursday post. Also, thank you for that highly disturbing picture.
5. Yes. Romance is going down in the Flaming Riv. Which they will probably enjoy up until they realize that Fraser can only save one person and he's saving Ray!
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Date: 2007-09-16 04:05 pm (UTC)Joining the German contingent, I'm (roughly) half German, half Jewish in a "my grandparents had accents, loved unappealing food, and were very awkward around each other" kind of way. (We can only be grateful my grandfather was already dead when my parents met; my grandmother was saner and merely told the neighbors that my red-headed mother was Irish.) Whatever wasn't accomplished by heritage has been accomplished by life, so, hopefully, I can do this. And, if I can't, at least we'll have sufficient angst, just with crappy character voice.
If I fail, at least I can always slink off to Bandslash.
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Date: 2007-09-16 02:56 pm (UTC)1. What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
I was bullied into it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
And Kat was writing.
And. Well. Angst.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
End of the Road, End of the Road, End of the Road. (http://www.katallison.com/eotr_main.htm) I would do a string of hearts but that's too Team Romance. I love this story. I'm thinking of having select portions tattooed on the various scattered pieces of my broken heart.
Kowalski is Bleeding (http://www.trickster.org/speranza/KIBleeding.html) by Speranza: May I have some more angst please?
Hanged Man (http://www.trickster.org/speranza/Hanged.html) by Speranza: Breaks my heart every time.
Three Kings (http://hth.gatefiction.com/3kings.htm) by Hth: Hurts so bad I can't breathe.
The Art of Losing (http://www.stonesoup.co.nz/chinashop/fic/losing.html) by China Shop: Ouch.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
What Kat said. Give me time and an assignment and I'll woobie to the nth degree.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
Unnamed Box Turtle for the win.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Pride goeth before a fall. Still, we have the knives. ::g::
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Date: 2007-09-16 05:25 pm (UTC)1. Those are three powerful incentives: Kat, and being bullied, and angst. I completely understand why you cracked like an egg.
2. Ugh, I just read "Three Kings" a few days ago and I'm still recovering. She doesn't pull any punches, and she goes right for the gut every time. Good lord, this line: "It made Ray's blood run cold to think about what it must be like, loving a woman so much that you step away and let her raise your own sons to pray like your executioners did, send them to Catholic school, gather them around the table and have the three goddamn fucking wise men at the back of it all, hidden away but always there." Wow.
And the others you mentioned are, of course, top-quality picks. I'd include a few of yours on my list, too: "Get What You Need," naturally, and "Taken" and a whole host of those snippets you do so well. You don't pull any punches either.
3. Excellent news!
4. Man, we're evenly split between the turtle and the bear. I think I'll need to hold some kind of run-off election.
5. We DO have the knives! The knives of anguish and despair!
(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-16 06:05 pm (UTC)SOMEBODY implied that I wasn't really best suited for writing romance. Also, I have a talent for breaking Fraser?
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Dude. Seriously? I can't even pick a favorite record. There's no way I can pick five stories as my favorites.
But I've been going back and looking at everyone else's, and they're all pretty awesome.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Fraser, because he doesn't *realize* he's a woobie. He thinks he's just fine, and that's the woobiest woobiness ever to woob.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
True! I'm telling you, the turtle wearing a poncho and drinking despondency is the saddest mascot possible. So muck pain! So much trauma! So much ouchness.
(Which is totally not a word, but whatever.)
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Right. They are SO going to lose. It'll be sad. They'll all be angsty and defeated, and then we'll laugh.
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Date: 2007-09-16 06:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-16 07:00 pm (UTC)I'm terribly fond of visiting death and woe upon innocent, unsuspecting characters, and I haven't visited any death and/or woe on dS yet. I'm due!
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
I'm terrible at picking favorites. The first one that popped into my head was Speranza's Kowalski is Bleeding, so I'll let that stand in for a list.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Yes. *g*
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
False! Gotta love blood-smeared polar bears.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
In those wussy pseudo-romantic fade-to-sex fireplace flames shown once a day on soap operas, no less.
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Date: 2007-09-16 07:38 pm (UTC)2. Everyone likes "Kowalski is Bleeding." I picked "Passion" myself as Ces' Ultimate Angst story, but I can definitely see the appeal.
3. Hahaha. CHEATER
4. Another check mark for the polar bear!
5. Hahaha, I think we should make them t-shirts with that on the front.
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Date: 2007-09-16 07:13 pm (UTC)Well, I'm a fairly new writer. I just started writing about 2 years ago, 1 year ago in the due South fandom. This'll be my first time trying anything more collaborative than tossing a rough draft to a beta and fielding it when they pitch it back.
There was never any doubt that I'd go for the Angst Side. All of my favorites among my own work are the angsty ones.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Oh, tough to narrow it down to five. Here's my choice of the moment.
End of the Road (http://www.katallison.com/eotr_main.htm), by Kat Allison, because it ripped me apart and I still bear the scars.
Little Ray (http://community.livejournal.com/ds_flashfiction/410279.htm), by Giuletta, for what it showed me about Vecchio.
Dysmas (http://troyswann.livejournal.com/452051.html), by Troyswann, because of the still despair of it.
Long Way Home (http://www.morgandawn.com/longway1.htm) by Morgan Dawn and Justine Bennet, because they didn't just destroy the world; they made the new world, and the new Fraser, something that Ray couldn't live with.
Ordinary Days (http://busaikko.livejournal.com/74044.html) by busaikko because this is a dark, dark scenario, and yet I find it strangely uplifting.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
Oh, man, all three of them. Fraser is pretty seriously fucked in the head, and there is some major canonical angst going on with Victoria. RayK has these deep insecurities, and (in my head, at least) is deeply damaged by his undercover work. As for Vecchio, besides his father and the Vegas issues, I know in my heart that Vecchio is straight, and yet he loves Fraser. ANGST!
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
The turtle evokes isolation and a quiet despondency, but the blood-smeared polar bear is more inspiring to me, personally. Because of Sisabet's Ice Bound Stream (http://sisabet.livejournal.com/320165.html). Which, seriously, everyone the team should watch for inspiration.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
They don't have a chance!
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Date: 2007-09-16 07:46 pm (UTC)2. Good list. And I am completely failing as an angst reader, clearly, because I'd missed both that busaikko story AND "Long Way Home." *sigh*
3. SO much angst! These three guys are seriously messed up. (And I love your damaged RayK. So very much. "Con Job" would crack my top five easily).
4. Okay, yes, we'll make the vid a viewing requirement. And the polar bear is edging toward victory.
5. RIGHT!
(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-16 08:35 pm (UTC)Because team angst is the BEST WOOOO! Um, also I like competition, and I haven't written anything in a while and this looks like tons of fun. Plus, nothing is better than that perfect ache right in the middle of your chest when you catch your breath at a great story.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Heavy Bag by Kat Allison, Hockey AU by Dira Sudis, Passion by Speranza, Art of Losing by China Shop, In Your Corner by Pares (Huh, F/V takes up a surprising amount of my angsty favorites!)
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
FRASER IS THE WOOBIE TO END ALL WOOBIES.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
False. What's angsty about a turtle? Turtles are BORING. Polar bears are awesome.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Um, DUH.
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Date: 2007-09-16 11:42 pm (UTC)2. Who knew F/V could generate so much angst? Okay, sure, fine, anyone who has ever written the pairing, but you know what I mean. And yay for "Heavy Bag" and "Passion"! You have excellent taste!
3. YES! Fraser = massive woobie *draws little hearts around him* *scratches them out, replaces with something angstier. Like tears*
4. Polar bears are awesome! But
5. Naturally. IN FLAMES.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 03:17 am (UTC)Y'know, it's a good thing I was cruising the 'net today, 'cause I had no idea this community was here. Helloooo, Clueless Wonder. My brilliance inspires confidence, no?
I'mma have to friend you now, 'cause there is way too much that I'm missing. I hope that's okay.
1. What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
I honestly don't know what's got into me. Usually I'm Little Miss Nice, but lately I just wanna go out and buy me a big Snidely Whiplash mustache, so I can twirl it while sniggering evilly and tying someone to a railroad track. Or handcuffing them to a bed. Whatever.
Also, am Scottish. Small. Sarcastic. Angry.
Also also, come pre-equipped with black leather motorcycle jacket, with big metal zippers and a handy inner pocket for carrying around extra angst. Or chocolate. Dark, bittersweet chocolate.

2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Urgh, I forget titles pretty much the nanosecond I've read them... Okay there's one that's post CotW where Fraser has fallen into an ice crevasse and broken his back and Ray and Dief commit suicide by jumping in after him and all three of them freeze to death down there, and then there's the one about the end of the world, apocalypse by zombies, where Fraser has to shoot a wounded Inspector Thatcher to keep her from getting zombified (I think Simplystars did that one), and then there's Ordinary Days - all of which make me all blubbery and wanting to wail like a lost soul (we hates them we hates them we hates them, my Precious), but they're really well-written and those stories do stay *with* one.
Then there's Amends, by Resonant, which I like 'cause it starts out pretty dark, but it's got a happy ending, and I love The Hanged Man, but probably my favorite is (oh hell, that makes six. bugger) Ray Is Not Actually Graphing The History of His Relationship With Fraser, by Sprat, 'cause somehow she got both humor *and* angst in there, which ain't easy, so it's a good thing she's on our side, yeah?



3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
RayK. 'Cause he's fierce and sweet and loyal as hell, but at the end of Strange Bedfellows he's dancing *alone* in the dark all friggin' night, and no one comes to save him, which is Ray Kowalski pretty much summed up, right there.
He is the woobiest amongst woobies, and I want to clutch him to my bosom! Or write fic where Fraser clutches Ray to *his* bosom. Or no, wait. Fraser handcuffs him first, and then clutches Ray to his bosom. And then feels guilty. Crap.


4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
True! Turtle is way more angsty! I'll give the polar bear points for fear factor, but for angst, it's the unnamed turtle. Jeez, he doesn't even have a name, poor little guy! I mean, turtles are all about the internal struggle, getting through life with a quiet stoicism, armoring themselves against a cruel world. Lookit that turtle! Jeez, a face like that, he must be struggling with some serious issues. Or possibly gastric distress due to a surfeit of lettuce, but I'm going with carrying the emotional burdens of the world.
p.s. Also, I'll say what I hope at least one other person is thinking, or y'know maybe I really do have a hole in my bag of marbles... What male body part does that turtle's head remind us of? It goes in when it's grumpy (or cold)... and then it comes out when it's happy. Or at least hopeful. So, yeah. Total mascot.


5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
In cold, dark, angsty flames, while we observe from the shadows and chortle nastily. Pass the Dalwhinnie.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 06:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-17 01:11 pm (UTC)Sorry to check in so late. Hectic weekend.
And, hey keerawa, I'm also at the two-year mark in fanficcing! *waves*
1) Why Team Angst? Hmmm. Most of my DueSouth stuff has been on the happy side, so I wanted to let out my Dark Side a little. (I call her Miranda. She has a chainsaw.)
2) Top five. Whoo...there are so many wonderful ones, and so many have been mentioned already. I have to join the choruses for Ordinary Days (that one made me cry when I read it, and then AGAIN a couple hours later when I suddenly realized why RAY had been in the hospital) and Here at the End of All Things (DIEF! AAAAIGH!!!!) and Dysmas and Kowalski is Bleeding. Also have to give weepy props to A Year (More or Less) In the Life) (http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=15262&PHPSESSID=89589bf01cad7c8d358d6d9c520b2166) by
3) Ooh, tough one. I think I have to take RayV out of the running, because whatever else happens, he's got that big loud loving family, whether he wants it or not. He's lonely, especially in Vegas, but he's not ALONE IN THE WORLD like the other two are. But between Fraser and RayK...geez. Which is sadder, iron repression or naked need? I don't KNOW!
4) Oh, definitely turtle. Because he's alone, and slow, and incapable of keeping himself warm. And sometimes he slides off his little log and lands on his back, and he has to just lie there until Ray gets back from work, flailing. But flailing really slowly. Fllllaaaaaaaiiillll.......(wait for it).........flllllaaaaaaiiiiiilllll.....
5) We will CRUSH THEM. And then they will be SO SAD about it that they will be ASSIMILATED into Team Angst. And we will be so gleeful about our victory that we will dance about and throw sparkly pink confetti, which will...uh...assimilate us into Team Romance. Crap.
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Date: 2007-09-18 02:42 am (UTC)2. Yeah, I think "A Year More Or Less" is pretty much the be-all end-all when it comes to Ray/Ray angst. Good call. And your others are very respectable choices. We will use it all for inspiration.
3. Okay, the iron repression vs. naked need question has been ringing in my head all day. I even came home and wrote a Top Seekrit Story about it. You're so very good at boiling these guys down to their angsty essence.
4. Your impression of poor Turtle's slow flaaaaaaailing made me very happy and very sad all at once. Flllllaaailll...*pause*....fllllllaaaaaiiiiil.
5. YES! Except boo to the ol' switcheroo. I want hard and fast lines here, people. No sparkly pink confetti allowed.
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Date: 2007-09-17 05:14 pm (UTC)1) Honestly, I think I could have gone either way. I just did a rough count of my dS stories, and they come down about evenly divided between angst and romance! In any event, I like big dollops of angst in my romance, and romantic angst - kind of like chocolate and coffee.
2) I have a sort of mental block against choosing top stories, particularly when I have been working so hard on writing that I've been avoiding actually reading much. So I shall not contribute here.
3) In the right hands, any of them can be total woobies! I give Fraser the edge, though.
4) POLAR BEAR.
5) We will crush them into sparkly pink confetti!
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Date: 2007-09-18 02:49 am (UTC)1. That's an interesting split: I find I like reading romantic stories better but I certainly prefer to write the angst, and I admire people who can do both. You certainly do write some terrific stories no matter the genre, and I'm so pleased you decided to join Team Angst. And the fact that it made you do some math also amuses me :-)
2. Awww, but you have an actual recs site! I thought it would be an easy question for you. And I hope the "working so hard on writing" means that we're going to be graced with a new
3. Why Fraser, just out of curiosity? I agree that anyone can make the guys woobie-ish, but it always fascinates me when people automatically give the edge to Fraser. It's the orphan thing, isn't it? Or that ironclad reserve
4. Check another for the Bear
5. NO! Enough with the sparkly confetti! It's too upbeat for our group! We need something that says dark and depressing. Sparkly BLACK confetti, maybe. Made from the tears of the woman Fraser widowed when he killed that snowmobile goon in The Pilot. That's pretty dark, right?
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2007-09-17 05:37 pm (UTC)One Man Show (http://ficletts.livejournal.com/36377.html) by
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Date: 2007-09-17 06:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-09-18 02:58 pm (UTC)1. I like a bit of angst. It's not worth getting if the getting's too easy.
2. Exposures. Hanged Man. Ordinary Day. Dysmas. An Unfinished Universe et. sequel.
3. Fraser ftw
4. True - turtle is the epitomy of all things melancholic but ultimately hopeful. Polar bear is just barbeque fodder.
5. In flames of LURVE, Baby! Romance with no angst is like tequilla without lemon or salt. Like candyfloss without a stick! Like Fraser without Ray!
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Date: 2007-09-26 02:19 pm (UTC)1. What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
PUH-LEEZE. Have you read my stories? I never met a bruise I didn't want to poke.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
All ye bow before Kat's END OF THE ROAD. I also confess a deep, deep lust for Aerye's "YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED," which leads me to Resonant's "LEFT." And there was a story, the name of which I have since forgotten, about Ray K dropping off Fraser's things at a charity thrift shop after Fraser is killed in action. Yikes. And there are so, so many others - though I will unapologetically say I like my own story "OBJECTS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR" pretty well in the Angst department.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
YES.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
YES. But only if his name is something like "Morose."
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Tsk, or as they say in manga, "Che." What a naive question!
pinch hitting (bunt?)
Date: 2007-09-30 03:00 am (UTC)Um, I'm not really writing, except if someone else has to back out for reasons that won't need exploring at that juncture. But, my excuses are...
1. What made you decide to sign up for ds_team_angst?
Almost everything DS that I've written was angsty -- and when it isn't, it's pure sex. Except if it's bdsm sex, about which Fraser can feel really conflicted and torn and ambivalent -- and, thus, angsty. Plus, I'm a clinical depressive who's been on antidepressants since 1990 (except for a couple years when I had no insurance and no meds). Angst is where I live. Angst is to romance what the night is to the day: it provides the contrast to schmoopy, pollyanna-ish, they-all-lived-happily-ever-after stories. Angst makes a story. You can't have a story without conflict (unless it's just pure sex *g*); otherwise, there's nothing to hang the plot on. Angst provides conflict and therefore insta-plot. Besides, winning something easily never feels as good as winning something that took a lot of struggle. When the guys finally get to that hot, sexy place, I want them to really deserve it, I want them to enjoy it -- which they can't if everything comes easily. Angst puts the bumps in the road, throws up the barriers that must be surmounted, brings down the walls that must be broken down. Angst is...
Sorry, I'm rambling.
2. What are your top five favorite angsty due South stories?
Oh, that's really impossible to rank. There are so many good ones, and I wouldn't want anyone to feel that their angsty story for which I gave glowing feedback was any less than anyone else's angsty story for which I also gave glowing feedback. There are many shades and flavors of angst; I enjoy them all.
3. Who's a bigger woobie: Fraser, RayK or RayV?
I'm torn between Fraser and RayK. I would say RayK, because he seems so needy. But then I've always wondered if Fraser's pollyanna-ishness wasn't a desperate attempt to make right in the outer world all that he can't make right in his inner world. So -- I think it's a toss-up between RayK and Fraser. RayV, as others have pointed out, despite his angsty history (divorce, Irene's death), has a big net to fall into: his big family. The other two don't really have that.
4. True or false: Ray's unnamed box turtle is a much better choice for our team's Mascot than a blood-smeared polar bear.
A box turtle is so much more ...helpless. I know the polar bear won, but I was rooting for the box turtle. Figures. I'm always rooting for the losing team.
5. Team Romance is going to go down. In flames. Right?
Definitely. Happiness is boring, as Matt Groening once pointed out. Angst will triumph because it is inherently more suspenseful. Huzzah!