Apartment Story, by exeterlinden (PG)

[luzula]

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski, Fraser/Stella, Stella/Kowalski
Length: 3450 words
Author on LJ: exeterlinden
Why this must be read: This story impresses the hell out of me, probably because I find it hard to get inside Stella's head. Stella is smart and flawed and human here, and the disintegrating remains of her marriage with Ray are perfectly drawn. It's so interesting to see her and Fraser circle around each other, not sure of each other's place in Ray's life. Also, seeing Fraser from Stella's POV reveals facets of him that I hadn't thought of before.

Apartment Story

Comments

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh* Yes, wow, it's an amazing story, isn't it? I think it's one of my favourite stories about Stella. You're so right: exeterlinden really does present her as a flawed-but-functional human being, and the whole story is amazingly sensitive and really complex. I had the great pleasure of remixing this fic for remixthedrabble (you can find the remix here (http://nos4a2no9.livejournal.com/195038.html)) and doing a close reading of this story made me appreciate it even more. It's a fabulous bit of work.

Thanks for the great rec, L!

[luzula]

Huh, I'll check out the remix.

And yeah, this story is so good. The part I loved the most, if I have to pick one, is where Stella dislikes Fraser using stereotypically female passive-aggressive behavior, and thinks about how hard she's tried to stop doing that kind of thing herself. That really made me go "wow, I never thought of it from that angle".

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

Heh, well, it's actually more of a sequel than a remix. And I wasn't really able to do much with Stella, which bugs me.

And yes, this story really shifts the reader's perception of Stella 180degrees. It's really quite amazing.