Tell us how you found us!

[mergatrude.livejournal.com]

How did you discover due South? Did you watch it on it's original run? Or stumble across a rerun? Did your friend(s) drag you here? Did you find the fic first (and then the fandom, and then the show - like me)?

Did you fall for the Mountie? Or for Ray, or Ray? Was it the deaf half-wolf that made you melt? Or the story-telling? Or the supporting cast, who ran the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous? Was it the humour, or the magical realism, or the Fraser-whumping that got your attention?

Tell us all about your journey to Chicago! Leave a comment on this post, or link us to your own post.

Comments

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I remember watching the show on television but I don't remember if it was when it first aired or in reruns. My twenties are...kind of a blur? Heh. I think it was reruns, though, because I remember RayK. I'd always been a fan of episodic shows and police procedurals (thanks, Mom!) and the fact that this show was both and had what I thought to be the most beautiful man on the planet was the final perk on a very easy sell for me.

One of the things I loved most about the show was the sensitivity with which it was written. I appreciated how the writers treated different demographics with respect--like how older people were allowed to maintain their own agency (even if they sometimes misused it), and how native people were shown with loving humor but never mocked. I was friends with a sizeable group of transwomen at the time, and also had acquaintances who did drag, so I was incredibly touched by the delicate and honorable way Ms. Fraser was handled in Some Like it Red. I had never seen a portrayal of a cis man (not that I knew that term yet) portrayed in drag without some sort of crude joke attached. That was, I think, the point where I absolutely fell in love with Benton Fraser and the show. And I have always been a sucker for magical realism.

I wasn't aware of even the concept of fandom, and I didn't know another soul who watched the show, but man I loved it. Fraser and RayK were the first characters I ever shipped. I didn't even know about shipping but their relationship so resembled every other antagonistic love story I'd ever seen, I just filled in the blanks myself.

Since I wasn't in the fandom, I completely missed the Ray wars, which is good since I have a low tolerance for people who get petty and argumentative over imaginary things. I didn't get into fandom (any fandom, really) until a few years ago and started reading the fic (I'd been reading fics in other fandoms for a few years before that).

So glad I did. I really like it here.

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

I adore what you say in your second paragraph there, about the sensitivity and respect. It's so very true and one of the things that makes it so wonderful.

I'm a sucker for magical realism too - it's what makes it possible for the show to careen around from deep drama to slapstick comedy to heartwarming to absurd....and still seem completely plausible. (to a degree, at least)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

it's what makes it possible for the show to careen around from deep drama to slapstick comedy to heartwarming to absurd

That, and the flat-out amazing writing. My partner, who is a professional writer and teaches writing workshops at the university where we work, was amazed at the quality of writing for this show. It really was spectacular.