verushka70 | Recent Entries

In my opinion, this is the single slashiest thing Ray Vecchio ever did or said about, to, or for Fraser:

"Listen: you hurt him and I'll kill you."

Followed closely by:

"It's not you I do it for."

This is when I really saw the Fraser/Vecchio slash. And Fraser isn't even in these scenes.

Yet he is. Oh, is he ever.

Ray wasn't fucking around in these scenes with Victoria. He meant every word he said. The casualness with which he tells her he'll kill her - I thought, Oh, he's got her number.

And that steely look in Ray's eye as he says "It's not you I do it for" - that's what I thought about when I thought of Vecchio undercover as Armando.

I think the only thing that stopped him hunting Victoria down and killing her is Fraser probably asked him, at some point, not to.

ETA: If you can't see the GIFs above, your job or the WiFi you're on probably blocks LJ... my job does. But when I view this entry with my phone, not on WiFi, just on the cellular network - I see the GIFs.

It's CKR's birthday. Let us all enjoy a few pics of his hotness through the decades. Still a damned hot silver fox, you ask me! Have some pics confirming that:

As the inimitable Detective Ray Kowalski on due South (where most of us old fen first saw and fell in love with him):

( more pics of CKR then and now )

Still amazingly hot, IMO! Happy Birthday, CKR!

Well, I ficced more Heated Rivalry Scott/Kip porn for BBTP, yay!

Title: Tethered

Author: verushka70

Fandom (Pairing): Heated Rivalry (Kip Grady/Scott Hunter)

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 9,696 (AO3 says 9,700)

Summary: Trust Scott to purchase a quality toy that is even better for the purpose of which he was completely unaware, than it is for the purpose he bought it.

Disclaimer: Not beta-ed, all mistakes mine. Written for BBTP!

Third fic in a porny collared!Scott series. I think it can be read alone (as most PWP can be, heh), though it might make slightly more sense if you read one or both of the preceding two fics (accessible through the fic link).

Content/Warnings: Collars, Leashes, Dildos, Spitroasting, Praise Kink, PWP

Tethered - on AO3

~ ~ ~

Now I just have to do my pinch hit for an exchange (to be named later), my dSc6dBB complementary, and come up with something for Ray Vecchio day... argh. On top of all that I have been sick for almost a week, on my vacation no less. Sigh.

Funny how in September the days seem to shorten faster and the sun to set earlier day by day.

\o/

I ran across mention of this on Facebook's Due South by South East community, but I wanted to read the entire article - so I searched for and found it.

The Queerty Paul Gross article brings up fannish history in its discussion of the recently announced casting of PG as HR S2 bad guy Commissioner Crowell - including PG's early role in Tales of the City, as well as of course his embrace of the homoerotic elements of the Fraser/Ray due South partnership and it's subsequent influence on online fandom spaces.

So go read the Queerty PG article! It's awesome!

Here's hoping the crazy children who can't separate reality from fiction - who have already hounded and harassed the only openly queer actor on the show about gay pro athletes 🙄, François Arnaud - don't latch onto harassing PG like they have FA, just because he is cast as the villain.

But... I won't hold my breath on that.

It's almost time to Bring Back The Porn again! On September 1st, let's do it and BBTP!

( SFW banners )

Once again, there are few rules - just BBTP, baby! You don't even have to create something - you can post recs!! And you don't post your work on the BBTP DW - you post/host it elsewhere, and just post links on the BBTP DW. Got a favorite porny, smutty fic (art, or vid)? Doesn't even have to be created by you - your favorite smutty bookmarked fanworks can be shared for BBTP!

( NSFW banners )

In conclusion: porn! Yay!

I recently posted multiple fics in July and early August - 2 more fics in my dS/Hannibal fusion AU series, another sequel to my first collared!Scott HR Scott/Kip fic (with one more fic planned for that), a HR Scott & Carter (Scott & Scott's mother) one shot AU, and two more chapters in my WIP HR Scott/Kip longfic.

( two dS AU fics; two HR fics - Scott & his mother/Scott & Carter Vaughn, and Scott/Kip; two new chapters of my Scott/Kip longfic )

I want to thank and promote the fic_promptly comm, because these recent fics were mostly inspired by prompts from there. The comm is a great source of prompts and inspiration, and it's fun leaving lots of prompts.
( what makes fic_promptly the fun, relaxed, inspirational comm that it is )

Anyway, fic_promptly is a fun, relaxed place to get inspired and to come up with prompts - and fic! I highly recommend it.

Ramona Milano is still acting, but has also worked as an acting coach for a while, and she posted this to her IG today:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcRgEGVSVL_/

Personally I find it sad that young actors are falling for trending socmed bullshit instead of being in love with improving their craft.

But that seems to be true of young people across all job sectors these days... so I guess it's not surprising/was inevitable that it would happen in the arts as well.

Sigh. Algorithms are making people crazy in more ways than one.

Everybody is not in your socmed feed. Literally millions if not billions of people's opinions about things like movies, TV, theater ARE NOT represented by socmed algorithms.

We've come to think of these online "trends" as "real". But algorithms can be AND ARE gamed. All the time. Mostly to get eyeballs, clicks, and ad revenue.

I'm glad Ramona Milano is telling young actors to stay true to their craft and not trendy buzzwords. I worry for young people, so heavily influenced by socmed. Everything is so manipulated - and manipulable. Especially now with genAI.

Regina Keim posted a new due South word find game on the private Fraser/Kowalski Facebook page.

But you can find the non-Facebook link to the latest due South word find game here.

The Stratford Festival posted on their Facebook that the S&A cast will reunite for one night only - July 26 - for a reading of the comedy The Amateurs.

Paul Gross and Don McKellar are included in the reuniting cast.

Follow the link for more details!

ETA: You can buy tickets here.

There is a new due South Convivial Pursuit quiz for July - enjoy!

Ficced a little dS snippet yesterday evening, yay.

Latitude and Longitude

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: due South
Relationship: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker (due South)
Additional Tags: First Time
Words: 300

Summary:
Fraser's wordless glances and frequent – and too-slow – blinks were a language Ray knew and had tried to forget.

Latitude and Longitude on AO3

Regina Keim posted a new due South word find game on the private Fraser/Kowalski Facebook page.

If you're not in that private group, you can find the non-Facebook link to the latest due South word find game here.

So this (non-paywalled) NYT article is from a few days ago, covering the Canadian Screen Awards.

It also discusses the impact of not only international breakouts like Heated Rivalry, but the current horrible US administration we're dealing with and their previous threats of tariffs on non-US film productions. The Canadian film industry was hit hard by COVID and then by the 2023 writers and actors strike, but began bouncing back in 2025.

Heated Rivalry won two awards, Sophie Nélisse (who played Shane's gf Rose on HR, and is also in every episode of Yellowjackets) got a Radius award for her international breakout status this year, Mike Myers was honored with a lifetime achievement award, Eugene Levy (SCTV!) eulogized Catherine O'Hara, and a funny/cute indigenous Netflix series I've watched (North of North) also won an award, among other awards.

( Some choice quotes from the NYT article: )

There is a new jukebox musical called It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken, with the soundtrack composed entirely of songs by The Tragically Hip. It concluded its original run but it will travel to a theater in Kingston, Ontario this fall 2026. I am so tempted to try to get tickets.

Here's a review, and a discussion about the musical It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken with a couple theater critics on Elamin Abdelmahmoud's CBC show Commotion.

( my history with musicals, only tangentially related to this musical )

( how I got into the Hip, Sarah McLachlan before Surfacing and Lilith Fair, and Headstones before I saw Hugh Dillon play Joe Dick in Hard Core Logo - TLDR, due South )

The loss of Gord Downie to brain cancer (only seven years before the same disease took my oldest sister) was just tragic. To see this musical It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken live means that even though there's no chance of seeing the original Hip lineup live ever again, I can still hear their music, albeit reinterpreted to tell a new story. I find that good music can transcend its genre when reinterpreted in wildly different ways (for example, Headstones incredible cover of the Abba song SOS). So though I'm very partial to the original Hip versions of their songs, I'm interested in the reinterpretations in this musical.

( the two times I saw The Tragically Hip live here in Chicago )

This was originally posted on my Tumblr. Reposting here with minor modifications.

So during some research for a Scott/Kip fic, I ran across this old UPI article from the Sochi Olympics in 2014 about the fact that Grindr use in Sochi more than doubled/nearly tripled during the 2014 Sochi Olympics:
ArticleExcerpt1

I'll get to the relevance of what Carter Vaughn says to Scott and Shane in the Sochi ice cream shop in a minute.

But first let us revel in the fact that the Russian version of Grindr was called Hunters (tho it was subsequently shut down by the Russian government):
ArticleExcerpt3

So if [SPOILERS!!] Kip broke up with Scott after the St. Thomas fundraiser at the end of S1E03 (which is one interpretation of TV canon*)...

...then the near tripling of Grindr users in Sochi during the 2014 Olympics would've given (a possibly spiraling, self-destructive) Scott plenty of opportunities to have forlorn, empty sex (while picturing and pining for Kip with every meaningless encounter) facilitated by Grindr, if not by the Russian gay/bi hookup app with his own name. (Here, plot bunny, have some carrots - go forth and multiply! You're welcome!)

The rest of the article, though, explains the sobering reality of what Carter points out to Scott and Shane.
ArticleExcerpt4

72,000 Hunters (Russian Grindr) profiles were deleted. You could be arrested and jailed for "gay propaganda" by simply having a profile on Hunters.

So when Carter says -

Hell yeah, man. Show up for any dude who's that brave. Fucking brave for a dude to show up to this place and be like: "Hey, here's me." Russia is not safe for folks like that. Fucking balls of steel, man.

- he's being an ally. An imperfect ally, yes, but an ally all the same. Any other interpretation is just flat wrong, imo.

Fucking balls of steel indeed, Carter.

Also:

(*[SPOILERS!] I completely understand why people view HR S1E03 canon this way: on my first few bingewatches, that's what I thought, too. But on subsequent viewings, seeing Elena and George Grady/Kip's dad in the stands with Kip prior to the epic Scott/Kip kiss on the ice at the end of S1E05, I concluded that may not actually have been the intent. Of course, we can't really know until we get the behind-the-scenes/making of book with the annotated scripts Jacob Tierney will put out this fall 2026.

The Patrician Grill in Toronto - filming location for some pivotal scenes in the 90s TV series Forever Knight and due South - closed May 9, after the owners announced in April that they sold the restaurant so they could finally retire. It has been in the same family since 1967, serving local patrons and the Canadian film industry.

Tom Melissis (he played Dewey in S3(/S4) dS) shared photos of the iconic Patrician Grill sign being taken down on the Due South By South East Facebook group.

[image: PatricianGrillSign.jpg]

Truly the end of an era.

The Stratford Festival posted a link to the CBC Q interview with Paul Gross (on YouTube) on their Facebook. He discusses his role in Beckett's Waiting For Godot at Stratford this summer. He also had a little to say about Canadian television, specifically Heated Rivalry and Schitt's Creek.

Before that, mercury765 shared a YouTube video of the Paul Gross interview on CP24 Breakfast over on Tumblr.

Enjoy!

ETA: I messed up the ink to the second vid - fixed now...

The due South by South East Facebook group alerted me to the fact that yesterday was Catherine Bruhier's (Elaine on dS) birthday.

I got to meet her and talk to her a little (and she was on a panel) at the dS 25th anniversary RCW 139 con in Toronto in 2019... And she was just really lovely, personable and friendly - just wonderful.

[Image]

And she replied to the Facebook post, too!

Since every fic I've written since February has been inspired by a prompt from the fic_promptly, I am long overdue in promoting the comm.

fic_promptly is a DW comm where all you do is leave prompts and find prompts and then write fic to them. That's it.

Every couple days there's a new prompt challenge, and then you leave prompts based on the challenge subject/topic.

If you want to write fic to prompts, you can choose from any prompts in the current or previous prompt challenges. I've used a number of old prompts, which fic_promptly calls "lonely prompts". You can also fic for previously-filled prompts, too. You can fic to your own prompts or the prompts left by others.

There are no minimum word counts and no maximums for fic fills of prompts. It's very relaxed and freeing.

Rules are here. (Pretty basic.) That rules post also includes links to Google spreadsheets of 2025 and 2026 un-filled prompts, and to the Pinboard with all the pre-2025 unfilled prompts. They also have an AO3 collection for 2026 filled prompt fics.

Every few weeks there are free-for-alls that specify specific types of fics to try to fill as many lonely prompts as possible - drabbles, 300 words.

It's a nice relaxed comm with a plethora of prompts to inspire your ficcing. Enjoy!

There is a reason the HR TV series won a Peabody. Just saying.

I love the series, and Scott/Kip has stolen my fandom heart. That being said, I've written a couple Ilya-centric fics too.

I should've just posted these to DW as I ficced them, but I didn't. So here's a round-up of what I ficced. Also, I would be remiss if I failed to mention fic_promptly, a DW comm whose many available unfilled prompts helped inspire these fics. (Each chapter of the WIP Scott/Kip fic is for a different prompt!)

Sleep On It [on AO3, complete]
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
Teen And Up Audiences
No Archive Warnings Apply
Gen
24 Feb 2026
Tags: George Grady & Kip Grady, Background Scott Hunter/Kip Grady, Kip Grady, George Grady, Angst
Summary:

“Kip. You’ve got options.”

“What options? I don’t see any, Dad.” Kip’s voice hitched. “It’s either, I have the love of my life, secretly, lying to everyone about it, all the time… or I lose the love of my life, and lose the secrets and lies.”

Necessary Lies [on AO3, complete]
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Mature
No Archive Warnings Apply
F/M, M/M
05 Mar 2026
Tags: Ilya Rozanov/Sasha, Ilya Rozanov & Sasha & Svetlana Vetrova, Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov, Sasha, Svetlana Vetrova, background Shane Hollander, Character Study, Lies, Angst with a Happy Ending
Summary:

Hockey was a fragile thread of hope for escape – from this town, this country, this family, a police thug job - possible future unemployment - alcoholic liver disease… all of the limited options waiting for Ilya if hockey didn't work out. Ilya worked to keep that thread strong, every fucking day.

Unspeakable Truth [on AO3, complete]
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Mature
Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Gen
05 Mar 2026
Tags: Ilya Rozanov & Irina Rozanova, Ilya Rozanov, Irina Rozanova, Character Study, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Summary:

Irina was the only one who didn’t lie. Who was not a hypocrite.

Change the Player (and You Change the Game) [on AO3] - Work In Progress
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV)
Explicit
No Archive Warnings Apply
M/M
21 Mar 2026
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, Scott Hunter, Kip Grady, Carter Vaughn, Elena Rygg, Slow Burn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Missing Scene, Internalized Homophobia, Canon Compliant Angst and Feels, Childhood Trauma, Canonical Character Death - Scott's Parents
Summary:

Scott from 2014 to 2017, as he finds, falls in love (and bed) with, and almost loses Kip - while struggling to come out and be his full, authentic self.

Language: English Words: 84,355 Chapters: 7/? I think this will end up about 12-15 chapters.

Animal Control [on AO3, complete]
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV)
General Audiences
No Archive Warnings Apply
M/M
16 May 2026
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, Kip Grady, Scott Hunter, Alternate Universe - Werewolf
Summary:

The dog – wolf? – tucks its head under his hand, so Kip’s palm is over the top of its head, between its ears. As if it wants to be petted.

Okay, Kip thinks. Fine. I will pet you. He pets it and it leans into his palm.

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verushka70

Page Summary

Happy Ray Vecchio Day! (Fannish Fifty #38)
Happy Birthday, CKR! (Fannish Fifty #37)
Fic: Heated Rivalry, Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, PWP for BBTP (Fannish Fifty #36)
Awesome PG-as-queer-icon article on Queerty (Fannish Fifty #35)
Bring Back The Porn Sep. 1, 2026 (Fannish Fifty #34)
multi fic update (dS, HR, fic_promptly DW comm - Fannish Fifty #33)
Fannish Fifty #32: Ramona Milano IG post
New dS word find game (Fannish Fifty #31)
S&A cast reunion at Stratford 2026/7/26 (Fannish Fifty #30)
new due South quiz (Fannish Fifty #29)
I ficced a dS snippet (Fannish Fifty #28)
New dS word find game (Fannish Fifty #27)
interesting NYT article on US/Canada film industry trade negotiations (FF #26)
New musical based on Tragically Hip songs: It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken (FF #26)
Sochi 2014 Olympic Village Grindr use nearly tripled (Heated Rivalry, Fannish Fifty #25)
Patrician Grill (FK, dS filming location) sold, closed, sign coming down (Fannish Fifty #24)
2 interviews with PG re: Waiting For Godot at Stratford (Fannish Fifty #23)
Happy belated birthday, Catherine Bruhier (Fannish Fifty #22)
fic_promptly comm: to inspire you to fic (Fannish Fifty #21)
HR fics I wrote (one I'm still writing) (Fannish Fifty #20)

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