Broadway Hotel by Resonant (NC-17)

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Hi, I’m Mere, and I’ll be manning the due South crack sled for the month of March. Just to let you know what to expect, F/K is my OTP, but in this fandom I’ll read just about anything. (Except F/V, sorry.) So you guys can look forward to some gen fics and Ray/Ray thrown in. Also, I’m relatively new here, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to rec a few more recent authors along with the classics. Classics like this one:

Fandom DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Author on LJ: resonant8
Author Website: in medias Res
Why this must be read:

RayK: You ever feel like you don't know who you are? Like if you weren't around somebody, or that someone wasn't around you, then you wouldn't be you, or at least not the you that you think you are. You ever think like that?

Thatcher: Never.

RayK: Me either.
-Call of the Wild

That quote is one of my favorite moments from Call of the Wild. I really think it captures so much about Ray and RaynFraser and due South in general.

Also, it works well as a summary for this story.

When I first got in this fandom (actually thanks to the crack_van), you know, still hesitantly poking around, I came across this fic. It was one of the first F/K fics I’d ever read, and somewhere in the course of reading this, the pairing just clicked. I got it. I loved it. I had to find more. And thus, another notch on Mere’s bedpost of multi-fandom whorishness.

That said, I cannot believe this has never been recced here before. (In fact, I’d bet good money it was and just never made into the memory section.) The only reason I can think of is that it might be redundant, since if you’re in the fandom and you haven’t read everything Resonant’s ever written yet- dude, what’s wrong with you? Still, it’s definitely worth a reread.

Post-CoTW. Ray has returned to Chicago alone. Initially, Broadway Hotel seems to be about Ray adjusting back to life in Chicago, and trying to figure out just who he is now. Naturally, there’s more going on than just that. And, as this story brilliantly unfolds, we discover what’s happened to bring Ray to this point.

Of course, it all leads back to Fraser.

Broadway Hotel is just genius, to my mind. I love the characterizations, the details, the pacing- a slow, angsty build-up leading up to an ending that will knock you on you arse. It remains one of my favorite dS stories ever. In fact, it has so many great lines I couldn’t pick just one part to put in an excerpt. I love it so much it’s saved on my computer; it gets reread all the time, and the ending still makes my breath catch. I honestly could not recommend it more highly. Yeah. Just read it.


Broadway Hotel

Comments

[true-enough.livejournal.com]

This is a great story. I haven't read it in a while but what stayed with me was Ray trying so hard to resign himself to life away from Fraser and the resulting lonliness. It's full of angst but the emotions are well earned.

::pulling it out to re-read again::

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Yay! I agree; it is angsty, but I think it works because Res keeps it deliciously understated, and the mystery of how things ended between them isn't revealed until near the end.

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

It was one of the first F/K fics I’d ever read, and somewhere in the course of reading this, the pairing just clicked.

Me too. This is one of my Top 5 slash stories in any fandom.

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. Definitely on my desert island list of fics.

[firesprite1105.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. This is on my top five lists of fic in any fandom. God, I love this story. :)

*runs off to reread*

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Yep. This was the story that made me want to pull a Helga from Hey Arnold! and build a shrine to Resonant in my closet. Ah, if only that wasn't seriously freakin' creepy, I might have done it. *g*

[timian.livejournal.com]

Guh. That was delectable. Thanks so much for the rec! :)

[merelyn.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it! It's still one of my all time favorites. :)