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crack_van2004-01-31 12:31 am
justacat.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-01-31 12:31 am
American Way, by Resonant (NC-17)
Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Author's Website: http://trickster.org/res/
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
resonant8
Why this must be read:
Before my tenure sadly ends, I want to slip in one more Resonant rec. Resonant, like Speranza, is one of those authors who has written so many truly amazing, incredible, knock-your-socks off stories, so many of which are so high on my own personal list of favorites, that it is simply agony to try to settle on just a few to rec. I've decided to go with American Way in order to illustrate her breadth.
The Resonant fics that have already been rec'ed - Sixteenth of June (by me, earlier in the month) and Adorned (by my predecessor in December) - are both vignette fics, and they share a certain cadence and tone, a lyrical tenderness that is absolutely beautiful and deeply moving. American Way, by contrast, is a "plot" fic, and it's painted with a much broader, more irreverant brush. It's an incredibly clever take on the American-vs.-Canadian theme that ran through the show - and in particular, the scene at the end of Some Like It Red, when Fraser tells Ray Vecchio that one of the girls at the school where he was undercover as a female teacher suspected that he might have been .... Canadian. The way in which that line was delivered was quite suggestive - it's hard to avoid the implication that "Canadian" was a euphemism for ... something - male? gay? - and a number of talented authors have capitalized on various of the double meanings in their stories (Speranza's Anatomically Correct, for example).
In American Way, Resonant takes the statement perfectly literally, at least on the surface, and then runs with it in the most delightfully lunatic and mind-bendingly hilarious way. The premise: Ray and Fraser find themselves on a case involving jewelry stolen from a famous Canadian collection. The problem, though, is that every single person who might know anything at all about the case either clams up immediately or runs screaming as soon as they suspect that Fraser might be ... yes, Canadian.
This tends to happen just about as soon as Fraser opens his mouth, despite Ray's best efforts to deflect the potential witnesses' suspicions by attributing Fraser's Canadianisms to ever-wilder causes - he went to boarding school, or his parents were preachers, or he did a lot of acid in the sixties. When these efforts fail, Fraser desperately tries to convince the witnesses to reconsider their reluctance, exhorting them in that classically earnest and pedantic Fraser fashion about Canada's virtues - "Canada is a well-established democracy, and one of the United States' nearest neighbors, and it behooves the two countries to --" - but to no avail. They simply refuse to talk to a Canadian. This distresses Fraser to no end - and provides good fodder for some Canadian jokes:
And the Americanization of Fraser is one of the funniest and sexiest things you'll ever read. To make it work, Ray first has to unstiffen Fraser's spine. Slouch, he tells Fraser, lean back in the chair, and oh yeah, spread those legs:
So it takes a bit of work, but gradually Fraser the Canadian turns into Ben the American - slouching, strutting, snarking, even swearing, his hair marvelously messy, his gaze provacative, looking 100 percent edible and pushing every single one of Ray's buttons. Ray manages to restrain himself from jumping Ben - but it turns out that Ben is taking his new American mantra, "I deserve to have what I want," to heart, and what he wants is Ray. "This is something I want," he says as he reaches out to Ray for the first time, and of course it's something Ray wants too.
The story is rip-roaringly, side-splittingly funny, and always smart and clever with it. But that's not all it is, of course - Resonant's a true romantic, and American Way is no exception. This is at heart a story about the discovery - emergence, if you will - of the "real" Fraser. To Ray, "Ben" seems at first to be an entirely different person from his familiar Fraser, and he's not quite sure which of them he's sleeping with. He loves the sexy American Ben, but finds himself missing stiff Mountie Fraser. And he worries what will happen when that Fraser returns - is their affair, like the slouching and the messy hair, going to just disappear when the undercover gig is over and the red coat goes back on?
What Ray - and we - learn in the end, of course, and in the most moving and beautiful way, is that "Ben" isn't just an act, that the starched-shorts-and-caribou-stories "Fraser" is no more the "real" Fraser, no more the entire person, than the naked, eating-spaghetti-naked-in-bed "Ben" is. Ben is Fraser, and Fraser is Ben, and he's offering all of himself to Ray. It's a short scene, but it's truly gorgeous, romantic and tender.
So American Way manages to be wildly fun, sharply witty, and also touching and insightful. And let's not forget sexy (not that I ever would!) - American!Ben is, as Ray says, sex-on-a-stick, and this combined with the fact that Resonant is simply peerless when it comes to smut, makes the story just mind-blowingly hot. The dialogue is amazing - in addition to perfect comedic timing, the voices are spot on - and the story captures that unique due South wackiness as well as any I've read. It just works on every single level - a true classic, from an author who deserves every one of the many accolades she's ever been given.
American Way
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Author's Website: http://trickster.org/res/
Author on LJ:
resonant8Why this must be read:
Before my tenure sadly ends, I want to slip in one more Resonant rec. Resonant, like Speranza, is one of those authors who has written so many truly amazing, incredible, knock-your-socks off stories, so many of which are so high on my own personal list of favorites, that it is simply agony to try to settle on just a few to rec. I've decided to go with American Way in order to illustrate her breadth.
The Resonant fics that have already been rec'ed - Sixteenth of June (by me, earlier in the month) and Adorned (by my predecessor in December) - are both vignette fics, and they share a certain cadence and tone, a lyrical tenderness that is absolutely beautiful and deeply moving. American Way, by contrast, is a "plot" fic, and it's painted with a much broader, more irreverant brush. It's an incredibly clever take on the American-vs.-Canadian theme that ran through the show - and in particular, the scene at the end of Some Like It Red, when Fraser tells Ray Vecchio that one of the girls at the school where he was undercover as a female teacher suspected that he might have been .... Canadian. The way in which that line was delivered was quite suggestive - it's hard to avoid the implication that "Canadian" was a euphemism for ... something - male? gay? - and a number of talented authors have capitalized on various of the double meanings in their stories (Speranza's Anatomically Correct, for example).
In American Way, Resonant takes the statement perfectly literally, at least on the surface, and then runs with it in the most delightfully lunatic and mind-bendingly hilarious way. The premise: Ray and Fraser find themselves on a case involving jewelry stolen from a famous Canadian collection. The problem, though, is that every single person who might know anything at all about the case either clams up immediately or runs screaming as soon as they suspect that Fraser might be ... yes, Canadian.
This tends to happen just about as soon as Fraser opens his mouth, despite Ray's best efforts to deflect the potential witnesses' suspicions by attributing Fraser's Canadianisms to ever-wilder causes - he went to boarding school, or his parents were preachers, or he did a lot of acid in the sixties. When these efforts fail, Fraser desperately tries to convince the witnesses to reconsider their reluctance, exhorting them in that classically earnest and pedantic Fraser fashion about Canada's virtues - "Canada is a well-established democracy, and one of the United States' nearest neighbors, and it behooves the two countries to --" - but to no avail. They simply refuse to talk to a Canadian. This distresses Fraser to no end - and provides good fodder for some Canadian jokes:
"It's most provoking," Fraser said as they entered the Ice Queen's office. "I can't think why anyone would have such a violent reaction against Canada."What to do? Well, the solution is obvious - send Fraser undercover as an American. And who else to coach him in that gentle art than Ray? It's a crazy, just-barely-plausible, wildly quirky kind of set-up that's totally true to the spirit of the show - it could have worked perfectly as an episode.
"I'm gonna be nice here and not mention Celine Dion," Ray said.
And the Americanization of Fraser is one of the funniest and sexiest things you'll ever read. To make it work, Ray first has to unstiffen Fraser's spine. Slouch, he tells Fraser, lean back in the chair, and oh yeah, spread those legs:
"More. Further. Fraser, come on. In America, a guy sits like he's got a fuckin' Harley in his jeans, right? Give the boys some room there."Ray also has to figure out a way to somehow override all that Mountie politeness that has him "after me"-ing people into taxicabs and elevators all afternoon. He's in civilization now, Ray tells him, and he's "gotta do what civilized people do, which is to try to grab stuff away from other civilized people." To that end, Ray teaches Fraser the "mantras of an American" in this absolutely priceless exchange:
"Repeat after me. I was here first."You just have to shake your head in awe at Resonant's brilliance when you read passages like this.
"I was here first. Although actually, Ray, from a historical perspective --"
"Shut up, Fraser. Say it: I'm in a hurry."
"I'm in a hurry."
"I got important business here."
"I've got important business."
"I know what I'm doin'."
"I know what I'm doing."
"If I want it, I deserve it."
"If I want it, I deserve it."
"You lookin' at me?"
"Ray, I really don't think I can --"
"OK, never mind, we'll save the de Niro for the advanced classes."
So it takes a bit of work, but gradually Fraser the Canadian turns into Ben the American - slouching, strutting, snarking, even swearing, his hair marvelously messy, his gaze provacative, looking 100 percent edible and pushing every single one of Ray's buttons. Ray manages to restrain himself from jumping Ben - but it turns out that Ben is taking his new American mantra, "I deserve to have what I want," to heart, and what he wants is Ray. "This is something I want," he says as he reaches out to Ray for the first time, and of course it's something Ray wants too.
The story is rip-roaringly, side-splittingly funny, and always smart and clever with it. But that's not all it is, of course - Resonant's a true romantic, and American Way is no exception. This is at heart a story about the discovery - emergence, if you will - of the "real" Fraser. To Ray, "Ben" seems at first to be an entirely different person from his familiar Fraser, and he's not quite sure which of them he's sleeping with. He loves the sexy American Ben, but finds himself missing stiff Mountie Fraser. And he worries what will happen when that Fraser returns - is their affair, like the slouching and the messy hair, going to just disappear when the undercover gig is over and the red coat goes back on?
What Ray - and we - learn in the end, of course, and in the most moving and beautiful way, is that "Ben" isn't just an act, that the starched-shorts-and-caribou-stories "Fraser" is no more the "real" Fraser, no more the entire person, than the naked, eating-spaghetti-naked-in-bed "Ben" is. Ben is Fraser, and Fraser is Ben, and he's offering all of himself to Ray. It's a short scene, but it's truly gorgeous, romantic and tender.
So American Way manages to be wildly fun, sharply witty, and also touching and insightful. And let's not forget sexy (not that I ever would!) - American!Ben is, as Ray says, sex-on-a-stick, and this combined with the fact that Resonant is simply peerless when it comes to smut, makes the story just mind-blowingly hot. The dialogue is amazing - in addition to perfect comedic timing, the voices are spot on - and the story captures that unique due South wackiness as well as any I've read. It just works on every single level - a true classic, from an author who deserves every one of the many accolades she's ever been given.
American Way