Adorned

Fraser/Kowalski Fanfiction
Title:	Adorned
Author(s):	Resonant
Date(s):	January 2001
Length:	41K (file size); 6963 words
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	due South
External Links:	at Resonant's website; at AO3
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Adorned is a Fraser/Kowalski story by Resonant.

It was podficced by nos4a2no9 in 2008.

Reactions and Reviews

I love the mood in this fic - it's relatively gentle and slow, a shift from Ray being worried about Fraser never needing him or wanting him and Ray being scared for the future to something more subtle, more secure and safe and warm. Lovely.

Wow. This story is exquisitely crafted, set in sections like a series of precious gems in a piece of jewelry, and the analogy is quite fitting. Resonant made me cry with this story, and I'm still not quite sure if it was because I was envious, or because the story is so beautiful. You decide.

Why this must be read: God, doing these recs is tough, in that I try to keep in mind the target audience is people I'm trying to pimp or seduce into the fandom, so what I'm going to be highlighting are the classics, the must-reads, and yet I know people familiar with dS fanfic are sitting there thinking Well, geez, *everyone's* read this, right?? Come up with something cool and offbeat, why doncha?

So, OK, if you're in dS fandom at all you've read Resonant (and Speranza, and others yet to come down the pike), but if you aren't and haven't, oh, what pleasures await you. I had a hard time choosing one of Res's stories to lead off with, and I almost went with Broadway Hotel, which is in my book pretty damn close to a perfect story; but Adorned holds a special and deeply entrenched place in my heart.

It's a collection of short scenes. It is sad, funny, and hot by turns; it's bittersweet and unresolved and full of painful memories and tentative hopes. It's a story where every single detail is perfectly chosen and placed. Resonant's absolute mastery of the perfect detail makes her, in my book, the absolute master of the erotic; her sex scenes never revert to cliches, but rather she always finds the precise kinesthetic/sensory detail that causes the reader to shiver in response. But there's *so* much more going on here besides the erotic; the emotional intelligence, the depth of characterization, and the grace of the writing are always formidable in Res's work.

Two and a half years after this story appeared, she posted a coda, Borealis, which provides a brief and lovely resolution to the sort of minor-seventh-chord ending of the original story. You readers coming to Adorned for the first time can have the pleasure of going straight to the coda; and yet I think there was greater pleasure in waiting all that time, carrying the sad wistful hopefulness of this story around in my heart for so long, and then finally getting the happy ending.

Best FF That Reveals the Unsung Sexy Side of the World Wildlife Federation's Logo, but Not in a Way That Makes You Want to Call the Cops or Anything. Adorned, by Resonant, aka resonant8. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, plus mention of Ray Kowalski/Stella Kowalski.

(Note: if you are a diehard Kowalski/Fraser fan - and I'm naming no names, here, but one of them has been sleeping in my bed - you will want to read the follow-up story, Borealis.) Just so that no old fandom (all together now: "get new fandoms but keep the old - one is shiny and the other is also shiny, only with a richer, deeper luster") feels left behind, I'm recommending another of my much-loved pairings. This one is so much a part of my life at this point that when I typed "Benton Kowalski/Ray Fraser" just now, it took me several seconds to see what was wrong with that. Plus, Resonant. You all know Resonant, right? Well, if you don't, it isn't from lack of effort on my part. She's high on my list of writers I'd chain up in my spare bedroom if I wasn't concerned that a) that might not actually increase their writing output b) they might compete with me for computer time and c) they might also pick up on the unfortunate Stephen King overtones of the whole thing. Plus I understand there could be some sort of legal repercussions. Anyway, this is one of the first dS stories I read by Resonant, and it just totally reinforced my unhealthy feelings for her, because almost every single word of this story is perfect. (I mean it. If there was anything even approaching justice in this world, Resonant's works would be way outselling John Grisham's.) This story is about what we put on our loved ones, how we mark them and how we make them our own. And, oh, Jesus. Worst story summary ever, so let me start again. Ray likes to make things pretty, and that goes double for the people he loves. Now go read the damn story already.