Bell, Book and Mountie

Fanfiction
Title:	Bell, Book and Mountie
Author(s):	lamardeuse
Date(s):
Length:	20,000 words
Genre(s):	slash, het
Fandom(s):	due South
Relationship(s):
External Links:	online at AO3
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Bell, Book and Mountie is a Fraser/Kowalski, Vecchio/Stella story by lamardeuse.

Reactions and Reviews

When Benton Fraser moves into the apartment upstairs from Ray, Ray falls instantly into lust. But it’s not like anything is possible with Fraser being engaged and considering Ray’s…heritage.

I fell in love with "Bell, Book, and Candle" the first time I saw it. It’s one of those movies that you either love or hate, and most people probably hate it. It’s just, there’s Jack Lemmon as a Beatnik. And Kim Novak as a witch. And every time I watch it I fall a little bit in love with it.

This story is close enough to the movie that the plot isn’t exactly surprising for fans of the movie. But the Stella/Vecchio relationship is intriguing. And the casting is perfect. All in all, this is a really cute read that’s still full of angst.

The One That Proves That, No Matter Where They Start, Ray and Fraser Are Destined for a Canadian Shack. (I Am So Going on a Shack Tour in Canada Someday.) Bell, Book and Mountie, by [livejournal.com profile] lamardeuse. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.

I read this story when it first came out, and enjoyed it greatly, but I also spent most of it profoundly confused. "Where are the displaced children?" I asked myself. "Shouldn't someone be learning magic via correspondence course?" And, of course, "At what point do the animated suits of armor show up?" None of these things happened. It was very weird. Almost like...like it wasn't based on that movie at all.

Astute people will already have figured out that it was not, in fact, based on that movie at all, and that I had two movies confused. Bedknobs and Broomsticks, as it turns out, is totally not Bell, Book and Candle. I have seen the former. I have not seen the latter, mostly because Best Beloved has a serious, lifelong hate for that movie. (Ask her about it, and she'll just start muttering hostile things about florists, and she is not normally a floristphobe. And so I reassure her, and also anyone else who has a similar problem with the movie, that there are no florists in this story that I noticed.)

So, in case you're like me and very easily confused, I will spare you the two and a half bewildered (but fun) readings it took me to realize why my expectations were seriously awry: at no time in the course of this story does anyone animate suits of armor, and that is as it should be. And, in case you're like me and haven't seen Bell, Book and Candle (Side note: Oh my god, typing that so many times without the serial comma is killing my soul, but this story is worth it, and that's saying something, since I don't often put - well, basically anything ahead of the serial comma. Judge if you must.), rest assured that you don't need to have seen it to enjoy this story, and in fact you might be better off, since you won't be starting out with florist-related issues.

I love the switches and changes to the canon that [livejournal.com profile] lamardeuse has made here. This many major adjustments to a canon - like switching up Dief and Stella (people, don't try that at home) - can totally destroy an AU, but here, it works, and works so very well that the story's worth reading just as a perfect example of a transmogrification AU, even if you for some strange reason have no interest in dS on magic. (Although, really, is there anyone who doesn't want to see Ray Kowalski casting spells? I didn't think so.) Plus, you get Ray Vecchio in a jazz band. What more joy could you possibly want?