Broadway Hotel

Fraser/Kowalski Fanfiction
Title:	Broadway Hotel
Author(s):	Resonant
Date(s):
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	due South
External Links:	online here online at AO3
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Broadway Hotel is a Fraser/Kowalski story by Resonant.

Reactions and Reviews

Oh, oh, oh that I could write like Res. Her RayK is sweet and sad and spiky and twisted up inside, and the ending, especially the last line, is one of the best ever. Okay, I like bleak, I like sad, but I also love this. *grins*

Ray leaves Fraser in Canada and goes back to Chicago after panicking about their relationship and his identity, and realizes he doesn’t even know who he is anymore. After some time of exploration, he realizes that he needs Fraser in his life, and there is an absolutely heartbreaking reunion. This is one of those classic pieces in the fandom that everyone has to read as a rite of passage when they start getting into due South. Not to mention that Resonant in an absolutely impeccable writer. This one gets me every time.

Fraser turned a hollow-eyed face on him. "Ray," he said, and then he didn't say anything else, and a second later they were kissing, harsh open-mouthed kisses like if they pushed as hard as they could they'd be able to push right through the distance between them. Or like they knew they couldn't. Gorgeous piece where Ray wants to be normal, and he can only be normal if he isn't shacked up with Fraser. Some absolutely stunning lines, really effective description and one hell of a relationship for a relatively short piece.

Well, I'm going to be predictable and rec a Due South story this update. C'mon, like you didn't expect it. If there wasn't at least one DS rec per update you'd worry about me and wonder if you were on the right page. You know when I first heard about DS slash it seemed weird to me. Like you'd be defiling the mountie to hook him up with a guy. Boy, was I wrong. So very, very wrong. It was the blonde that did it for me. All that wiry energy that just can't seem to be contained in that one gorgeous bod. I totally got hung up on CKR (Callum Keith Rennie, the guy who plays RayK). Speaking of RayK. Smooth segue, I know. This one is an inside Ray's head piece. It's another 'I'm so in denial story' too. Not to many new DS stories coming up the pike lately, the ones that I've fallen for tend to have that running theme of denial. I guess I can relate to that since I have been in a major state of denial every since the X-file finale. Nothing bad happened to Alex Krycek, nothing. See denial. So I think that's why I've been so drawn to these stories. RayK is in major denial in this one. After the adventure is over he heads back to Chicago. Without Fraser. As the story unfolds we slowly begin to realize why. This is one of those stories where you just want to smack Ray upside the head and say, 'Get you ass back to Canada and get the Mountie's ass.' I liked this one, it's not too angsty. Though it does have a sadness to it. The way Ray just can't let himself go where he should, where is heart is screaming it belongs. Those kind of things always choke me up the worst. Where someone is denying what they know is right for them, because they're afraid of what it will make them. So not only is Ray in denial, he's also shit scared of being labeled gay or bi. Denial and repressed homosexuality, seem like they go hand in hand sometimes. I love the ending to this one, though. It has one of those 'if Mohammed won't come to the mountain' moments in it. What's that saying about Mounties again? No, not the real motto about 'Maintain the Right'. The other one, that people think is the motto. Yeah, that one. Big enough hint for you. I practically clubbed you over the head with it.<g>

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.

This is a lovely story and the ending is SO romantic.

Inspired Fanworks

• Art, ^{Archived version} by spacetimeconundrum