Retired Guy Hobbies
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Retired Guy Hobbies |
| Author(s): | Greensilver |
| Date(s): | |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | |
| Fandom(s): | due South |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | Wayback link |
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Retired Guy Hobbies is a Vecchio/Stella story by Greensilver.
Reactions and Reviews
At the risk of being over-cautious, I'm gonna cut here. So, I don't think I'm alone in the opinion that most of the characters not named Benton Fraser or Ray Kowalski (or possibly Harding Welsh) got kind of hosed by the end of CotW. And, given that he was a cornerstone of the show at one point, Vecchio's hosing made me even sadder than the rest. Fortunately, we have fic to address these oversights. :) Greensilver does a fantastic job here of taking the head-scratcher of "Vecchio and Stella move to Florida and open a bowling alley" and turning it into something believable and emotionally powerful. Her Stella is excellent, strong and sexy and sympathetic, but this fic is really all about Vecchio, and Greensilver just gets him—all the things that he values, the things that mean home to him. It's a wonderful character piece, made all the more impressive for having such a bizarre canonical premise as a starting point. [1]
The series finale pairing of Ray Vecchio/Stella Kowalski might (to some) not make much sense. Learning about where they ended up could look like it's OOC. What trelkez has done with this beauty of a story is show us what happens after their so-called Happily Ever After. Sure Vecchio loooves the beach and the retirement and, to a lesser extent, being so far away from Chicago. Stella seems to be thriving in Florida and so, Vecchio tells himself that he's happy.Only that's not really the case.
For, despite brimming to his fingertips with love toward Stella and being reciprocated, he's lost as to what else is there to do with his life. So we see him try on different things and not quite getting the fulfillment he's seeking. Until, seemingly out of nowhere, he reconnects with some parts of himself that he though he had left behind. He ends up embracing the new and the old. Another thing that made me think that this was THE post-CotW Vecchio is his relationship with Frannie and what she becomes for him.
To me, this is how things went down for Vecchio and Stella after the show ended. The Vecchio in this fic is brave and loyal and human. The ending is full of grace and what I'd call pure Vecchioness.
And I, for one, wouldn't have it any other way. [2]