Third Person (due South story)
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| Fraser/Kowalski Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Third Person |
| Author(s): | Julad |
| Date(s): | |
| Length: | 8976 words |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | due South |
| External Links: | Third Person (Ambivalent Pleasures) AO3 copy (imported from the DSA) |
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Third Person is a Fraser/Kowalski story by Julad.
Summary: (due South, Fraser/RayK) Bombs, chinese food, insanity. All part of getting to know Fraser.
Reactions and Reviews
Best FF That Proves, Once and for All, That in a Really Difficult Situation There's Nothing Quite as Unhelpful as Parental Interference: Third Person, by julad. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.
Fraser, being Fraser, cannot have father issues like everyone else. He has to have the ghost of his dead father hanging around commenting on his father issues, usually via totally nonsensical stories about Buck Frobisher and that time on the DeWitt 10-Meter Ice Gap when they got their man by constructing a primitive turbine engine out of a sapling, goose grease, Buck's second-best hat, and four live wolverines. "And that's when I learned that it's important, no matter how much of a hurry you're in, to grab wolverines behind the temporomandibular joint, son..." And meanwhile Fraser is trying to live his life and, you know, maybe even construct a primitive turbine engine of his own. In short, Fraser has to do everyone in the world one better even at having annoying parent problems, but it's hard to envy him. It is, however, really easy to laugh at him. And then go all gooey over the way his friends - well, let's be honest and just say Kowalski - don't laugh at him. Or, in this story, strangle him. [1]
I was checking my e-mail and found an announcement on the lists for this story. I read it and just loved it. Julad is making a pretty big hit in the Sentinel fandom and it looks like she is turning out some gold in DS too. This one is set between BDtH & CBaD, it's more of a "branch-off" she says than trying to fit it into canon. I guess that's her way of saying it kinda goes AU somewhere between those eps. The thing I loved about it was Ray's reaction to Fraser having those frequent conversations with his Dad. At first Ray thinks Frase talking to him or maybe the wolf, likely candidates since they are the only ones around at the times this happens. Then he just doesn't know what the fuck is going on and thinks maybe Fraser is unhinged. Fraser has been wondering the same thing ever since dear old dad started showing up and sums up as much. Ray gets to see the ugly side of Fraser, the Polite Mountie drops around him right away and he gets to really see Fraser. He realizes he's probably the only one who does. That is one thing I always liked about Fraser and RayK, he gets to see Fraser at his worst. Fraser fights with him, really just yells, lets go of the polite shit and tries to scream over him. With RayK he gets snarky, sarcastic, snide, and maybe a few other S words. He lets down his guard around RayK, it's demanded of him. Ray doesn't believe that polite all the time bullshit, he wants to see the ugly parts, get to know the sides Fraser isn't so proud of. That is why I see slash potential in the pair, because they are just who they are around one another. They let go of pretenses and be themselves, worts and all. We see that in this story, some of it slips by accident, the rest comes out with a little prodding. Truths are revealed and let loose from all sides. I love that, knew right away I had to rec it. The characterizations are fascinating, don't know if they are completely correct or not, but I loved them. Loved seeing Fraser let go and yeah, I think he might act this way. So I think they are pretty damn good. Really good. Check it out and see what you think. [2]
Truth-telling time: I don't like episode-based fics. I find them a little dull to read, and I have a hard time getting through descriptions of incidents I've already seen on the show. So it takes something special to get me to read episode-based fic, and Julad's story is one of those rare cases where it works. Third Person is set just after "Eclipse" and "I Coulda Been a Defendant" and deals with the fallout from those episodes. Ray Kowalski is still getting used to the lay of the Vecchio land, and he's started to notice some of his new partner's...quirks. Such as the Mountie's tendency to hold conversations with thin air. Because we're seeing everything from Kowalski's perspective, Fraser's conversations with his long-deceased father becomes a confusing game in third-person misdirection as we try to work out who is speaking to whom, and what exactly it is they're saying. Throughout the story we feel Ray's frustration and share his concern that Fraser is certifiable, and when the two end up in the 2-7s supply closet together he forces Fraser into a confession, although it's not quite the one Ray (or we) expected. Julad shifts gears after that to bring Kowalski and Fraser together in a bittersweet moment of recognition, and the whole story works as an intense, thoughtful reconsideration of Fraser from a stranger's point of view.[3]
Ray tries to figure out Fraser's eccentricities, especially the inconvenient and confusing conversations with thin air. Witty and brilliant.[4]
References
- ^ rec by thefourthvine at Slashy Nominations 83: Each Unhappy Family Is Unhappy in Its Own Way, September 22, 2004
- ^ Slash Slut's due South Recs Page, Archived version
- ^ nos4a2no9. Third Person by Julad (NC-17), Archived version posted in Crack Van, 2007-11-18.
- ^ "Due South: Fraser/Ray K Fic Recs". Archived from the original on 2023-08-28.