The Friendship of Benton Fraser and Ray Vecchio (aingeal8c)
Friendship
Yep this week I am reccing just some of the moments of friendship between Benton Fraser and Ray Vecchio. As I said in my previous this is what drew me to the pairing in the first place, the friendship and the love that comes from that.
From the start of the Pilot we get to see the friendship falling into place. After a slightly rocky first meeting Ray puts a lot of effort into helping Fraser find the killers of his father. Indeed he risks a lot for a man he barely knows when he pushes him out of the window.
They spend time together both on and off duty.
Off duty wise they indulge in activities that clearly help to build their friendship up. One of these has to be basketball. At the beginning of ‘You Must Remember This’ it seems clear Ray and Fraser are either going to or coming from playing basketball together with the light banter between them, such a hallmark of their friendship.
Indeed the bantering is a hallmark it’s clear they both are saying the words to draw conversation. There’s the wonderful Greek word exchange in ‘Vault’:
Vecchio: I believe the Greeks have a word for this: hubris.
Fraser: Well, no, Ray, actually hubris is excessive pride or wanton insolence.
Vecchio: What about pathos?
Fraser: Well, pathos is a quality in an artistic representation which excites a feeling of pity or sadness.
Vecchio: What about onomatopoeia?
Fraser: Well, onomatopoeia is wherein a word imitates the sound or action of the thing it describes, i.e. woof, bow wow, ribbit.
Vecchio: Irony?
And with off duty activities it’s give and take too. Look at how Ray participates in ice hockey at the end of ‘The Blue Line’ even though he isn’t how shall we say? Graceful? on the ice.
And let’s not forget they go to dinner together in ‘Chinatown’ and at the start of ‘Pizza and Promises’ are about to have dinner together in Fraser’s apartment. These are activities you would do with a good friend and help show their friendship in a good light. And of course Ray took Fraser home to dinner in the ‘Pilot’ and ‘They Eat Horses Don’t They?’
In fact they are so often together that in ‘Witness’ Louise St Laurent is heard to remark; ‘Oh God the other one’ when Fraser appears at Ray’s side.
Lieutenant Welsh has no problem with the Mountie hanging around his station because he can see what a good influence Fraser has on Ray and how well they work together.
They both give and take all the time. A selection of other great friendship moments include (in no particular order):
Fraser’s support of Ray’s actions in ‘The Deal’
Ray not telling Fraser the truth about Mark Smithbauer (The Blue Line)
Ray giving away his Riv’s insurance money (One Good Man)
Fraser giving Ray his hat (They Eat Horses Don’t They?)
Forgiving each other (Letting Go, Juliet Is Bleeding)
Ray rushing to Fraser’s bedside (Manhunt)
Fraser rescuing Ray from drowning (Pizza & Promises)
Ray taking the bullet (Letting Go)
Ray putting aside cases to help Fraser (Bird In The Hand)
Ray offering to let Fraser shoot Gerard (Bird In The Hand)
Fraser running after Ray (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray and Fraser shopping together (They Eat Horses Don’t They?)
Ray putting up Victoria in his house (Victoria’s Secret)
Fraser telling Ray to take the deal (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray shooting Fraser thus stopping him making the biggest mistake of his life (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray driving Fraser around (A heck of a lot of eps)
Ray offering to shoot Dief to spare Fraser the pain (The Wild Bunch)
Fraser refusing to participate in an investigation on Ray (The Duel)
Ray blowing up his Riv (The Man Who Knew Too Little)
Ray carrying Fraser (North)
Fraser going to prison to help Ray (Witness)
Ray mortgaging his house to pay for Fraser’s bail (Victoria’s Secret)
Fraser dressing in drag to help Ray on a case (Some like it red)
Mirroring body language (Heaven and Earth)
There are a lot more than I have covered here. There are moments in every ep. This is just a taster. If I were to list all the friendship moments I’d be here all day.
One poem that sums up the friendship between them, what it is about, for me anyway,is The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling.
The Thousandth Man
Poem lyrics of The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling.
One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.
'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show
Will settle the finding for 'ee.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go
By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.
But if he finds you and you find him.
The rest of the world don't matter;
For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim
With you in any water.
You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man h's worth 'em all,
Because you can show him your feelings.
His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight --
With that for your only reason!
Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot -- and after
Most slash fics I have read mention the friendship between the two of them on some level or another so it’s hard for me to come up with specific fic recs for this one (sadly my gen knowledge is appalling - I’m working on it) but I’m going to mention a couple:
Adalisa has three that take place after COTW. The first has Ray talking to Stella about his and Benny’s friendship:
Confesssions
The second has Fraser talking to Ray Kowalski about his and Ray Vecchio’s friendship:
Discoveries
And the last one is just romance:
Meetings
One by innusiq looking at the meaning of words ‘I love you’:
I Love You
and another a retrospective:
Open Arms
And a couple from pixiecatfish:
Some relationship sap showing the same qualities that made them good friends:
The Little Things
and similar to above with h/c:
When you Love Someone
And a h/c from ashinae
Anything For A Friend
Yep this week I am reccing just some of the moments of friendship between Benton Fraser and Ray Vecchio. As I said in my previous this is what drew me to the pairing in the first place, the friendship and the love that comes from that.
From the start of the Pilot we get to see the friendship falling into place. After a slightly rocky first meeting Ray puts a lot of effort into helping Fraser find the killers of his father. Indeed he risks a lot for a man he barely knows when he pushes him out of the window.
They spend time together both on and off duty.
Off duty wise they indulge in activities that clearly help to build their friendship up. One of these has to be basketball. At the beginning of ‘You Must Remember This’ it seems clear Ray and Fraser are either going to or coming from playing basketball together with the light banter between them, such a hallmark of their friendship.
Indeed the bantering is a hallmark it’s clear they both are saying the words to draw conversation. There’s the wonderful Greek word exchange in ‘Vault’:
Vecchio: I believe the Greeks have a word for this: hubris.
Fraser: Well, no, Ray, actually hubris is excessive pride or wanton insolence.
Vecchio: What about pathos?
Fraser: Well, pathos is a quality in an artistic representation which excites a feeling of pity or sadness.
Vecchio: What about onomatopoeia?
Fraser: Well, onomatopoeia is wherein a word imitates the sound or action of the thing it describes, i.e. woof, bow wow, ribbit.
Vecchio: Irony?
And with off duty activities it’s give and take too. Look at how Ray participates in ice hockey at the end of ‘The Blue Line’ even though he isn’t how shall we say? Graceful? on the ice.
And let’s not forget they go to dinner together in ‘Chinatown’ and at the start of ‘Pizza and Promises’ are about to have dinner together in Fraser’s apartment. These are activities you would do with a good friend and help show their friendship in a good light. And of course Ray took Fraser home to dinner in the ‘Pilot’ and ‘They Eat Horses Don’t They?’
In fact they are so often together that in ‘Witness’ Louise St Laurent is heard to remark; ‘Oh God the other one’ when Fraser appears at Ray’s side.
Lieutenant Welsh has no problem with the Mountie hanging around his station because he can see what a good influence Fraser has on Ray and how well they work together.
They both give and take all the time. A selection of other great friendship moments include (in no particular order):
Fraser’s support of Ray’s actions in ‘The Deal’
Ray not telling Fraser the truth about Mark Smithbauer (The Blue Line)
Ray giving away his Riv’s insurance money (One Good Man)
Fraser giving Ray his hat (They Eat Horses Don’t They?)
Forgiving each other (Letting Go, Juliet Is Bleeding)
Ray rushing to Fraser’s bedside (Manhunt)
Fraser rescuing Ray from drowning (Pizza & Promises)
Ray taking the bullet (Letting Go)
Ray putting aside cases to help Fraser (Bird In The Hand)
Ray offering to let Fraser shoot Gerard (Bird In The Hand)
Fraser running after Ray (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray and Fraser shopping together (They Eat Horses Don’t They?)
Ray putting up Victoria in his house (Victoria’s Secret)
Fraser telling Ray to take the deal (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray shooting Fraser thus stopping him making the biggest mistake of his life (Victoria’s Secret)
Ray driving Fraser around (A heck of a lot of eps)
Ray offering to shoot Dief to spare Fraser the pain (The Wild Bunch)
Fraser refusing to participate in an investigation on Ray (The Duel)
Ray blowing up his Riv (The Man Who Knew Too Little)
Ray carrying Fraser (North)
Fraser going to prison to help Ray (Witness)
Ray mortgaging his house to pay for Fraser’s bail (Victoria’s Secret)
Fraser dressing in drag to help Ray on a case (Some like it red)
Mirroring body language (Heaven and Earth)
There are a lot more than I have covered here. There are moments in every ep. This is just a taster. If I were to list all the friendship moments I’d be here all day.
One poem that sums up the friendship between them, what it is about, for me anyway,is The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling.
The Thousandth Man
Poem lyrics of The Thousandth Man by Rudyard Kipling.
One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.
'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show
Will settle the finding for 'ee.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go
By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.
But if he finds you and you find him.
The rest of the world don't matter;
For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim
With you in any water.
You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man h's worth 'em all,
Because you can show him your feelings.
His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight --
With that for your only reason!
Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot -- and after
Most slash fics I have read mention the friendship between the two of them on some level or another so it’s hard for me to come up with specific fic recs for this one (sadly my gen knowledge is appalling - I’m working on it) but I’m going to mention a couple:
Adalisa has three that take place after COTW. The first has Ray talking to Stella about his and Benny’s friendship:
Confesssions
The second has Fraser talking to Ray Kowalski about his and Ray Vecchio’s friendship:
Discoveries
And the last one is just romance:
Meetings
One by innusiq looking at the meaning of words ‘I love you’:
I Love You
and another a retrospective:
Open Arms
And a couple from pixiecatfish:
Some relationship sap showing the same qualities that made them good friends:
The Little Things
and similar to above with h/c:
When you Love Someone
And a h/c from ashinae
Anything For A Friend