Comments | ds_flashfiction: Cheating Challenge

marcellapolman in ds_flashfiction

Cheating Challenge - by Marcella Polman

Aug 13, 2006 14:49

This story is inspired by a particular DS scene. It intrigues me when actors I know suddenly act well below their usual ability, and this is what I see when I watch the scene in COTW 1 where Fraser and Vecchio meet in that hotel room after Vecchio has been undercover for over a year. PG and DM try to convey that Fraser and Vecchio are pleased to ( Read more... )

cheating challenge

Comments 14

buzzylittleb August 13 2006, 14:00:08 UTC

Marcella, you've surfaced again to bring us something absolutely fantastic and a very credible, if not entirely likeable, characterisation of Ray Vecchio. And the cynicism is breathtakingly real and part of a convincing narrative voice.

Oh, and Envious Guy? Makes me laugh.

ps. you fall off not fall of

marcellapolman August 13 2006, 15:41:36 UTC

Hey Buzzy! Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you think the story worked. The Ray Vecchio I described isn't a likeable guy, no, but self-deceit is hard labor, and tired people tend to be cranky. Thanks again, also for helping me polish my English.

nos4a2no9 August 13 2006, 14:49:54 UTC

Y'know, there are some good psychological sketches out there that deal with Ray Vecchio. Most of them are post-CotW, and all of them work really hard to explain how and why he and Stella got together. Very few of them deal so honestly and directly with the motivations you ascribe to him here. Ray in this story is one ugly bastard - cynical, homophobic, in deep denial of his own true feelings and pretty heartless in the way he's using Stella (but then she's using him, too). And I really dug this take on him. It ain't pretty, but it fits with a post-Vegas Ray who's gotten so far away from what made him a good person and a good cop that it's almost impossible for him to find his way back. And I liked how you treated the complexities of his feelings for Fraser. Because for Ray, love ain't enough or even close to it - he's a straight guy and he cannot fall in love with a guy. It makes so much sense that Ray would accept the undercover gig to avoid dealing with his attraction to Fraser that I'm stunned it's not actually fanon :-) Anyway, ( ... )

marcellapolman August 13 2006, 15:49:23 UTC

Hi. Thank you for your elaborate comment. You point out exactly the things I wanted to say with this fic. I was worried that the self-denial would be either too sutble or overdone. The fact that you think I nailed it means a lot. Thanks.

lucifercircle August 13 2006, 17:06:06 UTC

Wow. This is dark and deep and all kinds of good.
I like your version of events.

marcellapolman August 15 2006, 17:59:48 UTC

Thank you for thinking I can do dark and deep. That was a little secondary challenge I set myself. Sometimes "cute" is just nauseating.

(The comment has been removed)

marcellapolman August 15 2006, 18:07:55 UTC

Thank you very much!

akite August 13 2006, 21:21:49 UTC

Oh! That was so not a nice portrayal of Vecchio, but one that I agree with. In my little world, Vecchio took the undercover because he couldn't deal with his feelings for Fraser or Fraser's feelings for him, one or the other. *g*

marcellapolman August 15 2006, 18:26:56 UTC

Thank you for your agreement on my portrayal of Vecchio. It wasn't my intention to make him a real bastard, you know. Just a fucked up guy who lacked courage.
Unlike you, I never thought about Vecchio's reason for taking the undercover gig, until I did this fic. (DM didn't want to play anymore, so we got CKR instead. I never understood the complaints about that. There weren't many anyway I believe.)
The Vecchio/Stella marriage mentioned in COTW's epilogue was just wrong, and I'm glad I've been able to explain just how wrong I think it was.
I think Vecchio is a homophobe, but the more I watch season 1 and 2 DS episodes, the more I warm to him. He's kind of funny. But he'll never beat Kowalski, obviously.