I was waiting to comment on this, letting it sit for a while in my noggin.
First, I want to echo, ditto and repeat nos4a2no9's comments, which reflect a lot of what I feel about this story: interesting premise, fascinating ambiguity, untold complexities. So there!!!
BUT...I have to add, on the proviso that Fraser's power is real, this has to be one of the most tragic stories I've ever read. Fraser is prepared to give up desire (not just sexual, but in all senses) in order to keep those he loves safe from unforeseen reprecusions. If he has, indeed, extended his 'security blanket' to RayV, then suddenly the later events concerning Victoria and Las Vegas make tragic sense. Fraser loved and wanted Victoria, but she was a killer. Interestingly, it could be that his outreach to RayV saved both of them: Victoria was unable to kill Vecchio or even destroy him, and even Fraser was, in the final run, stopped (by RayV himself) from destroying Ray's life. Is that like a compound fracture?
And then Vegas -- it is possible, then, that Fraser's power kept 'Armando' alive, but at the cost of their friendship/relationship. The aching desire RayV has for Fraser is clear in this story, and I can so VERY clearly see china_shop's sad story Say Good-bye This Time (http://www.stonesoup.co.nz/chinashop/fic/saygoodbye.html) as a sequel to this -- that Fraser's power saved him, but for what? Wow. The complexities you've introduced in this story could be weaved into a thousand different paths.
One of my favorite sound bites is from Sophocles, and this story illustrates it beautifully: "Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse."
no subject
First, I want to echo, ditto and repeat
BUT...I have to add, on the proviso that Fraser's power is real, this has to be one of the most tragic stories I've ever read. Fraser is prepared to give up desire (not just sexual, but in all senses) in order to keep those he loves safe from unforeseen reprecusions. If he has, indeed, extended his 'security blanket' to RayV, then suddenly the later events concerning Victoria and Las Vegas make tragic sense. Fraser loved and wanted Victoria, but she was a killer. Interestingly, it could be that his outreach to RayV saved both of them: Victoria was unable to kill Vecchio or even destroy him, and even Fraser was, in the final run, stopped (by RayV himself) from destroying Ray's life. Is that like a compound fracture?
And then Vegas -- it is possible, then, that Fraser's power kept 'Armando' alive, but at the cost of their friendship/relationship. The aching desire RayV has for Fraser is clear in this story, and I can so VERY clearly see
One of my favorite sound bites is from Sophocles, and this story illustrates it beautifully:
"Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse."