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ship_manifestoTitle: The Best Friend A Guy Ever Had
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tinx_r
Spoilers: None
Notes: With heartfelt thanks tooddmonster, without whom this would have been so much less than it is.
This is a ship of happily ever after.
Nick Ryder and Cody Allen are ex-Army and Vietnam vets, currently running a detective agency in Southern California. They met in Vietnam over ten years ago and have been best friends ever since. For the great majority of that time, they've lived and worked together, first in the Military Police and later in their current home, Cody's cabin cruiser the Riptide. So much of who they are is wrapped up in each other. Not surprising, really, considering they've been the pivotal point in each other's lives from their early twenties on.
Riptide is a show about the love Nick Ryder and Cody Allen have for each other. And it is just plain beautiful to watch.
They touch each other all the time. In Catch of the Day, the bad guy has tied their hands, so they sit with their legs pressed against each other. They sit and walk with their arms around each other. They often sit or walk closer together than seems physically possible, in fact.
They're virtually inseparable: they work together, play together, hang out together. They not only live together, they share a small cabin. They are only ever really comfortable when they are together.
To some extent, they've both 'opted out' of the system. Pre-series, they were making rent by providing helicopter harbour tours, fishing trips and waterskiing for tourists, and spending the rest of the time playing beach volleyball. We meet them when they decide to open a detective agency together, with their friend Murray Bozinsky.
Riptide is, in theory, a detective show. There's plenty of action -- car, boat and helicopter chases abound -- but it's not the main focus of the show. The main focus of Riptide is the relationship between Nick and Cody. It's impossible to watch the show without being aware of the special connection Nick and Cody share. Where some shows have sub-text, Riptide has text. In 12-foot high rainbow letters.
These guys love each other with a strength and exclusiveness that is rarely illustrated. Nick is incredibly protective of Cody, both physically and emotionally. He is often worried about external people hurting Cody.
Cody can talk Nick into just about anything. Nick often says things are a bad idea and allows himself to be persuaded by Cody. (Nick's always right.)
In domestic glimpses of the two of them at home together, they pick up and put away each others' clothing. Nick cooks Cody's "favorites" for him. They bring each other coffee. They watch baseball together by sitting cuddled up on the couch.
In the detective arena, Nick and Cody race to each others' defense at the slightest sign of danger or harm. After a fight with a bad guy, they pick each other up. In The Mean Green Love Machine, Cody has been knocked down and Nick is being held at gunpoint by a thug. Nick practically forces said thug to allow him to "check on my partner".
Even more, canon says Nick and Cody talk to each other without words. Nick and Cody never answer a question without looking at each other. And they can hatch whole plots between them with three or four shared glances, and then carry them out - shouting an occasional instruction to Murray.
It's very rare a woman is allowed to come between them, although (to appease the network, I'm sure) the occasional episode where this happens is thrown in. This generally causes Nick to hackle up and get protective of Cody, rightly suspecting these girls of being up to no good. At times, the boys are shown competing for the affections o a girl, but this competition nearly always involves them spending all their time together, and during any time spent in the company of said girl all they do is talk about their "best friend".
I fell in love with Nick and Cody's love story ten minutes into the pilot episode, 25 years ago now, well before I had any idea what slash was. I have loved them ever since. I ship Nick/Cody because they are so beautiful together, so in love, it's impossible not to see it and be moved by it. Nick and Cody are each other's one true love; each has found their soulmate and their joy in each other is as strong as their shared love. Watching them together, writing their life together, is a fulfilling and delightful experience I never tire of.
The Riptide Fandom
You can find us at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
pier56, where we welcome any new friends who like Riptide! Come on over.
If you're looking for the show on DVD, all three seasons are available. You can find them on Amazon, and they may be in some stores too. Additionally, Netflix has season 1 available.
You can find fic on the Riptide Adult Archive, and also onpier56. To help get you started, here are a few recs of some of our personal favorites:
NC17:
Island Time bytinx_r
2300 words. How Nick and Cody fill in time on Fisherman's Island in The Screaming Mimi...
Sometimes They Break byoddmonster
2000 words. This is a love that breaks things.
R:
Promise Nothing bytinx_r
980 words. A difficult conversation...
Tequila Sunrise bysara_merry99
400 words. Nick wakes up with Cody for the first time.
Author:
tinx_rSpoilers: None
Notes: With heartfelt thanks to
oddmonster, without whom this would have been so much less than it is.This is a ship of happily ever after.
Nick Ryder and Cody Allen are ex-Army and Vietnam vets, currently running a detective agency in Southern California. They met in Vietnam over ten years ago and have been best friends ever since. For the great majority of that time, they've lived and worked together, first in the Military Police and later in their current home, Cody's cabin cruiser the Riptide. So much of who they are is wrapped up in each other. Not surprising, really, considering they've been the pivotal point in each other's lives from their early twenties on.
Riptide is a show about the love Nick Ryder and Cody Allen have for each other. And it is just plain beautiful to watch.
They touch each other all the time. In Catch of the Day, the bad guy has tied their hands, so they sit with their legs pressed against each other. They sit and walk with their arms around each other. They often sit or walk closer together than seems physically possible, in fact.
They're virtually inseparable: they work together, play together, hang out together. They not only live together, they share a small cabin. They are only ever really comfortable when they are together.
Nick Ryder is a helicopter pilot, and is still in the National Guard. He owns an old Sikorsky S58-T, painted pink and called the Screaming Mimi. She has a red mouth painted on her nose. He also owns a red vintage 1960 Corvette (with flames on the doors), which he fixed up himself. Nick is a blue collar kind of guy, honest and loyal to a fault. He sees things very black and white, and he'd die for the people he loves. Nick is of Italian descent, impulsive and emotional, and he's comfortable expressing his emotions. He has no living family, and Cody is canonically the most important person in his life. |  |
Cody Allen is of 'good' family. He was in college when his girlfriend broke his heart, at which point he dropped out of school, joined the army and went to Vietnam. His parents (or at least his mother) are still alive, and he seems to have a reasonable relationship with her. He owns the Riptide, as well as a speedboat called the Ebbtide. Even though Cody likes to project that he doesn't need anybody, it's very clear how important Nick is in his life. Cody is less comfortable expressing emotion than Nick, and at times practices avoidance maneuvers when confronted with it. |  |
To some extent, they've both 'opted out' of the system. Pre-series, they were making rent by providing helicopter harbour tours, fishing trips and waterskiing for tourists, and spending the rest of the time playing beach volleyball. We meet them when they decide to open a detective agency together, with their friend Murray Bozinsky.
Riptide is, in theory, a detective show. There's plenty of action -- car, boat and helicopter chases abound -- but it's not the main focus of the show. The main focus of Riptide is the relationship between Nick and Cody. It's impossible to watch the show without being aware of the special connection Nick and Cody share. Where some shows have sub-text, Riptide has text. In 12-foot high rainbow letters.
These guys love each other with a strength and exclusiveness that is rarely illustrated. Nick is incredibly protective of Cody, both physically and emotionally. He is often worried about external people hurting Cody.
Cody can talk Nick into just about anything. Nick often says things are a bad idea and allows himself to be persuaded by Cody. (Nick's always right.)
In domestic glimpses of the two of them at home together, they pick up and put away each others' clothing. Nick cooks Cody's "favorites" for him. They bring each other coffee. They watch baseball together by sitting cuddled up on the couch.
In the detective arena, Nick and Cody race to each others' defense at the slightest sign of danger or harm. After a fight with a bad guy, they pick each other up. In The Mean Green Love Machine, Cody has been knocked down and Nick is being held at gunpoint by a thug. Nick practically forces said thug to allow him to "check on my partner".
Even more, canon says Nick and Cody talk to each other without words. Nick and Cody never answer a question without looking at each other. And they can hatch whole plots between them with three or four shared glances, and then carry them out - shouting an occasional instruction to Murray.
It's very rare a woman is allowed to come between them, although (to appease the network, I'm sure) the occasional episode where this happens is thrown in. This generally causes Nick to hackle up and get protective of Cody, rightly suspecting these girls of being up to no good. At times, the boys are shown competing for the affections o a girl, but this competition nearly always involves them spending all their time together, and during any time spent in the company of said girl all they do is talk about their "best friend".
I fell in love with Nick and Cody's love story ten minutes into the pilot episode, 25 years ago now, well before I had any idea what slash was. I have loved them ever since. I ship Nick/Cody because they are so beautiful together, so in love, it's impossible not to see it and be moved by it. Nick and Cody are each other's one true love; each has found their soulmate and their joy in each other is as strong as their shared love. Watching them together, writing their life together, is a fulfilling and delightful experience I never tire of.
The Riptide Fandom
You can find us at
pier56, where we welcome any new friends who like Riptide! Come on over. If you're looking for the show on DVD, all three seasons are available. You can find them on Amazon, and they may be in some stores too. Additionally, Netflix has season 1 available.
You can find fic on the Riptide Adult Archive, and also on
pier56. To help get you started, here are a few recs of some of our personal favorites: NC17:
Island Time by
tinx_r2300 words. How Nick and Cody fill in time on Fisherman's Island in The Screaming Mimi...
Sometimes They Break by
oddmonster2000 words. This is a love that breaks things.
R:
Promise Nothing by
tinx_r980 words. A difficult conversation...
Tequila Sunrise by
sara_merry99400 words. Nick wakes up with Cody for the first time.
