ds_recsredux | DS Match Haiku Review

Due to defaulting last year, I was unable to participate as a writer for this year's DS_Match, which gave me great sadness. Instead, I was instructed to do recs to clean my plate -- er, slate. So here we have a palate cleansing series of Haiku Review for each fic. If you haven't already, go read and vote!

I can see the stars from a million miles (F/K)

When Fraser's replaced
to judge a space race (or game)
Ray senses he's "off"

Investigation
proves he's stranger than before
(which was weird enough)

I won't give away
Just what's been done to Fraser
or how it gets fixed

Just think of Sci Fi
Wormholes and extreme laughter
and don't drink and read.

Want (F/K)

Shape shifting Ray K
Is a gift to this story
and to Fraser, too

He must heed the calls
desires, wants, but never him
until, one day, Ben.

Undercover, Ray
lost inside himself, until
Fraser truly sees

Weak Men Must Fall (K/V)

If this is whimsy
I am relieved it's not real
This story broke me

I am flayed open
my capacity for flight
bled out like Ray's wings

Angels unaware?
dark dreaming demon daughters?
Magical? No, real.

Call of the Waves (F/V)

A Whale of a tale
Fraser gets his sea legs and
frolics, free, with Ray

A Whale-man "Shedd's" his skin
Ray finds out he's Benny's kin
It's time for a swim.

Fraser with his scales
A gorgeous sight, others pale
Not Mermaid, Merman. Male.

My Life As A Dog (F/K preslash)

All bark and no bite
Ray as Deif is a delight
A "tale" wagging sight

Shot to the Heart (F/K/V)

"Groundhog Day." "Replay"
Ray dies and wakes up again
each time different

It's kind of a romp
there's violence and humor
you don't want to laugh

It takes many tries
matching up calendars, 'til
They're on the same page.

First One Thing, Then the Otter (F/K)

Writer, you had me
from the pun and the premise
Otterly darling

The explanation
Why Fraser gambols and plays
makes too perfect sense

I want to frolic
With our adorable boys
Why am I human?

Otterness suits Ray
dancing laughing distracted
it was meant to be.

Lift (Kowalski/Vecchio, Fraser/Kowalski/Vecchio)

Bird bones, not bird brained
Ray's metamorphosis cracks
his 'normal' shell

Vecchio has hands
to help. Kowalski's wings spread
and this story soars.

Fraser brings knowledge
makes brand new discoveries
new ways of nesting.

The match begins well
with whimsy that reads as real
"Lift": I laughed, aloft.

Notes on the Impossibility of Nirvana (Fraser/Vecchio)

Fraser hardly dares
to dream of what he wishes
someone always pays

Wishing makes it so
But repercussions abound
Fraser bites his tonque

Were this "Reality"
a different, darker tale
would still ring as true.

I Am a Man Upon the Land (Fraser/Kowalski)

Story-telling soft
as silk, but no fairy tale
Fraser's perfect form

Sirens capsize ships
The author captivates us
like Ray, we want more

Strange Constellations (Kowalski/Vecchio)

This fic is gilded
and lit with wit from within
Steampunk Kowalski

World building. No, worlds
each one I'd visit again
in a full length book

Ray and Ray (and Ray)
meet and part like gears, Clockwork,
teeth. Finally, lips.

The Heart's Compass (Fraser/Kowalski)

Little Ben's visitor
pops in unexpectedly
and leaves the same way

Such a lively boy
the visitor (it's Ray) thinks
He says "Call me Steve"

Time traveling Ray
His quantum leap, just to help
for the love of Ben

I can only (Fraser/Vecchio)

The voices rang true
even from female bodies
it was clearly them

Fraser lists Ray's faults
and just as much, attributes
builds Ray's character

believable whimsy
Two women I want to know
as well as the men

The Blue and the Dim and the Dark (Fraser/Kowalski)

Written like a dream
sly bent lucidity
surreal and serene

daytime case to solve
night time lessons to be learned
intermeshing lives

This fic is a trip
layers of meaning and truth
hard to decipher

The Harder They Fall (Fraser/Kowalski)

There is no magic
Fraser flies, fails, falls, flees -- flawed
In an altered state

Readers are changed, too
invested in this Fraser
as much as Ray is.

Ray must not lose him
How can he(or we) give up?
We all take that leap.

This is a story
that engages, and inspires
fear and affection.

Suicide is Painless (Fraser/Kowalski, Kowalski/Stella)

Organized crime time
Sharp as a stilleto heel
a case of heartbreak

Reading this, I thought
I'd want them both on my side
(and on each other).

The Best Thing To Say (Fraser/Kowalski)

No matter who hears
the story never gets old
always makes me smile

Just a simple fact
not angsty revelation
They're together now

True simplicity
The writer's affirmation
brings satisfaction.

Watchman (Fraser/Kowalski/Vecchio, beginnings of Welsh/Frannie)

Wellsh turns a kind eye
on things some might let pass by
He's a stand-up guy.

Fraser, Ray and Ray
all back, as partners. On the job
perhaps in the sack?

Miss Vecchio, no
Frannie says yes, matchmaking
wishes them the best.

I love this rare pair
and the three, If there was more
I'd read it with glee.

C-Three-H-Five-(N-O-Three)-Three (Fraser/Kowalski)

Their story is told
intricate and intimate
a gorgeous format

"The Hand of Franklin"
True authorial intent.
Our boys: best sellers.

"Anon" weaves a tale
Ray frets, wound tight, wise Fraser
learned it's best to wait.

Hardly explosive
when Ray's revelation comes
nobody gets hurt.

Something To Look Forward To (Fraser/Vecchio)

Vecchio says "No"
to get Benny to say "Yes"
This is what I want."

It isn't perfect
it's a real relationship
awkward. Amazing

Ray's voice is captured
Fraser's mannerisms, too
I will reread this.

Deep Colours Bleed (Fraser/Kowalski/Vecchio)

First, the title grabbed
thoughts of how the three would blend
overlapping love

each of their voices
Vecchio's damn lack of choices
I read and felt blue

I want to believe
in their guaranteed future
see them fight the odds.

Truths Like Gravity (F/K)

Three daughters Ray loves
a marriage he cherishes
a perfect future

told in memories
some real, some Ray's imagined
what they've had, and missed

Fire-lir descriptions
of Ray and Fraser, older
gilded and silver

Five Times Ray Kowalski Was Ashamed of His Dick and One Time He Wasn't (F/K, K/Stella)

Long and hard (like Ray)
to read, thinking of poor Ray
ashamed without cause

Characters feel real
(I want the Caspy story)
and tell us Ray's past

Towhead in warpaint
Young Ray plays the roles he must
though it doesn't fit.

Later, colored green
(Don't tell me you licked that, Frase)
Ray cleans his freak off.

Fraser's hands and mouth
call him beautiful and loved.
Want him. Accept him.

Brushing Shoulders with Vice (F/V, F/K/V preslash)

Ray Undercover
Fraser and Vecchio, too
under the covers

Talking about three
is it better than "we"?
Would Ray K agree?

God knows I sure do
Two is hot, But three? Woo whoo!
Writer? I love you!

Detail (F/K)

Perhaps not whimsy
but definitely wacky
"Don't bring the Mountie"

Ray and Fraser look
for clues. Fraser never buys
the ones Ray sends him.

The "duck boys", the Lieu
Stella, and the butler, too
all 'did it' for me.

a problem of memory (F/K/V, F/K)

Stella's view is skewed
I would dare say she feels screwed
her dark thoughts intrude

Stella needs a friend
Frannie blabs, Stella pretends
none of it matters

Like the elephant
in the room. She can't forget
but won't acknowledge

An uneasy truce
no comfort for the reader
just recognition.

Next July We Collide with Mars (K/V)

Two Rays on the road
brilliant banter, flirting, bed?
Fraser in trouble

Sister Maggie called
The pair down from Chicago
Fraser needs them both.

Mystery woman
Could it be Victoria?
We all hold our breath.

Like speeding along
or rowing over rapids
The story zips by.

For a Good Life We Just Might Have to Weaken (F/K)

Ray K and Fraser
want each other but don't dare
express it in deeds

Dead porn producer
His work splayed larger than life
hard not to react

But none of the men
hold a candle to Fraser
Ray must let him now

They're not in a film
Don't need perfection -- thank God
Real life means mistakes