Semimonthly Fanwork Recs #1

[deadfinch]

Welcome to thelockedtomb's semimonthly fanwork recommendation post.

The current plan is to post a new fanwork rec entry every other Friday, at the same time that the new discussion entry is posted. I debated the pros and cons of posting them together vs. posting them on opposing weeks, and I ultimately decided to try this arrangement first. Feel free to send me feedback about how this is or isn't working for you as we go forward.

Since this is our very first fanwork rec post, there won't be any particular theme. (For those of you interested in the idea of totally optional rec themes, feel free to submit some ideas to me here!) That said, since this is the very first rec post of the community, I would actively encourage you to rec things that you think are "obvious." Dreamwidth has the advantage of being very archivally stable, compared to other platforms; even if it feels like everyone's read a particular fic or seen a particular piece of fanart now, new fans ten or twenty years from now might appreciate having everyone's favorites compiled in one convenient place!

To participate, post your recs as a comment (or multiple comments) to this entry. If you want, you can talk a little bit about why you like it.

Any type of fanwork is welcome. Fanfiction, fanart, fanmixes, fansongs, meta—everything goes.

Self-recs are welcome, just make sure to indicate that it's a self-rec.

There is currently no policy regarding content warnings. I welcome feedback from the community about how we'd like to handle this going forward.

For obvious reasons, this is not a spoiler-free zone.

Comments

[rocky41_7]

Forgive me if responding directly to this entry isn't how we're supposed to rec works butttt I saw this absolutely GORGEOUS Harrow fanart (SFW) on my tumblr dash today and must share

Artwork by bunnud

[deadfinch]

ahaha okay yes thank you for asking i didn't even think about commenting vs. making a top-level post. doing it in the comments seems good - i'll edit the entry with appropriate instructions.

in other news: damn, that IS gorgeous!

[cassildra]

This is AMAZING. <3 Stunning!

[themorikelife]

I LOVE IT! Instant reblog on my Tumblr

[liveonthesun]

ooooh this is gorgeous!! i'm not on tumblr and i know i miss so much that happens there. thanks for sharing!

[rocky41_7]

No problem! There's so much beautiful TLT fanart there, happy to draw attention to it （￣︶￣）↗　

[cassildra]

I don't know exactly how this is working, because I haven't done one of these in ages.

I'm gonna do it by putting each fanwork in a top-level comment, and assume comments go below.

The first one is by u/xLuke101010x on Reddit. (I went back to grab a link despite desperately trying to reduce my activity over there, if it says anything.) This is a cross stitch of the cover of Harrow!

A link for the image due to its size and how you should absolutely zoom in.

[rocky41_7]

Wow, I'm amazed not only that it turned out so well, but that the creator was bold and committed enough to take this project on! That's going to look great on the wall :D

[themorikelife]

OH MY GOD! The skill!! I'm in admiration. That's amazing!

[biodamped]

Oh my god - I'm not on reddit so would have missed this otherwise, thank you for sharing. I've done a lot of counted cross-stitch over the years, this is INSANE. O_O

Self-rec ahead!

[cassildra]

As noted above, this is a self-rec of a short fic I wrote (under 500 words). I'm not going to be a powerhouse in the fandom, because I write too slowly and am a fiend for fluff (and smut, to be honest, but--well. I need to finish what's been written to do some of that). That said, this is more longing than outright fluff.

Salt Water and Acerbic Barbs on AO3. I will be mirroring stuff elsewhere when I find spoons!

Enjoy ♥

[biodamped]

I have so many recs saved as AO3 bookmarks, but I do want to do a special shoutout to a couple of my favourites here:

- Fires That Fence The World In by witchoil (Cam/Pal, M-rated; Arthurian AU, one of the most beautifully crafted pieces of fiction I've read for any fandom)

- this time we're done for by darlingofdots (Cam/Pal, E-rated; Alexandrite AU, full of yearning and feelings!!)

- till to love and live be one by patiencespardon (Cam/Pal, T rated; described by its author as "the AU babyfic no one asked for", but boy did the fandom ask for this one)

- Twin Human Highway Flares by JeanLuciferGohard (Cam/Pal, T-rated; spoilers through Nona, That Scene in the bathtub)

- Archaeo, Video, Disco also by JeanLuciferGohard because I can't pick just one fave of Jay's (Cam/Pal, T-rated; implied Abigail/Juno, comedy at its finest)

I'll add more in the next round so as not to overwhelm people with very long lists!

Re: content warnings, I generally assume people will check the AO3 tags before reading, so would only add warnings of my own; otherwise I'd just put pairing, rating and summary. I don't have particularly strong feelings either way though, warnings are easy enough to add. (Of course, that said, I have observed nonsense on discords in the past where content/spoiler warnings veer into the ridiculous - eg. "contains a M/F pairing", "contains romantic Cam/Pal". If we do end up adding warnings to recs, it would be great to keep them to actual warnings only and not just "this is about a ship you have some weird moral problems with".)

[deadfinch]

i will return with thoughts on your specific recs when i have a minute to read them, especially that arthurian au. it looks delicious. ("Slow Burn in the sense that you arrived just in time for me to take this bird out of the oven," lol.)

Of course, that said, I have observed nonsense on discords in the past where content/spoiler warnings veer into the ridiculous - eg. "contains a M/F pairing", "contains romantic Cam/Pal".

i'm not really in charge here, but i'd refuse to enforce that if someone asked for it. turning an entire sexual orientation into a warning category in an open-membership fandom space is not a reasonable request, and i'm kind of shocked to hear that was the norm elsewhere. (sorry you had to deal with that!)

[biodamped]

My favourite kind of slow burn, tbh, and this one delivered IMPECCABLY.

I have miraculously avoided the worst of this in TLT circles (I've heard some horror stories from friends who were active in the space a couple of years back, and were basically crucified for shipping Cam/Pal) but yeah, there's some crazy stuff going on out there. I won't go into specifics here, as I've got absolutely wish to start drama and those spaces are still active; I simply leave them the second I start to see anti- nonsense. I'm an internet fossil and a firm believer in curating your spaces, including employing the block button as you see fit! (The M/F example is actually from another fandom I played in during the pandemic where the predominant pairing was M/M, and to this day it blows my mind. God forbid bisexuals should exist.)

[cassildra]

Your second paragraph is just. yes. Been there.

[biodamped]

Ahhhh, sorry you've gone through it also! :/

[cassildra]

Thanks. You too.

[liveonthesun]

ty for reminding me i still need to read the arthurian au!!

[meikuree]

Hello, I'm so glad this exists! I have so many recs for this fandom, but here's a couple from my recent bookmarks:

1. these reset bones (they might not hold) by pipistrelle (Cam & Pal, T-rated, a post-HtN character study of their bodysharing situation. marked as a WIP.)

2. and cast no shadow in the valley by cadmean (Harrow/Ianthe, M-rated, an erotic rendition of the sewn tongue ritual [!!])

3. to settle in a kingdom made of sugar by rosedamask (Harrow/Ianthe, M-rated. I just love the dark and opulent seduction going on here, and the unconventional porn writing that manages to be surreal in a TLT-honouring way; reccing this with lots of praise.)

4. pulp and paper by sashawire (Ianthe & Coronabeth, M-rated. sharp and insightful Third study.)

5. even trades by knockforaloop (tiac) (Ianthe/Cytherea, E-rated, Ianthe and Cytherea have a hot and twisted mentor/protege relationship. need I say more.)

6. dead flowers in the sand by glasslilies (Cytherea/Loveday, T-rated. the Cytherea voice here is just stunning, my god. I love how this gets across the horror of Cytherea's grief and loss in an understated way.)

7. Bar the Doors (Let the Games Begin) by structural_sentimental (Ianthe/Coronabeth, E-rated. CW for incest, obviously, but this is very hot and in-character piece of Tridentaricest.)

[themorikelife]

Coming here with a fic rec from my AO3 bookmarks.

bluebells by doodleishere. Rated T, Cytherea/Mercymorn, Modern AU where they meet at a grief support group and Mercymorn has trouble moving on from Cristabel's death. Featuring the best depiction of grief I've ever read.

[liveonthesun]

fave fic i read this week is i can't get enough (such selfish prayers) by anonymous. cam/pal/pyrrha, rated E, absolutely delicious. i've been thinking about it constantly ever since i read it.

[biodamped]

I'm so glad you saw that one - I thought of you as soon as I saw it in the tag :P

[liveonthesun]

l;asdkfa;lkj now i need to know what about it made you think of me!

[biodamped]

lmao, it was the final line of the description - I'm not sure why exactly, just one of those random little moments of "I know someone who would probably like this"! But I don't read Cam/Pal/third option generally, and I feel weird about sending people things I haven't read myself xD

[liveonthesun]

went back to read the description and yeah that tracks for me ☺️