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queerfables · 6 months

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Taking away the glass?

Oh gosh I'm actually so keen to talk about this so thank you for the opening!

Context: Responding to akaitsukicat's artwork of Crowley and Aziraphale separated by a glass wall, I said that the reason we're all such wrecks over their kiss is because after 6000 years in canon and 33 years in real life, that kiss was "taking away the glass".

The glass is a metaphor that media scholar Henry Jenkins uses to explain the appeal of slash, originally published in 1993. Here, "slash" refers to queer re-interpretation of heterosexual media, including transformative works exploring those readings.

This is what Jenkins says about the glass:

When I try to explain slash to non-fans, I often reference that moment in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan where Spock is dying and Kirk stands there, a wall of glass separating the two longtime buddies. Both of them are reaching out towards each other, their hands pressed hard against the glass, trying to establish physical contact. They both have so much they want to say and so little time to say it. Spock calls Kirk his friend, the fullest expression of their feelings anywhere in the series. Almost everyone who watches the scene feels the passion the two men share, the hunger for something more than what they are allowed. And, I tell my nonfan listeners, slash is what happens when you take away the glass. The glass, for me, is often more social than physical; the glass represents those aspects of traditional masculinity which prevent emotional expressiveness or physical intimacy between men, which block the possibility of true male friendship. Slash is what happens when you take away those barriers and imagine what a new kind of male friendship might look like. One of the most exciting things about slash is that it teaches us how to recognize the signs of emotional caring beneath all the masks by which traditional male culture seeks to repress or hide those feelings.

The vid I refer to, inspired by Jenkin's comments, is The Glass by thingswithwings. It's a beautiful vid, sad and hopeful and empowering, with a very moving commentary on fandom history. It was originally published in 2008, which is relevant to understanding the position it takes in the dialogue around queer relationships in media.

Here's thingswithwings' summary of the vid, as it appears on YouTube:

Henry Jenkins, speaking of the Spock death scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, said, "slash is what happens when you take away the glass." It has been said, in response, that death also happens when you take away the glass. ie, if you took away the glass Kirk would die of radiation poisoning too; the barrier between desiring men cannot be removed on pain of death. Homosexuality, or just loving touch between two people of the same gender, is equivalent to death in this media narrative. One of the interesting things about slash is the way it takes away the glass, then puts it back, then takes it away, then puts it back, often pleasurably. I think this is both problematic and powerful. It is problematic because it reasserts the impossibility of the touch (it fetishizes oppression in a negative manner); it is powerful - and good - because it dwells on and thinks about and removes the glass (it fetishizes oppression in a transformative manner). One of the interesting things about mainstream media is that it continues to put the glass back up, no matter how hard we try to tear it down. Queer desiring touches have been, and remain, imaginable but impossible. TL;DR ALTERNATE SUMMARY: THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME KIND OF INVISIBLE BARRIER IDK WHAT IT MIGHT BE

In regards to Good Omens, it's relevant that this entire conversation about homosocial relationships in media takes place within the 29 year period between the publication of Good Omens the book and the adaptation of the story to screen. The vid was created 15 years ago - which is to say 18 years after the book was published and 11 years before season 1 was released - and it talks about realised queer desire in mainstream media as being so impossible that it is equivalent to death. That is the kind of resistance that queer representation in pop culture has been up against, these last three decades.

Crowley/Aziraphale, as depicted in the book, is such a classic example of slash. I've seen some people who read the book in a contemporary context saying they didn't necessarily pick up on any subtext between the characters, and I suspect this is a mark of cultural expectations. Firstly, because the cultural references that the intentional subtext relies on have become obscured over time - see Neil Gaiman's explanation of the "consenting cycle repairmen" line. But more importantly because the audience's frame of reference for unintentional subtext has shifted, too. What is unsayable and which silences are emotionally loaded has changed over time. Even if you are intentionally using a queer lens in your reading, you might not see subtext in the same places that someone would even 10 years ago.

For example, take this passage from the book:

On the whole, neither [Aziraphale] nor Crowley would have chosen each other's company, but they were both men, or at least men-shaped creatures, of the world, and the Arrangement had worked to their advantage all this time. Besides, you grew accustomed to the only other face that had been around more or less consistently for six millennia.

On it's face, this line suggests that the relationship between the two of them is a matter of convenience more than desire. Maybe that's the intended reading and maybe that's how it started or how they justify their association to themselves, but taken together with how deeply they know each other and how they are always each other's first thought in a crisis, suddenly "neither would have chosen the other's company" sounds like an extremely British way to say they care about each other far more than they were supposed to. Plus, this is Aziraphale's take on their relationship, and it plays rather beautifully against Crowley's much simpler expression of the exact same sentiment:

Aziraphale. The Enemy, of course. But an enemy for six thousand years now, which made him a sort of friend.

To go back to Henry Jenkin's wise words, what we're seeing here is Aziraphale thinking about Crowley through the glass - through the "aspects of traditional masculinity which prevent emotional expressiveness or physical intimacy between men". If you came up in slash fandom at a time when seeing queer relationships in canon was unthinkable, you probably find it easier to identify the gap between how Aziraphale thinks about his relationship with Crowley and how their relationship actually functions. That gap was where a lot of slash lived.

You might say that the book shows Crowley and Aziraphale watching each other through the glass, and season 1 is them pressing up against it. They're still prevented from showing the full depth of feeling between them, they still hunger for more than they're allowed, but they are reaching for it. We see the history of their relationship developing through the ages. The unsayable is still left unsaid, but we feel the weight of it in everything they do. They come so very close but they still can't cross that threshold.

And then there's season 2. Within the text, Crowley and Aziraphale are not just pressing against the glass, they're actively trying to dismantle it. They're searching for a door to the other side. They're inspecting for weak points where they could cut their way through. And then suddenly they're out of time and out of options and the glass is still between them, and there's nothing they can do.

As the audience, you feel that desperation. You feel that grief. And if you're someone who's been watching the glass go back up on every relationship you thought might stand a chance of tearing it down, it hits hard. You're longing vicariously with the characters, but you're longing for yourself too, to see queer desire made possible. To see queer touch made not just imaginable but real.

And then, with all hope lost, Crowley throws himself through the glass. It doesn't matter that it doesn't save them. They kiss and it changes everything. Queer desire is no longer up for debate. Queer touch is no longer impossible. They kiss and the glass shatters, entirely and irrevocably.

This is why it matters so much that they did kiss, even though the love between them was already undeniable. For thirty years, Crowley and Aziraphale were part of a media landscape that relentlessly reinforced the glass at every turn and flooded fatal radiation through any crack they couldn't fix. In a different context, that kiss would be less vital to affirming their relationship. But in the world we live in, with the specific history that this story has, I don't think anything else could have done what it did. The glass between these characters had been reinforced over decades, in a culture that made the barriers to open intimacy between men inescapable. Their kiss was what it took to break it.

And by shattering the glass, this story has fundamentally rewritten what is possible. It proves the rules preventing true affection between people of the same gender can be defied. Queer people are already becoming more visible in pop culture; we're no longer reliant on slash reimagining queer longing between heterosexual leads. But Crowley and Aziraphale's kiss is cathartic and vindicating in an entirely different way. It turns slash into intentional queerness. It takes a fetishisation of oppression vacillating between problematic and transformative, and finally stands up on the side of powerful, empowering transformation. It confronts the barriers that once rendered this desiring touch impossible, and breaks through them once and for all.

That's what taking away the glass means. That's what Good Omens did.

#good omens #good omens meta #taking away the glass #fandom history #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #fable talks good omens

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twwings · 4 months

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At midnight on new years eruthros and I watched our vid Cockroach Motherfuckers and I heartily recommend this to anyone who wants some FUCK YOU I'M ALIVE 2024 energy

vimeo

#my stuff #vid #multifandom #queer #Vimeo

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gargoyleandgremlinpress · 8 months

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But wait, there's more Fanfic Writers' Appreciation Day! I have four more books that I CANT POST YET and it's kind of killing me.

I decided I was going to try to finish all four of the books promised to other people that were languishing as WIPs, and I didn't get them in the mail in time to arrive with their recipients before FFWAD, but my GOD, did I get them done and mailed! (@renegadepublishing keeps organizing the events and challenges, and that is what I need some days to get things done.)

First off, there is a copy of Build Me No Shrines, one of my favourite MDZS fic, on its way to occultings, and I have already shared the first copy I made this past Feb here along with all the reasons you should read it. The author copy shows that I've had some more experience, and a few tiny typeset tweaks, and I'm not stalking the tracking number at allll...

The series Shelter Me by thingswithwings is two Leverage fic, Old Dog and New Tricks, an Eliot-centric OT3 full of heart and kink! It is in book shape, on its way to its new home.

Ten Prides in Portland by Leiascully is the same OT3 pairing, what it says on the tin, the slow evolution of Eliot finding queer community over a decade. And Simple Machines is another two-fic series, this one by coffeesuperhero, an adjacent Eliot finds queer community OT3 story. Both books are also headed to their respective authors.

I did not plan the Leverage theme! It just happened! I will go on at greater lengths when I post the finished pictures, but I very much wanted to get a rapid-fire rec post out today for FFWAD.

Happy Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day, everyone!

#fanfic writers appreciation day #ffwad #ffwad 2023 #renegade loves fic #mdzs fic #leverage fic #all (ok many) of my favourite things

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ineffable-rohese · 6 months

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Good Omens, or the Disruption of Gay = Death

CW: historical homophobic violence and death

@queerfables recently wrote an excellent meta on slash fiction and the concept of "Taking Away the Glass". I had some thoughts, which I was going to add as a reblog, but this seems to spiraled away from the original post, so I'm posting this on its own, but I'm referencing their ideas and references, so maybe go read that first.

This is especially for those of you who are, say, under 25 (which is apparently most of Tumblr), and who haven't had much opportunity to learn queer history. Let me say, I'm not a queer historian. I am a queer who has lived through recent history and can reasonably clearly remember the last at least 35 years of it, and I was fortunate to have had schooling that did include some earlier queer history and didn't shy away from queer topics. (I recognize now what a revolutionary bit of teaching that was.)

I also want to acknowledge that I'm writing from a place of relative privilege, as a white cis woman living in a progressive part of North America, and that some of what is history for me is still life for others. I am speaking from my own personal experiences here -they are by no means universal. But I think it's important for us to share our stories, so this is part of mine.

When You're Dying in America, at the End of the Millenium

Fables quotes a video by thingswithwings as saying "Homosexuality, or just loving touch between two people of the same gender, is equivalent to death in this media narrative." In the 1980s and 1990s, when Good Omens was written and first published, that wasn't a metaphor. When I was a baby proto-queer, what I heard about being gay was that it killed you.

My formative memories of what it meant to be gay weren't pride parades or even riots. It was gay men dying by the thousands and governments and religious leaders ignoring them at best, and welcoming their deaths at worst. To be gay, and a gay man in particular, was to be marked for death. It wasn't until a straight white boy who got it from a blood transfusion died that AIDS became something that "normal" people had any empathy for and governments really started to act.

The gay representation I rember in the media as a moderately sheltered child from the 80s and 90s with left-of-center middle class white parents was news about AIDS, Philadelphia (death from AIDS), Ellen (cancelled after she came out), and eventually RENT (desperately trying not to die of AIDS or capitalism). I knew a very small handful of out gay adults, and no trans adults at all.

My first time being in a large group of queer people was a vigil for Matthew Sheppard, who had been beaten and left to die tied to a fence. I remember being terrified. I wasn't out yet. I knew people who hated us might be there, this group of mostly young queer people gathering with candles to cry over a boy we'd never met, and over the many others who had died just for being what we were. I'd never even kissed a girl yet. I only knew my queerness in relation to death.

In the last decade or so of the 20th century, being queer was about grasping any bit of joy you could from a world that very clearly would prefer you were dead. It was defiance and anger and fear every time you held your love's hand, or kissed them in public. My second date with the person who would become my spouse was interrupted by some dude in a truck shouting slurs at us was we walked down a quiet street. We laughed it off - no one had thrown anything, or beaten us, so it wasn't a big deal. It should have been a big deal, but we couldn't let it be. When you're marked for misery and death, you can't let the little things get to you. You just hold each other's hands as tightly as you can and defiantly keep walking.

An Angel and a Demon and Immortality

Good Omens was written during some of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic (which is still ongoing, by the way), before there were effective treatments, when gay = death. It is a mainstream, mass-market book. It wouldn't be shelved in the "Gay and Lesbian" section at the book store, it would be shelved with humour, or possibly fantasy.

And yet, here we have these two beings. An angel and a demon, with an unlikely friendship, and who are very clearly written as gay. Or, at least, as percieved as gay by outside observers. Aziraphale in particular is (in one of my favorite lines) "gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide," and "THE southern pansy" (self-proclaimed). Together, they are "consenting bicycle repairmen" (Neil Gaiman's explanation for context) who Anathema was safe with the whole time.

Whether you caught the subtextual shippyness of their relationship (and to be honest, I only did a little when I first read it), they were very obviously written as precieved-gay characters, in a story where their precieved gay-ness wasn't the cause of their downfall. Yes, an 11 year old calls Aziraphale a faggot. But he doesn't get arrested or beaten of killed - he just gets covered in cake. And he loves cake! The attempted insult just rolls off him like water off a duck's back, because he has no pressure not to be visibly gay.

Becuase, see, unlike us humans, unlike his gay contemporaries, he is not marked for death. He's an angel. He's immortal. Even more, he was made by God, exactly how God wanted, presumably, and that is intelligent, English, and so very gay.

Niel and Terry are saying so much here. You can be gay and loved. You can be gay and have a deep relationship. You can be gay because that's how God made you. You can be gay forever, through all time, with someone beside you, finding joy in your life.

You can be gay and not die. You can be gay and live.

#good omens meta #queer history #aids history #this one's personal #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #death #hiv/aids #homophobia

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kuwdora · 2 months

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Festivid Recs Roundup (part 1?)

Some Festivid 2023 Recs from around the fandom neighborhoods:

marina on dreamwidth has 17 recs that include her favorites from this year. Wheel of Time, Silo, sports, cats, cdramas, hallmark hanukkah movie, D&D: Honor Among Thieves, Nimona, and more.

bironic on bluesky has a thread of 4 mini-playlists that are incredibly well-themed! Native horror, Iterations, Book Adaptations (SERIOUSLY GO CHECK THIS ONE OUT), and Rebellion.

beatrice_otter on tumblr and dreamwidth has a lovely grab-bag of recs. Chocolate Guy, Andor, Shakespeare gender feelings, lesbians and more.

marina on dreamwidth has also 3 more festivid recs for All Around the World in 80 Days and recs for two different Romeo + Juliet (1996) vids.

ghost_lingering on dreamwidth has 10+ festivid recs, gushing over two RRR vids (they're epic vids woooo), as well as recs for the book vid The Goldem and the Jinni, Wingspan, a kitty vid, and more.

tafadhali on tumblr part 1 festivid recs reccing the six vids they received! Philadelphia Story, Alfred Hitchcock, Jesus Christ Superstar, D20.

cupidsbow on tumblr Festivid 2023 reeeecs features 20+ recs with hearty enthusiasm. Includes vids for the magical realism vid from the movie Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, D&DHAT, Janelle Monae vid, time-looping vid of delight, Cocaine Bear and so much more.

periru3 on tumblr also has Festivid Recs List, But Make It Horny (Part 1), featuring Rebecca Ferguson RPF vid, OFMD RPF, The Quick and the Dead. All of the Bound vids (SO SEXY), Romeo+Juliet, Janelle Monae, The Pirate.

thingswithwings on tumblr has A Big Festivids Recs Post. Knives Out, David Cronenberg, Wheel of Time, all the Dropout TV vids, Taskmaster and so much more.

tafadhali on tumblr has 25 more festivid recs. Barbie. LESBIANS, body horror (BUT MAKE IT HOT), Fire Island, Les Mes, Sports Night... and so much more!

periru3 on tumblr also has Festivid Recs List, But Make It Horny (Part 2). Doctor Sleep, Wheel of Time, Christine. Face/Off, Tar, Taskmaster RPF. And more!

If you've made me a recs post for festivids this year, please leave me a comment somewhere and I'll include it in another round-up post if I collect a few more links!

Festivids 2023 Collection on AO3

#vid rec #festivids #festvids 2023 #fanvid #fanvids #fan video #fan videos #fan edit #fanvideo #fanvideos

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themculibrary · 5 months

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Sam/Steve Masterlist 4

part one, part two, part three

American values (ao3) - orphan_account T, 6k

Summary: Sam likes Steve. Steve likes Sam. But Captain America’s never dated a guy before.

And The Reasons We Were Singing (ao3) - impertinence E, 25k

Summary: Sam's had a lot of unexpected experiences and has dealt with a lot of shit. But all of that pales in comparison to what happens when he and Steve find Bucky.

(Or, Sam becomes a part-time therapist, falls in love, and gets some closure. Not necessarily in that order.)

be careful (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor G, 885

Summary: Sam has an accident in his and Steve's new house, and Steve has to call for an ambulance.

Beyond Late (ao3) - mrs_d E, 3k

Summary: There was still a light on in Sam’s bedroom window. Steve had been getting nothing but Sam’s voicemail since he left four days ago to meet Tony and the Avengers in California; either Sam had been very busy, or he was angry with Steve, and Steve was getting more certain which it was every second he hesitated on the porch.

for the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds (ao3) - everybodylies G, 10k

Summary: Sam returns from his second tour in not too good of a shape. He’s down a wingman, working for his cousin, and ignoring his friends. On top of all that, he’s started talking to a bird…

Hypothermia (ao3) - thecommodore_squid (orphan_account), Wolviecat M, 34k

Summary: "He's a veteran."

"You've talked to him?"

Sam shook his head. "I can tell," he said firmly, tone booking no room for argument.

Natasha's gaze was critical and clouded with a vaguely ominous shadow. "You have to be careful."

AKA A Canon-Divergent AU in which Steve becomes homeless, and nothing is as it should be.

If You Also Want To Tell The Truth (ao3) - impertinence E, 33k

Summary: Diplomatic incidents happen all the time, but not all of them end in marriage. And not all trips to alien planets involve a mysterious killer. Sam and Steve are having all kinds of new experiences lately.

long awaited reunion (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor G, 1k

Summary: Sam walks into the kitchen and flicks on the light. He looks up, and he startles as soon as he sees that there’s a man sitting on his kitchen counter. Sam instantly reaches for a knife, ready to protect himself.

“Who the hell are you?” Sam demands, pointing the knife at the man. Then he stops, because holy shit, that’s Bucky Barnes. It’s the man that he and Steve have been searching together for over a year now. Here he is, casually sitting on his kitchen counter. “Bucky Barnes.”

In which Bucky shows up at Sam and Steve's apartment late one night. Steve happens to be on the other side of the world.

Luck and Love in the New Year (ao3) - NachoDiablo T, 3k

Summary: Steve gets domestic while preparing for the new year, with perfect results... eventually.

many the miles (ao3) - CapnWinghead T, 4k

Summary: After months of radio silence, Sarah Wilson travels to Brooklyn to track down her brother. When she arrives, she finds Sam living with a tall blond guy that seems to know more about him than she does at the moment.

Not How It Works (ao3) - starrdust411 T, 51k

Summary: In that moment Steve felt like a drowning man pulling everyone down with him and of all the things Sam could do, hugging him was probably the most absurd.

On Your Right (ao3) - thingswithwings T, 5k

Summary: Sam puts the Trouble Man soundtrack on repeat, like a talisman at first, when he thinks that Steve might die. The doctors are grim and serious, claiming that they did what they could for him, removing the bullets and stitching his insides back together. A few hours later, the doctors' faces get less grim, more confused, and a few hours after that, they're throwing their arms up in the air in frustration and grinning with triumph at the same time, because apparently the Super Soldier Serum is worth more than just the fastest mile in human history.

Sam spends that time beside Steve, in the position he's gotten used to after only a couple of days: on his right, waiting to see where he'll run next, ready to get his back.

Playlist (ao3) - copperbadge T, 6k

Summary: A lot of songs have been written about Captain America. Sam owns most of them. Steve's relationship with them (Steve's relationship with everything) is complicated.

Sam and Steve explore pop culture and pine for each other while trying to rescue Steve's messed-up best friend.

Practice (ao3) - astolat E, 3k

Summary: Steve hadn't asked Sam why he'd come along, but if he did, Sam could tell him that hanging out with him was just plain relaxing.

Press (ao3) - mardia T, 5k

Summary: “So thanks to this interview, everyone thinks we’re dating,” Sam says, her voice flat. She looks up from the front page of the New York Post. The cover is a paparazzi photo of her and Steve out at the Indian restaurant last night, sitting together cozily at their table with the headline “America’s Heroes...America’s New Power Couple?”

Tony glances over her shoulder as he walks past the couch, and says, scoffing, “That headline’s awful. They should’ve at least been able to make a pun out of Falcon.”

The Candle In Your Window (ao3) - mrs_d M, 17k

Summary: Sam had been tracking Nomad for six months now, as the guy cracked security systems that were supposed to be impenetrable. Nomad had stolen over $100,000 in cold, hard cash from corporations that missed the money about as much as Sam would miss a nickel that fell out of his pocket — not that that stopped them from demanding back every penny, of course. Nomad then turned around and gave most of that money away to charity within forty-eight hours, making Sam’s job even trickier.

So here he was, in the choir loft of a Catholic church on a snowy Friday night, hoping to catch a criminal. And his mother accused him of having no social life.

The Road Toward (ao3) - AltZFic E, 36k

Summary: It’d gone like this: Steve Rogers approached Sam on the National Mall and then Steve approached Sam at the VA and then Steve kissed Sam. And then two days later, Steve Rogers approached Sam again, knocked at Sam’s back door with Natasha Romanoff at his side and asked for Sam’s help. And since then… well, Sam’s – let’s just put it this way: no one would be surprised to hear Sam say that it wasn’t really how he’d imagined the last few weeks going is all. Signing on to help Captain America, getting back in the sky after all that time, standing at Steve’s side as Steve’s world started to crumble and collapse around him, and then helping Steve bring down SHIELD, saving the world like Sam Wilson was some kind of freakin’ superhero. And then, after all that, then nearly losing Steve just a few days after they first met.

"I've had to put up with a lot?" Sam repeated, crossed his arms over his chest, smiling. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way to describe the last week.”

the weather outside is frightful (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor T, 1k

Summary: Sam is staying in the cabins with Bucky. On the way back from a trip to the town, Sam finds himself in the wrong cabin, but there's a blizzard outside and there's really no choice but to bunk with the stranger during the blizzard.

you can see it with the lights out (ao3) - defcontwo M, 4k

Steve leans up on one elbow, looking down at Sam, that same crinkle around the edges of his eyes noticeable even in the gloom of the motel room light. “I know it’s been seventy years since I last had sex with a man but I’m still pretty sure that’s bullshit, Wilson.”

Sam Wilson falls in love. Like everything else, it's a process.

#themculibrary #marvel #mcu #samsteve #steve rogers #sam wilson #samsteve masterlist

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powerpolyculeshowdown · 1 year

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I reblogged (from do-what-the-knight-tells-you) with propaganda, but I understand you may have many people reblogging things at this time, so instead I will send ask with propaganda.

The best leverage propaganda imo Is the fan vid Parachute by thingswithwings (twwings on YouTube)

youtu.be / RrqWzkoTJGQ

Respectfully,

- a leverage ot3 stan

youtube

here u go!!!

sorry theres so much in my notes i try to keep an eye on the reblogs but easiest way is to either send an ask or @ me

#ppspropaganda

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kandisheek · 1 month

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FIC REC WEEK 12 – OTHER MARVEL SHIPS

STEVE/SAM

Not the Destination by KiaraSayre

Pairing: Steve/Sam Rating: NR Words: 8,007 Tags: Road Trips, Demi Steve, Armchair Therapy

Summary: Before they leave New York, Tony Stark (Tony Stark, Jesus, Sam's not over it, never ever over it) hands him an AmEx Black and says, "Don't let Cap spend it all on egg creams and quarters for the jukebox." "That is exactly what I'm gonna do," Sam says. "Egg creams and jukeboxes, nonstop. That's how we roll."

Reasons why I love it: All the fluffy feels! I love Sam basically coaching Steve into a bit of happiness, and I'm so happy that Steve is the one to finally take that last (first?) step. This whole fic is so sweet, and I adore all the stops they make along the way, the progression feels so natural. So yeah, it's fantastic, and I highly recommend it!

Closer to flying by Odsbodkins

Pairing: Steve/Sam Rating: M Words: 2,405 Tags: First Time, Canon Adjacent, Past Steve/Bucky

Summary: Sam Wilson had thought he had excellent gaydar. The sort of neighborhood he grew up in, then the military, a near-flawless gaydar was a survival essential. He was going to have to revise it to “has excellent gaydar in person”. Because he had never had the slightest inkling that Captain America might be gay.

Reasons why I love it: Steve being an experienced gay icon, we stan. I love the Steve Rogers is Not A Virgin trope, and this fic does it incredibly well. I also really enjoyed the hopeful note that this fic ends on. It's fantastic, and I hope you go and check it out for yourself!

Easy Does It by astolat

Pairing: Steve/Sam Rating: M Words: 6,489 Tags: Post-CA:TWS, Sex Pollen, Marriage

Summary: “It just seems like—it should mean something,” Steve said plaintively. “Well, I guess it does,” Sam said, after a thoughtful moment. “Means you’re not a virgin anymore.”

Reasons why I love it: Oh my god, that ending scene is the fucking best. I love how this fic strikes the perfect balance between being fluffy, funny and angsty, and does all of them equally well. Steve hanging out with Sarah and the kids is adorable, and I love Sam and Steve's banter throughout. This fic is wonderful, and I hope you check it out for yourself!

between our bodies there's a battlefield by thingswithwings

Pairing: Steve/Sam Rating: E Words: 4,805 Tags: Porn with Feelings, Anal Sex, PWP

Summary: Sam hadn't ever had cause to think about it, not really, but if someone had told him that he would end up in a pity fuck situation with Steve Rogers, gorgeous kind superpowered American war hero Steve Rogers, he would've assumed he was the one being pitied.

Reasons why I love it: Sam reading Steve like a book and giving him exactly what he needs is really fucking hot. And oh my god, Steve asking to be held down, and that anecdote about Tom? Scorching. Steve's desperation just makes it all even hotter, goddamn. I love this fic so much, and I bet you will too!

you can see it with the lights out by defcontwo

Pairing: Steve/Sam Rating: M Words: 4,702 Tags: Falling In Love, Past Relationship(s), Insecurity

Summary: “Will you believe me if I tell you that this is a normal thing that happens between two guys that are friends?” Sam says, and yeah, he’s pretty sure that that came out as weak as it sounded in his head. Steve leans up on one elbow, looking down at Sam, that same crinkle around the edges of his eyes noticeable even in the gloom of the motel room light. “I know it’s been seventy years since I last had sex with a man but I’m still pretty sure that’s bullshit, Wilson.” Sam Wilson falls in love. Like everything else, it's a process.

Reasons why I love it: Gaaah, this fic gives me ALL the feels! Sam's conflict is so relatable, and I love the hopeful ending. Steve is such a sweetheart too. This fic is incredible, and it deserves all the love in the world, so I hope you check it out!

#marvel #samsteve #ficrec #fic rec #a year in fanfic recs #fanfic rec

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inimitablereel · 4 months

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2023 Fic+Vid recs

A variety of things I liked this year, made this year. Once again, this got long, so fic recs and fandom-specific recs for dmbj are below the cut. But first a few miscellaneous vids

[vid] Cockroach Motherfuckers by eruthros, thingswithwings multifandom Immortal queer characters multi-vid! This is exactly as much fun and hopeful as it sounds. I've seen maybe 2 of the sources so you know, you don't have to have seen them all.

(We) Didn't Just Come Here to Dance [Fanvid] by FairestCat fandom: Newsies I haven't actually seen newsies, but I really liked this vid. Taking the (very dramatic) musical theater dancing and putting it to a Carly Rae Jepsen song works SUPER well, visually very fun time. Also, unions!

[Vid] Oceanographer's Choice by absternr fandom: Heroes (cdrama 2022) Bai Choufei, Su Mengzhen, and Lei Chun's fucked up relationship(s)/falling apart bad times. This vid is deeply upsetting, just a real exploration of sometimes caring a lot about each other makes everything worse. For maximum sad times, this goes well with absternr's other heroes vid, hey, I just met you, which is the meet-cutes that led to this whole mess.

[AMV] The Draw by Lovely Goblin fandom: Revolutionary Girl Utena Black Rose Arc! I've watched this vid so many times really good weird and creepy black rose arc vibes really good parallels between all the different duelists

Also blanket rec that if you've seen Everything Everywhere All at Once, consider looking for vids for it. There's a bunch on ao3 (which can be easier to navigate than youtube, though there are definitely more total vids on youtube) and they're pretty much all spectacular? I was going to include one or two in this rec post and couldn't decide

The wild phonemes of 40 Eridani Keid by astronicht Fandom: Star Trek (aos/tos mashup canon) relationship: Spirk ~10k words rated E You know if you'd told me a year ago I'd be reccing a spirk fic in 2023 I would have been a bit surprised. This is not particularly my fandom wheelhouse. But you know, they're always good, and this fic is really great. This is almost an episode-fic except that nothing really happens plot-wise. But instead of a plot we get a lot of musing about geology and diplomacy and clever references to current events as history in that very trek kind of way and Spock being bitchy just for fun.

fuori dal mondo by bladedweaponsandswishycoats fandom: Qi Ye relationship: Beiyuan/Wu Xi, Beiyuan/Zhou Zishu (more plot than ship focused) ~60k words rated E This is a retelling of Qi Ye except Beiyuan is... some kind of eldritch horror, part-time. It pretty much goes beat for beat through canon (which I appreciate, I loved that book and do not like any of the current tls enough to reread) but with the added layer of whatever is going on with this eldritch thing, which is very cool and tied into canon so don't let me spoil it for you.

We're Leaving Our Shadows Behind Us by lady_ragnell fandom: Tortall - Protector of the Small relationship: Kel/Neal/Yuki ~70k words rated T Canon retelling of Squire and Lady Knight but from Neal's POV. This fic really digs into Neal as a character and the details of the worldbuilding of Tortall, especially the chamber of the ordeal. Also somewhere along the way it sold me on this ship, which I wasn't exactly rooting for when I read the books the first time.

The Untamed/MDZS

a harmony between qin and se by Alaceron relationship: Wangxian ~60k words rated E This is a gender-bent (to make it a het romance) no magic historical drama au where Wei Wuxian is a woman who's arranged to marry Lan Wangji. Honestly this is pretty far from the untamed, especially in terms of themes, though some plot elements will be familiar, but mostly it's just a really great compellingly written historical drama, that happens to have main characters with some familiar characteristics.

Like a Game of Chess by countingcr0ws relationship: Wangxian ~40k words rated T Modern au: influencer Wei Wuxian runs into Lan Wangji on a trip to Taiwan and they travel around together. I love all the little details of their trip - it's like getting to see a new place without going anywhere. Also sometimes I forget that wangxian are very cute? They're a good ship brant

The Epic Highs and Lows of High School Zine Production by el_em_en_oh_pee relationship: Jin Ling & Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling & the mdzs juniors ~7k words rated G Modern au: High schooler Jin Ling has big feelings about a lot of things, including zines, gender, and family. One of those juniors-centric fics that makes me say oh they are Teens huh.

DMBJ

A Little Hole in the Wall by MountainRose gen, Liu Sang centric ~8k words rated G Honestly I would rec this fic even to people who know nothing about tomb shows. One thing that really draws me to a book is descriptions of food (I have read multiple food memoirs this year), and this restaurant au has AMAZING food (and food prep) in it. Not too plotty, mostly just descriptions of delicious things and characterization via cooking.

green with an attitude by ilgaksu relationship: heihua ~8k words rated T If you are in the English language dmbj fandom and you care at all about heihua you probably have already checked out ilgaksu's fic, which has basically defined heihua for the English language fandom. My favorite heihua moments are when other people show up and give you that foil to realize how weird they are, and this fic has that both via Xiuxiu and Wu Xie. Also, a fic about dancing!

making anything last, keeping anything safe by A (mumblemutter) relationship: Wu Xie/Xiao Bai (background pingxie) ~8k words rated M Post canon Xiao Bai takes Wu Xie to explore a tomb that should be perfectly safe... (They set off a sex pollen trap.) I don't particularly ship this, but this fic was extremely well done and kind of sold me on the ship. Fun tomb, really fun characterization for everyone involved.

A World Made Over, Fresh and New by Thimblerig gen, iron triangle, Wu Xie & Li Cu ~1k words rated G If you've ever gotten specific dmbj fic recs from me, it's probably included something by Thimblerig, they're amazing at pulling in very specific canon snippets in under 5k words and I'd generally recommend going through their work by tags if you're looking for fic with underloved side characters or fic set during a part of canon that isn't UN or post-canon, which are generally easier to find. That said, this particular fic is in fact the fandom staple of post-reboot let's go look at a tomb and pulling in a big ensemble cast including some reboot folks. But it's a staple because it's a good vibe, and this is a really well done sliver of friendship and relationship building and perhaps even a tomb trap?

[Vid] Still Into You by absternr iron triangle ot3 This vid is a bop! Multi-tomb show iron triangle being in love, through the years! I've got this bookmark tagged as "joyful"

[vid] When He Died by teyla Wu Sanxing-centric This vid really leans into the weird tomb nonsense and conspiracies and builds to something quite odd, meant in the best possible way. A concentrated version of what tomb shows want to be at their best, from a horror/strange spooky things perspective. Mind the tags.

[Vid] Before I Do by absternr Xiuxiu character study A vid all about Xiuxiu being a badass - she's so clever and cunning and she will figure out and surpass her family history.

#reclist #last year's version of this I had a nif section and I was a little surprised I didn't have ANY this year #but the nif exchange is a little later this year and also tbh I have more or less just reread nif fics so my rec would be...#reread that ruthless love (or check it out if you haven't already)#once again if you have been thinking about making a rec post please do I would like to have recs #tumblr really wanted this to be formatted with big font hopefully I caught all of it :/

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voxofthevoid · 14 days

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Hiiiiii

What are your top 3 non-voxofthevoid AO3 smut fics of all time?

Byeeeee

(I love your work too but curious minds want to know!💝)

I love how you've phrased this 🤣. And it's a question I'm delighted to answer!

This isn't really a strict top 3 though. My memory isn't good enough to remember everything I like. But when it comes to porn, I sure as fuck love these three:

Entanglements by astolat (MCU, multi but mainly Loki/Thor]

Bloodsport by Askerian [Bleach, Ichigo/Grimmjow]

monster by thingswithwings [MCU, Bruce/Tony]

#i love my anons #anon #fic rec

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farm-witches-fic-recs · 10 months

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Hello, Witches! What are your guys' fave brewerrose recs with 80k and upwards words? I've just read Anything For Us by SweetSirius and I'm hooked with reading long fics!

Preferably not very heavy angst please 😅

Thank youuu!! ❤️❤️

There's really nothing like getting lost in a longfic!

We'd like to suggest spending some time with these:

A fair return - thingswithwings

favored nations - @blueink3

Going Down - @concannonfodder

I carry these heart-shapes only to you - @ladyflowdi, @ships-to-sail

I'd Swing With You for the Fences - @nontoxic-writes

Incorrect - @lisamc-21

Love at First Taste - @deenerann

My gambling days are gonna end like this - whetherwoman

Shall I stay? - alldaydream (@maybewecandreamalittle)

Sometimes, Home Is a Person - houdini74 (@mostlyinthemorning)

Such Great Heights - @likerealpeopledo-on-ao3

You are the only, only, only - @designatedgrape You can fall - sweetsirius/@wordthieve

#ask a farm witch #sc fanfic #sc fic rec

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bustyasianbeautiespod · 7 months

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Crystal, I feel like you mention a cool fic that I've never heard of every episode; would you be willing to make a rec list?

HIII YEAH SURE. the funny thing is that (given our recording schedule) grey finished ep6 three days ago and i'd been compiling a post-s1 fic rec list for him so i'm just gonna repeat some of those. this is NOT comprehensive it's just what's been on my mind recently and isn't on like the first 3 pages of the sort by kudos for a/c

Strange Pilgrims: Being the Account of a lost Angel, the Journeys of a Demon, the meaning of Free Will, of the Unravelling of a Prophecy, and of Being Unravelled by it in Turn by sousverre (T, 127k words)- love the writing style love the lore cried both of the times i read the epilogue chapters. p canon divergent i feel but it's like its own creature to me

gnawing with my teeth my bonds in sunder, I gained my freedom by noodlefrog (E, 10k words)- i call this one the vagina dentata fic that invented love due to how it's the vagina dentata fic that invented love

The Best of Times by indieninja92 (T, 2k words)- they have a Moment in 192 AD and it's very augh. have enjoyed other fics by this author also

Love's Such an Old-Fashioned Word by Lavellington (G, 2k words)- it's just nice

Not a Human AU by maniacalmole (G, 34k words)- makes me wail makes me ache. there's a ring also. i recommend checking out other fics by this author also

A Shifting Spectrum of Grey by PenroseSun (E, 21k words)- the premise is "two asexual immortal beings bumble their way into a friends-with-benefits relationship that neither of them actually wants" and it's very good

help me to say by dotsayers (T, 3k words)- i reread this one today and it's cute. they meet up in a nunnery

Live In Thy Heart, (Maybe?) Die In Thy Lap by larkthorne (E, 33k words)- ace crowley and allo aziraphale make it work

Coitus Interruptus with Paperwork by mountagrue (E, 4k words)- pwp marathon sex that is also so funny and so trans wish fulfilment

for the line is thinly drawn 'tween joy and sorrow by malicegeres (G, 2k words)- what if hanahaki was so funny

and three s2 ones

I would not ask (and neither should you) by mercuryhatter (M, 2k words)- GENDER. also they kiss in edinburgh

affection and other cravings by JustStandingHere (E, 29k words)- hellooo aziraphale and appetite

long distance by thingswithwings (T, 4k words)- I LOVE MISERY

also, the ones that i recall mentioning on podcast

a German song famously covered by 21 year old Wayne Newton in 1963 by spocklee (Not Rated, 13k words)- "Didn't Sisyphus ever get to fuck that fussy old boulder?"

follow me in merry measure by larkthorne (G, 2k words)- lesbian a/c dancing in 1946

A Glittering Instrument by malicegeres (T, 91k words)- crowley has a daughter kidfic

have a good day!

- Crystal :)

#asks

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piratefalls · 1 year

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i've been back on my leverage bullshit for a hot minute now. in my effort to put off watching the season 2 finale of redemption (because watching the finale means the wait for a season 3 announcement has finally arrived and i'm not emotionally prepared for that) i dove deep into ao3.

parker/hardison/eliot

The Two Weddings Job by HugeAlienPie

A year later, Sophie and Nate finally remember to get married. Looks like Eliot beat them to the punch.

The De-Pantsing of Alec Hardison by lynne_monstr

Hardison was used to fielding constant demands on the job. Crack the code. Trace the cash. Do the impossible. It was what he did. Take your pants off, well, that one was a bit unexpected.

I hope you that catch me (cause I'm already falling) by pipistrelle

Hardison said, "I didn't want to leave you behind."

Post "The Rundown Job".

The Romcom Jobs by samyazaz

Five times Parker, Hardison, and Eliot lived out romcom tropes for a con, and one time they found themselves in one for real.

So I'll Go by zahnie

Eliot's nightmares and insomnia are worse than usual, and after a job goes poorly, he decides his boyfriend and girlfriend would be happier without him. They disagree.

My Original Establishment by phnelt

Eliot was looking at the door like it was on fire. Half like he should run towards it, and half a look of danger. Alec knew the door wasn’t on fire, so the looks must be directed at the unassuming elderly white gentleman standing on the other side. He could have been anyone in faded blue jeans, button-up stretched over his pot-belly, cap covering what was probably pretty wispy hair. Now, Alec had seen a lot in his life and so he did not trust appearances. If Eliot thought this guy was dangerous, then Alec expected to see a bazooka come out of that man’s head any second.

“What’s the play?” Alec whispered, not moving.

Eliot swallowed. “I’m going to open it,” he said, not sounding certain at all.

Parker asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s my dad.”

Right Round by letsgostealafandom

Or: The Lengths That I Will Go To A Love Story in 100 parts

It's the Thursday that never ends.

your body is a war zone but you are not a ruin by postcardmystery

“Make me a sandwich,” Parker says, so he does.

“Cut the damn wire,” says Hardison, so he does.

“Jump,” says Parker, says Hardison, and he never needs to ask, “How high?”

safe as houses by thecanaryfalls

Parker and Hardison comfort Eliot, in their weird multimillionare-convicted-felons-who-are-planning-a-life-with-him kind of way.

Set right around The Rundown Job.

like a map of a place you’ve never been by bydaybreak

He knows it’d be so fucking easy, if he’d let himself. Because he’s easy for them, has been since that first job, since the day he hauled Hardison’s ass out of a building about to explode. It’d be so easy.

So he won’t.

Sandbox by balloonstand

Five world-class archeologists meet on a dig.

I say goodbye but mean hello by lynne_monstr

The Brew Pub is drowning in Christmas and Eliot’s pretty sure Parker’s idea of appropriate tree ornaments is going to get them all arrested. If that’s not bad enough, he’s been sleeping with Parker and Hardison, and in all the time they’ve been together he hasn’t once stuck around till morning.

He’s never come out and asked if he could stay, but they’ve never tried to stop him from leaving, either.

you, you hold my heart by zahnie

After a job goes sideways, Parker is captured by Moreau and loses the last five years of memories.

Winter Song (To You) by letsgostealafandom

Eliot sat up straight when the lights went out throughout the apartment.

the warmth of your doorways by gyzym

Don't let me in with no intention to keep me.

Odd One Out by thingswithwings

"We should talk about Eliot," Alec says, at the same time Parker says, "We should have sex in a hammock."

something good can work (and it can work for you) by queenklu

“When you say ‘we’re making dinner,'” Eliot finally says, “do you really mean ‘Hey you should come over and cook dinner for us so we don’t burn down the apartment?’”

Five (almost) kisses for luck, or something like it by SquaresAreNotCircles

Parker turns to him and he’s about to give her a boost to the balcony one story up, when she grins at him, six inches from being nose to nose. “Kiss for luck?”

Or: Luck is a fragile thing. Eliot fumbles to catch when Parker and Hardison irrationally keep throwing it at him.

Leave You with an Empty Room by zahnie

Parker runs.

places to land by bydaybreak

She thinks she knows what Hardison means when he looks at her with his eyes all soft; thinks she knows what Eliot means when he bites out “dammit, Hardison”; thinks she knows what either of them means when, after a job, Hardison tells them that he’s ordered dinner, or Eliot comes back to the loft and starts chopping things in the kitchen.

Marriage Vows by waterbird13

How each member says their unconventional wedding vows, never quite at the same time.

Something Different by butterflybooks

Sophie says, “Something’s different.”

And Parker says, “It’s probably the sex.”

But actually, a lot of things are different.

(One of them is the sex.)

First on the List by thingswithwings

While he's waiting for the men with the guns to decide what to do with him, Alec thinks about what he'll do if he gets home.

The ASPCA Job by james

Parker has a new job for them. Alec isn't sure this is what he signed up for.

The One Where There's a Kid by boxoftheskyking

Oh shit Hardison has a kid.

Pure fluff.

Live Through This by zahnie

Parker, Hardison, and Eliot are running a job as a favour to Nate and Sophie when Parker starts experiencing a time loop: the day of the heist over and over, resetting every time she dies.

places to land by bydaybreak

In Front Of God And The Oklahoma State Flag by leiascully

Eliot gets a letter containing his father's obituary. Hardison goes with him back to Oklahoma while Parker's out of town.

The Thanksgiving Dinner Job by phnelt

“Oh no,” Hardison groaned dramatically, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m so sorry you guys.” They’re sitting on the couch, Eliot and Parker are cleaning their knives -- Parker uses hers to mostly cut rope, Eliot’s mostly uses them to cut people -- and Hardison is sitting next to them with his laptop. It had been a pretty pleasant evening so far. Nothing seems to be immediately bleeding, or on fire, so Eliot’s reaction is maybe a little more muted that it would be if Parker said the same words. Eliot thinks about switching to high alert, but Hardison, as a rule, has no sense of proportion. He gets about this dramatic when they run out of orange soda.

“I have to host Thanksgiving for the family this year -- and no I can’t get out of it, I already checked.”

Or: Eliot cooks a turkey

safe as houses by pipistrelle

After a rough job, Eliot takes his team to ground to make sure they're taken care of. (And of course they return the favor.)

you do not have to be good. by coffeesuperhero

Come hell or high water, Eliot is going to figure this out.

the punchline to this by bydaybreak

The woman laughs, her eyes crinkling behind her silver cat-eye glasses. "You must be Eliot,” she says, cheerfully. “He warned me you were charming. Where is he?”

Eliot’s stomach drops as he realizes that this is a terrible fucking mistake, because this ain’t a random elderly woman showing up to collect cans or take up donations or whatever it is that elderly woman in weird fucking places like Portland do. This is Hardison’s nana, and Eliot has just opened the door to the apartment—to Hardison and Parker’s apartment—like he lives there.

Wanting and Having by argyleam, phnelt

So yeah. That’s one of about a million reasons why it couldn’t be Hardison. Moreau at least was a stone-cold killer; it would be the death knell if he let the nerd in the van be the one to fuck him. And he is starting to lose the illusion that if they got their pants off he’d want Hardison to do anything but fuck him, pin him down under those gangly limbs and fucking give it to him. He’s been thinking about it in the shower lately more than he wants to. It makes it kind of hard to be around Hardison, and Hardison is not good at picking up on stay-out-of-my-airspace signals, Hardison gets right up close, Hardison talks and talks and talks while Eliot is trying to concentrate. Hardison hugs. It’s annoying. Eliot keeps having to specify that Hardison should keep his long legs and broad shoulders and eminently grabbable ass over there, on the other side of the van. The whole thing’s giving Eliot a goddamn headache.

Some part of Eliot really likes that about the guy, that Hardison’s so up in his own head that he doesn’t bother to notice that Eliot’s a terrifying person. The part of Eliot that’s into that should probably be taken out and shot for poor basic judgment.

Fair Share by shaenie

Parker doesn’t have manners; she has mannerisms, some of them disturbing, some of them endearing, most of them strange.

and we'll take it slow by lady_ragnell

“We can’t really get married,” Parker says one night, and is really sorry she can’t see Hardison’s face in the dark, because he definitely drops something.

The story of the necklaces.

Thieves In Love by superthousand

Eliot Spencer's stuff has been going missing lately, and he knows who has it. But he has no damn clue why.

Guard Your Eggshell Heart by letsgostealafandom

Parker had a theory, and her theory was this: it made Eliot really happy when they noticed the things he did for them. It made Eliot happy when they made sure he knew they noticed the things he did for them. And when Eliot thought they didn't notice, it made him- not unhappy, but something worse, something like he knew that was all he could expect from anyone and he'd resigned himself to it a while back. Once she'd noticed it, she couldn't stop, and the realization of how often they took Eliot for granted made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

The Slow Slip by waterbird13

Parker and Hardison notice that Eliot is becoming way more forgetful than he used to be, which leads to some hard truths and adjustments for their little family.

pre/ends in ot3

The Tender Things That We Were Working On by lady_ragnell

Maybe they're not the Breakfast Club, but there's something about Saturday detention that seems to bond people together.

Rings a Bell by venilia

Eliot wakes up in the hospital missing a lot of his memories. He's pleased to discover that apparently he has a husband, and a Parker.

Meanwhile, Parker has feelings, and knows she's weird, and Hardison might be a fish, a bird, or a turtle.

Quarantine and the Leverage 3 by Yuliares

Quarantine is declared—so of course Eliot shows up with a bag of groceries. As if they thought for a minute that Eliot would trust them to feed themselves.

The Waiting Job by sunspot

They're out of food, and someone's going to have to go out to get more before they die. They have no choice at this point. Hopefully the zombies will see it that way and not give them a hard time.

The Sex Pollen Job by dreamiflame

During a case, Eliot, Parker and Hardison get dosed with an aphrodisiac (Hardison and Parker insist it's 'sex pollen'). Can Eliot survive the fallout?

The DIY Family Job by copperbadge

Eliot technically stole a baby, which is actually the least of Leverage's problems.

This is the Place Where I Sit by lynne_monstr

Just because Eliot had pledged to always be there for him and Parker in a team-like, platonic way, didn’t mean he couldn’t go out and keep doing his thing with the ladies of Portland. Hardison could respect that, even if he wished the man would look a little closer to home. There were two people there waiting for him if he ever decided he wanted it.

Or, that time the Brew Pub gained a rival and Eliot finally figured out what he wants.

strange, how we are changed by thingswithwings

Eliot watches, fascinated, as Hardison brings the joint to his lips and inhales, making the lit end burn bright and cherry-red for several long seconds.

The Breakup Job by AppleJuiz

Parker hums thoughtfully. “How do we steal that?” she asks. “How do we steal a breakup for Eliot?” She frowns. “From Eliot?”

“I dunno, babe,” he says helplessly, tugging Parker in a little closer to fight off the strange shapeless fear of her slipping away too. “Just be here for him, I guess. Same as we always do.”

Parker makes a grumpy sound, but wraps her arms tightly around his waist.

“I don’t think that’s enough anymore.”

A Different Kind of Love by Telaryn

Eliot has been fighting his feelings for Parker and Hardison for a long time and he has a really good list of reasons why the relationship he wants can't work. When Hardison is kidnapped and Parker goes off the rails worrying about him, Eliot begins to suspect that in the end none of his reasons matter as much as his love for hacker and thief.

Some Place Better Than Where You've Been by lady_ragnell

Four conversations Alec has with his teammates while he's away, and one he has once he's back.

Or: the last four episodes of Redemption season 1 from Hardison's side of things.

Ain't No Fran Fine by letsgostealafandom

I’m ignoring the single parent part of this because I make great choices and also can you imagine Parker and Hardison with like an adopted kid and they’re still a hacker and a thief and then they need a babysitter and hire Eliot and-

Okay, to the half-assed story.

parker/eliot

Insomnia by entanglednow

"You can't just sneak into people's bedrooms in the middle of the night and demand that they have sex with you."

Fall factor by argyleam

Eliot knows that Parker could always get out of it. He also knows that she chooses not to.

heat wave by theredhoodie

Can it even get this hot in Oregon? Parker isn't enjoying this heat wave and pops into the restaurant to try to find something to both ease the temperature and her hunger. She only ends up with one of the two sated.

Change the Game by sunspot

The game is afoot, and then Parker goes and changes the damn rules.

Two Coins by Writewithpenandink

After the team splits up in LA, Eliot and Parker reconnect unexpectedly.

Takes place after the end of season one, and goes slightly AU from there.

Mine's Not a High Horse by hannasus

Five times Eliot and Parker don't kiss and one time they do.

What Did You Do? by Telaryn

In the aftermath of the San Lorenzo Job, Eliot realizes that he's been using Damien Moreau and the challenge of bringing him down to avoid his growing feelings for a crazy, blond-haired thief.

gen/non-ot3

The Job Interview Job by copperbadge

Unemployed librarian Bobby Dismas isn't sure how Leverage found him or what they want with him, but apparently it has something to do with his conspiracy theory website about Roy Chappel (and Kenneth Crane, and Jacques Labert).

Solicited Noods by lynne_monstr

Peggy invites Parker to attend a Fancy Food Festival, and it leads to conversations about cats, a weekend of food tastings, one (1) adorably annoying love interest, and a side of attempted murder.

(Or, What Parker knows about friendship is this. Friends don’t let friends fall into the clutches of international criminals. Unless they're good-guy criminals. Or a bad friend.)

crossovers + ot3

Don't Look Down by zahnie

Parker makes a demon deal to bring Eliot and Hardison back from the dead. As a direct result, she has to go on a heist with the Winchesters.

Can't Trust Myself Anymore by zahnie

Eliot is given the Mark of Cain against his will, with no idea what it is or what it will do to him.

Born to Strange Sights by zahnie

Parker, Hardison, and Eliot meet Sam and Dean because Sam saw Parker in a vision. Hardison is assumed to be Jake come back to life somehow, and the whole thing goes about as well as you'd expect.

The Second Labor Job by justanotherStonyfan

“I’m not a good person,” ‘Jack’ says. “And you prob’ly won’t wanna help.”

Eliot leans back a little. That implies a lot, and he feels like he’s digging them deeper with every word.

“Then why’d you come to us?” he says. “’Cause you’re good people,” the guy says. “And I need good people.”

Bucky Barnes needs help. He goes to see some people who might be able to give him some. (Leverage crossover AU)

Boeuf Mystère by galwednesday

“Quick question,” Bucky said.

Steve looked up, but didn’t stop moving passports and stacks of cash into a nondescript blue duffel, his mind busily ticking through logistics. He’d grab the glock taped behind the hidden drawer in the desk on their way out, and they could buy new clothes once they got across the border into neutral territory, so they didn’t need much else, apart from whatever Bucky wanted to bring. One duffle should be enough. “Yeah, honey?”

“What the fuck.”

#leverage #fic rec #eliot spencer #alec hardison #parker #nate ford #sophie devereaux #i wanted to add parker/hardison but 90% of those fics end in ot3 #or they're not the primary pairing #so enjoy a lot of the ot3 and a mixed bag of pairings and crossovers

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