What are some of your absolute favourite polytrix fics?
god this is almost impossible to answer because there's just so many. a lot of these i've already rec'd i think.
i'm gonna be picking ones where polytrix is a heavy focus and not just implied or a background part of it, and i'll avoid fics that are pure smut (don't get me wrong, i love the pure smut, but i'm assuming you want ones with emotional beats too)
if people want a pure smut rec list i can also do that
Pull Me to the Ground by @somethinglikesawyer [E] [Ongoing]
Two women step in when a guy gets pushy with Rumi at a bar. What happens after is meant to be a one-night stand, nothing more. But rarely do things turn out exactly the way they're meant to.
i've already lost my mind multiple times about this fic very publicly i think but i cannot express enough how much i adore it. i love chronic pain as the pattern allegory and i love how it threads into the narrative to serve the same purpose as the patterns in the movie without it feeling heavy handed.
so we were liars by @arendellesfirstwinter [E] [Complete]
HUNTR/X works towards sealing the Honmoon and falls in love along the way. Pre-reveal Rumi, hiding both her patterns and her wants, loves her girls in whatever way she can until she's free (whether that means shielding Mira and Zoey in fights or pretending to be something she's not). She just has to hold out until the Honmoon’s golden. Straightforward enough, right?
the Rumi is a lying liar who lies fic. the angst is heavy but the comfort is sweet enough to be worth it, and it's a masterclass in the overwhelming tragedy of "it was always going to end this way".
Connect by @isufferfromyd [M] [Ongoing]
Rumi is a legacy, born into the game, sharpened by its demands, and slowly splintering beneath the weight of perfection. Everyone sees a prodigy. She sees the cracks. Her sets are clean, calculated, and full of control, but there’s desperation behind every toss. Then there’s Mira: tall, unshakable, terrifyingly smart. Her wall is ruthless, her cross shots deadly, and she doesn’t play by Rumi’s script, not if she sees a better way. Zoey is all motion and heart, underestimated until she isn’t, digging up the impossible and hitting with a kind of joy that feels like defiance. Together, they could be brilliant. Together, they could be more than the sum of their scars. But Rumi has secrets she won’t name, Mira won’t follow blind, and Zoey’s smile masks the strain of trying to be enough. They’re not perfect. They don’t trust easily. But if they can learn to move as one — to reach through the dark and connect — they might just become a team worth fearing.
if you follow me you've heard a lot about this lately because of my complete inability to shut the fuck up about it ever under any circumstances. it's the slowest burn i've ever read and it's so perfectly paced. even if you don't like sports AUs, please give it a go. you'll be surprised.
Tangled as These Sheets by @tenderlumberjack [M] [Complete]
Zoey had always enjoyed putting things together. From building Lego sets with her older brother in his room. To replacing car parts with her father on a Tuesday morning in July. To lazy evenings sat at the coffee table piecing together a jigsaw puzzle with her mom. There was a certain satisfaction Zoey found in going from a thousand splintered pieces to a finished product. Huntrix is a fractured mess in the wake of Gwi-ma’s defeat. The tenuous relationship they’d started in the back third of the world tour was straining at the edges and threatening to buckle under the weight of their individual betrayals. On the surface everything seemed fine - they were professionals after all. From the outside not a single hair or emotion was out of place. No faults to exploit, no fears to be shown. But they were still cowards, still liars. And Zoey isn’t sure if she knows how to fix the broken pieces of her heart.
if anyone asks me to recommend a Zoey centric fic it'll be this one. the characterisation of her is so perfect throughout. it is for all of them! but Zoey is, naturally, a real stand out here.
the world building is also so, so good.
as long as i'm your favourite stranger (i'll play along) by @a-contentious-ev-scenario [E] [Complete]
“It’s yacht season,” Mira says. “And guess who’s having a little get-together on his boat next week?” “Shut the fuck up!” Zoey exclaims, grabbing Mira’s phone out of her hand. “Oh my god, are we about to Mission Impossible this bitch?” Rumi leans over to read the invite over Zoey’s shoulder. “It’s a couples party,” she says, frowning. “I’m not having two of us do this alone. Too risky.” “So we all go. You and Zoey together, and me as a single.” “Singles are by invite only,” Rumi argues. “Hopefully none of us are even on this guy’s radar, much less his list of people to invite.” “Yeah, but Min-ho is. How do you think I found that invite? I logged onto his Google Calendar. Let me make a call.” Rumi hesitates, then nods. Zoey asks, “Millionaires use Google Calendar?”
okay i definitely haven't already rec'd this one because it's newer, but it's so much fun. the atmosphere of it is perfect, it feels exactly like a heist movie. it's goofy, it's well written, and it's unfairly hot
let me be a little less liminal by @whatwordsmiss [M] [Ongoing]
Set after the IDOL awards, the Honmoon decides to give Rumi another shot at a perfect life—no matter how many times it takes to get it right. But as Rumi gets lost within the spinning fractals of realities, her girls (her girls) fight against fate to save her.
i really don't know how to describe this fic. i've tried before and i don't think i really got across how incredible it is, because the concept is strange. the whole fic is strange! but it made me laugh and it made me cry and i'm vibrating in my enclosure with excitement for where it's gonna end
if found, please return to by @ovenglovee [M] [Complete]
A soft Rumi character study featuring cows, colours and collars.
this and the sequel, damaged goods, handle with care [E] are foundational fics. they're such an excellent exploration of Rumi and her relationship with Mira and Zoey through the lens of kink, both sexual and non-sexual.
show me (how to love you) by @honestground [E] [Ongoing]
In which Mira is a professional, Rumi is socially inept, and Zoey is also there. Let's hope nobody catches feelings.
i adore this AU. i love how they're characterised and the slow development of feelings throughout. i'm a big fan of "slowburn but they're fucking the whole time" in general but this really gets the pacing of that right. i want to shake Mira. girl please use your brain for two seconds i promise it won't kill you.
Let It Burn Slow by @isufferfromyd [E] [Ongoing]
Rumi finally says yes to Zoey’s nth offer to join them in bed. Realising Rumi’s inexperience, they start slow, exploring in shared safety. Gay panic and actual panic ensue.
as you may have guessed from my writing and some of the other fics i rec, i'm a sucker for "Rumi has trauma after Takedown and it impacts her relationship with Mira and Zoey", and this is that in spades. despite (at the time of posting) being relatively tame in terms of smut it's still somehow blazingly hot and i am terrified
paint my frozen heart with fire by @arendellesfirstwinter [M] [Ongoing]
When Mira and Zoey, both running from difficult pasts, audition to become idols at Sunlight Entertainment (famous for its mysterious headliner idol Hunter) and fail, all hopes of meeting and training under Hunter go out the window until Celine makes them a different, surprise offer: train under Celine’s unknown ward Rumi instead. (“Why us?” Zoey asks. “Honestly,” Rumi says, “I think you're both really weird.” Oh. Mira might kill her.)
aren just doesn't miss, is the thing you're gonna learn here. an AU in which they're still idols (in training) but there's no honmoon, and Rumi's not hiding patterns, she's hiding the fact that she's one of the most famous idols in the world. and! none of that is a spoiler! because that's not where the plot is twisting! i'm so, so excited to see where this one ends
Finders Keepers by @princington [E] [Ongoing]
okay this is a bit of a weird one because it's not a fic, it's an ongoing comic, so i don't have a summary to pull and you're gonna have to deal with my best attempt at a summary for it to give you context
Married couple Rumi, an artist, and Zoey, a model, meet Mira, a fashion designer, who quickly becomes a very important part of their (and their son's!) lives. but, of course, because nothing can be that simple, their pasts are coming back to haunt them and causing problems they can't just brush under the rug
the art is consistently absolutely gorgeous, all three of them are unfeasibly hot at all times, and their dynamics are extremely well written and interesting. they're all so likeable and sympathetic, even when they're making mistakes (and boy are they making mistakes)
i've definitely missed some here because there's so many and this is long enough as it is even with me adding restrictions to try and limit the amount i'm recommending. feel free to add your own recs! we're in such a lucky position with the popularity of this ship because there's an enormous wealth of options to choose from
adding lonely lavender bones [M] by @yanniest to this list
The thing about telling one very big lie is that it requires a foundation of hundreds of smaller lies to hold it up, lies such as "I'm fine," and "nothing's broken," and "it doesn't hurt." Rumi finds this out the hard way.
