Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them.
found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe
Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio
both canonically and in this fic
it’s gr9
also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor
truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh
relentless boomer disdain, always a plus
led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that
War In My Mind - mintletters16
Backread!!!!
post-213, gorgeous character study
guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF
I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe
the end twist is *chef’s kiss*
mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet
Backread!!!!
Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth
V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk
It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for
delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie
Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?
g o d ch 8 where do i start
First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC
SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER
zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive
I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening
(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)
oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*
p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter
the dugout is like, pure serotonin
I can’t even talk about the closet
tHe teNsiOn
thank you i will take eleventy billion
don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven
am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship
you are all incredibly shocked i know
still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess
Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!
and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed
honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye
Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers
another grief study!
apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago
considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302
he is uh, not coping well
extremely haunted you might say
lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!
rhea is to good for him tbh
i said what i said
truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences
the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for
drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet
Backread!!!!
Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch
(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)
Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04
Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx
Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!!
So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!!
What more do you want?
am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio
feels right, feels organic
this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them
🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall 🎶
you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire
really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is
UNIMPORTANT
really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness
am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker
more please???????
Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee
LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it
listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing
cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other
i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating
I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS
the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME
rip, no regrats
Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless
spanking
that’s it that’s the pitch
H O T
living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it
second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it
shake, baby, shake - openhearts
backread!!!!!
according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????
must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now
beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY
What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues
I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this
If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES
P I R A T E A U
I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU
meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU
god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS
second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no
and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you
oh christ and the sexy tension
it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school
Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie
Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff
stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough
Desperately cute!!!!!!
alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL
also unreasonably angsty???????
ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN
A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks
Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!
perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux
and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E
author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver
so blessed
author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory
what is the truth dot gif
A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur
SO????? CUTE?????????
would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh
really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth
It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick
@septiembur may be a witch
beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety
1000000/10
Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs
stg this was called Hit Shuffle
no matter
h O T
with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection
(no regrats tho)
(esp not with this fic)
not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real
She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87
ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT
am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy
Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite
I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif
ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie
I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy
Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??
cannot wait to see where this goes
Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo
*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*
sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down
science please explain why this rUinS mE
wait hold on i skipped ahead
HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS
opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with
uGH theY’RE sO CUTe
idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time
Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie
Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind
Truly a masterpiece of rising tension
Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst
I was SO STRESSED OUT
The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked
crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie
Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)
and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE
I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents
while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status
before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?
truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that
@foxmagpie is definitely a witch
The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87
look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do
(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)
BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it
am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic
and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become
so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say
Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx
*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*
That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1
am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic
I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other
plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)
originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever
do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe
v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note
extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ‘we were on drugs’ vibe
speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves
so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk
not that i would know
FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH
really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe
rio dances
I know my brain broke too
mmmm bacon
Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues
*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*
I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship
AND Y E T
they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters
and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio?
can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is?
unimportant
GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d
hell i don’t understand
how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children
do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for
wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????
A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs
*makes sign of the cross*
y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion
extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization
listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it
it is…..good stuff
bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it
praise - civillove / @blainesebastian
I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”
ephemeral rio
I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less
okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???
idk i just really like it okay
Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo
oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music
thank you ma’am for my life
rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result
also hilarity
and sexiness
this fic has it all, truly
shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself
good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania
cheating and reccing a whole series
It’s my list and i can do what i wanna
stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav
truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough
three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy
(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)
feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect
(thE angSty tenSioN)
i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it
(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)
june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right
i just saw someone post about taking a break from fandom. and i’m thinking about that too. just a few days where i don’t open tumblr/twt/wb. must be nice.
