Ao3 author spotlight: @isufferfromyd!
hi i'm back with another recommendation, this time for one of my favourite authors in this fandom, or any fandom, isufferfromyd!
their skill with descriptions is completely insane. they make me feel nostalgic for places i've never been and experiences i've never had, and that's not even touching on how perfect their characterisations are.
also, a literal master at writing gay yearning. good god.
Connect [M] [Polytrix] [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.
this is honestly one of my favourite fics of all time. i took a while to pick it up because i'm not really interested in volleyball, but this is a fic that'll make you interested in volleyball. i thought i'd maybe skim over the actual matches, but i don't. the descriptions are so incredible that i'm hanging off every word.
if you like sports animes, this has that exact vibe, and it's perfect.
also, the way they write all three of them in this fic... if you ever wonder where i got the headcanon of Rumi and Mira being weirdly competitive when they first meet, this is the fic that put it in my head. it's perfect.
Let It Burn Slow [E] [Polytrix] [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.
okay so somehow they wrote a smut scene hotter than any smut i've written without even showing anything. i knew their smut would kill me dead but i wasn't ready. i'm still not ready.
this isn't just smut, though. this is a look at all of their traumas and how that impacts their relationships with each other and their own bodies and sexuality. it's so fucking good.
the end of chapter 3 had me out of my seat and pacing around the room and then yelling at people about it. i'll say nothing more on that.
Heels, Nails, Blade, Mascara [M] [Polytrix] [Complete]
They set out for one night: music, movement, escape from their duties. But a single shared dance becomes a spiral of longing, and their laughter echoes everywhere they’ve held back. A night draped in closeness and comfort slips quietly into something else—something unspoken yet burning beneath every glance. Rumi finds herself suspended between fear and desire, torn between the comfort of silence and the electricity of being seen by Mira and Zoey. As touch turns to trembles, as glances bloom into need, they hover in the fragile twilight between friendship and something deeper, where a single touch might shatter everything or set it free.
What starts as a simple escape quickly turns into something more. Touches linger, glances hold, and maybe, just maybe, things get a little more than friendly.
(They're gay your honour. Good for them.)
you might already know this fic, and good god does it deserve the attention it gets. this is, once again, a foundational fic for me. i recommended this before when people asked for fics about Mira and Zoey talking about Rumi before they started dating and this is the first fic i read about that concept.
once again, the author's amazing description abilities really come into play here, especially with the dancing. you can feel the tension between the three of them, and there's just. so much gay longing.
Hold Me As I Fall Apart [G] [Polytrix] [Complete]
Zoey is unraveling, caught in the quiet of exhaustion that creeps in slowly, until even the simplest things feel impossible. She hides it behind practiced smiles and paper-thin lies, convincing enough for the world, but not for Mira and Rumi, who see the cracks forming. Their love isn’t loud, it’s in the gentle questions, the soft knock on her door, the arms that wrap around her when she can’t hold herself together. When Zoey finally breaks, it’s not into pieces, but into the waiting safety of their embrace. They don’t ask her to be okay, they just stay, steady and close, anchoring her through the storm. And in their warmth, Zoey begins to believe that maybe, even in the heaviness, she doesn’t have to carry it all alone.
this one is a lot shorter than the first three i listed, and it's a beautiful characterisation of Zoey having a depressive episode and Mira and Rumi comforting her through it.
i love it when fics acknowledge that Zoey is just as avoidant and prone to minimising her feelings as Rumi is and this scratches that exact itch wonderfully.
A question I can't answer [T] [Polytrix] [Complete]
Mira’s life is a carefully curated performance, her composure a second skin, until the questions start to unravel her—sharp and invasive, poking at the spaces she’s long kept hidden. As Huntr/x’s fame grows, so does the weight of people’s scrutiny, the relentless probing into her past, her family, a history she’s buried too deep to revisit. The cracks begin to show, but Mira isn’t alone. Rumi’s quiet protectiveness, Zoey’s grounding presence, and Bobby’s unwavering support are her shelter in the storm, holding her when the world feels too loud. Yet, even their comfort can’t shield her from the rumours that spiral, the relentless noise that chips away at everything she’s worked to bury.
i adore this character study on Mira and her 'black sheep' status in her family. it's heavy and realistic and yet it still has humour laced through it, because these girls are all goofballs and they love each other so much.
i especially love how Zoey's written in this one, which is weird to say on a Mira focused piece. they're all perfect (they always are) but there's such a voice to Zoey even without it being in her perspective and it just feels so right.
also, protective Rumi and Zoey. let! Mira! get! protected!
they have more fics and i could gush about their writing forever but they're already gonna hunt me through the woods for sport for posting this so i need to get a head start.
also! they're a fantastic artist, because some people get all the talent.
