the wind upon the sea

Challenge Prompt: a fic you’ve already read once Fic Title & Author: O Brawling Love, O Loving Hate by arumattie Rating: Mature Word Count: 5,534 Pairing: Gustave/Verso Author's Summary: It had been a while since he'd last seen Verso—eight months, seven days, and ten hours—and even now, grief ate at him for what could have been. Gustave missed the feeling of his fingers in his hair, and he missed the sound of Verso's laughter; he missed falling asleep in Verso's arms and the heated kisses they once shared. A shuddering exhale slipped past his lips as he checked the time once more, the second hand ticking away his life like a heartbeat in his palm. My Notes: I adore Phi's writing so much, so for this prompt was basically "Which one of Phi's fics shall I re-read?" I opted for this one, which is a Romeo & Juliet inspired tragedy, with writer!Gustave and og!Verso on the opposite sides of an escalating war. I love the way that the fic runs with the R&J theme, and the sense of inevitable tragedy threaded throughout.

Challenge Prompt: a fic about a rare pair Fic Title & Author: After the Flood by vailkagami Rating: Teen Word Count: 12,214 Pairing: Gustave/Lucien Author's Summary: With the Paintress gone, the world saved, and everyone back from the dead, they should have their perfect happy ending. But death has a habit of leaving scars even where it is reversed, new beginnings do not come easy, and no one is entitled to forgiveness. When he returns from the continent newly alive and with the memory of his last moments ringing in his mind, all Lucien can think of is how he failed to protect Gustave in the end, and how he does not want to fail again. But looking after Gustave has always been a challenge, and it is made no easier by the fact that Maelle has all these memories of another life now, and a new brother, and trouble figuring out her priorities and how they affect those around her. My Notes: Gustave/Lucien is such a delightful little angst-bomb of a rare pairing, and this fic is an in-depth examination of what a post-game reunion might look like for them. I love the way that this fic doesn't pull its punches about Verso's role in what happened to the canvas (and to Gustave himself).

Challenge Prompt: a fic set in Maelle’s Ending Fic Title & Author: Blossom by thevalesofanduin Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 6,231 Pairing: Gustave/Verso Author's Summary: When Sciel advises Verso to try gardening as he struggles to find out who he really is after all is said and done, he just looks at her in disbelief. But he could use something cathartic—Sciel’s description, not his—in his life, and, save from talking to Maelle, it’s one of the few things he hasn’t tried. Why would he have? It is gardening, after all. He certainly doesn’t expect it to end up changing his life… My Notes: I love the creepy, eerie, horror-movie quality of Maelle's Ending, and it's one of my favourite settings to explore in fic - so, for this prompt, I thought I would swing the pendulum in a different direction and pick up a fic from my TBR list that had a nice, positive spin on Maelle's Ending instead! I love the thought of Verso being able to find some catharsis and healing in tending to a garden in the wake of all the destruction he nearly caused.

Challenge Prompt: a fic featuring Verso’s Drafts Fic Title & Author: catimini by aban_asaara Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 1,687 Pairing: Gen Author's Summary: A sugar smell welcomes them, making Verso’s mouth water. He’s filled the place with paintings of everything he likes, with little regard for contrast and composition and proportions. Endless swirls of cotton candy rise into pastel skies; lollipop flowers bob their heads in welcome, and the distant whistle of a train echoes as it speeds along a floating track before disappearing into fluffy pink clouds. It breaks all the art rules his parents have taught him. He doesn’t care. It’s the best place in the world. In any world. My Notes: I didn't have anything in my TBR list set in Verso's Drafts, so I went on a treasure hunt through the AO3 tags and found this cute little fic about wee!Verso going on adventures there. There's always something so melancholic about fics about Verso's childhood when we (as the audience) know the grim fate that awaits him, and I love that this ficlet gives us a little glimpse of some of the sweetness of his youth.

Challenge Prompt: a fic set in Verso’s Ending Fic Title & Author: a shadow treading through the willows by rhibbet Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 2,435 Pairing: Gen Author's Summary: In Paris, Alicia sees a man who looks like Gustave. My Notes: I love the strangeness in this fic and the way that it makes you (and Alicia) doubt her own reality. In Verso's Ending, outside of the canvas, Alicia sees a man that looks exactly like Gustave, and is left trying to decide whether or not to interact with him. Alicia's sense of isolation and loneliness is so, so powerful here: I want to scoop her up and hug her.

Challenge Prompt: a fic with a French title Fic Title & Author: Ma Meilleure Ennemie by yurikazen Rating: Explicit Word Count: 22,950 Pairing: Gustave/Verso Author's Summary: After making a promise to each other at the Canvas' edge, Maelle restores Lumiére to its former splendor, and Verso tries to live his life in it as simply and unobtrusively as possible. Too bad that Gustave absolutely hates Verso's guts, and Verso's blossoming feelings for Gustave are of a complete opposite nature. My Notes: This fic may be the longest-standing resident of my TBR list, as I think I've been waiting to read it for around 11 months: I could tell it was going to be tailored right to my interests and wanted to be able to save it for a time that I could sit down and devour the whole thing more or less in one sitting. And, oh, it was worth the wait! The dynamic between Gustave and Verso is so crunchy here - it's jagged and difficult. The fic is from Verso's POV, and you're left with Verso trying to read between the lines of his interactions with Gustave and work out what's going on in Gustave's head. And there's a truly lovely about of yearning and pining from Verso. Such a great read, and I'm so glad that this challenge allowed me to finally sit down and read it!

A fic you've already read once

I did multiple! Good excuse to look at my old favs.

Da Capo al Fine by @queenlua

...Like he'd done once while she was sitting to watch him play—making no noise, no motion, just listening—and he'd whorled on her, halfway through his scales, a snarl on his face: "Would you stop with that?" "With what?" "Sitting there. There," he said, and jabbed a finger at the chair where she sat in for emphasis. "Oh," she said. Afraid to even say I'm sorry because God knew how that might set him off. She'd taken to watching him play after the funeral, yes, because, by God, she'd almost lost this, a whole lifetime of it. But it had been weeks since then. He might've mentioned before if her sitting there was a problem, anytime at all, but—well.

GOD. This one haunts me. It's Goregous. It's horrific. It's Sad. Aline wants it all; Her son to live, for him to find success, and for him to be happy. But no matter what, it's just not in the cards for him. It was his time, and this fic makes you FEEL that. No matter what version of Verso it is, he always finds a way to slip into addiction, whether because he's sad or grieving or in pain.

thrash the lake white by @queenlua (as well hah)

He sets his shoulders. "What if Maelle had offered you the same thing?" "What?" "Not now, I mean—back then, when you swam out on your own." There's a hooked thing on his face, just short of a smile, and dreadful. "If you'd met a Paintress then, and she offered to just gommage you away, quick as that… Would that have been good? Would that have been right?" He's leaning forward. "Is that the sort of world you want?" Oh, she could slap him. She wants to. The only thing keeping her is that sneer on his face, the one that tells her that's what he wants, isn't it, and she won't give him that satisfaction.

Ohhhh this one stuck with me, too. I read it back in march and have come back to it probably 5+ times. It's a really unique take on act 3 where the group isn't as merry as you'd think. good balance between dialogue and physical cues to hint at what a character is feeling. Sciel's motivation slowly crumbles until all that keeps her going is the thought of seeing her Husband. Also Verso goes through it (TM), which automatically shoots it up to my favs. he's described a few times as going limp as a bird and it's. yeah. This book is on my phone so i can re-read scenes. This line got stuck in my head. "And there is a stillness inside her. And there is a Paintress beside her. She knows she can walk through that door, now. Can walk through anything, now."

Santé by @grumblecrows

Silvertongue's less grandiose callsign is Verso, as Julie comes to discover after a few nights of coaxing surrounding the imbalance in knowledge with her name tag. He likes dogs - he's got two of them. Cute and fluffy ones, as the pictures demonstrate. The way he bounces around the selection of wine-based liqueurs with his orders suggests a strong sweet tooth. His favorite color is a deep, dark maroon. "Like blood," Verso says, doing that macabre thing again and smiling in a way that reminds Julie of being shocked by static.

I literlly cannot put into words how much I adore this fic (yet I will try). It's the first Versulie fic I read. The concept hooked me; Bartender Julie easing Verso away from his drinking problem. And then the emotions sealed my fate. The fic treats both Julie and Verso very gently. It doesn't infantilize Verso, and it doesn't make Julie overbearing or "I can fix him". The characterization is amazing. Little details fit so well (Verso's nickname is 'Silvertongue,' which I sometimes refer to him as in my head LMAO). Lots of nods to the game and sun/ moon representations. And I enjoyed it so much, I have it saved to my phone so I can read it as a treat. also , looking back on it, it was one of the catalysts for me starting to write more and I inadvertently met a lot of great people. sante my beloved

On Endymion by peppermeadow

“The Paintress didn't recognize her,” Verso says. “She didn't realize that she was her real daughter.” “She couldn't even determine that you were her creation,” Lune says. (The real Clea Dessendre had no trouble at all. “I hate doppelgangers,” she muttered to herself in dark tones. “You are a ghastly affront to my dead brother's final piece of soul, do you know that? You profane this Canvas with your very existence.” Then she killed him.)

Started reading for the tags and stayed bc of the emotional moments. I stayed up until 2am (DURING EXAM SEASON) reading this. I had to take breaks between each chapter. it was that intense. think of getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer and then reading the most lovingly emotional thing. then the hammer. repeat 4x. Verso is very in his head during this and his mind can't stop wandering and being sad. i think im seeing a trend in my fav fics...

A fic about a rare-pair (the rarer the better)

My scale for 'rare-pair' is skewed because I consume so many nicher-ships. So here's a few;

the one that got away by @anakinh

"You have to be kidding me," the man complained; he spoke English in a posh, upper class accent. "I get murdered, and Death talks to the murderer instead? The bloody French murderer, no less?"

WOWWWWWW i typed a paragraph on ao3 but it's really interesting AU, with a lot of historical details. Immortal Verso bounces around and keeps meeting death (Sciel).

Ars moriendi by The_Doctor21

The same thing again. They will come here. They will try to kill him. They will force him into self-defense. As always. It's always self-defense. You are brilliant at making excuses. "Shut up." "Your Grace?" Cedric asked, taken aback. "It's nothing. Continue."

I stg every week I read a Versulie fic, LOL, I'm a sucker for the 'dead lover in a weapon talks to the alive lover' trope and this was perfect for that. Also has Verso who's gone crazy. which. mhmmm :)))

A fic set in Maelle's ending

l'art poétique by pathofcomets

“Are you real?” she asks instead, when he offers up a piece of fruit to her, settles the jacket of his suit over her cold shoulders, maybe not yet peace offerings, but reminders.  Such basic tasks, eating and keeping warm, in the midst of all this insanity. She wants to do none of it, forces herself to accept his gesture instead. The drip of juice down her wrist feels real enough, as is the sweet taste on her tongue, the warmth of the jacket’s fur against her skin, the sound of his breath next to hers.  “As real as you are,” Verso replies, and that is what she feared - because she knows that is not real, not real at all.

WOWW AGAIN. This one blew me away. It's so elegantly written. Jumping between scenes and conversations, Lune and Verso have. the theme of 'real' vs 'not real' comes up a lot. And it's amazing how much these characters go through in just over 12K words. I can't find the right words to describe how much I loved this. pls go read it.

A fic that involves Verso's Drafts

catimini by @asaara-writes

They start feasting. Verso’s appetite is insatiable, and he’s been dreaming all night of this moment: the poached pears they had for dessert last night did little to satisfy his sweet tooth, and now he can finally eat all the cake and candy he wants, his parents none the wiser. Esquie is eating too, shovelling birthday cake into his face with both hands, the food disappearing into his belly with a flash of magical light.

okay so. the idea for this comic was born on my first playthrough when I saw candles near the monolith and thought "huh. weird. someone must have put them here..." And then I thought of Renoir who brings them every now and then because he misses his wife...... A cool symbol for grief and mourning too that works for both Aline and Renoir

honk shooo mimimi Protype Verso outfit by @snuggetfish