Hello everyone, mod Anzie here! I’m excited to bring you the three M/E authors I read this week.

Witchbane | @witchsbane

[wip] Kintsugi

Hitman Yuuri. Mafia Viktor. Kintsugi blends our beloved YOI characters into a well-researched shady underworld so beautifully that some of us will be left wishing this would be animated on the side. Readers will find the gray, ambiguous Viktor and Yuuri to be just as sympathetically engaging and utterly human as we know them - maybe even more so. If you’re looking for a good slow burn, Kintsugi will deliver that with a side of Viktuuri angst and conflict.

What really stuck out to me, though, are the expertly handled action scenes: a number of writers struggle to balance movement and tension when writing action, but Witchbane blows her readers out of the water with this beautifully written piece.

Persephoneggsy | @persephoneggsy

you can take off your clothes (long as you coming home) + [wip] we are lost, but we are not gone

PWP is just about the accurate description for You Can Take, and Persephoneggsy handles the Explicit rating fairly well! The fic is incredibly light-hearted and balances sweet and dirty so wonderfully. Some of the lines lean towards wordy or awkward, but these are in the minority - if you’re looking for good smut involving Eros the Stripper and role-play, you’re definitely looking for this fic.

We Are Lost starts out full speed ahead, at an almost jarring pace. However, this hardly detracts from the movement of the story, which builds on from that rapid beginning at a steady pace to a painful climax. Though the story itself flirts with darker themes and tugs incessantly at a reader’s heartstrings, Persephoneggsy’s light-hearted style does not diminish along the way; in fact, I think her writing only serves to elevate this lovely Dollhouse AU.

Melonbug | @melonbugg

[wip] series -- a place on Earth, with you + all my days 

There’s something to be said about quiet, understated angst and the impact it has on a reader - and Melonbug certainly plays with that delicate balance. With the successful encapsulation of Lars von Trier’s Melancholia in their series A Stranger To Die With, the downplayed desperation in Yuuri’s voice from A Place On Earth is contrasted with the wry embodiment of Otabek in All My Days, showing off the author’s versatility in characterization and tone. Melonbug’s crisp, matter-of-fact writing style plays well with the series, keeping readers on the edge between my heart is breaking and my sweet, sweet children. This unfinished series is definitely a must-read for those looking for a quiet moment and a few tears.