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This summer, look out for the Expedition 33 Summer Reading Challenge: it's all about finding, reading, and sharing fanfics that we love.
There will be fanfic scavenger-hunt prompts (such as "find and read a fic with a painting technique in its title") and gold stars for anyone that meets their summer reading goals.
More details to come in May - watch this space.
Huge, huge thank you to @thunderstyled for blessing us with this image of Verso "AO3 Addict" Dessendre.
E33 Reading Challenge - Week 1 Recap
Alright lovely people, let's sum up the first week of @e33readingchallenge! I had a lot of fun with it and could finally make a little bit of progress on my TBR list. So here are some of the fics I've read with a short note from my side - yes, I know, most of them will be Verstave (until I get to the prompts that force me out of my comfort zone I guess 😂) So here we go:
The green to my blue: (1) a fic with less than 5000 words
IHHHH I GOT A SOULMATE FIC AS GIFT!!! <3 By wonderful @anivy-chan in celebration of our meeting in Paris. A short and fluffy read that I enjoyed tremendously!! Thank you so much! <3
Press Porn: (11) a fic you’ve had in your TBR for more than a month
Beautiful and horny fic with FlowerShopOwner!Gustave and RecordShopOwner!Verso. God I love those idiots and I want to smush them together (Emma has been scandalized in the process). Wonderful, lighthearted read by @ramchberry
Downforce: (13) a fic set in the modern day
UGH ever since I’ve read this one Bloodweave fic in Formula 1 setting, I have been FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FOR IT, and @arialerendeair delivered on this so so much!! I just … competent mechanic Gustave??? Yes please! I also love these two idiots angry horny shouting at each other, I think it’s my jam. Hot men and hot cars? Go read!
L'appel de la Mer: (20) a fic with a French title
MERSTAVE!! Ever since Cathiane doodled this gorgeous AU, my heart has been lost - and @arialerendeair delivers in such a wonderful fashion. SO MANY FEELS!! They are so tender and in love <3 (Merman Gustave stole my heart, it's not fair at all!)
Bait: (22) a fic featuring the writers
Hehehe, pathetic vampire Verso and VERY sneaky Writer Gustave, I love their dynamic so much! Also: VERY HOT, a fan is definitely recommended. By lovely @walrusface
Recalibrate: (27) a fic set in Maelle’s Ending
*unbuttons collar* Uhhhhh ….. it’s hot and features suit kink, do I need to say more??? Scorching hot read with feels, I loved it! Also by lovely @walrusface
Aaaaand this concludes my first week of reading! I have realized: I am terribly underprepared and need to sort my list now according to prompts 😅 Will do that ... probably soon. Until then, I will continue to improvise 🥳
I've been able to read some treasures for the first week of the @e33readingchallenge, and I've had a good first stab at my menacing To Be Read list.
Here are the lovely fics I've read for this week's prompts:
Challenge Prompt: A fic that is less than 5000 words long Fic Title & Author: His Honesty by indiediamond Rating: Mature Word Count: 1,312 Pairing: Verso/Gustave Author's Summary: He's tired of lying, but at the same time, he's tired of existing. My Notes: For this prompt, I decided I'd read one of the shortest pieces on my TBR list. As a Verstave fan, I love reading everyone's takes on what Gustave and Verso's dynamic might be like in Act 2/3. This fic has a fun take on Gustave immediately being able to clock Verso's lies.
Challenge Prompt: A fic you've had in your TBR for more than a month Fic Title & Author: Strangers like us by thevalesofanduin Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 6,061 Pairing: Verso/Gustave Author's Summary: Gustave has lived a long life in the Canvas, and despite being a creation of grief, he has been happy. But now his Verso is dead, the Canvas as he once knew it long gone and the Verso that now inhabits the Canvas with him is nothing but a melancholic, angry replica of the man Gustave loves. A man he hates. But for how long? My Notes: This is a fic based on @mpthecoolest-blog's amazing Horizon of Memories AU, and I love the way that it's written. It fleshes out the horrible situation that Gustave has ended up in - he's a painted version of a friend of the Dessendres, and he ends up getting involved with Expedition 33 while juggling his own complicated feelings towards Verso.
Challenge Prompt: A fic set on the Continent Fic Title & Author: à tes côtés (by your side) by what_about_third_breakfast Rating: Mature Word Count: 13,433 [Chapter 6/?] Pairing: Gustave/Lucien Author's Summary: Since they were young, Lucien had always looked out for Gustave. He has every intention of doing the same once they are on the Continent…except everything goes to hell immediately upon landing. Now Lucien has woken up alone on that nightmarish beach with the crystallized corpses of his fellow expeditioners surrounding him, unsure if anyone, if Gustave, survived. With nothing but faith and hope that Gustave made it out alive, he begins a solo journey to search for the engineer. My Notes: I've been chomping at the bit to read this ever since the writer started posting it - Gustave/Lucien! Friends-to-lovers rare-pair of my dreams! And this fic is so lovely, it's a reworking of canon on the assumption that Lucien survived the beach massacre, along with some really cute flashbacks to Gustave and Lucien growing up together.
Challenge Prompt: A fic set before the game Fic Title & Author: Be Welcome at My Side by Arumattie Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 2,983 Pairing: Gen (Gustave & Maelle) Author's Summary: The sun was bright on this lovely spring day, and light streamed in through the open windows in the orphanage. Lumière's flowers were just starting to bloom, and one could just barely make out the gentle fragrance of them on the breeze. Outside the office they were seated in, Gustave could hear the sound of children—laughing and playing, singing and running about. It had taken a fair bit of discussion, but he'd finally managed to convince Emma to take on a ward with him. My Notes: This is such a sweet glimpse into a pre-canon moment, showing the first night after Maelle's adoption as Gustave and Emma's ward. It's so gentle, and beautifully fleshes out what those first moments would have looked like.
Progress so far: 4/33 Reading Challenge Prompts Filled
A week of @e33readingchallenge complete! I'm actually up to 6 prompts done, wheeee 😄
Here are some more prompts I've completed and the accompanying works definitely recommended! (See previous post for other prompts/recs)
2) Category: a fic that is less than one day old (this post is delayed but I read this the day it came out)
"Recalibrate" by walrusface
Word count: 5,727
Summary from ao3: Six months after the Dessendres left the canvas, Verso is living a life he could never have even dreamed of: he's back in the city, he's fallen in love with a man who should be dead, and he's helping the canvas to build something new from the ashes of the Paintress. After a tense social engagement, he takes Gustave home, and they find a way to let off steam.
My notes: It's a wals fic! Of course it's amazing! Seriously though, soft and domestic Domso with established relationship. Both Gustave and Verso are so in tune with each other here, it's just lovely. Lovely, lovely read. And hot (it's PWP). Another winner from wals!
3) Category: a fic set in the modern day
"From Screws to Screw" by EmberPuppy
Word count: WIP but as of this post 54,717
Summary from ao3: After the worst day in hardware‑store history, Gustave decides he needs a new career. Preferably one where he never has to work or speak to another human being again. He did not want to accidentally summon a beautiful, mildly terrifying man into his life. But Sciel brought wine, Gustave was tipsy, and the sugar daddy ad looked normal enough. Now he's in a penthouse, staring at a man with scars and a smile sharp enough to cut glass, wondering how the hell "I hate my job" turned into this. Or : The unhinged Sugar Daddy AU no one asked for
My notes: This fic. This fic is just chef's kiss tics all my boxes. Sugar Daddy Verso with some kinks (one of which is just taking care of Gustave 🫠) and absolute sweetheart Gustave who struggles with the idea of being taken care of by someone (specifically, super hot and attentive men with too much money). They're both gone for each other, when it's hot, it's hot and when it's sweet, it's so sweet. I've been keeping up with this one and read each new chapter ASAP (and reread the old chapters all the time) when posted (updated regularly) and would highly recommend it if you desire (as I commented on one of the chapters) "the fluffiest of fluff and smuttiest of smut."
4) Category: a character study of your favorite character
"A stone to let go of" by Anivy (Yamimidna)
Word count: 617
Summary from ao3: Gustave throws stones in the camp. Esquie is curious - why doesn't he keep them? A deep philosophical talk about throwing stones with a big friendly guy.
My notes: The moment I saw this fic on ao3, I knew I was saving it specifically to read for this prompt of the E33 reading challenge. Gustave! My favorite character with Esquie! I love these two together and wish we had more precious scenes across fics like this. Anivy does such a lovely job of exploring Gustave's thought process through a discussion about rocks and letting them go with the greatest rock lover of them all, Esquie 🥹 The fic in so few words is so meaningful and poetic, and I felt like it reveals so much about Gustave and his nature. Beautiful fic, Anivy!
5) Category: A fic with an adjective in the title
"little birds" by vannral
Word count: 4,309
Summary from ao3: In which the apprentices have had enough of Verso & Gustave’s pining and confront Verso. They might also recruit some help while they're at it, and Verso suffers.
My notes: This. Is. Precious. I love anything by vannral (please check out her works on ao3 she's such a great writer!). This one is WIP at time of this post and is focused on the apprentices (they are soooo cute here) trying to get our favorite pining pair to make a move and save everyone from suffering their ridiculousness any further. They have so far recruited Monoco's help, and it's such a delightful read!
6) Category: a fic with less than 5 comments (at least at the time I read it)
"His Honesty" by indiediamond
Word count: 1,312
Summary from ao3: He's tired of lying, but at the same time, he's tired of existing.
My notes: Saw this one in wals' rec list for the challenge! This is a really great, short piece with Gustave trying to get the truth out of Verso, who is...Verso.
Looking forward to continuing the challenge! 🤗💖
Week 1 of the Clair Obscur E33 Reading Challenge~
1.) A Fic that is less than 5000 Words long
[…] "Do you think the trains go up as high as the stars?" […] L'espoir est une mémoire qui désire (where we used to play)
by IneffableMossy (https://archiveofourown.org/works/81609796)
2.) A fic you had in your TBR fpr more than a month
[…]"It's not your fault, Verso. You are not him." Verso's chest squeezed at the sorrow in the painted lines of his mask.[..] The Raging Storm (a face I'd seen before)
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/78301566) by IneffableMossy
3.) A fic set on the continent
[…]„See? All it takes to solve a problem is a fresh baguette!”[…] Embers and cuddles
(https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/219764256?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_1225015631) by mango_and_isekai
4.) A fic set before the game
[…]A chance to drop his defenses with perhaps the one person that saw through him without even knowing it […] Moth to a Flame by winter4knights
(https://archiveofourown.org/works/77597666)
@e33readingchallenge
4/33 fics read and so many more to come <3
E33 Reading Challenge - Week 1
I'm having lots, lots of fun with the @e33readingchallenge so far. It's nice to finally tackle the TBR list :)
This week, I read :
🔸 a fic that is less than one day old - incident ray, [Anonymous] - not a week prompt but when I saw the fic on ao3, I had to read it fhjfjhskq. A very, very nice Aline & Alicia fic in Aline's pov. Complex relationship. Loved it!
🔸 a fic set on the Continent - Slip of the tongue… or was it?, by YuiUltima - lovely fic, Maelle accidentally calls Sciel 'maman' and they both just grasp with everything it entails.
🔸 a fic with less than 5000 words - the moon will sing a song for me (i loved you like the sun), by onceazzie - a PERFECT excuse to read this scielune that's been staring at me for a long, long time. boyyyy was I not disappointed!! it's half a lune character study, half a scielune reuniting sort of fic. I know this happened in canon; I just can't prove it yet.
🔸 a fic set before the game - elektra chord, by cupidry - another prompt that's just an excuse to read the many scielunes in my tbr. takes place on the 45 (iirc??) gommage day, also known as the infamous night at the crooked tower. it was such a nice read and I can't recommend it enough!
🔸 a fic tagged “no beta we gommage like X” - everything that happens is from now on, by realtalk127 - answering the question 'how did sciel end up at the gestral village?' and it's brilliant. very nice exploration of sciel's character. and some interesting theories too about missing scenes/quests!! I loved it.
🔸 a fic you’ve had in your TBR for more than a month - Décembre, by wisdomofme
This one is absolutely incredible and I hardly have words to describe this one (I mean, I left a long comment, but honestly just. go read it? yeah go read it). Dessendre siblings. Verso's last day. angst. yk.
Read: 6/33
y'all already know the drill
with the prompt "A fic set before the game" we're talking about Do Not Go Gentle by Sky_kiss. disclaimer before we start that this isn't only set before the game, but 90% of it is so im counting it ok leave me alone/j
second disclaimer that this Is a mature fic. they do bang sometimes but it's not the focus of the fic
is anyone shocked that this is another painted family fic. you shouldn't be by now. this one however is focused on painted renoir and his attempts to keep the whole. yk. situation under control starting from the fracture. it is mostly a character study, especially deeply showing his relationship with aline and his feelings about being. well. a painting. from the fic's summary:
In the beginning, they were the Dessendre family. No more. No less.
There was a fire; Renoir knew that much. The specifics had never mattered. Like a nightmare, the finer points had since faded. Renoir concerned himself with one thing: he’d been there. Verso lived. His little one would carry her scars the remainder of her life, but she lived too. He could ask no more than that.
Seven years after the fire, the nightmare began again. Only this time, Renoir could not wake. The Fracture shook the world apart. He stood powerless as the foundations of the earth crumbled.
i love love love when fics try to explore painted renoir's side of the story and this one does so very well. i really like the exploration of his work as a justified hunt and his desire to be exactly what aline needs even if it's not what he wants to be. this one's a longer oneshot but it's a good read and i went through it pretty fast, although that might just be me. as always, recommend if any of this speaks to you
Welcome To The Expedition 33 Summer Reading Challenge
Do you have a backlog of fics you keep meaning to read? Is your To Be Read list out of control? Do you really, really, really like earning gold stars?
The Expedition 33 fandom is blessed with amazing writers and fantastic fics - and this challenge is dedicated to helping you read more of them.
How Does It Work?
Over summer, we will post a set of 33 prompts showing different types of fics to find: the prompts will range from "find a fic with less than 5000 words" to "find a fic with a French title" to "find a fic about the gestrals."
You can then comb through AO3 (or wherever you prefer to read your fic) and find a fic that matches that prompt: read it, enjoy it, comment on it, and then give yourself a big tick for meeting that challenge.
At the end of summer, you can collect a shiny gold star depending on how many prompts you managed to meet. We will have stars for managing to find and read:
1 fic
5 fics
11 fics
22 fics
33 fics
Special Stars
In addition to the above stars for meeting your reading goals, there are two other gold stars available at the end of the challenge:
Fic Recs: Because we want this challenge to be about shouting from the rooftops about how much we love all the talent in this fandom, there will also be a special gold star for anyone who shares Fic Recs of the lovely things they've read.
Commenter: If you leave a comment (big or small) on every single fic that you read for the challenge, there will be an extra gold star at the end for you too.
Timeline
20 May 2026: The full Reading Prompt List will be posted so that you can plan ahead.
1 June 2026 to 31 July 2026: Read, comment, & recommend as many fics as you'd like. We'll post weekly to highlight a different set of prompts from the Reading Prompt List every week.
August 2026: We'll post stars and will reblog anyone who posts under #e33readingchallenge confirming they've met their challenge
Questions?
If you have any questions, check out the Q&A on our tumblr, or jump in our Ask Box and ask!
What Should I Do Now?
Reblog this post and let us know underneath or in the tags what your reading goals are for this summer!
Then follow us to keep an eye out for the prompt list on the 20th May, and the weekly prompts throughout June and July.
