Note: This post will be regularly edited as I devore my way through the fandom. I dislike romance and smut but am actually desperate enough to read it, so some may appear. Mostly it will probably be angst-focused though. Consider them all potentially spoily.
Broke my heart into shards:
Lendemain by Irisen, 71k words, Ongoing.
On the night of December 33rd, 1905, the ghost of Verso Dessendre stumbles out of a burning manor.
Probably my all time favorite of the fandom so far. Unreliable narrator at its peak. Verso is his full in denial, liar self in a hostile environment, testing again and again the limits of his mortality and rejecting the world offered to him even as the Dessendre family who escaped grief try to keep him still enough so he can heal. Not to much success, with the lack of trust and lies and masks Verso put on - for him, it’s just another canvas that need destroying.
Had a great time reading:
Gen:
On A Goldfinch, Starved To Death In His Cage by Voelen, 3k words, Complete.
When Monoco sees Verso for the first time in a decade, he immediately notices how much the man has been neglecting his wings. Of course, he seeks to rectify it. Of course, Verso fights him on it.
He still gets his way.
Wingfic wingfic wingfic wingfic. Also amazing Monoco and Verso friendship. (Sometimes just gotta beat a friend to the ground to be allowed to help them). And wings. Listen if i got one obsession in life, it’s this. I can’t help it. So nicely brought up too, how can anyone resist.
To Fly Under A Painted Sky by Sinvulkt ( @sinvulkt ), 45k words, Ongoing.
An AU where after expedition 0, Aline paint wings on her surrogate family. For the better... or for the worse.
I decided I was allowed to self-rec my own wingfic serie here. :p Each one shot can probably be read separately but they make a wider universe together.
Haunting Ghosts by HeroesLegacy, 37k words, Ongoing.
Verso lived through the fire, as did Alicia, but he didn't wake up. He remained unconscious, and when his family realised that he and Alicia had been found in the atelier during the fire, they realised that Verso has gone into the canvas.
Aline went in after him, believing she could wake him up. She finds Verso, who doesn't remember anything. In his pain addled mind he ended up creating Lumiere, and a painted version of his family, and they were living together happily. Aline helps him remember, but all he could feel was the fire and the burning agony of his body, and so she paints over him and erases his memories again to keep him safe. Renoir then goes in to wake up his son himself, and drag his wife out the canvas, resulting in the Fracture. Expedition Zero goes out to search for their loved ones and rescue them, and inevitably find out what happened from Cleo. Now Verso has to stop his family from tearing apart his canvas, and try keep his mother from constantly erasing his memories to keep him compliant. It goes about as well as you might expect.
(Basically, Verso lived, but is trapped in the canvas by his mother, and now has to deal with the horror of having his family raging war inside his canvas)
Canvas Verso and Original Verso are one and the same- trapped here by Aline in a desperate attempt to protect him from the burning pain his real body went through. He is stuck in a cycle of forgetting and remembering, kidnapped to the manor by pRenoir, yet pulled out of it by Monoco.
Recto by The_flabbergasting_blobb_of_fluffyness ( @randomguyno3462 ) for ouchness, Aikori_Ichijouji, 13k words, Ongoing.
'So as you can see, we have much to discuss', Clea said somewhere behind him. 'Let's - Verso!'
Her sharp admonishment had barely taken form before his fingers had already reached right into the shimmering chroma and the atelier blurred before his eyes. His being lurched forward, pulled into the canvas with that familiar feeling of weightlessness, gravity shifting around him until it no longer connected him to the floor but to the painting in front of him. When his vision cleared, he found himself floating in the Between.
In the back of his head, he heard Clea's exasperated sigh.
--------------
Verso Dessendre survives the writer's trap. When he returns home to find most of his family lost in his old canvas, he goes to save them. Meeting his doppelganger was unexpected.
Both Verso develop a complex about the other one’s existence because ’he belongs here, not me’. I love the concept xd.
Cultural Nudism and Other Existential Perils by Adwen, ( @captainadwen ), 15k words, Complete
"They are doing very well!” Esquie said.
“They’re entirely nude,” said Verso, in a judgmental voice.
~~
Or, the journal from Expedition 60 reaches Lumiere. No one could predict the series of events that would unfold, much less control them, but that's not going to stop the Dessendres from trying.
Verso’s life through 11 years of expeditions. (Both hilarious and deliciously angsty).
un portrait de ma sœur by alykapedia ( @alykapediaaa ), 8k words, Complete.
For all that Clea hated other people’s depictions of her, especially her parents’, there is one portrait of her that still exists as it was originally painted, unsullied and untouched by her hand. It’s an old one, an imperfect portrait painted by an unpracticed hand, with none of Aline’s verisimilitude and carries none of Renoir’s gravitas.
What it has, instead, is all of Verso’s love.
Maelle’s ending. Verso escape Lumiere, and Esquie bring him to the last safe place of the canvas: a secret grove, where two children portraits never stopped playing. Not Maelle ending friendly~ Rather bittersweet, it’s good Verso typical-angst and Clea content. Well lead and complete.
After the Expedition by Sityro, 23k words, Complete.
Mostly canon-compliant continuation of the story starting from the Maelle ending.
Renoir has been defeated and We Continue. Gustave and Lune wrestle with some unexpected complications of living with a Paintress who has absolute control over their world. Verso is trapped into a life he never wanted. And the Writer/Painter war isn't quite over.
Gustave and Lune kidnapping prisoner!Verso to interrogate him because yay kidnapping. They’re doing great. So great they also kidnap someone else not long after that. (Also yesss angry bitter trapped Verso desperate to run away).
Une Vie à Vivre by Moonlit_Lilacs, 14k word, Ongoing.
Verso saw Maelle's fate in his mother's heartbreaking descent into all-consuming obsession. He didn't want this for her. His decision was clear. The canvas had to be erased. And he got his say. It was being erased before his very eyes. But... why wasn't he? Why was he... being pulled out into reality?
Verso is a speck of paint. A mirage of a dead man. Yet what is he, once pulled in the reality beyond canvas? A misplaced creation for Renoir and Clea. A brother he refuses himself to be for Alicia. A son and the core of a deadly delusion for Aline (she will never see him for who he is, blinded by the boy he was created from). And always, the writers lurk.
Creance by paused_waterfall, 3k words, Ongoing.
Verso has a bad experience with one expedition, and a very strange experience with the next.
Captured Verso!! : D
Perennial by YurisSweetTooth ( @sweetmage ), 15k words, Ongoing.
Even the best laid plans oft go awry, but Verso just won't give on giving up, not even when the last barrier between him and a peaceful oblivion are the very friends he swore his loyalty to.
---
An alternate ending that strays from the two canon options.
To his despair, the team stop Verso before he can even step into the portal. Similar to Maelle’s ending, but with more emphasis on the wrongness of people resurrected by Painters - never exactly the same as before, as Maelle bring a shaken Gustave back. And unlike Maelle’s ending - Verso might not have abandoned all hope to fight yet.
(Im)Perfect Recovery by Voelen, 27k words, Ongoing.
Modern AU. Verso survives the fire, and everything should be right in the world for the Dessendre family. Unfortunately, trauma doesn't go away that easily.
Or
An exploration of the relationships between the different members of the family as they try to heal.
I usually don’t read Modern AUs, but that one was amazing. It got all of the heart of the anguish, the family conflict, Verso a living ghost caught in the crossfire.
Anhedonia by Bigmurderenergy, 25k words, Ongoing.
A story about Verso coming to terms with his existence within the canvas. His friends try to help him in their own ways but it barely touches his ennui. There is care, there is love, why can't Verso feel it?
Fair warning that one contain sex scenes. I’ve read it as Gen though, because the focus is Verso spiralling down, not romance with anyone. Or, Verso drown himself into drinking (and giving his body away), unable to die yet unable to live.
ekphrasis by rhibbet ( @rhibbet ), 10k words, Ongoing.
When you Paint, there are rules. In her grief, Aline broke them all.
The crack in the stability of the Canvas was all it took for the Writers to thread their own craft through it, letting them pull out a handful of inhabitants as their tethers to their world snapped. They explain it as a mercy to the confused members of Expedition 33 when they wake up in Paris. They tell them it was a rescue mission, to save them from the whims of the Painters—that this fight is now theirs, too.
But Gustave, Lune, Sciel and a very confused Maelle were not the only ones plucked from the Canvas. Beneath the Writer’s Council, Verso wakes in a locked cell, a new piece on the board of their war.
Turns out their Expedition might not be finished, after all.
Not focused on Verso, and more on the bigger political picture and the ongoing war. Multi pov.
It's Not Forever by PurpleChi, 29k words, Complete
Aftermath of Maelle & Verso's duel for the canvas where Maelle won (Maelle's Ending.) It's my attempt to eventually give closure to this Ending because the suffering will inevitably end, one way or another. Verso POV/centric.
Not Maelle-friendly. She hit, and she hit hard. I'm a sucker for Verso being trapped and suffering so this perfectly delivered. Welcome to the puppet show~
"ME" by LacustrineAnchor, 4k word, Complete.
Focus on Verso, after Maelle's ending. "I don't want this life."
After everything, they live. (After everything, no matter what, Verso doesn't want this life)
jusqu'à la prochaine vie by asweetepilogue ( @asweetprologue ), 1k word, Complete.
Verso has made his choice. Clea has other ideas.
Clea barge in and break Verso’s plan for oblivion: there is no death in her canvas. That being said, her option contain its own kindness.
Une Vie à Rester by IonianAstronaut ( @ionianastronaut ), 4k words, Complete.
He remembered their battle. Her rapier sinking into his chest. Lying on the ground as he begged her to kill him. As he told her that he didn't want to live this life anymore. Slowly fading from consciousness when the forces of that place finally managed to tear through the seams of his weakened physical form and unraveled him.
And yet, here he was.
Maelle’s ending tragedy. A fly trapped in a web, flapping its wings in vain. (A wolf with clipped fangs, unable to kill and save, unable to bite their own flesh.) Only one road left to follow, a love story with Julie brought by Maelle.
Glass piano by hami_hami, 6k words, Complete.
Maelle turned to him, her eyes alight with a quiet triumph, her free hand gesturing to the empty space around them as if it were a ballroom brimming with life.
“Dance with me,” she said, her voice soft but unyielding, the command woven into the words like a spell. Verso’s body responded before his mind could protest, one arm sliding around her waist while the other clasped her hand, his movements fluid, practiced, perfect.
The music was absent, but the ghost of it lingered in the air, a melody only Maelle seemed to hear, her steps guiding him as though he was nothing more than an extension of her whims.
Maelle's ending existential horor. So I know the author tagged it Maelle/Verso, but I've read it as Gen so here it goes. It does have a very heavy tension but given the roles of puppet and puppetmaster, it is understandable. This is marvelous tragic vibes. The existential horror of being trapped under your own skin, forced into a surrender you're totally powerless against, as your jailor affectionately smiles. Also please read Anger’s remorse by the same author which similarly is perfectly Gen despite the tags. It's Verso and Renoir eternal argument post-Julie, with Verso's loss. No really the writing style is amazing.
Lumière au creux de ta paume by Anonymous, 5k words, Complete.
There's a man on top of the newly rebuilt Eiffel Tower.
Lumière has never been this beautiful. Shining with ethereal lights, casting moving shadows that dance alongside the whish and whoosh of clothes while passerbyes continue their routine, unhurried and happy to live. La joie de vivre, indeed.
Gustave sighs and wishes he didn't have to do that, but for his own peace of mind…
For Maelle…
I’m just a sucker for Maelle ending angst. Also fully gen interactions between Verso and Gustave are rare. This is genuinly so good. Gustave read through Verso’s schemes and take none of his shit, refusing to get riled up and fall in traps, leading him like a misbehaving wolf through the conclusion he wishes to bring along: talk.
Vernoco:
Le Baiser Rendu (Un bisous sur le bobo) by IneffableMossy ( @ineffablemossy ), Completed, 12k words
Welcome to the Batnoco AU!
A wingfic in which Monoco has batwings, while Verso has bird wings.
WIIINNNGS. Also monoco whump and great verso&monoco dynamic :3
In The Beginning by Einradi ( @einradi ), Ongoing, 14k words.
A collection of Expedition 33 oneshots set before the beginning of the game.
Bittersweet and deliciously angsty snippets of pre-canon, mostly Gen 🎶
Verstave:
Âme-sœurs by Irisen, Ongoing, 191k words
Verso didn't expect to meet his soulmate in a bakery. He also didn't expect said soulmate to be the only man in the capital unable to recognize the crown prince by name.
He isn't complaining, this is the first time in years he's been able to exist as himself and not as an extension of his family.
Surely, it won't hurt to keep up the pretense for a little while?
Verso is like a permanently incoming train wreck, this is fascinating. Delicious anguish all around. Gustave is trying his best (a lost war against Verso’s negative self care), Maelle is Verso’s 1st world hater, expedition 33 is here with popcorn.
For those we can yet save, by farbsturz ( @farbsturz ), 100k words, Complete.
A primal was summoned with an immense amount of chroma and could temper anyone close by. It was like a magical parasite, worming its way into one’s mind until anyone would turn into its thrall, serving it unapologetically. He had read recovered letters of how friends had turned against friends, parents had killed their children, and throats had been cut by their own bodies.
The worst part was that they couldn’t even leave the primal alone.
Lumière was running out of supplies and they had to make the continent livable.
And that just so included slaying an immortal primal that could temper them if they dared to get too close.
God, Gustave needed a drink.
Verso is a primal trying to die. Not an easy thing with primal instincts, a family regularly transforming people into sacrifices, and being a death-sentence-by-mind-control to anyone he stays more than a year with. Come in expedition 33 and Gustave. Delicious canon vibes and Verso angst 🎶
Encore by thevalesofanduin ( @thevalesofanduin ), 45k words, Complete.
[...] “I deserve to be myself,” Verso says, and it sounds like a plea more than anything else. The skin around his left eye aches, as if it’s waiting for his scar’s return.
Maelle sighs before she sweeps her hand through the air, calling for her rapier. It appears in a flutter of gold petals, glimmering in the dim light of the bathroom. Her eyes are cast in shadow and her disappointed smile is somewhat crooked. "Alright. Let's try again."
or: Maelle wants a happy end for everyone she cares about, and she will keep trying until even Verso gets it right.
I’m an absolute fan of characters thinking they do the narrator good taking away their free will ’for the person’s own sake’, and Maelle is definitely doing that, putting Verso through the immortal wringer until he find ’his happiness’. Well, until Gustave happen— this story’s goal is still a happy ending.
Recto Verso by Promptposterous, 36k words, Ongping
A dead man suddenly wakes from smokes and ashes to suddenly find himself in a place he hasn't visited ages ago. Confused of how he landed here, he spots a stranger unconscious on the grass with an odd uniform and a armband with the number 33 on it. Unable to leave the painted world, he's on a journey to find out what happened to his beloved Canvas and what lead to it's current state.
Og Verso wakes up in the canvas and accompany expedition 33 from act 1.
We, the Painted by Gotcocomilk ( @thehoardofthegreatdragon ), 46k words, Ongoing.
Verso was tired.
“Yes,” he said, “I could have saved him.”
Or: Maelle brings Gustave back, and accidentally ties his soul to Verso. This changes things.
Verso desperately trying to stay on the edge of the group as he spin lies over lies, yet is forced to reveal hidden truths. (Giving his chroma to Gustave might just damage his immortality enough to finally die.) Amazing Verso & Monaco friendship content.
The Chroma We Share by didhero ( @didherodown ),45k words, Ongoing.
Verso let Gustave die on those cliffs, but he couldn't bring himself leave him there.
He should know that despite good intenteions, his sentimentality has never ended well for him.
This becomes even more evident to him as he watches the picto he contained Gustaves chroma in, dissolve into his skin.
Or, Verso is now haunted by a talking ghost with emotional and physical pain connection equiped (efficient lie detector and self-harm limitator, as they goes ~)
Désir ardent by aerynevenstar, 16k words, Ongoing.
Verso fully intended for Gustave to die at Renoir’s hand. He'd been hoping and planning for this while stalking them across the Continent, crafting ideas on how to insert himself into the empty space left behind, using the man's death as kindling to instill a burning drive in Alicia to force their mother out of the Canvas at long last. This had been his single-minded goal from the beginning of Expedition 33's doomed journey. Everything hinged upon on this one moment, this small sacrifice in a long line of expedition martyrs.
But somehow, despite all of his meticulous planning, he didn't take into account the possibility that the man could be his Alpha.
Verso in denial staying, again, on the edge of the group - unable to leave, unwilling to get closer. Fully against the bond his body is forcing upon him (to Gustave’s disappointment).
Pallor by walrusface ( @walrusface ), 60k words, Complete.
Ever since the Dessendres saved Lumière from the Fracture, the city has sent tributes in gratitude. As this year's offering, Sciel, Lune, and Gustave cross the sea to the Continent and are welcomed into the Dessendre family’s opulent home.
But Gustave soon discovers that nothing on the Continent is quite as it seems.
Or: what if Aline decided to add fangs to the canvas?
Painted Renoir controls the narration of the canvas now. Painted Clea is fine and alive. Verso is back home just for this new batch of Tribute- but does he play his game or his father’s game? The manipulation war is on~ death is the prize~ (Also Verso totally addicted to Gustave blood, beyond his own goals)
le peintre se meurt by inverts ( @inverts ), yokaiy, 37k words, Ongoing.
AU where there's no Painting but there's still a fire.
rich kid half-accidentally fake his death and land in bad streets but actually quite like it.
this new century by redcigar, 60k words, Complete
Gustave is the local mechanic of Lumiere, an idyllic coastal village far away from the chaos and conflict of Paris. Struggling with his recent injury and the loss of a good friend, he's not quite prepared when a family moves into the abandoned Manor on the edge of town.
He's definitely not prepared for their children.
It's not the focus of the story, but trapped feral!Verso snapping and biting and being a permanent escape risk is a non-negligeable reason for why I loved this story so much.
Colliding By Design by LilacCadenza, ( @lilaccadenza ), 51k words, Ongoing
After crawling out of a too-long stay in the Abyss as a hellion, Verso found his home in shambles, with nothing to return to. His baby sister was missing, his older sister was gone, his mother was institutionalized, and his father was struggling to keep it together.
His first instinct was to find his sister, but when he found her happily in the care of Gustave Aubert and his family, he realized that there was nothing in Lumiere for him anymore.
So, why can't he keep himself from coming back?
Gustave "I may have lost my wings and arm but actually I'm a guardian Seraph" meet his charge, Verso, "I'm doing this full vendetta alone like the brooding hellion I am. My imaginary friend doesn't count."
heyyyyyyy 🙂↔️ just saw the picture of lando’s thighs and your response has me wondering if you’re aware of the concept of “catching print,” and if so, thoughts???
Hi lovey ♥︎ I am very aware of the concept, yes. I also have extensively documented thoughts on the matter. We’re actually long-time scholars of the #Landonator over here, so if you look up that tag on my blog you’ll find an entire archive of... research 👅
Funniest part is that we’ve moved past speculation and estimations at this point when the man himself said ✋🏻pause✋🏻 let me just put this information into the public domain. So he did. With puppy eyes and a smile on his face. What a silly yet needed contribution am I right ladies
I think there should be a Doctor Who companion named Will. Then every time UNIT or Torchwood or some other organization that’s too fond of guns says, “Fire at will” he can say “No, don’t fire at Will!”
I’m honestly surprised no one’s made that joke yet. Like, how many fandoms use that phrase “fire at will” and haven’t done this? Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek—do any of them have a Will? (There are so many other jokes; where there’s a Will, there’s a way to make good puns.) Pirates of the Caribbean had Will Turner and His Dark Materials had Will Parry, but I don’t think either fandom used that line. Pity.
As a good person, you respond well to being treated kindly and thus assume being kind to abusers will earn you kindness in return, but that is not the case. It teaches abusers that their actions are reasonable and tolerated. You are allowed to fight back instead. Fire at will.
