#lucstave

[obibail]

textpost replay cope pt. 2

[walrusface]

I'm having tragic Gustave/Lucien thoughts.

Imagine if Lucien did manage to survive the beach massacre on Dark Shores.

And imagine if he did make his way across the Continent with the rest of the Expedition.

And imagine if he did finally get to confess all his feelings for Gustave, if the near-death experience was finally enough to make him tell Gustave about the torch he's been carrying for him since they were teenagers.

And imagine if Gustave made a confession of his own, and they both realised that their unrequited love hadn't been so unrequited after all.

... And then imagine that the Expedition goes to Stone Wave Cliffs all the same. Imagine Lucien, trapped down at the bottom of the cliffs with Lune and Sciel, unable to do anything more than listen frantically to what's happening when Gustave makes his last stand.

(imagine their reunion once Gustave is finally repainted back)

[schildkroetkroet]

[obibail]

if i have to be the champion of the gustave/lucien agenda i'll do it. they're real to me

[walrusface]

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

[what-about-third-breakfast]

Chapter 3 of my Lucstave, "what if Lucien survives," fic posted!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/85178606

[obibail]

:D i am so happy you liked what i sent!!

Snippet Part 2 : Lucien's Version of the Very Bad Day

includes descriptions of gore and the author's love affair with italics (last bit was unintentionally kind of funny lol)

--

There is a man on the beach, emerging out of the fog.

There is a man on the beach, and he is older than he should be.

There is a man on the beach. He looks so kind and... sad, leaning on his cane and studying the lot of them in silence. Almost... disappointed, really. How strange.

He has a father's eyes, Lucien thinks, right before Alan's head hits the dirt separate from the rest of him and everything very promptly goes to shit. The Expedition dies and dies and dies all around him and Lucien scrambles to do something, anything, to save at least a few of them. (He can't, all his training made useless by the overwhelming onslaught they are faced with.)

Jérôme is cut in half still screaming to fall back for the love of God fall back! his guts spilling out of him with a wet slopping noise. Seba gets flung against an outcropping of stone by an explosion of chroma, his head split open like an overripe melon as a primed explosive falls from lax fingers, spreading white fire over the sand. Michel tries to haul Raphaël away and both of them are slain by the old man. Tom charges the old man, screaming rage, (He and Michel just got married last year. Lucien went to the wedding, daydreaming about what he could never have.) and receives the same treatment as Alan.

Lucien sees Gustave, face-down in the dirt, and all he can think is no. No no no no NO! You can't die on me! I won't allow it! rushing forward, wrenching at Gustave's coat, begging to whatever gods are listening, please please don't you take him from me. Don't you fucking dare. Not now. When he dies I will lay down in the grave dirt beside him and you can have both of us, but not yet. Please, just not yet.

Someone up there must hear him because Gustave is not dead, just stunned. Lucien hauls him up, shouting, "Come on, Gustave, we need to go!" heading for the relative shelter of a large boulder with Tristan and Margot. They only have time to catch their breath for a few seconds. Tristan has just barely gasped out the rendezvous point before he's ripped away by a Nevron. "RUN!" Lucien shouts, scrambling to his feet with the others. All around him, Expeditioners drop like flies, and all Lucien can do is turn to check Gustave is still behind him.

Gustave is not behind him.

Gustave is standing before a Nevron, frozen in terror.

Lucien runs, panic in every step, barely getting there in time to form his shield, martel-de-fer ready in his other hand. (He can feel the bones in his arm fracture from the blow. It's fine. It is. Any amount of pain is worth making sure Gustave is still breathing.) He turns to Gustave, tugging at his shoulder a bit, cupping his face gently, gently. (They might be about to die. He will allow himself this.)

"Move, Gustave!" he says, shouting to be heard over all the noise and hating needing to shout because it's never helped when Gustave has had one of his fits before. But there isn't time for this. He tugs again on Gustave's coat, "come on! Fucking snap out of-" there is a whistling noise, something slamming heavily into the back of his head.

Darkness descends like ink spilling out of a bottle.

(Later, he will realize that his last words to Gustave were in frustration and anger, shouting in his face. Later, he will hate himself for that. (He will never stop hating himself for that.) Later, he will kneel next to Gustave who has a gun pointed at his own head, and try to convince him not to pull the trigger. Later, he will manage it, but only just, and he will hold Gustave a little too tightly and bare his teeth at the whole entire world: you see this one? This one is mine. You are not allowed to have him. I forbid you. Don't you fucking touch him. Don't you even dare try it.)

Lucien wakes up on a beach, salt water in his boots, dirt crusted to the blood on his face. Someone is holding his hand. "Gus'ave?" he croaks blearily, trying to convince his eyes to open. His head hurts.

"No, mon ami. It's Catherine," says, obviously, Catherine. Ugh. Her. Menace.

"Wan' Gus'ave," he grumbles, sulkily. Why is Gustave not here? He can't... He can't think, and his head hurts so badly, and Gustave always makes him feel better when he feels like shit. "Tired," he whines, trying to swat at Catherine who is, as previously stated, being a menace and poking at his head.

Owwwww. His left arm is... definitely broken. Maybe. Putain. Why is today just the Worst Ever?

...Why is today the worst? What even is today? Actually, why is he on a beach? Why are his socks wet? He hates getting his socks wet, Catherine knows that, why would she let him do that? And where is Gustave anyway? Gustave wouldn't let him go to the beach and get his socks wet (ugh) when his head hurts this badly. He likes Gustave better than Catherine. Catherine's a good friend, when she's not busy being a terror who isn't being nice when he has the worst headache ever but he definitely doesn't want to suck Catherine's dick. She doesn't even have a dick and anyway even if she did Gustave's would probably be prettier So There. He does, though. Want to suck Gustave's dick. Maybe if he asks him really nicely, Gustave will let him? They could work up to it. Lucien's nice like that. ...Hmm. They should probably kiss first? With tongue. Like proper Life Enjoyers and all that. Also because kissing-with-tongue is great. They've done that before. Several times. Him and Gustave. When they were both twelve. "Practicing". Haha. Stupid baby Lucien, not telling him he had a crush even back then when they were all pimply and gross and Gustave had that growth spurt and didn't know what to do with his feet half the time. It was pretty nice, though. The kissing. Gustave has nice lips. Very kissable. Lucien even forgave him for biting his tongue the first few times.

...Or, you know, Lucien could actually tell him he's in love with him first. Before the dick sucking. That's probably important. Yeah. And then they can get to the di-

"Lucien, please stop talking," Catherine whines, somewhere vaguely to his left. "I really don't want to know."

Oh. Oops. Sorry, Catherine. ...Gustave is a better kisser than you though. Once he got the hang of it. Should have kissed him more.

"Lucien. Still talking. Please, for the love of God and my sanity, shut up already."

OUGHHH I really really love how much more of the carnage on the beach that Lucien sees, ... just how much happens and how rapidly, really hammers home how quickly and brutally they lost all their friends. goddd the beach scene will always haunt me, what the otehr expeditioners experienced had to have been horrific

and the little bits of almost,,,, empathy for Renoir before he starts slaughter them AUGHH Lucien would, my beloved gritted teeth optimist

(unrelated note. augh Tristan,,, augh my beloved. wish i could explain why his and Alan's deaths hit me like a truck every time without coming across as an insane person. the minor character enjoyer syndrome really knocked me on my ass about them)

"He and Michel just got married last year. Lucien went to the wedding, daydreaming about what he could never have."

Michel/Tom is a crazy concept and I love it. I love that Lumiere literally canonically said gay rights and I think more of the Expeditioners should be queer. And also my personal feelings on Michel make this so funny. Brother is gay married and a huge bitch and I love that for him. RIP king I hope you had fun scamming your friends out of their unless money on all of your last night alive.

and I am suddenly reminded I have these saved but haven't ever posted them. Michel my beloved jackass

When he dies I will lay down in the grave dirt beside him and you can have both of us, but not yet.

BROOOO holy fuck. actually got me thinking about Achilles and Patroclus's bones being mixed together in the same urn. now I'm not saying lucstave is patrochilles coded but,,,,, but I'm thinking about it now

He can feel the bones in his arm fracture from the blow. It's fine. It is. Any amount of pain is worth making sure Gustave is still breathing.

the juxtaposition of him getting that injury and how he reacts to it while concussed is so good. brutal injury trying to protect someone he loves (and fuck yeah war hammer and shield, I'm so glad you went with that, it fits Lucien so well), vs. reacting to that injury while not able to cognitively deal with how it happened. everything about concussed Lucien is so good, this poor guy. love love love Lucien stream of consciousness concussion blabbing, love pre-teen kissing practice with the bestie as a thinly veiled excuse to cover up a crush, love that he is unintentionally subjecting Catherine to the world's worst possible time. all her friends are dead and the one that isn't dead won't shut the fuck up about things she Fully Doesn't Want To Be Party To

AUGHHH this was so good!!!! thank you for sharing another snip!!! and I'm so sorry again for how long it took me to actually see it and respond, tumblr stays messing with me about notifications on the app

[obibail]

hi it's lucstave fic anon again and so far we have:

lucien Pining Viciously during the festival As One Does, to background music of established catherine/lune/sciel gossiping about the boys Not Having Their Shit Together lol for shame

gustave making fun of lucien for falling on his face during the boat ride because he walked into the mast. lucien is just glad gustave didn't notice lucien only walked into the mast because he was too busy staring at gustave shirtless chilling on the deck (maelle totally noticed tho and will NOT let lucien live this down ever lol)

the beach. everyone is having a Very Bad Day. especially gustave, who wakes up alone with broken ribs having JUST realized he's in love with lucien right before, to his knowledge, lucien died to save him + cut to lucien and catherine wandering around trying to find anyone else, catherine gently herding lucien along and being forced to listen to Concussed As All Fuck lucien yap about how much he wants their mutual bestie carnally

lune appears!! and is reunited with one half of her two girlfriends who smoke weed yay!!

meanwhile lucien decides to go poke around this weird cave to give his friends some privacy

Oh Hey Gustave I'm So Glad You're Okay!

...Gustave?

(Gustave is in fact Not Okay)

love all of this, absolutely cooking and Catherine/Lune/Sciel is so real I love you for that. why ship Lune or Sciel with Verso when they have each other and also Catherine. we deserved lesbians it's crazy they weren't lesbians

imagining the wild fluctuations of Lucien deeply concussed and not quite remembering what happened on the beach other than Bad and Catherine just letting him live in that space because it's too painful to try to keep explaining and would probably just slow them down (and boy. listening to your friend lovesick yap about his feeling for a man you're pretty positive is dead? and also everyone else is probably dead too? Catherine going through it) to remembering what happened and realizing Gustave is probably dead just to find him again? ough please