#pagiecake

[dailyfanfix]

Fic Rec VI: Assorodus

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41239035

(This fic is still in progress.)

Note: This author requested for us to review their fic. So I’ll go into a little more detail on the review. The reason we don’t go into much detail for the reviews generally is because it’s not like the author asked us to do that, so we’re not gonna go on here and give unsolicited advice or anything. We’re simply here to show our support!

Pagiecake, though, specifically asked us to review Assorodus. While Mavis and I are definitely not professionals, we do have quite a bit of writing experience outside of fanfiction so we thought we’d give this story more effort as a way of showing the author our appreciation for supporting our blog!

I repeat, we are not professionals. So everything here is subjective and based on what we’ve been taught as writers. 

Author: @pagiecake (PagieCake on ao3)

Fandom: The Sandman 

Relationships: Morpheus/Reader

Point of View: First-Person

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Word Count: 19,638

Chapters: 6/10

Language: English

Tags by the Author: Angst, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slow Build, Tenderness, Platonic Relationships

Summary by the Author:

Assorodus meaning "silvery water".

Purpose may or may not exist, depending on our personal ideologies. The Endless know better though, they saw the entity prowling the lands before the beginning of history, and it was older than them. Not by much, a few eons maybe, arriving after the birth of the universe we know. For this being was strong and withered the coldness of the void until everything was created. First of Writers, the name it was given, for the inherent purpose of every breathing thing had to be formed in words. Whether we believe in it or not.

His body I recognise, I’ve seen him naked before, but now the stretch of his skin is strange, sickly, I can see his bones protruding from underneath as if trying to break through his pale flesh. I remember his complexion being fair, though not to this extent. Partly obscured by his jet-black hair, his eyes are two windows to fiery rage, so much so, that I sense he is not sure who I am yet, his swirling emotions rendering him blind. Pink lips barely moving, he slightly pulls them into a scowl, threatening me without the use of words. I know him, but at the same time not, not in this state. What have they done to him?

“Morpheus?”

What you can expect:

Very interesting plot. I’ve read a lot of Sandman fics since the TV show came out, and I can confidently say that this is one of the more unique and ambitious fics I’ve read. The tags say Tenderness, and there’s definitely quite a bit of that. It’s interesting, too, since it points to a much deeper story that I look forward to as the story gets updated.

Morpheus and Reader have known each other for a while, so you can expect there’s an air of mystery regarding their relationship—platonic or not. They’re kind of in that weird limbo phase and it annoys the heck out of me as slow-burn fics usually do HAHAHAH AUTHOR PLEASE CUT TO THE CHASE— *cough* anyway, back to Writer Mode™.

More subjective thoughts and minor spoilers under the cut.

—

(Masterlist)

Posted on September 9, 2022

Posted by Sophia

Ko-fi

Masterlist of the Chapters

Thoughts on Chapter 1

[dailyfanfix]

Fic Rec VI: Assorodus

Main Post

Thoughts on Chapter 1 (spoilers)

I think chapter 1 starts out strong. It immediately shows you who or what the Reader might be, which hooked me into the story. It started out differently than most of the fics I’ve read. 

There are also things that point to the reader having history with Morpheus, which I liked because build-up is always good, especially when it’s a slow burn. Later on you get to look back on those and think “Oh, so that’s what it’s about!” And I always like that feeling. 

There’s a lot of celestial activity in the story and regarding the Reader, and obviously we don’t know what that’s about just yet, but I do feel that it’s maybe a crucial part of the story, so I’m paying attention every time there’s some mysterious force that’s commanding Reader about something. (Reader is very focused on her job, so whatever that something is, it scares—but also excites hehe—me that it might lead to angst.)

I personally think that line is good, especially with the context that later on, the Reader will endure the scorching pain for Morpheus’ sake. Gets you a look into just how much Reader cares for Morpheus, and makes you wonder even more what kind of relationship they really have. 

Although I will say, Morpheus is more emotional here than in other fics, which I personally don’t mind. Because it looks to me that that’s how the author intended it to be, and because of the dynamic between Morpheus and the Reader, it makes sense for the story. 

In the dynamic, it seems that the reader is the more protective one and Morpheus is like, the soft, teary-eyed bean that he is. But again, it makes sense because of who the reader is. I won;t say what she is though because that would be a major spoiler, you’d have to read the story for yourself if you want to know XP.

Like I said, the plot is very interesting, and I encourage y’all to read it and give PagieCake some support! (Because they deserve it and I really want to know what happens next—)

Writing-wise, I think it’s more tell-y than showy, but that’s not a bad thing. Just means the pacing is a little faster (for me, at least), especially at the beginning. It slows down the more you read though, it’s mostly the first chapter that’s fast because it’s introducing the Reader’s character. The Reader's character is also very complicated because of what she is, so to dwell too long on that is gonna take a lot of words so I get why it’s a little faster than the rest of the story’s pacing. 

The paragraphs are also long (not all the time, though), which isn’t rare for fics and books. I’m only mentioning it to let y’all know. Because I’m dyslexic, bulky paragraphs are a little harder to read. Author, don’t take this as me telling you to shorten your paragraphs, that’s not why I’m saying this. Go write however your heart desires! I’m just here to give people a heads up, it doesn’t affect the story at all!

I saw in the ao3 comments that this is the author’s second language, and lemme tell you, for someone who’s writing in their second language, this fic is written very well! English is my second language, too. This style of writing is quite hard to achieve when you’re not using your first language, so more kudos to the author! English is a b*tch to learn XD.

The dialogue is good too! The first chapter’s dialogue stands out to me because you get a glimpse of Morpheus and Reader's history. It’s obvious they care for each other, but are holding back, yk? 

My heart melted at the thought that the Reader stayed with him in that basement. Especially when both of them know nothing can be done to get him out because Reader would get hurt in the process. Anyway, I’ll wrap this up so the review isn’t too long. But overall, the plot is very interesting as I’ve said before, and the story gets better and better as the chapter progresses. Go check out Assorodus!

[dailyfanfix]

Hi! I just stumbled upon your blog and I love that you are doing fic reviews, I think it means a lot for a lot of writers. Can I offer you my Morpheus fic Assorodus? It's on my blog but also on AO3. If not that's okay :) I love your blog

Hello! We'd love to post your fic! If you'd like us to make a review for it, give us some time so Sophia can read it (she's the one currently reading Sandman fics) and write a review for it so we can make the post.

And if you already have a review prepared for it, you can send us that too and we'll add it to the post!

We're happy you like our blog! ^_^ - Mavis