#the grail of reads

[aurikku]

It's been a long time. I'm glad I got to see it through the near beginning and to the very end.

This is their story.

[finalgirlesque]

look out galahad! the grail is pulling you in like a magnet!!! perfection is a breath away and that which becomes perfect vanishes forever from the earth!!! oh god he has airpods in he can't hear us. he's listening to box fan noise 8 hour loop oh noooooo

[xbuster]

Fate/Zero fans haven’t even seen Fate/Zero

[whichcouldmeannothing]

running blind by @thetriggeredhappy

(minnie's holy grail: 3/?)

Scout's eyes are badly damaged in battle and for some reason, Medic's gun can't fix him. Until they figure out how to heal Scout, he needs someone to look after him and keep him safe. Sniper is given the job.

this ruined my june in the best way possible. sometimes when your life falls apart, the feeling of an easy slow-burn friends to lovers kind of heals your soul. this is on queue unfortunately (4th july end of exams i wait for you) but i hope you all visit this 6 year old fic and scream with me. this fic to me is a hug, the podfic itself has made my week even through marathon study sessions and it's just. its so good.

and the podfic and thetriggeredhappy's commentary has brought so many smiles to my face, link here if youre interested!

anyway, see you all very soon and i hope this comes out on the right time! this was one of the best things i read this year! so good it rendered me catatonic! <3333

read below for extra deets

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Vriska: Tis 8ut a scratch. Terezi: 4 SCR4TCH?! YOUR 4RM'S OFF! Vriska: No it isn't. Terezi: WH4TS TH4T TH3N? Vriska: I've had worse. Terezi: YOU L14R!

[sickfreaksirkay]

:(

[toonytoodles]

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

I could say that ASOIAF is a very medieval lit story at heart and you’d be like, “well no shit Sherlock, tell me something I don’t know 🙄”.

And I’d say: “Ok bet. ASOIAF’s medieval core is best exemplified through Jon Snow and Bran Stark, two distinct yet mirrored iterations of one hero-knight whose origins can be traced to Percival and his magical quest. Both are Percival (and both are potentially the grail king) but one is as close a 1:1 copy as we can get (Jon) and the other is the Percival archetype completely flipped over its head before it even begins (Bran). Jon, by the author’s own admission, is the fantasy hero in the most traditional sense. He’s Percival who was inspired by the knights and left his mother’s castle to chase after chivalric glory (Jon III AGoT), only to find out that he has a massive misunderstanding of the knight’s purpose and honor (ACOK/ASOS arcs). No one told him of the ethical dilemmas involved with being a knight. No one told him that he could meet the fair maiden and either be completely incapable of helping her (Gilly) or help her, leave her, and be burdened by her death (Ygritte). No one told him how hard it would be to have his entire world view upended and upon going back to his fellow knights and saying ‘hey friends maybe we should all re-evaluate the system in which we operate and how it might be causing us to betray the vows we swore’ he’d be met with disdain. No one told him that, like Percival, he might look back to his mother’s home and see what has become of it (and his sister whom he left) and upon making the decision to go back to it he dies before he can even get his foot out of the gate. Percival made it back home and Jon might too, but where Percival still had his mother’s shirt to remind him of his boyhood Jon had to kill the boy because the fate of the world depended on it. Jon stumbles and rises, only to stumble again. But nonetheless, he gets to be a knight. But on the other hand, there’s poor Bran! He doesn’t even get to fail at being a knight in the first place because that storyline was fucking taken from him before he could realize his dream of leaving his mother’s home. Jon at least got his call to action. Bran’s dazzling dream of knighthood doesn’t even get off the ground (quite literally). He climbs, falls immediately, and once his eyes are awakened he realizes that he is now incapable of being Percival as he’d wish to be. There’s no battling evil knights. There’s no saving fair maidens. But then he’s visited by a wizened old man who’s like ‘hey Percival, you can never be a knight but I’ll teach you how to be a mighty wizard!’ And that would be cool and all….BUT BRAN WANTS TO BE A KNIGHT GODDAMNIT! When he auditioned for the medieval lit play, he picked up the Percival/Arthur script. Yet that’s not what he ultimately got when the cast list finally got out. Because who the fuck switched it out his hero-knight script for the Merlin one??! So now he has to try and figure out how to be a knight who’s actually a wizard, and it fucking sucks y’all.”

[authenticcadence18]

everyone hold hands and we will manifest charter school girl posting the pnf Star Wars song storyboards

[reyturnofbensolo]

Saw this☝️and decided to make something😏…

[volvosandvampires]

Importantly, they both have “vicious streaks a mile wide.”

[full-of-terrors]

If you ever feel bad about a mistake just remember- John Ross misidentified an entire mountain range and in some quarters an excess of overconfidence was known as Ross-ism for years afterwards.

[evedaser]

look i know this is meant entirely literally because they're talking about jousting but COME ON. THIS SOUNDS LIKE A EUPHEMISM.

[whichcouldmeannothing]

minnie's markwardo fic rec list

my credentials:

i've watched tsn like 5 times

i've written a lot for it

i've read a lot of it

summaries and thoughts under the cut! lets go socialists*!

(*socialists = social network fans)

short fics (under 5k)

Never Quite Like This by wardo_wedidit (3k, au)

Facebook is a boy band who makes music critics love and teenage girls go crazy for, and Mark and Eduardo's genius is the band's linchpin. But there is so much to them behind closed doors, and Chris gets a front row seat to it all. Facebook is a boy band who makes music critics love and teenage girls go crazy for, and Mark and Eduardo's genius is the band's linchpin. But there is so much to them behind closed doors, and Chris gets a front row seat to it all.

for people who: liked daisy jones and the six and had a one direction phase and like fandom drama

this reignited my tsn phase in 2023, so bless this fic ^^

-

A Curve that Sets Everything Straight by Hecate (4k, fix-its)

Mark's heart matters. And Eduardo wants to see him smile.

Mark means so much more to him than all the other people that looked at him as if he was better than ice cream and world peace combined. Mark is brilliant and an asshole and he makes Eduardo forgive shit that he shouldn't forgive. Mark makes it easy to stay.

for people who: like epistolary fics, who want things fixed, who like to be in pain (just by this quote, doesn't it fill you with pain and suffering? read it!!)

-

There I Fixed It by lightgetsin (4k)

“You need a fucking keeper,” Wardo rages. “Someone apparently needs to make you drink orange juice and stop you from blowing up your appliances and spray you down with a fire extinguisher every now and then, for the love of God. Why the fuck don’t you have people doing these things?”

for people who: like to be taken care of, like that 'it's rotten work/not to me, not if it's you' quote, are shenanigans lovers

unironically, this is one of the funniest fics that is on this list, absolutely edible and laugh out loud

-

The Blue Period by stilettodandelion

The lights from the chandeliers pour from the ceiling, showering down like the roar of sunlight or rain breaking through crushed glass. All questions, Mark thinks. Nothing but questions. How many months would he stay? What paintings does he want for the rest of the house? How many of them does he need to cover these vacant walls, how many CPUs and TV screens and workstations to fill up this hollow coliseum? Or: the Great-Gatsby AU.

for people: who like being sad, who like pretty pretty descriptions, WHO ARE ART FIENDS YUPS

if you've read the great gatsby, you know they would fit. also its set in singapore so immediately thumbs up for me!

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Girls Are Not Meant to Fight Dirty (Never Look a Day Past Thirty) by @almost-a-class-act (9k, magic)

“He turned into a girl,” Dustin bursts out, unable to contain himself any longer. There's a beat. Then Eduardo laughs. “All right?” “No, he – We mean, he actually turned into a woman,” Chris says. “Dustin isn’t messing with you.” “For once,” Chris and Dustin say at the same time. Or: Mark wakes up female for no particular reason that anyone can discern, learns a few life lessons, and figures out what he actually wants from Eduardo.

for people who want: mark to truly be a better person, who like body-swap shenanigans, who want to feel joy again

look this was really funny!!! it was very "your name" coded, but its a really good fic if you need mark to speedrun becoming a better person, its both really funny and really transformative

-

been at this far too long by @alakeeffectgirl

In which Eduardo learns how to argue with Mark, and Mark learns to be somewhat less of a jerk.

for people who like: funny fics, people who like epistolary fics

i tell you every epistolary fic gets my praises, yummy yummy yummy, its some push and pull if you want a bit more resistance, like mark shouldnt have it too easy to be forgiven :0

-

medium fics (under 20k)

The Greatest Trick by fairy_tale_echo (16k)

Mark makes a deal with the Devil for everything he ever wanted ... but when the Devil arrives to collect, he discovers he put up much more than just his soul. (or: What would you trade for the thing you want most?)

for: people who love: fairy_tale_echo, funny little fantasy aus, poetic cinema, chris moments

this is one of the most insane fics that this fandom has ever seen. the development and the plot will grip you and make you absolutely entranced and you will screech at your phone, trust me (also did u read that damn summary? thats insane isnt it)

-

pieces from my heart by indecentexposed (12k)

Mark gets drunk, watches the video of the depositions, and comes to some startling realizations.

“The thing is, Mark, when someone loves you so much, they would do absolutely anything you asked—sometimes the best way to love them back is not to ask.”

for people who: like suffering, want a good fix-it, want the most caring friendships ever

this is one of the first fics i read in this fandom, and i love it so much. it is so soft and sad and lovely and OHG MY DAYS. READ THIS

-

Call Me (any, anytime) by aqualined (inabstract) (15k, au)

Tech help AU. (Or the one where Mark learns proper phone etiquette and that you can actually fall in love with the sound of someone's voice—well, maybe if that someone's Eduardo.)

for people who: like comedy, who like loser tech aus (me), VOICE PEOPLE

hey. this is really funny. revisitng all of these reminded me how funny tsn fics are. but trust man. this is one of their most rom commy fics :D

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In Every Line of Code by lc2l (18k, au)

Mark's parents buy him Eduardo - a state-of-the-art, brand new, tailor made robotic best friend - for his birthday. The only problem is, Mark asked for a laptop.

HEY. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS. YOU NEED TO READ THIS. if u read nothing from this list, can you at least read this. please please. this is the best fic on here. sad and sweet and lovely and bittersweet. the most like the vibe of the movie. THE BEST FIC I READ IN 2022. TRUST ME

-

let me shill if you want more depression, read my fic! hahaha

the last great american dynasty by @whichcouldmeannothing (3k, post canon)

You replay the scenes of love and strife, remember the shared books, the loved song, the souvenirs of friendship that will survive the vanishing. you know that memory can thrive on loss, and give them the lives you long to share, the news of the dear ones who have dropped out of your life. yet you wonder, wonder, whether any of these will survive. - Mark, Facebook and the things he's lost.

this is my favourite fic i wrote for tsn, read it if you want to see a man violently depressed and then depressingly in love :D

i haven't revisted the fandom in a while, but if we get to 200 notes ill make a part two and get somemore for ya <3

happy reading!

[flandrepudding]

guyz…... my friend got me dead tired lagoona for my birthday WITH the hydration chamber that still lights up/functions. doll people you know how much of a win this is. holy fjck idk how to even explain what I’m feeling

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Stardust Grail

fun space opera

a woman from a human settlement on another planet who spent a decade as an art thief, returning stolen artifacts to alien civilisations all across the galaxy, and is now on earth as a grad student trying to move on from the past (and visions of the future she’s plagued with)

when her old friend asks for help to find a mythical object that might save xyr species, and some new clues show up at her university, she goes on a quest across the universe with her cephalopod-like friend, an ex-soldier, a runaway medic bot, and her academic advisor

complex friendships between different alien species, no romance