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Author’s notes: S o. Soooo… all of Tan’s book recommendations actually had reasons? 😅 I’m gonna yap about them here for a minute even though like, you do not need these references 😅 Also some of the recipes mentioned, and a lil’ bit about the background that may not make it into the final edit y’all have on ao3.
This entire chapter can be ignored unless you would like a little more insight into the books Tan chose for Reader, and some of the little meanings behind various things that appeared in the fic. I may come back and add a bonus chapter to the fic to give it some smut in the future if that is something anyone wants. If I do that, I will re-order the chapters so ‘The little details’ remains at the very end.
Flirting through books
A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov – a Russian psychological novel with an intelligent antihero who wastes his time on manipulation, reckless risks, and toying with the hearts of others ~ Tan recommends it as the closest thing to dark romance he can stand.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky ~ as far from cosy crime as Tan could possibly get with his recommendation; to be fair, I could see Tan having no freaking clue what ‘cosy crime’ is and instead recommending one of his favourite books featuring a murder and police investigation.
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin ~ yet more Russian classical literature (Tan’s personal favourite kind) this time about unrequited love, pride, and regret, where the protagonist rejects a young woman’s love, only later to be rejected by her in turn.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy ~ for hopeful love and romance (y’know, beneath all the grief and bad marriages and war QQ).
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov ~ another (modern) classic Russian book, this time about hopeful love and protection where love can act as a shield even in darkness.
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver ~ a modern, spicy dark comedic romance book about two serial killers who fall in love while hunting and killing other killers together to see who is the most skilled.
Locations, characters and background details
I also don’t normally yap about the amount of freaking time I spend trying to double-check my own patchy knowledge of London with actual research into places and locations, but I’m lowkey proud of this fic and it’s been a minute since I last wrote Tangerine, so y’all are getting all the details.
The art gallery Ladybug trades information about is The National Gallery in London, located to one side of Trafalgar Square. The crime family referenced is the Kravinoffs, with Knightsbridge selected as it’s where parts of Kraven the Hunter were filmed – and where we can kind of assume Dmitri’s apartment is, as it’s seen as basically adjacent to Hyde Park.
As for Tangerine’s limp… the events of Bullet Train are pre-fic for this lil’ offering. But rather than a fatal bullet wound, Tan’s neck wound ended up with spinal damage, which gave him nerve damage. I am a 1000% Tangerine lives! Fangirl, but I do lowkey have a soft spot for fics that give him consequences still. For this, I see his injury leading to semi-retirement, letting him and Lemon become more information brokers setting up shop in London – not quite back on home turf, but in a part of London where it’s neutral enough for their work that they can slip between the cracks and sell valuable information and keep their foot in the game, without Lemon having to fully go it alone now that Tan can’t physically trust himself to keep up in the same way he once did.
I also wanted to add: Lemon’s continuous ridiculous shelving of books is 1000% meant as a way of siblings (lovingly) fucking with each other. Lemon has heard Tangerine’s rants on the correct way to organise books one too many times, and can’t help but want to give Tangerine something else to focus on outside of their actual work (information brokers) with something more light-hearted to do during the quiet times.
I also really liked the idea of Reader slowly accumulating the Russian books Tan recommends, so that by the end of the fic the windowsill has basically become a little monument to their relationship. She’s also totally going to be working on the reverse for Tan as well, with a growing dark romance collection he’s going to be very confused by but will indulge her in~
Oh! And the Man who ‘almost looks like a budget Ryan Reynolds’? Totally Carver 😌 Lemon isn’t about to let that man get away with trying to fuck Ladybug over like that, nor would Tangerine be particularly forgiving when he discovered many of the events that unfolded can be seen as a result of Carver’s actions.
….aaand Blumengarten three doors down? Friedrich Harding. Because I am determined to smoosh my favourite ATJ characters into one world, one way or another, goshdarnit. Now all we need is the Notting Hill but make it florist Friedrich x celeb Tom Ryder AU to join this series 😌 I also 100% accept and embrace i_will_seek_for_you_there’s HC that the bookshelves come from the Kravinoffs, because of course Sergei and Tan know each other.
Recipes mentioned
Earl Grey and Lemon Loaf Cake – ‘The Baker’s almanac’ has a wonderful recipe that I kind of pictured for Reader creating here. A simple appearance, but surprisingly tasty (and very British with the tea flavouring~)
Fondant Fancies – a popular little british cake also known as ‘French Fancies’ that you can buy at any corner shop. Imagine a cube of plain white cake, with a dollop of fondant, and covered in icing (usually vanilla – pink; chocolate – brown; or lemon – yellow). Some bakeries do make them. They’re pretty darn sweet.
Rock cakes – one of the few wartime recipes my grandma used to still make when I was a kid. Imagine the driest, ugly lump of a scone dotted with raisins and sultanas, and you’ve got a rock cake. I always thought they were awful and tasted stale, dry, and sad, but I’m sure there are good recipes out there.