#(super long)

It's quite long this time - it might help. Took me ages to write since I was trying to be as detailed as possible. 16 points, 8 of each. Writing (certain) Situations and Tropes

1. Fights should be about intent. Your character can be an amazing fighter. Your character can struggle to land a clean hit. Both are fine. What matters is why the fight is happening. There doesn’t need to be a fully developed reason like a tragic backstory — but there does need to be something. Fear. Instinct. Protection. Panic. A line being crossed. A fight shouldn’t exist just because you want your character to look impressive or “special.” Remember that. (note to self) (To people who want an example, I've written a fight scene in my WIP, and you can read it and kinda see what I mean by this. Here it is: Chapter 5.)

observe: .. his silhouette flickers as though unstable, a figure whose atoms have forgotten the choreography of remaining still. the board before him, a leviathan of knobs, sliders and dead bulbs watches with unblinking devotion. and into this, one robin buckley speaks. selfishly.. i hope you stay. @rawkinrobin not loudly nor with any sort of flourish, just enough to cleave the room in clean two.

and that sentence of hers detonates without sound, a bloom of meaning that ricochets off the soundproofing. it lands where the world has been scraped thin: the place where he's tucked the word murderer , the place where hawkins has carved its thesis into his bones. robin, a captain of quips, harbinger of cutting commentary now stands in the quiet of the squawk offering something fragile.

he laughs. or at least attempts to. it's half incredulous and half doubtful, thumb worrying at the fraying duct tape on the arm of the rolling chair, peeling and re-peeling a strip. “  is that a legitimate, unironic, emotional statement from rockin' robin buckley ? ” he swivels a little, twirling to meet her face to face. “  call scotland yard. ”

Moira X - Dr. Moira MacTaggert (E-616) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish

First Appearance: X-Men #96 (SEP 1975)

Attributes / Powers: • Rewound reincarnation. • If a Moira dies, it restarts the timeline. • Her consciousness reincarnates back from the past into the utero stage, allowing her to keep all her memories of her past lives. • Then she makes changes in the new life, fixing possible mistakes. • Unpredictability. Her status as a mutant was invisible to any mutant sensors and detectors, they always registered her as a human. • Former cyborg. • Granted her superhuman strength, durability, and speed. • Genius intelligent. • British military training.

Groups: X-Men, Excalibur, Muir Island X-Men, Orchis.

Tell Me About the Imperium

Dorian Masterpost

Dorian: Ah. Yes, everyone outside the Imperium always seems quite fascinated by it. Probably why they come up with so many ridiculous tales. Flying cows over Minrathous? Madness! All right, that one’s actually true, but the cows didn’t have wings. I digress. Anything in particular you wanted to know?

If asked before: Dorian: Popular topic. Anything specific?

1 - Dialogue options:

History: Corypheus was a magister. [2]

Investigate: Do mages truly rule there? [3]

Investigate: The Imperium has a Chantry? [4]

Investigate: Could Tevinter be an ally? [5]

Investigate: Is blood magic common? [6]

Investigate: What about slavery? [7]

General: That’s it. [8]

2 - History: Corypheus was a magister. PC: Corypheus is a figure out of Tevinter history. He was a magister. Dorian: Yes, but that was a different time. The Imperium’s power was at its peak then. The civil war had ended. The Magisterium was united, its armies scooping up bits of Thedas like candy. The magisters who entered the Black City… it was a demonstration of how exceptional Tevinter had become. PC: But who were they? Dorian: No one knows. There’s no record of a magister named “Corypheus.” All this happened fourteen hundred years ago, before the Blight nearly wiped us out. There are no records. Today, people half-believe it’s all just a story. That’s what I believed.

Dialogue options:

History: But it’s not a story. [9]

[Back to 1]

9 - History: But it’s not a story. PC: We have evidence the story is very much real. Dorian: But not who Corypheus is, if he even remembers. There used to be families who claimed some of those magisters as their own. That stopped when the Chantry appeared. Then it was shameful, and the families distanced themselves from the tale. All we know is that some men and women entered the Black City, looking for the Old Gods. What did they find? According to Corypheus, nothing, and only he could tell us more. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: Do mages truly rule there? PC: It seems strange that an entire empire would be ruled by mages.

Dorian (mage PC): Strange? Why are you less qualified to rule than some tart with a fancy crown? Dorian (non-mage PC): I find it strange that your mages don’t rule anything at all.

Dorian: (Chuckles.) Actually, the fiction in the Imperium is that mages don’t rule. The Magisterium rules. That magisters are all mages is considered a… convenient technicality.

10 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: The Magisterium? [11]

Investigate: What about the Archon? [12]

Investigate: But mages do rule. [13]

General: I want to ask something else. [14]

11 - Investigate: The Magisterium? PC: What is the Magisterium, exactly? Dorian: The upper house of the Imperial Senate, and the only part worth having a seat on. Those seats are split among the Circles of Magi, the Chantry, and the major families–all mages now. It’s odd that outside the Imperium, you use “magister” like it applies to every Tevinter mage.

Dialogue options:

Special: What are you, then? [15]

[Back to 10]

15 - Special: What are you, then? PC: If you’re not a magister, then what are you called? No special title? Dorian: I’m an altus, which is almost as good as a magister, depending on who you ask. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dialogue options:

Special: And an altus is… [16]

[Back to 10]

16 - Special: And an altus is… PC: I’ve never heard of an “altus.” Dorian: Upper class. Those families who trace descent from the Dreamers, the first prophets of the Old Gods. If you’re a mage and you’re not altus, then you’re laetan. Lower class. If you’re not a mage at all, you’re soporati. That’s “everyone else.” We do love our fancy words. [back to 10]

12 - Investigate: What about the Archon? PC: I thought the Archon ruled over the Imperium. Dorian: Well, yes… technically he can overrule laws passed by the Magisterium, but that never happens. Even so, he gets to appoint new magisters, which means all the families vie madly for his favor. Thus the Archon gets invited to all the parties. The truest path to Tevinter influence, let me tell you. [back to 10]

13 - Investigate: But mages do rule. PC: If it’s a fiction, that means mages do rule, then. Dorian: Yes and no. Let me put it this way: mages do rule, but not all mages are equal. If you’re not from the right family, chances are you don’t rule anything. Maybe you’re even a slave. The idea that anyone could be a mage, however, keeps the masses placated.

Dialogue options:

Special: Is that true? [17]

[Back to 10]

17 - Special: Is that true? PC: Can anyone be a mage? Dorian: Technically. The potential runs mostly in bloodlines, but it’s been known to happen. More importantly, commoners believe it can. Tevinter legend is chock-full of mage heroes from humble origins. So they hold out hope. “Someday, my son or my son’s son will be a mage. Someday.” Poor sods don’t realize that means he’ll be a quaestor at the ass end of the Hundred Pillars. At best. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dialogue options:

Special: Is that bad? [18]

[Back to 10]

18 - Special: Is that bad? PC: Being a quaestor isn’t a good thing? Dorian: I imagine the average non-mage likes to think so. Counting numbers and shuffling papers all day is better than many occupations, after all. If you’re a second-class citizen among a pack of piranha, however, your outlook changes. [back to 10]

14 - General: I want to ask something else. PC: Let me ask you something else. Dorian: Of course. [Back to 1]

4 - PC: There’s an Imperial Chantry, isn’t there? With its own Divine? Dorian: You people aren’t supposed to talk about the Black Divine, are you? If you mention him outside the Imperium, people make that face. Like you’re urinating in public. But, yes, we do have the Chantry. Or a version of it. Night and day, comparing it to yours.

19 - Dialogue options:

Investigate: Is it really that different? [20]

Investigate: The Black Divine? [21]

Investigate: Are you religious? [22]

General: I want to ask something else. [23]

20 - Investigate: Is it really that different? PC: Is the Imperial Chantry so different from ours? Dorian: Not in theory. The main difference is in the whole “magic is meant to serve man, not rule over him” business. Back home, ruling the unwashed masses is serving them. For the good of the Imperium. Perhaps it started with good intentions, but these days it’s academic. The Circles are in command.

Dialogue options:

Special: You have Circles? [24]

[Back to 20]

24 - Special: You have Circles? PC: There are Circles of Magi in the Imperium? Dorian: We don’t have dismal little mage prisons, if that’s what you mean. They’re academies. Prestigious ones. We have templars as well, but they don’t cancel spells—or whatever your templars do. They’re soldiers. ㅤㅤ ㅤ PC (mage PC): They don’t use lyrium? Dorian: Ha! As if there’d be any left for them. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dorian: They watch for abuse of magic, yes, but only those who are weak or who fall out of favor get dealt with. Mostly they enforce the Magisterium’s edicts. The Chantry smiles and nods from the sidelines. [back to 20]

21 - Investigate: The Black Divine? PC: Do you really call him the “Black Divine”? Dorian: We don’t call him that, oh, no. In the Imperium, he’s the true Divine. The woman sitting on the Sunburst Throne is some backwater pretender. It all stems from a disagreement over Andraste. Marvelous, isn’t it?

25 - Dialogue options:

Special: A disagreement? [26]

Special: Your Divine is male? [27]

[Back to 20]

26 - Special: A disagreement? PC: Why would they disagree over Andraste? Dorian: It’s not my field of expertise, but the Imperium believes Andraste was a mortal woman. A mage. Down south they say, “No, she’s the Bride of the Maker! Ascended to His side, divine provenance, blah, blah, blah.” We feel better believing Andraste was one of us. Makes executing her less damning, you see. So we elected a man as Divine, the South declared war, and we’ve been feuding cousins ever since. [back to 25] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 27 - Special: Your Divine is male? PC: So… the Imperial Divine is always a man? Dorian: All the better to distinguish him from “that other one,” yes. Don’t think there aren’t a number of female magisters who bristle at that. Why can’t they be Divine, after all? Same reason you never see a man on the Sunburst Throne. Because that’s how it’s always been done. Excellent reasoning. [back to 25]

22 - Investigate: Are you religious? PC: Do you consider yourself Andrastian? Dorian: Ah. The big question. It might surprise you that I do consider myself Andrastian. I simply do not believe in the Chantry. It is a relic, whether back home or here in the South. Something from a bygone age desperately clinging to relevance. It’s not an opinion that makes me popular.

Dialogue options:

General: I agree with you. [28] Divine: +1 Leliana, -1 Vivienne

General: The Chantry has its place. [29]

General: Others might object, yes. [30]

28 - General: I agree with you. PC: I share your opinion, actually. Dorian: That’s not surprising, considering what the Inquisition represents. [31] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 29 - General: The Chantry has its place. PC: I disagree. I don’t think the Chantry is irrelevant. Dorian: Not to most, no. Perhaps just to me. [31] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 30 - General: Others might object, yes. PC: I’m not surprised. It’s not an opinion you should share. Dorian: You did ask, if you’ll recall. [31]

31 - Scene continues.

Dorian: I’ll say this: I may not believe in the Chantry, but I believe in you.

PC: In me?

Dorian: That the Maker sent you, whether through Andraste or fate. Cassandra is not wrong.

Dorian (sided mages): You saw in that future: without you, Corypheus prevails. You are our bulwark against evil. Dorian (sided templars): You are what we needed most at the moment we needed it. That’s what they will say in ages to come.

Dialogue options:

General: I’m surprised you think that. [32]

General: I don’t know. [33] +Dorian slightly approves

General: I agree. [34] +Dorian slightly approves

General: You are a fool. [35] -Dorian disapproves

32 - General: I’m surprised you think that. PC: You don’t seem like the religious sort, to be honest. Dorian: If you define “religious” as sitting in a chantry and listening to a blithering hen tell you how to live, then no. If you define it as believing in the possibility that something larger than yourself exists, then yes. By all means. [36] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 33 - General: I don’t know. PC: I’m not sure about that, myself. Dorian: Doubt is good. I like doubt. It will keep you sane. Me, I’ve seen too much to believe I know everything. [36] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 34 - General: I agree. PC: That’s true. I feel the same. Dorian: My. Someone’s full of themselves, aren’t they? PC: I was just agreeing with you. Dorian: Don’t agree on my account. A little doubt wouldn’t harm the Herald of Andraste. Me, I’ve seen too much to believe I know everything. [36] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 35 - General: You are a fool. PC: That’s what you think? That’s ridiculous. Dorian: Oh? I’m glad you’re so certain. Me, I’ve seen too much to believe I know everything. [36]

36 - Scene continues.

Dorian: The world is bigger than I, even bigger than you. It laughs at all the things we think we know. The Maker doesn’t need me to believe, but I do. The thought of no one at all watching out for us is too frightening. [back to 19]

23 - General: I want to ask something else. PC: Let me ask you something else. Dorian: So many questions. [Back to 1]

5 - Investigate: Could Tevinter be an ally? PC: I’m wondering if the Imperium would be a useful ally. Dorian: I’d think you’d be more concerned whether or not they’d support the Venatori. They won’t, of course. At least not officially. They’ll disavow all knowledge of “dangerous cultists.” Secretly many magisters will rejoice at the idea. And if the South falls to chaos in the meantime? All the better.

Dialogue options:

Special: Is that smart of them? [37]

[Back to 1]

37 - Special: Is that smart of them? PC: It would be in the Imperium’s best interest to help. Surely it could use allies. Dorian: I think the Imperium gave up on the idea of allies a long time ago. We’ve been fighting the Qunari for, what? Two hundred years, off and on? It’s a point of pride that we go it alone. They’ll sneer at the South behind their silk handkerchiefs and say you’ve had it easy for far too long. Let’s not forget that the Inquisition seems to be an arm of the Orlesian Chantry. Anathema, so far as they’re concerned. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dialogue options:

Special: But we’re not! [38]

[Back to 1]

38 - Special: But we’re not! PC: We’re not part of the Chantry. The Chantry opposed the Inquisition’s formation. Dorian: You think that matters? Don’t be silly. The Herald of Andraste? Your very title smacks of the southern Chantry. You may as well be a heathen. I think they’re far more frightened what you’ll do if you succeed. [back to 1]

6 - Investigate: Is blood magic common? PC: Just how often is blood magic used there? Dorian: Oh, not at all. PC: Not at all… Dorian: That’s what any magister would tell you. They’d be convincingly offended by the notion, too. Of course, what people call blood magic here and what we consider blood magic are two different things.

Dialogue options:

Special: What do you call it? [39]

[Back to 1]

39 - Special: What do you call it? PC: What’s considered actual blood magic in Tevinter? Dorian: Blood magic isn’t inherently dangerous. Using your own blood or that of a willing participant? What’s the harm? The problem is that what’s permitted only gets you so much power. And what if you need more? You always need more. That’s where we get into sacrifices and demon-summoning. None of that is done–not officially. Behind closed doors, it’s a different story. Real blood magic can give you an edge, a leg up against your opponents. It’s safe to assume that any mage of rank does it. The rest are quietly shut out of power, to put it bluntly. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dialogue options:

Special: No templar intervention? [40]

[Back to 1]

40 - Special: No templar intervention? PC: You’d think the templars would object. Dorian: I imagine they did, long ago. Once their investigations might have been sincere. Then their balls were cut off. Too inconvenient. Nowadays, only the friendless are accused… and most of them probably innocent. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Dialogue options:

Special: No one disagrees? [41]

[Back to 1]

41 - Special: No one disagrees? PC: There must be some mages who oppose this. Dorian: Of course. I do, and I’m not entirely alone. Occasionally there’ll be a magister who makes noise, and then the reform talk begins. All very patriotic. Meanwhile, that magister will be quietly shunned. Chances are—surprise!—it’s learned he was a maleficar all along. Most learn to keep quiet. Me? I enjoy the allure of pariah-hood. [back to 1]

7 - Investigate: What about slavery? PC: Anyone who talks about the Imperium mentions slavery. It’s the center of the slave trade. Dorian: Ah. That is true. PC: And? Did you have slaves? Dorian: Not personally, but my family does and treats them well. Honestly, I never thought much about it until I came south. Back home, it’s… how it is? Slaves are everywhere. You don’t question it. I’m not even certain many slaves do.

Dialogue options:

General: You’re saying they like it? [42]

General: It’s not like that here. [43]

General: That’s a terrible attitude. [44] -Dorian slightly disapproves

42 - General: You’re saying they like it? PC: You think slaves like it that way? Don’t be ridiculous. Dorian: I didn’t say they like it. It’s all most of them know. [45] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 43 - General: It’s not like that here. PC: Well, we don’t have slaves in the South. [45] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 44 - General: That’s a terrible attitude. PC: That’s it? You don’t question it? [45]

45 - Scene continues.

Dorian: In the South you have alienages, slums both human and elven. The desperate have no way out. Back home, a poor man can sell himself. As a slave, he could have a position of respect, comfort, and could even support a family. Some slaves are treated poorly, it’s true, but do you honestly think inescapable poverty is better?

Dialogue options:

General: At least they have a choice. [46] -Dorian slightly disapproves

General: I suppose not. [47] +Dorian slightly approves

General: “Treated poorly”? [48]

46 - General: At least they have a choice. PC: At least they’re free. They don’t have slavery forced on them. Dorian: You think people choose to be poor and oppressed? I doubt it. [49] ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ 47 - General: I suppose not. PC: I suppose not, no. [49] ㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤ 48 - General: “Treated poorly”? PC: Is that what you call it? “Treated poorly”? [49]

49 - Scene continues.

Dorian: Abuse heaped upon those without power isn’t limited to Tevinter, my friend. I don’t know what it’s like to be a slave, true. I never thought about it until I saw how different it was here. But I suspect you don’t know, either, nor should you believe that every tale of Tevinter excess is the norm. [back to 1]

*DO NOT REPOST MY ART*

An AU where everything is the same except... it’s not the same. 

Introducing the Long Long Kaiju

THIS is what I call a true crack/shitpost

part one, part two, part three, part four

A Rose of Winter (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: All Daniel wanted to do was escape the stifling life as a Stark of Winterfell and travel the world. Between the looming threat North of The Wall and the den of lions in the capital, he unexpectedly finds love in the midst of a war set to tear Westeros apart. Caught between loyalty to his family and duty, he is torn in a thousand directions that all point to one man: Philip Flowers.

A Stolen Ring (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan’s not normal. Why?

He's not human, he has a mysterious ring, and he hates Phil Lester. They have a strange past, one filled with bullying and avoidance, but when Dan turns into an incubus, everything changes. He struggles with his identity and cries himself to sleep most nights, yearning to be normal. And somehow the universe makes it worse by bringing him and Phil together - in the most literal sense.

Advent Calendar 2020 (ao3) - Phantje

Summary: Dan is a single father to his son Mes. When Mes does not go to Dan's best friend Meggie's nursery, he tags along to Dan's photography studio. With Mes, the studio, and his film-review-blog, Dan is certainly busy, and yet finds time to be a little lonely - he is skilled like that. Dan's life seems to suddenly start spinning when he rescues a client from a malicious photo booth.

Phil is the co-founder of the IRL store, but wants to start working to meet new people and to fill his days. That has nothing to do whatsoever with him pining after the mysterious blogger, and he isn't even really all that lonely, actually.

Phil starts working at a nursery, makes a new friend, and gets more than he bargained for in falling in love with the photographer.

Advent Calendar 2021 (ao3) - Phantje

Summary: Phil lives and works in a town in the North called Lylchester. Well, 'works'. He does charitable things in the name of being nice and his (adoptive) parents. Things are fine. Yeah. Fine. Meeting Dan who has strong opinions about peculiar things shakes up Phil's life and he is falling before he can help it.

Dan lives and works somewhere, or anywhere really. By fate, or call it the British Railway train running times, he ends up in Lylchester. Before he can help himself, he has made the first real best friend he has ever had - Beatrix. And suddenly, life does not seem so difficult anymore. Dan appreciates the work he can do, even if it has him interact with the rich idiot Phil more often that he would personally choose.

An Angel in a Leather Jacket (ao3) - bakingphaninmymind

Summary: An argument starts it all. Hell comes after for Dan Howell, the school pastel boy. He only wanted to help, but got backstabbed in the end. From a safe position in the school hierarchy, Dan is up to neck in an affair he never had and starts finding threats in his locker. He needs someone on his side if he wants to make it to the end of high school. A mysterious punk boy promises him protection. The condition Dan needs to meet, though, is far from normal.

Aria in the Snow (ao3) - Eavans

Summary: If you asked most people of Daniel J. Howell’s lot in life, they’d tell you it was pretty good. A small career writing for a fashionable magazine, the heir to one of New York’s most prestigious hotels, the convenience of youth and an ailing millionaire father… what more could an 18-year-old ask for?

So when a night at the symphony turns into the start of a whole new double life in the city’s queer underworld, the heir to New York’s most fashionable hotel will have to learn what is what when you're dating a cabaret singer, and who is who when that singer becomes a troubled star.

So it’s nothing but fate to blame when things start to fall apart. The catch? It’s the last half of the 1920s—

And this romance is illegal.

Better Than Me (ao3) - floofdjh

Summary: Dan Howell is a camboy. At only eighteen, he’s already become popular on many websites and has been involved with a magazine. Desiring for someone to trust to create his darkest fantasies with, he downloads Tinder, where he meets the sweetest man alive. But surely this man could find someone better than Dan, couldn’t he?

Broke, Gay and New in Town (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Dan Howell was in dire need for a change - he hated his job and his life and he just felt stuck. His grandfather's letter was a blessing that came with an incredible gift: A farm. Dan had no idea how to run a farm but he was willing to give it a try.

He arrived in Stardew Valley with few expectations but even so, he could never have imagined he would encounter magic, otherworldly creatures, corporate conspiracies, so many queer villagers, a secret destiny and right at the centre of it all the love of his life.

Butterfly (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: Phil Lester, a lonely writer, finds a dying boy with beautiful black wings on a cold, rainy night in a dingy alleyway. He recognizes the boy as one of the winged men hated by human society. They are considered to be wild, ferocious beasts, but Phil's sympathy forces him to help the boy.

What happens when the boy, considered to be a wild beast, gets too attached and follows him home with an innocent, dimpled smile?

dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) (ao3) - kishere

Summary: Dan Howell is an ice skater in England, a non power player in the world of competitive ice skating. Phil Lester is the greatest ice skater to come out of England in the past decade, part of a family legacy. When Dan is offered a spot at Phil's family gym, he learns what he was missing the most to be the best ice skater he could be.

Or: the yuri on ice inspired au

Desires (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: What would you do if you were suddenly hauled from your inauspicious life and dumped into an unforeseen catastrophe with your worst enemy?

Dan Howell and Phil Lester completely and utterly hate each other. They fight every time they meet, and all of their friends are tired of it. But one day, these two hot-headed, reckless men stumble through a secret passage in a mysterious old house and wake up on a strange island uninhabited by other intelligent life forms. They only have each other and no way to escape. Will they fight to death, or will they learn to trust each other in a world where no one else exists? Can they put aside their mutual hatred for each other to survive this misfortune?

finding light in the dark places. (ao3) - commonemergency

Summary: They’re all connected in some way. All have their own stories to tell. If Dan were a better person he’d get to know them more but he always feels like something is holding him back. So they just continue to work in each others spaces, creating things out of dough and making better things with icing. Donna’s slogan is that everything was made with love but he thinks that’s just because she made this thing—they’re just the hands that give it out to other people. One day, Dan thinks, he’ll hope to feel that passionate about something again. Or a story about grief and loss, found family, donuts, and first love.

Hate Me Closer (Phan) (ao3) - MySecretsX

Summary: Two boys, Dan and Phil, are both from reasonably different backgrounds. Dan's an English scholar from a lower-class family, whereas Phil's parents paid his way into the school with no trouble. But, they'd probably find they weren't so different if they gave each other a chance.

Auburn Independent School for Boys has eight houses, totalling 128 students per year. It's not an easy life for Dan or Phil, but sometimes there's fortune even in the worst of events. It just takes some wits to see it, and maybe a love interest or two.

home is where the heart is (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: 16 year old Daniel Howell had always felt out of place in his dad's fancy apartment or under the Singaporean sun. Life was not bad, but being the son of a British expatriate banker divorcee with commitment issues meant that there was never a home.

Inspired by the only constant in his life, a similar aged British youtuber by the name of Phil Lester, Dan decides to move to his supposed homeland Britain on a whim, in the hopes of escaping his bubble of isolation, and maybe find the place where he truly belonged.

Somehow Dan lands himself in one of the few notorious all boys boarding schools in Britain, one that has bizarre traditions, vicious inter-house competition and way too many attractive boys; and a roommate who had been Dan's best friend all along, even if Phil Lester hadn't known it.

Dan finally found home.

If You Don't Love Me, Pretend (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: All his life, Dan has wanted to have the chance to be a parent someday. He would be the best parent that ever existed, he was sure of it. Fostering might not be the most traditional way on the road to parenting, but Dan's dead set on doing it anyway. But, well, it would be easier with a co-parent, right?

the bed-sharing, fake relationship, friends-to-lovers, parent fic i was desperate to read; when i shouted into the void and was met with silence, i decided i'd do it myself

linger on (ao3) - dizzy, waveydnp

Summary: A recent loss has ground Phil's life to a halt. At 33, he's static in his grief and living in the house he grew up in - until his mother kicks him out.

In a fit of indignation and with nothing to lose, he answers the first listing he finds for a room to rent in London... a listing posted by a guy named Dan.

Love Me Further (Phan) (ao3) - MySecretsX

Summary: Sequel to Hate Me Closer.

With achieving dreams comes sacrifice; and working out if those debts were ever worth it. While in Auburn Independent School for Boys, Dan and Phil signed their decision away and believed that was the last. However, sometimes paths cross again and you have to remember to notice them when they do.

meet me at red dragon (ao3) - watergator

Summary: phil lester is a single 31 year old with a wild eight year old, ethan. dan howell is single 27 year old with a quiet five year old, noah.

when they meet at their son's swim lessons, for some reason phil can't get the pretty brown eyed stranger out of his head.

Monochrome (ao3) - intoapuddle

Summary: When you build your life out of fear that your mental illness could worsen, it leaves little room for excitement. Luckily, Dan has found a space online where he feels comfortable.

on the run (ao3) - possessivepml

Summary: 'Innocence swam in those eyes of dark brown-rather ironic, to some people. But to me, it made perfect sense.'

Play Upon Me Like This Piano (ao3) - Elleberquist6

Summary: In many ways, Phil's life is perfect: he loves his life in London, he has a wonderful brother and parents, and he has a great job as a radio DJ for BBC Radio One. There's only one thing missing in his life... A rumor reaches an executive at the BBC about a talented local piano player named Daniel. The executive decides that Daniel would be the perfect guest on Phil's radio show, so she sends Phil to speak with the evasive and mysterious piano player. When they finally meet, Phil starts to think that he has found the person who will make his life complete. Unfortunately, Dan has a secret that will make getting close to him difficult.

Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY (ao3) - natigail

Summary: @danielhowell: maybe i’d actually consider doing @bbcstrictly if they allowed same-sex couples. who wouldn’t want a sexy man spinning you around? it’s not just a girl’s dream. c'mon people let's see some pretty and fierce girls pair up and handsome and strong boys get it on. i dare you.

Dan Howell calls Strictly out on Twitter for not allowing any same-sex couples and accidentally volunteers himself to be one of the contestants if they were to change that. It was a joke. It had so clearly been a joke. Why did they take him up on it?! He’s sure he’ll trip over his own feet and hate every second, but then he meets his partner, the endearingly clumsy dancer Phil Lester.

strangers (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: dan is new to london and living in a mostly empty flat, desperate to forget the mistakes of his past. he's all alone -- until one day he gets a piece of mail addressed to someone in the neighbouring flat, one mr. philip lester. he can't exactly not return it, can he?

strike a deal, kiss my lips (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Witches were the only magical beings capable of binding and controlling demons. It required a complicated ritual and crazy amounts of magic.

It happening on accident was practically unheard of until Phil came along and got tangled up with a snarky and dangerous demon named Dan. Suddenly bound together, Phil must grapple with control over a chaotic demon that wants to strip the skin from his bones.

And maybe strip the clothes off of his body as well.

Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Dan Howell is a nineteen-year-old student who is going though the motions. He seeks guidance and companionship, finding it unexpectedly in Phil Lester, a millionaire filmmaker who happens to be seeking companionship and partnership. The two men enter into a consentual sugar relationship agreement that, over time, becomes much, much, more than paper.

The Era of the Wingless Angel (ao3) - americanphancakes

Summary: The man, the myth, the legend! Singer-Songwriter Dan Howell is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut with a tell-all interview. How did his father’s departure from his life affect his songwriting? Why did his marriage to his background dancer fail? And are he and producer Phil Lester romantically involved? Tune in to find out.

too far to walk alone (ao3) - chickenfree

Summary: “The hazelnut stracciatella,” he says, as always. They might or might not have a bet in the shop about whether he’ll ever vary.

too high (can't come down) (ao3) - danfanciesphil (thejigsawtimess)

Summary: Suspending himself 7,000 feet above the rest of the world seems likely to be a sure-fire way for Dan to escape normality, and isolate himself for the foreseeable future. The Secret of the Alps, a small hotel tucked into the side of the Swiss mountains is too niche for most avid adventurers to have heard of, making it the perfect place for Dan to work as he sorts through his problems. Unfortunately, privacy is a coveted thing, and as Dan soon finds out, the hotel harbours one guest who values it more than most.

(when you gonna realise) it was just that the time was wrong (ao3) - The_Blonde

Summary: "His notebook is divided into five columns, as much as he can remember. I’m with Dan. I’m not with Dan. Dan is far away from me. I love him, but I shouldn’t. I love him, but I can’t. Dan Howell; an impossible boy turning up in all variations of impossible dreams. The whole reason. The loss of something that you never quite found in the first place."