This blog contains all of the information you'll need to know to participate in the Summer 2026 edition of the Phandom Gift Exchange! If you have any questions, feel free to send an ask.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
"Dan, what the hell is this room? What happened to your hair?! Why do you look so⊠different?"
Dan sighed before gently holding Phil's hand. "Uh⊠so I don't want to upset you but uh⊠This isn't exactly your time, I think?"
"What?!" exclaimed Phil.
Dan wakes up expecting it to be a normal day. What he doesn't expect, is to find 2012 Phil sleeping next to him. Through many panicked induced conversations, Dan gives 2012 Phil advice on how to deal with the Valentine's day leaks and look towards a brighter future. But there's one thing Dan can't get out of his mind. Where the hell did his Phil go?
or
2012 Phil and 2026 Phil switch places, and now both Dan's from each time period have to deal with the mess. A.K.A realizing you love every version of your soulmate, no matter what time they're from.
Hey guys, I'm back. So I wrote this for @twodecimalplaces for the 2026 Phandom Gift Exchange ( @phandomgiftexchange). Sorry I was late, unfortunately I was super sick and this ended up being longer than I expected. But I hope you enjoy this fic! Tell me what you think.
A gift for the @phandomgiftexchange written by me and gifted to @thephossibilityoflove
This was so fun to write! And in with just a few minutes to spare until midnight. Not entirely sure where the idea even came from but it started with your prompt "Dan and Phil having fun together" I really hope you like it! Also PS I love your tumblr handle.
Title: The Party
Word Count: 1900
Fandom: Dan and Phil
Genre: Fluff, Introspection
Sometimes the beach beckons you to its shore with the sound of it's powerful waves crashing in the distance. When all else is quiet, except maybe a passing car or the rustle of leaves, the rhythmic push and pull of water between moon and shore lures in all who long to experience the mysteries of the sea. For one Daniel Howell, however, it wasn't the beach that called him to the ocean, or even the waves. It was the party.
For too long he'd sat on the edges of social entertainment, claiming he was too awkward or didn't have any friends. The truth was parties bring about intimate questions, whispered loudly between strangers. Who do you fancy here? Think you'll snog anyone tonight? What's your deal, anyway? Maybe enough alcohol will reveal the answer.
Tonight, the last night of their first vacation as a public "item", or whatever the hell people were calling it these days, things would be different.
Phil had laughed after the attractive stranger at the bar walked away. He'd invited them both to a beach party where there would be "plenty of blokes to show you a good time." Did he really find it laughable that they might do something adventurous for once?
"We should swing round, just for a bit." Dan tried not to sound too eager but couldn't tell if it was for Phil's sake or his own.
"What, really? I thought we had a Switch date tonight. You wanted to try that room service cheesecake."
Dan would be lying if he said the thought of three flavor marble cheesecake didn't almost break the spell he was currently under. Even still, he pushed through the desire for rich and decadent hotel foods and stood his ground.
"How many parties have we ditched for cheesecake? Too many," he looked sternly at his partner.
Phil giggled but tried his best to pay attention to the love of his life, despite the silliness of the premise.
Dan couldn't help but laugh a little too, "Come on Phil, let's go have some fun."
He leaned into the blonde boy and smiled, I want to drink a ridiculously expensive cocktail and do ridiculously cheap shots and dance with you on the beach. Lean into that twink rebirth, you know you want to."
Phil laughed loudly and genuinely this time.
"Okay yeah, let's do it. Just don't get totally sloshed, yeah? I'm not spending my vacation dragging your blackout ass up the shore."
Dan gasped and put a hand to his chest in mock drama, "Me?? I would never, I'm a classy bitch and you know it."
Phil rolled his eyes and shoved him towards the door, "Come on party boy, let's go live out your teenage dreams."
â------------------------
Somewhere in his body Phil could sense the waves. There's something different about feeling the beat of the music in your bones when it's bouncing off the walls around you and that same beat as it sinks into the atmospheric background mother nature has so conveniently provided. One connects you with your soul, the other connects you with nature itself.
He was thinking of the many wondrous things the sea had to offer him as he danced, body pressed between the many others in this place. Sweat mixed together and made for a specific texture that he was trying not to think about and the music was not only unfamiliar, but unpleasant. Visions of giant kelp and sea turtles certainly weren't the worst coping mechanism for these discomforts. He knew for a fact that at least some of these men were only able to endure them with the help of hard drugs. Surely daydreaming was an acceptable compromise. Even still, it took him a moment too long to catch the eye of his boyfriend making his way through the crowd with a second round of drinks.
"Earth to Phil," Dan said cheekily, "What are you thinking about?"
It was hard to hear him over the bass and the other dancers so Phil just took his drink in one hand and his partner's hand in the other and led him to the outskirts of the crowd. They didn't go too far. Phil wasn't sure why this party was so appealing to Dan, but he wanted to support him anyway.
Dan smiled and asked again, "What's going on in that silly brain of yours?"
Phil tried his best to focus on the positive, "Sea Turtles! I was just thinking I bet they can hear a cool distorted version of the music under the surface. Now we can say we've partied with sea turtles."
Dan laughed, "A beach filled with hot gays and you're glad to have been with the sea turtles you can't see."
"How do you know the sea turtles aren't also hot gays? Don't judge just because they're turtles."
He snorted at that, "Sure Phil, I'll be sure to make an apology video to the sea turtles immediately."
Before Phil could respond, a stranger with locs and neon green swim shorts walked up to them and waved at Dan.
"Hey man, I like your shirt"
Of course he had an American accent too.
Dan smiled wide, "Thanks! I picked it up at one of those street market booths in town"
"Sick, wanna dance with me?"
Dan's smile didn't falter but Phil watched as he blinked too many times. He was panicking.
"You know, normally I would but I think I'll finish this cocktail and take a breather."
Phil raised an eyebrow, "Don't let me stop you, you should go out and have a good time."
Dan's eyes shot daggers at Phil and stammered over something about needing to hydrate first.
American Man wasn't fazed, "All good, I'll find you out there later."
He left with a wink and Phil laughed as heat spread across Dan's cheeks.
"Didn't you come here to be adventurous?" he teased.
Dan just shrugged, "I came here to be adventurous with you."
Phil smiled softly, "And here we are, on the outskirts of the party, chatting each other up, listening to terrible music and rejecting strangers for no good reason."
"The music really is awful, are we just OLD, or do they just have terrible taste?"
"Probably both, but you're missing the point. You wanted to come to this party and I've danced more than you have and talked to more people, and by the looks of your still very full glass I've drank more than you too. What's going on?"
Dan looked around at the party and asked himself the same thing. He thought about how he'd imagined this going. It was less warm in his head. And more fulfilling.
"I think I just wanted to make up for lost time. We've gone public now. It doesn't matter if anyone sees us. We can do what we want and not have to make excuses."
"Okay, but what is it you actually want? Because you're saying its the party but I don't think that's true."
Dan thought a moment more, chugged the rest of his drink and said, "Let's go back to the hotel, but before we do-"
He took a step closer to Phil, took his face between his hands and kissed him hard.
Phil was shocked. They'd never done something even close to this amount of PDA before, but he couldn't help but find himself sinking into the kiss. He placed a hand on Dans waist and tugged at his shirt there, pulling him closer and slowed the kiss down. This wasn't urgent, it didn't need to be desperate. They had the rest of their lives to kiss at parties they'd rather not be at.
After a while they pressed their foreheads together and caught their breath. In the background, the party carried on entirely uncaring in the face of this moment. To them it was a completely benign, drunken kiss, but Phil knew better and so did Dan. This wasn't just romance, it was freedom. Finally.
â--------------------
"Get out of the way, bitch!"
"Eat my banana peel ho!"
"Dan! That was uncalled for!"
"Oh, oh no! Is Phil sad he's going to lose? Oh it's real easy now, look at that, just cruising across the finish line and that's two out of three, isn't it? Better luck next time Philly."
Phil shook his switch angrily and longed for the days when you could just chuck the controller and not have to worry about replacing an entire console.
The knock at the door came to rub salt in the wound.
"What perfect timing," Dan gloated, "loser gets the door."
Phil groaned and got up. He opened the hotel door to a staff member delivering wine and cheesecake and made sure to tip them well.
Closing the door behind him, he padded across the floor in his sock feet and, despite Dan's protests, didn't stop until he got to the balcony, overlooking the ocean below them.
"If you want cheesecake, you have to get up and join me."
Dan acquiesced and joined Phil outside. This room came with two rocking chairs and a small wooden side table that Phil set the drinks and dessert on. The boys sat and ate together in the cool night air.
After a minute Dan asked, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Phil did his best to listen and sure enough, beyond the wind and the waves and the general bustle of the hotel entrance below them, Phil heard the very specific sound of distant music, the kind so far out that you can only hear the bass pounding. They same bass that had just been pumping through his blood only an hour before. Dan blushed, remembering how they kissed before.
"Was the party really that loud?" Phil asked, "Where is it?"
They both looked down the beach until they found, way in the distance, a small cluster of color changing lights. That's where they stood only an hour prior, when they thought the night would be completely different.
Phil looked at Dan for a moment as he gazed down the shoreline, "Are you sad we left? Do you regret leaving the party early?"
Dan shook his head, "No, I was just thinking I'd rather be in a place where I can hear you, not just see you from across the bar, hoping to clock a vibe."
"It seems like you liked my vibes well enough when you kissed me earlier," Phil smirked.
Dan looked away, "Was that okay? I know we don't really do pda. I got carried away."
Phil reached out and grabbed Dan's hand, "I always like kissing you, but more than that, I liked seeing you begin to discover more about who you are."
Dan smiled and sat back down to eat another slice of cheesecake, but corrected Phil on one point, "Not who I am, who we are."
They spent their evening drinking too sweet wine and chatting about whatever came to mind. At one point Phil insisted on a Mario Cart rematch, so they began hurling insults at each other.
This time, life was quiet and chaotic and the waves in the background didn't call them out into unfamiliar territory. Instead they roared loudly, just off the balcony, and invited them into a life where they have the freedom to stay in, and still be changed.
@phandomgiftexchange for @romanticfistfightz ! So so sorry it's late, the power got totally knocked out in my area for a few days and my phone was dead..
it's a redraw of the "Something to Write Home About" album cover by the Get Up Kids. :3
happy summer @phandomgiftexchange @haileedrawz!!! saw that when the day met the night was in your fav songs and got overwhelmed by a pretty odd. ryden but phan vision <3 sorry for the late upload, hospital life killed my energy and i really wanted to be happy with the result <3
Dan teases Phil about him not being into BDSM, but they've had plenty of kinky sex. There's no question about that.
...So how can this particular couple determine whether or not they've, you know, actually done BDSM? It's not like they've played with whips and chains before.
(But they've definitely done BDSM.)
Written for @siriuscybernetics for the Summer 2026 edition of the @phandomgiftexchange!
Weâre still waiting for some gifts, so if you havenât received yours yet, donât worry! Weâll be contacting people to see whatâs going on shortly.
My @phandomgiftexchange gift for @unphortunate ! They requested smth to do with snokoplasm, so here's a moodboard where Phil uses snokoplasm (dont ask me how) to bring Dan back to life a la Frankenstein but... is he still actually Dan?
I was hoping to get something more in, but unfortunately Lifeâą
happy @phandomgiftexchange to @spnyuri!!! fell in love with a mini coffee shop au so i hope you also enjoy :D
ââ
Okay, Howell. Youâve got this.
The shop is just down the street. Itâs just an Starbucks, average as always, butâitâs whatâs inside thatâs special, he thinks, as he crosses the road. Well, to be more accurateâwhoâs inside.
Because thereâs one particular cashier that heâs seen almost every day this week that he wants to know. Heâs kind of that tall, dark, handsome type, a little more rugged than Dan normally goes forâafter all, heâs just some kid, and this guy is so much cooler than him, but he woke up brave and is going to shoot his shot today.
Or himself. But heâs going for the shot first.
The bell on the door dings a little. Dan hesitates, swallowing hard, because the guy is at the register right now, waiting on some little old lady who doesnât know the difference between a cappuccino and macchiato.
(Dan doesnât either, but the guy does. And no, Dan doesnât know his name, but heâs going to learn it, today. Right now. Once the little old lady is done ordering.)
Dan gets in line, his hand tight around the gift in his pocket. His part-time job down the road wonât miss it, he hopes, because he can just say he threw it out. It went bad. Or something. But maybe this guy will appreciate itâput it in a vaseâtreasure it, and Dan can come visit him and see it, and they can laugh and laugh and maybe kissâ
âSir?â
Dan jerks, blinking, then steps forward, his face red. âS-sorry, umââ
âItâs okay,â the guy says warmly, relaxing a little. âYour usual?â
Crap. Dan had a planâhello, Iâd like the usual, your name, and your number, handsomeâbut thatâs thrown it. He flounders, then clears his throat.
âI wanna mix it up,â he says instead. âGive me your favorite.â
âYeah?â
âYes.â Dan nods, as if heâs sure of this. Heâs not. He thinks it might be the stupidest thing heâs ever said or done, but here he is. What if the guy has awful taste? Or Danâs secretly allergic to something?
It doesnât matter. The guy presses a few things, then nods at him. âAlright. Iâll call when itâs done.â
The script is flipped again. Dan almost does a full reboot. âHuh? But I didnâtâI can payââ
âNo, I know,â the guy grins. âBut youâre getting my favorite, so itâs on the house for my favorite customer.â
Someone snickers behind the machine, and Danâs eyes cut to the other cashier thatâs here when this one isnât. This one, Dan knows, is Chrisâheâs a little more of a joker, but heâs got good enough jokes that itâs less obnoxious and more good at passing time in the shop.
âHeâs been asking after you,â Chris says, deftly avoiding the well-placed elbow aimed his direction. âWhy were you late?â
âShut up!â the guy hisses.
âUm,â Dan says. âI just got my break. Late, today.â
âYeah? Where do you work?â
âFlower shop. Down the road.â Dan swallows hard, and nowâs a better time than any, so he pulls out the tulip from his hoodie pocket. âThis is for you, actually.â
The guyâs face goes bright red, but heâs smiling wider now. âForâme?â
âSure. I meanâyes.â Dan clears his throat. âAnd, um, if you want to, uh, put your number on my drink, Iâd like that.â He puts the flower on the far side of the register, then books it to the back corner around the wall so he can just listen for his name and not stare to see if theyâre laughing at him.
As he goes, he can hear Chris gasping âOh, Phil, your secret admirer isnât so secret anymore!â and the guy in questionâPhil, apparentlyâretorts back âThatâs not what a secret admirer is!â
Dan pulls his hood with the horns over his head, mortified. How stupid of himâhonestlyâand he sounded like a proper idiot about it too, didnât he? They know him, which means if this drink doesnât have a number on it Dan can never come back here again. And even if he does get the number, he wonât text it. Thatâs what he gets for being brave: a whole lot of regret and churning stomach. He could book it now and never find out and never come back to this place again, he thinks. Maybe he should. After all, Phil is a thousand times cooler than him, and thatâs why they bothâwell, did Phil and Chris laugh? He doesnât know. He canât remember. They probably did, though, or theyâre laughing now. The dumb kid from the flower shop down the road, coming to ask for a number he hasnât earnedâ
Something shakes his table lightly, and Dan comes out of his hood just enough to see Phil sliding into the seat across from him with two cups in hand.
âFigured,â Phil says gently, âI oughta come give you my number myself so it doesnât get smudged.â
Danâs face is bright red, but he takes the outstretched cup. He clears his throat softly, and instead of asking about that, he nods at Philâs cup. âWhatâve you got?â
âOhâyour usual,â Phil says, shrugging. âNever tried it, so I figured we could just swap drinks? See what life is like on the other side? IfâI mean, if thatâs okay. Is that okay? Umâsorry, IâmâIâm Phil. Lester.â He offers his hand this time, to shake. âSo you know, before you have to leave for work again.â
Dan sinks back into his hoodie a little, dropping his eyes. ââŠI lied. Iâm not on break. Iâm off the rest of the day.â
âOh.â Phil takes his hand back awkwardly. âCool.â
And Dan doesnât know what compels him, but before Phil can say anything else, he blurts out, âDo you want to go get dinner tonight with me on a date? A romantic one?â
(Okay. Not the ideal way to ask, and Danâs pretty sure heâs going to be embarrassed by this whole thing for the rest of his lifeâ3 A.M. existential crises on the floor, sixteen years from now or longer, thinking about the time he was just a kid and asked out his crush at his job while he was on shiftâ)
Phil gives a crooked little smile. âYeah,â he says, though it sounds sort of like a question. âI wouldâyes. Yeah.â That time sounds moreâŠexcited. âOkay. I, um, I get off shift at around four?â
So. Four in the afternoon exactly, and Dan sits outside the shop waiting, scrolling on his phone. His friend keeps pinging himâPJâbut he ignores all the ways his phone buzzes. After all, heâs got a date, and thirty pounds to his name for itâhe hopes Phil doesnât expect much, but maybe his company would be enough.
When Phil arrives, itâs with Danâs signature drink and a nervous smile, his face half hidden behind his hair. Itâs the quintessential emo cut, Dan thinks. He wants to be that cool one day. Maybe he will be.
(Maybe one day heâll get to watch Phil grow older and get even cooler, put his hair up, down, sideways, shave it a little, dye it a different color, or stop dying it at all. Watch all the different phases and not have to stand outside wishing he was there, because he will be. Maybe Phil will get to watch his phases too. Awkward and gangly to a man, his own hair no longer a mess and not hiding in black, baggy clothes the way he does now. Maybe theyâll both get cool and old together, side by side, holding hands, facing the world togetherâor maybe just the subway and a taxiâmaybe theyâll sit there, unafraid, ready to do anything they want for the rest of their lives.
Maybe. Or maybe Dan doesnât know the future at all.)
âFor me?â he asks, face red when he takes the outstretched cup. âHey, thanks.â
âI thought you might like it, if you didnât like my order,â Phil shrugs, but heâs biting back a smile.
âI liked yours. Was a bit sweet, but I liked it.â
âYeah?â
âYeah.â
âCool. Great.â
âYeah.â
âAces.â
Dan grins, hiding his face, and Phil lets a nervous little laugh bubble.
âUh,â Phil says after a second. âSo where were weââ
âI thought we could just go walk around somewhere,â Dan admits, cutting him off. âIâsorry. I donât have a lot of money to spare but we could always ride the Manchester Eye or something, if you want. Or we donâtââ
âI would really like that,â Phil says brightly. âI love the Manchester Eye.â
âYeah? Me too.â
âAwesome.â
Dan hesitates, takes a sip of his drink, then jerks his head. He isnât brave enough to go for Philâs hand quite yet, but he does make sure that his free hand is the one closest to Phil in case Phil gets brave.
âDid you, um,â Phil starts as they start off down the road. âDid you hear the new Muse album?â
The answer is no. Dan grins. âHavenât yet, but I was going to. Could you tell me about it?â
âIâve got it on my iPod, actually,â Phil offers, already pulling out his earbuds. And to the soundtrack of The Resistance, they set off down the road.
For my @phandomgiftexchange piece I was chosen to make art for the incomparable @possumdnp !! She gave some incredible prompts and in the end I went with baby Phan meeting themselves during TIT đ apologies for the lack of color, this absolutely got away from me but I will be updating it with color at a later date annnndddd there may be a part 2 where they get to actually meet with themselves and see what they have ahead of them đđđ I so hope you like it!!!!
Summary: During a giant thunderstorm, Dan and Phil cuddle in bed and reminisce about seeing ball lightning together during another thunderstorm, sixteen years ago.
Written for @sn0k0plasm for the 2026 Summer @phandomgiftexchange!
