"How many years I know I bare—
I found something In The Woods somewhere."
Phoenixflare x Hozier's "In The Woods Somewhere"
"Lost in the Woods" Secret Santa Prompt
for @february13rose
"In the poem, the protagonist finds himself in the woods, and is terrified by beasts until his love interest in Heaven sends a mentor to pull him out of the woods and set him back on the virtuous path he had lost." (x)
To me, this gifset is a very loose 'retelling' of Dante (Dion) moving through the "circles of hell," though primarily the version of the stories presented in Hozier songs (both In The Woods Somewhere, which these lyrics come from, and most of the phenomenal album Unreal Unearth: Unending, particularly Hymn to Virgil) which that draw very heavily on the imagery and themes of The Inferno, albeit in that more romantic way only Andrew Hozier Byrne can be.
In my mind, we are following a Dion reflecting on the madness inflicted on him by Ultima, both the slow degradation of his confidence in his father and his ability—and how, after what he did in Twinside, he considers himself lost and unworthy of saving. At the start, he is waking to a version of himself he cannot face, one burdened by regret & a lack of desire to live–but who is slowly led back to "the surface" and forgiveness by "the voice from heaven" (Joshua), who is also in a way his Virgil in that he is the authoritative guide leading him through things he doesn't understand.
In my original vision, the ending of this set is a lot sadder—more in alignment with the tone of the game and Hymn to Virgil (where Dante refuses to leave hell because he won't leave Virgil, and...they are trapped in hell together lol). In this, he escapes that hell with Joshua (out of respect for Luna's desire for a happy ending), both because he #DeservesIt and also because of the Phoenix's proverbial and literal ability to "revive" him, whether through love or his powers. Either way, the redemption and forgiveness he desires is achieved through his alliance with Joshua–which is actually kinda like the story told in canon, at least to me!
Also, side note: the grid was done in reference to Dion’s talk of his gilded cage in the quest Clive does for him in the Hideaway. It just struck me as poignant to give to him here.
Gift to @autumn-lavelle for the @phoenixflarexvi Discord's Secret Santa, who asked for some cozy cuddling by the fire place while wearing ugly Christmas sweaters 🎄. Hope you enjoy your (belated) Christmas Card.
This was my secret santa gift to Margasian in the PhoenixFlare server, and I've been DYING to show you guys from the moment I started on the sketches. Happy holidays y'all!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
My contribution to this year's secret santa over on the PhoenixFlare discord server! And it has some bite 🦇
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Rating: Mature
Category: M/M
Relationships: Dion Lesage / Joshua Rosfield
Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield
Additional Tags: Vampires, Alternate Universe - No Ultima (Final Fantasy XVI), no magic, at least not in the canon sense, First meetings, Pining, Angst and Romance, Hurt/Comfort, And a tiny dash of smut - oops, nvm there's porn in my plot now, Anal Sex, Biting, Phoenixflare, PhoenixFlare Discord Secret Santa 2024 (Final Fantasy XVI)
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It should have been a normal journey. A favour to his old mentor, an opportunity to get away from his overbearing family for a while. But when Joshua travels to a secretive little village to study some peculiar local legends, he soon has to learn that some legends are far more real than he would have thought.
This particular legend turns out to be hungry - and unreasonably handsome.
The Trial of Communion (31159 words) by diremore
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dion Lesage/Joshua Rosfield
Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield, Shula (FFXVI), Famiel (FFXVI), Clive Rosfield, Jill Warrick, Benedikta Harman
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, includes FFXVI – Echoes of the Fallen DLC elements, includes FFXVI – The Rising Tide DLC elements, Fake Relationship, Arranged Marriage, Strangers to Lovers, Soulmates, Dion grows up in Mysidia, Explicit Sexual Content
Summary:
Growing up among the Motes of Water and under the shadow of Leviathan’s wave, Dion believed that keeping Bahamut hidden and tamed would always be his foremost duty. But when a venomous bite dooms his adoptive brother to a slow and painful death, Dion must venture out of his home for the first time to challenge an impossible trial and plead with Joshua Rosfield to save his brother’s life.
Phoenixflare Discord's Secret Santa gift fic for DarkNuriko.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Dion Lesage/Joshua Rosfield
Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield, Benedikta Harman, Cidolfus Telamon, Dion Lesage's Mother, Sylvestre Lesage, Charon (Final Fantasy XVI), Terence (Final Fantasy XVI), Clive Rosfield
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, An AU based on Stardust, Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, True Love's Kiss, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Bad Parent Sylvestre Lesage, Charon is evil in this I'm sorry
Summary:
Dion Lesage will do anything for his father, even fetch him the fallen star that will make him an emperor, a star known as Metia. But to do so, Dion must enter the magical land of Valisthea, where nothing—not even a fallen star—is what he imagined.
And maybe, just maybe, he might find everything he ever wished for.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dion Lesage/Joshua Rosfield
Characters: Dion Lesage, Joshua Rosfield
Additional Tags: Modern AU, Established Relationship, Fluff, SO much fluff...., Kissing, hand holding, they're in LOVE your honour, Reference to sexy times but no sexy times written, sorry maybe next time, Ice Skating
Summary:
“Joshua?” Dion whispered, he waited for a response unsure if he had fallen asleep again, a small tired sound muffled by his chest. “Shall we go on a trip?”
Joshua moved to look at him, Dion could make out his boyfriend's features in the dawn light filtering through a gap in the curtains. A confused expression but nothing spoke of refusal. Dion smiled and ran his fingers through strawberry-blonde hair.
“We’ve both been busy with work recently,” Dion sighed heavily, fully aware of how busy they had both become, despite living together they barely had any alone time. It hadn’t placed any strain on their relationship, but they had days where they missed each other dearly, they longed to have the time to sit and relax together for longer than what felt like a moment. “I thought we could both use a break, together.”
//or
Joshua and Dion have been working a lot lately, so they decide to go for a trip. A trip that they will remember forever.
