1 - 20 of 30 Bookmarks by Meadhbh
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Gustave Virlogeux has been in love with his best friend for nine years.
Why hasn't he confessed, you ask? Well, there is the tiny, insignificant problem that said best friend is straight.Or at least he thinks he is straight. Because for about a year now, there's been a little voice in the back of Verso Dessendre's head asking some very pointed questions about a certain engineering student, who also happens to be his best friend.
And what better place to figure this mess out than four days at a music festival: with their entire friend group, one (1) very small tent, and a spreadsheet containing thirty-six (36) of Gustave's failed confession attempts?
Or: five times Verso thinks he might be bi, five times Gustave almost confesses, and the one time, finally, nobody interrupts.
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
28 Sep 2026
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la portée des corps (the bearing of bodies) by river_low
Fandoms: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Video Game)
16 Oct 2026
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Over ten years after he burned his canvases at the top of the Beaux-Arts de Paris and very publicly went off the rails, Verso Dessendre returns home, a prodigal son trailing rumors of a deeply private family grief. In those same years, Gustave LeClair has built an academic career restoring the aging bridges over the Seine, helping them bear the weight of both history and the humdrum day-to-day. If only he could do the same for his personal life.
They meet. The confusion is mutual.Bookmarked by Meadhbh
24 Sep 2026
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Modern AU - by Gustave’s definition, he is most certainly not a virgin, (frottage to the point of mutual completion back in his high school days) but that definition just isn’t doing it anymore at 32, so he goes to a bar for a hookup just to get rid of all of his fucking nerves about the whole thing, not even expecting it to be a good time.
Cue in Verso, who just goes home with Gustave expecting a quick one night stand - only to once he finds out about how Gustave’s never had real sex before, to show him just how good it can be, over multiple hookups, slowly but surely falling completely for him and stopping his fuck-boi tendencies
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 33,051
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 199
- Kudos:
- 308
- Bookmarks:
- 72
- Hits:
- 5,044
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
23 Sep 2026
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a city built half upon the water and wholly upon its own ambition must, sooner or later, marry someone for the difference.
Lumière had been doing so for the better part of a century, and with a bride's practised composure. Where the land gave out—and in Lumière the land was forever giving out, shrugging its wharves into the sea as though ashamed of them—the councils arranged what the tide would not provide: an alliance here, a settlement there, a good name wed to a good harbour, and both, it was generally agreed, the better for it. The city took money in as it took the sea in, through locks and gates and a great deal of careful engineering, and it let very little of either back out again.
Or:
The one where Verso is Mr Darcy, Gustave is Elizabeth Bennet, and Jane Austen probably has some questions for me.Bookmarked by Meadhbh
21 Sep 2026
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One quiet winter afternoon, a strangely-dressed man with an aureole over his head falls out of the sky.
Or: Verso thought that it would all end after he expelled Maelle from the Canvas and put the Soul Fragment to rest. Fate seems to have other ideas. Finding himself somewhere else entirely, he has to deal with the unbearable chains of life weighing on him once more.
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
06 Sep 2026
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Ever since the Dessendres saved Lumière from the Fracture, the city has sent tributes in gratitude. As this year's offering, Sciel, Lune, and Gustave cross the sea to the Continent and are welcomed into the Dessendre family’s opulent home.
But Gustave soon discovers that nothing on the Continent is quite as it seems.
Or: what if Aline decided to add fangs to the canvas?
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
20 Aug 2026
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Heated Rivalry meets Free! in this slow-burn swimming romance with messy feelings, competitive angst, and two idiots who take a decade to figure out they're in love.
They stared at each other. The anger had shifted into something else, something charged and dangerous that made Gustave's heart hammer for reasons that had nothing to do with the fight.
"I hate you," Gustave said. It came out wrong—not angry, almost desperate.
"I hate you too," Verso said, and his eyes were dark, intense, fixed on Gustave's face.Gustave Augustin has spent his entire swimming career finishing second to Verso Dessendre. At 18, they finally meet at French Nationals. The rivalry is instant. The attraction is unwanted. The hookup is inevitable.
The nine-year toxic situationship? That's where it gets complicated.
Because they have rules: just physical, no feelings, no one can know. They follow them religiously—until they can't anymore.Now they are forced to choose: keep hiding, or risk everything.
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
08 Aug 2026
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The girl’s shoulders hunch again. An expression is battling on her face. Guilt again, and fear, and shame. And then faintly, in the soft turn of her cheek, commiseration. She watches Gustave for a long, sad moment, and then turns to a new page in the notepad. She starts writing something, and then stops, glancing furtively at Gustave before scribbling it out. On a new line she instead writes in big bold letters:
Maelle.
OR
Gustave is the local mechanic of Lumiere, an idyllic coastal village far away from the chaos and conflict of Paris. Struggling with his recent injury and the loss of a good friend, he's not quite prepared when a family moves into the abandoned Manor on the edge of town.
He's definitely not prepared for their children.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 60,296
- Chapters:
- 10/10
- Comments:
- 444
- Kudos:
- 1,227
- Bookmarks:
- 319
- Hits:
- 17,496
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
30 Jul 2026
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"Are the voices inside your head still yours, Lune?"
She cut him a withering glare, dozens of truths and memorized speeches caught in her throat. He met her gaze dead on, irises near colorless where they once held a hint of blue. He didn't look away, and neither could she.
"Are yours?"
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Nearly three years after saving the Canvas, Lune is restless. She's uncovered every mystery, solved every problem, and reached the limit of what the world can give her. Never before has she felt the world so small. The only remaining questions all circle back to the man she refuses to see, and who has isolated himself from everyone else. But when a dangerous new Nevron threatens the city and Maelle disappears, Lune has no choice but to go to him for answers.
Verso wants nothing more than to die. He'll settle for destroying any sliver of love between himself and those he called friend. But when Lune brings word of Maelle's disappearance and a Nevron he's never heard of, even he can't ignore the opportunity.
Once bound by respect and something deeper, Lune and Verso have nothing but distrust and loathing between them. They'll need more than that to save Maelle from the Nevron--and herself.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 178,113
- Chapters:
- 39/39
- Comments:
- 499
- Kudos:
- 948
- Bookmarks:
- 163
- Hits:
- 25,630
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
20 May 2026
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Unable to find orgasm with a partner, Gale commissions the services of a reputable escort to take him through the ropes (heh) of kink and sexual play. What he doesn’t count on is for him and his escort to have earth-shattering chemistry.
“Hhhhhhnnnnnngggggggg.”
“Oh.” Astarion floats into Gale’s bleary vision as his gaze drifts down from the ceiling. Riding crop in hand, Astarion grins like a fool, his eyes sparkling with a joy so fierce as to be frightening. “You’re such a good boy. Do you need to safe-word, darling?”
“N..no, sir,” Gale gasps.
Based on an illustration by Calolily.
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
07 May 2026
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"There's more writing on the bottom of the bowl," Shadowheart said. She was crouched down and pointing to markings on the underside of the creepy, bloodstained altar.
"Is there? What does it say?" Gale asked, shuffling on his knees to get closer to where she was pointing.
"He's going to crawl around like this and then complain about his knees all the way back to camp," Astarion muttered, sounding half amused and half exasperated. Karlach chuckled just a little, because he was right. Talk about being your own worst enemy: Gale versus his knees and back.
"It says 'within each self a monster'," Shadowheart read off of the underside of the bowl.
"Oh, this is very interesting," Gale said. "The blood spilled in the bowl will touch the other phrases, but not this one. I think that marks it as optional. I've heard of something like this before. Azuth set out trials for young mages where one could mark certain incantations with chalk and leave others blank, indicating how difficult a challenge one was willing to face."
"This would make the trial harder?" Shadowheart asked, straightening. "A more difficult test?"
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 15,863
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 244
- Kudos:
- 472
- Bookmarks:
- 82
- Hits:
- 4,338
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
06 May 2026
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When the expedition ends, Lune is left with too much knowledge, too little meaning. Verso is somewhere on the continent, convinced he has no place in the world he fought to unmake.
She goes to him seeking clarity, but what they find are the truths they ran from, the weight of their choices, and a shared question neither knows how to solve: what comes next when the thing you’ve built your life around ends?
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
29 Apr 2026
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"I mostly abandoned the idea once I'd managed to make you cry," he admitted, "and finding out you think I'm a pedophile nailed the lid on that mostly shut."
For bleuwyn. Hope it proved worth the wait!
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
30 Dec 2025
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The Half-Life of Element Zero by GraphiteGirl
Fandoms: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Dragon Age - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age (Video Games), Mass Effect
02 Sep 2020
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After her discharge from the Alliance, Commander Helen Trevelyan joined the Andromeda Initiative, wanting to leave her personal tragedies and a psycho ex-boyfriend behind her. She expected to sleep for 600 years, and wake up in a med bay. Instead, she crash-landed on a snow-covered mountain, ten-thousand years later. She is alone, confused, and dying from eezo radiation. And the only sign of civilization is an old church in the distance.
A Post-Modern Girl on Thedas fic.
Many, many thanks to my betas, Dreadlordcherrycake and Duinemerwen, who have advised me on all matters of lore, plausibility and verb tense. If it wasn't for them, this story would still be in cryo. Any mistakes are mine, not theirs.
I have a regular work schedule IRL, which means I don't have a regular update schedule on AO3. This story is visually supported.
I sometimes tumblr at https://unhealthynpcobsession.tumblr.com/
Bioware owns all/legal boilerplate/blah blah blah.
Series
- Part 1 of The Half-Life of Element Zero
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 224,528
- Chapters:
- 63/?
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 5,438
- Kudos:
- 6,120
- Bookmarks:
- 1,338
- Hits:
- 181,254
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
12 Nov 2025
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After his rescue from Cazador, Astarion is getting a fresh start--new city, new job, new house. Unfortunately, the house appears to be haunted. Astarion is determined not to let this inconvenience him.
Written for the Bloodweave Brainrot Spring Fling 2024!
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,299
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 24
- Kudos:
- 187
- Bookmarks:
- 38
- Hits:
- 968
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
18 Oct 2025
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The Shadowcurse creeps into undead flesh like frost. Gale applies the most logical solution to save Astarion: full-body contact. For science. Obviously.
Gale can cuddle Astarion warm through their first night in the Shadow-Cursed Lands—but if he thinks he gets to save someone else while planning to sacrifice himself, Astarion has a few objections to make.
Canon compliance: Takes place in Act 2 just after arriving in the Shadow-cursed Lands and is mostly compliant except for the way the shadowcurse works (see notes)
Now with incredible fan art in Chapter 2 by the amazing Minui8!
See their Tumbler post here and give it some love: Art Post- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 11,994
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 112
- Kudos:
- 492
- Bookmarks:
- 80
- Hits:
- 5,341
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
23 Jul 2025
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Summary
“Boo!”
Gale flung back in his seat, heart shooting up to his throat and he nearly flipped back out of his chair.
Astarion’s floating head cackled from the window, soon becoming his shoulders and arms, and then the rest of him as he climbed into the room. “You should have seen the look on your face—”
“You know I hate it when you do that.” Gale fought to keep his voice even, gulping down the sudden dryness in his mouth.
“And yet you always leave your window open.”
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
19 Jun 2025
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"If you even attempt to bite me, you die immediately."
"Bite."
"No."
"No bite." It swayed slightly, attempting to maintain its balance. Its head must be quite heavy.
Astarion grabbed it under its armpits, surprisingly heavy for a creature of it's size, and lifted it from the ornate chest, placing it gingerly on the ground.
It scampered barefoot across the grimy floor with quiet plaps. Arriving at Tav—Gods, it was only as tall as her hip—it gripped the hem of her tunic. It spun around on one heel, nearly toppling over with the inertia, to address Astarion. It removed the fingers from its mouth with a horrible wet sound and took a deep breath, or what must be deep for something so tiny.
“Go go?”
--
the "you're gonna walk in the sun if its the last thing i do" kidfic absolutely no one asked for, least of all from me.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 54,557
- Chapters:
- 19/19
- Comments:
- 313
- Kudos:
- 1,683
- Bookmarks:
- 398
- Hits:
- 39,577
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
27 Aug 2024
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Gale stood hesitantly, just far enough from the door of Sharess’ Caress that his intended destination wasn’t obvious to any passers-by. He adjusted his robe unnecessarily, smoothing a non-existent crease from one purple sleeve. He was suddenly aware of his heart thumping rather loudly. It was a cool night, but he could feel his forehead tingling as though he were about to start sweating.
This was a mad idea. He could just turn around now and go back to his room at the Elfsong. Spend the evening reading. Alone. Again.
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Non-tadpole AU where Astarion is sent to work at Sharess' Caress to procure victims for Cazador, and Gale finds himself seeking company.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 51,794
- Chapters:
- 18/18
- Comments:
- 351
- Kudos:
- 1,232
- Bookmarks:
- 242
- Hits:
- 22,093
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
27 Aug 2024
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Astarion is near the docks when he feels Cazador's compulsion on him snap. He doesn't think twice. He just takes the next available ship out of Baldur's Gate. Its destination: The City of Splendors. Waterdeep.
*
Gale takes back the glass, now empty, and then seems to fidget a little. “There is something I wanted to get your opinion on- but it can wait until you’ve recovered. You don’t look well at all- no offense meant, of course.”
“None taken,” Astarion says sweetly. “Please go on. Tell me exactly what it is about my appearance that you find lacking.”
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 46,164
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 735
- Kudos:
- 6,611
- Bookmarks:
- 1,842
- Hits:
- 65,569
Bookmarked by Meadhbh
25 Aug 2024