#͙͘͡★ story. portal mishap

[spaceschist]

starter for @wolfsbarbaren

Caught in the throes of a portal, Gale found himself suspended in a chilling limbo, where the passage of time felt distorted, elongated. The act of reaching out of the portal seemed to stretch for eons until finally, a hand grasped his. The transition from one plane to another was jarring, but the sensation of landing face-first into the dirt felt more like a joyous reunion than an inconvenience. The warm breeze and the embrace of fresh air after the interplanar sojourn were welcomed with deep breaths of elation.

As the transient disorientation settled, Gale rose to his feet, dusting off his robe and relishing the freedom to stretch once more. His eyes landed on his savior, and a grin swept across his face. In a gesture of gratitude and camaraderie, he extended his hand to clasp hers in a firm handshake.

"Hello, I am Gale of Waterdeep. Apologies for the unusual meeting," he greeted, the warmth of his smile radiating genuine appreciation.

[casadefreewill]

Daily Fics

(Fics I read throughout the day yesterday and enjoyed)

[X] state of grace by dragonsinparis ( @dragonsinparis )

When Chat Noir is fatally wounded, Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm to open a portal to the underworld in order to go drag her partner back to the land of the living...even if his ghost is tagging along, telling her that this is a terrible idea.

He may not be entirely wrong about that.

As the two make their way across a Parisian purgatory they are faced with how little they know about the origin of their powers, the nature of their enemy, and the limitations of their hearts. They’ll have to face brutal truths about all three if they ever want to make it home -

But none of it will prepare them for the true price of resurrection.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

I’ll also rec Pray For the Children You Lost Along the Way for similar vibes

[X] Pray For the Children You Lost Along the Way by LunarDaydreams ( @lunardaydreams )

A mishap leaves Ladybug, Chat Noir and their foe Papillon separated and stranded in a mist-filled town in America. The streets are blocked by bottomless chasms, there are monsters in the fog, and strange puzzles and notes that hit a little too close to home.

Ladybug and Chat Noir struggle to stay together, stay safe, and keep their identities hidden in a town that is hellbent on hurting them-- or rather, hurting Chat Noir.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Agreste cannot transform and is certain his son is lost somewhere in the fog.

Both theses Fics scratch a very specific itch for me. I just want more stories where they wind up trapped together in nightmare alternate realities where they both have to fight for their lives and work through their problems together.

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A nod at her first attempt at the word, good try. Yet, the following attempts strayed further from the correct pronunciation, which evoked a small smile. It reminded him of the very young apprentices attempting to read the arcane words of their first spells. In fairness, ceremorphosis was a rather difficult word to pronounce, especially for those unfamiliar with the academics of illithids. "Let's focus on preventing the transformation rather than pronouncing it, shall we?"

Happy to let the topic drop, he glanced around to witness the burning remains of the Nautiloid. Frankly, it was amazing that she stood there alive before him; there was little solid, non-charred remains left. As the dwarfs say, a 'wee bit suspicious'. Regardless, she saved him from certain death within that portal, so his suspicions were swiftly put to rest.

"I am not a navigator, nor a ranger of any sort, but I suggest we follow the flow of the river. If my guess is correct, and it quite frequently is, that-" He points over towards the river. "-is the Chionthar, and if we continue to follow the flow, it will eventually lead us to Baldur's Gate and the many towns scattered in between."

Bless him - Gale could try, but she'd heard the word a few times today and, with everything else in her head - tadpole included - her mind was full up on new information. "Cer-ah-mor-pho-sis," she echoed, enunciating it syllable by syllable so she could remember it. Ceremorphosis. Ceremorsis. Ceremor- oh for fuck's sake. "I'm gonna need to hear that one a few times before it sticks."

It was a relief to find another survivor, however, even one quick to correct her inaccuracies. She hadn't known what she was going to do when she'd crawled from the burning wreckage, barely alive, but Gale seemed like a man of learning - the sort of man who, if he didn't know something off the top of his head, knew where to look. So of course she jumped on his use of 'our' in his sentences. "Sounds like we're better off stickin' close together, then."

Besides, who else did she have nearby who'd help? She didn't know exactly where they were, but she could tell by the plant-life they were a far cry from the mountains of Cormyr, the coniferous forests wrapped like a great serpent around the peaks she knew as her own hunting grounds. "Did you have any ideas as to where the fuck we start, once we've figured out where we even are?"

[spaceschist]

Cormyr, why that was miles away! As far as he could tell, the river gushing below was the Chionthar, which he knew never touched the land of Cormyr, nor Waterdeep, meaning they were both far from home.

Regarding her interesting comment, he agreed. Being caught between the planes of a portal failed to reach the top of his list too. It was nestled just below having a ticking timebomb in his chest and a mindflayer tadpole in his skull.

Speaking of tadpoles…

"I see. I had hoped at least someone escaped their tadpole fate as the nautiloid crashed." His hands fell by his side in defeat, but only for a moment. Considering the positives, he was not alone or trapped in a portal, and they were most likely within the Sword Coast, meaning there was a chance to meet a cleric of sorts that could cure them of their affliction. "Since you know what happened, do you know the symptoms of having our little tadpole friends taking residence?"

An arm stuck out of a wall and a voice pleading for help. Gods preserve her for lacking sense, but she couldn't resist seeing what was attached to it. In hindsight, she was lucky that, when she grabbed the forearm and pulled with all her might, what came out wasn't a massive demon using her kindness as bait, but a man - a normal man, a slightly older man, with a warm smile and welcoming voice and simply thankful for the help.

A wizard, too, Breina had to guess by the robes. She wasn't particularly familiar - the few mages she knew from home were sorcerers and not particularly skilled, and none of them had the intellectual training a wizard had. Fascinating. She put that idea aside for later, intending to follow up when they weren't in the midst of danger from surviving illithids and opportunists, a few of which she'd already survived a brush with.

"Y'know what, Gale? Not even in the top ten list of weirdest things to happen to me since last sunrise," she said, grasping his arm in a warrior's shake, with a huff of a laugh that bordered on a scoff at her fortunes. One moment, hunting on the outskirts of Rivington - the next, stuffed into a pod - the next, a creepy crawly inside her eye socket. "Breina, most recently of Cormyr, but not really of anywhere right now."

Yeah; a wizard trapped in an interplanar rune was pretty low on her list compared to that. Particularly if he was an ally-to-be. "Don't suppose you got as unlucky as I did with the mind flayer ship?"