#And TK in fact *still* exists

[paperstorm]

Thanks for the tags @carlossreaders and @henrygrass!

Carlos catches his eye and there’s a funny flipping sensation immediately in TK’s stomach. He could kick himself over it and a little bit wants to stick his own head in a toilet like he’s his own childhood bully. Carlos is attractive and so what, TK internally chastised himself. Most musicians who make it are attractive. He’s sat across the table from dozens of people who are far better looking than either of them. He brushed shoulders with Beyoncé at an awards show once and had to stop himself from passing out on the spot, despite the fact that he’s never been romantically interested in women for a single second of his life.

Carlos steps around his bandmates to make his way to TK across the room. He holds his hand out, a truly maddening amount of sincerity in his humble expression as he says, “Hi, I’m Carlos. This is amazing, man, thank you so much for this opportunity.”

“TK.” He reaches out and shakes, but keeps it brief and lets it fall away quickly. “And yeah, it – wasn’t exactly my idea.”

“Oh.” The line of Carlos’s mouth flattens almost imperceptibly, but TK catches it.

“No, I just mean, I’m not really who you have to thank,” TK clarifies quickly. He wants to sulk about it. He wants to stomp his feet and raise a stink and demand they be allowed to tour with no opening act at all, just to shove it in everyone’s doubting faces when he can still put asses in the seats and money in the bank accounts of their financial backers. But it isn’t fair to make his resentment this man’s problem; none of this was his doing, either. TK reminds himself of that as if he’s a schoolteacher wagging a disapproving finger in his own head.

“Right.” Carlos nods. “Well … I mean, you could’ve said no. So thanks for giving us a chance.”

“Sure.” TK nods back at him, trying to arrange his facial features into a smile that probably ends up more of a grimace. It isn’t the truth. Billy made it very clear that TK couldn’t say no, that Carlos and his band opening was a condition of the tour existing in the first place. TK gets the sense Carlos doesn’t know that, and there is a small, bitter part of him that wants to tell him just to watch the sincerity slip off his stupid handsome face.

There’s a round of noisy laughter behind them. Carlos turns, and TK tilts his head to the side to see around his broad shoulders. He gets no clues as to what’s so funny, but he takes in the smiling faces of his band and the smiling faces of Carlos’s band and gets a pit in his stomach.

Carlos looks back at him, offering him an awkward half-smile.

“Is this your first time to New York?” TK asks, almost certainly failing to hide how much he hates small talk.

Carlos nods. “We just flew in this morning, so we haven’t really seen anything, yet.”

“What are, uh …” TK stumbles over his words and shakes his head.

The only thing Billy told them was to show up at his office to a meet-and-greet, he wonders if they’re being intentionally left in the dark about some of the other details in a way they normally wouldn’t be. TK’s usually been involved in the process of planning a tour, he’s been cc’d on emails and participated in meetings and been asked for his opinion on venues and promotional materials. This time, he has a sneaking suspicion everything was plotted out without his knowledge while he was still in rehab. Everything seems to be moving far too quickly to not have been already decided on, and TK wasn’t in on any of those decisions.

Carlos’s eyebrows raise. He looks even more like a Golden Retriever when his head tilts to one side in question, and TK presses his lips together.

“Our first show isn’t for six weeks, did they drag you guys here just to meet us, or …?”

“I think so, yeah.” Carlos answers. “And to meet with your people, I guess. Iron out the details of the contract and all that.”

“Right.” TK nods shortly. “Well … hopefully you get to see a bit of Manhattan before you head back to Texas.”

Tagging @theghostofashton @birdclowns @reyesstrand @strandnreyes @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut

@carlos-in-glasses @actual-sleeping-beauty @thisbuildinghasfeelings @herefortarlos @heartstringsduet

@goodways @alrightbuckaroo @lightningboltreader @freneticfloetry

@liminalmemories21 @nancys-braids @whatsintheboxmh @bonheur-cafe

@reasonandfaithinharmony @thebumblecee @never-blooms @lemonlyman-dotcom

@sanjuwrites @orchidscript @jesuisici33 @kiwichaeng @honeybee-taskforce

@hereghostslive @butchreyes @just-inside-her @firstprince-history-huh @captain-gillian

@tellmegoodbye @anactualcaseofthetruth @ironheartwriter @eclectic-sassycoweyes @ditheringmind

@emsprovisions @irispurpurea @nisbanisba @corsage @chicgeekgirl89

@carlossreaders @ladytessa74

Want to be added or removed from the list? Lmk

[sstarfruitz]

Procrastinating on an essay rn so here’s my very unrealistic and def not canon take on Timekeeper that I’m so convinced it’s what happened that I take it as fact despite very little evidence

Timekeeper was def the original employee that the Narrator used before Stanley. This follows my hc that the Narrator can pick and choose different employees at will like how you choose different action figures to play with, and Timekeeper was originally the Narrator’s favourite before he started using Stanley.

I like to think Timekeeper was already a very odd individual before the Parable, and that’s why the Narrator gravitated towards him so much, and we see TK in the files have very odd obsessions and behaviours that concern his fellow employees. The Narrator probably picked up on this and thought he was the perfect Quirky Odd Protagonist, but I think TK reacted to the Parable the exact opposite of Stanley.

I believe that TK was the protagonist in the endings that the Narrator described in the Countdown Ending, the ones where he was mucchhh more sadistic and cruel, and I think this is what made TK very hellbent on finding a way out. In the process, he went out of bounds and became the TK we see in the game - that being someone stuck in the loading screen with just enough power to make his own section of the game, but that’s it.

I believe this is also why he took such an interest in not only Stanley, but the player as well. A player that is actually able to control the Parable in a way that he wish he could, and is also similar to the Narrator with the way they are such above the existence of the game, yet still an integral part to how it runs. TK tried to escape, but I think he went a bit crazy in the process, and has a toonnnn of feelings abt being stuck watching two infinitely powerful beings fight over a new protagonist, a protagonist that *he* used to be. He’s probably dying to talk to Stanley, not even knowing if he’s actually sentient or not, if the Not Stanley ending is anything to go by.

Anyways I’m gunna stop now before I ramble on forever uhhhhhh his character gets way more further explored in my HTBH AU following this interpretation of him okay bye

[remember-digimon]

Prodigious!

Izzy is the reason all these kids are still alive btw just wanted to make sure we all know that

So Izzy is smart. He brings a laptop and cellphone to summer camp and uses big words. But thankfully he does not fall into the trap of 'smart kids' of western media; overly nerdy, completely socially inept, you get the idea. No, Izzy is more than that. His intelligence has a basis in something besides a trope; namely, computer science and engineering.

(Don't even get me started on Matt being the one to go into engineering when IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IZZY)

From the moment the kids land in the Digital World, Izzy is curious about it. His crest is knowledge but I really think it should've been curiosity. He gets Tentomon to evolve by hacking his code. He comes up with some aliens conspiracy to explain why they're there and why there's things like phone booths on the beach.

Izzy is the problem solver of the group. In fact, without him, the other kids are just... Kinda lost. Izzy has the answers, and if he doesn't he'll at least know how to find them.

Even though he's younger than the others, being 10 when they're 11, they treat him as an equal. This is opposed to the other kid that's 10, Mimi, who is kind of coddled, and the two youngest, TK and Kari, who are literally the hope and light of the group.

Izzy is basically Tai's second-in-command, deferring to Tai's leadership while Tai takes his input very seriously. However, Izzy isn't much of a leader on his own.

He gets distracted by details. When Mimi finds him in the temple, he's so busy on his laptop that she gets upset and runs off into a maze. I would attribute this to him being younger, and as he gets older he does get better at applying his intelligence to a leadership role.

Most of the kids have an interesting family dynamic and Izzy is no different. It's revealed that he's adopted, that his birth parents died shortly after he was born and his adoptive parents were friends that took him in.

What I like about this reveal is that, of course, Izzy found this out on his own due to his curiosity. He overheard his parents discussing whether or not they should tell him, deciding not to because he's too young.

During the Odaiba raid, when the kids have a moment, Izzy gets to finally have the conversation. They admit that he's adopted and tell him what happened, and he says he already knows. He didn't want to bring it up himself because he thought he could just pretend like things were normal, like before he knew. But obviously it couldn't. This shows the price he pays for his curiosity, that sometimes knowing things isn't all fun times and computer jargon. It isn't helpful for Izzy to pretend to not know, to ignore what he knows. Instead it's better for him to apply what he knows to react appropriately, instead of hiding behind the easier mode of willful ignorance.

This also comes into play, though in a different way, during Izzy's confrontation with Vademon. Izzy gives away his curiosity (under extreme duress but still) and is basically empty of all character after that. He does a weird alphabet yoga meditation and willingly gives up his crest and tag, when earlier in the episode his curiosity was at a boiling point over it.

This causes Tentomon to de-digivolve to the baby stage; the only other partner Digimon to go back to this stage is Patamon. With the loss of his curiosity, Izzy has lost the core of his being and is no longer able to maintain Tentomon's existence.

Of course, he gets it back and everything is fine afterwords. This episode is very interesting when looking at how things work for the kids and their Digimon, why the crests are important, etc. But that's a post for another time.

Izzy is incredibly important to the team. Without him, I highly doubt they would've made it very far at all. He's able to look up Digimon on his laptop, kind of like a Digimon version of a Pokedex, when none of the currently present Digimon can give an explanation about who they're up against. But aside from his usefulness as the Smart Kid, it's noteworthy that he uses his intelligence to be helpful instead of lording it over everyone. And he is still a kid, albeit with an impressive vocabulary, so sometimes his curiosity gets him into trouble.

[batrogers]

Thank you for that post on LU designs. Obviously making a unique design based on a pre-existing character is difficult, but the nerve of some artists really pisses me off. Some people really hate Linked Universe but really love taking practically everything from it.

I am sympathetic to people who find the ubiquity of Linked Universe (and some of its more overbearing fans) frustrating. That was me, too, not long ago.

It can be hard to escape within the Zelda fandom spaces and people mistaking things for Linked Universe when they aren't is not just disheartening -- its gotten people attacked for perceived "sins" a few too many times. I was extremely wary of joining the fandom myself for exactly that reason, and have stayed extremely cautious even now but that's a conversation for another space.

However this also means that I did, indeed, put in the effort to make my own Link's Meet characters distinctly different from LU. I make sure that when I post them, I forefront which AU they belong to obviously and in the text of the post itself so the chance of confusion is reduced.

Fandom spaces are shared spaces. Mistakes and misunderstandings happen, and it's important for both sides to do their best to be graceful about them... but after seeing this happen with a second Linked Universe character (it was not, in fact, the instance mentioned in the notes that pushed me to this) my grace has its limits. We do need to draw a line somewhere and you don't steal someone's whole design.

Besides, I don't see why you would. Creating your own things is so rewarding, and it's amazing to see what people come up with! I love how many people have started their own Link's Meet things, and all the different art styles, fashion choices, and game traits to forefront about each game that come of it!

Characters are built of hairstyle and body type and clothing and weapons and armour, skin tone and hair -- if you love part of an LU design you can still keep it as long as you remember to change everything else. @thatbrokenpromise Hateno (my BW/TK Link) has super long hair -- but he doesn't have face scars, he doesn't wear the blue tunic, and he's missing an arm.

I hope we can all put in the work to make this work out better for everyone, both in correctly identifying the AUs people DO put that work into, and in remembering to be respectful of the work Jojo's done as well.

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

He’s a work in progress still but I wanted to share the first pass of his completed look so badly X)

I’ve had Sir Meteor in progress since August 2023, if you want to see the progress it will be under the read more!

Sir Meteor’s story starts with my fist kirby OC I made, Terra Knight! I won’t talk about him too much except that I knew from early on he had a older brother. TK originally has a skull mask in his very early concepts, but then I learned Axe Knight existed, and they looked too similar. I shelved the concept for a while until I had more ideas.

In August 2023, I started to sketch out allosaurus skulls because I had wanted to revisit the concept and thought maybe I would redesign Terra Knight to have a dinosaur skull mask. It did not happen, but that planted the seed.

In November, I had been struck with inspiration and started doodling. The name is very important to the lore of my OCs and is very deliberate, so once I figured out the name for Sir Meteor, a lot of elements fell into place instantly!!

This is the first time I gave Meteor colors, and I also put him next to his siblings so they would look cohesive. Me mentioning how he doesn’t even have shoes yet is foreshadowing.

In the following day, I sketched him more to get a feeling for his design!!

The most notable thing about this is probably 1.) here I cemented the twin-tail cape because it looks like the tail of a comet and 2.) since it looked like a comet, I wanted the pauldron to include a star somehow

Also fun fact!!! The shape of his horns is directly inspired by Triceratops horns!!

Which led to the designing of his pauldrons later in November!

I ended up combining elements of the first and third design because together they would look like shooting stars!

This is also when I decided on giving him the four pointed star blushing! Around this time I posted a sketch of Meta Knight with star blushes and I wanted to include more fun blush shapes. Also the four pointed star is a subtle Galacta Knight reference! Sir Meteor is genuinely old, prehistoric even, and he comes from that time period, and I wanted the star shapes to reflect that

After this I was stuck. I was extremely stuck and could not figure out how to design his shoes. Since everything else was so themed, it had to mean the shoes had to match as well. I wanted to keep the prehistoric/star themes, going strong. I tried a few times to give him plain armor but it did not look correct at all!

I took a few months to think about it. Another important thing is that whatever shoe I drew had to look good and cohesive with AND without his skull mask. It was hard to balance but yesterday (21 February) I began to cook.

On the sketch page, you can see how the thought process evolved from the top of the page downwards. You can see the “haha drawing smiles with sharp teeth- oh wait a minute hold on” happen in real time.

On the page on the right, is when I finally designed his shoes!!! THE EVIL IS DEFEATED!!!!

This character is so heavily themed and I thought about it so much. So. Much. If anyone actually read this breakdown you deserve a gold star thank you for listening to my insane, several month long thought process. I’m so proud of him for a reason. Now I need to finalize the colors and stuff but for now enjoy!

EDIT: while making Meteor’s reference, i also went through a LOT of altered color pallets.

[calicomarie11]

Evan and Tommy are sitting at the table in Evan’s loft, a couple of beers in front of them and relaxing now that the clean up from dinner is done.

“So, how’s Bobby handling retirement?” Tommy asks.

“Still fighting to come back, but he does start a temporary gig tomorrow.” Evan answers. “He’s going to be a technical advisor on Hotshots.”

Tommy looks impressed. “That’s a big deal. That show is huge.”

Evan shrugged, “I’ve never seen it.” 

“What do you mean, you’ve never watched Hotshots? How could you miss it. It’s been the hottest show on TV for the past 2 years.” Tommy’s voice is filled with incredulity as he stares at Evan. “We have viewing parties at Harbor, even the off shift crew comes in if they don’t need to sleep.”

Evan lifts a hand to rub the back of his neck and shrugs sheepishly. “I know it exists, I’ve seen the billboards, it’s just….” he trails off and looks towards the ceiling, his go to move when he’s being evasive. 

“What, did you sleep with the star during your Buck 1.0 days?” Tommy teases him.

“Not the star.” Buck takes a breath and fiddles with his beer bottle, tearing strips off the outside as he talks. “So, you are not the first TK that I’ve dated. I used to be off and on with Taylor Kelly.”

Tommy interrupts “The Taylor Kelly who wrote a tell all about the 118? That was your ex-girlfriend? What a bitch.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t a good fit. Anyways, after she published the book it got picked up for development and Hotshots was the end result. I think she’s even working on the show as a consultant. I didn’t read her book and I’m not about to watch her show.” 

“I can’t believe I didn’t put that together.” Tommy sits back, a thoughtful look on his face. “So does that mean the characters on the show are based on the 118?” He cocks his head and studies Evan and then slaps his hand down on the table. “Holy shit, you’re Sandy.”

“Sandy?” Evan asks, his nose wrinkling adorably in confusion.

“Blaine “Sandy” Sanderson. He’s kind of the show’s punching bag. Last season an ambulance rolled over on top of him during an earthquake and crushed his arm.  This year the season opener had him trapped in a mudslide with his best friends kid.”

Evan takes a slow pull on his beer as he processes that. “Why do you think I’m Sandy?”

“Well, he gets hurt a lot, he’s a daredevil, he’s got a heart of gold, he’s a bit naive, and he always has a collection of fun facts that relate to the rescue at hand.”  

“And that’s what you think of me?” Evan asks with a frown.

“No, baby. But superficially it matches up.” Tommy reaches out to cover Evan’s hand with his own.

“Okay.” Even still looks put out, but a little intrigued. “So, what about the other characters?”

Tommy sits back and purses his lips. “Well, Bea is obviously a stand in for Hen, and Shaft must be Chimney.”

Evan interrupts “Shaft?”

“A nickname they never bother to explain.” 

Evan nods. “Yeah, we never did tell her how Chimney got his name. Who else?”

“Well, the captain’s name is Billy, but everyone calls him Cap and he’s married to a police detective named Artemis.” 

“And you’re just now putting this together?” Even quirks an eyebrow at Tommy.

Tommy holds up his hands in defense. “Hey, I wasn’t exactly expecting to see my old house on the hottest show on television. I started watching before I met you.” 

“So is that it? Me, Cap, ‘Thena, Hen and Chim?”

Tommy looks away and shifts in his seat. “There’s also Ricky.”

“Ricky?”

Tommy sighs. “Ricardo “Ricky” Noches. Air Force veteran, single dad to an autistic kid, and Sandy’s best friend.”

“She made Chris autistic?” The outrage is clear in Evan’s voice. “I know she didn’t spend much time with him, but that is supremely uncool.” Evan sinks back in his seat, a look of frustration on his face.

“There’s more.” Tommy says matter of factly.

Evan huffs. “Alright, lay it on me. How much worse can it get.”

Tommy hums and looks around the room, avoiding eye contact with Evan. “There’s a significant portion of the fan base for the show that “ships” Sandy and Ricky.”

“Ships?” Evan says, his face a mask of confusion.

“It means they think they should be in a romantic relationship. Their ship name is Randy.” Tommy says.

Evan sinks into his seat, his brow furrowed. “So, the people who watch this show, based on my life, think that I should be, what, dating Eddie?” 

Tommy holds his breath and nods. 

Evan stares at him for a long moment, a riot of expressions crossing his face, before he bursts out in laughter. It takes him a few minutes to get himself under control, the giggles rising each time he thinks he’s ready to speak. 

He finally wipes away the tears from his laughing jag. “That would be an epic disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I love him like a brother, but he has more trauma than me, and that’s saying something.” 

 Tommy lets out a breath of relief. “I’ll pass that on to Donato.”

“Lucy?” Evan shoots him a look of confusion.

“Oh, yeah, she’s a big Randy fan.  Spends way too much time on shift reading fan fiction.”

Evan lifts an eyebrow at him. “Do you think she knows?”

“That it’s based on people she knows?”

“Yeah.”

Tommy hmphs. “I’ll be sure to tell her.” 

Comments and Kudos AO3 are greatly appreciated

[peachjagiya]

PEACH!!!! I just need to scream this somewhere LOL!! TAEKOOK REAL!!! ARGRGRGRGGRRHHHH Anyway, screaming aside, may I just point out how the "Jungkook might have been in Hawaii too" theories came about after Type 1 photos preview were dropped? I feel so proud and validated as a TKKR when some TKKRS pointed out how the "look" of some of Taehyung's photos is so relaxed and intimate. We noticed the look Tae usually has around Jungkook and how Jungkook captures him so the chatter of JK being there with him started. THEN, the Hello Kitty Plushie discussion era arrived, with us debating if it's the same or they both got 1. We were too careful with our theories even! Most settling on, they probably got 1 of each. BUT, the point is we still could identify that JK is somehow connected to Type 1!!

AND BOOM! SUNDAY HAPPENED!! Taehyung confirmed our suspicions that JK was there with him!!! ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHRHHGHG *combusting* LOL! I'm just so proud of us TKKRs too for knowing them enough to flag that "hey, this Tae look usually comes out when JK is around or taking photos of him" but the photobook description was spending alone time, BUT that's his Jungkook looooook!! Then we go about our days wondering if we are just hallucinating LOL! BUT NOOOOO, I am just so happy for TKKRs coz we can identify the nuances that their solos most likely are blind on specially those who diminish their bond. They miss out on being able to see through another layer of their fave because they don't want to accept the other's existence and importance on their faves' lives. Imagine living through one of our theories getting confirmed????!!! Like OMG, I am on a high right now... I feel so happy for them and proud at the same time that we can "see" them. Not to make TKKRs important but imagine having people who can acknowledge a huge part of you despite having to hide it not out of choice but out of norms and expectations, yet people can still acknowledge that your hearts have so much love to share and your bond is as beautiful as you believe it to be. You are SEEN. Our community is a mixed bag, we will always have bad apples, but for those who are just observing and getting inspired by them with no hate in their hearts, I want you to know that I may not know TaeKook and how they feel but I just know they are happy to have you around. I also want to take this opportunity to thank @taekooktimeline Kayla, I feel like what she is doing is so so significant and will be an important piece of TaeKook history. Going thru the timeline with your own judgment and seeing the bigger picture always blow me away. Specially when most moments get confirmed years later. It feels so surreal how we feel quite lost in moment of time, then clarity comes when you least expect it. Anyway, I blabbered too much, I'm still on that TaeKook High. People may say we are too delusional and romanticize stuff, but look we tried to be rational and logical, most recent example is the plushie then here comes Taehyung essentially telling us "You're not delusional enough. We didn't just spend time together. Jungkook actually flew to see me when I told him I missed him." Like no TKKR blog here would even come up with the Jungkook flying to Hawaii just coz Taehyung missed him part. We are too careful with our thoughts HAHAHA maybe in TK fanfic side of tumblr but dammmn.. it's real!! Have a great year Peach, the ride will be rougher the next couple of weeks but I know once MS is over there will be more of us screaming and feeling like everything is so surreal LOL!

ANON!

Scream away!

I think more than anything, even over very couple-y vibes, this feels special because it cements the bond we've known about and often been asked to defend.

This moment is not for the jkkrs. I don't even really care how they're dealing with it. Not my job to correct them or set them on a certain path.

BUT I must confess the fact that it's JK who travelled, that JK is shown being physically affectionate with his hand on Tae's neck so protectively when Tae isn't touching him at all... That did give me extra levels of joy because it torpedoes the (offensive) idea that JK is bothered by Tae's one sided affections. No, sorry and excuse me but Tae isn't a weirdo desperate for JK's attention, he isn't a clingy friend who JK wants to shake off and Tae isn't exaggerating their bond. Tae is none of the weird things people accuse him of and that's a good thing to have confirmed so decisively (even if we already knew.)

As for the photos, I guess this is the mystery that is left! It does feel kind of like Tae included JK because he was part of Type 1's production, doesn't it? And I do think the quality of some of the photos is very similar to JK's photos. And we have that picture of topless person with longish hair who may or may not be JK taking a picture:

(I go back and forth on this because sometimes it doesn't look curly enough to be JK's hair but then actually, I think his hair only looks so curly in that one picture because it's wet and when it's dried out, it can sit straighter. Etc etc.)

Anyway blah blah, maybe we'll find out for sure but we all absolutely had a hunch, didn't we?!

I hope they do find our support even a little bit encouraging. I reckon fandom can feel pretty intense but generally everyone on here seems to be rational and keen not to be inappropriate about them? At least I hope genuinely supportive voices sometimes get through.

What a nice ask. Thank you anon!

[welcometololaland]

Love Game (aka the tennis au) turns one!

Going to have to beg you to bear with me for a moment while I have a little breakdown about the fact that this fic has just turned 1 year old. As is customary for me, I am actually late to the celebration (it was 2 days ago), but I still I'm here and I'm still crying and I'm still just as much in love with tennis disaster TK Strand and cool, calm and collected Carlos Reyes as I ever was.

This is not my most popular fic by a long shot, nor is it my best writing, but it is the one I love the most. It's the fic I poured my whole heart and soul into and couldn't stop obsessing about. It's the fic I never wanted to stop writing, the one that still keeps me up at night, pretty much the only fic of mine I re-read for my own enjoyment. I loved every moment of creating the Tarlos tennis AU, and even though The Ring-In eclipses it in popularity, I hope that Love Game is my legacy.

If you haven't read the tennis AU it is here for you:

Love Game (original - 142k)

Match Point (sequel - 21k)

Love in Slow Motion (tennis AU prompt fill - 33k)

I'd also like to give the following thank you shout outs 1 year after the fact (these are all in a/n but to repeat) to @rmd-writes for being my beta reader and head cheerleader, @dustratcentral for continuing to support me in the most unhinged way, @queen-saltyfries for helping me with all the tweets and just being a general legend and to @paperstorm for pre-reading and supporting the vision.

ALSO - I have to give a shoutout to the following creations that have been inspired by the tennis au and give me SO MUCH LIFE on a regular basis. Seriously. Y'all are amazing. You have my heart. I owe you my non-existent firstborn child (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE message me if I haven't picked any creations up - it has been a fair bit of time since I saw some of them and I promise I haven't intentionally excluded anyone, my memory just sucks).

Please go and support these creators on their page!!!

This incredible anniversary post by @heartstringsduet

The Tarlos Sports AU creation by @watmalik

A LOVE GAME GIF!!! by @guardian-angle22

The sweetest, loveliest net kiss by @fitzherbertssmolder

TENNIS CARLOS WITH A BEARD by a twitter user but I don't think they have a tumblr :( if they do please let me know!

another amazing creation by the above user.

you guys are so incredible and i thank you so much for sharing your talent with me!

and finally, thank you to everyone who has supported love game over the years in the comments, reblogs, asks, likes etc. that whole fic is for you!

(@sheholdsthemoon i swear you sent me a LG inspired art but i couldn't find it anywhere - please let me know if you ended up posting it!)

[aspaceformbf]

saw your recent post about daniel and magus and THANK GOD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FEELS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT SHIP. ps i love the way magus reacts to the confession, like hell yea you tell him straight up! it always feels so wrong and makes me genuinely upset to see peter shipped with other characters of the cast when hes meant to love us only. :( some people would say that it can be an au where yn doesnt exist and i still wont like it either way. plus, theres comics out there that literally makes peter go after like TK or someone WHEN YN IS STILL THERE and he just suddenly didnt love them anymore! or that he gets all flustered or into the idea when someone else, like Lucy for example, flirts with him or something like that! anything he shows interest to someone else makes me crumble with sadness. i hate the idea that he can just loose interest of us and fall in love with someone else in the cast. and i get that daniel wouldnt try anything if he knew about peter being with us, but my brain still doesnt trust him whatsoever Lol (sorry for the long random rant btw..)

For me, if anyone flirts with YB, this phrase rings in my mind..

"You INSULT my devotion to YN? Shame on you! I'm killing you immediately-"

---

Yeah personally i don't feel comfortable with Daniel having feelings for YB either, even knowing that YB would never reciprocate.

I guess it doesn't help that Daniel is packaged as "the one friend he actually has, or the closest thing to it" and the fact that he regularly spends time with YB since they work together.

Is this how he feels about Sarah? Well for him its prob worse though since they already hate each other and Sarah would actively try to court us and take us away from him..

---

Of the three cast members, I think the one ship image that made me the most uncomfortable was..

That one doodle of Lucy locking arms with Peter and pulling him away from someone who was throwing insults at him.

Its like its probably platonic but the locking arms thing is a bit TOO touchy feely for my comfort

"Also.. Lucy? That leech that actually caused you all that pain and suffering because she couldn't be damned to carry her own weight? Me and HER???

That's just GROSS!!"

Heh, yeah, though I think you'd feel the same way regardless of which cast member you're shipped with, wouldn't you?

"I mean, you're not wrong..

.....

Aw babe, you know me so well~"

Status Report - I am being nuzzled and his purring is interrupting the recording.

[rmd-writes]

thanks @freneticfloetry @liminalmemories21 for the tags 💖

Rules: Post your favourite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

This chaotic passage from (Un)professional Services, the Tarlos professional services AU I wrote with @welcometololaland (really this entire scene, but this passage demonstrates the vibe well - I don’t think of myself as a funny writer, so I’m proud of this scene!):

TK is surprised that Carlos hasn’t simply walked away from this chaos – and from him – at this point.

“I’m taking Carlos to my room,” he announces, taking Carlos’ hand. “C’mon, this way.”

“Do you still have an open door policy for TK?” he can hear his dad ask his mom behind them.

“No, Owen, TK is almost 30 so I don’t make him leave his door open if he has someone in there. Sweetie, there’s a whole box of those condoms from the office in—”

TK stops. “Oh my god! I’m not having sex with Carlos!”

Everyone looks at him in shock.

“Right now,” he amends.

I don’t write much angst, but I broke my heart writing baby TK in Precious Love (actually, I broke my heart writing most of this fic)

“You and I will still live here. But your dad won’t.”

TK doesn’t understand. Why doesn’t Dad want to live with him anymore? Is it because he leaves his Lego on the floor?

“Dad?” TK blinks. His eyes feel hot and itchy and his heart is beating really fast.

“I’m sorry, TK. Your mom is right. It’s better for us if I don’t live here anymore, but I promise that I still love you. It’s just going to be better this way.”

“But I want you to live here. With us! I promise I’ll be quiet when you sleep and won’t wake you up. And I promise to pick up my Lego. And I won’t leave my shoes in the doorway. And—” TK sniffs and rubs at his eyes with the back of his fist.

“Tyler, honey, it’s not anything you’ve done,” his mom says. Her voice sounds wobbly.

“Mommy, tell him not to go!” he cries.

From despite it all:

TK only breaks the kiss when his lungs are aching for air, resting their foreheads together. He peppers gentle kisses across Carlos’ jaw and down his neck, following a familiar path, using each kiss to write his love into his boyfriend’s skin, as if doing so will etch it there permanently, indelibly; a tattoo to match the mark Carlos has left on TK’s entire state of existence. Carlos cups his cheek as he looks up at him and the sheer fondness of his gaze has TK’s heart twisting in his chest as he stares back up at Carlos and wonders if he can’t just stay on his knees forever. 

also this first kiss from yours for the afternoon:

The first press of their lips together is gentle, almost chaste, but Alex slips his other hand around Henry’s back pulling him closer and Henry finds the soft dip of Alex’s waist inside his open coat, and when they kiss again, Alex parts his lips for him. He tastes sweet from the dessert but there’s something more, something unique to Alex that Henry wants to chase. He deepens the kiss, tangling his fingers in the curls at the base of Alex’s neck, losing himself in the slide of their tongues together and the press of Alex’s teeth as he tugs on Henry’s lower lip. When Henry pulls Alex closer so that there’s no space between them, kissing him thoroughly, as if there’s nothing more he needs in that moment than Alex and the feel of his mouth against his own, Alex makes a noise in the back of his throat that Henry swallows greedily. They part, breathless; minutes or hours later, Henry doesn’t know and frankly, he doesn’t care, all he can think about is the fact that he wants to do that again and never stop. 

He rests his forehead against Alex’s. “Hi,” he says on an exhale.

I’m so so proud of to the victor, the spoils (and its prequel). I can’t share my favourite passages from those fics without spoiling them, so I’ll give you this exchange with my beloved Bri instead:

Brianna has a coffee waiting for him when he arrives. “You’re a gem, Bri, what would I do without you?”

“Flounder aimlessly for a bit and then die a slow, uncaffeinated death probably.”

“That’s dark,” he says, taking a long sip of his coffee. 

“So, did you get the win?” she asks, looking over Alex with a quizzical expression on her face. 

“Of course I fucking did, Fox should have listened to me and withdrawn his application. I don’t know why he insisted on running it, he’s infuriating. The entire application was a waste of time.”

“Mmhmm,” Bri cocks her head and raises an eyebrow at him. 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“That’s not the tie you were wearing this morning, Alex. Looks kind of boring to me,” Bri smirks at him and walks out of his office. 

Alex looks down. Fuck. He’s been wearing Henry’s tie. 

(iykyk)

This is one of the first times I read my own writing and thought, “I really love this”, from it’s just for snow:

When David stops talking, his voice is scratchy; he feels flayed from the inside out. He’s never bared so much of himself to anyone before, not like this. He prefers to only let people see the broadest brushes of himself, to keep them at a distance that won’t allow them to see the individual brushstrokes that make up David Rose. He doesn’t know why, but talking to Patrick in the dark, from the safety of his cocoon of blankets – it feels safe – Patrick feels safe. 

I’m also very proud of my The Grindr Toolbox: A Guide to Getting Nailed series, which features a fic from each of my fandoms, written for the same prompt.

Tagging some pals to share what they’re proud of too: @welcometololaland @kiwiana-writes @indestructibleheart @stereopticons @indomitable-love @strandnreyes @everwitch-magiks + an open tag for anyone else who wants to share 💖

[akookminsupporter]

https://www.tumblr.com/akookminsupporter/736628315654438912/you-know-i-dont-like-to-discuss-the-subgroup?source=share

That's tkkrs'regular business. remember when the new BTS webtoon was releasing? And two three pages were like released or leaked from the webtoon and one was jm and jk's character's scene and other was with jk and joon's character's scene. Now in whole nj and jk scenes it showed like jk's character feels that "love at first site" not like actual way but you know like showing his crush on joon's character and no one said anything but but what triggered tkkrs was jm's character and jk's character's scene (I'm saying the characters cause idk the names i only know jm's name was haru) and i don't even remember the scene properly now but it's about when they first meet like when jm's character turns into human from a stone so it was that scene but since in the webtoon jm was shown someone closer to jk as jk's master kind of (even tho they had like 100yrs age difference lol) tkkrs'were throwing up saying the comapny is pushing fanservice even in webtoon.

So what they did was they started making tweets like "guys i just got information from someone that in the upcoming months especially in January hybe is trying to push a ship too hard but it's all about fanservice so don't worry if you want to know more dm me" and then all tkkrs ran with it.

Me as a jkkr i still haven't read that webtoon nor i ever planned to cause it's just a webtoon and not actual BTS so who the fuck takes that seriously and get's triggered over that?? Bro getting triggered over fictional character??? That too when you're ignoring the whole Falling in love scene of namkook but getting triggered over a stone turning into human???

What I'm saying is they always do this. They try to feed their cult with lies already so much when it happens they can make their cult fool into beliveing that their leader knows everything what goes on lol.

They're so scared of jkk that they always feel the need to pull out fanservice narrative but i never see jkkrs pulling that so who's actually insecure here??

How is the "comapny is hiding my real gay ship with another fake ship" and "The company has a problem with tk" exist in the same place?? Isn't their ship is not for cam?? So why beg for on cam content?? Why change the plot every two days?

Anon, you are thinking logically and logic is not a concept that the subgroup wants to understand. I think the fact that they basically refuse to see original content and that many of them refuse to draw their own conclusions from that and instead need others to explain to them in a misguided way what they see, says it all.

[paperstorm]

Caveat out of the way: I am aware that this is a TV show and one in it's last season to boot. I am in no way expecting it to show the reality of this type of situation (although I have faith it will be handled as well as it can be in a two episode ark, b/c I have trust in the writers this season)

Now for the thing that flabergasts me: HOW is the Jonah Conversation not something that has come up before!?!? Carlos is a man who regularly updates his WILL he has a unspecified number of nieces and nephews. He would be FULLY AWARE that someone would have to be Jonah's legal guadian on paper should something happen to Enzo. TK too!! He has a brother 30 years younger than him, with no other family (seemingly) besides Enzo a man old enough to be a grandfather! Enzo is apparently a billionaire, no lawyers brought up who would take Jonah in case of tragedy? It's not written down somewhere what happens to him?!? TK AND CARLOS BOTH HAVE DEAD PARENTS. I stg out of every single thing this show has thrown at me this is the most absurd one yet lmao. There is no way to me that this conflict would exist, b/c both these men are too smart not to realize it was a REAL possiblity. They would have talked about it before now!

Like the drama will be delicous but the way I have to suspend disbelief more than watching a marvel movie to wrap my head around how we got here.

Can't wait for tonight tho - it's gonna be SO GOOD.

No that is a super good point 😂😂 It's not necessarily something that TK or Carlos should've thought of I mean he's not their kid but Gwyn died when Jonah was like 8 months old and Enzo is in his 50s, how did he never give any thought to what would happen to Jonah if he died too lol. That's just crazy irresponsible for any parent to not have a legal guardian set up and established in writing but especially for a 57 year old single parent to a toddler. Sending him to boarding school doesn't negate the fact that he still needs a legal guardian which I don't think Enzo can be if he's in federal prison. We gotta suspend disbelief in order to have a good time and love the silly wee woo show but it is utterly bonkers to think there was no plan already in place for this child given he is the offspring of a lawyer and a fucking billionaire lmao

[doublel27]

The ONLY thing that I didn't like from tarlos scene is how they pulled the carlos is tks soulmate too out of nowhere and except us to eat that, as if season 1 tk and his infamous *Alex is my soulmate* even tho he was with carlos never existed. Good thing carlos didn't believe and called him out on it Idk, I'm just struggling to believe tk this time.

The rest is a 👩‍🍳💋. SO DELICIOUS!

Okay, one, the scene was delicious. And two you’re entitled to your opinion and your take of the scene. Please don’t think I am not allowing you.

But as you’ve walked into my house, and shared your take, I’m gonna share mine.

You don’t believe TK, but I do.

Here’s the thing TK calls Alex his soulmate in a sentence rooted in the past tense in 1.05 “116 days ago when I proposed to my soulmate and he moved in with his trainer.” It’s TK’s response to Paul when Paul suggests TK doesn’t know rejection. TK follows it up with “yeah that was not my best day. Look, everyone gets kicked in the head. You gotta get up and try again.”

In 4.16, TK suggests that he had a feeling the word soulmates applied to him and Carlos in 1.01 but that he ran from it. With the context above, I can see him giving Paul advice in 1.05 but also talking to himself (be it so noted that the episode still for 1.05 is still the deleted tamale scene and then he and Carlos take Paul out to a club and they’re clearly growing closer)

See, because the LAST TIME TK got this feeling of forever/meant to be/soulmates, that was his perception, but not the reality. It was the story TK, who is a hopeless romantic, told himself and why he proposed to “fix the relationship” (file under bad relationship modeling from his parents).

So if he feels soulmates for Carlos NOW, why trust it? And considering how his whole life blew up upon finding out that Alex didn’t feel forever about TK the way TK felt about Alex? Like he ODs, leaves his whole life and comes to Texas. Why would he risk doing that again when TK doesn’t trust his own heart?!

But the advice he gives Paul here is also for himself. You can’t just give up because you got hurt once. And maybe you can trust it. And it gets shaken after he gets shot but he is lost and doesn’t want to hurt Carlos and is honest with him about the fact that TK doesn’t know where he wants to live or what he wants to do and he can’t make decisions about Carlos if he doesn’t feel settled (where we get Carlos’s infamous “if it’s not meant to be then it’s not meant to be”)

See, I don’t think it’s ever that TK didn’t love Carlos entirely. TK wouldn’t have come back around every time he bolted if he didn’t feel deeply for Carlos. It’s that TK didn’t believe he could be loved fully and unconditionally by another person. It took Carlos being steady and patient and constant to tame my favorite feral cat of a boy.

And so, I believe TK felt it from those first moments and was so scared he would blow up his entire life again. So he bolted, breaking good things before he counted on them and they broke him out of nowhere.

[messymindofmine]

How long is this Owen hate thing going to go on? It's honestly kind of funny how people seem to just look for reasons to hate on him. I feel like 404 just gave them even more reason to do so while simultaneously deifying the Reyes'. The thing is, my problem isn't even with the characters, I like them all. My problem is with the double standards. The Reyes' are obviously not perfect either. And even though Carlos’s relationship with them seems to be better, the fact that he didn't feel like he could go to them after him and TK broke up shows that things are still not great between them. Not to mention Gabriel's comment about how Carlos should have corrected Andrea's mistake in 211 rather than think about why their son wouldn't feel comfortable introducing his boyfriend to them in the first place.

I think Carlos’s face says it all here. Mind you, this was after Bad Call yet apparently Gabriel still doesn't recognize his mistakes with Carlos. Not only that but now apparently we need do add the fact that he felt like such a disappointment to them that he married a woman and they just let him go through with it despite knowing he was gay. I love the scenes we got with Gabriel in 404 but I don't like how it seems that even those have been weaponized against Owen. Yes, Gabriel saved his son and it was beautiful but Owen has done the same more than once. I mean, the episode is meant to be a parallel of Bad Call where Owen and Carlos were the ones that teamed up. Not to mention when TK got shot in 108, Owen sat with him the whole time stroking his face and talking to him. He apparently didn't even leave the hospital for a shower. When TK woke up, it was his dad he called for before he even opened his eyes and Owen was right there. And then Owen saved him again in 110.

Even the scene where TK revives Carlos is a parallel to Owen reviving TK in the pilot

Look, there's no denying that Owen is flawed and to be fair it is easier to focus on Owen's flaws since he's the main character and we see more of him but that still doesn't make the double standard any less unfair. Owen didn't ignore TK at all in 404. He picked up the phone despite the FBI lady not wanting him too. He looked at her like she was crazy for even thinking that he wouldn't pick up the phone bc "it's my son" and gave TK the best advice he could with what he knew. And he did this while the FBI lady badgered him and almost took the phone out of his hand. Yet there's literally people saying that it would be a good thing if Owen died and cheering on the FBI lady for making that comment.

I also don't buy the argument that Owen hasn't been apologetic about his mistakes. Out of all three parents, Owen is the one that is actually seen reflecting on his mistakes and and apologizing. People go after him for the "about to be a father" comment yet Owen himself expressed regret for it unprompted. He did it again in 316 when in the midst of his own struggles and dealing with his trauma, he called TK up just to tell TK that he loved him and that he was proud of him. He apologized for the distance between them and promised to do better. And we know they're going to be talking in 408. That closeness they had that we all were so charmed by in s1 existed for a reason. And we now know that the reason we haven't seen it in a while is going to be addressed.

Look, I love all three of the parents plus Gwyn but at the end of the day parents are human and all humans make mistakes and have flaws. I like how the show reminds us of that. What I don't like is the double standard and the way people look for reasons to hate on Owen. It's gotten to the point where I have to filter tags and be very careful what fics I read bc I'm not interested in anything that just makes Owen out to be this awful parent when that's very far from what he actually is. My biggest pet peeve with fandoms in general is double standards and the ones people have for Owen compared to the Reyes' and even Gwyn are too glaring for me to just ignore

[strandnreyes]

This has been something that’s been on my mind for a long time, but I wanted to talk a little about the way Iris has been talked about in the fandom from time to time.

No one is required to like the character or any of the storylines related to her. It's fine if you don't, but we still should be mindful of how we speak about her. Hating on someone because of their mental illness symptoms or using those symptoms as the punchline of a joke is not okay. She's not a villain and she doesn't need to be made out to be one.

Even if this show isn’t entirely accurate in her portrayal, or even if the show didn’t get everything right when it came to her exact symptoms, medication, etc., that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be better. Iris may be a fictional character, but people with symptoms like Iris'—atypical social interaction, difficulty reading non-verbal cues or things like humor or sarcasm, bluntness, flat affect—exist. They exist in and outside of fandom spaces. Everywhere.

There's already so much shit in the world and battles everyone has to face daily that if we can make it easier for even one person, why not try to do that. Taking the time to consider how our words are being perceived (what kind of messages we're spreading and the types of jokes we show are okay to make) is important.

There are already so many layered discussions in this fandom regarding TK's depression/addiction, Carlos' anxiety, or Judd's PTSD (which I know is in part by the fact that they’re main characters), and I feel like we all learn a lot from those discussions. Perhaps the same grace can be given to Iris?

This isn’t just a fictional world for some and empathy, understanding, and kindness can go a long way.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

People nedd to stop infantilising helaena.

That's literally one the most annoying things that some of her "stans" (i doubt those are her real fans) keep using. Like, she only wants to play with her bugs, leave her alone. And apparently her evil brother is weaponizing her and doesn't respect her autonomy because he wants her to join him against Daemon's army? What's unreasonable about it? She should have accepted to harm the man who was behind her son's gruesome death. Dreamfyre avd Vhagar would have killed Caraxes and decimated Daemon's army. But she doesn't want tk burn anyone. Sure, but the war is an extreme situation, even Rhaena who is also shown not to be a fan of violence and is more traditionally feminine is going to fight because she is obviously getting Nettles' arc. They are changing everything from the book, unless the change could be beneficial to the greens. And the so called fans are cool with it. I mean, if this was their plan for helaena, they should have just copied her arc form the book since by making her a dragon dreamer they only made everything more nonsensical and annoying.

Another thing: it's funny how people were predicting for a whole season to whom are her words about playing a part and fulfilling the destiny were directed- Aemond, Alicent, even Aegon. But no, it was her for some reason helping and guiding the f***ng Daemon. I guess she can leave her bugs for a moment to do that , according to her supposed fans. It's infuriating.

Hello!

Even before the leaks came out, I questioned Helaena's virtual disappearance from the plot. But now it's quite clear that the writers turned her into a prop (as the author of one of my recent asks very aptly put it).

I mentioned my opinion on Helaena in season 2 here, and I want to emphasize that my quarrel is not with the character but with the writers. Just like Aegon, Helaena is blatantly being used to show how dysfunctional the Greens are as a family - and to highlight the flaws and sins of other characters. These characters being mainly, once again, Alicent and Aemond.

Alicent is a bad mother because she is shown to be more worried about Helaena seeing her having sex with Criston than about Jaehaerys' death and then forces her traumatized daughter to go through with the public funeral and traumatizes her even more. And now Aemond gets violent with her and trying to force her to do something she is not willing to do.

Whether it is a good call to ask her to fight or not is one question. A lot of people say something along the lines of "If only Aemond had not burned Aegon...". True, Vhagar plus Sunfyre would be better than just Vhagar; but, firstly, even this duo (okay, trio if we count Tessarion) would still not be enough to counter Rhaenyra's four dragons (with Caraxes and Sheepstealer - six), and, secondly, Sunfyre for all his spirit is young, inexperienced and quite small (Tessarion is also basically still a baby, by the way). Would Aegon, had he remained in power, have abstained from asking Helaena to join the common effort?

The thing is, post B&C Helaena became almost a non-entity. She easily gets over the horrific death of her child - and then does nothing. What is left of her? Why is she supposed to be treated as if she is made of glass? Because of the mere fact that she is a woman? Not enough. Because her child was murdered? She seems to have got over it: she is nowhere near the mental state her book counterpart was in. And don't get me wrong, I am not of the opinion that only badass dragonrider ladies are supposed to be respected and cherished while peace-loving and gentle women deserve nothing. This is not about badassery: as you said, the situation is dire. It's not about Helaena doing it for Aemond, it's about the survival of their family: Alicent, Aegon, Otto, Helaena herself - and her little daughter about whose existence many viewers have probably already forgotten. But she refuses to join Aemond because "I don't wanna and because you're a bitch". Awesome.

However, she is indeed ready to guide the murderer of her child. When I understood where this whole thing about "fulfilling destiny" is going I couldn't believe it for a second. And for me it was the final nail in Helaena's character coffin. Phia's acting was great (in the scenes where she was actually given the chance to act) but the character development... RIP, Dreamer Queen, it was nice knowing you.

P.S. Gosh, I completely forgot about Moondancer and Vermax while counting TB dragons. So, even with Aegon and Sunfyre safe and sound - but without Dreamfyre - it would be 3 against 8. Helaena, would you like to rethink your decision?