#I just think it would be. neat. and an actual way for me to ramble about in universe stuff

[linkbetweenlinksau]

I noticed the slight style change in Wars' scarf (from before you actually started LBL and then where we are currently) and so I was wondering.......

What was the og design for your Links? And then how did it change to how it is right now?

I thought that would be an interesting ask, so here you go!

I hope you ready for a big load of yapping Anon cuz I have many things to say about their older designs 🙏

So we’ll start with Sky!

Old design on the left and new design on the right. He had a cape LU style, baggier clothes, and had the loftwing feather attached to his earring. I have the skyloftians wear their loftwing’s feathers because it lets them feel closer to them when they’re separated from them on the surface! The thing about this design was that not only was it impractical, but it was also suuuuper annoying to draw and color. Idk if you read the old comic from before but that helped me know that his loftwing feather was driving me insane haha. The cape as well was super annoying and while baggy clothes fits Sky, it didn’t seem smart for him to have that. He was also 5’0” because I wanted him to be older than twi but shorter than him. When I redid Lbl I thought about what I hated about his design while drawing it and changed it around

I made him 5’5” so I wouldn’t have to make his Zelda super short (she’s 5’3”) and he’s definitely one of the “taller” Links. I put the sailcloth and loftwing feather at his belt so they were out of the way. I also gave him bracers that kept his baggier sleeves out of the way and yeah! Still not the most practical thing ever but this is fiction and idc 🙃I’m a little sad about the loftwing feather tho cuz I always wanted him to have a long feather on his earring since I first designed him but oh well. It’s for my own sanity haha. I still kept his more “comfier” clothes and his lightning scars hehe 😈 so yeah!

The rest of the ramblings are under here:

Minish also underwent a lot of changes:

Older design on the left and newer one on the right.

The old design not bad but it’s kinda plain to me. Being a blacksmith he has an apron and gloves, and I always imagines mc Link with curly hair. I do love his headband and I think it’s super neat, but that’s really it. It’s just plain and when he has no apron it’s even more plain. So I changed it to the newer one!

He still has curly hair and his headband but he has no more apron. His tunic is meant to resemble a Minish but I kept the golden outline for some pizzazz. I gave him back his blue eyes which are very integral to his sprite in mc imo and I changed his nose shape to match his grandpa’s and that’s probably my favorite change about him. I love his nose very much and it makes him look very unique. I kept his gloves but I also added some iron-toed boots just so metal doesn’t break his toes lol. And I always had the square belt buckle on him. It’s very fun exploring different ways to do that swirly belt buckle! I also made his tunic dark green so it’d look better. Overall I love his newer design!

Old on the left, new on the right. Time didn’t change too much but he did enough for me to talk about it! His shirt darkened to match his old tunic, gave him the gauntlets for something interesting to look at, changed his collar shape, and I changed his eye color! This actually happened after I made the newer drawing XD I changed his eye color to match Twi’s :) also I untucked his shirt. Idk why. I thought it’d look better so we’ll see lol.

Twi changed a LOT, and by a lot I mean his colors lol. I had a plan where he was going to be pale with dark brown hair to show that he isolated himself and stayed inside after tp, and lbl helped him heal and he was able to look like he went outside again. Buuuuut I changed it for my own sanity cuz that would’ve been so hard to do well lol. So the newer design has the colors he was going to get in the old lbl. Truthfully the old backstory doesn’t fit what I have in mind anymore anyways so it makes sense for him to be tan in the new one. I also added more battle stuff for him including bracers, that sleeve thing, and actual clothes that match ordon lol. I did keep the Ordona symbol tho cuz it’s cool. But yeah, other than that there wasn’t too much of a change in his actual clothes! I did give him dimples tho :> you just can’t see it

Four changed quiet a bit as well. As least when he’s merged. He used to have armor but I thought giving him a full thing of armor when he was only 14 was kind of odd so I instead took out most of the armor. I also made his colors more neutral cuz I loved the idea that Four’s colors were more white and brown to show the colors merging. But honestly i don’t like the look of it haha 😅 it makes more sense for all of the colors to be on Four anyways since it resembles the colors never fully merging so honestly I miiiight switch the colors… but anyways. I did keep the braid flower thing cuz many liked that as did I, and I changed his eye color to match the actual eye color of the colors. They will change depending on who’s in control! But yeah, change in colors 🙃 might change it again idk. I just don’t like the tan and brown haha.

I went through a whole thing with windy because he was originally gonna be 17 or 18. He was gonna be an adult. But I didn’t like that and changed him to being 14! The issue with that tho was that he looked too old in his old design. The blue lobster and coat that resembled Linebeck’s just didn’t fit him anymore so I decided to lean more into his green tunic and played with colors to get him his new design! Which I love a lot! It’s just a little more boyish with nice colors of sea foam green that I like, and it definitely fits his younger aura. That could easily have something to do with how I drew his face tho haha. The old design had the blue lobster cuz that’s what everyone else was doing and I thought the coat would be a cut homage to Linebeck. Including a gossip stone. Also no boots cuz idk, I like it. Makes it easier on me haha. And his scar is a little less healed in the new design than the old one :) it’s very clear that I decided to do what I wanted to do with his design instead of doing what I thought people wanted, and I love his newer design now. Should be easier to draw too!

Left drawing was the first design of Age, and there’s some things I do kinda like. For starters the cape is very neat and would definitely mark him as a champion, but that’s about all I like haha. His short hair is fine but it doesn’t make sense for him to cut it, the armored pieces are a pain to draw and the colors were hard to work with. So I got rid of the cape cuz I figured it’d be harder to draw and wasn’t super practical, changed the tunic color and his hair color to match canon, and gave him more simple bracers and boots. The thing about Age tho is that I don’t like his design. Same issue with Four honestly. It’s not satisfying and I wish I took the time to play with his design more instead of jumping in, so I might play with his design a bit more, might do something with the cape. But I did add Mipha’s scale to show that they’re a thing <3 and lastly he used to be 5’5” but I didn’t like that so I moved him down to 5’0”. He’s taller than Wild to show that the shrine of resurrection stunted Wild’s height (but honestly my Age did technically use the shrine of resurrection so) but he’s not absurdly taller than him haha. but yeah, i don’t like either of his designs 😔

Wild’s overall design didn’t change too much cuz I did like the champion’s tunic with the Hateno clothes on top of it, but something that I do wish I kept was that his hair can’t grow back on some parts of his head, leaving him bald. I might still keep it but it’ll be very well hidden under that mane of hair haha. I dropped the braid and let his hair flow beautifully in the wind, and smae with Age, changed the hair and tunic color! I wanted him and Age to both have the champion’s tunic so that they know that they’re technically the same :) luckily Wild has a lot of outfits so I can honestly play with the clothes whenever I want hehe.

And as you mentioned, Wars went through a lot of change too! Just like Wind I played with some ideas for him cuz I wasn’t vibing with his design. He and Sky are the only ones I had in the older lbl comic so I was able to know what I did and didn’t like about his design! I liked his tunic design for sure, and it’s still there, but the cape was kinda lame to me. It wasn’t fancy, had a bad color, and I hated the overall shape. He has his hat here but he was always going to lose it. So keeping everything else I decided to try to explore the scarf again and tried to find a style I liked. I didn’t want it to be like the game, and I wanted it to look unique to him, and eventually I settled on the big triangle shaped scarf! Makes him look more dynamic and I changed the colors so they’d look better, and I do really like his newer design! He didn’t go through much change, but it was enough to keep me satisfied! I do wish his Diamond clip was on his back like how it is in the game but oh well, I wanted it to look like some sort of Medal of Honor 🤷‍♀️ my beloved

And that’s about all the big changes! I didn’t include everyone cuz they either didn’t change much or they didn’t have old designs. Like Hyrule did change a bit with his design now having a turtleneck rather than a V-neck, but that’s about it. I don’t think Legend’s design changed at all (I love his design) and Totem and Rift weren’t in the older era of lbl :) I do need to draw refs for them tho augh. Spirit too didn’t change all that much and I don’t have room to include everyone haha. But yeah that’s what changed about them! I like the changes a lot (kind of) and I hope they won’t kill me when I draw the comic :’D I know wolf Link is giving me grief, mostly his colors.

But yeah, thank you for this ask! I love rambling about this stuff!! XD especially comparing old lbl to new lbl :)

[s0lk]

note: finished writing this whole thing and as i tend to do i am now worried that i have run with this in the complete wrong direction (somehow) so uh. feel free to disregard this entirely if i have done that.

this. this makes me happy. i feel it is only right to respond to your ramble with one of my own (mostly about character design) because i haven’t encountered anyone with this take before and i enjoy it immensely.

so like. i have nothing against the narrator being all fancy and put together. you get some pretty incredible designs out of it. but, whenever i draw or describe him that way, it is always the appearance he has designed for himself. as you say, people have certain expectations based on his accent and such, and we know he’s very concerned with what others think of him (skip button ending), so it makes sense to me that if he were to create a physical form for himself, he’d want to fit those expectations. plus, i find that people tend to associate the image of a perfectly neat well-dressed fella with figures of authority, and he would absolutely want to play into that. he does like to feel superior, after all.

but his actual body, i absolutely agree, would be far less ‘polished’, so to speak. i picture the real him as some scruffy old guy who’s been wearing the same wrinkled shirt for a week and has about five half-empty mugs on his desk because he doesn’t have the time (or doesn’t care enough) to put the effort in. maybe he’s got a big ol’ fluffy dressing gown over top. he seems like that kinda guy. also he’s Literally Me. not sure if i’ve mentioned that before. he’s me. anyway. what does it matter if he looks good? all he needs is his voice and his mind, and those are perfectly fine, thank you very much.

to me, the narrator is all about facades, how a person presents themselves versus who they actually are. it just seems right that that should extend to his appearance as well. i’ve talked before about how he seems to dislike vulnerability, how he’ll get defensive or braggy or mean when he feels threatened, and reflecting that in his design is very important to me. hence the fact i have two of them (you’ll have to take my word on this one, i know i haven’t actually drawn him beyond a silly doodle). when there’s people watching, he’s what they want him to be - fancy and dapper and perhaps a little flamboyant - but behind it all he’s just some guy talking into a microphone. (of course this does depend on whether or not you think he’s actually human. which i do.)

also i agree one hundred percent about him being too nice in fanworks. sure, it’s nice to have him soften up slightly over a long period of time (post-parable AUs, for instance), but for works that take place ingame or immediately post-escape, that man should absolutely be an utter twat sometimes. part of the appeal of his character (for me) is that he can be snobby and condescending and outright cruel. let him be a meanie!!

asking you about this with my huge wet eyeball

OKAY.

I’m going to preface this with the acknowledgement that much of this is anecdotal, and is based on the way that accents play into socioeconomic class primarily in Australia and the UK (the two are quite similar, though I’m more knowledgeable on Australia, because, well, I live there,)—this is because accents are inextricably linked to the social perception of someone, which leads people to drawing certain conclusions based on that. This is also based moreso on lived experience than statistics, but I do know these things to be true outside of my own experiences, so. Y’know.

That said, we’ve all heard The Narrator speak by now—his voice is deep, smooth, and his accent can very easily be described as sounding quite posh—this, in and of itself, combined with the connotations that being/appearing posh comes with, is already an example of perceptions of class taken from accents.

I’ve found that, often, whilst reading fan-written dialogue and other such fiction, people will frequently write The Narrator’s dialogue a bit differently to how it appears in-game—his dialogue will have a lot of fancy little verbal flourishes, and it isn’t entirely uncommon to see him use petnames and such when referring to people, which he doesn’t really do at all in-game, beyond the occasional “sport/champ” here or there. Though this is incredibly uncommon, and I can only think of one instance of it off the top of my head.

He is also often drawn as being rather a well-dressed and dapper fellow, but, to this I ask—how true is that to his character? I do think that he would not be drawn so well put-together if not for his manner of speech, especially given that he’s a game developer-in universe (dependent on context and endings: like many things in TSP, the actual nature of his existence is unclear,) and often shows a level of (not nearly as explored as I’d like to see) emotional instability, insecurity, and apparent anxiety. I, too, am guilty of doing this! Although I do it consciously, with all of this information in the forefront of my mind. I do not think most do this intentionally, however.

So, too, do people often depict him as being far nicer in their fanworks than he ever really is in canon. That isn’t to say that he’s completely awful in-game, but, really, he’s not nearly as big a sweetheart as I often see depicted of him. I fully believe this to be, whether intentionally or not, a result of the way in which he carries himself, and the way in which he speaks, especially as I do not often see this phenomenon occur nearly as much in characters who have accents that would typically indicate lower class than his own accent, regardless of fandom.

It seems obvious, to me, because I do it myself and am very familiar with how accents influence the way in which you’re perceived—I actually possess more class mobility than the average person of my status would, purely because of the way that I dress and speak! It really has nothing to do with money at all, that The Narrator may, in some capacity, possess knowledge of this, too, whether consciously or not, exemplified in the language he uses, especially when trying to appear better than, or condescend, someone. Take, for example, his excessive use of multi-syllabic words when slyly insulting Stanley’s, the player’s, and/or the audience’s intelligence in certain endings, which he doesn’t really use in most of his more casual speech, (although him speaking in a condescending manner is an incredibly common occurrence, so. Do with that what you will.)

Those with “fancier” accents tend to be perceived quite differently to those with accents that more resemble/represent living in lower class areas. Arguably, how you say something is more important than what exactly you say.

“It’s not that deep,” oh, but nothing is quite so simple, dear reader! Especially not with I.

[warmfuzzyanimal]

wish i had a consistent character to show for this, but since i don't i just used icons :0]

blank template for those that want it under the cut

[every-sanji]

what are some of your favorite moments where sanji just gets screwed over (like the hgeegh bit)

I'm not sure if that's like. Getting screwed over so much as just being made fun of for saying silly things. That said I do think his bit where he just starts talking in wing dings (here) is incredibly funny and given the fact that it has been one of my most popular posts this month I think most of you can agree with that. I do in general think the zoro and sanji dynamic is incredibly funny even if I'm just skimming for sanjis I'll keep an eye out for them for a giggle.

[clegfly]

I hate how the fandom just assumed hero and Mari are extroverts. Like they have four friends and three of them are their little brothers’ friends

[todayisafridaynight]

the post where i compare sawashiro and mine

venn diagram for the sparknotes version of this post but i'll also clarify potentially confusing points + exploring the designs of their office spaces and how it relates to their characters under the cut so i can explain my insanity

definitely enabled by my recent back and forth with @/04tenno. i've taken the relevant notes from our asks, but you can read them in full here p1 p2 p3

Yoshitaka Mine

33 years old

6'1 height

Had healthy relationship with father Mine's father was encouraging and concerned for his safety and future

Lost father to illness The loss of his father left Mine alone in the world, fueling his desire to find comradery again

Exemplary in barefisted combat Mine is well-trained in various martial arts, additionally shown to practice boxing in his spare time

Motivated by desire for interpersonal relationships Mine's greatest ambition in life was to achieve a true bond and to overcome his feelings of being betrayed by the society around him

Past work as venture capitalist Prior to his life as a yakuza, Mine worked as a white-collar citizen

Apparent close relationship with superior Mine is shown to have a friendly and mutual relationship with Daigo Dojima

Disdain for children Mine believes children- especially orphans- are privileged leeches on the generous fortune of adults

Challenges authority Mine doesn't shy from scolding Daigo Dojima when he acts recklessly and puts the needs of Kazuma Kiryu before the Tojo Clan's. He neither shies away from sharing ideas with peers, no matter how ludicrous they may appear

Center

Fights protagonist over superior Mine and Kazuma Kiryu fight atop Touto Hospital due to their philosophical disagreements and whether killing a comatose Daigo Dojima would be right for him. In RGGO, Ichiban Kasuga and Sawashiro fight atop the Millennium Tower due to Ichiban believing Sawashiro betrayed Masumi Arakawa.

Ironclad devotion Mine demonstrates his unwavering belief in Daigo Dojima with unapologetic ire against parties he believe to be acting in opposition to Daigo. He additionally makes extreme, selfless financial endeavors in order to support Daigo. Sawashiro, though unable to make his loyalty overly loud, demonstrates his near-four-decade-long commitment to the son he previously abandoned, Masato Arakawa. As a result, he'd become similarly committed to the man who came to raise him in his stead, Masumi Arakawa.

Devotion is plot twist Though the audience was lead to believe Mine was working maliciously against Daigo Dojima, it's revealed Mine, from his perspective, was acting in Daigo's best interests. In RGGO, Ichiban confronts Sawashiro about his chaotic activity and asserts it goes against Masumi Arakawa's ideals, whereas Sawashiro retorts and claims everything he's done was only to benefit Arakawa. In Y7, not only is it revealed Sawashiro refused to kill Arakawa despite it being an order from Masato Arakawa- a party he had yet to ever disobey- but the full extent of Sawashiro's history with Masato and ergo the true nature of his devotion is brought to light.

Absent father figure at young age Mine loses his father presumably before his teenage years to an unspecified illness. Sawashiro runs away from his abusive household at the age of 15, where he only had an alcoholic father to look after him.

Treasurer Despite the questionable status of their education, Mine and Sawashiro prove themselves intelligent enough to be able to manage the finances of their respective clans.

Outbursts of extreme violence Mine seldom acts with violence without reason. However, upon the mockery of Daigo Dojima's death, Mine forgoes his collected demeanor and stabs the hand of the man praising his death. Though Sawashiro is shown to be more prone to violence, he similarly has an especially bloody scene subsequent to the death of Masumi Arakawa. He almost cuts the finger of Ichiban Kasuga off after believing Ichiban acted irresponsibly, especially with regards to the care of Masato Arakawa.

Irezumi honors superior Mine's irezumi depicts a kirin, a mythical creatures renowned for their intense and volatile devotion to benevolent leaders they deem worthy. Undoubtedly, Mine perceives himself as the righteous kirin, Daigo his holy ruler. In RGGO, Sawashiro's irezumi depicts a dragonfish, a design Ichiban Kasuga asserts he mimicked as it was gotten in order to honor Masumi Arakawa. The dragon is meant to represent Arakawa, the koi meant to represent the desire to live up to his example.

Joined yakuza for specific person Mine seeks to join the yakuza in order to meet the Tojo Clan's sixth chairman, Daigo Dojima, after seeing low-rate yakuza sacrifice themselves for him. Sawashiro joins the yakuza in order to be closer to his son, Masato Arakawa, after discovering the patriarch of the Arakawa Family, Masumi Arakawa, is his new father.

Interest in art Mine's affinity for art is evident in his office space decorum alongside in-game RGGO dialogue. However, Sawashiro's interest is arguably implied based off of the textures used for the books in his office. The implication that Sawashiro harbors a similar interest in art should be taken lightly.

Jo Sawashiro

57 years old

6'2 height

Had toxic relationship with father Sawashiro would shirk going home in order to avoid being abused by his alcoholic father

Ran from father By age 15, Sawashiro commits to running away from home

Specializes in weapon-based combat Though he possesses skill in boxing, Sawashiro's martial forte revolves around weaponry, his toolkit ranging from katana to broken glass pieces and walking canes

Motivated by guilt for and devotion to son Prior to reconnecting with Masato Arakawa after abandoning him as an infant, Sawashiro describes himself as having lived life 'half-assed'. Upon joining the yakuza, Sawashiro's actions are heavily motivated to do what benefits Masato Arakawa. The only exception to this rule was the order to assassinate Masumi Arakawa.

Past work as construction worker In order to support himself and his girlfriend, Ikumi, Sawashiro worked as a construction worker

Superior co-parents child, but depth of relationship is uncertain After Sawashiro abandons Masato Arakawa as an infant, Masumi Arakawa mistakenly rescues and raises him as his own son. Once joining the Arakawa Family, Sawashiro resumes taking care of Masato from a distance, effectively raising Masato alongside Arakawa. Despite this, the true extent of their amiability with each other is unknown, though Arakawa has demonstrated to be comfortable enough to refer to Sawashiro by his given name.

Father to one child Sawashiro fathers Masato Arakawa alongside Masumi Arakawa. Masato has shown to be comfortable enough with Sawashiro to contact him when in duress and notes he 'followed him like a lost puppy' as he was growing up, suggesting Sawashiro's consistent proximity to him.

Obeys authority Sawashiro is often a quiet follower of those in a greater position compared to himself. The only exception to this behavior was after Masumi Arakawa's death, where he punctures the eye of one of his superiors.

BONUS: Office Space Observation

"Snap why bother analyzing their office spaces if they're different" because Sawashiro's original office in RGGO was the same as Mine's:

With Y7, he evidently has a new space of his own, so why not take a chance to look at how they differ now.

Yoshitaka Mine's Office in Minato:

Bright walls and well lit

Personal desk is in proximity to social aspect of the room and is in the back of the room, blocked by social area. In addition, Mine utilizes couches for his social area.

First floor is small and important pieces are close to each other. Bar is closer to personal desk, but not totally out of reach from social area.

Hakuho Family crest is high on the wall and generally out of sight when first entering the room.

Windows are behind Mine's desk and are covered with mahogany blinds

A surface-level assessment of Mine's office would assert he favors intimacy and for guests to be close with one another and himself. Having the bar beside him suggests his method of showing friendship is through acts of service, as he would most likely be the one to bring guests drinks. The bright condition of the room being only offset with tasteful dark furniture gives off an inviting atmosphere yet not overbearing. Coupled with the domestic set up, with every important part of the room being so close to one another, it reaffirms his goal to be close with others.

Jo Sawashiro's Office in Kamurocho:

Dark walls, selective lighting

Personal desk is not only removed from social area, but it's the main attraction of the office, the leisurely area sectioned off to a separate room. However, Sawashiro has two seats situated behind his desk

Bar is close to social area. Sawashiro uses individual, spaced-out chairs for social area

Room is enormous and incredibly empty

Arakawa Family crest is right above Sawashiro's desk, immediately drawing attention to itself upon entry

Windows are replaced by one wall being made entirely of thick glass

Compared to Mine's office, Sawashiro's office floor is significantly simpler. The most decorated part of the office belongs to his personal area at the heart of the room, the area perfectly symmetrical and uniform (or it would be without it being thrashed) but lacking in intense lighting. Moreover, this area is separated from where guests would gather, and even the social room has guests set in armchairs, separating everyone from themselves. Unlike his personal area, the social from is well lit and has the bar being right next to guests and far away from Sawashiro. It can be assessed that Sawashiro isn't overly concerned with others and prefers to isolate himself, but knows enough to provide a pleasant room to let them occupy themselves and leave him unbothered. Alongside the eye-catching Arakawa Family crest positioned above him, the two seats sat behind Sawashiro could reference Masato and Masumi Arakawa, asserting that his only wish in life is to serve the family.

[neim-batteries-not-included]

What if I made an in-character sideblog. Of like some second age (gods still around) disaster. Because I am so bad at posting worldbuilding stuff but I know I could do that. Do some art for it. What then. Would anyone be interested because I can 100% do that. (Will possibly just do it anyway because Why Not).

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

What if I got a service dog, what then (<- guy who definitely can’t afford a service dog)

[keeps-ache]

and it is a sunday once again.. my collection grows

[arolesbianism]

If I wasn't a coward I would 100% throw more preexisting characters into my lob corp facility just cause. I got very close to adding a custom Siffrin a good while ago but chickened out and I shouldn't have because it would be funny. You thought that time loop was bad? Strap in buddy you haven't even begun to face the real horrors yet

[soobnny]

dating him | lee felix

❝ if you win this round, i’ll give you a kiss ❞

chan | lee know | changbin | hyunjin | han | FELIX | seungmin | jeongin

lee felix

the pda king that u are

sorry to get straight to the point but

he’s always touching u in some way 😭

obsessed i’m telling u

whether that’s a hand on ur back pocket, maybe ur intertwined hands in his hoodie pocket, his legs over urs on the couch

he just wants to be touching u all the time bc he is just a lovestruck boy at the end of the day

and there is no feeling more blissful than having you so close to him

i 100% stand by the idea that he would be so insufferable if circumstances were to separate u for a moment

would send u 91837473 texts

calls u too if u aren’t busy

most preferably facetime so he can see u

the boys end up gifting him a pillow with ur face on it bc he just would not shut up about missing u

he is also the saw this n thought of u texts

yes that’s why u receive a million texts

bc a million things remind him of u

he sees a spoon?

hey! u use a spoon too!

the weather is nice?

he has to tell you that! he knows u love when the weather is nice!

speaking of texts, good morning and good evening texts at the most abnormal hours

(sent at 3:24pm) good morning princess ❤️

(sent at 5:11pm) goodnight my love

moving on

u two actually dated bc of hyunjin

look i know felix is extremely good looking and handsome and could pull 92848 girls

but he is honestly just such a shy boy

“hi, felix lost his number. can u give him yours instead?”

“did u just hit on me for him?”

😭😭😭😭😭

TEARSSSSS like hyunjin is shameless

but whatever, it worked

sometimes felix sends him a gift too on ur anniversary bc it’s all thanks to him

one of his favorite memories of u two dating is when u taught him how to braid his hair

who knew it could be so convenient

and look THAT good too

u catch his hair braided while gaming when u surprise visit once

it isn’t as neat as it would’ve been if u were the one who did it

but u could recognize that technique anywhere

it’s the one u’d taught him noooooo 😭

love language: physical touch and baking sessions and teaching u to game

physical touch done

next up .. baking sessions

u could either make the best batch of brownies or almost burn the kitchen down bc u two were too busy making out

u’d also get into a mini food fight

would 100% put red icing on ur lips and blue on his and say u two should make purple

he thinks he’s so cool and smooth

who’s gonna tell him

he’s a LEWSERRRRR but your loser

felix just honestly is happy he gets to combine two of his favorites: baking and u

and then there’s him teaching u to game

he would be so patient with u

and if u were playing, he’d be by ur side the whole time and coaching u

he’d take videos and photos for sure

if he’s the one playing, best believe you’re on his lap if the game isn’t all that competitive

“boooooo! hyung!” — jeongin 2024

he says that bc while felix was communicating, he heard u

felix also strikes me as the type to build u a world in minecraft

he’d make you a cute little house with cherry blossoms around and a garden and a pet

and he calls you just to RAMBLE excitedly about it

man he’s just too cute what the hell 😭😭😭😭

his dates are actually kind of expensive

and his gifts too

he’d be like “no no no i swear it isn’t expensive”

and it’s a louis vitton necklace or smthn

u have so many cute dresses

he especially loves picnics with wine and fresh fruits and carefully made sandwiches in a basket

and FRUIT PICKING

he would love that so much

i think felix would also love if u helped him dye his hair

bc again .. he loves having u close

so i said changbin fails at legos right

felix is too good

he LOVES legos

he even buys u those flower ones

he would do anything to spend time w u

including legos

he particularly loves that it takes kind of a long time so u two would be together the whole time

anyways felix is honestly just such a sweetheart

very very very green flag behavior

he respects ur needs

listens to u without judgement

u have such a healthy relationship with his family

like his mom calls you

“hi! felix isn’t home rn”

“oh no no, i called to say hi to you��

oh they love you

gagged felix

u have dates with his sisters

and it confuses him too like

u would come over their house and he’d tell his family like oh! my gf is allergic to this!

his mom replies “i know”

LIKE WDYM YOU KNOW

felix couldn’t be any more happy anyway

it’s great

congratulations ❤️

note. credits to user @.luvknow for the layout of this post! let me know what you think! please discuss these with me i’m crazy

[miedei]

sick day

roommate!spencer is sick (and lovely)

a/n: wrote this in a fugue state i think, just couldn't get the thought of being spencer's roommate out of my head

cw: best friends who definitely don't love each other noooo why would you say that, spencer is sick and annoying but also the best

wc: 2k

mlist

(reblogs are the only way to promote fics on tumblr! please reblog if you enjoyed it :) )

Living with Spencer Reid is usually wonderful. He’s relatively neat, but messy enough that you don’t have to walk on eggshells around him. He’s always willing to recommend you a new read, he doesn’t judge you when you spend an entire day slumped on the couch, and is always up to help you stress bake. 

It’s decidedly wonderful, until it’s not. A week into your living together, you’d realised what a workaholic he was. After the first time you’d caught him asleep on top of paperwork in the living room, you’d understood how much of a pain Spencer Reid really can be. 

Unfortunately, today is one of those days. Spencer returned from a case last night, and the moment you’d seen the slump in his shoulders, you knew you were going to have to work from home today. 

“You really don’t have to stay home. I don’t even have to stay home! I’m seriously not sick, I swear!” His voice is low, as if attempting to mask the rasp in it. It doesn’t work.

His rambling doesn’t cease, not the entire time you steer him away from the front door and into the living room. 

“Yeah? Spence, do you even remember the last time you got sick? I came home to find you lying on the dining table! I’m not going to leave and come back to you trying to climb out of the window or something.” You deadpan, watching him cross his arms and grumble something about ‘elevating the upper body’, and ‘actually very good for the immune system’. 

Having shoved him not-too-lightly onto the couch, you stand with your arms crossed, eyes narrowed on him.

“I can’t believe you were going to go to work! Living with you is like living with a child sometimes, god. You know you would have been sent home straight away, look at you.” You gesture wildly at him. 

He’s a pathetic sight, curled up on the couch looking distinctly sorry for himself. His hair is limp, flat against his scalp, his weak limbs shoved haphazardly in a button down and slacks. He hasn’t even knotted his tie, leaving it hanging loosely around his neck. 

Grabbing his phone out of his bag, you thrust it towards him. 

“Call your boss and tell him you need a sick day. You said it yourself, it’s just paperwork today, right? You can take a day off once in a while, Spence, it won’t kill you.” Once finished, you stomp out of the room, heading to his bedroom to grab him some clothes. Surveying his closet, you grab one of his Caltech hoodies and a pair of sweatpants, grinning to yourself when you hear his hoarse voice on the phone. 

As you walk back into the living room, he’s settled in, clearly resigned to his fate. 

“Yeah, Hotch, I need the day off. I’m sorry, I’m just- Oh. It’s okay? You’re sure? Um, okay. Thanks Hotch.” He hangs up, his eyebrows pinched as if he’s loath to admit you were right. 

You can’t help it, snickering as you dump the sweats and hoodie on his chest. 

“I told you so.”

“You’re so mean to me.” 

It’s nice, spending a day with Spencer like this, even with how whiny he is. Sitting at the desk in the living room, you’re not being incredibly productive, but Spencer’s fever-induced rambles more than make up for it. 

“So, some idiot made a blog called ‘What Would Carl Sagan Do?’, and Garcia - remember I told you about her, my coworker? She showed it to me, and oh my god, it’s so ridiculous! I mean, to start, all the entries were lifted from different sci-fi movies and books, and they were all so inaccurate, like, ‘The Martian Chronicles’ were good, but it’s been debunked so many times! Carl Sagan debunked it!”

He’s laying on his back on the couch, slender fingers waving in the air above him, eyes lidded as he speaks animatedly. 

“Yeah? What was wrong about it?” You rise from the desk chair, heading into the kitchen. “Also, do you want tea?”

His voice softens, speaking slower as he answers your question. “Yeah, that black tea you brought home last week, please.”

You can hear the moment he slips back into his rant, words growing more and more spirited as he continues to rail against whatever that blog was. Puttering around the cramped kitchen, you let his words roll over you, balancing two mugs and a plate in your hands. 

He doesn’t stop speaking, but flashes you a grateful smile as he takes a mug from you, swiping a cookie from the plate before delving back into the topic at hand.

“So, Bradbury, and a lot of the other sci-fi writers of the time, believed that colonisation of Mars would be possible within the 20th century. And then, in 1960, Carl Sagan, along with a bunch of other astronomers, discovered that Mars doesn’t have an atmosphere, so humans living there long term is virtually impossible without a huge improvement in technology, which probably won't happen until the latter half of the 21st century. And this moron with a blog is pretending like Sagan wouldn’t care, and that he would advocate for irresponsible space travel and I hate him.” 

He finishes with a huff, taking a large gulp of tea and sitting up against the couch. His eyes are hazy with exhaustion, eyelids drooping as he looks at you. You can’t help but giggle. He looks adorably dishevelled, and his eyebrows pinching together at your laughter only intensifies it.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“I’m- I’m sorry Spence, you just look really cute right now, like you’re going to fall asleep.” You can barely get it out, body shaking with mirth. His eyebrows furrow further, a slight pout forming on his lips. 

His attempts to get you to stop laughing go unanswered, and he huffs once more, crossing his arms and settling against the couch cushions. 

It’s the late afternoon when a knock on the door stirs you from your reverie. Spencer is sitting next to you, your legs slung over his lap as he leans back, eyes trained on The Fellowship of the Ring on the television as his hands tap out something on your calves. 

��Are you expecting anyone?” He shakes his head no, not averting his gaze from the screen. 

You sigh, jostling his shoulder. 

“Spence. Spence, can you go get the door? It’s probably a salesman or something.” 

He hums, shaking his head once more. 

“Can’t. Too sick.”

You groan, tipping your head back in frustration before hauling yourself off the couch, flicking his shoulder as you walk past.

“You’re infuriating, you know that?” His only response is a grin, before he turns back to the movie. 

Grumbling under your breath, you trudge through the room to the front door, frowning when you look through the peephole to see two figures. 

One is shorter than the other, a woman wearing a hot pink and orange dress that should be garish, but looks completely natural on her. The man next to her is grinning, holding several plastic bags in one hand, the other arm linked with the woman’s. 

Not salesmen. 

Concluding that they’re probably not a threat, you swing the door open, causing their heads to pop up. 

“Hey, Reid- Oh.” The man speaks immediately, but pauses when he sees you. 

“You’re not Reid.” The woman concludes. 

You tilt your head to the side, confused. 

“Yeah, I’m not. Um, how do you know Spencer?” 

They share a confused look.

“We’re his coworkers. Derek and Penelope. Sorry, who are you? Do we have the wrong apartment?” 

You brighten, recognising the names from Spencer’s many stories about work. 

“Oh, that’s who you are! No, you’ve got the right apartment, of course. Come in.” You turn to the side, allowing them to walk in, although their expressions remain bewildered. “I’m Spence’s roommate, Y/N. He’s in the living room.”

“Roommate?” Derek exclaims before setting his sights on Spencer, striding over to him. 

“Hey, pretty boy.” Spencer jolts, the haze of sickness having made sure that he didn’t notice them till now. His voice is higher than normal, squeaky. 

“Morgan! What are you- Garcia? Why- why are you here?” Penelope smiles mischievously, plopping down on the couch next to Spencer. 

“Well, we obviously wanted to check up on you, Boy Wonder. This is the first sick day you’ve taken in the last two years - don’t try to lie to me, I checked - and now, we’re very interested in your friend here.” Her smile loses its teasing edge when she turns to you. 

A grin spreads over your face, recognising the same teasing affection you feel towards him in the two newcomers. Retaking your seat on Spencer’s other side, you pull your feet up on the couch, tucking them under Spencer’s thigh. 

Penelope squeaks quietly, but averts her gaze when you look up at her questioningly. 

“So, you guys have worked with Spence for a while, huh?”

Derek sits in the armchair across from you, chuckling under his breath.

“Since he was 22. Back when he straightened his hair and wore those sweater vests that were three sizes too big.” Spencer lets out a strangled noise of protest next to you, but you both ignore him in favour of continuing your conversation. 

“Seriously? I’ve seen one photo of him back then, but then he started hiding them all from me. You got any?” 

Penelope perks up, pulling out a tablet from her work bag. 

“Yes! Oh my goodness, sweetheart, I have so many. Did you know, he used to do this thing where he would gel his hair back, said it made him look older but it was honestly just really cute, hold on…”

She shifts and moves to sit on your other side, huddling over the tablet with you and Derek. 

Spencer is suddenly left in the lurch, stuck observing the three of you from the other end of the couch. He feels like he should be irritated, angry even, but he can’t do anything but watch, eyes softening. 

“Oh my god, Spencer, you were so cute, what happened?” Never mind, he’s feeling a bit irritated now.

It’s not endearing, no. No matter how lovely you look, your face flushed with excitement. No matter how easily you fit in with some of his favourite people in the world.

It’s not captivating, not at all.

[eightpackdiaz]

was listening to so high school and i got struck with a kingdon vision…an exes (to lovers) au

(there’s like 2k words under the cut, i dont know what came over me)

so mel and frank met in her first year of undergrad, he was already in his third year, and the way they met was…almost cliché, really, it’s the first day back from summer break, and half his classes already are swamping him with work so he walks his ass to the library because he wants to be a doctor, and he will do well in school, and he will prove his father wrong. except he gets there and the tables are full, because of course they are, it’s still summer and the library has AC so people are there and not even half of them are actively studying. But he looks for a table and there’s one little two person table right next to the back window and he can see a girl already sitting there. She has her back to him, so all he sees is a loose blonde french braid, the back of a pink tshirt, and a very neat pile of books to her right. He feels bad asking because he also doesn’t like sharing the table, but he really needs to start studying, so he walks up to her.

Once he’s in front of her, he forgets what he is going to say for a second. He can’t really see her face, but he can see glasses, and a face covered in sun-kissed freckles, and he thinks his heart is beating a little too fast, and oh fuck. she’s looking up at him with a tiny smile and, wow, okay, maybe that’s what it feels like to meet someone who is your type (even if he previously thought he didn’t have *a* type).

She says “can i help you with something?” and he white knuckles his backpack strap to keep himself from doing something stupid like reaching out and adjusting her glasses, he powers through

“Hi, sorry, do you mind if i sit here? i really need to get started on my papers, and people are here and they’re not even doing homework! how’s that okay? anyways, sorry, i know it can be annoying to share a table, but i promise i really just need to study” why is he rambling?!, he hasn’t been a rambler for years and now she’s looking at him funny but she doesn’t look put off yet, that’s good.

“of course you can! i understand, it can be upsetting that people don’t use the library for actual studying. my name is melissa, but everyone calls Mel, nice to meet you” she punctuates this last sentence with the cutest little wave he had ever seen anyone over the age of 5 make, and woah okay he’s staring, he needs to get a grip

“i’m frank! nice to meet you, are you new here? i don’t think i’ve seen you before, i would remember” okay why is he sounding flirty, he need to stop he said he was only gonna study and he really meant it, but she doesn’t seem to register it or simply chose to ignore it,

she gives him a bigger smile and says “i am! first year of undergrad, i take it you’ve been here longer?”

“i’m starting my third year of biochem, hoping to go to medical school after!”

“me too! not biochem, i mean, i want to go to medical school once i finish mine, i’m in biology!”

and so they start studying, he’s doing his best to not be fidgety and annoying, but he can’t help it and he finds himself stopping himself like four different times, until she very obviously catches him the last one.

“i understand if you need to fidget, it won’t bother me, and i’m sure it would help you focus more, i sometimes need to stim to really concentrate”

and he just looks at her, in awe, because this is the first time someone *isn’t* bothered by his fidgeting

And so they have little snippets of a conversation during their hours of study that day, at the end he tells her that he would like to do this again, and she smiles, and tells him she would too, and before he knows it they’ve exchanged numbers, with mel explicitly stating “i do prefer phone calls because i have a hard time deciphering people’s tones via text” and as he sees her walk away he gets a feeling deep in his bones that his life is never going to be the same again

during that first week they study together three times, he’s not ashamed to say he reached out the very next day after that first meeting, and actually, he’s not ashamed to say he reach out all three of those times, but every single time he called, he was met with a bright and warm “hi frank! how are you doing today?”, so all things considered he’s more than happy to keep doing it.

studying with mel is amazing, really. they’re a great team, he learns a lot from her, and tells her that. he has the wild thought that if they were to practice together, they would save s lot of patients.

they’ve been study buddies for about three weeks when for the very first time, they hang out without the pretense of homework, he invited her to go with him to try a new pizza place he heard about, and truly, he has no expectations.

he likes her, of course he does, shes so beautiful, and so smart, and her eyes are so bright, and even when he can tell that she’s missing her sister she never lets that affect the way she treats others, always so kind and patient. she’s in no uncertain terms someone who he knows he’s gonna fall inlove with, he just knows she doesn’t see him that way, and he’s okay with that.

mel is the funniest person he’s ever met. he spends half the dinner laughing and he thinks that maybe she doesn’t first get most jokes but my god her own sense of humour is amazing, and they have enough rapport now that she can appreciate some of his darker jokes, especially because since day one he now follows them immediately with “its a joke”, and it’s great, and god, he wishes this was a date.

he feels it important to note that whilst she does recoil to most people’s touch or proximity, after that very first day she has been okay with him standing or being near, he doesn’t touch her much, doesn’t want to test his luck, and also doesn’t think his heart could handle it. but he’s always near, always almost touching, and she lets him, and he feels like he has done something right.

so for about two weeks after that, they start hanging out more and more, yeah he has a friend group, and she’s making her own friends but they make time for each other. they meet for coffee on the way to campus, or meet in between classes just to talk about anything other than school, and little by little he can tell that this crush of his is becoming more.

they’ve known each other for about two months, when they’re in his apartment, his roomates aren’t there (yes he made sure of this, no not like *THAT*) and they’re watching a movie, and they’re sitting in the sofa and then she leans her head on his shoulder.

his heart is going a mile a minute, she initiated the contact and god, her hair smells like strawberries, and he can feel her breathing through his tshirt, and he feels her cheek move, so now he knows she’s smiling.

the movie ends, and she looks up, they hold eye contact for about 5 seconds before he blurts out “wouldyouliketogoonadatewithme” before he chickens out

she just blinks, and he sees her trying to process it, but he waits, he will always wait for her.

“yes, i would like to go on a date with you. i like you, and i could tell that you liked me too, but figured maybe i was confusing signals because you didn’t ask”

and so he explains, that no, he very much does like her but he is a coward. she just smiles and says “i would never call you a coward”

and so they go on a date, he’s had a handful of first dates in his life, but he has never felt this at peace in one before, there’s nerves of course there’s nerves, but it’s like his system knows, it’s like it’s saying “there you are, i’ve been waiting for you” and it lets him feel calm.

the date is amazing, he asks if he can hold her hand, and her answer is to take his hand and swing their joined hands between them and he thinks his heart will explode. at the end of the date, he walks her to her house. he asks if he can kiss her, and he sees her thinking about it, but he waits, he will always wait for her.

she nods, short and determined. he leans in, projecting his movements so she knows what to expect.

he swears he can see fireworks when he closes his eyes, he feels like floating, her hands are clutching the front of his shirt and he decides that it’s his favourite thing ever. they part, he bids her good night and takes a deep breath after she enters her house, he feels delirious to think it, but one day he’s going to marry that girl.

he meets becca after dating mel for six months. becca’s funny, and crazy smart. she tells him in no uncertain terms “i told mel to find someone to kiss at college, so you’re welcome” the responding blush in mel’s checks is what frank’s dreams are made of.

they have a lot of firsts, firsts for him, firsts for her, and firsts together.

they date for about two years. he knows this is it, he knows he’s never going to love anyone the way he loves her, he’s known it from the very first time he sat in front of her.

then he gets accepted to med school on the other side of the country, and he knows she won’t want a long distance relationship because they’ve talked about it, and she loved him but this was a boundary for her, and he applied there because his mom moved to pittsburgh last year after the divorce, and he misses her, and because he really likes their medical program, and because mel from the very beginning told him to stick to his life plan because as much as they love each other, they both have dreams, and those dreams might be similar but they’re not the same.

The day he gets the acceptance letter, they both know their relationship has an expiration date. They are officially together right until the morning he’s set to move away. They wanted to break up amicably, they still love each other so deeply, he thinks knows she will always be his one true love. They kiss goodbye, and they’re both crying, and as soon as they part she says “i love you, and i want you to be happy, so please. try to move on, we can be friends in a few months, but first, we need to try to move on”

the day they become friends again never comes. he loves her so much it aches, but he knows she’s right, and he also knows they might never see each other again, and he needs to focus on med school, and if he can do something is make his mom proud and prove his dad wrong, and…

goddamn it, its been two years and he still can feel the ghost of her touch, he can still hear the way he used to call her name, he can still….he needs to stop. he needs to get laid, he needs to move on. she probably has moved on already, he doesn’t know, because he’s been too much of a coward to check, and because she said to be friends when they move on, and he hasn’t moved on so why even try to reach out.

abby is the polar opposite of mel, she’s also clearly into him and he thinks she’s fun and attractive so he goes for it, he knows there’s a saying about getting under someone to get over someone, and he’s drunk enough that he doesn’t care that she’s not who he really wants her to be.

“i’m pregnant” abby says into the phone, it’s late, and he was studying for an exam, and he’s in the middle of his third year of med school. what the fuck is he going to do.

abby and him are friends, they like each other, they fuck sometimes, and she wants to keep the baby, and he likes her enough to think that he might convince himself one day that he loves her.

so life goes on, they get married because her parents want that, they have tanner and he loves his son, and there’s a pandemic, and he’s just starting his residency and the world is falling apart, but things get better, him and abby are still really good friends, he tells himself he’s not lying to her when he says he loves her, because he’s not, she’s the mother of his kids, and he does love her, she’s just not. well.

it’s just another random thursday, and he’s leaning on the desk in front of him because his back is killing him and he’s only been here like 20 minutes, but he’s trying to space out his pills so, he is doing his best, and then robby wants to introduce the….

he knows that braid. he hasn’t seen her face, and robby is talking but he knows that…

“…second year resident, dr melissa king, fresh from the VA” robby says, like this isn’t taking the air straight out of frank’s lungs. he blinks, looks away and at the computer because this can’t be happening, she’s here. his life is falling apart, his back is killing him, abby is angry at him for god knows why, but shes here, his mel is here.

“everyone calls me mel. i’m so happy to be here” he wonders if she hasn’t realized he’s right behind her. he’s looking at that braid, he’s standing behind her and he can’t stop staring, and he’s suddenly 20 years old again.

[queers-gambit]

Love What You've Done with the Place

song by Rascal Flatts

prompt: he's never been a man built for relationships, until you come into his life. now, the house feels like a home.

pairing: Tangerine x female!reader

fandom masterlist: Bullet Train

word count: 1.8k+

warnings: more brain rot rambles, probably cursing, NOT edited, very docile, fluff, romance, hardened men being simps.

It started with clothes. Just a few, here and there; left behind, forgotten, purposefully stuffed in his dresser for when you stayed the nights. He didn't mind, in fact, Tangerine encouraged you to bring whatever you felt comfortable with leaving since he hated how early you'd leave in the mornings to get ready for work. He found his mornings were peaceful when you were around; neither rushed, both content, starting your days on high notes with each other.

So, he made the decision and found an old sitting-vanity for you. He put it in his bedroom simply because he was fascinated with the hair and make-up process; thinking it was incredible that women had such skill. When he came home about 3 months ago, he noticed your vanity when he first got home from a particularly difficult mission. Your chair was draped in an old university tee shirt, and he smiled.

It was like watching your comfort grow and it warmed something deep in Tangerine's heart. Your make-up wasn't always in a neat array, sometimes just left from a quick touch-up; making the house feel more like a home.

Tangerine also bought a strainer for the shower's drain to catch your hair. He didn't get angry like previous boyfriends did when he found strands of your hair left behind - not on purpose or by some gross standard, but it was natural that hair shed in a shower and not every single strand could be picked up. So, to make life easier, he just quietly bought the hair trap, placed it, removed whatever empty bottles from the shower, and went about his day. But then he started to notice your hair left other places.

His counters, his sink, the floor, your vanity, his bed sheets and pillows.

Tangerine had his issues with possessiveness in the past, but this wasn't remotely similar. No, Tangerine found himself smiling when he would find your hair in his clothes; thinking it was funny, almost like a mark or badge of honor to designate him as yours. It was a brief thought, but Tangerine actually felt giddy by the idea of people just knowing he was off the market 'cause his lady's hair was clung to his suit jackets.

He liked it. He really did. He'd not admit it aloud, but he liked it.

Tangerine wasn't the most humble man in the world, but he certainly liked to flash what was his. Golden jewelry, expensive, tailored suits, shining Italian leather shoes. And now, you, the woman who invaded his heart and head - and now his home. He adored showing you off, feeling affirmed and invigorated by the longing glances men threw your way, and while he expected jealousy from other women, they seemed more impressed by your beauty and grace as well.

He remembers one night, after a several weeks long mission, he just wanted to hold you. His throat was a little choked up when he called you, knowing you were at home after reading an earlier text. So, you rushed over in the middle of the night and he'd yet to let you go home - three days later.

"You've gonna have to let me out of bed sometime," you smiled playfully. "I have work tomorrow - and no, I'm not calling out again."

"C'mon, love, don't leave me alone," he whispered, looking like a beaten down puppy. The mission was much harder than he'd let on, but Lemon usually always filled you in. He thought it was important for you to know certain details that Tangerine was sure to omit, knowing those were the details that haunted him.

"I'll be back after my shift," you promised, nuzzling his nose with your own. "I also need new panties and clean clothes."

He sighed, "Some in there," he pointed to his closet now.

"What?" You giggled.

"You've left enough behind, got a bit of a collection goin', yeah?" He smiled softly, wrapping you back up in his arms. With a sigh, he relented, "I'll let yah go to work, love, just... Need this a bit longer."

You obliged, but the next day, you were gone before he woke up. With a frown, Tangerine dropped back onto the bed - but inhaled deeply when his nose buried into your pillow. He hummed in pleasure, feeling himself brim with contentment, bringing the fluffy item to his chest and nuzzling it; your perfume left behind to soothe him.

Was Tangerine clingy? Oh, for sure! He didn't think so, but you knew better. The contract killer liked you close, liked his hands on you; even if it was just a hand on your waist or a nose near your neck. He missed you when gone, but he usually held himself back from texting you all day - wanting you to be able to focus on your job.

But that day? He was inept, just wanting you; wondering if he paid you the same salary, if you'd consider just staying home. So, he texted you several times.

This obviously threw you off a little, knowing him better than himself most days. But he just missed you, so, you sent a selfie - promising you missed him too and would be home right after work.

He saved the photo and tried not to dwell on how you said you'd "be home" and not "come to his place". He had to take a few moments to calm down, feeling his heart zing with unfamiliarity - but not being afraid of it like he had been when you first started dating. He could recognize he was happy, that he was excited to see you everyday, and that the idea of coming home to you was far too appealing to ignore any longer.

It seemed neither of you needed to actually have an official conversation about living together. Lemon didn't mind, in fact, he was the one who insisted you have your own key; adoring you and whatever affect you had on his emotionally constipated brother. So, some mornings, Tangerine wasn't surprised to find a slightly damp towel left hanging in the bathroom, nor by the make-up on his counter - you using that mirror because of the fluorescent lighting. He never put it back, he didn't move it - he liked seeing it. It meant you were still here, and the idea of it being gone made his stomach knot with anxiety. He also wasn't surprised when he went to use the shampoo you insisted would help his curls flourish (you were right), only to find it damn-near empty. His shower gel, too.

When you came home that evening, you had Target bags in hand; replacing whatever was empty, making Tangerine grin to himself by how in-sync he felt with you. He'd never had a connection such as this, only ever feeling close enough to Lemon, but you changed everything for them both.

How Tangerine ended up with someone courteous was truly beyond either of them. Someone kind, caring, adventurous, sweeter than pie - someone definitely out of Tangerine's league, something he never let himself forget. He adored you to your core - thinking someone such as you should never have gotten tangled up in someone like him, but he knew, if the time ever came, he'd never be able to let you go. In fact, most days, he had to convince himself not to just pick you up and carry you around while he did chores or ran errands.

The very idea of losing you sent his heart into his stomach; hallowing his chest in a harrowing fashion that made it hard to breathe. Just a week or two ago, Lemon found Tangerine in the kitchen, hand to his chest as if he couldn't catch his breath, heaving for air; his worry spiking, but quickly realizing what was wrong.

"Bruv, you've gotta breathe - calm down," he tried to coax. "You're having a panic attack, you've gotta just focus on breathing."

"Fuck off with that!"

"Seriously, man," Lemon insisted, catching Tangerine in a vulnerable state enough that he actually listened without much of a fight. When Tan seemed a little more under control of his own emotions, Lemon asked, "What the hell happened?"

Tangerine shook his head, "Nothing t'worry 'bout - "

"Bullshit," Lemon snapped. "I've never seen yah like that, mate, the fuck happened?"

It was embarrassing, but Tangerine managed to answer, "Just... Just started thinking that if she ever left me, I'd fucking crumble, mate."

This made Lemon frown, "She's not gonna leave you, man. You know that. The girl's madly in love with you, yeah? Like madly in love - like to a degree it makes her stupid in the head, all right? Obviously, you too," he chuckled, shaking his head as he affectionately ran a hand over the back of Tan's head. "You're workin' yourself up, 's all right. You don't have to think about that - ever - 'cause she's it for you, mate. Yeah? Hear me? She ain't goin' nowhere, not without you."

Tangerine needed the assurance. Being alone after having a taste of your love felt impossible to Tan now, something he was never bothered by before. Seriously, why give a fuck about a relationship when he had his brother? Someone who loved him unconditionally and wouldn't leave? And then he met you and understood why people gave fucks about relationships.

It was as if every room you ever entered was brightened up simply by your smile. Your laugh wasn't always the most ladylike, but it was genuine and true and always made Tangerine smile to himself. During any public outing, Tan was always close - we've established this - but he liked to play a small game. One of your love languages was physical touch, so, you liked kissing him if even just for a single second. He was aware of your lipstick, feeling the tacky substance stain his cheek, but he wouldn't wipe it off. His game was to see how long it'd take before someone would point it out; his reputation didn't always warrant others to feel secure enough to speak up. Some nights, Lemon would motion to his cheek, and other nights, you'd return home, remove your make-up, and swipe make-up remover over his cheek to clear the color away.

However, it wasn't often you ventured in public due to Tangerine's innate introverted nature. You went if The Agency made it mandatory or if you were feeling stir crazy, but majority nights, Lemon would find you both lounged on the couch in various positions.

Sometimes, you'd be watching a movie together or binging a show. Other times, you were reading a book while Tangerine poured over paperwork. And once or twice, Lemon's come home to find you belly laughing and playfully scolding Tangerine as he tried to paint your toe nails. It was a homey sight to Lemon: seeing his brother so in love and at ease, hearing your laughter, the entire flat filled with warm smells of burning candles and homemade meals.

It wasn't evident at first, but with you laying in Tangerine's arms, clothes left on the floor, bellies full of whatever meal you had prepared that evening, favorite show playing on the bedroom TV, he realized that he loved what you had done with the place.

requesting rules and masterlist

Bullet Train masterlist

[adragonsfriend]

Ways to Write a Meaningful AO3 Comment…

…or frankly, a comment on any writing or artwork where your primary goal is to encourage and appreciate the creator.

It occurs to me that comments are a mini writing task, I have been a writing tutor, and if I’m going to ramble about how not to form communities and have meaningful interactions on the internet, I could maybe also help make it a little easier.

This post is written on the assumption that people want to interact, but struggle for whatever reason: nervous, tired, didn’t realize comments meant that much, can’t think of what to say. I myself spent years at a time on ao3 not commenting on literally anything—something about stones in glass houses. But in my experience, while getting comments on my own fics is kind of my favourite, leaving the kind of comment I know I would cherish—and sometimes getting replies from authors replying to my comments and actually chatting with them—is pretty damn magical too.

In that spirit, this post is henceforth a how-to, not an argument, and I’m not going to address anything to do with bad faith comments. I’m gonna try and provide some structures and simple formats to start comments from. I cannot emphasise enough, these are all intended to be used from a place of sincerity. Tools for finding and formatting the appreciation which is already in your brain, just hiding from you.

That said, we’re gonna take this in stages—

1. The Chapter Kudos

“Chapter kudos,” a little “<3,” an “I loved this,” or similar simple expressions of warmth and enthusiasm, slapped on a oneshot or each chapter of a long fic. These are a nice small gesture that lets the author know you’re here and you’re still loving the fic. Not every author is in love with the these type of very short comments, but unless they have a specific note about it, they’re almost certainly glad for the knowledge you’re still reading. This is minimal—great for days or weeks when you’re tired, low effort, can’t think of shit to say about a particular chapter, and so on. Comments, like all tasks, must be allowed to vary in intensity with available energy and time.

2. The 1-2 sentences

A one or two sentence comment. Here, a combination of a general compliment: “this was amazing,” and a specific compliment: “character A’s dialogue felt so realistic” works really well.

General compliments are typically easier to come up with:

What an awesome chapter!

Wow ok I did not see that coming—

I fucking. Love. Your writing.

This was so exciting!

I screamed when I saw this updated

Maybe a little over the top, but you get the idea—it’s hard to go wrong with these.

Specific compliments are often a little harder to come up with, but they generally fall into two categories which are both wonderful: content and writing.

Content includes things like:

I love [character] so much, seeing them in [particular situation] was so fun

Wow there’s so little content for [niche fandom/character/ship/trope] it’s great to see it here

Your idea about [authors headcanon] is so smart—that makes [weird element of canon] make so much sense

I didn’t used to be into [trope/ship] but holy fuck am I convinced now

The point being you’re noting a particular element content of the fic—what and who it’s about—that you loved. These are great because getting really damn excited about a character/trope/headcanon etcetera, really is the heart of fandom.

Writing takes a slightly different tack, and talks about the author’s writing skills—what they do well:

You write such good dialogue, it feels really realistic

Your action scenes are so exciting!

The tone of this chapter was so perfectly creepy—the way you describe [setting/character] gave me the shivers

The spacing you used really fit the piece—it’s a neat way to show the character’s mindset there they’re struggling to think clearly

The combination of a general and specific compliment can make it easier to start writing your comment, while giving you a second to think of your specific thought. It’s simple, but it means a lot to get any kind of specific comment, because it shows the author that you are paying attention to their writing and that you appreciate or relate to them, specifically. These comments are fairly quick to write, but can mean so much.

3. The paragraph

Several sentences long, with a bit more room to explain what you loved. Everything from the 1-2 sentence section applies here too. A general compliment is still a great starting point, and specific compliments are still where we want to end up. The main difference is you’ve got a little more room to talk, and you can take that in a few different directions.

You can talk about one specific compliment for a bit:

I love the way you write dialogue—character A saying “[quote]” was exactly what they would say in that situation. And their banter with character B was incredible, i laughed out loud. The way they both use cursing, but in slightly different ways is fascinating. The way character B does it is…

Or you can go through several different ones quickly:

I love the way you write dialogue—character A saying “[quote]” was exactly what they would say in that situation. The fast dialogue kept the pace up and the whole chapter was so exciting—I loved that you brought up character B and character C’s relationship too, it gets so little attention but I love it…

There’s also room for wider observations and questions (these can also totally go in 1-2 sentence comments, it’s just easier to have a little more substance around them):

Your writing always makes me feel so [feelings]

Wait I’m a little confused did [event] happen the way I think it did, or am I being silly?

Your ideas about [character] are awesome, I love everything you’ve written about them.

I’m so curious, what’s your specific lore on [character/event]?

4. Multiparagraph

Several paragraphs, or a very long paragraph. Hot damn, the author is in love with you now. Either you’ve got a whole lot to say about one specific topic of writing or content, or you’ve got a couple of different topics you want to pay some attention to—as you start writing your comment, you’ll probably discover a few more. Let yourself ramble, make bullet points, just get your thoughts out, if you have this many. All the principles from before apply: general compliments, specific compliments, wider observations, questions—all of these can easily feature in a long comment.

5. Fuck Formating

Write comments in whatever format works for you. Bullet points, google translated into the necessary language, rambling, well organized, short, long, emojis, copy-pasting your favorite quote from the fic with an exclamation point, pre-formatted general compliments, whatever will get your thoughts and enthusiasm down.

If you are communicating, the format doesn’t matter all that much. The same information from a multi paragraph comment can be done in bullet points or by quoting. Whatever communication you do will be meaningful to the author.

It’s hard to go wrong—

Like most writing, making meaningful comments and picking out those specific compliments gets easier with practice. There’s no need to write multiparagraph comments all the time. Those 1-2 sentence ones can be full of so much love, and chapter kudos are sometimes all there’s energy for.

The most important writing advice ever in my opinion is this: you have interesting things to say. About yourself, about the world, about writing, about that damn fanfic.

Go forth and use the structures above, or come up with comments I couldn’t even dream of. Whatever you do, you will find fic authors are probably the most willing and grateful audience in the whole world.

[elvensorceress]

In all the excitement about bi!Buck, (which— yay! Amazing! Very exciting! No notes!) I think there’s a part of this story we’re missing. I haven’t seen anyone talk about it, so have some rambling.

 It wasn’t just Buck who looked at this experienced, older, queer man and wanted to know him. It was also Eddie. 

We have never seen Eddie go so hard, so immediately for anyone. To the point his best friend of years felt like he was being ignored by him. Yes, Buck wanted Tommy’s attention for obvious reasons. But he was also slighted by the perceived lack of attention from Eddie. 

Suddenly, Eddie is spending multiple times a week going out with this man. Going to Vegas with this man. Working out with him, working on his car with him, doing karaoke and trivia night with him? Asking his alleged girlfriend to babysit more than once so that he can go out with Tommy? Obviously, it was from jealous!Buck’s point of view, but seriously. If Buck felt ignored, what is Marisol even thinking? Did Eddie bother to make time for his new girlfriend? What spare time would he even have if they work several 24 hour shifts and he’s also gone out with Tommy at least three times in one week? And is probably planning more?

Not that I think Eddie’s feelings for Tommy are necessarily in the same vein as Buck’s feelings for Tommy. But my gosh, Eddie giggly and kicking his feet and twirling his hair while on the phone with Tommy was so very loud. And actually a pretty neat contrast to being distracted and trying to text Marisol “hey mari it me eddie” to ask her out. Eddie’s sudden infatuation with Tommy was a thousand times more than anything we’ve seen from him for anyone. Considering that what he stated he wanted was the magical chemistry he’d found when he and Shannon got together, like… is that not what he just found with Tommy? 

Again, it doesn’t necessarily mean Eddie has any explicit romantic or sexual attraction toward Tommy. I suppose he could? But the point is more that wow, there is some kind of intense draw pulling Eddie to him even if we interpret it as platonic. 

Buck says at the end of the ep that they met this guy and he was so cool and Buck wanted to get to know him. Which makes sense given that Buck is canonically crushing on him and going to be dating him. But Eddie was actually the one who got there first. Eddie also had a reaction somewhere along those lines of “he’s really cool, I need to know him” to the point where he’s all of a sudden spending most if not all of his free time with him. 

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this person Eddie wants to spend time with is an experienced, out queer man who is comfortable in his own sexuality and his own masculinity. (He has so much in common with Eddie! They have so many similar interests! They have a magical click together that makes Eddie want to be around him all the time! There’s so much they can do together!) 

Eddie might not have even known it, maybe in the same way Buck also didn’t know it, but Eddie definitely latched onto that, too. Which is very interesting, no? Very— queers finding each other and bonding over shared experiences even before they know that’s what they’re doing. 

It can easily be someone who is likely confused about their own feelings but knows they are having certain feelings just not the names to put to those feelings, and consequently seeking guidance and reassurance that there are other people who are just like them who have these feelings as well. It’s realizing how they can be themselves, that they can be queer in a way that fits who they are instead of what they might conceptualize as queer because of stereotypes and preconceived notions. It’s learning you can be you and also be queer. That there are people like you out there. 

Eddie found something with Tommy that he hasn’t been shown to have found anywhere else. It’s a new and different thing for him, too. And if it were just about excitement over a new friend, why is it so much so quickly all at once? Eddie’s a social person. He’s a friendly, charming, charismatic person. He has friends. But it feels like this is a very different sort of friendship for him. 

And the fact that this is the same man who just gave Buck his bisexual awakening is verrrry inch resting. 

Also regardless of what kind of feelings Eddie and Tommy might have been having for each other, they were so going on dates. Flying someone to Vegas because you have tickets that have been sold out for weeks to something they enjoy? Like damn Eddie. You pulled a sugar daddy. 

Anyway. Eddie is queer, too. Double sexuality awakenings, ready go!

That is all! 💕