#Khun and his Twitter friends

[visualtaehyun]

Hi Bella, thank you for being so generous with your knowledge of Thai! I have a weird one for you, @outofthemouthsof posted this pull from a MDL comment: https://www.tumblr.com/outofthemouthsof/743952162955116544/gasp-sob-if-this-is-true-heretherebedork?source=share

And I've been trying to verify where X made that statement.

I found this twitter space post which is 45 mins long that seemed the best candidate (don't worry I'm not asking you to translate the whole thing) https://twitter.com/xiseks/status/1764219245951627501?t=DAHL6kSCSt3jbT2dblJqEA&s=19

And so I listened through to see if I could catch enough to hint at where it's being talked about. My Thai sucks but it sounded like potentially what they're talking about ~15 mins in might be it? Would you be willing to skip to that timestamp and confirm if this is (or isn't) where that was said?

Hello friend ✨

Thank you for linking the twt space and narrowing down the timestamp! I've gone and made a lil recording of the relevant part (15:26-16:16) and transcribed & translated it to the best of my ability. :)

I also made sure to cross-search some of my transcription on twt, just to be sure, considering I'm not a native speaker, and found that Thai fans posted about this part of the space as well. 🙏

ซีนที่คุณแม่การันต์ ตอนนั้นที่เราถ่าย เรื่องที่พูดเรื่องการสมรสเท่าเทียม เราถ่ายไว้ 2 แบบ เพราะตอนนั้นที่เราถ่าย เรายังไม่รู้ว่าความเคลื่อนไหวของสมรสเท่าเทียมมันไปถึงไหน The scene where Karan's mother- back when we were filming- about how she addressed marriage equality: we filmed 2 versions. Because when we were filming, we didn't know yet what point the marriage equality motion would have reached. แล้วก็พูด ให้พี่เปิ้ลที่รับบทเป็นแม่พูดความเป็นไปได้ด้วย 2 อย่างว่า ถึงวันให้เราออน สมรสเท่าเทียมมันจะเป็นยังไง And we said- we had Phi Ple who plays the mother say the possibility in two ways that, by the the time we'd be on air- What's [the state of] marriage equality like? ก็พูดแบบว่า ดีใจนะที่มาถึงวันนี่สักทีที่เราอย่างนี้ได้ กับ หวังว่าเร็ว ๆ นี้จะได้ทำเหมือนที่ทุก ๆ คนก็ทำกันได้นะ She said, like, "I'm glad that [we've] finally reached this day where we can have this" and "I hope that soon [they] will be able to do what everyone else can do together". ตอนนั้น ใจก็หวังว่าเราคงได้ใช้เวอร์ชันว่า ดีใจที่มาถึงวันนี่สักที Back then, I was hoping in my heart that we might be able to use the version that's "I'm glad that [we've] finally reached this day". ปรากฏว่า ก็ยังไม่ทันหนอ ก็เราก็ยังไม่ใช้เวอร์ชันที่ ที่แบบ อ่ะ อีกแป๊บหนึ่งคงได้ แล้วก็ทุกคนก็หวังอย่างนั้นนะครับ Apparently... not yet, hm? So we didn't yet get to use the version that's- that like- Ah! Just a little longer and [we] may have been able to. And everyone was hoping so! ก็คือความเป็นไปได้ที่ดู ต้องติดตามกันต่อไป Well, it's a possibility that looks- [we] have to keep following [the development].

So I can happily verify for you that Khun X did say what @outofthemouthsof and their MDL source reported and that he said so in the twt space you found!

[lurkingteapot]

2023 post round-up/summary

Lovely @twig-tea tagged me here, so I'll try my hand.

I'd abandoned tumblr for about 4? 5? years 2016ish through 2020, had a short stint with it again in 2020, took peeks and vehemently disagreed with much of what I saw in 2021-2022, and grudgingly settled back in in 2023. I wasn't going to interact. I wasn't.

Jan-April: *crickets* I was being strong!

Then, I saw people moaning about how they'd learn Thai if only it was on Duolingo, and you know how spite can be funnelled into positivity? I did that! Result:

May

Popular: Free Thai Language Learning Resources, most popular by a landslide. This pleases me greatly, as I put a lot of work into it and always hope more people start picking up this language.

Favourite: maybe my thoughts on Ming, piggybacking off @kenmakaashi's post?

June

Popular: my musings on translation and how it relates to fannish reception of media, which was my most popular post of the year and 'broke containment', if only in a very small way. Some of the additions in the tags and reblogs are fantastic, do go have a look if you like!

Favourite: toss-up between my attempt at showing a parallel between a silly moment in Our Skyy 2 x BBS and a scrapped shot from BBS proper and this rant about Romanisations of Thai and why G**gle translate is the devil (that bit is in the conversation downthread), which let me meet @plantsarepeopletoo.

July

Popular: Summary of James Welker's 2006 essay "Beautiful, Borrowed, and Bent: “Boys’ Love” as Girls’ Love in Shōjo Manga"

Favourite: the offerings are slim here … let's go with the one in which I once more was salty about the way folks talk about BL

August

Popular: Only Friends' Ray isn't just The Drunkard, but also The One Who's basically Given Up On Himself, as per his title card (this one was so popular it got stolen and reposted – without credit or permission – to twitter 🙃)

Favourite: Thinking about Drama, the Romance genre, and tropes, and how those relate to our perception of BL (good additions from various folks in the notes; conversation with @visualtaehyun in reblogs and @twig-tea in the replies).

September

Popular: IFYLITA Ep 6 poem context notes

Favourite: toss-up between complaining about badly machine translated content in Love in Translation and musing on the name of Khun Yai's favourite bar

October

Popular: my long-winded answer to @zimmbzon's ask "Hi, how would a non-binary person (me) get around the binary gender rules and vocab in Thai?"

Favourite: uhhh … maybe my musings on honorific translations in kimi ni wa todokanai? (yes, technically a reblog from sideblog, shh)

November

Popular: most popular was this throwaway therapy vent containing food for thought and while I guess this meme is mostly fannish I'm linking it anyway because it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to (or something)

Favourite: when I called out the resemblance between the Last Twilight trailer and Intouchables (2011). Literally no one cared, but then @my-rose-tinted-glasses independently came in strong with receipts as soon as the actual first episode aired and made me feel validated af.

December

Popular: Why I'm pretty sure Last Twilight's "fried rice/false rice" joke was funnier in Thai

Favourite: the saga of the songs in Ep 4 of Last Twilight

I didn't do any round-up posts, but I'll include the other category @twig-tea added:

Five other posts that I want to highlight because I can:

BL Favourites Tag Game (July 2023)

Link to fujoshi.info with information on WHY you should check out that site if you're interested in having an informed opinion on BL and the genre's history.

contemporary issues in Thailand as mentioned in Only Friends ep 1

Thoughts on code-switching in Step by Step

Reply to @mynameisnotthepoint's comment-via-ask on my anti viki rant

I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm completely lost – I was mostly off tumblr for nearly three weeks; if you made a post like this you'd like me to see, please link me/tag me! <3

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted to Twitter on Aug 20, 2022.

Recipient: @Bird91357072 (Prompt)

Summary: Khun is really good at two things: Coming up with heinous plans and making Bam smile. (But not at the same time.)

Bam leaned against his bedroom door with a sigh.

Evankhell had sent him to a hot and humid volcanic rock floor to train at for a week. There wasn't a moment of respite when he kept getting chased and attacked by these giant blind lizards that were able to find him no matter where he hid. Sleep had been nearly impossible to come by and he was sure he had awakened some sixth (or eighth by now) sense to threat because he had been able to jolt awake just in time to dodge before getting smashed to bits by a flailing tail.

It sucked. A lot. He missed his bed. His missed his friends. He missed Khun

But he had arrived at their living quarters in the middle of the night and he didn't want to do anything but fall onto his soft, safe bed and sleep for the next 24 hours straight.

With great effort, he pushed away from the door and turned the knob. After a few steps into the room, he paused, finally noticing that something was different.

He looked up at the twinkling ceiling, string of faerie lights strung across to fill the room with a soft glow. His eyes dropped to his bed and he couldn't help but smile at the pile of stuffed animals he recognized as ones he'd won at crane games along with some from Khun. He covered his mouth to stifle a laugh when he saw that two of the bears had been dressed up in outfits that matched what he and Khun had worn at the nest battle.

He had a feeling that must have been Hwaryun's welcome back gift. She had a knack for sewing and probably had some extra material, it seemed.

Bam turned around and his breath caught in his throat when he realized there was another occupant in the room nestled into the pillows in the window nook. He quietly made his way over, grabbing a blanket that had been left over a chair.

As soon as he draped the blanket over Khun, his eyes fluttered open with a tired hum. "Bam? Is that you?"

Khun's voice cracked with sleep and Bam smiled, his heart swelling with adoration. "Yeah. I'm back."

"Good." Probably still half-asleep and not quite lucid, Khun grabbed the edge of the blanket and opened his arms. "C'mere. I missed you."

Bam could tell. He had gone out of his way to make his room feel comfortable and welcoming and he certainly felt it.

He kicked off his shoes, carefully sat down in the space Khun had made for him, and laid down. Khun arranged the blanket back over them and let out a content sigh as he got comfortable again with his arms around Bam. "G'night, Bam. Sweet dreams."

Bam closed his eyes, letting the steady beat of Khun's heart count him off to a blissful sleep. "G'night, Khun-ssi."

[windowlessatmosphere]

I'm on the Hunt, I'm After You, Ch.2

Read on AO3

Summary: Kim is on the hunt for Chay's old fandom twitter. Chay isn't entirely on board, but he still gives him a couple hints anyway.

Kim spent the next week or so looking through every tweet he’d ever liked, desperately looking for someone without him in their profile picture, but with him in their twitter handle. Luckily, this did seem to narrow things down quite a bit, but there were still way too many to sort through on his own. Obviously, he had been liking tweets far too often. He thought it over and eventually decided to enlist Mae’s help, since, technically, it had something to do with work.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with work,” she told him.

“It does!” he insisted.

“How?” Her tone was one of exasperation, even over the phone.

“It has to do with Wik’s twitter,” he pointed out. “That’s part of your job,” he tacked on, trying to sound as persuasive as possible.

“Not in this capacity,” she shot back, evidently not moved in the slightest. He groaned in response.

“Maeeeee,” he wheedled. Nothing. “Mae?” Still nothing. He took the phone away from his ear to see that she had hung up on him. Honestly, where was the loyalty?

He took her rejection in stride, heading to the main family house a day or so later to put Arm on the case. Arm knew enough about technology that he could likely get it done in the next day or so, but he’d still held out for a while, as he didn’t want anyone else going through Chay’s twitter. Not that anyone who worked for him would tease Chay, since he’d made sure they all knew better than that.

“Arm,” Kim greeted him, stepping into his office.

“Khun Kim!” Arm responded, clearly taken aback. “I wasn’t expecting you,” he explained, regaining his composure a moment later. “What can I do for you?”

Kim thought about how best to phrase his request for a moment, before deciding to abandon any pretense that it was related to the family business. “I need you to find a twitter account,” he admitted begrudgingly, after a beat of silence.

“Chay’s twitter account?” Arm responded at once, his tone one of disbelief.

“I—how do you know about that?” Kim asked incredulously, immediately suspicious.

“Because Por— Khun Porsche told me,” Arm explained, correcting himself mid-sentence. Kim snorted at the error, aware of the fact that almost all the bodyguards were having trouble adjusting to the fact that their trouble-making coworker was now an authority figure. This was not at all helped by the fact that Porsche continued to be completely informal with them, often insisting they didn’t need to call him “Khun”.

Kim thought over what Arm had said, figuring it was most likely true, as Chay told Porsche absolutely everything, and Porsche repeated most of it to anyone he was friends with.

“Yes, it’s Chay’s,” he finally answered, figuring he wasn’t revealing anything Arm didn’t already know.

Arm shifted slightly where he was standing before he eventually responded. “I don’t know if that would be the best idea,” he said, not making eye contact with Kim.

Kim furrowed his brow, waiting for Arm to explain further. When he didn’t seem like he was going to, Kim prompted him. “Why?”

“I just think—I don’t know, but I don’t think I’m supposed to get involved,” Arm shrugged, looking helpless. “Khun Kim,” he tacked on, as if using the honorific would make up for the rejection.

“Because…?”

“Chay might be mad?” Arm shrugged, his statement coming out as a question instead.

“Chay doesn’t get mad,” Kim replied immediately, knowing that it wasn’t true and hoping that Arm didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Khun Kim.” Arm at least had the decency to look apologetic as he refused. Kim did his best to keep his disgruntled huff to himself, knowing it would just make him look childish, which he refused to do in front of the guards.

“Fine,” he responded, making sure to keep his voice ambivalent. He thought about trying to enlist someone else to help him, but decided that most of them would be more likely to side with Chay over Kim. He left the main family house to head back to his own apartment, figuring he could at least try to get more details out of Chay.

This proved impossible, though, as Chay wasn’t there when he arrived. He pulled his phone out to call Chay as soon as he realized this, seeing that he already had an unread text from about twenty minutes ago.

Chay 🌈☀️💗👼🦌 hi bb 💗 still at prae’s but will txt u when im on the way home 

He shot back a quick text telling Chay to let him know if he needed a ride, waiting a moment until he saw a string of heart emojis pop up in response. He smiled down at the message, only realizing after a minute or so that he was standing in the middle of his kitchen grinning at his phone like an idiot.

He took the opportunity of Chay being gone to try and narrow down the list of accounts he had. His initial list had been made up of the twitter handles for every tweet he’d ever liked, which was far, far too many. He’d been able to get rid of the duplicates easily, and it had been fairly easy to use the search function to come up with a list that only included twitter handles that included his name. He was now stuck on the worst step, which involved him going through every handle, in chronological order of when he’d liked their tweets, and checking their profile picture. If he was in it, they got taken off the list, and if not, they stayed. There were way too many to check, which was the main reason he’d tried to enlist Mae and Arm, unsure if there was an easier way to do this. There had to be, he thought, as he took yet another user off the list. He checked another profile, perking up when he saw their icon was of a meme, then being instantly disappointed when he read their bio and realized they were a girl. This went on for another half hour or so until Kim was interrupted by his phone vibrating.

Chay 🌈☀️💗👼🦌 heading back now see u soon 💗💗💗

Kim couldn’t help the fond smile that came over his face, instantly perking up with the news that Chay would be back soon. He responded to let Chay know that he’d seen the text before returning to wading through the many, many usernames he had left to go through. This went on until he heard the front door to his apartment open, making him snort to himself. His bodyguards had long been told that Chay was permitted anywhere he liked, but they were still supposed to alert him whenever Chay was headed up. He didn’t much care either way, as the rule was his father’s, but he also didn’t mind getting the heads up, so he could greet Chay at the door.

He smiled at Chay as soon as the door opened enough for him to see his face, melting a little internally at the way Chay immediately lit up when he saw him.

“P’Kim!” he called, bounding over to the couch and plopping himself down, half on top of Kim. Kim just laughed in response, kissing his boyfriend in greeting and readjusting him slightly so he’d be more comfortable.

“How’s Prae?” he asked, reminding himself that part of being a good boyfriend was trying to seem interested in Chay’s friends, even if he really, really wasn’t.

“She’s good!” Chay chirped, clearly happy with the question. Success. “Apparently, some guy on her dance team keeps trying to hit on her, though. And she already told him she wasn’t interested,” he continued, huffing in disgust.

“That’s terrible,” Kim agreed.

“Right?” Chay said. “Men are the worst.”

Kim made a vague noise of agreement in lieu of pointing out that they were both men, as he’d learned that wasn’t the road to go down. He’d also learned fairly quickly that, generally speaking, when Chay brought up an issue, he didn’t want Kim to solve it. He just…wanted to talk about it. For some reason. This still made little sense to Kim, but Chay was very consistent about it, and listening to him seemed to work a lot better than offering to threaten his history teacher when he got a B on a test.

“Watcha doing?” Chay asked innocently, shifting slightly against Kim to try and get a look at his laptop screen. Kim let him, relishing in the way he got instantly flustered when he realized Kim was trying to find his twitter. Kim laughed at that, immediately joyful in the face of Chay blushing.

“If you wanna give me another hint…” he began, trailing off and giving Chay a pleading look.

“No way!” Chay rebutted without hesitation. “You got your three questions. That was the deal,” he finished sternly, booping Kim on the nose and making him blink in surprise.

“Fine,” Kim sighed, moving on the next username on his list and checking that one off as well. An idea came to him and he perked up. “Will you at least check and see if it’s even on this list?” he asked, offering the laptop to Chay, who considered it for a moment before taking it.

“Sure,” he shrugged, starting to type. “Yup, it’s on there,” he confirmed, causing Kim to cheer internally. “But I’m scrolling back up to the top,” he told Kim severely, pointing a finger at him. Kim nodded back seriously, taking back the laptop when Chay handed it over.

Immediately, he hit Ctrl+F to check what Chay had searched for, knowing it was a bit underhanded. He justified this with the fact that Chay had confirmed it was on his list, so he would eventually find it anyway. This backfired immediately when the previous search popped up as “p’kim that’s CHEATING”, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Chay started snickering at his suffering at once, having been watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“Chay!” He scolded, petulant at being caught out.

“That’s what you get,” Chay reprimanded him.

“Was it even actually on the list?” Kim questioned, clicking out of the search box.

“Who’s to say?” Chay grinned, apparently having the time of his life.

“Remember when I promised not to make fun of you too much?” Kim asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“Can I rescind that?”

“No!” Chay insisted, elbowing Kim in the ribs. “No takebacks.”

“Fine,” Kim groaned.

Chay held out his pinky, looking at Kim expectantly. Kim groaned and gave Chay a long-suffering look before linking pinkies with him. Chay lit up at that, leaning forward to kiss Kim on the cheek, their fingers still linked together. Kim tried not to make it obvious how cute he found that, but judging from the expression on Chay’s face, he failed.

They sat on the couch together for a bit, Chay looking over Kim’s shoulder and making the occasional comment on someone’s twitter handle. Eventually, he just started making cryptic comments about every single one, trying to convince Kim that each was the correct one and laughing at Kim’s disappointment when it wasn’t. Kim got grumpy enough that Chay relented and kissed him on the forehead, which definitely made it worth it overall. Chay ended up turning on a drama while Kim kept going through the list, occasionally making a comment about the plot or actors to Kim, who just grunted in response, unable to pay close attention to the show while also focusing on the list.

They stayed this way for a few episodes, and Kim continued to slog his way through his spreadsheet. He searched another handle on twitter, not immediately closing the page after seeing that he wasn’t their icon. Instead, their profile picture was of his first album cover, an artistic rendering of a paintbrush whose bristles were made up of piano keys. He clicked on the user to read their bio, since he’d been able to rule out a lot of people that way.

@wikshighway 🎵 –he/him–bangkok–18– 🎸

Kim perked up at that immediately, knowing that the description fit Chay, but trying not to get too excited, as it certainly fit many other people as well. He scrolled down to read some of the tweets, quickly noting that they were all written in lowercase, something Chay almost always did. He read a couple more, which definitely confirmed the rest of the writing style as being similar, if not exactly the same. It honestly felt like he was catching up on a string of texts from Chay, which was only exacerbated by the fact that, despite the handle and icon, none of the tweets seemed to be about Kim. He searched through the tweets for anything containing the word “Wik”, and a lot of results popped up. The most recent ones that came up were all replies to other users with his name in their handle. He scrolled down until he found an original tweet that mentioned him, realizing that it was from quite a bit ago. There seemed to be a lot of tweets about him from before then as well, but none afterwards, making him squint in confusion. He checked the date, realizing that it was only a day or two before his first tutoring session with Chay, which confirmed to him that this was the account he’d been searching for. He smiled to himself, thinking about Chay meeting him in person and suddenly feeling weird about tweeting about him, despite having an entire wall of his bedroom dedicated to Kim.

Kim went back to his spreadsheet, checking to see which tweet of Chay’s he’d liked and when he’d written it. He used the search function again, this time knowing the username he was looking for and finding it quickly, noting that it had been from the December before they’d met.

@wikshighway honestly why bother with spotify wrapped when i already know it’s going to be all @wik songs???

He smiled at that, unable to help himself when reminded of the fact that Chay had liked his music even before they’d met. He definitely liked to tease Chay about being a fan, but it made him genuinely happy to know that Chay appreciated and understood his music in a way that was completely separate from his feelings for Kim. He switched back to his browser, scrolling down further to read more of Chay’s tweets about him from before they’d met.

@wikshighway Replying to @ferngullyart fern this is sooooo good omg! 💗 literally looks just like wik ur THE most talented 💗💗💗

@wikshighway me having an exam during the wik livestream? it’s more likely than u think 🙃🙃🙃

@wikshighway Replying to @ringringying ok do u not see the irony when u’ve made like 900 wik flower crown edits??? and i SUPPORT u in that WHERE is the reciprocation 😢

@wikshighway new wik song friday new wik song friday new wik song friday send tweet

@wikshighway Replying to @thorninyourside ok i KNOW that i meant BESIDES wik that goes without saying obvs

@wikshighway ok so was nobody going to tell me that wik is gonna be on the cover of gq thailand or was i just supposed to find that out myself???

@wikshighway Replying to @newdawnnewday no bc if visualization actually WORKED u would def be married to wik by now lmao

@wikshighway not wik saying he’s making an announcement soon and then going radio silent for 3 days….what does it MEAN what does it ALL MEAN ??

He continued scrolling, reading more and more of the tweets until he heard his name.

“P’Kim?” Chay’s voice broke him out of his reverie. “P’Kim?” Chay asked again, when he hadn’t responded.

“Sorry, sorry,” Kim shook his head to clear it.

“Babeeee,” Chay drew the word out and pouted slightly. “You never listen,” he sighed, his tone purposefully over-dramatic to make Kim laugh, which he did.

“Sorry,” he apologized again. “I was just looking through this one account. It’s really interesting,” he added on, deliberately emphasizing the last word.

“What’s it called?” Chay asked. He was clearly trying for casual, but his body language betrayed his tone.

“Wikshighway,” Kim said nonchalantly, doing everything he could to suppress a smirk and keep his facial expression neutral. He could feel Chay immediately tense up from where he sat next to Kim, hesitating for a moment before he spoke.

“Ummm,” he started, obviously unsure. “Okay?” he said, trying to play it off.

“Babe.”

“Yeah?”

“Babe.”

“What?”

“I know it’s you.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Chay looked flustered, but was still trying to hide it.

“I read a lot of the tweets,” Kim informed him. Chay’s blush deepened, to his dismay and Kim’s delight.

“Lots of people tweet!” Chay insisted, shifting in place.

“You said my shoulders are ruining your life—” Kim started, getting quickly cut off by a blushing Chay.

“It was a reply! That’s totally out of context!” Chay argued, smacking Kim’s knee as retribution.

“So you did write it,” Kim confirmed, smirking when Chay gaped at him, clearly offended.

“P’Kim!”

“He’s so pretty, he must be from another planet,” he read out, continuing to scroll.

“P’Kim!”

“Chay!” He parroted, mimicking Chay’s tone. He got his knee smacked a second time for that, which he figured was only fair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he yielded, holding his hands up in surrender. Chay eyed him suspiciously for a moment before relenting.

“It’s fine,” he told Kim. “I knew you weren’t gonna let it go,” he snorted, shaking his head.

“Definitely not,” Kim agreed. “But I did promise not to make fun of you too much…” he conceded, trailing off. Chay raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “So I figure I should get at least ten more minutes or so, right?” he asked, cracking up when Chay immediately protested, climbing over him and trying to grab the computer. “Chay!” he objected, trying to scold him, but utterly failing with how much he was still laughing.

“You’ve done your teasing,” Chay insisted.

“But I have more to do!” Kim pointed out. Chay gave him a look, and he gave in almost immediately. “Okay, okay, I’m done, I’m sorry.” Chay held his gaze for a moment longer before sighing and accepting his apology, wriggling into Kim’s side and laying his head on his shoulder. Kim put a hand in his hair, absentmindedly playing with the strands as he used the other hand to close his spreadsheets and most of the tabs he had open.

He was about to close the last one as well, the one that was open to Chay’s twitter, but he decided to scroll down a tiny bit further. This turned out to be one of the best ideas he’d ever had, and blessed him with enough material to make fun of Chay for as long as he needed.

“Babe?” he asked.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you want to put me in a jar?”

“P’Kim!”

[clairedaring]

Bright and Nonkul's insane preparation for I Feel You Linger In The Air - An Appreciation Post

Yesterday, Bright and Nonkul went on World of Y Podcast to promote the series and my dear friend Salt on Twitter (huge thank you and shoutout to her) has kindly provided brief translations for their Podcast episode. I'm compiling some of the most interesting tidbits from this Podcast to once again appreciate the efforts and dedication both actors have for their respective roles.

1. Bright's journey to being casted as Khun Yai

For Bright, he was actually contacted by Director P'Tee and Producer P'Boss numerous times (for other projects) but at those times, the timing just didn't work out well for Bright.

For IFYLITA, P'Tee contacted Bright's manager, P'Pear who asked Bright if he wanted to act in this. Bright asked for some time to do his homework and he asked his friends who are into BL novels and series to help him check IFYLITA out. And after 2-3 days, his friend got back to him to tell him that it's actually really good. Bright didn't say that he was gonna play Yai but he just said that he might act in this series. But his friend asked him if Bright would be playing Yai because when they read it, they felt that Bright could really be Yai.

So Bright went on Youtube to watch the spoiler-ish book review videos. He saw that IFYLITA was actually super interesting and so he went to purchase the novel to read, before accepting the role. (Bright spoke about this story before)

2. Nonkul on the challenges of portraying Jom and how he has prepared for the series

Nonkul says one of the challenges he face was how to portray Jom's femininity without being too much. Nonkul said he was used to playing more masculine roles and so, this was a heavier part of his homework. And he already knew that this storyline was a challenge in itself but the series still makes him making me want to act in it -- time travel, period drama.

It was Nonkul's experience and training as an experienced actor that helped him find the sweet spot when it came to expressing Jom's femininity

In reference to Jom's femininity, Nonkul used the women in his life as references (his sisters, diff actresses). He also had a male senior who's LGBT+ whom he observed and adapted for Jom's role.

Nonkul sees being actor as being an athlete but in terms of expressing personality, setting the mood and speaking. They need to train their bodies to be able to do these things without getting tired as an athlete does in their sport. As they are more familiar with their bodies, they can observe and adjust the way they act accordingly. It's similar to dancers who've trained all their lives being able to replicate a dance upon seeing it once.

The MC remarked that in the novel, we can see Jom's thoughts and feelings very obviously whereas in the series, Jom isn't as communicative about his thoughts and feelings

Nonkul says that we need to remember that in the novel, we can see all of Jom's thoughts and feelings really clearly vs the series. In series, it's impossible for Jom to be stating his feelings out in black and white like that. So there's a need to design the character in such a way that they could get the archetype of Jom across as efficiently as possible. While Jom in the novel and series may not be exactly the same, Nonkul feels that the series still captures the essence of Jom pretty well.

Nonkul also felt like he had to lose some weight to fit the idea of Jom in his head. He lost about 3kg but he had intended for about 5-6kg. He couldn't do it as he was filming 4 other series at that time. Nonkul couldn't lose too much weight because for 2 of his other series that was filming at the same time, he needed to be more masculine and muscular (Remember and The Office Games iirc). So it wasn't possible to lose that much weight. Nonkul needed to be fair not to affect his other work but also try to look as close as novel Jom's visuals. Nonkul lost weight by eating only one meal a day and not eating that much.

3. On Bright and Nonkul's hectic schedule in between filming of IFYLITA

The filming duration was long because Nonkul was filming 4 series concurrently and Bright was filming 3 concurrently and there were scheduling issues. But this also allowed them to spend more time with each other and make his speech more natural too. Bright says that the problems that they encountered was really nothing to do with acting but more about logistics like clashing schedules, equipment...

Bright and Nonkul also spoke a lot about being very in sync when working together (helping each other with camera blocking, tacit shared understanding/vision for scenes together,...)

4. On Bright's preparation for the role of Khun Yai

Bright says that he's usually a person who speaks really fast so to become Khun Yai, he made an effort to slow down his speech in daily life. Bright also said he made an effort to pronounce his 'r' sounds more clearly. (T/N: You will notice many Thai people today don't pronounce 'r' sounds or they just replace it with 'l' sounds (B does the latter often in his natural speech)

The way tones are executed in Thai today and in the past is slightly different. So when Bright watched the pilot they shot, he realised that he needed to make some changes to his speech as Yai who is someone who appears very sweet when he talks.

Bright attended a workshop to help with his speech because he was speaking too fast and unclearly. He would also do mouth exercises (a,e,i,o,u etc) while driving. Bright used "olden" language in his daily life to make his speech so convincing in the series. For instance, when he played games with his friends and they were streaming, he'd speak with olden language to practice (see: clip of Bright using "olden" language while playing ROV in this gaming livestream with his friend).

This "olden" way of speaking still sticks with Bright up till today and he sometimes still speaks using some of the olden terms like using chan to refer to himself. Bright thought it was important for him to work on his speech because it would be really obvious if he spoke like today's generation and it would be too similar to the way Jom speaks.

5. On self-rating their portrayals of Jom and Khun Yai in the series

Nonkul gives himself a 7-8/10 for his acting in this series as Jom. He feels that there isn't any way to be a perfect 10, there's always things to improve upon. There's also some scenes which he feels that he could've acted better in.

Bright gives himself a 6-7-8/10 for his performance in this series. He feels that him doing his own homework needs to be coupled with the brief from the directors etc. And he also feels that it'll never be a case of his performance ever being fully perfect too.

With the amount of "homework" they've done for this series, I'm still constantly astounded by the dedication and hardwork both Bright and Nonkul put into crafting their respective characters, Khun Yai and Jom. I really wish both Nonkul and Bright (especially Bright as IFYLITA is Bright's first ever male lead role) in their future projects because one can truly see how passionate and ambitious both actors are from their preparation of the roles.

For my post on Nonkul and Bright's experience in queer media prior to IFYLITA

[feuqueerfire]

Never Let Me Go Ep 7 Live Blogging

Watching this during the break between my lectures. Also I finished watching Strangers From Hell yesterday and I'm still kinda in that mindset, so hopefully this will keep my attention

Just kidding, Part 2 has no subs + they're pillowfighting on the bed in part 1, so I feel awkward watching it in public. Will watch after I get home - now to reblog Strangers From Hell gifsets instead heh

Episode 7: Good Fortune

Part 1

oof pillow fight in bed, can't watch this in uni esp from where I'm sitting

ah fuck i knew someone was gonna see them looming over in bed. at least Palm's mom didn't make it a bib deal

David's gonna proposeeeee

Palm orchestrating a romantic moment with the dirty cheeks - it's giving me War from YinWar flashbacks

damn not Phum also being like hmm you're a good guy, huh but apparently you blamed Nueng for initiating the kiss - he and the viewers have some stuff in common ig

the endless school fighting when it comes to Phum

damn Ben reflecting on his shortcomings that he denied his involvement because he was a coward and selfish; not as brave as Nueng, which he was impressed by. Interesting self-examination because honestly they're pretty rare in BLs

Ben and Chopper convo - I hope Chopper's not the one who released the photos please - I wonder how much Ben knows about

Nueng's really caught up on the fact that Palm brought him to this romantic ass beach that: the server's boyfriend took her on a date, is perfect for proposing, Palm thinks is romantic.

aww proposal

it's good for Nueng and Palm to get to see these happy gay adults in love and thriving

Part 2

oh good there's eng subs now

i'm gonna lose my fucking head it's gonna start rolling palm is giving nueng a foot massage/wash like their power dynamics already goes so hard but this is actually about to send me to an early grave

Palm has been sooo smiley this episode and probably also last episode since getting here

100 baht per day from 500 baht/hour expectations lmfao

plsss quitting after half a day is killing me. things i should've done at my last internship

Nueng straight up asking Palm if he's included in the people Palm loves. ahh them shouting "Please keep Khun Nueng safe" and "{lease keep Palm safe" and "Please keep us safe"

rip both of them getting bad predictions

the reason Palm's father and he owe this family is because they paid for Palm's surgery and "Gave them new lives" but is this new life just for their benefit? no sir you can't lose your life for them.

so true you tell him Nueng that nobody's the owner of his life (did Maggie previously say this too?)

Part 3

so Tanya's still alive as expected, but in critical condition

so did Chopper's father kind of admit that he called the hit on Tanya? or is he somehow a red herring cuz we're getting hints too early?

lmfao they're getting married a day after proposal

So it wasn't chopper who released the photos but Phum paid Palm's basketball friend to do it?

Palm's mom taking a chance again at this gay wedding to ask Palm what's between him and Nueng - "Are you having an interclass romance between a boss and his servant?"

Palm's mom reads him so hard "I can see it from Chiang Mai!" and then asking him if they've kissed

oh now she's talking about why she left his dad and Palm

interesting that she brought up her husband stifling her with his love, wonder if Palm will take something from@that

girl why's Palm smiling like that, does this dumbass already love Nueng?

Part 4

everybody loves this part, i'll watch it at one watch through maybe? it's taking me 3 hours to watch this ep cuz I'm distracted

ahh boyfriends while on the island, I'm assuming we're gonna get some more sadness when they get off the island

kiss ahh

ah fuck palm's father arrested

Got spoiled on before watching:

just a few moments from preview of last ep and a few screenshots on twitter but nothing much

just kidding i went to check the on-air thread for which pars have subs and apparently they're boyfriends in part 4 and have a good kiss

Overall Thoughts:

Thankfully we got to see more of what's going on with people outside of Nueng and Palm's bubble and it's all going to shit while Nueng and Palm are being cute and giggly lol

Thoroughly enjoyed the ep, and stood against my mild obsession with Strangers From Hell.

Fave Scene:

The kiss scene probably? Or is it the pillow fight? Or maybe Palm washing Nueng's feet

Posts I made

None

Most viewers that I saw per part during the premiere:

1: 17k || idk after that and also there may have been missing subs for at least part 2

12 hours later 

14 hours later actually

Part 1: 641k || 2: 538k || 3: 423k || 4: 462k

Avg: 516k

Views Tracking (just because I’m curious): 

6 days later bc last time was a day late

Ep 1 - 1: 2.074M (+103k) || Avg: 1.322M (+61k) || Max Part: 1

Ep 2 - 1: 1.328k (+56k) || Avg: 1.066M (+49k) || Max Part: 1

Ep 3 - 1: 1.133M (+53k) || Avg: 985k (+50k) || Max Part: 1

Ep 4 - 1: 1.365M (+64k) || Avg: 1.056M (+58k) || Max Part: 1

Ep 5 - 1: 1.175M (+102k) || Avg: 1.024M || Max Part: 1 (also part 3 with kiss has 1.143M)

Ep 6 - 1: 1.219M || Avg: 953k || Max Part: 1

[alwaysfirst]

US Secy offers condolences for Shinzo Abe in Japan

Jul 11, 2022 10:50 IST Tokyo , July 11 (AF): US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Monday offered condolences for former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe upon reaching Tokyo, where he also met the incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Taking to Twitter, Blinkon thanked Japan PM Kishida for welcoming him and hailed the Japan-US relationship. "Thank you, Prime Minister Kishida, for the opportunity to visit and pay my respects to mourn with you and your nation a great statesman. We are deeply saddened over the killing of one of our dearest friends. The US-Japan Alliance will always remain strong," Blinkon tweeted.

"I led a moment of silence with @USAmbJapan and my team at @usembassytokyo to honour the memory of the United States' dear friend, Prime Minister Abe. His legacy will continue to endure with future stewards of the US-Japan Alliance." Blinkon said in another tweet. US Secretary reached Japan on Monday. During his visit, he will also meet other senior Japanese officials. As part of his travel to Indonesia, Bangkok, Thailand, and Tokyo, Japan from July 6-11, 2022, Blinkon on Sunday met with the Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in Bangkok.

The two sides held discussions on ways to reinforce Thailand's essential role as an ally and partner in the Indo-Pacific. Blinkon also met with the Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai where they both signed an agreement on Strategic Alliance and Partnership between the US and Thailand.

"Good meeting with Thai Foreign Minister @PramudwinaiDon. The US-Thailand Communique on Strategic Alliance and Partnership we signed reflects the deep and broad nature of our relationship and our ongoing desire to increase cooperation for greater prosperity for both our nations," Blinkon tweeted. Blinkon praised the team of the US Embassy in Bangkok and said that he was grateful for their outstanding work each and every day to advance the priorities of the US in Thailand and the region. While interacting with the exchange alumni in Thailand, US Secretary said that they have contributed to improving the communities and opened doors to create links between the two countries. "We will keep opening doors for our alumni because it's not just an investment in their future, but the future of the US-Thailand partnership," he said. "Khop khun khrap, Thailand! I enjoyed my first visit to Bangkok as Secretary of State and am grateful for the opportunity to expand upon our decades-long partnership to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the #IndoPacific region," Blinkon tweeted as he concluded his visit to Thailand. US Secretary left Bali, Indonesia after attending the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting. During the G20 meeting, Blinken reinforced US' commitment to working with international partners to confront global challenges, including food and energy insecurity and the threat Russia's continued war against Ukraine presents to the international order. In addition to attending G20-related engagements, the Secretary held a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Among other bilateral engagements, Secretary Blinken also met with the People's Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the margins of the G20. Blinken's meeting with Wang Yi in Bali was a bid to reinforce guardrails on the relationship between Washington and Beijing that had become fraught with hostility. (AF) Read the full article

[visualtaehyun]

Rules: List 10 of your comfort shows, then tag 10 people

Thanks for tagging me y'all @sorry-bonebag @twig-tea @rocketturtle4 ✨

My criteria for a comfort show are gonna be 1) any piece of media 2) that I've watched more than once and 3) that I will keep reaching for. That's it. I can't even explain what the common denominator is tbh?? It's just- the kinda movie or show that I need on DVD to easily put on again and quell the brain worms (yes, I physically own all but #4-#6).

1. My School President: What can I say, this show took me entirely by surprise! I started watching a few days before episode 4 aired - aka the pinky touch ✨ the conversation in the stairwell ✨ and the origin of Gem4th's fanclub name being Khun Nuu ✨ - and fell right in love with it. I love musical storytelling, I love coming of age stories, I love a good romance, and I love found family/friend group dynamics so this really hit the spot for me. I guess these apply to a bunch of my choices for this tag though haha

2. Cutie Pie: I've talked about this show in another tag game (as "A show people find bad but you will defend") and all of that still holds true so I won't repeat it here. I'll just add that this show introduced me to Nunew who's my favorite artist these days. :)

3. Love In The Air (Love Storm): Yup! The show that most people on here seem to recall as that extra horny one lol It's one of the first Thai QLs I watched along with as it aired, maybe even the first one. I started watching when episode 2 came out, I think? And I just loved the D/s-dynamic, lovable brat Rain, and these rookie actors so much that I not only went looking for the bts, cast reactions, and interviews but I even started following Twitter translators for the show and cast. This show (and ZeeNunew lol) was basically my introduction to how the Y industry works, what Thai fanclubs are like, and got me well and truly interested in learning Thai. I think I've seen it enough times to speak along by now cause I also used my familiarity with it to study Thai. And now that BossNoeul are finally getting a new show, I'm really looking forward to seeing them in new roles!

4. Not Me: It's simply brilliant. And it's so grounded! You know how lots of tops in Thai QLs are rich, a CEO, drive a supercar, and live in a gorgeous modern home with huge windows (and death stairs lmao)? I love that Not Me starts in a place of privilege but has White leave that behind pretty early on. Bangkok really is a city where you can constantly see the divide between rich and poor. So I appreciate this show even more after having been to Bangkok. Not Me's characters look unfiltered and real and that's how the entire show feels as well. I just love what P'Nuchy has given us here! Oh and +1 for White narrating his entire story, I just kinda love that in general (also enjoyed Kawi narrating Be My Favorite). The next two kinda fall into one category: shows I loved as a kid, remembered - found - rewatched as a teen, and still fondly remember.

5. Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne: This is a magical girl anime that I first would have seen on TV in 2001. In hindsight, this show's religious themes may have influenced me in my love for fictional faith and devotion. Just a thought, haha, totally don't have more than one dnd character who is majorly connected to divinity, faith, and devotion, even though I personally am agnostic...

6. The Weekenders: I routinely cite this as my favorite cartoon (and I watched- just- So Many as a kid omg). Since I watched this on German TV, I only know the German dub which was honestly really fun. If any Germans read this and have seen that show: Wirsing! The rest is movies all the way down!

7. Timeline: A 2003 movie with a bunch of well-known actors that arguably qualifies as a B movie because it flopped so hard at the box office. It's my trash though. I chose it at the video store, brought it home, loved it, and then proceeded to rent it like once a year lol! It's basically a bunch of archeologists and history nerds travelling back in time to the Hundred Years War to save their professor. It has my preferred time travel dynamic of Everything is fixed and whatever traces in time you leave were already there to begin with.

8. Inception: There's several Christopher Nolan movies I love but this one is just so grand and fun and maybe I also had a bit of a crush on Elliott Page back then 👉👈 I'm a born nerd so naturally teen-me used "Non je ne regrette rien" as my alarm for years lmao This category is basically just Disney & co. musicals lol

9. Mulan (1998): If you asked me to choose my favorite from the entire classic Disney musical line-up, it would always be this one. It's the queerest, of course I'd always choose it!

10. Anastasia: You know, I looked at my shelf full of cartoon musicals- no wait, High School Musical and Pitch Perfect are next to them, hm, wELL- at my movie musicals shelf and it came down to choosing between this one and The Swan Princess (1994). And this one just kinda won out because "Once Upon A December" is impeccable! And now I've got it stuck in my head 👍

Since it took me a few days to get back to it, this has clearly made the rounds already. Who to tag?? Uh-- @pharawee @airenyah @telomeke and whoever sees this and wants to do it of course!

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted on Twitter Apr 27, 2023.

Recipient: @ylge_ (Prompt)

Summary: Bam crushing on Khun (except they're already married)

Khun stood in front of a mirror, fiddling with his new tie made of dark blue silk patterned with shiny golden thread. It was a gift from Bam, who was admiring him from his seat on the edge of the bed.

“It looks really nice. Thank you, Bam.” Khun turned and flashed his infamous grin at Bam, and Bam…

Bam melted from the inside out.

Khun looked incredibly handsome in the black suit, perfectly tailored around his broad shoulders and tapering neatly to his small waist. It curved around his butt and thighs, accentuating their volume.

And then there was Bam, still in his pajamas with his hair sticking up from sleep, drooling like an infatuated teen over the man in front of him.

Khun let out a huff with a smile. “Bam? You there?”

Bam blinked. “Yes?”

Khun chuckled and walked up to Bam, making a show of each step as he swung his hips. Bam gulped and made to get up, but Khun caught his wrist before he could get away and pulled him close.

Bam could smell his cologne at this distance—oaky and masculine. He wanted to bury his face in Khun’s chest and inhale it all. But he instead placed his hands between them and pushed away gently.

“You need to leave soon or you’ll be late.”

Khun shrugged. “It’s just a meeting between old friends. No urgency. They’ll probably be fashionably late.”

Bam sighed. He wished he could go, but by old friends, Khun meant old business friends, and having someone with his intimidating reputation around would be a bad idea.

“I’ll take you out on a date later to make up for it.”

Bam’s eyes lit up with joy. “There’s a cute restaurant down the road with an overlooking patio we can sit at.”

Khun leaned in and kissed Bam’s forehead. “Sounds good, my husband.”

Bam smiled widely, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. His eyes drifted to the ring shining on his right hand as he pushed Khun away, a bit more firmly this time. “Okay, you need to get going so you can come back in time for our date.”

Khun chuckled and defiantly pulled Bam in closer. He kissed him with a joyful hum, and Bam turned to mush in his arms.

After what felt like an eternity, Khun pulled away, leaving his husband breathless.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

[resiotcage]

Originally posted on Twitter Jan 6, 2023.

Summary: Some KhunBam Hurt/Comfort for those that enjoy heart palpitations and chest pain. ♥

Khun carefully tightened the thick cloth around Bam's hand and set the knot on the inside of his wrist. He had done a good job cleaning the grime and blood off, but there was still some stuck under Bam's fingernails.

He made a mental note to help him clean it before bed later.

"You need to be more careful," chastised Khun, but it held no bite, only warmth that was conveyed further when he bowed his head and placed a light kiss on the bandage that covered the back of Bam's hand.

A finger brushed across Khun's cheek, wiping away a smudge of dirt. "Funny you should say that when you look worse than I do," quipped Bam.

Their laughter was soft, the weariness of the test seeping out of their bones as they drew a little closer to find comfort in each other.

"It's just superficial. I didn't fracture anything by punching a hole in my opponent. Seriously Bam." Khun swallowed, trying to soothe the growing knot in his throat. "You need to be careful about using your power."

Bam turned his hand over, grasping Khun's hand in his and squeezing. "He was going for you," he whispered, the worry thick in his voice.

"I can fight, Bam. I can defend myself—"

"I know. But..." Bam loosened his grip, but Khun's fingers tightened, not giving him a chance to let go. "I couldn't help it. I won't let my friends get hurt."

Khun sighed, letting his head hang for a moment. He felt the dust shake off himself when he moved, the debris from the explosion of Bam's impact probably matted to his hair. A shower was badly needed, but he could wait. He needed this more.

Khun bumped his fist against Bam's thigh. "You need to let that go. We will get hurt, but we will survive—just like you. We need you to trust us like we trust you."

Bam looked down at their hands laced together. "I know. I'll keep working on it, Khun. It's hard, but I understand."

Khun let go of his hand and stretched out his arms. "That's all I ask."

Bam smiled, his face glowing as he leaned forward to hug Khun tight.

"When did you two get so touchy? Yuck." Endorsi, who was leaning against the infirmary doorway, finally made her presence known.

An annoyed growl rumbled in Khun as his arms tightened around Bam.

"I'm surprised you two haven't been caught making out yet." She waved her hand nonchalantly, a grin spreading when she noticed Khun's ears starting to burn red.

Bam tapped on Khun's back and was released from the crushing grip. "No, not yet," teased Bam over his shoulder. When Khun choked on air, it took all his will power to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

Endorsi sneered, but quickly changed to a soft smile as she dropped the charade. "At least you're aware. Catch you two lovebirds later." She wiggled her fingers at them as she turned and sauntered away.

"Bam, stop giving her ideas," grumbled Khun. His whole face was as red as a tomato.

"What ideas? That we've ever kissed? We both know the answer to that."

Khun pouted, and he tried to hide it by letting his forehead land on Bam's shoulder. "We're just—"

"Friends," finished Bam sharply. "Right."

Khun took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "How cruel would it be to indulge in something that was destined to end in tragedy?"

Bam closed his eyes and nuzzled into the side of Khun's head. "How cruel would it be to deny yourself such joy?

Khun's arms came up as he moved from his chair and sunk into Bam's lap, pressing himself into his arms as he held on tightly. "I don't want to let you go."

Bam hugged him back with as much desperation. "Then don't."

"I'll have to one day."

"I won't let it happen."

"It's not up to you, Bam."

"It is, though. It's my life and I'm going to live it how I want."

Khun let out a sigh and stayed quiet. His fingers circled a hole in Bam's shirt—another victim of his recklessness. Worry swirled in his guy, heavy and nauseating. But there was still a glimmer of something strong in the middle of it. "I hope... I hope you're right," he finally conceded.

Bam smiled against the crook of Khun's neck. Under the smell of smoke and earth, was home. It was where he wanted to be and where he would come back to, just like now.

"I am. I promise."

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted on Twitter Apr 18, 2023.

Recipient: @khunviolegrace (Prompt)

Summary: Slightly NSFW but gets worse when you imagine the horny mess Khun's brain must be

He was no longer shivering. He was burning up now actually, blushing like mad in the arms of his best friend who didn’t seem affected by their position at all.

He had been loudly complaining about how cold it was when Khun had enough and crawled into bed with him. Now he was being spooned with a firm chest at his back and their legs tangled at their ankles, and he could feel—

He could feel Khun pressed against him and he was having a hard time not imagining more. He was afraid to move—or breathe—in case he pushed against him. But what if he did? Would Khun get hard? Would he push him away? Would he moan in his ear and rub against him?

Bam turned his head into his pillow, fighting the desire to scream, heat burning his ears as his heart beat wildly in his chest.

What a mess he’d gotten himself into.

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted on Twitter Jun 16, 2023.

Recipient: @20fifthbaam (Prompt)

Summary: Bartender!Khun and BluesMusician!Bam

The bar was lively, full of people enraptured by the band on the stage. It was made up of an unlikely mix of people for a blues band, but the sound was as authentic as can be.

Khun tended to the bar, mixing drinks with enough flair to rival the live entertainment. He flipped a glass, then flipped his shaker and poured out the drink with one hand, winking at the blushing young lady who scooped up her drink and ran off to her table.

Done with his current orders, Khun leaned against the counter and watched the band. Particularly, his eyes focused on the young man with the harmonica. He sat on a stool, his body swaying to the beat as he cupped the instrument, his fingers waving as he bent notes with ease.

He smiled and sighed, happy to see his friend finally get to play.

He met him one night before opening hours. The boy had snuck in and asked for the owner. Khun was about to shoo him out when his curiosity got the best of him.

He was handed a CD, and the boy introduced himself as Bam, the harmonica player for a blues band. He was shaking like a leaf, trying to explain that he knew they weren’t in high demand, but he swore that the band could be popular if they were just given a chance.

Skeptical of the idea, and frankly wanting to tease him further, Khun asked him if he could play for him right then. He didn’t expect the huge smile as he pulled out a harmonica from his pocket and played the sickest blues chords he’d ever heard. It took him a few seconds to recover and clear his throat.

“Come back in a week. I’ll have an update for you.”

A week later, as promised, Bam showed up with wide, hopeful eyes. Khun handed the CD back to him and shook his head with an exaggerated sigh.

“It took some convincing—and sneaking a USB drive into my boss’ car—but we’d like to book you for Monday nights, if you’re free.”

The smile that lit up Bam’s face was worth all the begging he’d done.

From then on, Bam always showed up early to chat with him as he got the place ready. He was a sweet guy, very polite, and cute to boot.

It wasn’t like him to develop crushes, but here he was, swooning like a love-struck maiden as he watched him play on stage.

The song ended, and Bam caught his eyes, grinning and waving. Khun’s face heated up as he gave him a lopsided smile and wave.

Okay, he was completely smitten.

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted on Twitter Apr 19, 2023.

Recipient: @Viralaine (Prompt)

Summary: A little Khunbam hurt with a side of comfort

Bam’s knee was bouncing, his fingers tight around the fabric of his pants. He would inevitably shred them—he always did—but that didn’t mean that the anticipation of the fight didn’t make him anxious.

He couldn’t care less about his stupid pants, but his friends—

They could also be shredded to pieces if he wasn’t careful. That thought made a whimper slip out, and he chastised himself quietly. There was no time to be weak. He had to stay strong; he had to be brave; he had to be—

A warm hand covered his. Bam looked up into a worried blue. “Bam.”

Bam swallowed hard. He knew that tone. He nodded.

“I know. Breathe. Clear your mind. Stay in the moment.”

Arms cradled him, and he sunk into the embrace. “I’m here for you, Bam.”

Bam closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Khun’s scent sunk into his lungs like a balm.

“From start to finish.”

Bam wrapped his arms around Khun and held on tight. He only yearned for one thing and it was this.

“Always.”

He was safe. Khun was safe in his arms. And at the end of this war, he would come right back here.

“Always,” repeated Bam, with more confidence and finality.

[resiotcage]

Prompt answer originally posted on Twitter Aug 20, 2022.

Recipient: @megapureawesome (Prompt)

Summary: Khun and Bam celebrate after an intense battle with Jahad.

It was over. Bam could still feel the adrenaline coursing through him like lightning in his veins and it served as proof that this was real. He wast still alive. Jahad had been defeated and he was still alive.

"Bam! Bam!"

He turned around to see Khun speeding over on his lighthouse. He jumped off just in time for his feet to touch the ground for a few steps before his arms were thrown around him in a fierce hug. They stumbled as they spun around, a giddy exchange of laughter and relief as they clung tightly to each other, chasing away the disbelief with the feel of the other's pulse against their body.

Khun cupped his face, not caring for the mess of dirt and blood that streaked his face. "I can't believe it!" He laughed breathlessly. "You did it! You really did it!"

Bam grinned, his heart finally feeling free of the shackle that had bound him to the wretched king. "Yeah," he breathed. "We did."

The edges of Khun's smile quivered, his eyes filling with tears suddenly. "Yeah. We did. And we're both alive..."

Bam leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together, nodding as hid fingers tightened around Khun's shirt. "We are," he chocked out, realizing that he too was on the verge of tears.

"Thank goodness," sighed Khun, and he leaned in.

Bam closed his eyes as they finally indulged in something that had silently been hidden away in the face of war lest it weaken their resolve. There was no need to hide anymore. They had eliminated the biggest threat and the rush of invulnerability was exhilarating.

There was no way he could call what he had been doing before living when he didn't know what it felt like to have his breath kissed away by the one reason he was still standing in the first place.

"I love you, Khun." It slipped out Bam's mouth in one of the short instances they had parted to take a breath.

Khun pressed even harder against him, kissing him with all his heart. "Gods, I love you too, Bam." Another kiss. "So damn much." And another. "For so long." And one more. "For too damn long."

Bam chuckled lightly in between the barrage of kisses, trying his best to return every bit of affection.

Their friends and teammates were approaching now but they kept their hands linked, not willing to let go just yet. Usually, Bam would have shied away from getting praised for something he had dreaded doing or saw as unnecessary, but the prideful smile on Khun's face at his side had his heart swelling with joy.

Things were going to be okay.

He had Khun—alive and safe and by his side—and he was going to be okay.