#and that he and the people that matter to him - pete and macau - deserve each other's company. they've had to lose so much for it.

[taikanyohou]

“Would you stop saying that you’ve got nothing left?” VEGAS + PETE + MACAU | KinnPorsche (2022).

[hozukitofu]

a fic where at the top of the scale of horrendous social crime a mafioso can commit is having kids before marriage while being involved (clutching pearls in affronted Asian auntie noises). What we can look forward to as part of the vegaspete profit package:

Vegas turning up one day with a kid swearing up and down that it's a Theerapanyakul

Polite Asian panic from the top down, obtaining paternity tests tracking down who's the mother looking up Vegas' fornication history and turning up with NOTHING

Meanwhile vegaspete is the previous taped-up-don't-talk-about-it issue suddenly gets the unveiling ceremony since the volatile half of that equation done and turned up with a kid WHILE SINGLE he had INCONVENIENCED the clan

Coup <<<<<<< having a baby unmarried

Korn trying to make good matches to foist the trouble nephew off to no avail

even if he's hot his reputation automatically puts him in a list of 'people I wouldn't marry even on pain of death'

People actively pay Korn to NOT marry Vegas it's so dire

Vegas meanwhile is firmly aboard the 'let Pete have as many options as he wants I don't want to influence his decisions' people look to Pete to make an honest man out of him and salvage the situation

Pete receives the equivalent of corporate mafioso puppy eyes like... "would you consider... marrying this unhinged insane dude who you're sort of involved with" over meals where he attends with Vegas and the baby kinda baffled kinda enjoying the power trip and mostly freaking out holy shit that's a baby?? there is a baby in the middle of a mafia meeting??

The most persuasive contender turns out to be his grandmother who has insight into the human psyche and tapped into the 'baby fever' button of Pete's regimented brain where before he buried the animal want to have kids

now that there IS a kid he sort of can see the possibility of starting a family (satisfying filial duty) AND marrying the love of his mafia life (satisfying romantic instincts)

It's almost as if fate said they were meant to have a child together

aaaand he's HOOKED like a sucker fish on grandmother's bait

The reasons why Pete is the only running candidate on the Approved List of People Who Can Marry Vegas: he's loyal to the clan, he's loyal to Vegas, Kinn set a precedent of Theerapanyakul marrying their bodyguards, the family doesn't have to worry about silencing mouthy spouses since Pete is more tight-lipped than Vegas, he hasn't booked it to the hills screaming yelling and shooting at Vegas yet (knife scrapes are acceptable and even encouraged forms of foreplay) and they kinda deserve each other, they just need a push

The baby is a solution AND complication to vegaspete's weird post-torture post-dramatic-declaration post-resignation post-usurpation like it's been a long six-months for everyone and at first the no label thing is cute but living in sin is ok living together WITH a baby??? that's upsetting everyone's Asian sensibilities

Plus Vegas is getting truly sad on the pining scale it needs to stop

The clan baby-trapping Pete for Vegas is a VISION Asian families WILL do this no questions asked

The series (and possibly every series out there) with its emphasis on the families you choose as the place of love and a place where you can turn it around no matter how shit it can get and Vegas is genuinely going to single parent another child he chose, Macau turned out alright

No heroes no villains (no extremes no path that is truly fixed = always a chance at redemption) + living by the doctrine of honesty + constant external validation of his unhinged feelings for Vegas = vegaspete profit

They bicker about their wedding details while in the sex dungeon and continue their bickering into training + meetings + school pick-ups drop offs

Jokes on them tho Tankhun is planning and paying for EVERYTHING

The baby is a ring bearer and marched down the aisle by a gleeful legion of bodyguards

[gewdmorning]

I just saw your crack post ( is it crack though 😏) about how Pete ignored the obvious danger signs just because Vegas said he can eat whenever he wants!

And seriously food has been a big part of their relationship. From Pete being apprehensive about Vegas eating at the same table as them, then the other bodyguards clearing away the plates because Pete had eaten off of them, only for this to turn back around into Vegas cooking noodles, eating from the same bowl that Pete just spit the noodles back in to show that it's not poisoned. Buying him snacks to tease him about being such a bad spy- torturing him by pushing his face in the bowl- feeding him the pill- cooking something spicy just before all turned to shit! And finally their "I am hungry" oof oof oof!

Hahaha crack what crack, I only speak the truth honey 😌

And yes food and feeding and just nourishing is such an important part of their whole relationship arc. And how their story is communicated to us, as viewers.

You should check out posts by @lutawolf, with each instance of this happening documented. It’s a good read, especially if you’re rewatching. Which I’ve been doing so much.

It all starts with a general relationship where he offers pete food but is not a direct participant in making or giving it to him (ep 7), it’s similar to what you would do for an acquaintance or in a group. Even then, most of his question about if they wanted food or if they were hungry was directed towards pete, not even porsche who he was trying to impress. Maybe because pete was the head bodyguard and an unexpected guest and he was trying to impress him and make it seem like he was non-threatening and working in good faith by offering food.

Then during the capture, vegas uses food to degrade him, which might’ve been especially hurtful as a message in general because of how much pete associates food with love and care. And maybe vegas knew. We know how brutally and physically he tortures his captives. Us and pete both saw this. But he’s also an absolute psychotic ass and knows where to strike to make it hurt, so he used pete’s grandma and then food to hurt him. To scar him, and break him. Because you can’t break pete physically, he’s too strong for that.

Then he shows pete care, which again is through feeding him, and making sure he eats both medicine and food. He even makes sure that pete has water.

The next conflict also is shown through food, and the change in the food. We all know he was actually preparing a proper meal that suited pete’s taste. But his old scars came up, and this we see through the whole scene with his father. He was actually bursting with love and care for pete in the cooking scene. However, finally he makes pete noodles, which sure is still food but it’s not a meal, nor is it nourishing. At all. Just like the way he expressed his love for pete till then. He doesn’t quite know how to love. He loves him and wanted him next to him but the only way he did that was by literally chaining him again. He might have felt love for pete but he certainly didn’t know how to express it in the right way.

And then he rectifies all his mistakes, makes proper food, even wanted to eat it with pete, which I don’t think he had done till then. Eating with someone can be an intimate thing for some people. Unfortunately, it was after pete had left, and he was hoping for him to come back again. But pete, of course, didn’t, no matter how much much he wanted to.

And of course then we have the whole “I’m hungry” bit. I can’t go into it too deep. That scene deserves more respect and care than I can give in this post. It’s just too good.

Last one we see is when pete brings food for macau. He has settled in, as we can see now and even taking care of vegas’s most important person and only remaining family. He finally extends love and care to vegas and his family through his actions, in the best way that he knows how to. He shows them he cares for them and intends to stay.

God damn I wrote a whole essay again. When will I stop simping on vegaspete?