#kp drafts series

[bucketbueckers]

I'D RATHER PRETEND

extra 4: forget

wc: 6.3k

synopsis: the four times tess and paige forgot they were on different wnba teams

notes: i think i would be a terrible ex bc every time i say im done w this series i end up coming back 😟 i went ahead and combined both of the ideas i linked in the poll since they were so close sooooo everybody is winning i think! also i will be moving all of the irp extras to the irp masterlist instead of clogging my main one so do not be alarmed if you can't find them. uhh thats all but as always i hope y'all enjoy 🫶

i. firsts

JUNE 6, 2025

For all intents and purposes, today was just another game.

It was an away game, which Tess always enjoyed – it was the competitor in her who thrived off of the home team crowd’s jeers, their disappointed groans when the game was tight and one of their star players missed a shot. It’s the kind of pressure that she craves. You walk into hostile territory, not even as the underdog, but something a little more intense than that. Something more personal. Hundreds of people fill the stands and all they know is that their team will beat yours. Tess could always be found in that sort of quiet that fills the arena when she’s made her point, when her wrist is bent from a deep three that she knows is going in – that shell-shocked, stunned, dominant silence that surges through her veins like electricity. That’s what basketball is to her.

Besides being a Commissioner’s Cup game, the second of Tess’s season, Tess was committed to treating this game just as any other. They’d steamrolled the Mercury only a few days ago so she was in high spirits going into this game. 

…Which just so happened to be their first game against the Dallas Wings. Her first game against Paige.

She’d heard it all from the media throughout the season, even if they’d never said it to her face directly. How are you planning on navigating these games against your significant other? Will you play the game any differently? Is this personal to you? And even the ever elusive, Are you planning on throwing away your season to improve Paige’s stats and her Rookie of the Year campaign — which, what the fuck?

The point is – this has been the most anticipated game since the beginning of the season. While the Wings and the Sparks have both lost a few games each (losing was something that Tess and Paige weren’t quite used to – KP pulled her aside in the locker room after her first of the season, shrugged, and simply said, “Shit happens. Just make sure you have toilet paper,” and to this day, Tess really isn’t sure what that’s supposed to mean). Despite the culture shock, Tess and Paige were both on tears — averaging about twenty points a game each. Paige led her in assists, although they tied in rebounds and Tess led in stocks. Analysts claimed they’d be the deadliest backcourt the WNBA has ever seen if only they were on the same team. They had a few more years to go, but Tess did have to admit their games were near perfect complements of each other. 

For as long as she’s been playing collegiate basketball and now, the few short weeks she’s been playing professional basketball, she’s gotten a lot better at tuning out the media noise. While this is a huge game for a lot of reasons – the narrative, the cup game, the first she’s played against Paige as professional athletes, Tess knew better than anyone else that she needed to keep her cool and treat it like she would any other game, even if she and Paige haven’t seen each other since their post draft “vacation” (if you could call it that – Paige was in between several interviews, show appearances, a victory rally, although Tess appreciated that she was just as committed to taking the time off together as she was).

So what if this was the first time seeing her girlfriend in person in almost a month? Tess and Paige were grown adults with grown adult jobs. They could handle the distance. They’re professionals. Which is why Tess is going to not geek out about it.

“Girl,” Rickea deadpans, causing Tess to look up from where she’s currently lacing up her sneakers in the Wings’ visitor locker room. “You need to get it together.”

Tess frowns, genuinely confused. “I’m tying my shoes and minding my business!” she exclaims. “What do you want from me?”

Kelsey snorts, sliding the Sparks warm-up sweatshirt over her frame. “You’ve been smiling all day,” she says. “It’s actually terrifying. Like you were even smiling while tying your shoes. Who does that?”

Tess, conveniently, focuses on her other shoe, making sure the laces are tightened to her liking. “I have plenty of things to be happy about in my life,” she defends. She can hear Cam laugh from the other side of the locker room, turning to Azurá and whispering something about here we go again. “My cousin’s pregnant again. Did I tell you guys that?”

The entire locker room chimes in with a chorus of groans – because truthfully, Tess hasn’t shut up about it. “So that’s really fun! I’m trying to talk her into naming her daughter after me. Tess Kennedy Jr.”

“What if she has a son?” Rickea asks, clearly entertaining this ridiculous conversation.

Tess wrinkles her nose. “She won’t. There’s no space in my family for a man.” Then, she remembers the topic of their conversation, trying her best to steer her teammates away from the conclusion they are most definitely making about her pregame mood. “Then, when we played the Mercury, I set a new career high. Very happy about that, too.” Rickea hums, gassing her up, much to Kelsey’s amusement. “What else?” Tess exaggeratedly taps her chin.

“Keep your secrets,” Kelsey goads, squeezing her shoulder. “Whenever you wanna admit it to yourself, just know that we know. And so will the cameras. So don’t look too in love with the enemy.”

Tess rolls her eyes despite the flush on her cheeks. “You guys have no faith in me,” she says glumly.

“I have faith in you,” Cam says brightly. “We’re happy that you’re happy. Just remember to have some dignity when you walk out.”

“Cameron.”

Cam’s laughter echoes in the locker room as she leaves. Still, Tess grins, satisfied with the tightness of her laces, and follows them out for warm-ups. She can handle this.

Tess, in fact, was not handling it.

Well – she was, but she didn’t want to. She’s not sure what Paige did to her to turn her into the kind of person who stares longingly across the court during warm-ups. Her brain knows that she and Paige have done this long distance thing long enough to deal with it, but having Paige so close to her seems to override that logic. A month isn’t even the longest period of time they’ve gone without seeing each other, but Tess just misses her, as trivial as it is.

She tries, though. She knows there were things they could get away with in college, but she has to remind herself that while she’s just playing basketball, this is her job now. There are a lot of things the media won’t let slide – she could already see the headlines that would tear the both of them down for distracting each other. Tess keeps her focus on her warm ups, listening to the trainers coach them through the exercises and Rickea’s endless complaining about the fact she left her favorite moisturizer at her apartment. It keeps her mind off of Paige for a few blissful moments until Paige jogs by, heading back into the tunnel, and she throws a disarming smile over her shoulder which erases all of the progress she’d made during warm-ups.

Despite the difficulty, Tess makes it through warm-ups in one piece, feeling ready for the game ahead. Everyone lines up for the ensuing tip off. That’s when she locks in fully, the responsibility and vigor of the game taking over. Paige is laser focused too, both of them worried more about the game in front of them, and they’re hardly one-on-one unless their respective teammates call for a switch.

The first switch happens five minutes into the first quarter — the Wings hold a solid six point lead, courtesy of Paige’s signature midrange pull ups. Kelsey is guarding Paige, but NaLyssa sets a screen for Paige. The Sparks had run this play enough in practice so Tess finds herself glued to Paige, effectively stopping the jumper that Tess knew she was squaring her feet for.

“You avoiding me?” Tess asks Paige, knowing her girlfriend can’t resist the opportunity to chirp when presented with the opportunity.

Paige grins through the sheen of sweat glistening on her temples and Tess knows she’s got her — hook, line, and sinker. She keeps the ball close to her person, knowing better than anyone else that Tess is one of the best defenders in the league, second to the bigs. “Nah,” she goads, dribbling the ball calmly between her legs. Her eyes dart around like she’s looking for an opening in the defense, which Tess doesn’t miss. “Figured I’d let you try to defend someone a little more your speed.”

“Scared you can’t keep up?”

“Come on, baby,” Paige coos. “Don’t make me do this to you on national television.”

Tess just smiles at her. She anticipates the pass before Paige even moves and she launches in the air, deflecting it back towards the logo. Kelsey manages to catch the rebound and Tess is already barreling down the court, Paige hot on her heels. Kelsey passes it low to get around Dijonai and Tess scoops it up, laying it in easily with her right hand, knowing that Paige was on her left. It was a pattern she’d picked up not only from watching her in film, but also training with her over the summer before their super senior seasons. Paige is probably the only thing she’s a master in.

Tess can’t help but feel a little proud of herself, glancing back to smile smugly at her girlfriend, who shakes her head with a flicker of impressed amusement in her eyes. Paige, seemingly forgetting that they’re supposed to be on opposite teams, gives Tess a friendly pat on the ass as Tess backpedals for defense. It catches her a little off guard but the game is moving too fast for her to dwell on it.

She refocuses, knowing they’ve already goofed off enough, and settles in for another three and a half quarters of rigorous basketball.

The Wings, ultimately, end up taking the win at the end of the game. Losing is one thing but losing to Paige is another. Tess had played her game, but basketball was a team sport for a reason. There were a lot of things they still had to work on if they wanted to make a dent in the playoffs this season. Similarly, the Wings had some things to work on, but they were just the better team that night.

Tess is still nursing the butthurt feeling when Paige finds her after the game, a radiant smile on her face. Truly, losing this game wasn’t the end of the world, a fact Tess was still trying to make peace with.

“Does this mean I’m on the couch tonight?” Paige asks a little coyly, which makes Tess roll her eyes as she pulls her girlfriend in for a tight hug. She doesn’t say anything, just sinking into Paige’s embrace with a deep sigh, tucking her face into the crook of her neck as her eyes slip shut. Paige is still damp with sweat, smelling something like adrenaline and victory, but Tess doesn’t care. She missed her girlfriend. A lot. Probably concerningly so. She’s sure that feeling wouldn’t ever go away — she’d just get better at dealing with it.

“Hey,” Paige murmurs, her voice softening a little, no trace of her previous tease. “You okay?”

Tess nods slightly, making a concerted effort to pull away. “Yeah,” she says, finally allowing that lovestruck smile to appear on her face, the one that she’d hidden for the better part of the game. “Just miss you. LA is an adjustment.”

The crease in Paige’s brows relax and the blonde smiles a little. “You’re happy though?” she asks, just to confirm, but she knows better. She and Tess have spent enough time on the phone at night to know about every little thought that went through their heads.

“I am,” Tess promises, grinning when Paige’s smile brightens. “But I’m happier now.”

Unable to resist, Paige asks, “Even when you lose to me?”

Tess scoffs, pulling away fully as Paige laughs. “You’re such an asshole,” she complains, but Paige doesn’t let her get too far before she links their fingers together. Begrudgingly, Tess admits, “I don’t think I can ever lose when it comes to you. Not in a way that matters.”

“The distance really has turned you into a lover girl,” Paige teases.

Tess raises a brow. “Says the girl who slapped my ass like we were teammates after I embarrassed her on TV.”

Paige at least has the decency to look a little caught. “I kinda forgot we weren’t just playing one on one,” she confesses sheepishly, which makes Tess laugh. “Didn’t even see your fuck ass purple jersey. Just my girlfriend doing something cool.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” Tess states. “Do you know what I have to hear in the locker room now?”

Paige sighs a little, kissing her teeth. “Trust, I’mma be hearing the same. Rike’s gonna laugh at me for the next week.” She doesn’t look too bothered though; instead, she nudges Tess with a coy grin. “The price we pay for love, right?”

Tess returns the grin, reaching out with her free hand to tug lightly at the hem of Paige’s Wings jersey. “Think you love me enough for a Bueckers-Kennedy jersey swap? Unless you’re too cool for my fuck ass purple jersey.”

“I am feeling charitable today,” Paige muses, but the excited expression on her face betrays her feigned nonchalance. She procures two sharpies from the scorer’s table, hands one to Tess, and pulls off her jersey. Tess tries not to stare too hard at Paige’s figure, but she knows she’ll be trending on Twitter after the clips surface. She can’t find it in herself to mind.

Bracing the jersey over her hand, she signs her name on the 2, and in the 5 she writes, “6.6.25 — long way from 2.8.21, but playing against you for the first time is always a date to remember. To my #5, I love you endlessly and I’m so proud of you.”

She finishes the same time Paige does and they swap their jerseys. Tess laughs in delight when she reads Paige’s message to her — the way she’s dotted her I with a lopsided little heart and how she scribbled in a tiny 2 next to the 5 on her jersey so it looks like 25. “6/6/25 — our first professional game against each other. Here’s to many more. I can’t wait for the first game we play with each other. I love you, #25. There’s no one else I want to do this with.”

“Looks like the distance turned you into a lover girl, too,” Tess jokes.

Paige wrinkles her nose, but the love and affection on her face is evident as she slips Tess’s jersey over her frame, looking far too proud. “Unlike you, I’m not ashamed to admit that,” Paige says, watching Tess do the same. The colors on their jerseys and their shorts don’t exactly match, but neither of them care. “I like this on you.” She tugs a little on the hem to be annoying and Tess swats her hand away. Paige grins.

“You mean it?” Tess asks instead of feeding into Paige’s ego. “You wanna be on the same team in the future?”

Paige’s face softens as she reaches for Tess’s hand. “Course I do. I know we haven’t been doing this very long, but you know I’m crazy about you. I can’t see myself settling down without you.”

Despite herself, Tess smiles, her expression far too tender to be standing in the middle of a basketball court with dozens of reporters milling about. She doesn’t care — as far as she’s concerned, she and Paige are the only ones in the room right now. “I feel the same,” she admits, taking in Paige’s beaming smile. “Just don’t think you can win a championship before me, though.”

Paige scoffs, but there’s no malice behind it, only amusement. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she assures her, wrapping her arms around Tess’s waist and pulling her in to press a chaste, innocent kiss to her lips. “We’re 1-0 professionally right now. Think you can keep up?”

Tess laughs, knowing that at the end of the day, she truly doesn’t care about the win record. The distance is hard but it’s times like these that make up for it, when she’s reminded that she has everything she could ever need right in front of her. “You know I can,” she says confidently, and Paige’s grin is full of challenge.

“Then it’s game on.”

ii. i’m not arguing with a woman with pretty blue eyes (whatever you say beautiful)

JULY 2026

The All-Star break had been kind to Tess and Paige.

It was the first time in a while they’d been able to spend so much uninterrupted time together all season – the Wings and the Sparks had obviously been scheduled to play together, but in between flight times and team obligations, they were unable to spend a whole lot of time together before and after their games. With the All-Star game, which they were both (obviously) selected to play in, they both flew in the day before any of the festivities and were able to spend all of Thursday together. On Friday, they were basically attached at the hip for the Skills Challenge and the Three Point Contest (Paige shamelessly cheered for Tess, for the record). And on Saturday, they were on the same team for the All-Star Game. Tess wasn’t sure who allowed that to happen considering the two of them dominated from start to finish, but she sure wasn’t complaining.

It was the first time she’d played a game with Paige. Like, ever. At the All-Star game in 2025, they were on separate teams and they honestly spent the entire time talking shit to each other, much to the chagrin of their respective teammates, who accused them of flirting the entire time. It was most definitely not flirting – Tess at least had the decency to know her and Paige’s actual flirting was not court appropriate, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that Tess enjoyed playing with Paige. Maybe a little too much because there’s still a lot of time before free agency and she’s honestly not sure if a team could afford them both.

It was back to business following the All-Star break. Tess’s first game back with the Sparks was against the Mercury, who, bless them, were still rebuilding, and got steamrolled by them. Her second game back, however, was at home versus the Wings.

To be honest, she and Paige had gotten a lot better at handling the pre-game emotions. Sure, this game was different considering they’d spent the entirety of the All-Star break together so they weren’t down horrendous like they usually were, but missing each other was something that became easier with time.

Still, during warmups, they shared matching smiles and Paige even wandered over to wish her well. “Good luck scoring without my passes,” she said, which just made Tess roll her eyes.

“You have terrible ball security,” Tess responded, which made Paige’s eye twitch. “Let’s hope you shoot better than you take care of the ball.”

They stared at each other for a minute before giggling like they weren’t pushing 25. Then, they launched into the handshake they’d perfected halfway through their rookie seasons, and the game was underway.

For the most part, it was a typical Sparks vs. Wings game. Tess and Paige always seemed to play their best when it was against each other, which led to exciting match-ups and close games. Tess and Paige usually weren’t each other’s defensive assignments, but when they were, the entire arena seemed to hold its breath – watching the both of them go head to head was like watching two titans clash. They knew each other’s moves, tells, and weaknesses, and usually, it always ended with one of them having to pass the ball to someone else.

Halftime comes and goes and the third quarter begins with the two teams tied. And that’s when Tess’s muscle memory kicks in. She has the ball at the top of the key, scanning for an opening in the defense. Dijonai is stuck to her side – probably one of her toughest defensive match-ups on the Wings with the exception of Paige, and the Wings are playing lockdown coverage. Paige is to her right, locked up with Kelsey, and Kelsey breaks away from her to receive the ball.

Tess and Paige ran this specific play numerous times during the All-Star game. She just needs to kick it out to Kelsey, who’s making the cut, but Tess is thinking too hard about how she was passing the ball to Paige that she accidentally passes to the blonde, instead of Kelsey fucking Plum, her actual teammate. Paige recovers quickly from her confusion and takes it across the court for the easiest layup of her life.

Tess is sure she’s never been more embarrassed in her life. She watches her coach rub her temples in exasperation while the Sparks fans groan. But her coach isn’t calling for a timeout or calling Odyssey over to sub in for her, so she dutifully ignores the blush on her cheeks and tries to lock back in.

Paige is defending her while Kelsey directs traffic, but before she can get too far away, Paige grins mischievously at her, chirping, “Look at you racking up assists all point guard-y and shit. Look for the purple jerseys next time though, a’ight?”

(If Tess drains a three over Paige’s outstretched hand in response, well…that’s no one’s business but her own.)

iii. The Foul (tess and paige’s version)

SEPTEMBER 2027

Tess doesn’t think it’s in her nature to be petty.

At least, she’s not consciously petty. As in – it’s not the front she puts out to the world. Like the time she was feeling a type of way about Maddy Siegrist being weird in Paige’s Instagram comment section and she was being passive aggressive about the entire situation – Tess knew Maddy wasn’t even being weird. She was just upset that she and Paige were moving so far away from each other and regressed into an old version of herself that she didn’t particularly like.

Tess doesn’t like being petty. Or passive aggressive. But sometimes shit just happens and it’s so much easier to retreat into herself and to be silent (for the most part) because as much as she hates it, she feels things too strongly and can’t put her emotions into words in a constructive manner without exploding first. She hates hurting people – especially Paige, and she hates that it’s just so easy to hurt her, too.

The situation wasn’t even anything that deep. Tess knew that, but she’s not sure if her heart does. With the WNBA playoffs approaching, every top team in the league was working harder than ever to secure their seeding. Coach Roberts was working the Sparks to the bone and more often than not, Tess would drag her feet home and collapse into bed the minute she got in. Games were grueling, travel felt harder, and it’s at this point in the season where Tess has to treat herself with a little bit more kindness because it’s so easy for her to catastrophize.

It was nearing 10pm. Tess had just gotten home from an away game versus the Aces. Her body hurt – she took a hard foul from Deja Kelly (at least she got the free throws), she was exhausted, and most of all, she just wanted to hear Paige’s voice. Much like the Sparks, the Wings were at the top of the rankings and were fighting to secure their seeding. She knew Paige was working hard on and off the court. During times like these, it just means that they spend less time on the phone together – mostly because their practice schedules are so rigorous, they’re travelling, time zones suck, and when they do find themselves on FaceTime at night, one of them falls asleep fifteen minutes in.

But now? Tess is at her wits end. She just needs one thing and she’ll be fine. She’s sure there’s someone out there who will say that she has terrible emotional regulation, but all things considered, she really is fine. She has her friends and her teammates whom she relies on and her psychologist. Despite that, she’s just a little lonely in a way only Paige can fix and the exhaustion from the season just makes it worse. She glances down at her phone, taking in the lack of notifications.

Frowning, she opens her message thread with Paige, reading Paige’s last message to her from about an hour ago.

Just landed back in Dallas My phone is almost dead but I’ll try to FT when I’m home I love you 🫶

Tess had responded the same and Paige reacted to her message with the heart emoji. She checks her location, seeing that Paige is at her apartment. Tess knows she’s asleep – she knows this week has been rough on her in between training, playing, and travelling, and as much as Tess hates herself for feeling this way, she can’t help the way the disappointment blooms in her chest like a wildfire. It’s not Paige’s fault – it’s not either of their faults.

She shuts her phone off, plugging it into the charger and leaving it on the nightstand. She rolls onto her side, stretching out in a bed that’s far too big for one person as she pulls one of her pillows to her chest. Early in the morning, she’d be flying out to Dallas for their last game of the regular season against the Wings, and not even that knowledge can keep the frown off of her face.

With that said, Tess would, once again, like to reiterate that it’s not in her nature to be petty. And, truly, the subsequent silent treatment is more for Paige’s benefit than her own. Tess knows herself well enough to realize that when she’s in a terrible mood, speaking usually makes things worse. When she wakes up that morning, she finds an apology from Paige for missing their FaceTime. The worst part is that Paige is genuinely remorseful but Tess is just too stubborn to stop being upset about it.

When they make it to the Wings arena, they dress for warm-ups and head out. Tess is one of the last to leave the locker room, which is unusual for her, but when she makes it into the tunnel, she finds Paige waiting for her, a bouquet of flowers in hand. It makes her soften slightly, feeling a whole lot of guilt for being butthurt over something small, but part of her isn’t ready to let go of her anger.

“Hey,” Paige says, smiling gently like she knows she’s in the doghouse. It would make Tess mad all over again if she wasn’t aware of just how much Paige knew her – Tess knows that Paige knows she’s a little upset, but she’s more upset at herself for feeling upset right now. It’s a weird emotional balance Tess has never been good at explaining. The best thing about Paige is that she’s never needed her to. “I’m sorry for missing our call. I know you’re having a rough week.”

Tess offers a tentative smile, the sight of Paige doing wonders for her tired eyes. “It’s not an excuse to be butthurt. I know you’re not doing any better than me. I’m sorry too.” She takes the flowers from Paige’s outstretched hand, allowing her to pull her into a tight hug, one that she sinks into gratefully.

“I’m not,” Paige agrees with a forlorn sigh. “I passed out in my airport clothes last night. Now I got germs and pathogens and shit on my sheets.”

That makes Tess laugh, her chest feeling loose for the first time in a few weeks. It’s enough to remind her that this – being able to melt into Paige’s arms – is truly all she needed. Her bad mood dissolves, but she can’t bask for too long as Cam’s calling her from the end of the hall. Regretfully, they break away, but Paige presses a gentle kiss to her lips, one that makes her forget what she was moody about in the first place.

The game itself is different. Sparks versus Wings games always are. Maybe it has something to do with how Tess is playing against Paige again or how she’s playing with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. Whatever the reason, Tess plays with a different kind of fire, a physicality that she doesn’t usually play with. Every time she’s defending Paige, they’re both grinning like they don’t have a shot clock ticking down or a seeding on the line, but the issue comes late in the fourth quarter.

The game is tied – as it always is – and Tess has possession of the ball with Paige sticking close by for defense. Cam steps in for a screen, but Paige doesn’t bite. Instead, in a rare move for the blonde, she accidentally barrels into Tess, who’s already off-balance from an uncharacteristic step-off. Tess lands flat on her ass while the ref calls the foul on Paige, who again, seems remorseful, but there’s a lingering, mischievous amusement in her gaze.

Paige steps behind her, arms wrapping around Tess’s waist and helping pull her up while she pushes herself to her feet. Paige is absolutely fucking shameless – her hands pressed tight to her stomach and her body pressing into Tess’s back like they’re in a dark corner of the club instead of in the middle of the court in a sold out arena. Tess turns on her heel, raising one brow in near disbelief at her girlfriend, who grins like she hasn’t done anything wrong, her hands in the air.

“You’re actually unbelievable,” Tess says, shaking her head, but she can’t keep the smile off her face.

“Was just tryna help you up,” Paige argues, still looking smug as ever, but she backs away, calling, “I’ll make it up to you!”

Tess rolls her eyes, a blush on her cheeks but her grin lingers. The ref passes the ball off to Kelsey to inbound and just like that – the game’s back underway, and all Tess can really do is smile.

iv. she wanted some of my deliciousness

OCTOBER 2028

Of course the first year the Sparks make it to the WNBA Championship, they’re up against the Wings.

Tess can’t even be surprised about it. Every championship she plays in always seems to have Paige on the other end of it, but honestly, she likes it this way. The games against Paige are always nail biters. They were the two people in the league who hated losing the most.

Knowing that, Tess really should have expected for the WNBA Championship to go to a game seven. Tess and the Sparks won the first match, then the Wings won the second and the third. The Sparks bounced back with the fourth and the fifth – both incredibly hard fought games for Tess, and then the Wings tied the series on the sixth game.

Tess has played against this Wings roster numerous times. She knows their strengths, their weaknesses, their physicality. But she honestly wasn’t prepared for how grueling a seven game, winner takes all series against them would be. Nobody made it more difficult for her than Paige did. She was on one from game one through game six, never once faltering, but Tess was never one to back down.

Game seven was different – for both of them. Paige was locked in from the get-go, banking in contested shots like it was effortless, directing traffic like she knew every one of the Sparks’ plays before Kelsey even called for them. She was a menace on defense, her expression one of pure fire, grit, and determination. More than anything, there was a simmering frustration. Tess could see that she was picking up the slack where her teammates were falling short. They were missing costly shots, forcing uncharacteristic passes that transformed into turnovers.

It all culminated late in the fourth quarter – the Sparks held a slim four point lead, one that Paige had cut from nine herself after a deep three and a contested midrange jumper. Tess was guarding her, her Coach having made the adjustment after she realized that Paige was taking the game into her own hands. Paige is at the top of the key, dribbling the ball and waiting for the perfect opening as her offense shifts. She steps forward, pressing Tess, but in her haste to set a screen, one of Paige’s teammates bumps harshly into Tess, sending her right into Paige’s body and knocking her down.

And somehow, in the haze of confusion, the foul is called on Tess instead of Maddy fucking Siegrist, and she’s pushing herself to her feet to plead her case to the ref when Paige starts chirping like it wasn’t her teammate’s fault.

“What the fuck was that?” Paige exclaims, her frustration and exhaustion bubbling over. Tess just blinks at her, the Wings staring at Paige hesitantly, unsure of if she’s actually pissed or if this was just a Tess and Paige thing that’s not actually that serious. They’re competitors – they argue and fight on the court, but off of it, it’s like it’s never happened. She waves her arms, gesturing widely in a way that reminds Tess of her father when he’s heated, and all she can do is raise a brow because there’s no way Paige is actually crashing out at her right now. “That’s a fucking flagrant, Tess, what the f–”

Tired of hearing her complain, Tess leans forward to plant a kiss right on Paige’s lips, shutting her up while the refs step in, pushing them away from each other. Paige just blinks in confusion while Tess grins smugly, always wanting to recreate that Diana Taurasi and Seimone Augustus clip but never having the optimal opportunity for it. “You can apologize to me later!” Tess calls, letting Cameron drag her away from the scene. “Coach, please tell me you’re challenging that call?”

Her coach does challenge it, the refs giving the personal foul to Maddy instead, as it should be. Tess watches Paige from across the court, her expression softening with guilt as she watches the replay.

(For the record, Paige does apologize later, after the celebrations and Tess has taken sufficient pictures with the championship trophy. And, she supposes, Paige makes up for it with interest a month later in Italy when she proposes, and Tess finds that she likes this ring a whole lot more than the one she’d won.)

v. bonus: the one time tess and paige remembered they were on the same team

MAY 2029

The last time Tess had ever played in what felt like a monumental preseason game, it was her first preseason game in the WNBA as a Los Angeles Spark. They’re preseason for a reason – the stats don’t count and they’re just a good way of seeing how your team stacks up against other people in the league.

But this game? This one is different.

She’s dressed head to toe in the Valkyries purple uniform, BUECKERS-KENNEDY stitched proudly on the back. To her right, Paige, wearing a matching uniform, last name on the back and all, stretches her legs out one last time before tip-off against Tess’s old team, the Sparks. And, to be honest, Tess can’t believe that they’re here, together, on the same team after so many years of being competitors. She can’t believe the Valkyries actually signed the both of them, that the team has welcomed the both of them in with open arms, but this opportunity feels more like a blessing than anything else. It feels like a Welcome to the first day of your future.

Tess and Paige had bought a house in the Bay. They would settle down here, retire as Golden State Valkyries. They both knew they’d end up coaching somewhere along the line. They knew they’d raise their children here when the time came. Right now, it just feels like the perfect prelude to forever, the perfect capstone to an arduous journey. While the hard part of it is over, Tess knows that the rest of her life will be an adventure as long as Paige is in it.

Paige catches her wrist, smiling softly at her when she startles. “You good?” she asks gently. There were still a few moments until tipoff, but the fact that Paige is taking the time now to check in with Tess makes her feel warm all over.

“Yeah,” Tess responds, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face. “I’m perfect.” Paige’s eyes search hers, knowing instinctively that Tess wants to say more but granting her the time to find her words. “I’m just happy we get to do this together,” she admits. “You’re the only one I want to do this with.”

Paige’s grin turns a little tender, affection shining in her gaze. “How’s forever sound?”

Tess’s smile widens. “Perfect.”

They line up for tip-off, taking their respective places. Before the ref walks over with the ball, Paige calls out to her, “Remember to write this on your jersey, too. May 4th, 2029. Just another first game, yeah?” Tess is sure she looks a little strange – smiling before the game’s even started, but she can’t find it in herself to mind too much.

Paige assists her on her first three as a Valkyrie. It’s a little full circle, she thinks, for her first points to be scored with her wife. For Paige’s first assist to be to her. It’s every bit as monumental as she’d expected.

And, sure, it’s just a preseason match-up, but Tess finds that she really likes hearing, “Bueckers-Kennedy to Bueckers-Kennedy for three…it’s good!”

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: KinnPorsche, and Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist Edition (Part 1)

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, in a two-part series, I offer my thoughts on KinnPorsche, my very first Thai BL, and the impact that I think KP has had on the Thai BL industry since 2022.]

Hot damn! It has been a MINUTE since my last OGMMTVC review, so I'm glad to be back. I've been very much looking forward to writing my thoughts about my recent KinnPorsche rewatch: I enjoyed this ENTIRE process, especially in regards to watching KinnPorsche in the context and chronology of past Thai BLs, and man, did I ever see KP WAYYYYY differently than the first time I watched it.

Why's that? Welp -- *KinnPorsche was my first-ever Thai BL*. (Not my first BL drama ever; that award goes to the GOAT, Kinou Nani Tabeta?/What Did You Eat Yesterday?)

But when I joined Tumblr officially in July 2022, just about a year and a half ago (in the heat of passionately obsessing over Old Fashion Cupcake), my dash was awash, AWASH, in KP posts. AWASH.

I had no idea what the fuck the algorithm was telling me.

I went into KinnPorsche knowing absolutely NOTHING about Thai BL tropes, the history of the genre, the actors in the roles, what made KP so innovative by way of its storyline, NADA. Dudes -- I'm half-Malaysian, and I had never even watched a show from the Southeast Asian region, let alone Thailand, and I was unaware of how prolific the Thai drama industry was (at least compared to the Korean drama machine).

When I first watched KinnPorsche, my perspective was that I had watched a pretty good show, and I was left surprised back then in particular by the No Homophobia Bubble (well, almost no homophobia, Big) that I now know is so much more common in Thai BLs than I realized.

It was through KinnPorsche that I discovered Thai BLs, and it was subsequently through Bad Buddy that I realized that I NEEDED to understand the development of this national genre -- so back to the history annals I went, through my OGMMTVC project, starting from 2014's Love Sick, and here we are at this moment of the timeline, the hot hot late spring and summer of 2022, enjoying the ✨vibbbeeezz✨ between Mile Phakphum and Apo Nattawin, and leaving me wondering why there was a national shirt button shortage in the midst of a Thai mafia crime drama. I'm glad I have history on my side now as I think about KinnPorsche as a standalone drama, and as I also think about the impact it has had on the Thai BL genre and fandoms prior to its premiere, up to today's moment in time.

I took my time to draft this piece partly because I was busy watching Be On Cloud's second and latest serial drama in Dead Friend Forever. I think BOC is doing something very interesting by way of their acting and contracted scripting choices, which I want to ponder by way of the context and aftermath of KP's airing. As such, while I had intended to write just one post about KP, I have a bunch of thoughts that'll spill over to tomorrow. So here we go, a quick overall outline for the lovers for today and tomorrow on my ruminating thoughts:

1) My critical thoughts on KinnPorsche as a standalone drama in the context of the history of previous Thai BLs, 2) My thoughts on how new arrivals to the wider Thai BL fandom shaped the perception of KP vis à vis older Thai BLs, 3) How I think KP has impacted how other studios approach, market, and write Thai BLs now, and 4) A quick passing thought on BOC's own continued influence on the Thai BL genre and industry since 2022, particularly by way of Dead Friend Forever.

I'm going to concentrate on numbers 1 and 2 in this piece, and they're actually going to be a touch conflated, because I want to lean into a now-obvious fact that the BL Elder community knew all along about KP when it first aired in 2022: there was not much that was new about what KinnPorsche was doing. (This is not necessarily a bad thing, as I’ll get into below.)

When I was a newbie on Tumblr, and the algorithm was feeding my dash, I remember seeing posts about how Be On Cloud, the studio behind KP, was doing things differently than the rest of the Thai BL field -- I recall posts about the studio hiring the best acting coaches, how the cinematography was nothing like what we had seen in other shows, and how Be On Cloud was committed to creating safe environments for its actors, particularly Apo Nattawin, who had reportedly faced discrimination in his past acting career, reportedly leading him to leave the Thai drama industry for a number of years.

While some very early Thai BL studios were known to not have the safest or friendliest environments (the filming of What The Duck comes to mind by way of this lore), by the time of KP's airing, GMMTV had strongly established itself as the leader of Thai BL productions, and other players, including New Siwaj and Cheewin Thanamin, had produced quite the number of dramas under each of their respective studio outfits. The industry, by 2020 and 2021, when KP was in its development origins, wasn't new anymore. Acting coaches, such as Aof Noppharnach, were now also regularly writing, directing, and producing original shows, and major BL studios had introduced workshopping as a regular step to production. On the artistic end, studios and writers had established expected artistic tropes -- 2018's Love By Chance is the first example that comes to my mind of when the Thai BL genre crystallized in a structurally derivative piece of art by way of containing and using prior trope references and dynamics.

Be On Cloud, in picking up the KinnPorsche script from Filmania during the pandemic (I use these posts here and here for my non-primary sources of KP lore) clearly knew it had something innovative on its hands by way of producing the genre's first mafia-based BL romance.

But 2020's Manner of Death had already introduced crime and mystery to BL, and 2021's Not Me continued a multi-genre perspective somewhat successfully around romance. And regarding sex and heat: KinnPorsche didn't do that first, either. MaxTul brought it first in 2017's Together With Me, and MAME has owned this corner since 2018's Love By Chance and 2019's TharnType. (Props to MaxTul for being in both Together With Me and Manner of Death; MileApo owe those dudes some beers.) By way of cinematography, which KP does extremely well: we had already begun seeing prestige cinematography in 2020's I Told Sunset About You, and 2021's I Promised You The Moon and A Tale of Thousand Stars.

It was natural, I think, for much of the KP fandom to think that KP was innovative in a lot of these categories, because, like me -- KP was our first-ever Thai BL. By way of money clearly spent on the show, the directorial purview of the show, the utterly gorgeous cinematography (man, that nighttime pull-away shot when the guys are in the roof pool, oof, why couldn't I find a gif), a new fan might think, geez, this has never been done before! But it had, and not just in Thailand, but for years prior in Japan, and more recently in Korea.

This is ALL not to say that KinnPorsche “suffered” because of what I'm uncovering by way of KP's misunderstood innovation. I think a perception of KP being entirely “new” in the BL field has contributed to its lore and enduring influential status. On this rewatch, I appreciated the mafia-based storyline as a support system to the central KinnPorsche romance. Yok being centered as an important mentor to Porsche, played by the inimitable Sprite Patteerat, was refreshing to see. Porsche accepting his bisexuality, especially with Yok's support, without the typical BL head-spinning queer revelation, was a welcome element to the show. And, frankly -- I had, on my first watch, missed, of course, the clear references to Thai BLs of the past in this show, references that I really loved seeing this time around.

From the old school, we got Kob Songsit, the OG BL dad, no longer Tong's dad in the seminal movie, The Love of Siam, nor Dean's dad in Until We Meet Again. This BL veteran is now a damn dad don, weapons and all.

We've also got Na Naphat, who played important side characters in IPYTM and UWMA. We have former BL lead guys in Jeff Satur and Perth Nakhun. We've got guitars and singing, we have underwater smooching, we have a cute-cute first date. We arguably have questionable kabedon in Kinn's and Porsche's first intimate moments. We have cooking for your lover, we have feeding your lover, we have the towel-drying of the hair. KP, by 2022, keeps up with Idol Factory's Secret Crush On You in prominently featuring a femme-presenting side character in Tankhun, PHENOMENALLY ACTED by Tong Thanayut, who we had seen previously in TharnType.

KP was, in part, directed by Pepzi Banchorn, who served as an assistant director on 2019's Dark Blue Kiss and 2021-22's Bad Buddy, and had a quick guest spot in 2022's The Warp Effect. KP was also, in part, directed by Khom Kongkiat, who played Uncle Tong in Bad Buddy, and subsequently directed The Promise in 2023. AND, finally, one of the KP screenwriters is Bee Pongsate, who has co-written so much flippin' BL: Last Twilight, Bad Buddy, Dangerous Romance (😬), Vice Versa, My School President, A Tale of Thousand Stars, 2gether and Still 2gether, and that's not even scratching the list -- you get it.

KP's supporting cast and crew was simply stacked with BL vets, who clearly knew the scene, and who helped to support Mile Phakphum's rookie acting and Apo Nattawin's return to the screen. I'd posit that this group of people knew EXACTLY what references they were putting into KinnPorsche, from actors to tropes, and also knew when, where, and how to innovate around those references to still make this show unique.

Certainly, KP's approach to sex and heat -- by way of Kinn's and Porsche's first drunken encounters (hi again, MaxTul), the uncut intimate scenes between them, and Vegas's and Pete's union by way of, well, semi-torture and/or kink -- was bold enough to be overall quite notable. But again: Thai BLs had been pushing that envelope for years past, and it has continued to do so in shows like MAME's Love In the Air and GMMTV's Only Friends.

In other words: after this rewatch, with the history of the older Thai BLs I've watched under my belt, I don't see KinnPorsche as firstly innovative. But I appreciate the show differently now, in particular for how very obvious it worked to include past Thai BL references in its production, and I actually gained a different appreciation for it.

I also want to made a quick tangential note about Apo and Tong specifically by way of innovation. Dr. Thomas Baudinette, a long-time BL fan and academic researcher on Thai and Japanese queer media, notes in his book, Boys Love Media in Thailand, that an ideal trajectory for a Thai BL actor is to debut in BLs in order to transition to more popular primetime het Thai dramas, as Gulf Kanuwat of TharnType, and Ohm Thitiwat and Kao Noppakao of UWMA and Lovely Writer, respectively, are notably doing at the moment. Apo Nattawin did this the other way around: he had established his career in het lakorns, most notably in 2015’s major hit drama, Sut Khaen Saen Rak, and subsequently left the Thai drama industry after reportedly being discriminated against for his skin tone and fashion choices. And his way back to the industry was through BLs. Taking the lore of Mile Phakphum recruiting Apo for KP out of the picture for a moment: I think this indicates a shift in how BLs are increasingly perceived in Thailand, and even globally, as being a career-worthy genre of content on its own for actors. (Apo's exploding fashion career is proof of this.) And BOC has now recruited another lakorn vet in Jes Jespipat for its third upcoming drama, 4 Minutes.

As well, Tong Thanayut’s very public coming out after the conclusion of KP’s airing is notable for how Be On Cloud has continued to center Tong in its productions after that fact, most notably in 2023’s film, Man Suang, while other out BL actors are not as lucky by way of guaranteeing and attracting future work.

I have a lot more to say about KinnPorsche's and Be On Cloud's impact on the current Thai BL industry, and how I think that impact has affected the marketing and creation of more recent shows like 2023's Only Friends, and 2023-24's Playboyy. But this first post has gotten long, and I actually haven't written much about the actual show itself, HA. So let me say this:

I think it's notable that the first shows that played around with themes outside of romance, like 2020's Manner of Death, and 2021's Not Me, were not perfect shows. We see now how multi-genre BLs are just exploding, what with Dead Friend Forever and the upcoming slew of vampire BLs that are going to drop (and let's not forget the first omegaverse BL drama in Pit Babe -- or should we forget it, I dunno). Not all of these shows are perfect, but the genre has only been around for a decade. There's a lot of time, and a tremendous amount of interest and funding, that upcoming shows can leverage to become better, especially these multi-genre shows that we're seeing more of.

KinnPorsche as well, was not a perfect show. I have some thoughts particularly on VegasPete to offer tomorrow, and I think, overall, that KP could have easily been a shorter series with more impact.

But I'll still give the show some of its flowers, because I think, unlike MoD and Not Me, that KinnPorsche did a better job of centering the Kinn and Porsche romance for dramatic effect, particularly by leveraging comedy. Were there many moments of hibbly-jibblies? Oh, totally. Dudes, also, Kinn fucking forgot about Pete! Pete coming back to the house and reminiscing about Vegas while holding his neck? Eeeeyikes, no thanx. There were a number of these weird bumps that I think could be explained by way of intentional camp (which I think KP did pretty well), but I do believe the show could have been tighter with more editing.

But, I gotta admit: I had a great time re-watching KP. That says something. Was it the heat that tiddled my dopamine cycles? Probably, somewhat. (No shame in my game.) Or -- a more reasonable theory, ha, is that Apo, as a veteran actor, demonstrated more range than I originally remembered. He can really do comedy well, and he timed his comedy perfectly for the absurdities that peppered KP through the series (the bread crawl, the constant throwing of hands, the jumping-on-Kinn when the ghost of Pete showed up, oh shit we're in the forest now, etc). Apo and Tong, in particular, stayed true to the bit many times during the show, and I think the series benefitted greatly from their collective comedic talent and timing -- which I thought was nicely refreshing for the genre.

With that, I'll have more ruminating tomorrow about the show itself, about how I think the impact that KP and BOC have had on the genre after KP's airing, and other thoughts about the cultural moment that KP demarcated when it aired -- see you tomorrow!

[MORE MORE MORE KP tomorrow! And I'll have more thoughts about the watchlist then. But for now, here's the classic OGMMTVC list for you to chew on!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: preamble here, part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) (review here) 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here)  36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist

...interrupting the OGMMTVC list here to watch War of Y (2022) (watching) in chronology to decide if it gets listed...

37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine “Genre BLs” and Internalized/Externalized Homophobia in GMMTV Shows  39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 43 La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 44) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 45) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 46) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 47) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 48) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew) 49) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 50) Dead Friend Forever (2024) (thoughts here) 51) 23.5 (tag here) (2024)]

[anarchistbitch]

you know what's crazy? i started paradise of thorns yesterday too skdskdjkds but then i had to stop because my mom was there too but i've been wanting to watch it for ages because of jeff and engfa and boss kuno <3

btw if you haven't, PLEASEEEE watch gelboys !! it's boss kuno's latest series and it is absolutely wonderful

ive been trying to pirate paradise of thorns for ages. but oh all of a sudden everyone was like im gonna be a good law abiding citizen

i love love LOVED the movie so much, every scene was crazy it felt like they tearing themselves up so bad. idk if u finished watching but the final scene was sooo. like it needs to win an oscar neow

i wanna watch gelboys BAD but i cant find a website without pop up ads( i put this in drafts when i first got ur ask, im now a frontline soldier with firefox ad blockers yay!!)( i'll start gelboys as soon as i finish KP MWAH)

[emmashouldbewriting]

Oh Charles and Camilla are also extremely excessive with their homes, and Charles the environmentalist has been commuting to London from Balmoral all summer for medical appointments, I just think Charles now has the same kind of protection Liz had, where the media refrains from pointing out stuff like that about the monarch. I guess one positive thing they have is that they take their work with them so it’s not as noticeable as with for example William and Kate when they trot up to Norfolk or down to Tresco (the house you were missing) and basically have no contact at all with their staff and therefore their work. And these are rich, privileged people so they will have many homes and places to go for their holidays, and if you support a monarchy that kind of inequality comes with the territory. I just think KP handles it so bad, especially with how they’re kind of trying to play it off like they’re just like you and me in their little cottage — do you know they have no live-in staff? They were actually lucky that Harry was still the bad child at the time so they didn’t get as much criticism as they frankly should have.

And when it comes to KP they have Charles and Diana’s former apartment (8 & 9) as the office, but then they also have Apartment 1A on the other side of the palace as their home, the apartment Margo used to live in — it all had to be renovated to make it into an office space for WK, Harry, and their staff (despite there being room at St James or BP), and 1A a live able space which was a justified renovation, but would it have been as expensive? At the moment 1A is empty except for the few times a year they stay there, while 8 & 9 maintains the office — @cambridgemadness is an expert on KP’s layout and who lives where

Okay, so Tresco is house number 5 - but technically owned by the duchy rather than them, yes? So again, that's a grey area because they don't own it, but the duchy does. And Tresco Island is leased by the Dorrien-Smiths who are the caretakers. (Do I know this because I have a whole-ass book series loosely drafted on such a concept? MAYHAPS)

I think KP has always been intended to be William's home base, hence the office work. Charles wanted to move away from Buck Palace as the monarch's official residence but was ultimately nudged into it. If given the option, Wills will opt for KP or Windsor, imo. 1A is empty because they've moved for the kids' education, but honestly, I see them returning and it being their home base if/when the kids are all boarders/uni students, whatever they choose to do.

[snickerdoodlles]

I am obviously biased, but as someone who tagged you in the WIP game, I'd love for you to do it! I'm curious, okay? I wanna know what's scrambling around up there, if your mess is as messy as mine? So if there is any chance of me swaying you, please do it? Puppy eyes or flirtatious brow waggle or digital cookies, whichever would have the greatest effect on you?

😂❤ akjds thank you friend !! i am planning on doing the WIP game ...tonight? tomorrow? maybe today-- i was out of commission earlier this week, so im making up on missed work today, but maybe it'll make a good break as my eyes water between spreadsheets hmm 🤔😂

re messy process: i am. such a messy writer. i'm such a vibe gardener lol. you wouldn't be able to see this from my writing folder tho. look at my kp folder:

most of my fic folders look like this! organized by fandom > folders for series/multi-chapter fics and working docs in the middle. all the docs in the series folders are numbered for easy finding. i even have handy folders for posted (finished) stuff to keep the working docs/series space cleaned and a compost folder for old discarded drafts/snippets/etc. you would think this would indicate a clean approach to writing!

h a h

what's not present in this folder are my many, many phone notes full of writing snippets (or the many, many other snippets i have written in notebooks) (...or other snippets saved as starred emails in my inbox, which i do not recommend after my last email panic lol) or my DMs with friends. which, honestly, DMs with friends deserves its own asterisk, it's hands down my biggest writing vice. i actually make a point not to (or at least, only rarely) copy out story notes from my DMs because it's just. i always have so many ideas. all the time. to handle them, my approach is i will remember if it's worth remembering, and if i forget them, probably for the best anyways. until im at a point where there's a cohesive story around the idea or enough of them have bumped up into each other to make a story, who cares (at which point, i...still don't copy out the ideas. like. at all. 💦). this is absolutely infuriating to some of my friends who really like some of the ideas i chuck around, esp when i have the audacity to forget them 😂

(ideas in friends DMs is the main thing fueling my fics i'm not writing ask game actually! it's a lot more freeing to me to just be able to put the idea out there along with any individual scenes i want to write without having to actually write the whole fic. i haven't really found the best way to post the scenes to AO3 yet, but ehh, future cookie problem.)

sorry, i wound up just rambling about a lot of nothing here 😂 i'm actually feeling very pumped up to play the WIP game post now tho, clearly i need more enrichment during my breaks 😂

(so uhh. your persuasion tactics: success! ✔)

[shou-jpeg]

Okay so I'm really sorry for this but I have so much anxiety I can't be known to anyone so I'm constantly on anon so you will be receiving asks like this. Sorry in advance. So anyway you know how heirs to families in Naruto do know how to fight and aren't like spoiled nobility like the non-ninjas. I think Kinn should be in a clan fight with some other clan(to mimic the italians) and he should have a history of being like, seen as pathetic and just his father's toy(real) but anyway, Porsche gets hired to defend him to show that he can't even do anything on his own and make him seem like a bigger target so they can trap the other clan's members and get their ass. Kim remains the pathetic and pretty younger brother who falls in love with his brother's guard's younger brother because they get put in the same team.I think this works because a. Kim is pretending to be a loser(he doesn't need to pretend very hard) and says he's been homeschooled for a while so now he's applying to be part of a team and he gets put with younger people and b. who is more naive and full of hope than a recently graduated ninja(Chay).

Hello anon I am SORRY for the late reply. This ask has been on a journey and back to another realm or something. I'd saved it as a draft and it vanished on me and now, literally like a month later, I found it in my drafts at the top???? Yo wtf.

-----

Always fine to anxiety anon message me! I have horrendous anxiety and I do it all the time as well.

NARUTO. KP. AU.

This AU has been popping regularly into my mind ever since @lady-guts drew that first thing. Still even a month after this ask being on a journey to space and back. Still on my mind.

Also I love this idea so much??? I want a whole comic series. It would be so much fun. Who wants to write a KP Naruto AU comic series with me?

[i-sveikata]

i'm so excited to see how your fic unfolds. the book was such a s**t (sorry not sorry if anyone liked it) and what about the two writers? I don't even have words for the disappointment. The series was a little better but they wanted to give KP a lot of power that obviously they wouldn't have the capacity to control (especially P because he didn't grow up in the mafia). But your fic?? *chef kiss* the way you pay attention to details (like in the last chapter where you detailed the entire vegas hotel made me excited to continue reading, and I usually lose focus when there is a lot of detail in a book). Thank you for continuing to put effort and care into this fic, even with obstacles like what happened on your laptop, for me it could be a point to give up but you keep writing the fic on paper until you can put it all together and give us another wonderful chapter.

p.s: sorry for my bad english

Aw that’s a bummer sorry!! Yeah I haven’t really heard the best things about the book if I’m being honest. Yeah the show is obviously all about Porsche and Kinn but idk Pete and Vegas were kinda way more interesting to me (I mean clearly considering this fic hahaha) and yeah you’re so right porsche got given the power more for the dramatics of it all/ tying a storyline up and not really for how capable he was or how logistically it would actually make sense. ahhhh thank you that’s honestly so nice!! Yeah damn the details really jumped out in this fic for sure!! But that was especially easy to write because Pete is such a detailed person (at least in the fic) I’m so glad it’s kept your attention I’m very aware that it is LONG hahah. Oh you’re so welcome that’s really nice of you to say omg yeah been a bit of an annoying obstacle there- I do prefer to at least have the draft in front of me when I write so I can see where I’m going or refer back to things but without a laptop I haven’t been able to look at the draft in weeks 😭😭 but oh well I will just have to match everything up that I’ve been writing in a journal to the word doc once I have a laptop again lmao. Oh no don’t be sorry your English is great!! Thanks for coming to say hello 💛

[freensrcha]

[silviakundera]

Kinnporsche Vid Recs

I did this for The Untamed and Thousand Autumns. Now, KP.

KinnPorsche | History is Written by Victors by I&G Productions

All the pieces are on the board. Let's start playing and let the best man win.

Sharks by fireboiii

Mobsters Ensemble. Such great punchy energy. I really got to get off my ass and finish a kinnporsche fic or 2 to encourage more fics about gay love while doing crimes.

got a bad baby by coldties

this Kinn/Porsche vid is EVERYTHING to me. simply iconic.

Hound Dog by fighting arrival

"Are you saying that I've hurt you?"

stop me cause you've heard this at least 5 times before: I like KP actually because it's a dark fairytale, not in spite of it. the moment it hit me that they're plummeting because porsche is cuffed to him when kinn could have released him (screams).

Stray Italian Greyhound by helcinda

oh no not now. A love that creeps up on you when you least expect it; a love that won't sit still. the absolute sweeping ROMANCE of kinn/porsche

the fact Hound Dog and Stray Italian Greyhound are both authentically The Truth about KP is what makes me feral about this ship.

An Ocean by helcinda

porsche vid of my heart. this vidder is so fucking GOOD, in this essay I will--

Ready For It by MsRinielle

did Taylor Swift know she was writing the kinn/porsche theme song? coincidence or conspiracy, u decide

Glitter & Gold by MoErusai

Alright, let's start. Great energy/timing. When it hits! those! beats! <3

Bones by Levi

Major family bodyguards ensemble. Please may I have more "case fic" for this fandom where the team works together to get out of scrapes and do some criminal organizing. Let 👏Pol👏Racketeer👏

Tankhun & Bodyguards | Shake It Off

Team Kdrama ✨💅✨ Tankhun, Pol, Arm, Pete, Porsche tribute vid.

Favorite Crime | Kim & Porchay by TKK LE

crime lord's son breaks a teenage heart and his own, oops?

Rebel Just For Kicks by vale edits

Porsche, agent of chaos. babygirl who can't truly be tamed

Heathens by TKK LE

I enjoyed the lyric pairings here; shout out to my fav murderer Khun Kinn

Last One Standing | Major vs Minor Family by Jatsuki

"After all, we are family." <<mortal kombat sound effects>>

Blinding Lights by fighting arrival

Pete SAID no heroes or villains in my story. a tale of love & control, neither or both.

[thefreeblog]

Since now the Season 1 is over and all we do are waiting for announcement of Season 2, I was thinking of doing KinnPorsche The series - awards.

It will have different categories to vote for like Best KP/VP kiss, Most Viewed episode, Most Viewed scene, Best acted scene by actors, Best action scenes,Most Shocking twist etc etc etc

I have a draft ready and I have almost 25+ categories figured out.

So if I go ahead will you all be interested?

Please reblog, comment or like to show your interest.

Please send me asks if you want any categories specifically to be included.

[maxtulcactus]

Recently I came back to tumblr after a long period (and only because of BigBang's comeback). I really didn't think I'd be here that much, but the BL fandom has made me come back every weekend. I had no choice but to officially join the mess in a specific sideblog so I don't spam my non-BL friends lol

You all make me look forward even more to each new episode. Please keep up the edits, gifs, reactions, and rants! Love them all^^

@absolutebl Thanks for all the knowledge you bring to the community. First place I run if I'm ever lost.

@dramaism Started following you because of you Business Proposal gifs and I don't regret it at all!! Your KP Gifsets are **chef kiss** Thanks!

@gunsatthaphan Thanks for your gifs!! One of your posts was the reason I watched and had such high expectations for Golden Blood...don't worry, I won't hold it against you /jk

@kueagirlfriend I love your rants!! You already know you're one of the reasons I'm watching KP as it airs and not once it's over.

@machikeita Thank you so much for your gifs! Especially lately, being SkyJao my babies, you've done a great job with their scenes. I'll try not to spam-reblog everything you make, so you don't get tired of seeing my url, but be sure my drafts are full of your work for the next days!

@negrowhat Love reading your take on the series. We're almost the same age and it's refreshing to read "grown-up" oppinions on certain tropes and drama regarding the BL world that are entertaining at the same time.

@stormyoceans I blame you for turning me into a hopeless jayfoei shipper, are we ever going to get anything? T_T

Finally, as a member of the tiddie lover committee, I'm always looking forward to see you @tutontawans in my dash and reading your tags (btw, yout icon kills me every time idk why)

I know I'm forgetting ppl, so thanks to you all!! See you next weekend!

[acacia-luna-royal]

TAG NINE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

I was tagged by @rainbowcolored7 Thank you so much honey!! I am so sorry that this is late, life has been hectic but I’ll try not to disappoint!

Okay, so, I’ll do my best to keep this away from being a haphazard mess as best as I can, but I might fail because these questions are hard😭😭Anyway, lets go!

Favourite Colour: Baby yellow and bright yellow, basically most yellows but not the greeny ones or the dark mustard coloured yellows. Blush pinks, burgundy and plum purple.

Currently Reading: Right this moment, KinnPorsche the novel, though it’s a ride and a half and I have to keep taking a breather and I’m not even a quarter of the way through 😭 It’s gonna take me ages! Fanfictions... there are so damn many, my phone hates how many tabs I have open. There’s a mixture of KinnPorsche fanfics and Bungou Stray Dogs fanfics. To name a few KinnPorsche fanfics, there is On The Clock By Serena_Writes and it is so fucking good, I’m honestly hooked! Dropping a baby off at a mafia compound is a good idea, right? By lalala53 on Ao3 or @lesbianiconsteveharrington here on tumblr. It’s a one shot, but my god it is so fucking cute!! It’s just *chef’s kiss* Adorbs! Definitely would recommend! The Modern Way by TheObsoleteOne. This one is just fucking adorable in all aspects! If you want KinnPorsche with cavity inducing fluffiness and heart flutters caused by warm, comforting domesticity, then this is the fic for you! It’s the cutest shit ever! And another great fanfic, which has also got me hooked on the edge of my seat like what’s gonna happen next?, Somewhere I Belong by Jamaican Princess (Rocquellan). There are so many more but I’d be here all day, but these ones I would definitely give them a read as they are so amazing!

As for an actual original book, I’m currently reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Bungou Stray Dogs novel 55 Minutes by Kafka Asagiri, Trying by Emily Phillips, Child of Fortune by Yuko Tsushima and No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.

Last Song: Oh damn, where the hell do I start?! I know I’ve been listening to CIRCUS, Christmas EveL and Maniac by Stray Kids on a loop, as well as their other songs, I’m a Stay and I love these babies so much! LALISA by LISA. Mirror Mirror by MILLI, Feat. F.Hero and Changbin from Stray Kids (I mean I loved this song before the KP World Tour, but Us has got me hooked on it even more so I blame him). SG by Dj Snake, Megan Thee Stallion, LISA and Ozuna (was addicted to this song as soon as I saw the video of Bible rolling his hips to it so thank you KP world tour, eternally grateful☺️) Another song I’m hooked on right now is PIECES by Elley Duhé, this song for multiple reasons. More artists I’ve been listening to are Bebe Rexha (I’ve loved Bebe for so damn long), ITZY and DREAMCATCHER.

Last Series: The last series I watched was KinnPorsche (though I can’t stop watching it, it’s the love of my life and I have separation anxiety and KinnPorsche withdrawal symptoms). But before that, I watched Vincenzo; So freaking good!! Definitely would recommend! There’s a nice balance of mystery, comedy, crime, drama and mafia too, it is honestly such a good series. And then All Of Us Are Dead; Now this show, holy fuck, it was so good I watched it again straight after finishing it, it’s THAT good!! Again, would definitely recommend! Both Vincenzo and All Of Us Are Dead are on Netflix.

Last Movie: I honestly cannot remember the last movie I watched, I’ve just been watching series so I can’t remember off of the top of my head but I think it might have been Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness which was excellent! Definitely would recommend this to anyone who is interested.

Currently working on: Okay, I don’t know if this counts but I’m in the process of writing a few KinnPorsche metas (I hope they’ll be metas and not just messes) and they’re currently glaring at me from my tumblr drafts, waiting for me to finish them, which I will eventually get around to, but that’s what I’m in the process of working on right now.

I am going to tag @lutawolf @markswifesblog @isolatedkiller @iffervescent @biochemjess @lobsterjimsourcream @accal1a @yeahmileapo @percyjacksonlover-15 @maleficent-cannoli @luckydragon10 @00vi I just realised that that isn’t nine but it’s fine, and I’m sorry if I’m tagging someone who has been already been tagged and if they’ve already done this. If you have, then don’t worry about it. I could have honestly been here all day answering these questions but that would go on and on so I made it as short as I could. Thank you again @rainbowcolored7 for tagging me, you’re such a sweetheart! 🥰🥰💖💖💖

[theolderguards]

FYI

I'm collecting a BUNCH of KP gifsets in my drafts so as soon as I've finished the series, my queue will be filled with 95% KinnPorsche... (the other 5% will be the usual Gallavich, TOG, Stranger Things and the occasional funny cat post 😺) so if you don't like to see so much of KP on your dash, I suggest you blacklist #Kinnporsche (or unfollow) in the next 8-10 hours 🤣

OR you can just do yourself the favor and watch it because it is just brilliant 😍

[snickerdoodlles]

06. ? 👀👀👀👀

🥰❣.

for talk shit, get hit series, the original drive for it was always brothers. when i was first writing nosy, nosy, i was also going thru a personal life crisis and a lot of pain due to a surgery that got infected, so i was really just proud that i had managed to finish it. there are some plot setup things in it tho that i would have done very differently had a little bit more of my whits around me at the time, and when silver for truth was petering out because tawan's POV was really hard to write/get balanced, i'd been considering leaving talk shit, get hit series as loosely connected one-shots around brothers standing up for each other where the individual fic canons were a little more loose and fluid, or even just dropping the series aspect of it altogether.

then the kp finale dropped, and it rattled me so fucking hard i wrote part 6 of talk shit, get hit series that night. i didn't even have a narrative for parts 2-5 yet, i just knew it was pt6 of that series and after i spit out a *consults drive* 2.5k fic draft, then i tried to figure out the in between plot points 😂 i expected this draft's series placement to shuffle, but nah. it is indeed pt6 of this series. it's also why i'm sticking to a strict narrative for this series, even with the pieces i'd have changed otherwise, and honestly also a huge push for me to keep writing this series. it's slow going, but i'm still trucking along and having fun with it, so that's fun!

anyways, summary for doc '06.' also tentatively titled King's Knight: Kim, his father, and a chessboard, playing anything but the game.

[dallasareaopinion]

Succumbing to the NBA free agency madness--Mavericks

I guess we are close enough to June 30 that I can start my cater walling about how bad the Mavs are going to screw this up again.

Year after year they keep talking big fish and they keep sinking the boat.

So lets take a brief stroll down wonderful memory lane to start the talk about what the Mavs should do to build a championship team. And of course we start with their last one. And yes that sounds trite, but give me a moment here.

The Mavs had just spent the last couple of years picking up pieces, really good pieces leading up to 2011. They had two players in Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd who were all stars, but some considered on the back side of their careers. They picked up Tyson Chandler that summer.

Did we have two supermax players? No. Did we have a strong collection of All Stars and players on the edge of being All Stars, in fact we had a few in Dirk, Jett, Kidd, Marion, and Chandler. None of these players adding to Dirk were big fish free agency catches. We had a great bench.

We blew it the next year and thereafter chasing big fish. And yet Cuban and Nelson are fishing again. Folks it is time they put up the over priced fishing boat and concentrate on collecting prized fishes that feed the MFFL masses.

Will this happen overnight, probably not, but Luka and KP are young so we have a couple of years to build the right way.

So with all the Plan-K dreams and the Kemba Walker dreams being bantered about, let’s talk about the slow transition in the right direction.

Imagine this team and this is just a framework or roadmap to the next championship. We cannot get there without changing course from our recent past.

For the 4&5 position, how about KP, Julius Randle, Powell, Kleber, and ?  Gives us solid rotation and a mix of talent to match up different teams. And lets play KP at the 4 mainly and not get him so beat up.

And some development of Kostas. Dream big and much development of Kostas.

For the 3&4 position how about Dorian, Jackson, some Maxi, and Luka at times. Again some rotational ability with the above group, but if DFS or Jackson take a step further this year, then we are developing our own border line all star players or at least players that productively compliment all star players.

For the 2&3.. Currently you have Hardaway Jr, Luka, Ryan Broekhoff and ?, Jackson? Not sure here, this rotation will need some work. Luka is assured of course since no matter what position or number you call him, he is the primary ball handler, it is the defensive assignment that matters most at what position you play him. And even though Hardaway’s contract is a bit heavy it can be tolerated if he ends up being consistent on both ends of the court  and averages in the 16-5-5 range. I know 5 assists seems high, but if he is a starter and playing the two and the team is moving the ball like they should then averaging 5 assists should be expected.

Realistically with good ball movement we should have five players overall who put up 5+ assists a game. We will need strong ball movement and team defense to do well with this group which leads to the last grouping.

For the 1&2  Patrick Beverly, Luka, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke and JJ? or ?

15 players on the team:

Luka

KP

Dwight Powell

Dorian Finney Smith

Maxi Kleber

Justin Jackson

Jalen Brunson

Ryan Broekhoff

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Trey Burke

Add

Julius Randle

Patrick Beverly

Make a hard decision on JJ Barrera  Can he come back?

And make a decision on Salah Mejri or finding a younger athletic wing

And decide what is your next most important need and maybe get a third free agent.

Or make a couple of trades to either get draft picks back for the next couple of years or keep some money open for those all star to almost all star players to consistently play with Luka until you find the right combination and sign a few for a few years.

Will we win a championship with this group? Of course we will, but at least we are headed in the right direction.

We all doubt the Mavs will get Durant, Leonard, Kyrie, Walker(maybe?), Klay, Butler (not a fit) Khris Middleton (?) so why waste time.

Do we lose Mejri and try for a Lopez brother in addition to Randle to give us a solid 5 player rotation for the 4 and 5?

Do we just get Randle and try for Patrick and another up and coming 3 and D player to bolster Jackson and DFS’s rotation?

In my humble opinion these are the questions the Mavs front office should be thinking about.

There are a couple of other options that could develop and all of them much more realistic than Plan K. And in the long run I think we win. All your Plan K guys are 30 + or close or a head case. There are many border line great players who do not get the attention and occasionally one or two at the end of their prime who will be worth much more as players and at less $ cost going forward over the next few years to worry about the “big fish” now.

Time to cast the net out wide, not throw the pole in the water.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Some thoughts for other teams. I am not sure why Boston doesn’t cut bait with Kyrie and go for Kemba Walker. Same for Philly, lose Butler and go for Walker. Thoughts?

The Bucks should find a way to stay intact.

The Raptors are the favorites or scrambling depending on Leonard’s decision. They are still happy for the moment though.

The Warriors will be middling till Klay comes back. If they wait long enough for him to be 100%, they might do some damage in the playoffs. Durant isn’t playing next year at all if he is smart so even if he stays with the Warriors you can count him out.

The Wild card is the Lakers with AD now. Can they get a Plan-K player or will injuries decimate this two superstar team potential? I am not sold yet. Someone may come, but what depth will they have? It will matter against Denver and Portland in 6 & 7 game series.

Clippers?

Nets?

OKC?

And Houston??????, yes many questions. Before the AD trade I joked that if LA didn’t get a Plan-K player (and is that phrase only a Mavs phrase, I read too much local news), they might look at CP3 on July 2nd. Maybe the Lakers don’t have to now and wow, where does a Rocket go from here? Paul’s contract is an albatross on him and the Rockets. I did say if he really wants a championship he is going to have to give up a bunch of money and become a player on a team with other superstars. He will never be the top dog on a championship team at this point in his career.

Spurs?  The West is changing, what are they going to do?

Cheers

[aprilblossomgirl]

Capturing and editing scenes of my favorite series' to create my own still sets are really stress relieving. But then I kept postponing writing about said series.

*yes I'm watching you my abandoned drafts of some final kp thoughts*