#well thailand seems to have been a whole mess

[pharawee]

https://vxtwitter.com/BLUPDATE2022/status/1763578043942187087

Are we surprised here?

Oh well, at least it's still being released. 🙏

[bengiyo]

Century of Love: A Muddled, Pretty Mess

Century of Love is a somewhat difficult show for me to rate. On the whole, I have to say that the final four episodes squander a lot of the fun and potential of the earlier episodes, leaving this to be a fundamentally unsatisfying, somewhat-incomplete project. Century of Love is another show where I find myself struggling with the idea of what the show could have been beside the reality of what it actually was. Thus, despite finding the show visually pleasing and sometimes-fun, it’s honestly rather forgettable now that it’s passed.

Rating: 7, Recommended With Serious Reservations

Runtime: 10 60+ minute episodes

Country: Thailand

Network: Netflix, One 31, oneD

Availability: GagaOOlala

Century of Love is about a man named San (Daou Pittaya), who has lived for a century in search of the reincarnation of his murdered love. Accumulating wealth for his family and receiving their care, they’re anticipating the seminal moment in which San will finally find Vad (Cookie Yada) again. In this case, all measurements indicate that Vad has been reincarnated as one of the most beautiful boys ever in Vee (Offroad Kantapon), and San has to unlearn his own internalized homophobia and presumptions if he doesn’t want to suffer a painful death. He must connect with Vee, and stave off attempts to steal the magic stone that’s kept him alive for a century. 

The show blends romance, drama, action, and comedy really well in the first few weeks of viewing, but then takes a steep nosedive over its final arcs. I want to talk about some of the things I enjoyed in this show before I criticize the back half too much. User @flowerbeasblog covers the significance of this as a queer lakorn airing in a primetime slot in their post. We also know that there were serious workplace safety issues on set (@singto-prachaya), and it seems like the director has distanced himself from the project by not even posting about it.

Daou Pittaya. I loved Daou in this role. He showed real chops as an actor. I felt the entire time that he was an old man in a young body. He looked worn and tired most of the time in a way that is recognizable in elders. His training as an idol clearly helped with his ability to perform the fight choreography (limited as it was). He was also beautiful, and the costuming department was so correct to put him in shirts that shows off his collarbones in every episode. 

The Family. I loved San’s family so much. I loved that we had members of all ages calling San great grandpa the whole time, and I loved the way they teased him across the show. Juu (Xiang Pornsroung) was a standout character, and it was obvious that War Jirawat was having a great time treating Daou’s character like an elder.

Offroad Kantapon. I thought Offroad was the best part of Our Days (2022), and I liked him in Love in Translation (2023). He’s good with Daou in this show, but seems like he struggled in scenes with others. I wanna chalk that up to the storytelling confusion later.  He has great scenes with Tuk Deuntem as the grandmother that I also feel like didn’t clear up with the themes.

Let’s get into the big issues. More than anything, this show muddled its messaging about accepting death and new life. There are clear guides to this early with Vee not remembering his prior life as Vad, and asserting that he personally would move on because there’s no way the old Vad would come back. 

The Mythology. This show really cocked up its own mythology, evinced best by the multiple episodes of hot potato they played with who got the five-colored stone. I’d have rather the show focused on the relationship with the goddess than the stone as a plot device. The show sidesteps the own question it asked about whether it matters who is reincarnated as Vad by having a doppenganger lie about what she remembers, and yet the stone responded to her, too? San choosing Vee regardless is a nice idea, but the show really let me down on not resolving its own mythology when it showed that Tao could predict exactly when San would run into Vad. Also, what the fuck was the deal with Chibi San (credit to @negrowhat)? Why does he have to rejuvenate as a kid, and then that just goes away? Finally, why was Pond Ponlawit even in this show? What purpose did Third serve in this reincarnation tale? There were hints he was going to be some kind of villain, and then it’s just dropped. 

The Villains. Speaking of villains, what was the point of Chen and nephew other than to extend the show by having people trying to steal the stone? Why did Third have no role in the reincarnation tale other than to share the face with Trai? We don’t learn anything interesting about Chen and nephew before they kill each other like an SNL sketch. 

The Themes Around Death. Early on the show set up a growth arc for San to grow beyond who he was at Vad’s death. He’s literally preserved the theater she died in until she returns. Vee is dealing with the impending death of his grandmother. The grandmother makes the choice not to continue living in pain and accept the life she has, asserting that every story must come to an end for it to have meaning. Then, San lies about his own impending death only to be saved at the last minute. I just didn’t really enjoy the way they handled this at all in the end. 

Final Thoughts. I’m really glad a lot of new people got to enjoy Daou and Offroad. I also really like the way this show handled its themes around bisexuality with Vee, and San coming to enjoy the intimate relationship he built with Vee. I thought there were a lot of really fun moments in the early part of this show, especially with them giving the audience exactly what we wanted from one scene into the next one (like Vee meeting Chibi Sun immediately). I will remember the costuming fondly, and I will remember the cast. Other than that, I will probably not return to this show, and that’s a real shame because it started off as something that felt like it could be a favorite.

Hopefully they hire Daou and Offroad for the idol romance BL that @lurkingshan has been asking for.  

[hannahssimblr]

can you put on your creative director / marketing hat and talk about the cover art for lucky boy (and/or both) 🎤

!!! I've actually never been asked about visuals before this is so fun!!

Okay! So here's the cover in question

Honestly I love this and I was really proud of how it turned out.

The raw & more detail is below the cut

Alright! so the idea for this was that it's simply an image of Jude: finally free!

Here he is backpacking in Thailand which he hasn't done yet as of the date of this post, but Lucky Girl readers will know that he eventually Does Do That.

You can tell by his hair here too that he's older. He has this haircut when he reunites with Evie briefly in 2012, so I imagine this trip took place sometime around summer-autumn 2011.

To be honest the whole purpose of Lucky Boy was as sort of an extension of the original story for Lucky Girl readers who wanted more in-depth detail about Jude's life, more than what he ever had the time to tell Evie during her portion of the story, so for that reason the story is filled with little hints of what we know will happen, as well as nods to specific things about him that some have already learned - Like, how the story opens with him getting both ears pierced. The fact that he was a boy with two (and eventually 3) piercings was something that Evie found particularly cute and unique about him, and it's something he references in jest from time to time. ("haven't you seen my cute little earrings?")

Anyway, Thailand is where he gets that rather meaningless forearm tattoo, but it's also a place where he spends a lot of time alone. He does travel with a friend, but said friend is holed up with food poisoning for a significant chunk of the trip, which makes me quite certain that Jude spent a lot of time doing a lot of thinking. I'll explore this more in the actual story when I get there, but it's worth pointing out that when Evie meets him after this trip she notices a certain calmness in him, and like he's lost a lot of the boyish energy ("I realise I am looking at a man"). I feel like this trip is somewhat responsible for that.

He's also, clearly, facing away from the camera, which is probably self explanatory. In the chapter with Jen's birthday, as they take the train to the aquarium in Bray he waxes lyrical (as usual, yawn!) about his preference to sit facing the engine, never looking back. It's the same in this image. He is always moving forward.

YET - that is his school bag. (It is the wrong colour, yes, i didn't have the recoloured version when i made this poster lmao) so there's a sense that he's still in some way tied to childhood, to the things that are unresolved. Lucky Girl readers already know what (and who) those things are but I'll develop all that further from my controllers seat here inside Jude's brain.

"It seems like we wanted the same thing (...) Not to grow up too quickly, like, to be allowed to just be a kid.”

Also - the toy attached to it represents Ivy. It's never explicitly stated in the story, but I think it's probably not in his character to have something like that on his bag unless it was gifted from someone important. So, he's carrying her with him too on his travels.

Now, for the artistic stuff (eek!)

I chose this pinky purple as the base colour by messing around with some hard light blending and the colour balance adj. because it creates that kinda fantasy feeling, like wonder and/or enlightenment is ahead, which hopefully for our dumb boy, it is. Purple is also often used in graphic design to indicate creativity, which is apt, seeing as he's an artist and all that.

I slapped in some sun in the corner ala 3 year old child's drawing, and added the text in yellow for no reason other than it's a complementary colour, and it picks up some of the yellows in the image.

Then added a text gradient to blend it in better and a little drop shadow effect

And finally some grain, paper texture and rounded corners because I wanted it to feel tangible, that sweet, nostalgic 35mm camera effect, or like a postcard.

and that's it!!

This was so fun, you know I love 2 yap and you gave me a platform to do so.

Thanks so much for your question!

[gcldengirll]

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

[Biography] [Statistics] [Wanted Connections] [Edits]

Private muse for Manoafm as written by Samantha, 27, PST

(  mint ranchrawee,  female,  she/her,  muse  01  )  was  that  DARIKA CHAIYAPHAT  i  saw  heading  towards  the  water?  you  know  the  TWENTY FIVE  year  old  from  LANIKAI COVE?  can  you  believe  they've  only  lived  in  manoa  bay  for  TWENTY THREE YEARS,  it  seems  like  so  much  longer.  last  i  checked  they  were  known  around  town  as  the  THE GOLDEN GIRL because  of  their  tendency  to  be  EXTROVERTED and  SECRETIVE,  but  what  else  did  you  expect  from  a  LEO  who  reminds  you  of  LONG SUMMER DAYS ON THE BEACH, LOUD LAUGHTER, KALEIDOSCOPIC SUNSET, and TREATING YOURSELF TO A SPA DAY…  since  hayden's  disappearance  they  have  been  happily  working  as  a  SALES ASSOCIATE at  LUXE,  but  that's  all  about  to  change  because  the  eye  HAS  set  their  sights  on  exposing  all  of  their  lies,  as  well  as  SECRET.  i  really  hope  they  don't  incriminate  themself.

i need to type out a whole bio for her but in the meantime please refer to this mess for general information! forgive me

her dad is the chief financial officer for a major software company and her mom is the classic trophy wife

darika was born in thailand but after her dad's software company took off they moved to hawaii so that he could help integrate his software for the u.s. navy

her family was not considered wealthy when they first came to america. in fact, they didn’t have much money until darika was in elementary school so some people who met her as a child may remember this version of her family though her parents act like this history never happened

darika is truly the golden retriever type. very loyal to friends and family and is a leo as well so she loves the spotlight

she always looks happy but wears her smile like a mask - shes lowkey very depressed and anxious

she's a perfectionist

she feels a lot of pressure to be perfect for her family because shes an only child. they expect her to be very prim and proper but shes goofy around her close friends

she's instagram famous because she takes a lot of pictures of her lavish lifestyle but she doesn't see this as a viable career so she only does it for fun

she currently works at luxe mostly just to fill up her free time because she went to college for business management but has not done anything with her degree...her dad expects her to join his company but she keeps avoiding that topic

one of the ways that she de-stresses is through yoga, pilates and reading on the beach

she was popular in highschool because she knew everyone and was a cheerleader but ever since she turned twenty-something shes been lost

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

Well that was entertaining. Liveblogging notes for episode 1 below.

Lot of mirrors in this scene (often signpost deception). Kinn is executing a "betrayer," is there other stuff happening here? Opening scenes set up both characters at ease in their respective domains. Porsche has everyone at the bar eating out of his hand. Kinn is in control in the scene with the Italians (at least for the moment). Otherwise a study in contrasts and unbuttoned shirts.

And now presumably the Italians are trying to kill Kinn. Big, WTF I thought you were supposed to be the competent one? J/k I've been spoiled for this whole show and I feel bad for him and now he's gotten shot. Motorcycle guys not messing around. Kinn is a pretty good shot though? I like that perspective spin on the hallway!

Porsche, meanwhile, is having an excellent evening which gets very exciting. And lucrative!

The hairstylists on this set must have had fun arranging those stray wisps just right on Mile.

15 minutes into this, and Kinn's watching him ride off like Cinderella leaving the ball at midnight. All the bodyguards pull up like "oh thank god you're okay, we aren't going to get killed for failing at our job."

The Kittisawat house looks nice! Thank you for the slow pan, I love examining set dressing details. House plants, knick-knacks, and family photos. This is not the bachelor den one might expect from a household headed by a 23-year-old bartender/street fighter; someone has standards. Porsche's otherwise excellent evening has been dampened. Family has money troubles, can either pay school or rent - or, implied, food - but not all three.

Uncle lost all his money on CRYPTO? I was not expecting that. Everybody in this family is lying to each other, yikes.

More fancy camera angles! Character establishment! Porsche is a badass but he's also fighting a losing battle against The System to keep his little brother housed and fed. Bro's shirt says "today is a good day" in case we didn't realize that he is Innocence personified in all of this.

How does Uncle know where to move stolen watches? Kinda sus. Seriously Porsche you won't let your brother have a beer? The internet tells me that the drinking age in Thailand is 20.

Halfway point. Kinn's dad is doing pottery and giving Kinn a hard time. Kinn appears determined to keep handling the Italians his own way, and also to find Porsche.

Wait, Porsche is still in school TOO? At least occasionally? Also he is a brat. Also maybe don't give your friends' names as yours to Mafia people, dude. I mean, you were obviously lying, but still.

Uh-oh, busted. Kinn is way too amused about this whole thing. LOL we get it you are in fact high-class Mafia. Porsche is out of his depth and knows it. Not too high-class for straight-up threats.

This has to be the weirdest recruitment pitch I have ever seen. Just saying you could have gone with the money first rather than the kidnapping? Good on Porsche for not taking this bullshit lying down. Good on Kinn for being willing to get messed up. Good on Porsche for fighting dirty. Kinn what is your angle here?

Wait this was KORN's idea? Because Korn is thinking a bodyguard who can't be bought might be valuable? Kinn looks so thoroughly annoyed LOL.

Porsche's day keeps getting shittier as he has escaped but the house is busted up and rather than paying off their debts Uncle lost their money gambling. Uncle is a real asshole? Porsche is in a bind.

Chay is crying. :(( Porsche is crying. :((((( Oh no. This is great, you can see Porsche's terrible decision coming a mile away. More lying! Fantastic!!

Porsche has been there a hot minute and Big is already like "I do NOT get paid enough for this." Unfortunately for him both of the Theerapanyakuls appear to appreciate a gutsy smartass. Kinn is perplexed by whatever his father is up to? Korn seems satisfied. Love me a symbolic chess game.

[firstkanaphans]

Can I ask what happened with the Earth/Stud subplot of Friendzone? I haven't seen it.

Apologies if this is a little rude, I won't mind if you don't answer. :)

This isn’t rude at all, Anon! I’d be happy to tell you. But let me start this off by saying that I do not like Friendzone. At all. In fact, my biggest worry going into Only Friends was that it was going to be like Friendzone. Every single character in Friendzone is the worst person you’ve ever met in your life and yet it’s written as if you’re supposed to root for them. Luckily, it seems that P’Jojo has pivoted a bit in Only Friends because even super toxic characters like Boston are still likable. You understand their motivations even if they suck. Friendzone is just a mess.

But onto Earth and Stud.

Full disclaimer: It has been a while since I watched Friendzone and I have no plans to watch it again, so this is just my recollection of what happened. It’s also a wild ride, so strap in.

So Earth (played by Singto Prachaya) and Stud (played by Plustor Pronpiphat) have been friends since college. Stud is a, well, stud. He sleeps with any boy that will have him (mostly AJ Chayapol who I’m pretty sure was only 17 at the time). Earth is in a long-term committed relationship with a much older doctor named Sam (played by Nat Sakdatorn, the ultimate zaddy).

One day, Stud decides it would be super fun to sleep with Earth’s boyfriend Sam. In my recollection of this, Sam put up no fight whatsoever. Stud flirted with him like twice and Sam was just like, “Earth who?” Earth, meanwhile, is just a precious little cinnamon roll who has never done anything wrong in his life: great friend, great boyfriend, plant dad. Does not deserve this shit.

I think Stud and Sam only sleep together once? Maybe? But eventually Earth finds out and is super mad at Stud and not nearly mad enough at Sam, but whatever. It was 2018. Back then it was still okay to blame the mistress.

Anyway, as all of this is happening, Stud starts to realize that he hadn’t slept with Sam because he wanted Sam. He had slept with him because he wanted Earth and was only trying to break them up.

Season 1 ends with Earth still dating Sam (🤮) and I want to pull my hair out at how stupid everyone is being.

But it’s not over yet because there’s (unfortunately) a season 2.

In season 2, Earth struggles with still not trusting Sam since he is, you know, a dirty fucking cheater, but luckily him and Stud are able mend their broken relationship. I think the impetus for this is Stud’s mother dying? Maybe? It’s actually very sweet. The power of friendship and all that.

They start hanging out more and somewhere along the way, Earth decides that a great way to get back at Sam for sleeping with Stud is by sleeping with Stud himself. So that’s what he does. Stud is, at this point, madly in love with him and Earth is well-aware of those feelings, but does not feel the same. It’s deliciously angsty. My favorite scene in the whole series. You can watch it here around the 3:15 mark. (It’s fade-to-black because this was 2018 and we all know that gay sex wasn’t invented in Thailand until Tharntype in 2019.)

Sam finds out—I’m pretty sure Earth just straight up tells him in an act of pettiness I can only aspire to—and rather than ending what has at this point become a very toxic relationship, he suggests an open relationship instead so that Earth can sow his wild oats or whatever. And then the series somehow still ends with Earth and Sam together. Jesus effing Christ, I can’t.

Now that I’ve typed all of this out, I’m realizing it’s basically Only Friends if the reason Boston hooked up with Top was because he was secretly in love with Mew and now I want that so freakin’ badly. Mew is the beer-flavored nipples girl in this show and it’s what he deserves.

I think that’s all? I know it probably sounds super intriguing when laid out in a concise list like this but I cannot stress enough that you should not watch this show. It’s not good. And it’s so freakin’ long. Each season is like 16 episodes and most of it is just a het dumpster fire of trash. I spend every day praying Only Friends stays on the path it’s currently on and doesn’t veer into Friendzone territory. But even if it does, at least it’s gay.

[kismetharborapps]

ooc information

name: Nessa

preferred pronouns: she/her

age: 25

timezone: EST

activity level: I'm starting a new job soon, but I plan to be around during the evening hours. And maybe some mornings if time allows.

triggers: OCD, cancer

anything else?: N/A

character information

name: Sarocha Naiyana

faceclaim: Davika Hoorne

gender & pronouns: Cis-woman & she/her

age: 32

birthday: April 19, 1992 (4/19/1992)

place of birth: Bangkok, Thailand

occupation: pediatric nurse @ Kismet Harbor Hospital

neighborhood: Downtown (sunset ridge townhomes)

time since arriving in kismet harbor: Since 2008

filling a wanted connection?: N/A

biography: 

On April 19th, 1992, a wonderful and warm afternoon in Bangkok, Thailand, the ray of sunshine that is Sarocha Naiyana was born. A picture from that day still hangs on the wall in the entryway of Jonathan and Eleanore's tiny craftsman house - Sarocha's mom, in the hospital bed, holding her, two older brothers and one older sister, all dangling from her father's arms or trying to squish onto the bed to get into the frame. For the first six years of her life, she was the youngest child; when her parents announced that not only was she gonna be a big sister, she was gonna be a big sister two twins, little Sarocha honestly didn't know what to make of it. She'd been on her own for six years by then and the idea of having to share her parents' love with more siblings didn't initially sit too well with her - when Gabriel and Loena were born though, those big sister instincts kicked in almost instantly and she's loved them ever since.

Because there were more children than parents living under their roof, it seemed as if each Naiyana kid would go on to make their voice heard in a unique way, some working towards being the 'golden child' of the Naiyana clan - which in all honesty was probably one of the easiest to achieve methods - and others taking a darker path into making their mark on this world.

Thankfully for her, out of all of the Naiyana children, Sarocha was the unpredictable one. She was loud and demanded the attention. She was one that was often getting lost at the grocery store, talking to strangers or drawing on the walls. She was the type of kid that demanded everyone watch her impromptu theater shows in the living room where she was almost always a vampire hunter, a ballerina or even a pirate for a short period of time. Her mother, a stay-at-home mom, struggled to keep her out of things she shouldn't be in or from creating messes, from tracking mud onto precious rugs bought from past vacations or climbing on shelves and shattering beautiful family heirlooms. Even though she was a mischievous girl, she had one of the most charming smiles and she always seemed to know how to weasel her way out of the trouble she got herself into.

Her parents taught her how to be independent and how to take care of herself pretty early on and, in turn, she started helping taking care of her younger siblings (and her parents as well, easily picking up on when they needed a break from the twins and whatever else they had going on in her life). Saorcha's always been a caring person and has always enjoyed taking care of people, which really made her eventual choice of a career very fitting.

However, things were thrown slightly off balance for her when her father was relocated for his job to Kismet Harbor, Oregon. She ended up having to adjust to high school in a whole new environment with a whole new group of people. It wasn't easy, but she managed. Kismet Harbor was quaint and homey, something she sort of craved. Despite being raised in a large, touristy city, she always felt out of place there. The small town was everything she had been looking for. Being settled had a positive impact on Sarocha, her average grades soon increased to high B's and low A's and she became involved with the school orchestra and art club. Her grades in science, particularly biology, were always the highest on her report card. When career day came around, the advisor suggested a career in medicine. However, when she mentioned the seven or so years it would take to become a doctor, Sarocha zoned out.

Even though she didn't want to become a doctor, she decided to follow in her father's footsteps by going into the medical field, but as a nurse. In the summer break before senior year, Sarocha researched courses and colleges for weeks before she finally decided to go to New York University. She applied for colleges in Oregon, but she refused to commute from Kismet Harbor and craved independent living. After graduating, she packed her life into a few cardboard boxes and headed out in her well-loved Jeep to New York City.

Going to college was the best thing that had ever happened to Saorcha. She built a pretty great life for herself while in the city. She earned her degree, and became a registered nurse in four years. So, by the time she was twenty-two, she had a pretty good idea what it was that she wanted to do with her life, and rather than take a break, she continued to work in New York City while also going to school for her MSN (Master's of Science in Nursing), which she did in a little over two years. At that point, she decided that it was time to move back home. After getting a job at the local hospital, she packed up and moved back to Kismet Harbor. Not only was she pursuing her career dreams, she was also moving back to her hometown and getting to reconnect with her group of friends that had seen some variety of turnover across the years. She responded to an ad for a roommate, quickly befriending them and moving in with them, and, soon after, she adopted a golden retriever that she named Winnie and a cat named Serena. She's been back in town for a little under eight years now. More recently, she's received a promotion at work and she now works as a pediatric nurse, which is something that she absolutely loves.

other: https://jackscnallen.tumblr.com & some muse posts that have a good sense of her personality: X, X, X, X

pets: Serena, 4 years old X & Winnie, 8 years old X

town activities: dear beloved, read between the wines, mindful madness, LGBTQIA+, open mic, trivia nights, vino spell

draw of luck: yes!

-

character information

name: Theo Benjamin Woods

faceclaim: Oliver Stark

gender & pronouns: Cis-man & he/him

age: 32

birthday: October 21, 1991 (10/21/1991)

place of birth: Scottsdale, Arizona

occupation: mechanic @ lucy's auto center

neighborhood: driftwood haven (horizon park)

time since arriving in kismet harbor: since 1996

filling a wanted connection?: N/A

biography: 

Theo Woods was born on the road. His parents, two young Florida natives, had both picked up and ran as soon as they turned eighteen. His father worked as a roadie, touring the world with several different bands. His mother, who had left uber religious parents behind, was a so called "free spirit" who changed her name to 'sapphire' when she left home and claimed to be a psychic medium and roamed the country on the carnival circuit. They met in a dive bar somewhere in Texas - and thus began their strange and tumultuous relationship that resulted in the existence of Theo.

His parents did not have their shit together, in the slightest. His mother was barely twenty when she met his father, who was twenty-eight at the time. Their relationship was passionate, and the pair were obsessed with each other. For several months, they were hot and heavy - Geri (his mother's real name) even left the carnival circuit for awhile so they could be together - for six months before the novelty of the relationship wore off and they went their separate ways. Only for Geri to find out she was pregnant several weeks after. Theo Benjamin Woods came screaming into the world seven months later in a random hospital in Arizona, and Geri and Oliver made several more attempts at making their relationship before finally calling it quits for good when Theo was two.

Theo spent the first few years of his childhood on the road with his mom. Sometimes on the carnival circuit, sometimes wherever the wind would blow them - as his mother put it. She usually supported them by setting up shop in the living room or kitchen of wherever they were staying and reading fortunes, tarot cards and delivering messages from people's dearly departed loved ones. To this day Theo has remained mostly neutral on his opinion of his mother's "gifts" (there have been too many freaky incidents for him to deny completely that his mother doesn't have some sort of connection with something other worldly) but completely recognizes that most of what she does to make money is very fake - and also to get attention. He still cringes whenever he thinks about the parent/teacher meeting he had with her in the 9th grade - when she threw her chair backwards and started gagging violent, claiming that a spirit passed too close to her. It was a horrifying moment for Theo, and his English teacher.

When Theo was five years old, he came to Kismet Harbor to live with his paternal grandparents. Geri had come to realize the nomad life wasn't so easy when you were dragging a small child along with you, and she wasn't prepared to settle down. Neither was his father. After a lot of debate, Geri finally conceded that it might be best for Abigail and Harry to take him in - so long as she got full access to him whenever she wanted. It was the best agreement for everyone involved, really. Theo got a stable, loving home to grow up in and his parents wander in and out of his life whenever they wanted. They were a weird family, when it came down to it, but it worked for them. Theo was happier with his Abigail and Harry than he would have been on the road, and his parents still got to drop in and mortify him when they felt like it - Theo still has nightmares about his tenth birthday, when his mom and her current boyfriend dropped by the party and "Uncle Bob" proceeded to horrify all the children with his behavior and make everyone terrifying balloon animals, which ended with Theo being saddled with the nickname "balloon boy" for most of his childhood.

Life in Kismet Harbor was pretty good for Theo. He flourished with his grandparents, who were much more equipped to raise him. Theo was a tinkerer growing up. He questioned everything about how things worked, and both Abigail and Harry were always incredibly patient with all his 'but why' questions. He spent hours with Abigail (or meemaw, affectionately nicknamed mimi), watching as she taught him how to take apart an engine and put it back together, or how to rewire the den for a ceiling fan, showing him how everything worked. Naturally, this inspired a lifelong interest in fixing things. Theo has always been a hands on guy - especially when it came to school, Theo always performed best in shop classes, therefore took all of them - and his grandmother's tutelage put him ahead of the game. Ultimately after leaving school, Theo got his certification and began working as a mechanic at Lucy's Auto Center. He'd considered continuing on in school for awhile, taking a mechanical engineer program or something similar, but decided school wasn't really for him. If he's being completely honest, he hasn't regretted any of his choices and is quite content with the way his life is going for him.

other: https://jackscnallen.tumblr.com/ & X, X, X, X

pets: please add links to high quality images of your character’s pets with their name and age if you want it added to the pet page

town activities: dungeons & dragons, game on, knit happens, LGBTQIA+, ready set clean, shop class, watchful eyes

draw of luck: yes!

[borkthemork]

This show is making me think of so many ideas, so what about a fic for the road, shall we?

Content Warning: Mention of needles.

---

Somewhere far away, far deeper than any concrete jungle out in the North American coastlines, climbed a woman. She hovered feet from the ground by the suspension of her rope, the tensile strength of her carabiners, and with her gloved hands lifted herself up slowly. Pulling her further into the itchy brambles as her saddle held her in place.

And with the chirps of distant birds, Dr. Anne Savisa Boonchuy breathed slowly to calm down her nerves.

To take in the splendid view before her.

There were the azure skies. How the bright and humid lighting fit the gentle breeze of the canopies. Of the ever revealing Thailand's Khao Sok rainforest as it unveiled its vast greenery past the leaves around her.

There came certainty in how she motioned upward. The nerves of her prior experiences had gotten her this far, and since bouldering didn't fit well with the ethics of well...not doing rough handling with the bark, she grabbed each overhead notch carefully as the world got a little bit brighter. 

A little bit fresher.

Her colleagues below had continued to whoop when she reached the halfway point of the tree. It made sense since the big guy had a forty-seven meter height, and a ta-kian tree was no laughing matter — the sucker can whoop her butt if she even dared tried to mess with its branches.

However, the ascent kept going. And what she found on the other side was her hovering far above the ground, her hair littered with gunk, the landscape quietening even further with the meters between her and the ground.

There it was, she thought. Far beyond her the Thai rainforest spread out in waves of green. With the whistle of the wind, the whole world seemed to sit still and move brusquely all the same, and for a moment she couldn't help but wonder how far she could squint until the mountains blocked her view.

And when she did, she smiled when another bird sang from nearby. A cicada creaking back in kind.

"Alright, alright." Anne rolled her eyes. She motioned her body forward to the tree's bark, and closed even further to the rings etched into the surface. "Sheesh, just because this is my job doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, you know?"

Of course, trees didn't talk. The last time a tree talked to her was way back when she was on another dang world, and right now, Thailand wasn't really the kind of place to make her lose her marbles entirely. However, working on the field could be lonely at times, and sometimes, chatting to herself made the profession a lot more enjoyable than just letting the animals do all the talking.

And speak of the devil, the croak of a frog welcomed her when she squinted further into the foliage. The eyes of a curious amphibian right there between a branch and leaf.

The one amphibian her colleagues liked to call Jaikieow rather than Number Fifty-Three.

"Hey there, lil' bud." Her voice softened. In her line of work, any sudden or harsh movements had always led to a bad time. And since she had been assigned to keep tags on every new tree frog in the canopies, best not to scare him off. "I'm just here to keep an eye on you, okay? No harm done, I promise."

The frog continued eyeing her from behind the leaf. With how green it was, it was hard to find which part of the vegetation was him. 

Until his forelimb moved slightly into the light. Just a teensy bit.

Anne grinned. "Yeah, just like that." 

With her hands fumbling through her bag, the frog continued getting closer. Closer and closer until it pressed to the edge of her ring finger.

She brought out her kit and propped it carefully against her. Secure enough so she could prepare one of the needles from within — a viscous, red liquid now making its way inside the barrel. 

When the frog tensed, Anne stopped.

Ten minutes went by. And maybe ten more if she didn't have the mind to count.

She waited for as long as she could, coaxing Jaikieow further to her gloves until he moved once more, skipping toward the middle of her hand as to nest there. All secure now under her loose grip.

"It's gonna be a little pinch," she said. Her hands gentle in keeping the tiny frog in place.

And with silent hums she inserted the point into his hind leg. Never harsh. Never hesitant in reassuring the animal with whispers.

When she released him back into the branches, the frog looked back at her for a moment. His eyes grew in curiosity — never the same expression when one worked around them for so long — and without another word, disappeared further into his home.

And Anne knew she would come back. She knew with all her heart, that even when she descended back to the eager eyes of her colleagues, that the world of amphibians would be hers to jump back into.

It all came back to the croak of the frog when he spotted her.

Or how the curiosity in his eyes reminded her so much of a friend.

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

hmmm would you be happy with writing a knj with corruption kink? I feel like it would suit him a lot-

like fem!oc is knj's bestayyy and they confessed before and began dating and got married, but they didn't get to have some fun with each other-

*cough* you know I like dom!namjoon-

Just clearing out my inbox little by little...

It all started when you could no longer be under your parents' health insurance plan, and upon finding out how costly it would be to have your own, you said, out loud to your best friend: "maybe I should find a husband." Health insurance is not something that you would actually get married for, so you thought Namjoon knew you were joking. That's until he said: "why don't we get married?" You disagreed from the start, and he didn't understand why. He didn't understand that you had been in love with him for years and having a fake marriage with him would absolutely break you. You told him once: "I wouldn't marry you like that because I want to get married for love." And he didn't talk to you for about two weeks after that.

He showed up at your house all of a sudden to confess. "I do love you, I've always had, and when I say I want to marry you I don't mean just for the papers. For me, it would be a marriage of love, if that's not how you feel then–" Yeah, you kissed him after that. And within a few months, you were already going through with your plan... getting married. It made sense. You were already best friends for years, you knew everything about each other, you knew you could co-exist like that... And now you knew what it was like to be in a romantic relationship too.

As best friends, you knew everything about each other's sex lives too, for better or for worse. For example, Namjoon knew all of your partners had been, well, rather disappointing. There was so much you hadn't done. You rarely ever branched out of missionary, you only had someone go down on you once and it lasted two seconds and you had never even finished with another guy. Namjoon knew all of that. It made him think of you in that innocent manner, how young and inexperienced you still were compared to him... Part of him wanted to keep you like this, fragile, and part of him wanted to ruin you until your mind was anything but pure. He was careful every time he kissed you, careful even when he made love to you; he tried hard to keep the beast inside him controlled and not fuck your brains out. Perhaps he thought it was what you wanted: to stay innocent.

And you... You knew all about what Namjoon was normally like in bed. You could see it in the mess all the girls were the morning after, or the marks he got and caused, the way every single one seemed to get addicted to his dick and you've even had the misfortune of listening to the whole ordeal once from the next room. You dreamed about Namjoon fucking you ruthlessly every time you touched yourself. But now that you actually had him, he was only gentle. Too shy to ask him to use you like one of his sluts because you could tell he thought you were different.

"Joonie..." you moaned as he had his face buried in your pussy, licking you slowly like he was enjoying a refreshing ice cream in the middle of the hot day of Thailand. Your honeymoon. He hadn't kept his hands off you the past few days you were here, constantly talking about how amazing it was to be married now. But still so gentle, so little, and you wanted more. Your fingers ran through his hair. "Joon, please..."

He popped his head off just a bit. "Yes, darling?"

"Want you to fuck me." Your voice was coarse and barely audible.

He smirked. "I will, baby." He moved to get back to what he was doing, but you stopped him with both hands on his cheeks.

"No, I–" you gulped. "I want you to really fuck me. Hard." You could tell your words affected him by the way his face got serious and he squirmed like he had gotten goosebumps. His grip on your thighs tightened, and then he moved up until he was hovering above you.

"Careful what you wish for, baby..." His arms were slightly shaking and you had never seen him like that. Like he was fighting to stay back, to control himself. A sound in the back of his throat like a drowned moan as his eyes traveled down your form and he bit his lip. "I might completely ruin you if I fuck you hard." Your legs pressed together, your wetness rubbing in between your thighs. And he noticed. He put his knee right there, opening you up and pressing hard against your core until you gasped. Your cheeks were burning, still so shy and it was making it even harder for Namjoon to hold back. "Do you want me to ruin you?"

You scratched his back. And nodded slightly. "I– I just want you to do what you really want and not what you think I want."

He had his hand on your waist now, moving until he was more lined up with your body and grinding his knee harder against your clit. "If I do everything I want to you right now you'll probably get scared and run away." He was holding you so tight, like he was afraid you would slip between his fingers right then and there.

And you shook your head. "We're married now, Joon. I won't leave you no matter what."

Something about the reminder made him growl. You were his now. He flipped you around without a warning, making you yelp as you hit the mattress. His to do whatever he wanted. "You tell me to stop and I will, yeah?" he whispered as his hands started kneading your ass cheeks, and you nodded. Suddenly, you felt your hair being pulled harshly, back arching as you were forced to stay on your hands and knees. "Good girl," your husband rasped in your ear. And you felt his dick pressing on you from behind. He spanked your ass once and it stung but made you moan loudly. "Fuck, you have no idea what's waiting for you, baby. I'll wreck you so bad. Soon you'll be begging me to use you like a little fuck toy, you'll be excited to be my little cock slut." Be it his promises or his dick pushing inside you, your fingers were curling around the sheets and your mouth dropping in a silent scream. "You like that?" he continued as he started thrusting harder and faster than you had ever felt before. Abusing your cunt like it belonged to him. "Like the idea of me turning you into the bad girl you've always wanted to be for me?"

"Ah–" It was hard to form any words when he was fucking the breath out of you. And he spanked your ass again, harder.

"Answer me, darling."

You cried out. "F– fuck, yes!" Tears started forming in your eyes, Namjoon's dick somehow felt bigger than before as it was reaching deep enough to kiss your cervix and was stretching you out completely, your legs shaking before you even came. "Namjoon, fuck, so good!" You couldn't form a single coherent thought and you've never wanted anything more than this right now.

Your husband felt your walls clench around him and he pulled your hair more, your head hitting his chest. "Shit... You really do like that," he gasped. "If I knew I'd have railed you long ago." Spanked you a couple more times and you gushed around his dick, body falling forward. Before he grabbed you around the waist and lifted you again, dick still thrusting in and out of you slowly. "Sorry, babe. Ruining you means you only get to stop when you've passed out. Now be a good girl and cum on my dick one more time, yeah?" Hand wrapping around your throat and it had you moaning immediately as Namjoon picked up the pace again.

"Fuck... Yes, Joon."

Masterlist

[agmapansa3008]

I probably shouldn't, but I find myself mostly comparing F4 Thailand 2022 to Hana Yori Dango 2005. Probably because it's the one I’m most familiar with, being one of my first ever Asian dramas and the one I have rewatched the most. But also, because compared to the comedic vibe of Boys Before Flowers 2009 and the clean, almost censored vibe of Meteor Garden 2018, it seems to adopt the Japanese vibe the most.

But what I noticed and where F4 Thailand sort of falls flat, is the slight difference in Gorya’s relationship with Ren. Don’t get me wrong, I really love the Thai version so far, I think they are making an excellent adaptation, but there is something that has been bugging me and that solidified in the recent episode, namely Gorya’s date with Ren.

In HanaDan 2005 the date is a mess. It is awkward, they barely have anything to talk about, Makino (Gorya) makes a fool of herself several times, and - and this is important - she really talks about Domyouji (Thyme) a whole bunch. Really, he is the only topic she and Rui (Ren) can talk about without it being weird. And then, of course, they run into Domyouji and the two of them start fighting/bickering again, as they do and we see Rui watching this interaction with an “Ooooh okay, I get it now”-expression.

That distinction is important. Because the whole balance of the show hinges on the fact, that Rui, as good and nice as he is, doesn’t have romantic chemistry with Makino. They are great friends and they can talk to each other really well, but when it gets romantic, something is off. Rui, in Makino’s eyes, is this perfect knight in shining armour, a fantasy, the peak romantic hero she can imagine. He’s on a pedestal, so when they are together, in a date setting, it doesn’t work. She’s too much in awe of him and he doesn’t know how to deal with that. It’s mutually unromantic.

The date in the Thai version, though, seemed completely fine. It was awkward for a moment, but then we get this really cute montage of them having fun together and enjoying each other’s company a lot. It looks like a genuinely good date. Then at the end, we get the conversation about the disastrous Zoo date, and then of course Gorya confronting Tesla in front of Ren, where we get the same “Ooooh okay, I get it now”-expression, but in a completely different context, with Thyme not even present.

Why does that feel wrong? Because, now, in the Thai version, I genuinely question why the fuck Gorya would like Thyme more than Ren. Why she ultimately chooses Thyme over Ren. Because she and Ren seemingly fit together amazingly. So what happens? We get the weird, outdated trope of a girl having a perfect potential boyfriend, that she has good chemistry with, but instead choosing the violent asshole, that annoys her for… reasons.

I quite honestly don’t remember the storyline from the Korean or Chinese version, but the Japanese one avoids this so well, by simply showing us that Makino and Rui don’t have romantic chemistry at all. While she and Domyouji, as cat and dog as it is, do. And I don’t remember the Korean or Chinese version giving me the same confusion as to why the Makino stand-in would choose the Domyouji stand-in over the Rui stand-in.

And again, this is absolutely no hate towards the show, I truly love it, the actors are amazing and they are doing a good job. But the balance is slightly off-kilter for me. They even try to rectify this, by having Ren speak Rui’s line of “She constantly talked about you.” when we didn’t see that at all during the montage. They told and didn’t show and I felt it. I felt it being weirdly forced towards the end. It felt wrong.

[noname-friend]

"I have a proposal" NCT Mafia Au

~Just a random idea I had~

Several cars waited in front of the gate, a gate that said "Ncity" on top of it. Anyone would recognize this as the home of the notorious mafia family, NCT. One of the biggest families out there, they were really well known all around Korea and feared. So who dares to request an audience with this family?

"What are you wearing to the banquet?" A guard standing next to the driver side asked, peering into the car in the backseat.

"Black on black, perhaps with some chains." A man, well dressed in a dark grey suit replied, he adjusted his watch as he kept his eyes forward at the mansion in front of them.

The guard stepped away and nodded to the others, the gates opened and the cars pulled up, parking in front of the mansion. Out came 7 men, all dressed in suits like the first man. They looked experienced, and rich. Whoever they were, they meant business. They walked up to the door, the youngest of this group knocked on the door.

Another man answered the door, he wore a button up red shirt, black dress pants, hair slicked back and sported an expensive watch as well. He eyed this group up and down.

"Kun. What pleasure do we have to see you all here today?" The man smiled at them, it seemed fake and perhaps it was.

"I'm sure Taeyong has informed you all already, Johnny." Kun replied, returning the smile.

"Right, the meeting you requested. Very well, follow me gentlemen."

Johnny led the group into a sort of dinning room, the table was long with many chairs, Kun wasn't sure how many people would be in this meeting but he was prepared for the whole family if needed. He sat at one end of the table, his group sitting beside him.

"I'll tell Taeyong of your arrival, feel free to ask our maids for drinks." Johnny bowed his head to them and left.

One of Kun's boys couldn't stop playing with his rings nervously, he's heard so much of NCT but wasn't sure how they would react to Kun's plan. Another leaned over, putting his hand over the nervous boy's fidgeting ones.

"Jungwoo, calm down. Kun's got this." He smiled to the slightly older male.

Jungwoo whispered back, "I know Lucas, but what if I mess something up?"

"Nonsense, Jungwoo you've trained for this, you'll be great." Kun chimed in crossing his hands on the table.

Eventually the door opened once more, Taeyong walked through followed by about 12 others. They all took their places at the table, Taeyong sitting on the opposite end from Kun.

"Wayv, what an occasion for us to meet like this," Taeyong was the first to speak up, "I do wonder what this meeting is about?"

Kun smiled to the leader in front of him, "I have a proposal for you, Taeyong."

This peaked everyone's interest. They were NCT, they had anything you could think, what could a small family like Wayv possibly have to offer them?

Kun took the silence to continue talking, "I've heard that some of your boys have been in my territory. Apparently, you've been trying to take my business? I wonder what NCT is doing in China?"

Taeyong laughed and leaned on his hand as he watched Kun for a moment, "I see nothing gets past you Kun. It's true. We have been scouting out in China. There's some opportunities out there that I've been highly interested in. Why? Is that a problem for you?" He raised a challenging eyebrow.

Kun laughed as well, "Of course not. I'd be here to announce a war then, but that's no fun is it?"

"What are you suggesting then?" Yuta spoke up, his tone was harsh.

"Yuta, that's not how we speak to guests. But I am curious Kun, let's cut to the chase. What do you want?" Taeyong scolded Yuta as he turned back to Kun.

"I propose a partnership." As the words left his mouth, the NCT members began whispering among themselves.

"Oh? What does this partnership offer us exactly?"

"Well you'll share our established claims in China, as well as our branch in Thailand. Perhaps you can have some of contracts in Germany as well."

"You're a small group, how could you possibly have all these connections?" A member named Doyoung questioned, he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed. He simply voiced everyone's suspicions.

Kun smiled once more, "Our group may be small, but we are very diverse. Shall I introduce my members?"

Taeyong nodded, waving his hand in a way to signal him to go on.

"Well let's start with my right hand, Ten. He runs our Thailand operations." Kun spoke, Ten stood up and bowed to them all. "While Thailand is main responsibility, he also handles many of our connections thanks to him knowing 4 languages fluently."

"What languages do you speak?" Johnny raised his hand and asked.

"Korean, English, Thai, Chinese and currently learning Japanese." He replied as he sat down again.

"You speak Japanese? Prove it then." Yuta spoke to him.

"I said I am learning Japanese, I am not fluent in it yet but I hope it is adequate enough for you." Ten replied, without a stutter, definitely impressing Yuta as he nodded to Taeyong.

"Interesting, he would be useful, how else do you have?"

"This is Lucas and Jungwoo, our spies." Jungwoo and Lucas stood up and bowed as well. "They can get us just about any information. Like the passcode to get into Ncity." Kun motioned them to sit down.

"And how'd you manage that?" Taeil spoke up this time.

"With our handsome looks, and sweet talking? Anything is possible." Lucas replied confidently. Jungwoo stayed quiet.

"Jungwoo, that's not a traditional Chinese name is it?" Taeyong asked curiously.

"I'm Korean, sir." He finally spoke up.

"Ah I see, continue Kun."

"We have Xiaojun and Hendrey, our hackers. Yangyang, the one who handles our German affairs."

"Interesting bunch you have here Kun." Taeyong applauded. "I will admit, having these assets would be beneficial to Ncity. But let's not ignore the elephant in the room, what do you want out of this?"

"All we want is part of the Ncity empire. Anyone would be foolish to ignore the influence and power of NCT. Though we are a small group, we are willing to be loyal and benefit this family, if you let us."

"Words can be broken easily, how will you prove your loyalty?" Doyoung asked.

"We offer one of our members to you. You may do as you will with Jungwoo." Kun gestured to him. "If we must, we will all go through your trainings as well."

Taeyong clapped and laughed once more, "I like this spirit of yours Kun! A go-getter, a man who knows what he wants! You'll even offer us one of your few men? You must be serious."

Kun smiled back to him and bowed his head "Of course, Taeyong. I never joke about matters like this."

"Tell you what, Kun. I accept your proposal. As a sign of my sincerity, we will give you one of our family members as well." Taeyong looked among his members. "We have a few Chinese members of our own, I'm sure they were the ones you spotted in your territory. Have your pick. Renjun, part of the Dream unit and our secondary medic, Chenle, also part of the Dream unit and bomb specialist, or Winwin, our sniper and spy." Taeyong motioned for them to stand up, they did and bowed to Kun, greeting him in Chinese.

Ten leaned over to Kun and whispered to him. Kun nodded.

"Taeyong, I respect your sincerity and I believe Winwin will be a great asset to our team." Taeyong stood up and walked around the table to Kun, shaking his hand. "Kun, I look forward to working with you. I'll properly welcome all of you to our wonderful family once you go through our training. My teachers won't go easy on you all, I hope that's ok."

"Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less." Kun smiled. Winwin and Jungwoo exchanging glances, Jungwoo didn't notice the glares he was getting from Yuta specifically.

Mark the day, NCT's family has grown, an extra 7 members this glorious day!

[bengiyo]

Love Sea Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Tongrak and Mut started to have sex on the beach, but then Rak rushed them back to the hotel so he could write his thoughts out for his novel. Mut was understandably frustrated and went to take a shower, which of course ended in sex (but Fort showed ass!). Rak became possessive of Mut, and once again tried to use his money to lock Mut down. We had a great moment of Rak checking in about how out they can be, and the two shared insights into their histories. We learned that Rak sees his work as an outlet to express himself, and that Mut has worked his ass off to earn his place in this community as a respected leader. We ended on some trauma flashbacks underwater for Rak involving his father who abandoned them, and a friend who may have been pregnant. Meanwhile, Vie had Mook come over to clean up her house and eat with her in a flirting ritual that seemed to work for both of them.

Aya is really pretty.

This weird issue with the italicized subtitles not displaying on the TV apps is driving me insane. Why do I have to pull up the episode in two places now??

It rains a lot in Thailand, so I like when they incorporate it into the shows.

Chapter 3: Where the Sky Touches the Sea

It's nice to see that Rak is able to talk nicely with a friend. He and Vie feel like they've known each other for a while, and know what each is going through. I'm curious how deep we'll get into this tabloid drama Vie is facing.

Is Kwan Rak's sister? What's going on with their dad that they're scared about him showing up around the granddaughter? I thought he was out of the picture?

Wondering what Mut must be feeling after not seeing Rak for a few days now after that incident.

Mm, Rak reverting to be as rude as possible like it'll scare Mut away.

At least he apologized after relaxing for a little bit. I hope he opens up about what's got him so stressed.

Oh fuck yeah give me the lore. Rak's messed up because his mom poured all her money into a man who didn't love her back, and his and his sister's names are messages to him.

Let's bond over family problems.

Oh, I'm kinda into this "Try it while you're on the island" proposal.

Are they trying to mirror that with this fake girlfriend proposal?

I'm not keen on playing in the sea at night, but they do kiss well.

Why is he in that bed with a towel on?

Mut baiting Rak into being the big spoon is sending me.

Unsurprised that Mut is a conservationist.

I like that Mut acknowledged Rak getting up early to see the community meeting.

Oh they have Ja playing an actor who shoves his costar away immediately. How fun.

This joke about the length of novel titles feels like they're alluding to people missing the point of the novel because title is too cumbersome.

"I'm not bi." She and Lom should meet.

Mut seemed real nervous about Rak seeing how modest his home is.

Wow, Mut's dad sounds cruel.

Okay but Rak was even more turned on by the idea that the neighbors would hear them.

The timeline is a bit vague here.

I feel like we got here a little fast, but I kinda like the way Mut is chasing this feeling with Rak he wasn't expecting to feel.

I really like Mook.

I'm looking forward to seeing how both of these guys' issues with their families play out. I feel like.we.mkssed some things this week that didn't translate into the adaptation smoothly, but I like the idea of Mut reaching for something he didn't think he could have, and a cynic like Rak being taken by that earnestness. Also amused by Mook likely having a crush on Vie while missing that Vie has been flirting this whole time. I wonder what our Mut Exposition Fairy will do next week.

[sassy-author]

summer promises [yangyangxoc]

genre: slice-of-life / slight-angst / slight-fluff / bestfriend-au word count: 2.7k+

“Xiao Yaaaaang!” Yangyang immediately distanced his phone from his ear at the sudden outburst by his correspondent. At the same time, he blamed himself for going deaf for a few seconds since she would always do that.

“It’s 4 in the morning here Summer, how many times did I tell you to check the time before calling.” Yangyang sighed as he could hear Summer pout at the other end of the line. “What is it this time?”

“Well I had great news, but judging by how grumpy you are, I’ll just call later.”

“Stop being a baby, I am up now, what’s up?” Yangyang sat on his bed, trying not to be too noisy since his housemate, Ten, was probably still sound asleep.

“I thought that you would be more excited than that to hear that your dear best friend is coming back to Korea for a month but figures, I should have called Ten-Oppa first.”

“Are you for real? When are you getting here?” Now Yangyang could not contain his excitement and was already as loud as he could be, not caring about Ten’s beauty sleep.

“I’ll be there tonight, so you better clean up the mess that is your room.” And without another word, Summer hung up in his face with a giggle to seal it all.

Just on cue, Ten barged in Yangyang’s room, hair all over the place and clearly not amused. However, before Ten could even nag about this situation, Yangyang said:

“She’ll be back tonight, for a month.”

“A month, that's it? Oh my… get the water boiling, first coffee then cleaning. Get your ass ready Yangyang. I won’t take Summer’s nagging about how messy this apartment is again.”

Yangyang sighed and went to freshen up with a meaningful smile to his face. ‘Today is going to be a long day’ he thought, ‘but a good one.’

Initially, YangYang and Summer met in Germany. Both being born in Taiwan and having the same age, they naturally bonded. Best friends seemed to be their destiny as coincidentally, they both dreamed about going to Korea one day. Yangyang wanted to live there and open his own dance studio. While Summer was more of a travel person, she could see herself living in Korea, but not for long at all. She wanted to have the option to live in Korea one day, Taiwan the next and why not Thailand or Japan the following month. Being a travel blogger only boosted her dream to achieve such opportunities. They both got to Korea at the same time and spent a solid 6 months together before meeting Ten. Ten and Yangyang bonded over their dancing ambitions and soon became partners in crime and business. Henceforth, they rented an apartment all three of them. Summer would be there only around 6 months out of a year but it had been like that for the past two years and the boys were used to this lifestyle. Rent was not that big of an issue since Summer would still send her share while being away, despite the guys insisting that it was not necessary.

The only issue per say would be Yangyang missing her like crazy but he was comforted by the fact that she missed him just as much.

The clock was dangerously ticking. Yangyang was restless, waiting for his best friend to barge through the front door at any time now. Ten and himself, had spent the whole day cleaning the apartment’s every corner, also making sure that Summer’s room was still untouched but squeaky clean. The last time she was in Korea was around 3 months prior. Summer did mention that she would be in the country for only a month this time, which means that she most probably had a new project in mind and only needed to rest before embarking on a new travel journey.

“Staring at the door won’t make her come any faster Yangyang.” Ten teased his younger counterpart knowingly with a smirk. He might have known them for only a little over 2 years but Ten was much more perceptive than he let on.

“Yeah but she should already be here by now. I don’t understand why she doesn’t allow us to pick her up every time.”

“Oh come on, you know well enough that it’s because she needs to enjoy Korea’s polluted air on her own first before being spoiled by our manly aura.” Ten teased once again which caused Yangyang to laugh his heart out. Both men ended up laughing a little more, maybe nervously since both were expecting the door to barge open at any second now.

“I see that you guys have been getting much fun while I was away.” Summer was at the door, her suitcase next to the door, duffle bag over her shoulder and a plastic in her hand.

Both men simply stared at her for a few seconds.

“Wow okay, I didn’t expect such a greet-“

As if on cue, both men screamed to the top of their lungs: “Summer!”

They both took her into a bear hug and she could only chuckle. “Glad to see you both too.” She pinched both of their stomachs before, rolling her suitcase to Yangyang’s feet, shifting her bag to his shoulder as well. “Quick I bought some spicy rice-cakes on my way over, I’m starving.”

Immediately, Yangyang sauntered to her room to drop her bags while Ten grabbed the take out and took it to the kitchen. Summer looked at the apartment and smiled tightly. ‘This feels like home,’ she thought with nostalgia.

The first weeks went by normally. Yangyang and Ten followed their work schedule closely while Summer was out and about around the city, taking pictures and visiting her favourite snack-joints. At night, all three of them would gather around in the living room and have dinner together round the coffee table in front of some re-running shows of Knowing Brothers or Running Man.

It is only during the third week of her stay that Yangyang had a day off from work. He proposed to take Summer out for the day but she miraculously wanted to stay in that day.

Yangyang was woken up by the delicious smell of newly baked pancakes. Looking at his bedside alarm clock, it was already 9 a.m which meant that Ten was already off to the dance studio. After freshening up, he got his lazy self to the kitchen and gave Summer a quick back hug while she was still at the stove. Summer leaned into his embrace with a warm smile before Yangyang could turn his attention to the warmly brewed coffee on the isle.

“Pancakes. What is it this time?” he said carefully.

“What do you mean?” Summer seemed focused on her last batch of pancakes, back facing her best friend.

“You only bake pancakes when you want to discuss something rather concerning. So what is it this time?”

Summer sighed as she turned off the stove and set the isle for them to have breakfast. “Let’s eat first and then we’ll talk.”

Indeed, while eating they only talked about a few of Summer’s anecdotes from her recent trip to Indonesia and a few of Yangyang’s new choreography ideas and themes. The plate of pancakes soon vanished and Yangyang was doing the dishes while Summer was cleaning up the kitchen’s surfaces.

“Alright so we are done eating now…” Yangyang dried his hands before grabbing Summer’s shoulders and pushing her towards the living room, forcing her to settle on their couch. “What is it?”

Yangyang was clearly worried but only his gaze gave it away. Summer and him went through literally everything together that he couldn’t really fathom what was going on this time. It was the first time that she was beating around the bush for this long and he could feel the tension in the air. Out of habit, Yangyang grabbed one of her hands and started playing with her fingers to hopefully comfort her and encourage her to speak up as well.

Summer on her end was just nervous because she knew how the upcoming announcement would change everything, at least for a while. Taking a deep breath, she finally said:

“I got a new project, as a tourism magazine writer/editor.”

“Oh my god, that’s great! Where?”

“Canada…”

Yangyang laughed, “It’s funny cause’ I thought I heard Canada.” Summer bit her tongue as she slowly nodded. Yangyang inhaled sharply before continuing on a more serious tone: “For how long?”

“For two years…”

“Please tell me that you are not seriously thinking about taking on this project?”

“Xiaoyang, don’t do this to me, you know how much this means to me. And it is not just any country, it’s Canada.”

“Two whole fucking years Xià Tiān. Not a month, not even a year but TWO years. I thought that we had agreed that you would never be away for longer than 6 months.” Summer winced at Yangyang’s use of her birth name. He was hurt, she could see that, but so was she.

“I know… but it is only this once. I cannot refuse this opportunity. The exposure I would get from this is enough to double my network in a month alone.”

“Then have the gig for only a month!”

Yangyang was visibly growing more and more frustrated. And Summer was only passive since this reaction was just like what she imagined it would be.

“You know that I can’t do this Xiaoyang… two years will go by fast. I promise. I’ll call often. I promise.”

“What about us?” Yangyang asked dangerously, risking it all. He knew that there was a line to never cross in between best friends however, between him and Summer, it was different. They may have never took things to another level, but there was a mutual understanding that she was in his heart and he was in hers. It only came down to the fact that their respective careers was top priority for now.

Summer was teary-eyed at his sudden question and could not utter another word.

Yangyang scoffed before grabbing his coat and exiting the apartment in a storm, leaving Summer devastated. She knew where he was headed but she also knew that he needed time to cool down.

That night, only Ten came back home. Summer was not surprised but she was rather disappointed. She had hoped that Yangyang would be willing to talk things through sooner than later. After all, she only had one more week before leaving. Ten cooked dinner for the both of them but Summer was no way in the mood for food. Sighing, Ten looked at her, his little sister as he would always think of her and he was truly saddened.

“Give him one more day, he needs to clear his mind.” Summer simply nodded at his words. “He really thought that you would come back for good and focus on only Korea and maybe Japan at least this year. He wouldn’t stop going on about how he missed you and you missed him too.”

Yangyang had spent the night at the studio that day, dancing his stress out. He had the studio to himself so he could really dance at his ease, do what he pleases and even scream all the more he wanted. Deep down, he knew that his reaction was un-called for but two years without seeing Summer would be the longest they would be apart. What if she met someone in Canada was his first thought. But he couldn’t possibly tell her to look at him only, he couldn’t seriously tell her to give up on her dream either.

Text from: 10 out of 10 She is waiting for you in the living room man, I know that you need your time but don’t be too late either.

Yangyang sighed at this message from Ten before finally resting in the middle of the dance studio, covered in sweat and heavy thoughts. How was he to face her the following day.

At dawn the next day, Yangyang was already in front of their apartment. Hesitating to get in. He knew however that he couldn’t run away from this any longer so he made his way in slowly and quietly. There she was, laying on the couch. Yangyang sighed for the nth time before sauntering towards her, sitting down in front of the couch, taking in her appearance. She might be sleeping but she looked restless; the bags under her eyes indicated that she had stayed up until really late, most probably waiting for him to come back. Gently tucking her hair behind her ear, Yangyang kissed her forehead softly before resting his head on a portion of the couch next to her. Before he knew it, he fell asleep again and this time he was able to actually rest comfortably despite this awkward position for, she was there with him.

“Xiao Yang… wake up.” Half an hour later, a small voice was trying to stir the young man out of his slumber and this voice belonged to none other than Summer. Slowly Yangyang woke up, yawning heavily as he stretched out from his uncomfortable sitting position at the foot of the couch. “Come lie down next to me.” With no other word uttered, Summer scooted over as Yangyang took her into his embrace as they both lay on the couch. Just like that they slept for a few hours more and the previous night’s concern was forgotten, or better said, ignored.

Another week went by with the pair of best friend acting as if nothing had happened. They just did their best to make the most out of the little free time they had.

D-day approached and Summer's plane was due to take off at 21h. This time she couldn’t argue her way out of having the boys accompany her to the airport. And so they did. Ten knew not to stay around for long though. He hugged her tightly making sure to nag about her safety and keeping in regular contact before kissing her forehead. He winked at Yangyang and gave him a reassuring look before leaving the two alone as he went to the car on his own for the time being.

Yangyang and Summer sat at one of the airport benches in silence. It might seem weird to others that they didn’t talk about this situation after their first fight but to them, this seemed to be the best solution. Yangyang held Summer’s hand in his tightly, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

“Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight N127 to Toronto, Canada. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you.”

“That’s my flight.” Summer said with a small smile as she urged Yangyang to get up.

“Promise me that you will really call often.” Yangyang said like vulnerably.

“I promise.” Summer said sincerely as she held both of his hands tightly.

“Be careful there and let us know if anything. We’ll fly our asses to you if you need.”

“I know Xiao Yang. I know.”

They both tried their best to keep a smile to their faces.

Summer took a deep breath before saying; “I really do not want to be this selfish woman who asks you to wait for her while she is away, but I promise that I will be back in two years, with you still in my heart, so will you please still be here for me when I get back. And then maybe, can we make things right?”

Yangyang couldn’t help but smile further, not trusting himself to speak up though since Summer just showed that she would wear the pants in this relationship to be.  Yangyang took her in his arms tightly, whispering through her hair. “One Summer night, when you’ll be back, I’ll take you out officially as my girlfriend and parade you all over Seoul.”

Summer and Yangyang chuckled at their own cheesiness but now they knew that they would be okay; One Summer Night.

THE END. 

[qianoir]

After Midnight 3 - Stars

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: college dropout!Ten (WayV) x fem!reader

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: non-idol au, angst with fluff on top

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 13+

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: cursing (censored), lying, family problems, mentions death of reader's father, romance

♡ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.9K

𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭: @staysstrays

Preview < 1 < 2 < 3

Your head was pounding from your ears drinking in the tantrum of a 3 year old boy, the cries diving straight into your ringing eardrums. A young couple showed up with their child who started offing himself about your café not having some made up hybrid cake he wanted for the last 10 minutes.

The boy started flailing around and knocked his mother's iced Americano out of her hand in the process, landing the freezing and pungent liquid all over you.

The LED clock above you flickered with a new hour, freeing you from the café’s dark roasted chains. You ripped the soaked apron over your head and stuffed it into the back room’s washing machine before taking hold of your belongings and rushing out of the building after saying a quick “good-bye” to your mother- who was not about to deal with the coddled boy and you leaving all at once, so she kicked the spoiled family out, them following your irritated trail on the way through the doors.

You were walking fast to have a little costume change before meeting up with Ten and his friends, 5 o’clock coming within the next 20 minutes.

Y/N

Heyyo I had a little accident at work so I'm going to stop by my place to clean up before heading over to yours.

Once you were in your own space, you peeled the rest of the coffee soaked clothing off of your body, sticking the wet collection into the washer to cold soak after dressing up nicely.

TEN

d.amn it y/n you are too old to be soiling yourself

???

Y/N

That’s not what I meant!

TEN

Whatever ;p

Stepping out into the bright evening air, you realized you don't even know where the hell to go. The napkin with the address was in the pocket of your apron washing back at the café.

You recognized the street that leads to Décalcomanie, the street that leads to Myeongdong, and one leading to a duck shop.

Admitting defeat, you texted Ten.

Y/N

hey so I left the napkin with your address in my apron.. which I don't have would you mind sending it to me?

TEN

such a handful~

You followed the GPS to his address. His apartment building was on the other side of your school you usually metro to, so it was a pretty tiring walk. Arriving fashionably late, you knocked on door number 117.

There was a lot of commotion and screaming, as you were previously informed. Finally, Ten opened the door and waved for you to come in.

Taking your shoes off at the entrance, you saw three guys tackling each other, two others playing video games, and one really fine looking man behind an island in the kitchen.

"Hello!!" One of the guys being tackled shouted and waved at you which got him punched in the back by the guy orchestrating the tackling. You hesitantly waved back "Hi Y/N!!" The boy in the kitchen said with a charming smile.

"Lovely place." You said to Ten with a giggle as he closed the door with an annoyed look on his face. "Y/N, these are my friends,"

He took you over to the couch where the two players were. "This is Sicheng and Xuxi," The two boys playing Mario Kart threw a glance your way and waved with a smile. "these fools are Hendery, Xiaojun, and Yangyang.."

Hendery strained to wave again under the two boys with a big smile on his face, as did the two others. Ten swayed you into the kitchen and introduced you to the last man. This guy was so handsome, like the Asian bachelor. "I'm Kun." The man greeted, kindly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Our Ten always talks about you." Yangyang says walking towards you two. Ten sent him a glare. "Is that so?"

"At least I'm not blind from having my head up my ass all day, Yangyang shut up!" His voice cracked, making you and Yangyang erupt in laughter.

"Anyways, if you'll excuse us- I invited Y/N here for us to be alone." He took your wrist in his grasp and led you to a room.

Ten pet a space on the bed for you to sit down while he leaned over his desk, searching on his laptop. A slow beat filled the room. You recognized this song- the song your dad would play for your mom in the car on long road trips: Something by The Beatles.

Something in the way she moves

attracts me like no other lover

Something in her style that shows me

I don’t want to leave her now

you know I believe and how.

Your parents were so in love. When your father first heard this song, he had made it their special theme to portray their love. They had both become big fans of The Beatles and always had this song pop up at least once in every holiday or event playlist or could be caught quoting it occasionally when the timing was right. Your heart sank in your chest at the memory.

You hadn't realized that the song had ended or that Ten was at your side watching you intently. You looked up at him and he offered a small smile.

"My parents used to listen to this song all the time."

"Really? Are you guys close?"

Your mouth felt sour hearing the inevitable question. “My dad died from pneumonia when I was younger. My mom tries to be present for me, but I know she misses him.” Tears puddled at your waterline as you forced yourself not to cry. “Sometimes I think she only keeps trying because she thinks I’m studying premed when I really hide pointe shoes in my closet. I don’t have the heart to tell her what I’m really majoring in.. because I’m terrified of us losing each other completely and frankly, she would never forgive me of my dishonesty if she would stay.”

"It's not wrong.. following your passion" Ten announced after a whole note of silence, "I'm sorry for making you bring up such a past, but I’m happy I can at least sympathize with you..” He looked away from you to recall his memories clearly.

“My parents didn't agree with me wanting to study dance either. And they certainly did not agree with me leaving my hometown in Thailand and dropping out of college to come here for the best art opportunities. Mine and the rest of the guys outside; all of us are a little more distant from our family than usual just because we are passionate." Ten confessed.

"I'm sorry." You weakly rasped.

"I'm not." Ten smiled at you.

"My friends and I are doing what we love without anyone holding us back and one day it's going to all pay off.. I know it will.. If it wouldn't I would have never dropped out."

You could understand where he was coming from. He is really passionate and faithful to his dreams, it is a little inspiring.

"And you seem to be doing good on your own, too. You're studying dance, which I'm sure you're amazing at, and working at the café to help your mom, letting people make a mess of you that you always undoubtedly pick yourself up from." You laughed, the sad tears rolling down your cheeks and turning to bittersweet tears of joy.

"Thank you, Ten."

"Anytime, Y/N." He handed you a napkin for your eyes.

A cough was heard outside the closed door, along with faint whispers.

"Lucas, shut the HELL up!"

Ten got up and opened the door, making four boys come tumbling inside the room.

All rushing to get up, Lucas stayed laying on the floor, "Uh, hi guys." he offered a charming smile. "We were just coming to tell you that dinner is ready?" Yangyang shrugged obviously.

Ten snickered.

"Nice try, guys-"

"Dinner is ready!" Kun yelled from the kitchen.

"What did I tell you?" Yangyang stuck out his tongue, cockily. Ten rolled his eyes and looked over at you,

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Uhm-"

"She is staying, I already made her a plate!" Kun yelled once again from the kitchen. The other boys ran out of the doorway to the kitchen.

"I guess it's settled then..." Ten sighed and reached his hand out to you, which you took. You were led into the dining room where the other boys sat. Ten placed you in a chair next to his and Kun’s.

Kun had made zhajiangmian, a Chinese traditional celebration/comfort food aka Chinese spaghetti. It tasted so much better than the bread pastries and milk teas you had been living off of in the past year.

Everyone was very talkative during dinner, you even found out that Ten choreographs his own dances for himself and the others to perform and learned that Kun has a degree in music from a prestigious university in Beijing. The boys you had dinner with were really fun to be around and gave you lots of energy after the intricate start to the new semester.

You didn't realize how lonely your little apartment was until now, even when sharing it with your mother most nights. They made you feel so comfortable and content after lacking companionship since your high school days. Also the food was really good, thanks to Kun.

Everybody finished their food but still continued the little chat at the dinner table "And this one time, Ten ate butter thinking it was ice cream! Who does that!?" Yangyang finished off his story punching the table with laughter.

You glanced at the time on your phone. It was almost 10 o'clock and you had to get to sleep early for your new 8 AM class.

Ten turned to you when he felt short tugs at his hoodie. "Cinderella has to get home?"

The room got quiet with Ten’s words, but quickly exploded in a swarm of whines and begs for you to stay. You gave them an apologetic smile.

Ten stood up, pulling me with him, "I'll walk you home." He was already at the door, kicking on his shoes. Everyone bid you good-bye as you waved to all of them before you and Ten were out the door.

"It's this way." You motioned in the direction of your apartments. Ten nodded and followed your path. It was silent the whole way, but it was a nice silence. It was peaceful with just you two. Arriving soon, you  stopped in front of the entrance and turned around to look at Ten.

"Thank you for having me over, I really enjoyed it. Your friends are really nice."

"Of course. I’m really glad you came. I like spending time with you and I think my friends do as well."

Smiles were exchanged and hearts skipped, both of your breathing patterns were evident in each other’s dialogue. "Do you have any last lyrics before we end the night?"

Your building never shines like the others in its distance. The only light around you is the one that blooms in space and allows the stars to twinkle down to where you stand. Ten took your chin is his hand and created perfect eye contact:

"Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. And all the things that you do.”

He tossed your chin up before walking off into the night.

To Be Continued…

Something by The Beatles

Yellow by Coldplay

𝘲𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘳

[lawful-evil-novelist]

So I'm going to real quick go over the events of Roman Sionis' emotional and mental spiral that created the Black Mask.  Between his 21st birthday and his 23rd, Roman went from an angry, jaded young man trying to escape his father's criminal empire to the crime lord in charge of it.  Understandably, a lot of things happened.  I'm not writing this to excuse Roman at all.  This is more of a creative writing exercise for me.  Roman Sionis is a crime lord and this span of two years is less of a one-bad-day and more of a straw breaking a camel's back.  Content warnings for physical and emotional abuse, drug use, and human trafficking.

This starts with a short preamble that Roman spent his 20th and 21st birthday in Thailand.  He'd already planned to stay for a few years after bringing his mother's ashes to their final resting place.  While there cut off as much contact with his father, Richard, as he could and fully intended to drop off the grid and make a new identity.

Richard, however, had dealers in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, and paid most of them off to look for him once he was tipped off that Roman might be there. Their orders were explicit: find Roman and bring him back to Gotham by any means necessary.  Roman, having been under the radar for a year at that point, did not know he was being tracked when one of the dealers followed him into a bar, drugged his drink, and carried him out against his will.

Richard knew his son was trying to escape and decided an appropriate punishment was to have him beaten and smuggled back to Gotham with one of his legal shipments.  His only orders to the men in charge of the cargo was to drug Roman if he fought back, leading to Roman being almost permanently sedated the whole trip, as well as gagged, since he bit one of his captors while struggling and the guy ended up needing stitches.

When he got back to Gotham, Roman was beaten and confined to his room.  Richard demanded Roman apologize and beg for his forgiveness.  He basically wanted his fully-grown son to grovel at his feet and Roman's outright refusal enraged him.  He tried everything from starving Roman to messing with his pacemaker, but couldn't get his son to budge for weeks.

Until Roman did, no prior hint of faltering, no indication of why he changed his tune, just sudden, unexplained subservience.

Richard didn't totally buy this change of tune and didn't let Roman anywhere near the criminal underbelly of his profession until his loyalty could be proven.  Problem was, he still needed a successor.

Or, he did until a dealer started making trouble in his territory, some nothing kid wearing a black lacquer mask: Richard's men just called him the Black Mask.  Richard had his men offer the Mask an ultimatum: work for the syndicate or die.  The Mask picked work, proving himself pragmatic.  Richard took a shine to this Mask kid pretty quickly.  He was everything Richard had been looking for in a successor: intelligent, personable, efficient...ruthless.  Everything seemed almost too perfect, and Richard started making arrangements to get rid of Roman, ship him off to one of his international rings where some use would be made of him.

Richard named the Black Mask his successor during a meeting with all the prominent members of the syndicate in Gotham, among them his three brothers, two sisters, and parents.  He also planned to announce what would be done with Roman, until the Black Mask interrupted.

The Black Mask brought in a few extra guests, the adult nieces and nephews of Richard.  Before anyone could act they were held at gunpoint and forced to sit.  The Black Mask had the non-family leaders leave, and if they didn't, they were shot on the spot.  With only family in the room, the Black Mask removed his mask, revealing to Richard that the Mask was Roman.

See, this whole time Roman was playing the remorseful son, he was planning his coup of his father's empire.  Richard wasn't planning on letting Roman leave the syndicate unless it was as a corpse, so he'd play his father's game.  He used the Black Mask persona to rise through the ranks publicly, and won over his cousins in private.

Roman murdered the family heads of the syndicate, saving his father for last.  Since the Black Mask wasn't yet a known identity outside the syndicate and only Roman's cousins knew who was under the mask, they framed the non-family leaders and Roman took over the syndicate.  Most of his cousins eventually asked to walk away, and Roman allowed them to, with a hefty bribe not to spill his secret.  They're still in contact with Roman, even if they're not involved with the empire.

Roman still uses the Black Mask to run the criminal side of his business, since it keeps the two businesses more separate and therefore his drug and weapons trafficking is harder to trace.

[travellvogue]

Friend of a Friend

Chapter 4- Chance

“Well, this has been fun” your tight lipped smile says otherwise, turning and leaving the dining room, catching Trent’s eye on the way out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your body jolts at the intrusion of noise. Three knocks against the wooden door of your room. A groan of annoyance left your lips, you didn’t want to face any more of Ben’s teasing tonight, well aware of the interrogation he’ll put you under, already picturing the pros and cons list he’ll make for James and Trent. 

The book you were reading was just getting good, unwillingly slipping the bookmark in to save the page you’d reached, closing it and placing it on the bed. Lifting yourself up and slumping your way to the door. 

“Ben I really don’t have time for you to tell me about James and Tr-” you’re cut off when you open the door. Stuttering over your sentence, realising you’ve got yourself trapped in a maze of misunderstanding. “Uh, um… hi Trent”. He stands outside your room, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, giving you a warm smile, teeth peeking through his plump lips ever so slightly. 

“Come in” you beam, opening the door further and beckoning him in with your arm. Melting at his cute sing song ‘thank you’ as he walks in. His tall frame stood awkwardly in the middle of your room, looking around and inspecting the neat piles of your belongings. Shoes placed in order along the skirting frame, makeup neatly displayed on the chest of drawers, TV playing a random show on mute. 

“Oh you’re a reader huh?” he asks, noticing the book laid on your bed sheets, bookmark poking out near the last few pages of the novel. 

“Uh yeah” you let out a breathy laugh, picking up the book, moving it into the draw of the side table. 

“What’s it ‘bout?” he asks. He cares? You stumble a little, the plot of the book completely leaving your mind, you were expecting him to find it nerdy- not to ask questions about it. 

“Oh um… it’s about two girls that go missing in Thailand”. Now you sound like a mass murder. Great, one chance with a cute boy and you mess it up. 

He giggles a little at the blunt explanation before nodding his head dramatically. “Light read then?” he chuckles, making you awkwardly reply with a stippled giggle, chewing at your bottom lip, searching the depths of your brain to try and think of something else to say, you weren’t very good at this whole socialising thing. The only boy you’d really ever felt comfortable around was Ben, and right now he was nowhere to be seen, you could really use the comfort of his hand in yours, but instead you rely on picking at your cuticles to offer you some distraction. “Anyway” he stumbles over his own nerves, looking up at you, “...I was gonna ask if you wanted to maybe join me on the pitch?” he licks the corner of his mouth. Habit- you think- but still endearing. 

The question takes you by surprise. He could tell. Inhaling a silent gasp as his eyes grow wider.

“You don’t have to of course- I just, uh, um, no one else is up for it… and I… know- I’d like to get to know you… a little better” your smile grows with the increasing amount of panic in his tone. Meeting his eyes and giving him a calming wink as though to say: calm down. You watch his chest rise up and down in his state of anxiousness. 

“Of course I’ll come!” you beam. Something takes over you, your hand thrusts through the air, fingers pushed through his, noting the clammy stick of his palm against yours. Sliding your key card from the table and walking out of the room swinging your arms in unison. 

The pitch is empty, as you expected it. An orange-yellow tinge to the sky following the sun on it’s way to hide behind the rolling hills, the air still warm around the edges. He looked so handsome under the light. One ball at his feet, another under his arm and a third rolling towards you. You’d stopped it with your foot- just how Ben had taught you (not that he’d taught you much, just the basics). 

“Crossbar challenge?” he asks casually, throwing a ball in the air and kicking it once it was close to hitting the ground, the noise of the net ruffling filled the air as the ball launches into the goal. You’d seen crossbar challenges on Youtube- never actually participated in one yourself. 

“What does the winner get?” you smirk teasingly, giving him the eyes that Ben likes to call the ‘man eaters’. Trent gulps at your question. Stumbling over his own words, before he could answer you’re taking your spot and kicking the ball as hard as you could, foot tingling slightly at the contact. Both of you watch the ball fly over the top of the net. 

“Close… not close enough though” Trent sings, now his turn, and of course, the satisfying click against the woodwork confirms his shot. “One to me, zero to Y/N” he makes a zero with his hand making you hit it away playfully. 

He watches you intently, admittedly you weren’t very good at this, but he admired your reliance. He likes that in a girl, laughing along as you beat yourself about not getting a single shot on target. 

“C’mere” he beckons you closer with his hand, taking your arm and getting you into position, body behind yours as he demonstrates the position you should be standing in, jumping when he touches the back of your thigh, forgetting the listen to his instructions whilst he explains how to swing your leg at the perfect angle. 

“Shock… you win” you groan, over playing your annoyance, smiling lightly as he chuckles. 

“Be graceful in defeat” he wiggles his eyebrows, pulling you in for a one-armed hug. Your hearts beat against each other’s chests in that moment. Reluctantly pulling away and looking up at him, at this angle you can see the short dark stubble that is pushing its way through his chin. It’s getting closer, he’s getting closer. 

All of the reasons to lean closer come flooding in, nothing else on your mind other than the thought of his lips against yours. 

But you shouldn’t.

“Um… well it’s getting late” you’ve hurt him, you can see you it in his eyes. Pulling away and giving him a type lipped smile. Avoid eye contact, it’ll hurt less. You turn your body and walk off the pitch. Calling out a quick ‘see ya in the morning’ trying your best not to run back to him and smash your lips onto his- god it was so tempting, your eyes closed, you know they did, so close… yet so far. 

                                                             ***

The memories of last night come flooding back as soon as you see his kit folded neatly at his spot. You’d been told to take a few shots of the changing room for the official England Instagram. So here you were, a musky smell of sweat, overpower aftershave and grass shavings. 

“Good morning gorgeous!” his voice bellows through the changing room, body jolting at the sudden intrusion of volume. Turning round, smiling at the sight of his floppy blonde hair yet to be captured by the stickiness of his hair gel. 

“Morning Madders, you alright?” you ask, his body walking closer to yours and embracing you in a friendly hug. You almost didn’t want to pull away, the relaxing feel of his arms around yours was almost enough to make you want to melt under his touch. 

“Better now I’m with you” to compliment makes you playfully roll your eyes as he laughs at himself, chucking his boots down at his spot, flecks of mud and grass strands scattering across the floor- so much for keeping the place photo ready. “You coming for breakfast?” you look up at him when the question leaves his lips, wanting to make sure he’s talking to you and not someone that may have just entered the room. Stuttering a little you finally cough out your answer.

“Uh… yeah, sure… lemme just-” He doesn’t let you finish, linking his arm under yours and guiding you through the corridors, he pulls an empty chair out from under the table with an overly posh “for you madam” making you giggle. Watching his scurry off to grab the two of you plates of fresh fruit and scrambled egg with a toasted bagel. Finding yourself picking at your cuticles again when you meet Ben’s eye across the room, smiling at the familiarity of his face and sending him a quick wave.

His eyes quickly return back to his empty plate. 

“Had a nice night?” he chews with his mouth open, mumbling his words. Shit he knew. He’d seen! He must have! You panic to think of a valid excuse as to why you were so close to Trent when you should’ve been aiming for a crossbar, not his lips. 

“You saw?” you hiss. His hand freezes, fork hovering in the air. An eyebrow raises in confusion. 

“Saw what?” he hums. Thank god. Silence fills the air before he lets out a sigh of realisation. Tutting his tongue against his teeth, playfully shaking his head as he whispers, “thinking ‘bout me were ya” the wink adding a vulgar taste to his words. 

He seems to push to conversation to the side, his hand reaching out for yours, thumb brushing gently against your skin. Feeling you nerves come alive under his touch, there was something about him that was so irresistible, whether it was in his eyes, the tattoo’s, or the sultry smirk he was giving you. 

“I really want to kiss you” he whispers, just enough for you to hear, face inches apart. Your position in the dining room sheltering you from most prying eyes, if anyone were to be watching. You swallow, pushing down the nerves that had trapped in your throat. 

“Go on then”

He leans in.