#chai international chosen

[koushirouizumi]

2012 "The Beginning" Timeline Bonus!:

{Steve is still seen+Present, with Frigimon [Yukidarumon] in the background, amongst other Chosen Ones, from the New York Chosen group!!} (You can tell it's Steve because of the glasses and because of Yukidarumon's presence, even if the hair colors and tones have been slightly modified.) In this version, Steve's hair color appears a more dirty Blond or honey/more Brown, eyes might be closer to Hazel if not Brown/Black.

In 2012 Hanukkah began at sunset on Saturday, December 8, and ended at nightfall on Monday, December 17! Since "The Beginning" is taking place on February 29, 2012, There's a bit to go until Hanukkah/Xmas, but we can determine Steve would be celebrating Chanukah quite a bit before December 25th in the event Chosen Children reunited around the world!! Please remember these details if you are writing about the 02 Chosen Children + "Adventure" groups in general, including having them Interact with International and the New York/U.S. Chosen group, especially if it's during the same year as "2012"'s timeframe, and especially, if you want to portray Jewish American Chosen respectfully!!

For reference, in 2013, the following year, (Say you have the Chosen meet the next year in your story), Chanukah began on Wednesday, 27 November 2013 and ended on Thursday, 5 December 2013 . That's starting days away from December (and ending days away from Xmas) even then!! The next year it actually fell during December 25th (and not ending the night before, the 24th, like in 2015) was in 2017!!

Digimon Adventure 02 ~ {United States of America Chosen} ~ {Personal} Favorite Supporting Character{s} Steve & Frigimon {+Bonus New York Chosen Children Group} + Daisuke Motomiya + Mimi Tachikawa (+Satoe & Keisuke Tachikawa) & Michael (also technically a U.S. Chosen) "We couldn't have done it without you {Daisuke}." - Steve

"...That was on December 25th at 3 A.M., local time." (Narrator)

Notes: In the books released post-series production and 02's conclusion, Steve was revealed to be the very first confirmed Jewish American Chosen Child, a significant step forward for the Digimon franchise, as it acknowledged the Jewish community living in real-world America.

Because Steve is Jewish, Steve would have been personally celebrating Hanukkah that year, not Christmas (hence I left out the last subtitle referencing Christmas to prevent confusion).

Chanukah in 2002, when 02 officially takes place, however, was November 29th ~ December 7th, and these scenes took place closer to Dec. 25th (early 3 A.M.). But that doesn't mean Steve, as a Jewish American, wouldn’t have noted Hanukkah (or Chanukah) at all earlier that year, and it’s good to note that when we're discussing potentials of 02′s “real-world based” “timeline”!

(Basically, what Steve is doing here is joining in on, via being invited by being a Chosen Child who is able and willing to help, an Interfaith gathering of individuals that was originally meant to simply send corrupted by virus Digimon back into the Digital World, and was not actually a "holiday" focused gathering initially!) :) {If Steve joins them after the fact is unknown, but either way, Steve would have to be invited and it would have to be acknowledged that Steve as an individual does not celebrate Christmas religiously.}

In the scenes above, Steve is one of only two U.S. Chosen that are also given spoken lines to personally thank and acknowledge Daisuke Motomiya's help (along with the rest, but also specifying Daisuke). {Michael aside, as even Michael doesn't get to comment verbally.}

Gifs by @izzyizumi, {Do Not Repost or Reproduce without my Permission} {Do Not Remove Caption} (Please Ask to Use)

Image usage rules + original commentary under the ‘read more’! {Along with another, not Steve specific, but maybe significant "Kizuna spoiler"}

BONUS:

^ Though Steve can't be seen clearly in the shot, in the 'gathering' of Chosen Children including many International ones, a Frigimon can very clearly be seen on left. As other Chosen from the World Tour are included here, it is almost defintely Steve's Frigimon, and either Steve is somewhere in the background but off-screen, or Steve and Frigimon were somehow separated...

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[jomiddlemarch]

The Black Widow

“I think I’ve been too hard on Blaise’s mum, all these years,” Hermione said, her shoulders slumped instead of maintaining her usual impeccable, McGonagall-inspired posture, her chin held in the hand that wasn’t curled around a cup of tea. It was actually a very fine cup of masala chai that Padma had made using the Patil family’s own karha recipe and Hermione had chosen it over a glass of Shiraz and the two fingers of bourbon that had also been offered and perhaps foolishly declined. She took a breath, tried to let the scent of the spices soothe her.

No dice.

“Maybe you’re, I don’t know, exaggerating a bit?” Padma said carefully.

“She means you’re being more dramatic than Celestina Warbeck and Sarah Bernhardt put together, darling,” Theo said. They were her two most rational friends, Theo a hatstall for Ravenclaw, Padma properly Sorted and also Second Wrangler for her year at Cambridge. It had made sense to come to them and not, say, Harry, who was pants at validation, or Ginny, who only ever wanted salacious details and sulked when Hermione wouldn’t share, or Luna, who might say something daft or something that was as sharply acute as an Unforgivable, with the additional burden of being Unforgettable, and who was also in Svalbard. It had made sense and yet now Hermione was considering she could have just gone to any wine-bar in Soho and gotten sloshed without any incisive commentary.

“Incisive, I like that,” Theo said as Hermione had evidently voiced that bit of her internal monologue aloud.

“I always said she must be a dreadful person and now I’m the dreadful person,” Hermione said. Was there a slight moaning quality to her tone? She had come seeking tea and sympathy. “I should have understood the cards were stacked against her and that she couldn’t fight the patriarchy of the Wizarding world by herself—”

“I’m not discounting the point about the patriarchy, but I don’t think you and Madame Zabini are much alike. Nor are your circumstances,” Padma said.

“She means you haven’t murdered any of your men,” Theo said, peering at Hermione through his glasses. “In case you were too addled to make out what she meant by circumstances. You’re still a Gryffindor, you often need things told to you point-blank. Or at wandpoint, but that seems unnecessary.”

“He’s right,” Padma said. “Though to be unfair, there’s no confirmation about several of Madame Zabini’s husbands’…demises. There was no body recovered for the last one and she’s always spoken fondly about Blaise’s father. She’s allowed to have some bad luck and there have been two wars—”

“Come off it, Padma, the witch is a bloody menace and even Riddle was scared of her. That’s why Blaise didn’t have to get the Dark Mark,” Theo said. “Tom was into Dark magic, but Madame Zabini knows the Old Ways.”

“Fine,” Padma said. “Still, Hermione, it’s not the same.”

“First of all, no one you’ve dated is dead,” Theo pointed out.

“Anthony said I was a life-ruiner,” Hermione replied. 

“As if he had a life worth ruining, the tosser,” Theo said, scoffing. “So full of himself.”

“Ron got cursed at the Final Battle because he was trying to protect me,” Hermione said.

“He’s been getting free rounds of drinks off that injury for the past twenty-odd years,” Padma said. “If he’d listened to anyone, he could have had it repaired at St. Mungo’s that first week instead of relying on a field dressing by a fifth year Hufflepuff. He’s only still got the limp and the scar because he waited and then it was permanent.”

“Bill said that too,” Hermione admitted. 

“And just because Viktor Krum hasn’t been heard of in about nine years, that’s nothing to do with you,” Theo said. “I know you’ll mention that last letter of his, where he wrote about Ioanna and her amber halo, but really, that could mean any number of things. And also, again, not confirmed dead and not at your hand.”

“McLaggen had it coming to him,” Padma said and sniffed. “You were helping out all female-presenting creatures and beings when you hexed him.”

“I don’t feel that bad about him,” Hermione said.

“Good. That’s progress, love,” Theo said. “You’re not still counting Snape, are you?”

“I mean, I let him die, Theo. I was right there—”

“You had a crush on him during sixth year but I don’t see how he counts as one of you men. I think he would rather have died again, more gruesomely, as Nagini kibble, than have a relationship with any student, let alone a Gryffindor like yourself,” Theo said. 

“You couldn’t have saved him,” Padma said more softly. “You were with him when he went, his portrait said as much. He doesn’t bear you any ill-will. Quite the contrary, I think he’s a bit fond of you now, though he’d say this was a bunch of bloody sentimental shite. And probably take one hundred points from Gryffindor and call you a silly cow.”

“Death has not softened him up much, has it?” Theo said. “Good old Snape. Or Bad old Snape. Whichever. That was his thing, double-agent, et cetera, wasn’t it? But he’d never see himself as one of your victims.”

“I appreciate you are both trying to cheer me up,” Hermione said. She took a gulp of the chai, which was at the perfect temperature, because Padma had used the good Charmed china. 

“We are trying to reason with you, brightest witch of our age,” Theo said.

“Neville—” Hermione said, breaking off.

There was a moment of silence, respectful, sincere, thoughtful. Sort of like Neville had turned out to be, besides being the Prophecy’s spare, the slayer of Nagini, champion wearer of Fair Isle jerseys and well-worn cords, strider of moors, Sprout’s successor. Hermione’s former almost-fiancé.

“It never would have worked out,” Padma said.

“I know. I just loved him so much, he was so dear,” Hermione said. “When he proposed, it was like a dream—”

“He fell in a bog and broke both his legs,” Theo said. “Again, Not Dead. Perhaps terminally embarrassed, especially since he lost the ring in the bog and now the bog kassapu won’t give it back and Madame Longbottom is furious—”

“His gran didn’t mind that much,” Hermione said. “But she did say it was a sign. And that because Neville broke his legs in an enchanted bog, it wasn’t something St. Mungo’s could heal up easily and I wasn’t to think twice about refusing the offer. Neville said the same thing.”

“I suppose you could wait for him,” Padma said. “You are a witch. Another couple of decades—”

“We agreed it was for the best, ending it. We’ll stay friends, close friends, but he saw what was happening,” Hermione said. She’d often been told, dismissively by Slytherins, that one could read her face like a book; at the moment, it must be a torrid, fraught romance, albeit one without any ripped bodices or irascible, secretly wounded dukes. 

“It’s not like you and Draco planned to meet at St. Mungo’s,” Theo said. “It’s not like you orchestrated it for him to be on-call when you and Neville arrived and for him to be the one who sat up with you the whole night while the other Healers stabilized Nev. It’s not like you tried to fall in love with each other, former rivals and adversaries who had more in common than they’d admit until they couldn’t any more, wouldn’t—”

“Even though the rest of us could see it coming from a mile away. Years before. Since that first night at the pub,” Padma said. “Harry saw it. George Weasley’s had a bet going since you went to the loo that night, the pot could buy a lovely holiday villa in the Algarve by now. Minerva—”

“You call her Minerva now?” Theo whistled. “I thought that was reserved for the brightest witch here.”

“I advise some of the more gifted Arithmancy students who are beyond Vector’s skills,” Padma said. “Hermione might have done, but she had that Potions torch to carry and then Bill roped her into the side-gig at Gringott’s. Minerva told me she didn’t want to be called Professor by a colleague, certainly not one who made a better pot of tea than she did.”

“She said that?” Hermione exclaimed.

“I made the masala chai. She’s not stupid,” Padma said. “She said she’d wondered about you and Draco since the Yule Ball and that if Dumbledore had simply managed the Voldemort situation better, we could all have spent our Hogwarts years waiting to see if the two of you would get together.”

“Oh my,” Theo said, laughing. Hermione made a face, scrunching up her nose, then shoved back the hair that had come loose from the combs she’d used to pull it back.

“I guess the truth is, I’m afraid,” Hermione said. “I’m thirty-eight years old and I’ve never had a successful romantic relationship, they’ve all been unmitigated failures, well, maybe I get a pass on Neville, but otherwise it’s all been utter shite and I don’t want to mess anything up with Draco. I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want to be the Black widow and Walburga has been giving me the evil eye since she heard—”

“There it is,” Padma said.

“You cannot let that blasted portrait bother you,” Theo said. “Draco ought to be able to shut her up, heir to the House and all.”

“You’re not going to mess anything up. At least, you won’t do it by yourself. This is about you and Draco, what’s between you. What you make with how you care about each other,” Padma said. Theo nodded.

“And for the record, Draco has done a superlative job of keeping himself alive in situations that would have killed any lesser being. He survived Riddle as a houseguest. He survived Bellatrix changing his nappies. He survived Lucius finding out you’d beaten him in every class and Harry winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament,” Theo said. “You can’t take him out, darling girl, even if you try.”

“You should talk to him,” Padma said.

“I don’t know, he’ll think I’m being silly or that he has to take care of me,” Hermione said.

“You are being silly and he does have to take care of you,” Theo said. “So, yes, he’ll think that. But I am confident that he will express himself most eloquently on the topic.”

“How care you be so sure?” Hermione asked.

“Because this isn’t the first pot of masala chai I’ve made that one of you hasn’t drunk this week,” Padma said. “You’re the more secure of the two of you though—he went to Harry first.”

“And then to Millie,” Theo added. “She has not become more patient with age. It was a near-fatal error.”

Bonus image of my Madam Zabini fancast:

[mochidreambubble]

Peace is not a One Woman Job

[ongoing fic, slow/inconsistent updates]

Ao3 link (note: Ao3 account needed)

Chapters on Tumblr ~ 1 (you are here!)

first (here!) - next (WIP)

{(A multi-delegate MC fic)

Katiya was a miracle worker, undoubtedly. But there is no shame in admitting mayhaps, peace isn't just a one-woman job.}

~Birdsong~

You wonder if your mother only sees your late father in you. Aside from your eyes - her eyes, bright scheming emerald - you know you inherited much from him. While it would never happen, should you appear before strangers whilst not dressed in your finery and silks, they would undoubtedly think you Jiyelian. 

Of course, you could just ask her if your speculation was ever the case for her. Especially now, as it was your rare tête-à-tête for just the two of you - that and the rats in the walls vying for secrets.  But your mother rarely speaks of him, and even you should know better, it has you believing the old rumours that it was purely a match on the Empress’ whims and nothing more between them. The silly rumour that your mother was secretly and desperately in a debauched one-sided love with said Empress. Why else would she be so devotedly and obsessively loyal after all which has you rolling your eyes every time you hear it. Internally only, of course.

But your father seemed to love you, at the very least. Your late father had gifts and letters sent your way throughout childhood, all dripping sentimentality. Perhaps it was a blessing he died, considering he would have grown to be an obvious weakness if you were old enough to have grown attached to him.

As for thoughts on the living parent in your life, you felt that mother has always been the weary and loving mother who only ever let the mask of the ideal lady in waiting drop, letting the exhaustion show. Her protectiveness meant that for some years, you could count the times spent with just the two of you in a room on one hand. This contradicts the silly notion she doesn’t see you and instead your father when she sits across you of course.

So, you shake unnecessary thoughts away. Mother had a certain hint of urgency when she arranged your get-together, and thus you waited for her to unveil her true intentions. You can guess what she wanted to say. In fact, there could be nothing else she would have wanted to discuss with you.

She placed her drink down, the steaming chai left untouched this whole while as she stared pondering between you and the liquid before speaking. “You have decided to accept your position as one of Corval’s delegates, after all.”

She was not quite disapproving, but not all that happy with your choice it seemed. “It would be a great honour to be chosen as one of the seven.”

You could bring up how Princess Constance undoubtedly gave Arland so much thanks to her marriage to your Crown Price - but the notion leaves far too sour a taste on a visceral personal level. You take a big sip of your chai to not pull an ungraceful expression. You rather not risk making things unpleasant or uncomfortable for the remainder of your time together. 

“The Empress is… Going to keep her ears out for your achievements. She speaks openly about her expectations of you.”

Of your mother too, undoubtedly by extension.

“I will strive to not simply meet but surpass them.”

She laughs, soft and weary. “I have no doubt about that Khalida,” Her eyes close as her lips press tight. “And you may have to. Her Imperial Highness may have implied she was in truth, displeased, that you would be leaving the court for some time.”

Maybe forever , if it turned out as you wished.

“If you would be so kind, Mother dearest, please ensure Her Highness to take heart for I know better than to bring disgrace onto Her or you. I have been raised with utmost scrutiny after all,” which in truth can be taken as both praise and slight. “And if she would be so generous as to recall, I have yet to let her down.”

Years and years of clawing and maintaining your position, with rare moments or genuineness with Princess Constance just so she would appear happy enough… You will not let your work be for nought. You refuse to be denied your key - this opportunity. 

“Of course, Khalida dear. Her Imperial Highness simply has high hopes.”

And the subject is dropped. It was enough for you to know that a lot will be riding on your performance at the Summit. It is a game you are determined to not only beat, but achieve universal victory.

The remaining teatime is filled with gossip, the best and your favourite way to exchange valuable information among frivolous nonsense. You quite enjoy going over the Corval Satires which you bring up in hopes your mother may know a thing or two. She simply pulls the most displeased expressions over it, no doubt that the Empress was most infuriated over them in private.

There was just something so delicious over the satires and spoofs on real happenings at court and part of you was all too curious to know the real perpetrator. Admittedly, unmasking the author would gain you a boon and more favour from the Royal Family but in truth, simply knowing someone so observant would be too big a boon to pass up in friendship - and betray for that matter.   

Once the sweet treats and chai are gone, your mother rises and beckons for you to join her at the door. Then, in a rare act of physical affection, she pulls you close and places a kiss on your forehead. Her voice slightly trembles as she speaks. “My darling Khalida, I will try to see you on the night before you set sail.”

It would be impossible to bid you farewell on the docks after all.

“But if today will be the last that I will be allowed to see you for a long while, then, be well and know I will keep you in my prayers.”

“Thank you Mother. I will see you when I return,” you allow yourself to lean into her, take in her perfume and the touch of her soft silks. 

In seconds, you are apart once more, and she gracefully departs before you. The brief moment was enough though, to carry you in high spirits. At least right up till you return to the sorry sight in Princess Constance’s room. This was another reason why your meetings with your mother have become so sparse as, in recent years after becoming Princess Contstance’s (Unofficial) Lady in Waiting…

Well, messes more often than not land in a splatter on your elegantly embroidered silk lap. 

Your princess is kneeling on the soft rug in her room, rubbing the back of some sobbing poor excuse of a court lady drenched in the horrid scent of sex and the kind of incense often coming from a certain scandalous prince’s room. You refuse the huff threatening to escape your lips just as your Princess looks back up at you in surprise, then pleading.

You say not a word, but yank the sobbing woman up by her forearm. “Enough with the simpering and crying. Are you trying to invite unwanted attention to the Princess’ room?”

She looks up at you, agape, still hiccuping away. “L-Lady Kha-Khalida?”

“Yes, good afternoon Lady Rani,” you respond as dryly as you can manage. “I do suppose you have a good reason why I shouldn’t escort you out of Princess Constance’s room this very instance?”

“Khali, please,” Constance stands up and reaches out for you, but you shoot her a look to stay put. You would deal with this, as you always would - you have lost count of the number of times your dear friend would take pity on a younger woman solely because she insists they remind her of her little sister.

As if a proper Arland Princess would be so foolish as to wander right into the den of an infamous Prince.

“Please,” Lady Rani whispers, soft, terrified. Her mother, her sister as well as Rani herself were all part of the inner court. All of whom are warned to never interact with a certain prince lest they risk consequences from the Empress herself. 

Truly, foolish and deserved if Rani had decided to forgo all warnings for a brief moment of passion. Years of work, to throw it all away for a man who showers you with shallow compliments? One that would throw you out once he was done with you, no less. 

You swallow down the exasperated sigh as you tighten your grip on the younger woman and drag her to the bathroom. Constance does not follow.

“Undress and scrub yourself clean. I am going to make sure anyone who saw you scamper to Princess Contsance’s room is going to keep their mouths shut - and no, don’t start thanking me I am not having you risk her reputation out of her kindness,” you grab hold on her filthy garments as she rushes into the tub, flinching at your gaze. “While I am away, your sister - yes, your sister not you because Gods knows how brilliant you must be if today is any indication - will be assisting Princess Constance whilst I’m away. Are we clear?”

She nods, scrubbing down herself hard. “Yes. Thank-”

“Good. Now once you’re clean, remain here. As far as anyone is concerned, you had brunch and tea with the Princess. You kept her company while I was busy, and you and your sister have expressed the desire to care for her while I attend the Summit.”

She nods again. 

“I will bring you something else to wear. But make sure not a whiff of your mess remains.”

And you rush back out. Honestly, this was meant to be a calm and relaxing day - as much as it could be in the inner court of course. Yet here you are, with added work. Good grief.

“Thank you, Khali,” Constance says before you leave her quarters with a list of tasks running through your mind.

“Hardly any thanks required, Princess. I refuse to let this stain you.”

She has that look in her eye, one that says she doesn’t quite believe you. Only the Gods know why. Now, if only they would be so kind as to ensure nothing egregious happens during your upcoming seven-week absence…

~Dawn at Sea~

There’s a relief that washes over you, as you wave and shout tidings of farewell to your beloved - albeit smothering - papa … That is to say, Father as he prefers it, that he doesn’t look haggard over this voyage at the very least. It took a whole lot of puppy-dogged eyes pleading and almost a month of proper Wellin girl manners, but you have his full blessing to represent Hise as one of their delegates.

In truth, you didn’t quite need him to say yes, as you had the backing of the majority once you earned the spot in one of the contests but…

“You’d think he’s sending you off to war with that expression of his, Little Blackthorn!”

Turning around to meet the good-natured voice leaves you face to face with ‘Prince’ Hamin. Although this would be the first time you have met him in person, there was just no mistaking who this man was. Not to a fellow Hise pirate at least, considering he was both the ship’s captain and son of Hise’s leader. 

He has a hand outstretched to you with a ripe fruit while already munching on the one in his other with a grin. 

In truth, you would have loved nothing more than to sail to the Isle on your mother’s ship and her crew, but your father was none too convinced you would just sail off to Gods knows where if he allowed it. You’d never, of course, and it stung a whole lot that he wasn’t going to trust you on that.

So, it was decided you were to sail on the Blackwater , Hise’s leader arranging for it as an old favour to your mother. An acceptable alternative, one because you would at least be on the water again regardless of why and how, and because you were dying to have the opportunity to speak with Blackwater’s captain - the roguishly handsome young man before you. 

Taking the fruit from his hand and returning his smile but pausing before taking a hearty bite out of it. “Well thank you good captain, but as you said, I must bid my father farewell one last time - he is essentially sending me off to unknown waters after all.”

And facing your father once more, with the ship already making the quick distance between the port and open waters, you yell, “Be sure to write! But don’t fill it with lectures! I love you!”

“Farewell, Marisol! I love you!” Despite him having said farewell so many times, your heart aches. You will miss him, after all. Despite how much of your mother’s daughter you were, your father - and younger brothers, you suppose - were as dear as any treasure. “Remember to behave!”

Prince Hamin laughs and rests his elbows on the deck's wooden rail beside you. With his free hand, he gives your father a little wave. "Quite the request, isn't it? Asking a pirate to be on their best behaviour."

“Mother definitely thought so. Pretty sure she believed I fell sick when she came home to a curtsying and well-mannered girl.”

“I’d be too, considering that I came all this way to meet the infamous Blackthorn’s daughter after all,” He gives you a grin and a wink, as if emulating the charming rogues of fairy tales. You almost laugh, but settle for a snort.

“What could a one-time captain possibly have done to catch your attention, ‘Prince’ Hamin?”

“I heard that your maiden voyage went rather well, actually. Well enough that it was a pity you never sailed again.”

“Ah,” You turn away from him and back to the distant figure of your father. “It’s just that I know Mother would never forgive me if I had her greatest treasure die of heartbreak, after all.”

He makes a sound of contemplation, biting into the fruit as you start chowing down as well. The burst of sweetness has you hoping that whatever fruits the isle had to offer were as ripe and delicious. Well, you have no doubt Hise would have brought over some in their cargo to share, but it would be far more interesting to try something you haven’t before, after all. 

“But surely,” He speaks up again, a hint of mischief in his voice. “He can’t complain if I kidnap you, would he? As a new member of my crew of course.”

He gives you a look over and continues. “Although, I wouldn’t be against having you as a wi-”

He doesn’t get to continue. A dinner roll gets flung towards the both of you, landing smack on Hamin’s head. “Hey Captain, did you forget you were, oh I don’t know, the captain ? Stop trying to badly flirt and get your lazy butt over here!”

You peer in the direction of the well-aimed bread throw to see a woman glowering at Hamin, who simply laughs and picks the bread roll up. “For shame, Laela! What a waste of perfectly good bread!”

He turns back to you with another wink. “Pity we can’t talk more, Little Blackthorn, but as you can hear, duty calls.”

Part of you itches to help aboard, but you weren’t told that you had to do much of anything and you rather not get in the way right now. Not while you were the clear stranger aboard this ship.

Just as you decide to simply enjoy your sweet treat and the feeling of being back out on open waters, a polite but firm cough sounds from behind you. This time, instead of the charming ship’s captain, you were now face to face with Princess Cordelia.

From what you knew of her, you weren’t quite expecting the very prim and proper princess to dain striking up a conversation with you. Oh well, may as well make use of what your father taught you here and now. It would be good practice for the Summit anyway and something in your gut tells you Princess Cordelia would prefer it.

Dipping into a proper curtsey and opting to keep the hand holding the fruit behind your back for now, you smile back up at her with a greeting. “Good morning, Princess. A fine morning to sail, isn’t it?”

She seems taken aback - which was a little insulting maybe - but she quickly schools her expression back into a neutral and polite smile. “Good morning, Lady Marisol. Indeed it is. Apologies if I interrupted your meal.”

She pauses for a bit as if contemplating. “My parents had mentioned another young woman my age would be aboard my cousin’s ship, so I was simply hoping to make your acquaintance.”

You couldn’t help but smile brightly. “Of course! Well, I won’t be doing much of anything on deck, and if you won't be either… Well, I heard Princess, that you have a rather keen eye for fashionable coordination!”

There’s a small glint in her eyes, even if her smile remains ever so gentle and polite. “Is there something you would like my assistance on?”

“Yes! Well, I’d really appreciate it. My father made sure I had enough dresses and accessories for the whole seven weeks but I don’t often get the chance to dress up, so any advice would be really nice.”

She hesitates, for a moment. But then nods. “I’d love to look over your wardrobe. I believe all your belongings are in your quarters?”

Indeed they were. It was a very generous move to be offered your own private quarters, something which you once more believe should be attributed to whatever friendship your mother had with Hamin’s father. 

All in all, while you’d prefer to be busy on deck, talking about dresses and cute shoes with Princess Cordelia wasn’t all that bad either. Although she wasn't a woman of Hise in the same way you were, the confidence she displayed in her areas of expertise was characteristic of any Hise woman. Hopefully, this bonding moment has earned you a new friend.

~Duty Requires Courage…And Some Potential Allies as Well!~

Part of you wishes to turn around and chase after Jasper. You could hear chatter from within and your heart was racing a mile a minute as you froze in place before the doors separating you and the other delegates.

You couldn’t do this. Why did you think you could?

I’m sorry Constance, I’m so sorry but I just can’t

“Hey, do you think we should do something? Get one of those creepy purple-eyes fellas?”

Mother and Father are going to be so disappointed… They were right about you…

“Firstly, it’s not polite to call the servants of the Isle creepy. Secondly, no.”

You were going to be the first Arland Princess - no, the first delegate that would be shipped home on the first day, weren’t you…

“Wait, why not?”

“...It would not be a good first impression to be babied by her butler for the Welcome Feast.”

What am I going to-

“Excuse me, Princess Melia,” You almost let out a disgraceful yelp at the gentle tap on your shoulder. You quickly spin around to see two other women looking at you. One was dressed head to toe in bright colours, making you think of a bright and beautiful sunrise. Her face was unmistakably filled with concern and Oh no here you were already making trouble for others on the first day.

The other next to her, with an arm hooked to the other with what looks like a half-hearted attempt to pull away, was dressed in elaborate silks and jewels - the kind that would make her look right at home in your mother’s private collection of crown jewels. She was looking rather pointedly at you, and you almost felt the urge to shrink away from her gaze. Then, she speaks. “Apologies for startling you Princess Melia. Are you quite alright?”

“H-Huh? Oh, I was. Um.”

“Aw, aren’t you just adorable? Don’t worry, we don’t bite! Even this pretty missy over here. She just let me bring her on a short walk all over-”

“Which almost had us late, and worse, sweaty.”

“Oh Gods no, whatever shall we do?” The colourfully dressed woman cackles good-heartedly. “And no, we’re still pretty early actually, if my pocket watch is correct.”

“...Well. Let’s not waste any more time then. Would you like to walk in with us, Princess?” The one with glittering jewels asked. 

“Wait, what’s the difference between walking with us and if we get her butle-”

“This is a Summit meant to build peace and better relations, is it not? I believe it will be quite the statement to have women from three separate nations walk in together.”

“Oooh, who knew you had bold plans up your pretty lace gloves, roomie~”

“Having our rooms opposite each other does not make us roommates, Lady Marisol,” 

You stare at the glove hand extended to you and grab onto it in a matter of seconds, just in case she changes her mind and pulls away. “Thank you, um…”

“Khalida, of Corval. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Princess.”

As expected, people stared when the three of you entered. A Hise Pirate with her arms linked together with a Corvali Court Lady, which undoubtedly created an immediate stir, and the Arland Princess on the other which had her countrymen staring dead at her which only had you gripping harder on Khalida’s arm. 

It was only once Khalida of Corval curtsies her away to leave you by the chatty Lady Marisol that you realise you never introduced yourself to her. 

This is widely not canon-compliant as is, considering this is basically a MultiDelegate!MC AU. You can also say they will be sharing the MC’s responsibility, as in I will potentially be splitting the MC’s plot stuff and responsibilities among them as I see fit. Aside from the three in this chapter, I'll likely relegate the other MC backgrounds to the background when I can if they appear at all. Fun (?) facts for this chapter: ~ I had planned for Khalida’s portion to end after she parted ways with her mother, but I felt inspired to write a scene of her tough and harsh love - even for people she’s not all too familiar with. Deep down, she’s a kind soul which I hope came across ~ Admittedly, I cut out a harsher conversation between Rani and Khalida in which Rani insisted she thought it was “True Love” in which Khalida would rather cruelly mock her on the notion - even if it was less about Rani and more about how poorly she finds Zarad who continues to break hearts all over ~ Everyone, say thanks to a a close friend who spent a good while helping me find the term “deck rail” because I kept trying to google what that part of the ship was and they saved me (also because I’m stupid, obviously, so my brain cell has to come from someone else) ~ The first actual scene I had in mind for this fic was the three MCs entering together, but it was the last scene to be written and very briefly at that. Whoops.

[vaibhavi-01]

India as an Emerging Power: Challenges and Prospects- Part 2

Table of contents

• India's Role in the Global Economy

• Political Landscape and Foreign Relations

• Conclusion

India's Role in the Global Economy

Move over, world! India is stepping onto the global stage and ready to strut its stuff. With a rising middle class and a consumer market that is hotter than a summer day in Delhi, India is a force to be reckoned with.

But it's not just about shopping and spending. India is also making waves in the tech and start-up scene. Move aside Silicon Valley, Bengaluru is where the real innovation is happening. With a boom in technology and entrepreneurship, India is churning out bright minds and game-changing ideas faster than you can say "unicorn startup".

And let's not forget about outsourcing and the service sector. It may not sound glamorous, but it's a key player in India's economic growth. From call centers to IT services, India is the go-to destination for businesses looking for affordable talent and quality work. We've got all your customer service needs covered, with a side of chai.

So next time you're sipping on your morning coffee and using a fancy new app. remember that it might just be powered by India. We're not just the land of yoga and curry, we're shaping the global economy one billion-strong population at a time. So, buckle up world, because India is ready to take center stage. And trust me, you don't want to miss the show.

Political Landscape and Foreign Relations

India's political landscape is as diverse as it comes. With a proud tradition of democracy and a population that could easily create a football team, India's political scene is truly a sight to behold. It's a lot like going to a potluck dinner, where you get a little taste of everything.

One of the key pillars of India's political system is its democracy. Unlike some countries where leaders are chosen based on their ability to wave a flag, India prides itself on giving everyone a say in who gets to run the show. It's like a reality TV show, but with less drama and more debating.

But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. India also has its fair share of security concerns, especially when it comes to nuclear power. With great power comes great responsibility, and India knows that all too well. It's like having a pet tiger in your backyard - you have to make sure it doesn't get out and create mischief.

In addition to domestic issues, India also has to navigate the complexities of regional and international alliances. It's like trying to juggle multiple relationships at once. Sometimes you have to choose between attending your friend's wedding and going to your cousin's birthday party. It's a delicate balancing act, and India is the ultimate multitasker.

So, when it comes to India's political landscape and foreign relations, it's a colorful tapestry of democracy, security concerns, and international alliances. It's like a Bollywood movie - full of drama, action, and a few dance numbers thrown in for good measure. India is a protagonist in its own right, navigating its way through a complex web of challenges and opportunities. Buckle up, folks, because this is one rollercoaster ride you won't want to miss.

Conclusion

India, with its immense potential on the global stage, faces a multitude of challenges, Overpopulation and the management of resources pose significant hurdles. Social Inequality and poverty hinder progress and innovation. Corruption and bureaucracy add an extra layer of complexity. However, India also has promising prospects. The demographic dividend, coupled with investment in infrastructure, can fuel growth. Moreover, India's expanding global influence is a positive sign. In terms of the global economy, India's rising middle class and booming tech and start-up scene, along with its service sector, play a pivotal role. Politically, India's democracy and diversity, nuclear power, and regional and international alliances shape its position. In conclusion, India's journey as an emerging power presents both challenges and opportunities that need to be navigated strategically.

[ravenpureforever]

I posted 491 times in 2022

That's 447 more posts than 2021!

30 posts created (6%)

461 posts reblogged (94%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@snake-and-mouse

@iffervescent

@rythyme

@yeetlegay

@ravenpureforever

I tagged 467 of my posts in 2022

Only 5% of my posts had no tags

#kinnporsche - 256 posts

#the eclipse - 112 posts

#kimchay - 60 posts

#kinnporsche the series - 44 posts

#vegaspete - 34 posts

#porsche my beloved - 34 posts

#love in the air - 28 posts

#star wars - 24 posts

#akkayan - 17 posts

#i’m obsessed - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#lowkey laughing how they all apparently went ‘we can fix you i can make it better’ to kinnporsche and then created a cinematic masterpiece

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Porsche: Being married to a Theerapanyakul is great!

Porchay: So great!

Pete: The best!

Porsche: But they can be a…a tad judgmental

Porchay: Almost punitive

Pete: They are monsters

269 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

#4

Akk: I am responsible for the curse!

Ayan: I am Teacher Dika’s nephew and you drove him to suicide!

Teacher Chadok: I was in love with your uncle and we were engaged and I watched him commit suicide in front of me!

Thua: I have been manipulating everything from behind the scenes in a desperate bid to expose the truth so all this can finally end!

Kan and Wat:

269 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

#3

So I know we all joke about Porchay living his best Wattpad life, myself included, but I think we all kind of ignore how Kim just never dissuaded him from that notion and how we find that genre dissonance between Porsche & Kim’s view (and often our audience view) of Chay and how he actually acts, and we’re all sleeping on the mini character arc he’s gotten over the course of the series.

Porsche and Kim don’t want Chay to get caught up in the mafia world, and they both seem to view him in the same lense: he’s innoncent, sweet, incorruptible.

But Chay has fucking balls man, and he’s a lot more resilient than people give him credit for. He also ignores red flags like he’s color blind. We don’t get to see much of him, but the glimpses we do get show there is so much more beneath the surface.

First:

Man grew up with Porsche & a dead beat Uncle, you telling me he didn’t see some shit growing up? No matter how well Porsche protected him, Chay is the one dressing his wounds when he comes back from fighting, Chay still hears the loan sharks coming for his Uncle, he’s growing up watching his older brother as really the only source of income for his household. And he can’t do anything about it. Watching episode 1, when Chay asks Porsche to let him get a job and help out, it feels like they’ve had this conversation before, it feels resigned, it feels like a final quiet plea of “we’ve talked about this before, but please, please, please just consider it.” But Porsche says no, I’m going to take care of it and I can’t help but think of the impact that has, of watching the person he loves most get beat down again and again and not being able to do anything about it. I feel like Chay probably grew up being the peacekeeper, the one trying to keep the waters calm. Its clear he knows he’s his brother’s world, that his brother has done so much to keep him sheltered and happy, and I can think of Porsche teaching Chay manners, teaching him ideals of being kind to others and Chay just internalizing it and deciding “ah yes, so this is my role in the family, this is how I can help my brother.” Chay probably felt a lot of pressure, no matter how unintentionally and how unconditionally Porsche loves him, to be a reason why his brother is doing all of this, he’s probably hyper aware of how he’s Porsche’s motivation, that everything his brother does is for him. That does things to your self-worth, to how you view yourself. I get the feeling hasn’t had any agency over his own life before, he’s always been the princess locked in the tower, aware of the war but not allowed to participate. His happily ever has been chosen and now he just has to see it through.

Then literally overnight, he wakes up and his Uncle has vanished, and his brother has left with just a fairly suspicious note about pursuing his dream that’ll completely be able to fully support Chay. His entire way of living has transformed, and now he’s completely alone. He went from princess locked in a tower as a war rages on to a Queen of a decimated kingdom. He can not grieve, he can only have faith and move forward.

This is also how I realized Chay has practically been designed to ignore all red flags and interpret them as something else.

Enter Kim, stage right. Enter Chay’s wattpad fantasy come to life, also stage right.

When Chay meets Kim, he is someone who has literally nothing to lose throwing himself out there. My boy literally just recites an encyclopedia knowledge of “Wik, sir, you are my hyper fixation” all in the hopes of getting that T-shirt. And it works! His idol signs his T-shirt, he gets to talk to his idol, he has been rewarded for putting himself out there!

So go big or go home right? He might as well try asking for a tutor when asked if there’s anything he wants. And he’s shot down. No big deal, he moves on and has merch thats going to be the envy of the Wik fandom.

But then his idol calls him, and says he’ll tutor him. Wik remembered him, remembered his request, and then proceeded to hunt down a way to get Chay’s phone number and call him personally in order to tell him he’s decided to he’s going to help him get into the his dream department that he himself is apart of.

Its easy to view Chay from Kim’s perspective, as an excitable fanboy with a crush, but we forget how Kim looks from Chay’s perspective. So lets look on how everything seems from Chay’s perspective.

Chay put himself out there, made a decision solely for himself and what he wants and now his idol wants to tutor him. He’s been actively rewarded twice now, by the same person, for asserting what he wants and trying to get it. He’s gotten his cake and is eating it too. He has a celebrity crush like most people get, only his celebrity crush is now making the effort to genuinely get to know him.

Wik tells Chay his name is Kim, he’s being open and vulnerable to Chay, and he’s trusting him with his identity. Kim asks about his brother, even though Chay didn’t tell him, red flag to any normal person citing he saw Chay’s screensaver and made an assumption. Kim is taking an interest in his life, he notices little details about him, and is asking to here more about the coolest person in the world, his brother and even noticed how much Chay loves Porsche that he wants Chay to write a song about it! He even trusts Chay enough to ask for his phone when Kim’s phone has died, even though that’ll mean there’s important numbers in Chay’s call history, and he trusts that Chay won’t take advantage of them!

And maybe Chay starts to fall a bit in love with Kim. Not Wik, but Kim, who’s a little bit insecure, a little bit awkward, but is making all this effort for Chay.

For Chay, it isn’t anything manipulative or suspicious, he’s becoming friends Kim, they’re sharing information about themselves, they’re bonding now, and he’s been shown that if he pushes, Kim will stay. Chay is all alone now, he has to take care of himself, but if he makes an effort and keeps putting himself out there, if he makes his wants known, Kim comes to him. Kim trusts him, and as long as Chay takes the initiative, he also makes the effort to bond with Chay.

Then Porsche comes back! Chay isn’t alone anymore, and they’re happy and safe and Porsche isn’t getting beat up! And then Porsche once again immediately leaves without a word and few days later you get the first call you’ve gotten from him since he left the first time and now he’s back at work and doesn’t know when he’ll be back again. He’s all alone, and his brother has seem to get a new life that once again Chay’s not allowed to be apart of.

But then Kim shows up at his house! And Chay immediately throws his brother under the bus in a desperate bid to keep Kim’s good opinion of him, once again, gotta admire the sheer balls and audacity of that move. Then Kim gifts him one of his guitars! Porsche do you understand how easily your brother could be taken advantage of do you? Sure he almost gets the heart attack of Kim discovering his shrine, but what teenager doesn’t have posters on the wall of his favorite singer? Maybe it’s weird that he wants Chay to go get the food for them both, but he could have an important phone call to make, he could be nervous going out in public where people could recognize him! Then when he gets back Kim asks him about his love life! Kim ruffles his hair! Kim tells him to write a love song!

Kim is checking off all the boxes of my crush likes me back.

So when Kim ghosts him a little, Chay makes the obvious conclusion. Show up at his house and sing him the love song he wrote! He’s been shown time, and time again that if he reaches out to Kim, Kim will eventually grab his hand. Kim has shown to be awkward and a little of unsure of himself around Chay, but relaxes when Chay takes the initiative. So Chay does what’s always worked. With literally no fear or anxiety whatsoever.

And with episode 13, we see how close they were getting. We see how they went out to places together, romantically or platonically, and they took pictures together! They were friends, they were close, they had a level of trust and bonding and vulnerability for Chay to take photos with Kim and leave them around his house for Kim to find!

So Chay once again has nothing left to lose, and shoots his final shot and confesses to Kim. And Kim kisses him! They hug! Kim may or may not have come home with him that night but at some point in they’re relationship post confession, they fall asleep cuddling on the couch.

And Chay and Porsche are very similar. They fall in love quickly, they become very devoted and loyal to that love, and they are honest about it. Chay and Porsche are both the first ones to say I love you, but while Porsche doesn’t ask for a reply, Chay does. Because Kim has shown time and time again that Chay needs to take the initiative. So he asks Kim: I love you, do you love me?

But he stops at that and lets Kim take his time. Because that’s the song and dance their courtship has been taking, Chay flirts, Chay pushes forward and then Kim comes to meet him the rest of the way.

Chay is living in a Wattpad fantasy: he meets his idol crush, his idol crush becomes fascinated with him, he sees the real human behind his idol crush’s persona and falls in love with the awkward, sweet person underneath, he confesses his love and the feeling is mutual! And all of this seems to be fate, like this perfect love story and the happy ending he actually wants. He’s practically gotten into his dream department with the boy of his dreams who loves him back.

He’s confirming it is all real, and letting Kim know that it’s all real on his end.

And then he gets fucking kidnapped. And then he gets indisputable proof that his brother has been lying to him this entire time, and he was kidnapped because of that secret life his brother was lying about it.

The ultimatum may seem harsh, but it makes sense when you see it from Chay’s perspective. He probably feels essentially abandoned by his brother for the past two months, and he’s understandably pissed about everything thats happened in the last 48 hours or so. His brother can be part of his life and they can go back to the way things were, but Chay can’t be a part of his life if his brother is in the mafia, and its true. Porsche has spent all this time telling Chay he wants him to get into a good school and get a good job and be surrounded by good people with a good social life. You can’t have that in the mafia, and Chay knows that. So from Chay’s perspective, his brother has basically just been a complete hypocrite to everything his brother taught him.

And while Porsche has been shown the type of person to be willing to throw away his morals and beliefs when it comes to the people he loves, Chay isn’t. His entire life has been surrounded on those ideals of being a good, kind person who lives a good life. And he’s understandably terrified of the thought of losing his brother and truly being on his own. He’s basically lost his only emotional support system for two months, and if his brother dies, he loses him for good.

So Chay says him or me, because in his mind either way he could lose his brother, but this is Chay making his own decision, this is Chay fighting back and reminding Porsche that see you hurt makes me hurt too. This ultimatum reminds Porsche that his actions have conquenses on Chay too, and it shows how Chay has grown up in his absence. Chay in episode one was willing to just bow his head and listen to what his brother, but Chay in episode 10 is willing to speak out, he’s no longer willing to be simply passive in his brother’s plans for him.

See the full post

310 notes - Posted July 7, 2022

#2

From what I’ve seen in this last episode, we can all agree that Kim is like a feral cat yowling for Chay’s attention but then immediately hiding when Chay comes to check out what that noise is

704 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think the best part of KinnPorsche, and it really comes to mind with this latest episode, is that every character thinks they’re in a different genre and it’s the funniest thing watching it clash with the reality.

Kinn is just living his best rom-com life where he falls for his sassy but kind assistant bodyguard that he can no longer live with out.

Porsche is basically a YA novel where he falls for his sexy morally ambiguous love interest who’s secretly sweet but *gasp* his past has come to haunt him!

Pete thinks he’s in a dark psychological thriller where he must battle his inner demons and brooding but hot captor to maintain his humanity but it threatens to over take him at any moment as he is torn between his newly found dark desires and the reputation he prides himself on.

Vegas acts like he’s in gothic bodice ripper novel where his entire world becomes the kind, empathic heroine Pete and he will do anything to keep him to himself and Pete is going to help him overcome the truama of his past with his love.

Kim sees himself in this brooding noir style detective film where he must uncover the dark past of his family but oh no he finds himself falling for the pure and sweet ingénue Chay and must wrestle with the dangerous life he leads and the mission he’s devoted himself to and the love of his life

Porchay thought he’s living his Wattpad dream life where he meets his idol and gains his respect as he tutors him and they slowly develop a sweet friendship that turns into a heartfelt romance

They really demonstrate how all the characters are protagonists of their own story, and that’s how they make their decisions, based on the assumptions on the world around them. They think they know the story their in, and that’s the role they have taken, but the tragedy and the complications of these relationships is that they aren’t in a single genre story. They’re people, achingly human people, interacting with other complex people and what is salvation for one is a damnation for the other.

They aren’t in any specific genre (you know, beyond on the whole mafia thing) and that’s where the miscommunication happens, that’s how the drama unfolds, that’s how all these different romances keep missing each other, because they’re all operating on different wavelengths based on the story they think *THEY’RE* in and not stopping to really consider the other perspective.

It’s absolutely hilarious, it’s terribly tragic, it’s utterly beautiful and performed so well by the writers and the actors.

3,289 notes - Posted July 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[googleblogs123]

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[healthy-snacks]

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Introduction: The Essence of Masala Chai

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Ayurvedic Roots and Digestive Health

The spices used in Masala Chai are not only chosen for their flavor but also for their medicinal properties. Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, highlights the digestive benefits of these spices. For instance, cinnamon is known for its ability to regulate blood sugar levels and improve digestion. Cardamom aids in reducing bloating and gas, while cloves are recognized for their anti-inflammatory properties and ability to soothe stomach discomfort. Together, these spices work harmoniously to increase appetite, decrease gas, and counteract stomach acidity, making Masala Chai a perfect drink to support digestive health. For a delightful snack pairing, consider enjoying it with methi khakhra, which complements the tea’s digestive benefits.

Boosting Energy and Mental Clarity

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A Ritual of Comfort and Warmth

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Conclusion: A Sip of Wellness

Masala Chai is more than just a tea; it’s a symbol of tradition, wellness, and vitality. With its Ayurvedic roots and a perfect blend of spices, this beverage offers a multitude of health benefits, particularly for the digestive system. Whether you’re looking to improve digestion, boost your energy levels, or simply enjoy a moment of warmth and comfort, Masala Chai is a delightful and healthful choice. Embrace this ancient drink and experience the revitalizing power it brings to your body and mind.

[jamienojaem]

"Contrary to popular belief, empathy is not about imagining what it's like to 'walk in someone else's shoes.' Rather, true empathy is about choosing to listen to someone else recount what it's like to walk in their shoes and to trust their story even when it may not match or agree with your experience. True empathy is recognizing that you can never be an expert in someone else's story. By helping you consider the lived experiences of others, the practice of empathy also allows you to understand yourself more. When you are in the presence of an 'other' - someone who lives, loves, or sees differently than you do - and are outside of your own internal chatter, even for a bit, you are moved to revisit your own assumptions about the world and how it should function. However, empathy is not endorsement. Attention does not always mean approval. Listening does not always mean license. Compassion does not have to mean compromise. Just because you're merciful to someone does not mean that you now have to agree with everything they say or do. It just means that in that moment, and for many moments after that, you have chosen to orient yourself to the needs of someone other than yourself without any conditions for your compassion."

— Kevin Wilson | The Way of Chai

[railrecipee]

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Embarking on a train journey has never been more delicious, thanks to RailRecipe. Say goodbye to mundane train food and embrace a delectable culinary adventure right at your seat. RailRecipe is not just a food in train delivery service; it's your ticket to a flavorful journey through a diverse menu, ensuring that every mile traveled is accompanied by a symphony of tastes.

A Feast for Every Palate: RailRecipe believes in catering to the varied tastes of travelers. The menu is a treasure trove of options, from local favorites to international delights. Whether you're in the mood for a comforting bowl of biryani, a cheesy pizza, or a classic sandwich, RailRecipe's menu has something to satisfy every craving. It's a feast on the move, offering a delightful escape from the monotony of standard train meals.

Freshness Beyond Boundaries: Worried about the freshness of your meal during the journey? Fret not! RailRecipe takes pride in delivering meals that maintain their freshness, ensuring that each bite is as delightful as the last. The chefs behind RailRecipe are committed to crafting meals that stand up to the challenges of travel, bringing you a burst of flavors that will make your train journey a memorable one.

Indian Delicacies at Your Fingertips: For those with a love for Indian cuisine, RailRecipe is a culinary haven. Picture this: aromatic curries, flavorful biryanis, and a medley of spices that transport you to the heart of India. The menu showcases the richness and diversity of Indian flavors, making your journey as much about the food as it is about the destinations. Spice up your travel experience with the authentic taste of India.

Global Gastronomy on the Go: RailRecipe goes beyond borders, offering a global culinary experience to passengers. Whether you're yearning for the zesty flavors of Italian pasta, the savory goodness of Chinese noodles, or the familiarity of a classic burger, RailRecipe brings international cuisines to your train compartment. It's like having a world tour for your taste buds, all while you traverse through picturesque landscapes.

Snacking Delights: No journey is complete without a snack break, and RailRecipe ensures that you're well-covered in this department. Crispy fries, hot cups of masala chai, and sandwiches that are both satisfying and scrumptious - RailRecipe's snack options are the perfect companions for those in-between-meals cravings. Elevate your snacking game and make every bite count.

Healthy Choices, Happy Traveling: For health-conscious travelers, RailRecipe introduces a range of nutritious options. Fresh salads, fruit bowls, and low-calorie meals are designed to cater to your dietary preferences, ensuring that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle even on the move. Eating well doesn't have to be a challenge when you're aboard a train with RailRecipe.

Ordering Simplicity: Worried about navigating a complicated ordering process? Fear not! RailRecipe has streamlined the entire process, making it user-friendly for passengers. Just a few clicks to choose your train, peruse the menu, and enter your seat details – and voila! Your culinary journey is set in motion. RailRecipe ensures that your chosen delights will be delivered to you at the right stop, making the entire process seamless and stress-free.

Real-time Updates for Peace of Mind: Curious about when your meal will arrive? RailRecipe keeps you in the loop with real-time updates on your order. Track its journey from the kitchen to your seat and rest assured that your culinary adventure is well on its way. RailRecipe not only delivers meals; it provides an experience that combines convenience with the joy of anticipation.

In conclusion, RailRecipe is not just a food delivery service; it's a culinary companion that transforms your train journey into a feast on the move. With a menu that caters to every palate, a commitment to freshness, and a user-friendly ordering process, RailRecipe ensures that your travel experience is as delightful as the destinations you're headed to. So, the next time you're on a train, let RailRecipe be your guide to a tasty and convenient dining adventure.

[phongnhacave]

3 AMAZING ZIPLINE PLACES IN PHONG NHA – KE BANG NATIONAL PARK

Zipline Phong Nha activities are increasingly diversified to serve domestic and international tourists when traveling to Quang Binh. In addition to the famous caves, in Quang Binh, forests and streams are very diverse to develop tree and zipline activities. Currently, in Phong Nha Ke Bang, there are 3 zipline locations that you can experience. We would like to introduce these 3 places for visitors to choose and prepare for the journey to explore Phong Nha Quang Binh.

Chay River- Dark Cave

The oldest and longest Phong Nha zipline today is the Chay River Dark Cave zipline. At the dark cave, visitors can visit the experience of mud bathing in the dark cave, swimming in the cool lake. This is also the highlight of the Dark Cave Zipline tour. To enter the Dark cave, visitors can come by 2 ways: swinging through the Chay River or kayaking to the Chay River. However, the most interesting option is still to swing through the Chay River, then take a dark cave mud bath, then return to the stream and kayaking.

Experience Song Chay zipline, dark cave is chosen by visitors when coming to Phong Nha Quang Binh.

Ozo Park

In addition to tree games, visitors to Ozo Park can participate in water activities such as sup canoeing, kayaking and enjoying specialties in Phong Nha Ke Bang.

Hava Valley

Explore Soi Vang Bay: Kayaking down the Chay River to admire the miniature Ha Long Bay in the heart of heritage, and the most beautiful spot to checkin in the middle of the romantic river.

Experience Kayaking, paddling Sup in the middle of the river, watching the charming scenery. River jumping game, zipline surpass yourself, with 3 zipline lanes, do not miss this game with teammates.

River bathing: Immerse yourself in the cool, blue water, waving together, feeling like shaking off all the worries of life.

Participate in the longest 2-lane super-speed slide in Quang Binh: 3-speed thrilling jumping.

View of the monument 25m from the water: From this height, you will be able to capture the beautiful moments of the scenery in Hava! Coming to Hava valley, visitors can also enjoy delicious culinary specialties in Phong Nha Ke Bang.

There are 3 Phong Nha zipline destinations for visitors to refer to and choose.

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ZIPPLININE IN DARK CAVE – DISCOVERY PARADISE CAVE

PHONG NHA CAVE – DARK CAVE

DISCOVERY CHA LOI CAVE SYSTEM 2 DAYS 1 NIGHT

[squadrah]

headcanon - everybody's coffee order

For this one, I want you to imagine all of them going into the same Italian Starbucks or whatever. There is a team dynamic to this.

Gelato and Sorbet tend to go first; this is a matter of seniority as well as Gelato taking initiative and Sorbet naturally tagging along. Sorbet will observe customs and drink his coffee according to the time of day because he cares about appearances, but Gelato always asks for café corretto, and if they don't serve it, he orders an espresso and makes sure to wink at the barista and tell them not to worry because "I brought my own", allowing them a glimpse of his flask. Always waits until they sit down to actually add the alcohol.

They are usually followed by Prosciutto, who only ever tends to order espresso, but is willing to try different regional or international variants as long as they contain no milk (he can drink milk, but he chooses not to because it dilutes the flavor). Sometimes he also asks for a tumbler of ice on the side to eat after his drink.

Illuso comes next because he enjoys getting his drink as early as possible, and he always goes for a tall order of chai if the place offers it. If he cannot have that, he will pick something fairly mundane (like a macchiato), and then complain that it just doesn't measure up to chai. Always steals the others' complimentary packets of sugar.

Risotto is next, and he, too, orders coffee according to the time of day. He then carries it to their chosen table and waits for Formaggio, with whom they have an agreement that in public, Formaggio will order/ask for what Risotto really wants, while Risotto orders/asks for something normal that Formaggio will enjoy. Formaggio proceeds to order a tall caramel macchiato with a straight face, and when he arrives at the table, he waits for a moment to discreetly swap with Risotto, right under Prosciutto's nose because it's fun to watch him give a rancid side eye at this bullshit.

Melone dry-swallows his Lactaid while in line but in plain view of the barista, then proceeds to order something with a normal amount of milk in it with unwarranted yet unironic enthusiasm. Will always ask about available ingredients because he likes to experiment, and his choice orders are actually phenomenal.

Pesci likes to come right after Melone, because the latter will always tell him if there is a particular combination he recommends. Of the coffee drinkers on the team, Pesci drinks the least amount to mind his acid reflux, so he usually asks for a latté with whatever add-ins Melone recommended, or a frappuccino because he's used to icing himself as Prosciutto's protegé.

Ghiaccio tends to be last because he hates to be perceived, but even if he were aware that cross-ordering agreements were a thing, it wouldn't help him, because he is the only person on the team who doesn't drink anything with caffeine in it. Catch him always asking for mineral water because few places carry electrolites. Doesn't matter if it's cold or not, either, since he can take care of that with White Album.

[bjax27]

Puck You! Total Drama All Stars II

Word Count: 6,785 (Not as long, but still grab a snack)

Link to the previous chapter: https://bjax27.tumblr.com/post/692891801876627457/a-e-i-o-u-total-drama-all-stars-ii

“Last time on Total Drama All-Stars… Two!” An intro sequence starts playing after Chris announces.

“Gwen, Zoey, and Sky were chosen as team captains, as they were the ones picked by Chef. Each of the girls had a fair share of members they wanted on their teams, and a few others they didn’t want so much, heh heh. Once they picked their teams, we went on to our first challenge, a scavenger hunt in the forest for letters. These letters would inevitably make up each of our captain’s team names. Not too long after they had to showcase their newfound team names to the judges, which included our special guest, DJ. The Optimistic Otter’s presentation was absolutely terrible, no two ways about it. However, it was Lightning that was immediately deemed off-limits thanks to my new MVP rule. The votes were a bit spread but thanks to some convincing, Justin was the one sent packing this week. Upon further review, he wasn’t the only one being sent home as Topher was caught cheating in the first part of the challenge. Surprise, surprise, these two will be hosting the aftermath show, not too long from now!” Chris took a brief pause to gather himself.

“Find out this week if I’ll reprimand the Glamorous Golden Eagles for cheating, who else will be sent home, and last and certainly not least, WILL MY MORNING VANNILA CHAI TEA BE HERE BEFORE NOON! Ahem, sorry about that, find out this week as we get closer to our two-and-a-half million dollar reward, on Total Drama All-Stars!” Chris threw up two fingers, and the nearby interns ran as fast as humanly possible to grant Chris’s request.

Glamourous Golden Eagles

“Good morning Gweny,” Courtney said happily.

“Good morning… AH! What am I doing here? Oh, that’s right, I came in here to talk to you because I couldn’t sleep” Gwen facepalmed.

“Well ya better get dressed soon, breakfast should still be warm if you get down soon enough” Courtney teased.

Cuts to confessional

“Well, we did talk last night. It just wasn’t very long until she was sound asleep on my mattress. The poor thing just didn’t want to wake her up” Courtney giggled.

End of Confessional

“This is the life! Being able to eat with such expensive silverware and plates, not to mention the food, it’s so beautifully prepared, and…” Heather interrupted.

“Shut it, dweeb, let me have some time to enjoy this meal before we have to go back to more challenges,” Heather said snappily.

“I must admit Harold is correct, they even accommodated my vegan-based dietary restrictions” Dawn happily ate a piece of her vegan waffle.

“I don’t think I ever want to lose, I can only imagine what the other campers are eating right now” Cameron commented.

“OAT GRUEL, get ya OAT GRUEL” Chef yelled bitterly. The Colossal Cobras were waiting in line for their supposed food, while the Optimistic Otters were attempting to eat it.

“Is it still too late to go back to foraging for my food?” Dave asked sarcastically.

“You get what you get, and you don’t get upset! Get some meat on ya bones Dave, take two more scoops!” Chef threw down two more scoops on Dave’s tray causing him to sigh in anguish.

A lot of the more seasoned competitors just ate the gruel and didn’t complain too much. Of course, finding the occasional hair in their food as per usual. Jasmine finished her plate and attempted to pump up her teammates for today's challenge.

“Optimistic Otters, no offense here but we’ve got to be like our name and be, y’know, optimistic! If we win today's challenge we won’t have to send someone home. Not to mention, we get to stay in the mansion! Now, who’s with me?” Jasmine looked around, only to see some uplifted teammates.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but dude that last challenge did not go according to plan. We gotta win today, no ifs and or buts” Duncan joined in, and everyone ended up agreeing with this.

“Lightning doesn’t like to lose, and I’m sure none of you do either, so let’s win the sha-dang challenges already! Hands in, otters on three baby!” The team gathered in a circle around the dining hall each person putting their hands in.

“One, two, three, OTTERS!” They all broke off, leaving the very quiet and still eating Colossal Cobras.

“I’ll take second place, but I do feel like we were robbed. Word on the street is that the Optimistic Otters cheated, and they might be handicapped in today's challenge” Scott said quietly to his surrounding teammates.

cuts to confessional

“When you don’t pay anyone anything to help you, what keeps them from betraying you? It’ll be really easy to light a fire in this team and to cripple the Golden Eagles in today's challenge with that intel. After all, they are definitely the strongest team” Scott grinned slyly.

End confessional

“They cheated? Now we for sure have to get back at them!” Sky said with fire in her eyes. Bridgette agreed, slapping hands with her.

“That should’ve been our mansion stay!” Dave whined.

“We’ll get there Dave, I promise. But now, we gotta win today's challenge and stick it to the Eagles. Now, who’s with me?” Scott said.

“Yeah, definitely me Scotty! I’m really hungry and this gruel isn’t doing it for my belly, heh heh” Owen’s stomach growled.

“Don’t call me that Owen! But yes let’s get to the mansion, and win this challenge!” Scott finished. The rest of the team seemed motivated to win, and just as they were about to return to their respective cabins, Chris was announced over the loudspeaker.

“…this thing on? Okay, good, great! Let’s begin today's challenge! I’m going to need everyone at the dock, pronto! Things are about to get real icy!”

Cuts to commercial

Each of the teams arrived with their captains in front of them. Chris was fitted out in a hockey jersey and a beanie hat.

“Good mornin’ to ya. For today's challenge each of you will be hitting the ice in an amazing hockey-themed challenge” Chris said.

Cuts to confessional

“WOOHOO!” Tyler shouted excitedly.

End of Confessional

“How this will work is, each team will play each other once in a five-on-five style match. Three offense, two defense, and someone in between the pipes. Each game will be up to five minutes, the first team to hit three goals or the leading team after five, wins! Normal hockey rules apply here, as well” Chris finished his announcement.

“Sounds good, except one thing Chris, how will we decide who’s playing in the final game?” Sky asked.

“I’m glad you said that! The two teams who lead in goals scored and goals allowed will be playing in the finals. It’ll be the ultimate offense versus defense battle!” Chris answered.

“Now this being said, let’s get to the facilities where this will all be taking place, on the second of seven archipelago islands! Now all aboard the boat, we don’t have much of any time to spare” Chris concluded. The Otters boarded first, then the Golden Eagles, and lastly the Cobras. Each finding little booths and plenty of chairs to sit in on the boat.

Cuts to Commercial

“Now that we are here, it wouldn’t be a real hockey game without a morning skate. Get to the locker rooms, and get suited up for a morning skate around our lovely facilities here. You’ll find your team jerseys and matching skates. Afterward, I’ll provide more details about this awesome facility, and we’ll start today's challenge” The girls funneled out into one path and the boys into the other both approaching their respective locker rooms.

Girls Locker Room

“How do you even put these stupid skates on? They aren’t anything like the ones at the local rink” Heather complained.

“Your such a snow bunny Heather, you probably had the hockey boys do your skates for you” Courtney snickered. She had her skates fully on and tied. Gwen started laughing too.

“I’ll have you know, I never went for hockey boys, ugh” Heather scoffed.

“But you do go for talk dark and handsome guys by the name of Alejandro!” Gwen and Courtney slapped hands.

“You are so lucky we are on the same team! Otherwise, I’m checking you into next week!” Heather challenged.

“Bring it! Take me on any way you like!” Courtney didn’t back down. The two were inches away from each other. When Sammy and Gwen pulled both of them away from each other.

“Save your fight for the actual contest! Besides, we’re down a member thanks to Topher's cheating. Losing today isn’t an option” Sammy successfully, causing the girls to act more civil.

“She’s right now, nothing would satisfy me more than winning. I’ll see you, girls, on the rink” Courtney exited, and Gwen followed behind shortly, along with Sammy.

“You need help with those Heather?” Sky asked.

“And why would you help me?” Heather asked. Sky kneeled and Heather lifted her skate.

“I believe that everyone deserves a fair shot. And besides, what good would it be if you couldn’t even get out on the ice? I wanna play my opponents at their best, so bring it on, Heather!” Sky finished knotting the laces, and Heather was ready for the rink.

Cuts to confessional

“Bring it on gymnast girl! I’m so fired up after Courtney came at me not too long ago” Heather scoffed.

End confessional

Boys locker room

“Yeah! Let’s go boys! Woooo!” Tyler had some hype music playing very loudly as the others were preparing for the ice.

“I’m fired up, these facilities are spotless, and not to mention I actually like skating,” Dave said aloud.

“You skated?” Shawn asked.

“When I was younger mostly, my parents would take me to the rink or some hockey games. It was a lot of fun” Dave answered back.

“Good to hear it, soldier! I’m a bit out of my element here, but I’m more than capable of learning on the fly” Brick said confidently.

“Ah, bromigo Duncan, can you skate as well? I hear it’s an easy way to make the women swoon” Alejandro finished tying his skates.

“Of course, I can! What do you think I did as a part-time job before juvy? I used to work at the rinks, and help break up fights. That was the best part” Duncan answered.

Cuts to confessional

“One look and those kids would immediately break it up. No skating necessary” Duncan laughed.

End of Confessional

“Now that we’re all here and ready to skate, let’s get into today's challenge! We’ll be playing today in tournament style. We even have an interactive audience and a goal horn to boot! Since the Glamorous Golden Eagles cheated in the previous challenge, they will have to play their first game with a player in the penalty box for four minutes! You’ve each got 10 minutes to practice skating, stick work, and talk strategy with your teams. Our first game will be Otters versus Cobras” Chef skated out onto the rink as a referee, and Chris finished his announcement from the broadcasting booth.

“Cobras! Let’s talk strategy right now! We need two defenders, three attackers, and a goalie!” Sky said to her teammates.

“I wouldn’t mind playing some offense” Tyler offered.

“Same here, I don’t think I’d be able to defend very well since I’m not that big,” Bridgette said.

“Then, I’ll play center. I’m satisfied with this line. Let’s handle the defense now” Skye looked at the remainder of her team, and was puzzled.

“I’ll play defense, Skye!” Dave volunteered much to Skye’s dismay.

“Only if Shawn is your D partner” Skye bargained.

“That’s fine by me. Let’s do this Dave. But who’s gonna be in the net?” Shawn asked. The group looked at Owen, as he was the biggest member of their team.

“Fine! I’ll do it!” Owen cowered in fear.

“Great! Let’s do it. Leshawna, Scott, and Brick prepare to rotate in as necessary. Let’s get this win Otters!” Sky announced and everyone broke off into the ice to skate.

Optimistic Otters

“We’re in the first game guys, we can’t afford to lose this one easy,” Mike said.

“Mike is right, what is the plan of attack? I’ll play offense or defense, I don’t mind” Duncan said.

“Dibs on center!” Lightning called out.

“Got it, Lightning will be our center forward, we still need two more” Zoey noted.

“Allow me to be of some assistance, Zoey. I’ll play on the left wing” Alejandro sweet-talked.

“Uh, thanks, Alejandro. Right, so now that leaves a few more spots. I was thinking either Trent, Mike, or Cody in the net, and Jasmine definitely on defense. No way anything would get passed her!” Zoey said optimistically.

“Fine by me sheila, who’s my D partner gonna be?” Jasmine asked.

Cuts to confessional

“I had only just recently moved to Ontario! I had lived a majority of my life down under in Melbourne. I may be strong but balancing and skating simply will not end well for me”

End of confessional

“I’ll cap off the defense, throw Cody in net, and put Zoey on the right wing. Boom. We leave Elvis and Mike to come off the bench. That way we aren’t expending all of our good players at once” Duncan finished the game plan, and everyone seemed to agree.

“Five minutes people! I’m getting giddy up here in this booth waiting to see a lot of hurt” Chris announced over the facility speakers.

Glamorous Golden Eagles

“This isn’t so bad. I think I have the hang of this!” Cameron skated gracefully throughout the rink.

“Good job Cam!” Gwen cheered on, as she, Courtney and Sammy were all skating at a leisurely pace.

Cameron picked his head up, but not before he skated into Scott’s outwardly extended leg. He fell onto the ice coasting into the boards causing a loud thud. The act of treachery did not go unnoticed as Courtney quickly skated over to where the Cobras were standing. Gwen and Sammy were close behind.

“What do you think you are doing Scott!” Courtney shouted at Scott was taken a bit off guard.

“Well you see Courtney, Cameron skated into MY leg because he wasn’t looking up from the ice enough!” Scott protested.

“Listen here, you farm boy! Do not mess with me or my teammates or you will be sorry! You got that?” Courtney grabbed Scott by the jersey collar and pushed him against the boards. He nodded his head vigorously. The Cobras took Courtney’s words as a declaration of war.

“Your one to talk girlfriend, because last I remember your team was playing dirty as well!” Leshawna confronted.

“I can’t be responsible for someone else’s actions!” Courtney countered.

“Well you sure didn’t have any objections did you?” Leshawna and Courtney were mere moments away from fighting on the ice before Chris interjected.

“Otters! Cobras! Starting lineups on the ice, pronto! Golden Eagles, get your butts in the locker room! You will play the losers of this game! Our morning skate is over, and let the games begin!” Chris announced as the Otters had started getting their lineup set on the left side of the ice.

“This isn’t over Courtney, let it be known!” Leshawna backed away and skated off to the bench.

“I look forward to scoring on you guys” Courtney teased, as she started her skate to the team locker room.

Cuts to Confessional

“Tripping Cameron may get me some flack from Sky, Brick, and Bridgette. However, the pros outweighed the cons and it was easy enough to get the team even more motivated” Scott grinned deviously.

End of Confessional

“Cameron, are you okay?” Gwen asked, the still shaken Cameron. He held a thumb up and groaned. Sammy and Gwen skated Cameron back to the locker room. B and Dawn finished their skate as well, followed by Heather and Harold who all entered the team locker room.

“It’s a gorgeous sight, fans are amped up, and I am too. Here in the broadcasting booth Chris McClean and your lovely season one O.G. cast member and former aftermath host, Geoff!” Chris announced.

“Bridgy-Bear go get 'em! Oh, we’re on? Right-o then, yeah dudes, it’s me, Geoff, back with another sweet one challenge co-hosting gig! We eagerly await the puck drop and face off at center ice between Sky and the one they call Lightning!” As Geoff finishes his statement, the camera pans in on center ice for the puck drop.

“And we’re off! Lightning takes this face-off with brute force. The Otters start with possession as we are now underway!” Chris takes back over.

“Sha-bye bye!” Lightning takes the pass from Duncan and skates up the ice. Sky still challenging Lightning with her speed.

“Lightning seems to be moving up ice very quickly, so much so his team hasn’t gotten into formation in the offensive zone! Lightning the shot from deep, and a great save made by Owen” Geoff finished the sequence.

“Tch. Lucky save fat boy” Lightning skated to the face-off circle.

“Face-off, taken by Bridgette and Duncan. Duncan wins the draw and the puck zooms over to Zoey, ready and open for the one-timer, and she scores!” Chef called a goal, and the red light was flashing. A loud train horn filled the stadium atmosphere, thanks to Beardo in the sound booth. He also turned up the crowd noise.

“Owen couldn’t react to that one, very quick shot, one that you would easily miss if you blinked” Chris commented, on the replay.

“Well Chris, this was the poor formation by the Cobras, having Dave and Shawn pretty much creating a screen for Zoey to make her one-timer that much easier. 1-0, Otters lead” Geoff said.

“Nice work Zoey!” Duncan slapped hands with Zoey.

“Good work captain!” Jasmine nervously skated over to Zoey, stumbling a few times before they met. Bridgette whispered something to Sky while looking at the exchange.

“Quickly now, get ya butts lined up, we have at least two more games to get to!” Chef shouted, picking up the puck, and skating over to center ice.

“Back to the opening face-off again. This time Tyler taking the draw, and Alejandro facing off against him” Geoff started his commentary.

“Too early you fool! Tyler gets out the circle, Bridgette, get in here” Chef motioned her over and she readied her stick.

“Off again, Bridgette taking the draw. Tyler is on the wing, winning his battle with Duncan. But not too long before Duncan grabs a hold of Tyler’s stick causing him to crash into the boards. This will be a penalty no doubt, I wonder what the call will be” Chris announced. Chef blew play dead with a whistle and skated over to center ice.

“Interference you delinquent! In the box, two minutes of five on four, right now!” Duncan threw up his hands as the replay came on screen. A flurry of boos came from the “audience” and he skated to the box begrudgingly.

There wasn’t much time left in the game and this was not a good penalty to take. Duncan waited in the box, staring at the camera, patiently waiting for it to open. Tyler got several shots in on Cody, each of them being saved. Sky passed the puck over to Shawn who took a delayed slap shot which whizzed past Cody’s glove side. Chef called a goal, and the red light flashed. Beardo played a ship horn, and the crowd erupted. Shawn went for a simple celebratory skate by the benches slapping hands with his teammates along the way. Duncan skated out of the box angrily.

“They score! What a shot by Shawn to tie this game back up! With a minute left, could we be seeing some overtime action?” Geoff shouted excitedly.

“A bad penalty to take by Duncan, and Shawn makes them pay. 1-1 game and yet another face-off draw at center ice” Shawn and Lightning were at center ice for very well the deciding sequence of the game.

“C'mon, we can’t lose! Lightning ain’t made to lose!” Lightning gritted his teeth.

“Just gotta pretend this is the apocalypse and if we lose, my brains will be eaten” Chef whistled and Shawn’s comments threw Lightning off causing him to lose his face off. Shawn skated back to his side of the defense and passed the puck over to Dave, who skated up ice.

“I’ve so got this” Dave said confidently. He started his journey into the offensive zone, looking at the time remaining, he took a shot from the blue line on the net in hopes of one more face-off. Alejandro checked him just moments before the shot was off.

Cody made the routine save, kicking it out to Jasmine on defense. She immediately passed the puck to Duncan, who threw up a prayer on the opposing net, which was saved by Owen as the clock hit triple zeros.

“We will be heading to 3 on 3 sudden death overtime! Right after this short commercial break” Chris shouted excitedly.

Cuts to commercial

“We’re back, and a few formation changes were made. Shawn, Sky, and Bridgette will be on the ice for the Cobras. Lightning, Zoey, and Trent will be on the ice for the Otters. The first team to score wins!” Chris announced and the puck was dropped immediately going into play for the Otters.

Trent skated up ice, playing with the puck before passing to Lightning. Lightning took charge skating past Shawn, and passing to an open Zoey on the right wing.

“Zoey taking the shot on the open blocker side. And oh my goodness what a save by Owen! Rebound for Trent, and another stop was made by Owen. Another rebound, Lighting jams his stick in the crease, and play is blown dead by Chef. Owen manages to hang on after all of this craziness” Chris said, slowly regaining his breath.

“Unbelievable, how did he make that many stops?” Trent asked, puzzled.

“Well, he is blocking a decent amount of the net,” Zoey answered.

They lined back up for a face-off, and the Cobras went with Shawn again, and Trent took it for the Otters. Shawn, winning the draw, immediately skated around the net, giving ample time for Bridgette and Sky to get up the ice. Trent marked Shawn and so did Lightning, pressuring him to pass.

“Oh, it appears a two-on-one has occurred! Bridgette gets the feed to Sky, she scores!” Chef signaled a goal, the light came on, and Beardo took the cue. The facility erupted in cheers as the ship horn sounded. The Cobra's bench cleared out as a defeated Zoey fell to the ice.

Cuts to confessional

“What was I whispering to Sky earlier? What would happen if we were ever in a two-on-one situation. That planning worked out” Bridgette smiled.

End of confessional

“Don’t be too sad Zoey, you don’t have any time to. Since your team lost, you will be playing in the next game against the Golden Eagles” Chris announced.

Soon after the Cobras entered the locker room for a brief period of rest the starting five of the Golden Eagles skated out onto the ice. Gwen, Courtney, and Heather are on offense. Harold and Sammy are on defense and B is in between the pipes. Trent, Lightning, and Mike were on offense, and Alejandro and Zoey were on defense with Cody remaining in the net. A lot of moving and shuffling around, as anticipation for their next game.

“Courtney and Mike on the opening draw, let’s get this second game started dudes! Let’s not forget that Heather will remain in the box for a majority of this game” The camera panned in on Heather who had just got in the box. She looked over at the camera and flipped it off. The puck was in possession of the Golden Eagles immediately. The puck fell back to Sammy who was immediately hit cleanly by Lightning who took possession of the puck.

“What an open ice hit by Lightning! He takes possession of the puck, dekes, and scores!” The train horn sounded, and the goal was seemingly good but the Golden Eagles were not happy. Sammy was struggling to get up.

“Wait a minute here folks, this goal will be under review, we think that Lightning didn’t give the defense enough time to get back” Chris commented on the replay. Beardo started playing some suspenseful music as Chef was watching the replay.

“If the goal is waved the Otters still have plenty of time on the man advantage to spare” Geoff followed up.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you did your job and gotten the face-off to me, Courtney! But no, you have me in the penalty box instead!” Heather challenged.

“Heather, would you please shut up? I’m not worried about that right now, we need to replace Sammy now that she’s shaken up. That was a huge hit, it feels malicious even” Courtney skated over to the kneeling Sammy and helped her back to the bench.

“What’s wrong chica? Worried you’ll have to lose another member at tonight’s ceremony?” Alejandro skated briskly, not giving Heather any time to respond.

“Worry about your own team!” Heather grunted from inside the box, waiting for Chef to finish watching the replay. Gwen and Zoey were both pleading their cases to Chef, not making much of any headway as he didn’t care about the outcome.

“Honestly, Cameron, I know your arm is hurting still, but at this rate, it’s you or her and she literally just got hurt” Courtney tried to reason.

“I get it, it’s totally fine. I’ll get out on the ice right now-“ Cameron was held back by Dawn. Courtney was startled that she was even there.

“Allow me to be of assistance. What good would it be if you rushed back from your unfortunate injury?” Dawn skated out onto the ice and Courtney just shrugged.

“Rest up then Cam, but be ready on the bench just in case!” Cameron nodded and Courtney skated back to center ice.

“Upon further review, the goal was disallowed as the goal scorer was offside! No goal!” Chef finished.

“Thank god. But wait, I’m stuck in this sweaty box until the Otters score or we reach 3 goals! No!” Heather’s voice trailed off and play resumed very shortly.

The Eagles got possession again, and this time Courtney and Gwen seemed dangerous on the attack. Courtney threw the puck on the net, to chew some clock for the penalty. Alejandro started a rush into the zone with Zoey to his opposite wing and the offense was already nearing formation. The Eagles quickly formed the triangle with Dawn pressuring on the outside. Eventually, Alejandro took the shot and it was saved by B.

“Save made by B! He gets a hold of this one folks” Geoff commented on Alejandro’s slapshot.

Two minutes remain in the game and Heather is still in the box, disgruntled as ever.

Face off between Gwen and Zoey, as Zoey takes the face-off and the puck is sent back past an unsuspecting Trent. Courtney takes advantage of the loose puck and creates a scoring chance.

“The face-off sails past Trent and Courtney steals! This might as well be a glorified shootout opportunity! She’s planning to beat Cody with speed, and she does! Courtney scores!” Courtney crashes into the boards and a low-pitched fog horn sounds.

“Courtney!” Gwen skated over.

“Gwen, it’s okay I’m alright. We scored too!” Courtney smiled and couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. Gwen smiled too. The pair skated by the bench, but not before glaring and sticking their tongues out at Heather.

“1-0, Golden Eagles, let’s hop to commercial real fast!” Geoff said.

Cuts to Commercial

“A short-handed goal with two to go in game two of three of today's challenge! A lot of two’s here, now I can see why these guys get paid the big bucks for announcing real hockey games” Chris said surprisingly not stumbling over any of his twos.

“With Heather still in the box, the Otters still have the man advantage, and will have plenty of time to score and get this game to a deadlock,” Geoff said.

The face-off was taken by Mike and Sammy, with Mike winning. He skated up ice with ease, trying to prepare a scoring chance for Lightning or Trent. The Eagles were in formation to block a shot when Mike quickly passed to Lightning for the one-timer score.

“He scores! What a goal by Lightning, and Chef has his hands up, so the goal is good!” The horn sounded and the lights were flashing. The game was tied with only a minute to spare, Heather got out of the box, as she served her penalty.

“Well Chris, it wasn't just Lightning’s amazing shot placement that had gotten this game tied again. He had B’s blocked vision, and Harold’s stick to thank as well. The deflection makes this game anyone’s now” Geoff analyzed the footage being played on screen.

“Nice of you to join us, Heather!” Courtney looked over her shoulder to see Heather skating over to the opposite wing of Gwen.

“Shut it, you know full well everyone voted for me to serve that penalty” Heather was furious.

“Save it for later, we’ve got a mansion to get back into” Gwen interrupted.

“She’s right you know,” Courtney agreed.

“She’s right, you know. Ugh get a room you two, always so friendly and supportive of one another” Heather mocked.

Heather took the face-off against Alejandro this time.

“Mi Amor, fancy seeing you here. Good luck, I won’t be holding back” Alejandro teased the already disgruntled and furious Heather. The moment Chef dropped the puck, the two were already in a mad scramble to maintain possession for their teams.

“After the puck was pinned to the boards, it seems that the Eagles have it and they are looking to score once more before the game is over,” Geoff said.

Heather skated up ice, with Courtney and Gwen being marked by the opposing team pretty effectively. Harold and Dawn pushed up to ensure that everyone was fully committed to this last-minute push. Dawn made her way around the net with no one noticing other than Cody, who shifted himself over to her side of the net. Eventually after being hounded by Alejandro, Heather forces the puck on Harold. All of his passing options were blocked, except for one, that being Dawn who was right next to the net.

“Here goes nothing!” Harold slapped the puck across the ice before he was hit by Lightning. The puck went right to Dawn who had her stick ready for the deflection, and she scored. The red light flashed, and the horn sounded, Dawn had booked the Eagles a ticket to the finals!

“They’ve done it! After being down a player a majority of the game, the Golden Eagles have all but guaranteed their spot in the final round against the Colossal Cobras” Geoff said excitedly.

“Not quite, Geoff, I have seen some amazing hockey miracles my man, and the Otters still have 15 seconds to win this face-off and score a goal” Chris responded.

The face-off was between Lightning and Courtney. Lighting won the draw, and soon as the Otters were in possession, he shot the puck at B who had made the save. The Otters emptied their net and had Duncan come on the ice.

“One last face-off and Duncan is here to take it against Harold,” Chris said excitedly.

Duncan wins the faceoff, and the puck is sent backward in a similar fashion as the first game, except it was intercepted by Courtney.

“Courtney is off to the races, and she fires this one in on the empty net, scoring and for sure putting this game out of reach as the clock hits triple zeros” The game-ending siren game on, and Otters were defeated.

“Sha-Lightning can’t lose two in a row! You guys are the worst teammates ever!” Lightning threw his helmet off in anger, and skated off the ice into the locker room.

“Eagles, Cobras, rather than playing in a championship game, we will decide with a shootout, since you guys both similarly won your games. That and my voice is starting to kill me, I haven’t been talking this long in a while. Geoff, Beardo, and of course Chef, I leave this part of the challenge to you. I will just watch” Chris gently placed his headset on the table and walked over to the recliner in the back of the broadcast booth, and laid back in it.

“Okay dudes! Guess I’ll be announcing the shootout. On the right, we have Colossal Cobras goaltender, Owen! And on the left, we have the Glamourous Golden Eagles goaltender, B! Now, the Cobras have elected to shoot first. The team that leads after three rounds of shootout wins today's challenge! Good luck everyone! You too Bridge!” Geoff finished announcing.

“Okay, which one of us is going first?” Sky asked her team. Dave looked in her direction, raising his left hand, which Shawn immediately put back down.

“Dave, I like your enthusiasm, but I think it’d be best if someone else went” Sky looked in Dave’s direction, and he disappointingly put his head down.

“I guess I’ll go then” Tyler hopped out of the bench and skated over to the puck, waiting for Chef’s signal. As soon as Tyler approached the puck, Chef whistled.

“And we’re off! Tyler takes the puck and skates down the ice with ease. He dekes, and scores! Tyler puts the Cobras on board!” The ship horn sounded briefly as Tyler skated to the bench, slapping hands with his teammates before climbing into it.

“Excellent work Tyler. I think I’ll go next” Brick said confidently.

“How about that ya dirty cheaters!” Leshawna shouted over to the opposing bench.

“Mind your weave, Leshawna!” Heather shouted back. She skated over onto the ice preparing to take the Eagle's first shootout attempt. A flurry of boos came from the opposing bench.

“Heather will take this one for the Eagles, folks at home I am certain you don’t want to see her as much as we do” Geoff shook his head disapprovingly.

“HEY!” Heather called out before Chef blew his whistle.

“Sorry, heh heh. Anyways, we’re off! Heather takes the puck moving down ice much slower than Tyler”

“Hey, Owen! There are donutcopters outside the facility!” Heather got Owen’s attention away from the ice.

“Where!” Owen looked over and before he knew it was a hoax, the puck hit the back of the net, the fog horn sounding afterward.

“How’s that for dirty cheating!” Heather skated toward the bench, cupping a hand over her ear waiting for the horn to sound.

“Not exactly the most orthodox way to score, but she scores!” Beardo finally sounded the horn and the flurry of boos continued for the Cobras and the crowd noise.

“Not bad, but next up on the block is Brick!” Brick skated over to the puck, and started his shootout attempt. He chose to do the serpentine route and try to mess with B’s timing. B followed the puck closely, and the moment Brick shot, it hit B’s pad.

“Denied by B! The Cobras whiff on the shootout attempt. Next up will be everyone’s favorite former CIT, Courtney!” Courtney skates over to the ice, quickly looking back at the bench to see her anxious teammates.

Cuts to Confessional

“Yeah everyone looked anxious, but don’t worry everyone, the former CIT is on the job!” Courtney pointed a thumb into her chest.

End of Confessional

“Courtney chooses to do the serpentine route as well. Cody seems prepared as he’s following this puck like a hawk. Right near the net now! She scores!” The fog horn sounded and the Eagles took the lead once more.

“As a CIT, I know what a game-winning goal should look like” Courtney looked over at the Cobras bench and laughed.

“Courtney, awesome goal!” Gwen congratulated.

“You should’ve seen the looks on their faces as it hit the back of the net” Courtney answered.

“Ugh! Get a room you two! Besides, B has to make another save for the shootout to be completely over anyway” Heather interrupted.

“I think she’s jealous,” Gwen teased. Heather was about to reach over and start a fight with Gwen, but Sammy seated her back down.

“Enough everyone! Let’s just hope B makes this save!” Sammy yelled.

“It’s done or die, so who’s taking the shoot-out?” Shawn asked.

“I’ll do it!” Dave answered almost immediately. Much to his disappointment, nobody seemed to agree with his decision.

“Bridgette, how about you?” Sky asked, and Bridgette nodded approvingly.

Cuts to Confessional

“Look, I like Dave, really I do. But I like to win even more, and I don’t think having Dave take a do or die shot in a shootout is gonna lead us to victory” Sky said solemnly.

End of Confessional

“My Bridgybear is taking the shot that will decide this game, let's go get 'em Bridge!” Geoff announced, and Chef whistled the moment she got on the ice.

Bridgette took the puck up ice and started her way towards B, already having in mind what shot she wanted to take. Bridgette slowed down right in front of the net, attempting a late deke, and B made the stop to end the game.

“It’s okay Bridgette, I still love you! Oh, right, Eagles win!” The Eagles cleared the bench and skated toward B in celebration. Gwen and Courtney high-fived, and joined the others out on the ice. Scott was furious, he broke his stick before he entered the locker room.

Elimination Ceremony

“Ya did it again Optimistic Otters, your back here. Just like last time, we have the Golden Eagles in our peanut gallery, as I have an amazing announcement for them afterward. For today’s MVP, I have chosen, Lightning, again” Lighting graciously accepted his marshmallow.

“In typical Total Drama fashion, those of you who do not receive a marshmallow will be sent home, this time via escape pod! When I call you names, you are safe and can live to compete another day.” Chris finished his usual spiel and picked up the second marshmallow of the night.

“Let's start with Duncan, Zoey, and Jasmine, as they received zero votes, and are all safe” Chris tossed their marshmallows toward them, one by one.

“Mike” Chris tossed the marshmallow toward Mike, who was distracted looking toward Zoey.

“The Codster” Cody grabbed his marshmallow out of the air and ate it shortly afterward.

“The bottom two, Trent, your performance was less than stellar during today's challenge. You allowed Courtney to seal your team's fate after you coughed up the puck, allowing her to score an empty netter. As for Alejandro, you made quite a few advances towards Heather today, not to mention you practically allowed a game-winning goal on defense” The camera pans in on a very worried Trent, and then a rather calm Alejandro.

“The person who will be going home tonight will be…” Chris said suspensefully.

…

…

Suspense Building

…

“Trent!” Chris tossed the final marshmallow to Alejandro, who blew a kiss towards Heather.

“It’s fine. I didn’t get to go very far in this contest, but I want out anyway” Trent said disappointed.

“Well, it’s great that you want out actually! But you won’t be going back home, as that is gonna have to wait” Chris smiled sinisterly.

“What do you mean Chris, the vote was decisive. I have to leave, I’ve been eliminated” Trent answered back.

“Well, not exactly. You’ll be out, out of this team, and you’ll be joining the Glamorous Golden Eagles in exchange for Cameron!” Both teams appeared shocked.

Cuts to confessionals

“You're kidding right?” Gwen asked.

“I mean Trent is cool, but I don’t know if he can match my mad skills, you know?” Harold said twirling nunchucks.

“Sha-what! Trent was at least decent at the challenges. Cameron is just smart! Not good for the Lightning” Lightning shook his head.

“A welcome addition” Alejandro smiled.

End of Confessionals

Trent awkwardly seated next to Harold and Dawn, and Cameron walked over and sat next to Alejandro.

…

“How will the teams fair now that I’ve made this change? Will the Optimistic Otters finally have something to be optimistic about? Have Gwen and Courtney finally set aside their differences and chosen to attack Heather instead? And lastly, how will Justin and Topher fare in the aftermath segment two episodes from now? Find out all this and more on Total Drama All-Stars… TWO!” Chris signed off from the dock.

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

Thank you for your continued patience! This took a while to get out, and I'm glad I didn't rush it. Next chapter should be up soon!

Love you forever, I promise!

-Bjax

[potteresque-ire]

Chinese Central Television (CCTV) Reporting on Homosexuality: 2005-2017

CCTV is the state-controlled broadcaster of China, and its reporting on sociopolitical issues is often seen as reflecting the stance of the regime. I found this link (in Chinese) that marks the major milestones in how the station has chosen to report Chinese LGBT+ issues between 2005 and 2017. As this was published on the Chinese equivalent of Quora, I cannot vouch for its completeness, but the items on it do match existing news reports (which I’ll link below) and I believe this timeline may also be of interest to some. 

I’ve jotted down some key points under the cut. As usual, this is an ongoing lesson for me as well, and so, please feel free to jump in, add more things and point out mistakes!

(TL;DR: Things looked upward until 2013. Then, in 2017, things took a rapid turn downhill...)

BACKGROUND — Prior to 2005 : * 1997: China de-criminalized homosexuality, which used to fall under the umbrella of “hooliganism”. * 2001: China removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders (Chinese equivalent of DSM). However, homosexuals are still judged to be requiring psychiatric help. 2005: For the first time, CCTV investigated the lives of gays in China -- in the context of a budding AIDS crisis. This was the first time this up-to-10 million strong minority group found itself in the spotlight. I found a link (with English subtitles!) here of one of the shows, <<新聞調查·以生命的名義>>. The host was Chai Jing (柴靜), a well-known investigative reporter who would, in 2015, make an independent documentary about China’s pollution problem, Under the Dome, that would subsequently get banned. 

Some things to notice in this investigative report:  1) The high % of gay men who got married (90%).  2) How the show thoroughly omitted Communist China’s role in demonising homosexuality.  3) This memorable quote by the first AIDS-prevention specialist in China, Professor Zhang Beichuan (張北川), after being asked why Chinese society still viewed homosexuality as “abnormal”:

因為他們（違？）背了一種很落後的認識。 這種落後的認識就是說，性應該服從於生育。 把無知當作純潔。把愚昧當作德行。把偏見當作原則。

“Because they have this very backward belief, that sex is to serve reproduction. People take ignorance as innocence, foolish as purity, and prejudice as principle.”

4. Chongqing, being the test spot for the AIDS prevention program.

The tone of these shows towards homosexuality was positive.

2009:

On 11/29/2009, CCTV news reported that the city government of Dali, Yunan offered 120,000 RMB (~15,000 USD at today’s exchange rate) in funding to open a gay bar. The bar was to offer sex education and free condoms, and be staffed with volunteers from a local NGO that worked to prevent AIDS. The host called for attention towards the prejudice and unfair treatment of gays.

(The bar failed to open on its official opening date, December 1st -- World AIDS Day. The day after the newscast, the doctor who founded the bar, Zhang Jianbo, was taken away by officials. His hospital was inundated by calls. The rest of the volunteers were asked to leave the bar, and to never disclose the address of the bar again. They were reportedly assumed gay and harassed. The next day, Dr Zhang was quoted that the bar had stayed empty as potential customers refused to show up due to media scrunity. The bar finally opened on 12/20/2009).

2011: On 06/29/2011, after New York State legalised gay marriage, the actress Lv Liping (呂麗萍), a born-again Christian (note: China’s Christianity is state-controlled), caused a controversy on Weibo by quoting a New York pastor and calling homosexuality “a shame” and “a sin”. 

The surprise came when a well-respected news magazine on CCTV, 24 hours, defended LGBT+ groups openly and in no-uncertain terms, demanding the actress to self-reflect and asking for an end to the prejudice. Here’s the quote from the host, Xiu Qiming (邱啟明):

“我想，作为一个社会名人，有影响力的名人，自己应该反思或者反省一下。我们尊重名人本人的信仰，甚至我们也允许他们对事物有自己独特的看法，但是，这并不等于去认同一个具有社会影响力的公众人物可以如此公开地对一个在中国社会还有些特殊的群体去表达你的歧视。不用回避，在我们身边有一部分人的取向和大多数人是不同的，但是，他们也在为这个社会辛勤地付出着。同性恋者和我们一样，都拥有在这个社会当中生存和发展的权利，并且这样的权利不应该受到哪怕是观念上的侵犯。我们想对同性恋人群说一声，套用一句我们非常熟悉的话，‘我可以不认同你生活的方式，但我愿意捍卫你不同于我的生活的权利。’”

“I believe, as a famous, influential person (referring to Lv), one should contemplate or self-reflect for a moment. We respect the religious beliefs of famous people, we even allow them to have unique views on matters. However, that doesn’t mean we agree with an influential public figure so publicly expressing their discrimination against a group that has remained somewhat special in Chinese society. There’s no need to avoid this topic -- there exist some people around us whose orientation differs from most people. But they’re also diligently contributing to this society. Homosexuals are like us; they have the same rights to live and thrive in this society. They also have the right to not be assaulted, even if it’s just by opinions. We’d like to say to homosexuals this phrase we know so well, “I may not agree with the way you live, but I’m willing to defend your right to live a different life from mine.”

This one-minute clip was considered highly significant for LGBT+ rights in China. 

2013: On 05/17/2013, CCTV news posted on its official Weibo about the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. It ends with “放下偏見和敵意，你我做得到!" （”Put down your prejudice and animosity, you and I can do it!”)

2017: 

[Not CCTV related, but worth mentioning. On 05/26/2017, two days after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, Chinese authorities shut down the lesbian social media platform, Rela.]

On 06/24/2017, a lesbian musician from Hong Kong, Ellen Loo (盧凱彤), thanked her partner in a Taiwan awards show. Her segment was blacked out in China’s broadcast.

On 06/30/2017, also the day German parliament legalized same-sex marriage,  the censorship board updated its 2012 guidances for web-based audio-visual programmes and caused an uproar in the LGBT+ community:

“而《通则》中明确，网络视听节目中含有下列内容或情节的，应予以剪截、删除后播出；问题严重的，整个节目不得播出，具体包括：... — 渲染淫秽色情和庸俗低级趣味的，包括具体展现卖淫、嫖娼、淫乱、强奸、自慰等情节；表现和展示非正常的性关系、性行为，如乱伦、同性恋、性变态、性侵犯、性虐待及性暴力等；展示和宣扬不健康的婚恋观和婚恋状态，如婚外恋、一夜情、性自由、换妻等“

“And the guidances state clearly, that the following content or plotline in any web-based audio-visual programmes should be edited or deleted before broadcasting; those with serious issues, the whole programme will not be allowed to broadcast. They include: ...

— Advocation of pornography or cheap humour; including specific displays of prostitution, promiscuity, rape, masturbation; displays of abnormal sexual relationships and behaviour, including incest, homosexuality, sexual perversion, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and violence; displays and preaching of unhealthy views and conditions regarding marriage, such as extramarital affairs, one night stand, sexual freedom, wife swaps etc.”

LGBT+ rights advocates, unhappy with queer relationships denoted as “abnormal”, demanded an explanation from the censorship board. The request was denied. 

On 07/24/2017, Professor Li Yinhe (李銀河), sociologist, partner of a transgender man and an outspoken advocate for LGBT+, was silenced (禁言； the same term as the “magic” LWJ used on WWX to silence him) for 3 months. 

[Bonus: Here’s a photo reportedly taken in Chongqing on 07/01/2017, the day after the new censorship regulations were introduced (source):]]

[stones-x-bones]

Anxie-tea || Grace and Bex

TIMING: About two weeks ago PARTIES: @silveraccent and @inbextween SUMMARY: Grace and Bex meet up for coffee to catch up. The two have different ideas about what exactly the meeting is. CONTENT: Allusions to Internalized Homophobia

Grace teetered outside of Coffee Plus, the nerves building in her stomach the longer she stood there looking in. It was busy, or at least, she felt like it was busy. The emotions from the other side of the door hit her like a truck, a distraction felt needed, but how easily acquired, she wasn’t sure. She looked down at her phone, her fingers growing numb from the cold as she sent off a quick text to Bex letting her know that she had arrived. Finally, she stepped into the shop, the smell of coffee and pastries curling around her nose. Though she hadn’t seen her from outside, she glanced around for the brunette anyways, hopeful that she’d be there that way she wouldn’t be in charge of finding a table. She stuck her hands into her pockets, fingers fidgeting with the pop socket on the back of her phone. She stayed by the door, ignoring the glances from the baristas who, in her opinion, knew her a little too well. 

Bexley needed some normalcy. After everything that had happened at school, and her first few weeks in White Crest, a coffee date with a friend sounded nice. Her and Grace had met back over the summer, and they’d hit it off pretty quick. Back then, though Bex had been careful, she hadn’t been quite as...afraid to be her true self. She’d left White Crest in quite a hurry, and hadn’t even bothered to tell Grace where she was going. It felt not good, but she hoped once she explained, she’d understand. So now, she was hoping to at least salvage something of a friendship with her, and coffee seemed like the perfect start. Her eagerness had led her to arrive early to Coffee Plus, getting her chai tea with coconut milk, sitting in a booth towards the back-- she remembered Grace didn’t like being around lots of people-- and waited. When she saw the shyer girl enter and glance around, she tried to wave her over but realized she couldn’t see her. So she got up and scuttled over. “Grey!” she waved, smoothing down the fringe of her dress, fiddling nervously for a moment. “Hey! I got us a table, but-- I can wait in line with you while you get a drink, if you want?”

The chatter of the coffee shop was loud enough to drown out Bex’s call, and it wasn’t until she made her way over, that Grace noticed her. “Oh, hey!” She smiled at the girl. The nickname made her ears burn and she looked towards where she had been sitting. “Oh, cool-- yeah, give me a second.” She turned back towards the counter to one of the baristas who stood there, patiently waiting for her order. After putting in her order for a London fog, she made her way to the side counter. “So,” Grace looked at Bex, trying to figure out if anything seemed too different. It had been a few months since she had last seen her, and though she wasn’t sure what the implications of this meeting had been, she hoped that there was affection involved. For once. “You said you’re helping with your parents' firm? How is that going?” 

Bexley stepped off to the side and waited patiently for Grace to order her tea before stepping back over to her, tucking a strange of loose hair behind her ear. She’d chosen to wear one of her more wintery dresses, a lovely shade of sky blue, with a white cardigan, tights, and some boots. She wanted to look nice for Grace, after all, and she liked dressing up. It didn’t have to mean anything more than that, right? “Oh, uh--” she startled when Grace asked her a question, pulling her eyes away from the other girl, “--it’s, you know...I’m still getting used to it! It’s really busy and everyone there is super bossy. Especially Fran, the front desk lady. She’s the lowest on the employee tier so she really enjoys bossing me, the intern, around.” Rolled her eyes before giving a smile. “How’s work? I know I sort of already asked, but, like-- that’s so cool that you got a job like that already! I hope it’s a good one?”

Out of respect, Grace tried to focus on the hum from others. She felt weird being able to dissect whatever it was that Bex was feeling, and while it was a bit harder to focus on the baristas, she knew she’d be better off for it. Bex’s peeked through, just a bit, but Grace made an attempt, and that’s all she could really try towards, right? “Sometimes being busy is better though, right?” Grace asked with a smile as she took a few napkins from the side counter. At the very least, when Regan was seemingly bossing her around, if she could even call it that, Grace had been learning something. She hadn’t seen it as that. She felt slightly bad for Bex, mostly because even now that Regan was gone, Rickers left her alone for the most part, allowing her to do her work, sans the few conversations about his grandchildren. “That sounds frustrating,” she said with a small frown. She wasn’t sure what else to offer, so she instead nodded at Bex’s question of how her work had been going. “Um, it’s good--” She thought for a moment, “I got sort of lucky that there was an opening and that they were taking somebody fresh out of college, but, you know.” She shrugged. She took her drink once it was ready, “it’s quiet for the most part, so I don’t mind it all that much.” She took a deep breath as she flexed her fingers around the warm paper mug.

“It can be, yeah,” Bex agreed with a nod, but the kind of “busy” she was at her parents’ law firm wasn’t the kind of busy that was helpful or made time to go fast. She swallowed down the thought and smiled. “It’s, well, you know! Everyone likes to boss the newbie around. I’m sure they’ll get tired of it eventually.” She sidled up a little closer to Grace, glancing around them to see if she recognized anyone else in the cafe. When she was sure she didn’t, she sidled even closer and brushed her arm against Grace’s. “I’m sure you were lucky that the job opened up, but you definitely deserved a good job like that, too. Give yourself some credit,” she said, taking her arm and leading her over to the table she had picked out for them, hidden in the little nook in the corner. “So,” she said, sliding into the chair across from Grace, putting her chin in her hands, smiling, “tell me how you like White Crest so far! I know you haven’t been here too long, but people seem to form opinions on the town pretty quickly.”

“That’s how it sort of goes, right?” Grace hadn’t ever understood the way that most structures worked within business. She hadn’t ever wanted to know. She knew, for the most part, that most jobs held a hierarchy, but it wasn’t ever something Grace respected, mostly because she thought everyone was holding onto the same idea of, fake it till you make it. When Bex took a step closer, she felt the tips of her ears burn. Bex’s hand on her arm made Grace lift her drink to her lips, allowing for the burning hot liquid to scald her tongue in an attempt to hide the deep rouge that began to seep through. Could she not? Just for a moment, blush at the act of even being touched by a pretty girl on the arm? She followed Bex to the corner table and slid into her chair, setting her drink down. She reached up to rub at her cheek, pretending that it itched. When Bex asked her how White Crest had been treating her, she thought to all of the… terrifying things that had happened. Grace forced a smile, “I mean, there have been some ups and downs, but for the most part I really like it.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie. She made some good friends here, even if they all seemed to spiral into anxiety at any given moment. “I think it’s the people that make it, you know?” The smile dissolved into something more natural the longer she looked at Bex. In their quieter corner, it was harder to focus on the other cafe patrons, but she continued to try and give the girl her privacy. “How about you? Aside from work, how are you liking it now that you’re back?” 

Ups and downs sounded about right for White Crest. Bexley had spent most of her time away from the town, off at boarding school, and when she was in town, her parents had insisted on her having an escort when she went most places. They told her that the world was dangerous, especially for someone like her, but she understood that it was for another reason, too. She shook away the thoughts and looked back across the table at Grace, tracing a circle around the top of her cup. Steam drifted out and she fiddled the string from the tea bag. “I’m glad you like it here. Does that mean you’ll be staying for a while?” she asked, unable to hide the hopefulness in her voice. Grace was one of her only friends at the moment, even if Bex had stopped talking to her after she’d left for school. “I kinda think that’s universal anyway. Staying for the people that you find, but yeah! I get that. I’m glad you met some good people.” She took a sip of her tea, and tried to hide the fact that it nearly scolded her tongue. Scratched her head. “Uh, it’s, you know! Home. It’s not bad, though! I think I’m just still getting used to it, being back with my parents. Living by myself in a dorm room was a very different experience so I’m just, you know...readjusting.” That was one word for it. She was having strange nightmares again and things were getting weird around her again as well, and, of course, her parents were blaming her for it all. She took another sip, forgetting it was still too hot. “Where’s your apartment now? Is it in a good neighborhood? Please tell me you don’t live in the Bend.”

“I think so,” Grace admitted with a smile. She hadn’t planned on leaving anytime soon-- though, that had been before everything that had happened. She could see herself living in White Crest a little longer, mostly out of concern. Fear had gripped her, had pushed her towards leaving, but she couldn’t let it win, not yet. She didn’t want to leave those she cared about behind. Others, on the other hand, seemed to have no issue with doing so. Cece’s face flickered before her and she shook it away by gripping her cup and lifting it to her lips, allowing the liquid to scald her tongue. She held it close to her mouth, just in case she needed another distraction. “People are kinder when they have something to lose, I think,” Grace said it without much thought, realizing how… odd it might sound. She set her cup down and quickly began, “I meant that in more of a… if they sense that you’re going to dip out on them, they’ll do everything in their power to keep you around kind of thing.” She wasn’t sure if that was what she meant, but the words were out into the open now regardless. Grace didn’t know what dorm life had been like-- when she was in college, she opted out for living in a room alone. College was already enough of an emotional buzz, she didn’t need the constant reminder of a roommate only a few feet away from her, especially when she could feel everyone through the walls. “Living with other people is hard, especially when you figure out your own routines.” Grace was sure that the only person she could ever think about living with had been her Grandma, but that had come and gone-- long in the past now. “It’s by the University, so no, not in the Bend.” Grace offered her a smile. She now knew to be careful of certain areas of White Crest-- though, when she had first moved, she knew nothing of where to be concerned about. It seemed the building she lived in, for the most part, offered safety. “It’s fine, but college students really like to party-- then again, I can’t complain… the rent is cheap.” She shrugged. “Do they expect you to live there long? With them, I mean.” 

It was an interesting statement, and Bex regarded the words for a moment as she thought about what it meant. “No, I understand what you mean, yeah. It’s like...you want to hold onto something tighter when you think you might lose it, and it’s something you value. That can apply to people, too,” she said, nodding. It made sense. She wasn’t sure why Grace had chosen to say it, but she meant it all the same. She picked up her tea again and blew gently on it to cool the surface before taking a sip. It warmed her insides and she let herself deflate a little, putting on a gentle smile. “Well, it’s nice that you were able to figure that out! I mean, a lot of people think they can live on their own and then end up spiraling, so it’s really a wonder that you were able to figure it out and know what you want.” And what Bex wouldn’t give to live alone, or at least not with her parents. She missed her old dorm room, she missed having freedom. She was a twenty year old adult still living with her parents, and from the sound of it, they wanted her to stay there until she finished Grad school. It made her stomach churn. “Cheap rent is good,” she tacked on from behind her tea cup. “Um...a while, I guess. They want me to stay through Grad school, though I’m not sure what the plan there is anymore. I was supposed to go to Harvard, but they pulled me from Penn and I don’t know if Harvard will accept UMWC as a good enough undergrad.”

Grace tapped her fingers against the side of her cup. She could feel the liquid lightly swishing inside, so at the risk of not knocking over the now half-empty tea, she dropped her hand into her lap. Grace continued to do her best to focus on others around her, though the more people began to spill out the door and into the cold winter’s day, the harder it was. She glanced down at her mood ring and rubbed her thumb against it before looking back up at Bex. “Yeah, living alone just works better-- I have weird routines.” She tensed, “not weird routines, but work-- it’s weird.” It wasn’t that weird, and it wasn’t like she worked late hours-- just early ones. “Cheap rent is great,” she mused as she picked up her mug, knocking her knuckles against it. It tilted slightly, but Grace managed to catch it. “Oops,” she hissed under her breath as she picked the drink back up and lifted it to her lips. Longing-- that was what Bex was feeling. Grace shifted uncomfortably in her seat and crossed her ankles to the side, hooking them against the leg of the chair. Why the longing? Grace wondered as she looked at her friend. She looked back down at her drink, the liquid visible through the lip on the lid. “That’s really long,” Grace furrowed her brows, “that…” She wanted to tell Bex that it sucked, but wasn’t sure if it was her place-- though it was obvious that the brunette was unhappy with the development. “I’m sure if you’re good enough, they will-- Not that I don’t think you’re not good enough, because I’m sure you are, you know?” She felt the tips of her ears redden as she let out a laugh, “I just mean that isn’t it your grades and you that matter? Not the school?” Grace hadn’t ever cared about school and had floated by with the bare minimum in order to get her degree, so she wasn’t sure if that was the case or not. “Maybe by then you’ll be old enough to say to hell with Harvard or something.” 

“And, you know, that’s totally fair. Some people just need to be on their own,” Bex agreed, giving another smile. This was nice-- really nice, especially after all the weird stuff that had been going on. This was nice and normal and good. She sipped her tea again and found it nearly gone, staring down into her cup. She looked up quickly when Grace said Oops, watching just in time as she fumbled with her cup. She couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “You always were kinda clumsy. I hope that doesn’t translate to your job, I don’t think accidentally dropping a body is as funny as knocking your cup over.” Brown eyes glistened as she looked across the table at her. Maybe life could just be normal. Maybe she could just have normal. “Yeah, it’s-- I mean, it’s not what I had planned, but sometimes life just...doesn’t want to cooperate. It’s okay for now, though, I think. And yeah! Hopefully...though they do sometimes look at your undergrad, I’m sure if I get high marks they’ll look past it.” That, or they’d look at her father’s checkbook. It wasn’t that she was worried about not getting into Harvard-- quite the opposite, in fact. She knew she would, and that was what scared her. She didn’t want that. She’d never wanted that. Being back here just...reminded her. And she found it harder and harder to ignore the part of her that wanted something more. She gave a weak smile. “Yeah...maybe.” 

“Oh, well--” Grace let out a laugh of her own, “luckily I’m not really in charge of any of the heavy lifting.” Luckily they were typically on gurneys to begin with-- or what resembled them. The awkwardness that she had felt, as well as the longing surrounding it, dispersed slightly as she sank into her chair. Grace looked up at Bex with a tilt of her head, “well, hopefully they look at your grades and you, not whatever school got you there.” She wasn’t sure if she was going to make things any better. “I’m clueless when it comes to school or whatever, I only really went for…” She went for the quiet, but wouldn’t that sound odd? She instead decided to go with a lie, “to make my Grandmother proud.” She dropped her shoulders, arching them up to her ears before dropping them and drinking down the rest of her tea. “I hope that you’re able to…” She paused, “I don’t know-- feel better about the whole situation?” She offered with a tentative smile. Bex looked fragile, like she was getting ready for everything to fall apart at a moment’s notice. “Thanks for coming out,” Grace said after a moment of silence between them, the only sound in the cafe the chatter and shuffle of feet from around the corner. It was getting hard not to focus on Bex. “I’m glad we did this, since--” She thought about before Bex had left, “we didn’t get to before. I was bummed that we didn’t get to go out on a da--” Grace felt her stomach drop, “I mean, hang out, we didn’t get to hang out.” Why the hell had she called it a date? 

“Oh, well-- that’s good then!” Bex chuckled back, giving a lopsided grin. “I’d hope they wouldn’t make you do all that alone.” She drained the rest of her tea and set the cup on the table, still holding it in her hands as she tapped fingers along the side of the cup. She gave a small, dismissive sigh and put her chin in her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table. “Yeah, that’s really all I can hope for now! I’m sure it’ll all work out, though.” And she had to believe that, because what else did she have if she didn’t? Nothing. “Was she?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Proud?” She wondered what it would feel like, to have made someone proud. To hear someone say they were proud of her. She wondered if she’d ever get to know. A painful jab made her have to blink and look away a moment. But everything else Grace said fell to the wayside when the almost word was said. Bex’s elbow slipped from the table as she reared back, blinking. “Did you say--” did she think that this was a-- No. Oh no. Bex’s heart dropped like a stone into her stomach. “I-- I have to--” she scrambled from the table, stood up awkwardly and snatched her purse, “This was nice! But I-- I can’t be-- I’m not like that,” she said, a little more harshly than she’d wanted, wincing. “I’m sorry. I have to go. I’m sorry.” And with that, she bolted.

“Wait--” Grace got to her feet as Bex rose, hurriedly gathering her things and bolting towards the door. “Don’t, please--” Why had she said that? It had been a misstep-- obviously this wasn’t a date. Clearly this was a meeting between friends, and even though there had been some flirting prior to Bex’s departure the first time, Grace had no right to call it a date. Anxiety and embarrassment filled the small space and it nearly knocked Grace off of her feet. She watched in desperation as Bex ran towards the door. Grace tried to keep her voice low as she called after her, “that’s not what I meant--” She blinked at Bex’s retreating figure and fell back into her seat. Grace wrangled her hands together in her lap and pressed her nails into the skin, leaning forward as she reached up to cover her ears. She was such a fucking idiot for even thinking that somebody like Bex could… Grace grabbed her bag after a moment and stormed out of the cafe. 

[ravenpureforever]

So I know we all joke about Porchay living his best Wattpad life, myself included, but I think we all kind of ignore how Kim just never dissuaded him from that notion and how we find that genre dissonance between Porsche & Kim’s view (and often our audience view) of Chay and how he actually acts, and we’re all sleeping on the mini character arc he’s gotten over the course of the series.

Porsche and Kim don’t want Chay to get caught up in the mafia world, and they both seem to view him in the same lense: he’s innoncent, sweet, incorruptible.

But Chay has fucking balls man, and he’s a lot more resilient than people give him credit for. He also ignores red flags like he’s color blind. We don’t get to see much of him, but the glimpses we do get show there is so much more beneath the surface.

First:

Man grew up with Porsche & a dead beat Uncle, you telling me he didn’t see some shit growing up? No matter how well Porsche protected him, Chay is the one dressing his wounds when he comes back from fighting, Chay still hears the loan sharks coming for his Uncle, he’s growing up watching his older brother as really the only source of income for his household. And he can’t do anything about it. Watching episode 1, when Chay asks Porsche to let him get a job and help out, it feels like they’ve had this conversation before, it feels resigned, it feels like a final quiet plea of “we’ve talked about this before, but please, please, please just consider it.” But Porsche says no, I’m going to take care of it and I can’t help but think of the impact that has, of watching the person he loves most get beat down again and again and not being able to do anything about it. I feel like Chay probably grew up being the peacekeeper, the one trying to keep the waters calm. Its clear he knows he’s his brother’s world, that his brother has done so much to keep him sheltered and happy, and I can think of Porsche teaching Chay manners, teaching him ideals of being kind to others and Chay just internalizing it and deciding “ah yes, so this is my role in the family, this is how I can help my brother.” Chay probably felt a lot of pressure, no matter how unintentionally and how unconditionally Porsche loves him, to be a reason why his brother is doing all of this, he’s probably hyper aware of how he’s Porsche’s motivation, that everything his brother does is for him. That does things to your self-worth, to how you view yourself. I get the feeling hasn’t had any agency over his own life before, he’s always been the princess locked in the tower, aware of the war but not allowed to participate. His happily ever has been chosen and now he just has to see it through.

Then literally overnight, he wakes up and his Uncle has vanished, and his brother has left with just a fairly suspicious note about pursuing his dream that’ll completely be able to fully support Chay. His entire way of living has transformed, and now he’s completely alone. He went from princess locked in a tower as a war rages on to a Queen of a decimated kingdom. He can not grieve, he can only have faith and move forward.

This is also how I realized Chay has practically been designed to ignore all red flags and interpret them as something else.

Enter Kim, stage right. Enter Chay’s wattpad fantasy come to life, also stage right.

When Chay meets Kim, he is someone who has literally nothing to lose throwing himself out there. My boy literally just recites an encyclopedia knowledge of “Wik, sir, you are my hyper fixation” all in the hopes of getting that T-shirt. And it works! His idol signs his T-shirt, he gets to talk to his idol, he has been rewarded for putting himself out there!

So go big or go home right? He might as well try asking for a tutor when asked if there’s anything he wants. And he’s shot down. No big deal, he moves on and has merch thats going to be the envy of the Wik fandom.

But then his idol calls him, and says he’ll tutor him. Wik remembered him, remembered his request, and then proceeded to hunt down a way to get Chay’s phone number and call him personally in order to tell him he’s decided to he’s going to help him get into the his dream department that he himself is apart of.

Its easy to view Chay from Kim’s perspective, as an excitable fanboy with a crush, but we forget how Kim looks from Chay’s perspective. So lets look on how everything seems from Chay’s perspective.

Chay put himself out there, made a decision solely for himself and what he wants and now his idol wants to tutor him. He’s been actively rewarded twice now, by the same person, for asserting what he wants and trying to get it. He’s gotten his cake and is eating it too. He has a celebrity crush like most people get, only his celebrity crush is now making the effort to genuinely get to know him. 

Wik tells Chay his name is Kim, he’s being open and vulnerable to Chay, and he’s trusting him with his identity. Kim asks about his brother, even though Chay didn’t tell him, red flag to any normal person citing he saw Chay’s screensaver and made an assumption. Kim is taking an interest in his life, he notices little details about him, and is asking to here more about the coolest person in the world, his brother and even noticed how much Chay loves Porsche that he wants Chay to write a song about it! He even trusts Chay enough to ask for his phone when Kim’s phone has died, even though that’ll mean there’s important numbers in Chay’s call history, and he trusts that Chay won’t take advantage of them!

And maybe Chay starts to fall a bit in love with Kim. Not Wik, but Kim, who’s a little bit insecure, a little bit awkward, but is making all this effort for Chay.

For Chay, it isn’t anything manipulative or suspicious, he’s becoming friends Kim, they’re sharing information about themselves, they’re bonding now, and he’s been shown that if he pushes, Kim will stay. Chay is all alone now, he has to take care of himself, but if he makes an effort and keeps putting himself out there, if he makes his wants known, Kim comes to him. Kim trusts him, and as long as Chay takes the initiative, he also makes the effort to bond with Chay.

Then Porsche comes back! Chay isn’t alone anymore, and they’re happy and safe and Porsche isn’t getting beat up! And then Porsche once again immediately leaves without a word and few days later you get the first call you’ve gotten from him since he left the first time and now he’s back at work and doesn’t know when he’ll be back again. He’s all alone, and his brother has seem to get a new life that once again Chay’s not allowed to be apart of.

But then Kim shows up at his house! And Chay immediately throws his brother under the bus in a desperate bid to keep Kim’s good opinion of him, once again, gotta admire the sheer balls and audacity of that move. Then Kim gifts him one of his guitars! Porsche do you understand how easily your brother could be taken advantage of do you? Sure he almost gets the heart attack of Kim discovering his shrine, but what teenager doesn’t have posters on the wall of his favorite singer? Maybe it’s weird that he wants Chay to go get the food for them both, but he could have an important phone call to make, he could be nervous going out in public where people could recognize him! Then when he gets back Kim asks him about his love life! Kim ruffles his hair! Kim tells him to write a love song!

Kim is checking off all the boxes of my crush likes me back.

So when Kim ghosts him a little, Chay makes the obvious conclusion. Show up at his house and sing him the love song he wrote! He’s been shown time, and time again that if he reaches out to Kim, Kim will eventually grab his hand. Kim has shown to be awkward and a little of unsure of himself around Chay, but relaxes when Chay takes the initiative. So Chay does what’s always worked. With literally no fear or anxiety whatsoever.

And with episode 13, we see how close they were getting. We see how they went out to places together, romantically or platonically, and they took pictures together! They were friends, they were close, they had a level of trust and bonding and vulnerability for Chay to take photos with Kim and leave them around his house for Kim to find!

So Chay once again has nothing left to lose, and shoots his final shot and confesses to Kim. And Kim kisses him! They hug! Kim may or may not have come home with him that night but at some point in they’re relationship post confession, they fall asleep cuddling on the couch.

And Chay and Porsche are very similar. They fall in love quickly, they become very devoted and loyal to that love, and they are honest about it. Chay and Porsche are both the first ones to say I love you, but while Porsche doesn’t ask for a reply, Chay does. Because Kim has shown time and time again that Chay needs to take the initiative. So he asks Kim: I love you, do you love me?

But he stops at that and lets Kim take his time. Because that’s the song and dance their courtship has been taking, Chay flirts, Chay pushes forward and then Kim comes to meet him the rest of the way.

Chay is living in a Wattpad fantasy: he meets his idol crush, his idol crush becomes fascinated with him, he sees the real human behind his idol crush’s persona and falls in love with the awkward, sweet person underneath, he confesses his love and the feeling is mutual! And all of this seems to be fate, like this perfect love story and the happy ending he actually wants. He’s practically gotten into his dream department with the boy of his dreams who loves him back.

He’s confirming it is all real, and letting Kim know that it’s all real on his end.

And then he gets fucking kidnapped. And then he gets indisputable proof that his brother has been lying to him this entire time, and he was kidnapped because of that secret life his brother was lying about it.

The ultimatum may seem harsh, but it makes sense when you see it from Chay’s perspective. He probably feels essentially abandoned by his brother for the past two months, and he’s understandably pissed about everything thats happened in the last 48 hours or so. His brother can be part of his life and they can go back to the way things were, but Chay can’t be a part of his life if his brother is in the mafia, and its true. Porsche has spent all this time telling Chay he wants him to get into a good school and get a good job and be surrounded by good people with a good social life. You can’t have that in the mafia, and Chay knows that. So from Chay’s perspective, his brother has basically just been a complete hypocrite to everything his brother taught him.

And while Porsche has been shown the type of person to be willing to throw away his morals and beliefs when it comes to the people he loves, Chay isn’t. His entire life has been surrounded on those ideals of being a good, kind person who lives a good life. And he’s understandably terrified of the thought of losing his brother and truly being on his own. He’s basically lost his only emotional support system for two months, and if his brother dies, he loses him for good.

So Chay says him or me, because in his mind either way he could lose his brother, but this is Chay making his own decision, this is Chay fighting back and reminding Porsche that see you hurt makes me hurt too. This ultimatum reminds Porsche that his actions have conquenses on Chay too, and it shows how Chay has grown up in his absence. Chay in episode one was willing to just bow his head and listen to what his brother, but Chay in episode 10 is willing to speak out, he’s no longer willing to be simply passive in his brother’s plans for him.

In the end, he and Porsche communicate, and we get a taste of how Chay is, like Porsche, willing to throw away his ideals because he loves someone. But now he’s been dragged into a completely unfamiliar world, he’s truly been into a different kingdom where he doesn’t have any of the power or agency he’s gotten used to having in Porsche’s absence.

And then its revealed the love of his life is part of the mafia, and he’s just gotta sit there and pretend like nothings wrong.

Side note: while it’s absolutely hilarious that absolutely nobody learned about the KimChay romance, it also makes a lot of sense. Rule number one of Wattpad romance: You NEVER tell your overprotective brother your in love or dating or got dumped. You NEVER let your big brother know about your love life. Rule number two of Wattpad romance: When dating a celebrity, you NEVER leave a hint that any fans could pick up on. You ALWAYS need to keep the relationship a secret for as long as humanly possible. Chay thinks he knows what genre he’s in, and he’s being smart about it.

So Chay goes to confront him. Like doesn’t even hesitate, just shows up like bitch you better explain yourself. Because that’s what he does, only this time he does it out of anger, not out of love.

And Kim tells him that his entire reality was a lie. When Chay breaks down crying, it’s not just because Kim dumped him, though that had to hurt, its because that means their entire friendship, all the kindness and effort Kim showed him, all the time they spent together, all the moments Chay thought were sweet, thought they were bonding and falling mutually in love was a complete and utter lie. He’s just been made a fool, and his entire life has been completely transformed and he has no control over any of it.

So he spirals and self destructs. Him ditching the interview may seem dumb and like he’s throwing everything Porsche worked for away, but think about it. Everything about this interview is going to reminder of Kim and how he betrayed Chay’s love and trust. This interview is a reminder of how his brother threw away his own life for Chay to have a future their parents would be proud of, despite his protests. This interview is an embodiment of Chay’s own lack of control in his own life, it has become a symbol of his pain.

Everything in Chay’s life has fallen apart and now he has to pick up the pieces and find his place in the new world he’s in.

So he tries to take back that lost control and ditches the interview. He does the stereotypical new haircut new me era. He goes out drinking with friends. Chay can’t talk to Porsche about any of this, he can’t be honest with friends about any of this. He doesn’t have any real support system in his life right now, and he’s falling apart. For the past two months he’s been in charge of his life for the first time, only for it to be yanked away and everything he knows to disappear. He wants to get that control back, but he has no clue how, and he has no one to help him. So he makes some dumbass decisions, but its not just because of Kim, it’s because desperately grappling for a sense of agency in a world that keeps stripping him of it.

And then Kim comes back into his life, and in Chay’s perspective, tries to take away his agency again and toy with his emotions. “You said you don’t care about me, but here you are caring about me,” and it makes him angry. So in episode 13, he tries to cut Kim off, he ignores his calls and blocks his number to assert his control of their relationship.

And then his agency and control is once again taken when Porsche wakes him up and (presumably) drops him off at Yok’s and (probably) doesn’t tell about anything that happens.

His Wattpad dream life romance has fallen apart, he’s had to leave his old life completely behind, and now he’s left in the ashes trying to figure put who he is and where he stands in this situation, trying to be his own person without anyone there to help him.

Conclusion: I think Chay is someone who strives to be kind and polite, and like Porsche wants to see the best in people, but he’s also incredibly brave and put into the position where he’s really making his own decisions for the first time in his life. He’s frustrated, he’s unsure, he’s making mistakes and fumbling around, but he’s a young adult finally trying to take control of his life after everything has been ripped out underneath him, and I think that side of him could be explored to.

I think Chay is the type of person who’s sweet and respectful, but when push comes to shove, he’s shown to be a no nonsense kind of person who isn’t afraid to backdown. He’ll listen, he’ll comprise, but Chay has a lot more of a spine and a no fear attitude than people give him credit for, but right now he’s desperately trying to assert his agency in a narrative that keeps taking it from him, and its causing him to self destruct.

I’m genuinely excited to see where his arc from passive princess in tower to living a self-insert life to currently self destructive extensional crisis ends up. We’ve only gotten a few scenes with him, but they’ve shown so much of a character arc that I feel people are sleeping on.

[prxncechai]

&&. announcing his royal highness, ( Prajadhipok Chulalongkorn), the ( 28 ) year old ( prince ) of ( Thailand ). he is often confused with ( Tay Tawan ). some say that he is ( proud and judgemental   ), but he is actually ( upright and daring ). ( Prajadhipok ) is arranged to marry ( Arielle ).

Here is my new baby !! Please love him. 

Basics

Nobody actually calls him Prajadhipok. The Thai have their own culture about names. Basically his birth name is only used in administrative documents and rarely in conversations. My boy goes by his nickname given at birth which is CHAY (meaning victory, so it’s pretty cool). Although it’d be funny to see all foreigners try to pronounce  Prajadhipok. Tbh I’m still searching how it is pronounced myself. 

I will make a pretty family edit eventually but for now all you have to know is that he is the spare. He is second born son to King Mongkut IX and princess royal consort Koi. He has an older sister, the crown princess Praew and two younger twin siblings Yui and Duan. Princess Praew is 32 years old and a doctor. Chai admires her greatly. The twins are 23 years old and undergoing military training. 

The military is an important part of the Thai nation. So of course he served in the Royal Thai Armed Forces. It was not even a choice ( Thailand has a compulsory military service anyway). He served for a period of ten years. He was in the Royal Thai Navy. He was appointed Admiral of the Fleet and is Commander of the Southern Gulf of Thailand Fleet. Although the role is half honorific, a lot of decisions are actually taken by the deputy commander who is a senior admiral with lot of experience.  

He enrolled at the Royal Thai Navy Academy. He was fortunate enough to be able to participate in international programs at the prestigious National War College in Washington and the Ecole de guerre in Paris. 

Perks of being a prince, he occasionally did classes abroad on international law/affairs and conflicts resolution (without truly qualifying for them but what is a little nepotism). He spent a summer in the Netherlands at The Hague Academy of International Law and a summer in Geneva at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.  

Now that his active military service and training is over, his father is seeking to arrange a marriage for him. The King wants to try to slowly open his country to foreign alliances. Monaco is a perfect choice. They do not pose a threat and don’t risk to have too much influence. King Mongkut IX is pleased that Arielle negotiated the betrothal herself and hopes that she will be an asset to his family.

Chai is less thrilled about the whole engagement thing but he will do his duty. He was simply hoping to have some time to enjoy life between the end of active military service and having to wed someone he doesn’t love. 

The Chakri dynasty have a sense of superiority and pride because they managed to keep their throne in the middle of the French and British colonisation era (I am not sure how much of that happened in this alternate reality. If it didn’t happen i’ll work something else). They lost some territories but remained independent. They like to constantly remind everyone of that. In that sense Chai is very proud and can even be arrogant sometimes. He is patriotic and that was strengthened while he served. 

The Chakri pride was only reinforced by most royals seeking refuge in their country.  Chai will not be afraid to remind the foreigners that they are merely guests if they need a reality check. 

Speaking of the pack of royals in Phuket, he is not enthusiastic about that turn of events. There are too many people, too much scheming and his patience is growing thin. He kind of wants his country back even if it is good for Thailand to be at the centre of the power scene.   

He is a football fanatic. It would have been the path that he would have chosen to follow, had he not been a prince. He plays centre forward (main attacking player). He religiously follows Europeans’ championships (Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Premier League, Primera Liga, Calcio Serie A).  He occasionally plays during charity games or event games. 

He bets on football games and can also be caught gambling a couple of times a year. It’s something he keeps private but he does enjoy the thrill of gambling. 

He is very competitive. 

Chai is fluent in Thai, Chinese (Mandarin) and English. He can hold basic conversations in French, Khmer and Malay. 

 He is a Buddhist. It’s the official religion of Thailand. 

Suffice to say my boy can sail. He’s an ocean lover. Beach vibes. He can also be seen chilling on yachts (and even at times partying). 

He has a big don’t mess with me attitude. He is a partisan of the “do no harm but take no shit” policy.  

His honesty and uprightness can be a disadvantage in politics. He hates scheming and intrigues. In that way he is not a good servant of the Thai Kingdom. 

He is opinionated and won’t be afraid to voice his thoughts. Those can sometimes be quite daring or extreme. Consequently, he understands his father reforms and wish to constantly improve Thailand. 

In terms of personal life, he has few real friends and even fewer exes. He did not mingle with most of the royals growing up, apart from special occasions. He is not a fan of red carpet events and all the fuss. Military service also left little time to socialise. 

He only had a serious girlfriend who was also in the navy and a young first love in the Thai court. 

He mainly stays in Bangkok. He has recently moved to Phuket after his engagement to Arielle. Before that he would come once or so a month

Wanted connections 

He could have had past meetings with European characters when he was in Paris, Geneva or the Hague. Same with American characters since he spent some time in Washington

Fellow football lovers (soccer lovers for the Americans among us)

Perhaps someone who has caught his eyes in Phuket

TRAGIC ROMANCE

Someone he can not stand 

Asian buddies ?

A rare old friend (or two)

A new friend 

Perhaps someone who has a crush on him 

Someone he admires 

Sort of a mentor