#i don’t go here but i do love me some perth

[firstkanaphans]

Perth ratatouille-ing his nongs at the Thai Festival in Tokyo

[nataliawrites]

TikTok on the Clock // Daniel Ricciardo

One of the best things to come out of the pandemic lockdown was finally giving in to the urge to download TikTok. You had quickly grown addicted to scrolling through the mix of eclectic videos that popped up on your “for you page” and soon enough decided to start posting some yourself.

It did not take long for Formula 1 fans to make the connection between your account and who your boyfriend is — Daniel Ricciardo was many things but subtle was not one of them and he had a tendency to “accidentally” interrupt you while you filmed.

You kept the account going long after restrictions eased and hopped on many of the trends that made their rounds on the app. This year, you were feeling slightly evil. You have been putting together a compilation of hilarious (if you did say so yourself) pranks that you pulled on your boyfriend since the season began and were just about to hit upload as the countdown began.

You put down your phone and turn to give Daniel your full attention.

Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

His lips taste like champagne.

Happy New Year!

“Hey Dan?”

“Mmh.”

“Maybe stay off TikTok for a bit.”

“What did you do?”

One

You loved the Australian Grand Prix. Your boyfriend’s home race was a spectacle on the track and a great opportunity to spend time with his family off the track.

As usual, you flew out to Perth a bit early before switching coasts for the race. You were busy in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner as you prepared to host everyone that evening. When everything was mostly done, you started recording on your phone and leaned it against the wall inconspicuously before calling for your boyfriend.

“Hey, babe?” You pour a heaping pile of salt on a spoon.

“Yeah?” You can hear Daniel from across the house.

“Can you come taste my sauce?” You dunk the spoon in a pot of your tomato sauce and pick up just enough to hide the salt.

He basically runs to the kitchen, “test taster reporting for duty.”

You bring the spoon to his mouth, “I used your nonna’s recipe.”

His eyes screw shut and his mouth puckers, “my-my nonna’s recipe?”

“Your mom shared it with me. Isn’t it delicious?”

“Yeah,” his voice cracks. “Delicious.”

You look at his face again and fight a losing battle not to laugh as he desperately tries not to offend you and his grandma.

You reach towards your phone as giggles escape you.

Daniel finally realizes he’s been tricked, “are you serious?”

You point the camera towards your boyfriend, “you should’ve seen your face.”

“You’re so mean to me,” he pouts.

Two

“Babe?” You questioned coming through the front door. You had spent the day loading up on groceries and stopping by a few boutiques that caught your eye. This was the perfect opportunity to finally pull one over on your boyfriend.

“I’m in here,” you drop your bags in the foyer and follow Daniel’s voice to where he’s lying on the living room sectional.

Your phone is stuck in your bra, the camera just peaking over your shirt. “My car told me I needed windshield wiper fluid while I was out.”

He lowers his phone but keeps his focus on it.

“So I pulled into a gas station and the guy working there gave me a really good deal. He told me I got it for 50 percent off and it was only $150 for me because of how sweet I was.”

Daniel’s head snaps up as he drops his phone.

“$150?”

“Yeah.”

“You paid $150?”

“Yeah …”

“For windshield wiper fluid?”

“Yeah? He told me it was a good deal!”

“Love,” you can’t tell if he wants to laugh or cry, “I could’ve done that for free. He ripped you off.”

“But it was 50 percent off?”

“It costs less than $5 to buy and then you just pour it in!” He gestures wildly, “this is my fault. How do I race for a living and literally collect cars without teaching my girlfriend how to change her own windshield wiper fluid?”

By this point you’re silently laughing which Daniel finally notices.

“Really? Really?” He turns around to face the back of the couch, “don’t talk to me.”

“Awww, baby. Don’t be mad at me,” you coo. “I think it’s cute how protective you got.”

“Still mad at you.” It’s hard to take him seriously with his face shoved into the leather couch, muffling his voice.

Three

You walk into the gym, your phone hidden in the pocket of your leggings, and take in the view of you shirtless boyfriend.

The fans will appreciate this one.

“Dan?”

He pauses his juggling on the stationary bike.

“My back’s really been bothering since I came back from my run. Do you think you can help me stretch it or something?”

He gets off the bike and walks toward you, “do you want me to call Michael? He won’t mind coming over to help with your back.”

“Don’t bother him. It’s nothing major,” you turn away from your boyfriend and quickly stick two pieces of pasta between your molars while he can’t see, “just need to loosen it up a bit.”

“Okay …” he spreads his palms across your back and applies some careful pressure. You bite down on the pasta, timing the crack with his movements.

“Oh my god.” You let your body go limp.

“Love? Are you okay?” He tries to hold you up but you collapse on the padded floor of the gym.

“Is it your back? What did I do? I knew we should’ve just called Michael. Oh my god.”

You take pity on your boyfriend, not wanting him to think that he actually broke your back for longer than a few seconds, “it was just pasta.”

“What?”

“The sound. It was just me biting pasta. It’s a prank trend.”

He lets go of your body and you fully drop to the floor.

“Are.” He pelts you with one of the balls he was juggling.

“You.” And another.

“Kidding.” And another.

“Me?” And another.

You run out of the gym laughing as he continues to chase you through the house, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“I thought I broke your back!”

[smellss]

Nudged - Sam kerr x singer!reader social media au!

summary: social media subtly is harder for some than others

notes: credit @chaosology @si’ve been obsessing over these and thought i’d try it for myself!

please let me know if you’d like to see a part two!

Part Two | Part Three

liked by taylorswift, florencepugh, y/ngirlfriendfr and 240,870

y/noffical: Can't wait to look out to the crowd and see my beloved green and gold, I'll be home soon mum 💚💛

viewallcomments

taylorswift: can't wait to be down under with you 🖤

tayschaibiccy: reputation 👀 (Taylor's version) (down under edition)

masiepeters: go girl go!

matildas: loving the green and gold ✨

y/nsmummy: matildas social media slaying as always

baby/n: mother is arriving home!!!!!

floscrockpot: Ill wonder if she'll be bringing home other mother?

baby/n: idk they haven’t posted together for a while i hope everything is okay

dailymail: we'll we've got a story for you 👀

liked by gossipgirl206, msmarypeep and 40,789

dailymail: wlw power couple Y/n L/n and Florence Pugh have supposedly been broken up for over a year! Close source says the 5 year relationship ended amicably but both women did not want to create a scandal wave of drama and decided to keep it quiet. It’s even been noted Flo is in a new relationship with co-star Cillian Murphy, whilst Y/n is keeping things let’s just say down under… 👀

viewallcomments

y/nsmummy: we’ll i don’t believe in love anymore 🔪🔥

floscrockpot: i knew y/n wasn’t good enough for flo!

taylorschaibiccy: ma’am people like you are the reason they didn’t post it and make it public smh

baby/n: mmm i smell something going on here…

goodwitchymas: wait they were dating!

liked by masiepeters, matildas, skeggs and 610,780

y/noffical: perth night 1 ✨ never been so grateful to be back in this beautiful place.

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masiepeters: my girls all grown up 🥺

y/nsmummy: I REPEAT SHES BACK I REPEAT

matildas: thank you for having us queen 💛💚

y/noffical: i hope you ladies enjoyed the show ❤️

baby/n: huh

hugmetightly/n: no because this is interesting

liked by baby/n, kerrsboot, tilliescup and 27,608

captainkerrupdates: Sam Kerr and the rest of the tillies spotted taking a break watching another Australian icon Y/n L/n’s concert last night in Perth.

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kerrsboot: how very interesting

baby/n: oh yes i do agree

sammy123: odd sam is not a very big pop fan…

y/nmummy: something tells me sam isn’t going for the music

liked by samanthakerr20, alannahkennedy and 240,800

optusstadium: Our Matilda’s warm up session this morning good to see a lot of smiles on our nations gems 💚 #FWWC23

viewallcomments

samanthakerr20: thank you for having us 💛

haleyrusso: ❤️

kerrsboot: what songs do our tillies listen to while warming up??

alannahkenndey: strawberry kisses of course

samanthakerr20: nonsense by y/n l/n 🔥

baby/n: uh sorry excuse me pardon what.

captainkerrupdates: 📸 📸📸

mackenziearnold: oh sammy

liked by samanthakerr20, baby/n and 80,890

y/nultimategossiper: Y/n’s interview with Vogue Aus today talking about her favourite sport and the Matilda’s.

mummy/n: they are so dating are you kidding me

kerrsboot: they could just be friends

sammy123: either way it’s nice to see two icons supporting each other

mummy/n: sam liked this post

kerrsboot: damn i stand corrected somethings definitely going on

samanthakerr20 started following y/noffical

y/noffical started following samanthakerr20

[onboardsorasora]

50. Disney Princess Film AU from this prompt list

No one prompted me for this– BUT I’d been talking about this with @purplesallthewaydown and then it was there as a prompt. So El, clearly I need to unleash this into the world.

Enchanted AU lets go– please….suspend EVERY disbelief you have. This will not make sense lmao

Daniel is Giselle, he’s in Monaco from the fairy tail land of Perth. He got here because he was driving around in his truck, singing a happy song and following a horse that just wanted to run and they ended up at the airport. The birds told him that the planes make humans fly like them and he thought that was as good an idea as any.

So he’s in Monaco, he’d been walking around, bumping into things because he’s doing tourist thing where you look up instead of in front of you. He comes to the pier and he’s tired, the birds in Monaco aren’t as helpful as the birds back home and he wants to go home. He’s singing an almost sad song and bumps into Max who is doing his normal daily run. They fall to the ground, Max atop Daniel naturally.

They’re both stunned, surprised, speechless. Max scrambles up and helps Daniel to his feet.

“Are you ok? Did I hurt you?” Max is checking Daniel over, making sure his oversized sweatshirt maybe didn’t get ripped or his knees didn’t get skinned since he’s wearing tiny shorts. He clocks the bright tattoos on Daniel’s thigh, maybe they glow a little with Daniel’s inner Disney Princess happiness?

“I’m ok. I just don’t know where I am.” Daniel smiles sheepishly, embarrassed. He hadn’t been able to find many other wild animals and the birds really weren’t helpful here.

“Oh? Where are you from?” Max is now concerned, because who truly gets lost nowadays with technology where it was.

“I’m from Perth!” Daniel says proudly, a wide smile on his face. “The birds guided me.”

Did his tattoos glow a little brighter?

“That’s in Australia right?”

Daniel shrugs in a very uncaring way. What did he know about geography when he enjoyed his days basking in the sun by his family’s ranch or hiking in the mountains or by the beach swimming with the mermaids?

Max presses his tongue behind his teeth as he thinks of what to do. Daniel gets distracted by a butterfly and starts following behind it dreamily, maybe she will guide him back home. He almost bumps into another jogger when Max grabs his arm and pulls him back into his space. They both blush.

“I’m Max.”

“Daniel!”

Max takes Daniel home, because it's the only logical next step. He can maybe book him a flight back to Perth if Daniel has no family around. It's a lot in terms of being a good samaritan, but Max is loaded and single and lives alone in the city and a race car driver on time off.

So they're in Max’s flat and he pulls out a laptop to check flights maybe, and gets distracted by Daniel literally curled around Jimmy and Sassy. He was talking to them softly and they were purring up a storm. Max has never seen this happen in his life. Sassy hates people and Jimmy takes 5 business days to allow pets.

He’s floored, flabbergasted, flummoxed. Just who was this guy?

Daniel is supremely happy, Jimmy and Sassy are wonderful hosts. They’ve told him that the birds here are in fact unfriendly, and mean. They told him that Max is wonderful but he’s often not home so they sometimes get lonely, but they’re happy together. So he starts singing to them, a lovely little ditty about nutsacks and ball hair and they cuddle closer to him. His tattoos glow brighter and the ship sails move a little because that's what they do when Daniel is happy.

Max is just staring at this all happening on the floor by his patio doors– what the actual fuck is going on?

So since Daniel is distracted with the cats, Max googles about any magic in Australia. And apparently…there's a lot. It's a utopia for magical creatures and some humans that live there are gifted, it's usually a good way to tell if someone is a good person or not– how strong their aura and aptitude. Considering Daniel was glowing and talking to his fucking cats, Max thinks that an ok sign.

“Uhm, Daniel?”

“Yes Maxy?” Daniel sung back, looking up from the cats.

“How did you get here?”

“Oh! It was like the most amazing thing!” Daniel clambers up and breaks out into song about how he had been gossiping with the horses and alpacas and then they went for a ride and the birds told him about the ‘airport’ which was a very weird place with birds for people. And he got on a big bird plane and fell asleep and got snacks and slept some more.

And while this is happening, Max is sat in his couch wide eyed as this man dances around his apartment, singing. And birds started hovering on his patio, unable to do more because it's screened in. Daniel flutters to a stop on the couch beside him and hugs Max close because he’s so happy and Max has been so nice to him. And his mom said that sometimes people want to try to take advantage of him but Sassy and Jimmy promised that Max is good, and he believes them.

And Max is….poor thing. Max is completely out of his depth. He’s thunderstruck. But there's a part of his brain that wants to keep Daniel, and he doesn’t know what to do.

Part 2

[harley-sunday]

Feels Like Home [Epilogue]

Summary: When an unexpected three-week break between Monza and Singapore finds Daniel back on his farm in Perth he’s desperate to use this time to clear his mind, figure out his future in Formula One, and find his way back. He didn’t expect a new neighbour, a sassy two-year old, and three alpacas would make him realise that sometimes, what you’re looking for is right in front of you.

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader (unnamed OFC)

Warnings: None. Weird.

Word count: 3k

AN: Sorry for the long wait, bb’s. Life got in the way and- Ugh. Anyway. Here we are, the last part of this story. I hope you liked reading it all as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave a comment if you did :) ♥

Masterlist

"Danny, banana. Danny, bana-"

"Mate-" Daniel locks eyes with his best friend through the rear view mirror and shakes his head.

From the driver's seat Blake shrugs and grins, "What? Shi-" He catches himself just in time, no doubt also because of a whispered, "Blake!" coming from next to Daniel, and corrects himself quick enough for it not to reach a certain three-year-old's ears. "It's a catchy song, mate." Blake looks over his shoulder then, wiggling his eyebrows, "Right, El?"

Ellie nods in response, dancing in her car seat as she continues where Blake left off, "-na. Danny, banana. Danny, banana."

There's a stifled laugh coming from his left, followed by a hand on his knee, "Regretting bringing us along for the weekend yet?"

He takes her hand in his, intertwining their fingers effortlessly, before he brings them up to his mouth and places a kiss to the back of her hand, "Never."

They're on their way to the track, Blake driving the Ford pickup Red Bull arranged for them this weekend, Mia, one of the Red Bull PR girls, in the front seat and Daniel, her, and Ellie crammed in the backseat together. It's Friday, free practice day, and so there's no rush, not much on his schedule except a sit-down interview with Sky Sports later today, once the two practice sessions are over. 

Next to him Ellie keeps singing her song and when he looks at her she smiles up at him with her toothy grin, holding out her hand to him. He takes it and presses a kiss to the back of her hand the same way he did to her mum's a few moments ago, "You excited, bub?"

"Yep," Ellie says confidently even though Daniel's sure she has no idea what's about to happen. She leans forward and looks around him, at her mum, "Happy days."

On his other side she laughs and shakes her head, muttering a quiet, "Tell me your kid is hanging out with your boyfriend too much without telling me your kid is hanging out with your boyfriend too much."

Daniel doesn't say anything but an exciting mix of happiness and pride and love spreading inside his chest, pushing out the nerves that have been there all morning. Because it's one thing to be going to his home Grand Prix, but it's another thing to do so with her and Ellie by his side. 

It feels like only yesterday when he was in Abu Dhabi, confirming after weeks of speculation that yes, he would be returning to his former team, but at the same time so much has happened in the time he’s been home that it’s hard to believe it’s only been four months.

The farm- their farm now, ever since he asked her and Ellie to move in with him at the end of January- has seemed to come alive and feels more like a home than it ever did before. They moved the girls from Oscar’s farm to theirs early March because it would be a lot easier for them to look after six alpacas than it would be for her Granddad, who now only has Homer to worry about and can finally enjoy his retirement. 

Last week they spent some time with Blake, trying to figure out whether or not they should launch their relationship ahead of the Grand Prix but in the end she made the decision for them when, after another hour or so of discussing the pros and cons, she looked at him and Blake and simply said, "Why don't we just see what happens? It can't be that bad, right?”

Blake, bless him, wasted no time and started rattling of a list of reasons why it would be bad, why they needed a plan, why-

"I get that part," she said, reaching over the kitchen table and putting her hand on Blake's arm, "and I think it's good that we have something to fall back on once the news breaks, but- I just don't like the idea of an official statement, or orchestrating a 'candid'-" she air-quoted the word, "-moment with the press. I much rather just have it happen naturally, if that makes sense."

Daniel remembers nodding in agreement, "She has a point, mate.”

Blake had leaned back in his chair, pushing up his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose but then he dropped his shoulders and let out a resigned sigh and Daniel knew they had won Blake over, "Fine. I'll call Christian and Vicky and hear what they think.

Daniel told Christian about her, last November, in the few quiet hours before they announced his return to Red Bull. Christian hadn't said anything at first, just looked at Daniel the way he so often looked at Max, a softness there that Daniel hadn't quite known how to take until Christian clasped his shoulder and told him, his voice thick and laced with pride, "I'm really happy for you, Daniel. You- You more than anyone deserve this." 

And so he wasn’t surprised when Christian gave them the go-ahead.

They’re almost at the track now and when Daniel clears his throat, the nerves from earlier back in full force, he feels her squeeze his hand, like she knows exactly what he's feeling right now. He guesses that in a way she is. 

***

From the moment you arrive at the track it's hectic, Daniel and Blake leaving the car first in an attempt to give you and Ellie some respite from hundreds of the waiting fans. Mia stays with you, so she can escort you, in what everyone hopes will be relative peace, to the paddock once Max arrives in about five minutes. 

It's a carefully planned setup by Vicky who, more than anything else, was concerned about you and Ellie and promised she would try to make it as enjoyable as possible. Even if that meant you had to wait in the car for a few minutes so Max could act as a decoy.

Looking out of the window and seeing just how crazy people get when they see Daniel, you're glad you agreed. 

You're not sure if Vicky had anything to do with it but both Max and Sergio arrive at the track at the same time and with the fans' attention turned solely to the two Red Bull drivers, you make it to the team's garage without too much trouble. Mia not wearing any team gear but instead being undercover in her plain clothes definitely helped, you tell her with a wink once you're safely inside.

"I felt like I was on a secret mission," the young girl beams back at you. She nods then, "You guys have fun today."

"Thank you, Mia," you tell her with a warm smile that grows even wider when you see Daniel coming towards you.

"Hey you," he says, standing in front of you with his back towards the pitlane, effectively blocking you and Ellie from prying eyes. "All good?"

"All good," you confirm easily enough. 

He holds something out to Ellie then, looking extremely pleased with himself, "Here you go, bub. You have to put these on when the cars start to make loud noises, ok?"

Ellie takes the headphones from him, looking at Daniel with wide eyes.

"Oh wow, Ellie," you say as you pinch her cheek with your free hand. "Danny got you pink headphones, huh? How cool!"

"Thank you, Danny," Ellie says, leaning forward in your arms so she can press a kiss to Daniel's cheek.

Daniel smiles widely at Ellie before he grabs something off the counter next to you, "I got you a pair as well."

"Momma, look!" Ellie holds up hers, "The same!"

You smile, "Yeah, we're matching, bub. How very awesome."

"So free practice starts in an hour or so, do you want to grab something to eat first?" Daniel's rocking back and forth on his feet and you can tell he's getting a little nervous again. It’s the only downside of not having an official moment scheduled, you’ve come to realise, because it’s completely out of your hands and it’s just one big waiting game until someone spots you together and runs with it. 

You try to give Daniel your best reassuring smile, "Sounds great." Taking Ellie's headphones from her, you put them, and yours, in the large tote bag that's hanging from your shoulder before you move Ellie to your other hip, "Lead the way, Ricciardo."

Daniel nods towards the back of the garage and when you turn around he puts his hand on the small of your back, guiding you through a maze of corridors that lead back to the paddock and the Red Bull hospitality. 

Before you've crossed over though, Ellie starts wriggling in your arms and it isn't until you see a familiar face coming your way that you understand why. Ellie tries to push herself free and so, once he's close enough, you set her down and watch as she wobbles over to, "Uncle Mikey!"

Michael's entire face lights up and he squats down just in time to catch her, picking her up and laughing when she presses a wet kiss to his cheek, "Hello Miss Ellie. How you going?"

"Uncle Mikey," Ellie repeats, a little quieter this time, letting her head rest against his shoulder with a content sigh.

Michael nods to the driver who's standing next to him, "Go on, mate. I'll catch up with you in a bit, yeah?"

Yuki nods and gives Ellie a quick wave, "Bye."

A few heads have turned your way but then you greet Michael with a warm hug, Daniel keeping his distance, and it seems people lose interest rather quickly, probably thinking you're here for the Alpha Tauri trainer instead of Red Bull's reserve driver. Ellie, bless her, helps by babbling incessantly about whatever she deems interesting enough, as if she hasn't just seen him last Sunday when he was over for dinner with Nathalie and Blake. 

Michael listens intently but nods towards Red Bull's hospitality and so you follow him to where he stops in front of the sliding doors, thankful for the escort. When there's a lull in Ellie's stories, Michael takes it as his cue to hand her back to you, but not before promising he'll catch up with you later this weekend. 

Daniel reappears then, and together you head inside. The room is full of Red Bull employees enjoying their lunch but none of them seem to pay you any mind and it's then you remember a brief was sent out by the team earlier this week, where it was mentioned you and Ellie would be joining Daniel this weekend, effectively introducing you to the crew. 

There is someone waving at you from the other side of the room and so Daniel gently pushes you forward to where Blake is sitting. Without hesitating Blake pushes his chair back so he can take Ellie from you, bouncing her on his knee as you hang your bag on the back of a chair and sit down. Ellie's giggles quickly fill the room and you can't help but smile by how at ease she is.

"Well, hello,"

You look up and see Christian joining your table, giving Daniel a hug before he turns to you. Standing up you're ready to shake his hand but find yourself being pulled into a hug instead.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Christian says when he lets go of you, one hand still on your arm. He nods to Daniel then, a mischievous grin on his lips, "This one wouldn't shut up about you."

You let out a laugh at the way Daniel's cheeks redden and smile at Christian, "Surprisingly enough we talked a lot about you on our first date, so I guess that makes two of us."

Christian chuckles and nods at Daniel, "I can see why you like her so much." He turns to Blake and Ellie then, "And who is this lovely lady?"

"Bit weird of you to call Blake that," Daniel pipes up with a grin, "but I'm sure he doesn't mind the compliment."

You shake your head at Daniel, trying to not laugh at the way Blake gives him one of his better scowls, and pick up Ellie, "This is my daughter Ellie."

"Hello Ellie," Christian says, giving her knee a gentle squeeze. "Don't you look just like your mum."

Ellie studies Christian for a second, her little eyebrows knitted together as she tries to decide whether she likes him or not, but then she grins widely, "Danny go racing."

"Not this weekend, bub," Daniel explains from next to Christian. "Some other time maybe."

Christian leans closer to Ellie then and whispers, loud enough for you and Daniel to hear, "Definitely some other time, sweetheart."

***

She and Ellie watch both the first practice session from inside Max’s side of the garage, while Daniel is on the pit wall, trying to concentrate but catching himself looking over his shoulder every couple of minutes to see if they’re still ok. He spots Brad, Max’s trainer, chatting to Ellie animatedly towards the end of the session and feels a little more at ease, once again reminded how fiercely loyal and protective everyone in the Red Bull family is. 

Once free practice is over he starts to head back inside where he finds Ellie admiring the lion on top of the helmet Max is showing her.

“It is of course not like a real lion, Ellie,” Max tells her as he traces the lines with his finger, “but it looks like one don’t you think?” 

“Danny, look!” Ellie says when she spots him and points to Max’s helmet, “It’s a lion.”

“It’s sure is, bub,” Daniel agrees with a smile, picking up Ellie then when she holds out her arms to him. When she rests her head against his shoulder he hugs her closer, still amazed by how much it means that she trusts him so much.

Max looks at him a little strange and Daniel half expects him to crack a joke but instead he claps Daniel’s back and gives him a kind smile, “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” 

“Yep.”

Daniel watches as she says her goodbyes to Max, not surprised when his teammate returns the hugs she gives him without hesitating. When she turns back to Daniel she smiles, “I like him.” 

“Good.” Daniel chuckles, “I like him too most of the time.” Ellie lets out a yawn then and Daniel presses a kiss to the top of her head, “You tired, bub?”

Ellie shakes her head but another yawn betrays her.

She runs her hand through her daughter’s hair and smiles, “It’s a long day, huh bub?”

Daniel smiles apologetically, “I can have someone take you back to the hotel if you want?”

“Oh, no, that’s ok,” she says. She nods towards Ellie then, “She’d never forgive me if we left early but-” she looks around, “-if we could find somewhere quiet, maybe?”

“Say no more,” Daniel says and uses his free hand to guide her to the back of the garage and into the maze of corridors that ultimately leads them to a conference room that he hopes still has a comfortable couch in it like it used to do when he first was with the team. It does.

“Perfect,” she tells him with a smile as she sits down at an angle, one leg folded in front of her. She leans in and takes Ellie’s shoes off, the little girl already fast asleep in Daniel’s lap. She looks up at him then, “You sure you don’t have anywhere else to be?”

“Nah.” Daniel shakes his head and leans in to give her a kiss, “There’s nowhere I’d rather be right now.” 

***

“Daniel, after four years you’re back to where it all started for you, back at Red Bull,” Nathalie looks up at him and smiles. “Are you happy to be back?”

“I am,” Daniel agrees easily enough, leaning back in his chair. You can tell he’s at ease, no nervous tapping of his foot or biting the skin around his nails, and you know it’s because he and Nathalie are good friends and he knows he won’t push anything. You watch as he nods to where the Red Bull garage is, “It feels good, you know? They’re family.” 

Nathalie nods, “Christian told us you’ll probably be at eight races this year, Melbourne being the first, are you ok with being around the paddock but not being able to drive? Do you miss it?”

“Of course I miss it but-” Daniel sits up a little, as if he wants to get his point across, “-I know I still need some time. These past few months- Without the pressure of having to prepare for a season, you know, it’s- It’s been good. I’m in a much better headspace now and I think if we can keep this up for the next couple of months-” He shrugs, “Who knows what might happen.”

“Would you say you’re happier now than you were at Renault and McLaren? Even though you’re not driving-”

“Oh definitely,” Daniel answers without hesitating. “It feels like this is exactly where I’m meant to be.”

Nathalie smiles, “You seem more relaxed than when we last spoke in Abu Dhabi last year- Would you say the longer winter break helped with that?” 

“Amongst other things,” Daniel says with a grin, making Nathalie shake her head. 

“I heard something about you being an alpaca farmer now,” Nathalie teases, as if she didn’t come by after Jeddah for a two-day visit where she spent most of her time cuddling the girls. And Ellie. 

“You heard correct,” Daniel shoots back, smiling widely.

“You are a man of many talents, Daniel,” Nathalie says as she throws him a wink. “Amazing.” She clears her throat then, “So is it safe to say you’re in a good place right now? That you’re happy?”

Daniel nods, “Yep.” 

“Why?”

Daniel looks past Nathalie at you and Ellie, locking eyes with you as he smiles and says, “I’ve got everything I need right here.” 

“Yes?”

“Yeah.” Daniel looks back at Nathalie, “I’m home.” 

[chalkrevelations]

Man, no wonder Kanghan’s awful. He has zero consequences for anything he does. He tries to set himself a consequence – if he doesn’t pass all his exams, he doesn’t get a new motorcycle, which come on, rich kid problems to begin with, although a (small but) important step on his journey to find some kind of inner growth – and then his dad just blows right past that and undermines his attempt to set a goal for himself (since no one else will do it for him). Not to mention, his dad just up and giving him the bike for his birthday is as good as saying, “Heh. Well, we all know he’s not going to pass all his midterms, I’d be waiting forever to give it to him, if we wait for that.” What the hell happened when his mom died that this guy expects his kid to be a complete failure, and does he just expect Kanghan to live a rich dilettante trust-fund existence for his entire life?

I have to say, I do love the way the show sets up the bike revelation, with Kanghan being called outside in front of his friends, minimal and unsettling bg music, a kind of strained atmosphere that suggests he might be in some kind of trouble and that something unpleasant is about to happen – and something unpleasant is about to happen for him, and nobody’s going to get that except Sailom. Because, oh, let’s talk about Sailom for a minute – fucking brilliant Sailom, quick as a whip - who’s going to watch Kanghan not give a shit about the expensive presents that Max and Nawa bought, which show no understanding of who Kanghan is, and who’s then going to watch Kanghan’s delight in Pimfah’s portrait, Kanghan’s instinctive understanding of the time and effort she put into it, his appreciation of that effort. Sailom, who’s just listened to Kanghan admit that he wants to be able to put time and effort into something and have someone appreciate it. Sailom, who immediately realizes not only that Kanghan is unhappy about his father’s present (and that body language, Perth - man, I don’t know why everyone didn’t realize it, other than plot contrivance), but also why Kanghan’s crushed by the bike.

Sailom, who, OK, gives Kanghan a raided cupcake and a song, but whose real gift to Kanghan is this thing they’ve been dancing around the entire episode - when Kanghan asks him “What, do you want me to say I want YOU to be proud of me?”; when Kanghan does whatever tricks Sailom requires him to do, including humiliating himself in front of a bar full of strangers to get Sailom’s approval; when Kanghan admits to Sailom over crickets that he desperately wants to be able to put his time and effort into something and to get back his father’s appreciation and validation for it. Sailom’s real birthday gift is to say, OK, clearly these expectations and this validation you want aren’t going to come from where you’ve been seeking them, but what about if you could look for this from me? Will you accept it? Can I give that to you? Can I be the one who gives that to you? (Protip, Sailom: YES. He’s only been rolling over for belly rubs from you for half the episode, already.)

And here’s the thing, this could be a self-centered ask from Sailom, it could simply be about making sure that he’s successful at his job tutoring (now that Kanghan’s dad has taken away Kanghan’s primary impetus to study for the exams). This could be the flip side of the metaphor, that the way you train dogs is not with the kind of discipline that makes them aggressive, as Kanghan’s been taught, but with care and attention and approval and validation so that they want to work for you. It could be that - but we’ve also seen (written all over Chimon’s face earlier in the episode) that when Kanghan asks, “Do you want me to say I want YOU to be proud of me?” Sailom’s unspoken answer is YES. YES, HE DOES. He wants Kanghan to want to make him proud. So in this, they lock together like puzzle pieces forming a whole. It’s just that they had to be pushed to the crisis point of their fight over the bike key to be able to look each other in the face – looking at each other instead of off into the distance and not seeing each other when they were riding Kanghan’s scooter to the restaurant with mutually soppy looks on their faces but no mutual understanding – and recognize it. They probably still don’t actually recognize it, but they’re moving in the right direction now, feeling their way forward, instead of aimlessly circling.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Feb 2023 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most. 

Ongoing Series - Thai

My School President (Fri YT) ep 9 of 12 - WinSound totally won me over in this ep. They were great. Their competitive style of romance, made me really happy. Double tsundere it’s so rare to get and not be annoying or depressing. Of course the mains were adorable too. 

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) ep 8 of 12 - Solid little episode. Perth in the pool, thank U BL gods. Peeling the shrimp to rope, always a favorite of mine. Some awesome couple flirting and a nice romantic sex scene. What’s not to like about this episode?

Hit Bite Love (Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 6 - King is fucking adorable. Burger is clueless and (apparently) entirely straight. Shogun is one of the gayest characters ever put in high school BL. Heda is kinda awesome, basically a chaos wingman. Matteo is interesting. I genuinely like the central friendship between King & Shogun a lot. Queer baby besties! It’s Ming & Wayo-esk but better. Holy KINK FEST outta nowhere, BLman! I’m getting total whiplash with this show. Very Make It Right. What does it want to be? Who tf knows but I’m into it, that’s for sure. It’s accomplishing something, which most pulps don’t.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) ep 11fin - my backup computer is down so I haven’t had a chance to watch this yet. Hopefully but next week’s report.   

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 5: Love in the Future (Taiwan Weds Viki) ep 6 of 10 (or 11&12 of 20) - Jonny’s hair is driving me nuts. Hai Yi’s behavior is confusing me too. Office boys remain totally adorable. Very doomy mid run ep 6. Ah Taiwan, how unpredictable you are. 

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - these weirdos make for very strange boyfriends. Frankly? K seems like a useless bit of business, if you ask me. 

Individual Circumstances (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 5-6 of 8 - I’m just annoyed with Mr. Tsundere at this point, he’s gone from grumpy to mean. I just want him to have a really good reason for having disappeared without saying anything, and good does not mean “sensitive pathetic authorial feels.” You don’t abandon your best friend just because you fell in love with them, that’s an unforgivably shitty thing to do. 

The End Of The World, With You AKA Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu (Japan Sun Gaga ep 1 of 8 - Stars Toshiki Seto (Senpai, This Can't Be Love). The world is about to be destroyed by a meteor, so Masumi visits his old uni library to read as much as he wants until the end. There he meets Ritsu, his player ex. It’s a bit awkward, and I’m not sure about the premise (it scares me that it might be sad). It’s racier, gayer, and has better kissing than i was expecting (again a sign it might go dark). Also Is Ritsu a big time bi-slut player or is that Masumi’s perspective? Regardless I’m intrigued if wary. 

Finished this week

The New Employee (Korea Weds Viki) ep 7fin - They are so cute it’s unbelievable. I thought it was a good office romance ending, if not a great Bl ending. All in all this is a darn near perfect nugget of an office romance BL, sweet and much gayer than we have any right to expect from Korea. Rainbow rice cakes forever! 9/10

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) ep 12fin - It’s a serviceable series about hot swimmers flirting and dealing with family drama in a sweetly earnest manner, but ultimately it squanders the talent in play. I would’ve preferred a cleaner narrative arc, less angst and more plot, fewer couples, and a shorter series. That said, there’s nothing objectively wrong, sub-standard, or off-putting about this show. And it has lots of consent and other good qualities. It’s fine. Watch along here. 8/10

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) ep 12fin - I did think a lot over why I disliked this one. Because on the surface it’s just your standard slightly terrible Thai pulp, and I’m usually not that mean about them. I think in the end it comes down to the uke who just seemed to never warm to the boy pursuing him, and never really actually wanted to be his boyfriend. Also terrible dead fish kiss. 5/10 

Gossip

Apparently we have new scions (waves goodbye to BrightWin) - GeminiFourth: The Crown Princes of BL. If you’re wondering how their chemistry is so good (My School President), this article may explain it. 

In Case You Missed It

Caught up on 2020′s The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me. (Gaga picked it up and I’ve been wanting to see it since it got announced in 2019.) 

TRWHFILWM Series 1 - 2 teachers who work together at the same high school, one outgoing and the other reserved, start an affair. Gave me Ossan’s Love vibes and that is my least favorite kind of JBL. It’s just far too cartoonish and slapstick and I don’t like it. That said, it has several kisses, a happy ending, and they are cute together. So if you can this style BL, it you might like it. 

TRWHFILWM Special - Completely ignores the first couple and the teacher premise, carrying over just one main character, and should have been a new BL (Boys Love flashbacks). I understand 2021′s season 2 continues this tactic. But I’ll watch it eventually. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Not a lot actually, which is cool, I still got some 2022 catching up still to do. Why You Y Me, may be? 

Starting: 

Moonlight Chicken (Weds? YouTube) 1 of 8 -   

My Beautiful Man S2 - ??? sorry I’m scared of this one and not really paying attention, it being Japan and a desirable property, I’m assuming it will either be impossible to find or just show up on my dash in 2 places at once. 

Feb releases list is here. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments some are inaccurate, NOT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Hit Bite Love it’s classic terrible Thai pulp and I’m kinda loving it. 

Thank you very much GMMTV. 

FINALLY! 

Also FINALLY. 

More FINALLY (My School President). 

I love the acknowledged combative nature of this relationship. It’s great. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Under the Skin by &team, eh, it’s catchy I guess

[dizzyduck44]

Here’s hoping history treats the Honey Badger well 🍯🦡🇦🇺

Casual viewers of my post may be under the impression I hated Daniel Ricciardo. You would be wrong. I really like Daniel Ricciardo. What I hated was the shitshow circus of fans he brought with him (predominantly Aussie men, who couldn’t bear a woman with an opinion).

I have seen him race twice in his F1 career, in his 2nd season and what I now know was his last season. His arrival at McLaren for me was Christmas come early, set to a backdrop of blinding light and Hallelujah Chorus. However there was no fairytale beginning, middle or ending for Daniel Ricciardo. And as I sit here now I’m so confused how I feel, how I should feel and how history will remember him.

When he first arrived in Formula 1, there was nothing really to say this guy is special. In fact I don’t even remember him being on the grid of the first Grand Prix I went to. Admittedly history will remember that was the season where 8 past, present or future World Champions were on the grid, an upstart from Perth was barely noticed. After all Mark Webber won the race so even Australia was distracted.

In fact I don’t really remember him until he arrived at Red Bull in 2014. And even then it was a case of well of course he should do well, the car is great. Mostly I remember him being a menace off track to Seb Vettel (who back then totally deserved it)

However the carefree laughter of his first win was stopped that season when Daniel’s close friend, someone he believed he would go through Formula 1 with, Jules Bianchi was involved in his horrendous accident in Japan. As the years went by you could see he still carried some of the grief from that with him.

But he was not about to let this opportunity slip through his hands. Daniel became a driver everyone loved off track and who regardless of who you supported, you wanted him to do well. Although the sentiment was there long before Drive to Survive, they perfectly capture the swell of goodwill there was in the paddock for him.

I’m not sure any of us will ever truly know what went on behind closed doors in 2018. I will freely admit from the outside it really did look like Daniel was being hung out to dry in favour of Max. I watched that season before Netflix re-edited it and honestly, everyone believed the same thing at the time. There was muddy reports of a court case between Daniel and a former manager beginning to surface. Ultimately something led to him leaving Red Bull and it really did look like he was running away from a fight.

So when he started the 2019 season at Renault and he lost his front wing before the first corner, yes we all sniggered. But over the two years he proved us all wrong. He was exciting to watch, this was the Danny Ric we all fell in love with. He dragged Renault to the podium.

When he announced he was leaving Renault at the beginning of the 2020 to join McLaren the following year question marks appeared. However, it was generally rumoured that he was unhappy with the back room manage at Renault, though the official reasons were that he always wanted to work with Andreas Seidl.

Paul De Resta said cryptically at the time “I hope he tells you what he’s done in that team”. We never found out.

He arrived at McLaren as the darling of the paddock and threatening to destroy Lando (clearly this time he was up for the fight).

Hmmmmm

Even at the time it was obvious why McLaren implemented team orders in Monza in 2021. They had not won a race, let alone a 1-2 in so long. Daniel had struggled soooo much that season and needed the confidence that win gave him. Lando had a long career ahead to get wins. I don’t begrudge Daniel that win, but my God the reimagining of events from his fans was the start of a downward spiral they never got out of.

The second season at McLaren was painful. I said it then, I felt he had lost his spark and his love for the sport. What he feared Max would do to him at Red Bull because of favouritism, Lando was doing to him on equal terms. You could see the questions he had of himself. Yet with all that going on, you could see the care he had for Lando. The way he kept his spirits up after he split with his girlfriend. You saw Daniel the person, rather than Daniel the racing driver.

Should he have walked away then? Maybe. But I respect he didn’t feel he was done, he had unfinished business. And with Kimi, Lewis and Fernando making driving a F1 car in your 40s seem easy, 33 felt too young to retire.

His return to AlphaTauri felt wrong. I was all for second chances but I’d been screaming about Liam Lawson in that seat since 2022 and for a second driver that wasn’t him to be given the drive was infuriating. I think the final bit of the old Daniel Ricciardo drove into the barrier avoiding Oscar Piastri in Zandvoort, broke his hand, got out the car and never returned.

Walking round Silverstone this year it was so evident. Where had all the Daniel Ricciardo fans gone? Over 3 days I saw 2 people in VCarb shirts and 1 girl on the Saturday with a Daniel McLaren hat. All that love he had received for a decade was dwindling. He was like the forgotten man.

Selfishly I’m so glad that ironically I remember seeing Daniel almost the most on track that weekend. The bold number 3 flashing past me. Very much screaming I’m still here. I remember still feeling, please do well. It wasn’t the same thrill as seeing Lewis or Lando go past, or realising that’s Charles or Carlos are in that car but it was Daniel, he’d survived so much and I was so happy to see him there still.

So now, I’m angry and upset how the end came to pass. To race for the last time, not knowing for sure if it was. For your farewell to be tributes from other drivers and members of teams he’d worked with after the event on social media. It’s Singapore no one had the energy to go and congratulate Lando, but this was the first win Daniel didn’t go to him, because he was sat in his car for the last time, probably struggling with his own emotions. He’d played the team game to the last, knowing full well they were probably going to sack him within a week.

Netflix had at times made him appear cocky and arrogant and yet the Daniel who was godfather to Natalie Pinkham’s son and welcomed Lando to his farm last year (which to this day remains a very private trip) doesn’t seem to be the same man. I truly believe that Max, Daniel and Lando flying to Singapore together was a way for them to try and support him on the long flight there, knowing what he was probably facing. He wasn’t going to ask for it, his pride wouldn’t let him, but he was grateful for it.

What worries me now is, my memories of Daniel are of a great driver, who was amazing fun to watch. Inspired so many of the younger drivers on the grid now. Badly advised at times refused to give up. Yet his stats read 8 wins, 32 podiums and 3 poles.

I struggle with that stat. For context Lando has taken 5 poles this season so far. Valtteri has 10 wins, 67 podiums and 20 poles and was considered a number 2 driver. Charles started 6 1/2 seasons after Daniel sits at 7 wins, 39 podiums and 26 poles.

How is his return so little? Am I remembering this wrong? I remember everyone loving Daniel at one point. He was lauded as a great racer. Where are the stats that back that up?

I look at the grid now, those who still trail Daniel, Lando, Oscar, George (maybe it’s too much to hope Carlos) and I know they will surpass his totals. And that’s just this current grid. Why did he not have more? It felt like there was more!! He drove like there was more.

As the years go by those stats will fade into the “average” category of drivers. It certainly didn’t feel like I was watching an average driver at the time.

Let’s see what history makes of Daniel Ricciardo in 10 years, 20 years. This I promise you though. Netflix will never capture what it felt like to live through it beginning to end.

[callmewrinkles3]

Exclusive: Part Two From The Excerpts of Daniel Ricciardo’s Autobiography.

The Perth News, July 2035.

The former Formula One Champion talks about his wife, his family, and gives insights into his personal life like never before.

I know that everyone who reads this is more interested in my life and racing than in me praising my wife, but here’s the thing. She is my life. Her and our kids are my entire universe.

I’ve done some of the coolest things possible in my life. I’ve spent most of my adult life racing, I’ve driven the fastest cars in the world. I’ve sat into the ones that my heroes drove and driven them around the same racetracks they did. I went to hell and clawed my way back with Emma at my side and won a championship, but I can tell you that I’ve never felt as happy as the day I got to hold my kids for the first time. I’ve never been as proud as the day my wife brought our kids into the world and our family got a little bit bigger. But that’s a story for later. I’m going to tell you all about how much I love my kids in a few chapters, but before I do I need you to understand that they’re as amazing as their mother.

As I’ve been told countless times, everyone knows that we love each other. We’re the parents who are always holding hands at the school events, the ones that Lulu cringes about and tells her friends that “mama and dad keep kissing”. But the world doesn’t know everything that Em has done. They don’t know the things she’s sacrificed for me - her privacy, her solitude, her ability to walk down the street alone. That’s why I need to tell the world how wonderful she is. That’s why there’s some things you should know about my wife.

She is the coolest. Nobody in the world is as cool as her, not even me. She doesn’t believe in God, but she does believe in the power of Taylor Swift to solve world problems. She loves art, history, museums, and castles. And she brings me to a new one no matter where we are in the world. She loves crime shows and knows so much about true crime it’s almost scary. She can tell you which episode of Criminal Minds you’re watching from a single frame, and I can confirm that Penny wasn’t named after Penelope Garcia, but we did think about doing that.

She loves shiny things and Legos, and still says her best Christmas present was a Lego flower set we spent Christmas 2020 making together. She’d rather eat homemade food than dine at a Michelin Star restaurant, and she’s the sole reason we don’t have breakfast for dinner every day. She is the sweetest, strongest, most loving woman in the world. She is the most patient person I know. When we became parents we promised we wouldn’t yell at our kids, and our kids have never heard her raise her voice in anger. I know they never will.

She’s so smart and bright and I call her a genius at least once a day because it’s true. I wasn't going to mention this because it's not my place to say, but Em said I can. She's autistic. We found out after we got married, and a lot of things just slipped into place about her and our relationship. It's not a bad thing. It's not a negative. Her brain just works differently to mine, and she sees things I never would. It's one of the things I love her for, not in spite of it. But it's part of why the rumours and crap said about her hurt so much. Her brain picks up the patterns that everyone else misses and without her I would have been completely blindsided in Hungary in 2022. She was the first one to realise there was a chance for a seat in 2023.

She’s loyal beyond comprehension. She will never spill a secret if you ask her to keep it. She lights up a room as soon as she walks in. She’s so funny it’s unbelievable even though she insists she’s not. She gives the best hugs (as voted by our family) and kisses (as voted by me) in the world. She loves crocheting things and used to travel around the world with yarn and her hooks to make stuffed animals. Each one of our kids has a blanket that she made, and she made one big enough for me.

Every single thing she’s achieved in life is because she worked so fucking hard for it. Em has built herself up from the ashes more times than any person should, and more times than anyone I know could. She rebuilt us and me brick by brick when any other person would have walked away and nobody would have blamed them. And then she’s the reason we built up our family of five and she’s the one who keeps our family going. She’s the heart and soul of this family. She loves being a mum, and she was made to be one. She loves our kids - and somehow me because I’m a lucky, lucky man - more than anything or anyone in the world. She deserves everything in this world and the day we got together I made it my job to make it possible.

She’s the sweetest woman in the world and she couldn’t hurt a fly even if she tried. She’s selfless to a painful degree and trying to explain she can be selfish felt impossible. She still isn’t. She’s the kind of person who remembers everyone’s birthdays and has cards and a cake. She asks how everyone is because she really worries. She’ll stay sitting listening to you ramble for hours, even if it’s about things that she has no interest in or doesn’t understand because she knows it means something to you. She let me talk about wine, I made it my mission to create one that she’d drink and I did it.

Emma Ricciardo is the woman who puts everyone else first. She’s been willing to do things that make her life worse in so many ways because she thinks it’ll be easier for other people. She puts her wants and needs behind everyone else’s, and no matter what she still does. It’s just one of the reasons I always put her first in life because she won’t put herself first. You know the thing on flights, put your own mask on before helping others? Emmy doesn’t do that. She helps everyone else first.

She makes the hard days easier. During the worst time in our lives when I could barely get out of bed to go to work she was the one who made the noise go away. She’d wrap me in her arms because it was the one place I felt I wasn’t tearing myself apart. She drove me to and from the McLaren MTC and waited around Woking for me because she knew I needed her. She’s the only person who could ever quiet that overactive, anxious voice in my head. She still is.

And on top of that she’s fucking gorgeous. I know I’m biased, but have you seen her? She’s beautiful inside and out and Milo is so lucky he looks like his Mama. Don’t get me wrong, our girls are beautiful because they look like me but Milo got to take after Em and I love that we have her mini me too. She’s this tiny little British crazy woman who can verbally kick anyone’s ass but smiles like a child when songs she likes come on the radio. She grins at me and I forget what I was saying. I can’t count how many times I forgot what I was talking about during an interview in the paddock. I know there’s YouTube compilations of me losing my train of thought, and I can confirm any of them after mid 2018 were because I saw her.

I can’t count the amount of times my brain went blank and I stopped listening to whatever anyone was asking me, simply because I saw her passing by. She would walk anywhere in my eyesight with Blake and Michael and I could recognise her no matter how far away she was. And then my brain turned into a mess of rainbows, hearts, and glitter. That’s how terribly in love with her I am. She grins and her nose wrinkles and I remember seeing her in that kitchen and wanting to kiss her. It’s how she got her instagram username, I started calling her Wrinkles that night.

I seriously don’t know how I got so lucky. I’ve tried working out how but in the nearly twenty years since we met I still don’t know. Somehow the strongest and most beautiful woman in the world agreed to marry me and call me her husband and let me call her my wife and my baby mama, and I still don’t understand it. She loves me and more than that she likes me, and how cool is that?

I could go on for this entire book to talk about all the things I love about her but I’ll keep most of that to myself to get to the point. There’s a really small circle of people who are lucky to be liked by her. You should feel lucky if Emmy calls you her friend. But there’s this even tinier circle of people who Em actually loves, and if you’re in that one you can call yourself a blessed cunt. If you’re in that very closed circle you know exactly what I’m talking about, and you also know that there’s absolutely nothing that woman won’t do to protect the people she loves.

When I tell you that, what I really mean is she will become lethal. If you mess with the people who she loves, Em turns into a different person who will rain destruction on you. I always say that she turns into Mama Badger, and she calls me a silly and kisses my nose, but it’s true. It’s very rare and I’ve seen it a few times since I met her, but the worst was the last time she publicly turned into Mama Badger. Why?

Because she gets mad when you mess with anyone in that very small circle of people she loves. But guess what happens when someone messes with and publicly betrays the one she loves the most in the world?

[bengiyo]

Dangerous Romance Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Kanghan took his bullying to maximum levels, but got dunked on by his own grandmother when she called out his bullshit in front of the principal and then hired Sailom as his tutor. Kanghan continued to lose to Sailom, so fucked with his money by accusing him of being a sex offender in the parents’ chat. Kanghan took a gun to Sailom’s house to try and intimidate him only to find him being beaten by debt collectors. Kanghan scared them off, and we left at Sailom still in shock as his brother arrived late.

Oh, good we’re picking up with the gun. Let’s not forget that he took a fucking gun to Sailom’s house. Perth’s characters waving guns around dangerously is the GMMTV theme of the year.

Compensation for losing your job? Look, I read a bunch of negative takes on Sailom of Wedding Plan for fucking with Nuea’s money when it wasn’t actually a big deal there. It is a big deal here! Kanghan was actively fucking with his money! Kanghan called Sailom a pedo and cut off his tutoring gig!

Kanghan went to the library smelling like soccer? I don’t know about that.

I love them putting a PS5 on a coffee table so we can see that Kanghan has money as he talks about how he’s not going to study. It’s not even plugged into anything!

Kanghan seems really nervous around his dad. It feels a bit out of sync with the way his dad seems to have no expectations of him.

I don’t know how I feel about the implications that Sailom has had feelings for Kanghan already with the way he’s nervous about holding onto him, and then smiling about it. I really hate stories of gay boys having crushes on their bullies.

Oh, so now we're buying fancy dinners for Sailom? I see you, Kanghan.

Did he really just order meat and no veggies? He is such a boy.

Speaking with others casually is a low-stakes way to learn a language, but I'm with @shortpplfedup that this sounds like JoJo Tichakorn learning English to flirt with tourists.

Yes, let's try to deceive our way into the bar. Incredible.

Oh, so we're going to acknowledge in English how thematically linked their names are? Sure, why not!

Pepper is about to turn into Claire Huxtable. "You ain't paid me back for that loan but you decided to go out and have big fun with the Wretched?"

Chimon really makes incredible facial expressions. He and Perth are well-matched.

Sailom continues to see through all of Kanghan's bullshit.

Kanghan may not be great at English, but he knows how to tell people to fuck off. Was curious if a GMMTV show would reference sex tourism at some point.

Kanghan also clearly watches too many movies if he immediately resorted to kissing to blend in with just ONE other couple.

I appreciate that Kanghan sensed that something was amiss in his house right away.

LOL! Sailom also thinks Kanghan watches too many movies!

That is a seriously good portrait of Perth. Goddamn.

Pretty fucked that his dad got him the thing he wanted but not on the terms they agreed.

Oh no. Please tell me that Sailom has not been crushing on this boy since middle school.

I don't know, y'all. I like Chimon and Perth a lot, but I'm not that into this dynamic. I do like a cross-class romance as much as anyone else, but I was hoping things would be a little more contentious between them. I feel like we're moving past some things quickly.

[smellss]

Prodded - Sam kerr x singer!reader social media au!

summary: things are about to get a little messy sadly it happens on social media…

sorry this is a bit of a filler chapter i really don’t know where i’m taking this story or whether i should leave it… (any ideas pls appriciates)

liked by emmawatson, tylerblackburn and 560,789

florencepugh: seeing you tonight is a bad idea right

emmawatson: gorgeous

floscrockpot: lol is this about y/n? @baby/n

baby/n: this is a big fat mess

user678: wtf this is so gay coded drama

livsguts: the olivia lyrics as well omg

tylerblackburn: omg can we be friends

liked by samanthakerr20, masiepeters, zendaya and 660,744

y/noffical: my new single feather comes out on friday 💌💌💌

zendaya: girl it’s absolutely incredible congrats bby ❤️

y/noffical: thank you my love

baby/n: omg the lyrics “i feel so much lighter like a feather with you out my life” FLO IS SOBBING RN

floscrockpot: wtf is y/n playing at! messing with flo not okay

baby/n: how is she messing her up she’s moving on

likedbyy/noffical

masiepeters: MY BABY GIRL

samanthakerr20: yours?

kerrleftboot: samantha samantha

y/nbaby: what the fuck

mummy/n: they aren’t even hiding their gay ass ong

liked by y/noffical, tilliesfandom and 780,987

marieclaire: Our most beautiful Y/n L/n for our June cover after finishing off her Australasian Tour 🇦🇺. Click the link below to hear her interview sharing all the goss of love and being back home!

INTERVIEW WITH MARIE CLAIRE

Interviewer: Hello gorgeous y/n lovely to see you again, or should I say welcome home! How’s the first couple of days been?

Y/n: I never thought i would miss the mozzies and the heat so much! But no it’s been wonderful to be back, as much as I enjoy the time away I have all my special people here.

Interviewer: So Y/n you’ve had an absolutely fabulous tour its been incredible but i was wanting to get a bit deeper with you. Your new single “Feather” is incredible, can you tell us more about the process of writing it?

Y/n: Of course, as the whole internet know by this point I went through a pretty big break up at the beginning of last year. This song just talks about how I've felt through the process and how I' d moved on.

Interviewer: Now social media plays a big part of anyone’s life but especially yours and taylor swifts, you both are always doing sneaky little hints to things. Now this week there’s been some chatter about someone in your past doing the same anything you’d like to say about that

Y/n: All I will say is that I’m very happy at the moment and am not going back in time to any memories or people.

Interviewer: Excellent! Last question for you today Y/n, you’ve shown your support for our nations team the Matilda’s at a couple of games of the FWWC now. I didn’t realise you were such a big fan of the sport?

Y/n: I should have expected this question really (laughs), look i’ve always enjoyed the sport but a couple of the girls have supported me at my shows and it’s the least I can do to reciprocate. They are very special people to me.

Interviewer: Anyone particularly special? (interviewer smirks and winks)

Y/n: Mmmmh I’ll keep my eye towards the front of the pitch (y/n laughs and winks with the interviewer)

liked by yser567, gossipbunny, baby/n and 67,890

dailymailaus: Spotted! Y/n L/n kissing secret girl following the celebration of her Australian tour finishing at a nightclub in Perth. Many fans speculate it is Matilda’s captain Sam Kerr after the two have been interacting on social media and a recent interview L/n did with Marie Claire. Click the link to discover more! 📸🔥

baby/n: that interview was so sweet but this is JUICY

floscrockpot: girl flo is literally in aus rn this could be her

baby/n: babe you’re delusional did not see y/ns most recent interview DONE 👏

user678: I wish they would just confirm it omg

samsleftboot: it makes sense they would want to keep it quiet they are both super busy tn however they aren’t doing a very good job hiding it.

mummy/n: my two girlfriends happy as can be

[firstkanaphans]

Hi! I've been seeing a lot of posts about something going on with Ohm and Nanon and apparently the rest of gmmtv? And I'm really not good at keeping up with this stuff, so could you please explain whats going on?

Love your writing btw! :)

Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. Ohm had some bullying allegations brought against him a few months ago, which he then confirmed, and that got him into some hot water with the fandom, but I have no idea why the rest of GMMTV seems to have turned on him as well. Normally, I wouldn’t even comment on this sort of stuff, but Ohm’s been very open about it. Just pick any random interview during the Double Savage press tour and you’ll hear him talking about how Perth is the only person he has in his corner right now.

And in that same vein, I highly recommend that everyone listen to this interview in particular because although I think we’re all aware of how toxic the Thai entertainment industry can be, I’ve never heard anyone talk about it as in-depth as Ohm and Perth do here. (The real juicy bit starts around the 6 minute mark.) Ohm and Perth have both been in this industry since they were literal children (acting in high heat roles no less)—and Perth in particular has been through hell and back—so to hear them talking about how much mental anguish just doing their jobs causes them is kind of heart-breaking.

But I’ve gotten off track…

So, to answer your question, I have no idea what’s going on with Ohm and probably never will. It’s none of our business. In my opinion, he needs to take some time off work to heal and GMMTV needs to stop making him do press events he’s clearly uncomfortable with. Like did y’all see his and Nanon’s episode of The Boys Call Me because it was, quite possibly, the most awkward thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t think they exchanged a single word the whole time.

[sunf10wer8]

Getting to know your BL mutuals - 2022 Edition

Simple, answer the questions. @ some people. Include the tag 'g2ky BL mutuals 2022' on your post so we can find everyone's answers!

Thank you to the lovely @sunflower-lychee for tagging me! I never get @ in these so I’m very happy 🥰

(Truthfully this year I have been kinda slow with watching new shows BUT I will do my best!) 

What has been the BL that took you by surprise this year?

Love In The Air!

I remember watching the pilot trailer when it aired but truthfully I forgot about this show until everyone started talking about it again 😅 Anyways... I fell in love so fast it’s not even funny. My mental health has been meh at best the past few months and I needed a show like LITA to just watch without having to really think :) Also the cast? Like?! In love with all four of them (especially Noeul).

The Eclipse!

I watched ep 1 when it first came out but never continued the show because I wasn’t feeling it (little did I know 🤡). Everyone was hyping this show up so I made myself sit down and watch it... ended up binging all 6 (aired) episodes and safe to say I was hooked... I mean if anyone on here saw my blog you were probably fed up of me talking about this show (very sorry). So yeah... It’s now one of my favourite BLs. We won’t talk about the cast because I will never stop, lets just say I am now a Neo and khaotung fanpage!  

This technically doesn’t count but I finally watched Bad Buddy this year and I’m mad at myself for waiting so long.

What has been the BL that you felt a bit disappointed with this year?

Cutie Pie- I didn’t dislike it but I found myself getting bored and skipping a lot, especially towards the end... shout out to Perth in that black shirt tho😏 Also loved the side couples

Even Sun- Listen I will do anything for BounPrem but lord I was struggling with this one. Why was the intro so long?! also who wrote the script because ooft. Skipped everything apart from the BounPrem scenes. 

What has been your favourite BL this year?

KinnPorsche- Lets all act surprised! This show was my entire personality all summer and the reason I came back to tumblr lol. Met so many lovely and amazing people because of this show and it will always have a special place in my heart. It also gave us the masterpiece that is Why Don’t You Stay aka my most played song of 2022. Again the cast is everything to me! 

Semantic Error- No explanation needed for this one really. I swear Seoham has been in the military for years! Why is it going so slowly?! 

Between Us- Are we only 4 episodes in? Yes. Do I care? NOPE! After waiting almost 3 years they could just stand in that locker room arguing for 12 episodes and I would still watch every second! As much as i tried not to, I did and still do have high expectations for this show BUT so far everything is perfect- I don’t really care about Team’s friends as characters or the relationship between Bee and Prince? but I also don’t hate it.

Favourite BL couples (not just of 2022)?

This is so hard to narrow down 😭 (I will refrain from going into detail otherwise we will be here all day)

WinTeam (I mean ^) 

RamKing (My Engineer) 

Sangwoo and Jaeyoung (Semantic Error)

PatPran (Bad Buddy)

VegasPete (KinnPorsche)

RainPayu and SkyPrapai (Payu and Pai are THE perfect boyfriends) 

AkkAyan (I truly can’t tell if it’s because I love the characters or if I am just down so bad for First and Khao 🥲)

There’s definitely more couples who should be on this list but my brain isn’t working rn

If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be?

Not Me- Everyone needs to watch it at least once in their live

Young Royals- It was actually my friend who doesn’t watch BLs that recommended it to me 

We Best Love- Maybe It’s just me but I adore that show

Also Where Your Eyes Linger so there is someone else who can suffer with me about how short it was! 

What's your non-BL favourite for this year?

This spot is strictly for Alice In Borderland 2 (when it airs) 

BUT

Until then... Business Proposal and Bridgerton.

This was so much harder than i thought it would be omg... anyways my aks are always open and I love talking about anything with anyone so feel free to say hi :) 

Tagging: @ahdriking @kurtstiel and @aleng-neng (and anyone else who wants to join in)

(If any of you already did this and I missed it, I am sorry 😅)

[spicyclover]

About damn time...

Short story, sorry, I’m a little tired. But this is a little fluff about Danny Ric. :) 

Summary: You are his best friend, and for some time now, you have realized that your feelings have extensively developed. How do you tell your best friend you’re in love with him?

Hope you’ll enjoy this part. Let me know in the comments section! And to support me by tipping me!

Little information, I will, for now, only post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thank you, and Enjoy! :)

Lots of love, xxx Spicy Clover

Quotes: “But friends don’t look at each other like we do.”                                                  “So what are we?”

You and Daniel got together in kindergarten. At the time, he put a gum gun in your hair to annoy you, and that’s where it all started. The more you grow up, the more your jokes and nonsense go far. You never know how to stop. Even if you were in a relationship with someone, you always turned toward each other.

You are now in your thirties, and your lives are pretty different. He constantly travels while you stay in Perth, and you open a small bookstore in your little village.

Then one night, you got his call.

“Hey, Croco, I...” he’s starting to say before the voices burst into tears."

“Danny? Is everything okay?”

“I... I got to go.”

“Daniel Ricciardo, don’t leave this conversation until you tell me what’s happening!” Say yourself firmly, trying to make your intimidation work on him.

It may be the anxiety in your voice or your authority, but that night, you talk to each other for hours before all this ends with you taking a ticket to Monaco.

You’ve never thought much about it when it comes to Daniel. You always head first in his nonsense, life, and stories. He’s your best friend, after all. Yet, the longer the years have gone by, the more you’ve noticed it’s been much more.

That’s how you landed like a tornado in his apartment one Tuesday morning.

He was asleep when you threw yourself at him like a potato bag.

“Hey, Ricci,” you said, once stuck against his back like a Koala to his tree.

“Croco?”

“Yes, I am here...”

“Thank you,” he said, turning to hug you.

You stayed several hours, glued together without saying anything to each other. Just enjoy each other’s presence. A few hours later, your belly killed the silence when it began to grunt strongly. And if there is something that makes Daniel laugh, it is.

You ate while watching TV. The atmosphere is light when you are on its terrace facing the sea, watching the sunset.

With your head against his shoulder, you take advantage of this moment.  Just yourself. You finally contemplate him and observe all the details of his face. You don’t even listen to what he says anymore. You’re mesmerized by his beauty. After a year without seeing him, you missed him terribly.

You don’t know what got into you, probably the fatigue of the trip or the booze you took, but you took his face in your hands. A feeling of trust and daring is taken hold of you. Without him being able to say anything, you kiss him.

His lips against yours, that’s when you realize what you did.

You walk away, start stuttering a bunch of excuses and walk away from him as much as possible. What’s wrong with you, idiot? He’s still standing there stunned, trying to figure out what happened.

“Do you love me?” Those are the first words that came out of his mouth.

In a tiny voice, you answered "yes" by looking down.

“Really?”

“Yes, really, Ricci.”

“Me too,” said he, grabbing your waist to bring you back to him.

He kisses you tenderly.

This is how this new adventure begins. On a terrace in Monaco, after thirty hours of flights and three shots of wine later.

[beabnormal24]

So, Wheels hit the concrete when you need a cup of sweet tea is actually part of a series that I'm trying to compose, where each story has a similar build (the main couple + the third one in the middle)

The first story, is obviously based on Charlos + Pierre.

The second story, as already hinted in the first one, is based on Dando + Carlos.

I am almost finished with it, I'm actually at the +1 part, though I'm not really sure about some passages so I would really really love it if someone would give me some feedback.

I'll give you an example with this little snippet:

--

1. Bahrain / Australia

It feels like going backwards.

Which, to be fair, it’s something he would’ve never expected to address as one of his emotions, perhaps too used to always moving forward, go straight, take the curve, surpass, go, go, go-

Is it even an emotion, though, to walk in the opposite direction?

It shouldn’t feel as life shattering as it does right now, his heart thumping in his chest in a rhythm of its own as the corners of his eyes start to sting, dirt and smoke and dust all mixing up and reaching through the visor of his helmet that feels so wrong in so many ways.

(Too light, too narrow, too loose, too large, too plastic, too fake, not original, not designed by him. Bought on Amazon? Yeah, probably, he has an image of his search history for ‘motocross helmets’)

He needs the break anyway, no matter how much it hurts to grip at a steering wheel that doesn’t fit exactly right under his fingers and how every time he sets foot on Austrian soil, his chest gets so tight and uncomfortable and there are so many memories rushing back.

He has regrets, it’s not like he’s that immature to not admit it. Allegedly, he does not exactly act his own age, and maybe it’s more the times people don’t take him seriously than the other way around, and he should really start to worry about it since he has surpassed the thirty years old line, but he can admit that.

“Haha, Daniel Ricciardo who has regrets? As if it’s possible!”

Yeah, it is possible, and it is even more possible in moments like this one, lost somewhere in the suburbs of Perth where he can pretend he never made wrong decisions, where there is no car but a bike instead, where there is no doubts about whether he will still be here in Perth this time next year or flying off to the Middle East.

He can pretend he doesn’t care at all about it, too.

No, he doesn’t care, at least for the moment. In this single instant in front of a deserted land and a moon slowly descending and a sky turning into a familiar clear blue that makes his heart skip a few beats, he can pretend that he’s exactly where he wants to be in life.

It isn’t far from the truth, though. He always imagined his retirement to be like this: going back and forth between Australia and LA, but mostly enjoying the outskirts of his hometown not really too far from his childhood home, build his own house, a family perhaps – possibly. Just enjoy the familiarity of it all with a taste of American civilization and obnoxiousness from time to time, a socially friendly twist to Sebastian’s kind of disappearance from the reflectors somewhere remotely in Switzerland.

Except that this isn’t retirement, because he is going between Australia and LA and Milton Keynes.

Or that’s what, at least, he keeps telling himself, the others, his mum when she asks him if he is thinking about finally changing his domicile from Monaco to Perth again for the next year.

“I’ll have more work to do next year, mum. I’ll need to stay closer to the factory” he answers every time, stuffing his mouth with whatever food he has on his plate so that she will get the hint and stop asking questions.

He doesn’t know if it’s true, he doesn’t even know if it will be Italy or England or anywhere else, really.

He is used to having a feeling for things. He always had a feeling when he knew that it was going to be a good race: a tingling on his fingertips, a warm sensation in his stomach, a tickling on the left side of his nose; always something, a little thing, a little hint.

Now it’s like it’s all numb, like his limbs don’t know how to cooperate anymore, his body doesn’t know how to function when he’s not feeling jet lagged 24/7, and his back isn’t accustomed to sleeping on awful beds, and his hands want to desperately grip a real steering wheel, one that was designed just for him and works exactly for his mind, for his way of thinking.

Something that is under his control, for once.

He closes his eyes, takes in the smell of dirt and sweat and open air and a distant one of a flock that must’ve passed right by minutes ago. The thought makes him laugh, the kind of one that leaves him breathless and almost dizzy with the emptiness of his chest, light and airy.

No more than half a year ago, he was used to live in Monaco every other week and now he’s standing in front of this endless expanse of land and if he turns his head to the left and cups his ear just right, he can hear the giggling of the bells wrapped around the necks of sheep.

From Monaco and expensive things and rich people and extravagance all around, to deserted moors and fucking sheep.

From plain obscure skies that looked like a black hole was threatening to swallow him whole, to staring at the sea of stars hovering over his head, bright and clear in the blue of an Australian summer night – the winter of the other hemisphere.

It feels like going backwards, and the thought does something ugly in his stomach.

He shuts off the bike, smirks when the engine protests a bit, chuckles to himself as he hops off the saddle and the exhaust coughs a little cloud of thick grey smoke, the vehicle sagging at the sudden weight loss.

He pats the black leather, traces the corners of a recently new scratch with the tip of his finger and smiles at the way the white foam looks like it’s going to burst out of it at any second.

“You’re just like me, aren’t you?” he asks, mostly to the bike, but it could be also referred to the sky and the stars or the low bushes or the greedy insects that wait for the right moment to attack his skin or the flock of sheep slowly walking away from him.

It could be referred to himself as well, who is just like him but himself, after all?

“Unyielding, perhaps a little pretentious. Isn’t that right?”

He wishes he could get an answer, even though there probably isn’t a proper one for such a question.

The moon is nothing but a smudge of white this night: not a full moon, not even a half, just a hint, a mistake, a wrong brushstroke in the painting coming directly from nature’s hand, looking like it doesn’t belong there at all.

A perfect imperfection, it seems. After all, there’re poems about it, there are dreams of reaching it, of touching it with bare hands, but what do people think about when they have a blue sky in mind? The sun or the moon?

Will people think about him after all of this? Has he actually left something worth remembering?

The sun or the moon?

(He’s still immature enough to pretend he doesn’t care about that.)

His hand slowly slips inside the right pocket of his jacket, fingers wrapping around the sharp edges of his phone as if giving himself time to change his mind.

In the end, he does not, and he cracks a crooked smile instead, catches his distorted reflection on the black screen, scrambling for the front camera with almost trembling fingers that he swears it’s not hesitancy.

His cheek has a trace of thick black motor oil on it, a smidge that almost gets lost in the untrimmed beard he is finally letting himself grow however long he prefers – there’s no itch from balaclavas, no redness from sweat nor tight lines over his cheekbones -, and his curls are plastered all across his forehead, a single one reaching the space between his eyebrows, scarves at the bridge of his nose that is always there in some ways.

His curls are receding, thinning. Well, he guesses his time would’ve come, too, eventually, just like he had endlessly teased Sebastian for. But it’s not like he will actually acknowledge it.

He's everything but perfect, far from the polished imagine he usually walks around with, but he ignores that, too, taking a selfie with a smile that almost doesn’t make it all in the little screen, and being careful of getting the right angle so that the photo will have everything: the thorny bush, the pointy rock, the bright stars, the sheep’s footprints, the moon streak, the scratch on his bike’s saddle that- now that he notices it, it almost looks like the moon in the night sky itself.

He snaps the photo and thinks out loud “Lando would have a good laugh about that” and since here he can do whatever he wants and pretend that there won’t be any repercussions, he just hits send.

He has no idea what hour it is in Monaco. Besides, Lando is probably busy with the last preparations for Bahrain, and if Daniel can still count right in his head, then he should be flying out tomorrow – he can’t. But the younger man still answers in the span of a few minutes, when Daniel has managed to find a comfortable position with his back against the bike, only one knee bent while he lets the other one lean on a pebble, the scalding muffler throwing heat waves behind his head.

Daniel looks at his phone with what he can assume is the dumbest smile ever when he sees Lando’s profile picture pop up on his screen, him and his camera in the reflection of his latest helmet.

(Daniel has a first design sketch tucked away in some remote corner of his phone’s albums, because Lando says he trusts him with his creativity, and Daniel is a weak man and he helps even when Lando doesn’t ask directly, because he doesn’t know how not to. Which is ridiculous for someone of his age, really.)

- Landooo:

[Reply to IMG_0552_.JPG] lookin sharp af!!

Bummer that you can’t be there for first race

Gonna beat some of your ass at FIFA in the upside-down land

Food’s on me

There’s a dumb smile on his face and he knows that because he can feel it, in the way the corners of his mouth indent his cheeks and his lips hurt from stretching so wide.

He wonders, maybe outside of some self-imposed limits, if Lando is writing to him when it’s the middle of the night or early morning. He wonders if Lando is getting enough sleep, if he has been struggling like last year, if the anxiety is till biting at his back, if he’ll ever feel the need again to call Daniel and vent, talk about all the things that course through his head because he needs to empty it.

Sometimes, Daniel had his things, too, and Lando would sit there and look at him with eyes too big for his face and listen to every word like they actually meant something. After, Daniel would feel utterly ridiculous at sharing his thoughts with someone ten years younger, who probably didn’t even know what it meant to feel the things Daniel felt – too old, still young, kind of in the middle – but it was easy to forget that when Lando was just... Lando.

- You:

[Reply to Gonna beat some of you|] Sure you will, babe

[Reply to Dinner’s on me] Nah, my country, my pleasure. I know where to take you

- Landooo:

Deal

U take me whrv you want and I pay. I still make more money than you anyway

Unless you took herding sheep as a side job

You field mouse

Daniel chuckles to himself, lets his thumbs swipe over the keyboard for a few moments, takes in the feeling of his chest swelling, of his heart beating steadily, like it’s common, like everything is as it always was.

- You:

Stop harassing your elders

Or I’ll call your mom

- Landooo:

Yeah right, you grandpa

Ill call *your* mom 😉

- You:

Landooo, not the mom jokes

What are you? Ten?

- Landooo:

I am a ten*

Well, Daniel thinks, true.

- You:

In what scale? From one to me?

- Landooo:

From one to yr mom

- You:

You’re unbelievable

- Landooo:

😙

- You:

Shouldn’t you be flying to Bahrain instead of harassing me?

- Landooo:

Im not harassing

Its my love language

[Reply to Shouldn’t you be fly|] IMG_0553_.JPG

Already here baby!!

But nothing is always like it was before, right? Panta rei and all that shit, he guesses.

Daniel stares at the picture of Carlos sitting at a clothed table - presumably in their hotel’s restaurant if the name stitched on the corners is anything to go by -, lips curled into a soft smile and eyes widened, his hand in the hair doing the peace sign to the camera, someone else’s elbow making it into the corner of the picture – perhaps Carlos’s trainer, or his cousin, whose name he can’t remember for the world… Oh no, right, another Carlos.

He looks like Lando had told him “Smile at the camera, cabrón, it’s for Daniel” and the fact is that he can imagine it clearly, Lando grinning big and bright and cackling like a maniac because he’s that spontaneous and he thought that sending Daniel a photo of Carlos as a reply would be funny.

It is not.

Daniel has no hard feelings towards Carlos, there’s no awkwardness between the two of them even though he had taken a habit of snatching Carlos’ seats in his career. It’s just that- sometimes Daniel feels like he’s intruding, like he’s being shoved in a third chair in the corner of a crooked framing, watching the main characters having a laugh by themselves about something that only they can know because they’re standing close and his chair… His chair is too far away.

It feels like the seat in front of Lando is the only one he can’t take away from Carlos, not even two years as teammates had been enough, and the awareness twists something in his stomach that isn’t exactly pleasant.

He can picture it clearly, Lando smiling at his phone after sending the photo before pocketing it, bringing his chin on his hands and staring at Carlos as they start talking about golf that and golf there, because they are posh kids with money ever since they were born, and Daniel just doesn’t fit in there.

Daniel finds golf boring as hell, and perhaps that’s enough of an explanation for everything.

- You:

Aye cabrón

Say hi from me

His last messages sit there in the chat, left unread and with no reply for minutes to no end, Daniel staring at it with something strangely hopeful in his chest, looking at those words - dull, derivative, perfunctory – as if they will give him any answers to the questions still left unsaid.

Four minutes pass when he decides to finally shut it, watching as the chat turns all black and the distorted reflection doesn’t mirror a smile anymore.

He wonders what it would be like to be swallowed by Monaco’s black hole this time of the year.

He can’t remember.

[dramalets]

Okay it’s prediction time. I’ve sorted these through almost nailed on too just I am allowed my fantasies okay.

Nailed on (if these don’t happen I’ll be shocked)

New shows for the young pairs that didn’t get one in part one. They’re all extremely bankable and there is zero way GMMTV aren’t going to take advantage of that. My personal desires would be something with a bit more bite for First/Khao and something a bit dramatic for Perth/Chimon.

Some kind of new het ensemble. I think maybe including some of the youngers who’ve not really done het yet. Force for instance has a large following and hasn’t done anything major out of pair yet. He’d work well in some kind of het ensemble.

Nanon het something. I think the kids been too burned by delulus to do a BL again anytime soon but he’s talked a lot about getting back to acting. So a het project seems likely.

New KristSingto project. Idk if it’s gonna be a sotus prt3 or something new but it’s happening.

New projects for TayNew & OffGun. They’ve had big years and they seem comfortable in wanting to push on. Perhaps something darker for OffGun? They’ve had a run of softer things.

Some new het thing for the usual het suspects.

One or two new GLs. (I’m hoping Jan/someone and Cize/someone. Or Jan/Cize. I really don’t care just give me the GL’s)

Boun/Prem. could be the vampire show could be something else whatever it is GMMTV is going to want to cash in on their popularity. (Probably going to in general make use of all their new acquisitions.)

More concerts

Idk probably some dance based reality show that I’ll never watch or remember until one of the winners breaks out into dramas.

Perhaps (could be)

Mark/Ohm. They’ve teased it so much. It feels unlikely it won’t be a thing but, also, Mark is a tease so I’m sticking it here in case it was just him pissing around.

An original pillars concert. Singto’s back. It would make bank. Seems a thing that could happen.

Another Japanese adaptation. Idk what? But with the success of Cherry Magic it seems possible. So long as it isn’t something deeply, intrinsically Japanese (I swear to god if you touch My Beautiful Man GMMTV I’m flying to Thailand and yelling at people) then I think it could be okay.

Full trailers for things like Ossan’s Love

A het thing for Gemini.

Maybe a Kdrama remake for someone like Mook. She’s a real talent and proven herself in het roles plenty at this point.

Listen a girl can dream

Something with actual bite for Fourth. The kid is talented. He deserves more than what he’s getting. I respect he’s young and bankable to teens but his acting talent is also being squandered. I’m not talking about high heat, I really rarely am when I say more bite, I’m talking about something with a bit of a darker plot and more opportunity for the kid to act.

Aou/Boom main role no ensemble. It’s my dream okay fuckers.

An ensemble for some of the talented and neglected side actors. Ford comes screaming to mind. Kid kills his roles every time.

Santa/Lego. Sorry but the visuals would be so pretty and I think they could have a similar energy to Santa/Earth and I loved them.

Some kind of highschool/college ensemble for the tiny wee babies. We need to get to know them better and ensembles help that.

Gay I’m Tee, Me Too. It should have been gay, we all know it, give me another ensemble with the original pillars.