#lampang

[needlenubbins]

Sometimes you accidentally make yourself so sad by exalting dragons you loved for lair space that you quit a game for, uuuuuh, seven years. And then when you come back you're still sad enough about it not to want to focus too closely on that clan lore.

So you start a hibernal den for your older dragons, that you definitely don't want to exalt but feel sad when you play with anymore, and then you start a branch clan to adopt new dragons into. >>

---

In the end, it's over far more swiftly than Shantipur thinks her mother ever imagined. The old core of Calabar's inner circle is strong; they descend upon what her mother had thought would be the final battle and tear the fighters apart. Her mother is bleeding in a dozen places, her grin turning to twisted fury at her foiled plans. Lampang's mother, her eternal enemy, submits with far more grace. A half-dozen ridgebacks are pinning their mates, her father, Lampang's father, in place.

Calabar, experienced clan-head that she is, is wise enough not to kill her mother. There will be no emperors born on this bloodied ground.

"We have been digging a den beneath the Beacon for hibernation, for those of us who are not ready to pass to the Lightweaver, but know that it is time for the next generation to take their rightful place," Calabar declares, her voice rolling over the clearing. "All these four will retire there, with the rest of us who are ready to settle and sleep until we are awoken in the Lightweaver's service."

Shantipur looks to Lampang, who is watching in distress, tail swishing behind him, raising one foot and then another and clawing at the ground as he sets them down. Several remaining ridgebacks are wtching him warily. Several remaining guardians are watching her. Pruzhany is hovering close to both of them, and only a few would know that it's a protective hover, not a watchful one. Perhaps if she wasn't, they'd already be pinned beneath unyielding weight and claws as well.

"My mother started it," Shantipur shouts. "My father will follow her into any evil, so I understand his sentence. But why must Lampang's parents be condemned, too?"

"It is not a sentence," says Calabar, who, Shantipur knows, has always secretly been fond of her mother, for all her wicked ways. Calabar has a respect for dragons of the Wyrmwound that Shantipur herself, seeing her mother's cruelty, struggles to understand. "It is an honor to rest in anticipation of the Lightweaver's call. I go myself; it is not a punishment."

"No," Lampang's mother says wearily. "It is not a punishment. It is the best ending. I have trained others to tend to the gardens and the wilds alike. We will go."

Lampang's father shifts his weight deliberately, his own tail twitching only once. Once all eyes are upon him, he nods.

"Maybe," Mbaiki says, in the echoing, hollow voice she's borne since the Lightweaver sent her back from exaltation to serve the clan anew, "these two should rest beneath the ground as well."

Cartagena shoulders her way to the front, absurdly small and fluffy amidst all the larger, sharp-scaled dragons who had joined the fray. She raises her sweet voice high. "No. If they would consider it a punishment, then it would be cruel. I will keep them under my wing. Mother, give us a chance to heal the hurts that their parents' battle has left upon them."

"Very well," Calabar says. "You will be clan-head in my absence, and so that decision is yours."

It should feel like mercy. Shantipur isn't sure why this kindness fills her with such rage. An impulse of her mother's, she decides, and tucks it firmly away. She looks to Lampang, less restless now, and lets the fond affection that she always feels at the sight of him fill her instead.

---

Lampang knows that he should be grateful for Cartagena's kindness to him and Shantipur. She accepts without question that they wish to lair together, instead of apart, and gives them a new place far from where their parents dwelled. When others scoff, or at least express doubt, that they can truly coexist so comfortably, the new clan-head defends them.

But he's restless still. Mbaiki's spirit roams as she sleeps, still following Calabar's will, and he wakes often to a light shining in their cave, the glowing ghost of her staring down in silent judgement. Some of their clanmates follow Cartagena's lead, but more watch them with suspicion. To them, Shantipur is a child of disaster, heir to Ranaghat's cruel manipulations and all the pain she has caused, and Lampang is the traitor by her side.

Yirol delights at their pairing, and that, he thinks, is the most telling of all.

Of course they all expect him to fall in line with Shantipur. Kandukur had behind Ranaghat; his own father seemed, to most eyes, to do the same, though he knows better. And he's heard the tales of his mother's last mate. He just wishes that more than a handful could trust her repudiation of her parents and take her as her own dragon. He wishes that she hadn't had to repudiate her parents at all.

"They should treat you better," he tells her, pacing back and forth in her lair. "What have you done to them?"

"Existed in my mother's image." Shantipur shrugs. She's always taken this matter better than he has.

Lampang growls low in his throat. "I don't like it. I would challenge them, if you would let me, but- it wouldn't help, would it?"

"No. It wouldn't help."

He growls again and throws himself down, digging his claws into the soft layer of rugs and furs that Shantipur had lined the floor of their den with after he'd been scolded for tearing up the ancient bricks beneath. "I hate this."

"It sucks," a cheerful, crowing voice agrees, a shadow briefly covering them both as a form larger than either of them, wings spread wide, lands at the doorway and blocks out the sun. Then Pruzhany folds her wings and steps inside. "Do you know how many people I've had to promise to sit on you if you finally go mad? Cartagena says to give everyone time, but I don't know if we'll still be around by the time some of those grudges fade."

"My mother earned it. But I have to admit, I don't like paying for it."

"I wish we could just leave," Lampang says, suddenly, impulsively, but the moment he says it he's filled with eagerness for the notion. "Why should we stay and keep trying to prove ourselves? Why can't we just go where no one knows our parents?"

"Calabar won't trust that we aren't leaving to go carry out mother's plans of making another glorious emperor."

"And Mbaiki will drag you back and force you into the hibernal den, willing or no," Pruzhany agrees, still strangely cheerful. She tilts her head to one side. "Which is why it has to be a secret!"

---

"Lieksa," Pruzhany says, sidling up to the clan trader. "You have connections, don't you?"

"No," Lieksa says, eyeing her judgmentally.

---

"Algiers! Tunis! Sallee!" Pruzhany calls, sidling up to the clan's much less official traders. "You have connections, don't you?"

Tunis grins, and both fae, clinging to his wings, put their fins forward. "What are you looking to find?"

"A ticket out of here, for three."

"We can do that," Algiers says instantly, and Sallee adds, "Where for?"

"Oh, anywhere that isn't here. Preferably without Mbaiki picking up any clues."

Tunis grins wider. "We do love a challenge, don't we, ladies?"

---

("You could come," Shantipur says to Damask and Oryol. "I know it isn't easy for you, either."

"I won't run," Damask tells her, with all the hard conviction that both her parents are known for, and that's that.

She doesn't ask where they're going. She doesn't need to know. She's never going to go herself.)

---

"But where did they go?" Mbaiki demands, much later, staring down both of Calabar's children.

"I don't know," Cartagena says, her voice soft. "Tell Mother I'm sorry. I had hoped…."

"Hoping doesn't fix anything," Damask says, her voice harsh, and turns and walks away.

Cartagena looks sadly after her, and Mbaiki shakes her head. She'd told Calabar that her daughter was too soft. It's why her spirit is still here, still on guard, even though her true charge is hidden and hibernating now with her body and her mate. She'll find those children and either drag them back, or, if it's necessary, destroy any emperor they've made of themselves where it stands.

(She never finds them.)

[1105hrs]

A sketch i did in Lampang, Thailand and some road trip photo dump

[art58koen]

Blog Post No. 317: The Floating Pagodas of Wat Chaloem Phrakiat Even if you think you are ‘templed out’, don’t miss out on this place!

[la-thailande-et-l-asie]

One night in Lampang. . . . #thailand #adayinthailand #visitthailand #thailandinsider #thailanddaily #lanna #nightshot #nightphotography #nightscape #citylife #quietnight #streetphotography #lampang #northernthailand https://www.instagram.com/p/CpA0TwkPnn1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[actionsportasia]

Always fun taking customers out on camping trips, with some hot springs, kayaking, temples and funky coffee shops thrown in for good measure #camping #kayaking #orukayak #kayakcamping #travel #adventure #helinox #paagoworks #lampang #watchalermprakiat (at Chiang Mai, Thailand) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck0epmQBKXs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[a-light-seeking-dream]

Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Phrachomklao Rachanusorn temple in Lampang Province, Thailand © pa_YON / Moment / Getty Images

[hotelbooking]

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[nmotypdfsfg]

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bed Friend Episode 8 Thoughts

I don't have like anything cerebral to say that I could write a full analysis on (yet) but BOY OH BOY DO I HAVE SO MANY FUCKING THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THIS EPISODE so here comes a ramble:

First thought, I am so angry on Uea's behalf. LIKE YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT UEA HAD THIS LOVING, PRECIOUS AUNT WHO LITERALLY BURSTS INTO TEARS WHEN SHE SEES HIM AND CANNOT STOP HUGGING HIM, AND SO CLEARLY LOVES AND CARES FOR HIM AND HIS MOTHER RIPPED HIM AWAY FROM A CHANCE OF GROWING UP FEELING LOVED BY SOMEONE IN HIS FAMILY???????

Honestly, a travesty that we didn't have more time of them interacting, as much as it would have been bittersweet to see just how much he lost by moving out of Lampang, I want a little bit more security that he will have family who loves him unconditionally. I wanted a little bit more time of him getting to bask in familial love.

BUT THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE I REALIZED SOMETHING, PINK IS HOME IN THIS SHOW! At least for Uea. He's surrounded by it when he's asking his aunt if he can stay for awhile...

It's the color his sister wears at his "birthday party"

Which like, is that whole event a tragedy for Uea? Yes. But is this the first time we get to see Uea and his sister interact with each other as adults? Also yes, so they have to establish how Uea sees her.

It's the color that Uea wears when he is talking with King in the pool

(and honestly, talking specifically about Lampang, but because I am gay and read in to everything, we're going to say it's also how Uea feels about King and vice versa)

So Jade tells King about Krit and Uea's resignation, and it cuts to King practicing dangerous driving habits, BUT ALSO LITERALLY CRYING?

It's kinda hard to see, but I swear I see a bright line of shiny tear running along the bride of his nose. King may be the world's Goodest Boy, but he definitely fucked up and he knows it and I, personally, am glad that he is thinking back to his fight with Uea and seems to be feeling bad about it.

And now for what @respectthepetty has been waiting for

BLUE BOY APPEARS

And this shot is going to be my argument that King is fundamentally a blue boy because there is an establishing shot of just the blue jacket as he walks up to the inn, his face isn't present in this scene until Uea turns around to see him, so we only follow this light blue jacket.

OK LISTEN, I literally have been going back through every episode to take pictures of all of the reflections in each episode so I can compile a like master post of them because the reflections in Bed Friend tells a lot of the story/does a lot of work to show the character's true feelings. But I saw this image and said "fuck it! I can't save this for later, I have to talk about it now" the way UEA HAS KING'S BACK AND KING HAS UEA'S BACK! The way their only thoughts are of each other, the way there is no way for them to break eye contact. If Uea faces the other direction, he will still face King's reflection. I JUST!!!! a million forehead kisses a couple massive hugs to whoever on the production crew was like 'hey! you know what could be kinda fun...?"

And then we get this shot? Another beautiful reflection, standing together but in two states of mind. King aware of his feelings for Uea and Uea's feelings for him, but Uea unaware that King reciprocates, still knowing there is something that needs to be fixed between them.

King comes here to tell Uea that he wants him to understand, and before King can make his confession Uea interrupts him to apologize for being rude to him and King does not accept an apology, because Uea has done nothing wrong, and not only does King not accept an apology from Uea, he tells him that he isn't mad at Uea and tells Uea that he himself was being jealous and possessive.

And honestly, do I think that King should have apologized here? Yes, but I'll accept this because he's able to name the emotions he was feeling that led to the behavior he exhibited. And then finally he confesses! "Uea, I like you!"

And honestly this show should have been called Tale of A Thousand Stars Reflecting Off Net's Eyes.

And I was SO HAPPY because FINALLY THEY CAN GET ON THE SAME PAGE, only to feel the gut punch of Uea's "Do my feelings matter?' immediately afterward because this has been the core conflict they haven't been able to voice. Uea's feelings have never mattered in almost all of the relationships he has with other people. His feelings never mattered to Pock, his feelings never mattered to Krit, his feelings never mattered to his step-dad, and his feelings certainly never mattered to his mother. Even with his sister, she's frequently used as a tool to get him to do things he doesn't want to do, and she's able to stand at Uea's side in a family argument, but she still allows her brother to compromise his feelings for her.

When Uea and King were in their uncomplicated phase of the FWB, Uea could start to believe that his feelings did matter. King listened when Uea told him to stop, King followed Uea's rules, King didn't use his bet to make Uea engage in pet play. And unfortunately, Uea only started to let his feelings matter to him when King asked him on a beach trip. He let himself be excited by that, and hopeful for that, only to have King cancel on him for a blind date.

King has made some dumbass fucking moves in the last couple episodes, but the smartest move he ever made was taking care of all the loose ends he was aware of before he went chasing after Uea. He resolves all of the conflicts that he knew about before trying to get Uea to come back to a hostile workplace where his relationship to King wouldn't feel secure if he had to still go on these arranged matches.

And King brings up the bet, and because I was kinda hoping earlier in the week for more of a blow out, or confrontation, I was really hoping that King would invoke the bet to make Uea stay and listen to him explain, but I love what they did with it here.

King asks Uea for a chance to make a move.

Not for Uea to be his boyfriend, not for Uea to forgive him, not for Uea to do anything but allow him to try to hit on Uea. Allow King a chance to date Uea.

And I honestly think Uea is surprised by this request as well. Because his feelings have so rarely mattered to the people around him, that I think it is still, even when King has been notoriously good about consent and embracing Uea's feelings, that it is a genuine shock that King isn't going for something massive with this bet. Just asking for a chance.

Oh poor "Are you sure?" Uea. Baby boy, I understand that it is hard to believe that someone would genuinely love and care for you, and I know that it is difficult to break through years of internalized homophobia that has been beaten in to you, But sure you haven't been completely blind to how much of a simp King is for you.

Side note: Kicking and screaming because King told Uea that he's never felt this way about anyone the way he feels with Uea.

This is getting long and my only thoughts on the rest of Lampang is "holy fucking shit they are so cute and finally they just get to be together aware of their mutual feelings, yeehaw!" so I'm cutting to when they return because....

KING FINALLY GETS TO TELL EVERYONE! And he's so fucking happy about it Jesus Christ, this dude. They are about to be disgustingly in love in the office the second that No Touching rule is revoked. And I love that we can tell Uea is getting more comfortable with all of this because, well one, he lets King say this, but two...

He's trying so hard not to be too obviously happy about this.

And yay! We get Uea's work family all together celebrating this queer relationship (because almost all of the people here are queer too) AND we get pink as a color in this scene because this is a loving home for Uea too.

fuck YES GET THAT BOY SOME THERAPY!!!!! I am so pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of therapy as important and necessary both in Bed Friend and in The Eighth Sense. Let's get my boy processing his trauma with a trained professional. I think it was @waitmyturtles who was hesitant this show because she wasn't sure if it was going to be a "Lover Waltzed Into My Life and Suddenly All My Trauma is Gone" type of story. I hope this is relieving to you that regardless of all of the postive changes King has actively made to Uea's life through getting Krit fired, and encouraging Uea to seek justice for his step-dad, that Uea is also being aided by Jade, therapy, and medication for his mental health.

King, careful, you're gonna be the next one getting a talking to by your boss for not getting your work done if you keep spending all of your time in the office hanging around Uea.

BUT ALSO!!! I mentioned in my Uea costume post for Episode 7 that King favors Uea's left side because he knows that Uea does not react well to people hanging around his right side.

So I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge the 1000/10 parallel here.

And speaking of comfortable, I do not think you understand how ecstatic I was to see Uea be like...genuinely comfortable and confident in himself. To just response to King's "Why are you sitting here?"question with "because I'm beautiful," FUCK YEAH YOU ARE, UEA. You bare beautiful and you do deserve to put yourself up on a pedestal so everyone around you can admire your beauty. #selflove

Side note: This is a great shot and King is so in love with Uea, and they make a truly believable couple so shout out to Net and James for the work they put in here. Especially when King spends the night at Uea's apartment and he's trying so hard to restrain himself and Uea is teasing him.

I know this is kind of a weird screenshot to put in here, but I don't have a gif of it, and I just really love how couple-y it feels for Uea to literally like spin himself over King to leave his bed to take his meds. It feels fun, and it feels comfortable. Uea is happy to crawl over his boyfriend to leave his bed. And shout out to Net for horny bastard rights on King's part cause King literally tracks Uea's every move from the second he dodges the kiss until he gets out of bed.

King fulfills his role as the doting and worried boyfriend, which is probably the sexiest thing anyone can do lets be real.

FINALLY IT'S TIME!!! The conversation that needed to be happening a long long time ago. And like, do not get me wrong, Uea is under no obligation to tell anyone any of this information, but without knowledge of Uea's history, King got himself in to a lot more hot water because he has no foundation of understanding for how and why Uea operates the way that he does. When I first saw this scene I think some of the English translation didn't go over the way it was supposed to and I really thought that King had fumbled the ball, but looking back through it the second time, I am interpreting his words a bit differently, and understanding what I think King was trying to get at. Mostly that if Uea is comfortable and trusts King enough to share this information about his step-dad with him there might be a solution to take care of whatever the problem is.

But honestly, I care more about the way King is hold Uea's hands here than I do about what the translation is saying, and above all I care more about

The honest conversation about mental health that is happening in this show. As much as I have really embraced and honestly find the like green tea ads in every BL to be endearing and like a staple of the genre at this point, I have a major appreciation and love for the shows that take the time to give the public health public service announcements. The Warp Effect, which I honestly can't remember having any actual product ads, for example spent most of their typically allotted in-universe ad space to talk about getting the HPV vaccine and the steps of a pelvic exam. KinnPorsche has a 20 minute video discussing queerness in Thailand and what is and is not appropriate to say. Bed Friend spent time in episode 2 showing the steps of getting an STI blood test done and now are talking about mental health and taking medications to treat it.

Listen, I'm a simple bitch, and simple bitches love when the pretenses fall away and the rules no longer apply because this is an extremely important and serious matter and King and Uea both know that he needs these comforting touches, and King doesn't have to ask permission to ground Uea with touch here.

And see! This is what I was talking about in my Uea and Red post, I love this color red on Uea. This feels like a real, legitimate, accurate red for Uea to be in, compared to the bright red that he is shown in near the beginning of the show. I never doubted that Uea was a red rascal, I just...feel like the bright red is a fake red, is a lie. Here, when he is being his most honest with King. When he is sharing information about himself that he had intended never to share with anyone, he isn't in the bright anxiety red, he is in this deeper red.

And listen, Respect The Petty, no one wants to agree with you more than me that King is a Blue Boy, but after this episode I am willing to concede that he is two-toned, specifically because of this outfit and this outfit only:

Black hoodie with a FUCKING RED ROSE OVER THE HEART like come ON! King wears so little red in this show so far. He wore red and black in Episode 4 for the beach trip, and since then has been sitting on a little red pillow on his chair in the office, but otherwise, this outfit?????? King carrying Uea with him in his heart everywhere????? AND THE YELLOW FLOWERS IN THE BACKGROUND??????????

And again, the English translation had me reeling for a second when King was like "For the thing you told me last night, I don't feel okay about it," before he was like "can I do something to your step-dad" and then I was very "casually threw aside a large rock" about it.

And I love that King does seek permission here to go through with consequences for #pransdaddarktimelineedition because something I did find very interesting in this episode was the possibility for a moral quandry about outing Uea as a victim in Krit's harassment to the entire office without Uea's knowledge or consent and how that could possibly have ended poorly for King's relationship to Uea. But, King is a man of action, and he will find solutions where he can, and will not sleep comfortably knowing that someone who has hurt Uea is existing without consequences and possibly capable of hurting other people. But Uea is here this time and this is Uea's history and Uea's trauma so he asks because Uea's feelings are the most important thing to King.

Uea back in blue and that blue matching the same blue-green tone of King’s shirt with the lettering on his sweater.

Ok that is mostly my thoughts on this episode, I might just turn right back around and watch it for a third time because fuck it, I have COVID, and I have laundry to fold. We ball.

Can't wait to tune in next week to watch Uea's Step-Dad get his comeuppance. Hope those charges stick. Don't love that we are seeing yet another person trying to get with Uea and threatening the relationship between Uea and King, but I really hope that is swept aside quickly and we get most of this episode and episode 10 of them just being disgustingly in love because I JUST! WANT! UEA! TO! BE! HAPPY! THAT'S ALL I'M FUCKING ASKING FOR!

If you read this whole thing you're my best friend now, sorry I don't make the rules, this is just so long for no reason. But I will not do multi-part posts unless I literally run out of image space. K, byeeeeeeeee

[scarefox]

(x)

”This salung kaen was brought from Lampang Paeng Tan to be used to add infused water, perfume, turmeric, som poi, and Sa Song to the Emerald Buddha of Don Tao. Wiang Lakon on New Year's Day To support the religion of Hodteng Ha Panwarnsa"

“Salung Luang, Big Drum, New Year of Nakhon Lampang” for the year 2024

(google translation)

[malepresentingleg]

Bed Friend Novel vs Series

I'm not sure if it counts as spoilers since I'm not going to address anything later than where the series is at now, only provide extra background information and point out some differences for what was already aired.

I have to say that so far I prefer the series to the novel but I still thought it could be nice to share key points that are missing.

Differences from the series will be pointed out in pink,

My own interpretation in green.

Uea's background (tw abuse)

Uea's parents fought all the time when he was a kid, and took so long to divorce because they argued over who's gonna get custody over him (both wanted the other to😶). His mom lost and was "stuck" with him ever since, with no child support from his father. She remarried and they moved to his stepdad's house, tearing him away from the extended family he loved in Lampang - the place Uea mentions by the pool in the work outing in episode 4.

His mom and stepdad had a baby, and for his mom Uea was just a sore reminder of her past life and she treated him like SHIT. His stepdad was gentle and tried to defend him against her and show Uea he's "on his side". When his mom found out about his gayness she flipped, did the locking him in a completely dark bathroom several times and was generally an abusive asshole pretty much like shown in the series. Uea kept standing up to her though, at least verbally about his sexuality.

Then at some point when he was a teenager his stepdad woke him up Like That (like in the series) and his mom didn't believe him of course. Since then his stepdad didn't hide behind subtly anymore and kept harassing him. Whenever his mom locked him, it would be even worse now because his stepdad kept trying to pick the lock to get him, which would have been even worse for Uea. Understandable why he's traumatized AF.

At the birthday the reason he left was not because of his stepdad, but because his mom only wanted him to come so she can ask for more money.

Currently he's 27, a graphic designer at that company for 3 years. People keep hitting on him because he's so pretty, but he's very annoyed by it. He hates when people hit on him through Jade (aka middleman), he hates players and flirts.

He had several boyfriends in the past and they all ended up cheating assholes basically.

The most tragic part of his life though is that he LOVES animals but is super allergic to their fur.

King and Uea

They first met 8-9 years before the series, Uea just ended a relationship and was at a bar. King hit on him a little but then Uea saw him hit on someone else and hated him for being "a player". A couple of years later he met him again when Jade introduced them. King and Jade are childhood friends from kindergarten, Jade was Uea's uni roommate so he was civil. Then he was very mad to discover when he started working that King works there too, and they had a kinda hateful relationship since, but it was very one-sided from Uea.

The first night they slept together they were both drunk, King just slightly less so, and he took Uea in a taxi to his house because he didn't know where Uea lives. He put him in bed, and Uea was too drunk to explain about the dark so he just begged King not to leave him and King "couldn't help it".

I think so far it's the only part I preferred in the book, because in the series King was driving and a lot less drunk and more aware of what was happening.

Later - King apologized for taking advantage of Uea like this (and really made a point of not doing anything with him at the work outing when Uea was drunk as we saw in episode 5).

Something I hated in the novel but loved in the series was the morning after, when King talks about how much of a gentleman he was and that he deserves a reward. In the series Uea replied wonderfully saying this should be standard, while in the novel he basically said King missed his chance when he didn't go for it the night before.

In general, King is more pushy and demanding in the novel, more playing into the trope of the big top who can't help himself.

He left a hickey on Uea which he was mad about and did a half-assed apology at first.

Unlike the series when King catches himself and remembers Uea doesn't like something, in the novel when King kisses Uea on the cheek again after Uea stopped him a while before, Uea was the one who had to say "I told you not to do this." and King was very nonchalant about forgetting about that too. Which, to be fair isn't the worst. It's not like King knows exactly what it means for Uea and that it's a big deal, but still pretty shitty.

Another thing that was much better in the series imo was the scene at the end of episode 5 when the lights went out. In the Novel they were going to go to bed and Uea tried to turn out the bedside light only to find out it's needed changing. He was going to go get a new bulb to change but King whined and stopped him from going and made him just stay and go to bed with him. Eventually Uea relaxed into his arms.

Uea keeps referring to him as a "sex addict" which I tie more with Uea's sense of shame about his sexuality.

Pretty early on in their FWB relationship Uea actually told King about his mom's abuse and the reason he's scared of the dark, but they didn't discuss it other than that.

Also at this point - they both like each other, they're both in love with each other basically, and they ARE pretty aware of each other's feelings. The issue is that Uea doesn't believe King can change and doesn't want to enter a relationship with him when King "is and always will be a player". (And he's a complete clown because they basically are in a relationship at this points sdfss).

King, too, is aware of his own feelings but is unsure if he can really commit. Verbally though he keeps trying to convince Uea he can.

Jade

I already mentioned he's King's childhood friend and Uea's uni bestie. He has a way bigger role in the book, and a whole romance of his own that by this point of the series should have concluded if it followed his character's story like the book.

He's exactly the annoying bl "helpless wife" trope and doesn't have much personality other than that. His love interest would have come and left the company by this point so I have no idea what their plan is for the Middleman Love. I know the book's events of that novel happen at the same time as the Bed Friend novel but I have not and will not read it so I don't know much more. For some reason they give some of the roles his love interest had to Gun, who doesn't have such a big role in the book.

I will say Jade is a good friend to Uea, and he really wanted him and King to get along since they're his two besties. When they started to be nicer to each other he almost cried.

Random bits

It really bothered me they went to get a blood test a week after their one-night stand when in the novel it was 3 weeks (the proper amount to wait before doing an HIV test). Also in the novel it was actually discussed it's for HIV (which... other STDs exist yknow), Uea gets tested regularly and also always uses a condom. King says he does too, but they didn't use one That Night because he was too drunk, for which he apologized.

Also, one time King talked Uea into having sex in the bathroom in the morning before work, Uea put his foot down about using a condom "No condom, no sex". They ended up late for work and Uea was pissed.

When they made plans to watch the football match they didn't do the fake phone call, the series really pulled through with that one : ')

Also, they watched the game alone at home, not in a bar with lots of other people (and it was Liverpool vs Arsenal).

-

There's probably definitely more, but this is what I remember off the top of my head, and my ask box is opened for more specific clarifications :)

[recentadultburnout]

I’m so sorry here it is, it was shown pretty early in episode 9.

That's okay😆 It's talking about a form asking for a relocation. The wording sounds pretty weird to me, but in my understanding, Wiroj Prathipsit (I assume he is the father) asked his company to relocate him from the current branch to the Lampang branch, and the company approved.

[i-sveikata]

Good evening? Author!!!💗 for the word game- shit, fuck, ok and love

hey anon!!!! yes it's night here!!! haha yeah sure

Vegas is startled by this and then he seems to take a few seconds to process the words. “I feel like shit,” he admits eventually. “I’m fucking drained and it’s messing with my head.”

“We don’t have to talk straight away. Do you want to try to sleep first?”

\

“This is what you’ve been wanting to talk about?”

“Yes, are you serious?” Pete demands. “It’s a pretty big fucking deal if you ask me.”

“Why?”

\

“It’s okay,” Pete says, glancing around the car automatically in search of their enemies because it’s impossible not to feel like the world is closing in on them.

It’s still dark. Still night. And they’re alone. Safe for now. Pete’s eyes flicker over the display screen and it’s 12:29AM. They’re still in Lampang Province. Parked by the Huai Mae Tan Reservoir and they’re barely been driving for two hours.

\

“You’re underestimating how many people have told me,” he says. “My father. Tankhun. Total strangers. Even you.”

Pete startles, remembering suddenly their fight in Vegas’ office after Pete let Vegas suck him off for the first time. When Vegas had said he could fall in love with him.

“I was wrong,” he says firmly, aware that it was his own fear that got the better of him then. “Me and everyone else who tried to tell you different.”

[needlenubbins]

This is @aromantic-eight's fault, but anyway, Shantipur and Lampang have adopted some children. :>

---

Meade is an imperial, just like Mom.

Mom laughs when she says that, and tells her, "No, love, you're a nocturne," but that isn't going to stop Meade. She copies everything Mom does faithfully, trying to walk just like her, sit just like her, laugh just like her, speak in her deep musical tones. The last one is the hardest, but Meade tries anyway, even if it always comes out a growl. It makes Mom laugh, at least. Making Mom laugh makes her feel warm deep down.

She imitates Mom when she hunts, too, trailing behind her and coming slamming down on tiny insects the way Mom slams down on full-sized deer. It's difficult, but Meade is getting better--has to get better, and quickly. Mom is so much slower weaker than she was even a month ago, when Meade just hatched. Right now she needs Meade's help just to feed herself and Meade, and soon her egg is going to hatch, and Meade will have to help feed all three of them.

"A few more days," Mom whispers that night, huddled under a glowing mushroom in what she calls the Wispwillow Grove, where she's made a shelter for herself and Meade and the egg. She's curled around the two of them, Meade and the egg, and is stroking the egg's surface very carefully with one talon. "A few more days and they'll hatch. You'll hunt for them, won't you, Meade? And you'll teach them how, the way I'm teaching you?"

"Of course," Meade tells her. "I'll hunt for you both!"

Mom makes a soft noise and closes her eyes, then leans down to rest the whiskery underside of her jaw against the top of Meade's head. Her scales are thin and almost powdery, bits of them coming off whenever they rub against Meade's, and the thin grey hair scattered along her jowls breaks off easily too. A bit of it falls into Meade's mouth and she has to puff it out. Mom rests her head there a moment longer, then moves to curl more closely around them, one broad wing spreading out over them both, and she's asleep just like that.

Eventually Meade sleeps, too.

---

When she wakes up, Mom is gone. Meade rushes out from amid the mushrooms in a burst of indignation. Mom can't go hunting without her! She flaps frantically, unable yet to leap into the air with the grace Mom does, but with enough flapping and hopping she manages to make it up and go gliding from the top of one mushroom to another. There, in the distance, there's a bulk among the mushrooms, spread out long like Mom flopped on top of a deer. As Meade glides closer, though, she doesn't get up to pick up the deer and toss it into one of the baskets she straps to her flanks when she hunts.

She's not wearing the baskets at all, Meade realizes as she draws close. And she's still not standing up.

She doesn't even twitch when Meade lands on her back. Meade pokes her, tries to shake her head, pulls on her mane and feathers, shouts in her ear, but no matter how frantic and loud she gets, Mom doesn't stir. She just lies there, eyes open and unfocused, not even breathing, completely still. Meade isn't sure how long she shouts and screams before she runs out of breath and has to lie on Mom's shoulders panting and trying not to cry.

Meade isn't stupid. Deer go this still when Mom lands on them, and insects when Meade squashes them, although Mom doesn't look squashed. She's dead, like food is dead. But she shouldn't be! Mom isn't food! No one's squashed her! How can she be dead?

The egg is what breaks through Meade's tears. It's almost noon now, the murky gloom above growing to that odd half-brightness that she only knows is from the sun because of the one time Mom had carried her up above the murk. She isn't hungry--she feels sick--but the egg is going to be so hungry when it hatches. Mom could have brought a whole deer, just like she had for Meade, but now Mom can't feed it when it's born. Meade is going to have to stock up.

It's hard to squash bugs when her eyes are all blurry and her breath hitching from crying, but Meade does her best. As evening encroaches, she has a double armful of insects to take back. This is the right time of day to catch even more, usually, but they're oddly sparse--in fact, everything is, the faeries hiding away in mushrooms, the small animals vanished into the loam of the floor, an eerie silence filling the grove instead of insect buzzing and nightbirds' songs. Shivering a little, Meade creeps back home.

The egg is still where Meade left it, in a little hollow under the mushroom. Meade digs a hole next to it to hide her bugs, then curls herself around it as best as she can. Mom said it had to be kept warm.

---

Late as it grows, Meade can't sleep. She's mostly crying silently now, and tearlessly, completely dehydrated but unwilling to let go of the egg to find water. The eerie silence continues until what feels like deep into the night. Then there's a distant crashing off in the direction Mom went, like something very large stomping on mushrooms. It pauses, and there's loud cracking and something almost like slurping, and, after a long moment, a roar.

Then the crashing starts to approach, sounding even heavier as it breaks mushroom-stems, coming Meade's way. Mom never stomped on any but the smallest, but Meade sits up anyway, hopeful.

Dragons aren't food. Mom isn't food. Maybe that means that dragons--that Mom--don't die like food does. Maybe Mom is coming back!

It's a different imperial's head, icy eyes blazing, that lowers itself down first beneath the mushroom to sniff at Meade. She rears back, wings flared defensively around the egg. Then another, more familiar head leans in to join the first. It is Mom. Two more imperial heads pop in around the edges of the first two. Meade bursts into hysterical giggling from sheer, joyous relief.

"Mom! Who are these dragons? Are they your friends?"

"Who?" the biggest imperial rumbles, in a hoarse, croaking voice, like he's just as thirsty as Meade.

"Aw, fuck," a completely different voices hisses from somewhere above the mushroom, and then, "Hold on, kid!"

Something long, thin, and rope-like comes whipping down between the imperials' moving heads, slams into Meade, wraps around her, and then sails sideways out from under the mushroom, away from Mom and her friends. Meade shrieks and wriggles, but the noodly dragon has too good a grip. As it carries her off, she can see Mom better--except it's not just Mom. Mom's neck vanishes into the shoulders of a dragon who has some of Mom's eel-like patterning, on that side, but also has spots, and bars, and some kind of veining over the skin, matching the other three heads. They're all fused together, one dragon instead of four. Meade gapes in shock as she and the dragon wrapped around her land heavily under a distant mushroom.

"Mom-"

"Shut up, kid!" The dragon wraps another length of themselves around her muzzle, tiny claws and wings clamping down. "That's not your mom anymore," they hiss into her ear, "that's an emperor."

But it's still Mom. Meade can see her still, lifting her head, looking around, her whiskers quivering. That she's more than one dragon now doesn't keep her from being Meade's Mom.

She can't say that. She can't tell the dragon about the egg. She can only watch, bound and helpless, as a dozen armored dragons descend upon Mom. Two guardians and a ridgeback hold her down, wildclaws and mirrors slash and bite, and pearlcatchers circle in the sky above flinging magic and shouting encouragement as they bloodily butcher her mother, just like she was still dead, just like she was a deer, just like she was nothing but food. Meade wriggles and sobs and can do absolutely nothing to stop them as they tear Mom to shreds.

Later, when they finish, the spiral wrapped around her unwraps themselves. "Okay, kid-"

Meade shrieks and tears back towards Mom. One of the guardians is still on the ground, on top of- on top of part of her, blood and viscera spattering their scales. She goes at them teeth-first, claws slashing, and they turn around and swat her with a huge paw. It knocks Meade backward; she rolls, bouncing against several rocks, and when she comes to a stop she's too winded to move or even shout.

"Careful! She's just a kid," the spiral scolds them. "She doesn't know any better. She thought that thing was her mom."

"Likely the most recent addition was. We'll take her with us," a pearlcatcher says, landing beside Meade.

"What about the egg?" asks the ridgeback, who has their long nose tucked under the remains of the mushroom to lift it up.

"We don't," the pearlcatcher says sharply, "foster imperials. Leave it."

But she's an imperial, Meade thinks, and that's the last thought she has before the pearlcatcher breathes out sickly-sweet in her face.

---

It's past noon the next day when Meade wakes up, and they're at the very edge of the Grove, nearly at the edge of the murk. Meade can see the shape of the sun dimly through the sparse darkness overhead. She's been wrapped in soft cloth and set on top of an even softer cushion of it. A few of the dragons who killed Mom are about, talking quietly, several of them asleep. Right next to her is the ridgeback--napping. Its bulk is partially hiding Meade from the rest.

Good, because Meade isn't going to stay with dragons who butchered Mom like she was food. She keeps her head down and wriggles, very slowly, out of the fabric in the direction where she'll be fully hidden by the ridgeback. Then she crawls over the ground towards a thick patch of mushrooms, slow and inching, like a grub. The whole way to the edge of the mushroom thicket, she shakes and trembles, too overwhelmed even to cry. Terror chokes her throat when one of the pearlcatchers takes to the air, and she lies flat against the ground, pretending to be mold.

Fortunately, they fly in the other direction. Meade breathes again, and keeps crawling, going on through the mushrooms until the camp is thoroughly out of sight. Even then, when she stands, she doesn't try to get in the air, just stays low and runs.

The egg is still there. So is- so are the scattered parts of Mom.

It's colder here, in the murk. It must be, because Meade is shivering. She goes to wrap herself around the egg. There's parts of Mom strewn around it, mixed in with the squashed mushroom. Insects buzz around them, but Meade can't bring herself to try and kill any to add to her stash. She'll find something else to feed the egg when it hatches. She'll find… something that's not meat. Meade is never eating meat again.

---

She's not sure how long she huddles there, wrapped around the egg, terrified that the dragons who killed Mom will come back. She sees a pearlcatcher flying a few times overhead, but they're a different pearlcatcher, she thinks. The third time they come, they have two ridgebacks with them, and the trio fly low over the murk, looking around like they're examining Mom's shattered body. Meade tucks her head over the top of the egg and tries very hard to look like mold again.

The pearlcatcher and the ridgebacks leave. Hours later, as it's close to night again, two other dragons come circling down. Meade's heart catches in her throat at the familiar profiles: long bodies, whiskered faces, feathered wings….

They land well away from her. The darker one, with pale green scales and brown wings and mane, takes off a wooden mask and passes it over to the paler one, with nearly-white scales and painted red wings. Then he crouches low and stretches his head forward. Just like Mom, when Meade had just hatched. Meade chokes on a sob.

"Child," he says, his voice low and soft. "We heard what has happened to that egg's mother, and we are sorry. We came to see if it needed tending."

"I'm taking care of it," Meade tells him, hearing her voice crack and unable to keep back another sob.

"And you're doing very well. But we would like to help. The dragons here say you were helping its mother-"

"She was my Mom too!"

"Oh," he says, softly, and then, nodding, "then you were helping your mother. Helping each other is important. We want to help you."

Meade wrapps her wings even more tightly around the egg, gripping it tight. She wants to say no. She wants them to go away. How can she trust any other dragon, when she's seen strange dragons butcher Mom?

But these are imperials, like Mom was. And the egg is almost cool to the touch. Meade isn't nearly as big or strong or warm as Mom; she might not be able to take care of it right. She certainly can't protect it, if those butchering dragons come back.

"You'll keep everyone else from hurting them once they hatch, right? No one will butcher them like Mom?"

"We will," he says, and the paler one adds, fiercely and with her teeth showing, "We will never let that happen."

Meade lets out a long, deep breath. She's shaking, and tired, and so thirsty her tongue wants to stick to the top of her mouth, and so sad it feels like her entire chest has been hollowed out and filled with the murk overhead. She nods, slowly. "Okay."

The dragons wrap up the egg and strap it to the darker one's chest, and then tuck Meade into the sling on top of it. She curls up around it again as they lift off, feeling the heat radiating from the massive body above her, so familiar, so strange. She presses the underside of her jaw against the egg the same way Mom used to press hers against the top of Meade's head.

"It's okay," she whispers to the egg. "They're imperials too. They'll take care of us, just like Mom did. Even when…" She thinks of what the spiral who'd bound her had called Mom's brief second life. "Even once we become an emperor."

[ohnomalora]

EarthMix trip to Lampang 🥹

[fallentenshi128]

Two things about this photo:

First, apparently that's a long-time friend of Mix. Someone said from Lampang days.

I'm pleasantly surprised that Mix put up a photo of him cuddling with a girl and someone who isn't Earth. Let men have friends, damnit.

But also, he's trusting that his fans won't get nasty over this. And from what I've seen so far, he's correct.

tw: talk about body, weight

Second, his legs. I've seen so many fans call Mix chubby. Granted, it's in an endearing way mostly.

In real life, Mix probably just looks like a regular person. Like an actual person. People don't realize that idols in real life are usually very, very thin.

I have a friend who works in the Asian entertainment industry. The first time he made it to America for work, I saw him and my first thought was how much weight he lost and how gaunt he looked.

I had seen his work on camera and didn't notice it, but when I saw him in person? It was a stark reminder of what idols go through and do to their bodies.

And so showing bodies that aren't rail thin is so important to me, esp. with Asian idols. Where there's shit like the three cup diet that got really famous.