#Lampang | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

needlenubbins · 3 months

Text

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.)

#eclipse annex #shantipur #lampang #pruzhany

8 notes · View notes

wen-kexing-apologist · 1 year

Text

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

#bed friend #bed friend the series #ueaking #kinguea #king x uea #uea x king #netjames #jamesnet #net siraphop #james supamongkon #domundi #bed friend analysis #bed friend stray thoughts #bed friend episode 8 #bed friend ep 8 #it was write one beast or make like four separate post and i did not want to do that #i would apologize for constantly writing novels on this website but im not actually sorry so

220 notes · View notes