fandom trying to stay sane

I will never be normal about this scene taking place after the end credits.

Because here we are, literally after the end of the story. And here is the comedic sidekick occasional-mentor, having survived his self-sacrifice for the hero at the end of Act II, having been torn open and loved in the dark, having emerged to realize that he can no longer be a blank moldable surface in his own life.

And here is the villain, having lost too early, having been cradled and seen and afforded grace, having emerged to realize that he cannot be the heartless evil he was made to be, having fought and failed and lived rather than died at the victors' hands.

After the story has been told, Pete is not a background character in service to someone else’s story. He is, in this place, the most important person.

After the curtain falls, Vegas is not a villain—and he is not lost, is not abandoned as comeuppance for his terrible flaws. He is a young man thoroughly, despicably, mutually in love.

Because after the finale has played out, after all the chess pieces have been tidied away until the next game, after the credits roll—the narrative roles Vegas and Pete were prescribed lose their sway. And they hold each other in the aftermath.

vegas is flirting with you moodboard

I'm sorry but, was no one going to tell me that Vegas is feeling Pete's pulse here ????

In case what I'm saying isn't that evident from the image, here's a gif of that moment too:

Do you see him slightly caressing Pete's cheek, after maneuvering his head to be up straight again, and then placing his index finger at the side of his neck? Do you also see him checking Pete's eyes as he's doing it, to see him looking away? Well. I did yesterday and I haven't been normal since. Now, it could very well be too high for him to find it and see if Pete's pulse is heightened due to his frustration by Vegas' comment, but even if that's the case, it's insane to me how Vegas proceeds to do this, a similar gesture to what he did here:

Here being, him trying to coerce Pete into having sex with him, which is his veiled attempt at redirecting his powerlessness into something that makes him feel like he has any sort of control over... anything really. And here, he's doing it in an obvious manner too, he's looking at his hand as he's pressing his finger on Pete's neck and Pete knows it. Was it the same way the second time? Did Pete feel Vegas' finger touch his neck, despite the turmoil he was in? Did he understand the implications of Vegas doing this again or did he misinterpret the whole thing? It's insane to me how Vegas uses his methods of manipulation even when he's genuine, something the show clearly demonstrated by the parallels between how he treated Porsche and Pete (the lighter and the request to be killed by them). I'm just in awe how subtly it was used here too, the smallest of details that I had missed the numerous times I've re-watched this scene.

KINNPORSCHE TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVENT

— Ep 8: Favourite Scene

#and what do you know about romance 

vegas holding pete's face like that

there's just something different about pete in the epilogue. he seems so much more settled in his own skin, he takes the time to consider what he's hearing, what he wants to say, how he wants to touch. there's a general sense of calmness that I think can only have come from a significant amount of introspection while vegas was unconscious, after the intense emotional whirlwind of the attempted coup and his resignation.

pete said himself he tries to live in the present, and i think part of that has been a defense mechanism, trying to not self-analyse too deeply or he'll have to confront the emptiness lurking there ("no. I've always been useless."). but after the finale, after finally owning up to what he truly wants and going after it, pete has had time to look at those choices he made in a desperate situation and has had to confront himself about them.

so when vegas asks him why he's still here, he takes a moment to really think about it. and unlike when vegas asked him before at the safehouse why he came back, he actually answers. he gives an answer that could have seemed flippant, but there's nothing but sincerity in the way it's delivered. he can't go anywhere else. and then: he just wants to follow his heart.

it's not a complicated answer. but it's what he didn't understand or couldn't face up to before, and he can only do so now because he isn't hiding away from himself any more. he knows that this was a choice he made and he will stand by it, keep making it, because it's what he wants. he seems so comfortable in his own skin in a way he hasn't before because now he isn't just living in the present: he's thinking about the past and what it will take to live with that, and most importantly he's thinking about the future and the life they could build together. the life he wants to build together.

and that conviction that he wants to keep following his heart gives us a version of pete who is so much more whole than any we've seen before

VEGASPETE — ep.11

“Would you stop saying that you’ve got nothing left? I’m right here. And don’t turn your back on me like this! Because ... because I’m hungry.” KinnPorsche (2022) | Episode 14.

Pete's lips moving almost imperceptibly when with Vegas, as if he is whispering under his breath

[left: right before the first shock when he's facing off with Vegas, right: in the promo trailer when the choking turns to caressing]

Baptize me with new names so I can exist

Myrsini Gkana - I have other things I love too

i don’t wanna go to the safehouse alone 

If I had a nickel for every time I watched a thai show and one of the couples admitted to have a pet/owner dynamic..