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SandRay are an homage to Wong Kar-Wei's Happy Together and in this essay I will..

...actually explain it because I see people catching his homage's to Western queer media, but not really his shout outs to Eastern queer media.

I assumed there would be allusions to Happy Together when I first saw the trailer, but this last episode centered around Ray really cemented it for me. After all, why would P'Jojo reference all these Western queer shows and not talk about what is probably the most iconic piece of Eastern queer media ever?

Wong Kar-Wei & Happy Together

For some background information, Wong Kar-Wei is a famous and insanely influential Hong Kong filmmaker. If you're a film nerd, you probably know who he is and recognize his style. If you like film and metas, I would recommend watching some of his stuff because afterwards, you'll realize just how much influence he still has on modern media, especially in Asia. Stylistically, he's known for rich color grading; thematic usage of music; an unending sense of nostalgia, heartbreak, and missed opportunities; and dialogue that mean nothing on the surface because everything meaningful is boiling just under, left unsaid (If you've watched Everything Everywhere, All At Once, the entire actress universe sequence was an homage to Wong Kar-Wei). His actors always do a phenomenal job because so much of what they need to portray can't be communicated through words. It makes sense why SandRay, aka FirstKhao, were chosen to represent Happy Together as they are the strongest actors out of the group.

Happy Together, simply summarized, is about two men, Ho Po-Wing and Lai Yiu-Fai, who are in a very tumultuous relationship. They end up in Argentina because they wanted to visit the waterfall that's on a lamp that they own. They get lost, end up using all their money, and have to figure out a way to get back to Hong Kong. While there, they break up, get back together, and break up again.

The movie was released in 1997 and is still ranked as one of the best queer movies of all time. The two main characters are played by Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung. You might recognize Tony Leung as Simu Liu's dad in Shang-Chi. Leslie Cheung was in Farewell, My Concubine, and was famously a bisexual man with a long term male partner. This is significant because it was virtually unheard of to be out and open at that time (he made his relationship public in 1997 though he had mentioned bisexuality in earlier years), especially in Hong Kong which was, and still is, very homophobic. Leslie received a lot of hate for his sexuality and androgyny. (If you're interested in learning more about Leslie as a queer Asian figure, this is a good video essay that goes over his work and his life).

Sand as Lai Yiu-Fai

Fai's, and in turn Sand's, character can be summed up by one line, "One thing I never told Ho Po-Wing was that I didn't want him to recover so fast. Those were our happiest days."

Both Fai and Sand are very static, straightforward characters. They stay above board for the most part and work a variety of jobs to survive. They have their morals about what is right and wrong, which unfortunately is both of their downfalls.

In Happy Together, Wing breaks up with Fai because he is bored with the relationship. He basically says, "I'm bored being with you. Let's break up. If we happen to meet again, we can try again." Then he leaves Fai stranded on the side of a highway.

Later, he reappears in Fai's life. The first encounter is a fight, much like Sand and Ray's first meeting in the bathroom. The second encounter is because Wing gets beaten up. He goes to Fai because he knows Fai will feel obligated to take care of him and he does. It becomes the beginning of their rekindled relationship.

Similarly, Sand has a strong sense of obligation. There are already metas out there about how Sand has a bit of a hero complex. He sees Ray too drunk to drive and he had to step in. He doesn't just take the keys and order a taxi. No, he takes the keys and drives Ray. Sand sees Ray being all sad and pathetic and he can't stop himself from helping. It makes him feel useful. It makes him feel needed.

Both of these men are caretakers. They show affection by providing care. Sand ends up cooking for Ray just as Fai cooks for Wing even when he's sick. As an added bonus, they both make fried rice.

Both Sand and Fai are characters that stand completely still. Ray and Wing always know where to find them. Sand can always be found at YOLO and Fai is at his apartment. Because of this, Ray and Wing come and go as they please. They know that Sand and Fai will take them back...until they finally don't.

Ray as Ho Po-Wing

Starting on a base level, both characters are bratty, needy, promiscuous, spoiled, and selfish. But most importantly, they both share a love of fluffy cardigans.

(I also have a theory they keep putting Ray in wife beaters as an homage to the 90's HK cinema style because otherwise...I just don't understand why, as a rich asshole, he's always in wife beaters. By Thai BL logic, he should be in shirts with too many buttons unbuttoned.)

Wing and Ray are both the ones controlling the pace and direction of the relationship. They come when they need someone to nurture their wounds, both physically and metaphorically. They leave when they're bored or have things they deem more important. They both initiate intimacy and won't take no for an answer.

Wing does this by first trying to join Fai on the couch and then chasing after him to the bed and begging him to let them sleep together.

Ray does it by continuously getting Sand to get in the car with him and then using his puppy dog eyes.

They are both also very, very pouty.

Wing's line is "We could start over". He says it every time he comes back after he's the one that ends the relationship. Fai always fights taking him back, but he always does it anyway.

Ray doesn't really have a line yet (unless you count his "na na naa~"s) but he bats his eyelashes and so far Sand has given into him every time. Sand keeps trying to set boundaries, but the moment Ray begs a little bit, Sand crumbles like a house of cards and lets Ray have whatever he wants.

Relationship Parallels

Wong Kar-Wei is known for making movies about star crossed lovers who are meant for each other, but aren't meant to be together.

Like Wing and Fai, Sand and Ray fill in each other's cracks in a way that complements each other. However, because of the nature of the cracks themselves, them complementing each other is exactly what makes the relationship so toxic. One stays and one goes. One takes and one gives. One is steady and one is flighty.

Most of what I wanted to say about the parallels between their relationships is in the character comparison. What I'm more interested in is the future of SandRay's relationship, especially if they continue to parallel Wing and Fai's in Happy Together.

Obviously, Wing and Fai don't end up together at the end. It wouldn't be a Wong Kar-Wei movie if they did. What is interesting is that Fai's relationship with Wing eventually pushes him into becoming something angry and spiteful. Once Wing heals, Fai knows that he'll become bored and want to leave. In an attempt to get him to stay, he steals and hides Wing's passport which is insane because they are both gay men stuck in a foreign country where they don't speak the language.

Wing, of course, leaves anyway.

There is also a third character, Chang, whom Fai ended up liking. These new feelings are what eventually pushes Fai to leave Argentina and move on from Wing and move on with his life.

The question is, if SandRay follows that same path as Happy Together, what will be the passport that Sand tries to hold over Ray and who will be Sand's Chang?

Stylistic Parallels

Smoking

Making Ray and Sand smoke is definitely an homage to Happy Together with the added bonus of being a metaphor. For the most part, we rarely see characters, especially main characters, smoke in Asian media because smoking is reserved for 'bad' characters.

Cigarettes in Happy Together represent boredom. Fai and Wing smoke at the beginning before they rekindle their relationship because they are just moving through life. Once Fai and Wing get back together, cigarettes stop making an appearance. It isn't until their relationship started deteriorating that we see the men smoking again.

This can also be said about Sand Ray's relationship. They started their 'involvement' with cigarettes. However, the last time we actually see them smoking is in ep 2 right before they hook-up. Since then, we have not seen either of them smoking. This probably means that we'll see one or both of them smoking again when their relationship starts to break down.

(In the preview for ep 5, there is an ashtray in the background on the balcony so let's see if Boston finding out about them is a catalyst for them to start breaking down.)

And of course, there is the added homoeroticism of asking for a light.

Ray's Opening and Closing Scenes

Ray's episode is really what made me go "I see you P'Jojo".

Ray's episode starts with a shot of him isolated and in emotional pain. The camera is claustrophobically close and it keeps moving around. He has a little voiceover opening. It's calm, it's contemplative, it's a little existential, and it is irrevocably sad. If that is not a Wong Kar-Wei staple, then idk what is. Even the song that starts playing gives me 80s, 90s Cantopop vibes.

Ray talks about how Mew being his emergency contact and the one he goes to. Fai talks about how Wing always comes back to him and says "Let's start over".

The movie and the episode ends with both of them once again isolated, alone. They've been through an emotional journey and they've technically moved on. But there's always the idea of not being able to fully let go in Wong Kar-Wei's movie. So just like how Fai has physically removed himself from Wing, but not emotionally, has Ray actually fully removed himself from Mew?

Cinematography

Then there's just a collection of scenes that reminded me very heavily of Happy Together and Wong Kar-Wei's style. I would have added pictures from his other movies for comparison, but Tumblr only lets me put 30 images in a post and I don't want to make a 2nd post.

This scene is specifically from the 1st trailer so I hope they keep it in the show.

This one I call the inevitability of falling. Both Sand and Fai realize they're fully committed to their decision to take care of Ray and Wing here.

The end title card

Actually, all of the end title cards give very Wong Kar-Wei vibes. Look at that saturated, neon color grading. Look at the elongated shots. The intense feeling of isolation.

I'm assuming we'll get all the characters at one point, but so far it looks like the end credit cards indicate who the narrator of each episode is.

Anyway, that's it for me! Sorry it was so long and rambling. I tried to organize my thoughts but as I was thinking, more thoughts would pop up and I'd get distracted. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

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Hit by the sudden realization that they follow queue to shoot shows, so First was most likely on set when they shoot Ray's bathtub scene meltdown (cause a good chunk of scenes in Ray's house involve Sand) and I haven't been the same person since

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Exhibit A : Ray looking in love with Mew

Exhibit B : Ray looking in lust with Sand

I will let the pictures speak for themselves

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Mh, it may be so at the start of the series, but at the end, I think the roles will change drastically.

Boston is the loser: he will lose his friends, the guy he wanted for himself, and I think also the guy who wanted him will lose interest and he will be completely alone.

Then there's Mew. We all think he's the princess, but really, to me he's more a slut. Not in the literal sense, but at first he's not interested in a relationship, and after a few days he's ready to go? Also, he's not innocent in the slightest. To me he's manipulative, wants things to go his way but he's very subtle about it, so he looks the poor innocent princess who needs to be protected and woed. He's a virgin, but knows exactly what top intended when he said he had a headache, and brought him home anyway. Then the evening ended up how he wanted: eating ice cream and conversing. So really, not innocent at all.

That leaves us with Ray being the princess. Probably more like a Cinderella kind of princess, mistreated, abandoned, but then finds his "prince", the one who really cares about him and, I'm sure, will treat him right, making him feel he's not a burden, loving him the way he deserves, and helping him love himself.

You'll realize I'm correct by the end of the show.

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Me, watching the Only Friends trailer :

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every akkayan kiss

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Okay but like what happened to GMM, the amount of kisses I've witnessed in 6 episodes of #OurSkyy2 is more than all their BLs of the past few years put together

NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING, JUST TAKEN ABACK

Also on a serious note I've been noticing changes since Never Let Me Go with the way intimate scenes are portrayed and finally they're starting to feel much more natural, but in a way actors also look comfortable with

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#soundwin AU where Win spent most of his childhood to early adulthood in the streets and became a sneak thief specialized in pickpocketing, but one day while he's doing his "job", someone grabs his wrist and after twisting his arm, he gets pushed face on the wall.

"Now be nice and give back what you took from these people"

Win smirks, completely unbothered.

"Don't see how I can do that if you don't release me"

It takes a moment but finally the person releases him, but only for a few seconds, just the time for Win to turn around and be caged in the arms of the most handsome guy he's ever seen.

"Now give it back"

"And what do I get in return"

"I don't know, maybe walking free? Not getting caught by the c0ps?"

"Nah, I don't think you're offering a good bargain"

It takes all but a couple of moments, and suddenly Win has pushed the pretty boy away from him and swiftly sent him on the floor, but when he's about to run away, he gets tricked and tripped on the floor, colliding once again with the face of the attractive guy.

"We should stop meeting like this"

Another movement, and now Win's back is on the cold floor, with pretty boy on top of him, holding once again his wrists down.

"We should stop meeting altogether"

"But that would defeat the purpose of the game"

Win has just the time for a brief smirk before two lips come crushing on his, and it takes all of his willpower to not take from his beautiful, most amazing mistake everything he's craving.

"Can you please stop making me chase you around, Win"

Win raises his hand and gently strokes Sound's hairs.

"Now, weren't you the one saying we should stop meeting"

Sound closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, which amuses Win, who can clearly see him mentally counting to ten.

"You know what I mean, d*ckhead. We wouldn't need to meet if you just finally decided to move in with me"

"Pumpkin, one night stands don't work like that"

It was Sound's turn to smirk.

"One night stands are also supposed to happen once...not once a day"

"Only because you keep following me around"

Win can't help but laugh when Sound gives him the most unimpressed look with a perfectly raised eyebrow, and he decides to concede, while slowly sliding his hands on Sound's sides.

"And your body is definitely a great argument working in your favor"

"But not enough to stay"

It doesn't matter how many times they have this conversation, it still breaks Win to see the love of his goddamn life think he might be the reason Win doesn't stick around.

"Sound, I can't. This is my life. And it's dangerous. I might upgrade to assassin if someone ever hurts you."

"Then you should've never gotten into my life"

"I know, baby. I'm sorry. The moment I saw you, I just couldn't walk away. I needed to know you. I needed to taste you. But once I did, I just couldn't move on. And that's why I need you to do it...for both of our sakes"

Sound just scoffs, completely unaffected, and proceedes to get up, but not before putting all his weight onto Win to leave him out of breath.

"Nice try. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home, before my one-time-a-day stand shows up and begs me to forget the bullsh*t that came out of his mouth just hours prior"

Sound starts to leave, but not before showing Win, who's still lying on the floor, some of the stolen stuff that he managed to pickpocket from the thief in charge. Damn, he was getting too good at it.

"...f*ck"

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So I was thinking about Our Skyy2 - Star In My Mind segment

And I know Mek is not under GMM anymore

But I was like

Well wouldn't it be funny if their episode was something along the lines of the plot of The Hangover

Starting with Prince, Kluen and Dao waking up in a random place far, far away from home, completely hungover, no cellphones/phones with dead batteries

Except it's Prince's wedding day

And he starts panicking because "omg Fah is gonna think I ran away I neED TO GET TO MY FUTURE HUSBAND THE UNIVERSE BETTER HELP"

So the entire episode is them trying to get to the wedding and of course every possible thing that can go wrong goes even worse

And in all of this, things between Kluen and Dao are super awkward because they're fighting (I'm thinking the whole living/not living at the beach house)

So they're so out of tune and not communicating that they make things even worse

Except at some point when they see Prince break down - because it really looks like they're not gonna make it - they decide to work together and do everything to make it happen

And of course at the end they are even more lovey-dovey than before

And the episode ends WITH A SHOT OF FAH'S FACE, WAITING FOR HIS PRINCE

....thanks for coming to my Ted fantasy AU talk 🤣🤣

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GeminiFourth are the living definition of a fanfiction AU, because I could watch them fall in love in thousands of different universe and never get tired of it.

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The fans, the world, the entire BL industry : omg yes a new EarthMix series I literally cannot wait for it

Me : yeah no I'm sorry I draw the line at CHEATING

Me : wait are those First and Khao

Me : okay IF and I say IF their characters end up together I MIGHT consider giving it a chance

Me : oh wait

Me : IF that happens

Me : ...it would be a second chance for love trope

Me : OMG PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME RIGHT NOW THAT'S FINE I'LL EVEN ACCEPT THE CHEATING

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I feel like, somehow, it's gonna be easy to like San as a character. Yes, the scene with the bat might be a huge red flag, but he's presented as someone who's gonna get his heart broken by some wannabe playboy, and we're clearly gonna be sympathizing with him. But Ray? Man, Ray's gonna be a tough one to love, but I promise you, we will still go down so bad for him. We're gonna see him struggle to accept the whole TopMew relationship, we're gonna see him try to distract himself with whatever pretty boy comes his way, just for him to actually grow fond of said pretty boy, because of his looks, his lovely singing voice, his charisma and his reluctance to even get involved with the Playboy in the first place. We're gonna see him wanting to keep the biggest grasp on both the pretty boy who lights his nights and the pretty boy who's been brightening his days for years, although one is a reality, the other just a mere idea of a what if. But it doesn't matter, cause he's the one charge, right? Except at some point he's not anymore, cause his reality wants to be his only choice, and why should he choose when he can have both? And why suddenly the fact that San is making the choice for the both of them is so much more painful than he anticipated? How dare he walk away? How dare his entire body betray him and remind him that San's light was more than just a light, it was a burning flame keeping him warm and alive? And why the idea of Mew, of what could even - or never - be is not even close to being enough anymore? Just as keeping cool is not an option anymore, not when he has this boiling rage filling him, when he wants to scream and get back the only real one who can make his heart burn ❤️‍🔥

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take this as only friends meta or wish post but i can't stop thinking about my own post about the way ray looks at san. The difference in the way ray looks at mew vs san is undeniable and simultaneously commented on by multiple people.

And yes, some of it probably has to do with khaotung and first and the ways in which they tend to distill their emotional acting in each other. They've commented multiple times on how they will viscerally feel all emotions [including the romantic] with each other over anyone else they've worked with before.

BUT the more interesting explanation here is a deliberate acting/narrative choice. That this isn't khaotung but its ray. The sanray tag line in the trailer is 'don't cross the line' which obviously suggests that ray does in fact cross the line. That we're going to watch episode after episode of ray falling in love with san and then being in complete denial over it because his unrequited feelings for mew [which by the time the show starts im willing to bet has already devolved into something akin to obsession rather than love] is just so familiar and comfortable that ray doesn't know how to define himself without it.

sanray have the most domestic and in love scenes out of all the pairs [even though topmew are the only official couple] in the trailer. i think the central arc of ray's character will be self-discovery driven where he tries to learn how to love and more importantly be loved and to let go of a tendency to self sabotage this aspect of happiness for himself. ray will come to rely on san, look to him for happiness and validation, san might even temporarily make him forget about mew and this will terrify ray to no end - because the last thing ray needs in a relationship is mew2.0 [pokemon pun intended]. all my prayers are for ray to truly choose to be with san and for that he'll probably hurt san quite a bit [and hopefully be hurt in return?]. i can entirely see how their love will be simultaneously toxic but also key to each other's salvation - that sanray will make each other worse before they can heal together and i want this show to feel like a surgical procedure happening on a big gaping festering wound with no local anesthesia to ease the way.

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I am just saying that it would be absolutely amazing if we could have in the GMM 2023 lineup a FirstKhao AouBoom tv show--- with Aof as a director.

And listen I even elaborated the perfect plot

F's and A's characters are sophomores bffs attending law school (look at me already giving it a twist from the good ol' architecture/engineering)

K's character is a freshman who falls in love at first sight with A

K tries to figure out A's college schedule, only for F to find out pretty early on about K's plan

F's in pretty amused by K's determination, so he accepts to help K pursue A...only to end up falling really hard for K

In the meantime, every once in a while, A disappears from campus and nobody knows where he's going, not even F

Which really, is for the best, cause he was not supposed to fall in love with the son (B's character) of the Prime Minister

But he did and now all he can do is pursue this secret romance

+ BONUS

And what if the Prime Minister long-time assistant was K's mother----which would entail that K is like a little brother for B

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Honestly it's so funny to me how I went from being obsessed with the KP cast to being obsessed with FirstKhao and landing on being obsessed with TayNew (while in the meantime falling just as hard for the cast of Love In The Air and for OhmNanon after finally doing the right thing and watching Bad Buddy)

All in the span of 4 months

And now I'm just here 12 hours in the past caring about all these amazing kids living far away and wishing them the absolute best cause they all deserve to shine so bright

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4 times i smile like a proud dad

+ 1 time i smile like a proud dad from hell

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Akk: Describe yourself in one word

Ayan: [without looking up from his book] yours

Akk: [blushing furiously] disgusting

Akk: say it again