#FISH UPON THE SKY (FUTS)

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Mix Sahaphap gets to perform (and has the performance chops to perform) in a style that I’ve never seen any other male actor get to embody. Mix gets to unironically play the #strongfemalecharacter. The Beatrice, the Elizabeth Bennett, the Jo March. Strong-willed, emotional, kind-hearted.

Not only do the plot points line up, but Mix, more than any BL actor I’ve seen, fully leans into the embodiment of this archetype. In his roles, he rolls his eyes, pouts, banters flirtatiously, softens his posture and expression at small details. He doesn’t over-exaggerate and imposition other characters but his face also doesn’t hold back his character’s thoughts and judgments. And when the moments arrive, he lets all the hurt and anguish pour out in shatters of tears and visible heartbreak—the star-counting scene, anyone????—in a way that harkens to the operatic emotionality of well-done melodramas, soap-operas, and their contemporary Thai equivalent of Lakorn. It’s only that these have never been men’s roles in those.

It’s no surprise that one of Mix’s roles—Cupid’s Last Wish—is explicitly a gender body-swap, and Tian in A Tale of Thousand Stars is (albeit explicitly denied within the show) heavily connected to gender body-swapping. What Mix specializes in as an actor, and does exceptionally well, has been defined as feminine. To depict a kind of queer expression in this style is novel because it’s not camp, it’s not okama, it’s not a soft or femboy, it’s not a BL twink (Mix has been mostly excluded from the schoolyards and quads of the BL universe except for a role as a senior crush in Fish Upon the Sky). It’s too sincere and too adult for any of that.

In Moonlight Chicken we get to see, without the pretense of gendered mysticism, this performance style’s seduction, warmth, wit, and explosiveness within the framework of a general gay form of expression. It says that this kind of femininity might just be a gay thing. Not all gay men exhibit it, obviously—queer men aren’t a monolith. Still, it gives us something to consider about how we observe performance of queerness on screen, especially in front of an audience that puts so much more emphasis on ships, heat, and pairing chemistry to assess how well they perform a BL role. Could we look for other features to judge performance of queerness instead of how well they kiss?

Seme and uke roles would be the major performance style categories loyal BL fans assess actors with, yet even within the archetype his character’s fill within BL narratives, Mix’s performances differ from the typical uke depiction in BL because he really doesn’t perform them as passive. Rather, Mix’s characters and his portrayal of them are dynamic and demanding. It certainly fits certain stereotypes of ukes (Gilbert!) and their gay stereotype equivalent of bottoms as pillow princesses and brats. Mix’s characters, though, have more drive, agency, and compassion than that, and he plays them with all of those currents running underneath.

We certainly have openly gay writer/director Aof Noppharnach to thank for writing this kind of queer character for Mix to play in Tian and Wen. But for Mix’s specific commitment to the performance starting off with his (debut!?) role in ATOTS, we first have Earth to thank for believing in Mix’s ability and recommending him to portray the role of Tian, and then Aof’s acceptance despite his differing initial expectations for the character. Mix, Earth, and Aof have all been open about how Mix in his personal life and nature holds a lot of similarities to both his role as Tian in ATOTS and Wen in Moonlight Chicken. Some people might knock points off his performances because he’s like them. But his relationship to the characters, rather than dampening my enthusiasm for Mix’s performances, helps me appreciate his willingness to give an authentic performance in a style that hasn’t been encouraged on screens previously. It’s made more impactful that he chose to risk vulnerability to bring something personal that had previously been excluded from screens because of its gender deviance (and in broader society explicitly condemned). This doesn’t make a claim on Mix’s actual identity, but simply shows his willingness to understand and perform the expressions of his queer characters with an effort at empathy that many other actors would feel challenged to bring.

Some actors are chameleons, but some actors have a gift of a type within which they can explore depths and range that no one else can best. For me, that’s what Mix does in his work when directors and casting understands his talent. There’s a BTS video of Mix actually fainting during a scene while in Earth/Phupa’s embrace on the mountain that immediately brought to mind the wildly famous final scene in the film Camille where Greta Garbo as Marguerite dies in her lover’s arms.

For Mix, it was a serious incident due to regrettably extreme conditions and requiring the on-set paramedics, but these levels of theatrics, for me, are emblematic of what Mix is capable of as a performer, as well. After all, he had to faint in Phupa’s arms multiple times on purpose. It’s the kinds of Old Hollywood and heightened sentimental romance realms Mix takes his performances to! Then he can turn around and make it look easy to take that same character into grounded quips or dedicated everyday tasks. It only takes writers, directors, and audiences willing to see that men can feel this way and act this way. Mix has paved the way.

[nanihirunkits]

Be my boyfriend?

FISH UPON THE SKY | EP12

[negrowhat]

[bl-bracket]

Deserved Better Prelims: Pi (Fish Upon the Sky)

"Mork was just not a good boyfriend to him. He was way to insistent and violated Pi’s boundaries constantly"

[jyuubin]

FISH UPON THE SKY (2021) HIDDEN AGENDA (2023) ↳ a small "twitter thread" between futs and hidden agenda based on ep 1 (@sparklyeyedhimbo, i hope you see the vision)

{ID is in the ALT}

— ©jyuubin

[therethatstar]

fish upon the sky is genuinely so dumb that it’s so good. it gets better each rewatch too. i don’t know what the writer was on when they wrote that but i kind of need them to be on that shit again. they just don’t make bl that unserious anymore and quite frankly? i think they should

[petrichoraline]

[justafriend-ql]

I knew absolutely nothing about sociability. People said that I had bad taste and liked to do weird things around other people. PHUWIN TANGSAKYUEN as "PI" PATTAWEE FISH UPON THE SKY (2021)

[dribs-and-drabbles]

The Thai Communal Wardrobe item #94

Fish Upon the Sky ep 6:

21 Days Theory ep 3:

[naniskys]

every time peem makes that judgy face at phum, i keep expecting him to start going "sutthaya, ai sutthaya" as well 😭😭

[nanihirunkits]

Always taking advantage of me. You kissed me again. So? So? So it’s my turn.

FISH UPON THE SKY | EP12

[randomjreader]

When watching this scene, all I could think about...

...was this scene

[doestheqlcharacterkeeptheglasses]

PI - Fish Upon The Sky

Does this character keep their glasses?

NO.

Pi gets a makeover in episode 2 and loses his glasses.

[braceletofteeth]

We must create a situation to provoke him.

[fuck-i-like-too-much-stuff]

We know that Phum and Peem would definitely move into a beach side mansion.

We know that Palm and Nueng would probably move into a beach side mansion.

Do we know if Mork and Pi would even move in together?

[gmmtv-bl-tournament]

GMMTV BL Tournament - Round 1