#because Tonkla is not there but he also is

[yujeong]

"Marry me. And stop seeing that boy. The reason I've let you have all that fun is because I know that you'll think of me first when something goes wrong. And that boy is just a toy. Right? You don't have a choice. This is what you must trade." 4 Minutes (2024) | Episode Five

[divineandmajesticinone]

4 MINUTES (2024) I 1.03 "I didn't think you were like this. Like what? Like this..."

[the-wayside]

What makes me a bit feral is that it isn't even objectively wrong for Korn to 'teach' Tonkla about sex because he is being genuine about trying to be that person for Tonkla. Still, in doing so he inherently binds them in a slight level shift with Korn always on top.

And in the, I wouldn't say inverse, but Tyme doesn't approach the situation the same way. There are two clear points where he stops and considers whether he should do this with Great. Great backs off and let's Tyme come to his own conclusion. At no point does their intimacy feel unbalanced or that it something that is being done to the other person. It isn't a teaching moment, it's two people coming together to enjoy each other. I really like the choice of Great opening his eyes and checking on Tyme after he comes.

It's the difference between taking something and it being given.

[sherrymagic]

tagged by beloveds @zhouxiangs and @sanvees 🩷🩷🩷

as usual my picks prove i have insane range, and by insane i just literally mean... insane hajdakds

no pressure tags, feel free to ignore for whatever reason 🫶🏻✨: @iwantoceans @gawincaskey @uppoompat @ayansukkhaphisit @hyunsung @byemambo @errorkey + official edit with tags that tumblr ate up and made invisible for some reason but according to Jenn likely showed up in your notifs anyway: @first-kanaphan @puppy-phum @takaramagi 🩷

[respectthepetty]

Tyme is getting close to Great because he knows who Great's family is since he saw the card on the flowers and apparently wants to take them down.

Because he was quick to cross the barrier to speak to Great in the hospital.

While everyone else was quick to put up barriers between them and the others.

Each time.

And each pair was quick to show power dynamics by who stood and who sat.

(or kneeled)

But Great not only crossed the boundary, but also leveled the power dynamic.

Even though he was seen as a god-like being.

Since I think Tyme is the one going through cardiac arrest in the beginning of the series, I think the opening scenes are the future and Tonkla is getting revenge on whoever he believed killed his brother, so I think the rock the detective found wasn't this one

But instead the one Great used to hit Title so he could escape.

Which is why the rock was far away from the body.

Finally, blue is used in the hospital (as it should since it's a calming color), but the use of red feels significant since the patients Den spoke to only mentioned black and white, which are the colors of Tyme and Great, so seeing pops of red, which is used for blood and death could be important.

As if someone is coding.

Bonus: I wonder who Dome was supposed to see that night.

[istanchan]

Maybe a hot take but in my opinion the nc scene between Great and Tyme was perfect. Honestly my only issue was that it wasn’t long enough🥲

Like I have no words they were so soft and sweet and I know people were expecting something a lot more fast paced and extreme just because of every other nc scene in the show and also probably because of kinnporshe. BUT I feel like because it was the complete opposite the scene felt so much more impactful.

We’ve seen how sex in the show is used as a device for power. Primarily we’ve seen how Korn uses sex to assert power over Tonkla. And in turn Tonkla does the same to Win. And while she had only a few mins of screen time the sex scene between Fasai and Korn really portrayed their power dynamic as well.

But the intimacy between Great and Tyme isn’t as calculated. The scene is just so sweet. Tyme playing with Great’s hair and kissing him on the forehead first made me melt. THE NOSE KISS/BITE?!?!

They way they interact makes it seem as if they’ve known eachother forever. It makes us as the audience forget that these two characters are practically strangers and know nothing about one another.

And that’s where my issue comes in. Their scenes are so short. And there’s so much left unanswered. Like did Great not question Tyne about how his parents died? Does he not question Korn about what business he’s doing? How is he going to explain anything to his family and Korn?

I definitely think this is purposeful though. If this is Great having an out of body experience and just seeing not living everything happening it makes sense for the scenes to feel that way.

And the scenes between him and Tyme make sense. In his past/present timeline he must have loved Tyme so much that the love transcends time. (Haha)

I do hope though going forward the show focuses a bit more on Great and Tyme because there’s only 4 episodes left and there’s a lot that needs to be addressed.

And kudos to Jes and Bible for bringing these two to life.

[nozunhinged]

Okay okay okaaaayyyyy I swear I also have smart thoughts that are NOT related to boys artistically smashing on screen BUT korntonkla in 4 minutes is such a prime example of plot driven intimacy if not THE prime example in all of the BL I've watched so far. We all know mystery and timejumps and how they are done well and visuals we need to look for but when it comes to physical intimacy as a plot device everything suddenly goes to shit so here I am.

I'm going to explain why korntonklas scene was the perfect way to establish their relationship and how this is so, so, much more than just a "NC scene" (btw I HATE this acronym with a passion), it's an essential part of the story that cannot be left out.

But I do understand it's not everyone's cup of tea so I am going to seize screenshots or GIFs but plssssss keep reading the scene deserves it! Even more if you've skipped it!

Ok now with the disclaimers out of the way, let's talk about Korn and tonkla.

The flow of their scene was absolutely perfect from start to finish and not a single second was wasted. Their sugar relationship is established immediately with the topic of work as the center. Thanks to that we learn what their relationship is in the first place, which purpose it serves korn and what that says about him. His sweet words are the turning point to shift the focus on tonkla. They are too sweet, almost cheesy, they're empty and meaningless but we watch tonkla eating them up like candy and the stage is set for the exploration of their dynamic.

Tonklas way of rewarding these words, which brings us the iconic bareback moment.

Tonkla turns from cute and confident to incredibly needy the moment the heat turns up and we understand in a split second that he wants more from his daddy than just his dick. He wants his trust, a true connection, the level a relationship could potentially reach and his only chance in their current setting to articulate that is by yeah, asking if Korn could go in raw.

And how he doesn't even say no, he just rips the condom open.

Oh boy no dialogue in the world could replace THAT, I'm telling you. Now we know he uses his power in this moment to cover up his cowardice and acts like the one whos in control. I have a feeling this way of dealing with things will bite him in the ass later.

Meanwhile tonkla just takes everything he could get. And if that wasn't enough to let us know what's going on here, we double down with a round of helping tonkla cum.

That makes him look generous and loving and of course it would make tonklan even happier because that's (unfortunately) not the norm. Another way of covering up his uuh...let's call it mediocre performance.

But in tonklas eyes, he's so lucky to have him. Korns knows he has to take good care of his puppy if he wants to keep him. How do we learn that? Well in their afterglow all tonkla does is cling to Korn to bask in every moment he gets with him while Korn is completely out of it, visibly enjoying his stress relief.

And let's be real here, he may have jerked his boy off but dude held it for like 10 seconds before he busted whimpering like a damn loser no amount of money makes you this happy in the way tonkla is clinging to him. Puppy is down bad.

The conclusion of it all—the make out scene before they get interrupted—is the cherry on top, now we know how their dymanic works and how it functions in the overall story. Chefs kiss, I'm telling you.

I could go on how many plot points we've established in this one intimate scene but this is already too long uuuugh.

Korn and his relationship with tonkla painted a perfect picture of his character and the issues he has and will have to deal with and I'm telling you there was NO BETTER WAY to establish than with this scene.

And I haven't even touched on the natural movements of the actors, the realistic flow of things that make everything so palpable, tiny details like Korn holding his dick after he lubed it up. It's not relevant to the plot but makes the intented plot points SHINE because you don't stumble over clunky or unrealistic execution and can concentrate on what's happening with the characters UGHHHHHH SO GOOD!!!

Man that's A+ direction and I'm in absolute awe.

[lurkingshan]

Things That Have My Attention in 4 Minutes Episode 2

Great is truly an unusually unlikeable protagonist. The fact that Title is his closest friend speaks volumes, as does his mild reaction when Title bragged that he had locked up his girlfriend. Great really didn't care until the situation suddenly escalated to Title asking him to help murder someone, and even then he tried to just leave Dome to his death before the powers yanked him back.

Speaking of, it seems the 4 minutes reset is activated whenever Great makes a cowardly and shitty choice. The powers that be want him to be a better person.

I am also curious about why Dome has been watching Title. He already had that phone set up to record him and View, and he also made sure her friend knew to go looking for her. Does he like her?

I was very interested in the reveal that Korn has another arrangement going on with Fah, the daughter of the man he seems to go to for shady assistance when he fucks up, in this case by trying to expand the gambling operation too quickly and leaving them vulnerable to a hack. And in this relationship, Korn is the subordinate one. Gives new shading to the way he treats Tonkla, with him is where he gets his power back.

And speaking of Tonkla, that appears to be him in the hoodie at the start of the episode bashing someone's head with a rock--which implies he killed his own brother?! But then was also mourning him, and not just performatively because we saw him alone.

Between the spooky cat last week and the quick and disturbing cuts while he was grieving, I am getting the sense that Tonkla is mentally unwell. Perhaps he doesn't even remember he is the one who killed his brother??

They didn't show us that picture he was hugging for a reason. Who is Tonkla's brother!

Tyme's primping and flirting this episode was very funny. I also got a kick out of the cockblock nurse constantly catching him, and his stumbling to explain how he just happened to be there when Great got attacked (he doesn't have any friends, let alone one who could afford to live in Great's neighborhood).

And to tie him into the other plot, that was him at the end receiving the data from the lady hacker, right? Is it Great's family that he is in debt to?

Noting also that the suicidal woman's son is already dead, so won't be revealed to be anyone in the story.

I continue to be so impressed with the filming and editing of this story, it's gorgeous and there is so much going on in every frame that it's hard to keep track of it all. In this episode it's the image of the red umbrella going flying that is sticking with me.

We continue to see 11:00 constantly. I think others have theorized that this is the time of the cardiac arrest event Great is likely experiencing, and when the clock moved to 11:01, it was ominous as fuck. Is that an indicator that his time in this experience is running out? Does he only have until 11:04?

This show is taking over my brain, come tell me your theories.

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

How am I supposed to deal with the fact that Tonkla see's his dead cat as a constant reminder of him playing within the system (going to cops to get rid of his dad) and it backfiring and leading to his cat dying.

Which directely lead to him killing his dad and taking a life. Something that has my 100% approval. But probably fucked with his head enough to lead him to drugs and sex as a dual coping mechanism from hell.

Something that also lead him to Korn, someone who looked a knight in shining armour that has since basically dumped him in a house and uses him for sex and nothing else.

How am I supposed to deal with the fact that he tried to put his faith in Win. But he had the constant reminder of the last time he lost something important weighing him down. That he was staring at collar of his dead cat. The reminder of what playing within the system gets you. And the reminder what of what he himself can do. Of what he did the last time the system didn't help.

How am I supposed to deal with the fact that he has apparently been seeing the cat as a constant reminder of what he did and what he can do for years now. Since he was 18.

How am I supposed to deal with Dome being a super good and kind kid. That wanted to do the right thing, go to the cops again and called an ambulance even if he hated his dad. Because he doesn't want anyone to die.

How do you expect me not to want him to have a happy ending????? How do you expect me not to root for him???????? How can I not love him?????

SAMMON IF YOU DO NOT GIVE TONKLA A HAPPY ENDING YOU AND I WILL HAVE WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cornyonmains]

Great being like, "Listen, the dick was so good I'm ready to film a six part anthology series," is something I'm still trying to emotionally process.

It's such a stark contrast to the character we're seeing in the timeline he's imagining/changing/discombobulating. It's a jarring and inappropriate response to a terrible betrayal, but also one that kind of makes sense for a spoiled college kid who has never known accountability, consequence, or structure. The entire situation was all novelty and kink for him, because that's all it ever has to be with his family's money and influence. He was enchanted by the fact Tyme would even dare.

This show really seems to be focusing in on how the sins of the parents can impact the children. Great, Tyme, Korn, and Tonkla are all in relationships where the actions of their parents have deeply warped their ability to have relationships. Great's self-destructing with sex and alcohol, Korn is in a loveless relationship with Fasai to maintain the family's stability, Tonkla attached himself to a rich man that can't really be with him to escape an abusive household, and Tyme has essentially been frozen in his emotional development since the death of his parents, who may not be so innocent themselves.

And what's at the core of all this timeline fuckery?

The woman Great hit with her car. The one parent we've seen in the entire series who actually seems to give a shit about their kid.

It's episode 6 and I still have more questions than answers.

[yujeong]

Alright, that's enough. I need everyone to be normal about Tonkla right the fuck now.

The takes I've seen about that man have made me lose my mind, to the point where I'm wondering if I've been watching the same show as everyone else. From him spreading diseases to his partners to him faking his grief and doing everything he does for attention, I've been quite perplexed while exploring the show's tags on here and on Twitter to say the least.

Guys. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Tonkla is NOT a difficult character to understand. Korn is arguably more of an inscrutable character than him.

Tonkla has been grieving since we first met him; at first his relationship with Korn that's changed to the point of no return and later his brother who got murdered.

That's it. I don't know why we're demonizing a man who 1) likes having sex and 2) is using sex to get the affection - affection, not attention - he seeks from the man whom he loves and from the man who loves him but Tonkla doesn't.

(I know why and I'll rant in the tags about it 🙂)

And while we're on the subject, I need everyone to be normal about Fuaiz, too, because the takes about his taking this role are even worse. People calling what BOC did by casting him grooming, calling the fans groomers and pedophiles, and so on and so forth.

Are you serious? Are you for real?

Fuaiz played White in DFF who was crying and being in distress 90% of the time, a show which included a scene where he pretended to get stabbed and where he got shaken by Jjay who was screaming to his face. I watched the BTS clip of that - the kid needed a moment to calm down from that experience.

Do you care about that in the same way or is it only a problem when he's pretending to get fucked on screen in a secluded, safe environment with a fucking Intimacy Director involved?

I can totally understand feeling uncomfortable about his age or about the age gap between him and Bas. I'm not judging anyone for that. But there's a difference between feeling discomfort and turning that discomfort into a morality issue. Please stop doing that.

[fiddleyoumust]

Using Tonkla in the first four episodes to ground us in reality, while we're all charmed by imaginary Great and Tyme is a stroke of brilliance. Tonkla is a sympathetic character in any timeline, so even when he's being self-destructive and making awful choices, we understand him.

Great and Tyme were awful people in the original timeline. Had we been given real Great and Tyme in episode one, there would be zero reason to root for them. But, now we've had a glimpse of the people they might have been had they made different choices.

I'm not super invested in them getting a happy ending together or separate given what we know now, but I do like that Great's regrets in the imaginary timeline put our emotions in turmoil. Is he a bad person, or did he just make bad choices?

I also want to point out that in the imaginary timeline, Great still tries to both excuse and atone for Manee's death. Manee is the one who tells us she jumped in front of his car and was trying to kill herself. We don't actually know how she ended up being hit by Great, and if that was just an excuse Great's brain made up to try and absolve himself. We also don't know if her son really killed himself because of Great's family or if that, and the subsequent murder of his mother and him being shot, was his brain's way of making him pay for killing Manee.

Anyway, I love this show. I hope we get some Tyme POV next week since I still think he is also having an OOBE.

[vegaseatsass]

Tragic and painful to have to make rushed little text posts before hopping offline and never getting to interact w/ the rest of the fandom butttttttt AH, 4 MINUTES, HOW DO I LOVE THEE? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

Original timeline Great is my new favorite character (though Tonkla can cage fight him for it next ep when he's back on my screen), and original timeline Great/Tyme is so very very VERY my shit. Orig timeline Great, someone who is used to horrible things happening around him/because of him, being full shrug emoji at horrible things being done TO him - at a hot doctor stalking him, seducing him, and non-consensually filming him and publicly exposing the footage - in fact, learning that Hot Doctor did all this to fuck with Great's stepdad just makes Great want him more - absolute character perfection, to me. The way you can see the raw material for who Great becomes when he has the superpower to make different choices - someone who wants to do good (to lock down that hot doctor who has utterly dickmatized him, mainly, lol but I think he also does just want to be better than his father and family, sincerely), but who is so totally acclimated to bad as his baseline, that it doesn't occur to him until afterwards that he could do anything but witness and enable all the violence around him. Never have I been so compelled by a character getting do-over powers, because never have I met one so human in his cowardice and inertia and instinctual, nurtured, self-loathed selfishness.

And GreatTyme is just so much more delicious to me as a ship in this form. Tyme clocked Great as a Sriwatsombat and a gay mark and immediately ruthlessly tracked him down, tumbled him into bed and made sure to film it. Like he came up with that plan so QUICKLY and so READILY and the only sign of hesitation he really showed was in the actual uploading of footage. All the awkward wincing pick-up line clumsiness we see in the new timeline is missing from original timeline Tyme. He isn't trying to get into Great's heart, just his pants, and there is literally zero hesitation when that's his goal. Being smooth at human kindness: AHHHHH. Being smooth at manipulation, sexual terrorism and ice cold revenge: He's in his element.

Idk I'm just obsessed y'all. Great's FIRST question was "Why haven't you answered my texts?" his SECOND question was "Why didn't you post that on Onlyfans and make some money?" only his THIRD question was "Why did you do that?" and his FOURTH question was "You're fighting with my dad? Wickeddddddddddd"

[respectthepetty]

Give me merch, BoC!

Before I freak out about colors in episode three of 4 Minutes, just know that if this was a time-traveling show on GMMTV, the cats in the claw machine would've been merch yesterday!

BoC, why don't you want our money?!

But even without making them merch, these cats made my day!

And it's all because Great gave Tyme the white one.

Tyme is color-coded black and Great is color-coded white.

So each cat represents them in this time-shifting story, and Great gave himself to Tyme by giving him the white cat.

And strangely enough, these color-coded boys won several cats which is a successful date, but also something something about several versions of themselves existing within the story . . .

But what really makes me happy is each cat has a heart in the other color on its side, so when held together, those heart patches form a dual-colored heart!

And although I think Tyme approached Great because he wanted information on Great's family, the boys got hit with a tiny blinding light of love right before they were supposed to kiss.

And Tyme did expose himself to Great instead of fighting him even though he could have easily overpowered Great, which is something we saw when Tyme fought Title.

Because this story is really about the gray area everyone is existing in.

When Win showed up the first time, Tonkla was guarded with a boundary firmly planted between them and Win was light.

But this episode, Tonkla removed his barrier, and let Win in, but Win, in his dark colors, definitely crossed a line he shouldn't have.

Win is a good guy.

And so is Korn.

But circumstances and choices change people.

And even the best people are capable of doing bad.

So it's interesting that Tyme has been positioned in black from the beginning even though he is a doctor.

And Great is positioned as white even though we have seen him run away from doing what's right several times.

Yet when Tyme went to ask Great out and Great confessed to seeing the future, Tyme was in gray as he shifts between the two colors.

Great's interactions with Tyme advance the clock a minute closer to 11:04 from 11:00, but the number four is special, as many people have pointed out because it represents death.

And Great keeps getting closer and closer.

So him throwing down his phone causing the number four ball to roll into the pocket was perhaps telling that it's not all Tyme moving the clock, but just like Win and Korn and their colors, Great's choices are moving the clock and impacting his life.

Doctors save lives, but we have been shown through the woman who tried to die by suicide and the patient this episode in Bed #4, that doctors also need to know when to listen and end a patient's suffering.

(Spare Me Your Mercy, I'm so ready for you and your color-coded boys in love to give us a story about these specific ethics! I'm going to watch you so hard!)

Tyme continues to say he isn't a doctor but a surgeon. Tyme doesn't listen to his patients, which is why Den is upset at him. And Tyme isn't listening to Great because if he was he'd hear exactly what is being said - "these symptoms happened when [the] heart stopped"

Tyme needs Great to remind him, that regardless of the past, it's important to listen and care, and Great needs Tyme to listen to his sad rich boy stories. They need each other to save each other. Triage, is that you homie in a trench coat and mustache glasses?!

But more importantly, they need each other to save each other's hearts! Great needs Tyme to literally save his life by saving his heart, but Tyme was hardening his heart. He had stated several times that he is in his career for the money, but Great reminded Tyme that money was irrelevant if the love was missing with his story of a 1,000 baht toy. They have both good and bad in them, but they need the other color-coded person to be complete. They need the other person to live.

Since I still believe Tyme is the one having cardiac arrest in the first episode, if one of them actually gives up his heart to save the other, I'm gonna be unwell about it.

Random Thoughts:

The friend calling Tyme a "pale guy, very handsome, and kinda brooding" hit me personally because I call characters who are black color-coded Black Brooders and Tyme is the Black Brooder in this story.

Great seeing the message on the tea cup change from "Don't forget to get your wound checked at the hospital" to "Can you forgive me, Great?" has me thinking this won't just be about Tyme trying to get dirt on Great's family and Great being upset about. That question feels heavier. That question feels like both their lives are changed by Tyme.

The female patient who experiences the same symptoms as Great was wearing white and black when she was being interviewed, but when Great envisioned a woman on the bed, red lights were flashing, like they were meeting while coding.

The way the red reflects on Great's shirt in the car makes it look like a heart on his sleeve when he looks at Tyme.

MY BOY MIO!

[le-trash-prince]

WAIT Y’ALL SAMMON POSTED A CAT GRAPHIC WITH SCHRÖDINGER’S EQUATION???

WAS I ON THE MARK WITH MY DOME = SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT THEORY???? Quick someone who understands quantum mechanics talk about a particle existing in multiple states simultaneously until wave function collapse occurs

bc I’ve been thinking about this since Friday night—to me we aren’t looking at multiple timelines, we’re looking at a single timeline where Dome exists in multiple states: alive and dead. (Aside from the ending scene of ep 4, my primary support for this is the fact that Korn shows up at Tonkla’s with the neck wound he received from Tyme)

I think potentially anyone whose life Great saved could be in the same condition as Dome—except that Manee’s son was already dead. There was no one left to mourn her and hold her in that potential state of being dead, the way that Tonkla does for Dome. Everyone who sees her only knows her as being alive, and so her state is fixed. (Am I making sense? I feel like this sounds super abstract but I promise this makes sense in my head)

But that’s not the case for Nam, since Tyme would mourn her, but—and I’m gonna throw in more symbolic quantum mechanics here—I think Tyme could be in a state of quantum entanglement with Great. They are two parts of a whole that, even when separated by physical distance great enough that communication is impossible, share the same state—such as their death. So because they’re entangled, Tyme’s perception of the world is influenced by Great’s perception of the world, therefore he observes Nam as being alive.

Some of this may be wildly off the mark, but I do think Dome is both alive and dead in the same timeline. And also I do think Great and Tyme’s fates are intertwined.

(If they do represent parts of a whole, I would love to hear thoughts from someone who has a better understanding than me about yin and yang bc that’s what their colors feel like to me.)

[hotasfahrenheit]

anyone else spend the past week thinking about how it's not just that Tonkla pushed Korn out of the way to take the bullet for Korn, but also that the reason Win drew on Korn to begin with was because Korn was about to shoot Win and by pushing Korn aside, he stopped Korn from being able to shoot his gun at all?

he was trying to save them both, and in the end he only saved Win.

Tonkla was on a mission of vigilante justice for this whole show, and he made sure that the one person who was not actually associated with crime or anyone's death or murders, who had spent the whole time trying to get justice for Dome and Tonkla, who had tried to help even tho things were constantly taken out of his hands and every trail he followed led to a dead end, was the one who survived.

Tonkla died thinking that both of the men who loved him were alive, that he had stopped them from killing each other. that they would both live even if he didn't.

it just makes everything sadder.