#first time i am watching a show with joongdunk and i enjoy them

[ctl-yuejie]

you remembered, quite observant ｜hidden agenda ep. 1

[nnnn99999]

Finally getting to my thoughts on the heart killers episode 1 and honestly it was better than I expected. Maybe it's because I didn't have many expectations to begin with. As long as I have my beloved joongdunk on my screen together I am a happy woman. But this episode was so fun and interesting and I am so excited for what's to come. I have so much I want to talk about so I think I'm going to make separate posts about each of them. Yes I am writing 10 different essays at the same time just like I did with bbs and that is a good thing. It means I am excited about the show itself and not just the actors. It was more than an hour long episode (I love that it was so long) and I enjoyed every moment of it.

I love the pacing of this episode too. It's not rushed at all, yet it's jam packed and doesn't waste time on unnecessary things. Except the burger mukbangs by First. Why was there an asmr burger mukbang not once but twice in this episode? I mean I don't mind but the question remains. This was the one thing that totally threw me off guard. Again I am not upset about it at all but I can't stop thinking why this decision was made? Is it because everyone in that production team loves watching First eat? Actually, that is quite a reasonable speculation. Yes I dedicated an entire paragraph to First's mukbangs because I really can't stop thinking about it.

I am so so glad my beloved joongdunk got the opportunity to be part of a production like this. This is so different from their previous projects and I can already see that they got the chance to explore as actors in ways they couldn't before. And I love that for them. My joongdunk heart is happy and content.

Also have to mention I love firstkhao in this too. I may focus more on joongdunk because I am a hardcore joongdunk simp but I really do appreciate all the other people involved in this project as well. Everyone put a lot of love and effort into this show and I appreciate that.

I don't know how this series will turn out in the future. But I already know I am going to love it. It has everything I enjoy- a fun story, interesting characters and character dynamics, fun lighting choices that contribute to the storytelling, music that sets the tone of the scenes, my favorite kind of pacing, good actors, good production and most importantly my beloved joongdunk. Thank you so much Jojo for bringing this show to life. I am eagerly anticipating what's to come and I am having a blast along the way.

The fact that we are going to get most of the scenes from the trailer and the bts photos in the first 2 episodes already is so exciting to me as well. This means we have no idea what will happen after ep 3. And that is so fun and exciting. I love that they did that. It makes me anticipate what's to come even more. Jojo, I love you, I really do. This show of yours is right up my alley.

Fun fact about me that nobody asked for: I have not seen 10 things I hate about you. Which is actually pretty weird because I have seen most romcoms from that time period, some even less popular than this one. I don't know why or how I missed it. I also refuse to read Shakespeare for very petty reasons. So yeah, I really have no idea what to expect from thk. But that makes it extra fun for me.

[twig-tea]

Thai QL Favorites Tag Game

Tagged by @telomeke and @waitmyturtles, thank you both for the tag!

Credit: this game was created by @thatgirl4815 as Thai BL Favorites Tag Game.

I want you all to know before I start that asking for favourites is biphobic so you're going to have to ignore the places where I bent/ignored the rules about how many choices I was allowed to have. Also, this is so long, and took forever, I'm so sorry:

Favorite Thai QL:

I could caveat this until the end of time, but I'm going to go with the definition of "favourite" that's "has a special place in my heart" rather than necessarily "best"; and that's undoubtedly Until We Meet Again. I got very not normal about this show. When it was airing, I used to rewatch every episode before the new episode, and then rewatch the newly aired episode at least once before binging the show to date again. And I've binged it several times since. Sometimes if I need to cry, I'll put on the first 10 minutes and ugly-sob. This show felt like an apology and catharsis for years of built-up bury-your-gays induced trauma from queer media, in addition to a balm for all of the external relationship drama tropes in BL. I think I've talked about it around here somewhere before, how this show sets up all of the tropes for things that go wrong for couples in BL, and then everything is fine, over and over? And it was airing during the very start of the pandemic before the world was calling it a pandemic, when I was so worried about everything and governments hadn't caught up to being afraid yet, and I felt so alone, and this show over and over again said "it'll be ok", at a time I really needed to hear that. Plus it's got the whole epic-love-story-across-lives and the family acceptance redemption arc that as a still-only-partially-out-to-my-family-in-my-30s queer absolutely destroys me. Anyway, there are other shows that I would agree are as good or better (shout out to He's Coming to Me, I Told Sunset about You, Bad Buddy, Not Me, The Eclipse), but UWMA remains my fave (and gets two gifs for being top spot).

Favorite Pairing: I have seen this interpreted as branded pairs & as fictional couple, so I'm going to take that excuse to answer both questions. I'm honestly not a fan branded pairs as a thing and agree with @lurkingshan's comments on this, I tend to prefer it when people continuously work with different actors. That being said, JoongDunk seem to be having a lot of fun with the whole fanservice game, which is fun to watch for as long as they're enjoying themselves and continue to be in on the joke, which seems to be the case.

Fictional couple? Right at this moment I am still thinking about Khatha and Dome from Midnight Museum. I think this one hit me in my Chinese epics button, because the story felt a lot like a danmei (not the least because you could argue it reads as censored bromance). But this show asks questions about fate, God, the devil, multiverses, and then has its characters choosing to reject all of the above in order to choose each other? SIGN ME UP. Legitimately it's the most fun I've had watching a tv show in awhile, it was bananas, and I loved the journey of Khatha figuring out who Dome was in relationship to Chan, and deciding to love Dome as Dome, at the same time that Dome was also figuring out who he was, and deciding he preferred who he was when he was with Khatha. But also just Tor + Gun are incredible actors (Tor having been a stand-out since Hormones and Gun of course since The Blue Hour) and I would watch either of them in anything, but together they were magnetic (and evidence for my earlier point re: branded pairs, as much as I enjoy Off & Gun together!).

Most underrated actor: I'm going to say James Teeradon. He had a few small roles in Hormones 2 & 3, Diary of Tootsies, and The Stranded, and he had the main role in Project S: Skate our Souls and in Great Men Academy. First, I should say, you could argue none of these classify as BLs. Second, all of these have trigger warnings, so please take care of yourself and feel free to ask if you want content warnings. But he's one of those actors who never looks like the same person in each role he's playing, and he absolutely gives me shivers. His performance as Boo in Skate our Souls was legitimately chill-inducing--this one in particular has serious trigger warnings, I put off watching it for a long time because I knew about the warnings and waited until I was in the right headspace, and it still messed with me for weeks. But oh man, oh man that show, it rewrote part of my DNA. I don't even know that under-rated is fair to say since there was buzz around him when he was in these shows a few years ago, but he was trying to make it as part of a band for awhile and he hasn't been in much since. If there's one person I want to see in something else who a lot of other people don't talk about these days, it's James.

Cheating and taking the opportunity to choose a second actor from definitely-a-BL series: Fluke Chinnathan from Second Chance the Series. While Second Chance had a lot of flaws, the acting by Fluke and Tong was stellar. Their micro-expressions and body language was unreal. I feel strongly enough about this that I wrote an ode to it as part of the BL-Bracket for best kiss scene. No idea what Fluke is up to or if he even wants to keep acting, but I'd love to see him in something else--he's one of the only other actors (than James, mentioned above) that I'll go in to MyDramaList occasionally just to check to see if they're in anything new. PS if you do give Second Chance a shot, please know going in that Run and Games, real life brothers who are both actors, are both in this series but never in a scene together, and their characters are similar, so a lot of people have trouble telling them apart without knowing there are two different characters in the show.

(Also, I 100% would have said Suar for this question before La Pluie, because he did not get enough credit for You're My Sky and I think he was incredible).

Favorite Character: Honestly, I've deleted my answer to this so many times now. Choosing one is so hard! I'm going to go with White from Not Me. Incredibly loyal, strong moral values (but willing to break the rules/law to fulfil those values because he understands that law ≠ morality), self-sacrificing, extremely competent in some ways, but also has serious blind spots in others that leads to him making very silly choices especially around who they trust, lacking in self esteem especially around whether or not people will want him around. The way he chooses to give up his privilege--not for his brother, because he could have found a way to go back to his old life after everything if he wanted--because he saw what was wrong with all of it and decided to do what he could to help fix it (and not participate in it) is something that really resonated with me. I also love that he is an absolute marshmallow who cannot hide that fact. Plus White being a disaster bi who wanted Sean from the beginning endeared him to me forever. And it doesn't hurt that he's played by Gun Atthaphan

Favorite Side Character: I have also started and stopped this section so many times. Natty and her absolutely terrible taste in women from Diary of Tootsies, Na being at some points the only reason I kept watching Tonhon Chonlatee, Namo being smart enough to know to pretend she doesn't know what's going on in Not Me, Tong the ecovillage owner from Bad Buddy, Daisy and their incredible gender and mix of self esteem + self esteem issues in Secret Crush on You.

Alright I'm giving it to Dream in Something in My Room. I don't have good reasons for this; her character was artistic, had supernatural powers, green asymmetrical hair, and was stoic with a hidden dark past, and I am a simple woman. I wanted to know everything about her.

Favorite scene in a QL: How can I choose just one?! I'm choosing three and you can't stop me.

Third place, Not Me, with Sean and White under the pride flag. It has everything: It's iconic, it's cinematic, it's cathartic, it's political, it's a critical character moment, it has great music, it's full of queer joy, and it brings me so much happiness every time I see it.

Second: Dean and Pharm in front of the Pra Aphai Mani & sea ogress sculptures in the aquarium in Until We Meet Again. Partially because I love aquariums so much, partially because this sequence is one of the first ones we really get to see the hints of Intouch in Pharm. The way he moves around that aquarium is nothing like how he moves at school or his condo, and it's one of the things that struck me so hard on rewatch; while that scene did so much work towards establishing their characters the first time around, the second+ time it has so much more meaning. The throwaway line by Pharm about relating to the ogress now gives me chills.

Plus the way the aquarium scene got called back in I Promise You the Moon makes me really happy.

But first and top, the one that will forever live in my mind for the way it made me feel in my body: Teh and Oh-Aew on the rug in I Told Sunset About You. That moment, my god. Butterflies. Chills. Chewing glass. Devastation. I don't know that I've ever felt any other scene so viscerally; it transported me back to being a teenager and cuddling in clearly non-platonic ways with my bestie and wondering what was happening. Thinking about it now still gives me goosebumps. Maybe a bit of a weird choice because of the pain but I don't shy away from some pain in my faves!

Favorite line in a QL: Honestly I could put one of several meaningful quotes in here, probably the ones I've thought about most being the one from Bad Buddy that a few other folks have noted ("I may not be able to change the world but the world can't change me either"); and "can't we just get a little bit of space?" from The Warp Effect that I mentioned in my Silvy appreciation post. but the first thing that came to mind was this cracktastic banger moment from En of Love: This is Love Story that runs through my head every time a character P-Nong's someone when they don't mean it like that (and especially when newbies get confused about whether characters are actually related):

"'P' but not brothers; the way 'daddy' [said in English] doesn't really mean father. You get it?"

--Param, being a little shit (affectionate)

But also I think special mention needs to go to this new and immediate classic by Tien in La Pluie:

Most Anticipated QL (& why): I am very excited for 23.5 and Only Friends, also WuJu Bakery (does that count if it's Korean but starring Thai actors?) but....This is niche and might never happen, but MindTrio announced awhile ago that they were going to put out Chemistry in Love, which was either a sequel or related to Calculating Love? Listen, this is a low-budget production company making a slightly quirky trope-filled shorts that tend to have pretty cinematography but falter a bit on plot and pacing, and in Calculating Love the main character hits on his love interest with a series of math/graphing equations and coffee. I fully acknowledge that I am a particular kind of nerd, but I just really, really want to see people flirting with their Extremely Geeky special interests. Some sort of of follow-up to Calculating Love has been a maybe-thing since 2020, so it's most anticipated by amount of time I've been waiting. I have a list of 290 "upcoming" shows that may or may not ever happen so I'll stop there.

Healthiest relationship in a QL: I was very persuaded by @waitmyturtles' arguments re: King and Uea, and I thought about My Only 12% and even wrote a whole thing about Tinn and Gun from MSP before deleting it.

But I'm going to use this soapbox to give a hot take and say, by the end of the series, that it's Nuea and Toh from Secret Crush on You. Both of them have secretly loved each other for the whole series, and shown it in their own very unhealthy ways: Toh by keeping a collection of everything that reminds him of Nuea, and Nuea by being extremely cool-guy persona around Toh. But by the end, both of them have aired their insecurities about their relationship, and have committed to working on their relationship together. Toh stops assuming that they will break up (which Nuea explained was hurtful to him) and declares he'll fight for their relationship in front of Nuea's parents, and Nuea allows himself to be seen as very uncool through his vulnerability, and is more open about his uncool thoughts and feelings. I remember them being surprisingly healthy about jealousy too, once they're together, showing trust in one another when that photography club kid shows up. Nuea also makes a really sweet gesture that I think gets misunderstood at the end of the show; Toh explains that his collection makes him happy, that Nuea is more important so he'll give it up if he has to but he really, really does not want to. So Nuea finds a way to make the collection about them rather than about him, so that he can embrace it too and be less discomfited by it. I feel like there's not enough "meeting people where they are", and too many makeover fantasies in romance for my tastes. Instead, Secret Crush on You said listen, people are weird, and we all just need to find the other weirdos whose jagged edges fit with ours. And it's work figuring out together how they will fit, and they won't fit perfectly, but that's ok. As long as everyone is comfortable, it can be a little weird. It may be less realistic than say the way similar themes are handled in Utsukushii Kare, because behavioural change (especially around self-worth) is hard irl, but the question wasn't about which relationship is most realistic lol SCOY also said embrace cringe culture and I am here for it even if it is sometimes hard to watch because it is SO CRINGE; but I respect it for living its truth.

Most toxic relationship in a QL: Oof. I am a strong believer in "if it works for them, that's their business", as is probably evident from above, but the reveal of what was going on with King and Peat in Love Area (parts 1 & 2) was really next level BS and managed to be both toxic and ableist, so it gets a special mention and no gif.

Guilty pleasure series: I don't really subscribe to feeling guilty about liking things, but I have a bunch that don't get a lot of love and I fully understand why lol In addition to the example of Calculating Love above (which is like, a 6 on MDL, and TBH harsh but fair), I really enjoyed I Will Knock You. Maybe it was just the novelty but I loved the character of Noey so much, his vintage aesthetic, the amount of time spent around and in temples, and the most adorable closing credit sequence of all time (shows that have closing credit sequences that reflect the main relationship in the show is one of my favourite tropes!). The criticisms about it, especially the ones about the Thi character, are fully valid and I would not actually recommend it without a lot of caveats (e.g. warnings for blushing virgin trope + age gap, and sooort of glorification of gang membership?), but I had a great time.

Also maybe Y-Destiny episodes 9 & 10? Tohru and First as Kaeng and Puth, whew. I have a special place in my heart for storylines where the characters sleep together as friends with benefits and then have to renegotiate those boundaries because I've lived it more than once lol (Only Friends when?!). But the ending episode for the series was actually so offensively bad, I like to forget it exists.

Most underrated series: You're My Sky and He's Coming to Me have already gotten a lot of love so I'll just say YES to those. Would have said My Ride before this recent release to YT. Does Triage count if it's nominated for awards but nobody ever talks about it (probably because the distribution was so messy)? I think My Only 12% doesn't get enough love because of the pacing of the last episodes, but the rest of the show was SO good.

But I'm going to take this opportunity to get on a sandbox about Diary of Tootsies (spanning S1, S2, and the movie sequel Tootsies and the Fake).

This show is not BL; it is decidedly queer. There is no single love story, and if there is, it's undermined. And yet, because it's a comedy, it also gets overlooked in the lists of Important Queer Viewing (which is fair, honestly, that is not a read). But it means my blorbo of a show often doesn't get hyped up, so I'm taking the opportunity.

This show I would argue sits squarely in the by/for/about queers category as per @wen-kexing-apologist’s by/for/about Venn diagram. Watching it feels like a group hug; it's so very clearly written by actual queer people (even if this wasn't confirmed everywhere online, the screenwriter is out and speaks about this, but it's also just obvious) and I recognize so much of my friends and people I've known in these messy queers. It deals with casual sex, drug use, HIV, adoption, being closeted at work, and more.

It is also so funny. I didn't think I liked toilet humour until Make it Right and Diary of Tootsies proved me wrong. I honestly think about the scene with Natty and the handbag in the car approximately once a month. And the opening sequence of the sequel film!! What a choice for opening credits. And these queer friends are mean to one another, even in the moments they're being supportive of one another, and it is both familiar and delightful (also reminds me of this post by @bengiyo about whether viewers still love us when we're mean). The found family tropes are STRONG in this one, friends.

There is some fatphobia, though I always struggle with how much to warn for that because this show also has one of the only fat characters in QL who gets a character arc, a love interest, and to be a whole person. And to dance! The dance sequencesssss especially in S2, oh my heart. So much queer joy in this show in general!

Last thing I'll say about this show is that it also gets left off people's lists because the "main couple" if you can say there is one is not the one most fans were rooting for--I will admit, myself included. But the narrative convinced me to be satisfied with what we got, which is honestly to its credit!

Anyway TL;DR Diary of Tootsies makes me extremely happy and I'm glad it exists.

OMG ok I am letting this go now. Tagging @redxblueihateloveyou because you've not been active for awhile so this way you'll see this whenever you come back, and @formayhem because we are newly buds and I'd be curious about your answers! At this point everyone else must have been tagged by now, so please just consider yourself tagged if you haven't done this yet and tag me so I see it! I've been loving reading everyone's answers.

[lattexalmond]

I posted 1,200 times in 2022

That's 295 more posts than 2021!

79 posts created (7%)

1,121 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gunsatthaphan

@machikeita

@smittenskitten

@forever-in-phapundao

@laowen

I tagged 1,166 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#thai bl - 158 posts

#not me the series - 107 posts

#not me - 99 posts

#seanwhite - 96 posts

#offgun - 94 posts

#off jumpol - 90 posts

#cutie pie the series - 84 posts

#gun attaphan - 77 posts

#vice versa - 73 posts

#zee pruk - 73 posts

Longest Tag: 84 characters

#but like how is the scene with tian looking at phupha drinking not the most replayed

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I have had a little time to gather my thoughts after the GMMTV 2023 event. First off, all the couples are back. I can’t not be happy about this. So here are my thoughts.

Hidden Agenda: I am excited for it in the sense that I do like Joongdunk, but if it doesn’t feel like it’s just a more talkative Kluen and a more talkative Dao then what is rain? Lol I am so here for AouBoom though. They looked fantastic and adorable and just yesss. Am I going to watch it? Obviously I always watch everything for at least an episode.

23.5: It’s MILKLOVE. We got our GL. Everyone was manifesting it and I guess it finally came true. How adorable was Milk being all shy. She was reminding me of myself honestly lol. Fourth and Gemini are in it too which awww they’re adorable 🥺. So excited for this one.

A Boss and A Babe: Forcebook are back!!! Yay!!! This looks so funny to me. Force’s character is so stiff. I am so here for it though. Office romance sign me up.

Only Friends: this entire trailer basically gives you whiplash. Jojo came to play. Firstkhao and Forcebook and NeoMark(which apparently I am okay with 3 hours later). It looks super messy and crazy. I am EXCITED!!!

Last Twilight: I have nothing but good things to say about this one. Definitely one of the highlights of the trailers. It’s JimmySea done by P’Aof and a blind storyline. Ugh. It’s just chef’s kiss if it’s done right which I feel like it will be. I have high faith in Sea and P’Aof. This is not grammatically correct, but oh well 🤷🏻‍♀️

Cooking Crush: OffGun clowned us. This looks too cute for words 🥺😍 NeoMark are in it too. Sign me up.

Dangerous Romance: why am I so obsessed with this one?! I have watched the trailer like 3 times. I love perthchimon now. I love enemies to lovers. I am just so excited. It looks so good. So much depth 😍

Cherry Magic: now I have never been a huge fan of TayNew. I watched DBK and I did enjoy it, but I would never choose them as a favorite. However, I am intrigued by this. I know everyone is concerned. My wife is absolutely angry over it. She was like no no no so I guess I’ll be watching this one with @gunsatthaphan 😂 I am interested to see how they do this. It looks like there are new characters.

I’m adding The Jungle because it has some of the favs in it. Lee Krist Off Mix 😍😍 That is all.

Our Skyy 2 is 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 As soon as I heard the jingle I couldn’t believe it. I was like no freaking way and here we are. Thank you P’Aof 😭😭

21 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

#4

Vice Versa is all about the eyes. I freaking love that. JimmmySea are so so good.

21 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

#3

I don’t care anymore. Not Me is such a superior show. The only thing close to it is 1000 Stars. Sorry not sorry. Offgun supremacy. 🔥😍

21 notes - Posted January 30, 2022

#2

Forgot to post my bingo card from yesterday’s event 😂😂

Thanks bestie for making it for me 😍

@gunsatthaphan

Apparently JoJo is directing 3 shows so I have 4 bingos 😂

29 notes - Posted November 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I very rarely write text posts anymore. I usually just message @gunsatthaphan or @leofiat about my opinions, but today I felt like writing one.

Cutiepie the series may have a weird plot and people may think it’s strange, but I just have to commend everyone working on it.

ZeeNunew have been DELIVERING every week. Max and Nat’s chemistry has improved as well.

I love the production, the writing, the directing. The fact that we get it in 4k ultra hd an hour after it airs on tv with English subtitles. I am so thankful.

I also just need to discuss how beautifully done the scenes for LianKuea were just done in episode 8. The fact that Lian asked Kuea not once, but twice for consent is just…I have no words. That is amazing to see on the screen. The intimacy they portrayed through their actions felt so real to me. I know that sounds naive, but I really felt understood and seen.

This is definitely in my top 5. I know it keeps changing, but all the new stuff just gets better and better. The Korean shows are even coming in hot with Semantic Error and Blueming. It’s nice to see change.

129 notes - Posted April 9, 2022

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