#kinnporsche episode notes

[verynormalaboutkinnporsche]

E11 Scene 12 - Heartbreak

I want to know how Chay got to Kim's building given the whole situation? Chay ambushes him (for the third time) and asks if he knew all along that Chay was Porsche's brother. Yes; why else would he tutor Chay? Chay's about to cry, and Kim's out of here, but Chay holds him back to ask if he ever loved him.

They both look so terribly young here.

That's an over-the-shoulder non-apology and a physical brush-off for answer, leaving Chay a crumpled mess right there in the doorway.

Cold, Kim.

(The only thing that makes this scene bearable is that BTS where Barcode says Pond paid him extra to cry.)

[chaos0pikachu]

one of my favorite scenes in LITA is from ep06 and not simply b/c Payu and Rain bone like they're single handedly trying to repopulate the moon kingdom okay it's the wild ass escalation that occurs that unlocks Rain's must mate now instincts like first of all Mame said they were gonna get every dollar, nickle, and dime outta that damn drone so Payu's gotta race a background extra from Pit Babe and Payu walks out and Rain is already eying his man up like Survivors on the island be eyeing up cookies after six days at sea and shit like Rain wanted to nomnomnom Payu while Prapai's in the back like "only two more episodes left and it'll be my turn" so obviously Payu wins b/c that ponytail game gives him extra alpha powers - I just KNOW Mame is salty she didn't get the budget for the first omegaverse show - or whatever and Rain LEAPS into Payu's arms like something outta a mid-century European film like Payu's just returned home from war and not an easily winnable race against a Walmat Branded Kinnporsche character

makeout ensues okay okay this is normal and then nah they fucking GO FOR IT literally suddenly we're at Payu's house which is made entirely of floor to ceiling windows indecency laws?? we 👏 don't 👏 know 👏 her 👏 and now they're just stripping down so quick Paul Verhoeven is taking notes for Showgirls 2 they have more bravery than a US Marine making out on an open floor plan steps rushing into the bedroom eating each other up, licking each others tongues, and then Rain's riding Payu as if he took the lyrics to WAP and Girls in the Hood as a challenge he's spelling his whole name out, legal name AND nickname as if he wasn't a virgin literally a month ago but Rain said he's nothing if not a fast learner baby!! meanwhile Payu is fucking WRECKED that man is seeing holy sights, he's seeing the big bang, he knows the secret of the universe via Rain's bussy and Rain is such a fucking brat about it like "you think you're wrecked now wait till I start calling you daddy in a month" and Payu's like "typically I would spank your ass for that but my ponytail is shook out right now"

and then the next day Rain gets kidnapped by a fucking Gotham City villain

[waitmyturtles]

I LOVE 4 MINUTES.

I love it! GAAAAAHHH, I love it. While Be On Cloud’s KinnPorsche was so BL-referential, I just love this juicy Dr. Sammon-mystery genre that takes us out of trope-land. Queer murder mysteries, my beloved.

I have no theories, per se, about where I think this show is going, but I am going to jot down some observations for my own posterity and memory. After reading some theories on Twitter (including one that Dr. Sammon herself retweeted), I went back and fast-forwarded through all the episodes so far, so here are my notes (and these VERY WELL may have been repeated in the tag, so I apologize if I’m just pooping what we’re already assuming here).

1) This Twitter account noted that Tonkla saw his cat in episode 1, after what-we-assume-to-be present-day boing with Korn. Tonkla sees this AFTER Korn rushed off after getting off the phone. After this week’s episode, we seem to be informed that said cat had died in the past.

We also know that Tonkla has a habit of lighting up after sex and during times of duress.

There might be more than just tobacco in those cigarettes he’s lighting up, I’m not sure, but we also know he hits the shabu, pipe-wise.

Besides Great being in what I assume to be, and what I call, a fever-state, or better phrased, a cardiac episode, I am assuming that Tonkla is transcending his own lines of reality through drug use.

1a) [(A quick aside: I just wanna say that I will be VERY. CURIOUS. as to how Tonkla’s drug use is positioned alongside his predilections for unprotected sex, and if I think there will be public health commentary in this. Drug use is, of course, generally not recommended by medical professionals, and at the same time, it’s a culturally important element of many facets of queer culture that many physicians who work with LGBTQ+ patients are trained to be aware of; for example, using poppers to ease the process of preparing for intercourse. I don’t know if the show means to indicate that Tonkla, vis à vis being on PrEP and meth at the same time, is an automatically unsafe person…but he also might be a murderer… so yeah, I will be curious about this underlying public health messaging.)]

1b) (Speaking of public health, yo, we needed those Durex bottles in episode 4, YOWCH.) (😬) (ANYWAY.)

2) So, speaking of Great and Tonkla living in their own realities, I also want to posit that Tyme has created his own sense of delirium by literally not sleeping.

Homeboy is on his shifts, he’s working out, he’s solving mysteries, he’s kicking literal ass, he’s investigating and courting Great, he’s following Korn. He’s doing a lot! We haven’t caught him sleeping yet, again, literally.

I wonder if this may be Dr. Sammon commenting on the culture of insanely long shifts for doctors, which impacts their mental and physical well-being. We’ve also separately learned that Tyme is driven by revenge, and by a need to support his grandma and save Nan. But how can he do all of that, if he’s physically depriving himself of the ability to rest? I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere, but I do notice the camera work, whenever Tyme is scrubbing out of a shift, re-centering from a tilt, which makes me wonder about what these shots are telling us about his mental state (and we saw comparable camera work when Tonkla thought he saw Dome).

(I’m also not forgetting that the show shows him stabbed at the very start of the series, and I’m constantly wondering about that.)

3) Finally, I want to offer that Korn, Great, and Tyme are not out. At least for Great and Tyme, does that contribute to a delirium mindset (and maybe even Korn, too) by way of the stress of holding in secrets? (Please note that this linked article is from 2004 and does not have fully updated terminology.)

I don’t know if this theory holds for Great, because a popular theory for him at the start of the series was that he may not have realized he was gay until he met Tyme. I don’t know that I saw that in my very-fast rewatch except for his surprised looks during the stitches moment in the hospital. Great’s comfort with Tyme in the car after the claw machines makes me think he knew more about his sexuality, and his physical separation from his family at the dinner table in episode 1 also makes me wonder if he realized his preferences were always going to separate him from his nuclear family. I’m not sure, but I’m chewing on this.

4) So, where I’m gonna go entering into episode 5 is that there isn’t a centered or accurate “present day” for anyone….mayyyybe except for Korn, who is certainly living his own fever dream of being stuck in a reeeeeeally bad job, but maybe isn’t being subjected to mental delirious psychoses (just, you know, the general stress of hating your work thoroughly). But I could be wrong there, too, because we know that Korn is driven by greed, filial piety, and a desire to take over the family business. So maybe that’s creating a delirium of his own, one that takes him away from his boyfriend for weeks at a time.

4a) (By the way, isn’t it interesting that we are not seeing NC scenes with Korn and Fasai? I know, I know, Be On Cloud does queer/BL content, but. I think it’d be interesting if the show ran the gamut of intimacy. Just a thought.)

Anyway! This show is so good, it’s making me babble. I absolutely love it, and it is the comeback that Bible Wichapas deserves.

[istanchan]

Pitbabe is ending so I decided to binge dead friend forever and I kind of wish I hadn’t because what the hell was episode 7.

Don’t get me wrong the show is amazing but I just have so many questions and unlike pitbabe and other shows where it’s based off of a book, I could just spoil myself I CANT WITH THIS. I hate not knowing what’s gonna happen in the next episode.

Also barcode ate. I haven’t really kept up with him since kinnporsche and I didn’t really care for him as much in Kp BUT HERE. He is doing so well. His character is not however.

Another note I can’t believe it took almost two years for TaBarcode to happen. I was rooting for them in KP you don’t understand how geeked I was seeing them together in dff. I’m actually still processing the fact that it happened and I didn’t just make it up.

[poomphuripan]

Professional Body Double // My Stand In - a Masterpost

Series Title: My Stand-In (ตัวนาย ตัวแทน)

Director: Pepzi Banchorn Vorasataree (KinnPorsche The Series)

Action Director: Khom Kongkiat Khomsiri (KinnPorsche The Series)

Producer: Yuan Wan Thabkrajang (I Feel You Linger In The Air)

Executive Producer: Poppy Parnsuk Thongrob

Episodes: 12

Aired: Apr 26, 2024 - Jul 12, 2024. Every Friday 8.00 PM.

Original Network: iQIYI

Original Novel Title: Professional Body Double (职业替身)

Author: Shui Qian Cheng (水千丞)

Genres: Adult, Drama, Mature, Romance, Supernatural, Tragedy, Showbiz, Angst

Content warnings: Abusive lover, noncon, house arrest

--------------------

Official Synopsis

Joe, the stunt man of famous actor Tong, happened to meet Ming. Having developed a deep relationship, Joe didn’t realise that Ming had always seen him as Tong’s replacement. When the truth is revealed, Joe has to take work on a foreign set where an accident takes his life. When he wakes, Joe’s in the body of a young man named Joe who’d met with an accident on the same day. With help, he’s soon living the same life as he was before—with the same people—and he meets Ming once more. In this life, Ming wants Joe back at his side as before and Joe doesn’t know why. Ming, who’s kept all memories of the old Joe, tries to find the truth about Joe’s continued life in order to return Joe to his side and give him the explanation he never had the chance to.

Main characters

Joe (Zhou Xiang/周翔)

Height: 181 cm

Birthday: October 20

Age: 29

Zodiac: Libra

Occupation: Actor, Stuntman, Martial Arts Body Double, Martial Arts Instructor

Personality: Gentle and generous, optimistic and open-hearted, mature and considerate. Independent. Easy going, not very ambitious, caring towards people around him. His parents and sibling passed away when he was 8 years old.

Ming (Yan MingXiu/晏明修)

Height: 188 cm

Birthday: September 6

Age: 24

Zodiac: Virgo

Occupation: Actor, President of a Mechanized Heavy Industry Company

Personality: Haughty, selfish, lacking in patience, stubborn and persistent towards things he has decided upon. Extremely attractive, cold, indifferent. Youngest of the three Yan siblings. Comes from a wealthy, prestigious family with millitary background.

Supporting characters

Sol (Lan Xi Rong): Young attractive popular actor who was once close to Joe. Sol likes Joe. Played by Porsche Tanathorn.

Tong (Wang Yu Dong): A popular action movie star. Tong is Ming’s crush. Tong is dating Ming's sister, May. Tong eventually marries May and becomes Ming's brother-in-law. Played by Mek Jirakit.

Wut (Paradorn Vesurai): Joe's brother-like close friend, who's also his boss.

Jim (Jiang Yuan): Ming's personal secretary and right hand man. Played by Billy Possathorn.

Mike (Yan Mingsu): Ming’s older brother. Played by Inntouch Naphat.

May (Yan Ming Mei): Ming’s older sister. May eventually becomes Tong's wife later on. Played by Shu Nunnicha.

--------------------

Where to read the novel

Chinese raw

English translation

Indonesian translation

Vietnamese translation

--------------------

Where to listen to the audio drama adaptation

Season 1

Season 2

Season 1 & 2 on YT with Vietnamese subtitles (Note: OP gonna private this video once the series has finished filming, so if anyone wishes to grab a copy/listen to it, now's the time 🤗)

--------------------

Production

Director Pepzi and Executive Producer Yuan first posted a photo captioned "Our new series project" hashtagging the Chinese novel title on 16 February 2023 so pre-production starts around February 2023. Yuan tweeted that My Stand In is the series that took longest to cast (8 months). 6 October 2023 was the fitting for My Stand In. Production begins filming on 16 October 2023.

--------------------

For latest updates on My Stand In series, you can follow YYDS Entertainment on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, IG, Tiktok.

--------------------

Source

[bunnakit]

my stand in ep 2 thoughts, feelings, etc.

alright i wanted to write this up nicely but it took me... two hours to get through the episode bc i kept stopping to write notes, so i'll do my best i guess.

weird thing about me is when i watch shows and write notes for these posts i always write the notes on napkins? i have like 5 different notebooks in arms reach at all times but i really like scribbling on a napkin for the true unhinged effect.

anyway blah blah reminder i'm just a silly dude on the internet, idk shit about dick, i just like to say shit, don't take me too seriously.

also please DO NOT leave novel spoilers in my reblogs, tags, or replies without some kind of warning label. please? it seems to happen with every show i write meta for and i LOVE that people get hyped but there's no way for me to avoid it when it's in my notifications like that.

some before the actual episode stuff; after learning last week that some of the kinnporsche people worked on this it really becomes apparent, especially in the style of the intro.

the music choices also seem a bit reminiscent of kinnporsche (and a little bit of not me) which i really enjoy. it feels kind of familiar and comforting.

immediately i loved how soft this episode started, the slight stubble on each of them, the way joe speaks so softly as if afraid to shatter their little bubble of peace, etc. i also love that the show doesn't skirt around the topic of sex and the fact that sometimes sex is awkward and clumsy, especially with a new partner and doubly so when it's your first queer partner.

and then the peace was shattered with ming kissing his back yet again. ouchies.

"will tong be at the set?" he's just not even trying to hide it. he basically said 'yeah ur great and all but tong????' but DAMN if poom isn't the absolute king of microexpressions.

at this point i can't really tell if tong is being a spoiled prince (derogatory) or if he's tired of acting in general? judgement withheld until a later date.

and then we jump into this actress being a parallel to ming and OOF OUCHIES MY ORGANS. she's a fan of tong but has to "settle" for joe - just like ming. and yet joe takes the time to be kind, to soothe her worries and put her at ease, because he has a heart of absolute gold. "it's her first movie but she was left to drown by the male lead." it's ming's first love and he has been left to drown in it.

mek's acting is really endearing. this is my first exposure to him (ive seen some of his social media and really like what he stands for as a person) and i'm instantly drawn to his performance. he also pulls off a great balance of adorable/sexy.

OOH THE SHOW SAID BISEXUAL OUT LOUD. A WIN FOR THE BI'S WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

i personally find ming's jealously hilarious. what a little caricature of toxicity.

anyway, it seems to me that if ming could get over his feelings and enjoy what he has in front of him he could be part of and enjoy a very sweet family, as it does seem tong IS giving him love, just not the exact flavor he craves.

the cut to joe's training made me laugh. little oat lore dump but my bio dad was actually a stunt man for movies (which is another part of why i was so excited for this show) and i can promise you nothing like this was part of it. what do i know, though, maybe things have changed since the early 2000s lol.

(no, they're probably not any movies you know, aside from maybe wild wild west [1999]. he mostly did westerns, historical docudramas, and historical fiction.)

ANYWAY AGAIN. with this little glimpse into ming's home life we get to see that he's very accustomed to doing what he wants and getting what he wants, which makes a lot of sense when applied to his almost obsessive behavior regarding tong - and now joe. i did absolutely LOVE linin and her sassy independence (minus the 'i can buy anything i need'.)

but... girl... did you just spray perfume in your mouth?

your actions are strange and unsettling. i like that in a woman.

ugh getting into ming venting his frustrations on joe's body. listen. liiiisten. while toxic without prior discussion... i'm into it. it may or may not be one of my favorite tropes in fanfic. toxic and unhealthy as fuck and i'm here for it.

AND THEN DAMN POOM THOSE NOISES. ACTING FOR YOUR LIFE BBY -- and the SNEEZE AT ORGASM LMAAAO oh i hope that's a running bit for some comedic relief.

because we then make a SHARP pivot into "then stop me" and there's so much potential for pain and self loathing there, for joe to think "i can't blame ming, i didn't stop any of it." i'm sat.

a little side bar, but i'm enjoying the fact that while there is discussion of topping and bottoming as a narrative device there really aren't any stereotypes here. i think on a surface level people would think "oh joe is the top" (pit babe style) and the show said no actually he isn't. love that for us.

"you can even move in haha jk" but the thing is, not jk, because joe would do that for ming - for anyone - bc that's the type of person he is.

[i had to stop and have a lil snack here]

hold up is this wut out drinking with them? OH SHIT IT IS. OKAY. it didn't give us much but at least it's a little connection to him finally. we knew joe knew him from his first life, just didn't really know how.

"i missed you" and when was the last time someone missed joe? not who he's replacing or the space he's filling, but HIM?

love ming's goofy ass locking the door and going inside just so he can make a dramatic ass appearance like he's 'the other woman' or some shit LMAO.

"what's in you to make me jealous?" quite possibly the worst dialogue tree choice ming could've picked.

[joe's emotional well being -45]

[everyone hated that]

"don't be so full of yourself" something joe has never been a day in his life. "you're just a stand-in." he knows. it's not something he ever forgets.

but after all that toxicity we have ming back home, seeking out joe's food for comfort, and we finally get to see him interact with his sister. i LOVE that she knows the importance of being a little silly as a treat, one of my biggest life mottos. we also get to see more of how ming is surrounded by love that he misses out on bc of his own wallowing and self sabotage.

oh, the homoeroticism of sparring with your bestie.

[everyone liked that]

oop- joe is wearing the shirt ming borrowed while sol is wearing a shirt with the word 'fantasy.' i'm good, i'm fine, gwenchana, gwenchana.

ough. sol with too many eyes on him and none of them sincere and joe with nothing but sincerity to offer but remains invisible. oof ouch.

enter ming with more religious imagery to match last week's cross scene. something something the sin of greed? confessing your sins? coveting - idk man, i don't have any religious trauma, my family let me just do my own thing.

but with ming knowing joe's true feeling every toxic thing he does is going to be 1000x more painful and i'm here for it. bring it you fucked up little guy.

"we can't mess with each other's privacy" don't mess with MY privacy. "you can't mess around with anyone else" emphasis on YOU, not we.

and then it's driven home what a romantic joe is, both with his workout heartbreak poetry and this little lady and the tramp noodle moment. this man, again much like pit babe, wants to be domesticated so bad.

and i know we all have hated on ming, that's the point, he's been a caricature of a toxic relationship spelled out in neon letters --

but when was the last time ming laughed with someone like this?

ok im exhausted, i'm falling into bed to read fanfic, but i'm absolutely in love with everything this is doing so far. i haven't written anything as in depth as this since last twilight (pre-betrayal) so it's really nice to feel insane again.

[aeternallis]

Porsche & Chay's Brotherhood in KinnPorsche the Series

Brotherhood and familial relationships are one of the most prominent themes in KP, as we all know.

And personally, I think one of the most fascinating and important deviations that BOC had chosen to take with their adaptation of the novel is having Porsche and Chay drift apart by the end of the story (despite that ending shot of them both hugging their Mama). By having them drift apart, their respective love stories with Kinn and Kim stands on a firmer note. They basically pulled a P&P 2005, which—although a disheartening thing to see—is one that I think was definitely a good choice, as it fits appropriately with KP’s narrative as a whole.

To provide some context, in the novel, Porsche is aware for the most part of Kim and Chay’s growing bond once it's introduced in the story. He doesn’t know the details, and neither Kim nor Chay are really forthcoming about their relationship to their older brothers (which BOC does keep somewhat in the show), but there is some awareness of it in the latter’s part. For Kinn specifically, it’s even a point of contention once or twice, since in being aware of Kim and Chay’s relationship (and knowing his brother’s personality), inevitably he worries about how their relationship would affect his relationship with Porsche. Like in the show, Porsche is understandably protective of Chay, and doesn’t want him getting involved any more than he has to.

Because of Porsche's awareness from the beginning, this allows for them to grow even closer as brothers near the finale of the story, since they both sympathize with each other’s frustrations of what it's like to be romantically involved with a Theerapanyakul, as well as how their respective relationships are perceived by outsiders.

For example, this exchange (Porsche’s POV) between Athee and the brothers when they run into him in their old house:

It’s made a point in the novel that Porsche and Chay’s relationship with their respective Theerapanyakul both follow the same trajectory (with a few differences, ofc), besides the fact that pretty much Kinn and Kim fell for the same personality traits and characteristics that the Kittisawasd brothers share. Lol

But in all seriousness, because they have a better understanding of each other due to how their respective romantic relationships have influenced them, they’re more in sync with how they make decisions together regarding their own family.

There’s a scene in the book (Porsche's POV) where Porsche accidentally cuts himself on his foot when he confronts Kinn in anger, once he finds out about Korn’s involvement in his parents’ deaths. He marches straight into Kim’s room and intends to take Chay away, but not before Chay helps him bandage up the cut and calms him down.

They share this poignant conversation, specifically about Chay’s relationship to Kim:

It's a very heartfelt exchange, because Porsche understands he has to take into account his own brother's relationship with Kim, that his actions and decisions also affects his little brother, besides the fact that Chay genuinely looks up to Porsche and sees him as his hero. In doing so, he also acknowledges Chay's maturity, and respects him in that regard, thus allowing for them to become a stronger unit together as brothers, one that's infinitely stronger than what the Theerapanyakul brothers have.

But the show—while keeping loyal to the same character dynamics for both relationships—turns this on its head entirely, and makes it so that Porsche is completely unaware of Chay's relationship to Kim. In making it so that Porsche is unaware, not only is he blindsided by how he protects and parents Chay (case in point: episode 14, bar fight scene), Porchay himself deliberately keeps him in the dark.

In turn, you get a somewhat heartbreaking exchange between the two of them, like this scene in episode 12 when Porsche tells Chay that he no longer has to go back to the compound (yknow, like a liar XD):

At first, Chay's line is supposed to come off as comforting for his older brother, but what goes unsaid rings just as loudly if not more than what he actually says to Porsche: "I don't need to know everything, right?" Just as you don't have to know everything and what I've been through recently.

Which brings me back to my original thesis: Porsche and Chay drift apart by the end of the show; BOC sacrifices their strong brotherly bond from the beginning, but in turn elevates both brothers’ romantic relationships to stand stronger within the narrative. We won’t ever get to know how well KimChay’s love story could have stood out against the other two had it followed a similar trajectory to KinnPorsche, but I will say that I’m of the firm opinion that KimChay’s original storyline in the show heavily contributed to Jeff and Barcode’s chemistry with each other.

In the show, Chay’s maturity is highlighted in the fact that perhaps for the first time in his life, he deliberately chooses not to involve Porsche in an aspect of his life, a big part of which no doubt, he probably wouldn’t want or know how to explain to his older brother in the first place. This is further compounded by the fact that it was partly due to Porsche’s absence that Chay had latched onto Kim as he did. Chay is a character who has a deep sense of self, and choosing not to involve Porsche in trying to figure out what to do with Kim superbly demonstrates the emotional complexity of his character, despite his young age.

It’s why it makes perfect sense that in the final episode, these two scenes are back-to-back, highlighting the rift between both brothers: we're shown how Chay is conflicted and sobbing about his feelings in light of Kim sending him the song, yet right after, the audience sees how Porsche has no hesitation in pledging his life to Kinn ("My entire life is all yours"), thereby effectively leaving Chay wide open and ready for the taking to the wolf (Kim).

It's almost sinister, to be quite frank, how BOC really did take that step in breaking the Kittisawasd brothers apart. Welp~

Chay is all too aware of the inevitability of change that will come in his life, including his relationship with his brother, as a result of Porsche's choices to join the mafia. Porsche too is very much aware deep down, hence his subsequent actions of downplaying his reasons and trying to maintain the status quo, aka falling back into the genuine affection he has for Chay, like he does in these two scenes, rather than properly explaining himself:

In both of these scenes, Porsche struggles to maintain eye contact with Chay, because he knows somewhere inside of himself that falling back and reiterating his love for Chay won't change the fact that his choice to stay in the mafia was as entirely selfish as it was selfless. Chay calls him out on the hypocrisy of his behavior, and he questions Porsche directly: "Was it really all for me? If it was really all for me, then why didn't you consider how I feel?"

After the kidnapping incident, both Porsche and Kim have a desire to maintain the status quo with Chay. This is shown by how Porsche falls back to voicing his love out loud to Chay as a way to avoid having to explain himself, and Kim by not sticking around outside the warehouse after he got Chay out, so he also wouldn't have to explain himself.

But whereas Porsche gets to successfully keep that illusion because his younger brother allowed it and gives it to him, Kim doesn't get to have the same. Chay doesn't give Kim the same consideration as he does with his brother, understandably so. Thus, the uncomplicated, free-of-misgivings sort of perception Chay had towards Kim quickly crumbles.

As a direct consequence, in the show, the one whom witnesses Chay's struggles of coming into his own as a result of being dragged into the world of the mafia is not Porsche, but Kim; it's Kim who finds out that Chay bailed on his interview at university, it's Kim who sees Chay rebel and partying and drinking, it's Kim who realizes how much danger Chay is still in, despite being away from the compound and the coup by the minor family.

And finally, per my thesis with my deep dive of the bar fight scene in episode 14, in the end it's Kim who's further drawing Chay in towards the world of the mafia and the underbelly of Bangkok.

Because Kim is the witness to all of these things in regards to Chay's character and his actions post!kidnapping, not only does he learn more about the boy he's fallen in love with, he has a deeper understanding of who Chay is that Porsche doesn't have. That in turn makes their love story much stronger in the show, as opposed to the book, despite their bittersweet ending.

Although deviating away from that crucial point of Porsche and Chay's relationship in the book, it nonetheless fulfills the same aspect in the book that by the end of the first KP story, Chay has somewhat matured due to his relationship with Kim, as well as the trust placed on him by his older brother (careless the trust though may be in the show).

Having Porsche and Chay drift apart by the end of the show illustrates one of KP's strongest, most important themes: Falling in love is a very humbling experience. Having said that, love itself is also a very selfish, self-serving emotion.

[blackwatervial]

The Pete Show.

For the my rewatch of The Pete Show (sometimes and more uncommonly known as KinnPorsche The Series La Forte), I will be noting down time stamps in which the main character Pete (from the Pete Show) makes an appearance. I will also, as a little bonus, add appearances of his romantic interest “Vegas”. Today:

Episode 2

After the out-of-focus background Pete of the first episode, minute 6 of the second introduces to in-full-focus backside Pete. Peachy!

And while I usually only add one visual representation per timestamp, there is one moment in this one that deserves to be singled out. It occurs at 6:46, where we're getting out first title drop of The Pete Show!

It sure is, buddy!

He next appears at the 18:00 mark for another whopping 20 seconds! We see him next to a pool (Pete-Trivia! This won't be his last fun pool-moment)! Here, we are dealing with the rare swimsuit-edition Pete. He comes in two different versions and this is the fully clothed one

After a brief intermission of unimportant Pete-less moments he returns at minute 19:42, which he lights up with his dazzling Pete Smile™ (Not to be confused with the feral Pete Smile™, which will be displayed about 9 episodes later)

Minute 25 sees the return of a fan-favourite: blurry background Pete! But this one is a special boy indeed - look at that piece of bread he's clutching in his paw! Delightful!

At 27:24, we meet exposition Pete slash gossip Pete! He makes sure we're all caught up on the goings-on in the family while being a little judgy-judgy about it. Deserved!

At 40:14, we encounter bodyguard Pete. He's doing his job! His job is...guard. He's quite good at it, standing there all prim and proper and giving some more exposition, such as introducing his boyfriend to the audience:

At 45:38 appears another all time favourite of Pete enthusiasts out there: smoking Pete. Literally and figuratively smoking hot. Nothing more to be said, just look at him!

At 48:44 we have underappreciated Pete. I hope he goes to the bodyguard union and files a complaint.

Love-Interest appreance counter

At 50:46, Vegas is having a talk with his dad. Mildly exciting.

But!

A fun fact for everyone who made it his far! At minute 38:50 we get introduced to dear Vegas for the first time! And who does he appear as? That's right: blurry foreground Vegas! Him and Pete have so much in common <3

Previous Pete Show Posts

[fakehelper]

✦ On my gif pack server, you can access #874 gifs of the actor Apo Nattawin Wattanagitiphat as Porsche in KinnPorsche the Series (Episodes 12-14). Apo is of Thai descent, please cast him accordingly and remember to use Thai naming conventions when naming your character. All gifs were made by me and are only intended for roleplaying purposes. Do not repost, remove my watermark, claim as your own, edit in any way, or include in gif hunts. Please reblog this post if using any gifs or if you’re an rp resource blog. Likes are very much appreciated, but reblogs are now mandatory if requesting access.

NOTE: Want to skip the server? This gif pack is also available for purchase via Payhip in the link below.

WARNINGS: smoking, guns, blood, violence, nudity

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

4 Minutes Ep 1 Thoughts

I really liked the first ep. It was intriguing and well done.

First official braind deal 4 minutes and it's about a cat, lol. What is it with bls and cat food brands? Also showing off that Bible can speak English super well right away.

Intellectually I understand that this is probabrly part of a character arc™️ unfortunately as a disable person in a family of disabled people and with countless of horrible doctors expieriences between us Thyme is getting on my very last nerve.

Korn's dad just springing the secret department on him with no contex and then he finds out that it's illegal stuff on the fly is insane behavior. Just what? why? what if he had morals? I do realize I am asking a lot from a rich kid but still.

FUAIZ!!!!!!!!! My baby is here, and he is still adorable, and still baby and somehow still dating a massive red flag. Can someone please give this boy a love interest that is green flag, just once.

Also good on the BOC for fucking up the pair, at least for a bit, not sure if Fuaiz and JJay are a thing in this too. But at least Korn and Tonkla are dating, kissing and fucking (Can you fuck me raw and LUBE!! 👀👀👀🤯🤯🤯🤯🔥🔥🔥😳😳🥳🥳🥳🥳). There are production companies in the BL/QL space that could never (not just GMMTV, domundi almost went there in two worlds but then didn't Nat's character never slept with the other guy).

Nothing better happen to my boy. I want to see his character happy and in the best releationship possible at the end understand. I know my fellow DFF watcher know what I am saying.

Side note I didn't realize that Bas and Bible were playing sibilings. That's so funny to me.

I do realize I am jumping the gun calling Korn a red flag but honestly his nonechalent response to secret illigal gambling being dumped on him was a red flag, at least to me.

He seems to be a nice enough brother at least. Curious to know if the fact Korn's mother is dead will play a factor. I'm having Kinnporsche flashback.

Yes Yes I understand Thyme is poor and a has good gradma and is a good boy™️ at heart. He is still being a dick at work to his patients. Maybe when he starts remembering their names I will be impressed.

Nice ending. I am very curious about the fact that there are more people who can do thing. I can't wait for the next episode. I am seated.

[kinnporsche]

so, i saw that poll going around asking who the ‘most toxic couple’ in kinnporsche was, and so many people in the notes were talking about kinn & porsche’s first time in the hotel bathroom with far more sinister language than vegas & pete’s first time in the safe house and i was just like. you know vegas & pete’s first time was super fucked up consent-wise, right? just because vegas tells pete (in an effort to goad him into action, might i add) that “it’s not fun if you don’t give in,” doesn’t mean their first time existed on a level playing field. the insane power dynamics between an abductor and abductee is not something to be pushed aside and written over. adventures in stockholm, anyone?

also, why are y’all pretending that vegas is someone who respects consent, anyways? like, is it simply because of that one line? what about his actions? because he said something similar to porsche in episode four (“a guy like me doesn’t like to force anyone”) while he was literally sexually assaulting him. vegas roofied porsche and touched him without his consent—kissing/sucking his neck in order to “leave a mark” for kinn to find—and we know vegas was going to do more because after porsche headbutts him (something he does not do to kinn later on, by the way), we see vegas getting angry and forcefully flipping porsche over on the bed before his guards warn him that kinn has been alerted and is on his way. i mean, the sexual implications of shoving porsche onto his front and then straddling him are really quite clear.

he even sexually assaults pete in the minor family’s torture room after electrocuting pete’s testicles and beating him with a baseball bat—he licks pete’s neck and touches his naked chest and ass despite pete’s protests. and this was done deliberately as part of the psychological and physical torture. why are y’all trying to convince yourselves he’s this paragon of virtue? like you’re getting rid of the most interesting part of vegas & pete’s relationship dynamic. they’re fucked up! it’s intriguing! you’re allowed to enjoy the fact that they’re fucked up! like, that’s what makes the trajectory of their story so interesting. stop turning them into something that they’re not, especially in an attempt to turn kinn & porsche’s relationship into something that it’s not.

all in all, both situations (kinn & porsche’s first time + vegas & pete’s first time) deal with varying levels of dubious consent. like, this is a show about the fucking mafia. all of the characters are morally gray. yes, they’re our blorbos, but they’re literal murderers. you can’t just accept one fucked up aspect of their lives while denouncing another. and pretending that vegas holds the moral high ground over kinn when it comes to his romantic and sexual encounters is fucking delusional. and i haven’t even mentioned his sexual/emotional manipulation of tawan yet (and i’m not going to because i don’t give a shit about tawan lmao, fuck tawan. but the point still stands!)

[verynormalaboutkinnporsche]

E11 Scene 15 - End of the Trail?

Kim visits a temple and talks to retired Officer Manop, mentions the missing case file and wants the truth about the Kittisawats' "accident."

A nearby monk claims that Manop has Alzheimers and won't remember anything. Kim has a picture of Manop's daughter, who is getting monthly payments for him. Under this implied threat, Manop drops the act; what does Kim want? He wants to know who ordered Manop to cover up the case, and he will forget about Manop's daughter.

It was Korn, and Kim was not expecting that. Going by the earlier murder board scene, he was ready for everything to lead back to the minor family. Especially after the warehouse, that would have tied everything up tidily. If Korn was personally involved, that raises new questions.

I did a separate post about this whole subplot and whether/how this scene links to Kim's choice in the finale. Short version: either there is no connection (the writers simply dropped the whole plot here), or there is, and somehow from the information in this scene Kim figured out that Chay would be in danger during Gun's assault on the family.

[thatgirl4815]

Intimacy & Communication (Ep6)

Once again, there’s been a lot of talking, and a lot of talking within said talking, and now all hell has broken loose. Everybody is in shambles. I'm in shambles. We're all in shambles. And it will only get worse from here. 🥲

*Note: Since this meta is slowly becoming a series, you can find the other metas here

SandRay

I suppose we have Boston to thank for Sand and Ray’s communication issues; prior to this episode, I think they’ve maintained a reasonably healthy communication style—even if it was destined to implode at some point with the whole “We say we’re friends but we feel like more than friends.” I think Boston has just sped things along at an uncomfortable rate.

It’s interesting because Sand and Ray’s closeness is solid when they're alone, but the moment their relationship is known, it's immediately thrown into turmoil. It's also upsetting that Sand, someone we know to have a very direct approach to communication (not unlike Ray), is very closed off in Ep6. I'm thinking specifically of the Pool Scene (a label that should not be confused with the KinnPorsche Pool Scene™, whose name shall live in infamy).

It occurred to me while rewatching this scene that this is one of the only, if not the only, time we see Sand and Ray talk about anything but their relationship to each other. They haven't often mentioned the other characters because up to this point, the drama hasn't forced them to.

That fact alone gives this scene a certain chill. There's no sign of their usual flirtiness. And Sand is noticeably resistant to Ray's efforts to straighten things out since the fight with Boston. Sand is lost in his own anger, in feeling used by Ray and unwanted, and that reaction is reflected in every part of this scene. Ray clearly reads between the lines on what Sand says about Mew, and once again wants to speak directly about it. He knows Sand is bothered, even when he says he isn't. Whatever casual "We're just friends" comments Sand used before are clearly not at play anymore. Ray and Sand both know that Sand cares, long before Sand is direct about it--

This scene shows a bit of a flip in terms of how both Ray and Sand respond to each other, specifically when it comes to honesty. Ray is the one who has just blown up in anger, and he's the one lying, calling Sand a whore who only wants his money, who doesn't have honest dreams, etc. But Sand is direct this time. No jokes or flirts. It's an admission that both Sand and Ray have known about, but it's something that Ray needs to hear, because a) he hears it so little in his life and b) because the more lonely he feels, the more reason he has to get in his car and risk himself.

Excited to see where this goes with Sand comparing his relationship with Ray to Ray's relationship with alcohol next ep. In any case, I'm glad Sand is aware of the position that he is in. All of these characters are very cognizant of their situations.

TopMew

Top and Mew pose a stark contrast to SandRay in that they go from seemingly very solid communication and intimacy to very negative. My key takeaway from their plot line this episode is how Mew keeps his anger over Top's infidelity buried until they're in bed together. Which, from an entertainment standpoint, is just glorious. From a communication standpoint, it seems to bring everything full circle.

Sex has caused a lot of tension in Top and Mew's relationship. It's been a power play from Mew when he's withheld it, but last episode we saw that barrier finally break. But Mew takes back control here through the truth, and he effectively turns the tables on Top, calling back to the very thing he had hang ups about in the first place: sex.

We already know how Mew views sex. And we also know that Mew has gradually transformed Top's view of sex as something to build emotional intimacy. So for Top to have hooked up with Boston is like a slap in the face to all of that careful development. When Top had sex with Boston, the act alone seemed to confirm that Mew isn't enough for Top.

It's also worth noting just how quiet Top is in the last scene. He takes the blows, which is a good sign, compared to what we get from Boston. I compare this scene between Top and Mew with the one between Ray and Boston, where Ray admits to knowing about Boston and Top's hookup--Boston gets defensive immediately, rattling off excuses. But Top just takes the hits from Mew.

Top knows he was wrong. Boston knows that others think he's wrong, but I don't think he genuinely thinks there is anything wrong. He knows Mew won't get over it easily because that's just how Mew is--uptight, moralistic. Boston's own morals are incredibly loose, just like his approach to relationships. On the topic of morals, I'd say Boston and Mew's are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

BostonNick

Nick tries time and time again to be someone special to Boston, and time and time again Boston makes it clear that he doesn't care. From Boston telling Nick that he wants to spend time with him before he leaves, to harshly telling his friends that he isn't in a relationship with Nick--right in front of Nick--is just heartbreaking. (Seriously, the scene of Mew kicking Boston into the pool can't come soon enough.)

We get some insights into Boston's upbringing with the introduction of his father, who seems to possess a very similar mindset to Boston's. I could go on a whole other rant about this, but Boston approaches everything loosely because he thinks he won't face pressing consequences. He's going to leave the country, so if he screws some people over and makes some enemies, what's the harm? He'll be gone soon enough anyway.

I could also go on a rant about the glaring hypocrisy of Boston saying he can't be friends with someone who would record him...I go back and forth between thinking he's a cunning manipulator and a stupid college kid. Surely he must see the hypocrisy there...but if he does, he probably doesn't care (as with most things).

I've compared Nick to Sand before, but Nick has been shut down by Boston on countless occasions, and yet he still stays. For Boston, who has proven time and time again that he enjoys manipulating people, ruining relationships, recording his friends, and sleeping around. Nick knows all of this all too well. And yet.

Nick, I'm starting to lose some sympathy for you. Leave. Him.

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: I Told Sunset About You (ITSAY) Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, in a long post, I work my way through Nadao Bangkok’s cinematic motherlode: ITSAY. Thanks to everyone for your patience with this post: I did major due diligence with it, with the absolutely TREMENDOUS help of @telomeke, @lurkingshan​, @wen-kexing-apologist​, and @bengiyo​ to ensure I had facts and analysis correct. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to these dear friends for holding me down and offering your sharp eyes.]

To dive into a topic as complicated, as beautiful, as reflective, as impactful as a macro-analysis of I Told Sunset About You is to take on...a lot. As I’ve discussed with @lurkingshan, from a filmmaking perspective, as so many of us who have watched ITSAY know -- it occupies the top spot of Thai BLs by way of pure cinematic quality. (If you follow my late-night liveblogs, you’ll know that this was the first show -- not even Bad Buddy did this to me -- where I needed to stop multitasking, to just sit and watch the episodes. No drama has done that for me in the years since I became a multitasking mom.)

As with 2gether and Still 2gether last week, this watch of ITSAY is a definite milestone on the OGMMTVC list, and I really thank @shortpplfedup, @bengiyo, @wen-kexing-apologist, @lurkingshan, @telomeke, and others in advance for what we’ve talked about in direct conversation regarding ITSAY, its many influential tentacles, and the influences that the show itself may have come from.

I’d like to touch upon a couple of frames to structure this piece, but the caveat here is that by no way will I consider myself an ITSAY expert, because there’s a tremendous fandom that knows much more about the Nadao Bangkok studio, about PP Krit and Billkin Putthipong, about the director and screenwriter, Boss Naruebet, and much more. I will have a substantial postscript to capture loose notes and learnings that didn’t make it into the main analysis. 

Inspired in part by direct conversations with @telomeke and @lurkingshan, I’d like to dive into the following: 

1) From a question that @lurkingshan posed to me: what shows from the start of the OGMMTVC watchlist -- and, more broadly, what art out there -- do I think spoke to ITSAY and its development, 2) The important story of Chinese migration to locations like Phuket, Penang (in Malaysia), and other locations on the Malay Peninsula, and how Chinese and Thai-Malay-Chinese-Peranakan cultures flavored ITSAY’s storytelling, 3) A discussion of internal and external homophobia on Teh’s experience, and how his conversation with Hoon encapsulated our understanding of homophobia, filial piety, and socioeconomic pressures in Teh’s particular life, timeline, and culture,

and more, I’m sure. Let’s boogie.

I warned some folks prior to this review that my thoughts on what may have spoken to ITSAY may turn some people off, so I offer this as a flare to y’all in advance. Acknowledging that episodes three and four of ITSAY were as emotional as anything I had ever seen in Asian BLs, Teh was just such a PERFECTLY written character. (The ITSAY supporting documentary episodes state that the show was in part inspired by Billkin’s and PP’s personal lives, and I know there’s fanon that the show was meant to deeply depict their personal stories with each other. I don’t have primary source material to point to regarding this, so I’ll leave it alone, with the understanding that there are interpretations of the show that read between the lines to bring that lens in. I acknowledge the existence of the theories, but will not dive into that here.)

So, in regards to Teh, as I chatted with @lurkingshan as I was watching the series, I just kept thinking to myself... hello, Fuse. 

CHAOS BOYS! (Fire Boys? No, no, chaos boys, ha.) 

This is where I think my analytical read might get a little controversial with folks, because to compare Make It Right to ITSAY -- from a LOOKS perspective, CERTAINLY from a storyline and narrative structure perspective -- no, it’s not there, not by a long shot.

But when I wonder about what ENERGIES and inspirations opened the door for Boss Narubet to WRITE the way that he wrote, and to DIRECT the way that he directed, Teh’s ENTIRE EMOTIONAL PROCESS AND BREAKDOWNS, his back-and-forth, his hesitations -- I saw chaos, and when I think of chaos, I think of Fuse.

I think of Fuse, and how Fuse was held back, particularly in Make It Right 2, regarding Fuse’s CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ASSUMPTION that he couldn’t break up with his girlfriend, all while being in a nascent give-and-take, back-and-forth relationship with Tee. And how that ASSUMPTION held BACK the full expression of commitment, honesty, and trust that Fuse and Tee ended up having at the end of MIR2. Fuse was being rather unsophisticated while he was struggling with this, and he was bringing Tee along, frustratingly, for that ride.  

Something that you said to me also really resonated, @bengiyo, in conversation with @lurkingshan, about comparing TeeFuse and TehOh, in that Fuse and Teh weren’t necessarily SPARKLING or GIFTED presences. As you two both pointed out to me: Teh had to work much, much harder than Oh-aew for the talents that Teh achieved, and somehow, chaotically, he managed to lose his grip on those talents and achievements as he gave up his hard-earned opportunities for the sake of the overall-better-off Oh-aew. MESSY, BRO.

Besides MIR/MIR2, there’s somewhere else where I saw chaos. @bengiyo, you pointed out to me that you felt that you saw more of Thai queer cinema in ITSAY than in BL. I don’t think ITSAY *doesn’t* speak to BL and vice versa (I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks that, considering what Nadao Bangkok achieved with this show), but when I think of chaos -- and of the structures of storytelling that allowed us to get such an in-depth experience of Teh -- I also think of 2019′s Dew the Movie, and to a different extent, the before-its-time show in 2019′s He’s Coming To Me. 

ITSAY, Dew, and HCTM have:

a) multiple chaotic leads (including actual ghosts and dudes who see ghosts),  b) overarching cultural backgrounds rooted in extremely specific Asian cultures and/or practices and/or time periods, and c) interplays of emotional revelations vis à vis those specific cultural backgrounds.

 - Fuse introduced to us, way back in 2016 and 2017, an internal holding back of an emotional engagement with Tee that was rooted in internal homophobia by way of his negotiation with what Fuse’s girlfriend expected of him, and what HE expected of HIMSELF regarding HAVING a girlfriend, while falling in love with a young man. 

- Dew featured two young men in chaos, in 1990s rural Thailand, one of whom (Dew) who had previously lived in a different city where, likely, his sexual orientation would not have been met with such dystopic scrutiny as it did in the movie. The movie made clear that Dew wanted a solid relationship with Phop, but with both Dew’s and Phop’s families and cultural expectations holding them back, they both met untimely and unfortunate ends that hammered, in extremes, the perils, in cinema, of being gay and out in an incredibly restrictive and old-fashioned Asian society.

- HCTM featured a young man (Thun) who could see ghosts, along with the ghost that he ends up falling in love with (Med). The revelation of Thun’s being able to see Med is deeply connected to Thun’s Thai-Chinese Buddhist practices, and how his family has engaged with spirituality over the course of his life. While the structure of the show has often been described as having a happy ending, I argue the opposite -- that the ending is left open-ended, as it so often is in some of P’Aof Noppharnach’s shows, with the assumed understanding on behalf of an Asian audience that Med will one day be reborn and will leave Thun’s side (unless he’s reborn into another person that knows Thun) (hello, Until We Meet Again). 

So what do all of these shows/movies -- ITSAY, Make It Right/MIR2, Dew, and HCTM -- have in common?

ITSAY, Dew, and HCTM have the common background of an old-fashioned culture serving as a MAJOR anchor to their stories. Their stories are leveraged by the micro-level, individual-level interplay between their main characters and old-fashioned worlds, complete with old-fashioned notions, assumptions, and expectations. ITSAY, Dew, and HCTM negotiate boundaries with these cultural guardrails, and we see -- Teh at the end of episode 4, Thun on the rooftop in episode 5, Dew talking to his mother -- what those expectations and boundaries have done internally to our dear young men. 

Make It Right’s Fuse, way back in 2016, internalized this slightly differently, without us seeing as deeply the WORLD in which he grew up. The directors and screenwriters New Siwaj and Cheewin Thanamin gave us a guy in school with a girlfriend. FUSE’S world, that we see, is a school world, so apropos for that time of Thai BLs, complete with very heterosexual expectations for a young man WITH a girlfriend. And Fuse struggles with his push-and-pull throughout the two seasons.

What I love about the OGMMTVC project is that by having watched these projects before ITSAY, I can somewhat predict what the journey of chaos, by way of internal revelation, will be for these characters. 

However.

What ITSAY DESTROYED for me, as compared to these dramas and movies, was the high level of acting that Billkin leveraged to get Teh to the emotional levels that he reached. Teh, episode 4, and Thun, episode 5 = handshakes. 

This is where ITSAY’s structure just brings ITSAY to the top of the cinematic list and runs away from everything else. I posted in my liveblogging that the ending of episode 3 blew me away with a subversion of the four-act structure of screenwriting. @bengiyo corrected me to say that it was, instead, a rare example of Thai BLs achieving a successful five-act structure. 

Just -- fuck. 

You combine this UTTERLY FUCKING BRILLIANT STORYTELLING STRUCTURE, NARRATIVE STRUCTURING PAR FUCKING EXCELLENCE, ALONG WITH BILLKIN’S PORTRAYAL OF TEH IN HEAT AND CHAOS, and I’m eating, fam. Five-star Michelin tasting menu-level. 

But before I start that meal, there’s even more that ITSAY did to really hammer in what I’m referencing by way of the anchors of old-fashioned culture to this story, which, clearly, Boss and Nadao Bangkok value, in the show’s indirect commentary on Chinese culture and migration in Thailand, and what it meant for Teh and Oh-aew to grow up in Phuket and prepare to leave for Bangkok. (If you haven’t watched ITSAY, I highly recommend that you plan on watching the supplementary documentary material, because those docs give a ton of insight into the Thai-Malay-Chinese background of the show. As a SE Asian homey, those revelations gave me the wonderful warm and familiar vibes.)

Dear @telomeke (I don’t know what I’d do without you, friend!) helped me to understand, back in my HCTM days, that I inherently know more about Chinese migration, immigration, and culture into Southeast Asia than I previously gave myself credit for as a part-Malaysian, because many of the migratory patterns and cultural assimilations are similar between Thailand and Malaysia. I appreciated that confirmation, and had my inspector’s hat on during my watch and rewatch of ITSAY. 

I’ve spoken with @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm about the impact of migration and diasporic existence, in that, I think, oftentimes, immigrants to another country often hold a more conservative view of the cultures they bring with them -- in order to hold onto the tenets of those cultures, and to keep those tenets from getting influenced or maybe even watered down by the new environment in which immigrants are living. (My example to Shan and NBW was that I find that South Asian immigrants are often MORE conservative than my relatives in my homelands -- so as to keep a tight grip on assimilation, or, say, moral/ethical weakening by way of Western culture.)

I think the background of Phuket and EVERYTHING it lent to the show...

- Teh’s mom selling Hokkien mee at a stall storefront and the boys eating it in Teh’s old-fashioned house, - The old-fashioned o-aew dessert shop, selling a Hokkien Chinese dessert, which is often preceded by a shot of the “Phuket Old Town” sign, - Teh’s mom’s traditional Chinese-Peranakan outfits, particularly when she’s celebrating Teh and Hoon’s successes, - The tight streets and alleys,

...all of it, visually and culturally, reminded us that the boys live in a world that was DEEPLY INFLUENCED by the way back when. I posit that Teh’s mom is the encapsulation of this kind of old-fashioned culture, from the architectural style of her Hokkien mee stall, to the clothes she wears, to the heavy decorations and rugs and furniture of her old-fashioned house -- to her old-fashioned notions of filial piety that both her sons will be successful and will help to take care of her as she ages. I posit that this old-fashioned mindset also likely led Teh to believe that Teh’s mom would not accept him for liking men, which I will delve into more in a bit.

I mentioned cultural assimilation earlier: I brought up Penang, Malaysia, earlier, because I’ve spent time in Penang -- and Penang was referenced by Boss in the ITSAY documentaries as being similar to Phuket by way of cultural structure. @telomeke educated me on the tin-trade-influenced links from Phuket to the Malaysian towns of Penang and Kuala Lumpur, all towns that experienced heavy immigration from China and feature the strong presence of Chinese-Malay-Peranakan cultures in their social fabrics. The Peranakan population developed when the first Chinese immigrants to these regions began marrying the local ethnic Thai and Malay residents, creating a brand-new culture, complete with unique foods, clothing, architecture, and much more. 

Having not been to Phuket yet, I believe Boss. As well, I want to note -- very important to me as a part-Malaysian -- that Boss referenced Teh’s nickname as the Malay word for tea. @telomeke​ noted for me this distinction as one that’s notable for how ITSAY differentiates the culture within the show -- again, a culture that’s influenced by Chinese and Malay migratory history -- against the backdrop of Bangkok, where tea is not “teh,” but rather is called “cha,” the Thai word for tea. [The most famous “teh” drink of Malaysia is teh tarik, a sweet, creamy, and strong tea drink that you see everywhere in Malaysia. While o-aew is a distinctly Chinese-style dessert, teh tarik comes from Indian immigrants to Malaysia (and is usually drunk with roti canai, another Indian import to Malaysia)]. 

In other words: we are talking a TREMENDOUS, a TREMENDOUS amount of references to cultural mixing, development, and assimilation here, all INTENTIONALLY placed by Boss Narubet and his screenwriting team -- and all of this serving as a reflection against what Teh and Oh-aew will experience as being “different” in their futures in Bangkok, where this Thai-Chinese-Malay cultural differential will make them different when they get to college. (Not having seen I Promised You The Moon yet, I wonder if IPYTM sets up Teh and Oh-aew as potential country mice, à la Ji Hyun and Joon Pyo in The Eighth Sense.)

One more pertinent note of cultural intermixing by way of the historical Thai-Chinese-Malay linkages. @bengiyo was surprised that I didn’t initially exclaim at the presence of hijab- and songkok-clad Muslim women and men eating at Teh’s mom’s Hokkien mee stall; Teh and Oh-aew’s friend, Phillip, is also shown with his Muslim parents. It’s funny, @bengiyo, as I said to you: because I was watching ITSAY with such a trained eye towards spotting the Thai-Chinese-Malay cultural mixing, seeing Muslims on screen did NOT ring a bell of differentials because -- I expect to see them there, in those kinds of spaces, anyway. (In fact, seeing Muslims on Thai television is rare, which I will get into more in the postscript.)

So we have: MANY CULTURES MIXING OVER MANY GENERATIONS. Migratory patterns intertwining. Indications of physical and emotional movement. And even though, and even DESPITE, these cultures mixing, we ALSO HAVE an OVERARCHING message of old-fashioned customs and ways of living that dominate the lives of the children in the show -- ESPECIALLY Teh. Teh and Oh-aew -- literally, their NAMES reference places ELSEWHERE than Phuket and Thailand. Phuket’s old-fashioned roots. Teh’s mom SELLS a dish that comes from somewhere else (the Hokkien Chinese population mostly hails from Fujian, China, as its origin).  

What happens with migration and immigration? Cultures collide and combine -- social mores and expectations change -- one’s standards of HOW TO LIVE ONE’S LIFE changes. 

Teh and Oh-aew, during the entire series, are facing a moment in time where THEIR lives, THEIR cultures, THEIR micro-interactions WITH THEIR cultures, ARE GOING TO CHANGE, definitively, by way of their burgeoning same-sex relationship. Teh and Oh-aew are already different in Thailand by way of their cultural backgrounds, as I’ve established -- and now, with a potential public revelation of their relationship, will they be even more different. And their families -- especially Teh’s mom, but Oh-aew’s family as well -- are going to collide with the very PRESENT present vis à vis their boys and their love. 

As this happens with migration and immigration, CHANGE WILL HAPPEN vis à vis Teh and Oh-aew’s queer revelations as well. 

Boss focused on the aspects of Phuket that were anchors to the culture that Teh and Oh-aew were raised in -- an immigrant culture, a migrant culture from China, that has had a long hold over many, many towns and societies in Thailand. We didn’t see the modern 7-11s that we know are there in Phuket, serving the tourists of these towns. 

And, just like the physical dystopia of Dew, and even vis à vis the spiritual practices built into He’s Coming To Me, the slice of Old Town Phuket that we SAW as that anchor was a HEAVY PRESENCE in Teh’s life -- it was PERFECTLY matched with the old-fashioned, conservative ANGER and DISAPPOINTMENT that we saw in Teh’s mom in episode 4, when Teh shares that he dropped out of university for Oh-aew. That anchor, to me, was meant to SMASH into, FEED into Teh’s overwhelming emotionality at his queer revelation, and at the revelation that serving his mother via filial piety would be automatically made more difficult, thus maximizing the impact of his internalized homophobia and his fear of recognizing his love and attraction for Oh-aew.

COUPLE THAT with the previous hints -- and then the SMASHING WRECKING BALL -- of the visual depths of Oh-aew’s own realizations earlier in episode 4, his own internally different place, the way he reveals himself to the world vis à vis the fast Instagram post of him wearing the red bra. And how Teh reacts to it. And how it sets off such an unreal chain of emotional unraveling for Teh, the SECOND of that episode, even before he goes to Bangkok to drop out. 

WHOA.

THIS, TO ME WAS FUCKING STUNNING

and very important to me to see as a South/Southeast Asian. WHEW.

And, good lord. How Hoon comes in at the end for Teh. Hoon, the eldest son, the one who has very quietly borne the financial responsibility that his mom, Teh’s mom, too, has placed on Hoon’s shoulders, naturally, through generations of family custom. (Super duper thanks to @lurkingshan for talking me through this in detail with me.)

And Hoon gives his family, his little bro, Teh, comfort. How Hoon says, listen. Mom’s gonna be mad if and when you tell her about Oh-aew and your feelings for me. But guess what? She’s gonna come around. You’re a crybaby, Teh, but I’m here for you.

Hoon knows that Teh’s mom will come around -- because Hoon is also a part of the next generation of change, much like his Thai-Malay-Chinese-Peranakan community before him -- as he brings his Japanese girlfriend home to his mother and brother. (THANK YOU, @wen-kexing-apologist, for pointing this out!)

Teh’s mom, too, will move. She will move from her old-fashioned mindset, to migrate to a new mindset, where she will accept her son. Teh needed to hear that, to know that that movement would be possible.

Just like the movement of the many swirling cultures around Teh and Oh-aew, the hustle of Bangkok before them, nipping at their lives like the ocean to the beach. 

What ITSAY captured for me was a cinematic moment of movement on so many levels. It was a pulsating reflection of change. It was meant and designed to insidiously shock viewers out of complacency. Like a beanstalk climbing from the ground, the movement begot movement to these two young men beginning to address and empty themselves of the homophobia that kept them back, Teh especially. 

GAH, THEIR MOVING PHYSICALITY, IT NEVER STOPPED -- the end of episode 2 on the boat, the end of episode 3 in Teh’s room, GAWD -- Teh’s ABSOLUTE HORMONAL DRUNKENNESS, Oh-aew’s STARE AFTER STARE AFTER STARE, Oh-aew’s SILENT DEVASTATION AT THE END OF EPISODE 3, the way Teh would nod and FLOP his head uncontrollably in desire, the nuzzles, the sniffs, the uncontrolled reaches -- GAH. It gives me the shivers. 

It was a lot.

ITSAY was just -- y’all know it. It was fantastic. While HCTM was before its time, I feel that ITSAY was RIGHT ON TIME. It brought so many elements of this GORGEOUS, HISTORIC, culturally Southeast Asian experience into the intersection of the queer lens, as well as the *migratory* lens of the Southeast Asian region specifically. It showed us, from a micro-perspective, the very tremendous macro-level implications and pressures of filial piety, of internalized homophobia, of the huge socioeconomic expectations that families have on Asian students to succeed in education, and so much more. IT WAS *DEFINITIVELY INTERSECTIONAL*, MORE SO THAN ANY BL BEFORE ITS TIME.

Yet again, for me, just like Bad Buddy, just like Until We Meet Again, I have another show in my arsenal that makes me proud to be an Asian watching these shows -- and in ITSAY, I feel particularly proud that a slice of my own personal culture, as an Malaysian, made it in there, intentionally. I will FOREVER, and ever, be grateful to ITSAY for that.

-------

I’d like to offer this postscript as a means of making some quick points that @telomeke, @bengiyo, @lurkingshan, and @wen-kexing-apologist shared with me as I was writing this review -- and I thank them all deeply for reading drafts of this post before publication. 

1) I was previously unaware of the history and current state of Islamic culture in Thailand until ITSAY and Be My Favorite included women wearing hijabs in their shows. This is an important slice of culture for me to know about, as I’m part-Malaysian, where Islam is the dominant religion. @telomeke shared with me that the majority Muslim population in Thailand is in southern Thailand (although, of course, Muslims live across Thailand), and that there have historically been separatist efforts in those southern provinces that have often led to violence. 

There are many reasons why discrimination of Muslims exist in Thailand, as it does around the world, including references to the separatist efforts in the southern provinces. As well, ethnic Thais can trace their heritage back to various towns and communities within China, thus possibly making northern Thailand, with its proximity to China, potentially more lauded in Thai culture, and contributing even more to a perception that southern Thailand, with its Muslim population, as potentially “less desirable.” (And I want to take a second to note @telomeke​‘s excellent point to me that “Chinese” as a catch-all word is often incomplete, as Han Chinese make up a sizable portion of Thailand’s population, but as we see in ITSAY, the Hokkien Chinese population also flourishes in certain parts of the country, and there are populations of Teochew and Hakka Chinese as well, as there are in Malaysia.)

All of this combined -- the geographic proximities to China, the places where various populations have settled, from the places that various populations of Thais track their heritages, plus global and/or popular misconceptions and stereotypes of “other” communities -- can contribute to discrimination of Muslims in Thailand. Of course, that is not a universal statement, as we do see Muslims beginning to show up in Thai drama art, which is heartening. To me, it strikes me as more realistic for the region to see Muslims on screen, but I don’t know Thailand well enough to say that for sure (that’s my Malaysian-side talking). I really want to thank @telomeke for taking me on SUCH a deep dive with insight into this part of Thai culture that I think is very necessary and fascinating. (Politics in Thailand is quite complicated at the moment, but at this very second, Thailand’s current Parliament speaker, from the Move Forward party, is Thai Muslim, with a Malay Muslim name -- Wan Muhamed Noor Matha. Very cool, but this is going to change soon, as Move Forward will make way for another political party to take control of the government.)

2) If you know me well enough, I cannot leave food well enough alone in our wonderful dramas (exhibit A: Moonlight Chicken and khao man gai, exhibit B: coffee/kopi in The Promise, lol), and I want to make sure that we were all aware back in 2020, and/or make you aware now, that Hokkien mee is a VERY regional dish, with styles unique to each town in which it is famous. @telomeke, I know you feel differently, but Hokkien mee from Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia is my.... it’s my heaven, my soul, my heart, HA!

Here’s some linkies to get you educated. And also! Oh-aew prefers his Hokkien mee with rice vermicelli noodles, instead of the usual, thicker egg noodles. You know what I like to do if I see that a stall has the two styles of noodles available: I like to get them mixed together. Hokkien mee, Hokkien prawn mee noodle soup, curry laksa -- I like the best of both worlds of noodles in my bowl. YUM.

Phuket Hokkien mee KL Hokkien mee Penang Hokkien mee (this one is the prawn noodle soup, not the fried noodles -- omfg so good) Singapore Hokkien mee (note the lighter color -- and the m’fing mix of thick and thin noodles, hell yeah!)

(If you made it this far in the ITSAY review, I have an easter egg for you. Guess what the Malay name is for rice vermicelli noodles? Bee hoon or mee hoon. 

Hoon and Teh, two Malay names: thin noodles and tea. What Teh’s mom serves at her stall, and what Teh and Oh-aew represent, symbolically, by names and their noodle preferences, as a pairing. AND! @telomeke​ gave me one more easter egg! Teh O is a popular way to order tea in Malaysia and Singapore. It’s black tea with sugar, no milk. Another pairing reference. ITSAY never stopped with all the layered references!)

[WHEW! What a ride. Thanks to all y’all who held me down during my losing-it liveblogging of ITSAY. More to come when I get to Last Twilight in Phuket and I Promised You The Moon.

Next week, I’ll release my review of YYY into the wild -- listen, honestly. Yes, chaos, confusion, all of it. But I am not writing this show totally off. There was definitely stuff in it to chew on. And: POPPY RATCHAPONG. And Pee Peerawich. The acting was actually stacked on this show. There’s stuff! More soon.

And I also finished Manner of Death, so that review will drop in two weeks. I LOVE MAXTUL. UNABASHEDLY. Yes, I know I’m years late, yes, I know Tul is retired, sobs. Let me live my 2021 dreams! These guys are so good together, and MoD was fuckin’ great.

I have so much good stuff on the way: I’m fully in my ATOTS rewatch, and I’ve added 55:15 Never Too Late, very specifically its BL storyline. I may not give 55:15 a full review because I’ll fast-watch the rest of it, but: Khao, come to me, boo-boo! I have an INSANE August ahead of me as I’ll be moving in a month (GAH), but hopefully this schedule won’t fall back too much.

Status of the listy! Hit me up if you have feedback!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 11) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 14) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (not a BL or an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 15) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 16) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) 17) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 18) I Told Sunset About You (2020)  19) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review coming) 20) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review coming) 21) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 22) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (watching) 23) Lovely Writer (2021) 24) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) 25) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 26) Not Me (2021-2022) 27) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 28) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) 29) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 30) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 31) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 32) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 33) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 34) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 35) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 36) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 37) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults)]

[respectthepetty]

Saw your "Anti Reset" post, nice to see another Taiwanese BL enthusiast here. I mean, I love my Thai BLs (I don't think anything will top "Not Me" & "KinnPorsche" for me) but when Taiwanese BLs do it right, BOY OH BOY do they do it RIGHT! I def love mafia/action BLs, and "HIStory3 Trapped" was my first venture into that. I was kind of in a BL slump in 2023, and the only BL that I thoroughly enjoyed was "Kiseki: Dear to Me." I'm LOVING "Anti Reset" so far, though!

Anon,

I LOVE Taiwanese BLs.

In fact, this post is link happy since I'm constantly writing about my love for Taiwanese BLs because I love them so much!

10 Reasons I Love Taiwanese BLs

Top 5 Taiwanese BLs

An appreciation post for Taiwanese BLs

Taiwanese BLs & Blinding Light of Love

Why I Love Taiwanese BLs

Fave and Least Fave HIStory Series

But my absolute favorite BL (not just Taiwanese, but ALL TIME FAVORITE OF ALL BLS) is HIStory 4: Close to You.

I love all of HIStory 4

I love Li Cheng and Mu Ren's relationship

Kiseki: Dear to Me was *this* close to taking over as number one in my heart, which is why it won my top Colors Award this year, and Oh No! Here Comes Trouble came in fighting without it even being labeled as a BL. Taiwan is competing against itself in my heart!

Although Thailand's Dead Friend Forever might surpass HIStory 4: Close to You, which is very dependent on the last few episodes, I consistently enjoy Taiwanese BLs more than any other country's offerings. Even the HIStory-that-shall-not-be-named was a great experience until the second it wasn't, but now we get the apology tour in every other Taiwanese BL.

I will love any BL Taiwan throws at me, so I was thrilled VBL/Vidol gave me four in the span of half a year, which includes our current favorite, Anti Reset!

And I'm looking forward to the slate of upcoming Taiwanese BLs that appear to have some big names behind them, like Unknown WHICH STARTS TOMORROW, is based off the book from Priest who also wrote Guardian and Word of Honor, and will feature We Best Love's Sam Lin!

And I'm also excited to see my HIStory 4: Close to You favorite Charles Tu back in this year's First Note of Love with the side from My Tooth, Your Love. It's about singing, yet I don't give an eff because that's how much I love Taiwanese BLs that even singing will not deter me!

I will always support the girls, the gays, and the goths no matter the country of origin, but no other country is giving me this energy.

And I fucking love it!

TAIWAN SUPREMACY!

[ae-azile]

A BL/GL Podcast (and YouTube Channel) Recommendation

I don't know these two personally and have never talked to either of them outside of a couple of comments on Billy's YouTube channel, but if you like BLs and GLs and enjoy podcasts on top of that, please check this one out. They work so hard on it, consistently update, and it honestly feels like spending time with friends whenever I put them on in the car, making long car rides less lonely. There are shows I plan on watching simply because they have covered them on the podcast and I want to listen to those episodes without being spoiled. Most of the shows they break down extensively, often dedicating an hour or more to each episode. They share their thoughts, theories, and have a great, friendly banter, even when they completely disagree. They usually have fun after shoes where they discuss favorite and least favorite characters, play games, talk about ships, etc. I feel like they put so much effort into the show and don't get enough love due to currently having a small audience.

They started with KinnPorsche (I suggest checking out Billy's YouTube reactions out if you are into reaction videos. He takes episode 14 HARD). They have also covered To My Star 2, Love in the Air, 23.5, Only Friends, Sense 8, Pit Babe, Moonlight Chicken, and a lot more. I believe Love in the Air is one long episode, but the rest are broken down per episode, which gives listeners a lot of material to fill their time with on their commutes.

As for Billy's YouTube Channel, he reacts to a lot of different BL and GL series, some they haven't yet covered on the podcast. He also reacts to animated series and uploads gaming sessions from his Twitch.

Since most follow me for KinnPorsche related things, I will share his KinnPorsche playlist here, which has each episode reaction as well as BOC video upload reactions. Check out his profile and click on playlists for other shows. He organizes it all very well, so all the playlists are compiled by show.

Note: Both the podcast and the YouTube channel are in English. I believe both are American. I'm not sure of how accurate closed captioning auto-translations might be when it comes to other languages.

Anyway, I see love for fics and fanart, but podcasting and editing reactions are also fantastic contributions to the fandom and these two provide SO much material. So if you could, check them out and follow. They really put so much work into what they are doing.

Socials:

X (more active due to episode update notifications):

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/_bepodcast_?igsh=eDZzM204aHJ0eDZk