#mgayg: itt

[heretherebedork]

If My Gear and Your Gown just broke my heart this badly in episode 10, I am terrified of what episode 11 will bring.

On the other hand, all my boys have such good friends in their lives and thank fuck for that. Pure and Itt are seriously a great example of friendship and caring for each other.

But, seriously, Itt. I get it, you were doing it all for his benefit but maybe you could try combining that with COMMUNICATING with him about how you want to help him and don’t hate him? That might have helped!

I am so, so happy that these university episodes are actually turning out to be good. I had high hopes and, so far, they’re definitely being met! I do really like these characters and their stories are enjoyable.

I also really like that all of the characters are well-rounded. You can understand why all of them are doing what they’re doing and it makes sense and even if you know what they could do better/differently you know why they aren’t doing it that way. Because they’re all full characters with internal and external influences and issues that we know about and that makes sense.

So, yes, My Gear and Your Gown is definitely one of my favorite shows currently and I look forward to next week!

[jimmysea]

Where is my earring?

[nohshinwoos]

[geminifourth]

Everyone, put on your blindfold and hold the hand of the person next to you.

[multilingual99]

Pure: Looks at Folk

Folk: Looks at Pai

Pai: Looks at Itt.

+

Itt: looks at Pai.

[noona96n]

mgyg has sO MUCH potential

it's not just a bl series. it's more like a slice of life drama. it dealt with important issues like mourning death and processing grief, like safe sex and destigmatizating HIV victims, like have a good circle of friends that are actually there for each other, like establishing healthy communication, especially within the family.

i want to see more of these things bcs im honestly over dramas that's only focused on internal conflict and romantic hurdles.

B U T

mgyg is too damn short... 12eps aren't enough to comprehensively cover all those stuff. maybe, with the usual 16eps, it'd would've been great and not just 'has the potential to be great'

also, the paCING... the pacing is so off because the plot fast-forward/time skip too fast in some eps and the passing of time weren't properly shown

all in all, i really enjoyed it. i enjoyed analysing it. and i realllllly like the friendships in the series.

[seatawinan]

hello everyone, weird question: what country are you from? and if you were hospitalized, are you just left there? or there’s at least 1 friend/family always taking take of you 24/7?

[kittychicha]

pai: gets hit by a car cata: I couldn't stop laughing - pai's #1 fan 😔✊

he got hit by that car and i was like YES! AMNESIA HERE WE GOOO but then absolutely nothing happened ASFHJRSDGGS

[soulmatelines]

i think (???) i just finished reading the first section of mgayg when they’re in college and ????????? i rlly can’t wait for the drama to get the part where they’re in uni bc it was so....................good? or maybe im just lonely lol

[paint-music-with-me]

.

[heretherebedork]

Things I love about IttPai:

Enemies to friends to crush back to enemies and then to lovers

Itt is literally the biggest dumbass he stalks Pai and insults instead of attempting any actual communication

Pai literally swears off love because Itt rejected him what a tiny black and white thinker.

Itt is like 'I know how to support him! Let me force him into things he hates and insult him until he gets so angry he does it anyway!' and how can you not love such an idiot?

Pai also cannot communicate to save his life.

The way you can tell Itt is trying to help but is just so bad at it.

Seriously, they're both idiot who can't talk about anything together because they're both so worried about being too open or being hurt.

Things I dislike about IttPai:

The instant forgiveness

The ending of the damn show

The fact that Itt never has to actually prove himself to Pai or show that he can change

The fact that Pai is willing to just instantly let everything go

Seriously, the ending of this show wasted so much potential it HURTS ME.

[jimmysea]

Itt taking a picture of Pai 📷

[life-rewritten]

DISMAYS VS RELIEFS AKA REVIEW/RANTS OF BL IN SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER

It's been an interesting experience this past few months. BL came back in full force, took mostly all days in the week and you know what? It surprised the hell out of me. Mostly because I was moving back and forth from the decision of whether to stop watching or to wait and trust something extraordinary would happen like last year. And then October/November happened before I knew it I was falling again for some storylines, I was excited again to analyse and talk about these shows, and also I was incredibly grateful for some of the messages I received from these shows, they educated me, humbled me and even pushed me to my own version of self-acceptance, learning and love. So there are some disappointments with some of the shows mentioned here, but overall I'm grateful we got to see these shows and wait for them every week to air. This is the first part of this list because in another two weeks I have more shows ending. December is shaking!

Ratings: From 1 to 5 (1 being least excited to watch, 5 being most,) how excited am I to delve into these shows?

DISMAYS

1. MY GEAR AND MY GOWN

Genre/Themes: Romance, Melodrama, Angst, Drama, Friendship, Unrequited Love, Family

Country: Thailand

Verdict:

 Um, this show. I've been through a lot with this show, I've been angry, frustrated, tired, annoyed but weirdly I love this show, by the end of the finale, this show left me with warmth and this energy of bliss and joy. I realised that the reason why I was so harsh to this show was because of the potential I saw when I first saw the first episode. I fell in love because I could tell it was symbolic, it was deep, and it also had interesting devices used to tell the plot. Who knew that the pacing and directing of this show would nearly leave me mad and furious because it could have been better. This is all on the director, and sometimes the actors, they weren't expressive enough, they weren't emotional enough, and they didn't entirely sell me on what they were meant to be feeling. Sometimes it felt awkward and stiff and unbelievable, and at those times, I felt disappointed and bored. But the characters of this show and especially some actors (FIAT and JJ) really stole my heart without me wanting them to. I fell in love with the couples, I loved analysing them and feeling their angst and understanding their character dynamics. I lived for their friendship and enjoyed watching how it all came together. Even some of the romantic scenes made me swoon and excited, and I was just so happy to watch these couples choose each other.

I also think the relationship dynamics, whilst sometimes annoying, was actually sweet and wholesome. Itt and Pai's love is so cute and memorable, and I understood why they wanted each other, they both helped each other so much, and I thought it was beautiful. Pure and Folk; everything, no words, they were incredible despite rushed and late, I enjoyed watching their love on my screen, and it left me so disappointed that we could have had more if the pacing was done right. Either way, despite the rants and criticisms this show was a gem to me, one of my favourites just because of the couple dynamics. I will miss it, and I will miss analysing it. But please NEW sort your self out, and stop with the slow pace directing; you're killing your shows, (just my opinion) but you're making me dread the shows I've been so excited for in 2021, and I really pray you won't ruin them. Nough said. 

Ratings:3.8/5 I can't rate it higher, but I do think it deserves credit, this show is very underrated as much as it annoyed me it's actually a decent show, it's very educational sometimes. It also has character development and growth. The romances are sweet and definitely should be paid attention to.

2. A CHANCE TO LOVE/ LOVE BY CHANCE SEASON 2

Genre/Themes: Comedy, Romance,  Drama, Friendship, Rich, poor dynamic, 

Country: Thailand

Verdict:

MGAYG was not the only show that New produced/ directed. There was this atrocity. No offence to everyone who loved this show, I love TinCan, I like most of the couples of the show, I didn't even complain when the show was rebooted, I didn't complain when there was not enough plot for the side couples for the first 8 episodes. But what annoys the hell out of me with this show is the lazy writing. I am so disappointed with this show, I realised that by the finale I was just tired and I was only watching it for some actors not even characters ( I was watching it to see a glimpse of Meen and Est), and it really made me sad. Because I started off with this show a bundle of joy, to see Tin and Can fall in love with each other again, I ignored when the haters said it was boring, awkward or stiff. I even accepted the massive amounts of product placement that was placed lazily and annoyingly. I was ready to forgive everything with this show. But I ended up feeling slighted, not me the actors should feel slighted, Cooheart, Mark Siwat, Gun, Title, Meen, Est should feel slighted by this show because this show wasted their potentials and only showed them for minutes in the whole 12 hours that this show aired for. I am so angry at the writer because she was lazy. She had clocked out when it came to this script (Though I don't blame her when everyone kept on sending her threats to how she told the previous story, she silenced her own creative ideas and muted everything, hence why Kengla and Techno's story was destroyed and became lazy and not needed and confusing, and Tum and Tar and Keen made no sense). Mame had given up on this show long before it aired. 

But as much as I am disappointed at her for doing so, I also have to take this back to New, he's the person again who ruined this show with his pacing and directing. I love New, but this year it wasn't it, he is the main flaw in both his shows, he doesn't know when to pace things properly, he rushes plots at the end, and he doesn't give enough time to side couples for them to make sense. He did well in season 1 I think, but this season was atrocious. I am heavily disappointed, and I want to forget this show exists. I do have to give credit to Mean because I think he carried the show, I think Plan was cute but he was uncomfortable, and he ruined a lot of moments for me despite how much I love his chemistry with Mean. So yeh LBC was a disappointment, but it still holds a special place in my heart because I did care about the cast (maybe not as much anymore because of their homophobia) but LBC was one of my first loved BLs to see such a disappointing follow up is just heartbreaking. 

Ratings:2.9/5 I couldn't bring my self to rate it even a three because I genuinely don't want to rewatch or think about this show again that's a pity because I genuinely love TinCan and MeenEst. But hey ho, c'est la vie. 

RELIEFS

Gaya Sa Pelikula

Genre/Themes: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Angst, LGBTQ+ Education, Contract relationship, Haters to lovers

Country: Philippines 

Verdict:  We finally reached the end. And the way I didn't want this show to end, is just too much. I completed this show on the floor sobbing, clenching my heart and just reflecting and thinking about everything. One I was in shock, wasn't expecting something like this when I first watched this show. I had a lot of doubts despite the sneaky light in my heart from the comedy and energy and charisma from the show. I fell. Hard. For everything. Before I knew it, Fridays meant everything to me, if I could get to keep watching this show, it made laugh, smile, cry, weep, and it made me think and learn. It's weird how a show can mean so much to people, this show wasn't for me, it was a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community, a beautiful one, and with everybody's reaction, I think I can say for all of us, that this show was a masterpiece. It had everything, a plot that was so deep, interesting and unique, characters that felt real, understandable and relatable, lessons that made everyone think and question how they acted, how they viewed things, what we say, how we consider our selves, what is our story that we want to tell to the world?

 It's just incredible, not only that this show had terrific production, directing, acting and music that will stick with me for a long time. The music was perfectly used, perfectly mixed in, and it touched everyone's heart. This show left me feeling healed, it was weird, I don't know how to relate to the struggles of Internalised homophobia, but I get anxiety, I get feeling like you're not the main character in your story, I get feeling like your life was already planned out and your dreams don't matter, I get hiding and running away from the world and finding a place to stay in your head and find peace and I get feeling overlooked and misunderstood. Overall I get the fight for self healing, acceptance and love. And Vlad and Karl went through that, and it was so beautiful to see them grow and become what they wanted to be, even if they couldn't be together because of that. Everything including the side characters in this show meant something, each had their own story, flaws and importance for why they were there, and I loved it. Words can't explain how good this show is, and the fact that no one came into it,  knowing anything is just such inspirational and hopeful thing, out there, there are content and stories to consume that can teach and affect you and make you want to do something with your own. And Gaya Sa pelikula was one of those for me. I don't wanna say Goodbye, and hopefully, we get to see them again soon. 

Ratings: 5/5 I would give this more than 5 if I could. That's how much this show means to me. 

4. I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU/ TRANSLATE MY LOVE WITH YOUR HEART

Genre/Themes: Romance, Melodrama, Coming of Age, Angst, Drama, Childhood friendship

Country: Thailand

Verdict: Wow. All I can say is wow. I find my self not able to talk about this show, because like what else can I say that everyone hasn't said. It's outstanding. No words. I think this show was just out of nowhere, I mean probably not; because it was a Nadao production but still, for a BL? Out of nowhere. The effort, the acting, the music, the production, the themes and the way it was all so perfectly told? It was a journey, I ended up at times also on the floor sobbing, shouting and just like feeling so single. Haha. But really this show is ridiculously good, it's like something that can't be fully explained, it's still a shock to me (and I really need to start believing in potentials of BLs more), it is, I'm just thankful I guess, for the 5 hours spent with this show, the number of essays derived from this show, the way Teh and Oh snuck in my heart and refused to leave. I think we all want a love like Teh and Oh, someone who completely takes your breath away, is selfless for you and is your number one supporter and fan. Someone who the room spins around for and your world only focuses on, someone who makes you brave.

And I think Teh and Oh found that with each other, and it was beautiful to witness, it was heartbreaking as well to see them struggle with it, it was also peaceful to reach the end and see them safe and secure with each other. ITSAY was everything, it also means a lot to me because the writing and directing are effortless, it's inspiring and beautiful to see how it came about, its so fulfilling to see how much effort went into this production. And I can't wait to see how Part 2 unfolds next year. I will say that with all the angst and longing, the ending did feel unsatisfactory because I just felt that all the tension and emotion invested just became really tame at the end, all the angst just fell apart so rapidly, and it felt weird that it ended in a hug? But with all the theories about sad endings and the other directions the writer could have gone with I'm happy it was a happy ending, and I'm delighted our boys reunited and became each other's most immense success/happiness. 

Ratings: 4.5/5  Yeh I want to give it a 5/5 but the ending like I said felt a little bit empty for me, I didn't feel satisfied or like complete but that's because there's a part 2 coming. Still is the best Thai BL ever created. And it deserves all the praise.

November was a ride, I think I've cried so much during these past weeks, but honestly, I'm so glad BLs are just improving and putting more effort in, BLs are no longer just for fujoshis to consume. Still, now they represent and educate about LGBTQ+ experiences, they feel relatable and understandable. They're not as toxic as before. We're getting healthier relationships, we're getting depth and unique plots, we're getting happy endings as well. It's very lovely to see the growth, and I can't wait to see what December brings or next year. I'm just so proud of these actors, I'm proud of actors who actually respect this genre and understands why people like it, for me I really enjoy learning about things I never thought or experienced, it humbles me, and it inspires me so much. I'm grateful for these shows. Hopefully, there's many more like ITSAY and GSP to come. Please. 

[talkingbl]

The Good and Bad of My Gear And Your Gown (MGAYG)

SPOILER WARNING. TW: Child Abuse.

The Good:

An actual, real life, non wishy-washy bisexual character who, despite not actually ever saying he is bi, is not shy about what he likes/is attracted to (Pure)

A platonic male/male relationship that is just as soft, loving, and warm as platonic female/female relationships usually are in media (PureWaan). This is extremely important as it helps to normalize men being actual human beings instead of hyper-masculine hotheads in their platonic relationships

Realistic settings and characters. In most shows, either everyone is gay/gay-coded (as seen in a ton of BLs) or everyone is straight/straight-coded. In MGAYG, you have 2 bisexual-coded characters (Itt & Pure), 2 straight-coded characters (Waan & Beau), and 2 gay-coded characters (Pai & Folk) as leads & main supporting cast. This type of diversity is rare in Thai BLs

Main characters have a number of problems unrelated to their romance. In Itt's case, he's dealing with his mother having cancer, his father is cheating on his mother with his mother's childhood friend, his academic struggles, and his impending financial problems stemming from his academic struggles and lack of parental support. In Pai's case, he's dealing with his straight up neglectful parents, social anxiety, intense pressure to succeed, struggles fitting in at school, and insecurity. In fact, most of our story is spent resolving these character issues, thus helping our main characters grow into their best selves

Fiat's acting as Pure in MGAYG is hands-down some of the best acting I've seen in Thai BL. While I have to see him in more roles to adequately rank his skill against other BL actors, he's easily the best actor in this show. His range, ability to make you feel emotions, and ability to create chemistry seems criminally underrated to me. His talent carried a lot of the show

With that in mind, I have to say PureWaan is the best relationship in the whole show and makes up a large part of the 'good' in this show. The way Pure and Waan support each other is beautiful to watch on screen. The chemistry between Fiat and JJ is so undeniable that it actually makes PureWaan into a glaring flaw that I will discuss later in "The Bad" section

IttPai's kisses. While I do think they came a too late into the show, I have to say that Marc and Pawin created some of the most realistic kiss scenes I've seen in a while in Thai BL... Maybe only second behind the couples in Why R U? Even though they didn't kiss a lot or for long periods of time, their movements seemed natural and completely wanted. Unrealistic physical intimacy can really take you out of a story so it was nice to see that Marc and Pawin actually know how to portray this type of intimacy

The fact that this show went there and touched on subjects as sensitive as STDs, self love, terminal illness, parental neglect, seeking love in all the wrong places, and sexual promiscuity (and the list goes on), in itself makes it one of the most honest attempts at crafting a real and interesting story in all of BL

The overall representation in this show was decent, especially as compared with other BLs where every casting is a light-skinned, able-bodied, korean beauty standard-having character. This also applies to representation in terms of unconventional backstories (unmarried/divorced parents, "bottom"-coded characters coming from wealthy backgrounds, etc.)

Stemming from the idea of representation is the fact that we get a short (height-wise), fun-loving, top-coded character in Pure and a more stern, confident, and tall (height-wise) bottom-coded character in Folk. That was actually very cool to see. Seeing Folk carry Pure bridal-style at the end of the final episode defies so many of the expectations set in BL. And the fact that it was never a talking point (to my memory) makes it even more cool to see on screen

The Bad:

This story was so incredibly slow, it makes UWMA look like a an action-packed summer blockbuster. There are so many scenes where a character starts a sentence at minute mark 1:01 and doesn't complete the sentence until minute mark 3:05. There are scenes made longer by the fact that characters are just staring into dead space or at each other while the camera flips POVs 20 times. There are scenes that only exist to reinforce points that have already been made (such as all of the scenes showing us how smart Pai is). There are even scenes where our main four (Pure, Waan, Itt, & Pai) are just shooting the shit and it seems like they're literally just improv'ing the whole thing...

Pacing. Branching off the aforementioned scenes where the characters are just goofing off the whole time, this show goes from zero-to-sixty real quick and it makes no logical sense. The parts that are sped up are usually things that are super important for our characters to grow (such as Waan taking Pure to get tested). The parts that are slowed down have 0 bearing on the story/our characters. What's more is that one day in this show could take 2 episodes but 3-4 months flashes by in 10 minutes (as seen with the transition back into the university setting mid-series)

Incomplete, unclear and underemphasized moments/plotlines. One moment in particular that fits into this is when Pure takes Waan clubbing and while partying, a guy attacks Pure, claiming that Pure gave his girlfriend HIV. This happens at the end of an episode and the very next episode we start on Itt & Pai's storyline and do not get to see why that happened to Pure or any backstory at all until well into this next episode. In fact, the story never picks up where Pure's attack leaves off and instead just flashes forward to Waan going over to Pure's house to check on him. And when they discuss Pure's situation they never explicitly say whether Pure likely does have HIV, so the audience is left confused until the very end of the episode when Waan takes Pure to get tested. Because the show waited so long to confirm Pure's status (even though Pure was in multiple scenes, before he actually got tested, discussing his sexual behavior), it made for a very confusing watch. What's more is that after Pure's results come back negative, the subject isn't really broached again (and this happens like 4-5 episodes into the 12-episode season lmao)

Tone issues. To cap off the whiplash the show gives with story pacing, there's the issue of tone. Because the pacing is so atrocious, you wind up with situations where serious issues seem like a joke. Bringing back the plot where Waan takes Pure to get tested after Pure is attacked by a guy accusing Pure of infecting his girlfriend with HIV, the plot starts out very serious. It's a huge deal for Pure of course and Waan treats it with equal importance. However, the moment his results come back negative, we're hit with a comedic segment of Pure & Waan playfully arguing with the Doctor that they are not dating and have, in fact, friendzoned each other. It was a very weird transition from a heavy moment to a lighthearted one and it happens a lot in this show

Ultimately because of the tone issues, pacing, and slow story progression, the show felt like 2 seasons of one show crammed into one

Outside of plots that further the main romance, nothing in this show seems to have consequences. When Itt's mom passes away, he broods for an episode, then it's never talked about again despite her being his sole motivation for going to university and studying engineering. Pure's mother is coded as physically abusive and somewhat neglectful but it is only ever addressed a couple of times and carries absolutely no weight for the rest of the series. These are fatal mistakes IMO. MGAYG has some of the most interesting characters on paper but they fall completely apart when those interesting traits don't aid the barely-there character development

The acting. While he was better during the university arc, Marc's Itt was embarrassingly stiff. And what's worse, he didn't have the chemistry with Pawin to make up for the amateurish acting. I know he doesn't have a ton of experience so I won't completely leave the onus on him because the casting director should've known that he wasn't ready to carry a Leading Man role. Likewise, Pawin was nothing special. Most of the side characters (outside of JJ and Fiat) were so incredibly flat I had trouble even caring about them really

The lack of chemistry between the leads. A lot of the problem here is that Marc and Pawin are newer actors. But I really can't give them that benefit of the doubt when guys like Mix of ATOTS/1000 Stars and Win from 2gether were also inexperienced in their first lead roles but still managed to at least fake chemistry with their co-stars. I can tell Marc and Pawin tried in some scenes but for most of their screen-time they looked more focused on the act of acting itself than falling naturally into their characters

The budget. Ohhhh the budget. The audio quality, the settings, the poor editing, etc. all of these are signs of a low budget production. Especially at the beginning, these elements were so noticeably poor it took me out of the show

The slutty bisexual trope. For all the progress this show makes with representation it sure fell hard into the 'bisexual people sleep around' stereotype...sigh...

Pure and Waan not being endgame. Sorry to all the PureFolk shippers but IMO, Fiat and JJ had better romantic chemistry than Fiat and Aun. Don't get me wrong, I love PureFolk and thought Aun did a decent job matching Fiat's energy. However, Fiat and JJ just had *it*. And I think the *it* they had that made their relationship more interesting/dynamic, was the sexual tension between them at all times. Even when they were with their respective endgame boos, Pure and Waan effortlessly created a deep, magnetic field between them that just didn't exist with Aun and Beau. I think the story would've been more interesting with Waan as Pure's endgame and Aun as the best friend, but nonetheless, we get what we get

Anyway, that's it for now for MGAYG. I'm sure I'll have more to add on later though lol

[bounbl]

MGAYG 10

Question: Why is Itt so effing stupid? and not at fans saying that he did all that because he loves Pai, and how Pai just don't realise it... I'm really like what are you talking about??? is it because these fans are so young that they just have some kind of reality distortion about how loving someone works?

So Itt wanted to support Pai, he wanted everyone to see how great Pai is...  but he does everything in the worst way possible, he's mean to Pai at every opportunity he has, he push him to do things instead of actually support him and help him to do these things that Pai isn't comfortable with because of his insecurities and how awkward he’s

He’s mean to the point that Pai finally says that he’s hating Itt back, he doesn’t said that he hates Itt, he says that he hates Itt back, he's sure that Itt hates him a lot because of the way he’s treating him ( and he ends up crying after that, people come on)

but fans out there are rootting for Itt because Pai just don’t know that he did everything for him??

This “I’m going to be mean to you and do things that you dislike... but it’s all for your own good” trope, pissed me off, but whatever it’s a drama, these fan’s comments tho... if someone in real life do something like this, run for the hills darling! run for the hills!

and oh man I really liked the first episodes of this drama (even tho Pai suffered since day one for no reason lmao) but now... I mean there’s still hope, just stop this bs, I hope that when Pai knows the truth he won’t be like “Ohhhh I understand everything now! it’s because you love me, wow I was so blind” he’s not a pushover so I hope he ask him, “Itt why are you so effing stupid? why did you do so many unnecessary and hurtful things in front of me while only being nice on my back? 

end of rant, I’m sorry, I like them... it’s just... the heck is this?

[multilingual99]

Is that ... Can from LBC's Jersey in the back?

And Tin's house?

Director New you're not being subtle.

Especially with Yacht and Kris (LBC's Technic)

I also know that the actor who plays Pai's dad is also Korn's brother from UWMA and Mix (Dan, Dean's brother from UWMA) is in Ep 4 along with Olive who played Fai in Together With Me but I don't have access to ep 4 yet.