#p'jojo did something right with this one

[ohmybitna]

i really wish more people were watching "the warp effect", there's still 2 eps left but if it continues like this it'll be one of gmmtv's best series they ever put out

[slayerkitty]

Only Friends and the (Lack of ?) Narrative Frameworks

Something I have been tracking as part of the ongoing discussions about Only Friends is the use of the narrative framework for each episode. I've been tracking them since episode 3 when we realized during our discussions that there were different frameworks that were being used and what they meant in terms of the story the show is trying to tell.

So it was very interesting that we went five episodes with various frameworks in place only to suddenly not have one in episode 6. (Whether episode 7 has one is something I'll come back to later.)

So when I put out my current narrative frameworks post, I wanted to see what people thought about the sudden lack of frameworks when we've had them so consistently to that point.

On that post, I put these thoughts up for discussion:

Have we moved away from the use of narrative frameworks? Is it because everyone is saying the quiet parts out loud? Is it because we’re no longer only seeing what they want us to see or want each other to see? Is it because the characters have stopped lying to themselves and each other? The use of the narrative frameworks was so fascinating to me as a story telling device and that it was used for about half the show feels important so the lack of them is jarring (on purpose?).

@twig-tea commented on my post with some thoughts about it as well as bringing it up in a post of their own and through our discussion we came up with what we thought might be going on.

Up through episode 5, each episode has it's own narrator (except episode two, which sees everyone serve as narrator) and the story is being told through their perspective (to a point). With episode 6, it's distinctly lacking a narrator and a framework.

The change is so marked that it felt jarring to me because for almost half of the show to have a framework and then to not use one? What are you trying to say, P'Jojo?

After speaking to @twig-tea, it appears that maybe Mew's glasses were more than just a metaphor for him (in that losing his glasses and getting Lasik finally means he can see the truth about Top) but also for us, as the audience. The characters have had their "rose-colored glasses" removed and all that's left now is reality.

Episode 6 is dark, literally. As in, the lighting. The episode starts off bright and sunny with Top and Mew in the pool, having a great time, being in love. The brightness continues right up until Mew has Lasik. The scenes after that progressively get darker. Mew goes back to his apartment, his room lit dimly. Ray meets Sand and the bar is darkly lit. There is a brighter moment with Boston, Nick and Boston's dad, but then Nick and Boston end up in Boston's dark room (it's so on the nose). The Ray and Boston confrontation seems (to me) to be lit indirectly. Then we get all the YOLO scenes - dark, dimly lit, and where the truth comes out. Sand driving after Ray, the Cheum and April making up in artificial light (and isn't that a statement), Nick and Boston lying in a dark room. And of course, the amazing Mew and Top scene, lit only by candles.

The reason this episode has no framework is because the characters are no longer living in the fantasy they've made up for themselves. The lighting and camera angles have indicated that we are in reality now. They are saying the quite parts out loud; they are no longer lying to themselves and each other (or us). That's why the framework had to disappear.

So prior to episode 7, I wondered if episode 6 was going to be the only framework-less episode. If episode 7 didn't have one, would that mean that we would no longer have them? Would they come back?

What's interesting about episode 7 is that upon first watch, I did not observe a framework. Then I had that conversation with @twig-tea, who in addition to her insightful comments, also linked me to this twitter post courtesy of P'Jojo.

I'll copy @twig-tea's loose translation of the tweet here:

Essentially he says they filmed short clips of everyone giving three words on Boston as the intro to ep6 framework (as well as this video of Mew cussing Boston as the camera holder out. Pretty sure he basically says "your name is Asshole-Ton" to the best of my crappy Thai) but then decided that Boston's character stood on its own, actually, the audience already knew who he was and they didn't need that extra framing going into the ep.

EPISODE 7 WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FRAMEWORK AND THEY TOOK IT OUT!

(And while I agree with P'Jojo that the episode doesn't need a framework per se, because it does stand on his own and us as the audience do know who Boston is without the framework, I WISH HE'D LEFT IT IN.)

Having said that, imagine how this episode would be if they left in Boston and his video camera recording his friends opinions of him. It paints certain other visual moments in this episode way more into a serious focus than an over the top dramatic moment.

Moments like this shift into a different view if you think of this episode as Boston's "home movie".

(gifs are courtesy of @chickenstrangers who did me a huge favor!)

Mew's the villain, Ray and Mew are sleeping together, Mew rejects Top, and Boston is the victim.

Now, I don't know how much weight we can put behind these moments as a framework because they took the overarching framework out of the episode.

Still, as @topmeow pointed out, the dramatic "super zooms" (as I like to call them) are indicative of a soap opera/reality tv/telenovela editing that is still fun and adds interesting visual moments throughout the episode. On their own, they potentially do one of two things. They either present the characters who get the zoom with the consequences of their actions and/or they could always be indicative of us slowly headed back into fantasy (back into episodes with a framework). Whether or not that's what we're doing will be answered in the next episode.

Tagging the Ephemerality Squad: @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming

Apologies to anyone I forgot!

[namtanlovesfilm]

What you said abt p'jojo, I feel this.

For Chueam, I thought for sure she would be more developed but I understood quickly (but not so quickly) it wouldn't and i was sad. Yeah sure it's a BOYSLOVE, but I thought.

The thing is, I started the first 3 eps of the show and realized it wasn't what I thought it would be, and that is saying smthg bc I had zero expectations. So I did a thing that I already did for a little few other gmmtv shows, I stopped watching, let loose of my thoughts, and started over 2 weeks later and catching it up live again. And honestly it was better. But I wasn't like other ppl in the fandom lmao. I had no analysis, no theories, no nothing. It was just vibes😅 But then something happened and idk why, but I got bored of it ??? Idk maybe it's like you said and this series had lots of shocking value, but in other departments it was lacking.

 Like the lack of repercussions or like just you know, finishing somethings, having resolutions. And having it makes sense for the characters, bc how you feel with something tells you what kind of a person you are. But they seem to kind of always cut that ? I don't know the words exactly English isn't my first language sorry (I'm so mad I can't find the words it's killing me my god).

For me it was also too much for the stable pairings if it makes sense. Like the first and khao and book and force (Mark and neo in this series as a couple was a great choice bc I didnt that 'problem' with them). I don't follows the actors closely at all but sometimes I could sense something weird. Like it's for example an actor interacting with the other actor he's close with, and not another entity interacting with another with their own (fictional) feelings. Again I'm really sorry for my weird English I don't know how to say it 😅 hope it makes sense lol.

So all in all, kind of fun, I don't mind having characters that have a grey moral, in fact I like them the most, or having characters opposite of my morals, bc it makes me think, and keep things interesting (well usually).

I like the mess usually, and I did like some in this series, but maybe this show is not for me bc it was a mess yes be for me not the right reason in a way, I think. Also I love a series that is concentrated on friends but sometimes hum something was lacking idk.

There is one thing that happened who made me rrreeeaallly think. Bc a character isn't supposed to always be the light of reason, and can make mistakes, or just have a different opinion of mine the watcher. And I like that. But yeah at one point I wanted to wake-up-slap Chueam. Bc I dont understand what the show/the story/the show runners whatever  was trying to tell me. And that's what I talked abt earlier. Bc either it is something that is not well resolved until the end, or it is and that's just that. Honestly idk.

[ Boston find a new group of friends. Bc they're like yeah we're messy and fucked up and then act or pretend like they are morally white and the he is evil. But I do like though how Nick and Boston broke up. That he should find someone who is okay with his way of life and share the same sentiments abt monogamy.]

And lastly I like the actors but i I'm so tired of seeing them with the same couple pairing. I want them to grow up outside of their couple pairing bc you can sense a sense of safety net when they act together. I find they are GOOD actors, I just want them to fly more.

But then again, all of this is my opinion, it's very subjective (apart from the lack of development of chueam, of course).

Maybe I'll rewatch this series next year in a binge. I'll be waiting for your review, if you will do one.

Sorry this is long, I send you my regards 🐝

I agree with everything you've said above. I think that when p'jojo announced this show as the gay friend zone, I was hoping it would bring the one thing that friend zone does not have into its show: queer community. I was hoping that, despite the drama, this would feel like such a relatable show to anyone who has a queer group of friends... but it really wasn't. the only parts I truly LOVED are sand being openly bi, though sadly all of his relationships are with men, and the kiss scene between sand & nick when they just laugh bc they realize they're not compatible. THIS! this felt like the queer experience. if the show had leaned into this kind of scenes, I would've honestly overlooked everything else. but again, having watched friendzone where 1) its female characters are developed 2) its WLW characters are loved & developed 3) stud is the best "slutty messy gay" character and boston WISH he could be him 4) topmew are just a re-hash of samearth's boring ass relationship 5) arm's character in friend zone was everything boeing should've been... the purpose of only friends becomes only the audience being shocked bc two random actors kissed and/or fucked. and by the end? I got mond & first kissing yet I felt nothing. ME! the biggest not me stan & a fan of the gramyok ship... felt absolutely nothing about seeing them kiss. bc since everyone kissed there was nothing to be surprised about. I'm glad that despite the show's popularity, people are FINALLY opening their eyes & seeing that it was not a good show and never was from the very start.

note: I feel the need to say something bc a few people have been misinterpreting what I mean when referencing the queer community. I do think this show represents some of the queer community well, and perhaps I relied too much on people knowing my opinion of jojo tichakorn & his previous shows for it to get understood. what I'm saying in this ask is that the show didn't lean into the queer FRIENDSHIP enough like the nicksand kiss example that I stated above, not that the queer experience reflected on the show is bad or unrealistic.

xxx

[distant-screaming]

predictably asking about never let me go for the ask game ✨️

WOOOO DID SOMEONE SAY NEVER LET ME GO I HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT THEM IN AGES (read: a day) YIPPEE THANK YOU ARCHER <3 as always I yap a lot so most of it's under the cut :)

Favorite Male Character

I love most of the characters in the series for how interesting they are but like. come on palm is my brand and everything he's my silly little skrunkly (guy who has faced a thousand horrors) <3

Favorite Female Character

I absolutely adore Maggie, she's so cute and just <33 but I think my favorite is Nueng’s mom - she's very maternal and soft towards Nueng but that doesn't detract from her girlbossery in the slightest!! and she tries her best to be a good parent so that's a major win in my book 🙂‍↕️

Least Favorite Character

hmmmm probably chanon? the other nlmg characters I dislike are at least complex and interesting but chanon is just... he gives me absolutely nothing to work with so I don't like him much

Favorite Ship

palmnueng 💖🎀🥰💞🧡🫶‼️

Favorite Friendship

I really adore chopper + nueng’s relationship!it's so interesting and complex and nlmg is a romance show so it focuses on the romance but I would love to just see like three whole episodes of these two!! (honorary shout out to ben + palm, who have the opposite of a friendship going on. incredibly hilarious no notes)

Favorite Quote

hmm I've never thought about it before. I don't really remember quotes as such from shows? [...] okay upon going through the eps really quickly, I think I have an answer! ep 8 4/4, from nueng: "I've never been in love before. But when I wake up, I want you to be with me. When I fall asleep, I want you to be next to me. I want you to be with me every moment. If that's what people call love, I love you."

like. hello. me and who. it's so in character and sweet and to me love is a very nebulous big thing so to define it with an action like waking up and sleeping is just!!!!!

Worst Character Death (if any)

mam. GAH. I wasn't the biggest fan of her initially but she grew on me and then she DIED protecting her son(s) and it was such a gut punch because I was like surely no one will die right. and p'jojo was like joke's on you and I just had to sit there and deal? mam's death devastated me :(

This made me so happy you have no idea Moment

many. many scenes. made me extremely happy in nlmg. if I had to pick one that's less obvious (ie kiss scene, any of the beach scenes etc etc) then... okay so I really love the fight in ep 3 because I love when characters go feral and start biting people because of their Person, but the part after where palm returns the necklace to nueng and helps him put it on... it's just. so good. I love it so much. it showcases their current dynamic so well, and both of them are already falling for each other and it's so tender and soft and I think this is kind of the. like. they just sit there and talk. and to me love is something that can definitely happen at first sight and with little things but I think the characters have to really know each other before being head over heels in love, you know? and this scene kind of sets up the stage for that a little bit? and it's just. yeah <3 I love it

Saddest Moment

okay I know the general answer would be the palm getting shot bit in ep 12, and don't get me wrong I was literally flabbergasted when I first watched it, but! the saddest scene to me is for SURE the end of ep 9/beginning of ep 10 - where nueng leaves palm in the motel room and goes back to bangkok alone. this entire section is so softly devastating and it kind of, it plays on both palm and nueng’s worst insecurities and it's so good and if anyone wants me to elaborate I will but this is already longer than I intended so I'll stop. that section makes me so incredibly upset every time. 10/10

Favorite Location

aesthetics wise, absolutely the island with mam, the setting itself is gorgeous and palmnueng look gorgeous there too. in terms of more story based, I really like the. backyard? backforest? at nueng’s house! lots of subtle flirting moments and it's very gorgeous as well <3

[forcebookish]

Honestly this whole episode was such a mess and whilst I am annoyed with Mew it seems like every character at some point is being thrown into these situations that do not make any sense so in my eyes it's a lot more forgivable. This is obviously not Top's fault and I understand why he did but Boeing was the wrong person to confide in. He is quite clearly raging that Top dared to dump him and he's been hearing that he loves Mew more than anyone else so he's even more jealous and is purposely messing with them to get revenge. He is literally a copy and paste of Boston. Also, Jojo really isn't helping himself at this point, I don't agree with all the flack that he gets but you can't get fans excited for scenes and then admit to cutting them because "they don't fit the episode" whilst also leaving in the most dull, lacklustre scenes. I'm just hoping that the final two eps will now be focused on them reuniting which in retrospect doesn't look good for the two couples that have had their reunions already.

agreed, anon, this episode was SUCH a mess, both the editing and the writing. i've talked about this on twitter, but it's ridiculous that they'll just... take out scenes, but not think of any way to make something else work? like, a flashback similar to what they did with mew at the bookstore would have worked perfectly: use some other angles and takes of dates and/or love scenes, PERHAPS THIS

or whatever? mew could have been thinking about it at the pool or something. some kind of indication to remind us why they fell in love? why it's so hard to get over each other? because not only was there a lot of padding and scenes going on for too long, it was hard to tell that mew actually still loves top. every scene he says something to put top down, isn't affectionate, or even goes so far as to sabotage their date by inviting boeing. this is the couple i've been rooting for?

and with p'jojo, he tried to mollify us by teasing some sex scene in the next episode but it is way too little, too late. i agree he gets too much flack, but it's like he doesn't understand why fans are so pissed that this keeps happening. the truth is that people complained that they had "too much" screen time (THE LEAD!!!!!! THAT THE LEAD!!!!!!!!!!!! HAD TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME) and they got what they wanted. it doesn't matter the reason, it doesn't mean that every other scene with every other couple had to go longer, there should be balance! mew is the fucking main character!!!!!!!!! this fandom likes to pretend he isn't - until they want to insult book, of course.

but whatever. fuck our drag, right?

anyway, re: boeing, yeah it's another layer of top that i can't help but read as really sad? like, he has no friends at this point (which, uhhhh, WHY does cheum hate him again? after how chummy they were and saving ray from prison and the hostel project? ok). boeing must be the only person he ended things on relatively good terms, but he's obviously a bad dude? like, he always says something creepy or makes a sly dig at top so it makes me think less that top threw him away like boeing seems to interpret it and more like top got out.

and i don't know what boeing's endgame is: is he actually interested in mew? does he want to get back with top? or does he just want to ruin top's life? don't we have enough characters who want to ruin top's life? isn't his life fucking hard enough? there has been literally one episode (ep5) where nothing bad happened to him. i'm fucking fatigued.

thanks for stopping by, anon ❤️‍🩹

[delirious-blue]

gmmtv 2024 part 2 roster, in approximate order of how excited i am about them:

The Heart Killers: YES. soooooo good for me. silly romcom mafia shakespeare plot! dressing everyone up in little outfits! enemies-to-lovers standoff to makeout! love that it's 90s teen movie shakespeare but with more murder. love that this time first and dunk are the ones pursuing khao and joong. delighted p'jojo is directing, he knows exactly what he's doing and he's right for it.

The Ex-Morning: being halfway through watching SOTUS for the first time is an extremely funny time to watch the kristsingto rpf-lite comeback special trailer. it looks good! i love the concept of exes-to-collaborators-to-lovers even before you add in the rpf parallels of it all. p'aof generally does really solid shows and i have no reason to think this won't live up to expectations.

Friendshit Forever: title so stupid it wraps back around into being genius. looks toxic and fun. i will say that if gmmtv wants to yuribait me this hard in the trailer i hope they at least have the decency to yuribait me in the show as well. (real story: when i downloaded the trailers to rewatch i initially ended up with the subtitles from 'Us' playing over the scene where mook and pat meet and for a beautiful moment i lived in a world where there were two gl shows on the 2025 roster.)

Us: the trailer doesn’t give me a great sense for what the actual, uh, plot is. i do appreciate that they found an excuse to have them kiss shirtless in the trailer. the nominal cyrano-esque plot (plus the trite “can two women love one another”) doesn’t feel that interesting but i presume the actual show will have more to it than just that. please i just need a gl that’s well-executed and not about high schoolers (patiently waiting for Pluto….)

Ossan's Love: looks extremely cringe, but….in a charming way? maybe? going to watch regardless because it's earthmix, may go watch the original to get a better idea of what the hell the vibe is supposed to be.

Hide & Sis: feels like it could be campy and fun or could be just bad, but optimistic that it’s the former.

The Dark Dice: okay, so it’s…..jumanji crossed with an escape room crossed with squid game for teenagers? sure i can get behind that. the trailer looked pretty good for being (i assume) relatively low-budget and low-effort.

Revamp: The Undead Story: looks a little silly but very likely in a fun way. (why are there so many vampire shows this year? was there something in the water?)

Thame-Po: okay, so this is a show about a boyband…..where the members are played by gmmtv’s actual boyband? this feels like another instance of rpf lite but less in a fun way and more in a way where i’m a little concerned for these teenagers about fan engagement bleedover. but it did look cute and there are opportunities to go a little meta about the whole thing.

Leap Day: intrigued to watch gun in a role where he actually has things to do

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist: i think ohm and mark have really fun energy and i badly wanted to like their show, but it looks. SO bad. will watch at least an episode and hope it's better than the trailer made it look but good god.

Break-Up Service: another one that....could be fun or bad, but probably just bad.

Scarlet Heart: was that a trailer or a perfume ad? i guess this is an adaptation and we're supposed to be familiar with the original, slash they didn't have time to film an actual trailer before the event? isekai time travel could be fun in theory but the reverse harem thing does not entice me. pass.

Perfect 10 Liners: you know the bit in Lovely Writer where the show-within-a-show is Bad Engineer, and it's funny because it could literally be any BL that takes place in a university engineering faculty? Lovely Writer is three years old now and we're just still doing this apparently. why are there thirty episodes? did they just decide to toss all the pairs they didn't have a better idea for into the most generic setting possible and cross their fingers? hard pass.

[itsays]

I've watched the whole (almost 2-hour long) interview where P'Jojo said those things you mentioned about Boston and Mew, and I don’t see how you interpreted that as him "villainizing promiscuity," especially when he made it clear (during several points in the whole interview) that OF isn't there to moralise or teach a lesson, but to portray a group of different queer friends without judgement. Also, him saying Boston doesn't need an explanation for being bad (because not everyone who does shitty things irl has some deeper/traumatic explanation as to why they do those things), even out of context doesn't sound like him villainizing Boston for being slutty.

That being said I don't even agree with him that Boston has no backstory/explanation for his actions. We've seen a little bit of his home life and while he hasn't had any major trauma (like Top and Ray have had), his mom did very much abandon him (for her new life in New York) and his dad is way too nonchalant/dismissive about Boston. He doesn't take any interest in Boston's passion for photography and instead of being concerned about how Boston is doing at school, he just waves it off with a "well, if you don't graduate, you can just go live with your mom in NY." Some people might think it's great for a kid that their parents aren't putting pressure on them about school but there's a line. If they're always like "whatever, it's totally fine" it just makes it seem like they don't care about you and your future. And while there's nothing wring with Boston sleeping around, we do have some backstory on that too. His dad clearly thinks relationships are bullshit (possibly because his own with Boston's mom fell apart) and he's passed those beliefs on to his son. Praising him for not settling down and being proud of him for that? I don't think I need to tell anyone that this kind of stuff from your parents sticks and it helps shape you into the person you are as an adult. So yeah, I definitely disagree with Jojo that Boston doesn't have a backstory just because it's not as intense and trumatic as Top's or Ray's.

i only watched those two specific clips, however it left a bad taste in my mouth how dismissive he was of boston. it seems like a case where the character accidentally ends up having depth and nuance when the writer didnt even intend them to. because of those two comments i made the association that to him mew = good because he's "pure" vs boston = bad bevause he's "inpure". at least in those two clips he didnt explain what he meant by good or bad but what other conclusion can i make when put next to each other?

i like that the show just portrays reality without telling you what's right and wrong, that's what makes it fun! but if he's giving his own opinion outside of the show then he clearly has one influenced obviously by his own morality.

i wanna be wrong! i just dont know how else should i interpret these comments. i genuinely think he's great and people who treat him like he's the worst thing to happen to television simply dont understand his work, but again this comment just made me a little confused and upset!

i understand boston is very selfish so that could also be what he meant but again, why dismiss his backstory like that, why is boston so inheritely evil like he was some sort of abuser or something? ray and nick have done worse things in my opinion, boston is not by any means evil beyond saving

[namtanlovesfilm]

oohhh you're working on a p'jojo video? then this is the right time to finally ask you. What do you feel about Never Let Me Go and the fact that p’jojo was involved in this? idk how or what to ask exactly, but for me i didn't have the sense, the feel, that it was 'a p'jojo show'. I mean great scenery imagerie and sound and stuff but... it severely lacked something for me. for me it's the least best work from him. Maybe it's because he was just the director and not also a scriptwriter on the series, and maybe because it wasn't an ensemble cast, which I think is where he thrives the most. To be honest I think a lot of it comes from the "bound" (hm chemistry I think it's called?) between the 2 actors also, well 4 then, if we count the chemistry between the cousin and the friend who I think for this couple didn't have any. None of them sold me tbh. So maybe idk... I guess it's the entirety of nlmg that didn't work for me. Bc I see the picture, what's it trying to do but then again maybe I don't. Anyway sorry for the ramble and I'm patiently waiting for your input on this, as my opinion is an unpopular one i think.

okay, so first of all I need to say that I liked never let me go, though not as much as I antipicipated. I think it's a solid show even though it felt highly predictable bc of its similarities to another p'jojo show, 3 will be free. now though, I completely agree that apart from these similarities, never let me go lacks the p'jojo touch compared to his other ones, and from the beginning I've always chalked it up to him not being a writer for this show, which makes all the difference. in my opinion my issues with nlmg is not with the acting or chemistry, in fact I think they did a good job, or even the cinematography or the execution, but it's just that there's not much that stands out with this show. even though the plot sounds kinda crazy on paper, I never held my breath watching it or was shocked by the plot twists or anything. it was a nice show that I enjoyed watching, but tbh I've forgotten most of it already. even compared to the eclipse which I've given the same rating (8/10), I love the eclipse more & wanna rewatch it even though imo it's a more flawed show, whereas it's not the case for never let me go. as p'jojo's first bl show, I think it can feel a little lackluster. I hope we can get a bl show from him where he's both the screenwriter & director bc I believe it would be way more memorable!

xxx