#this might be turning into my favorite jittirain show

[iguessitsjustme]

Be My Favorite - Episode 9 Thoughts

Am I watching this on Friday this week? On the day it airs? On time? Who am I? 

-Every week, I’m grateful for the previously on because I’ve blocked it from my memory and need to be reminded. 

-I still like the opening song. This hasn’t changed. No one is surprised. I say this each week. Krist actually has a nice voice.

-Unrelated to the show, but I’m gonna kill the bar next to my apartment. What the fuck is this beat? Need to pause until they move on to the next song that doesn’t distract me from the show. 

-Glad Kawi is quitting drinking. He doesn’t seem to be able to do it in moderation so quitting and sobriety is probably the best option for him. But that poses an interesting question in how the time travel affects him. In the future, he was an alcoholic and couldn’t stop. But in the present, he can easily quit. How does that work?

-Pear, my precious angel child. I love you. 

-I hate Pear’s mother. It took 3 seconds of Pisaeng’s explanation. A child isn’t something that you can just abandon cause you didn’t feel like it anymore. That’s not how that fucking works. You tell her Pear!

-I actually disagree with Pisaeng here. It’s ultimately Kawi’s decision whether or not he performs with the band and Pisaeng can’t make that choice for him. And then making Kawi choose between him or the band is like making Kawi choose between his future and his love life. I know Pisaeng wasn’t serious about it but it still rubbed me the wrong way. 

-What the fuck is this peer pressure to drink? It’s 2023 and people should know better. 

-Poor Pisaeng. He’s gonna get alcohol poisoning. 

-Hold up. Why the FUCK am I not eating my cake right now while I watch this? What’s wrong with me?

-I hate Pear’s dad too. Neither parent cares about the well-being of their child. He forced his forgiveness into his child and didn’t let her properly heal. Pear, darling, I love you so much. 

-Drunk Pisaeng is adorable. 

-So Kawi has charged his phone for a ride but hasn’t called Pear back even though she called multiple times. I would have at least checked in. One call, I’d text. Two calls, I’d call. Is she okay?

-This is an interesting change. This time Pisaeng got drunk and kissed Kawi. Don’t think I didn’t notice that little flip flop there. 

-Oh wait. He was denied. Lol. 

-Oh lord not Not seeing it. The absolute worst person on the planet. He should go fuck himself. Why the fuck is he calling Pear to report on Pisaeng and Kawi. Does he think outing them is gonna get him anything? It better fucking not. The only thing he should be getting is a swift kick in the ass.

-“You might not be able to resist your desire” what is this? A MAME show?

-Is this communication? Honest to god communication? In a Jittirain show?

-These assholes should mind the business that pays them. How the fuck is this their business in any way. I will NEVER forgive anyone for outing people. Ever. Especially Not who is outing his “friends” so he can have a chance with Pear. That’s completely fucked up.

-Pear deserves better than this show. Kawi sacrificed her happy future for his. Although how happy could she have been if she was marrying and extremely closeted Pisaeng. 

-Kwan, girl, Not? I mean we been knew you loved him. But seriously? He sucks. If he ends up with Pear, I’ll riot.

-Not, I hope Pear bitchslaps you. That’s all I want from Not.

-Kawi, tell me, how is breaking up with Pisaeng going to make anything better? Seriously. No really and truly. The issue isn’t that you’re with him. It’s that you didn’t talk to Pear first. Just give her some time. The rest of the issues? Not. All Not. Launch him into the sun and y’all will be good to go. 

-Pisaeng, you’re so right. Hold hands and go through it together. 

-Pear is a good person and I love her.

-That’s right! Reject him! Make him cry! I hope he cries.

-I probably enjoyed this episode more than any of the others so far! Now I just need this show to get rid of Not and I’ll be happy. 

[harborpointeblvd]

I Watched Every GMMTV BL series part 4/?

2016/2017

2018

2019

If your favorite BL came out in 2020, you should probably scroll past this post now.

BTW, before anyone says it, I didn't forget The Shipper. I watched it and decided not to include it because I don't consider it BL. Body swap stories are not my cup of tea, but I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed it more than any of the shows I'm about to talk about, at least.

Sorry in advance for writing a whole ass essay on a show no one watched.

2gether - 2020

When first year college student, Tine (Win Metawin) is relentlessly pursued by Green (Gun Korawit), he asks handsome and popular Sarawat (Bright Vachirawit) to be his fake boyfriend. I feel like I don’t need to explain any further. You’re familiar with the fake-dating plot.

Honestly, this plot was so nothing that I’m bored even trying to write about it. The series is thirteen episodes, but could’ve been condensed to, like, eight. I feel like people unfairly judge Jittirain works based on this one, because it's (I think) her most popular one. But it's an outlier, Vice Versa was good, dammit!

Why does his leg look like it's bending backwards like a flamingo?

Still 2gether - 2020

As the title suggests, Tine and Wat are still together. For five episodes. Although for two of those episodes, they are separated with no contact.

While 2gether The Series has barely any plot, Still 2gether has no plot at all. That being said, it’s only five episodes and the couples act more like couples this time, so it’s easier to watch than the first series.

I don't remember why I took this screenshot, but I'm sure I had something very witty to say.

My Gear and Your Gown - 2020

Disclaimer: I was not aware of any of any actor’s legal troubles before watching this series, so that did not factor into my viewing experience.

After returning from studying abroad in England, Pai (Pawin Thanik) starts his final year of high school as a new student. On his first day, he is rescued twice by the same mysterious boy. After being roped into becoming president of his academic club, he learns that they are about to lose their club room to their rival athletic club. His hero becomes his enemy when the rival club’s president, Itt (Marc Natarit), turns out to be the same boy who rescued Pai on his first day.

I’m not gonna lie, this show really had me going in the first half. It sort of dragged, but I was ready to give it a passing grade. And then it all fell apart. I feel played by this drama. The first half of this show is set during their final year of high school and the latter half takes place during their freshman year of college. The high school stuff is just your basic enemies-to-friends-to-secret-crush story, but it felt true to life. The college stuff makes no goddamn sense.

Some spoilers ahead.

The high school portion moves pretty slowly, but I liked the way the relationship developed. Initially, Pai is forced to tutor Itt, but as they grow closer, he begins to genuinely care about Itt’s future, and he continues to tutor him after he no longer has to. After they have their falling out, he continues helping Itt in secret, and despite being heartbroken, he is happy for Itt when he does well on his college entrance exams. It’s heartbreaking and bittersweet, but also strangely satisfying. That might just be a Me thing. I find it so gratifying in dramas when the person with a one-sided crush just…gives up. I'm pro giving up.

Then we see Pai in college, where he discovers that Itt has chosen to attend the same university. He tries to avoid him, but Itt just keeps showing up to harass Pai. He convinces Pai to join the university’s Moon contest by withholding an item that Pai lost in high school that holds sentimental value to him. You know, romance. Anyways, it’s revealed that Itt is actually doing all of this to push Pai out of his comfort zone so he can learn to speak up for himself. But, the thing is, it was not well established to begin with that Pai had any trouble speaking up for himself. The only time we see that is with his parents. He actually makes his boundaries very clear in most situations, in a way that’s impressively mature for his age. Like, when a guy he rejected asks to go to his dorm room, he's like, "When you only see me as a friend, I'll invite you in," and I was like, "Damn, good answer." The few times Pai and Itt fought in high school, it was always Pai reaching out to Itt and making every effort to explain himself and Itt ignoring him. Pai is not the one with communication issues, is what I'm saying. This whole thing feels like an excuse for Itt to harass Pai. And the fact that Itt continues to let Pai believe he hates him is just baffling. He has this “it has to be this way” attitude, but no, it absolutely does not, you’re just drama.

The most disappointing thing about it is that this is an unrequited love reversal, which is my FAVORITE romance plot trope, and they bungled it. They had the chance to do Flipped better than Theory of Love*, but instead we got whatever the fuck this is.

The two lead actors did fine for the most part, but seemed to struggle when it came to heavier emotional scenes. They’re kind of blown out of the water by Fiat and JJ, who play Itt’s best friend Pure and Pai’s best friend Waan, respectively. The two characters form a friendship with each other that seems more genuine than either of their friendships with the main characters. Waan dragging a depressed Pure to a clinic to get tested for STIs is peak best friend behavior.

TW for sexual assault. There is an attempted rape of one of the characters during the college portion of the series. It’s not the worst use of this trope I’ve seen. The perpetrator is not the love interest of the victim and it’s not used as a plot device to make a red flag love interest out to be a hero (See Tonhon Chonlatee below). The perpetrator is forgiven way too easily though. Is it so much to ask that BL shows treat rape like a crime?

*Just kidding, probably not.

Joke's on you, that only makes me want to do it more.

Tonhon Chonlatee - 2020

Chonlatee (Khaotung Thanawat) has had a secret crush on the older boy next door, Tonhon (Pod Suphakorn) since they were kids. He has vowed never to tell him, since Tonhon dates girls. But when Chonlatee gets into the same university, Tonhon insists on Chonlatee moving in with him, and his secret gets harder to keep.

There were things I liked about this show. The ongoing joke that it is very obvious to everyone but Tonhon that Chon is gay is funny for a while, as well as Tonhon being oblivious to the fact that his two roommates who he’s lived with for three years are in a relationship. I like pretty much all of their friends, especially Chon’s best friend Pong played by Ciize. Unfortunately, this show is badly written. I mean, like, REALLY bad.

Some spoilers beyond this point. And TW for sexual assault.

Pretty much every bad BL trope is in here. They made the rival love interest so much more likable than Tonhon. And this is a guy who congratulates people for meeting him, how is he more likable than your main love interest? Tonhon has to rescue Chon from being raped (by the same guy from Kiss Me Again, he should be concerned about how he’s being typecast). And of course, we have the queen of all lazy BL tropes: every villainous trait you can think of wrapped into one jealous ex-girlfriend, who is the source of literally every conflict. It’s so unnecessary, because there are already things in their lives that can cause drama without bringing in a queen bee villain, like Tonhon’s internalized homophobia or his homophobic dad. But, no, every catastrophic event is orchestrated by this one woman, including the attempted rape. In the end, everyone boos and throws garbage at her. Even the rapist tells her off, and also gets off with, like, no consequences. They magically solve the homophobic dad problem by promising to get a surrogate so Tonhon can produce an heir. Him constantly pressuring his kids to have babies is never seen as an issue, just the fact that he won’t let Tonhon date Chonlatee.

There’s a time skip scene at the end where all of the characters sit in a circle telling each other what is going on in their lives now. Just, like, telling each other things they should probably already know. "Tonhon's dad bought you a house because you agreed to carry their baby, so now you don't have to be a sex worker." What is even the point of a timeskip if we don’t even get to SEE them living their lives? And they’re already having a baby after THREE YEARS? Chon is still in school, are you fucking nuts?

And, really, Chon? Three years later, you still have that haircut, huh?

Soulmate - The One. Like he was created for me, specifically. Sugar Daddy - He may not have it all, but he knows how to spoil me. Friend With Benefits - Despite my better judgment, I went and caught feelings. Second Lead - All my friends love him, but I don’t feel the spark. Overeager Pursuer - Tries to be cute but just gets on my nerves. Vindictive Ex - It’s like he’s punishing me for knowing I could do better. Love Rival - Literally what did I do to deserve this? -

[iguessitsjustme]

Be My Favorite - Episode 7 Thoughts

This is probably the earliest I’ve watched any of these episodes after it aired. But I purposefully scheduled nothing this weekend so I could catch up on shows and maybe write a little bit about them. So we’re starting with BMF. I got my snacks, I got my drink, I’m ready to goooooo

-I would like the thank the previously on for reminding me that Kawi and Pisaeng kissed because I genuinely forgot about that. Whoops

-The further we get into this show, the more fitting I find this opening. I still love it. GMMTV either has openings I love or openings I hate. There is no in between. And it doesn’t necessarily correlate to whether or not I like a show.

-I don’t blame Pisaeng for telling Kawi it was a just a drunken kiss and cutting him off to tell him not to worry. Kawi has been very clear that he cannot have feelings for him because he’s straight.

-Max is a good friend. So is Pisaeng.

-I say it at least once an episode but I love Pear. I adore her. I know some people might not like that she decided to finish with her class after learning that Kawi’s dad is getting surgery but she knows Pisaeng is there and also she has spent the better part of 7 episodes giving herself and her kindness away to everyone else. She’s allowed to focus on something she wants and needs. She knows that Kawi currently has someone there to offer support so she doesn’t put her life on hold. Max is also waiting until he finishes work because sometimes we can’t just drop everything and run to be with someone. It’s great when we can but life is still happening and Pear will be there when she’s done. The important thing is this time, Kawi is not alone. That’s the best gift we gave himself from this time travel. 

-Oh no. Please no singing. Don’t do this to me. You are not on my list of people allowed to sing in BLs. I’m cry. Oh thank god. It wasn’t actually singing. Praise bless. 

-Oh Pisaeng has now seen the time travel. I think???

-Oh that opening song was slowed waaaay the hell down at the beginning of part 2. What’s gonna happen here? Something sad I bet. 

-Max. That style suits him well. 

-Is Kawi going to know this song? Does this mean that he gets his memory of those 12 years when he time travels? What’s happening here? This is one of my problems with Jittirain stories. There’s a lack of consistency in her world building. Let’s say for the sake of argument, this was a song that Kawi wrote as a teenage me so he knows it, but if he didn’t have memories and knowledge of those 12 years, he wouldn’t have known how it changed during production or what arrangement to use. And based on his reactions to his trips back to the future in previous episodes, he doesn’t have memories of those 12 years. At least not right away like that so I’m having trouble following how he knew to sing that song in that way. That’s why Jittirain shows can’t hold up to shows like 1000 Stars or Bad Buddy. The little details don’t matter in Jittirain shows but those details are what make a difference between shows that stick with you and the mediocre ones that you forget about once they’re done airing. 

-Max is tired. Always tired. And me too. 

-Also Kawi knew the song but didn’t know that place was his???? Also unsurprised that he seems to have turned into an alcoholic. 

-exCUSE THE FUCK OUT OF ME. Pear is marrying Not??? Someone rescue her. 

-So he has snippets of memory? Then how did he know that song right away?

-Oh so Not is an asshole. I’m shocked. 

-I’m fully onboard the Max and Pisaeng ship. Leave Kawi and just love each other. 

-Pisaeng is adorable. Honestly him, Max, and Pear all deserve better. 

-Ew. Sing your feelings trope. Gross. But he’s actually playing the guitar. That pleases me. 

-Now go back to the past and save Pear from Not. Dear gif someone save her from that bastard.