#two worlds spoilers

[babyangelsky]

Two Worlds: Novel vs. Series (Part 1)

A few days ago, I mentioned that I had begun reading the novel for Two Worlds because I was curious about the changes that had been made for the adaption. Truthfully, I've been curious about it since the special and enough people liked my post to encourage me to put this together, so here we are!

Few things. Firstly, the official English translation of the novel is only updated through chapter 7 which equates to about episode 3 of the series. Approximately.

Secondly, good god is it convoluted so to make things easier on myself and on you, I'm going to break down the changes to each world in two separate posts and not jump around which is what the novel does.

Thirdly, if you'd like to read the novel yourself, the first seven chapters are available for free here! It's the official translation and updates are a bit irregular but it is being updated! Trigger warning for discussion and sometimes graphic mentions of suicide. Please proceed with caution.

I also have to thank @thainovels for being so lovely every time I've asked them for help. What are the odds the novel updated the day after I asked you for help finding a complete version?!

This is gonna be LONG so to spare your dash and anyone who doesn't wanna be spoiled, I'll begin under the cut.

World 1, aka our starting world in the series

Okay so, broad strokes. One of the biggest differences between novel and show so far is how much time we spend in Phupha's perspective and indeed, in perspectives other than Phupha's or Kram's. We really only get Kram's perspective in the chapters dedicated to World 1 and he's barely appeared in the chapters dedicated to World 2 so far.

This author also really loves to go on a tangent which kinda bugs me in a "I'm a writer too and I wouldn't do things this way dammit" sort of way and while that's my own cross to bear, objectively it does pull focus from the main plot and make the story more confusing than it has to be. Although I do appreciate the insight into the other characters.

How Things Start Off

Unlike the show which opens with Kram painting by the river, the novel opens with Kram trying to make friends with Phupha. At this point it's unclear how long Phupha has been staying at Kram's house but it doesn't seem like it's been very long.

In the show, Kram is the grumpy one who doesn't wanna talk or hang out and Phupha is the more open one, but it's flipped in the novel. Kram is a lonely lil ball of sunshine and he's excited to make a new friend and Phupha's generally very grumpy about his circumstances.

Kram also calls him "your grace" which I suspect is what the translator chose to use in place of "khun chai" since Kram also calls him that in the show a few times. I really wish the show had kept this detail because unlike in the show, Kram uses khun chai playfully and eventually affectionately. It's also worth noting that he doesn't call Phupha "phi" despite their age difference because he doesn't want to create distance between them.

Their first bonding experience is going for a walk just like in the show rather than walk aimlessly in the forest, Kram takes him to see the waterfall that is so central to our story. The locals refer to it as Moonshadow Cave.

We learn that Phupha is afraid of heights (and very traumatized) because of the circumstances surrounding his mother's suicide. He opens up to Kram about it and also tells him why his father sent him to stay with Kram and his father.

At one point, Kram steps onto a little ledge around the back of the waterfall and gently coaxes Phupha to join him so they can see the view. But remember, Phupha is afraid of heights and traumatized so after a few moments he panics and goes to turn back. But he turns back a little too quickly and stumbles and ends up face to face and very close to Kram.

SO THEY KISS ABOUT IT. Maybe it's adrenaline, maybe it's horniness, who knows! Certainly not Phupha!

It's getting late so they come down from the mountain to go home. Kram's head is spinning from the kiss, he's confused, he can still taste Phupha. Phupha's confused too, he doesn't know why the hell he kissed Kram, and just as he's in the middle of telling Kram that it was just the adrenaline and didn't mean anything, they hear something rustling in the tall grass.

The Tiger Incident

Yep. The thing they hear is a tiger smack in the middle of having a deer for dinner. Here is the first of two or three major plot points (so far) that were cut from the adaptation entirely.

They come across the tiger and even though they try to move as quietly and slowly as they can to get away, they don't get very far before the tiger notices them and starts chasing them down. As they're running, Kram falls and hurts his leg. Kram knows of a small cave where they can hide, and They manage to duck into it just in time. Fortunately the entrance is too small for the tiger to follow them in there so they're safe but homeboy is still waiting outside to eat them, so they're forced to stay there until morning or until he gets bored and leaves.

Kram and Phupha snuggle together for warmth because of course they do and in the middle of the night, Phupha realizes that Kram has a fever.

The next morning, Phupha sees that Kram hasn't gotten any better so he decides to go and get help for him. Luckily the tiger is gone, so he leaves the cave and marks himself a path so he can find his way back. When he exits the forest, he sees Kram's dad and a group of villagers talking amongst themselves. They'd been looking for the two of them since they hadn't returned from their walk and are very relieved to see Phupha.

Phupha tells everyone what happened and they go back for Kram, and this is where things get very weird. He notices that the branches he broke to mark his path aren't broken anymore and when he and the villagers arrive at the cave, the weeds that were covering the cave entrance are thicker than they were before. And Kram?

Kram is fucking gone.

He is straight up gone. He is not in the cave where Phupha left him despite being sick and unable to move because of his injured leg. Phupha obviously begins questioning his sanity as a search gets underway.

Fifty people including police search the forest for two entire days to absolutely zero avail. Kram is nowhere to be found. It's like the forest swallowed him whole and Phupha is feeling so guilty and Kram's dad is being so kind and not blaming him at all and it's all very fraught.

The search is paused on the third day because of heavy rain but that's not about to stop Phupha. He needs to find Kram and he's in the forest desperately wracking his mind for every last detail of the path he took from the cave and the surroundings while rain is pouring down on him. He thinks he might've found the right spot and sees a cave, but passes out before he can reach it.

When he wakes up, he's back at Kram's house being tended to by Duandow, Kram's childhood friend (we'll get to her in a bit). First thing he does is ask about Kram and miracle of miracles, KRAM HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS OKAY! His leg wasn't broken and he's in rough shape after not having any food or water for a couple days but he's expected to make a full recovery.

Duandow tells him that the cave Kram was found in--the one Phupha passed out in front of--was in an area that had already been searched by the police and that the locals believe that dark magic blocked the entrance to it, which is why they hadn't been able to find Kram before.

If that sounds really goddamn weird to you, THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS. Something fucky is going on with this forest but there are absolutely no answers I can give you as to the why and the how. The novel hasn't given us anything yet.

Phupha and Kram

Another huge difference between the show and the novel is just how much the relationship between Phupha and Kram progresses and how physical it actually is. In the show we only get a few kisses and some snuggling but they go a lot further in the novel.

A lot further.

After the tiger and the fucky forest trauma bond them, they're hanging out on the mountain near Kram's house one evening and as they get to talking and open up to each other some more, they're interrupted by a swarm of fireflies. Kram tries to catch one for Phupha but can't quite manage it, and somehow they end up very close together again.

SO THEY KISS ABOUT IT. AGAIN.

Not only do they kiss about it, clothes start coming off and things start getting hot and heavy before Kram's dad calls up and interrupts them. He doesn't actually see anything (since they're horizontal and shielded by the brush) but he does notice the state they're in when they come down.

Which leads me nicely to the painting.

The Nude Portrait

Remember the nude portrait Kram did of Phupha? In the show, it comes about after Kram accidentally paints Scarface Tai. Phupha sees the painting and realizes how skilled Kram is and hires Kram to paint him.

In the novel, Kram shows Phupha a spare room where he stores all his works and as they're looking through them, Phupha comes across a nude portrait Kram had done of DUANDAOW. KRAM'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND.

Kram tells him that she had agreed to pose for him one day so he could practice painting figures, as all artists do, and Phupha gets all quiet and grumpy and jealous about it. So what does he do? Hire Kram to paint a nude portrait for him like the one Kram had done for Duandaow.

If you'll recall, this is pretty much what happens in the show when Tai asks Kram do paint a nude portrait of him. He gets jealous because Kram had done one of Phupha and asks for one just like it. It seems like the writers reworked that bit since they also wrote out that Kram had done a portait of Duandaow.

And that's not all they reworked.

The painting session with Phupha in the novel begins the same as it does in the show. Kram is doing his thing while Phupha looks all pretty with his cloth in the river. But just like the nude painting scene with Tai, Kram starts getting distracted because of how good Phupha looks.

And I just have to say, the author always makes a point to describe how beautiful Phupha is, but I especially appreciate them taking the time to tell us that Phupha has lovely ample breasts and pretty nipples. Especially because wiping sweat off those lovely ample breasts is what brings Kram so very close to Phupha for the third time. Except this time, they don't just kiss about it.

THEY FUCK ABOUT IT. RIGHT BY THE RIVER. AND THEN GO RIGHT BACK TO THE PAINTING SESSION WHEN THEY'RE DONE.

In the show, this painting scene is where we get their first kiss but as you have seen, beloved reader, we are several kisses in by this point in the novel

Dilok

It's after this that we cut to Kram's dad's perspective for a bit, and I only mention this because it's so goddamn funny and also serves to highlight a few of important points.

The man is just so endearingly oblivious. He saw how disheveled Kram and Phupha were when they came down from the mountain as I mentioned above and assumes they fought each other after having an argument. This man interpreted two horizontal silhouettes moving together as a FIST FIGHT. He assumes they're angry at each other when they won't even look at each other.

THIS MAN THINKS KRAM AND PHUPHA ARE FIGHTING TO THE DEATH EVERY TIME THEY GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN AND COME BACK LOOKING SWEATY AND FLUSHED AND RUMPLED AND IF THAT'S NOT THE FUNNIEST THING GODDAMN THING I'VE EVER READ I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.

In one instance, Dilok catches Phupha leaving Kram's bedroom early in the morning and believes Phupha when he tells him he "fell asleep" after he and Kram "talked" all night. Dilok even thinks to himself how proud he is that they're so mature and communicate so well! I love Dilok so much, you don't understand.

That aside, however, his hilarious misinterpretation tells us that unlike in the show, Kram and Phupha are fucking on the reg. And bear in mind that Kram still technically has an ash exchange ceremony coming up with Duandaow but before I get into everything with her, I wanted to share this passage where Dilok happens upon both her and Phupha's portraits because it says something important about Kram's relationship with Duandaow. Also because I love it.

Duandaow

Duandaow's presence is yet another major difference between the novel and the show.

The show doesn't tell us a whole lot about her. We know only that she has an ash exchange ceremony coming up with Kram and that when she realizes that Kram has feelings for Phupha, she takes herself out of the equation so they can be together.

The novel gives us so much more. She's featured prominently when Kram disappears in the forest, she cares for Phupha when he passes out, she appears every time Phupha goes to her grandmother's store to get medicine for Kram, and of course there's the fact that Kram painted her.

She has been in love with Kram her whole life. In addition to getting her history, we learn that they've known each other since childhood and that they were very close since they were the only two children in the village that were the same age. And it's partially because there's no one else for either them that being with Kram is a foregone conclusion to her and it's why she assumes that's the case for him as well.

She confesses to Kram and he responds with something along the lines of "Who would I love if not you? It's just us here." It's not an "I love you, too" but she takes it that way. Kram literally has no one else so his response may seem sweet but to me, it reads as him accepting on some level that there's no other option and settling.

I do think he cares deeply for Duandaow but I don't think he's in love with her. Several things drive this home for me (including that passage above) but the one that stands out the most is actually when they lose their virginity to each other.

It happens one day after they go swimming together (at the infamous waterfall I might add). She makes the first move and he hesitates at first but he gets swept up in the moment and it's all very shy and sweet. Thing is, after it happens, Kram keeps things strictly friendly between them. So much so that she thinks the whole thing got wiped from his memory.

And this sense of "who else if not you" persists pretty much their whole lives up until this point. They have an ash exchange ceremony coming up because why wouldn't they? There's no other option. Oh, the comphet of it all.

She isn't stepping aside for Phupha because she doesn't realize there's something between him and Kram. She notices something there that makes her suspicious but those suspicions are nebulous at best. It never occurs to her that they could have any relationship beyond friendship because why would they?

The Other Love Triangle

Phupha has had silent, one-sided beef with Duandaow ever since he saw that painting of her. He's polite to her but just barely, he doesn't make any effort at friendliness or real conversation. He's jealous and he has good reason to be, because he and Kram haven't declared any feelings for each other or had the "what are we" conversation.

Not only that, there is an ash exchange ceremony coming up. Phupha has no idea what that ceremony is until he asks Kram's dad one day and Dilok tells him IT'S A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. Show!Kram had some nerve getting pissy at Phupha for having a fiancee he didn't tell Kram about when Kram had one too!

Here Phupha is, so very in love and in a very physical relationship with Kram, and then he learns Kram is about to get married to someone else. He doesn't know whether Kram returns his feelings, he doesn't know where he stands, there's been no hint of calling off the wedding, so what does he do?

He takes himself out of the equation just like Duandaow does in the show.

Phupha chooses not to confess his feelings to Kram, he spends one last night snuggling him, and then he takes the L and quietly goes back to his life in Rattha.

Oh, what's that you say? You wanted some salt in that wound? How about the fact that KRAM GOES THROUGH WITH THE CEREMONY AND MARRIES DUANDAOW?

More? HE ONLY REALIZES HIS FEELINGS FOR PHUPHA AFTER HE'S ALREADY GONE AND ONLY MARRIES DUANDAOW OUT OF OBLIGATION AND BECAUSE PHUPHA IS NO LONGER THERE.

It's a MESS and there is no resolution for it because the novel translation isn't done!

*screams*

Tai

You might have noticed that I haven't really talked about Tai and that's because he only shows up once in these few chapters we have so far. The ones that take place in World 1, that is. But boy howdy does he come in with a bang when he does. Literally.

When Phupha hires Kram to paint him, Kram asks him to take him into the city as payment. There's an arts festival happening and Kram wanted to go so he could show off his dad's paintings.

Everything is going lovely, everyone is having a good time. At least until Duandaow shows up and Phupha turns into a salty salmon about it but we already talked about her.

The brand new chief of police has been asked to make a speech to inaugurate the festival and a short while after he gets on stage to make it, there is a bang. It's followed by screams and a second bang.

Tai showed up at the festival, shot an officer in the gut, and then killed the chief in cold blood to get revenge for the chief recently killing his father.

Bedlam ensues. People are screaming and terrified and fleeing the scene and Tai is looking to flee the scene too, but it just so happens that Kram is blocking his escape route. Tai shouts for him to move but something comes over Kram and he's not budging. Doesn't matter how much Tai threatens him or how much Phupha pleads with him, Tai belongs to the gang that killed his mother and he ain't moving.

My boy doesn't move even when Tai points a gun in his face. That's how much he hates this man and everything he represents. And Tai fully intends to kill him, but there's a moment where he locks eyes with Kram and something shifts within him.

There's a shot, but because we switch to Duandaow's perspective in that moment, we don't know exactly what happens. We know only that the shot missed and that Phupha rushed to hug Kram to his body and shield him from the shot.

Kram was in point blank range. There was no way in hell that shot missed unless that's what Tai intended. But that's all we've gotten of Tai in World 1 so far so there hasn't been a chance to dig into anything more.

The Stabbing of Viroj

There's one more thing I wanna mention, which also happens to be the stopping point for the translation at this time.

In the show, in World 1, Phupha's biological father Viroj gets attacked after Phupha and Kram go talk to him about the incident in the gallery with Tai and the conversation Phupha had with his father.

In the novel, that conversation with Adisak and Phupha's aunt and stepmother takes place right after Phupha goes back to Rattha and for the subsequent conversation with Viroj, Phupha is obviously alone.

The circumstances that precede the stabbing at a little different but that's a whole other tangent so I'm not gonna get into it. The rest of it is largely the same as in the show.

Someone breaks in, stabs Viroj, Phupha hears a scream and comes upon the scene, he has the realization about his hemophilia, he calls an ambulance and the police.

Only a few details are different. In the novel, he does actually manage to call for help but help never comes so he decides to take Viroj to the hospital himself. Unfortunately Viroj dies before Phupha can take him.

After his death, Phupha calls his dad Adisak to tell him that someone killed Viroj and to ask him to call for help. Adisak does, and when Phupha gets a call from the paramedics asking for more information, the paramedic asks where the patient was stabbed.

Problem is, Phupha never told Adisak that Viroj had been stabbed. Phupha immediately suspects that Adisak knows more about the attack than he let on and was possibly even behind it.

This is as far as the translation has taken us so I have to stop here. Sometime before the finale I'm gonna write up part two to this absolute saga, which will be the differences between World 2 in the novel and show.

If you've read this far, thank you. You're lovely and I love you. ❤️

[pharawee]

I really appreciate that the narrative in Two Worlds didn't just concentrate on Kram and Tai's love story but included action sequences, world and lore building and actual side plots - even if they weren't quite fleshed out. I loved Phupha as a flawed and ambiguous character, and I would have loved to see more of Wayu and Jao.

It seems like ultimately Two Worlds suffers from the same pacing issues as so many other Thai BLs this year, and I think it comes down to budgeting*. If they had one or two more eps to tie the plot together, the ending wouldn't have felt quite so sudden and disjointed.

As things are, Tai shows up completely out of the blue because [insert a plot point that wasn't previously part of the lore and is shown in a short flashback] and scar!Tai was randomly killed by a snake bite just as he started his road to redemption. Which is really mean. :(

Also, am I supposed to believe that Kram didn't even say goodbye to his dad? And what about the fact that he was slowly losing his mind due to the rules of dimension-hopping?

The short snippet of Wayu and Jao swapping rings felt like an afterthought, and the scene with Phupha and his family completely out of place (the kid was what? Six? What's the timeline here lmao). I can appreciate what Kongthup were going for - I just wish they would have had more time to tell their story because I actually really, really liked it.

*I feel like a lot of shows were downsized to 10 or even 8 eps this year when up until recently 12 or 16 eps used to be the norm. This in itself isn't a problem (see Memory in the Letter) but the pacing with these shows (see 1000 Years Old, For Him and even Deep Night) feels off - as if the script was written with more eps in mind and had to be re-edited later along with the number of eps.

[silverraes]

okay I need to be insane about this for a second here bc it came up in the discord and now I need to share my brainworms:

so we know that world 2 Kram and Tai met in the exact same way that our Kram met evil!Tai right? the soulmatism of it all etc etc but a question that's been living in my mind rent-free ever since we saw that parallel is just. what would have happened between Kram and evil!Tai if Kram had never gone to the other world?? could we have gotten evil!Tai turning all soft for Kram? could we have gotten insane levels of angst with Tai trying so hard to make up all his past bullshit to Kram?? I NEED ANSWERS.

[itsanidiom]

Okay I'm back from vacation and a bit behind on the BL dramas but can I just say the Two Worlds Ep 8 cave scene now ranks NUMBER 1 in the NC scene charts. Holy shit MaxNat.

[beesonjupiter]

i was putting off watching two worlds (because of all the sex scenes to be very honest) and i finally got to it yesterday, finished today

tell me why i was so wrecked over "evil" tai dying? he was trying to do a good thing helping kram and then he goes and dies????? i was so upset.

no one gave him a chance until kram found him in that cave. no one showed him kindness. then kram did, and in time "evil" tai revealed himself to not be so evil and when he tried to help he gets bit by a snake and dies????????????????????????

when i tell you, out of all the things to be upset about in this show, that just hurt me sosososososo bad? i don't have the words to express why it hurt me so bad.

OH AND ALSO when he said, while dying?, he's never been to the cave but something drew him there? bitch.

[mac-ademia]

This is a question for anyone that has read the "Two Worlds" web novel:

Does the story have a happy ending?

Do Kram and Tai end up together and alive or does one of them (or both) end up dying?

[kinnporsche-is-life]

Ok, so I never watch any series that doesn't end with a happy ending. I'm not asking for spoilers, but I would like to know - does it end well? I was waiting for the last episode to come out to start watching

I want my MaxNat nooow!

I saw THOSE gifs!!!

[littleforeignaffairs]

BUM

THAT WAS A BUM

[loveisonlyforthebrave8]

Do I even attempt to add the ass shots to this gifset? Or do I not bother? Will Tumblr horny jail me again?

[bl-recs-and-reviews]

Nose bleeding that indicases death, my beloathed. I was not expecting to see it happen in Two World. Has this trope ever been used y a BL before? I know we got the coughing "blood" witb Kurosawa Buchou in OLR, but I feel like this is something I've only seen in k-dramas and j-dramas.

I've gotten so used to happy endings that I didn't see it coming at all. I am curious about what they're gonna do for that. Also, I'm looking forward to Tai and Tai meeting

[miss0atae]

Random thoughts about Two Worlds episode 3 :

It will be easy this time because we spend the entire episode in World 2 ! Yeah !

▪️ Last episode, Khram tried to save Phupha by taking him to World 1 throught the blue moon lagoon but it seem she didn’t succeeded because at the beginning of episode 3, we see him in a cell being tortured by Wayu (Phumpha’s help/friend/employee). They believe Khram was sent by someone to hurt Phupha. Khram can’t really said the truth so he remains silent and let himself be tortured until he passed out. I felt sad for him. Being tortured is no bed of roses. Khram may not seem strong but he has an iron will.

▪️ Eventually he get saved by Thai. Phupha learn that Thai and Khram know each other and get warned he must be careful because someone is after him. Thai takes care of Khram and the way he looks at him so soft and worried, you can’t deny something was going on between Thai from World 2 and Khram from World 2 before the latter died. Khram is not coping well because he couldn’t really do anything to protect Phupha and the memories of their time in World 1 is making him feel more hopeless than ever. Even though Phupha in World 2 shares none of these sweet memories with him, Kram was willing to do anything to save him. He is torn between his love and his helplessness.

▪️ Thankfully, Thai is always ready to take care of him when he sees how difficult it is for Khram to cope. I have to admit, I find his quiet kindness so endearing. Nothing is really said, so it’s pure speculation, but I believe Thai from World 2 was in love with Khram from World 2 and lost him. As he knows that Khram from World 1 doesn’t really know him or share his feelings, he can’t act like he would want with him but he will nonetheless do anything to help him. Thai from World 2 is stuck in the same position as Khram from World 1 when he is with Phupha (from World 2). That’s why he understand him so well.

▪️ Thai will lead Khram to the version of his mother from the World 2. In this world, Khram’s mother is the only remaining member of his family who is alive. His father is dead because of Thai’s father and his mother is blind (I don’t remember if it’s because she became blind or if she was born with blindness). Seeing her and spending time with her, helps Khram to feel better. He also got to see Dueandao from World 2 who is different from the one he knows from his own World. She never met him, but she seems to be a friend of Thai and his mother.

▪️ Phupha will find Thai and Khram again after he was attacked just like they warned him and he will be saved by Thai at the end of the episode. During the last part of the episode, Phupha will pretty much discover the same information the Phupha from World 1 found (fir example who is his real father and his relationship with his mother. I just had one crazy thought, isn’t Phupa’s father also the father of his fiance??? Something is not clearly explained). Again, what really breaks me is how tragic is this whole situation because Khram is crying, holding Phupha and screaming his name and Thai is just seeing himself doing the exact same action when he saw his Khram being dead

▪️ I don’t know how they will manage the love triangle. My usual answer is make them be a polycule but I’m not sure Thai and Phupha can appreciate each other enough to make that happen. Besides, this Phupha from World 2 isn’t in love with Khram. He knows almost nothing about him. No one told him the truth because they believed he wouldn’t be able to handle it. I wonder when he will get to know Khram is from another world where he, Phupha, is not alive anymore. I also don’t believe Phupha from World 2 is as nice as Phupha from World 1. He seems less friendly..

▪️ One thing I really like from this episode is the bickering between Wayu and Jao (Thai’s friend). They know each other and they are not in friendly terms. However, they are perfect for one of my oldest favorite trope, Enemies to Lovers. The potential of their relationship is here in every petty arguments they have together. When they were facing each other so close they could kiss… Let me tell you I was really enjoying it. Since they are supporting characters they don’t get a lot of screen time but I believe we’ll get there soon.

▪️ My only complaint is that the duration of events is not easy to grasp. Many things seems to happen to fast but some would require more time to be believable. Maybe it’s just me who feel this way. I really wonder what will happen in the next episode.

PS: I edit the name of the characters to match the version in MDL but I'm watching the series on IQIYI and they don't write it this way. 🤷

[babyangelsky]

Two Worlds: Novel vs. Series (Part 2)

In my first post in this little series, I went over some of the differences between the novel for Two Worlds and the show. The novel is very convoluted and a lot of changes were made so in that post I only covered the changes to World 1 and now I am here to do the same for World 2.

Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read that absolute monster of a breakdown, I appreciate you a lot 💖

As I stated previously, the official English translation of the novel is only updated through chapter seven, which equates to roughly episode 3 of the show and can be found here. (Trigger warning for discussion and sometimes graphic mentions of suicide)

Okay, let's do this!

World 2, aka the world Kram travels to in the series

Generally speaking, there haven't been as many changes to World 2 in the novel as there were for World 1. There also hasn't been as much that has been cut entirely, with one exception which I'll go over.

Of course, I suspect that might just be because of how early it is in the novel. Bear in mind, the translation is only updated through chapter seven so far and major changes could well very happen later on. My scope is limited to what has been made available.

That being said, in the chapters dedicated to World 2, we pretty much only get Phupha's perspective. Kram is present, as are Tai and Wayu briefly, but we don't get a whole lot of them and we don't spend any time in their point of view. Again, with that one major and also one minor exception.

The Prologue

Because the prologue takes place in World 2, I chose to cover it here instead of in my last post.

In the show, the prologue takes place after Phupha's death and consists of some flashes of his relationship with Kram as Kram walks along the edge of the waterfall. He drops Phupha's locket into the water, falls in while trying to reach for it, you know the rest.

In the novel, the prologue opens with Kram lost in the forest, also after Phupha's death. From his mention of a legend, we can infer that something happened surrounding Moonshadow cave but we don't know what.

Kram is distraught and crying and all he wants is to go home, but when he makes it out of the forest and arrives at the place is house is supposed to be, it isn't there.

Speaking of legends...

Moonshadow Cave

The mechanics surrounding the waterfall haven't quite been fully explained in the novel yet, only alluded to, but changes have been made here as well. Mostly out of necessity.

In the show, travel between worlds becomes possible on nights when the water turns blue and glowy.

In the novel, however, it's unclear whether conditions for travel between worlds exist. There's no mention of specific times or the water turning blue, but there is mention of a whirlpool near the bottom of the pool that's fed by the waterfall.

I suspect therein lies the mechanic that allows travel but again, it just hasn't been explained yet.

How Things Start Off

The show opens in World 1 with Kram but the novel opens in World 2 with Phupha.

(As an aside, I should mention that in the novel, the worlds are differentiated by 'present day' and '5 years ago'. The chapters that begin with '5 years ago' take place in what the show establishes as World 1 and the chapters that begin with 'present day' take place in World 2. It's helpful to keep that in mind if you do what I did and go to the novel after the show.)

Phupha wakes up from a nightmare wherein he dreamt he was being murdered. He has a headache but nothing to take for it, so he decides to go to the drugstore and feels someone watching him as he walks.

We learn that he has been having nightmares about being murdered for a while now and as he's in the store, he notices a figure staring at him from across the street. He can't tell who it is and when he looks again, they're gone. We also learn that about a month ago, someone slipped a note under his apartment door warning him that someone was plotting against him.

He feels himself being watched again as he leaves the store but can't see anyone. As he tries to shake off his unease, he gets a call from Wayu telling him that there's a problem with the "new kid" that's about to start working with them.

Wayu has learned that despite a very convincing fake ID, absolutely everything about this new kid is fake. Wayu suspects the involvement of the gambling mafia but Phupha tells him not to do anything.

The New Kid

Yeah, it's Kram.

The Interview

The next day Phupha is meant to go to see Auntie Lhu with Kram, but before they go we get a flashback to the interview, which if you'll recall is where Kram meets alternate Phupha officially in the show.

There are only a few details that are different. The interview goes just about as well in the novel as it does in the show but here, our boy Kram is a lot more timid and hesitant as Phupha asks him questions. He also doesn't play the nepo baby card when Phupha tells him to leave. Kram simply tells him that he can't because Auntie Lhu told him to come find Phupha.

It's also Phupha who says that if Kram wants the job, then that meeting with Auntie Lhu has to take place. Kram agrees and calls Phupha "your grace (khun chai)" which feels familiar to Phupha for reasons he can't explain.

The Trip to the Waterfall

There are a few more differences here than there are in the interview. Because we spend so much more time with Kram and Tai, the show just kind of cuts to Kram and Phupha at the waterfall. In the novel, we get some lead up.

The interview takes place in a flashback the morning Phupha and Kram are set to go to the waterfall. They drive there together in one car while Wayu and some guards following in another car. On the way, Phupha confronts Kram about lying about his identity and tries to talk to him about the why but Kram apologizes but he's being kinda cagey.

At one point he calls Phupha "khun chai" again and when Phupha tells him not to, Kram responds that that's what he used to call him and doesn't explain further.

Once they get as far as they can by car, the two continue by foot. Kram leads Phupha up the mountain just like he did in World 1 because Auntie Lhu's house is a good way up. Phupha gets tired and dizzy part way through the hike so Kram suggests they stop to rest at Moonshadow cave.

Phupha doesn't want to rest for very long because he doesn't wanna be late for the meeting but Kram keeps insisting because of the height and Phupha's tiredness and accidentally slips and mentions Phupha's mother's death. Only Phupha hasn't mentioned his mother at all and things immediately go south.

Phupha is demanding answers but Kram ain't giving any so Phupha tries to leave. Except he can't, because KRAM PULLS A GUN ON HIM.

WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN, KRAM?

He says he's not going to do anything and just wants Phupha to jump into the waterfall. Phupha refuses, Kram fires a warning shot, Phupha still refuses. So Kram decides to forget about the gun and rushes Phupha instead.

The two of them tumble over the edge and fall into the pool. Kram is still holding onto Phupha, who sees the whirlpool at the bottom. Fearing getting sucked into it, he punches Kram until he lets go and swims to safety.

Phupha emerges from the water. Kram does not.

Post-Waterfall Aftermath

Once again, instead of cutting to the aftermath, we get some lead up. And get to spend some time in Wayu's perspective.

Seeing Phupha's car but no Phupha, Wayu and the guards begin to look for him. They follow a stream that leads to the pool and find Kram trying to get out of it. They help him and Kram tells them that he and Phupha fell into the water accidentally. Wayu doesn't buy it.

We switch back to Phupha's perspective. He's in the forest trying to make his way back to his car but spots Wayu's car instead. Wayu is very relieved to see him and repeats the story that Kram had told him.

Phupha is very surprised that Kram is alive and in the car, so he tells Wayu the truth about what happened and suggests they take Kram to The Archive to get some answers.

Something else they cut out of the show is that as they're all driving out of the forest, they're stopped by Auntie Lhu. She asks them to let Kram go but they refuse since they believe Kram tried to kill Phupha. They go back and forth for a bit until Phupha gets fed up and decides they'll leave on foot if she won't let their cars through.

Kram tells Auntie Lhu that he'll go with Phupha and she relents and lets them leave.

The Archive

'The Archive' is the rather ominous name given to the secret prison Phupha takes Kram to in order to extract answers from him. Phupha's aunt (the one we know later betrays him) uses it to do shady shit for the benefit of the family company.

Things here happen pretty much the same as they do in the show, except for the fact that it's a guard who beats Kram instead instead of Wayu and Phupha is angrier and a bit more involved than he is in the show.

Kram passes out and it's at this point that things deviate.

As Phupha gets lost in thought because of all the shit going on and the warning Kram reiterated, a shot rings out behind him. One of the guards in the room with them has fired at the ceiling and demands that they untie Kram.

Surprise except not really because the guard is Tai!

Tai forces Phupha, Wayu, and the other guard into a cell at gunpoint and before he leaves with Kram, he once again reiterates to Phupha that his life is in danger from the person closest to him. Not only that, he tells Phupha exactly how he's going to be killed and surprise-not-really-surprise, it's the same as in the nightmares that Phupha has been having.

The Stabbing of Viroj (Once More with Feeling)

The conversation Phupha has with his father Adisak after Tai and Kram escape The Archive happens pretty much the same as in the show. Adisak wants him to go abroad, Phupha doesn't want to, etc. The only thing I'll note is that Phupha is thrown off and a little hurt by how much his aunt agrees with Adisak since she's the person he's closest to because she practically raised him. She even says she wants him to go so he won't die!

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON. DANGER!

Just as he does in the show, Phupha goes to visit Viroj after talking to Adisak but in the novel we get to see a bit more of the relationship between Phupha and Run before shit hits the fan.

It's not made entirely clear in the show, but Run isn't Viroj's biological daughter. She was a foster daughter he later adopted. Phupha seems very attracted to her, he cares for her a lot, and believes they're very well suited, but isn't entirely sure if it's love.

Phupha is waiting for her to bring her work to his bedroom so they can spend some time together that he hears her scream.

We know what happens next. Viroj is stabbed, although the wound isn't too deep. Phupha has his hemophilia realization, calls for help, help won't come, so he decides to take Viroj to the hospital himself. And because of the incident with Tai back at The Archive, Phupha believes he's somehow stopping help from coming to them.

As Phupha, Run, and Viroj are on their way to a hospital in the next province, Phupha calls his dad Adisak, who in turn calls help. The call goes the same as it did in World 1; somehow the hospital knows that Viroj was stabbed despite Phupha not having told that particular detail to Adisak.

The Crash

In the show, Phupha gets run off the road by the masked man he after manages to get Viroj to the hospital and learns the truth of his parentage from him.

In the novel, they never make it to the hospital and Phupha doesn't learn the truth from Viroj. Instead he learns the truth from Wayu, who he'd asked to dig into some information and who learns that Adisak was sterile and thus couldn't have been Phupha's biological father.

As they're driving, Run notices that they're being followed. The car is flashing its high beams at them and honking continuously but Phupha doesn't slow down or pull over.

Turns out the people following them are Tai and Kram. Tai is shouting for Phupha to stop but of course, Phupha refuses. He does think it's strange that Tai and Kram should appear precisely now but his gut tells him that they don't want to hurt him.

Unfortunately up ahead there's a pickup truck blocking the road and Phupha doesn't see it in time to avoid it. He swerves, side-swipes the truck, and the car ends up flipping a couple of times.

The wreck is approached by a thoroughly fucking creepy and psychopathic masked man whose perspective I personally really did NOT need to spend any time in, and the chapter ends with him detailing his plan.

And that, beloved reader, is where the translation leaves off for now. The only thing I left out is a huge flashback about Viroj and Adisak's history that spans like a chapter and a half. I left it out because despite giving us a lot of insight into them, it's not quite within the scope of me detailing the differences in the main plot of the show and the novel.

I could write an entire essay on them alone. I already had a lot of feelings about Viroj in the show because he's such a tragic figure, and he's even more tragic in the novel. There's a lot of love in my queer little heart for his character and it broke for him.

I am going to keep reading the novel as it's updated because it really is a fascinating story despite being so convoluted. I'm having a great time reading it. Obviously I'm not going to keep writing about the differences because who knows how long it'll take to complete the translation, could be a year from now.

But if there's anything you wanna know, feel free to ask!

[silverraes]

and evil!Tai never even got to tell Kram that he's falling for him y'all I'm-

[nidbaesenpai]

Happy one year anniversary ISAT! To celebrate I wanted to share the lil strips I made for my friends when they reached the end of the game! They're all meant to be snippets of life post game and a glimpse into the world I'm making for Loop.

[egophiliac]

Ernesto Foulworth and Gino… it wouldn’t surprise me if they had fake identities

I accept this explanation

(the problem is that I had a very regionally-specific immediate thought and I could not get it out of my head)

(sorry this is messier than usual, I refuse to put more effort into it than it deserves)

[lucabyte]

monologue