#way past my bedtime wtf i blame pipo i'm still laughing over that final scene

[moutheyes]

Us, Perfect 10 Liners, and other scattered QL thoughts

Although I've been pretty good about tracking and keeping my MDL notes organized this year, I haven't done one of these posts in a while, but the finale episodes of Us and Perfect 10 Liners have converged in a single weekend so now's a good opportunity to sort out some thoughts about recently watched QL and do a first quarter-ish summary:

The year so far:

Total series completed: 18 (11 current year, 7 backlist)

Country breakdown: Thailand (14), Japan (4) oops lol dw I'm starting a Korean show this week

Highest rated of 2025: Gelboys, and it won't be surpassed

Lowest rated of 2025: Petrichor

Highest rated backlist: Be My Favorite

Lowest rated backlist: My Personal Weatherman

Original script counter: 5

OK onto the meat. Spoilers for recently ended shows under the cut!

Us

This series was not just a love story, but a love letter to the pain of grief, the torment of abandonment, the grace of healing, the transcendence of mutual love, the warmth of a true community, and the fulfillment of finding or forging one's own family. While some of the saccharine parts in the middle episodes did feel a little overwrought to me, I loved the buildup to the final act, the resolution made sense, and any growth in these characters was hard-earned. In a story with less conviction behind it, dokrak's independence might have been muted due to external conflicts, or the romantic overtones might have clashed with the family drama, but here it was well-balanced; everything naturally dovetailed with each other in service of the larger themes of the show.

I could spend paragraphs alone on how solid the surrounding cast was. Grandma Bua's even-keeled outlook on life and death was one of the most poignant parts of the show, and Kawi was just absolutely marinated in eldest-sibling melancholy (Sing did the role so much justice). Under the sure-handed direction of p'Fon, this show tackled difficult themes in a wonderfully measured way, not shying away from trauma and dysfunction and suffering but never plunging the audience into true despair either. Loneliness was always countered by companionship, doubt soothed by affirmations, and the central romance between Pam and Dokrak underpinned all of that. I really think EmiBonnie is my favorite GL pairing to date—they delivered magnetic natural chemistry and some of the best sapphic intimacy we've seen in Thai QL, even when they weren't touching. (Also some really nice OST tracks!) I'm so excited to see what they do next.

Initial rating: 9.25

Perfect 10 Liners

This is one of those shows that I find myself having to evaluate based purely on the story and characters alone, because p'New's many, ah, idiosyncrasies as a director are a feature rather than a bug at this point, and I find it tiresome to rehash. But unlike the frictionlessness of We Are (his last project for GMMTV—I've only experienced Fourever You through fmvs and gifsets which I gather is for the best), the omnibus structure of Perfect 10 Liners had built-in vibe shifts, which worked to its favor. I must admit that the ArmArc story left absolutely no impression on me, but YothaGun and FaifaWine got progressively stronger and more compelling, thanks to the ability to develop these sets of characters across longer periods of time as well as more entangled familial relationships.

What the last two sections of the show did so well was balance its farcical + comedic elements with heavier storytelling, in the form of Yotha and Faifa's family hangups. This gave their characters more depth, reinforced by tremendous acting from Perth and Junior in those roles, which in turn enhanced the romantic dynamics and complementary healing for these two pairs in particular. The last half of FaifaWine's arc was especially satisfying, as the larger group dynamics came into play, and the final episode was honestly a riot. Completely corny and unserious, but still managed to tie a tidy bow around everyone's stories. (Except you, Pipo. GMMTV I am begging—nay, demanding—that the twins get their own comedy series in 2026. I don't care if it's QL or the most heterosexual thing ever, I think it could fix me.)

Initial rating: 7.25

And to close out, a few thoughts about some recent backlist watches (ratings in parentheses):

I finished Reverse 4 You yesterday; it was one of my list of series to catch up on (two down!), and luckily the sequel just finished airing so I can move immediately to that one. So I think I'll do a bigger write-up after finishing Reverse with Me aha sorry for the fakeout.

Fine, a real review: Be My Favorite blew me away. It is so rare to get a genre mashup BL that doesn't skimp on any of its components. BMF is a speculative coming-of-age romcom, and it delivers on all fronts thanks to a truly excellent script. I was surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed the character work; Kawi and Pisaeng's storylines were already incredibly rendered, but the show made me care deeply about Pear, Max, Kwan, all the way down to the parental figures. It took a compassionate approach to the thesis that everyone makes mistakes in life, and everyone is bound to experience disappointment, but kindness and honesty can be a powerful salve. The optimism wasn't cloying, either, because they were lessons learned organically from each character's journey. Finally, the subverted time skip trope made me happy, the title track is one of my favorites across all GMMTV shows, and the acting was top-to-bottom stellar. (9.5)

So, I had friends telling me how good BMF was even while it was airing (thanks @merryfuture ilu), and I think part of me knew that I was keeping it on the shelf for a time when I'd truly be ready to appreciate it. And that time was after finally watching the entirety of SOTUS from start to finish and thus gaining appreciation for Krist's specific niche of BL blorbo—a project that was spurred on by some thoughtful, thorough posts from @maybe-boys-do-love and @thebroccolination (among others? sorry if I've forgotten). I have a ton of notes for these series, but to try and keep this post from spiraling totally out of control, I'll just say that SOTUS should be required viewing for anyone who wants to understand how the uni campus functions as not only a backdrop but a site of possibility in Thai BL; it also had an underrated and excellent slow burn—if a show is going to maintain a low simmer for that long, heat is still required, and between Singto's searing gaze and Krist's clenched jaw, the tension was electric. However, it's SOTUS S—and specifically Arthit's growth in this new phase of his life, that I hold dearest to me. Removing him from the campus setting, where he had seniority and power and—most importantly—a considerable level of comfort, meant he had to start from square one when it came to social interactions and finding his footing, and his relationship with Kongpob intertwined with those conflicts nicely. Character of all time, maybe. (8.0, 8.25)

Thank you for reading!