Love in BL finally done right

Instead of talking about the stellar acting, directing and even music, I am going to talk about a few personal observations that made this show one of my favorite shows of all time.

We see the couple get together and stay together. We see them do small things that couples do and simple things like talking feels special. I generally dread couples getting together early in a show as that means contrived conflicts and inevitable breakup. Instead, we get one of the healthiest couples onscreen.

The characters in relationship feel equal. There's no toxic power dynamic. Both characters have strong personalities and they are never afraid to speak their mind to each other.

The conflicts are solved quickly without being drawn out week after week.

Homosexuality is not treated as a fantasy. Talks about sexuality, cute coming out scenes, addressing harmful tropes and stereotypes are all present. This show feels like it was made for us, the LGBTQ+ community.

One of my favorite scenes of intimacy in a gay show is in SKAM season 3 when Isak and Even just lay in a bed fully clothed, smoking weed, talking about parallel universes and figuring out their kisses. Well, this show has several scenes like that, where you will feel the intimacy and the love. Smell is used as a great device to signify love, only ITSAY had done this well before. The characters also understand consent.

I had an emotional breakdown because of this show and in the end all the crying was worth it.

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Gay love, queer joy and queer hope

This show was the epitome of queer joy for me. Seeing eight real gay men with varying personalities, flaws, and aspirations show their genuine feelings and share their real stories over the course of eight days made me very happy. Let the world see that we gay (and by extension, queer) people are no different from anyone else, we share the same desire to love and be loved.

Those watching from a position of privilege please remember that these gay men have chosen to step into the light, some for the very first time, in a socially conservative country that still discriminates against them routinely. It will be best not to judge them as characters in a show but as real people.

All that being said, JS & SH are the highlight of the show for me. I know it's cliché, but they really made me believe in true love. I was glad to see that neither of them are afraid to show emotions and voice their feelings. Their occasional banter and romantic interactions made me feel things I haven't in a long time. I hope they have a wonderful life together.

JW was another favorite of mine. The personal journey he goes through in this show is a familiar one. I hope from now on he can be his authentic self and express his true emotions through his music as he clearly hopes to do. Everyone else was also great.

In conclusion, this is what proper representation looks like. Just real gay people being their real gay selves.

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A great teenage story about love, dreams and music

This is one of the best teenage romcoms ever made. It has no contrived conflicts, no toxic power dynamic and no unnecessary drama. Yet, it's not just a cute and fluffy show. It doesn't treat teenagers as nuisance. It doesn't treat problems faced by youth as trivial. Most importantly, it doesn't treat homosexuality as a fantasy. I would recommend this show to any LGBTQ+ youth and to any cynical old souls like me.

Fourth and Gemini are two of the best young actors in recent memory. Tinn and Gun's love story made me feel every smile, every tear and every kiss. Their relationship is sweet, healthy and unwavering. Every single song in this show is great and meaningful. Every side character is important and has a story of their own. Chinzhilla, the band, is a story in itself with which you'll be taking a journey of a lifetime. Lastly, it is one of the most creative shows I've ever seen. The cast and crew really put their heart and soul into it.

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A frustrating story that squanders its potential to be something great

It's frustrating because this show squanders its potential to be a great story. It never tries to be more than a cute, sometimes silly, low-stakes teen romcom, even though the creative team for this show had access to good source material, good actors, and even some good ideas.

Let’s face it. This show was written for Gemini and Fourth. Its purpose is to promote them, advertise merch by capitalizing on their popularity, sell products they endorse, reference their past work, and even showcase their talents. The characters and story suffer because of this.

Fourth portrays a teenage mess, albeit exaggerated, by putting in actual effort to create a character. Atom is frustrating and flawed at times, but also sweet and thoughtful. He’s the only one who shows proper vulnerability in this show. Fourth gives it his all in the conversations with the moms. In the final ep, he felt like the sole main character of this show.

The creative team, and to some extent Gemini, did the bare minimum to create the character of Kongthap. The screenwriters allow him to show some interesting sides for very brief moments but never actually fully commit to any of them, for example, him getting frustrated with Atom for the first time in ep 7, him getting jealous of Atom being close to Sin, or even his yearning for Atom. We never explore the “can’t leave people in need alone” part of his character as was part of the original story. In the end, he felt like a secondary character in the story.

The writers do not seem to understand intimacy. Small moments that make a relationship feel real are few and far between which is frustrating because they spend two whole episodes showing us the fact that Atom craves physical intimacy and Kongthap is comfortable with it. Long stares and head pats can only portray so much. Also, Atom takes all the initiative in their relationship. He even has to come out to Kongthap's mom for him which is a shame because a conversation between Kongthap and his mom would have given his reserved character some growth.

One of my favorite moments is in ep 10 when Atom holds Kongthap's hand in public on the train and gets all giddy and shy. This moment is consistent with what we learned about their characters and the story being told. I wasn't even surprised to find out that this moment was improvised because it was more intimate than anything the writers came up with.

At least this show is a positive watch for teen LGBTQ+ viewers as it deals with internalized homophobia and coming out, and does it fairly well. I will always support high school BLs because shows like these are positive representations of queer youth in Thailand and can provide teens like this who are figuring themselves out the proper language to verbalize, even indirectly, their feelings and identities. I just hope the characters and their stories are the priority for the writers next time.

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