#bohnduen

[sheepish-lurker]

All of the university students are in love with each other and want to fight you

[maybe-boys-do-love]

So I started My Engineer and, goddammit, Lit Phadung just doesn't miss. It's the rhythm of his editing that hooks me everytime. It lets me know despite the veneer of Thai kitsch, his shows will be a cut above the rest in what they deliver. That rhythmic mastery means My Engineer lands its romcom beats and its wer-style comedy in the opening with aplomb. Like, even if you don't ever watch this show you need to know the wonderful absurdity of the meet-cute at the lizard resting spot in the park, for example. So many noses bled that morning!

My Engineer also provides another example of Lit's preference to work with lighter scripts that are nevertheless unobtrusively dense with socio-political commentary. Turns out My Engineer is a rare Thai BL with actual representation of the Thai military, a topic generally avoided because of heightened censorship around it and its role in the Thai government. The series seems to be using its military figure to help construct a framework for patriarchal expectations on masculinity and compulsory heterosexuality. We'll see!

But more than just blaming the military, My Engineer shows off how well Lit depicts social environments. The friend groups here present a friendlier homophobia laced with jokes about being each others' wives that are grounded in real affection for one another. They don't hate gay people and wouldn't condemn a friend's sexuality, but the gentleness of the slights makes it that much harder to parse through the shame. I remember this bromophobia from my adolescence and how alienated I felt from it while in the closet. In how de-emphasized that social culture is in the opening of the series, it reminds me of Off's character throwing out a casual "faggot" in SOTUS. It doesn't get heightened attention with music, editing, or some apology down the road, and those kinds of choices invite a realism into these otherwise heightened romcom worlds. It's a technique that hits me hard everytime because it makes the eventual commitment to affection and self-respect in the face of those attitudes more rewarding.

Lit, whatever his personal experiences and identities might be, renders the fuck out of queer life for people of a certain age. Its in tiny details like the limits of photography in SOTUS and SOTUS S, or Phum's influencer obsession, and I adored how My Engineer found a tiny loophole in this sweet romcom universe to have these characters relationship start off with an exchange of thirst-trap nudes like so many queer mens' do.

Lit's queer insights also pervade in the kinds of performances and chemistry he seeks from his actors. The playful sadism and brat behavior KristSingto bring to KongArt, the overwhelming desperation and painful confusion from YinWar for VeeMark, the after-hours release of the workaholic tensions for DaouOffroad's co-owners in the aisles of their own store--cameras be damned! The way they look at one another, restrain themselves from publicly showing physical affection, and then the uncontainable thrill when they finally get to have access to one another's bodies!--even if they haven't figured out the real-world logistics yet. I've got particularities when it comes to queer physicality and behaviors and the teams on Lit's series' are so far always delivering it.

I can already see it in My Engineer. Cooper Patpasit as Bohn, especially, has brought the kinds of darting glances to his eyes and the conflict of desire and concealment to the presence of his character that are eminently familiar. The story, luckily, assists with that characterization, early on demonstrating a private connection for Bohn to an older gen queer restaurateur distinct from his ladies' man campus persona. I'm looking forward to find out what other queer flourishes emerge with him and everyone else.

I don't know why I trust what I read online about any of these shows anymore. Yes, one side-character has his voice dubbed (apparently for sponsor reasons), but I regret not watching this sooner with how much I've adored Lit's other shows. My Engineer's just another one of his Thai BL romcoms packed full with so much meaning. If you're a fan please lmk, because, if it's not already clear by this mini-essay, I'm def gonna need people to gush about this show with!

[jiwoonged]

15 Day BL Challenge - Day 11: A breakup that should have stayed broken up

I'm all about happy endings, I prefer when couples end up together so only on couple intances I felt a couple would be better off.

AkkTheo

The ending seemed rushed and Theo never got a chance to improve himself and show the viewers if he could be a better person and boyfriend than he was at the end. I was happy when they proposed to each other but we can all agree he was kind of a jerk up until then, I mean he just left to France without caring about Akk's feelings.

But it’s Forcebook so I couldn’t hate the ending too much

BohnDuen

These two, I found them cute for most of the show, there were times tho when it felt like Duen could do better and find someone more suited for him. The conflict at the end was so unneseccary, all Bohn had to do was explain himself and not make Duen doubting himself and their relationship.

[arc-angel-o]

BohnDuen are so underrated 😭

[weilongfu]

More dad!Bohn always. In honor of it being summer, how about an adorable family trip to the beach with the twins as toddlers? Extra points for sappy husband!Bohn.

Duen sighed as it only took two steps onto the beautiful white sand before Bohn, Con, and Call were pulling off t-shirts and running for the water. Con and Call were, naturally, a little more clumsy attempting to navigate the difficulty of running on sand, but Bohn eventually picked the twins up and booked it to the shallows before dumping them into the cold ocean water. Con shrieked at the coolness of the water while Call splashed his father in retaliation of having some sort of clump of seaweed waved in his face.

"Not too far out," Duen called as he set up their towels and umbrella. "The tide will be changing soon."

"I've got them," Bohn replied as Con and Call latched onto his legs as the retreating waters gently pulled on them all. "No further than here, okay boys?"

"Okay daddy!" Con let go of Bohn's leg for a second to scoop up the wet sand. "Is this good for sand castles?"

"Too wet, it won't hold shape." Bohn scooped up a larger handful himself and showed the twins how it flowed out of his hands. Call eyed the mass with a look that spoke of more trouble than construction like Con. "But, if we add a little more dry sand, you'll see it holds nicely."

"Can we build a really big sand castle?"

"We can certainly try." Bohn rinsed his hand in another bout of retreating waves. "And what are you going to be doing you little troublemaker?" Bohn asked as he looked at Call.

"Dig a hole to America."

Bohn looked down at his son for a second. "I would tell you to go for it, but your papa has already warned me that digging holes is bad because you can cause someone to twist their ankles in the sand. Can I persuade you to dig a shallow moat for your brother's castle in exchange for one ice cream."

Call scrunched up his face in consideration while Con had already run back to Duen for his sand shaping toys. "Three ice creams."

"One and a half and Con is the one that gets the other half."

Call extended a hand. "Deal."

Bohn shook on it and pulled Call up. "I'll give you an extra order of french fries with your lunch if you help cart over some wet sand for the building too." Call grinned with manic energy and immediately ran for his bucket. Bohn watched the toddler run and sighed. "Man, parenting is so easy. What were mom and dad complaining about?"

"They were complaining because you're nowhere near as well behaved as the boys are," Duen said as he came up beside Bohn and looked out over the water. "Your mother showed me pictures. You were a menace at the beach."

"I was using healthy mechanisms to deal with my childhood."

"You were throwing sand at people sunbathing."

"Yeah, that's healthier than making my cousins eat it."

[weilongfu]

BohnDuen Nymph!AU: Bohn taking Duen & the twins into town for the first time

Bohn straightened out the cloak he put over Duen's shoulders despite how Duen fidgeted in the pants and boots he'd also been forced to wear. "Now boys, do you remember the rules of coming into town with daddy?"

"Always hold daddy's hand," Con said as he swung his legs from the chair Bohn had made for their little home in front of the original cave love nest Duen had made. River followed Con's feet intently, waiting for one of his brand new boots to fall off.

"Don't go anywhere with strangers," Call said as he put another carved wooden toy into his bag. Bohn noted that one of Call's new boots had a suspicious mark on it that looked like a bite from a wolf. "And if anyone comes after us, whistle for River."

"What's the other important rule?" Bohn said as he kissed Duen's forehead to stop him from pouting.

"Always go back to daddy's house in town if we get lost," both twins said at the same time. "Daddy's house is the medium one next to the town well with one of papa's trees in the backyard."

"And what's the important rule for papa?" Bohn said as he pat both his sons on the head.

Duen made a face but chattered and sighed.

"Papa says he's not allowed to go anywhere without daddy or us to help him," Con translated. "And if he gets scared, he should disappear to his tree or find Uncle Forth."

"Good... That's correct..." Bohn cupped Duen's cheeks and kissed him softly. "I just want to make sure you're safe. We don't know how the other people in town will react if they find out and..."

Duen covered Bohn's hands with his own and nodded before kissing Bohn in return.

"Okay... Is everyone packed?" Bohn looked over the several bags and the things they'd loaded into the hand-pulled cart. Originally, Bohn had wanted to bring a horse drawn one, but Duen had turned skittish at the horse when Bohn had first brought it to introduce them. "Call, you can't bring that many toys this time. Only bring the ones you really want to play with while we're in town."

"But I want to play with all of them! And Con keeps taking mine!"

"Those were my toys first!" Con kicked outwards to slide off the chair and one of his boots went flying. River yipped and leaped for it, but Bohn caught it first and gave River a warning look.

"Con is only bringing three toys. Call, you also can only bring three toys." Call pouted and began to pull several toys out of his bag. "River, stop chewing boots, I just bought these and gave you five chew toys." River whined and put his paws over his nose. "Duen-" Duen looked up innocently from the tin of candies he was shoving into his mouth. "Never mind. Now everyone head to the cart. We have a long walk ahead of us."

[weilongfu]

Dads!BohnDuen having to deal with Con & Call’s fashion styles when they get into high school (you know the ones)

Parents often said they knew the true character of their children and Duen supposed he wouldn't be much of an exception. He knew Con was a soft and sweet boy from the moment he smiled up at him from his crib. He knew Call had a rowdy and contrary streak a mile wide, even before the incident at school with the dangling earring, but deeper inside, he was just as sweet as Con. Call's emotional range ran into deeper extremes when moved if one broke his mask. Where as Con wore his emotions on his sleeves and was much easier to mitigate.

It was only natural that such things would eventually lead to their fashion sense, Duen supposed as he picked up their laundry baskets from their rooms as Bohn took both boys to their afterschool activities. Con's was full of fluffy sweaters, at least two new crop tops, three of Tangmo's t-shirts, and two pairs of shorts that were getting dangerously short and tight. Call's basket was full of ripped jeans, patchwork vintage t-shirts sewn together, and so much steel chain that would have to be removed before it could go in the washing machine or it would clang all day.

Duen sighed as he set about sorting the clothes and thought back to the days where both boys were happy to be dressed as Bohn and Duen saw fit. "What's wrong?" Duen felt his husband drape himself over his shoulders as he was far too fond of doing. "Did Call spill something on his uniform shirt again and forget to rinse it off first?"

"Do you ever look at what Con and Call wear these days and wonder when they grew up?" Duen asked as he pushed the laundry away from himself.

"Well... It could be worse," Bohn mused as he picked at the strings of one of Con's baby pink hoodies. "They could be wearing those clear plastic pants I saw on the internet last year."

"P'Bohn!"

"I'm serious! It is a little concerning how much of a punk Call's being and Con doesn't need to wear shorts that high up near his crotch yet... but they're good kids." Bohn kissed Duen's temple and pulled some of the laundry back closer to them to help sort it. "What they wear in their free time doesn't- Hey, when did Call steal this shirt of mine and cut it up?"

Duen snickered. "I gave him that one to cut up because I hate it so much."

Bohn clutched his chest. "N'Duen, you wound me! You picked this shirt out when we first started dating!"

"I picked it out of spite. How was I supposed to know you'd actually like the design?" Duen pulled the shirt out of Bohn's hands and shoved it into the appropriate pile. "Now make yourself useful and take all the chains off of Call's pants."

Bohn grumbled but did as he was told. "Anyway, they're good kids at heart, they'll make the right decisions when push comes to shove."

"It's about how they're perceived, phi." Duen pulled another basket near to continue sorting. "You had a reputation for getting into fights, didn't that bother you? Do you want Con and Call to be bothered for how they dress?"

"Of course not. But we're in an enlightened society. People shouldn't really be judging anyone based on how they dress anymore." Bohn held up one of Call's shirts which had slipped under the radar and had two wolves humping each other on it. "Huh, N'Prin needs to be more subtle sometimes."

"Don't remind me," Duen groaned before finding an open condom wrapper in one of Con's pockets. "Oh... not already."

Bohn snatched the wrapper out of Duen's hands and started laughing. "Babe, it's one of ours. Teenagers can't afford this brand."

Duen's face turned bright red and he smacked Bohn's shoulder. "Phi! You promised me you cleaned up last time!"

"I did!" Bohn protested. "This one must have slipped away some how. What a good boy, cleaning up after us anyway."

"Don't be so irresponsible next time!"

"Anyway," Bohn said amid his laughter and soothing rubs to Duen's arms, "Our kids might dress up in all sorts of ways, but they're still our kids. I chose to get into fights all the time. They've been working out their feelings in much better ways. Don't be so scared." Bohn held up one of Con's shirts which had several embroidered sunflowers all over it before putting it on top of the correct pile. "They're stuck wearing uniforms to school for the next eight years, who knows how their fashion sense will change in the meantime?" Bohn stuck his hand in the basket again and pulled out a pair of silk briefs. "Uh... This isn't yours is it?"

"That's too small- CON, NO!"

[geekygirl24]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Prompt from Sagarc - 1. Thai BL - My Engineer - Bohn/Dohn - Coffee Shop AU - Duen is a bubbly but hopeless/oblivious barista, Bohn is a regular customer that is trying his best to flirt with him.