#lattealmond

[loveisactivated]

Do you know? Since I met you, I've been very happy.

[gunsatthaphan]

level: ᵇᵃᵇʸ

↳ requested by the bestie @lattexalmond ♡ 

[heretherebedork]

They're just the cutest boys, okay?

[no1likemybbgcharlie]

Knock Knock Boys: ✅

[pigglepiephi]

What a perfectly crafted episode EP 11 of Knock, Knock Boys was!

The boys support giving Peak the bravery to finally be open with his Dad about who he is, and his Dad confirming he only ever wanted to see him smile 😭

It was emotional and so heartwarming to watch Peak’s coming out unfold and everyone’s shared joy at the outcome 🥹🥹🥹

[guzhufuren]

would like to throw a warning out there that when Latte and Almond get together you might notice a loud sound from behind your window. that will be me growling for all the world to hear cause i will go insane with happiness about my sweet little dudes

[waitmyturtles]

I have caught up with Knock Knock Boys, and it is a DARLING KEEPER of a show so far (with some stumbles)

Post-travel drama catch-up continues on my front with Knock Knock Boys, which I picked up in part due to my permanent commitment to support the king, Seng Wichai, one of my top three Thai QL actors of all time. We're through episode 8 on this one, and

I LOVE THIS SHOW

and I hope it doesn't falter, I hope, I HOPE!

Highs and lows below. First of all!

This show is not shy about sexuality. Not NC-sex scenes, per se, but sexuality -- the sexualities of the show's characters. This is SO REFRESHING!

Every character is clearly depicted at a different stage of their experience and their physical and emotional readiness for new experiences. I love it. AND, those stages are used wonderfully and clearly to provide context as to how they're behaving vis à vis each other and their environments.

Part of the early fandom controversies around GMMTV's We Are focused on the show's declining to define, clearly, the sexualities of the young men in real-life terms. This is an endemic issue in Thai BLs, and has been since the birth of the television genre; it's also a common presence in university BLs in particular.

(This is why, early in the life-cycle of the Thai BL genre, Make It Right, as a school-based BL, was already so groundbreaking -- because it didn't hesitate to explore gay and queer life boldly. Compare that to SOTUS, which aired after MIR, which took a very deliberate step BACK from "saying gay." The genre has struggled with openly embracing gay themes since its start.)

The thing is, in real life, for MANY people, when you are a part of, or hang with, queer communities, being queer is a HUGE and central part of most conversations, along with sexual readiness, experience, CRUSHES, attractions, everything. Even one's internal hesitations, or maybe even internal homophobia, are up for discussion.

That's why I grab my pom-poms when I watch a show that doesn't shy away from much more realistic engagement, not necessarily about intimacy as a whole, but really more about the communal aspect and acknowledgment that humans are intimate creatures. When a show depicts people in a community -- especially a queer male community like the Knock Knock house -- engaging realistically about the various stages of struggles and acceptance unto themselves and others that they have about their intimate lives, and weaves interesting and coherent stories about those people, it's something, in this still-young genre, to celebrate.

Knock Knock Boys, with a few stumbles, is doing GREAT on this front. Almond is inexperienced, and suffering because of it! He's got an AMAZING friend and suitor in Latte --

LATTÉEEEEEEE!!!!

who likes, AND wants to support Almond in his growth.

I wanna take a second on Latte, and Jaonine Jiraphat. I love that Jaonine is Bright Vachirawit’s doppleganger (dopplenonger), but also, Latte is kind of like Sarawat's dopplenonger, too. When 2gether was airing four years ago, Bright Vachirawit didn't hesitate to explain publicly that his character, Sarawat, was gay-gay -- again, at GMMTV, which is not a studio that necessarily embraces gay-gay for its characters.

We have the same here for Latte as with Sarawat: Latte is UNABASHED, totally owning and in control of his sexuality, his preferences, and his popularity, all which Almond is paying attention to and learning from. And on top of that, Latte is such an empathic friend, not just to Almond, but to the intimacy student club that he speaks to with Lookpeach. It is a LOVELY storyline of how Latte, feeling comfortable in himself, can use that comfort to help others find themselves. THIS IS BIG, and wonderfully written. And, when Latte pulls back from getting intimate with Almond, because he knows that NEITHER of them are ready, and want it that way -- it was just such a great moment of Latte's awareness and empathy for the both of them. Latte, unless there's a stumble, will be going down in my books as one of the most admirable and openly queer characters I will admire (in my same book as the first openly pansexual homey, Frame from MIR).

I'm also loving the ThanwaPeak storyline, with fiancée Jane doing her thang to get her betrothed un-betrothed. I think the way in which this storyline is written is a bit more choppy: like with so many Japanese BLs that are predicated on endemic miscommunication, I think dropping hints without clarity as to Peak's issues with his family, and Thanwa's unknown struggles with Max, didn't help last week's episode, especially with Thanwa accusing Peak of not truly knowing him -- Thanwa, homey, you need to TALK about your issues with Peak in order for Peak to know them.

That being said, while I don't think I'm the biggest fan of Best Vittawin's acting, I think both Best and Seng are dancing around their characters' hesitations with intrigue and chemistry. Especially Seng: this is not his loudest role as compared to SCOY and War of Y, but the ways in which he can indicate interest in another person with a simple glance and a quiver of a smile is incredible. His acting is on another level, and I think Best may not be living quite up to it, but I can't really blame Best, because Peak as a character is having to figure out SO. MUCH. with a lot going on around him.

I'm looking forward to finally finding out what the exact deal is with Peak running away from Jane and his father, and to finding out whyyyyyy Thanwa would go back to a peeper? AND, was it really Max, not Almond, that leaked the clip?! These are good cliffhangers at this point in a series! These stories have been well-paced, sensible, and told in a sensible order, and we have some big reveals and decisions awaiting us.

This is not a complicated show, but it's a deep one, and it's not shy about telling big stories about growth, homophobia, the economic issues that many gay men face, and what decisions they need to make in order to afford and survive life. I love that this show bridges university life with working life, to tell stories about four young men in very real stages of their lives, being upfront and honest about it. I was not expecting much from this show at all when I first started, but I am LOVING IT, and would highly recommend it up until this point!

[queenbeedarling]

These two... these two are going to be the end of me. 🥹😭

Knock Knock Boys weren't originally on my radar, and then I randomly decided to check it out today and immediately binged all 7 eps that are out.

I'm absolutely obsessed with these two, specifically 😍 (still love Peak and Thanwa, though).