#lomfontien

[chinzhilla-archive]

I like you so much I don't know what to do. I like you so much that I think if I don't tell you my feelings, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.

[sparklyeyedhimbo]

5 times lomfon reached out and held tiens hand and 1 time tien held lomfons hand

because @heretherebedork made a good point with this post and i sometimes like to make sad things.

[heretherebedork]

My favorite part of this is that Lomfon tries to do the big romantic moment with making the movie about Tien and all Tien wants is the words. Tien just wants a confession, something straightforward, and Lomfon struggles with that.

But once Tien is clear about what he needs... Lomfon provides. The real confession, the clear one, the making of a real choice and not hiding from it. No hiding behind videos, no hiding behind unclear choices, just the real truth.

Because he doesn't just confess, he explains. He tells Tien what happened and he's clear and nothing is left up to chance, nothing left in silence (Tien knows silence too well, he will not have silence in his relationship).

I love Tien's slow realization that this is real and that he's being chosen and how he slowly, slowly comes to believe what's happening and it's beautiful.

But this just reminds me of how Tien was left outside after the fight in the rain so of course the true confession has to happen outside. Tien wants everything out in the open! He wants to be honest and for people around him to be honest and for relationships to be about open, honest communication. And that's what he finally gets.

And he finally says everything he needed to say, to explain his feelings and to finally unfuck it.

The final call to a choice. A call of being chosen. Because that is what Tien has always wanted. To be chosen.

But also Lomfon promised a practical confession but it's Tien who grabbed him and kissed him senseless once he was sure he was chosen.

Bonus: Height difference = 💖

[boyslovesource]

Your shoulder is soft. Can i stay here for a minute?

[itsallaboutbl]

What are you doing?

[neuroticbookworm]

La Pluie: Fuck Destiny, Communication is Key

I’m a full week late to the party because I was watching I Told Sunset About You last week and my mind just refused to focus on anything else. And now I’m finally here to write a send-off post to my beloved La Pluie, which gave me one of the most satisfying and interactive TV show experiences of my life.

I’ve been singing praises for this show’s writing for weeks now, and what better way for me to say goodbye to the show than by analyzing two immaculately written getting-back-together scenes from the finale?

Lomfon and Tien

When we last saw Lomfon in the penultimate episode, he apologized to Tai for kissing him in the rain and effectively kick-starting this whole mess. We also saw how he has worked through his feelings and understands that whatever he felt for Tai is not love; it was only rooted in Tai’s goodwill towards him, a few shared traits between him and Tai, and the fact that Tai saved his life by pushing him out of the way of a moving vehicle (a 15 second interaction, I will never get over this insanity). And Lomfon says that all this experimentation has made it clear to him where his heart actually lies.

And now, in the finale, Lomfon is working on the script for his “A Message from the Heart” project and seeking advice from Pingpong.  We see that he fully understands how much he has hurt Tien with his actions. He tells Pingpong “I messed up so much that if I were him, I would never forgive myself”. Tien overhears them and confronts Lomfon, demanding to know if he’s messing with him. “Say it”, he shouts. But Lomfon does not respond, instead insisting that he will “show him with his actions”. And Tien walks away.

This is where I realized that this show is gonna really dig in its heels and fully emphasize how much open and honest communication matters in a relationship. Love can be expressed in so many different ways, and a person’s love language is definitely unique and significant to them. But when words are DEMANDED from you, you must respond with them. You cannot work around the painful and brutal honesty that is needed to form those thoughts, and the strength and bravery needed to stand in front of the person and utter those words.

That’s why Tien walks away from Lomfon when he insists that he will “show him” instead. And that’s why he leaves the room when Lomfon’s project video starts playing. Bear in mind, as far as Tien is concerned, Lomfon still likes his brother. Lomfon has not clarified or explained anything that would justify why Tien was on that presentation screen. So when he asks demands Lomfon, and Lomfon once again tells him that he showed his heart through his actions, Tien turns to walk away. It’s when he finally opens his mouth and starts verbalizing his desire, his fears, his confusion, and his guilt, Tien stops and listens. And when Lomfon asks him what Tien feels in his heart and if he still wants to follow it, Tien finally turns around and kisses him (I will be forever obsessed with the tippy toes).

gif by @liyazaki

I adore the fact that this show never outright rejects any form of expressing love. While Tien rejected actions from Lomfon before he made his intentions clear with words, we see that after Lomfon’s confession, Tien feels no qualms in resorting to a grand and sweeping gesture, like an intense kiss that definitely popped Lomfon’s foot (the foot pop is not purely a physical act, it is a state of mind, The Princess Diaries analogy is still right and valid, I will take no critiques).

Patts and Tai

The road to redemption for Tai is much longer and harder than it was for Lomfon, and the show fully leaned into it and showed us the weight of emotional turmoil Tai must endure to finally earn forgiveness from Patts. We see him have an epiphany about how his lack of communication with Patts mirrors his mom’s approach with him (@lurkingshan). We see him finally talk to Dream, who reiterates that Patts liked Tai before he knew that they were soulmates. And we see Tai take the leap of faith and catch a flight to Chiang Mai to find Patts. My love for this show grew to uncontrollable levels when it did not let Tai find Patts immediately.

He roams the streets, day after day, trying to find the love of his life. And when he comes back to his room every evening, exhausted and alone, he sits in the dark and contemplates how painfully lonely it feels to find and communicate with someone, when your efforts don’t seem to move the needle at all. And realizing this is exactly how Patts must’ve felt in the two years of silence Tai decided to put him through. He meets Art and Phueng, who teach him, yet again, just how important it is to talk and listen to each other in a relationship. And finally, on Day 4 of his quest, Tai runs into Patts on the streets of the local marketplace.

When Tai sees Patts, Patts looks like the mere husk of the man he once was. And Tai wastes no time and starts talking immediately, asking Patts to stay silent so this time, he can be the one who speaks out his love for him. Tai admits that he was stupid and selfish in their relationship. He says “Love is about two people. It does not need destiny to pave”. And he finally, finally says “I love you, Patts. I don’t care if it rains or not. I do love you no matter what happens”. And we see Patts wrap Tai into his body and promise to never let go of him again.

gif by @liyazaki

Now, I have to stop and give Title Tanatorn all the flowers in the world for his outstanding performance in this episode (and the show as a whole). He made me feel Tai’s soul-crushing pain and sadness, and also soothed my tender and bruised heart in the span of mere minutes. This scene was the culmination of Tai’s character development arc. He went from a guy who felt so jaded about love and relationships that he had been ghosting his soulmate for two whole years, to a guy who stood weeping in the middle of the road, pouring his heart out to Patts who only wanted Tai to love him back the way he loved him. And Title Tanatorn fucking nailed it.

And Pee Peerawich is no slouch either, as my boo @wen-kexing-apologist has already established, here. In the finale, he delivers a sublime, understated performance that does not take the spotlight away from Tai, while also perfectly reflecting Patts’ emotions on his face during Tai’s confession. These actors are so incredibly talented and did everything they can to augment the brilliant work of the writers of this show. Y’all have my attention, Tanachot Prapasri and Fuke Teerapat. I will diligently show up to watch your future works, even if it’s just your grocery lists dramatized into a TV show (shoutout to @so-much-yet-to-learn, who, when I voiced this statement, immediately and unironically piped up “Have you heard of this show called Ingredients?”. My BL buddies are hilarious as fuck and I will never be not impressed by the lengths Thai BLs would go to sell stuff to the masses).

Finally, I want to focus on a moment in the finale that kinda threw me off at first but, as the days passed, slowly grew into its significance. Dream tells Tai that Patts left with one last message: “I believe in soulmates. Saengtai is my soulmate”. Isn’t that.. weird? We know that Patts has openly stated before in this show that he wanted to defy destiny, and how his love for Tai is not just because he is his soulmate. For him to state this in the final episode seemed like an odd writing choice.

But, in the final voiceover, the show tells us (through Tai’s voice) that no one chooses to find an answer (to the hearing-loss-soulmate phenomenon) anymore. Instead, the people in this world are choosing to attribute whatever meaning they want to it. We have seen Patts say that Tai is his soulmate many times throughout this show, but he doesn’t mean it in its traditional sense; he means “I love Saengtai and I believe that I can’t live without him, which makes him my soulmate”. He paves his own way, and earnestly believes that Tai is his soulmate not just because they can hear each other when it rains, but because Tai understands and completes him and they find happiness in each other's company. In short: Fuck Destiny.

Since we were teased with a setup for a potential second season, I want to wrap up this post with a smattering of potential scenarios that have borrowed into my brain:

@bengiyo gleefully pointed out that when Lomfon suggests that he and Tien wait for another five minutes before going back into the classroom, so Tien won’t be forced to watch his embarrassingly sappy video, more than five minutes has already passed since they had walked out. Which means that Lomfon made a 10+ minutes long video of just Tien being cute and giggly and adorable. I love this over-the-top, madly-in-love Lomfon and I better get many, many more moments of him being pathetically sappy about Tien in the next season

I want the Patts-Saengnuea moment recreated beat by beat, including the sunglasses flip. If I don’t see Saengnuea on his tippy toes, menacingly lean into Lomfon’s ear and threaten him with bodily harm if he ever hurts his little brother, then what’s even the fucking point?

The comedic potential of Lomfon being forced to socialize with Patts, while he tries to make himself as small and unassuming as physically possible is a treasure trove and must be treated by the writers as such. The possibilities are endless. Warun and Saengchan would be menaces, trying to cook up situations that would force them together. Tai and Tien would act exasperated, while secretly enjoying the shenanigans. Gimme all of it.

My experience of watching this show is indelibly tied to all the wonderful metas I read here. The sense of community around this show’s discourse was incredible and a joy to be part of. Thank you to all the amazing humans who decided to be very not-chill and not-normal about this show: @bengiyo, @shortpplfedup, @ginnymoonbeam, @wen-kexing-apologist, @liyazaki, @respectthepetty, @syrena-del-mar, @chickenstrangers, @rocketturtle4, @williamrikers, @shouldiusemyname, @sunshinechay, @slayerkitty, @indigostarfire, @iguessitsjustme and I know I’m missing many more, sorry! And a special, with-cherries-on-top shoutout to @lurkingshan for putting the La Pluie meta roundup together, and encouraging people to participate in the discourse. Peace out, homies! And as always, FUCK DESTINY!

gif by @ueasking

[syrena-del-mar]

La Pluie meets Nora Roberts

This week we open up with a shot of Saengtai (who is slowly learning to believe that maybe having a "soulmate" isn't all that bad) reading Nora Roberts.

Now as a former teen Nora Roberts aficionado, I immediately clocked that Tai was reading the first two books of her MacKade Brother quadrology. For those that are unfamiliar with Nora Roberts and this series, it revolves around four brothers, with each brother having their own, separate novel. So it's a little on the nose that Saengtai would be reading this series out of the numerous ones that Nora Roberts has published, especially the books that are based on the oldest and second oldest of the four brothers.

All four novels of the MacKade brothers takes place in Antietam, which if you have any knowledge on the American Civil War, you will likely recognize for being home one of the bloodiest battles of the war. While each brother and their lovers attempt to forge a connection, there is a supernatural element with the restless souls that still haunt Antietam.

The one that Tai was reading was one Robert's bundles, which included only the first two novels, centering around the first two brothers, Rafe and Jared.

I'm going to give a brief synopsis of both books below, before doing a bare minimum dive of the significance I think La Pluie was attempting to draw.

The Return of Rafe MacKade

Here, the main protagonist is Rafe MacKade, who had left his hometown years prior after making a name for himself as the handsome, hot-headed, rebellious, good-for-nothing second-oldest MacKade brother. He's the black-sheep out of the four brothers, yet the incident which drove him away from Antietam, 10 years prior to his return, was one where he was attempting to protect a woman from her abusive boyfriend so he turned to punching the crap out of the man; but y'know how rumors develop in small towns. He returns to his hometown after 10 years as a successful businessman, something that townsfolk couldn't believe which shut them up about all the gossip they used to spread about him. He buys the local haunted house to turn it into a B&B, which in doing so leads him to meet his heroine, Regan, an antique dealer that is helping him decorate the B&B.

At first glance, Rafe and Regan seem to be complete opposites, with Rafe being a 'rough-around-the edges' type of guy and Regan, an elegant and classy dame. Rafe, while being the typical loud-mouth 'alpha-male' guy that is stereotypical in 20th century novellas, you come to find out is just a guy that is unable to fully articulate his own emotions and understand his developing feelings for Regan. Regan, on the other hand, for all her elegance, is a bit arrogant and unapologetically opinionated and definitely not looking to get into a steady relationship, much less with Rafe. They're both two incredibly stubborn individuals that are always butting heads, which leads to both miscommunication and a lack of communication, but they slowly start to learn that they actually need each other, even if they try to deny it.

The Pride of Jared MacKade

The second book revolves around Jared MacKade, who currently works as an attorney who, unlike his hot-headed brother Rafe, is much more level-headed and collected, yet just as prone to being purposefully ignorant to his romantic emotions. Jared is the oldest of the four brothers and had previously been married but ended up divorced, which lead to his distaste and shrewdness when it came to love. His story with his lead, Savannah, first starts when he meets her to let her know that her father had left her some inheritance. Savannah, having been disowned by her father as a teen and kicked to the curb due to her pregnancy, understandably pissed and initially wants nothing to with Jared.

Both Jared and Savannah are stubborn as mules, but their instant connection was undeniable. Jared was a traditionalist in love, which created some conflict due to Savannah's past and what she had to do as a teen mom to survive. The connection between them was palpable, within their second meeting they were already all over each other, making out. Yet, for all their connection, they're both initially a bit skeptical of doing more than toying around. Both Jared and Savannah had to overcome their own obstacles, Jared and his prejudice and Savannah and her hidden insecurities (that arose when she started to work alongside Regan), but despite their rocky road with love, they find a way to make it work.

La Pluie in connection to Rafe and Jared

There are some very obvious parallels that I believe La Pluie is attempting to draw with having Saengtai reading the MacKade tetralogy, but I also think there are some running themes that may be hinting at the future development for our Saeng brothers and their love interests, Phat and Lomfon.

First, the obvious parallel of the four MacKade brothers with the four Saeng brothers.

Second, the first novel, I'd like to argue, seems to hint at the future for Lomfon and Saengtien. From what we've seen so far, much like Rafe MacKade, Saengtien is perceived by almost everyone in his life to be brash, hot-headed, and rather incompetent. We've seen this from how Tien's own mother treats him and even from how Lomfon treated him in the first couple of episodes. Similar to Rafe's brashness, Tien's own brashness tends to spill out either in protection of his family, particularly Tai, or in the midst of his own confusion regarding what he wants. And just like Rafe, Tien is only starting to learn to comprehend the feelings that he's developing when he's with Lomfon. Tien has taken it upon himself to be the backbone for Tai and his family, that in turn he has sacrificed a part of himself. Instead he turns to his brashness as a mechanism to appease everyone, a shield and a distraction of the pain that he is also incurring while caring for everyone.

Lomfon on the other hand, while he seems to have a good grasp of his own self, seeing how he works independently but never seems to be ostracized, rather (seemingly) he chooses who he surrounds himself with, he also hides himself. Lomfon, similar to Regan is opinionated, especially when it comes to the idea that the one you hear during the rain is your soulmate. I'm sure in a society that has attempted to find reasoning to the deafness, that sentiment is likely taboo to express, yet he's willing to against the norm to create his own happiness, much like Regan did in opening her antique shop.

If Rafe's story is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lomfon strongly denying his developing feelings regarding Tien, as he's still primarily focused on Tai. Lomfon's seems to be developing some kind of feelings towards Tien, if the small head caresses and playing with Tien's hair is anything to go by. His feelings towards Tien seem to be slowly developing, even if he doesn't fully realize it. Meanwhile, I think it'll take Tien something big or in the heat of passion to get him to confess to Lomfon his growing feelings, especially once he realizes that Lomfon wants to get in between Tai and Phat. Tien, the ever-sacrificial loving brother that he is, will always put Tai and his happiness over his own, even if that means that he has to argue and destroy his budding friendship with Lomfon.

Tien let's himself be still, let's go of his prickly exterior, only when he's around Lomfon. He needs Lomfon, to provide the quiet energy that allows Tien to just exist for himself and nobody else. Now it's time for Lomfon to figure out how and why he needs Tien as well.

Frenemies-to-lovers is sometimes an even longer slow-burn than enemies-to-lovers, but it's okay, we can play the long game. I have hope that they'll get there.

Thirdly, the parallel of Jared and Saengtai, really comes to their demeanors and their anxiety that develops from impressions of failed love, yet they are still classic romantics at heart. Saengtai, similar to Jared in the beginning of his book, has been burned by the illusions of love. Yet, both, once they meet their soulmates, instantly feel some level of attraction to them. Their attraction is palpable to both of them, but attempting to overcome their own fears and prejudices, even when everything seems to be outwardly alright, can rock the boat.

It's going to be interesting here to see if Phat has some hidden insecurities that arise when he realizes that he has some potential competition. That just maybe Saengtai could be swayed by the man who shares the same interests and that solely being his soulmate may not be enough, even if, for all intents and purposes, he may be the right person for Tai.

Phat and Saengtai obviously feel a spark and found an immediate connection, but it'll be interesting to see if their relationship will end up in shambles, like Tai's parents, or will their bond only serve to be strengthened beyond the idea of just being soulmates.

[languidlotus]

You know, as much as 'because I like you, asshole' was devastating, to me, the most painful thing Tien said that episode was 'i thought you felt the same way'. Because here is a boy who's never been in love. Who needed help figuring out how he felt and what these flutters in his chest meant. A boy who, I'm convinced, has never thought someone would ever like him. Because he's brash and loud and rude and hides behind walls (while taking care of everyone else). Who, in a universe where some people have special, perfect loved ones just for them, would fall for someone like him? Until Lomfon. Until he met this guy who he could be all those things with and slowly break those walls down. Show the side of him that wasn't full of barbed wire words and bluster. And he actually thought Lomfon felt the same way. Against all odds, Tien felt like his feelings were returned. Not because of a soulmate - because of course someone like him doesn't have a soulmate - but because Lomfon liked him. Lomfon looked at him and saw something worth cherishing. Except, no. He had to find out the person he likes doesn't like him back, has a soulmate, that soulmate is his brother, and had to watch Lomfon kiss said brother right in front of him, all at once. The boy who fell in love for the first time immediately had to learn what heartbreak was like too. ~ 'I thought you felt the same way.' ~