#saengtaiphat

[heretherebedork]

We are getting so many fascinating perspectives on the idea of soulmates, especially soulmates that are part of destiny and a disease.

Tai decided he could never love his soulmate because he risked losing him and that would hurt too much.

Phat would cure himself of the disease in a heartbeat and doesn't think of his soulmate as someone he wants to love.

Tian is jealous of the idea of soulmates but also does his best to dismiss the whole concept.

We don't know Lomfon's thoughts, not yet, but I expect he'll be different as well.

We know that Tien and Tai's parents were soulmates but that their relationship didn't work forever and that shaped all of their children as well...

Soulmates being part of a world is fascinating because you get to see how these ideas and expectations shape people but also shape the world. Soulmates are part of a disease, a disorder, but they are also soulmates. So which side wins? The disease or the soulmates? It's so wild to consider how much this means to the world and to love and to how people love and who they love...

[heretherebedork]

Alright, so...

Saengtai hears Phat's voice in the rain and that makes them soulmates.

But Phat has decided to deny destiny and fell in love with someone else.

Now Saengtai is torn between already falling for Phat and his own fear of love and the pain that comes with losing it.

But there's also Lomfon coming in with the book and the talk about passion. Lomfon who shares interests and love.

And there's Tien just starting to discover that he might have feelings for Lomfon as well (absolutely despite himself).

Oh, the mess of it all. The agony of love and destiny and defying and accepting.

[heretherebedork]

This boy has reached never level of absolute darling baby and way too relatable. I love him. I really do. He's so unsure of himself and insecure in the biggest but also the quietest ways and he's living a dream he gave up on because he saw no way of ever trusting it but he can't help but trust Phat.

[heretherebedork]

Love is most definitely stored in the hands.

[heretherebedork]

If I die, it will be by Phat trying to figure out what is going on while Saengtai desperately pushes him away because he's so certain Phat knows who he is and is mocking him. (Why would anyone love him? Saengtai has never felt loveable, has given up on that side of himself for so long that he only believes the worst about himself now.)

[heretherebedork]

The real feeling of watching Phat tell Saengtai he's making his own destiny... by falling for Saengtai... this is my favorite soulmate vibe ever.

(Saengtai knows they're soulmates but Phat only knows he's fallen in love, finally.)

[heretherebedork]

Tien and Saengtai are both terrified of either loving or being loved, of someone looking at them and seeing who they really are because they don't trust who they are, they don't trust that they can love or be loved.

Saengtai has been running from being loved for years and is now face to face with his soulmate who he thinks has chosen someone else and so he is trying to run from it, trying so desperately because he knows he's following in his parents footsteps (he's so sure).

Tien, though, is different. He isn't running from love so much as he's hiding himself, he's hiding behind jokes and chaos and rolling his eyes and snapping and pushing people from getting too close, from seeing how fragile he really is because he's the support column for his brother and a lot of his family but he's hollowed out inside from it.

Lomfon forced Tien to be serious for the one moment and that was all it took for him to crack there and to touch his hands and to let himself be touched as well but he couldn't handle it, can't let it happen again, can't let anything near him.

Phat is showing Saengtai that being soulmates is about more than just voices in the rain but also about caring for someone and for learning to trust someone, learning to let yourself trust and let yourself care about people even if there's a risk of pain or hurt.

[heretherebedork]

My undying love for everyone in this show continues but also this was such a good moment and such a fun highlight of their personalities and their growing relationship but also how much this story is both emphasizing the idea of soulmates while also downplaying the concept in the world.

But now they both know and they're both open about it and no matter the doubts and the old relationships that plague them both... there is a future here for them, one they can make together.

(If they take the chance, if they have the chance, even if being soulmates doesn't promise them anything they can make it themselves if they just try... but will they try?)

Look, I just love them? Okay? They're so cute and they're made of destiny and choice and love and care and patient and hurt and destiny that was met by being defied.