#so excited for this...

[marlowe-zara]

The Sandman Season 2 | Poster

[athousandbyeol]

play that melody: first look into melody of secrets' official trailer

good God. i can't believe it's here. it's finally here.

i can't even express the level of excitement and anticipation i'm feeling right now. but it's definitely going off the roof, and i'm certain my sanity is at stake with this one.

(i mean... i've been waiting for so long... too long... and it's finally here! it's so surreal still. i'm having a hard time grasping reality because i kept asking myself: did i really watch mos official trailer? i need to pinch myself and go about my life, just to come here and sit in front of my laptop to really believe that it's real. good Lord. i'm reeling.)

initially, my response was pure shock, and a whole lot of tears 😅 it's amazing how forcebook can evoke such deep emotions to spill from my mouth and whole system two seconds into the trailer. i'm not even joking. it's too good to be true... and i feel like i don't deserve this 😭 i don't deserve forcebook and this superiority that is mos, but i'll embrace and treasure it as much as i can 🥺

i digress.

ok. let's get into the agenda for today: my first insight into the official trailer of mos. (or more about me yapping...)

i'm sorry if this post won't be coherently arranged because my thoughts are still all over the place. but i hope it's legible enough for anyone who might read this thought vomit to understand (please bear with me...) i'm also going to cross-reference the official and mock trailer of mos a lot in this post... so... yeah! i hope it won't be confusing t_t

main theme: deception + their character profiles

from the first watch, i believe tankhun and botphleng are hiding a lot of things from each other.

this is one of the elements that they kept from the mock trailer. i guess, amnesia/memory loss is going to be one of the main plot drives in this story, and it'll greatly revolve around botphleng and tankhun's relationship, as well as the conflict they're drowning in.

deception plays in how they'll perceive each other.

i notice that they have their walls up whenever they're together. it's interesting to note that the scenes we see in the official trailer could also potentially be from a 'dream sequence' or 'projected memory' from botphleng. i think it's beautiful if we look into the colour grading and effect on some scenes and notice the stark and subtle differences between them, which in my opinion, contribute a lot to other themes like truth vs lies or past vs present vs future. (i'll talk about this a bit more in the colour section.)

these are my initial guesses of botphleng and tankhun's personality:

tankhun

he may or may not know the entire truth. (honestly… i think he does.)

played along with botphleng (example: ate the cookies although he's allergic and aware of what botphleng's doing) just so it could help botphleng regain his memory.

or... it's to 'deceive' botphleng in order to protect him.

protector by nature. would do anything to ensure botphleng's safety. ready to sacrifice everything for botphleng.

calm. too calm to be exact.

but his eyes hide something excruciating. whenever he looks at botphleng, it's like he's yearning for an answer — for remembrance.

it looks like he functions without a soul. i wonder if it's because of something he did to botphleng — or for botphleng — that extracts the life out of his body. because he looks soulless, lifeless, hollow, even when he's smiling. (my heart's already breaking because of this 😭)

there's a 180° change with tankhun's character that i find very, very fascinating.

i can see the difference between the mock!tankhun and official!tankhun from these framings. tankhun in the mock trailer was a bit cocky? confident. sinister. hostile in a sense. but tankhun in the official trailer is the definition of suppressed pain in italics and lowercase. the pain lingers. in the way he looks at botphleng. in the way he exists around botphleng. he's careful. he's calculative. but not in a cunning manner — but more to what should i do so i don't hurt him? kind of way.

he seems softer. more vulnerable. kinder. reluctant. it looks like he's holding back a lot, as if all the secrets in the world are in his hands, waiting to roll out of his mouth, but he can't. i don't think it's because of fear for his own safety, but it's the fear of hurting botphleng instead — or worst case scenario, putting botphleng at the same risk again.

the heart he wears on his sleeves are broken and jagged around the edges. still bleeding from the scars that wouldn't heal. i have to say, the official trailer kind of hints at long-lost lovers reuniting again. maybe they're childhood friends/lovers? i guess it's not impossible since they're each other's first loves. the diary botphleng received might be written from when they were younger and still in a relationship — before they drifted apart.

i personally love this version of tankhun more. it makes him feel more human, reachable, touchable. he's flawed. he carries his own grief while still trying to protect the person he loves—

or is he?

botphleng

the heart of the story.

he doesn't know anything. it might be from amnesia. selective memory. due to trauma/accident.

i noticed he got panic attacks (this must have some sort of connection with his memory loss).

he thought that he could know the truth if he got closer to tankhun.

this makes him appear more 'deceptive' than tankhun because he might want to cover the case in-depth, and the only way he could get the most reliable source material is from tankhun.

i think, initially, he approached tankhun with the mindset of a 'stranger' who's only reading the diary because he believed that this botphleng (the diary owner) wasn't him.

it's like the current botphleng is dissociated from the past botphleng — it appears as if they only shared a body, but not their minds and memories.

but then… his body started remembering his brain couldn't. and this is when things get messy.

botphleng is consistent. i don't see many changes to his personality (other than he decides to wear a mask and 'lure' tankhun into getting the truth). but i do have to say that botphleng in the official trailer seems a bit more aware of his surroundings, the state he's in (to an extent) and knows how to use his 'amnesia' to his advantage (aka seek truth from tankhun). he's not that lost or innocent, like how mock trailer!botphleng was portrayed.

mock trailer!botphleng is more vulnerable and naive in my opinion, while official trailer!botphleng is stronger in one way or another (his determination to find out the truth and unravel the secrets behind the murder [or more so, his connection with tankhun]), which makes his character appear more interesting and multi-dimensional.

i'm not saying that the mock trailer didn't do botphleng justice, but i think the official trailer!botphleng has more depth in terms of his character motivation. he seems to be a resolute and 'stubborn' character, despite receiving warnings from muen mile (p'boun's character). this is something that wasn't really evident in the mock trailer!botphleng. therefore, i appreciate how the team has shaped botphleng's character into a strong presence, despite the sheer softness that still envelopes him (due to his memory loss/recurring dreams).

botphleng is really intriguing to me because this drama is potentially narrated from his point of view. i believe it's going to be perceived as third-person omniscient, where we can't truly believe everything we see, and that's the most charming part about this series. he's going to be the unreliable narrator that has us second-guessing everything he says and does — not just botphleng, but other characters as well.

one thing i absolutely adore about this official trailer is the lack of truth. it's all laid out with doses of uncertainty, questions and anxiety, which enables us to theorise and doubt the real premise behind the storyline (in which, i believe, will be very insane that we can't even comprehend).

it's different from the mock trailer because there's this obviousness that they showed in it: who's the potential suspect? who's evil? who's not? who's at fault? who's the victim? it's very direct and precise. sharp storytelling. but the official trailer is everywhere. it doesn't land where we want it to land. it's all squiggly lines and vague and dull, and i think that's perfect.

i'm in love with the fact that they showed us all the happy scenes between tankhun and botphleng to distract us from the core essence of the story: deception. potential betrayal. heartbreaks. pain. familial issues. sacrifices. wrong choices. second chances. and everything nice.

the official trailer is a red herring for the truth that we might not be ready to face once the story slowly unfolds.

colour scheme + tone/mood

overall, the official trailer is a blend of bright, earthy colours (brown, yellow) with heaping spoonfuls of blue and green, and undertones of grey. it's so interesting how they still keep the OG colouring from the mock trailer, but also added some depth to it (with additions of yellow, red, [bright colours but also slightly muted]).

however, i do notice that bright colours are more often associated with botphleng than tankhun.

his fits range from blue (default), yellow (transition colour: when he's plotting something divisive, he's the present botphleng without memories of the past, etc), red (when in distress/anxiety hits/memories recurring), white (when he's with tankhun [mainly from the dream sequence/projected memory he has over them]).

additionally, bright colours are also evident in so many scenes when tanphleng are together. there's this softness in the colours that 'cages' them whenever they breathe the same air or share the same space. it seems almost dream-like... as if they aren't real.

if we look closely, this scene is drenched in yellow light and greenery — they become the centre of attention. botphleng, also in yellow, while tankhun is in black and white. but there's this ethereal glow that makes this scene appear so dreamy, almost out of reach. it makes me believe that this is one of the many dream sequences botphleng has. this might be the happiness that's so transient.

yet...

this could be his mind playing tricks on him. this could be the diary entry visualised in colours. this could be what tankhun shared with botphleng late one night while they lay in bed. this could be a dream that botphleng drifts him into slumber. this could be a fragment of imagination, a byproduct of botphleng's perception (the current botphleng), influenced by the inherent feelings he has for tankhun, but he can't quite understand the roots, can't apprehend the meaning.

and this could be... nothing at all.

but colours are darker, grittier, sharper, almost green-ish/blue-ish in their individual scenes. but those muted colours, especially red and yellow, are still there, remaining with them, because that's the never-changing reality — while tankhun and botphleng are changing with time, and influenced by memories, the truth and the unknown.

(red undertones behind the muted brown + yellow).

(i notice that tankhun also often wears botphleng's colour... i have a guess that tankhun might wear this to make himself seem 'familiar' in botphleng's eyes. it might trigger botphleng's memories if there's something familiar in tankhun that he can visualise, which might speed up the process of remembering the truth, or distorting the facts. or both.)

blue's more dominant in botphleng. i guess this is his colour. this might mean that botphleng's general aura is calm and composed — but will often be struck by recurring dreams that are due to the accident [shift of meaning to the colours; destruction, distortion, restlessness].

but, like i said, tankhun also wears a lot of blue, especially when he's with botphleng. (i guess, to project familiarity. to invoke a 'feeling' only they knew and shared.)

(but this scene, i believe, is a dream sequence or a memory of their first encounter, which makes me question: what if tankhun's colour is actually blue? and botphleng's real colour is black and white instead?)

(can you see the blue-ish/green-ish undertone in this scene? i'm actually going insane because the colouring is somewhat similar to the mock trailer [which, i absolutely adored].

i think these undertones add a touch of cynicism, as well as the mysterious aura, this drama's truest essence should be. it's like they're blindsiding us into believing that happiness is possible. but it shouldn't be when they're teetering around each other in truths they can't prove, and lies they can't debunk.

i'm not saying that mos won't get a happy ending, but there's a cost to this happiness that they have to pay, and these muted colours are camouflaging us from seeing the truth. it's the way that they're concealing the truth with colours that has me trembling in awe because this is the kind of poeticism i crave from dramas. it doesn't only add to the aestheticism, but also contributes a lot to the emotional depth, as well as the tone/mood of the story.

i'm so in love with this idea already, really.)

however, i do believe, to an extent, that tankhun looks a lot like a mix of black and white. i'm unsure, but this could mean that tankhun holds the truth to this madness — but he decides/chooses not to tell. 

in my opinion, they want us to perceive tankhun as black and white, the holder of the truth. but for me, tankhun is going to be very grey.

his intention isn't clear. we still don't know why he insists on introducing himself to botphleng as 'your lover'. even though it's true, isn't it weird? he's hiding something: maybe they've broken up. maybe he was the reason behind botphleng's memory loss. maybe tankhun left without a trace, which might lead to many fallouts in botphleng's life, as they're so closely connected. like, tankhun's botphleng's air, but when he left, botphleng just couldn't breathe. something along those lines, it seems...

there are so many possibilities that'll make tankhun grey, which is such a beautiful irony since he's a criminologist: he should've been the face of justice. he should know that good is white and bad is black. but i think he might see all of this as nothing but grey.

and this leads me to believe the colour that binds them together is going to be grey-ish blue.

(this makes me believe they're each other's reflection. they wear each other's respective colours. they're the splitting image of each other. and this makes their love story more heartbreaking to me because they see more than just love and happiness — they see each other's pain and heartbreaks and problems and mistakes too.)

additionally, i love that the tent scene is super bright and warm — then it shifts to darkness when they begin making love. letting the world's colours die down as it zooms into the colours of them; blue, black and white.

the stark difference between the colours in the mock and official trailers is truly mindboggling.

mock trailer: sinister, dark, cunning — very 'in the face' kind of 'aha! you're guilty!' while in the official trailer: bright, bittersweet, hopelessness, melancholic — more subtle, kind of like 'are you... guilty?'

this is when i detest tumblr for only allowing 30 pictures per post because i have so many photos to insert, but they won't let me 😭, but from the images above, we can see how different the colour scheme in the mock trailer is compared to the official trailer. i like it because the mock trailer feels very much definite: they want us to perceive and take sides with the good. while the official trailer feels ominous, untrustworthy, in a sense that, it's not about who's wrong or right, but more about why you did this? and why wouldn't i?

it's evident in the colour scheme that this is the mood they want us to feel, or it's the setting stone to the whole premise of the story, in which, the truth might not be as bright as what we hope for, but love is... and perhaps, that's okay.

past vs present vs future: non-linear narrative, stream of consciousness storytelling

in my opinion, scenes with botphleng's hair down are from the past. for example, the opening scene when botphleng narrates their first encounter — it's him from the past. (i don't know why i think this way... but i always believe that a character's styling plays a lot in telling the story or their MO. colours, hairstyle, accessories, etc, add so much more than just aesthetics (like i said before this). maybe that's why i'm kind of confident that this is important for us to note...)

i guess this will be our point of reference to differentiate them in different timelines (because i think this drama will have many narrative shifts between past, present and future).

i like this distinction that they showed (if it's true) — because in some scenes, i can clearly see how young botphleng is (example: again, the opening scene when botphleng first met tankhun on the open field). this hints at a potential mesh of flashbacks + recurring memories with the current timeline.

some scenes when they're together could also be in the past. like the ones mentioned above, and also tankhun with a bandaged hand could be in the past (potentially).

the past, in this context, could also mean a recurring dream/memory that botphleng experiences when he's in a state of panic. when he gets the attack, he sees visions, and i believe those are the real truth.

(this whole sequence. i played it in 0.25x just to see the flashes of memories and wow... something sinister did happen to him — potentially when tankhun isn't with him anymore. or maybe tankhun's the cause of it. or maybe tankhun doesn't know until it's too late.

botphleng gets a panic attack, and he begins seeing fragments of lost memories. this is him in his most vulnerable state, which also means, this is when he can really see the truth.)

we'll be jumping into fiery hoops while watching this drama just to understand the timeline alone. i can't even imagine what'll happen to me and my brain once more things begin to unfold...... //will never recover from it, i can already tell 😭//

final words

i do understand that some might not understand the shift of mood in the official trailer. however, like i've talked about in the earlier parts of this (very long) post, it's intentional to throw us off guard.

when i first watched it, i admit, aside from shock, i was kind of disappointed. i'm being honest here. because i'm very fond of the mock trailer. i think the mock trailer was the best representation of an engaging crime and psychological thriller drama. but when i watch it again, and again, it hits me that, this drama is definitely darker than what they've shown us in the trailer. it leaves a more lasting impression because it makes me question, this can't be it, right?

i personally love that they're showing us more of the romance aspects than the 'actual plotline' because 1) spoilers are often not fun and 2) it's edging us to the furthest part of the cliff. honestly, i'm seconds away from falling because wow — this is going to be a hell of a ride. we just have to strap on and say our prayers because this will be hellish as much as it'll be blissful.

yet, it's still so early for us to deduce the quality of the drama because it hasn't aired yet 🥺 i think we should watch this with an open heart and mind. after all, i believe in my skin and bones that this series will be different from what they've shown us in the trailer.

therefore, i would like to encourage everyone to watch the special episode of mos that might air next week to really understand the story as a whole. sometimes, i'm quite surprised when people say they don't watch the special episode when that's the real treasure trove. they'll break down the characters and the premise of the story, also inform us of the easter eggs + fun details we should look forward to. so, if you have time, please watch the special episode because it's as important as watching the drama 🥺

i'm beyond excited for this. i don't know... i feel genuinely happy for forcebook because this is very new to both of them. regardless of everything that might happen while watching mos, i hope i can genuinely enjoy it and be more open and accepting of the story, but also, be more open to conversing and discussing each episode with my friends across tumblr and twitter. i'm very excited to read the discourses about this series, the most hehe.

i can't wait to see actors!forcebook gracing my screen starting december 5th. i'm so happy they got the friday slot. i can't imagine this drama airing on a different day but friday. thank God :')

i need to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for this. [honestly... it feels like ofs era again for me 😭 i'm so excited i'm crying jinjja 😭]

see you soon, tankhun and botphleng. <3

[i'm taking this opportunity to share my for tanphleng fic series hehe. so far, there are six stories in the series. i'll be so happy if anyone reads them. <3]

[gh0ul02]

Purposefully causing problems...

A wip...😏