#thct meta

[heretherebedork]

Ai and Ni are just so unique in Thai Bl. They’re an established gay couple that are heavily implied to be actually gay and not ‘gay for him’. There’s talk of gaydar, recognizing one of their own and shared attractions. Which is just... amazing. Chaotic gay himbos for the win.

Honestly, THCT has so many out and gay characters it’s pretty amazing. Na, Nueng, Chon, Ai, Ni, the nameless guys hitting on Chon... I mean, most of the cast is gay AND out about it.

Is the show perfect? Nothing is perfect. Is it still one of my favorite shows and will probably stay that way? Yes.

[heretherebedork]

Look, I know we all love Na. And we want him to be happy. And we know that he loves Chon.

I really, really want to point out how much Na wanted friends. He was very clear about that when he talked to Chon on their first outing alone together. Na was lonely. Yes, he loved Chon. But he was so happy just to have Chon as a friend. Chon makes him happy, as he said..

Now look at him! He has 6 ride or die friends and a whole little queer found family ready to take care of him. He’s got a whole support system that’s formed around him. They’re at his side, they’re making sure he’s happy, they listen to him and comfort him and care for him.

This isn’t the ending, not yet. But this is good. Na’s gotten a lot of what he wanted. He got friends. He found a family. 

Did he get the boy? No.

But, in the end, he still got something he wanted and needed.

He got friends.

[heretherebedork]

Tonhon’s shock that Ai and Ni would even consider moving out after coming out, that they would think he would suddenly be uncomfortable around them...

Tonhon has never, never thought of his words in a personal way. He’s never considered that the people around him fit into the boxes that he mocks. That’s just not a connection he made. 

Because he never considered any of it personal.

He never, ever thought that any of his friends would be gay. Or could be gay. I mean, look at the extent they had to go to just to convince him that it wasn’t a prank!

Yet he’s still shocked when they talk about moving out.

Because none of it, absolute none of it, was ever personal to him.

Look at how happy he is when he watches SOTUS. Look at how much he obviously connects with the characters. Then look at how he talks about gay people. And that’s because he’s never thinks of anything he says in personal terms.

It’s why he’s so shocked. It’s why he’ll probably keep saying those things for a while.

Because, for him, that’s just how people talk. It’s how his family has always talked. It doesn’t mean anything to him.

But it does mean a lot to the people around him. Now he’s being forced to face that his words have had meaning all along. He’s also being forced to face that he isn’t who he thinks he is.

Tonhon is going to rebuild himself in the rest of these episodes. But everyone’s going to have to keep pushing him. Luckily, sassy Chon is obviously here, with the help of his queer found family in Na and Ni and Ai and Miriam and Pang.

Can’t wait! 

[heretherebedork]

Look at Tonhon now!

Look at him!

Imagine if we’d seen him like this earlier.

He doesn’t seem stupid. He doesn’t seem brutish. 

Acknowledging his feelings for Chon literally turned him into a better person.

Homophobia makes you look stupid and brutish.

Being honest with yourself makes you look smarter, sweeter and like an overall better person.

Life lessons from Tonhon Chonlatee.

[heretherebedork]

I feel like I need to rewatch Tonhon Chonlatee because just from memory... I think Tonhon is getting smarter.

Not... actually smart.

But he’s making better choices. He’s more articulate. He’s still bad at emotions but I’m starting to understand how he could possibly be a good student.

And I think that’s deliberate.

The more Tonhon faces his own homophobia and internal biases, the more he’s able to show his own intelligence. The better he becomes, the smarter we get to see he is.

I love this, fyi.

Because it’s just GREAT. Tonhon is showing that being homophobic was holding him back. Being homophobic was making him sound stupid ALL THE TIME.

And now as he starts tor realize what he was doing, we’re getting to see the good person his friends saw.

[heretherebedork]

So, honestly, the idea that Tonhon is bi and has been in denial of it for a very long time is... really hitting me after this episode. The way he’s been raised and the way he talks about the romance between men is very telling. He’s in deep, deep denial. But it’s there, lurking beneath the surface. That’s what he wants. And the only way he can handle it is pretending it doesn’t exists. By parroting that it’s wrong, like he’s heard his entire life. 

Tonhon has a mountain to climb to get to where he can be truly happy with himself and the worst part is that he’s convinced himself that there is no mountain. That this is just what life looks like for everyone.

... Or maybe I’m thinking too deeply into a comedic dumbass character.

[heretherebedork]

Tonhon doesn’t know he’s gay because he’s defined the very concept of gay as ‘other’. Gay to Tonhon means ‘not me’. It means ‘not my friends’. It means ‘someone I don’t know and don’t like’.

I mean, this is not a man who engages in self-reflection or introspection or thinks deeply about anything. He’s following his father’s example because, let’s be honest, he’s never had a reason not to in his mind.

Tonhon doesn’t think about how feels about Chon because it would never occur to him to think about it! He doesn’t think about being gay or wanting to touch him because why would he think about that?

It’s also why he overlooks everything about Ai and Ni. Because they’re not Other. They’re his friends and thus they’re not gay. Obviously. He’s so dense because of all that internalized homophobia which has resulted in his othering all gay people as... well, ‘not his friends/himself/people he likes’.

My prediction is that Chon gets outed in the scene from the preview where he kisses a sleeping Ton. Ton flips and Ai and Ni end up outting themselves (might just be Ni outting them with Ai getting upset, possibly) and that’s going to set off an entire lifetime of self-reflection for Ton.

... I can’t wait.

[heretherebedork]

Ton/Chon is just the friends to lovers version of Fighter/Tutor’s enemies to lovers trope.

It’s basically the same thing.

Fight me.

Fighter and Tonhon both have very strong ‘I’m not gay’ moments, though they’re handled differently because they’re different shows.

Tutor and Chonlatee both have an inkling of what’s going on first and acknowledge their own feelings first.

Both of their relationships are shaped and affected by: homophobic fathers, close female friends, close friends in general, a women deciding that they’re in love (Zol writing the novel, Miriam supporting Ai and Ni in figuring out Ton’s crush), alcohol, better at fooling themselves than those around them and separation

... Basically. BASICALLY. They’re the same idea but with a different starting basis and I love all of them and I just want to let everyone know that Fighter and Tonhon would probably get along disturbing well and Tutor and Chonlatee would be best friends. And Miriam, Pang and HwaHwa would be a terrifying, TERRIFYING group of friends who could accomplish anything.