My Favorite Complex Characters

[ this was the initial post that made me start this list so buckle up ]

Van :

Here is a character that caused a LOT of discourse while the series was airing. Many people hated him, myself included, when he started making awful decisions that hurt Farm. But as the episodes went on, I began feeling this nudging in the back of my mind that maybe these were defense mechanisms. And the scene in episode 11 where he breaks down about how much he hates going home to an empty house without his parents there solidified that for me. I remember pausing and saying out loud “Ohhhh.. THAT’s why…” and when you lay it out, it makes sense:

Van’s parents die —> Van’s inner walls go up to protect from the pain —> Van falls in love with Farm —> Van doesn’t want to lose Farm —> Van asks Farm to date —> Van’s subconscious says “Oh no, now I have something to lose.” —> Van acts destructively ultimately hurting Farm —> Van loses Farm anyways —> Van’s walls come crumbling down from the inner conflict.

After all, he is just a kid, alone, without anyone to help him through the seriously deep-rooted trauma he doesn’t even realize he has.

Did I hate many of the things he did? Of course. Was it in-character? Absolutely. For someone who feels completely alone, doesn't want to connect with anyone in fear of losing them, but still longs for the comfort of intimacy, I’m surprised he didn’t’t break down sooner.

Van is incredibly nuanced but one of the realist characters in the show (which is why people hate him so much).

Zo :

Zo wasn’t a typical Thai BL character. And Joke + Zo had a fairly uncommon (at the time) relationship dynamic. Both Joke and Zo, for the most part, were pretty much equals. Theres no power imbalance & both of them had strong, established personalities. They took turns having the upper hand & usually enjoyed the banter that came with it (much like debate club). Their dynamic was understated, communication-based, with proper conversations rather than emotional escalation.

Zo is a relatively closed-off when it comes to expressing his feelings and overthinks many situations. He is ALWAYS in his head. As a fellow ‘over-thinker’ I understood him immediately: his anxiety with whether to trust his head or his heart / needing time to understand his own emotions (and then not trusting them fully) / feeling like he never meets others’ and his own expectations / blaming himself for everyone else's emotions regardless of fault.

And we later learn these insecurities stem from three major events in his life:

(1.) his crush tricking him into thinking he liked him and then laughing at him for it — led to distrust his own feelings & fear sharing them with others

(2.) Zo’s ‘friend’ coming up with the idea for his crush to mess with his feelings — led him to question if what people say is not what the actually think

(3.) his mother’s constant pressure to succeed, never expressing her pride for him & statements like “don’t embarrass me by failing” — established a narrative of ‘never being good enough’ & he’s responsible for how others feel around him.

Lastly, is Dunk’s acting. Many people don’t understand Dunk’s acting style but as someone who is OBSESSED with eye-acting & micro-expressions, I thoroughly appreciate Dunk’s acting, especially as Zo. He feels so natural as Zo that I sometimes forgot he was acting. In my opinion, Dunk did wonderful playing this normal but complex character.

[ this is from my review of the series — Link to Review ]

Qin’s Parents :

Okay, touchy subject here that many may not agree with, but I think these are some of the most realistic parents portrayed in a BL so far.

Let me explain. I feel like in typical BLs, parents are either amazing, perfect, and kind parents OR unsupportive or emotionally/physically abusive. Here, they're loving, but human. We can tell they love Qin, but they also have deep-rooted guilt and a LOT of shame surrounding what happened to Qin as a child, which ultimately led to Qin's emotional neglect.

While I don’t agree with their choices, I get it. Sometimes, out of fear and shame, we hide traumatic memories in an effort to not feel them again or hurt the ones we love. HOWEVER, this only strengthens whatever pain the affected parties feel. Even the scene where Qin finally confronts his parents felt so accurate. They didn't get it at first, and you could see the instinctive push-back they had towards Qin calling them out. Their deflection was out of a place of deep shame. But it wasn't until he broke down in front of them that they finally allowed themselves to see how they affected him. I both hated and absolutely loved that scene. So while I hate that they took this route to protect themselves first, I get it. They're human and flawed.

I was lucky enough to have parents that emphasized communication above everything else. But even though I never doubted their love for me, they also made mistakes that I still see the side effects of in my everyday life. Parents are living for the first time, too. They're going to do things wrong and hopefully, when confronted, they'll see how they need to improve to better the lives of those around them. I really appreciate how the writers took their time for us to see both the love and the neglect the parents displayed and how that affected Qin.

It was heartbreaking and refreshing and raw; utterly human.

The kings of complex characters, to be honest…

Hira

Kiyoi

Ji Woo

Um, literally everyone? This drama is about broken people pretending they’re not. No one is ever solely good or solely bad. Everyone has regrets.

This was an incredible watch chock full of complex characters (and phenomenal acting). If you adore character analysis, this is a must watch.

Oof, yeah… also everyone in this drama. Another drama where nothing is black or white (pun-intended).

Sean

Vegas
Look, there are aspects to the VegasPete storyline that I was not thrilled about, but one thing I can confidently say is that Vegas is extremely complex. Mafia story aside, at its core, they did a wonderful job showing how a deeply traumatized childhood of abuse and self-hatred can cause a warped understanding of “love”, ultimately continuing the cycle of abuse. I think Bible really delivered on portraying Vegas’ inner conflict and extreme turmoil was a masterclass in acting.

Akk

Arthit

Nuengdiao

Trin

Krailert