sorry, I've just noticed that you apparently haven't fallen in love yet, let alone have an original view of life.in…
Whoa, so now you’re commenting about my person, rather than my review? How very low of you. But okay, let me clarify something here with you, because I’m nice like that:
- I have fallen in love before - I would argue my view of life is wuite original, as I have been chasing my dreams for over a decade now, not living the “standart” life - I live in my own apartment that I pay for myself - and I can assure you, as somebody who has gotten very close with LGBTQIA people and people in the BDSM community irl, the definition of a “respectable relationship” looks different to different couples (or thruples and more) - I would actually argue that if you cannot see love in the casual touches like holding hands, head pats, prolonged eye contact and the sex scenes, then there’s nothing the actors could have done that would make that better fo you - actually, Boss and Noeul and all the other actors were coach. It’s been so much time already that I forgot if he had previously worked with Wabi-Sabi or BeOnCloud, but the resukts were good - do I know what intimacy is? At least I assume that’s what you wanted to say. Yes, I do. And I also know that there can be different types on intimacy, the obvious one between partners, but also between friends, siblings and family. It’s the act of being open and volnurable with each other.
Now, this is the last time I will ever answer about my own, private life. If you have any criticism, please focus that on my writing insted.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show throughout, especially the architecture college part, they were actually showed…
Yes, I’ve said it in the review and I’ll say it again: I love the realistic portray of school and what toll it takes on you. Pulling an allnighter is a common practice and being emotionally drained because of a failed task / exam too. So really, kudos to them.
The final episode was definitely rushed. I have a feeling that because of lack of time they put the ending scene (Sky talking with Pain on the balcony) in there because it’s a very important scene, but didn’t quite manage to put some transitional scenes in the episode.
But personally, I don’t think it’s so unrealistic. Everybody responds to trauma differently and we’re shown that Sky closes off and internalises his trauma. I’ve had a very traumatic situation (thankfully not rape or SA) happen to me in the past and the first week afterwards I was in too much of a shock to process it emotionally. I literally didn’t feel anything, it came to me gradually afterwards. I know that it was probably lack of airtime in case of LITA, but it doesn’t seem that unrealistic for Sky’s situation. It’s very possible that he also dealt with his trauma gradually afterwards. He’s already talked with Pai throughout the whole night, so mayby they continued in that fashion.
As for Gun, he actually gets punished. Though he doesn’t end up in jail, it’s said in the episode that “Pakin has taken care of Gun” in exchange for Pai participating in every race from then on. I don’t know the exact meaning of it, because the series had to be tuned down compared to the novel (which has not been translated to English yet), but some people said it’s meant literally (Gun is literally dead) or he’s being pubished severely by Pakin’s men. Eighter way, I think what he got was way worse than jail - with Gun’s dad having a big influence, he could be easily bribed out of jail, but nobody will dare to go against Pakin.
Thank you so much for commenting. I’m glad you liked my review 😊I think that from the very beginning it was…
There is no official translation of the novel yet, but there is a fan translation on Wattpad. Just search for Hemp Rope. It’s rough at some places and it’s sometimes difficult to understand, but it’s the best we have for now.
Speaking about novels, I find it fascinating that the companies and authors don’t take advantage of the popularity of the shows to sell the books. If a show becomes a hit overseas, they should translate the novels and sell them together with the official merch, I promise people would buy them.
I applaud you for this review 👏👏👏 I was about to write my own, but after reading yours I find it completely…
Thank you so much for commenting. I’m glad you liked my review 😊
I think that from the very beginning it was a difficult task to produce this series, mainly because the plot is supposed to play along the plot of UMWA. In other crossovers of the universes the action doesn’t usually happen at the same time (like Triage and Manner of Death - btw I love them soooo much), or you have LITA where both the stories were filmed at the same time. This is the first time I’ve seen an attemt at doing the side-by side action not filmed at the same time in a BL story. It went actually very well considering everything, butthere were obviously some issues along the way. The number and importance of the pairings was one of them.
Obviously Dean and Pharm would appear occasionally, as they already have their own series. In the end they appeared as much as Team nad Win did in UMWA, which was a perfect balance for me. As for Manaow / Pruek they also weren’t going to be the second main pairing, maninly because they are a straight couple, but also their relationship dynamic is actually very well suited for comedic relief. Too much of it would ruin the impact it had. And while I agree that Bee / Prince should have been the second main pairing, if you watch on youtube where it’s never the full episode, it’s always their scenes that are cut out, which makes me kinda sad. But it can also be taken as them being kind of a vip - you want to see them, watch on streaming sites, so it’s fine.
Boun and Prem really did a phenomenal job. If you watch the reaction with P’New, he actually also talks about Boun and Prem aking him to take as many takes as he needs, until he’s satisfied as a director. Which speaks volumes about their work wthic. And it shows in the series. That being said, I know what you are referring to and I think there are two factors that make those moments a bit awkward like that:
1. I think that it’s the result of Team’s personality paired with P’New’s attempt of making the series as realistic as possible rather than it being a BouPrem problem. Eg. in the episode 9 of You Never Eat Alone they had an opportunity to show a different side of them through acting and they did really well.
2. The series is following the plot of the novel, but the novel itself is a lot (like really a lot) more sexual. I’m talking about every chapter having an almost sexual thing happen (like an erotic massage, wet dreams), mentioning having sex (“I thought I already drained you last night” said Win) or having fully on sex scenes. Not only is it inscinuated that they have sex almost all the time, Win and Team also interact differently. They tease each other a lot more sexually for example. So when you not only remove most of the sexual things, but also change the personality of the character by making them (epsecially Team) more innocent, the actors really have no ground to stand on and have to figure out themselves how to act. Add to it having to work with a lot less plot because of the removal od the sexual scenes and you get theose somewhat awkward scenes, where they have to figure out the feelings of their “innocentified” characters by themselves.
Btw, in the novel from the very beginning Team is not an innocent baby. In the first chapter when Win asks him about his “condidtion”, Teams says that he couldn’t get off in the room full of other guys. It had nothing to do with him not having watched porn before, but with him feeling uncomfortable jerking off in the room with other people. It’s a small difference, but it illustrates the differences between the novel and the series perfectly.
I had no idea about the actors being uderage, I also wish they were of age. If this wasn’t a series with NSFW scenes I would have been delighted - actual teens playing teens is something we definitely need more of, just not in this type of series. I am also interested in the legal side of things - there were some Thai actors who wouldn’t even kiss on screen while underage, but they did just that (and a lot more too) in their next work once they were 18. So I wonder if it was just from an ethical side of things or if there is some kind of law behind it.
I’d also like to point out some issues I noticed after watching ep 2. The story of Burger, King and Ink is a bit too similiar to the plot of the series ‘My Love Mix-Up’’. Can that be considered an inspiration, or has it crossed the line?
Another thing that really bugged me (like a lot) was the shaking of the camera when Ink appeared and the instinuation that she’s fat (thus stomping). Not only do I find it really out of place in a show that is trying to be progressive and sex positive - why does there need to be an emphasis on somebody’s weight to begin with - but the actress who plays Ink isn’t even chubby. She’s also portrayed as this comically strong girl and it all ties into a stereotype of a character that somehow rubs me the wrong way.
But other than that I think the show is interesting, so I’ll keep watching.
"most realistic portray of sex"How would you know? You're a woman!
It has nothing to do with gender. There are some universal things that make sex better / more realiscic and it doesn’t matter if it’s gay, hetero or lesbian sex. There are 2 things that both couples in LITA do that really give their acting more realistic look:
1. Foreplay. If you’ve watched enough other BL’s, you would notice that during the love scenes the pair usually kisses a few times and then goes straight to penetration. That in itself is very unrealistic, especially since most of those scenes try to portray ‘romantic’ moments rather than ‘wild’ ones. In LITA foreplay is always present, even during the one night stand. The way they savour each other, appreciating their partner’s bodies and take their time exploring each other is extremaly realistic.
2. Being into each other. During their love scenes, both participants look at each other and give their partner their full devoted attention - excluding Sky’s little game with Pai in the special ep of course, but that was very intentional. During the NC scenes it’s only them existing in the world, nothing else matters to them at that moment, they are in their little bubble. It’s precisely this fact that makes us feel like we’re intruding someone’s private moment.
And of course the actors not being afraid to get real - actually licking and sucking each other (just look at Sky’s chest during the special ep) and not being afraid to moan.
That’s what I meant by “most realistic portay of sex”.
Good review! Very thorough!… I have to say I think it’s a good thing to have the grey area around consent/non…
Thank you so much for commenting. Actually, something that I would love to touch upon - and I may edit my review and add it in - is that apparently Payu and Rain have a Dom / Sub dynamic going on. I’ve read a twitter thread made by people from the scene, saying that it’s very easy to catch it if you are in the know. There are many hints throughout the whole show (less than in the book, but still there) and their relationship makes a lot more sense.
The gist is that it’s a Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic (which is an actual kink). But before explaining the relationship of Payu and Rain, let me explain some basics first:
Dom / Sub dynamic
- Dom/Sub relationship is based on trust and consent. Unlike portrayed in a lot of media - where they often mix some S/M elements and treat consent as nonexisting - actual Dom / Sub relationships have to be well communicated. They also often extend outside of the bedroom, as it’s a form of lifestyle for many.
- The role of a Dominant is to guide and teach the Submissive by setting up rules and rewarding / punishing them accordingly. The rules / expectations are not meant to be unatainble or cruel, they are set up in best interest of the Sub. In many cases the Dom follows the fundamental rules too and is an example to their partner. That’s why the clear communication is so important - so the Dom knows how to guide / help the Sub the best, but they both can also communicate and negotiate if they feel the need to. The Sub also needs to trust that everything the Dom expects them to do is really in their best interest, so earning that trust is tremendously important. That’s why Payu apologises to Rain for being late and out of reach during the bathtub scene - he’s owning up to his mistakes as he doesn’t want to lose Rain’s trust, even a tiny bit.
- Another crucial aspect is the follow up - once the rules are set, it is essential to reward good behaviour and punish the bad one. With rewards it genuinely varies from couple to couple, but for Payu / Rain it incudes a lot of praising, affection and indulging Rain in his cosplay kink. For the punishments, they are not meant to actually hurt the Sub (talking about “vanilla” couples obviously) but rather to remind them not to misbehave again. In many cases the only time the punishments hurt are for heavier mistakes, and it’s usually in the form of spanking (as also seen in LITA). The light punishments obviously vary, but can definitely be pleaseurable, as is demonstrated again by Payu and Rain - the punishments go from spanking, the fever reducer and the whole bathroom stall scene to rougher sex (as is mentioned in the scpecial ep), which Rain enjoys very much.
- Many people from the scene have commented that Payu’s and Rain’s relationship portrays a textbook Dom / Sub dynamic. It’s very healthy and realistic. The only unreal thing is that they haven’t talked about their relationship and its limits beforehand, but other than that it’s perfect. Which means that intentionally or not, LITA have seccesfully portrayed a healthy Dom / Sub dynamic - something, that many other shows have tried but failed.
Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic
- Brat (as a dynamic) is a submissive who loves to playfully push buttons and ‘break’ rules. They behave this way to deliberately provoke attention from their Dominant. They love ‘poking the bear’ so to speak.
- Tamer (as a dynamic) is the role the Dom takes on with their brat. Their job is to bring the brat to submission. An important aspect of the Brat-Tamer job is earning the Brat’s respect. Being a Brat-Tamer isn’t about controlling your partner or being resentful of their bratty tendencies, but recognizing the playfulness of the dynamic and finding mutual pleasure in an erotic tug of war.
About Payu and Rain
Rain is attracted to Payu from the get go (in the series and in the book) but he’s confused about his feelings and sexuality and has no idea what kind of vibe he gives off to others. Payu, who’s an experienced Dom with a Brat Tamer kink, immediatelly picks up on Rain’s Brat vibes and mistakenly thinks that Rain is acting that way purpose. But when he realizes that Rain is unaware of it he backs off to a degree, but is still interested in Rain. That’s why he keeps pushing his buttons, to see if Rain would be interested having a Dom / Sub relationship. Though Payu’s very careful about it - he always observes Rain’s reaction to see if he’s pushing too hard. He’s a very good Dom, giving guidance and praise, explaining the rules and his expectation first (“talk to me politely, speak with respect”), approprietly punishing Rain when he misbehaves and of course giving out a lot of praise and affection. They later on comfortably settle into their dynamics and become “domestic” so to speak.
But let’s start from the beginning - during the bedroom scene when Payu tried to force Rain. He really thought that Rain was being a Brat on purpose earlier and that’s why he took Rain’s “no” as another part of the Brat play. He backed off though when he realized that Rain really had no idea how he was acting. During that scene Rain is very confused, he’s just recetly discovered that he may not be straight and he doesn’t understand why his body is reacting that way (enjoying it) in that situation. Basically, he’s totally a Brat but unaware of it at that point in time. Payu sees that struggle and decides to try to push Rain a little to see, if he would like to be be in a relationship with this kind of dynamic. He basically becomes Rain’s guide to the Dom / Sub lifestyle.
He starts with explaining his expactation during the phone call - “don’t curse, speak respectfully to me”. When Rain disobeys, Payu decides to tap a little into the dynamic by punishing Rain in the bathroom stall. It’s very light, he doesn’t even touch him, he’s just trying to gauge his reaction and get him to submit. Which Rain does - he enjoys it, gets super turned on and submits to Payu by speaking politely to him in the end.
The reason why Rain gets angry afterwards is partially because he submitted to Payu (and felt humiliated a bit), but not only. It’s because when asking Payu about what he did after leaving the stall, he responds with “I may not look it, but I have higher standards” (which was unfortunately translated as “I’m very particular” in the subtitles, thus not making a lot of sense to us). That statement angers Rain and hurts him a bit, so that’s why later on he decides get back on Payu by going to the race and later challenging him - by kissing him of all the things - after being repeatedly called stupid. Which is such a Brat behaviour when you think about it. The spanking is also the harshest punishment he receives (that we see), because going to the race was really crossing the line.
With the challenge / declaration the game is on and it plays out almost like a test trial (which would explain why Payu was saying something about “showing that side of himeslf to Rain” after walking out of the door). Rain is trying to prove himself to Payu by abiding by the rules (like finally being polite during the phone call) while getting comfortable with his bratty side (basically the whole ep 3 and 4).
Payu is slowly guiding Rain and gauging how he respond / adapts to their dynamic. Especially when Rain fails his school assingment, Payu punishes Rain by forbiding him to come to the garrage and waits to see how Rain will react to it. I think that’s the breaking point, because if Rain became discouraged or angry, Payu wouldn’t pursue him any further (because that wouldn’t work in Dom / Sub dynamic). But Rain is daring and he takes it, adapts, finds a loophole and is then awarded by Payu for all of that.
Later, after Rain gets sick, Payu first confronts him about him disappearing. Then he comforts him after realising, that Rain didn’t do it on purpose. Still, he lightly punishes him (the fever reducer), because rules are rules and they are there for a reason (in this case, it’s the lack of communication from Rain and getting himself sick). Then he rewards Rain for his teasing / cunning behaviour and takes care of him during his sickness. That’s a textbook example of Dom / Sub realtionship.
Basically, once you understand the dynamic, you can pick it up from almost all of Payu / Rain interactions. Their whole relationship becomes much more deeper and meaningful. There are rules, the guidance, the teasing, the rewards and punishments, many of them not being even that subtle.
Payu learns what Rain likes (eg. the cosplays) and uses it as a reward for good behaviour or as an apology together with a lot of praise. He also punishes Rain’s misbehaviour using different methods depending on the severity of the situation, with the typical ones being also a form of pleasure to Rain. From spanking and fever reducer to butterfly kisses and rougher / longer sex (which he mentioned it in the special ep, saying he had punished Rain until he couldn’t walk, which Rain very much didn’t mind).
The best example of their Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic is in the special ep.: Rain purposefully provokes Payu by calling him “daddy”. He’s being bratty by not doing what he was told to do (“read a book”) and knows he’s going to get punished for it - which he’s looking forward to. Payu then does exactly that in his Tamer mode. He even asks Rain in the middle “What did you call me again?” to see, if the lesson has been learned. With his comment about “teaching to the core” (which is the basic principle of being a Dom) being the cherry on top.
There are also many other subtle moments that portray their dynamic: - Payu’s orders that Rain obeys without question - like the “Stay still” in the bathtub or the “Answer me” in Rain’s bedeoom - Payu calling Rain “naghty boy” - Payu calling Rain a cute boy and praising him a lot - Them teasing / provoking each other - The text message conversation they have befor Rain’s exam - Payu says he will reward Rain if he passes, and punish him if he doesn’t. Rain is smiling throughout all of it
So yeah, there’s another layer to their relationship. It not only makes the whole series better and more interesting, but also adds a lot more depth to the characters. If you’d like to, feel free to rewatch the show and see, if you’ll notice the more subtle moments between Payu and Rain.
1
1
- I have fallen in love before
- I would argue my view of life is wuite original, as I have been chasing my dreams for over a decade now, not living the “standart” life
- I live in my own apartment that I pay for myself
- and I can assure you, as somebody who has gotten very close with LGBTQIA people and people in the BDSM community irl, the definition of a “respectable relationship” looks different to different couples (or thruples and more)
- I would actually argue that if you cannot see love in the casual touches like holding hands, head pats, prolonged eye contact and the sex scenes, then there’s nothing the actors could have done that would make that better fo you
- actually, Boss and Noeul and all the other actors were coach. It’s been so much time already that I forgot if he had previously worked with Wabi-Sabi or BeOnCloud, but the resukts were good
- do I know what intimacy is? At least I assume that’s what you wanted to say. Yes, I do. And I also know that there can be different types on intimacy, the obvious one between partners, but also between friends, siblings and family. It’s the act of being open and volnurable with each other.
Now, this is the last time I will ever answer about my own, private life. If you have any criticism, please focus that on my writing insted.
The final episode was definitely rushed. I have a feeling that because of lack of time they put the ending scene (Sky talking with Pain on the balcony) in there because it’s a very important scene, but didn’t quite manage to put some transitional scenes in the episode.
But personally, I don’t think it’s so unrealistic. Everybody responds to trauma differently and we’re shown that Sky closes off and internalises his trauma. I’ve had a very traumatic situation (thankfully not rape or SA) happen to me in the past and the first week afterwards I was in too much of a shock to process it emotionally. I literally didn’t feel anything, it came to me gradually afterwards. I know that it was probably lack of airtime in case of LITA, but it doesn’t seem that unrealistic for Sky’s situation. It’s very possible that he also dealt with his trauma gradually afterwards. He’s already talked with Pai throughout the whole night, so mayby they continued in that fashion.
As for Gun, he actually gets punished. Though he doesn’t end up in jail, it’s said in the episode that “Pakin has taken care of Gun” in exchange for Pai participating in every race from then on. I don’t know the exact meaning of it, because the series had to be tuned down compared to the novel (which has not been translated to English yet), but some people said it’s meant literally (Gun is literally dead) or he’s being pubished severely by Pakin’s men. Eighter way, I think what he got was way worse than jail - with Gun’s dad having a big influence, he could be easily bribed out of jail, but nobody will dare to go against Pakin.
Speaking about novels, I find it fascinating that the companies and authors don’t take advantage of the popularity of the shows to sell the books. If a show becomes a hit overseas, they should translate the novels and sell them together with the official merch, I promise people would buy them.
I think that from the very beginning it was a difficult task to produce this series, mainly because the plot is supposed to play along the plot of UMWA. In other crossovers of the universes the action doesn’t usually happen at the same time (like Triage and Manner of Death - btw I love them soooo much), or you have LITA where both the stories were filmed at the same time. This is the first time I’ve seen an attemt at doing the side-by side action not filmed at the same time in a BL story. It went actually very well considering everything, butthere were obviously some issues along the way. The number and importance of the pairings was one of them.
Obviously Dean and Pharm would appear occasionally, as they already have their own series. In the end they appeared as much as Team nad Win did in UMWA, which was a perfect balance for me. As for Manaow / Pruek they also weren’t going to be the second main pairing, maninly because they are a straight couple, but also their relationship dynamic is actually very well suited for comedic relief. Too much of it would ruin the impact it had. And while I agree that Bee / Prince should have been the second main pairing, if you watch on youtube where it’s never the full episode, it’s always their scenes that are cut out, which makes me kinda sad. But it can also be taken as them being kind of a vip - you want to see them, watch on streaming sites, so it’s fine.
Boun and Prem really did a phenomenal job. If you watch the reaction with P’New, he actually also talks about Boun and Prem aking him to take as many takes as he needs, until he’s satisfied as a director. Which speaks volumes about their work wthic. And it shows in the series. That being said, I know what you are referring to and I think there are two factors that make those moments a bit awkward like that:
1. I think that it’s the result of Team’s personality paired with P’New’s attempt of making the series as realistic as possible rather than it being a BouPrem problem. Eg. in the episode 9 of You Never Eat Alone they had an opportunity to show a different side of them through acting and they did really well.
2. The series is following the plot of the novel, but the novel itself is a lot (like really a lot) more sexual. I’m talking about every chapter having an almost sexual thing happen (like an erotic massage, wet dreams), mentioning having sex (“I thought I already drained you last night” said Win) or having fully on sex scenes. Not only is it inscinuated that they have sex almost all the time, Win and Team also interact differently. They tease each other a lot more sexually for example. So when you not only remove most of the sexual things, but also change the personality of the character by making them (epsecially Team) more innocent, the actors really have no ground to stand on and have to figure out themselves how to act. Add to it having to work with a lot less plot because of the removal od the sexual scenes and you get theose somewhat awkward scenes, where they have to figure out the feelings of their “innocentified” characters by themselves.
Btw, in the novel from the very beginning Team is not an innocent baby. In the first chapter when Win asks him about his “condidtion”, Teams says that he couldn’t get off in the room full of other guys. It had nothing to do with him not having watched porn before, but with him feeling uncomfortable jerking off in the room with other people. It’s a small difference, but it illustrates the differences between the novel and the series perfectly.
I had no idea about the actors being uderage, I also wish they were of age. If this wasn’t a series with NSFW scenes I would have been delighted - actual teens playing teens is something we definitely need more of, just not in this type of series. I am also interested in the legal side of things - there were some Thai actors who wouldn’t even kiss on screen while underage, but they did just that (and a lot more too) in their next work once they were 18. So I wonder if it was just from an ethical side of things or if there is some kind of law behind it.
I’d also like to point out some issues I noticed after watching ep 2. The story of Burger, King and Ink is a bit too similiar to the plot of the series ‘My Love Mix-Up’’. Can that be considered an inspiration, or has it crossed the line?
Another thing that really bugged me (like a lot) was the shaking of the camera when Ink appeared and the instinuation that she’s fat (thus stomping). Not only do I find it really out of place in a show that is trying to be progressive and sex positive - why does there need to be an emphasis on somebody’s weight to begin with - but the actress who plays Ink isn’t even chubby. She’s also portrayed as this comically strong girl and it all ties into a stereotype of a character that somehow rubs me the wrong way.
But other than that I think the show is interesting, so I’ll keep watching.
1. Foreplay. If you’ve watched enough other BL’s, you would notice that during the love scenes the pair usually kisses a few times and then goes straight to penetration. That in itself is very unrealistic, especially since most of those scenes try to portray ‘romantic’ moments rather than ‘wild’ ones. In LITA foreplay is always present, even during the one night stand. The way they savour each other, appreciating their partner’s bodies and take their time exploring each other is extremaly realistic.
2. Being into each other. During their love scenes, both participants look at each other and give their partner their full devoted attention - excluding Sky’s little game with Pai in the special ep of course, but that was very intentional. During the NC scenes it’s only them existing in the world, nothing else matters to them at that moment, they are in their little bubble. It’s precisely this fact that makes us feel like we’re intruding someone’s private moment.
And of course the actors not being afraid to get real - actually licking and sucking each other (just look at Sky’s chest during the special ep) and not being afraid to moan.
That’s what I meant by “most realistic portay of sex”.
The gist is that it’s a Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic (which is an actual kink). But before explaining the relationship of Payu and Rain, let me explain some basics first:
Dom / Sub dynamic
- Dom/Sub relationship is based on trust and consent. Unlike portrayed in a lot of media - where they often mix some S/M elements and treat consent as nonexisting - actual Dom / Sub relationships have to be well communicated. They also often extend outside of the bedroom, as it’s a form of lifestyle for many.
- The role of a Dominant is to guide and teach the Submissive by setting up rules and rewarding / punishing them accordingly. The rules / expectations are not meant to be unatainble or cruel, they are set up in best interest of the Sub. In many cases the Dom follows the fundamental rules too and is an example to their partner. That’s why the clear communication is so important - so the Dom knows how to guide / help the Sub the best, but they both can also communicate and negotiate if they feel the need to. The Sub also needs to trust that everything the Dom expects them to do is really in their best interest, so earning that trust is tremendously important. That’s why Payu apologises to Rain for being late and out of reach during the bathtub scene - he’s owning up to his mistakes as he doesn’t want to lose Rain’s trust, even a tiny bit.
- Another crucial aspect is the follow up - once the rules are set, it is essential to reward good behaviour and punish the bad one. With rewards it genuinely varies from couple to couple, but for Payu / Rain it incudes a lot of praising, affection and indulging Rain in his cosplay kink. For the punishments, they are not meant to actually hurt the Sub (talking about “vanilla” couples obviously) but rather to remind them not to misbehave again. In many cases the only time the punishments hurt are for heavier mistakes, and it’s usually in the form of spanking (as also seen in LITA). The light punishments obviously vary, but can definitely be pleaseurable, as is demonstrated again by Payu and Rain - the punishments go from spanking, the fever reducer and the whole bathroom stall scene to rougher sex (as is mentioned in the scpecial ep), which Rain enjoys very much.
- Many people from the scene have commented that Payu’s and Rain’s relationship portrays a textbook Dom / Sub dynamic. It’s very healthy and realistic. The only unreal thing is that they haven’t talked about their relationship and its limits beforehand, but other than that it’s perfect. Which means that intentionally or not, LITA have seccesfully portrayed a healthy Dom / Sub dynamic - something, that many other shows have tried but failed.
Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic
- Brat (as a dynamic) is a submissive who loves to playfully push buttons and ‘break’ rules. They behave this way to deliberately provoke attention from their Dominant. They love ‘poking the bear’ so to speak.
- Tamer (as a dynamic) is the role the Dom takes on with their brat. Their job is to bring the brat to submission. An important aspect of the Brat-Tamer job is earning the Brat’s respect. Being a Brat-Tamer isn’t about controlling your partner or being resentful of their bratty tendencies, but recognizing the playfulness of the dynamic and finding mutual pleasure in an erotic tug of war.
About Payu and Rain
Rain is attracted to Payu from the get go (in the series and in the book) but he’s confused about his feelings and sexuality and has no idea what kind of vibe he gives off to others. Payu, who’s an experienced Dom with a Brat Tamer kink, immediatelly picks up on Rain’s Brat vibes and mistakenly thinks that Rain is acting that way purpose. But when he realizes that Rain is unaware of it he backs off to a degree, but is still interested in Rain. That’s why he keeps pushing his buttons, to see if Rain would be interested having a Dom / Sub relationship. Though Payu’s very careful about it - he always observes Rain’s reaction to see if he’s pushing too hard. He’s a very good Dom, giving guidance and praise, explaining the rules and his expectation first (“talk to me politely, speak with respect”), approprietly punishing Rain when he misbehaves and of course giving out a lot of praise and affection. They later on comfortably settle into their dynamics and become “domestic” so to speak.
But let’s start from the beginning - during the bedroom scene when Payu tried to force Rain. He really thought that Rain was being a Brat on purpose earlier and that’s why he took Rain’s “no” as another part of the Brat play. He backed off though when he realized that Rain really had no idea how he was acting. During that scene Rain is very confused, he’s just recetly discovered that he may not be straight and he doesn’t understand why his body is reacting that way (enjoying it) in that situation. Basically, he’s totally a Brat but unaware of it at that point in time. Payu sees that struggle and decides to try to push Rain a little to see, if he would like to be be in a relationship with this kind of dynamic. He basically becomes Rain’s guide to the Dom / Sub lifestyle.
He starts with explaining his expactation during the phone call - “don’t curse, speak respectfully to me”. When Rain disobeys, Payu decides to tap a little into the dynamic by punishing Rain in the bathroom stall. It’s very light, he doesn’t even touch him, he’s just trying to gauge his reaction and get him to submit. Which Rain does - he enjoys it, gets super turned on and submits to Payu by speaking politely to him in the end.
The reason why Rain gets angry afterwards is partially because he submitted to Payu (and felt humiliated a bit), but not only. It’s because when asking Payu about what he did after leaving the stall, he responds with “I may not look it, but I have higher standards” (which was unfortunately translated as “I’m very particular” in the subtitles, thus not making a lot of sense to us). That statement angers Rain and hurts him a bit, so that’s why later on he decides get back on Payu by going to the race and later challenging him - by kissing him of all the things - after being repeatedly called stupid. Which is such a Brat behaviour when you think about it. The spanking is also the harshest punishment he receives (that we see), because going to the race was really crossing the line.
With the challenge / declaration the game is on and it plays out almost like a test trial (which would explain why Payu was saying something about “showing that side of himeslf to Rain” after walking out of the door). Rain is trying to prove himself to Payu by abiding by the rules (like finally being polite during the phone call) while getting comfortable with his bratty side (basically the whole ep 3 and 4).
Payu is slowly guiding Rain and gauging how he respond / adapts to their dynamic. Especially when Rain fails his school assingment, Payu punishes Rain by forbiding him to come to the garrage and waits to see how Rain will react to it. I think that’s the breaking point, because if Rain became discouraged or angry, Payu wouldn’t pursue him any further (because that wouldn’t work in Dom / Sub dynamic). But Rain is daring and he takes it, adapts, finds a loophole and is then awarded by Payu for all of that.
Later, after Rain gets sick, Payu first confronts him about him disappearing. Then he comforts him after realising, that Rain didn’t do it on purpose. Still, he lightly punishes him (the fever reducer), because rules are rules and they are there for a reason (in this case, it’s the lack of communication from Rain and getting himself sick). Then he rewards Rain for his teasing / cunning behaviour and takes care of him during his sickness. That’s a textbook example of Dom / Sub realtionship.
Basically, once you understand the dynamic, you can pick it up from almost all of Payu / Rain interactions. Their whole relationship becomes much more deeper and meaningful. There are rules, the guidance, the teasing, the rewards and punishments, many of them not being even that subtle.
Payu learns what Rain likes (eg. the cosplays) and uses it as a reward for good behaviour or as an apology together with a lot of praise. He also punishes Rain’s misbehaviour using different methods depending on the severity of the situation, with the typical ones being also a form of pleasure to Rain. From spanking and fever reducer to butterfly kisses and rougher / longer sex (which he mentioned it in the special ep, saying he had punished Rain until he couldn’t walk, which Rain very much didn’t mind).
The best example of their Brat / Brat Tamer dynamic is in the special ep.: Rain purposefully provokes Payu by calling him “daddy”. He’s being bratty by not doing what he was told to do (“read a book”) and knows he’s going to get punished for it - which he’s looking forward to. Payu then does exactly that in his Tamer mode. He even asks Rain in the middle “What did you call me again?” to see, if the lesson has been learned. With his comment about “teaching to the core” (which is the basic principle of being a Dom) being the cherry on top.
There are also many other subtle moments that portray their dynamic:
- Payu’s orders that Rain obeys without question - like the “Stay still” in the bathtub or the “Answer me” in Rain’s bedeoom
- Payu calling Rain “naghty boy”
- Payu calling Rain a cute boy and praising him a lot
- Them teasing / provoking each other
- The text message conversation they have befor Rain’s exam - Payu says he will reward Rain if he passes, and punish him if he doesn’t. Rain is smiling throughout all of it
So yeah, there’s another layer to their relationship. It not only makes the whole series better and more interesting, but also adds a lot more depth to the characters. If you’d like to, feel free to rewatch the show and see, if you’ll notice the more subtle moments between Payu and Rain.