Tali Moon

I appreciate the different perspective too!And don't get me wrong either, I'm absolutely looking forward to everything BOC is going to put out in the future—because I believe they can break out of the box and reinvent the rules. If they want to keep that trust, I hope not to see the "Dhevi twist" again. Because that was a typical Lakorn / daily soap shock-value-only solution, where the feeling of being surprised is prioritized over the structural setup. And the way I understand BOC's vision, they strive to deliver storytelling with far more substance.

In writing there is something called "show don't tell". Dhevi character twist wasn't unrealistic but for it to have that "revealing plot twist" effect, it has to be hinted throughout the series. Like bread crumbs that you crumble subtly across the story, so that when the big reveal comes the readers/viewers are mind blown because they realized the hints were there, they just didn't connect the dots. In this case I don't think it was hinted enough. We just see that she seems ruminating and to have feelings for Veera. And she feels lonely. But the way they show her at the end, her "true character" wasn't written in a way were I personally find it credible. I do agree with you, that Naran and Krailert not having a happy ending is very realistic and I'm utterly in awe on how well their story arc was written. Regarding Trin and Victor; I don't mean that they should have been a couple instead, all I wanted to see was a man waver. Because he newly discovered his gay sexual identity and I find it too "clean" that he is firm for his feelings for Tawan. Just a little hesitating, a little trembling when facing Victor would've been more human for me. Especially given the high stress situation.
But I feel like BOC unfortunately can't even show that, because of the strict BL shipping culture. Anyway, agree to disagree, thank you for engaging in this conversation with me :)

This show is full of tough military men, but the strongest soldier was definitely Trin—for not wavering even just a little as a young man going through his gay awakening in goddamn 1969. While his student Victor, with whom he shares intellectual equality, social ideals, and deeply rooted empathy, goes in for a kiss on three separate occasions, Trin stays firm. He is written as entirely unaffected by romantic crisis. At that point in the story, Trin is not only fighting a heavy, dangerous political war, but his stability with Tanwa is fractured. When a human being is that exhausted and lonely, boundaries naturally blur. When Victor—who mirrors his intellect, values his soul, and is literally willing to die for their cause—offers comfort, leaning into that comfort is only natural. Maybe the books Trin read about homosexuality helped him know immediately who he wants? Maybe he just didn't feel attracted to Victor? No, I think Trin was written with unrealistic emotional certainty. Is this really what the confusion of a 1969 queer awakening looks like? Doesn't it look more like clean romance fantasy?
By ensuring Trin is completely immune to Victor’s approaches, the script squanders the raw, electric screen presence of newcomer Peter Deriy, who steals every scene he's in. Trin could have been caught between a deep, revolutionary connection with Victor and a passionate, bohemian escape with Tanwa—and still ultimately choose Tanwa. At least this way, his relationship with Tanwa would feel earned rather than pre-programmed from the start.

True historical queer dramas are critically acclaimed because they lean into the messy, fragile choices people make under immense political and societal pressure. Even though "Be On Cloud" tries very hard to be more than "just BL," whenever they have to choose between artistic integrity and protecting their money makers, the commercial ship will win every single time. "Shine" simply can't outshine the corporate tropes masking as "prestige art". And it also can't hide its plot holes, which leads me to the real main couple of Shine: Naran and Krailert. Their forbidden romance wasn't only about filthy sex in a backroom; they were poetically intertwined, sending each other secret messages through a newspaper column and books in the library. Now that's the kind of romance that makes all the girls and gays swoon. Almost every scene carried a narrative purpose and practically drove the plot of the series. But they don't get their happy ending because, all of a sudden, Krailert's wife Dhevi is a supervillain who threatens him to stay with her because otherwise it will affect Naran's safety. Sure, it makes sense that in 1969 she doesn't want a divorce, but her being this scheming, all-knowing mastermind is a bit... sudden? I would dare to say that her character is passive throughout most episodes, but in Episode 8 she is the scheming mastermind. That is just bad pacing, not a clever twist.

She instinctively knows that Moira must have cameras in her hotel, which makes me wonder: why wouldn't Moira help Krailert on her own initiative? Why does it require Dhevi to activate her help? It shows the writers didn't know how to resolve the political plot naturally, so they used a cheap plot device to force everyone into their pre-determined endings. Shine loses its momentum leading to a solution that feels more like a theatre play: "Ta-da! And that's how we won against corruption," instead of a clever political conspiracy. In the end, only Trin and Tanwa get their happy ending. By prioritizing commercial fan service over the dangerous friction of a 1969 narrative, "Be On Cloud" proved that their political plot was just a new playground for the same old BL tropes. But real art requires breaking the rules.
C'est la vie.

While I agree with you that the producers severely over used the cooking trope in the last episode, in their defense I also have to say, that they showed Gaew using his medical knowledge by educating the servants about the danger of certain Moskito bites. He also treats their minor complains like skin rashes etc. - which ultimately leads to aunt Jampa to feel personally attacked/ disrespect by him and thus staging a pregnancy scandal, remember? So him now trying to win their trust and hearts with food instead is not that much of a far stretch in my opinion. More over he probably craves the food from the 21st century too.

You know, my twitter timeline is always full of praise for every episode and seeing it rated so high on MDL actually drove me to create an account to write a comment after years of lurking. So, something good came from it, I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️ I hope the series gets better with the next episodes so you can enjoy it more. I'm out.

I agree with you too :) And if you can still enjoy the series I'm honestly happy for you! Maybe I'm just not in the target group of "Knot"

And I'm also glad that you as a ABO fan can't ignore the
low production value, which proves to me that M Flow needs to step up their game.

So are fans of the Omegaverse happy with "Knot"? I might be missing the point and maybe I'm taking this too seriously but I think the characters have no real purpose. In every episode they either go to location A or location B to have lunch or coffee and pointless conversation. And then they insert location C every once in a while, like a bar (where the most interesting characters get 30 seconds of screentime) or the office of the grumpy father who seems to be the only one to have a proper desk in this house while everyone else is doomed to work in an anatomical nightmare -
the living room. With tiny tablets because the cars were so expensive they couldn't afford better technology. Also, lot's of dry humping. Sweet.

I was exited to see BoatOat again. "My Stubborn" was my guilty pleasure last year. "My Stubborn" had no real plot either but it showed the universal experience of being in a situation-ship with a fckboy who acts like your boyfriend but says he isn't. Men and women around the world can relate to that. But "Knot" should have a proper plot, right? I had high expectations in this co-production of M Flow and One31. So, what happened to the budget? The scene in episode 5 where Ongsa and Nakhin sit in the car looks cheaper than in the 80's. Everytime Phatsa holds a folder with company data and randomly finds huge meaningful information, I feel like I'm watching a theatre play. Who wrote this? Where is the plot? What is this all about? Do we not care? Because sometimes they do the pheromone thing and drop alpha and omega and NC NC NC?
The actors are the least to blame here. Oat really looks sad when he cries but maybe he actually felt sad because I do too - when I watch "Knot".

Dropping this at episode 5, let me know how it went for you all.