Melchior

Spoiler warning!!!

It was not an arranged marriage, also this fan theory turned out to be wrong in the end. In no timeline and with no man was it ever an arranged marriage. Tonight's episodes proved that once again.

The marriage takes place in every timeline Pear lives in, with the man at her side being interchangeable and not fixed.

The reason why there is a wedding in every timeline is that the initiative always and only comes from Pear, who always insists on a wedding.

The reason for this is, again, Pear's trauma. Pear was hurt so much by her mother's actions that she developed an inner desire to do everything differently and right from her point of view and not be like her mother. This eventually led to her longing for the perfect marriage with child and forcing herself into the role of the perfect wife and mother. One of the things she does for this is her visits to the personality workshop.

I suspect that Pisaeng, because of his nature and the situation given in the original timeline, decided to grant Pear her most fervent wish, although he actually felt differently.

But because of the changes Kawi made to the original timeline, Pisaeng couldn't mask his true feelings in the timeline at the end of episode 2 and actually chose his heart too late and left Pear out in the cold. I would have been interested to see what else would have happened in that timeline if Kawi had stayed longer.

The character traits, the intentions of the characters, and the backgrounds of why who acts how in which timeline are gradually revealed in the plot.

Without spoiling too much, what we see in the first episodes and what we think we know about all the characters is probably just a distorted and incomplete perception of a character. There will be some unexpected plot twists.

But this much I can say: Pisaeng will also be in the later episodes, very surprised about his actions in the timelines, which we see in the first three episodes. There is one aspect of the theme wedding that has not yet been revealed, but will be revealed later.

And we must not forget that a negative characteristic of Pisaeng is his conflict-shy nature, which caused problems especially in the original timeline, but never with malicious intent.

All the mistakes and bad decisions these characters make throughout the stories and in the different timelines make them very human.

Without spoiling too much:

Episode 6: Realizations, conflicts, a sugar-sweet moment to melt away and then there was Not too

Episode 7/ Beginning of episode 8: Timeline of Madness and Sadness

Rest of episode 8: Character development, character development, character development! And unusual and enjoyable honesty and openness from a BL main character.

Episode 9: towards a happy ending???

It's logical and realistic that Kawi doesn't open up to Pisaeng right away and their relationship only develops over the course of the series. Also because at the beginning of the series Kawi has a completely different opinion of Pisaeng.

Miscommunication on both sides combined with Pisaeng's negative trait of being conflict averse and not taking action until he either gets a mighty kick in the butt or it's actually already too late and he's standing at the altar led to many problems, especially in the original timeline.

This negative quality of Pisaeng is very well reflected in the original timeline and has led to, among other things: That Pisaeng never approached Kawi and shared his feelings for him, that he never sought the conversation with Kawi to clear up the misunderstanding at the Buddy Story, that he never (officially) came out, that he never had the clarifying conversation with Pear and on top of that marries her (because he probably also wanted to avoid a conflict with Pear here, which doesn't sound so unlikely after episode 7).

In another timeline, Pisaeng accuses Kawi of why Kawi didn't realize he had feelings for him for over 10 years. Whereby I wondered how Kawi should know that, because Pisaeng wasn't completely honest with Kawi in this timeline either and sent him completely different signals here, too, by being about to marry Pear. I can understand Kawi, who was completely perplexed and surprised at first.

Kawi didn't know about Pisaeng's feelings for him in the original timeline, the feelings which started much earlier than we assume in the first episodes, and Kawi only learned about it in timeline three/four through the, from his point of view, encroaching kiss from Pisaeng at the end of episode 2. And then, of course, Kawi was completely perplexed because it was completely unexpected for him.

That Kawi first has to process everything and doesn't immediately fall into Pisaeng's arms is a normal human behavior. And also that Kawi first has to find himself.

I don't think we'll see another kiss in the next episodes where at least one of them is drunk. We have already seen this scene from a different camera angle in the trailer for the series. In this scene, Kawi puts his hand over his mouth to prevent the drunken Pisaeng from kissing him. Kawi almost certainly does this, as he pointed out several times in this episode, so that the events from the present timeline of episode 7 don't happen again. Therefore, he also rejects Pisaeng's alcohol in last episode.

It's a pity that words like homophobia, Nazi and racism are now used in such an inflationary way that their actually important meaning is lost.

I wonder if people on social media even know what a homophobe is?

A hardcore homophobe wouldn't star in a BL series for any fame or money in the world, let alone have intimate scenes with boys. Because that would go completely against his values. And that person would rather live on the streets than be in a BL series.

In the international BL bubble, I often hear the argument: "Yes, he's homophobic. And he's just doing it all for fame and money.". But people don't seem to think outside the box and have misconceptions about the money and fame actors get for BL series.

Actors who shoot BL series in Thailand don't get rich. And also their fame is only limited to a certain bubble, which is not helpful for people who have big ambitions and want to be known to a wide audience.

Why do many Thai BL actors walk around as living advertising pillars or billboard, and why do some of them have side jobs?

Simply because their income becomes profitable only through advertising cooperation or a part-time job, and we mustn't forget that the global advertising market has collapsed in recent months, which is why many companies are spending less money and paying fewer fees, and also why many productions are being canceled.

It's scary to see anyway that many people in the international BL bubble simply believe comments in social media without informing themselves and and not recognizing their own wrongdoing and reflecting on themselves.

What I have already read for bullshit and lies in Twitter comments, which are then simply adopted by people who have not informed themselves or checked sources or circumstances.

We must also not forget in the whole story that both Krist and Singto (and even people close to them) were followed, harassed and stalked by fanatical "fans". Also, so many rumors and lies were spread about both of them or others close to them. And who knows what else happened that we never found out about.

That this was no longer acceptable at some point should probably go without saying for everyone. And that Krist may not have acted prudently at some moments, I can well understand, because that is human. Yes, he could have communicated things differently, but I would never say just because someone is hetro and wants to make it understood even to the fanatic "fans" that he is homophobic. Some people, unfortunately, do not understand it differently, you have to communicate a little more crude (in the case angry emojis), and that's sad, that people wouldn't understand otherwise.

An example: Imagine some people stalking and harassing your underage younger siblings, is the actor supposed to stand by and applaud or is he allowed to take countermeasures?

And all this unfortunately still happens today, as current examples of some GMMTV actors show, even if no longer partly on the high level as a few years ago.

And not all people from the LGBTQIA+ community are nice and always find the right words or make stupid remarks and actions. There are examples of that as well.

There is no such thing as the perfect human being, and we can of course cancel all the people in the world, for the most diverse reasons, but in the end, no one can absolve themselves of everything. Not even us here in the comments, because every one of us has done something stupid in our lives.

That's why it's important to give people a second and even third chance and give them space to develop and rethink.

No, I didn't. But you probably take the English subtitles literally, which are not always very accurate.

Kawi does not mean by dialogue you mention that he is in control of everything and everyone and can influence everything in a controlled way (Kawi realizes at the beginning of the episode that he has no influence on his father's death), but that he has influenced the lives of others to some extent through his actions.

Among other things, Kawi refers to two events that he has influenced in some way that have affected Pisaeng in particular, but also other characters, thus changing the original timeline.

These events would be:

- Kawi advising Pisaeng to be honest with Pearmai about his non-existent romantic feelings for her. This also had an indirect effect on Pearmai's life, as now the possibility of Pisaeng and Pearmai ever becoming a couple is gone.

- The outing of Pisaeng that was unconsciously brought about by Kawi's small changes in the past. And which Pisaeng didn't actually plan, as we can see in the original timeline. The outing, of course, has a huge impact on Pisaeng's future life path.

How anyone can misinterpret this dialogue in such a way is quite astonishing to me.

Kawi did not say with one syllable that he is God. Kawi knows very well about his limited possibilities to really influence the events. He emphasizes this (also partly indirectly) again and again. Just remember the scene in episode 2, where he holds the inner monologue about his (limited) possibilities.

On the GMMTV YouTube channel. Is the series possibly geo-blocked in your country?

2gether and Be My Favorite have the same authors (novelization), but they are very different.

I would say that 2gether and Hidden Agenda are similar, but Be My Favorite goes in a completely different direction, especially in the later episodes.

In the first two/three episodes, Be My Favorite seems like a romantic comedy, but after that, the plot turns into a deep drama series that probably has one of the most detailed and elaborate plots and characters of any BL series from GMMTV in recent years.

Very similar to Hidden Agenda I find the series Fish Upon the Sky, also by the author of 2gether and Be My Favorite.

I wonder why no one in the comments is talking about the sudden music change starting at 2:44 in part 3 of episode 2 (the music suddenly changes to a mysterious music) and the dialogue that preceded it.

Before that, there was a dialogue between Joke and Trin:
Trin says to Joke, "Is he Wave's mentee? I didn't know you guys were close. But be careful of those guys."

Then the music changes. It continues to play as he walks toward Zo. When Joke stands in front of Zo, the music suddenly stops again.

Does this mean that there is another, still secret, motivation for Joke to get closer to Zo that is still hidden from the viewer (aside from the fact that we are shown the reason for everything is that Joke is in love with Zo; which other characters in the show already at least suspect)?

And why does Trin warn Joke about Zo and Wave?

I would have liked to see what Joke says to Nita as his reason for joining the club.

Hopefully there is an unexpected twist in the plot, and I'm right in my guess, otherwise the series is unfortunately very cliché and predictable. Which is not to say that the series is fundamentally bad, but it feels like you've seen the plot hundreds of times before.

What is it about Kawi's character development in episode 8 that makes him even less likable, that he voluntarily and without prompting is unconditionally honest and open with Pisaeng and tells him everything, including the unsightly things Kawi has done?

Kawi voluntarily gave him the diary, which contains explosive details. Kawi also addresses his own misbehavior toward Pisaeng. And tries to mend his ways. He lets Pisaeng share his emotional world. And it shows how serious Kawi is about all of this. Kawi has practically made himself naked and vulnerable.

Moreover, Kawi also does this knowing that he can lose Pisaeng if he tells him the truth, and yet he takes this risk and does not conceal the truth like so many other BL main characters.

He gave Pisaeng all the information so that he can make a decision. Kawi did not lie nor did he influence Pisaeng's decision by withholding information from him.

So I wouldn't call that unsympathetic now.

And I know very few BL main characters who are really as honest and open as Kawi is now. Let alone that they would voluntarily leave the diary to their partner.

I think you have misunderstood something. Kawi can influence the future to a certain extent, but he is not the ruler of time or the lives of others. Each character retains free will and makes his own decision, whether it is positive or negative. It may be that Kawi has turned Pisaeng's life upside down from the past, but that happened involuntarily and was never part of Kawi's plan to that extent.

I don't know if you and I watched the same episodes or if you had an abridged version, but Kawi has evolved across all the episodes, and not just him, but all the other characters, even Not.

How does love work in real life? Is there really only one formula for it and does everything also have to take place for everyone to see?

While we can observe Pisaeng's development very closely from the outside, Kawi's development takes place within him. In last episodes, he has not shared his true inner thoughts with the outside world or has been interrupted by Pisaeng. Externally, there are very clear hints in episode 6.

People are different. Some you can see immediately from the outside that something is wrong, others seem to be alive, while inside they are not well at all. And so it is with love, sadness, anger or fear. It's not always obvious to everyone when you look at a person. The same goes for character development. This doesn't always have to be shoved in the viewer's face.

I also recommend that you take another look at what topics the protagonists cover in class and look them up. You will find one or the other hint.

No, I thought the decision with Diary was absolutely right and that Kawi openly communicates his misbehavior in the different timelines with Pisaeng (shows transparency towards him) and finally opens up to him completely. This is a clear character development and also an aspect (honesty) that is important in a relationship.

It once again shows the good and unpredictable storytelling of this series.

Many other authors would have made the diary the big secret of the series.

It would have looked like this: It's episode 11, and the relationship between Piseang and Kawi is fine and couldn't be better. But then Piseang accidentally finds the diary and learns everything, including the unpleasant things. This causes him to get very angry with Kawi and the relationship breaks up. So a typical episode 11 of a series from GMMTV. Then in episode 12, Kawi would try to fix everything in a hurry.

But we've seen this a thousand times in other series, and I'm glad they decided against the usual plot and show us something new instead.

The series is about philosophy of life, fears, courage, admitting the truth and accepting the inevitable, but also about many different feelings and (hidden) human motivations.

One aspect that many viewers tend to forget is that there are different views, rules, values and rights from country to country, culture to culture and society to society.

Example: In my country and culture, there is no forced marriage, the number of divorces is increasing and the number of marriages is decreasing, also, more and more young people are choosing not to have children, women do not have to be stay-at-home mothers, and gay marriage is legal. These points do not necessarily apply to the values/rules of the country from which I watch series and movies. And then I try to look at things from the perspective of the culture and society being portrayed, which doesn't always necessarily match my personal values.

I think Pear, across all timelines, has a set life plan that she won't/mustn't/can't deviate from much. She also seems to follow a more "traditional family" image. She plans to get married, have a successful professional life, raise a family, and be a good wife and mother, which may be why she attends the personality workshop. Whether she does it voluntarily or is pressured by some side, we may yet find out.

Episode 7 shows us the worst case scenario. Pear's life plan goes off the rails, and she desperately tries to somehow get back on track, possibly making the biggest mistake of her life.

The episode also shows us that Pear and Kawi's life plans are incompatible.

With Kwan, I'm still missing a few details to get an even better picture of her, which is why I can't say too much about her yet. Maybe we'll learn more about her in the next episodes. However, Kwan seems like a nice person who tries to see the good in people, is very philosophical and wants to change things for the better, even if it's just small things.

We also have to keep in mind that all the characters (except Max) study humanities (finally, no engineer), and this aspect should be interesting as well, and there have been a few hidden messages. In episode 3, the group deals with Friedrich Nietzsche and his philosophical concept on the terms "Übermensch" (Overman) and "Wahrheit" (Truth) in class, which probably only viewers with knowledge of German should have noticed in a big way and gives a first hint on the hidden motivations and thoughts of the characters / hint on the future plot. In episode 7 Kawi's album was called "My Dream" in the alternate present. "Wahrheit" in conjunction with "My Dream" is also very interesting.

With the character Not there was already a development, even if it was very small. Personally, I would like him to learn something at the end of the journey, but it may well be that this character is supposed to show us that there are also assholes in this world who will only change slightly.

About Pisaeng: The (extroverted) Pisaeng we met in the first two episodes, both past and future, was a Pisaeng with a mask. After that, we saw more and more of the real Pisaeng, but we still don't know all of his background and motivations. I believe that Pisaeng is a person who is much more conflict shy and fearful than Kawi (which eventually also leads to problems and conflicts), and although he isolates himself, he is basically afraid of total loneliness, and this is where Kawi acts as a kind of anchor for Pisaeng. He doesn't need 1000 friends on Facebook, he just needs that one person to hold on to, and that's Kawi for him. Pisaeng may have developed a certain "obsession" and "need for closeness" with Kawi over the course of the plot. Pisaeng is gay and not just for Kawi, but as I wrote, he seems to focus on Kawi.

On the subject of Kawi, I would like to be brief: The character Kawi literally stands for development and acceptance, even if he sometimes takes a wrong path or takes a step back (for the time being). And maybe one or the other philosophical way of thinking of Friedrich Nietzsche also applies to Kawi.

All of that also makes the characters in the series so human to me.

Please explain to me why, from your point of view, the characters were destroyed in episode 7?

Episode 7 shows an alternate timeline of the present where many bad decisions were made by all the characters. People change through certain experiences (even in real life), sometimes for the worse, and that's what this timeline is meant to show us. The experiences from this timeline will also help Kawi make certain and groundbreaking decisions for the past.

The bad ending present timeline in episode 7 has no direct influence on the past. Only Kawi takes the knowledge from this timeline into the past to make changes. The characters and their character traits are the same in the past as they were in episode 6 / before Kawi's trip to this alternate timeline.

For me personally, there are many points, but the list would become far too long for a simple commentary.

In short, for me the series stands out from other BL series from GMMTV in recent years for the following reasons:

- deep characters with individual character flaws (which all humans have) and continuous character development
- strong character moments
- the two male protagonists are not suddenly "(only) gay for you" from one episode to the next, but it is a process with both characters, each of them treading their own different path, which is about acceptance, courage, fears and solving problems and conflicts.
- the fast progress of the story (especially from episode 5 on, in episode 6 it already felt like episode 12 in other BL series)
- the partly unpredictable plot twists that make you wonder what will happen until episode 12.
- the director has a clear vision and knows how to guide his actors, which makes the end result even better

For these and many other reasons, I personally consider the series to be one of GMMTV's best BL series in recent years.

I recommend you keep watching the series. The series doesn't have a set genre, but is varied. The first episodes still have some comedy elements, but from episode 5 on, the series gets deeper plot-wise and more dramatic from episode to episode. And if you believe the actors in the series, episodes 8-12 become even more emotional.