Not a Robot

I don't think he is necessarily switching teams, but he is letting go of Pam because he knows that she does not having feelings for him, and he didn't get angry when Oh stepped in, which is the opposite of what happened when Thi accidentally stepped on the flower. Since Noey thinks that Thi already likes him, Noey is being the Pam in the situation, and wants to give Thi a chance. I know I'm not making any sense but neither do Noey and Thi.

I'm not understanding why the younger generation is stuck on labeling. Should I say "gay friend" instead of just "friend?" I used to hang out in the bars many years ago, and now and then I would meet a random guy who would talk to me or another female friend and all of the sudden he was straight. Dude is alone, standing by the wall, so yeah right. He may have been bi or curious, but I didn't care. He would care, but nobody else in the room did. I do not identify gay family members as gay, I introduce them by their relationship to me. If I introduce so and so and their partner, I don't say he/she is gay/bi/pan, people can figure it out. Maybe some of it is self-appointed allyship, when in the past, the family took us in, as friends and hags. I'm just rambling, but we've made a lot of progress, so the focus on labels is kind of surprising. I'll stop rambling now.

In most of the world high school is grade 10-12, so there are no Freshmen. I think they mistranslated that.

I thought Noey would move faster based on how he was with Pam. lol

Do you know if this is a book series or a single volume? I can't find any translations online. I'm going to be traveling next week, and would love to read it, even though I'm sure they made changes.

One of my favorite scenes of all time is Thi confused in the shower, then immediately cutting to Thi's reaction to being served a breakfast of the convenience store food they bought the night before. Classic is Noey wanting to calm Thi down, all with the old version of Destiny playing in the background, and having it play out with Noey wanting to expose Thi to a new experience by getting Thi involved in a gang fight. This series is legend for me.

I feel that seeing Noey taking care of Thi in front of his mother, sister and best friend shows me that his feelings are genuine. Thi also takes care of Noey, and it makes him like Thi more. What says love more than wanting your true love to have a new experience like a gang fight? haha. I love this show though, so my opinion may be biased.

I like your comment because it shows that some people are like Pam, and others are like Thi. Like how Pam was cool with Oh whisking her away without a word when Noey tried to give her the bouquet, after Oh previously set her up to be confessed to by Noey. Thi is conflicted as well. He is afraid of Noey, but cannot help seeing his kind side as well. I think this will remain as long as Noey thinks getting him into a gang fight is introducing Thi to a new experience. Maybe things will change once Thi is fully on board with his feelings, or you many never really like Noey. I'm biased because I love this show though.

I agree that if BL were to go more international outside of Asia, more men (not just gay men) would have access and end up liking the genre. If their frame of reference is some of the western BL, I don't blame them. I have confidence it will eventually happen because there are many gay male BL reactors worldwide. There are several openly gay Thai actors too. I framed my answer the way I did because OP's opinion is that the leads in this series are straight and they prefer they be gay. I think this generation's sexuality is more on a spectrum than binary, the male leads have not identified their sexuality, and with women being the target of fan service for monetization, they are keeping it vague. I didn't mean to imply that the male audience is unimportant, so sorry for that.

I already know that gay men have more disposable income, but they aren't the majority of fans buying tickets to the events, nor are they holding private events like the mommies and aunties, or airport send offs/returns. I have yet to see clips of a predominately male private event. Women also subscribe to those streaming services too. If I'm wrong, I'm open to getting correct information, but I just don't see any predominately male audiences, not even 50% male at any events posted online.

I think there's room for all types of stories in this genre. Each character has a different story to tell. Even though I like the pace of this show, and Minato Shouji Koinlaundry, I also enjoyed Kinn Porsche. Thi and Noey have their own story. How it unfolds is story of their relationship.

I think that Noey had a crush on Pam, like many teens. We would see a cute guy, then have a crush without knowing anything about him. In contrast, Noey and Thi are growing a relationship, by getting to know each other and pushing each other's boundaries, where the other is weak. This is being wrapped in comedy, but it's pretty amazing nonetheless.

I can't wait for Friday either. I'm hoping that Thi Watphlu is up to the challenge!

Neither character has identified their sexuality. When Noey came to the conclusion that Thi likes him, all he told Thi was that Thi isn't his type. He didn't go ballistic and say he isn't gay or go nuts about t Thi (allegedly) liking him.

2 Moons Ambassador literally just had a very handsome, charismatic male lead explicitly state that he likes men, and has not ever chased any women. In Kabe Koji, there were different types of gay men represented (chubby, scatter brained doujin author and idol), and I did not see many comments expressing positive feelings over this. Some series get critiqued about lack of representation, while others do not get acknowledgement. I'm not sure why this happens.

For the sake of argument, I thought this generation was all about fluidity. Noey and Thi are Gen-Z, so why aren't they allowed the same sexual orientation fluidity/spectrum as defined on the Genderbread Man? Okay, I'm half joking but, having done practicum at an AIDS organization, there is an outreach a category defined as MSM, where men who do not identify as gay/bi/pan have sex with men. Truthfully, the vast majority of gay men I know realized their sexuality young and have never been with a woman. The younger generation is so adamant that sexual orientation is a spectrum, and fluid, so is it? If it is, shouldn't Noey and Thi be given the same latitude?

Truthfully, BL is mostly for women. Gay men are present in the world of BL as directors, writers, e.g. power positions, but we still haven't seen many series where lead characters are overweight men, hairy men, or fem men either. When you look at fan meets, there are barely any men in the audience. Women spend money on this genre, so they will cater to women. I think that BL is relying on fluidity, or the non-disclosure of sexual orientation. The gay community hasn't stepped up either. Quality gay film or series are few and far between. Brokeback Mountain starred straight men, even though the director is gay. Feel free to disagree with me, but I don't think many gay men will financially support BL even if every character identifies as gay or bi.

I understand your point of view, and you make very good points. I totally agree about the people with disabilities. They missed opportunities to really treat that topic with sincerity. I think that providing constructive criticism is good. I am very lenient in my assessments and I will give everything a 10 if I can. You provide good reasons for your opinions, and back them up. I think that does help contribute to BL getting better.

I watched Check Out because it was an unintentional comedy. Something has to really suck, like Quaranthings 2 or be angst for the sake of angst like Papa and Daddy 2 for me to drop it. As long as Mean doesn't send me a horrible wig, we're good. haha

You make good points, but I like this series because I like slice of life stories, and this is how people in their late teens and early 20's acted when I was that age, even now.

Golf and Gun break-up: I've know so many people get in a fight, break-up and 3 days later they get back together more in love than ever. I pity the fool who slept with someone else during the "break" though.

Chompu dumping Nan: I know some men who are way more into a woman who is reluctant to be with him. In this case, Chompu was trying to make the ultimate sacrifice for love, but for Nan to ditch his exams and want to take up farming? I've known people who switched whole universities and majors to move closer to their boy/girlfriend who wanted to take a break while at different unis so they could focus on school. They didn't have the horrible wigs though.

Champ: You always have to have a perpetual victim in the crowd. He creates some of his own pain, but it's always the other guy who screwed up. He doesn't answer calls and opts out of group chat, but it's his sister's fault about the dog. Now that he's going to be an uncle, he is rethinking his POV.

I don't know anyone like Em and Name, so they should have focused on them. It's been 15 years and I still don't know if Em and Name are just friends.

I see this as a stroll down memory lane. However, I am a very lenient critic, everything is a 10, and I drop very few series, so my opinion is close to basement level. haha

It will be funny to see how Thi "surrenders" next week. Getting into a gang fight is probably a good start. lol

It isn't horrible, but it is SLOW, slice of life, full of frustrating human behavior and bad wigs. I like it though because real people act stupidly like these characters at times.

If people still say First can't act after this series, they just are anti-fans. Even this episode had Gun all over the place emotionally with Gold, his parents, his friends and he did a great job with all situations.

This trope has been around for so long, so I don't see much change. Canadian author, LM Montgomery, wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1908. A classmate, Gilbert Blythe, called the red haired protagonist Anne Shirley, "carrots" and she hit him over the head with a slate, declaring him an enemy. A few books later, they got married and had children. I'm sure the trope dates way before 1908, but here we are in 2023. This series also has the redemption trope.