#Tee Bundit
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LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX!!!!!!
HELLO AND WELCOME TO
ANALYSIS ESSAY NUMBER 69!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. Yes I have, in fact, written 69 ridiculously long pieces (and some surprisingly short) pieces on my silly little gay shows. This is, obviously, not the first time that I have done a scene breakdown, and it’s certainly not the first time I’ve done a sex scene breakdown, BUT I have been itching to write about this one since I watched I Feel You Linger in the Air Episode 8. There was no way in hell I was going to let essay #69 go unrelated to sex, so I had to wait until another essay (thank you Hypocrisy) could be written and posted.
In a feat of truly perfect timing, @waitmyturtles sent me an ask about what other physicality (besides hands) I look at to try to understand a character’s psyche, I gave her my wayyyy to long explanation of what it is I look for, and not even 24 hours later the most perfect example of expertly executed physicality graced my screen with the opening scene of I Feel You Linger in the Air. So, I am dedicating this post to Turtles...
and I'm writing a sex scene break down!
We open with Yai and Jom rushing in to the scene, Jom being pulled by Yai. Which, I mean any forearm, wrist, or hand holding that Yai and Jom are doing is not technically visible to us (it’s happening just off screen) but we know Jom is being pulled at first because of how Bright and Nonkul are moving, Yai enters the room first and Jom is practically tripping to catch up with his motion, but beyond that we know Jom’s being dragged by Yai because of the way Bright and Nonkul’s upper arms are pressed together. We’re off to a great start in Bright and Nonkul’s performance already because of how glued Yai and Jom seem to be. With just the way they are holding their bodies the tension is already palpable, but the magnetism between the two of them is heightened by the fact that the actors are ensuring Yai and Jom don’t break eye contact. Because of this, even though as the motion continues, and they turn to face each other having now placed physical distance between them, you can tell they are still drawn in. You aren’t losing any ounce of desire when they are parted.
The way Bright stands, the way Bright has set his face, angled his head, etc. makes Yai seem like he is looking at Jom as if hypnotized, transfixed, enamored. Both of them are just staring at each other, and Jom’s hand slowly slides up Yai’s arm and Yai takes that movement as a sign to come in close, and while Yai was initially shy about (presumably) getting aroused during the olive oil scene in Episode 7, he is horny and ready to fuck now at the beginning of Episode 8 and so he just fucking goes for it.
You know when Yai is about to lean in for the kiss, because in a fraction of a second he breaks eye contact with Jom to look down towards his lips. But before Yai performs any additional progression towards kissing, Bright plays out the brief moment where Yai is gathering his courage. How do I know Yai is taking a second to psyche himself up? Because Yai pauses, he closes his mouth a little tighter, looks down at Jom’s lips, and he swallows hard. That’s him psyching himself up to just dive right in and go for the kiss. And he doesn’t have to hesitate long, and he doesn’t have to be chaste with this kiss cause Jom and Yai got over the initial tension point when they made out at the end of Episode 7. Without saying a word, we know Jom is In To This Kiss, because he immediately fixes his lips around Yai’s upper lip. Jom meanwhile is standing almost ramrod stiff and straight like he usually does
@shortpplfedup says when she’s looking at kisses, she’s looking for sticky kisses. My own interpretation of sticky kisses includes moments like in The Eclipse where there is a little line of spit that keeps the kiss lingering for just a second more. In this case, what I would personally consider a sticky kiss is a result of Yai pulling at Jom’s lower lip when Jom pulls his head back slightly for some air and to change the angle of his head. There is no space between them, in fact Yai so thoroughly wants to fuck Jom, that Jom is almost tipping over with how much Yai is trying to press them together. Yai’s hand is roaming, moving up and down Jom’s arm, while Jom is standing there, his hands are still, one wrapped around Yai’s arm, one resting at his neck. Jom is meeting all of Yai’s energy and excitement by standing firm. Because if he did not, it’s possible he’d topple over.
And as characters this makes sense. Jom has been in at least one relationship before, there is no way he hasn’t been sexually active in the past. Jom is the more experienced one in this relationship, and so he is going to have to be the support Yai leans on for his first sexual encounter, even if we don’t see that far in to their evening.
gif by @alejunsu
And this works for Yai and Jom’s characterization as well. Jom was the one with more hesitations around beginning a relationship with Yai. Jom is much more tuned in to the potential consequences of being queer in this time period. And it’s not that Yai isn’t, it’s just that he’s much more caught up in his own little world, and his feelings for Jom that he isn’t as rigid about how he engages in intimacy.
This kiss is tight, and solid, and you can hear the breathiness between them when they start the kiss. It’s believably impactful to them, as in the combination of eye contact, touch, posture, and even breath here makes me believe they are attracted to each other, and really fucking horny. And I swear I can almost feel Yai and Jom’s heart rates increase with how well Bright and Nonkul are selling this performance.
Yai is ready to fuck like, yesterday, but Jom doesn’t want him completely rushing in to the sex, and I can tell this because Jom pulls back, breaks off the kiss, and starts talking to Yai about the rain, about the party, these little reminders that they have places to be, and people to see, and they can’t afford to get caught. Bright’s face here, in the moments right after Jom pulls away are so intense. The way he furrows his brow ever so slightly. The way his eyes are see in to Jom, the parting of his lips. Bright is, to me, selling extremely well the fact that despite the fact they have once again separated, Yai is still in that kiss. And there is this beautiful little moment from Nonkul too where he breathes out like his mouth is on fire or he’s trying to catch his breath. Nonkul has Jom pat Yai’s arm once, because he’s trying to lighten the mood a little bit, to put more emotional space between them. Jom is the one stopping the kiss, Nonkul is the one that has to sell the idea that Jom is both slowing down the encounter, and also still worrying about being caught.
And you know where Yai’s response is going to go “Forget it, Jom. Now there’s only two of us in the house“ because of the intensity by which Yai looks at Jom. He’s transfixed, and during this conversation with Jom, Yai’s eyes constantly slip downwards towards Jom’s lips, like…practically every second. Yai goes in to continue that kiss, with an intensity that I do not think he’s ready for when it comes to actually having sex for the first time. In part because this kid does not know what he is doing, and Jom does. And Jom hasn’t had sex for quite some time because he was in a monogamous relationship with a partner who was overseas. So he puts his hand up to Yai’s face, and presses in gently, making a little hmm sound as he does it.
gif by @charlidos
Again, Nonkul keeps Jom stiff, his fingers are all straight, there is not even a whisper of a relaxed curve to them. Which tracks for Jom, because everything we have ever seen in the way Jom exists, in the way Jom moves, is very rigid. And it stops Yai immediately. Jom is looking straight at Yai, and Yai is looking straight at Jom’s lips. But this entire action feels familiar and comfortable because they have developed a trust in one another, and because Yai cares enough about Jom to stop and listen at the slightest indication. Yai pulls back and that’s where Nonkul helps assert that Jom is in fact on the same page, is interested and enthusiastic about having sex with Yai, and he’s just trying to shift the energy and speed of their encounter, because the second Yai stops, and Jom is about to offer up a suggestion, Nonkul turns Jom’s gaze directly to Yai’s lips and he lets them linger there for far too long, his fingers too continue to rest gently on Yai’s lips long after they are needed.
Jom doesn’t look Yai in the eyes again until he says “You’re soaking wet, Khun Yai. Why don’t you let me undress you, so you don’t catch cold?” Jom leans in closer when he says this, he whispers in a way that is intended to seduce Yai. And we see some more physical changes in the way Nonkul is carrying Jom. Jom’s eyes are alight and happy, there is this soft and extremely fond smile turning up the edges of his lips. And we see him relaxing slightly in to this moment because his fingers finally relax and curl up in their resting place on Yai’s shoulder.
Nonkul has Jom slightly shifting his head so Jom is looking up at Yai more through the top of his eyelashes to be more alluring. He has this soft, fond smile on his face. And it is in the motions and movements like this one where I see what Nonkul was saying about this being the most femme he has ever had to perform (even though, I think we can all agree Jom isn’t really femme). Bright has Yai pick up that small smile too, and he shows that Yai is indeed very interested in Jom helping remove his clothes, because Bright ensures that Yai cannot stop looking at Jom’s lips.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
You should watch this clip
And just like that Jom has changed the pace of the evening. With a little whisper, and with some very slow, intentional movements in the way he takes off Yai’s tux jacket. And because Yai and Jom have had so much physical space between them for the past thirty seconds, it is time to re-establish Yai and Jom’s needs for physical closeness. Bright and Nonkul establish a sense of familiarity and comfortability in how Yai and Jom interact with each other’s bodies. Nonkul does so in the way he has Jom pull Yai close to him to take off his bowtie. It is almost as if they are hugging one another, and in part they are, or at least they are providing each other a little space to rest.
And we know their arousal, their desire to fuck isn’t stalled or stunted by any interruption. Jom pumps the brakes a bit, but their desire, their attraction, is palpable. And that vibe is assisted by Bright having Yai lean in deeper, by having Yai turn his head and move slowly toward Jom’s neck as if drawn by string or magnet while Jom is fiddling with his bowtie. And within the span of a few seconds, Yai goes from drinking in Jom’s scent to pressing a soft kiss or two to his neck. And Jom’s enjoyment of that action is shown in the way Nonkul has Jom close his eyes briefly in pleasure, and his head jerks a bit to the side as if allowing Yai better access to his neck while he’s fiddling with the clasp of Yai’s bowtie.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
The seduction continues as Nonkul and Bright ensure their characters do not break eye contact one the bowtie comes off. I don’t even really know how they are doing it, but there is such a clear internal monologue of impure thoughts cycling through both their heads as Jom starts unbuttoning the collar of Yai’s shirt, while Jom’s still staring, eyes shining brightly, directly at Yai. And Bright plays Yai’s impatience very well, because he lets Yai still wait calmly, while also showing Yai cannot bare to be this far apart (like…two inches) from Jom, so he rests a hand on Jom’s neck creating a moment of skin to skin contact, but he has to take Jom in so he only lets his hand stay for a second, before he’s moving it in lines around Jom’s body.
Here again, is why I pay so much attention to their hands. Because Yai has been the far more relaxed character, and so when he puts his hand on Jom’s neck, his fingers curve, when he traces lines down Jom’s torso, his hand is curled almost into a fist. And there is just this beautiful moment of observation to me, where Jom begins to remove Yai’s pants, and is focused on the task, and Yai is just watching Jom, watching him focus. It is only when the pants have been unbuttoned that Yai joins Jom in looking downwards.
These characters cannot help but be drawn to each other, the tension between them is building and builidng and Bright and Nonkul show that by having Yai and Jom get, with Jom’s eyes closed, so close to one another they could have stolen a kiss. So close in fact that their torsos are touching, they are pressed up against each other while Jom works pulling Yai’s pants down. And even if they don’t bring their faces together, they don’t steal those kisses, they don’t break the tension, they are certainly breathing each other’s air.
“Let me do the same for you,” Yai says and God these two are so good at making their need for each other palpable. As Yai begins to unbutton Jom’s shirt both Yai and Jom’s eyes are moving rapidly, up, down, up, down, lower, lowerrr, back together, glued to the other’s face.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
Jom gives the shyest smile at having Yai care for him, concerned about Jom catching a fever, and being oh so careful with removing his shirt. And here we see Nonkul allow Jom to relinquish some control and let go of some tension in the evening, because Jom drops his hand from Yai’s chest and let’s Yai unbutton and pull off his shirt. A moment for Yai to stand on his own, rather than to have support from Jom like he has had during their kiss and during their foreplay as it were. Yai moves for Jom’s pants, removes them, and they are soaking each other in, reveling in the feeling of one another. But we can’t have Jom wait too long for physical contact, because we want these characters to touch each other, because these characters want to touch each other. So we get a beautiful moment of Jom’s hands coming to wrap around Yai’s wrist, once again relaxed, and we see the band Yai tied around Jom’s wrist in Episode 2, a tangible, visible, item that reminds us all of their connection.
I think we joke a lot about “exploring each other’s bodies” as a line. But that is objectively what they are doing here, in this gorgeous gorgeous moment of hands, of fingers sliding all over each other. They are gentle, light, and I can easily get the sense through the screen that their skin is on fire wherever they’re bodies have met. And Bright adds a piece of characterization to Yai, by having Yai hold Jom’s hand the same way that he did when he was drunkenly reciting poetry with the biggest heart eyes the world has ever seen. And he is doing the thing that, in my opinion, makes or breaks the believability of attraction, care, or romance between characters, which is that Bright has Yai move his thumb, drawing these tight little lines on the top of Jom’s hand while they are holding hands. It is truly not much of an understatement at all to say that if two characters are holding hands, I will be looking to see what their hands are doing. Are they staying stationary, or are there these little absentminded movements that sell the idea that these characters are thinking about each other, and enjoying the feeling of one another, rather than just performing the action of holding hands.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
In case we ever wanted to underestimate the importance of microexpressions and micromovements, we can’t, those are the things that really make or break a performance. (And for those who may have difficulty reading facial expressions, I get you, trust me, I’ve said it before but it can be really really hard for me to read microexpressions in actors, which is why I will often rewatch scenes, or watch other shows the actors or in, or like I did for this write up I slowed that shit down to half speed so I could watch for every movement, and rewound in 5 second intervals like 20 times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.)
But they look like they are studying, committing to memory, Yai especially. Because while Nonkul has Jom spend most of this moment staring at one spot on Yai’s chest, Bright has Yai’s eyes follow the movement of his hands.Yai leans in and Nonkul has Jom swallow hard, and lean in slightly for a kiss. Bright has Yai keep moving, his lips locking on Jom’s shoulder, and moving up his neck, because the tension has almost reached its breaking point, and they both know what will happen the second their lips meet. So they delay, they let the tension build. They pull each other close, they hold each other tightly, you can see it in the way they move, the way their muscles tense. And as they face each other, with their desire finally starting to boil over, Yai works his way back to Jom’s lips slowly, he’s caught on to the pace Jom set. There is a light, soft, and quick kiss to Jom’s cheek, and then a second attempt by Yai to kiss Jom’s cheek or nose, that Nonkul interrupts by having Jom now be the impatient one, turning his head so Yai’s kiss slides to meet Jom’s upper lip.
And then the tension finally breaks, the desire overwhelms them, and they are forceful with their kisses, and pulling each other close. Nonkul is showing how in to this Jom is in the way he lets Jom melt in to this kiss. How he has Jom pull himself so fully in to Yai’s arms, so they are chest to chest without any room between them.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
And Jom is kind of a tense and awkward person in general, so it makes so much sense to me, as a character that Jom’s fingers would at this point stay stiff and straight, because we are still progressing in to a part of the evening Yai may need more support in. Jom is certainly far more relaxed as a person when he’s with Yai, but I don’t think he would be fully able to relax in to the sex. Hell, he can’t even relax in bed afterwards because he sees himself in the mirror. But just in the way Jom holds himself, in the way Jom smiles, in the way he pulls Yai in, we know that being around Yai is changing him. That he is generally more relaxed when they share space, that he is happier when Yai is near, and we know that Jom is very ready to fuck, he’s just also more aware of the potential consequences of getting caught.
Yai leads them to bed, and if we hold Jom and Jom’s posture as acting almost as a support for Yai, then it is very critical and important in my eyes, that Yai uses the bedpost to steady himself as he lays Jom out on the bed. Yai is learning how to support himself. Jom lays underneath him, and as far as we know he’s keeping his hands firmly on the back of Yai’s neck. Grasping on to him like he doesn’t want to let go, while Yai traces random lines across Jom’s arms, torso, and neck. And when they pull away, we know that Jom is very in to everything that is going on, and that he’s starting to lose himself a bit in the feeling of this, because Nonkul has Jom wait a few seconds to open his eyes and look up at Yai after they break apart. Meanwhile, Bright maintains Yai’s absolute obsession with Jom, by having Yai staring directly at Jom while Jom’s eyes are still closed. Study him, observing his reactions, ensuring that Jom is feeling pleasure. And the sexual tension isn’t ruined by yet another physical separation, even as they are not actively kissing in that moment, their progression towards sex does not feel like it is coming to an end. And that has to do with the fact that Jom is still running his hand along Yai’s neck, lacing his fingers through Yai’s hair, with his fingers relaxed.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
When they confess their love for one another, Nonkul has Jom swallow hard, hearing Yai tell him he loves him, fighting back a small smile. And Bright really commits to showing the intimacy that has developed between Jom and Yai in the way he has Yai press kisses to the inside of Jom’s palm, to his knuckles, up his arm, and back to his neck. And like I said above, Nonkul sells the effect of that electricity between Yai and Jom in these little micromovements, in the way Jom’s finger dig slightly in to Yai’s cheek, and the way his thumb twitches when Yai presses a kiss to his knuckles, and the way his fingers flex (a la Pride and Prejudice [2005] if you ask me). And he does the same as Yai kisses up his arm and to his neck, in the way Nonkul has Jom close his eyes, and press his lips together, and tilt his head slightly upwards.
And that’s it, that’s the entire nearly five minute scene. I promise I am trying to get better about my essay lengths, but I think the level of work that goes in to these moments are deserving of being discussed in detail. Nonkul in an interview said he views acting like a sport, and I think he’s fucking right. The level of knowledge and control you have over your body to sell scenes like this one, to make people believe in the romance, is super fucking hard.
gif by @pharawee (using this gif as an example of a bunch of small movements Bright and Nonkul do that sell Yai and Jom's love for one another)
I for one believe Jom and Yai love each other, want each other, are drawn to one another, and that is 100% because of Nonkul and Bright’s performances. And they have a really fucking hard job in part because Tee Bundit is not really a romance guy. Yai and Jom’s love for one another is the emotional backbone of this show, but the story isn’t focused on the romance itself, it’s focused on Jom’s experiences as a servant, on the struggles of being queer, on the mystery of how to get home, of past Jom being haunted by his present and present Jom being haunted by his past. There are so many moving pieces in this story, but we have to feel for these characters when they are inevitably separated. The way Nonkul and Bright play this scene, has thoroughly convinced me of the care they have for one another
#i feel you linger in the air#ifylita#ifyl#yai x jom#yaijom#bright x nonkul#nonkul chanon#bright rapheephong#dee hup house#tee bundit#ESSAY 69!!!!!!#wka long post#i feel you linger in the air analysis#ifylita analysis#i feel you linger in the air meta#ifylita meta
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The way some people straight up deny soft criticism of the BL industry (stuff that isn't even a secret if you don't close your eyes and ears!!!) Criticism by literally LGBTq people working in said BL industry in Thailand..... basically one of the only ones who's voice are most valid here in this discourse. That's not hypocrism of people working in the industry to open their mouth! That's called self-awareness and using this genre to convey a message and trying to fix issues. This is about Step by Step and Lovely Writer atm. But those are not the only dramas who brought up some critic but somehow people get salty now about that little poke from SbS? Did you sleep the past 3 years?? And it's not a coincident that it's always the same topics certain BL dramas brought up!
I feel like some people here don't get that you can criticize your own work place, your own industry, your own country WITHOUT hating, shaming or demonizing it completely! Yall need stop this black & white thinking and the constant urge to feel personally attacked by something like this...
Especially the message of LW (the same people who make SbS now) was that there is nothing wrong about loving BL stories and they do like producing them. BUT that there are some things in the industry that are bad and harmful NOT ALL OF IT, SOME THINGS! Like the treatment of actors and certain topics by companies and producers. And the main theme of LW: the toxic overstepping and overcontrolling shipping culture that can (and did) destroy real life relationships / friendships under the weight of the pretend relationship (pretend as in they are not dating for real (everyone knows that! or should know that! this is also not even a secret if you watch interviews outside of the fun and couple game shows) at least in most of the cases.... in some rare ones yes, in some very rare cases some actors actually date but they are too afraid to come out due to homophobia and the way the industry & fandom treats those cases (source Dr. Thomas Baudinette who studies the industry as a form of queer asian media and interviewed companies and actors since years... somewhere in this he talks about actor relationships, I can't find the time stamp atm))
ALSO the point about exploiting the LGBTq community is NOT about the fans or LGBTq audience who love these dramas. But about businesses and literal Thailand itself. For using those stories and actors / couples for advertising, for marketing, for tourism even. BUT at the same time some don't care for real life LGBTq issues and rights or the fact that Thailand is still not agreeing on equal marriage (which is not just about them not being able to marry but they get denied a lot of things married couples get. alone the fact that they can't see their partner in the case of an emergency in the hospital because 'they are not family'). In the said SbS scene they were literally discussing which pretend couple has the most fans and how they could use their fandom and fan clubs to gain profit. Don't you guys get how fucking frustrating this is for the LGBTq people and allies who work in the BL industry, to get paraded in front of the camera for money and image but still don't get treated equally??? THAT is what they mean with exploiting.... And it's a lot of producers, writers and some actors who voice those points, not just these few self-aware BL dramas. But doing it through the medium they adress is the best way to reach the right people, to make the right people aware and ask for their support. Since they can't say such things directly (even though they should) unless they want to lose their job, they still like to a degree.
And I am sorry but the opinion of actual thai people who are inside that industry is more valid than some random fan who just doesn't want to understand those things in order to enjoy their shows without feeling bad.... What if I tell you that you can do both and that this is not about shaming you or making you feel guilty (unless you participate in toxic overstepping behavior or are actually LGBTq-phobic, then yes feel guilty)! Acknowledging issues, supporting to fix those issues and still have fun with these dramas and actors.... Those things can and do coexist and nobody said otherwise!!
#damn i said i stay away from discourse and I am not here to discuss but I have to say something about this since I saw some bs#sorry my patience is very thin the past months and I am so damn tired of stupid discourse#rant#bl drama#bl actors#step by step the series#Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee#tee bundit#salt post
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If you've ever watched a BL and noticed a lot of a bright fuzzy soft natural light, it's probably cinematographer Jim Picharn of Dee Hup House, and he partners with director Tee Bundit often.
Hidden Agenda
I Feel You Linger in the Air
Step by Step
Magic of Zero
Lovely Writer
Something in My Room
War of Y
Bonus
#Jim Picharn#the cinematography#tee bundit#hidden agenda#I feel you linger in the air#step by step the series#lovely writer the series#war of y#something in my room the series#magic of zero
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I Feel You Linger In the Air
You ready for this?
The quickest of quick thoughts: I loved this show and hated the ending, but not for the reason you think.
This is gonna be one of my big meta beast-sized posts, skip to the end for the final review.
Some Historical Context for I Feel You Linger In The Air - Thailand 1925-1932
I love history and so here's some info that any Thai watcher would likely know, but the rest of us might not... ready?
The Historical Stage:
Burma (now Myanmar) to the west is occupied by the British.
The French hold Vietnam to the east.
Everyone is bickering over what would become Cambodia & Laos.
China occasionally gets involved from the North (also, lots of immigrants from China at this time accounting for a large percentage of the merchant/middle class)
Eventually, Japan would invade during WWII.
In part, The Kingdom of Siam was kept a "neutral" party because none of the surrounding colonial powers wanted to risk offending any of the other players in the area.
Siam re-negotiated sovereignty in 1920 (from USA) and in 1925 (from France & Britain). But during the time of this show (late 1929) it was back to it's customary type-rope balancing act of extreme diplomacy with the allied western colonial powers that surrounded it.
Recognizing that Thailand was never colonized (although it was invaded), it's boarders were constantly nibbled at and it was "ambassador-occupied" off and on by westerners whose military backing and exploitive business concerns simply outmatched the monarchy, especially in the technology department (as well as by reputation on the global stage at the time).
In other words, the farang in this show (James & Robert) were always gonna be both the baddies and the power players of the narrative. (Farang is the Thai word for non-Thai's of European descent, the word means guava.)
The king of Siam at the time (Vajiravudh AKA Rama VI) was initially somewhat popular but also regarded as overly extravagant since Siam had been hit by a major postwar recession in 1919. It should also be noted that King Vajiravudh had no son because he was most likely gay (which at the time did not much concern the Siamese popular opinion, except that it undermined the stability of the monarchy leaving it without an heir).
He "died suddenly" in 1925 (age 44) with the monarchy weakened and succession handed off to his younger brother.
In 1932 a small circle of the rising bourgeoisie (all of whom had studied in Europe, mostly Paris), supported by some military, seized power from the monarchy in a practically nonviolent Siamese Revolution installing a constitutional monarchy. This is mentioned in IFYLITA in the last few episodes but did not (apparently) appear in the original novel.
Siam would then go through:
dictatorship,
WWII,
Japanese invasion,
Allied occupation,
democratic elections,
military junta,
the Indochina wars,
communist insurgency,
more democracy and popularization movements,
multiple coups,
more junta,
more monarchy,
eventually leading us to the somewhat chaotic insanity of Thai politics we have today. (Which is, frankly, a mix of monarchy, junta, democracy, egocentric popularism, and bribery.)
The Filming of I Fell You Linger in the Air
The director if this show, Tee Bundit (Hidden Agenda, Step by Step, Lovely Writer, TharnType), has never particularly impressed or offended me as a director. I would have called him simply "workmanlike" in execution: not offensive, serviceable.
So much so that I spent some time hunting for info on IFYLITA's cinematographer (who remains uncredited on MDL) because this one, of all Tee's pantheon, is ultra stylish. It, frankly, felt too good for him.
Specifically, there is a repeated visual motif in intimacy scenes of either Yai or Jom being filmed from behind a screen/drape/curtain making them seem more translucent, like a ghost or spirit. While the other half of the pair is filmed with sharp clarity. In the first half of the series this is more likely to be Yai (an unknown and mysterious element), as the show progresses, it's more likely to be Jom (the person outside of place and time, destined to vanish all together). This cleverly conveys story, tension, and foreshadow (future shadow?)
Occasionally we shift over so they both become obscured and then clear again.
This stylized version of dirty framing and filters is used to foreshadow and then constantly remind us about that Jom slipped (and is slipping) through time and the disconnect that causes to his sense of reality and purpose, and to his burgeoning relationship.
For example, the scene where Yai is drunk and asleep in his bed. The first time Jom is sitting in a chair drawing him. Yai is blurry behind the screen while Jom is solid and sharp.
This filming technique combined with dirty and peekaboo framing is being used to give the watchers the impression of looking at something we maybe shouldn't, like we are being creepy and intruding on their private time. After all, they can see EACH OTHER clearly, it's only us who have the visual impairment.
This gives us a sense of doom and discomfort and slight sensation that we shouldn't be there. We shouldn't be watching. But ALSO that we too are outside of time, filtered by the future.
In other words his sense of displacement is being used to trigger ours visually.
It's all quite clever.
It's both beautiful and atmospheric and discomforting and touch stressful. Meaning that it is ALSO a visual vehicle to drive narrative tension. As effective as scary music, perhaps more so in this show (since I personally found the musical motifs and refrains somewhat overused.)
Linguistic corner
The word for reflection and shadow is the same in Thai.
Note on the por/phor/phô honorific in Thai
I have not encountered it before in BL. I am indebted to @embraceyourfandom for the following information;
Phô is a paternal honorific, luang phô is used for respected monks. It basically means father. And is oft seen as male honorific for village elders. It's also used as a male prefix in the names of several occupations like:
พ่อครัว phô khrua (khrúa= kitchen -> chef)
พ่อค้า phô khá (khá= trade -> merchant)
พ่อมด phô mót (mót= person of occult knowledge -> wizard)
พ่อบ้าน phô bân (bân =house -> butler) - most relevant
So, Yai's use is probubly foreshadowing that Jom will be a butler for his house, and is primitively referring to him with this title.
All that said, phô can also be used by a "man who is older/higher on hierarchy to refer to a younger/lower on hierarchy man with intimacy and/or affection."
I think all this has to do with Jom's demonstration of education. Yai figured out early on that one of the reasons Jom doesn't belong and cannot fit in with the servants is that he is more educated than a peasant (of this time period), which for Yai adds up to him being originally from a higher status and possibly wealthy family, especially since Jom speaks English and has travelled (he has a non-northern accent).
There is very little Thai middle class at the beginning of the 1920s since trade is being dominated/dictated by the West, or Chinese merchant operations, and Siam is a monarchy. So for a nationalize Thai citizen educated means military, landed gentry with trade operations (like Yai), royal/political/diplomatic connections, or... none of the above. This changes, especially in the south, throughout this decade (as it did in other parts of the world). So there is a rising bourgeoisie going on in the background but it's not that obvious in Chang Mai at this time.
What Jom's educated lack of status means to Yai is that Jom's family either got wiped out or politically disenfranchised possibly as part of the 1912 attempted coups (or even WWI)? This would be mystifying for Yai because Jom doesn't act like he comes from a military family at all. So his background and status is very confusing for Yai, but Yai does know one thing...
Jom is NOT lower class by the standards of Yai's temporal worldview and existence.
For a young man to be educated and yet entirely alone is very dangerous and suspicious. Also, let's be clear, Jom doesn't look or act like a laborer. He red flags "cultured" all over the place.
Yai is paternalistic and caring towards Jom out the gate because Yai has a big ol'crush but also because he recognizes "his own" is trying to survive while isolated and scared.
Yai wants to rescue Jom. Yai is an ineffectual 20 year old gay intellectual. But poor thing sure tries.
Let's Talk About How I Felt About I Feel You Linger in the Air
The historical aspect was great.
I adore historical romances and we almost never get them in BL. I was always gonna be biased towards this show. (As indeed I am towards Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, Tinted with You, and To Sir With Love.) Aside from some classic Thai BL production issues (less than normal, this is very high production value for Thailand) and my issues around the sound track and repetitive repriens (which frankly were more noticeable because I binged the last half) I have no complaints on that score (heh heh).
The surrounding support cast were all quite good and we even got us some lesbians!
The emotional and narrative tensions were excellent.
Any issues I had with pacing came from focus on characters that didn't interest me, but probubly did interest others. I wasn’t wild or particularly interested in the family drama or the side characters/couples, but they were necessary to make this a fully fleshed story with historical context and to give Yai much needed characterization. Also this use of a ensemble cast is very close to Thailand's lakorn heart, even thought this one had way less scenery chewing ludicrous soapy drama (thank heavens).
I was delighted that external threat, stressors, and conflict drove this plot. That's refreshing in BL.
I have no arguments with the chemistry and kisses and sex scenes were tasteful and lovely, occasionally even heart-wrenching, and it's nice to see Thailand especially use physical intimacy to drive plot, and not the other way around.
I love historicals partly because every tiny touch can have such lingering significance, they're very elegant in their chaste physicality. This show didn't need to move into higher heat, but I'm grateful it did because even that was very well done. Thai BLs can often feel clumsy around intimacy, but not this one.
The final sex scene before Jom and Yai separate forever utilizes the ubiquitous director's-favorite-romantic-moments-flashbacks (required of all Asian romance dramas) but with acceleration and tension driven by the noises of sex, which I've never seen/heard done before. In other words: climax of sex = climax of the romance story, I see what you did there, Tee. Clever. Very clever. Bit on the nose… erm… on the… well you know what I mean.
Like all Thai BLs this wasn’t perfect, but for me this is as close as Thai BL gets to high quality romance and that’s what I want the most from my drama watching experience (if not necessarily my Thai BL experience).
But... and you knew the but was coming didn't you?
I absolutely hated the ending.
It wasn't sad, don't worry, but it also wasn't good.
There is a long drawn out separations sequence and then Jom returns to the present, drowning from a car accident. Jom is "rescued" by an moustachioed iteration of Yai from the distant past (who we met once before) and then wakes in hospital. Some time later, Jom returns to the house in Chang Mai where Yai turns up and they reunite.
The end.
There is a stinger featuring Jom once more hurled back in time, only further, meeting the warrior mustache Yai once more.
Okay, that's all I knew and all I saw.
Confused? So was I.
If this had been a regular time travel romance: Yai would have been the EMT or doctor attending Jom when he woke up and their "this time period" romance would commence. With either shared memories, or not.
Had this been set up for audience comprehension in line with the original novel, we should have had flashbacks from both Present Yai (he's not the same one, as it turns out) and deep-past Moustache Yai interwoven throughout the series. Preferably with some focus on Present Yai's quest for reunion with Present Jom AND Present Yai's own experience with visions and memory of his past lives.
A full explanation of the ending is here. This explanation of the 3 different Yais makes me like our ending more. But I shouldn't need to read Cliff's notes from some random y-novel reading fan on Tumblr to understand what's going on in a series!
There is supposedly a special happening with Jom + Present Yai.
There was unquestionably a failure in adaptation in the finale of this show.
As a fan and watcher, what I actually felt was deeply confused and hurt.
I also felt that this was a disingenuous un-earned throw away happy ending, since I had no idea who this new Present Yai was and no investment in his character. I simply didn't believe he was the same Yai (Bright is too good an actor, he was clearly a different older personality).
So the fact remains that past Yai, our Yai, the 20 year old boy we grew to understand and love, is abandoned in the past to suffer alone for the rest of his life. And THAT is an unhappy ending for one half of my beloved pair. Yes Jom gets a new Yai in the present day, but it's not the same Yai. They have no developed relationship, and Jom is doomed to leave even this new Yai and slide into the past once more. That's barely even happy for now for Jom's character.
As a result of my deep sadness for 20-year-old Yai in particular, I'm not going to be able to rewatch this show. The whole thing was rendered not just confusing but the opposite of comforting by the final 15 minutes. I'm tempted to dock it two whole points - one for the ending and the other for the lack of rewatch potential.
But the first 11.5 eps were SO GOOD.
This is one of the only times where I am actually hoping for a second season, while simultaneously being wary of the screen writing and production team's capacity to give us a satisfying one.
Industry wise? I honestly don't think we can hope too hard for a full season 2. This was an expensive show with flawed/limited distribution and little sponsorship. I don't see how they'll get funding for a second season. Unless we see this show up on like Netflix or Viki, I urge you not to hope too hard and be disappointed.
In all honestly?
I started typing up this blog post thinking Thailand was finally, after 5 years, going to earn another 10/10 from me but I just can't in good conscious give it that. It's been days and I'm still upset about that last episode.
And Now My Quick Pitch Review
I truly loved this time travel romance. IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but no as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show should easily have earned a 10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls. Argh. Whatever. 9/10
(source)
This post is also in My Drama List as a review.
#I Fell You Linger in the Air#Thai BL#BL review#I have LOTS of thoughts#Filming analysis#historical context#lanaguage and lingsuitic use#BrightNonkul#YaiJom#Tee Bundit
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BLUBBERING SPOILERS BELOW FOR I FEEL YOU LINGER IN THE AIR, EPISODE 12/FINALE:
YEAH. SO. YEAH. SO!
This can't be meta. I don't think I can conjure it. Just blather. I'll try to be sensible. First, a little housekeeping before we start the meeting:
We know there will be a special episode (the preview looks..... LIKE A GODDAMN HOLIDAY GIFT, GAAAAHHH).
Peeps are going back and forth on a second season, and while it seems that Nonkul Chanon blurted it out during the final episode fan meeting (lol you cute, Nonkul), Tee Bundit is rolling back a bit, *likely* due to funding. But seeing social media going absolutely INSANE over this ending, I can't imagine that Dee Hup will have any issue with finding the moolah for a second season -- especially after that after-credits scene, WITH HORSES, WITH MUSTACHES, WITH TATTOOS, WITH ARMOR, the whole thang. Tee let that shit hang all out like that. Warrior-era Thailand, let's m'fing go. That was a hell of a lead into a second season that may not happen, come awn.
Alright, with that out of the way:
I didn't think a show would top Moonlight Chicken for me this year, but IFYLITA is my top new drama of the year (with the HEAVY CAVEAT that I have not seen La Pluie yet -- that's for either after my Old GMMTV Challenge, or just making sure I watch it before year's end).
Part of the reason why I lost my gatdamn mind last week on episode 11 is that Tee Bundit did not interfere with any damn nonsense last week -- he let the episode's story unwind without any noise. He let the emotion roll.
The same light touch (or rather, a lack of interference) happened here, BUT: there was a LOT more happening firstly by way of closing some loops that were open, moving to new loops, and shedding more depth into Jom and Yai's final moments together
We got closure on Yai's dad, who was grumpily like, uhhh, I dunno what happened in my life, but yeah, daughter Eaung Peang, you go have a good life with Maey, crotchety crotch. I think that's the best we could get from politically involved dads of 1928 Chiang Mai. (EP AND MAEY SWINGING THEIR HANDS WHILE WALKING AWAY -- SAAAHHSHAY FROM ALL THAT, LADIES, SASHAY.) It looks like EP's herbal abortion left her safe -- thank goodness. We didn't see James or Ming this episode.
For loops that weren't closed, I'm not complaining, because we got an explanation for how Jom's beloved ones will repeat in his reincarnated futures and pasts, through the explanation of the northern Thai ceremony of having 32 blessings reinstated to you after illness or misfortune (THREE CHEERS for @blmpff for capturing screenshots of this explanation!). (AND THE WHITE THREAD, PEEPS, THE WHITE THREAD, I'm coming back to this in a second.) If we do get a season 2, then I will not be colored surprised if we see Ming and James in different roles. (And, yes. Your bitch here has relaxed on Pat's shooter, finally. My nose was trained on James being a colonialist interferer, but he did good last episode.)
But this episode belonged, of course, to Yai and Jom, their final moments together in 1928 Chiang Mai, saying the slow farewell as Jom slowly disappeared in front of Yai's eyes.
LORD. WHEWWWWWWWWWWWWW. The lacy fabric with which Yai used to cover the mirrors so that Jom wouldn't see himself fade away. The empathy of that. The scene where we heard their lovemaking over the flashbacks montage. WHEW. WHOA. (I did say, to my friend @shortpplfedup, something something Jom started really fading away after that intimate scene and something something had the ontology cough cough outta him, ANYWAY.)
The way that Yai pitched forward when Jom finally disappeared.
AND I MOTHERFUCKING SCREAMED WHEN JOM AND MUSTACHIOED YAI WERE ABOUT TO TOUCH INTO THE WATER AGAIN, AND THEN THE DIVER EMT WAS LIKE, BLOOP I'M HERE AND OH, JOM, YOU'RE ALIVE IN 2023. I yelped in the deli, shit. The way Jom was silently screaming in the water for Yai.
And, so. In the "present" day (present dimension, really), Jom survived that CRAAAAZY car accident (LIKE! WHAT?! He flew out of the car into the water, bros! The magic of fiction, anyway.)
He.......he holds space for Ohm?! Looking BACK on that scene, AFTER we get the explanation of the 32 blessings, we realize: despite Ohm's infidelity and his promise to a new woman, Ohm is still important in Jom's life -- he's still a beloved presence, as he did mean something, for a long time, to Jom. Of course, modern Jom did NOT let a moment to shade Ohm pass him by, oh no. But wasn't that interesting to note? That Jom's dimensions would allow Ohm to be in those dimensions -- that Ohm would be reincarnated through Jom's 32 blessings (at least in the past direction).
You know what I also loved about seeing Jom in his present-day apartment, with the present-day Jeed, Ohm, and Khaimuk (aka Fong Kaew). I LOVED WHAT THAT CASTING, THE SHIFTING OF THE CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATIONS, SAID ABOUT JOM'S PERSPECTIVE OF EQUITY IN 1928 AND 2023.
Jeed is NOT Khun Eaung Peang. Jeed is ALL SASS. But Jeed is YOUNGER than Jom. Jom, in 2023, is P'Jom, with the honorific. Present-day Jom can smack his little sister's head in jest. Jeed can be OUT and SAFE and have a crush on her girl friend, safely, and can ask for her brother's support, OPENLY.
Jom never stopped being Jom, whether it was 2023 pre-accident, 1928, or 2023 post-accident. Jom is comfortable in his own skin, and wants happiness AND EQUITY for the people he loves around him. I love that the casting and characterizations of the incarnations of the characters reflect Jom's state of mind that all people are equal and the same, no matter a fancy honorific or a royally appointed residence.
I screamed at @shortpplfedup when I saw Jom wearing the white thread in bed during the thunderstorm. I stopped, rewound, and saw he was wearing the white thread in the water scene with Warrior Yai. The white thread never left his wrist -- he still has his blessings intact.
And, and, and, back to the house of Palanthip in 2023. Who's the lady of the house? This lady knows Jom's the only one who can open that chest. The chest opens, the drawings are there, THE PICTURE OF THEIR PARTY, AND THE LETTER FROM YAI TO JOM, THE LETTER, THE TEARS, AKSLKDF, AND, AND, AND --
Oh my god, I was crying, y'all. Shit. Just our confident dude, striding in, asking Jom, sweetheart, why are you crying. And Jom jumping into Yai's arms.
I was shaking my head. I mean. I love that we learned that Yai actually HAD HIS OWN BLESSINGS CEREMONY because he was so lost after Jom's departure. WE LEARNED ABOUT THE REST OF YAI'S LIFE. We know, now, that the Yai of 1928 yearned for Jom for the rest of his life. So much so that, at the twilight of the life of 20th-century Yai, that he had the good mind to leave Jom a letter, to let Jom know that his life was a good life, because Jom had been in it. To let Jom know that Yai's love had never faded away.
AND THEN THAT YAI CAME BACK TO JOM.
Jom, dude, you're a good dude, for these good people to be coming back to you, in dimension after dimension. That monk was right.
I told you this was just blathering; I can try to put some sensible thoughts together in a few days, but the structure of this story, the empathy of this story, the way this story was leveraged by drama and romance and HOPE. I mean. This series was utterly fantastic.
I know there's the lifelong debate of whether or not BLs "count" as queer media, and in many, many instances, they do. But since I've had the disappointment of Only Friends and GMMTV on my mind lately, I had to note, mentally, particularly during the lovemaking scene, and during the closure of this episode, that Tee really fucking handed it to anyone who criticizes BL as a not-as-sophisticated drama genre.
And you know what? I also wanna say that Tee fucking handed it to GMMTV as well. I am so DAMN glad this series was airing when Only Friends was airing. While Only Friends sat on the opportunity to present progressive ideas on queer love and queer community, IFYLITA ROLLED right into it.
(I'll ask @lurkingshan to fact-check me on the following:) Because this series was a historical drama with a queer romance centering it, I think Tee Bundit could feel free from the chains of BL tropes and expectations to do something truly singular. I felt that what I was watching was cinematic, it was moving, it was strikingly emotional, particularly because I felt that this show was showing me something that transcended any viewer's expectations of what we should be watching, as opposed to, say, a BL set in an office like Tee's Step By Step. Where that show fumbled was in the show itself not knowing if it was a workplace drama or a BL-centric romance.
IFYLITA knew what it was: a historical drama, certainly centering romance, but also balancing conversations about equity and wealth disparities across eras. With that uncomplicated centering, I think Tee Bundit made an absolutely BRILLIANT show, and it fucking WORKED.
I will scream to anyone who'll hear me. If you haven't watched I Feel You Linger In The Air yet, do it, PLEASE PLEASE. Y'all know I am an Aof Noppharnach girlie for life, and I LIVE FOR MOONLIGHT CHICKEN, I DO, I DO, all of my Asian references in MLC and the food and everything, god I loved that show, but --
IFYLITA was a cinematic masterpiece. Full stop. All hail @neuroticbookworm and @lurkingshan for telling me to keep with it after my Step By Step-PTSD. This show was worth every last minute I spent watching and writing on it.
Season 2, Warrior Yai, let's get him a better mustache -- let's FUCKING GO, BABIES.
P.S. BRIGHT AND NONKUL FOR LIFE, FOR LIFE!!!!!!! THE ACTING!!!!!! MY GOD!!!!!
#i feel you linger in the air#ifylita#best show of the year#tee bundit#bright rapheephong#nonkul chanon#i feel you linger in the air meta#ifylita meta
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Photos from I Feel You Linger In The Air Pilot Filming
#i feel you linger in the air#bright rapheephong#nonkul chanon#ifylita#dee hup house#deehup#tee bundit
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I fucking love that Zo was able to tell Joke to let him deal with Puen without Joke's help, and I fucking love even more that Joke LISTENED, EVEN when Puen put his hands on Zo. Joke was watchful, but he let Zo drive the conversation. So so so good to see.
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I'm not gonna lie, this scene
took me back to this scene
which is a canary-in-the-coalmine signal in my books.
Egoistical fathers don't have a change of heart in a matter of minutes. Docile wives don't become rebellious at a drop of a dime.
Most of these shows tend to get the pain and suffering inflicted on the characters due to familial trauma extremely right, but can never seem to achieve a satisfying yet relatable healing journey for them. And the ones that get it right end up on the top of the genre and become milestones in the media landscape.
#i was not expecting to have a double savage war flashback today#don't get me wrong ifylita is not nearly as bad as double savage#but this is still a pretty significant wobble#tee is rushing to wrap up the social politics threads so he can move on to the time travel ones#and it shows#i feel you linger in the air#ifylita#tee bundit#double savage
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Meena 🤝 Jeng
Dreaming up their entire wedding with Cherine and Pat before they even started dating
#step by step the series#show me love the series#step by step text#smlts text#and the fact that#tee bundit#directed both of this shows really says something 😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺
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Build-a-BL: Director Round 2 Match 1
Confirmed Elements:
Country of Origin: Thailand
Genre: Heist
Secondary Genre: Detective
Primary Location: Night Market
#bl bracket#bl drama#bl shows#build a bl#jojo tichakorn#ma-deaw chookit#nuchy anucha#aof noppharnach#golf tanwarin#tee bundit
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I Feel You Linger in the Air is Fucking Beautiful
There may have been some story wobbles, a bit of rushing towards the finish line in today's episode. But, GODDAMN is Tee so fucking smart for the lenses he puts on his characters through the cinematography.
We've been seeing this recurring visual motif of either Jom or Yai being blurred behind the bed screen. Constantly foreshadowing their inevitable separation. And today, knowing now that the episode ends with Jom's reflection fading away, I just...
want to...
SCREAM
Yai is in love with a ghost, he's fallen in love with a ghost. Jom has been haunted this entire time by the ghost of his future self, while Yai was busy falling in love with a spirit he cannot hold forever. It's just such beautiful fucking visual storytelling. It hits every single time. We are ten episodes in, Tee has used this type of visual in practically every episode, and I have not even once gotten tired of it.
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This is relevant to Thai BL. Trust me.
Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite authors. One of my favorite genres used to be hardcore cyberpunk dystopian sci-fi — then we began living in it. This is not the cyberdystopia I was promised, tbh.
Anyhow — no matter how much I love Stephenson, he can't write an ending to save his life.
Tee Bundit and his screenwriting crew are the Neal Stephensons of Thai BL. This is two for two in a row from him.
Hidden Agenda's ending just kind of ran a race and then abruptly... Happened? Step By Step was the one before this. There was a time skip, you were expected to infer what their lives were like, etc. Maybe it works for some people, and that's great! Not everything is going to work for everyone.
My only other minor complaint is there's a bunch of weird side arcs / plots that don't really serve the main plot (stalker, etc) which could have been easily removed to give us something more in depth with either JengPok or some more JokeZo.
I still really loved the series, I will still recommend it, and was still one of my favorites of this year. I enjoyed nearly every episode.
The characters he and his team create are fully formed humans with their own lives and motivations, even the side characters. We don't even get that with main characters in many dramas.
P'Tee pulled amazing things out of JoongDunk and AouBoom that no other director has been able to. He is so, so talented in many ways. I just need to temper my expectations on the ending of a series as they don't work for me personally.
#tee bundit#hidden agenda#joong archen#dunk natachai#aou thanaboon#boom tharatorn#Great stuff#You should watch it
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I know some of y'all are not feeling Step by Step and disliked Lovely Writer, Something in my Room, and Magic of Zero. I'm not questioning it. Different strokes for different folks, but . . .
Fair Warning
JoongDunk + Director Tee = Me being peak annoying starting Sunday.
Mi gente, I'm warning you right now that I will be so irritating because between Tee's hard lines
With his way of showing repression
Or closeted desire
And Tee's constant need to say something, like the Black Power and PUNK posters in the background of this promo image
Mostly when he told us he had things to say in Hidden Agenda
Added on top of JoongDunk
Means y'all are going to be SICK
OF
ME!
I love y'all,
but you will hate me.
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Step By Step this week got me rewatching the last 3 eps of Lovely Writer for clues.
#step by step#step by step the series#lovely writer#lovely writer the series#thematic twins#maybe structurally similar too?#tee bundit
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A little bit more on I Feel You Linger In The Air (reincarnation, the novel version, and more)...
I am back home and recovering from a somewhat INSANELY stressful work trip (WHEW! TIRED!), and I've missed writing meta oh so very much, BUT! A couple of things will be happening in my meta life soon: The Old GMMTV Challenge Bad Buddy Meta Month starts next week (FINALLY, EEE!), Last Twilight starts tomorrow, the Den-Panuwat-penned-and-Only-Friends-adjacent series Playboyy starts next week -- we got a lot going on.
AND, AND! AND! I did myself something good while I was away. I HOUSED the novel version of I Feel You Linger in the Air, because, BECAUSE! I still can't help screaming mentally about that finale -- even though reading the novel actually made me realize that episode 12 of IFYLITA was a touch redundant.
Related to the IFYLITA novel and series: I got an ask in my inbox that somehow disappeared (@porjomkwan, if you're still out there -- thank you for the ask!) that asked about my thoughts on the theme of reincarnation in IFYLITA, and cited this fabulous post and reblog by @tipsyjaehyun and @clairedaring about this theme. Tipsy and Claire covered the majority of the ground that the drama series captures regarding reincarnation -- in particular, the GORGEOUS focus on the northern Thai blessing ceremony that calls back to a human host the 32 spirits that a host carries with them throughout their life/lives. Those spirits can be incarnated and/or reincarnated within repeated and/or beloved figures of the host's memories and reincarnated lives. (That explains why people like Ohm and Kaimook, in Jom's present life, are reincarnated as Khamsean and Fong Kaew in Jom's life of 1928 Chiang Mai. And it explains how Jom can continue to be called to different eras involving Yai, from Commander/Warrior/Mustache Yai of ancient Thailand, to 1928 Chiang Mai Khun Yai, to present-day Chiang Mai Yai Kanthorn.)
@clairedaring notes in their reblog that in the novel, the foundational theme of reincarnation AND of Jom and Yai being forever bound to each other is confirmed, directly and heavily, by Commander Yai. Claire quotes from the novel Commander/Warrior Yai speaking to Jom :
"Jom-Jao, listen, though you are fated to be apart from me, my love will never fade, and it will follow you like a holy spirit, protecting you in my place. No matter where fate brings you, no matter the danger you encounter, may those misfortunes fall upon my spirit instead of yours."
I want to confirm that this is my understanding and experience of the centering and grounding of reincarnation in the series as well (@porjomkwan, this answers your question to me!). And, this very much speaks to what I understand was a gentle criticism by Thai audiences towards the show as this season of the show ended -- because the Commander Yai period really sets in stone what Jom can expect for the rest of his live(s) regarding having Yai in his life again in another time period. In which case, I agree HEAVILY with @clairedaring that IFYLITA absolutely needs a season 2, because that Commander Yai period is so definitive of how this first season gets contextualized in the end of the entire piece.
A couple of other quick notes on the novel before I move to a comparative final point:
1) JOM. JOM IS A SASSY B IN THE NOVEL. DAMN! I honestly think Nonkul Chanon could DEF handle being a touch more sassy. "I'm a grown-ass man," Jom says at one point. Yes, you ARE, HONEY! Sassy B Jom courting and standing up to Commander Yai? It was a WONDERFUL story line. (BTW, the quality of the writing of the IFYLITA Y novel was, as expected, wanting, especially by way of a fan translation. But I have to agree with fans of the novel from Thailand and elsewhere, that the story itself was SOLID.)
2) The history behind the Commander Yai period is FABULOUS to learn about. (@tipsyjaehyun has some context about the various eras of Yai here, if you don't mind a few novel spoilers.) In particular, I spent a LOT of minutes reading about the lengthy reign of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Thailand, and just -- as an Asian and an Asian-American watching Thai shows, getting deep into this reminds me of my own accountability and responsibility for trying to grasp what an average Thai viewer will bring by way of education-based historical awareness into shows like IFYLITA. This long Wikipedia article is a must read if you want to go deeper into IFYLITA context!
3) My third point on the novel leads into what I quickly want to note by way of at least one comparison to another show that did reincarnation themes differently, but also beautifully, by way of an original Y novel.
Until We Meet Again is a permanent FAVE of mine -- and it captures reincarnation, at least a different style of it, within its drama context. In UWMA's context, a red thread tied between the passed bodies of the lovers Korn and Intouch ensures that their spirits will find each other again in the future.
As noted within UWMA, different Asian cultures have different reads on the meaning of the red thread, from China, to Thailand, to elsewhere. This article notes northwestern and Vietnamese beliefs regarding the red thread, and this Wikipedia article notes the Chinese origins of the myths of the red thread. (Remember than in IFYLITA, the blessing ceremony of calling 32 spirits back to a host is cited as being from northern Thailand -- meaning, many of these myths, legends, and practices are utterly regional, and very tied to specific regional cultures that we can learn more about as viewers. Super cool.)
In UMWA, Korn's and Intouch's spirits inhabit other bodies -- namely, Dean's and Pharm's personages. And Dean and Pharm take on some characteristics of the spirits they provide a home to, and, even more interestingly -- Dean's and Pharm's OWN behaviors reflect the regrets and/or resistances that Korn and Intouch bear to each other, with Korn's spirit being far more forward with love than he was when he was alive; and Intouch's spirit being far more fearful of that love, knowing in the end where his love led to -- their deaths.
In IFYLITA, we see Yai's spirit being reborn essentially into different version of Yai, and all of them called Yai. In the novel, Jom treats all of these Yais as Yais that he can fall in love with -- he is in love with all of them, because the spirit of Yai is essentially a singular spirit being reborn into various different versions of the body of Yai (quick spoiler: the modern-day Yai is only half-Thai).
I happen to REALLY love these various interpretations of reincarnation between these shows, and certainly many, many more shows and movies across Asia that touch upon reincarnation as an essential theme of HOPE, of love, of joy. The various ways in which these practices are regarded, from Buddhism, to Hinduism, to Shintoism, and other Asian spiritual practices, are fascinating to learn about, including their regional variances. And they speak very much to me as an Asian, as to how I learn about cultural practices, nuances, and mores. (A comparative cultural example is how food -- like, say, a dish like Hainanese chicken rice -- differs among Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.)
But also, as an Asian watching shows like UWMA and IFYLITA -- I *know* that when I'm watching a show that's based on spirit reincarnation, that I'm not necessarily watching a "sad" show. I remember, of the day dramas of Japan and Korea that I watched when I was younger, that I absorbed better understandings of ancestor worship and elder respect. If a house had an altar with a picture of a passed-on elderly relative -- surely it was understood that that relative had passed away and one could be sad about it. But their spirit is meant to be honored at the altar, and especially in Japanese and Korean family dramas with these kinds of scenes, you can see characters speaking to the pictures of those who have passed on, having conversations, and being the subject of annual ceremonies of honoring the dead.
In other words, what I utterly LOVED about the IFYLITA novel -- and what I truly hope a season 2 will capture -- is that the Yais of the various eras were not despondent when Jom left them. Those Yais knew that a future Yai would experience Jom again. Korn and Intouch knew their spirits would meet again one day: it was Dean and Pharm that needed to come together to make that happen.
I wrote quite a bit about the Asian cinematic tradition of sad and/or open-ended endings in my review of The Love of Siam, and I think one reason why I absolutely cannot shake IFYLITA from my system -- and even UWMA, too, although UWMA has a confirmed happy ending -- is that IFYLITA is utterly reflective of this practice of the open-ended ending, at least for the show's first season, because we KNOW, through reincarnation, that Jom WILL encounter Yai again. If you read the novel, you know that Commander Yai promises this. But even if you don't read the novel, and we never get a season 2 -- to see Yai Kanthorn strolling right into Jom's arms, without very much other context, is enough, at least for an Asian audience, to know that the spirits did their thing again. Dramatically, I do think the finale could use more finessing (cc @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm, to whom I said this when I finished the novel), but now that I have the novel's context, I know HOW the finale could have been improved.
I took this ask as a major excuse to just unwind more and more on a piece that I totally loved in IFYLITA, and I hope to heck that we get a second season. I am thrilled that I made IFYLITA my debut into Y series reading, because the story is just so solid, and as I often say about my really beloved shows -- IFYLITA does not shy away from being rooted in assumed knowledge about cultural practices that an Asian audience can automatically check into. It really felt familiar and homey to watch this incredibly made and well-told story about an enduring romance, and I'm so appreciative that IFYLITA will be a show I'll be holding close as this year closes out -- a year that started off on the strongest Asian note with the fabulous Moonlight Chicken. MLC and IFYLITA encapsulating 2023 for Asian audiences? We were fed really, really well.
#i feel you linger in the air#i feel you linger in the air meta#ifylita#ifylita meta#tee bundit#asian themes in asian shows#reincarnation in dramas#reincarnation in asian dramas#nonkul chanon#bright rapheephong#moonlight chicken
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The Storyboard: Interview with the Dee Hup House director Tee Bundit - On IFYLITA's budget and his passion for IFYLITA
So P'Tum has invited director Tee Bundit for the second episode of The Storyboard where they talked in length about a variety of Tee Bundit's works. There were a lot of interesting tidbits about I Feel You Linger In The Air so I've compiled them here for all the IFYLITA enthusiasts.
All translations below done by my dear friend saltymarbles on Twitter, please give her a follow if you're interested in IFYLITA and Bright Rapheephong-related content.
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On his filming schedule in 2023
Last year, P’Tee was working everyday up till about the ending second half of the year. There was Hidden Agenda, Step by Step & IFYLITA. If he wasn’t on set, he’d be working on post-production. So he had little rest & sleep. To him, although just letting go of the matter doesn’t always improve the situation, sometimes he has to lower his expectations to move on. So last year (2023) he was in quite a bit of a ‘screw it’ kind of era.
Regarding his series for 2024 (I Saw You in My Dream, Jack & Joker), he feels really anxious because they (YinWar) already have many fans. Honestly, for him, it’s always hard when it comes to expectations. When working on projects based on novels with many fans, it’s more stressful and tiring than usual because there’s people already awaiting the series and keeping an eye on it.
I had compiled the filming queues of Dee Hup House last year in this table and as you can see Tee was working at full speed and filming multiple series at the same time..
On the differences of being on set for IFYLITA vs Hidden Agenda
P’Tee said that he had to adjust himself while on set for these two series because JoongDunk are very playful kids. On set for IFYLITA, it’s very work centric and go-go-go which works for the actors. But for Hidden Agenda, he needed to adjust himself to play along with the actors to make them feel less stressed so they can work better.
On Bright-Nonkul & IFYLITA
Tee: They’re a pair that I’ve wanted to work with, with each person, for a year. For Bright, when he knew that he needed to act with Non and needed to act in a period drama, he did his homework very seriously. Because this was his first time playing a main character and he also felt a lot of passion for portraying this role. Both of them actually, this pair felt that they wanted to act in something like this and I too felt that this was good so I got them to come for casting because both of them needed to cast together, in the sense that we needed to see their chemistry together.
They’re already really talented. One person is talented and the other is too. Even though Bright has never had a project in which he was the lead actor before, he has already learnt acting. Yeah and he did his own homework too. Meaning that they both read the novel properly and they actually also discussed with us about numerous things too with regards to whether we were on the same page about the characters.
On BrightNon & Boardgames
Tee: When Bright-Non are together, at first they were a little shy. They started to click after the first half was over. Both of them like playing games. We were like why didn’t you say this at the start so that we could let them play games from the first day. Because at first they were just there to work and work and work.
At first, it was really tense until we started playing games together. When we were done playing, we were really enjoying it a lot. It almost became like immediately after finishing acting in scene, they continued playing immediately because Non also brought cards to play.
MC: Brought boardgames and whatsoever
Tee: They continued playing games. Non also has his own ‘band’ when it comes to boardgames like ‘Come on! It’s noon already let’s play together’
MC: But it still looks balanced because the storyline is quite serious, meaning that it’s quite stressful so (it’s good) to enjoy a little.
Tee: It came in the period of the later half of filming. It went to the extent of meeting after finishing filming to play games together. It’s like ‘Is there a games party today? But there’s filming tomorrow’
MC: But it was like ‘let’s just do it first, it’s alright’
Tee: We would finish filming at 11pm, 12am.
MC: But they would still play right?
Tee: Yes it was like ‘let’s go play. who’s room tonight?’ Because that day, we were filming in another province. We played until 2-3am and woke up at 5am because everyone liked playing games so much. When we woke up in the morning, everyone had bloodshot eyes.
We didn’t sleep enough but in the end, everyone fights till the death because it’s still a matter of work and our jobs. I really like the moments where everyone is enjoying together as opposed to being tense. When we’re tense, we’ll be overly stressed because the series is already a stressful one like filming taking longer than expected because IFYLITA took nearly 40 queues.
On what made director Tee choose to do IFYLITA
Tee: There were some people which had reviewed this novel on social media which I follow. And I went to read about 2-3 lines to use as an example. Sh*t… the way they speak, the language used, was so sweet. It was a dialogue like 2470 in an era then, it made me feel shy again. It made me feel it was so cute from the courting stage.
In the present day, it had another kind of cuteness too. But when I went to look at that era, the cuteness arose again. And I had never seen any BL series which were period dramas. I felt like ‘I need to do it’. It was a project that if I talked about it, people would likely want to watch. So I thought about it but didn’t speak about it yet because if I spoke about it but didn’t follow through, it would be like…(no words)… So I contacted Khun Violet Rain first, to reserve it first, not to sell it to anyone else, let me find money to invest first. It was until a year passed.
On director Tee's passion for IFYLITA
MC: Omg! So your passion back then was like ‘whatever it is, it must happen’.
Tee: I had maximum passion like ‘whatever I need to do, I’ll do it’ it was like, I’ll fork out first. In my heart, I was thinking ‘It must become popular’ and thinking that ‘there will probably be someone to sponsor me’. It was to the point I didn’t think of the problems in the future that it’s possible that it might not become popular in the future. At that time I was just thinking ‘let’s do it let’s do it let’s do it’ and that we could sell merchandise, do fan meetings. At that time everything was surely possible and get the invested amount back. It was like I was hypnotised.
On the budget of IFYLITA
Tee: At first I thought that it would be fast (to get the budget for IFYLITA), that I would be able to do it, it was already a year but in the end, I still couldn’t. There were some problems preventing things from happening. With regards to budget and other things so it changed production company. This was something that stressed the people working on this series. It felt like a loss and it was like ‘shit what should we do’. This project is so freaking expensive.
MC: It can be seen from the setting, from the period genre
Tee: There’s no more capital. We bought it, we bought it for ourselves first and kept it first. We wanted to do it and still wanted to do it then. We needed to find investors who wanted to do this with us and could support us. I couldn’t come up with 100% (of the capital). Then, I had thoughts of just loaning, salvaging what I could.
On the objective of the Special EP of IFYLITA
!!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!! SKIP THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED
Tee: Following the title of the series, the problem that we encountered was that we knew we would have to make the Special Episode in a way that says “thank you” for the people who still miss IFYLITA so that gave rise to the special EP.
I thought with the writing team that it cannot clash with the original story in a way that would cause problems. We thought about numerous ways to do it but we felt that those ways clashed and created problems with the original story.
Being unable to go back (to 1927) is also not possible because we’ve already made it such that Jom has returned to the present time. To save the feelings of the people who read or watched IFYLITA, we let Khun Yai come back in a special way, like what if Khun Yai were to have to live in present day, how would he live his life? What would he be excited about? What fun things would happen? And thus, it became the special EP.
In the end, there’s still a need to insert the feelings of the novel a little bit, in the sense of not allowing him (Khun Yai) to be here forever. He experiences happiness but we felt that in the end, we wanted it to follow the plot in which is still a little sad. In the way that there isn’t a happy ending. We wanted everyone to have some feelings of happiness but in the end, needing for these feelings to come to an end.
MC: that the truth is indeed the truth
Tee: Yes, something to that extent — following the feelings of the story. This is so that if there’s a future or something like that, it would be possible to continue the story. A future in which we would be able to see the real ending of the novel. But regarding that, we don’t have any plans yet.
MC: Okay, so to viewers, Tee has said that there isn’t plans yet. Let’s see what the future holds.
Tee: Let’s wait like Jom. Many of the fans have asked and to that I’d say, please wait like Jom.
MC: Ohhh that’s too much. When watching the special EP, at the end, I’d ask for something to heal my heart at least like for example, that there was the doll that Khun Yai left behind. But there was nothing at all. Not a hint. So I felt really sad.
On IFYLITA: Expected Results vs Reality
Tee: If you had asked me then, if I had came up with 100% of the capital and currently experience a business loss, it would be a great loss. If there wasn’t any investors to support then, we would definitely need to close down Deehup.
MC: It would definitely hurt.
Tee: We would’ve needed to work and used this to the max.
MC: Because you devoted yourself to it.
Tee: Because it did get reception. I feel that it was good but in the end, it didn’t follow according to what I had expected in numerous ways. It’s not just about the series having a lot of viewers or it becoming popular or becoming no.1 trending on X every Friday. I don’t mean it as in it 100% or having increasing viewership or other countries buying the rights. There’s no guarantee.
Tee: There are many ways to look at it. It is the entire after-sale process in this period of two years that could happen. About this, if you ask me now it has been a year but actually if you ask me about getting back the money, it takes about two years.
Tee: We need to find more money in a year after the series has aired. (t/n: Tee most likely alluding to the fact that they have another year after the series end to make a return on the investment, and to gauge whether it's worth it doing SS2)
MC: It’s about maintaining and whether after this, it can be developed further or added to.
Tee: This is the feeling of someone who does not have the support of a very big company to invest. There’s always a sense of riskiness whenever we have to come up with money or investment. At that time, I was feeling bold, I was a kid with the strength and passion. So I invested money to make the pilot to see how it’d be before we had the opportunity to talk with YYDS, our partner which worked with us.
Some people may not know that IFYLITA has been in the works around the time Dee Hup made Lovely Writer so when Tee said he had reserved this work he was referring to his ambitious self of a few years ago. This might be more well known fact to KaoUp or Lovely Writer fans because Tee hinted about KaoUp playing in a BL period series, specifically this one a while after LW ended but it never came to fruition. And as we now know from Tee's sharing, IFYLITA was definitely in pre-production limbo for a while due to a lack of investors and budget, with Tee spending out of his own pocket to make the pilot.
I really appreciated Director Tee Bundit sharing his insights into the pre-production of IFYLITA. I think IFYLITA is a very underrated series due to this niche genre and I completely understand Tee being traumatized from his being too ambitious and overconfident to take on such a challenging project without actual financial backing. This does kind of mean that IFYLITA S2 is nowhere near soon but I still have hope that eventually more folks will discover this hidden gem of a series because there's just so much dedication and love being put into this series and you will feel it as you watch the series.
#my writing#i feel you linger in the air#ifylita#tee bundit#bright rapheephong#nonkul chanon#mine#thai bl#bl series
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