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thebroccolination · 1 year

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Back in January of 2021, I made a thread on Twitter praising SOTUS S, so I'm gonna post it here for safekeeping (with some inclusions and edits – there's no character limit here yay) because it's still one of my favorite threads.

SOTUS S - One of My Favorite Series in Terms of Writing and Why I Love It as Much as I Do

One of my favorite aspects of SOTUS S is also something I see it widely critiqued for, so lemme heap some well-deserved praise on my beloved series.

I think Arthit's awkward, uncomfortable, and almost cold behavior is realistic, because That's the Point.

Allow me to explain.

Okay, so here's the timeline as I understand it:

• SOTUS takes place during Kongphob's first year and Arthit's third • The special scenes at the end of SOTUS S episodes are during Kongphob's first/second year and Arthit's third/fourth year • The main storyline of SOTUS S is set during Kongphob's third year as head hazer and Arthit's post-graduation entry into the working world

The reason I start by outlining that is to highlight a brilliant thing SOTUS S does with two timelines compared to SOTUS, which only has one:

SOTUS S shows us two very different stages of their relationship.

When they were in university together and part of the same world:

and

2. After they've been separated into different worlds:

That difference fuels and contextualizes the central conflict of SOTUS S: Arthit closeting himself and his relationship from his coworkers.

So why does he do that?

Well, Arthit is two years older than Kongphob, and when they start dating, he already has an established level of status at their university. He has a close circle of friends who stand up for him and sacrifice for him, he has the respect of his juniors and seniors, and he also maintains a high academic standing. It tracks that Arthit at this stage of his life is at his most open and confident with his relationship with Kongphob. Everyone knows, and he's fine.

At the end of SOTUS, he happily tells everyone that they're dating. This is immediately after they've publicly exchanged a matching set of bracelets that Arthit bought to replace the SOTUS string.

When Kongphob's car breaks down, Arthit shuttles Kongphob to his next class on the back of his bike. Kongphob asks if he can hold onto him, Arthit says no, and then he only smirks and shakes his head when Kongphob cheekily holds onto him anyway. (It's what they're into, don't kinkshame them.)

While talking about an upcoming meteor shower, Arthit's immediate reaction to Kongphob telling him they won't be able to see it in Bangkok is to earnestly suggest they take a trip to see one together.

And when Kongphob is absolutely delighted, this delights Arthit.

When Kongphob keeps up his "but I wanna see the meteor shower" bit, Arthit offers to take him to the planetarium.

At which point, Kongphob just goes in for the move he intended from the start:

This is why Arthit's reluctant to ever give in: there's no game of chicken Kongphob would ever lose at.

Then Arthit actually gets his own extremely rare Uno Reverse moment:

I fuckin' love this scene. Look at Kongphob's face. This is, like, the thousandth time he's envisioning their engagement, wedding, and honeymoon simultaneously.

(Did I have to go through that whole scene to prove any kind of point? NOPE. I just really like it. They're idiots. <3)

In another scene that I interpret as shortly following SOTUS and the start of their relationship, Kongphob hurts his foot and Arthit offers to carry him on his back. The way Kongphob looks up at him is like a knife in my heart; and then when Arthit actually follows through and carries him, he's so happy.

He also surprises Kongphob with a gift on Valentine's Day in the middle of campus in broad daylight. He finished his work early purely to see Kongphob. I think he's genuinely one of the most devoted boyfriends we see in all of Thai BL.

While they're at university together, Arthit's never closed off about their relationship. Everyone knows they're dating, and Arthit does not mind. (I mean, he was the first to approach Kongphob when Kongphob was visiting their university, after all. He also initiated their first kiss. Grabbed him by the tie, even.)

The thing is, Arthit is also shy. He's pretty well-established as an introvert who intellectually understands the SOTUS system, but he isn't naturally good with people, and it leads to all the issues with the system that we see in SOTUS. In his defense, though, we do find out that it was even worse when he was a first-year, and he is actively trying to do a better job. He's just, y'know, obsessed with 0062 and probably doesn't know anyone else's name. (I kid, but…do I though. Do you, Arthit. Speak up.)

In the main storyline of SOTUS S, though, Arthit is closed off. He does mind. He's afraid. So much more than he ever was before. And why?

Because he's left the world where he was known and respected and loved. That's the world Kongphob still lives in. When Arthit comes back to campus for the string-tying ceremony to support Kongphob, he's in Kongphob's safe space, not his. It isn't where Arthit belongs anymore, and it's clear from his body language that he knows it.

His new world, his new community, is at work. In sales. As an introvert. It's a department where he doesn't feel comfortable, one he actively wants to transfer out of. In this series, he's not an introvert in a position of power like he was in SOTUS; instead, he's an introvert on the bottom rung of a company. He came from a world where cogs are treasures that represent the heart to a world where cogs are cheap and replaceable because they're a dime a dozen.

This is why SOTUS S is mostly from Arthit's perspective: in SOTUS, Kongphob was the one in a new world figuring out his place there. By taking away Arthit's comfort zone, he's the one who has to confront his flaws and improve.

One of my favorite scenes is in episode one. Arthit is out to dinner with his new coworkers, and he's only given ONE opportunity to talk about his boyfriend naturally. His coworker asks indirectly if he has a significant other, and he's nervous but ready to say yes—and then just as he starts to speak, he's cut off, and the courage visibly drains out of him.

That's it. He's pressured himself back into the closet.

No one at that table said anything negative about queer people. No one gave him even a hint that they would be prejudiced against him, but he's in a new place and he's already so shy he's made faster friends with Bonus, the office fish. That's the flaw he has to overcome: he overthinks, and then he spirals. (He does it in Our Skyy too, which I love because fears often manifest in different ways, and it can take years to fully overcome them. Arthit does grow and change over time, but he's still inherently shy and anxious, and he's never framed by the narrative as in the wrong for that. He's only ever framed to be wrong for the harmful decisions he makes as a result of his fear.)

We saw him spiral in SOTUS when he admitted to Knot his fears about a potential future relationship with Kongphob. Kongphob absently mentioned his niece to Arthit one time and Arthit sent himself into a tailspin thinking he'd never be enough for Kongphob because they'd never be able to have biological kids so obviously Kongphob would resent him for it so why even start anything when their relationship would inevitably end in a fiery plane crash at the base of a smallish mountain in the Himalayas.

You can almost hear Arthit's mind working during that restaurant scene: he's new in a department he doesn't feel suited to, he's on the bottom rung, he doesn't understand certain office protocols that have already gotten him yelled at by a very senior supervisor, and his senior John is actively taking advantage of his kindness and politeness using the excuse of sharing the same alma mater (the memories of which Arthit loves and cherishes, and where he met the person he loves most). Now, because he didn't speak up when it was natural to, he feels he has to hide his relationship, too. And why not? What if they are bigoted? What if they do think less of him? What if he never gets a place in the production department? What if what if what if.

And that's on top of what Kongphob says to M at the start of the series: that they hardly see each other because of Arthit's job and Kongphob's hazing activities. We see in a shot that's framed through Kongphob's perspective that Arthit seems tired and disheartened even when he's with his friends after work. This is why I love the writing in SOTUS S: it's a Big Fish in a Small Pond Becomes Small Fish in a Big Ocean story. (His company is even called Ocean Electric, which is probably a coincidence but still amuses me. And again, he makes friends with a small fish in a bowl.)

It's also at its core a story about how an openly queer character loses their confidence when they enter the working world. And boy do I have experience with that, so this series hits a very deep chord for me.

Okay, back to SOTUS S. To Kongphob, specifically.

We're shown that Kongphob doesn't realize how much things between them are changing. He still lives in the safety of their university where he's head hazer, where Arthit was his boyfriend and a senior he and everyone else admired. Through no fault of his own, Kongphob probably can't conceive of Arthit feeling afraid the way he is.

When he shows up at Arthit's office, this is probably no different in his mind to meeting Arthit somewhere on campus after class. And thanks to the post-episode scenes of their past, we see how close they were before Arthit graduated, how much time they spent together. For Arthit to panic and tell him with annoyance, "You should have told me before you came here," it's no wonder Kongphob is taken aback and obviously hurt.

But because Arthit is still near the start of his character arc, Arthit won't tell him what he's feeling. I'd venture a guess that it's mostly pride. He's two years older than Kongphob, and while Arthit repeatedly makes the choice to use polite Thai pronouns with Kongphob that equalize them more and put them on more even ground with each other, he still feels responsible for him and their relationship. (It isn't made clear in the series, but the SOTUS S novel explains that the biggest part of why he's dismayed when he sees the portrait of Kongphob's family is that, again, he spirals and panics about their relationship potentially hurting Kongphob, who in Arthit's eyes now has much more to lose through bigotry than he does.)

Instead of confiding in Kongphob, Arthit asks for advance warning in the future. Not because he's afraid of being outed—his actual fear—but for practical reasons that don't sound unreasonable (he might be out or meeting with a client), so Kongphob accepts his explanation and doesn't question him.

The scene after this is crucial, because it shows that while Arthit's taken a hit in how he acts publicly, he's still devoted and affectionate privately. They have dinner together, Arthit gives Kongphob head hazer advice, accepts Kongphob's invitation to attend a hazer event and visibly just enjoys goofing off with him. Arthit adores Kongphob, and he shows him in his own way where he's comfortable.

And of course, Kongphob isn't perfect, either. He has his own communication issues, he oversteps Arthit's boundaries just like he did in SOTUS, and he considers everything thoroughly before he ever brings it up to Arthit. He's gone from an upstart first-year who questioned everything Arthit did, to the one who's holding their relationship together by taking on every obstacle for both of them, which ends in his emotional collapse later. He even refuses to cry in front of Arthit (in ALL THREE iterations of SOTUS).

That's what makes their relationship feel so authentic to me. They're both at fault by not talking about what's going wrong, and it's relatable and painful because we're shown that they're just trying to protect themselves and each other. In every iteration of SOTUS, Arthit's biggest fear is that their relationship will negatively affect Kongphob, and Kongphob's is…losing Arthit.

The problem has never been that Kongphob and Arthit don't love each other enough.

The problem is that both of them keep trying to take the lead from each other until their biggest fears bring out their worst flaws: Kongphob pushes, and Arthit runs.

It's why their resolution at the office party is so perfect, even if it had to give lethal doses of secondhand embarrassment to some members the audience. (Good job, Arthit, no one'll even remember the beach photo now.) This scene addresses both of their fears simultaneously, because they're intertwined: Arthit chooses to prioritize his relationship above all else, and by doing so, he proves to Kongphob that he won't lose him. He doesn't just apologize and say he'll do better: he takes a bat to the emergency glass and says, "There. Now we're public again."

And luckily Kongphob's, y'know. Very into that.

Arthit reclaims that confidence he had back in university in a scene that parallels the rooftop party in SOTUS, but now it's not just in front of their peers: it's before the world.

#kiranokira meta #sotus meta #sotus the series #kongart #kongarthit #krist perawat #singto prachaya #i always wanted to add more to the thread but twitter doesn't work like that #ahhhh i could talk about kongart all day i love them so much #sotus sotus sotus [cheerful chanting]

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