Sometimes I coast into this happy, glowing daze, and when I trace all these golden filaments around me to their source, I find my little shining harbor of queer love in media.
As a kid, I only knew queer stories run through with anguish and regret and shame. Reality echoed the same. The gnarled pain of AIDS lingered in everything, and I learned the term “gay panic” from headlines when it was used as a defense for murder.
I started reading the end of novels and watching the last scene of a movie or TV show. Generally, if the queer characters didn’t die, their happiness did.
When I was a teenager on the cusp of realizing my queerness, I craved stories about queer characters who not only got to live at the end of their stories, but queer characters who got to fall in love without punishment. Who got to the last page or the last scene and got to rest in bliss.
I watched shows like Queer as Folk in secret. I sought out any hint of queerness in shows around the world. I wrote queerness in fic where I wished it had been in canon.
When I watched Until We Meet Again in 2020, I couldn’t believe it was real. I devoured SOTUS after that, and Dark Blue Kiss, and Gameboys, and I Told Sunset About You. These queer stories where no one died. Where no one was punished by the narrative for being queer. Where no cruel, underlying message told the audience, “Only agony awaits the deviant queers—as it should.”
That’s why I never take this new era of queer media for granted. It’s what I always dreamed of having when I was young.
Honestly just love the way Krist tips his head back ever so slightly here as Pisaeng is pressing soft kisses down Kawi's chest - it's just such a little moment that packs so much - just like opening himself up to more kisses, letting the gentle pleasure wash over him-
And after, that he feels so comfortable he just slips off to sleep ;-;
"Alright, let's do this," Pisaeng murmurs with a sigh, pushing the door open and allowing Kawi to pass through it first.
The room on the other side is cosier than Kawi expected, painted in muted colours and decorated with black and white landscape pictures. Still, Kawi feels tense and uncomfortable, his back rigid as he walks further into the office.
"Welcome. Please take a seat," the woman behind the desk says with a warm, gentle voice, gesturing towards the sitting room suite in the centre of the room. "I'll be with you in a second."
They sit down on the creme-coloured leather armchairs, the material squeaking as Kawi sinks into the cushions. And then they wait, the silence in the room thick and stifling, with nothing but the ticking of a large, wall-mounted clock and the rustling of paper breaking the quiet between them as both of them awkwardly look around. Kawi is kneading his hands in his lap, biting his bottom lip as he reads the sign on the desk over and over again:
"Niran Nittiporn,
Marriage and Relationship Counsellor".
------
A KawiPi Mr. & Mrs. Smith AU, where they're time traveling assassins, but also simply trying to save their marriage
(Between Us the Series x Be My Favorite x GAP the Series)
Shadowhunters AU
Sebastian's eyes roamed over Team in covetous admiration, "You're faster and a lot stronger than the others."
"Join us," his voice dripped with venomous persuasion, "You'll be rewarded in exchange for your loyalty."
It was an empty offer. Team was a soldier through and through, but he refused to serve under someone as morally corrupt as Jonathan Morgenstern.
"No thanks," Team disregarded the selfish proposition.
Set in the Bangkok Institute during the events leading up to the Dark War.
[After Careful Consideration, No KawiPi were Harmed in the Writing of this Fic]
❤️Brought to you by @thebroccolination's Thai BL Crossover Bingo Event❤️
Do your favorite BL couples match your favorite BL series?
I feel like this must be a phenomenon, so I want to see what other people's lists look like. \:D/
These are mine. I'm very proud.
Voila:
TOP 3 SERIES: Be My Favorite, SOTUS, Until We Meet Again
TOP 3 COUPLES: WinTeam, KongArt, KawiPi
Because, like, we judge series and character based on different criteria, right?
Be My Favorite shot to the top of my list by episode eight last year because the writing was immaculate (Waa took extra time to really hone the script, and it shows!), the directing is phenomenal (the behind-the-scenes footage and interviews show how much influence Waa had in bringing out the best in everyone), the premise is right up my alley (subjective, but y'know, favorites lists are subjective by nature), etc. etc. etc. It's just all-around an incredibly well-crafted show, so it's sitting pretty cozy up there at the top.
But!
When I think about couples, WinTeam and KongArt are firmly first and second.
WinTeam have been my favorite BL couple from Day ONE, and no one's even remotely challenged them since even though Between Us is somewhere around #5 or #6 on my list (depending on how much of the series I choose to selectively forget).
And KongArt? We saw them grow from age 19/20 to, like, 26/27? (I haven't math'd the years in a while, but the Our Skyy episode is definitely set during their late twenties.) Experiencing that much development for a BL couple is rare, and their relationship is portayed so beautifully.
So, y'know, both lists are completely subjective and don't always have anything to do with quality or whatever. WinTeam are my favorite couple because Win's my favorite character archetype and Team is a sassy traumatized gremlin, and Be My Favorite is my favorite series because holy shit I love gay time travel and it's the only series I've seen that's treated leitmotifs seriously.
Alternate Universe • Arthit and Kawi Are Twins • Established Relationship • Developing Relationship • Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism • Recovery
SUMMARY: At two o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, Kawi shows up on Arthit and Kongphob's doorstep reeking of alcohol and defeat, but a place to stay will only scratch the surface of the help he needs.
Meanwhile, up-and-coming actor Team Teerayu decides to track down Pisaeng, the man Kawi is in love with, even if it means seducing Pisaeng's smug friend Win.
(Max would like to be excluded from the narrative, but he's here, too.)
It took ten minutes to summarize ten years.
Arthit’s dormant temper rumbles behind his ribs, squeezing his lungs and narrowing his field of focus. What has he done to deserve being his brother’s last resort? To know that Kawi only ran to him when he drove his life so far into ruin he had no other options?
SUMMARY: It has been said, by himself and many others, that Kawi has some of the worst luck in the whole Continent – and beyond.
He’s awkward, clumsy, and generally so covered in scars that even his enhanced healing struggles to keep up. Sometimes, he thinks it’s a miracle he’s managed to last this long.
Other times, he thinks destiny is playing a cruel trick.
RECOMMENDATION: This fic is over 80k of such well-written character and worldbuilding that you'd think this was the canon. Kay's so seamlessly written Kawi, Pisaeng, and Pear into this universe that it feels like they're meant to be there. (Also, there's a horse named Cake.) Like, listen, even if you haven't seen the Witcher, you'll still probably love this fic. I barely know anything about the Witcher and I was hooked the entire time.
Kay's posting chapters as she edits this massive behemoth, so please please please go read and leave comments. This isn't a WIP situation. It's done, and it won't be abandoned. But I know from experience that comments on the chapters as they're posted is really appreciated by writers. <3
From April 30 to May 8, keep your eyes on the #BeMyFavorite AO3 page!
Those are the posting dates for the very first KawiPi Exchange, meaning there'll be a new Kawi x Pisaeng fic posted every day for a grand total of nine (9!) new fics!
About a month ago, I organized a KawiPi fic exchange with some friends, adhering to a general theme of sex/intimacy (depending on each recipient/writer's comfort level). It's been a wonderful experience, and every writer involved is fantastic, so I can't wait to read them all. \:D/
here’s what Beloved and Biased Friend has had to say about Heart Like Gold, the fic in which KawiPi Make Their Problems Everyone Else’s Problem and WinTeam Fall in Love While Stalking Some Guy (it’s Pisaeng):
As usual, I plan to post chapters weekly until it’s finished, and if you leave comments on chapters along the way, you’ll qualify for a lifetime supply of silk pillowcases made for you by friendly kitten hobbyists.
In this week’s installment, I made Kawi think Pisaeng exploded.
TEN OPENING LINES FROM MY TEN MOST RECENT FICS AND WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON
Rules: List the first line of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any.
The only thing I knew going in is that they’d all start kind of in medias res because that’s what I like reading. But I noticed something else after I compiled them all! Something really interesting that I’ll have to play with from now on.
Heart Like Gold [Be My Favorite, SOTUS, Between Us] Kawi x Pisaeng, Kongphob x Arthit, Win x Team
Kawi and Arthit are twins! WinTeam stalk a guy and fall in love about it!
Kawi’s theatrics would affect the weather.
Behold! The shortest! Followed immediately by:
quietly uncovering everything [SOTUS] Kongphob x Arthit
Anxiety and rope bondage and KongArt!
It’s fair to say that Kongphob might’ve lived his entire life under certain assumptions about sex and mental health that he passively absorbed from media or word-of-mouth if it hadn’t been for one conversation with a classmate while he studied abroad in Beijing.
The longest by far.
Gatekeeping Kawi [Be My Favorite] Kawi x Pisaeng
Pisaeng goalie-blocks Kawi’s terrible mother from contacting her son!
If Pisaeng has any major flaw he’s not working to improve, it’s that he takes full advantage of the nepotism that got him his job in order to leave work on time every day.
I just really wanted to establish immediately that this fic is about Pisaeng being both shamelessly petty and wildly protective.
Fireproof [Between Us] Win x Team
Exes-to-lovers with totally appropriate amounts of suffering!
Win ignores the sleeping couple on the chairs across from him.
He is also ignoring his Problems. (Also the couple is KawiPi. Li’l Easter egg.)
surprise me [Between Us] Win x Team
Team tries to throw Win a surprise party in another country!
It’s number forty-three on the list of facts about Win that Team keeps on his phone: Win’s never had a surprise birthday party.
I love that Team canonically has a list of things he wants to memorize about Win. Baby simp.
Sorry Meal [Be My Favorite] Kawi x Pisaeng
Kawi gets through life’s challenges by being adorable with food!
The shouting stops around noon, and they refuse to speak to each other at all for the rest of the day.
In which I celebrate that KawiPi can both be stubborn assholes and their arguments are enormous fun for me personally.
somewhere to begin [Be My Favorite] Kawi x Pisaeng
Self-indulgent post-series fluff!
Twenty minutes after arriving home to find his little family waiting for him, Kawi lets his draining body list against Pisaeng.
Because I believe down to my core that Kawi is a snuggly needy simp deep down. (He literally imagined Pisaeng model-walking toward him and said, “Please believe me that I hate this man.”)
through casual mistakes of fate [Be My Favorite] Kawi x Pisaeng
Self-indulgent ep-11 angst fluff! (It’s real, I checked!)
Pisaeng wakes up to his alarm, swipes the button on his phone screen to shut it off, and rolls out of bed—all within a few seconds.
This is the line that made me realize the thing!!!
keep me here, i'm right where i belong [Be My Favorite] Max x Queer Rights, Kawi x Pisaeng
Self-indulgent marriage equality fluff!
When true marriage equality is won, Max is the first one to deliver the news to most of his friends.
Sooort of this one?
We Must Lead by Example [Naughty Babe] Lian x Kuea
LianKuea being smug about their sex-successful marriage!
When your best friend asks you not to tell your husband something, common courtesy dictates that you honor all those days and nights of laughter and tears by keeping the secret not just in this life but in the next and whatever’s in the interim.
And this is a return to form. INTERESTING.
——————
So here’s the thing: most of my opening lines are, like. Observations. Team keeps a list. Pisaeng and Kawi are fighting. Pisaeng has a flaw. Kongphob learned about bondage.
Very few are action-based. Pisaeng jumping out of bed, Kawi leaning on Pisaeng, Max telling his friends that marriage equality has passed.
I’ll have to go through more of my fics to know if this is a common thing, but it feels like it! I think most of my fics begin with observations rather than actions, and maybe I’ll try it the other way for a while and see what changes!
What a fun li’l exercise. \:D/
If you noticed anything different, definitely tell me! This is fun~
I swear I hope I don't see anyone calling Kawi selfish or undeserving of Pisaeng after today's episode because he "rejected" all his flirting
The dude is clearly in his Very Cautious Traumatized by Time Travelling mode, and his overthinking and overanalyzing mode about perfect life hasn't changed in one night. I love how they clarified that Kawi is worried not about what people are saying in his past about him dating a guy, he is worried about the future and lives of all of his friends. He doesn't want to hurt them by doing something, and he can't carelessly fall into dating Pisaeng while there is still so much to figure out for others. He'll have to accept people make their own destiny, and you can never make "the right thing" and bring everyone happiness. But our boy surely will try, and I love how much he cares. He changed so much from Kawi since Ep 1.
His anxiety and low-self esteem now also evolved into being honest and straightforward with Pisaeng, sayjng he doesn't want to use him, he needs to feel on the equal ground in their couple. He remembers the chaos and angst that comes when they are unbalanced. He knows how many mistakes he can do, and he worries again. Pisaeng is navigating this really well though, talking his worries through with him and making Kawi see the world more optimistically (something the guy probably rarely got to feel in dozen of years)
And also this is why I feel like no kiss at the end of the episode was the right choice. It's not a romantic scene, it's a comforting one. Not from one boyfriend to another, but important person promosing to go through any hardships together with his important other.
And also because Kawi feels such an asexual in all the episodes. Yep. You can rip this headcanon out of my cold dead hands now. Look at this episode and next preview. Kawi is so ace-coded! This is the bi-romantic ace disaster representation to me.