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wen-kexing-apologist · 11 months

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Hands in La Pluie Ep 7

Before I begin if you aren’t watching La Pluie, you should be, between the mature, adult sexual encounters and the way they handle soulmates, there are a lot of phenomenal subversions happening and it has been a beautiful thing to behold.

With that out of the way…

Last week I wrote about the hands in La Pluie Episode 6, so it should come as no surprise to you that I will be, yet again, writing about the hands in La Pluie. This time, I will only be focusing on that Patts and Tian scene because by God were hands flying.

(@magpie24601 I have not forgotten about your ask, but I will not be able to get around to answering until probably some time next week.)

To begin we start with Tai and Patts completely covered, no hands in sight, and a safe distance between them, not touching. Patts rolls over, awake cause he’s physically uncomfortable, his muscles sore but keeps his hands covered. He does not touch Tai, he does not try to cuddle with Tai, now that he’s shifted position. He respects and maintains the boundary Tai set earlier in their trip when he walked away from Patts attempts to be physically affectionate/intimate.

We don’t know if they had any conversations off-screen or not, but what we do know is that Patts may be stirring now too, but Tai is wide awake. Now, watching Tai’s face as Patts turns over in bed is intriguing to me, because I think that Tai is expecting Patts to initiate physical touch in this moment. Tai feels Patts stirring and is waiting for an arm to snake it’s way over this torso…which is why Tai turns to face Patts when Patts settles back down.

I’m thinking about vertical lines and how they can be used in visual mediums to indicate a boundary between two characters. Now, this one is a bit less obvious, but if you look between the thin trip of white, the gaps between the pillows, and the indent in the duvet, a line between Patts and Tai is formed.

But this boundary is completed by fabric, something that is easy to fold or manipulate. If Tai wanted to maintain this boundary between him and Patts, he could have stayed on his side, with his back to Patts and Patts would never have known Tai was awake. But instead, Tai turns to look at Patts and acknowledge the fact that they are both conscious. Patts sits up, and the bed sheet folds over, eliminating the boundary between them. He apologizes because he thinks his movements are why Tai is awake, but Tai tells him he can’t sleep. Tai offers no further explanation for why he can’t sleep, but based on what happens next, and based on Patt’s earlier physical affection and Tai’s response to it, I think Tai is hyper aware of the fact that Patts is laying right next to him.

Patts however, does offer an explanation, telling Tai that his muscles are sore from working. Something I take to be Patts telling Tai that he genuinely was shifting cause he was uncomfortable and not because he was trying to start any funny business with Tai. But Tai wants physical contact and so he is the one that has to offer it, in the form of a massage.

God, they are so fucking cute

And look! The boundary line is gone, Patts is resting his head in Tai’s lap and smiling like a doofus cause the only thought in his head is that Tai is really cute. Tai’s hands enter the scene, but Patts’ remain hidden, he is moving at Tai’s pace and therefore content to lay here, with Tai initiating contact.

Then we get a huge step for Tai, he bends down to kiss Patts. Now, in Episode 4 we see Tai be the one to start the kiss with Patts, but there he is drunk, and therefore not as in his head about what is happening. But sober Tai has been a lot more hesitant, Tai’s no blushing maiden, he’s just more uncertain about how to proceed when he’s in control of the thoughts in his head.

And Patts responds, sitting upright, verbally stating that Tai started this, and then going in for a kiss. Something that I have loved about all of Patts and Tai’s kisses so far is that when Patts is the one about to kiss, he brings himself close to Tai and then waits for Tai to meet him. He did it in Episode 6, Patts initiates that kiss by bringing his head slightly closer to Tai, and then Tai gets the message and responds. Tai starts the upside down kiss, but then Patts sits up, exposing his hands, and says “you teased me first,” goes in for a kiss and again waits for Tai to meet him.

When the camera moves away from the wide shot, we see Patts hand slide to Tai’s thigh, then to his waist. Patts is testing the waters to get a sense of where Tai is in this moment.

Gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul

And Tai reciprocates Patts touch, starting at his arm and then sliding his way up in to Patts hair, and then his throat.

Now, remember where we were last week with Tai and touch. He sticks mostly to Patts’ back, his fingers are straight, he uses his palm, when they switch positions, Tai’s hand stays on Patts’ back or on the ground, we don’t see him play much with pressure or sensation. But our boy was taking notes or something cause this time he has radically altered his approach to touching Patts.

His other hand slides up to hook itself around Patts shoulder. Patts has through this point kept his hands relatively in the same position at Tai’s waist.

Patts applies pressure, pushing Tai, you can see his wrist bend from the effort of it, a suggestion to move closer.

Gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul (Side note: obsessed with Patts kissing Tai's nose)

The shirt comes off, and Tai has to let go of Patts, lifting his arms to allow Patts to strip him. But the enthusiasm is there, Tai is straight up having a good time, so those arms go right back where he wants them. He hooks his arm around Patts neck to steady himself and is finally able to respond to Patts’ physical request: move closer, by pulling himself in to Patts’ lap

And we get to see the aspects of their physicality that run inherent to their character:

Gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul

This is the second time we have seen Tai in this position, and both times he has let his hands lay relaxed, fingers slightly curled at Patts’ back.

Gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul

And this is the second time we see Patts' fingers curled, scratching down Tai’s back.

But we also begin to see where these two encounters differ. Tai slides his fingers back in to Pat’s hair.

And Patts?

I’m sure no one needed an excuse to go back and watch these scenes, but if you watch Episode 6’s make out session and then you watch Episode 7’s you will see the difference in how Patts approaches intensity. In Episode 6 when he is the person who started the kiss, he is always moving slow and being gentle with Tai. His hands are easy to follow, he scratches down the length of Tai’s back, he slowly pushes Tai’s shirt up. In the Episode 6 scene, Patts is proceeding with caution because while Tai has consented to this encounter, because Patts started it, he can’t be positive how much Tai is a) pushing a comfort zone, b) ready for, and c) willing to do during that encounter.

In Episode 7, while Patts starts out their make out in the same way, slowly, gently, cautiously, the knowledge that Tai was the person to initiate the intimacy and the continued enthusiasm from Tai makes Patts comfortable with ramping up the intensity.

Where before, in Episode 6, we could easily follow the path of Patts hands, now his movements are frenetic, jumping all over Tai’s body with no rhyme or reason, no set or anticipated path jumping from Tai’s back to Tai’s chest to Tai’s arm to his neck.

Gif from @gunsatthaphan

Now, last time these two made out Patts was already conveniently shirtless, but this time.

Patts starts taking off his shirt, and Tai wants these clothes off. Tai’s hands slide that shirt up and over, and then Tai’s hands go straight to Patt’s torso.

And then moves back up to Patts shoulder

Before doing another thing we have not seen Tai consciously do before…

…play with pressure. This man squeezes Patts’ shoulder like he’s trying to make orange juice from scratch, and then it is off to the fucking races for these two. They become a mess of hands and arms and elbows, and I literally have 80 screen shots in my La Pluie Episode 7 folder of just this makeout scene, and many of them are unusable in this essay because my fast key screenshot camera still can’t keep up with where their hands are.

This is mostly a side note, but I just find the framing of this shot and the shapes Patts and Tai’s bodies make to be beautiful. No, wait, I’ve got it! Look at the way their arms are. Now, @respectthepetty is the one who taught me to look out for dividing and connecting lines in shows, and well, teach, by golly I’ve got it.

Remember how in the beginning I mentioned the very subtle dividing line that is formed by the wall, pillow, and bed sheet?

Here we have a very subtle connecting line, the way Tai grabs Patts’ bicep creates a straight line that connects Tai and Patts together.

They are matching energy, Tai is gripping Patts like that because he is pulling Patts a little bit closer to him,

I love that we have an episode to episode comparison of their intimate moments because as I’ve already said, in Episode 6 Patts does everything slow and soft. When he pulls up Tai’s shirt he presses quick but soft kisses there. He moves up and down Tai’s body in a relatively straight line, not spending a lot of time/focus in one particular area of Tai’s body.

Gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Episode 7 though? Patts starts kissing hard and he starts focusing more on particular areas of Tai’s body. His lips, obviously, but as he goes to increase the intensity of his kisses, he moves down Tai’s neck and settles at his pecs. I know he would have stayed on Tai’s right pec for longer if Tai hadn’t pushed him away.

Camera zooms out a bit, and we see Tai breathless and looking at Patts. Tai started to feel himself slipping away in to bliss and realized that if this continued there was only one outcome. He knows he isn’t ready for it, so he interrupts the vibe to try to slow things down. Patts hasn’t quite caught up yet, so his hands slide down to Tai’s pants and start to tug. He wants to pick up where he left off last time. But again, Tai isn’t ready, and it speaks to the maturity of this relationship already that Tai is completely comfortable voicing that. Knowing that he is the one that initiated the intimacy. (That being said, to parallel Episode 6 and Episode 7 again, last episode Patts also started and stopped the intimacy.)

The change in their make out session between Episode 6 and Episode 7 shows that Tai wants to deepen their relationship, wants to take things with Patts to a different level, but he’s still unable to make himself trust Patts fully, to make himself believe in the soul mate theory fully. He spent years of his life refusing to speak to this man in front of him because he had become so disillusioned with the idea of soulmates after his parent’s divorce. As @lurkingshan said in her post “[Tai’s] brain, body, and heart are all pointing straight at Patts, but he’s afraid to trust it because Patts is tangled up with his confused feelings about this supposed destiny.”

So Tai tells Patts he isn’t ready, and Patts stops, and he is once again allowed to be frustrated. He doesn’t push, he doesn’t complain, you can mostly just see the disappointment and it truly is, in my mind, very sweet and precious that these two are already so comfortable with each other that Patts tries to cool down by resting his head on Tai’s chest and breathing.

And again, looking at the hands here, Tai is doing something incredibly similar with these soft gentle finger strokes across Patts’ neck as he did across Patts’ back when Patts stopped their make out session last episode.

“Can I help you, then?” Tai asks, knowing that Patts is horny, enthusiastic, and has been waiting seven years to meet a soulmate that refused to speak to him.

After denying Patts the simple pleasure of having someone out there to keep him company in the silence for two years, Tai wants to give pleasure to Patts.

And as much as Patts wants to give pleasure to Tai, and as much as Patts wants to prove to Tai that he is committed to Tai’s happiness, as obviously sexually frustrated as he has been in these last two moments of intimacy, he still checks in with Tai.

“Tai, are you sure about doing this?”

Patts has honestly been batting pretty close to a thousand in terms of getting enthusiastic consent before engaging in intimacy.

Gif from @pharawee

And Tai’s response is to pull Patts upward, to ground him in the moment with a hand to his hip, a point of connection which Patts reciprocates with his own touch, a gentle thumb brushing across Tai’s shoulder.

Gif from @pharawee

A gentle thumb brushing across Tai’s lips

And going back to what I mentioned before about the differences in Episode 6 and Episode 7, when Tai suggests he help, and when he starts untying Patts’ shorts, Patts once again reverts back to slow, and patient, and gentle. He has gotten consent from Tai, he has gotten confirmation from Tai, but it is not lost on him that Tai has just said that he wasn’t ready to receive pleasure, and Patts may be worrying that Tai feels like Patts is owed something because he did not consent to an escalation of intimacy.

And while yes, starting an intimate moment may just inherently start of slow, it is just a pattern I am noting about when and where Patts and Tai lose control of their desire and embrace it full force

And ultimately it works out, Tai finds pleasure in giving Patts pleasure even if he himself is not ready to receive it.

And Tai gets what he wanted out of this whole thing, which is Patts, cuddled up next to him, his arm draped across Tai’s side.

And I love that we end on this little moment of Tai stroking the top of Patts’ hand after pulling it closer to him.

I love this show and how it handles the ideas of romance and intimacy. We know from how devastated Tai was at his parent's divorce and from the Nora Roberts book that Tai is a romantic. And while some of this relationship with Patts has been able to carry those same romantic vibes, there have been a number of practical, realistic elements to their interactions as well: Patts and Tai discuss some of their needs from very early on, Patts meets some of Tai's family from very early on, Tien is already thinking of Patts as his brother in law, because unlike a typical burgeoning romance, whether or not they stay together they will be in each other's lives forever.

But the sex? That stays real. Tai initiates a kiss and then falls asleep and Patts stops, and Patts makes Tai feel comfortable with waking up in an unfamiliar place by letting him know that nothing uncouth happened. Patts initiates a more intense make out session with Tai and stops himself because he realizes that Tai is caught up in a moment and may not be ready, and Tai both enjoyed that moment with Patts and is embarassed about it afterward, Tai initiates what I think he intended to be his first sexual encounter with Patts, realizes that he isn't ready for what Patts wants to do and negotiates a solution that still allows them both to elevate their physical relationship.

(also tagging @bengiyo in this cause I cited his work)

#la pluie #la pluie the series #la pluie meta #patts x saengtai #phat x saengtai #phat x tai #title tanatorn #pee peerawich #its always about the hands #la pluie analysis

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syrena-del-mar · 11 months

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La Pluie meets Nora Roberts

This week we open up with a shot of Saengtai (who is slowly learning to believe that maybe having a "soulmate" isn't all that bad) reading Nora Roberts.

Now as a former teen Nora Roberts aficionado, I immediately clocked that Tai was reading the first two books of her MacKade Brother quadrology. For those that are unfamiliar with Nora Roberts and this series, it revolves around four brothers, with each brother having their own, separate novel. So it's a little on the nose that Saengtai would be reading this series out of the numerous ones that Nora Roberts has published, especially the books that are based on the oldest and second oldest of the four brothers.

All four novels of the MacKade brothers takes place in Antietam, which if you have any knowledge on the American Civil War, you will likely recognize for being home one of the bloodiest battles of the war. While each brother and their lovers attempt to forge a connection, there is a supernatural element with the restless souls that still haunt Antietam.

The one that Tai was reading was one Robert's bundles, which included only the first two novels, centering around the first two brothers, Rafe and Jared.

I'm going to give a brief synopsis of both books below, before doing a bare minimum dive of the significance I think La Pluie was attempting to draw.

The Return of Rafe MacKade

Here, the main protagonist is Rafe MacKade, who had left his hometown years prior after making a name for himself as the handsome, hot-headed, rebellious, good-for-nothing second-oldest MacKade brother. He's the black-sheep out of the four brothers, yet the incident which drove him away from Antietam, 10 years prior to his return, was one where he was attempting to protect a woman from her abusive boyfriend so he turned to punching the crap out of the man; but y'know how rumors develop in small towns. He returns to his hometown after 10 years as a successful businessman, something that townsfolk couldn't believe which shut them up about all the gossip they used to spread about him. He buys the local haunted house to turn it into a B&B, which in doing so leads him to meet his heroine, Regan, an antique dealer that is helping him decorate the B&B.

At first glance, Rafe and Regan seem to be complete opposites, with Rafe being a 'rough-around-the edges' type of guy and Regan, an elegant and classy dame. Rafe, while being the typical loud-mouth 'alpha-male' guy that is stereotypical in 20th century novellas, you come to find out is just a guy that is unable to fully articulate his own emotions and understand his developing feelings for Regan. Regan, on the other hand, for all her elegance, is a bit arrogant and unapologetically opinionated and definitely not looking to get into a steady relationship, much less with Rafe. They're both two incredibly stubborn individuals that are always butting heads, which leads to both miscommunication and a lack of communication, but they slowly start to learn that they actually need each other, even if they try to deny it.

The Pride of Jared MacKade

The second book revolves around Jared MacKade, who currently works as an attorney who, unlike his hot-headed brother Rafe, is much more level-headed and collected, yet just as prone to being purposefully ignorant to his romantic emotions. Jared is the oldest of the four brothers and had previously been married but ended up divorced, which lead to his distaste and shrewdness when it came to love. His story with his lead, Savannah, first starts when he meets her to let her know that her father had left her some inheritance. Savannah, having been disowned by her father as a teen and kicked to the curb due to her pregnancy, understandably pissed and initially wants nothing to with Jared.

Both Jared and Savannah are stubborn as mules, but their instant connection was undeniable. Jared was a traditionalist in love, which created some conflict due to Savannah's past and what she had to do as a teen mom to survive. The connection between them was palpable, within their second meeting they were already all over each other, making out. Yet, for all their connection, they're both initially a bit skeptical of doing more than toying around. Both Jared and Savannah had to overcome their own obstacles, Jared and his prejudice and Savannah and her hidden insecurities (that arose when she started to work alongside Regan), but despite their rocky road with love, they find a way to make it work.

La Pluie in connection to Rafe and Jared

There are some very obvious parallels that I believe La Pluie is attempting to draw with having Saengtai reading the MacKade tetralogy, but I also think there are some running themes that may be hinting at the future development for our Saeng brothers and their love interests, Phat and Lomfon.

First, the obvious parallel of the four MacKade brothers with the four Saeng brothers.

Second, the first novel, I'd like to argue, seems to hint at the future for Lomfon and Saengtien. From what we've seen so far, much like Rafe MacKade, Saengtien is perceived by almost everyone in his life to be brash, hot-headed, and rather incompetent. We've seen this from how Tien's own mother treats him and even from how Lomfon treated him in the first couple of episodes. Similar to Rafe's brashness, Tien's own brashness tends to spill out either in protection of his family, particularly Tai, or in the midst of his own confusion regarding what he wants. And just like Rafe, Tien is only starting to learn to comprehend the feelings that he's developing when he's with Lomfon. Tien has taken it upon himself to be the backbone for Tai and his family, that in turn he has sacrificed a part of himself. Instead he turns to his brashness as a mechanism to appease everyone, a shield and a distraction of the pain that he is also incurring while caring for everyone.

Lomfon on the other hand, while he seems to have a good grasp of his own self, seeing how he works independently but never seems to be ostracized, rather (seemingly) he chooses who he surrounds himself with, he also hides himself. Lomfon, similar to Regan is opinionated, especially when it comes to the idea that the one you hear during the rain is your soulmate. I'm sure in a society that has attempted to find reasoning to the deafness, that sentiment is likely taboo to express, yet he's willing to against the norm to create his own happiness, much like Regan did in opening her antique shop.

If Rafe's story is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lomfon strongly denying his developing feelings regarding Tien, as he's still primarily focused on Tai. Lomfon's seems to be developing some kind of feelings towards Tien, if the small head caresses and playing with Tien's hair is anything to go by. His feelings towards Tien seem to be slowly developing, even if he doesn't fully realize it. Meanwhile, I think it'll take Tien something big or in the heat of passion to get him to confess to Lomfon his growing feelings, especially once he realizes that Lomfon wants to get in between Tai and Phat. Tien, the ever-sacrificial loving brother that he is, will always put Tai and his happiness over his own, even if that means that he has to argue and destroy his budding friendship with Lomfon.

Tien let's himself be still, let's go of his prickly exterior, only when he's around Lomfon. He needs Lomfon, to provide the quiet energy that allows Tien to just exist for himself and nobody else. Now it's time for Lomfon to figure out how and why he needs Tien as well.

Frenemies-to-lovers is sometimes an even longer slow-burn than enemies-to-lovers, but it's okay, we can play the long game. I have hope that they'll get there.

Thirdly, the parallel of Jared and Saengtai, really comes to their demeanors and their anxiety that develops from impressions of failed love, yet they are still classic romantics at heart. Saengtai, similar to Jared in the beginning of his book, has been burned by the illusions of love. Yet, both, once they meet their soulmates, instantly feel some level of attraction to them. Their attraction is palpable to both of them, but attempting to overcome their own fears and prejudices, even when everything seems to be outwardly alright, can rock the boat.

It's going to be interesting here to see if Phat has some hidden insecurities that arise when he realizes that he has some potential competition. That just maybe Saengtai could be swayed by the man who shares the same interests and that solely being his soulmate may not be enough, even if, for all intents and purposes, he may be the right person for Tai.

Phat and Saengtai obviously feel a spark and found an immediate connection, but it'll be interesting to see if their relationship will end up in shambles, like Tai's parents, or will their bond only serve to be strengthened beyond the idea of just being soulmates.