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quodekash · 11 months

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my engineer incorrect quotes to try and fill the ramking shaped hole in my heart

—- —-

King: Hey Ram, can you give me the opposite of these words? King: Always, Coming, From, Take, Me, Down. Ram: Never, Going, To, Give, You- Ram: The fucking satisfaction.

(this happened. this was the scene near the start where king texts ram and waves to him and tries to talk to him and ram picks up his phone and leaves to go see his brother. king loves rickrolling and thats canon because i said so) —- —-

Duen: I wouldn’t put it in those words exactly. Ram: Why not? Duen: Because I don't know what they mean.

—- —-

King: Hey, what’s your Netflix password? Ram: ihopeyoudie King: Thank you!

—- —-

Duen: I drink to forget but I always remember. Ting: You're drinking orange juice.

—- —-

King: Ow! Ram: What’s wrong? King: I have this weird pain right above my eyebrow. Ram: It’s called a stress headache. I got my first one when I was four.

—- —-

Thara, after getting a library card: Now I know what true power feels like.

—- —-

Ram: If I die, you can have what little I own. King: Wait. What do you mean "if" you die? Ram: My unending existence is fuelled by pure spite, that of which the painful experiences of life have rendered me full. King: King: *Sighs* Let me call your therapist again.

—- —-

Ram: Hey, you want a tarot reading? Bohn: Those are Pokemon cards. Ram: You got a magikarp. Bohn: … Ram: It means 'fuck you'.

(this is essentially what happened for like. half the show. up until the end of the fight between bohn and ram) —- —-

Ram, after watching King get shot by someone: You’re dead. You are very dead. When you are a corpse I will hack away at your flesh and eat you raw. King: Ram, I’m not dead yet. Ram: Let me have my moment of rage to avenge you. King: I’d prefer it if you didn’t let me die.

—- —-

*Everyone is giving advice to Duen* Ting: It's okay to ask for help. Tang: You're not a burden. Ram: Murder is okay. Phu: Your feelings matter.

—- —-

King: Are you sure Ram's even gay? He barely even looked at me.

—- —-

Duen: All snacks are gone. Bohn: I AM LITERALLY RIGHT HERE?!

—- —-

Ram: You’re drunk. King: Correction: drinking. Present tense. Grammar, Ram.

—- —-

Mek: Have I ever told you that you cook well? Boss: Awww, no, you haven't! Mek: So why do you keep cooking?

—- —- Ram: You’re giving me a sticker? King: Not just a sticker. That is a sticker of a kitty saying “me-wow!” Ram: I’m not a preschooler. King: Fine, I’ll take it back- Ram: I earned this, back off!

—- —- King: We just ate. Why are you making pancakes? Ram: For the dogs. King: Why are you making pancakes for the dogs? Ram: They don’t know how.

—- —-

this one is fairly short compared to my other incorrect quote compilations, but i promise, i will be back.

also im planning to post another eclipse incorrect quotes post in like five minutes

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film-in-my-soul · 2 years

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Review: My Engineer (2020)

My Engineer

Region: Thailand

Approx. Runtime: 11h:43m:44s (14 eps.)

Viewing Source: YouTube

Summary: When Bohn, the popular engineering student, starts a revenge plan on Duen, the innocent first-year medical student, their feelings slowly start to grow through roses that Duen has to buy for Bohn every day for a month.

Overall Opinion: In terms of Thai BLs, My Engineer falls in line with the masses as your typical college romance starring one engineering student and one non-engineering student where the main couple starts off with some animosity for one another until it inevitably shifts into romance. That being said, what really sets this show apart from the others is the side couples. I know the standard joke for Thai BLs is that the side pair is always more interesting than the main pair, and I’m not normally one to agree, however, in My Engineer’s case, that is 100% correct. The two side couples, are for me, what saves the show and elevates it above where it might land otherwise. My Engineer is probably one of my favorite slice-of-life style BLs that I think, if you can make it through the trope-heavy and paint-by-numbers elements of the main couple, anyone can find themselves thoroughly enjoying.

Technical Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Personal Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

(See under the cut for a deeper analysis of character/plot/technical aspects. Beware of possible spoilers.)

Main Characters:

Bohn:

Bohn is your standard slightly egotistical trouble-making popular boy who is very full of himself and needs a good dose of humility to even his attitude out. He’s a bit of a spoiled kid and not above using manipulation to get what he wants. We see that very clearly in episode 1. It’s only really later in the show after he’s been rebuffed and denied by Deun multiple times that he seems to try a bit harder to not be such a child but it doesn’t feel completely earned because we know it’s all in an attempt to get and keep Deun appeased. He’s not a bad character or a bad guy, but he’s not someone with a lot of depth. I think until we see Bohn outside of the context of his relationship with Deun he’ll always fall a little flat for me. I will say that he has these moments of sincerity, like after saving Deun's sister and attempting to get Deun the book he needs for his paper, which I appreciate because it saves his character from seeming entirely self-serving.

Deun:

Deun is a character I think some people could misunderstand as being a weaker character at face value, but from the get, we are presented with a character who legitimately holds nearly all the power in his relationship and interactions with Bohn, outside the initial bet that is. From the moment he punches Bohn in the nose, Deun rejects him, has him complete multiple challenges, and really doesn’t try all that hard to get his friends to stop from setting him through the four tasks later in the show. However, I think what makes him more interesting than Bohn is that we have a better understanding of where those choices and actions come from. Particularly I think Deun’s relationship with his father and wanting to keep his father happy is what motivates a lot of his choices and also presents him as a character who holds himself back, especially when it comes to accepting Bohn’s feelings for him.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Side Characters:

Mek:

Mek is one of my favorite characters, possibly because I think that Ryan plays him so well. He embodies the pinning best friend with his silent acceptance of Boss giving attention to Fon and the choice he makes that he’d rather have Boss as a friend and never reveal his feelings rather than risk losing Boss at all is played very close to the chest. I think most of us have been in a similar situation in our lives and that makes Mek’s character in my opinion one of the most relatable in the show. He is also a character who constantly makes sacrifices for Boss’s perceived happiness and I think it just adds to his character when he has those silent moments of watching as Boss gets further and further from him, often with his own help. It makes the conclusion of them getting together all the sweeter, especially when until the very end he was willing to put Boss first no matter what.

Boss:

Boss is a simple character. He doesn’t have as much depth as Mek, but there are little moments where you are left wondering, before the reveal, if he is also in love with his best friend. I think the explanation in this questioning is that Boss is a character who is always looking to be in the spotlight, to be noticed, and I think that stems from his belief that Mek doesn’t feel or see him the same way (that he's even inferior to Mek), so he’s looking for that attention he craves anywhere he can, but is always coming up a bit short. Then Fon comes along and validates those feelings he’s been looking for but ultimately isn’t willing to put him first like Mek always is. While Boss doesn’t stand apart as a character on his own, when he's mirroring Mek in their relationship he’s a strong contender because he leaves the audience wondering like he often leaves Mek wondering if he’s in love with the other or not.

Ram:

Ram is a character who says little but expresses himself rather well. Now, part of this is because, to my knowledge, at the time Perth was still in the process of learning Thai and the character has very little in way of dialogue, but regardless, the effect of Ram’s silent communication adds a layer of mystery to his character that only helps in the scenes where he’s left having to show his emotions. For instance, after confronting his father's affair and leaning on King for comfort the moment has so much more impact because he’s showing rather than telling, as well as at the end of the season when he’s having to confront King and deal with the fall out of the other boy’s confession. Ram is a character whose strength comes from a silent understanding where it’s not that he doesn’t speak because he doesn’t like to but more that he speaks only when there are important things to say. Actions over words is Ram in a nutshell and Perth plays that exceptionally well.

King:

King is a much subtler character, out of everyone in the cast he and Ram are seemingly the most mature and therefore he is a more cautious person with his feelings. He has a strange duality of feeling open and bright but also internalizing so much. This is most notable in the last few episodes while he’s dealing with his head wound, simultaneously wanting to be around Ram but then pushing the other boy away when Ram tries to help. He feels like someone who can’t or simply won’t rely on others and would rather be seen as the dependable one than someone who needs assistance. Unfortunately we mostly have to view King through his interactions with Ram and are given more context clues to his character rather than able to draw concrete character traits about him.

Frong:

Frong, at the start of the show, is mostly relegated to Bohn’s love rival but I was glad to see that he was given a bit more to work with towards the end of the series with his sick mother side plot and the budding relationship between him and Thara. Unfortunately, because of lack of screen time, we’re not given much to dive into with him. We know that he’s popular at the school and that he cares about his remaining family deeply, due to the loss of his father, so I’m left to wonder towards the end if his growing affection for Thara isn’t out of some kind of thankfulness for the help and treatment he provided for his mother.

Thara:

Thara is another character that didn’t get much screen time. Through all the interactions with him, we know that he’s a kind person who wants to see others happy but we don’t know if that’s necessarily at the expense of himself as we never truly see him struggle. He’s also a little kookie with his pet lizard. He’s an oddball who seems a bit disconnected from the way others might feel about him and I’m interested to see how his character could be explored more in season 2.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Story/Plot:

(Because for BLs the plots are often times couple based, I've decided that I would break up the plot analysis by couples, excluding Thara and Frong because, in my opinion, their overall story is still developing and I couldn't think of much to add in regards to it.)

BohnDuen:

The main plot we follow with Bohn and Duen is fairly standard for a slice-of-life BL. Boy meets boy, a situation is created in which they now need to spend time together, hijinks, miscommunication, and eventually romance ensues. It’s very standard and a little boring most of the time, though upon a second viewing I did find myself more interested in their characters and less annoyed at the paint-by-numbers feel of their romance progression. That being said, they use the miscommunication and “he’ll reluctantly fall for me eventually” trope a bit too much in my opinion. It adds artificial drama to the situation that could be more character-driven if we got a chance to see them interact more sincerely with one another. Low points in their storyline for me are when Bohn sets Deun up to be very uncomfortable at the restaurant in the first episode, the IRL fanfiction dilemma in episode 9, though I do think it brought up an interesting conversation about the “roles” that are expected to be fulfilled in a MlM relationship that I wish the characters could have had outside of a comedic setting, and any time they use Bohn’s possessive/jealousness as a point of contention for their relationship. An interesting point that I think could be explored in season 2 (when or if it’s finally released) will be Duen’s dad and his reaction to their relationship, since that seems to be one of the biggest reasons Duen is reluctant to be Bohn… well aside from Bohn himself. In every interaction with Deun and his father, there's always this push for Deun to fulfill the "manly" expectations of his gender, so I think having to confront his son's relationship with another man will be very interesting and likely very angsty.

MekBoss:

A pining best friends story is something I will always be able to get behind and with Mek and Boss it’s done so well I have basically nothing to complain about aside from perhaps their awkward as hell only kiss in the series, though you can argue one of them is drunk and the other is at his wit's end. From the start, Mek’s pining over Boss is on point and translates very well for the audience to see and we follow him through each moment as he sabotages his own happiness in order to help Boss try and obtain his own until eventually he just can’t anymore. One could complain about the Fon and Boss plotline but I think it only adds to the situation in a realistic way. Mek refuses to admit he’s in love with his best friend and in doing so has to help Boss “get the girl.” Even at the end, after the two finally admit their feelings for one another and seemingly get together there’s one last moment of “miscommunication” with Fon that threatens to pull them apart, but the show doesn’t let it drag out unnecessarily and it’s a rare case of me not minding the inclusion of it, since Fon has been the wedge in their potential relationship almost the entire show, it feels like a correct ending and the last hurdle that Boss and Mek need to overcome in order to really solidify their relationship. That and of course Boss making sure everyone at the volunteer camp knows they're together too.

RamKing:

Ram and King have the relationship I truly wish that My Engineer had focused on. They have a much more subtle and natural progression towards their romance that I think is only able to be achieved because they don’t have to follow the same beats as the main couple often has to, down to the ending where their status is still up in the air even after King’s drunken confession and their shared kiss. It's this pacing that really sets the tone for this couple and sets them apart from the others in a great way. There are a few tropes here and there but they don’t take away from their budding relationship and story as much as they add to it, such as the opposites attract aspects of their relationship like Ram being a dog person and King being terrified of them. We hardly see the two interact together around other like they do in private and it serves to keep their relationship in a bubble, adding to some of the more charged moments. It also, in my opinion, gives an explanation for King's reluctance towards their relationship shifting towards romance, as we know he wants it to. One of the only silly things I can really say I think could have been rewritten is the crazy homeless man hitting King and causing his head injury. If it had been able to be rewritten I would have liked it better I think. However, the situation around the homeless man whacking him is a very good character moment for him, as the catalyst is King attempting to keep him away from the tied-up dog, thus showing his attempt at growth past his fear and his further connection with Ram.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Technical/Visual Execution:

Aside from some choice shots, such as the garden house scene between Ram and King, and the final two episodes (also predominantly the scenes between Ram and King), I don’t think My Engineer has much in the visual category to really write home about. It’s filmed well, and in even though Mek is voiced over the entire time, and Deun’s wig is fighting for its life, those elements are also handled well enough that they don’t detract from the viewing experience even when they're more obvious. Overall My Engineer, from a filming and editing standpoint, is a typical affair for the genre that I can’t really pick out too many glaring faults with, though I can’t say it was really trying to be a masterpiece the entire time either.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

INBOX - Any feedback is more than welcome or suggestions for further reviews.

Masterlist Navigation - Check out my other content if you'd like!

Thank you so much for reading!

#my engineer #ramking #mekboss #bohnduen #my engineer review #thai drama review #my review #cooper patpasit #poy kritsanapong #talay sanguandikul #perth stewart nakhuntanagarn screaigh

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