kristsingto

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What's Your BL Personality?

Tagged by dear friend @gaiaxygang ^_^

Post 5 different characters from BL/GL/QL that reflect you best but don’t explain what aspects or at what point in their narrative arc you relate to them so your followers can just judge you.

Tagging @thebroccolination if you want to join!

[kristsingto]

Does Tamtawan have The Handkerchief on his desk all these years later?

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THE EX-MORNING EPISODE 1 REVIEW (by key*!)

*das me

Okay, so I was very positively biased going into the first episode of "The Ex-Morning" due to my borderline religious adoration for KristSingto, but I had several pragmatic reasons to believe the first episode would be solid, too.

Let's list them!

1) It's KristSingto's comeback series, so GMMTV was always going to allocate some decent resources to the production.

2) The initial script concept was requested by Singto and crafted by Jojo and Aof, so it's an original work, which allows for a lot of creative freedom and flexibility for change along the way.

3) In 2024, filming was pushed back to allow the writing team time to rehaul the script and make sure it was its best. (Waa did the same thing for the script of "Be My Favorite," which is, as of now, still the best-written series I've seen from GMMTV.) Over three hundred (300!!!) BL series were produced in 2024, so I'm optimistic whenever a series I'm looking forward to (ThamePo, Ex-Morning, & Revamp) is allowed time to breathe in the writing stages.

4) In interviews and behind-the-scenes promotional materials, multiple actors in the cast talked about Lit being a collaborative director who worked with them to add layers to their characters so they were more dynamic and complex.

Essentially, I knew this wasn't a series slapped together on a conveyer belt. I knew it had a lot of talent behind it from the initial stages to the final day of filming, so I had high expectations.

Since the writing is almost always my highest priority with a series, let's look there first.

- THE WRITING -

Story structure can vary by culture, but generally, I think most audiences are looking for the following aspects:

1) Who's the story about? 2) What do they want? 3) How are they going to get it? 4) What's at risk if they don't get it?

Also: a character arc! Our protagonist should be markedly different at the end of the journey, so the first episode should be establishing a starting place for that character.

"Ex-Morning" checked all the boxes. This shouldn't be noteworthy at all, but sometimes I see a Thai BL series chugging along without several of them, so they're getting noted here. \o/

1) Who's the story about?: Pathapi, a weatherman with an idol-like following who falls out of public favor after tossing coffee on a coworker who interrupted his broadcast to annoy him on purpose.

2) What does he want?: He's been replaced by the coffee'd-up coworker and sued by a sponsor for marring his public image, so he wants his job back and his reputation cleared.

3) How is he going to get it?: Pathapi's ex-boyfriend Tamtawan has been summoned back to Thailand from Australia by Pathapi's boss to produce a new show intended to smooth over the damage. Pathapi does not want to work with him due to the as-yet unknown circumstances of their breakup, but he agrees after realizing he has no better alternatives.

4) What's at risk if he doesn't get it?: Death of his career and social ostracization.

- CHARACTER ARC(S) -

Like Krist's previous two BL roles Arthit ("SOTUS") and Kawi ("Be My Favorite"), Pathapi has an upward journey ahead of him from unlikable jerk to, presumably, beloved babygirl.

However! Where Arthit and Kawi are introduced as grumpy from the outset, "The Ex-Morning" introduces us to Pathapi in the past when he was an idealistic university student (asking people where they buy drugs). So when we jump ahead to the present, we're already endeared to him and the contrast between who he was and who he's become is stark.

Not only is his demeanor noticeably different, he's also inside and away from the sunlight which makes the impact of Tam's absence in his life all the more apparent.

No sun outside, either.

ALSO, Pathapi has my favorite protagonist thing going on: the inner conflict of want vs. need.

He wants his career back. He needs Tamtawan.

You can totally do a character arc with just a want, but I love when a character realizes in the midst of the story that their main objective has shifted. I loved it in "Be My Favorite" when Kawi realizes he's not in love with Pear, but Pisaeng, so he has to rehaul his whole plan. Also in "Peaceful Property" when Home realizes he wants his little found family over selling all of his family's cursed property and going back to the U.S. to live his cursed rich boy lifestyle. It's just a great narrative tool to show that the character doesn't actually know themselves very well, because once they do, their motivations change.

What's fun about Pathapi's case is that there's also a secondary need there, too. Because the career he has at the outset of the story is working as a handsome weatherman with sponsorships and a fanclub. But the career he wanted was as an investigative reporter who enacted real societal change. Losing Tamtawan seems to have broken his stride and sapped him of his movitation, leaving him coasting on his good looks and charm and living a soulless life in his cold, beautiful condo.

So Pathapi also needs his professional drive back, but he won't get that without Tamtawan in his corner again.

So he has a want and two needs, which makes him a super interesting protagonist.

But we also have a very intriguing character in Tamtawan as well.

In their university days, he does have hints of the sass we see when he's older, buuut he's much softer, too. What makes this interesting is that we know he's the one who ended things, and he doesn't say anything when Pathapi accuses him of treating him poorly, so that's a a big point of intrigue.

We don't know him very well yet since the show is mostly framed from Pathapi's perspective, but we do see one scene toward the end of the episode where it's shown that Yong, the head of the studio, is the one who called Tamtawan to come back to Thailand to help Pathapi.

As the series continues, it'll be very interesting to see what Tam's whole deal is. Given the amount of thought put into Pathapi's character, I'm confident we're going to get the same from Tamtawan's.

BREAK FOR:

Top Five Tam Moments

“Your trophy isn’t broken, but your laptop is.”

“I was just reading the news.”

“Your password is my number.”

“I’m rooting for you.”

“I’ve seen that often. No need to show it off.”

OKAY NOW:

- META -

There's so much, holy shit. I may have to wait until the series is properly finished to make a complete list, because people are still finding stuff a week after the episode aired.

Off the top of my head, though:

• Name meanings!

Tamtawan (ตามตะวัน) means "following the sun" which is a reference to Arthit from "SOTUS" whose name means "sun."

Pathapi (ปฐพี) means "Earth" which is a reference to Kongphob from "SOTUS" where the +phob means "world."

So basically, Krist's "Ex-Morning" character is a reference to Singto's "SOTUS" character, and vice versa.

• Fan culture

Krist's color is green (the turtle thing) so the signboards his fans take to events are green. So are Pathapi's.

• Probably the jewelry thing?

• Elements costume crossover:

I think both of these outfits are meant to mimic two of his "elemental" costumes from his Elements concert: earth and fire.

[sources: left, right]

Basically, Krist saw the Pixar movie "Elemental" with Gawin at one of those cinema events GMMTV does back in the summer of 2023 for "Be My Favorite" promo, and Krist was so captured by the movie's concept that he designed his two solo concerts in Bangkok capping off his Asia tour around it. It was the story of his life told by four elements, and it was a very emotional concert all around.

It meant a lot to him, so I think we'll probably see air and water represented in the series, too.

I mean…

[source]

Mmm, could be water, but I'm not convinced. It'll probably be a closer match like fire and earth above.

OH, and I also think Singto's outfit here was supposed to mimic his outfit during the PeBaCa corner of the concert:

[source]

Also, this could just be coincidence, but Singto's solo color is pink, so I thought this could be a nod to that.

There's so much to say about this episode, I can't get it all sorted in my head yet, so I'll settle with this for now.

FIVE STARS, NO NOTES \:D/

[kristsingto]

The Ex-Morning ep.2 airs tomorrow!

[kristsingto]

You are now the Moon, that gets to pair with stars in the sky! - But I think in the sky, there are not only the moon and stars. - What else is there? - It's a secret. Pathapi means earth. Tawan means the sun. How could earth survive without the light of the sun, right? ↳ 3/?

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SOTUS The Series Ep.3 || The Ex-Morning Ep.1 ↳ 2/?

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Is this seat taken?

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INTIMACY RESTRICTIONS IN THAI MEDIA

I've seen some people commenting on how much more natural KristSingto's kissing looks in the first episode of "The Ex-Morning" compared to their kisses in "SOTUS," and while I love all conversation about KristSingto kissing, I just wanted to add to that conversation for a sec because I love historical nuance about stuff like this.

A while back, I asked @hallowpen why a content warning pops up on KongArt's beach kiss in "SOTUS S" even on the DVD, and they explained that Thai productions used to have much stricter limitations on how much physical intimacy they could show on television.

Supplementally, Singto said that back in 2015, he and Kit watched overseas media to prepare for the kiss scenes in "SOTUS," presumably because their own country's was restricted to chaste, sealed-lipped mouth tapping. And this wasn't just applied to same-sex couples. It was the case for male-female couples as well.

A deleted scene of Kongphob and Arthit's rooftop kiss in "SOTUS" exists that's a bit longer than the one that made the final cut, so I think their production team was especially careful. Considering that "SOTUS" was a 1) queer series about 2) young men involved in a 3) school program heavily inspired by 4) military drills intended to 5) craft the next generation of upstanding Thai citizens, that series is super subversive, so it stands to reason that showing too much physical intimacy between Kongphob and Arthit was risky, too.

While promoting "The Ex-Morning," Krist has said some variation on, "We're not students anymore, so we can show more adult content," multiple times. They even get sex scenes now, which was unimaginable back then. The closest they got to showing sex in "SOTUS S" was a lot of suggestive dialogue, toothbrushes in a cup, and some Sexy Straw Action.

It's just by chance that we haven't seen Krist and Singto kiss each other in a series between 2018-2025, because their kiss scenes in other series with other actors have been growing steadily more natural as limitations on intimacy decreased over time.

Basically, they're both good kissers, they just had to be careful before.

Now, you sat through me talking, so here's the kisses. Enjoy!

[kristsingto]

Speaking of lessened restrictions on physical intimacy in Thai media,

what the actual fuck does that mean, Perawat?

We're gonna get Pathapi tied to something in this show, mark my words.

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Bullshit reporter. Serves him right for being so full of himself. I have friends in the crew. They say the only good thing about him is his looks.

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“DO YOU LOVE ME?” // “I DO”

No one loves KristSingto more than Krist, but no one loves Krist more than Singto.

They were still friends while they were professionally apart, so Singto never really left his side. Singto also wants the world to see Krist as “Krist Perawat” first rather than “KristSingto” because he knows Krist wants to have a career in music, too. He kept all interaction with Krist out of sight while Krist had his series with Gawin because Singto knew it was important for not to let their brand overshadow the promotion of GK’s series. Even after GK separated, Singto only joined Krist’s solo concert as a guest because Krist knew him well enough to pose the invitation as “don’t you miss TayNew and OffGun too?” Krist said he knew Singto would be too considerate to accept if it was an invitation just for him.

Krist has said he was afraid when Singto left that he just stopped wanting to work with him and maybe even made up wanting to study abroad to leave, and even though Singto disabused him of that years ago, I think that relief of having him back is very, very based in seeing for himself in real time that Singto loves working with him.

Krist will always be the protector of KristSingto, but Singto is Krist’s.

[kristsingto]

Thoughts on The Ex-Morning ep.1

Here's just some of my reactions while rewatching the first episode of The Ex-Morning!

The opening scene really gets you to understand how well Padtaphi and Tamtawan work as a team. It’s the way Tam shows up with the motorbike when Phi trips, and Phi shielding Tam from the attack right afterward. It really sets you up for the rest of the show, where I assume that we’ll be seeing a lot of PhiTam working together and creating great results. Also, I am greatly amused by the dramatics of it all.

They’re so sweet. Phi mentions the billboard here, and it becomes clear why his condo with the billboard as its view is so important to him later in the episode – as it’s the dream he’s had since university – and the one that he thought he’d look upon with Tam. 

It’s so interesting to me how Tam says he believes that Phi will make it, but not himself. In the trailer, there’s also the scene where Tam says he wants his show up on a billboard, and he wants it to be with Phi. He really always has only wanted that. But when Phi talks about the billboard, he makes it about the two of them. He wants both of them on the billboard, both in the spotlight, together. I wonder how it’ll be at the end of the series.

I knew that it would happen, but I was still so emotional about Phi immediately launching into: “How could the earth survive without the light of the sun, right? So, you have to keep being the sun and shining your light for me, okay?” I can’t wait to hear Phi call him Tawan again! It’s so important to their story together.

Sosay in the opening! Sosay is in the opening! I repeat, cat in the opening! The most important character! I also love all of the merch in the theme song. So GMMTV. And the photos! The objects! The dried sunflowers that Tam has kept! Phi’s guitar! The shirt that says “to the moon and back!” It all seems to be very important to the series.

(Also, a side note: I love BL singing. When Phi pulls out the guitar and starts singing to his boyfriend, I will be cheering for him.)

I love how you can see all of his watches, and then later, after he sells most of them, you can really see what’s been sold. Despite having all of these expensive objects, such as a sports car, all of these watches, etc, it strongly feels like most of it doesn’t matter so much to him outside of what it signifies. His success. But what is important to him, the condo, while seeming to be like the rest of what he owns, has a deep meaning to him. The sentiment that grew in his heart while with Tam. So he doesn’t – can’t – bring himself to sell that.

How did he go from working seemingly behind the scenes to weatherman? It isn’t what PhiTam seem to have wanted to be doing, judging from the opening scene, so what did happen? I’m so intrigued.

I love the food support from the “Prince fandom” and birthday project so much. Let’s all start stanning our local weathermen like this. 

Phi, I’m sure, probably hardened his heart after Tam left. But his rude behavior also really does seem to stem from wanting the show to be the best it can be, which makes Phi flawed (and clearly in the wrong) but understandable in terms of why he acts the way he does. It’s a perfect balance, and I love how Krist pulls off a flawed character again. His outburst at Tae also makes sense, and I can’t wait to see more of the two of them.

(I love his red jacket, by the way. And all of his outfits. And all of Singto’s outfits. I may be obsessed with the styling of PhiTam in this show.)

Can I just say I love the contrast between how Phi acts versus him showing up as a cute Teru Teru Bouzu on the news? He’s so adorable, and keeping the rain away definitely fits when he has a sun-themed boyfriend. I want to squish him. 

I must know what Yong knows. Yong clearly knows things. What does Yong know. 

Grr. I won’t be going into it right now, since I think it probably deserves its own post, but it really shows the hypocrisy of these people that they’re all hounding Phi for using violence and then someone throws something at him! And also, gosh, the way that this injury reminds Phi of when he had someone there with him to support him. Agh. It hurts so sweet. I imagine that any time things went badly for him over the years without Tam, that he kept thinking about him.

And still having Tam as his favorite contact! This boy has not moved on at all.

Tam’s expressions get me so curious? Like, what is going on in this guy’s head? Why is his behavior like this, also? Ah! Also, knowing that he did indeed work at Good News for long enough to be remembered and for PhiTam being a couple to be public knowledge is so intriguing to me. I had assumed previously to the series that he had left right at the end of university, but the show’s timeline instead has him leaving to study abroad after working a short while. 

I’m sure Tam is very familiar with Phi’s mouth.

Can I just say that I love their dynamic? I can’t wait to see more of their back-and-forth. I think it especially works because we know there’s both very real love and hurt in their relationship. They also strike me as competitive, stubborn, and prideful, which probably works for them when they’re working together as one team (like back in university) but not as much when they’re at odds. Can’t wait to see them learn to work together again in the upcoming episodes!

The way he immediately goes in to project Tam from the falling trophy! The tension! The everything! Also, his broken laptop caught me off guard and really made me laugh the first time I saw it. Lemme just say I love the show’s sense of humor.

Tam naturally getting into the car and saying to just scream it out! He’s so smug. And definitely knows what Phi is like. Also, the “unusual files” are so funny. I’m sure you would know what he has on there, Tam. Very, very well.

The perfect DJ moment! The song from the original pilot trailer! 

The timeline of PhiTam’s relationship is very obviously tied to KristSingto, and I find that so intriguing. KristSingto obviously met much earlier than 2017, but 2017 is when the Peraya Fanclub was officially founded! It’s a perfect time for the relationship to start here, and works great with the timeline they set up. 

I love how Phi is kind of sarcastic about Tam asking about the seat until he sees and recognizes him. You can see his expression shift before telling him to take a seat! Was he always kind of grumpy? Because I love it. 

Since their first anniversary is in 2019, they got together officially in 2018. Then, they were arguing in 2021 and breaking up in 2022. Why did this happen! I need to know! I’m also so curious how they got together, what happened while they were apart, and everything else. Ah. I’m so excited for future episodes!

I love that random uncle remembers PhiTam from all those years ago so well. I also find this scene so mortifyingly embarrassing for Phi. I do not know how he didn’t melt into the ground. Tam’s expressions! Phi trying to get out of Tam knowing! You can see the amusement in Tam’s eyes at knowing that Phi isn’t over him.

Though – that makes me wonder – how exactly not over him does Tam think Phi is? Does he know the extent to which he impacted Phi? I imagine he’s guilty about it deep down, but not showing it. But why not? There are a thousand questions in my head, and most of them are directed to Tamtawan. 

(Renew’s MV definitely sums up how I feel about Tam, too, Phi. I also want to ask him why he left! And what he’s thinking! And if he regrets it! I also find it horrifying to imagine being Phi, broken up with over text by his long-term boyfriend who then flies off to Australia?! Imagine that.)

Tam is delightful. Not to Phi right now, but I find him delightful.

I love Rita. She’s asking all the questions I’m asking, honestly. I wonder when we’ll learn all of the details of what happened with TamPhi’s breakup!

Speeding through the bar scene because it makes me viscerally uncomfortable and I was screaming at the screen. But I’m very amused by Tam staking claim over Phi after tracking him to the bar. 

“Why are you here?” “Why not? I’m your producer.” Is stalking a part of the job description? Ahaha, amazing. 

Their expressions in this scene are so… The searching in Tam’s eyes. Phi’s obvious hurt. The way he doesn’t want to owe him anything, the way he brings up that he was “treated like shit.” It’s all so intense, and angsty, and I need to see more as soon as possible. A lot of my thoughts are “this is so interesting, I need more, aaaaaaah!” Which, I mean, I’ve been doing that since the pilot trailer dropped. I may be getting off topic.

You can really tell that Phi can’t let go. I feel like it’s manifested, perhaps, in a lot of ways, in being unwilling to tamper with his original sentiments? He still is attached to the condo, can’t unfavorite Tam’s contact, won’t change his password, etc. And it’s clearly still affecting him so much, seeing as he’s having flashbacks even before Tam has returned to his life. 

Phi wanted to move in with him! He wanted to live with him in that condo! Agh. 

The kiss! The music that’s playing (I love the use of music and sound effects in this episode, by the way)! The casual romance of PhiTam pre-break up. The smiles. Their lips. I can’t believe we got to see this so early.

I love how Phi has always been stubborn. But there’s someone who can make him come around, for sure.

That deal to not talk about anything personal is probably going to last less than an episode. I’d be impressed if it lasted at all, honestly.

Tam is so beautiful in the flashback to his call with Yong, by the way. It’s our only glimpse into Tam’s perspective throughout the whole episode, and we catch a glimpse of his place in Australia, along with confirmation that he still loves Phi (which we obviously know, but well, much less than we know about Phi’s emotional state).

Their handshake is so fun. Can’t wait to see them butt heads.

Anyways: amazing episode, and I'll spend my entire week thinking about it.

[kristsingto]

Seems like Phi sold all of his watches except the ones that he and Tam wore together.

[kristsingto]

Thinking about the difference in sets of Phi's and Tam's places! Really emphasizes the sort of emptiness of Phi's life even despite his success.

[kristsingto]

TAM'S EARRINGS

SO THE THING IS: Singto's a very deliberate actor who's said before that he likes to add physical tics or mannerisms to his characters to distinguish them. So when he started playing with his earring during the flashback call with Yong, I was like, "The earrings are important. Probably a gift from Pathapi?"

Because in the montage of their relationship, Tam's not wearing any.

But during other flashbacks where they're speaking (the chase at the beginning, the flashbacks at the repair shop, when they win the competition, and during the kiss scene at the end), he's wearing this same black pair.

So I think those might've been a gift from Pathapi as well.

See, in SOTUS, Kongphob and Arthit have this ongoing jewelry upgrade exchange throughout their relationship. First the string bracelet, then the leather ones, the separate gear necklaces, then the necklaces of their gears melded together, etc.

So this could be a reference to that.

Because later, Pathapi sells off all but two of his watches.

I think maybe the black and silver earrings were birthday gifts to Tawan from Pathapi, and the two watches were birthday gifts to Pathapi from Tawan.

NO IDEA OF COURSE.

THIS ALL CAME FROM SINGTO TOUCHING HIS EAR.

ANYWAY IT'S ALMOST 3AM GOOD NIIIIIGHT NO ONE TELL @hallowpen I'M STILL AWAKE BECAUSE I'M NOT