#they really said mame who

[gunsatthaphan]

"are you tired?"

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, The Court Jester, The Manchurian Candidate)—The babe, the myth, the legend. In her own words her early hollywood roles were "a series of venal bitches" and they were all glorious. Half of them wanted to kill you and you probably would have thanked them. She even goes toe to toe with Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls! That said, she was chronically underused and misused during this era - she was just 36 when she was cast as Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii and a few years later commented that she'd played so many 'old hags' that most people thought she was in her 60s. She thought she was "all talent, no looks" but she was the full package! Post-1970 I hope we all know what an incredibly talented and compassionate badass she was, but I feel like not enough people know her early roles as a hot (often villainous) young thing.

Angie Dickinson (Rio Bravo, Point Blank, Ocean's Eleven)—Though it could be argued that overall her career leans more to TV, during this time period she was splitting movie title credits with the very top names in the business.

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Propaganda for Angie Dickinson:

Propaganda for Angela Lansbury:

"Angela Lansbury might not be where your mind goes first when you think of hot leading women, because she had a later career revival. But she began acting in the early 1940s after leaving London due to the Blitz. In the first couple decades of her film career she has an openness about her. She said she never really fit in with the Hollywood crowd and to me she gives off a friendly, untarnished vibe."

"Most of us know Angela Lansbury as old lady sleuth Jessica Fletcher, but it's important to know that she was smoking hot in her younger days as well as a damned fine actress. Although she didn't get lead roles until her early 40s, at 17 she was a supporting actress in films such as Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), and The Picture of Dorian Grey, for which she won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for the Oscar. Even in her memorable performance as the manipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate, she is listed as a supporting actress as she does not play the love interest. She was successful both on stage and screen, and won the Tony for her lead role in the musical Mame on Broadway in 1966. TL;DR While Angela Lansbury mostly played supporting roles in films before 1970, she had what it takes to be a leading actress, which we know from her success on stage and tv from the mid 60s onward"

"She looked like a princess but bit like a viper"

"Is there anything this woman couldn't do? Act in comedy and drama, sing, dance, be a wonderful human being - quite simply a true and wonderful lady."

"god she had such an incredible career all throughout her life really but as a young lady she was just as incredible as she was in her later years. enchanting voice, amazing personality, and absolutely GORGEOUS. she lamented not having the looks to play leads in romance but that idea is so batshit because look at her??? she's one of the most terrific women of all time. also she's my grandmother's favorite actress and i truly get it"

"she is the fairytale princess of my dreams in court jester"

[3typical3]

Tip for non Hispanic ppl writing Spanglish

*I initially wrote this at 1 am so like, keep that in mind as you decipher this lol

*context is key when speaking Spanglish, if your character is in a professional setting they probably won’t speak Spanglish unless it’s to a fellow co worker who also speaks Spanglish. It’s more of a casual way a speaking yk?

Also parents, I avoid Spanglish with my parents unless we’re switching from just speaking Spanish to just speaking English. But that’s depends from family to family.

It’s typically like switching sentences and not dropping in random words.

Example “ es Que fui a la tienda, and they were out of milk”

Example “ te ves cansada, did you sleep last night?”

“La neta” is and extremely common Mexican slang term, typically means, honestly. It can also be used to mean ‘really?’

Honestly example:

“La neta, Im tired”

Or “La neta, estoy cansada. Im going to bed”

In the case it means “really?”:

ex.) “Neta?! They said that?!”

I personally say “ de que” which is basically saying “like”, it’s a filled term, before saying a sentence in either English or Spanish

example “ de que idk it won’t work”

I’m Mexican so I use “ósea” a lot in both languages. Another substitute for words like:

“I mean,” “it'd be,” ”like,” “so,” “that is,” “therefore,” and “or.”

Ex. “ ósea, it looks weird idk”

The famous “ pero like” I personally don’t use a lot but an example of how it’s used in Spanglish is “ pero like, how did it happen?”

Sometimes I Just say “ fuck” but like in my Mexican accent or in a sentence.

“ fuck, perdí mi pulsera”

When I get startled I cuss in both English and Spanish but a Spanglish example would be

*insert random startling noise

“ ala verga! That scared me” or “ hijo de tu puta madre!” when something REALLY scared the shit out of me lol

“Chingada madre, where did that come from”

Rlly insert any cuss word in there and it probably works in Spanglish.

Edit bc I thought of this the morning after

In Mexican Spanish for whatever reason the word “madre” can be used like kinda like a cuss word lol.

Example “ Me vale madres”

Which in English would translate to “I don’t value mothers” but in practice means “I don’t give a shit” or “I don’t care”.

Another Mexican deep cut is the word “pedo” which yes, means fart but we’ve really given the word so many alternative meanings like

“ no es mi pedo “ = “not my problem”

“Estoy bien pedo” = “in rlly drunk”

“Vas a la peda?” = “ are you going to the party/kickback”

There’s more but that’s like the basics lol.

Also another Mexican term is “Aguas”… which literally translates to “waters” but it’s used as a warning.

“Aguas, there’s car coming”

The most famous of Mexican slang has to be “wey” or “guey” depends on how you spell it. But it just means dude. Another term that goes in hand is, “no mames” which basically means “are you kidding me”.

*men for whatever reason hate when the girl they’re dating or are into calls them wey. I think it’s because it’s seen as either improper or as like friend zoning.

“Wey, you’re not gonna believe this”

“No mames wey, look at this”

Another term is “equis” which basically means whatever

“How was the party?”

“Estuvo equis”

Another example

“ now was she dressed?”

“Equis, nothing crazy nothing wow”

*I recommend for Mexican characters looking into the words, or you can just ask me I just don’t wanna make this longer than I already have lol, “mamar”/“mamo”/“mamon”, each you would think is the same but no, no they are not and using one in the wrong context could be catastrophic lol. They are vital words to our vocab

If you’re writing to a character from a specific country, take the time to learn some slang. Sometimes slang crosses over, sometimes even we use slang we learn from each others dialects. Personally I love “joder”/“no jodas” because of the shows from Spain.

But take the time because if you write a Colombian character using most of the slang I’ve used above, you’d get a lot of hate from Colombians lol.

Some bad Spanglish examples would be

“ why didnt you eat your comida?”

Like no. Just no. Inserting a random Spanish word doesn’t equate to Spanglish, at least not in most Latin peoples lives

“ you look cansada” also just no.

*Edit I saw someone post abt this and I felt like adding it in

If you do insert a random Spanish word or vice versa it’s because you forgot the word but that involves a lot of blanking and being annoyed you can’t dig the simplest word out of you sub conscience lol

Example: “ you look, FUCK what’s the word! You know when you’re cansada…TIRED. You look tired”

Another commenter addition I’ll be adding is using “eh” as a filler instead of “um”. I use both but even in English I default to using “eh” or “ehmmmm”

The worst is when you don’t remember the word, only to have it appear in your subconscious hours later lol

Another fav filler word is “deste” which equates to another more Central American term “vaina” but a less refined way of saying it. Essentially they mean “thing” but that thing can be anything. It’s kinda a word when you’re to lazy to say the actual word.

“Pásame el deste”

*passes them x ítem

“No I meant the remote”

*trying not to kill the person because they could’ve said remote the whole time but chose not to

Sometimes we use bad Spanglish on purpose just to be funny

“Que sad” “Que cute”

* i personally love inserting the word cute into my vocab in Spanish just cuz so to each their own

Something I do is like say something in English and immediately say the exact same thing in Spanish. Or like I’ll say an exclamation in one language then end in the other.

“ GO GO GO, VÁMONOS APÚRATE”

“Que asco, gross”

“WOW, que bueno”

Also if you’re writing like couples tbh nicknames in Spanish would be reserved for when you’re speaking in Spanish and same for English, but each couple is different so if you rlly want to leave a nickname in Spanish in go for it. If you rlly want the endearment to be “ mi amor” please remember that after like the first or second time the Spanish speaker would probably just refer to their S/O as “ amor” or switch between the two.

Which brings me to the terms “mami/mamita” and “papi/papito”. Now, while they Can and are by some used in a sexual manner, they can also be used as general terms of endearment. My mom will sometimes call me mamita or my brother papito.

Amongst couples though it’s just kinda said, I saw someone describe it was you just give motherly energy so “mami” is said lol which I get oddly enough.

Once a couple is well established or just comfortable the woman can refer to her S/O as “ viejo” which is old man lol, but it’s like cute. On the flip side idk it’s typically seen as offensive when a man calls his S/O “vieja” but that depends on culture to culture.

Again mami and papi don’t have to be sexual but can be.

Another simple thing you can do is look up nicknames for certain names.

Examples:

“Mike” pronounced “Mique” for Miguel. Some people like to use “Mickey”, that gained popularity from an old Mexican singer lol.

“Ponchó” For Alfonso

“Ale” Can be used for Alejandro/Alexandra/Alejandra

Another thing I thought of is amongst siblings when referring to our parents we will say like

“Haz visto a mi mamá”

Which means have you seen “my mom” even though she’s both our mom… idk it’s weird but a nice little touch you could add to your writing lol

I get rlly annoyed reading bad Spanglish, sometimes it’s just painfully cringe and just obvious a non Spanish speaker wrote it, and I realize it’s bc most of y’all didnt grow up with it so like this is just what is typical Spanglish most Hispanic ppl grow up speaking, obviously not everyone speaks like this but figured I’d give tips from someone who actually speaks English and Spanish and switches between.

If I missed anything feel free to add on or if you disagree add examples

[conazo]

Valentino writing tips: language

I’m not an expert by any means, but I thought I might provide some insight into how I, personally, handle the nasty moth's dialogue.

Like all languages, Spanish is highly regional. We don’t really know Val’s actual background as a Sinner, so your guess is as good as mine. Given his VA is Puerto Rican, however, I write Valentino as someone who speaks Caribbean Spanish (like me!). The three Spanish-speaking countries/territories in the Caribbean are: Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. I'm not familiar with Cuban Spanish, so we'll focus on the first two for now.

Some of these are more specific to one place than the other, but I’m mushing them together for simplicity’s sake (don't come at me).

Fun quirks of Dominican and Puerto Rican Spanish:

A habit of shortening words, like “ven pa’ca” (“come here”) instead of “ven para acá.” We frequently eat the letters “r,” “s” or “d” toward or at the end of some words.

Pronouncing “r” as “l” in some words.

Pronouncing “t” as a soft sound between a “th” and a “d.” Although this voice has a Spanish (from Spain) cadence, you can hear the modified “t” sound in “Valentino” here.

Fun Dominican and Puerto Rican words and phrases:

“Coño” as a casual curse, typically used as an expression of frustration (like “fuck!”). My username is basically a really intense version of coño, and is a very Dominican phrase.

“Diablo,” which means “devil,” is also commonly used as an exclamation.

“Hijo de la gran puta,” a classic that roughly parallels "son of a bitch," but literally translates to “son of a great whore.”

“Papi” or “papi chulo” (“cute daddy”) as a term of affection. “Papito” is the diminutive version of this phrase.

On that note, you can add “ito” to the end of just about anything to make it a diminutive (cutesy/smaller version). “Chulo” means cute, for example. “Chulito” is the even more affectionate/smaller version of that.

“Dique,” which is used to express doubt. Vox might say, “I am not obsessed with Alastor!” Valentino might mutter “diiiique” in response. This is a Dominican thing.

“Wepa,” which is something usually shouted in excitement. This is a Puerto Rican thing.

“Vaina,” which kind of means “thing,” often with a negative connotation. So, Valentino might look at one of Velvette’s designs, find it hideous, and say, “que vaina más fea, oof” (“what an ugly thing, oof”).

“Fó,” which is sort of “ew” or “gross,” usually re: bad smells. You shout it.

“Mano,” short for “hermano” (“brother”). Used between friends.

“Dímelo” (“tell me”) as a greeting. Something that would be said when answering the phone, for example.

“Cojer” as a means of saying “to take,” like taking something from a table. This word has a very different context in other regions. In Mexico, for example, the verb “cojer” is vulgar and means “to fuck.”

“Ahorita,” which in my experience means “later.” In other regions, it can mean “right now” or “later” depending on context.

Commonly used phrases in Mexican Spanish.

You’ll want to avoid these if you’d like his dialogue to be consistently Caribbean-inspired:

“Pinche”

“Verga”

“Wey”

“No mames/no manches”

“Qué padre”

“Chingar”

Calling acquaintances “primo” or “jefe”

I mention this Spanish dialect specifically because it's the most common one in the world. And hey, Val could be canonically Mexican or Mexican in your headcanon! That's cool, too. I'm just providing insight for consistency's sake.

Other insight:

“Ay dios mío!” is a generally overused phrase, in my opinion, and not actually said IRL as frequently as TV makes it seem. Just my experience, though.

“Ay” or “uy” are good filler sounds. You hear Val shout it when Niffty snaps at him.

Valentino canonically squeaks like a moth when passionate!

His voice takes on an echo/growl when he’s particularly angry.

Mixing English and Spanish is tricky. Spanglish is not uncommon in PR, DR, and the US, but usually only when speaking with someone else who is fluent in both languages. Valentino seems plenty fluent in English; he uses lots of contractions, complex sentence structure, and slang. He doesn’t need to inject Spanish phrases in favor of English ones when conversing with another English speaker. He does do it sometimes for emphasis (“the devil’s princesa” or “this chiquita”).

As cliché as it is, defaulting to a Spanish phrase in moments of alarm, anger, frustration, or affection is also not uncommon if you grew up in a Spanish-speaking home. If someone surprises me, I shout “coño” by default, for example.

Valentino uses pet names when referring to others, like "amorcito" (“little love”) and "Angie" over voicemail.

Generally speaking, Val likes to stretch his vowels to be theatrical ("he mooooved!"). He sometimes eats the ends of English words, like “fuckin’” instead of “fucking.” He also sometimes rolls his “r” for English words, like in “ungrrrateful whore!”

Val's accent isn’t consistently strong, which could be a stylistic choice, or he could just be prone to a kind of unique code switching, for lack of a better term. My friends say I speak English with a Spanish accent when conversing with my family, for example (it’s not intentional).

Okay that’s it, bye!

[fangisms]

did you hear?

A/N: i just think he’s so lover.

gif creds: @qveenofthorns

Pairings: Neville Longbottom x Popular!Fem!Reader

Summary: Neville Longbottom accidentally starts a raunchy rumor about the popular girl in his potions class. And rumors fly. 1.0k words.

Warnings: ‘snogging’ help im not british and it shows, rumors, allusions to sex/promiscuous acts, teasing, pining, strangers/friends to lovers

Somehow Neville started a rumor about you. And somehow, through the unbelievably slippery walls of Hogwarts, the rumor made its way to you in less than a week.

It was an accident, honestly. And people kept blowing it way out of proportion. You were popular, more popular than he could ever hope to be, and when he said it, he had already accepted that nothing would ever really happen between the two of you. But this awful rumor made him sound boorish and borderline rabid when really it was supposed to be a harmless confession between friends.

"I heard Neville Longbottom wants to shag you out by the Quidditch pitch."

Even from a few tables down, he could see the mortification fall over your face like a black veil. Your friend giggled as she pulled away from whispering in your ear, and you clapped a hand over your mouth. He had to look away when your eyes flicked to meet his. Your friends spend the rest of lunch hour teasing you and snickering about him while you seem to shrink in on yourself.

Neville manages to avoid you where he can in the halls: taking the longer route, hiding in large groups. But none of it is very fruitful when you've got a very similar class schedule. In fact, despite his efforts, he spends nearly every passing period just behind you and sometimes even right beside you. Apparently, he's also got a clear shot of you from where he sits in the classes you share and you're even table mates in potions. Of course, he knew all of this before that nasty rumor was spread, he's just become hyperaware of it since then.

After making it through the week without too much tension, he finds himself scanning the pages of his Water Plants textbook in the Great Hall and not retaining any of the information. And as he props his chin in his hand, he notices you settle into the seat directly across from him, flashing him a quick smile before opening your own book.

He sits up, glancing around the room to find Snape preoccupied with a group of raucous students from Slytherin.

A small, crumpled piece of parchment rolls its way to your side of the table, stopping just before it topples over the edge. You set your book in your lap and look over your shoulder before unraveling the torn paper.

"I'm assuming you've heard the news by now."

A smile creeps onto your face as you flatten out the slip of paper and write your own message on the backside. You slide it across the table and just barely catch his eye.

"Here and there."

But he knows you mean just about every five seconds because this cursed rumor has been inescapable for as long as its existed. You slide the cover of the Hogwarts Gazette over as well. It's entitled, "Things Heat Up Between Popular Witch and Nerdy Wizard" just above a picture of the two of you smiling at each other in class with a few smaller headlines like, "The Rumors are True!" and "What's Next for the Unlikely Couple?"

He blinks. Who's reading this rubbish? Scratch that, who's writing this rubbish and how hard would it be to mame them?

"I'm sorry about that, it was supposed to be an inside joke. Honestly, I would never say something that awful in the first place. And especially not about you."

You give him a sympathetic smile and crumple the page and his note into a ball before sending back a new slip.

"I know."

He half-smiles before attempting to read again. But you toss him another scrap of paper.

"So what did you say then?"

You giggle when he flushes a bright pink before squinting at you and scribbling across the page.

"Something or other about wanting to snog a certain pretty girl. It was never meant to go past first base, honestly. Pure intentions!"

You shove the used paper in your pocket and glance over your shoulder with a mischievous look before delicately folding another piece and setting it in the center of his textbook. He opens it. But he doesn't get the chance to read it before it's snatched out of his grasp by a pale hand.

"Mr Longbottom," Snape drawls, "would you care to read this aloud since you two have insisted on interrupting your fellow students' focus?"

You hide your giggles behind your hand and Neville glares at you while Snape ushers him into the aisle.

He looks down the note and groans.

"How about those Quidditch Pitch seats?"

...

"Very funny," Neville grumbles while you hold his shoulder to steady yourself from convulsing with laughter.

"Your face! You should have seen your face!" You tease, tears nearly streaming down your face when you clutch the sleeve of his sweater.

"You set me up," he says, trying not to smile when you purse your lips.

"You started a rumor about me!"

"On accident."

You cross your arms over your chest and tilt your head to the side. "Then yes. I set you up. On accident. Walk me to Trelawney's?"

He rolls his eyes and offers his arm for you to loop yours through. You walk beside each other in silence nearly half the way, dodging confused looks and bothersome jeers from your friends.

"So," you mumble, looking at him with a cocked brow, "you really think I'm pretty?"

Neville shrugs. "And snoggable, I suppose."

He looks down at you and thinks he's never acted so cool around someone he likes so much. He thinks you're more than pretty and he wants to be able to tell you, but as you round the corner, the open classroom leers at you like a slippery snake. He spares you one last look and you peer up at him like a little dove. He goes pink.

You stop in the doorway and beckon him closer. And you think the nearly contemptuous smile on his face is new and ill-fitting but he's handsome nonetheless. You hold his chin and press a sweet kiss to his cheek before ducking into the classroom.

"See you in potions, Neville."

masterlist

[absolutebl]

Rules: List 10 of your comfort shows

tagged by @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle (thanks doll)

I rarely pass along tags but you should do this one and tag me if you do so I can see, comfort watches are my absolute FAVORITE.

This is a BL blog and I've watched most of them, so I will be picking BL. But I will only be picking BL I am rewatching for comfort right NOW.

Some of these may surprise. Ready?

My Top 10 Comfort BL's right NOW

1 kiss x kiss x kiss - perfect scandal (short)

My favorite of this series because it's basically office romance sexy bits we all wanted from Old Fashion Cupcake.

2 Jun & Jun

his show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smile every moment I'm watching. This is very much MY style of BL.

3 Love is Science (BL cut)

Mark and Ouwen gotta be one of my all time favorite side dishes. LIS? is a noona romance with added mature side couple as well as these two, mostly interwoven. It’s a big buy in just for Mark & Ouwen but WORTH IT, and some kind soul uploaded a BL cut to YT. Everything is a touch quirky but the BL boys are beautiful, earnest, and high heat. It's one of Taiwan's favorite dynamics: the bisexual himbo meets the confident gay, but they are just LOVELY, plus tiny queer family at the end.

4 2 Moons 3

What can I say, it's utter trash but there is something about the main couple I love. A Thai pulp that felt like it came out 5 yrs ago with many of the flaws inherent to that time and studio system, including manufactured angst and convoluted plot, but an ultimately sweet main couple that (as a pairing) feels a bit more modern and is satisfying to watch. This will probably go down in history as one of the few BLs where I genuinely didn’t care about any of the side couples.

5 Love Class 2

But only "my couple." ( the mature student and the TA). I still hold that they probably should’ve had their own series.

6 Big Dragon

I didn't love this when it first aired but I am coming around to it more on the rewatch. (I may even up its score from 7 to 8 if the eventual movie sticks the landing). This is a pairing that proved itself to be a lot more sophisticated than I expected with nods at kink in a more respectful way than Mame could ever dream, plus excellent chemistry.

7 Why R U? Korea

The Korean remake of Why RU? is BOTH bizarro land, and EXACTLY what I expected. There is something comforting in watching the Cliff's notes version of a show I enjoyed before just in a different BL style. I don't know why I like this one so much, but I really do.

8 Takara & Amagi

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show first time around. Now I still love it but I'm more calm. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst, thirst, & yearning.

9 About Youth

A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth.

Clearly I'm having a bit of a high school phase because I've been thinking of doing this one next:

10 My School President

Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORED this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being re-executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny?

[namorslutfanfiction]

Tenoch is making a new movie and is crushing on his co-star. Just moments of them flirting and getting close and Tenoch showing his cute side and his AguaPapi side. I'm okay with a little smut too. Thank you !

I love it, thank you.

Summary: 8 cute moments between Tenoch and his co-star and 1 spicy moment between the sheets.

FLUFF AND SMUT this is a long one

The Meet Cute

The table read is where you met each other.

Of course you had heard of each other. You knew of him because he was Namor, I mean come on who didn't know about Agua Papi. He knew about you because he made sure to look you up. Tenoch was considerate and never wanted anyone to feel like they were lesser just because they had less experience. He was surprised to find that you had some amazing credits in international productions that he had been meaning to watch. So when he did, and he was able to really know more about you professionally, he developed a little bit of a crush.

As the two leads of this venture you were sat next to each other for the table read and you noticed that, even after the initial introductions, Tenoch kept glancing at you.

You nudged him as the director spoke, and then whispered to him, "Is there something on my face? Why do you keep looking at me?"

He leaned over to whisper in your ear while still looking at your director, "I'm just wondering how I'm going to concentrate on these scenes when they got me such a beautiful wife to act against."

You gaped at him and then kicked him in the shin under the table. He jumped but still smirked at you, winking as he did.

"Tenoch, y/n, is everything ok?" The director asked,

"Things are perfect," The way Tenoch said it sounded like a purr and you hated that you thought it was cute.

You leaned over once everyone was back to listening to the director, "You're gonna be a menace aren't you?"

"And we are going to have a lot of fun together," Tenoch replied, looking into your eyes and holding your gaze until you had to look away. You covered your blushing face with the script while you tried to cool down. Tenoch sat next to you shaking from the laughs he was holding in.

This was going to be interesting.

Fight Rehearsal

" Aye pinche a la verga wey!"

"Honestly, Tenoch, I expected more from you," You taunted as the Latino man picked himself up off the mat.

"We are only supposed to be sparring!" Tenoch growled, throwing his spear to the ground, "No quiero hacer esto contigo, perra!"

"Aw, ok ok, I'm sorry. I just got excited. I've never been able to pull that move off with the stunt men and when I realized it was working I went full force. I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?" You rushed up to Tenoch who had his arms crossed against his chest. You gripped his wrists trying to get him to loosen up. "I'm really sorry."

You had both been in physical training for months and had moved on to fight choreography and rehearsal. While it was fun most of the time, it hurt Tenoch's ego a little bit that you were much better at it than he was. Not that he wasn't trying but you grew up learning three forms of martial arts so you had an advantage.

You hugged Tenoch around the middle since he was so much taller than you and spoke to him even though your voice was muffled against his shirt, "I'll let you flip me into the foam pool in the big rec center if you keep practicing with me today."

"Aye, cabrona," Tenoch sighed and hugged you back, "let me throw you twice and we have a deal."

You pulled back and stared at him. You locked eyes trying to intimidate each other then you conceded, "Alright, twice."

You stuck your hand out for a hand shake and Tenoch took it and sealed the deal.

"You're lucky you're cute, hermosa, or I would have left," Tenoch called to you as he drank some water from his bottle near the training room mirrors.

You were across the room picking up your notebook to look up another scene. You glanced at him, "You're lucky you're handsome or I wouldn't be going easy on you."

"No mames," Tenoch yelled and gave chase. He grabbed you from behind and lifted you by your waist. Then got you in a head lock once he put you down. You were both laughing as you wrestled.

Gym Buddies

"Come on chiquita, one more rep," Tenoch encouraged you as you dropped into your last squat. You huffed and strained loudly.

"I can't."

"Yes you can. Just one more," Tenoch was spotting you as you forced yourself to stand one more time. Once the barbell was racked and the weight was off your shoulders you collapsed onto your butt.

Tenoch looked down at you amused then told you to scoot over so he could add his weights for his own set. You had decided to work out together today and you were regretting it. The man was encouraging but pushy when it came to weight lifting. There was no doubt in your mind that you would be sore as hell the next day.

"What happened to the tough, pendeja who keeps beating my ass on the mats every week?" Tenoch teased as he lifted you on to a nearby bench so that you weren't in the way of the squat rack.

"I am a cardio person Tenoch. This lifting weights stuff is not my happy place. I'm going to be so fucking sore and it's your fault." You complained as you gulped down some water.

"This is a good sore though," Tenoch said as he hit his set of squats.

"I can think of a better sore," You mumbled to yourself.

Tenoch racked the barbell and leaned over you with one hand on each side of you, spanning the width of the bench. God he had big hands. You looked up and his face was only inches away from you. He was breathing heavily from doing the squats and you could feel his hot breath barely blowing across your lip. You instinctively licked your lips which caught the actor's eye. "What kind of sore would that be?"

You stuttered, "T-the kind where my legs are sore from kicking you around."

"These legs?" Tenoch asked as he knelt in front of you and grasped your left thigh with both hands. He locked eyes with you as he started to massage your thigh then stretched out your leg.

Your heart raced at the feel of his hands on you. Then he bit his lip right before he made a fist and ran it firmly on the back of your thigh from your butt to your knee. "FUCK!"

It hurt like a bitch but Tenoch held your leg in place and repeated the gesture to your whole thigh, "Stop moving. This will help with the soreness."

"That fucking hurts!" Tenoch ignored you as he finished with one leg and held you down so he could grab the other leg, giving it the same treatment. Once he was done you smacked him hard across the chest, "Pendejo!"

He was laughing as he sat back, "It feels better now, right?"

You paused and wiggled on your seat realizing the tension in your legs had loosened. You looked down at your hands and quietly thanked him. He was standing now, having grabbed his things. Tilting your face up to look at him he spoke softly, "I promise the only type of sore I'll make you is the good kind of sore."

Tenoch smiled down at you before releasing your chin and heading for the lockers, "Goodnight hermosa, I'll see you next week when we start filming."

You watched his back as he left you there. He pulled off his shirt right as he made it to the locker room entrance way and you couldn't help but gasp at how good his back muscles looked right after a full body work out. You could only imagine what the rest of him looked like.

Someone got sick

"Hey Nochie!" You called as you barged into his temporary apartment. You juggled the groceries you had as you made your way to the kitchen and started unloading your haul.

Tenoch stumbled in looking like death wrapped in a bathrobe and little else. His eyes were a little puffy, he had wadded up tissues in his hands, and he was sweating slightly.

You sprayed a little disinfectant at him, "No one told you to leave the bedroom. Go back in there or I'll spray this directly on you."

"Don't be mean," from the sound of his voice you could tell he had been coughing and his nose was stuffed up. He waddled back down the hall way and you heard the telltale 'whap' as he threw himself onto the bed.

The idiot had gotten a cold. Unfortunately, his assistant wasn't much help as he was a young newbie and a man. You got to work preparing the new humidifier that was delivered and placed by the door. Once that was set up in Tenoch's bedroom you returned to the kitchen to make some soup.

You knew that Tenoch was a fan of spice but even you were a bit hesitant to use as much as the recipe called for. But your Indian friend had insisted that the spice was necessary and would burn the illness out of the actor in no time. If you hadn't experienced it yourself, you probably wouldn't have believed her. Now here you were making a home remedy for the Mexican actor.

After a week of being sick and missing your first shoots together, you were fed up. Once you realized that his assistants were useless in the realm of caring for a whiney man with the a cold you decided you had to intervene. Plus you had started to miss the man.

With some texts and coordination with his assistants you were given a key and the go ahead to help him and try not to get sick yourself. You slaved over a hot stove for an hour before the soup was ready and the steam of it was making your eyes water.

You scooped some of the steaming soup and placed it in a bowl on a tray. You pulled out some of the cold medicine that was sitting on the counter along with a bottle of water. Carefully, you took the tray in to Tenoch's room, where he was sleeping soundly. His breathing wasn't as labored, which told you that the humidifier was working. You placed the tray on a small table and went to wake him.

"Nochie, time to eat." You shook his shoulder gently and he slowly opened his eyes. You helped him sit up and handed him the tissue box on his bedside table so he could blow his nose.

"That humidifier really helped. I haven't been able to sleep like that in days," He looked at you with a soft smile on his face.

"I made you some soup. It's a friends old family recipe. It's spicy but it always did the trick whenever I would get sick during tech week in college," You explained as you set the tray on his lap.

He watched you as made sure the tray was stable and the medicine was out of it's blister packet. When you looked up you couldn't help but blush at the softness he was emanating.

"Eat this and then take your medicine, " You commanded as you started randomly tidying up his room. Before you could move too far away from the bed he grabbed your wrist.

"Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate you coming to take care of me," He said earnestly.

You shifted your wrist and took his hand, "You won't be so grateful once you try that soup."

That made you both laugh.

"But seriously it's not just hot temperature-wise. There's enough spice in there to fill a taco truck," You gestured to the bowl.

"Sounds delicious," Tenoch said as he picked up the bowl with both hands and took a big gulp. Immediately he started coughing. You deftly took the bowl away from him so he wouldn't spill.

"I told you!" You exclaimed. Tenoch grabbed the water bottle and drank from it hungrily.

Once he had recovered he gestured for the bowl again and you hesitated before gently handing it to him. This time he took a much smaller sip and made a soft noise of approval, "It burns so good."

"Don't make that face when you say that, you look like a psycho," You went around cleaning up some tissues and clothes strewn about as the actor slowly ate his soup, "Trust me it may burn good now, but you'll hate it when it burns coming out."

Tenoch whipped his head up and looked at you with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, your cold will get burned away too. The hour or so on the toilet will be worth it. Anyway, I'm gonna head out. Good luck, handsome." You couldn't help but cackle loudly as you left the actor alone.

Hours later

TH: I hate you

YN: You love me

TH: I'm dying.

YN: Can you finally breathe through your nose and mouth at the same time?"

TH: ...yes.

YN: You're welcome.

TH: <3

Filming together for the first time

Due to Tenoch's cold the entire filming schedule got so turned around that it was 2 months after filming had started that you finally had your first scene together.

Although you had rehearsed fights and other scenes together, this was the first time you were seeing each other in full costume and makeup. It was quite honestly intimidating how good the actor looked in a well fitting suit and perfectly trimmed hair.

"Oh ho, look at you. Aye que bonita. Who knew you could clean up so good?" Tenoch said taking your hand and making you do a little twirl.

"Don't pretend like you haven't thought I was stunning since the moment you met me," You teased as you struck an exaggerated seductive pose.

"The color suits you, hermosa," he kissed your cheek in greeting and you did the same to him. The crew was still putting the finishing touches on the scene and directing the extras. It was a party where the two characters had agreed to meet for a covert deal. It was extravagant.

"Thank you, Tenoch. As always you look handsome as ever in that suit. No wonder they call you Agua Papi," You teased knowing that he always got flustered when you brought up the fans' nickname for him.

"Aye mujer, stop calling me that," as expected the actor was blushing.

You leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Don't pretend you don't like it. Every guy likes being called 'papi'."

He grasped your waist and stopped you from leaving his side, he leaned down and whispered in your ear, "I prefer it in private."

A shiver ran down your spine right between your legs as you looked into his eyes. You both glanced at each others lips. You chuckled, "Save it for the camera or your fan girls might try and poison my water."

You gestured to some of the extras that were staring at the two of you across the room. Two in particular were glaring daggers in your direction but it didn't bother you. The director called for 'places' and you went your separate ways.

Acting together was electrifying. Your chemistry seemed like second nature. Even when you both decided to move the scene in a different direction it was seamless. Everyone on set could feel it. That this was a dynamic duo in the making. Having an actor vibe with you so well was a rare gift and you enjoyed every minute of it. There was a challenge there as well as trust that gave you the confidence to explore versions of the scene that you hadn't thought of during rehearsal.

Tenoch felt the same way. Acting with you was fun and natural. For every cross he made you had a counter-cross. For every push there was a pull. It was energizing. When you had practiced together it was peaking through, but once you were both fully committed to the scene, in character, in front of the camera where it mattered most, you both thrived.

When the shoot ended for the day, Tenoch impulsively hugged you and kissed the crown of your head, "Mi compañera! This is going to be an amazing shoot."

You laughed at his exuberance and returned the hug, "You felt it too, huh?"

"Electricity! You're like my soul mate. Oscars here we come!" Tenoch cheered as you both made your way out of the studio arm in arm. You didn't want to think too much about how Tenoch calling you his soul mate had made your heart skip a beat.

Kissing Practice

You were pacing back and forth in one of the waiting rooms of the studio. You were incredibly nervous for a very stupid reason. Today you would be filming the first kissing scene. Not only was it the first kissing scene of this film but it was also the first kissing scene you had ever been asked to film.

That is how Tenoch found you. Pacing a path into the floor as you worried about your upcoming scene. "Que pasa mujer?"

You stopped in your tracks and looked at the actor. He was dressed in fitted black slacks and a satin button down that was only half way buttoned, showing off his sculpted chest. His sleeves were rolled up , exposing his strong forearms and the fake tattoos they had put on to them. You blushed, thinking about the scene and how you were supposed to throw yourself at him.

"Hi Tenoch," You replied nervously, not able to meet his eyes.

Tenoch tilted his head in confusion, "Que chingados? Quien eres? Who are you and what have you done to my co-star?"

"Oh shut up," You shot back as you continued your pacing.

Tenoch followed your path, watching you, "Why do you look nervous? You never look nervous."

You turned on him, "I'm allowed to be nervous!"

"Of course you are but why are you that way?"

You sighed, running hand through your hair while fidgeting with your skirt's hem. "I've never shot a kissing scene before."

"Ah, okay. What can I do to help?" Tenoch asked sincerely.

"Wait, you're not gonna make some joke about it?" You looked up at him.

"Of course not. I remember how nervous I was the first time I had to kiss someone on screen. Kissing is nothing in real life. It's natural, you don't have to worry about if you bump noses or close your eyes too soon, or purse your lips too much. But you can see all of that on screen. It's intimidating," he explained.

"Oh god, you can purse your lips too much? I hadn't thought of that," Your mind was racing with what else you could have missed.

"Oh mierda. Come here," he guided you to a chair and sat you down. "Calmate. Stop worrying. We can plan it right now ok."

"Plan it?"

"Yes. Like who tilts right and who tilts left, where our hands go, what kind of kiss it is. We can figure it all now and even practice if you want. It's just a scene like all the others. We can rehearse it." Tenoch took your hand and squeezed it.

"Really?"

He looked down at your face and realized just how vulnerable you felt in this moment. You had been confident the entire shoot until now. Reliable and trusted by everyone. You didn't want to disappoint anyone. He stood and pulled you to your feet, "Yes, really. So stand here and I will stand in front of you. I know in this scene you're supposed to jump into my arms. But we will get to the jumping later. Relax first."

You shook out your arms and slowed your breathing down.

"So obviously you jump into my arms so I will immediately wrap them around your waist," Tenoch did just that, your chest pressed together. Damn he smelled good.

"Thank you, you smell amazing too. But focus," Tenoch chided with a cheeky grin. You blushed red not realizing you had said your thought out loud. "Alright now you're in my arms. Obviously since you jump you will be more at eye level with me so let me lift you up, wrap your legs around my waist while we figure out the rest."

You followed his command and tried not to let your thoughts fly directly into the gutter at the position you were in. His arms felt strong around your waist, and you could feel how firm his muscles were as you wrapped your legs around him and, in turn, wrapped your arms around his neck.

"Alright did you want to keep your arms around my neck, or did you want to grab my face?" Tenoch asked like it was a normal every day question.

"Uh neck is good, especially if I'm throwing myself at you. If I try to grab your face I might poke your eye out." You explained finally getting yourself to think about the scene.

"Good call. Alright so I would suggest that we tilt right side respectively. And we keep that angle no matter which camera angle they use, for consistency," You followed his directions and tilted your head to the right and he did the same on his side. Your lips were millimeters apart. "Ok see that will eliminate any nose bumping. Now what kind of kiss?"

"Well it's a passionate one. She's giving into her attraction after putting it off and it's her way of asking for comfort," You replied, really digging into the context of the scene.

"Alright so passionate as in open mouthed, tongue, full on devouring?" Tenoch asked, rubbing your back slightly.

"I think open mouthed, with a little tongue at the end. Since he would be surprised at first and then realize what is happening and reciprocate," You reasoned.

Tenoch smiled and let you down on to your feet, "That sounds perfect. So are you ready to practice?"

"Right now?"

"Yes. Look we have figured out the logistics but if the first time we kiss is when the cameras are rolling it may turn out awkward. It's also your first kissing scene and I know you want to do well. " Tenoch told you.

"Right, ok. So, um, I just run at you and do it?" You were nervous again.

"No," Tenoch had found a spot across the room and had his arms folded. His demeanor was shifting from the helpful senior actor to his debonair character, "Get into character. The last three lines before the kiss then run."

In the blink of an eye Tenoch was gone and he was replaced by his character. The way he held himself changed, his expression, the twinkle in his eye, everything was different.

The electrifying feeling of acting against someone so skilled returned. You walked across the room towards him and with each stop you melted into your character.

"Quit looking so damn smug."

You clenched your fists in frustration as he smirked at you.

"You think you know everything but you know nothing,"

He looked away, uninterested. But damn did he look good.

"Look at me."

He turned back to you with a cocked eyebrow and made a dismissive 'hmph' noise. Then you ran the rest of the way into his arms, and your lips found his.

Tenoch hesitated as your lips moved against his and his arms wrapped around your waist. You were flush against each other. He finally started to reciprocate and you felt yourself melt. You moaned into the kiss and almost pulled away when you realized but Tenoch turned and pressed you against the wall, deepening the kiss and pushing his tongue into your mouth.

Reluctantly you both pulled away. Tenoch was towering over you with his arms against the wall, caging you in between. You both were out of breath, eyes dilated, and slowly coming back to earth.

Tenoch cough and took a few steps back from you, "Um that was good. You're ready for the shoot I think. I-I'll see you later."

Then he was out the door leaving you flustered and wanting more.

Last day of shooting

The tension between you and Tenoch had been building ever since that first kiss practice. You both only really saw each other on the days you were shooting scenes together. The production had been asked to speed up to make a certain date so you were all swamped and working constantly.

The tension worked well with your characters and as always you acted well together. While on set you both were very aware of each other. Still joking and flirting but there was an undercurrent of desire beneath it all. Every kissing scene felt a little to needy and desperate to the both of you. The few moments you were alone together you didn't speak much. Instead you both would catch the other staring, it was obvious that the attraction was becoming unbearable.

It was the last day of filming and everyone was saying their good byes. Unfortunately, you couldn't find Tenoch anywhere. You considered texting him, but you were already overthinking and overanalyzing. What if the attraction was something you made up in your head? What if he was avoiding you because he could tell you were infatuated? What if he had actually left without saying goodbye? You knew you would probably see him on the press tour, but that was months from now.

You walked dejectedly to your car in the studio parking lot. You had told your manager to go on without you, after all you were on vacation for the next three weeks. When you turned the corner to where you knew your car was, you were surprised to find Tenoch parked next to your SUV, standing between the two cars with his hands in his pockets.

"Tenoch? What are you doing?"

"Aye chingada madre. Took you long enough. Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for you," Tenoch was startled by your sudden presence.

You walked up to him and immediately began smacking his shoulder, "I thought you left without saying good bye you bastard!"

"Hey! Hey, stop it." He grabbed you by the wrists, "Why the hell do you think I would do that?"

"I don't know," You replied softly.

Tenoch cupped your cheek and looked into your eyes. "I can't leave without asking this hermosa to let me take her out on a date."

"You wanna go on a date?" Your eyes widened in surprise.

"That's what I just said," he was smiling his most charming smile.

"I'd love to," You returned his smile ten fold.

The date

Tenoch had insisted on waiting until you were both in Mexico to have the date. One, because his flight was already booked, and two because he wanted to cook for you.

So two weeks later, you found yourself in Tenoch's house, in a pretty sundress, drinking a margarita as the man in question cooked for you. He was preparing four or five dishes and was entertaining you immensely with his running commentary.

"A man who cannot cook is a man who will never find love. That is what my mother always said so I made sure to learn how to cook," Tenoch recounted to you.

"It all smells amazing, but please don't make it too spicy. You know I'm a baby when it comes to spicy food," You commented as you leaned over the counter to look over the dishes he was plating.

"Yes, for the baby I have cut the spice level to 50 percent. Scouts honor," he leaned forward and kissed the corner of your lips.

"I don't think you were ever a scout. Do they have scout's in Mexico?" You asked as he circled the counter and started setting the table.

"Of course we have scouts. But of course I was never a scout," he winked at you as he pulled out your chair, then poured you both a glass of wine.

"First a margarita, and now wine? Are you trying to get me drunk?" You teased him,

"Drinking is a time honored Mexican tradition, hermosa, it's part of my culture," He took his seat and started serving you portions of food.

You couldn't help but laugh. He was so charming and looked so handsome, and he could cook. You thanked whatever gods brought you here.

"Cuisine a la Mejia, now being served. Enjoy!" And you both did.

You insisted on helping him wash up after spending two hours talking and eating and sharing everything you could about each other. In between all that casual chemistry you had always had together was a growing desire. You both snuck kisses in between conversations. Held each others hands, and found reasons to touch each other.

It was only natural when Tenoch pulled you into a hug from behind as you finished washing the last of the dishes. You both were a little buzzed, warm to touch, and feeling relaxed. He started peppering kisses from your ear to your neck, hitting just the right spot to make your legs weak enough that you had to hold onto the counter.

You finished the last dish and set it to dry as Tenoch continued his ministrations. He pulled your dress strap down your shoulder and laved, and sucked at your skin. Your hand came around and pulled his waist closer to your body. A low growl emanated from him as he pressed up against you. You could feel his arousal tenting his pants.

You turned your head and captured his lips in a searing kiss. His hand found your hair and pulled it loose from the bun on top of your head. Gripping it tightly in his fist, he grinded up against you.

"Tell me to stop and I'll stop," He whispered into your ear, afraid of hurting you.

"Don't you dare," You replied desperately.

Tenoch captured your lips again and grinded against you. His hand reached down and flipped up the skirt of your sundress. He kissed his way down your back, leading with his hands so he could slip off your panties. He let out a groan at how wet you were. The actor was on his knees behind you, spread your cheeks and started lapping at your wet pussy.

Your hand gripped his hair behind you as you grinded against his mouth. Your moans filled the kitchen as he devoured your dripping cunt. He spread your legs further and pulled his tongue away from your center making you cry out in protest.

"Ssshh, I'm not done," He whispered as he slowly pushed a finger and then another inside of you. He stood back up and fingered you with a steady pace as he undid his belt and zipper.

You rocked back into his hand chasing after the orgasm that you were teetering on the brink of. Then his fingers left you and you moaned in frustration. "Please, I'm so close."

Your whimpered plea was met with Tenoch rubbing his tip against your soaked folds, "What do you want?"

"I want you to put your cock inside, Tenoch, please."

He slowly, agonizingly did as you asked. When he started thrusting you clutched the counter tightly. He was kissing your neck again, hand wrapped in your hair as the other guided your hips. He pounded into you relentlessly, giving into months of desire and attraction.

Your orgasm hit you like a train and you gasped as he fucked you through it. You felt wetness flow between your legs as he continued thrusting. Tenoch pulled you up to him for another wet kiss as he followed you over the edge. He grunted as he emptied into you. Slowing down and peppering every inch of skin he could with kisses. His hand gripped and rubbed your ass cheek affectionately.

The sheets

"Come with me," Tenoch said as he took your hand and led you upstairs. You were both still coming off the high off your coupling in the kitchen. It was spontaneous and passionate and so right. He had tenderly helped you clean up and righted your clothes afterward. Giving you water and asking if he had been too rough.

When you walked into his bedroom you were surprised to find it to be so clean and airy. The large bed was the center point but the rest of the furnishings were a light wood and his curtains were gauzy. The sun had long since set and instead of turning the lights on, Tenoch started lighting candles.

Once the candles were going, Tenoch stripped down to his boxers and then found an oversized shirt and a clean pair of boxers for you to change into. He helped you undress, kissing you on your neck, arms, cheeks, back and shoulders as you went. You felt absolutely adored.

Tenoch turned down the bed and gestured for you to join him. When you did, he wrapped you in his arms and kissed you slowly, nuzzling you between languid kisses. You cuddled and shared intimate caresses as you fell into an easy pillow talk about everything and nothing.

Tenoch had his head on your shoulder as you stroked his hair. His arm was slung across your waist and your legs intertwined. You could have fallen asleep then but his hand found the hem of your shirt and he pushed it up to reveal your breast.

You bit your lip as he suckled on your nipple. His hand kneaded the other and rolling the nipple between his fingers. You arched into his touch as his hand slipped past the band of the borrowed boxers you wore and found your clit. Tenoch teased you with his fingers and his mouth until you were pulling his lips to your own in a hungry kiss.

As you kissed you pulled his boxers down and palmed his cock in your hand. You wrapped your hand around his shaft and jerked it a few times, letting the pre-cum spread. He bucked into your hand as he sucked your lip. Eagerly you pulled the shirt and boxers off between kisses then wrapped your legs around his waist.

His hand supported him above you while the other caressed your jaw. Tenoch reached between you and lined himself up before thrusting into you, balls deep. You arched into the feeling of his cock inside of you. The actor pulled your arms away from the sheets and pinned them above your head as he drove into you.

His hips snapped into yours as he thrusted deeply into you. The bed shook with the force of it and the sounds of your fucking filled the room. Tenoch leaned into you and captured your lips. Your hands, now free, found his back, dragging your nails along the contours of his muscles. Moaning into your kiss he gripped the backs of your thighs. He sat up and hooked your legs around his forearms changing the angle.

With increased vigor he fucked you, hitting a spot inside of you that had your mind reeling. He held your legs to him as he continued his rhythm and circled your clit with his fingers. You moaned his name over and over like a prayer as you felt that tell tale knot coiling inside of you. It released and you came, convulsing with the waves of your orgasm. Tenoch slowed down to kiss you as you came down from your high.

"Turn over, mi amor," Tenoch whispered as he gripped your hips. With his help you found yourself chest first into the bed. His big hands caressed your ass cheeks before he lined himself up and plunged his cock back into your glistening pussy.

His thrusts were relentless as he gripped your hips and moaned words of praise. You were lost in the pleasure of it, rubbing your clit as he rutted into you. You hit another peak just as Tenoch's hips stuttered and he groaned with his release.

The actor collapsed next to you. You looked over at him and you both smiled satiated smiles. You could tell he was barely staying awake like you, but he still got up and brought a clean wet cloth to clean up the evidence of your love making. He was gentle and continued to whisper words of praise and adoration as he helped you get dressed and tucked you in.

You were barely conscious as he blew out all the candles and then climbed into the bed behind you. He pulled you to him, kissed your temple, and you both fell asleep.

...

ALRIGHT YALL I NEED REVIEWS AND COMMENTS.

I was on a roll and I literally clocked out of work but stayed in my office for an extra hour to finish this. No, proof reading right now because I need to drive home so forgive me.

You're welcome

[the-conversation-pod]

In Your Lavender: The Wedding Plan Episode

AND WE'RE BACK!

We originally planned to discuss Wedding Plan alongside a few other shows but abandoned that quickly when we realized we both had a lot to say about this show. Come join us as we discuss whether MAME has shown growth, what it means that the lavender marriage term has existed for over 130 years, the importance of lesbians in this story, and the fundamental nature of the closet.

If you've been missing how heated Ben gets, now's your chance!

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

01:16 - Intro 03:00 - Wedding Plan and MAME's Previous Crimes 15:18 - Realities of the Closet and Fandom Misunderstanding of the Show 29:23 - Things We Love About Wedding Plan and Final Ratings 37:26 - And Another Thing! The Wedding Plan Special

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes. When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

01:16 - Intro

NiNi

Welcome, welcome. [sighs] Go ahead.

Ben

Oh no, it's fine, you said welcome, I'm not going to do it this time. They won't get it for the Wedding Plan episode.

NiNi

[laughs] All right. Welcome, welcome to the—

Ben

I'm just kidding! And we're back!

[both laugh]

NiNi

Welcome! to the episode that was supposed to be a secret admirers episode, but instead is now the Wedding Plan episode, because everything else was a bit crap. We wanted to talk about this because we could not believe that this came fully formed from the head of MAME, of all the creatives. We were shocked, I think, but…the fandom was also kind of shocked, and we'll delve a little bit into how that played out when we get into the segment but, when I looked at the trailer I was like, ‘mm, okay, this could be cute.’ Did not expect to be…devastated, emotionally [laughs] at certain points.

Ben

I don't really think I watched the trailer properly. I went in a little bit hostile, because MAME’s got a whole thing for boundary crossing. And I was worried going in that this show was just going to be about some rich guy punking around his wedding planner, and then like, cheating on his wife. And that's not the show we got at all.

NiNi

Let’s dive into it so you can hear what we had to say!

03:00 - Wedding Plan and MAME’s previous crimes

NiNi

We are talking all things Wedding Plan. Now Ben, you and I had agreed sometime back that no matter what happened we were never going to talk about a MAME show on the podcast. And here we are [laughs] talking about a MAME show! And there's a really good reason for that. 

Let's start by talking about what Wedding Plan is about. Ben, do the honors.

Ben

Wedding Plan is a story about a wedding planner named Namnuea, who is the ace at his event planning company, and a fan of McDonald's, who very much sponsored this show. He is tasked with planning the wedding for a very attractive man and his soon-to-be wife. Complications ensue immediately, because their wedding is coming up in three months and these two have no idea what they want to do for their wedding, and only the groom is the one making the choices. 

We can tell very quickly that the groom, Sailom, is flirting with Namnuea; Namnuea is not stupid and picks up on this. The attraction between them is very mutual, but the complications around him being a client and a groom frustrate Namnuea. The reveals that eventually come out make this show to be way more than just a closet case trying to hit on his wedding planner.

NiNi

Reveal the reveals, because I feel like it's impossible to talk about this show in any meaningful way without knowing what the twist is.

Ben

Right! So Sailom and Yiwa, his bride, are in a lavender wedding. So for well over one hundred and forty years, we've had a term to describe queer people choosing to present themselves as heterosexually entwined for mutual benefit and safety. In this case, Sailom and Yiwa hail from fairly wealthy families that are extremely restrictive. The two of them recognized their own queerness at a very young age, and understood that they needed to hide that information. While on a trip in Europe the two of them recognized the queerness in each other when they both had a strong emotional reaction to seeing two women publicly kiss. And then became each other's best fucking friends for life, and decided to protect each other. Yiwa ends up developing a very meaningful romance with a woman named Marine, and she convinces Sailom to marry her so that they can both get out from under their families. They have a long-term plan to divorce. 

So when Sailom is flirting with Namnuea, Yiwa is 100% aware of it, and extremely supportive of it, because she doesn't want her friend, who she treats like a brother, to be lonely all the time.

NiNi

That basically sums it up in terms of the mechanics of the plot. But guys, the reason that we're here talking about a MAME show, is, this hit me right in the fucking throat, man. It was so real, in a way that I've never gotten from a MAME show. It felt like MAME almost apologizing to BL for some of the shit that she's done? It felt like MAME trying to gain some understanding and learn some shit, and show that she had learned some shit?

Ben

Just so that we get a bunch of stuff out on the table for listeners: what are some things that MAME has done that you think she should apologize for? [laughs]

NiNi

Ah, [laughs] where do I even begin? MAME work tends to lean very heavily into…traumatizing already traumatized people? I have mixed feelings about a lot of MAME’s work. There are sometimes I'm just like, oh fuck you. And then there's sometimes where they're like, I see where you're trying to go with this but you didn't have the skill. And then there are times I'm just like, ma’am, get the hell out. Something like this that I don't have any mixed feelings about, I just feel strongly positive about it…it's never happened to me before with her work, not ever. And it made me recalibrate in my head—a little bit, because it's still only one show—maybe where I should place MAME as a creative.

Ben

I have a list.

[both laugh]

NiNi

Go on ahead! Read!

Ben

Let's start with Love By Chance. There are four goddamn couples in Love By Chance. Only one couple is remotely stable! We really only talk about Ae and Pete, because we do not need to talk about the other three. MAME loves to question the line between crossing boundaries and romance. There’s Tin and Can, who were the focus of Love By Chance 2—

NiNi

Which I did not watch.

Ben

Then there's Kengkla and Techno, and Kengkla is paying Techno's brother for information on him to eventually date rape him—I mean, that happened in Love By Chance! Then there's Tum and Tar, who are brothers, and Tar was a victim of horrendous acts by a character from TharnType. Moving on to TharnType, a show that I will not watch, for multiple reasons, some of them fandom related that we are not going to get into in this podcast. But the idea that Tharn is going to teach Type that he's actually into men without his consent? Yikes. I don't care how it ends up resolving. The wall is real fucking high for me on that one.

Ben

Didn't they have a spinoff with the other guys from Don't Say No? I'm not talking about that. Then we get to Love in the Air, which I mostly enjoyed, but why do both of the ukes in that show have to get kidnapped in their final episodes? [laughs] Why? It's so unnecessary! Rain and Sky were straight up kidnapped as the final complication of their show. It's insane.

NiNi

I did not watch Love in the Air. So every time you say that I'm just like, ‘that's a thing that actually happened?’

Ben

So this is the difference with Wedding Plan. Wedding Plan is so straightforward. There is no major complication to Wedding Plan. Everything that happens in this show flows naturally from the base conceit that two people involved in a lavender wedding are dealing with some difficulties and frustrations as that approaches, and then make logical choices for their characters, in response to everything that's going on. 

And it kind of surprised me how much I ended up really loving this show. It's interesting for me that Yiwa and Marine’s relationship is the reason why the wedding is occurring. I've never really cared about heterosexual weddings in a lot of these shows and stories that I watch, but I feel so much about the way Lom and Yiwa care about each other and protect each other. Lom is agreeing to this sham wedding that's going to eventually lead to a bunch of complications in his life, because he's trying to protect his friend. 

Normally in a story like this, there'd be all this tension about the groom struggling with his sexual identity, and what he wants for himself, and the girl's going to get hurt along the way—‘he feels loyal to the girl, we can't just do her like that!’ In this show, Lom is withholding information about the specifics about his relationship with Yiwa from Namnuea because he's protecting her. The crux of the romantic drama of this show was about a gay man in the closet protecting a gay woman in the closet.

NiNi

Yiwa and Marine's relationship is the key to the whole story, but the relationship between Yiwa and Sailom is the core relationship. The fact that they're doing this for each other, the fact that they care about each other so deeply, the fact that they basically decided long ago that they were the people who mattered to each other…and then as people come into their lives who are maybe somebody they might be interested in building a life with, it becomes a decision for everybody as to whether this person gets let in. I would have loved to see how it went when Yiwa decided that she wanted to be with Marine. I understand that's not the point of this particular story, but I would have been fascinated to see how that played out. 

By the time we join the story Marine’s on the inside. She's 100% bought in. Marine has made the decision to be in the closet with Yiwa, which is sad in one way, but it's so freeing for them in another, because of what Sailom has done for them. They can be happy. And they are happy! They're happy and they're in love, and they're part of this family of the two of them and Sailom. It made me smile just watching them be with each other as a family unit. And then Lom meeting Nuea. When you're going to bring somebody into a secret like that, you have to be 100% sure. And not just you, everybody has to be on board with it. [laughs] It's not polyamorous, but it's—polyamoresque [laughs] I guess is the best way to describe it. Everybody has to be on board with what's happening. It's not just a question of ‘do I like this person?’ It's a question of ‘is this person a safe person?’ It's a question of ‘do the other people involved in this like this person?’ It's a question of ‘is this a person who I can share this secret with?’ but it's also, as it comes down to later in the story, a question of Lom knowing that he couldn't ask. He couldn't ask Nuea to be a part of the secret. He could just tell Nuea what was happening, and he could just hope and pray—and I don't even think that he dared to hope. And I think that's what the crying was about when Nuea decided that he was going to become part of the family? Lom broke down when Nuea said to him, ‘I'm going to help you keep your secret.’ Because he knew he couldn't ask it of him. And the fact that he freely offered it just brought Lom to tears.

15:18 - Realities of the closet and fandom misunderstanding the show

NiNi

This show is amazing. The show is emotionally sound, the show is beautiful, and I got so mad [laughs] watching this show get misunderstood. And if I was mad, Ben was incandescent. [laughs] 

Ben, you take the floor and tell ‘em why you mad, son.

Ben

I'm going to talk about the closet for a little bit. It felt like a lot of the people who are reacting to this show have not been in the closet. I was in the closet for 11 years. Your brain does not work in the same way on the inside, and I'm going to say frankly to anybody who thought Lom should have told Namnuea a lot sooner than he did? When you've been in the closet for 13 years, you do not tell someone you have a crush on, in two months of knowing them. Not when the stakes are as high as they are. The reason they're in the closet is because there will be severe and painful consequences for failing to maintain a heteronormative status quo. 

The big thing that separates Lom from Namnuea is, Namnuea is out. The truth about who Namnuea is cannot harm him. Namnuea develops feelings for Lom, and tells his boss. And she says, ‘there's nothing wrong with you having a crush on the guy, like he's hot. You know what the professional boundaries are though, do you need me to step in and take care of this for you?’ and Namnuea said no. When Namnuea fell for Lom, before they hooked up, he called his mom and said, ‘mom I think I fucked up.’ And she's like, ‘sometimes we fuck up baby boy, come home if you need me.’ And after he hooked up with Lom that's what he did! He went home, and he told his mom flat out: ‘the thing I told you about? Yeah I think I went too far.’ And she held him, and let him be a mess about it, because she understood that he already knew that he put himself in a really untenable situation, and she didn't pile on. They protected him. Namnuea can be honest about who he is, and whenever he tells the people who matter to him about something that happened, they close ranks around him and protect him. At the point at which Lom is trying to chase after Namnuea, every woman in his life pulled out their claws and was ready to slit that man's throat. They were all ready to throw hands with this man! 

But when you're in the closet, your brain doesn't work right. You are under constant surveillance to maintain the heteronormative veneer over your life. The show does not make this hypothetical. Their friends and family are snapping pictures of them in public, and questioning every relationship they have with someone other than Lom and Yiwa. Lom is sitting at the table with Marine—Yiwa stepped away for a work call, and someone’s snapping a photo like, ‘why is Lom on a date with this other girl? She's trying to steal Lom from your daughter.’ Or ‘I saw Yiwa hanging out with her best friend, are they gay? I took some pictures and now I'm telling your mom.’ When you look at the reason why these two are so vigilant about being in the closet, that's literally what they're experiencing! It's super heavy-handed in this show, but it is exactly the kind of shit that I lived through. Being in the closet because you know that there are consequences and there are dangers breeds hypervigilance. 

And I'm going to say it really plainly: all of the really negative takes I saw about Lom that were really unsympathetic to what this man went through? Made me, as a 30-something year old gay man who survived being closeted, really extremely uncomfortable. And I really need you to reckon with whatever you were going through that made you turn on a closeted gay man, and view him as the evil aggressor party in this particular relationship. Because goddamn! 

The reason why he chose Namnuea to be his wedding planner was because he had a crush on him! And when you're in the closet you need plausible deniability. Lom is toeing the line. He can hang out with Namnuea and flirt with him, because he's talking to his wedding planner. Nobody's going to question him being around a gay man, because he's his wedding planner! And that's what the homos do, is they plan events for the rest of us! Because they're very good at it. The reason why he's being an irritating client is because he wants Namnuea to talk to him more. If he's a good client, Namnuea’s not gonna talk to him! Because Namnuea’s professional, and busy. 

And Lom admits it. He says in episode…6 I believe, because I just rewatched again, that hiring Namnuea was just, in his mind, a little bit of fun before he got married. He would flirt with the guy that he had a crush on, even if it's a little fucked up to do that, and have a little fun before his wedding. He was not expecting to fall in love with Namnuea. But he's got a competency kink! And Namnuea is so good at his job. And he likes his job! He likes seeing people happy at the things that he planned for them, and he takes care of people. Lom loves these things in Namnuea. This even played out in their sex. He was happy that Namnuea was not a virgin. Very tasteful, sir.

NiNi

It being MAME, I will confess, that up until maybe somewhere around the beginning to middle of episode 4? I wasn't sure where they were going with this.

Ben

Let me tell you, I was waiting for her to do some convoluted bullshit as of episode 7. [laughs] They're like, ‘the bride’s run off!’ and I'm like, there's really only one way this should play out. Closeted people make plans. Yiwa is also not stupid. There’s this moment in episode 6—and this is again intentional, the editing on this show is actually really crisp. We get the really poignant scene on the bridge, where Lom talks about the knowing, and Namnuea’s like, ‘we need to fuck right now.’ And then, if you have access to iQiYi, they did! And then we get the scene where Namnuea agrees to be in the relationship, and all that that means. 

The very next scene is Yiwa’s mom showing up at Marine's apartment to accost her and slap her. Which is immediately followed by Yiwa running back to the condo, and the way she enters that apartment? She genuinely thought that Marine might have left her. For as happy as they seem, Yiwa never underestimates or undervalues the stress that she's putting Marine under. When she enters the room and Marine hasn't run away, but is just laying in bed, clearly spent from all of this? That's the moment that breaks Yiwa. And then we flash forward three weeks to the wedding, and she's run off with Marine and leaves a note. 

Lom knows her! He was not phased by this at all, when—after he's done putting on his jilted groom act, he's laughing. He's like, ‘I know what that cheeky girl did, I can't believe she did this without telling me. Look at this stupid note! I can read between the lines.’ [laughs] And then they call her, and she's like, ‘I knew you would understand my note. That's my boy, don't fuck this up! I'll take this on for you.’ Yiwa takes on the social pariah role here, of being the lesbian who ran away the day of the wedding, leaving Lom at the altar, ‘how dare she?’ 

The power here is that Yiwa doesn't give a fuck anymore. That's the whole thing about heteronormative shame: it only matters where you can exert that influence over people. Yiwa and Marine said, we cannot exist the way we want to, so we are leaving and going somewhere else. That is a choice a lot of us choose to make: to leave our home communities, to go build community with other people elsewhere. And then she gives Lom the ability to spin that, to soft launch his relationship with Nuea. Because they don't come out as a couple for like six months after that. They put on the act of Lom being a drunken mess for months—he's fine. He's just spraying alcohol on himself and then going to work with his hair unkempt.

NiNi

Episode 7’s so delightful. But anyway, continue.

Ben

And he's just hanging out with Nuea, and he just tells people, ‘yeah, we bonded over the wedding stuff because we had a lot of work to do really quickly for the wedding, and you know he felt sympathy for me afterwards. And he took care of me at a really difficult time, and I feel comfortable with him. I loved Yiwa, she was the only woman I was ever willing to marry.’ 

Not a lie! But also not the exact truth.

NiNi

I loved the big lie at the end, because it was basically Lom, Yiwa, and everybody in the situation putting two giant middle fingers up at their society, and the people around them. Aside from the people who, as you rightly said, would have protected them anyway. So all the women in Nuea’s life, and the people who he works with at the wedding planning company—basically the people who earned the right to know the truth know the truth. And everybody else gets two giant fucking middle fingers and the big lie.

Ben

It's a little bit like the ending with Bad Buddy, about them breaking up publicly but still being together? It's the same question: who is allowed to know? Something for you to think about, if you didn't get this show and you hated Lom and all this sort of stuff—ask yourself if the queer people in your life trust you. Would you be brought in? Would you be trusted with this information? Lom's mother realizes along the way what was going on the whole time, because she's not stupid. And she says quite plainly—because Lom has not properly come out to her yet, he's been hinting at it, he's like, I feel comfortable with him—and she says, ‘I'm still doing what I need to do to process this, but just promise me you won't leave.’ 

What she recognized is that she was playing a zero sum game that she could lose. That her son could make the same choice as Yiwa. She recognized that he and Yiwa were likely withholding important information about themselves, from their parents, for a really long time. And that can be really unsettling. It's something I went through in my family when I started coming out, that people were very put off by how I just…hid hugely important portions of my life from them, for most of my life. And she recognized that if she pushed too hard, she would get nothing.

NiNi

It really is the Bad Buddy conundrum, because this is where their parents are at the end, where they know, but if they're not willing to fully be on board? Then they don't get to fully know. And they don't get to be fully involved. Lom's mom knows, but until and unless she's willing to wholeheartedly accept Nuea there will always be now, at this point, a barrier between her and her son. All she can ask of him is that he doesn't leave. But beyond that, she doesn't get to ask anything of him, until and unless she is ready to fully accept every part of who he is. I can't believe that came from MAME's pen.

29:23 - Things we love about Wedding Plan and final ratings

Ben

Something else I really love—I really love the community around Nuea, particularly his family. I love when he goes back to Chiang Mai, and he sees that his little cousin is also out and proud now and has a hot boyfriend. And I love that Sun, Ryu’s boyfriend, is immediately engaged in in-law solidarity with Sailom. Nuea’s family hates him, and he's like, ‘valid.’ Like, ‘If you want to stay here, you got to work.’ ‘Okay.’ And he just works. Nuea's family is protecting Nuea from someone who they think doesn't respect him. Everything mean that they're doing to Sailom is because they are protecting Nuea, and it's really not that much, what they're asking. They're basically just giving him a difficult time, until Nuea decides what to do with him. But Sun is helping him the whole time, he's like, ‘this family's very difficult, I got you bro.’ And that pairs really well with the phone call that Nuea has with Yiwa and Marine, where Yiwa is like, ‘Lom and I do love each other. That is my ride or die: it's been me and him for a long time. I'm not going to pretend that he is not the most important man in my life, but he's not who I'm building my future with.’ 

And I love that for Yiwa and Sailom, it is love between them. The heteros just misread it. They don't have to fake an admiration for each other. I love that Marine talks to Nuea, and talks about the sincerity of their feelings, and how she's okay, at this point. Because she's the only person that Nuea can really accept any sort of perspective from, and I'm really glad that they had that moment and that was just them.

NiNi

I love that in that moment she doesn't try to convince him of anything. She just says, ‘I can't tell you what to do. This is a crazy situation: here's what I accepted about this, here's why I accepted it. These people are good people.’

Ben

Right! She says their love is sincere.

NiNi

‘Yeah, but whatever decision you make I completely get, because I made my choice. You're gonna have to make your own choice as well.’ She spoke to Nuea very candidly, and I truly appreciated that, and I think that Nuea definitely appreciated that too.

Ben

I love the reveal about Sailom's hands always being cold because he was nervous.

NiNi

Ehhhh [laughs] It was one of those romance things that I'm just like ‘eh!’ about, but it was adorable. It was.

Ben

I really like Pak in this role. A lot of the times when MAME writes her ukes, they tend to be a little bit on the demure side, and they usually need a stern counterbalancing presence for them? I really like that Nuea did not need that at all. I also liked how queer Namnuea felt. He very much feels like a gay boy.

NiNi

I love stories about love and family, and this is one of the ultimate love and family stories. For me, and I can't believe I'm saying this, when it comes to love and family, it's going maybe a half step behind Moonlight Chicken this year for me? I can't believe that just came out of my mouth about a MAME show. But that's really truly how I feel about it. For me, it was a 10.

Ben

I ended up giving this show a 9.5. It's one of the ones that's going to linger with me for a while, and I think a big part of it was just how much everyone else really hated the show. I think we went into this show with a lot of MAME blinders on—I knowingly went into the show hostile. I don't really like a lot of what MAME does. But, respectfully, watching a MAME show—the writer famous for writing romances about boundary crossing—and being mad that her characters are crossing boundaries? Is a little bit disingenuous of a place to write your criticism from. That's her shtick. 

Nuea crosses those boundaries too! Nuea had agency, and I really resent the way a lot of the takes damsel him and make him seem powerless. He's not! He is the one with all the power here. It's why Sailom is pouring everything he can into, every time he says ‘I like you, Nuea.’ Sailom is such a sap, and y'all really hated that man. And I really need y'all to reckon with that. Like if you listened to us and you hated Sailom, please, examine your life. [laughs]

NiNi

I have a smidge of sympathy up until episode 4, for anybody who struggled a little bit with Sailom. But only up until episode 4. Because somewhere to the beginning, middle of episode 4, it was very clear what they were driving towards? And then at the end of episode 4 when Sailom and Nuea hook up for the first time, I said to myself, ‘Okay. I see where this is going.’ And then when they get to Chiang Mai, and Sailom finally tells Nuea what happens, because Marine and Yiwa have given their okay, and Nuea said, ‘Duh. Clearly that's what's going on, I already knew that.’ Nuea wasn't fooled by Sailom.

Ben

No, Nuea basically guessed 90% of it accurately. The only thing he didn't really guess, was that they were both in on it. Let me say this as well while we're here: in terms of queer solidarity, Namnuea never once outed Yiwa when he caught her out with Marine. He did not mention that once. Not at all. He ain't tell none of his hoes. He ain’t tell none of his people. He caught those two out, was like ‘oh shit, is my gaydar broken?’ And then he didn't say shit about that. He didn't even hold that up in his whole thing with Sailom. And I respect the fuck out of that man for that, because that’s not his thing to say.

NiNi

The show is amazing.

Ben

It really is.

NiNi

It's, for me, an easy cruise into some type of VIIB Award at the end of the year.

Ben

It's gonna be a difficult year for us, when we're sorting out acknowledging the incredible work that's been done, but this is one of them.

NiNi

Delightful, emotional, deeply gratifying, deeply satisfying. Ben gave this a 9.5, I gave it a 10, let's call it a 9.75.

Ben

It can get a 10 from The Conversation.

NiNi

You heard it here first, folks: Ben says it can get a 10 from The Conversation. MAME gets a 10 from us, and nobody is more surprised than us—

Ben

It’s true.

NiNi

—that that is a thing that happened [laughs] on this show.

Ben

I feel so intense about this show. I get so mad about the discourse around Sailom. He's one of those characters, like, if you don't like him? I don't like you. Fuck off.

[both laugh]

NiNi

And that’s…a word!

37:26 - And another thing! The Wedding Plan special

Ben

And we're back! I have so much more to say, I am not through. [laughs]

NiNi

So before we get into Ben's ‘and another thing!...’ Let's talk a little bit about the Wedding Plan special, because there was a special episode, that cost $8.

Ben

[laughs] I paid $7 for my rental.

NiNi

However much it costs, it costs money. Which I'm slightly salty about because MAME had McDonald's money on this, she didn't need ours.

Ben

In her defense, she has done this on literally every show. Except for Love by Chance…and Don't Say No.

NiNi

McDonald's money. That's all I'm going to say.

Ben

And she cashed in! Good for her.

NiNi

[laughs] Anyway, so let's talk a little bit about the Wedding Plan special. Ben, tell the people what it was about.

Ben

The show's fucking called Wedding Plan. It was the fucking wedding, guys, let’s—we're not going to beat around the fucking bush on this one. It was the wedding for the gays! It was really beautiful. The basic premise is, the guys have been dating properly for what feels like a year, year and a half at this point. They're taking a trip to go back to see Namnuea's family. Before they leave, they have one final check-in with Lom's mom, where she meets Nuea properly as Lom's boyfriend. She doesn't take it very well, but Sailom does not give a shit. 

Meanwhile Sailom is working with Wiwa Square to organize a secret wedding for Namnuea. Hilariously, Im still does not like Sailom, and I thought that was an excellent character detail. So they go and travel back to the north, and Sailom has Nuea taking him around—I think they were in Chiang Mai?—to check out sites and locations while everyone else has moved to Namnuea's house to set up for this wedding that Namnuea doesn't know about. Lom proposes to him, they end up having the wedding the next day. It's this incredibly beautiful ceremony, it’s very traditional Thai, I believe. There's more I want to say about some of the stuff that happened at the wedding, but that's the basic premise: Lom organizes a wedding for Namnuea, and his friends plan it in secret. Which I actually think is lovely for a wedding planner, that he didn't have to plan his own wedding.

NiNi

That's the crux of it. You guys know, I am not the one the two or the three for these weddings. I believe in marriage. I believe in the importance of marriage. I am generally not a fan of the weddings. But, this one? It was beautiful, I do have to say. It was a beautiful wedding, everything around the wedding was beautiful. When I was talking about Wedding Plan in the main part of the show, I was talking about how much I love love and family. And that was what the wedding episode was about, it was love and family. Yiwa and Marine were there at the wedding, being Sailom's family, because while his mom is starting to come around to Nuea, she's still not there yet. So she doesn't get to be a part of this. So Yiwa and Marine are his family. They show up for him. They are hosting on his behalf. It's beautiful. It's just so beautiful.

Ben

I did not praise Pakpai enough in our recording; Pakpai’s reaction, as Nuea, to Yiwa appearing before him, for this wedding that he had just found out about? Is one of the most perfect expressions I’ve seen all year.

NiNi

Because he hasn't seen them since they left for England.

Ben

I am a gay boy who believes in community. And believes in gay people taking care of each other. And that means that I have worked in solidarity with lesbians. And it is such a beautiful thing for me, in this year of really good shows, to see two lesbians in a critical role in the lives of gay men. There's something so special about the unconditional, ride or die love between Yiwa and Lom, and how that extends to Marine and Nuea, and creates this very special little family unit. I cannot overstate how important it is to me that Nuea almost cried because he was overwhelmed with emotion getting to see Yiwa in front of him again, and for a wedding that he had just found out about. That was his first reaction: awe, and then he burst into tears because he loved her so much and had missed her for that long. That is so beautiful! 

As for the other things in the special…The ceremony itself is really beautiful. There's a lot of really great moments in there. There's this very special moment between Namnuea and Im, where she comes to pay respects, and he takes her hand, and he says ‘I love you’ in this way that conveys a very special history between the two of them? That sent me over the edge and I burst into tears right away. [laughs] I do not know what those two have been through together, but that ‘I love you’ was one of the most effective I love yous I have ever experienced in this genre, and it was not between romantic leads at all.

NiNi

We always go up for the non-romantic I love yous in BL. lt's the Jim and Li Ming thing all over again. Namnuea’s co-workers being there for him at his wedding, the way that they put it together for him, the way that Marine and Yiwa stepped in to be Lom's family, the way Nuea’s actual family stepped in as well. There's a gorgeous scene, after the actual wedding ceremony, where they do—I suppose this is another traditional part of a Thai wedding, which is a bedding?—where Nuea's parents are with them in the room, and talking to them about love and commitment and marriage, and that's the part that put me into tears.

Ben

It was really funny, because like we had not really seen any of the dads in the show. Moms were a big deal in the show. Nuea’s dad is just this sweet man! It was overwhelming for me, how just beautifully sweet this man was, and the way he was pouring love out to Sailom, because he's like, ‘I never thought Nuea would get to have this.’ Nuea, the wedding planner, who spends so much of his time trying to make sure other people's dreams come true? I was floored by his dad just being there: ‘I just wanted my son to be happy, and I'm so thankful that you were able to do that for him.’ And I was like, ‘I don't know who you are sir, but good job!’

NiNi

It was really really gorgeous, and just so many other things…also the stuff that's happening between Sailom and Nuea. The way that Sailom proposes, and the way that Nuea knew it was coming but he still got surprised by the way that it happened? That was gorgeous. And then again, after the wedding and after the bedding, when it's just the two of them in the room, and Nuea does the thing where he pays respect to his husband? And says that that's something that he always wanted to do? The way that these two take marriage so seriously, and especially the way that Nuea feels about it. Because like I said, Nuea is a wedding planner; he sees weddings every day. He sees these rituals and ceremonies and everything every day. And I can just imagine him sitting thinking to himself, ‘one day, one day, and this is something that I want to do with my husband, and this is something that I want to do with my husband’—I can just imagine that. And then meeting Sailom and falling in love with Sailom and actually getting to marry Sailom, and being able to do that, and the way that he is so emotional about that. Mmh! Got me right in the feels. 

The reason that I tend not to like weddings is because a lot of the time I find them so artificial, so stage managed and overproduced. I'm talking about this not just in terms of weddings in fiction, but weddings in real life. So, watching something so sincere, something so genuine, something so personal… t’s a production, yes, all weddings are, but it was real! Everything about it was so real, it was so emotional, it was so…[sigh] it was great. It was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I cried more than once watching the special. It just added to the joy of discovering Wedding Plan and this whole little universe and these characters.

Ben

There was a lot of little stuff happening around that. Like, one of the things that I think MAME is actually pretty good at, is really caring about her supporting cast in a useful way? She's very good about understanding why that character is there. There's Yiwa and Marine getting to have a private moment, being a little bit sad that they didn't get to have this, a Thai wedding with the people who love them around them. And I like that they got to have, like a quiet bitter moment about that. And I like that they didn't put that on Lom and Nuea, it's not something that they need to be consoled about, it's just one of those things that hurts about being queer sometimes, and that's part of the choice they made. They did take on that hurt, to give the boys a chance to be together, but it still hurt, and I like that the show never forgot that. This show cared about its lesbians, they mattered to this story, they weren't there just to check off boxes to make sure that we covered all of our bases. They were still telling their story. 

I love Sun and Ryu listening at their goddamn bedroom, and then having to be chased off. Great comedy. But also I loved it, I loved that there were younger gays excited about gays slightly older than them getting to have their moment together. It was such a special execution of that. 

I genuinely like that the Wedding Plan special episode is treated as a special episode. I like where the show ends for itself. I like thinking about the wedding as a special epilogue for the story, and not necessarily as the actual finale of the story. I think it's better as epilogue content.

NiNi

I have to agree! So all in all, when it comes down to Wedding Plan, looking back at it now, I think we definitely stand by how we felt about it. I think that… I have, you know Ben has, gotten even more in love with it? And even more, I think, defensive and vocal about it, because it's good! It's just good. And I don't like people saying it's not! That's it for me.

Ben

This is the number 4 or 5 show of the year for me.

NiNi

Yeah, there you have it.

Ben

Currently it's behind—in no specific order because we're not at the VIIB Awards yet—Moonlight Chicken, My School President, La Pluie, and probably The Eighth Sense? It's that good! 

I am in this genre for queer cinephile reasons. I am here to connect with people for gay reasons. I'm not in this for, like, taboo, or to see cute boys kiss each other because it's titillating in and of itself. I exist as a queer person, it informs my decisions on the regular, and it was such a relief to see characters that were not incidentally gay, so that we can imagine two idols bumpin’ uglies. 

I really love Sailom and Namnuea so much. Sailom got updated to blorbo status so quickly. Every week I'll just send NiNi a gif of Sailom and be like, ‘they really hated this man!’

[both laugh]

NiNi

He's not even kidding, this literally happens.

Ben

[laughs] It’ll just, just be a great gif that somebody made of Sailom and I’ll be like, ‘they really hated this man!’ 

Something else I want to say quite plainly here, and I would like you, as listeners of the podcast to reckon with this—and I would really like to talk about this, so please talk to me on Tumblr about this: Part of why I think Wedding Plan did not hit for people, is that Namnuea doesn't look like a girl, and doesn't behave like a girl. He behaves like a kind of femme man, and he feels very gay, in a way that is distinctly masculine. Additionally, the show doesn't really conform to a seme-uke dynamic very well, because Namnuea does seme things—like I noticed in episode 2 that he does a kabedon on Sailom. And I know that bothered a lot of the people who are obsessed with loyalty to the tropes. Namnuea is so self-assured, and I don't necessarily think that that resonated for the people who are in this for BL reasons and for regular romance beats. And I wonder a lot if that was their big problem. 

I would really like to have a secondary conversation with the folks who listen to us about this particular dynamic, because I do think it's worth us unpacking why people—as much shit that gets talked about MAME—refused to engage with the show. This is legitimately one of the top queer narratives of the year. And we snubbed this show. I have watched people talk shit about MAME and her writing for five fucking years, and when she writes a whole show that is basically the byproduct of all of our feedback, we snubbed it! When MAME returns to her roots, I don't want to hear none of y’all who snubbed Wedding Plan saying a goddamn thing about her.

NiNi

I'm so mad at you for saying when MAME returns to her roots. Like this was clearly a fluke. 

Ben

She's gonna be like Jafar! She's going to be like, ‘let's see how snakelike I can be, bitches!’

NiNi

So you definitely are of the view that this is not a change for MAME, this is just a detour.

Ben

I don't know! I don't know, like I was not expecting Wedding Plan. This show has so much goddamn heart to it, and it was gay! In a real way!

NiNi

I think you need to start subscribing to my vibes-based scoring method.

Ben

What? Absolutely not! 

[both laugh] 

Nah, it's always about the recommends. Legitimately, it's a 10 recommend. Everyone needs to go fucking watch this show. This is essential viewing for this year. This show represents a fascinating growth point for MAME; because we've criticized her for five years and she made something that is one of the most wholesome gay things I have ever watched in the genre. And we snubbed it, and threw it away. 

To the cast of Wedding Plan: you all did a fantastic job, and I hope you all had a really fun time together. I want to thank every single one of you for the work you all did, because you all collectively created one of the most compelling community support systems I've ever seen in queer TV, truly. Especially to all of the women who are on that cast. BL women get messed around a lot, and don't often get to do a lot of great stuff, and every single one of you did a fantastic job.

NiNi

That is going to wrap us up on the Wedding Plan episode. We out! Say bye to the people, Ben.

Ben

Y’all better watch this fucking show. Peace.

[both laugh]

[insanitybl00m]

Tales From Under The Wisteria Tree Chapter 6 - The Tailor

Philza stayed awake. His brain was still shot with adrenaline. His brain was screaming danger danger danger. 

“Deep breaths,” he whispered. Missa was safe and that was all he cared about. Right now all he needed was for Missa to get sleep and he could rest tomorrow night.

The late hours of the night stretched into the early hours of the morning. Eventually, the sun rose above the horizon.

“Missa. We’re ok.”

“Good, now you can get some sleep,” Missa murmured, trying to grab at Phil to pull him into the mess of bedrolls and half-burnt cloaks.

“No silly. We need to get to the village. You need new clothes and I’m fine.”

“But it’s early~” Missa whined. He blinked open his eyes and gave Phil the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes possible. 

They really did need to leave. It wasn’t safe to stay in one spot for too long. 

“What would convince you to get up wisteria.” The nickname felt soft on the top of his tongue. 

“Wings.”

“What?”

“Your wings are soft, I want to hug them.” 

“And you promise you’ll get up?”

“Promise.” Phil sighed and extended his wings. Missa did the same thing he did yesterday when he first saw them and ran his hands over them, as if he was testing they were real, before resting his head against them. 

“Why do you like my wings so much?”

“They’re soft. And warm. And cozy.”

“Yeah, but they’re just wings.”

“They’re like angel wings.”

Waking up and getting to hug Phil’s wings was probably the best feeling ever. Missa would never get over how soft they were. 

“Ok, that’s enough of that,” Philza said with an awkward laugh.

“Fine. I keep my promises.” Missa slowly got up. He brushed his fingers through his hair. Burnt pieces of hair touched his hand. 

“Did the dragon fry my hair?” He asked.

Philza squinted at his hair. “It doesn’t look like it.”

“Feel it, idiot!” Missa grabbed Phil’s hand and placed it in his hair. 

“Oh. Yeah, the tips are singed.”

“No mames.”

“You still got the dagger?”

“I put it in my bag. Why?”

“It's the best thing to cut hair that we’ve got.”

“No. There’s no way you’re cutting my hair with a literal knife.”

“It’s either that or hair that’s burnt.”

Missa sighed. “Fine. Don’t you dare fuck up my hair.”

Phil laughed as he moved to grab the dagger from Missa’s bag. “You trust me to save your life but not to cut your hair.”

“Nope, don’t trust you with my hair.”

Another laugh. “Liar.”

“Just cut my hair bird boy.” Phil did, carefully cutting off burnt hair.

“Can I even it out, like, making it all normal.”

“Yeah.” And so he did, hair kept falling and Missa’s long hair became much more mullet-like. 

“All done?”

“Yep.”

Missa grabbed his bag. “All ready to go?”

“You realize that you can’t just leave the hair lying around. You do realize that locks of hair are a part of fae courting rituals right?”

“They’re what?”

“Have you read the entry on fae?”

“Not yet…”

“When you get the chance you should.”

“So where is the hair going to go?”

“I’ll keep it here,” Phil held up a small bag. “If that’s ok with you of course.”

“Sure.” Phil took the hair and put it in the small cloth bag.

Phil had to tuck his wings under his shirt, which was much more uncomfortable than hiding them under a cloak. But Missa was still clinging onto the shreds of his cloak, not that it would do much anyway.

The pair made their way back to the village in a few hours, getting a few weird stares probably due to the state of their clothes.

“Do you know the way to a tailor?” Missa asked a young woman who looked them both up and down before answering.

“Uh, yeah. Left at the fountain in the town square. A big sign that says ‘Roier’s Woven Wonders’.”

“Roier’s place! Oh, I’ve met him before, he’s a great tailor, C’mon Wisteria.” Phil tugged on Missa’s arm and they took off towards the town square. 

“Who’s Roier?”

“You’ll see!”

“This better be good,” Missa grumbled.

“Trust me you’ll love him.”

When they stopped outside the shop Missa had to admit that the dark brick stood out against the rest of the shops. It was decorated nicely.

“Oi Roier!” Phil yelled as he entered the shop.

“Felipe? Felipe Craft? No mames!” A tall, wiry man appeared from seemingly nowhere and tackled Phil in a hug.

“Hey mate, long time no see!”

“Who’s this?” Roier said, finally looking at Missa.

“Oh, this is Missa.”

“I thought we weren’t using names with strangers?” Missa asked, confused.

“Roier isn’t Fae.”

“Fuckin cursed by them,” Roier said. “But that’s not what you two are here for. You need clothes.”

“How did you– Oh right our clothes are ruined,” Missa said. 

“Dragon?” Roier asked Phil, who sighed before responding.

“Unfortunately.”

“You came to the right place then. Set up a shop since you last saw me. Putting my skills to good use.”

“I see that, how’s Cellbit?”

“Good, he’s with Bagi.”

Missa was left confused as the conversation drifted towards things he had no part in. 

Phil mentioning his name is what clued him in that he should start listing “–Missa and I need clothes made of spider silk.”

“You do realize that you want six outfits made out of spider silk. That would take me months to make enough string for that.”

“What’s spider silk?” Missa interjected.

“The highest quality silk in the world,” Roier explained.

“Why do we need spider silk clothes?”

“Temporary precaution in case we get stuck in the Underdark,” Phil explained.

“Get stuck where?” Missa asked.

“Underdark is the realm of nightmare creatures,” Roier explained.

“It’s only a precaution. It will keep us warm enough in the underdark but it will also help at night too.”

“The most spider silk I can spare is for your cloaks and a basic set of clothes for each of you.”

“And you have normal cloth right?” Phil asked. 

“Ay Felipe,” Roier turned to Missa. “Can you believe him? Your husband is trying to rob me of everything I’m worth.”

“Husband?” Missa asked.

“Wait Phil–” Roier started.

“Last time we met I told Roier I was done traveling until I found someone to share my adventures with. He must have assumed that meant a husband, right Roier?”

Phil shot Roier a pointed glance.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about the assumption. I’ll need measurements for each of you. Once I have those I should only be an hour.”

“An hour?” Missa asked.

“Speedy hands,” Roier said with a flourish. “Phil, you first.”

“What the hell was that bullshit? Not your husband? I could smell the bond on him from a mile away. You gave him fae food?”

“Roier you don’t understand–”

“You think I don’t understand how fae work?” He pulled up his sleeve revealing a sigil branded onto his arm. Phil winced and looked away. “I’m eternally bonded to one. I know the signs.”

“He gets to choose.”

“But to all fae you meet, they will see the two of you as partners.”

Phil felt his cheeks go warm. “Yes.”

“So, what’s next?”

“I court him the human way. If he rejects me then I break the bond.”

“That sucks dude, human courting is weird.”

“Weirder than exchanging names, eating food, and gifting locks of hair?”

Roier laughed. “I know your clan is weird about the idea of ‘kidnapping’, which by the way isn’t kidnapping.”

“It is–”

“Don’t care, anyway look at him, he’s literally clinging onto the cloak you gave him.”

“He’s cold.”

“That shred of fabric ain’t warming him up but keep believing that if you want.”

“He knows about my wings,” Phil said his brain had lost its filter. 

“Oh?”

“He didn’t run away screaming.”

“You want me to design some slits for your wings in the back of your clothes? That way they can still be covered by the cloak but more comfortable than normal stuff.”

“That would be great, you have no idea how many shirts I’ve ruined by making slits for them.”

“I’ve already got the measurements from the last time you visited, you should be good. I just needed to get you to fess up about your crush on your little human.”

“Shut up.” Phil paused. “Can I ask you for a favor though?”

“Always, you’ve only saved my life like twice.”

“Add some green designs into Missa’s clothes for me.”

Roier muttered curses under his breath. “You think I’d learn to not blindly accept deals with fae.”

“He should be ready to take your measurements now,” Phil said after leaving the backroom.

“Thanks,” Missa said.

“Close the curtain behind you.”

“Okay?” Roier took off his jacket and revealed a… second set of arms?

“Fastest sewer in the world.” He said, flexing his arms.

“I bet. How did you…”

“I was cursed by a fae. Became an arachnid. Basically a giant spider beast. When I got turned back I was left with these. Curse residuals. Nothing can get rid of them. I’m also eternally bound to the fae who cursed me.”

“Bound?”

“This thing on my arm: it’s the mark of my curse.”

“Oh wait, spider beast. Spider silk!”

“Yep, now let me get your measurements.” Roier took his measurements surprisingly quickly. His extra set of arms really did make him a better tailor. “Done, now you can go wait outside with Felipe.”

“Ok.”

Phil was sitting down on a bench, he was writing a new entry in his journal of the fae creatures.

“What’s that one about?”

“Fae curses, specifically ones that transfigure humans.”

“Like Roier?”

“Yeah…” He let out a yawn.

“I told you that you need sleep.”

“I’ll be fine.” Another yawn.

Missa took the journal out of his hands. “You’re sleeping, you need a break.” He sat down next to Phil.

“Where?” Missa sighed and moved so that he could be a comfortable pillow. When Phil rested his head on Missa’s shoulder he felt Phil relax a little bit. “Thank you.”

“I’ll read that entry on Fae you were talking about.”

“M’kay.”

Fae (General)

Also known as Faery, Fairy, tricksters, Elven folk, or Magical beings.

Most Fae fall under a different classification, such as changelings for example. 

This is an overview of most Fae. Separate classifications will be separate entries.

Fae are tricksters. At the end of the day, they put themselves and their clan above all else.

Clans are a sense of family. Although there are many clans most specialize in certain areas.

For example, the king’s clan specializes in trickery, maintaining balance, and helping other fae.

His ‘children’ (faelings in his clan) are helpful but they tend to follow their father’s more mischievous tendencies.

Clans can be quite small with a singular head of the clan or they can be quite large with up to five heads per clan.

Fae are immortal. With few exceptions to this, most Underdark creatures can kill fae. Venom, dark sabers, etc. Fae born in the Underdark are truly immortal, but a fae born in the Underdark is very rare considering how dangerous that realm is for Fae. They look very different from normal fae.

Most Fae have wings. Butterfly wings, Dragonfly wings, or any other type of insect wings are common. Bird wings are rarer. And the rarest are dragon wings. Dragon wings are exclusive to Underdark fae and Dragonborn fae. 

Fae and Humans

Fae are known for their unique relationship with humans. 

Fae food, gifting names, and giving locks of hair are way to bond yourself to a fae. 

-Fae food can send you to fairyland but it can also bond you to the person who grew/made the food.

-gifting names. Don’t share your name with a stranger . However, if a fae gives you their name and you give yours in exchange it can be seen as an act of courting.

-Locks of hair are special. They must be willingly given and often used when negotiating a deal with a fae.

Fae food that sends a human to fairyland must be given. Not sold. If anything is given in exchange for fae food it nulls the ability for it to transport humans.

Fae partners are often called “beloveds”. Beloveds are immune to aging. They will not die of old age however they can still die by any other means.

Fae Courting

The strength of the bond goes as follows, from weakest to strongest. Names exchanged, food given, hair exchanged.

Often the hair that is exchanged is used in a ceremony called handfasting. Ribbons meant to represent the couple are braided together along with the hair that was exchanged. It is used to represent commitment to each other. Hands are bound together using this braided rope. 

This ceremony officially declares that a human is now a beloved. Most fae do not consider this ceremony a requirement to consider themselves partners.

Certain clans have rules about the courting of humans. These clans may specify that the human must be in full agreement of the bond before they are able to travel to fairyland. Some exceptions to this can be made but these clans strictly forbid the capture of humans for servitude.

To these clans humans are special. They may be more overprotective around other fae and more “claiming” may be involved. Claiming means different things to different clans but most bonded have a significant mark. A tattoo, a charm, a necklace; something to remind other fae around that the human is theirs.

Missa sighed. His brain was overwhelmed with information. He felt the emerald still in his pocket from earlier. He carefully took it out, careful not to disturb Philza who was still fast asleep on his shoulder.

The gem was almost like a teardrop. However, it still had jagged edges like it had only been smoothed partially. It would make a perfect necklace. He reached into his bag and fished out his pocket knife, he probably should have asked Phil to cut his hair with this rather than a dagger.

He angled the knife and started to carve out a small hole towards the tip of the teardrop, just thick enough to slip a small piece of cord through. He carefully untied a string of his bag and threaded it through the tiny hole, making the gem hang from the center. While he was tying a knot, one of those adjustable ones, Roier stepped out of the backroom.

“All done!”

“Has it really been an hour?”

“Yep. How’s the sleepy head?”

“Well, he’s asleep.”

“You should make sure the measurements are accurate.” Roier handed him the stack of clothes. “Everything should fit but make sure to try on both the spider silk and the normal outfits. The material could fit differently.”

“Okay.” Missa carefully stood up, only moving Phil a tiny bit. It didn’t really matter though, Phil was fast asleep.

He went into the back room and changed into the outfit made of spider silk. Roier was right, it was warm. It also fits perfectly. Roier really did know how to make clothes. He then tried on the normal clothes next. They weren’t as soft as the spider silk but they were much more breathable.

Missa looked at himself in the mirror. The pants were black and the shirt was a deep blue. The sleeves had green designs and they resembled flowers, if Missa squinted he could also see hearts and feathers incorporated into the design. He also admired the cloak which was made of spider silk. It had a similar design as the sleeves, but the green slowly blended into the rich purple of the cloak.

“Is this good?” Missa asked, stepping out of the back room.

“Much better.”

Missa looked towards Phil. “He’s still asleep huh?”

“I can wake him up!” Roier offered, eager to annoy his friend. 

“No, don't! He barely slept last night.”

“Then do you want to come upstairs? I’m sure Cellbit left some tea lying around somewhere before he left.”

“That would be great.”

Missa noticed the necklace he left on top of his bag. He tucked it into his pocket before he followed Roier up a small set of stairs towards the back of the shop.

“Pepito! We have guests!” 

“Apa Roier!” A small boy yelled before grabbing onto Roier’s leg.

“AY!” Roier picked up the boy, “Pepito, Pepito, Pepitooooo! Did Apa Cellbit leave some tea in the kitchen?”

“Mhm, and some cocoa powder! Can I have some?”

“What’s the magic word?”

“Please?”

Missa was suddenly struck with an overwhelming amount of homesickness for Chayanne. 

“Alright I’ll boil us some water, go draw Pepito, I’ll call you when yours is ready.”

“Thanks apa!” The boy bounded off for another room down the corridor. 

“Sorry about him.”

“No, no, don’t be. My son is the same way.”

“You have a son?” The two made their way into the kitchen. 

“Yeah, he’s seven. Had my friend watch over him so that he’d be safe.”

“Pepito is four, a bundle of energy, but he tends to put it into his drawings.”

“Chayanne is the same way.” Missa laughed. “Except he uses his energy to try and fight his friends with wooden swords. Nearly gave me a heart attack the first time I saw him fighting.”

Missa smiled at the fond memory. His son was roughly the same age as Pepito when Missa caught him making a wooden sword. He smiled and said “Look, papa! Now I’m like you!” Missa nearly cried that day.

The sound of boiling water distracted him from his memories. “Shit.” Roier quickly poured the water into three mugs. He was adding tea to two and cocoa powder to another. 

“Pepito cocoa!”

The three sat down at the table, Pepito’s legs swinging back and forth. “Hello Mr.”

“Hi pepito.”

“What’s your name?”

“Missa.”

“Great! Apa, Mr. Missa has very pretty clothes. Did you make them?”

“I did Pepito, why?”

“I want you to make me pretty clothes!”

“Pepito, I already made you plenty of clothes.”

“But I want flowy ones like Mr. Missa’s.” The four-year-old pouted. 

Roier let out a laugh. “I’ll make you flowy ones.”

“Yay!” Pepito went back to drawing on the blank paper with crayons.

“What’s that?” Roier pointed at the cord falling out of Missa’s pocket.

“Oh. Nothing special.” He took it out of his pocket and put it on the table.

“Who’s it for?”

“Who said it was for anybody?” Missa sputtered.

“You just don’t strike me as the type of guy to wear jeweled necklaces.”

Missa paused, he should not be asking Roier if— “Does Phil like these types of necklaces?” He was done for.

Roier’s grin turned sharklike. “I bet he’d love it. But you should use a different material for the cord.”

“Like what?”

“Let me go grab some.” Roier stood up and headed into the hallway.

What was Missa going to do while he waited? Pepito was distracted drawing. Roier had left. Tea. He’d drink his tea. 

“Got some!” Roier came back into the room with a handful of ribbon. “Purple and green ribbon. You should braid them together, it’ll go with the clothes I made him.”

“Oh. Okay.” Missa took the ribbon from Roier and braided the ribbon together. It looked rather pretty when he was done with it.

“Now you can take that plain cord out and replace it with this! Much more personal don’t you think?” 

“Yeah.” Missa admired the necklace. It did look a lot better this way. 

Phil blinked his eyes open. Did he really fall asleep? Missa was right, he really was tired. “Missa?”

He looked to his left. No Missa.

“Missa?” He said, this time a bit louder.

“He’s upstairs with me Felipe!” Roier called. 

Phil noticed the stack of clothes on the table in front of him. He had to check on Missa first. 

The first thing he noticed was the necklace on the table, then Pepito, and then the designs on Missa’s clothes. Then the wicked grin on Roier’s face. That mother fucker.

“Hi, Pepito. How are you, buddy?”

“Hi Tio Philza, I’m good.”

“I left your clothes on the table downstairs,” Roier said. 

“Oh yeah, I noticed that.”

“They’re really comfortable,” Missa said. “You should change.”

“Oh ok.” Phil instantly walked downstairs and changed into normal clothes. Missa could ask him to do anything and he’d instantly do it. 

The clothes looked like Missa’s. Roier even added similar detailing on the sleeves, except his was purple and the main color of the shirt was a deep emerald green.

The slits in the back fit his wings perfectly. He grabbed his cloak but he decided not to put it over his wings. He would give them a moment to stretch. 

When he came back upstairs he noticed Missa’s trailing eyes staring at his wings. “So uh, what’s happening guys?”

“Nothing much,” Roier said. “Waiting for you to wake up and then Missa showed me something he was working on.”

“Roier!” Missa shouted, pulling the necklace off the table.

“Show him it!” Roier urged. Phil pretended like he didn't see it. 

“Fine, I will.” He pulled out the necklace and handed it to Phil. “It’s for you. I got the emerald from the dragon’s hoard. Roier gave me the ribbon.” Missa was hiding his face from Phil. 

“You’re welcome,” Roier said before standing up and grabbing Pepito. “I’m going to put him down for a nap then we can discuss payment.”

Phil still hadn’t said anything about the necklace. When he took a peak at Phil he wasn’t standing across from him. “Can you put it on, I can’t quite reach.” Missa nodded and tied it, face still hot. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“No problem.” He stuttered as Roier came back into the room.

“Alright, Pepito is asleep. Now Phil, spider string outfits are going to cost you. The rest are free but I can’t give out premium outfits for free.”

“15 gold.”

Roier barked out a laugh. “Are you insane? I charge that much for a normal shirt. 100. Each.”

Phil scowled. “150.”

“I’m giving you a deal on 100 each, the lowest I’ll do is 175 for the two of them.”

“Fine. My bag is downstairs.” They all headed downstairs and Phil pulled the money out of his bag. “175. As you asked.” Phil threw his cloak on, careful to hide his wings. “See you around again mate.” 

“Hope you two have fun on your little adventure,” Roier said with a wave. 

“It was nice meeting you, Roier,” Missa said as he also put his cloak on, mirroring Philza.

“Bye, mate,” Phil said before they left the shop. 

“Three hours until sundown. We should have enough time to get out of the area and set up camp.”

“Why do we need to leave so soon?”

“Just a precaution. The scent should be thrown off by the change of clothes and the amount of people around us in that village but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Ok.”

About an hour or two later the sky was turning almost pink. “This should be good right?”

“Yeah, I spotted a river nearby too.”

“I’ll set up the bedrolls if you want to get a bucket of water for the fire.” Phil nodded, set down his bag, and left for the river with a bucket in hand. 

Missa rolled out the bedrolls, and gathered some firewood, before sitting on his bedroll to take off his cloak. He put it down next to him as Phil got back.

“Wow you got firewood and everything, that’s great!”

“Mhm.” Missa scratched at his hair, despite all the burnt pieces being cut off he could feel some ash still clinging to the roots of his hair.

“What’s wrong Wisteria?”

“Nothing.”

“You seem uncomfortable, is there anything you need?”

Missa sighed. “My hair feels a little dirty but it’s fine I swear.” 

“I could help you wash it, we’ve got the water anyway.” 

“Isn’t that for the fire?”

“It’s warm enough out tonight. We should be fine without one.”

“How would you even wash my hair? I don’t have any shampoo or anything, I've been using stuff from the inns.”

“I’ve got my own shampoo, don’t worry about how I’ve got it all taken care of. If you want me to, I will.”

Missa considered it. He did trust Phil. He did want his hair cleaned. But was this too much? This was a lot. But Phil offered. He didn’t have to do that. He probably wouldn’t have offered it if it had been an inconvenience for him.

“Fine.” 

Missa had agreed to let him wash his hair. His brain was yelling thousands of things at him but he had to drown them out. He needed his shampoo and brushes, so he grabbed them from his bags. He wanted Missa to be comfortable. 

“Over here should be good.” Missa followed Phil and sat down next to him. “The water is going to be a little cold but I’ll do my best to avoid getting the water in your eyes. Can you lean back a little?”

“Yeah.” Phil splashed some water until he could lather on the shampoo. “You know I used to do this with my son, especially when he was younger. He’d complain that I washed his hair better so I should just do it for him.”

“Yeah?” Phil started to scrub at Missa’s scalp. It was a calming feeling, knowing Missa trusted him this much. Not only to allow him to wash his hair but to share stories about his son.

“He loves to be babied sometimes. He puts on this strong facade but at the end of the day when it’s just me and him he just clings to me like he’s little again.”

“That’s really sweet.”

“He has this huge bedroom, it’s honestly bigger than mine. But for years he would crawl into my bed in the middle of the night. Eventually, I just started putting him to bed in my bed then I’d clean up the house a little and head back to bed. Now his bedroom is basically just a huge playroom.” Philza leaned Missa’s head back so he could rinse off the shampoo. “I miss him a lot.”

“I bet. He sounds like he’s your whole world.”

“He is.”

“You mind if we go back to the bedrolls, I left a small towel in my bag and your hair kind of needs to be dried a bit more before I can brush it.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I already have my brushes out,” Phil said as he helped Missa up. 

The two made their way over to the bedrolls and Phil dried Missa’s hair.

“Are you sure? My hair always tangles because of how long it is.”

“Believe me, I’m sure Wisteria.” Phil touched the emerald that hung at his neck.

“Do you mind if I tell you more stories about my son, it feels good to talk about him.”

“Of course, I love hearing them.”

Missa laughed, before launching into a tale about the time his son got stuck in a toy bin. Philza just listened as he brushed through the knots that had somehow formed in Missa’s hair.

“Do you mind if I tie your hair up? Like half of it, so it stays out of your face while you’re sleeping. I always hate it when my hair is in my face.”

“Do whatever, I’m getting a bit tired though.” Phil reached into his bag and found a bit of purple and green ribbon in there. Roier must have slipped it in there while he wasn’t looking. He took a bit of the green ribbon and used it to tie up Missa’s hair. He then took a small section of hair from behind Missa’s ear and braided it. Slowly whispering the words of a charm he had used so many times before on his kids' hair. 

Protect this one I love.

Protect them from the kiss of death.

Save them with the love I have woven,

And let them stay with me for a little longer.

The charm set with a green shimmer. It wouldn’t unravel unless there had actually been a brush with death. 

“Ok done.”

“Thanks, Cuervo.”

“I’m glad I was able to help.” Missa turned to face him with a soft smile on his face. 

“I’m going to get some rest, you should too.”

“Ok, goodnight Wisteria,” Phil said as he packed the extra supplies in his bag before lying down.

“Goodnight,” Missa murmured. He was already half asleep.

[lurkingshan]

Wedding Plan and the Evolution of MAME

I have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with MAME, one of the most notorious writers in the bl genre. Her shows have traditionally been a mixed bag of incredible chemistry, high heat, dubious consent, and pushy semes transgressing every boundary laid out for them, all of it built atop a foundation of heteronormativity and homophobic tropes. In the early years of bl, her shows were one of the only places you could go to see mature depictions of intimacy in relationships, but they also necessitated dodging through a landmine of problematic content. So my long standing policy has been to never watch her shows live and instead binge them when they’re done so that I can go in with some idea of what to expect. As someone who liked Love By Chance and TharnType for what they did well despite their problematic aspects, and actually kinda loved Love in the Air, I figured I would watch Wedding Plan at some point, but it wasn’t that high on my priority list. 

So imagine my surprise when people I trusted started telling me: hey wait, this is actually really good? Like, not good for MAME, but genuinely, legitimately a quality show. @bengiyo wrote a great post on the queer read of the story that was very intriguing indeed. @ginnymoonbeam wrote about seeing an authentic representation of her own experiences in the show. When I asked for others to weigh in, @negrowhat, @slayerkitty, @thegalwhorants, @nieves-de-sugui, @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle, and @magpie24601 all said they were enjoying it to various degrees and that it felt different from MAME’s previous works. So this weekend, I sat down to watch it, and as soon as I finished, I pinged @waitmyturtles, who had previously said she did not intend to watch any additional MAME shows, to tell her she had to add it to her project tracking the evolution of Thai bl. 

Because y’all, this show! This show is stunning, in more ways than one. The people and settings are gorgeous (shoutout to that McDonald’s money), the characters are compelling and sympathetic even when they behave in frustrating ways, the romance is properly swoony, the friendships are deep and touching, the family relationships are complex, and the ending is triumphant. I enjoyed it immensely, and I was taken aback by how genuinely rooted in queer experience and celebratory of queer love it felt. It was kind of a revelation, and I felt compelled to get down some thoughts about it. I’m going to break this down by narrative themes and characters so that I can dig into some of the tropes at play and what makes their deployment feel different here than it has in MAME’s previous shows.

The Core Premise

When I say this story feels authentically queer, this premise is the foundation of that. A lavender marriage is something that can only occur between queer characters. Right away, we are kicking MAME’s typical use of heteronormative tropes right out the door, because Lom already has a wife. Yiwa is his stand-in for the female partner his parents and society expect him to have, so Nuea cannot and will not fulfill that role. Instead, Lom’s pursuit of Nuea is explicitly about his desire to break away from those constraints and pursue the authentic queer life he has never been allowed to live, even if he has to do it undercover of this facade. Lom is gay, and he is pursuing a relationship with a gay man, and there is no coding here to make a heterosexual audience feel like what he wants with Nuea is the same as what he’d have with a woman. The difference, and the way one fulfills Lom while the other doesn’t, is the point.

Nuea

At first glance, our POV character, Nuea, feels like a stock MAME uke character. He is cute, he is a romantic, he is emotionally reactive, and he has a massive crush on Lom pretty much from jump. But pretty quickly, we start to notice some important differences between Nuea and those who came before him, starting with his competence and confidence. Nuea is the ace at his company and excellent at his work, and he’s financially comfortable. He is an out and confident gay man with a strong community of coworkers, friends, and family who will support him through anything and close ranks to protect him when needed. He does not share the standard characteristic of typical MAME ukes: uncertainty about who he is and/or low self-esteem. There’s simply not a whiff of that anywhere on Nuea. He knows who he is, and he knows what he wants. And as the story unfolds and Nuea gets deeper entangled with Lom, we recognize another crucial aspect of him: he is experienced, both emotionally and sexually. Nuea has been in relationships before, he knows how to say no, he knows how to draw a boundary, and he knows when he is deciding to cross one. In short, Nuea has something crucial that a lot of MAME ukes are lacking: power and agency. 

We see this throughout his relationship with Lom, as Nuea begins their flirtation eyes wide open about his own feelings and the fire he’s playing with, and alternately pulls back and pushes forward as his conscience wars with his desires. Nuea wants Lom. Their attraction is extremely mutual. No one is wearing anyone down or inspiring a sexuality crisis in this dynamic. Instead, Nuea’s struggle is rooted in his own morality and desire to be a good person, because he thinks Lom is taken, and he wants him anyway. Which is why we see him waffling so much and sending Lom all kinds of mixed signals, pushing him away with one hand while grabbing him back with the other, drawing boundaries only to step right back over them at the next opportunity. And when he finally crosses a boundary that he can’t rationalize (sex with Lom), he retreats back home to try to get his head together. It’s not an accident that despite Lom being in the active pursuer role, we see Nuea make a conscious decision to move forward and even be the one to initiate a relationship progression at several crucial points in the story. Nuea is making his own decisions here, and he has his own power over Lom that he exercises consistently. He’s warring with himself, not with Lom.

Lom

Lom is also, on the surface, a fairly standard MAME seme character. He wants Nuea, and he’s comfortable being pushy about it. He pursues Nuea fairly relentlessly, showing up in front of him even when he’s told not to, and leverages his role as Nuea’s client to see him as often as possible. He obsessively pines for Nuea in a way that also feels familiar. But for me, there is something that makes Lom stand out and feel markedly different from his predecessors in his romantic pursuit: sincerity and frank honesty. 

From the start, Lom is genuine in his interest in Nuea and sincere about how much he likes and admires him. He tells him in a very straightforward manner that he likes him and wants to spend time with him. He tells him he knows he doesn’t have the right, but he wants to kiss him and be near him anyway. He tells him exactly what he intends to do to stay close to him, and then he does it. He tells him honestly that he loves Yiwa, but not in the way Nuea thinks, and that he is not marrying her because he’s being forced. “But Shan,” I hear you yelling, “he did not tell him the most important truth!” And you’re right, he didn’t, at least not until he was forced to do so. Which brings me to the other thing that makes Lom so compelling: the constraints of the closet and his loyalty to Yiwa. 

Lom, unlike Nuea, does not have a supportive family or the freedom to live as an out gay man. What he does have is a best friend whom he loves deeply and completely, to the extent that he would sacrifice his own life and chance at happiness to protect hers. He has no choice but to hold some things back, because to lay it all bare would expose not only him, but her. The decision to tell a boy he likes the truth about the nature of their relationship is not just about him; anyone knowing is also a risk to Yiwa and the life she is building with Marine. And he takes his duty to protect that very seriously. On top of that, Lom has been in the closet since he was a teenager. We know that Lom and Yiwa connected over their queerness and their mothers’ bigotry when they were only 15 and 13, respectively. They grew up Knowing. That self-protective mindset is not something you can easily shake off, and not something you risk for any given person you develop a crush on. He is trying to walk a line in his pursuit of Nuea to snatch whatever happiness he can without blowing up his entire life. 

And to Lom’s credit, the moment he realizes how serious he is about Nuea, he goes after him (with Yiwa and Marine’s support), dutifully pays his penance and earns the respect of Nuea’s family, and finally unburdens himself, looking at Nuea with complete and total honesty and saying to him “This is who I am, this is my situation, can you deal with it? Do you still want me?” And by the way he sobs when Nuea says “YES” and asks to be part of his arrangement with Yiwa and Marine, he never expected for someone like Nuea to accept him and all the complications of his life. He was absolutely overcome by gratitude and relief, and you could see the burdens he’s been living under start to lighten. 

Yiwa and Marine

I don’t have anyone to compare Yiwa and Marine to, because to my recollection, they are the first significant female characters in any MAME story. And significant is an understatement. Yiwa is the engine that drives this entire story. The lavender marriage is her idea, because it’s the only way she can think to give herself the freedom to be with Marine under her mother’s watchful eye. She is the one who goes to her best friend and begs him to do this for her, because she trusts him absolutely and the devotion between them is complete enough that she knows he will sacrifice in such a monumental way for her. She is the one who encourages Lom to pursue his own happiness with Nuea within the constraints of their arrangement, hoping that he will find his own Marine that can hang in for this half life they’ve constructed to meet the tenets of filial piety. She is the one who ultimately decides to come clean when she sees how the lie is hurting Nuea. And she is the one who makes the final decision to prioritize her love over her obligations to her parents, and in doing so frees them all. 

The fact that a character like Yiwa exists in the bl genre at all, let alone in a MAME show, is mind-blowing to me. A female character with this much depth and narrative importance, who is not just here to play a cheerleader to men but instead to be a fully realized character with her own narrative? A female character who matters? In my Thai bl?? 

And Marine gets to matter, too. Marine, whose experience of coming into this relationship and accepting the limitations of the life Yiwa can offer her is treated with the utmost seriousness. Marine, who we see in joy and in struggle, who is kind and compassionate with Lom, who offers solace and guidance to Nuea, and who ultimately crumbles under the weight of Yiwa’s mother’s cruelty and reaches her breaking point. As minor as her role is, she feels like a real person, not a generic side character. The relationship between her and Yiwa is developed enough to make us feel invested in their happiness, to understand the choices they make, and to ultimately feel joy at them breaking free and living a more authentic life, even if it comes at the expense of Yiwa’s family bonds.

The Ending

Which brings me to the way this show ended its story, and how glorious it was. Yiwa and Marine run away to live on their own, freeing Lom from their agreement in the process. Yiwa takes full blame for the broken engagement, a parting gift to Lom that saves face for his parents and gives him cover to publicly dodge any further expectations for marriage to a woman. Lom’s mother, who is just as bigoted but not quite as stubborn and short-sighted as Yiwa’s mother, understands exactly what has happened, and reaches out to her son to assure him that she will no longer try to force the issue, and to ask him plainly not to run away from his family like Yiwa did. It’s not the support and love of Nuea’s family, but a kind of resigned acceptance that she offers. She knows who Nuea is to her son and she knows if she tries to intervene any further she will lose him for good. It was reminiscent for me of the dynamics between Shiro and his parents in Kinou nani tabeta—it still hurts, but it's a detente everyone can live with.

And Lom and Nuea? Have the freedom to love each other more openly. To flirt in a restaurant and hold hands in public. To live together and call themselves partners to the people who matter. We end on a message from Nuea about the beauty and joy of queer love, the simple nature of two people deciding to marry regardless of their gender, and a promise that someday soon he and Lom will be the ones to make that commitment. Just, perfection, and an earned resolution so rooted in a genuine queer experience. It’s not something I could have imagined seeing in a Thai bl even a few short years ago, and I am stunned that MAME is the one who delivered it. Her storytelling is clearly evolving with the culture around her, and I will be going into her future works with an open mind.

[buddhamethods]

10 BL Characters I Want Carnally

AKA I'm just a person with two keen eyes and dubious morals when it comes to enjoying media so don't take it seriously, I'm here for a good time.

Thank you @sndrys for tagging me! This was an eye opening experience putting this together. As it turns out I might have a type (ew).

1) Guy from Bake Me Please (2023)

The sole reason for me creating this list! Look, I dropped Bake Me Please almost immediately because it just wasn't for me BUT I've been lowkey watching through my dash. And let me tell you, my fingers gain consciousness and hit reblog everytime this baby's face pops up because...well...LOOK AT HIM. He is beautiful and he should get the guy (hehe get it) in the end idc.

2) Yok from Not Me (2021)

Yok is such a beloved character and for good reason! He is sexy, he is gay, he sets buildings on fire and steals cops' wallets on accident because HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT GUY HE WAS STALKING WAS A COP??? I love you Yok, never change.

3) Palm from Never Let Me Go/ OurSkyy2 (2022-23)

The anger I felt for all the injustice and mistreatment our beautiful Palm had to face in this show took literal years off my life. It's rare for me to get this passionately protective over a character and yet here we are, in the Palm Protection Squad headquarters. Even Nueng is on the watchlist!

4) Tonhon from Tonhon Chonlatee (2020)

Not to out myself as an enjoyer of silly goofy times , but I did have fun watching Fish Upon The Sky and Secret Crush On You, so OFCOURSE I thought I would like this one too but GOD was it rough. Did I still finish it? Yes. Did I fawn over PoddKhao pairing and have been quietly praying for some kind of reunion ever since? Also yes. Was I foaming at the mouth barking everytime Tonhon AKA Podd was on my screen? I'm not gonna comment without lawyer present.

5) Tew from My Dear Gangster Oppa (2023)

Speaking of Tonhon Chonlatee...AH! Ai Long Nhai (TC's spiritual prequel of sorts) was sure...something. And by something I mean I saw Meen and decided I will never speak ill of men ever again, feminism quite literally left my body. And then a year later My Dear Gangster Oppa came out and guess what??! MEEN IS THE GANGSTER OPPA! Dreams really do come true, kids.

6) Wen from Moonlight Chicken (2023)

(or Tian from ATOATS or Mueang Nan fron FUTS). Mix...I will eat you. Always so dewy and healthy and sparkly-eyed. But Wen from Moonlight Chicken is something out of the realm of my imagination. The sex appeal? The maturity?? The gentleness??!! Somebody sedate me before I say something I will not be able to justify in court.

7) Vee from Love Mechanics (2022)

He is a pretty bisexual who makes the most abhorrent stupid decisions known to men and then weeps and suffers for them WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED? Once again, is the show flawless or even remotely coherent? Absolutely not. That being said Vee brought me so much joy by being stupid I'm forever grateful.

(also YinWar are so back GO WATCH JACK AND JOKER TRAILER)

8) Prapai from Love In The Air (2022)

To a certain extent I've enjoyed every MAME show I've watched. To do that you need to possess the rare ability called "I abandoned every shred of moral integrity to gawk at hot men". And Prapai? MAN is this bitch hot. Tall dark handsome? Check! Bisexual on a bike? Check! Stubborn and annoying? CHECK!

9) Xiang Hao Ting from HIStory3: Make Our Days Count (2019)

*incoherent wailing and sobbing* IM NOT EXPLAINING SHIT ABOUT HIM LEAVE ME ALONE

10) AlanJeff from Pit Babe (2023)

My newest obsession! I refuse to separate our local senior citizen and his favorite prophetic mechanic. Both of them are hot as shit in their own way. Alan is a sexy dilf with so much weight and responsibility on his shoulders it's a miracle he retained his optimism and youthful awkwardness. And Jeff is a prickly baby-cow-baby-deer eyed baby that is so touch starved it's actually a little funny. SO I GUESS ALANJEFF SANDWICH IT IS.

(don't be shy tag yourselves besties <3)

[halliescomut]

Love Sky to Love Sea connection

Alright, so I was going over everything following the news that our beloved FortPeat are going to be the main couple in a new show for Mame.

And if you have been partaking in Mame BLs for a while, you may be aware that all of her novels and the shows that are based on them have existed in the same universe up until this point (a la the MCU). Following the creation of MeMindY she has not cast previous actors from her shows into new roles, instead having them return in cameos as the universe progressed forward.

It's easy to understand why she would choose this moment to recast FortPeat (and very likely BossNouel, but that confirmation will come in a couple of days). The chief reason of course being money, Love in the Air was arguably one of her most successful series, equaled only by TharnType. This is due to the stories, the performances, and also just luck of timing. The boom of BL shows for international audiences, from what I can tell, occurred in late 2021 - early 2022, with shows like Cutie Pie and Kinnporsche (and the impeccable chemistry presented in both) being some of the most common first forays into BL. I have only assumptions and inferences as to why this is, I think the popularity of shows like Love Victor and HeartStopper on streaming services led more people to essentially google more queer media, and found that there is a rather awesome amount being produced in Thailand, but in South East Asia and East Asia altogether. I also know a number of people were on the K-Drama to BL pipeline, assisted by Netflix and Viki. But back to my point, generally I think the popularity of MewGulf and JaFirst locally, or at least within SEA is fairly equal, but the inclusion of a much larger international audience at the time when Love in the Air came out has created a level of popularity that I don't think Mame expected.

I think another very valid reason why Love in the Air is incredibly popular is that while it exhibits some of her 'classic Mame' tropes like histories and instances of SA, and her ever-present 'No Kink', it is arguably one of the less problematic stories that we've seen on screen so far form her. (And this is coming from someone who actually likes a lot of Mame's stories, though I'd imagine my affection for brat-type characters is a leading cause of this.) This means that for many viewers for whom this was a first foray into Mame's universe and characters were not being immediately put off by some of the more problematic scenes and storylines presented in previous shows.

Mame has most certainly observed the potential for success in recasting these well-liked actors/pairs in other companies, top of said list being pairs like ZeeNunew, EarthMix, FirstKhaotung, and many others. So to take a pair whose chemistry and ease onset is equal to those and cast them in a new role, while breaking a previously established 'rule' is certainly a choice where the potential benefits far outweigh the risk. Literally the only 'risk' is potential confusion from those that are aware of the fact that ALL of Mame's work exists in a single universe, which if you came in on the LITA train is not likely to be something you would know. You may know of the clear connection to Sailom and Nuea presented in Wedding Plan, but connections to the further universe beyond LITA are limited to two rather small cameos that even I didn't pick up on immediately. (These cameos being the brief appearance of the twins and Leon from Don't Say No.)

So, I wanted to give an idea of what exactly is the connection between their existing LITA characters, but also the kind of show why it's really not going to be as big of a deal as far as causing confusion. This is a diagram of the existing Mame universe in terms of her novels, I've updated it as needed to include the connections to Prapai and adding in the Love Sea story as well. I have included a link to the original as well.

I've placed stars for the LoveSky/LoveStorm stories and then added ones by Love Sea and The Boy Next World (which we anticipate to star Boss and Noeul). Because the universe is so large, it is a bit confusing, so I did break it down into more simplified connections.

Hearts represent romantic relationships and the dashes are platonic. most of them are just friendships of various types, though Tharn and Pookan are cousins. But as you can see there is at least 5 people between the characters in LITA and the actors' new characters. So even in-universe the likelihood of these characters ever meeting would be slim, but beyond that the connection of LITA to the over-arching Love by Chance universe is pretty tenuous as previously mentioned.

In the case specifically of Love Sea, this is an unpublished novel, so it's possible Mame will remove or choose to leave out any mentions to the greater universe (meaning either changing the name of Kom's character if he is present in the scripted version, or leaving him out altogether). In the case of The Boy Next World, Pookan is related to Tharn, but let's be honest, do we really expect Mew to show up in a cameo? He's already moved on from Mame, TT, and the MewGulf ship. At best we may get fanservice in the way of a name drop, and it's possible we could see other characters from TT, but I'm skeptical. Since Pookan barely shows up in TT at all, the better option, especially with the passage of time since the first season of TT came out, is to have him be Tharn's cousin, but have him attending university after Tharn has graduated. And that's really only if you want to include that connection, you really don't have to. Given the amount of detail that we get about secondary characters in a lot of these shows, it wouldn't really be that difficult to simply rename any characters that cross over into the greater universe because there's just not going to be enough specific detail to really connect them.

I did also want to include the small amount that we know about Fort and Peat's new characters. We of course don't have much information yet, but there was some crumbs dropped at the recent fanmeet and appearances.

Their characters are Mahasamut(Fort) and Tongrak(Peat). Mahasamut is the son of a hotel owner who after a falling out is now living on his own. It looks as though he is quite young, along the same age of Fort IRL, and he is working as a tour guide to support himself. He is someone who is, I would say, likely lower income, and he's very ambitious and at this current time his goal is to kind of amass a certain amount of savings. He is running his own company as a tour guide and is considered very popular among foreigners both because he can speak good English but also because he is very charismatic. The information given at the fanmeet also includes that he has a diving certificate and is also good at fighting. How that will come up in the story, I don't know.😂

If their hints are to be believed, these characters will be in the same age dynamic as Fort and Peat meaning that Peat's character Tongrak will be older than Fort's character. Tongrak is a writer, specifically of romance novels. He is wealthy, though it is unclear if that is through his career or familial wealth. There's a strange emphasis on how beautiful he is, but in fairness Peat does very accurately fill that criteria. It also says that he does not talk about having a partner, he goes his own way, tends to be a loner. And this is with the implication that this is a result of past negative romantic experiences. Because Mame is who she is, there's also a possibility that part of his solitude is the result of past violence from a previous partner. Fort and Peat did state that they felt the story for this series is more challenging than Love Sky (which honestly scares me a little). But out of all of the stories Mame has told so far, I did feel that Sky's story was handled the best, so hopefully that trend continues.

It's not clear currently if Mame will be directing this series as well, previously she has only directed Wedding Plan, while all of her other series, even those produced by MMY did have other hired directors. We can see from the behind the scenes footage that even with a separate director, Mame was heavily involved in the filming, so her touch will be there regardless.

As far as further timelines, based on past series it is usually about 5-6 months from announcement of a series (and the cast) to the premiere of said series. It does depend on many different variables. The length of the show being one, as well as the level of difficulty. LITA was a more complex series with some pretty large set pieces (the night time races) and more complex scenes in terms of filming (the Stop and Payu race) in comparison to Wedding Plan. Since we don't have a published novel to study and theorize about potential scenes and the difficulties of filming, I can't really give much insight. I will say that the specific inclusion of the fact that Mahasamut holds a diving certification could indicate some diving/underwater filmed scenes. While those are not necessarily super complex, they can be time consuming, require special permits, are very weather dependent, and would require special filming equipment. I also very sincerely hope that if Mame does venture in that direction that she will also make sure that specialists with the necessary expertise are on set to maintain the safety of both the cast and crew. I know what the requirements are in western media, but not in Thailand. What all this boils down to though is that I would not expect the series to premiere earlier than February, and I'd put my bets on March. It's possible she may film a special trailer like she did with LITA, and if that happens, then we may see footage in late November or December, if not I expect a trailer after the New Year. A lot of this actively depends on when we get confirmation that filming has started.

I did also want to note, that while we expect Boss and Noeul to be the leads for The Boy Next World, since she is announcing that after Love Sea, I'm also expecting that to be filmed after Love Sea, even though we suspected that BNW was on the docket way back in March, Boss is still attached to Zomvivor with Mandee/Domundi, which could begin filming this fall, though that's not fully confirmed, it's based on the schedule presented at their look-aheads last year and what has already filmed and aired. But my point is that Boss may not be free to commit to the filming of BNW for a couple of months. There's a lot of variables that go into it.

But anyway...I hope this little rundown/update was helpful. If you have questions and I can answer them, my asks are open.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Rita Moreno (Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story)—She’s an EGOT, an absolute legend for how she navigated her career as a woman of color in the fifties and sixties. Her performance as Anita in West Side Story is why I go back to that movie so many times. She is an icon and she is the moment.

Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, The Court Jester, The Manchurian Candidate)—The babe, the myth, the legend. In her own words her early hollywood roles were "a series of venal bitches" and they were all glorious. Half of them wanted to kill you and you probably would have thanked them. She even goes toe to toe with Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls! That said, she was chronically underused and misused during this era - she was just 36 when she was cast as Elvis Presley's mother in Blue Hawaii and a few years later commented that she'd played so many 'old hags' that most people thought she was in her 60s. She thought she was "all talent, no looks" but she was the full package! Post-1970 I hope we all know what an incredibly talented and compassionate badass she was, but I feel like not enough people know her early roles as a hot (often villainous) young thing.

This is round 4 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Rita Moreno propaganda:

"Amazing showstopping actress in her one big memorable role as Anita in West Side Story. She sings and dances with unmatched joy and energy, and then breaks your heart with her acting. Rita took a role that felt as a stereotype to latina women and made it compelling and multifaceted. Her subsequent career was filled with mostly side roles, but she still managed to excel in whatever Hollywood threw at her."

"It’s Rita!! The EGOT herself! She can act, she can sing, she can dance, a triple threat. Obviously absolutely iconic as Anita in West Side Story (her part of the Tonight Quintet is the sexiest part of the film, fight me). But before that she was the amazing Zelda in Singin’ In the Rain!?! Thanks Zelda, you’re a real pal."

"She continues to be amazing but also she's got legs for days."

"THEE iconic rita moreno, EGOT winner, civil rights activist, theatre legend. watch her documentary "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It". also her rendition of "fever" on the muppet show"

Angela Lansbury:

"Angela Lansbury might not be where your mind goes first when you think of hot leading women, because she had a later career revival. But she began acting in the early 1940s after leaving London due to the Blitz. In the first couple decades of her film career she has an openness about her. She said she never really fit in with the Hollywood crowd and to me she gives off a friendly, untarnished vibe."

64.media.tumblr.com

64.media.tumblr.com

"Most of us know Angela Lansbury as old lady sleuth Jessica Fletcher, but it's important to know that she was smoking hot in her younger days as well as a damned fine actress. Although she didn't get lead roles until her early 40s, at 17 she was a supporting actress in films such as Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), and The Picture of Dorian Grey, for which she won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for the Oscar. Even in her memorable performance as the manipulative mother in The Manchurian Candidate, she is listed as a supporting actress as she does not play the love interest. She was successful both on stage and screen, and won the Tony for her lead role in the musical Mame on Broadway in 1966. TL;DR While Angela Lansbury mostly played supporting roles in films before 1970, she had what it takes to be a leading actress, which we know from her success on stage and tv from the mid 60s onward"

"She looked like a princess but bit like a viper"

"Is there anything this woman couldn't do? Act in comedy and drama, sing, dance, be a wonderful human being - quite simply a true and wonderful lady."

"she is the fairytale princess of my dreams in court jester"

"god she had such an incredible career all throughout her life really but as a young lady she was just as incredible as she was in her later years. enchanting voice, amazing personality, and absolutely GORGEOUS. she lamented not having the looks to play leads in romance but that idea is so batshit because look at her??? she's one of the most terrific women of all time. also she's my grandmother's favorite actress and i truly get it"

[bengiyo]

Wedding Plan Ep 7 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, Lom finally managed to clear things up with Namnuea with the help of Yiwa and Marine. We learned that Lom also experienced The Knowing along with Yiwa when they were kids and have been loyal to each other for over a decade as a result. Nuea and Lom got it in a second time, and Nuea asked to help carry their secret, much Lom’s awe and surprise. Accepting Nuea’s decision, Nuea’s family declared that Lom is theirs now, should his own family turn on him. Meanwhile, Yiwa’s mom was absolutely cruel to Marine, and so Yiwa has decided to run off right before the wedding.

Where is your grace, Saichom? Why would you scream out the problem instead of solving it? This is why your kids haven’t told you who they are.

Oh, Lom, I wish she had warned you, too.

How quickly these two moms turned on each other after being aligned for over a decade.

Not this guest living for the drama and filming it! They’re throwing the staff around!

I really love the choice to mute other sounds and play music over it instead before cutting to the guests leaving.

Namnuea really is good at his job.

Lom is laughing about all of this! He can read between the lines when it comes to Yiwa.

I love that Lom was correct about Yiwa, and that she didn’t tell him to save him the difficulty of lying. Also relieved that these two have a plan to land on their feet in England.

Lom is having too much fun playing heartbroken.

Don’t worry, Saichom. Nuea and Lom going to do a lot of healing.

Oh, I need to hand out a clown aware for whoever guessed that Nuea was faking sad and drunk from the preview with the flask.

I’m glad these two are thriving.

Namnuea, I love you. Thank you for not letting Lom drunk drive.

I’m glad Lom’s plan involves coming out in a way that doesn’t involve Nuea in Yiwa’s decision to leave.

Very meaningful grabbing behind backs there, boys. Thank you for that.

These two are fun now that they’ve settled.

Yiwa and Marine got married!!

Okay, I love that Namnuea is out of vacation leave from when he ran off earlier. Im said, I got you, boo, but you also gotta get me!

Gays arguing over who gets to propose to whom. We eatin’ good today.

The couple photo of Lom and Nuea is fantastic, holy shit.

Okay, this was a good parent moment. “I might find it difficult to accept, but please don’t disappear,” is honestly so reasonable. I’m into it. Lom hasn’t come out formally yet, but they’re talking about it.

I love the bickering in this company. They’re so funny. Now they’re gossiping. I love it here.

Alright, I have a lot of big thoughts about Lom’s mom coming around and Lom reading between the lines on his mother to know that she gave her blessing as best she could.

Final Verdict: 9.5, Highly Recommended. I never expected to be earnestly recommending a MAME show this year, but here we are. The final resolution of this show reveals an understanding of the fundamental nature of the closet in a way I did not think MAME was capable of. Yiwa understood that the gender politics of their existences meant that she and Marine could not be happy in Thailand and so she decided to leave. I love that with all that Lom and she have given up for each other, I like her taking the opportunity to take on all the hate and derision for him. I love that it’s her choice and not one foisted upon her or expected of her. With this opportunity, Lom and Nuea are allowed to soft-launch their relationship. This is actually so beautiful to me because I like the queers collectively deciding when everyone else is allowed to know. I like that they have to create a narrative that the hets will accept for them to come out peacefully. It’s not fun to live a lie, but we’re not the ones demanding the lies of us. I’m absolutely floored by the earnest way this show faced all of these obstacles and took what felt like such a gross starting line to a fantastic finish. I’m only taking a point here because the kissing with the girls was bad, and their chemistry was a little weak. So, yeah, watch the MAME show about the wedding planner getting the groom.

[merao-mariposa]

first writing that I publish at least a long-ish WIP: Draft of Death Family going to the realm of death, meeting Kristin and Mamamissa

Trips to visit family must be really interesting for the death family.

I can easily imagine them crossing the barrier between life and death as soon as they leave quesadilla because they want their children to experimente the dominion of the dead.

Yep, Missa owes his boss a lot of reports and Phil is absolutely delighted with the idea of ​​finally seeing his wife again after everything did happend. Chay and Tallulah keep making fun of him about his constantly fluffy wings and the silliest smile on his face, and his cheeks blush however deep down they are really excited too, a little nervous but they definitely want to meet her.

It's halfway there, they are walking along the banks of the River Styx. It won't take long to get there, somewhere, anywhere, where The Goddess is. Dad Philza jokes that flying with the eggs would be faster and easier, because of course his wings had improved considerably in the last few weeks, but in the afterlife his wings were almost revitalized to the surprise of his children. Which was to be expected for an angel of death, surrounded by the dead realm.

Missa jokes that he would leave him behind, of course. Which Phil playfully rejects; is a loyal crow! He would never do that thing of leaving him behind.

He did it in purgatory.

But he didn't do it in prison!

¨No mames Phil, they were going to take us out sooner or later¨ Against the grim reaper's arguments the crow just rolls his eyes and fights back

¨when was the last time you crossed the river of souls, mate?¨

Missa sighs softly, he can't remember the last time he sailed the river. For a long time he has dedicated himself to harvesting souls to help them to make it to the afterlife.

Phil rests his hand on the small of his very platonic husband's back (in the realm of the dead, missa's real form is more likely to come out; he still avoids having a height comparable to that of the cellbit castle, right now? just He's 2 or 3 times Phil's size (he literally can't reach any higher, it's either that or grabbing his pants leg to comfort him) with a soft coo; ¨it's okay dude, don't worry about that¨

Chayanne interrupts the lively (not so much anymore) discussion between his dads before it gets angsty (it's an instinct), signing so quickly with his hands that it is almost difficult to translate what he said.

"Papa Missa can take us OVER the river???"

missa and phil look at each other, in fact that can shorten the path quite a bit, if it works.

This is how much of the way they spend with Tallulah and Chayanne on the shoulders of an even bigger Missa while Philza flies through the skies of said Death´s kingdom, sometimes perching with his children on the shoulders of his husband.

It's all fun and laughter until Tallulah signs a question; "why did Kristin gave me the gift of listening to my siblings". which causes Philza to reverse heis flight and Missa stops completely to see his hija. Chayanne blinks worried about what happened.

¨Tallulah, mi ninha-a, Kristin has no connection to anything on the island… she was blocked from it¨

¨But I know who was not blocked¨ Missa looks at Phil, more serious than he's ever been.

And Phil sighs before looking at his children softly to reassure them. ¨So guys, you wanna know your… erhm, ab-abuela, abuela?¨

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Nov 2022 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 1 of 12 - It got hot and heavy way faster than expected. With DeanPharm the side couple, I just want more of them like I did with WinTeam in UWMA. But yeah, it’s VERY good, thank fuck. WATCH ALONG HERE. 

Big Dragon (Sat Gaga) 6 of 8 - How can this dumb little pulp be so good? Also P’Nine? I will heal your broken heart. The brother zone is rough, baby. The thing about this damn drama is all of the characters are honestly motivated and act in accordance with their personalities. I think that’s mostly why I can’t stop watching. Loved the scene with Yai and his ma-in-law-to-be. Also, nice stinger! That’s one way to come out. Look this was a REALLY engaging ep. 

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) 14fin - I really did not expect this show to end on this note. Ah Earth with the crying. I did expect the final episode to be family drama-llama, but this kind of drama didn’t work for me under the context of a BL. I do love the siblings. (There’s a part of me that wanted Prem’s character to be Team. This could work as Team’s back story.) All in all? I found it disappointing. Conclusion: This is a strong little BL romance (tailor made for SantaEarth) about holding onto first love and childhood, but it’s buried under waffling family drama and formless side characters so that it took a lot of digging to get to - still, RECOMMENDED. 8/10 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 7 of 10 - Nothing continues to happen and exactly nothing will and yet I keep watching. Probably because the nothing keeps getting shirtless. 

Ghost Host, Ghost House (Weds YouTube) 6 of 8 - Cute bfs are cute but... NO SINGING. Adorbs but sad GL side plot AKA dead lesbians got a nod. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 5 of 12 - JaFirst are just great on screen together, I am very invested in their couple but, yeah, no one else. The stuff with Name was really difficult to watch, but Title is a GREAT little actor. 

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) 13fin - Ultimately? Sky needed a therapist not a stalker lover, but whatever Mame. DUMPSTER FIRE TRASH WATCH COMPLETED HERE. I gave it a very reluctant 7/10, recommended only if you know you like this kind of thing. Look you remember in high school drama class where they make you “envision a basket, and put all of your worry, bad mood, and anxiety into that basket, and leave it outside the door”? Well, in order to enjoy this show, you have to do that, only with your morals. Some people have bigger baskets than others. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 6 of 12 - I do like a little jealousy from the dentist. Yet another installment in this week”s “please get that uke to a therapist” only this time (unlike LITA) our seme actually gives it an honest try. I might be completely and totally in love with the dentist. I adore how stern he gets, plus he has a very strong white knight tendencies. Also baby boi wanna-bartend with the big-ass crush is giving me life. 

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga) 4 of 8 - Am I the only one who JUST realized the actor playing Koichi is Komiya Rio who played Tanaka in Takara & Amagi? I’m so slow. Look all Japanese BL (even the most fluffy nonsense like Kabe Koji) is a little bit emo and exists in a sideways state. It’s gonna go into uncomfortable and uncanny spaces. It’s what it does. This one, given its psychological horror elements, is even more uncanny, to the point of creepy. I’m not a big fan of creepy, and yet I like this show. Japanese zombie incubus? Yes please. Look, I’m utterly unable to back away from the pun, and so: I see seme stiffie can get a stiffie. Puns aside? This was a killer first-time sex scene for something relatively low heat. I’m reminded of Shin’s tongue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one does thirst like Japan. Korea and Thailand can have a winsome yearn-off, and Taiwan is great a pining, but Japan? Japan brings the Thirst. 

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 3-4 of 10 - I love this show so much. It made me tear up and then in the second part I was laughing my ass off, because the cat was trying to teach the dog how to stare properly. So funny. Then Pets being worried about their sick human, is so accurate. Is anything funnier than the idea of a cat in a service industry job? I really don’t want this to be sad. Please don’t be sad. In Strongberry we trust is my mantra!

Kabe Koji (Japan Mon Viki) 6 of 10 - I like it more and more as it goes on, but I still don’t think I actually, ya know, like it. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

My Roommate (Thai YT) 32 eps of 2 minutes each + terrible production values? - I’m not bothering.

Fahlanruk (Thai Sun GaGa) 12 eps - I cut my losses at ep 5. DNF

To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai 28 eps - dito

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

SELF (Thai Thurs YT) - DNF

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising and stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

In Case You Missed It

Korean GL She Makes My Heart Flutter finished it’s run on YouTube. RECOMMENDED. Full review (not by me) here. Extremely cute, about a lesbian bar run by an aunt and her niece.  

I have no idea if any of these still work, but the spies reported in on ways to watch the Cherry Magic movie (2022) with Eng Subs: BiliBili | Website I liked it, not as much as the original, solid 8/10 from me. Again no kissing, these actors must be expensive. Still with Thailand bringing the high heat with such consummate casualness these days (licking ass and taking names) there really isn’t much of an excuse anymore for no kisses. Even Korea has buckled. 

Gossip

Kpop boy group OnlyOneOf has collectively signed up to be in idol-based BL, Bump Up Business (based on a webtoon of the same name). They’ve been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV series in this post. It’s from Idol Romance who will do sad and can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You). More info here. 

HIStory 5 is coming! Office BL + time travel. “A cheerful and energetic senior student from 2000 travels to the future (2022), works as a deliveryman, and meets his first customer, an heir with a domineering personality.” Nancy Chen to direct (HIStory 4, Papa & Daddy).

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting up: 

Nov 18: I Will Knock You (Thai Fri Gaga) A college kid & tutor confronts the leader of a gang who then turns out to be his next student. Bad boy/good boy + sunshine/grumpy, + younger seme pairing, bully romance. Adapted from korean_rabbit's y-novel of the same name, directed by Champ (2gether).

Nov 19: GAP the series (Thai Sat YT) - 12 ep office set GL. WATCH IT! GL and this studio need our support. 

Nov 2022 still to come?

Nov 24: Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga) stars Karam (The Boss), Ha Jong Woo, and Leo (VIXX). Formerly Happy Ending Outside the Fence - thank fuck they changed the damn title.  

Nov 26: 609 Bedtime Story (Thai Sat WeTV) - another OhmFluke vehicle that’s rumored to be a good story. A one night stand leads to a series of mysterious premonitions and a possible parallel universe.

Nov ??: My School President (?? GMMTV YT) tester trailer here - it’s Love Sick + Korea & Japan's influence.

This Week’s Return of the Shirt of Shame 

Work From Heart wasn’t enough? You had to put it on the prettiest boy in the world? (Ghost Host, Ghost House) 

This week’s best moments?

Oops indeed. 

This weeks earworm: MCND #mood

(last week)

Note: I’m off to France and then Australia, as ya do, so posting may be odd and sporadic and strangely timed. Don’t get excited, it’s work, I mostly get to see the insides of hotels.