aliko

There have been very few series that have had more depth and nuance than SOTUS and its sequel. And to be very honest ,the best part of the show was how it tackled important questions without assuming that the answer was apparent beforehand ?

SOTUS decided to use hazing as an entry point into a larger conversation about hierarchy and power structures in general, which was truly fascinating to watch. In fact we get shown many conflicting opinions on hazing in the show and all of them are treated, if not equally then atleast with an interest in understanding where they come from.

To start with , Kongpob is virulently anti hazing in SOTUS to the point that he's willing to fight against the entire power structure, no matter the personal repurcussions because to him hazing is an exploitative system. Kong hates the system because it tries to over ride people who struggle to exist in it and his rebellion is more for others than himself because as is apparent Kong is the exact kind of person that the system ends up loving. He's charismatic and intelligent, well spoken and capable of rallying people around him. And yet he deviates from what everyone expects by caring more about how the people who struggle to find a place in the system deserve better than what they get. Arthit on the other hand is pro hazing and believes that if one sticks to the hierarchy and honors it, the system does protect you because thats been his experience with it.

SOTUS is all about how the system [ and even Arthit to an extent ] dont really understand what to make of Kongpobs insistence on equality and democracy and his brand of radical kindness and empathy that would have seemed very out of place both in Thailands [ and south asias] sociopolitical climate then. And while it is slightly weird to see Kong capitulate and become the head of the hazing squad after all of this in SOTUS S, we see also the nuanced reasons why he accepts the position as well.

Kongpob, like many before him believe, that maybe if someone with good intentions managed to infiltrate the system then they would be able to reform the system from the inside out. But this is not new and there were many movies and shows before SOTUS that try to show what happens when you try to bring systemic change in a system rooted into the culture of a place. And generally the answer falls into one of two extremes : either that the system in itself is a corrupting influence and any person who tries to reform it, instead becomes its greatest enforcer OR that you can actually change the system by superhuman feats of endeavour but for that you literally need a Messianic figure that comes once in a million years. However, in SOTUS S neither of these expected results occur.

Right off the bat, Kongpob's chapter as the head of the hazing squad is markedly different from every other version thats come before him. He is extremely interested in what his juniors have to say about the squad ; asking for feedback especially from the kind of people the system usually would have trodden underfoot . He allows space for dissent and doesnt let people misuse their position on the squad. He tries to find the gaps where the squad can help the freshman and fiils them to the best of his capacity. Kongpob truly tries to show up for his juniors across the board and by the end of the show it is extremely clear that many of them love and appreciate him for it .

And yet, it becomes very obvious by the end of the series that Kongpob is forced to come to the realization that exploitative and hierarchical power structures unfortunately are rotten to their core . And no amount of superficial and temporary fixes [ no matter how sweeping] will ever really be able to fix the actual rot of a system. It then becomes obvious that the only way forward is to break the system and build a new one , a better one from scratch. But SOTUS S allows this realization to come slowly and remain mostly as subtext. Which in itself is a very restrained choice for a 2016 BL of all things.

SOTUS and SOTUS S are extraordinary because they remind us that our existence as queer people is interwoven with politics because we always end up being on the margins [ and sometimes completely outside ] of the legislative frameworks of society. So it becomes our moral obligation not only to reimagine the system for ourselves but for everyone else as well. SOTUS and SOTUS S remind us that queer love is inherently political and revolutionary ; which honestly isnt an angle that we even see talked about in many QLs anymore.

SOTUS was a sociopolitical queer show that happened to have a love story as its beating heart. Which is a rare thing even today some 10 years later. This show had the kind of heart that you cant replicate with a giant production budget.

It was lightning in a bottle and God am I happy that I was around to watch it happen 🥹🥹🥹

Love these mfers for ALWAYS 😁😁

My last batch of commissions! New slots are open and you can commission me on a vgen > https://vgen.co/shuaqot

Castiel is human. Angels fell and all that, the Gadreel thing happened but a bit differently. Main thing is when everything went down, Castiel remained human, Sam forced Gadreel out. Sam was determined to leave and Castiel was determined to stay by Sam's side.

Sam told Dean if he follows him he'll kill him, Dean called bullshit. Sam shrugged and flipped it, if he saw Dean again he'd kill himself. Dean isn't willing to call that bluff. With how messed up Sam is he believes it.

With that Sam and Castiel are on the road, following Gadreel's trail. And one night they get to a hotel real late during a holiday, meaning all the rooms are basically taken except for one. If it wasn't for the fact that it's freezing in the car, and this is like the fifth place they've tried, they would've just gone about their business. But they're tired. They've been staying up and driving 18 hour shifts trying to keep up with Gadreel.

But if either of them continued one of them is going to crash. So they take the room, and it's not a double. It's a single twins bed. Basically when either of them lays down the other one can't. They bicker and fight over the other taking the bed insisting the other should. Both know it's too damn cold on the floor and the blankets hardly help. There's no heater or anything to help.

Sam lays down and pulls Castiel onto him. Castiel is confused but goes with it as Sam covers them both up. Castiel readjusts and his head ends up laying directly on Sam's chest. He tries to be as normal about it as he could.

The two fall asleep, finally warm. And when they wake up they don't bring it up.

Few weeks go by, they are following another lead and get a room. They had called ahead for a double and for queens. They got there and their room was another single twins. They tried to trade it out but it was booked. Some event has a bunch of the hotels and motels filled. Whatever. They take the room, it's not as cold, one of them could take the floor.

Except.... well, why not just share again. I mean they did it once. It was bad. In fact, they were both content. And neither talk about it but when Sam lays down and pulls Castiel onto him. There's no objections. They were in town for three nights and every night they slept the same. Castiel lying on Sam who had his arms wrapped around him to keep him from falling onto the floor.

It would be their luck that when they do catch up to Gadreel that they're sharing a bed again. But this time it's a queen and so they have more room than usual. They kill Gadreel, and Castiel considers using Gadreel's grace but doesn't want it. He doesn't want anything to do with Gadreel and doesn't think Sam wants it either.

That night when they shared a bed, they didn't need to be as close. In fact Sam had turned away, but Castiel held Sam the entire night. It kept the nightmares at bay Sam told him in the morning when he thanked him.

They stopped getting rooms with two beds. Money was tight, they obviously were comfortable enough sharing a bed. And all they're doing right now is wandering. Gadreel is dead. They could go back to the bunker. But neither felt ready to. And questioned if they'd ever want to.

So they start searching for things they want to do. They did a couple of hunts here and there. But Sam suggests that they other things. When he was patching up Castiel who had nearly died, he decided it wasn't worth it. He wasn't willing to lose him.

They started to pick towns, and just settled down for a month or two, picking up odd jobs doing what they want while they're there before picking a new one. They're aware they're running. But they don't know what it is that they're running from anymore.

They're open and honest about most things. But the morning where they woke up holding each other and both leaned in for a chaste kiss that neither registered until halfway through their own morning routines — that never comes up.

The lingering touches, waking up and just staring fondly. Holding hands as they run errands, being attached to the hip, they don't bother bringing it up. Maybe their feelings are obvious but neither are trying to rock the boat.

They don't have to think about it until they find a case on accident. They were already in town and they noticed some odd things. And realized quickly something is targeting couples. And they can't ignore it. They talk about posing as one and the more they talked about what they'd have to do, the more they realized they were already doing a lot of those things. Apart from kissing, they were there.