Someone on twt was saying how MekBalloon were terrible for each other and together. Idk if it's just me, or because I love the establishment and and the "of course" of them, but (regardless of the show's direction and production and etc) I always thought they were such a great couple. Like their personalities and their story together and the implication that they worked it out at the end... I just love them a lot. (They didn't talk about the kiss so it didn't happen).
Itâs been a long time since I saw Once Upon a Time, so forgive me for doing this from memory but!
So I think you and I are on the same page, Anon. I love MekBalloon, and I think they had great potential, and I was really excited for their episode because âone of us is closeted and one of us wishes we could be openly affectionateâ is one of my favorite premises for queer stories. (Partially why SOTUS S and Dark Blue Kiss are still in my top five.)
I donât agree that theyâre terrible for each other, but thatâs less because I think theyâre healthy and more because I think we donât know enough about them to judge in any direction, which is the writingâs fault. đ
Most Thai BL series donât seem to be passion projects. BL is a profit-generating machine right now, so of course itâs gonna be rare for all the elements of loving detail, abundant production window, and generous budget to overlap. Of the series that are passion projects, many are likely to struggle with at least one major issue. Maybe the casting isnât right, the script wasnât tightly edited, or the production just didnât have the budget for thorough workshops that would really nail the characters and their chemistry. Thereâs usually at least one big problem that prevents it from feeling like a stand-alone hit. Not Me didnât have the script editing it deserved, so it lost sight of several plot elements it needed to deliver on its ambitious premise; Dark Blue Kiss has a high barrier of entry for new fans, and it doesnât stand on its own particularly well; The Eclipse lost its deliberate pacing and threw way too much at the audience all at once toward the end; etc. (I love all three of those, to be clear! My special adoration of PeteKao, SunMork, DanYok, and AyanAkk is well documented.)
Off the top of my head, thereâs only a vanishingly few series that Iâd point to and say, âThat was well-crafted all around, and Iâd recommend that to a new person.â Those are: My School President, I Told Sunset About You, SOTUS, aaand Triage. (Until We Meet Again and Between Us are my favorites from a character standpoint, but SWS is a liâl studio and theyâve struggled with a lot of production aspectsâBU more than UWMA.)
My School President comes across as a well-developed, smart series in which most of the characters were given considerable thought and the actors were given time to explore and connect with them.
Until We Meet Again gave me the same impression, which is why itâs so much fun to write fic for them; the characters are fantastic and nuanced.
Iâll never shut up about SOTUS if I start praising it.
Where 7Project fell completely apart for me was where most series fall apart for me: 1) the writing, and 2) the lack of character depth. (So, yâknow, 90% of what it needed to reach beyond the actorsâ core fanbase.)
I really liked MekBalloon, but Iâm pretty sure most of my affection came from finding BounPrem generally charismatic and fun to watch. I think they were profoundly underserved as actors by their episode, especially Boun.
Balloon is the oldest child burdened with his fatherâs expectations and is terrified of coming out, but he manages to remain a dependable older brother who loves and protects his younger siblings, one of whom is also gay and struggling with bullying.
Mek isâŚkind, I guess? Wants to be in open relationship with his boyfriend. Has been patient with Balloonâs circumstances for years. He doesnât have a family, but we donât know when or how he lost them. That lets us know that his boyfriend is all he has, but the narrative doesnât seem to sympathize very much with him. And yes, the kiss was weird. I still remember as the episode was airing, the SWS cast and director were on Twitter going, âOH NOOOO??? DONâT MURDER BOUUUUN TEEHEE,â so to this day Iâm pretty sure they just threw that in for shock value and there was zero character motivation for it. I vaguely remember New tweeting something like, âCheating is always bad even when youâre hurt.â So I guess thatâs the reason? Mekâs feelings were hurt by Balloon reminding him that his parents are dead, so he kissed someone else. Like, they easily could have made that conversation something like, âItâs difficult being in a same-sex relationship when society pressures you to be closeted. Being with a woman would be easier, but Iâve never been with a woman.â Or something like that. Anything but the half-baked nothing they actually gave us.
I promise I like MekBalloon, Anon! I just have a lot of opinions, and 7Project was so underwhelming that hardly anyone talks about it anymore, so: word vomit.
What Iâm saying is that they werenât fully formed characters, so I canât really shovel too deep. They donât have enough internal consistency for one thing. Like, Balloon goes from âhuh whereâs my sisterâ to âYOU DONâT EVEN HAVE A FAMILY YOU FILTHY ORPHANâ and??? What are we meant to take away from that? Itâs clearly framed as a shock to Mek, but Mek didnât say or do anything to trigger a response like that. Balloonâs under pressure from closeting himself, so why is his trigger his missing sister and not, like, Mek cuddling him while their friends are approaching? There were so many opportunities to make this an evocative story and Iâm gently screaming at whoever edited this (assuming it was edited, which it might not have been).
That all said! I wrote two fics about them because they absolutely had potential! I think ultimately the premise of a couple struggling with closeting and BounPremâs legendary chemistry was enough to hold it above water. BounPrem deserve a bonus every time they agree to act in anything. â¨
I realize that was pretty rant-y, Anon, my apologies! Granted, I havenât seen it in a while, so Iâm probably overly focused on what I remember not working about it. Iâd love to hear what you love about them, if youâd like to share!
