#sotus

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 😁😁

THE PARALLELS

my favorite thailand BL drama

Bad buddy the series

SOUTS the series

2gether

I was tagged by @negrowhat sup bestie <3

now. this is actually a bit of a challenge for me due to my terminal case of second couple syndrome but we stay silly so here we go!

1. God - Monster Next Door

2. Chu Sangwoo - Semantic Error

3. Chi Cheng - Revenged Love

4. Lan Zhan Wangji - The Untamed

5. Meng Shaofei - History 3: Trapped

7. Aoki - Kieta Hatsukoi

7. Joe - My Stand In

8. Junior - Caged Again

9. Han Jiwoo - To My Star/To My Star 2

10 Arthit - SOTUS/SOTUS S

well that only took 3 hours. lolol

im never sure who has done these things and who hasn't but um

@oishitea @benkaben @rythyme @jeffsatyr @callipigio @dommingjeffsatur @baseballmomlesbiandad

Tagged by @dramalove247 in this post. Happy anniversary, y'all!!

Took me a while to do this because I am still in the process of moving houses 😄 And again, because I am too lazy to look for my own gifs, I will use whatever gif is available in this hellsite.

Rules: Share two tropes you enjoy and one you don't

❤️Trope: Grumpy cat meets Sunshine puppy

I never really thought about tropes until I looked closely at my all-time fave series and realised that they all fit into this category 😅

Featuring my beloveds:

Pat x Pran (Bad Buddy the Series)

Ji Woo x Seo Joon (To My Star)

Arthit x Kongpob (SOTUS and SOTUS S)

❤️Trope: "I hate everyone but you" a.k.a. "You are my only exception"

There is something about the mindset of not caring about anyone else, except this one person and being more than willing to accommodate and change one's self if it means that the person they loved will stay with them for a very long time 😊

Ching Cheng x Wu Suowei (Revenged Love)

Jiang Tian x Sheng Wang (The On1y One)

Pu Yi Yong x Cao Guang Yan (Oh No! Here Comes Trouble)

(Again, pretend all you want but they are canon to me 😂😂😂)

🚫Trope: Loving bully (or the "I will treat you in the worst possible way because I like you" bs)

Sorry, but I fucking hate this trope. One has to have very low self-esteem and a penchant for self-loathing for them to mistake this as romantic.

This trope is only fucking acceptable in kindergarten. And even then, only just 😑 So, dishonourable mentions:

Sorn x Juin (My Stubborn)

Jerome x Jinn (Head 2 Head)

Gu Hai x Bai Lou Ying (Addicted)

That said, I still enjoyed (and in the case of Head 2 Head, enjoying) the series. I just hate the trope that brought them there.

Whew. I see you have also tagged my usual victims so I'll be tagging @lost-my-sanity1, @telomeke, @dribs-and-drabbles, @negrowhat, @biochemjess, @bagofghosts, @poetry-protest-pornography, @gay-wrongs-activist, and anybody who sees this and wants to play the game.