#tehxohaew

I had decided to watch this series after seeing the trailer because I had noticed the color correction and thought that this was going to be something more cinematic, if they decided to give such a distinct look to their series then I thought they might have put more thought into it than other thai series that I had seen in the past. I am so glad that I decided to watch it live because after episode one I was obsessed.  The first thing that hit me was the choice in shots, from the get go you could tell they knew what they were doing, the cinematography is so delicate and allows you to just stop thinking about your own life and just go visit Phucket and be in Teh's mind for over an hour. But then the story hit me. I'm not someone that cries easily ok? But i cried, because I felt it down to my core. I felt bad for Teh and Oh-Aew, and by the end of episode one I was filled with that hope and joy that Teh felt and I just never stopped thinking about this show for a day yet. That's not easy to do, especially considering how busy I have been, but it NEVER left my head.

I wanna give compliments to Billkin and PP as well, cause Teh is a weirdo, he is adorable, so charming and so so so WIERD. Oh-Aew is such a delicate boy, so empathic and cares so much about other people . The little quirks, their friendship, their passion. They feel like real people. Seeing Teh and Oh-aew on screen is no different than taking a look to my life and how people act around me. They did an incredible job.

Now the biggest reason why this is one of my favourite series ever made (yes I'm serious, not just 2020, not just BL, or thai, or anything else):  because you can tell that it was made by LGBT people, to represent LGBT people. You want the hard reality of growing up in a heteronarmative society where you don't fit in? This is the show. Now don't get me wrong, I love BL series, that's why i'm in this group, they are a great escape from reality, they are super dramatic and most of the time they don't make much sense and I love them for it. But they are not made to represent LGBT people (they is progress in that regard, but we are still behind).

This series makes me feel all warm inside and understood and like i'm not alone in this. I'm also pretty sure it won't have a depressing ending, which i'm glad for because I'm tired of seeing sad ending for LGBT people, I get it being queer is more difficult that being straight, that doesn't mean that our reality has to be depressing, that the only stories you can tell about us are sad stories. We are alive and exist in 2020, our life doesn't have to be tragic just because of our attraction to the same sex (this is to anyone that says that sad endings are the reality of the world, that's not the only story you can tell).

I love the fact that this show is ownvoices, it made by LGBT people, and YOU CAN TELL, the stuff Te goes through, that's such a guttural feeling that you really need to go through yourself to fully understand, to really know what is going on deep down, this is why it's important to have our voices heard, cause they are our stories to tell. And when we are given the chance to do that, look what we can come up with!

Another thing I absolutely love about the show is that the character are not perfect, they are real. Let's start with Teh, that in the last episode messed up every chance he got because he was in such turmoil that he just didn't know what he was doing anymore, and while trying not to hurt anyone he ended up hurting everyone, himself included. Also he is super petty and jealous, that comes with his age and immaturity, but you can already see how much he has grown up in these 4 episodes. Oh-Aew, he knows what he wants, I love that about him, also he's not scared of trying to get it. He's like a magnet for Teh. And the side character? You've got Tarn, who I adore, last episode when she was yelling at Teh? That was incredible, I loved her speech. I also want to give the big bro award to Teh's brother. I love him, I want him as my big brother too.

My last point is the storytelling and the story itself. I really hope they will make the screenplay public in the future cause I wanna put my hands on it and read it. This the story of two boys growing up and dealing with the effects of discovering that they have deep rooted feelings for each other, it feels like a drug, they are always pushing and pulling, seeing how far the other is willing to go, drowning in the overwhelming feelings of their first love. There is so much tension between this two, all the time, you can feel it.. That's credit to BKPP but also the writers and director, their chemistry is overwhelming at times. I'm always tense WITH them while watching. The details they put in the story. Everything has a reason. Everything makes sense.  They used every little piece of the story to make you feel something. Like the back scratching that comes back to show you that awkwardness and discomfort of the night before. The coconut that literally shows you how much Teh is STARVING for what he feels for Oh-Aew. The use of Chinese vocabulary to express what he still can't translate into words. And oh my god I loved how they introduced the fact that Teh writes the same vocab in Chinese when he can't get it out of his head, when he's thing about it, so when he is upset at  Oh-Aew in episode 2, he's not sure why, but still the word he chooses is INTIMATE. I loved that choice.

Oh God this is too long.... mmh ok I'm gonna stop here.... short story: I told sunset about you best series!