the kinds of thing I would do just to see kongphob ask arthit out in that "yell i like men thrice and then ask 10 guys out" like I wholeheartedly believe kongphob WOULD have done it, my man has the guts

Cannot emphasize enough how I was waiting for him to just ask Arthit out as the 10th guy

Personally I think that we need to drop the top/bottom connotation when it comes to ship names and focus on putting them in the most amusing order possible.

We could have so much fun. Some of these names are just meant to be switched- if for nothing else, then at least for the bit.

Dunk Joong? I agree. Get in the water boy

Book Force? Excellent. Straight to jail bud

Mark Junior? It's about time. Someone's gotta

Mix Earth? Yes. Find me a shovel

Sea Jimmy? Oh I sure did

Singto Krist? Why not. He deserves to hear a song

Inn Great? I mean come on ingrate is so funny people are so caught up with these perceived roles that it’s like they’ve forgotten to commit to the bit. Tragic.

New Tay? The old one is fine but I'm listening

Babe Billy? Checks out. He's definitely a babe

Win Bright? Tell me what I've got to do to win him and I'll try

Film Namtam? Yes. She’s literally an actress

Gun Off? I hope it is. Please put that thing away

Fourth Gemini? I’ll take him and the previous three

Phuwin Pond? I mean... I'm cheering for you, Phu

Santa Perth? Oh, we know now who to expect Christmas gifts from

So funny that thee asks ai shit abt romance and interpersonal relationships bc that's pretty much the only aspect of life where he can't just ask mok, bc mok also sucks at that—

I laughed at it like crazy only to be hit with the realization a second later how sad it actually is, that too on various levels...

phitam: [fucking on the kitchen floor by episode 7]

kongphob:

no one hates the ex-morning more than this man:

No one loves Sotus more than this man:

KRIST SIMBA'D SINGTO FOR THEIR OUTING SKIT

[source of live action lion king: aof's igs]

So this year, Krist and Singto (whose name means "lion" in Thai) are on the Amazon team for the Outing, which gave Krist the opportunity to do something during their group's skit that he's probably been wanting to do in costume from the moment they met.

That is a delighted turtle.

ETA: He took a RUNNING JUMP into Krist's arms.

That's trust. On both sides. Especially considering what happened the last time Singto ran at a company event. Carpet ftw.

KristSingto really do epitomize the Black Cat/Golden Retriever dynamic, because even when Singto's battery is depleted and Krist's is still at a hundred, Krist won't leave his side. He's content just to bounce along to the music behind Singto's chair.

No one loves that lion more than Krist. <3

I just think it's a shame more people haven't seen Krist pick up Singto by the thighs.

People actually doubted this man's ability to play the top.

He didn't even need to touch him.

To commemorate episode five of “The Ex-Morning,” I thought I’d share a compilation of older KristSingto clips that just crossed my TikTok feed. Because, see, “SOTUS” was definitely tame due to limitations of intimacy in the media, but y’know who wasn’t?

Krist.

This is what we call “flexing.”

Krist does a lot of that because he knows he’s Singto’s favorite. :’)

You watch anyone else suck on a popsicle and then try to feed it to Singto on camera.

Or just present their finger to eat off of.

Y’know how Singto’s been saying recently that he used to be more rigid and he’s loosened up a lot? Krist was always the exception.

If you’re curious, search “Singto’s double standard” on YouTube and enjoy his well-documented favoritism.

Anyway this was a whole other reason I was always like, “He’s not homophobic. He’s regularly trying to feed Singto or get him to eat off him.”

SINGTO'S DOUBLE STANDARDS MUST NEVER BE OUT OF CELEBRATION!!!!!!!!

You gotta love Singto’s work outside of classic BL

People say actors do BL for the money and then go back to their het-series. Actors will talk about BL roles as a chance to explore and respect mlm characters, but make it seem like it’s the only way to engage with mlm characters.

Meanwhile, Singto took his BL fame and money and somehow dove deeper into the rainbow? He really went and tried to play every other kind of queer role possible. Cross-dressing comedy, gay Casanova, psychosexual horror, messy adult romantic dramas. You could even throw bromance in there depending on how flexibly you define queerness. He put time into het roles, too, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who more than Singto seems to have treated their career as if BLs weren’t queer enough for them.

I have to add that the "doing BL for the money" thing definitely didn't apply during Singto's early career. It's another one of those uninformed stock phrases interfans throw around about the Thai BL industry, seemingly to augment the "they're all straight" myth. Even today, most of these BL actors aren't actually famous in Thailand. PP and Billkin are, but they were famous before they did "I Told Sunset About You." There's a reason GMMTV is so internet-heavy - they're trying to appeal to younger folks and international audiences because they're not a juggernaut in general. (One31 is bigger than GMMTV, and they're both branches of GMM.)

Just to underscore, Krist is more widely famous in Thailand for co-hosting the music program "The Golden Song," which gets average ratings of about 2.0 per episode. (He still often introduces himself to new audiences using "SOTUS," though, purely as a point of personal pride.) By comparison, GMMTV's series get about 0.2 per episode. So like, there's a reason these actors aren't just doing BL series. They're selling sponsored products left and right, merch, concerts, etc. (I do think there's a high likelihood that one could abruptly swerve into the BL world after avoiding it for years because one saw opportunity for profit in it now…but by and large, I think most of the actors are just in it for the love of the game.)

Singto's career has been one of the most varied I've seen, and he truly just follows his heart and his interests. Hiiiighly recommend hearing him talk about it in his own words:

For years after "SOTUS," GMMTV relentlessly milked the KristSingto brand with fan meetings and concerts and merch and top-spender events, leaning hard on the "SOTUS" name. Fans and KristSingto constantly asked GMMTV for another BL series for them, but GMMTV seemingly saw that as pointless since KristSingto were already making them a ton of money without needing more BL series. Why take a chance on something new when you can just wring every drop out of something established? [mouse_ears.jpg]

In an interview with Attitude at the time of the release of "SOTUS S" in 2017, Krist and Singto both said they'd do whatever GMMTV had in store for them. Which was apparently putting Krist down the Leading Lakorn Man path and, by all appearances, just letting Singto do whatever he wanted. Krist and Singto also had different managers at the time, and from one friend's take, Krist's manager Yui tends to understand the company lines and adheres to them, where Singto's manager Jane was trying to guide Singto into more varied projects to appeal to a younger audience. (They're both under Yui now, but Jane actually followed Singto to help with his freelance career, which speaks highly of their working relationship to me. I imagine the only reason Jane didn't come back to GMMTV with Singto last year is because GMMTV changed their management system while Singto was gone so that all pairs are under the same manager, and Krist's been with Yui since 2016, so it was probably easier this way.)

Basically, Singto's had a lot of control over his career, and I think what he's chosen to do with it is remarkable. He didn't follow trends, seek approval or popularity, cater to any one audience, beg fans to watch all his projects, etc. He's actually gone on record multiple times saying he doesn't care if his fans skip a series he's done. He's happy if fans like what he does, but he's not bothered if they don't. From what older fans have told me, he got quite a bit of backlash from some Peraya for doing BL series without Krist (though not nearly on the scale Krist did for doing "Be My Favorite" without Singto), and yet he didn't let it stop him from pursuing projects that interested him.

Singto's also been very, very extensively outspoken for years about wanting BL to be treated with respect, even as he and Krist were patronized and condescended to as BL actors in their early years.

[self-promo :D]

I'm really hoping with KristSingto's reunion that more interfans will get to know Singto and really appreciate the artist he is. He's not as active on social media as many of the younger actors, and he's quite introverted on top of it, but he's well worth the little bit of extra effort to get to know. He's extremely thoughtful, considerate of others, well-spoken and firm about social issues, funny, intelligent, dorky, etc. He's not perfect and boy oh boy does he not want to be perceived as perfect, but he is lovely, and he takes missteps seriously and learns from them. So, y'know. Just a good human all around.

And "He's Coming to Me" is fantastic, if you'd like a jumping-off point to start with.

This moment is stunning. I'll never recover. I don't even want to. Seeing a queer wedding is one thing, but a wedding honoring their country's traditional customs just resonates so much more deeply. Even as a foreign viewer. Because it underscores that those rituals and customs belong to queer people, too.

And I think that moment is only matched by this one:

Because queer couples can have a ceremony even when it isn't legal. The fact that the series finishes on a shot of their legal marriage licenses with a kiss to top it off is just…really, truly a sign that this was in every way a passion project. :')

Like, they say this was a gift to Peraya, but it was just as much a small tribute to the place in queer history that KristSingto themselves hold.

I appreciate the sotus references bc it really just feels like the boys are going “don’t y’all dare forget about the ancient texts” and I love it

Hell yes! Look, atp, if they even played a clip or two from SOTUS, I'd be grinning ear to ear and cheering on with something like, "Well deserved!" That's the efforts that got us here so better don't forget that the ones bringing the wedding a decade later are the ones that kicked it all off a decade ago!!!

Never pass up an opportunity

Ngl, when I was watching this episode, my mind was high on bliss so I was quite literally interpreting it in two different ways.

My eyes saw Krist say: "SOTUS The Series."

My ears heard Krist say: "If you haven't watched SOTUS the series yet, which is a crime in itself because you're on the last episode, this should be the last nail in coffin and it's your cue to go watch the whole damn series right now!!!!!"