#bed friend ep 3

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Lust [noun] - a very strong sexual desire

#bed friend #bed friends #bed friends the series #bed friend the series #bed friend ep 3 #kinguea #uea x king #king x uea #james supamongkon #net siraphop #thai bl #thai drama #thai series #bl drama #bl series #asianlgbtqdrama #myedit

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Mommy Dearest 2.0

This time it's about Bed Friend!

And it's not about the mothers in Bed Friend as much as it is about everyone's favorite Walking Green Flag: King and how he is Thinking, Watching, Evaluating Uea and his relationship to his mother. Because I've been thinking about this a lot since Episode 4 and I just haven't gotten around to writing about it yet.

Within five minutes of this show airing, we as an audience know exactly what Uea's relationship to his mother is. We know how completely and precisely she is responsible for his trauma both in the past and in the present. But no one else does.

King certainly doesn't.

But, King is perceptive, and King, by way of the narrative, is present for (or the cause of) a great number of Uea's triggers throughout the show so far. And he has no context for them outside of his own observations, but again, King is perceptive.

So the lights go out and Uea crumples in the parking lot. And at this point, maybe King doesn't know what happened (that Uea is scared of the dark) he just knows Uea is having a strong reaction to something.

Uea sees the abuse he has suffered at the hands of his mother

King sees a panic attack.

So Uea and the rest of the office go out for drinks and Uea sits in the back and watches everyone have fun, until he is alone in the bathroom and gets a text.

Uea sees the abuse of filial piety at the hands of his mother

King sees Uea's sudden shift in behavior from being introverted and sipping a drink in the corner, to drinking everything in sight

Shout out to reflections in this show for giving me endless moments of King looking at Uea.

Episode 2

King is grappling with his guilt and concern for Uea in the aftermath of their one night stand, and he (as usual tbh) spends a lot of his time staring right at Uea. Trying to pick apart every facial expression Uea makes.

Uea gets a call

and the next thing King knows Uea is rushing out of work early, panicked and heading to the hospital. And so he tries to help by driving Uea there.

What Uea sees is his mother, whose accident was not super severe, manipulating him, blaming him for the accident, and once again asking him for money, in a way he isn't able to ignore or avoid.

Uea has his typical shut down reaction to the interaction, but crucially in episode 2, King is there to witness Uea's relationship to his mother. He's able to see the way Uea's mother demands money from him, he's able to better contextualize Uea's behavior changes.

And when Uea's mother leaves after being given way too much of both Uea and King's money, where are King's eyes trained?

Right at Uea, and the entire exchange in the hospital when King enters the scene, King keeps looking between Uea's mother and Uea, trying to analyze the situation.

""You heard all that, didn't you?" "Yes," "I'm...sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

And this moment is great to me because we have a #respectfulKing on our hands who will not pry, or push Uea to tell him anything. He doesn't act expectant or entitled to any context or backstory of Uea's that might help explain this situation. But as we, the audience, know, King is in love with Uea, and as such I think King really wants to set himself up to be a safety zone for Uea. He wants Uea to feel comfortable, he wants Uea to feel loved, and we won't know that Uea trusts King like that until he starts talking about his history.

So King still doesn't know Uea's trauma history, but he wants to, he wants Uea to know that he has someone that cares, and so King starts to shift how he approaches conversations with Uea. Sometimes, very intentionally, and sometimes not, but every time he does it has the effect of hitting on some very specific parts of Uea's trauma.

When they get STD testing: "Why are you embarassed? We didn't do anything wrong." King might be able to sense Uea's shame/internalized homophobia, he certainly saw the panic in Uea's eyes when his Mom asked "Is this your boyfriend?" but I don't think he understands how strongly he is striking at the root of Uea's issues. His mother used to lock him in the bathroom, tell him she would beat him to death, and call him a slut. Having casual, one-night stand style sex is anxiety and guilt inducing for Uea because it meets his definition of 'slut', something he never felt like he was allowed to be.

This post is Uea's mother (and family) specific so I won't really get in to the P'Pock trauma here, but King is present to witness Uea turn and try to hide his face when he sees Pock from across the mall, and that is another thing he takes and files away.

Because King is so finely honed in on Uea's emotions (and because Uea is very obvious with his emotions), King knows something is still bothering Uea after their STI test and after dinner and he navigates a conversation about the differences people can have and want from sex, intimacy, and love. Once again striking at the crux of Uea's issue, the internalized homophobia Uea has had beaten in to him by his mother.

Episode 3

King has now seen how Uea interacts with his mother, has gotten a better understanding of his personal perceptions on sex and love, has seen him have at least one panic attack, and King is trying to fill in the blanks from there.

So Uea gets these texts in the middle of a conversation with King

"Are you avoiding my calls?" "I'm just asking for a little bit of money," "You have to come home this Sat," "Your Dad asked about you," "Don't accept the call?"

And where is King looking? Right at Uea's phone. But I don't think he's reading the messages, honestly it's probably too far away and the message are coming in pretty fast. But I'm sure that King is at the very least, able to see that Uea is getting spammed with messages from his mother, and he's able to see the way Uea's body language changes as a result.

"What happened, Uea?" King asks, because he is concerned, because he sees the way Uea retreats into himself whenever his mother is involved.

"My Mom wants me to go home," Uea replies

"You should go home,"

Now, the "you should go home," statement I find very interesting considering the conversation on Episode 4 this whole post is leading up to. That King of all people would see how Uea and his mother interact with one another and suggest that Uea go home. I think here King misinterprets what Uea is saying. By that I mean, I think Uea is actually answering King's "what happened?" as if he is answering "what's wrong?' and King is assuming that Uea is deflecting the question and just making a general statement "I have to go home tonight." King saying "you should go home," is him telling Uea it's okay to bail on whatever plans they may have been floating about hooking up that evening.

"King...tonight you can come if you want to,"

We've seen it before and we will see it again, Uea processes and regulates his emotional state through sex, through physical intimacy.

"You don't go home?"

Finally! Some semblance of an admission from Uea that something is wrong. Some honesty and a nod that Uea is starting to trust in King. King sees that and takes the opportunity to try and determine the extent of the trust he is being given.

"Are you okay, Uea?" and to me, it demonstrates a shift in their relationship, that Uea doesn't lie. He still can't tell King the truth, that he's not okay. He still can't put his emotional vulnerabilities out into the world like that, but he can stop pretending that he's okay. He can simply not respond and therefore give King the honest answer.

Throughout the show, one of Uea's coping mechanisms is sex, to seek out joy and pleasure from physical intimacy since he can't rely on emotional intimacy.

Shout out to the translation of the background OST music

It's important to me that we are shown a moment of non-sexual intimacy between King and Uea rather than sex immediately after the conversation about home. Not that sex is inherently wrong, obviously that is not the case, but because their relationship started with sex and needs to grow into something with a strong and healthy foundation. Because we need to see, and Uea needs to see that King cares for him outside of what his body can provide. Uea needs to see that King is not just in this for the sex, but that he wants more from it. So we get this lovely little moment...

...and then King accidentally triggers Uea. Uea sees his stepfather, and King sees

Fear.

Honestly, thinking about color analysis the fact that when Uea is talking about not going home he is absolutely suffocating under all that yellow, a color we know is associated pretty heavily with his childhood under the guise of striving for happiness, wishing and hoping for it. And when Uea is triggered and incapable of hiding his emotional state, he is surrounded by clear glass???? (Thoughts @respectthepetty?)

Another panic reaction from Uea, and King has yet another indication that something is wrong. Now, again we as the audience have been made aware that Uea's step-dad is the reason why he is reacting this way. But King doesn't have that same knowledge.

What he does have, is the knowledge of the previous conversation where Uea mentions he hasn't been home in a long time. What he does have, is the entire exchange in the hospital.

So though he can't know exactly what it is that caused Uea's reaction in this scene, and he can't know for sure that it has to do with Uea's family. King definitely has to know by now that something is wrong with Uea's family.

And after Uea has processed his own emotions at the memory of his childhood and he invites King back, King reaches out again to Uea. Trying to get a better understanding of why it is Uea is engaging in this FWB in the first place. And Uea says something he believes but that is fundamentally untrue, "I guess I just want to fuck up my life more," and we know this is untrue because King has been nothing but kind, attentive, devoted, open, and altogether healthy with Uea from the start of their FWB agreement.

But again, Uea is starting to trust King, so he follows up his half truth with a whole one "My life isn't great after all," and this is the truest thing I think Uea has ever said to King.

And it's important to me too, that Uea is actively and currently experiencing trauma by way of Pock in this show, and that King is around to witness all of that. Because it forces Uea and King to have conversations about it, it shows Uea that King cares about him, that he would fight for and protect him, it makes King fully aware that Uea has a lot of shit going on. It shows Uea how King does navigate potentially traumatizing situations with Uea and the that he doesn't pity or coddle Uea, but he does care, and he does check in, and he does want to genuinely know what is wrong.

And he can do that with Pock because Uea can't avoid talking about Pock when King is the one literally prying Pock off of Uea. But King wasn't there for Uea's childhood abuse, he wasn't there for the dinner at Uea's Mom's house, he is completely oblivious to the extent of Uea's childhood trauma. So he has to wait for Uea to come to him about it. He has to wait for Uea to trust him enough to share that part of himself.

Where previously Uea has retreated from everyone when actively triggered, not upset or frustrated like when he gets texts about money from his Mom but actually and actively coming down from flashes, this time he seeks King out. He is finding more comfort in King, so he calls when he could be alone. And he tries to push his emotions down, he tries to drown them out in King but this is too fresh, and King is too aware of Uea...

"Uea, is everything alright? You look anxious,"

"A little bit,"

Please picture me rubbing my hands together with glee. UEA IS HONEST! WITH HIS FEELINGS! AFTER MEETING WITH HIS MOTHER!! and King stops the physical interaction. He will not take advantage of Uea's emotional compromise. He wants Uea to be calm, he wants Uea to be regulated. Again he doesn't push or pry, he just helps Uea redirect his anxious energy in to self care. He gives Uea a birthday cake.

And boom!

Another accidental hit at a fundamentally horrible life experience of Uea's. His mother completely ignoring his birthday, leaving him to celebrate alone with only a candle. King gives him cake, shows him he cares, Uea has a chance to celebrate his birthday. And you can tell in the scene how touched Uea is that King did this for him.

But still Uea won't talk to King about it. So I think it's at this point King starts changing tactics. He will start opening up to Uea and see where that gets him.

"I'm tired,"

"What happened?"

"It's about my mom. She called me to come home. Do you have any plans for this weekend? Can I go to your room?"

"What? Don't you come home? You told me your Mom wants you to,"

(cough cough DIRECT PARALLEL cough)

"Yes she wants me to. But I don't. She's a grumpy lady,"

and GOD THANK YOU JAMES FOR UEA'S REACTION TO THIS CONVERSATION BECAUSE IT IS EXQUISITE.

I wish I had a gifset to do it proper justice, but the way Uea is doing mental calculus here, the recognition, the surprise, and the hesitation he is portraying in having Uea initiate this conversation?

When I watch this scene I can't shake the feeling that there is this little, hopeful part of Uea that wants King to say "Yes," that that might be the thing that pushes Uea to be honest with King. To tell King the truth of what he's been through at this hands of his mother and step-father.

...but King says "Not exactly," and starts talking about his brother the perfectionst and Uea just...

shuts down. Because King has said the wrong thing, because Uea has decided that King would not understand what he has been through if he is complaining that his mother is grumpy because he doesn't meet his brother's standards. And while that is something that I do this Uea related to (seeing as he is the unwanted child who gets no love from his parents compared to his sister) to have King say he doesn't really have problems with his family makes me think that Uea does not think that King has an abuse problem with his family.

And because Uea, despite the way his family treated him relative to his sister, loves his sister dearly, while King seems to harbor some resentment towards his own brother.

And this is the fascinating part of this show for me, this is the scene I keep coming back to because I think this is the scene that sets the rest of the events in motion with Uea and King. Because King's mother is going to start getting in the way of their relationship. Because King is trying to get Uea to open up to him here. He is trying to be vulnerable with his feelings about his mother to Uea in the hopes that Uea will be open about his feelings about his mother. But King fundamentally misunderstands how terribly Uea is has been treated. King fundamentally misunderstands how much of the triggers he has witnessed from Uea are from his parents as opposed to from Pock.

If King had said "yes, I do have problems with my family" in this scene I whole-heartedly believe that Uea would have told him the truth about his own troubles here.

Uea is desperate to trust King, he is certainly already in love with King by this point. (If you had to ask me, Uea realized he was in love with King in episode 3 when King checks up on him outside after Pock harasses him the first time). But he's been hurt so much, and fundamentally believes that he is un-loveable, so every moment where there is a possibility of betrayal makes Uea retreat further and further.

Uea wants to trust King and we know this because when they are alone in the pool, Uea starts telling King about Lampang, about his cousins there, about how he is from there. We know this because when Uea's drunk and he therefore has less control over the wall he has built, he is the one to initiate intimacy with King. Not sexual intimacy, romantic intimacy, on the beach, at sunset.

And so the test begins.

Episode 5

Unfortunately for King, his mother is continuing to get in the way of him and Uea becoming official.

We know Uea is moving towards changing the status of his relationship to King from FWB to boyfriends, because he starts trying to test King's limits. He doesn't allow King a "reward" for not having sex with him when he was drunk, he starts telling King that he's met the weekly quota, he starts citing their rules more. If King can respect these, if King still wants to hang out with Uea when he knows that sex is not on the table, then surely King must feel the same way that Uea does.

And King, knowing that Uea trusts him more, that he's testing him, but that he's also tolerating King pushing their rules a little bit, has another opportunity to try to get Uea to fully open up to him when they go to dinner. When Uea gets the text from his mother asking about money. When King looks at him, concerned, and says "Uea,"

But before he can ask Uea anything, before he can check up on Uea at all...

King's mother calls, and sets everything in motion. King is being sent on an arranged date. King wants Uea to trust him. King wants Uea to fight for them. King wants to know where he is at with Uea and Uea is too scared of getting hurt, and so he ignores the question. He tells King that only King is able to decide if he wants to go on the date on or not. King spends so much of Episode 5 after this conversation trying to show Uea that he doesn't want anyone else.

And King gets that final confirmation that he is a safe zone for Uea when the lights go out at the end, and he is able to calm Uea down just from telling him he will hold him through the night. This is also a great indication to King that Uea has a fear of the dark, since technically in the first episode King would not necessarily have been able to connect the dots between the lights going off in the garage and Uea having a panic attack.

Episode 6

Uea and King are circling around each other, King is ready to admit. Uea is trying to throw out hints that he would say yes to being boyfriends if King asked him.

And King was going to, on the phone, you could see it!

But NO! No he doesn't ask here, because he wants it to be special! Because why would he ask Uea to be his boyfriend on a fake phone call when he could ask Uea to be his boyfriend on a beach vacation?

And Uea realizes this, because uea is smart. Because uea understands the implications of "I haven't felt this way in a long time," because Uea is hopeful that King feels the same way he does. And he's excited for the first time in a long time about something, and then King's mother gets involved. And King's mother makes him go on a date, and King isn't capable of standing up for himself and for Uea against his mother.

And King tries! King tries to see Uea, tries to get out of the date. Tries everything he can besides actually standing up to his mother to show Uea that he cares about him. To show Uea that he wants him, not whatever woman King's mother is trying to set him up with. But King hasn't had the chance to learn about Uea the way he needs to. King has tried time and time again to get Uea to open up to him, to talk about the strained relationship King knows exists, but doesn't understand to its fully extent.

And as a result of the shame, the self-loathing, the betrayals Uea has suffered time and time again at the hands of the people who are supposed to love him, he will not fight for him and King because he knows how the story ends.

It ends up with Uea alone, except this time he did it to himself. This time he broke King's heart in the process.

ok haha oops, I did it again with the essay. Gold star to anyone who read this whole thing.

#bed friend #bed friend the series #bed friends the series #kinguea #ueaking #king x uea #uea x king #jamesnet #netjames #domundi #mandee channel #bed friends analysis #bed friend analysis #bed friend ep 1 #bed friend ep 2 #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend ep 4 #bed friend ep 5 #bed friend ep 6

[lalarubyss]

Drama:Bed Friend the series

#netjames #bed friend ep1 #bed friend the series #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend ep 2 #bed friend #cutie pie #thai boys love #boy love #bl drama #asian boys #bl series #asian drama #thai dramas #lgbt 🏳️‍🌈 #🛐🛐🛐 #its so sweet #cutie boy

[itmightrain]

King: *gentle kiss*

Uea: this thirsty bastard.

#bed friend #bed friend ep 3 #thai drama #asian lgbt dramas #kinguea #i am enjoying them v much so far

[theyellowhue]

when your office child wants your attention but you're trying to flirt

King and Uea look like exhausted single parents with clingy children that want their constant attention

#bed friend the series #bed friend ep 3 #where does king and uea get the patience? #kinguea

[ichigokeks]

Bed Friend Ep3 is the new Kinnporsche EP 11. Just parcour through the hot and steamy scenes right into the most traumatic, triggering, sad shit right back into another horny make out session.

#can i pls live #bed friend #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend the series #thai bl #netjames #kinguea

[altairprudence]

My fave men <3

#netjames #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend ep 2 #bed friend ep1 #bed friend the series #net siraphop #james supamongkon

[keykeylocke]

Bed Friend Episode 3

I liked that Uea set boundaries for him and King's relationship.

When King said he needs it 4 times a week, I was like damn. I'm tired just thinking about that.

We got to see another traumatic flashback from Uea's past. I bet his mother blames him for the uncle abusing him.

The ex-boyfriend, what an abusive piece of crap. How do you cheat on someone and then have the mind to harass them at work?

The romantic scenes between King and Uea were plenty. I was flustered. I don't think I've seen this much leg kissing ever in a drama.

I liked the episode a lot overall. I am so worried for Uea as a character. He's going through too much. It was sad when he told King that he agreed to their kind of relationship because his life was already so messed up 😥. I'm guessing when the next episode airs we'll see King save Uea from Pock.

#bed friend #bed friend ep 3 #thai bl #thai drama #iqiyi drama #iqiyi #netjames

[greyfeather08]

The bathrobe is not inside out.

Some brands do it on purpose for 3 reasons mainly:

1 - To promote their brand

2 - To be more confortable for the wearer. The tag will not scratch the neck.

3 - More logical hanging on a hook. It will not tear the fabric and keep its shape.

They are 2 styles to wear it. Turned up collar and turned down collar. That is why we see Uea’s tag and we don’t for King.

#bed friend #bed friend ep 3 #1x03 #king x uea #kinguea #bathrobe

[itsmelb]

Bed friends series outdoes itself every Saturday and we are just at ep 3! Netjames are so good. It's emotional Rollercoaster. I just- wow.

#bed friend ep 3 #bed friend series #netjames #king x uea

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Rapture [noun] - extreme pleasure and happiness or excitement

#bed friend #bed friends #bed friends the series #bed friend the series #bed friend ep 3 #uea anol #uea x king #king x uea #kinguea #net siraphop #james supamongkon #netjames #thai bl #thai series #thai drama #bl drama #bl series #asianlgbtqdrama #myedit

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Uea and Red

I don't have a fancy intro for this so lets just get right into it.

Uea is red. We know Uea is red. I know Uea is red. But there is just something about the red on Uea that feels wrong. That I am having trouble wrapping my mind around. Maybe it's just that the color choice doesn't match well with James, but I'm going to choose to analyze it as an intentional part of the show instead, because fuck it, we ball. Because you see, it isn't all of the reds that I have trouble believing, just one specific shade.

So what red do I have a problem with?

The bright red. Uea's main red. Unfortunately :(

There is just something about it that makes it feel...fake? to me.

But, as I said, there are plenty of moments in the show where I wholly accept, understand, and associate Uea with red.

So when do I buy into Uea Anol The Red Rascal?

In lighting like this:

In clothing like this:

(I do consider pink to be a red since it has red in it.)

(This last image is from the after-credit scene of Cutie Pie where Net and James cameo as King and Uea).

In King's sheets:

All this to say that there are times when I completely see Uea as a Red Rascal, but I needed to figure out what it was about the main red that always took me out of that mindset. What was it about the main red that made me feel like it was a lie?

And after reading @respectthepetty's commentary on a previous thread : "Uea wearing a blue shirt in the past could very much symbolize him trying to not be himself." it really got me thinking.

That red is too saturated, too vibrant, too loud for Uea. At least in my opinion. Because while RTP is also correct and Uea "has been shown to be more spontaneous, attention-getting, and dominant" that is really only true when Uea is being sexual. When it comes to sex, Uea is the more dominant person. It is Uea that initiates/asks for the first sexual encounter with King, it is Uea who sets the (truly low bar) rules, at every point of the sexual relationship he has with King, Uea is in control.

But the same can't be said for non-sexual situations. In social situations, in matters of day to day existence, external personality, etc. King is the far more outgoing person. At the office King is the one who gets all the attention, he is more openly flirty. And while Uea gets his share of attention in the office, he does not reciprocate it the way that King does. Uea is quiet, Uea is reserved, and that's doubly the case when Uea is triggered. Unless he is actively re-living the moment, he dissociates or retreats in to himself to process his own emotions. When Uea's mother asks him for tuition in Episode 1 and he starts thinking about all his other stressors, he doesn't say a word, he just returns to the karaoke room and starts drinking:

At the hospital he folds in to himself, he barely puts up a fight, the only time he really even says "No," is when King starts reaching for his own wallet:

When King sniffs his neck the way his stepfather used to, Uea retreats to a hallway to hide. At no point does he offer any explanation (and to be clear he doesn't have to, he's allowed to keep it secret)

Honestly, the only way anyone in Uea's life probably has any indication that Uea is going through so much is from physically witnessing it themselves (King seeing Uea freaking out in the dark, King seeing Uea submissive in front of his mother, Jade protecting Uea from Pock, King rescuing Uea from Pock).

So to have such a bright and vibrant red for Uea feels wrong, it feels like a lie to me. Mostly because Uea's daily personality is more passive and restrained compared to his more open and demanding personality in the bedroom. I believe Uea as a Red Rascal when his reds are darker and muddier (the red-browns) or lighter and more subtle (the pinks). Uea's bright reds make me question his color-coding far more because it is so strong a color. (To be clear here this is not me saying I don't think Uea is strong, just me saying that he is too quiet for the bright reds).

And it got me thinking more about when and where Uea wears the bright red colors and where he doesn't. And it always seems to be in moments of anxiety.

When Uea wears bright red:

At the very beginning of Episode 1 when he is introducing himself to the audience

When he goes with King to get tested for STIs

When he goes home for his birthday.

These are all anxiety inducing moments.

Uea is making a first impression on us the audience, he's trying to gets us to see what he wants us to see. He is trying to convince us that what he is telling us is true. That is ordinary. The literal first words in his opening monologue are:

"I'm just an ordinary salaryman. I'm nothing different to others, but there might be one thing different...I don't like being around people in the office,"

Three minutes later, we get the truth:

Uea may seem like an ordinary salaryman on the outside, but he has been horrifically abused and is struggling with navigating trauma that is far outside what I would call "ordinary". Guess who picks up on the issue? King.

STI testing is the same thing, Uea is worried and King says as much:

And anyone who has seen Episode 4 understands perfectly well the anxiety Uea must be feeling at the prospect of going home. Because well...

#pransdaddarktimelineedition

And we know one of Uea's coping mechanisms is sex. He can't find the words to talk about his feelings properly so he tries to push them down, and distract himself with pleasure. If we want to look at the bright red as anxiety, Uea usually has something white on as a cover. His anxiety is there but he is trying to hide it.

But at King's he takes that white sweater off, tries to fuck his feelings away, but the anxiety is fresh, he hasn't regulated his emotions enough yet to be convincingly okay, and King #greenflagextraordinaire once again notices Uea is not in an emotionally secure enough place to proceed with sex.

And sure, you can argue that Uea wears these bright reds while he's one on one with King, and there the bright red can't just be anxiety, and we could also argue that every color has positives and negatives and the same could be said for the bright red. And to that I say, sure, but the one on ones with King are as follows: King snaps Uea out of an active trigger, King and Uea discuss starting a friends with benefits situation, Uea shows up to King's apartment on short notice after having a breakdown. None of these moments are what I personally would consider stress free.

Compare that to when Uea wears more muted/subtle reds:

The first time he meets King in a bar, (this is actually the brightest red that he wears that I can actually believe for Uea, and that's because it is a darker red than the other three firetruck red shirts.)

The day after he's shared a moment of connection and trust with King in the hospital after sending his mother home.

When he has forgiven King for accidentally triggering him without King knowing and is ready to re-initiate the FWB.

In the pool with King, when King asks him if he likes the sea and Uea replies "Kind of, but I preferred the calm one,"

Even the red lighting is different, the first red light is brighter and more intense, and that's because Uea is under time pressure to make a decision about whether or not to start the FWB deal with King. In the warmer post-coitus light of the second lighting photo, Uea is incredibly relaxed, almost drowsy, and is being asked to answer honest questions about why he agreed to be FWB. He's not anxious here, he's calm, and as a result Uea and King get to bask in a richer, deeper, less harsh red light. We can interpret the same information from King's sheets, with Uea being happy and relaxed and cuddled by King.

And even when we finally get King in red:

It's still not as bright as Uea's more purely red outfits (ie not the red-browns or the pinks). And naturally because King is still hiding something we've got to trap the brand new red color with all that black.

ANYWAY all of this to say I have figured out what is off-putting to me about the bright red, what makes me feel like it's a lie. IT'S BECAUSE IT IS A LIE!! Or I guess, more accurately, it's an over-compensation. Uea is red, but his trauma and his pain has made that red less vibrant. If respectthepetty is right, and let's be honest the Parent of All Tumblr Color Theory is always right, then Uea wearing blue at home was his way of suppressing his true self.

And if that's the case, then the separation he has from home, because he is no longer living there (since he's still in communication with his mother and therefore cannot fully be separated), has allowed Uea to stop hiding his true self, and embrace the Red Rascal he is. BUT because of his trauma, because his response to trauma seems to be more on the flight and freeze side of things, he is more prone to submission in the face of environmental triggers. When he can no longer simply ignore his mother's text messages, he will try to get his Mom to take a taxi, then give her money, and then resign himself to going to the ATM rather than actually fight her. When he sees his stepfather again, he will run to the dining room rather than engage, he will try to run to the kitchen, when he is stopped he will beg, quietly so as not to make a scene, and then he will run, and run again. (I want to be clear here, Uea does not need to fight, he is doing everything right, and he's doing the best that he can.)

When Uea is faced with high anxiety situations, he needs reminders of who he is. And those reminders need to be bright, and they need to be loud, because they need to be able to break through his initial panic and ground him. So he wears the bright red to tell himself and tell others fundamentally who he is:

A Red Rascal

And funnily enough, this bright red shirt Uea wears at the end of Ep. 4 is the only bright red shirt so far that doesn't bother me. It seems to fit him better than the other bright reds do and that is probably mostly because the loudness of this shirt is mitigated by the shadows on the front darkening the overall color and back of the shirt being washed out by the light rather than intensified by it. Or possibly because the pattern breaks up the color in a way that doesn't make it even brighter. I feel like the solid white stripes, and the solid white jacket from the examples above make their reds almost neon.

Here though, Uea is drunk and being hit on by a stranger. I don't think our boy is coping very well with the realization that he might be falling for King and so the Anxiety Red comes back. But it's not as In Your Face Bright Red as the others, and that's because he's not in as high stakes of a situation here. It's just hinting to me of potential inner turmoil on Uea's end, and since I haven't read the book I have no idea if Uea is contemplated fucking up a good thing and trying to end it because he doesn't think he is deserving of good things.

---

And for a total tangent, shout out to the purple in Ep. 3 after King and Uea's first night as official FWBs. I love when red and blue combine ;)

Ok, I have nothing else to say on this matter at this time. Thanks for listening, and as always if you made it this far, please collect your invisible Participation Medal.

TL;DR: Uea is a red rascal, but only when he is wearing muted red tones, not when he's wearing actual red. Shhh, I know...but it makes sense in my head

#bed friend #bed friends #uea anol #kinguea #ueaking #king x uea #uea x king #jamesnet #netjames #mandee channel #domundi #bed friend color analysis #writes a multiple paragraph essay on why uea is both lying and not lying about red #literally just to justify why I personally and probably no one else does *not* like seeing Uea in bright red #bed friend ep 1 #bed friend ep 2 #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend ep 4 #im beginning to notice a pattern of me getting *really* in to wriitng media analyses about 4 episodes in

[lalarubyss]

#bed friend ep 3 #bed friend ep1 #bed friend the series #bed friend ep 2 #bed friend #thai boys love #boy love #bl drama #asian boys #bl series #asian drama #thai dramas #asian boy #bl couple #boys love #lgbt 🏳️‍🌈 #🛐🛐🛐 #love is love

[mysterygrl20]

WE WENT FROM CUTE TENDER MAKEUP KISSES

TO FULL ON MAKEUP SEX ON THE ROOFTOP. COMPLETE WITH PLAYBOYY MUSIC.

we might want to do a clean cycle again.

#i swear it was the same audio #i had such a reaction #deep night #deep night the series #beck liveblogs #ep 5 #khemwela #khem x wela #glad the break up is over boys #I AM RIGHT IT'S THE SAME AUDIO AS PLAYBOYY EP 4 AT 30:34 #the second half of the scene audio is from bed friend ep 3 at 17:32 #but playboyy also used that audio in one of the 1st four eps

[seatawinan]

#bed friend #bed friend the series #netjames #kinguea #net siraphop #james supamongkon #*sam.gifs #pain.gifs #i hate this ep sm </3 #the writers really said what if gap!mon's trauma and lita!sky's trauma had a lovechild

[gillianthecat]

Bed Friend - episode 3

I continue to love King and Uea and the way they look at each other. The show is darker than I was expecting from the, trailer, with Uea's abusive childhood and PTSD a big part of the story. Uea and King (and James' and Net's portrayals of them) are by far the best part of the show. Although Cheewin's stylizations seemed toned down this episode–or perhaps I am just getting used to them, but overall they bothered me less.

Oh Cheewin, Cheewin, Cheewin. I have such love-hate feelings for his work. There are some moments where his shows are absolutely amazing, and I feel like he's always reaching for something interesting, trying to say something meaningful or new. But all too often the results fall short (for me at least). His directing is so full of contradictions. Two things he seems to be pretty consistently bad at are staging group scenes and villains. Which is unfortunate, because  he has these ensembles full of interesting characters, and he seems interested in the kind of conflict and drama that would be enhanced by goo bad guys. Both Uea's mother and Pock are un-nuanced in a way that make them seem like cardboard cut-out bad guys rather than real people. I don't want them to be more sympathetic, sometimes the villains are irredeemable pieces of shit and that what the story needs. But they do need to seem like human beings with motivations of their own, rather than plot devices to cause conflict for the main characters. Because otherwise it cheapens Uea's suffering at their hands, makes it seem also not real. And for Pock, if he's just straightforwardly awful, with no charm or other appealing qualities to offset it, then it makes no sense why Uea dated him in the first place, making the character seem even more self-hating than I think he's supposed to be.

(I'm also confused by the passage of time in many of the montages, but I think I figured it out. I do feel like Cheewin is going for fanciness over clarity in many of his editing choices, though.)

One thing I think Cheewin does do very well is conveying how these two are already in their own world together. I loved the apology scene at the office, with Gun and Jade bustling and chattering, while King and Uea just look at each other in stillness. The way Uea says he’s not mad anymore!

Uea and King continue to have my heart. I love King's earnest openhearted devotion to Uea, how his first instinct when anything happens is to protect. Net does a great job of portraying that devotion with his face. I like how he pushes and teases, but he never goes to far. His paying such close attention to Uea that he can tell when's he's actually upset rather then just being prickly. And he backs off when Uea tells him to, and waits for his invitation. And oh King's smile when he gets one! Absolutely delighted and honored and maybe a little incredulous that the man with a thousand walls is letting him into his life, even just a little bit.

This is a show where can see why they like each other. Or maybe not see exactly, because who King is outside of wanting Uea is still a mystery to me, but it feels right. Uea is so beautiful and brooding and mysterious, I can see why King would be intrigued. And he's clearly someone drawn to a challenge, not so much for ego, I don't think–I don't get the impression he's after the satisfaction of winning over Uea for the sake of winning, but rather that he saw Uea's suffering and wanted make it better. I mean, he literally says as much – "Let me be a good thing in your life.” – and I think he means it just like that. He's not completely selfless, he also wants Vea's attention and affection for his own sake, and of course there must be such a rush from getting this prickly standoffish, gorgeous man to look at you, smile at you, answer your calls, let you into his life. How exhilarating! But I felt from the very beginning that it wasn’t the thrill of the chase for him, that it was about falling for the person Uea is. I do wonder how aware of his own feelings King is right now. He seems to know he’s falling in love, and happy about it, but it also wouldn’t surprise me to have him pull back to create drama in the show.

And for Uea–there’s their attraction of course, that sexual chemistry that hit them both the first time they laid eyes on each other, that night in the bar. And I think it was the intensity of that attraction that made Uea push King away so strongly after that first encounter–he knew if he let him in, ever just a little, his walls would start to crumble down. (This is where I really wish that Pock was more of a real character and not just a clumsily drawn plot device; I would love to see even a glimpse of what Vea was like in that relationship. Was he this closed off then? Or is some of his distrust from opening up and then being cheated on?) But how can Uea help but respond to King's devotion–his attention and the way he sees Uea, the way he really pay attention, and respects Uea’s boundaries, yet still always lets him know how much he wants him. How could Uea not fall in love? I’m half in love myself.

I should not be at all surprised that these two have won my heart. The devoted4prickly dynamic echos then dynamics of so may of my favorite couples–Da-woon and Si-won (Blueming remains my touchstone BL) Vee and Mark (Love Mechanics). Mangkorn and Yai (Big Dragon), Seo-joon and Ji-woo (To My Star), Koichi and Mitsuru (Eternal Yesterday) Shi De and Yu Shi (We Best Love), Jae-young and Sang-woo (Semantic Error), Win and Team (at least from the first four episodes of Between Us, which is all I've seen so far), Billy and Seng's characters in War of Y.  Even Issei and Mamoru of Kabe Koji (though Issei 's extreme sunshineness makes it feel different to me) and Ayan and Akk of The Eclipse (although I wouldn’t call Akk “prickly” exactly). And Fahlanruk, I guess, which is why I wanted to like it, but they fueled that one up. So obviously King and Uea are like catnip for me.

I continue to appreciate that the office setting is just that–only a setting. It forces them together, and adds tension from the frisson of keeping a secret, but we’re not spending anytime on the content of their jobs. So maybe I don’t hate office settings (after all, I adored Old Fashion Cupcake), just a focus on the corporate bullshit itself.

(Sidenote: Poppy and his brother look so much alike! I kept wondering, "is that Poppy?" when I saw Mongkol, so I looked it up, and it turns out it's not, but rather his brother, Park.)

Oh! I laughed out loud at the phone conversation that ended up with the (fantasy? conceit? movie magic? imagining? I don’t know what to call it) of them in bed together, since I was just complaining about it in other shows. However! It worked for me here! I think because it really felt like the characters’ fantasy of being together, rather than something imposed from the outside. Plus video calls don’t have that same feeling of intimate distance that I love; they’re already looking at each others’ faces, so might as well do it in a way that’s more pleasing for the audience. I did love the tenderness of them falling to sleep together, King pushing and charming Uea to break down a few more of his walls.

Goodness, there is so much I could say about this show, between a dynamic I love, and the way that shows that are brilliant but imperfect get my brain going, I have so many thoughts. I haven’t even touched on the sex scenes yet, which I think are overall hot and pretty well done, and show us more about who the character are and their relationship. I loved the scene with Uea setting the rules–for the narrative tension it sets up (which rules will be broken?! and when?!), for how much it showed us about what Uea needs, for my pride in him for stating his boundaries, for King listening intently, absolutely willing to abide, but also unable to not be touching Uea now that he had him in his bed.

Or the child abuse, there is a lot to be said about that. But that is enough words for now.

#critical at the beginning but the rest is mostly positive #bed friend #bed friend ep 3 #bed friend the series #my triumphant return to bl watching! #gillianthecat reacts to bl