La Pluie: We Must Speak Our Love

La Pluie: We Must Speak Our Love

La Pluie, my precious child, my perfect show, I could not love you more. You stayed true to your themes the entire way through, and you trusted the audience to use our brains to understand what you were trying to say. You stuck to your guns about focusing on the relationships and the choices the characters made as the driving forces of this narrative, not the mythology and not destiny. You knew exactly what story you wanted to tell and you told it with a clarity and completeness that is extremely rare in these drama streets. I salute you.

This show never intended to solve the questions around the workings of fate in this universe, and while the characters individually may or may not believe in soulmates, what matters is who they choose to love. Tai even said it a few times in this episode to make sure the point was extra clear:

As for the destiny and soulmate stuff, they are like a trap in our relationship.

Love is about two people. It doesn’t need destiny to pave [the way]. I don’t care whether you are my soulmate or not. The most important thing is our feelings…I love you, Patts. I don’t care if it rains or not. I do love you no matter what happens.

No one chooses to find an answer anymore [about hearing loss or soulmates]. Because whether or not we know, it doesn’t have anything to do with the path that each person chooses. At least, we get to choose our own path, instead of destiny determining for us.

With that theme (which has been present through the entire show) coming through loud and clear, in the finale La Pluie was able to turn to another very important theme and hammer it home: the importance of speaking our love out loud, and communicating clearly with the people we care about. The fantasy of romance novels–that your lover will just intrinsically understand you without need for you to speak–was fully dismantled. This show said it is selfish to hold back your true thoughts and feelings from those you love, and we can only really connect with each other when we are willing to use our words. Below, I break down the many places this theme showed up in the finale’s excellent resolutions for our characters. 

Dream and Nara

First of all, let me just scream again because AHHHHHHHHHHH. I did not dare to dream that we would actually get this pairing, not as subtext, but as actual text in this show. We got to see Dream ask Nara out! And importantly, we got to see Nara nudge her into doing so by asking her to be clear. When Dream started hinting about whether Nara was open to a new relationship, Nara said straight out:

Can I ask why you want to know that?

Dream then got shy, but Nara kept talking to make it very clear exactly what they were discussing. She didn’t want any uncertainty between them, so she told Dream directly that she was welcome to hit on her. We love a confident and direct communicator! And we see in the epilogue montage that this clear communication paid off for them, and they are now happily dating.

Lomfon and Tien

I have to start this section by giving mad props to Lomfon, because that boy: understood exactly what he did wrong, reached out to Tien to try to make amends many times despite being rebuffed, put his effort into a film project that would get Tien’s attention, and then when the crucial moment came, used his words and used them well.

Lomfon was determined to show Tien how he felt, which was an important part of their resolution. His persistence mattered because it proved to Tien that he was serious. But his actions alone were not enough. When Tien asked why he made that film, Lomfon said:

I have already told you. I would show you with my actions.

And Tien walks away. It is only when Lomfon opens his mouth and begins to speak, in no uncertain terms, about what he did wrong, why he is sorry, and what he wants with Tien going forward, that Tien accepts his sincerity (and lays one on him). 

The words mattered. Tien needed to hear them to know that he could trust Lomfon with his heart. And now that he has heard him, he will.

Tai’s Journey

When we first see Tai in this episode, he is still stubbornly clinging to the idea that Patts is going to reach out to him first, passively waiting for that to happen, and resigning himself to giving up if it doesn’t. Tien shares our frustration with this knucklehead, and tries one more time to get through to his brother:

For the past two years, you haven’t talked to him. He had tried to reach you so many times.

Tien said brother, I love you, but it is your turn to try. And he’s right! Patts has been doing all the heavy lifting in this relationship, and Tai is the one who was in the wrong. He needs to be the one to reach out to Patts this time. 

This inspires some further reflection for Tai, and he finally makes an important connection: he has been doing to Patts what his mother did to him.

You’re really not going to say a thing?! I can’t understand [if you] say nothing.

Yadfah’s silence hurt Tai deeply, and as he remembers his painful conversations with her in the aftermath of the divorce, he realizes he stonewalled Patts the same way his mother stonewalled him. He finally seems to grasp how unfair that was, and he immediately springs into action. 

Tai’s first stop is Dream, who he is hoping can tell him where Patts is. In his conversation with her, we hear him reflect again on how his silence harmed their relationship.

If I’d understood him and talked to him earlier, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.

He also learns about Patts seeing him with Lomfon, which clarifies for him why Patts hasn’t reached out and why he has cut off contact from everyone. His determination grows, and with only the knowledge that Patts is helping to open a veterinarian clinic somewhere in Chiang Mai, he hits the road. 

But we’re not quite done with Tai’s lessons yet! As Tai wanders aimlessly around Chiang Mai, checking every clinic he can find, he makes some new friends when he runs out of gas and a shockingly kind couple invites him to eat dinner with them and stay overnight in their home. Art and Phueng are lovely people who have been together for years, sticking it out through Phueng becoming permanently disabled. Tai asks them for their secret to being happy together, and Phueng tells him:

We listen to and understand each other. We listen more, and speak less…if we speak more but listen less, we don’t hear [each other’s voices]. Then we don’t understand each other.

Do we got it yet, friends? Communication is the key to a happy relationship. 

Tai and Patts 

After days of searching, Tai finally finds Patts by chance, looking like a dead man walking in the street outside his clinic. And Tai wastes no time, calling out for him, running to him immediately, and launching into his verbalization of everything he’s realized. Crucially, he starts here:

You don’t have to say anything. This time, please let me say it.

And y’all. Y’all! Those words meant so much to me, let alone how it must have felt for Patts. We see Patts draw in a surprised breath after Tai promises he will say it this time, and as Tai goes on his eyes get increasingly misty and he struggles to keep his face neutral–you can see how much it all means to him. To finally have Tai acknowledge that Patts has been the one doing all the communicating, that he understands where he messed up now, that he was wrong, that he is sorry, that he absolutely does love Patts and he should have been able to say it. 

I didn’t talk to you well. I let it slide until [it got] bad like now.

Tai finally understands that his refusal to speak was the core problem, and he is saying it all now.

And that is all Patts needs to forgive him. Just the words that Tai has been holding back. Tai’s silence was always the thing that caused him the most pain, and now that he is speaking his love out loud, they can move forward. They can choose each other with no further doubts and a commitment to keep talking.

(Thank you thank you to @wen-kexing-apologist for grabbing screenshots for this post for me, and an extra special shout-out to @bengiyo for grabbing me after episode 1 of this show and telling me in no uncertain terms that I needed to start paying attention immediately. It has been an honor to clown with you and work to bring so many along with us for this wonderful show.)

A Suar Appreciation Post

This is Suar Kritsanaphong.

He has been in the color-coded feast You'll Never Eat Alone,

the sports-themed You're My Sky,

and the soulmates-not-soulmates La Pluie.

That's it!

And yet I want him in so much more.

This man can create chemistry out of thin air.

He can cry like his favorite plant withered up without notice.

He can smile and brighten any moment in any situation.

Basically, I'll trust him in whatever he acts in next without question because he has proven that even if everything else is meh, he is awe!

He is a tiny pumpkin and needs to be appreciated.

Frustrations of a Tumblr Newbie

Sometimes, the Tumblr algorithm is so on point and, other times, it needs a kick in the ass. I like one photo of Issa Rae looking STUNNING and, now, it's Barbiepalooza up and down my page.

Tumblr, show me Awkward Black Girl content! That's my jam. Thank you.

PS: I did enjoy Ryan Gosling acknowledging that Jimin wore it best. That can stay.

PPS: I would have gotten that anyway because that's what tags are for.

Since we're apparently going in ... LET'S GO.

@shouldiusemyname, yeah, the time jump was literally three words on the screen that covered the time it took Rak to transfer schools. As @nerdybunnydestiny pointed out, he's back to being a freshman again, so credits just don't transfer in their universe. Whatever.

Also, in the 6 months that have passed, Rak has become close to Dino's BFF Mhee: they have each other's phone number; Mhee picks Rak up on his first day at the new school when Dino is busy and Rak is perfectly fine with this; and Mhee gives Rak a job. However, over the same period of time, somehow Rak and Dino are still at step one. No, that's generous - more like step 0.5.

I like the mega show idea. If we go with that, the show still could have worked in an "It's so bad that it's entertaining kind of way." But they're not leaning in to the absurdity of a parody! The obsessed BFF and violent ex should have been less ... I want to say "realistic" but that doesn't seem right. Basically, they should have gone bigger with it (think Fatal Attraction).

Re: Rak's father, I'm pretty sure that's either a budget issue or they just didn't want to take the time to cast the role. All we get is a very oddly distorted voice (perhaps another cast member autotuned badly). Then, they want us to believe that this man is going to pick up his only child from a date with a 30-year-old and not even get out of the car. Okay, sure. (At least with LITA, Payu met the mom, charmed her, etc.)

Totally agree about Mhee - only solid, comprehensible character. And I had completely forgotten about the other "animal" stories mentioned in the original pilot trailer [inserting here].

I'm actually curious about a Mhee/Chalarm pairing - not enough to watch another show in this series though. Plus, I'll be surprised if they manage to produce the other three stories. Either way, I still have questions:

Is there source material for this show and can it explain all the plot holes?

This show was originally slated for 5 episodes. They then double the runtime but somehow the show makes less sense. How did that happen? How??

I don't expect an answer to any of our questions. @nerdybunnydestiny is right; the narrator is high AF and that's why Dino Love is a disconnected debacle.

Should I bang you right now?

Dino: Be a good boy for your dad and me. [some comments about stones] Dino: Should I bang you right now? Rak: Why not? Dino: I'll take you to Chiang Mai after this. Dino: Your only answer is yes. Rak: Hm. I'm going.

The context of that convo:

WHAT THE HELL AM I WATCHING?? Make it make sense, please.

I accepted his confession. How did you do that? Give me more details.

La Pluie Episode 12

BOKURA NO SHOKUTAKU [EP 10 vs Mita Ori IG post]

Have you ever wondered how did the sleepover go?

That's my character propaganda for the @bl-bracket siblings poll finale. As I am stuck on the road I had to dig something out of the depths of my drafts. But here we go! I will take it very personally if they get defeated. LOOK AT THEM. Look how comfortable Tabe-kun feels with Minoru. Enough to be a tiny nuisance and squeeze himself between his favourite people. I CANNOT WITH THEM.