ATOTS Rewatch Party: Ep. 9 June 4th @ 8:30 PM BKK Time: USING SYNCTUBE FOR GROUP VIEWING.

Hello! Here is my blah blah:

A quick heads up for the rewatch of the ninth episode on Synctube:

Here you can find the link on how to start the subtitles on your phone or tablet on synctube: How to activate subtitles and change your username on Synctube - YouTube 

On computer using a browser though you are able to activate the subtitles the same way as on Youtube. Once you activate the subtitles on the first video the following videos will show them automatically.

The video also shows how you can change your user name for the chat. Please use the same user name as the one you use here on MyDramaList so people can recognize you.

Also if you can, please use a computer/laptop/tablet for the rewatch on Synctube. That way you can see the video on the left side of the display and the chat is on the right next to the video. This is the most convenient way. When using the phone it can be a bit inconvenient and also too small, but it also works.

I will share the Synctube link on Friday, around 8 pm Bankok time, so everyone has enough time to enter and change their username. I will start the episode at 08:30 pm Bankok time. Between 08:00 an 8:30 I will drop some of the OSTs of the series in the watch playlist so we have some nice music while waiting for the episode to start - so feel free to already enter around 08:00 pm. :)

See you tomorrow! :)

Hi Everyone.  Here's the latest.  I think this is my favorite chapter of the novel, so I think it's worth your time.  Have a nice weekend everyone!

Chapter 22

Tian is about to go to the airport.  He buries his head  in silence on the car drive there, feeling depressed.  Tian’s mom says it will be ok and America will be so fun that he would forget to go home.  At the airport they are greeted by Peetan [the person that Teerayut employed to keep an eye on Tian]  and Tay.  Tay says he’ll be bored not hearing Tian constantly whining to him about school.  Tay gives him a present in a picture frame – it’s a picture of the children from Phabandao village from when he had left them.  Tian is deeply moved by the picture.  Lalita tells him to stop talking because it’s time to board.  As he’s about to board he turns around one last time to wave goodbye to everyone but he looks past them looking for someone who wasn’t there [Phupha].  His phone suddenly rings.  Tian sees an unfamiliar number and he presses the answer button.  Soon he hears a faint voice saying his name.  Tian suddenly recognizes Phupha’s voice and he says, “Captain?”  Lalita sees her son is distressed and she rushes over to him.  The rest of them follow Lalita.  Tian is crying as he holds the phone close to his ear.  Phupha tells him, “Good luck,”  Tian is upset and asks if that is all Phupha has to say to him after two years.  Phupha then says, “I miss you.”  Hearing this Tian can’t control himself anymore and he starts sobbing uncontrollably.  Tian cried until his face was distorted causing those around him to stare in amazement.  The phone went dead.  Lalita, overwhelmed, embraces her son and asks Tian what had just happened.  Tian apologizes to her.  Lalita ask who the captain is.  Tian soon turns breathlessly to his father and says “Dad, I can’t go.”  Mr Teerayut breathes a long sigh of relief not sure if he is relieved or more worried than before.  Lalita asks her husband if he knows someone called Captain and he tells her it was the person that was assigned to look after Tian when we was at Phabandao village.  Lalita tells her husband she thinks she is going to faint.

Tian has taken a flight to Chiangrai (the nearest city to Phabandao village).  Tian hopes that the villagers in the village would welcome him as they had done before.  Tian was still crying like a child and his face was swollen.  He thinks soon the parallel lines of his life and that of the Captain will soon meet again.  After leaving the airport Tian, after a long search, got a ride to take him to the village.  The driver who takes him there wonders why he would ever want to go to such a primitive place seeing how well dressed Tian was.  Tian said he was a volunteer teacher there once.  The driver looks at him like he was crazy.  Soon Tian arrives at the village and he makes his way up the hill much more easily than when he had first come there.  Khama has just come back from working in the tea plantation.  Khama reflects on how, since Tian had taught the village children how to use the scale, the villagers have been far less exploited than before.  Khama exhaled in sorrow reflecting on Tian, thinking he must have graduated and found a nice job by now.  Khama hears some dropping a bag behind him and turns around.  He sees Tian and exclaims in joy, “Teacher Tian!!!”  He thinks Tian looks as handsome as ever and much healthier than before.  He gives Tian a hug in delight.  Khama asks what Tian is doing here and Tian remarks that he came there to ask if he could sleep at the village elder’s house.   Khama says he is always welcome to sleep at his house.   Khama also says that his old hut was also empty since the last volunteer teacher had left two months ago. Tian asks if he can rest there instead.  The hut was filthy but the mosquito net was still intact.  Tian looked longingly at the place which was infested with mice and rats, which had no electricity or internet but where so many precious memories had been made. 

Khama asked Tian to clean up and that he would get him some of the necessities later.  Tian unpacks his small suitcase and soon thinks of Phupha.  Tian suddenly wonders how the captain had called him. Since there was no phone signal on the mountain he wondered if he had moved elsewhere.  Tian keeps unpacking and he suddenly lights upon Torfun’s diary.  He takes her notebook and walks out with it.  Tian walks to Phabandao cliff and digs a hole there at its edge.  He turns Torfun’s diary to the last page and writes on it “Thank you for giving me a new life.”  With his heart trembling Tian puts Torfun’s diary in the hole with great care.  As he is burying the diary he sees a huge shadow that has suddenly blocked out the sun.  Phupha has a terrible frown on his face [more terrible than the temple rakshasa (demon)]. 

Phupha says he felt like he had to come there.  Tian’s heart was beating uncontrollably.  He asks Tian why he was so aggressively looking for trouble.  Tian rebukes him saying he thought Phupha would be glad to see him again.  Phupha said he shouldn’t ruin his future by doing this.  Tian replies, “This is the future I chose, I chose to come back to you!”  There was a long moment of silence and Phupha’s eyes were softened by the looks of deep love coming from Tian.  He says after a while, “I can wait a few more years.”  To this Tian says, “But I can’t wait.”  Tian couldn’t bear the hopeless waiting any longer.  Phupha looks up at the sky and says, “That means you’ve found the last star.”  Tian doesn’t understand because he thinks that if he had found it he could have made his wish that day and he wouldn’t have had to wait so long.  Phupha seeing Tian perplexed says, “But I found it.”  Phupha takes a medallion off his shoulder, a gleaming gold-crowned pentagram and hands it to Tian.  He whispers, “Try to pray again, this is the thousandth star.”  The emblem was heavy in his hand and Tian’s body trembled.  Tears flowed down his face.  Tian says his wish then, “Pray, let us never be parted again.”  Phupha tells him they will never be parted, and the look on his face lightens, now looking warm and soft.  Tian then hugs the captain tightly.  Tian asks him, then, why Phupha never thought of chasing him before.  Phupha says sorrowfully that he believed they couldn’t move as fast as they both would like, and that he was doing his best.  Tian wondered at the phrase “doing his best.”  Tian buries his face on Phupha’s neck and cries happily until Phupha’s collar was soaked through.  Tian loved how Phupha made him feel warm and safe.  He says to Phupha, “Whatever happens next, don’t let me go.”  Phupha responds by kissing Tian lovingly on the temple and then held his body close. 

As promised here's an en excerpt from chapter 12 of 1000 Stars novel which is aligned with today's episode. This one is after Dr. Nam convinced Tian to check on a "heartsick" Phupha.

The young captain who had been sick in both his body and mind moved as if to pick the spoon but he stopped in his track as he heard the door swing open. The volunteer teacher’s  slender form that he hadn’t seen in days was stomping towards him. Thien snatched the food-stained spoon before he could and the young man dropped down on the field bed next to him. He scooped the hot porridge and gently blew it.
Phupha gazed into the almond eyes that were glaring at him as Thien cooled the food. A minute passed and he finally opened his mouth to take the food. He looked at the younger man who repeated the action without saying a word- his heart filled with surprise and contentment. But when he realized Thien was acting like ‘someone’, a pang shot right through his heart.
It was usual for someone who had a near-death experience and a miraculous survival would be such susceptible. If that someone dodged the bullet by taking an organ from a donor, how much more susceptible he would be?  Normally, the hospital kept organ donors’ names top secrets, so he was at the end of his wit how Thien had managed to find out.
The diary that recorded everything its owner wrote down sent a young man with a bright future on a guilt trip. It finally led him to leave his luxurious life behind to live in this harsh place.
“He” was only trying to live “someone else’s life.” Even his feelings had merged with those of the other person’s.
That was the reason why the impenetrable Captain Phupha was heartbroken. All this time, he had never experienced the real Thien- not his feelings, not his thoughts.
The city boy held the spoon when the thick, shapely lips wouldn’t open to take the food. He glanced at the captain who merely stared at him and put down the spoon.
“I don’t want to do this. But you’re hurt because you helped me. I’m just trying to repay my debt.” Thien forced out the words. He was acting petulant but this tall, unmoving officer still didn’t react. It drove him crazy.
“Captain, I should be the one moping, not you! You told me to get lost and I learned that my family’s been keeping eyes on me!”
“You’re right…” Phupha’s voice cracked as he spoke. “You’re disappointed but you’re not hurt.”
Thien frowned deeply; his face  twisted with frustration.
“Are you done with your sarcasm? You don’t even know what I think or how I feel.”
The officer smiled humorlessly with eyes void of emotions.
“You’re right, I don’t.”
The younger man balled his hands, trying to push down his anger. He had just told the man he came here to repay him, not to start a fight. He changed the subject.
“You eat your food. I’ll help you.”
As he reached out at the spoon, the older man shook his head. “That’s fine. I’m full”
“Why are you so stubborn? Your wounds won’t be healed.”
Shapely lips cocked in  a dry smile- the kind that said he was feeling sorry for himself.
“I will never heal, Thien. Never.”
The younger man knew which wounds the man was talking about. But hearing it from an indestructible man who was crackling and crumbling down like this, his heart hurt as if stabbed by a hundred knives.
…I can’t take it any longer.
Thien slapped on the canvas on the field bed and exploded all that he had bottled up till this moment.
“If you were nasty to me only to end up like this, why didn’t you treat me better? You know I’m leaving sooner or later! I just want to go away with a beautiful memory…”
Almond eyes burned with wet tears as Thien gazed at the captain “…Especially with you.”
Phupha was stunned. He lifted his good hand to cup the smooth cheek, wiping the tear at the corner of Thien’s eyes with his thumb as gently as a boarder soldier as he could.
“I’m sorry.” He said faintly. “I was startled.”
“Startled that I was Thorfun’s organ recipient?”
“More startled by the fact that you carry her diary with you.”
“I know I did something wrong!” The wealthy, city boy spluttered out. “I shouldn’t have looked for my organ donor…”
Phupha touched his head and careesed the silken hair that touched the book’s cheek. And he said something that shook Thien to the core.
“It’s all right. Just be yourself and stop living someone’s life.”
Thien’s eyes widened; his breath stopped as his brain went blank. He ahd read that diary repeatedly to appreciate the locals’ kindness, the love and respect of the pupils, and the characteristics of the tall officer even before he travelled here.
Did this mean that the entire bond that formed between them was born of Thorfun’s feelings?
His conscience was bombarded with confusion. The tears that dried sprung up once again like a broken dam on the ashen face.
So…this life he was living belonged to Miss Thorfun Charoenphol- the beautiful and gracious volunteer teacher, not to Mister Thien Sophadissakul, the loser rich guy who never had anything tangible in his life…not even the man right next to him.
“No…that’s not true.” He muttered like a man who was losing his mind; his whole body trembling with violent sobbing from the truth he couldn’t’ accept.
Phupha closed his eyes. His heart was gripped in an invisible claw that was crushing it. If he could, he would take all the pain from the young man and bear it all by himself. Yet, Thien would still be under the spell of the deceased girl.
…Even if it hurt like hell, this has to end.
The young captain took away the hand that was rubbing at the reddened eyes and gently wiped the boy’s tears away.
“I feel as if my body and my heart are two separate beings.”
Thien’s voice cracked as he said “I don’t know what to do next.”
“Just go back to the beginning. Think why you came here.”
The city boy went silent, trying to piece all the shattering thoughts together until he finally found the answer. “I came here to fulfill Thorfun’s last wish…the one she made upon the starts at the New Year’s Eve…where she confessed her love to you on that cliff.”
Phupha took in a deep breath. Finally, this dream was coming to its final chapter.
“Do you know that the word ‘pan’ here doesn’t mean ‘to share’ as in the Thai word? It’s from the Lanna dialect that means a thousand.”
“Pha Pan Dao.” Thien repeated the name, letting it sink in how powerful the name was.
“A legend said that if you stand on the cliff and count the stars in the sky until you reached a thousand stars, your wish will come true.”
Thin lips parted long before a voice came out. “If I can do it, will I get a miracle?”
The officer smiled gently;  the handsome face painted with a hint of desperation and resignation.
“I have no idea. No one has gotten to a thousand stars before.”

Thank you, Jaybird, for posting that.   The excerpt makes very clear the author's intention that the scene on the clifftop was to be a culmination of Tian's journey and a transformation of the way he saw himself.   i don't think all of that emerged as clearly from the video version.

Yes, the second scene is really memorable.  (Until the rewatch last night, I really didn't recall the first one that well.)   I'm going to wait until next week to rewatch Ep 10, though.

For me, what is so different between the Ep. 9 scene on the mountain, and the one recounted in the book summaries is the interplay between Tian and Torfun.    In the book summaries, Tian is psychologically distancing himself from Torfun -- reclaiming his emotions and clearly asserting his own personhood.    "I didn't do it for Torfun!   I did it for myself!......Even if it all started because of Torfun, the feelings are all mine."     Whereas in the show, he doesn't make that clean break.   The scenes of Tian are intertwined with scenes of Torfun, and when Phu takes their hands and puts them on Tian's chest, it is because he has carried Torfun's heart to the peak.   

I'm not saying that the video is any worse -- in some ways I find the depiction of Tian in the book as sort of a weak, fluttering blossom to be pretty unappealing; he was much more of a human being in the series.     But that one scene in the book says it all:   "Even if his face was wet with tears, Tian’s face was a picture of strength."  Tian asserts himself so beautifully, makes the clean break and says effectively "I'm going to live my life according to what I want.....and what I want is to be with you forever"  is one I find to be very very powerful because Tian is emerging from his chrysalis and he will soon be flying on his own.     

(I've said it before, but I'll say again how grateful I am to you guys for sharing this understanding of the book with us here.   It really deepens my appreciation for BOTH works -- book and video series.)

Thanks for sharing Jaybird!

Actually after watching some episodes of FUTS I figured they use some music from ATOTS.
Brave, that is probably why you liked that one song in episode 9 so much, it is literally "stolen" from the ATOTS songs :D

- So after rewatching the ninth episode of ATOTS I feel bad for Torfun. She is such a pure soul and caring and had to die this young. But in the end she was still amazing being an organ donor and saving someones life.

- When they brought in shot Phu the scene was pretty loud and chaotic but I understand the panic it's probably the same in real life

- Tian laying on the bed with Phu all worried is lovely and Dr. Nam is still fanboy number 1!

- Later in the hospital when Tian was talking to "sleeping" Phu the "Gone" song was playing again and made this even more emotional

- Another heart warming scene is the one outside the hospital where Tian and Phu share some soft and sweet touches, wow my heart!

- Tbh I thought Tian was such a brat when he found out his dad told Phu to look after Tian. Usually Phu is the mean one but this time Tian took the throne. He even took his bad mood out on the kids, which don't have anything to do with this mess. He is saying all this hurftul stuff to Phu even though that dude took a bullet for him, bruh get it together Tian! Well but he still is a great teacher after all that drama.

- While celebrating new years eve the song "Lots of Love, Judy" was playing and it gave me this "happy but at the same time sad" feeling. I'm happy Tian gets along well with the kids and villagers and I'm sad he has to leave them. Even Khama was tearing up which gave me a sting in my heart.

- This whole situation of Tian counting the stars and the flashbacks is a tearjerker! And thinking back on the BTS where Mix fainted and Earth being so worried about him - it makes me cry even more.. I was so worried that the series wouldn't have a happy ending at this point 

- Waaah the extra scene - the tension! Wow. Tian softly caressing Phu's face and brushing his lips with the thumb wooow amazing, I feellike screaming :D

Another great rewatch and I'm sad it's over next week :( Can't wait to see you guys again next week :)