Read on Twitter
Thread time. It’s REALLY LONG, so bear with me.
Lately, the TL and my DMs have become increasingly...troubled? Many people have been deactivating their accounts or staying off Twitter as a result. There’s a lot of chaos in the fandom recently, +
Lately, the TL and my DMs have become increasingly...troubled? Many people have been deactivating their accounts or staying off Twitter as a result. There’s a lot of chaos in the fandom recently, +
and for many people, MewGulf and waanjai don’t bring the same happiness they used to. I don’t imagine I can change anything about that, but I have a lot of thoughts about the situation. Maybe something in this thread will give somebody validation or peace? +
I don’t know. Here are some of my thoughts about MewGulf, their relationship, and the state of the fandom. I want to acknowledge many different POVs, and validate them, and expand on some of those opinions and add my own. +
Various POVs floating around lately include (but are not limited to):
-MewGulf are totally fine, very happy, and just making their relationship move private, which is their right. (I generally fall into this camp.) +
-MewGulf are totally fine, very happy, and just making their relationship move private, which is their right. (I generally fall into this camp.) +
-There is too much toxic positivity right now, with people who believe MGPFG invalidating the opinions of anybody who believes differently. (Very valid point. We are all entitled to our opinions, and there is a difference between people crapping on Mew and/or Gulf +
and expressing genuine concern about the status of their relationship, and we should all recognize that difference. Differences of opinion should be accepted as long as they aren’t toxic. We need to stop attacking people whose faith in MGPFG has wavered lately.) +
-Mew has been kind of a dick lately regarding Gulf in his (lack of) social media interactions with or about Gulf. Many people were upset about Mew archiving IG photos of him with Gulf, while others pointed out that those pictures were (probably) related to expired contracts. +
Many people were disappointed that Mew didn’t say anything to or about Gulf on his social media for New Year’s. (A very valid concern, with also a potentially valid explanation that I will go into more later.) +
-Theories that MewGulf broke up sometime between the Emoji concert and the Boyfriends concert. (I can see arguments both for and against this theory. The “bros” thing certainly caught my attention, and I don’t blame anybody for latching onto that and other things. +
I personally don’t believe they broke up, but I won’t undermine anybody who does. It is a valid opinion.) +
-Some theories that Mew was maybe using Gulf to build his fame until now that he has enough fame, and a music career, to toss Gulf aside as TTTS SS2 comes to an end. (While I personally don’t believe this theory, I understand where it comes from.) +
All of these POVs are valid, and we need to stop attacking each other for having different reads on the current situation. Now, here are some of my theories and opinions. +
I have been wrong before, and I may be wrong again, but here is what I currently believe based on the current information and things MewGulf have said in the past. +
-Mew has said in the past that he will not announce if/when he is in a relationship. He also wants to protect Gulf, protect his career, protect his image, and keep him in as positive an environment as possible. +
The sad reality is that there is still a lot of homophobia in Thailand (and even more in China, where they have a lot of sponsors and brand deals). Confirming their relationship could and probably would negatively impact their careers. +
Mew now has a diverse enough career, plus MSS, that he could weather the storm and be just fine. Gulf? His career is still so new, and he is still so young. As far as he has told us, he wants to pursue acting and modeling. +
Unlike Mew, he doesn’t (seem to) have any interest in pursuing music, art, or producing, and (for now, at least) he is still under Bester and Berm. Because he doesn’t have the power of a big company or studio behind him, his career opportunities may be more limited than Mew’s. +
While it is possible that Gulf would risk it all to declare his love for Mew, Mew would not let him do that. Mew wants to protect Gulf, even if it means protecting him from himself. After all, Gulf is the primary breadwinner for his family at the moment, +
and losing his fame and relying on his bachelor’s degree to get a “normal” job would seriously impact his income and his ability to support and buy a house for his family.
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-It’s time to separate the ship from the relationship. Now that TTTS is almost done and, as far as we know, MewGulf don’t have any big upcoming projects together, they don’t need the ship as much. +
Yes, the ship will continue to bring them sponsorships and brand deals and whatnot, so they ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT sink that ship. Additionally, Mew and Gulf should both understand that some waanjai may not stick around as mewlions or phiballs without MewGulf as a whole. +
So alienating some of the fan base doesn’t make sense. That being said, can you imagine what a fine line it must be to balance how much of their relationship to show to promote their ship without exploiting their relationship - or hurting it? +
For now, yes, they can use the ship to cuddle like they would anyway, but at some point, they have to decide - is a kiss on the cheek (or whatever) really an expression of their own relationship - or just something to help waanjai still believe in MGPFG? +
How do they maintain their privacy and keep their relationship sacred while also sailing their ship?
-MewGulf deserve privacy, and hopefully that means their relationship is more serious than ever. If they’re going through all this effort +
-MewGulf deserve privacy, and hopefully that means their relationship is more serious than ever. If they’re going through all this effort +
to separate the ship from the relationship, hopefully it means they believe their relationship is stronger and longer-lasting than their ship. As long as they are both supporting each other behind the scenes, +
that means much more to them than maintaining a ship just for the fans. It’s more important to them to do what makes sense for their relationship and careers. +
-Gulf is still all about sunflowers. During his NYE live, he made sure there were GIANT sunflowers behind him, and he was half-watching Mew’s concert on Mild’s phone. My personal opinion is that as long as Gulf is drawing sunflowers, then MGPFG. +
Gulf is very sensitive. If he and Mew break up, I do believe we will be able to feel it. The sunflower thing is very much his way of telling the world that he belongs to Mew. The sunflowers aren’t necessary to maintain the ship. +
He could quietly drop the sunflowers and put on a happy face when he and Mew are together for lives. I think we would absolutely see it in his eyes, though, when he looks at Mew, and I think it would hurt him too much to keep drawing sunflowers if he broke up with Mew. +
Sunflowers would suddenly become very painful instead of bringing him joy, don’t you think? And even though Gulf is an AMAZING actor, I really believe we would be able to see hurt in his eyes, even behind the brightest smile, +
if things went bad with Mew. So I’ve said this in both my GC and DMs. In my opinion, as long as Gulf is drawing sunflowers, then his relationship with Mew is perfectly healthy. +
-Toxic positivity can be very problematic. It is one thing to believe MGPFG and get frustrated with people who refuse to believe it at all. It is quite another to attack people whose faith has been shaken by recent events. +
Let’s face it. Mew’s behavior has definitely changed recently, and while I have theories as to why, it has definitely shaken myself and most of my moots from time to time. It is NOT OK to attack anybody for expressing their doubts! +
It’s OK to maintain your own positivity, as long as you don’t make anybody feel bad for expressing anything but positivity. Mute people if you need to, if their doubt upsets you. +
But it’s not OK to invalidate the opinions of anybody whose belief in MGPFG is being shaken right now. We’re probably about to enter a bit of a drought as far as MewGulf content, and everybody is allowed to have doubts without fear of being attacked by toxic positivity.
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-Mew’s social media has definitely been...questionable lately regarding Gulf. We’ve all felt it. From “fighting bro” to nothing on New Year’s, Mew’s social media use definitely seems to have changed in regard to Gulf. +
And it’s natural to speculate about why and even question Mew’s motivations. I have several moots who think that this is a dick move, even if MGPFG is still true. One even had this excellent analogy: +
“It’s like Mew specifically has slammed the brakes on & got out of the car (without explanation) & it’s confusing to all of the passengers who don’t understand why the journey suddenly stopped.” This is a very apt explanation! +
It has been a very jarring, sudden change, and we don’t know why. My theory (with input from others) is that this is the compromise allowing Gulf to be louder with the sunflowers. Hasn’t it seemed like Gulf has been getting louder and louder and louder since his graduation? +
And especially the last couple of weeks? To balance that out and keep their relationship in the closet, Mew needs to go in the complete opposite direction. He needs to keep their relationship private to help protect their careers, +
but he also understands how much Gulf needs to shout about their relationship from the rooftops. The more Mew hides their relationship and clings harder to being single, the louder Gulf can be while they still maintain plausible deniability about their relationship +
for sponsors and brand deals. Additionally, Mew takes ALL the shit for their relationship becoming more private. Think about it. Nobody is attacking Gulf for the fact that we’ve been getting fewer good MewGulf moments. +
ALL of it is falling on Mew’s shoulders - which is exactly how he wants it. It’s another way for him to protect Gulf - and their relationship. It’s kind of genius, actually. Allowing Gulf to be (almost) as loud as he wants, while protecting their relationship and Gulf’s image.+
Also, Mew is currently involved in a project sponsored by Tinder (a dating app), and I’m sure there is a clause that he MUST appear to be single through the length of the project. +
Pulling back on his social media allows him to do that. Come to think of it, when was the first event for that project compared to when he started pulling back on his socials? +
-This has already been the longest thread ever, so let me try to wrap things up. It’s OK to interpret Mew pulling back on social media as them breaking up or Mew using Gulf. While I don’t personally believe these things, we should NOT start bashing people who do. +
Only MewGulf know the truth, and everybody is allowed to have their opinions. As long as people aren’t openly bashing Mew (or Gulf) on any of the hashtags - let it be. Leave people to their opinions. Attacking them won’t change their opinion, it just makes the TL more toxic. +
-In summary, I believe MGPFG, they’re just making their relationship more private, both for the sake of their relationship and the sake of their careers. But it’s OK not to agree with that, and we need to stop with the toxic positivity and let people feel how they feel. +
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I know this has been super long. But MewGulf are my happy place and the happy place of many, and I just want to put this out there in a desperate attempt to maintain that happy place without pushing toxic positivity. +
If MewGulf are no longer your happy place right now, please take a break! Do what’s best for your mental health. Find a new hobby. Spend less time on Twitter. Cling harder to your GC and DMs and less time on the TL. Whatever it takes for you to be happy and mentally healthy. +
Ps - I should NOT have called Mew a dick. That was a terrible word choice on my part. I was trying to say that some people are upset with some of his recent actions, and their feelings are valid. I sincerely apologize. 
