I watched 8 to 11 again, this time in full, and I really really can't get enough of Luang Pichaiasa and his badass tribal entrance music whenever he appears on screen. Daaaaaamn! He's so hawt!
I realized all the characters in NDFD are imperfect in the sense that they had their own prejudices and motivations, but what separated the good and bad guys was the dignity and good spirit they maintained despite their difficulties. Like for example, Jaojom Pen suffered injustice in her life and was motivated to make a better life for herself and her brother. Her redemption should have been this love for her brother, but instead things got to her head and things fell apart. Then Yuern who we all hate so much suffered injustice too, from the hands of politicians and those noblemen who had used and abused her. The eunuchs suffered from childhood, for having been robbed of their manhood for economic reasons or whatnot. King Taksin, or even Khanthong suffered prejudice for being half-blood (quarter-blood?) foreigner but still, they showed love for the land.
Only Pholathep has no redeeming value. I mean, he's a smart guy but he just wanted power, that's all. He had no background story like the others.
But what I like so much is the idea of Khanthong and Mangmao being soulmates. I mean, Mangmao is this pure, happy spirit that is literally, a breath of fresh air to Khanthong who had suffered all his life with his parents getting killed and all that. He was raised in seclusion, being trained like a scholar monk as his father fights for the land and in order to bring the family back together. Yet here's Mangmao who is rebellious, speaks her own mind, gets away with everything, but just the same, she didn't grow up spoiled, but instead has a kind heart. She's rough around the edges but she cares for servants and poor people outside the palace - i mean, their backgrounds should have made them natural enemies, with Mangmao being the daughter of a rich merchant, and Khanthong being a son of an infamous thief, but still, the two of them, despite their backgrounds somehow ended up as though they are meant for each other - it's an antithesis of how Khanthong's dad grew up being a thief from getting revenge for his father, or how Jaojom Pen grew up a manipulative bitch for what happened to her parents, or how Yuern ended up the way she did because her parents were killed by nobles. So when Mangmao was moping around that she should think she and Khanthong weren't soulmates from the start - she can't be anymore wrong. I mean, everything that happened between them had been a fluke, but it happened! Like their paths never would have crossed but when their fates intersected, that was that. they can no longer be unlinked. Khanthong is this secretive spy and Mangmao is the most curious girl in the planet. Mangmao pushes every guy away and turns them off with her tough tomboyish ways and yet here she is being a strange, mysterious specimen to Khanthong and he is the ONLY ONE who saw her vulnerability and had that strong need to protect her. In some ways, Khanthong turned Mangmao into a woman, just as Mangmao drew out the man in Khanthong, even as he tried hard to suppress it, disguising as a eunuch and all. But the turning point for me, really, was when Khantin and Aokyawang were talking about what happened to Phraya Tak, when Khanthin asked if Aokyawang would go ahead and fight even if he knew he was going to die. Suddenly Khanthin answered that it's better to LIVE to recover what has been lost - it's like damn, he finally got it. He got what his mom was telling his dad all along. he's not in this suicide mission, ready to lay down his life for the country or get revenge for his parents anymore. He wants to live, he's positive about everything - and it's all because of Mangmao. In encouraging Mangmao to live, be brave, and be hopeful, despite the injustice they suffered, it was like a turning point in his life - he isn't living to die anymore. He's living ... possibly for a future with Mangmao. He isn't that boy who is alone anymore, he has vowed to be by Mangmao's side, to protect her, and at the same time cherish her, and he can recover everything that he had lost - his family, his future, his homeland. All the problems just fade away as he has someone with him and he has the will to live and achieve his goals. Mangmao too, suddenly finds herself depending on Khanthin and actually sticking her neck out for Khanthin when before she'd just run away and find an easy way out. It's almost like just when she thought she had Aok Pra Sri figured out, he'd show this other side and she'll have to solve him again - like a kollabot that she's so excited to decode.
Both of them are like the same champee flower, one that grew out of the glass pond and the other hanging from Mangmao's hair - they grew out of odd places and stood out and became extraordinarily beautiful.... just like their love. Le sigh. ok please excuse me, I am having a sentimental moment.

Mangmao and Khantong's love story is painfully slow but incredibly cute.... I just find it so damn adorable.