#and there are 5 BLs I'm not even watching right now

[absolutebl]

Frigay is INSANE this month.

There is so much BL this one day and then so little the rest of the week.

#Like I have so much to get through I'm rearranging my work schedule to work on Saturdays and take Friday as a weekend for BL #thai bl #japanese bl #taiwanese bl #BL keeping us home on friday nights #and there are 5 BLs I'm not even watching right now

[nozunhinged]

My Top 5 BL Kisses of Jan (& Feb) 24 + why

Okay, okayyyyy I'm doing this, no backing out. I offically accept that analyzing kisses takes up so much of my brainspace that I can write about it — so here it goes. I'M NOT HIDING ANYMORE BUT OWNING UP TO IT! (lol, chill)

Last year I complained that I didn't get a single perfect kiss since I started watching BL TV shows (until PhayaTharn turned up) and now we're not even a quarter into the new year and I already got FIVE I'm absolutely in AWE about!! FIVE!!

I don't know if it's the actors, directors or coaches who upped their game (probably all of them) but hot damn, all of these are beautiful.

And don't ask me why I'm into kiss-acting so much I have no fucking clue, my first guess is that it's an artform in itself to make this amazing, wonderful, intimate form of touching look as beautiful as it feels — bc let's be honest here, irl kissing rarely looks pretty no matter how great it is! So I think it's just dope when you can see this beauty translated on screen.

So I guess this is peak romance genre for me and with that being said, enough talking, lets get to the kissykissies!

5. TenPrem - Cooking Crush EP. 11

I have to be honest with you, I was a bit confused by the kissing in this show. The tippytoe kiss was cute as heck but we all saw how Off AND Gun awkwardly blinked because they probably had to stay like that for a looooong time. It took the whole magic out of the whole first-kiss-moment. Same with the forced in, reshot makeout-scenes. But the kiss in the kitchen? Looks like they FINALLY got to show what they got.

Ten gently pulling Prem closer, them smoothly moving against each other, Ten closing in even more, the slightly open-mouthed kiss with their lips perfectly caressing each other, Ten with a bit more force, Prem with a bit more heat resulting in the perfect mix...Loved it, mwah.

4. PromNont - Playboyy EP. 12

They are my one Playboyy-couple where I'm like "if they don't end up married and running Playboyy together, starting the revolution of well-payed, insured and safe sex workers I'm gonna riot" even though I know this show will not end nicely for ANYONE.

Anyways, this kiss. Holy smokes they had so many good scenes but this one took the cake. Not just the sheer length of it (but still with perfect timing and breaks).

The slightest suck on Nonts upper lip, Prem literally making Nont sway, Nonts hidden desperation for Prom surfacing from his lips, them slowly but surely turning up the heat and last but not least, Prom grabbing Nonts face just to lean against him...UGH THEM!

(I made those)

3. Myungha & Yeowoon - Love for Love's Sake EP 8

I know I'm not alone in how this show swept me off my feet and hit me right in the feels. But I've gotta say, this kiss hit completely different. Again they kissed for so long but not a single moment felt wasted. It felt like their whole story put in a single kiss. And — I mean that in the most loving and positive way possible — they kissed so amazingly gay. Do you know what I mean?!

There's just this level of love, care and happiness that only queer couples can convey. Sprinkled with a hint of tongue (I saw that Yeowoon 👀) — they absolutely nailed it.

2. AlanJeff - Pit Babe EP. 11

The kiss that made me consider doing this post in the first place. I saw them and shouted THIS IS PERFECT just to realize that I did this a few weeks ago already and it made me spiral a little. In the best way possible because I felt truly blessed once again to have discovered the genre of BL in their golden era!

Because this right here is how you nail an open mouthed kiss my friends. Take notes BL producers. Put this in your textbooks! They both go at the same rythm (slow, careful but so, so loving JUST LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP UGH) and same level of touch so their lips caress each other perfectly. Furthermore, Alan knows exactly how to meet Jeff which is also a PERFECT EXTENSION OF HIS CHARACTER! Alan leads, Jeff follows but they meet perfectly and equally. TEN OUT OF TEN NO NOTES!

1. PhayaTharn - The Sign EP. 9

I don't understand the meaning of the "Roman Empire"-thing but I think if I say they are mine, I am correct because they will be the end of me and that's what that means right? I may be biased AF but objectively speaking, this is just an insanely well acted-out scene, PERIOD! And we all know it's thanks to Billybabes out-of-this-world-chemistry!

Phayas desperation translated into this gorgeous lip-clash, so much yearning but softness at the same time but what really got to me was how Tharn immediately melted after their lips touched, how he immediately opened up to him and got completely overwhelmed by Phayas feelings. Chapeau to Babe for showing so much range in a single second. My favorite kiss of the whole series ❤️

I also just realized all these kisses have one thing in common....hands on faces lol.

Well that was fun peeps, thanks if you made it until the end!

#cooking crush #tenprem #playboyy the series #promnont #love for love's sake #love supremacy zone #myungha x yeowoon #pit babe the series #alanjeff #the sign the series #phayatharn

[bengiyo]

Only Friends Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

We've been waiting for Jojo to be unleashed for a long time. Let's do this.

Wouldn't be a Jojo show without a Jennie cameo.

Oh, they're letting First sing again.

Real shit, I kinda like the wristbands to signal what people might be into at this bar. Hearkens back to older handkerchief traditions.

Ray is kinda feisty. He's so ready to beef with someone.

Oh my god I have been part of this friend group as the table keeper.

Neo looks so good.

Ew, vomit.

They are about to fuck up Mew's academic career.

Of course Khaotung is playing the rich brat.

Boston messed them up first by combining work and sex. He's definitely going to bring Top on as the designer.

Hello, again, Mark. Always glad to see you.

Okay, love seeing Nick and Boston vibe.

Very refreshinging to just see guys flirting with each other without the BL pretense. Even gives us Ray being shitty because he feels possessive of Mew.

Top said he's had enough of the sex tryhards.

Oh, Boston, what was that? You brought Top around your friends and now you're jealous of Mew?

DRAKE?!!!

Ray is that friend who always requires so much when we go out.

"I'm gonna charge you more than an airport taxi." 😂

First and Khaotung really are just so powerful. I'm glad this is a strong cast, because their teamwork when it's just them is still so enjoyable to watch.

Congratulations to ForceBook for being the first to have a scene on this show, and on the counter no less.

Not these two having ice cream since Mew isn't ready. Top is going to be a problem, but at least he understands what No means.

Should I keep a counter for how many times Ray throws up in this show?

First still has it. One fond look and it's over.

No one had Neo and Drske as the first to fuck on their bingo board. Cutting this with Nick jacking off to unethically acquired thirst traps? My goodness.

Oh interesting. Top didn't put his pants back on.

I know we all came here for the hot stuff, but I really like seeing Mew and Top negotiate intimacy during this first night together.

Sand put Ray in a POOR BOY shirt. Those used to cost $5 in the city now I can't get a good sandwich for less than $12.

Ray you could just say thanks. No need to be a dick constantly.

This book store date is cute.

Okay, Nick! I like this thirst trap play!

Everyone is just going for it! Good job, Neo and Mark.

I really liked this one week montage.

Ray is channeling Bruce Wayne. "Harvey Dent. Can we trust him?"

Boston called Ray right out on his crush on Mew.

Only Cheum is invested in helping Mew out here.

"You're concerned about your friend, or you're just jealous?" Top clocked him.

Oh no is Force going to sing?

Oh, whew, it's just a grand gesture.

This was so much fun! I love that Boston and Ray are going to be the source of everyone's problems! Jealous Thot and Rich Boy With Anger Issues are some of my favorites. Why does First always have the most soulful eyes? Mew is another really good role for Book, and Force is clearly having the time of his life. Is there nothing Mark Pakin can't do? Lookjun is warming up, but I'm looking forward to more.

Also, Drake cameo! Who's going to show up next??

#only friends the series #ofts #thai bl #bl series #only friends meta #Ben watches

[basu-shokikita]

Dethentines 2024 Day 5

In the style of a romance novel

So, uh, because I'm not a reader of romantic novels @mirrorshards suggested I use a manga for today which I thought was better for me because I'm infinitely more knowledgeable in that field. That said, she still ended up helping me choose a title...

And like that, have a Skwistok version of the BL Therapy Game. This entry is a little more suggestive than the others, so take that as a warning. It was definitely challenging to adapt this story to these two for a handful of reasons but I think I managed! So, here we go~

Skwisgaar was used to messing around. 

With women, with men, it was all the same to him. None of them really meant anything to him besides temporary fun and a good distraction.

And so, he didn’t think of anything different when this guy Toki walked around, weeping about his girlfriend who dumped him for somebody else. He was drinking his heart away for different reasons, anyway. His best friend and companion, the guitar, didn’t want to hang out with him these days. 

Not that this guy would understand. 

“Ahhh!!” Toki cried into his hands. “Linda, whys…you ams- hic- you ams the love of my lives…”

“T’ere, t’ere…” Pickles patted his back sympathetically while giving his friends a look.

Toki tried to reach for a half-empty bottle of Red Label, but Nathan grabbed it before he did. “I think you’ve drunk enough, buddy.” 

“No ways!” Toki exclaimed, barely able to keep his body straight. “I wants to…I wants to drinks untils I die!”

“He’sch way over the line.” Murderface said with crossed arms and disdain on his face. 

“Ja…” Skwisgaar agreed. “He shouldks probables gets goings.”

His three friends stared at him while Toki kept rambling like a drunkard.

“Whats?” Skwisgaar was confused.

“Well…” Pickles glanced to the side.

“You brought him over to us.” Nathan said, eyelids heavy but still stoic.

“Whats?!”

“Yeah!” Murderface pointed accusingly. “Thisch isch your fault!”

“Are you fuckings-”

“Whats ams you alls talkings abouts?!” Toki cried. “Nothings- hic- matters! Nothings matters but Lindas!” He threw his hands into the air. “Oh, Lindas, why!”

“God damns it…” Skwisgaar pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Lindaaaaaa…”

“‘S okey, Toki.” Pickles rubbed his back. “Skwisgaar will teik you home, right, Skwisgaar?”

“Fucks you.” Skwisgaar whispered to his friend. “Fines!” He slung Toki’s arm around his shoulder and picked him up. “Let’s goes home, cries babies.”

“Have fahn! But not too much fahn!” 

“Yeah, definitely not too much fun.”

“Eschpeschially not too much fun.”

Skwisgaar rolled his eyes as he carried the babbling Toki away. Why did he have to take care of the idiot?!

–

At the end, Toki was so incoherent that Skwisgaar had to drop him at a hotel, because he didn’t remember his address. He was feeling a little sorry for him, though, so he watched over him until he stopped weeping against the pillow. This wasn’t the first time he had looked after a drunk person, anyway. 

“Dids you calms down alreadies?” He asked, when Toki was staring at the ceiling silently. “I wants to goes home, you knows?”

Toki glanced at him, blinking. “Ams you?”

“Heugh?”

“You saids you was sads about de guitars…”

Skwisgaar was surprised Toki had remembered it in his state, but he shrugged it off. “Pfft, dat ams a differents kinds of lonelies nest.”

A grin spread across Toki’s face as he dragged Skwisgaar closer with his legs.

“W-Whats?” Skwisgaar asked in confusion, only now realizing how strong Toki was.

“Lonelies nest ams still lonelies.” He said before wrapping his arms around Skwisgaar. “Soes you gets a hugs.” His hand patted the back of Skwisgaar’s head.

“Eugh, lets goes…” Skwisgaar grumbled though he didn’t actually move away. “We amsn’t even friends…”

“We ams friends nows…” Toki squeezed him by the waist, his lips brushing with Skwisgaar’s ear dangerously. “Rights?” He whispered.

Surprised, Skwisgaar pulled away. Toki’s expression had abruptly changed, from friendly and innocent to dark and suggestive.

“Heys…” He cupped Skwisgaar’s face sweetly. “It ams fines to wants to be spoileds, you knows?”

What…?

In slow motion, Toki’s eyelids fell shut and his face began to grow closer. It’s not like Skwisgaar wasn’t used to being hit on by strangers constantly…

Wasn’t he straight though?

“You ams too drunks…” He tried to resist but Toki’s grip on him didn’t relent. Reluctantly, Skwisgaar let their lips meet and it was like a surgeon of electricity spread inside his entire body, shocking him.

Bewitched, Skwisgaar wrapped his arms around Toki’s neck, giving into it. He had never experienced such enticing tenderness before and he was swiftly growing addicted to it. Toki’s hands, lips, eyes on him…

Even if he had wanted to pull away, he wouldn’t have been able to. 

He never wanted Toki to let him go now.

–

“Sorries…” Toki apologized the morning after. “I acts stupids sometimes when Is drunks…I don’ts remembers anythings…”

Skwisgaar was baffled. Seriously? The one time sex felt meaningful for him, the other party didn’t even remember it? 

What kind of sick joke was that?

He cleared his throat. “I sees…” He said, unclasping his black leather choker from his neck. “You was pretties wasteds last nights soes…”

���Ja…” Toki seemed genuinely apologetic. “I never learns…”

“It amsnt your faults.” Skwisgaar gently grabbed him by the wrists and Toki looked up. “You gots brokeneds hearts.”

Toki’s eyes had a glimmer of hope. “Soes your forgives-”

“Hows ever.” Skwisgaar interrupted him, blue eyes piercing into blue. “Ams not letting last nights turns into nothingks.” With one smooth movement, he straddled Toki’s naked torso. 

“W-Whats?” Toki’s eyes widened.

“You don’ts remembers?” Skwisgaar leaned towards him. “Dat ams fine. Alls makes you remembers…” He began undoing the button of Toki’s pants. 

“Waits a minutes-”

“Nice and slows…” Skwisgaar continued, his fingers trailing along the zipper.

“I-I don’t wants to!” The panic was beginning to show in Toki’s face.

Skwisgaar smirked. “So you gets to takes advantages of someones and then refuse to acks knowledge? Dat amsn’t nice.”

“Dat’s not-” When Skwisgaar was about to shove a hand inside, he yelled. “Stops!”

It took a few seconds for Skwisgaar to figure he had fallen out of the bed and that the flashing pain on his stomach was from being kicked by Toki’s feet. 

“Eugh…what ams you a monsters…” He groaned, doubling over.

Toki rolled to his side and stood up, a look of disappointment in his face. “Ams you always likes dis?” His breathing was visibly hitched. “Always being doings whats you wants? Beings spoileds?”

Skwisgaar squinted. “Whats?”

With barely any effort, Toki untied the choker from his wrists and threw it on the bed. “I thoughts we coulds be pals, but you ams a jerks.” He grabbed his clothes and walked towards the door before turning back. “And you ams gonna be all alones your holes lives!” The door was slammed behind him.

Stunned, Skwisgaar sat up. Did that crybaby runt just walk out on him?

–

“Fuckings dildos! Who ams he? What ams he- What de fucks!” Skwisgaar slammed his glass against the counter. “I hates him!”

“Dood, Skwisgaar, he was a guy mournin’ his girlfriend. Why did you even lay your hands on him?” Pickles took a sip of his bottle. “We told ya naht to have too much fahn with him.”

“I didn’ts-”

“Yeah, Skwisgaar, he was obviously straight.” Nathan added. “You gotta raise your standards, dude.”

“I wasn’ts-”

“Not everyone isch gay, Schkwisgaar.” Murderface said. “You schould remember that, I mean, you’re friensch with me and I’m not gay. I love ladiesch and titsch.” 

They all went silent.

“Anyways, I didn’t starts anythingks, okeis?” Skwisgaar said. “He ams de ones whats jumps at my arms and has his ways wif mes. Ams innocents dis times.”

“This time…” Pickles rolled his eyes. “How many times have ye been tha one on tha other side of this cahnundrum, huh?”

“Yeah, why are you suddenly mad about this? You’re always breaking people’s hearts.”

“Eugh…”

“You’re a fucking schlut isch what you are!”

Skwisgaar buried his head in his arms. This was the opposite from being encouraging, they were just dogpiling on him. 

“Just forget about tha dood. You’ll find someone new in no tahm. In fact, by tonight, even.” After a moment, Pickles added. “Guess there’s really people even Skwisgaar can’t seduce, huh.”

“He went too far.” Nathan agreed.

“Too smug.” Pickles continued.

“Too arrogant!” Murderface finished.

“Alrights, you know whats?” Skwisgaar sat straight, suddenly determined. “Dats it, alls does it!”

The other three stared at him like he was insane. “Do whet?” Pickles asked.

“Ams gonna makes dat stupid straights guys falls for me.” He raised his glass, smirking. “And dens alls breaks his hearts. Dat will teaches hims, nobody messes with Skwisgaar.”

While Nathan and Murderface shook his head in disapproval, Pickles snuck a hand inside his packet. “Well, I wasn’t gonna tell ye but if ye’re so hellbent on acting stoopid…” When he pulled out his hand, there was some sort of card on it. “He dropped this yesterday, mind givin’ it beck?”

Skwisgaar grabbed the card and inspected it closely, smiling when he recognized the item. It was Toki’s ID. 

Perfect.

#dethentines #dethentines2024 #skwistok #skwisgaar skwigelf #toki wartooth #metalocalypse #pickles the drummer #nathan explosion #william murderface #my writing #tw suggestive #tw alcohol #no beta we die like men etc #therapy game #no fr this time I JUST finished this and i need to go buy groceries #so sorry for any potential mistakes lol

[respectthepetty]

Hi RTP! What are the BLs you would recommend solely for the colors? 🌈

Anon, before I answer this great ask, I want to highlight other posts I've written that are slightly similar:

Reading the (Visual) Rainbow Awards 2023

Overall Winner - Kiseki: Dear to Me

Top Five - Color-Coded Storytelling in BLs

Honorable Mention: Oh No! Here Comes Trouble

5) Moonlight Chicken

4) My Beautiful Man

3) My Love Mix Up

2) Semantic Error

1) Big Dragon

Top Five Color Moments of 2023

Honorable Mention: 7 Days Before Valentine

5) GAP

4) Bed Friend

3) Last Twilight

2) Moonlight Chicken

1) The Eighth Sense

Bonus: Jeff Satur x SHAUN's "Steal the Show"

I don't want to repeat any of the shows I picked, and I'm trying to pick more recent ones so people can find them if they want to watch them, but per your ask, I'm recommending them based solely on colors regardless of how much I liked them.

Recommended Colorful BLs

Honorable Mention: Intern in My Heart

The show is not finished, and it's not a BL, yet it is doing everything right, which is why it gets the honorable mention. Great (Grey) is coded black/dark in the show, and Top is coded pink/light. They are supporting characters who are best friends, and they have stuck to their colors throughout, but in the last episode, they *almost* exchanged colors after Top revealed that he liked Great. Now I'm praying to all the saints for a full color exchange in the finale like I have a personal stake in this because I do! I'm invested, and it better not disappoint me.

#5 - One Room Angel

When I write "Heavenly Human" for a character who wears white, and "Black Brooder" for a character who wears black, THIS is what I mean. A story about an actual angel and a guy who wanted to die was the perfect place to use the light x dark dynamic. However, calling this show a BL is troublesome, which is why it's number five. It still is a great example of what the light x dark color scheme should be used for, and in the end, the guy who wanted to die is much lighter in mood and color, which is what the colors are all about.

#4 - Why R U? (Korea)

First and foremost, that kiss was LIT! The Thai version had Tutor and Fighter's high heat, which could never be matched, but Korea had that kiss, and it ate! But on top of that, it had colors! Ji Oh was a Black Brooder while Lee Won was a Multicolored Menace, and right after this kiss, they flipped colors. That's right! After five episodes of being enemies, they made out for acting "reasons," and then exchanged colors. Normally, Korea is all about the feelings, so the color exchanges in Korean BLs align with a character's feelings changing, but this one directly correlated with a kiss. And for emphasis - That kiss was fire!

#3 - Secret Crush on You

Destiny Seeker might have won the 2023 award for best group effort in color coding, but Secret Crush on You set the bar for that award the year before. This show is Color-Coding 101. Each character has a color, and by each, I mean each and every single damn character in a cast of eleven (plus three fairy godmothers) has their own color. That is a ridiculous feat! Wardrobe, props, and lighting deserved a raise for this show. Some shows can't even get consistent color coding when it only has two characters, but this show understood the color-coding group assignment for the entire series! I'm still applauding two years later.

#2 - Stay by My Side

Taiwanese BLs are my vice. Even the worst Taiwanese BL will still be better than the rest of these BLs. I WROTE WHAT I WROTE. So, of course, I liked this show beyond color reasons, but the colors greatly helped me enjoy the show even more. We had a guy who was haunted by ghosts. He was colorful and light coded. Then we had his roommate who could magically keep the ghosts away. He was dark coded. Read it again. The guy being haunted was bright, light, and colorful, while the guy with the power to help was dark. GENIUS! It was Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss with a supernatural twist. The dark coded guy is sad and isolated but the one who is being HAUNTED BY GHOSTS brings life to his world! Give me a minute. I'm still not over it.

#1 - Pit Babe

I watched this show muted and without subtitles, yet the colors guided me through all thirteen episodes. I understood the plot perfectly because of the colors, and only became confused when people tried to tell me about the actual plot. Alpha? Omega? Santa Maria? Wasn't important. Didn't matter. I don't know them. Red and Blue were the main characters here, and they did their damn job. Babe, in his black, was his own man. He wasn't trying to fit in, but every time the red light focused on Charlie and Way, I was screaming for Babe to run because the colors told me they were still tied to Tony BECAUSE THEY WERE! That's elite color coding, and it ushered in a whole new way for me to watch a show. I loved it.

Bonus: Old Fashion Cupcake

I love this show which is why it is a bonus. Unlike the other shows where I had issues with some part of the plot, Old Fashion Cupcake is as close to perfect as any show has ever come in my personal rating system. It is an Advanced Color Coding course only offered for graduate students, which, honestly, is very Japanese of it because it was in the ties. The color coding showed up in other ways, but the ties were where the story lived since in the past, Nozue was a bright red, but we saw his red damper in the present, which made his loyal assistant bluer. It was only five episodes, yet it used every second of those five episodes in every single way to propel the story forward, colors included. Actually, let me go rewatch this for the hundredth time instead of just writing about it!

#recommended colorful bls #the colors mean things #color coded boys in love #the color exchange #intern in my heart #one room angel #why r u korea #secret crush on you #stay by my side #pit babe #old fashion cupcake

[puffmais]

I Feel You Linger In The Air (Rant)

I really needed to make this because I've finally discovered why so many bls fans (not everyone) keep ignoring this story in particular, which, in my opinion, holds the place for #1 bl of the year.

People are really not ready to watch great acting, great plot, great cinematography, great ost, great everything. You really have a period bl drama right in front of your eyes, but apparently one of the main excuses is that the relationship "goes really slow", and some people on Twitter and Reddit even said that Jom never shows his feelings just like in the novel, and that is always Khun Yai the one who gives affection. Let's go for the first one: first of all, are we watching the same show? Because we, as an audience, are fully aware that Jom was cheated on by his boyfriend in the present time, then he travels to the past and encounters this man (whom he has previously seen) and of course, he's shocked (both of them are since Khun Yai dreamed about Jom). You just can't expect a relationship to happen in the very first episode, that's not realistic, that never happens. This actually reminded me when Step By Step was airing and everyone kept complaining that "nothing" happened between the two mains, and the plot was slow, and people just stopped watching it. You really need to understand how relationships work: it takes time, and we need to follow the development, we need to feel those moments between the characters. The problem here is those really cringy, bad bl series with zero plot, terrible acting, and obviously having explicit s*x scenes in every episode, that made people forget about enjoying a great story and just consume any garbage content just for the sake of it, and I'm not going to make a list about those bad bls or those terrible actors because you all know who they are. The second one, do you really think Jom never showed his feelings towards Khun Yai? Once again, this is a character that has just been cheated on and got his heart broken by his long-time boyfriend. And let's not forget that this is an adaptation from a novel (yes, I read it), and every time a written work gets adapted into a series (or film) there are always going to be changes and situations in which all the production team has to work to make it as close as possible to the novel, but not the same in its entirety. Someone on Reddit said that they were happy because even though some scenes were changed from the novel, the dialogues were all the exact same and they were faithful in that sense, and I completely agree. Now, if you are saying that Jom doesn't show any emotion, you are coming for Nonkul's acting and I won't tolerate that. This drama has cast two of the best Thai actors in the industry. Both actors even said that they read the novel, and did plenty of research and preparation for their characters. So, no... you are not going to come for these two boys, because they are the best you will ever see.

And now, let's see some examples in which we can see Jom (slowly) growing feelings for Khun Yai: This already happens in EP2. Khun Yai looking so worried, asks Jom if he's feeling unwell and touches him so gently. Just look at Jom's face... I bet his heart made a jump because I know my heart would stop at that moment.

And what about the very next moment? Khun Yai: "It's like you've lost your blessing. Please, let me bring it back for you." (The softness in his voice...)

And Jom looks dazzled the whole time because he has this gorgeous gentleman talking to him like this, caring for him... Anyways, let's go to EP3. The scene in which Khun Yai tells Jom that he's buying clothes for him and Jom is surprised by this. And then, Khun Yai goes: "Do you like it?" (referring to the shirt)

And I bet Jom's brain was like: "Are we talking about the shirt... or you?". He just stares at Khun Yai like he's hypnotized (like more than 5 seconds, I'm not kidding). And what about this whole scene? Khun Yai: "If remembering makes you sad, just forget about it completely."

Here we have Khun Yai once again talking in his ever-soft voice (Bright's voice is just beautiful) and comforting Jom, knowing that he's suffering and having hard times, and Jom just takes and absorbs all this care and affection coming from the other.

When they come back, Jom thanks Khun Yai, he's grateful for everything, you can see it in his smile, and his eyes, and he exudes gratefulness. And then we see him looking at the bracelet that Khun Yai gave to him, and thinking about him... like come on, at this point we all know that Khun Yai is blooming in Jom's heart.

Right, let's jump to EP4. Jom becomes Khun Yai's majordomo and we have the scene in which Khun Yai shows Jom his new room. Khun Yai: "So now we're living under the same roof, Jom."

Look at him! He looks nervous and shy, taking in the fact that he's going to live with his crush and be with him 24/7, like imagine being as lucky as Jom... the boy is internally screaming.

The next scene, when Khun Yai is helping Jom with the typewriter, and Jom makes a mistake.

Khun Yai stops him by touching him and Jom's brain just stops working. My boy is gone, he just stares and stares.

And then, we have the scene in which Jom is helping dress Khun Yai. Jom: "So, why did you have to help me that much?" Khun Yai: "As I said earlier, I just want to choose what I want, and go by my wish sometimes."

LOOK AT HIM! HE'S GONE! WE LOST HIM! And besides he understands what Khun Yai is trying to say, Jom is no fool.

Khun Yai leaves and we see Jom like this: he's touching his face (an indicator that his face is probably burning) and he's internally screaming, please at this point we can feel Jom's sincere feelings.

Let's go to EP5. In the beginning scene, Jom sees things from the present time, and he starts screaming. Khun Yai makes his appearance, he's worried and he knows Jom is having a hard time once again. I want to emphasize how Khun Yai is in a drunk state in this scene, but that doesn't stop him from being the same gentleman, and comfort Jom in every possible way.

Khun Yai: "Jom, you're here with me. Just think of this as another home." (I screamed)

The entire scene is chef's kiss. Khun Yai's soft and caring voice, massaging Jom's forehead in an attempt to make Jom feel better and get rid of any negative feelings and thoughts. Caressing his face and then hugging him ever so softly, patting his head, every single gesture is just perfection, so full of affection. The silence in the scene, no need of dialogues, just them loving each other, and Jom being completely gone. He's completely aware that he likes Khun Yai.

Okay, EP6. We have a (very) jealous Khun Yai avoiding Jom and treating him kind of indifferently. In this scene, Jom looks hurt and worried that Khun Yai may be angry at him, and he basically makes Khun Yai explode.

Khun Yai: "Don't you know how I feel about you? Did my actions not reach your heart at all? Or should I write you a long poem? Or in what way should I tell you so that you can understand how I feel about you?".

Imagine your crush advancing to you like this... saying all those words... Jom was speechless, breathless.

Moving forward, Khun Yai finally directly confesses to Jom and asks him if he wants to be with him, and Jom agrees. I loved how Jom didn't reject him but explained to him that he was scared and worried about them becoming lovers and making Khun Yai's life difficult because of his family and society in general. Let's not forget that Jom comes from the present time in which until today LGBTQ people are still chased and k*lled, rejected, and seen as abnormal (I personally felt his speech because I'm bisexual and I know it's hard). And Thailand is still a conservative country in which gay marriage is not allowed, so like I said before: Jom is no fool and he's aware of the whole situation. But... love is stronger and our boys become a couple, and if after all this people still think that Jom has zero emotions or doesn't express himself... just go watch your empty bls in which the characters "fall in love" in the first five minutes like the most unrealistic thing ever.

I want to say that Khun Yai is the greenest flag ever, and Bright & Nonkul's chemistry is out of this world. I hope they work together again in the future because they are the perfect duo. Anyways, to all IFYLITA fans keep spreading the love and enjoying the best bl of the year, we can't wait to see these boys taking all the awards.

#หอมกลิ่นความรัก #i feel you linger in the air #khun yai #jom #bright rapheephong #nonkul chanon #brightnonkul #thai bl #bl drama #myedits #aboutme #personal

[wen-kexing-apologist]

::avoids flying newspapers:: Top 5 BL microexpressions!

HOW DARE YOU! THIS IS SO HARD!

You know what? Just for that:

Nishijima as Shiro and Uchino as Kenji in What Did You Eat Yesterday? Season 2

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

The way this moment just absolutely sucker-unched me in the chest. The deep sigh, the slight smile that is threatening to pull at his lips, THE FUCKING TEARS IN HIS EYES. MAYBE HE SHOULD MAKE TWO CHICKEN THIGHS TONIGHT, TURTLE, MAYBE HE SHOULD MAKE TWO CHICKEN THIGHS.

The way Kenji is having trouble processing exactly what is happening right now. This is literally a dream come true for him. This is a tangible, physical, real sign of Shiro's growth in their relationship. Tangible, physical, real proof that Shiro loves him, and you can tell how overwhelmed Kenji feels by this while Uchino's face barely moves. THEY HAVE MATCHING APRONS, TURTLES!!!! MATCHING APRONS!

Suar as Saengtien in La Pluie

gif by @piningintrovert

I cannot for the life of me find a gif of the microexpressive moment i actually want, when Tien is watching the video that Lomfon made and his jaw kinda drops ever so slightly in anger, it's fucking incredible, Suar is a fucking incredible microexpressive actor. But because I can't find that moment, please enjoy the babiest little lovesick eyebrow furrow the world has ever seen. I also just want to note that Title had some killer microexpressions in La Pluie as well, but the best examples of have no gifs :(

Inukai as Yutaka and Iijima as Minoru in Our Dining Table (aka Bokura no Shokutaku)

gifs by @bellepark

The worlds smallest peaceful, happy, contented smiles. I love them so much. Our Dining Table is absolutely packed full of micro-expressions, and I love that for it and love it for that!

Film Thanapat as Charn in Laws of Attraction

gif by @tinnchan

The disgust, the anger, the incredulity, the retreat all from a fucking eye blink and swallow. Film is next fucking level, especially if you compare even just how he smiles in Khun Chai as Tian with how his smiles as Charn in Laws of Attraction. That man can be a completely different person with the same exact expression on his face from his eye shine alone.

Jet Somjet as Q in 7 Days Before Valentine

gif by @pharawee

This show is by the same director/screenwriter as 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us as such I have high doubts that this will actually end up being remotely close to a BL, but I have been really impressed and interested in Q as a character because he's not super expressive, especially in contrast to Sunshine but there is such a heaviness and grief to him.

Bonus: Chimon as Sailom in Dangerous Romance

gif by @jimmysea

Just cause I don't think 7 Days Before Valentine is going to end up being a BL, I'll do an extra. Full disclosure, I did not like Dangerous Romance and I dropped it before it finished airing, but Chimon did an incredible job looking disassociative at the end of Episode 2, and I am impressed by the singular eye twitch that acknowledges that Sailom is reactive to pain stimuli.

Not a BL so I'm not really gonna add anything about it here, but I just want to say that Singto is the King of Microexpressions and I was incredibly impressed by how much I got out of Dan in Shadow with just the slightest movement of Singto's ear.

ASK ME MY TOP 5 OF ANYTHING BL 2023

#what did you eat yesterday? #kinou nani tabeta? #la pluie the series #our dining table #bokura no shokutaku #laws of attraction #7 days before valentine #dangerous romance #ask game #best of bl 2023

[pharawee]

Star Hunter's line-up for 2023 (and 2024) was exactly what they'd previously announced and tbh that made sitting through the whole thing actually quite enjoyable and to the point - even if I had to watch the livestream on facebook (apparently it's on youtube too but it's on madan.fun's channel so I didn't know until later).

Now Star Hunter is slowly uploading the pilots for the 5 new series and 2 movies they announced and I've had some time to make up my mind about them.

TRUE MOON | เดือนหลงเดือน 

Star Hunter wouldn't be Star Hunter without their uni BL and campus moons, so this is probably as straightforward as it gets: Poor boy hates rich boy but then they fall in love and have to overcome many obstacles. Personally, I'll never get tired of uni BL so I'm ok with this.

CITY OF STARS | เฟื่องนคร 

Star Hunter has unlocked a new trope: actor/manager BL - but this one comes with a twist: While one of them is an actor, the other guy has been tasked to... tbh I'm not even sure because the subs on the livestream were wonky and they're missing in the yt vid. The other one's a programmer for an app and apparently the actor's so famous that he breaks the app so the programmer gets sent to Thailand for few months (he's the only Thai dude in the whole company, you see) to somehow fix the problem. Oh, but also the actor is his neighbour? And then his manager gets sick so the programmer has to step in. Love ensues. Sounds good, I'm in.

SUNSET VIBES | เพียงชลาลัย

This is the new mosbank series we've been waiting for, and from the whole presentation it's clear that mosbank is now Star Hunter's new main attraction. The series itself is really intriguing. For one, it's beautifully filmed, with beautiful and almost traditional-sounding background music. It starts with a one-night-stand that quickly turns into "oops I got railed by my new boss the night before I started my internship" - but there's a mystery twist right at the end. According to what Mos said during the short presentation it's got something to do with Isan (Northeast Thailand) folklore and possibly past lives so this is going to be really good (I am completely unbiased of course).

BIG DRAGON THE MOVIE

I'm still not sure if this is replacing season 2 or a movie cut of the first season with extra scenes. My Thai is limited and all I know is that season 2 was mentioned (and Tao's actor was there). But anyway, the movie seems to expand on what happens in season 1, with a couple of extra scenes set in the past and the future, so even if we don't get a season 2 this is still going to be a treat.

FLIRT MILK | รักรสนมจืด

Ok so this one could be Star Hunter's wild card. It's a cute and chaotic BL set at (where else) university. Awkward boy meets another awkward boy and they're super different but obviously attracted to each other. But because they're so different they individually decide to change for their crush. Well, personally I hope they change back because they're really cute the way they are and also there's a severe lack of glasses in Thai BL.

ACADEX THE MOVIE

This is not a BL but it might have BL elements, I guess? Idk, the trailer didn't come with subs. From what I could gather the genre is young adult set in some kind of magical school with different houses and some sort of competition. ISBANKY is in this and tbh he's the main reason why I'm even interested in this.

LOVE SENIOR | พี่ว้ากคะ รักหนูได้มั้ย 

I was right! This is the GL version of GEN Y that you've been waiting for. It has cute engineering students! It has freshie contests! It has freshie week hazing rituals! It has cute girls in red engineering shirts that kiss! It has strict seniors falling in love with extremely cute freshies. And it probably has lots of unnecessary drama too, just for good measure.

#jane watches stuff #big dragon the series #flirt milk the series #city of stars the series #big dragon the movie #true moon the series #sunset vibes the series #mosbank #love senior the series #star hunter project lineup 2023

[morkofday]

cont. from this post x for @stormyoceans ♥

My Top 5 Fashion Choices in BL 2023

i am bad at remembering certain outfits or even shirts from all the shows i've watched so i'm pretty sure not all the show-stopping ones are included, but [taylor swift voice] this is me trying~

-

I. Mork's Fart Proudly -shirt

we both probably remember when the bts picture of this shirt first dropped. i was laughing so hard my stomach hurt bc this shirt is absolutely RIDICULOUS. but then the whole episode 2 happened and i read this post about the symbolism of this shirt (by the amazing @dribs-and-drabbles), and now i'm simply enamored. i cannot look at this silly shirt without tearing up. it's so important and truly a fashion choice.

II. Puen in Stripes throughout Our Skyy 2

epitome of softness and comfort is a married man with his kidnapped adopted son wearing all his beloved striped shirts. i love all the outfits in vice versa, in our skyy and the original show, but there's just something about puen's stripes. wearing them seems to bring out his inner child, which makes me super happy ♥

III. Ai Di's oversized sweaters

feral kitten ai di dressing up in all these soft and colorful sweaters, sweatshirts, and hoodies is probably the best fashion choice any bl has ever made. truly shows how you shouldn't judge anyone from the way they look. ai di might look like a babygirl but he can actually kill you, no questions asked.

IV. Mew as Daddy's Lil Monster

unhinged revenge era mew was something else. he was living his best slutty life. was he heartbroken and a hazard to society? maybe so. but he was also serving absolute cunt. i honestly think all the outfits mew wore post heartbreak were absolutely stunning (black tanktop my beloved), but this one takes the cake. there was really something about the cropped shirt and collar, right?

V. Ray's fashion sense in general

lbr ray is the true fashion icon of this show. the stylists were popping off with him. man hasn't made a bad fashion choice in his life. bad life choices, sure, but at least he looked good while making those. you will never catch him slipping. sipping? uh... too soon?

Bonus: Khatha and his butterfly shirt

this is technically not a bl but in my heart it is, so don't even start. i just thinks it's insane for a show to put a guy dealing with killer moths in a slutty butterfly shirt. he was serving Looks. i was on the floor. i don't care that ppl are dying, can he walk around some more so i can stare again-

-

please let me know some of your favourites monica!!

#literally teared up while searching for a gif to puen #i love that silly man so much #also gosh cannot believe jimmy is both him and mork #like wtf this man??? truly???? #last twilight #vice versa #kiseki: dear to me #only friends #ofts #midnight museum

[rocketturtle4]

To Sir With Love, a Reflection

What is Love and What is Duty?

MAJOR SPOILERS

ALSO TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR SUICIDE (briefly mentioned)

The way family love is framed in this show, sparked a lot of reflection and made me realise how un-nuanced some of my thoughts about love have been. (This also made me realise how engaging I find generational family trauma in stories like this so thanks @lurkingshan for answering all my questions).

(This post follows the journey of my thinking so it’s a bit choppy, skip to Duty vs Devotion Vs Love if you want the outcomes bit)

During my initial thoughts about this show I stumbled across @waitmyturtles big meta on: Pain, Suffering, and Narratives in Some Asian Dramas/BLs and it definitely impacted my thinking so go read that.

What struck me as particularly odd (on a personal level) was the idea that western parents are conditioned to love their children. Turtles uses these phrases as examples of a common Western Experience

“There is NO WAY your parents don’t love you.”

“There is NO WAY your parents will ever give up on you. Even if they treat you badly, they love you.”

“In the West, we ALWAYS end up loving our children. That’s what society demands of PARENTS. We’re CONDITIONED to be like that.”

And uh What? *checks own brain* that doesn’t seem right fitted to my experience? (I come back to this at the end, promise)

Now, the point that Turtles goes onto make about Asian family structures is deeply meaningful and poignant (Summarised very briefly, by her, as:

“The equation is: even if you suffer at the hands of your parents, even if you don’t receive unconditional love and empathy from your parents, you must sacrifice in order to respect and serve your parents”)

GO READ IT IT’S BEAUTIFULLY MOVING AND IMPORTANT

However, part of the reason I feel this is relevant is because I DID NOT assume that Tian’s parents (Or Yang’s parents for that matter) loved him going into this show.

I am not quite sure where my own frame of thinking, (of parental love is not an automatic assumption) comes from, now that I know this isn’t standard, I’ll be looking into it further, but I felt it was important to start with this frame because I’ll be talking about the way this drama reshaped my thoughts on love, especially familial love, thus my starting point seems important.

SO

Prior to about episode 14/15 I would have argued that neither of Tian’s parents loved him, they only loved the idea of him. (A literally line I thought to myself as I watched)

Li’s (Tian's mum) arc was the most impactful so I just want to give a quick rundown of the stages I went through and then I will be talking to some of these stages, with reference to Li (Mum), Song (Dad), Yang (brother) Chan (Wife 2, Yang's Mum), and Bua (Wife 3):

Stage 1 (most of the series): She (Li) doesn’t love her son, her love died when she realised he was a homosexual and everything since then has been about his conformity and power for herself.

Stage 2 WHAT, Maybe she does love her son

Stage 3 OH she definitely loves her son (SO WHYYY?)

Stage 4 Maybe she loves his son despite him being gay, rather than accepting him as a whole?

Stage 5 No she doesn’t even seem that specifically hung up on the homosexual, just his safetly

WAIT

Stage 6 Was all this…protective did she actually love him the whole time??? WHAT THE FUCK

Thus reflection:

Stage 1 (some initial thoughts)

Turns out my view on love is (or was?) rather black and white: to love someone & to hurt that person knowingly and intentionally were two concepts I viewed as mutually exclusive: Li hurt her son both physically and mentally on a regular basis and so from my initial standpoint she could not love him. (very unnuanced) (for the record, I'm not saying love and hurt are mutually exclusive (lol) but that I thought love and ongoing intentional hurt were)

In some ways I believed (emphasis on past tense) Song's love for Tian was greater than Li’s but that his love was also false due to a lack of knowledge.

Yang is the bestest bro but we’ll get back to him

Question: Did I really believe that all the actions Li took to protect Tian’s secret were not born out of love while she actively murdered people? Yeah kind of.

I had ascribed her a very similar motivation I ascribed to Chan: She wished to remain as the first wife and retain power and thus needed her son as the next head, discovery of his secret would end this possibility, so it must be kept secret at all cost.

I did not even ascribe her fear for her son’s death as a possible motivation which retrospectively seems very odd. My bias towards Li as unloving is why I had the whole opening section of this post.

Stage 2-4

I think part of the change in my thinking began not with Li’s actions towards Tian, but with Li’s interactions with Song midway through the show.

Song knows of Tian’s secret (but not what it is) and implores Li to tell him (and implores Tian to tell him but that’s not discussed here even if it was at that moment, I decided I hated him) and it is very clear that Li, really WANTS to tell him,

She wants to preserve their marriage.

She wants to give back the honesty he’s asking for,

BUT she never even considers actually doing so because to do so would condemn her son.

That she sacrifices her relationship with her husband to protect her son’s secret was the first rock to really put a dent in my un-nuanced take on her characters motivation.  

A lot of things happen from here, but Li throwing herself in front of the police officers and begging them to take her instead was definitely the final straw that shattered my perceptions.

But hold on, I’m getting ahead of myself

Stage 5

The societal and familial homophobia woven through this story and most strongly represented by Song is also a key part of this reflection.

The fact that Song grieves his brothers death, grieves for the brother he was closest too, grieves for the breakdown of the five families that they’d built and STILL VIEWS SAID BROTHER AS LESS THAN A MAN FOR BEING A HOMOSEXUAL was feckin INSANE.

But it was also the reality of what I’d been imposing onto Li. This is the kind of (not)love I ascribed to her.

Song didn’t truly love his brother for who he was, only who he knew him to be. And if knowing something fundamental makes you view that person as less, then, in my opinion, you never really loved them in the first place. You don’t love them, you love your own perception of them. You don’t love them, you love the idea of them.

(Look at Song here, reinforcing my black and white thinking, no wonder this show got me all twisted around).

Now Li on the other hand arguably doesn’t believe that being a homosexual makes her son automatically less.

Does she believe that he needs to supress this part of himself to become head of the families? Yes,

BUT, I would argue that this is more to do with her knowledge that he’ll definitely be unable to inheret due to Songs views (and may be kicked out of the family/die) than any personal belief of his unsuitability.

She views him as competent DESPITE his homosexuality, this is something that is hidden for his safety, more than for making him less of a man.

(I am not saying this is okay, just unpacking the different motivations as I understood them, and given ep 1 she KIND OF HAS A REASON)

I'm also not saying she's not homophobic (There is also her view that he can ‘be fixed’ as seen in her repeated attempts to get him to sleep with a woman in case he realises he likes it. Which is messed up, but again NOT my primary point.)

Stage 6

Turns out she loves him a ton after all:

She throws herself in front of the police

She planned to commit suicide (yes to absolve herself of her wrongs for some religious adjacent nuance I didn’t fully understand as a western viewer but also to ensure that her wrongs didn’t negatively impact her son’s future)

She sacrifices her husbands trust in her (as mentioned earlier)

She would sacrifice who she is in her sons eyes (someone he does love) to secure his ideal future (as she see’s it).

She loves her son and this love comes out in what I have reframed for myself as Devotional love

Duty vs Devotion vs Love

Duty is, I think, what we often see framed as love or love adjacent in the families portrayed in Asian drama’s, at least to Western viewers.

Children are taught they have a duty to their parent’s ABOVE ALL ELSE

Above love

Above self-care

Above other relationships

This is what their parents expect from them.

This is what’s framing their parent’s investment in their lives.

Duty WITHOUT love is, in my opinion, what we see discussed in turtles post with the examples of “Non’s father in Dark Blue Kiss; or Korn’s father in Double Savage; or ESPECIALLY Uea’s mom in Bed Friend”

Do these children love their parents? I have no earthly clue

Do these parent’s love their children? I would say no, but that doesn’t change the fact that as their children they must be DUTIFUL.

Devotion is then the intersection of duty and love, it is love with expectations. My current thinking is that many child-parent relationships in Asian dramas, especially child to parent, fall firmly into this category. How much emphasis is placed on duty over love seems to link with how damaging that relationship can be.

Li’s love for her son falls into this category, her love is for her son but her duty is for his future position and safety and this is of highest value to her, higher than her love for who he is.

This is a thread I definitely notice in Asian dramas, she is not duty without love as mentioned above, she is not “rooted in judgement against her offspring” (again from turtles) to the exclusion of all love, but this does colour her raising of him in a way that is significantly traumatising.

I think it is possible that Dad in Khun Chai may have reached this level of judgement if he had discovered his son’s secret (in a less extreme situation) and Li knows this, and so must keep him safe.

Though in the end he sees this too:

Yang & Tian

Now, Devotional love is something I also want to talk about in the context of Yang and Tian because I feel that the kind of love Yang has for Tian is different to the kind of love Bua has for both boys and this is the only way I can articulate how.

It's also important to know that duty often forms a part of a relationship that involves commitment (family or otherwise) so I am not saying devotional love is bad.

Despite Chan's best efforts, Yang grows up devoted to his older brother, we see this COUNTLESS times through the drama, and it was undoubtedly my favourite part.

Yang’s love for Tian is unconditional and certain, his realisation that Tian is gay leads to his desperate search for, and hug of his, brother, because he IMMEDIATELY recognises how hard that must be.

It does not alter how much he loves his brother

It does not make him think of his brother as different or less

If anything it increases his determination to keep his brother safe.

This Protectiveness leads his love further up the scale into Devotion

Yang’s love felt very devotional to me because he loves his brother and acts as if it’s his duty to protect him (despite being younger).

We see this in his taking of punishments for Tian

In how he searches for answers to the murder and then only tells Tian about it after talking to Pin as he initially believes protecting Tian is more important than anything else

(I have not got to talk about Pin, but I would argue Tian’s love becomes less devotional (less lead by duty in the form of protectiveness) as:

He shifts to being the caretaker of Pin as well

Jiu is introduced into Tians life

This combination (especially Pin) leads him to treating Tian with more autonomy.)

A key difference, even at the start of the show between Li and Yang’s devotional loves is the focus of their duty.

Li’s is to Tian’s future

Yang’s is to Tian

Yang's duty to his parents (especially his father) is much less (or at least shown as less important) than his duty to his brother.

Tian

I'm not going to talk about Tian's love

ITS ALL FRICKEN SACRIFICIAL @colourme-feral

Boy needs to care less about his duty.

(Sacrificial = Extreme Duty + Love)

Bua

Bua’s love and acceptance of Tian (and of Yang) felt different to Yang’s love and acceptance of Tian and this a key part of helping me frame the duty vs devotion vs love

To me, Bua is the best example we have of love without duty (or with minimal duty at least), her (literal) separation from the family due to infertility (she lives in a different building) leads to having less stakes in the whole game. She loves the boys, but she does not believe anything is more important that them being themselves. Duty is not part of her relationship with them, and arguably, duty is not part of their relationships with her.

In my opinion, Li tries to instil a sense of duty in Bua’s love when she encourages her adoption of Tian, but it doesn’t really have the desired effect.

Bua loves them, but she also clearly loves Song and we can see (for example in the way Yang never tells her Tian’s secret and she never pressures him), that her care for others does not come with a caveat of duty. (Song pressures her though)

Did she have a duty to Song? to anyone? Would her love have lead her to the belief that Song needed to know? Ugh, honestly I have so many questions about Bua.

Side Note

Obsessional love is something different again which didn’t really feature in this drama but which my current thinking frames as possessive devotional love, (with possessiveness causing corruption maybe? Not sure).

ALSO

I feel like the duty/love scale overlaps with a lot of what we see in the portrayals of marriage on screen where duty is often put first and foremost in a way that often breaks down over time or leads to resentment but I haven’t really thought about this in detail.

What was the point of all this?

I think as westerners a key difference in family culture is the way duty is framed in parent child relationships. Having written all this I can now return to this point:

“In the West, we ALWAYS end up loving our children. That’s what society demands of PARENTS. We’re CONDITIONED to be like that.”

And, while I’m still feeling rather uncertain about the phrasing of this, I do think that societally (in the west) parents have a duty to their child RATHER THAN children having a duty to their parents (in Asian cultures)

That’s what feels the most different to me, and I think often expectation of care (duty) is framed as love, you're expected to care for your children and thus you must love them.

But parents don't necessarily love their children even when they care for them. Doing your duty is not the same as loving,

its still causing me a bit of disconnect, so maybe it’s causing disconnect for other people as well.

I’m not sure how realistic my duty to love scale is, but I wanted to chronicle the ways this show shaped my thinking, in the hopes other shows will change my thinking in new ways.

I am very keen to view other shows on @lurkingshan’s generational trauma challenge and see how my thinking continues to grow.

Also I loved this show like crazy and gave it 94%, equal 10th out of 76 shows. Go watch it if you haven't.

#Khun Chai #To Sir With Love #Rocket4Reviews #rturts is wondering #ADGTC #long post #tw: suicide

[absolutebl]

Best 23 of BL 2023 - Quirky Awards

SHOCK & AWE AWARDS

1. Biggest BL surprise of 2023:

The last 3 months of 2023 in general got my biggest WTF award.

GMMTV fielding OffGun AND TayNew in the same quarter while also airing Last Twilight (arguably one of their best BLs ever)

That they ALSO optioned 3 JBLs

That there's a high heat omegaverse BL staring Pavel

That there were 20 BLs airing and none of them Korean.

With 5 VAMPIRE BLs announced for next year

But my prize in this category goes to My Dear Gangster Oppa.

It's just crazy:

Thai talent, Korean money + IP (this is adapted from a manwha) airing on a Chinese channel (iQIYI). Plus it was GOOD and made smart reuse of a pair who richly deserved it. I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production. And wonder if any other film genre could even do anything like this.

2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:

The 8th Sense from Korea?!

I mean, seriously?! Dealing with metal health, suicide, darkness, therapy, age gap, & first time love BUT FROM KOREA? And then openness and casual boyfriend physical affection? What's next? An actual hard fought coming out narrative with an HEA? Gay domesticity and families?

Careful Korea, you'll strain something. Possibly your own culture and film industry.

I should stop having expectations of Korea, they keep surprising me.

Runners up: Korea letting OnlyOneOf do Bump Up Business not to mention that OmegaX thing. AND Korea adapting Why R U? What are you up to, Korea? Qua? Is this a coded message? Should we send help? Do you need snacks?

3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:

GeminiFourth in My School President.

Seriously? Babies what? How did GMMTV find you? How do you exist? How is BL this lucky?

4. That studio did WHAT now? award:

GMMTV putting EarthMix into Moonlight Chicken.

And then doubling down with G4 as the damn sides.

Fucking genius.

5. I’m sad you were ignored award:

Destiny Seeker.

It's just a really fun little Thai pulp, the pairs were good, silly dialogue, plus consent and other good rep. I enjoyed it. No one talked about it AT ALL.

6. 2023 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?

Laws of Attraction. -The casting, the crazy story, the soapy drama! But specifically: Film playing Charn - the range of his smiles alone. GLORIOUS

I mean I Feel You Linger in the Air also sparked something in me, but LoA drove me actually nuts.

NARRATIVE AWARDS

7. Best story 2023:

La Pluie

I know, you're surprised, right? At the time I didn't chat much about it but I really enjoyed the discourse others were having. I love anything that really examines the fated mates (soulmates) trope and the idea of "the one". What a clever way to do that. (This is one reason UWMA is my favorite Thai BL.)

This one reminded me of the way Color Rush approached allegory and that's no bad thing. Such an impressive little piece.

8. Best narrative structure 2023 award:

Unintentional Love Story.

I know this may seem a simplistic pick. But I love the tidiness of this no frills contemporary romance, how the culture of work and personal ethics and corruption fight against the main character's affection and integrity. Poor baby boy is driven into a corner and then punished for it. But it is punishment he feels he deserves, and so it is up to his (now) ex to figure out what went wrong and why.

It's just great. I love it when no one is stupid or wrong, it's just impossible circumstances and unintentional love deeply felt.

9. Best 2023 dialogue (script) award:

Jun & Jun

Never before has Korea laced a BL with that much perfectly executed innuendo. It was a master class. I didn't know you could be that lascivious in Korean, quite frankly. Plus the way the 2 Juns constantly seamlessly transition between formal register (work, public - where they are boss/employee) to informal register (when they are alone and age mates + childhood sweethearts).

Beautiful to hear and watch.

10. Favorite scene 2023:

The dub con scene in I Cannot Reach You because I AM TRASH for an out of control seme. I'm sorry I just AM.

I have said it before, I will say it again, NO ONE DOES THIRST like Japan. And when that thirst bubbles over, it is heart-clenching and very hot.

11. The most rewatchable BL of 2023 award:

Our Dating Sim

That scene where they lie on the floor + the stolen kiss + giggle? Come on, it should be on comfort repeat in war rooms. It could bring world peace.

ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS

12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role, 2023:

Fluke in Make a Wish.

It was fun to see him as an irreverent immortal and while I love OhmFluke I also really enjoyed this new pairing. It was a genuine pleasure to watch.

13. Best pining 2023:

The moot pining in Tokyo in April is...

Boys, seriously? Japan must you destroy us like this? Hurts so good.

14. Best wingman 2023 (The Namgoong Award)

Tiw from My School President

I mean, come on, of course it's him!

(Also can you believe Mark went on from this to do fricking Only Friends!? To Last Twilight! Come on GMMTV GIVE HIM A LEAD!)

15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!

Dimpled McMafia & Feral Bunny Foo Foo from Kiseki Dear to Me.

They were feral for each other.

We were feral for them

It was a whole delightful THING.

16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:

The Private Lessons pair showing up in Love Class 2.

I know it was only a cameo, but SERIOUSLY? Thank you SO MUCH Korea! A big studio picking up a Strongberry pairing? I love you.

Seriously tho between them, Taiwan & Korea tried for ALL THE CAMEOS this year.

17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:

NetJames in Bed Friend.

Need I say more?

18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Bah Vinh in Vian & Mr Cinderella 2. I did like either show but I loved him in them. Especially the make outs.

Yes you have chemistry with all the boys in Vietnam and you kiss beautifully. But it's okay now honey, you have the crown. Relax, you're stressing us out.

RANDOM PICKS

19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2023:

Our Dating Sim

Caught in the act by the elevator scene. OMG it's so funny. They're being such boyfriend shits to each other, and to be caught in the act by THAT character, and try to manifest formal language whole cloth? Hilarious.

Honorable mention to War Peanuts in Destiny Seeker.

20. Biggest disappointment of 2023:

You Are Mine

Seriously Taiwan, AGAIN you disappoint me with an Office BL? You're Taiwan, land of offices and suits. This should be YOUR SETTING TO WIN. And yet... argh. I mean it wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Stop it Taiwan, do better.

Runners up? Between Us, Chains of Heart, Dangerous Romance - this was a HOTLY contested category.

+ 2 Winners in the sub-category of FUCK YOU FOR THAT ENDING award:

The Director who Buys Me Dinner - I mean this nicely but: you have your lane now Korea, stop hurting us, that's Japan's responsibility and they do it better.

I Feel You Linger In the Air - I'm just hugely disappointed. Thailand ALMOST got its second 10/10 from me, but that damn ending.

Argh.

21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023

The shower of packaged bedsheets in My Personal Weatherman

Amazing. Brilliant. No notes.

22. Best Queer Rep 2023

Chot in Step By Step

In fact, all the queer characters in this show were treated with great integrity.

AND props to this cast for refusing to do fan service. GOOD FOR YOU! Fuck those sasang wankers.

Runners up? The found family cast of Love in Translation and the Rainbow Rice Cakes in The New Employee.

23. Best Meta Trope call out

Tin Tem Jai

Come on, what a zinger, but at themselves (and Taiwan)

Final question: which of the 23 was the hardest for me to pick?

Honestly? Question #1 this year. But also question #20.

(Last year: 2022's Version) 

Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2023. Or The Sign probably would have taken multiple categories. But it will fall into 2024 offerings.

(source)

#best BLs of 2023 #end of year BL awards #my favorite BLs of 2023 #I think this will be my oen awards list this year #My Dear Gangster Oppa #Thai BL #the eighth sense #Korean BL #GeminiFourth #My School President #GMMTV #Moonlight Chicken #EarthMix #Destiny Seeker #laws of attraction #La Pluie #unintentional love story #Jun and Jun #I Cannot Reach You #Japanese BL #Our Dating Sim #Make a wish #fluke natouch #Tokyo in April is... #kiseki: dear to me #Love Class 2 #NetJames #Bed Friend #My Personal Weatherman #Step by Step

[halliescomut]

In Defense of Wedding Plan....or Lom, more specifically...

So, I actually don't see a lot of discourse on here about Wedding Plan...maybe I just haven't been on here as much. But also, there are a lot of deeper shows on at the moment that are tackling more ethereal ideas and Wedding Plan is more pulp-y romcom than anything else, so it's not necessarily ripe for deep discussion. But on tiktok where I'm fairly active in the BL community I have seen so much hate on this show. And I understand certain levels of frustration about the choice of storyline, but I also get frustrated because I feel like people are purposely disregarding several things.

(Editors note from right before I post this, I was going to add visuals, but I'm too emotionally exhausted now, so you'll just have to settle for the wall of text.)

I agree that it's not good, or right, or acceptable for Lom to have lied to Nuea. But there's been behavior that acts as though Lom is cheating...he's not in a romantic relationship with Yiwa!! He can't cheat on her. And yes, it does lead Nuea to believe he's at least attempting to cheat, but that's not the same. I recognize that Nuea would not feel great about his feelings towards Lom, both because of their professional relationship and what he is assuming about Lom and Yiwa's private relationship. But that's also a nuanced discussion in and of itself because Nuea knows there's something fishy going on with Lom's engagement. He doesn't know what, but he definitely suspects, I think from as early as episode 2. They go out of their way to set up in episode one his sort of sixth sense about couples with that McDonald's scene. Their intention is for us to see how observant Nuea is.

And watching this most recent episode (episode 6) as soon as Lom revealed that he fell for Nuea at Pai's wedding and said that he watched him, I knew that the comments were going to be out of pocket. It is not weird or stalker-ish to see a person that you find attractive out in the wild and look at them or watch them. That's straight up normal. I have done that. Now do I truly believe it was love at first sight? No, because I don't think you can love a person without knowing them, but this is also romantic fiction and love at first sight is literally the most common trope there is. It's also not weird or gross or stalker-ish for him to get Nuea's company contact info from Pai. If you like someone and you know that your friend has their contact info...asking them is not weird. I'd maybe be a bit iffy on a direct phone number, but a insta or snapchat name, a Line ID, that's not sus...like at all. He didn't hand over Nuea's personal address or something. And let's also remember that Prapai KNOWS Lom. They are friends. He knows that Lom is not a dangerous person, he doesn't pose harm to Nuea.

I'd also like to discuss episode 4/5...the first NC scene. I keep seeing comments about dubious consent or lack of consent altogether, and while I can agree with dubious...it's on Lom's part. When you watch the end of episode 4, Nuea isn't drunk. Like we're not given a clear shot of the table, but you see Lom with 3 empty beer glasses and drinking a 4th when Nuea shows up. Nuea you only see drink one, out of a short, mixed drink style glass, one you'd have like a Rum & Coke in, and the beverage is clear with a lemon wedge, so it's not even clear if it's alcoholic. But even if it was there are 3 total glasses like it on the table, so assuming Nuea drank all three, he'd have had to take them all back to back to back in order to be wasted after that. But beyond the context clues, his behavior does not indicate inebriation at all. He's steady on his feet, he's not slurring, there are no acting choices made that would lead one to believe he's drunk.

The fallout that comes for Nuea after that night isn't because of concerns about consent issues. It's about reconciling a destructive decision. People make bad choices all the time. They'll get caught up in an emotion, an idea, a person, and they'll do something without truly thinking about the consequences. And eventually it's morning and you have to accept the choice you made. Is it heartbreaking to watch that with Nuea? Absolutely. I cried at that scene. Pak did such an amazing job. And Nuea isn't the only one who suffers from that emotional fallout. We see the fear and distress on Lom's face when he wakes up and Nuea is gone. You can see his distress when talking to Nuea's boss. He tries to pull the rich guy privilege BS (which I will absolutely admit I hated), but she's not falling for it. After the boss learns everything, she gives Lom the contact info for Nuea's family, which again pissed a lot of people off. But again, it's not direct contact or access to him. She also knows that Nuea is in a place where he is safe and has a support system around him. Also Lom, while not a super clear thinking dude in that moment, is not a freaking serial killer and Nuea's boss is not an imbecile. She didn't just cave to Lom's puppydog eyes, and it feels kind of dismissive to me for people to act like she did.

So many people were upset that he followed Nuea to Chiang Mai...like...it's the same argument we heard about Pai for several episodes. If those things don't happen, there's no fucking show. If Lom stays in Bangkok and Nuea stays in Chiang Mai until the wedding has happened then the story just ends. And if you feel like there's no redemption for Lom after withholding the full truth from Nuea... why are you even still watching the show? Legitimately why? Because what is your expectation when you don't truly believe there's a way for Lom to be redeemed at all?

And I'll be honest, seeing the pretty dismissive reactions to Lom telling the whole story about him and Yiwa coming to the realization that their parents wouldn't be able to accept their sexuality, it really kind of hurts. I know in a lot of ways it feels easy to believe that the reason they hid it is because they didn't want to lose their inheritance, but have you considered that maybe they do love their parents? At least a little? I know that especially for many people in western audiences it seems easy and simple to say "just leave then" in response to queer people who stay closeted because of their families, but there are always going to be so many layers to that. Especially when you look at through a cultural context lens. It's really just is not that simple. Money creates a lot of privilege, that's very true. But we can also look at real life people for whom that money isn't clearing the way for them to live their life fully openly. You can literally look at PP Kritt and see that despite his privilege, fame, and familial wealth, he is still dealing with consistent societal discrimination.

I also don't love this narrative that Yiwa is being selfish. The arrangement was mutually agreed upon, by both of them. To keep each other's secrets and let Yiwa have her love. Does that seem unfair to Lom? Yeah, but he wouldn't have seen it that way prior to meeting Nuea. He wasn't expecting to ever get anything remotely close to a happily ever after, so it wasn't truly a sacrifice to him when he made that agreement.

And this also circles back to his comment about saying that he wanted Nuea even though he was getting married, because he just wanted that one moment of happiness. Is it a selfish idea? Yes, but to be shocked that a rich, privileged man exhibited selfishness is a bit much. But also, I don't think Lom was expecting to fall for Nuea. Like I said, I don't really think it was love at first sight, but lust. I think the more time he spent with Nuea the deeper he fell. I believe his intention was to have something along the lines of a fling, and that when it was over Nuea would move on from him and find his eventual happily ever after and he would settle for memories. That's part of why I think he withheld the truth even after Yiwa told him it was okay to tell Nuea the full truth. This is a man who never expected to find joy or a true partner but was willing to go to extreme's to help the person he sees as a sister have the opportunity to have her own happiness. But yeah, he's just a shitbag.

And the references to love-bombing...I hate how people have brought that term into the discussion of the last two episodes. So if you're not familiar with the term, it's become more common on social media in the discussion around narcissistic and abusive partners. It generally refers to overwhelming physical displays of affection like gifts and such, especially early on in a relationship, essentially with the intention of creating a power imbalance in favor of the narcissistic partner.

The following are the most common signs of love-bombing:

They give you needless gifts 

They’re in a rush to lock things down 

They’re always available and demanding of your attention 

They can’t take ‘no’ for an answer 

They like you better when you’re alone 

They over-communicate their love for you 

You feel overwhelmed, uneasy or off-balance 

These are not things that Lom is doing. Buying McDonalds and ice cream for someone so they know you care...that's not love-bombing, that's at best wooing. Especially when intent is part of why it matters. Lom is doing it to show he cares, to show he pays attention to what Nuea likes, not in an attempt to make Nuea feel indebted to him for said gifts (that total up to about $10). Lom isn't trying to lock things down with Nuea, he's not attempting to force Nuea to choose him. He just wants Nuea to make the decision to either choose him or not knowing his love is genuine. He wants Nuea to be making an informed decision. He does not demand Nuea's attention, at most he requests it sometimes. He takes 'no' for an answer pretty regularly. He doesn't purposely or intentionally try to get Nuea alone. 'They over-communicate their love'...this one seems iffy, but it's not about saying "I love you" to a person, it's more related to presenting that love to others to cement a relationship. Essentially trying to make it awkward for a person to say 'oh well we're not quite that serious'. And that last one...Nuea is reflective and considering of the situation as a whole, but he's not uneasy, he's not overwhelmed. You could maybe argue afraid, but not of Lom, he's afraid of potential future heartbreak. Love itself is scary. Feelings of that depth and strength are scary. Because we all know that even if that love lasts the rest of your lives, the length of your lives is never guaranteed, and loss is ALWAYS a potential outcome.

I'm not arguing that the show is without flaws, all of Mame's shows/stories are flawed. But I do feel like there was a level of expectation that seems entirely misplaced. Like, these same people who love Payu and Rain to death, had nothing to say to the reveal that Payu had orchestrated at least one instance of a run-in with Rain, a person with whom there was a far larger power imbalance, but Lom pursuing Nuea, a grown ass adult who is never afraid to speak his mind to Lom, that's too problematic???

I don't know anymore. I like the show. It has faults, and flaws, and so do it's characters, but Lom is not a fucking mustache twirling villain out to trick and capture poor, sweet, stupid Nuea. And that's kind of how it feels like the discussions about the show have been going.

#wedding plan the series #Mame BL #LomNuea #NueaLom #Sunny Wannarat #Pak Naphat #SunnyPak

[hils79]

Hils Watches Moonlight Chicken - Ep 5

I forgot this drama is only 8 episodes long so I'm over halfway through now. Wild. I'll be finished in a couple of days. Feels so quick after a 40 episode cdrama

So we're seeing what Alan and Wen were like before they broke up. I'm starting to have a theory about how this is going to end...

Also, it's weird seeing Mix kiss someone who isn't Earth. I've only seen the two of them together in dramas

Damn that fight scene was brutal but holy shit First and Mix are good actors. I was so focused on what was happening I forgot about the food that's in front of me

Thank god for Gong, who is apparently the only sensible person in this drama

Okay, here's my theory now that we're under the read more tag. I'm worried that the plot of this movie (two people who fall in love but don't end up together because of other factors) is what is going to happen to Jim and Wen. GMM typically doesn't make bittersweet BL dramas but this one is bit more mature than the others. I am bracing myself just in case this movie is foreshadowing.

That's about the highest level of praise you can get from a teenage boy

It's always Engineering or Architecture

Wen's just had a 'oh my kind of step-nephew is in love with a boy' moment. He looks so fond.

They don't live in a small town or anything. I don't think it's unreasonable for Jim to ask for someone who didn't show up at his restaurant and yell at him to deal with his loan application.

Yes, let's have a very thinly veiled conversation in which Wen is compared to a pen

It's just occurred to me that I've seen First play a high school student (The Eclipse), a college student (Not Me) and now a bank manager who I assume is meant to be in his late 20s or early 30s. All of these dramas were filmed in the last 2 years. That's some range!

Come on dude, don't be a total dick. You had better send off his loan application and not just toss it in the bin.

Okay, that's interesting given my comment above. Why DID Jim go to Alan's bank? Is he hoping to get turned down?

It's like he was reading my liveblog and is now answering all of my comments :D

Gong is my new favourite. He's so done with all Wen and Alan's nonsense

He is so right and he should say it

Well, let's see. We were having a nice romantic Christmas moment, then your ex-boyfriend who you still live with and share a bed with showed up. He yelled at you, then he yelled me, then he yelled you some more and shoved you over. Oh, yeah, and this dude is also in charge of whether I can borrow the money I need to save my business.

Okay, if this was closer to the end I'd be more worried that they were going to go with the bittersweet movie ending but given that there's another 3 episodes after this one maybe it'll be okay?

Alan really does like talking in metaphors. Wen was a pen, now Jim is chicken

I was saying today I am enjoying that for the most part characters in this actually use their words instead of just leaping to conclusions and making assumptions. Not always, but way more than most dramas. I'm glad Wen and Alan have finally had the mature conversation that they needed to have for both of them to move on

I still think Alan is going to end up with Gaipa but given that they haven't even met yet that may just be wishful thinking.

A good progressive boy

Bold of you to assume you can just move in with Jim

#hils watches #hils watches moonlight chicken #hils watches tdramas #moonlight chicken #tdrama

[bengiyo]

The Eighth Sense Eps 5 & 6 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Ae Ri and Yoon Woon moved to MVP statuses in this show for the earnest friendships they're building or built with Ji Hyun and Jae Won respectively. Tae Hyung continues to be a pain in my ass as he and all the friends try to force Jae Won back with Eun Ji. Eun Ji is also aiming to end up on the same list as Plern Pleng with her behavior at the bar and grill Ji Hyun works at. Finally, Ji Hyun continues to rewire Jae Won with his directness and kindness. The chemistry and tension between the two of them is compelling.

Episode 5

Ae Ri is being shady. I love it.

Of course they would reference one of the few Park Chan-Wook films I haven't seen. Now I need to rush off to watch I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay (2006).

I don't normally celebrate delinquency, but I also think Ji Hyun needs to live a little bit.

Yoon Won is a real one for making sure they properly lie to their teacher.

Oh look at Jae Won looking back.

I love Ae Ri. Ji Hyun needed a friend to push him to try new things. This shopping trip is fun. She's also right that he should stop being so self-conscious.

I am also like Ji Hyun when we need to take all these photos of food.

All this stress about a phone call is taking me back. Still, even on the phone you can feel the energy between these two.

I want Yoon Won to roast Tae Hyung more.

Ji Hyun better be careful about the honorifics in front of the seniors.

Whoa, what was it about the mention of a sibling that sent Jae Won over the edge like that. Ji Hyun reacted quickly to steady him.

I always get worried when characters binge drink. Did Jae Won have a sibling die or get disowned for failing to live up to the family standard?

I hate Tae Hyung. Why can't he take care of his "friend"?

Oh, there's a likely-dead, beloved little brother. That's especially sad. I really hope the brother didn't drown.

"Kids only go to the beach to get hot or to heal."

Episode 6

Jae Won needs to relax a bit for sure.

Ji Hyun is cute. I would also give him things. However, I would not plug free USB sticks into anything.

Jae Won how you just gonna claim him as your boyfriend to a stranger like that? Love the confidence though!

Love that he gave them a trot songs mix.

Jae Won being coy with Ji Hyun about essentially wooing him is strangely charming.

Ji Hyun is the most valid boy in all of BL for not wanting to have sand making him itchy.

Oh, are we sharing boy scout trauma now? I don't think I want to share mine on Tumblr.

This getting-to-know-each-other beach date is very well done.

Ah, the zoom in as Jae Won starts to reveal his truths worked really well.

We need to teach Ji Hyun that dick is abundant and low in value. I ain't sleeping exposed on the beach like this for any man.

I see this show wants to challenge the Eclipse with getting closer while pretending to sleep.

I'm really liking both leads and their characters a lot.

This kiss was difficult to film, but I really like the dialogue exchange with it.

Cuddling as foreplay? In my BL?? More likely than you think!

That bed scene was very sensual. I enjoyed it.

Oh, please don't leave us in limbo like this for a week!!

This show is incredible. Truly a special show airing right now. Feels like the Korean response to ITSAY and reminds me of other favorites from queer cinema.

#the eighth sense #korean bl #bl series #Ben watches

[respectthepetty]

A Question about MaxTul !!!

I hear you’re abit of a fan??

SO, please can I ask what your fave Maxtul scenes are that they have done across their shows!!!

Also, do you think we will get them in something again?

Anon, once again, you are not to blame for Tul's departure from acting. This is on me. I put all my eggs kidneys in the Transplant (Manner of Death x Triage) basket.

I am a huge fan of MaxTul, and as the saying goes, I'd rather have had witnessed their amazing chemistry than have never known them at all. I'm straight clownin' but I'm going to still hope for them to star in Transplant for as long as I live. It could happen thirty years from now when Tul retires from his career in real estate and development. I can wait like that woman in Titanic. It doesn't matter when I get it as long as I get it. Are you listening, Tul?

To your ask - I enjoy every MaxTul scene, but since you are making me pick favorites (what is with y'all forcing me to choose between all the things I love?!) . . .

Top Ten MaxTul Scenes

#10 - PRIDE - MaxTul

This is the only actual MaxTul propaganda I will regularly tote out that has nothing to do with a series because it isn't even from a show. It's just them being them. In 2021, they released a handful of photos for Pride, and I love them for it.

#9 - Club Kiss - Manner of Death

The way the lights dance around them while Tan holds Bun's neck as their heads align with each other is beautiful. The director created magic with that shot and my shitty GIF does not do it justice.

#8 - Confession - Together With Me

Before Pat whispered "no" on that rooftop in Bad Buddy, and Win told Team to "be brave about it" in Between Us, Korn asked Knock if "the love I have for you, doesn't it give you courage? Courage to love a man like me?" and I haven't left that bedroom since. That's some Grey's Anatomy level of line delivery, and it hit me straight in my heart where it still resides six years later.

#7 - Rain & Umbrellas - Together With Me

I doubt Knock and Korn did the "comfort the other person under the protection of an umbrella while it rains" trope first, but they did it the best, and now every time I see it in a BL, my heart grows a little more each time.

#6 - "You smell so good" - Manner of Death

This is actually parallel scenes, but they are my favorites because in the first scene, Tan told Bun he smelled good, yet Bun quickly walked away in disgust. The next time it happened, Bun told Tan he smelled good right after they broke into a truck to steal a laptop, and in the midst of that adrenaline rushing through their bodies, Tan did not hesitate to take Bun's confession as an invitation, and sexed his man up ALL NIGHT! Blessed.

#5 - Getting caught - Together With Me: The Next Chapter

Knock and Korn finally got back together and were doing what they do best - BEING VERS! - when surprise surprise, their friends were chilling outside watching them figure out their next position move. Their friends were checking up on them after their big blowout, but instead their friends got to see them blow each other's backs out. Blessed times two.

#4 - Not getting caught - Manner of Death

Tan and Bun had to get out of the hospital before the police caught them, so the entire hospital staff helped them escape on a gurney because ACAB! But even in their dire situation, Tan was still flirting with Bun and trying to make a move on him to much of Bun's frustration. No matter the time or place, Tan proved he wanted his man, carnally.

#3 - Engagement - Bad Romance

First off, Bad Romance aired before Together with Me, but timeline-wise actually happens between Together with Me and Together with Me: The Next Chapter, yet in reality IT MAKES NO SENSE.

The boys were color-coded in this series (and lightly in the other two), and the attached image is their color exchange. Yep, that's right! Korn (Max) is the Blue Boy and Knock (Tul) is the Red Rascal, and Knock lived up to that label in Bad Romance. Knock wanted to be out, and Korn had to be in the closet, then Knock kissed another dude, yet all ended with Korn proposing to Knock in front of all their friends (while wearing pink!). A mess, but it is my beloved mess!

#2 - Wedding - Manner of Death

I did not think we would get a happy ending out of Manner of Death. When shots were fired in the tenth episode, I was screaming! And yet the boys not only survived everything they went through, THEY GOT MARRIED! Thailand has not legalized marriage equality yet, so for the whole team to say "Fuck it! We gonna do it anyway" in 2020 was the rainbow sprinkles on top of this bomb-ass sundae of a series!

#1 - Husbands - Triage

This one-minute cameo wins. This is my everything, and I will cling to forever regardless if my clown ass gets Transplant or not. We saw the boys get together as Knock x Korn in Together With Me. We watched them get engaged in Bad Romance. We witnessed them fall apart and come back together in Together with Me: The Next Chapter. We got to see them grow up and get married as Tan x Bun in Manner of Death. And we celebrated them as HUSBANDS in Triage.

So if Triage really was MaxTul's final outing together, I'm glad I got to go along for the entire journey, from the chaotic beginnings of a drunken one-night stand to the grand finale of committed husbands. The boys gave us a hell of a ride (pun intended).

*I'm gonna cry*

#MaxTul #Manner of Death #Bad Romance the series #Together With Me #Together With Me: The Next Chapter #I'm gonna go cry now #I'm on the tenth stage of grief #max nattapol #tul pakorn

[its-megidover]

GMMTV Part 2: A Detrululu post - WinnySatang Edition

(Feel free to call me a clown if I'm wrong)

Part 1: Why I think main show will happen

a) What about ‘We Are’?

Okay so, first of all, I'm not going to lie,... as much as I love the idea now, when they announced the show, I was quite disappointed. Yes, I love the cast so much, but also I was expecting a main show, not ensemble. Anyway, my feelings changed a lot over the following weeks and now I'm so excited about it.

b) We Are: Why the rush?

One of the things that really surprised me about 'We Are' is how fast everything is. How fast workshop went, and how fast they started shooting. I know P'New shows usually air during the first months of the year, but it's still weird to me.

As far as I know, the only one from the cast who has another show is Phuwin (Summer Night) but I have yet to read any rumors about it or any kind of promotion or anything.

Also it’s not about Pond going back to school either since he already started.

2. Logo, Mascot and Merch

I think one of the main things that leads me to believe WinnySatang will have a non-ensemble show next year is the fact that they have a logo and merchandise. Releasing merch with a logo and a mascot before a show is announced is definitely weird, and so far there's not a ship that has acted JUST in an ensemble show that has that.

In addition, in this case, I don't see why MarcPawin and AouBoom wouldn't have those too...

So far since Book Fair last month, they have released (apart from the logo):

Card Sets (this doesn't mean much on its own as Neo, Mark, Dew and Nani also got a set each (which makes DewNani the only ship that hasn't been part of a BL show... which is sus to me but that's material for another post maybe))

Washi tape: an important thing to point out here is that one of them shows clearly a plushie design.

Photo strip

Pocket mirror: this not only has a logo but also a mascot, make of that what you will.

I'm going to ignore standees here since they're related to My School President, and those were the only standees released (edit: and a Neo standee)

a. There aren't any 2024 calendars though, are there?

Nope, you got me there. I have no clue either.

b. What about MilkLove, though?

Yeah, it's true. They don't have any merch or logo either, and you could say the same about Sizzy (as opposed to LYKN -a newer band-)... so, you see the pattern here. Good old GMMTV.

b. If you mean Neomark and Flukethor, they aren't CPs...

True, Flukethor was part of The Warp Effect and Neomark of Only Friends, both ensemble shows by P'Jojo but one immensely more successful than the other (an understatement). We don't know yet what's going to happen with Neomark, as they keep having events together and are even part of School Rangers 2024 lineup, but so far, all their merch has been related to Only Friends.

3. LOL 2024

Okay, so this is also very weird to me. Why wouldn't you include AouBoom and MarcPawin here. It makes no sense whatsoever to me.

I'm going to ignore School Rangers since it's clearly not CP related

4. a. Wouldn't Satang have spoiled something if they had another show?

Satang... well, it's true that he keeps spoiling stuff. Also it's true that he spoiled the fact they had a logo and GMMTV Part 1 date. That last one even meant his manager had to ask the media to delete part of the interview (one of them forgot about it though and they took down the video a couple of hours later). Personally, I think he can't talk much right now.

Also, Satang's second to last sentence during his speech on Book Expo caught my attention.

'There will be for sure'? Make of that what you will.

b. What about Winny?

Winny has 300 tweets on his account and we barely know if he's alive or not between events so... (he's out there touching grass, good for him or watching anime).

5. Winny's, Satang's and Phuwin's Comments

Another thing that caught my attention now that I think about it are these comments:

a. Winny's comment on Satang's post days before GMMTV Part 1

What about that bat? That's not QToey ('We Are') for sure.

b. Winny's caption on his own post days before GMMTV Part 1

Okay, so, Winny and Satang posting nonsense comments or inner jokes isn't anything new. That's their whole thing.

But 'dark romance'? That's also definitely not 'We Are.'

I'd usually say it's just nonsense but there's also Phuwin's comment on an unrelated post from days before

c. Phuwin's comment

What is it about bats? Seriously? Is it an inner joke or something?

#fawn.txt #idk if ill even post part 2… seems kinda delusional in retrospect 😍 #me when im. coping with ensemble #satang kittiphop #winny thanawin #winnysatang #satangwinny #🦥💰 tag