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aikawa-kazuki · 7 months

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[11/12] spoilers ahead

im kind of disappointed (but not surprised, it's gmmtv bl after all) that topmew got back together, especially after top mentioned that he isn't sure that it's worth going back, like it would be such a power move to have at least one couple that doesn't work out in the end (especially when they were at first showed as perfect, picture like couple)

sand and ray are really cute, and ray had such big character growth! boeing just loves chaos, tho not sure what he is trying to achieve from flirting with sand

im glad that atom admitted and came out to cheum but like?? why she isn't even slightly mad at him? like he made yell and accuse your friend and you got him kicked out of project (presumably, i feel like to kick someone out of graduation project is much more complicated, imagine explaining that to your profesor). it's just so weird she doesn't feel remorseful

a lot of people seem to hate boston but at this point in story i can't? he is an asshole but also he is not real. and he is another character with really interesting character growth and it's cute imo that he wants to spend those last months with nick as his boyfriend

i still have a really small wish of khao going outside of gmmtv productions and playing in some art house film that would break me into pieces but i feel like it's a pipe dream :')

ofc, last episode might change a lot, but for now i think i would rate it 8,5? it's really good series, does a lot that other bls don't but it doesn't mean it's without flaws

if this ends in cliffhanger, i will personally go to thailand and beat p'jojo

#kino babbles #gmmtv series #asian bl #ofts #only friends 2023 #only friends the series #copied the comment i did on mdl #im to lazy to write that again but with different words #ofts spoilers

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poomphuripan · 29 days

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if any casting choice fans should be upset over, it should be poom. the novel constantly describes Joe as less than average/nothing special to look at 😭 and this couldn’t be farther from the truth with poom.

and it’s not like up isn’t drop dead gorgeous in his own right. he’s just not a cliche super-duper handsome seme that everyone fawns over, which i really never bought about the original character anyways.

speak your truth nonnie i support you. they could never convince me THIS man is a less than average looking dude.

that actually reminded me of this recently read this mdl comment i'd love to share. OP said:

The Ming in the show is cold towards the world and even a bit cold towards Tong. We can tell he likes him, but it is played with innuendo and asking to spend time together without his sister. So, Joe being a vulnerable cutie works to keep the power dynamic similarly unbalanced (as the book has difference in emotional/relationship style, attractiveness, money, social connections, age) between Joe and Ming. But the qualities in contrast for Joe and Ming are a bit different. Joe and Ming don't look 10 years apart in age (I forgot the total years apart in book but closer to 10 than not). And Ming looks close to Joe's height. And he isn't the broad-chested narrow-waisted god of beauty who looks almost inhumanly gorgeous. I guess the power axis isn't beauty and power and emotional reserve vs kindness and maturity but more like innocence and emotional honest vs jadedness and emotional closed-offish-ness, Joe wins in attractiveness in the show, Ming still has more money and social connections, and age looks to be somewhat neutralized.

even when i am a BIG fan of the original work, i don't expect to see an exact copy of original chinese novel from a thai adaptation either (this, i think the audiodrama can do better). and it's great to see someone picking up on the slightly different characterization between the series and the novel even though we're just one episode in so far.

even then, i think Up and Poom are already doing so well for an adaptation because they are definitely their own Ming and Joe.

especially for Up, who is getting to play a completely different character from his leading role in Lovely Writer and an even more obnoxious version of his character in Step By Step.

it reminds me somewhat of my time watching I Feel You Linger In The Air where I could sense that Series!Jom and Novel!Jom were like two characters but written in different fonts due to their different characterization and the actor's interpretation. so i will treat My Stand-In simply as it is, an adaptation.

↓ they did THIS scene perfectly though, i could not ask for more as a reader.

#claire replies #my stand in #my stand in the series #msi thoughts

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theinfinitedivides · 9 months

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the MDL comment section for this drama is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to (bad) takes on Gil Chae and Ryang Eum, and so i thought i should copy something i posted over there in response to several people calling Ryang Eum 'toxic' and a 'liar', as well as add a few extra things:

if we're going to bring up lying, then first off we have to establish that every member of this love triangle have lied to each other at at least one point or another during the series. Gil Chae lied to Soon Yuk about marrying him after he came home from the war if he protected Young Master Yeon Joon and also lied to Jang Hyun about said young master being the one she was thinking of when she called him husband at the end of ep 4, Ryang Eum lied to Jang Hyun about who Gil Chae had looked at when the announcement of war came during the sixtieth anniversary celebration in ep 2, and Jang Hyun lied to Ryang Eum about losing the dagger he had given him as a gift (token of love *cough*) when he had actually given it to Gil Chae to defend herself while they were on the run. it's probably not a good idea to start ranking the lies by the percentage of morality/who got hurt as a result bc that's mostly absent here—a driving concept in MD is that nothing is truly black and white—but that levels the playing field pretty evenly imo.

now the story Ryang Eum told in ep 8 on the journey to Shimyang is not toxic, by any means. it is a well-known folktale in Korea that has been retold both in various folk song recordings and in a 1972 film, and the basic gist of the story is that Gap Dol and Gap Soon loved each other but never quite said it directly/strongly enough (Jang Hyun and Gil Chae dancing around each other anyone?), hence Gap Soon getting married off to another man (Gil Chae's miliary officer suitor) and having his children. there are variations that have Gap Dol coming to ask Gap Soon to run away with him (besties if this keeps going where we think it might we're in danger), but that story was brought up in response to Jang Hyun's query of if it was possible to have one man in your heart for so long and not change, after his conversation with Gil Chae on the ridge; Ryang Eum said that it was, although he did note that 'you cannot do it by effort. nobody, no one can touch that forever until the day you die'. did he use this to partially warn Jang Hyun off of pursuing Gil Chae out of selfish reasons (i said in the tags of a previous post that that line sounded like he was talking more about himself than her)? yes. is he also genuinely concerned about Jang Hyun getting his heart broken by someone who is apparently in love with someone else despite her actions? yes.

we know, by now, that Ryang Eum is in love with Jang Hyun. we also know that Jang Hyun has squarely friendzoned him, though it's still up in the air whether he knows about Ryang Eum's feelings or not. so far, up to ep 8, he hasn't done anything we can really consider as sabotage to the main couple, and from what i've seen of the commentary on ep 9 hasn't done anything in that regard either (except return home early and possibly run into Gil Chae, but we all know the editing on these things when they want to conceal sh*t is shady af). if he really did decide to not to carry Jang Hyun's message in ep 10 specifically so that Gil Chae would go and get married anyway, then we can talk about crossing the line and entering the toxic SL arc and that, by extension, would warrant whatever tf is going on with him in the apparent ep 10 preview. (i have heard the rumors. they're not good) to me, he's not quite there yet. if he was, then we'd have to bring up Gil Chae and her multiple attempts to draw Yeon Joon away from Eun Ae early in the series, and i can hear the misogyny and Gil Chae hater brigade coming back again to join the party from here. if that doesn't happen, then, there's probably another reason why he and Jang Hyun are at odds. not sure if anything can be truly worse than that, but we'll see ig sksksksk

#tv: my dearest #my dearest #mbc my dearest #namgoong min #nam goong min #ahn eun jin #kim yoon woo #kdrama #local gay watches My Dearest (and is subsequently f*cked up).txt #local gay watches k-dramas.txt #now back to me finishing that f*cking fic. pretend you heard nothing from me pls

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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week in BL

July 2021 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Golden Blood Ep 6 - SunSky’s pronoun/honorific use forced me to add them to the dialogue I’m having with the world on the subject (did you catch that when Sky talks directly to Sun he uses informal but when he talks to imaginary Sun in a romantic way he uses formal?) Anyway, lots of kisses this ep. I love that they’re uke initiated and seme pull back. NICE twist on expectations while also being perfect for a narrative this soft. Also, how cool is it we’re are getting so many uke communicators right now? (Waves at my baby TaeKyung.) And when the semes won’t talk? The uke reactions are on point. Bank is like “I will not humor your identity crisis.” (My boy is teaching a course in how to train your sunshine seme.) While Sky won’t allow Sun to help/care for him. Sun is like “what, now you speak my love language?” Meanwhile, how did I get so invested in PitchBank? Sudden onslaught of side dish addiction. GAH! (Tropes included: face touch, fast & bicurious, lie on ground.)

Love Area Ep 1 - I think this might be REALLY GOOD.* Cafe setting, cute characters, great story start (it feels like an adaptation), early inciting dramatic meat cute x2, plus a possible love triangle (wound tending for seme 1 this week, for seme 2 next) and some familiar faces from Friend Forever. This also has better production values than normal for a pulp. There was even an adorable little argument about formal address to soothe my linguistic soul. * HOWEVER there are no eng subs. MDL comments say it’s not airing internationally and they don’t expect hard subs for months. I’ll keep an eye out for them and let you know if anything drops. (V weird that the credits are in English? Right? That’s weird. I think it’s weird. Maybe they had international distribution and it fell through?) I’ll keep watching it without subs.

Top Secret Together Ep 12 - how much do I love that TST is using CopyNampu to explore ideas around unequal/one-sided love? Even though Copy is just having identity struggles and expresses affection differently. It was a good choice for this pair, as the actor playing Nampu is great at emitting emotional pain to contrast a sunshine disposition. Also we stan the supportive female bestie, thank you for the rep TST. Finally, these two got a neck grab kiss (personal favorite - and the BTS for this scene was v interesting). Other pairs: Is it weird that I just want Eak to be the confused straight boy and not end up with Phob? (I’m thinking about Big Eden a lot with this story arc.) They shoehorned in a beach trip trope (although I was DELIGHTED to see many of them can actually play volleyball, Nampu is GOOD). This cast should do a sports romance volleyball team BL.

The Yearbook Ep 3 - oof, it’s awful slow. The story is being precious with its plot, ostentatiously not telling us character’s reasons for doing major things which means I was left feeling manipulated (by the director, not the narrative) and also I don’t feel sympathy for the characters because I have no idea why they do anything. It reminds me of My Bromance 1 & 2, so I’m not sure if I should stick with it. I’m not into the Fault is In Our Stars meets ITSAY thing.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 12 fin - as expected they nailed a sweet if somewhat odd ending. We all thought this would stay soft, but Taiwan brings the high heat regardless of whether story calls for it. I don’t actually think it was necessary here, but I appreciated it anyway - thanks boys. Also another marriage equality flex. (I don’t know if that was a nod to Thai BL at the end with the Rama VIII looking bridge or not, but imma pretend it was). A cute classy little BL with some plot flaws but no other concerns. It gets a 9/10 from me, I loved it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Given (Japan) Ep 2 - first ep I really loved their music choices but Mafuyu is supposed to be THE most amazing singer and he just isn’t. That said, if you like your boys dark and traumatized with secret sorrows and communication issues this is Japan so we getting that gothic angst party started! Whoop whoop. We are probably all going to need saké to make it through. The way the director is using the instruments they carry on their backs as part of the yaoi style framing is super clever. I’m VERY taken with the style of this BL. Full thoughts so far here.

Light On Me (Korea) Ep 9-10 - the best love triangle we love to hate is fracturing. The pain of it all. TaeKyung is every seme’s dream uke: sweet, innocent, pure, yet communicates his feelings honestly. Korea is teaching a master class in using tropes to manipulate audience expectations and I am here for it. I don’t even care how this ends at this point (so long as no one dies). I have a lot to say about this drama so I’m sort of running a long form analysis post. Finally, the fact that DaOn would rather be liked than be gay is so f-ing relatable. It’s intense stuff. OH and next week is episode 11, we ready? Tropes included more wound tending, a confession scene, side eye, ownership/claiming discussion, head pat + characters TALKING about tropes! Sr!

BL News & Gossip

Viki is airing & hard subbing A Man Who Defies the World of BL AKA Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko. I love this show more than is reasonable or healthy. I kind of got unhinged over it, to be fair. Then I changed the name of this blog. I’m waiting for them to finish the subs and then I plan to do a rewatch. I’ve gotten into when warring hards subs happen (like with Color Rush) it’s fun to tunnel into the style of the subbers, and I find they give different depth and understanding to the story.