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absolutebl · 5 months

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10 Best BL Shows with the Hottest Sexitimes

Because this is English and word order matters, this title means the show itself has to be good AS WELL AS the scenes high heat, as opposed to the best sex scenes in BL. The two are not necessarily the same list. Anyway I tried to pick both high heat and a fun show. This was hard (pun intended).

FYI expect triggers with your high heat.

(Oh right. For me to get a 3/3 heat rating the BL has simulated sex in it or very close to it. And usually one or more other sexual acts like bjs, a-ply, etc...)

So, I went to the spreadsheet, and sorted it by high heat and then ranking, and here is what I got. I think #1 will surprise you. What will not surprise you is it's mostly Thai and Taiwanese.

10. TharnType (and follow ups)

Thai 2019 Viki

Should it still rank, all these years later? I am sorry to say, yes it should. University setting, great acting and complex characters, interesting friendship groups, enemies to lovers, seriously angsty coming out, high production values, AMAZING chemistry, multiple BL side couples with all the issues, damaging queer rep, strong seme/uke and husband/wife language, classic tropes and lots of them bad. But it's famous for a reason.

This was KinnPorsche before KinnPorsche.

9. Addicted: Heroin

China 2016 Viki

When Chinese BL was good it was very dirty good and when it was bad it was censored. This is the model for that statement: rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes kidnapping for love, obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some cheating. I love this BL because of what I could have been. Just stop watching it after The Sex Scene. Okay?

8. Love Stage!!

Thai 2022 YouTube

This BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely: boy falls in love with girl as a child, grows up to discover girl is actually a very pretty boy. Although there are some quintessentially Thai changes that mellowed, softened, and extended the romance arc and heat levels.

7. HIStory 4: Close to You

Taiwan 2021 Viki

Nancy Chen directs, the side dish plot is basically a pastiche of problematic BL tropes inherited from the above. Great chemistry, high heat, stepbrothers, dubcon, obsession, stalker etc… They sexy tho.

6. My Day

Pinoy 2020 YouTube

The set up on this one is enemies (also boss/employee) and they don’t like each other to start. But that gets resolved pretty quickly. And then they are some of the cutest, hottest, and best boyfriends ever. This is an under-appreciated BL, IMHO.

5. Cutie Pie

Thai 2022 YouTube

Very high production (and heat) and a lot of visual references to live action yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth. (It has depth, it just depth of tongue kisses.)

Also the follow up: Naughty Babe

4. Bed Friend

Thai 2023 YouTube but for high heat you'll net to watch on iQIYI

Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship that is built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly longing eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged (ALL THE TRIGGERS). NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth, unfortunately the story ultimately failed them. Had the show had the strength of its convictions and kept to a tighter, darker, harsher 8 eps it would have been the first high heat to earn a 10/10 from me, but once they fussed with it, it dropped to a solid 8/10. Could have been great but was overworked. Still if high heat is your thing, this one will not let you down.

3. HIStory 3: Trapped

Taiwan 2019 Viki

Basically the definition of enemies to lovers from Lin Pei Yu. This is a cop + the mafia man he is chasing but WAIT, they fall in love. Added bonus side couple: assassin and nerd cop ALSO falling in love. It’s great. All the leads are stellar. Its high heat, fun action, and a bit of a mystery drama but pretty about all of it. My only warning is that the main couple doesn’t entirely end up together, it’s implied, but… amorphous ending.

2. Why R U?

Thai 2020 Viki

No one knows what’s going on, not even the characters, but absolutely no one cares 'cause it's so thirsty. The plot seems to be "great chemistry and make sure Zee's shirts are NEVER BUTTONED PROPERLY." We, the collective, have a pro Hawaiian shirt anti-button stance, so rah rah rah! Still the most confusing thing about this show is: why they didn't just title it YRU? The FighterTuror sex scenes still stand as some of the best every fielded in a Thai BL.

1. Be Loved In House: I Do

Taiwan 2021 Viki

A cute classy office set BL with a few plot raised eyebrows, but no other concerns. ALL THE TROPES plus a general sweet softness that’s pretty rare from Taiwan, who usually prefer to go hard, but all their signature domesticity. There is one high heat sex scene and it's great. But it's the whole package of classic sappy Taiwanese BL that puts this at the very top for me.

Generally just v high heat?

Hottest sex scenes in BL is frankly gonna be largely a matter of your personal taste.

But if the ones mentioned above don't work try:

KinnPorsche

Love in the Air

Big Dragon

HIStory 3; MODC (the BL that shall not be named)

Be Mine Super Star

Manner of Death (and anything else with MaxTul)

Oh My Sunshine Night (sides)

Secret Crush on You

Wedding Plan

Most dark JBL has very good high heat, but... ya know.

For @samara44 by request.

(source)

#best bl that is high heat #good bl with good sexitimes #recommended bl #taiwanese bl #thai bl #chinese bl #pinoy bl #TharnType #Love Stage!!#HIStory 4: Close to You #Cutie Pie #Bed Friend #HIStory 3: Trapped #Why R U?#high heat BL

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forkaround · 1 year

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What I need people to realize is there shouldn't be an either-or in BLs to begin with. It's not either Kinnporsche level high heat problematic content or 2gether level inoffensiveness. It's not either Moonlight Chicken honesty or BL Alt reality where being gay is okay. It's not either GMMTV softness or MAME level angst. It's not either SOTUS level bad jokes or Cutie Pie level political correctness.

One would think that shows about people on a spectrum would have an audience that understands the concept of spectrums and evidently I would be wrong.

Liking one over the other doesn't make you a better, right-er person.

What is significant and important is that this content gets made. Pre mid 2010s there wasn't any such content, anywhere! So chill the fuck out and enjoy what you enjoy and let others enjoy what they enjoy even if it is completely different.

#thai bl #discourse #kinnporsche #2gether #gmmtv #my school president #mame #tharntype #love in the air #the eclipse #moonlight chicken #sotus #bad buddy

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thatgothsamurai · 1 year

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happy late valentine’s day also pls forgive this 🤡 for your 1-year-late-requests🥹💕😔🤟

sorry this is super late (even it’s just a sketch)😭😭😭 but if any of you want your separated pic you can dm me🥹🤟

edit: for those who requested, you can do whatever you like (set as icon, post it, print, etc, as long as it’s personal use) to the individual pic I gave you, no need to ask for permission it’s all yours🥰

@strikercorbie @wkxs @valley-of-the-lost @nashpati @pran-so-brave @stellareclipses @mutantfactor @darkovstein @ashinlae @himemi @haojun @korre @queridaz @naptakingkitty @ithappensoffstage @till-you-feel-it-all @litek2137 @rhysiana @kayathechameleon @bifca @janedrewfinally @2amfog @thenimbletree @latsin @strung-by-fate @fismoll7secinv @circumference-pie @kagehikaru @pale-freckled @loveandviolets @eponinemylove @delicatelygloriousphoenix @still-gathering-roses @starshipcaptainjojo @pawsnread

#sorry for the wait🥹#but thanks to you all i could draw so many axu🥺💖#hope you like your 1 year and a week late valentine gifts🥹#also pls halp i couldnt mention some of u😭😭😭#requests #fanart #nandskarth #word of honor #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #bad buddy #tian guan ci fu #vi arcane #tharntype #severus snape #too many characters to tag

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maxtulhugs · 3 months

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The broskis in Harper & Bazaar Singapore

#mewtul #thestoryofus #maxtul #tul pakorn #manner of death #mod #max nattapol #together with me #kornknock #mew suppasit #mewgulf #tharntype #ocean eyes

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live-from-flaturn · 7 months

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So MeMindY has two new shows coming out...

I figured we needed a specific bingo card.

#memindy #mame oruwan #tharntype #love in the air #lita bl #lita #don't say no #just say yes #don't so no the series #dsn the series #lita the series #boss chaikamon #noeul nuttarat #peat wasuthorn #fort thitipong #jafirst

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lurkingshan · 7 months

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 💚🧡 BL FANS 🖤💙 (@boyslove.x)

instagram

Uhhhh y’all. Did you catch who they’re playing? This is the second side couple from TharnType 2. They’ve recast those characters with Boss playing Cirrus and Noeul playing Phugun. I believe @absolutebl called their dynamic in that show something like daddy/boy. I remember Phugun being very babyish and playing with a lot of stuffed animals…

This is because everyone lost their minds over that daddy scene in the LITA special, isn’t it? What have we done to ourselves. @negrowhat did you see this??

#hold me i’m scared #the boy next world #tharntype #thai bl #mame finally gave us an actual good show with wedding plan but y’all snubbed it so it’s back to trash #smh #shan shouts into the void

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dribs-and-drabbles · 4 months

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The Thai Communal Wardrobe item #13

Tharntype ep 2:

My Engineer ep 10:

Only Friends ep 1:

Intern in my Heart ep 8:

for @rocketturtle4 💙

#tharntype #my engineer #only friends the series #ofts #intern in my heart #intern in my heart the series #the thai communal wardrobe #a bl advent #dedicated to you since you pointed it out to me #and then I spotted the one in my engineer...#and even though the colour pattern is reversed I'm still calling it the 'same' shirt #edited to add intern in my heart

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negrowhat · 1 year

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Eboni!! I was reading your tags under that daddy gifset post for phayurain and how you said that it is your favorite out of all thai bl love scenes and it got me thinking. What are your top 10 favorite love making scene from another bl series.

Tyler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gawd let me go do some research and compile my data!

TharnType's shower scene in TharnType 2: 7 Years of Love. Since their shower scene was cut from s1 we were rewarded in s2 and when Tharn LIFTED Type I damn near ascended (we won't ponder on how Tharn was able to keep a tight grip when they were both covered in suds).

Tharn lifted Type a lot, I noticed, and it's one of my absolute favorite things. I'd also like to go on record and say that TT2 had some of THE best love scenes in all Thai BL.

The Green Bathroom Scene in KinnPorsche The Series. It's no secret I was OBSESSED with that scene. OBSESSED! It was literally perfection. Who knew a hand job could be so...personal...so intense...so erotic? Also it was filmed beautifully! The use of the mirror was *chef's kiss*

The Kitty Play scene in Bed Friend. Oh mah gah! That scene was epic! Everything from the request to the consent to Uea being in total control? King being at Uea's feet practically the whole time? Also the tongue????????????? It was superb.

Can I just go back on record and say that NetJames have NO business serving me everything. All their love scenes HIT!

Cai and Gav's first time in Gameboys 2/Gameboys the Movie. I was not expecting for that scene to be so GOOD! I wasn't expecting a love scene at all tbh. It was sweet and passionate and they practiced safe sex AND confirmed they were vers! 10/10. CaiReel actually own my whole heart.

I really hope EliKoy get their flowers for Gameboys one day.

Yu Zhen and Shi Lei's first time in Be Loved in House: I Do. You ever read in a romance novel about how the couple reaches their boiling point? Like the tension is too much to ignore? That's what their first time was like. It was an explosion of passion and relief. Like if they hadn't done it then they would've combusted. Also...more lifting...

The love scene in Check Out Ep 0...not to be confused with Check Out the Series. Anyways before Nine and Daonuea were ruined they had an amazing and blissful encounter after a fun resort party. They were freshly single strangers who happened to connect on their own solo trips to the same resort.

When I say Chahub and Best DELIVERED on the lust and passion???? THE CHEMISTRY?? They really had me excited for the series...which is why I was so bummed when it flopped. I do encourage EVERYONE to go watch Check Out Ep 0 tho...if it's still on YouTube.

The locker room scene in Between Us. Where do I even begin????? Moving from the pool to the locker rooms to escape the cameras? Win reminding Team he could back out at any time. The damn near visible SPARKS between them??? The way Win looked like he wanted to eat Team up with a spoon?? I was gagged.

The Couch scene in Manner of Death. Between Teacher Tan's hair pulling and Dr. Bun's slutty faces, I couldn't stop screaming. They really smashed in front of the evidence computer and their cactus. That adrenaline rush kicked in and had them going at it like it was their last night on Earth.

Fighter and Tutor's first time in Why R U the Series. I was obsessed with that scene. Loved that Tutor was complaining about Fighter turning him on and then trying to back out. I love that Fighter started at Tutor's feet. I love that Fighter's neck was bared for Tutor. I loved watching them fight for dominance. I loved seeing how absolutely breathless Tutor left Fighter.

Jim and Wen's "one night stand" in Moonlight Chicken. That was the most passionate and intimate one night stand I've ever seen. Uncle Jim covering Wen's face in kisses and lacing their fingers together? Wen kissing Jim all over????? For that to be EarthMix's first love scene they really delivered.

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chaos0pikachu · 1 year

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so I saw a post that was like “which NC were better kinnporsche or love in the air” and it made me think about sex scenes in BL/GL in general right, so like I know everyone jokes about kinnporsche being the “fuck nasty” show and like it is but it’s also closer to erotica than smut which is what love in the air leans more towards. now before ppl get all twitterpated and shit calm down i’m NOT saying lita is “bad” b/c it’s smutty. smut in general has a bad reputation b/c America is a puritanical society and most smut based romance media (like novels and film) are geared towards women but smut as a sub-genre of romance isn’t inherently a bad thing it’s just A Thing

my point is there’s a scale when it comes to NC scenes that I’ve noticed especially in more recent years, you have shows that lean more towards erotica - sexually explicit, but also with a focus on sensuality and passion - and other shows that are like, let’s go to pound town and have fun with it. Both are 100% valid, I don’t think either is “better” than the other they can coexist not everything is a competition

here’s a visual example of what I’m talking about:

forgive how messy my bisexual graph is but on one end you have Kinnporsche which are on the extreme end of Erotica: there’s nudity, and clear explicit sexual activities happening but there’s also an emphasis on passion, sensuality and emotion.

Take the infamous handjob scene in KP, yes they fucking nasty in Vegas bathroom rip Vegas taking those L’s but also there’s a focus on the line of Porsche’s waistline, there’s the close up of their faces as they find ecstasy, and the scene doesn’t end in climax but in an embrace with the camera lingering on their emotions.

In comparison to something like, LITA where the sex is much more straightforward (but no less good or whatever! again this isn’t a competition!!! both work and both are valid) there’s not a LACK of passion in LITA it’s just presented in a more straightforward manner.

You could argue that the real different between erotica and smut is how pretentious you wanna be and I implore y’all to argue that b/c I love seeing literary ppl get cranky lmaoooooo

Then you have shows like Big Dragon, contains nudity and the music etc it’s going for erotica - personally don’t think it fully accomplished that goal due to editing but it tried! - similarly Moonlight Chicken went for a more erotic and sensually route but kept it very, very tame so it leans more towards that middle section which is like, there’s the acknowledgement of sex happening but that’s kinda it. It’s acknowledged, Dean wants to bone Pharm, Pharm’s shy about it, they bone but it’s extremely non-explicit (which is ALSO fine again no competitions here) meanwhile on the other end of the scale you have shows that lean more towards smut, tharntype falls into this while it’s not nearly as explicit as Check Out or LITA it has That Vibe like if Mame was allowed and if MewGulf were down it probably would’ve been more explicit but overall it was just really horny.

I forgot to add Cutie Pie into the mix to which I woulda put it probably between UWMA and Moonlight Chicken, it also goes for a more sensual route but keeps things extremely tame in terms of presentation. Like yeah there’s tongue kissing but the energy is pretty tame

anyways

#big dragon the series #kinnporsche #moonlight chicken #tharntype #love in the air series #lita the series #chaos pikachu speaks #this isn't a this is good this is bad take #I can't emphasize this enough b/c ppl always be reading into shit #it's a here are two different styles of sex in media #here's the different ways these things are explored in media #and that's interesting!#chaos pikachu metas

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slowee00 · 11 months

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Imagine this with Yunho…🙊

I need someone to write a scenario with him using this. 🧎🏾‍♀️

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absolutebl · 7 months

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There was a surprising amount of sex in Be Mine Superstar! I really wasn’t expecting it…. Similarly, Love Syndrome had a LOT less sex than I was promised by the trailer…

Are there any BLs that had either many more or many less NC scenes than you were expecting before you started watching them?

BLs that exceeded (or underperformed) sexy expectations

Interesting question. So far, not that many Thai BLs. But I think that's just because I pay attention to the pairs and the actors in Thai stuff, and you sort of get a feel for what they will (and won't) take on. So in your examples: I know JaFirst did high heat so I expected the producers to lean into that advantage as part of BMSS because, frankly, it didn't have much else going for it.

I haven't watched Love Syndrome III yet but knowing Frank I wouldn't expect it to go super high heat in terms of actual physical contact.

I guess the ones that have surprised me are mostly out of Thailand are pulps that I knew nothing about going in. Let me see...

Thai BL that ended up being way hornier/better than I expected

Secret Crush On You - such a weird show but BillySeng brought IT, whatever IT is, they got it.

Love in Translation - yeah, what happened in that sauce isle boys? Very saucy. Whatever pun, more please.

2 Moons 3 - about on par with ForthBeam from 2 Moons 2 but nothing else in the previous 2 series would lead one to expect the horny we got in this show on the main.

Second Chance - yeah it was a throw away pulp and this studio is hit or miss on chemistry but it had one of the best kisses of its year.

Big Dragon - I don't know what I expected form the trailers, but it wasn't as good as it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show is naff, but the chemistry/heat levels are scorching.

Ghost Host, Ghost House - generally the horror stuff doesn't do chemistry well, but these two have some of the best chemistry EVER put into a pulp. I really hope we see more of them.

KinnPorsche - It's no secret I'm not as wild about this show as most, but I did think the VegasPete stuff was unexpectedly killer in all ways.

Oh My Sunshine Night - yeah it was exactly what one expects from OhmFluke but THE SIDES!!!! I mean... WHAT? I'm not mad, just pleasantly surprised.

TharnType - Okay but remember at the time what we'd had from Mame was LBC (relatively low heat) and other Thai stuff I was familiar with at the time was Make It Right, Love Sick, SOTUS, and UWMA. TT was way higher heat that I'd seen from Thailand before. And then...

Why R U? - ZeeSaint's "away trip to the beach" full on sex scenes plus repping for verse was just crazy at the time. Especially since Saint played Pete in LBC before this and Zee was new to BL. Add that to the very odd and disjointed (and miss-matched) SaifahZon counter story and WRU? was this insane all over the place viewing experience, including the heat levels. There was this "what will they do next?" kind of tension over the production. Not the story (because who was following that?) but the PRODUCTION. At the time, it was welcome, but truly bonkers. What a way to drive narrative tension... pure high heat chaos.

Thai BLs where chemistry failed meet my (relatively low) expectations

My Ride - honestly, if they had just gotten the kiss right this might even have earned a 10/10 from me

Unforgotten Night - ugh

Bite Me - double ugh

Friend Forever - I know I'm the only person who watched this but why could we not have gotten ONE kiss from the leads?

Nitman - studies have since shown us it is entirely not Noh's fault... see Oh My Sunshine Night

Wedding Plan - the leads were fine, but Mame usually fails me in every way except chemistry, so "fine" is not up to her usual standards. Those standards being predominantly "they hawt together" and nothing else. There wasn't even a side dish couple to pick up the slack noodle... so to speak.

Korean BL

For most of 2022 I was consistently getting surprised by Korean BL's chemsitry when it was good but now I've settled into half expecting it yet still being delighted when it happens and is well done.

I do think Semantic Error was a bit of a seed change for them.

The problem is, now we know they can do it, we are starting to get pissed when it's bad or entirely absent.

Taiwanese BL

Taiwan is the opposite of Korea.

I expect good chemistry and almost always always get it. I struggle to think of a time when they've disappointed me (in this arena). Maybe a few? But I tend to cut Taiwan more slack than other countries because they have so few BLs and they are generally so consistent. If they falter at all, at least the side couple will pick up the slack.

Japanese BL

I have no expectations of Japan. Life as a BL fan is a lot easier that way.

(source)

#asked and answered #chemistry in bl #thay bls that disappointed me #thai bls that surprised me #how i feel about korea Taiwan and japan and their chemistry #thai bl #taiwanese bl #korean bl #japanese bl #Secret Crush On You #2 moons 3 #Oh My Sunshine Night #tharntype #why r U?

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waitmyturtles · 10 months

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Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: TharnType and Gray Areas Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I’ll cover the very controversial TharnType, Asian stereotypes towards queerness, and the very difficult gray areas on how this show has been interpreted by various populations over the last few years.]

TW: homophobic and derogatory ideas and language against the queer community. Critical commentary on TharnType and MAME. This review is NOT for you if you are a TharnType or MAME Big Fan.

(I want to give very special thanks to @so-much-yet-to-learn and @lurkingshan for reviewing previous versions of this post and offering the most insightful feedback I could ask for. Thank you both so much.)

Alright. Deep breaths.

TharnType was a necessary addition to the Old GMMTV watchlist. It was. I had to watch it, for:

- the tremendous IMPACT this show has had on BL culture, along with MAME’s continued influence on the genre; - how this show affected shipper culture, and the rippling effects it’s had since then vis à vis MewGulf; - how this show continued to define “high heat” and “chemistry” in BL, and -- at least for me, possibly the most interesting point to needle on -- - what fans, ESPECIALLY the majority cishet fandom, are willing to compromise and/or equivocate on in regards to our values towards the queer community regarding what we consume in media, and how safe or unsafe it is for our queer family that this content exists in the first place.

I gotta say some stuff first before I get into this review. This is the worst show I’ve ever watched, in my own opinion. I offer this flag for MAME and TharnType fans in advance, as I get quite critical down below.

I am angry at this show, at MAME, at the BL industry for allowing this show to exist, and I unfortunately hold anger against Tee Bundit, who I know has since made shows, like Lovely Writer, that deeply criticized the BL industry (and I am enjoying his work now in Step By Step, even while I don’t hesitate to criticize it). ANYONE INVOLVED in the making of TharnType needs to hold personal and professional accountability for this show even existing. And I also think that fans need to hold THEMSELVES accountable if they defend it WITHOUT thinking about the long-term social implications of the existence of this show.

I want to also say that I need to check myself, OFTEN, as I write this, because I don’t want to be some fucking loudmouth, self-righteous ally-savior. I don’t. [My AMAZING drama friends, @lurkingshan and @bengiyo, have held me down during this watch. (Friends. Thank you. Good LORD.)]

I want this review to be as fair as possible to the nostalgia of the moment that this show aired; to note that this show gave high heat, which fans clearly demanded, and IS a worthy component of some dramas if it works with the rest of what the show has to offer by way of writing; and to note that many fans saw a chemistry in MewGulf that they hadn’t seen previously. I especially note that there may be survivors of sexual assault who related to certain pieces of this show, particularly through Type’s lens and his own anger.

With that very long introduction, I will note that I’m not going to talk too much about the show details itself. I don’t need to unwind on plot. For me -- FOR ME -- the show’s plot was problematic.

2019: earlier that year, before TT aired, you had He’s Coming To Me, which was BURIED by GMMTV, and was a TOUR DE FORCE of intricate storytelling and queer revelation. According to this amazing reblog by @so-much-yet-to-learn (another longtime BL observer who UTTERLY held me down during my TT watch, friend, I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR THE HOURS you spent me with talking about TT and other issues), shipper fans angry at Ohm and Singto went so far as to SHOW UP TO THE GMMTV BUILDING IN BANGKOK and PROTEST against the split of the KristSingto ship. This is why, in this TT review, I talk about fans needing to take responsibility and accountability for the media we consume. I believe TT exists in part because fans have allowed it to continue to exist in the universe of BL, and many even celebrate TT’s existence -- all while, in my own opinion -- much more compelling art existed before TT (Make It Right, He’s Coming To Me) and certainly after its airing.

In discussion with @absolutebl (yet another drama expert who held me down during my TT watch, THANK YOU, SENSEI), ABL Sensei brings up that, besides a natural tendency to criticize and blame MAME for our needing to have conversations about safety towards queer family, that TT does deserve to be criticized as a standalone piece of content.

I honestly don’t know, Sensei, if I’m mature enough to make that separation, but I will try. MAME herself doesn’t exist in a vacuum: she has an industry, from producers, to showrunners, to actors, to editors, to networks -- that join her in the making of her work. I’ll do my best to separate everything, but.

I noted in my review of Love By Chance that MAME traffics in common Asian stereotypes against the queer community. At the same time, I know that often, we talk about the yaoi origins of BL in Thailand. I think, over time, the explanation of the yaoi origination has been used as a means of explaining WHY certain tropes exist, such as abuse of a partner, bullying, etc. I want to note that while I acknowledge those origins, I also strongly note (as I did in the comments of my LBC review) that yaoi origins are themselves problematic, as created by a majority cishet female artist base, and thus I question the accurate representation of queer themes both in yaoi and in early and/or questionable Thai BL that lean into common stereotypes held by Asian nations. (That being said, I do DEEPLY ACKNOWLEDGE @so-much-yet-to-learn‘s point to me that many in the queer community still consumed this media, as the West was producing next-to-nothing by way of queer love and/or queer perspectives.)

Much of what I saw in LBC and TT -- gang rape, cheating, revenge, derogatory language, hurtful stereotypes of top/bottom and husband/wife -- are repeat, word-for-word stereotypes that I heard from my Asian family growing up. Examples of what I saw by way of problematic stereotypes in TharnType include:

- Tharn repeatedly and casually calling Type “his bitch,” - The use of the F word, repeatedly, by Type, - Type attacking his out classmates, and indirectly attacking his friend, Tum, - The assumption that because Tharn and Tar are gay, that they are promiscuous (even Techno assumes this while leaving Type alone with Tharn early in the series), - Techno himself not calling out Type for his homophobia throughout the series, - The use of gang rape as a means of revenge by Lhong to Tar,

and many more. I will also note that I was incredibly uncomfortable by Lhong’s redemption at the end, as if the story demanded that Lhong’s own actions that drove him to order grievous sexual violence against another man needed to be forgiven. That was a paradigm that seemed apologetic to his actions and did not sit well with me.

As I noted to @bengiyo: us international fans may be lulled to think that Thailand is majority progressive and accepting of the queer community based off of the BLs that we watch. It IS a much more progressive culture in SE Asia in supporting the queer community, and I would assume that gay culture is able to flourish in city centers, as opposed to rural areas.

But Thailand has NOT legalized same-sex marriage. And I posit that we in the West don’t actually realize that harmful stereotypes against the queer community absolutely still exist and flourish in Thailand, Taiwan, and elsewhere in Asia -- countries that certainly leverage BL as soft power, but nations in which familial or cultural expectations may STILL make ACTUAL coming out and public existence a dangerous or risky proposition. THIS SHIT IS GRAY. BL is fiction -- it is not reality. It is still dangerous -- YES, INCLUDING HERE IN THE STATES -- to be out in very many towns, cities, and communities around the world.

Now. When I went into TT, I understood, AS ASSUMED FACT, that MAME was a sexual assault survivor, who used this style of writing about queerness and queer love to process her own SA experiences. That equivocation gave me the serious jibbles, which I’ll talk about in a second, but I understood it to be the line that most BL observers have made about her work, and/or justification or explanation for her work existing.

I’ve since learned that this is not necessarily fact: that it is not known if MAME is an SA survivor, and that she is notoriously private and has not revealed much, if anything, about her own past.

So, from there, how do I process this? How do I process that it’s FANON -- NOT FACT -- that MAME may or may not write from a survivor’s perspective?

I also note here, thanks to the wonderful @so-much-yet-to-learn, that many fans who are SA survivors have written in the past about how they related to Type’s anger and/or homophobia after his own assault experience. I also understand that SA survivors have, in the past, had difficulty with strong rejections of TharnType, like the one I have composed here, in reaction to the fear that they cannot tell their own stories of internal anger against their perpetrators and the communities from which their attackers come from.

Thus, I want to note a VERY DIFFICULT PROPOSITION TO WORK THROUGH. What we’re facing here is that there may be people, SA survivors in particular, who related to Type’s homophobia. This is Type’s fictional homophobia -- as written by a very real, assumed-to-be female author. At the same time, I myself very much acknowledge that I still see stereotypes against the queer community, in a very Asian voice that I am familiar with, in MAME’s shows.

Let me tell you why this gives me, personally, the jibbles. Let’s assume that MAME is an SA survivor. As someone trained in the social services, I am not sure that I would advise a potential client to create very public content that is potentially harmful towards a minority community, as a means of their own personal processing. MAME is FAMOUS. Her work is POPULAR. Can we justify the dangers that her work poses -- the stereotypes and assumptions she traffics in against our queer family -- for her own psychological processing?

If I am her therapist, I am guiding her to instead journey map, to meditate, to advise her of HUNDREDS of other therapeutic psychological modalities to process her pain -- all modalities that do not set up a minority community to be stereotyped through very publicly consumed content.

I posit here -- MY OPINION, FAM -- that MAME has leveraged her own personal bigotry against the queer community in her shows for clout with Asian and international audiences that would not quibble about the harmfulness of the stereotypes that the show portrayed. And she’s gotten away with it for the utter control she has over her own content. AND SHE KNOWS THERE’S AN AUDIENCE FOR IT, so she keeps making what I call bigoted content.

I thought TT was a DANGEROUS show for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about queer family. And I am distraught at the BL industry for seeing dollar signs against that clout and investing in it.

The equivocating in support of TharnType certainly exists. There are people who view this show with nostalgia, as there still wasn’t the volume of BL content, with heat, in 2019 as we have today. There are people out there who may very well openly relate to Type’s homophobia as a character, and MAME’s homophobia as an author and as a human. Hell, Foei Patara, who we see in everything these days, shared a very anti-LGBTQ+ video on his Instagram just recently.

I DO have to give a nod to nostalgia. I have to try to be fair here. This is the ENTIRE POINT of the OGMMTVC. BL fans in 2019 wanted a thing. High heat, high chemistry. I know that there are fans that are AWARE of these high-level issues of MAME’s work. And yet, there are many that still look back on TharnType with fondness, because it brought something new to the field.

What I’m suffering from here is the equivocation of MAME’s work by way of analysis against a presumed opinion -- NOT fact -- that MAME is an SA survivor. That seems to open some sort of door to allow us to watch her work, despite the dangers of the stereotypes contained within her work.

The ethics of this. I’m not a strong enough person to go near that equivocation. Because I am not a survivor. I’m an Asian. In MAME’s voice, I hear the stereotypes against the queer community that I grew up with. And that’s where I’m writing this review. I’m hurt and appalled by her proliferating what I term to be dangerous viewpoints against my queer sisters and brothers -- assumptions that I heard growing up in my Indian community.

Fuck. Am I ever glad that I DIDN’T watch this show in 2019. I’m protected by a fortress of past and present works that I can rely on that proves that there are other arenas in which BL is being leveraged for good, for progressive art, for the introduction of ideas that support our queer family, AND that might also offer critical commentary on issues that affect other minority or vulnerable corners of society, à la Moonlight Chicken.

I haven’t even gotten to the MewArt scandal and the problematic nature of the MewGulf ship. All of those are also very important issues, but I can’t bring myself to get deep about them, because just talking about the show itself is a lot. But Mew Suppasit’s past alleged behavior is certainly problematic, and is worth considering if folks were to think about watching this show.

In any case: I’m never watching another MAME show again, ever. And as a side note, MewGulf didn’t do it for me. At this point in 2019, I feel like we’d seen ships with much better chemistry and even heat, like PerthSaint (a MAME ship, actually), OhmToey, MaxTul, and even OhmSingto and their utterly brilliant acting. @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle noted in the comments of one of my TT late-night posts that they didn’t see the MewGulf chemistry, and frankly, I didn’t either -- I didn’t see that these guys, as the acted characters of Tharn and Type, bodily and ferally WANTED AND VISCERALLY LOVED each other in fiction, the way that actor pairs like EarthMix, OhmNanon, FirstKhao, and others have since perfected in their work as their respective characters.

This post is about the responsibility that so-called “artists” bear when taking up the mantle of created content about a minority community, as well as the responsibility that we bear, as fans, as the majority cishet female fanbase, to consume this content. MAME and the slices of the BL industry that support her MUST understand that perpetuating stereotypes about a minority community WILL HAVE VISCERAL SOCIAL IMPACTS in REINFORCING THOSE STEREOTYPES, among a majority cishet fanbase and across society, to the danger of the existence of our queer family.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED MORE QUEER CONTENT BY QUEER FILMMAKERS.

That is the way in which this paradigm will be broken over time. And us in the cishet fanbase MUST STAND READY to support art -- in the words of dear friend @wen-kexing-apologist -- by queer family, for queer family, about queer family. We in the cishet majority bear a responsibility to break the paradigm of dangerous stereotypes, perpetrated by who create content through their own bigotry, either consciously or unconsciously -- or both.

[I finished TharnType in record time. I needed to get it out of my system. And now I’m fully invested in OffGun and having a DELIGHTFUL time with Theory of Love: I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS SUBVERSIVE, MINDBENDING SHOW. Ooooooooooooooooooh. Right up my alley! Hopefully I can muster my usual Monday review for ToL -- let’s see. I still feel somewhat broken by TT, but ToL and OffGun have been SUCH a salve.

Here’s the list as it stands currently. We have two changes! First, thanks to a suggestion by @wen-kexing-apologist and @lurkingshan, I’m adding a non-BL (!!!!) to the list in 3 Will Be Free. I have a number of separate Jojo Tichakorn priorities to achieve before Only Friends airs, and this is a big one; as this is a show from 2019, I want to see where GMMTV was willing to go in pushing queer content in non-BLs, and this is the perfect time to watch it. I’ll still include a review in this space!

And, per @absolutebl Sensei’s suggestion, I’ve added YYY (2020) to this, to enjoy Cheewin unhinged in what seems to be a disaster of a show -- but an important one for real queer representation (THANK YOU, SENSEI!). I’m excited for chaos. I’m watching it out of chronology with ITSAY and planning it as a mental break. As always, I’ll take any feedback on the list as it stands!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 11) TharnType (2019) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (I’m watching this out of order just to get familiar with OffGun before Theory of Love -- will likely not review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) (watching) 14) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (not a BL or an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn including queer content in non-BLs) 15) Dew the Movie (2019) (not an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but I want to watch this in chronological order with everything else) 16) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) 17) 2gether (2020) 18) Still 2gether (2020) 19) I Told Sunset About You (2020) 20) YYY (2020, out of chronology) 21) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) 22) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 23) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS 24) Lovely Writer (2021) 25) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 26) Not Me (2021-2022) 27) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 28) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 29) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 30) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 31) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 32) GAP the Series (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 33) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 34) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 35) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults)]

#turtles catches up with old gmmtv #turtles catches up with thai BLs #turtles catches up with the essential BLs #the old gmmtv challenge #ogmmtvc #tharntype #tharn x type #type x tharn #mew suppasit #gulf kanawut #mewgulf #bigotry in asian media #discrimination in asian media #discrimination in BLs #allyship

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