#sotus meta
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Back in January of 2021, I made a thread on Twitter praising SOTUS S, so I'm gonna post it here for safekeeping (with some inclusions and edits – there's no character limit here yay) because it's still one of my favorite threads.
SOTUS S - One of My Favorite Series in Terms of Writing and Why I Love It as Much as I Do
One of my favorite aspects of SOTUS S is also something I see it widely critiqued for, so lemme heap some well-deserved praise on my beloved series.
I think Arthit's awkward, uncomfortable, and almost cold behavior is realistic, because That's the Point.
Allow me to explain.
Okay, so here's the timeline as I understand it:
• SOTUS takes place during Kongphob's first year and Arthit's third
• The special scenes at the end of SOTUS S episodes are during Kongphob's first/second year and Arthit's third/fourth year
• The main storyline of SOTUS S is set during Kongphob's third year as head hazer and Arthit's post-graduation entry into the working world
The reason I start by outlining that is to highlight a brilliant thing SOTUS S does with two timelines compared to SOTUS, which only has one:
SOTUS S shows us two very different stages of their relationship.
When they were in university together and part of the same world:
and
2. After they've been separated into different worlds:
That difference fuels and contextualizes the central conflict of SOTUS S: Arthit closeting himself and his relationship from his coworkers.
So why does he do that?
Well, Arthit is two years older than Kongphob, and when they start dating, he already has an established level of status at their university. He has a close circle of friends who stand up for him and sacrifice for him, he has the respect of his juniors and seniors, and he also maintains a high academic standing. It tracks that Arthit at this stage of his life is at his most open and confident with his relationship with Kongphob. Everyone knows, and he's fine.
At the end of SOTUS, he happily tells everyone that they're dating. This is immediately after they've publicly exchanged a matching set of bracelets that Arthit bought to replace the SOTUS string.
When Kongphob's car breaks down, Arthit shuttles Kongphob to his next class on the back of his bike. Kongphob asks if he can hold onto him, Arthit says no, and then he only smirks and shakes his head when Kongphob cheekily holds onto him anyway. (It's what they're into, don't kinkshame them.)
While talking about an upcoming meteor shower, Arthit's immediate reaction to Kongphob telling him they won't be able to see it in Bangkok is to earnestly suggest they take a trip to see one together.
And when Kongphob is absolutely delighted, this delights Arthit.
When Kongphob keeps up his "but I wanna see the meteor shower" bit, Arthit offers to take him to the planetarium.
At which point, Kongphob just goes in for the move he intended from the start:
This is why Arthit's reluctant to ever give in: there's no game of chicken Kongphob would ever lose at.
Then Arthit actually gets his own extremely rare Uno Reverse moment:
I fuckin' love this scene. Look at Kongphob's face. This is, like, the thousandth time he's envisioning their engagement, wedding, and honeymoon simultaneously.
(Did I have to go through that whole scene to prove any kind of point? NOPE. I just really like it. They're idiots. <3)
In another scene that I interpret as shortly following SOTUS and the start of their relationship, Kongphob hurts his foot and Arthit offers to carry him on his back. The way Kongphob looks up at him is like a knife in my heart; and then when Arthit actually follows through and carries him, he's so happy.
He also surprises Kongphob with a gift on Valentine's Day in the middle of campus in broad daylight. He finished his work early purely to see Kongphob. I think he's genuinely one of the most devoted boyfriends we see in all of Thai BL.
While they're at university together, Arthit's never closed off about their relationship. Everyone knows they're dating, and Arthit does not mind. (I mean, he was the first to approach Kongphob when Kongphob was visiting their university, after all. He also initiated their first kiss. Grabbed him by the tie, even.)
The thing is, Arthit is also shy. He's pretty well-established as an introvert who intellectually understands the SOTUS system, but he isn't naturally good with people, and it leads to all the issues with the system that we see in SOTUS. In his defense, though, we do find out that it was even worse when he was a first-year, and he is actively trying to do a better job. He's just, y'know, obsessed with 0062 and probably doesn't know anyone else's name. (I kid, but…do I though. Do you, Arthit. Speak up.)
In the main storyline of SOTUS S, though, Arthit is closed off. He does mind. He's afraid. So much more than he ever was before. And why?
Because he's left the world where he was known and respected and loved. That's the world Kongphob still lives in. When Arthit comes back to campus for the string-tying ceremony to support Kongphob, he's in Kongphob's safe space, not his. It isn't where Arthit belongs anymore, and it's clear from his body language that he knows it.
His new world, his new community, is at work. In sales. As an introvert. It's a department where he doesn't feel comfortable, one he actively wants to transfer out of. In this series, he's not an introvert in a position of power like he was in SOTUS; instead, he's an introvert on the bottom rung of a company. He came from a world where cogs are treasures that represent the heart to a world where cogs are cheap and replaceable because they're a dime a dozen.
This is why SOTUS S is mostly from Arthit's perspective: in SOTUS, Kongphob was the one in a new world figuring out his place there. By taking away Arthit's comfort zone, he's the one who has to confront his flaws and improve.
One of my favorite scenes is in episode one. Arthit is out to dinner with his new coworkers, and he's only given ONE opportunity to talk about his boyfriend naturally. His coworker asks indirectly if he has a significant other, and he's nervous but ready to say yes—and then just as he starts to speak, he's cut off, and the courage visibly drains out of him.
That's it. He's pressured himself back into the closet.
No one at that table said anything negative about queer people. No one gave him even a hint that they would be prejudiced against him, but he's in a new place and he's already so shy he's made faster friends with Bonus, the office fish. That's the flaw he has to overcome: he overthinks, and then he spirals. (He does it in Our Skyy too, which I love because fears often manifest in different ways, and it can take years to fully overcome them. Arthit does grow and change over time, but he's still inherently shy and anxious, and he's never framed by the narrative as in the wrong for that. He's only ever framed to be wrong for the harmful decisions he makes as a result of his fear.)
We saw him spiral in SOTUS when he admitted to Knot his fears about a potential future relationship with Kongphob. Kongphob absently mentioned his niece to Arthit one time and Arthit sent himself into a tailspin thinking he'd never be enough for Kongphob because they'd never be able to have biological kids so obviously Kongphob would resent him for it so why even start anything when their relationship would inevitably end in a fiery plane crash at the base of a smallish mountain in the Himalayas.
You can almost hear Arthit's mind working during that restaurant scene: he's new in a department he doesn't feel suited to, he's on the bottom rung, he doesn't understand certain office protocols that have already gotten him yelled at by a very senior supervisor, and his senior John is actively taking advantage of his kindness and politeness using the excuse of sharing the same alma mater (the memories of which Arthit loves and cherishes, and where he met the person he loves most). Now, because he didn't speak up when it was natural to, he feels he has to hide his relationship, too. And why not? What if they are bigoted? What if they do think less of him? What if he never gets a place in the production department? What if what if what if.
And that's on top of what Kongphob says to M at the start of the series: that they hardly see each other because of Arthit's job and Kongphob's hazing activities. We see in a shot that's framed through Kongphob's perspective that Arthit seems tired and disheartened even when he's with his friends after work. This is why I love the writing in SOTUS S: it's a Big Fish in a Small Pond Becomes Small Fish in a Big Ocean story. (His company is even called Ocean Electric, which is probably a coincidence but still amuses me. And again, he makes friends with a small fish in a bowl.)
It's also at its core a story about how an openly queer character loses their confidence when they enter the working world. And boy do I have experience with that, so this series hits a very deep chord for me.
Okay, back to SOTUS S. To Kongphob, specifically.
We're shown that Kongphob doesn't realize how much things between them are changing. He still lives in the safety of their university where he's head hazer, where Arthit was his boyfriend and a senior he and everyone else admired. Through no fault of his own, Kongphob probably can't conceive of Arthit feeling afraid the way he is.
When he shows up at Arthit's office, this is probably no different in his mind to meeting Arthit somewhere on campus after class. And thanks to the post-episode scenes of their past, we see how close they were before Arthit graduated, how much time they spent together. For Arthit to panic and tell him with annoyance, "You should have told me before you came here," it's no wonder Kongphob is taken aback and obviously hurt.
But because Arthit is still near the start of his character arc, Arthit won't tell him what he's feeling. I'd venture a guess that it's mostly pride. He's two years older than Kongphob, and while Arthit repeatedly makes the choice to use polite Thai pronouns with Kongphob that equalize them more and put them on more even ground with each other, he still feels responsible for him and their relationship. (It isn't made clear in the series, but the SOTUS S novel explains that the biggest part of why he's dismayed when he sees the portrait of Kongphob's family is that, again, he spirals and panics about their relationship potentially hurting Kongphob, who in Arthit's eyes now has much more to lose through bigotry than he does.)
Instead of confiding in Kongphob, Arthit asks for advance warning in the future. Not because he's afraid of being outed—his actual fear—but for practical reasons that don't sound unreasonable (he might be out or meeting with a client), so Kongphob accepts his explanation and doesn't question him.
The scene after this is crucial, because it shows that while Arthit's taken a hit in how he acts publicly, he's still devoted and affectionate privately. They have dinner together, Arthit gives Kongphob head hazer advice, accepts Kongphob's invitation to attend a hazer event and visibly just enjoys goofing off with him. Arthit adores Kongphob, and he shows him in his own way where he's comfortable.
And of course, Kongphob isn't perfect, either. He has his own communication issues, he oversteps Arthit's boundaries just like he did in SOTUS, and he considers everything thoroughly before he ever brings it up to Arthit. He's gone from an upstart first-year who questioned everything Arthit did, to the one who's holding their relationship together by taking on every obstacle for both of them, which ends in his emotional collapse later. He even refuses to cry in front of Arthit (in ALL THREE iterations of SOTUS).
That's what makes their relationship feel so authentic to me. They're both at fault by not talking about what's going wrong, and it's relatable and painful because we're shown that they're just trying to protect themselves and each other. In every iteration of SOTUS, Arthit's biggest fear is that their relationship will negatively affect Kongphob, and Kongphob's is…losing Arthit.
The problem has never been that Kongphob and Arthit don't love each other enough.
The problem is that both of them keep trying to take the lead from each other until their biggest fears bring out their worst flaws: Kongphob pushes, and Arthit runs.
It's why their resolution at the office party is so perfect, even if it had to give lethal doses of secondhand embarrassment to some members the audience. (Good job, Arthit, no one'll even remember the beach photo now.) This scene addresses both of their fears simultaneously, because they're intertwined: Arthit chooses to prioritize his relationship above all else, and by doing so, he proves to Kongphob that he won't lose him. He doesn't just apologize and say he'll do better: he takes a bat to the emergency glass and says, "There. Now we're public again."
And luckily Kongphob's, y'know. Very into that.
Arthit reclaims that confidence he had back in university in a scene that parallels the rooftop party in SOTUS, but now it's not just in front of their peers: it's before the world.
#kiranokira meta#sotus meta#sotus the series#kongart#kongarthit#krist perawat#singto prachaya#i always wanted to add more to the thread but twitter doesn't work like that#ahhhh i could talk about kongart all day i love them so much#sotus sotus sotus [cheerful chanting]
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Turtles Catches Up with Old GMMTV: SOTUS 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. First official Old GMMTV Challenge review up: SOTUS.]
[NOTE, March 23, 2024: I want to note, from the future!, that my thoughts on Krist Perawat, his acting, and his career trajectory regarding his personal controversies, have changed quite a bit since the publication of this 2023 post. There is excellent commentary out there about the detrimental impact of fandom behavior on Krist and his reputation over the years that I’ve been influenced by, and his comeback to BL in Be My Favorite was a risk that I supported. I have a lot of nostalgia for SOTUS and SOTUS S now, and their impact on the Thai BL genre since their airings.]
I spent a lot of the weekend wrapping my head around the MANY thoughts I have about SOTUS -- but first, I want to say that the FEEDBACK I received on questions that I posted throughout my watch of the show really heartened me. THANK YOU, THANK YOU (!!!) to EVERYONE who made helpful comments on my posts (here, here, here, here, especially here, and here). All of you helping to set me up for how I understand the historical timeline of the development of BLs in Thailand was absolutely necessary for the lenses in which I ultimately watched the show.
And I think there’s a number of perspectives I ended up adopting over the course of my watch. It might help me to write this piece if I list out those lenses now:
- Lens #1: WHY, OH MY GOD, WHY WAS KRIST CAST IN THIS ROLE
- Lens #2: People had to have enjoyed this in 2016 because there was nothing else like it available at the time, despite Krust
- Lens #3: Maybe the first two points are related
- Lens #4: Singto is reaching remarkable-level here
- Lens #5: Maybe all of these points will help me understand why many fans still think of this show fondly, despite the subsequent Krust/KrustSingto drama and possibly questionable points made on sexuality and sexual preferences.
More than anything else, I think it helped me to watch this show while recognizing that I’m an #old. Being early middle-aged (early, I tell ya) helps me, literally everyday, to remember that history guides me to understand the world in which I view it now. So to watch a show from 2016, which is long-ago or not-that-long-ago, depending on your frame of reference, means that I was watching history. And history is.... a reflection of that one, singular moment in time, with the context of past events, people, and places influencing that moment in time.
I went out of order on the Old GMMTV Challenge because I was too eagerly curious about Singto to watch Love Sick first, and wait on SOTUS (as I’m planning to reward myself after this journey with a big old watch party of He’s Coming to Me, running back to my snuggly Ohm/Nanon rabbithole).
But as well, speaking of Bad Buddy: I also felt like I really wanted to get SOTUS under my belt after a number of separate and FABULOUS conversations about how Bad Buddy had purposefully relied on a BL framework (citing @miscellar), and how Aof and his team, plus Nanon and Ohm themselves, had set out essentially to create a critical meta-BL, complete with embedded reflection on BL tropes -- exactly the sorts of tropes that were borne out of SOTUS. (Here and here are two links to said fabulous conversations.)
I probably think about Bad Buddy at least once a day by way of how deeply layered it was a drama, so: to SOTUS I needed to go, to understand the tropes framework that @miscellar and others opined on, and for me to undergo a learning experience about how exactly today’s BLs are influenced by the ones that started the genre in Thailand.
Considering the lenses I listed above, I’ll say this: at the age I was at in 2016, and knowing that, as an Asian, I’ve always had a craving for shows by Asians, set in Asia, within Asian family and social systems, about issues of acceptance and equity felt by Asians: I predict that, save for Krust’s performance, I would have been CRAZY for SOTUS as a new kind of show that I wanted and needed to watch.
During my excellent conversations with the Tumblr family, I came to understand that SOTUS was Thailand’s first true BL. It centered on a same-sex attraction-to-relationship, established various levels of perspectives and commentaries on power dynamics, and set up a number of important tropes -- pink milk, university settings, engineering-as-gay, the gay-for-you motif, side couples and best friends, etc. -- that we then saw and see repeated in subsequent BLs.
Where I was at in 2016 -- I would have eaten it almost all of it up.
Now? Now, I get to see all the problematic factors about it, through the lens of history.
So I want to be fair about the commentary this show receives NOW, because one thing I heard repeated in the feedback I received over the past couple weeks, in part, was about nostalgia. Reflecting particularly on Singto’s performance as Kongpob -- I mean, with a slightly more sophisticated, mature, well-rounded, better-written script, his performance would have been totally groundbreaking.
But I THINK, both from a 2016-lens and from a now-lens, that the script was terribly choppy. I don’t think the script did justice for the risks this show was otherwise willing to take. And I think, again, that’s because SOTUS is a product of its time, where there were no precedents for how to otherwise tell Kong’s story -- and that SOTUS was breaking the ground that the current crop of GMMTV’s screenwriters and directors are now tending. In essence: GMMTV was experimenting with HOW to tell the CENTERED story of a same-sex relationship, and we saw that unfold in SOTUS’s real time.
Besides the choppy script, this show ultimately did not achieve creative groundbreaking status, for me, because of Krist. Not to be hyperbolic, but he’s one of the worst actors I’ve seen in an Asian drama, and I’ve watched some bad KBS daytime shit. If someone tells me that Krust has been great in certain cishet shows, that’s fine, but I’m not running to them (and now I’m SO disappointed about The Jungle, which I was otherwise looking forward to this year). And this feeling is not at all inclusive of his actual problematic homophobic behavior. He was just terrible in SOTUS.
We know and have seen tsundere leads. We all love our biases who have played tsundere leads. The problem with Krust is that he had zero reactivity and chemistry to an excellent Singto, regardless of the script, regardless of his acting methodology, if he had any to begin with.
So I have to think: did GMMTV cast him because, maybe, he was having trouble getting other projects that would have required, say, acting? And GMMTV was like, well, this guy’s under contract, let’s throw him a bone with this experimental show we’re doing, and see how it goes?
I am tending to think that that’s possibly what happened. And maybe, even, GMMTV could not have predicted how FANTASTIC Singto would be -- and, therefore, how wide the divide would have been between their performances. And, how much GMMTV was risking by putting this mismatched pair together for what ultimately was groundbreaking material.
GMMTV couldn’t have predicted the future, right? Hollywood tries with its predictive models, but this was new ground for this company.
Where the choppy script and Krust’s terrible acting really fails the show is, as I mentioned earlier, the issue that I bring up about power dynamics. Krust as Arthit was going to do something in this show that was rare at that moment: Arthit was going to move from a socially majority position to a minority position by falling in love with Kongpob.
That’s a big deal. That happens in two of my most dearest BLs, Old Fashion Cupcake and Cherry Magic, and many others, of course. The Asian collectivist perspective plays huge parts in both shows, unconsciously, that lead to the uke leads considering taking up with their semes. And it happens to Arthit, too. In the Asian collectivist perspective -- you, as a uke, respond empathically, and maybe even try to meet your seme where your seme is at.
I think the only times that I saw Krust at least trying to show up in this show was by way of this power dynamic move, to attempt to respond to Kong/Singto emotionally. There was a little eye contact. There was a little instinctual responsiveness. But otherwise, there was really a lot of dead air and dead space, leveraged by an only-okay soundtrack that left Krust and Singto struggling to act in essential silence, with Krust barely scraping by on attempting to communicate his struggle in his developing attraction to Kong.
I’m just wondering to myself: how much do I blame the actual show itself -- like the script, the director, the writers, etc. -- about how it ended up this way? I think I ultimately have a sympathetic heart about it, again, because of the history, and my betting (based on everything that everyone here on Tumblr has taught me about) that again, this was a kind of experiment for GMMTV, without the company knowing how HUGE KrustSingto would become.
Other points about the show that I want to quickly capture before I wrap up on Kong/Singto:
- The hazing, while concerning, didn’t make me swerve, as it was clear from the start that it was sanctioned by their school. I want to say that this kind of hazing is important to many Asian school social systems, but I know things have changed a ton since I was a kid. As with almost all social and family systems, the hazing, I think, offered another commentary on power dynamics that I think was reflected throughout the show. I thought the hazing was actually an interesting mirror to what Kong and Arthit were struggling with individually, between themselves.
- I LOVED THE SIDE CHARACTERS. M, Wad, Prae, May. They were fun, well-written, and WELL-ACTED.
I want to wrap this up with a reflection on Singto/Kong and his acting vis à vis the script.
Going back to the 2016 moment-in-time frame: I know I would have gone crazy for him seven years ago. Forget about it. Mans totally rose to the occasion of what this show was doing. I think the script ultimately failed to truly capture what he was willing to throw. (And that leads me to not being surprised that he was then subsequently paired with various leads in future shows, probably to try to capture a magic that he clearly demonstrated in SOTUS.)
In particular: I did NOT think the script did Kong justice by keeping the revelation about his budding attraction to Arthit until episode 11 (I *think* it was episode 11, but I could be wrong, and I’m not going back to fact-check, ha). I want to think that that’s one of the (many) kinds of mistakes that GMMTV is correcting for now. The comments about wives, the insistent “you like me”s -- they were non-contextual for much of the show, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE Krust could not catch a damn ball. That’s what ultimately broke me about this show. And I think that demonstrated a lack of fluency about how GMMTV could write scripts on same-sex attraction.
As well, as I wrote in this post -- the post-Arthit-coming-out discussion between Kong and M threw me. M asks Kong -- “do you like men?”
And Kong had SUCH a specific answer. To me, as I wrote previously: his answer was, I definitely don’t like men. I’m definitely not gay. I just like Arthit.
My guess is, for Thailand’s first full-fledged BL in 2016 -- this dialogue HAD to be written this way. To enter into the kind of territory we see NOW, as we saw in Moonlight Chicken -- where we see one man’s (Jim’s) struggle with IDENTIFYING himself as gay, AND presenting another man AS HIS boyfriend -- we had to START somewhere. That somewhere was SOTUS, in almost total opposite territory, where the concept of the admission-of-gay could not be contemplated.
@bengiyo’s comments in the last post I linked above, in particular, collide in part with @absolutebl‘s analysis on the Asian collectivist vision. However, I can’t help but compare this issue, again, to what we recently saw in Moonlight Chicken...where conversations about Jim, about Li Ming, and with Wen, a fully out and identified queer man, all touched upon individual identity.
That’s where we are -- that’s where we CAN be -- now, in 2023, and in the near future. SOTUS was important for me to watch to understand how we ended up here, now, for what was okay and was not okay, in 2016.
It’s okay, now, to appreciate collectivism WHILE ALSO identifying oneself as queer/gay. At least, it’s okay in fantasy BL-land. (Again, I’d peep @bengiyo’s comments about how that may not be reflective of what domestic Thai queer audiences may be feeling about these shows.)
I have a lot more understanding to undertake regarding how Asian queer audiences see this. But at least from the perspective of this first-generation Asian American -- to see the progression of history as the doors slowly open, from dramas to Asian (and other) audiences regarding how one can identify oneself, safely and happily -- that’s a big deal, and I see how SOTUS was a harbinger of things to come.
Singto was simply up to the task to break ground in this show, and it’s such a shame that he was let down, in my opinion, by his co-star. The subsequent history of that pairing breaks my heart, because I think it taints a lot of what SOTUS ended up bringing to the table. I’m glad we have Aof and Bad Buddy, now, to serve in part as a reflection for what SOTUS did, and how BLs and BL tropes could age, be manipulated, and be IMPROVED and developed upon, over the course of time. But the actual history of KrustSingto messes me up a lot in regards to how I might feel nostalgic, myself, for SOTUS, as I learn more about classic BLs.
It’s a confusing mindspace to be in, to move backwards in time to understand how things have developed -- but I gain such a bigger appreciation for the shows I’ve fallen in love with now, over these recent months, for where they came from.
[I want to give HUGE thanks to @absolutebl, @bengiyo, @nieves-de-sugui, @respectthepetty, @miscellar (especially for all the BBS context), @lurkingshan, @wen-kexing-apologist, @shortpplfedup, @clairificusrex, @dribs-and-drabbles, and everyone else who made comments in my SOTUS watch posts. All of you are my historians. More than the fun of writing these reviews is interacting and conversing with the Tumblr fam.]
(Love Sick is on deck. If anyone is following this journey, I’ll be fast-forwarding through the second season, ha -- I can’t commit to 36 lakorn-length episodes. I also have a HUGE and lengthy wedding trip coming up in a couple weeks. So the conclusion of this project will be delayed, but definitely know that I’ll be posting thoughts here and there as I plod through.)
#sotus#sotus the series#sotus meta#sotus the series meta#krist perawat#singto prachaya#kristsingto#turtles catches up with old gmmtv#the old gmmtv challenge
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Me: seeing someone's analysis of SOTUS
Me: oooh it is so interesting, I watched SOTUS way before Bad Buddy and Not Me entered my life and I enjoyed it a lot, but I know it probably isn't up to "green flag" standards anymore, I'm rly curious to see people's opinions who watch SOTUS nowadays after other BLs!
The post: *hates on Krist because people told them to*
Me: ah ffs *closes it right away*
#no but for real#how people can dive into understanding the origins of Thai BLa and think about all the tropes and write metas and discussions....#yet not even doing research about actors and base their opinion by headlines and baseless hate people parrotted over the internet#like?? it doesnt take much time?? to form your own opinion??#also Krist really doesnt deserve the slander of intl fans and erasure of all his good qualities#and say what you want but Arthit is such a fascinating character and I enjoyed SOTUS mostly because of Krist's portrayal of him#sotus#thai bls#of course Singto is great too#but hisbcharacter was also flawed so what#shoutout to Rips who actually watched SOTUS unbiased and found it lovely
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im. probably going to gif more bmf. i've been got. its over
#i didnt originally plan to watch it. not bc of any krist things#(prior to the announcement trailer i genuinely did not know who he was. i'm new at this i've never seen sotus)#(i did choose to engage after learning the context tho so. take that as u will i guess)#but bc i just wasn't really interested (and also i've been. not in a place to be keeping up eith things most of june & july)#but everyone's meta and enthusiastic recs convinced me#and gawin's pretty pretty face#and... like. i haven't seen the hug yet#there is a niche i could fill here#anyway. it's pretty late right now so maybe not like. literally Right Now#sleeby#rowan chatter#re: bmf
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btw my use of the queue feature is for me alone because I can put posts in there that I like and I spend days like excitedly checking to see what is posting tomorrow and if that cool post I want to see is next. yes I realize this is weird yes I realize I can just post those posts whenever. it's about giving me something to look forward to
#currently waiting for a sotus post that i wrote a whole meta in the tags (<- no one is surprised)#ignore me
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Welcome to Tumblr BL Fandom - Here’s Your Primer
memes, insider trading & obsession meta post
The Death Stairs
They haunt us. These same stairs constantly pop up in Thai BLs and we worry that someone is going to die on them (or fuck on them, or both).
BL origin = unknown, we only recently started tracking them (but the actual origin of the death stairs is 99 Home Studio117, RPC6+JM3 ซอย รามอินทรา 117 Min Buri, Bangkok 10510, Thailand. It appears to be a house rented out for filming. Honestly? They should AirBnB that level of fame. I’d rent it, buy a cactus and a chili plant, just for the photo op.)
Rain Makes BL Boys Sick
For which the only solution is a sponge bath administered by another boy with a bowl of water and a damp white towel.
We don’t make the rules, the BL gods do.
origin of the rain=fever = cultural
BL origin for the sponge bath = 2014′s Love Sick
The gayest bridge in Thailand
The Rama VII Bridge has appeared in so many Thai BLs - boys kiss on it and in front of it... A LOT.
BL origin = SOTUS 2016
Honor the Crumbs
Side dishes given very little screen time always end up being everyone’s favorites (especially in the pulps). Also falls under side dish syndrome. This is mostly a Thai BL thing, since they’re usually the BLs featuring more than one couple. (Taiwan is getting there, tho.)
BL origin = @heretherebedork
The Engineering Department is Gay (also Pink Milk)
The hot Thai boy in the engineering smock (red or blue) is either gay or a chaos bisexual. There are no exceptions.
BL origin = SOTUS 2016
Korea’s BL bubble
A world where queer is simply accepted and a hostile society doesn’t exist.
Origin, probably Strongberry’s 2017-2018 shorts, but best known starters are 2020′s Mr Heart & Wish You
Namgoong award for best wingman
Supportive straight(ish) besties! Appear throughout BL history, but really reached peak awesome with Namgoong, so a collection of us just started saying “thank you, Namgoong” whenever this archetype shows up.
BL origin, Light on Me
Korea’s BL formula
(1 short Kpop idol + 1 tall actor / random separation in the last half of the final episode) x a small cast = KBL (usually 6-8 episodes totaling under 2 hrs)
BL origin, 2015′s The Lover
Korean male beauty ideals here.
Korea figured out boys can kiss
To be fair Strongberry always knew this and Just Friends? gave it to us in 2005, it’s just they forgot for a while. A long while.
origin = Korean 2022 BL
speaking of...
Dead fish kisses
This tradition carried for years by Japan’s light BL, early Thai BL like Love Sick, & then Korea. It took Thailand’s 2016 BL (specifically elder gods KarnNut & MaxTul) to start breaking this curse. Could be argued that Ohm in 2016′s Make it Right also paved the way (while BoomPeak exemplify dead fish kissing).
origin = early 2000s JBL when it was still known as Live Action Yaoi
Taiwan = the kings of high heat
Taiwan always serves up the most consistent and authentic chemistry, kisses, and higher heat. Thailand has it as well, but isn’t as consistent about it.
BL origin = 2017 HIStory franchise and every Taiwanese BL since (although Eternal Summer probably started it in 2006)
Taiwan’s marriage equality
Taiwan was the first to feature sanctioned gay marriage in a BL, the first to depict queer engagements - and they regularly like to remind us that it’s legal there. As they should.
BL origin = HIStory 2: Right or Wrong 2017
Thailand’s food = love
Lovers cook, serve, feed, and/or eat together. Always. At least something along these lines in every Thai BL.
origin, well just Thailand in general (and Asia to be fair), but probably SOTUS & Love Sick
Vietnam’s domesticity
Vietnam always depicts at least some of their characters in a home environment, with family life, adopted kids, and more.
BL origin = Tein Bromance Extra
Cactus baby (and chili plant younger sibling)
Hilariously a cactus plant was deployed as a courting gift, spy device, and blooming representation of sexual awakening in MaxTul vehicle Manner of Death. Tumblr adopted that cactus baby.
BL origin = Manner of Death 2021
What China Did
Massive wholesale censorship curtailed/abruptly cut short multiple shows in progress in 2016-2017. Also resulted in rewriting and reshooting of those in production, and more weird and invidious things. This also showed up as a purge (and likely persecution) of Chinese queer vloggers on YouTube, the imprisonment of several danmai authors, and eventually the censored bromances we now get today.
BL origin victim = Addicted, Advance Bravely, etc...
Japan’s lanes
Japan’s propensity to lean in favor of either
sweet, campy, and very low heat live action yaoi shot in a manga style with HEA, or
dark, gritty high heat queer cinema and pinks shot in an atmospheric style with tragic endings
BL origin, Boys Love 2006 & Takumi-kun 2007
History of Japanese BL here and the weeds of Japanese BL here.
#In Strongberry We Trust
Small, queer, Korean production house Strongberry had been producing short form pro-queer KBL successfully for years, long before larger studios picked BL up. But when they transitioned to long form in 2022, we were a little scared they wouldn’t stick the landing. #InStrongberryWeTrust became our mantra.
BL origin = Choco Milk Shake 2022
Faen Fatal(e)
A side character, usually an ex-girlfriend but occasionally an ex-boyfriend, whose sole purpose is as a plot device to drive a wedge between the leads, or cause jealousy.
BL origin = Love Sick
The Thai BL Pulps
Very low budget BL with terrible sound, crazy soapy plots, and earnest acting.
BL origin = Make It Right 2016 (term coined by @heretherebedork & self)
The Mame effect
AKA #oh mame must you?
The mameverse features great characters, killer actor chemistry, and higher heat combined with terrible damaging tropes and non-sensical plot devices.
BL origin = TharnType (although technically started in Love By Chance)
The 2 Moons Curse
When a popular BL franchise struggles to survive over one season and keeps having to recast the leads.
BL origin = 2Moons original 2017
Dread Episode 11
AKA Doom of Ep 11
Explained here.
Golden Rules of BL
Never trust:
a Thai trailer,
a Viki Category,
a Vietnamese sub,
an MDL description,
a Taiwanese title,
Japan,
or a BL made before 2014.
Origin = me over the years
BLoundary Test: has the seme ever respected a single boundary?
BLechdel Test. 2 ukes discuss something that is not their seme(s). Also uke indicates actual interest in sex in a relationship.
(source)
okay what did I forget?
#bl memes#bl insider trading#bl tumblr fandom#bl fandom#Golden Rules of BL#Episode 11#2 Moons Curse#The Mame effect#oh mame must you?#mameverse#TharnType#Thai BL pulps#Make It Right#Love Sick#Thai BL#Faen Fatal#In Strongberry We Trust#korean bl#Choco Milk Shake#strongberry#Japanese bL#Takumi-kun#addicted the series#Manner of Death#Cactus baby#HIStory 2: Right or Wrong#Dead fish kisses#Light on Me#Namgoong#Korea’s BL bubble
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Thinking about the Mock-Trailer for The Ex-Morning
Pathapi is said to be the Best Reporter of the Year in the beginning. How. I want to know his career accomplishments so badly? I need to know how he got here!
I’ve been considering why Pathapi acts the way he does in the beginning. Has he always been like, since his university days? Or was it perhaps heartbreak and the passage of time that’s made him more like this?
Aou is being made to play the exasperated best friend in Be My Favorite and the rival with coffee thrown on him in The Ex-Morning. Someone give both characters a raise. And a boyfriend!
I looooove the trope of the arrogant, whiny jerkass in a successful position who gets humbled. And that paired with him rebuilding his reputation with his ex-boyfriend of all people? I am so ready to see Pathapi’s character arc, and the things Tamtawan makes him do in this trailer makes me think he’ll get more in-tune with the spirit of good reporting and why it’s so important.
How does Tamtawan know and decide to come back? Obviously, he wants to help Pathapi and is still in love with him, but why did he leave? WHY DID HE LEAVE? Later in the trailer, when present-day Tamtawan leaves, it’s after he’s told “Tam. You have two options now.” What are the two options? The way Tamtawan leaves and the look on his face makes him look regretful, but what exactly is motivating him trying to leave here? Why did he leave in the first place? Does Pathapi know? His face looks half confused rather than just heartbroken!
What has Tamtawan been up to? I am intrigued.
The SOTUS reference in their university days flashback? I am obsessed. They were so sweet in that one frame, it makes me wonder how they fell in love. How different were they? How much of the same remains in them? How did they fall in love? Oh my god!
The transition from Pathapi being awkward with shirtless only-clothed-in-a-towel Tamtawan to taking his own shirt off and asking if Tamtawan has an ulterior motive to fluster him is hilarious to me. I love how forward Pathapi is here! And Tamtawan getting flustered is amazing. Oh my god, I love this trailer. It balances a comedic tone, angst, tension, etc all in one show. Can’t help but adore it.
“You’re still the same selfish jerk.” I need to know what happened! I said this above and I’m saying it again. I am intrigued.
Uni Tamtawan pulling Pathapi by his tie? I am obsessed.
The umbrella scene is both so very P’Lit and so very much a SOTUS reference, it delights me. I wonder how many SOTUS references we’ll have in the show proper.
I wonder if the car accident will coincide with the climax of the show.
That! Last! Scene! I suppose this is a scene when they’re hooking up but not properly together, seeing as they’re flirting, shirtless, and probably just had sex, but still won’t admit they still like each other. This sounds great to me.
I’ve mostly not talked about the meta elements here, because I feel it’s less about the contents of the actual trailer and more about the nature of the series as such a KristSingto RPF-type plot. Anyway, I love it. Everything about the meta of this series is perfect to me, and exactly what I wanted. This show is SO fun to think about when you know about the lore of KristSingto in real life. I’m half expecting Tamtawan to have hazed Pathapi at this point!
Side note that is not a side note: I LOVE THEIR ACTING! I love their characters!
Is this vers? I’m going to say it’s vers or Top Krist until proven wrong, because that last scene? Well. Let’s put the KristSingto into the KristSingto.
I love the small cast and the focus on KristSingto! I just need to say this. I am so excited for this comeback, in-part because it really is just Tamtawan and Pathapi’s story.
Tamtawan is supposed to mean “follow” and “sun” whereas Pathapi means earth/soil/ground. Coming off of KongArt, where Arthit is obviously “sun,” and KristSingto, who compare themselves to the sun and moon, this seems so definitely meaningful. Aof and Lit, I need to know what you’re cooking!
The coals scene is sooooo perfect, both for the characters AND KristSingto themselves. Again bringing it back to the meta of it all, but, oh my god? This is perfect? Aof wrote a screenplay that was KristSingto RPF? On that note, I keep thinking about the idea of KristSingto channeling their feelings from the irl work-partner “break up” and it makes me go a little crazy. Especially with Krist talking about all his efforts to bring Singto back, and how he over-thought it when Singto left. And even more so seeing as they say they’re basically playing themselves.
The lyrics of the song used in the trailer are so fitting, I am now looping it and thinking about Pathapi and Tamtawan forever and ever.
I noticed that Tamtawan goes by “Tam” but did I miss it for Pathapi in the trailer, or do we get no indication of his nickname? I’m curious.
The “Begin Again” for the new Peraya Party speaks to both KristSingto and their new characters, and this is again making me go, oh god it’s true they’re just playing themselves.
I said my ideal KristSingto BL was a vers exes-to-lovers that parallels reality. Evidently, I was not alone.
Is it just me, or do the Pathapi + animals and Pathapi + soil degradation water scenes feel a lot like certain episodes of Friendship with KristSingto? Just me? Maybe it’s just Krist. I love him so dearly.
So much is revealed in this trailer, but that somehow makes me more intrigued about what is not being revealed to us?
Krist still goes for the top lip and Singto still goes for the bottom lip when they kiss. This kills me every time. I am so excited to see lovey-dovey Tamtawan and Pathapi!
#sou post#krist perawat#singto prachaya#kristsingto#gmmtv 2024#gmmtv#the ex morning#the ex-morning#pathapitamtawan#im just loggin down my thoughts for the future.
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✨2023: A Summary✨
Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)
tagged by @dribs-and-drabbles, @lurkingshan, @wen-kexing-apologist @twig-tea - I really appreciate everyone still tagging me and reading my few meagre contributions despite the fact I feel like I've become a tumblr ghost in the last few months only briefly gaining corporality for a moment before I vanish again.
January - May
I only got on Tumblr in very late May of this year (for the second time but the mid 2010s were a different time lol) so no posts till after that, also It has still been less than a year since I even started watching BL.
June
I had to go manually searching for some of these, nobody used to know who I was.
Most popular: Dying over having Emotions (basically just me having no idea how to convert myself to weekly viewings without agony lol)
Favourite: Arthrit was my Favourite Character and I want to write about him; My reflection on the SOTUS Franchise as a newbie - my first proper attempt at meta
July
Most popular: Be My Favourite - When is the present actually the future - This was my first go at analysing an airing show (about ep 5)
Favorite(s): To Sir With Love - A Reflection - My first deliberate grappling with western vs eastern family norms and how this informs me as a western viewer + Why Kawi Felt Intentionally Ace Coded (something I absolutely stand by)
August (OF started but I got Shadowbanned lol)
Most popular: Thaenthai's shirt (Laws of Attraction) - Not a meta just an observation
Favorite: Aceness in BL, Lets go for a Ramble (My Favourite Post of the Year) + Tonhon Chonlatee is Phenomenal - Long Post Edition (because it is)
September
Most popular meta: I am adoring the heart of Only Friends
Most popular post (ever lol): Determination (to have sex) (MPW)
October (My PhD thesis was seriously eating me by here)
Most popular/Favourite: Only Friends, Shipping Culture, Cross-Generational Differences, Themes and Endgame
November
The only post I made in November was this one lol
December
Most popular/favourite: I am here to freak out about the sign and it's portrayal of masculinity
__
I'm still trying to figure out a new balance of Study and Tumblr and Work and Shows but I will continue to try to be around into the New Year
Tagging (possibly double/triple tagging): @ranchthoughts @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle @plantsarepeopletoo @sparklyeyedhimbo @thegalwhorants @grapejuicegay
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Hi ✨ chances are you're here because of one of my posts about language in Thai shows (mostly BL tbh). And since I kind of keep writing more of those, I thought I should do some better housekeeping and neatly collect them in a pinned post. So here ya go!
- all posts about language in Thai series:
#local woman harps on about linguistics
Thai QL fandom 101 & 102
Be My Favorite
ep. 10 - "We should stop using rude pronouns"
ep. 11 - thoughts | the poem
ep. 12 - thoughts and some translation notes
Hidden Agenda
ep. 5 - food, tongue twister, misc.
ep. 6 - the friendzone article, the meaning of sunflowers according to Zo, observations about boundary pushing
misc. - ep. 6 cuddle and ep. 10 video call
Only Friends
ep. 5 - SandRay and the word 'friend'
OST MV "So What?" - on-screen subs translated
ep. 12 - Big Bug and Little Rabbit
Naughty Babe
ep. 2 - "What do I usually call you?"
ep. 3 - How the main four speak with each other
ep. 4 - "Ai...!" - "Hia." | names and pronouns between the two families | What's in a name?
ep. 5 - Devotion
ep. 8 - Yi's mom and sisters
Lucky My Love
ep. 1 - Consulting the stars
ep. 2 - care vs. care
ep. 3 - subtitle addendum
ep. 5 - misc.
Love Senior
ep. 1 - Names, puns, and pronouns galore!
ep. 2 - bits and bobs
ep. 4 preview - Title drop! ...and SOTUS explained
Last Twilight
ep. 5 - The phi-nong of it all | Of Partners and Pronouns
ep. 1-6 - "You're good! - "I sure am~" parallel | Mork and August's changing language with each other | Evolution of MorkDay's language use
ep. 7 - Bam bam in the ham
ep. 8 - The Little Prince | The brothers, Day's anger, and Night & Mork
ep. 9 - Rung the rainbow | Bam bam in the ham updated & in gif format | Different expressions for Sorry
ep. 11 - Phi Night vs. Lung Night & Porjai vs. Poomjai
ep. 12 - no explanations, just vibes (mostly Porjai and Night)
Dead Friend Forever
ep. 1-8 - misc. translations and observations
ep. 9 - more language notes
ep. 11 - Tee's conscience vs. Non's fury, and more news headlines | Phee-New & Tee-White pronoun breakdown and New's disposition by the end of ep. 11
1000 Years Old
ep. 1 - Title, pronouns, and WHOMST
ep. 2 - Hashtags, ghost girl, and "allergic"
ep. 3-5 - "You are mine", Pun does a pun, etc.
ep. 6+9 - Puns, pronouns, and shenanigans
23.5
ep. 1 - Pronouns and puns
ep. 2 - The Fixed Stars, haplessness, and more
ep. 3 - Names, particles, aliens and ghosts, oh my!
ep. 4 - Fortune favors the bold
ep. 7 - Sass, banana ghost, and love advice
Only Boo!
pilot | official trailer
La Pluie - #bella watches la pluie
Cutie Pie - #bella rewatches ning hia
ONE-OFFS
Wedding Plan ep. 2 - Wa & Rine
Wednesday Club - Wednesday's child is full of woe | Naming conventions of Tam's yadom
Cooking Crush ep. 1 - Onion-or-kiss pun
Pit Babe ep. 13 - CharlieBabe NC
Love Sea Intro trailer - pronouns & predictions
We Are - cheat sheet for characters, relationships, pronouns etc.
MISC.
re: a BossNoeul clip - sugar daddy/DILF meme and song (ฟ้ารักพ่อ by Badmixy)
re: a Last Twilight post - A clownery of typos and homonyms in romanization
DMD Friendship the Reality - A pun explained (ft. FirstOne and Latte)
re: a Pavel tweet - an attempt to explain and contextualize ผัว /pua/ and เมีย /mia/
re: We Are ep. 2 - Stir-fried water spinach aka Flying Morning Glory
- all posts not about Thai language but still about Thai shows:
#ql musings (meta, thoughts etc.)
#bella and the blorbos (gifs, edits, memes)
- other language related posts:
#thai | #linguistics
Love For Love's Sake - Hyung
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(long) intro post
you can call me naomi and this is mainly a bl blog as you can see. don't wanna mention my age but i am. young
i'm more of a casual watcher. no metas but i do live-blog sometimes. i don't get obsessed easily. or for too long. until perthchimon
on that note. DNF if you dislike/hate perth and chimon, individually or as a ship. and krist perawat (don't stan him but i do have a soft spot for that man i stan him now 🤦🏻) reading this post about him would be nice if you still believe he's problematic.
this is not a pc focused blog, but i do mention them often. they're my babies since dangerous romance lol hope that won't annoy you
my main thai ships currently are kanghansailom (dr), chopperben (nlmg) and kongart (sotus). i do mention other ships lol
i cuss sometimes (usually variations of bitch and fuck lmao) and don't tag tw. lmk if you need me to
i'm a listener mostly so honestly if you want anyone to hear you out or have a chat or literally anything - hmu! to my moots and non-moots.
oh. i gif sometimes so if you've got any request, drop an ask.
shows/ships that got to me:
dangerous romance (thai bl)
chopper/ben (thai bl nlmg)
kongart (thai bls sotus, sotus s, our skyy)
bad buddy (thai bl)
kawi/pisaeng (thai bl bmf)
the guest (kdrama)
beyond evil (kdrama)
devil judge (kdrama)
destiel (spn)
my beautiful man (jpn bl)
tian/shan (19 days manhua)
girl from nowhere (thai drama)
death note (anime)
to my star (k bl)
wave wasuthorn (thai, the gifted)
stuilly (scream 1996)
dan (thai, the player)
+
shows i'm watching: (expect live blogs)
23.5 degrees (on hold)
currently obsessing over:
my ex morning and yothagun....
#intro post#to edit#listen. i know i mentioned pc more than i shud#but that is how i am here so#i usually overshare about myself under#me#there is also#cats#asks#rewatch#there might be random#kpop#gifs#naomivents
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✴︎intro post✴︎
Greetings! I’m Key (she/they), and Kiranokira on AO3. I’m an adult, and I often post and reblog content for adults.
I’m a fic writer who dabbles in editing and making long, unhinged meta posts on my hyperfixations. It’s a good time for people who like that kind of thing. Welcome!
Currently, I’m merrily entrenched in the Land of Queer Thai Series and have been since 2020.
As you’ll quickly find out, my favorite actors are Boun and Krist, and my current reasons for living are KristSingto’s sanctioned RPF series The Ex-Morning and Boun’s “I kinda just want to have an excuse to chew on Prem in a socially acceptable venue” vampire series Revamp.
My Pretty Firm Top 15 Thai BL Series as of April 25, 2024 Are:
1. Be My Favorite (2023) 🔮
2. The SOTUS Trifecta (2016-2018) ⚙️
3. Until We Meet Again (2019) 🧶
4. Triage (2022) 🚑
5. Dark Blue Kiss (2019) 🐻❄️
6. Between Us (2022) 🥦
7. Something in My Room (2022) 🎭
8. Cherry Magic (2023) 🍒
9. Not Me (2021) 🏍️
10. Manner of Death (2020) 🔫
11. Bake Me Please (2023) 🍰
12. I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023) ⏳
13. The Eclipse (2022) 🌗
14. Cutie Pie (2022) 💍
15. He’s Coming to Me (2018) 👻
I also never really leave any fandom I’ve loved, so an incomplete list of things you may see reblogged here is as follows:
Word of Honor (Millennial power couple of exhaustion/rage)
Guardian (AKA the novel whose sloppy protagonist the author definitely forgets on purpose when updating her friends about her children)
Yuri on Ice (if we never get anything else I’ll still be profoundly grateful for what we did get)
Boku no Hero Academia (the only time I’ve been equally obsessed with two ships featuring the same character)
Merlin (idiots /affectionate)
Voltron (klance /ominous)
Ossan's Love (makiharu /simpery)
ON ASKS/FIC REQUESTS: Feel free to send me asks or fic requests! I always have a very, very long list of WIPs, but if my brain chemicals react to something strongly enough, I’ve been known to drop everything and write the new shiny thing. (Chances are higher if it’s a one-shot so the happy chemicals aren’t snuffed out by the guilt chemicals.)
Thank you for dropping by, and may you have at least one reason to smile today.
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Well -- I think a lot of us on the internet were and are concerned about PerthChimon's chemistry. But there's a lot going on for Dangerous Romance, episode 1, that has gotten me HOOKED besides and beyond that chemistry issue, and I think what I saw today has got me at least less worried, if not intrigued, for reasons down below.
Firstly: we smell SOTUS on this show's breath, right? In a lot of ways, which I'll talk about below. I like the sinister turn that bullying and hazing has taken here -- weird to say that I like it, not by what's actually depicted, but by how it's been updated by its source inspiration in SOTUS and how the bullying is being leveraged so far as a storyline. As I'm always looking at teams behind shows for the Old GMMTV Challenge, I am noting that one of the directors of this show is Lit Phadung -- the screenwriter and director of SOTUS and SOTUS S. Despite the KristSingto chemistry issues of that franchise, Lit actually told a decent story in SOTUS, and an actually kind-of-compelling story of growth in SOTUS S and Our Skyy x SOTUS. So what we have in Lit is: a director who knows how to balance titchy issues of hazing along with actors with developing chemistry. Dangerous Romance is starting out FAR stronger than SOTUS, which is good for him, and which I'll get into more in a second.
One more note about the show's team. We got two of my favorite writers on the screenplay in Bee Pongsate and Pratchaya Thavornthummarut -- Bad Buddy, A Tale of Thousand Stars, etc. Big shit shows. I've talked with @chickenstrangers about this before, particularly in the context of when Bee and Pratchaya co-wrote 2gether -- when Bee and Pratchaya write together WITHOUT Backaof Noppharnach and Au Kornprom on their squad, the stories can get a little looser and messier. So I'm keeping my eye out for this. (Bee and Pratchaya wrote Vice Versa without P'Aof and Au, and... I know people have feelings about VV.) Anyway! Let's keep sharp eyes out for the writing.
I like where the screenplay is headed -- a battle of wits, enemies-to-lovers (ETL). I agree with @lurkingshan when she shared with me that ETL will need sexual tension.
Alright, so. On this. First off, this is my first show where I'm seeing Chimon in a starring role. I wrote to @neuroticbookworm and @lurkingshan as I was watching this: I WAS SURPRISED BY THE SASS LEVEL. Chimon's sashaying into this.
(Sailom: "Do you want to be my heroin(e)?" Welcome back, kinda, Kongpob, WITH SASS, SMARTS, and a hella survival streak.)
Secondly: these dudes are so young that they could be my children, but let me note that both Perth and Chimon are now YEARS-LONG veterans at GMMTV. Sure, they're wearing those damn high school uniforms again, but when they workshop, they have that many more years behind them to know what they're doing and what they need to achieve. I know there were some quibbles about Gawin Caskey's and Krist Perawat's chemistry in Be My Favorite, and I wonder if we might run into a similar issue here with DR. But that being said: what I appreciated about Gawin and Krist is that they had clearly workshopped the hell out of their partnership, with Krist really making strides beyond his early days with Singto in SOTUS (oh, the cringe). I ended up really loving GawinKrist together, and I think they managed Krist's character's slight aversion to sexual tension well within their pairing.
I don't smell cringe here with Dangerous Romance. I smell risk-taking. Perth = leather daddy? I'll fucking take it. And Chimon is grabbing faces and playing with fire against the big boy of school. I can't find the post (darn it! I will cite it when I find it!), but someone wrote that Sailom KNOWS he's smarter than Kang, and is willing to take risks to exploit that against Kang, and I am here for it. A battle of wits and wills.
I have my hopes seriously up that Perth and Chimon know what they need to do to make this GOOD. I think both of them have it in them to know what to do to make this ship not just successful, but dramatically compelling. I hope the screenplay can hold up to not eff it up. (I should have said this earlier, but I have NOT seen Never Let Me Go, and I understand that NLMG left folks feeling underwhelmed about PerthChimon. I am not tainted, so I will hold optimism for myself and anyone else who wants me to hold it for them!)
Other passing thoughts: I LOVE VIEW. I CANNOT WAIT FOR VIEW TO HAVE A STARRING ROLE! Her and Perth on screen together?! STRENGTH.
Euro is excellent -- I understand his turn in My Precious was great, too. Good to see you again, Marc Pahun. Let's see if Pawin can get a role that's not just being a high school side-buddy. I'm interested in Kang's daddy issues. I want to know what happened to Kang's mom. Papang as a potentially unethical doctor? Oh yeeeaaah.
HOPES ARE HIGH, FRIENDS! This was a banger of a first episode. I'm hanging a lot on PerthChimon succeeding -- I REALLY like what GMMTV is doing to mix ships up. More, more, more!
#dangerous romance#dangerous romance the series#dangerous romance meta#perthchimon#perth tanapon#chimon wachirawit#view benyapa#papang phromphiriya#marc pahun#lit phadung#bee pongsate#pratchaya thavornthummarut#sotus
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2023 Year Results
I have lost my ranking of favorite Thai BL/QLs that I made during half of the year, so I'm just going to write it anew^^
My Top BLs by the end of 2023:
1. Be My Favorite
2. Moonlight Chicken
3. Not Me
4. The Eclipse
5. Semantic Error (or if we talk only Thai series, then Bad Buddy!)
Honorable mentions: Only Friends, SOTUS, Laws of Attraction, Kieta Hatsukoi, My Ride...
I keep changing the places and Moonlight Chicken held such a strong place in my heart but now I'm also taking into account whether I liked all pairings and characters, so BMF finally took over. But I still can't decide whether The Eclipse is higher than Not Me, I might rewatch it endlessly but Not Me was a cultural reset :D As well as Semantic Error who's done so good and finally broke through the typical Korean BL setting and public's favor.
Bad Buddy has done amazingly as well but there are only 5 places in Top 5 ranking 🥲 I guess, the Our Skyy just dimmed my good memories about it a little bit x)
I love how this year we got shows that have expanded beyond the borders of usual BLs, they added mystery and mystic, action, time travelling, sitcom etc, mixed gentes, kept speaking out about many important things - from marriage legalisation to equal rights - that definitely had its own impact on real life, actors went on many fanmeetings overseas, from West to East, and overall... This was a good year, story and fandom wise.
My Fanfic Statistics
I stopped writing metas and somewhat distanced myself from the fandom when I felt that my views often didn't align with majority (and also got shadowbanned by tumblr?), but I wrote ~ 80k words on AO3 and drew >10-15 arts that I really enjoyed. I still have many wips so look forward to them!
I wrote way too many Only Friends fics whole I watched the show xD This was definitely a show that gave out ideas (and sometimes outrage) and lots of angst.
But Not Me fics are still my number one (though mostly because of all the crossovers with other series I keep writing about)
Also somehow Bad Buddy OT4 fic is now the longest fanfic I've ever written (both in Neglish and my native language). And it's still not finished but tbh even I don't know exactly how it will end, that's how self-indulgent this is but I'm so happy rhat many people were excited about this idea with me!
My Fandom
I also had a blast having various discussions in my own small community and people who wanted to share opinions and watch series together. You guys keep inspiring and supporting me in exploring many ideas, drawing art and writing many fics, I truly admire and adore you all, especially my fam @springkitten @xagan and also @thepancakelady @wereflamingo (I'm surprised how often we agreed with each other on somethjng but that's what makes discussions interesting xD).
Also I want to hug bad buddy server was a joyful discover this year too that inspired me to start learning Thai, our not me server that keeps being my safe comfort space and many hugs to some tumblr folks who I talk in replies and reblogs (I am truly bad at remembering usernames but if I ever chatted with you here, I am definitely thinking about you and your profile picture <3)
Here's to 2024 and more projects
I also started my FirstKhao AU visual novel, and though I thought I would be able to make it in a month or two and then got struck by Health Doing Bad for a long time, I'm definitely determined to finish it next year.
And we keep talking about making Poetry Zines with @springkitten inspired by lakorns/bls we watched and I'd like to try and make it happen 👀
I also want to return to commissions in a better way, because of political situation I haven't been able to continue drawing for my foreign friends but thanks to my other friends who are generous to help me with handling finances for me, I might be able to start drawing requests again! I also spent like 5 months fixing my health that kept me from creating I want to finish old ones and I'm really itching to return to drawings and other projects :D
And I have in my mind mastering pixel and 3d art as a part of my Changing Profession and Career Path in 2024 so let's hope I can lighten up everyone's mood with cooler art and animations 👀
Happy New Year and Happy holidays, everyone!
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I know you’ve kinda posted abit about this but do you not think it’s strange how tinn was thinking about printing out the picture of his face like they did in bad buddy but then gun ends up doing it. Then he imagines wiping off food from his mouth to be flirty but then gun ends up doing that too. Also bringing the speaker and putting on that slow romantic song from the ballroom dance like... I think it’s showing us that gun is actually the one who is flirting and trying to get his attention.
The more I think about it the more I'm convinced. I'm so ready for Gun's POV to come back in.
On a more industry-meta note, and I've been discussing this with @bengiyo, I think we're really starting to see a shift where for a long time SOTUS was the template for a lot of BL (an era I think which more or less ended with 2gether as the last real hit in that style) and Bad Buddy (plotting and casting, romcom style), ITSAY (production and direction, drama/melo style) and to a lesser extent Not Me (sociopolitical commentary) are the new templates, and I'd throw Manner of Death (adults, genre and high heat, it walked so KinnPorsche could run) in there as well.
We are getting nods in this show to the precursor pulps like Love Sick, which actually made me realise we don't actually have a TON of series entirely set in high school, as much as it may feel that way because of side couples and flashbacks etc. Anyway, MSP's got some of that DNA, and some from the first wave, specifically 2gether, but this show is so Bad Buddy-esque (they even hung a lampshade on it this ep with a sign that said MESSAGE in case you weren't sure), it SCREAMS second wave. It feels more like this has 2gether DNA because Bad Buddy also has 2gether DNA, not because 2gether is the template, if that makes sense.
Anyway I totally hijacked your ask to ramble about the way Thai BL is building a genre tradition...lol. But yes, my point was that the POV switch/secret pining all along started with 2gether, and was given a twist in Bad Buddy, and given this show has the DNA of both those shows, I expect a version of it here as well.
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After watching the trailers
Wanna see wanna see:
Ex-Morning (love Singto, have warmed to Krist after Be Me Favorite, love the meta, speaking as someone who dropped SOTUS after one or two episodes)
The Heart Killers (crime and humor)
Leap Day (love supernatural, love most of Gun's work)
Revamp (love supernatural as a QL plotline)
Leaning toward:
ThamePo (leaning toward seeing it but not quite excited either)
Us (also leaning toward, also want to support GLs as a genre, worried it will be too angsty, then again it's Fon and I loved 10 Years Ticket, which was also quite angsty, and looking forward to a meatier role for Sing)
Maybe:
The Dark Dice (not that into high school, but love supernatural and, like others, I immediately thought Battle Royale, which I enjoyed)
Friendshit Forever (hmmm)
Hide & Sis (creepy, maybe a supernatural or a Vertigo switcheroo, or…)
Naw (didn't even watch the trailer):
Ossan's Love (storyline doesn't attract me, wasn't interested in the original either)
Perfect 10 Liner (I'm not interested in another engineering students story unless there's an interesting twist)
Whatever that dentist thing was called
Insufficient data:
Scarlet Heart of Thailand (that wasn't a preview, but it's Fon)
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on November 27, 2021, I started watching bad buddy out of idle curiosity, given a mutual's long meta post about the greatest first kiss in cinematic history. i watched all 5 available episodes and fell ass over teakettle for not only the show, but thai BL as well. it is now November 27, 2022. here's everything I've watched, ranked out of 10 (including BL from other countries and some non-BL as well). final count: 116. (92 finished. 18 started/in-progress but did not finish. 6 actively watching that are airing now). I kept copious notes about all the shows I watched so if you're curious why I ranked a certain show like I did, please feel free to send me an ask :) I love talking about my thoughts about things
10/10 (i had fun 100% of the time I was watching or it made my brain produce happy static to think about)
Kinnporsche
Manner of Death
Tale of 1000 Stars
Until We Meet Again
HIStory 3: Trapped
9/10 (great show, great characters, but there was 1 or 2 things I didn't like about the writing/acting/production)
Bad Buddy
Not Me
A Man Who Defied the World of BL
Lovely Writer
My Beautiful Man
A First Love Story
Semantic Error
Cherry Blossoms After Winter
The Sound of Magic
DNA Says Love You
Triage
Old Fashion Cupcake
Roommates of Poongduck 304
8/10 (same as above, with slightly more egregious errors)
He's Coming To Me
Cherry Magic
Keita Hatsukoi
Where Your Eyes Linger
Kei x Yaku
The Eclipse
You Make Me Dance
Long Time No See
Tinted with You
Please Tell Me So
You're My Sky
Love and Leashes
My Only 12%
TharnType Special Episode
HIStory: Obsessed
HIStory: Stay Away From Me
Secret Crush on You
Plus and Minus
Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss
Love Stage (Thailand)
We're Both Grooms
Hey Rival! I Love You
Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai
On Cloud Nine
We Best Love
7/10 (flawed but I enjoyed it. a pulp that is a 7/10 has a much higher score than a high-budget/polished show that has a 7/10)
Cutie Pie
BeLoved In House: I Do
SOTUS
Color Rush
Nobleman Ryu's Wedding
Light On Me
Wish You
To My Star
7 Days
HIStory 2: Crossing the Line
HIStory 2: Right or Wrong
Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul
HIStory 4: Close To You
Because of You
You Are Ma Boy
Gameboys
Love from Outta Space
Blueming
Tonhon Chonlatee
Cupid's Last Wish
Close Friend 2
The Ring Goes Missing
About Youth
Mr. Heart
Zero Photography
Takara-Kun and Amagi-Kun
Love in the Air
6/10 (seriously flawed and/or disappointing. usually in the 'I can fix it' range)
Star in your Mind
Theory of Love
Golden Blood
Why R U?
My Secret Love
My Tee
Mood Indigo
Senpai This Can't Be Love
Want to See You
5/10 (everything here I got through on 1.5x-2.0x speed)
Together with Me
Close Friend
Kissable Lips
Puppy Honey
Puppy Honey 2
Love's Coming
Meow Ears Up
The Promise
En of Love: Love Mechanics
Zero Supporter
4/10 (I finished it so i must have liked something about it)
Love By Chance
3/10 (hatewatch)
The Pornographer
TharnType
DFN (did not finish for various reasons. sometimes shows I enjoyed greatly are on this list. some I am still watching at my own pace)
3 Will Be Free
7 Project
Ingredients
Love is Science?
Enchante
War of Y
Ghost Host Ghost House
Lovesick
Big Dragon
Second Chance
The Gifted
Miracle of the Teddy Bear
I'm Tee, Me Too
Even Sun
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Love Between Fairy and Devil
Coffee Melody
Ocean Likes Me
Still airing
GAP
Choco Milkshake
Between Us
I Will Knock You
Remember Me
My Tooth Your Love
#59/116 are thai! I counted bc i was curious#original#not tagging all these shows that would be insanity
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Last Seen Blogs
malefiz
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leeandhew
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