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peanutmcflurry · 4 months

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What are your thoughts of Tomorang as a Southeast Asian Simmer? I'd genuinely like to hear your thoughts.

I'll share mine as a Malay person with Indonesian ancestry myself.

I'd discuss mostly about the cultural aspects of this DLC since my culture is RARELY represented in the western media, so having a Sims DLC that's sort of based on my culture is really cool as fuck. I am not gonna touch on the renting aspects of it, I heard it's buggy and to be fair I haven't played enough on the renting gameplay as much.

So when I got the pack and looked at the world for the first time, I did notice there are two lots with names in Malay language. (or Indonesian) This made me surprised since I assumed the pack was mostly about Thai culture and didn't expect much.

One is called "Zosul Taman Botani" or translated to "Zosul Botanic Gardens." I can't remember the other one. But they're both translated well, no mistakes there! But other than that, there's.. not a lot of lots? There's the market, but isn't it a rehash of City Living's, or Snowy Escape's markets?

Well, I went and played the game. Now here's what I noticed.

The atmosphere and the tropical setting reminded me a LOT like a village area in some parts of Malaysia or Singapore pre-rapid development. It has this "Kampung" (Village) vibe to it, and I love it. I really do. I'm assuming this has to be the same for villages in many parts of SEAsian countries.

I wasn't raised in a village environment nor have I personally visited one (HAHA I'm an urban city person please forgive me-) but I've read and listened to stories about it at school and from my parents before. The furniture, decors, and buildings looked somewhat similar to how my parents/grandparents/great-grandparents would've lived in during their time, just more wooden, I think. The marble is accurate, village kids would always play marbles back in the day, I know my parents used to. I don't know about now, they might be an iPad kid who never went outside.

Squat toilets are accurate, and you'd be surprised to hear how it still exists in modern shopping malls in Singapore and Malaysia, and there's only like 1-2 stalls of those per bathroom but you don't see many people using it, and if there are, it might've been older generations or people who really need to go that bad. Even then, I hardly see squat toilets in Singapore's apartments. Many people use the widely used modern toilet we have today.

I can also tell you that the decors, walls, and floorings sometimes do appear in apartments with Malay families in it today. So, yeah!

And yes, the iconic plastic chair, too. I swear those plastic chairs always appear in a many Malay wedding parties and from my late grandparents's place. The tuk-tuk is also cool too, sounds like it's used in Singapore and Malaysia in the olden days. You hardly see them anymore except in Thailand, maybe Philippines, and maybe even Indonesia? It does seem nostalgic to those who've rode it before so yeah! It's nice!

So yeah, in terms of gameplay interactions,

Your sims would greet each other just like how the Thai folks do with a sawadeekap. I think that's cool!

I believe the faith Tomoranis practised in the game was the equivalent of Thailand's form of Buddhism? Which is actually really neat, not gonna lie. I don't know how accurate this would be for Thai Buddhists folks and I'm not familiar with Buddhism myself, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

But then that also got me confused af. Is the world and culture supposed to be a weird Thai-Indo-Malay-Philippines fusion? I mean, I know it's majorly Thai, but there's two lots I'm certain that are in Malay/Indo language, and there are cuisine based on many Southeast Asian cultures? They'll be referred to as Tomorani cuisine in the game as you see your sim's moodlet mentioning it. So that's why I'm VERY puzzled. I know the game tries to make Tomorani a whole Southeast Asian fusion so that us SEAsian players can feel included, but it's important to remember many Southeast Asian cultures can be different, too.

A part of a culture can be different and not practiced in another culture. That's why I feel hesitant to put my simself or my simself's family with the Tomorani culture trait, as much as I love it. It feels as if it ain't a part of my culture and it rubs me off the wrong way to see my simself's family to greet or pray like Thai Buddhist people because well, none of us are Thai lol and I don't wanna feel like I'm culturally appropriating something I'm not a part of.

It doesn't matter that I have super distant Thai or Dai Chinese ancestry in me. I was never raised in those cultures and I can't claim I'm a part of those. They're all dead way before my grandparents were born. I can say my Indonesian ancestry matters, though.

Though I'm not extremely familiar with everything in Indonesian culture, the Malay and Indonesian culture/cuisine/language are super similar and many relatives of my relatives are part Javanese (Based on Indonesian's Island of Java. NOT JAPANESE FROM JAPAN.) or part of an Indonesian minority like the Bugis people. It's just that we don't really speak Indonesian (we can still somewhat understand) or Javanese. My late grandparent did spoke the Bugis language but not our descendants, tho. Javanese and Bugis language are like a whole different language and script to learn.

But yeah, only the Thais would greet people with sawadeekap, and they practice Buddhism. Majority of Malays, Filipinos, and Indonesians in today's world do not practice Buddhism and we definitely do not greet people like that, haha. Those are very uniquely Thai.

Ancient Malays and Indonesians did practiced Hinduism or Buddhism (maybe a combo of both) in the ancient times. I'm not sure about Filipino but it *might* be similar? Then the majority of Malays and Indonesians converted to Islam after dealing with traders from the Middle east. So now you got majority Malays and Indonesians raised or ID themselves as Muslims. There are Indonesian Christians, but they are the minorities.

The modern Muslim Malays and Indos would greet with a salam. This is like a handshake, but you only kiss the hand if it's your relative or someone older than you?

This can depend on your age, if the other person is also Malay/Indo, and your gender. It's something like.. How the Japanese have different ways of bowing to people.

The cuisine could be.. better? They did nasi lemak fucking dirty and it LOOKS absolutely nothing like a typical nasi lemak. It looks more like.. Beehoon noodles or chicken noodles?

Goddamn have the Sims team ever look at a picture of nasi lemak on GOOGLE? Satay is fine, it is accurate af and I like that. Just found it odd that the satay's peanut condiment was gone after your sim took the first bite.

The kopi luwak is funny to me, I never tried it before but I can tell you it's basically poop coffee from a part of Indonesia. It's quite expensive and what they do is feed the coffee beans to the civets, then the civets poop it out. They clean the poop away, and pick the coffee beans. They then sell it as Kopi Luwak. To be honest, I was expecting funny moodlets when your sim drinks it or realizes it's poop coffee, but unfortunately I don't think there's one. But I wonder why aren't there other coffee or tea options? There's a LOT of drinks in Southeast Asian cultures, or maybe add a Sim's version of Nestle's Milo. It's like Nesquik but it's originated from Australia, and this is consumed in every food court or places you eat at. At least in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

I do think the food and drinks are wasted potential though. There's a lot of cuisine they could add, like sinangag/fried rice, mee soto, teh tarik, or even special fried instant noodles.

In conclusion I'd say that this pack is okayish in terms of diversity. I mean, I'm rarely represented in the western media so I guess this isn't too bad. I'm disappointed with the lack of gameplay content in the world compared to other worlds like Sulani or Komorebi and I know this game focuses more on rental and being a landlord but it's just.. There's so many types of lots that can be included. I'm sick of just having a bar as a lounge area just to meet the local sims and how the lots are so SMALL for an EXPANSION pack. This is just as bad as Del Sol Valley, but even then I can assume housing is difficult in real life Socal Hollywood.

What about a museum for Tomorani heritage culture? A restaurant, a spa, and other types of lots would honestly be a GREAT choice but unfortunately they're locked behind DLCs! ✨️

I have really mixed feelings about it. It could be better. It's not the best, but it has a lot of room for improvements.

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sirensskai · 2 months

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Ripp Grunt lived in Tomerang for some of his childhood

#sims #sims 2 #ts2 #4 am headcanon for my fave again #also anything to connect Ripp to Tomerang/Thailand 😍#Ripp grunt #my headcanons #I’m browsing TvTropes for tropes that fit the Grunt family and acting suprised when I see them mentioned

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moonlightisaland · 5 months

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#simssy channel #sims 4 thailand #the sims thailand #ts4 #daffodil bonkmer kim

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acebabywolf · 9 months

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OMG!!! I So Much Love Her.

#the ghost radio #thailand #the sims 4 #youtube #anime #create a sim #sims 4 mods #Youtube

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liquidsims · 3 months

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Tuk-Tuk Loveseat by SIXAM

View On WordPress

#Car #Thailand #The Sims 4 #Tuk-Tuk

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bonersoup3000 · 4 months

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I made a lil internet cafe in The Sims 4. A long time ago when we last visited Thailand, we went to one very similar to this in my mom's village. It was humble, it was the year 2000, and surrounded by the jungle. It was also my first introduction to video games.

#the sims 4 #ts4 #thai american #thailand #ts4 builds #nostalgia #internet cafe

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comradecowplant · 5 months

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There's a sims sale-- INCLUDING 25% OFF THE NEW HORSE RANCH PACK-- and I need the lord to steady my sinful hand and remind me that I really really don't need it................

#growing together looks neat but horse ranch is the most recent pack that gives me The Need #upcoming for rent pack can kick rocks although i do REALLY like the SEA (thailand maybe?) inspired world #sims 3 is also on sale but the fact that EA charges so much for a game so old is a line too far #i may have allowed EA to make me their bitch but i do still have some principles #on a normal day a sims 3 pack costs as much as many sims 4 packs... no way josé!!!!!!!

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ommosims · 7 months

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VALENTIER x DE SHOWROOM Gown

New Mesh

8 Swatch

Shadow Map

Specular Map

High Polygons LOD 0

Custom Catalog Thumbnail

In Game Play Mode

Please do not re-upload, edit, convert to another game or claim as yours

Early access on PATREON

#the sims 4 #download #ts4cc #the sims 4 thailand #ts4 #the sims 4 custom content #clothing #the sims 4 cc #the sims 4 gown #the sims 4 dress #sims 4 cc #sims 4 custom content #sims 4 gown #the sims thailand #ts4 cc #ts4 custom content #sims 4

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simssychannel · 3 months

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#sims 4 thailand #the sims thailand #เดอะซิมส์ 4 #simssy channel #sims house #valentines day

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chocolatekittysims4 · 6 months

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youtube

Looks like we're getting a Thailand related world.

#sims 4 #new expansion pack #thailand #noodles #hints #news #Youtube

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absolutebl · 3 months

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Best & Worst BLs of 2023

My Top 15 BLs of 2023 are (in order)

1 Our Dating Sim

Korea Viki

Nerds in love, deadlines, gaming, teasing, pining tiny idiots, casual affection, linguistic oops, ADORABLE. If you haven't watched this, it's a must. A perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy.

I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent.

Also recieves my 2023 award for best giggle.

2 I Cannot Reach You

AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Japan Netflix

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen.

Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way.

This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

Also wins the best thirst award.

These were the 2 BLs that got 10/10 from me in 2023. The rest of these got 9/10 from me.

3 My School President

Thailand YouTube

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL.

Received the Namgoong award for best wingman 2023.

4 I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thailand grey

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework. Steeped in history and family drama this is an elegant and classy BL. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. It's a marker of how great it was that it's so high on my list despite the ending which was very much not what I wanted.

Additional accolade, sexiest moment of 2023 - (the oil scene).

You could try to fight me, but you'll have no grip.

5 Kiseki: Dear to Me

Taiwan Gaga & Viki

The plot is totally ridiculous and slightly unhinged. There’s a gum-ball machine of cameos, elder gay rep, great chemistry from all pairs (everyone is queer), and a KILLER side couple. It involves all the tropes under a very offhand framework of gay mafia gangs + food = love. As a result Kiseki is a poster child for Taiwanese BL, and I happen to love Taiwanese BL. Bonus? They also managed to END IT WELL, which we cannot expect from Taiwan.

Best side couple 2023!

(thank goodness Taiwan made this list!)

6 Jun and Jun

Korea Viki

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. With a snappy (sometimes even raunchy) script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching.

Best flirting 2023.

AKA "the tongue knows" award

7 The Eighth Sense

Korea Viki

This one is a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it has a glorious ending and that counts for a lot.

2023's most likely to appeal to non-BL watchers.

8 Unintentional Love Story

Korea iQIYI

The lead, Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT, who carried this show. He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, which he used to carry a killer plot and challenging role. Forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the eyes EMOTING at us in PAIN. Driven by external conflict, social tension and pressure this story seems simple but it's actually refined and quite complex. I loved this show.

Best story structure 2023.

9 My Personal Weatherman

AKA Taikan Yoho

Japan Gaga

This is classic yaoi of the kind that really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. It's high heat is well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" which is exacerbated by the fact that they're already fucking. Sure is sexy tho.

Best use of props 2023 for the shower of sheets.

10 Our Dining Table

AKA Bokura no Shokutaku

Japan Gaga

Lonely salaryman and talented cook gets accidentally adopted by a college kid and his little brother. It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. It's lovely & sweet with the romance beats used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy. Special.

First prize for domesticity.

11 Laws of Attraction

Thailand iQIYI

This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. It’s tons of fun and I had an absolute blast watching it.

Charn wins my favorite character of 2023.

12 La Pluie

Thailand Viki

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL. With good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn high marks.

Most interesting concept 2023.

13 The New Employee

Korea Viki

So good, SO QUEER, so soft, a near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also found family and a lesbian bestie. This is what I wanted from this new crop of office set KBLs ALL ALONG. Rainbow rice cakes forever!

Best overall queer rep from Korea.

14 Step By Step

Thailand Gaga & YouTube & Viki

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one. This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk which added tension to the narrative and character development.

Chot wins best queer character 2023.

15 Love Tractor

Korea iQIYI

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed = all my favorite silly tropes.

Biggest "he so pretty" gasp of the year award.

10 Worst BLs of 2023 (that I watched)

My Blessing

My Universe: Casanova Begins

Boyband the series

Cafe In Love

Chains of Heart

Hit Bite Love

Only Friends

Senior Love Me

The Luminous Solution

The Promise

Yes, you read that right. I know I'm against the flow but I really did not like Only Friends. Everyone's taste is different.

However I DNFed faster and more BL's this year than ever before, so that means my 10 worst probably aren't quite reflective...

10 Probably Actually Worst BLs (I dropped 'em)

My Story

The Day I Loved You

Beyond the Star

Crazy Handsome Rich

Dinosaur Love

House of Stars

Mr Cinderella 2

Love Bill

Stormy Honeymoon

The Star Always Follow You

Codicils in General

I only carefully track/watch Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Other countries are not fully represented.

My Numbers

So my spreadsheet chronicled 138 BLs that finish airing in 2023.

101 = watched & reviewed

2 = still in the docket (WDYEY2 & Love Syndrome III)

15 = CNF (could not find)

20 = DNF (which also accounts for how few very low scores I handed out in 2023 as opposed to previous years, I just stopped watching). Speaking of which...

Ratings spread

(# of stars. #of BLs given that rating)

0 (see the DNFs instead)

2 - IT'S DEPRESSING they killed the gay, save yourself

7 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT

7 - FATALLY FLAWED but still basically BL, however… do we want to support this kind of behavior?

9 - WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO but don’t expect much, it’s a total hot mess

17 - WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED probably around the ending or in narrative structure/cohesion or censorship

14 - RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS i.e. isn’t quite BL, convoluted, not strictly HEA, too short/long, or chemistry issues

30 - RECOMMENDED some concerns around tropes (like dub con) or story structure but still satisfies as BL

13 - ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED probably a few pacing issues or one flaw

2 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED faithful to tropes, happy ending, good chemistry, few flaws, high rewatch potential

(source)

#Best BLs of 2023 #Worst BLs of 2023 #Top 15 BLs #Our Dating Sim #Korean BL #I Cannot Reach You #Japanese BL #Kimi ni wa Todokanai #My School President #Thai BL #I Feel You Linger in the Air #Kiseki: Dear to Me #Taiwanese BL #Jun and Jun #The Eighth Sense #Unintentional Love Story #Our Dining Table #Bokura no Shokutaku

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lurkingshan · 7 months

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Since you've watched a lot of kdrama, what are common things you've seen in kdrama that have been consistently ported into K-BL, and what is your assessment of that approach?

Ooh, interesting question. So first, let's acknowledge a few things:

Korean bl is short format, with even the longest shows (Light on Me, The Eighth Sense) not even half the length of a standard kdrama (16-20 hours), and most clocking in around 2-4 hours

Kbl operates under much smaller budgets and significant constraints around casting as compared to mainstream kdrama

Kbl often draws from webtoons and manwha and mostly does not have the kind of auteur writers and directors behind it that you get in kdrama (Hwang Da-Seul is the most consistent creator in genre with Where Your Eyes Linger, Blueming, To My Star)

All that said, there are a few features of mainstream kdrama that have definitely ported over into kbl despite these constraints:

Slick production values and strong use of setting and color: even the cheapest kbls still look decent, and there is always intentionally behind the setting and use of color palettes to set the tone and feel. Korea has a very well-developed film industry and it shows. Color Rush, Semantic Error and Blueming were fantastic examples of this: even within more familiar school romances, the settings felt specific and the use of color to communicate character and themes was striking. I also think often of Our Dating Sim and Choco Milk Shake and the very effective characterization work achieved through design of the apartments.

Sound production and music on point: the home of kpop is not going to be caught sleeping on the OSTs. Nearly every production has original songs and given the leads of these shows are usually idols, they're often the ones on the tracks. And when they use music that is not original, like in The Eighth Sense, it's a very intentional choice to set mood and tone. Korea is not going to let a boy who can't actually sing take the mic (*side eyes Thailand*). To My Star is a great example of memorable OSTs even in a fairly low budget production, and Wish You and Sing My Crush showed us what kbl can do when it decides to bring the full kpop treatment to bear.

A keen understanding of the international audience: kdrama production is a big part of South Korea's explicit goals to take the global media landscape by storm, and kbl is included in that. It's not a coincidence that Korea decided to step up its game in this arena shortly after Thai bl exploded (shoutout to 2gether and pandemic lockdowns). Kbl follows trends and explicitly caters to international audiences in a way jbl does not. The Eighth Sense was basically a case study in marrying kdrama sensibilities and western aesthetics for maximum international attention.

Second leads and valorization of unrequited love: you and I have discussed this one a lot because this is a feature of kdramas that will never die and that kbls also clearly love. Korea loves a one-sided love story and culturally, there is a certain dignity afforded to owning your feelings and being honest with the object of your affection, even when there is no hope of reciprocation. Often second leads don't get the guy/girl because they hesitate or hide their feelings until it's too late: the trope is used to underline the important of honesty and effort as well as providing a catalyst for the main lead to make their move. In Korean culture, the trying is what matters much more than the succeeding. We are meant to like most second leads and see them as honorable and dignified for their sincere feelings toward the protagonist. Second lead syndrome is a thing for a reason. It's also just a cheap and easy way to create drama so you'll often see it in the lower budget kbls. Second leads showed up recently in kbls like The Tasty Florida, Jun & Jun, Oh! Boarding House, Bon Appetit, etc. We also sometimes see kbls playing with the idea of unrequited love in the main pairing that is actually requited, like in Our Dating Sim.

Love triangles: relatedly, Korea loves them a love triangle, and they are uniquely good at doing it well when they want to. Light on Me is a fantastic example of a narrative where you can legitimately see the protagonist liking and ending up with both the main and second lead. And that is rooted in the way the narrative treats Daon with dignity even as it punishes him for his hesitation in reciprocating Taekyung's feelings (see above). When you have a strong second lead who engenders real sympathy with the audience, love triangle excellence is achieved.

Workplace romances: kdrama loves workplace romances, and we have seen kbl start to move into that space recently with shows like Roommates of Poongdock 304, Love Mate, Our Dating Sim, Jun & Jun, and The New Employee. Kdrama workplace romances run the gamut, but they often feature chaebol characters paired with a "normal" aka not wealthy person, and we are starting to see that more in the bl genre as well, as we discussed a bit yesterday. I believe @nieves-de-sugui commented on your post about how the rich/poor romance fantasy trend in recent bl may be coming in from kdrama. I think there's some truth to that, but really it's a foundational romance trope that predates kdrama by literal centuries, and is absolutely rooted in heteronormative patriarchal dynamics that assume men are breadwinners and caretakers for women (translated to seme/uke dynamics in bl). Often in kdrama the chaebol character is unable to live an authentic life due to the demands of filial piety and the expectations tied to their wealth, and I do think that dynamic is ripe for enrichment when you layer on gay identity in a homophobic society. But that requires shows leaving the no homophobia bubble, which few kbls have done.

Physical intimacy squarely in the middle space: comparing to heat levels we see across the spectrum of dramas, I think kdrama and kbl are pretty consistent in that they tend to land right in the middle of the spectrum. It's rare to see straight up dead fish kisses from romantic leads anymore (though it still happens, wincing at Unintentional Love Story), but they are also not going to be serving authentic sex scenes. What you get instead is very pretty open-mouthed kissing that feels more realistic than, for instance, the pure jbl lane, but still polished and aesthetically pleasing. Think Semantic Error, Blueming, Roomates of Poongdock 304, Love Mate, To My Star 2, Jun & Jun. This seems to be where the genre is landing and I don't expect heat levels to get any higher for kbl, as this is right in line with mainstream kdrama. The Eighth Sense offered a less polished version of intimacy that felt right in line with its grittier sensibilities.

So, after that long list, on to your second question: my assessment of this approach is that kbls are doing fairly well for themselves when you consider the constraints they are operating under. Look at a show like Love Tractor stacked up against something like Hometown Cha Cha Cha. These are both based in the classic romance trope of a city slicker coming to the country and falling in love with a humble working person. But where HCCC has 16 hours to build a quasi-enemies to lovers narrative with a rich community of side characters, LT has 3.5 hours to achieve the same thing. So it makes sense that it would fall back on well-worn tropes and story beats it knows the audience will recognize to help save time. These shortcuts help the audience ground themselves and get invested in the stories quickly.

One thing I'll say is that kbl mostly stays in the romcom lane with very occasional ventures into melo, and despite what casual observers think, kdrama actually has a lot more to offer than that. It's a giant world with stories based in every possible genre, tone, and style, and Korean media is particularly adept at embedding romance plots that actually work in all kinds of stories including action thrillers, horror, crime narratives, mysteries, supernatural and fantasy epics. I'd love to see kbl try this, though of course it would require the resources and runtime to do it successfully. Here's hoping they get the chance.

#bestie i hope you wanted a dissertation #because i have zero chill on this topic #kdrama #korean bl #shan answers

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