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What makes a BL a BL?

The more time I spend watching and chatting to people in fandom, the more confused I get honestly.

There are excellent people like @ineffable-opinions and @chaos0pikachu (please recommend others I forgot) who write about the history of BL and BL as a genre. Highly recommend dropping by their blogs from time to time.

But, I want to take a 'laypeople' approach here: what makes a series a BL? What is the difference between telling your (online) friends: 'This is a new BL and you have to check it out...' vs. 'This is not really a BL, but...'

I'll leave out the whole marketing aspect and 'the people who made it say so' aspect, because I am curious about the audiences' perspective.

Without further ado:

What ingredients do you expect in a show and will be upset if they are not in it?

Please reblog and absolutely shout at me with any additions. Tell me if I go about this question the wrong way. I am utterly curious what people expect, wish for, measure by.

Be nice everyone, have fun and thanks.

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... WELP.

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No worries. I'm the same lol 💜

Also, phew, for a moment there I thought they wanted to recast the whole show or something.

They don't, right? Copy A Bangkok wouldn't. Right?? (Can you tell I'm still not over the shit they pulled with 2 Moons?)

I mean, theoretically a second season wouldn't have to be a direct continuation to make sense, and I'm okay with that as long as they don't recast anyone.

... what am I saying, I'll lock myself in my bedroom for a week if I don't get PromNont back.

#funny you ask that because they just posted last night that they are looking for new actors for s2

omg not me seeing this NOW!! I'M SO SORRY

but yeah! on the 26th they posted this and welp, is only being 5 days, so no more info so far 😔

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I don't think my BL schedule has ever been this full. And that's just Thai BL. Godspeed everyone. I guess this month we're going to find out if there's such a thing as too much BL. 🫠

🖇️BL WATCHLIST MAY 🪻

⭐My Golden Blood - GAGAOOLALA - For some reason (I should know better by now) I thought this would be a bit more genre-y than romance, but gmmtv usually leaves that for their gen shows. Currently, I'm falling way behind with watching this and I don't see things getting better for me anytime soon. :/

⭐The Bangkok Boy - GAGAOOLALA - B-Movie but make it BL? Yes, please.

⭐My Stubborn - IQIYI - I'm still undecided on this one, especially with next month's line-up. Usually I'm okay with MFlow's style but this one might be a bit too messy for me. AND WHAT'S WITH THE RANDOM CHILDREN, MFLOW??

🖇️THAI BL CALENDAR

🖇️UPCOMING

⭐ Pit Babe 2 - IQIYI | YOUTUBE - Rejoice! Everyone's favourite A/B/O (implied) racecar fantasy series is back! As for me, the lack of PeteKenta and Way's premature death have turned me towards whatever Winner and Dean (and Willy) are up to (probably not much).

⭐ The Next Prince - IQIYI - Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the genre, but I am a fan of JimmyOhm and the insane production values of this.

⭐ Mission to the Moon - YOUTUBE - Kongthup is surprising us once again with a(n almost completely) out of the blue mini-series starring Mon and Pak. This almost makes up for whatever happened with Gun Thapanawat.

⭐ Knock Out - WETV - May seems to be the month of the action-heavy and suspenseful BLs and I'm all here for it (but especially for Guide and Dech).

⭐ My Sweetheart Jom - YOUTUBE - I'll probably tune into this since it's Saint and Idolfactory with a nicely grounded country setting - but I swear to God if Heng is thirdwheeling again something in me will break.

⭐ Loy Kaew First Love - YOUTUBE - This is full-on indie and seems to be entirely self-produced - which makes it particularly interesting to me (along with the historical setting). Lord knows if I'll get over the soap cameras but I'll do my best.

⭐ I Promise I Will Come Back - WETV - This one's the Thai/Taiwanese co-production (I think? There's Taiwanese actors and they're twins, at least) with another one of 9NAA's freed former actors and an intriguing past lives plot along with a nice tourist-y setting (please keep the Tourism Board money coming, Thailand!).

⭐ Eye Contact - I'm pretty sure this will be messy and confusing but we could all use a palate cleanser from the insanity that is this month's watchlist.

⭐ The Ex-Morning - YOUTUBE - MDL has this as releasing in May but afaik there's no official date (and trailer) yet.

➕ MDL | ABOUT | ALL WATCHLISTS | COMMENTARY & NEWS TAG | THAI BL NOVELS | BL INDUSTRY | UPCOMING | SPOOKY BL

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Teshin Anusananan as Q

Wish You Luck trailer, dir. Chookiat Sakveerakul

[pharawee]

I don't think my BL schedule has ever been this full. And that's just Thai BL. Godspeed everyone. I guess this month we're going to find out if there's such a thing as too much BL. 🫠

🖇️BL WATCHLIST MAY 🪻

⭐My Golden Blood - GAGAOOLALA - For some reason (I should know better by now) I thought this would be a bit more genre-y than romance, but gmmtv usually leaves that for their gen shows. Currently, I'm falling way behind with watching this and I don't see things getting better for me anytime soon. :/

⭐The Bangkok Boy - GAGAOOLALA - B-Movie but make it BL? Yes, please.

⭐My Stubborn - IQIYI - I'm still undecided on this one, especially with next month's line-up. Usually I'm okay with MFlow's style but this one might be a bit too messy for me. AND WHAT'S WITH THE RANDOM CHILDREN, MFLOW??

🖇️THAI BL CALENDAR

🖇️UPCOMING

⭐ Pit Babe 2 - IQIYI | YOUTUBE - Rejoice! Everyone's favourite A/B/O (implied) racecar fantasy series is back! As for me, the lack of PeteKenta and Way's premature death have turned me towards whatever Winner and Dean (and Willy) are up to (probably not much).

⭐ The Next Prince - IQIYI - Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the genre, but I am a fan of JimmyOhm and the insane production values of this.

⭐ Mission to the Moon - YOUTUBE - Kongthup is surprising us once again with a(n almost completely) out of the blue mini-series starring Mon and Pak. This almost makes up for whatever happened with Gun Thapanawat.

⭐ Knock Out - WETV - May seems to be the month of the action-heavy and suspenseful BLs and I'm all here for it (but especially for Guide and Dech).

⭐ My Sweetheart Jom - YOUTUBE - I'll probably tune into this since it's Saint and Idolfactory with a nicely grounded country setting - but I swear to God if Heng is thirdwheeling again something in me will break.

⭐ Loy Kaew First Love - YOUTUBE - This is full-on indie and seems to be entirely self-produced - which makes it particularly interesting to me (along with the historical setting). Lord knows if I'll get over the soap cameras but I'll do my best.

⭐ I Promise I Will Come Back - WETV - This one's the Thai/Taiwanese co-production (I think? There's Taiwanese actors and they're twins, at least) with another one of 9NAA's freed former actors and an intriguing past lives plot along with a nice tourist-y setting (please keep the Tourism Board money coming, Thailand!).

⭐ Eye Contact - I'm pretty sure this will be messy and confusing but we could all use a palate cleanser from the insanity that is this month's watchlist.

⭐ The Ex-Morning - YOUTUBE - MDL has this as releasing in May but afaik there's no official date (and trailer) yet.

➕ MDL | ABOUT | ALL WATCHLISTS | COMMENTARY & NEWS TAG | THAI BL NOVELS | BL INDUSTRY | UPCOMING | SPOOKY BL

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We just got the teaser last week and now we have a full trailer. Looks like this one is gonna hurt but hopefully we still get a happy ending! ���

It’ll air Tuesdays through Thursdays starting May 6th on Kongthup’s channel!

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I miss them 😭

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Source

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I made a new WIM-themed header. Nature (this blog) is slowly healing.

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⇢ Boom Raweewit Jiraphongkanon as Akin Tahra (Top Form, 2025, EP07)

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A talk about the current state on the quality of Thai BL's

Original tweet

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I knew exactly what to expect from Bangkok Boy (all the right B-movie clichés with a big cast of characters and lots of over-the-top action) and negl I for one am absolutely here for it.

Action-heavy BL is my favourite kind of BL (next to crime drama & horror BL) and there's even a deliberate nod back to 80s and 90s action which I hope people will realise is on purpose and not bad acting/scripting/cinematography. Yes, the sound is a bit lacking and there's not enough weight behind some of the fighting choreography but I'm so happy that they were ambitious enough to try their hand at a BL with a genuine B-movie feel. We even got a big ensemble fight scene. How cool (and difficult to film) is that!

And as an added Bonus there's Top Piyawat and he gets to be all B-movie style too.

I know, it's only the first ep and lots of things might still go wrong, but for the first time in a long time I'm genuinely 100% interested in a BL (which has nothing to do with other shows running right now - it's just that I'm not really into anything too romance-y or relationship-heavy right now).

Plus, one of my most favourite BLs ever is Chains of Heart so all hope is lost for me anyway.

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Source

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I'm making Playboyy gifs right now and... looks like a new live slug reaction just dropped 🤣

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—THE BANGKOK BOY · Teaser Trailer · Coming April 2024