#abaab three

[randomjreader]

Ah yes my favourite trope: unhinged and non toxic (masculinity) friend groups:

[hummingbirdsinjune]

A day in the life of Thub

Bonus +

[cryingatships]

I wrote something?? A finished a fic??!!

Abaab got a fic out of me. I failed to resist ThreeZo cuteness and finally succumbed. You can give it a read here

Pls read tags ahaha

[forcebookish]

and the award for sparkliest eyes goes to...

[gennianydots]

Everyone moved on I stayed here.

[quodekash]

its friday night / saturday morning so we all know what that means! (im so sorry) 

time for me to ramble about a bl where im more obsessed with a side couple than i am with the main plot and characters 

good luck 

MY LOVELIESSSS 🥰🥹

my dude. my bro. my main man laem. dost thou hear thyself 

HE DIDNT NEED TO BUT HE DID AND I LOVE HIM AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEYRE SO CUTE 

its giving 

GAYDARS ACTIVATED

i love them all 

I LITERALLY SAID IT LAST WEEK, HE WAS SMILING AT CHER AND IT WAS SHOCKING COS I DIDNT KNOW HE COULD SMILE 

oh they did a flashback to that exact scene. i thought of it first tho. 

these poor people needing to exist in the vicinity of this group 

THREEZOSCENETHREEZOSCENEASCENEENTIRELYDEDICATEDTOTHREEZOLETSGO

little hand touches 🥰 🥰

no but theyre so cute you dont understand 

THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY FJJGBFGJFBJBGF

OH MY GOSH I CANT 

cher being late for work (its only 15 minutes man chill out) and also forgetting his id card thingy is more of a mood than it should be  time to add cher to the potential neurospicies list (it is growing very fast) 

cher ur fake coughing isnt fooling anyone. just say you overslept or took a wrong turn or fell out of a tree or something 

wait now i genuinely cant tell, is he faking being sick or is he actually sick 

MY BROS YOU’RE BEING REALLY SUSPICIOUS, ANYONE WITH EYES CAN SEE IT AND PEOPLE WITHOUT EYES CAN ALSO SEE IT, IT’S JUST THE IMPORTANT CHARACTERS WHO SOMEHOW CANT 

okay he was lying i was pretty sure he was lying 

DAMN THEY REALLY FOUND A WAY TO SQUEEZE IN THAT NIVEA SPONSORSHIP 

theyre literal children i love them 

THE WAY THEY BOTH ROLLED OVER TO FACE EACH OTHER AT THE SAME TIME WAS SO CUTE 

he literally walked right into him multiple times and kept forgetting to knock 

Final thoughts: 

pretty good episode, especially in the beginning (and totally not just because all the threezo was at the start) 

im excited for the next episode but eternally grateful that im not obsessed with this show cos man that feeling of anticipation waiting for msp episodes to come out was like personalised torture so ty brain for not latching on to this show like a baby with a nipple 

im still feeling a little bit iffy with the power imbalance and also about how we still dont know the age gap between them? (i think last week we found out how old gun is and i was gonna do research to find an estimate on how old cher is but then i didnt do that so if someone else happens to have already figured it out, then the information would be greatly appreciated) but they say multiple times that gun isnt “that much older” but i dont know how much ‘that much’ is and i would like to know so that i can have better peace of mind 

other than that tho, good episode! 

[ginnymoonbeam]

Okay so I will ADMIT that A Boss and a Babe was kind of a mess in the back half, plot-wise. What's most frustrating is that with a few fairly minor changes it could have all flowed together fine and not required this sad little disclaimer in front of what's about to be a post full of praise.

BECAUSE

I don't know what to tell y'all, I still love this show very very much. Looking back at my notes from the GMMTV 2023 showcase, this is one I wasn't even planning to watch, because it looked super cutesy and I'm bored by the "cold-hearted boss meets sunshine employee, learns how to smile" trope. I don't remember what got me to try it after all, but I can tell you the exact moment I really sat up and took notice: it was near the end of ep 1, when they do a classic "bump into you at the door and you half-fall into my arms" bit. Cher's eyes in that moment are doing SO much - there's the comic shock you expect, but underneath there's this startled vulnerability and a bit of awareness that falls just shy of arousal. I was intrigued.

Book as Cher was giving a layered performance from the beginning, making it clear that there's a lot more going on than just a chipper intern, and as the series progresses we get to see how much darkness he's covering with that upbeat energy. The script wobbles but his performance, and the full sense of Cher as a person, stays on point and rock-solid throughout. He's one of my favorite characters to come out of this year so far, and that's a highly competitive field.

Gun balances Cher perfectly. He was never cold-hearted, just sad and lonely and resigned to staying that way. It's Cher's relentless optimism that wakes him up to the possibility of happiness, but once he's awake it's his steady certainty that becomes an anchor against all Cher's anxieties. He's older, he's experienced, he knows himself and what he wants, and that enables him to make space for Cher to run in circles until he can finally settle down by Gun's side. I've talked before about how their dynamic feels like dancing, and I stand by that, even if the writing of the final third took them through some unnecessarily convoluted steps.

Some BLs are just romances that happen to be about two boys, and some feel distinctly queer, and ABAAB is the latter. Gun and Cher are both recognizable types: the older sadder gay man who holds himself back from life because he's learned to expect loss, and the staunch "ally" who hasn't yet clocked his own bisexuality. And then there are the side characters: Three and Zo, a longterm happy couple who act as a model for what Gun and Cher can hope for, and Porsche, the ex-turned-best-friend. When I talk about recognizable types... the ex to bestie pipeline is SO REAL in queer circles and you never see it in dramas. Porsche's whole introductory scene had me crowing with delight. (I also loved the implication that Porsche and his new boyfriend have some kind of open situation, and that his and Gun's different feelings on exclusivity were one reason they broke up. Again, SUCH a real dynamic.)

What can I say? My love for the characters and relationships is big enough to overshadow most of the plot problems: I really loved this show. It made me happy (almost) every week, and it's going on my rewatch rotation for any time I want to smile.

[bookishforce]

only friends has broken me pls let it become a blip in history and give forcebook a new series with writers and directors that respect them enough to do justice and not cut their goddamn scenes 😭 i just want abaab season 2 or enchanté s2 let's be real i love three and zo and jack and tub and aoi SO MUCH as characters too my favourite cast of all time but also i love enchanté cast and would love a cute reunion give me phupha x wayo toooo i just want the wholesome no more edgy angst kthx bye

[firstkanaphans]

sandnick is quite possibly the only ship (platonically) that I'm rooting for😭

I totally get that! All of these couples are at least a little bit toxic and that’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. Ironically, though, I’m the exact opposite. I started out this series only shipping SandRay, but now all three couples have got me hooked. I think it’s because at the beginning of the series, I felt like some of the characters were more innocent than others and didn’t deserve to be preyed upon, but at this point, I’ve kind of just accepted that they’re all horrible and were clearly made for each other because who else would have them?

I do love the SandNick friendship, though, and I think they’re the best example of actual friends we have in the show. Although I am kind of hoping that Boeing and Top might be friends a la Gun and Porsche in ABAAB. I want Boeing to be supportive of Top’s PTSD and literally just come over to sleep so Top doesn’t have to take pills. Exes to besties is a trope we need more of tbh

[waitmyturtles]

Now that I’m a couple weeks back from my huge overseas trip, I’m very much back into my Old GMMTV Challenge Project (which, admittedly, has expanded WELL beyond the original three classic BLs that @absolutebl recommended to watch way back, when many of us were talking about old BL frameworks and tropes earlier this year!). Here’s an update:

1) The end of Love Sick Season 2 is incredibly near, and while, yes, there are many problematic factors to this show -- I think the show’s SHEER LENGTH allowed it to do a LOT with the characters and script that I’m frankly surprised by. It’s delved into allyship, into sexual exploration and revelation (on all the ends of the spectrum), into all the interesting shades of acceptance and casual homophobia among a group of teenage men, and now I see at the end of the show that we’ll (hopefully) get an exploration into acceptance of queer relationships by families, which is always my jam. 

I’ll save most of this for my post-watch analytical write-up, but I think for at least this show, to explore EVERYTHING the script got into -- the show needed this length. The writing wasn’t crisp and concise enough to really dig into things à la this wonderful era of GMMTV writing that we’re in NOW. But, I AM surprised by how far this script has gone without being ENTIRELY, 100% problematic. It’s a really good and fascinating watch, and I’m glad I dug into it for the history.

2) Next up will be Make It Right and Make It Right 2, which I originally thought would be my vehicle for learning more about the early high school pulps and getting familiar with pre-GMMTV Ohm Pawat. But I’ve also now been convinced by the wonderful @bengiyo to delve specifically into the works of the prolific New Siwaj, to learn about his focus on the queer male experience, and how he either successfully (or unsuccessfully) (or both, simultaneously) gets his messages across. I haven’t been watching his current works (Between Us, ABAAB), but surprisingly -- he’s a screenwriter on Double Savage, which for now seems very het. But now I wouldn’t be surprised if, à la 10 Years Ticket, we get a queer storyline in the show at some point. 

3) Speaking of Double Savage (which I am seriously enjoying -- I already highly recommend it), I’m watching Perth Tanapon for the first time (I didn’t watch Never Let Me Go, and I’m not sure that I will, yet, unless finishing out Double Savage makes me get into a Perth rabbithole). But anyway, I know that Dangerous Romance with PerthChimon is on its way, so I figured -- if Perth is paired with Ohm as brothers in DS -- that I should know about early PerthSaint, as Perth and Ohm had almost the same exact trajectory into GMMTV from their very youthful years in BL.

With that, and considering the new New Siwaj focus: I’m going to add Love By Chance to the list. (But I’m NOT adding the second season.) And it’ll be my first MAME show, and likely something that I feel like I SHOULD watch before watching TharnType later this year.

4) So here’s my newly jujjed list, and I’m fixing some errors for chronology here as well from past lists. I think with what I’ve watched so far -- Bad Buddy, ATOTS, The Eclipse, KinnPorsche, and Moonlight Chicken -- that I’ve already filled holes in this chronology, but I think this list gets me straight on the history I need to know.

If anyone has suggestions on watch order or other essential/necessary/historic/significant shows to watch, I am ALWAYS OPEN to feedback!

1) Make It Right (2016) 2) Make It Right 2 (2017) 3) Love By Chance (2018) 4) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) 5) He’s Coming To Me (2019) 6) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) 7) TharnType (2019) 8) Theory of Love (2019) 9) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) 10) 2gether (2020) 11) Still 2gether (2020) 12) ITSAY (2020) 13) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 14) Not Me (2021-2022) 15) My School President (2022-2023)

I can’t wait to finish Love Sick this week and get my write-up going, aaahhh!

[randomjreader]

Ah yes, just Zo being an angry kitten and having Three entirely wrapped around his little finger

(This whole sequence of events below did not make sense to me btw, but oh well)

[hummingbirdsinjune]

[stormyoceans]

I feel like the reason gmm keeps separating hia gang is cause fb has gained a lot of popularity since abaab while js have been quite stagnant so they think fb needs to be put with more popular cps, which I honestly hate and I'm very bitter about cause they don't promote js at all and shoving them with ppl they hardly interact with just proves they don't care about js.

I wish they were paired up with em and fk instead cause they've were so cute with em in safe house and sea is quite hilarious and has good chemi with fk... anyways let's just hope all goes well for js

GOD JIMMYSEA WITH EARTHMIX AND FIRSTKHAO WOULD HAVE BEEN SO POWERFUL REMEMBER THE LOL FANFEST IG LIVE??????

the screenshot quality is terrible but TRULY INVENTED MAXIMIZING THEIR JOINT SLAY TO CREATE THE PERFECT DREAM TEAM AND HAVE ME IN A DEAD FAINT IN FRONT OF MY SCREEN

i feel like having sea, mix and first all in the same room together for too long would inevitably end up in the three of them dragging everyone into a giant puppy pile tho, which you know. WE definitely wouldn't mind but maybe that's not ideal when you have work to do sfjkshfkgs

honestly in my mind forcebook getting more popular would have actually been all the more reason to put hia gang together for the fanfest: that way we could have had three balanced groups with two very popular pairings and a less popular one

BUT OH WELL. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT I KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHO THEY GET PAIRED UP WITH JIMMYSEA ARE GONNA WORK HARD AND HAVE FUN AND PUT EVERYONE AT EASE AND BE ABSOLUTELY CHARMING LIKE THE KINGS THEY ARE SO IM LOOKING FORWARD TO IT

[forcebookish]

cher going from barely able to answer "do you like me"

to projectile crying about how much he cares for and wants to be with gun

to scolding himself for being so in love

that boy is never finding his way back

[gennianydots]

I think… I think. ThreeZo is my favorite part of A Boss and a Babe.

[quodekash]

ITS ABAAB EP 7 TIME and i am sorry 

warning: lots of happiness, too much happiness. take a shot of water every time i say any variation of ‘HAPPY’. stay hydrated, folks. 

wait what happened to cher? did i miss something? 

i dont remember how the last episode ended so its very possible that i missed something 

awh 🥺

thE BED IS STILL ON AN ANGLE WHY IS THE BED ON AN ANGLE SOMEONE FIX THIS IM BEGGING YOU, ITS GOTTA BE A SAFETY HAZARD 

pls they look so comfy 

it looks like theyve been married for a thousand lifetimes 

so comfyyyyy

rIGHT, THEIR GROUP HAD A FIGHT, THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TO CHER, I REMEMBER NOW 

YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEYEAH BEACH EPISODE = PURE HAPPINESS AND DOPAMINE 

THREEZO AT THE BEACH 

WE’RE GONNA GET THREEZO AT THE BEACH 

IM LITERALLY ABOUT TO CRY IN ANTICIPATION OF BEACH

i know i already said it like four times BUT THIS LOOKS SO FREAKING COMFY WHAT THE HELL 

THREEZO THREEZO THREEZO

HELLO MY LOVELIES HOW ARE YOU TODAY 

theyre literally in the middle of the frame omg 

little babby 

i love him 

he’s tall but he’s smol 

his HAIR 

LOOK AT IT 

THE HAIR IS SO FLUFFY 

i think my favourite things about this series are jack’s hair and threezo

and theyre both tied for first place 

three’s apology to jack is so freaking sweet omg 

i love him too much 

he struggles with words and communicating but he wants everyone to be happy and he doesnt want conflict and he feels responsible for everything and he is perfection and also he’s either adhd or asd or both, i dont make the rules 

HAPPY

omg his awkward laugh is so cute why was that so cute 

his sweet little ‘hah hah’ 

HIS FACE MAKES ME HAPPY 

HAPPYYYYY 

(damn i did gun/force dirty on that screenshot) 

his freaking face

its making me happy 

this is a happiness overload 

im not used to this much joy in my system 

what do i do with it 

HAPPYYYYYYYYY

dads. 

everyone can see you btw. just letting you know. you’re just standing there, holding hands 

i mean that’s great, good job, not being scared is funky (but its also funky to be scared), it’s just that. you know. if your friends ask questions later and you dont want them to suspect anything then like. it’s your fault. 

altho maybe they dont care if their friends find out, idk at this point 

ignore me

HAPPY

everyone ganging up to push gun in the water. that’s what friendship truly is 

HAPPY

they teleported 

three was next to zo, jack was between cher and zo. they switched. 

hOW?

HAPPYYYYY

THE HAIR

LOOK AT THE HAIR 

they always figure out a way to squeeze it in 

OMG

SOBBING

IM SOBBING

THATS SO CUTE 

HELP

DAMN RIGHT 

his hair is a mess lmao

bRO

HE SAID IT

HE SAID THE THING 

ZOGUN FRIENDSHIP BONDING SCENE OMG HAPPINESS 

he’s known from the very freaking beginning 

before cher even knew 

the gaydar is strong bro 

HIS FREAKING FACE 

HAPPY

HE HAPPY 

PFFFFFFT

i love their friendship so much omg 

(that screenshot looks like hes about to punch him lmao) 

“zo, what is love?” i can feel it, im about to punch a wall or smth bc something threezo is coming 

“what is love for you?” “three.” yUP I KNEW IT OMG IM GONNA FREAKING CRY 

HAIR

FLUFFY FLUFFY FLUFFY ITS SO FLUFFY 

i think i love this man (and his hair) a little too much but its fine 

GJK3BERKJGBVRKEBGR

GUN WHAT THE HELL 

AGAIN, THEY LOOK SO FREAKING COMFY 

well shoot. thoop is mad at cher for being involved with gun. 

good news is: i dont think its homophobia 

it’s just that he doesnt want cher to move on from tian (thoop himself cant move on from tian) and he doesnt want cher to find a relationship because that means, in thoop’s eyes, he’s letting tian go, and thoop cant really deal with that because he’s ✨mentally ill✨

get some sleep my man 

I LOVE HOW MUCH HE LOVES HIS FRIENDS 

HES SO FREAKING CARING 

HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HIS FRIENDS 

HED PROBABLY NEVER ADMIT IT BUT HE’S A REAL FREAKING SOFTY ON THE INSIDE 

1. ive never seen more serious finger guns 

2. you’re not bi, sir, why are you doing finger guns 

3. finger GUNs 

that is all 

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

if they dont give us a threezo kiss by the end of this show i will scream.