#gmmtv better give them a series

[candygalaxyyy]

And since I’m throwing out ideas for gl pairings I need the SIZZY girls to get their own show!

I would personally like to see CiizeJan and JaneAye, but to be honest it could go whichever way and i would be satisfied. I JUST WANT TO SEE MY GIRLS IN MORE LEADING ROLES AND IN A GL, TOGETHER. Someone get me into gmmtv’s A&R because they are really missing out by not giving these girl a show. THEY COULD LITERALLY MAKE A GIRL GROUP GL LIKE COME ONNNN. Or something else, but I don’t want a school/university one because we are already getting 23.5 (plus tu and prim would fit a university concept better). i have an idea and I’ll just use the ‘actresses names + character’ to make it easier.

Okay so here’s my vision. It could be an office romance thing. Not the GAP, CEO x employee kind, but it’s still an office romance just a weaker power dynamic. So Jan’s character/cht (age 28). Is an editor at a fashion house/magazine within a media company, she’s your typical chic, cold and levelheaded fashion girlie. She went to a top university and has a master’s in marketing, media and e-commerce. She’s hard working and competent, and is striving to one day become the editor in chief of their division. Only child. Online shopping and drinking wine are her favorite pass times. Loves jazz and indie music. Hates any form of physical activity, would much rather binge reruns of her favorite lakorn. Never had much interest in dating or romance so her sexuality is ??? to others (family & friends), but she’s lesbian. And the new employee is Ciize. Ciize’s character (age 23) recently graduated and starts out as an assistant editor, who obviously gets paired with Jan cht, because Jan’s previous assistant quit (Jan’s cht was overbearing). Did international economics + a year abroad. She is bubbly, extroverted, creative and competitive. She loves fashion and is always down for adventure. Ex-football athlete (soccer for Americans) when she was in high school. She is always branching out and trying new things, her goal in life is to one day create her own sustainable clothing brand. She’s smart but a little disorganized, but it’s okay because she just started out (she’s a quick learner though). Youngest of 3, older brother and sister. Loves going to the beach. Strong dislike for spicy food, picky eater. She’s pan and has been in one relationship during uni that ended kinda messy. The perfect grumpy x sunshine couple who grow closer as they work together and start secretly dating at work.

So moving on to JaneAye. Jane’s character (age 28) is a curator at an arts and culture museum. She studied either contemporary art or cross cultural management, or both you know double major. Jane’s character is a very expressive person, she loves cats and is an avid movie watcher (she loves horror & sci-fi). Blunt and doesn’t sugarcoat anything, can’t stand passive aggressive people. To her, family and friends are the most important things, oldest of 5. She’s very diligent and loyal, the most dependable person, if you were caught in a difficult situation she’s the one to call. She has her fair share of experience with relationships, most of them ended badly so she’s more cautious but still a hopeless romantic. Loves movie dates (with friends or partner). Not a fan of PDA or skinship. Openly bisexual, came out when she was 18. Aye’s character (age 24) is talkative, intuitive and easygoing, she doesn’t like confrontation but always ends up in such situations. She is an ambivert, she likes to read people’s vibes and energy before getting close to them. She studied communication arts at a well-known university. Loves outdoor activities and enjoys fitness, but also likes some alone time cooking or reading a book. She’s been an athlete since primary (i.e. middle school), she plays for a woman’s football club now. Also an aspiring actress and is a influencer. Coffee lover. Sensitive to others opinions, people pleaser. She is the middle child. Was comphet and in a hetero relationship before, but is now a baby lesbian. Jane’s cht meets Aye’s cht. At a local supermarket where they had an altercation over something. Of course Aye’s cht was being passive aggressive, while Jane’s character was with all the smoke so they naturally don’t like each other. With the bad first impression they keep bumping into each other in undesirable situations, making them dislike each other even more. Until Aye’s cht is selected as an influencer for an event at Jane’s museum and they have to work together. A classic bad first impression, enemies to lovers, and slow burn romance.

Jan and Jane’s cht are childhood besties, they’re neighbours as their childhood homes are 4 minutes away from each other (walking distance). They have an interesting dynamic, they balance each other out very well. They are kinda like a platonic grumpy x sunshine. They’ve been friends for 20 years and went to the same high school and university. They share the same birth date and year, just different months. Jan’s cht supported and was there for Jane’s cht when she came out to her somewhat conservative parents, she even stayed with Jan’s family for a while. Jane cht is literally the only person who knows that Jan cht is a lesbian. They are platonic soulmates. They both come from a traditional upper-middle class background, Jan cht parents are less conservative and considered more ‘liberal’. Ciize and Aye’s cht were in different high schools and were rivals in the same after-school football club. They stopped being rivals when Ciize’s cht stopped taking football as seriously, so they eventually became casual friends. They went to the same university but were in different faculties and friend groups, so they barely interacted. Ciize’s is from an upper class household. Aye’s cht is from a middle class household. They become closer due to their respective relationships with Jan and Jane’s cht.

I feel like this could be a cute, rom-com fluff series about being a young working woman striving to achieve her hopes and dreams, while navigating friendship and love. Consisting of mild angst and a happy ending. A female studded cast, with little to no male characters that are significant to the romance plot (I could allow 1 (maybe 2 if I’m feeling generous) since gmmtv loves men so much- not including family members or friends). Anyways someone needs to make a novel for them and the people at gmmtv needs to make this happen somehow.

[gunsatthaphan]

Do you have any theories for gmmtv24?

the 2024 lineup is a tightly sealed blackbox lmao so I don't have many.

We know a GemFourth series is happening and also EarthMix and PerthChimon have been teasing a little something. But besides that? absolutely no idea. I think WinnySatang are probably gonna get their own show and maybe AouBoom? but idk. P'Aof said he will take part in the lineup again so I will be looking forward to that, no matter what it will be. We also will be getting another show by AllThis Entertainment and ppl think it's The Eclipse ss2 but I don't think so.

They've been promoting NeoMark a little more these days and also DewNani?? lmao but I doubt either will get their own show tbh.

So long story short at the moment my only solid theories are an EarthMix comeback, a PerthChimon comeback and a WinnySatang debut series.

But also I'm currently working on a Bingo card so let's see what else I come up with in the next 10 days 😂

xxx

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - So Many GREAT Kisses!

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

(Please notice I am now using 6 dots in all ellipses because according to Taiwanese BL that's how we queers roll. Who am I to argue?)

Sept 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - A most excellent glow up. And it’s still a great show. And I cannot wait to see the many different faces of War. Bring on the Leverage of One action-packed mess. I'm waiting.  

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 9 of 12 - I’m gonna say this because it drives me crazy. Why are boys in BL, when out and about the countryside, always dressed inappropriately for Thailand? If it’s hot, takeoff your damn jacket. I don’t mean to be crass or crazy or whatever. But don’t wear a jacket when it’s 90° with 90% humidity. In Thailand, jackets are for malls. Meanwhile, I’m an extrovert and that still seemed like an exhausting trip. Although, I suppose they didn’t show all the drive time in the van, when everyone is asleep.

Meanwhile, why are the sides so frustrating in this show? Authentic friends-to-lovers is always a slog. Finally a kiss! And a decent one.

New character? Aw! Hi Yu!!!! Gosh Putter is so cute.

Where were we? Oh yes, Beer is now heartbroken. Always the great fear in F2L that the friendship will be destroyed as a result. And it’s a decent fear. 

On a completely different note, I cannot help but wonder when somebody’s chue len is Beer, if that is because beer was involved in their conception. Like, it’s the name you give your "oops baby" from that drunken night at the club. Don’t mind me. I’m just over here in the corner being crass.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 8 of 12 - That was one of the cutest wake up sequences ever depicted. Utterly adorable. And now he’s blind again? Oh my God this is such a soap opera, I can’t even. Meanwhile, wicked ice prince finally made his move. Gah! Why aren’t we getting more of this couple? I always love the sides best with this production house.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I love a hard fraught game of badminton. Even though we actually didn’t see play. YoIng claiming was so cute!!! And their shower kiss was v hot. Yay little show! Also cute use of the punishment trope!

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - The weight upon the shoulders of our idiot good guy kidnapper continues to pile up. So does the affection. The dude playing Q has sanpaku eyes. Cool. He’s not a particularly good actor though. Rough because everyone around him is giving their very best.

The problem is. I'm noticing. I shouldn't be noticing all the talent trying so hard. That usually means there is something wrong with the story, or there was something wrong on the set.

I don't know what to say at this juncture except I have the sinking suspicion this might not actually be a good show. (Covers head and cowers. Don't hate me.) I'd loved to be proved wrong, but my faith is GMMTV is only about 50% these days. And it probably should be lower.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 6 of 10 - I was so confused by how we suddenly got on a trip together, that I went back and re-watched the previous installment. And it still isn’t explained. So I have no idea why our leads are on a trip but apparently that’s the next trope to hit. I also have no idea how they're suddenly boyfriends. I’m just generally confused by this episode. It’s like an alt reality. We skipped over all of the stuff where they actually got into a relationship. In general I wasn’t wild about this episode.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 12fin - The most realistic thing about this show is that everybody is everybody else’s ex on any given set. I feel that in my bones. Or do I mean boner?

Frankly, both actors look better after a glow up and I guess pretending to be more their actual ages suits them? Considering what was actually done to invoke youth (a lot of the shine and gloss) aging them was an anti-glow up. A great mattification? Well...... this was a somewhat lackluster finale. (Thank you, thank you, the pun was unplanned. It's a gift.)

I don’t know. I guess I wanted to see Jane suffer? Work HARD to get the kid he abandoned back? I would’ve liked to have seen Ryan a little bit more competent and capable and his job. Maybe dating someone else. But I also do not want any more episodes. This was more than enough. So instead no separation, just boyfriends and a montage of their lives together, getting new and better jobs, moving in together, being supportive and sweet, etc... LOOK: It’s never a good sign when I immediately want to rewrite the show that I just saw.

In conclusion:

A story about a group of interns at a commercial video production company. While I genuinely love OffGun, I’m not convinced this was a good vehicle for them. Is it terrible for me to say, I miss their PickRome days? I don’t think they’ve ever had rolls that suited them better. Still, theirs was the best storyline in this ensemble piece masquerading as a BL, although they still fumbled the ending. Thus, I enjoyed about a 1/3 of it as much as possible, and 2/3 of it less than conceivable. 7/10 and I seriously considered dropping it to a 6/10 so don't push me.

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 15 - Not gonna lie I was very skeptical. But I like it fine. Better than I expected because it’s been changed just enough. But it does need to stay changed. I don’t know what I’m trying to articulate here but…... I guess we’ll see.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 3 of 5 - It’s cute in a weird disjointed way. I’m enjoying it enough, I guess. I do like how forthright and direct Kla is. 

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Ah. Bully romance. My old frenemy. Of course making this office based means +10 for workplace harassment. Well well well. This will be red flag party town I see. How VERY old school yaoi. It’s all very Cdrama CEO = dudes in suits walking on parquet (minus all the gay sex of course.) The jumping around between times and unfinished scenes is very strange. Is this Starhunter chaos only applied to a timeline?

Imma say this so they hear it at the back. YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE HAIR. If you do time jumps: change. the. hair. It's the easiest and best clue if you aren't going to apply a filter or other cinematography tricks. JUST CHANGE THE DAMN HAIR STYLE.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 9-10 of 12 - And now we all start using six dots in our……? A new coded way to indicate that one is into BL? I did think we were in a slight mire with ep 9, too much teacher filler. Not enough time spent with our boys. Meanwhile, sports day. Pouty Baby utilizing the power of Ge, in front of all of the classmates who do not realize how hard he is flirting and activating babygirl = one of the greatest things ever to happen on my screen. Essentially this was a version of the claiming trope, only nobody knew it but the two of them. Fucking genius. Yes, I watched it multiple times. Then babygirl is injured, the carrying and the flirting!!!! Gah!

I don’t mean to trivialize the show, but this is me and I can trivialize everything even something as brilliant as this. But that conversation about history at the beginning of ep 10...... Was that about topping and bottoming? Because it sure seemed that way.

And then...... Possibly the best only one bed trope twist ever?

This show is so fucking amazing.

And I am so worried about the end.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 7 of 10 - I love the kinkyness of our baby boy’s fantasy. Where he is the gift and his boyfriend is in uniform. Very nice. Thank you Japan. Never one to let kinky dogs lie. Also, the premise continues: one half thinks that they are already boyfriends and acts like it, and the other half is still trying to become a boyfriend. It’s absurd in that way that only Japanese miscommunication extraordinaire can be absurd. Also could Kyosuke be any more under his boy’s thumb? 

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 1-2 of 10 eps - Shiba is a top lawyer, angular aggressive bespectacled workaholic cat-type (Kitten? Babygirl? Tsundere? Some unholy combination of all 3?) I am reminded I should be more considerate of my potted plants. OMG the teasing and the little tongue sticking out. Haruto is such a flirt. I love this dynamic. What fun! Manic pixie dream boy but MAKE HIM EVIL! Or very high? Or a grifter? I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. But I’m enjoying it. It’s very...... very

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Oh! Good kiss. Smart to have the younger character initiate. I also like that he put a stop to it and then went and had a long conversation with a friend about it. Cautious boy. Also shows how in control of the situation Sea is becoming. It works for this BL since he has the stronger personality. I don't care what the characters say, this is about Sea becoming a rock for Neil.

But the secondary couple is actually winning this show. I want so much more of them. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 8fin - I’m not sure that blackmailing and entrapment, especially of your ex, necessarily justifies cheating. Plus I never like it when it’s gays against gays. But what did I expect from this show? This whole series was basically Korea’s version of messy gay. If you liked Only Friends you’ll probably enjoy this bullshit. And they were quite pretty. I, however, am monumentally displeased. 4/10 FATALLY FLAWED but still, basically, BL, however…... do we want to support this kind of behavior?

KOREA PLEASE GIVE US A NEW PROPER BL!! WHERE ARE YOU? WE ARE SAD AND LOST WITHOUT YOU.

It's like now they discovered boys can kiss they can't be happy.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. DNF 

In case you missed it

I FINISHED Meet You at the Blossom (China). I ate crow, binged the fucker, and live blogged the experience. I enjoyed it a lot and got quite witty (I think) there are also puns (warning). But if you don't wanna slog though it, here are my final thoughts:

This was undeniably a wuxia and most definitely a BL. Evil stunning princely Cheekbones meets and falls in love with the bisexual disaster Dimples of his dreams. There’s a lot of floaty fighting, tangled plot, and overworked emotions. From start to finish it is exactly as it claims to be, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming (dubious conscent to the point of rape). I’m not wild about the wuxia genre, but I will tell you what I do like: Very pretty men in flowing robes + eye makeup + hair ribbons wafting about stabbing and kissing each other plus ridiculous soap opera machinations. I also like cheekbones and dimples. AND I love a stupid gay sleeve, okay? There was also truly epic levels of stink-eye, and that too is to be lauded. This show left me grinning like crazy. Was it great? Not really, but it was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely. 8/10

4 Minutes (Gaga) Ended - Spies reported in to say the ending was not-exactly-unhappy and mostly lackluster. I'm torn over whether to watch. My natural disinclination to binge, meets my dissatisfaction with wishy-washy, is going up against my love of high heat and pretty men. Oh the age old struggle between art and lust.

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke finished and it’s reported to be solid. Age gap treated with respect. I'm curious, so I'll check it out if I can get hold of non-G-drive subs.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Still Coming Sept 2024:

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love love love this execution of the punishment trope. What's Ai going to do to you, Yu? Ride you to death?

I Saw You in My Dream indeed.

Sigh. This show. (Addicted Heroin)

All praise one of BL's best-in-show glow-ups. Nicely done, Jack.

James, on the other hand. Never needs a glow-up. Still the prettiest. Has been since Oxygen. (Battle of the Writers)

He's playing the role of Saint in this show, thank you very much. Speaking of which, wouldn’t that be just the most gorgeous pairing in the entire universe? Saint and James? I’ll be in my bunk. 

Taiwan giving us a boop! Reminds me of Be Loved In House I Do, right up there with TharnType as chronic boopers.

Why is he SO GOOD in this show?

All Frist Note.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Can I ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua/tv series/movies) romances better than western MLM romances?

Hello! Yes you are more than welcome to ask :) I truly, truly love getting asks in my inbox and have been having so much fun with the fact I’ve actually been getting some recently! Warning this is long (but i have TL;DRs for everything)

___

I think the fastest answer for me is that I am queer, and therefore I find I have a lot more enjoyment and interest in watching queer stories compared to heterosexual ones.

Also, I find a lot of heterosexual romances to be steeped in misogyny, and have low-key or high-key abusive dynamics. And again, do not get me wrong, there are plenty of queer shows where there are abusive dynamics in play, but it is much harder for misogyny to be committed between two men than it is for misogyny to be placed on a male/female pairing. (I love GLs cause, you know…women, but there are a lot more complex dynamics going in to stories written about two women and those can get much trickier for me, and unfortunately many narratives love punishing lesbains with death so.... Anyway, I’m trying to stick mostly to BLs since that is primarily what this ask is about.)

Additionally, I love BLs more than heterosexual romances because of how BLs treat men. Men in heterosexual romances, especially in the West are extremely masculine, often unable to be in touch with their emotions, jaded, misogynistic, they have to be extremely muscular, and we almost never see femme boys or men.

BLs have such a vast range of men, they have twinks, they have femmes, they have gym bros. They have the clowns, and the super masculine boys. There are shows that let boys be boys, be stupid, and stinky, and fucking gross (hey Pat from Bad Buddy), they let boys be angry and aggressive and express their emotions that way (Sean and Yok’s fight in Not Me, Han Baram and Im Hantae’s conversation in the boxing ring in Sing My Crush, Lom and Nuea in The Wedding Plan, Patts in La Pluie), they let boys fight and wrestle and play (Bad Buddy, My School President, Moonlight Chicken, Only Friends). I love queer stories that let men be gay and ensure through the story that that never undermines their masculinity. I love that there are shows that focus on the progress older men can make in their relationships (What Did You Eat Yesterday?) THEY ARE ALSO ALLOWED TO CRY!!!!

And though it is still kind of rare, Asian BLs actually do have femme boys, and while I am sure femme boys exist in Western shows, I think Pose and fucking Glee are like…the only two shows with queer people that I have seen in the last decade that have an femme boy representation at all. On the flip side, I love how often GMMTV puts their boys in drag and that doesn’t even have to be in a queer show. I also generally love the fact that most of the male actors in Asian BLs, and again, especially in Thailand embrace their femme sides in photoshoots and whatnot, that they wear earrings, and jewelry, and makeup and they look hot as fuck, because it helps me with my own gender identity. I feel and see myself much more masculine (and have less dysphoria) when I have an earring or a necklace or makeup on, now that I have seen so many boys do the same. 

TL;DR: I am queer, and heterosexual romances are frequently misogynistic, and men are extremely masculine and rarely allowed to be soft. Asian BLs give us a very broad range of masculinity, but often let boys be boys while also kissing boys. And actors embracing their femme sides helps me feel more masculine when I lean in to my femme side.

___

As for Asian MLM romances compared to Western MLM romances, obviously this is not a cut and dry thing, not all Asian BLs are going to be better than Western BLs but I find I have a tendency to enjoy Asian BLs/queer media more for a few reasons, generally in order of most to least important for me:

Reason One- Family

This may seem somewhat surprising because the first, and honestly biggest reason I tend to like Asian BLs more than Western BLs has much less to do with the queer aspect. It's actually the family dynamics. I think Western media very frequently has a tendency to be very binary in their portrayal of family dynamics, if family is at all included in Western narratives the relationships that characters have to their family is either almost wholly good, or almost wholly bad. You either have a very abusive household that a character is trying to avoid or flee, or you have a traditional, happy, nuclear family, and when characters have a strained relationship to their family, I have noticed a lot more narrative support for leaving that family behind. But for the most part, family does not play a huge role in most Western shows (and, wild concept to me, it’s part of why I think shows like Succession are so successful, because that is all about complex, fucked up, and loving relationships within a family). 

Whereas, in Asian media, far more frequently family and family dynamics play a huge role in the character’s lives, behaviors, and can influence the story. And because filial piety is such an important aspect to many Asian cultures, you get a lot more interesting parent/child relationships out of Asian media than you do with Western content. And I am a white Westerner, but I am fundamentally, culturally a Southerner and despite no longer being a woman, I will never shed the mantle of Eldest Daughter. And that has resulted in a sense of family responsibility and piety that ends up making it very very easy for me to understand the motivations of the characters that remain loyal to their family even when their family is asking for things from them that run counter to their own desires or happiness (I’ve actually had this conversation a lot with @waitmyturtles about the intersections of Southern culture and Asian culture).

And similarly, I find that a lot of Western media with queer characters at least in the time frame that I have been able to find content with queer characters is either wholly homophobic, or wholly accepting. And do not get me wrong, we get family dynamics like that in Asian BLs too, but we also get parents who are upset about their child’s queerness, and will voice that, and yet who still take care of their children. I’m thinking of the film I watched just the other day called Margarita with a Straw where the main character’s mother can barely look or talk to her daughter when she comes out, but because she is disabled, her mother is still there preparing food for her, bathing her, etc. because even if she is upset about her child’s queerness she can’t stop taking care of her. And those aren’t dynamics I often see in Western media. 

I don’t see relationships like Sawismol and Wang in Western media, where a mother can look at her child and say, out loud that she is disappointed, and to be upset, and to still, despite everything, be the person that her son goes to for comfort when he is absolutely devastated, and I don’t see Western parents sitting there and performing that comfort even when they are disappointed in their children’s queerness.

TL;DR: Family dynamics feel a lot more built out, realistic, and complex in many Asian BLs/media that I’ve seen, than they do in many Western shows. Until I started watching Asian media, I had not seen the dynamics I have with my mother or my father played out on screen. 

Reason Two- Casual Trans Inclusion 

And, as a trans person myself, part of what makes Asian BL shows, Thai shows much more specifically, so important, interesting, and influential to me when compared to Western BLs is the casual inclusion of trans people. Like, that is just something Western media is barely ready for. It’s not non-existent. We have and have had shows like The Fosters, Sense8, Pose, The Owl House, and Heartstopper that have some trans rep. But a lot of those shows have a hefty component to them that shows the struggles of being trans.

In The Fosters we have to watch Cole nearly die trying to get his hands on testosterone, in Sense8 we have to watch Nomi be kept as a medical prisoner and stripped of her autonomy and almost lobotomized, in Pose we are constantly exposed to the very real dangers that trans women of color experience including murder, in Heartstopper we are spared from having to witness the transphobia Elle went through, but it is mentioned. I think the only one of these shows that doesn’t have some element of struggle because a character is trans is The Owl House and let us not forget that Raine Whispers goes through fucking hell in that show. And these conversations, and the demonstrations of struggle to just survive and thrive despite that is vitally important in a society that is pushing closer and closer towards genocide against trans people. Stories that show the struggles of trans people exist for the sake of realism but also serve as an attempt to try to garner empathy towards trans people by cisgender viewers. 

Thailand does have stories where a trans character experiences transphobia (3 Will Be Free, The Warp Effect, Secret Crush on You), but they also have so many stories where trans people are literally just vibing. Do you know how revolutionary it was for me when I watched KinnPorsche and saw Yok, and she was happy, and beautiful, and fun, and her entire plot centered around her running that bar, flirting with boys, and playing surrogate mother to Porsche? Or just to see trans women existing, who aren’t even central to the plot, but are just there? (Payu’s secretary at the auto shop is a trans woman, Golf Tanwarin was at the inclusive cafe in The Eclipse, Golf Kittipat had an illustrious career as a music producer in My School President). Like that shit is SO important to me, and I never, never see it in Western media. 

TL;DR: There are many Thai shows especially where trans people just exist, and they have plots that aren’t always centered around them being trans. Which is revolutionary, coming in as a trans Western viewer where the majority of trans rep in Western shows makes me eventually have to watch trans people suffer. 

Reason Three- Passion Projects

The film industry is huge and pervasive in Western culture, and in the US especially, and with that comes big budget projects that stretch out as long as they can squeeze a cent out of a fan base. As a result you get shows that are too long, you get shows that ruin their premise in the last season after five to fifteen years of dragging the shambling corpse of a story along. And again, do not get me wrong, there are plenty plenty of Asian BLs that are cash grabs, that are terrible, where the actors aren’t really in it. But, most BLs in Asia are one season, they get in, they get out, and you forget it if it’s bad, or you hate it forever if it’s objectively bigoted. But the time commitment to terrible pieces is a lot shorter. 

That said, when you have a low budget, and a story you want to tell, it makes my love so much more. Because it means the crew, the writers, the director, and often time the actors are there because they want to be there, because they like the story they are telling, because they have a story they want to tell. It’s part of why I love shows like The Eclipse so much, because that show was made with a budget mainly comprised of pocket lint and hope, because Golf Tanwarin had something they wanted to say.  Most if not all of Aof Nopparnach’s shows give genuinely, inherently queer stories that speak to queer people. Jojo Tichakorn makes pieces that are so full of queer lenses you could never deny the inherent queerness in his shows, even if the story is primarily focused on a straight person/relationship (Mama Gogo). There are so many shows in the Asian BL world where you can just tell that everyone is having fun. LIsten, Fish Upon the Sky is an extremely problematic show, but for me it felt like everyone had a great time goofing off on that set. You can tell EV-ER-Y-BOD-Y in the cast of Mama Gogo  was having the time of their motherfucking lives. 

I also think the West is very self-congratulatory and tends to hold themselves as the standard of televisions and acting, when I am over here watching Asian BLs with some of the strongest acting from young people I have ever seen, and having it be written off because its a) low budget b) gay and c) in another language. Like, when I try to get people in to BL I start with shows like KinnPorsche (which I know drives @bnegiyo mad) cause it has a much higher production value than many other Asian BLs without being prestige and therefore can’t radically alter the perception of what BL is (hello ITSAY/IPYTM and 180 Degrees), Thai BLs especially. And I figure that is the only way to show someone the level of absurdity and camp that comes from a lot of BLs, while also maintaining their interest because it has a higher production value, so that if they end up enjoying that they are more willing to watch the low budget shows. 

TL;DR: Many Asian BLs are pretty low budget, compared to like any Western show, which I find to mean we have more stories in Asian BL that people actually want to tell. (there are still very many shows that people seem to just kinda show up for, or get bored with partway through [looking at you Tee] but.)

Reason Four- Abundance

There are 

So 

Many 

Asian 

BLs 

Here's a fraction of my watch list

I have watched 81 in roughly the last year, and there are so many more on my Plan to Watch list, and there are more coming out all the time. The West has given me like…two, maybe three. And when we do get good queer shows in the West, they are frequently canceled before completion. Especially if they are on Netflix. 

We lost Sense8, fans had to fight for Out Flag Means Death to get renewed, The Owl House got cancelled by Disney after giving their main character a girlfriend, ND Stevenson had to write two ending to She-Ra and fought tooth and fucking nail to get the gay one, Legend of Korra had to save the gay kiss until the end just like She-Ra had to. If you want to get depressed here is a link to an article ‘50 TV shows with Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer characters cancelled after one season’. Because most Asian BLs are meant to be only one season, we actually get complete stories, rather than ending with unresolved tension, or cliffhangers. 

TL;DR: there is a metric fuck ton of Asian BLs

Reason Five- Sex

The West, especially the US, tends to have a very puritanical view of sex (which makes sense because the Puritans were some of the first colonizers…I mean colonials…to murder everyone and occupy…uh, I mean settle the United States (I would also like to place blame on the Italians and Spanish [hey Columbus] and their Catholicism AND PROTESTANT CALVINISM that also influenced the pervasive societal views of sex and especially gay sex in the United States).  

With ever increasing homophobia and transphobia, so many shows are trying, in my own personal opinion, to garner empathy, sympathy, and acceptance for queer characters by cisgender and/or heterosexual viewers by making their queer characters flat, two-dimensional, virginal, perfect people. But homophobes and transphobes consider holding hands to be just as grotesque and inappropriate as full on porn. With Western, and especially US based, views of sex, many queer characters are sanitized, sex scenes are rare, and if they do exist at all they are usually in shows that have mature ratings. 

That is not the case with Asian BLs. Like, do not get me wrong, there are plenty of pure, virginal, don’t kiss, barely touch BLs out there, but because there are so many BLs, there are also plenty of shows with lots of physical intimacy and multiple make out scenes that aren’t maturely rated, as well as plenty of maturely rated shows that have multiple sex scenes AND CAN INCLUDE KINK WHICH LIKE!!!!! I rarely see in the Western media I’ve watched. Hell, Sense8 is a sexual liberation show that includes multiple orgies, but there is not even a hint of any other kink (besides whatever Dani, Lito, and Hernando have going on).

gif by @radishayuan

Meanwhile, The Warp Effect has fucking puppy play, Bed Friend has pet play, Laws of Attraction which has a couple pretty chaste kisses shows handcuffs to at least imply kink, there’s a ball gag and a fucking leash in Big Dragon, I haven’t seen it but Unforgotten Night has a lot of BDSM themes in it, Rain and Payu have a dom/sub dynamic going on, we have daddy kinks abound, I also haven’t seen this one but I know there is some belt bondage in War of Y. And even if it isn’t shown, kink and bondage specifically are often referenced in passing in shows with sex.

Also, there are very very very few Western shows I have seen that treat sex workers kindly, and Jojo Tichakorn is right there giving us sex workers as main characters multiple times in a row. Taiwan has great physical chemistry, the very few things I have seen from the Phillipines are so fucking queer, Japan even when they aren’t including sex at all have some extremely queer narratives, and when they are including sex? Holy fuck. South Korea is developing, but I have liked what I’ve seen so far, and it’s been fun seeing very rapid progressions in the level of physical intimacy characters are allowed to have, Thailand has been making a name for itself.  

TL;DR: There is a very broad range of physical intimacy in Asian BLs from no sex to lots of sex, but the abundance of content means I am seeing more shows with gay sex in them in like…a month or two, than shows I have seen in the West with gay characters at all in like…the past year. (This is of course, subjective, don’t ask me for real numbers). 

And, you know, in case this response wasn’t long enough, the amount of queer content, the types of stories being told, the rapid and continued development of BL is super interesting to observe in its own right. Sure, it may be driven by marketability and sales, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some truly important, realistic, vital, and beautiful pieces of queer media being created and shared with the world, a lot of which is much more accessible to audiences than Western media. I go heavy on the Thai shows in part because they are available for free on YouTube. 

I also think the West seems to think that having gay marriage is the be all, end all of queer inclusivity, and that they do not realize that countries without gay marriage are creating some of the most realistic queer content out there right now. The West has a lot it can learn from Asian BLs, but in my opinion, we’ve got our heads too far up our asses to be following their lead.

[noraigo]

some days ago, i started watching we are the series, since a friend of mine tried to convince me for a long time to tune in. we are isn’t exactly the type of series i would watch. not disregarding its charm, i must admit it’s even endearing, i’m just more keen on the angsty, adult queer love. however, there’s a certain couple that’s been running nonstop in my mind ever since i started the series and, of course, it’s no other than tan and fang.

tan is certainly unique as a whole, because if anything — i think it’s the first time i see such a loud but not annoying character, and that’s hard to portray. his excitement seems genuine all the time and i feel his happiness is shared through the screen. that doesn’t brush off his emotional intelligence and i think people underestimate this trait of his: just because he seems silly and party-loving doesn’t mean that he is insensible. he can be serious if it’s needed and he cares for the people around him. it’s safe to say that cheerful characters are often overlooked because of it and, as viewers, we shouldn’t take it for granted.

fang, on the other side, is the total opposite of him, yet it doesn’t make him less interesting. his background is implied to be unstable, which made both phum and fang be more closed off emotionally speaking. even so, fang is trying his best to be on the same page as tan, though tan adores him when he’s serene and quiet. most of the time, characters like fang are misunderstood and it’s a little saddening. he is kind and tough, but it’s not hard to love him. something tan understood from the very beginning.

their dynamics keep me pushing watching the series. now that fang has been softening more and more, their scenes became even lovelier to watch, if that was ever possible; their kisses, clear eyes of infatuation, playful banters and words of love show it. i’m not a fan of sex scenes, they underwhelm me a little (might be the acespec in me), but tanfang’s was just perfect. not too much, not too little. just enough to show that these two desire each other. possibly, it could be not their first time as a couple, which is refreshing and new in thai queer shows as far as i've seen. (aouboom definitely enjoyed kissing and touching each other a little too much but, didn't the same happen with hidden agenda? just saying.)

people like them could be too much for others, but for each other, they are an absolute match. fang knows tan loves him unconditionally and so does tan. tan tries to push him for the better without overstepping his boundaries whilst fang apologizes if his behavior might be irrational when he’s angry and accidentally lashes out on tan. that’s actual respect and patience in a relationship. none of them are trying to change the other to fit their own personality, they have already changed once they realized they were into each other back then when they were problematic teens. ain’t that sweet?

just look at these sweet two blorbos, just in their own world, happy and in love.

on another note, though, i’ve gotten to know aouboom since viceversa era and i could already smell the cute chemistry between both, yet it’s very sad to know they suffer from secondary couple syndrome. how many series have they starred in as a second or even third couple? very unfair, gmmtv, you better give them a nice series, regardless of its length. as long as they don’t keep acting in college settings, i would give my entire scholarship for a coffee shop or any other ordinary plot. they are just THAT good and i will never get tired of their chemistry. they have a kind of spark i see very rarely and if gmm doesn’t give them a shot, they’re losing a potential gem.

please, give us more tanfang content and especially, an aouboom series. thank you very much.

[firstkanaphans]

Safe House, Season 4: FK moments you might have missed (Day 7)

Khaotung is always a bit grumpy in the mornings because he goes to bed super late. Here you can see First gently patting Khaotung’s head as he says, “Wake up. Wake up.”

And don’t worry, they made sure to tease Gemini for matching both the curtains and the place mats 😂

During breakfast, White asks Khao to pass him the sausages. Khao relays this message to First, who doesn’t realize the request came from White, and instead of grabbing the whole platter, takes a sausage out of his mouth and offers it to Khaotung. “For P’White,” Khaotung says, but he says it in such a way that I’m 100% sure if the sausage had been for him, he would have just taken it.

There’s also this one moment where they seem to be roleplaying Akk and Ayan? 

Khao laughs and shakes his head at the end so they’re clearly joking, but I don’t have a better explanation for you than that. Sorry.

During the afternoon session, everyone plays a card game. This is how close First and Khaotung sit.

Towards the end of the game, First and Khaotung are pitted against each other and First cedes to Khaotung instead of winning outright because Khao has fewer points than he does. (Khao is, in fact, in last place out of the entire house.) Here’s a clip of that moment and you can click the link below to get to a full translation.

(via)

Please note that Khao’s way of thanking First is by very intimately grabbing the inside of his thigh???

At the start of the evening session, they’re playing that weird game GMMTV likes where someone sits on a stool, someone else hits them with a pillow, and then they have to guess who it was. Khao gets to hit First, but as soon as they switch, they’re called down to dinner. First, however, was not about to let the opportunity pass him by.

That night everyone cosplays as themselves when they were kids and hands out these giant heart stickers. First gave his to Khao. Khao gave his to First. *Pretends to be shocked*

First and Khaotung were acting extra couple-y during their nightly interview. I've included a gif of my favorite moment below. Perth was saying that since he's new to GMMTV, he appreciated getting to know everyone. First then playfully asks him “What’s Phi’s name then?” and PerthChimon both pretend not to know.

The chin tickle 🥹

The last thing they did that night was read messages sent to them from each of their castmates. First’s message to Khaotung: Thank you. Khaotung’s message to First: I love you krup. Then they all go around giving each other hugs and I’m patiently waiting for First and Khaotung to hug, but instead they do this.

You can see that First does grab Khaotung’s hand at the end and squeeze it, but I just find the perfectly timed bro nods so funny. 

And that wraps up season 4 of Safe House! Throughout the whole season, I can count on one hand the number of times First and Khaotung weren’t in the same place at the same time and every single one of them was because the other was off doing something for production.

Thank you for putting up with me spamming your dash about a two-year-old show I only half understand. It’s been a pleasure. If you missed any installment of this particular series, you can find links to the other days below:

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

[respectthepetty]

I thought after GMMTV confirmed The Trainee's colors, I wouldn't have anything to write about this week but then Ryan woke up to visions of Jane in (Jane's) blue

And wore the 2022 "More than Friends, Less Than Lovers" Shirt-of-the-Year (@dribs-and-drabbles, we are both happy about this!), and somehow, I still have lots to write about their colors!

Because Jane has been hiding his true color in plain sight!

So even though we saw him hiding it this episode, once again, behind a facade of professionalism,

He was the bluest he has ever been.

It's clear to everyone else that Ryan likes him (since Ryan is waking up and wearing his color on his day off!), and Jane likes him (look at the pink circle of LOVE!)

Jane still questions to what extent Ryan likes him.

And although I wanted them to get hit with the Blinding Light of Love in the scene where Jane gives Ryan the shoes.

They came closer to an understanding of what is happening between them.

Like a Light Bulb of Love Like

So even though Jane is openly showing his blueness a bit more, next week might help me understand why he was hiding it in the first place.

And while everyone else is trying to ignore the situation happening in front of their work salads, Ryan is wearing . . . pink? purple? pink-purple?! Either way, Ryan is in love and cannot look the other way as someone speaks to his Blue Boy.

But who knows? Maybe that man is Jane's "brother"

And either way, Ryan is doing better than Mee who unlike Ryan who has picked up Jane's color, Mee lost her color (and her cool) a bit this episode.

She was blue and purple, but not her normal Pink Person self.

Yet the only time she was truly herself (pink) was when she was with Judy.

I am a JudyMee truther, so I'm rooting for my little HR violators, but even with my rose-colored glasses off, I saw the only time Mee smiled this episode and stayed in pink was when she was speaking to Judy.

Even though their interaction began with a barrier between them, the barrier dissolved as they continued speaking.

And as much as it upset some, the series showed Mee and Judy can still work together well despite the kiss between them (even when Pah is holding grudges for Tae) while Jane and Ryan had the minor hiccup this episode.

The series confirmed Tae is a Brown Boy, so it was nice to see him in that color with Pah and Pie (with the red text shirt!),

So the choice to have Tae grieve his relationship in blue while surrounded by pink is interesting to me.

I wasn't sure if Tae was a Blue Boy or a Brown Boy because of his changing elements, but I see the color choice this episode as a way for the colors to support the narrative that Tae was never going to be nor ever wanted to be the blue boy(friend) that Mee wanted.

A relationship is two (or more) people, but like Jane who hides his color, Tae trying to switch his color and be a better boyfriend now isn't true to who he really is. He likes his job. He likes working long hours. He doesn't have time to go out on dates every day, so to me, the breakup makes sense.

Tae is a predictable and frugal Brown Boy who didn't want to waste a reservation, not a Blue Boy(friend).

And maybe this breakup will help him realize that (he better be wearing brown next week!).

[aliceisathome]

Wandee Goodday's Ep 11 of Doom was not an episode of doom. It was an episode of clowns, kisses and cuddles.

By character we have:

Dee - now certainly winning the popular vote in the hospital for the internship despite the clown costumes. And doing better than Ter in the surgery as well as arriving at the fight at just the right time (thanks to Taem - let's face it anyone's who's been to Bangkok knows driving in a car is not the best way to get anywhere fast).

Yak - still the biggest puppy on the block. That man is a keeper - from his balloon animals to his derpy kiss me face. But lying to Kao's face while the hooded figure is standing right there next to him? Silly boy. Also his sulky face is basically Great giving me a throw back to Inspector M's permanent expression in Manner of Death.

Speaking of Kao: he's got a date! And a cute one at that (hi Title). Here's hoping for lots of lovely cuddles and snuggles.

Yei and Cher: my preciouses. So freaking cute - yes babies, get married and adopt. Dear GMMtv, can we have a prequel of how they got together AND a sequel which can just be 12 eps of getting married and adopting and being all domestic? I love them so much.

Ter: NO. NO REDEMPTION FOR YOU. Personally I wouldn't get in a car alone with someone who's attempted to SA me but Dee's such a trusting soul.

Taem: stay away from Dr Ter - you deserve better. Far, far better.

Have just realised that purple and yellow make brown which is what Dee's wearing a lot of and there's more orangey brown lighting in his room now as well. Is this deliberate? But he's still in his purple scrubs while Yak's in his yellow for the pre-fight kiss. Which was adorable - the crowd went wild! I don't think Dee can refuse to admit they're boyfriends now...

What a lovely ep 11. Let's hope it doesn't mean that ep 12 will be doom laden. Honestly, I want Yak to win the fight for himself obviously but also because that Mason really needs taking down a peg or several. And then I want Dee to win the scholarship and turn it down because he's happy in Bangkok with his boyfriend. Which means that Ter will be in his debt forever. i'll miss this series when it ends. It's adorable.

[waitmyturtles]

GMMTV 2024 Part 2, let's go

I've had my MULTIPLE cawfees and I'm watching the GMMTV Part 2 trailers. @my-rose-tinted-glasses, this one's for you!

TL;DR what I'm excited for: Ossan's Love with trepidation; Revamp: The Undead, I'm first in line; The Ex-Morning with open arms; Us, once we have a better sense of the screenplay; Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist, drop it like it's hot, Mark; Thame-Po, boys look gewd

****

1) Ossan's Love: THE KEY WORDS BEING "INSPIRED BY"

If I take away the inclination to do any sort of comparisons to the Japanese version whatsoever ("INSPIRED BY"), I'm thrilled that EarthMix get to do romcom. Earth at this level of baka is utterly unbelievable to me, you are too smokin' hot, boy, but try to bring it, because if you do, and it's a success, then I'll be fucking really impressed.

2) Leap Day: Looks scary. Gun!

3) The Heart Killers: ...

Man. Man! First in muscle shirts and an earring, kisses pushed up against walls, etc. Where have we seen this before. Lemme guess, they all get together in the end. I would like to force myself to be excited about this somehow, Jojo on 10 Things, but. I haven't been there with JoongDunk yet, either, so actually, they seemed kinda refreshing against the FK vibes, ha. Anyway, this reignited my OF burnout, which I'm honestly trying to ignore as I get close to re-watching The Eclipse for my Old GMMTV Challenge project. @my-rose-tinted-glasses, my trust issues switch is flipped to "on."

(Get Jojo away from ships, please. He had Tay kissing Joss and Mild in the same year AFTER Dark Blue Kiss. He fucking doesn't need to use ships.)

4) Friendshit Forever: no subs, seems intense, the gals are smokin', NEW AND BOUN?! Hate to say it, but even without knowing what this is exactly about, I'm intrigued? My Boun! New and Boun!

5) Perfect 10 Liners: They're letting New Siwaj do 30 episodes, folks. I have no predictions on this one, y'all will have to tell me if it's good. Perth is back with New Siwaj directing after 2018's Love By Chance. If they give Chimon a little comedy, I'll be happy. I asked for Junior again, but maybe I wasn't expecting him to go to school, but I will admit I like JuniorMark together, and if they get to helm 10 episodes as the center stars, then good for them! Maybe that'll be the bit of this series that I watch.

6) Us: I believe in this screenplay more than how 23.5 is working out. I think Fon Kanittha needs more stuff on her plate to play around with to make a great show. This trailer was great. I'm watching My Precious the Series now (after having watched the movie this past weekend, which I was disappointed by -- the series is MUCH better, and going better than 23.5), and I'm seeing that Fon does stuff very well, background community building that gives us macro- and micro-level understandings of her characters. If those levels are Sing Harit, I'm here for it, that was an unexpected appearance, but if he's recalling the strength he brought to Todd in Not Me, then I'm a happy camper.

7) Hide and Sis: I love Piploy. Wednesday Club was a total holiday trash watch for me last year, but I loved her a lot. Looks like they're promoting this as a multi-generational show with known older actors, the approach of which I like. Everyone hates each other and maybe tries to kill each other; Keeping Up With the Thai Kardashians, maybe? Surprise, Gawin's a cop. Chimon as murderer, I'll support that.

8) Thame-Po: This looks cute. I'll consider a pre-order! Separately, I happen to adore cute Lego from LYKN, so good on those dudes for getting a show, and I like that William is pushing his boundaries outside of music.

9) Break-Up Service: I am happy that Off has gotten this kind of sneaky love romcom (?) role.

10) Revamp: The Undead: I'm here for it. I'm so happy for BounPrem. I'm happy to see some strong support dudes in Kay and Mark in this project. I haven't watched My Only 12%, so I don't know from Santa, but I know a lot of friends love him. I am totally seated. GMMTV is really the BL Machine, huh, absorbing this project.

11) Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist: Do not get me wrong, I am very excited about this; I am just wondering if Baby Ohm needs a little workshopping to get more diversity in his expressions. But I am very excited, Mark looks SO DOWN and ready to lead. View! Jimmy! I'm good with this.

12) The Dark Dice: High School Squid Game, I can't

13) The Ex-Morning: I gotta admit. This kind of moment is one of the reasons why I'm so happy doing the OGMMTVC. The big-ass smile I had on my face seeing KristSingto again, even though I really wasn't the biggest fan of SOTUS -- I've done a whole accountability turn on Krist after seeing him in Be My Favorite, and I appreciate that this show will go meta on the KristSingto background. It fucking sucks that Shadow sucked, because Singto is such a good actor, just seems like his scripts are here and there lately, but anyway. Aof Noppharnach writing this? Last Twilight ended cringe, but I'm still an Aof girlie, so I am 100% excited for this.

14) Scarlet Heart Thailand: That wasn't really a trailer, but considering the reputation the base story has in Asia and globally, I like, business-wise, what this means for GMMTV, a historical that will have appeal to multiple generations. I understand the original novel for this, Bu Bu Jing Xin, isn't translated into English, and that's a bummer, because it seems like this Thai version, which has already been dramatized in China and Korea, is based squarely on the novel. Fuck Win. These were the kinds of shows I loved as a kid when I watched Asian shows with my folks, so I have to admit that I'm intrigued, but I would have liked to see a meatier trailer.

That's it!

[just-misheru]

Random thoughts GMMTV part 2 line up (BL only)

The Heart Killers. I was fully on board by the opening scene, Khao and Joong as mafia brothers? YES. I'm so happy to see JoongDunk have graduated and Joong isn't playing the love sick puppy. That tattoo chair better remain a prop in the series as FirstKhao were making good use out of it. We basically have YokRay and I'm here for it.

Heart That Skips a Beat. EstWilliams chemistry is on fire, oh my that dance studio scene 😅. I'm loving the vibe of this teaser. The music and dialogue is giving kbl. Idol romance/secrecy? Yes I'm on board. I feel like this one is going to be the one that surprises everyone.

The ex-morning. It's nice to see the OGs are back but I'll be honest, I've never watched SOTUS. The teaser looks interesting with an exs plot and I love a good enemy to lovers trope.

Revamp. Now, I've been waiting for The Vampire Project ever since the first teaser as I love vampire series/films but I just pray that GMMTV don't make this a light romance Twilight kind of thing. I need dark, crazy obsessive vampires. I need Boun to be will to do anything for Prem. I need Santa to be unapologetically badass. I'm excited for this, don't let me down GMMTV!

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist. MarkOhm are finally gracing our screens as main leads together. It looks like a fun, lighthearted series and Mark singing the Last Twilight ost took me out. I just hope this isn't the type of series that make us wait 11 episodes for a kiss.

Perfect 10 Liners. If you told me the premise of this beforehand I would not be too excited. However the teaser looked fun especially ForceBook. Apparently this will be 3 seperate dramas so if you don't like PerthChimmon you could still watch ForceBooks episodes or vice versa. I'm not sure what to make of this one, it will be interesting!

Ossan's Love. Before Thai Cherry Magic I would have worried about this re-make but it showed it can be done well. EarthMix are hilarious and I trust them. However who wouldn't instantly choose to marry Mix?! I loved the scene of Mix going on his tip toes to kiss Earth, I hope they keep that in the series.

Overall I think it was a good part two with exciting things to come!

[ryansjane]

gmmtv 2024 part 2 trailers first impression & ranking :)

from most excited for to least excited:

us: I SCREAMED!!! of course gl ranks number one, let's bffr, but legit this looks so indie & good I love it! sing is gonna be so good at being the abandoned lover hahaha, and the girls have so much chemistry & are so cute!!! I ship it already <3

breakup service: I did NOT expect to get an off as MAIN in a straight romcom again after 4 fucking years, I'm beyond elated!!! the fact that he's paired with a very popular singer also makes me happy! the plot looks really fun & reminds me of catch me baby and midnight motel so I'm all in!!! my man deserves this sm <3

hide & sis: gawin in a role like this??? ATE DOWN!!! but honestly the whole cast is perfect, I can't believe we're gonna get pepper & lookjun playing an on-screen couple! I hope this one is more like ps: I hate you & nothing like the jungle but I'm super excited I love everyone here :)

the ex morning: bruh if you'd have told a kristsingto show would be 4th on this list I would've laughed in your face but... tell me why this plot seems so fucking cute?? I feel like we haven't gotten this type of second chance bl before, and idk if it's nostalgia or what but I'm actually really into it lol

thame po: yooooo this morning I could not picture estwilliam together, but actually I like them a lot already! as a lykn fan I'm happy to see them in a series, and the plot is quite original which is becoming more & more rare so I'm excited!

sweet tooth, good dentist: I still don't know how to fully feel about mark & ohm t, I feel like they look way too similar, but oh well. this looks very sweet (like its title) & y'all know I love dumb romcoms like these so I'll be watching!

leap day: this looks insane & the cast feels random af but it seems interesting! I hope it doesn't end up being one of those shows who thought throwing gun & his insane talent in a show would be enough to cover its bad writing *cough* home school *cough* midnight museum *cough* excited to see pond in an interesting role for once though lmao

the dark dice: this looks like the thai high school squid game to me, it seems interesting & I love that aungpao is in here, but I'll have to see how I feel once the show starts airing to see if I'll watch it or not.

scarlet heart thailand: this teaser told me nothing so I googled the original, ngl it's a slay for tu she looks so pretty, and I do love historical shows so I'll probably be watching! also very happy to see tay, force & phuwin here :)

friendshit forever: I legit thought I was gonna get a mookpat gl bruh lmaoooooo, but nope instead I get girls fighting over a dude ;_; like I get it new is hot af but bruh in 2024 we still have girls having cat fights... I'm good :/ the title is hilarious though :')

ossan's love thailand: this trailer actually made me happy bc contrarily to my initial thought I think earth is ADORABLE as haruta! and the actor they chose to play the ossan??? DAMNNN DADDY 😏 probably still won't be watching since I hate remakes but this looks better than I anticipated!

the heart killers: call me a hater but I did not feel this at all, I feel like it's a more boring mix of not me, only friends & midnight motel and I don't particularly care for either ships so I will not be watching... I'm sure this show will be fine without me though lol

perfect 10 liners: we are but even more boring, they even pulled up aouboom & marcpoon LMAOOO. again all love but I don't care for this at all, it's so basic I can't do this to myself anymore, I'm sorry it's called self-care at this point :')

revamp the undead story: again I don't care for bounprem & THE gmmtv vampire show is my golden blood for me babe, like sorry but jossgawin forever 🫶 (more seriously this doesn't look bad but I simply do not give any fuck to watch this show)

[gunsatthaphan]

✌🏻✨ ~ 2023 wrap-up ~ ✨✌🏻

another year gone, another post no one asked for djkghdf

I normally don't talk about personal stuff on here but like in the previous year I wanted do a little recap and give shoutouts to some lovely people 🧡

It hasn't been an easy year for me, I started a new job which has been stressful and annihilated my work-life balance which resulted in me being sick a lot & just being stressed for most of the year lol. I barely found time to maintain this blog which may not seem like it on the outside since I somehow managed to frequently post but it's been difficult. I know I don't have to be online 24/7 but the fear of slipping into irrelevancy due to lack of content remains. I didn't have much time to watch bls & asian shows in general which I still consider my safe space and escapism so I'm resentful that I didn't get to fully take in and enjoy the things I'm passionate about and make content about them like I did in the previous years. That being said thank god for all the weekend shows that I did manage to watch and fully focus on like Only Friends and now Cooking Crush and Cherry Magic. Those have been life savers lol and also thank god for all the talented creators who gave us tons of content; I will mention some of them below.

But aside from my personal schedule and despite not watching a lot of stuff, I still tried to keep an eye on what's going on in the BL world for my monthly breakdowns, which I still enjoy making and I will likely continue them in 2024. I also came to the conclusion that 2023 ended up being another rendition of quantity > quality in the BL-verse so not much has changed lol - not that I expected it to. We got a wild and extended mix of different genres and subgenres this year which was nice to see. We saw companies & actors experimenting a lot (with varying results), we got new ships, new fandoms and new enemies, as well as a variety of comebacks and retirements. My watchlist this year was limited to Thai BLs and my blog mostly consisted of gmmtv related content and like I said, if I had had more time I probably would have explored more different shows - but I eventually resorted to what's familiar. I guess I needed an anchor in midst of all my personal chaos lol.

But despite my short list, there were a few gems that I enjoyed. The big ones like Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Be My Favorite, etc., and the small, less popular ones like Be Mine Superstar, Mission Fan Possible and a few more. I enjoyed talking to friends & making content about them in the limited timeframes I had. My opinions mostly matched those of the general public but unfortunately there were a few disappointments that were bathing in a success that I could not wrap my head around - Dangerous Romance and A Boss and a Babe being at the top of that list, followed by La Pluie and also a few of the lakorns I watched. But anyway.

Anyone who knows me knows my blog has been 83% FirstKhao this year lmao, they're my favorite people in this industry and watching them act, interact & making content about them has been one of my highlights. I'm excited to see what 2024 brings for them and even if it's not a series, I'm looking forward to seeing what else they will be up to 🥺 🐈‍⬛ 🐈

I'm going into 2024 with mixed feelings but above all I hope I will get the chance to expand my watchlist a little. I will post a personal top10 of the shows I watched this year shortly; until then I want to talk a bit about some lovely people this year - I’m not good with words lmao but thank you for being you and making this hellsite a better place 🥹 lol.

@leonpob - bestie!!! 🧡 our BL opinions have drifted apart this year lmao but who's to say friendships are solely based on mutual opinions. You're the best, stay the way you are and here's to another year of sharing thoughts and hopefully finding more shows to watch together (no matter if trash or not lol) 😉😘  @mayalunas - ahhhh I loved talking to you sooo so much this year, we agree on so many things that I'm convinced we share the same BL braincells lmao. You're one of my favorite people on this website, thank you for being such a good listener and a positive & supportive person to talk to 🥺 I hope you have the best 2024!!! ily!!! 🧡 @khunvegas - GURL idk where you went this year or if you still exist sdjkds but just know I haven't forgotten about you and I miss our talks 🥺 come back pls thank. @my-wandering-rabbit - I love our random out-of-context talks once a month lmao, I appreciate you and I hope we will continue our ritual of me watching shows and you asking me questions without watching them kjsdhg @bl-recs-and-reviews - Bestie!!! I love our catch-ups on Discord, you were one of the first people I ever talked to like 4 years ago? crazy. look at us. I still love you, you're the sweetest and I love talking to you 🧡🥺 @dreamedofyou - ahh I absolutely love your blog!!! I noticed you a lot in my notifications this year so I wanted to say thank you so much for interacting with my unhinged content (mostly FK related lmao) - We haven't talked a ton but I think of you as a very nice person and I hope we can talk more next year 🥹🫶🏻

and then of course some more shoutouts go out to all the wonderful and talented creators out there; I will never be able to tag all of you so sorry in advance but here are a few that I appreciate, some of which have also mentioned me in their wrap-up posts so thank you for that!!!

@taeminie @seatawinan @loveisactivated @forcebook @jimmysea @guzhu-furen @daymork @itsallaboutbl @seatawinans @blneobin @blmpfff @wanderlust-in-my-soul @pranpat @milkpansa @raypakorn @ahxu-laowen @forcebookish @forcebookcorner @morkofday @chinzillas @seajimmy @dimpledpran @i-got-the-feels @bengiyo @benkaaoi @25shadesoffebruary @moonkhao @smittenskitten @respectthepetty @earthfluuke @pharawee @khaotunq @khaotunqs @pranink @gabrielokun @piningintrovert @zhaozi @markpakin @firstkanaphans @firstforkhao @khaotungsfirst @wen-kexing-apologist @firstkpp @firstmix @bunnakit @khaothanawat @alienwlw @ffirstkhao (I can't tag the last 4 for some reason..)

have the best 2024!!!

🧡🧡🧡

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I Still On1y Care About...

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Sept 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7 of 12 - Deeeelightful. They are so damn cute + a nice kiss! The rise of the green flag semes continues. I like it when Diew flirts and shows that he does have some experience in a relationship, and he can/will flex his power. Props to God for being a man who remembers to TAKE HIS DRINK with him. 

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 4 of 10 - Yep I still like it and all its toxicity. It’s fun to see how closely it follows the original. Now I really can’t wait to see how this one ends. Since this time around we get an actual ending.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 6 of 12 - How did they know that what I wanted more than anything was a side couple = spoiled prince + demon lord? How clever they are to give them to me. Meanwhile, in a shocking twist, the leads have known each other since childhood. Because why be original? 

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - Oh it’s very cute. I love Ing. I love that Ai was honest with his bestie. Best friend's older brother trope is a go! Also good kisses all round. 

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 1 of 12 - Ohm has his shirt off less than 5 min in. I guess GMMTV is learning what we want. My boy Title is the creep character again. I’m assuming that’s why GMMTV brought him on board at this juncture. Sigh. New boy, Q, looks like Mek’s younger brother. Ultimately? I'm not convinced on this one. It is doing what it says on the tin, but nothing more than that. I’m not wild about it, but I will keep watching.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 10 of 12 - The more OffGun BLs, the more time they spend communicating as characters in those BLs. It’s kind of charming. They've become the pair that advocates for communication in relationships. I like it as evolution for their brand. Flirting via the printer was very fun. Especially as the Thai script is so beautiful.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 5 - I guess this is a lockdown narrative? Odd choice. A lot of familiar faces but from more minor rolls. Is this from the Destiny Seeker people? It feels like that. It’s a bigger cast than I was expecting, and a sort of classic university BL of the kind star Hunter produces. Or the end of love people. Pretty classic Thai pulp stuff. I’m mildly enjoying it. Hali is too hot to be the dorky second lead. Nice to see Boat back on my screen. However, it is… what’s the word I am looking for? Oh yes. Boring. Plus singing. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I entirely lost my mind over this show this week. Fuck me it's so good. The delicacy sends me. I keep expecting it to be clumsy and then is just isn't - it's so subtle and it demands we pay such close attention. I feel like I'm holding my breath the whole time I'm watching.

Cliff's notes on these 2 eps as follows:

The pure unadulterated tsundere of it all.

The awesome angst, it aches.

The series of repercussions after the fight was pacing genius.

The brilliant juxtaposition of "the kid who self isolates too easily" versus "the one who has been forced into isolation" meets both of them being smart enough to know why they react out of hurt, but neither can stop doing it.

Baby’s reaction to learning he’s going to be left behind = to instantly make plans to do the leaving in the future hurts my heart in the best possible way.

"Maybe what we call eternity is just persistence."

Maybe one boy simply deciding to be another boy's rock is romance. 

Production better nail the second half of this show! It better be the world against them from here on out or the audience is gonna riot.

And by "audience" I mean me.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 5 of 10 - Oh noes! Poor baby boy!!! My heart hurts. But also gah so cute and next week they shack up together! Hooray! 

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 - too much time spent on the girl again. I don’t need excuses for why she’s a bitch. So can we talk about Taichi instead? It’s such a good characterization, this boy who understands everything about other people but doesn’t notice anything about himself, including his own abilities of observation. The person who is special never realizes how special they are, I guess. The soundscapes are so good with this show. The moments where prod decided to be silent are so vital and so pivotal and used with such delicacy and strategy, it’s truly audio magic manipulation.  

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 7-8 of 12 - I loved how Orca just jumped on the stage. What a great side couple. CHARMED I TELL YOU. Orca was all… singing? Naw. I came back to fuck the manager's brains out. Anything less than that is unacceptable. 

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 10 fin - Essentially this was a growth story for Takara and an exercise in patience while the two of them learned each other’s quirks and languages. It was also an exercise in patience for me... who doesn’t like the power differential of a weaker younger character having to do all the pursuing while constantly feeling like he is inferior to the older popular hot character. I know this was a BL that was definitely for some people, since plenty liked it way more than I did, but I didn’t like it very much even though there’s nothing objectively wrong with it. It simply wasn’t to my personal taste. 7/10 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 5-6 of 8 - Enter an ex or something? Well he certainly has a type. Bah. This whole series seems to be mainly about cheating. It’s very annoying because they are all so pretty. 

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Messy gay pain here we go.

Oh it’s exactly what I expected. Do I like it? No I do not. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. I have a bad feeling about this one. DNF 

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

The Hidden Moon (Sat ????) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast. Couldn't find it. Didn't really look.

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once. No new one this week.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Plus:

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Not sure what this is from but I capped it for a reason so, shrug.

The scent trope AND the childhood crush trope? I see you suckering me into one trope because I like the other. Clever, Battle. Very clever.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[carlafloral]

People getting mad over BOC not having much on their line up forget that they are still a baby company. They are not even 2 years old yet. They put everything they had into making Kinnporche, they had to start all over again when Filmania went under and look at the quality they gave us.

Three original work from them is already enough, we have Biblebuild series solemnly written for them, MileApo movie and the Jeffbarcode collaboration with the Korean company. Stop comparing then to gmmtv or other BLs company out there.

According to pond, they are building an entire village from scratch to shoot the MA movie, not to talk of the amount of money for costumes, writers, cinematography etc. they are hoping that MA movies can contend with international LGBT movies, they are going big.

Also it’s not possible to make a series for each of the ships in BoC, but I know they will pair most of the boys as a second Cp in the 3 projects they have. Let’s be patient. I know a lot of people want kp season 2, but there are underlying issues with the copyright of the book that we don’t know about and shooting Kinnporche doesn’t come cheap.

Biblebuild series is an original as well, they have to pay the writer to write a story from scratch for them, that doesn’t come cheap as well. Jeffbarcode were lucky to be casted by a Korean company, soo both BOC and the other company will share the production cost.

Also, BOC is just those 16 boys and Pond, no big boss or big management behind them. It’s just them and those few female staffs they have. Let them work at their own pace 🙏🏻.

I know they can do better in terms of some things, let’s remember Kinnporche was their first project ever and Kp blew out of proportion, it blew international and locally and they were not prepared for the huge success it got. They are just starting to put some things in place.

Like someone said, BOC is messy but they will eventually get it right as they grow as a company. Also word on the street is that, pond is just 35 years old, he is the same age as me but he is doing soo much more than I am. Look at all the big brands those boys are collaborating with, he is only a year in the bl industry and he is already sitting at the same table with Dior, LV, hbo, Disney, etc. let’s give him time, he might seems like a weird guy to some people but he has his ways of doing things.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Ok, I have done some catching up! This mostly fell as I expected. There have been many shows that ended up far better or far worse than indicated by their trailers, so who knows how the final product will land, but here are my first impressions. (QL only, the hets are still boring to me).

Most excited for:

Revamp - pump it right into my veins, baby. The aesthetic still matches the original trailer, Boun looks so fucking hot, and if GMMTV has the sense to let BounPrem do what BounPrem do best, this will be an epic series. Sad about the loss of Boss. Looking forward to both Santa and Mark getting to hopefully break out of their usual innocence pigeonholing.

The Heart Killers - did not expect the FirstKhaotung and JoongDunk pairing, but I am here for it. Even though Joong and Khaotung do not look remotely related. Finally GMMTV has realized Joong should be killing people onscreen and we get sexy pursuing Dunk. First & Khao do feel a bit similar in vibe to Sand & Ray here, but presumably with the series they'll have no problem more fully developing them in a unique way.

The Ex-Morning - I don't always vibe with plotlines like this, but my baby Singto is here, and I like the meta-ness of giving him and Krist a story about former partners coming back together and relighting the spark.

Less excited, reserving judgement:

Us - I'm happy we're getting another GL, and I haven't seen Bonnie or Emi in anything before, but they seemed amazing, and the chemistry is on point. I'm just not a big fan of love triangle stories, especially with siblings. Also I want more of Sing being a bad boy with his tits out, less crying in the rain. But I will probably still watch to show support.

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist - I am delighted that Mark is getting his well-deserved lead, and he and Ohm seem great together. I just don't love dentists as romantic leads. I know this is a me thing, the dentist's office is just a very stressful place for me, and having scenes there just brings up past experiences. I had the same issue with My Tooth Your Love. The plot also feels just so-so. But I hope this is just the start of a lot more Mark leading role material!

Thame-Po - similarly, really happy about Est in a lead, he and William have great chemistry. And I do think it's good to have shows pushing back at the public over this idea that idols aren't allowed to have personal lives. But it's also not a very original plotline.

Perfect 10 Liners - *weary sigh* We're going to end up with 40 year olds playing college students, aren't we? That said, I felt the same way about We Are, but I'm really enjoying it. So it could be fun. I'm happy to see Junior and Mark again. And according to online, we will also get AouBoom and MarcPoon (and it might be 3 series in full, good lord!?), so I'm on board with more of them.

Note to GMMTV: posting a slide that says "chemistry on point" before showing Perth & Chimon, does not make us believe in the chemistry! For the love of god, do some heavy duty chemistry workshops, or give Perth a new partner.

Ossan's Love - I haven't seen the original, but gotta admit, not a huge fan of this kind of comedy. I do like that the boss is an older man, represent, but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy this one.

[watchingblsnowandforever]

The Trainee

Heyy =D

Okay, firstly, this post does not sing high praises, so please scroll past if that's not your thing. Don't come at me later, please, I'm too exhausted to write proper comebacks the tumblr way. Oh, and there will be spoilers-

I had high expectations from this show, ngl. I mean it's OffGun, so it's a natural reaction. Did I like Cooking Crush very much? Not really. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, sure. It was nice and the comedy was impeccable, I have to admit. But I was actually really looking forward to The Trainee. It was a new concept, OffGun were finally graduating (!!!).

All of those expectations aside, I would just like to point out that this is a BL and was advertised as such. So why, pray tell, did it feel like (I paraphrase @desi-yearning cause she got the sentiment down pat) a het show with a side of BL??

I mean look, I do mind het shows a bit (personal. opinion.), but I don't usually mind het sides in a BL. This was not that.

At this point, I think RyanJane had less screentime than TaeMhee. Which- again, why, why, why in the name of all that's good and gay would you make them get back together?! What were you on. The breakup seemed necessary and it felt like the show was building up to it. And the thing with Judy??? You could have had a GL side and you ignored that for a *gestures* whatever that was. Fine, no GL side. Still, you could have had Mhee explore her bisexuality more? She's literally wearing black even after she gets back with Tae?? Sigh.

Tae is... for a lack of a better word, very dependent on Mhee. A little too much. He really should learn to do things himself.

And don't even get me started on the proposal. Pie's "you're the girl. He should be the one proposing" had me losing almost all my respect for her. So much show and jazz. For a het proposal. A het that's supposed to be a side couple. What are you trying to do? Establish a new pairing?? With Sea? I mean yeah sure do that. But do that in a het series. Next time, please save me the trouble with proper advertising.

The characters were well-written, kind of, yes. But there was just so much potential that got wasted. It physically hurts to think of all the big time potential they wasted. Just... down the drain. This could have been the second best GMM BL of the year, now it's a mid series at best.

What are you doing with OffGun. You either stop baiting people with parings, or you start doing things properly. This is the most GMMTV ending I've seen in a while. And here I thought the year was going good sigh.

And what was up with those no-contact 5 years?? You could have at least had a Long Distance Relationship??? You just waltz back and expect him to take you back?

All this is giving me a headache. I need to still finish a paper that's making me go through the 5 stages of grief. It's just 500 words why- ugh nevermind.

Basically, this series was a big example of how you should build up and also a big example of what not to do in the middle and the ending.

GMMTV. You've given me We Are, from a Director I wasn't even expecting it from. You better do the other series I'm hoping for well. Please and thank you. <3

Finally, I just want to say for all that I... criticize this show, I do have good things to say about it. Would I hard rec it? Probably not. Should you watch it? Uh, sure, if you're bored, have time to waste and really like OffGun and don't mind a lot of het PDA. And I mean a lot.

That's all for this series. Hope y'all have a good day/night!

And if you got this far, thank you so much for reading. ☺️

Love,