#gmmtv ql

[guzhufuren]

GMMTV Thailand 🇹🇭 A Guide to Some of the Best Queer Asian Shows

Full list here.

1. My School President high school setting; secret crush; school president/rebel musician

Gun is the head of his high school music club. Tinn is a school president and Gun's long-term rival. The Principal wants to disband some of the school’s “useless” after-school clubs, especially the music club. Per school rules, the student council president is the one who has the power to dissolve clubs. Gun is now at Tinn’s mercy, so he attempts to do whatever he can to persuade his rival not to cancel the music club. Little does he know, Tinn actually has a secret crush on him. Could romance brew as Gun makes a desperate attempt to secure the future of his band?

Viki (MSP) & YouTube (Our Skyy special 33-40) & YouTube (special)

2. Moonlight Chicken adult romance; age gap; deaf character

Jim is an ordinary guy running a chicken rice diner. One night, he meets Wen when he stays past closing drunk. Brought together by fate that night, intangible feelings arise. Neither can stop thinking about the other despite Jim's efforts to remain unattached. Jim also takes care of his nephew Li Ming, who is falling in love with Heart, a deaf teenager who is practically kept under house arrest by his affluent parents.

YouTube

3. Not Me revolution; freedom fighters; secret twins

When his twin Black is viciously attacked and subsequently left hospitalised in unconsciousness, White is unable to endure the harm done to his brother in silence. He learns Black was a part of a gang of anti-capitalist freedom fighters, and it was one of them who betrayed him. White disguises himself as Black to discover which one of them betrayed him and put him in a coma.

YouTube

4. 23.5 wlw; high school setting; secret admirer

Ongsa moves to a new school and meets Sun, a cute popular girl who she immediately falls for. However, she decides to approach Sun in instagram dms under the pseudonym Earth, leading Sun to believe she's talking to a guy. But Ongsa does not want to lose the opportunity to talk to Sun, so she decides to keep the fact that she is a girl a secret and continue talking as Earth.

YouTube

5. Bad Buddy (+ Zero Photography) enemies to lovers; forbidden romance; university setting; wlw side couple

Fueled by their parents animosity, Pat and Pran have competed with each other in nearly everything in life. In public, they are rivals, but behind closed doors the pair are open to being friends… maybe more.

YouTube (Bad Buddy) & YouTube (Zero Photography) & YouTube (Our Skyy Special 49-60)

6. Cherry Magic Thailand mind reading; secret crush; office setting

By still being a vіrgin at 30, Achi gains a magical power – the ability to read other people's minds by touching them. At first, he’s overwhelmed by his new ability, and it’s not proving to be helpful to him. But that all changes when he accidentally touches their office’s most perfect guy Karan, who he learns has romantic feelings for him.

No easy international streaming available to my knowledge, watch on KissKH. I also recommend watching original japanese show first, it’s listed in the japanese section.

7. Enchanté childhood friends to lovers; university setting

After living in France, Theo comes back to Thailand and he meets his childhood friend, Akk. Theo finds a book with a message welcoming him and signed as Enchanté, he becomes curious about who this guy is. Will Theo successfully guess who is the Enchanté in the university?

YouTube

8. 3 Will Be Free polyamorous trio; on the run; mafia

After an unexpected event that involves sex work and mafia gangs, three individuals find themselves on-the-run together as they attempt to escape death.

YouTube

9. Theory of Love unrequited love; best friends to lovers

Third year film student Third has been harboring feelings for his friend Khai. After three years of painful unrequited love, Third decides to stop, no matter how difficult it may be. But when Third decides to stop, Khai decides to start.

YouTube

10. He's Coming to Me ghost/human

After his death, Met is a ghost consumed by loneliness. That is until he meets a strange boy that can see him. The two bond in a state of happiness and joy as they develop into friends. But what happens when Met falls for the boy who is alive? YouTube

11. Last Twilight blind character/caretaker

Mhok, who can't seem to get his life back on track after spending six months in prison, applies for a high-paying job as a caregiver to Day, a young man with partial blindness. Day used to be a badminton athlete with a bright future who discovered that his cornea is injured and he will soon become completely blind. Day hires Mhok who—unlike other applicants—seems to take no pity on him. With so much time spent in each others' company, the two develop a deep bond.

YouTube i recommend to stop watching on episode 12 clip 3/4 timestamp 28:04, because after that moment the story goes for the “curing disability” trope and gets ruined, but it will not be ruined for you if you stop.

12. Be My Favorite time travel

Kawi has been in love with Pearmai since university. After receiving an invitation to her wedding with Pisaeng, Kawi spirals into regret. He uses a crystal ball to travel back in time to the age of eighteen to set things right with her. But everything turns upside-down. Instead of fulfilling his hopes and setting things right with Pearmai, Kawi somehow ends up in the arms of Pisaeng, Pearmai's future fiance. Thus begin their cat-and-mouse games with Pisaeng chasing after Kawi. Enraged, Kawi keeps twisting the crystal ball in an attempt to get his desired outcome. But what if Botkawee and Pearmai were never meant to be together? What if he was destined to be with Piseang instead?

YouTube

13. The Eclipse  high school setting; self discovery; corrupt school system; school president/rebel

Akk is a head student prefect in country’s leading all-boys school. Rumour has it that there is a curse that will punish students who disobey the school rules, a curse that grows stronger as the solar eclipse nears. Akk has to keep an eye on a mysterious new student Ayan, who regularly challenges the school’s norms.

YouTube & YouTube (Our Skyy Special 17-24)

14. A Tale of Thousand Stars (1000Stars) a second chance in life; village setting

After a volunteer teacher dies in a tragic accident, her heart is transplanted into Tian. He learns about his donor’s life through her diary and decides to follow in her footsteps. Now a new village volunteer teacher himself, Tian meets Phupha and as the two slowly grow closer, Tian notices his new heart beats quickly whenever he's near the man. Much like the heart’s previous owner, Tian cannot help but fall for Phupha.

Viki or YouTube (ATOTS) & YouTube (Our Skyy Special 49-60)

15. Only Friends queer friend group; messy relationships

A group of business students running a hostel together blur the lines between friendship and romance. Mew has been focusing on his studies, setting aside no time for sex and relationships. Upon learning of his friend's innocence, Boston introduces Mew to Top. What Boston intended to be his friend's one-night affair turns into something more and he isn't happy with the turn of events. Economics student Sand wants an exclusive relationship with Ray, but Ray has feelings for Mew. IT shop worker Nick finds nudes in Boston's phone and ends up in a friends-with-benefits relationship with him.

YouTube

16. Never Let Me Go rich boy/bodyguard; high school setting; mafia

Nueng is the son of a mafia leader. One day his father is killed and Nueng is forced to take the reins in his place. His mother appoints Palm, a country boy, to be his bodyguard and protect him from dangers in and out of school. However, one person would like to see Nueng dead: his uncle who aims to become the next mafia leader. Will Palm successfully protect Nueng from the dangers balanced by his uncle, as the two begin to fall in love?

YouTube & YouTube (Our Skyy Special 1-8)

17. A Boss and a Babe office setting; boss/intern

Cher, a vibrant aspiring pro-gamer, has just started his internship at a gaming company led by Gun, the uncompromising CEO. In addition to his gaming, Cher has an ASMR channel and it's those videos that coax Gun to sleep every night. As they continue to grow closer both in and out of the workplace, what will become of their striking connection?

YouTube & YouTube (Our Skyy Special 41-48)

18. 2gether (+ Still 2gether) fake/pretend relationship; university setting

When Tine is chased by Green, who he does not reciprocate feelings for — he ends up begging Sarawat, the campus’ most popular guy, to fake date him in order to chase Green away.

Viki (2gether) &  Viki (Still 2gether)

19. Cupid's Last Wish (+ Zero Supporter) farm setting; best friends to lovers; body swap; road trip

Korn and Win are childhood best friends. Conflicts arise when Win's father includes Korn in his will, granting him part of the family's farm's stocks and breaking up their friendship. Win gets into a car accident with his sister Lin, and wakes up to find his soul in her body. To return to his original body, Win sets off on a road trip to collect holy water across the country with Korn as his companion. Can this adventure get their relationship back?

YouTube (CLW) & YouTube (Zero Supporter)

20. Dark Blue Kiss (+ pre-story in Kiss Me Again) established relationship; university setting

(Taking off from the Kiss Me Again series) Pete and Kao have grown closer to each other in their relationship. Kao takes on part-time tutoring for high school students. With one of the students fueling Pete's jealousy, his relationship with Kao gets tested in several occasions. Meanwhile, the love story between Sun and Mork begins.

YouTube (Kiss Me Again) & YouTube (Dark Blue Kiss)

---

You can watch many shows for free on YouTube, and watch others on the streaming websites by setting VPN to Thailand. In other cases I recommend paying for subscriptions to show appreciation and support of content in order to get more of it in the future, but if you can’t, watch on KissKH (better quality), Dramacool or get files from MkvDrama. Enjoy!  🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[heretherebedork]

I swear I cannot believe that tomorrow marks the first weekend with no GMMTV QL whatsoever in a very long time. Wild. Wild. The times, they are a'changing. No GMMTV BL, the last Aof show ended like a bear trap (derogatory), they brought back stalking as love as a romance point.... rough times, y'all, rough times.

[pandasmagorica]

TFW you are loving the shots of Kidnap that people are giving your dashboard and want to start watching but you don't trust GMMTV not to f*ck up the ending

[thisautistic]

"It's done, Phi. Tell the handler to transfer the money."

OhmLeng as MinQ in Kidnap the Series

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

I am so glad that Tay is calling out people who said he was being disrespectful to his fans.

At the same time, I am bothered at how much he and New still felt the need to make excuses, saying that it was wrong of them to livestream while playing the game, to explain that people are misinterpreting things, etc, etc. Because they shouldn't have to do any of that.

So I know we likely don't have any QL actors on Tumblr (though I would wager we would be a healthier environment for them than Twitter), but for the record I want to say to them:

You are allowed to have separation between your job and your personal life.

You are allowed to do the level of fan service you are comfortable with. No one is entitled to demand more of you than you are willing to give.

You are allowed to have a life outside of your branded pair.

You can kiss whoever you want, romantic, platonic, in between. Kiss all the homies. Kiss none of the homies. It's up to you. No one is entitled to demand an explanation or apology for you living your life.

You don't have to clarify the status of your relationship with anyone.

You don't have to say anything about your sexuality or gender identity that you are not comfortable with sharing.

I am proud of how infrequently I come across this kind of thing in our space here, but if I do see anyone acting like a heteronormative homophobic little idiot and making these kinds of demands, I will immediately block. You are being actively anti-queer with this behavior. Actors are human beings, not your puppets, go out and touch some damn grass.

[visualtaehyun]

So I watched this roundtable discussion by GMMTV and am already bemoaning that it's unsubbed (as of yet) because it means no one on this site is talking about it djshdhsjs

"Where do Y & sapphic series stand in the LGBTQIA+ community?"

It's hosted by Pompam Niti and features: - director and producer X Nuttapong - writer/novelist Best Kittisak aka Ninepinta - screenwriter Bee Pongsate - and several GMMTV artists, i.e. Golf Kittipat, Love Pattranite, Milk Pansa, Joss Wayar, and Mark Pakin

I find the choices fascinating cause Mark has played opposite people of every gender and starred in countless QLs; Joss played bi and poly 'Neo' in 3 Will Be Free; MilkLove are the only koojin present and representing GL, with Love also being the youngest there; while P'Golf has been in the industry the longest, plus she's the only one who's trans at the table. As for the behind the scenes side, Khun X has worked on almost every GMMTV QL ever lol and ever since I translated that Twitter Space snippet where he talked about the marriage equality lines in Cherry Magic, I find his point of view really interesting; Khun Best is the only original author and thus has experience in the publishing world; and Khun Bee has written for lots of well-known BLs since 2019.

Hope it gets subbed at some point 🙏 I'm not catching some of the details, unfortunately, because P'Pompam's using too many new words for me djsjhds i was like reverse-engineering his long-ass questions based on the answers everyone gives lmao

EDIT: Here's a clip translated by Iris OG that covers the first talking point, as well as a few more translated parts by several translators on twt ✨

[doublel27]

We Are: Queer Found Family and Romance

Or the meta I didn’t intend to write.

It’s taken 9 eps (of me admittedly watching We Are through gifs and clips on Twitter, because I have yet to pay for iQIYI and I am bad at grey watching) but I think I have figured out the central conflict/plot of We Are and why the mostly linear narrative of Phum and Peem with the in media res relationships of our other three pairings made this impossible to fully tease out until we got all the pieces.

The through line that connects all of these stories about how incredibly hard it can be to be part of a queer friend group when the lines of friendship and romance blur, especially when there’s a real aspect of found family to that group.

Two things really cemented it for me this week: Tan telling the gang (and therefore the audience) the full scope of his background with Fang, as well as the beginning of Phuwin’s IG live where he talks about why he likes Kluen as a character is that he’s very direct with people he likes and isn’t blurring the lines between friends and possibly fucking up the friendship.

Because that’s the central problem that all four main couples of the show grapple with in different ways. I’m gonna get into all of that under the cut.

I’m going to start with Tan and Fang because aou contains multitudes and is my beloved while going for Fang could have always messed up his relationship with Phum, we find out in episode 9 that Tan met Fang first. Unsurprisingly, it’s not a great first meeting between what are seemingly two known fighters of what appear to be rival high schools. But then Tan finds Phum and Fang being jumped by a group from his own high school and saves them and eventually becomes friends with them sometime two years+ before the start of our story. Within this time, Tan falls so far in love with Fang, who can both out bitch and out fight, him that Tan goes full simp instead and cuts out the fighting(love that for him).

And mixing his reveal to his friends of how he met Fang and how Fang eventually consumed his waking thoughts to the point he would wish to order Fang as a pizza topping (my love for Tan is immeasurable).

But take us back to episode 2 (which is now on YouTube for US watchers for how long I don’t know) and Tan has clearly not seen Fang in awhile. He asks Phum to invite Fang out where Tan will happen to be. At the time, it was taken as Tan and Phum are university friends and Tan and been obsessed with Fang ever since and needs Phum to make the connections. But the clues that Tan and Fang were also close were already laid down. Their exchange goes:

Tan: Hey. It’s been awhile. Right?

Fang: I thought you were dead.

Tan: Come on. I haven’t seen you in ages either. (That’s the English translation, but the flow of the conversation connotes that Fang hasn’t sought him out either)

At which point Phum makes the face he always makes when Tan is in Fang hyperfocus mode of looking away and sighing. And Fang pointedly asks why Phum invited him out and what is going on.

Which is a weird exchange when you think Tan is Phum’s friend who is obsessed with Fang. It is a less weird exchange between friends that have been avoiding each other for an unspecified amount of time. And we can assume Tan started avoiding Fang because he was madly in love with him and didn’t know how to handle it and didn’t tell Fang why he was avoiding him.

In the episode 9 speech to his friends, Tan outlines that he didn’t think Fang would ever reciprocate his feelings (that it was impossible) and didn’t want to fuck with the friendship (at which point Pun sends a longing look to Chain but we’ll get back to that later) with Fang and Phum and he buried it. Until he couldn’t live with it any longer and decided to do something about it.

Which with the limited information we have, his feelings were already fucking with his friendship. He already didn’t know how to approach Fang because of his feelings at the start of the show, so is it better to not try and hope the romantic feeling dies while avoiding your friend or shoot your shot and maybe get a boyfriend out of it or maybe continue to fuck up your friendship. Tan chooses to roll the dice and it’s clear from the moment they leave the bar in episode two that Fang likes him back.

They both watch each other when they think the other isn’t looking. Fang is the one who sends Phum and Peem home together and sets himself up with a taxi ride with Tan. It’s particularly interesting to me after episode 9, this exchange, because Fang looks at a passed out Peem, mouths Peem? And proceeds to ask Phum if this is the guy that hit him while Tan snickers and Peem looks like the saddest wet cat. It’s only after the affirmative from Phum that Fang is essentially like “well, you can take him home Phum. Take home your drunk friend who hit you and I will go home with Tan.” Which our besotted Tan jumps at.

And considering the parallel between Tan and Fang meeting and Tan immediately sassing him and Fang throwing a punch leading to a fight, and Phum ruining Peem’s painting which led to mutual sassing and a kick to the nuts and a fight…I don’t know if Fang is a mastermind and connected the dots because these brothers need someone who will occasionally not be afraid talk back if need be and sees the potential for Phum to care as much about Peem as Fang does for Tan. Or if he just wants time alone with Tan and doesn’t see it. Look, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fang is secretly a long game mastermind.

Once they’re alone, Tan and Fang steal glances and flirt in the way that Tan makes very loud attempts at flirting and

Additionally, Fang is reserved like Phum, and seemingly as isolated as his only friends seem to be Phum’s friends. We don’t know if he is just not paying attention to other members of the architecture faculty or knows stuff about Kluen he won’t share. As previous parts of this narrative are folded in later episodes, we may find out. What we do know is he’s either ever only appeared alone or in connection to Tan and Phum and Phum’s friends. Even with the flashbacks, Tan points out that the head of the Fang, head of cheer club, approaches him alone and later it’s just Fang and Phum when Tan finds the group of guys jumping them. We know he and Phum adopt Toey who is bullied in high school. It makes sense why he’s potentially reserved about pushing things with Tan if Tan becomes his first real high school+ friend that he has outside of his brother.

Which is why by the time we get to episode 5, Fang says yes before Tan finishes talking. He’s been waiting but also wasn’t willing to be the first to put himself out there. And considering how much Fang and Phum seem to live in their heads and not in the world with everyone else, I can see why he needed Tan to be the one to commit to it first, especially with Fang’s later comments about not understanding why hanging out with him is a preference of Tan’s. I do hope we cross his “don’t tell tan how gone I am on him” bridge later in the narrative. Cause I think Tan knows, but also it’s nice to hear.

Let’s go back to another long-suffering pair where only one half really knew why they were suffering, and the other got a nasty shock, QToey.

I know the guys are all team if Toey loves Q and Q loves Toey then why is Q so hesitant? And I get it, but let’s talk about the double shock Q suffered and the potential layers of risk Q is facing.

It’s not just that Q is cautious with his heart. That is a factual truth. It’s why he ghosted Milk Frappe Boy, because while he fell in love with Milk Frappe Boy I think there was a deep worry, and a self esteem issue that the reality of Q, instead of Pencil Senior, would not be enough for Milk Frappe boy. So Q bolted and then deeply regretted said bolting enough say so to both Toey, not knowing the truth, and to Peem.

But the fact that he learned that Toey was indeed Milk Frappe boy at the same time he learned all of his best friends, his family for all intents and purposes, also knew and no one told him. And the way the confrontation is staged between Q and Toey, it is Q against Toey and everyone else is behind Toey.

And that, friends, that’s the real third rail for Q.

It’s one thing to know that he loved Milk Frappe Boy and that he loves Toey. And that is scary enough. The fandom loves to joke about how Toey is everyone’s little brother and they’ve all adopted him: and that is a correct assessment. But that means if Q fucks it up with Toey, he stands a chance in his mind of everyone else choosing Toey over him.

That fear doesn’t even feel that unfounded when everyone calmed Toey down mostly before Peem, Q’s true bestest friend, came out to be with him. Like Peem caught Toey before going after Q. The next episode nearly every character but Q (aside from Fai who is at all connected to this group) shows up to plan how to support Toey in getting Q.

And while I know my brain cell-less brain trust fully believe they’re helping Q, no one actually seems to ask what Q wants. Aside from Peem trying to get him to come to some that first night on the curb, no one ever asks. And that night all Q wants is to sleep in a pile with his four best friends, because that’s his family. Losing them is even scarier than losing Toey. In essence he’s lost Milk Frappe Boy once. He could do it again. But if they chose Toey…IDK.

We don’t know anything about their families really, aside from Peem’s lovely aunt and the fact that Phum doesn’t get along with his dad. And I get why when the focus is really on these large groups of found families (that are becoming one large found family) that the audience is really in love with. The bonds between the friends are just as much a part of the romance as the actual romances. Because the friendship is where the complications come from.

And while I can’t speak to mlm spaces, as I have never identified as a man, within queer wlw and non-binary spaces there are jokes about dating yourself out of friend groups. There are people you used to know who you don’t anymore because you dated someone in the friend group and were too new and got bounced. Or you date and the way it ends make everyone choose one side. Or, a person in the friend group has a crush on another person in said group, that is an open secret but when the person who was crushed upon gets a new relationship people get mad at them for not dating the person in the friend group who liked them all along because didn’t everyone know. (None of these are from personal experience I assure you 🙃)

And it doesn’t always happen like that. Sometimes the people figure out a friendship or a queer platonic solution when they’re not attracted to each other anymore. Sometimes they orbit around the friend group like two comets on opposite trajectories, occasionally crossing in awkward moments. Sometimes everyone gets past the weird. Sometimes no one does.

But that’s the risk that we’re playing in this show. I can choose the romance, but if it doesn’t work out, I am gambling this safe zone.

Which is gonna bring me to our last two pieces of this: one has had the most development and one the least but both are struggling.

I’m gonna start with Chain and Pun who are the most unhinged, gay yearning codependent besties that exist in the middle of the week and give Potae and Payos on Only Boo a real run for their money. (Both have lips touching earlobes and I don’t have a platonic answer for either) The thing is, I think both Chain and Pun are very aware of the mutual feelings. They both have moments where you know they’re aware but neither will do anything about it. And they are in the case of the story, the most embedded in one single friend group, and have the potential to explode their core group of five if things go sideways.

Now, they’re also the pair that has been effectively dating this entire time without actually dating. The ear biting and the blowing on things in the other’s mouth and the…I don’t have platonic explanations for their behavior okay? I don’t. Not naming it keeps it from being real though. It’s a collective hallucination or the biggest game of chicken.

Eventually, though, one of them is going to cross the line in a way that can’t be erased or the line redrawn. And it’s gonna have to be big because their friends watched them gaze longingly into each other's eyes for 20+ seconds and thought it was normal. Because this is how they are.

And that brings us to not quite friends not quite lovers and not quite enemies, Phum and Peem. The risk is, as discussed in many other metas, mostly on Phum’s side here and it’s why he spent the episode so hesitant. Yes he started off particularly entitled and rude. His and Peem’s relationship started as a fight (but so did Tan and Fang) and Phum feels incredibly comfortable with Peem. He’s definitely neurodivergent coded my Phum, which doesn’t make his assholery okay, but it explains his hesitancy to try new things and his struggle with making friends and expressing his feelings.

He’s got friends but he doesn’t feel particularly deeply connected to them. Yes, Beer makes time for him and actively seeks him out to give advice. He and Fang have a level of sibling codependency that hints at neglect and Fang protecting Phum at all costs. We see Tan approach Phum most of the time and while some of that is angling to get to Fang, Tan does genuinely care. But Tan is also incredibly loud which seems to be a lot for our neurospicy Phum, and Tan also has his large found family with Peem. Same with Toey, who Phum and Fang adopted long ago, and clearly Phum adores him, but he’s also the little brother of the art faculty.

And Peem is a very loving and giving soul and he makes time and space for Phum even though he’s annoying and high handed and gets Phum out of his ruts and comfort zones. And Phum clearly wants Peem to choose him, because Phum has already chosen even if he hasn’t said “I like you and want to date you.” He’s said other very direct things about how safe he feels with Peem and how connected he feels to other people by hanging out with Peem. And Peem is this safe space for him to go out and connect with the world without it being overwhelming and he even feels more connected to his own friends.

And that’s the danger that Kluen represents and what Phum struggles with. He wants Peem to choose him, but he also doesn’t want to force Peem to make a choice and not choose him, and then lose out on the experiences he’s building with Peem as well as a break in some of the connections he has with the people closest to him as Fang and Toey find love within Peem’s group. And so again, the question comes around, is it better to stay in this limbo where no one says anything and maybe Peem dates Kluen but I get to keep him as a friend, or do I roll the dice like Tan and maybe win.

I think it’s been a hard thread to pull because without the context of Tan & Fang meeting first, and Phum and Peem mending their relationship to become something akin to friends who kiss sometimes and don’t talk about it, and the lingering feelings of betrayal for Q by his friends (where they learned about his largest secret/mystery and NO ONE TOLD HIM) which are later revelations in the course of the show, they feel like different types of love stories without the mess of friendship blurring the lines. The story feels linear, because we start in a school year with the meeting of Phum and Peem, the connections between the other characters are older than this year, leaving some of their stories in media res.

And it’s an interesting core struggle taking a risk when the line between who you’re friends with, who you depend on, and who you’re attracted to blurs and the potential for rifts in your safety net are everywhere. It’s not the first show with this as a central tangle nor is it specific to queer television. But the reality of the deep ties that can exist within queer friendships and how they form deep supportive communities makes the stakes higher. And that’s why the friendships are developed nearly as much if not more than some of the romances. That’s where a lot of the risk lies for these characters.

Anyway, that’s nearly 3K of thoughts I didn’t know I had in me about We Are until today. But here we are.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Oh, Peaceful Property!!! I was prepared for a campy horror comedy, and we definitely get that (Thailand specializes in serving high camp!), but I wasn't ready for...

1.The show to play such explicit homage with its multilingual script and subtitles to Los Espookys, a fantastic queer horror comedy show (that not enough people watched) about a low-budget team of paranormal special-effects creators, led and written by gay SNL alum Julio Torres. If you haven't seen it and you want some weird tumblr-style humor, I highly recommend a watch.

2. What will probably end up being the only show I enjoy watching about the current global housing crisis and how it impacts people, especially young adults, so differently across class divides (both financial and national)

3. The ghosts to be so gruesome and haunting. Someone jokes about 'ghosts in the daylight' early on, but that burnt hand reaching in the morning light for the fried rice was so chilling and beautiful. For me, the first episode did such a fantastic job balancing the comedy tone and the ghost story tone--challenging and impressive! The sound really helps a lot, but the whole production team seems to know what's needed to put these two elements together. It's all so distinctly Thai.

4. A heartfelt allegory about feelings of emptiness, purposelessness, and suicidality but finding meaning for your life, despite those feelings, through perseverance, kindness, connection, and gratitude.

5. The cast so clearly LIVING for their characters and the tone of the show. And I love each character so deeply already. Each of them are distinct and comedic but are giving an important depth beneath the jokes. And the writing has set up all the characters so well to deliver home the themes.

6. A BL. It's gonna be a BL. It has to be a BL, right??? Home (New's character) showed up in Peach's bed (Tay's character), and has been told he needs to find the meaning of home by his deceased grandfather (whose is painted in his official stately portrait holding a watergun lol). Peach has a mood board for his own "home." We know where their home will be (inside each other's mouths). If it's not a BL that'll be hilarious. But I'm pretty damn sure it's a BL, y'all.

[celestial-sapphicss]

GMMTV 2024 Part 1

The Interest (Movie Trailer #2)

My Precious the Series

Ploy's Yearbook

We Are

The Trainee

Only Boo!

Pluto

Peaceful Property

Ossan's Love Thailand

My Golden Blood

Kidnap

Summer Night

Wandee Goodday

High School Frenemy

My Love Mix-Up!

Enigma 2

[enchan-new]

🐤

[guzhufuren]

tapping the sign in the kindest and most well meaning way possible

[liyazaki]

green flags as far as the eye can see-

THE WARP EFFECT | EP. 1 [2022-2023]

[pandasmagorica]

GMMTV has a new QL trope and I am not a happy camper

With the last few series I've watched or partly watched on GMMTV, it would seem there is a new trope. I'm not certain it's a new trope, but I searched @absolutebl for trope posts for at least half an hour and didn't find it, so I don't think I'm totally off about this.

I'm calling it emotional punching bag. Instead of seme/uke representing chaser/chased, it represents emotional aggressor/victim.

The general pattern is this:

Character A gets angry at character B over a real or imagined slight.

A claims to be the victim.

A is unaware (or pretends to be) of any contribution A made to this issue.

B apologizes, whether or not B contributed to the problem.

A never apologizes and never acknowledges their part in the problem.

The problem gets papered over (if they get back together) or never gets resolved (if they don't).

I think it started with Only Friends. Boston (B) gets set up by Atom (A) and is made to be the villian. The truth is revealed. Boston apologizes for his other behavior in the series but nobody apologizes to Boston for him having been set up. Never gets resolved.

Then there's Last Twilight. Mork (B) tries to engage in self-care and Day (A) makes it all about Day and breaks up with Mork. The problem gets papered over when, plot hole, Day wanders through a hotel lobby without the cane he got so he could be more independent and which we never see again, and Mork steps in and helps him, and then they get together and Day gets his eyesight back at the same time with no real narrative resolution. Mork gets back together with Day.

And now we have 23.5. Sun (A) outs Ongsa (B) to Ongsa's parents. Ongsa objects. Sun storms off. Ongsa seeks out Sun and apologizes. Sun breaks up with Ongsa. Ongsa again seeks out Sun and apologizes.

At this point (partway through episode 11, segment 2) I paused the series. I have not intention of going back unless I get word from you Tumblerites that Sun acknowledges her role in all the trouble and apologizes to Ongsa. If they get back together without Sun doing the emotional and reparation work I want no part of it.

And I'm worried. Do I need to wait and binge the rest of Wandee Goodday, which I, as of two episodes, absolutely adore? And this is a boxing series. Is Wandee going to become a literal punching bag?

Do I need to never watch another GMMTV QL series week by week again? Do I have to wait for an all-clear and then binge?

GMMTV, please get your ending act together, I beg of you.

[thisautistic]

Bad Buddy ep 1 vs Kidnap the Series ep 1

[heretherebedork]

It's 'randomly hoping for more MawinTinh' hour, apparently.

Because Mawin is adorable and deserves a romance and to have a chance to act on his crush and to get the guy even though he doesn't look like the kind of person who gets the guy.

Because he went into the school afterhours just to make sure everyone was okay and got the chance to hold onto Tinh's shirt and he made sure they all got out okay by helping block the teacher and he just deserves the world.

He's adorable and I wanna see him get a smooch, okay?

[doublel27]

I’ve been thinking about Moo’s very publicly r video essay ever since @petrichoraline and I were talking about Moo’s very public declaration of his relationship here and the irony is if no one had said anything to Moo there’s a chance he wouldn’t have done anything.

In episode 8, Neth and Kang had already convinced him he might need to be quiet about their relationship. Kang and Moo agreed that “as long as we know” it doesn’t matter what other people do or don’t know.

And I think it was even worse for Moo because the dance video wasn’t a declaration of anything. That’s what he states before making the Kang fan edit. The video he was asked to delete was simply just boys dancing. And as an idol, he’s gonna be dancing on stage with a lot of boys. He’s probably already posted clips with Tae and Yos as well.

And sure it’s different because Kang isn’t also out here trying to be a dancer and he is Moo’s boyfriend. But a lot of what he was being asked to tone down were things that were what Moo considers normal. And I think that’s what made him so angry when everyone asked him to take the video down. Shone and Moo’s mom didn’t know they were boyfriends from that clip. To Moo’s point that wasn’t an announcement.

And as @luthienmpl points out here it’s not like Moo didn’t very publicly court Kang at school where everyone knows he’s written Kang a song and sang it over the intercom and gave away food for people who congratulated them on being boyfriends. There’s information out there.

Moo got mad at the idea he would have to lie. And everyone was insisting they weren’t asking him to lie, but to not share. To Moo, who if the thought is in his head it’s out of his mouth, omitting facts, deleting posts because of how someone might interpret it even if it’s not explicit what the video is of, to cut parts of himself off, well that’s a lie. After being pushed too far by the repeated requests by others to be less, he snapped with the very loud video of l not only do I have a boyfriend but let me tell you all about him and why he’s perfect.

With the preview showing that the contract is going to say expressly no relationships and Moo’s determination to not lie and Kang being the bluest boy (who tend to be martyrs….I am very curious where Only Boo is going with this story. As I am curious where Thame Po will take this story as they’re doing a similar line.

Another show with a similar storyline from GMM, Be My Favorite just dropped in 2023 and I adored it, but they took a particular stance on this conundrum. You should watch it, but spoilers…in one of the futures Kawi makes for himself, he ends up an idol and is at first delighted to find himself living what he thought was an impossible dream. But it’s quickly clear that he is miserable, drinking. He had gotten his dream girl Pear, but she left him because he wouldn’t marry her and start a family. As an idol, he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, give her the time, attention, and public commitment she was looking for. We also find out that Piesang disappeared around the same time. It’s heavily implied after Kawi chases Piesang and kisses him drunkenly, that Kawi probably did something similar after Pear left as Piesang says “You cannot keep doing this.” (They’d had a similar moment in episode six but this made it feel like we had a bigger pattern and explained his absence)

In the final future, Kawi is happily a songwriter, making songs for other people to sing. It’s the future Kawi chose knowing where the idol path sent him. Piesang even questions him on it. He asks Kawi if he gave up on those dreams because of Piesang and Piesang offers to hide if that’s what it takes. Kawi, thanks to the power of time travel, tells Piesang he’s absolutely certain he couldn’t be happier if he traveled that path. Only misery lies that way. Kawi’s whole lesson though is about making choices in the moment that spark joy rather than letting fear or jealousy lead your choices and living a life that makes you truly happy.

Only Boo, of course, is a very different show with a very different lead. Moo is 1000 times more confident and certain than Kawi ever could hope to be. He knows what he wants and while everyone sees them as two disparate pictures, Moo sees them fully integrated. He’s also a much younger character, just out of high school and has yet to face the reality of what it means to be an idol beyond getting to do the things he loves most and feels confident about.

Thame-Po will take us somewhere entirely different with an idol at the peak of their game who signed their right to a personal life away at a much younger age.

So when confronted with a contract that explicitly says you cannot date and Moo, who has no interest in lies of omission or hiding his boyfriend, and is in fact highly reactionary to people insisting he delete rather innocuous posts incase someone wants to speculate…I am very interested in the choices that will get written in here.

It is especially interesting considering the the litany of drama that has come out of highly entitled fan reactions to social media posts and in some cases leaked videos of Thai artists in their own home. Sure, everyone is trying to “protect” Moo in theory, but entitled fans will be entitled whether you hide your personal life entirely or not. These types of fans seem to exist across fandoms of many types and with a level of wild inappropriateness regardless of how open or closed a celebrity is to others. If they post too much with someone that’s a sign. If they avoid posting with someone that’s a sign. Like…there’s no winning.

And to that point, what is the takeaway going to be for Moo as he is faced with a moral dilemma and the two things he wants most in conflict? And what is the messaging going to be from Only Boo/GMM about young idols and talent (as the two leads of this show are) and their rights to their own lives? And are we gonna talk about the extra layer of homophobia of it all or because the fact that even straight relationships seem to be a PR nightmare for some talent, that GMM/Only Boo is content to leave it ambiguous for now?