#I know I would be a little heartbroken if fk were paired up with other people so I feel a bit hypocritical

[thatgirl4815]

Hi. Im really curious about your opinion on branded pairs in Thai BL marketing, especially about Firstkhaotung. I happen to like both actors very much (since Moonlight Chicken) and then from the Eclipse and Only friends. It would be great to see them as a couple in an upcoming show but acting career wise it could limit their range or project choices if this branded pairs marketing strategy dictates certain limits. My somewhat negative feelings about it came from moonlight chicken which was the second Thai series that I watched and Earthmix seem to be such a strong branded pair that I found the watching experience strange and then the shoehorning of 2 Alan Gaipa scenes in the end. How do you see it? And which one is your favourite branded pair (if there is any)?

Hi! So sorry it’s taken me a bit to answer this - it’s been a crazy few days.

I also think there are both strengths and weaknesses to having branded pairings, and I think OF happened to be a really good example of that. I’ve seen quite a few disgruntled reactions to the branded pairings ending up together in the end…I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the one couple who didn’t end up together was the one that wasn’t pre-established.

In the case of Moonlight Chicken, I think it can apply similarly, though maybe not as obviously. I like the AlanGaipa scenes but I do agree that if it hadn’t been FirstKhao coming off of The Eclipse, would they have had those scenes in the end? My gut says no.

I’m kind of torn overall tbh, because I think branded pairings work for a reason. There have been so many standouts that have been hugely successful because of it - EarthMix, FirstKhao, and OffGun to name a few. The problem comes when those branded pairings interfere with plot and limit the creativity in these stories. The majority of audiences want to see their faves together, but that stunts creativity in some aspects if the plot could be better served by a different endgame (or no endgame altogether, in the case of TopMew in OF).

Anyways, I think it’s a slippery slope for gmmtv and bl in general to pursue branded pairings because it’s a huge money draw and appeals to fans, but it’s a balance of creativity and storytelling and appealing to the chemistry that viewers love so much. For me personally, FirstKhao has always been my favorite pairing since The Eclipse for a lot of reasons, but one that stands out is that their acting is so strong individually as well as together. I’ve noticed in BL especially, branded pairings have a tendency to lean into each other so much in their acting that it’s difficult to tell if they could actually hold their own on screen. FK have done that, and sprinkling in their chemistry when together just takes everything to a whole new level.

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