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absolutebl · 6 months

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Okay, FINE, the shows you should watch for BL's QUEER AF roots

You ready to go hunting?

Many of these are difficult to find. Also many of the images of them and their posters have been block/banned by tumblr, so, no screen grabs for you! (Good times.)

I don't necessarily *like* any of these, but if you are queer and in this fandom and need to dialogue around BL's queerness - these are going to provide a foundation for you. They are important for various industry, reputation, directorial, and cultural reasons. As seeds often are.

Trigger warnings throughout.

The true beginnings:

Boys Love, Japan's 2006 movie is a REALLY rough start featuring a journalist + hot model = murder gay, mild necrophilia, cheating, abuse, rape, and suicide for love. Start as you mean to go on, why don't you, Japan? Is it queer... maybe? Is it BL... honey, I am very sorry to inform you, this started BL.

Note: Yoshikazu Kotani is famous in og BL circles since he acted in 3 early BLs, both Boys Loves and then Same Difference. Also he v tall and hawt.

Eternal Summer, Taiwan 2006 - unlike Japan, Taiwan did NOT start how it would, eventually, go on. But what a messy way to start. A high school story of 3 besties in a love triangle, self discovery, and sexual awakening that fucks it all up.

No Regret, Korea 2006, is a very unhinged queer catastrophe piece about a lost gay man who ends up a host and then almost a murderer because of both his job and his identity.

Note: This is the directorial feature film debut of Lee-Song Hee-il Korea's (so far as I know) first openly gay director who specialized (to this day) in queer content.

The Love of Siam, Thailand 2007, this was Thailand's queer awakening, sure they would backpedal for YEARS after, but in 2022 they began to remember what this movie was (and did) and overtly referenced this quiet little masterpiece. This movie is sad but stunning in that way that the best queer works from Thailand can be (like Present Perfect or ITSAY.) It has Thailand's quintessential softness around theme and character, which you'll understand perfectly when highlighted against the backdrop of the early 2000s works from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Thailand will never lose this soft style and it's one of the most attractive qualities of Thai BL: it's never very harsh with us or its characters. This movie very easily COULD have been quite harsh indeed.

I thought long and hard about including Rice Rhapsody AKA Hainan Chicken Rice (Hainan ji fan) on this list and finally decided it doesn't really qualify. Still let me mention Hong Kong's 2005 movie. It is amazing, fascinating, and very rough going for an ostensible comedy. It wasn't the actual beginning because few saw it and Hong Kong never really picked up or ran with BL let alone QL, but it was hella queer. It's also hella homophobic.

Just Friends? (2009 Korea) - this is Korea's first (kinda) upbeat version of a BL featuring already established boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out, family life, and the future. All of these are themes Korea will pretty much never tackle again, retreating as they would to their bubble. But what a fun little offering this little show was and is to this day. You should watch it.

Like Love 1 AKA I Love You As A Man: Part 1 - China's 2014 offering is actually pretty classic early form live action yaoi with things like whipping boy, a university setting, rich/poor jock/nerd pairing, hard grumpy/sunshine and a very odd title. It's pre-censorship with an HEA, also explicit, yeah China once did that. This is a lot less queer that it is classic BL and classic Chinese romance, neither of which have any kind of connection to reality. But hey, that's what I'm here for. But it's important to note the drifting away from queerness beginning to occur.

Love Sick - Thailand's 2014 "boys in blues shorts" high school set soapy (in all ways) offering is widely considered the true beginning of Thai BL and by default, eventually, BL as we know it today. (As the biggest producer they somewhat dictate taste and trends in the genre.) This is one of those BLs that owes almost nothing to yaoi, although it started a number of tropes that are now endemic to Thai BL. What it is, instead, is a well scripted story of bisexual self-discovery and the inherent chaos of loving someone of the same gender for the first time, all wrapped up in hormones, existing relationships, and communication issues. It is high school queer angst at its messiest. Nothing is going to be easy for these boys because queer isn’t easy but also because life isn’t easy… welcome to adulthood sweethearts. Is is overtly queer? For 2014 Thailand? Sure is.

Love Next Door 2 a movie from 2014 and one of Thailand’s early very high heat pieces, it’s odd, but sexy I guess? Some unexpectedly decent queer rep including femme characters getting screen time + HEAs. (Part one from 2013 has the same high heat content and features the same lead character (and actor) discovering he is gay with the sex worker next door, but isn't as good nor is it relevant to this installment.)

A few other unknowns, for the queer babies

Wait For Me at Udagawachou AKA Udagawachou de Matteteyo - from Japan in 2015, this is a story about two boys in high school one of whom is a repressed outsider and the other who has a terrible secret (body dysmorphia & cross dressing). When the first boy discovers what's up with the second one, his reaction is very much fetishization. "Oh Japan must you?" kinda started for me with this show. But in this case, Japan, weirdly MUST. This is the ONLY show laboring under (and testing) a pointedly straight lens (or is it?) and identity examination (yes but which boys' identity? that's the question) that I've EVER seen even edge into the BL genre. It is crazy queer, even as it mostly focuses on the fetishization of identity from an outsider's perspective. I WISH more people in fandom would watch it so I could at least talk to someone about it.

The Lover (BL Cut) Korea's 2015 series had multiple couples in an apartment complex, one pair of whom is a BL romance between a Korean man and a visiting Japanese tourist (played by a Kpop idol). It's comedic, slapstick sexy only (no kissing), but basically starts up Korea's bubble and use of idols in BL. It's kinda fascinating to watch them dodge around and still represent gayness in what (is sadly destined to become) a very Chinese way, but which Korea in pursuit of Hallyu and market share would morph into the bubble.

Mr. X and I from China in 2015 is a compilation piece and, I think, the first of this kind of multiple narrative shorter grab bags AKA "Sampler Pack BL." Two of the stories are very queerly sad, but the third is CLASSIC BL of the kind that would become China's best (and last) true BL, Addicted.

Sweet Boy, (Thai 2016) Chimon's first gay role and it is quite sad, oddly sexy, and similar to Dew the movie or My Bromance (just so you know what you are in for) but the acting is on point. When Thailand goes dark, this is how they do it, but this is rough going for baby queers because that's the darkness it is exploring. Our old thematic friends: the pain of self discovery and coming out into a homophobic environment and unfriendly reality, and the cost of being the one able (and willing) to stay in the closet.

Method (Korea 2017) this movie is a May/December actor/idol pairing, that should have been everything I wanted in life but is more about the older character cheating on his wife and their weird “artsy” relationship and frankly, I hated it. And I don’t say that lightly. Is it queer? Who tf knows, but is sure has some interesting things to say about the nature of PERFORMATIVE queerness.

Red Balloon is Taiwan's 2017 precursor BL to their biggest and most famous prestige piece Your Name Engraved Herein. If you're making a choice, choose that instead, but this series certainly paved the way for it to come into existence. Both shows tackle the pressures of culture and social structures on self acceptance and identity and the loneliness inevitably caused by conflict between the two.

(As indeed does Life Love On The Line, Present Perfect, Grey Rainbow, Tropical Night, My Sky, and many other queer meets early BL pieces that revolved around coming out and family acceptance.)

China's 3 2017 "they tried to censor the gay... and it went HORRIBLY wrong":

Beloved Enemy,

The Fairy Fox,

Mr. CEO is Falling in Love with Him.

Honestly these 3 are basically the uncanny valley of BLs.

The Novelist AKA The Pornographer series (2018-2020). Messy psychological machinations, gaslighting, fetishization, sexual corruption, and more good times from "well, what did you expect?" Japan, but also no holds barred queer, just well and truly fucked in the head (and arse) about it.

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru (Japan 2020) - Drama llama queers so queer and so dramatic it's like Japan is trying to PROVE something: obsession, cheating, break-up, reunion, then break up again, all of it explicit. This show is just SO JAPANESE. I can't even, but you should watch it and you'll know exactly what I mean. Something like My Personal Weatherman owes it's lineage to this kind of BL. If you like Japan naked, boney, emo, and smoking (hot & ciggy) you will love this, and should watch it. It's objectively amazing, I can't stand it, but I NEED people to talk about it more.

More Queer Stuff about BL from moi

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity - I Am Gay versus I Like Men

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer?

Actually gay, not BL gay - the idea of “by queers, for queers, about queers,” the BL bubble, sanitized gay, and a queer lens

Queer lens (from the director) and chemistry (from the actors) in BL (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Touch & Daisy in Secret Crush On You - Queer Coded Language and 3rd Gender Identity

BL in Taiwan & Gay Marriage

Debating Queerbaiting in BL ( + Devil Judge… is it queerbaiting?)

BL Actors and the Assumption of Queerness - outing actors, coming out, being out, more: Is that BL actor actually queer?

So is it really fetishization? straight women loving bl

Some BL fans are sasaengs, and it’s a problem in this fandom

BLs That Highlight How Society Treats Queers

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience

If you like these kinds of shows try the "Moody Arthouse Smackdoodle" section of this post too.

Happy watching!

(source)

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happypotato48 · 30 days

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This Is A Gay Asian Rant About BL Comments Made By Some Queer Westerners I See Sometimes.

So you know of those gays (usually white) that made dumb tiktok dancing to list of countries that legalized same sex marriage and list of countries that discriminate against LGBTQIA+ poeple as a way to say something racist. yeah i kinda got the same vibes from some comments regard how asian BL is homophobic just cause they don't live up to queer western standard. look, i'm not saying that some BLs and their creators don't deserve criticism regard how they capitalized/exploited queerness for an easy cash grab.

But people need to understand that Asian countries despite recent progress are still very much culturally conservatives. so when people says that thai bl is homophobic and all the characters looks like bunch of straight guys, which is true for some olders thai BLs i'm not gonna denied that. but after all this time and newer BLs generally being very queer and most of creators being out queer themself and poeple still making these comments, i'm annoyed.

And don't get me start on the actors. you don't know them! why are you making assumption and calling them queerbaiter just cause they acts in bl. like maybe they're straight, maybe they're not but what they're definitely doing is making queer content for you know, queer people here. so when you made halfass comments about their sexuality what do you think that made other queer people who still in the closet feels. and when you add the nationality to that, "these thai bl pair are this and that, this korean actor is so ungrateful for his bl past", etc. when our societies are still very much still in progress regard LGBTQIA+ acceptance. it make us living here feels fucking awful like somehow we're lesser queer than people in the west just cause we don't have citibank at pride or some shit.

And the shittiest in my humbled opinion are comments regard censored chinese bls. people do know like, that the creators making these bls are risking their livelihoods for this. that these shows getting make at all are miracles. yes it sucked that they're censored but they're still very much queer shows making by queer people who want to express thier queerness despite the chinese government being the chinese government. when people dimissing these shows as not belonging in queer media, you're also dimissing their creators and audiences as not belonging in the community.

Look what i want to say is that we're trying our best over here, and maybe our best are not up to your liking. the ways we talk and express our queerness maybe still can be perceived as problematic by western queer standard. but these media are our house and you're the guests. for people aren't shitty we appreciated that you're here engaging and loving our media, this is your home too and you're welcome in it. i can speak for myself that i very much love being here on tumblr and interacting with people from all over the world who love BL. but for people who are being shitty sometimes about asian bl.

YOU'RE THE GUESTS, BEHAVE!

#bl drama #thai bl #asian lgbtq dramas #personal rant #dumb boy rambled #japanese bl #taiwanese bl #korean bl #asian ql #asian bl series #asian bl dramas #ql dramas #bl fandom #ql meta #queer media #just fandom things #fandom #chinese bl

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scarefox · 23 days

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Sometimes I feel like, the way people talk about japanese BL, half the BL fandom forgot / doesn't know that "The Pornographer" series exists. But to be fair it kind of was ahead of its time?

It's mature, with flawed, struggling characters, very spicy. One of the best jBLs imo. In terms of plot, cinematography, acting and chemistry. But you need to have a heart for weird, struggling artist characters.

It has 2 seasons and 3 movies / specials.

"Kuzumi Haruhiko is an university student. One day, he causes a bicycle accident. The accident causes novelist Kijima Rio to break his arm. Kuzumi doesn't have insurance or money to pay Kijima for his injury. Kijima then asks Kuzumi to transcribe a story he is writing. Kuzumi is surprised to learn the story is obscene." (Kijima is a porn novelist)

youtube

Watch order:

Pornographer: The Novelist (season 1)

Pornographer: Mood Indigo (season 2 prequel, contains spoiler for s1 that's why I rec to watch it after s1, which is also how it aired)

Pornographer: Spring Life (sequel short movie)

Pornographer: Playback (sequel movie)

Pornographer: Continued Spring Life (sequel short epilogue)

It's on GagaOOLala... except for Playback... well that's dumb.

(but yall know where to find stuff)

#these idiots are a bit complicated tho #bl drama #japanese bl #ql drama #the novelist #the pornographer #lgbtq #queer media #Youtube

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one-of-tankhuns-neurons · 2 days

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I cannot let this show go without writing my goodbyes... Deep Night Final EP

Deep night was everything and more. It was a show that was made with insane love, thought and care and it fucking shows. That loves shines through the screen and it is GUARANTEED to warm your cold dead heart. Cheewin has always made his shows a bit more grounded, a bit more queer, a bit more real. Since YYY you can just tell there's someone in the crew that understands queer experience and this was it again. The good parts, the sad parts, the struggle without exploting it for pity. It showcased confusion and acceptance and love and love and love. So many different kinds of love.

Wela and Khemtid

These two developed so beautifully, from people who misunderstood eachother, to people who felt attracted to each other but still didn't get it, to people who listened, apologized, leaned on, supported, loved, cared for eachother. Khemtid's enchantment with wela blossomed after they fought about Wela's job, he realized that acceptance was the better route to take and he just worked hard to get it right, to make up for it, to help. Wela at the same time tried so hard as well to understand Khem's feelings, making it easier for them to reach the middle ground. He worked so hard with Khem to keep the club afloat, he was never mean to his coworkers, he carried the whole world on his back and still stood proud. They went from strangers to these two adorable dorks who hold hands and smile while kissing. I'm sorry but Khemtid smiling like he just won the world while giving his injured bboyfriend a handjob at the back of the club made my heart burn. That's complicity and partnership and mischief and intimacy. They stand on equal ground and that's so meaningful to me.

Then we have these three dorks

The true rivals to lovers. I talked about this in my previous Deep Night post but it was brilliant. Their storyline developed so subtly and naturally I cried last week. The way Japan and Ken's love bloomed out of love for Seiji... like it's not that they're just dating Seiji, they're dating eachother and that comes from a trust that developed from and understanding, that grew from care into desire. Last week's episode showing Japan as the center of his fantasy showed that, Japan is also attracted to Ken, and Ken's heart has melted for Japan as well, unknowingly. The talk they had was so necessary, so respectful and rooted on concern and an actual attempt to build something that left no one out. Seriously the way they're sitting in the end, with Ken brushing Japans hand, the way Japan held Ken's hand and brought him into the hug to welcome him, to shelter him. I love that it wasn't fetishized. (Because we've tackeled threesomes before in other shows but not romantic love) I love them, they love each other, this is healing.

Freya and Meiji

They are EVERYTHING. Honestly the role of women, specifically queer women in queer spaces has been overlooked for way too long. They take on the role of caring, protecting and supporting the whole club, the boys themselves and themselves. The fact that Freya's character was divorced and was constantly under attack from her ex-husbands family now existing with a same-sex partner was so complex yet beautifuly handled. Meiji was not just some random chic they threw in to gay it up, she was important to Freya, she helped at the club, she wasn't much around but when she was on screen she was Freya's rock. The talk on age... bro that shook me to the bone. Media is so focused on youth their questioning was so valid and so painful to watch... but it healed. Fuck I'm crying watching this. Everyone deserves to be loved by THEMSELVES.

Khem and Freya

gET TF OUT I WANT TO BE ALONE this mother-son relationship was amazing. Both characters grew so much out of love for each other I want to swallow a shotgun. The was it was alway Freya trying to gain Khemtids approval was so heartbreaking, and watching Khemtid LEARN to accept and love his mom, accept and love the club, accept and love the role they play... fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK

Also we cannot forget Dai

I don't even have words to explain how great this character was. Outfits on point, personality strong and unmoving, loud and authentic and accepted and part of everything and capable and necessary and just EVERYTHING. And the fact that Dai was perceived as a potential love interest for Freya without it being a joke or mockery was gold. Apart from that, all of these characters and storylines are interwoven in a net of complexity, social norms, real struggles but also real coping mechanisms. I also want to LOUDLY RECOGNIZE the work put into it, as they all worked hard to actually get on stage and perform acrobatics like their characters. There was just so much attention to detail and to making things right I want to cry just thinking about it. Please please please if you havent... Watch it. It may not be revolutionary but it's perfect to me. Deep night is a very queer show that decided to open a lot of wounds just to let them heal properly. THANK YOU DEEP NIGHT. I expected nothing from you and you're now part of me.

#deep night final ep #deep night the series #nah but i cried like 18 times writing this #and theres so much stuff I didn't mention #the whole discourse on recognizing this line of work #i love them #khemwela #kenseijipan #bl drama #deep night bl #thai bl #im crying again #wela and his moooooom #freyameiji #ql #thai ql #queer

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heretherebedork · 1 year

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I love this new trend of Korean BLs having characters that are already queer and know they're queer and have had boyfriends in the past. It's so nice to see and so encouraging.

And watching Seung Hyun walk into a what is obviously the PRIDE group and make friends and be supportive and everyone talking about their relationships just... so good to see. Also, rainbow rice cakes? My entire heart.

Between this and Seo Jae Yun and his long term crush on his friend and the fantastic bi realization in Oh! My Assistant along with one character just being out and gay and Happy Ending Romance being about breaking up with your boyfriend to find your new boyfriend... there's so much queer energy here and it makes me gloriously happy.

It's just so nice to have queer babies everywhere in a bubble of acceptance because it isn't gay for you, it isn't just this one guy, it's this man is gay and he likes men or he's bi and he's realized he likes men as a whole. I love it here.

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theflagscene · 7 months

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*gets up on soapbox* Ahem…

BLs and GLs ARE queer media! By placing an arbitrary condition on what is considered a QL and what is considered queer media, you are making it harder for actual queer writers and directors (especially from Asia) to be taken seriously in the film and television industry, which allows Westerners to get away with saying things like this! ⬇️

That is a cis white aroace woman saying that the stories of gay men, written by gay men and directed by gay men, don’t count as legitimate queer media because the stories happen to feature messy adult things such as *checks notes* sex… yep, sex.

Am I saying that Heartstoppers needs sex in it? No! Of course not, Heartstopper is wonderful just as it is. Alice is an openly sex-repulsed asexual aromantic, of course she doesn’t want to write messy sex into her stuff. But her claiming that BLs basically fetishize gay culture when she herself is not a gay person, is not her choice to make.

We need to stop saying QLs are separate from queer media, it’s not, it’s a genre of queer media. It’s a genre that the queer community can’t get out of western Hollywood, it a genre that promises you that if you watch this show that you will see a gay protagonist. Not a toss away side character, not some terrible walking stereotype that’s doomed by the narrative, that is destined to die because they’re queer and being queer and happy in Hollywood is not allowed. No, the QL genre promises us that we will see someone we can connect to, we will see someone who represents us, we will see love between people that are not fucking blonde haired, blued eyed, heterosexual, Nicholas Sparks protagonists! The QL genre promises us that no matter what, we will see queer happiness at some point and in a world that is so ugly towards the LGBTQ community, that tiny bit of happiness, however fleeting, is so important.

So please, remember, QLs ARE Queer Media.

And for the love god, never forget the voices behind your media 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

#BLs are queer media #queer media are BLs #they are a genre of queer media yes #but queer media nonetheless #ql series #queer media #queer discourse

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pharawee · 10 months

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Na Naphat & ISBANKY —CLUB FRIDAY THE SERIES: รักสุดหัวใจ | 9 July 2023

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waitmyturtles · 6 months

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Your post about your upcoming Bad Buddy meta got me thinking about Bad Buddy (again), and I remembered one particular thing that had an impact. Apologies if this is long and rather incoherent, I wrote this past midnight.

In the final episode, the part where we see Ming and Dissaya turn a blind eye to Pat Pran's shenanigans really struck a chord with me.

[I'm an Indian, born and raised, and queer, but it's well worth mentioning that my experiences are not universal- in fact, they may be the exception rather than the rule; I'm not quite sure.]

What it reminded me of was, that asian parents tend to come around eventually- in particular mothers. We've seen time and time again in series' that deal with difficult/not accepting family members; Bad Buddy, GAP, Wedding Plan, maybe even Double Savage (haven't watched this one but I believe the dad feels bad in the end?), that even if the parental figure(s) doesn't agree with their children's choices, they learn to compromise. Because the difference in opinions isn't worth losing their children over. Obviously, for every parental figure that comes around there's one that the children cut ties with (Wedding Plan remains a good example), but I think it's something worth seeing.

It made me think of how I was never scared of coming out to my mother, because I knew that, despite the difference in views, and her prejudice, she'd accept me, no matter whether she thought it was a phase or not.

Do I know what the point of this ask is? Not really, I was rather nervous sending this ask, especially not on anon, but I'd love to know what you think of this, since I've come to really enjoy reading the thoughts you have on these shows.

Ohhhh, wow. @starryalpacasstuff, come 'ere for a big mom hug! HUGE HUGS!

I'm gonna unwind a little randomly; I hope this is coherent. A ton of what I write about on my blog vis à vis Asian dramas are the unique characteristics of Asian families and an Asian upbringing. Parental conditional love, competitiveness, our unique experiences with intergenerational trauma. I write a lot about how Asians, in our cultural expectations of life, accept pain and suffering as an assumed part of our existences. The reason why I watch Asian dramas exclusively is that, as I'm Asian-American, I just connect far more easily to the Asian cultural experience of growing from a child into an Asian adult, than I do the experience of white Western folks growing into their adulthood. I grew up intimately with Asian cultural practices and expectations; but I also grew up with racism in my external American world, and came to my adulthood in a society that still values white Americans above all other demographics.

But one thing I'm cognizant of, that I don't think I write about enough, is that many of these characteristics of the Asian cultural scopes of life are indeed similar to those that a fully American person (for example) might experience. It's not like intergenerational trauma doesn't exist in the West. It's not like homophobia in families against a child doesn't exist in the West.

However. As an Asian-American, one thing I note about many (not all, of course) Western families and family systems is that very often: Western adults will give up their agency to be loyal to what I might call a "higher power" -- a philosophy, a political preference, a religion. If a queer person wants to come out in a conservative American family, that queer person may very well be risking cutting permanent ties with their family.

That, of course, also happens in our Asian family systems. But I think you're onto something, @starryalpacasstuff. While divorce rates are sky-high in the West -- there is also a paradigm of family systems being and looking different in the West than they do in Asia. Asian family systems still don't accommodate for divorce and blended or chosen families as they do in the West.

The Asian family systems and paradigms that you and I grew up with as Indians absolutely still value a heterosexual two-parent household -- and I'd posit that our past generations, our grandparents and great-grandparents, put HUGE, HUGE pressure on our parents to keep the two-parent family systems together and whole. And to keep the children close. It's a huge value in our Asian cultures to have whole and complete families. The West has become far more accommodating, culturally, on this issue.

And, so. I totally agree with you, @starryalpacasstuff. I think we do see the beginning of a coming-around on the parts of Ming and Dissaya. And that coming-around is certainly something we can relate to. Our parents will likely accept us for our differences. I fucked a lot of shit up with my folks when I decided to live independently of their desires -- and I don't think things really healed (and I still carry tremendous traumatic baggage) until after I had my own kids, and expanded all of our families. Because in the end, the value in our Asian cultures is that keeping the family complete and close still matters more than any one's individual biases or desires.

Ming and Dissaya are remarkably traumatized people. Ming was traumatized by the expectations of his father. He screwed Dissaya over, and literally handed his trauma to Pat on a silver platter, for Pat to embody for most of his life. And Pat flipped that platter over in his father's face and ran away. Ming, at the end of the series, is passive-aggressive with Pat, despite Pat's efforts to try to work with him. And yet -- Ming still sips Pran's scotch.

To your point -- does time heal everything? I'm not so sure in the West, with the Western predilection for Christian/Puritanical/conservative values to supersede reasonable family resolutions. But I think, because of the value that Asian systems put on having complete families, that you are right -- that there may be more room in Asian family systems for eventual acceptance of a child's "differences," despite us living in collectivist societies. This is definitely not an absolute. There are environments in which it's still dangerous to come out. But the value that Asians put on family does indeed give us a tiny bit of comfort that our cultures can move the needle on acceptance in different ways over time.

#thank you for the ask!#the father in double savage does indeed come around #there's so much to think about here #and it's hard to talk in generalities #but i really think it's important that asian dramas about queer experiences show all facets of acceptance and rejection by asian parents #like i appreciated seeing the discriminating father in i feel you linger in the air #because back in that time discrimination was far more common #i think acceptance is growing and growing across asia #we still have conservative asian societies #but as our parents become more familiar with minority demographics #and as WE have our children and teach them about equity #over time #certainly the needle of acceptance will be moved #asian family systems #asian family systems in BLs #asian family systems in QLs #bad buddy #bad buddy meta #bad buddy the series #bad buddy the series meta

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foralleternityidiot · 7 months

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Do you ever think about the queer media of the distant future that you won’t be alive to consume?

Like imagine all the reboots that will be made 50, 100, + years from now.

They’ll probably remake the entire marvel cinematic universe or star wars or lord of the rings but canonically gay this time and we won’t be around to see it. There’s gonna be actually queer Disney movies. Netflix’s successor will host full length 16 episode QL kdramas. China will finally release Immortality or even remake The Untamed with more than just subtext.

And I won’t get to watch any of it.

I’m sad.

#I like to ponder mortality salience before bed #I don’t even like marvel movies and I’m mad I won’t be able to watch them when they are finally allowed to be gay #queer media #marvel cinematic universe #Star Wars #lord of the rings #disney #the untamed #kdrama #bl series #ql series #asian lgbtq dramas #lgbtq media

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i-darling-amaflower · 5 days

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Something I see a lot in QL fandoms is the argument "It's so unrealistic for the whole friend group to be queer" and I always think it's so funny because as a queer person all the friends I've ever had have been queer... and all my siblings, and the majority of my cousins (I have a lot), and all my siblings' friends -- to put it simply, I barely know any straight people

So whenever I see a post like that I always think babes, that's the most realistic thing about this show

Idk.. other queer people, lemme know your view on this argument

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queersouthasian · 9 months

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I absolutely love how people are defending only friends from those shitty ass people BUT please don't use it as an excuse to shit on other bls please.

#it's so queer that it's not a bl #lgbtq #bl drama #only friends the series #all forms of queer media is valid #also pls OF is a BL/QL #don't say shit like PLS

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scarefox · 7 months

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#!!!!#for the people in the back #and everyone who's interested in the deeper discourse on a academic level #bl drama #gl drama #ql drama #lgbtq #asian queer media #dr. thomas baudinette

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pandasmagorica · 9 months

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Happy endings, sad endings

Sometimes endings are happy. Sometimes endings are sad. Sometime they are bittersweet. And sometimes they are open, ambiguous.

Some people are okay with sad or open endings. Others are not.

The main driver of this post is the impending ending of By My Favorite this coming Friday. I'm posting this on Tuesday, August 8, and the finale is Friday, August 11.

This post has partial spoilers for 3 Will Be Free (through the end of the series), 55:15 Never Too Late (ditto), Bad Buddy (ditto), Secret Crush on You (ditto), Be My Favorite (through the end of episode 11), and miscellaneous queer films and plays, as seen through the lens of someone who is watching Be My Favorite for the first time and has years of queer media watching behind him.

There is some current angst in the Be My Favorite discussion that it could have a sad ending, that is, that Kawi will die. We don't know for sure this will happen. It looks bad. It looks so bad that Pisaeng desperately tries the crystal globe and is rewarded with a trip to the past. The mystery uncle who seems to know everything there is to know about time travel says you can go back in time and change your actions, but you can't change fate. So, the series could still end with Kawi's death at a relatively young age, in his late 20s.

It could also be open-ended where we spend all of episode 12, the finale, in the past and we never find out what happens seven years later.

The point is, it's looking like we're not going to get an unambiguously happy ending.

And I'm okay with that.

I love happy endings. And I think we are getting enough of them that we can tolerate a sad ending now and then.

As I mention in my Tumblr intro post, I'm an older queer cis dude. When I was in college I saw the plays Boys in the Band and Fortune and Men's Eyes on stage. Both present sad pictures of gay male life. Even if nobody died (in Band, don't remember for Fortune), I can't really say that either one presented a happy ending.

When I was coming out in my late 20's, I saw various gay-themed films of the time (from what I can remember) Sebastiane (martyrdom), The Consequence (disappearance), The Children's Hour (suicide), This Special Friendship (suicide), The Music Lovers (suicide or murder), Death in Venice (death from disease), That Certain Summer (rejection by the son), Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom (multiple murders), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (happy ending for the straight couple, death for the homosexual), Fox and His Friends (financial ruin), El diputado (don't remember, but I think it wasn't happy), Deathtrap (the gay characters supposedly kill each other), Taxi Zum Klo (gay teacher shows up drunk in class), Making Love (couple splits but one gets a new relationship), La Cage aux Folles (I think this one ends with the conservative in-laws accepting the gay couple parents), and Personal Best (one of a same-sex couple ends up in a straight relationship).

Gay characters were showing up in non-gay films as well, but didn't always end well. For example, in Francois Truffaut's The Last Metro (1980), there is a gay character who dies. It happens in the middle and is not the focus of the film, but that was common for the time. @absolutebl calls this "Kill the Gays".

There were happy endings for gay characters in film, more and more as time went on, but it wasn't until I moved to San Francisco and started attending the Frameline film festival that I started seeing happy endings regularly. Nowadays there are so many happy endings to gay films that I don't mind the occasional unhappy one.

My lesbian bestie says happy endings for lesbians are few and far between. Heterosexual Jill is a good one.

Okay, lets do some time travel back before I started watching gay and gay-adjacent content.

When studying queer film history casually, I saw Mädchen in Uniform (Germany, 1931) which had an attempted suicide which was averted. But things changed, at least in the US, with the implementation for the Motion Picture Production Code, also known as the Hayes Code, from 1934 to 1968. This required banning on-screen representation of homosexuality, and all extramarital sex had to be shown as unattractive and illicit. Homosexuality became coded, hidden. There was a gay-positive reference at the end of Some Like it Hot (1959), but that film was denied a seal of approval. However, since the code was technically voluntary, it got distributed anyway and was a hit. (Sadly, I didn't like it when I saw it as part of the same study series.)

Okay, so now we move to QL. Thai QL apparently started with the same trend of unhappy endings (Love of Siam and the gay part of Dew the Movie, for instance). But nowadays we get mostly happy endings, particularly on GMMTV.

Some argue whether Bad Buddy has a happy ending. Pat and Pran are together, but officially have to keep their relationship a secret, even though their parents actually know. I argue it is a qualified happy ending, as they are together and happy, if not fully open.

Secret Crush on You has happy endings for not only the gay couples, including femme characters, but also for the non-binary/trans character.

We are also getting some mixed endings in queer-adjacent series.

55:15 Never Too Late leaves a straight teacher dead and the gay character alone (but, I argue, more at peace with his current fate and the opportunity to move forward now that he knows he is loveable). The other straight characters have a chance at happiness but it remains to be seen if they will achieve it. Also, the gay character's 15 year old love interest is left alone, not knowing why the 15 year old he loved disappeared. Hopefully, he has a chance at happiness as well. I'd call it a slice of life open ending.

3 Will Be Free leaves our 3 lead characters safe. The gay character appears to no longer be part of the throuple, but this was the least of his worries during most of the series. The trans character has lost both of the men who she loved and who accepted her unconditionally, and has had experiences which will likely haunt her for the rest of her life, but has gotten closure and affirmed her identity. So I'd call the ending mixed.

So, let's get back to some possible not-so-happy endings for Be My Favorite (thanks to @twig-tea for some episode 12 speculation:

Pisaeng's trip to the past does not result in Kawi surviving. (Kawi may even say he's okay with this.)

Pisaeng breaks up with Kawi so as not to ever infect him.

Pisaeng waits until he is about to be sick then leaves Kawi temporarily so as not to infect him. (Least time away from Kawi but also least dramatic. And if it's fate that Kawi dies it may not help.)

Pisaeng and Kawi wear masks once Pisaeng realizes he's getting sick. (Okay, this one is even less dramatic but I can't believe in the age of COVID they didn't think of that, even if the series doesn't seem to acknowledge that 2020-2022 was treated by most of the world as an epidemic. Not sure whether Thailand is as mask-positive as Hong Kong although I have noticed some masks in various Behind the Scenes videos.) But it's too late and Kawi gets sick and dies anyway.

Let's face it. We have Schroedinger's ending. It's already been edited and in the can (well, on the hard drive). Whatever we will see on Friday has already been ordained: happy, sad, mixed, open, ambiguous.

But we've had enough happy endings for gay characters that if this one's sad, then bring it on. I'll be sad, but not mad as long as they set it up.

And it would be nice to see happy endings for trans and lesbian characters as well.

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heretherebedork · 1 year

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This is a good carry and I haven't stopped thinking about it all day.

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theflagscene · 5 months

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I’m watching the Zombvior blessing livestream and I’m such a parent lol, I stg. I’m just thinking like: Max wake up, Tommy stop talking. Wake up Zee! Park at least pretend to pay attention, Net, James stop giggling and you… I have no idea who you are but don’t play fight in the front row also why in heaven’s name would you wear leather pants!? It’s a blessing ceremony not a nightclub, plus it’s mid-morning in Thailand, aren’t you boiling!?

Listen, no one likes to go to church but this is part of your job, we know y’all have been to dozens of these but still at least act interested lol!!

In other news, the pure joy I got from seeing Jimmy again, healthy (hopefully) and surrounded by his other actors and colleagues. I’m just glad he’s well again, or well enough to work at the very least. Also, I didn’t see Boun there, I hope he just had to miss it because of other work commitments and not because he’s pulled out of the series.

Zee, absolutely too tall to be in the front row for pictures but legit everyone is screaming for him, so obviously they push him front and centre lol. And Yim just going to start to pass the blessed food out before everyone else was just too adorable, he was just like peace out, Imma go hang out with the screaming fans.

Huh, did Zee grow up secular? Or possibly Christian? Because he seems to be doing the very bare minimum, could be the poor dude is just freaking exhausted. But I could also see it kind of sucking having a religious ceremony tied into your contract for a religion you don’t follow, I know there’s a substantial number of Christian communities in Thailand as well even more Muslim communities, though it is a predominantly Buddhist country. But as I continue to watch I think it has to do with exhaustion more than anything else, the poor man seems dead on his feet, no pun intended, cause ya know, zombies.

Okay well this press conference is impossible to hear, hopefully they’ll have another event with better sound recording. Livestreams are always iffy, especially when held outdoors.

Considering how many pairings are being interviewed together, I’m thinking teh gay will be strong with this zombie series. Love the actors that aren’t being interviewed are just standing around in the shade eating ice cream, there are perks in not being the superstars lol!

#zomvivor #blessing ceremony #zomvivor livestream #thai bl #look I know it’s not a ql but considering how many branded pairs are in it I would very surprised if there was no queerness at all #tw religion mention

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