#La Pluie review

[absolutebl]

This week in BL - I am all over the place, But Laws of Attraction is Phenomenal af

July 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Thai Sat iQIYI) 1 of 8 - Icky picked it up but it’s not airing for me until Sundays so I held this post specifically to watch and talk about this show. Stars the pair from To Sir With Love with the same production team. IT’S SO GOOD Y’ALL. A morally corrupted trickster lawyer with a tragic past, sad eyes, and a beautiful smile that he uses like a weapon. Meets paladin martial arts instructor from other side of the tracks (who is out, at least to his baby sister). Corrupt police. Spoiled rich kid evil. Ambitious politician. Tragic death. Terrible subs.* This show is very like Manner of Death but so far it is a much better/tighter story. It’s NOT BL but it is fucking phenomenal. And you shoudl watch it. Not wait to binge it. WATCH IT. On a global scale this might be the best thing currently airing featuring gay romantic leads. Its really fucking good. It’s Lawless Lawyer but more complex character motivation and gay af. Fuck yes please and thank you. FINALLY. Triggers for violence, beatings, death & torture depicted on screen. Like MoD they are not holding back.  (* A lot of the familial names they are using are not gendered in Thai but translated as such, like “nephew”. This one is gonna go down a lot easier if you know some Thai.)

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 12fin - 2 years pass and no one’s hairstyle changes? Srs. Them meeting again = hella AWKWARD. Both still pining & hurt. NO SINGING. The reconciliation scene was great. I enjoyed that on the “do over relationship” they went with phi/pom (instead of the super formal khuns). So cute and so much more relaxed. Also lots of neck kisses! Charming final ep. It’s only flaw being they dropped the side couple, but I wasn’t really into them anyway. Ultimately? This is what Boss & Babe should have been and could we please have Up lead out another BL? I miss him and he only gets prettier. Full review below.

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 12fin - I adore the tiny little baby GL thread that we almost got. And I wish we had had more of it throughout the show. The side couple turned out to be good too. Emotional crying kisses are my favorite. Sunshine netted himself an earnest serious romantic boy, we likey. As for the main couple? Well... Tai’s search story arc was dull and dragging in a final ep and it felt bloated and slow as a result. It was a good confession reunion with Tai figuring all of his shit out, not surprising but fine. Kind of a a weak final ep. Full review below. 

Hidden Agenda (Thai Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 1 of 12 - JoonDunk are back and we have all seen this a million times before, but Thailand never executed a successful formula it didn’t want to repeat a million times over, drunk bathroom and everything. Welcome (back) to Thai BL (and back and back and back). Basically they just added glasses, a new 1-shared-brain-cell friendship group, and different uni departments. Ah GMMTV, forever trying to recreate the magic of 2gether. But also I’m enjoying it. I’m a simple person. (Hi Jamie! Still in college since 2018 I see.) Anyone else notice that Chinese phrase that they did not translate for us? Mmm hum. Cute. Still... NO SINGING. 

Low Frequency (Sat iQIYI) ep 2 of 8 - Thames is in coma and getting slagged off on the socials. It’s moving a bit slowly but the premise is interesting despite the poor quality of the execution. 

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 3 of 8 eps - Major trigger for self harm depicted on screen in part 2/4. I skipped it. Then there is assault and verbal abuse. I told you Ultimate Troop is NOT to be trusted. 

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 2 of 12 - Look, I don’t really mind this show but I also don’t like second hand embarrassment and I sense a metric butt ton incoming.

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 8 of 12 - I was not best pleased with this episode. Ya’ll round the tumblr-sphere seem to be enjoying it but I have officially hit the wall on Kawi. There is not enough booze for me to cope with his shizz. I may be alone in this. But gotta say how I feel... Unlike him. Trash watch here.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Tokyo in April is... AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 8 - Poor Ren, he feels compelled to take on the burden of protecting everyone from sexual assault because he blames himself. And he can’t even talk to his boyfriend about it. Oh fuck me the pair of shoes at the door. And neck kisses? TOO MUCH. Argh. Japan. Why must you hurt so good? 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 3 of 10 eps - It’s a very cute show. All the tropes and archetypes with no fuss or attempts to be clever, just executing them (sometimes over and over again). Even hiccoughs as a result of flirting! I haven’t seen that one in ages. The show feels old fashioned as a result. Nostalgic. I’m good with that. 

Tie The Not (Pinoy YouTube) ep 6 of 8 - Sad boys still sad now drunk. (Noooooo shoes on bed! Argh.) Finally kisses! Also good ones for a large portion of this ep. Plus hair pulling. And verse rep! And after sex convo. Then side dishes have a whole proper gay ax covo about top/bottom. Everyone say thank you Philippines! get down with your queer selves! 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 6fin - I believe this was the final episode. It was cute. This is a standard sort of semi-crappy VBL high school drama. Enjoyable in its floppy friendliness, weirdly like a queer after school special promoting education. Dead fish kisses but fine for what it is. 7/10 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) 2 of 12 eps - Activate cohabitation trope. They okay bfs. Minato not as frustrating this week, but still frustrating for me and Shin. Next week = cute outfits and dumb miscommunication yay!

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 11 of 12 - again it didn’t show up on my dash in time for this. I’ll pop it into next week. 

It’s airing but ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly English & set in LA (shudder) so I’m not bothering.

Stay With Me ... NO I WILL NOT! And you can’t make me.

Ended This Week

Step By Step Series Review  

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one. This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL. That one flaw made it a 9/10 for me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

La Pluie Series Review

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL. By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core? But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication. However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10. I enjoyed it even as it made me think, so despite its flaws: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting:  

7/19 Wedding Plan (Thai Wed YouTube & iQIYI)  - It's Mame and she's coming for our GL. She's such a misogynist IMAGINE what we will get with a GL side dish? It's going to be absolute carnage. To crane your neck as you drive by the car wreck or not? That is the question. Me? I'm wallowing in the guts. Trying to decide to trash watch or not... 

7/20 Jun & Jun (Korea Thu Viki) - From 2022 I CAN’T FUCKING WAIT! So excited for this one. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

FYI roselle juice is made from hibiscus (a flower) so technically neither a tea nor a juice. (Hidden Agenda)

Tie the Not = all the verse rep this ep. I love this for them. 

The giggling was SO DAMN CUTE (Step by Step, na?) 

We all guessed it but it was still fun. (Stupid Genius) Also miracles of miracles, two actors who actually look like they could be brothers play brothers. 

First time I’ve seen faen translated as significant other. (Laws of Attraction)

THE PAIN! (Tokyo) 

(Last week.)

#this week in BL #BL gossip #bl news #upcoming BL #July 2023 BL #BL reviews #korean bl #japanese bl #thai bl #Vietnamese bl #pinoy bl #taiwanese bl #live action yaoi #Rakutan Viki #gagaoolala #GMMTV #Laws of Attraction #Step By Step review #La Pluie review #Stupid Genius review #Hidden Agenda the series #Low Frequency the series #Dinosaur Love #Be Mine Super Star #Shigatsu no Tokyo wa #Stay By My Side the series #\Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 #Tie The Not #Manner of Death #Lawless Lawyer

[kattahj]

More Asian QL reviews! Mostly Thai boys as usual, but a Japanese GL at the end!

KinnPorsche

What's it about? Kinn is the son of a mafia boss. Porsche is a bartender who happens to help him out once, and is then coerced into becoming his bodyguard.

Genre: Mafia action, possibly comedy?

Watch if you enjoy: Mafia tropes. High heat. Belligerent sexual tension that turns increasingly playful with time. Having a very hard time deciding what is or what is not meant to be funny. (I have a feeling some of the stuff I found funny wasn't meant to be.) Emotionally repressed vs emotionally oversharing teenage side couple, with love songs. Kinky dom/sub human pet sidecouple #2. Flamboyant drama queen with mental health issues who may be the most sensible of the bunch. Plot that is all over the place even when it isn't twisty (which it is quite often).

Gayer version of: your local kink club's Bugsy Malone theme night

Recommended? Hm. Yes for its influence, no for actual quality, but yes again if you just want some fun mafia hijinks without having to think or feel too much. And it never gets QUITE as bad again as the first five minutes. In some ways it's the worst of the QLs I've watched so far, but it's more entertaining and memorable than several of them. And ironically, it's one of the shows I've found myself writing fic for.

Watched on: Dailymotion

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvpNreGVOc

Laws of Attraction

What's it about? Tinn's beloved niece is hit by a car belonging to the son of senator Thatthep. Opportunistic lawyer Chan first works for Thatthep, but soon finds himself asking questions that puts him at odds with the senator. Despite their different outlooks on life, Tinn and Chan may have a common goal.

Genre: lakorn (Thai soap opera), action, drama

Watch if you enjoy: High suspense. Morally grey protagonist. Warm and righteous other protagonist. Changing your mind completely about at least one character. Having your heart broken and then laughing your ass off within a span of ten minutes. Lots of gay side characters, including a pair of badass lesbians. Best grandma currently on TV. Great emotional content. A few laughably bad action scenes and VFX.

Gayer version of: The Pelican Brief

Recommended? Yes! I watched it as it aired and could barely stand waiting for a week between episodes! Just make sure you can cope with dead child, dead dog, dead mom, and parental abuse.

Watched on: bilibili.tv, but it is also up on youtube. (It just didn't add subtitles fast enough for me.)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wo7IKw9dWY

La Pluie

What's it about? A world in which, during the rain, certain people can hear the voice of their soulmate – and ONLY that. But is the soulmate thing really real, or just a way to explain an inexplicable phenomenon?

Genre: Romcom/drama

Watch if you enjoy: Nice people solving their problems nicely and with very little unnecessary drama. Subversion of both soulmate and BL tropes (though ultimately bending to the foregone conclusion). Loving families. Understanding exes. Sometimes a cat.

Gayer version of: I want to say TiMER (2009), but that film was a whole lot messier. This is sweet.

Recommended? Kind of? I think it's well done for what it is, but that twelve hours of low-stakes relationship drama, where every crisis is averted, was a bit long for me personally. Plus, it turns out that I don't like soulmates even when they're being turned upside down and shaken around. But if the premise seems like something up your alley, I thoroughly recommend it!

Watched on: Dailymotion

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz9HG8MGF8M

To Sir, With Love / Khun Chai

What's it about? It's the 1940s, and Thailand is at war. Mr. Song, the wealthy but elderly leader of the Five Dragons association, has two sons with two different wives. Yang is the cheeky rascal, Tian is the obedient and hardworking one. Tian, as the eldest, is set to take over business, and all would be well if not for one little secret: he is gay. If this becomes publicly known, it could ruin the reputation of the whole family.

Genre: soap opera

Watch if you enjoy: More JamFilm after Laws of Attraction, with Film in a radically different role. Brothers supporting each other. Overcoming homophobic surroundings. Rivalling soap queens who will literally walk over corpses for power – and supposedly for their sons, who want none of it. Magic murder mushrooms and other glittery potions. Obedient business heir vs. taciturn assassin gay romance. Feisty het side romance with a lady love who is so sweet and soft spoken that you underestimate what an absolute MVP she is. Acting that ranges from fantastic to terrible. (Looking at you, Nuan!) Absolutely stunning costumes.

Gayer version of: Dynasty, but also I Claudius (what with all the murder).

Recommended? Ye-es? It's more soap opera than BL, so keep that in mind. And there's a lot of Rich People Bullshit. But if you're okay with that, I do recommend it! It ate my brain for several weeks, after all. And if you liked Laws of Attraction, you absolutely MUST see at least a couple of episodes, to experience the whiplash of the difference between Film's roles in those two shows.

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3goS7DVeto

Gay OK Bangkok (Seasons 1 and 2)

What's it about? A bunch of friends, boyfriends, hookups and acquaintances, and how they handle their relationships and life's other issues.

Genre: slice of life

Watch if you enjoy: People who feel like actual people. Down to earth relationship drama that doesn't necessarily end well for everyone. Compassion towards the characters even if they're sometimes being dicks. Multiple PSAs about HIV prevention. A relatively short run. (Season 1 is 5x30 minutes, season 2 7x45.)

Gayer version of: Oddly enough, I want to say 90s Degrassi. (The fact that Degrassi was the first show I ever saw that handled HIV may have something to do with it.)

Recommended? Yes! Season 1 is absolutely brilliant, and only some technical issues (soundmix, lack of subtitles for written info) kept me from putting it among my absolute favourites. Season 2 has more and longer episodes but less of a red thread, which means that while all the individual scenes are still well written and well acting, the first half in particular feels a little aimless. But it comes back swinging in the last few eps, and I have also seen viewers who preferred season 2 over season 1!

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer (sorry about the double subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3CJ9PiSSR0

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna / She loves to cook, she loves to eat

What's it about? Nomoto's hobby is cooking, but she lives alone and always ends up making too much food. One day, she notices how much food her neighbour Kasuga brings home and gets an idea: maybe Kasuga would like to eat some of what she cooks!

Genre: romcom

Watch if you enjoy: Sweet, understated, tentative romance. Lots and LOTS of cooking/eating scenes. (Don't watch while hungry! Do watch to get kitchen inspiration, if you are so inclined!) Lesbian self-discovery. Lots of serious issues in a fluffy setting: class, misogyny, heteronormativity, fat shaming, family hierarchies, and more.

Gayer version of: Julie and Julia

Recommended? Yes! It's very sympathetic and not very long (10 episodes of 15 minutes). The ending is a little unresolved, but fortunately there's a second season promised for 2024.

Between this and Old Fashion Cupcake, I do wonder if all Japanese QLs double as food porn...

Watched on: Dailymotion

Trailer (no subtitles): https://mubi.com/en/films/she-loves-to-cook-and-she-loves-to-eat/trailer

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #laws of attraction #laws of attraction the series #khun chai #to sir with love #la pluie #gay ok bangkok #gay ok bangkok 2 #tsukuritai onna to tabetai onna #she loves to cook and she loves to eat #katta's ql reviews

[juneviews]

axelle judges bl shows > La Pluie

summary: Saengtai has a disease that causes him to lose his hearing when it rains. For the past two years, he's been hearing his soulmate's voice when it rains, but, traumatized by his parents' divorce even though they're soulmates, he doesn't believe in love with that mysterious voice. One day, though, he meets the man that makes him want to believe in soulmates.

where to watch: dramacool

grade: 7,5/10

pros:

I really enjoyed the characters, especially saengtai & saentien, they really made the show for me and I got quite attached to them! I especially liked that tai, even though filling the role of the shy bottom, kinda switched it up by being being a shy bottom who's not afraid to flirt & voice his opinions. more characters like this please!

beautiful cinematography & filming!

the acting was very solid, I especially have been a fan of title tanatorn since he absolutely CARRIED remember me, and I was so happy to see him definitely deliver as the main lead in this!

even though the writing is nothing out of the ordinary, I found it quite solid still, and I wasn't really let down by the series at any moment, which is something that happens more often for me than not.

the chemistry between everyone was very good, which was to be expected from thai dramas that rarely ever miss. title & pee especially are a very interesting ship & I wouldn't mind seeing more of them!

cons:

not gonna lie, this is a quite predictable series. like, nothing really shocked me apart the one scene where the main four characters all have a fight that was very well done imo, but apart from that not much stands out from this show & it uses a lot of already overused tropes.

I did like tai & patts, but they are quite a boring, vanilla couple, which is fine, but also didn't really bring out much extra interest to the show on my part. especially patts as a character was fine, but definitely fell in the category I've created of "perfect but boring bl love interests", though thankfully at least he's not toxic like many characters present in that list lol.

would I rewatch it: I wanna say why not, but realistically since I do not have the time to rewatch ANY show anymore, I know I won't rewatch this one :(

Overall I did really enjoy this show, which made me want to rate it higher, but when I thought about it, I realized that it is gonna be a show that is pretty forgettable to me. I wouldn't NOT recommend it, but I also wouldn't really go out of my way to recommend it, so do with that what you will.

#la pluie #la pluie the series #axelle judges bl shows #bypiningbisexuals #my reviews are back bitchesssss #so many shows to catch up on lol be patient with me

[marilita]

#bl series #la pluie #thai boys love #bl review #bl recommendation #la pluie the series #patts x tai #patts x saengtai #lamfon x tien

[bengiyo]

BL 2023 Review

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write about BL for this year. I was originally going to do a The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly framework for it, but that feels meaner than I actually am about it. Instead, I think I’ll just write out some sections and unpack some things I felt along the way.

I Watched Too Much Again

Last year I engaged with about 92 productions around the world. This year it was 99 (I tracked stuff I completed here). Sure I dropped 18 of them this year, but goddamn. The problem with watching as much as I did this year is that I worked full time this year and also maintained a separate hobby. I also continued my twice-weekly watch sessions with my friend Emily, so there are an additional 100-ish watch sessions in here of rewatching, plus a few other rewatches (Theory of Love and My Ride most notably).

One of my struggles at this point is I’m far too familiar with the genre, and find myself feeling impatient and irritable with shows that aren’t to my taste the way I used to. Throughout the late summer and fall I found myself increasingly grumpier about the genre, and it didn’t get better until I had a holiday and basically slept a day to get some energy back. I also found myself growing apart from fans I’ve known and followed a long time. It’s been a difficult year for me as a long-time fan because my tastes, habits, and friendships in the genre have changed even if the amount I watch hasn’t really.

I Wrote a Lot This Year

I recently converted my watch tag away from my gaming internet persona to just my shortname, so all near-1000 of my Stray Thoughts posts can be found under #ben watches now. I’ve also been going back and adding #ben writes to some of the standalone pieces that I really liked. In reviewing them, the pieces I’m happiest about are my ode to Framboise from Kabe Koji Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to Be Recognized, my post begging everyone to watch La Pluie, my post about what it means to actually like queer men, my SBS ep 10 post that ended up being wrong, my post about the Lavender Scare and Be My Favorite, my Tokyo in April is… post about the breaking of the BL line,

However, the two posts I am most proud of is my half-joking response about why I think tagging each other back and forth across Tumblr in our writing is so important. and The Knowing: Being Queer in BL because I had so much great conversations with folks as a result of both of these posts.

Looking back at my own blog, this is probably the most active I’ve been in my entire time on this website, so thank you to everyone who interacted with me this year, because it really is people talking to me that gets me most inspired to write things down. Big shout out to @lurkingshan who will bug me repeatedly until I blog something that I said in passing.

We Started a Podcast!

After hanging out with @shortpplfedup since Bad Buddy, she got inspired and really wanted to bring something different to the BL podcasting sphere. I had time, and liked talking with her enough, so we started @the-conversation-pod. Now we’re a full year into it and planning out future stuff. It’s been so much fun being able to get things off my soul and break poor NiNi in our recording sessions.

From this year, I think my favorite episodes we did were The Moonlight Chicken Episode, the Eighth Sense episode, the ITSAY Anniversary Episodes,  The Wedding Plan episode, , and The Holiday Clip Show. Huge shout out to @ginnymoonbeam for anchoring the transcription process, and @lurkingshan for editing.

The VIIB Awards will begin airing soontm so look forward to that.

Favorite New Term: Business Gay Performance

Let’s be clear, Bump Up Business is not good. It is an obvious BL cash grab from OnlyOneOf that seeks to comment on the fake nature of BL while doing everything it can to trick the audience into believing that the BL pair is real.

Before we got deeper into this year, I was a big fan of a certain pairing, and then their fans took it too far and it affected the way I engaged with their performances and their work. I like that we have a new term for “fanservice” that communicates that you understand that this is for work. (thanks to NiNi for this comparison) I can look at the latest behind the scenes video from Last Twilight and say that I think Sea really understands the work they’re doing, and he and Jimmy have a very relaxed and mature version of BGP without feeling like I’m feeding into shipping.

Do I think they’re dating? No. Do I like the way they fake it? Absolutely!

I can look at one of @respectthepetty posts about Yin and War having personalized, color-coded mics, and we can talk about the next level BGP between the two and both communicate that we know that this is a performance.

It actually makes the extra PR work fun for me again, because now I can just shout “BGP! BGP! BGP!” and it not feel like I’m giving myself brainrot.

Thai BL Needs to Finish Stronger Next Year

Let’s get into some of the show stuff. This year was defined for me by Thai BL starting strong with good premises and then squandering them by not focusing on the details that mattered or leaning into baseless melodrama. Time for some reads. Some of these shows were generally good, but they failed at these things:

609 Bedtime Story: The world building crumpled in the back half and both endings are flat.

A Boss and a Babe: Cher is a pro gamer who worked for a gaming company and there was no plot point about this at all, or collaboration between the two groups.

Bake Me Please: Why was a show about cake so lacking in flavor?

Be Mine SuperStar: You had a real opportunity to explore a fan and idol romance and had Punn show so little growth. I hope the footage of First’s range is helpful now that Ja is out of BL.

Be My Favorite: You redid that whole amusement park date and muddled so much of what the hell happened on that day.

Between Us: You had years to make this interesting. Why are there five pairs and why is the end of this a JC Penny catalog photoshoot?

Dangerous Romance: What the fuck happened to the Sailom we had in episode 1 and 2 before that gun incident?

Hidden Agenda: Tee, what the hell was this? Twelve weeks of this?

I Feel You Linger in the Air: You may be the most beautiful show, with some of the most impressive performances of the year, but you absolutely botched this ending. Finish the goddamn season next time.

Love in Translation: I love you, but that whole kidnapping plot was so stupid at the end.

Low Frequency: I like your OST. That's about it.

My Dear Gangster Oppa: No examination about how gaming friendships become close quickly because of the combination of anonymity and teamwork (shout out to @twig-tea for this excellent summation).

My School President: Saving your gay commentary for the final episode felt like a conservative choice. I want more from you next time.

Naughty Babe: You retconned your own characters to tell a worse story. Unforgiveable.

Never Let Me Go: You didn’t know if you wanted to be a high school BL or a mafia story. It was difficult to watch.

Only Friends: I cannot believe you did Boston like that at the end. Either give Force’s character a clear personality next time, or keep him enigmatic; half measures make him and Book look worse. Sand was absolutely embarrassing. Boeing was a waste. Ending on all of them paired like that felt so unearned.

Step By Step: You forgot to ground Jeng’s external dreams at the end, so the final two episodes are just frustrating.

I’m glad I got that off my chest. We can go into the next year now.

Korea Put in the Work This Year

I really like the efforts from the various Korean studios this year. I really hope we get a Strongberry joint next year, but I want to acknowledge that we had 18 Korean BL dramas I watched this year, and at least three of them I think are must watches: Our Dating Sim, Sing My Crush, and The Eighth Sense. Beyond that, I think Love Tractor, Unintentional Love Story, and A Breeze of Love are easy recommendations.

It’s really impressive how the complaint for me this year with Korean BL is not about them using their time poorly. It’s more about normal drama concerns, where I think characterization is a little weak, or a theme doesn’t land squarely. This rapid iteration from the Korean studios is really impressive to watch, and I’m excited to see what some of the recognized players do next year.

Taiwan and The Philippines Have Been Quiet for Me

I wasn’t really able to connect with much from the Philippines this year except for The Day I Loved You. I never wrote about The Day I Loved You, but this beautiful and heart wrenching show is one of my favorites from this year. I wasn’t too keen on the Oxin Films offerings of this year, and I’m still chasing down the ones from The IdeaFirst Company.

As for Taiwan, this new BL project from the end of the year just isn’t hitting. Kiseki: Dear to Me also ended up really hurting me with the way they used Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih. I love that angry little man with the white hair, but I’m still salty about Wayne and the general mess of that show.

Japan was Busy This Year

I watched 16 new shows, a few older ones, and a few movies this year from Japan. We haven’t gotten this much from them ever. I continue to love the Drama Shower project from MBS, and my beloved What Did You Eat Yesterday? returned this year. We had pretty stellar outings with Our Dining Table, If It’s With You, and I Cannot Reach You.

I think a third of the Japanese BL I’ve tracked on MDL actually released this year. That’s huge.

Still, I am going to side eye Minato’s Laundromat 2. You were the show that let me down the most this entire year. More than Only Friends, more than Step By Step, and even more than Kiseki. You absolutely blew it. You were telling a great story about a man with an acute case of internalized homophobia coming out of his shell and learning to love his younger partner and you blew it for stupid amnesia nonsense. I will never forgive you for this.

Where Were All the Uncles This Year?

Really, without Jim from Moonlight Chicken, and without the men from What Did You Eat Yesterday? we had an alarming dearth of older gay characters passing on knowledge and wisdom to the youngsters this year. What the hell happened?

Rare Dynamics Won: Second Chance Romance and Friends to Lovers!

We had so much second chance romance this year. It’s really my favorite version of gay romance because gays don’t always have ideal settings when they’re young. We had Our Dating Sim, Individual Circumstances, Jun & Jun, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, Be My Favorite, Love Class Season 2, and A Breeze of Love. I am satisfied.

Friends to Lovers is actually so rare in romance and we have so many to choose from this year! The best examples are I Cannot Reach You and Sing My Crush, but we also have one of the pairs in Love Class Season 2.

Gay Thoughts

I had a couple of ongoing thoughts this year about queerness in BL.

First, I want to return to my post about Sing My Crush and La Pluie, and how I assert that Men Need to Be Angry Sometimes. More than giving men grace to be righteously angry or upset about things, along with letting them express it in ugly ways, I really want to get into how we engage with these shows. I will stop engaging with moralistic reads on characters in 2024. I will no longer engage with asks, reblogs, or meta gripping the fandom where we're judging the moral fiber of the character.

The question that really only matters for me at this point is: Is this act from the character justified from their characterization, the narrative, or genre conventions; and is it interesting? Whether or not the character is good or bad reeks of the lame arguments about good and bad representation, and I am not watching BL like I’m being graded in Sunday school.

The second thing I really want to acknowledge at the end of the year is that the gay sex is finally getting better again. I watched The Novelist this year, and we have taken so long to get back to the space that show took us on the portrayal of male-male intimacy. We are in the genre about people with dicks. It should feel like it. There should be a masculine component there that feels specific to queer intimacy.

I will acknowledge 2 Cutie 2 Pie, A Boss and a Babe, Be Mine SuperStar, Bed Friend, Candy Color Paradox, For Him, I Cannot Reach You, Kiseki: Dear to Me, La Pluie, Love Class 2, Love in Translation, Love Mate, Middleman’s Love, Naughty Babe, Only Friends, The End of the World With You, Tokyo in April is…, and Wedding Plan for your contributions.

Final Thoughts

I like how broad the genre felt this year, and I enjoyed how much speculative fiction is entering into the conversation. I don’t know how I feel about there being five vampire stories in the works next year, but overall I’m glad that we’re getting more experimental concepts. I’m burnt out on the college engineering BL, and would like to see more shows about working adults.

Despite how grumpy I was for at least three months, I think this has genuinely been one of the best years we’ve ever had in the genre. I made a lot of new friends in BL this year, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Thank you all for spending some of your time with me this year and I’ll see you in the next one.

#Ben writes #best of bl 2023 #bl series #thai bl #japanese bl #taiwanese bl #filipino bl #korean bl #ben watches

[natchla]

My Favorite BL Dramas of 2023

happy new year to everyone who uses the gregorian calendar. we had so much good content come out this year. i'm gonna list my favs. please remember these are my personal faves and may be objectively terrible. do not be alarmed.

My Beautiful Man S2 and Movie

If you ask me this series is one of the best bls of all time. idc idc. im a hira and kiyoi girlie through and through. how many bl's do you know with 2 seasons and an original movie. not those repackaged ones that they try to hand feed us. an actual movie with a plot???? the bar is on the floor clearly. but hira and kiyoi are gonna surpass that bar every. single. time.

Love Tractor

I didn't hear enough people screaming about Love Tractor. crickets tbh. Which is blasphemous in my opinion. How could you be quiet when this lovely bumbling himbo with the dopiest grin is on your screen? look at him!!

Eighth Sense

10's across the board. No question. No notes.

this scene^ BROKE me

Our Dining Table

Ok hear me out. I didn't think this was the best bl in the world BUT it was so wholesome that it deserves a spot. top tier comfort show. It got me through many bad days. Admittedly, there were a few times I purposely put it on bc i knew it would put me to sleep. please don't jump me.

Unintentional Love Story

Now...I'm not a huge kbl person. However, this was really nice. Had a solid plot. I don't remember much abt it but I know there was pottery and I had a good time

Only Friends

This was culture. This was a movement. I will never forgive them for how they treated Boston. Even still, I was there every week ready for the chaos. I had the time of my life.

Bed Friend

It's hard to believe this came out this year. Like ??? But really that shows how much I've established this show as a classic in my mind. BED FRIEND? UEA? baddest bitch in the land?? KING? greenest flag out there???? (debatable but for the sake of my argument lets pretend). It had every element. good plot, great visuals, a little heat. like come on who else is doing it like them?

i just know if me and uea were ever in the same room he would judge me so much

Dangerous Romance

I've seen mixed reviews on this one but I had a fun time. Kanghan is a prissy little spoiled brat, but he's my prissy little spoiled brat. I loved their story progression. Which is saying a lot for me bc I don't like enemies to lovers. like why are we fighting? also "i'm an introvert" is the funniest shit i've heard all year.

La Pluie

this was so shockingly good i wish it got more attention. iqiyi in general really did their big one this year. when it rains you can only hear your soulmate? love!

Laws of Attraction

this was a rollercoaster. i started watching ironically because i thought it would be terrible when i saw the mc go super saiyan. that shit is still hilarious idc.

Love Syndrome III

Now before we start throwing tomatoes...let's hear me out. Nothing has caught my attention this year the way this series did. This was another series I was watching ironically until suddenly i wasn't. It's also just so funny that they released the third one without dropping a first or second. but bad bitches don't need to explain themselves. and YES love syndrome is a bad bitch. let's stop acting like we watch bl's solely for the quality. i don't need marvel cgi to have a good time. sometimes a dollar store wig and the most toxic couple you've ever seen is enough to make some shit shake. if this was released during the tharntype era??? oh bitches would've ate it up. HAPPILY. rant over.

Last Twilight

it's good man. what more can i say? i hope it doesn't disappoint me in the end.

Pit Babe

i'm very pleased. very much so. i know alot of folks went into this show expecting a little teehee. to laugh at the omegaverse racecar show. NOT ME. i've waited for this moment. and anyone who's seen me screaming in the tag can attest. this is a game changer. not just for bl but the fandom community at large. and don't even get me started on their chemistry. babe's smile whenever he's around charlie?? mama and papa?? MAMA AND FUCKING PAPA?? we deserve this and i will bask in it for as long as I can. jeff had better be pregnant by the end of the show.

^ that’s his charlie smile 🥲

#last twilight the series #last twilight #pit babe the series #pit babe #thai bl #ofts #only friends the series #my beautiful man #bl drama #laws of attraction #the eighth sense #la pluie #love syndrome #our dining table #love tractor #dangerous romance the series

[heretherebedork]

Got tagged in a month by month review of 2023 in gifs by @sparklyeyedhimbo and why not? Admittedly, to be clear, my gifs have ZERO organization and are literally just in a giant folder labeled gif so... this took a lot of scrolling.

January 2023

The month of idiots in love with idiots trying to figure out what to do.

February 2023

Splish, splash and lots of parallels! This was definitely a month where I focused a lot on how these shows paralleled each other. I was also losing my mind over Moonlight Chicken.

March 2023

... March was an odd month, okay? Between my undying love of Midnight Museum and King and Uea I was trying very hard to be more mindful in gifs... sort of?

April 2023

I had to put a waltz in here somewhere but, honestly, most of April is mediocre gifs of Future, lol.

May 2023

Idiot. Pining. Brothers.

June 2023

Tiddies. That is all.

Okay also La Pluie giving me my BEST BOYS EVER.

July 2023

I love them, shhh.

But also these goofs.

August 2023

I loved this so much, Home School 2: Let Gun Kiss Khaotung when?

Remember when we had hope for this show? So do I.

September 2023

Colors? Colors. Also Boston, my beloved.

October 2023

I could, would, and will cry for them my beloved boys.

November 2023

This is it. This is all. This is the entire month. These two. Why? Why not more?

Well.. that and the best show ever started.

December 2023

Just a gift of a month to end the year on. Just a gift.

#thai bl #thai bl drama #bl drama #bl series #thaibl #asianlgbtqdramas #asian lgbtq dramas #thai series #thai drama #thai bl series #my gifs over the year #i did not get better not worse #i merely stayed the same and changed focus

[respectthepetty]

Let Me Introduce Myself

I’m Respect the Petty, and I love colors. I’m on my own little mission to annoy all of y’all about how colors, lighting, barriers, clothing, and other visuals enhance QLs and add depth to the story.

For those of you who keep asking me for a “Master List” (bleh!) since apparently it takes too much time to scroll through my insane amount of posts because I don't know how to stfu, here it is! Plenty of posts didn't make the cut simply because there is a limit, so I included the ones that delivered the most features from above, and if you search my tags by the series' titles, other posts regarding the show's colors should be able to be found.

The goods are below the cut 👇🏿

A quick overview of what I do and what the colors mean

Key:

Color Coding shows the main colors associated with the characters <- most of you are here for these

Barriers examine the physical barriers that separate characters in a scene and what they represent (emotions, miscommunication, etc.)

The Clothing Tells the Plot looks at a specific clothing item in a scene  

Background Noise includes various elements like barriers, clothing telling the plot, lighting showing feelings, and general details for the show

Episode Reviews cover all of the above for each episode plus my unhinged ramblings

Series (alphabetical order)

*If you don't know where to start, I suggest Big Dragon, Semantic Error, or Between Us

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

Background Noise

Background Noise (chopsticks)

Background Noise (puzzle pieces)

609 Bedtime Story

Color Coding

Barriers

Episode 4

All the Liquors

Color Coding

Bed Friend

Color Coding

Color Coding (Jade)

Background Noise (lighting and reflections)

Between Us

Color Coding

Color Coding (Negative Blue)

Color Coding (Cups)

Big Dragon

Color Coding and Episode 1

Background Noise [Where the Sun and Moon Meet]

Episode 8 (Finale)

A Boss & A Babe

Color Coding

Candy Color Paradox/Ameiro Paradox

Color Coding

Catch Me Baby

Color Coding

Chains of Heart

Background Noise

Cherry Magic

Color Coding

Cutie Pie

Color Coding

Dark Blue Kiss

Color Coding

Background Noise

Destiny Seeker

Color Coding

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

Background Noise (lighting)

Barriers (lighting)

The Eclipse

Color Coding

Color Coding (Teacher Sani and Teacher Waree)

Background Noise (sun & moon symbolism)

Background Noise (wealth and class)

The Eighth Sense

Color Coding

GAP

Color Coding

Color Coding (finale)

Ghost Host, Ghost House

Barriers (brief)

God's Own Country

Color Coding (brief)

Happy Ending Romance

Barriers

I Will Knock You

Background Noise (lotus)

Individual Circumstances

Color Coding

KinnPorsche

Color Coding

Background Noise (parallels)

Background Noise (VegasPete parallels)

Light on Me

Color Coding

Color Coding (Color Exchange)

Love Mechanics

Color Coding

Made on the Rooftop

Color Coding

Manner of Death

Color Coding & Barriers

Moonlight Chicken

Color Coding

Color Coding (exchange)

Background Noise

Background Noise (Alan)

My Beautiful Man/Utsukushii Kare

Color Coding (Pending)

Background Noise & Barriers

Background Noise & Barriers (ep. 2, 3)

Background Noise & Barriers (ep. 4)

My Love Mix-Up/Kieta Hatsukoi

Color Coding

My School President

Color Coding

Color Coding (Parents)

Barriers

The Clothing Tells the Plot

Naughty Babe

Color Coding

The New Employee

Barriers

Never Let Me Go

Color Coding

Color Coding (Nueng x Palm)

Color Coding (Chopper)

Background Noise (Positions)

Background Noise

Barriers (Nueng)

Oh! My Assistant

Color Coding (brief)

Old Fashion Cupcake

Background Noise (brief)

Our Dating Sim

Color Coding

Color Coding (Orange)

Background Noise

Episode 3 & 4

Episode 5 & 6

Episode 7 & 8

La Pluie

Color Coding

The Promise

Color Coding

Color Coding (Pink)

Secret Crush on You

Color Coding

Background Noise

Semantic Error

Color Coding

Background Noise

Smiley

Color Coding

A Tale of Thousand Stars

Color Coding

We Best Love

Color Coding

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Color Coding

Young Royals

Color Coding

General Posts

Cinematographers

Joy Maneerat Srinakarin (The Warp Effect, I Told Sunset About You, KinnPorsche, Great Men Academy)

Ratchanon Kaeosaart (I Promised You The Moon, Big Dragon)

Rath Roongrueangtantisook (Never Let Me Go, Mama Gogo, He's Coming To Me, A Tale of Thousand Stars, 3 Will Be Free)

Suthipong Teerasakul (Chains of Heart, The Eclipse, 609 Bedtime Story)

Language

Lost in Translation

Language as a Weapon

Hostage Posts

Japan’s Use of Space

Why QLs?

Notes:

If a link doesn't work or goes to the wrong post, let me know

If you have an ask or a request, feel free to send me a message, but be warned that I really don't shut the fuck up about colors, so you could get a ten-page report back in response

If you write a post about colors, lighting, barriers, clothing, or other visuals, feel free to tag me

I'll update this post at the end of each month depending on what discoveries I've made during that month (Updated: 4/15)

Now that you know who I am, remember that a world without colors is a world devoid of emotions and feelings, so embrace the magic and follow me down this chaotic path of visual rhetoric.

#The colors mean things #color coded boys #the cinematography #the clothes speak to me #the clothes telling the story #background noise #crossing the line #master post

[wen-kexing-apologist]

I Don't Have a Fancy Title for This One, Sorry: Thoughts on the My Ride Finale

I want to talk about the opening scene in My Ride Episode 10 and how the conflict that arises around it is so perfectly set up throughout the show. Because this show handles everything that happens between Mork and Tawan so brilliantly (which should not be a surprise because these are the people who go on to give us La Pluie, and as @lurkingshan mentioned, My Ride very much reads as a proto-La Pluie)

@bengiyo, @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm and I have lovingly been referring to this show as Sunshine x Sunshine because both main characters are Sunshine boys aka bright, happy, caretakers (think Tien from La Pluie) as opposed to brooders (think King from Bed Friend). As @bengiyo mentioned in a discussion I was having with him about this show, Sunshine x Sunshine narratives are very rare in romance/BL because there is not a lot of internal conflict, so you have to set up external conditions/conflict in order to prevent two sunshine boys from getting together immediately. 

And My Ride handles this extremely well by making Mork have to realize his own sexuality and having Tawan be in an established relationship even after Mork understands his feelings. It continues to handle them not getting together very well after Mork finds out that Por is cheating on Tawan, and not telling Tawan about it. Now, while I think we can all agree Mork messed up by continuing not to tell Tawan even as Tawan got closer and closer to discovering the truth, even as Tawan essentially flat out asked Mork if Por was cheating, it is so disgustingly in character for Mork to care so much about Tawan that he cannot. hurt. his. feelings. Mork is almost as devastated as Tawan is when he first sees Por and his boyfriend together. He knows how much Tawan is going to get hurt in the future, but he cannot be seen as trying to split Tawan and Por up, and Mork is a good person who takes people at their word, and who said nothing because he believed Por when he said he would handle it. 

Por did not handle it. 

Tawan is then sad and heartbroken, and that is a time to comfort people that you care about but not the time to go asking them on a date. And I love how there is a moment here, where Tawan could actually get mad at Mork for hiding this information. But he doesn’t. Because Tawan is a good person who understands that Mork is a good person and knows fundamentally that Mork would never intentionally hurt him. 

Tawan runs away to the North for the first time to get a break from the tail end of the Por situation see his family and Mork is worried because Tawan has gone radio silent. Mork calls Tawan 69 times (haha, nice) because he really needs to know if Tawan is okay, and again, this could have been a moment where Mork got upset at Tawan for scaring him like that, but he isn’t. He’s just anxious and concerned and trying to make sure that Tawan is okay. And to the audience, and to Tawan himself. It reads as genuine concern for someone you care deeply for. WE know why Mork is rambling that fast, and Tawan is starting to catch wise that these feelings he has for Mork are reciprocal.

So let’s review what happens on this phone call: 

Tawan looks at his phone to see 69 missed calls from Mork 

Mork rambles for a solid thirty seconds about how worried he was that Tawan had been hurt

Tawan gets blushy about it, he does not withdraw in to himself, he does not feel ashamed of himself, he does not look concerned himself. He is smiling softly. Because Mork is a good person who is never going to make him feel like Por made him feel. 

Mork says he wants to see Tawan’s face 

Tawan says he thinks he’s over Por

Mork cannot contain the small excited smile at the thought he now has an opening. Tawan smiles back because he knows what he is doing

Tawan apologizes for worrying Mork. Mork jokingly is like ‘you are not forgiven’, and Tawan knows this is not a serious rejection because Mork immediately follows it up with a quiet, awkward “I miss you”

Tawan is like “whatdidyousayyyyyy???” and Mork is like “If you are over him hurry back” (so I can ask you out) 

Tawan goes home after two days even though he told his parents that he would be there for a week because the boy he likes says he misses him 

gif by @gabrielokun

And things are looking up for the Sunshine Boys! Tawan returns! Tawan spends the day with Mork and his son and he immediately shows himself to be marriage material by being incredibly good with kids. Mork asked Tawan if he would be a second father. Which would typically, in theory, be a pretty strong indication that Mork likes Tawan and wants to be with Tawan for the foreseeable future. But they haven’t actually talked about it. They haven’t actually declared anything yet. They have not fully established what they are to each other, and as a result there is still some room for doubt.

Which is when Fern re-enters the chat realizing she made a terrible mistake leaving Mork (because as we all know Mork is bottled sunshine) and Tawan stumbles in on Mork hugging Fern to comfort her, and we have the catalyst for our final separation. 

Now, under normal circumstances, the fact that Mork does not at all seem guilty, shocked, or hiding anything when he immediately removes himself from the hug, devotes all of his attention to Tawan, and then runs after him when Tawan makes absolutely the stupidest excuse to leave by saying his non-ringing telephone is the hospital calling would all be a pretty good indication that nothing nefarious is going on. While Mork commits another error by not continuing to follow after Tawan in the moment, Fern is asking for him to stay because she is going through it, and I know in my heart of hearts that Mork is confident that he will be able to both clear the air with Fern and also be able to see Tawan soon and explain the whole situation. 

But to Tawan? 

To Tawan he has just caught Mork cheating on him before they have even really started dating. And again this works SO well for a number of different reasons.  

Reason 1: Tawan as a character is the person who does things for other people without expecting anything in return. He is the person that friends reach out to when they need help, but they are rarely there to offer any legitimate help themselves. Tawan literally sobs, has a full on  breakdown the first time that Mork asks him how he is doing because “no one has asked me that in awhile”. The way Tawan navigates the world makes him see himself as a commodity to other people. He is here to help and if he is not helping then people do not care. (Am I reading too much in to this? Maybe. Am I projecting on to Tawan? Absolutely. Am I right? Yes.) 

Which is why things were so good with Mork. Because Mork always gave as good as he got. Mork always reciprocated the affection, the kind words, the physical and emotional support that he got from Tawan. 

Reason 2: Tawan has literally just been cheated on. And not only was Tawan cheated on, but that piece of shit dentist, Dr. Punchable Face Por has made it his life’s FUCKING MISSION TO BLAME *TAWAN* FOR *BEING THE REASON HE IS CHEATING*. Like goddamn, first of all Por, Tawan has been the mistress this whole time, but second of all, you didn’t use your stupid fucking words the first time (you know, like Mork has) and got mad at Tawan for being a super busy doctor and genuinely good person. But no. No. NOPE. Instead Tawan, who already feels like he exists to be used by other people, is now made to feel like the reason that no one wants him, the reason why no one helps him, the reason why no one checks in on him, is because of Tawan himself? (@neuroticbookworm hold me back, I’m about to reach through my screen and beat up a fictional man). 

Reason 3: Mork calling Tawan his friend in front of Fern. So we have established already that Tawan feels in part that he has to help people in order to make himself useful enough to keep around, and that he feels like he is the one to blame for people he cares about just absolutely ruining his life, and he thinks he understands where he and Mork stand with the 69 missed calls, and the “I miss you” and the “hurry back” and the day they shared together with Mork’s son, and the whole “will you be his second dad” thing. Not to mention all the longing glances and reciprocity that Mork has given him from the very beginning, when he still hadn’t even realized he was bi. And the second that Mork introduces Tawan as his “friend” all the doubt he has ever held, all the doubt he has tried to dampen when he is with Mork just comes flooding in. Because in Tawan’s mind he has completely misinterpreted this situation. Mork doesn’t like him like that, Mork is just a nice person. Tawan is “a friend” that Mork’s exgirlfriend has never heard of who is “not exactly a friend” but a doctor at the hospital and a passenger that Mork drives around. 

Once more into the breach my friends, Mork is being respectful of Fern and not really trying to out himself and Tawan when Fern is clearly upset, seeking comfort, and probably wanting to get back with Mork. This is not the time or place to tell Fern that Tawan is Mork’s boyfriend, and Tawan and Mork have not had the conversation. Now, personally, when I hear Mork say ‘he’s not exactly a friend’ I take all the times they have shared together and the fact that Mork literally asked Tawan to be a second father to indicate that Tawan isn’t exactly a friend, he’s more than that. 

But because this show has set its external conflicts and barriers up well, and used those to feed internal struggles, Tawan does not read it that way. He reads it as never being seen as more than a friend to Mork and his heart is breaking in real time as he completely re-evaluates everything they’ve been through together. 

Tawan returns to Changrai for the second time, hurt and embarrassed, and trying to get as far away from that city and the pains and the pressures that they have put him through. Thankfully, Mork wises up and goes running after him. 

And that’s really all I have to say at this point. This show builds so well off of the elements of its story it has laid out previously, and as a result it manages to accomplish what few shows really have: Double Sunshine

#my ride #my ride finale #my ride the series #my ride rewatch 2023 #mork x tawan #fluke pongsakorn #fame chawinroj

[slayerkitty]

2023 in Review: Meta Edition

So I got tagged to do a moth-by-month meta review by a few people - @chickenstrangers, @lurkingshan, and @ranchthoughts. I wasn't sure I had enough meta or posts, but then I remembered Only Friends...

So I figured, why not?

January/February

No meta from me yet - was still lurking/starting to poke my head out and interact a little.

March

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dome is Jesus! So I've long said that my first BL meta was for La Pluie, and that's true. However, my first meta since I started watching Thai dramas was for Midnight Museum (which is, technically, not a BL). Thus we have my Dome is Jesus meta. And I don't think I was wrong? But he was also way more than that, lol.

April

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dome is one of the four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Midnight Museum season 2 WHEN?

May

No meta this month.

June

My Favorite/Most Popular: Dream loves Nara. HAHA, my first La Pluie/BL meta and it's about the GL side couple. Dream wore that red 'N' right over her heart on that sweater and since I've been to the @respectthepetty school of color, I noticed it right away. AND I WAS RIGHT.

July

My Favorite/Most Popular: Turtle Tai. My La Pluie meta where I over identify with Tai for several paragraphs. I have no idea if it helped others who were struggling with Tai get a better understanding of where he was coming from emotionally, but writing it was cathartic and I'm so glad @lurkingshan poked at me and said I should write it.

August

Most Popular: Let's Talk About Trust, Baby. One of my first Only Friends metas from early on, when the show was absolutely eating my brain. I had a lot of fun breaking down the trust dynamics of the characters.

My Favorite: Baby, Let's Try. My breakdown of the Let's Try OST MV (and Only Friends BTS videos) analyzing the different framing devices and effects used and what it might be saying regarding our larger group discussions on ephemerality in regard to the show. When I watched this MV and realized what was happening, I had to drop everything and write out meta and that was so much fun.

September

Most Popular: Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends (post episode 4). I ended up doing this weekly and it was so fascinating... until the frameworks went away. Why, P'Jojo?

My Favorite: Working with @jenyifer to figure out the story of the Only Friends end cards for each episode. It finally put the mystery of those moments to rest and figuring out where they originated or where they fight in the chronology of the show really added some depth to certain moments.

October

My Favorite/Most Popular: With the dramatics and exhausting reveals of the Red Peafowl casting announcements, I loved my reaction: Let's Just Stan the Fucking Bird. @blmpff mentioned fan club memberships and the Featherheads were born.

November

My Favorite/Most Popular: (Stages of) Grief in Last Twilight. I wanted to explore where Day and Mhok were with the grieving process. My only Last Twilight meta (so far?).

December

My Favorite/Most Popular: Narrative Choices in For Him the series.

Honorable Mention: my most noted post of the year, lmao, but not a meta - my second Pit Babe is trending post.

Look at me, I got all wordy from July through November, LOL. Here's hoping for more meta and more brain rotting BLs in 2024.

Not tagging anyone, but if you see this and you wanna do it, consider yourself tagged!!

#thai bl #bl meta #bl shenanigans #best of bl 2023

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Multiple Thrupples are Forming

June 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 8 of 10 - Emotional blackmail from the ex notwithstanding, I guess it’s Pat’s turn to break hearts. I have to say Up was really well cast in this part - extremely believable. Well done all around. Jeng is so smitten, so awkward, so cautious, yet so sharp when it comes to a seme confrontations. I LOVE how sensitive Jeng is to the fact that he has a one-sided crush but also deluded by how much he wants the fantasy of the relationship. The agonizing roller coaster we watch him go through in this ep did a lot of work to elevate and expand his character. (Oh hi Green!) Poor Pat: thinks he’s teasing his straight boss, is actually slow dancing with future husband. Happens to the best of us. 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 8 of 10 - Don’t kiss someone else. Just argh. Dumb plot divice. I expected better of you LP. Everyone is so overdramatic and overreacting. I wonder if (in addition to all of the other tropes this narrative is scrutinizing) it’s examining bisexual identity through Pat + his ex? Like, this episode is actually about trusting the bisexual to choose his gay lover when he has the so called “option of being normal.” That soulmate is an allegory for gayness & identity & choice (and whether we even have a choice in who we love and are attracted to) and the interplay all of this has with one's own perception of self and other's perception of you… Or am I giving it too much credit? Meanwhile... l flipping adore the love triangle twist, and really wonder if they’re gonna have the guts to take this aspect to its inevitable triangular conclusion. Such a good show. 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 4 of 10? - Screw all y’all, I’m eloping with Pair & Max. We forming a thrupple and pretending Jittirain doesn’t exist. Trash watch here. 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - I love the high school boys so much it’s scary: flirting, biting, frankness, roughhousing + lap sitting! Also messy high school gay triangle. Gah. All of this for little-old me?! I was mad every time we jumped forward in time (to the adults) or whatever the hell is going on. Thank goodness this is only 6 eps. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

 Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 3-4 of 8 - I LOVE IT SO MUCH. IT IS EVERYTHING. SHUT UP I AM FERRIL FOR THE BEAUTIFUL CITY BOY & HIS YOUNG FARMER. Come on. Korea. Have mercy? Plus some language play? Slayed. Right... the episode; This show reminds me so much of a Korean style Restart After Come Back Home. I’m not even slightly mad about it. It’s the BL I didn’t even know to ask for. Soap opera tumble and baby in hospital is SUCH a princess moment and I am living for it. Although the reversal is even cuter, princess turns out to be a caring tsundere Dom. And then obligatory water-hose frolicking! Oh, stop, you. (Allegory much? i being to think hose spraying is just another way of BL saying... well... hose spraying) AND “there is only one bed but they slept together on the floor together anyway”. These boys are hitting all my favorite tropes. BL please never lose your sense of childish wonder. And... the hose spraying is nice too.  

Tokyo in April AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 1 of 8 - Based on a NSFW yaoi, this is a reunion romance that takes place in an office. Look, this is a weird little 2nd chance at love that reminds me a bit of Our Dating Sim. But it’s more traditional yaoi office romance with evil boss and inter-departmental politics. The leads are cute childhood (almost) sweethearts and I adore it unreasonably already. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 6 of 12 - Vertical video prod is stupid. I’m sorry young people. Stop it. BUT the cuddling is cute. Christ BV can kiss. Is there anyone he doesn’t have amazing chemistry with? Oh the sunshade trope I haven’t seen that one in forever. Also clearly his character has a type, and that type = ultra-bitch. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 2 of 6 - It’s fine. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - Oh dear. Baby is hurt and rejected. Faen fatal knows her competition is a boy, she also knows what jealousy looks like. But this baby has his own boy. This is all feeling rather Thai BL. There’s even an ep 11 of DOOM coming up next.

It’s Airing But ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly in English and set in LA so I’m not bothering but the first one did drop.

Ever After (Pinoy ????) - I got nothing.

Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan Sun ????) 10 eps - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I? (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

Boys Love Omegaverse (Japan ????) - honestly tho? Who tf cares? You’ll still tell me if you find it, because inquiring minds... Irony of this airing at the same time as Takumi-kun. Full circle much, Japan?

Ended This Week

Tin Tem Jai special showed up on Gaga as ep 11 & 12 under the original show. (Indebted to spies reporting in.) Also on YouTube. What was that I just watched? Did I watch something? Was there anything? I suppose the bathtub scene was cute. Subs are bonkers. Seriously. Do. Not. Bother.

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan) - pay attention TTJ THIS is how you do a special. But I’m gonna do a series review, here ya go: I was always gonna love the show if they stuck to the manga (which is very dear to my heart). And they did, paralleling it almost exactly. It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. Possibly too slow for some but definitely high up there for me with the best of what Japan can do (like Restart After Come Back Home), it’s only flaw (if I dare say such a thing) is that it is not really “romantic.” Lovely & sweet but the romance beats are being used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy, it’s OK with me, but not totally BL. 9/10

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this Week

6/22 About Us but Not About Us (Pinoy movie from 2022 on Prime) - A professor grieving the loss of his partner meets an ambitious literature student.

6/24 Tie The Knot AKA Under the Same Sky (Pinoy movie on Prime) Trailer - I guess Prime is coming for our Pinoy BL? From OXIN Films (Rainbow Prince), announced for 2022 based on a true story, Briggs's family runs a bridal business but he has never had a chance to fall in love until he meets Shao, a groom to be.

6/24 Why You (Khmer BL ????) - Billed as a horror romance, not sure if this is a movie or a series or where it will air.

6/25 Dinosaur Love (Thai iQIYI) Trailer 5 eps - from Ultimate Troop about a uni student, Rak, whose partner cheats on him with Rak's best friend. This gives bad boy hazer Dino an opportunity to hit on Rak at last. From The Yearbook people so I will not watch this as it airs. After Remember Me? Never again with them.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Step by Step knocked it outta the park this week. 

Stupid Genius (speaking for all BL) 

No baby. Pretty much every human on the planet would react that way. (Love Tractor) 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? IVE’s I Am 

#this week in BL #BL gossip #bl news #upcoming BL #BL reviews #korean bl #thai bl #Japanese BL #Vietnamese bl #live action yaoi #Rakutan Viki #gagaoolala #GMMTV #Step By Step the series #La Pluie #Luminous Solution #Love Tractor #Restart After Come Back Home #Shigatsu no Tokyo wa #Our Dating Sim #Vian the series #Stupid Genius #Zenra Meshi #Tin Tem Jai #Bokura no Shokutaku spin off #Bokura no Shokutaku review

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: April 2023 ~  

🌼 Happy May!!! 🐝

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Bokura no Shokutaku (Our Dining Table) - April 6th (Japan)

🌟 My Beautiful Man: Eternal - April 7th (Japan)

🌟 Eien No Kinou: Complete Edition - April 13th (Japan) 

🌟 Naked Dining - April 14th (Japan)

🌟 Midnight Love - April 15th (Thailand)

🌟 My Story - April 15th (Philippines)

🌟 Step by Step - April 18th (Thailand) ❌(dropped)

🌟 Our Skyy 2 - April 19th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 The Promise: Part 2 - April 19th (Thailand)

🌟 Midnight Love - April 22nd (Thailand)

🌟 Stormy Honeymoon - April 22nd (Vietnam) 

🌟 The Day I Loved You - April 26th (Philippines) 

🌟 Happy Merry Ending - April 27th (South Korea) 

🌟 Love Syndrome III (Uncut Version) - April 29th (Thailand) 

🌟 La Pluie - April 29th (Thailand) ✅

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Our Skyy 2 - Absolutely loving it so far!!! It’s exactly the kind of lighthearted chaos I was hoping for and especially the NLMG episodes were so much fun to watch. Once again proves that PP just work in a comedy setting. ngl these 2 episodes were better than the entirety of the 12 episodes of the main show for me lmao 🤷🏼‍♀️ The SIMM episodes were a bit strange plot-wise lmao but JD’s chemistry saved the day for sure. Very excited for what’s to come!! 

👎🏻 A Shoulder To Cry On - I was very disappointed by this one. It was my first time dipping my toes back into the kbl world after TMS and I was hopeful as I read good reviews but my god it was so bad. it had a solid start but then the plot started reaching and it got weirder with every episode. and not to mention the lack of intimacy like I get they probably didn’t do it because of kpop or whatever but why even cast them to begin with then??? I have zero understanding for things like that. This was a bromance and I hated it lmao. bye.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Colorful Melody - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Forever Yours - Date TBA (Philippines)

🎥 Rule No.1: Don't Be Too Emotional (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Night Dream - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Deep Night - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Khemjira Will Survive (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Let’s Eat Together - coming June 2nd (Japan) 

🎥 VIP Only - Date TBA (Taiwan) 

🎥 I Can’t Reach You (manga adaption) - Date TBA (Japan) 

🎥 The Bartender - Date TBA (Cambodia) 

🎥 Love Supremacy Zone - Date TBA (South Korea) 

🎥 Aedan The Series - Date TBA (Philippines) 

Other news from the BL world

❗️ Workshops for the upcoming GMMTV BL Dangerous Romance have started. Filming is scheduled to start next month.  

❗️ The upcoming Domundi Thai BL Naughty Babe is officially in production. Shooting will commence soon.  

❗️ The upcoming WabiSabi Thai BL Absolute Zero (dir. New Siwaj) has started filming. 

❗️ The company StarHunter announced their lineup for 2023:

City of Stars (BL)

True Moon (BL)

Sunset Vibes (BL, starring MosBank)

The Taste of Fresh Milk (BL)

Big Dragon the Movie (BL)

Love Senior (GL) -> this will be StarHunter’s first GL drama.

❗️ A movie version for the Korean BL Where Your Eyes Linger (re-edited version) was announced. Details such as plot + air date are still unknown. 

❗️ After a supposed casting sheet was leaked in a video, rumors sparked that GeminiFourth will get replaced by ViewJune as the side couple in the upcoming Thai GL 23.5. The actresses were also seen in the workshops to Dangerous Romance, along with Papang and Pepper, creating further rumors about the 2 pairs being side couples in the show along with Marc and Pawin. Nothing is confirmed. 

❗️ Actors Billkin and PP (I Told Sunset About You) have registered a joint production company called BKPP Entertainment. It will be managed by Billkin, PP, Bell Supol, Panut (Billkin's dad) and Sureerat (PP's mom). Details about possible productions (film or music) are still unknown. 

❗️ Actors Bas Suradej and Copter Panuwat have left Starhunter Entertainment, which resulted in Copter and costar Kimmon parting ways as an on-screen pair. Their upcoming show Boy Never Smiles will still air as scheduled. 

❗️ Actor Yacht Patsit has dropped out of the Korean idol program FANTASY BOYS due to a chronic illness. He will resume his acting career in Thailand. 

❗️ Kpop group SF9 members ZUHO and Kim In Sung were announced as the leads in the upcoming Korean BL Star Struck. The series will premiere on May 18th. 

❗️ The following BL actors won at this year’s Thailand Master Youth Awards:

Zee Pruk and Nunew Chawarin: People Favorites

Gemini Norawit and Fourth Nattawat: Youth Favorites

Upcoming series & movies for May

👉🏻 House of Stars - May 1st (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Love Mate - May 4th (South Korea)

👉🏻 ViAn The Series (TikTok series) - May 6th (Vietnam) 

👉🏻 My Partner (movie) - May 7th (Philippines/Hawaii) 

👉🏻 Star Struck - May 18th (South Korea) 

👉🏻 The Luminous Solution - May 27th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Tie the Not - May 27th (Philippines)

👉🏻 Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa - May 27th (Japan) 

#doreens monthly bl breakdown #thai bl #bl drama #upcoming bl #update #bl news #im noticing Taiwan hasnt been making BLs lately lol #i wonder whats going on #also cant believe Bas and Copter are finally free from Starhunter dkjhvfd #good call guys #im screaming at these DR workshop pics because if this is all true then we are getting 3 side couples dfjhgkfd #please no #i am intrigued by papang x pepper though 👀 #also i had to drop step by step #i didnt like it at all #which is a bummer #but oh well

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: YYY, and When BL Talks About BL Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I examine the success -- or not? -- of Cheewin Thanamin’s YYY and what the show does by way of macro-level commentary on the BL genre.]

Alright, so YYY! It would be VERY EASY to write this show off. Maybe the old Turtles of the early OGMMTVC would have done just that (exhibit A: SOTUS, which I’m thinking about revisiting in a wrap-up piece after the OGMMTVC is done, thanks to Krist and his fantastic acting in Be My Favorite). 

But I’ve learned my lesson. There’s a LOT going on with YYY that makes it absolutely worthy of inclusion on the OGMMTVC list. It was @absolutebl Sensei themself that made the case for YYY, especially in ABL Sensei noting my interest in Cheewin’s emotional filmmaking trajectory from Make It Right/MIR2, to Secret Crush On You, to Bed Friend. I thank you, ABL Sensei, for pointing me in this direction to see this *other* side of Cheewin!

So why do I think YYY is important on the OGMMTVC list? It’s a short, VERY CHAOTIC, VERY UNEXPECTED six-episode series that focuses on two roommates, Not (Yoon Phusanu) and Pun (Lay Talay), who fall for each other in short order in the midst of a wild and inexplicable living environment. They’re supported by their fellow apartment-mates, Ohm (Pee Peerawich, most recently of La Pluie) and Arm (Scott Satapong), and most importantly, are living under the VERY watchful eye of their probably-transgender building manager, Porpla, played by THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE actor in Poppy Ratchapong. OMFG. More on Poppy in a bit. (OMFG, Poppy. I’m in LUV.)

I’ll break down the importance of YYY in the following order:

1a) Who exactly is the writing team of Fluke Teerapat and Tanachot Prapasri, and why are they important (I’m actually going to try to figure this out along with the rest of y’all, and hopefully if folks have more info, they can chime in!), 1b) What did director Cheewin Thanamin bring by way of past vision to YYY to explain the show’s composition, 2) Why the show’s subject matter actually serves as critical commentary to what was happening with the BL genre vis à vis the association of BL and romance, 3) A quick deep-dive on the EXCELLENT acting we saw in YYY, and why that’s also important to the show as a whole,

and, as always, possibly more. Let’s do this. 

So, Fluke Teerapat and Tanachot Prapasri. I’ve tried to find more information on these two dudes to some avail, but my quick analysis of their work really stems from MDL, Fluke’s past acting career, and analytical conjecture about why they wrote YYY and what they wrote after YYY. 

As we know, the guys of these broad circles -- New Siwaj and his Studio Wabi Sabi, Cheewin and his Copy A Bangkok studio, Fluke and Tanachot as writers, and many, many others -- are, generally speaking, of a community of BL creators that are outside the usual GMMTV circles. (I’ve written about this before -- while my project is called the Old GMMTV Challenge, with the goal of digging into how we’ve ended up with GMMTV’s current standard of BLs, the list features quite a few non-GMMTV BLs, as I believe art is always speaking to art, no matter where it’s published.) (And, I am sure most of you are familiar with this, but if not, there are master lists of the history of Thai BL studios out there.)

I note the non-GMMTV affiliation of these guys, because -- some of these guys, like New and Tee Bundit, actually contract with GMMTV for specific shows, like A Boss and a Babe and Hidden Agenda, respectively. Fluke Teerapat himself was a pre-BL actor in the 2014 movie My Bromance with Fluke Natouch (so many cute Flukes, amirite), and also acted in GMMTV’s FIRST BL in SOTUS -- Fluke Teerapat played Wad, who was maybe? hopefully? kinda? indicated to be shipped with the older Prem (Gunsmile Chanagun).

I’ll add two more points to consider here as I continue to sit with the influence that Fluke, Tanachot, and Cheewin brought to YYY: Firstly, GMMTV BLs, up to YYY’s moment in 2020 generally asked for romance in their shows. Again, that’s a generalization. (I don’t think Theory of Love fits in this category.) But considering what had come out on GMMTV CLOSELY PREVIOUSLY to YYY’s airing -- 2gether and Still 2gether -- GMMTV was riding a romance high, and counting their massive BrightWin dollars.

Secondly, YYY is the first piece on the OGMMTVC list that features Cheewin Thanamin as a solo director. Going backwards, as we know, Cheewin’s previous work on BLs including co-writing, co-directing, and acting in Make It Right and Make It Right 2, and he was a writer on Love Sick, season 2, and was a guest actor on Love Sick, season 1. 

Putting this all together: at least Fluke and Cheewin have utterly tremendous histories with the literal birth of the BL genre, Cheewin outside of the GMMTV circles with Love Sick and Make It Right/MIR2, and Fluke beginning his career as an actor in GMMTV’s first BL, AND first HUGE BL. 

Cheewin and Fluke have had front-row seats to the development of the BL genre, seeing and understanding what fans, studios, producers, and major networks in GMMTV, Channel 9, Channel 3, and others, demand and expect out of the genre and the dramas by way of fan service, shipper culture, romantic storylines, tropes -- all of it. Cheewin and Fluke have been around for a MINUTE. They clearly HAVE critical viewpoints about BL, and are not afraid to scrutinize the genre in their works, which is what happened in YYY.

I’m going to get confusing for a second to jump to the closer present for my next analytical point: what else have Fluke Teerapat and Tanachot Prapasri written?

They’ve written My Ride (2022) and La Pluie (2023). I haven’t watched either of them yet, but I am damn glad that I’ll be watching them after the OGMMTVC is done, in their chronological order, and I already can’t wait to write about them. Because what I bet is that I’ll see what intelligence and scrutiny Fluke and Tanachot had leveraged in YYY, the cutting criticisms about BL they lined YYY with, and then took the sharpness of their writing and the critical viewpoints they have ABOUT the BL genre to My Ride and La Pluie, two beloved BLs that are lauded for their directness in structure and storytelling. 

In Cheewin, Fluke, and Tanachot, we have a team of creators that’s not afraid to be critical about the genre in which they’re operating. Now -- this take, this perspective, can sometimes work well (I’m eagerly awaiting Tee Bundit’s Lovely Writer on the OGMMTVC list, as I understand he takes this macro approach in LW), and in other times, it does not work well at all (exhibit B: Tee Bundit’s Step By Step, rant linked). 

YYY took a lot of risks. It was a weird show. It didn’t... quite make sense. But it was clearly designed to criticize what we, as fans, usually expect out of BLs, including clean and romantic storylines and happy endings.

Episodes 5 and 6 of YYY fully explained to me the show’s purpose. First off: BLs are jobs for the actors. The ships are not real. And YYY states as much. Pun is considering quitting his job as a shipped half of a boy-couple, and his acting partner isn’t having it.

In episode 6 -- before Not and Pun go to space? -- we get two screen quotes of the life of YYY itself.

The world that Porpla operated in the apartment building where Not, Pun, and their neighbors lived was chaotic precisely BECAUSE of Porpla, and what Porpla demanded out of the human behavior around them. Porpla could only be appeased, as an obsessed yaoi fan (LOL), with the confirmation that Not and Pun were together and dating. If that’s not a metaphor for fan and network demands out of BLs and ships, then I don’t know what is. AND: those demands CERTAINLY create chaos, especially for the individual creators and performers associated with BLs. (I didn’t take screenshots of Porpla’s INSANE outfits, but really, the chaos of YYY stemmed and centered around Porpla -- and Poppy Ratchapong’s ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE performance of Porpla). 

While watching YYY -- Porpla, the Chinese brothers, the coffee and janitor couple, all the flashbacks, Not’s hilarious and nonsensical sign-offs (omg, I was gagging with laughter) -- I was reminded of Lukmo and Yok in Make It Right, especially in Make It Right 2. New and Cheewin did some crazy shit with Mo and Yok, especially their confusingly edited and strangely metaphorical sex scenes. Mo and Yok were chaotic right up until their open and tender moments about their emotionality to each other. 

At the time of my watching Make It Right 2, I noted that it seemed to me like Mo and Yok suffered from editing fumbles, which I think is still accurate. But now that I’ve watched YYY, I also might want to theorize (I wonder what you think of this, @lurkingshan), that Mo and Yok might have been specifically written BY CHEEWIN himself, AND that the chaos and strangeness of their metaphorical intimacy (like, sexual food metaphors using mortars and pestles, it still scars me, ha) may have been specifically designed to serve as a mirror against the more straightfoward (but still chaotic) romantic ships in TeeFuse and FrameBook. I’m not ENTIRELY sure. But I think I can feel confident in theorizing that what New and Cheewin were doing in MIR was to add a gentle question about whether EVERY ship working in a BL is worth it. (I think New touches on this in Love By Chance vis à vis TinCan.) And I think Cheewin furthers that question in YYY vis à vis Not and Pun -- who, spoiler alert, do not end up together at the end of YYY. They end up in space. Yeah, totally. 

(I just want to note here that a major reason why Cheewin in particular is such an important person to focus on for the OGMMTVC is that chaos is not his ONLY bag. As I noted in my MIR2 review and earlier above, Cheewin has a SEPARATE perspective that he’s explored in multiple shows — the journey of queer joy. We have seen marriage proposals from FrameBook in MIR2 and KingUea in Bed Friend. While chaos is…chaotic, I love that Cheewin has MULTIPLE THEMES that he explores in his works, and he’s not necessarily *beholden* to them in any one of his shows. Unlike Tee Bundit, Cheewin may not be held back by funding issues, and *can* dabble in non-romance structures. But from what I’ve seen of his art by way of romance — he does those structures beautifully as well, ending at least MIR2 and Bed Friend in glorious happiness. Again, I really appreciate @absolutebl​ Sensei recognizing these two different tracks in recommending YYY to me.)

Anyway, listen. YYY is home to micro- on macro-commentary about the BL genre and BL’s resulting questions and chaos, using chaos itself as a storytelling tool. Porpla is THE entity, the über-fan, the symbol of CULTURAL PRESSURE for BLs to WORK and PLAY in happy endings, when happy endings might not exactly be what filmmakers like Cheewin really want to achieve all the time (see above). I appreciated that time was actually taken to explain to Porpla that Not and Pun were not going to be together. I gotta say that I commend Cheewin, Fluke, and Tanachot for playing hardily in this sandbox, clearly having fun doing it, in such wild fashion.

AND: I MUST give Yoon, Lay, Pee, and especially Poppy their flowers. They acted the hell out of this show. Yoon had me DYING with laughter at his nonsense monologues at the end. Pee is clearly one well-rounded actor, handling comedy crazy well, and I can’t WAITTTTTTT to see him in La Pluie (cc @wen-kexing-apologist).  

But this post and the performance of this show ultimately belongs to Poppy Ratchapong. When I first late-night liveblogged about YYY and I was like, POPPPPYYY, the HOMESLICE @dribs-and-drabbles came THRU with a post celebrating Poppy that had me SILENTLY DYING on a work Zoom call with them abs, DAMN! LOL. FAMILY: I MEAN, if you’re gonna watch YYY, you’re gonna watch it for Poppy as Porpla. His Porpla was SO wild, SO chaotic, SO emotionally (UN)balanced, SO insane, SO crisp, SO controlled in their manipulation, I mean. Porpla will definitely be in my top 10 list of favorite OGMMTV characters. Poppy did Porpla’s wild identity utterly solid. 

(YET ANOTHER REASON to criticize Step By Step: an underutilized Poppy! I can’t wait to see Poppy in Lovely Writer, and I have GOT to watch Cutie Pie after this project is done.)

YYY was an experiment in macro-level commentary on BL. It was definitely fun, confounding, confusing AF, but I had a lot of fun with it. I’ve proven that I don’t have to like the shows for them to belong to the OGMMTVC syllabus, but I didn’t NOT like YYY. I enjoyed it a lot, and for the sake of seeing this wild side of Cheewin in definitive form -- and to also see the roots of Fluke and Tanachot’s writing before My Ride and La Pluie -- it is absolutely worthy of belonging on the OGMMTVC list. 

[Okay! I’m ahead on my watchlist below, as I’ve already watched Manner of Death -- that review is dropping next week. And I am ALL kinds of nostalgic and warmly weepy for A Tale of Thousand Stars -- I am soooo glad I am spoiling myself for some awesome rewatches during this project. 

Quick note: in my review of 2gether and Still 2gether, I noted that I wanted to pen another pain-related Big Meta on pain, trust, and separation in BLs. I was going to originally write it on Still 2gether, Bad Buddy, and Until We Meet Again, but of course -- ATOTS also has a classic example of separation. So I’m going to hold off on writing this at least until I’m done with ATOTS, and/or when my life calms down a bit in the fall.

Speaking of life calming down, my August is going to be IN.SANE., so I will do my best to keep up on the watching and the writing. Pour one out for me, y’all!

Status of the watchlist below. I made an addition, btw! I added Be My Favorite, which a lot of us are currently watching. GMMTV going so far as to make a show in part as über-commentary on half of its first HUGE BL ship in Krist? That is MAD worthy of inclusion. And, it’s a great fucking show. Any feedback on this, let a gal know!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 11) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 14) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (not a BL or an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 15) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 16) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) 17) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 18) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 19) YYY (2020, out of chronological order)  20) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review coming) 21) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 22) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (watching) 23) Lovely Writer (2021) 24) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) 25) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 26) Not Me (2021-2022) 27) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 28) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) 29) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 30) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 31) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 32) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 33) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 34) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 35) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 36) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 37) Bed Friend (2023) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults) (tag here)  38) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) (watching)]

#yyy #yyy the series #yyy meta #fluke teerapat #tanachot prapasri #cheewin thanamin #copy a bangkok #new siwaj #poppy ratchapong #pee peerawich #yoon phusanu #lay talay #turtles catches up with old gmmtv #turtles catches up with thai BLs #turtles catches up with the essential BLs #the old gmmtv challenge #ogmmtvc #make it right #make it right season 2 #make it right season 1 #bed friend #king x uea

[he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle]

2023 Year in Review

In celebration of the coming New Year, I decided to do a re-watch of every drama I gave 3 or more stars in 2023. Only 15 made the cut, which given the number of dramas I watched (I started well over 200, although I dropped at least a third of those) is not that many.

(My rating system is pretty simple: 1 ⭐ = terrible/don't recommend/waste of time, 2 ⭐⭐ = pretty good/enjoyable/would recommend to others but probably never re-watch, 3 ⭐⭐⭐ = good/likely to re-watch, 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ = practically perfect/would re-watch frequently. As you can see, it's more about what I personally enjoy than what's objectively great. So some objectively good shows aren't on this list, like La Pluie or Wedding Plan or Our Dating Sim or Doctor Cha or King the Land or Call it Love, because they got a lower score from me because I'm not that likely to ever re-watch them even though I'm glad I watched them and I'll happily recommend them to others. Of course, my ratings are subject to change over time too because I often surprise myself with what I re-watch. Some shows that I originally gave 2.5 stars have eeked out 3.5 stars over the following year or two just because they grew on me and I kept re-watching them.)

As such, my plan to ring in the New Year is to re-watch:

Lost/Human Disqualification - ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ - (IQIYI/Amazon Prime, kdrama, slice of life, healing journey, slight romance, a 42yo woman pushed to the breaking point by life crosses paths with a 27yo man who is mourning the loss of his friend, outstanding dialog, killer A+ acting, tw: infidelity, miscarriage, and suicide BUT DON'T LET THAT SCARE YOU AWAY)

Hit The Spot ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, kdrama, romcom, 2 women begin hosting a sex advice podcast, funny, sex positive education, extraordinarily relatable, high heat, 8 30min eps)

The Glory ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Netflix, kdrama, 36yo woman patiently takes revenge on her childhood bullies, slight romance, incredible dialog, A+ acting, excellent pacing and powerful reveals, tw: the highschool bullies are evil little sociopaths who do some extremely horrific shit)

The Eighth Sense ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, gay romance, kdrama, incoming freshman who is a rural-transplant to Seoul meets exiting senior and joins his surf club, gorgeous production, healing past trauma, A+ acting and insanely believable physical chemistry, good OST)

Love Tractor ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, gay, short kbl, big city law student with musical ambitions hides from his responsibilities in the countryside and meets a younger himbo farmer with a heart of gold)

Sing My Crush ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (IQIYI, kBL, a talented but heartbroken young man is about to give up on his musical dreams when he is adopted by an eager wannabe manager, best friends to lovers, cohabitation, pining, good plot and chemistry)

Moonlight Chicken ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (YouTube, Thai, gay romance + BL, one night stand between a struggling chicken diner owner and a recently promoted office worker turns into more, HS student and lonely deaf boy become the cutest couple to ever cute, A+ writing and acting, themes of: found family, making a home, love matters even when it doesn't end well, class inequality, queer generational divides, letting go of the past, a radically compassionate look at first love, last love, lost love, and unrequited love)

Bed Friend ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay office romance, enemies to FWB to lovers, healing past trauma done right, ridiculously pretty leads, consent kings, high heat, A+ lead chemistry and acting, soft landing in the final 2 eps, tw: sexual assault)

My School President ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, Thai, BL, high school boys singing their feelings [well!], wholesome, gentle, sweet and funny, A+ production values, peak low-heat BL with well-executed tropes)

Be My Favorite ⭐⭐⭐ (Youtube, Thai, BL, repressed and fearful boy travels back in time to his college days to woo his crush and falls in love with his supposed rival instead, themes: living each moment to the fullest so you won't have regrets, kindness as a catalyst for character growth and positive change, bravery in the face of uncertainty, telling people you love them can only be a good thing)

Laws of Attraction ⭐⭐⭐ (IQIYI, Thai, gay, mystery/romance lakorn, evil unhinged babygirl lawyer and the heroic idealistic taekwondo instructor who falls for him work together to solve the mystery of his niece's death, loveable granny, A+ lesbians, happy endings all around, great acting and lead chemistry)

Jack O'Frost ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Japan, gay, amnesiac young man and his co-habitating ex begin their relationship again, short 6 ep, A+ acting, excellent production values)

Hold my Hand at Twilight ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, jdrama, twenty-something city mouse meets country mouse and they begin the journey towards making their dreams come true, cohabitation, warm-hearted, angsty 3rd act, A+ acting, excellent banter, post-credit epilogue)

Kiseki: Dear to Me ⭐⭐⭐ (Viki, Taiwan, gay, hardworking med student falls for the gang member he secretly treats, insane plot includes time skip and amnesia [2 tropes I usually hate, but actually done well in this case and not annoying], domesticity, cohabitation, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, short total runtime)

Fake It Till You Make It ⭐⭐⭐/⭐ (Viki, China, romance, 🔥 lead chemistry, snappy banter, disarmingly honest and vulnerable leads, this couple wants to eat each other for dinner AND dessert but constantly chooses not to because of other life priorities and fears, friends with killer UST to lovers who communicate shockingly well, all the characters feel like real people instead of caricatures)

#wish me luck #asian gay dramas #kdrama #jdrama #cdrama #fake it till you make it #kiseki: dear to me #hold my hand at twilight #jack o' frost #laws of attraction the series #be my favorite the series #my school president #bed friend the series #moonlight chicken #sing my crush #love tractor the series #the eighth sense #the glory #hit the spot #lost #human disqualification

[syrena-del-mar]

La Pluie: A Tale of Tender Hearts

It's already been a week since La Pluie has ended and I'm still left in awe of how unsuspecting this show was presented and just how lovely it turned out to be. I tend to have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to shows that I consume, but La Pluie has been different. Starting with the cameo of Nora Robert's MacKade Brothers, I find that La Pluie has challenged me to look beyond what meets the eye at first glance and really engage with the message that they are attempting to convey. La Pluie asks you to watch the characters challenge their own beliefs while also challenging your own beliefs of the romance tropes they utilize.

Love in media is always romanticized and dramatized as something that is designed by the stars and predesignated in fate. In a world in which La Pluie takes place, it makes sense why people want to believe in the notion that the one you can hear is your soulmate. Humans are bound to creating answers out of what is unknown and confusing. La Pluie uses all the world-building that they established to subvert the notion of a destined love and instead utilized it to emphasize the active and deliberate choice to love someone and maintain a relationship, even when you're faced with challenges. They subverted the 'stars aligned' trope to show that love is an intentional commitment and ongoing effort, no amount of destiny is going to be sufficient to keep a relationship alive.

I think another running theme, though mostly in the undercurrent of the show, is that any form of love without work just ends up hurting all parties involved. La Pluie, for all intents and purposes, is a romance drama, but they allowed themselves to show so many different types of love. Love is often wrapped up in the idea of consisting solely of eros, and this is especially true in any romance drama, but La Pluie did such a good job at depicting different forms of love. And how they all take the conscious effort to keep the love alive, whether it be romantic, friendly, or familial. Each of these forms of love take a shit ton of work and effort to cultivate and keep safe, without it misunderstandings brew and resentment grows.

If episode 11 really focused on that for familial love, this final episode really continued to cement that message into the relationships of our main four. Lomfon stuck to his guns and publicly professed his feelings through his project, but a starry-eyed edited collage does not mean anything and Tien essentially states as such. Saengtien didn't let himself have hope until Lomfon verbally stated that he was in love with him. Lomfon, who used to be a bit proud, finally learned how to fully communicate. It was a long journey and he fucked up more than once, but he made the effort and he grew as a person from his mistakes. Their whole arch from frenemies to friends to lovers was weaved through the show. Their development depended on how they communicated and if they were even able to communicate. You can't start any relationship, whether friendship or more, if you can't learn to communicate.

Lomfon's biggest fuck-up came from the lack of communication, he expressed vague ideas to Saengtien, but was never nearly as forward as he was in the final episode. He learned his lesson at the cost of his relationship with Tien, both romantically and as his friend. He even warns Tien that he'll show him through his actions as well, and he does. Meanwhile Tien, who has been sidelined his whole life, has finally found his own place of comfort in Lomfon. As I've seen @bengiyo say multiple times throughout his reviews, there's no magical dick that will solve ones problems, and that rings true here. Saengtien will always be one to willing self-sacrifice in order to protect those that he loves, but this time around Lomfon will be there to look out for him. To have his best interests and welfare at heart. There's finally someone in his corner.

Saengtai... Oh Saengtai, I had such a love-hate relationship with his character because he was so finnicky and frustrating throughout the whole show. That signifies that both La Pluie and Title did a good job, because I don't necessarily believe that he was supposed to be a loveable protagonist. We finally get full-blown development from him, and he for once becomes pro-active in his life. It came full circle that Tai had to utilize both his words and his actions to salvage his relationship with Patts, after shunning him out for years. Now without the soulmate connection to assist, Tai has to put in the work to locate Patts.

It was never the lack of love that was the problem in their relationship, it wasn't even that their love was flimsily based on a notion of soulmates, but rather Tai had to unlearn his self-absorbed tendencies for Patts. A relationship won't survive in the long-term if it's one party that gives and gives, especially not when Patts has reiterated the need for Tai's affirmation of their love and relationship. This time, it finally clicked for Saengtai that he needs to communicate his care. Actions may speak louder than words, but if you're conducting yourself in a manner that is contradictory (even with the best intentions), those actions are obscured. Patt's needed that verbal confirmation and Tai finally learned how to give it. They love each other beyond the soulmate bond, they love each other because they choose to do so.

Tai finally came to that realization and understanding because he was forced to face the reality of his own parents and their bond. Saengtai was a traumatized kid of divorce who had their same ailment, it's not crazy that his understanding of love was shaken. He just didn't realize that there was no loss of love between his parents, their love had just taken on a different form. His parents loved each other, but they knew that they weren't good for each other. Priorities had changed and expectations clashed, their separation was a choice to salvage their love. The catalyst of his initial questioning of the soulmate bond brought him the answer that he needed to hear after destroying his own bond. Love is work. Love will always be work. It just depends on you to choose to work with it.

This show will always be a memorable one for me. It probed on ideas that romance shows and novels tend to shy away from, glossing over the fact that no relationship can survive without work. Love is a choice. We will never know if the choice we make will work things out or if it'll cause us the pain that we want to shield ourselves from, but without making that choice, we seclude ourselves. We rob ourselves of experiences in fear. Instead of fantasizing about allowing destiny leading us to who we love, we need to take control. People aren't simply meant for each other, they work to become meant for each other.

La Pluie is more than just another romantic BL, as the story unfolds, it allowed us (the viewers) to witness every single characters' journey of self-discovery, vulnerability, and gradual understanding of what it means to love and be in love. It's not a high stakes drama and it was never meant to be, instead from the first episode we were made aware that this was a show that was going to challenge deep-seated beliefs of the characters. In a world that was built around such a otherworldly, fictional disease, it allowed for an in-depth analysis of what it means to find love and what it means to keep it alive. This show was never meant to be a simple soulmate trope BL, and that much was clear when it set its mission statement in the first episode. It only continues to reiterate that idea as it concluded with this last message from Saengtai.

"In the end, the hearing-loss and soul-mate stuff are still questions that no one finds an answer. Or in fact, no one chooses to find an answer anymore. Because whether or not we know, it doesn't have anything to do with the path each person chooses. And, we will never know whether the paths we choose are the best ones. At least, we get to choose our own paths, instead of destiny determining it for us. There may be sadness, happiness, struggles, or convenience. But all in all, it's the meaning of life. I wish you all a happy journey in life."

For my last La Pluie post, I just want to say a big thank you to @lurkingshan, @bengiyo, @shouldiusemyname, @wen-kexing-apologist, @neuroticbookworm, @sunshinechay @shortpplfedup, @heretherebedork, and so many other users for posting such thoughtful insights that really made this show even more enjoyable to watch. I used so many metas that you all made as a stepping stone for my own ideas. The show was already enjoyable as it was, but the community made this experience even better.

Also, @lurkingshan brought to my attention all the negative reviews La Pluie has been getting on MyDramaList, so on a whim I decided to leave an overall review on the show. So if you fell in love with this show just as much as I did or even enjoyed it, here's the link to that, feel free to upvote mine and any other of the other positive reviews!

#la pluie the series #la pluie ep 12 #la pluie meta #la pluie finale #la pluie thoughts #la pluie analysis #la pluie #saengtien x lomfon #saengtien #patts x saengtai #saengtai #saeng brothers #la pluie series #tien x lomfon #lomfon x tien #lomfontien #patts x tai #steph rambles #steph overanalyzes #title tanatorn #suar kritsanaphong #pee peerawich #copter nuntapong

[bengiyo]

La Pluie Deserves a Standing Ovation

I hope y’all didn’t think I’d forgotten about this show after the finale. I was just traveling and have been too busy to write this final review.

La Pluie has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had as a viewer of TV ever. This show told us exactly what it was from the very opening scenes, and then spent the entire show paying that off. This show opened with an explanation about soulmates, and then immediately countered that with Tai’s parents’ divorce, the note that the pairing of people is ultra-rare, and a happy couple that wasn’t a soulmate pair in a café. Throughout the show it repeatedly stressed that love is about how we treat each other and not something you win via a lottery. It’s so rare these days that we get a show that trusts their audience this much to follow the thread and think about the big ideas along the way.

Doubt and Faith in Acts

One of my favorite things I observed in the show is that only Patts and Tien consistently make the kinds of choices that lead to long-term love without getting their asses handed to them. @shortpplfedup observed during her catch up that this story featured four different kinds of believers: an apostate, an agnostic, a believer, and an atheist. It’s notable that the apostate (Tai) and the atheist (Lomfon) are the ones causing the most harm to other people in the way they treat others.

Throughout the show, both Tai and Lomfon keep making standoffish choices. Tai has cut off his mom and avoids his coworkers. Lomfon is rude and standoffish. Neither of them is able to hold on to their loves because they are incapable of letting go of their own bullshit.

Conversely, Tien goes out of his way to take care of his brother, his family, and eventually Lomfon. I actually liked that Tai and Lomfon had to make opposite choices in the finale. Lomfon needed to show in his actions that he was serious about Tien, whereas Tai needed to show in his words that he was actually listening to what Patts had been asking for.

For Patts, he doesn’t believe that he and Saengtai are meant to be together because they’re connected by the rain. He does the work of caring for Tai because he is kind. He loves Tai because he’s Tai and not because he’s his soulmate. Patts stays present for Tai. He respects his boundaries. He tries to help Tai deal with his problems. He trusts him.

The Ambiguity

As a lapsed Catholic, I gotta say that I really love the way this show ended without fixing all of the soulmate stuff and giving concrete answers. I like that the show holds firm to its conviction that love is not ordained by the narrative; it is something built by people doing the work to be together. I love how this show challenged the notion of the narrative itself mandating the characters be together and instead reminded them (and us) to be present for our loved ones and to listen to their needs.

I think this show would have been weaker if Tai and Patts had restored their rain connection at the end. Besides, I think it gives them room to play with that idea if they get a second season. I also liked that Tien started hearing someone at the end of the season. He is a believer in soulmates, and I think it’ll be interesting to see someone as earnest as him face that challenge.

Releasing the Tension

Before I get to wrapping up, I want to reiterate again that this show has two plot-relevant blowjobs in it. So often these shows tease us and then don’t release the tension. Worse, when they do release the tension it doesn’t always feel like it’s something the characters lean into with their new dynamic.

After episode 5 ended, @ginnymoonbeam teased me for having a moment of panic that maybe I was misreading the show and that somehow Patts wasn’t into Saengtai because of how often I’ve been tricked or teased. Instead, these two end up making out on the floor and Patts was going to blow that man. Then, we don’t cut away from them. We watch them talk about what happened and why Tai is holding back.

Going further, they let Patts and Tai find peace and closure with Nara. Moreover, they treat Nara’s heartbreak seriously. She isn’t ejected from the group, and is allowed to be disappointed and sad about the loss. At the end of the show, they also confirm our suspicions about her and Dream.

It’s just incredible to have watched a show that didn’t rely on teasing us and instead treated the sex and intimacy seriously.

Thank You To Everyone Who Watched La Pluie

I cannot overstate how much joy I got from watching this show along with all of you. When @lurkingshan and I began writing earnestly around episode 4 in the hopes that more people would join us on this show, I did not expect so many of you to actually give it a try.

I think, if you have held off on watching this show because you’ve been waiting for confirmation about one plot point or another, just watch it if you’re still on the fence. When you do watch it, try to let go of what you think is supposed to happen or what you want to happen, and instead respond to what the show is giving you. This has been the most legible show at this caliber I’ve experienced since I Told Sunset About You (2020).

At no point did this show try to trick us about anything, and it trusts us to keep up and engage. This show is better when you lean in. It’s better when you discuss it with others. For a show so much about questioning belief, it is amazing how much this show rewards you for believing in it. I don’t know a better show this year.

I have a lot of folks I want to acknowledge here at the end, including but not limited to:

I want to thank @wanderlust-in-my-soul, @pharawee, and @liyazaki for letting me use their gifs in my posts.

I want to thank @lurkingshan and @ginnymoonbeam for being first through the door with me and committing to getting more folks to watch this show.

I want to thank @respectthepetty and @absolutebl for regularly sticking it out for shows and giving them an earnest watch through their lenses.

I want thank everyone else who contributed incredibly thoughtful writing to this experience, including @shortpplfedup, @syrena-del-mar, @neuroticbookworm, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @recentadultburnout, @williamrikers, @heretherebedork, @shouldiusemyname, @sunshinechay, @fadelikeclouds, @slayerkitty, @chinzhilla, @indigostarfire, @iguessitsjustme and @rocketturtle4

See you all in the next show!

#Ben writes #la pluie #la pluie the series #la pluie meta #thai bl #bl series #title tanatorn #pee peeravich #suar kritsanaphong #copter nuntapong