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absolutebl · 2 years

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Thai Food You Should Eat Because of BL

Firstly most of these dishes have multiple spellings in English (and also often many different names within Thailand). I just picked one spelling, that will be enough to do a search, if you want to find a recipe for yourself.

Som Tum in What’s Zabb Man

AKA Green Papaya Salad

I think this is the one most people will know on this list. Unlike overseas, in Thailand there are many varieties of som tum (I’ve had an ocean-side version served with little blue crabs, raw and in the shell, AMAZING). It’s often a street food, and it’s usually quite spicy. You order by either asking the vendor (it’s traditionally served from market stalls just as we saw at the beginning of this show) for a heat level or number of chilis. The ingredients are then pounded together with a massive mortar & pestle. The order and amounts of the different ingredients are chef-specific, so the variety and uniqueness is immense with this dish. There are fans of it who make a point of trying as many different versions in each city they visit. Like being a wine taster.

Som Tum highlights what I think is best about Thai food - it’s bright forward freshness and deep complexity of flavors. Som Tum is the firework-in-your-mouth of salads: sour, sweet, salty, spicy, umami, herbaceous. It’s a spectacular dish (which has been ill served by it’s ubiquitousness outside of Thailand). It should be made fresh, (this is NOT a slaw), because if it sits at all the elements become soggy and the flavor muddled.

What’s Zabb Man emphasized the important aspects of this dish. Its spiciness and its freshness, the uniqueness of its flavor, not to mention how each chef makes it his own.

After all when Poon goes missing, Athip finds him again because, after one taste of his Som Tum, he knows who is in the kitchen.

Kao Soi in Bite Me

AKA Northern Thai Curry Noodle AKA Chiang Mai Curry Noodles

Did I do this post because I want to talk about this dish? Probubly. Here in the states it’s a rare to find on offer but it’s one of my absolute favorites.

I’m obsessed with diaspora foods in general - AKA fusion foods that highlight immigrant, colonial occupation, and/or blended communities. Lamb Vindaloo and Banh Mi are some famous examples of this. There was one banh mi place I found in Nor Cal run by a Chinese/Vietnamese couple that made a char siu pork + pâté banh mi, it was WILD and wicked good! Sorry, I digress.

This is a Northern Thai dish, common in Chang Mai, influenced by both Burmese (Myanmar) cuisine and local Chinese communities. It’s wildly variable by family and by region. This is also possibly one of my favorite foods. It’s notable in that it is one of the few traditional Thai dishes you will find served with chopsticks. (When I order it here in the states that’s one of the things I look for.)

It is a noodle soup/stew. Can be rice, egg, or flour noodles, usually ramen style (but sometimes fettuccine), topped with a thick coconut forward curry broth, stewed dark meat chicken (usually on the bone) and raw onion. It has fried crispy flour noodles on top and is served with pickled vegetables, extra spices, fresh herbs, lime wedges, and raw shallots (or some combination thereof) - either on the top or on the side (banchan style). The curry element usually has more in common with Chinese or Japanese yellow curry powers (like those used for Singapore noodles) than red or green Thai curries. It combines what we would think of as traditional Thai flavor profiles with Chinese, and can also uses some Indian spices. It is a very layered dish, with more depth and earthiness and slightly less brightness than a lot of other Thai food. It tends to have a rounded heat to it (hitting all of the mouth, like Indian cuisine). I am a particular fan of the pickled greens element.

Bite Me is not a great BL but Aek sharing his Chiang Mai roots with Chef Aue, most specifically around this dish, is key to the plot (what little there is). But this is not a dish that is served in Chef Aue’s restaurant.

Khai Palo in Enchanté

AKA 5 Spice Pork & Egg Stew

This is the dish Theo remembers from his childhood that Akk’s family cooks for him. It’s a fascinating dish because it’s retains a very strong Chinese influence and is noted for using soy sauce as its salt element (rather than the more ubiquitous fish sauce) and for NOT being spicy, also it involves 5 spice.

It’s also often associated with children or childishness and comfort food. It’s most commonly found as a street food or homemade, and is relatively rare in restaurants outside of Thailand. It has a similar flavor profile to Moo Gratiem which is one of my favorite dishes. (It’s that white peppercorn and garlic thing = NOM.) It’s also very easy to make, I recommend it. There is a Mama ramen noodle version you can sometimes find and buy, but I always need to add more five spice.

In Enchanté this dish is a plot point and is interesting because it highlights both the time when Theo was last in Thailand (as a child), Akk’s interest in courting and caring for him, and Theo’s somewhat childish nature/behavior.

Gaeng Tai Pla in Close Friend 2

AKA pickled fish sour soup

A famous dish developed in the fishing communities of Southern Thailand. Traditionally it involves pickled fish bladder (Tai Pla) + large chunks of dried fish meat, Thai eggplant, bamboo shoots, and/or seasonal greens, with a spice profile similar to tom (lemongrass, lime, shrimp paste, red chili).

I've never been lucky enough to eat this, but it's on my hit list. I think I could make something like it, but I can’t get hold of the the Tai Pla for love nor money.

Luk Choup in La Cuisine (& Until We Meet Again)

AKA no other name, really, but this is also the main characters name in La Cuisine, ลูกชุบ (translation, coated pieces) but the meaning of this dessert is “loved by all, or adored.” This aspect of the name is a plot point in the series. Choup’s older brother, aunt, and grandmother all refer to him as the family’s beloved one, or special one, or most loved.

Luk Choup are tiny imitation fruits/vegetables (or occasionally star shapes) these are made of mung beans cooked with coconut milk and sugar. Once formed, they are dipped in gelatin and painted with food coloring to resemble other food. Recipe here.

This one appeared multiple times in Until We Meet Again, on the bus, at the fair, and at the very end during Dean and Pharm’s separation.

I’ve eaten these.

Consistency wise the exterior is like a gummy but much tougher, and with a bite to it. So like if you made jello into sheets but with too much gelatin. I’ve actually never had anything else to compare to this texture, perhaps like some of the bits in bubble teas? The interior is like very thick humus meets the inside of a peanut butter cup.

As for taste, the gel outside has no flavor and the inside tastes a lot like red bean paste. They are not very sweet.

Here’s a YT vid on how to make these.

Chor Muang in Until We Meet Again

AKA Blue Flower Dumpling

Chor Muang is a purple or blue flower-shaped dumpling that is savory, stuffed with a spiced minced chicken. These days it is a popular appetizer but it was once served as a dessert. The coloring is done with butterfly pea flour. Recipe here.

Chor Muang is a major catalyst food for the plot of Until We Meet Again. It is featured in a play starring Del and Manaow and is the reason Pharm meets and befriends Del. This allows him to start helping fix Dean’s strained family dynamic.

Later he feeds this dumpling to Team, Win, and Dean in front of witnesses. This is the first time he feeds Dean (it will not be the last.)

I did a post all about the sweets in this show. Here’s a YT vid on how to make these.

Nom Yen in SOTUS (also 2 Moons, 2 Moons 2)

AKA Pink Milk

Pink milk is pretty ubiquitous in most Thai BL series. Technically, its origin for association with BL is the original y-novel of 2 Moons. However, most international watchers are familiar with it from SOTUS (more recently it has shown up associated with side characters in Nitman and Love Area).

After watching SOTUS and both 2 Moons installments I got curious. Here’s the full post I did on pink milk, how it’s made and my experience attempting to recreate it. I can see why it might be thought of as a childish drink, it reminded me a bit of birthday cake flavoring, ice cream bean, or cotton candy. It’s very sweet and not a whole lot else.

THAI LANGUAGE CORNER

I haven’t learned the minutia yet but around ordering food in Thai but the Thai bestie always complains the monikers (also verbs?) for dishes have to do with what the dish is usually served inside. So some dishes have names/consumption verbs that have to do with bowls and others with plates.

Much as in English we would use the verb “drink” for broth but “eat” for soup. (And also argue about which one is appropriate under which circumstances.)

To train your ear for BL food:

gin = to eat or to have a meal (also under certain circumstances/sentence structures is slang for to sexually consume or fuck). See Pharm misuse this one in UWMA when Dean first visits his condo.

khao or kao = food but also actually rice, also a name and also third person he pronoun

talay = the ocean and also mixed seafood and a name

pad = usually means a stir fried (dryer) dish

pak = veggies!

kai (sounds like gai) = chicken ไก่ but also egg ไข่ (yes they are different in intonation and spelling, but really I find it darn near impossible to hear the difference)

A list of some common dishes is here.

Please leave a comment if any other dish has shown up you want to talk about, because this is basically my favorite topic EVER. I love to eat and cook Thai food so, yeah. Also the oft mentioned Thai bestie is an AMAZING cook. I often act the part of her kitchen goblin.

(source)

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heretherebedork · 2 years

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Bbomb from Nitman is in the new Ohm Fluke show?? Is he good? Is he going to fall in love??

He is! He's Ohm's character's older brother and I definitely think he's gonna have a love interest but with only one episode under my belt I am never sure of side couples.

But he's definitely a good character! Rain is darling and absolutely fantastic and very, very different than Bbomb as a character. It's nice to see him and I didn't recognize him at all, unsurprisingly.

#oh my sunshine night #thai bl #thai bl series #bl drama #thai drama #thai series #bl series #thaibl #this show is one i'm gonna be losing my mind over fyi #it feels very symbolic #i like that

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giftcollection4u · 3 years

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Nitman B-40 Wireless Bluetooth in-Ear Earbud Earphone's with Calling Mic Handsfree Calls & Deep Bass Music for All Smartphone Mobile Tablet's Laptop/Pc Tv | New 2020

Nitman B-40 Wireless Bluetooth in-Ear Earbud Earphone’s with Calling Mic Handsfree Calls & Deep Bass Music for All Smartphone Mobile Tablet’s Laptop/Pc Tv | New 2020

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] – Details)

[ad_1] Sound great and cancel out 90% of back ground noise. Easily get as loud as you need this wireless headphones to be. Wireless Bluetooth 4. 1 Technology with A2DP stereo music and AptX pure, clear sound Good noise isolation to create the optimal environment for listening to your favorite tunes, built-in microphone with noise…

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lightscamerastripods · 4 years

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Nitman 2019 HD 1080p Action Camera Waterproof Sport Camera with 2 Inch LCD Screen, 16MP 170 Degree Wide Angle

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sarkari-update-com · 4 years

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NITMAN Mini Portable Bluetooth VR Remote Control with Controller Selfie, Wireless Mouse, Video, Music, Ebook for Smartphones and Android Mobile Tablets (White) Price: (as of - Details) PLEASE READ MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE USE. BECAUSE IT HAS MANY MODE FOR GAMERS AND REMOTE USERS.

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tfwiki · 7 years

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Transformers: The Last Knight Google Hangout with the Transformers Team

On June 1 2017, the Hasbro Transformers brand team held an online press conference highlighting mainline and exclusive products based on the upcoming The Last Knight film. Matthew Karpowich attended for Transformers Wiki.

Presenters

L-R: "Arrow," John (Warden), Ben, John (Frazier). They are presumably higher-resolution in real life.

Aristides "Arrow" Membreno - Design Manager, Transformers. With the brand for a year and a half, works on exclusives.

John Warden - Design Manager, Transformers. Knew most of the people at the Hangout already!

Ben Montano - Brand Marketing Director, Transformers. Marketing director for more than two years, been at many conventions.

John Frazier - Senior Brand Development + Marketing Manager, Transformers. With the brand team for two years, his first time meeting fans.

The Event

Following some incidental sound and video issues (yay technology), the Hangout began slightly after 5pm EST with a "show and tell" that dove into more detail on items that Entertainment Weekly had revealed earlier in the day.

"Arrow" showcased Premier Edition deluxe class Hot Rod with his licensed Lamborghini alt-mode. Hot Rod was mentioned as part of an initiate to bring story-elements and older lore forward into the movie universe. He is a Walmart exclusive and part of the "Autobots Unite" exclusive program.

Nyeh! Skullitron!

Premier Edition deluxe "knight of Cybertron" Skullitron was up next. The team considers his rusty deco and "insane broken down skull face" to be his highlights. The rust was said to be pearlescent and functioned like a paint-wash. He is a Toys R Us exclusive and part of its "Mission to Cybertron" series.

Quintessa. Sufficiently advanced alien magic is indistinguishable from science.

Combiner Infernocus was called out as being in some of the television commercials - or "versions of him," anyway. The fit of the combination was improved over previous versions of the molds. Infernocus comes with a tiny clear representation of the mysterious alien sorceress Quintessa. He (they) is (are) also a Toys R Us "Mission to Cybertron" exclusive.

Each "Mission to Cybertron" exclusive comes with a unique two-sided trading card. One side has a website URL that allows you to translate the glyphs found on the toys; on the other side is a piece of a poster that you can form with all the exclusive cards.

Cogtro? Nitman?

Premier Edition deluxe Cogman is a Headmaster! Cogman's converting head has the same type of connections as the concurrent Titans Return toys and is entirely compatible with them, as is his larger body - which was specifically mentioned as a Transtector! Cogman's body turns into a licensed Aston Martin DB-11 that seats two.

As part of an Easter egg, Cogman's Titan Master has cross-compatibility with the voyager class Decepticon called Nitro. Nitro's head is removable (but does not become a little robot), which enables the tiny Cogman to take over Nitro's body. Nitro's jet mode also has an opening cockpit that Cogman can ride in!

Premier Edition leader class Dragonstorm was called out as a Duocon made up of Dragonicus (dra-GONE-icus, guy with wings) and Stormreign (guy with mace). Dragonstorm's beast heads are based on the actual CGI model files from the film effects!

Each half of Dragonstorm is larger than a deluxe, but not quite the size of a voyager class toy. They're sort of in a class of their own.

Dragonstorm's wings have a "metal thorn" look and deco to make them look ancient.

All exclusive items are planned to be available in overseas markets as well, though it is possible they'll be at different region-specific retailers.

Q&A

Mainline

When asked about how toy development has changed since the first live-action movie, the team felt the biggest change in the Last Knight product range was their partnership with Paramount now enabling them to use CAD files from the film's special effects to make the toys more accurate than ever before. They also feel that having better information about their consumer base has allowed them to market their toy segments more accurately, creating equally quick-fun toys for kids and detailed-out items for collectors instead of focusing on one area or the other.

In regards to the Last Knight line having reused product from Age of Extinction, the idea was to make the items available for a new generation of kids who might not have been in the appropriate age range for the preceding film. In the case of Grimlock and some other characters, they also used it as an opportunity to do more screen-accurate deco.

The change from blister-pack bubbles to boxes for the deluxe class range came about after consultation with other brand teams within Hasbro. (We're looking at you, Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series...)

Nitro's fighter jet mode is a Hasbro-original creation designed by John Warden. He used Nitro as an outlet for the military vehicle design muscles he developed during his time on the G.I. Joe brand.

Leader scale should be widely available in the fall of 2017. Most items shown during the event are expected to hit in early August.

The items shown in the presentation round out the Last Knight Premier Edition items for the rest of the 2017 calendar year. However, they look forward to sharing more items going forward, as 2018 is going to be another big year for the brand (*cough*Transformers Universe: Bumblebee*cough*).

Tiny Turbo Changers

The team appreciates all the love for the Tiny Turbo Changers! There are currently no plans to expand the range beyond the film series, but they will at least feature characters from movies 1 through 5. It was reiterated that long-time Takara designer and "wizard of transformations" Koujin Ohno helped bring them to life, which helps give them a sense of design continuity with the franchise's roots.

Regarding the development of small transforming figures instead of small static figures (like Tiny Titans), the team acknowledged its difficulty, as it took almost a year to get the concept to their satisfaction. There was a dedicated effort to make sure the figures converted differently from each other to bring out their individual character. The designs of the physical transformations, meanwhile, were aided by working in vinyl instead of the ABS material normally used for Transformers.

The team didn't have anything to say about Chopter, but liked the notion that a sub-line having its own unique characters helps give it an identity of its own.

Miscellaneous

On the subject of bringing film characters into other Transformers series, the presenters noted the success they had with Grimlock and Grimlock, Drift moving from comics into movie and Robots in Disguise, and Blurr moving between Rescue Bots and Robots in Disguise. Hasbro is always searching for opportunities to mingle characters across their entertainment properties to create interesting stories, and look forward to surprising the fandom with certain characters popping up in different venues. The sky's the limit with the character roster in their hands!

When asked about Valvotron, the Hasbro team said the promotion with Valvoline was intended as a fun way to introduce new fans to the property. While there are no plans to introduce Valvotron into their "story universe", they indicated there might be other partnerships along the same lines in other countries.

The inspiration for the redeco of planet Cybertron came from its depiction in the original television series; the new toy tries to capture the contrasting "internal glow against dark blue planet" Cybertron had there, with the glow of the planet's core now becoming "revealed" with the conversion to its robot mode. They thought it helped better portray the idea of the planet as a living being. As well, the sounds and features from the original release are all retained.

Favorite Items

Warden's favorite is Cogman: the ability to showcase a classic play feature like Headmasters in a line supported by a blockbuster film is incredibly exciting. He also hopes that any kid who ends up with Cogman discovers that the figure is cross-compatible with any Titans Return toys they might own, opening up a world of personal story possibilities for them.

"Arrow"'s favorite is Hot Rod: he enjoyed the ability to bring back a classic character and the opportunity to work on a Lamborghini. (He also noted that he was the only person on the team who worked on Hot Rod's deluxe.)

Frazier's favorite showcased in the event is Dragonstorm, because of his high level of detail and Duocon combiner play. However, his favorite figure in the entire line is leader class Megatron, which he feels looks like a work of art.

Montano's favorite shown during the event is Hot Rod because his daughter thinks Transformers is cool now that it has a Lamborghini in it. However, his overall favorite is Masterpiece movie Optimus Prime, because it represents a true concentration of the effort that both Hasbro and TakaraTomy put into bringing the brand to life.

#Transformers #The Last Knight #Michael Bay #maccadam #Hasbro #press release #Hot Rod #Skullitron #Quintessa #Cogman #Nitro #Dragonstorm #Age of Extinction #Grimlock #Cybertron #long post

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martinamuellender · 5 years

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Jüdischer Friedhof Simmern (Hunsrück)

Friedhöfe werden im Judentum als Bet Hachajim (Ort des Lebens) oder Bet Haolam (Ort der Ewigkeit) bezeichnet. Jüdische Gräber dürfen nicht eingeebnet werden, sondern sollen ewig bestehen. Anstelle von Blumen werden kleine Steinchen auf Gräber gelegt. Der Brauch stammt vermutlich daher, dass früher schwere Steine auf Gräber gelegt wurden (z.B. in der Wüste), um die Toten vor wilden Tieren zu schützen und damit die Totenruhe zu gewährleisten. Auch symbolisieren Steine Ewigkeit und Unvergänglichkeit und stehen als Symbol für die Seele, die ebenfalls unvergänglich ist. Auf jüdischen Friedhöfen findet man hebräische Inschriften auf den Grabsteinen. Diese stehen für po nitman (mask.)/ po nitmena (fem.) „hier ist begraben“ oder für po tamun (mask.)/ po tmuna (fem.) „hier ist geborgen“. Am Ende findet sich mit fünf Buchstaben abgekürzt die Formel „Tehi nafscho/ nafscha zrura bizror hachajim“ („Möge seine/ihre Seele eingebunden sein in den Bund des Lebens“; 1. Sam 25:29). Auf alten Grabsteinen finden sich häufig Bildelemente, die z.B. auf einen Hirsch oder Löwen und damit auf den Namen eines Verstorbenen hinweisen. Das Symbol der segnenden Hände verweist auf einen Nachkommen der Priesterkaste (Kohen). Eine Kanne symbolisiert den Stamm Levi, den Dienern, dessen Angehörige den Priestern im Tempel das Wasser für Waschungen reichten. Text Quelle: Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland Lesen Sie den ganzen Artikel

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legasovas · 7 years

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A Song for Peace

Hebrew transliteration:

Tnu lashemesh la'alot laboker l'ha'ir hazaka shebatfilot otanu lo tachazir

Mi asher kava nero uve'afar nitman Bechi mar lo ya'iro lo yachziro le'chan

Ish otanu lo yashiv mibor tachtit a'fel kan lo yo'ilu lo shirei hanitzahon V'lo shirei hallel

Lachen rak shiru shir lashalom al tilchashu tfila Mutav tashiru shir lashalom bitze'aka gdola

Tnu lashemesh lachador miba'ad laprachim al tabitu le'achor hanichu la'holchim

S'oo eina'yim b'tikva lo derech kavanot shiru shir la'ahava v'lo lamilchamot

Al tagidu yom yavo havi'u et hayom uv'chol hakikarot hari'u lashalom

Lachen rak shiru shir lashalom.....

English Translation:

Let the sun rise the morning give its light The purest of prayers will not bring us back

He who's candle was snuffed out and was buried in the dust bitter cry wont wake him up and wont bring him back

Nobody will bring us back from a dead and darkened pit here, neither the victory cheer nor songs of praise will help

Just sing a song for peace do not whisper a prayer Just sing a song for peace in a loud shout

Allow the sun to penetrate through the flowers don't look back let go of those departed

Lift your eyes with hope not through the rifles' sights sing a song for love and not for wars

Don't say the day will come bring on that day because it is not a dream and in all the city squares cheer for PEACE

#shir lashalom #israel #a song for peace #peace day

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absolutebl · 1 year

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Oh! My Sunshine Night

Binge watch.

Okay so I am hopped up on cold meds and jet lagged and I decided to try to watch this soapy mess because why tf not?

Ep 1

Oh no, it’s good. Like: this is a good opening. And I do love OhmFluke, but you know who I really love? Noh (orig. Nitiman). Gah.

For the first time in a long while two boys in a BL make for actually believable brothers. Whacha know?

Fluke’s hair is AWFUL.

And suddenly the whole thing goes v odd. I’m not sure if that’s the captions, or if the show itself is trying to be existential. What an odd meet cute and what strange dialogue.

I’m so confused.

It’s like it’s trying to be both BL and transcendental poetry.

I like spunky Fluke tho.

Linguistic corner: these two are using chan/nai for I/you - v formal.

Poor Noh, they always make him play sports when it’s clear he just... doesn’t.

How much do I love the whipping boy side couple?

SO MUCH!!!!

Ep 2

Is the thing with the apples just to make Fluke cry?

I like the conflicted poor little rich kids family dynamic.

But there’s a lot of establishing scenes, it’s moving pretty slowly.

Sorry this one isn’t whipping me into a verbal frenzy. I’d drink, but not on top of cold meds. You know those warnings on med labels? They’re for me. I’m the one that shouldn’t operate machinery, not even a computer.

Wait. What? Why didn’t we get to SEE this bit?

Ep 3

So this is about classical music and no one is actually playing and no one is singing, so I’m absolutely fine with it.

The fencers with the unrequited crushes are boring to me. But there is a kind of Midsummer Night’s Dream aspect to these relationship dynamics.

GAH! The apple collecting thing was so cute and so romantic.

Not a lot of BL tropes so far in this show, but I like it’s brand of sappy.

I love how utterly incapable of flirting Kim is.

The opening the car door thing did, in fact, make me hoot with laughter.

Fluke’s pretty darn good at being a bossy bitch and Ohm does exasperation well. Honestly, I’m liking this show a lot more than I thought I would.

Oh yay! We get to see Rain sleeping in his boys room. Lovely. I do enjoy whipping boy trope, v kinky.

*sits back and smiles in dominant smug*

I ALSO love the little brat in-crush with Rugby Rain. It’s all very delish.

It’s thanksgiving all over again, I’m all about the side dishes.

Okay, the end of this episode was so confusing. Are they play acting a couple break up for the girl? Are they actually arguing? What are they arguing about? Were they dating? What happened? What’d I miss? Why the dramatic soap opera music? Why the overacting?

What is going on?

Ep 4

Oh I forgot about the fencers.

And finally a BL trope, crash into me. (At least it wasn’t a pratfall kiss.)

Oh I do like a gay fencer sword pun.

Very nice.

Also, a shower scene already? Are these two the PokeTongue’s of this show?

Who let Star Hunter in the house?

Rain + Sun and the insults was great. Very funny. These two are kinda of alike, actually. Fun fun. I like these characters.

Bounce bounce.

Why didn’t anyone tell me this was such a goofy show?

I’m getting a tiny bleed of Japanese slapstick absurdist leaking in and I’m not mad about it. The weird apples and arbitrary mood swings should have tipped me off.

This show has almost a panto play going on.

Rain IDing his brother’s bf and being like, welcome to the fam, I leave him in you care was such a Dom move.

Oh, baby is a floppy drunk! Finally some BL tropes are dropping. And another crash into me. And a wet towel sponge bath. Tropes coming thick & fast now (speaking of thick & fast.... wait, no, bad cold meds, don’t go there)...

Okay, we are back in familiar territory. I thought this one was going to be original. Silly me! This is BL!

Not sure if I am disappointed or not.

Ep 5

Bathroom drama.

Fencing sword boys drama. Why so mean? Honestly, if I were Kim I’d be out too.

Ooo Rain with the consent, even if it’s just a hook up. Also... boys. Bunk beds? Everyone is gonna know. Like EVERYONE.

This show is going places I really did not expect.

Oh! It was all a fake out. *pout*

Okay baby boy, you get down with those fantasies. I’m with you. He hot.

What’s with Sun and the magical Ikea box?

Also, they’ve know each other since childhood trope? Really?

*whines” I don’t want to add another one to that trope list.

Ep 6

I like the plot of butler dad kinda finding out his son is involved with the heir. Good dramatic twisting. Also, evil homophobic jerk nozzle, turns out.

I remain engaged.

Did the stretching part make me grin?

Yes t did. Boys rolling around on mats together never fails to please.

There are a lot of faen fatals and fatales. Like this show is lousy with them. I see why everyone called it a soap opera.

I am so happy that there is no singing I don’t even mind that no one can play an instrument in that whole band (orchestra).

Honestly, the band leader (conductor) looks like First’s (of JaFirst) older brother. It’s wigging me out.

Ep 7

Look, I admit, I am not even half way through and I am flagging a bit. This is a long arse show.

Speaking of arses...

Another shower scene?

(Anyone else notice that it’s always the same shower? No? Just me. Can’t be helped. Unforgotten Night has made me overly concerned with Thai pluming in BL ... not a euphemism.)

Boy this series has a supper voyeuristic lens. Not that I’m complaining, never that.

(Bops over to see if the director is gay.... MDL = no info on subject. Well, okay then.)

Returns to shower scene, arses, pluming, and supposition.

Oh! Wound tending!

Ooo, rejected fencing cutie makes move on Sun! Kim is not pleased. you snooze you loose, big boy.

Coils within coils, this is such a soap. I love it. Did I mention I was raised on bread, water & East Enders?

Okay maybe not raised.

Definitely watched too much of it tho.

Oooo, that was a very Light On Me moment.

PAUSE TO REFUEL

Okay I have consumed Korean soft tofu stew and more loopy-making cold meds, and will work on a pomegranate while I continue to watch.

Ep 8

Mostly worked on the pomegranate.

Meds took effect.

Stuff happened int he show but I forgot to make notes. Pomegranate distraction.

Oddly, I’m missing the swordsmen.

Ep 9

Oh, hair drying. Cute. I kinda have come around to this trope over the years I’ve had it shoved in my face... erm... flopped on my head.

MORE SHOWER

Oh! My Showering Night more like it.

I declare this BL official winner of this trope.

Meanwhile beach frolic. AND a woods frolic.

Ep 10

Finally I’m half way through!

Oooo we have a magic heart rebooting BOOP! to go with the magic apples.

Oooo more shower scene, this time with added bonus sexitimes. Also neck kisses! My favorite.

I’m sorry but I just keep imagining what if we had gotten to this level with Nitman?

Oh, what could have been.

Nice kisses! But also no sex on the beach boys, no one enjoys that.

Meanwhile, the fencers can’t figure their shit out, because they keep fighting with the wrong swords.

And our main couple is being quite tame with a shoulder lean, side hug, water watching triple trope strike on the beach.

Okay weird dream helicopter thing.

Look, Mean Rich Paw, I’d kick him out of the house for wearing that outfit alone.

No other reasons needed.

Disown the fucker.

Band shirt/vest/thingy, no inheritance for you!

Man the fashion this year in BL has been brutal.

Ep 11

I don’t know If I can finish this tonight.

Invited up to the Sun’s room is he? (occasional flashes of DeanPharm).

Okay, wait, the premise of Sun’s illness is SO STRANGE. He has to eat apples and stay away from his parents to save his heart?

What the hell is going on?

The whipping boy always has to run, identity separation is part of the trope. Because his identity is too tied to the spoiled prince, he has to try to make it on his own to realize he can’t.

I like the twist of butler dad encouraging him to leave, tho. (Usually whipping boy is abandoned or an orphan.)

Ep 12

OMG who eats shrimp when they are allergic to shellfish? for fuck’s sake.

Another white towel sponge bath? I take back what I said about lack of tropes.

I do love the tug and cuddle my human bolster pillow. It’s very sleepy entitled.

I am v bored by the parents buying the estate plot-line. I can’t decide if doctor lady is running a con or father and son are running a reverse con on her?

OOOO DRAMA!!!

The parents have died! Rain is missing! The doctor lady is indeed evil! Ohm has to act!

Oh fuck me not the amnesia trope.

I HATE THAT TROPE.

Okay, I gotta go to bed. I really tried. Had this been a normal length Thai BL I would have made it. But the rise of the amnesia trope did me in.

Tomorrow~

Ep 13

I am glad Dad Butler is evil enough to recognize Dr. lady is also Evil. And we have a textbook soap opera definition hostile takeover. The evils go up against each other.

We are in true Heirs level soap opera territory now.

Someone is definitely going to be kidnapped soon.

Ep 14

This is my surprised face, the man allergic to shellfish, who still eats shrimp, goes wandering off into the forest with no survival skills when he has a brain injury.

Fantastic.

A time-lapse 3 months.

Finally, the attack of the amnesia trope!

I am so unhappy about this.

Ep 15

We are moving into Bold & Beautiful level soap.

The guys in the woods are still looking for Rain, still wearing exactly the same clothes that they’ve been wearing for 3 months.

Apple boy, still eating apples and still talking to completely whacked out mother. I hate her. While Kim turns into a forgetful depressed rich recluse in the mountains. Now I understand why people got frustrated with this show.

I feel like I read this as a really bad 70s romance novel, or maybe it’s meant to be like a Jane Eyre remake?

Anyway, finally, our boys are reunited, but of course, amnesia trope. We hates it precious. All the friends have arrived. Or to be more precise all the incestuous faen fatals have arrived.

Ep 16

After 3 months, one would have hoped the fencing boys had figured out their shit. I guess not. More evil fashion.

I just can’t even. At least they took it off him fast. Wish it had gotten ripped in the process.

Fencing boys now figuring everything out in the best way possible.

This show keep surprising me with how high heat it is.

Ep 17

Magical, candy-colored comets. I just can’t with this show. Also… new crumbs.

The refractory period on these rebound couples is as fast as the show is slow. Some weird monogamy mathematical principle must be in play.

And it’s finally revealed that they are childhood sweethearts.

OhmFluke do give good kiss. Fluke dose submission v well.

In fact * waves hands airily about* good kisses all around. Well done cast!

Also, and I am only admitting this to you people, but I totally have a fetish for CMNM and we NEVER get to see it, so thank you for this one, OMSN.

Ep 18

Good sex, bad plot.

That’s my ultimate review of this show. (Which makes this kinda a runner up to KP to be honest)

Look, I get that BL has rules that must be obeyed:

boys must damsel off into the woods alone.

boys must talk to their not-quite boyfriend while said bf is asleep, but he is never actually asleep.

not one drop of rain is ever allowed to touch your boyfriend’s head because DOOM AWAITS

Clear? OK. No I don’t understand why these rules exist either. I don’t make them, the BL gods do.

Anyway OMSN is all over rule #1.

Anyway, back to this damn show. Attempted kidnapping, and Kim has to save his boyfriend with a bow & arrow plus some arbitrary somersaulting in, what is this now? The Hunger Games BL?

*ooo, wait a moment - KOREA make that happen! - where was i?*

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

THIS SHOW IS TOTALLY ON CRACK IN A WAY THAT, FRANKLY, EVEN YYY COULDN’T EMULATE.

Look, my dumb new dictation software made that into all caps and I’m leaving it because it’s entirely appropriate.

Meanwhile, you can not do a close-up of a gun if it doesn’t have a trigger. I understand there are weird regulations in place but just do a further away shot OK?

Oh look, it’s ABL’s Angels.

Want to start a detective agency, pretty boys? I’ll be your voice in the box. You can have all the shower scenes you want. We could invite MaxTul? I’m sure they’d be game. (Frankly Manner of Death had a more cohesive plot than this.)

We basically end on a pastiche of troops that the show didn’t manage to hit earlier: boys on bridges, a forehead kiss, back hugs, put a robe on him, and...

How do I sum this up?

I am left with mostly a profound feeling of confusion. Where did Dad Butler go? And yet I am also curiously satisfied. I mean, all the sex scenes were good. I don’t know how to rate this. Less annoying than LITA, not as boring as it could’ve been? Except that I was really quick on the fast forward button and skipped a ton of establishing shots. This was probably agony to get through if you watched it week-by-week, but it’s OK as a high-speed binge.

What the hell?

7/10

Quick Pitch:

Kim, a tsundere musician meets Sun, a sunshine transfer student with a weak heart. Also there’s a hot older brother + their household servant, and a couple of fencers for good measure. Initially this pretends to be a normal university BL, then it slips on wet tiles and falls right on trough multiple shower scenes into ludicrous soap opera territory leaving one with a sensation rather like trying to hold onto soap in a communal shower. Ultimately, everyone seems pretty happy they bent over, but no one actually got clean.

Or should I say soap dishes?

(source)

#oh my sunshine night #thai bl #watch along #ohm thitiwat #ohmfluke #noh phouluang #nitiman #no singing!#sword puns #honor the crumbs #gay fencers #PokeTongue #Star Hunter Studio #East Enders #Such a soap opera #Nitman #DeanPharm #KimSun

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absolutebl · 7 months

Note

There was a surprising amount of sex in Be Mine Superstar! I really wasn’t expecting it…. Similarly, Love Syndrome had a LOT less sex than I was promised by the trailer…

Are there any BLs that had either many more or many less NC scenes than you were expecting before you started watching them?

BLs that exceeded (or underperformed) sexy expectations

Interesting question. So far, not that many Thai BLs. But I think that's just because I pay attention to the pairs and the actors in Thai stuff, and you sort of get a feel for what they will (and won't) take on. So in your examples: I know JaFirst did high heat so I expected the producers to lean into that advantage as part of BMSS because, frankly, it didn't have much else going for it.

I haven't watched Love Syndrome III yet but knowing Frank I wouldn't expect it to go super high heat in terms of actual physical contact.

I guess the ones that have surprised me are mostly out of Thailand are pulps that I knew nothing about going in. Let me see...

Thai BL that ended up being way hornier/better than I expected

Secret Crush On You - such a weird show but BillySeng brought IT, whatever IT is, they got it.

Love in Translation - yeah, what happened in that sauce isle boys? Very saucy. Whatever pun, more please.

2 Moons 3 - about on par with ForthBeam from 2 Moons 2 but nothing else in the previous 2 series would lead one to expect the horny we got in this show on the main.

Second Chance - yeah it was a throw away pulp and this studio is hit or miss on chemistry but it had one of the best kisses of its year.

Big Dragon - I don't know what I expected form the trailers, but it wasn't as good as it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the show is naff, but the chemistry/heat levels are scorching.

Ghost Host, Ghost House - generally the horror stuff doesn't do chemistry well, but these two have some of the best chemistry EVER put into a pulp. I really hope we see more of them.

KinnPorsche - It's no secret I'm not as wild about this show as most, but I did think the VegasPete stuff was unexpectedly killer in all ways.

Oh My Sunshine Night - yeah it was exactly what one expects from OhmFluke but THE SIDES!!!! I mean... WHAT? I'm not mad, just pleasantly surprised.

TharnType - Okay but remember at the time what we'd had from Mame was LBC (relatively low heat) and other Thai stuff I was familiar with at the time was Make It Right, Love Sick, SOTUS, and UWMA. TT was way higher heat that I'd seen from Thailand before. And then...

Why R U? - ZeeSaint's "away trip to the beach" full on sex scenes plus repping for verse was just crazy at the time. Especially since Saint played Pete in LBC before this and Zee was new to BL. Add that to the very odd and disjointed (and miss-matched) SaifahZon counter story and WRU? was this insane all over the place viewing experience, including the heat levels. There was this "what will they do next?" kind of tension over the production. Not the story (because who was following that?) but the PRODUCTION. At the time, it was welcome, but truly bonkers. What a way to drive narrative tension... pure high heat chaos.

Thai BLs where chemistry failed meet my (relatively low) expectations

My Ride - honestly, if they had just gotten the kiss right this might even have earned a 10/10 from me

Unforgotten Night - ugh

Bite Me - double ugh

Friend Forever - I know I'm the only person who watched this but why could we not have gotten ONE kiss from the leads?

Nitman - studies have since shown us it is entirely not Noh's fault... see Oh My Sunshine Night

Wedding Plan - the leads were fine, but Mame usually fails me in every way except chemistry, so "fine" is not up to her usual standards. Those standards being predominantly "they hawt together" and nothing else. There wasn't even a side dish couple to pick up the slack noodle... so to speak.

Korean BL

For most of 2022 I was consistently getting surprised by Korean BL's chemsitry when it was good but now I've settled into half expecting it yet still being delighted when it happens and is well done.

I do think Semantic Error was a bit of a seed change for them.

The problem is, now we know they can do it, we are starting to get pissed when it's bad or entirely absent.

Taiwanese BL

Taiwan is the opposite of Korea.

I expect good chemistry and almost always always get it. I struggle to think of a time when they've disappointed me (in this arena). Maybe a few? But I tend to cut Taiwan more slack than other countries because they have so few BLs and they are generally so consistent. If they falter at all, at least the side couple will pick up the slack.

Japanese BL

I have no expectations of Japan. Life as a BL fan is a lot easier that way.

(source)

#asked and answered #chemistry in bl #thay bls that disappointed me #thai bls that surprised me #how i feel about korea Taiwan and japan and their chemistry #thai bl #taiwanese bl #korean bl #japanese bl #Secret Crush On You #2 moons 3 #Oh My Sunshine Night #tharntype #why r U?

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absolutebl · 3 years

Note

Oh also! Re: the lack of BL in western media, I wonder how slash fandom fits in there. I suppose Western media makers ignore that demographic so they went to fandom spaces instead.

Fanfic, Lit Crit, Media & BL

So there are some academics doing fandom research, most notably those like Meredith Levine - you can listen to her being interviewed on Alie Ward's Ologies podcast: Fanthropology (FANDOM).

They tend to be working from anthropology and sociology backgrounds. So not narrative analysis (which comes out out of film studies and lit crit in English departments.) Those of us interested in story and film, genre and demographics, tend to work on an economic level. So... is it profitable? And fanfic, by its nature, is not allowed to be profitable (except, presumably, for the platform hosting it). Since it's a grey profit space (read not legitimate taxable income stream) its real hard to gather useful data. (Weirdly this means it's a lot like trying to study the sex work industry.) This probably also accounts for media neglect.

Since there now are a few known fanfic authors made safe and golden (e.g. EL James, Cassandra Clare, Rainbow Rowell) there has been some attention paid to fic writers amongst Western academics, researchers and media but not a lot. The IP and copyright minefields make it a mess for everyone concerned.

For example, an academic who wanted to research fanfic would also have quote that fanfic and fair use is a pretty terrible space to sally into for people with a reputation to lose. Hollywood is v litigious. What academic can afford to lawyer-up to that degree?

This doesn't even take into account the transient nature of fanfic (not being finished, getting deleted suddenly, anonymously created, etc...)

The various BL producing Asian countries have a much different relationship with fanfic, IP, privacy, and copyright. Nitiman, for example, is a known adaptation of what was originally a wattpad(?) y-novel fanfic skinship piece featuring GOT7's JB & Jinyoung.

Which not to say some enterprising English department doc student isn't writing a massive PhD on fanfic right now.

Wouldn't that be great?

Because I genuinely believe that what's being written in places like AO3 is actually an entirely new genre and style of fiction. It doesn't follow 3 or 4 act structure, has different foundational beats, and specific systemic archetypes and tropes. It also tends to have an ENTIRELY different audience from (shall we call it) mainstream fiction.

As a literary genre, popular fanfic seems to have more in common with the serialized newspaper/magazine pieces (like Dickens, boys adventure stories, or the pulps) + the way long running superhero comic books and web series are handled + soap operas.

A seemingly spontaneous writing style has organically developed using serialization and hooking techniques, which now all the best fic writers employ, often unconsciously.

This combination of writing style and genre voice is entirely novel (joke) to fanfic. I believe this is a new kind of narrative, AS A narrative, and find it absolutely fascinating. But I am not obsessed enough to want to study it, too busy being distracted by BL.

(source)

#fanfic #literary analysis #literary critique #litfic #nitiman the series #nitman

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absolutebl · 2 years

Photo

bl trope du jour

peeling shrimp

aka peeling prawns or unwrapping shrimp (innuendo intended)

This one belongs to Thailand & The Philippines.

Above pictured:

Seven Project

Love By Chance (possibly the origin of this one for Thai BL)

Paint With Love

Secret Crush on You

Cupid’s Last Wish

My Day the series

Unforgotten Night

Final image is how they peel prawns in Thailand. Having done them this way myself, I can say with confidence it is the most effective way to peel a cooked shrimp (without using your fingers) that I have ever encountered. Very elegant and little loss of meat. 10/10 would recommend learning. LIFE SKILL.

Nitman

(Between Us)

Never Let Me Go as a whole scene about this trope:

And they revisited it in their installment of Our Skyy 2.

Bonus the GL version in Bad Buddy.

Bad Buddy plays this again in their Our Skyy 2 instalments.

(source)

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absolutebl · 3 years

Note

Top BLs with great chemistry?

What a great ask!!!

Reminder I define good chemistry as having 3 things:

emotional resonance (AKA emotional empathy - heart)

physical reactions (AKA sexual feedback - body)

sympathetic execution (AKA intellectual connection - mind)

In other words, as an audience member I want to feel that the characters

like each emotionally

desire each other physically

are enjoying it (AKA understand each others needs intellectually)

So putting aside heat levels, quality of production, and story here are my...

11 BLs with the BEST Chemistry

in order

1. Tharn & Type in TharnType (Thailand) obviously. I may have my issues with this flipping show but chemistry is NOT one of them.

Burn style? Nitric acid

2. Shi De & Shu Yi in We Best Love (Taiwan). The ache with these two just never goes away even when they are happily together.

Burn style? Oxygen deprivation

3. Fighter & Tutor in Why R U? (Thailand) They are just really really hot together, okay?

Burn style? Sulfuric acid

(Also Zee does a banging job in Cutie Pie. If we had a stand alone chemistry king, it would probubly be Zee.)

4. Wild Dog & Black Dagger in Long Time No See (Korea). Mixing up violence and tenderness in a very tasty way.

Burn style? Road rash

5. Tutor Tan & Dr Bun in Manner of Death (Thailand). You just jump into bed with the enemy THAT fast?

Burn style? Taser

(MaxTul are the Kings of Thai BL pairs, no one can touch them for consistent chemistry across all their series, branding, and queer friendly community relations.)

6. Teh & Oh-aew in I Told Sunset About You (Thailand). Would you like a side of chemistry with your teen angst?

Burn style? Bad sunburn

7. Tang Yi & Shao Fei in HIStory 3: Trapped (Taiwan). These two did a GREAT job of showcasing mature chemistry. The side dishes in this series are wonderful too. It’s the only one on this list with consistent chemistry for all characters.

Burn style? Aged whiskey

8. Gu Hai & Bai Luo Yin in Addicted (China). Just rolling in the stuff, and we got to kinda see how it might have gone without censorship... so they make the list.

Burn style? Douse in gasoline and light that match

9. Yu Zhen & Shi Lei in Be Loved In House: I Do. Sure it takes them a while but once they get there the pay out is killer.

Burn style? Sweet chili dipping sauce

10. Ace & Sky in My Day the series (Pinoy). How sugary can you take your chemistry?

Burn Style? Cinnamon candy

11. Jaeyoung & Sangwoo in Semantic Error (Korea). Perfectly balanced spicy, sweet, salty, and chewy.

Burn style? Spicy tteokbokki

* Lovey Writer & Ingredients & HIStory 2 almost made the list.

** New 2022 additions: KinnPorsche (2 pairs: KP & VegasPete, kinky cheesy chemistry), Love Mechanics (messy angsty chemistry), Old Fashion Cupcake (low heat but still hot chemistry), and Secret Crush On You (fantastic chemistry but the ultimate cringe).

10 Great Spicy Side Dishes?

in no particular order

Pitch & Bank in Golden Blood (Thailand)

Forth & Beam in 2 Moons 2 (Thailand)

Win & Team in Until We Meet Again (Thailand)

Ram & King in My Engineer (Thailand)

Frame & Book in Make it Right 2 (Thailand)

Khun & Kaow in Brothers (Thailand)

Bo Xiang & Zhi Gang in HIStory 3: Make Our Day’s Count (Taiwan)

Jack & Zhao in HIStory 3: Trapped (Taiwan)

Yong Jie & Xing Si in HIStory 4: Close to You (Taiwan)

Ou Wen & Mark in Love is Science? (Taiwan)

Short Series Honorable Mention

The KaengPuth episode from Y-Destiny (Thailand)

Just Friends (Korea)

HIStory Obsessed (Taiwan)

Some More (Korea)

Dishonorable Mention: Crazy High Heat Chemistry Without Reason

The Pornographer Series (Japan)

Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Japan)

Irresistible Love (China)

Light (Taiwan)

Best chemistry that never went anywhere?

The Devil Judge (Korea)

Nitman (Thailand)

Friend Forever (Thailand)

My Dear Loser - InnSun side dishes (Thailand)

Love By Chance 2: A Chance at Love - KeenTum side dishes (Thailand)

Love O2O - KO & Hao Mai side dishes (China)

Word of Honor (China)

The Untamed (China)

Advance Bravely (China)

(dated July 2022, judgments based on current offerings)

(source)

1K notes · View notes

absolutebl · 3 years

Photo

Characters who either state it themselves or for whom the narrative makes it blatantly clear (by depicting the character date multiple genders - in real time or flashbacks).

Explicitly bisexual & pansexual characters in BL

Alex in Until We Meet Again - Thailand 2019

Seryou & Yuzuru in Seven Days - Japan 2015

Phun in Love Sick - Thailand 2016

Gu Hai in Addicted Heroin - China 2016

Pete in the Kiss series - Thailand 2016+

Mai Ying Xiong in HIStory My Hero - Taiwan 2017

Ming in 2 Moons & 2 Moons 2 - Thailand 2017 & 2019

Shi Yi Jie in HIStory 2: Right or Wrong - Taiwan 2018

Qiu Zi Xuan in HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - Taiwan 2018

Xiang Hao Ting in HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count - Taiwan 2019

Tang Yi in HIStory 3: Trapped - Taiwan 2019

Vee in Love Mechanics - Thailand 2020

Mu Ren in HIStory 4: Close to You - Taiwan 2021

Both boys in Hay Rival, I LOVE YOU! - Vietnam 2021

Jin in Nitman - Thailand 2021

Boss Man in My Lascivious Boss - Vietnam 2021

Tiffy in Lovely Writer - Thailand 2021

Porsche in KinnPorsche

Pat in Bad Buddy - Thailand 2021

Nhai in Ai Long Nhai - Thailand 2022

Domme friend in Big Dragon - Thailand 2022

Our Bi Kings

Neo in 3 Will Be Free

Na in Tonhon Chonlatee

Pure in My Gear and Your Gown

Gavreel in Gameboys

Not Pictured

General Hong Rim in A Frozen Flower - Korea 2008

Wu Suo Wei in Falling in Love with a Rival - China 2015

Fame in Make it Right - Thailand 2016

Method - Korea 2017

Knock in Together with Me et al - Thailand 2017

K in Ossan’s Love - Japan 2018

Shiro Kido in Mood Indigo - Japan 2019

Ying Jia Ming in Capture Lover - China 2020

Otomo Kyoichi in The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese - Japan 2020

Sky in My Day the series - The Philippines 2020

Pearl in Gameboys - The Philippines 2020

1/2 of the lesbian couple in Stupid Boys Stupid Love (sorry I forgot her name) - Vietnam 2021

Eak in Top Secret Together - Thailand 2021

Leon in Don’t Say No - Thailand 2021 (first explicitly pan character)

A Case Could be Made

* I did not include characters stated explicitly by the narrative as gay-for-you because that choice by the writers is explicitly anti-bi. So SOTUS is out.

I didn’t include side couples from het dramas, sorry Mark.

I also didn’t include characters whose source material is bi but whose depiction in the BL was not. So Kaji Akihiko from Given and Win from Until We Meet Again don’t count... yet.

Hit me up with a comment if I’ve forgotten some.

HAPPY BISEXUAL VISIBILITY TO ALL MY FELLOW BI & PAN FOLKS OUT THERE!

And if you can’t be visible, all my support and hopes and good wishes. Fingers crossed it becomes safe and enjoyable for you some day.

Su su na!

Hwaiting!

(source)

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absolutebl · 2 years

Text

2021 BL Wrap Up - Top Trends

I keep a pretty detailed spreadsheet of everything I watch in BL each year but I don’t watch/track a whole lot of Pinoy stuff, please be aware it is not represented in this analysis.

TOP 10 BL TRENDS OF 2021

1. BL Gets Meta

We had a number of BLs this year self referencing, being cheeky about tropes, and using parody to get meta over yaoi roots, something that has actually never happened before in the genre. Gen Y, Absolute BL, Lovely Writer, Call It What You Want 1 & 2, Love with Benefits, and Fish Upon the Sky (started, then retracted, it was... odd) all did this. Several of them employed voice over and/or 4th wall breaking to execute.

I personally loved this, but it felt very teenage industry discovering itself and testing its limits. Also it’s pretty impossible to recommend these shows to outsiders, since they edge into incomprehensible if you don’t already know the genre, so this is also an odd kind of fan service.

2. BL Goes Soft

Pretty much everyone tried on softness in 2021 (mutual gentleness and care) even Japan (a real shocker, Kieta Hatsukoi). Perhaps it was reactionary, a hunt for comfort in troubled times, but it was so crazy that even Taiwan went there. Generally Taiwan prefers to push boundaries and rough it up a bit but they casually trotted out Be Love In House: I Do’s epic level of tenderness, See You After Quarantine?’s gentleness, and Love is Science?’s ultra modern queer domesticity as if they were no big deal. These were the soup dumplings of BL - soft, a little chewy, and full of comforting cozy warmth.

Thailand has always leaned soft (since Love Sick piloted in 2014) casual physical contact and affection, gentle touches, care, lingering glances, and cuddling have been part of their BL style, but they leaned into super squishy in 2021 with shows like Nitman, Y-Destiny, Golden Blood, Lovely Writer, Second Chance, and Close Friend.

Even China got a little soft with Word of Honor which no one expected and we are all surprised was allowed to happen. I mean there was a high low hug AND a shoulder lean and everything.

I really hope this trend continues and while I doubt Japan will ever go fully soft (their right back to emo with Utsukushii Kare), I have high hopes we might see softness leak more into Taiwanese and Korean BL.

3. BL Gets Domestic

Thai BL has dabbled in family home life before, and when we are lucky we get reps of sweet domesticity (especially if the seme is a caring Dom - Solo, Dean, Leo, Sun, etc...). But it felt like we got way more than normal this year and of a more intense style with different countries putting unique stamps on it. This might be a side effect of C19 and it’s certainly something that suits confined spaces and a home setting (making it easier and cheaper to film).

I think the earliest rep we have for this kind of thing is Ai no Kotodama from Japan (2008). And there was a trickle of stuff from Japan and China for about a decade that dabbled in domesticity but none used it to drive narrative (Japan’s Does the Flower Bloom? from 2018 is sort of the culmination of this nascent form). Thailand first did it with 2016′s Grey Rainbow (this is the Thai BL THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED - sry do not watch it).

But now we’re getting true windows into gay domesticity and family life, adopted kids and all. And our little gay family sometimes even gets to stay together. Some examples included:

Ingredients (Thailand)

Papa & Daddy (Taiwan)

Nation’s Brother (Vietnam)

Me Chon Dau Cao - Monster In Law (Vietnam)

Love is Science? (Taiwan - BL side plot in a het drama)

But others also have is as a core conceit, especially those set primarily in the home like Be Loved In House, To My Star, Still 2gether, See You After Quarantine? or even Golden Blood. It’s a trend I really hope continues and grows, so comforting.

4. BL Plays With Its Food

Basically prior to 2021 we had 3 BLs with food settings: 2019′s I Am Your King 2 from Thailand and 2020′s Pinoy offering My Day and Taiwan’s Craving You. (And a few Korean microfilms.)

In 2021 we got a lot more. Even if it didn’t all entirely take place in a cafe or restaurant that setting played a significant role.

To My Star (Korea)

Peach of Time (Korea/Thailand)

Evening Cafe (Thailand)

Love Area (Thailand)

You Are Ma Boy (Vietnam)

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam)

Bite Me (Thailand)

The Tasty Florida (Korea)

My Sweet Dear (Korea)

Apparently chefs are the new engineers. There were also professional chef/barista/waiter characters in series that were not set in the industry like Ingredients, Brothers, and My Mate Match. And more to come in 2022.

5. Ukes with Agency!

Kiyoi in My Beautiful Man, TeaKyung in Light on Me, Bank in Golden Blood, Nampu in Top Secret Together, Jin in Nitiman, Nut in My Boy, Kaitoon in Love Area, Pob in Don’t Say No, and Kaow in Brothers all represented for ukes in strongly uke/seme driven stories who still had a ton of agency. This was usually expressed as a desire to emotionally communicate with their semes, verbally or physically. Also, they all showed a certain amount of self awareness, self acceptance, and self understanding around being gay as a result. Occasionally tho, they just punched their idiot seme. And that was fun too.

Also shout out to Note & Ta (no uke/seme dynamic) in The Yearbook who got very little screen time but might be the best gay communicators we’ve ever seen in a BL.

You go boys!

6. BL X3 - The Dreaded Love Triangle /_\

BL has always had faen fatals but love triangles, not so much. (Japan’s 2008 Taiikukan Baby is the only one I have on record). A true love triangle just means the story, screen time, and the visual tropes treat both possible love interests as entirely viable and possible.

Gen Y the series - side dishes Thaunu’s seme with 2 ukes love triangle, pretty unique actually

Top Secret Together - part of the friends to lovers side plot

Light on Me - the cherry on the love triangle Sunday

Love Area - the second lead syndrome was fierce with this one

The Tasty Florida - edged into it but mostly was using the faen fatal

My Mate Match - cohabitation quarantine project

Kieta Hatsukoi AKA Vanishing My First Love - started out with each person liking the wrong other person, circular love triangle M2F2M2M, but sorted it fast

I’m A Fool For - Hong Kong’s little offering (sad)

Love With Benefits - cohabitation quarantine project

I don’t like love triangles but even I thought Light On Me was excellent. Still I’m not wild about this particular trend (and I wonder if it’s a Kdrama side effect), but it sure was fun to watch all the different countries tackle it and Japan’s take (Kieta Hatsukoi) was really unique and clever.

7. Do I Spot Actual Queer Rep?

Honest queer rep has started to show up more (FINALLY). Everything from out gay main characters (please may this be the death of gay-for-you) to the rise of the gay advice dad (HIStory 4, Be Love In House, Top Secret Together, Love is Science?) to mention of (and implied use of) actual lube.

It used to be so rare to see any BL characters in leading roles who identified as gay (outside of Taiwan). Now it’s almost - dare I say it? - commonplace. Or if not common in the leads, at least some of the support cast will code/identify as gay.

Thailand put an out gay IRL actor couple together on screen and stopped caring about pushing a gay-for-you agenda. They seem to be at the hand-wavy stage of “you can believe he’s bi, GFY, or gay, we don’t care to define it anymore.” They even directly addressed it as problematic in Bad Buddy. They also had more out gay mains than ever before (explicit or not), a pansexual in Don’t Say No, and TharnType got on screen married. Thai BL still punches down on femme and trans characters, but a little flame is leaking in whether they like it or not (side eyes My Boy), and that aspect is fabulous. OF COURSE IT IS.

Taiwan gave us tons of actually queer stuff, Papa & Daddy, See You After Quarantine, Light, Love Is Science. As well as depicting a marriage of equality actually on the screen in a BL (to be fair they did that first with Craving You in 2020). They also depicted discussions about verse, topping/bottoming, safe sex, consent, and surrounding queer fam. Even Pride showed up. Taiwan leans into masculine presenting, weak seme/uke couples, which means their femme and gender fluid rep is poor but I still gotta give them credit for the equality agenda they are pushing on a very willing audience. Give us MOAR, we can take it!

Vietnam got in on the action and gave us a cross dressing gay main character with out gay besties working in a cafe and running an accidental long con on their boss, who consequently has the shortest bisexual identity crisis ever. Watch My Lascivious Boss, it’s groundbreaking BL - we haven’t had anything like it since I am Your King (Thailand 2017) or Udagawachou de Matteteyo (2015) and neither of those were this happy. Also Vietnam repped butch GLs in high school! (Stupid Boys Stupid Love). Which I think is an actual first. We’ve had lesbians before but butch? SO GOOD.

Even Korea gave us an out bisexual in Tasty Florida AND crossdressed for BL. I stil can’t get over Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding. I mean it wasn’t even played for laughs, it was genuine and treated gracefully... by Korea. Can you BELIEVE we got that? And more is coming in 2022.

I know these seem like baby steps in the west but trust me these are big-ass murder-walk stiletto strides being taken.

(Also tiny shout out to Korea’s The King’s Affection, the first time I’ve seen one of the ubiquitous “girl disguises herself as a boy” historicals actually deal openly and honestly with a bisexual identity crisis and acceptance. And now... how many of us now want Rowoon to do BL? Pretty much all of us.)

PRODUCTION TRENDS

8. BL Takes to the Skies

Wellp, BL discovered drone tech this year. We saw a number of BLs employ drone work rather ruthlessly. China in WoH, of course, but also Taiwan and Thailand used drones in some of their stuff. Close Friend was the most startlingly egregious, but you know, boys with toys.

What can you do?

9. BL Gets Up in Your Face

On the flip side, I think the wild success of ITSAY last year impacted taste in close filming style that we haven’t seen much of in Thailand before now. Nitiman, Hometown Embrace, Second Chance, Golden Blood, and Y-Destiny all zoomed in crazy close on faces. More than I’ve ever seen the Thai pulps do before. Let’s be frank, I wouldn’t trust the Thai makeup crew either. But it was Yearbook that really forced me to notice this trend.

Full frame faces is a popular indie filming stye for encouraging claustrophobic-intimacy and emotional tension in drama, and I don’t mind it in limited doses (Japan & Taiwan) but I’m not wild about a lot in one drama or extensively in one scene.

Like drone work, it can be easily overdone and makes me stop thinking about the story and start thinking about the directing. And I am one of those who believes that in BL, I shouldn’t be getting distracted by technique.

Speaking of technique...

10. BL Forgets its Roots

Finally (and sadly for me) there wasn’t much use of yaoi style (live action manga) framing and staging techniques. Possibly because there were so few manga adaptations. Color Rush hit it out of the park, Light One Me put its own blue/white twist on the clarity of this style, and, of course, Given was on point. But that was about it.

There were tiny nods from H4 and the end of year stuff from Japan, but apart from that, it seems like this is a stye of staging and framing has had its heyday.

It also demonstrates that no one storyboards anymore.

*insert whimpering here*

POSSIBLE 2022 TRENDS?

I expect most of the above to be amped up and continue in 2022. In fact, as I type this queer rep already got a major boost in Episode 9 of Bad Buddy (which is from heavy hitter GMMTV, notoriously slow to evolve), by directly addressing and correcting for

gay for you

wifey language

inadequate GL rep

If felt a lot like GMMTV was trying to correct for SOTUS’s mistakes. How far they have come in 5 short years. Honestly, I have to say a lot of this is probubly due to global reach and international popularity and the active interactions of the fandom.

Tears & Blood

I think we are going to see a spike in dark BL from Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand maybe even Vietnam - gritty pretend realism with sad & amorphous endings, heavy illness content (AKA the cancer mom stories), violence, and even kink. It’s going to take the guise of mafia and if we are lucky boys-in-uniform, (possibly sports), but also youthful more serious trials with family and illness. Think Your Name Engraved Herein style content with lower production values.

Taiwan and Japan have always dabbled in this kind of BL (see 2021′s Light & Pornographer series) but they are going to start to really push (subconsciously) to distinguish themselves from Korea with grittiness. Both might even lean more into heavily queer affirming stuff as Japan finally tilts towards marriage equality (which goes hand in hand with realism - code for darker content).

Thailand, on the other hand, is producing so much content, each new BL with gumption is going to look for ways to distinguish itself from all the other Thai BLs, so I think we might see the pulps lean darker, or at least wistfully sad. As disappointing as I found The Yearbook, Seven Project, and The Best Story I think they might herald a trend.*

* I wrote this before GMMTV announced its 2022 line up and now I feel terribly chuffed with myself.

I have a data analysis post where I go into growth numbers and statistical trends here.

BL 2021 STATS & TRENDS BY COUNTRY

(source)

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absolutebl · 3 years

Text

This Week In BL

June 2021 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Y-Destiny Ep 11 - a timeslip friends-to-lovers episode, interesting. I do like that YD is exploring unique concepts for BL. I thought the use of anime for the past rather than child actors was smart given the subtext, but wtf subtext? Switching to English in times of extreme intimacy was fun too, although I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because it threw up a culture contrast between the language and the innately Thai gestures they were doing at the same time (like the cheek snuffle)? (On a side note did you notice how extremely articulate both actors were with Thai as well as English? Very pretty orators, these two.) I really like this pair A LOT. The plot though? Ohboy. Childish innocent in body of adult but... is actually a child? Gives creepy a new meaning. I keep thinking about the 80s movie Big. That scene didn’t work in Big either. (It’s a bummer because it really does work as a couple of teens discovering their sexuality.)

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 10 - Mork finally has a reason for liking Pi, it’s just weak. Maybe that’s where my annoyance comes from, this is a weak show with poor story but good actors and GMMTV’s money, a contrast that makes it consistently disappointing. Like My Gear and Your Gown all over again, only worse. They didn’t need to shoehorn secret relationship trope into this series at all, but they did just to get situational comedy and that’s not an adequate reason. This show is a bummer because Phuwin really acts a great goofball, and Pond does noble pining well, the script is just failing them.

Top Secret Together Ep 5 - dropped with subs this week (yeah!) and introduced a new couple (totally unnecessary). I always think an excess of couples means they don’t have confidence in the main pair, which doesn’t makes sense with this show, since everyone is solid. Anyway, we getting bloated in a Gen Y kinda way but I’m stil enjoying it. My favorites got an “outsider assumes you’re a couple” moment which made me happy.

Nitiman Ep 6 - There’s a lot of limping in this BL. Yes yes injured ankles = allegory for limping injured relationship, I gets it. Then they doused us with singing feelings + lots of moot pining. Plus surprise Kao (from Oxygen) and, since it’s ep 6, a kiss. It was a lot but this is still my favorite BL right now. It’s so flipping D/s, alright? Jin was like “Bbomb, you can’t commit to being a Dom and then absent yourself from care responsibilities, even as a punishment, you gotta communicate.” Look at my boy dolling out kink life lessons. I love Jin. I love this flirty confused af big bi baby. Okay? Okay. Still, what inquiring minds want to know is: Will we ever know what is UP with Kheam (or whether to spell his name with or without the h)?

Side note: I know it’s a pipe dream at this juncture but seeing Turbo in Nitman (Jay) I really do think he’d be a great Izumi if Thailand ever does do that remake of Love Stage. I want them to do the original (manga or anime) mind you, not the live action version. And Kaownah would make for a lovable puppy-ish Ryouma. Ah well, if wishes were BLs... there’d be a lot more Thai adaptations of Japanese yaoi in my life in general.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Monster in Law AKA Mẹ Chồn Dâu Cáo (Vietnam) Ep 6 - continues to be cute (slow to sub but cute). Oh the trials of gay domesticity. I love it when a show justifies my own intense dislike of both marriage and children. So far this one is doing that while still managing to bring on the queer af family charm.

Love is Science? (Taiwan) Ep 11 (BL subplot) - DELAYED, but a new one is supposed to drop next week. Good thing too, I was going into cute-suit withdrawal.

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 5 - possibly one of the sexiest yet sweetest versions of the wet towel sponge bath trope I’ve seen in a long time. Plus I love how well they are redeeming the tsundere uke and the grumpy seme by making them both, secretly, the biggest softies ever. I take back what I said last week about this not being a favorite. This ep was a game changer. This show is great and I am so grateful we’re getting a full 12 eps of it.

Friend or Lover (Taiwan) Ep 3 - been waiting for this for a while, indie project that they seem to drop only once a month or so. It’s really sweet low budget but quite Taiwanese so enjoyable.

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 10 fin - sad to see this one end but it’s really good! You Are Ma Boy might still be my favorite from Vietnam but this show really had some crazy great queer rep, so I gotta give it extra rainbow stars. Full review here. RECOMMENDED with reservations.

Breaking News

Gaya Sa Pelikula AKA Like in the Movies announced a 3 part special airing June 11, 18, 25 on Globe Studio’s YouTube channel. It’s a “making of” BTS.

Lovely Writer special ep aired on June 9th. It was cute if largely unnecessary. Like the Cherry Magic special episodes, this one is fine if you want to track it down but you’re not missing much.

Made in Rooftop is a new Korean BL that I can’t believe I didn’t know was coming! It looks a bit like Korea does a light, bright version of Life: Love on the Line. Could lean a bit Queer as Folk? We got us a manic pixie dream boy + upright serious (but lost) out gay characters. MDL has it listed as a movie, their description is pants, but this trailer on Insta gives an idea what it’s about (trailer is also on YouTube but may not last there). Thanks to @crapyouknowme for the tip.

Gossip

Just a quick update to add I just learned about Fahlanruk the series (AKA Fhalanruk) form @heretherebedork. It’s slated for 2022 but it already has a fundraising trailer. Looks to be a strong contender in the Thai BL pulp arena. It’s using tropes we rarely see for the mains (one night stand + friends with benefits), and it tonally seems like a combination of Nitiman and the Y-Destiny players episode. I like sexually messy and identity confused college dramas (Love Mechanics for the win) but none of this is popular with BL main, and I suspect tastemakers know that. So Fahlanruk might struggle to find funding.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

(I had to include this quote from Top Secret Together because I love it so much. It is such a classic grumpy seme complaining about a puppy uke.)

#asian bl #asianbl #thaibl #thai bl #Y-Destiny #Fish Upon The Sky #Top Secret Together #Nitiman the series #Taiwanese BL #Be Loved in House: I Do #My Lascivious Boss #Vietnamese BL #Monster in Law #Lovely Writer special EP #lovely writer #episode recaps #Gaya Sa Pelikula #Made in Rooftop #Fahlanruk

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