mysterygrl20

[mysterygrl20]

Dec 20, 2024 | MosBank

[mysterygrl20]

JAPAN | Babanbabanban Vampire (Anime)

A bloody romantic (BL) comedy begins, with love arrows crossing each other amid the steam of the hot springs at night!

“Mori Ranmaru works as a live-in part-timer at a long-established public bathhouse. His true identity is a 450-year-old vampire. Seeking the ultimate taste of "the blood of an 18-year-old virgin," he continues to protect the virginity of a young teen Rihito, the only son of the bathhouse owner. However, a crisis arises as Rihito reaches puberty—he falls in love at first sight with a girl in the same class! "Rihito's virginity must be protected at all costs!! Love shall not be allowed!!" Ranmaru's desperate "Operation Virginity Loss Prevention" begins!” - MyAnimeList

[mysterygrl20]

JAPAN | Babanbabanban Vampire (Movie)

[mysterygrl20]

Love in the Air | Special Ep - Dec 29, 2024

[mysterygrl20]

nailed it.

[mysterygrl20]

thame if he ever meets earn:

[mysterygrl20]

★ happy sunclay 👐🏻

[mysterygrl20]

Recently I came across this tweet on Twitter, and the conversation that it sparked was so interesting that I wanted to write a little about it here.

Lately I've been discussing some growing changes in the entertainment space- such as a decrease in the number of lakorns being produced each year, as well as a drop in the total amount of ad spending.

One of the best explanations that I've found about what's going on comes from a user on Reddit, who wrote that:

"The Thai tv industry as whole has been in a gradual decline for a decade or so. The conversion from the analog to digital tv system a decade ago was expected to boost the industry, but it increased the players and raised the costs, which caused each player to do much less well. Then, the arrival of various online platforms such as LineTV (now gone), various Asian platforms, Netflix, and now platforms from Mainland China has drawn Thai viewers away from Thai content. The declining birth rate in the past several decades also means the population of young tv viewers of the whole country have fallen by at least one-fourth or one-third, and should be cut to only half of what the number was some decades ago soon. The rise of BL and GL series and the ships that come with them are probably the last nail to the coffin, especially to the conventional Lakorns and their actors. Now brands and ad agencies divert money to spend on them rather than conventional tv shows. Just a few years ago, BL/GL were considered niche, as opposed to the mainstream media. Now that conventional tv contents like the Lakorn are declining fast, I think it might be the time to reclassify things."

To touch on the revenue side in particular, media outlets (such as Channel 3) that had previously relied on ad revenue and airtime spending to make ends meet have been particularly hit hard all of these changes- especially as advertisers and viewers have begun to gradually move away from traditional tv programming (as a result of a 35.7% decrease in profits, CH 3 recently announced mass layoffs and plans to shift into other revenue streams, such as the production or fan-meeting side of things).

Aside from Channel 3, Workpoint recently announced plans to close down its lakorn production department in order to focus on the t-pop side of things (the company also manages popular girl and boy groups, such as 4EVE and ATLAS).

With a decline in the ratings of more traditional dramas and the possibility of less lakorns being produced next year, more mainstream producers (most recently with Kai Varayuth Milintachinda, a longtime producer for CH 3 who recently announced that he was working on a new BL series), as well as actors (see below) are looking to move into BL because of it's earning potential (and because of how it's financed more "independently" compared to other works).

If you've wondered what the tweet earlier meant by 40 or 50+ year-old actors, I think it referring to the fact that Boy Pakorn, a forty year-old actor previously signed to CH 3, was recently announced to be playing one of the leads in the upcoming series Mandate (so older actors are really getting in on this, which is exciting for all the old man yaoi fans out there!).

Looking at the post's replies was really interesting because it ended up sparking a lot discussion- although it's great that older, more established lakorn actors are getting in on things (their presence continues to help "normalize" the existence of QL series to some extent, while also attracting a new set of audiences), some commenters pointed out the irony in BL series becoming almost "desirable" again, when, in the early years, investors and big name actors didn't want to participate in QL series, and those that did sometimes faced a lot more scrutiny (including being the brunt of different homophobic remarks/comments).

In general, and especially as part of these discussions, I think there's also a question of, when, under capitalism, do things suddenly become profitable (and thus desirable)?

With the advent of the legalization of same-sex marriage, the social fabric of Thailand has changed (at least somewhat) compared to the early years of BL (sometimes these events can actually have a profound effect on viewership: some GL producers have noticed that more people have been interested in watching shows since the most recent bill was passed), but I think capitalism and profit still remain an important part of the equation.

For some commentators, it's also somewhat of an issue that people are beginning to enter the industry that they didn't express interest/stayed silent about LGBTQ+ rights (or related entertainment-world issues) in the past. To a certain extent, I feel like stuff like that can definitely rub people the wrong way.

For me, these topics are really nuanced and difficult to process- I don't think it's wrong for lakorn actors to begin to move into the BL space, but I also think it's okay to be critical of aspects of capitalism/the wider system as a whole.

I also feel like it's important to keep interrogating some ideas that are also circulating in the space, especially as industry-related changes begin to happen- recently, there was a viral tweet about Davika and Fern's fanmeet that also provoked a lot of different mixed reactions, and there was a really interesting discussion a couple of days ago about why some (but not all) Sky & Nani fans show a reluctance to be associated to BL (I think the latter really indicates that it's often important to explore where certain ideas/beliefs come from, and what sort of personal biases they might be rooted in).

The industry (at least to me) is kind of in a state of flux right now- it's important to not speak in total absolutes and remember that there are still some shows that are still doing incredibly well rating-wise (One 31's series Thian Son Saeng recently hit a high of 10.9 in the provinces for its final episode- which is amazing!), but QL is gradually growing more and more financially profitable and mainstream (and might eventually take up an even larger portion of the marketshare than it already has).

For me, these sorts of shifts that have happened are super interesting, and offer a lot of food for thought in terms of thinking about macro-level things and micro-level things that have also begun to slowly evolve.

Let me know if you guys have any other thoughts!

[mysterygrl20]

ZeeNunew | Super Secret

[mysterygrl20]

ZeeNunew | Super Secret

[mysterygrl20]

the whiplash of miracles in december (exo) into candy (nct dream)

[mysterygrl20]

ZeeNunew | Super Secret

[mysterygrl20]

my mondays just aren't the same without mumu tofu videos

[mysterygrl20]

William and Est via their Instas!

[mysterygrl20]

girl why the hell WEREN'T you at the devil's sacrament 👀 that's three sacraments in a row you've missed 👀 👀 👀

[mysterygrl20]

Dec 23, 2024 | Nunew Chawarin | TNP Q26

[mysterygrl20]

Offroad Kantapon | The Wicked Game

🎵Never had a soul, So you ain't taking nothing from me when you go🎶