#HIStory3 Trapped

[jtmarx]

Nobody does a sexuality crisis like Meng Shao-fei. That man went from "yeah, I'm probably straight but never really thought about it" to "oh huh, guess I wanna gay marry a whole ass mob boss" in the span of like 2 days and had like maybe 10min of angst. And 8 of those minutes weren't even angst, he was just jealous Tang-yi wasn't giving him attention

[blbeloved]

BLs That Heal

Tough times all around so #FujinHaven did an informal survey of BLs fans find healing, help them feel better about themselves, more calm and optimistic

The titles,grouped by theme, are rich in emotions and intimacy; inspiring; absorbing; cathartic and humorous too

Healing for those dealing with loss, shame and grief:

#Egoist 🇯🇵

#EternalYesterday 🇯🇵

#GameBoysTheSeries 🇵🇭

#HesComingToMe 🇹🇭

#OneRoomAngel 🇯🇵

Oxytocin drips:

#MySchoolPresident 🇹🇭

#HIStory3Trapped 🇹🇼

#CherryMagic 🇯🇵

#ALeagueOfNobleman 🇨🇳

Serotonin boosters:

#LoveSick 🇹🇭

#AdvanceBravely 🇨🇳

#LoveInTranslation 🇹🇭

#Addicted 🇨🇳

Soft Tops:

#SemanticError 🇰🇷

#MyRide 🇹🇭

#LoveByChance 🇹🇭

#UnforgottenNight

#SecretCrushOnYou 🇹🇭

Can’t cry but really want to cry and it will all be worth it:

#KillerAndHealer 🇨🇳

#NirvanaInFire 🇨🇳

#TheUntamed 🇨🇳

#ToSirWithLove 🇹🇭

#HanhPhucXaBay 🇻🇳

#UntilWeMeetAgain 🇹🇭

Visuals and Vibes:

#DinosaurLove 🇹🇭

#MrCinderella 🇻🇳

#BoysLockdown 🇵🇭

#2Gether 🇹🇭

#HelloStranger 🇵🇭

Lots of laughs and smiles:

#WinterBegonia 🇨🇳

#BonAppetit 🇰🇷

#StupidGenius 🇻🇳

#BoyNextDoor 🇰🇷

Enjoy the list and check out the first feminist reviews of live-action BL at Fujin Haven blog https://fujinhaven.portfolial.com

[save-the-data]

HIStory3: Trapped | S03E02

Taiwanese Drama - 2019, 20 episodes

Episodes | Viki | YouTube | Netflix | WeTV | Tencent | Prime | Catalogue

[historytrappedrewatch]

OFFICIAL PROMPT LIST

Ep 1: Family/Favorite Character

Ep 2: Betrayal/Favorite Whump

Ep 3: Belonging/Favorite Side Character

Ep 4: Jealousy/Favorite Couple

Ep 5: Love/Favorite Love/Kiss scene

Ep 6: Hope/Favorite Friendship

Ep 7: Passion/Best Emotional Moment

Ep 8: Happiness/Favorite Parallel

Ep 9: Grief/Favorite Location

Ep 10: Freedom/Moment you Knew You Were Trapped

FAQ:

Do I have to participate in every day of the fest? -No! Absolutely not. Feel free to come and go as you please!

What is the tag for the fest? -#trapped5yearfest

Is there an AO3 collection? -Yes! Linked here

What can I make for the Fest? -Anything! Any fanwork that is posted on tumblr that is tagged #trapped5yearfest it will be posted on the official Tumblr! eg. Gifsets, Meta, Fan Edits, Fan fiction, Fan Mixes etc etc.

Any other questions send a message or an ask through @trapped5yearfest or @thisautistic

special thanks to @zhaozi for being my cheerleader, helping with the prompts and for being my very first bl bestie. love you bb

I'm SOOOO excited and I can't wait for the New Year!

Happy Trapping!

[gabrielokun]

[itwoodbeprefect]

one thing i have to hand to people online who leave reviews on obviously low budget westerns is that at least they don't complain that it's an obviously low budget western. it seems that i can't say this for some of the people leaving reviews on obviously low budget queer movies

[nicolejc]

It's good to see the team always gathering at least once a year after the series ended in 2019

[dragonsareawesome123]

Nobody:

Absolutely nobody:

Main couples in Asian romance thrillers: *One of them shoots the other*

[shijiujun]

TRAPPED REUNION SANS JAKE AND CHRIS SAYING “JAKE’S WORK IS IMPORTANT WE WILL SEE HIM NEXT TIME” in the comments to explain why he isn’t there WUWUWUWUWUW

[slonekaru]

15 Day BL Challange - Day 13

Full list of @negrowhat challenges HERE

Day 13 - Give 5 Good Boys a Gold Star

Prapai (Love in the Air)

Even in his playboy days he didn't leave a trail of destruction. He's kind and caring, has an excellent relationship with his siblings, and even helped raise them when there was no need to. Then Sky came along and he loved him, pushed him when needed, supported him through the bad times, and provided a very lonely boy with an instant family.

Sure he has a naughty streak and an aversion to buttons but that doesn't take away from the fact he gives up control to Sky, allowing Sky to Dom him, so that Sky can feel safe and in control after his sexual assault.

And we love a good boy that can be what his partner needs. Gold Star indeed.

Zhao Zi (HiStory3: Trapped)

This boy truly believes in the justice system and gets heartbroken when fellow cops are dirty. He loves his grandmother a great deal, is there for his friends, loves helping people, is beautifully innocent, a fiend for food, a sucker for muscles, and suffers from liking bad boys! But we will forgive him for that last one because Jack was very hot!

He got Jack to give up his life of crime to become a hot house-husband so Gold Star!

Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)

He saw Heart for Heart and not some deaf kid. He didn't let Heart get away with shit just because he was deaf. Li Ming tried to change himself to be more accessible for Heart rather than just making Heart change himself to fit into the world.

He pushed Heart to achieve and live life. He also stood up for himself in the face of his uncle's judgment of his life choices.

No mean feat for a 17/18 year old so Gold Star awarded.

Thun (He's coming to me)

As a child he left offerings at Mes's grave because Mes was alone and when older he broke Mes out of the graveyard to go and experience life. He helped Mes acclimatise to modern life and let him try things he'd never done before all the while dealing with his own self-acceptance of being gay and falling in love with said ghost.

Truly a good boy his entire life, Gold Star.

Choco (Choco Milk Shake)

A literal good boy on the count that he's a dog in a human body!

Choco's love for Jung Woo made him intensely loyal to the point that he came back from the afterlife and was willing to give up his chance at reincarnation just to spend one lifetime loving Jung Woo when he needed it. But he listened to Jung Woo when he asked him to return to the afterlife so they would meet again later and he agreed to Jung Woo's wishes.

Gold Star awarded, especially for his enduring puppy traits while in human form.

[blbeloved]

GELBOYS HAPPY ENDING REVISITED

Happy to see people re-assessing blanket approval for Directors Boss’ consistent blind spots in his latest production in the clearer, more considered light of day. I don’t think any distortions credited to him are the fault of romance genre, as BL is on record as blazing Transformative new trails in this respect.

I do agree with the as yet not fully-formed green shoots of analysis suggesting this has more to do with capitalism and how ships have to be commodified and profited from later. This is what distorts the ending in capitalist BL producing countries. This ignored factor, not the pair system, is how the real potential of BL gets wasted because emotionally contented, satiated, and fulfilled people don’t exhibit the same spending patterns in the libidinal economy.

However, in terms of romance tropes in storytelling, the whole history of BL emerges because women looked at the problems of intimate relations with men - which are primarily emotional and sexual violations, and from there, something people called toxic but sensible people recognise as women’s everyday reality, they work through a process of visionary imagination with those male characters until they become something suitable for a romantic relationship that they’d like to experience in media. They don’t become perfect men at the end but there is a sense of having re-gained the skills and aptitudes that have beaten out of boys over the course of boyhood that prevents their gender disproportionately from accessing the resources generative of the intimacy(which is not sex) they crave as adults.

There are so many times when we see an adaptation of a BL in Thailand where fans of the original source material say “it was better in the book”. Why? Mostly because the OG women (and a growing minority of men who wanted to challenge and transform “gay reality”) writing it spent a disproportionate amount of time dealing with the emotional interiority of the characters and the Process by which they come to recognise what they’re doing and to Struggle to Change it, or at least be on a path where they’re in full comprehension of what needs to change. In the drive for views this priority often gives way to superficial aesthetics, and or hot visuals, pushing out emotional depth as well as basic storytelling logics.

Furthermore, sometimes when male directors take up the stories, it’s obvious that too often restitution and reparation is not something they personally believe in and they’re not as obsessed with or even minimally invested in moving away from the desirability norms (dominance, hierarchy, valuing of the physical over the emotional; devaluing of femininity) pedestalised by other men in the community or in the wider society, which is the audience they appear to be writing for (not viewers who deliberately eschew mainstream gay media precisely because they’re dissatisfied and want to experience something different).

In reality these things do get accommodated in male dating circles so in most ways Director Boss is indeed accurately depicting what happens in the community in real life but in BL when critics say it’s not based in reality this is really a way to dismiss and reject the often painful character growth that men tend to go through in the original BL source material, that constitutes the departure of BL from mainstream queer media. In that sense, the fact BL doesn’t totally reflect gay reality - in the absolute and elaborate centering of Conflict Resolution elements of the storytelling, is the point!

Women invented this genre not simply to reflect reality, which it does, but primarily to Transcend it. To be clear some writers do this visioning better than others but the universal objective is not to remain within our current social reality but to CONTEST it. The contestation is articulating the heartfelt cry that - as lovers, mothers, sisters and friends of men, if we continue having gender relations as we do now, there is no future for humanity. We only have to look at several Asian countries that are producing BL to see the catastrophic state of gender relations is such that women are restricting interacting with men for friendship, dates, having children or for marriage. This is urgent because status quo threatens the whole of society.

This is happening in the west as well and not only among women but what queer men are going through in their relationships with other men has been given far less social concern. Just listen to the despair of ciz men and trans people talk about their experiences every weekend after Grindr hookups. They too are disillusioned but it is women who are still at the front of passionate initiatives (movements for men and boys’ socialisation are constantly pleading for more men to join as mentors and guides) to elaborate what kinds of radically different relationships we can have with men - as women and girls or as men and boys, not how can we navigate emotional and physical abuse in order to still find a way to be together with our unreconstructed abusers.

Now there are examples of Thai BL creators who have worked through queer intimacy challenges well (Dir New comes to mind as a king of this until his regrettable GMM era), it is not as though they do not exist despite the fact that there are fewer and fewer between in the post Cvd years. However there are undeniable reasons the data would point to, that are responsible for this divergence: the financial needs of the investors behind productions are being prioritised in the storytelling, not the HUMAN NEEDS of those typically interested in consuming it. This is where the reactionary and ultimately disappointing narratives are being inserted -because in the dominant culture they are “sexier”.

Look at the most popular BL adaptation in the world which is a Danmei adaptation. Dangai adaptations that emerge from Danmei, despite censorship - why are these the biggest, most loved and most rewatched, even driving their source material to be the most sought after BLs novels on the planet? I suggest it is because whether they are explicit or not, from Addicted to The Untamed, the characters in question go through a lengthy period of personal growth and in that personal growth they move further and further away from hegemonic masculinity (I think this is the point we miss with this brain-dead, illiterate campaign that comparing countries is to be forbidden). This openness of the male characters to change does more to undermine resistance to the dominant social construction of masculinity and male sexuality, than essentialist fables in our culture that all kinds of men internalise to their disadvantage.

This secret ingredient is called the Female Gaze. In its execution, it transforms both the nature of the couple’s relationship with and between themselves And Their Relationships With Others. The resolution is something that can change society rather than only themselves as individuals.

The female gaze is not something women do but a Form of Politics that can be adopted regardless of sex. The female gaze is why even when a Dangai doesn’t end with the main characters in the same frame, their journey to love as a couple fills the viewer with hope and a TRANSFORMATIVE mental attitude that can persist years later. Trapped is an example of a Dangai that even though adapted in a capitalist environment still actively resisted dominant romance storytelling norms in many ways; their CP is still marketable years later.

What frustrates us so much about the adaptations from some BL producing environments is that as time has gone on we are seeing the move further and further away from the political philosophy of BL while the values of the dominant culture, yes including the damaging values that exist in vulnerable subcultures, have come to supplant the more revolutionary potentials of BL. Meanwhile in China even the government is begging creators to re-impose hegemonic, Male-Gaze aesthetics and behaviours such as Thailand is increasingly doing without any laws forcing them to make CPs almost exclusively reflect hyper-masculine norms. As a result these compromised, self censored BLs from countries Without Acknowledged Censorship are more reflecting and tolerant of, and hence less challenging to, the societal status quo.

Older TBL for instance was largely among those to be experienced as a distinct Queer Reservoir of Optimism but today instead of challenging hierarchies and hegemony we are by and large, left with accepting, valuing and “giving grace” to inherently destructive ways of being - just as they are. I think that is the principal disconnect and despite such seeming high potential the ending of GelBoys proved to be as much a let-down as the general TBL trajectory. To live up to its transformative potential to viewers a BL must be Counter-Hegemonic in resisting even its own dominant cultures and sub-cultures.

Culture is a product of society. Transgressive cultural outputs must by definition reflect the comparative cultures but also Be in Active Resistance to the Culturally Normative, not simply acquiesce to it, in order for it to be beneficial to viewers’ bottom line and not just to corporate sponsors.

[bossthebicon]

Hey!! As a writer I want to know what's your take on confession scenes. Like best to worst? And personal faves!

hi hi! ooooooh, that's a good question! I'm gonna be honest, I don't think I remember a particularly bad confession lol, I think usually they're either basic & forgettable OR beyond iconic! here's the iconic ones that I literally adore beyond words, though:

SEANWHITE'S ROOFTOP CONFESSION

who is surprised this is the first confession I need to talk about? okay, okay no need to all raise your hand :'))) so one very special thing about not me is that there is no "I love you" or "I like you" said, yet both seanwhite & danyok are the most loving, strongest couples I know. seanwhite are literally the most lovey-dovey couple in existence, 100% written as soulmates, yet their love isn't expressed in the way we usually expect. in that respect, sean's confession on the rooftop which barely feels like one, is literally the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. "this is the goal that keeps me alive. and you are too." BITCH, THIS AIN'T A LOVE CONFESSION, THIS IS SEAN TELLING WHITE HE KEEPS HIM MOTHERFUCKING ALIVE!!! this is it, bruh. no other love scene hits this deep. I'm crying again. bye.

TEH & OH-AEW'S NIGHTLY CONFESSION

oh no, what a surprise that my other all time favorite bl is here too 😲 we were talking about confessions that aren't really one, and this falls in that category too! I just love how effortlessly the scene goes by, without ever saying "I like you", and the way oh-aew confronts teh about him liking him too in a way that is not attacking him but also not ignoring the reality of the feelings that they possess. a beautiful, calming scene that is burned in my heart forever, just like the entire show!

JACKZI'S STAIRS CONFESSION

there are very few scenes that make me cry bc of how heartfelt they are, and this is one of them! the acting is top tier, the writing absolutely beautiful & I cannot imagine this scene being more perfect than it is! it's not even a classic confession bc there's no "I love you" exchanged (very much a pattern for me atp lol), but simply zao zi saying "don't leave" is enough to convey how much these characters care for each other! this scene is beautiful despite it being incredibly sad, in a way that HITS so much bc they essentially have their most innocent, happy go-lucky character completely break down after a betrayal. it's, in my honest opinion, the actual saddest scene of the show bc it's so unexpected & cuts so deep. truly one of my all time favorite bl scenes & an absolutely amazing way to see these characters confirm their feelings for each other.

UNTWO'S MULTIPLE CONFESSIONS

so everyone must know that I'm the untwo queen, and it's truly bc both untwo confessions scenes are literally some of my favorite scenes EVER. the first one is a cinematic masterpiece! un is holding a door as he works on the decor for the student play, and two is the one to confront him about his feelings. this scene feels super raw & uncomfortable bc it truly IS for both characters, and ultimately, un, who wanted to escape from the situation, ends up professing his love for two who interrupts him bc he can't take it. this scene is pure tension & pain, just like I love them lol, and the metaphorical (and physical) door between un & two is an amazing concept for the shot!

the second confession is EVEN MORE ICONIC, though! theory of love is such a good show bc it's literally the best homage to movies I've ever seen, and after breaking things off with both un & linn, two finds a copy of 'the perks of being a wallflower' (a very good movie I love which makes this scene even more powerful imo) which is a movie he lent to p'un and the movie that unites them. realizing he can't let p'un move abroad, in perfect romcom cliche, two rushes to the pier where the last boat to the mainland has left, only for p'un to have already come there to confront two one last time. the scene that ensues is beautifully written, and the sentence "you know the answer" IS MAIN COUPLE IN AN ICONIC ROMCOM WORTHY!!! it hits so hard & is exactly why, despite untwo being only a side ship, they were my favorite ship for 3 years before seanwhite showed up lol.

ALSO kudos to tangmolove's confession where the acting is really good & phunnoh's confession that's so heartfelt!!! lmao this is truly just a list of some of my favorite ships :')

xxx

[save-the-data]

HIStory3: Trapped | S03E06

Taiwanese Drama - 2019, 10 episodes

Episodes | Viki | YouTube | Netflix | WeTV | Tencent | Prime | Catalogue

[gabrielokun]

[stephreviews]

HIStory 3: Trapped

This drama surrounds Tang Yi (Chris Wu), a gang boss who is trying to turn his gang straight after the death of the previous boss 4 years ago, and Meng Shao Fei (Jake Hsu), a cop who is trying to solve the case of the twin murders 4 years ago of the gang boss and his mentor in the police department. Shao Fei has been following Tang Yi around for 4 years trying to get answers, and Tang Yi has kept tight-lipped. What will happen when the two grow closer?

OKAY BUT THIS DRAMA IS THE BEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. I'VE SEEN IT SO MANY TIMES. IT'S MY COMFORT DRAMA 😭

Overall: 100000/10 no one can beat her

Murder mystery? Check.

Birth origin mystery? Double check.

Closed off gangster meets heart-on-his-sleeve policeman? Triple check.

Side couple where assassin falls for adorable sunshine? Quadruple check.

This drama keeps you guessing at every turn, but it also gives you the beautiful, realistic romance you crave. It's so good that I literally cannot compliment it enough. If you don't like it, you're a monster and we can't be friends. Them's the rules. JUST LOOK AT THEM!

[nicolejc]

Chris admitted that Jake smitten him 😍

Of course, we know that 😍❤️