#MY FAVORITE BL SHIP AT GMMTV

[bl-bam-beyond-extra-blbambeyond]

PONDPHUWIN aka

NARAVIT LERTRATKOSUM

[Nickname: POND]

with acting partner and special friend

PHUWIN TANGSAKYUEN

@pose4photoml

[gunsatthaphan]

how it started // how it's going

[coffeebookslovegt]

Él es mi novio, sólo me tiene a mí.

[heretherebedork]

How many times has a drunk Kawi kissed Piseang in the past decade of their lives? How many times has he accepted the gift on the anniversary of the confession after another drunk kiss that gives him an out, another chance to not act and another chance to hurt Piseang with the spark of hope he can't get past. How many times has Max witnessed Piseang's heart break again and again to the point that he doesn't know what else to do? How many times has Kawi gotten drunk just to kiss Piseang only to deny it all the morning after before drowning himself in more alcohol to make that part of his world keep turning?

(How many times has Max comforted Piseang, been a rock for him, been the one person who understands him and understands Kawi and how many times has he tried to apologize for Kawi only to know he can't?)

[respectthepetty]

12 Anticipated Thai BLs for 2025

As usual, I'm excited for ALL the GLs (Cranium, Only You, 3 Minutes 2 Love, Reverse with You, Buy My Boss, Let's Kick this Love, No Romeo, and so many more!), but I'm making my annual list of the BLs I'm excited for this year with brief reasons why I'm looking forward to them, and it includes some I've previously mentioned in my GMMTV 2025 Hot Tops. However, I must first look back at my 2024 list and see if those BLs were worth my anticipation:

The Next Prince - I still haven't gotten it, so 2025 better be the year!

Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart - Great! Amazing! Loved it!

Spare Me Your Mercy - We don't talk about her.

Wandee Goodday - I have my issues, but it was a fun ride. *wink*

Choco Milk Shake 2 - The production team said it was never planned, you know, like a liar.

Time of Fever - Beautiful! Astounding! I NEED MORE!

My Doctor/Mr. Doctor - I'm probably never getting it. I need a moment to collect myself.

Live in Love - I was only showing up for the colors, and it delivered them plus a lot more crazy nonsense.

Red Peafowl - It was all a lie, and apparently we are never getting it.

Love Upon a Time - I don't want to talk about what happened, but I better get it this year!

Love Puzzle - Probably not getting it, and I'm not okay about it.

Peaceful Property - Fantastic! Divine! Best thing I watched this year!

Sunset x Vibes - I showed up for MosBank, and I got MosBank, so I was thrilled!

The Heart Killers - I'm having the time of my life!

Bonus: Your Dear Daddy - WHERE IS MY MAN FLUKE?! GIVE HIM TO ME RIGHT NOW!

Now time for this year's list!

Honorable Mention: MosBank & JoongDunk

I will show up every year excited about the same thing — my ships! I'm getting Joong and Dunk in Dare You to Death if they don't get divorced before then, and I'm getting Mos and Bank in Be My (Soul)Mate if they aren't busy planning a wedding by then. I know JoongDunk's piece is about murders and making out which are two of my favorite things, but I don't even know what the plot is for MosBank's series because all I know is it isn't Big Dragon 2, but it doesn't matter anyway since I'm always happy to see my favorites!

A Dog and a Plane

2024 came for my throat and my heart with some really heavy shows, and in comparison to the rest of this list, I'm banking on this show to be my one bright spot in 2025. I need at least one show to make me laugh while it's ripping out my heart, and I think this is the show for the job.

Goddess Bless You From Death

This show scares me, and it might give me nightmares, but it involves murders and making out, so I'm effing with los espookys for this one. Y'all can have Khemjira though. I ain't that brave.

My Sweetheart Jom

Saint, in a BL again. That's it. That's the reason.

Memoir of Rati

I expect only happy endings from GMMTV, but I'm worried about this one's ending, yet I must see what happens. It has history, politics, and class dynamics, so as much as I'm happy to see Great, Inn, Aou, and Boom in this, I'm also very nervous.

Love Carved in the Moonlight

It seemed like poly was a possibility, which I know is a lie, but also, this looked beautiful, and I'm not just referring to the men. It's another period piece, so I might just be in for a Thai history lesson in 2025.

I'm the Most Beautiful Count

People are upset that the pilot trailer seemed to make light of the source material, but I have faith this adaptation will do justice to the webtoon and give us a leading man worth fighting for.

Interminable

I sense a lengthy series brewing from Idol Factory for this one, so I think we might not see it until later this year or 2026, but I also think it will be worth the wait since there's no way Billy and Babe won't make me teary-eyed with a plot like this.

Ticket to Heaven

It involves Catholicism; therefore, it will hurt me. However, as a Catholic, the Church has instilled in me that if it isn't painful, then it isn't good for me, so if the show makes me cry every episode, I think the Church would approve.

Knock Out

It's Gym Bros BL adjacent meaning men will be in a gym, half-naked, and working out, which is good enough for me! Also, they're color coded, so who am I to deny small blessings?

The Wicked Game

We are getting two GLs and a BL about bodyguards falling in love with their clients, but just like all the vampire series we were supposed to get in 2024 yet only got two, I'm wondering who will be first and how they will turn out. I think all of them will be great, but I am especially looking forward to Daou getting bruised up for love.

Love of Silom

Up and Poom were a surprise for me in 2024 with My Stand-In, so from what I know about the plot dealing with a cop and a single dad, I think they will do just as great with their second series as they did with the first. I am patently waiting to be in my feels again because of them.

Me & Who

I need to watch Big kiss men like I need air. I need to watch Big gently place his hand on another man's neck like I need water. I need this show. Now.

Bonus: Mandate

Did anyone watch 2012's Political Animals with Sebastain Stan who played TJ Hammond, the bisexual son of the former President of the United States and the current Secretary of State, who had a secret affair with an older married and closeted US Senator?

Anyone? No?

Well, can I get something similar, Thailand? Is that too much to ask? I don't know, but I'm going to ask for it anyway! Let me have it! Give me what I deserve.

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

Hey bestie, dropping by with a mea culpa. When Peaceful Property started, you expressed concern that GMMTV was inching toward a model of using bl pairs in shows that would avoid being explicitly gay but still draw on shipping fandom to be successful. Coming off The Trainee, which was not a bl but did have expIicitly queer characters and romance subplots, I wasn't sure the intentions were quite that dark for PP, but having now finished it and seen the way some in the production have interacted with shipper fans, I have to call it: you were right to be concerned. At no point was this show ever a bl and none of its principal characters are canonically queer, but they successfully leveraged the TayNew ship to have fans interacting with it as if it was in fact a gay love story, that idea and fan commentary was explicitly encouraged by the creators, and the show has been quite successful despite never actually delivering on all the TayNew bait. I'm definitely concerned that we might have somehow swung back around to queerbaiting being seen as acceptable and good, as long as it features popular branded pairs. I don't have any bigger thoughts to offer about how this should be addressed, but just wanted to come back and say you were valid for naming that!

Thank you. I didn't want to be correct. And I am still hoping to wrong about what this says about where GMMTV is going.

But I am not gonna lie, seeing the posts about the finale did regnite the massive fury I had at this project when it was first called a bromance. So I am going to use your ask as an opportunity to vent.

FOR THE RECORD: I am not mad at you, or at the people and mutual on my dash that have enjoyed the show and are claiming as gay out of spite. My anger is at GMMTV and at GMMTV alone.

THEY DID THIS SHIT TWICE ALREADY!!! Back to fucking back.

I know High Schoool Frenemy is being watched by like 5 people on tumblr. But it's doing well outside of tumblr. They are using bl style fanservice with the 2 main boys of that show. I have seen the shippy content and compilations along with the other bl couples. Not to mention people like Jojo saying those characters are the his new favorite ship on twitter.

AND I AM SO PISSED!!!!

I am glad you brought up TayNew because there is no doubt in my mind that they used TayNew for Peaceful Property as a test. They knew there could be backlash. They knew the bl fandom could have rioted. But they also knew that if it that rage would have been directed at TayNew not at the director, not the company but TAYNEW.

And I think TayNew knew this. Because they spend weeks on social media doing preintive damage control, I have seen the posts of them (or at least New) saying it wasn't going to be romantic. I don't think the two of them forgot how they were left to eat the shit alone over the bullshit backlash during the TayGun kiss situation with GMMTV doing fuck all for them.

And what pisses me off is that BL audience didn't even give a backlash. They eat that shit up like it was fucking icecream.

The BL audience is literally doing their job for them. They are taking a show with some gay subtext and running with it.

They are showing up for the fanservice (again broder audience outside of tumblr), and gleefully closing their eyes and ears and saying well I Think It's Gay.

What do you think Mega Corporation GMMTV is going to take from the success and no backlash? If the answear is anything but: We can produce half of the BLs as usual and make the rest Bromances, you have more faith in corporations then I do.

Because Bromances can be watched by non BL audiences as well. The BL niche is a big one, but it is still a niche.

And now they won't even have to bother inserting arguable quality gay commentary or struggles or homophobia. Or any gay kissing, no more workshops. No more worries about how effective these potential straight boys are going to be at playing gay. All they have to do is making them do fanservice, and they are great at training people for that. Or better yet, actually use one or two ships that have kissed before and done actual BLs.

Will they stop doing BL at all, obviously not, you gotta give the BL audience something to remind them they can still show boys kissing, and we have the Ex Morning and Jojo that will never actually stop making BLs and some gay shit. But if in the next line up we will more bromances, and eventually we get half BL and half bromances I wouldn't be surprised.

Of course maybe I am just pessimistic and cynical. Maybe the proto bdsm in the heart killers is enough to persuade people that I am totally wrong. I guess we will see about that.

Thanks again for the ask and the oppurtunity to vent a little. Again I don't fault anyone for enjoying this, it was design to get the BL audience watching.

I will personally be keeping with my own resolution and never watch another gmmtv show live ever again, maybe binge the few that sound interesting and that's it.

At least I can find comfort in the idea that that other companies do not have the same level of BIG cast of boys and big budget to do the same thing and follow in the bromance trend.

[hallowpen]

I know you said you're not talking about it anymore but I would like to invoke my special privilege of being your most favorite mutual who has suffered for you creating sh weapon references until visions of runes replaced my very thoughts

What is it that distinguishes general shipping culture from Thai-specific shipping culture? Because you mention Thai shipping culture a lot, and while I know there is a difference I can't seem to put into words what that difference is. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but like, under the umbrella of QL in Thailand, what part of it is culture and what part of it is marketing? Like the presenting of a "ship" as a "product" part.

Listen you... (Only because it's YOU asking... but be aware: You cannot pull this 'fave moot' card for the rest of our tumblr interactions. You had one shot! And you've now used it hehe)

So let's sort of break down the Thai QL marketing strategy, as you've put it: You have the 'production' and then you have the 'fandom/engagement' side of that production.

Production Marketing Branded Pairing - the production companies are going make a QL series and then present you with the leads as an easily 'shippable' pair. In Thailand, we refer to these ships as คู่จิ้น or 'imaginary couples' (จิ้น is pronounced as "jin" like imaGINE... cute no? hehe) These pairs are the product... the draw to attract viewers/fans. It's more common for branded pairs to stay working together once they've developed a comfortable relationship with one another. However, this can lead to some stagnancy within their working relationship and the types of roles they are offered. Companies like GMMtv, in my opinion, go a little overboard in this aspect. The logos and mascots are cute, but they're firmly cementing the fact that these pairs will never star opposite someone else in a BL production once they're established as a brand. It's very limiting for the actors involved and the fans who crave varied content... because at some point it all starts to feel very same. But again, that's just my feeling. It does work very well in some instances. And as long as production companies are gaining revenue, I don't really see that changing anytime soon.

Fanservice - the pairs' job is to sell the product: attract brand deals and increase fan engagement. The best way to do that for QL is to play up the fantasy (at a level that both individuals involved are comfortable with). They're going to pretend and have fun with their fans with a little back-and-forth. At this point in the conversation it's important to note that in the early days of fanservice, and even still, there was a lot of cultural nuance involved in order for businesses and potential viewers to be more accepting of mlm relationships which were heavily featured in the series that were being promoted. There's also discussion about whether or not the proco's allow their pairs any say in the level of fanservice they must perform. For the most part, it seems that they do... but that's not always the case.

Production Engagement Shipping - the viewers and fans are the 'consumers'. They essentially buy the 'product' the companies are selling, with both financial support and through their engagement. Now... in Thailand, as fans of these pairs, we are very aware of what is being sold to us. This is what I refer to as 'Thai shipping culture'. It's part of the 'game', for lack of a better word. We tease and we joke and we partake in the shipping... but at the end of the day, we know it's not real. Our support doesn't have any strings attached and isn't based in contingencies. We support the actors because we like the content they are providing for us. It's as simple as that. It's equal parts unfortunate and heartbreaking that this culture has been lost in newer fandom (from Thailand specifically). But it's important for interfans to understand, as well, that fanservice and shipping are not forms of queerbaiting. No one is trying to trick anybody... it's all very laid out in plain sight. And if you're buying too much into the fantasy, that's a YOU problem.

I don't really know how else to end this, other than to say what I always say, which is:

Please re-evaluate what it means to be a "fan" of someone. You are no more entitled to an artist's time or attention because you paid for it. You did that because you wanted to; you wanted to SUPPORT them. This doesn't give you any right to dictate their life; you cannot claim ownership over them. They are NOT your property. So if you truly "support" them, just let them be themselves...and love them all the more for it! The only thing misplaced anger/hate accomplishes is to create an environment where artists no longer feel comfortable interacting with their fans altogether, out of fear that every little thing they do or say will be misjudged.

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine "Genre BLs," Along With a Critical Take on Branded Ships

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I take a look at my very first GMMTV series that I ever watched, The Eclipse, to examine its prowess as a "genre" BL, and to take a critical stab at the branded ship model vis à vis a successful narrative.]

HELLO. Due to BIG SUMMER LIFE (!!!) (WOW -- work trips, work changes, new projects, the regular family stuff, so much travel!), I've been a couple months delayed on getting some words down on my recent rewatch of The Eclipse for my Old GMMTV Challenge project, but I'm glad to take some time now to talk about this show.

I'm at a point in the project where my syllabus (pasted at the bottom of this post) will take me into the territory of many shows that I've already watched since starting my Thai BL journey in the fall of 2022, shows that I watched while they were airing, such as Moonlight Chicken, Bed Friend, Be My Favorite, and others. (I will be offering short, non-rewatch notes on some of these shows as I go along in the chronology.) The Eclipse is one of these.

I wanted to specifically give The Eclipse a full rewatch for a couple of reasons, the biggest one being very personal, in that The Eclipse was my very first ever-EVER GMMTV series (!!!). And, the only Thai BL I had watched, in the late summer and fall of 2022, prior to The Eclipse was KinnPorsche.

So! At the time of my watching The Eclipse in 2022, I had nooooo idea who First Kanaphan or Khaotung Thanawat were; I didn't know about the existence of branded ships in Thai BLs yet; I didn't know about the prevalence and regularity of side couples in Thai BLs, as VegasPete had been my first exposure to that; I didn't effing know about the fabulousity that is Neo Trai, none of it.

I simply just watched the show on the recommendation of a dear mutual. And, fuck, man, I totally had expected WAY more salacious material in The Eclipse coming off of KinnPorsche! At first, I was like, Thailand is WILDIN', and then it was just the GMMTV-PG FirstKhao smooches, which was fine, they were great, ha! I wasn't disappointed, but lmao, that was my mindset and understanding of my very brief introduction to Thai BLs at that very moment -- I thought it was all guns and butts and mafiosos and pool sex.

Besides rewatching The Eclipse with my now-very-experienced Thai BL glasses on to fix ALL of those past assumptions, I also wanted to rewatch the show in the understanding that filmmaker and former politician, Golf Tanwarin (the first transgender member of parliament in Thailand's House of Representatives) was addressing homophobia and leveraging their screenplay to talk about themes of stifling conformation in Thai society vis à vis the fictional environment of the Suppalo boys school. I want to demarcate this moment as an important one: at this point of my syllabus, the late summer and fall of 2022, the Thai BL landscape exists still mostly within the no-homophobia bubble, with only a handful of shows (He's Coming To Me, Secret Crush On You, etc.) stepping out of that bubble to grab the theme of homophobia and really wrangle with it frontally by way of familial and social acceptance.

However, I have to admit something as I write this review. During this recent rewatch, I had the benefit not just of my past historical chronological viewing of old shows behind me to judge The Eclipse's success as a show and as a messenger of deeper themes past straightforward romance; but I also had the benefit of foresight into the future, seeing how First and Khao served as a branded couple again in Only Friends, a series that, I believe, flopped in its narrative end due to the show prioritizing happy endings for its branded couples, rather than taking the time and the risks to break the branded ships up (or, at least, rock their foundations) to offer sophisticated social commentary on casual sex, as the initial marketing for Only Friends had initially promised.

In other words, I had critical glasses on for FirstKhao's performance, not necessarily for the actors themselves (well, kinda, lemme be for real), but I also wanted to understand better how The Eclipse centered THEM as an IT, a tangible IT, the branded ship, either against and/or vis à vis Golf's underlying critical messaging on social conformity and homophobia.

Unfortunately, through that critical lens, what I gained out of this rewatch of The Eclipse is a confirmed judgement that the common Thai BL structure of very much CENTERING a branded ship, especially emanating out of GMMTV, the central home for branded ships in Thailand, will almost CERTAINLY render a show attempting to make higher messages a weaker one in the end.

I found myself FULLY enjoying The Eclipse out of the FirstKhao sequences. When I first watched The Eclipse in 2022, I was a Thua hater, and I engaged for the very first time with @respectthepetty and others on subsequent defenses of Thua's outing of Akk and Ayan in the context of Akk and Ayan acting like loose-cannon-dillholes themselves. (This was a fabulous intro to my engaging with others on Tumblr, by the way, and I remember this discourse fondly!)

This time around, with the blessing of hindsight, I fully appreciated Louis Thanawin's FANTASTIC performance at the end of the series, as an overly frustrated and overwhelmed student wrangling with his sexuality, his attraction to Kan, and watching Kan's own struggles with his own sexuality, along with dealing with an overbearing stepfather -- and all of that happening while he was watching the hypocrisy of Akk slowly warming to Ayan, while Akk simultaneously punished The World Remembers gang. Louis, as Thua, fucking nailed it, and was an utter cutie at the end with Kan (including in Our Skyy 2, swoon). And forget about Neo Trai: Neo as Kan was one of the best performances I've seen of Neo's, as a student struggling literally to the second to manage his outward displays of automatic attraction to Thua for the sake of maintaining a façade of "order" for the Suppalo environment.

How does all of this impact my thoughts on FirstKhao as a branded ship, and AkkAyan as a fictional couple in The Eclipse?

There was so much great commentary on mental health, on social pressures and conformity, and on the reliance of history to contextualize and engage in suppression, in this show. The show hit hard and impactfully on these themes. As I just mentioned, the story of Thua was a welcome inclusion of the various ways in which homophobia impacted the Suppalo environment on micro- and macro-levels. The story of Dika is also gutting, and I appreciated The Eclipse for never turning an eye away from Ayan's continued suffering at losing his uncle so traumatically. (I also understand that there was quite a lot of conservative protest against The Eclipse in Thailand, and that the show being shortened by two episodes may have been related to this, along with the show airing during ongoing student protests.)

Unfortunately, I believe The Eclipse tripped on itself when it stepped away from these themes to move to more lighthearted moments with AkkAyan. I think the centering of this ship led to a number of key unfulfilled narrative moments, including a key factual skip later in the series, when Ayan indicates to Akk that Akk had made a promise to reveal his work against The World Remembers, a promise that did not have prior reference in earlier episodes.

This isn't to say that a budding couple can't have sweet moments. And we saw a tremendous amount of trauma coming from both Akk and Ayan, with Ayan's ongoing anger at Suppalo, and Akk's fear of rejection for his and his family's financial state, leading him to embody Suppalo's culture of suppression for the sake of his own survival at the school. These very-deeply messed-up fictional boys absolutely deserved and needed love.

But I found myself taking the most notes on this show when I felt the tones of previous scenes of protest, trauma, or attack were juxtaposed against getting Akk and Ayan together for a subsequent scene, especially later in the series, when their flirtation continued to grow. I felt this particularly during the outdoor Twitter scene in the bleachers, when Akk and Ayan were using tweets as a means of finding out who was running the counterprotest Twitter account, which was placed right after a particularly brutal attack against The World Remembers. I needed to flip my emotional attention back to a practiced GMMTV routine of watching a ship continue to warm up to each other for memorable and meme-able moments, and I found that juxtaposition jarring.

As opposed to Not Me, GMMTV's first "genre" BL that played with a sandbox outside of romance, The Eclipse was on steadier feet. While Not Me really tried to play around de-centering a shipped pair in OffGun, it truly stumbled in rushing back to inject romance throughout the storyline, particularly with DanYok taking up unexpected and discordant room (ACAB, YOK). And outside of GMMTV, we've seen many "genre" BLs actually work really well, most notably to that point in 2022, the crime-driven Manner of Death (MaxTul, my beloved), which balanced a developing romance with a legitimately interesting and unwinding mystery, all with a sharp and solid screenplay that didn't stray from its intended purpose. (Maybe I'm getting my hopes up too soon, but we're seeing "genre" BL doing well right now with 4 Minutes, and GMMTV has another, riskier, "genre" BL coming up in its crime-driven series, Kidnap.)

GMMTV, however, demands something economically from its shows, a sellable final product that can be transmogrified into fan meetings, branded items, and most of all, enduring and memorable legacies for the branded ships that center most of its BLs. At the time of The Eclipse's airing, both First and Khao had been previously paired with others (First with Gawin Caskey in Not Me; Khao with Podd Suphakorn in Tonhon Chonlotee), and the sao wais had been eagerly awaiting the debut of FirstKhao, and were fed nicely.

I can't say, quantifiably, if the majority of the global Thai BL fandom, or even the majority of the GMMTV fandom, are sao wais who only watch GMMTV shows for branded ships and guaranteed happy endings between shipped actors that only partner with the same person over and over again. I also believe that at this moment in time (in 2024), that we may be seeing differences in preferences emanating from fandoms based in Thailand, China, elsewhere in Asia, and globally, particularly in Europe and North and South America, between fans that will willingly support branded ships through very bad narrative shows, versus fans that prefer well-scripted shows above all else.

I think, after the economic earthquake that was the airing of 2gether in 2020, that GMMTV made a hard-turn decision to prioritize series that centered repeating branded ships above all other kinds of investment in other shows, including excellent screenplays.

I say this not to bemoan the opportunity for Thai filmmakers to have economic success. If these shows are making coin for Thai creatives -- maybe even the kind of coin that will allow these creatives to have more artistic freedom in their futures -- then I cannot begrudge that at all, and I wish these artists economic success.

But from a critical viewpoint of artistically narrative success, I'd argue that the last truly great narrative show of GMMTV's portfolio is 2021-22's Bad Buddy, featuring a branded ship in OhmNanon that I'm sure the network wanted to use again, one that both Nanon Korapat and Ohm Pawat knew they didn't want to repeat. Since then, while we've had a small amount of storytelling gems out of GMMTV like Moonlight Chicken, Cherry Magic Thailand, and Cooking Crush, most of what's come out of that studio has been mediocre for the past few years, with some aching stumbles having been had in shows like 23.5, Wandee Goodday, and My Love Mix-Up Thailand, which is airing now.

A major complaint across social media right now about My Love Mix-Up Thailand, centering Gemini Norawit and Fourth Nattawat, is that the show rushes to create meme-able moments between them, which is more in line with GMMTV's bottom line of engagement first. My Love Mix-Up/Kieta Hatsukoi is an utterly beloved Japanese manga and dorama. While G4 fans are drumming up the level of social media engagement that GMMTV judges "success" on, many other general BL fans have been left disappointed by the show's pulling back from honoring certain moments of hilarity and connection with the original Japanese source material (how could Fourth NOT go into the trash can?!).

I posit that it was 2gether's 2020 airing that encouraged GMMTV to make the pivot from investing in well-crafted screenplays, and taking risks to split ships up -- as the network did with Tay Tawan in 2019's 3 Will Be Free -- to center the branded ships.

And I think 2022's The Eclipse is an excellent example of the result of this decision-making: that while The Eclipse's core ideas within its screenplay were admirable, and much of the acting and romance outside of the branded ship were great to watch, that the show's needing to leave the central path of the narrative central story to spotlight the FirstKhao ship to create engagement-worthy moments ultimately took power away from the show and its message.

Only Friends -- a late-2023 show that initially marketed itself on breaking up ships and celebrating casual sex -- came back around in the end to scold any of us fans that wanted to see the ships sink. The dynamic between First and Khao in Only Friends was incredibly similar to their dynamic in The Eclipse: First acting as a tough-guy character who couldn't help being simp-ly swept away by an overpowering character played by Khao. I'm afraid the same will be repeated again in Jojo Tichakorn's next show, The Heart Killers, and I'd like to be proven wrong there, but.

It's incredible for me to reflect on what I know now about The Eclipse, and how this otherwise-excellent show was, in my eyes, economically impacted by the casting decision to prioritize a branded ship over the narrative cohesiveness of a screenplay. GMMTV has only committed even more to this path since The Eclipse's airing.

For the sake of excellent actors like First, and especially Khao: I hope they can have the future opportunity to spread their wings and act with other actors (as the very extreme majority of actors in entertainment get to enjoy), to shake off the economic prioritizing of branded ships in order to access better screenplays and stories. They deserve it, as hard-working creatives, and I'll certainly support them outside of the branded ship model, one that I believe is showing artistic wear and tear as more branded ship shows keep narratively sinking.

[Alright! So, where am I on the OGMMTV list? I've actually already finished the next show on my list, GAP The Series, this summer, and I hope I can pen that review in short order to get this series back on some kind of timely track.

HOWEVER, HEH HEH, that's actually going to be a bit difficult for me as, per the recommendation of a couple of BL elders, I am backtracking chronologically and tackling 2022's The Miracle of Teddy Bear, Thailand's first queer primetime, broadcast channel-level lakorn, which consists of 16 90-minute episodes, which, woof. Despite its hefty length, I am terribly excited to watch a show (a lakorn, EEEE!) out of the usual Thai BL bubble, one that I understand has been potentially misunderstood and/or mis-marketed to BL fandoms over the years. For the sake of its primetime airing alone, it holds an important place on the OGMMTVC syllabus. And I can't wait to take a crack at a Thai major channel's first attempt to make queer content and BL-genre-influenced content a primetime offering.

This means that, once again, My School President has been held at a delay, but I will get to MSP soon, I SWEAR! (And....oops. I'm thiiiiiinking that I might watch My Love Mix-Up after MSP at literal warp speed, literally 1.5x, to do another piece on branded ships vis à vis G4 and Au Kornprom in 2022 vs. 2024. We'll see. I may not wanna do that to myself, but... but! For science?!?! Maybe.)

Here's the updated OGMMTVC syllabus for your perusal. ONWARDS!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here)

21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here)

31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: preamble here, part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) (review here) 35) The Miracle of Teddy Bear (2022) (watching) 36) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here)  37) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist (part 1 and part 2) 38) Honorable Mention: War of Y (2022) (for the sake of an attempt to provide meta BL commentary within a BL in the modern BL era), with a complementary watch of Aam Anusorn’s documentary, BL: Broken Fantasy (2020) (thoughts here) 39) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 40) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine "Genre BLs," Along With a Critical Take on Branded Ships

41) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) (review coming) 42) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 43) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 44) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 45) La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 46) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 47) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 48) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 49) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 50) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew)

51) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 52) Dead Friend Forever (2024) (thoughts here) 53) 23.5 (2024) (GMMTV’s first GL) (thoughts here)]

[lurkingshan]

New as a director/writer has always been hit or miss (mostly miss) for me. In terms of Gmmtv directors, I personally like Jojo the best. His shows have a unique style, vision and clear queer voice that I like. Of course I haven’t loved all his narrative choices but he always has something to say and pulls excellent performances out of actors (which is usually the sign of good acting coach or director, sometimes both)

Aof also goes without saying as one of the best directors that Gmmtv has to offer. (IMO)

All of that considered, seeing that we are talking about Gmmtv being the biggest company, their current line up of bl shows still seem so safe to me. You would think with all that money coming in they can afford to hire new directors and writers and take more risks once in awhile. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I don't think there's a single Thai bl director who doesn't have some big whiffs on their record. New has made a lot of stuff I don't like, but also several classics like Make it Right, Until We Meet Again, and My Only 12%. Jojo and Aof have made some of my all-time favorite Thai shows including Gay OK Bangkok, The Warp Effect, and Bad Buddy, but they also burned me deeply on Only Friends and Last Twilight. I used to think Golf had really interesting ideas, but having seen more of their work and learned more about the source material for The Eclipse, I am not so confident about their shows anymore. Still, these are important queer creators in the Thai bl space and I will always pay attention to what they're doing.

But yes, I do think as @twig-tea laid out in her post, there is a worrying trend toward churning out ship content rather than creating compelling stories. GMMTV is a large media company and their goal is profit, full stop. They have learned that fans will eat up their shows regardless of quality of story as long as there are popular branded pairs in the mix, so what motivation do they really have to drive for higher quality storytelling? If they can produce 16 hours of branded pair fluff with no coherent story arc, put it behind a paywall on a niche streaming service, and still have it be one of the most popular shows of the year, why do they need to strive for more?

I will continue to show up for the handful of shows in their line-up each year that actually have something to say, in the hopes that they won't stop making them entirely. It's really all we can do as individual consumers to communicate that we still want good queer stories.

[fiddleyoumust]

Top 10 QLs of 2024

My Stand-In

I love a deranged character, and Ming delivered that in spades. This could have been a story about revenge, but I liked it better for being a story about learning from your mistakes and granting second chances. Ming was still deranged, but at least he learned that Joe deserved to be treated better, and Joe learned to demand it.

Unknown

Listen. Me🤝Taiwan = shipping brothers. In all seriousness, though, this show was beautiful. The love and care these three siblings have for each other was so wonderful. It felt like being invited into their home, and I was a very satisfied guest.

We Are

I can't be objective or normal about this show. Every complaint I've seen about it fell on my deaf ears. This is my family. Phum and Peem are my parents even though they are half my age. These friends and their love stories made my 2024 brighter and filled me with so much joy that I will take them with me in my pocket wherever I go, and pull them out when I'm feeling lonely so I can remember, I'm not alone.

4 Minutes

This show probably won't age well, but watching it week to week as it was airing was an incredible experience. Thinking about, theorizing, and yelling on Tumblr about it ate up 8 weeks of my life, and I loved every minute of it. The acting was aces, particularly Fuaiz, who really dug his claws into his character, Tonkla, and stole every scene he was in.

Let Free The Curse Of Taekwondo

Korea, my beloved! There is something about the repressive culture of Korea that really gets me in their BL. For a people who keep it very demure, very mindful, adding a layer by piling on angst around sexuality hurts in the best way. LFTCOT embodied that feeling perfectly. It was the sweetest ache. A hurt so good.

Takara No Vidro

I'm not going to lie. Part of what made me even finish this post is this show. I haven't seen it on many lists, and it was my favorite from Japan this year. Watching Takara's obsessive love for Taishan slowly reveal itself was a true pleasure. Takara's subtle yearning, his repression, his holding back as a punishment for wanting too much, and his fear of becoming a monster in love were so, so delicious. I thought Iwase Yoji portrayed him beautifully, and I loved every minute of this delightful little show.

I Saw You In My Dream

WeTV knocked it out of the park this year, but this one was my favorite of their offerings. All of their shows had couples with great communication, really good examples of enthusiastic consent, and really wonderful depictions of friendships and friends groups being supportive and as important as romantic love in their character's lives. ISYIMD gave me four boys who were part brothers, part friends, and part something more. Their love stories were held back by fear - fear of losing the love and relationships they already had for and with each other. Ai's premonition dreams are the catalyst that makes it possible for him and Yu to finally realize their feelings for each other. I love a genuine friends to lovers story, and this one was beautiful.

The Only One

I don't mind an open ending or a story left unfinished, so this show didn't leave me feeling disappointed the way it did some others. I still hope we get a S2 and the conclusion of Jiang Tian and Sheng Wang's love story, but even if this is all I ever get, I'm satisfied. Again, I'm a sucker for complicated love, so two boys falling in love despite their parents also being romantically involved was always going to get me. Watching them navigate their growing attachment to each other, their fear and anticipation at finding a kindred spirit, and then realizing they want each other in an impossible way was the most delicious angst.

Cherry Magic TH

The original Cherry Magic is a BL cornerstone, so imagine my surprise when I walked away from this show feeling like Thailand outdid the original. And GMMTV Thailand at that! Tay and New have great chemistry, but it's their familiarity with one another, and their obvious love and care for each other that I think really made this adaptation shine. Karan was the best green flag, and it was a joy watching him get all the love and devotion he deserved from Achi. Achi's journey of self-discovery and self-love was beautiful, too. It was an absolute joy watching these two fall in love.

Love Sick 2024

Full disclosure, I never watched the original Love Sick, and I probably never will. What I loved about this show was its perfect depiction of teen angst. These kids were all hormonal messes -- navigating parental expectations, sexuality crises, crushes, and academic pressures. They really were love sick with all the angst and melodrama that entails. Not a single one of them knew how to talk to each other. Their insecurities were bigger than Texas, and their lack of communication was often frustrating, but all of that just made everything more realistic. These were children, navigating love the way children often do -- badly 😂. I loved that the show cast actual kiddos (no one in the cast is over 19), and all of them were phenomenal. I can't wait to see more from them in the future, but especially Almond, who played one of the main leads, Phun. He's an excellent little actor, and I'm excited to follow his career in the future.

[namtanlovesfilm]

a ranking & summary of my thoughts on gmmtv 2025

overall this was by far the best lineup from gmmtv! I would honestly watch pretty much all the shows presented, although there are some clear favorites :)

burnout syndrome: y'all ALREADY KNOW!!! of course we all wanted a darker series for offgun's new show, but... I NEVER EXPECTED IT TO BE DIRECTED BY P'NUCHIE!!! this is so so so iconic considering I just finished my master thesis on the political art of not me, and here is p'nuchie creating a new offgun show with gun as an artist & off as his nude muse???? HELL YES. I'm obsessed with this & so intrigued bc the trailer divulged very little so I AM SAT!!! can't wait for my new roman empire <3

ticket to heaven: I almost cried watching this trailer, it really brought all of my religious trauma to the surface lmao. no but more seriously, if written & directed correctly, this has the opportunity to enter my top 10 favorite thai dramas (no pressure or anything.) the trailer gave me a very indie feel à la ITSAY (who everyone knows I adore) crossed with the difficult queer longing of your name engraved herein. in summary, it has the potential to be everything I love & extremely heartwrenching. I'M SAT.

girl rules: the sapphic friend zone/only friends???? all I can say is YES!!! having both my crushes namtan & milk in this really does something to me, this looks messy & absolutely PERFECT!!! us sapphics deserve this kind of messy representation too lol, I love it!

whale store xoxo: a cute sapphic adult romcom is EXACTLY what I love! I also like the more lower class background of the show, and the side ship looks very cute (although my viewjune heart hurts lol) also piploy liking milk's character only convinces me further I need a kapookpiploy main gl for 2026!!!

only friends 2: y'all know I'm an only friends HATER... but of course I'll watch this just for jossgawin, they are my everything apart from offgun & namtanfilm and I'm excited to see them in this kind of role, especially gawin!

my romance scammer: this looks so fun!!! very lakorn-y plot, I'm so excited for fluke jeeratch in this as I've loved him since his first role in my ride :)

a dog & a plane: this looks SO fun & cute! I also love marcpoon so this is an automatic yes! also tay with tattoos let's gooooo!!!

that summer: that looks very cute, and mond in a bl ship playing an uncle??? of course I'm fully signed up lol

head 2 head: enemies to lovers??? sign me up, always!!! also I do really enjoy seakeen, they're very cute :)

cat for cash: this looks very cute, the first firstkhao show to entice me since the eclipse! of course you can't go wrong with cats lol, but this looks like a nice healing family drama which I always enjoy! will give it a try!

me and thee: this looks quite fun, although it seems to be the same old pondphuwin dynamic of pond always concealing his real intentions lol. but I love the over-the-top nature of it all & I'll definitely give this a try!

boys in love: I have a soft spot for high school romances, and this looked quite cute! I also really enjoyed chokun's acting in my love mix-up TH, and OF COURSE I WILL BE WATCHING FOR PODDPAPANG MY NEW FAVE SHIP!!!

dare you to death: this is the first joongdunk show that actually seems enticing to me. I like the cluedo vibes & will watch for the ensemble cast bc I love them sm!

my magic prophecy: this is the first jimmysea show that actually entices me, which, if you haven't noticed, is a pattern with this lineup! might watch it!

mu-te-luv: this was quite a chaotic trailer, but lego, neo, yacht & fluke playing a queen gang was everything I didn't know I needed LMAO. will probably give it a try!

melody of secrets: this left me incredibly confused, but at the same time this seems interesting & quite different from other gmmtv shows. I'll give it a try!

love you teacher: I think it's an interesting plot, but I'm quite scared they're gonna make it weird with santa's character being mentally 7 years old while perth sees him as his adult lover. I feel like there's a high chance there's gonna be something weird in this, especially since the trailer even aknowledges that this feels more like a bl fantasy kinda plot, so yeah... I will reserve judgement until further notice.

wu: y'all know I'm the first to defend non-bl thai dramas and say to give them a chance, but... if this was gay I would watch this. however it seems like a bromance cash grab kinda queerbaiting skynani fans & it makes me feel a bit icky. but frankly the plot seems interesting, I just feel like gmmtv is exploiting people shipping these two without actually committing to it so I don't love it...

I love a lot of you: nanon looks incredible in this & this looks fun but a little basic. I might watch, though!

memoir of rati: I always feel like I can't say this without getting unfair criticism, but seeing inn speak literal nonsensical french that even google translate would do better PHYSICALLY HURT ME. idk gmmtv's obsession with french, I get that this is historically accurate, but... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can they start actually hiring actors that speak french for these roles??? this is really bad, also no shade but certain plastic surgery faces just don't look like they could belong in 1915... that feels mean to say but it's true. frankly I would've eaten this up if it was any other ship & actually someone who can speak french, but... I might give it a shot for my babies aouboom who seem really good in this... I'm so divided & frustrated by this, UGH.

[absolutebl]

Hi, I recently discovered BL and have been very interested in reading about it. And even if I don't agree with every one of your takes, you seem very knowledgeable, so I've been reading your blog on and off since yesterday.

Anyway, I was curious about your opinion on The Shipper, but I looked at the tags, and it seems like you didn't watch it. May I ask why? I get it's not quite BL, instead being BL adjacent, but I think it's one of GMMTV's best productions, so I'm really curious about what made you avoid it.

The Shipper

I did end up watching some of it (which in me terms means I skipped through it to the BL bits and then watched the last few eps to find out how they landed the damn ship).

Ultimately, I simply don't consider The Shipper BL. I try to stay on target with this blog. So while I may watch other QL, GL, Kdramas, survivor shows, Kpop thingies, and so forth, 90% of the time I stick to BL here.

Other more personal reasons?

I also hugely dislike shipping culture. Too close to stalker and parasocial relationships. It's not something I was ever into, even as a teen. Taking on reality with fanfic wigs me tf out. I have close friends who have had stalker issues both as "normal" people and as the quasi-famous.

It's one of the reasons I rarely report on actor news or relationships or drama here. Unless it directly impacts production, it's none of my damn business. If I did so, this could probubly become a much bigger blog, but also a much more toxic one. I do this for fun, not profit.

The branding of pairs interests me intellectually, from a marketing and publicity perspective, but nothing beyond that.

You may note, if you delve further into this blog, that I lurch hard away from JBL in particular when it dabbles in idolatry, sasang, and stalker behaviors (unless it's playing in the dirt with them, like My Beautiful Man did). Even if done gently and comedically, I tend to get switched off from the whole show. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a trigger, but I am viscerally upset by it, not entertained.

IMHO BL is for entertainment first. The only thing worse than being upset by a show is being bored with it.

The way Thai BL represents female shippers in particular, especially in the context of a BL (which tend to have very few positively represented women on the main), often smacks of misogyny and punching down humor. I simply don't enjoy that. Feminist critical theory from my uni days always bubbles up in my head and won't be put aside.

And finally... I pretty much loathe the body swap trope. It is probably one of my least favorite fiction tropes. I have no idea why, I just really don't like it.

I make an exception for Great Men Academy but even that I have only watch once with no plans for a rewatch, and it's another one that I would hesitate to call BL.

Still, if you love The Shipper I would HIGHLY recommend tracking down Great Men Academy, I think you would find it well worth your time.

[gunsatthaphan]

✌🏻✨ ~ 2023 wrap-up ~ ✨✌🏻

another year gone, another post no one asked for djkghdf

I normally don't talk about personal stuff on here but like in the previous year I wanted do a little recap and give shoutouts to some lovely people 🧡

It hasn't been an easy year for me, I started a new job which has been stressful and annihilated my work-life balance which resulted in me being sick a lot & just being stressed for most of the year lol. I barely found time to maintain this blog which may not seem like it on the outside since I somehow managed to frequently post but it's been difficult. I know I don't have to be online 24/7 but the fear of slipping into irrelevancy due to lack of content remains. I didn't have much time to watch bls & asian shows in general which I still consider my safe space and escapism so I'm resentful that I didn't get to fully take in and enjoy the things I'm passionate about and make content about them like I did in the previous years. That being said thank god for all the weekend shows that I did manage to watch and fully focus on like Only Friends and now Cooking Crush and Cherry Magic. Those have been life savers lol and also thank god for all the talented creators who gave us tons of content; I will mention some of them below.

But aside from my personal schedule and despite not watching a lot of stuff, I still tried to keep an eye on what's going on in the BL world for my monthly breakdowns, which I still enjoy making and I will likely continue them in 2024. I also came to the conclusion that 2023 ended up being another rendition of quantity > quality in the BL-verse so not much has changed lol - not that I expected it to. We got a wild and extended mix of different genres and subgenres this year which was nice to see. We saw companies & actors experimenting a lot (with varying results), we got new ships, new fandoms and new enemies, as well as a variety of comebacks and retirements. My watchlist this year was limited to Thai BLs and my blog mostly consisted of gmmtv related content and like I said, if I had had more time I probably would have explored more different shows - but I eventually resorted to what's familiar. I guess I needed an anchor in midst of all my personal chaos lol.

But despite my short list, there were a few gems that I enjoyed. The big ones like Only Friends, Moonlight Chicken, Be My Favorite, etc., and the small, less popular ones like Be Mine Superstar, Mission Fan Possible and a few more. I enjoyed talking to friends & making content about them in the limited timeframes I had. My opinions mostly matched those of the general public but unfortunately there were a few disappointments that were bathing in a success that I could not wrap my head around - Dangerous Romance and A Boss and a Babe being at the top of that list, followed by La Pluie and also a few of the lakorns I watched. But anyway.

Anyone who knows me knows my blog has been 83% FirstKhao this year lmao, they're my favorite people in this industry and watching them act, interact & making content about them has been one of my highlights. I'm excited to see what 2024 brings for them and even if it's not a series, I'm looking forward to seeing what else they will be up to 🥺 🐈‍⬛ 🐈

I'm going into 2024 with mixed feelings but above all I hope I will get the chance to expand my watchlist a little. I will post a personal top10 of the shows I watched this year shortly; until then I want to talk a bit about some lovely people this year - I’m not good with words lmao but thank you for being you and making this hellsite a better place 🥹 lol.

@leonpob - bestie!!! 🧡 our BL opinions have drifted apart this year lmao but who's to say friendships are solely based on mutual opinions. You're the best, stay the way you are and here's to another year of sharing thoughts and hopefully finding more shows to watch together (no matter if trash or not lol) 😉😘  @mayalunas - ahhhh I loved talking to you sooo so much this year, we agree on so many things that I'm convinced we share the same BL braincells lmao. You're one of my favorite people on this website, thank you for being such a good listener and a positive & supportive person to talk to 🥺 I hope you have the best 2024!!! ily!!! 🧡 @khunvegas - GURL idk where you went this year or if you still exist sdjkds but just know I haven't forgotten about you and I miss our talks 🥺 come back pls thank. @my-wandering-rabbit - I love our random out-of-context talks once a month lmao, I appreciate you and I hope we will continue our ritual of me watching shows and you asking me questions without watching them kjsdhg @bl-recs-and-reviews - Bestie!!! I love our catch-ups on Discord, you were one of the first people I ever talked to like 4 years ago? crazy. look at us. I still love you, you're the sweetest and I love talking to you 🧡🥺 @dreamedofyou - ahh I absolutely love your blog!!! I noticed you a lot in my notifications this year so I wanted to say thank you so much for interacting with my unhinged content (mostly FK related lmao) - We haven't talked a ton but I think of you as a very nice person and I hope we can talk more next year 🥹🫶🏻

and then of course some more shoutouts go out to all the wonderful and talented creators out there; I will never be able to tag all of you so sorry in advance but here are a few that I appreciate, some of which have also mentioned me in their wrap-up posts so thank you for that!!!

@taeminie @seatawinan @loveisactivated @forcebook @jimmysea @guzhu-furen @daymork @itsallaboutbl @seatawinans @blneobin @blmpfff @wanderlust-in-my-soul @pranpat @milkpansa @raypakorn @ahxu-laowen @forcebookish @forcebookcorner @morkofday @chinzillas @seajimmy @dimpledpran @i-got-the-feels @bengiyo @benkaaoi @25shadesoffebruary @moonkhao @smittenskitten @respectthepetty @earthfluuke @pharawee @khaotunq @khaotunqs @pranink @gabrielokun @piningintrovert @zhaozi @markpakin @firstkanaphans @firstforkhao @khaotungsfirst @wen-kexing-apologist @firstkpp @firstmix @bunnakit @khaothanawat @alienwlw @ffirstkhao (I can't tag the last 4 for some reason..)

have the best 2024!!!

🧡🧡🧡

[coffeebookslovegt]

-Me gusta alguien más.

-¿Ah?¿Quién te gusta?

-Lo siento. Yo solo... durante los últimos 10 años... ¿no has sentido nada en absoluto por mí?

[heretherebedork]

Max is just this tired queer man who has adopted a baby queer under his wing and is doing his best to be patient and understanding while also trying to live his life.

(Him slinging the 'are we already friends?' at Piseang the same way Kawi did but so differently, with a different meaning and a different reaction, you can see the friendships that were and are and how they came to be, the slow ones and the fast ones, the compassion that brings and brought them together.)

The amount I ship Piseang and Max is absurd. I love them. I love both of them, these compassionate men who have somehow found it in themselves to willingly be friends with Kawi despite him being himself at them all the time.

I love these compassionate characters who show they care and are open about caring and don't hesitate to call people they care about out on what they say and do. Neither Piseang nor Max apologizes for when they care or how they care, they simply care and continue to care.

[bengiyo]

top 5 unpopular bl opinions??? no pressure lol

Wedding Plan is good and the most queer narrative MAME has ever made, and the first BL to have lesbians that are critical to the story, and I suspect folks didn't like watching a self-actualized assured uke. We should really examine what it means for this genre that we pick on MAME for exploring the lines between taboo, boundary crossing, and romance with queer characters, and the fact that her one project that responded to all of our criticism may have flopped.

I prefer my shows to be more serious and queer. I tend to like the shows about characters who Knew who they were. I like when there is a recognizable queerness to them that lets me know they were othered. Some of my favorite shows as a result are Eternal Yesterday, 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us, Until We Meet Again, I Told Sunset About You and I Promised You The Moon, What Did You Eat Yesterday?, La Pluie, The Day I Loved You, etc.

KinnPorsche is beautiful and fun, but honestly a goddamn mess. It's also incomplete. I find it hard to talk about this show because people had a great time with it and pulled some incredible analysis out of it, but it's kind of disjointed and will never be complete, so it's low on my lists.

Shipping makes the shows worse, not better. I really hate the heavy breathing going on over Only Friends. I cannot go into the tag because all the hand-wringing over whether a ship is intact drives me insane. I'm here for compelling narrative, not fap material. I hate how effective it is at getting y'all to buy merch and follow socials.

GMMTV is the Disney of BL. Because of their YouTube strategy, everyone is aware of them, and they're usually people's path into the genre. However, it seems like a lot of folks stop here. Maybe it's the paywalls and the fact that you have to join fan spaces to learn about a lot more of the shows, but it's kind of insane reading posts and talking to people who have basically only watched Thai BL, and specifically GMMTV BL. I'm from the era of hunting down gay film based on the rumor that a film existed. Queer media and cinema is an international experience. I trully cannot fathom identifying as an enjoyer of queer content in the modern era and then ONLY engaging with content from a single country let alone a single company. We are queer. Why would we ever allow a single corporation to dictate our tastes? That's not punk at all.