#YEAR IN REVIEW 2024 BL EDITION | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

if-whats-new · 5 days ago

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What's New In IF? Issue 2 (2025)

By Bex, Dion, Briar and Peter

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3

~ EDITORIAL ~

It’s time for a revival!

As you might have noticed, our Column section has been dead for a while. We feel like it’s time to do something about that!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

Send us a message and we will be happy to feature it in our future Issues!

There’s power in numbers!

Are you an IF fan and would like a way to give back to the community? We’re once again looking for new members of our Team!

Do you enjoy keeping up with updates and finding new gems? Maybe you even enjoy working with Google Sheets?

Then our Tracker of News position is made just for you!

BEX, DION, BRIAR AND PETER

~ ANNOUNCEMENTS ~

Most importantly:

WNiIF? is switching to a bi-weekly schedule!

Keeping up with news and releasing a new Issue every week is exhausting. We have decided to change it up a bit, hopefully preventing a possible burnout. We also hope that this will give us more time to make every Issue a bit better.

We thank you for your understanding.

What else?

Our X/Twitter account is no longer active. Please check out our other social media to keep an eye on releases and news.

We plan on releasing a special What’s 2024 in IF? Issue summing up all Issues that came out last year. This will include New Releases, Event Highlights, Columns, Game Highlights and more, making it easier for new readers to check out the Zine. The date of release is not set yet, but hopefully soon!

More exciting stuff is to be unveiled in the upcoming Issues!

~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Queer Vampire Game Jam 2025 ~

🦇 🥀 🕯 🪦 🩸

Queer Vampire Game Jam is a month-long interactive fiction game jam hosted by kit, nyehilism, that will run from January 10 - February 20th, 2025. The goal of this jam is to create more interactive fiction games about queer vampires, focusing both on queer relationships and queer experiences as told through a vampiric narrative.

Last year’s edition had over 50 amazing submissions. Give them a look too!

~ ENDED ~

The Queer Winter Game Jam is in full swing. Those interested can submit their work until January 16th 2025.

~ VOTING ~

Feeling nostalgic about the golden age of text adventures? Relive those days by participating in PunyComp 2024!

IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024). You now have until January 25th 2025 to vote.

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!

ShuffleComp is a musical interactive fiction competition where you make games based on songs, which are submitted by other entrants. Creators have until January 20th 2025 to upload their works.

Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.

The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.

SeedComp! is a 2-round interactive fiction game jam, focusing on creativity and the growth of ideas and the Sprouting Round has just started! Check out the Planting round for inspiration.

BL stands for Boys' Love, a genre that focuses on romantic and emotional relationships between male characters. The Ultimate BL Visual Novel Game Jam is all about that!

Are you a fan of Vampires? Then lucky for you, because the Queer Vampire Game Jam is back!

Sealed With A Kiss Jam 2025 is a fantastical romance jam for all VN lovers!

The eighth annual Ace Jam is a game jam about creating games with asexual spectrum characters.

~ NEW RELEASE ~

Joyride To Hell (Ren’Py) After weeks of not hearing from your girlfriend she called you panicked, wanting to meet up with you. You want nothing more to do with her. But as they say, forgiveness is a virtue.

The Shadow Over Cyberspace (Ren’Py) From the same creators of Arcade Spirits. Time is running out, barter with gods, embrace the deathless aeons, or go offline permanently.

Full moon. Cold night. Dark shadow. Warm gun. The Beast of Glenkildove has stalked Ireland for centuries. Now, you must hunt it in Hunter: The Reckoning — The Beast of Glenkildove (CScript).

In Five Candles in the Meadow (Twine) even in the far flung future, penpals still exist. With a sea of stars between them, two young adults keep correspondence as best they can, with lone data relays acting as their heavenly messengers. @windsoflimbo

As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!

~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~

After Mina Murray is reunited with her childhood friends Jonathan and Lucy Harker, they are all invited on a cruise to Transylvania with a mysterious man named Count Dracula. - Syndromedia's Dracula (Ren’Py)

Rite of Decay (Ren’Py) or, Sense in Self; The testimony of one Nastya V. Yarocz, Rot Physician, on the peculiar happenings at Pavia Manor following the death of honoured Guest Lord Kallistos of Arkhé. And on the even more curious romances she has forged therein.

House of Prestidigitation (CScript) is a school of magic game, a chance for you to pursue a specialty in the magical arts while competing in extra-curricular events, investigating clandestine clubs, and preventing a disastrous curse from carrying away the House before the end of term! You can also explore the strange history of the House itself, or turn your attention towards more romantic endeavours.

What will you do now that you find yourself in the captain’s chair of a starship tasked with exploration and diplomacy? Forge your name in the history of the Astral Alliance as a hero… or a traitor in Captain’s Log - Space Adventure (CScript).

In Time Fall (CScript) — Time does not wait for anyone, even for the one that controls it. Life in the undercity of Draeken, also known as The Depths, is brutal enough. But when an ill-fated encounter leaves you forever altered—your blood itself changed—you’ll soon realize that time is strange, and the thin fabric of reality a fickle thing. Even more so when it’s something you can no longer just witness … but may be forced to control.

Until the Dogs Come Home (CScript) is about war, though you play no part in it. Instead, you are the sole member of your hometown’s postal service, who must venture into fire and brimstone to bring the word of loved ones to the front lines. As the battle rages on and new truths come to light, your seemingly simple job transforms into a rescue mission, where the very lives of the people you were tasked to deliver to are in your hands.

In Velocity's Edge (Twine) as the adrenaline-soaked story unfolds, secrets are unveiled, loyalties are tested, and the pursuit of the checkered flag takes on a life of its own, propelling the characters toward the finish line which is only the beginning of the ultimate race. @velocitysedge-if

In the summer of 1984 you get a letter informing you of your mother's death. The first and only letter you get in ten years since you left your hometown. You stand in the middle of the old, tiny room that you can barely afford to rent and read it over and over again until the buzz at the back of your head quiets down. - There Are No People Left (Twine)

In Bride of Shadows (Twine) step into the tragic and fleeting existence of a Vestal of Dawn—a priestess bound by sacred vows of purity and an unwavering devotion to scripture. But when the sun goddess abandons you, your faith shatters. In your darkest moment, a tempting offer arises. A new covenant. A second chance at life... but at a cost. @bride-of-shadows-if

In Lecture Me Later (Unity) you wake up in a classroom way after your lecture concludes. The person who wakes you up looks familiar. Oh right, it's that one popular guy that everyone likes. With the light of the setting sun on your skin, you engage in conversation with the popular young man, realizing that things are taking a very scandalous turn, and that his interests are far more fascinating than you'd think. @lehxra-arts

~ UPDATES ~

A Shriek of Ash and Fire (CScript) added new content to their demo. @krogpile

Eldritch Tales: Inheritance (CScript) released second portion of Chapter 3. @darielivalyen

Keeper of Life and Death (CSscript) added new content to their demo. @keeperofthesunandmoon

Lightweaver: Chosen (CSscript) updated their demo. @lightweaver-chosen-if

My One and Only (CSscript) added new content to their demo. @reds-corner

Strings of Fate: Origins (CScript) released full Chapter 3.

The Eternal Library (CScript) updated their demo. @leiatalon

The Ultimate Magic Student (CScript) added new content to their demo

Thicker Than (CScript) updated their demo. @barbwritesstuff

Throne of Blood (CScript) released Zero and Cy’s aftermath Chapters. @throneofblood-if

Tri City Monsters (Ren’Py) released Akello Chapter 4. @tricitymonsters

Weeping Gods (CScript) updated their demo. @jcollinswrites

When Life Gives You Lemons (CScript) added new content to their demo. @when-life-gives-you-lemons-if

Chop Shop (CScript) released Episode 4. @losergames

Help! I Got Isekaied as a Lamia (CScript) added new content to the demo @succubus-interactivefiction

Marry My Stalker released Chapter 1.

The King's Hound (Twine) released the second half of Chapter 2. @the-kingshound

Hybrid (Twine) added new content to their demo. @heart-forge

~ OTHER ~

Mathbrush released Learning from the Best of Text [IF History Book], a collection of various historical essays about the history of interactive fiction as told through the lens of IFComp, the XYZZY Awards, and Spring Thing. (We thank Anon for bringing our attention to this release.)

When Winter Comes Again (Definitive Edition) (Ren’Py) is the fully remastered version of the romance visual novel originally released for mobile devices. Now available on PC, this edition brings an enhanced experience with improved visuals, and refined storytelling.

To Ashes You Shall Return (CScript) is looking for beta testers!

Sanguine Sky: Winter Special Collection of the short stories is out! @sanguinesky-if

let’s TEST IF#2: playtesting your game is also out! @golmac

As you might have heard, Dashingdon, a free ChoiceScript game hosting service, will be shutting down at the end of the month. All users and games will be permanently deleted. (Read more here)

If you know about a project that’s moving to an alternative hosting service, please consider updating the link in our Database. Our Team will be working on this in the upcoming weeks, but any help would be appreciated.

As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks. If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!

~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~

We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...

Shoot us an email!

~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Velocity's Edge by Amelia (Twine).

It's the first F1 based interactive fiction I've seen! Its very unique!

//submitted by anon//

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?

An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?

Tell us about it! And it might appear here!

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...

Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!

As we end this issue, we would like to thank:

our anons

For sending us a Highlight and news!!

And as always, huge thanks to all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on last week's issue! What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us!

Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

See you in two weeks!

BEX, DION, BRIAR AND PETER

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2025-ISSUE 2

THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!

Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

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lurkingshan · 14 days ago

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2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@troubled-mind and @my-rose-tinted-glasses brought this back, so here is mine! I can't believe some of this stuff happened this year, it feels like it's been 84 years.

January:

most popular - Deep character analysis of Phaya from The Sign

favorites - The birth of Japanese QL Corner, Breakdown of the Last Twilight finale (siiiigh), love for I Became the Main Role in a BL Drama and Gyeongseong Creature, and this list of some of my fav non-BL jdramas

I was a busy little bee in January! Not surprising, as I tend to hermit at home in the deep winter and do nothing but watch dramas and post too much. JQL Corner became my big project of the year, and I can't believe there wasn't a single week that I didn't have Japanese QL to talk about. I Became the Main and Gyeongseong were both surprise delights that ended up among my favs of the year. I’m still holding my LT grudge, in case anyone had any doubt.

February:

most popular - Praise for Dead Friend Forever's mystery arc

favorites - Appreciation for Love for Love's Sake's ending, every single LITBC book club post that I either wrote or read, my final review of Cooking Crush

The original run for the LITBC book club that @bengiyo and I led! What a great time reading a fantastic book, chatting with besties, and making new friends. I also stand by that praise for DFF's mystery arc--that was the strongest part of the show; the things I took issue with were elsewhere in the story. I have just been thinking I need to rewatch LFLS and this post reminds me why (I remember when it first ended me and @wen-kexing-apologist were like, we're going to watch it again immediately! And then realized we were in no way emotionally prepared for that LMAO). Cooking Crush remains a fav and I may or may not be rewatching right now.

March:

most popular and favorite- An actual love letter to TsukuTabe, my beloved

other favorites - Analysis of Unknown ep 6 aka The Turning Point and big love for Cherry Magic Thailand after the finale

Wow, three of my very favorite shows of the year all happening at once. What a blessed month this was. Also, this is not a specific post, but this is the month when I read Da Ge and then spent weeks with people coming into my DMs to get their own copy of the translation, which was a top fandom experience for me because I met a bunch of new people, some of whom stuck around to talk about Unknown, and it made me feel like an illicit dealer which was very fun.

April:

most popular - Horniest Sex Scenes Ask

favorites - The Trainee Reflection on Adulthood, Happy of the End Review, I Hear the Sunspot Wasted Taichi As a Character

The Trainee was so solid that I wrote about it two months in a row! Unfortunately it coincided with two J-BL losses that I had to mark.

October:

most popular and favorite - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo: We Are So Fucking Back

other favorites - An Apology to The Miracle of Teddy Bear, Love in the Big City Part 1: It’s Gay, Peaceful Property: There’s Nothing Noble About Being Poor

What an incredible month for me! I finished one of the best shows we never got to see properly in 2022, we got a fantastic adaptation of one of the best books I read this year, and Hwang Da Seul came back with an absolute banger.

November:

most popular - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo reaction

favorites - Love in the Big City Part 2: The Weight of Homophobia, Making a Clown of Myself at the Beginning of Your Sky, Ben’s Big BL Blurb 2: Fall is Finally Here, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days: BL is So Good When The Characterization Holds

I feel like I must have had a lot of time to write this month. I still stand by what I said about Blue Canvas at this point, even if the finale threw a lot of this away. I also highlighted my Your Sky post as an example of how exciting the beginning of a new show can be before it veers off and loses steam.

December:

most popular - Ben’s Big BL Blurb 3: Blue Canvas of Youthful Days Blew It, But I Still Recommend It

favorites - Random QL Superlatives 2024, Our Youth: “Don’t Do It At School”

I really love the end of the year posts as a time to reflect on everything we watched. What really stood out for me this year was how much I just let go. I’m glad I’ve watched less, and have stuck with things that compelled me in some way. Hilariously, I think it’s actually lowered my overall average, but my general mood is up because I’m not forcing myself to slog through shows.

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.

#2024 recap #Ben writes #bl series #thai bl #japanese bl #taiwanese bl #filipino bl #korean bl

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blorboresidue · 12 days ago

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2024 Fic in Review

tagged by @larkawolfgirl

Total Number of Fics: 6

Total Wordcount: 11,188

Fandoms: 2, plus an original work that i'm counting for the purposes of this tag game lol

Smut Scenes: 2 (is that really it??? most of my wips are pwps....) i'm not counting 'but it means so much more from your tongue' because nothing Happens, tho it's horny/kinky enough that it might be able to count.

Most Popular Fic (by bookmarks): Overfed (that's the only one of the 6 that has any bookmarks LOL...small fandom life)

Most Popular Fic (by kudos): also Overfed

New things I tried: Overfed was my first original work! aside from that, it was a fun challenge writing the horny Tactics fics because the consent situation is so damn weird in canon already.

Fic I spent the most time on: i think i spent a couple months ruminating on 'but it means so much more from your tongue.' meanwhile the sequel to it i've been working on has been in the shop for 7 months and counting...

Fic I spent the least time on: Overfed. thought it up and posted it same day. Mediocre was a similar timeline, though I don't remember if it was quite that quick.

Favourite thing I wrote: probably 'but it means so much more from your tongue,' even though there are things i'd do differently now i really enjoyed putting haruka through all that lol

Looking Back, Did You Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected? LESS. I had so many plans and an absolute graveyard of wips. plus there was a brief gap between abandoning (temporarily, i hope) my kkm wips and then getting sufficiently unhinged about tactics to write for it.

Story Of Mine Most Under-Appreciated By The Universe, In My Opinion: out of the ones from 2024, i'd say Context. small fandom + no kink tags dooms a fic to obscurity. though it seemed to be a hit with the transgender mutuals, who are the ideal audience anyhow<3

Most Unintentionally Telling Story: 'and they were roommates.' i have no excuse for that one.

Biggest Disappointment: i really would've liked to have finished Strangers. but the ooze came for me. maybe next year!

Biggest Surprise: well it turns out, that weird youkaicentric bl i was into in high school? the one i randomly decided to try reading again? yeah, the characters are all insane about food. i have enough feedism wips for tactics to last me for the next decade.

My Favourite Part Of Fandom This Year:

edit: ***belatedly realized I accidentally skipped this one but it's much funnier to leave it blank than to try and answer it***

Writing goals for next year: finish something with multiple chapters. literally even two chapters. and write more women!

Did you meet last years goal?: NOPE. my only goal was 'show up for yuri duty,' and while i did work on some f/f wips, nothing got finished. i do have my haruyo yuri wip, but last time i looked at it i wasn't happy with it, so i need to figure some things out about it before i can really make progress on it again.

Tagging: @deesarrachi, @cosmiccoincidence, @fivexxxxx, @darkwingdukat, and whoever else wants to do it!

#tag game

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slayerkitty · 1 year ago

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2023 in Review: Meta Edition

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

So I figured, why not?

January/February

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

March

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

April

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

May

No meta this month.

June

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

July

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

August

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

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

September

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

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

October

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

November

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

December

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

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

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

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

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

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waitmyturtles · 2 years ago

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Turtles Catches Up with Old GMMTV: SOTUS Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. First official Old GMMTV Challenge review up: SOTUS.]

[NOTE, March 23, 2024: I want to note, from the future!, that my thoughts on Krist Perawat, his acting, and his career trajectory regarding his personal controversies, have changed quite a bit since the publication of this 2023 post. There is excellent commentary out there about the detrimental impact of fandom behavior on Krist and his reputation over the years that I’ve been influenced by, and his comeback to BL in Be My Favorite was a risk that I supported. I have a lot of nostalgia for SOTUS and SOTUS S now, and their impact on the Thai BL genre since their airings.]

I spent a lot of the weekend wrapping my head around the MANY thoughts I have about SOTUS -- but first, I want to say that the FEEDBACK I received on questions that I posted throughout my watch of the show really heartened me. THANK YOU, THANK YOU (!!!) to EVERYONE who made helpful comments on my posts (here, here, here, here, especially here, and here). All of you helping to set me up for how I understand the historical timeline of the development of BLs in Thailand was absolutely necessary for the lenses in which I ultimately watched the show.

And I think there’s a number of perspectives I ended up adopting over the course of my watch. It might help me to write this piece if I list out those lenses now:

- Lens #1: WHY, OH MY GOD, WHY WAS KRIST CAST IN THIS ROLE - Lens #2: People had to have enjoyed this in 2016 because there was nothing else like it available at the time, despite Krust - Lens #3: Maybe the first two points are related - Lens #4: Singto is reaching remarkable-level here - Lens #5: Maybe all of these points will help me understand why many fans still think of this show fondly, despite the subsequent Krust/KrustSingto drama and possibly questionable points made on sexuality and sexual preferences.

More than anything else, I think it helped me to watch this show while recognizing that I’m an #old. Being early middle-aged (early, I tell ya) helps me, literally everyday, to remember that history guides me to understand the world in which I view it now. So to watch a show from 2016, which is long-ago or not-that-long-ago, depending on your frame of reference, means that I was watching history. And history is.... a reflection of that one, singular moment in time, with the context of past events, people, and places influencing that moment in time.

I went out of order on the Old GMMTV Challenge because I was too eagerly curious about Singto to watch Love Sick first, and wait on SOTUS (as I’m planning to reward myself after this journey with a big old watch party of He’s Coming to Me, running back to my snuggly Ohm/Nanon rabbithole).

But as well, speaking of Bad Buddy: I also felt like I really wanted to get SOTUS under my belt after a number of separate and FABULOUS conversations about how Bad Buddy had purposefully relied on a BL framework (citing @miscellar), and how Aof and his team, plus Nanon and Ohm themselves, had set out essentially to create a critical meta-BL, complete with embedded reflection on BL tropes -- exactly the sorts of tropes that were borne out of SOTUS. (Here and here are two links to said fabulous conversations.)

I probably think about Bad Buddy at least once a day by way of how deeply layered it was a drama, so: to SOTUS I needed to go, to understand the tropes framework that @miscellar and others opined on, and for me to undergo a learning experience about how exactly today’s BLs are influenced by the ones that started the genre in Thailand.

Considering the lenses I listed above, I’ll say this: at the age I was at in 2016, and knowing that, as an Asian, I’ve always had a craving for shows by Asians, set in Asia, within Asian family and social systems, about issues of acceptance and equity felt by Asians: I predict that, save for Krust’s performance, I would have been CRAZY for SOTUS as a new kind of show that I wanted and needed to watch.

During my excellent conversations with the Tumblr family, I came to understand that SOTUS was Thailand’s first true BL. It centered on a same-sex attraction-to-relationship, established various levels of perspectives and commentaries on power dynamics, and set up a number of important tropes -- pink milk, university settings, engineering-as-gay, the gay-for-you motif, side couples and best friends, etc. -- that we then saw and see repeated in subsequent BLs.

Where I was at in 2016 -- I would have eaten it almost all of it up.

Now? Now, I get to see all the problematic factors about it, through the lens of history.

So I want to be fair about the commentary this show receives NOW, because one thing I heard repeated in the feedback I received over the past couple weeks, in part, was about nostalgia. Reflecting particularly on Singto’s performance as Kongpob -- I mean, with a slightly more sophisticated, mature, well-rounded, better-written script, his performance would have been totally groundbreaking.

But I THINK, both from a 2016-lens and from a now-lens, that the script was terribly choppy. I don’t think the script did justice for the risks this show was otherwise willing to take. And I think, again, that’s because SOTUS is a product of its time, where there were no precedents for how to otherwise tell Kong’s story -- and that SOTUS was breaking the ground that the current crop of GMMTV’s screenwriters and directors are now tending. In essence: GMMTV was experimenting with HOW to tell the CENTERED story of a same-sex relationship, and we saw that unfold in SOTUS’s real time.

Besides the choppy script, this show ultimately did not achieve creative groundbreaking status, for me, because of Krist. Not to be hyperbolic, but he’s one of the worst actors I’ve seen in an Asian drama, and I’ve watched some bad KBS daytime shit. If someone tells me that Krust has been great in certain cishet shows, that’s fine, but I’m not running to them (and now I’m SO disappointed about The Jungle, which I was otherwise looking forward to this year). And this feeling is not at all inclusive of his actual problematic homophobic behavior. He was just terrible in SOTUS.

We know and have seen tsundere leads. We all love our biases who have played tsundere leads. The problem with Krust is that he had zero reactivity and chemistry to an excellent Singto, regardless of the script, regardless of his acting methodology, if he had any to begin with.

So I have to think: did GMMTV cast him because, maybe, he was having trouble getting other projects that would have required, say, acting? And GMMTV was like, well, this guy’s under contract, let’s throw him a bone with this experimental show we’re doing, and see how it goes?

I am tending to think that that’s possibly what happened. And maybe, even, GMMTV could not have predicted how FANTASTIC Singto would be -- and, therefore, how wide the divide would have been between their performances. And, how much GMMTV was risking by putting this mismatched pair together for what ultimately was groundbreaking material.

GMMTV couldn’t have predicted the future, right? Hollywood tries with its predictive models, but this was new ground for this company.

Where the choppy script and Krust’s terrible acting really fails the show is, as I mentioned earlier, the issue that I bring up about power dynamics. Krust as Arthit was going to do something in this show that was rare at that moment: Arthit was going to move from a socially majority position to a minority position by falling in love with Kongpob.

That’s a big deal. That happens in two of my most dearest BLs, Old Fashion Cupcake and Cherry Magic, and many others, of course. The Asian collectivist perspective plays huge parts in both shows, unconsciously, that lead to the uke leads considering taking up with their semes. And it happens to Arthit, too. In the Asian collectivist perspective -- you, as a uke, respond empathically, and maybe even try to meet your seme where your seme is at.

I think the only times that I saw Krust at least trying to show up in this show was by way of this power dynamic move, to attempt to respond to Kong/Singto emotionally. There was a little eye contact. There was a little instinctual responsiveness. But otherwise, there was really a lot of dead air and dead space, leveraged by an only-okay soundtrack that left Krust and Singto struggling to act in essential silence, with Krust barely scraping by on attempting to communicate his struggle in his developing attraction to Kong.

I’m just wondering to myself: how much do I blame the actual show itself -- like the script, the director, the writers, etc. -- about how it ended up this way? I think I ultimately have a sympathetic heart about it, again, because of the history, and my betting (based on everything that everyone here on Tumblr has taught me about) that again, this was a kind of experiment for GMMTV, without the company knowing how HUGE KrustSingto would become.

Other points about the show that I want to quickly capture before I wrap up on Kong/Singto:

- The hazing, while concerning, didn’t make me swerve, as it was clear from the start that it was sanctioned by their school. I want to say that this kind of hazing is important to many Asian school social systems, but I know things have changed a ton since I was a kid. As with almost all social and family systems, the hazing, I think, offered another commentary on power dynamics that I think was reflected throughout the show. I thought the hazing was actually an interesting mirror to what Kong and Arthit were struggling with individually, between themselves.

- I LOVED THE SIDE CHARACTERS. M, Wad, Prae, May. They were fun, well-written, and WELL-ACTED.

I want to wrap this up with a reflection on Singto/Kong and his acting vis à vis the script.

Going back to the 2016 moment-in-time frame: I know I would have gone crazy for him seven years ago. Forget about it. Mans totally rose to the occasion of what this show was doing. I think the script ultimately failed to truly capture what he was willing to throw. (And that leads me to not being surprised that he was then subsequently paired with various leads in future shows, probably to try to capture a magic that he clearly demonstrated in SOTUS.)

In particular: I did NOT think the script did Kong justice by keeping the revelation about his budding attraction to Arthit until episode 11 (I *think* it was episode 11, but I could be wrong, and I’m not going back to fact-check, ha). I want to think that that’s one of the (many) kinds of mistakes that GMMTV is correcting for now. The comments about wives, the insistent “you like me”s -- they were non-contextual for much of the show, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE Krust could not catch a damn ball. That’s what ultimately broke me about this show. And I think that demonstrated a lack of fluency about how GMMTV could write scripts on same-sex attraction.

As well, as I wrote in this post -- the post-Arthit-coming-out discussion between Kong and M threw me. M asks Kong -- “do you like men?”

And Kong had SUCH a specific answer. To me, as I wrote previously: his answer was, I definitely don’t like men. I’m definitely not gay. I just like Arthit.

My guess is, for Thailand’s first full-fledged BL in 2016 -- this dialogue HAD to be written this way. To enter into the kind of territory we see NOW, as we saw in Moonlight Chicken -- where we see one man’s (Jim’s) struggle with IDENTIFYING himself as gay, AND presenting another man AS HIS boyfriend -- we had to START somewhere. That somewhere was SOTUS, in almost total opposite territory, where the concept of the admission-of-gay could not be contemplated.

@bengiyo’s comments in the last post I linked above, in particular, collide in part with @absolutebl‘s analysis on the Asian collectivist vision. However, I can’t help but compare this issue, again, to what we recently saw in Moonlight Chicken...where conversations about Jim, about Li Ming, and with Wen, a fully out and identified queer man, all touched upon individual identity.

That’s where we are -- that’s where we CAN be -- now, in 2023, and in the near future. SOTUS was important for me to watch to understand how we ended up here, now, for what was okay and was not okay, in 2016.

It’s okay, now, to appreciate collectivism WHILE ALSO identifying oneself as queer/gay. At least, it’s okay in fantasy BL-land. (Again, I’d peep @bengiyo’s comments about how that may not be reflective of what domestic Thai queer audiences may be feeling about these shows.)

I have a lot more understanding to undertake regarding how Asian queer audiences see this. But at least from the perspective of this first-generation Asian American -- to see the progression of history as the doors slowly open, from dramas to Asian (and other) audiences regarding how one can identify oneself, safely and happily -- that’s a big deal, and I see how SOTUS was a harbinger of things to come.

Singto was simply up to the task to break ground in this show, and it’s such a shame that he was let down, in my opinion, by his co-star. The subsequent history of that pairing breaks my heart, because I think it taints a lot of what SOTUS ended up bringing to the table. I’m glad we have Aof and Bad Buddy, now, to serve in part as a reflection for what SOTUS did, and how BLs and BL tropes could age, be manipulated, and be IMPROVED and developed upon, over the course of time. But the actual history of KrustSingto messes me up a lot in regards to how I might feel nostalgic, myself, for SOTUS, as I learn more about classic BLs.

It’s a confusing mindspace to be in, to move backwards in time to understand how things have developed -- but I gain such a bigger appreciation for the shows I’ve fallen in love with now, over these recent months, for where they came from.

[I want to give HUGE thanks to @absolutebl, @bengiyo, @nieves-de-sugui, @respectthepetty, @miscellar (especially for all the BBS context), @lurkingshan, @wen-kexing-apologist, @shortpplfedup, @clairificusrex, @dribs-and-drabbles, and everyone else who made comments in my SOTUS watch posts. All of you are my historians. More than the fun of writing these reviews is interacting and conversing with the Tumblr fam.]

(Love Sick is on deck. If anyone is following this journey, I’ll be fast-forwarding through the second season, ha -- I can’t commit to 36 lakorn-length episodes. I also have a HUGE and lengthy wedding trip coming up in a couple weeks. So the conclusion of this project will be delayed, but definitely know that I’ll be posting thoughts here and there as I plod through.)

#sotus #sotus the series #sotus meta #sotus the series meta #krist perawat #singto prachaya #kristsingto #turtles catches up with old gmmtv #the old gmmtv challenge

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deadcactuswalking · 3 months ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 12/10/2024 (KSI is in the Thick of It)

For a seventh consecutive week, Sabrina Carpenter holds onto the #1 with the smash hit “Taste”… and otherwise, it’s a weird one. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, references to real murder cases and Prime energy drinks

Rundown

As always, we start this week with our notable dropouts, those being songs that exited the UK Top 75 (which is what I cover) after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. For this episode, we bid adieu to “Big Dawgs” by Hanumankind and Kalmi, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” by Luke Combs, “Yellow” by Coldplay (though, funnily, not because the song is old, more on that later), and finally, the surprisingly long-running “Scared to Start” by Michael Marcagi.

As for our gains and returns… okay, let’s cover re-entries first because there is a bizarre story regarding the middling region of this chart. Firstly, we have some other stragglers returning for unrelated reasons that feel more typical, like “Riptide” by Vance Joy at #75, “Pretty Slowly” by Benson Boone at #71, and “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe taking some virality back all the way up at #34 – the songs so far have peaked at #10, #43 and #2 respectively.

Secondly, we have a bit of a true crime documentary on our hands. Television writer Ryan Murphy has an anthology series on Netflix regarding real crime stories, typically famous murderers, with the most recent September series focusing on the brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez. This Monsters series has proved controversial since the first season focused on Jeffrey Dahmer in questionable ways, but the second edition has faced criticism itself. Variety reports that Erik himself disapproves of the portrayal of his brother, with whom he murdered their parents in 1989. This may explain why a hit parade from the late 80s has exploded onto the higher-middle section of the chart, particularly due to the fact that several songs from famous pop music fraudsters Milli Vanilli have resurged.

I imagine anyone reading this series will know the story of the manufactured pop duo, but for a summary, Frank Farian, who also curated Boney M., had recorded music by session musicians that was promoted by two aspiring entertainers from Europe, him propping them up as the members of the “Milli Vanilli” duo when they did not by and large contribute to the records, especially not the hits, which all came out after their GRAMMYs were awarded to them. Safe to say they were revoked, and when they were caught lip-syncing to a looped track, their career collapsed and one half, Rob, sadly passed a few years after. The other member, Fab, has stayed long enough in the public eye for the music made under the controversial moniker to have maybe not critical acclaim but a public interest that is much more sympathetic to the two as victims of industry bullshit than the public was back in the 90s. This reappraisal of the story led to a documentary, a biopic and a completely unrelated true crime drama is the final push, it seems.

From 1988 to 1990 – their stardom really only lasted around two years before it all came crashing down – they had six hits in the UK, the first of which is perhaps their most famous because of how involved it was in their downfall. It’s “Girl You Know it’s True”, which peaked at #3 and bizarrely is not charting this week as you may expect – it’s definitely my favourite and an iconic hit of theirs… well, maybe not “theirs”. Instead, we have “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” (sometimes listed without the “Girl” at the start) back at #40, which thanks to error, the Official Charts Company is recognising as a new song. The song originally peaked at #2 for three weeks in 1989, being just pipped at the post by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers’ “That’s What I Like” because, yes, pop music has always been kind of a joke, and the late 80s exemplify that the best, and then “All Around the World” by Lisa Stansfield. Meanwhile, “Blame it on the Rain” actually reaches a new peak as it returns to #47 – yes, really, it only made it to #52 in 1989. My fun fact that I want to add is that the duo guest-starred – right before the scandal – in the Super Mario Bros. 3 tie-in cartoon, where they serve as Wendy Koopa’s favourite band. Subsequent airings took their songs out but had the animations retained, meaning that they mouthed along to instrumentals… which may be the funniest way to accidentally reference the fact they were, in essence, voiceless in their own music.

Now this series hasn’t just boosted those two poor saps, not that I can imagine Fab takes home any royalties from it. In fact, the highest track re-entering apart from “Prada” is by Oceanic rock icons Crowded House, whose massive hit “Don’t Dream it’s Over”, a #1 in their partial home of New Zealand and a #2 Stateside, is back at #37. It first reached the top 40 in 1987, a year after release, peaking at #27 in the UK, whilst The Firm’s “Star Trekkin’” was #1. Like I said, the late 80s were an often comical era for popular music, but I should say that this was replaced by the Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s a Sin” the week after. Crowded House weren’t done, however: they would have a series of hit singles and albums, and singer Paul Young took his 1991 cover of their initial hit to #20, whilst U2’s “The Fly” was #1. A development of clout for the original did reach a point where Crowded House released a greatest-hits compilation in 1996 and with it came a remixed single. I initially could not figure out why there was a 1996 re-release, but from finding a confused Steve Hoffman Music Forums user who had posted about owning the remixed single, I discovered that Spike Stent had remixed the track to justify a re-release that did peak higher at #25, whilst Robson & Jerome were #1 with “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted”. Meanwhile, in 1999, Lou Bega’s iconic “Mambo No. 5” was at the top during the week wherein a rework simply titled “Don’t Dream” by Irish band Dove debuted and peaked at #37. Personally, the first version will always be the classic for me, I definitely prefer it to the mostly dull Milli Vanilli tracks, and I am aware none of these will last, but it’s a fun story, right?

Backstory aside, and sheesh, a lot of backstory it was, we also have some normal gains, those being “I Only Smoke When I Drink” by nimino at #61, “Who” by Jimin at #31, “Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae at #15, “I Love You, I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams at #11, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez at #6, and of course, thanks to the new Coldplay albums, “WE PRAY” with what may as well be 2024’s version of Band Aid is at #20 and “feelslikeimfallinginlove” is at #18, we’ll discuss more about Moon Music later.

Now for the top five, that should be more familiar: Sabrina’s at #5 and #4 with “Please Please Please” and “Espresso”, “Die with a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars has reached #3, Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” still stalls out at #2 and Ms. Carpenter of course reigns at #1.

New Entries

#74 – “N o C h i l l” – PARTYNEXTDOOR

Produced by Nonstop da Hitman, Alex Lustig and Bass Charity

Back in my day, the only things stylized like that were vaporwave edits of Bart Simpson. Drake protégé and fellow Canadian crooner PARTYNEXTDOOR has been active since the early 2010s in alternative R&B, with this being a sleeper hit from his most recent record, his fourth self-titled album that gathered more buzz for its anally penetrative album cover than its music. This is becoming a genuine Bubbling Under hit though so there must be something in the music to make the backshots worth it, surely? Well, no, this is pretty much your bog-standard PARTYNEXTDOOR song. His imperfect, fumbled Auto-Tuned warble would be potentially fun over a more organic instrumental, but layering him over a sea of pitch-shifted stray vocal blips and pads, alongside a trap slab that stifles any momentum, makes these R&B slow jams more like slogs than anything sensual. It also influenced PARTY to leave a lot of empty space for whatever reason, when the song’s instrumental, apart from some admittedly nice string inflections back in the unbefitting mix, and especially its content, mostly just about how he treats his girl to materialistic items, does not warrant much contemplation. He comes to a sturdier flow in the second verse, but when the song’s main conceit is the dumb joke that ever since PND got his girlfriend that “ice”, she’s had “no chill”… no, I can’t take anything here as intended, and especially not a spoken word outro that sounds like a phone call from his partner but reflects on absolutely none of the song’s content, or anything actually interesting either! I haven’t been able to take PARTY seriously since “Ratchet Happy Birthday” anyway, but this is not exactly helping matters.

#52 – “You Go Your Way” – Perrie

Produced by Alfie Russel and Joy Anonymous

At least it’s not a riff on the Fleetwood Mac classic of a similar title. Former Little Mixer Perrie Edwards has her third solo track out, after the underperformance of “Tears” which I personally really enjoyed, and whilst the sound of this track, which really becomes a fuzz in the mix thanks to too many elements in the chorus, gives me even less idea of where her solo sound will be, it does show that perhaps she doesn’t have much of an idea either. This is a cover of EDM duo Joy Anonymous’ “JOY (Get Over Me)”, with the abrupt, jerky chorus and dated production being inherited nearly entirely from that track, and whilst I like the bassline, the busy drums and barely decipherable flush of instruments in the chorus make this a real head-scratcher in the mixing department. The song could probably double as a song about not just being cautiously willing to depart from her ex-boyfriend, but also one regarding the Little Mix breakup and inevitable reunion, and whilst Edwards is clearly a capable vocalist, there really just isn’t much space, often quite literally, for her to work with, and absolutely not anything of lyrical interest, outside of the nervousness in the content fitting into the awkward, staccato feel of many of the song’s inflections, which is a cool touch, also present in the original, that does pair up with the detail in “Tears” as well. Sadly, Edwards’ vocals get somewhat crushed and treated not particularly well in the mix, with a really overwhelming chorus full of belting and overlapping vocal riffs that ends up just being straight-up hard to listen to. Perhaps a fine song in another context, but this anthemic single loses me primarily in production and final touches, which might just be the worst place to lose me as it makes the potential even clearer.

#43 – “ALL MY LOVE” – Coldplay

Produced by Bill Rahko, Daniel Green, Max Martin, ILYA, Oscar Holter and Michael Ilbert

It should be no surprise to anyone that Moon Music, the latest output from British cultural landmarks and possibly still regarded as a rock band, Coldplay, has sold over 200,000 copies and planted itself immediately at #1 on the albums chart. I did listen to the record, and it was of intrigue to me what would end up charting, since they really picked the only obvious singles as the singles… and this is largely an ambient album in its approach: tracks are purposefully unimpactful and feathery, atmospheric and sometimes lengthy and multi-part pseudo-epics that intend to reach bliss and serenity instead of functioning as hit songs or anthems like they’ve gone for at least once in their albums prior. I suppose that’s what “WE PRAY” is for this record, but “ALL MY LOVE” is a piano ballad about the undefeatable love Chris Martin shares with his partner: they can go through anything, they’ll still have his unconditional love. It’s a strong devotion for such a light, softening breeze of a ballad, which was initially teased as a piano solo improvised after a failed stage invasion during a live performance of an unrelated track. Now, I’ve said before that I really enjoy Ghost Stories and Coldplay’s lighter, less bombastic and arena-ready side, which did lead me to finding this album comforting, including this track, though “AETERNA”, “JUPiTER”, “GOOD FEELiNGS” with Ayra Starr and the one with the rainbow emoji as the title were my personal favourites. That doesn’t rule out “ALL MY LOVE” however as it is still a cute track. The backing vocals from H.E.R. are a nice touch to make the love feel requited, giving Martin’s typically solemn and warbly tone a bed of soothing comfort that decorates much of the album, and whilst the chorus is structured and sung almost as if it were a standard, the delicate guitar and really immaculately-mixed string orchestra swell place this thoroughly in their post-Britpop specialty. They even go for a slow burn like always, though it reflects less on the song’s overwhelming emotion than it does just on acceptance that love is beautiful and weathers many a storm that nature couldn’t. Call me old and sappy, but that’s sometimes nice to hear, and Coldplay are well within their mode in their later career to sell that, and quite blissfully. There’s a live version on the “Full Moon” deluxe edition, and a quirky lyric video, but other than that, I’m unsure to whether it’s being pushed as a single so far – it would be a damn good choice because adult contemporary radio would be all over something like this, and for good reason. It’s really pleasant, and if you want a good night’s sleep, I recommend spinning the album back to front.

#14 – “Thick of It” – KSI featuring Trippie Redd

Produced by Ray Michael Djan Jr.

The wonderful thing about YouTubers making music is that you really could go in wild and interesting directions. It’s a form of outsider music, really: giving entertainers famous for other talents and unique personalities the budget and access to recording equipment and materials could really lead to some interesting songs, especially given the subject matter could relate to their personality and/or content, the music could reflect their own probably diverse taste, and even if the end product isn’t great, it would still reflect their unique character. KSI hasn’t done that since “Lamborghini”. In what I can only presume is an effort to be taken more seriously, English YouTuber KSI of the “Sidemen”, also known as JJ, has been making pop-friendly fluff for years, nearly all of which I’ve covered in some form on this show. I like the song he made with Craig David, I suppose, but he will forever be the guy who said on a charting single that he’s “hella horny like a rhino watching porn”.

I have looked into this single specifically because there is discourse and criticism surrounding it, particularly with his food and drink collaborations with other YouTube scandal magnets like Logan Paul and Mr. Beast, that has led to more of an outrage marketing tactic: be everywhere, promote this song, and be really annoying about it, it’s clearly enough of a strategy to get to the top 20. Hell, it may be a strategy I prefer from JJ since it at least inflects the meme into his music in a way that could be at least fun or easily seen as novelty instead of the admirably sincere moves made into the industry from him and his celebrity guest stars for what is now half a decade. With that said, I don’t think this one goes for either approach: in fact, it finds quite an awkward middle ground.

Ignoring the fact that the video contains a massive Prime bottle frozen in an ice cube – yes, really – I cannot fully tell if this is a joke song or genuine attempt at pop stardom. There would be a boyish charm to his inept vocals if not for how egregiously layered and multi-tracked they are to sound like a Lil Nas X caricature, there would be some laughs to the Flo Rida-level lyrics if he didn’t deliver references to his own energy drink brand with a straight face. There would be some fun to find in the guitar-tinged drill beat not dissimilar to, say, 24kGoldn, if it wasn’t so smothered in the mix by a rumbling bass competing with overly trinketized drums and quadrupled vocal takes. The verses are so short, rendering the song primarily as a hook machine, and yes, it is catchy, but the lyrics don’t merit that or stick in your head as anything but sound: consider what he’s actually saying – if you don’t know anything about ice, how do you have bling? What does “They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze” really mean? What brag is that, JJ? That your biggest fans are in the Alps? Once you commit so much to the jewellery-as-ice metaphor, you start to make zero sense. I will give credit to the fact that Trippie Redd delivers here, as whilst they have collaborated prior, and Trippie does anything for a check – ask MGK – he has some genuine grit to his whiny bellowing that lets him get away with the backing “Woo!” ad-libs and the actually okay content in his short verse, which is performed partially in an accent that reminds you that, yes, Trippie Redd really is from Ohio. In fact, he saves the song for me, even if there is some irony in that he dismisses his foes as “cold” when that’s the song’s main conceit.

With all that said, it does not matter. The song is listenable and catchy enough to work as meme fodder, it has a high-budget music video and big-name guest star that will attract investors, and it still is, despite all its flaws, somewhat entertaining, and completely kid-friendly. “Thick of It” really isn’t an awful song – it’s just KSI’s first step into becoming an ITV game show host. When you’re not taken seriously as an actor, singer or boxer, and he doesn’t even seem to want to be particularly, light entertainment may just be the way out of YouTuber purgatory for our guy here. Or get Craig David back. That’d be fun.

Conclusion

Best of the Week goes to Coldplay for “ALL MY LOVE”, which isn’t great but outside of some elements of Perrie’s, may be the only new entry worth defending. As far as the worst, I suppose it is “N o C h i l l” by PARTYNEXTDOOR. KSI’s song really is far from as bad as it’s painted out to be. As for what’s on the horizon, I think the UK Singles Chart will look completely different, but it’ll also still be the charts. Oh, and The Kid LAROI. For now, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #trippie redd #ksi #thick of it #partynextdoor #perrie edwards #you go your way #coldplay #moon music era #all my love #monsters: the lyle and erik menendez story #milli vanilli

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