#christianity in bl

[ineffable-opinions]

"Western religion" *Laughs in nasrani* But, this is interesting. What's with Be On Cloud and Mary? I thought seemingly random Marian imagery in KinnPorsche was to invoke innocence, initiation rites, and involvement in crime as with the Sicilian mafia, the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta and the Neapolitan camorra. But then Color Rush season 1 showed "The Virgin in Prayer" to discuss blue (ultramarine and lapis lazuli), iirc.

We had lots of fun referring to Mary in BL: "BL പരമ്പര മാതാവ് " - a wordplay on പരമ്പര which also means series. *Giggles in Suriyani Malayalam*

Now, I am curious about catholicism and Christianity in general in Thailand. And colonialism in Thailand. I mean, even though they didn't have Western colonialism, they faced Japanese imperialism. Thailand also underwent "Westernization". Plus, Thaification - which is an ongoing process (I don't know if it is fair to call that "colonialism").

On today's "I am SO not normal about Dead Friend Forever": Discussing Catholicism and Colonization in this gay Thai slasher series

Some background on me: I am from a Latine Catholic family. Raised as a non-practicing Catholic (we didn't go to church or pray). Then my parents enrolled me in a Catholic school that I attended from 5th grade to the end of 7th grade. Today, I am not Catholic and have never really considered myself as such.

Ok, so in the flashback episodes of DFF, I have been noticing a lot of things. My findings under the cut.

Let's start with this crucifix and photo of the Virgin Mary and a baby Jesus.

Screenshot from ep. 5.

The camera lingers here a bit so we're obviously meant to pay attention to the phrase. I put the screenshot through Google translate's image translator and the translation it gave me was, "Think good, do good, be a good person." I didn't think much of it when I first watched the episode other than it was supposed to establish that the boys attend a Christian or Catholic school.

But then there was this image posted on Be On Cloud's Instagram (also from ep. 5): X

Zooming in, we can see there's another picture of Mary in the background. Watching the classroom scenes, it's easy to miss because the series itself is more washed out than the official photos posted. But this emphasis on Mary led me to believe the school is a Catholic one. So out of curiosity, I looked up the schools the writers and directors attended because I felt I was onto something here. And boy, was I!

Source: MDL

Ma-Deaw, if you didn't know, is one of the directors of Dead Friend Forever (he also directed Manner of Death and Inhuman Kiss , and lots of other things).

One Google search later (X) and I learned "Montfort College" is a Catholic school. It started out as a primary school that later added a secondary school as well.

Now let's take a closer look at some of the details of this school:

First, the school's motto "Labor Conquers All Things". This reminded me of the phone conversation Tee had with his uncle:

On my first watch, this sounded familiar to me but I couldn't really place why. It wasn't until I saw this other Tumblr post (X) that pointed out it's similar to a bible quote from the New Testament. The quote varies a bit depending on which version of the bible you're using but it's along the lines of, "He who does not work, neither shall he eat".

This is meant to discourage "laziness". Nevermind the fact that people deserve to eat simply because we get hungry and need food to survive. The idea that we only "deserve" things based on productivity is an extremely colonial one. — Reminder also that Tee is being forced into this "work" in the first place. He's just a high school kid. I don't need to like his character to understand how fucked up his situation is.

Then there's the patron of the school. St. Louis de Montfort was a French Catholic priest most known for his study in Mariology. What is Mariology (X)? The study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I didn't know that was a thing but it's unsurprising considering how prominent images of Mary were in my own religious upbringing. And she's what started me down this rabbit hole in the first place. Mary is a big deal to the Catholics. I'm going to be paying even more attention now if more Mary imagery pops up.

The Garden of Eden and Original Sin

Now I want to draw attention to these images:

Screenshots from ep. 7

Here we have Non and Phee biting into an apple as they leisure around this lush green field. We know they've visited this location more than once because they're wearing different outfits in the screenshots. And I think it's important to note that it's Phee holding the apple and offering it to Non.

The use of the word "bait" in the bts of ep. 7 is quite interesting too. (X)

The Garden of Eden was the paradise in which Adam and Eve resided. In this garden, there were many trees to eat from. The one tree Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to eat from was the Tree of Knowledge. A serpent (Satan), first tempted Eve into taking from the tree to eat it's fruit. And then Eve gave the fruit to Adam. That is Original Sin. And because Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, all humans thereafter are born sinful and bad, and can only find salvation through God.

Of course in the scene between Phee and Non, the sin the apple represents is being gay. And it's after this, and after the bracelet scene, that Non becomes involved with Por's film and his tragedy begins.

Zoomed in screenshot from ep. 5

And I wonder if the bracelet scene is the last time Phee and Non visit this forest location. It would parallel how Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden once they sinned.

Final Thoughts

You give me a story that criticizes Western religion and how it's used as a tool for oppression and colonization, and I'm gonna eat that shit up. I am gonna eat it up. Every. Single. Time.

I really wasn't expecting anything like this from Dead Friend Forever. This level in attention to detail is unmatched. I don't think I've watched a more well planned out show. And no matter where DFF goes from here, these seven episodes will always hold a special place in my heart. 💗

[heretherebedork]

He took off his cross before he confessed. @respectthepetty He took off his cross before he confessed. Oh, this sunshine is gonna hurt.

[earthfluuke]

GEMINI NORAWIT & FOURTH NATTAWAT in TICKET TO HEAVEN (2025)

[hotasfahrenheit]

not me forgotting for a minute that Ter and his sister are named after holidays and being like "excuse me, show????" 🤣🤣🤣

[thebroccolination]

TICKET TO HEAVEN THOUGHTS

When I was growing up in the States in the nineties, most—if not all—of the queer media I watched was centered around Christian homophobia. Like, I still can’t see the term “gay panic” as a cutesy fandom term because I know it as a defense used by homophobes on trial for murdering queer people. A defense that worked.

Most of the queer-centric TV shows and movies I watched when I was growing up had some flavor of, “Hello! I am gay and ashamed because of Christian people specifically! I will probably die at the end of this!” and as a result I am tiiiired.

I also went to Catholic schools for my entire education, including university, so when I say I’ve spent half of my life so far submerged in the Vat of Christian Homophobia, I’m not being hyperbolic. As a personal rule, I avoid Christian homophobia in stories. Writing it, reading it, consuming it in any form. I’ve experienced what feels like every possible angle of “I’m gay” “nAUUUU but GOD” and I don’t know if I have it in me to try out another one.

So it may not be surprising to you at this point to hear that when I saw the teaser for GeminiFourth’s upcoming project, I felt a visceral revulsion to it.

I am intrigued because it’s not American Christian homophobia, but as we all know, colonialism pushed that shit globally, so it was often present even in the international media I watched for a long time. A big, big part of what appeals so strongly to me about Thai queer media is that it’s an escape from Christian bigotry. (It’s also part of what made living in Japan feel so safe to me. Homophobia is alive and well there, but the source is more nebulous and less laser-focused on God and Hell and all that noise.)

It’s going to be interesting to see how younger people born in the States react to Ticket to Heaven, because a lot of U.S. Americans in interfandom who were born after the I Killed Him Because His Icky Gayness Made Me Go Temporarily Insane Your Honor days won’t have the same type of deep-seated trauma I do. Like, those born in the Obama era grew up with a very different USA than the one I did, and got to experience the passing of marriage equality in their early youth. They probably aren’t as exhausted to screaming of sinister, hostile Christian homophobia in queer media as I am.

All this to say, I’m less interested in the actual story than I am in Aof’s personal experiences with this brand of homophobia and people’s reactions to the series once it’s on air. It’s an impressively impactful series to get so early on, and I’m sure Gemini and Fourth will do a fantastic job with it.

I may end up watching it after it’s finished, but as of now, the thought of reliving the bigotry of my formative years couldn’t be less appealing.

[nattawatvibes]

I'M SO READY TO BE DESTROYED

[gunsatthaphan]

Ray: u want me to buy u a new guitar im rich lololol

Sand: *puts on reading glasses* friendship and loveth are assets that cannot be purchased with wage. they are fragile and valuable goods that shall be protected at all costs. i am a human and have feelings that thee shall respect.

[airenyah]

so the camp leaders group chat was talking about recognizing houses today:

i'd recognize other houses. you know. like one of the only 5-ish houses that they shoot all of thai bl in 🤭🤭🤭

[touchlikethesun]

one of the slogans i see often from antis, and especially since getting into danmei and back into BL generally, is the phrase "get help" being applied to people that are into harder kinks or "toxic"/"problematic" dynamics, and this bothers me quite a bit because... like why do you think those people are into that? whether consciously or not, most people are seeking comfort and catharsis thru media, and the excessive media consumption common in bl spaces especially belies a form of self soothing. while it's not a perfect solution, a lot of people in bl/danmei fandom spaces are trying to help themselves cope with trauma, and just because person A copes by reading thousands of pages of brief hand touches and lingering gazes and purple prose about capital 'D' Devotion, and person B copes by reading about taboos power imbalances and intense sexual acts and dangerous emotions (funnily enough i've found devotion is common to both 'sides' as it were), does not mean that person A and person B aren't engaging in the same fundamental behaviour

i do think there can be an issue if people are to forceful trying to push their taste on to others (altho i will say this goes both ways), and the moment you start being weird towards real people in real life then that is definitely a problem, but the condescending and dismissive "get help" towards people that are just expressing their tastes in fiction in spaces dedicated to just that i feel is unhelpful, unnecessary and frankly ignorant to the complexities of our fellow humans' inner lives

[lavendorii]

shoutout to the guy on fox news for arguing trump's indictment is a godless act by the alphabet mafia trying to destroy christian values

[heretherebedork]

The most crushing part of Marahuyo Project is seeing how Archie has turned against himself, turned to hating himself, out of loss and fear of losing himself in worse ways, out of the fear of the friend he lost and becoming another lost soul. Archie lost Christina and lost himself out of fear of that loss, trapped himself int this relationship with religion that keeps him locked away from himself, away from any chance of his own happiness. It's just so painful to see him like that in grief and pain, trapped by a loss too big to understand by the very people he looked to comfort him.

[autism-corner]

gay people my beloveds

[akpopandblmaniac]

A little eye-candy for you;)

[glitterandhelium]

-gun pulling out the big guns with his acting, finally able to express himself as this character, we love to see it <3<3<3

-they rob us of proper khatha/dome mouth to mouth cpr???!!! 10 thousand years in prison!!

-how tf is gun lookin more beautiful circa 1820???

-SHUT UP with this brotherly bond!!! it was/is home of sexual

-ok i know khatha's 1820s ass brotherhood is as close as he could come up with, chan is from the fuuuture he be knowing, idk how long theyve been together yet but khatha's been around some 200 years I'm sure he has different ideas now

-lmao SHORTY said I'll pour one out, oh bitch imposter wasn't having it

-i would have liked to have seen khatha's fist clench at the mention of boom

-once again gd gun, finger on his lips 😈

-man, even the one don't be knowing about their relationship, i am having flashbacks to when they were in dome's room, what was brotherly about him reaching out to touch dome's face??? how long had they been like that??? from.the.get.go. khatha said it was just hard with the 2 of them, how did the villagers perceive them??

-tay 😍

-"like" brothers, babies going through it, only lovers left alive, just the 2 of them <3 he just want's it to be them (✿◡‿◡) baby boy's only alive cause of you dome/chan and that's love (even if it's a cursed love)

-side note: khatha's actor also has that wonderful ear beauty mark like uea's actor does <3 also why'd you turn him away chan??? you were the one that was gonna tell khatha not to tell anyone in the beginning...

-GJFASLJFAHDK AND MAKE HIS BELOVED PROUD OKAY

-ok og dome was just leaning into his darkling behavior

-the boys are fighting over dome and dome's just like ???? well theyre both hot???

-oh shit all the drama goin down

-sooo how did khatha get his powers?? i thought chan was gonna die saving him and pass it along to him, i guess he got powers when he was cursed??

[blatantprinterpropaganda]

DIRECTED BY AOF?

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Make this your New Year’s Resolution. I promise it will pay off.