#dmd friendship the reality

[itsallaboutbl]

What am I doing? Why do I have to apply it right here? It's not exposed to the sun.

[blharmonycreation]

My feelings for you have always been true. I’m just too damn afraid that you won’t return your feelings

[thaiblinc]

The scream I just scrumpt 😭😭😭😭

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

JJ picking Net for the duo fun activity because he's worried about Net

[earthmixsclowderofcats]

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NetJJ moments in DMD Friendship the Reality: it takes two ep 2

[kenjiyabuki]

so here are some thoughts about DMD Friendship the Reality while we are nearing the end

yeah yeah its not that deep but actually no one caring/talking about a show makes me want to write a LONG ASS POST bc i cant get gratification from going through the tags and reading opinions lmaoooooo so HERE damn okkk i will make the content i want to see in the world i guess dont mind me......😞

im not even the biggest Domundi fan but i was intrigued by the premise of this show. i mean it's a basically fake dating show (like one of their challenge rewards was getting to sleep in a suite together as if they are there to date for real) and the end prize isnt just an acting opportunity as it comes w the big decision of choosing a looooooong time acting partner. so i wanted to see how they would do it. BOC did a similar thing w The Hidden Character which i dropped halfway in bc it was too long and i found the challenges to be irrelevant to the ending goal. this show is the opposite of that and thats why ive been enjoying it.

it is edited to be concise (only 5 eps) and honestly, is quite tranquil. all the challenges were about things they will be required to do in the future as DMD actors/idols and stakes aren't even that high. You could always guess who would win before they even started (((like of course broody model guys won the photoshoot challenge and guy w two series under his belt won the acting one, DUH))) but it was still enjoyable to watch. show's goal isn't to generate tension and competitiveness. it is more of a workshop/chemistry building camp and also a way to introduce the new generation and get the fans warm up/attached to them.

as i spent time in bl fandom sphere, i've come to realize introducing a new gen is tricky. i thought everyone would be ecstatic to see new blood and a lil bit of mix and match but BL fans are reaaaaaaaaaaally attached to their faves and generally see newcomers as threats who will take opportunities from their already neglected (!) precious babies (e.g. just couple weeks ago FortPeat fans were protesting the new lesbian side couple in the upcoming show for stealing screen time from their faves, which is a joke in itself). this kind of show is genius way to get people to warm up to idea of new faces. at the end of the the day, these fans' weakness is two beautiful boys indulging in sweet moments they can be delulu over and considering how ships were already born from the first episode, DMD FTR succeeded in their goal.

LETS TALK ABOUT THE BOYS :-) *this starts playing*

I had to make this during first ep bc they are all dark haired boys w similar builds so I kept confusing them lmaoooooo (Tle not pictured as he joined later)

i will firstly talk about the fan favorite possible "couples";

KengNamping, the quiet visual couple and yes I love em!!!! they were kinda the only "conflict" in this very conflict free competition.

is Keng the CALMEST person I've ever seen? Latte is laid back too but Keng is just seems zen. sometimes (in the face of conflict) he just seemed hard to read but mostly he has such a calming presence. honestly, he should open an ASMR channel if this acting gig doesn't work out.

Namping also comes off very warm and graceful. him being "wow I'm finally in the winner suite" to Keng after finally getting chosen in ep4 made me laugh like DAMN he really was offended by what happened in ep1 and kept letting it slip. Idc, you are so right my prince and don't ever let Keng forget what he did to you...

when it comes to the possibility of them as a couple: i am kinda here for it while also not knowing if i actually believe in their "moments" in the show? Namping definitely set his sights on him from the beginning but Keng seemed nonchalant about it. Keng finally choosing Namping after his win, their sweet moment on the bed etc. seemed to me like classic reality show moment prompted by production to fit a certain narrative WHILE ThomasKong's pseudo-date-night chats seemed very real and spontaneous.

they do visually have chemistry, i'm not gonna act like i wasn't blushing when Keng trying to flirt during dinner or Namping softly touching a sleepy Keng's chin in the bed etc. Or even in ep2, when Namping tries to confront Keng about his pick but they are too timid and just unable to talk about it openly!!! arrghhh it's a hard to watch moment but still, made them more intriguing because they had such a tension between them. it would be a shame if it wasn't explored more. that tension can be channeled into an angsty series, just saying...

So, they def have a long way to go in their bond and arent comfortable like LatteFirst or ThomasKong but still, they are a strong contender and I would be glad to see them as a couple in a show. Namping already got my attention in the acting challenge and wonders can be achieved w a lil bit of workshop. they got the juice already!!!

Now, lets talk about ThomasKong.............

me watching Thomas relentlessly chatting Kong up since THE FIRST EPISODE

so I knew LatteFirst are set be a side couple in upcoming Love Upon a Time but i was confused to see why everyone on Twitter was already going cuckoo over these two random boys until i saw them interacting... Wow, like Thomas really came here w one mission: get Kong and leave.

because Thomas is such a flirt like DAMNNN😳😳😳😳he needs to be jailed for carrying lethal amounts of charm... IT MUST BE SAID: I love his fits w those thin glasses, he should've been wearing those in those office BLs he was in because he has been serving "office siren". Tiktok girlies eat your heart out.

while Kong isn't the best at acting or singing (he is the best KengNamping shipper tho and i LOVE a fudanshi BL actor), he definitely would win Mr. Congeniality if they were giving that title. he naturally and effortlessly has great on screen charisma. he is a certified cutie and the only one who can get real full belly laughs from Thomas!!!

i think what they managed in the acting challenge is the testament to their palpable chemistry. acting wise they weren't perfect (naturally, their uneven acting experience levels were apparent) but they were the only one who managed to tonal shift in their scenes. it's because they were the only ones who played into the romantic subtext of the scene. they also held eye contact for the longest (because they are comfortable w each other and not shy!!!), which elevated their chemistry and made me AND the judges giggle and roll our hair and kick our feet and shit!!!!!!!!!!!!

they are obviously the most likely to win the show and they deserve it too. no matter the result of the show, i want see them carrying a series as mains because they can and should. i also believe DMD won't fumble their bag, so i am not worried about it.

to conclude, I will quote Zee,

then we come to LatteFirst, the kinda established couple: in the ep5 preview, we see First trying to choose between Latte and the newcomer Tle, which seemed random to me and could be a production touch to create conflict in this very smooth sailing show.

i loved seeing Latte being nonchalant about the possibility of First choosing someone else, what a laid back guy. like Mio in THC, every BL reality show needs a half asleep and occasionally funny dude.

now i am thinking; what if First chose Tle, would he also replace Latte in LUAT bc DMD doesn't really fuck w mixing matching their couples. i honestly don't know where did all that come from but i feel like the result wont be too shocking, First and Latte are already really close and comfortable and got The Chemistry. need i remind of Latte punching the air a la Judd Nelson at the end of The Breakfast Club when it was announced they both chose each other for the dinner date? and their sweet and comfortable banter on that said date??? let's put our pens to work and write a friends to lovers rom-com for the boys based on that material please...

i dont think they are likely to win but might be strong contender. i just want to see them as a side couple in LUAT (hopefully this year!!!!) so they can develop themselves and their bond a little bit more before getting to a main couple level. their sweet friendship shouldn't go to waste!!! (is it obvious i am more drawn to BL couples who are besties in real life?)

damn this post is about to be a novella so i will make it short about Gems, TeeTee and Tle, i hope Gems won't be too upset about getting slighted again 😥 like i said, stakes aren't high on this show and results are always obvious: these guys are going back home empty handed, we all know it. they are all charismatic and VERYYY talented but i just felt like none of them really focused on "getting a partner" part of the show, not just the main challenges. even TeeTee who was picked by Thomas and Keng seemed kinda uninterested about partnering up. but you cant really force chemistry and i am sure they will get many more opportunities in the future. they already started their fanbase!!! i cant stand to see Gems so upset, i hope he wont be too sad.

these are my opinions. maybe the ending will do a whole 180 and idk, GemsKeng or TleKong or some other random couple will win, who knows???? cant wait to watch the new overly airbrush filtered, Cheewin directed DMD show up to like 5 episodes and then get bored and drop it and follow the rest from gifs!!! good luck to the boys <3

[singto-prachaya]

So the new gen DMD guys is getting a show to find their ship parter and the winning ship will star as the leads in a DMD original script. I wonder about that that adaption of the book Your Sky. Because that one was also meant for the new gen.

Anyways I was sure First and Latte were already a ship since they appear as a side ship in Love Upon A Time. + they had them going to some events together. I have been 🤡

[jflower278]

Ever since watching do the zombie acting challenge I think the jimmyohm pair has stolen my heart

I'm so happy it's official theyre working together and I hope to see what they do soon because the chemistry it's soooooo good

[jelllybellybaby]

I just finished binge watching the dmd reality show and… I need someone to discuss with BC I have so much to say. First of all, I have no clue if some of the interactions were scripted or not but I still ate that shit up, had me giggling and everything. ALSO am I the only one that thinks keng and namping still need to work on their chemistry a bit??? I know everyone loves them but at times it felt like keng was holding back in front of the cameras and I get that because he said he was extremely introverted which I relate to but IDKK. I like them together but there were just times where it felt like namping was REALLY trying to get keng out of his shell, you know? I feel like he almost holds the partnership together. THOMAS AND KONG SO CUTE, I love them. I feel like if they were in a series together they’d be my comfort characters tbh. Their friendship is really adorable and I can enjoy them on my screen without thinking too much. As for firstone.. he’s so pretty like hello. I really liked his chemistry with tle more so than latte, that one dinner date thing they had made me go Oh. I know latte said he has some improving to do so he can catch up with firstone but when they’re together I personally don’t see the “spark” you usually would with these partners but that’s just my opinion. Who knows? They can only show us so much so I’m not taking anything too seriously, it was really fun to watch and I enjoy all of the boys :��) I really wish tee and gems could’ve paired up with someone because I found them both so endearing but I still have high hopes for them!! I think they’ll all do so well.

[lgbtally4ever]

DMD FRIENDSHIP

The Reality Show

Domundi Reality Show to find a new Gen couple to star in a BL series together. FUN!

[itsallaboutbl]

Well, considering how much time you spend working, no surprise you're single. - So are you, asshole.

[blharmonycreation]

Your hugs are the warmest comfort I ever received

[talkingbl]

Things I Want to See in More BLs (Mar 2024 ver.)

This is very Thai BL focused. Here's what I want to see more of this year:

Good stories from the companies with the money for good production. I feel like 2023 was kind of a slow year for competent storytelling + excellent production quality. My BL of 2023 was probably I Feel You Linger In The Air because it was one of the only ones to combine both decently enough.

I'm not sure how to label this yet but I'd like more reality shows like DMD's Friendship The Reality. I've not finished it yet but the concept is really intriguing to me. These types of shows can result in a couple of interesting outcomes. Either:

People get to see how the pairings are made, so it takes away the urge to project a real relationship onto the actors;

Newer actors get to showcase their skills and possibly gain some initial support for their early projects;

We get to really vet the chemistry between actors before they're placed in a pairing so that fans are not as weary about potential re-pairings (like the case with Net and James);

We get to just get to know the people we're supporting by watching our faves develop into their own; or, perhaps most importantly,

We get to see and maybe even comment on what goes into their media training (since some actors seem to have a problem with being sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.).

These types of shows really give us insight into the training and (possibly even a bit of the personalities) of these actors in a way that I think facilitates a more camera-ready talent base.

Fewer tiktok influencers and more seasoned actors. If we could get more professional actors like Nonkul, and fewer 18 year old influencers who actually want to be singers or kpop idols, that would be great.

More actually good OSTs. MSP's OST was one of the best in any Thai/Japanese/Korean drama I've ever watched??? And it was all cast-made. I'm not saying everything needs to be made by the cast, but it needs to sound good enough to be ear-wormy.

Actually good horror BLs. I think to pull these off, we need more natural actors going into it, higher production quality (ESPECIALLY audio quality, like 75% of good horror is sound design), and better execution on concepts.

For example, DFF's teaser is what DFF should have actually been… Like, it was good when it looked like a scary gang of gays murdering a classmate and being creepily gleeful about it. And the end product is still kind of that but the execution of the story became fucked for me in like Episode 2. I also don't think it balanced the romance aspects of the show well enough with the horror aspects in the beginning to capture my interest. Horror is very dear to my heart--one of my first loves in film. Good horror it should be shocking. The villains should repulse you. Here, the main crew of guys were billed as the villains in the teaser and yet from episode one, I was not that interested in their personalities, relationships, backstories, etc. It was like there was too much plot and not enough character. The mystery wasn't as captivating as I think the showrunner thought it was and the violence didn't feel dire.

Personally, I think IFYLTA was a better horror BL than DFF lol.

Fewer Singer-first Actors. Forget about what I said about MSP's OST for a second. I am so tired of seeing decent acting talent slowly get phased out of acting to become idol singers. It's okay if it's like Nunew who, in my opinion, is a better singer than actor. But when it's someone like Fourth with genuine acting talent that is becoming ever more scarce, it's always sad to them fall to the dark side lmao. This is something I even noticed with DMD's Friendship the Reality. Like 90% of the guys wanted to be singers and were using acting (particularly in a BL) as a stepping stone measure. And I know that in that case they were accepted into DMD as "artists" rather than "actors", but the end goal of that show was to star in a BL and like most of them didn't want to do that... We need more thespians in this genre.

More visual diversity in ML roles. This one is particularly for Thailand where they will quickly cast a darker-skinned actor in a villain role but not an ML. I'd like to see better representation in ML roles not only because I think it's important for people to realize darker-skinned people can be just as handsome/beautiful, talented, and versatile as their pale-skinned counterparts but also because many people simply want to see this (and you can get more people interested in the genre, which means more growth in the industry). So, for purely capitalistic reasons, it even makes sense haha

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

JJ is fucking adorable

[earthmixsclowderofcats]

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Jimmyohm moments in DMD friendship the reality: it takes two ep 2

[kenjiyabuki]

dmd ftr ep 5 shenanigans: surprise, bitch. i bet you thought you'd seen the last of me

when this episode was nearing the end, it felt bittersweet as i got attached to watching these boys weekly and upcoming series will probably gonna take forever to come out (i am sure they will keep on being active by doing dances on tiktok and selling products on lives etc but i find those contents very tedious, i like my actors acting more). i was wishing for this not to be the end and then, to my surprise, BAMMMM a preview for another episode started playing!!!! but then it was still bittersweet bc it was revealed that they will be singing and dancing throughout the whole episode...

like many other BL fans, there is nothing that turns me off faster than BL boys singing. personally, more than the boys' voices, its the songs themselves i find unbearable to listen to. to my dismay, Thai BL industry loves generic pop and slow ballads, two genres i cant stand listening to. anyhow, i enjoyed the fuck out of My School President, songs and all, so i am open to surprises!!! in fact i am begging to be proven wrong!! and i am glad that they seem to be choosing the winners based on their skills, not by vote or smth else!!!

now back to the episode::::

How Well Do You Know Your Bro challenge was kinda boring because questions were not that riveting but i thoroughly enjoyed Thomas being put down about not getting to play w Kong. i will comeback to that Tee & Kong situation soon.

finally KengNamping won and they got to have some lil old✨💫💞The Special Friendship Time💕💫 ✨. is this what we are calling having a heart to heart on a pseudo-date with your potential work partner nowadays???? during their Special Friendship Time, i was busy taking hundred of screenshots of Namping because he looked so damn good in his fit!!!!!!!!!

pink lipgloss, Celine shades, rainbow mesh sweater, bracelets, Adidas Samba OGs.... cmonnnn

it was sooooo sweet to see them openly talk about their lives and dreams. they had such a progress across these 5 episodes!!! they were finally open about how they want to work together but also things they need to better in order to do so. i cant help but just love their blushing and awkward demeanor!!! it somehow works in their favour.

so funny how keng is admittedly a hard to crack introvert but sometimes his awkward bluntness somehow leads to UNBEARABLY cute moments. like i was climbing up the wall when they were having their final discussion on the bench and keng was being like "who else would i be talking" OR "can we get this over with" while looking Namping in the eye LMAOOO and Namping cant help but just giggle... just some yummy novice fanservice <3

back at the house, Thomas getting jealous over TeeTee & Kong having a talk was funny to me because the it was kinda one of the most obviously produced/edited scenes of this show. i am not going to blame them, maybe they were worried about the show being too conflict free. honestly, i did actually expect Tee to ask Kong to be his partner because nothing gets past me just like Thomas::

we know in all boys sent postcards to each other episode 1 but the show didnt reveal who sent which. well actually, Domundi X account shared a picture of the postcards and (if you have too much free time like me) you can pair the cards w info given by boys themselves in that episode;

another brilliant investigative work i've done in collabration w Paint. also peep Namping's cute duck drawing. honestly what this man cant do???

so hey, Tee sent his postcard to Kong!!! so while folks were on social media making fun of Thomas being overly possessive, my dude was actually onto something!!! his radar was going off and he had to settle the matter!!! i get him, he is like "i''m already an established actor and have a fanbase, just let me get my man so we can maximize our joint slay and leave" and he is so right.........

since the first episode, everyone was tickled by how this show is working like a dating show, me included. but after seeing this comment and similar ones made me think further:

if you think about it, they kinda WILL date??? not on some delulu shit, think about it: they will be shipped, will do fanservice & skinship, spend most of their time together, travel together, co-habit if its required, not just work together but also will be required to take care and trust and depend on each other, FOR at least a couple years if it works out. they will be stimulating "dating", even out of a tv series. being branded pair is a long term job that requires a lot of trust and compatibility. they are also rookies in the industry, so of course they are taking it seriously and discussing their future like choosing a romantic partner.

so, while i felt really sad for Latte as he seemed really worried while trying to look chill about everything, i am glad TeeTee and First chose to not rushing into a pair just to win the show and were honest about still needing time to hone their craft and building chemistry. and i'm not opposed to TleFirst but i still want to see LatteFirst in LUAT as the side couple. i enjoyed them in the pilot trailer and think their roles is going to fit them well. i also dont want to see an actor lose a job for a ship, cmon...

Gems broke my little heart again ahhhh. TBH, Tle clocked his tea when he said Gems should be more confident in himself. its not easy to do so in front of an audience and i'm sure the industry feels like horse race but i hope Gems will be more sure of his abilities in the future and finally have his moment.

on a bigger twist, KengNamping & ThomasKong were the finalist couples!!!

honestly, i have NO IDEA which couple i want to see win. mostly because both pairings give off very different vibes to me. for me, my choice would depend on the plot of this supposed new series, but i dont even know what it is even about.

i was thinking what kind of series i would like to see them in. when i think of ThomasKong, i can see them pulling off a fun and youthful series like My School President, Kieta Hatsukoi or I Will Knock You. w KengNamping, they would look good in a period series like I Feel You Linger in the Air or To Sir, With Love, even though Domundi has already LUAT (which will hopefully come out in this century). i just want to see them in something angsty but also incredibly romantic. should the unimaginable occur and someone from Mandee Works is reading this, feel free to steal ideas!

i am excited for next week, i will be glad no matter the outcome. cant wait to see the crazy stage putfits!!!!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EPISODE

keng's pink socks, same colour as the namping's blushing cheeks hehe

teetee threatening to drown thomas lmaoooo 🤨im telling yall thomas was onto something w his suspicions, tee is praying on thomaskong's downfall!!

thomas finally being called out for laying it on thick because enough is enough!!!

lattefirst bickering about meat...

idk this is a translation thing or not but gems getting brother-zoned gagged me

keng's glasses taking a dip in the water. you lose some, you win some. his glasses are gone but at least he now has a partner. thank god it wasnt the celine sunglasses...

yes king!!!!!!!!!!