#hctm gifs

[chickenstrangers]

He's Coming to Me (2019)

Med having fun as a ghost

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Ohm Pawat's bl characters always be acting strange* at the mall *falling head-over-heels in love

Bad Buddy:

He's Coming to Me:

Make It Right:

Kidnap: The Series (2024) dir. Attaporn Teemarkorn

[fourthgem]

he’s coming to me (2019) // our skyy 2 x my school president (2023)

[bevioletskies]

my school president + every song ever | episode two (our skyy 2) ↳ รักคู่ขนาน (multi-love) by gemini, fourth, winny, satang, mark, & ford

“When we looked into each other’s eyes that day, I had one more question I haven’t asked you.”

[smashthegiantkiller]

But the more people talk about this, the badly I want this.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

Aof Noppharnach motifs in the Ticket to Heaven Trailer:

1996/1997 makes its return! 1997 is the year P'Med died (and is that P'Med's walkman!?) and the year Torfun was born. It's also the year the Asian financial crisis began in Thailand and it's the year HAART for HIV AIDS was introduced in Thailand. 1996 is the year the first HAART studies were published and the multi-drug therapy was introduced.

Christian topics. Christmas has appeared in several Aof works. In Last Twilight, Day gets notified and rushed to the hospital over an available eye transplant; the transplant fails. In Moonlight Chicken, it's on Christmas that Li Ming takes Heart to connect with the deaf community but it's also when Alan, Jim, and Wen get into a physical fight that leaves Wen injured. And in Bad Buddy, Pran is interrupted in the middle of the Christmas concert and forced to transfer schools because his parents have observed him getting along too well with Pat. I think it's fair to say that Aof does not think Christianity is exactly beneficial to the gay experience.

The swimming pool. Listen, water and underwater shots are used across BLs and queer teen media (Skam and Booksmart, anyone?). And Aof doesn't have this as a motif in many works. BUT! The way he uses it in Dark Blue Kiss and Moonlight Chicken is super important because it subverts the way other series use it. In other shows, the water, whether underwater at a pool or at the beach, is private and away from society. It's a place to explore without commitment. In Dark Blue Kiss, it's a public pool and serves as the culmination of Kao's coming out! He kisses Pete for the first time unafraid of if they are seen and then they submerge while they kiss beneath the surface indicating that whether people see them or not, whether Kao made his love public or not, their love is still real and there deeper than what is seen and what is stated. Moonlight Chicken has Heart and Li Ming at the water's edge while visiting Li Ming's mom where the latter repairs his relationship with her while still choosing to stay with his guncle.

Faith. At the core of almost all of Aof's series is faith beyond the tangible world. We've got a gay ghost that only Thun can see in HCTM. We've got recurring motifs of flight, ascension, and separations (by death and by distance) in ATOTS. Last Twilight is almost vulgar with its theme of faith not by sight. Bad Buddy has its fake-out break-up ending and its antecedent in the beginning where the boys pretend to not know one another despite their former close ties; in other words, love that can't be seen or shared persisting despite. I could go on. Aof himself has stated explicitly that he always aims for his series to convey hope. And as any former Bible school child, like me and apparently Aof!?, might tell you, "These three remain: faith, hope, and love. And above all these is love." Be still my romantic Christian-raised heart.

The autobiography of it all! When Aof takes screenwriting credit, he seems to signal that the series includes aspects of his own life, which is why the year is significant, or why Moonlight Chicken's age-gap romance reflects Aof's owner life-partner, etc.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - When good chemistry goes bad

May 2023 Wk 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - yes it jumped to the top of the standings, the kiss was THAT good, best of the year so far. So soft and yet so sweet and yearning and with a proper chemistry - body, breath, everything. Also... there was plot happening this ep, but who cares about that? Some additional thoughts, now my brain has rebooted from that kiss. I do suspect Pat of still being a player: he is awful smooth, and he may want revenge for being jacked along for 2 years (I would). Ep 4 is early for a kiss like that, which means pacing-wise we may be in for a separation/break up around ep 8. 

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 5 of 10 (MDL still says 12, but Gaga still says 10) - Pat, dear, your gay is squirting all over our screens. Meanwhile… That is the smallest presidential suite bed I’ve ever seen. Lucky for us of course. And lucky for Jeng. Me with the side dishes = UH OH. 

Our Skyy 2 (My School President) eps 9-10 - Alt reality where Tinn is in charge of the music club and Gun is the school president with the crush. Basically, it’s an excuse for them to play each others’ parts (which just highlighted how well they were cast, originally). Ultimately, Gemini is a better piner, and Fourth is a better tsundere. Although the reversed “holding it over his head” was v funny & Fourth IS a decent seme. (I also realized what I like so much about Fourth, like Saint he’s one of those rare full body actors.) Sound was a great uke and I loved how they changed his makeup for the role (did you notice?). TiwPor were as adorably ridiculous as ever. I liked the minor baby pairing for Aun, too. Still my NO SIGNING holds (although there was lots of dancing to counterbalance). In the end, all this really did was make me wanna rewatch the original. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. FYI The MV was a parody of HCTM, BB, 1k*. 8/10 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 12fin - It was a cute sappy ending for a cute-ish sappy-ish show. I cannot abide that the mom who condoned the rape of her daughter got forgiven. No. Stop it GMMTV. Review below. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 9 of 10 - I'm in trouble when I'm rooting for everybody BUT the main couple. I guess Nan doesn’t have a NO SINGING policy. Also I guess Nan was waiting for Phu all along? This show. ALSO could we not have just ended it here? 

Past-senger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 eps - I don’t understand. What? Where did all these new characters come from? Do we care about the hets? Not even slightly. What is anyone doing? What’s going on? do I care abotu anyone anymore? No. Please make it stop. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - OMG so adorable, so repressed, so reserved, so soft, so awkward, so special. Heart melting. Also. Hungry. The WAY Minoru looks at Yutaka when he’s eating (now that he knows the history). The way we got to see the exact moment that Minoru realizes he is in love. Perfection. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 1-2 of 8 - Zuho (Kpop SF9 - noted good egg) opposite rookie actor Kim In Sung (the one with the crush). icky is being weird about it but it looks like Gaga also picked it up? Depends on your territory I suppose. Anygay: Friends since childhood, jock/nerd, puppy/cat and I sense bi-himbo confusion and pining introvert gay. There’s family strife plus class issues and it has some interesting things to say already about the nature of friendship, romance, and jealousy. I like it, weirdly reminds me of something that might have come out of China. Not early CBL, but some of the later stuff that was censored but hearkened to Addicted. This has the feel of what China could have made now (were things politically different). Because of this feel, I’m not confident in this being an HEA or even a true BL but it is interesting enough for me to bump it way up the ranks. 

Happy Merry Ending (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 7-8fin - I get why SJ pushed JH away, but I kinda agree that SJ is too much work. Abused or not, I wouldn’t put in the damn effort - so I guess I’m glad SJ took a year off to figure his shizz out? Far be it from me to agree with a year break in a Kdrama, tho. I didn’t even mind that they were separated most of these 2 eps: it was nice to see a Seme told no, who actually backed off and did as he was told. Plus the running of the gays (how Japan of you SK). I’m assuming that this was the final episode and that Viki thinking that there are 2 more is bonkers? Because this felt like a finale. For me this one had a stronger finish than any other aspect of the show (odd when the couple spent the bulk of it apart). Oh! And someone give Shin Myung Sung (the surfer bestie) his own damn BL, m’kay? Review below.

Love Mate (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 5-6 of 8 - Longest elevator ride in the world. Honorifics discussion! My favorite! And, “there is only one bed but they slept together on the floor anyway” trope. A BL staple. Also the tie/lanyard grab. Another fav. Still pushy puppy stalker remains creepy manipulative obsessive warped hotness. Basically KBL version of trash and… I’m into it. We all got our kinks, I guess. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) - Such a cat. I’m reminded of Milk. It’s cute. They cute. I like it.

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - So is the nude dining meant to be some kind of weird allegory for repressed gayness? 

It’s Airing But ...

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) 10 eps - I bounced at ep 4. Someone will tell me if I should bother with the rest. 

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end. 

The Day I Loved You (Pinoy YouTube) eps 6-7 of 10 - Terminal illness for the sunshine. I bounced at ep 6. DNF. 

Ended this week

Love Syndrome finished its run on WeTV (I stopped at ep 2) - anyone wanna weight in with thoughts on the ending and whether I should binge or not? I do love Lee Long Shi.

Happy Merry Ending - Stars Lee Dong Won (KNK) as an ex-idol turned wedding singer with an abusive ex and a panic disorder + the sunshine pianist who falls in love with him. Timid tsundere & sweetheart gay is an interesting match. They’re gentle together, almost kindly and there is a calm ache to their pairing. However, it lost its way as a BL, being more about the main character’s struggle than the romance. It had a strong finish but ultimately the premise & characters meant this was never going to be one of my favorites. 8/10  

A Boss and a Babe - With an inconsistent narrative and self-sabotaging characters this was not the Thai BL office romance I was hoping for. I spent most if it feeling manipulated without good reason and sorry for ForceBook. They did their best with a shoddy script (AGAIN!) and none of its flaws were their fault. This show was all over the place and so am I about it. It’s better than Enchanté but that’s not really saying much. 7/10 I guess

In Case You Missed It 

BL Express reported that Taiwanese production companies have announced 7 new BLs (4 of these from Vidol.) Stories range from office romance to crime drama. 

Someone did a survey on KBL watchers. 

Build Jakapan has been cleared of all charges. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this week: 

5/26 Be My Favorite prev title: You Are My Favorite (Thai YouTube) Adapted JittiRain y-novel (2gether, FUTS, ToL, Vice Versa) one of those “rewrite the past to change the future.” Stars Krist (SOTUS) + Fluke Gawin (DBK, Not Me). Expect this to be v low heat, full of LIES and manipulation.

5/27 The Luminous Solution (Thai ????) 10 eps - Thana is having trouble at work and in his relationship. He can't seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to change everything. The wish has a price.

5/27 Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan) - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS (but that has never stopped Japan before) and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I ?????  (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This Week’s Meta Moments 

naturellement (Step By Step naming its trope.)

The Promise calling out the uke archetype, Mary Sue much? 

ALL THE DANCING. Live the dream! Live the trend! Live the trope! 

4 tropes in one! Drinking, piggyback, feed him, product placement. Very nice GMMTV & GeminiFourth. I’m impressed.  

nash

(all My School President’s Our Skyy - kinda a masterclass in using ALL THE TROPES and ALL THE BL references.) 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The unmitigated irony of so-called fans of ZeeNunew coming after this show for this moment (not to mention the self sabotage). Truly mind boggling. (Step by Step)

The two boys who didn’t win the boy but totally should have. This show makes me wanna drink too. Next week... soju! (The Promise)

Yes please and thank you GMMTV. (My School President) 

I do love the kinkification of Phi. (Boss & Babe) 

These tiny idiots it turns out are, in fact, totally hilarious. La Pulie (side dish friendship group)

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Key & Taeyeon’s Hate that... (which if it wasn’t an OST SHOULD have been)

[silverquillsideas]

Thai BL Favorite List

I have been tagged by @littleragondin thank you so much!

Credit to @thatgirl4815 for the original.

Favorite Thai BL:

I've watched a pretty decent number of thai bls over the years, but none have given me as much joy and laughter and butterflies as My School President :D I didn't expect it to take the top spot from A Tale of a Thousand Stars, but here we are :P

Favorite Pairing:

tbh this keeps changing for me everytime I get hyperfixated on a new show, but currently, it's both mileapo and geminifourth :3

Most underrated actor:

I don't know nearly enough about a lot of other thai bl actors in general, I confess T-T but I'd still say Mark Pakin! he's a really really talented guy, and he needs to be in more shows, and in main roles. He's for sure gonna kill it in a rom-com type of show, in a comedic main character role. dude is naturally hilarious lmao

Favorite Character:

toughest question HOW CAN YOU MAKE ME CHOOSE? UNFAIR!!!

I'm gonna pick two, because it'll be cruel to separate them, even in a tumblr ask game TT_TT

and they are : heartliming!!! my babies! my two little sunshines! I adore them both so much!! *sobs in the corner* altho I know MLC technically isn't a bl, but I'll still pick them <3

 Favorite Side Character:

Tiwson from MSP XD what can I say this show and its characters got me GOOD laskgskalsfs

Favorite Scene in a BL:

oh hands down the rooftop kiss from bad buddy the series!!! :D shit makes me feral even now, literal goosebumps T-T

Favorite Line in a BL:

oh I absolutely don't remember dialogs until it's something truly life altering asjhaskfsfs I'm genuinely drawing a blank here :")

Most Anticipated BL (and why):

tbh none currently. I'm not keeping up with new shows atm, so I don't really know that many upcoming shows rn

Healthiest Relationship in BL:

I'm glad we are getting so many more of these in recent bls! but my faves are (unsurprisingly) tinngun and heartliming!! it's really not an exaggeration when I say they healed my soul TT-TT

Most Toxic Relationship in BL:

tbh I mostly selectively forgot the plots and characters of most of the awful bls in the past. but it'll probably be th*ntyp* skgsjfsfs

Guilty Pleasure Series:

none??? If I do end up liking something cringey and awful by popular standards, you can bet I'll still scream abt it with as much enthusiasm as any other show I liked lol :D

Most Underrated Series:

I'd say He's Coming to Me and Moonlight Chicken. both deserved so much more hype than they got. MLC deserved a longer runtime with more fleshed out storylines (but P'Aof did a stellar job, as always) and HCTM was way ahead of its time in terms of the themes and messages it tackled. Thun's coming out scene to his mom still haunts me T-T

+BONUS

Favorite Setting/Location:

with this one, I'm the most basic b*tch ever, so I absolutely jump with joy whenever the thai bl staple emotional support BEACH SCENE comes along !!!! :D so many magical moments come out of that single beach episode, literally nothing beats this trope lol

I'm pretty sure everyone in the thai bl circles has already done it, but still : @solana-ceae @watchingblsnowandforever @bevioletskies @trilliastra @purple-worm and anyone else who wants to!! :)

[namtanlovesfilm]

Let's sail back to 2019. ThunMes or TangmoLove?

omg not my two fave underrated shows from 2019!!! I still love both shows so much, but my fave stays great men academy & tangmolove. I love hctm & thunmes but ngl they were a bit boring sometimes djshdsdsdjsidsj, whereas tangmolove are so fun & playful while also having really great emotional moments. also tangmo will forever be one of my favorite thai characters ever, he's an icon for people who like more than one gender & I adore him <3

xxx

[dragonsareawesome123]

He's Coming To Me (2019), Episode 8 dir. Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023), Pilot Trailer dir. Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee

[earthfluuke]

Oh? A ghost, you say? BAD BUDDY (2021) // HE’S COMING TO ME (2019)

[maggiecheungs]

backaof noppharnarch series + serenading

he’s coming to me (2019) || still2gether (2020) || bad buddy (2021)

[gunsatthaphan]

↳ bl nostalgia week - day 5: mes x thun [he's coming to me]

[seatawinan]

[viriyanon]

thun making his ghost boyfriend a facebook account [x]

[nohshinwoos]

mes + 😛

bonus thun: