#ramblings about thai bl

[khaopybara]

bibi's favorite firstkhao kisses

anonymous: I wanted to ask, what is your top 10 favorite FirstKhao kisses?

+ honorable mentions we should never forget about.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

They make a great pair. The worst kidnapper in history and a kidnappee who will not only come back to said kidnapper after escaping, but comes up with a whole new plan that involves him continuing to be a hostage. Amazing.

[sunshinechay]

First it was daddy kink, then it was pet play. Then they gave us time travel and undercover twins. Then came the reincarnated lovers and mythical creatures. Now we also have omegaverse and transmigration to other bodies for a second chance at first love.

So you know they had to fit fuck or die in there somewhere. Glad to see it was from the first uncensored wuxia bl

[dramalove247]

Can not stop thinking about this.

Style thinks there is a 50/50 chance Fadel will kill him. That means two things:

1) Snark and confidence are Style's sword and shield

2) Style is willing to die for a chance at forgiveness

Style knows he messed up. He knows he hurt Fadel. He knows Fadel is capable of killing him and has reason to. Still, he doesn't resist and goes willingly, even if he's scared, because he loves Fadel and he wants a chance to fix this. So he literally gives Fadel his life and hopes it is enough.

Even when Style is being confident and cocky to Fadel's face, deep down he fears love might not be enough. Even if he believes Fadel loves him, he knows love is not a guarantee that he will be forgiven. And in moments when he is sincere, and tired, and still, and has nothing to distract from the weight of his situation, his brave mask slips, and we can see the doubt and sadness Style works hard to ignore. Style doesn't want to die, but he will if that's where their love story ends because he refuses not to try.

Still, Style is going to Style. He's going to be over confident, flirty and snarky as hell because that's who he is. And if he's annoyed, you're going to know it. Style has already made the decision to see this through and he told Fadel he wont run. Style doesn't need a gun in his face to understand the situation he is in and he's probably pissed to be reminded.

Personally, we think Fadel wanted to believe he was 50/50 as well, but he was just lying to himself. In the end, Style got what he wanted and Fadel got what he needed. And now they get to love each other completely open and honest.

We got confirmation of this Unpopular Opinion in Styles own words!

Special thanks @tortibomb and @aprilblossomgirl for the perfect GIFS!

[secriden]

mahasamut is being so kind here. he's trying to give tongrak a reason to allow the cuddling because tongrak cannot just come out and say its what he wants (oh look, a running theme). something in him won't allow it.

so mahasamut provides an excuse, even if it's so thin that its practically invisible. because that AC is clearly completely switched off:

i just really appreciate the little touches that give us insight into these characters. specifically, here, it's mahasamut's sensitivity and willingness to be kind. mahasamut and tongrak BOTH know that its just an excuse and they BOTH know its for tongrak's sake, and even though mahasamut could lord it over tongrak, he chooses not to because its more important for tongrak to have the comfort he so clearly craves.

the scene is set up to be comedic, but there's so much tenderness woven into these interactions, if only we care to look for it.

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

Things Wandee Goodday could have focussed on instead of whatever on earth it's doing:

An exploration on complex familial relationships, especially the trauma and effects of parental abandonment (no I don't accept the one episode speed run as sufficient exploration). Couple this with themes of chosen/non-traditional family units and you have a winner.

An ACTUAL look at how a friends with benefits situation transforms into a romantic relationship and how people might navigate that transition (do you just go for it? Do you create a space to work out what's going to change? How do you know when you're ready?).

Confronting changes in long term goals. Both Yak and Dee entered into their fwb in order to achieve a specific goal (Dee: scholarship, Yak: relationship), it would be way more interesting seeing them work out what to do once they achieve those goals but realising that it's not actually the thing they want any more (or in Dee's case, not the only thing he wants any more).

Dating as an asexual. Kao touched on it briefly but THERE IS SO MUCH TO EXPLORE: the difficulty of finding a partner who can understand your relationship with sex and intimacy, actually understanding your own relationship with sex and intimacy and how you want to navigate things, what an asexual relationship can actually look like and how they can work even while falling outside of the "traditional" relationship mold, LITERALLY EVERYTHING. Instead we get Ter and his redemption arc.

There's definitely a lot more than that but that's all I can think of for now. For the first 3-4 episodes these are all what I thought we were going to get which makes it all the more disappointing because the potential was there, I didn't pull these ideas from thin air they were literally there for the taking.

[ablazenqueen]

The most upsetting part of this scene (and probably the whole ep) are these two looks:

Because the look on Jeff’s face? It’s hopeful and trusting. He has just the slightest ghost of a smile when he looks at Alan, he looks like he has full confidence that Alan is going to back him up, continue backing him up like he does at the start of this confrontation.

But the look on Alan’s face? It’s doubt. He looks at Jeff and he thinks maybe and he breaks eye contact, looks away just slightly, drops his gaze, because he wants to trust Jeff and he can see the hope in those eyes, but he’s unsure. And even if he chooses to trust Jeff, he’s team leader, how can he not side with his boys? How can he not support the majority, the boys he’s known the longest, the boys who’ve proven their loyalty to him and each other over years, and offer the resolution that most benefits the most amount of people?

How can he not choose the rational resolution, even if it requires squashing that hard-earned trust?

[thunder-point]

I don't even know where to start on the fact that Q and Toey talked through little post it notes for A WHOLE YEAR.

The note where Q was asking Toey if he talked with his parents about him not wanting to go study medicine had me pausing the episode TO SCREAM.

You meant to tell me that Q has been giving Toey guidance, comfort and advice since before Toey became his mentee? Goodbye sane world I'm a melted puddle of feelings and screeching.

No wonder Toey is gone for him - if I see a talented, hot man that waters plants and talks softly to them and then I find out that he's been the secret guy who talked to me through post its and gave me advice then you bet your ass I'M WHIPPED AND FOLLOWING HIM IN HIS FOOTSTEPS.

Just. It's so much more than that. Their relationship makes me want to punch a wall. There's so much to say about it.

[luvermore]

Crappy screen grabs but MY HEART IS FULL OMG

[mooninagust]

all in all I'm glad I'm the kind of person who obsesses over things they love and not things they hate

[sunriseverse]

What are you uh...what are you salty about? (I'm nosy as hell, give me the tea)

okay SO. disclaimer before i start: if anyone seeing this likes the youtuber mentioned, understand i am not calling her a bad person; i have some very specific umbrage with her, and i will detail why. you don't have to agree with me, but if you, in any way, inform this youtuber of this post and what i'm saying, you will be blocked, because this is meant to be on my personal blog only and a severe violation of my boundaries to tell her about this.

let's begin, shall we? (below the cut, since this got a bit long; my apologies.)

for context, since i started watching zmyx, i have been periodically checking youtube for amvs of the show so i can add them to my playlist. while doing so, i stumbled across this video by AvenueX. i had watched a video by her previously on the show under the skin, and mostly enjoyed it. i love hearing people react to batshit cdrama, well, drama, and "this show was up for bare hours before being taken down" definitely counts as something i like hearing reactions to.

i cannot directly upload the clip into this post, but i'll put the subtitles in for the relevant section, which begins at the 12:25 mark and ends at 14:59.

AX: Basically, there is a BL drama that was made quite a few years ago and hasn't come out like all the BL dramas, Zhiming Youxi. It's based on a novel called Wanghuatong [sic] and is a clear BL drama. The platform was iQiyi, and they cast Huang Junjie and Xia Zhiguang. These two guys have been multiple other stuff ever since then, and if you watch a lot of Chinese dramas, you probably have an impression of who they are. Neither of them are considered to be good actors, very young, and not really coming from professional sort of trained actor background[...]I'm not so interested in the story to start with and not interested in these two actors either, because BL dramas is hard to do well; you have to be good actors to pull it off, and you actually have to know what type of acting you need to be doing. You're not actually playing realistic gay people, you're playing imagined version of [here she makes a sound i can only transcribe as the auditory equivalent of tilting your hand back and forth], that whole complicated psychological thing on the back end, and if you're not clever and experienced enough actor you actually easily make a mess. Based on the leaked out footage I see on the internet, it's embarrassing, in terms of the acting, and they stole the most important line from Word of Honor, which is 'there's light on you and I want to grab it and take a look'. Every BL drama has a classic line[...]and this drama shamelessly took a completely, and that part of the video is online. I've watched it, and I'm like, 'oh my god, oh my god, just because you're another BL doesn't qualify you for stealing literally the line from another BL drama[...]just because of that I'm like, oh, okay, now I can make fun with other people together on this drama being living [sic] on the internet for like, what, three-four hours[...]it's a good thing this drama is buried now, and please don't show up again. I don't want to see it. It's embarrassing, it's embarrassing, okay.

bolding mine; these are the portions i have umbrage with.

let's go through the points she makes, shall we?

this show is "embarrassing", in terms of acting; presumably, this is connected to the earlier line about the actors not being known as "good actors", and not having professional acting backgrounds.

it stole a line from shl.

she thinks this drama deserves to be made fun of for "being embarrassing" because, presumably, the actors don't play bl roles the way she thinks they should, and "make a mess of it".

i must reiterate: she can have these opinions. these are opinions she is entitled to. i disagree with them, but i respect her right to have them. however, because i also have the right to my own opinion, i am allowed to be pissed about these opinions she has.

i will go through a point by point breakdown of my responses and thoughts on each point.

i think it's really stupid to judge an actor based simply on them having a professional background or not. when it comes down to it, the most important thing for actors, especially co-leads, in a show, is their ability to do their job and create believable dynamics with their co-actors. in my opinion, xia zhiguang and huang junjie do this very well in zmyx. their dynamic feels natural and realistic to me, and, more importantly than that, it compels me. i don't say this as a "fan" of either actor; it was a nice bonus to me that hjj had also played another character i like, but even if he hadn't, i would be judging this performance as lin qiushi based on its own merits. i have never seen xzg in anything, and again, i am judging his acting in this show on its own merits. also, i should add there's something hilarious about her holding up shl as a "good" bl, when you could argue that those leads aren't "good" actors, either. i mean, look at advancing bravely! or, maybe, i don't know, it's possible for actors to improve over time and do better in certain projects than others? and someone doesn't have to be the "best" in all areas of their field, just the right choice for the role they're playing??

this is just stupid, in my opinion. the line is not stolen; it is altered and becomes its own line in zmyx. in shl, the line is, as she says, "there's light on you and i want to grab it and take a look". in zmyx, the line is "there's a light on you that i don't see on others". this is, at most, a reference—and zmyx isn't the only bl that references other media! this is a silly, petty argument, in my opinion, and frankly annoying as hell. if it were a crime to reference any other media in the same genre as the media doing the referencing, we'd miss out on so much. to me, this reference doesn't read as an appropriation, but as a nod of appreciation to another bl which was heavily censored. also, if her claims are anything to go by, and zmyx did film "years ago", it's possible that, actually, zmyx used the line before shl did. even if that isn't the case, who fucking cares? genuinely, i think this is a stupid point and i hate it.

she thinks the actors made a mess of the show by not playing the roles in the specific way bl roles are "meant" to be played. we could spend years arguing about the "right" way to play a bl role, but to me, it sounds like she has a very specific idea of the roles bl actors must fit into and fulfil—specifically, that they must play an exaggerated, unrealistic mimicry of gay male relationships, or else it's a "bad" bl. i don't know AvenueX's sexuality, but as a person of the homosexual persuasion myself, if not one attracted to men, i personally don't like exaggerated mimicries of gay relationships, and i would wager a guess that many gay and bisexual men are probably in this same boat. when i watch a bl show, i prefer that the dynamics are driven not by the idea of what gay people should act like, but by 1. the plot, 2. their own characterisations and character motives, and 3. their relationships and dynamics with each other. in this regard, while zmyx isn't a "good bl", i think it's a good depiction of the relationship between two characters. i don't say this to be holier-than-thou, or to claim i'm somehow "better" than other people who do like specific exaggerated tropes in bl; i say this because i feel like AvenueX entirely disregards the possibility that the thing that she doesn't like about zmyx are things that other people will.

(additionally, while she never says this, i get the impression that one of the things she doesn't like is that the chemistry between the characters isn't the "typical" bl chemistry. i, frankly, don't give a fuck. i think the leads have fantastic chemistry, and it annoys me that she thinks they "made a mess" just because they don't fit the idea she has for what a bl "should" look like. i, for one, think it's a good thing that we're moving away from caricatured depictions of gay people in media, especially danmei and dangai. myself and other asian gay people, especially east asian gay people, have pointed out how harmful caricatured versions of gay asian characters are.)

(also, as an unrelated, and petty aside, if i remember correctly, she's a british film school grad, and not to be judgemental, but, yeah, i can fucking see it.)

so, yeah. that's my two fen and indignance on this. but, hey, what do i know, i'm just some random tumblr user ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lurkingshan]

La Pluie: On the Lore

I have been really enjoying La Pluie, both from a straight up romance perspective - Patts and Tai have great chemistry and I like the way the show is bringing them together - and from a lore perspective. I want to chat more about the lore today.

So here’s what we know about “soulmates” in this universe:

A small percentage of the population is born with what they refer to as “hearing loss” - aka they lose their ability to hear when it rains. But there’s a twist - beginning as early as their 20th birthday, people with hearing loss are able to hear another person when it rains, if and only if it is also raining where both of them are. It’s always the same person every time, and they have the choice to talk to this person through their special hearing connection when the opportunity presents itself, or ignore them if they wish.

No one seems to know why this happens. Hearing loss is referred to as a “disease” and it does not seem to be something that most desire. That said, humans must make meaning of phenomena they don’t understand, and so most choose to believe that those who have a hearing connection are soulmates. You can see how this romantic interpretation would be favored in most societies, and from what we’ve seen in the show, most people with hearing loss seem to believe in it.

Today, we heard Lomfon lay out the skeptic’s perspective: the hearing connection has nothing to do with soulmates, it’s just an illness that relates to “matching wavelengths” in proximal climates. He believes people with hearing loss don’t have to be with whoever they’re connected to, and should be free make their own choices.

Last week I was discussing the lore of this show with pals @bengiyo @ginnymoonbeam and @kyr-kun-chan because there are so many implications to this and once we started asking questions we just kept going. What if, as Lomfon believes, this hearing connection has nothing to do with soulmates? Are all these people trying to force themselves to be in love with someone because they believe they are supposed to, when that’s not what the hearing connection means at all? What if your sexual identity doesn’t match with the person you’re connected to? Does it change the way you think about your sexuality? What about aroace people with hearing loss? Are there platonic soulmates in this universe?

And even if it is the case that Lomfon and other skeptics are right, isn’t it understandable that anyone interested in romance would want to make a go of it with the literal only person who can hear and communicate with them all the time? We’ve already seen how difficult it is to maintain a relationship with someone outside that dynamic when you have hearing loss, because there is an intimacy with your hearing connection partner that you simply can’t have with anyone else you date. Most relationships can’t withstand it.

In cases like Patts and Tai where there is an age gap between soulmates, you could spend many years believing you had someone but having absolutely no way to know when you might finally hear them. If you have hearing loss and believe in soulmates, are you meant to sit around waiting until it’s confirmed? What if you don’t live in the same town or even the same country? What if one of you lives in a climate where it rarely rains? It’s possible you might never hear each other! So do you try to carry on living a normal life and dating like usual? And ultimately, as we saw with Patts and Nara, is that fair to the person you’re with who will eventually almost certainly be pushed out when your soulmate arrives?

And consider Tai’s parents, who are soulmates who ultimately chose to separate, with Tai’s mom even remarrying now and his dad apparently happy for her. Presumably, they can still hear each other when it rains, but they’re no longer together, so how do you navigate that? Tai’s dad moved away for some time, presumably to make it less likely they would have to hear each other constantly, since the odds of a hearing connection go down significantly if you’re in different climates. But now they’re in proximity to each other again and she is with someone else. Is this meant to demonstrate that the hearing connection does not in fact make them soulmates? Or that despite being soulmates, there is still always an element of choice and the work to maintain the relationship still matters?

When you start really thinking through all of this, it’s easy to understand Tai’s ambivalence and then resistance to this idea - until, of course, he meets Patts. I thought it was spot on that he told Lomfon in today’s episode that he didn’t really know how to answer his skepticism about the soulmate lore. Because if you’d asked him a couple weeks ago, he’d have probably agreed - you’re right, the hearing connection doesn’t make you soulmates, it’s just nonsense. But now that he’s getting to know Patts, and growing increasingly interested in a relationship with him, you can tell a part of him wants to believe. And I just find that fascinating.

[silverraes]

I'm still baffled by how they just went straight into alpha x alpha horny time with some weird kinky supersenses thing going on not even 3 minutes into the episode

[dramalove247]

Confirmed

Style gives himself a 50/50 chance of survival. So all this "confidence"...

Gifs by @nick-nellson

It's just Style not being able to stop himself from being a cocky flirt. He's trying real hard to manifest this shit. And it worked.

We all knew Fadel couldn't do it. Even Bison knew. But Style didn't. And Fadel didn't want to believe it. He was trying to convince himself he was 50/50, but he was just lying to himself.

[secriden]

Listen, I may be a FadelStyle girlie (I think it's very obvious I came for the JoongDunk at the start), but man am I so excited for KantBison in the next half of the series.

Up until now, KantBison's entire arc has been characterised by (frankly, breathtakingly excellent portrayals of) Kant and Bison being simultaneously too much and not enough in love with each other because of the deceptions running in both directions:

Kant, because of the captain's blackmail and the need to keep Babe safe and ALSO because of his genuine feelings of attraction and affection and desire to protect someone he has been told is a ruthless, heartless, soulless killer and who keeps presenting an image that is by turns harmless and terrifying.

Bison, because, well he's a hitman of course. But also because he so desperately wants to be free of this life that he begins to want a life with Kant that specifically has nothing to do with his life as a killer. So Bison constantly keeps up the deception of being a harmless, innocent, inexperienced service industry worker; all while aspects of his true personality (because he is very much a product of his trauma and training) keep bleeding through to terrify Kant.

There was no way for their relationship to make any sense until AFTER the Finding Out, so I love that we have that now.

And the best part? We're going to see KantBison develop into the relationship they have the potential for -- with all their secrets and lies being stripped away, probably despite their best efforts to stop the process -- and we're going to have the first half of the series to COMPARE IT TO.

Their development is going to be so much more amazing by virtue of being held up against what they tried to be and what they couldn't achieve when they were following their heads instead of their hearts and by god, it's going to be amazing.

[monsamborabutterfly]

I really don't know but the happy ending loving little hopeless romantic in me really wants to see the typical route in only friends.

All three of the couples happy and in love in the end.

I know I know it's not realistic and given how messy this show is maybe not even a good idea. But angsty shit with a happy payoff is SO MUCH fun in fiction.

I even like that it's a little unrealistic. I'm watching these shows to escape reality.

Break my heart & put me through it but give me the sweetness in the end & the queers their happy ending please & thank you so I can swoon over pretty actors with good chemistry being all lovey dovey for a bit.

And yeah look here I could also see the messiest ending. Everyone broken and alone.

But messy and broken characters realizing that sometimes changing and fighting for something is worth it is just chef's kiss 💋