BL Drama Lovers Club

I promise this is my last post! 🫣

Binge-watched Gelboys 2 this weekend. I really wish I had liked this second season as much as the first one. The execution was just such a mess and annoyed me most of the time. The only reason I didn’t drop the show was because of the performances by PJ, Pide, Leon, and New. They are still the absolute highlight.

Ju Moon:

Myt gut tells me GMMTV don’t actually care about its artists just the profit they can bring in.

somehow i feel the same. but they are a business and a business is there to earn money

LueurArcane:

i hope you feel better soon, take care ^^

Thank you. I've got muscle relaxers and Tylenol. So far, better than I was.

dora:

I also have sciatica. It sucks. Hopefully you will heal soon. BLs definitely help with the pain. But not broken ships. 😭

Sorry you have to deal with it, too. I would not wish this pain on my worst enemy.

Ju Moon:

Get well soon! I’m right there with you. Myt gut tells me GMMTV don’t actually care about its artists just the profit they can bring in.

Thanks. Honestly, most companies do. It's unfortunate, but a hard truth.

jazme:

Which gives you more heartache?

JoongDunk 40%

Equal heartaches 10%

Not affected at all 30%

AouBoom 20%

20 votes · Closes in 2 days

Long post incoming:

I'll be completely honest here... AouBoom splitting is way more painful to me than JoongDunk splitting.

JoongDunk splitting makes sense, they both clearly want different things at this point in their careers. And they also have 4 shows together as leads. 3 good, one not the worst, but not the best.

But AouBoom... they really seem like they still want to work together. They legit were my favorite pairing in every series they were in. And, they were about to get their own show as leads.

My gut tells me, where AouBoom are concerned, this was 1000% GMMTV's doing. It feels like money is more important to them than actually giving pairs a chance. Maybe a main role for AB would've been what they really needed, but now we will never know.

And that is what hurts most.

@JuMoon

Thank you for your insights on Summertime. I love how you interpreted the ending and linked it to the beginning and the birthday. I never thought about how the dreams bookend the show, but it’s a feature I really like, so thanks for reminding me. I never thought the final scene meant the whole show was a dream, but I also didn’t care because either way, it was a beautiful story. ElementalStar also pointed out that sometimes a dream can give you confidence to face reality, which was definitely the point of the final dream. Eunho was finally embracing the love at his side all along.

People have been arguing about the ending of the show and what it means, so I don’t think it’s so clear. I also believe that once art is out in the world, it’s up to the viewer/consumer how they interpret it. So however you see it is “right,” because I don’t believe there’s only one interpretation.

I absolutely loved this show and don’t mind the ending. I like when shows make me think and feel.

Gelboys 2

I haven’t watched this yet but I’m sorry it’s not as good as s1. I will still watch it eventually. In general, s2’s are never as good as s1, but we watch them because we want to see beloved characters and their actors again.

Please keep posting your thoughts. They are always interesting and insightful.

Ash

I really enjoyed this show. I thought the two rookie leads were outstanding, and also so beautiful. Their chemistry was fire, and they really sold their feelings for each other, even when hidden under anger or coldness. I liked the crime story of the one character being an undercover cop and the other character being linked to gangs. I thought the story had some interesting twists and turns. While I wasn’t expecting the ending, I wasn’t surprised either. I did think there were a few far-fetched or unexplained plot points, but it didn’t really bother me. Unlike most crime BLs, the focus here was still on the romance above all else, which I appreciated. I gave this show an 8.5, which for me means “really good,” but not “wonderful.”

I don’t think crime BLs in general have reached the point where their crime stories are good enough to put the romance in the background. Although I still liked The Bangkok Boy and Manner of Death, Goddess Bless You from Death wasn’t really my thing, and Dare You to Death was mediocre. All these series put the crime story first.

Some small elements of Ash which I really liked included the messages on the trash bin, the use of Morse code, and the bookending of lighting each other’s cigarettes. I also liked the symbolism of the lighter with the ouroboros. I had to look this up, but it’s a snake eating its head. It symbolizes the cycle of death or destruction and rebirth, which is especially relevant for an undercover cop who must continually reinvent himself. The reference to Nietzche’s theory of “eternal recurrence” is just the question of whether you would live your life over and over again if it was exactly the same, the bad and the good. Combined with the ouroboros, the show is really questioning whether all the pain and suffering is worth it for these characters to be together. It’s much less complicated than it seems.

Cigarettes are used to link the two characters, so obviously they smoke, but not all the time. Note this if it keeps you from enjoying a BL.

The show is from Hong Kong and in Cantonese, if that interests you. One ML is from Hong Kong and the other was raised in the UK and Canada.

I have been searching the internet for photos of the MLs, but they are mostly on Weibo and Douyin, like most Chinese stars, so I’m mostly out of luck. Still, here’s a photo for your viewing pleasure.

p43425:

I loved both "School Trip" and "Serizawa", and there are so many similarities between them, but yes, I liked "Serizawa" even more.

I haven't watched the last two episodes of Serizawa yet, but for now, School Trip is still ahead. Maybe it's because I was less busy when it came out and had fewer other BLs to watch at the same time, so I was more invested in it.

Ju Moon:

Binge-watched Gelboys 2 this weekend.

I'm supposed to binge-watch both seasons this month, so I'm curious to see what I'll think of them !

p43425:

• "(Off)": Plays on a double meaning—referring to "off-camera" realities behind the polished entertainment facade (contrasting with what happens when "Action!" is called) as well as the dynamic between Third and Wan stepping away from strict public/idol personas into genuine, unfiltered moments.

I love this explanation.

stayforlife:

. They legit were my favorite pairing in every series they were in

Same !

dora:

So however you see it is “right,” because I don’t believe there’s only one interpretation.

I think so too.

dora:

with Fake Fact Lips my favorite this year.

Me too !

dora:

Ash

I really enjoyed this show.

Thank you for putting my exact thoughts into words ! I only took off 0.5 because of a few things that didn't make sense, so I rated it 8/10.

I also want to add that I've always said I'm against AI replacing real actors, but for the first time, I can kind of understand why they chose to use it. The scenes involved children and were really violent, and filming them could have been completely traumatizing for child actors.

I can't believe I was crying yesterday because two pairings separated, and today because my best friend and my friend broke up...

jazme:

Laalaa17930228:

Umm guys this is not a drill, but official post. Wild considering both pairs had relatively well doing shows even during this year. o_O But for the artist I hope this will give everyone to chance to pursue new opportunities and directions for their career if they still want to continue in acting.

Which gives you more heartache?

JoongDunk 33%

Equal heartaches 17%

Not affected at all 25%

AouBoom 25%

24 votes · Closes in 1 day

i guess it's but natural since joongdunk has more shows. though i feel aouboom has so much more to show us as they are just starting to become leads of shows

poll in p3211