Eternal Love of Drama

Just saw this now on Twitter and had to come here to say thank you for your brilliant and empathetic review of this gorgeous BL series. In an era of expensive, glossy but mediocre and regressive series SCOY takes us back to the glory days of BL. Those were days when femmes are the star of the show, their perspectives are centred instead of invalidated or labelled unrealistic, and femmes and other AMABs who’re least gender conforming are positioned as valid and among the most desirable as romantic partners.

@Sko_kia

True. Bai Qin is the woman of his head - like it makes sense he should identify with her as they had the same background, but Cui Xi is the woman of his heart - the one he has no business loving but what his whole spirit longs for. Reminds me of Bob Marley and that mixed-race Jamaican beauty Queen 😀

Did you see Killer and Healer, Brock? Mao ZiJun is the lead role and he’s in love to the end of the drama. Magnificent!

Also check out The Rebel Princess for military action, court intrigues and passionate romance.

And if you’re up for a truly unforgettable, thrilling dystopian KDrama watch The Devil Judge, similar action/crime drama to Killer and Healer, best KDrama I’ve seen in some years - since Empress Ki

Yes I know. I was joking because of so many parallels between the two. But Killer and Healer is King 👑

Thanks @Manisha! It seems to have disappeared somehow though; I can’t see it here just a big B 😃

@Li Man Man has written an absolutely gorgeous AU which you simply must read totally absorbing and mind-altering in the best way: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32220883. Give it a try 💕

How funny yet sad that we don’t even need words to understand what this fan is feeling 💕

Omg yes! I wrote a thread on this very thing. At first I wondered if The Devil Judge was inspired by Killer and Healer as there are so many parallels 😂. But in the end K&H still surpasses TDJ https://twitter.com/BLLoversLink/status/1429454343187705867?s=20

PS: This doesn’t mean UWMA or BM do not have flaws but that those blemishes are so inconsequential that they do not warrant the level of passionate criticism, and hardly bear mentioning because they’re not destructive to any good values we should care deeply about.

Ah yes, I understand. UWMA gets criticism and hostility even now. Just do some Twitter searches for example. A couple of weeks ago something blew up about speculation the Dean/Pharm actors were going to be in a new BL together and many people groaned - why them? Same people have been clamouring for a new BL starring Lhong. Two weeks before that Pharm’s masculinity was being questioned with people pointing to compromises they think he made to argue Pharm has no agency, is the inferior in the relationship and he doesn’t make choices but rather is controlled by Dean, etc.

Meanwhile, while people really stretch the meaning of “taste”, some objectively terrible BLs dont received] that level of critique, including when some “seme” characters who’re abusive to the “uke” character or they both abuse each other, with zero redemption arc end up getting the guy he abused- like bad people deserve good things? I’m not going to name names because someone will come here telling why they love those characters thereby proving my point.

That kind of character trajectory actually gets more hype, enthusiasm, normalisation and unquestioning support, and consequently less critique than many healthy characters and the series they’re in - people suddenly become writing and film specialists dissecting each line of dialogue, it’s pacing and every camera angle.

There were a couple of BLs from Taiwan recently, hella bad in many respects but had a lot of gratuitous skinship, sexual assault and ill stereotypes of gay people but those BLs still had people asking for a continuation so that the obviously glaring flaws and egregious content of the series can be better handled in a season 2! Zero concerns about camera lighting or screenplay of course. That kind of thing.

I’m not saying that people can’t watch and find those BLs meaningful to themselves; I’m saying people forgive a lot when the toxic themes they perhaps experience in their own lives are portrayed in a series in ways that resonate with them, while even if a series might be excellent representation and executed artistically and politically well, people will nitpick the most obscure flaws or invent nonexistent ones to reject media which isn’t validating their existing view of the world. So it’s interesting to not just acknowledge what feedback there is on a particular BL, but to understand the why, the what is it exactly that people are instinctively responding to. From that I think you start seeing the broader patterns.

@Love Drama Ok, but I didn’t say it comes near the impact of UWMA. I said it’s getting the same kind of criticism UWMA and GameBoys got because in these outstanding BLs neither the plot nor the tension is driven by toxic masculinity between the leads so people claimed these series were boring. Also because they didn’t prioritise skinship critics also claimed “its just Bromance”.

BL fans have become so accustomed to these two elements being the basis getting viewers attention they don’t know how to feel when they don’t see these elements prioritised in a BL, where complex storytelling, character depth and plot is uppermost. I hope that explains the connection I’m making

Thanks for your feedback on my comment.

Oh my! You haven’t seen UWMA? Until We Meet Again is one of the top BLs in all of Asia. Experienced, award-winning actors and director who was in BL all the way back to LoveSick days. It’s a soulmates romance surrounded by a mystery/thriller. Great rewatch and reactor value and also good gripping stuff to introduce someone to BL with because of its own unique, layered storyline. It had a lot of criticism at first also but it’s been years and there are still not even a handful of Thai BLs at that League.

Totally agree, as per my post below..

I was actually hoping to find time to screen shot these very lines for a new Twitter thread after re-watching Ep6.

“To quote Aue talking to Aek about art at the opening of the gallery in ep 5: “To each his own. People appreciate things differently. It’s like in cooking. We cannot please everyone. No matter how hard we try to create.”

I love it. We’re in a bloody pandemic and I can take all the emotionally intelligent, lovely, non-toxic men falling slowly in love my eyes can see right now. I’m so glad they’ve put the lyrics to the songs on screen so I can even sing along each time.

No art is perfect but whatever flaws there are in Bite Me do not bear mentioning, certain,y not compared to the creative ground breaking work the Director is trying to do - and it’s working!

People are being so loud about ultimately insignificant things they don’t like you’d think they’re being paid. There’s a deluge of BLs out there, literally hundreds now, so why are they so mad this one isn’t up their streets. It’s just insane!

Western English speakers are a terrible and entitled bunch. Who spends so much time watching and discussing a drama they don't like? What kind of madness induces this? They’re actually turning out to be one of the additional entertaining offshoots of this drama.

The insistence that this Thai BL drama should centre them and their perspectives is just laughable. If you hate it this much and are so let down must you rant about it and fight people who like it on the internet? What’s stopping them from watching GoT or Twilight or Bridgerton? Ha ha I think we know why.

When the drama, conflict and tension in a BL doesn’t come from toxic masculinity and gratuitous skinship people just don’t know what to make of their feelings. They would happily sit through hours and seasons of that crap and never nitpick the glaring narrative flaws, poor lgbt representation and backwards politics, in fact they will make up outlandish theories to justify these dramas, like TTTS, Tonhon Chonlathee, Lovely Writer, IPYTM and now Don't Say No.

Both the lead characters in Bite Me are emotionally intelligent men, their conflict doesn’t arise from an abusive seme, internalised homophobia or repeated forced intimacy which amounts to romanticised sexual assault. All these things have become so normalised in BL that without them people feel something integral is missing from the mlm relationship. I can assure you if the “exended staring” scenes critics are so tortured about were replaced by random groping and gratuitous sex scenes none of them would be counting the minutes. It is the fact that the emotional connection between Aue and Aek is being placed front and centre that gives people so much frustration.

It is some consolation that the same criticisms were made of UWMA and GameBoys of the Philippines yet which BL has won more critical mainstream tv awards, many of them international, as well as lgbt image awards than these two, and which other BLs have been nominated for an Emmy or are on Netflix globally?

Another part of the explanation lies in what the lead characters in Bite Me share with UWMA and GameBoys is clear when we understand the hype for KinnPorsche which is based on seeing visual displays of wall-to-wall hyper masculinity but you will need a microscope to find out the story from these glitzy trailers not to talk of finding the romance, as this thread tries to say: https://twitter.com/BLLoversLink/status/1444713800805007366?s=20

Anyway, let them talk; more views for Bite Me and more side-bar entertainment for those of us who adore this lovely BL series

I totally agree with all the points you make. In Thai BL people, have become so used to conflict being driven by toxic masculinity they keep complaining there isn’t enough drama or that the skinship isn’t coming fast enough. Savages!

I had to point this out somewhere else already today. Aek and Aue’s conflict isn’t just an age gap or even employer\employee one, rather it is over coming from two different worlds despite sharing a love of cooking and even maybe some growing affection for each other. Because of Aue’s privileged position he can afford to approach life and it’s challenges with a sense of complete personal freedom because he’s not bogged down by the burdens of being the only man in a rural, fatherless household who will need to make choices that transcend just doing what he loves but that will enable him to look after his Mom well and also not let down her aspirations for him as an her only child.

That’s why Aek is upset after the gallery. His pride is hurt in multiple ways Aue is only starting to understand after spending time in Nan. But I loved that Aue’s first instinct was to apologise immediately and unreservedly even though he didn’t quite grasp exactly how he hurt Aek. Other BLs would’ve let that unspoken misunderstanding stupidly fester for weeks (or perhaps months or years as in ATOTS).

I thought the age conflict is also sensible because the older person will assume a mentoring role even without trying to impose themselves because a Phi, with some age and experience, can see the potential a Nong doesn’t even see in himself. So that’s something they have to work out together how to communicate better in an age-gap relationship with more sensitivity required on Aue’s part. It’s another take on the idea of consent in relationships. In earlier episodes the tension focussed on Aue’s vulnerability, mostly within himself, knowing he’s interested in Aek professionally but also personally and toeing that line as an emotionally intelligent person.

People are so used to conflict being driven in Thai BL by toxic masculinity they don’t know how to compute two men in a relationship, resolving conflict that isn’t caused by emotional abuse, self hatred or performance of hegemonic masculinity. The fact that they’re also not a masc4masc couple seems to drive people crazy, especially North American male fans, but that’s what I love about BiteMe best because that’s what’s challenging patriarchal ideas of gender, masculinity and femininity is all about.

That the least hyper-masculine man in this series is being chased by two women, envied by another and has a hot, socially dominant man head over heels in love with him almost at first sight, is giving me the same joy I felt when I finally understood the irrational hatred for Pharm in UWMA and the “I didn’t watch GameBoys at first because I didn’t like the visuals” nonsense. In other words, like Pharm and Cai in Game Boys who got the same sceptical “it’s not realistic” treatment the most desirable man in this drama is the one whose identity is more closely identified with being comfortable with his femininity.

To me that is the kick up the backside to patriarchal heteronormativity that we do not get to see in gay series or on the gay social scene where every man has to look like a Tom of Finland character as if big, loud, muscular, straight-passing performativity isn’t the most heteronormative vision of masculinity of all.

PS The music and the English lyrics on screen is another reason I love this series. I can sing along each time 😍😍💕

It’s so stupid and counterproductive. We’re all watching for GaHan end game; nothing else. It’s the reason the DJ ratings are through the roof and this is how you fujoshi bait a loyal fandom? Wow. I would’ve been happy with a Soo Hyun and K endgame and character death for Minister Cha and Sun Ha. Nothing else makes sense. That whole Soo Kyun forced episode was a real insult to women. I don’t even want to watch Ep 13 now 😅

They could’ve just left things open ended with GaHan together at the end. That usually satisfies homophobes. It made more sense for K to be with Soo Hyun than GaOn. Even K’ character had more screen time, a point and a personality. The Soo Hyun kiss and aftermath was a travesty

A mess. It’s like they killed a whole person to send the message that GaHan is Not a thing after teasing that relationship with the most character development and chemistry for nearly 13 episodes. Surely there’s an “H” word for this

What the actual hell was this? In a show so otherwise brilliantly written they forced her into a second lead role after zero character development for 12 episodes and with a man who’s known her his whole life but only ever saw her as his best friend. Isn’t this the same reason we stopped watching het shows - because they just grab two people of opposite gender and say right, two two are a couple, for no other reason. I’m actually outraged. Oh, and if that kiss had been between GaOn and YoHan it would’ve been 🔥🔥🔥🔥 instead of that dry ass thing we saw that could’ve started brush fires 😆🤣🤣