reefpicker

I think more than half of my top 10 shows are old or very old series. I have a thing for coming of age stories, so naturally Love Sick and Make It Right are among my favorites. I also liked Crossing the Line. I think Hes Coming To Me is underrated. All of those are pre-2020. Probably the most recent one that I really liked was Bad Buddy. I have high hopes for 21 Days and My 12% (again, coming of age). I loved RakDiao too. But lately we have been getting quantity over quality. The old BLs had much better scripts, character development and a great and often original love story. Lately we are getting a lot of retread plots. Just IMO.

I think my point was that the trend is potentially changing!

(I say that yet we also got My 12%, 21 Days Theory and On Cloud Nine, which are HS BLs LOL)

But I think I see a trend to do less college ones and/or have them spend less time in college. Think about SOTUS and ToL, they spend a lot of time talking about school, doing school activities etc. I think the latest ones that have taken place in college have been less about college, with a few notable exceptions. So even GMMTV is evolving away from that pattern.

Cross our fingers ;)

There are some recent ones that don't take place in college, including Vice Versa, RakDiao, Love with Benefits, Manner of Death, Triage (half the characters), Ingredients, etc. Oh, there is a new one from DV8 that has Gameplay in it and that takes place in an office, I don't remember the name now. For a time there in 2020, all the Pinoy BLs seem to have also taken place either after college or outside of college, like My Day, Boys Lockdown and Gameboys.

But TBH GMMTV and Channel 3 both seem to focus a lot on college guys.

There are some recent ones that don't take place in college, including Vice Versa, RakDiao, Love with Benefits, Manner of Death, Triage (half the characters), Ingredients, etc. Oh, there is a new one from DV8 that has Gameplay in it and that takes place in an office, I don't remember the name now. For a time there in 2020, all the Pinoy BLs seem to have also taken place either after college or outside of college, like My Day, Boys Lockdown and Gameboys.

But TBH GMMTV and Channel 3 both seem to focus a lot on college guys.

I have concluded that they handed the script to a 7 year old and he came up with all those ideas.

There are so many things I am not getting! Like, why does Mek need a PR firm? What exactly is Kim's job? One day he is the assistant and the next day is planning the marketing strategy for the most important client? Why is the plant called fart bag? How did Mek became so famous so quickly doing landscaping work? Can we see his work? I want to see how good he is. Do landscapers really live the jet setting lifestyle?

Channel 3, but point taken ;)

Oh, it is probably a little bit of BL fatigue mixed with the fact that BL production companies in Thailand are still not cranking out the best scripts.

This one is not bad. I have seen worst. But compared to something like Triage or even Vice Versa, this is a couple of notches below.

I believe a lot of Asian languages do that. Japanese is similar. They will say the name of the person instead of "you". "You" in Japanese can be rude.

I have always noticed them saying the name and talking in third person. I think its cute. I know it is not suppossed to be, but it is to me.

I believe a lot of Asian languages do that. Japanese is similar. They will say the name of the person instead of "you". "You" in Japanese can be rude.

I have always noticed them saying the name and talking in third person. I think its cute. I know it is not suppossed to be, but it is to me.

You know, I really hate when the trailer tells you exactly what is going to happen.

Have you watched Triage? That was really good. Actually, I still have one more episode to watch but the show has been excellent thus far. You really can't tell what will happen next...

I don't know if I have shared this with you but, this is from our podcast (the podcast is pretty much two queer man talking about BL!):
"In the first part of the podcast, Sister Unity and Dr. Jose discuss some of the listener's comments on the "Sex in BL" episode. Afterwards, Sister Unity and Dr. Jose do the rounds, discussing the problem of Uke Reticence to sex and how it is a common diagnosis in many Thai BLs we have admitted to the clinic. "

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/ps3Ue49Txsb

I agree. That was pretty well done. Such a simple scene but there was a lot going on.

From the trailer, it looks like the relationship between Q and Toy sours because Mook falls for Toy. Remember, Q really wants to win this because he never wins anything. Or maybe he just feels betrayed. IDK. The point is that his character development is tied to this straight romance.

I am not sure how/if it will play out into the story of Q and X, but I assume Q will eventually get consoled by X. Then either Mook or X will be the peacekeepers and bring the friends back together. I guess we will have to see, but that's to me where it is headed.

What is unique about the hetero romancr here is that it is an integr part of the story. That means without it, the bl story doesnt make sense. It has nothing to do with screen time.

I was ver clear (I think) that the issue here is not parents being supportive. I can give you a long list of those. What i am say is that I dont recall parents being shown going thru the process of acceptance. Also I cant recall a single instance in which the parents POV is shown by episode 2. Thats early enough. The reason this is significant is because there is time to develop this as a subplot. We will see if i am right about this.

I am not going to change your mind if you already have decided you don't like this. I find interesting you are struggling with Vice Versa, just like I am, so I wanted to give you a different perspective, given that you and i seem to share similar tastes in BL.

What I find unique about this, as I explained is not the hetero romance but the way they have integrated it into the story. You see, in most BLs (if not all), the hetero couple is a side couple. Take out the couple's story and you still can fully understand the main story. Here , the hetero couple is an integral part of the BL couple's story. I also like that they have made me interested in that story. Normally, I don't give a crap about the hetero couple but here I feel like I am very interested in what will happen. They also made the character of Mook an interesting character. I loved when she said "I was planning to go alone to the awards". She is not the kind of woman that needs a man.

The mother IS struggling. She is not rejecting the son. She doesn't have a "problem" with it. In Tonhon, we got the accepting mother. In most other series, we get a parent who rejects the lovers or wants to interfere. She is simply learning to accept him. Struggling may not be the best word. Sorry. She accepted her brother and now she will accept her son. I think it is beautiful to see it from the parents perspective. It is rare in a BL to see the parents talk about what is going on with the son in such non-judgmental ways. That is why I think this show is unique.

You have a good point about the mom acting without any indications. You aren't the only one. A friend of mine had the same exact complaint. The reality is that the conversation was ambiguous enough that we don't know if she is suspicious because of the (obvious) flirting that X displays or if it is because of something that she sees has changed in Q. Being the mom, one would assume her motherly instincts tell her something is different about the way Q is treating this boy. IDK. Maybe it is the fact that Q acts like he "hates" him. We all know the old trope of you hate the boy you like. I think we need to see more to know what exactly is going on with the mom. But that one minute conversation they had was more than we get in most BLs from the parents at this point. If anything, most BLs rarely address this issue of parental acceptance, and when they do, it is only used to add an antagonist to the story, not to create a separate plot, like they did here.

So overall, I say this is unique, and it is going into the Thai BL history list for me, at least at the moment.

She is OK with it. She is just struggling like any parent would. She probably always suspected it, now she is confirming it, and she needs to "let it sink in". I don't think she is not supportive of him. Her brother will probably help her deal with it.

The mom was just worried about him going out so late. She may also have wanted him to slow things down. IDK. She clearly is ok with him being gay, though she is also struggling a little with it. I loved that bit of the series and I am really excited for this series in general. One of the best series currently airing IMO..

Hey, I agree with you in a lot of your points. I will add that the complains about Q hitting on Mook is more about this trope of guys making it a competition to win a girl, like the girl has no agency. Having said that, it is VERY clear here from the get go that it is the girl who will do the choosing, as it is explicit in the rules of the "game" itself.

For me, I give them a free pass because this is such a common trope (we see it even in Disney movies and series), and because Mook is such an interesting character that they get points for that.

Oh you got some great points. I didnt even think about this. I guess its so typical of the genre.

Harsh critic? I find a lot of things about this original. The gay uncle, the mother struggling accepting her gay son, the mom KNOWING before he knows (they always say parents know before the child), having a straight romance as a side couple with a well developed story that is interwoven with the main story, having an age gap side hetero couple....

I think there is a lot to like here. May I dare say, this is better than vice versa?