Latest Posts by enemies-to-friends-to-lovers - Page 12

Answer me, Shin-Woo. You should do everything I tell you to. I know your secret.- LIGHT ON ME(2021)

oh. so that’s why young royals has been trending for like, 3 days straight. it really is like that huh.

So…Young Royals.

The point of this post is solely to get you to start watching Netflix’s new Swedish teen drama Young Royals.

To give a short summary it’s a love story between 2 boys and one happens to be a prince with the backdrop being that of an elite boarding school.

So it’s about a young prince called Wilhelm. He gets into a fight at a party one night and the next day the entire countries heard the story. The Queen and Kings solution is to send him to the fancy boarding school his older brother went to. He doesn’t want to go, as he’ll be leaving all his friends and any semblance of a “normal” life. When he gets there he meets his extremely intense and elitist cousin August and Felice a girl he knew at elementary school. He also meets Simon who he immediately feels a connection with, possibly a romantic connection.

One of the best things about it is the cast of characters so here they are:

Wilhelm

Wilhelm’s our lead. He’s the second in line for the throne after his older brother. He doesn’t want any part of royal life and after an altercation that went viral he’s forced to go to a boarding school for rich elites (his worst nightmare). He meets Simon and romantic feelings come to fruition which he struggles to deal with.

Simon

Simon is way more than just Wilhelm’s love interest. He’s a local, isn’t a boarder and he’s nowhere near as wealthy as his classmates which has left him as an outcast, he’s resigned to not make a single friend at this school. He’s openly gay and dreams to move away from his home town. When he meets Wilhelm he expects him to be like the other rich kids but he’s sweet and they get along. He’s such a talented and adorable sweetheart and you will want to love and protect him with your entire being.

August

August is Wilhelms second cousin, he’s extremely entitled and classist. He constantly puts down those he sees as lower than himself. He’s the row team captain, a prefect and most popular guy in school. He’s also always had an unrequited crush on Felice. And he tries to insert himself in Wilhelms life more than necessary. The actor is brilliant, the character…hard to like.

Felice

Felice is the richest girl in school. She knows about August’s feelings but says he isn’t royal enough for her. She knew Wilhelm when they were young and she’s started obsessing over him. The more we learn about her the more layers are revealed, she’s not as perfect as she wants to be perceived. It took a while for me to understand her but once I did I enjoyed watching her grow.

Sara

Sara is Simons sister. She’s also an outcast and spends all her time at the stables as she feels she understands horses better than people. Although she says she’s fine being alone when the chance to become closer with Felice arrives she starts to like her. She’s a really interesting character and her relationship with Simon can be adorable, he loves and cares for her so much.

After seeing the trailer I was so excited for this show but it’s 1000 times better than I was expecting and just such a beautiful, wonderful young queer love story! A lot of people have compared the love story to the book Red, White and Royal Blue or Skam and whilst fundamentally similar they are very different at their heart. The chemistry between the lead’s is just crazy good, their first kiss in particular was just beautiful. The soundtrack is this awesome scandi electronic music that just fits the story perfectly. And the direction is way more complex and interesting than most teen shows I’ve seen. Also crazily they’ve actually cast real teens, most of the cast is 18 and they all have acne and blemishes…it’s so realistic and refreshing - I haven’t seen something like that since Skam!

So basically I’m in love with this show, even more in love with it than Wilhelm and Simon are with each other (and that’s a lot) *sobs* THEYRE JUST SO BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT! LOOOK!!!

Young Royals | 1.01

person: but if you're asexual AND aromantic, what DO you like?

me: money

Smug Shi Lei is the best

Why aren’t you sleeping on the bed? I want to sleep on the floor for one last night.

Be Loved in House | Episode 08. Shi Lei confessing to his mother about his feelings for Yuzhen

I feel like you want to tell me something. Are you worried about something? You want to tell me, but you don’t dare to? Is it something very important?

+ BONUS:

I can’t believe we get a drama where

The main character is queer

He’s neurodivergent-coded

And/or an introvert

BUT sticks up for himself, instead of being a pushover

❤️ A.C.E OST ❤️

Is released at the end of pride month 🌈

The other characters consist of a sweet himbo, a gentle himbo, and a mean-but-will-probably-soften boi

(Bonus points for a supportive adult figures)

I love that Shi Lei is doing this Evil Plotting in his room about how he wants Yu Zhen to... ask for help.

Yep.

Ask for help.

That's his evil plan.

His diabolical plot.

He wants Yu Zhen to ask for HELP.

So they can help him.

... I love Shi Lei on so many levels, okay?

Sehyoon mocking YG while wearing the hot pants that YG also happened to criticize, they don’t call him Wow for nothing 👀

2gether + text posts [insp.]

pan people are allowed to:

have gender preferences

not have gender preferences

be attracted to genders in different ways

be attracted to genders in the same way

experience attraction where gender is a determining factor

experience attraction where gender is not a determining factor

be in any kind of relationship

not be in any relationship at all

use gay/bi/queer/etc as personal umbrella terms

also identify as bi

not want to be referred to as anything but pan

be aro, ace, aroace, or anywhere on the ace/aro spectrums

have control over the terminology used to refer to them

have full control over their identity/label(s) in general

this has been a psa

If the show doesn't end with these two proposing to each other at the same time with handmade rings and soft, fluffy music in the background...

I don't know, but I can't believe they flirted this hard in front of everyone else's salads ring making.

How to take care of your tsundere: a guide by a traumatized but confident gay man

And the follow up: How to take care of your traumatized confident gay by a reluctant tsundere.

BEST OF BL 2020: [4/5] Favourite otps

SoloGui - Oxygen

SoloGui appreciation post. 

Possibly the healthiest sweetest quietest most pure couple in all of Thai BL. 

If Solo & Gui set up a coaching session for all the other BL couples to help them heal their relationships, we would have no BL plots. 

oxygen the series: episode 13

non-sexual intimacy is my kink and this drama is the king of it. 

i’ve never seen a drama where the main couple gets together so early and there is ZERO relationship drama.  it’s all external conflict that they face head-on as a unit. communication + respect + patience + small touches to show they are precious to you…soooo good.

just skip through the hetero bullshit (didn’t watch any of it after ep 2 lol) and this is a very rare gem of a show. it has a soft, sentimental tone overall (except for big bunny energy kao/ball!) because the two main characters are both more reserved and quiet and when they were delivering the cheesiest of lines coming from any other character it is SO in-character for them felt. 

Can you believe that Gaya Sa Pelikula talked about so many lgbt+ related issues as openly as it did? 

Can you believe that it gave a lesson about euphemisms and how it is not shameful saying the word gay out loud? Can you believe it talked about allyship and how it’s not always done right, but that if people are willing to listen to lgbt+ people and are open to learn it is valuable? When was the last time you saw a show saying microaggression? And especially, related to how people assume that passing privilege is a good thing and shame more feminine lgbt+ people. When was the last time you heard that “you don’t look gay” is NOT a compliment as explicitly as gsp did? Can you believe it also talked about how Vlad devalued those little mundane romantic things like prom because as lgbt+ we feel those are still out of reach for us because of the hateful societies we live in? But then immidiately showed us that we can have those experiences as lgbt+ people. Can you believe how they also highlighted that coming out feels like coming home, or all the talk about Boca del Cielo which is a place that doesn’t feel real but in the end it is found, and how the show values finally being able to express yourself as lgbt+ as something to celebrate and dance to? Something freeing and beautiful?

Dad dragged his luggage across me. Then he never looked back.

Gaya Sa Pelikula + messages at the end of each episode

gaya sa pelikula’s iconic quotes

🏳️‍🌈 part 1

Close Friends the series (another Thai hope for new stories in BL) ideas

What is up with these mini series Y destiny, Close Friends where they have a short storyline for certain known pairings and leave me devastated that they didn’t make it into a full 12 episode or more series? Why are we stuck with the engineering, university repetitive motives when we’ve had outlines and ideas right in front of us for how to make new groundbreaking Thai stories in this genre??? Unique, Romantic, Fun and great potential to explore new dynamics and characters. Please Close friends choose a series to make into one full series. Anyway here’s how I’d do them starting from my most favorite and desperate want for a full tv series plot, to the ones I can’t be fussed about. 

1.   KimCop

Are you kidding me? We could have had a celebrity/fanboy trope this whole time from Thailand? Why haven’t we gotten yet this idea?  Man this needs to be a series, this needs to  be fleshed out and give me a full storyline. Like have a spoiled/ arrogant celebrity who wants to go undercover away from his label (feeling bored/frustrated with the environment he’s in and sneaking away when he finally gets out) and meets his number one fan boy who works as cafe barista (cafe shop au damn it)  who he knows because he’s been having secret conversations with him through a VR app that he monitors for research on how to create more. Let him pretend he doesn’t know said fanboy but find a way to spend more time with him, let said fan boy not be okay with his attitude and arrogance on the surface but be confused about the other version of himself he speaks to in VR, let us have this. It would be so good, between secret identities, contract living/cafe shop au tropes, we could have something that can be great, with longing, misunderstandings, having the fan boy pretend he’s not affected by the celebrity (due to annoyance by his spoiled persona) when we and the celebrity both know he’s different when he’s speaking to his VR version. Just so much to play with, with this.  We need this storyline as a narrative like this is closest to the kinda risks Korea BLS do with their plotlines for BLs and with Thai we know the episodes would be allowed to be longer and properly played out. Plus KimCop are fantastic; they’re made for this, they need the directing, the stellar budget and production but I want this now. Damn you Close friends for laying this  in front of me!!! 

2. Mii2

Please can I get a coming of age series for this perfection? A coming of age that ends happily and show cases these two’s journey to being together through their pen pal relationship. Can we get self discovery, exploration, acceptance and more. Can we get finding your purpose, your struggles in highschool to fit in, to have friends, to be socially accepted. Can we get that with these two who clearly live opposite lives and find solace in each other. I want my BL answer me 1997/1984 Kdrama!! Like you can have it all! Give it to me 😭 let me learn about Thai history during these times. Let me watch this soft friends to lovers premise  Please? I’m begging? From the aesthetic, the time period, the wholesome characters and the potential with this plot, we can have a great unique Thai Bl series that’s still about highschool but show cases a different era. With inside jokes about that time period, with references, and opportunities for nostalgia for certain Thai folks, it’s a win win to me and it’d be BL! 

3. JaaFirst

You heard it here I want them because of their chemistry. I couldn’t help feeling so teased and upset that this wasn’t a supernatural thing about a cat who turns human or something (we’ve had mangas based on this, lol even Mew Mew power has a play on this with the main het couple at a time, common) like I would have wanted this synopsis with these two a magical race of people who are able to turn into animals, one of them who loses his memory/ has to find something that will help his race in a certain time frame  and finds himself having to stay stuck with Ja’s character who he falls for because he watches and learns about him as a cat. Maybe he stays in his cat form to discover why he was found in Ja’s place with no memory, trying to discover about himself, But there’s times where his human form can roam around depending on certain world building rules. Meanwhile Ja is a cute cat owner who’s  unaware. But something is bothering him, it’s making him spiral, he is intrigued by a boy he keeps bumping into at odds times around his area but he can’t find the boy anywhere, and each time they meet he’s a bit standoffish and refusing to let Ja get to know him or help him, he can’t find the boy unless he appears at a certain time and place. And he spends time pining trying to find and get this person not knowing he’s living right next to him moping about his circumstance about not being able to stay human all the time, Like a play on Little mermaid or kdramas like My girlfriend is a gumiho you know these dramas with supernatural beings who have to stay in a contract situation with someone with a time limit (a month/100 days normally) to stay together and get to his goal.  Like weird animal supernatural trope but it could work 😭 One it’d be supernatural so unique to this genre, it’d explore a requited but they don’t know trope with a lot of barriers and misunderstandings :( Like damn it why can’t we be having all this Thailand.

4. MaxNat  😭

A Karate Kid reboot but with BL 😭 Yes you heard me, between watching Nat fall for the sport and prove to whoever he needs to that he can be a champion due to the help of his headstrong tutor who takes him in, like we’ve got another plot, we’ve got another theme to explore, a new world of learning about the world of Karate competitions, and training to be a champion. Character dynamics that can be fleshed out to have another sports based BL series but this time Thai like yess 😭 let’s stew and stay longer in this I don’t want to do this energy with Nat’s character probably being forced to do the sport because he has no choice, to impress someone, to get revenge on  a rival who hurt him but slowly realizing that karate is his talent and what he loves to do authentically. A fish out of water experience, as he falls for his strict gruff, cold, and robotic tutor who he learns more about as time goes about why Karate is his all😭 Like yes please…. Haters to lovers, going in with wrong intentions, learning about self worth and finding your purpose/self. Like a chosen one narrative let me have this!!! 

See what I mean when I say all these mini series just leave me sad, that Thai BL genre isn’t risky enough to do new things, all you have to do is branch out a bit, try and create stories without the need to get Bl adaptations all the time from novels with the same themes and tropes. Let’s get new themes we see in other countries, let’s have these actors be put to use more and given stories that aren’t just the same old same old. I dunno, watching Y destiny and Close friends, have made me sigh because if people actually put thought and effort into how to improve this genre, and make it more than just a money thing, we could have great stories for Thai BL that actually will shock us, and make us refall in love with the genre. Dunno if what I’m saying makes sense, I just want new stories from Thai BL (don’t get me wrong IPYTM and GMMTV are trying) but I sometimes get frustrated at this explosion of quantity of BL that never has quality, it’s either repetitive or just awful in terms of storytelling. Why? Please Thailand branch out a little, these two series have shown you new plots, and ideas you can play with and create something more interesting and better than the typical lazy plots. Let’s expand Thai BL more. That’s all. Do you guys have your own ideas on these storylines and how to make them into longer series. I didn’t mention the other two because I wasn’t as connected to their plot (Love TalayYoon though) but I really enjoyed Close friends, and I’m sad it’s over now. 

I PROMISED YOU THE MOON (2021)