As of this writing, I am between watching episode 7 of High School Frenemy and episode 9 of Jack & Joker, so my energy is that of a feral chihuahua trying to get at a second bowl of food. In case you’re wondering.
Last week, I mentioned that I’ve been thinking about the various things that make a scene sexually explicit, because within the realm of “high heat” BL or BLs that have been given an NC-17 (seriously iQiyi, please explain your rating system to me) there is huge variance.
So how to actually rate the content of something? Well, here are the levels:
Fade to Black
fade to black before any clothes come off
ftb after some clothes come off
ftb after some physical intimacy with clothes off
ftb during sex
does not fade to black
Editing
very quick short cuts
longer cuts but still montaged
few cuts but you can tell stuff is missing
you can easily track everything that happens between the characters
Shot composition
couple takes up 1/3 or less of screen
closer view; couple takes up 1/2 or less of screen
close up; character(s) takes up most of the screen
Nudity
no clothes are removed
top OR bottoms come off
clothes are off but body is obscured with camera angles or censoring
actors definitely had to wear a dick sock for the shot
genuine chance of seeing hole
Sound
set to music
music with some digetic noise
light music, primarily digetic noise
only digetic noise (i.e. you can hear all the moans and such)
Clarity of Events
could not say with surety what sex acts if any happened
can generally guess what sex acts occurred
can surmise which acts were performed and in what positions
can literally see what they did
(Actual pornography goes a step further on some of these to “literally seeing hole” and “actual shot of the dick going in,” which is why every time I see someone call bl porn I’m like okay, virgin.)
Anyway, there are shows that get NC-17 that only rate as high as a 1 or 2 on most of these (i.e. Between Us), whereas there’s 4 Minutes, which scores the max value on all of these in the very first nc scene. And theoretically the nc scene in Cherry Magic is as explicit as the one in Kidnap, but because of how Kidnap blocks the scene, it feels more explicit. I know exactly how those two banged. RIP.
Currently Watching (on air)
Jack & Joker: I had somehow forgotten that this show is, at its heart, high camp until we got to the digital game of Chutes & Ladders in episode 8, which had me on the floor. Who coded this game? Someone had to design those sprites! Imagining the real-world logic behind some of the things happening in this show is genuinely hysterical, because like this weird rich kid had to go to a game designer and explain this brief to him.
As I mentioned above, I haven’t seen today’s episode yet, but I’m so ready to get back into another heist. This show is I think at its strongest when it’s letting Joke get up to shenanigans, and that’s what this week promises.
Side note is that I actually watched the original pilot for this show and it’s wild how much clearly changed between then and now. Tonally, for one thing, the original one was darker and more serious, and the dynamic between Jack and Joke felt different too. It’s always interesting to me to see this with BLs since they film those pilots well in advance of production and a lot always changes between that and filming.
Kidnap: The way this spun off into an entirely different plot this episode had me absolutely dying. Like, there was basically not a single word about the whole drug cartel plotline. Instead it was all about Min’s acting career? Incredible stuff.
Leng releasing the uncut footage of their kiss scene this week was very funny of him, and it was also incredibly funny to see that they clearly aired the chastest cut because the uncut footage is so unrelentingly horny that I was like ah, okay. Hm. Will be genuinely shocked if Ohm and Leng don’t get another show after this.
Fourever You: It seems like we’re about to start getting the other storylines this week, which thrills me, because they finally revealed some tidbits about the Johan and North storyline that had me yelling. It was something I’d joked about happening in, like, episode 1, and then I was right?? I love to know narrative tropes.
Cooheart Earth and Pond continue to deliver—they’re very cute together and the chemistry between them feels very natural in a way that works for their characters.
Perfect 10 Liners: Force is impressing me in this show, especially this week. He got to play a little goofy as Akk in Enchanté, but there’s a youthful insanity to his performance as Arc that I’m enjoying a lot. There were a couple of scenes this episode where he was upset in this really muted but profound way, and I was like oh, you’re crazy but you’re also so infatuated, huh. Much like Fourever You, it seems like they’re going to start mixing in the other storylines, which I’m really curious to see—both of these shows are interesting structurally, this one especially since the narrative is going to stretch across three school years.
Love in the Air (Japan): I kept laughing watching this first episode because it’s very much still Love in the Air, but it’s also so Japanese. It’s hard to explain exactly what it is that makes me say that, but it’s a combo of how the lines were written and how the actors are performing the parts. I’m enjoying it, even though it did make me want to go back and rewatch the Thai show, which is largely because I just love Boss’s performance as Phayu so much, but I think I’m going to be more interested in the PrapaiSky aka FumaKai storyline just because the casting instantly changes the dynamic and it’s also the storyline that was less strictly faithful to the book.
Currently Watching (completed)
Why R U?: We’re currently on hold with this one, but we did at least hit the rooftop scene, which I still love very much. Saint and Zee really did have so much chemistry.
En of Love: This is Love Story: We had to watch this for Nuea but we also keep going, Nuea, that is an actual child. It’s hard to defend him on this one... It’s funny how much of the texting/Facebook interaction they kept for the show.
We Are: This is like the fourth or fifth time I’m watching this show, this time as a group watch because we thought it would be funny to watch three Director New ensemble college romcoms at once. The thing is that, for as simple as this show is in some ways, there is still a lot of rewatch value because of how it gives out character backstory. I always get more out of the Tan and Fang storyline each rewatch, and on this watch I’m really seeing the Q and Toey of it all. Truly, this show is just such a comfort watch for me.
Other BL News
I joked to friends that MewTul were trailblazers because other known or assumed couples in BL have been so much more blatant in the last few months, which is unfair to the previous BL couples, but it truly feels like there’s been a shift. BOC confirmed that Tong (famously played Khun in Kinnporsche) and Pong (also in KP as a more minor character) are dating now, which has resulted in fans digging up all the receipts of Pong aggressively pursuing him for the last two years. Congrats to him on making that happen!
iQiyi revealed their upcoming shows for November, which include like 4 Change productions. I don’t really understand entertainment business, but that seems like a bonkers choice to me if that’s really happening because all of those shows share cast members and it seems like that would be hard to schedule promo for.
I called out Domundi last week, but a couple of their long in-production projects are apparently set to air soon—we even got a trailer for Zomvivor, which I was convinced was going to get shelved like that Coyote & Roadrunner movie.
They also showed the trailer for The Heart Killers, which is somehow getting the Wednesday slot on GMMTV, and it looks even more bonkers horny than the original teaser. I told my watchparty group that there’s no way I’ll be able to watch that on Wednesday mornings when it goes live; I simply can’t be bringing that energy to my workdays. I do think Joong and Dunk might end up stealing the show on this one—and good for them!
Everyone at GMMTV has started losing their mind over High School Frenemy, which is Not a BLTM. It’s been very funny seeing all the actors and directors reacting to both the show and to actors Sky & Nani. There’s going to be a literal fistfight at the next creative meeting over who gets to cast them next. For my part, this show has rewired my brain. I’m listening to Mumford & Sons, I’m making TikToks, I lowkey made my Dragon Age character look like Nani...
Peaceful Property Corner
What was great about this last episode is that, while it introduced some new occult lore, it really at the end of the day was once again about human connection and the exploitation of the poor/the abuse of the rich, so even though it had, like, witchcraft kind of, it felt tonally consistent.
I did feel so crazy at the end of the episode, with Home saying the most romantic things about Peach. Like, it isn’t a bl, but to me it’s very textual that these two guys love each other very much, and that love has been compared directly to a romantic relationship, so like?
I don’t know, between this and High School Frenemy I’m thinking about how these shows can’t rely on the “you know this couple is endgame” aspect and have to really put in the work to show that they care deeply about each other. I would never, ever say that bromance shows are better than BL or that it’s better to be subtext than explicit or whatever else BS people said about The Untamed, but it’s true that some BLs rely on tropes and chemistry and just keep telling you that their characters are devoted to each other without giving you a reason to believe that. I will always prefer a canon queer couple, but there’s also a real thrill to shipping something for me, ngl.
urs,
hk