15 Day BL Challenge Let's Do This!

15 Day BL Challenge let's do this!

OG here 💚

Day 5 - Biggest Flop

Just gonna put a warning up top if you're a fan of Only Friends maybe don't read this because my answer to this prompt is...

Hoo boy. Let me tell you, when GMMTV rolled out the teaser trailer for this I was SAT.

The cast of Only Friends is absolutely stacked. I adore First and Khaotung. I was so excited to see Mark and Neo in this type of role. And of course the rest of the cast is also amazingly talented. So what went wrong?

Put simply, I just felt like it didn't have any teeth. They marketed Only Friends as a story about a toxic queer friend group and yeah, they were toxic. But they weren't toxic in an interesting or compelling or fun way. They were just toxic for the sake of being toxic. The writers kept creating situations for these characters to be in without threading in any kind of emotional through line or doing something original with the material.

They brought Boeing in and gave him this huge, villanous introduction and then... he didn't do anything? Never in my life have I ever screamed, "JUST FUCK THE GUY!" at my screen until Mew kept teasing Top about fucking Boeing when in fact he... never did.

Even when Mew was entering his, "villain era" it was like... "my villain era is... to be mildly annoying! Take that!"

It's like the writers kept being like, "hey, we're gonna light a fire!!!!" And then they pull out a birthday candle.

It's so weird to me because I think one of GMMTV's biggest strengths is writing friendship groups, particularly in a university context, so it's confusing how miserably they failed with this. None of these characters had each other's backs, they were all just selfish and mean and this is the thing about writing toxic characters: they still need to be likable in some way.

I am all for toxic characters but they have to be entertaining in order for the story to work.

Toxic villain? Make sure everyone loves to hate them or there's something compelling about them that the audience can't tear their eyes away from.

Toxic couple? Make sure the dynamic that they have is magnetic in some way, the audience needs to root for them even if they know they're not good for each other.

Toxic protagonist? Have the audience constantly guessing their motives, good, bad, morally grey? Where does their heart truly lie? What is the reason for their toxic behaviour? Trauma? Heartbreak? Abandonment issues?

Toxic friendship group? How about they be that toxic kind of ride or die? Like they might be shitty and mean to each other but if one of their own gets fucked up you just know they'll unite to kick some teeth in.

And then... there was this guy.

Now GMMTV has a history of writing characters that do terrible things and never get held accountable for their actions but this time it just felt irresponsible. This little twerp tried to ruin Boston's life, accusing him of being a sexual predator, and he got... a two minute tepid talking to in the bathroom? And then a nice little scene with his sister who was like, "give me a hug" and meanwhile Boston gets... nothing?

BOOOOOOOOOOOO

*chanting at my screen at 2am* DO IT DO IT DO IT

@bengiyo put it perfectly here

When I look at Only Friends I see so much wasted potential. Like this scene with Neo and Mark was beautifully done.

Although I didn't like the character of Ray, I loved this scene and that is 100% due to the acting powerhouse that is Khaotung.

If they had been given a better script I truly believe Only Friends could've been amazing.

It’s that time again, 15 day BL challenge time!

OG here 💜

Day 6 - Fave line from your fave series

I have a few “favourite” BLs but the first one I thought of was this…

BL: Between Us

Now this line might seem simple, but it means so much to me.

The question of consent is so crucial and a common complaint from people on the internet is that consent isn’t “sexy”. Well to those that say that, please watch the two sex scenes in Between Us episodes 1-2, feel the tension, the electricity in the air, the way Win and Team both seem to be holding themselves back at the start but you can tell they are craving each other. They’re so unsteady but at the same time there’s a hunger, a longing, an anticipation that’s sharp and palpable.

And then Win breathes, “Can I kiss you?” And it’s so quiet but it’s like fireworks.

Consent is sexy. And when it’s written well into a scene, it’s goddamn poetry.

ART

Hello and welcome to the 15 day BL challenge!

OG here 💙

Day 7 - Fave villain

Now I love a good villain. My favourite genre of villain is, “love to hate them”. And the number one guy I love to hate is…

BL: Pit Babe

First of all, what is his haircare routine? You just know this man spends like an hour every morning on his hair. I can just see him carefully pulling out those front strands to frame his face before blowing a kiss to his reflection.

Let’s just list out the things this man has done:

- Kidnap/buy children and lock them up in a Professor X x-men style mansion from hell

- Train said children in their “alpha” powers and sometimes in the process of training them… accidentally kill them???!?!? Like it’s no big deal????

- Once the children are old enough he SELLS THEM??????

- Oh, he’s also involved in ORGAN HARVESTING?

- He wants to kidnap Babe and IMPREGNATE HIM and then SELL THE SUPER ALPHA BABY????!?!?!!

- He’s also just a shitty, abusive dad

- BUT he loves his bonsai trees. So… there’s that.

What a despicable human being. And what an amazing villain. God I love Pit Babe. Where else can you get beautiful portrayals of male friendship and gentle masculinity and heartbreaking grief while there’s also the cuntiest villain running around just casually human trafficking and organ harvesting? Oh, and it’s set in the OMEGAVERSE????? Never change Pit Babe. Never change.

From today’s Sydney protest (06/10/2024)

(grabs you by the shoulders) you have to make room for new experiences in your life. you have to go through the unpleasant work of leaving your comfort zone, even if just for a few minutes at a time. because if you don't, your brain will trick you into stagnation. you will start to believe that the world can barely fit you in it. but that's not true. it's the opposite way around. you can fit the whole word inside of you. your task is only this: to welcome it with open arms

im tired of online discourse. look at this family of quails