Honestly Speaking Bad Buddy Is Like....a Slap To Even Western Queer Representation. Im Not Even Kidding.

It’s Psychopath Diary - The Actual Rom Com Edition: Alternate Diary of Seo Inwoo @ Ao3

Some of y’all think that holding hands and sharing a bed is immediately romantic, and this is why people cannot differentiate between romantic, platonic, and familial forms of love.

“you want to try it for a while?”

If you’re not already, here’s why you all should watch Sotus the Series:

QUALITY PLOT: It’s actually very close and true to the novel’s storyline, probably because the author herself was heavily involved in the making of the show as a member of the writing team and being involved of the casting process.

TALENT: All the actors are incredibly talented and truly bring life to the characters, maybe because they were handpicked by the novel’s author herself, maybe because they actually went through the Sotus system themselves in real life or maybe because the two protagonists actually have been friends and went to university together. There are many scenes were very little is said and very much is conveyed by subtle yet strong gestures or facial expressions. There is also a lot of chemistry between all the actors in all scenes.

CULTURAL VALUE: The way the Thai university’s SOTUS system is shown, explained and talked about in the show actually presents the audience with various points of view on the matter. It also gives a well rounded insight into traditional Thai college life as well as the problems and benefits that come with it. So, there’s actual educational and cultural value in it, without forcing any specific point of view onto the audience.

FEMALE REPRESENTATION: Even though it’s a boylove genre storyline, there are many female characters and every single one of them is well developed, positive, relatable and important to the story. There is no antagonism, no emotional limitation, no stereotyping, and no being used merely as a plot device. Every female character is respected and treated as an equal by all other characters. Of all the Thai TV shows that I’ve watched, this is the only show that did that. And, even though industrial engineering statistically is a male dominated profession and course of studies, this show presents the audience with a 50% female student body and university staff.

LGBT REPRESENTATION: Even though Thai media and culture commonly uses effeminate gay male characters for comic relief by ridiculing their manners and ways of speaking, this show never went there. Here, such a character is not only never made fun of, but also fully accepted to be an integral part of the main group of friends. By everybody. There is also a lesbian character, who (in contrast to the stereotypical Thai media representation) has an individual look and characterization and - most importantly - is never ostracized for her orientation by anybody. In addition, she’s actually made the “star” of the year, which would be similar to “prom queen” in Western terms.

REALISM AND RESPECT: While Thai TV commonly portrays love stories by heavily focusing on sexuality instead of emotional intimacy, and by either having the characters touch a lot but never kiss, or only fake kiss (lips not actually touching, actors freezing for several seconds in weird angles) as well as characters crossing personal and physical boundaries without consent, this show did the opposite. There is barely any intimate touching on this show and sexuality isn’t even discussed. There are two real kisses (as both actors decided the characters would benefit from realistic representation). Both kisses are essential to the storyline and they look much more genuine than anything I have ever seen on any other Thai TV show. Also, every single character’s boundaries and emotions are fully respected and considered valid throughout the whole story. By every other character.

Go watch it on the GMMTV YouTube channel, with the official English subtitles:

Here’s a link to the full playlist (so far there’s 12 episodes with official subs, further episodes will be added weekly - there will be 16 in total).

The little conversation about saying boyfriend instead of husband and wife is darling because it's so sweet and soft and honest but also because it brings into mind that heteronormativity that comes from those words and how unneeded it is.

Boyfriend is enough.

HEARTSTOPPER | 1x04 – Secret

Can you talk more about “I don’t want to fall for a man” because I am curious about your thoughts!

OOooh YES I CAN!

So I am an out and proud bi woman, and I grew up in a household where my parents (even my terrible one) told me it was okay to be gay. 

BUT I also grew up in a conservative town full of anti-gay rhetoric and lots of conservative ideas, so no matter how much my mum told me “it’s okay if you like girls” everything outside the walls of my house told me that that wasn’t true. 

I didn’t hate gay people, I wasn’t outwardly homophobic, in fact I outwardly was very supportive of the lgbt+ community, but the internal homophobia was VERY real. I convinced myself that everyone looked at girls like that, that even if you’re not gay, everyone knows that girls are just attractive, that’s just a fact. In my defence, it is, but I digress. 

There’s an annoying trope that comes up in so many Thai BLs like “I’m not gay I just like [INSERT NAME HERE]” because as everybody knows, you’re 100% straight if you are in love with, live with, marry and grow old with another man. These are indisputable facts. 

Almost none of them ever say they are bi or demi or pan, it’s pretty much always “not gay just you” or “oh I’m gay now, weird that” despite expressing interest in only women before that, and firstly that’s a massive amount of biphobia so jot that down. Secondly, it’s an incredibly heterosexual way to portray lgbt+ stories, and it’s honestly just boring to see at this point, like I had such high hopes for Tonhon Chonlattee and then it played itself out in the straightest way possible and I was just sort of baffled? by the time it finished. 

But Zhou Shu Yi doesn’t say “I’m not gay” he says “I don’t want to fall for a man”. When he tells Gao Shi De he has feelings for him, he doesn’t say “I’m not gay I just like you” he says “Because it’s you. I have no choice.” and those are VERY VERY different things. 

“I don’t want to fall for a man” is the kind of phrase that I think almost everyone in the lgbt+ community has thought some variation of. It’s something I thought a lot growing up - “I don’t want to like girls” “I don’t want to be a lesbian” “I don’t want to have a crush on [insert name here]”. I imagine - although I can’t confirm this - that it is NOT a phrase that straight people would be so intimately familiar with. For straight people who never question their sexuality, the statement would be “I’m not gay” not “I don’t want to be gay”. 

Why would you worry about wanting something if you know you don’t?

It’s a fear response to knowing you have those feelings but not wanting to address it: “I don’t want to feel that way because if I admit that I do, then it’s admitting that I’m different and that my life is going to change.”

And when Gao Shi De says “I thought you didn’t like boys” Shu Yi doesn’t say “I don’t, I just like you” he says “Because it’s you.” It’s not a dismissal of queer feelings or people, it’s an admittance that Gao Shi De is the thing that makes him stop wanting to suppress the thought of falling for a man, that he’s already fallen so there’s no point trying to run away from it anymore. 

Honestly it’s some of the best bisexual/demisexual representation I’ve ever seen? On this tiny Taiwanese BL with nowhere a big enough fanbase that deserves WAY more? and I just… It made me feel SO seen, it acknowledged a part of queer culture that I don’t often see on TV, even in BLs and I think that’s beautiful.

The parallels!

The contrast is killing me, like how are they the same people!