Tharntype, Thai, 12 episodes – not quite your typical Thai BL drama (although it is one); more in-depth and mature; the chemistry between the two lead actors is OFF THE FUCKING CHARTS; plenty of gossip that they fell in love on set but could simply be the focus on “skinship” (apparently a thing) during preparatory workshops;
I watched TharnType a few weeks ago and recced it on tumblr here. I watched it because somebody kindly clipped a kissing scene that was TRANSCENDENTLY HOT and I couldn't believe they had enough of that going spare that they could actually cut this particular scene. You're so right about the chemistry, it is unbelievable. And this is despite the fact that the kissing/sex scenes are actually pretty tame and almost entirely above the waist and clothed.
After watching TharnType I got linked to a couple of pictures of the actors Mew and Gulf at an event aaaaand fell head over tit into MewGulf fandom. (It helps that the actors are 1000% more wholesome than the characters xD)
I'd never heard of "skinship" before falling into this fandom? And I had no idea about the lengths Thai BL will go to to provide fanservice, to the point that it gets uncomfortable, but Mew and Gulf are next level even for Thai BL and somehow so graceful about the whole thing that it's kind of beautiful to watch. And it's also CONSTANT. There seem to be new clips of them at events every day because they're prepping for series two. They are ALL OVER EACH OTHER at all times, even at times when they wouldn't necessarily know there was a camera on them (to be fair, at this point in their deeply weird public lives, they probably have to assume there's always a camera). There was some ~incident with Mew and a male co-star on a previous show that I'm not 100% clear on but which strongly suggests that he is bi at the very least (I mean he's actually said he doesn't care about gender), and really if they're not an item they are at least very much not about toxic masculinity and no homo and hooray for that. (Not incidentally: there's a wonderful ongoing Mew/Gulf behind the scenes of TharnType fic called Skinship by EveHypo555).
there are seriously unsettling parts to the portrayed relationship (non-con, violence, emotional manipulation/threats) which are skated over, but I’ve found that a bit in other Thai dramas too, and I feel it’s maybe realistic to a relationship between these particular characters; interesting that it slightly subverts the typical top/bottom Thai BL dynamic; re-watch for all the gorgeous kisses and casual physical intimacy.
So much about TharnType creeped me tf out. I mean I am a Tharn stan through and through and I wanted to punch Type in the face A LOT through this show (fanfic has been very helpful in explaining Tharn's attraction to Type!) but you can't really skate over the fact that Tharn, like, sexually assaults Type more than once, and Type gets violent with Tharn more than once and yeah, the emotional manipulation is baaaaad. (Plus child sexual abuse and lalala. The thing I really can't forgive in the show is what happened to young Tar and how that is completely skated over.) I agree that it makes sense for their characters but the show also gets super operatic to the point where I'm not sure I could watch it again? I mostly experience the show through gifs these days :)
I'm curious about the usual top/bottom Thai BL dynamic because I haven't watched any others (currently working my way through Sotus and watching 2gether as it airs). Is it that Type is a hot-tempered bottom? (And lol, one of the things I weirdly haven't seen mentioned on the fandom side at all is that Type canonically likes it rough...)
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I watched TharnType a few weeks ago and recced it on tumblr here. I watched it because somebody kindly clipped a kissing scene that was TRANSCENDENTLY HOT and I couldn't believe they had enough of that going spare that they could actually cut this particular scene. You're so right about the chemistry, it is unbelievable. And this is despite the fact that the kissing/sex scenes are actually pretty tame and almost entirely above the waist and clothed.
After watching TharnType I got linked to a couple of pictures of the actors Mew and Gulf at an event aaaaand fell head over tit into MewGulf fandom. (It helps that the actors are 1000% more wholesome than the characters xD)
I'd never heard of "skinship" before falling into this fandom? And I had no idea about the lengths Thai BL will go to to provide fanservice, to the point that it gets uncomfortable, but Mew and Gulf are next level even for Thai BL and somehow so graceful about the whole thing that it's kind of beautiful to watch. And it's also CONSTANT. There seem to be new clips of them at events every day because they're prepping for series two. They are ALL OVER EACH OTHER at all times, even at times when they wouldn't necessarily know there was a camera on them (to be fair, at this point in their deeply weird public lives, they probably have to assume there's always a camera). There was some ~incident with Mew and a male co-star on a previous show that I'm not 100% clear on but which strongly suggests that he is bi at the very least (I mean he's actually said he doesn't care about gender), and really if they're not an item they are at least very much not about toxic masculinity and no homo and hooray for that. (Not incidentally: there's a wonderful ongoing Mew/Gulf behind the scenes of TharnType fic called Skinship by EveHypo555).
there are seriously unsettling parts to the portrayed relationship (non-con, violence, emotional manipulation/threats) which are skated over, but I’ve found that a bit in other Thai dramas too, and I feel it’s maybe realistic to a relationship between these particular characters; interesting that it slightly subverts the typical top/bottom Thai BL dynamic; re-watch for all the gorgeous kisses and casual physical intimacy.
So much about TharnType creeped me tf out. I mean I am a Tharn stan through and through and I wanted to punch Type in the face A LOT through this show (fanfic has been very helpful in explaining Tharn's attraction to Type!) but you can't really skate over the fact that Tharn, like, sexually assaults Type more than once, and Type gets violent with Tharn more than once and yeah, the emotional manipulation is baaaaad. (Plus child sexual abuse and lalala. The thing I really can't forgive in the show is what happened to young Tar and how that is completely skated over.) I agree that it makes sense for their characters but the show also gets super operatic to the point where I'm not sure I could watch it again? I mostly experience the show through gifs these days :)
I'm curious about the usual top/bottom Thai BL dynamic because I haven't watched any others (currently working my way through Sotus and watching 2gether as it airs). Is it that Type is a hot-tempered bottom? (And lol, one of the things I weirdly haven't seen mentioned on the fandom side at all is that Type canonically likes it rough...)