#bl pulp

This is one of my favorite kiss scenes. I'm not sure why exactly. I mean, they're making out in a toilet stall. In a bar. But hey, who hasn't been there before?

Bless @save-the-data for giffing the end of it:

He's soundly rejected and struggling with the feeling of not mattering to the people who should have loved him and like the lesser of the two choice and like he can do everything he can and no one will ever be proud of him...

And now he's seeing his twin brother, the one who is better than him, the one who was chosen when he wasn't, beaten and he has no idea why (and it's because of him even if he doesn't know yet) and now he all he has is his own skills.

I love him.

It really is Not Me but with sports instead of politics. Like, that's it and I love it here.

This is also my favorite way to do one-sided enemies to lovers because it's only one sided because the person changed, not because the enemies are actually one-sided.

Thai BL Pulps Explained + My Favorites 

There’s this category of BL that comes out from Thailand (a lot) that’s just... oh how do I put this? 

They’re mass produced with low production values (film quality, staging, wardrobe, makeup, workshopping or not, etc...), often with amateurish acting, and with slim or negligible story structure. One of the hallmarks form Thailand is particularly bad sound. 

Henceforth I shall be calling these:

The Pulps of Thai BL 

Here’s a shortlist of some of the worst offenders: 

The Moment

Cupid Coach

I Am Your King 1 & 2

Love Love You

Love Poison 1 & 2

My Dream

Location 

So Much In Love

Friend Forever 

Evening Cafe

Brothers 

With Love 

They are, objectively speaking, not good. I do not recommend them as quality film, but like a soap opera addict, I watch them anyway. 

I feel like a lot of Vietnamese and Pinoy stuff could be called BL Pulp too. And there’s early stuff out of Korea and Taiwan that’s in this vein, but not enough of it to be truly qualify as a pulp movement or BL sub genre. 

The thing about Thailand is its *consistency* in producing these kinds of shows.  

I also think there’s some Thai stuff out of bigger studios (that should know better, like GMMTV) that edges real darn close to Pulp like YYY or My Tee but for some reason just doesn’t fall all the way into the category. Maybe because better acting and production values? Or maybe because they were at the beginnings of the movement? 

Anyway, just spitballing. 

Update 2020: 

I now throw this term around a lot.

Thai BL Pulp UPDATED Thoughts

It's not a pejorative, I promise! 

@heretherebedork​ and I came up with the term because a lot of the mass produced Thai BL reminded us of the pulp fiction movement from 1900-1950s (racy, action-based books published cheaply and rapidly). These were accused of being poorly written, but like many things of this ilk, sniffy critics were upset by what was popular and the actual quality ranged widely (some were really very good). 

The pulp term is drawn from the inexpensive nature of the paper they were printed on (which in turn can be traced back to the industrial revolution and the rise of the penny dreadfuls and yellow backs of the Victorian era). 

Thai BL pulps are also cheaply made and rapidly produced, they tend to have inferior production values (especially sound) and chronic over use of tropes. 

That doesn't necessarily make them all bad (although most of them aren't exactly good, either). It just makes them a specific sub genre of BL. 

As watchers, we need to be prepared to forgive them their sins of quality or we can't ever appreciate them for the corny cheerful chaotic entertainment value they actually provide. 

But some better made Thai BL can have these flaws too. It's just with the Thai BL pulps you're better off EXPECTING the flaws, that way you can be pleasantly surprised when they exceed expectations.

RECOMMENDED THAI BL PULPS 

In no particular order. 

Second Chance 

Three couples, two of which are very good. Leads are great, plus fantastic kisses, plot is naff af though. Side dishes are an established pair. Messy high school shenanigans with everything culminating at the prom. Charming. And did I mention the kisses? 

Golden Blood

Come for Sun & Sky, stay for Pitch & Bank. Thailand first crack at a bodyguard romance, and it’s not awesome. But they tried real hard, and PitchBank are absolute magic. 

Ingredients 

Everyone’s emotional support convenience store advertisement. If all you want is two soft boys being domestic, cooking together, cuddling on the couch, cat sitting, and babysitting - just put this on and be cozy.

Nitiman 

This Thai BL pulp had sympathetic characters, a solid tsundere uke redemption arc, and a fantastic pining seme who yearned without bullying, grooming, or gaslighting. Plus when they were together, they were ridiculously soft. But it also had a realistic portrayal of university life, bisexual awakening, and friendship groups. Bummer about the ending.

My Ride

This is absolutely the best pulp Thailand has ever produced. It IS a pulp but it has a tight clean well paced story, for Thailand, and it’s well acted all round which elevates it beyond shoddy production values. It’s truly great. Not just as a pulp, but as a BL. 

I should add I LOVE Make It Right, but while I consider it the origin of the pulps I’m not sure it, itself, can be considered one. 

This post updated April 2022 so top ten as only as of this date. 

It is not! Not... exactly!

Pulp is based on pulp romances. They're stories that were mass produced, typically filled with tropes and absolutely HUGELY varying in quality even within the same book or author or series.

In this case, @absolutebl and I have basically determined that there is an entire genre of Thai BLs (And a few others from other countries but mostly Thailand) that are pulps. They're mass-produced, they're made quickly, they're filled with tropes and a very thin plot...

Look, it sounds like an insult but I'm gonna be honest I love pulp BLs more than almost any other. Do I enjoy a good, high quality BL? I mean, of course!

But you hand me a pile of tropes held together by two boys being cute and a plot that may or not be literally SOTUS but softer and I will love EVERY SECOND OF IT.

You show me a bunch of predictable scenes and obvious moments and characters that only kind of grow but mostly are just cute and into the romance and I will grin my way through every moment.

I love pulps. I adore them. I love tropes and I love softness and I might love plot but sometimes I don't even need it.

Wow.

Impressive.

And yet here I am, I'll be watching it regardless.

But Chaiya is adorable, honestly. I love him. I've had him for two minutes and I love him.

@absolutebl Lol damnit I'm adding another pulp to my list.

My Boy episode 9+: Deep connections, actual plot, public claiming, ex comes back, lack of willful miscommunication (Satha knew Nut was fighting him off!), still bad comedy, sharing ramen, almost got the 'spaghetti kiss' with the ramen, a distinct lack of side characters

For some reason, Nine has captured me with his adorable tiny smile. I mean, it's just ADORABLE and tiny and soft and the reason I enjoy these high school shows is the sheer cuteness of all the boys involved.

... I mean, Frame and Book are great and Tee and Fuse are an idiot and an idiot puppy just trying to idiot their way through the world and Yok is... slightly annoying but cute as well?

CopyNampu: Started adorable and now is in a very sad little breakdown with Copy trying to come out of the closet for Nampu's sake but struggling with the realities of his own fears. Still very soft, honestly, and still very sweet. I love his dad so much.

SueaPlawaan: Not appearing in this episode

PhobNamo: ADORABLE. Valentine's day date! So sweet. Walks right past MaiEak getting ditched to grab their table. Huge fans. Love them.

BothNewyear: Not appearing in this episode BUT preview for next week says jealousy and proposal which is gonna be very interesting, tbh. Still dreading their drama.

LukmoSimai: Who put Lukmo in charge of this romantic relationship? We know he's in love with Simai. We know Simai loves him. And now Simai is about to leave the country without a word and Lukmo is going to hate himself if he loses this chance. He thinks he has all the time in the world to wait but he doesn't know how limited his time is.