Hello again! You have so much BL knowledge and are amazingly helpful, so I come to you with a question.
I’m trying to go through the whole Tharntype marvel cinematic universe (the struggle is real) and I think I might be missing something.
Tharntype (1 and 2), Love by chance (1 and 2), Don’t say no and Why r u? (Pete and Tutor twins separated at birth conspiracy, lol)
Am I missing something else?
I’m also wondering if we are supposed to have seen/know Phu and Cir from somewhere else?
Thank you!
The Mameverse!
"Technically" Why R U? isn't in this universe (I know, guest couple cameos, but that's Cheewinverse, not Mame. Note BoomPeak from Make it Right also showed up? That’s a sign of the Cheewin in action.)
What you named are the basics... for now. And you skipped some of the specials, which are, mostly, skippable. Good choice there!
Nevertheless, here's the full exhaustive list and generally how I would suggest watching them although I don't think you have to watch all.
Mameverse Watch Order & More
Love by Chance - originates AePete, TumTar, KlaTechno (Saint would go on to star in Why R U? and produce Secret Crush on You, and Perth to GMMTV and Dangerous Romance)
Love By Chance 2: A Chance to Love - retcon and then continuation of LBC's TinCan story, continues KlaTechno and TumTar, destroys AePete, introduces and resolves my favorite Mame sides TulHin. My review/rant about this show here,
TharnType - originates SeoKhlui, technically the TumTar and KlaTechno STORIES start in this series, then they appear in LBC (different actors), then pick up in TT2. My feels about TT here and then a lot more and a big analytic and BL history falaffling about this show here. And a rant about BL's damaging tropes using TT as an example here. Watch this for the pair chemistry and the history for what it did to BL, but know what you're getting into. This was the first KinnPorsche... so to speak.
TharnType Special: Lhong's Story (eminently missable)
Why R U? (TharnType make a brief appearance, but otherwise this is no Mameverse) however Saint who stared in LBC is also the lead in WRU? and I talk about his acting skillz here.) Why R U? also originated MaxNat (Cuties Pie's sides and stars of Naughty Babe among others)
TharnType Special: Our Final Love
TharnType 2: 7 Years Of Love - introduces LeoFiat, CirPhu (resolved), and ChampDoc. Obliquely references KlaTechno, resolves SeoKhlui. I did a trash watch of this one here: TharnType 2: 7 Years of I Can’t Even, it's exhausting. (This is JaFirst's origin show, they would go on to star in Be Mine Super Star among others.)
TharnType 2 Special: The Wedding Day - resolves CampDoc.
Don't Say No - resolves LeoFiat, introduces LeonPob. I did and trash watch of this one too: Don’t Say No - LeoFiat 2021)
Don't Say No: Special - who can remember this? Not me.
Love in the Air (also trash watched) - all new couples, I did a pretty epic trash watch of this one (mostly drunk) here.
Love in the Air Special - just sexitimes
The Wedding Plan - brief crossover from LITA characters, no real side couple (amazing!), kind of a lacklustre offering from Mame, very little controversy or chemistry, semi-trash watch here.
Just Say Yes! (forthcoming?) - suposed to resolve LeonPob (from Don't Say No)
Past Love in the Future (forthcoming?) - also supposedly be related to Don't Say No.
Note: Actors who play TharnType side couple, SeoKhlui (the nosy phi neighbors, played by Mawin & Run) reappear as a different couple, ChrisJeno, in Second Chance.
In Mameverse Basic In World Chronological Order?
TharnType
TharnType Special: Lhong's Story
Love by Chance
Love By Chance 2: A Chance to Love
TharnType Special: Our Final Love
TharnType 2: 7 Years Of Love
Don't Say No
TharnType 2 Special: The Wedding Day
Don't Say No: Special
Just Say Yes! (forthcoming?)
Past Love in the Future (forthcoming?)
Separate Planet of the Mameverse:
Love in the Air
Love in the Air Special
The Wedding Plan
Phu & Cir from somewhere else?
CirPhu are are new couple in all ways for TT2. So you don’t know them from anything prior. The actors both did subsequent BLs, separately. Title (Phugun) went on to star in La Pluie. While Haii (Cirrus) starred in Chains of Heart.
About MAME
Mame likes very problematic tropes in her work, like noncon/rape, dubcon/statutory rape, extreme seme/uke, rough play, husband/wife language, equating gay with pedophile, domestic violence, kink without safety precautions (or real research), mental illness as a plot devise, childish and immature behavior, evil female characters, slut shaming, and more. Which, while ubiquitous in early Chinese and Japanese BL (as well as the dark stuff in general) is not at all common in Thai BL (certainly not all at once).
But then she will also include representations of lube, condoms (safe sex), out pansexual and bisexual characters (who are often predators and sluts but at least they're out?), and other desirable queer/pro-sex elements/representation like demi/grey - which we almost never get from BL at all, anywhere (except sometimes Taiwan).
Mame giveth & mame taketh away - sometime in the same scene.
She is notoriously poor on plot and motivation. Often her characters are manipulative without reason (making the audience feel manipulated), miscommunicate for the sake of it, and will, in general, act completely out of character in order to generate drama. Think: soap opera.
Simultaneously, she has give us some of the best couples (AePete) and greatest chemistry (MewGulf) in the industry, and her stuff is almost always higher heat (which fans love).
There have been a number of scandals around her shows (not just the fracturing of actor brand-pairs like PerthSaint and MewGulf), but shady rumors around what actor pairs are asked to do on promo circuit, as well as accusations of on set/tour homophobia. (See comment threads on MDL, Twitter, and Reddit for many of her shows.)
She has a history of defending herself and lashing out when tagged or called out for her content, which is why I don’t tag her when I talk about her stuff in general.
Yes, I still watch her shows. AePete is one of my all time favorite couples, but a lot of her stuff is a trash watch for me these days. And I tend to find her content more frustrating and annoying than ever.
What was, to a certain extent, accepted back in 2018-19 because we had so little BL, is now really difficult to forgive in 2022 since the floodgates opened. And she doesn't seem to learn from, or correct for, her mistakes, especially with regards to old-fashioned tropes.
Case in point: Techno & Kla. This hyung romance pairing (high school student pursues college student) has popped up or been referenced in many of Mame's shows. Begun in Love By Chance (story thread started in TharnType) it featured statutory rape in LBC, which later narratives tried to clumsily correct for. By the time TharnType 2 rolled around, No's relationship is referenced but never depicted, presumably because Mame no longer wanted to deal with the repercussions of pursuing it on film nor could she expunge it entirely from the cannon (which would piss off her y-novel obsessives who still defend it).
Heaven forfend she admit to having learned anything about gay sex or proper communication or made any mistakes in the past or in her original narratives. Oh no, not growth! To be fair, her characters rarely experience growth either.
I guess that's my biggest complaint. Mame hasn't grown in her stories or characters, and those characters never show any growth during the course of a given show, either.
These are some of the many reasons she’s considered largely controversial in the industry. What Stephanie Meyer’s mormon arse was to paranormal romance, Mame is to BL.
Which is to say: far too powerful for the quality of the product, riddled with controversy, utterly overrated, but beloved by fans anyway.
Crap is gonna flow. Especially during the BL monsoon we got going on right now.
I grapple with my very mixed relationship to TharnType in two parts:
Here in 2021 three years after it aired.
More recently in 2023 in light of Mame's more recent work and the evolving conversation and new fandom stretching int he BL world.
TharnType 2 is terrible but also one of my most favorite trash watch moments.
(source)
this post is dated mid 2023, not responsible for shows/events/gossip occurring after that date, but check the comments just in case