Discover Top Posts Tagged with #phayo

Hello! I am impressed by your extensive knowledge on media and BL, and by the way you convey your thoughts on it. I learned a lot, and it made me appreciate some sides of this industry that I never really payed attention to. Thus, I would like to know what are your theories/opinions on why the phenomenon of the side ship(s) being more engaging that the main ship is so prevalent in BL. Thank you 💕!

Hi! And thank you.

Theories/opinions on why the phenomenon of the side couple being more engaging that the main couple is so prevalent in BL

Ah...

Side Dish Addiction Syndrome Explained

@heretherebedork and I feel your pain on this one.

1. My pet theory is that since the side dishes have so much less screen time it allows fans to imagine more about them and identify more closely with them. But there’s mroe than that.

2. They have much less rope to hang themselves with in terms of cliche tropes and dialogue and archetypes. They can be somewhat pastiche (or slap dash, as characters) and we, as watchers, give them more depth than they would (if that had more screen time) actually have earned.

3. Many script writers are actually better at relationship development in short form rather than long form, because romance as a narrative driver is under-studied and under-appreciated, a lot of people in the film industry just do not understand how it works. Therefore less screen time is actually better, fewer outside voices to fuck it up.

4. The side dishes are an opportunity to provide a foil to the main characters.

WinTeam are a great example. Win (outgoing, flirty, cheerful, gregarious) is the opposite of Dean. Team (outgoing, tsundere, tough) is the opposite of Pharm. Sometimes we like them better because of this. They look even better by comparison because they exist as a kind of narrative break (relief) from the relationship style of the leads.

5. This also means the side dishes can explore archetypes that are not part of the main plot, but might really appeal to a very vocal element of fandom.

So like hard core BDSM (VegasPete), bad boy flirt and rebellious uke (WinTeam, PitchBank, ForthBeam), new romance rather than preexisting (Cutie Pie’s 3rd tear), younger seme older uke (KhunKaow in Brothers).

The main character are most likely to lean into the most popular (and therefore safest) major tropes, while also toning it down to makes those characters as palatable as possible to a wider audience (this is the big problem with PhaYo in the 2 Moons franchise = they are colorless and overdone).

Where as the side characters can go other places, be more edgy, be more mysterious, be more kinky, be more extreme, more sexually liberated and adventurous, be women (!), be more queer AKA be different and unique (to the BL universe).

And therefore we are more likely to see ourselves in them, to identify with them, or just think of them as special and love them more.

I don’t think it’s a bad approach, multiple couples.

It means we have different ones we like and identify with in any given show. Honestly I think the fact that Thailand leans into this partly accounts for the popularity of Thai BL.

At leaves it always gives some of us some kind of crumbs to latch on to.

#phayo

Trending Tags

Recently Viewed Tags

#phayo