#vietnamesebl

[heretherebedork]

His dad called Thien! His dad brought Thien to him because he knew Nghia was letting himself die because of how much he loved him. His dad doesn’t just approve of them, his dad is out here trying to save the gays damnit. Deeply appreciated.

I mean, they still killed the gay, apparently. But at least he tried.

[heretherebedork]

The fact that his father who never seemed to approve of him is accepting of him being gay but his mother, who always seemed to love him and accept him, cannot handle him being gay and literally refuses to save her own life if he doesn't renounce being gay. And then having Thien become the king of sad endings? And Nghia breaks his heart and his own trying so hard to please his mother by not being himself and not being happy. Nghia walking away, both of them in tears, both of them choosing to still love but unable to act on that love because the freedom of that choice is taken from them... oh, and then Nghia having heart issues.

Of course.

Ugh and having him declare that the best way to love someone is to leave them. Booo. Booo. Hung, call him out on this BS. Becoming a stranger is never the best way to love someone.

[heretherebedork]

Dang is the most spoiled little brat and I kind of love him regardless. I cannot believe this is the first BL I can think of where they sent the acting out kid to live in the countryside to learn what it really means to live. But it's adorable. Dang is stubborn and pouty and the way he tries to play his grandmother is also just... It works. I really do love Team RL. They do adorable work.

Episode one is here and y'all should give it a chance!

[heretherebedork]

Hi there! :)

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time and energy to make your V-BL post. Honestly, I never would have found any of those shows without you cataloging them, and I’ve had a lot of fun picking my way through the list.

Related: I was minding my own business scrolling through Gagaoolala last night and saw Mr. Cinderella on the coming soon list! (In Canada, Nov. 30th) I’ve wanted to watch Mr. Cinderella for awhile, but there always seems to be a chunk of episodes locked. So I’m excited to get a chance to watch it, and kind of proud of the production company for getting a deal with gaga!

Apologies if you already heard this news :) I just want to thank you again for putting it on my radar.

Always glad to! I really need to update it, there are a few more I could add to that list at this point that I haven't... though I dunno when I will, apologies. But I'm so glad to have helped you! There's so many fun little shows and you can start finding more sometimes by sheer algorithm.

Oh, yes! I did see it and I'm thrilled that they got another show on Gaga after The Lost Ring! O2 is a good production company but they struggle so much with money that it can get frustrating and I really, really hope that Gaga can help with that. Seriously. Because if they don't stop fundraising for The Lost Ring someday I might actively lose my mind because they keep raising the money and then making something else... oh, O2. Love you despite yourself.

I am so, so hopeful that getting it onto Gaga will help them get more views, a larger audience and... maybe learn how to fundraise better.

[heretherebedork]

You know what, Nghia, you are right. I don't think best friends are affectionate like that. But did you really need to ask Thien about it?

[heretherebedork]

Love Bill had a conversation of what it means to be normal, a conversation about not discriminating against gay people, a conversation about the fact that just because everyone thinks someone is straight doesn't mean they are, a moment about how much dating someone who's still in the closet can hurt and a beautiful moment about how gay love is just as normal as anything else.

... I love this little show.

[heretherebedork]

ABSOLUTELY SCREAMING.

@absolutebl PART TWO OF MY MONSTER IN LAW 2 DROPS SOON.

YESSSSS.

Seriously, no denials, one of my favorite Vietnamese BLs at this point. It embodies EVERYTHING I love about their shows (domesticity, family, gentle love, reasonable communication, a focus on long term relationship) while also actually being fairly well written with good character and enjoyable dynamics and a good sense of humor AND drama.

[heretherebedork]

Vietnamese BL Rewatch: Stage of Love (eps 1-2)

This was my very first V-BL and... it's slow. It's glacial. It's the slowest BL I've ever watched. But it has a soft spot in my heart for being what it is... a show about putting on Romeo and Juliet in a Vietnamese school with a real stabbing, lots of backstabbing and two pretty adorable main characters who are very awkward and slow together.

SoL is a kind of accidental enemies to lovers, where a misunderstanding (picking up the wrong bag ends with a lot of assumptions) leads to enemies to lovers (Nyung who quit acting has to coach his 'enemy', Bao, who got the role of Romeo) with forced proximity, facing the past (accidentally stabbing his friend the last time he acted) and moving forward and on with his life.

Yes, bits are stupid and the humor is immature at points but it's mostly all adorable, honestly.

One thing this show does well is showing the characters having multiple friendships and lives outside of their relationships and it's got that real good feeling of everyone being part of a group and no one alone. Everyone has friends, makes new friends, gain connections... it's that domesticity that always comes through in V-BL. That sense of community, of belonging, that I love so much.

It's an interesting story, though very slow, and I remember enjoying this despite also getting very sick of the side het couple... as I always do.