GL Drama Lovers Club

 Matriception:

Btw I did want to ask that what type of shows or content did yall crave or search for before actually being conscious about your identity, ofcourse this will really vary for everyone but I would always search for shows with female friendships and literally obsess over the same , this could probably be because I wasn't aware such people existed  but yeah what was it in ur case??

When I was young, I was mostly looking for examples of women who were intelligent, independent and didn't fit in with sexist stereotypes and also the possibility of men liking such women. I'm bi and was slow to figure it out even though I clearly had crushes on girls, in part because WLW wasn't on my radar at all. Could really have used some representation earlier, would have helped a lot to understand there were more options.

Fast forward to middle age and my favourite WLW representation is in opera. Wasn't expecting that, but from the 1700s on, some composers wrote young male roles specifically for female voices and women took over parts written for castrati as that practice was abandoned. It's enough of a thing it has a name, trouser/breeches roles. But what did I know, I thought opera was also supposed to be staid and stuffy :) Instead I found the representation I most needed with women kissing and singing gorgeous emotion-laden love songs to each other. And even better, many are in their 30s to mid 50s, with all body shapes and sizes, and are cast for the quality of their voices rather than meeting stereotypical conventions of beauty.

Small example, a trailer for Orfeo ed Euridice. The aria is Orfeo pining for Euridice. Watch for the kiss :) This is nothing compared to the way they look at each other elsewhere but I can't find a clip of that. The only other non-chorus role is also sung by a woman. The staging in this production is distracting but the music is exquisite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJzghcvJ0LE

One more because Massanet's Cendrillon (Cinderella) is so beautiful. Also a female-centric cast, with six significant roles for women's voices and only two I think for male singers. First two minutes of this clip is an aria from Prince Charmant, sung by a woman, watch the third minute if you're impatient. This Charmant and this Cendrillon are both known for their trouser roles so yeah, I was right there with it being WLW. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ELTo8cEKM 

Love Senior:

*happy pterodactyl noises*

So cute! Manaow is so confident and smooth! I could never! Ah, she and Gyoza are so adorable! 

Hopefully the fact that Prang is already here and obvious means that Warang's rude and jealous butt gets on somewhere sooner rather than later. She infuriates me already. Not just because she's getting in the way of our main CP, but because she's acting like some jilted lover. 

Several of the other sapphic girls are so cute too. I hope they all get happy endings. 

I know this is a GL, but I wonder if they will have Pure and Manaow's brother as a background/implied couple. Since they are an established and loved Star Hunter CP.

 AthenaTheStorierX:

*happy pterodactyl noises*

I was trying to find a phrase for the screeches I made - that's perfect!

 AthenaTheStorierX:

So cute! Manaow is so confident and smooth! I could never! Ah, she and Gyoza are so adorable! 

Manaow is so cool and I love how casual she can be with Gyo. Especially when Manaow came out and then proceeded to flirt!

 AthenaTheStorierX:

Hopefully the fact that Prang is already here and obvious means that Warang's rude and jealous butt gets on somewhere sooner rather than later. She infuriates me already. Not just because she's getting in the way of our main CP, but because she's acting like some jilted lover. 

See, in the trailer and without this context, I thought Warang would be warning them because she worried for them but wasn't good at showing it. But yeah, it reeks of jealousy, and she has no right to be jealous when she isn't with Gyoza.

Prang is cute but I was wondering if she's a uni student or a school student from her outfit. 

 AthenaTheStorierX:

I know this is a GL, but I wonder if they will have Pure and Manaow's brother as a background/implied couple. Since they are an established and loved Star Hunter CP.

It's interesting to know that - your thoughts make sense to me. I figure they might be a latter half or last-minute one, since they'd be wise to not overshadow the GL aspect. Thai GLs are slowly gathering steam, and we would rather not have something similar to what almost came with 23.5 (although I don't blame Gemini or Fourth - some fans really put the fan in fanatical), even if that means a slower growth than what's possible.

 AthenaTheStorierX:

I'm not necessarily advocating for them to get together, but maybe Prang's crush and goodwill towards Warang will distract her or help her see reason.

Indeed! I'd be interested to see how long we go without any reveals for - I'd hope they don't try to drag the drama longer than necessary.

Also, while we're still on Love Senior - we got a good split of Lookaew with and without glasses! At first I felt the napping everywhere felt a bit excessive but Gyoza is too tired what with uni and council duties - I feel bad seeing her sleep almost everywhere this episode. I hope for the coming episodes it becomes an implied thing - I could figure Gyo was tired after a conversation about her duties!

If they keep the constant on-screen napping though, I might start counting her naps. That would be an interesting joke!

 zeesqueere:

This is such a wholesome discussion! My introduction to queer television was Xena and the lesbian wedding Friends episode.

I also watched Xena and always shipped her together with Gabriele. :) I don't remember the wedding in friends, but there was also Chandler's father, who was trans woman. :)

 Matriception:

Btw I did want to ask that what type of shows or content did yall crave or search for before actually being conscious about your identity,

I am not sure, probably Koisenu Futari, which has asexual leads. Then I realized, that I might be somewhere on aroace spectrum. I never cared how it is named. From GLs I used to watch many anime first before I found dramas. Even now I like to watch anime... for example just airing: I`m in Love with the Villainess (Otome Game GL), but my favourite is Sakura Trick or Bloom into You.

 Matriception:

Btw I did want to ask that what type of shows or content did yall crave or search for before actually being conscious about your identity, ofcourse this will really vary for everyone but I would always search for shows with female friendships and literally obsess over the same , this could probably be because I wasn't aware such people existed  but yeah what was it in ur case??

 i always looked for media with the found family trope! the concept of different people coming together, finding acceptance and love (not necessarily romantic), always felt so special to me (and very intrinsically queer, looking back on it). i read a lot of YA back then, books like The Mortal Instruments, The Raven Cycle, Six of Crows, all had found family and some queer characters (though mostly MLM, WLW was still kinda rare in mainstream YA unfortunately). but i did start to look for sapphic books more and more. I think the first sapphic book I found was Ask the Passengers (it was an okay book, the story didn't stand out as much as the fact that it was the first book focused on queer women that i ever found), i was 15 i think. then i started to actively seek out more sapphic books, but they were kinda scarce in Brasil. i learned to read in english and could access some more books. i kinda lost the habit of reading, which is unfortunate bc there are so many sapphic books coming out now! when im done with uni i plan on coming back to reading.

 AthenaTheStorierX:

It wasnt until i was in the comment section of one of the Love By Chance episodes on Youtube that I came across the term “demisexual.” And down that rabbit hole I went. And it’s down that rabbit hole that everything made sense and clicked into place. Asexuality. The Split Attraction Model. Actual asexual media and asexual characters and asexual stories.

that was really beautiful! it's amazing how suddenly everything falls into place. i'm really glad we all found ways to see ourselves, it's making me emotional

 kardasx:

From GLs I used to watch many anime first before I found dramas. Even now I like to watch anime... for example just airing: I`m in Love with the Villainess (Otome Game GL), but my favourite is Sakura Trick or Bloom into You.

i'm watching I'm in Love with the Villainess too! it's funny so far, excited to see where it goes. apart from Revue Starlight that i mentioned earlier, I also recommend Kase-san and Morning Glories (really sweet and short high school yuri romance) and Liz and the Blue Bird (a bit more on the subtext side, but still really beautiful and a bit melancholic)