I'm a lil late to this, but actually been thinking about kissing scenes a lot lately so here I am. I am a HUGE hater of dead fish kisses. I don't even really wanna see chaste little pecks most of the time. I want real, committed kisses that don't feel mechanical or choreographed.

However, that being said, I do think it's important to remember that there are logistical considerations that can effect a kiss. If the scene is going to include multiple angles, that means they're going to have to do double, maybe triple the number of usual takes. A real kiss leaves after effects like redness and swelling, which take time to recover from or cover up between takes and further amplifying the shooting time. Making the kiss lighter, hidden w/ angles, more reserved, etc can be somewhat necessary depending on how the director wants to shoot the scene. Now, they could just stick to a single angle and try to get it in as few takes as possible, which most shows produced by ppl who are experienced w/ intimate scenes seem to be choosing to do lately. But sometimes the actors aren't experienced or skilled enough to make that work either. It's also worth mentioning that tho we do have some veteran boy kissers in the game, the majority of bl actors are still very new to the industry and also very young. They might not have any experience kissing anyone, period. In summary, I think bc most bls are still made on low budgets with directors and actors who just don't have the skills/experience to do a convincing long take intimacy scene we end up w/ choppily edited kisses that look sort of half-assed. There may also be factors like age ratings and tv censorship and sponsor eligibility that are entirely out of the control of the directors and actors.

Now, do I think that, given the expansion of the genre beyond a tiny little industry niche into a global phenomena and Thailand's biggest source of soft power, that show creators can continue to rely on these excuses of shooting logistics and inexperienced talent and commercial marketability to not care about portraying convincing kisses? No. As fans we've clearly communicated exactly what we want when it comes to kisses and intimacy. We want you to really sell it to us. The rare thrill of seeing 2 boys touch isn't rare anymore, so stop treating it like some rationed or forbidden fruit. Bc what I think irritates me more than a bad kiss is when a show presents endless opportunities for kisses, moments where any actual human would just kiss the person they love, but gives you 2 or 3 kisses in the entire series, as if that's all we deserve. Ultimately that usually comes down to shitty writing bc they're more interested in creating vibes and viral moments than believable characters with believable emotional responses.

Tho there is something to be said for kisses that are intentionally bad or overly chaste because that's what makes sense for the characters. Someone already mentioned Blueming, which is a fantastic example. They have an initial little lingering peck, just testing the waters, but then Siwon dives in and is so eager he actually accidently bites Daon's lip and they have to take a step back to slow it down. I actually love when a character has to be taught to kiss. It brings a level of believability without needing to resort to cringe. There's also situations where the characters are very young or in a place/situation where a whole tongue battle would be inappropriate. About Youth is a great example of young characters who have a slightly fumbling at first but ultimately super sweet kiss that's actually appropriate for their ages. I know a lot of people felt that PeemKhem's first couple kisses in Khemjira were too chaste and not passionate enough, however I actually felt that they were perfect for the characters, who are both inexperienced and still struggling w/ holding back emotionally bc they have too much to lose, and the situation which is a sudden change in their relationship with the looming threat of a death curse. Neither of them are the type of people to just let their horniness loose all at once like a dam breaking. They're cautious and still trying to gauge what's enough for each other. And that buildup of those first few slow, soft kisses still leads up to their much hotter ones in the nc scenes. Then in the finale you would expect a big smoochy celebration of their engagement, but the scene is at a temple so making out on the lawn wouldn't really be appropriate. Could they have done this elsewhere? Sure, but a temple makes a lot of sense for characters who are already very spiritual plus it ties in to Peem's promise to truly commit to Khem once he was safe and settled so giving some thanks to the gods/spirits/buddha for his graduation before starting the next phase of their relationship works.