dramas-and-more

[dramas-and-more]

fav dramas of 2024!

as 2024 comes to a close, i wanted to recap my favorite dramas that came out this year <3 i will also have an honorable mentions category for the dramas i loved this year that didn't come out in 2024 !! let's get into it :)

easy #1 for me is My Stand-In. i usually hate "toxic" tropes—they're often there to stir up unnecessary drama that lengthens run time rather than adds to the story—but this show is my exception. the ridiculous isekai-adjacent (?) premise is balanced by the incredible characters, actors, and overall progression of the main characters' relationship. this show won't be for everyone (and many, many people have made their opinions on it clear), but My Stand-In feels like it must have been in a laboratory specifically for me. top-notch hurt/comfort, excellent character dynamics, insane chemistry, and a surprisingly soft sweeping romance hiding underneath the craziness (hint: no, it isn't a revenge isekai). 10/10. (bl, thailand)

the on1y one could have been #1 for me if it weren't for two things: one: the perfection that was MSI, and two: the ending. if you're looking for a satisfying ending, you may want to wait until a second season of to1 is announced (good luck). however, if you want to watch an honest and beautiful coming of age story that feels like a nostalgic look through someone's time capsule (a la When I Fly Towards You but make it early 2010s and sprinkle in internalized homophobia), drop what you're doing and watch it now. the cinematography, color grading, music, and dedication to being an early 2010s "period piece" is perfect. i love that the "romance" isn't at the forefront (hardly any "romance" takes place at all if you're going by typical bl standards). the two boys' increasingly close bond is the beating heart of the show, but it feels more like the viewer is a fly on the wall of everyday scenes in these peoples' lives. just a gorgeous slow burn slice of life drama. (bl, taiwan)

speaking of slice of life, only boo! is a show that surprised me a lot, in a good way. it's a sweet slice of life story with hardly any drama, just good vibes. any possible negativity or drama that arises is resolved almost immediately thanks to the unwaveringly positive main character (MY SON. BTW.) and his mature way of going about communication in his relationships despite his naive appearance. his love interest is a complete green flag as well. green flags allllll around :) just go watch it. this show is a breath of fresh air in every sense and i can't wait to see more from these two actors in 2025!! (bl, thailand)

while we're on the topic of gmmtv series, We Are pleasantly surprised me as well. i wasn't on board immediately, but i found myself anxiously awaiting each week's episode as time went on. it's a cute uni slice of life story with a large ensemble cast, and they're all besties !! :D with four main couples to root for, you're bound to love one of them (i'm a tanfang girlie myself), yet the couples aren't the main focus of the story. the beating heart of We Are is the friendships binding the whole group together. there's a very Friends/The Office feel to it—you're starting off just taking glimpses at these characters' lives, but before you know it, you're deeply invested. however. winnysatang... please go to the aouboom university of chemistry and acting. please. (bl, thailand)

honorable mention of course to the kdrama that took me completely by surprise: Light On Me! i was expecting nothing going into this show as it had gone completely under my radar since its release in 2021. and yet, i was given everything. we should know by now that i love a good low-stakes slice of life drama. this one is perfect. i love my 16-episode kdramas, and this is the first and only 16-episode bl kdrama i've heard of. while it may be low-stakes, it has strong, complex, and life-like characters who move the plot along. and for once, i'm not mad to have a love triangle. i do think this show suffered slightly from being 30 minutes per episode (rather than the traditional 1-hr), but with the runtime and budget?? i am convinced they couldn't have made a better show. i'm glazing it so hard but it's just that good trust me 😭😭 this show had me pausing and running around and i haven't done that since like early high school LOL.

less honorable mention to the show that could have made this list until something changed my mind—Jack & Joker. spoilers because. i'm mad.

J&J had it all, man... the heists, the sweeping love story, the hurt/comfort, the lovable side characters... but jack.... that character got on my last nerve, especially towards the end. it felt like he was doing everything in his power to misunderstand joke and ruin his own life/relationships. the writing fell off a bit towards the end as well—wtf was that "ring of power" to "oh jk it's not a powerful ring at all and we were just kidding!" plot at the end bruhhh don't pmo... all in all, this show was nearly perfect until the last act. joke was one of my favorite characters of the year, too. the show just fell off though. sad :( well, there's other programs.

[dramas-and-more]

perfect 10 liners - ep 9 thoughts

sorry no ep 8 thoughts. uhh the thoughts are: it was fine. NOW YOTHAGUN LET'S GO

starting out strong with yotha already on my screen thank the lord <3

ok arcarm moving in together good for them

ouuu so faifa and wine actually met before! i wonder if either remember (please please please faifa remember...)

BOOM SPOTTED. BOOM SPOTTED. BOOM SPOTTED :D I LOVE BOOM I LOVE BOOM I LOVE YOU BOOM

gun and kong in chemical engineering ... if this was real life they would have zero free time but this is a drama so i bet we'll never see them doing homework LOL

why are faifa and yotha in the same class if yotha is older... are they twins..? or irish twins..?

oh they answered my question irish twins ok!

faifa and yotha's cunty ass boots 😭😭

why don't they have mentors from the same engineering ?? like how is this sam guy from industrial engineering going to be helpful to gun in chemical ?? (i am thinking too hard about this—it is literally just a tv show)

girl not the youtuber canned applause after yotha was announced as the newest member of P10L 😭 i swear i've heard the same applause in a slushy noobz video

arm acknowledging chemical engineering is really hard LOL thankq

LOL i knew gun and arm would get along they're so silly

gun sleeping in yotha's bed because of the power outage please please please yotha come home to find him in there

OH NOT ONLY DID YOTHA COME HOME TO FIND HIM IN THERE HE FOUND HIM IN THERE HAVING A NIGHTMARE. WE ARE SO BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE SOOOOO BACK OMG

oh the episode preview oh we are so fucking backkkkkkkk perthsanta save me perthsanta

wait. i just realized. no gawin. no more gawin. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[dramas-and-more]

perfect 10 liners - ep 7 thoughts

episode 7 already! one episode closer to yothagun letsgo

oh and we're starting off in present day THANK GODDD hiii perth

RAHHHH yothagun <3 i can't wait for their storyline to start :') i can already tell santa is a great fit for the gun character, crazy how both dangerous romance cps had a sudden dropout but their new pairings are even better ?!?!!? (and that's coming from a perthchimon lover since never let me go)

you know what i don't love the jealousy trope (overused in bl to fluff up run-time imo) but i don't mind it here because this is the least cryptic we've ever seen arc 💀

omg earn x piploy?? (yes they can just be friends but i also know they are women kissers so. let them kiss women!)

po's commitment to worshipping arc is so funny 💀

all in all, not a bad episode. nothing crazy either, but we are one episode closer to yothagun so YAY !! :D plus arcarm seem to be getting closer to being on the same page which is a plus.

[dramas-and-more]

perfect 10 liners - ep 6 thoughts

no thoughts, head empty. you get 5 bullet points that's it

"why'd you take off your shirt..?" "it's hot in here." "why'd you take of my shirt..?" "i thought it was hot for you too." u have got to be kidding me. arc. you cannot be serious 😭

thinking about how arc was instantly in love with arm and hating it !! i hate hate hate instalove grrrrrrrrrr biggest pet peeve

GAWINNNN hi gawin <3

earn's character going from being into arc to being a fujo is sooo funny

SEA?!?!?!?

[dramas-and-more]

and even in the darkest of times, we had tattoo and arun acting like someone superglued them together

[dramas-and-more]

jack & joker - ep 12 thoughts

i really waited almost a week to watch this... i was.. nervous. thoughts below the cut.

i wonder if it will come down to aran having to choose between killing his father or not..?

also imagine if hoy and nang do hook up that would be crazy 😭 aran would be sooooo gagged LMAO "you slept with my AUNT?!"

LOL i knew hoy would end up inhaling the tranquilizer 😭

omg if the hangman words are in english will joke write "promise" or "confession" from their spelling practice..?

girl 😭 not jack guessing "diarrhea"

where is aran...

oh ok hi aran !! <3

oh joke's word is five letters. ermm.....

not me trying to play hangman with them 😭😭

AW joke's word is sorry :( what if i just ended it all

OH it isnt lol... OMG LMAO DID HE MISSPELL IT 😭😭😭😭😭 imagine he misspelled sorry because he is shit as spelling as we all know

GIRLLLLLLL 😭😭😭😭 hoy's last bullet ending up in tattoo's butt is CRAZYYYY LMASLDKJFKJGK they rly are trying to offset the tension and suspense of the hangman scene

ROSÉ'S WORD IS DICKHEAD LOLLL

LOLL joke did misspell "sorry" LMFLASJDKGJK

his *oops* face and cute little "sorry" :P joke i <3 u

omg hope. girl. how long does it take to deactivate the neck bombs. chop chop.

ok full circle taekwondo fight. waow. unfortunately, i'm bored. sorry!!! there's a point where all the "action" kinda drags on.... at least for me and my personal preferences

ok blah blah "don't touch my boyfriend" anyone else feel like jack doesn't deserve to say that right now... maybe i'm just being a hater LOL but jack has been getting on my nerves >.<

imagine boss blows them up mid-kiss and the credits roll ...........

just kidding.. i'm being a hater. them being content to die kissing each other is actually really sweet. whatevr.

OH boss did try to blow them up mid-kiss LOL

but wait. the four horsemen are acknowledging the ring thing is fucking stupid and they were doing it to mess with alice...? ok. right. anticlimactic. but sure.

the rings being so clearly made of plastic is kinda killing me

jack's grandma is actually a saint. an angel. there's no way she's not.

"death can't atone for anything" this!!

save is the new boss...? ok i guess they just pulled names out of a hat or what 😭

RAHHHHHH tattoo x aran 2 seconds of interaction <3 they did it 4 meeee :3

i guess jack and joke are really just. fine. and didn't talk about the last two episodes on screen. at all. which is fine.

TOI TINGGGGG toi ting u will always be famous <3

awwww we knew it was coming but the exchanging of rings scene :'))))))))))) cuuute

sweet ending (literally, if you're jack)

ok all in all the episode was. ok! pacing was a lil wack. tone whiplash always gets me with thai shows (they have to be oh so silly, they can't go too long without being oh so silly). jack never apologized to joke which is. fine. i guess. they never Talk it out, which i guess is fine. but positives: toi ting alive and well, rosé's hangman word being dickhead, aran in a cunty semi-sheer black tank top, hoy shooting tattoo in the butt on accident????, joke misspelling "sorry," and one more tattoo x aran 2-second blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment! enough to make me happy :)

all in all? i enjoyed the show. the last two to three episodes were weaker... but it's hard to stick a landing, especially when your earlier episodes are good. the character dynamics were a strength, though the jack-joke dynamic lost me towards the end (misunderstandings and miscommunication are famously the bane of my existence and jack seemed dead set on misunderstanding joke as MUCH as humanly possible... so i ended up disliking jack sadly). fav characters were aran, joke, and toi ting, in that order. honorable mention for the angel that is jack's grandmother. if it weren't for her, this show would not exist LOL

[dramas-and-more]

perfect 10 liners - ep 5

are we done with arcarm yet...? spoiler: no.

anyways! thoughts under the cut

po's soccer war flashbacks LMAO 😭

vs. arm's kiss war flashbacks

not arm and sand telling po he should join the soccer team 😭 fake ass friends /j

this show is so unserious... mainly arc is so unserious. every week he does something just so odd within the first five minutes and i'm flabbergasted. "hey arm what r u doing 4 the event? oh nothing? ok take care of the athletes. and by the athletes i mean only me." IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. because he didn't know what else to say.

GAWINNNNNNNNNNN me when weekly gawin sighting :D i <3 gawinnn <333333

oh does arm have a bad experience with an ex? interesting, i hope they develop that well

warm is the friend everyone needs fr, arc would be 100% lost without him 😭😭

pondsand saying "our usual place" at the same time :'(

"i'm hitting on you, don't you realize it at all?" close enough welcome back chainpun

the quick sneaky forehead kiss :')

arm's ex really hit him with the "i dont think u should love anyone bc ur just going to hurt them. and im breaking up w u bye!" .... that's. actually crazy. i really feel for arm in that moment... wait. did this show actually make me feel an Emotion for once?

the beach sunrise scene was really sweet actually. very heartfelt.

not arm saying "dont you want to keep the bracelet for someone you like?" as if he isn't sitting with arc in bed shirtless ???

"i know you're dumb, but please don't be this dumb" that's what i'm saying 😭😭

all in all this episode was. alright. again. arcarm didn't annoy me as much so there's that i guess. and i liked the beach scene so there's that too. overall still just fine but i do enjoy the posandarm friendship which helps. sand especially this week showing concern for arm :') so sweet. i wish there were more friendship scenes i think... as usual, looking forward to yothagun eps.

[dramas-and-more]

Getting annoyed that he's already forgiven Save enough to work with him but won't even let anyone bring up Joke's name

[dramas-and-more]

jack & joker - ep 11 thoughts

the penultimate peril, as i like to say. fingers crossed for a good ending next week!

jack you're being so silly rn >.< once again jumping to conclusions and being immature as hell >.<

imagine toi ting waking up from surgery to find our her dads are divorced AGAIN oh i'd be livid

war is acting his ASS off

TATTOO SLEEPING ON ARAN'S LAP. ARAN SLEEPING WHILE TATTOO SLEEPS ON ARAN'S LAP. I'M GOING TO JUMP FOR JOY!!!!!!

jack. i really do not like u rn.

and ofc they're just stealing the ring right back LOL. if i were joke i'd have just kept the ring to begin with and become Crime Overlord but i get that he was loveblind

oh. the jack barking scene was. unexpected. full body cringe i fear.

save being like "wtf am i watching........."

war is such a good actor omfg his scene with jack's grandma was so good.

joke being all buddy buddy with save but still not wanting to see joke,... boy..

DAMN boss alice youre CRAZEY ! well.........

at least in the preview we have jack coming to his senses and calling joke his bf so. there's that. i wish we could get some character development where jack learns to trust joke and talk to him when joke "messes up" instead of being immaturely angry... because joke (nearly) always has a good reason for what he does but jack (nearly) always has a Temper Tantrum abt it lol

ok things i want to see next week: tattooaran interaction (i don't need them to "get together" or "be canon" tbh, would feel kinda rushed atp anyway), jack seriously apologizing to joke, toi ting alive, hoy and nang interaction, boss alice dying in a vat of oil or something (/j), and joke getting one good honest kiss from the one he loves amen!

[dramas-and-more]

perfect 10 liners - ep 4 thoughts

gawin weekly sightings are enough to keep me watching this show i'm not even kidding 😭

arc. every week. i am so. baffled by u. "don't ask why i sent the real medical professionals away just so you could dress my wound. just dress the damn wound." what the hell is wrong with you 😭😭

wait r we getting jj x gawin in this ???????

(still on my jj x euro agenda since dangerous romance... or even aj x euro since 23.5.... euro has chemistry with Both twins and i need him in an official pairing with one of them NEOWWWWWW)

"pipo is having fun playing football with warm" RIGHT?!?! ok jj x gawin let's go rarepair

LOL sand throwing his food away then being like "omgggg i'm so hungry toooo 🥺🥺"

jj's physical comedy in the soccer scene is so good

oh OW. i hope i never get a bottle smashed on my head

"your feet are amazing!" "do you want to kiss them?" ??

not it FINALLY clicking for arm that arc likes him LMFAO

sigh this show is always just okay. not much keeping me here except i just miss the weekly comfort of we are and this show is the closest thing to it airing rn to be completely transparent LOL. and i was not joking when i said gawin is a big part of why i'm still here every week LOL. oh well, one episode closer to the perthsanta storyline. let's go >.<

[dramas-and-more]

arcane s2 - ep 6

thoughts/MAJOR spoilers below:

do i even have to say it? the animation/visuals in this show are stunning, the music is incredible, and the sound design overall is just so good. watching with headphones makes me feel like i'm There. really fun good stuff

vi pulling out the "cupcake" immediately upon reuniting with cait LOLLLL

and cait immediately kidnapping her loveeee love love it. toxic yuri <3 (although. i do think. it is. a ruse)

YESS A RUSE me when there is a good ruse -> :DDDDD

i don't even care that it barely makes sense for cait to do this, it's a fun plot twist and i love women so!

LOL was that an angry meow i heard from jinx when she was fighting with that guy?? i sure hope so because that's so good. if jinx has no fans i am dead

jayce.... worstie... what are you about to do..........

oh holy shit.

oh ow. those screams are seriously haunting. i don't think i've seen something this haunting in a hot minute

oh what the HELL. lava vander ok !

oh no. no no no no no no isha zont zo it.... zont.....

man fuck this show.

and fuck the beautiful mandarin language.

and fuck league of legends.

i was emotional watching the preview and then vi said "she oinked poison in your ear and you just ate it" LMFAO

ok veryyyyy excited to watch the rest holy shit. hooooly shit.

[dramas-and-more]

i was emotional watching the preview and then vi said "she oinked poison in your ear and you just ate it" LMFAO

[dramas-and-more]

arcane s2 - ep 5

spoilers/thoughts below:

vi going crazyyyyy! love her!

oh shit mel's brother is alive??

sorry vi looks rly good in her emo (emo-er?) era

oh mel's brother is def not alive ok

got too engrossed in the show to comment but omg ok thoughts:

the flashback of silco vander and whatshername was really sweet

i liked the "he's your dad too" comment :')

and damn jayce just slammed that dude but i imagine he wasn't rly there

all in all interested to see where the story is going. one more ep left this wk

[dramas-and-more]

arcane s2 - ep 4

if anything happens to isha i will kill everyone and then myself. thoughts and spoilers below the cut.

i LOVED the sequence of jinx hosting that bug fight, i was like "wait those look like bugs omg theyre huge bugs!" and then i was like "oh they are bugs" 😭

omg not cait immediately sleeping with nolan 😭😭 messyy

i really like the dynamic between jinx and that kid she "adopted" lol

viktor's jesus reputation is spreading omg

i love when jinx acts like she didn't kill silco LOL

the jinxers being like "we wanna see jinx!!" me too ! i saw her two minutes ago and i miss her alr. i am a jinxer :P !! sue me

oh no please don't let anything bad happen to the kid. jinx will go crazyyyyyyy love her!! 😭

the kid's name is isha ok

jinx jesus unlocked

this soundtrack KILLS. so fucking good.

OH vander is that creature ?! this is one of those moments i'm glad i haven't played league because i had nooo idea vander would be back omg... and he recognized jinx too?! what the hellllll

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Aran giving exactly two slow claps at Rosé's speech. Love it.

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So the ring Joke stole is actually The One Ring and it grants crime powers? Interesting choice.

[dramas-and-more]

jack and joker - ep 10

i put off watching this ep because i was too excited... and scared... because things went so well in the last ep and things are bound to go bad in this one.... right.... thoughts below the cut.

dang they fuck once and jack is like "have u ever thought about getting married" 😭😭

oof jack will def find out about joke stealing the ring before joke tells him... ow.... (edit: ok he didn't which is only slightly better. the outcome we got was... wow...)

the theme song goes crazy as usual :]

ahh they're being so cutesy and cheesy >.< but ofc jack is smart and still suspicious about the tarot card

i wish all the boss alice a very die

if anything bad happens to toi ting i will hurt someone <3

aran spotted :)))) i think aran is my favorite character hehe i get so happy when he's on screen

aw him being so happy about the little teacher buttons :((( aran i am holding you in my palms like a baby kitten btw

LOL rosé being extra as usual 😭 and aran's petty beef with her being never-ending 😭

what the HELL is joke's dad doing here... oh jack invited him.

oh joke's dad is apologizing !

"my boyfriend is standing right in front of you dad, this is my family" i said AW outloud :') joke's little family :')

oh alice and nang are siblings.... damn....

nah not hoy tattoo and aran telling joke not to tell jack about the ring... if u think jack will be mad if you tell him, how mad do u think he will be if he finds out and you didn't tell him?! common sense 😭

good joke wants to tell him anyway. now why do i get the awful feeling that jack will find out before joke tells him anyway...

"if it was joke, we might have to kill him" DAMN. erm.... so who wants to tell jack it was joke... lol...

oh no :( the food stand owner :(

this "whoever has the ring is in charge" shit is so dumb. leave it to the 1% to come up with stupid rules that don't mean anything. i really dislike it as a plot point too but. whatever.

NO NOT TOI TING.... brooo 😭 i literally just said if anything happened to her i'd hurt someone....

damn i'm glad joke's dad is "nice" now because toi ting would be toast otherwise 😭

wow, joke confessed he stole the ring for boss... i'm glad joke told him because if jack found out separately i don't think i would be able to handle that angst. DANG. ok ok ok. joke it's ok, we can still win... haha....

DAMN this episode was a rollercoaster. we got jack/joke first time, followed by jack/joke discussing family and being all sweet, lots of cute scenes at the school, jack/joke telling each other they love each other, jack finding out save betrayed him and reacting like that, toi ting being dropped from like a story or two high, and joke telling jack he stole the ring which can only mean jack/joke messy breakup..... oh lord....

PHEW that ep preview looks chaotic. two episodes to go y'all omg 😭😭 if these last two episodes go well, i can confidently say that this is one of my fav bls. it's def one of my fav bls this year. TOP notch. yin and war are geniuses