#10/10 on mdl? 10/10 on mdl WHO CARES

[valentinaonthemoon]

I Feel You Linger In The Air was so so so so good. I have no words right now and I'll probably write more on my @byebyelemonpie November post, but for now, let me just say I enjoyed it lots.

(I am also very confused by the end, by time travel rules, and by the tag scene) (so confused that all I could think about at the end was that scene from The Emperor's New Groove with Kuzco asking Yzma and Kronk how they arrived at the palace before them and Kronk replying: "By all accounts it doesn't make sense!" because honestly. it didn't.) (but it doesn't matter, i loved every second of it. it's been a wonderful journey and it's been consistently good, even the memes!)

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - August

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 29.08.2024

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

gif-requests are currently closed🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in August with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. 4 Minutes 🇹🇭 (4/8)

Okay. I catched up. I wasn't in the mood for this series, but now I am a little bit hooked. We have a really cute couple here with a really nice love-making-scene. We have a totally messed up relationship of three people, two love each other, two hurt the other one and two are horny for one with very graphic scenes. And yes, I saw it too. Oh, the story itself? Confusing, yet interesting.

2. Cityboy_Log 4.2 🇰🇷 (17/23)

This week was... okayish. They were mostly bonding at a group and doing stuff together. Nothing really happend. They played games, the trouple was cute and JJ tried to act, but really, those moments were more cringe than anything else...

3. First Note of Love 🇹🇼 (4/12)

The looks they gave each other! The constant bickering! The compliments! The necklace as a gift! I see you! I like them. They get more comfortable together and are now forming a band. Hopefully Sea can help Neil getting back on stage without fainting or having a panic attack. I am curious how this whole series will move on, but I am intrigued. But what is that age gap?

4. Hidamari ga Kikoeru 🇯🇵 (10/12)

🥲 I'm fine... the only thing that helped me in the end was the preview for next week. How could he listen to Maya? How? I know why, but still... why? And now Taichi thinks he was just a replacable someone who doesn't mean anything to Kohei 😭 I really don't like it here! And I hope Maya chokes on her words! I don't care that she's going to cry next episode. Right now I still don't like her. Boys! Get your shit together and talk to each other! Please!

5. I Saw You In My Dream 🇹🇭 (7/12)

THIS WHOLE SCENE WAS SO DAMN CUTE!!!!! I like them! And Yu finally collecting his courage to tell Ai, he likes him. I need Ai to tell him he likes him too! But the preview for next week! I can't wait! The best start in my vacation! Do I feel bad for Wann? No, not really. He saw the signs, he got the vibe between Yu and Ai, but he still tried. I guess he is a good guy, but he is not Yu.

6. Seoul Blues 🇰🇷 (3/8)

Well... Our bad boy got together with their mutual friend. Little Mr. Angsty likes our bad boy, but is to afraid what might change, so he didn't take his change when bad boy confessed to him. And of course he now is unsure about bad boy's feelings. And our lady in denial knows that her bad boy doesn't like he like that and I guess she can feel those two are very much into each other, but she still wanna try it and give it a shot. Well... good luck. And while she is thinking about her bad boy thinking about someone else while kissing her, her bad boy is now kissing little Mr. Angsty. I don't know how this friendship can be fixed. There is so much wrong with their entire realtion-/friendship... and I love it!

7. Takara no Vidro 🇯🇵 (9/11)

I started with mixed feelings about this series and I ended up totally loving it! I enjoy this series very much! They talk with each other and they understand each other. They have such a good relationship at this point and I love how Takara is opening up and questioning his plans for the future. Life is unpredictable, love is unpredictable and there can be people who change your plans for the better or worst, but that is something for other shows.

8. The On1y One 🇹🇼 (4/12)

Best chemistry! I love them! I love pounting Wang and this absolutely smitten boy Tian so much! Tian was everything this episode. He couldn't stop looking at Wang and couldn't stop smiling. He is already in love. And Wang uses Tian for learning, but he is slowly falling. And I hope it will be this: he fell first, but he fell harder! Good series!

9. The Trainee 🇹🇭 (8/12)

This was one of the cutest episodes ever and at the same time one of the saddest with the most wholesome break-up ever. Ba-Mhee did something wrong, she apologised and Tae realised that he is part of the problem. I am cusious how they work around this whole story. But Jane and Ryan. Oh the cuteness! I loved every scene with them. And I loved that Jane was jealous and Ryan reassured him. I am a little bit anxious about next week. Guess this was my favorite episode so far!

10. Word of Honor 🇨🇳 (20/36)

Those two flirt a lot and are a married couple. Everyone knows that. And I love and enjoy that! Overall this is such a fun watch and the different sects and intrigues are sometimes a little bit confusing, but interesting. I love this world of martial arts and I love how protective Wen Kexing is over Zhou Zishu. I haven't felt like watching this lately. I wasn't in the right mood.

Finished in August

Series

His Man Season 3 🇰🇷

What was that? I enjoyed the first two seasons so much! And this one felt very manipulated by the production. The secret missions were just there to cause drama and misunderstandings. And othe rparts really felt just boring. I was not really invested in the couples this time. I wish we would have seen more of their friendships. Perhaps that was because the fight between JY and MK was so centred. In the end I am happy MS and MK made it and became a couple. And it is nice that SM and JS got together too. But who thought it was a good idea to keep that "break-up" between YJ and HM in the show? That was just awful to watch! I never saw them vibing together, but a short notice that they decided to stay friends would have been enough. I don't have to see that Hanmin gave the ring back, they made together. I get where he is coming from, but I wish they could have talked about this in private! There were some bad coices of the production which was not favourable for the show! If there is a season 4 I hope it stays away from artificial drama! Just a 7 out of 10 for me.

Century of Love 🇹🇭

We got a happy ending. Hm. Great. I don't know. I guess I wouldn't have mind if San had died. It was a little bit too constructed with the little piece of that stone in the end and the change of heart from the fake Vad... So I am a little bit dissappointed with the ending. Yes, I cried, because I have feelings, but at some points I had to skip parts because there were just too many emotions that clashed in my face. But I am happy for San and Vee. Overall a good 8 out of 10.

Bad Guy 🇰🇷

Honestly? I like cheating stories when my couple wins. In conclusion, I liked this short series. I am curious if we get a second part like with Blue Boys. I would be happy if we could just end it here. The two sad boys finally got their happy ending and can now be enough for each other. I like that. Wish we could see a little bit of their everyday life or how this decision impacts their lifes. I liked it. I give it a 8 out of 10.

Cosmic Playlover 🇯🇵

I enjoyed the show. It felt a little bit rushed, but over all, I enjoyed the plot and the love story. Two men working in the beauty industry and both go their own way and just loving what they do. That was also really good to see! I especially enjoyed the dynamic between these two. And they talked! Sure there was drama, but in the end they talkes to each other and listened to each other and could solve their problems. Such a nice little show. I give it good 8,5 out of 10.

Movie

Short Film

Dropped in August

My Love Mix-Up! 🇹🇭

I guess I've dropped this one. I don't know why exactly. I think it was a cute story and I liked watching it, but right now I don't have the energy to keep going. I will come back to this one when it is finished and when I am in the mood for some fluff.

Looking forward to in August

The Last Time - Trailer (Aug 16th)

The Loyal Pin - Trailer (Aug 4th)

Sugar Dog Life - Trailer (Aug 4th)

Summer Night - Trailer (Aug 5th)

Cosmetic Playlover (Aug 6th)

Monster Next Door - Trailer (Aug 8th)

First Note Of Love - Trailer (Aug 12th)

Addicted Heroin - Trailer (Aug 13th)

Love Beneathe The Stars - Trailer (Aug 16th)

The Paradise Of Thornes - Trailer (Aug 22nd - Thai Cinemas)

The On1y One (Aug 22nd)

Affair - Trailer (Aug 30th)

[bengiyo]

We are headed into our final Drama Shower show of the season. How do you rank the shows we got this season and how are you feeling about the direction of the project?

What is Drama Shower and Why Does It Matter?

Before we get into rating these shows, I want to do a breakdown of what this is. To give you a sense of how big a deal Drama Shower is, fans are regularly updating a Wikipedia page for it with relevant links to follow the project. Also, there is a dedicated MDL page for it.

Drama Shower is a dedicated half-hour programming block on MBS, a Japanese broadcaster that is over 70 years old, in conjunction with Kadokawa, a Japanese publisher and holding group, that plays BL content at 1:30 am on Fridays. The project's main producer is Kaoru Azuma, who is a self-described long-time BL fan. He wants to show that BL can do a variety of stories in genre, and has recently stated that he wants to produce original content through the project as well.

We originally had six shows air through year one: Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss!, Senpai, This Can't Be Love!, Takara-kun to Amagi-kun, Eternal Yesterday, Candy Color Paradox, and Jack o' Frost.

I originally reviewed these shows as overall a mixed bag, but showing great promise. I liked that they got more comfortable with depictions of m/m intimacy over time. I thought Mr. Unlucky was legitimately funny (9), Senpai never found its footing (6), Takara and Amagi mildly squandered their premise (8), Eternal Yesterday was extremely poignant (10), Candy Color Paradox had ambitions that exceeded its talent pool (7), and Jack o' Frost was a really strong finish (9.5).

MBS seemed to enjoy the performance of this project enough to continue it for another year.

For me, I think it's very significant to give BL itself a time slot to see how audiences are responding to BL as a concept compared to the pitch of individual shows. I'm really encouraged by MBS doing this. Even if you don't care about the name MBS, you have interacted with their content, because they are also behind Full Metal Alchemist and Haikyuu! anime adaptations.

Rating Year 2

I actually liked the way year 2 started, even if I'm a bit mixed on the end. I really loved opening with Tokyo in April is... I liked that they had BL trying to be topical. I think the show unfortunately conflates some things it shouldn't, but I loved TIAI and I loved Ren and Ryunosuke's experience being gay men. I liked the changes they made to the source material. This show was dark in a way that it owned, and I really like that. I gave it a 9.

We then moved to My Personal Weatherman, and that went over well for the people who like to see really hot people go at it with each other. I actually enjoyed how much Yoh and Segasaki actively misunderstood each other even as they were speaking to each other. I don't know that they exactly completed their story, and I suspect that there may be a future outing for this show. Despite enjoying it, I think it didn't get all of its pieces together fully and gave it an 8.5.

We then crossed over into uncertain territory with One Room Angel. Despite enjoying a lot of what was going on in this show, I don't actually think it's a romance. It's my understanding that the angel character is a lot younger in the source material, and so they may have been a little shy about how much they did with these characters on screen. I also don't think the storytelling was balanced between the leads. However, because I am susceptible to complex stories about grief, I gave this show an 8.

Now, we have Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun. I hated this show so much. I think it makes the unfortunate mistake of asking me to care about how homophobia and public perceptions impacts people through its flashback drama, but then does nothing with that in the front. It sucked so hard, and I'm really disappointed because I thought this show had some of the most potential, and I thought Toki was one of the most watchable characters Drama Shower had produced. I ended up giving it a 4.

Our next and final show (I think) for this outing is called My Strawberry Film. This one will also be in a high school, but I know little about it, other than we may have a GL plot in it.

So, overall I'd give Drama Shower an 8. I think fans of BL, and especially Japanese BL, should continue to show up and support it. The fact that we have a dedicated programming block is important. The fact that none of these shows has felt like a retread so far is super important. Drama Shower is varied. There is something in here for almost everyone. Drama Shower is the biggest commitment to BL we've had from a distributor other than GMMTV's ongoing BL slate. Taiwan has Vidol doing is four projects, but Drama Shower is the first time I know of that a Japanese distributor has focused on BL in a meaningful, ongoing way. We should stick with it.

[staydandy]

Meet You at the Blossom (2024) - ก่อนดอกไม้…บาน / 花开有时颓靡无声 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Jin Xiao Bao, the heir of the wealthiest family in Jiangnan, meets a young woman and falls in love with the icy, white-clothed beauty at first sight. When he comes to the rescue of this injured "woman" however, she turns out to be a disguised man named Huai En. When Huai En learns who Xiao Bao is, he hatches a plot to use Xiao Bao’s feelings for him to accomplish his mission. But this plan backfires when Huai En starts to develop real feelings for Xiao Bao. Will Xiao Bao learn the truth about who Huai En is, and his real reason for wanting to be with him? Could their feelings surpass animosity, and is true love around the corner? (MDL)

Whumpee : Jin Xiao Bao played by Wang Yun Kai (center left) • Zongzheng Huai En / Zheng Huai En played by Li Le (center right)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : BL / Boys Love, Romance, Historical, Wuxia, Bromance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the novel "Hua Kai You Shi, Tui Mi Wu Sheng" (花开有时, 颓靡无声) by Shui Qian Cheng (水千丞) • Co-production with China, Taiwan, and Thailand - I am going to list it under the "China" on my list/category/genre pages since that is the language used. • A mystical Uncensored Chinese BL • TW : SA

Episodes on List : 12 Total Episodes : 12

*Spoilers below*

01 : Zongzheng Huai En in a fight, cut a few times & stabbed, collapses & passes out … in a fight, cut a bit.. hit with needles poisoned with aphrodisiac (TW)

02 : … continued from previous ep. ... Jin Xiao Bao collapses, Huai En unsteady, collapses … Xiao Bao wakes in a strange place, been asleep for 2 days, sore (😏 lol) … briefly choking on a grape

03 : Huai En drugged with muscle relaxant (faking) … Xiao Bao sick, collapses out of bed … cared for

04 : Huai En nightmare … (at end) stabbed

05 : … continued from previous ep. ... Fight, cut & stabbed.. collapses

06 : Xiao Bao drunk, choked (TW) … carried … knocked out … hit with a walking stick … captured, caged, imprisoned

07 : Beat up, pierced with poisoned needles, bites his lip in pain, collapses.. unconscious … Huai En choked … Xiao Bao shivering … Huai En chained … Xiao Bao wakes from fitful sleep, beats on his chest, pain, treated with ~energy~ … Huai En fight, cut, stabbed, passes out.. imprisoned, chained … Xiao Bao unsteady, supported.. shivering, feeling overly cold

08 : … continued from previous ep. ... Needle pulled from his arm, pain.. in shock, knocked out … unsteady … extreme pain, falls out of bed, held steady in attempts to treat him … Huai En still chained … Xiao Bao rolling in extreme pain, treated with acupuncture, biting his hand … collapse in shock, unsteady, collapses in pain

09 : Rendered mute via pressure point (fixed a moment later) … choked, Huai En spits up blood, poisoned.. Xiao Bao shivering, passes out … unsteady, supported

10 : Huai En in fight, Xiao Bao's hand used to stab Huai En, Huai En spits blood, Xiao Bao in shock, shaking … weak, unsteady … pain, passes out

11 : Knocked out … Huai En unsteady … arm in a sling, poisoned.. treated … Xiao Bao in extreme pain, treated with acupuncture … Huai En fight, wounded … passes out.. tumbles off horse.. passes out

12 : … continued from previous ep. ... [replay] Passes out … Xiao Bao wakes with a start.. unsteady, grief … attempting to be cured, pain, fighting to stay awake … [quick flashback] Huai En passed out on the ground

More Whump Lists for this show: simply-whump

[ranchthoughts]

The GMMTV Kissing Multiverse, an Update

EDITED: Hey everyone - update posted here! Follow along with all updates at the tag here

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your help with the GMMTV Kissing Multiverse project so far. I thought I would give an update.

The first draft is here.

Rules

Must be lip to lip contact

Must be shown on screen in a GMMTV tv series (no kisses from ads, promotional content, etc.)

Poll Update

I enlisted all of your help deciding if the WaiKorn sorta kiss from the Bad Buddy x ATOTS Our Skyy 2 episodes actually involved lip touching and if the HeartLiMing kiss from Moonlight Chicken should be included.

The results are in: you voted that Jimmy and Drake's lips do NOT touch, therefore their kiss will be NOT be counted in this project. The HeartLiMing poll resulted in an exact tie (!!!) so I am here to be the tie breaker - upon careful review, if we don't see the lips touch, the kiss doesn't count (I think that will be easier for decision-making in the long run). Therefore, the HeartLiMing kiss will NOT be counted in this project. Thanks everyone for participating!

Breakdown by Show

So far, I have looked at 47 individual shows (in brackets is the short-form I've been using):

A Boss and a Babe (ABAAB): Book/Force, Fluke Pusit/Ohm Thipakorn

An Eye for an Eye (AEDAE): Dao Phimthong/Ohm

A Tale of a Thousand Stars (ATOTS): Earth/Mix

Bad Buddy (BB): Nanon/Ohm

Be My Favourite (BMF): Gawin/Krist

'Cause You're My Boy (CYMB): Drake/Frank

Cupid's Last Wish (CLW): Earth/Mix

Dark Blue Kiss (DBK): New/Tay, Gawin/Pod

Dirty Laundry (DL): Film/Nanon

Double Savage (DS): Film/Ohm, Film/Perth

Enchante: Book/Force

Enigma: Prim/Namtan, Prim/Win

F4: Bright/Tu

Friendzone: AJ/Plustor, Nat/Singto, Plustor/Singto, Aye/Apple

Fish Upon the Sky (FUTS): Phuwin/Pond, Louis/Neo

He's Coming to Me (HCTM): Ohm/Singto, Ohm/Gigie

Hidden Agenda (HA): Dunk/Joong

Mama Gogo (MMGG): Drake/Ciize, Joss/Gigie, Lee/Cris

Midnight Museum (MM): Bright/Pat Chayani, Nanon/View

Moonlight Chicken (MLC): Earth/Mix, Earth/Papang, First/Mix

My Dear Loser (MDL): Namtan/Sing

My School President (MSP): Fourth/Gemini, Satang/Winny

Never Let Me Go (NLMG): Chimon/Phuwin, Phuwin/Pond

Not Me (NM): Film/Gun, Film/Mond, First/Gawin, Gun/Off

Only Friends (OF): so far... Drake/Neo, Neo/Mark Pakin, Book/Force [only counting the ones we have seen so far - so this is going to change!!]

P.S. I Hate You (PS IHY): Guy Sivakorn/Papang, Jan/Lee, Jan/Pearwah

Star in my Mind (SIMM): Dunk/Joong, Dunk/Pepper

Sky in your Heart (SIYH): Mek/Mark Jiruntanin

Slam Dunk: Drake/Sing

SOTUS: Krist/Singto

The Eclipse (Eclipse): First/Khaotung, Louis/Neo

The Gifted (Gifted): Namtan/Lee

The Jungle (Jungle): Krist/Lee, Krist/Lookjun, Lee/Mook, Lookjun/Off, Mild/Nanon, Nanon/Punpun

The Player (Player): Chimon/Namtan

The Shipper (Shipper): First/Ohm, First/Prigkhing

Theory of Love (TOL): Gun/Off, Gun/Boom, Nok/Off

Turn Left Turn Right (TLTR): Nanon/Puimek

Tonhon Chonlatee (Tonhon): Khaotung/Pod

UMG: Nanon/Namtam

Vice Versa (VV): Jimmy/Sea

Warp Effect (Warp): Ciize/Sing, Fluke Pusit/Gigie, Fluke Pusit/Thor, Gigie/Guy Sivakorn, Jan/Silvy, Mark Pakin/Best, New/Fah, New/Fluke Pusit, New/Gigie, New/Silvy

Waterboyy: Earth/New

2gether: Bright/Win

Still 2gether: Bright/Win, Mike/Toptap

3 Will Be Free (3WBF): Joss/Tay, Joss/Mild, Mild/Tay

55:15 Never Too Late (55:15): Arm/View, Khaotung/Pawin

10 Year Ticket (10 YT): Ohm/Tu

Breakdown by actor

I currently have 66 actors whose kisses I have recorded (a moment of thought for Aou, Gunsmile, and White who are listed on my spreadsheet but don't actually have any kisses listed yet).

Men

AJ: Plustor (Friendzone)

Arm: View (55:15)

Book: Force (ABAAB, Enchante, OF)

Bright: Tu (F4), Pat Chayani (MM), Win (2gether)

Chimon: Phuwin (NLMG), Namtan (Player)

Drake: Frank (CYMB), Ciize (MMGG), Neo (OF)

Dunk: Joong (HA, SIMM), Pepper (SIMM)

Earth: Mix (ATOTS, CLW, MLC), Papang (MLC), New (Waterboyy)

First: Mix (MLC), Gawin (NM), Khaotung (Eclipse), Ohm (Shipper), Prigkhing (Shipper)

Fluke Gawin: Krist (BMF), Pod (DBK), First (NM)

Fluke Pusit: Ohm Thipakorn (ABAAB), Thor (Warp), Gigie (Warp), New (Warp)

Force: Book (ABAAB, Enchante, OF)

Fourth: Gemini (MSP)

Gemini: Fourth (MSP)

Gun: Film (NM), Off (NM, TOL), Boom (TOL)

Guy Sivakorn: Papang (P.S. IHY), Gigie (Warp)

Jimmy: Sea (VV)

Joong: Dunk (HA, SIMM)

Joss: Gigie (MMGG), Mild (3WBF), Tay (3WBF)

Khaotung: First (Eclipse), Pod (Tonhon), Pawin (55:15)

Krist: Gawin (BMF), Singto (SOTUS), Lee (Jungle), Lookjun (Jungle)

Lee: Cris (MMGG), Jan (P.S. IHY), Namtan (Gifted), Krist (Jungle), Mook (Jungle)

Louis: Neo (FUTS, Eclipse)

Mark Pakin: Neo (OF), Best (Warp)

Mark Jiruntanin: Mek (SIYH)

Mek: Mark Jiruntanin (SIYH)

Mike: Toptap (2gether)

Mix: Earth (ATOTS, CLW, MLC), First (MLC)

Nanon: Ohm (BB), Film (DL), View (MM), Mild (Jungle), Punpun (Jungle), Puimek (TLTR), Namtan (UMG)

Neo: Louis (FUTS, Eclipse), Drake (OF), Mark Pakin (OF)

New: Tay (DBK), Fah (Warp), Fluke Pusit (Warp), Gigie (Warp), Silvy (Warp)

Off: Gun (NM, TOL), Lookjun (Jungle), Nok (TOL)

Ohm Thipakorn: Fluke Pusit (ABAAB)

Ohm: Dao Phimthong (AEFAE), Nanon (BB), Film (DS), Singto (HCTM), Gigie (HCTM), First (Shipper), Tu (10 YT)

Papang: Earth (MLC), Guy Sivakorn (P.S. IHY)

Pawin: Khaotung (55:15)

Pepper: Dunk (SIMM)

Phuwin: Pond (FUTS, NLMG), Chimon (NLMG)

Pod: Gawin (DBK), Khaotung (Tonhon)

Pond: Phuwin (FUTS, NLMG)

Satang: Winny (MSP)

Sea: Jimmy (VV)

Sing: Namtan (MDL), Drake (Slam Dunk), Ciize (Warp)

Singto: Nat (Friendzone), Plustor (Friendzone), Ohm (HCTM), Krist (SOTUS)

Tay: New (DBK), Joss (3WBF), Mild (3WBF)

Thor: Fluke Pusit (Warp)

Toptap: Mike (2gether)

Win: Prim (Enigma), Bright (2gether)

Winny: Satang (MSP)

Women

Aye: Apple (Friendzone)

Best: Mark Pakin (Warp)

Ciize: Drake (MMGG), Sing (Warp)

Cris: Lee (MMGG)

Fah: New (Warp)

Film: Nanon (DL), Ohm (DS), Perth (DS), Gun (NM), Mond (NM)

Gigie: Ohm (HCTM), Joss (MMGG), Fluke Pusit (Warp), Guy Sivakorn (Warp), New (Warp)

Jan: Lee (P.S. IHY), Pearwah (P.S. IHY), Silvy (Warp)

Lookjun: Off (Jungle), Krist (Jungle)

Mild: Nanon (Jungle), Joss (3WBF), Tay (3WBF)

Mook: Lee (Jungle)

Namtan: Prim (Enigma), Sing (MDL), Lee (Gifted), Chimon (Player), Nanon (UMG)

Prigkhing: First (Shipper)

Prim: Namtan (Enigma), Win (Enigma)

Silvy: Jan (Warp), New (Warp)

Tu: Bright (F4), Ohm (10 YT)

View: Nanon (MM), Arm (55:15)

Figures and Discussion Section

Our leaders as of now for "most different pairs kissing in one show" are:

Warp Effect (10 pairs)

The Jungle (5 pairs)

Friendzone and Not Me (4 pairs)

Only Friends (3 pairs [so far 👀])

Mama Gogo, Moonlight Chicken, P.S. I Hate You, and 3 Will Be Free (3 pairs)

2. Jojo has an... outsized impact on the number of kissing pairs. He directed 5 of the top 9 shows with the most different kissing pairs - and roughly 17% of all the shows analyzed - but his shows contain about 30% of kisses present in the data set (note: I am just looking at kissing pair iterations here not at unique kissing pairs, e.g., Phuwin/Pond are a pair in two shows (once in a Jojo show and once in a non-Jojo show), so they are counted twice. Otherwise I would have to think about in what show/under which director a kissing pair first originated, how many different shows/directors they've kissed under... this section is mostly a quick exercise in showing how Jojo has a lot of different kissers in his shows so I'm not trying to be that statistically accurate.)

The median number of "different kissing pairs per show" of a Jojo show is 3.38, compared to a median of only 1.69 "different kissing pairs per show" in non-Jojo shows.

3. There were more same gender kissing pairs than mixed gender kissing pairs, though not by much. This may also reflect the data set used (I know I am more familiar with QLs than het GMMTV shows)

4. Our leaders for actors with the "most kissing partners" so far are:

Nanon (7 people)

Ohm (6 people)

First, Lee, New, Film, Gigie, and Namtan (5 people each)

Krist, and Fluke Pusit (4 people)

Bright, Drake, Earth, Fluke Gawin, Gun, Joss, Khaotung, Neo, Off, Sing, Tay, Jan, and Mild (3 people each)

Bonus! Which of the GMMTV boys has kissed the most men?

First and Singto are tied for the win (4 each)

Then Earth, Fluke Gawin, Khaotung, Krist, Neo, and Ohm (3 each)

Then Drake, Dunk, Fluke Pusit, Gun, Mix, New, Papang, Phuwin, and Tay (2 each)

Thanks to all those who contributed!!: @airenyah, @alsoran, @bengiyo, @burnmyself, @catboykacchan, @catsundmaus, @chickenstrangers, @crowie, @dribs-and-drabbles, @jeonghanurl, @kpinhiding, @lurkingshan, @maibpenrai, @nieves-de-sugui, @non-binarypal7, @sollucets, @userneos, @tiistirtipii, @waitmyturtles, @williamrikers, @zeesqueere

and @blmpff asked to be tagged in updates!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - When good chemistry goes bad

May 2023 Wk 3 

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - yes it jumped to the top of the standings, the kiss was THAT good, best of the year so far. So soft and yet so sweet and yearning and with a proper chemistry - body, breath, everything. Also... there was plot happening this ep, but who cares about that? Some additional thoughts, now my brain has rebooted from that kiss. I do suspect Pat of still being a player: he is awful smooth, and he may want revenge for being jacked along for 2 years (I would). Ep 4 is early for a kiss like that, which means pacing-wise we may be in for a separation/break up around ep 8. 

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 5 of 10 (MDL still says 12, but Gaga still says 10) - Pat, dear, your gay is squirting all over our screens. Meanwhile… That is the smallest presidential suite bed I’ve ever seen. Lucky for us of course. And lucky for Jeng. Me with the side dishes = UH OH. 

Our Skyy 2 (My School President) eps 9-10 - Alt reality where Tinn is in charge of the music club and Gun is the school president with the crush. Basically, it’s an excuse for them to play each others’ parts (which just highlighted how well they were cast, originally). Ultimately, Gemini is a better piner, and Fourth is a better tsundere. Although the reversed “holding it over his head” was v funny & Fourth IS a decent seme. (I also realized what I like so much about Fourth, like Saint he’s one of those rare full body actors.) Sound was a great uke and I loved how they changed his makeup for the role (did you notice?). TiwPor were as adorably ridiculous as ever. I liked the minor baby pairing for Aun, too. Still my NO SIGNING holds (although there was lots of dancing to counterbalance). In the end, all this really did was make me wanna rewatch the original. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. FYI The MV was a parody of HCTM, BB, 1k*. 8/10 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 12fin - It was a cute sappy ending for a cute-ish sappy-ish show. I cannot abide that the mom who condoned the rape of her daughter got forgiven. No. Stop it GMMTV. Review below. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 9 of 10 - I'm in trouble when I'm rooting for everybody BUT the main couple. I guess Nan doesn’t have a NO SINGING policy. Also I guess Nan was waiting for Phu all along? This show. ALSO could we not have just ended it here? 

Past-senger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 eps - I don’t understand. What? Where did all these new characters come from? Do we care about the hets? Not even slightly. What is anyone doing? What’s going on? do I care abotu anyone anymore? No. Please make it stop. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 7 of 10 - OMG so adorable, so repressed, so reserved, so soft, so awkward, so special. Heart melting. Also. Hungry. The WAY Minoru looks at Yutaka when he’s eating (now that he knows the history). The way we got to see the exact moment that Minoru realizes he is in love. Perfection. 

Star Struck (Korea iQIYI & Gaga) ep 1-2 of 8 - Zuho (Kpop SF9 - noted good egg) opposite rookie actor Kim In Sung (the one with the crush). icky is being weird about it but it looks like Gaga also picked it up? Depends on your territory I suppose. Anygay: Friends since childhood, jock/nerd, puppy/cat and I sense bi-himbo confusion and pining introvert gay. There’s family strife plus class issues and it has some interesting things to say already about the nature of friendship, romance, and jealousy. I like it, weirdly reminds me of something that might have come out of China. Not early CBL, but some of the later stuff that was censored but hearkened to Addicted. This has the feel of what China could have made now (were things politically different). Because of this feel, I’m not confident in this being an HEA or even a true BL but it is interesting enough for me to bump it way up the ranks. 

Happy Merry Ending (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 7-8fin - I get why SJ pushed JH away, but I kinda agree that SJ is too much work. Abused or not, I wouldn’t put in the damn effort - so I guess I’m glad SJ took a year off to figure his shizz out? Far be it from me to agree with a year break in a Kdrama, tho. I didn’t even mind that they were separated most of these 2 eps: it was nice to see a Seme told no, who actually backed off and did as he was told. Plus the running of the gays (how Japan of you SK). I’m assuming that this was the final episode and that Viki thinking that there are 2 more is bonkers? Because this felt like a finale. For me this one had a stronger finish than any other aspect of the show (odd when the couple spent the bulk of it apart). Oh! And someone give Shin Myung Sung (the surfer bestie) his own damn BL, m’kay? Review below.

Love Mate (Korea Thurs Viki) eps 5-6 of 8 - Longest elevator ride in the world. Honorifics discussion! My favorite! And, “there is only one bed but they slept together on the floor anyway” trope. A BL staple. Also the tie/lanyard grab. Another fav. Still pushy puppy stalker remains creepy manipulative obsessive warped hotness. Basically KBL version of trash and… I’m into it. We all got our kinks, I guess. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) - Such a cat. I’m reminded of Milk. It’s cute. They cute. I like it.

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - So is the nude dining meant to be some kind of weird allegory for repressed gayness? 

It’s Airing But ...

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) 10 eps - I bounced at ep 4. Someone will tell me if I should bother with the rest. 

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end. 

The Day I Loved You (Pinoy YouTube) eps 6-7 of 10 - Terminal illness for the sunshine. I bounced at ep 6. DNF. 

Ended this week

Love Syndrome finished its run on WeTV (I stopped at ep 2) - anyone wanna weight in with thoughts on the ending and whether I should binge or not? I do love Lee Long Shi.

Happy Merry Ending - Stars Lee Dong Won (KNK) as an ex-idol turned wedding singer with an abusive ex and a panic disorder + the sunshine pianist who falls in love with him. Timid tsundere & sweetheart gay is an interesting match. They’re gentle together, almost kindly and there is a calm ache to their pairing. However, it lost its way as a BL, being more about the main character’s struggle than the romance. It had a strong finish but ultimately the premise & characters meant this was never going to be one of my favorites. 8/10  

A Boss and a Babe - With an inconsistent narrative and self-sabotaging characters this was not the Thai BL office romance I was hoping for. I spent most if it feeling manipulated without good reason and sorry for ForceBook. They did their best with a shoddy script (AGAIN!) and none of its flaws were their fault. This show was all over the place and so am I about it. It’s better than Enchanté but that’s not really saying much. 7/10 I guess

In Case You Missed It 

BL Express reported that Taiwanese production companies have announced 7 new BLs (4 of these from Vidol.) Stories range from office romance to crime drama. 

Someone did a survey on KBL watchers. 

Build Jakapan has been cleared of all charges. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting this week: 

5/26 Be My Favorite prev title: You Are My Favorite (Thai YouTube) Adapted JittiRain y-novel (2gether, FUTS, ToL, Vice Versa) one of those “rewrite the past to change the future.” Stars Krist (SOTUS) + Fluke Gawin (DBK, Not Me). Expect this to be v low heat, full of LIES and manipulation.

5/27 The Luminous Solution (Thai ????) 10 eps - Thana is having trouble at work and in his relationship. He can't seem to catch a break. So he makes a wish to change everything. The wish has a price.

5/27 Takumi-kun Series 6: Nagai Nagai Monogatari no Hajimari no Asa (Japan) - NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS (but that has never stopped Japan before) and no, I have no idea where to get it, why would I ?????  (Say it with me everyone: Oh Japan, must you?*)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This Week’s Meta Moments 

naturellement (Step By Step naming its trope.)

The Promise calling out the uke archetype, Mary Sue much? 

ALL THE DANCING. Live the dream! Live the trend! Live the trope! 

4 tropes in one! Drinking, piggyback, feed him, product placement. Very nice GMMTV & GeminiFourth. I’m impressed.  

nash

(all My School President’s Our Skyy - kinda a masterclass in using ALL THE TROPES and ALL THE BL references.) 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The unmitigated irony of so-called fans of ZeeNunew coming after this show for this moment (not to mention the self sabotage). Truly mind boggling. (Step by Step)

The two boys who didn’t win the boy but totally should have. This show makes me wanna drink too. Next week... soju! (The Promise)

Yes please and thank you GMMTV. (My School President) 

I do love the kinkification of Phi. (Boss & Babe) 

These tiny idiots it turns out are, in fact, totally hilarious. La Pulie (side dish friendship group)

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Key & Taeyeon’s Hate that... (which if it wasn’t an OST SHOULD have been)

[love-me-a-lotta-whump]

조선 변호사- Joseon Attorney: A Morality - Whump List - 🇰🇷

Whumpee: 강한수 (Kang Han Su) played by 우도환 (Woo Do Hwan)

Synopsis: Kang Han Su is a devious lawyer who meticulously plans his lawsuits and exploits the emotions of his clients for personal gain. However, as he unintentionally gains a reputation as a hero and problem solver among the common people, he begins to see the value in seeking true justice. (MDL)

Genre: Period, Law/Courtroom, Romance, Mystery, Comedy

Watch On: Viki, Dramacool, KissAsian

Side note: I know normally when Comedy is one of the genres listed, the whump tends to be comedic and therefore ruined which was the case in the beginning of this list but towards the end, it was mostly just comic relief.

⚠️CAUTION: In episode 1.09 there is a non-con attempt at about 10 minutes in. --- In episode 15, there is a s**cide attempt right at the beginning of the episode. I'd suggest fast forwarding about 6 or 7 minutes.⚠️

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

1.01 : arm burned, attempting to treat it (semi comical) ::: arrested ::: thrown into a cell ::: in a cell, traumatic flashbacks (finding his mother dead, hunted) ::: (comical: flogged, 20 strikes) ::: (comical: wounds treated) ::: knocked out ::: captive (hung upside down over a pit of snakes), scared, (traumatic flashbacks)

1.02 : captive (hung upside down over a pit of snakes), scared, (traumatic flashbacks), fought (semi comical), traumatic flashbacks from his childhood ::: drunk, passed out (all semi comical) ::: carried ::: traumatic flashbacks ::: emotional ::: (nightmare consisting of traumatic flashbacks: watching his father be unfairly killed, finding his mother dead), crying out for his mother in his sleep, friend comforts him, heavy breathing

1.03 : none

1.04 : scared, traumatic memories surface ::: knife held to his throat ::: woke up tied to a post on his sinking boat, wounded and bleeding shoulder ::: wound repeatedly irritated ::: field care for his wound, heavy breathing ::: asleep, woke up, groaning as he sat up ::: drowning, bleeding, saved ::: helped to walk, bloody, groaning, struggling to speak, repeatedly bending over in pain, holding his shoulder, weak, sweating ::: (flashbacks: concern for him, unconscious, chest compressed, coughing up water) ::: upset

1.05 : traumatic flashbacks surface ::: hand slashed, concern for him, wound quickly treated, surrounded, protecting someone, restrained, taken ::: emotional, traumatic flashbacks

1.06 : hand still bandaged ::: treating his wound, groaning, helped to treat his hand ::: emotional, teary eyed ::: in shock, emotional ::: emotional, crying ::: drunk, crying, concern for him

1.07 : passed out ::: carried (semi comical) ::: Nightmare (traumatic flashbacks to his s**cide attempt as a kid), friend holds him to calm him down ::: audible hallucinations, nearly drowned, scared, heavy breathing ::: emotional, ambushed, used himself as a human shield, back slashed with a knife, hit by throwing knives, fought (off screen) ::: bloody, stumbling, bloody hand

1.08 : ambushed, used himself as a human shield, back slashed with a knife, hit by throwing knives, fought, slashed with swords, protecting someone, concern for him, saved ::: concern for him, collapsed into his loved ones’ arms, helped to walk ::: asleep, wounds treated, woke up, concern for him, bandaged, groaning, helped to sit up ::: looked after, hand bandaged ::: protecting someone ::: kicked, manhandled, punched, kicked repeatedly, chased, threatened ::: glassy eyes

1.09 : scared, having traumatic flashbacks, panicking, isolating himself

1.10 : angry ::: emotional ::: kidnapped ::: woke up, escaped ::: arrested, struggling, in shock

1.11 : arrested, in shock, crying, insisting he be arrested, concern for him, told he may not survive the torture he’ll be dealt with, arrested ::: restrained (rope) in a chair, whipped ::: whipped, bleeding ::: whipped, bleeding, wincing ::: still restrained, weak, struggling to stay awake, feeling betrayed, sweating ::: (semi comical) in a cell, refusing to eat, bloody ::: bloody, shackled, refusing help, in pain, exhausted, coughing, emotional ::: bloody, shackled, crying ::: tortured (legs twisted) ::: tortured (legs twisted), crying out in pain ::: tortured (legs twisted), crying out in pain ::: in a cell, shackled, bloody, coughing up blood, exhausted, weak ::: restrained in a chair (rope), bloody, weak, mumbling, “I don’t think we should torture him any further.”, people attempt to save him, weak, barely conscious, heavily lifted eyes, saved, relieved, carried, struggling to stay awake ::: carried, crying, bloody ::: asleep, sweaty, concern for him ::: woke up, struggling to move, groaning ::: weak, emotional, crying, upset, struggling to walk, collapsed against a post, weak, emotional, crying

1.12 : emotional, crying, told he was used ::: angry, wound reveal, very angry

1.13 : emotional, crying ::: in shock, crying ::: crying

1.14 : crying ::: crying ::: emotional, angry, manhandled/restrained, struggling, sobbing ::: emotional outburst ::: emotional, begging on his knees ::: emotional, fell to his knees, crying ::: emotional, shaking, crying ::: emotional, grieving ::: grieving ::: screaming, sobbing ::: drunk, emotional

1.15 : drunk, emotional, attempting s**cide, stopped, still trying, manhandled, sobbing, grieving, comforted, held, passed out ::: constantly drinking (semi comical) ::: drunk ::: drunk, angry, “I’ll drink until I die.” ::: scared, crying ::: crying, grieving ::: angry, crying ::: shot at (semi comical)

1.16 : crying ::: emotional, crying, grieving, concern for him ::: grieving, manhandled

------+------

MORE WHUMP LISTS >>> {X}

Title Note: I know the English translation of the title is Joseon Attorney: A Morality but the literal translation is "Joseon Attorney" idk why they added on "A Morality".

[silviakundera]

DRAMA REC: So I feel like any real review of Thai drama Moonlight Chicken is hard without heavy spoilers because honestly I don't know how to talk about what makes me passionate about it without discussing all the character relevations that occur over the course of its 8 episodes. I'll try to be generic as much as I can.

The thing about why it's hard to discuss without spoilers is that the characters and their full baggage are revealed slowly episode by episode, because like in real life you often learn about new friends & love interests slowly as intimacy deepens...

But from what I can see online, it's very subjective for viewers - depends on the person if they find these themes and personal challenges compelling or not. This doesn't fit with the typical "BL asian drama" format.

My personal viewing stake: There's an otp that has TAKEN OVER MY BRAIN. I have been searching for this energy ever since finishing Lighter & Princess. Gotta confess that I couldn't care less about the second couple who are teenagers. Apparently MDL and a lot of tumblr only liked the teen couple (valid!), but I just skipped over them mostly because when my brain locks in on Real Adults with Adult Problems I often cease to connect to high school student storylines. But the age gap couple with a 39 year old character who is FEELING his age... Jim & Wen. I've watched all 8 episodes now and they are like cocaine to me.

Ep 1 setup: We're not in Bangkok! (gasp) Jim is almost-40 and runs a late night diner in the less upscale part of town. Wen, about 10 years younger, is drunk at his diner as he's trying to close for the night. They pick up on the unspoken signals, instant electric connection, and end up wandering back to Jim's place and having what looks like fantastic sex together (without exchanging names).

But then after that first night, in the remaining 7 ep of the show you get a slowburn build up from zero as Jim doesn't want a relationship - with anyone. This is truly, sincerely a 'it's not you, it's me" situation. He is mired in baggage and the angst is SO DELICIOUS to me. Angst and soft hand touches and late night conversation. There's YEARNING. SO MUCH YEARNING.

And then my darling Wen! Who brings almost the same energy as the Lighter and Princess FL. @dangermousie I never thought I'd see this irrepressible determination and tender, good humored patience again! He is deeply sure that there is something special here with Jim and is unrelenting about trying to scale Jim's walls. I know that sounds like psychotic SML material lmao but it's all about the tone and context. It's very clear that Jim is allowing Wen in his life and doesn't, deep down, want Wen to give up on him. He's damaged and scared but I always felt he wants Wen to be right - that they are falling in love and can build something real together. He just can't make himself take that step. I mean, in their 2nd meeting he is EQUALLY INSANE to agree that it's v normal and hinged behavior to let his 1 night stand start randomly showing up to work shifts at his diner as 'temp staff' he can't afford to pay because... um. Basically to stalk him? idk I don't think it's stalking when u have a mutual agreement?? 🤔

Wen falling deeper into Jim and KNOWING the feeling is mutual no matter how many times he's (so gently!) pushed back... can be sooooo personal. 😭😭😭 The vibes of this "we're Not Together™" but it's inevitable, I'm just waiting for the timing to be right... reminiscent of the last 10 episodes of Lighter & Princess. This building intimacy and tenderness that stretches on until as a viewer you feel like... They ARE in love, they're together but just without the sex. They just have to stabilize their lives first before committing whole-heartedly. THE BITTERSWEET PINGING. (screams)

One thing I've observed is many people seem to struggle to connect with Jim's character. The closest thing we have to a protagonist (?) Maybe. Anyway, I suspect it might be a generational thing. I found the drama incredibly compelling, but I grew up queer in the 80s and 90s. I'm well into my 40s, a bit older than Jim, but I think the generational queer experience overlaps pretty well considering the sociopolitical differences btw us/thailand.

The screenwriter is an older out gay man, so I presume that's also a factor in how he did a pitch-perfect depiction of Jim's struggles to find home.

Wen has his own baggage that feels very real and raw. I loved his storyline because I could personally relate to it also from my queer relationship experience.

I've blabbered on here before about how I feel like there's something different about queer stories being told to other queers, not targeted to straight viewers primarily - I'm not saying it's better than the big brands and popular international media including lgbt rep. It's just different imo and I do think it's valuable. I want to see stories about the complexities of the experience & about the gay community that can't just be mapped to straight people. Where the story would not feel the same if you flipped the sexualities. That's what Midnight Chicken was to me: the characters of Jim and Wen and their personal development & slow love story together felt very queer and the age gap was a relevant part of this. And that called to me. I could recognize parts of myself in them and my personal experiences as a gay woman.

I was impressed by the writing. Strong acting. The directing of individual scenes is excellent BUT the 1 big flaw is the editing. Very amateur, super abrupt scene changes! Just jarring. But whatever, I've seen some terrible editing in cdramas too. Also note the storytelling tactic is to show a series of meaningful moments & interactions over like 6-8 months of time. Events progress in ways we don't always see and it's not always spelled out to the audience, everything that happened since we last saw them. That may or may not work for the viewer.

[Plus there's a very sweet & wholesome teen love story that also gets a happy ending, if you're into that. One of the teens is deaf and there's no "cure the disability" nonsense, don't worry. I was adult-focused but I did appreciate the complicated family relationship subplot with Jim trying to caretake his nephew and their relationship to the mostly-absent sister.]

ok so now into spoiler territory. Letting the relevations come out organically would be a much better viewing experience BUT...

SPOILERS ON JIM & WEN BACKSTORY

Jim's whole deal is he had a big love in his late 20s-early 30s that fucked him up good. He grew up being told gay love isn't real, leaves his rural farming town with his sister in their teens, disconnected from his family... But even his sister, who loves him, had the perspective that it's Just A Phase. Jim expects to Prove Them Wrong. Then his boyfriend cheats on him.... With a woman. Activate that generation's internalized homophobia and self-doubt. And then before he gets to truly confront his partner, his partner dies in an accident. So he never gets resolution.

And he's stuck under a mountain of debt, on the edge of poverty because he didn't get any of the guy's assets when he died of course. No rights under Thai law. Partner's family takes it all but the old car & the cat. All he has is the small chicken rice shop they had bought and ran together and it's killing him, he both hates and loves it. He's this amazing member of the local community but doesn't see himself and his own worth clearly.

Wen is working through the guilt of falling out of love from his 1st gay relationship that lasted 5 years of his 20s. Broken up but still living together. Trying to stay in each other's lives (I've seen this a lot, because in small gay communities you don't just cut ties with good people you care about). But living together is toxic for both of them, despite the real care that's there.

He also feels disconnected from a community at the start. He has work collegues, all straight friends, and his now-ex boyfriend. But you get the subtle sense that his local ties are all with the boyfriend Alan's family and mutual friends with Alan who don't all know about the breakup yet and he doesn't know how to interface with them anymore now that he and Alan aren't the same. He's the one who fell out of love, so he's "the bad guy" here and the straight friend he tries to talk to about trying to co-habititate with his ex and stay close friends doesn't really get it, because that's just way more typical behavior for older generation queers - it's notable that when the situation is fully explained to Jim, he doesn't seem to find it bizarre at all (as said, I've gone through that myself, and known friends in that situation; found that subplot to be very well done.) (I read that many viewers were disappointed this wasn't a standard infidelity situation where Wen is just regular cheating on Alan, but I have to say that I feel the opposite. The subplot and how it played out felt very relatable to me. I didn't need a cheating angst plotline in this drama that could be transplanted into a straight drama. I wanted more stories that represented my lived experience as an adult lesbian, and Wen's narrative gave me that.)

Wen keeps searching for a home even while living with Alan and having loved him in the past. Which to me was a sign that he'd moved to this smaller city, living in Alan's condo and in Alan's life with Alan's extended family... He started eating beef because Alan did and following along. He doesn't know where HE feels at home, what Wen needs to be comfortable and happy. When he more & more starts to believe he can make this home with Jim, he's determined to make it happen.

[watchinglikeafangirl]

Last Twilight had the worst ending...

I know, this is old news and the series ended a week ago BUT I have exams coming up, so this post got delayed. Anyway, here's my opinion about this ending after reading a bunch of MDL reviews, all saying the same: The way Last Twilight ends is insulting.

This series totally missed the point, the ball didn't even look at the goal and went the other way. They messed this up so badly, I'm mad. I can't even laugh about it 'cause it was such a great series. Episode 9 made me weep ... and then came everything else.

We spend time with Mhok and Day, forming a bond though they seemingly have nothing in common. Day is very self-centered and wants to be pampered but Mhok doesn't go all the way. He's his caregiver but he draws lines. There's a problem rising in the background: Mhok is too nice. He never calls Day out for crossing the line, he talks his way around it, he makes sure Day still feels warm in is heart. Mhok is the kind of person who desperatly needs people around him and he keeps them close no matter what, so sometimes, he's misunderstood or overshadowed. I hoped for some kind of conflict about Day taking but rarely giving. There's only one scene where we can see a glimpse of it. It's just one line and 10 seconds and the series goes on as if Mhok didn't say anything, as if it was a joke but it was so much more and I wished for a conflict like this but it never really came.

"Day, I think you can be so inappropriate sometimes."

It's what Mhok says in episode 8 when they wake up at the beach after partying all night. I felt his line, I sat here like "exactly, tell him!" But sadly we won't get to know more about this. Every conflict, every scene and every little action is about Day. It's so much about Day that Mhok doesn't get to say honest feelings like that even if those are negative. Because yes, Day is inconsiderate. We follow his struggles after turning blind. Even after a year, he didn't get used to it and he projects his lack of self esteem on other people, trying to find something others like about him, so he could learn to like himself as well. And Mhok gives it to him because Mhok gladly makes him feel at ease and Mhok is a people pleaser. They both have their own journey and arc but I feel like their relationship is unbalanced. Throughout this entire run, I felt like these two needed to get rid of this inbalance in order to be able to move forward. The conflict is inevitable BUT the thing is, they didn't go through with it.

The inbalance is the reason for their conflict but it's not solved or named. Mhok gets the job offer abroad and declines. It's his decision and I'm very sure he didn't make that decision entirely about Day. Leaving the country is not something one instantly does and I understand why he doesn't want to go. Yes, he doesn't have many people holding him in Thailand but leaving is still hard and not an easy decision. I get that. Plus Mhok and Day are adults, they are in their twenties, they are no children. While Mhok actually behaves like he thinks about many factors before making a decision and is careful about his next step and what it would mean, Day just makes everything about him and his blindness. Yes, Mhok is probably staying because of Day. No, he's not staying because Day is blind. That's why their relationship started, because Mhok didn't see Day in a different light, because Mhok doesn't care if he's blind or not. I am so frustrated thinking about it lmao

Well...I hate their breakup since they are not properly addressing the real issue. Day says he's holding Mhok back and Mhok says he's afraid of losing people which Day chooses to ignore. Mhok's story starts the day his sister dies...Day knows Mhok doesn't have a family, yet it's about Day's blindness??? It's so inconsiderate that it's insulting Mhok's entire personality.

This series refuses to let the characters work on their relationship together because of this stupid "cursed 11th episode" thing. Mhok and Day are insecure when it comes to the other but they could go on the journey together and see the world in a brighter light. But no, Mhok cries on his own while Day had two people hugging him and nobody cares where Mhok went - not even Night. I was so disappoited how this all turned out.

The breakup is not even the worst, it's what comes in episode 12 that really made me angry. What do you mean, three years have passed? Mhok and Day never tried to talk it out? Mhok never reached out? Mhok thanks Day for the break up? Where am I? What is this? I'm crying internally.

Anyway, we see Mhok coming back for the wedding and as soon as he sees Day, he randomly starts hitting on him...? First of all, the way they talk to each other lets me assume they have stayed in contact or reached a mutual understanding, so why have they not talked it out? They seemingly haven't been talking about their conflict at all but why are they so friendly? Shouldn't they be mad at each other or not talk at least? Instead we see an extremely happy Day and an inappropriatly flirty Mhok. Their personalities seem to have been thrown out of the window and we get too many scenes of Day saying he's uncomfortable and Mhok pushing himself into Day's space. It's aweful. The wedding was sadly very uninteresting, I skipped the speaches and I certainly skipped that weird dancing scene. What was all of this for?

And then, they get to talk. Mhok apologizes and Day is finally a grown-up. I understand where both of them are coming from but that little talk didn't go anywhere. Their conflict still hasn't been resolved. After another forever they hug it out and happy end. Well, okay. I guess Mhok realized he put Day before everything which he shouldn't have done and Day was too selfish to see Mhok suffer. It's fine for me, not the best way to show us their growth by inserting a three year time jump. I'm still not sure in what way they have grown or how much they each overcame their issues. It's very lazily written.

But then they hit us with THE worst ten minutes I have ever seen.

Day gets his eyesight back.

I'm sorry, what was the point? Did the writers change? Did they have amnesia? This is not what the series was about, is it? We see Day starting to accept himself though the struggle never really stops. But still, he owns a book store, he went to university, he goes outside and is not too shy to ask for help. He doesn't overthink what people may whisper about him when he walks around or eats outside. He is much more confident and shines from the inside. He's not insecure any more. This series showed us his journey of learning to live with a disability.

And then this disability is healed and his life is shown as much better than before. What a message.

It's so insulting.

And the last scene made it so much worse. They look at the sunset where Day lost his eyesight (and "turned into stone" (I cried so much)) and he has the audacity to make fun of Mhok's "do you still think I pity you." I was so pissed, that line meant so much to them both back then and now it's made fun of? Never make fun of moments when you were at your lowest, Day. I love Mhok's face because he's going through it. He smiles it away but he's a bit awkward lmoa

But seriously, what an ending. It's so bad... The show is just great but the last episode is so low and lazy.

[hughungrybear]

Me while watching Home School Episode 9:

1. So, is Master Dilak a former student who was successfully "re-programmed" (similar to what they did to Hugo, Jingjai, and Run)?

2. Well, Mek and Mork, I got news for you - Dad loves neither of you. He doesn't even love your Mom. Unfortunately, he is just a sh*tty parent with an overall sh*tty personality.

3. Oh, no. If locking the Fab FourTM (Maki, White, Nai, and Tibet) in detention is part of Master Champ's ploy to seed chaos with GEN6, I fear for my babies, Pennhung and Phleng. The rest, I could care less lol.

4. Why do I feel like the Headmaster (played by Cindy) would eventually go against Master Amin? I just can't figure out yet if she will switch sides to support the students or will she be a more nefarious villain? Maybe Master Amin is not as villainous as he seems to be 🤔🤔🤔

5. Mek and Mork asking the right questions: what kind of parents would send their kids to a school with no known curriculum and a million baht-per-term tuition?

6. Pennhung, my child, please also store other food groups. You need more than croissants to last this hellhole 😅

7. Oh gods. Hugo and Jingjai. I share Jean's reaction during the "fight" 😅😅😅 At least, they are still flirty with each other even though we still have no idea whatever the f— Master Amin did to them as punishment for coupling.

8. I might be riding the Fuji hate train, but gods damn. Girl knows how to end a fight lol. Sorry, Jean.

9. Nooooo, Baby Phleng 😭😭😭 Biw, don't make me smack you. <after 10 seconds> Okay, we're good. All too well because I like Pringkhing ever since The Shipper.

10. Nooooo, Baby Pennhung 😭😭😭😭 Mek, I swear, if you hurt Pennhung I WILL SMACK YOU. <after 10 seconds> Oh gods, I AM OFFICIALLY IN LOVE WITH MEK. Solidarity, ftw. Shut up, Master Champ.

11. I'm starting to think Home School is either an unconventional juvenile centre or a freaking school for future assassins (judging by Run's abilities and his morbid past of killing their dad).

12. Sorry, but if the Fab Four had started kneeling before lunch all the way to sun down, how cold is that tea that the Head Master is sipping? Or did somebody replenish the hot tea (and pastries) all through the day? And with all that tea sipping, didn't she feel the need to pee? Just curious lol.

13. I'm dying to know what Master Dilak's deal is. Also, based on MDL, this series has 18 episodes (unless they got it wrong again like in Midnight Museum). So, the class planning their escape next episode is hardly the climax, but I do hope they start revealing the truth about Home School.

On to the next episode then 😊

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - September

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 25.09.2024

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

gif-requests are open, but you'll need to have some patience🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in September with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. First Note of Love 🇹🇼 (8/12)

I need them all to communicate more. Not about each other but with each other. And really listen to the other one. Most of the episode was the side couple and one discuss why he thinks they would never work out and the other one tries to tell him why he thinks they could make it work. At least they're talking.

2. I Saw You In My Dream 🇹🇭 (11/12)

I love these two together. They just work and are cute and you can feel the love between them. Yu is a really perfect first boyfriend. He doesn't push and just accepts Ai as he is. I enjoy their relationship so much. And now I am really curious what will happen in the last episode.

3. Jack & Joker: U steal my heart! 🇹🇭 (3/12)

I could watch War looking at this ring for an entire episode and I wouldn't be bored. He really nailed this episode with his many personas he played. He is indeed a good actor and such a pretty one too. And I was screaming, when Jack gave the ring to Joker and let him get away. And next week we get some redemption work. Can't wait!

4. Kidnap 🇹🇭 (4/12)

These two are so cute. I know shit is going down soon, but until then I enjoy those two flirting with each other to the max. Min is already so smitten by Q and Q is realising, his feelings are a little bit more than just friends. I really like it.

5. Word of Honor 🇨🇳 (20/36)

Do you still believe I'll come back to this one? It is a really good series, but I can't motivate myself to dive into it right now 🙈

Finished in September

Series

Takara no Vidro 🇯🇵

We had our final today and I loved it! The fact both of them missed each other and communicated this. Taishin likes it when Takara opens up to him, because it makes him feel special and closer to him. And I get that. Takara is a person who doesn't talk much about himself, but who has so much anxiety and Taishin wants to share those burdens, because they are equal, because he wants to take care of Takara too. I started this series without any expectations and with mixed feelings, but it slowly became one of the gems of the week and I was so looking forward to this final episode! A really good 9 out of 10.

4 Minutes 🇹🇭

This was something else. You really have to pay attention to get this story. I like series with a not that sugar-coated ending and we definiteky got this with 4 Minutes. Not everyone got their happy ending. Even though Great and Tyme got their happy ending together, not everything was good here. That was kinda realistic in such a mystery series. But I must admit, I really liked Korn and Tonkla's ending. It was best for their story. I said what I said. This gets a good 9 out of 10.

Hidamari ga Kikoeru 🇯🇵

This series... I loved it with all my heart for the first half. And then I just got angry with it for multiple reasons. It is so hard for me to give this a rating. Damn. I bought the mangas because of this series and I read the first ones. The problem is, the story is really complex and that works for mangas and novels pretty well, because it gives the characters depth and well, a character. But it doesn't work like that in a series. Too many subplots take away the growth of the main characters. And if you throw in a new character in the middle of the show, don't make them that unlikable like Maya. She is way more likable in the manga. For me, the second half just doesn't work and it felt incoherent with the character development. They tried to stay too true to the source material. I wished I could love this series from beginning to end, but I couldn't. Overall I give it a 6,5 out of 10.

Seoul Blues 🇰🇷

I didn't like this one that much. Yes, they had good chemistry, but this whole cheating and evil ex plot was not for me. I don't know why. Usually I don't mind cheating plots and find them kinda entertaining, but here it was not that good. I give it a 6,5 out of 10.

The Trainee 🇹🇭

Fun thing, even though this was a slow burn and we got a bunch of side stories, I really enjoyed this series! It was funny and entertaining and showed a good character growth for all its characters. That is something we don't get that often in a series. Nothing felt like a side story. They were all important for the plot as for the company. And Jane and Ryan are just cute and precious. I give this one a 9 out of 10.

Happy of the End 🇯🇵

We got our happy ending. And a time jump, but I think it worked really well with this series. Because Haoran needed the distance to Chihiro. He needed to understand that he isn't the bad guy in the story and that Chihiro was truely happy with him. He needed to heal for his own sake and on his own. I really liked the series, even though it is one of the series with the most trigger-warnings. I am just happy to see them happy in the end, after all they've been through. A strong 9 out of 10 for me.

The On1y One 🇹🇼

This series gave me everything. A warm feeling in my cold heart. Butterflies in my stomach. A good laugh. Some tears. And a bunch of heartbreaks! Damn! This was such a good ride! Those two, Tian and Wang, are soon to be step-brothers and they're in love with each other. Tien knew this since the first time he saw Wang and we could whitness Wang slowly recognising his feelings for Tian. And we didn't get a happy ending. If you will, this is an open end, but there is no working through these feelings. We just end as devastated as Tian, because Wang has built up his emotional walls again to keep distance to Tian. Because they're will be brothers and that means they can't be lovers. This hurts so bad and good at the same time! And the acting is superb! I love this series so much! A 10 out of 10 for me.

Movie

Short Film

Dropped in September

Cityboy_Log 4.2 🇰🇷

This is too confusing for me. I don't get the episodes or the seasons and definitely not the plot. They are all friends and the whole cheating part from last season is just forgotten. I guess I will look into it from time to time, but for now, I drop it.

Looking forward to in September

Live in Love - Trailer (Sep 1st)

Happy of the End (Sep 3th)

Kidnap - Trailer (Sep 6th)

The Hidden Moon - Trailer (Sep 7th)

Jack and Joker - Trailer (Sep 9th)

Unlock your Love - Trailer (Sep 11th)

The Time of Fever - Trailer (Sep 12th)

Love Sick - Trailer (Sep 14th)

Bad Guy my Boss - Teaser (Sep 15th)

Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Sep 17th)

Chaser Game W2: Utsukushiki Tennyotachi (Sep 20th)

Uncle Unknown (Sep 20th ?)

[lyricalsakura]

Dangerous Romance| Good. Could have been better

First of all, why is the title Dangerous Romance? Is it because of the social standing of the two leads? Or is it because really violence is involved?

Honestly speaking, the same trope of enemies to lovers and smart boy tutoring the dumb boy and falling in love has been overused, even by GMMTV standards. So, I will just write about a few things only

(Spoilers ahead for those who have not watched the series, so proceed with caution.)

Firstly, nobody is happy with their surroundings.

Sailom is poor but has a living relationship with his caring elder brother. He is a strong and dignified boy.

Kanghan is rich, has everything but feels neglected. Anybody else in Kanghan's place would have been happy but not Kanghan. Boy wants his father to focus on him. Which is absolutely right. There is less drama that is why they had to bring in bullying.

Sailom is poor but possess a spine of steel. He is the top student of his year and is getting a special scholarship to study in the prestigious school. And works when he is not studying to earn money.

Chimon was channeling his inner Wasuthorn when he was answering the math questions written on the whiteboard.

While at first disliking (or not really) Kanghan, he starts to become friends with him. Sailom's friendship changes Kanghan for good. I like how Perth managed to show the slow but gradual growth until he falls in love.

Sailom falls first but Kanghan falls harder. And Kanghan is not a windmill in love but a hurricane.

The upgrade of him from enemy to friend to lover to sugar daddy was pretty quick. And his possessiveness over his love is also immense but his heart is at the right place.

The actual flow of the story starts around episode 10. Kanghan gets mad at his dad and elopes with his boyfriend. But being the dutiful son-in-law and friend Sailom keeps Kanghan's dad updated. In fact, Kanghan's dad and grandma trust Sailom more than Kanghan. I was snorting a lot.

The plot thickens as Kang's father gets shot and Sailom's brother admits his fault. A rift starts between the two. Kanghan's love and possessiveness wins though. Sailom is wind and Kanghan is windmill. Without Sailom Kanghan is nothing.

The rest of the episodes are like Bollywood melodrama. Guns blazing, thugs entering hospital, firings ensued, Kanghan gets shot but no blood comes out. I am glad that they did not extend that shot otherwise I would really drop the series at that point.

The show mentioned teen escort services due to poverty which I was not ready to witness. Interesting addition ngl.

Chimon has always been a very strong actor. He eats up all kinds of roles. Perth too, has played his parts exceptionally well. I liked their dynamic, however stilted due to the script, in Never Let Me Go. And this series is a testament of their acting prowess.

The side couple of Nawa and Guy is much more interesting. Pawin and Marc have been main leads of My Gear, Your Gown series and are an established pair of BL world. They portray the same type of enemies to lovers trope but I enjoyed Nawa more than Pai because of his sassiness. And they are so cute!!!!!

Overall, it's an okay series. Maybe 3.5 out 5 from me.

Also posted on MDL

[staydandy]

Tokyo MER: Mobile Emergency Room (2021) - TOKYO MER～走る緊急救命室～ - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : The members of Tokyo MER are emergency care professionals who go to sites of dangerous accidents and disasters using an ER car that equipped with the latest medical devices and an operating area where Tokyo MER saves the lives of the injured. Kitami Kota is a doctor for Tokyo MER and its leader. He holds firm convictions that he goes to accident sites to save lives regardless of the dangers. (MDL)

Whumpee : Kitami Kota played by Suzuki Ryohei (top left) • Otowa Nao played by Kaku Kento (top right)

Country : 🇯🇵 Japan Genres : Thriller, Drama, Medical

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Hina Tsurumaki annoyed the shit out of me • The bureaucracy side of it wasn't for me, blurred through a lot of that, mostly stuck to the medical bits

Episodes on List : 6 Total Episodes : 11

*Spoilers below*

01 : Kitami is in a building that collapses (no serious damage) … trying to operate in a building filling with gas, lightheaded, vision blurring, almost passes out … Kitami & Otowa receiving oxygen, Otowa has minor injuries

05 : Trapped in a broken elevator filling with smoke … almost passes out, given oxygen … passes out.. wakes in a hospital bed

08 : A rock falls & hits Kitami's leg … electrocuted, heart stops, receives CPR.. hospitalized

09 : Trapped in a building filling with carbon dioxide … collapses, given oxygen

10 : (near end) Blown back by an explosion

11 : Hospitalized … Otowa is in a room filling with gas, unsteady, vision blurring, almost passes out

More Whump Lists for this show: whump-lover-and-reader

[simply-whump]

Legend of Shen li (与凤行) - Whump List

Whumpee : Xing Zhi played by Lin Geng Xin

Synopsis : Shen Li is ordered by the Immortal Lord to fulfil an alliance marriage to a member of the Divine Clan. This concerns the peace of both realms, who have been at war for a long time. She refuses and while the guards give chase, she is wounded and falls into the mortal realm. Xing Yun is an aloof, lonesome man who helps treat her injuries. This peculiar human enjoys pranking her and loves hiding secrets. Through their time together, Shen Li begins to understand just how frail mortals are, and to repay his kindness, she decides to protect her sickly saviour. (MDL)

Genres : Romance, Wuxia, Fantasy, Historical

Warning! Possible spoilers below!

Xing Zhi / Xing Yun

Ep 1 : (13:40) Coughing, feet got numb — (26:43) Coughing up blood

Ep 2 : None

Ep 3 : (11:22) Falls into the water, saved (comedic) — (19:10) Kicked to the ground, manhandled — (23:13) Thrown to the ground, whimpering, exaggeration his injuries (comedic) — (26:10) Pretends to have a headache (Comedic) — (31:20) Wearing a sling

Ep 4 : (15:45) Splashed with hot tea, at sword point, in pain

Ep 5 : (28:24) Hand slightly injured — (32:12) Coughing after inhaling some weird smoke, nauseous (comedic)

Ep 6 : (08:00) Coughing, hand injury became worse, unwell, on one knee, pretends he’s alright — (17:05) Coughing, coughing up blood, injury discovered, concern for him — (19:00) Unwell, injury superficially treated — (27:23) Weak, starting to get healed with magic, interrupted — (33:03) Taken hostage, at sword point, protected, coughing, dying

Ep 7 : (02:25) Saved with magic

Ep 8-9 : None

Ep 10 : (26:04) Magical injury on his arm

Ep 11 : (10:09) Overexerted himself, coughing, stumbling

Ep 12-22 : None

Ep 23 : (34:15) Learns that someone he cares about has died, shocked, lashing out 

Ep 24 : (04:45) Using a lot of power for something he shouldn’t do, struggling, struck by lightning multiple times, keeps going (my man is freezing a whole ocean, grabbing lightning by hand then freezing the lightning and the sky itself, all for a woman), bleeding, walking unsteadily — (15:55) Spitting blood, collapses to his knees, concern for him — (17:58) Tries to get up but collapses, passes out — (18:51) Unconscious in bed 

Ep 25 : (22:26) Still unconscious, wakes up

Ep 26-27: None

Ep 28 : (10:21) Wound on his back shown, treated with magic 

Ep 29: None

Ep 30 : (25:35) Bleeding, concern for him — (31:00) Old injury flaring up

Ep 31 : (35:50) Hit again on his injury

Ep 32 : (16:27) Using a lot of power, coughing up blood, visibly in pain — (22:22) Spitting blood, concern for him

Ep 33 : (Flashback) (04:48) Stepping on glass shards, drunk

Ep 34-35 : None

Ep 36 : (09:07) Using a lot of power, bleeding — (32:10) Using a lot of power, blood at his lips, back cut — (35:30) Fighting, shoulder cut, spitting blood — (36:37) On one knee looking pretty roughed up, concern for him

Ep 37 : (04:30) Using himself as a shield and using his powers while heavily injured — (15:35) Walking unsteadily, heavily injured, bleeding, collapses to his knees, coughing blood, using a lot of power, struggling, exhausted — (32:51) Thrown to the side 

Ep 38 : (02:25) Injured and exhausted, spitting blood, stumbling, concern for him, collapses into his loved one arms, dying, more blood coughing and collapsing, crying, dies — (30:30) Comes back to life

Ep 39 : (06:06) Cold (comedic)

>> More Whump Lists

[feuqueerfire]

June 2023 Movies/Shows Wrap-Up

A little monthly (spoilery!) wrap-up of all the shows, movies, and shorts I’ve watched or am watching in June 2023, general thoughts, and ranking of them all.

Recommendation of the month: I Go To School Not By Bus and We Are Gamily just cause they’re not as well known.

Ranking

The Devil Judge

Bloodhounds = The Eighth Sense

Our Skyy 2 = From Now On, Showtime! = I Go To School Not By Bus = We Are Gamily

Average Rating: 6.07/10 - D: so low this month

MDL Updates - Added to Watchlist:

A section because I’m curious about how many shows I decide to add to my Watch List a month and also the ratio of watching them:adding them.

My Name (2021): in some r/kdramarecommendations after finishing the devil judge

Bad Guys (2014): from this r/kdramarecommendations for heroes and villains who are both crazy

Bloodhounds (2023): It just released today (dropped all episodes on Netflix) and people are saying it has good action + fun bromance and is enjoyable, so I’ll watch it

Addicted Heroin (2016): idk it’s just one of the early BLs (from China no less, though there’s no proper ending I’m pretty sure) and people say there SA and isn’t healthy, so I’ll watch it when I’m in that mood 

Some More (2018): I finished watching I Go To School Not By Bus and searched up tiktoks for it and kept coming across ones for this instead. I suppose it’s a trade-off; watch one short, add another. though i did have this on my radar already since it’s by Strongberry.

To Watch List At Start Of Month: 54

To Watch List At End Of Month: 49

Removed from To Watch List:

Removing these on June 30 because now that I’m getting into kpop as well, my interest in watching dramas isn’t as high and I know I’m probably not gonna get to these. 

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (2022) - if I watch it, I might like it but I probably won’t end up watching

GAP (2022) - man I was really looking forward to this but ik people say it’s overdramatic and messy by the end and I don’t feel like it

Merry Queer (2022) - this has been on the list for a while but I always just skip it lol

Rak Diao (2022) - I almost started this multiple times but never ended up actually watching it, so I probably just won’t

Watching On-Air

Our Skyy 2 

Country: Thailand

Release Dates: Apr 19, 2023 - June 8, 2023

Watch Via: GMMTV YT (free)

Watch Dates: Apr 22 - June 8, 2023

Rating: 6/10 [based on (6.5 + 5.5 + 6 + 5.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 + 6.5)/7 NLMG = MSP = BBSxATOTS > Eclipse > SIMM = Vice Versa]

Bad Buddy: Cute and fun and I love PatPran, so I wish there was a bit more of them than there actually was. It got boring toward the middle when they were separated and kept getting lost in the forest but I like them so much and also the tidbits of InkPa were great.

ATOTS: I do not care about these people. [6.5/10 for the last 2 weeks]

tags: our skyy 2, bad buddy

Also Appears In: Our Skyy 2 Live Blogging, April 2023 Wrap-Up, May 2023 Wrap-Up

Completely Watched

The Devil Judge (2021)

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Jul 3, 2021 - Aug 22, 2021

Watch Via: Viki (free)

Watch Dates: June 1 - 5, 2023

Rating: 7.5/10 7/10  [Jan 25, 2024 Update: Decreased by 0.5 stars when rerating my top shows: 7.5 -> 7]

Overall Impression: Cool concept with the live court, I liked how it played with the viewers and the in-show audience. Ji Sung was a great actor to play Yohan, he's beautiful, he's charming, he's intimidating, he can play both arrogant and cute. Seonah my beloved, she was so clever and cunning and forward thinking and fearless, yet with hints of loneliness and care for young girls, she was a great villain ah <3 Gaon was fine to be honest, I think people were frustrated by him but I felt like his inability to trust Yohan made sense considering Yohan's a sick bastard and people who he trusted more distrust Yohan. I wish the girls Judge Oh and Suhyeon were given more depth and utility because they were very flat characters who had some usage sometimes but were often just out of the loop and had little impact on the narrative. Seonah x Yohan sicko dynamic is so good I love it so much. Suhyeon x Gaon could have really been bodyguard gf x princess bf but alas, they had like a day together after kissing lol. Yohan and Gaon were so homoerotic, like wow no kiss. I loved Yohan, Elijah, and Gaon so much. I'm heartbroken that in the end, Gaon is all alone without these 2, with a dead best friend and a traitor of a mentor being a judge in a system that's just as corrupt.

tags: the devil judge

Live Blogging: The Devil Judge Live Blogging

Bloodhounds

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Jun 9, 2023

Watch Via: Netflix, so :>

Watch Dates: June 10 - 13, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: Good enough, especially the heart of episode 6 but not something I'll be thinking about at all. The characters didn't resonate a whole lot, this focused a lot on just fighting scenes (more than like strategizing, being clever, etc, which is usually what I'm a fan of), the defeat of the villains wasn't really satisfying at all - especially with how cruel episode 6 went down. Also, I don’t ship Geonwoo and Woojin, sadly.

tags: bloodhounds

Live Blogging: Bloodhounds Live Blogging

From Now On, Showtime!

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Apr 23, 2022 - Jun 12, 2022

Watch Via: Viki (paid, so :>)

Watch Dates: June 14 - 18, 2023

Rating: 6/10

Overall Impression: Funny and comedic with likable characters (even rancid characters like Yeji were charming to me). Nothing too deep, though it had some touching moments. Too much dramatic romance in the second half, I don't care about their royal/shaman past life tragedy and I think that made it kinda meh for me in the latter half.

tags: from now on showtime

Live Blogging: From Now On Showtime Live Blogging

The Eighth Sense

Country: South Korea

Release Dates: Mar 29, 2023 - Apr 26, 2023

Watch Via: Viki (paid, so :>)

Watch Dates: June 20 - 22, 2023

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Impression: It was interesting and I think the show had a good grasp on characters and relationship dynamics and progression. I liked that there were friendships each character had and that they existed outside of just this relationship; even some of the friends existed outside of just being a friend, like Yonnwon was a whole human. The female friends were great, Yoonwon is a treasure and I liked how Aeri was so sweet but so mean sometimes, a very clever city girl type. Also, the tension and cute moments between Jihyun and Jaewon (esp in ep 6 and 10) were great. I think it's a good show that's done well but right now, it's not taking up much brain space and it also didn't make me viscerally feel anything.

tags: the eighth sense

Live Blogging: The Eighth Sense Live Blogging

I Go to School Not by Bus

Country: Hong Kong

Release Dates: 2015

Watch Via: GagaOolala (free)

Watch Dates: June 24, 2023

Rating: 6/10

Overall Impression: Man, I came across this short because of this tiktok of the bathroom kiss which haunted me, such a good edit, but the actual scene T.T This reminds me of Your Name Engraved Herein with the school boys who are plagued by homophobia at school, though interestingly, one of the characters was out to everybody from the beginning here. The homophobic teachers and the weird shouty fangirls who outed them and obsessed over them were sooo dislikeable and took up too much time in this 35-minute video. It was cute, it was sad, it had the indie vibes that so many of these queer shorts have. The ending wasn’t necessarily happy but it wasn’t tragic, at least - though I feel like that specific scene was lower quality than the rest of the show in terms of production and acting.

Well fuck, I accidentally got into watching Boys Love Boys Planet podcast recap of all 12 episodes, then didn’t know the group at all but kinda felt like I did, then ended up actually watching some content and now I’ve reblogged 2 things, have been going through the reddit r/zerobaseone posts from the beginning (since it started just 2 months ago), am watching content, started my content index, the whole thing bruh. So my watching is gonna take a huge hit I can tell + my dreams of starting to read books again is a wisp now

We Are Gamily (2017)

Country: Taiwan

Release Dates: Jul 1, 2017

Watch Via: Youtube ;> 

Watch Dates: June 28 - 30 2023

Rating: 6/10

Overall Impression: Another gay-lesbian marriage after Badhaai Do with overbearing family, though this one is mostly mothers. I think the interactions are funny and how certain pairs agree and then agree with the other pair. I think the fact that the mother pretended to have pancreatic cancer which killed their father but nobody called her out on it kinda soured me though, I think I would’ve been even more touched if that wasn’t there. The ending was sweet and touching, though a bit sudden. The romance between the women was a bit too sudden like y’all barely know each other but it kinda feels like the opposite journey as in Badhaai Do where the man got a new bf lol. Anyway, pretty good.

I should prune my MDL to-watch list, especially since I’m gonna be watching stuff less frequently now.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I’m largely pleased with BL & pissed with Kpop

April 2023 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 1 of 10 (MDL says 12, but I think it’s just 10) - Abused intern trope is a go! I wasn’t sure I would like the lead, but he’s totally adorable. Although (I gotta say it) who tf eats a croissant with a knife & fork? Also.. the main couple has good chemistry! Hallyfuckingluya! In fact, the quality of the acting and sound etc is generally superior to a normal pulp. It’s good! This is a good show? How exciting! 

Our Skyy 2 (PondPhuwin) eps 1-2 - Honestly, I was nervous to watch this but I liked it a lot! Doomed soulmates + paranormal time travel to fix the past. I’m happy for the outfits and the dancing (if not the singing). It’s not a bad premise and it’s nice to see GMMTV lean into its high production values for a change. I could’ve watched this as an actually full length BL. Gotta say, Puhwin’s English is so good and v west coast USA accent (international school kiddo got skillz). Meanwhile, loved seeing MarcPuwin again. My Gear & Your Gown disappointing us wasn't their fault. *Hilarious that Marc is side couple in 3 BLs airing simultaneously, that’s a record! (Waves at Marc X1.) I’ll be rating each of these installments separately, as I did the first time around. This one gets an 8/10 from me.

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 10fin - A very Check Out the series ending. Disastrous sun glasses. King being shy was adorable. Nevertheless I do think the final 2 eps felt a little tagged on and superfluous excess. Ultimately? This just wasn’t as good as the first 5 episodes set us up to hope for. Series review below.  

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 12 eps - Cute confession and boyfriends phase. The bit with brothers’ boyfriends serving each other food was kinda charming. Could do without blushing maiden trope. But hey ho. (Waves at Marc X2.) 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 8 of 12 - Cute phi/nong convo and teasing, but this is largely boring. I do like that the conflict is all about business loyalty, cubical friendships, and coworker gossip. This is as it should be in an office romance. But I wish the characters were consistent.  

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - The boyfriends phase. I just know with this show that the moment it ends I’m going to entirely forget about it. It’s boring.  

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) ep 10fin - What a waste. Seriously don’t bother. It seems to end unhappily, but maybe not, but also who tf cares? 3/10 Series review below, for my sins. (Waves at Marc X3.) 

Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga) ep 5fin - It was Songkran so no new ep until tomorrow. May your New Year be blessed. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 7 of 10 - the put YT on a week delay off WeTV, so I will watch it next week. I have WeTV but I prefer YT. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unintentional Love Story (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 9-10 fin - Awe a crying kiss. My fav! This one was fine. Not a v good kiss but KBL has to bow to form on occasion. The sides didn’t get much of a resolution. (Although we know why.) It was a solid ending. Series review below. 

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - this ep was a little slow for me, oh I know, that’s what this show is doing, but yeah. Still it’s soft and sweet and wonderful. Why are you not watching it? Go. Now. 

The Eighth Sense (Korea Weds Viki) eps 7-8 of 10 - Honestly? I checked out a bit this installment. Possibly because JaeWon checked out as well. I mean, I understand what the narrative is doing, portraying JW coping (badly) with loss and the complex knot of guilt, love, fear, lust, and shame. But I don’t really feel drawn into a romance when the main characters are separated for most of an hour. I do like JiHyun’s personality shift and aggressive stance on renewing the relationship. That’s fun to watch. And I do love his besties. Of course ep 8 ends with major heartbreak and pain. I expected nothing less from this show. Gotta admit I’m a little mad tho, I wanted it to EXCEED my expectations. 

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 10 - I don’t like one of the couples (not side dishes, this is a 50/50 split) but I weirdly like Sky’s new arc, even if he’s with someone new. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 2 of 12 - it’s just so odd. I can’t believe THIS is the JBl we get 12 eps of. This one?  Japan, must you? (How many times a year do I type that phrase?)

Finished this Week

Unintentional Love Story - A boy who just lost his job due to faked corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss’s favorite artist, now a recluse. His ex-manager offers him his job back if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love. Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) carried this show (which I don’t expect from the idol element). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes. That said, he had weak chemistry with his co-lead. But everything else was quietly queerly KBL pristine and beautifully executed, even the conflict. I’m not sure on rewatchability for me, and it didn’t whip me into a verbal frenzy the way some KBLs do but it’s still getting a solid 9/10 

Bed Friend - Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship, that is essentially built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly worshipful eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged (ALL THE TRIGGERS). NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth, unfortunately the story ultimately failed them. Had the show had the strength of its convictions and kept to a tighter, darker, harsher 8 eps it would have been the first high heat to earn 10/10 from me, but once they fussed with it, it dropped to a solid 8/10. Could have been great but they overworked it. Still if high heat is your thing, this one will not let you down. Full review here.

Chains of Heart - This was a terrible show, unbelievably confusing, badly subbed, with characters behaving illogically, nonsensically, and heartlessly. What’s worse? The leads had fantastic chemsitry, were willing to do high heat (and do it well) and were pretty! So they squandered a decent cast and some actual production money on a shoddy scrip and terrible directing - what a waste. Seriously, don’t bother. It maybe ends unhappily, maybe not, but you should neither care nor bother to find out. 3/10 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) stopped at ep 2 of 12 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) - saving to binge if the end is solid.

Venus in the Sky (Sat YouTube) pilot/tester?) 0 of 10 - not entirely sure what’s up with this one distribution-wise, but the pilot was classic university-set pulp. I hope it happens because the leads are cute with good chemsitry and I thought it was fun. However, this pilot holds together as its own little short too.

Make a Wish (Thai Weds ?) stars Fluke Natouch (OhmFluke UWMA etc...) & Judo (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) in a medical-fantasy. About a doctor who sees ghosts and a deity who resides in a Bodhi tree that earns merits whenever he fulfills a wish, based on a y-novel by Sammon (Manner of Death, Triage). Same as above.

Stormy Honeymoon (Vietnam) - 3rd in this series and the ULTIMATE in domesticity. New side couple is cute too. But I’m kinda over the leads at this point. (see comments)

In Case You Missed It

BL Express has a post on upcoming GL. I don’t track this, but they do. 

I decided to hold off and binge Cafe in Love and Destiny Seeker. So I’ll be watching and reporting back after I’ve collected all the eps. I realized that I miss binging BL. That said I have been siting on To Sir, With Love forever. Not sure why I am so reluctant to dive into that one. 

[ Not into Kpop? Skip to “next week.”] 

Peak Time pretty much ended exactly as expected, which was also exactly how it started. Our BL boy Karem got booted for the grave sin of being a, ya know, 2nd gen idol dude bro. But it was the superior survival show. BLK made me cry, so did MASC for that matter. We have discussed this before, I am a sap. I look forward to seeing where Vanner go next. 

Boy’s Planet was ultimately disappointing. I watched some predictions about who Mnet actually wanted to win, and they were mostly correct. With the delightful upset of China scooping the #1 spot. (Delightful bc I am a chaos money who lives for politics fucking with soft power and watching China give the jaundice eye to S Korea for half a decade bc they Hallyued their way into winning the culture war using Kpop, and NOW China is doing what we all knew they would which is... infiltrate. Ultimately? Boy’s Planet was nothing more than an exercise in manipulative editing, they just accidentally manipulated the global vote into Zhang Hao winning. Not to slag off that baby boy’s serious cuteness - I genuinely thought he was great, actually. Frankly, I emerged cackling and mostly just v. disappointed in Pentagon fans. I think they deserve to lose their group for how little they supported Hui. Let’s be truthful? They are likely losing their group or Hui wouldn’t have been on the damn show in the first place. (Cube seems highly disinterested and their 7 year contracts are uppity up.) This is neither the first nor the most extreme version of me being disappointed by Kpop fans. There’s a reason I don’t participate in that fandom. 

In more relevant news to THIS fandom, JiWoong made it into ZB1, which means we will NOT see him or the Kissable Lips pair back on our screens anytime soon (if ever). 

RIP the pretty.... 

Whatever, it is still the golden age of Korean BL. Our Dating Sim happened. We will all be fine. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Happy Merry Ending starts Weds April 26 on Gaga (with ep 2 the next day) 8 eps total. It looks cute: opposites attract, musicians, giving me Wish You vibes. It’s from the Our Dating Sim’s Kidari Studio. Adapted from the manhwa of the same title (해피메리엔딩) by dorae (도래). Stars Lee Dong Won (main rapper of KNK - yes that’s Semantic Error’s Park Seo Ham’s group) opposite actor Byun Sung Tae. Also stars Kim Kyu Jong (of SS501) and actor Shin Myung Sung (The Heavenly Idol).

The Eighth Sense ends, thank fuck. I don’t think I could take much more of the tension with that one. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This week’s fashion hall of shame:

those glasses, both useless and ugly 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Leaning into their brand. 

Leaning outside of it but looking sexy AF. Thank you GMMTV! 

What do I always say? I love it when a drama reviews itself. 

All Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go (PondPhuwin) 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Winner’s Remember. I got nothing to say about it except it’s great and everyone always seems to forget about Winner but they just keep singing, and that’s kinda the sentiment of this song.