#Korean flag

[introdcungkculture]

What is the Korean flag, Taegeukgi?

What is the Korean flag, Taegeukgi?

What is the Korean flag, Taegeukgi? The Korean flag is known as Taegeukgi (太極旗). Taegeukgi is the national flag of Korea and is used as the national flag of the Republic of Korea. This flag consists of distinctive shapes and colors. Taegeukgi, the national flag of Korea, is composed of the Taegeuk symbol in the center and the four geongongamri (乾坤坎離) four trigrams on a white background. The…

[woman-respecter]

it’s also funny when people are like “nooo the feminism in korea is so evil and toxic, you can’t support that!” and it’s like ok who told you that? korean men?

[absolutebl]

2024 BL - Top 10 Trend Report

In last year's trend report I said:

"I think Taiwan has the chops to give us something as good as The 8th Sense or Old Fashion Cupcake but in their style, and I would like to see them exercise their talent for good rather than just profit."

And Unknown happened.

I asked for it, they gave it to me. I could not be more happy. So anyway, I just wanted to crow a bit.

And now...

2024's TRENDS!

1 Trope Subversion Levels Up

My Stand In went so far as to subvert the whole damn romance genre. But in general we saw a lot of BL recognizing, highlighting and calling out it's own absurdities and tropes. From Korea commenting on the Dead Fish Kiss to Wandee Gooodday actually promoting green flag behavior (the real deal).

It was an interesting year for meta commentary, it kind of whole scale left parody behind (say goodbye, Japan) and entered almost every BL from Thailand, even the ones who should have left it alone. (Side eyes Mame.)

2 Old Tropes Revisited

Unknown revisited the step-brother trope (as did Addicted Heroin of course). But there were other old ones we haven't seen in ages, like kidnapping for love, kissing on rooftops, and all the dub con (Blossom). Love Sick rebooted with very little modernization (except where it counted) right up to and including no kisses. Mix Up even did "trapped on the rooftop" which I haven't seen in over a decade.

And then Wimpy dropped. And it felt like I was reading yaoi in my tiny attic bedroom in the 90s.

3 BL Enters All the Workplaces

I love how many adult leads and sides we are getting, even from Thailand. By which I mean, BL outside of a school setting. We still have high school and university set stuff, but that used to be ALL we got. I don't mind school settings, but I like that we have some kind of balance going on these days.

We are starting to get not just cubicles and offices (as Japan foretold) but all kinds of workplaces from retail to authors to the film industry.

4 BL Passes the Sniff Test

He smells good has always been a trope that I love. It was one of my favorite things about Bad Buddy. But this year it felt like every third BL trotted this one out. I was delighted by it. Of course I was. But it happened A LOT.

Century of Love was a key use of it since smell is so coupled to memory, I thought they dealt with it particularly well. But even Japan and Korea deployed the sniff test.

(Seoul Blues)

(Blue Boys) Same actors, different characters.

Pitt Babe

Century of Love

Meet You at the Blossom

Soul Blues

Blue Boys

Dangerous Romance

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans

Cosmetic Playlover

Sunset X Vibes

Monster Next Door

Secret Love

Perfect 10 Liners (technically a 2025 show, but the sniff happened in 2024)

5 Fewer Shipper Characters within BL

Negative trends are always harder to call (it's easier to track the presence of something over the absence) but I'm still calling this one.

In a discussion of The Shipper @heretherebedork and I got into a discussion about this. It really seems like both we are getting less "female shipper" characters and/or they are evolving into overly interested but very supportive female friends instead. Softening, if you will.

I think partly this is because there has been a general decline in this archetype in yaoi over the past 5-10 years, but also they tend to incur pretty bad reactions in fans, and Thailand (especially) tends to pay attention to that kind of thing.

Unfortunately this also means we are seeing a worsening of the "no female representation at all" backbone of BL. We Are, which I loved, didn't have a single female character. Not even a throw away.

6 The rise of the green flag seme!

The seme (active attacker in the relationship) got a lot of green flag action this year. We saw lots of Dommy boys, Daddy types, and players asking for permission, trying to communicate, talking about safe sex. Particularly out of Thailand.

To make sure this is clear, green flag means he communicates about the relationship and sex, takes no for an answer, asks for permission for (almost) everything, and doesn't do things like (just spitballing here) take a hotel room key and go into the other mans private room when he's not around (or asleep). Okay? Christ on a cracker. (When it comes to flags Mame has red/green colorblindness.)

Some examples:

Alan from Pit Babe

God from Monster Next Door (except for the one journal reading incident)

Sun from Sunset X Vibes (almost too far)

Yak from Wandee Goodday

Latte from Knock Knock Boys

7 Japan Came to PLAY

Japan came to play and will not leave the field that they built. I may not always like JBL, but when I love it, I REALLY LOVE IT, and when it hits it hit hard (pain or joy). And even when I don't like it, it always gives me a lot to think about.

We had 19 JBLs in 2024:

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun

At 25:00, in Alaska

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave

I Became the Main Role of a BL

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan

Takara's Treasure

Although I Love You and You

I Hear the Sunspot

Living With Him

Love is Better the Second Time Around

Love is Like a Poison

Perfect Propose

Cosmetic Playlover

Sugar Dog Life

0.5D

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke

Happy of the End

Ossans Love Season 2

Japan had 18 total BLs in 2023.

17-15 in 2022 (a couple I couldn't get hold of and a couple I just don't think are BL, so 2022 is vague).

7 in 2021. <- THAT was when the big jump occurred, 3 years ago. Which might have more to do with the pandemic than anything else.

But back to now: 19 in 2024 means they are actually just increasing their production gradually and in a steady way, as might be expected. In round numbers we didn't see anything unusual.

BUT

The series they've been airing in 2024 are running longer (for them) and being aired over longer periods of time. Not to mention getting better and quicker distribution.

By which I mean, Japan used to have more shorts and movies, less actual series with full run times (by their & Korea's BL industry length standard) on streaming platforms. So I think it's JBL runtime and distribution that is experiencing real growth. And the consistency of that runtime.

In other words, it feels like there are more JBL airing because we have access to most of them (for a change) and they're running long enough to cross into each other (which has been rare in the past).

What's almost more interesting to me is...

8 What the hell happened, Korea?

Korea cut back on their BLs in 2024. I am not sure if that's money drying up, a crack down within the industry over there, the political situation, or something else.

Still, it was wild to see such a stark fall off in production. They had 18 BLs in 2024 but fully half of them were shorts, and more than half were poor production quality than is prior standard. By contrast they had 21 in 2023, but only 1 was a short, and most were very high production (getting 8/10 or higher from me).

Since Korea tends to produce some of my favorite shows, it's no surprise I had no 10/10 BLs at all in 2024 with so little KBL's stepping up to the plate.

I sure hope this isn't a trend but it feels like it might be.

9 Why the hell is the not-kiss back?

Korea doubled down on being a pain in 2024 by bringing back the "they don't actually touch lips and we pretend they did by panning around the back of the head" with the camera. (Jazz for 2 sides, example. Yes, I'm still mad.)

Then Thailand did the with Addicted Heroin. AND with Love Sick.

What is this, 2016?

Color me annoyed. I thought we saw the last of that nonsense with Make It Right.

I remind you all, if they would kiss if they het but they don't kiss when they gay, it smacks of a phobia and I'm salty about it.

Yes yes, there are actor (idol, age) excuses in play. But they should cast differently if this is going to be a problem.

End of discussion.

No really, I don't wanna talk about it. I just want it to go away.

10 The rise of Great Grandmas

We have had cool grandmas before in BL but in 2024 we had so many of them. The Sign, Love for Love’s Sake, Monster Next Door, Jack & Joker, Every You Every Me, The Rebound, Wandee Goodday.

(thanks to @small-dark-and-delicious for bringing this one to my attention)

See the comments for additional discussion of the "why" behind some of these trends as well as a few I missed.

(source)

2023's Trends report here.

[jc-kdrama-moments]

And another Green flag relationship 🍀

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: April 2024 ~ 

🌷 Happy May!!! ☀️

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post! 

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Love is Like a Cat - April 1st (South Korea / Thailand) 

🌟 We Are - April 3rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Memory in the Letter - April 6th (Thailand) 

🌟 Living With Him - April 11th (Japan) 

🌟 Gray Shelter - April 11th (South Korea) 

🌟 Beating Again - April 13th (Thailand)

🌟 Blue Boys - April 15th (South Korea)

🌟 At 25:00 in Alasaka - April 18th (Japan)

🌟 GMMTV2024 Part 2 (lineup event) - April 23rd (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Boys Be Brave - April 25th (South Korea) 

🌟 CHANGE2561 2024 lineup event - April 25th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 My Stand-In - April 26th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 City Boy Log Vol. 3 - April 30th (South Korea)

New series & movie announcements

🎥 The Fridge - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Flavor of Us (starring Benjamin B., Dome W. & others) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Children's Day - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Blue Time - Date TBA (China, possibly censored)

🎥 Bad Guy My Boss - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Oriental Magician In The Ent. Circle - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Under the Oak Tree - Date TBA (Vietnam)

🎥 Invitation - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Love Matter - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Saw You in My Dream - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 I Wish You the Best - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Impression of Youth - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Meet You at the Blossom - Date TBA (Taiwan)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ The production company Studio WabiSabi announced that their actors Boun N., Prem W., Santa P., Sammy C., Yacht P. and Stamp P. have terminated their contracts and will no longer be artists under the company on April 15th. Shortly after, GMMTV announced the 6 of them as newly signed artists, along with the disclosure that BounPrem's upcoming BL Vampire Project is now being produced under GMMTV, who now also own all broadcasting rights; WabiSabi will function as a co-producer. New S. stated on Twitter that the decisions had been long in the making, as well as the fact that WabiSabi no longer functions as a management agency for actors and is now a mere production company. He also denied the rumors that the company is shutting down. Shortly after the transfer of the Wabi Sabi actors, actor Fluke Jeeratch (formerly Pongsakorn) joined GMMTV as well.

❗️ The Filipino BL Gameboys is getting a third season. An air date has not been confirmed.

❗️ P Ekkapop and Pan Jirachot, the lead actors from Kiseki Chapter 2, have announced a new project together. Details are unknown.

❗️ Actor Barcode Tinnasit has announced his departure from his agency Be On Cloud.

❗️ After some confusion, the Korean production company Studio X+U announced that their upcoming series Fragile - which was initially advertized as a Korean SKAM remake - is in fact not connected to the Norwegian web series and is instead a standalone series, which focuses on the life of a group of teenagers. According to ZUM News, there was supposed to be a Korean SKAM remake based on the Norwegian original, which was however cancelled due to unknown reasons. Fragile was created as a substitution.

❗️ GMMTV held their 2024 part 2 event on April 23rd. The following BL projects were announced:

The Heart Killers (starring FirstKhao & JoongDunk)

Perfect10 Liners (starring ForceBook, PerthChimon, JuniorMark)

Heart That Skips a Beat (starring EstWilliam)

Revamp (starring BounPrem, formerly known as Vampire Project)

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist (starring MarkOhm)

The Ex-Morning (starring KristSingto)

❗️ The production company CHANGE2561 held their 2024 lineup event on April 25th. The following BL projects were announced:

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (starring SailubPon)

Goddess Bless You From Death (starring PavelPooh)

I’m The Most Beautiful Count (starring PingSupanut)

Pit Babe Season 2

Upcoming series & movies for May

👉🏻 You Made My Day (starring Tar A. and Bom T. from I Will Knock You) - May 3rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Inverse Identity / Upside Down - Mary 3rd (China)

👉🏻 Wandee Goodday - May 4th (Thailand)

👉🏻 A Balloon's Landing - May 10th (Taiwan)

👉🏻 City of Stars: Special Episode - May 10th (Thailand, cinema release)

👉🏻 The Time of Fever (Unintentional Love Story spinoff) - May 15th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Blossom Campus - May 16th (South Korea)

👉🏻 OMG! Vampire - May 19th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Manji Reverse - May 24th (Japan)

👉🏻 My Biker 2 - May 28th (Thailand)

[dkettchen]

Dankjewel voor de trans sanji AU, i owe you my life 😔❤️

I'm luxemburgish (🇱🇺) not dutch (🇳🇱), dear, so I don't speak that one, but thank you lmao

[theamoristwriter]

“I can even travel halfway around the world for you”

( Im Sol was so real for this)

🎥 : Lovely Runner (2024)

[foolscr0w]

i watched my first piece of transformers media earlier and my friends sent me a bunch of cute little robot dudes after so i'm kinda sold :3 this is my new little lad fairwind, who's alt modes are a nissan fairlady 280zx, and a kai t-50 (probably the second is the main one...) i'm still not really sure about the autobots vs decepticons thing, so atm i'm leaving him neutral until i know a bit more of the lore

[theboookwitch]

One thing about me is that I support women's rights but most importantly I support women's wrongs. In fiction and in real life.

And it's so interesting going through reblogs and notes about dramas bc so often you see people loving the ML's flaws and nuance and emotions, but then seeing how they react to the FL is always the complete opposite, no matter how valid her actions or responses are. Like the FLs are almost never given the same amount of grace as the MLs. The MLs flaws get romanticized and the women get villainized.

Y'all want to see a villain? Me and my friends would've beaten half these men with hammers.

[haebeomsleftbuttcheek]

“If he was a red flag he wouldn’t help someone from suicide” 😐 yeah and if he was a green flag he wouldn’t have non-con’d said person moments after the ocean scene! He wouldn’t have non-con’d someone who was clearly in a very vulnerable state/situation….he’s a red flag!

[cupidwithaknife]

i'm worried tbh. sir needs therapy asap T^T i was simply a simp before but now im genuinely scared for both of them :(((((

[clovdyuki]

the way he could just tell what he wanted to when it was Solhee who's in front of him,

I love them ( ᵒ̴̶̷᷄꒳ᵒ̴̶̷᷅ )

[bread-and-roses-too]

Kind of confused by the huge support for the 4b movement from non-radfems considering, at least from what I've read, it's a female separatist movement in the same vein as political lesbianism and female exclusive bisexuality (febfem). Like it's not about withholding sex or relationships from men until they improve, it's about "freeing yourself from oppression" by not having AMAB people in your life at all.

[respectthepetty]

Hey :)

You are absolutly right about King being a walking green flag!

Can I ask you if you remember any other green flag - guys in bl? I tried to think about it but I almost only came up with Tinn and maaaybe Pat

Thank youu! :)

Anon, as I was compiling this list, I realized that most Green Flags are Blue Boys. Lesson to be learned here is get you a Blue Boy. I also noticed that BLs are doing a much better job of presenting non-toxic personalities when it comes to our queer boys, so there are A LOT of Green Flags roaming these global BL streets.

Since you already mentioned two of Greenest Flags, King and Tinn, I excluded them. I'm also not including the heteros like Takara-kun to Amagi-kun's best wingman Katori, To My Star's best CEO Kim Pil Hyun, To Sir With Love's best brother Yang, or Light on Me's bestest best friend Namgoong.

Honestly, I think this list is less about Green Flags and more about me appreciating my Best Boys:

Confident Green Flags

Chopper - Never Let Me Go

My Lamb Chop could do no wrong. For the first half of the series, I didn't even believe he could be so good, but he proved until the VERY END by not killing his dad that he was a good guy through and through.

Wat - The Eclipse

His friend group was doing the MOST every damn day, yet he stood by them and their boyfriends. He pushed them to examine their true feelings, was the easiest going of the cult prefects, and even gave his friends an alibi at the end when all hell broke loose. *He's with Namo in the upcoming book

Jin Xun An - My Tooth Your Love

He knows a good therapist. He knows boundaries. He knows what he likes. He knows he ain't got time for this bullshit. He knows things.

Korn - Cupid's Last Wish

This man deserves a damn medal for putting up with Win's bullshit. Oh, and then Win's MOTHER was the reason for their separation, yet Korn didn't want to divide Win's family, so he kept it a secret. People forget just how effed up Win's mom was. Korn not only had to deal with all of that, but when Win got his period, Korn did not hesitate to buy every single pad and tampon in the store, secured chocolate, and used a warm water bottle to help with Win's cramps WHILE HE HELD HIM IN BED. He is the best BL dad yet has no kids.

Cake - My Only 12%

This man was NOT a green flag until he figured out how he truly felt about Eiw, then he was a green flags parade. He told Eiw that if Eiw was gay, then he was gayer. He wanted to be out in the open to everyone immediately. He supported Eiw through his loss and constantly assured Eiw he wasn't going anywhere.

King - Hit Bite Love

Much like his fellow green flag, Wat, King's friend group had no chill. They even tried to murder someone, but our babyboy was giving nothing but hugs and love. He supported his friend when he came out, his mom taught him to practice safe sex, and he was willing to cover up for the murder. Oh, and he has a resume for love like another Best Boy, but not a confident Green Flag, Cherry Magic's Kurosawa.

Togawa - Old Fashion Cupcake

I was on the fence about him because he kissed Nozue on the cheek while he was asleep, but my hamster was just bursting with love for his longtime crush. Even when he was pouting with his bitter chocolate ass self, he was still trying to help Nozue, and that's what makes him a green flag. Even in his pain, he tried to help instead of harm.

Pluem - Ghost Host, Ghost House

Copy and repeat - Even in his pain, he tried to help instead of harm. He had reasons for being upset at Kevin's family and the way his life had turned out, but he took that anger, sat in it, then released it. He made his man food often. He also knows how to have sex of the homosexual variety, and was quick to let Kevin know. He is what Eat, Pray, Love wished it had been.

Mork - My Ride

He loves his gay uncles. He loves his gay boyfriend. He loves his nephew. He loves the food his uncles and boyfriend make him. He loves his life. Even when Mork had every right to be angry at life, he was never pressed. Instead, he took his guy to a local fair and was willing to take a bullet for him. What a guy!

Tangmo - Great Men Academy

I'm not getting into the mud about Great Men Academy's plot and if it's a BL therefore if Tangmo is a BL green flag because HE IS. Period. Baby was a prankster from the start, but once he saw how it affected Love, he gladly volunteered to be his mentor, was a good friend to Vier, took the competition seriously, but not to a toxic level like some..VIER...and told Love that he liked Love regardless of Love's gender. Period.

Thun - He's Coming to Me

If Korn is the best BL dad, then Thun is the best BL baby. He spent his entire life making friends with ghosts and helped solve one's death. He gave this ghost the life he didn't have a chance to live, and when his entire life was turned upside down, he still did the right thing. He also brought his (ghost) boyfriend to meet his mom, which 80% of the alive boyfriends don't even get in these BLs. Damn! He got his man in life AND the afterlife.

Mico - Hello Stranger

Mico isn't a green flag; he's a walking pride flag.

Homie was simply trying to pass his class in a pandemic and ended up getting stuck with the rude lazy jock. He was doing the Lord's work with Xavier all while trying to get both of them to pass the final presentation. Yet he was never mean to Xavier. He spoke to everyone with kindness, openly cried, and kept the heart light and plushie in the background of every Zoom call with NO SHAME!

Kim Jong Chan x Woo Seung Hyun - The New Employee

LOOK AT THEM! No words. Just feels. Lots of gay feels.

Amber x Pu Le Chien - DNA Says Love You

Like most Taiwanese pairs involving younger folks, they go well together with minimal toxic traits (see also About Youth), but what makes these two green flags was the understanding that went into their relationship. They both accepted not only who each other had become, but who they had always been, mostly to each other.

Ai & Nhai - Ai Long Nhai

Before you say "WTF?!" let me state that they are green flags FOR EACH OTHER and literally no one else. Nhai is a brat, but Ai needed that. Ai's mom is ridiculous, and we've seen many BL boyfriends run away after meeting such an opponent, but Nhai truly said "I'm not dumping your son, but I am gonna bully you, bitch!" and they lived happily ever after. I need more brats being green flags for the men who love them because someone has to tell the waiter the food ain't right and the parents to fuck off!

Bas - I Told Sunset About You

He deserved better!

I'm gonna leave it at that.

[gacha-incels]

And here’s the Korean dipshit incels’ charming little image for Mihoyo’s (Genshin Impact) other game, Honkai Star Rail. I guess from what I’ve seen they’re also mad at this game for being related to Genshin (see previous post on this), having male characters they think look “gay”, being from China and appealing to women. The last time I saw these idiots complaining it was literally because the free 5-star character being given out was a male (first strike) who was, to their shock and horror, showing skin in his outfit. Get the fainting couch NOW‼️‼️‼️