#Thai Secret Cooking School

[thai-secret-cooking-school]

Another beautiful day cooking Thai food and learning about how to live in Thailand.

Join me at my Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

www.Chiang-Mai-Cooking-School.com

[spidernuggets]

I legit beg of thee please can you do prompt17. "Why the fuck did you have to make me fall in love with you" but like he's infected with some toxin from a mission and is genuinely angry at reader for making him fall in love with her, but like they're not together she's just his oblivious best friend and this is how you find out he's in love with you. I just find this hilarious cuz reader being overjoyed like oh shit he loves me but also like hey dude calm down lol Its also a tinge angsty cuz he's tiny self esteem thinks you could never love him back and thats why he's mad

Jason Todd x Reader

"Why the fuck did you have to make me fall in love with you"

You love Jason Todd. And for a long while, you believed it was a platonic type of friendship. Because you loved the way he laughed, his smile, his combat skills, his snarky remarks.

And then an oh shit hit you harder than a bomb. Not only did you love Jason Todd, but you were in love with him.

You joined the Titans a couple of months or so after he officially did. He offered you a brew the first time you met, and you politely declined but thanked him for the offer. This is where Jason immediately took interest in you.

When him, you, Rachel, and Gar were doing that blindfold sparring thay Dick recommended, he was even more intrigued at your skill level, but you weren't as skilled as he was, and ultimately lost the sparring match.

You were mesmerised by his advanced ability, asking him if he could teach you some tricks.

Boy, did this boost his ego.

And then the two of you became best friends. You guys trained together, played video games together, and listened to music together. Sometimes, he'd read lines from his favourite novels to you, ranting how dumb one character was or how stragetic another was.

Eventually, Jason took you to the school that he took refuge in during the time he was living on the streets. He told you his story before he got adopted, telling you his mom was a drug addict, his dad was abusive.

You listened, and you comforted him.

Then he told you how he admired the other kids for performing on stage. That's when he became so passionate for literature.

You joked with him, saying that you couldn't believe his biggest secret was being a theatre nerd. He quickly answered back that they were called 'thespians'.

That's probably the exact time you fell in love. Even after all the pain and neglet he's been put through, he still managed to become the strongest person you've ever met.

When you thanked him for showing you his school, that you appreciated how much he trusts you, you swore you saw a glimmer in his eye, even when he tells you it was no big deal.

Jason means so much to you. That's why you'd never tell him you love him. You think you'd break into a million shattered pieces if he left you because of your devoted but selfish feelings towards him. So you kept your feelings tucked away at the back of your heart, concealed from him.

Jason means so much to you that when he arrived back from what yoh heard was a dangerous mission, you instantly ran up to him, pulling him in a tight embrace, mumbling that you thought you lost him.

And it broke you when his response to your worry was a harsh shove.

He didn't say anything and walked straight to his room. He looked horrible. There was a bruise forming around his eye, dried blood under his nose, dark bags under his eyes and a busted lip.

You quickly turned to Dick, who just came in, confused at Jason's glum behaviour.

"Crane ambushed out of nowhere. Cooked up a new toxin. Anger. We gave Jason the antidote for fear toxin, but it doesn't do much. It should wear off after a couple of hours," Dick tries to assure you, but to no avail.

You pace around your room, biting your nails in worry. You look at the clock, and only 15 minutes have passed, and at this point, you feel like pulling your hair out from how stressed you were.

Jason slammed his door so hard when he went into his room that you felt like it could've broke.

Jason hasn't stepped a foot out in those past 15 minutes, and though you might think it hasn't even been that long yet, you couldn't help but stress and worry for your best friend.

So, you went out of your room, heading straight to his, knocking on the door waiting for an answer.

A depressed looking Jason opened the door slightly, and before you can say anything, he slams it shut.

You wanted to cry. He's never done this before. When he has issues, he always talks to you about them. You think that the anger toxin might've been the reason, but still. You aren't taking a toxin for bullshit, so you let yourself into his room, locking the door behind you to ensure no interruptions.

"Jason, what the hell happened? Talk to me!" You pleaded, trying to take both his hands in yours for comfort. In response, he swiftly pulls away from your touch.

"It's none of your goddamn business! Leave me the fuck alone," he says. He doesn't yell at you, but he sounds annoyed. He turns and walks towards his vinyls, pretending to sort them out, but just meaninglessly flipping through them.

"No, it is my goddamn business because you're my best friend! Why are you even pissed at me? It's not like you have a reason to!" you answer back.

"Says fucking who?" He spits as his voice slightly raises. You didn't want it to, but it slightly scares you. Jason has never acted like this towards you before. And if he is pissed at you for something, what was it?

Stealing the last pudding cup? Accidentally dropping his last beer? Winning the last sparring match against him?

"Okay, tough guy, what the fuck did I do to make you so pissed off!" You yelled back.

"For being so fucking annoying!"

What?

He thought you were annoying? Did he not like being friends with you? Did he regret being friends with you? You guess you are a bit too clongy at times. Or maybe you just talk too much.

Possible reasons start flooding your mind. The one person you loved and was your best friend was so angry at you because you were annoying.

"What?" Was all you can say, and it was heard as a tiny, pathetic squeak in your voice.

"You! You wanna know why I'm so angry?? Because you're so goddamn annoying! The way you smiled so brightly when you beat me in sparring, the way your nose scrunches up when you decipher a code wrong, the way you keep notes on everyone's birthdays on your calendar, the way you compliment me when I'm training you! All of it! It pisses me the fuck off!" He yells. You swear you can see tears at the brim of his eyes. "And the most annoying thing is how perfect you are! You- You're so beautiful and so skilled, and you deserve so much! And I can't give you what you deserve!"

But you stand confused. What the hell was he on about?

Jason rubs his forhead in frustration.

"Why the fuck did you have to make me fall in love with you," he says, way more quietly in contrast to his rant. But his voice breaks. And a single tear falls from his eye.

You couldn't believe what he had just told you. He loves you? He's... in love with you??

You were about to smile and admit your reciprocating feelings, but to Jason, your confused look on your face was disgust towards his undying emotions.

He wipes his cheek, face scrunching up, and his anger rises once more.

"No. No, no. I don't- I can't do this right now. You can kick me to the curb later, just- just get out!" He starts yelling again, stepping towards you, pointing to the door.

You attempt to calm him down, but he continues his string of get outs and leave me alones.

You didn't even notice that he unlocked the door and pushed you out before slamming the door in your face once more. You wanted to feel happy that he felt the same towards you. But he just looked so... hurt.

You decided you shouldn't continue to push. You knew he'd come talk to you later once he calmed down, so you go back into your room, waiting for his arrival.

It was late. Last time you checked your phone, it was 2:37am. You don't know how long it's been since then. Jason still hasn't come to see you.

You had your headphones on, writing notes in your journal for future training sessions and abstract plans for upcoming missions that may help Dick during debriefings.

You didn't hear the light knocks on your door, but saw a figure from your peripheral view walking towards you. When you look up, you see a dejected Jason Todd now in front of you.

He sits down on the edge of you bed as you quickly removed your headphones, storing away your jojrnal, ready to listen to him.

Jason couldn't look at you. "I'm sorry," he says. He thinks it's pathetic. Confessing his feelings because of some stupid toxin. Now he has to apologise, and he pressumes after this, you'd look at your friendship differently.

"It was selfish of me to tell you that I... That I lov-" He was quickly interrupted by you. You crawled along the bed to him, kneeling beside him, taking his chin to move his face so you can see those gorgeous green eyes you always adored. They were red and glassy. For the past few hours, he had been crying, even after the toxin had decreased. But you lay your lips ever so gently on his, and he couldn't believe what you were doing.

It took him a second to respond, but he happily kissed back, reaching forward, wanting more as you pulled away.

"You have no idea how much I love you, Jay," you say, barely above a whisper. His eyes widen.

"What? What, but I.." he sat there speechless. Was this real? Or was this the after effects of the toxin? "But.. But I've been dropping so many hints that I was so interested in you and... and you just seemed to have ignored it all," he quietly says. He thinks he whimpering like a kicked puppy.

"Literally, what hints?" You ask, dumbfounded.

"Are you serious? I've- I've called you babe multiple times, hinted at a date, gave you a flower," he lists the many times he had shown a liking to you. "I offered to teach you some combat skills- I keep those skills sacred, I've never taught anyone! Even Gar was yelling at me because I wouldn't teach him!" Jason says unbelievably.

Your hmfave heats up with embarrassment. "Well.. I never really said that observational skills were my strong suit," you weakly say, looking down, avoiding his gaze. And Jason couldn't helo but laugh a bit. He just found you so cute.

He takes hold of your waist, and you squeal as he shifts you so you're sitting on his lap.

"So.. You love me?" He asks, a cheeky grin on his face.

You roll your eyes and scoff. "God, you and your ego," you mutter, holding his face in your hands as you and him share one last kiss for the night.

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: February 2024 ~ 

🌱 Happy March!!! 🌷

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)

🌟 Anti Reset - February 2nd (Taiwan)

🌟 Love Syndrome: The Beginning - February 8th (Thailand)

🌟 Baka Pwede pa? - February 9th (Philippines)

🌟 War of Y: The Reunion (special episode) - February 10th (Thailand)

🌟 1000 Years Old - February 14th (Thailand)

🌟 My Strawberry Film - February 16th (Japan)

🌟 A Secret Love - February 17th (Thailand)

🌟 To Be Continued - February 19th (Thailand)

🌟 Unknown - February 24th (Taiwan)

🌟 Wedding Impossible - February 26th (South Korea)

🌟 Kiseki Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 - February TBA (Thailand)

🌟 Ambiguous - February TBA (South Korea)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ I'm gonna have to list Cherry Magic and Cooking Crush again just because they filled me with so much serotonin lol. Truly beautiful productions, so carefully written, so well executed and with so much wholesomeness and so many green flags lol. I had the best time watching them and the fact that 2 OG pairs had comeback shows back to back gave me so much nostalgia lol, especially since the genre is reminiscent of their old shows. It's been a blissful and therapeutic few months and I'm extremely sad that it's over 😩🥺🫶🏻 A+ content from everyone involved. 12/10 for both.

👎🏻 It has been a year lmao a lot of things happened this month, the Pawin situation makes me sad, we don't know what actually happened but the whole thing is messed up either way. James dropping out of LUAT came as a surprise as well, I'm not a NetJames fan but if they really had a falling out like the rumors say then that's sad. Singto coming back to gmm has been a nice surprise amongst the scandals lol but other than that I hope things go uphill after this 🥺

New series & movie announcements

🎥 My Bias is Showing (manwha adaption) - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 All About Lust - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 A Balloon's Landing - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Roommates - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Good Night to Get Drunk - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 First Note of Love - Date TBA (Taiwan)

🎥 Living With Him - Coming April 11th (Japan)

🎥 The Young Gangster - Coming 2025 (Taiwan)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ Actor Singto Prachaya has returned to GMMTV as an artist. He previously left the company in 2021 to work as a freelance actor & producer after being under contract for nearly 5 years. It is unknown whether he will be part of any projects of the 2024 lineup.

❗️ The Thai BL Playboyy is getting a second season.

❗️ The upcoming Korean series High School Return of a Gangster announced the removal of the original BL plot. The show will air as a censored version, focusing on the friendship between the male leads.

❗️ Actors Charles Tu (HIStory 4) and Michael Chang (My Tooth Your Love) were confirmed to star in the upcoming BL First Note of Love. The series tells the story of a musician who is struggling with stage fright and one of his fans. An air date has not been announced.

❗️ Actor Non Ratchanon will no longer partake in the upcoming BL Live in Love. In an official statement, the production company stated that the decision was made due to disagreements between his agency and the one representing his co-star Hearth Chindanai. A recast for his role has yet to be announced.

❗️ GMMTV actor Win Pawin was accused of physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, who made public allegations with photo evidence of her wounds. As a result GMMTV released a statement announcing the suspension of Pawin from all further work activities until legal investigations are complete. This lead to him making a public statement saying he is withdrawing from the upcoming BL We Are. He was cast as one of the 8 protagonists and was paired with his former partner Marc Pahun. GMMTV released a followup statement today, announcing Pawin's character would be recast to newbie Poon Mitpakdee.

❗️ Actor James Supamongkon announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Domundi BL Love Upon a Time. He released a statement on Twitter, saying he wants to expand his career and focus on other projects as an artist apart from acting. The company stated that Net and the others will stay part of the cast and that a new partner for Net will be cast shortly. This caused a big uproar amongst the fans who have been waiting for the series since it was announced over a year ago. Whether James' dropping out has anything to do with a dispute between him and Net is not confirmed.

Upcoming series & movies for March

👉🏻 Love is Better the Second Time Around - March 5th (Japan)

👉🏻 Deep Night - March 7th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Two Worlds - March 21st (Thailand)

👉🏻 High Demand - March 23rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Wuju Bakery - March TBA (Thailand)

👉🏻 The Star - Date TBA (Thailand)

👉🏻 Blossom Campus - March TBA (South Korea)

👉🏻 Jazz for Two - March TBA (South Korea)

[dark-and-kawaii]

Kiwi, I'd love to have an in-depth exposé of Thay's political system. What are the factions at court? Who are the great noble families of Thay? What about dragons? Are they a big cultural element in Thaian society? What about that society, though. How is it organized?

I'll need your three volumes book by tomorrow thank you.

I love talking about the lore but I apologize because I’m trying to condense a 5 year campaign and that’s EXTREMELY hard!!! I did my absolute best and I hope you enjoy it<333 Thank you jelly for taking such a huge interest <33 I have something cooking for you as a thanks for all the lovely stories you’ve been sending me xoxo!!

If you are interested in learning more about Lofn & Zevlor and where they live I highly recommend checking this out!!

Tʜᴇ Lᴏʀᴇ Oғ Tʜᴀʏ

In the court of Thay it is primarily composed of Wizards representing different schools of magic. These Wizards serve as advisors to Thay’s ruler, including the princess and her siblings, such as Signa, the King of Cormyr. The Red Wizards are a secret society since Lynnania’s grandfather took control and are known to be able to use the red crystals (a magical energy source) at their full potential. As members age, they seek successors to continue their legacy. The Red Wizards also provide counsel to the rulers and vigilantly guard against threats to the city. Korgus, the leader of the Red Wizards, holds a position on the council and has demonstrated unwavering loyalty to the Thay family for many years.

As for the great noble families; the lineage of Lofn stands as the sole noble family in Thay, tracing its origins back to Thorion, Lofn’s great grandfather, who shaped Thay into its current form. Upon Thorion’s “death” (never fully confirmed), his son Merciel ascended to the throne, and he was loved and respected just as his father was. However, his reign faced turmoil when his beloved wife, Lilia, had an affair with the King of Cormyr, resulting in a pregnancy. Despite the scandal, she managed to ensure the child was safely delivered to the King of Cormyr before Merciel could discover the child wasn’t his and slay the infant.

When Merciel discovered the affair, a prolonged war erupted between Cormyr and Thay. This conflict raged on until Merciel, alongside the ancient red dragon he rode, slayed both the King of Cormyr and his ancient blue dragon. As time went by, Lilia gave birth to Lynnania but fled with her due to Merceil becoming more violent natured (he would abuse Lilia). That’s where Lynnania’s story began, when her mother died she eventually discovered who she was and at age 19 she ascended the Throne of Thay and took her rightful place as Queen after killing her father and handing his soul over to Grazzt.

Lynnania(19) later forged peace with Cormyr, having fallen in love with Lykos Cormyr (30), the son of the former king her father had slain. But before uniting the kingdoms, the two clashed despite their affections, resulting in Lynnania defeating Lykos and trapping his soul within her dagger. Eventually, she resurrected him, and together they have had three children, including Lofn.

In the heart of the city lies an enormous dragon spine, so massive that the district is aptly named The Spine. Whispers and tales suggest that this spine once belonged to Astilabor, the dragon Goddess of wealth. Legend has it that she and Thorion were inseparable allies, waging numerous battles side by side until she ascended to the heavens, leaving her spine as a symbol of the dragons' guardianship over the city.

The dragons hold a strong cultural influence on the realm of Thay but the one they embrace the most is The Ancient Red Dragon, Thalerion. Some even use the red crystals as a form of reverence.

Thay holds a yearly celebration to honor Thalerion and the other dragons with fireworks and street food. The society of Thay has a bustling marketplace (similar to the Bazaars Of The Ottoman Empire). Thay is even known for being a very artistic culture with lots of sculptures, the red crystals creating murals, and in some parts they value design over function. It’s a very magical place where you can find many rare weapons, clothing, and even creatures.

Since Bane’s arrival (Lynnania’s greatest ally/A father figure in his eyes to Lofn), the Banites have become a part of the guards and have been loyal to Thay. Because of the alliance Lynnania formed with them, the temple of Bane was built for those loyal to him. You will always find Bane lurking around near/ or with Lynnania (he also takes on the appearance of a wood elf named Reyes).

The guards of Thay are led by a man named Riznof, a well known seasoned veteran of the royal guard and Lynnania’s personal guard. They are all able to use teleportation circles all across the city that they use to get to needed locations to protect it. Since Thay is known for being extremely hot, their material is made of enchanted leather that is resistant to the heat. When a member of the Thay guards meet their end, the Thay family honors their sacrifice with a sacred burial ceremony. It is believed that these warriors who have departed this life with honor, are embraced by one of the dragons from the heavens in their final moments. Their bodies are set aflame by one of the Thay’s dragons so that their soul can embark on a journey, riding upon the back of a dragon into the celestial realms above.

Due to Lynnania’s alliance with the Abyss and Grazzt her castle is guarded by Giant Demon Dire Wolves. These beasts have fur as black as night, blood red eyes that pierce your very soul and bones that protrude from their spines. Besides the Thay family only five members of the Royal guards are able to command them, Riznof being one.

Thay’s greatest enemy is Asmodeus and the Nine Hells. Lynnania and the devil lord have been at one another’s throats ever since she interfered with his plans to conquer Toril, and corrupt Thay. Asmodeus has had numerous attempts at trying to ensalve the queen and destroy the city, but he has failed each time. This only fueled the hatred between the two further, and he has since made it his mission to find a way to end Lynnania...

In an act of desperation he took control of a close and very powerful ally of hers, a wizard named Veroon- and Asmodeus attempted to kill her himself as soon as he got close enough. Though he landed a near fatal blow, Lynnania survived and before she could trap his soul in her dagger, Asmodeus escaped the body he was in. Years have gone by and Asmodeus has yet to make another move and the hells have kept at bay away from Lynnania.

[gennianydots]

Thai BL Actors in Glasses: 🤓🤓🤓

An Important Compilation

the post that started this

From top left to right, first compliation: Neo - Our Skyy 2 x Vice Versa, Gun - Not Me, Sea - Vice Versa, Nanon - Unidentified Mysterious Girlfriend, First - Moonlight Chicken, Dunk - Hidden Agenda, Tay - 3 Will Be Free, Ohm - Vice Versa, Junior - Cherry Magic!

From top left to right, second compilation: Poppy - Cutie Pie, Gemini - My School President, Book - Only Friends, Phuwin - Fish Upon The Sky, Fourth - Our Skyy 2 x My School President, Khaotung - 55:15 Never Too Late, Off - Cooking Crush, Mark - Only Friends, Mond - Only Friends

From top left to right, third compilation: Kenji - Step By Step, Poppy - Naughty Babe, Captain - Our Skyy 2 x My School President, Jimmy - Ploy’s Yearbook, Prom - My School President, Seng - Secret Crush On You, Roj - Cherry Magic!, Euro - 23.5 the series, Yim - Bed Friend

[im-obsess-with-pixel-characters]

Posting headcanons on here cuz that's what the cool people do on this app (or so I've heard)

Mystreet addition!

• Travis and Sasha are cousins, that didn't know they were cousins until post season 3 (I basically looked at them both and basically said; "this would be some good family drama")

• Dante got a tongue piercing because Gene dared him to get one

• Travis and Sasha used to sneak off Friday nights to hang out without anyone knowing

• Aphmau and Zane had SOME feelings for each other post season 1 (I adore Zanemau)

• Katelyn and Travis were pretend dating for like the majority of mystreet

• Travis was given SO mucuch money by Michael even tho Micheal was only giving Travis a SMALL portion of his money per month, Travis still has too much money till this day

• Garroth can't and I mean CAN'T be trusted near a stove

• Laurance semi knows how to cook, he knows the basic at least because of Cadenza

• Zane is a baker and cook

• Vylad took a part-time job that ended up becoming his job for like 2 years (he was working at a flower shop) until he moved to a fashion industry with Zane

• Zane was a designer when he signed up for a fashion industry and then got into modeling due to one of his work colleagues convincing him to try it

• Zianna taught his 'sons' how to sew stuff

• Lucinda is just the same Lucinda from mcd, she's immortal okay?

• Michael is very ancient and used metal rulers to punish Travis, most times about lower than average grades that he gets (aka anything under an A)

• in middle School Travis was the definition of "President perfect" he was likeable by everyone he was naturally pretty and was always one to show up early also a straight A student

• Dante till this day still doesn't understand how he and Travis became friends in middle School, Travis is like this goddess while Dante was some late average grade normie

• Laurence took ballet

• Gene almost got sent to a violin academia by his mom cuz he was so good at violin

• Dante had a 'little' crush on Travis but decided to just back away from that she tried to ignore it since Travis and Katelyn are "Dating"

• In high school Zane and Vylad betted on how gay Garroth was, whoever won that bet even if it's years later had to do whatever the person who won said, and if it's something expensive then it'd be a one-time

• Garte is actually better in my universe (I can't fully defend him yet, all I can say is that he did help Zianna through tough times)

• Vylad and Zane has the same father but Zane is still older then Vylad by a few Days

• Vylad and Zane are twins even if they don't look like it

• Vylad and Zane would hang out in secret always anytime they can hang out

• all the Ro'maeve brothers are multilangual

• Travis speaks so many languages, (list; English,French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, mandarin, Malaysian, Italian,German,Tagalog,Arabic,Russian,Thai, Vietnamese,Icelandic,Polandic, that doesn't include the fact he knows sign language and Morse code)

• Travis and Gene both knows sign language and would talk shii about people and also gossip in private while not being in private

• Sasha knows sign language but doesn't bother to tell anyone she's here for the gossip

• Dante and Zenix is fed up with Gene and Travis and started communicating through

• Travis understands Morse code only because Dante taught him, but Dante thought Travis forgot how to do Morse code which was his own problem

• Travis barely remembered anyone from the street when he first moved in with the guys, it was so strange that even other people that barely knew Travis was interested

• Lucinda try to figure out what was happening with Travis but had no idea, her magic doesn't extend to ancient magic anymore since she has modernized her magic. Even with the blockages she has she tries to figure out what's wrong Maybe by a potion but she found no specific potion that could do it most of those potions were illegal and she sense no specific potions she sense Magic

• but Lucinda never stopped searching for why Travis didn't remember anyone besides Dante, since there was no record of any major accidents involving Travis or the valkrums

• Micheal gave Travis a box of crystals cuz he had a obsession with crystals (still do) and Travis was shocked by the amount of emeralds there was in that box there was around 50 something emeralds if counting the broken shards, if counting the whole emeralds there would be like 35 which is still a lot

• Terry once threatened Micheal to turn his physical form into a relic due to a factor that Michael was trying to erase an important memory and Terry wasn't having it that day

• Travis would endlessly rant about crystals to Vylad which had started to make Vylad actually interested in crystals and start looking into them and then got obsessed over it with Travis

• Dante as a teen was a hoarder, he grew out of it eventually

• Gene, despite being a horrible person in general in high school, he tried his best to be a better person around Dante trying not to influence him cuz he is far much more aware the fact that Dante can be influenced by him and he does not need Dante to be on his level of trouble

• Gene is far nicer to Travis than other one of Dante's friend, most likely due to the fact there was already this out of nowhere trust bond that existed when Dante first introduced Travis to Gene

•Zane had braces throughout freshman year and no one noticed cuz he had a mask on, then he got retainers mid season 3

• Zane is diagnose autistic

• Garroth and Aphmau is undiagnosed ADHD even though Travis has multiple time told them to get diagnosed due to the fact of the symptoms they had visibly and every time they always have this conversation;

"well are you a psychologist?"

"No"

"then how can you see the ADHD symptoms?"

"Cuz I have ADHD!"

"oh..uhm well you pay for a psychologist then!"

And then Travis actually gets them appointed to a psychologist for a ADHD diagnose and they got an actually official diagnose because of Travis and his ridiculous amount of money

• Vylad is dyslexic and Travis would spend hours after school in the library with him teaching him stuff, even if that means getting home late which Michael usually don't mind cuz he's never home until midnight Vylad got his permission card to stay late from his mom

• Vylad is the reason Zane is into my little horsey, Vylad actually introduced Zane to so many cartoons that now they can binge watch any kind of cartoons that Vylad puts on the platter

This whole post is just me ranting about stuff I wish were canon but isn't Canon, but hey no one can really stop me from posting this :]

[vesselsbliss]

Some Incoherent Thoughts on Suchin and the Aftermath of Her Demise

Because NRS sure as hell won’t fill in the blanks. The following is mostly hypotheses and... it’s just hypotheses.

Given her ability to hold her own against Red Dragon thugs, I wouldn’t consider her a slouch. She found out they were coming for her kid and hid him. Maybe she trained in secret when Takeda was at school or a friend’s house. Assuming she kept a low profile, she’d probably interact with others only out of necessity-most of the time. Takeda couldn’t have friends over at their place. He could go over to his friend’s homes (with her say so, and it took time for her to agree).

Aside from her mother and Takeda, how many people was she close with? Did she have other living relatives? Was she also from a family of warriors? Is Granny a secret badass?

What happened immediately after her corpse was discovered? Kenshi knew who the perpetrators were, and the motive behind the crime. Perhaps he thought there wouldn’t be a reason to call the police. And there was urgency to find Takeda. Did he even know the Thai EMS number? Either he placed a secret call to the emergency services and left. Or he told Suchin’s mom-when obtaining Takeda’s location- and she took care of everything.

What about the funeral? More than likely, due to the Red Dragon being hot on his trail, Kenshi didn’t attend. Picture him meeting Granny years later, Takeda in tow. He finds out she never scattered her daughter’s ashes. She kept them for Kenshi and her grandson bid farewell. That day is not easy for any one of them.

If we’re going for a AU version of events. Have Kenshi participate in preparing the body with Granny. Positioning Suchin’s hands in a prayer like gesture with flowers and incense. Before placing her in the coffin, he strokes her forehead and kisses her one last time. The funeral is a minuscule gathering. Kenshi tries to celebrate her life. The lingering guilt keeps him silent. He aids in transporting Suchin’s coffin to the crematorium. The chanting of the monks is nothing more than noise to him. He takes the time to cook a favorite meal hers, and uses it as an offering to be cremated. Finally, everyone places their items on the pyre. Once it’s Kenshi’s turn to pour water over Suchin (to wash away sins), his hands shake. Granny guides him. Together they pour the water over her face. Suchin’s favorite flowers are placed on top of the coffin. Kenshi sits by the funeral pyre until the cremation is complete. Imagine Takeda finding out his father attended the funeral, but he couldn’t. Oof.

[gamma-rae-bursts]

Finding My Peace with You

Cooking lesson doesn’t go as planned

Pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Panic Attack, Alcohol Abuse, Past Abusive Relationship (lemme know if I missed anything)

Genre: Fluff/Angst/Fluff

Word Count: 1700+

A/N: felt angsty today, sorry not sorry.

Falling for Melissa Schemmenti was easy.

She was the first teacher to approach you when you started working at Abbott Elementary a few months ago. You were the new history teacher, now sharing your duties with Jacob, and you still felt a little out of place. It started with casual conversations during lunch, soon after which the redhead invited you to sit with her and Barbara at their usual table of the breakroom. 

Not so long after that, much to Janine’s despair, Melissa invited you to join the two older teachers in one of their favourite restaurants instead of having the lunch at school. With time, the two of you started walking each other to your corresponding classrooms, taking turns on who was walking who every day. And as the weeks passed the two of you grew closer to each other. You loved Melissa’s company, she made you feel comfortable around the other teachers and always made sure you were included, for which you were eternally thankful. This school routine quickly progressed into the two of you hanging out outside of the work hours, movie nights at either of your places were at least a weekly occurrence. 

You couldn’t help falling for her, deeper and deeper with every exchanged word, with every look. You adored the soft side of her, the one she doesn’t show to many people. But she allowed you in and you knew that under this badass shell there is a big softie. You loved the way she was with her students, the way she cared about every single one of them and would go above and beyond to ensure the best quality of their education. 

And Melissa couldn’t help falling for you either. She had a particularly soft spot for you, always saving you a seat at the weekly assembly that you would inevitably be late to. Each time she cooked she would make some extra, just to save it and bring it for you the next day. 

One particular evening she finally gathered the courage to ask you out on a date, a real one this time. Not just a movie night ending in a sleepover. She took you to one of her favourite Thai restaurants, the woman always said that no Italian restaurant in the area would come anywhere close to her cooking, so she opted to stay away from them. And you, of course, didn’t protest. The evening was perfect, almost as perfect as her, the two of you chatted for hours, about everything and anything. Shortly after you made the relationship official between the two of you, still wanting to keep it somewhat private, away from the school gossip. 

*** 

As the cold winter day started reaching its end, filling Philadelphia with darkness, you and Melissa prepared to make dinner together in the redheads sacred kitchen. You have been dating for a few months now and most of your evenings were spent together. 

It didn’t take long for your girlfriend to realise just how bad of a cook you were, and it seemed that she has taken it upon herself to teach you the “Italian secrets” of cooking passed down in her family from generation to generation. Tonight, Melissa was teaching you how to make her signature lasagne. She would always emphasise that the secret to a good lasagne was a homemade pasta, which you couldn’t argue with, after all her lasagne was the best one you’ve ever had. 

You watched older woman expertly chop garlic, explaining to you the secrets behind the technique and you couldn’t help it but feel a sense of awe. You have always been intimidated by cooking, but you adored the way Melissa made it seem so effortless and all the patience she had for you.  

She of course noticed your hesitation when it was your turn to chop a few cloves, she smiled at you warmly as she gently guided your hands “Don't worry, cara," she said "Cooking is all about love and passion. You just need to feel it in your heart."

“But what if I don’t” you chuckled as you turned your head towards Melissa.

“You will sweetheart, trust me on this one” she replied as she placed a gentle kiss on your cheek. “Here, keep going and I’ll just pour myself some wine.”

Your body tensed up as the last words left her mouth, your chest tightening as the anxiety slowly started creeping in. 

Deep down you knew that you were safe around your girlfriend, that she would never hurt you. But you couldn’t help the overwhelming fear that had you in a spiral at every brief mention of alcohol, because you knew all too well what it makes people capable of.

You never told Melissa about your past experiences, the hell one of your ex’s put you through. It didn’t seem important and you didn’t want to let it have any more control over you. Despite it being over 3 years, the wounds you were left with did not heal yet, the scars being constantly picked at by everyday conversations you’ve had with your friends. 

You tried your best to keep it in you, continuing to chop the garlic with your shaking hands. 

“Would you like some too?” Melissa said cheerfully as she started pouring the red liquid into a very fancy looking wine glass. 

“Hm… no I’m okay” you replied with a slightly shaking voice “um Mel, I think I’m gonna go get some fresh air” you whispered as you dropped the knife onto the chopping board and sped out of the room. You felt your eyes fill with water as you opened the back door and stepped into the backyard. Despite the cold winter air hitting your body it was increasingly harder to breathe. 

Melissa knew something was wrong as soon as she heard your reply, but you were out of her sight before she could ask what was wrong.

The second you were outside you couldn’t keep your tears in any longer, letting them fall down your cheeks as you tried to catch your breath. You stood by the wall, trying to keep yourself standing as your head became dizzy from the lack of oxygen. 

This is when you felt Melissa’s gentle hands wrap around your waist trying to hold you up right. You frowned at the initial contact, but the softness of her touch allowed you to begin to relax in her embrace. She pulled you towards her, strong yet gentle arms providing you with the comfort you needed in the moment. You wrapped your arms around her tightly as you buried your face in the crook of her neck.

“I’m sorry” you whispered as your embrace around the woman tightened. 

“Shh it’s okay baby, there is nothing to apologise for” her gentle voice sounded through the silence of the evening “I’ve got you y/n/n, you’re safe” at those words you let out a quiet sob, you tried to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself down.

The two of you stayed like that for a few more minutes, neither of you wanting to let the other one out of the safety of this moment. You decided to head back into the house when you felt Melissa shivering, not wanting to be the reason your girlfriend gets a cold. You sat down on the couch as Melissa handed you a glass of water, before joining you and pulling you into the security of her body she knew you needed.

“Would you like to talk about that?” she asked, gently stroking your hair as you lied on her chest. You took a few deep breaths before gathering the courage to answer her.

“I don’t know what happened” you murmured, looking up at her, into her big, green eyes. “Usually, I know how to manage it, just when you mentioned the wine today a lot of bad memories came back flooding my brain and I couldn’t escape them”

You proceeded to tell Melissa everything, detailing all the memories that were brought back to you. The fear you felt every time alcohol was mentioned, the fear that had you unable to move as you were awaiting the inevitable, when you knew alcohol was involved. And what it left you with, or without.

“Oh darling, why didn’t you say anything before?” Melissa whispered back as she placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head and tightened her hold of you “I wouldn’t have done that if you said anything”

“I didn’t want to inconvenience you” you chocked out, tears freely falling from your eyes as you weren’t even attempting to stop them at that point. 

“Honey, you never inconvenience me, especially not with something like this” she said as she smiled at you softly. You started to get calmer as Melissa’s hands held you close to her, your head resting on her chest. The sound of her heartbeat sounding in your ears, allowing your body to relax. You stayed like this for another hour or so, making some meaningless conversations as the redhead stroked your hair.

“I’m sorry Mel” you said softly after a few minutes of silence “I feel like I ruined our evening”

“y/n/n, you didn’t ruin anything” Melissa replies as she started to slowly lifting the two of you off of the couch “come on, we don’t need to have another cooking lesson today, I can finish everything off and you can be my cute sous chef”

“That’s a very nice upgrade from a spatula holder” you chuckled as you grabbed her hand and headed towards the kitchen. Right before you managed to grab your favourite kitchen utensil from the counter Melissa pulled you back into another hug.

“I love you y/n.” she whispered into your ear as your arms wrapped tightly around her “Thank you for sharing everything with me today, I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you.” she added as she kissed your forehead. “You’re safe now and I promise I will never, ever hurt you.” 

Falling for Melissa Schemmenti might have been easy, but loving Melissa Schemmenti was even easier.

Taglist:

@nightmarish-fae

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[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: Secret Crush On You (SCOY) Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I offer my thoughts on the importance of Saint Suppapong's and Cheewin Thanamin's Secret Crush on You in the annals of Thai BL history.]

I offer a very hearty THANK YOU to my dear friends @lurkingshan and @bengiyo for reviewing this draft before publication!

Well! A VERY belated happy new year from the OGMMTVC shores! I have allowed myself a lengthy onboarding back to the pattern of watching older Thai BLs due to many life circumstances around the 2023 holidays.

But I do still stay on my grind: while I was slowly watching and re-watching SCOY over the last month, I've added two current shows to the list, which I'll explain about later, and I've also taken up reading an incredibly important book to this project, Dr. Thomas Baudinette's ethnographic study, Boys Love Media in Thailand, which is giving me tremendous insight and history into the development of the Thai BL genre from direct reporting in Asia. In other words, the OGMMTVC project is still cooking along -- I'll plan to post about the book when my current watchlist is at a pause, while current shows on the list are airing.

All that being said, I'm here today to report on my watch of 2022's Secret Crush on You. Here's a little outline to keep me organized:

1) A quick reminder of how SCOY got on the OGMMTVC list, 2) A thematic hit list of why SCOY belongs on the list, and why it's so important for the history of Thai BL, and 3) A few personal takes on the show.

SCOY got on the OGMMTVC list way back in May 2023, in the comments of my glowing review of the second season of Make It Right, suggested by @absolutebl Sensei themself. SCOY is directed by Cheewin Thanamin, who had co-directed MIR and MIR2 along with New Siwaj. (He is also, famously AND infamously, the director of the recent shows Playboyy and Middleman's Love, as well as many other shows, including YYY, Why R U, and more.)

At the time of my watch of MIR2, I reveled in the fabulous endings of TeeFuse and FrameBook, the holistically loving and embracing relationships of those two couples, who were fearlessly and openly queer and committed to each other; and I compared those endings to that of another fabulous Cheewin show, 2023's Bed Friend, which also ended glowingly, after a hell of a traumatic journey, for the dear mains, KingUea.

SCOY, from a growth perspective, fits between the high school world of MIR and the working adult world of Bed Friend, showcasing Toh, the stalker-shy university junior outcast; Nuea, the popular, athletic, and gorgeous university senior, and their respective groups of friends, who, to a tee, end up with each other. In the comments of my MIR2 review, @absolutebl wrote,

"...there is a case to be made that Cheewin is having a conversation with us[,] the culmination of which is actually SCOY. It feels like everything in his career was leading to that show[.]"

I believe this is absolutely right. While the public commentary on SCOY was that the first few episodes would be hard to digest -- for me, it took until episode *9* to feel comfortable enough to ride the SCOY train -- the amount of internal and external-to-BL themes that SCOY carries within it marks it as an incredibly important show for the annals of Thai BL history.

I also want to note that, after SCOY, Cheewin's War of Y also airs in 2022, as a macro commentary on the BL industry. Without having seen War of Y yet -- I think it makes sense, and is quite fitting, that there may be similar themes between these two shows as to what SCOY was addressing by way of personal and industry-related psychologies.

I'll get into those themes in a second, but as so many of you know as well: this was also the first production for Saint Suppapong's agency, Idol Factory, featuring (for 2022) a slate of incredible new QL actors and actresses who have already made a fast and deep impact on the genre (...fast and deep impact huh huh ANYWAY).

Putting ourselves into Saint's shoes -- a man well familiar with the pitfalls of the BL industry, vis à vis his associations with his previous PerthSaint and ZeeSaint ships -- I can make a safe assumption that he approached the production of SCOY with the intent to make a groundbreaking show, and to approach the fan service side of the BL industry with as much consciousness for his actors as possible. While I'm not watching Idol Factory's latest show, The Sign, I am noting that The Sign's two stars, Billy Patchanon (of SCOY) and Babe Tanatat are very good at their fan service offerings. (Heng in this video, omg.) But all that being said, the unfortunate incident last year of the untimely revelation of Seng Wichai's and Freen Sarocha's relationship indicates that Idol Factory is also not immune to the controversies and pitfalls of the BL and shipping industries.

What I particularly loved about SCOY -- and why I agree with @absolutebl and many BL fandom veterans that it belongs on the OGMMTVC list -- is that this show unabashedly insisted that all people are people, all humans are equitably humans, and all humans deserve the same emotional and social respect as anyone else. It punched social expectations of the "winners" and "losers" down to the ground to offer nuanced narratives of most of its characters.

We see Toh (Seng Wichai) and his group of friends repeatedly put down and bullied. We see Toh and Jao kicked to the ground for their looks and presentations. We see popular Nuea (Billy) and Sky (Heng Asavarid) suffering from jealousy, insecurity, unrequited love and desire. We see Nuea and Sky objectified. We see Daisy question themself for their femme identity, and we see Daisy's group of friends become so moved and emotional about this change as to both uplift Daisy's preferences and to support them in whatever changes they want to make.

We also see -- for only the second time on the OGMMTVC list, and surely in the biggest BL up til 2022 -- a prominent femme side character in Daisy, one who is very much pursued by a cis male suitor in Touch. (The first time we see such a prominent femme character on the OGMMTVC syllabus is, again, in Cheewin's Make It Right 2, in the character of Yok, who was very out and very gay throughout that season.)

I'm going to examine this more in just a bit, but I also want to note, in a fabulous conversation I had with @bengiyo about SCOY, that this show also somewhat upends social expectations of who exactly gets bullied in a "typical" school setting. We do very much see Toh and his friend group get attacked. We see that friend group come together in support of each other. But we also see them very much accepted, as they are, by the older, more popular friend group.

There are many more examples of these themes, but in any case:

These were nuanced, layered, and sophisticated depictions of humanity, all for a show within the BL genre that had started its journey, way back in 2014, in demanding clear seme/uke dynamics and male/female characteristic assumptions between main couples. SCOY clearly took great pains to examine and upend these assumptions. In particular, the hot tub conversation in episode 9 had me going wild; a conversation that has become legendary as it was the first time (and not the last!) that a character of Billy Patchanon's stated that he was verse:

By the time we get to 2022, I love what this conversation signifies for Thai BL. From SOTUS's Kongpob saying that he'll make Arthit his wife; to Pat clarifying to BOTH Pran AND Phupha, "I'm not your wife" -- and, now in SCOY, to Nuea being like, "oh, roles? Yeah, whateves, I'm down," is such a refreshing spin to the conversation about the demands that the genre, AND society, place on hulking cis-presenting men like Nuea/Billy.

Of course, the biggest upending to any assumptions that viewers (including myself) may have had about the dynamics between the two main couples of NueaToh and SkyJao was in seeing how deeply insecure both Nuea and Sky were of the stability of their relationships with their boyfriends in Toh and Jao. Nuea and Sky both recognized that it was literally society itself -- and the very deep internal impacts that society could have on the psyches of the nerdy Toh and Jao -- that could threaten the sanctity of Nuea's and Sky's relationships.

Nuea and Sky weren't relying or assuming on their good looks or popularity ranks to win Toh and Jao over. Nuea and Sky were very much in love with these two men, and both wanted to have holistically complete and committed relationships with their boyfriends. And Nuea and Sky WORKED for these relationships, and feared the worst, often, if an internal obstacle (like Jao's insecurity) or external obstacle (like the girls in pursuit of Nuea) got in their way.

@bengiyo, in reference to my conversation with him earlier, mentioned a social shade to all of this that I found fascinating. He noted that this show did NOT interrogate the "weirdness" of Toh and his friend group. I'm actually going to criticize that just a touch in a bit, because I would have liked more background context into Toh, myself. However, Ben makes an important point about this, because he noted to me that majority society WOULD interrogate the origins of Toh's "weirdness" -- and would NOT interrogate the popularity, good looks, and success of Nuea and his group, because majority society would well assume that Nuea and his group are... "normal."

I find these instinctual inclinations to be FASCINATING to ponder, and I really think SCOY did a wonderful job in allowing us as viewers an "in" to a loving alternate reality that those who are considered "weird" in this world deserve a fair and equitable shot at love and acceptance from all corners. Ben noted for me that MUCH more often in majority society, that being queer makes someone vastly unpopular. (Ben also noted for me that what SCOY posits for Nuea and Sky by way of their queer presentations against their popular standings would likely have led to them being ostracized in real life.)

I want to note that this loving alternate reality for the unpopular is almost exactly similar to another fictional environment created by Cheewin in Make It Right -- which prompted an early and memorable conversation between Ben and me early in this project. (Thank you so much to @bengiyo for giving me time and space to read and comment on this SCOY piece.)

I want to posit -- again, without having seen War of Y -- that all of this is fascinating territory for Idol Factory, in its first show, to tread by way of humanizing IF's gloriously good-looking talent in Billy, Heng, and others. I'll know more by way of comparison when I actually watch War of Y -- but I think SCOY does a FABULOUS job in slowly leading viewers to contemplate our assumptions about how "easy" it might be to be a good-looking and/or athletic person in society. Insecurity and instability are common characteristics among all of us. SCOY very decidedly skewers any assumptions that viewers, and society, may have about the "transcendent" nature of the show's fictional "celebrities" to bring all of its characters down to a more common and equitable human level.

By a long shot, these themes are the ones that I loved absolutely the most about SCOY. I have a few personal takes on the show that I'll share in just a moment, but one more shout of celebration that I'd like to offer to SCOY is the following:

Of all the excellent acting in this show -- from Billy, to Heng, to the utterly DELIGHTFUL Looknam Orntara as Som, to the fabulous Surprise Pittikorn as a conflicted and insecure Jao -- let me offer all the flowers to

Seng Wichai, who had me CRINGING, OMG, *CRINGING*, throughout most of SCOY.

I hope this man won AWARDS for this role. All of my feelings towards the character of Toh aside -- Seng Wichai absolutely BODIED this role. I was SQUIRMING during the first three quarters of this series. God, he NAILED every last characteristic that would make a person like Toh so interpretively painful and pitiful. That Seng left Idol Factory last year, before his relationship with Freen was exposed, is, I think, a huge loss for IF. I know War of Y is chaotic, but I actually can't wait to watch it simply to see another side of Seng's acting.

For Seng's Toh to be pursued so intensely by Nuea -- and for Toh to be so Toh throughout that pursuit -- I truly can't think of a past BL actor from the past OGMMTVC dramas that could have done a better and more nuanced job than Seng Wichai to just remain so COMMITTED to Toh's modus operandi of stalking and collecting, especially so DEEP into the 14-episode run.

I will admire Seng's performance endlessly. My very own personal take on SCOY -- which I do not want to detract from its importance in the BL genre annals -- was that I think some of Cheewin's typical chaotic flourishes did not quite comport with the complicated emotionality that SCOY otherwise served.

At the end of the series, we meet Toh's parents in rural Suphanburi -- but we don't get a sense throughout the series of why Toh decides to pursue Nuea only from afar, in stalker-like actions, for so very long. Again, this stalker behavior is only presented as an MO -- and as @bengiyo noted to me, that was likely on purpose, as a means of showing that Toh's friend group would be accepting of each other NO MATTER their unique characteristics.

We also have to wait a VERY long time in the series for Toh to be held accountable for his stalking actions, as he even continues to collect items well into his relationship with Nuea. The flip side of this is an empathic one -- he's collecting the items out of an assumption, on his end, that his relationship with Nuea WILL end. However, it's made clear that Toh had no intention to ever tell Nuea of this side of Toh's behavior.

There were other moments in the show that tonally confused me, particularly in episode 5, the first time that the group goes to the beach, where Toh is in the hotel room with Nuea for the first time, and is both overtly confident that he might get it on with Nuea, but also seems reluctant to actually pursue it once Nuea starts offering hints. I worked this out with @lurkingshan (thank you, friend!) that Toh was demonstrating a brave face and fantasy to start, but was surprised when Nuea actually reciprocated the consideration. This happened a couple of times throughout the show, and Shan's assessment makes absolute sense -- I think I could have used some language clarity around those scenes myself, particularly when Toh was talking postgame with his friends after those moments, that he was surprised by Nuea's acceptance. But, @lurkingshan -- your assessment of the pattern holds, and I understand it.

Once I finished the series, I read @absolutebl's 2022 review of SCOY, and ABL -- I totally understand your perspective. I get the pull between adoration and cringe for this show. A stalker premise is HEAVY. It didn't help, in that heaviness, to have no past context to Toh's behavior, coupled with Seng's incredible cringy performance.

If another director without as many chaotic tendencies could have directed this show -- I think we would have gotten a more complete and contextual emotionality to the show that would have helped Toh's and Nuea's relationship be portrayed as fully full-circle.

I think this is enough of a quibble that'll keep me from easily rewatching SCOY. But, towards the end of the series (@twig-tea, YOU WERE RIGHT!) -- especially from episode 9 onwards -- I felt that I finally and truly understood where this show was going, and what it was about, and I felt endeared to it.

I think many in the fandom will agree that SkyJao was actually the couple that interpreted, much more clearly, the impact of social pressures and insecurities on a relationship, and for that, I will forever shout

SKYJAO! SKYJAO! SKYJAO!

as one of my absolute favorite side pairings of all time.

SCOY was a hard watch for me because of the interruptions of the holidays, of life, and because I've gotten a little less patient with Cheewin's chaos (...I dropped Playboyy, omg, I have to admit), despite my utter admiration for his work on Make It Right and Bed Friend.

But the difficulties I had in watching it should not take away from honoring this show as a hell of an important one. It makes me admire Saint Suppapong to no end for spending his own damn money towards the pursuit of better BLs. And the acting in SCOY was truly FANTASTIC. Despite my own personal reservations, I cannot recommend SCOY highly enough -- because watching it, and enjoying it, is truly a perfect demarcation to understand how far Thai BLs had gotten to its airing moment in 2022.

[OKAY! As I mentioned above, this project has gotten even richer with the addition of my current reading of Dr. Thomas Baudinette's Boys Love Media in Thailand -- I look forward to offering my thoughts on that book after my watch project is over.

I have added a few shows to the watchlist! The recently-aired Last Twilight makes it on as a show that centered disability vis à vis BL for the first time, and Cherry Magic Thailand makes it on as Thailand's first major adaptation of a Japanese manga and dorama. I've also added 23.5, GMMTV's first GL, to the list, although the premiere date continues to be up in the air for that show.

AS WELL! An actual Japanese BL makes it on the list, ha ha! I'm obsessed with this because I'm learning from Baudinette about the Japanese roots of Thai BL. I am in LOVE with Ossan's Love Returns, and it happily features a cameo by none other than Loong Jim and Wen, who hilariously (AND SMARTLY, go get yer money, guys) franchised Moonlight Chicken to Japan. Earth Pirapat and Mix Sahaphap make the most adorable cameo, and they will be inhabiting Haruta's and Maki's roles when the Thai version of Ossan's Love starts filming later this year.

FINALLY! My own personally long-awaited KinnPorsche (OOOO-WEEEEE!) rewatch is up next, but I'm taking a beat to catch up on Cooking Crush. I can't wait for my late-night liveblogs on KP, though -- they're coming soon!

Here's the status of the list -- as always, Tumblr's web editor is NOT nice to this list, so please mosey over to this link for your very latest updates on the project!

1) The Love of Siam (2007) (movie) (review here) 2) My Bromance (2014) (movie) (review here) 3) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 4) Gay OK Bangkok Season 1 (2016) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 5) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 6) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 7) Gay OK Bangkok Season 2 (2017) (a non-BL queer series directed by Jojo Tichakorn and written by Aof Noppharnach) (review here) 8) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 9) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 10) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 11) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 12) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 13) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 14) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 15) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 16) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (OffGun BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (no review) 17) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 18) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (a non-BL and an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 19) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 20) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (review here) (and notes on my UWMA rewatch here) 21) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (review here) 22) I Told Sunset About You (2020) (review here) 23) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) (review here) 24) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) (review here) 25) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 26) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (re-review here) 27) Lovely Writer (2021) (review here) 28) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) (review here) 29) I Promised You the Moon (2021) (review here) 30) Not Me (2021-2022) (review here) 31) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 32) 55:15 Never Too Late (2021-2022) (not a BL, but a GMMTV drama that features a macro BL storyline about shipper culture and the BL industry) (review here) 33) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch (Links to the BBS OGMMTVC Meta Series are here: preamble here, part 1, part 2, part 3a, part 3b, and part 4) 34) Secret Crush On You (2022) 35) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here)  36) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For the Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist (watching)

...interrupting the OGMMTVC list here to watch War of Y (2022) in chronology and to decide if it gets listed...

37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine the Start of “Genre BLs” and Internalized/Externalized Homophobia in GMMTV Shows  39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 43 La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 44) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 45) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 46) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 47) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 48) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew) 49) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 50) 23.5 (2024)]

[absolutebl]

2022 BL Wrap Up - All The Shows I Watched... rated

I’m not going to talk about everything BL that I watched in 2022, that would be the longest post ever. But still, this is a really long post. Sorry, not sorry. Everything I watched got a pithy little review. 

2022 BL - Watched & Rated

This includes any show that ended in 2022, including those that started in 2021. Alphabetical-ish order.

21 Days Theory (Thailand YT ) 6/10 

Tropes: high school, cheating, secret crush, high angst

Initially I REALLY loved this little show. It reminded me of Blueming + Make it Right (never forget I’m the world’s foremost Make It Right apologist, and the lead even looks a little like Fuse). Why did I like it? 1. GAY UNCLE character giving GREAT advice!. 2. Boys in blue shorts are back! 3. Seme is already pining, uke is tsundere but with reason and conflict is set up and executed well as a result. 4. lots of linguistic discussion and flirting (they made the linguistically fascinating couples post). Everything about this show is in my wheelhouse and this would have jumped high in my rating (even at this length) if they had bothered to finish it like the YA romance it clearly was. But the ending was disappointing. I’m not mad about it, but I’m not happy either.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

The 8.2 Second Rule (Japan YouTube) 6/10

AKA 8.2 Byo no Hosoku

Tropes: secret admirer, food in love, soulmates

Very short BL about a schoolboy who makes magic candy for a series of handsome classmates, questing for a soulmate. Each ep is a new love interest and while the sweets help others, they keep failing to bring him love. Of course h's overlooking someone. The lead was very good and the theme, cooking, and eventually romance were charming, but it is a series of BL vignettes not really a cohesive story, no kisses or anything. Japan doesn’t give us sweet BL this short very often, so it was nice to see them try out the style.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED 

A Man Who Defies the World of BL 2 (Japan Viki) unrated

I consider this show a documockary, not really a BL. As with the first installment I loved it beyond reasons, I tagged the second season review onto the first. Review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

About Youth (Taiwan GaGa) 8/10

It’s truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with classic YA low drama but high angst, I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. It featured Taiwan's modern take on AePete: popular but painfully lonely rich kid, Guang (complete with evil pressure-cooker tiger parents) meets and is basically adopted by poor nerdy (secret rockstar) Qizhang. HE EVEN HAS AE’S TOTE!!! Side dishes are Guang’s adorable bestie, Ray, and even more adorable (also a rockstar) Jian. Lots of BL tropes but also this is quite queer and very Taiwan with an earnestness depth I haven’t seen since My Ride an almost real world authenticity. Not that I normally like that in my BL, but I’ll forgive Taiwan (and the Philippines) for their sticky almost dirty style if it is this endearing and engaging (see also Gameboys). I wish it had been given a bit more room to breathe, but all in all a great edition to the Taiwanese BL lexicon which was in dire need of just this kind of content. Full review. 

RECOMMENDED 

Ai Long Nhai (Thailand iQIYI) 6/10

Tropes: messy gay, trial relationship, friends to lovers

Look this show was just a typical Thai BL university pulp about a confident gay and a clueless manic pixie dream boy, that had potential, chemistry, and earnestness going for it, but no plot and not enough side dishes. In the end it was boring and you know I always rate boring lower than hot messes. Still it’s better than your average Thai BL, nothing happens but at least the nothing mostly shirtless, the gay dads are the BEST, and that’s about all I can say for it.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED 

Bad Buddy (Thailand YouTube) 9/10

Tropes: secret lovers, Romeo & Romeo, sunshine/tsundere, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, GL side plot

GMMTV’s flagship BL started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Juliet masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. GMMTV, we forgive you. More. Live blog of this one is here. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Behind Cut (Korea, Jan Viki) 8/10

Tropes: grown up problems, finding your dreams, friends to lovers

Better than average chemistry (for KBL) and a unique setting almost pulled this show into the realm of something quite special but it never quite managed to get away from the pacing and story structure issues endemic to KBL’s limited time frame and scope. Still It gets the job done. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Big Dragon (Thailand Gaga) 7/10 

Tropes: player love-rivals/enemies to lovers, rich/poor

This is a decent execution of true enemies to lovers, these two spy on and bully each other, exploring darker themes. The way the leads transition between anger, resentment, titillation, and flirting (and the way, with kinksters, this can all be the same thing) is really well done. This BL pairing proved itself to be a lot more sophisticated than I expected with nods at kink in a more respectful way than Mame could ever dream, plus excellent chemistry, but something was askew around plot, directing, and ending. 

RECOMMENDED FOR THE LEAD PAIR, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE 

Blue of Winter AKA Judo Boys (Korea YouTube) 3/10

Tropes: Bad boy/good boy, mad crush, reunion romance

OMG, is that..? Did Korea give us… a pulp? I do believe they did! The sound quality was poor, lighting sub par, even the filming and staging wasn’t on point (for Korea). Sadly none of that was the problem, this could have actually been good, the cast was excellent, but instead it was just really... odd. Focused on the wrong couple in the triangle and spent too much time on some elements and not enough on... ya know PLOT. Not terrible but not good either. in the end I didn’t know what I watched and neither did it.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Bleuming (Korea iQIYI) 9/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers (sort of), coming of age, self worth and self acceptance, lonely prince, sunshine/tsundere

It’s a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love for BL. I wasn’t into it at first, but both leads turn in solid performances and by ep 5 it got good, becoming a narrative about self discovery, as well as understanding and accepting others people’s flaws without hurting them. Ultimately, we witnessed two characters maturing because of each other and their mutual affection while that affection was never itself the conflict point. Instead, tension was built around other aspects of identity, popularity, and self-worth. While production values were a touch lower than usual, Blueming included decent kisses and other forms of intimacy and a satisfying ending (all rare for Korea) plus there’s judicious and very elegant use of tropes, (which is expected). Full review here.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED

Check Out (Thailand iQIYI) 4/10 

Tropes: office, second chance, high heat

Special episode 0 (prequel) filmed in 2021 was the only good thing about this show. Characters lacked motivation, there was no story, the leads were a fine pair but the sex scenes managed to be both good and boring. I nearly DNFed. Ugh. 

FATALLY FLAWED

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry YT) 8/10 

Tropes: reincarnation, fated mates, paranormal elements

Choco Milk Shake (Korea YouTube) Stongberry gave us a full length BL on YouTube! It’s a BL miracle and an endless delight. It was wonderfully cute, unexpectedly hilarious but expectedly silly, a little too poignant, occasionally gut wrenching and with a somewhat expected weird (but happy-ish) ending. The actors playing the two pets must have had the best time. As, indeed, did I watching it. Jealous Milk made me cackle so hard it scared the actual cat on my lap, Choco was perfectly cast, and the chemistry was ultimately decent. In Strongberry I still trust. Thank you thank you, may we have another, sirs?

RECOMMENDED 

Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Korea Viki) 9/10

Tropes: High school to college, cohabitation, stepbrothers, popular boy/nerd (shy, loner, bullied), orphan protag

Korea took on early Japanese sweet yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette (beautiful pastels, sun-saturated over-exposure), manga framing style, some traditional BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope and it was, in a word, classic. Sophisticated and understated CBAW is not slow, it’s just subtle. It's dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really. Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s a beautiful pastiche and I loved it for how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Cherry Magic the movie (Japan grey) 8/10 

AKA Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!: The Movie AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii 

Tropes: LTR, cohabitation, self acceptance, coming out

I liked it, not as much as the original, it lacked the humor. Again no kissing, these actors must be expensive, but some nice domesticity. Still with Thailand bringing the higher heat with such consummate casualness these days (licking ass and taking names) there really isn’t much of an excuse anymore for no kisses, it felt a little phoned in. Even Korea has buckled, come on Japan, grow up. 

RECOMMENDED 

Close Friend 2 (Thailand Viki) 6/10

Tropes: LTR, adult problems, the closet, coming out

It’s basically dealing with two kinds of closet: the one imposed on us, and the one we impose on ourselves. Honestly Pierce and Phoon are very mature characters for a BL couple - the kind of relationship that only OhmFluke could really portray, and they do it very well. That’s almost the problem - it is too well done and thus discomforting. if you don’t like realism in your BL avoid this show. I liked the celebrityhood vs fandom storyline, although I thought it was too generous to those fans. Both pairs did well but I wasn’t wowed by story or content, over all a bit dull.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

Coffee Melody (Thailand Viki) 5/10 

Tropes: cafe setting, food is love, sing your feelings

Stars Pavel (my love) as a cafe owner (Forth in 2moons2) and Benz as a composer (Call it What You Want). This should have been my kind of BL - on the fluffy end of the spectrum plus honestly queer. Unfortunately, the slow pacing, manufactured angst, odd secondary story arcs, and a selfishly immature unlikeable wet dishcloth main character, Yi, meant its flaws outweighed its charm. Jean (flame on snark fairy) is MINE, I love him so much but in the end neither he nor Pavel in an apron could save it for me. It’s not bad. It’s not good either, tho. Ultimately so forgettable I’ve probably already forgotten it. 

JUST DULL

Color Rush 2 (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: crush, friends to (almost) lovers, paranormal, suspense, murder investigation

In this second installment the plot revolves around Yeon Woo searching for his mother (and, sort of, his probe) joined by Se Hyun, whose sister is involved. We’re right back in gay allegory territory only this time the question is: Can you miss something you never had? Especially when it has to do with your own identity? Also, has Sehyun switched his (supposedly) natural inclination towards obsession onto Yeonwoo? I liked it. I liked Hyuk a lot more than I was expecting too. Like the prior installment, Color Rush 2 was stylish and clever (although not quite as clever). Honestly, in the end, I don’t know what to say about Color Rush 2. Does it work as the second installment of a trilogy? Absolutely. Does it work as the final installment of a duology. Absolutely NOT. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Cupid’s Last Wish (Thailand YouTube) 6/10

Tropes: pining/tsundere, bodyswap, quest, road trip

Win is such an incredibly unlikeable character I really struggled with this show, no skin off Mix’s acting, but holy fucking irredeemable tsundere. Also I really do not like body-swap. The final ep tried (and for some it may have been successful) but combine this with bodyswap (my least favorite trope) and even EarthMix’s chemistry (which has improved since Thousand Stars) didn’t save it.

WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME, BUT FLAWED

Cutie Pie (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: arranged marriage, age gap, secret identity, cohabitation, rich kid problems, he’s in engineering

Very high production and a lot of visual references to live action yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and sappy and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming For Soul (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: PNR, grim reaper, enemies to lovers

This is a romance between a doctor trying to save his patients and a reaper who is both his enemy and (eventually) lover. Basically it’s the genius premise of a gay Doom at Your Service. High concept looks good on you, Thailand. I enjoyed it more than it’s ending deserved, and the best I can say is that it’s not strictly HEA but if you’re okay with Life: Love on the Line, you’ll probubly be okay with this BL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan GaGa) 8/10

Tropes: secret identity, reunion romance, queer family, bisexual awakening, sunshine/broken, healing, quest

While this is one of those series (ostensibly) carried by the sunshine seme character (Taiwan is always weak in seme/uke) and he does a stand-up job, Erek Lin, who plays the love interest, Amber, is luminous. I found the twist entirely predictable, but knowing what would happen didn't spoil this show for me, in fact I think I sympathized more with Amber and understood his behavior better, because I knew. The exact way it’s handled (medically speaking) is a little disingenuous to a queer narrative (AKA they could have just GONE there) but I didn’t mind, because all the characters around Amber act with such integrity. Since this is a queer story arc that other shows have systemically mishandled and made depressing, DNA deserves extra marks for its uniquely upbeat approach. It’s full of queer found family representation and an unexpected amount of domesticity, plus it’s Taiwan, so the kisses are great. The last few eps really are special and life/love affirming - and the ending is big-grin charming. Full review here.

VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED

Gen Y 2 (Thailand grey) 5/10  

Tropes: this is an insane soap opera

Exactly as chaotically messy as expected, possibly worse, as the four main couples apparently each decided they were acting in a different kind of BL. While I do believe that the world demands the excess Star Hunter provides, it is utterly exhausting to watch. No full review because I live blogged this one here.

WATCH IT ONLY IF YOU NOTHING BETTER TO DO

Ghost Host, Ghost House (Thailand YouTube) 7/10 

Tropes: my ghost boyfriend, PNR, domesticity

This is a light horror plus family drama built around a well executed BL trough-line that felt honestly queer with fantastic chemistry from the lead pair. (I hope that we see more of them.) Pluem delivers the softest most seductive krap ever and watching them flirt over noodles is an unalloyed pleasure. Use of I/you pronouns is super interesting and cute. For me personally the surrounding cast, premise, and story didn’t resonate but if you like a touch of gothic in your BL this might appeal.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

The Eclipse (Thailand YouTube) 8/10 

Tropes: sinister boarding school, haze the one you love, suspense, high school setting, coming of age  

GMMTV does gay Blacklist with a good boy/bad boy pairing. Starred First & Khaotung plus the side dish pair from FUTS NeoLouis. This is a good show but the cast was excellent and the leads were absolutely flawless. They gave us a nuanced and multifaceted burgeoning relationship: philosophical (and socio-political) conflict contrasted to moments of empathy; flirtation contrasted to moments of genuine affection. This narrative is less about love than it is about courage and tenderness. However, near the end the pacing was off and the plot frustrating. Still, this is an enjoyable watch, with an ending that features verbal consent and a funny blooper reel. 

RECOMMENDED 

Enchanté (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: childhood sweethearts, sunshine/tsundere, secret admirer with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac and dose of Boys Over Flowers.

Theo returns from France and starts a written flirtation inside a library book (!) at his new uni with the mysterious Enchante. When he and his best friend Akk hunt for Enchante’s real identity, 4 senior boys step forward - all intersted in dating Theo, all with ulterior motives. Can’t fault the chemistry or the classic old school Thai uni BL and Akk (Force) was particularly sympathetic. But the twist over Enchantie’s identity felt disingenuous, manipulative, and unnecessary and the whole narrative was flawed as a result, Theo became unlikeable and irredeemable. GMMTV seems to specialize in squandering great chemistry on shoddy scripts. Honestly it probubly should get an 8/10 by my rating system but I was so disappointed I’m giving it a 7/10 and not bothering to write a full review. Live blog ep-by-ep recap here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Gaga) 2/10

Tropes: my ghost boyfriend, paranormal, kill the gay, dark 

Smart boy in love with zombie incubus, keeps him alive with sex. This prevailing wistfulness between our leads about the future that they know they will never get to have. The way Michan is constantly listening and feeling for his Koichi’s heartbeat for a reassurance that is never going to come.Japan, king of thirst, gives us both that and PAIN: these 2 are drowning in yearning and loss. Careful with this one - you break it, you bought it, and it'll break you... wide open just to see what color your guts are. After watching, you too might be walking around alone, forgotten, and wondering why no one understands your loss. Not only does it not end happily, it ends hopelessly. 

NOT RECOMMENDED (for newer BL fans) 

Even Sun (Thailand iQIYI) 5/10

Tropes: vacation romance, enemies to lovers, sunshine/tsundere

The language is fun in this one (they also use chan/nai so I’m guessing it’s and organized crime thing), the cast is excellent, the boxers mildly interesting and BounPrem’s chemistry is unmatched, but... I still disliked it. It was unequivocally boring.

WATCH ONLY IF YOU’VE NOTHING BETTER TO DO

First Love Again (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: fated mates, bodyswap

A popular novelist who remembers his past lives meets his soulmate who has been reincarnated in the body of a man. This one started out a touch mean spirited, but it pulled itself together and we even got a good kiss (for a KBL). Then they went from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. The confession/rejection scene was justified and the reconciliation and ending was... fine. All in all the pacing felt rushed, and the romantic arc was underdeveloped, but that’s par for the course with Korea’s short form. If you don’t mind a heavy does of melodrama in your BL this one has a solid story with a strong concept that’s well acted and produced, making it a classic KBL with better than average chemistry but ultimately a touch forgettable. (Full review here.)

RECOMMENDED WITH A FEW RESERVATIONS

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! (Japan Viki & GaGa) 8/10

AKA Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss! AKA Mr Unlucky Can Only kiss

Tropes: opposites attract, accidental relationship, cohabitation  

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed (I know). Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me a bit of Kieta Hatsukoi or Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

RECOMMENDED

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Gaga) 8/10

Tropes: office romance, identity theft, cohabitation 

As a BL it kinda isn’t (sorry to say). There’s no tropes dropped and no real romance narrative beats. This is about dishonesty and pride and there is an elegance to the theme. Which is essentially the idea that possession is not love, and therefore, those who love the Writer have to prove their love by letting him go. Honestly, I’m not sure how to rate this show as a result. This is a blog about BL and this wasn’t that. Full review. 

RECOMMENDED (but not if romance is what you’re primarily after) 

Hard Love Mission (Thailand WeTV) 3/10

Tropes: office romance, spoiled celebrity, 

Phenomenally dull Thai pulp about a journalist sent to interview a celebrity who ends up his manager, only 4 episodes and it still could’ve been shorter. It’s a bummer, the concept wasn’t bad. ALSO Chinese censorship got its gross mitts all over it (thank you, Tencent). Do not waste your time.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I’M WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT 

In Your Heart (Mainland China GaGa) 2/10

Tropes: friends to lovers, codependency, amorphous ending

It’s very mainland China BL, which makes me feel a bit like we are back in 2016 being tormented by nostalgia. It hasn’t a single modern sensibility in it (to be fair neither does China’s het stuff). Which I don’t mind, but it felt off? Messy? Sideways? I was surprised that there was some high heat, but I wasn’t surprised that the couple ended up separated. And yet... If you expect to be disappointed, can you still be disappointed?

NOT RECOMMENDED

Kabe Koji (Japan Viki) 7/10 

Tropes: celebrity romance, sunshine/tsundere 

Basically this is A Man Who Defies the World of BL + Senpai This Can’t be Love (as @heretherebedork said) and equally painfully EXTRA. Nakao Masaki playing a sunshine bouncy himbo character is a fucking revelation, I didn’t think he had it in him. This should’ve been my favorite BL of all time (IT’S AN IDOL LOVE INTEREST!), but the tsundere is too tsundere for me, I really hate the stalker photograph thing it’s apparently a trigger I didn’t know I had until BL tried to romanticize it. I kept feeling like there were the bones of good story in this drama, and I got glimpses of it, but then it’s covered again - like tasty steak smothered in Kewpie mayo. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan grey) 7/10 

AKA I Only Want to Keep Looking at You

Tropes: friends to lovers, coming of age, high school setting, introvert/extrovert

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). I felt like I was “supposed to like it” more than I did, ultimately I was left feeling like I had seen it all before. So for me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Kiss X Kiss X Kiss - Perfect Scandal (Japan Billibi) 7/10

SHORT 5-8 minutes sample pack micro-romances: 2 featured BL-ish setups. One with idols in a group together and a secret relationship (Idol Kiss) and another featuring a reluctant boss and flirty subordinate (A Sweet Kiss). Both were cute but mostly just, ya know, kissing. (Reminds me a bit of Korea’s early Triple Do You Want). The interesting thing about the idol one, is one of the leads is ALSO in a het installment. He gives great chemistry with both his partners. And I think he’s a good example of an actor being just, ya know, an actor about the physical part of a romance. Which I take about in terms of never assuming queerness based on performance, here.

RECOMMENDED (for what it is)

KinnPorsche (Thailand iQiYi) 7/10

Tropes: bodyguard, mafia, cohabitation, BDSM, he’s a monster but he’s my monster

VegasPete were in one drama; KimChay were in another; KinnPorsche were in each of those randomly but then sometimes in their own extremely slapstick cheese-fest alt-reality + Tankhun. There were clearly 2 directors with 2 distinct and conflicting points of view, who apparently never had a single conversation with each other. Was this show good? Nope. Was it absorbing as fuck? Sure. Was it well acted, absolutely. Were the sex scenes great? Yes. We the fight scenes awesome? Actually yeah (special props to Jeff for the hand-to-hand stuff). Did I enjoy the kinky bits? Certainly. But all that said: the VegasPete universe of KP was the only universe I really enjoyed and would like to revisit, and I only got that 1/5 of the time. Mathematics is working against this one, for me personally. So I guess I, at least, am still waiting for the perfect mafia BL. I think it might be up to Japan at this juncture. As a result of fan fervor meets my own hearty indifference, I don’t really know how to judge this show but I have to go with my heart, and KP didn’t win it. No full review here on tumbr but I did post on to MDL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Kissable Lips (Korea Viki) 2/10

Tropes: fated mates, paranormal, vampire, codified chase/stalker/ seme

Vampire has to decide between killing the boy he loves or living longer himself. Perfectly cast with a sexy, deadly, tortured vampire and the sweet uke prey who managed to be soft and appealing without being weak or inactive (props to the actor). Better kisses than your average KBL did not mitigate the fact that they killed 1/2 of the couple. Ultimately, one of my most disappointing BLs of 2022. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

La Cuisine (Thailand GaGa) 7/10

Tropes: crush, campus star, bully trigger, best boys, soft & sweet,

A sweet and kind of pure show, and like Thai desserts perhaps requires too much patience for a layperson. Because of the pacing and the focus on the bad girl character, I did dock it. But if you like stuff in the Oxygen vein, then this show is for you, and far better than most Thai BL pulps. That said, I suspect that I enjoyed it more than many would. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Love Area 2 (Thailand GaGa) 3/10

Tropes: I don’t know and neither does it

Look, it wasn't as bas as Bite Me, but it wasn’t actually good, either. This started out as Thailand tackles love triangles pulp style, but by season two lockdown had changed everything. Valen & Kaitoon dropped some great kisses but traded off crazy hair and makeup in a scene-by-scene whiplash that was clearly pickups done months after initial filming, and the second lead just... vanished. It was surreal. Side dishes jumped up screen time but tackled mental health... badly. A fantastic new queer side character was randomly introduced, June, who was the best thing to happen to BL linguistics in 2022 but had nothing to do with the rest of the cast, show, or plot. What a mess. Yes tehre was some very good chemistry and June is a GREAT queer character... BUT...  In the end, I was just confused af. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Love Class (Korea GaGa) 8/10

Tropes: university BL, forced proximity, unrequited love, crush, slight love triangle, triggers (outing, bashing, stalking)

This was a fast-moving, bloated, complicated little show with stronger than usual story structure, well-acted if lacking in chemistry, that managed to be very appealing and engaging despite itself. What it lacked in content it more than made up for in pacing. Both bingable and rewatchable.

RECOMMENDED

Love in Spring (Korea grey) 3/10

AKA Spring of Crush

Tropes: historical, soap opera, fake identity, hidden secrets, cross dressing

This drama was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing drama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering is SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, we now know you can do better. Watch Tinted With You or Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding instead. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED, NOT BL

Love in the Air (Thai iQIYI) 7/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers, too stupid to live, stalker/obsession, university setting, grumpy/tsundere, sunshine/tsundere, abuse triggers

What’s it like? Two stories of aggressive player dudes pursuing innocent younger boys. Terrible. Also entertaining and engaging and kinda hot. Like all good dumpster fires. Recommended only if you know you like this kind of thing. Look, you remember in high school drama class where they make you “envision a basket, and put all of your worry, bad mood, and anxiety into that basket, and leave it outside the door”? Well, in order to enjoy this show, you have to do that, only with your morals. Some people have bigger baskets than others. Mame’s creature whipped me into a verbal frenzy, resulting in yet another trash watch. 

RECOMMENDED WITH A LARGE BASKET OF RESERVATIONS 

Love Mechanics (Thailand WeTV) 6/10 

Tropes: messy disaster bi, out gay boy, cheating, drama llamas

My favorite messy cheeky drama-llama boys were back in spades. And initially I enjoyed it more than I should and more than it deserved. This whole series is basically a diatribe against cheating, with the sweet out gay boy reaping all the punishment a disaster bi can enact. YinWar are geniuses at chemistry and good actors, and their new high heat stuff is excellent, but the story was not improved by being given more time to hang itself. Full review on MDL. 

WORTH WATCHING FOR THE ACTING BUT SERIOUSLY FLAWED

Love Stage (Thailand Feb-March YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity

This BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely: boy falls in love with girl as a child, grows up to discover girl is actually a very pretty boy. Although there are some quintessentially Thai changes that mellowed, softened, and extended the romance arc. One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy, and the contrasting kinds of closets. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. A solid and enjoyable show. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Meow Ears Up (Thailand GaGa) 4/10

Tropes: PNR, catboy, broken characters, hurt/comfort

Adapted from the Korean manhwa Hey, Your Ears Popped Out. This is interesting, Thailand doesn’t adapt from outside their own y-novel tradition very often. This is a pretty classic version of catboy trope: a lonely orphan comic artist adopts a stray cat who suddenly turns into a human teaches him about love, chaos, and family. SO CUTE it hurts and I got very “indulgent daddy” vibes from Mr. DD, which I’m not mad about it. There’s surprising depth to this very weird little show. It’s touching and relatable, but I guess it was trying to be too Japanese/Korean about it while the set up was all sweetness and Thai style, because they fudged the ending. For me, that’s a fatal flaw. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Minato’s Laundromat (Japan GaGa) 9/10

AKA Minato’s Coin Laundry AKA Minato Shoji Koinrandori AKA Minato Shoji Coin Laundry AKA Wash My Heart

Tropes: age gap, pining since childhood, 

A high school student pursues the man of his dreams who happens to run a laundromat in this classic age gap BL. Minato’s Laundromat is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will be and overload for some fans, but those of who follow this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do, and there’s not much more I ask of a show than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days. Squee watch along (in lieu of a full review).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: forced proximity, cohabitation, childhood sweethearts, opposites attract, good boy/bad boy, domesticity

Higher than normal production values plus experienced BL actors plus two charismatic smoldering leads with good kissing and comfortable body language make this Vietnam’s objectively best BL to date. Plus we got a fabulously (and quintessentially Vietnamese) domestic ending. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

My Only 12% (Thailand iQIYI) 8/10  

Tropes: friends to lovers, childhood crush, out gay character, jock/nerd, cancer mom, side noona romance 

Neighbors and codependent childhood friends, Cake & Seeiw, have opposite personalities but may be falling in love. Familiar faces include Prem (Between Us) and Peak (Make it Right). This is a complex, nuanced, and well done little BL romance (tailor made for SantaEarth) about holding onto first love and childhood, but it’s buried under waffling family drama and formless side characters so that it took a lot of digging to get at. 

RECOMMENDED 

My Ride (Thailand GaGa) 9/10

Tropes: sunshine/softie, friends-to-lovers, crush, bisexual identity, out gay, rich/poor

BL grew up with this pulp - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA the cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly overworked doctor meets broken hearted dimpled motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. With great friendship groups and family dynamics the support cast is excellent. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story, good friendship groups and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Secret Love the series (Thailand YouTube) 6/10 

Tropes: jock/nerd, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, reunion romance, secret romance, LTR 

Lead couple had a tom/jerry vibe with the uke too stiff and serious and the seme a prankster immature arse - one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean-spirited). They reminded me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike). Other pairs include BearBomb, TimMai and ParkLee (LTR whom use ter with each other). The domesticity with the side couples was somewhat engaging, and the sex scenes were descent, but that’s it. The worst thing about this show (aside from leads chemistry) was that the chemistry of the friendship groups felt off too. Normally, Thailand can handle friendship groups fine. But these two different groups? I didn’t believe they were friends at all. Full review on MDL. 

NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED 

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Gaga & Viki) 8.5/10

Tropes: childhood trauma, phobias, doctor/patient, age gap

It’s not love in Taiwan if one of them doesn’t stumble into the other.

From the producers of We Best Love, earnest dentist hottie with sad eyes who worries too much is smitten with an adorable sunshine neurotic bar owner with serious anxiety issues, they fall in love while courting each other with food, plushies, and naps. Then, shocker, talk about their feelings and try to actually sort out their problems so they can have an adult relationship. Bonus 18 year old poor little rich kid in mad crush with a much older man. I really enjoyed this show, it had a fun premise, killer dialogue, there was a solis lead pair with charming chemistry, soft flirtation, and delightful smiling kisses and stinkingly cute domesticity. All that said, I wasn’t wild about some of the darker themes it explored (abuse, panic attacks, abandonment issues), even though it did a good job with them. And while the crumbs and sides were v adorable they were chronically underused. In the land of May/December, baby boy kabedon is my kryptonite! Why so little of them? Kabedon is My Krytonite = also the name of my indie band’s first single.) 

In other news: I identify WAY too much with the bartender daddy. He pretty much opens his mouth and says what I’m thinking 90% of the time. 

MUCH RECOMMENDED

Not Me (Thailand YouTube) 9/10  

Tropes: enemies to lovers, secret identity, identical twins, goodboy/bad boy

GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring OffGun. THIS IS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience in the BL world - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? Not Me had a lot of BL elements, but in the end that’s not what the show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be. Still an amazing piece of Thai cinema certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily. Full review here. OffGun Eulogy here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Ocean Likes Me (Korea Viki) 8/10  

Tropes: opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, impossible dreams

This is a solid little KBL, with a good premise and cast. Manic pixie dream boy can get old fast but when contrasted with awkward grumpy chef? Tasty combo that elevates both ingredients. Holland is a charming screen presence, baby boy is HYPNotiC. And while I wasn’t entirely sold on the chemistry with these two they gave us some very good kisses. I grinned through most episodes and I even didn’t mind the standard KBL 1 year separation at the end because it felt very true to the characters. Don’t worry they end up back together.

RECOMMENDED

Oh! Boarding House (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: forced proximity, cohabitation, crush, love triangle

Spoiled rich kid in financial straights has to manage a boarding house full of quirky characters including: bratty cousin, wacko writer, adorable bestie with a crush, and the new hot jock (love interest). All in all, this show ended up being A LOT better than I expected. It was uneven in its attempt to reconcile early sitcom (slightly Thai) style with a serious love triangle and genuine romance but the quality of the performances and the kind and honest treatment of the characters make it definitely worth watching. (Full review here.)  

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED, a lost gem esp for Kdrama fans 

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Viki) 7/1O

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, himbo chaos bi, out gay 

This is a very silly show that acts like it comes from a very silly yaoi. Reserved out gay younger assistant (we stan) pretending to be tsundere but is actually just v shy and smitten by his cheerful (seemingly straight) chaos bi himbo artist boss. I think the cross cutting in of old footage with the replacement actor after the re-cast did affect the chemistry with this pair. There was no way around it. Even KBL isn't usually this awkward and repressed. Although this show had the best bisexual awakening sequence ever put in a BL, and I really wanted to love it, I just didn't. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Oh My Sunshine Night (Thailand grey) 7/10

Tropes: university, sickness, fated mates, whipping boy, poor little rich boy, soap opera

Kim, a tsundere musician meets Sun, a transfer student with a weak heart. Also there’s his hot older brother + their household servant, and a couple of fencers for good measure. Initially this pretends to be a normal university, then it slips on wet tiles and falls right on trough multiple shower scenes into ludicrous soap opera territory leaving one with a sensation rather like trying to hold onto soap in a communal shower. Ultimately, everyone seems pretty happy they bent over, but no one actually got clean. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan Viki) 9/10

Tropes: office romance, age gap, employee/boss, food is the love language, coming of age late in life

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review here.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED

Once Again (Korea GaGa) 2/10

Tropes: age gap, childhood trauma, tragedy, time travel, inevitable fate 

JaeWoo lives with childhood trauma and gets a chance to travel to the past to fix it by saving JiHoon. But you can’t change fate. From Moving Picture (studio behind equally tragic Kissable Lips)) this one stars actors (not idols) including Moon Ji Young (also in The New Employee) and is very well performed with a great, but sad, actual PLOT. It was a little bit more creepy than romantic, kind of Gothic and tense, but also strangely amusing (this odd kid just keeps hugging JiHoon - that’s like 1000x weirder in Korea than most places) and more enjoyable than it had a right to be with a really interesting take on the childhood crush trope. Ultimately, however, it kills the gay and is very sad. 

NOT RECOMMENDED 

Our Days the series (Thailand GaGa) 4/10

Tropes: sports romance, messy gays be messy, cohabitation, crush, love triangle, tsundere

Enemies to lovers meets forced proximity (boarding house) in which I couldn’t decide if the unlikable main character was stupid or depressed (story of my life, see also Physical Therapy) but I can’t take yet another emo POV. There was no chemistry from the leads and great chemistry from the ex-friend/second lead. Saint’s dad punishing him, when he doesn’t realize it’s because Saint is gay and heartbroken, really had meat to it as part of a basketball story. But it was such a tiny part of the overall show it felt like eating a meal when all I liked was one ingredient. I’d like to see the actor who played Saint (Offroad) in other stuff but otherwise this one can fade and be forgotten. It was a mess, and not a hot one. Fatally flawed.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Paint with Love (Thailand Gaga) 6/10

Tropes: opposites attract, office romance, sunshine/tsundere, enemies to lovers, wierdo/rulebound

For me the mains were unlikeable and the actors had poor chemistry. So while this offered a lot of what I thought I wanted from a Thai BL - mature characters, office setting, adult themes - I’m wasn’t wild about the execution. I suspect Thai pulps are better when they stick to university/high school. This one felt like a better version of Loveless Society (but that’s not saying much). The side dishes (Yoon & Yacht) gave us more chemistry and a better kiss but had little screen time. It was interesting to see them portray BL actors being shipped and then confessing to actually dating each others I’m not sure how I feel about the handling of it but it was different from Lovely Writer. In the end, this show was nicely grown up but boring and became a matter of endurance for me. I can’t ever see myself rewatching it.

WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME BUT SERIOUSLY FLAWED

Papa & Daddy 2 (Taiwan GaGa) 6/10  

I don’t have a good history with 2nd seasons, and Taiwan really likes to make a soap opera out of their queers. Witness that this one starts with a secret baby trope. There’s a lot of lying to each other and evil parents and, of course, 2nd lead syndrome strikes again. The domesticity was, of course, excellent (I love the gay siblings sharing tips on how to parent) and it was actually kind of beautiful to watch them explore ideas around infidelity, affection, lost love, and rediscovery. However, it lost me at episode 3 and never quite got me back, not even with the delightfully cheesy wedding. All in all, this was a serviceable follow up to the first installment, if riddled by unbearable parents, lack of story, and sappiness.  

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

Plus & Minus (Taiwan Viki) 8/10

AKA Plus and Minus AKA PlusMinus

Tropes: friends to lovers, LTR, office romance, (himbo) sunshine/tsundere, found family, himbo

This is a solid safe little BL about codependent besties of 20 years finding their way into a romantic relationship. A bit cheesy, with lots of domesticity and occasional dumb drama. (But gay boys and chaos bis? What can ya do?) It’s not groundbreaking but it is a solid sweet unassuming little show of a style that is perhaps a bit more Thai than it is Taiwanese but I’m okay with that. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Rainbow Prince (The Philippines YouTube) 6/10

Tropes: disney princess, opposites attract, sunshine/tsundere

This long form MUSICAL BL is fucking LEGEND. Also it’s profoundly not good. The acting is absolutely terrible but that’s not the point, the point is that it’s a cheesy af fairy story. Possibly the gayest BL to ever BL and certainly the most camp and very Disney. Watch it of that’s your thing, otherwise hard pass. (Full review here.)

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU ALSO LIKE DISNEY SHIT

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: rich/poor, boss/employee, enemies to lovers, office setting, cohabitation  

This is a solid little office set KBL about a rich kid who ends up both the boss and tenant of a total sweetheart cutie, and falls madly in love with him. Although the show suffered from KBL’s shorter length, I love the kissable lips pair - they deliver solid all round chemistry despite limited screen time, which is rare from Korea. So I hope they stay branded and we get even more from them in the future. Special extra extended kissing scene.

RECOMMENDED

Secret Crush on You (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: stalking, obsession, hottest guy on campus, multiple couples, queer affirming

Previously known as Stalker the series, and you can TELL. Co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces it was pure pulp and... I hated the plot. In fact I was ALL OVER THE PLACE with this show. SCOY drove me nuts and made me bush but had flashes of unparalleled genius. It had a ton of things I really did not like (e.g. the humor was crass and awkward, and the whole stalker thing was extremely CRINGE). It also had things that really worked: (e.g. representation of multiple different kinds of queerness, about which it very Taiwanese - in that there was no doubt that the characters really did want to bone). It was the opposite of sanitized gay. Honestly, if you can make it through the first half, and survive the never ending cringe-factor that IS this show, the second half is entirely unique - content we’ve never seen before in BL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS, but not the usual ones.

Semantic Error (Korea Viki) 10/10

Tropes: opposites attract, enemies to lovers, bully romance, sunshine/tsundere, teasing & pranks

This is my favorite BL of 2022 won a Blue Dragon award. Korea hits it entirely out of both Parks (pun on the actors’ last names intended) by doing a university set BL with everything we might expect done exactly right, their signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, yaoi style filming, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review here.

HIGHLY ETERNALLY OMG SO MUCH RECOMMENDED

Senpai, Danjite Koidewa! (Japan Viki) 6/10

AKA Senpai, This Can’t be Love!

Tropes: office romance, object of my affection, boss/employee

Adapted from a manga for the same name, it has a similar creepy worship stalking vibe Secret Crush On You. Look, I admit it, this dynamic (super awkward pining uke, rockstar seme) is one of my least favorites - high cringe factor meets navel gazing obsessive. Japan’s weird hang-up around physical expressions of affection in BL which I expect in their slapstick high school stuff, feels cowardly here. They don't leave out end kisses in their het office romances, time to stop desexualizing the gays, too. For a plot about courage, it’s a bummer that the narrative itself didn’t have any. I can’t imagine ever watching this show again or remembering its existence. When Japan drops the balls they drop all the way to the bottom of the well. 

NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED 

Something in My Room (Thailand YouTube) 2/10

Tropes: paranormal, cohabitation, my ghost boyfriend, sunshine/tsundere

Horror BL starring Nut (Oxygen) who was a revelation, still a little stiff but he handled a totally different character from Solo with aplomb. Essentially, this was a well done pulp lockdown project version of He’s Coming to Me (with hints of So Much in Love and Peach of Time) but it was its own creature at the last gasp. I enjoyed it when it got a bit creepy but it was so slow it never had a chance to maintain tension. The two leads were ultimately cute together, but, like Peach of Time, we all knew how this one was gonna end. The narrative never left us in any doubt and I don’t like unhappy endings in my BL. So even though the sad was predictable, I won’t give this drama anymore than 2/10. Don’t kill my gays, Thailand, even when they’re already dead.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Star & Sky: Star in My Mind (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: university set, high school crush, jock/nerd, long term pining, secret crush, reunion

This is (sort of) a lost love reunion arc + freshy hotness contest giving it 2 Moons vibes. Look, this is one of those shows that I shouldn’t really like after 400 BLs. It’s not at all unique, just some classic Thai uni folderol driven by miscommunication (or just non-communication) and yet... I COULD NOT STOP WATCHING. Sure it felt like everyone involved with this show was mostly phoning it in, but it was a REALLY nice phone call. It’s basic BL. But honestly, don’t we all need that plain white t-shirt to wear under our engineering smock... in the end? Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Star & Sky: Sky in Your Heart (Thailand YouTube) 5/10

Tropes: rural setting, country mouse/city mouse, rich/pour, enemies to lovers

A cheap 1000 Stars knock off about a doctor who goes rural and falls in love with a volunteer teacher. This show managed to be boring, corny, AND cheesy? I don’t know exactly how to write a review of this, as “dull” isn’t in my rating system but, it is a BIG SIN for me. I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective? Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. Also If you want to hear frozen register spoken, that’s what Prince’s maa speaks to tease Fah. Full review here.

WATCH ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan GaGa & Viki) 9/10  

Tropes: high school crush, chaos baby, high angst, classic seme/uke, secret relationship 

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes. Full review. 

TOTALLY RECOMMENDED 

That’s My Candy (Korea Viki) 3/10

Tropes: magical realism, LTR, breakup, amnesia, reunion

KimCop vehicle from Star Hunter, about an LTR between a student Jing (Cop) + nurse Guy (Kim) who have been together for 3 years. Guy is busy all the time so Jing is starting to feel neglected and look elsewhere. KimCop are excellent (no surprise there) but I was not into the story, premise, or concept. Side couple Viking & TamTam stole this one for me but the final ep activates the amnesia trope so even they could save it. Honestly I was left, ultimately with a sensation of: What did I just watch? It was terrible. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Tinted With You (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: historical, portal fantasy, time travel

Fun stylish time travel portal fantasy with a likable cast, historical setting, and two actual kisses that mitigate a rough plot and issues around anachronisms. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort, opposites attract, forced proximity, breakup/reunion

If you like angst, wallowing, and realistic relationship struggles in your BL, watch this. If you prefer fluffy comforting BL, avoid like the plague. For me the pay out was not sufficient to the pain. I enjoyed the performances, directing, and chemistry - the leads’ comfort with each other is unprecedented in Korean BL, but that’s not enough for me to rise above the pain of the narrative. This show is a home wrecking hussy, but like super classy about it. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH SERIOUS RESERVATIONS

Triage (Thailand grey) 7/10  

Tropes: time loop, age gap, medical drama, fated mates

I thought the plot was good if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likable (or unlikable as required). I feel much as a did with Manner of Death, which is to say: this feels less BL than it does gay time-slip suspense. If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot. But I’m in BL for the romance, and the rewatchability, and this had very little of either. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The Tuxedo (Thailand GaGa) 3/10

Tropes: tsundere seme, enemies to lovers, rich/poor

GMMTV be like, “see us squander glorious chemistry on terrible scripts.” The Tuxedo be like, “oh yeah? Hold my beer.” Watching this was like eating a meal of just spices. the spice profile was great, but it wasn’t ON actual food. The show itself had no plot or story and MADE NO SENSE, but I really hope we see these boys again in something more worthy of them.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Unforgotten Night (Thailand GaGa) 5/10 

Tropes: mafia, BDSM, not much of either 

Adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love, (originally featured both a gay poly triad and a GL sub plot). Stared Yoon (YYY, Paint With Love, My Ride) as a mafia Dom and Ton (Y-Destiny) as the accountant sub. Kim has a one night stand with a random stranger who becomes obsessed with him. Pretty soon into this I began to think this show should be called Forgotten Kink rather than Unforgotten Night. There isn't any. Mostly there's faucets left on and shower heads used for tie points (don't DO that). But honestly this was just bad. There is a moral to this show but I’m not sure what it is. Don’t combine your BDSM-but-not-really BL pulp with plumbing? In the end, this dumpster fire was extinguished by a garden hose and all we were left with was leaky pipes and the smell of damp trash. The only kinks were in the hose. No full review but I did to a trash watch. 

WATCH IT IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO, BUT I WARNED YOU

Vice Versa (Thailand YouTube) 8/10 

Tropes: alt reality, bodyswap, soulmates AKA fated mates, portal fantasy

Jimmy (Puen the super flirt confident king) is insanely charismatic and takes up all the air in (the proverbial cinematic) room, but I warmed up to Sea (Talay the timid acerbic sweetheart) eventually. As a couple they read as more teasing and brotherly than sexy, but that’s GMMTV’s brand. I enjoyed the concept of this show (I’m big into magical realism and skewed reality - see my adoration for Color Rush) but JittiRain’s plot was contrived and weak (normal for them). I find the “writing on each other” habit quite cute. Look, here’s the thing, flaws and all I pretty much spent this entire show smiling. I didn’t even mind being so obviously manipulated. That said, this is never going to be one of my top rewatch rotations, so I’m calling it for an 8/10. 

RECOMMENDED

Want to See You (Vietnam YouTube) 5/10

AKA Muốn Nhìn Thấy Em

Tropes: whipping boy, disability, secret love

Everyone’s favorite Vietnamese hottie Ba Vinh (O2 Productions: Mr Cinderella etc...) played an arsehole blind man (Jane Eyre feels) who hires a live in nurse and both get taken advantage of by a series of psycho femme fatales characters. The chemistry was okay but not Vinh’s best. Did they serve up prime domesticity? Of course. This is Vietnam, you get what you pay for. But tonally, this show was all over the place, hugely inconsistent in characterization and motivation. No clean narrative through line. Nothing anyone did actually ever made sense, it was mostly just frustrating. 

WATCH ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO 

What If (Thailand WeTV) 4/10

Had promised but was ultimately a complete letdown, not really BL either. It was, in the end, primarily about singing, so you know I didn’t like anything about this. 

NOT RECOMMENDED 

What Zabb Man! (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers, tsundere seme, rich/poor

WZM was better than we have any right to expect with decent pacing and a foodie theme threaded through the narrative as both love language and plot driver. Basically CEO falls in love with a street vendor’s food, recruits him to work in his hotel, falls in love with him, and that’s the beginning. Class struggles! Kitchen drama! Papaya pounding (not a euphemism)! Chef poaching (not literally)! Spicy scenes (yes literally)! It’s all so delicious. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED, especially if you like Thai food

You’re My Sky (Thailand Viki) 6/10

Tropes: sports romance, friends to lovers, jock/nerd meets sunshine/tsundere, cheating

A serviceable college-set pulp that focused on 3 sports romances with high angst, but was ultimately too slow moving for me, and with only one couple I liked (SaenAei). Main couple, FahThorn = basketball jocks, boring. DomeVee = track & field with a disaster bi cheating with your sister’s boyfriend storyline (by FAR the best sexual chemistry). SaenAei = jock/nerd with a younger puppy sunshine seme, best boys. Saen was my favorite character; relentlessly flirty but always clear about with his interest and steady in his regard, but who wants this many eps for one side character?

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED AND YOU NEED PATIENCE  

Work from Heart (Thailand YouTube) 4/10

Tropes: Romeo & Romeo, office romance

Pulp office drama featuring tons of couples starring Gameplay as rich kid terrible dresser Dee who forms an unfathomable and poorly depicted romance with his internship supervisor. Some nifty linguistic stuff and great lead pair chemistry, doesn’t compensate for one of the worst wardrobes and an ultimately unfathomable plot. 

FATALLY FLAWED

THE DNF/DNW LIST

Shows I dropped, lost track of, never got around to or otherwise failed to complete.

2 Moons: The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3 (Thailand grey) 

I hear that it’s pretty banal and I’m just waiting to collect them all and binge. I doubt it will get a high rating from me or monkey with the standings much so I’m not fussed. 

7 Days 7 Boys (Thailand grey) 

No subs and it is also profoundly not good. Do not bother.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (Thailand GaGa) 

8 eps - This is a queer drama not a BL. It’s fine, reminded me oddly of early Taiwanese stuff, a bit slow moving and oddly paced. But I intensely disliked the lead character. He's a brat in the wrong way. Especially as a 20 year old. 

Country Boy 2 (Thailand who cares?)

I barely managed the first installment. No thank you. 

Fahlanruk (Thailand GaGa) 

I found all the characters profoundly unlikeable. I don’t like any of the couples and the fujoshi framing is repulsive under the context of a narrative trying to be this authentically gay. I lost all patience and cut my losses at ep 5. @heretherebedork said it was BohnDuen 2.0 only worse and that’s my least favorite dynamic of all time, so yeah, not gonna bother. 

Fudanshi Bartender no Tashinami (AKA Accomplishment of Fudanshi Bartender) (Japan Gaga) 

BL Express posted a review and it sounds A LOT like another kind of Absolute BL thing from Japan, but focused on the fudanshi side of the equation and I could not be less intersted so I did not watch. 

Gameboys 2

I have no idea what happened - to me or it. But I remember watching a bit, and then just got distracted or something. 

Getaway (Singapore YouTube)

Based on an original story from a gay creator featuring an openly gay cast this vacation romance from Singapore set in Bangkok did nto work for me. The lead was fine but the muscle boy love interest's acting was just bad. Look, I’m the first to admit that there’s a lot of bad and awkward acting in this genre, but for some reason… it feels a lot worse in English. I like how unabashedly gay the show is but (how do I put this nicely, I guess...) if I’m gonna watch English language gay vacay shit – I’d rather watch Fire Island. Still, as one might expect, the heat execution is good (Taiwan still holds the crown, tho). But I eventually just gave up.

In a Relationship (Thailand YouTube)

Thailand’s answer to Gameboys (a bit late, kids). I’m generally not a fan of lockdown romances and this didn’t grab me.

My Roommate (Thailand YouTube)

32 eps of 2 minutes each with such terrible production values I couldn’t be bothered. Def not my thing.

My Tempo (Thailand grey) 

A Thai BL movie about the Thai music industry. Yeah, no thank you.

On Cloud Nine (Thailand YouTube) 

A country-set atmospheric series from MindTrio about afterlife and awaiting loved ones. Def not my thing. 

Physical Therapy (Thailand GaGa)

Milk is basically a Mainland China-style super useless heroine type. He’s, ugh, so totally not cute. I just don’t think emo is sexy (sorry Japan). I don’t understand why anyone likes him: friends, crushes, lovers. And I couldn’t tell if the doctor was faking it or just a terrible actor.

Rak Dao (Thailand grey)

A real sit com that was just too much for me to take. I didn’t even survive the first 2 episodes. And I usually give a drama 3 eps.

Restart(ed) (Thailand grey)

Looked like Top Secret Together meets Y-Destiny but ended up being more like Club Friday. Glimmers of good chemistry and hella queer but even that did not save this from terrible sound and an incomprehensible plot full of completely random characters. An absolute mess.

Scent of Love (Thailand no idea)

Just couldn’t find it. Also it’s the lead pair from My Secret Love so could not be bothered to even try. 

SELF (Thailand YT) 

Is it sad? Worth watching? I don’t know, no one said a peep about this show but I got a bad feeling about the end so I never bothered. 

The Promise (Vietnam YouTube)

Stepbrothers trope, enemies to lovers, high school, reunion romance, grumpy/tsundere. Narrative has a “memoir” framework. Sort of Cherry Blossoms After Winter if they were enemies.

The Miracle of Teddy Bear (Thailand grey)

Surreal drama series with dark elements. Nat's giant teddy bear, Taohu, miraculously turns into a young man but can't remember anything about himself. I found out this has what I COUNT as a sad ending and with it being hard to find i didn’t bother.

The Next Door Crush (Vietnam YouTube) 

Reunion romance or something, I couldn’t be arsed. 

To Sir, With Love AKA Khun Chai (Thailand grey) 

I’m waiting on grey subs for this Thai historical gay soap opera that came outta nowhere. It’s more lakorn than it is BL (soapy) and word is it ends happily. It’s just taking me time to track down. 

War of Y (Thailand Gaga) 

Tropes: industry self criticism, messy gay, general chaos

COPY A BANGKOK brings us 20 episode of Cheewin’s nonsense starring the boys from Y-Destiny and SCOY. My initial thoughts? It was better than any of us have a right to expect but I hated it. I disliked it for the same reason I don’t like rockstar romances... celebrities (and their people) are assholes. This show features a bunch of actors behaving like actors, managers behaving like managers, all of them predators and victims and both. I’ve dropped before for less (Call It What You Want) and I’ll drop again. Then again I loved Lovely Writer - but I think that’s because Sib is meant to be a sinister dick who’s only an actor because it gets him closer to Gene, and i like that approach. War of Y is just a collection of fragile egos easily traumatized by their own desires (and the needs of others) - it’s brutal to watch. BillySeng are killing it, but.... it hurts, and not in a good way. I’m going to save it and binge all at once when I am feeling bored and resilient. Will I watch it eventually? Maybe? Probably not. I think we have an ITSAY situation going on here. Also BL Express was not best pleased, and I while we rarely share taste, in this instance I trust their reporting.

Ones I Could Not Track Down - Japan of course 

Both Me and Him are the Grooms AKA Boku mo Aitsu mo Shinrodesu - Aired March 2022 on KTV & Tver, some see it on Gaga, but not me. This is a coming out drama rama. Ryosuke and Mizuki are getting married but on the wedding day Mizuki finds out that his partner didn't tell his parents, relatives, or friends that he's gay. Catastrophe results: furious outbursts, fighting between the two families, and then Mizuki's ex boyfriend shows up. 

Grand Guignol - a horror, paranormal, high shcool movie that released in Japanese theaters middle of the year. Starred Rio Komiya (Eternal Yesterday) and Ryosuke Sota (Mr Unlucky) among others.

Kamisama no Ekohiiki - body swap, paranormal, country set. Amano Yashiro has a crush on his best friend, Nanahara Kenta. Yashiro died in a car accident after being rejected by Kenta. However, due to God's favoritism, Yashiro was reborn as a female student called Tendo Kagura, and lives a new life. Yashiro decides to make use of his girly look to have Kenta fall for him. While Yashiro and Kenta become closer, they were interrupted by Kenta's ex-girlfriend, Torii Rin, who told "Kagura" to stay away from Kenta. Furthermore, it was discovered that Yashiro's body is still alive. What is actually happening?

Melting Night: Secret Kiss - microfilm part of the Kiss X Kiss X Kiss series, featuring the stepbrothers trope that aired on Tiver. A and B are friends who are secretly in love with each other. They became stepbrothers after their parents' remarry. Even though they acted like family, their feelings overflow and when their parents were gone...

Yes I REALLY want to see this one. 

Sing In Love AKA Miso's Koi Kogare Utae - movie adaptation of a PNR manga released in theaters, but no word on international distribution. About a teacher who encounters a mysterious man from his past, who is strangely obsessed with him. 

2022 BL Announced but Never Aired or Otherwise Confusing 

Eye Contact AKA មើលបានហាមសម្លឹង - Cambodia

Tie The Not AKA Under the Same Sky - The Philippines 

Ghost and I Becoming Family - Taiwan 

God's Military Officer - Taiwan 

Melody In Me - Vietnam 

The Lost Ring AKA The Ring Goes Missing reboot - Vietnam

KOREAN BL ANNOUNCED FOR 2022 BUT NEVER AIRED 

Bon Appetit

Comfort the Boy AKA A Shoulder to Cry On - premiere postponed indefinitely due to actor contract conflict, rated R15+ due to topic & vulgarity

Eccentric Romance - was supposedly in production July 2022. Silkwood’s 2nd Thai/Korean colab but not their last.

Eul's Love

Follow The Wind - supposed to have released in the first half of 2022

Happy Merry Ending

Heesu in Class 2

Individual Circumstances

Jun and Jun - filming Dec 2022

Love Class 2 AKA Love Class Season 2 - filming was to start Nov 2022

Love is like a Cat - supposedly completed filming aug 2022 so I guess stuck in post? stars Mew. 

Love Tractor

Secret Relationship -  was to be adapted by Cradle Studio (a subsidiary of Kakao).

Space Bakery

Two Game Over 

Why R U? Korean remake - supposedly filming Sept 2022 

I am assuming most of these can be transferred to 2023 expectations but am not sure. 

THAI BL ANNOUNCED FOR 2022 BUT NEVER AIRED 

Art Adore En

Bitter Sweet

Boxer In Heart

Buddy Line Y Animal AKA Buddy Line Y(aoi) Animal

Call My Name

Cinderella Boys

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn

Destiny Seeker

Future the series

Heart by Heart

Imado Jinja

Intern In My Heart

Love at First Sight

Make a Wish

Mr. Bad Guy

My Broccoli

My Engineer 2

My Last Love

My Lucky Cat

Nilundon

Past Love In The Future

Past-senger AKA Pastsenger

The Sweet Robot

The Theory series

Trouble Maker

Does not include those announced for 2022 but which have since been officially moved to 2023. Those will appear on the 2023 forthcoming lists. 

(source)

[ashxketchum]

A Fine Day for Curry [Mayblade 2024 entry for Card, Apron, Doughnut and Secret]

Summary: Before anything else, Kai would like you to know that he's not a picky eater, he is just very particular. Rei might wholeheartedly disagree, but he's not getting off the hook so easily. [Crackfic, No plot only vibes]

Characters: Kai, Rei (Other BBA Team Members mentioned)

Word Count: 2649

Note: The idea came to me when I found out that National Curry Day in Japan is also celebrated as KaixRei day by the Japanese fandom since the first letters of their name spell curry (Ka-Re) in Japanese. I thought it was really cute and funny and wanted to post something silly featuring the two and of course, Curry. I'm usually very happy with my 'no plot only vibes' kind of writing style, but this is the first time I'm posting something like this for Beyblade without Tyson and Hilary leading the story so I'm very nervous. I don't think I did a good job with this fic and I'm sorry in advance if you read and it feels like a complete waste lol. Feel free to send in constructive criticism, I won't mind at all!

[post divider by @/cafekitsune]

Resting his hands on top of his knees under the table, Kai resisted the urge to push the plate placed in front of him away. He was not a picky eater, or so he liked to believe, but he was set in his preferences, never taking the chance of trying something he didn’t like. He had worked hard on developing and maintaining his taste palette and didn’t really enjoy it when it was disturbed out of the blue. But still, he was an adult so most of the time if he was served something he didn’t enjoy eating, he would gulp it all down with a passive face, compromising on his beliefs to keep up appearances.

Today, however, was different because he was under the impression that when Rei invited him over for lunch, the two would get Thai takeout as they usually did, instead he was taken by surprise when his friend served up a plate of freshly made curry and rice.

Japanese-style curry was one dish that Kai found hard to make compromises on. If it wasn’t cooked with the specific recipe that his mother followed, he would rather not go anywhere near it. When he raised his eyes from the plate and watched as Rei happily folded his apron to keep it aside before taking a seat opposite him, Kai found it hard to voice out his thoughts about the dish. Rei fixed him with an eager smile and rested his folded arms on top of the table with a nod towards the food, signalling him to go ahead and take a bite.

He swallowed a gulp, raising one hand from under the table to pick up the spoon before he changed his mind and looked at Rei with a raised eyebrow, “I assumed we would be getting takeout.”

“It’s nice to switch things up once in a while, don’t you think so?” Rei shrugged, if he was bothered by how Kai had still not taken a bite of his food, he didn’t let it show on his face.

No, was what he wanted to respond with, you should know that by now.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” Kai sent a pointed look towards the lack of a plate with food in front of Rei. It was when the latter chuckled lightly at his observation that he realised, today he would not be able to get away by just inhaling the food without tasting it and pretending he liked it.

“In a bit, I need to know what you think of the dish first,” Rei said.

“Why?”

Rei considered his question for a moment, possibly debating whether it was worth telling the truth right now or to save the explanation for later. After a while he sighed, raising one hand to rest his chin comfortably in it, he addressed Kai with an excited look in his eyes, “I’m thinking of adding a new menu on my food truck.”

“Is that feasible? For the business model, I mean,” Kai asked, letting his gaze drop back towards the curry. If it were up to him, he would rather eat a month’s worth of Rei’s baozi in one sitting over trying out the Japanese curry offered to him.

“People love buying steamed buns on their way to office or school in the morning, or while heading back home in the evening. But business slows down during the day quite a bit so I thought having a popular lunch item might help.” Rei explained, surprisingly still not annoyed that Kai was spending so much time delaying taste testing a dish clearly very important to him currently.

“That makes sense,” Kai muttered, eyeing the food in front of him with a somewhat renewed interest, “But wouldn’t Tyson be a better choice for something like this?”

Rei laughed loudly, waving his free hand dismissively, “Tyson only enjoys finding fault in Hilary’s cooking. He never judges my food harshly.”

“Max?”

“On the off chance that Max wouldn’t like the dish, he would just empty a bottle of mayo on top of it and I’d rather not watch him butcher my cooking like that.”

Kai felt defeated, he didn’t know whether telling Rei that his opinion would not be as unbiased as he assumed was the right thing to do. His chest did swell with pride, however, at the thought of being the more reliable friend within their circle.

Then he decided that since eating the curry would end up helping Rei, there was no point in trying to push the task any further. He picked up the spoon once again, and while attempting to fight off the disgust from showing on his face, he scooped up a small portion of the curry and rice. As he lifted the spoonful close to his mouth, Kai closed his eyes with the hope that not being able to see the curry would make it easier to swallow.

He had intentionally put more rice on the spoon, diluting the taste of the curry slightly but when it finally hit his senses, he was taken by surprise for a second time that day. He frowned as he chewed on the carrot piece that had landed in his bite, admitting to himself that it didn’t taste as bad as he thought it would. The sweetness of the curry wasn’t overpowering, as was the case in most Japanese roux mixes, but was a much subtle presence at first easily subdued by the rice, allowing the spicy aftertaste to flourish in all its glory making Kai conclude that the taste was actually quiet-

“Decent.”

Uncharacteristically, he ended up voicing his last thought out loud, biting his tongue in regret he sneaked a careful glance at Rei. Assuming that no chef ever wanted to hear their new dish described so blandly, Kai was expecting him to look offended or annoyed even but instead, he had the biggest smile plastered on his face, his amber eyes shining bright with accomplished pride as if he’d just won first prize at a cooking competition.

“That is a huge compliment,” Rei said, his voice now loud with excitement but still retaining the gentle, teasing tone as he added, “Considering how much you hate curry.”

“Wait, you knew I hate curry?” Kai quickly dropped the spoon back onto the plate, pushing the dish towards Rei as he scowled at him, “Why did you make me taste it then?”

“Because-” Rei paused to shake his head, the way he pursed his lips made it obvious that he was trying to hold back a laugh before he spoke, “As I implied earlier, you are the only one I can trust when it comes to objective feedback.” He leaned forward to bring the dish closer to him, picking up the spoon Kai had dropped to serve himself a bite, gathering more curry on it than rice, unlike Kai. He let out a gasp of satisfied approval after tasting it and passed a grin in Kai’s direction, “Decent enough for you to want seconds?”

“Sorry, that privilege is reserved for my Mom’s curry alone,” Kai muttered grumpily, a little relieved to see Rei nodding in understanding. While he wasn’t happy about being manipulated into sharing his opinion on something he didn’t like, he still thought it best to let Rei know that he shouldn’t put his review on a pedestal, “You should get a second opinion. About the taste.”

“I plan to. The others should be here in a while.”

Kai rolled his eyes at the obvious set-up he had walked into, Rei laughing at his reaction only soured his mood further, “I suppose I am more surprised by the fact that you do know what I don’t like.”

“Of course I do, how long have we known each other? Don’t hurt my feelings with accusations like that,” Rei clicked his tongue as he shook his head disapprovingly, “Do you know how much trouble yours and Max’s picky eating habits have given us over the years?”

“I am not a picky eater.” Kai defended himself quickly, “I’m just particular about my likes and dislikes.”

“That is the definition of being a picky eater, Kai.” Rei chuckled, going back to take a few more bites of the curry, he did not bother to explain his own statement of accusation against Kai any further.

“What did you mean, when you said Max and I have caused problems over the years?” Not that Kai was one to give up easily, he fixed Rei with his best intimidating stare and folded his arms across his chest in a gesture to show he wouldn’t budge till he got his answer.

“You know when we used to travel extensively for tournaments and stuff,” Rei said, expecting it to be a sufficient hint but sighed when he noticed that Kai was still looking at him with confusion, “The amount of effort Hilary put into finding hotels and restaurants that would match all our tastes so we wouldn’t have reason to complain.”

Kai leaned back in his chair, relaxing his arms slightly. If he was being honest, this thought had never crossed his mind. After all, whichever hotel they stayed in or wherever they stopped by for meals after matches, the menu always had some option that he enjoyed eating, there was no reason for him to go beyond and think how that always worked out. But now when he revisited those memories, little things seemed to pop up. Like how if he ever lost a match, he never joined the others for a meal afterwards, opting to go for a long walk to clear his head instead. When he’d get back a package of his comfort food would always be waiting in his hotel room, which he had always taken for granted, but now understood was something that wouldn’t be possible without Hilary.

“We had a secret group chat too, Chief, Hilary and I.” Rei continued, his eyes softened as memories of their beyblading days probably came rushing back, but it was quickly replaced with a mischievous glint, “We still do actually, do you think it’s a coincidence that all our get-togethers and reunions always have a perfect menu to boast?”

“So the three of you have just been gossiping about our eating habits behind our backs?” Kai scoffed, the moment of guilt he’d felt about not appreciating Hilary’s efforts as a manager was immediately doused by Rei’s extended explanation.

“Can you blame us?” Rei responded in amusement, but seeing Kai refusing to take this lightly only made him laugh more.

Kai found it hard to fight back with denial because the truth was just that obvious.

If he ever had to spend time with his former teammates over a meal, he preferred to have Rei or Hilary tag along, since he’d always assumed their tastes were quite similar. Now he knew it was just because they understood his habits so well, and were being considerate towards him by accepting his invitations. That didn't leave him much to argue with so he kept quiet even as Rei looked at him expectantly, deciding to instead focus on how to get back at Rei for first, making him eat curry manipulatively and second, implying that Kai was a fussy eater.

Because he really wasn’t, he was just particular. There was a difference, even if Rei refused to acknowledge it.

After seething and brainstorming in silence for a while, just when he thought he was at a loss for ideas, the sound of the doorbell ringing loudly across the apartment reminded Kai that there was still one very good card left to play. Rei quickly got up from his seat and began to rummage through the kitchen, pulling out more plates, and turning the stove on to reheat the food.

“Kai, can you get that please?” He called out as he moved around.

Kai reluctantly got up from his seat and walked to the door, though not before he caught Rei pulling out a plate of egg sandwiches, one of Kai’s favourites, from his fridge and setting them on the table along with the pot of curry. He couldn’t tell if knowing that Rei had already prepared a backup dish for him as per his tastes made him feel happy because at least his friend knew him well, or even more annoyed because it only served to strengthen the trap he’d fallen in today. When he pressed the button on the intercom and saw Tyson, Hilary and Max wave through the tiny screen, he settled on feeling annoyed for the sake of it.

“Rei! We got doughnuts!”

Tyson’s voice cracked through the speaker as he lifted the bag in his hands up towards the camera. Kai didn’t respond obviously, only pressed the button to open the door that would let them in.

“Rei? Are you there?”

Tyson asked again, making Kai roll his eyes at his actions. He could just come up and talk to Rei in person, why did he feel the need to speak through the doorbell was beyond him, Kai thought as he shook his head.

“It’s probably Kai who answered, Tyson. Let’s go.”

He saw Hilary dragging Tyson away, and the plan became quite clear in his head at that moment.

“Would it kill him to greet back once in a while-”

Tyson’s muffled complaint was completely cut off as the display went black, indicating that all three of his friends had successfully entered the building. It would take them a while to come up as Rei lived on the tenth floor, so Kai decided to saunter back to the kitchen, a smirk playing on his lips as he leaned against the door frame with the confidence of a beyblader about to land the winning strike.

“This secret group chat of yours,” Kai spoke, pausing to check if he had Rei’s attention and when his friend passed him a confused look, he continued, “Does Tyson know about it?”

Rei stopped setting up the table and looked up at Kai, eyes wide with fear and horror, “Kai, don’t.”

“Because I just think that, it’s the kind of thing he should know about.”

“Kai, please! If he throws a fit, Hilary will strangle me without a second thought, you know she’s capable of it.”

Rei's scared yet pleading voice did make him feel better about all the manipulation, and just for a second, he thought he would forgive his friend and play nice. After all, Rei did prove that he knew him better than most people, and valued his opinion more than the others, so there really was no need for Kai to exact his revenge.

A knock on the door announced the arrival of their friends and the tension on Rei's face deepened as Kai promptly turned on his heels to open the door.

"Kai, I will owe you big time if you keep this secret for me!" Rei called out in a squeaky voice from the kitchen, making Kai laugh out loud for a change.

“It’s been so long since we saw a real Tyson and Hilary fight, you know" Kai turned his head just once to smirk in triumph, "They just don’t do them like that anymore.”

As he turned the doorknob, he heard Rei shuffling behind him in the kitchen at twice the speed from before, possibly hiding any sharp objects out of Hilary's reach. He suppressed another laugh before swinging the door open. In the end, Kai decided to let Rei off the hook just this once. But there was no reason for Rei to know that, instead he would enjoy keeping him guessing about when Kai would drop the bomb for the rest of the day. When he finally came face to face with Tyson, Kai made sure that Rei could hear him as he announced loudly, “Tyson, guess what-”

- x -

[thai-secret-cooking-school]

It was a hot day in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We cooked and ate the entire menu and still had room for fun!

Join me at my Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

www.Chiang-Mai-Cooking-School.com

On the menu this day was:

Papaya salad ~ Som Tam Thai

Fried Thai spring rolls ~ Po Pia Tod

Fresh & Spicy beef salad ~ Yum Nua Yang

Thai Style Noodle ~ Pad Thai

Chicken with cashew nut ~ Pad Met Ma Muang

Minced chicken with holy basil ~ Pad Ka Pao

Hot & Sour Prawn soup ~ Tom Yum Gung

Chicken in coconut milk soup ~ Tom Kha Gai

Green curry with chicken ~ Gaeng kheaw Whan Gai

Red curry chicken or pork ~ Gaeng Ped with Gai or Moo

Panaeng curry chicken or pork ~ Gaeng Panaeng Gai

Deep Fried Banana ~ Gluey Thod

Sweet sticky rice with mango ~ Khao Nuaw Ma Muang

Bua Loy ~ Colorful ~ Glutinous rice ball in coconut milk

[cursedwithwords]

teddy is the KING of side quests. give him 2 and a half years and bro has probably achieved and experienced everything life has to offer.

he was mastering muay thai in thailand and became a part of an elite martial arts force temporarily. he was volunteering at a soup kitchen and became best friends with a local druglord in the usa. he did some odd jobs in india that had him mastering specialised forms of curse breaking. he taught english at a primary school in japan for a bit and became every school kid’s reference on their resumes that he still gets calls for years later. he visited ethiopia and roomed with an old lady who taught him how to cook all the best dishes and now he’s a beast at ethiopian cuisine. he was snorting coke in a gay club in bali where he befriended every drag queen and even performed himself because his stage presence is unmatched (they’re obsessed with his metamorphing powers). he met the prime minister of canada on the street when they were walking their dog and they exchanged numbers before teddy even knew they were the PM. he got subsequently arrested and bailed out in australia for possessing illegal drugs on him. he tried out for the paraguay national football team and got rejected but not before charming one of the players mothers so much he ended up hooking up with her and becoming opps with an entire national soccer team. he broke into an abandoned, haunted psych ward in the netherlands and covered it in so much of his street art that the place looks like a work of art now instead of something to be feared.

he also got blackout drunk one night and got a stick and poke tattoo of his ballsacks ON his ballsacks in nicaragua and had to go on a whole journey to remove it four months later himself with ancient magic he learned in the most historically reverent parts of greece. all just to remove his ballsack tattoo. he never told anyone about this. the secret (and the ancient magic) dies with him. i like to think he accidentally made himself one of the most OP characters in the HPverse because of this learning curb.

This was a fucking rollercoaster to read and my favorite part about it is YOU KINDA AINT WRONG 😂😂😂😂😂 he 100% accidentally made himself OP because he was trying to figure himself out while traveling.

[wineworshipped]

🦊 June Elliot 🦊

NAME june elliot AGE 19-34, usually early 20s ORIENTATION homosexual, homoromantic PRONOUNS she/her NATIONALITY japanese-american SPECIES kitsune (can be adjusted as needed) PROFESSION a supernatural social worker bringing order where it’s needed STATUS single MYERS-BRIGGS enfp-a FACE sakura heffron, hayley kiyoko

A Young Immortal

It's a story practically as old as time: two young people meet, and fall in love, and fall apart, and the only proof beyond photos and word and memory that they were ever together gets dropped into the lap of some social workers, only to fall--hard, and repeatedly--through the cracks of the American foster system. Nobody wants a hyper kid, it turns out.

But being unwanted and feeling unloved and bouncing from house to house to house, family to family to family, school to school to school, it really fucks a kid up. Messes with their heads. She's still one of the lucky ones, June Smith, given a last name her mother never bothered to pen onto her birth certificate, but she's angry. And she has every right to be.

Fourteen years old and a troublemaker by the time she lands in her final home, June is sour. June is mean. June is wrathful, angry, troublesome, a real problem child. She skips class or she fails it. She's talks back to teachers, slips behind the bleachers, gets in fights with other kids. It's not pretty.

But she hasn't ended up in just anybody's home. He's a Thai-American, a chef, owns his own restaurants - owns a few of them, actually. Turned a profit on his own hard work. Former foster kid, too. He teaches her how to straighten up her act. He teaches her how to cook, to trust, to love, to laugh. The angry June gives way like a blistering summer day into to a June not of less passion or less feeling, but a June who enjoys the breezes and the seaside and doesn't melt the world in her wrath anymore. A mellow June. He doesn't adopt her, but she changes her last name to his anyway. It's nothing personal. Too many kids pass through his door: he can't adopt them all. But he and June click - not father and daughter, but cool uncle and eager niece, falling comfortably into step like that.

At 16 June learned her first secret, got her first job: she and her uncle worked as "supernatural social workers," helping things that weren't human find their footing in the human world, nonviolent things, good things. June learned peace and patience, just like her uncle--and two years later, June learned another thing. June learned she was kitsune, spent a year at home mastering her powers, and moved confidently out into the world thereafter. She gets a job. She gets a grip. She gets a life and a second chance to live it.

June still visits home sometimes, still works weekends as a supernatural social worker. She spends the rest of her time in the gym letting her energy out, or at music events, concerts, bars, clubs. She's young and in love with her life. She's carefree, has a high school degree and stars in her eyes. She's going to move and shake the world: just you wait.

Kitsune Lore & June

Kitsune lore essentially divides kitsune two ways: by alignment (zenko for good/benevolent foxes and yako for bad/malignant foxes) or by element - of which there are 13. These are tenets I more or less follow. Zenko and yakko are reserved for internal separations: all supernatural species know at least vaguely of these two elements and divide the kitsune between them, but they are not inherent qualities. Kitsune know, however - almost instinctively! - the deeper divisions among their species, which are based on element. Although mortals tend to classify them into 13 subcultures, there are really only five: earth, water, fire, wind/air, and void, all of which come out of traditional Japanese elemental thinking.

Although initially thought to be kasai (fire kitsune). June found out in short order that she is truly kaze, or wind. As well as granting her the ability to shift into wind, ranging anywhere from a light breeze to a hard, tornado-like gust, being kaze has also made June exceedingly light of foot and well-balanced, even for a kitsune. Kaze is all about expansion–air in the lungs, free of form, free-moving. It means June is quick to adapt and always curious, forever expanding her mind and soul in her own carefree way. June tends to prefer the freedom of running as wind to the sensation of being incorporeal as shadow, just as she tends to favor her human form over her fox.

Rather than being born foxes who later attain human forms, kitsune are spirits - and only that. The spirit of the kitsune is quick and clever, exemplified on the living plane as a fox; when it first breeches the living plane, the kitsune spirit will merge with any young spirit of the right temperament. When kitsune were more common, it was assumed they were solely Japanese due to some genetic predisposition: their dying out did directly correlate with the intermarriage of many Japanese bloodlines with international families. Now, however, it is assumed that the weakest point between the spirit and living worlds resides in Japan, and the loss of the kitsune species was due to some unrelated event in the other world. Neither theory has been confirmed or denied.

At any rate, newborn kitsune spirits could meld with any living creatures, but most commonly found hosts in both foxes and humans. Over time, the species came to recognize both forms as their living homes, and so grant the ability to shift between the two at the earning of the first tail.

Most tails are earned at 100-year intervals: however, the first tail can be granted at any point between the first and the hundredth year. The nature of the kitsune lies dormant, unrecognized and unrecognizable, until the earning of the first tail: after that point, both biological and spiritual changes force the spirit host to become kitsune. (It was always there, just not always noticeable or predictable.)

Kitsune are ultimately mortal: though naturally long-lived and immune to most worldly diseases, due to their otherwordly origins, kitsune can be injured, incapacitated, and even killed in very mortal fashions. They can live only into perpetuity on earning their hundredth tail and ascending onto a plane not unlike godhood, at which point much of their dealing on the living plane comes to an end. It is assumed they can live forever then - but it’s yet to have been proven, since no kitsune has returned to an approachable plane to make this clear.

As a single-tailed kitsune, June still has a lot to learn. Her hold on her powers is strong for one so young, but her powers themselves are relatively easy to foil. She cannot attain more powers–more elemental shifts, spiritual attacks, etc.–until she has come closer to earning her second tail.

[hils79]

Hils Watches My School President - Ep 8

These episodes really do vary in length. Some of them are less than 50 mins, this one is over an hour. I may need to pause halfway through this one and go and get some dinner :D

I see we're starting straight with the sadness. Gun's band is performing at the next stage of the competition and Tinn can't be there because he has what looks like a university interview

There is definitely going to be some kinky roleplay in their future

Oh no Tinn is back to having an imaginary Gunn talking to him

Oh, I see where this is going. Tinn is totally going to offer to 'supervise' after school band practice

By 'secret deal' do you mean 'we want to be each other's boyfriend' in which case yes

That's two dramas in a row I've watched with a team cuddle pile. I demand this in every drama I watch from now on

Haha! Oh my god Tinn has gone full horny teenager

I love that I jokingly referred to Tinn as a cop in the first episode and now here we are

Yes, definitely the only thing to do when you're about to be caught with cooking alcohol is to neck it

Are you sure about that?

Dude, she literally just went outside to look for you and it was bone dry. You are so bad at lying

I'm so invested in these two

Nooo...he guitared so hard he sprained his wrist and didn't want to tell them in case it made them sad so he's been quietly going to physical therapy by himself. MY FEELINGS.

Yeah, he can :D

I love how many Thai BLs involve the romantic gesture of putting a helmet on the boy you like. Protection is important.

So many filthy jokes I could make here

HAHA! Busted!

Oh shit now they're feeding each other. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING

Is he ever going to tell Gun why he ran for school president in the first place?

Oh no. I remember how this episode started

Gun is such a good kid. Look at him comforting Tinn who is sad he can't go and watch Gun play. I am legit tearing up over them

God, even when it's for a product placement scene they are stupidly adorable

KISS IT BETTER

Yes, I am all about the team huddles

Definitely not me crying because the two people Gun loves most are both in the audience watching him sing. Look at his happy little faaaace

Please write a song about how much you love Tinn (not Sound obv I mean Gun)

[pcttrailsidereader]

How Your Backpacking Meals Are Really Made

By Emily Pennington (excerpted from the July 14, 2024 article in Backpacker)

A faint whiff of cumin and cracked black pepper serenades my nostrils, reminiscent of the Indian spice markets I once visited in my mid-twenties. Only, I’m not in South Asia, or even the back storeroom of a hip Thai restaurant; I’m in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, touring the massive factory where Backpacker’s Pantry meals are made.

My host for the morning is Soraya Smith, the company’s president and recipe-development chef. Smith, who had always been involved on the recipe side of American Outdoor Products (the parent organization of Backpacker’s Pantry) took over as president after her husband, Rodney, died in a tragic ski accident in 2020. She’s been the face of the family-owned corporation ever since.

“I’m from a foodie family,” explained Smith. “My mom is Spanish-Italian, and my father is from Iran, so we’re very multicultural. I also went to Culinary School of the Rockies before stepping into this role.”

Our first stop was the test kitchen, where Smith pulled different dry ingredients together to experiment with new recipe ideas. To be totally honest, the various plastic bags she grabbed out of a large bin looked more like the Parmesan cheese packets you’d get for free with your pizza delivery than high-quality foodstuffs. But therein contained the secrets to my favorite post-hike meals: proprietary flavorings and mixes, which Backpacker’s Pantry makes with freeze-dried ingredients.

As we entered the factory’s enormous storeroom, I asked Smith for a refresher: What exactly is freeze drying?

Freeze-drying technology was used extensively by NASA during the space boom of the 1960s. Since freeze-dried food retains more than 90 percent of its original nutrients, it’s the best way to keep astronauts stocked with nutritious food. Better yet, the food can last for years without going bad.

When an ingredient is freeze-dried, it’s brought to an inhospitable -60°F, then back above freezing multiple times while inside a vacuum chamber. That way, only the ingredient’s water content is removed. “Some companies make a large sheet of, say, lasagna, cook it, and then dehydrate it,” Smith said. “We, on the other hand, mix each of our freeze-dried ingredients into the bag, so that when you add that boiling water, most of them are getting cooked for the first time. It’s fresher, and I think it has a better texture.”

Once workers grab individual ingredients from the palettes in the store room, they go to the dedicated mixing room, where seasonings and starches are stirred together in large tubs. The room looks like a sterile, high-tech scene out of Willy Wonka.

Here, Smith points out that the brand adheres to a strict allergen separation system. For instance, a recipe with gluten won’t get run through the machines on the same day as a gluten-free recipe to protect customers with gluten intolerances. Ditto for dairy products. (Workers clean the machines thoroughly at the end of each day by passing them through a chrome-covered, bedroom-sized industrial dishwasher.)

After mixing, the meals are mechanically portioned out by category—sauce, starch, meat, and vegetable—then sealed by hand. Workers sample the meals throughout the day, preparing a baggie to taste-test at the beginning, middle, and end of each run. The goal is to ensure the flavors remain consistent throughout. Forks and counter space are set aside in the test kitchen for this specific purpose. If something doesn’t taste right, they ditch the batch and correct it.

The Backpacker’s Pantry factory produces thousands of meals each day. Once the day’s meals get sealed, boxed, and quality checked, they head into a gigantic storeroom, which then ships the products to big retailers, like REI, as well as directly to consumers.

As I closed the huge warehouse doors behind me and concluded my tour, I was surprised to feel tremendously better about all that just-add-water food I’d been eating. The ingredients were both fresher than I’d imagined and more rigorously quality-checked. Ninety percent of their original nutrients, huh? Heck, maybe I’ll toss a couple under my desk to eat in the office.