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absolutebl · 5 months ago

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Meet You At the Blossom - Watch Along

Maybe a trash watch? We will find out.

But first what do we know about this show?

Well, I can't for the life of me remember the title. The article placement it too weird so it will henceforth be called Blossom okay?

Here's what I learned from @renafire

Duck daddy!!!!! I bring news! China didn't kill the gays! Meet You at the Blossom is an HEA! Golden retriever XiaoBao x ice prince Huaien (who gets the shit stabbed out of him an awful lot for being a ML). A side CP of dumb, pretty bodyguard x eccentric doctor. The background plot was basically a bunch of middle age men fighting about the ML's long dead mother. Needles! So many needles! (It was practically a sickfic tbh) Flapping sleeves! Flowing hair! Poison! Politics! A villain weirdly into kites! Prisoners in chains you can easily slip your hand through! Dimples! Loyal bodyguards becoming family! It's not the best thing ever, but it ends happily! There was even a line about "true love has nothing to do with gender" which I feel like is a big deal for something associated with China?

This convinced me to watch, so I thought I'd just post it verbatim to convince you, too.

So I'd refused to watch Blossom because I assumed the leads would die or at least be torn asunder at the end, and that there would be no kisses.

So this Watch Along is going to be me eating crow.

China pretty much always does censored BL (when they do it at all) since 2017 or so. You can watch something like My E-Sports Genius Brother for the style of "happy but censored BL" that I've grown to expect from China. (Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.)

They didn't used to do this! Time once was that China was this chaotic minefield of tasty mess meets terrible tropes (like kidnapping, stepbrothers, rape, whipping boy, and dub con). I had a weird love for it at the time because it was the Wild Wild World of BL beck then and I didn't know to expect better.

I come from 90s Yaoi. Remember?

Ah the bad old days. (You can read a history of CBL here. Not updated in ages.)

Where was I?

So, what I knew about Blossom was that it was a Wuxia BL and that it was made with Thailand, or for Thailand, or something to do with Thailand (there is Thai script on the promo material) and that it wasn't being distributed inside Mainland China. (I still worry about the actors but that's kinda a natural state for me and BL outside of Japan.)

Outside of China Blossom got wide distribution showing up everywhere iQIYI (China based), Viki (Japan based), Gaga (Taiwan based) WeTV (US Based) and YouTube (Thai Channel Artop Media is serving it).

It also looks like Heavenly is involved and they are Korea based. So like, everyone had their mitts on this thing. We live in crazy times.

Okay so, here are my 20 expectations:

Pony tails with a ribbon or two

Lots of questionable older tropes, especially dub-con & kidnapping (the herb that makes you horny maybe?)

Flowing filmy robes wafting everywhere

EXTREMELY PRETTY men, costumes, make up, setting... well, everything

No consent whatsoever

Pokey pokey, but not with the right kind of swords (a naked blade will be grabbed by a naked hand, sadly also not in the preferred way)

A bodyguard hotter than he has any right to be, wearing black

Floaty fighty fighty, including but not limited to: skid backwards through puffs of dust, a leap to land + one knee down + holding sword + head bowed, a twirly protect baby from baddies

A boat in a lotus pond

Poison, probably green, glittery if I'm lucky

Circular architecture

A big fuck off fan

Puppy-cat pairing

They wander through bamboo, sit down at the edge of a lake, probubly on a log

Wound tending, of course, because there will be lots of wounds

Someone pushed onto a platform bed (also kneeling in front of it)

A jail with straw in it

Older men with sparse beards detracting from the romance

Fruit or some other food being thrown

Some serious SLEEVE action.

Li Le as Zong Zheng Huai En

Probably the reserved unhinged one. Has sword, will prod.

He has a solid track record of shows under his belt. So to speak. One wonders how they persuaded him to do BL. He sure is pretty tho.

Wang Yun Kai as Jin Xiao Bao

The son of the wealthiest man in the Jiangnan region, probably the cheerful cute one.

He's an entirely green actor.

Most of the cast is from mainland China, with the exception of Achi Sukonlaphat Sribubpha, who is Thai (obvs) and under Artop Media.

Nancy Chen is directing

She is a Taiwanese director and screenwriter, who directed HIStory 4 and HIStory 5 (neither all that great) and was behind very queer friendly Pappy & Daddy.

I wouldn't call her a stellar director. I would say I've been reserving judgement, but if you pin me down I'd call her Taiwan's New.

Pitch

Xiao Bao (cute) falls in love with icy, white-robed stunner Huai En due to an unexpected meeting. Discovers she is actually a boy (and a baddie). Hijinx ensue.

Adapted from the novel Hua Kai You Shi Tui Mi Wu Sheng 花开有时, 颓靡无声 by Shui Qian Cheng 水千丞

Co-production with China and Taiwan. But the country of origin is listed as Thailand.

12 Episodes, 40 min each (or so) for a total fresh content run time of 8 hours.

Aired: Jul 11, 2024 - Aug 15, 2024 on iQiyi, Viki, WeTV, Gaga

Shall we get started?

I had a surfeit of options since Viki, Gaga, and iQIYI all had Blossom. I like Viki's interface best, want to support Gaga the most, but in this case, I opted for iQIYI because... screen shots. So it's all your fault.

EPISODE 1: Nicknames, pretty men, dimples, twirly, stabby, floof!

I don't like the intro music, it's too slow and tinkly, but classic for the genre I suppose. Still I'm fast forwarding through all the falling cherry blossoms.

All right. Now it's about time for... YES...

Emperor Infodump

Chancellor of Extraneous Explanations

As You Know Bo

Sorry sorry. The puns must flow.

The deets: layabout emperor = chaos & suffering. New emp = strong & popular but his baby bro wants to rule. New emp exiles bro to obscurity. New emp = good ruler. Order established through patriarchal dominance. Children laughing in the street. Got it.

I will not be remembering names, FYI.

We open on kid in trouble over a kite killed(?) by baddie.

Enter pretty spangled skippy puppy McDimples. I shall call him Dimples. Dimples = spoiled rich kid having trouble finding a wife - presumably because they all know he gay.

Enter hottie evil cut-glass cheekbones McPoutypants. Haven't decided what I shall call him. It'll come to me.

Extremely pretty men. CHECK.

Ooo, a big hat on horse back!

Of course, how could I not have had that trope on my checklist? My bad.

And a bunch of assassins slow-dropping out of trees like lazy fruit. I forgot that, too.

I gotta say, fairy prince or high elf is not a bad moniker for twirly-sword cheekbones supreme.

Floaty fighty fighty! CHECK

Oh, I thought they'd go in for crossdressing at the very least but I guess they went for Dimples is an idiot instead. Interesting choice. I see we also have the "baby is a clumsy bunny" trope all set to deploy. Carry on.

Grab the sword and skid through the dirt. CHECK!

And a fainting!

Pony tail with ribbons. CHECK

Dimples might be a bit too much of a prat and an idiot for me.

[Have begun watching at 1.25 speed. Don't fault me.]

I always find the orange/yellow eye makeup that Cdramas put on characters of questionable morality fascinating. Why those colors specifically? And why eye makeup specifically?

We arrive home. It fancy. Daddy doesn't want an unknown lady for his baby (silly daddy, ladies are for ladies, boys are for boys).

Everyone acknowledging that elf prince is, in fact, The Prettiest is very pleasing to me.

Meanwhile, there is some kind of list/stuff/thingy and Prince Shen wants it and is a bad guy, maybe? I can't remember names from the beginning so I have no idea what's going on with the plot but also, it is only going to get more convoluted. Plus the weekend is coming so I'll eventually be drinking and watching this. Plot is for people who don't like BL. And don't have six bottles of sake in their fridge.

Snicker.

Where was I?

Oh yes. Judiciously NOT following the plot.

Dimples and his 2 enablers seem to share about 1/3 of a braincell between them. But they're sincere about it.

Engage secret identity trope and the expected cross dressing.

Ooo Shen is The Prettiest's uncle? Damn it I'm trying to follow the plot again. Must not get sucked into plot. This is a Cdrama therein lies madness. Ah, Prettiest is the son of the emperor's exiled younger bro? Got it.

Twirly protect baby from baddies! CHECK

And that's episode 1 in the bag. In the sheath?

My thoughts so far:

This couldn't be more exactly what I expected if it tried. I mean it is trying. And it's succeeding in being a Wuxia BL. So. Yay! Performing to the packaging. I appreciate that in a show.

I'm looking forward to more.

(On the advice of one of my spies I've switched to watching on YT when I can, YT and Gaga are supposed to have the better subs than iQIYI and Viki. That said I found iQIYI's serviceable.)

EPISODE 2: Checking a bunch of stuff off my list in rapid succession

Poisoning?

No. Sex herb? CHECK

Discovery that she is in fact he?

Dominance Tussle? Dub con? Rape? Already? CHECK

Well that came fast (presumably so did he).

There’s a lot happening all at once at the beginning of just ep 2.

It’s an ACCOUNT BOOK that’s causing all this fuss? Hilarious.

Enter the anticipated hottie (bodyguard? spy?) in all black wearing a hedgehog. CHECK

(I didn’t expect the hedgehog, I have to admit.)

Oh is the single brain cell society is trying to grow additional brain cells? That's not gonna work.

Cheekbones is still the prettiest.

Oh HELLO stern grabby Daddy not-older brother of yummy. We likey.

Who do you belong to?

Why do you have The Biggest Sleeves?

Do I take that as a sign of gayness?

Please?

Ooo looks like I’m right.

Also this is very silly.

And "I never said she was a woman."

It’s just so funny.

OH NO!

Stern prince bro is leaving already?

I only had Grabby McDaddy for a very short length of time. I already miss him.

Meanwhile, Dimples apparently has no compunction about being in love with a man, we blew through a bisexual identity crisis while I wasn't looking, and now we exist inside the gay=okay bubble? I did not expect The Bubble(tm) to show up in a Wuxia, but I guess this is a BL universe and we all just float around in it…

Cheekbones is a bit of an asshole. Quite apart from the, ya know, bit of rapey rape thing.

I also did not have absolutely terrible VO dubbing on my bingo card. I forgot about that one in Cdramas.

EPISODE 3: Distracted by the pretty

Some kind of dark past for dimples and his little (not blood ) sister.

Sniff test, the greatest trope of 2024 apparently. Nice to see the execution of a modern trope in a vintage style BL.

Aa ha! Kneeling next to a platform bed. CHECK

And more poisoning and drugs.

Wound tending. CHECK

Aweeeee Dimples is worried about Cheekbones! How cute.

Also, the ice queen appears to be melting.

Ooo. More sexitimes? Consensual this time. Okay. I guess Taiwan did get its nuts all over this show. (Honestly, that was a mistype but I'm keeping it in.)

The bit with all the bodyguards was great.

And my love for Mr. All-Black Clued-in Hottie persists.

We are now in the “does he like me back?” phase of the high school narrative. We are also in the "do I like him at all?" part of the narrative. Suddenly, this is an angsty YA.

Ice queen has melted and is now turning into jelly. (Can you tell I’m very pleased with myself and this metaphor?)

And now, Dimples is sick?

Boy, is this fast moving! I have to say, that is something I did not expect at all. Usually Cdramas are much slower than this.

I do love how shameless D imples is. It’s kind of delightful. He’s definitely in his bisexual awakening slut phase.

Cheekbones is also a doctor, apparently. Useful man.

In other news: I would really like to add a full length crossover wafting robe into my wardrobe. I have no idea why I feel compelled by such a thing.

EPISODE 4: Gay sleeves AT last

Not a lot happened in this episode. Mostly flirting. More backstory and plot that doesn’t really matter. Presumably this intended to be character motivation?

We do not need him to be motivated we need him to be pretty. Understand the brief please.

Why no more floaty floaty sleeves?

Oooo, because sleeves in gay! CHECK

I did like the scene of the blood being cleaned up after the assassination attempt(?). It’s kind of nice to see that depicted for a change. I always worry about all that blood on that nice stone work.

Oh the handholding it was very cute.

Ice queen has melted and now turned entirely to jelly. Very very jelly.

Dimples is so stupid proud of his tall deadly wife. It's flipping adorable in a very goofy way.

I guess Cheekbones has come around and now Dimples has officially been claimed, multiple times and in multiple ways. He can't change his mind or anything now. Trouble is afoot...

asleeve?

ahead...

ahem.

I'll stop now.

EPISODE 5 - It is a Thing I guess?

OMG Cheekbones just loves his stilly bint of a bf. It’s absolutely absurd. The ultimate puppy/cat pairing.

I love it that he’s just casually walking around with a knife sticking out of his back and only cares that baby may have gotten a splinter in his finger.

Now we are in the vows portion of the early romance. I am assuming betrayal is coming soon?

Grabby McDaddy! I missed you! Here to perform the part of Basil Exposition I see? No grabby for me? Sad. Unfortunately, if you aren’t flirting with a man I’m going to be fast forwarding. Although your sleeves are very nice.

Uh oh, Dimples is in trouble.

Okay that was that. No screen caps, I lazy.

EPISODE 6 - DOOOMMMM

Oh lovely. More rape. I guess Dimples went looking for that response? Is that the implication? Does Dimples have a rape kink? What is with this show?

No brothels for a baby I guess.

It’s not gay... it’s poison?

It’s not bisexuality... it’s the slut herb?

The single brain cell club is now the wailing fates.

I guess cutting off a man’s hand out of jealousy is no biggie? Well this is a BL. Jealousy is the #1 excuse!

Fighty floaty blood spatter death! This time on wooden planks. Those are impossible to get clean.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of backstory and stuff I don’t care about, and probably can’t follow even if I did care about it.

I don’t like the Emperor at all. But then I don’t think I meant to. I am a little shocked that there aren’t more men with sparse beards distracting from the romance. But I guess this is a BL, they go for youth even in wuxia.

EPISODE 7 - You know what they say about a man with big sleeves?

Oh, Daddy McGrabby is back and he's a good guy (?)! He’s also in love with Dimples.

Oh no!

What is this sensation I feel being thrust upon me?

Is that…? Is that second lead syndrome? I think it is.

Oh well, it was fated the moment I saw the length of his... sleeves in episode 2.

Meanwhile?

Dimples gets tortured by acupuncture.

Poisonings are always so elegant and classy in Cdramas.

Blah blah captured rescued captured rescued again sort of. Cheekbones is now seriously imperiled. We swap one for the other in Grave Danger (TM).

Enter the Divine Doctor character! Who (Dr) I have been told reliably by previous witnesses is A Favorite. I do love this particular archetype (quirky healer wise beyond his years - sometimes actual immortal. ) I am prepared to be delighted.

EPISODE 8 - Divine Doctor is Emperor of the Gays

The divine doctor and 1/3 brain cell is not a pairing I thought was going to happen. Frankly it doesn't seem like the writers thought about it much either.

But it did make me laugh out loud.

It’s fantastic. I love them. I love this for me. I love a secondary couple for this show. Carry-on.

I LOVE THE DOCTOR SO MUCH.

Everyone was absolutely correct. He is the best character. He is my favorite. He is openly gay and a troublemaker and absolute queen. And I adore him forever. No notes.

King Emperor behavior!

The evil crown prince has a crush on Daddy McGrabby. With good reason, he does have the biggest sleeves.

(I have a crush on Daddy McGrabby.) And he clearly likes brats, so I think the crown prince is in with a chance, actually.

(Not me, sadly. Despite the rumors I am not a brat. I make no case for this.)

EPISODE 9 - The Plot Thickens like Shampoo

Oh, Cheekbones is the new crown prince? We have a whole Snape situation going on here?

And finally Cheekbone knows what is happened to his poor little tortured Dimples. (oof that acting tho. before you say "what acting" i KNOW.)

In all honesty, I’m quite engaged by the drama of the show at this point and kind of losing my snark because of it. Don't get mad at me.

It’s not a bad show. I mean it’s a melodramatic soap opera, but that’s to be expected. It's so soapy it's like one of those extra foamy soap dispenser soaps.

To be entirely fair most gay men of my acquaintances have very similar relationship trajectories. Minus some of the casual murder (aside from character assassinations of course).

EPISODE 10 - Oh Noes All Round

Not enough of my beloved divine doctor emperor of the gays. But you can’t have everything.

Oh noes, my babies are fighting.

But he brought you a big thistle! Don't fight!

Oh they get to kind of make up, or something. It’s sweet. Puppy Dimples accidentally caught himself a psychopath. To be fair tho, all cats are psychopaths at heart.

Oh noes Daddy McGrabby is planning on killing Cheekbones. No Daddy. Not the Cheekbones!

The cheek kiss from Cheekbones was so romantic. Normally I’m not a huge fan of this particular smooch, but under these circumstances it was very good.

EPISODE 11 - So Many Gay Emperors no one cares about the actual emperor

I wish I could shut somebody up by a simple double tap to the collarbone. It’s like the wuxia version of a block feature on tumblr.

Meanwhile, the part where 2/3 of a brain cell are comparing how hot their respective fierce gay emperors are to each other is truly hilarious. I actually clapped.

This is so ridiculous.

Epic eye roll from the remaining 1/3 of a brain cell. And I have to say I’m on his side in this matter.

Oh noes Daddy McGrabby is not, in fact, on the side of twrew lurve after all.

How sad.

EPISODE 12 - The Bisexual In the Bathtub & other nursery rhymes of my youth

I love this silly bint of a bisexual in the bath between two fierce gay dudes who are about to give their life force to keep him alive.

Someone definitely once drew this as Lord of the Rings fanart 20 years ago.

I guess our single brain cell has been torn asunder. And Daddy McGrabby never did get his man.

Next series?

Bing him back to me.

With EVEN BIGGER SLEEVES!

IN CONCLUSION

All cards on the table?

This was undeniably a wuxia and most definitely a BL.

Evil stunning princely Cheekbones meets and falls in love with the bisexual Disaster dimples of his dreams. There’s a lot of floaty fighting, tangled plot, and overworked emotions. From start to finish it was exactly as it claimed to be, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming.

I’m not wild about the wuxia genre, but I will tell you what I do like:

Very pretty men in flowing robes + eye makeup + hair ribbons wafting about stabbing and kissing each other plus ridiculous soap opera machinations. I also like cheekbones and dimples. AND I love a stupid gay sleeve, okay? There was also truly epic levels of stink-eye, and that too is to be lauded.

This show left me grinning like crazy. Was it great? Not really, but it was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely.

I’m so glad you all persuaded me to watch it in the end.

Thank you!

I should probably give it an 9/10 because I had such a good time watching it. But I’m not going to, because it isn’t a 9/10 drama. It had a lot of flaws chewing at that pretty (boom mic riddled) scenery, not to mention all the rapey rape.

It’s a solid 8/10

(source)

#ABL trash watches BL #ABL trash watch #well sort of a trash watch #Meet You at the Blossom #Chinese BL #Taiwanese BL #Thai BL #BL watch along #ABL binge watches BL #Li Le #Wang Yun Kai #Nancy Chen #Hua Kai You Shi Tui Mi Wu Sheng

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moonlightsdream · 1 year ago

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FILMS IN 2023: → Bad Genius ฉลาดเกมส์โกง (2017) — dir. Baz Nattawut Poonpiriya

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nobie · 9 months ago

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I need to talk about Morgan Elsbeth and the connection to Thrawn. Along with some other questionable narrative choices Filoni has made with Thrawn.

I want to preface, this is not going to be a hating Morgan Elsbeth post nor hating on the actress or any bts production of her character. There is enough hate towards characters like this in this fandom and I will not be perpetuating that (take that negativity somewhere else). I only want this to be an open discussion on this part of Thrawn's story.

Morgan is a character that has been placed into Thrawn's canon timeline. She was not written in (everything is written obvs but let me explain). The distinction I want to make between those narrative ideas is, placing a character into a story means they are important in supporting the main character, but no one cares if they are replaced or removed from the story. Writing a character into the story means they are so important to the direct development of the mc, if they are replaced or removed it feels like a piece of that character is missing. Some examples for Thrawn would be Eli Vanto or Ar'alani. Morgan was removed from the story in the Ahsoka series and it didn't even effect Thrawn himself.

So why create this character and push a narrative that makes her seem like the most important part of the story? Like without her Thrawn wouldn't be able to get back to the galaxy? Thrawn is a genius, a warrior, and a survivor. He could've figure that out himself, or with the help of Ezra (an established character that the audience loves). Instead he's had to rely on Morgan.

This is where my qualm with Dave Filoni comes into play. I love Filoni's work he has created some of my favorite stories in the Star Wars franchise. But he does one thing that I despise. Ignores the work of amazing authors. In this case Timothy Zahn. I can't say for sure that he hasn't read the Ascendancy Trilogy or the Thrawn (2017) trilogy, but it feels like it when analyzing Filoni's characterization of Thrawn. If he did read those books or least consulted Zahn on them he would know Thrawn's true motives for what he does. He is a protector for the greater good. He goes against many higher powers to make the right choice, not the good or bad choices. He shows the characters around him time and time again that he will always do what is right even if it means his downfall. He is not a villain in his own story just himself, not good or bad, the one in the middle. He evolves, learns, observes, and understands things on a completely different level. And we only see a sliver of this characterization in Filoni's story. I understand the narrative built around Thrawn being the ultimate villain for the ghost crew because a good story like this should have an interesting dynamic between protagonist and antagonist. But the fact that you'd have to read his books to know who he is, is a clear indication to me that his novel characterization wasn't researched enough.

It also shows me that Filoni favors the legends version of Thrawn more. Especially with the inclusion of Pellaeon in Tales of the Empire and not Eli Vanto. Who could have easily been placed into that role. Although, he his Thrawn's aide he can and has done things like that for Thrawn.

Now in Tales of the Empire we see that he isn't the original creator of the TIE Defender. Trying to place Morgan into a characters story that is so beloved [Thrawn] feels so forced through this idea that she created the TIE Defender. Why would someone who is trying to get revenge for her people go to the Empire with an idea like this. If she is so angry why she is relying on someone else's power to get her revenge? And even when she got in the good graces of the Empire with Thrawn what came of it? The Defender project was ruined, shouldn't her allegiance to Thrawn be in ruin too. The deal they made implied she would get what she wanted, but she never did and was still loyal to him. Thrawn does have this quality about him though, you'd follow him off a cliff, the gravity in which he attracts people to his cause is so alluring. But that still doesn't explain where Morgans revenge story went. And in the end she really does feel like a character that can be replaced.

Trying to make a character that was placed into the story important to the audience does a disservice to the story as a whole. Thrawn has an established world of characters in the novels that are readily available to use in the narrative. So why aren't they in it? Eli especially in one I cannot ignore the absence of. From the moment Thrawn is found in exile Eli does not leave his side. Eli follows him into battle again and again. Even after realzing his initial career choice will amount to nothing now that Thrawn has taken over his duty in the Imperial Navy. Thrawn himself says "you hold my words in your hand, and their meanings," and although that was in relation to his survival with the Empire it still held true throughout the story. Eli is an extension of Thrawn, whatever is said to Eli is said to Thrawn and vise versa. So where is he?

(Ok that's all my ramblings for now. Hopefully this made sense. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the tags or replies. Thrawn was the first sw novel I read, I'm fiercely protective of him. So when his characterization is kinda ruined like this it upsets me. But I'm always excited to see him in any media and hear that silky voice of his, thank you lars.)

#thrawn #thrawn 2017 #eli vanto #star wars #sw novels #morgan elsbeth #ahsoka series #tales of the empire #tote spoilers #sw spoilers #long post #nobie does stuff

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vibratingskull · 8 days ago

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Hello there, I dunno if you remember but I'm anon who wrote in to you recently saying that I'm relatively new to the Thrawn fandom (I was asking about what clothes he wears other than his uniform lol).

I just wanted to ask your opinion on the differences the differences between different versions of the character (If that's OK?).

I understand that he is still a villain of the story (I mean he does still work for the Empire at the end of the day) but the scale of villainy seems to slide around depending on which interpretation.

The new canon books, is depicted as being more "grey area ish" in general and seems to be the "best of a bad bunch" kind of with regards to imperial officers. (While obviously still being party to some pretty terrible things).

I've not read Heir to the Empire or the other Legends books but I was reading about that story and he seems much more straight up villainous in that series it seemed like a big contrast?

I know that in Rebels, he also comes across as more evil, but from what I've seen online, most people seem to think that it's an inconsistency between Tim Zahns writing and Filonis?

I understand that this has been debated a fair bit online. I was just curious to hear your take as I like your works :) Do you think there's some retconning involved, or is it dependant on the perspective of who's telling the story? Or who is in charge of writing the media eg Tim Zahn vs Filoni?

Like I said I'm still a bit newish to Thrawn so still figuring it out 😅 .

This turned out to be longer than I expected lol. Feel free to ignore if you don't feel like responding 🙃

huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh... I'll be honest I am terrible at this kind of exercise, so 'I'll try to be concise and actually make sense 😅

I feel like Tim and Fil write him differently (I'm team book forever), but it is a timeline question: Where Thrawn is in his life, and in what context he is.

Its just that Fil write him like he was in the first trilogy (Heir of the Empire) of Legends when he is older and in a very specific context while Tim had the occasion to write him at different stage of life and confronts differents ideal, political structures and ideas.

Young Thrawn has a spark you wish would not go extinct while Older Thrawn is wiser in the way of wars, way more experienced in life and battles. They wrote him at two very different points of his life.

We also need to consider the context: Rebels/Heir to the Empire/Ashoka are from the Rebellion pov, Thrawn IS an enemy, the man to kill, we do not come to those medias to root for the villains but to have the comforting confirmation that Good will prevail over Evil, so why waste time fleshing the big bad guy in a more sympathetic life?

Thrawn 2017 and Thrawn Ascendancy however are from Thrawn's friends Pov, Ar'alani, Samakro, Vanto, Faro... People he knew personally and bonded with, their recollection will be way more sympathetic and forgiving of his actions.

What I find interesting is that the idea of a younger more merciful Thrawn dates back from Legends in fact! Thrawn's personality from Outbound Flight (very good book, highly recommend) is very reminiscent of the two new trilogies, especially Ascendancy because the context and timeline match.

So Tim really had in mind that this promising young man, this military genius who was ready to welcome and help humans on his ship, to help an endangered species to reclaim their own planet (with ulterior motives, granted) while the rest of his species would just kick them out or take them as slave for themself will someday turn into that old Admiral with nothing less to lose, ready to destroy entire worlds for his own goals and reduce entire species into slavery.

And it is at that point of the timeline that Filoni starts to use Thrawn for canon Star Wars.

Does that mean that Filoni really understood Thrawn character? No, not really. I think he understood him on a shallow level, he did say he did not read the last trilogies, probably not Outbound Flight either, only Heir to the Empire when he is """at his worse"""

Like do I think book Thrawn would have allied himself with witches? No

Would I think he would be okay to trap his soldiers in an endless loop of dying/resurrection to keep fighting until he can escape? HELL NO

Did I facepalmed myself watching Ashoka? More than once.

But Tim said in interviews he liked Filoni's interpretation of his character, so what do I know? (also we don't know how free Tim was to say his real opinion during the interviews, so take it with a grain of salt.)

Filoni may play all he wants with Thrawn, but he cannot take my books away from me and I'll keep re-reading and cheering for the bad blue guy till my death

TLDR : They write him at completely different points of his life and Filoni's grasp on the character is very shallow

#anon being cute #thrawn #vibratingskull speak

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thomaskong · 8 months ago

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i'd be interested in your recent movie list - it's nice to hear what people are watching 🥰

OOOHHH thank you for asking!!! This gives me the perfect excuse 2 talk abt some of my favs ty hehe <3 The genres, years, countries, etc. might be wildly different and there’s no particular order to what I’m gonna list but here we go:

1. The Spook Who Sat by the Door

Ivan Dixon; action/political drama; America; 1973

EVERYONE needs to watch this honestly… it’s probably my favorite film I’ve seen this year. The movie’s about the first Black man, Dan Freeman, to be trained by the CIA, who then quits and takes the techniques he’s learned to create a team of Black youths to fight for freedom and against racism. Even though it’s a fictional plot, the real FBI pulled it from theaters for being too radical, and it has indeed been described as “the only true Black radical movie ever made.” I seriously can’t recommend it enough

2. Medicine for Melancholy

Barry Jenkins; romance/drama; America; 2008

If you’re familiar with Moonlight, you already know this filmmaker. Medicine for Melancholy is Barry Jenkins’ first film, about the romance between Jo and Micah after a one night stand that takes place in San Francisco. Some things I like about it are the ways the city and its racial issues so heavily influence the characters’ relationship so much so that it essentially becomes a character in itself. Since this is Jenkins’ first film, the budget was smaller ($15k) and it has a different feel from his newer movies which I personally really liked

3. They Cloned Tyrone

Juel Taylor; sci-fi/mystery; America; 2023

This movie was released on barbenheimer day and was WAY BETTER THAN BOTH OF THEM!!!! When Fontaine, a drug dealer played by John Boyega, seemingly gets shot and killed, Slick, a pimp, is shocked to see him walking around the next day as if nothing happened. Together, Slick, Fontaine, and Yo-Yo, a sex worker, work to uncover what actually happened and find that it’s much bigger than they could’ve imagined. This is a FANTASTIC sci-fi film with some fantastic writing (a lot of great one-liners lmao) and all the actors do amazingly. Also, the title goes hard!

4. Bad Genius

Baz Nattuwat; thriller; Thailand; 2017

I literally watched this last night (happy birthday Nonkul!) lol. In this movie the character Lynn gets paid to work with her friends to help other high school students cheat on tests. When I tell you this had me SWEATING from stress. It was very entertaining, I really liked the way it was shot and how it consistently kept the tension up

5. Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee; drama/comedy; America; 1989

Taking place on an unbearably hot summer day, racial tensions rise between the Black civilians and the Italian owners of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. This is a v famous movie, directed by Spike Lee, and honestly many of the themes still ring true today

6. Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley; sci-fi/comedy; America; 2018

Set in the Oakland, Cassius Green becomes a telemarketer and uses a “white voice” to do better at his job. But when his coworkers form a union, he decides to take a promotion instead, leading to unexpected consequences. I don’t want to spoil anything, and this is another famous movie that many people have probably already seen and have probably been spoiled BUT. there is a crazy twist. I really enjoyed the messages and craziness this movie had to offer

7. Marry My Dead Body

Cheng Wei Hao; comedy/mystery; Taiwan; 2022

I saw this with my friend on my birthday and honestly it could not have been a better way to watch it. A homophobic cop accidentally gets into an arranged marriage with a dead gay ghost. Is that not one of the best plot descriptions u have ever heard. It’s horror, it’s comedy, it’s gay, it’s a romance (TO ME! And like everyone else who watched it)… WHAT MORE COULD U WANT!! It gave me a similar feeling as Secrets in the Hot Spring & Pee Mak, two movies that somehow seem to cover So Many Genres & that I love sooo much (the former is my fav movie ever). I literally laughed so hard I almost peed myself at times <3

Other than that some other movies I watched & enjoyed this year are: Love Lies Bleeding (2024), Claudine (1974), Eve’s Bayou (1997), and Bottoms (2023). I don’t wanna make this too long so I’ll stop it here but I hope you enjoy these films too if you decide to watch any!!

#aaaahhhh sorry this took a hot min to post I wanted to give good descriptions (I hope they’re good lol)#also I kno I said there’s no order but the spook who sat by the door & marry my dead body are my top two!#I REALLY recommend the spook considering it’s an older movie and more people should know about it!#the spook who sat by the door #medicine for melancholy #they cloned tyrone #bad genius #do the right thing #sorry to bother you #marry my dead body #ask #b.txt

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clairedaring · 4 months ago

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I… never… told anyone that I woke up in a landfill! Now you know what I'm mad about! All of you set me up, right? You guys set me up so I wouldn't get the scholarship, right? You were all in it, right? You guys knew, right? You knew, right? You knew, right? Why the fuck aren't you answering? Bank, Bank, Bank, Bank, Bank. Calm down, Bank. I don't want to fucking hear what you have to say!

BAD GENIUS (2017) dir. Baz Nattawut Poonpiriya

#nonkul chanon #james teeradon #bad genius #lakornedit #usertoptaps #asiandramanet #dailyasiandramas #thai drama #thaidrama #thaidramaedit #badgenedit #lakornsource #clairedgifs #this film birthed insane actors #i dont think the us remake could surpass this #the tv series did better overall but the chemistry between non and james hit different #acting-wise jaonaay had more room to showcase than nonkul but look at nonkul working with the limited screentime and writing he had #james and nonkul in a dramatic gdh film again I BEG

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phannieconfession · 3 months ago

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I'm so tired of people complaining about the shipping and quoting what Dan said in BIG as a reason why we shouldn't "speculate" about their relationship. "Dan confirmed that they were dating in the past but...blah blah blah". That was THEN this is NOW. If you can't see that dnp are deliberately leading us to the conclusion that they're in a romantic relationship, then I'm sorry, but you're a bit dense. How many times do they have to say they no longer give a fuck? You're not morally superior for not picking up what they're putting down. As for people who say that dnp are just shipbaiting...you're not some genius who has it all figured out. You're a cynical asshole who's just repeating the "queerbaiting" argument that people made in 2017/18. An argument that clearly hurt them. Some of you have no empathy for dnp. You'd rather assign bad intentions to them than consider that they might be ready to open up about their relationship, but need to ease into it to feel comfortable, just like they did their sexualities. Both the white knights who think they need to defend dnp against the evil phan shippers and the shipbaiting truthers need to loosen up. It's not 2015 anymore. Dnp are out and proud. They're tagging phan. They're making marriage jokes. They're playing the Newly Weds game on the gaming channel without any qualifiers. Just have fun with it! Dnp clearly are.

..🤔

#anonymous ask #phannie confession #dan and phil #phan

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poomphuripan · 10 months ago

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240327 My Stand-In color grading seems to be done at White Light Post Studio

Notable color grading works of White Light Post

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Girl From Nowhere (2018)

Great Men Academy (2019)

My Ambulance (2019)

Bad Genius (2020)

KinnPorsche (2022)

Man Suang (2023)

Intern In My Heart (2024)

Ready Set Love (2024)

All GDH films

#my stand in the series #my stand in #my stand-in #professional body double #thai bl

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horse-girl-anthy · 12 days ago

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hello! wanted to say that despite your hesitation, your ‘ramble’ post was really refreshing and echoed some aspects of fandom discourse that I’ve also seen w/in fandom circles.

I’m actually less familiar w/ RGU fandom than others, but since getting back into fandom generally during the pandemic, there does seem to be a trend of ppl oversimplifying character dynamics and intensely focusing which characters are the “victims” and which are the “villains.” it feels different from what I remember as a teen in fandom—and it really constrains fandom analysis & leads to same-y, boring character interpretations :// I hesitate to generalize but it does seem concerning that ppl are so focused around valorizing characters for being, as you say, “morally pure,” by whitewashing their actions instead of engaging w/ complicated characters as they are; it’s a rather immature view of responsibility & morality, you know? oh, and speaking of, I’d be curious if you’d be willing to share the essay you read around "vilification and heroization" as the lowest form of engagement with fiction. it sounds v interesting!

anyway, I’ve really enjoyed your analyses w/ RGU. and hey, it’s good to have multiple perspectives w/in fandom too :)

hey thanks for the ask! you've described the phenomenon well. I've been frustrated by it--clearly--but at the same time, I wonder if there's a point in fighting people over it. at the end of the day, fandom is about self-gratification. that self-gratification is often achieved through identifying with characters. on a more sophisticated level, some people turn fandom into a political battleground where they are gratified by having the most enlightened reading. I want to move past self-gratification, but sitting around complaining about how "no one else gets it" is just another form of it. which is part of why I think the solution lies in not engaging in fandom anymore.

I was talking to a friend of mine about these topics this week, and I was like, I've been obsessed with media since I was a child and studying media criticism since I was a teen. it's something I really enjoy, and "media literacy" is an important skill in a world so dominated by media. but I don't know if it's actually that important in terms of living. maybe I'll put it this way: I want to increase my ability to appreciate art so that I can get more out of it, but at the end of the day, "analysis" is a hobby. I want to do it because it's fun, not to try to gain any kind of superiority.

I will keep pursuing this interest of mine even when I'm done running this blog. not to sound too desperate, but I am dying to have interesting conversations about this stuff, it's my dream to build a community around it, so please feel free to reach out any time! I'll be self-indulgent and list a couple of the more interesting analysis sources I've found recently:

RedSails.Org is a Marxist site which seems to accumulate articles from around the internet. I was searching for critiques of Breaking Bad because it ate my brain alive back in 2017 and I'm still trying to articulate why. I found this article interesting, though kinda weird, and it's where I got the "vilification and heroization" thing from. that led me to read through their entire Art and Propaganda tag. I particularly liked this piece on Ender's Game and the one titled The Banality of Genius.

PsyArt is an academic journal which focuses on the intersection of psychology and art. I found it recently while researching Freud's views on mother/daughter relationships (specifically this article). I've been happily digging through their archives since and that's led me down several research rabbit holes.

anyway, I'll leave it there, but I am super happy to talk about this stuff any time. thank you for reaching out and giving me the opportunity to run my mouth some more.

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mariacallous · 3 months ago

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It is a study in contrasts—and of just how dysfunctional the U.S. political system has become, even in the conduct of foreign policy. Over the last several years, around the same period of time U.S. President Joe Biden was confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin, his predecessor Donald Trump was secretly talking to him and opposing U.S. military aid to Ukraine, according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his new book, War.

Among the shocking new disclosures in the book, a copy of which was obtained by Foreign Policy ahead of its release date next week, Woodward reports that Trump spoke to Putin as many as seven times after he left the presidency and that at one point, in 2024, Trump told a senior aide to leave the room at his mansion in Mar-a-Lago so “he could have what he said was a private phone call” with the Russian leader.

It was not clear how many of the other calls to Putin occurred before or after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. But the disclosures raise new questions about whether the former president might have violated the Logan Act, which forbids a U.S. citizen from communicating “without authority” from the federal government with foreign officials to “influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government” in a dispute with the United States. Such questions date back to suggestions that incoming Trump officials had contacts with Russia even before he was inaugurated in January 2017.

With the U.S. presidential election less than a month away, the book resurrects unsettling questions about Trump’s relationship to Putin and the largely unresolved mystery of the former president’s business and financial ties to Russia.

In particular, the Woodward disclosures raise fresh questions about Trump’s well-documented deference to Putin, especially since Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war “in 24 hours” if elected, hinting broadly that he would do so by forcing Ukraine to cede territory to Russia and forswear joining NATO, which is partly what Putin demands. Going back to just days before the invasion, as Russian troops were amassing on the Ukrainian border, the former president went out of his way to praise Putin for his aggression. “I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine … as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump told a right-wing radio program on Feb. 22, 2022. He also suggested that Putin’s effort to subsume Ukraine could be a model for how the United States should deal with its immigration problem. “We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen,” Trump said.

As Woodward writes, “Trump’s unwillingness to criticize Putin was not a one-off incident but a consistent character trait.” Woodward describes his source on Trump’s post-presidential phone calls to Putin as a single anonymous Trump aide, but when he asked Jason Miller, the former president’s top 2024 campaign aide, about the calls, Miller did not outright deny Woodward’s account but said, “I’d push back on that.” Asked further whether Trump could resolve the Ukraine war with one phone call, as the former president has occasionally claimed, Miller said:

“I think he could. He knows the pressure points. He knows what is going to motivate both sides, and I think he can do that with one phone call each,” meaning to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, respectively.

Woodward also quotes Dan Coats, Trump’s former director of national intelligence, as saying he himself has long been mystified by Trump’s relationship with Putin. “His reaching out and never saying anything bad about Putin. For me … it’s scary,” Coats told Woodward.

Asked to comment on Woodward’s reporting, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung responded with a lengthy personal broadside against the journalist. “None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Cheung said in a statement, adding that Trump is already “successfully” suing Woodward “because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously.” Cheung added: “Woodward is a total sleazebag who has lost it mentally, and he’s slow, lethargic, incompetent, and overall a boring person with no personality.”

Cheung did not mention that Trump has agreed to numerous interviews with Woodward, who is regarded as Washington’s leading chronicler of presidents, going back to 1989.

Woodward also supplies some harrowing new details on Biden’s “missiles of October” moment in 2022, parts of which have been previously reported. In the fall of that year, six months into Putin’s faltering invasion of Ukraine and in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Biden administration began receiving alarming intelligence that the Russian president was increasingly desperate over his battlefield losses. New intelligence reports indicated that there was a 50 percent chance Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon, an assessment that was dramatically up from 5 percent and then 10 percent earlier in the war, Woodward writes.

According to the book, Biden swiftly directed his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan: “On all channels, get on the line with the Russians. … Tell them what we will do in response.” Biden told his team to use “language that is threatening without being directly threatening,” Woodward writes. “We need to open up a channel,” Biden reportedly said, “not on negotiating Ukraine but on the United States and Russia avoiding a cataclysm.” In a phone conversation in October, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned his Russian counterpart, then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: “Our leaders and your leaders have repeatedly said a nuclear war can never be won and should never be fought. This could put us on a path to confrontation that would have existential implications for you and for us. Don’t step on that slippery slope.”

Austin further told Shoigu that if nuclear weapons were used, “all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be reconsidered,” according to Woodward. “This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate.”

When Shoigu responded that he didn’t like being threatened, Austin countered: “Mr. Minister, I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats,” according to Woodward’s account. Two days later, Shoigu called back and falsely claimed the Ukrainians were planning to use a “dirty bomb,” which the United States believed the Kremlin was putting out as a pretext to deploy a nuclear weapon. “We don’t believe you,” Austin said, according to Woodward. “We don’t see any indications of this, and the world will see through this. … Don’t do it.”

Shoigu responded, “I understand,” according to the book. Woodward also corroborates other accounts, including a book published by CNN’s Jim Sciutto in March, The Return of Great Powers, that previously reported Biden sent other emissaries as well, such as CIA Director Bill Burns, to warn the Russians and enlisted the help of major nations—especially Russia’s No. 1 partner, China—to discourage Moscow from using nuclear weapons. (During a visit to China in late April, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Beijing’s “important” influence in “moving Russia away” from the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, even as Blinken harshly criticized Beijing for assisting Russia in other ways.) As Woodward recounts it, Colin Kahl, a senior Pentagon official at the time, later described that period in the fall of 2022 as “probably the most hair-raising moment of the whole war.”

It was also a moment when Biden—to a degree not fully disclosed previously—may have proved his mettle as a world leader, one that was reminiscent of nothing so much as President John F. Kennedy’s stand against Moscow during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. It’s noteworthy that Woodward also quotes Biden as being critical of the president he served as vice president, Barack Obama, suggesting that Obama’s relatively mild response to Putin’s partial occupation of eastern Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014 had been a terrible mistake. “That’s why we are here. We fucked it up,” Biden reportedly said. “Barack never took Putin seriously. … We gave Putin license to continue! Well, I’m revoking his fucking license!”

In the two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden has often been criticized for temporizing over his response and failing to offer the Ukrainians sufficient defensive weaponry quickly enough. He has hesitated in sending first-generation main battle tanks such as the M1A1 Abrams, long-range precision artillery, and fighter jets such as the F-16—though ultimately he has done so. And in October 2022, after Ukraine had launched its successful Kharkiv counteroffensive, Biden warned Americans of a potential nuclear “Armageddon,” saying it was the first time since the Cuban missile crisis that there had been a “direct threat” of nuclear weapons being deployed.

At the time, some people were skeptical, especially inside Ukraine, whether Putin was bluffing. But Woodward’s citation of U.S. intelligence estimates—which proved to be strikingly accurate about Putin’s intentions before he invaded—is eye-opening. And more recently, the Russian leader has spelled out with more specificity what might trigger his use of tactical nuclear weapons, especially as Ukrainian forces have advanced into Russia’s Kursk region. In September, Putin said a nuclear response might be justified if the West allows Ukraine to strike deep inside Russian territory with Western long-range missiles that would need Western satellite and targeting support.

The degree to which Ukraine has fought off Russia’s advances, causing hundreds of thousands of Russian casualties, is also very worrisome in view of another conversation that Woodward recounts between U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov. Asked to state the conditions for a Russian use of nuclear weapons, Gerasimov responded that one of them involved “the right to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of catastrophic battlefield loss.” Milley responded at the time that “none of those conditions are going to obtain.”

But they could before long.

Thus, the world now has a better idea why Biden has acted as he has, even as questions about Trump’s relationship with Putin only grow. During his rise in national politics, Trump has repeatedly denied that he has any personal connection to the Russian leader that might suggest Putin has any leverage over him, even as he has refused to criticize Putin.

Yet, in recent years, both a Justice Department investigation led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller and a bipartisan report by the then-Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee detailed extensive ties between Trump associates and Russia and identified a close associate of former Trump 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort as a Russian intelligence officer. The Mueller report concluded that it could find no grounds to charge Trump but also said it could not exonerate him.

Woodward reports that Putin said at an economic conference in Russia in September: “Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it.”

Other investigations and news reports have detailed how dependent Trump’s failing businesses had grown to become on financing from Russia and former Soviet republics before he ran for president.

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absolutebl · 1 year ago

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Hiii, I'm glad the ask box is open!

Idk if you already did a rec list on this, but can you recommend me old bls, like 90/2000s? I watched Seven days movies and its really good

Oh yay! Seven Days is the best. Actually, I have never done this. Here's a list of...

10+ BL's rated 7/10 or higher that aired prior to 2018

Just Friends?

Korea 2009 Gaga

This is Korea's first (kinda) upbeat version of a BL featuring already established boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out, family life, and the future. All of these are themes Korea will pretty much never tackle again, retreating as they would to their bubble. But what a fun little offering this little show was and is to this day. You should watch it.

Love Sick & Love Sick 2

Thai 2014 YouTube

This is one of those BLs that owes almost nothing to yaoi, although it started a number of tropes that are now endemic to Thai BL. What it is, instead, is a well scripted story of bisexual self-discovery and the inherent chaos of loving someone of the same gender for the first time, all wrapped up in hormones, existing relationships, and communication issues. It is high school queer angst at its messiest. Nothing is going to be easy for these boys because queer isn’t easy but also because life isn’t easy… welcome to adulthood sweethearts.

I'm actually considering a rewatch of these beginning of 2024 in honor of the 10 year anniversary if anyone wants to join.

Seven Days

Japan 2015 grey

The asker already mentioned it but still, never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

Addicted: Heroin

China 2016 Viki

When Chinese BL was good it was very dirty good and when it was bad it was censored. This is the model for that statement: rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes kidnapping for love, obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some cheating. I love this BL because of what I could have been. Just stop watching it after The Sex Scene. Okay?

SOTUS & SOTUS S & SOTUS Our Skyy

Thai 2016 YouTube

This is the BL that launched a hundred BLs. No literally, it was SOTUS’s international success that pretty much built the Thai BL industry into the juggernaut it is today. People have baggage around SOTUS, I have nostalgia. Trigger warning on bully hazing. Review and discussion here.

Make it Right 1 & 2 (but not Beach)

Thai 2016 YouTube (Cheewin warning)

What to say about this show, the origin of the Thai BL pulps? It’s objectively terrible, and not just the leads but the side couple too - yet I love it. I tend to call myself the “world’s foremost Make It Right apologist.” I recognize the issues but I find it utterly charming, especially Tee’s utter devotion to Fuse the baby bi disaster.

Long Time No See

Korea 2017 Gaga

Catfishing assassins on either side of a turf war who fall in love not knowing they are on opposite sides. Or do they? Good fight sequences, mature characters, high heat, very suspenseful, AND an HEA. If you like KinnPorsche or Kiseki you will LOVE this one.

HIStory Obsessed

Taiwan 2017 Viki

I weirdly love this but you should know what you are in for: that title. It has a stalking theme meets fated mates and quite a bit of dubious consent. Uke obsessed with seme to the point of losing himself and his identity dies after being rejected, and then has a chance to reboot his life. He decides to save himself by never falling in love. But destiny is a bitch, and this time the seme becomes obsessed with him. This one owes a lot to dark Chinese and Japanese BL, but kind of corrects for the expected sad dead finale by ending happily and playing with a ton of BL tropes. The leads have good chemistry, it's higher heat and the first time Taiwan starts to push that, and VERY DRAMATIC.

Some Others you might consider

Candy and Kiss - Japan 2015

Silhouette of Your Voice (Hidamari ga Kikoeru) - Japan 2017

Red Balloon - Taiwan 2017

(source)

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