#bl kisses analyzed

[absolutebl]

Hi P'ABL! Regarding the first "real" kiss scene of Phaya and Tharn in The Sign Ep7. It felt like it was shot in a very different way that a lot of other BLs go about that moment. No closeups, no slow-motion and no 150 angles. It was obviously a choice and knowing your interest and knowledge of cinematography I wanted to see if you had an opinion on why the director chose to do it this way. Thanks!

The Big Kiss Scene in The Sign

(+ why it's different from all the kisses before & after)

I think they were going for a couple of things.

Tropes in play with this filming choice

They are activating 2 powerful BL motifs (boys contemplating water and central aperture framing).

The first has been used already in this series, but mostly by one of them alone, not as a couple. This is the first time they exist together at the edge of water without peril, drama, or death.

The second is actually really common in a lot of yaoi, but so far this show hasn't been staged in this manga way. So it was kinda fun to see and I think it is significant.

Visuals in play connected to the story

Here's what else I think is happening.

The director is using the center and balance of this moment to indicate how the characters have chosen to move towards each other at last, both physically and emotionally. They are meeting each other on the same plane of existence. As equals.

That plane is also a moment where water and sky meet each other in harmony. This kiss is a kind of emotional climax, it is the center point of the narrative. Hence all the effort put into centralization.

Visuals in play connected to the characters

They are coming together in a place that symbolizes both of their elements.

The water (contained and tamed in this particular pool form) representing Tharn and the naga (water snakelike deity).

And the soaring symbolic staircase to the skies representing Phaya and the garuda (birdlike deity).

The kiss is separated out from the filming style to be used int he following sex scene because this kiss is about their mythological selves.

I think we are backed away from the intimacy of this (physically by the distance framing) because we are meant to see it as more symbolic, more regal, more like they are two deities engaging in a spiritual pact.

The sex scenes that follow is more about their current bodies and the selves of this lifetime. Their threads had to be intertwined again on a different plane of existence visually first, before it could become carnal. In other words, both their mythological selves and their corporeal selves had to be in agreement and alignment.

This contrast to what comes next is being used to telegraph to watchers that this kiss is that moment of peace and harmony (and it's probably not gonna last very long).

(Incidentally Tharn means water and Phaya = ruler/chief. )

Thanks for such a fun question!!!

(source)

[suzuran777]

Analyzing some of the very first BL visual novels

First of all, I've talked about most of these topics during my Citrus con panel on Augustus 24th, so for those who missed it or who wanted a list of all the visual novels mentioned during the panel, those are also mentioned in this blog post! Japanese BL visual novels have been something I’ve been interested in since 2010-2011, and even these days many people in English speaking fanbases are familiar with games like DRAMAtical Murder and the other Nitro + Chiral titles. I've played many older titles which I've previously reviewed on this blog, and in this post I will be looking at some of the very first BL visual novels and how the industry has changed throughout the years.

Before the very first "official" BL visual novels were released, some visual novels already existed in which a male protagonist had romantic or sexual scenes together with one of the other male characters. Some examples of this are games like Sotsugyou Ryokou (1996) and Ko-Ko-Ro (1998). Most of the other love interests in these games were girls, so they were not promoted as “boys’ love” games.

The oldest visual novel I could find that was promoted as a game which focuses on love between boys, is a game called Sei Valentine Gakuen, released by a company called B.M. in early 1999. This is a game in which you can name the protagonist, and none of the characters are voiced. While checking their old website through Waybackmachine, it seemed like the game had a lot of game-breaking bugs which they attempted to patch out, however the website quickly shut down within what seems like only a year (or maybe a few years) after its release date. Since there's not a lot of information about this game available online, I was surprised that someone bought the game second-hand and made a youtube video about it, so I recommend checking that out! You can watch it here. Despite being promoted as a game that focuses on love between boys it seems like there’s not really romance in the game, so I am curious why they marketed the game in this way.

Next is a game called BOYxBOY, released a few months after Sei Valentine Gakuen in April 1999. This is one of the games I actually got to play myself, and I was surprised to see this game was released by King Records (the record label) as I didn’t know they used to publish games, let alone BL games. The protagonist has a face and a name this time, but even though all the other characters are voiced, they decided to leave the main character unvoiced for some reason. This game does have romance elements, like confession scenes, but it's still quite minimal. There’s only one character who actually gets a kiss scene for example. This game did get a fandisc a year later, but it seems to be more of a collection of extra materials and minigames rather than something that really adds something to the story of the game.

Another BL visual novel that was released around this time in July 1999 is a game called Graduation (or Sotsugyou) by Joinac, which as the title suggests, focuses on the protagonist spending time with people at his school right before his graduation. This one actually got translated, so it's probably the first BL visual novel to ever get an (official) English translation. Unlike most other games from this time, this one can still be easily accessed too, as a digital version is available for purchase on DLsite.

Entering the 2000s, game developer AliceSoft created their own BL game brand called AliceBlue and released their first BL game called Kakurezuki in 2000. Even though AliceSoft released 18+ rated titles in the past, this first BL title was actually also all-ages. Some reviews mentioned that they don’t really consider the game BL at all, pointing out the lack of romance, and I can definitely see where they’re coming from. Pretty much all the other games I mentioned so far take place in a modern-day school setting, however this game is more of a historical fantasy game (although the plot still only focuses on the protagonist and his daily interactions with those around him).

A lot of the games during this time period still highly resembled the typical dating sim-style game, which was quite popular in the mid/late 1990s. This kind of gameplay means that usually, the player decides what the character is going to do that day, for example, what subjects he takes in school, which club he joins and which locations he visits. In games like Kakurezuki, it’s a bit different you decide what magic skills you want to strengthen that day. This kind of gameplay kind of limits what kind of story the writers can explore, as the plot mostly focuses on the main character’s everyday life and their interactions with other characters, and eventually also became something that’s not commonly used in BL visual novels anymore.

Later that year, in August 2000, one of the most well-known early BL visual novels was released. This was Sukisho (short for Suki na Mono wa Suki Dakara Shouganai) by Platinum Label. The company promoted this game as the “first 18+ boys love game” though Graduation also seems to be rated 18+ on DLsite. Sukisho gained a big fanbase, as many fans really liked the art (drawn by Tsutae Yuzu) and the characters. Even though the plot still focused on boys going to school, some characters do have a darker backstory. The company even created official forums where fans could discuss the plot of the game and fan theories. Some other boards also encouraged fan meetups at local conventions in Japan. It ended up getting 3 different sequels, a PlayStation 2 port, an anime adaptation, and various drama CDs and novels. These days a lot of BL visual novels get drama CDs, but back then this game really got a lot of extra content compared to other games. Like many others, I personally discovered this game through the anime many years ago, but I played the visual novel later as it has also been fan translated and was quite accessible back then.

Another visual novel that stood out, and which also got an anime adaptation, is Angel's Feather (2003). Unlike the rather confusing anime plot, which adds a new character that isn’t in the game, I think the plot of the visual novel is actually much better. Initially it does seem like another game about high school boys, but in reality it’s more of an RPG game that focuses on the characters learning more about the world they’re living in, and their own magic abilities. I think just like Sukisho’s artstyle, compared to many other games that were released at the time, the art of this game quite unique. The artist is Yamamoto Kazue, who worked on many visual novels, and is still active nowadays. This game also got a sequel and drama CDs, but sadly the third game they were working on was never released. The studio was also working on a completely new game called White Shadow, however this one also remains unreleased to this day. If you want to read a little bit more information about this game and other unreleased titles, I wrote a blog post about that too here!

The inclusion of RPG elements I briefly mentioned just now in visual novels was not something only Angel’s Feather did. For example, some of these other screenshots are from Ouji-sama Lv1, Teikoku Sensenki, and Apocripha/0. The gameplay varied from a simple battle system to complicated dungeons and hard to beat enemies, depending on the game. One downside of this is that it’s quite a time-consuming process if you want to see all kinds of different endings, as these parts of the game were usually unskippable. Gradually, this is also something that slowly became less common in BL visual novels.

Generally, a lot of older games were quite difficult to replay as most games only had a limited number of save slots, and sometimes there would be no preview images next to the save files either, so it was quite difficult to remember which save file you were supposed to load. Some of the oldest BL visual novels also don’t have a skip button, which means you have to play through all of the dialogue again if you want to see a different ending. The pictures below are my screenshots from Angel's Feather and Kannagi no Tori, a game that was released in 2001. Luckily both of these games do have a skip button, but there were never enough save slots!

Other than changes in gameplay and artstyles, something that has also changed quite a lot are the dynamics between characters in adult scenes. In most BL visual novels, the protagonist is either a top or a bottom, and this doesn’t really change throughout the whole game. For example, if the official website mentions that the protag is a bottom, that means he’s a bottom with every single one of the love interests. Something I noticed while playing older games is that this order wasn’t always fixed. In games like Laughter Land and Kannagi no Tori for example, the game would often let the player decide. A game that was released a bit later which also has this option is PIL/SLASH’s game Shingakkou -Noli me tangere. In every route, no matter what character, you make the decision. I think it’s kind of fun when the game gives you choices like this, although I’m not sure if they will ever bring it back.

Terminology and target audience When I talk about these games I use “BL game” and “BL visual novel” as these are easily understood when communicating with an English-speaking audience. However in Japanese these games are usually only called “BL game” or "AVG" which just stands for adventure game. In the early 2000s some official websites around this time would refer to these BL visual novels as ''boys games'' to distinguish them from a genre called “girl’s games” or galge, which are games that would typically target a male audience. Even though the term “yaoi” was becoming less common, some developers would also call them “yaoi games” on their website, as you can see in some of the screenshots below . It’s not like the term “visual novel” is something completely unknown to them, but it’s also not a term I ever see them using to promote their games.

As for the target audience, similar to a lot of BL manga, the target audience for many of these BL visual novels was also women. A lot of websites stated that these were games “made by girls for girls”. However, it’s better to not generalize the whole genre as something exclusively targeted towards women, as some games like Hotaru (released by Tarutaru in December 2000) and its sequels were specifically advertised as games "made by gay men for gay men". One of the games I mentioned earlier, Graduation, was also made by a doujin group that calls themselves the Gay Artist Support, and like the name suggests, they support gay artists and alleys. Therefore it can be concluded that even during this time period, it wasn't just women creating and reading BL.

Marketing and sales Some might be wondering; how did people discover these games back then? Around the year 2001, multiple websites were created by fans that kept track of new BL game developers, as well as any updates provided by the companies that were already established back then. A lot of these websites also gave fans the option to chat with each other in their forums. Some examples of these websites are BOY'S STREET and Boyslove Kenkyuujo (which translates to BoysLove research institute). They kept track of both commercial and doujin game releases. Companies and doujin creators would both sell their games at events like Comiket, Super Comic City and J-Garden too, where they would promote their games and chat with fans. Their games would also be sold at stores like Animate and Toranoana, which is not too different than how creators sell their BL games nowadays, as both of these stores still exist. A lot of BL game creators in the early 2000s were quite close to each other and collaborated. For example, some doujin groups like Anubis Label, Ritz, Moon Parrot and more created their own magazine called B-GAME, which featured information about their new doujin games, corporate games, survey results, game reviews and more. The picture below (on the right) is a picture I found on the website of doujin group Moon Parrot, promoting and selling their game Kuro no Tsuki at Super Comic City. Of course official BL game magazines also existed, but I think I will make a separate blog post about that (update: you can read it here!).

Well-known developers throughout the years Next I made a list of some BL game creators that established their brands in the early or mid 2000s, and who continue to be active nowadays. I will mention some newer games as well. There's way too many BL visual novels to include all of them, so I apologize if I missed some that were quite influential!

Langmaor/Tennenouji: The first game Langmaor released was a game called Enzai in 2002, illustrated by Yura. This game focuses on a boy whose name is Guys, who gets sent to prison as a result of a false accusation. In one interview, Yura mentioned that she was almost afraid that the plot of the game would be “too dark”, as the main character experiences a lot of abuse, but she concluded that at least the game would be unique. In 2004 Langmaor released Teikoku Sensenki, and a year later they released Zettai Fukujuu Meirei (or more well-known as Absolute Obedience). This game had a kind of unique system which focused on not one, but two protagonists. The final game this brand released was a game called Laughter Land (2006. The illustrations of this game were drawn by Yuzuki Ichi who had previously worked on Kannagi no Tori. Yura was also part of doujin group called Tennenouj, which already released their first BL game in 2000 called Sei Crain Gakuen, a BL game that you could play by opening HTML files in your browser. They released their second BL game in 2006, which was Miracle No-ton, a game about a notebook that could grand the protagonist’s wishes (horny wishes only though!). In 2009, Luckydog1 was released, which ended up becoming one of the most popular and well-known games in Japanese speaking BL visual novel fanbases. The game is about the protagonist Giancarlo, who’s a low-ranking member of the mafia and currently in prison, who receives the task to free 4 important members of the mafia from prison. Some BL gamemagazines like Cool-B have an annual popularity poll, and for years, LuckyDog 1 and its characters ended up in first place. On BL information websites like ChilChil it continues to be the highest rated BL visual novel to this day. Two years ago, Tennenouji also released the game Friendly Lab, of which the mobile version is still being updated, so even nowadays they are still very active.

Nitro + CHiRAL: Or just called “NITRO CHiRal” these days. They released their first game, Togainu no Chi, in 2005. In the early interviews the director stated that they wanted to create something different, as a lot of visual novels around this time focused on schoolboys and modern-day settings. So instead, they wrote a story that takes place in a futuristic version of Japan, devastated by a Third World War. Only a year later in 2006, they released their second game, Lamento -BEYOND THE VOID- which also takes place in a fictional world. Even though the characters look similar to humans, they call themselves Ribika and have cat-like characteristics. The characters in this game are struggling to survive, as a mysterious force called “The Void” is slowly destroying their world. Because of their unique stories and beautiful illustrations, Nitro Chiral quickly gained a big fanbase in Japan too. In some articles published in Cool-B magazine, they mentioned that they were taking even bigger risks with their next game, as the plot would be anything but happy. This was about their third game, sweet pool. Despite that, I think fans already expected dark and serious stories from the company, so it was still well-received. Before releasing DRAMAtical Murder, they released two more visual novels called Itsuwari no Alkanet and World’s end Nightmare, though these were only available on Chiral Mobile, an app that could only be downloaded on certain Japanese phones. These days these games are considered lost media, but I wrote a blog post about what I could find about them some years ago. Afterwards they released their more well-known games DRAMAtical Murder in 2012 and Slow Damage in 2021.

Pil/Slash: This is a BL visual novel developer that is well known for writing dark stories, with themes like abuse, noncon, physical and emotional torture. Though of course this is not too uncommon in BL visual novels, as all of the developers I’ve previously mentioned include themes like that in their games too.Their first game, Masquerade ~Jigoku Gakuen SO/DO/MU~, was released in 2006, followed by Koibito Yuugi a year later. In 2011, one of their most well-known titles, Shingakkou –Noli me tangere- was released. This game is about protagonist Michael who’s enrolled in a seminary. However, his school life is anything but peaceful, as his family gets murdered and he also discovers a secret society of devil worshippers in his very own school. At the moment this is the second highest rated BL game on ChilChil, after Luckydog1. After this they released Pigeon Blood in 2014, which was also a horror-themed game, and Paradise a few years later, which was quite popular in Japan too. In 2021 they released their newest game, Dystopia no Ou. This game focuses on protagonist Kiriku who dreams about becoming a rock star. Initially, this seems quite different than PIL/SLASH's previous games, but I promise the story still gets pretty dark. The writer credited for Paradise and Dystopia no Ou is Kyuuyouzawa Lychee, who's also the creator of doujin game group LOVE&DESTROY and games like CAGE OPEN and CAGE CLOSE.

Spray: This company’s first game was Saikyou Darling, released in 2001, but I think they are probably more well-known for their Gakuen Heaven series. The first Gakuen Heaven game was released in 2002, but since then they have released a few newer versions of the game, console versions and a second game. This is another one of these games that people might know because it has an anime and manga series. Spray has released quite a few different games like Soshite Bokura Wa, Piyotan, STEAL! and more recently Tsumi naru Rasen no Ori, but I think other than Gakuen Heaven their most well-known title is probably Kichiku Megane, released in 2007. This game focuses on protagonist Katsuya, a salesman who seems to be failing at everything in life. Just before he’s fired from his job, he receives a mysterious pair of glasses from someone. Whenever he wears these glasses, his personality completely changes. He suddenly becomes very skilled at everything, but also very sadistic. In recent years fans have started organizing fan events for this game at local conventions again, so it’s interesting to see how popular it still is.

Holicworks: Also known as LoveDelivery, as that’s the name they used to release some of their very first games, like Tsukigami (2007) and Beniiro Tenjou Ayakashi (2008). Their most well-known title Taisho Mebiusline, released in 2012. This game is a historical fantasy game which takes place during the end of the Taisho period, in 1923. The protagonist, Kyouichirou, moves to Tokyo in order to go to university. However, he runs into trouble soon after his arrival, as the Imperial Military becomes interested in his ability to see spirits. The writer of this game, Nakajo Rosa, is often praised for the historical research she did in order to write this game. The story covers all kinds of political issues, international affairs and military activity, and combines it with religious themes such as Shintoism. This also means that even for Japanese speakers, the game can be a bit difficult to read, as it tends to use difficult words and kanji. However, I think with a bit of research it’s not impossible. They also released games like Tokyo Onmyouji, Tokyo 24ku, and more recently Tokyo Satsujinki Gakkou no Kaidan, though the only game that has an English translation is Tokyo Onmyouji, which takes place in a more modern-day setting, but still focuses on supernatural themes like ghosts and spirits.

Karin Entertainment: Another developer that has been around for a long time, who released their first BL game series called Bois in 2002. Afterwards in 2004, they released the game Animamundi Owarinaki Yami no Butou~ (Animamundi: Dark Alchemist), which I’m not sure if I should be calling BL game as there are also a few female love interests. The games they released after this aren’t BL games, but instead they created a new branch called Karin Chatnoir Omega, which released the game Omertà ~Chinmoku no Okite~ in 2011. In this game the mafia controls the government, and the protagonist J.J. is a hitman who’s taking all kinds of assassination jobs. In 2016 they also released the game Omega Vampire, which is the first omegaverse BL visual novel.

Parade: This is a game developer known for creating games in which the protagonist is exclusively a top, or seme, which is also something that was not super common in the past. In a lot of other games almost all of the love interests are younger guys, so I think it was interesting to see at least two of the other main characters in NO THANK YOU!!! were over the age of 35. Even though most Parade games have a lot of 18+ content, like NO THANK YOU!!! and their second game Room No. 9, one should not underestimate the plot, as the writing is really good. My favorite game is probably their latest game, which is Lkyt., a historical fantasy game and my personal favorite.

CORE: This is the BL branch of a company called Orbit, and their most well-known game is Messiah, which was released in 2006. Though their first game was a game called Ever Loyalty in 2001, followed by Fanatica in 2004. Most of CORE's games only have 1 or 2 characters the protagonist can end up together with, although sometimes other characters in the game also have their own bad endings. In Fanatica, the protagonist only has one true love interest, but a lot of the other main characters are also paired up with each other, so even if they don't have their own route, you do get to see different scenes with them. Even though CORE released their last game in 2008, which is the Messiah fandisc Messiah ~ Paranoia Paradox. It was announced that they are actually working on a new BL project called Tokyo Gentou/Tokyo Phantasmagoria, under the new name Procyon.

Adelta: Not really 2000s as their first game was released quite some time later, but I think still important because they've gotten quite popular in recent years. This is a doujin game group created by Kurosawa Rinko. The first games this group worked on were Cocoon and Cocoon Black Noise, released in 2014. The game they’re probably most known for is Koshotengai no Hashihime (Hashihime of the old Book Town). This game is quite well known for its references to literature and real writers, and the story also takes place during the Taisho period. Originally it was advertised as a time-loop murder mystery. In 2020 Uuultra C was released, which is a completely different kind of game that takes place during the Showa period and focuses on heroes you’d typically see in a Super Sentai Series, or Tokusatsu movies in which the characters fight kaiju. Adelta is currently working on their newest game, Ooe.

Conclusion Of course there are many more BL visual novels which left a big impact on people, even less serious games like Gakuen Handsome which still get referenced a lot to this day. Another well-known title is Mada Koubou's Hadaka Shitsuji, which was mostly created by artist and writer Togo Mito. It kind of difficult to determine how many BL visual novels currently exist, but BL information website ChilChil currently lists 345 titles in this database. This does however include fandiscs and games that aren't technically BL games, and also doesn't include all doujin games ever released.

The early 2000s was a good time for BL visual novel fans and a lot of developers were making BL games back then, which also meant that there would be many new games to play. These days the number of active developers has significantly decreased, so most of the time you get about 1 or 2 big releases every year. Of course, there are still doujin groups and individual creators who make their own games, but the number of commercial releases is pretty small nowadays.

Some games that were released earlier this year however, are Tokyo Satsujinki Gakkou no Kaidan and Haiiro no Arcadia. I am personally also looking forward to the release of Adelta's new game Ooe, and Procyon's Tokyo Gentou/Tokyo Phantasmagoria, so I recommend checking those out when they're released!

[nozunhinged]

My Top 5 BL Kisses of Jan (& Feb) 24 + why

Okay, okayyyyy I'm doing this, no backing out. I offically accept that analyzing kisses takes up so much of my brainspace that I can write about it — so here it goes. I'M NOT HIDING ANYMORE BUT OWNING UP TO IT! (lol, chill)

Last year I complained that I didn't get a single perfect kiss since I started watching BL TV shows (until PhayaTharn turned up) and now we're not even a quarter into the new year and I already got FIVE I'm absolutely in AWE about!! FIVE!!

I don't know if it's the actors, directors or coaches who upped their game (probably all of them) but hot damn, all of these are beautiful.

And don't ask me why I'm into kiss-acting so much I have no fucking clue, my first guess is that it's an artform in itself to make this amazing, wonderful, intimate form of touching look as beautiful as it feels — bc let's be honest here, irl kissing rarely looks pretty no matter how great it is! So I think it's just dope when you can see this beauty translated on screen.

So I guess this is peak romance genre for me and with that being said, enough talking, lets get to the kissykissies!

5. TenPrem - Cooking Crush EP. 11

I have to be honest with you, I was a bit confused by the kissing in this show. The tippytoe kiss was cute as heck but we all saw how Off AND Gun awkwardly blinked because they probably had to stay like that for a looooong time. It took the whole magic out of the whole first-kiss-moment. Same with the forced in, reshot makeout-scenes. But the kiss in the kitchen? Looks like they FINALLY got to show what they got.

Ten gently pulling Prem closer, them smoothly moving against each other, Ten closing in even more, the slightly open-mouthed kiss with their lips perfectly caressing each other, Ten with a bit more force, Prem with a bit more heat resulting in the perfect mix...Loved it, mwah.

4. PromNont - Playboyy EP. 12

They are my one Playboyy-couple where I'm like "if they don't end up married and running Playboyy together, starting the revolution of well-payed, insured and safe sex workers I'm gonna riot" even though I know this show will not end nicely for ANYONE.

Anyways, this kiss. Holy smokes they had so many good scenes but this one took the cake. Not just the sheer length of it (but still with perfect timing and breaks).

The slightest suck on Nonts upper lip, Prem literally making Nont sway, Nonts hidden desperation for Prom surfacing from his lips, them slowly but surely turning up the heat and last but not least, Prom grabbing Nonts face just to lean against him...UGH THEM!

(I made those)

3. Myungha & Yeowoon - Love for Love's Sake EP 8

I know I'm not alone in how this show swept me off my feet and hit me right in the feels. But I've gotta say, this kiss hit completely different. Again they kissed for so long but not a single moment felt wasted. It felt like their whole story put in a single kiss. And — I mean that in the most loving and positive way possible — they kissed so amazingly gay. Do you know what I mean?!

There's just this level of love, care and happiness that only queer couples can convey. Sprinkled with a hint of tongue (I saw that Yeowoon 👀) — they absolutely nailed it.

2. AlanJeff - Pit Babe EP. 11

The kiss that made me consider doing this post in the first place. I saw them and shouted THIS IS PERFECT just to realize that I did this a few weeks ago already and it made me spiral a little. In the best way possible because I felt truly blessed once again to have discovered the genre of BL in their golden era!

Because this right here is how you nail an open mouthed kiss my friends. Take notes BL producers. Put this in your textbooks! They both go at the same rythm (slow, careful but so, so loving JUST LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP UGH) and same level of touch so their lips caress each other perfectly. Furthermore, Alan knows exactly how to meet Jeff which is also a PERFECT EXTENSION OF HIS CHARACTER! Alan leads, Jeff follows but they meet perfectly and equally. TEN OUT OF TEN NO NOTES!

1. PhayaTharn - The Sign EP. 9

I don't understand the meaning of the "Roman Empire"-thing but I think if I say they are mine, I am correct because they will be the end of me and that's what that means right? I may be biased AF but objectively speaking, this is just an insanely well acted-out scene, PERIOD! And we all know it's thanks to Billybabes out-of-this-world-chemistry!

Phayas desperation translated into this gorgeous lip-clash, so much yearning but softness at the same time but what really got to me was how Tharn immediately melted after their lips touched, how he immediately opened up to him and got completely overwhelmed by Phayas feelings. Chapeau to Babe for showing so much range in a single second. My favorite kiss of the whole series ❤️

I also just realized all these kisses have one thing in common....hands on faces lol.

Well that was fun peeps, thanks if you made it until the end!

[redtsundere-writes]

Jinx | Sukuna Ryomen

mma fighter!sukuna ryomen x femalecoach!reader

Part 9. Don't Know

Beginning. ← Previous | Next →

Synopsis: Sukuna is a world champion with anger issues. It's believed by many that he is untrainable. Yeah, you can't train him, but you can dominate him. Contents: Fighting. Sukuna being Sukuna. Female reader being dom. Jinx AU (the BL, not the character from lol) Warnings: Cursed words. Fighting. Sexual harassment. I only read it once, lmao Word count: 2722 words. A/N: Shoutout to @ghosts-girl_ on IG for sending me a Sukuna fanart that was inspired by this fic! Tysm <3!

Btw I made a PLAYLIST

Going back to the hospital always scared me. I always enter the doctor’s office with sweaty hands while imagining the worst in my mind. The white and neat walls, decorated with informative posters about the importance of exercising regularly. The light gray floor was freshly waxed, I could see my scared face reflected in it. There were a few fake plants around to make the place look less intimidating.

The doctor was asking me questions about my lifestyle over the past six months while typing incessantly on the computer perched in the middle of the large desk. The doctor took out the new x"ray that had been taken of my neck and inspected it in front of the light screen. He didn't say anything, he just analyzed her very carefully to not make a wrong diagnosis. My manager, Mei Mei, came with me this time for support despite having a tight schedule. She noticed I was nervous, so she patted me on the back to calm me down.

“Do you think she can fight soon, Doc?" Mei Mei asked him my biggest concern.

“Her neck has completely healed, if she wanted, she could fight tonight,” the doctor answered with a smile.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips at the wonderful news I had awaited for so long. 3 years to be precise. I was out of the octagon for 3 years on medical recommendation so that my neck would heal completely and avoid future injuries. My face was about to cry with joy, so I hid it in my hands. I was about to reborn, I already wanted to return to the gym with my team to train like in the old days. Start again, conquer the battlefield and recover the title that was taken from me.

Mei Mei and I left the office to meet my friend and training partner, Nobara, who was waiting for us along with Mei Mei's younger brother, Ui Ui. I told her the good news, and she hugged me happily. We used to do everything together before I was injured, now we could go back to our routine as if nothing had happened.

“Everyone will be very happy when they see you back at the gym,” Nobara said excitedly.

“Finally,” I sighed heavily jokingly. “Mei Mei, shall I ask you to gather the team?” I asked her nicely.

Mei Mei was in charge of ensuring that my schedule was met without delays. She was the one who organizes my fights, gathers athletes for special training, hires doctors, etc. She was always busy, but she never let me out of her sight. Not only that, but she always took care of my my needs even though Team Black gives me everything I need. I told her not to worry so much in several occasions, but she always responded with “you never know.”

"I'm already on it, darling. Also, since your appearances with Ryomen, there are several sponsors interested in you,” Mei Mei reminded me of the unexpected kiss Sukuna gave me after his crushing victory against Naoya a couple of weeks ago. "Your life will return to normal in no time."

"When do you plan to come back?” Nobara asked me excitedly.

"I don't know yet, I have to talk to Sukuna's manager to agree on a release date and find a replacement,” I replied.

"When you have the date, let me know,” Mei Mei asked me without taking her eyes off her phone.

"When you return, could you bring me something signed by the King of the Ring?". Ui Ui asked excitedly.

"I'll see what I can do,” I answered honestly.

Mei Mei and Ui Ui left after that. Once we lost sight of them, Nobara took my hands to approach my face curiously. I moved away from her face at the unexpected proximity. When I saw her eyes sparkling from excitement, I could imagine what she wanted.

"So… You and Sukuna, huh?" she asked excitedly.

Since living with him, I have noticed that our relationship had improved, but only as a coach-athlete relationship. I haven't noticed that he treats me sweeter, that he gives me flirtatious glances or that he gets nervous when I am around. He continues to act as the same fearsome Sukuna as always.

My feelings towards him have also increased. When I have to watch him to make sure he does the exercises, my mind travels back to the passionate nights we've had together. I can no longer see his hands without thinking about how he holds me by the waist or his face without imagining him moaning my name. He made me blush without even trying, I was fed up. It was so frustrating not being able to do my job well.

"There’s nothing between me and Sukuna,” I answered, removing my hands from the grip.

"Don’t lie to me! Everyone saw that passionate kiss he gave you!" Nobara scolded while pretending to make out with herself.

"Sukuna only did it to annoy Naoya," I answered, trying to downplay it…

…but I couldn't ignore it. After that night, my perspective on Sukuna had completely changed. I wasn't surprised that I fell in love with him, I mean, I have a reputation for choosing the worst possible men. I had to get rid of this feeling as soon as I could. If I could do it while I lived with him, great, but I knew perfectly well that after asking for my resignation, Sukuna would throw me out and this feeling would go away on its own like a cold.

"And how are you so sure that he doesn't like you?" Nobara asked me.

The idea that Sukuna was interested in me in that way was tempting. It wasn't crazy considering we've already slept together twice, and he kissed me on international television, but I highly doubted that was the case. Yuuji had told me that Sukuna wasn't interested in having a girlfriend and I doubt that will change anytime soon.

“Impossible,” I answered without further ado.

"Oh, come on! Men never kiss woman just because,” Nobara argued.

"What do you know know about men? You're a lesbian,” I joked.

"I know how they behave when they like a girl, it's what we have in common," she challenged me.

My heart wanted to believe her, but my mind warned me with red flags that I shouldn't. Being in love is complicated.

At first, I had a hard time adjusting to living with Sukuna. I lived alone for so long that I forgot how it was living with someone. Quickly, I could adapt to his cold attitude in the morning, seeing him walk around the house wet and with a towel wrapped around his slutty waist, and listening to his complaints when we left the gym. Sukuna is the one who pays for everything, the only thing I could contribute to the house was to cook for him from time to time if the cook was not available. I couldn't help but feel like a sugar baby, but that feeling went away every time I used the magnificent indoor pool.

The microwave announcing that my popcorn was ready brought me out of my thoughts. I was preparing myself some popcorn as tonight's fights began. The schedule was not very exciting, except for the main fight. The fight for the heavyweight division championship between Toji Fushiguro and Aoi Todo. A battle between two powerful giants of the UFC.

I returned to the kitchen to prepare the popcorn to my liking in a bowl. I opened the refrigerator to look for the juice I had bought before I got home. Being a high-performance athlete, Sukuna's smart refrigerator only served to store large amounts of chicken breast, vegetables, and sparkling water. If I wanted something with sugar or “chemicals”, I had to buy it myself and hide it so as not to tempt Sukuna's appetite. As I closed the door, I noticed the new dietary regimen that Sukuna's nutritionist had asked hm to follow.

"Chicken, rice, and broccoli for 4 days straight? No wonder he's always so angry,” I thought out loud as I quickly scanned the sheet of paper.

No sugar. Do not eat carbs after 6 pm. Just an egg without yolk in the morning. I knew that Sukuna was a highly disciplined athlete, but going on such a demanding diet was ridiculous. If a nutritionist asked me to follow this regimen like a soldier, I would fire her in no time.

There were so many things I wanted to change about his extreme lifestyle, but I was sure I wouldn't be able to figure it out before my last day. Furthermore, I had to tell him that I would no longer be his coach and that someone else was going to take my place. I didn't know how he would even take the news. I just had to make sure to tell him when he is in a good mood. Who am I kidding? He is never in a good mood, that goes against his personality.

"Fuck this shit!" Sukuna yelled as he reluctantly entered the house. Now was not the right time to tell him.

He tossed his backpack onto the small stool at the entrance, where we kept our shoes and had a mirror for finishing touches. Sukuna slammed the door shut which offended my ears. I just watched him confused while I ate my popcorn.

"Things didn’t go well with the Olympian?" I asked, trying to understand where his anger was coming from.

While I was at the doctor, Sukuna went to the Olympic stadium to have an exclusive sparring with a boxing gold medalist. He insisted that I cancel my appointment to come with him, but I told him that even if I did that, I wouldn't be much help. My specialty is jujitsu, not boxing. I told him that Gojo knows more than me, and he stopped annoying me.

"That idiot asked for a break on the fifth round. Can you fucking believe that?! The best boxer in the nation?! My balls can last longer than that!” He exclaimed in annoyance as he ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

"Could it be because it was training and not a real fight?" I asked before putting a popcorn in my mouth, staying calm. If I got down to his level, he would only get more upset.

"If I had wanted to waste my time, I would have trained with one of the gym's rookies,"Sukuna mumbled.

He sat on the stool and sighed heavily as he unlaced his shoes to enter the house. I could see the helplessness in his eyes at not having the demanding training he wanted. Having a perfect streak of 28 overwhelming victories, he hasn't had a rival who can match his level in years. Always being the winner means that you are not learning, and you are staying stagnant while others moved forward, Sukuna was afraid of being left behind.

I sighed as I understood his anger, putting the bowl aside to approach him. I took advantage of the fact that he was at my level to gently massage his shoulders. Even though I didn't do it with a romantic intention, touching him like that after weeks felt like drinking water in the middle of the Sahara. A temporary pleasure that I had to take advantage as much as I could.

"Do you know what it means that he didn't last more than 5 rounds?" I asked him while massaging his neck.

"I'm not in the mood for your shit," he mumbled, focused on his shoes.

"Let me finish!" I barked. "It means you're better than an Olympic medalist," he looked at me again, calmer now.

"You think?" he asked me, looking at me to deduce if I was saying it out of pity or not.

"Of course! You are the king of the ring, not just in the UFC!" I cheered, giving him a friendly pat on the arm.

"Not everyone can go against the king," he said with an evil smile.

It was one of those few times I've seen him smile like that. I'm glad to know that I could be of use to him outside the gym. I wanted to be the cause for him to smile more often, even if it meant he didn't feel the same way about me. A reality that I was willing to accept for the sake of both of us.

The fight between Aoi Todo and Toji Fushiguro was about to start. The current champion, Toji, entered shining his glorious belt with Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses in the background while the commentators read his statistics. Aoi, the challenger, Todo looked forward to the fight from the octagon. The crowd was excited, music was blaring from the speakers, and commentators were debating who would take home the belt. It was an important fight that deserved to be seen on the room's beautiful 80"inch screen.

"That son of a bitch," Sukuna snorted behind me, referring to Toji. He was in my robe as always before going to sleep.

"A talented son of a bitch," I joked. "Sit down and watch it with me."

"I'll watch it until I get sleepy," Sukuna scoffed as he sat next to me on the couch.

After formal introductions and the referee's instructions, the first round took place. The two mastodons faced each other face to face in a rain of punches and jabs that seemed to have no end. They were like two bulls striking each other with their sharp horns, making the plaza resonate with the power of their tackles. It was clear that Aoi Todo was a born boxer who did not allow himself to be intimidated by the enormous presence of Fushiguro with those beastly hits. Before Toji could take him to the ground, like he had done in the fight against Sukuna, the bell rang.

“Who are you rooting to?” I asked Sukuna excitedly.

"I do not know, and I do not care." he answered with a yawn. That answer deserved me to throw my empty popcorn bowl at him.

"It's a very important fight! You should know!" I scolded him as the TV went to commercial break. "Todo and Fushiguro have been fighting for the division title for 2 years. Both have won twice simultaneously. This is their fifth fight. It's the fight for 3 out of 3!” I explained. Sukuna shrugged his shoulders, downplaying it the importance it deserved.

"And who are you rooting for?" He asked me to make conversation as they returned to the fight.

"Aoi Todo is a magnificent boxer like you…". At the comparison, Sukuna gave me a killer glance. "Obviously, you are the best," I corrected before he killed me.

"That is what I thought."

"But Toji is a complete fighter, I am team Toji for life," I replied with a proud smile. Sukuna gave me another killing look, this time it was more stern. I really don't learn from my mistakes, huh? "Obviously I'm Team Black before that," I said with a guilty smile.

The champion threw a quick jab, but the challenger easily dodged it. Aoi responded with a combination of quick strikes that made Fushiguro flinched. He stumbled back, but stayed upright. He threw a wild right hand, but the challenger blocked it with his forearm. The challenger took the opportunity to launch a flurry of jabs that Toji dodged like a master. Aoi continued entering her field, causing Toji's back to hit the fence. He threw one last desperate right hand, but Todo dodged it and responded with a left hook that sent the champion to the ground.

"¡No!" I exclaimed upon seeing the knockout.

"Too bad…" Sukuna mocked me.

After my champion couldn't get up easily, the referee ended the fight. The challenger had won the fight with a monstrous knockout. The crowd roared and Todo raised his arms in victory as he ran around the octagon. He had defeated his legendary opponent and became the new champion of the heavyweight division.

"First words after defeating such an important rival?". The interviewer asked Todo as he celebrated with his team supporting him behind him.

Next →

Masterlist.

Order your own fanfic! (Starting price: $5 USD)

Tag list: @maskedpacific @thepurpleempath @mazzd4 @charlie-xo @s0uldarling @sunako-0120 @berranurates @00frenchfries00

Let me know if you want to be tagged in the next one! :)

[emotionallychargedtowel]

BL meta master post

I've had an Utsukushii Kare master post as my pinned post for a while now, since I've posted so much about it. But I think it's time I do a general BL meta post instead. All of the links and information from the Utsukare post are here, too, but so are links to my other BL meta posts.

It's going to take a while to get everything in here so I'm going to go ahead and publish it even though it isn't entirely complete. I'll continue updating it until it is complete, and I'll add newer posts as they come.

Posts covering multiple BLs

The pursuer-distancer dyad & how it applies to the world of BL - a primer on this psychological concept and how it applies to BL generally, touching on how it applies to Utsukushii Kare, Semantic Error, and To My Star 2

BL ask game: Long-term pining and grumpy/sunshine

My top 5 rewatched BL scenes, responding to an ask by @wen-kexing-apologist (Spoiler: it's still mostly Utsukare)

Zettai BL season 3

What's different about Hatano, part 1 - In short, Hatano isn't fucking around.

What's different about Hatano, part 2 - Hatano's awareness of Mob's fourth wall-breaking and other ways he sometimes senses Mob's reality in a way no one else has

25 ji Akasaka de

Prying off the shell - In episode 7, Hayama's friend Mihara makes a an interesting observation. He says that Shirasaki doesn't seem to have a "shell"--his way of talking about a social self, a persona that a person experiences as separate from their core self. Then he points out that Hayama not only has a "shell," he has multiple layers of shell, so many that it's essentially impenetrable, like a neverending set of matryoshka dolls. I wrote here about what these shell metaphors really mean psychologicaly, how Hayama's family of origin played into his multilayered shell, and the implications of both their personalities on how they relate to each other.

Nominating a runner for 25 ji - If someone has to do the traditional JBL thing of running through the streets to get to the other person, who should run? That's a question @my-rose-tinted-glasses and @lurkingshan discussed, and it got me thinking.

Hayama's mask finally slips - Looking closely at Hayama's affect in the opening scene of episode 9--and trying to process the level of blorbo distress that entails

Over-analyzing the finale trailer in a vain attempt to try to manage my pre-finale angst

The Eighth Sense

The Eighth Sense e5 & e6: Portraying trauma with nuance

On The Eighth Sense episodes 7 & 8

The Eighth Sense episodes 9 and 10: All we can do is try

Bokura no Shokutaku/Our Dining Table

Thoughts on the "spinoff" (bonus episode) and how it's a logical extension of the leads' character arcs

Old Fashion Cupcake

I had a realization about Nozue's constant, somewhat inappropriate complimenting of Togawa while looking at a gifset and reblogged it with my thoughts

To My Star

Notes on a gifset by @jimmysea - Nerding out big time on that one season 2 kiss

Only Friends

Sand, compulsive caregiver - On Sand's documented history of parentification and how it relates to his relationship with Ray

Minato's Laundromat

About that Minato's Laundromat season 2 storyline... - Commenting on a certain character's traumatic brain injury and its effects from a psychology perspective

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Chu chu chu; or, intimate scene tips from the Kiseki cast

Brief commentary on a reblog of some behind-the-scenes footage

HIStory 3: Trapped

A reblog of the "chu chu chu" post about Kiseki that adds similar information about how intimacy was handled on the set of HIStory 3: Trapped - featuring a helpful linguistic note from @nibupei

and, last but not least...

Utsukushii Kare meta

The psychological paradoxes of Utsukushii Kare

This is a series of posts (the current plan is to write three installments) about what it says on the tin: paradoxical psychological dynamics in Utsukushii Kare. These are things about the characters that may seem contradictory at first but can be accounted for by digging deeper into some psychological concepts. These posts are focused on the series (both seasons) but will draw from the movie and from the novel and related stories when they illustrate points about the series.

Part 1: Covert grandiosity and finding status through idealization - A pretty deep dive into 1) the subtle ways Hira shows that while his self-image can be highly negative in some ways, in other respects he feels superior to others and 2) how by elevating Kiyoi’s status and humbling himself in comparison, Hira attains a different kind of status.

An addendum of sorts to part 1: Hira's parents and his self-defeating tendencies - Some guesswork about how Hira's parents could have contributed to his self-defeating personality, with some further discussion of specific self-defeating strategies he uses in his relationship with Kiyoi and elsewhere.

Utsukushii Kare through the lens of pursuer-distancer dynamics and related psychological concepts:

The pursuer-distancer dyad & how it applies to the world of BL - a primer on this psychological concept and how it applies to BL generally, with a brief reference to how this concept applies to Utsukare (also touches on Semantic Error and talks in detail about an example from To My Star 2). This one isn't super focused on Utsukushii Kare but is pretty de rigeur for understanding my UK posts on this topic.

Paradoxical roles; or, I think I finally figured out the pursuer-distancer dynamic in Utsukushii Kare - This post comes after some of the posts listed below but I recommend reading it first as this is really where (I think) I cracked the code on this aspect of the story.

Pursuer-distancer roles & attachment style in Utsukushii Kare, Part 1: Hira - In-depth discussion of Hira's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Pursuer-distancer roles and attachment style in Utsukushii Kare Part 2: Kiyoi - In-depth discussion of Kiyoi's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Re-evaluating pursuing & distancing in Utsukushii Kare season 1 - super detailed post working out my thoughts about pursuing and distancing in season 1

On the way Sakai Mai (the series' director) uses seme left, uke right framing and its significance in BL and other Japanese media:

Using an example from the s2e1 with the girl who hits on Hira at a party (via a reblog of a gifset from @nanons)

On the way Sakai flips Hira's and Kiyoi's position in the frame in two versions of the same scene and what it tells us about its significance

How the persistent/cute trope plays out in Utsukushii Kare season 2, plus related overanalyses of the big season 2 finale kiss:

The persistent and the cute (how "persistent" and "cute" are code words with specific meanings in BL/yaoi/other drama and manga genres/Japanese culture more broadly)

Analyzing the season 2 finale kiss in light of seme left/uke right framing and the persistent/cute trope (in a reblog of a gif post by @nanons)

Reblogging @bl-bracket to lobby for the season 2 finale kiss, with more overanalysis

Fragrance nerd discussion:

This bittersweet fragrance - on the significance of osmanthus/tea olive in Utsukushii Kare season 2, with additional information on the possible significance of the fragrance of osmanthus and perfumes that are either osmanthus soliflores or feature prominent osmanthus notes

Posts on specific season 2 episodes:

initial thoughts about S2e1

Additional (informal) thoughts on s2e1

S2e1 rundown

Hira's incongruous/misaligned affect at the end of s2e1

S2e2 rundown

on S2e2, including pursuer-distancer dynamics and seme left, uke right

Utsukushii Kare S2E4: “face me straight on” (mostly discussing relationship dynamics pointed out in topic-specific metas)

on Utsukushii Kare: Eternal:

Kiyoi and Anna: on Kiyoi’s friendship with Anna and its significance for his personal growth

[mikuni14]

The last 2 weeks have provided me with amazing experiences from the BL series fan community. Moments when several series with very active fandoms are aired at the same time are very rare, and with the end of 2 series this week, I'm already mourning this wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience.

I have been camping in the following tags for many days and each one is different and unique: Love For Love's Sake I can't put into words what this show and fandom has given me. The number of absolutely insane analyses, meta, touching declarations of love to this series from moved viewers, and beautiful gifs is staggering. The series is excellent, the audience's reaction is also wonderful, it was such a great experience. Which doesn't surprise me, because it was people's reaction to real ART, which is always something special. The series itself is 10/10 for me in every category: love story, plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, even the "heat", because even though there were no love scenes, the guys were able to convey that they are very into each other 🥰

Dead Friend Forever I also enjoy the fandom experience immensely, the tag is full of great analysis and meta. The plot is so interesting and full of surprising twists and turns that there is always something new to discuss and come up with wild theories. The series is still ongoing, but for this moment it's also perfect for me and 10/10: love story (hehe), plot, actors, emotions, my investment in the story, quality, execution, also the "heat" (hehe).

Pit Babe I rate the fandom experience as *chef's kiss*. Tag is also full of interesting analyzes and meta, amazing gifs of Way. The fandom is generally very cheerful and unhinged, which is GREAT ✨ But what's most interesting is that if someone who didn't know Pit Babe checked the tag now, they would never guess who the main character and main couple of the series are (and this doesn't only apply to tumblr!). I find this incredibly funny 🤡 I'm not that interested in the series itself, so I won't rate it. I treat it as pure fun and entertainment, so I have zero expectations for the finale, especially since, of course, I've already stumbled upon possible spoilers. Personally, what I will take away from the entire series is my deepened love for Nut and a fascination with Way, whom I want like little girls want a new Barbie doll.

Last Twilight Another wild fandom experience lol I practically didn't visit the tag of this series at all, but I spent the last two episodes there in full camping mode, in a tent and cooking coffee after coffee over the fire 😄 Fans have once again soared to the heights of perfection, writing amazing analyzes and meta responses to the crap of the last episodes. The criticism was precise, justified, systematized, methodical and accurate 👩‍🎓 As with LFLS, it was an intellectual experience. The fans provided better entertainment than the series itself lol

The Sign hmm, for several weeks the tag has been dominated by BillyBabe, which is not strange because only this couple is responsible for BL aspect in this BL series 😄 I rate my fandom experience with The Sign in two categories: "until episode 7" full of amazing meta, analysis, beautiful gifs and enrichment for me as a fan, overall 10/10 and "after episode 7" which I spent mainly on… liking BillyBabe's photos and videos . Which is ok, because, well, I do like them a lot 😉

Two of the above series have already ended, although fans are still present, two more are ending this week. That's why I would like to take this opportunity and say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the fans, those who wrote emotional entries, deep and thoughtful meta, funny posts, created beautiful gifs, analyzed endlessly the smallest details and posted photos and videos of their favorite actors. You all made these last few days so interesting and fun. I hope there will be more days like this in 2024! 🥰

And now I'll only have DFF…

[thelunarfairy]

Thinking about how the type of relationship between Amane and Tsukasa is written and shown, like Aidairo they really like to play and, evidently, they do it on purpose: is it just something brotherly or is there something more? (Always interpreting the content they give us and never affirming [or denying] something)

It can also be said (and from what I have seen, it is something that does happen) that part of the jshk fandom rejects and ignores the theories that the interactions between the twins hide something beyond the fraternal because they're brothers and shouldn't be seen as such.

So,

Using the analogy of "If character A were the opposite gender of character B, then everyone would support their romantic relationship, but since A and B are the same gender that makes them just good friends and 'romantic' is just a thing." part of the community", one could deduce that if instead of brothers, Aidairo had chosen to be childhood friends, would the majority of the fandom more easily accept their interaction as something more than brotherly?

If they were just childhood friends who grew up together and their relationship is the same as it is currently in the manga, perhaps the entire fandom would say, and it wouldn't be something crazy or misplaced, that there's not just friendship between the two; perhaps a one-sided love, or a childhood love that ended badly. Maybe there would even be more posts of parallels between hananene and amane and tsukasa.

I would like to know your opinion ^ . ^

Just thoughts derived from insomnia and how I love to find three feet for the cat. And since I love to see the relationships of some characters in another light to see if it's just my interpretation or if there is something more.

P.D.: ilove your theories and analysis.

Do you want me to be completely honest?

I have been very cautious when talking about this subject precisely because it is such a taboo.

It's not about gender, but about being brothers, it's not something natural or accepted, it's strange to think or talk about it in a general context, most people have brothers and know that the love they feel for them is fraternal.

So this forbidden love causes a lot of strangeness, even if it is in fiction.

But yes, I'm happy that the fandom is finally seeing that there is SOMETHING STRANGE in their relationship, it's not just brotherly love, right?

It does not seem.

Tsukasa blushes when he is with Amane, when he talks about him. Hanako also blushes when he is around Tsukasa. The way Tsukasa touches Hanako, panels where they are almost kissing, Hanako under Tsukasa in a suggestive position while Tsukasa puts his hands on Hanako's lips. The way Hanako looks at Tsukasa, whether when he was pointing at the stars or when he ran to hug Amane.

There is more evidence of romance than of a healthy sibling relationship. The way Tsukasa didn't care about anything other than fulfilling Amane's wishes…

But what about Hanako, what must he have been like with Tsukasa?

The general idea that goes through my head sometimes is that the twins fell in love with each other. For Tsukasa, in a more innocent way, that kind of love that he still doesn't understand and doesn't know how to differentiate from brotherly love, everything for him is just love.

For Hanako…. this is more problematic, Hanako is not innocent, he knows what kind of love he feels for Tsukasa, and maybe because he realizes that it is wrong, forbidden, he just buried this feeling inside his chest. Even though he felt love and desires, he seemed to want to be the "perfect" brother, as we saw in the PP arc.

Most analyzes of JSHK symbolism point to a romantic love between them, and in some cases, unilateral. An innocent twin and a pervert, opposites but with similar desires.

I always wonder why Hanako has such a latent sexual desire, as if he was repressing an old desire, and when Kako revealed this in front of Tsukasa, Hanako blushed intensely!

He literally wanted to die again, so why was he so blushing because of Tsukasa? It doesn't make sense if we don't think about the desires he might feel about Tsukasa, and because it's something shameful and forbidden, he feels bad.

"I want Tsukasa, but he's my brother, we can't! It's wrong…."

He blushed more with Tsukasa than with Nene, even when Nene kissed him on the cheek, the moment he blushed the most with her, it didn't surpass the way he blushed with Tsukasa, even his HANDS were blushed.

Think with me, Hanako wants to stop time to do any kind of perverted things, who could he stop time with so he could do whatever he wanted without anyone knowing?

He already did perverted things with Nene without needing to stop time, he can even try to do perverted things with random people, since no one sees Hanako because he's a ghost

But he couldn't touch these people even if time stopped, because in order for him to touch them the other person must be supernatural, have a sixth sense or a bond with Hanako, as in the case of Nene, Kou.

So WHO was the person he was talking about?

Touching Tsukasa with time stopped… Would it lessen Amane's guilt if Tsukasa didn't know? Hmm…..

He likes to do things in secret because he doesn't like to feel guilty, he does things knowing it's wrong, and that's why he does them in secret.

This would also explain why he was so embarrassed when Tsukasa found out that he wants to do perverted things, it was as if Kako had revealed to Tsukasa that Amane had this type of desire towards him.

A forbidden desire that Amane hides, touching Tsukasa, but he can't, so would he wish time would stop so he could do what he wants, because he believed Tsukasa would never know, would it be the only way to alleviate his desire?

When the secret was revealed, Amane felt the guilt and shame for his desires strongly.

Should I also mention the sexual connotation between eating and being devoured? Hakubo and Sumire? It was explicitly a sexual scene between the two, and well, Hanako will probably have to devour Tsukasa in the same way, so sexual connotations continue here.

So, let's go to the scene of Hanako's intense crying when he sees Tsukasa kissing Nene.

Did he see the two people he is in love with kissing? And him being left out of it?

So, let's conclude, maybe this will all lead to a three-way relationship, if Nene accepts, of course. Hanako seems to be in love with both of them, and with the way things are going, we're going to see more of Amane showing love for Tsukasa.

See his look in these two situations:

It's the same look…. in one panel he tells Nene that he's happy because she was the first girl who said she liked him, in the other panel he's talking about Tsukasa.

Same tender look, same look, SAME LOOK

BUT

It's just ONE of the possibilities, maybe it's just another one of those things that some manga authors put in, you know, to tease and give false clues, maybe it's just "ah, that's just a joke, they're just very close brothers" and nothing happens.

Aidairo created a game in which there were twins in love with the same girl, they also had a suggestive relationship between them, but nothing explicitly romantic was shown between them.

This is what I think will happen in JSHK, there is all this evidence that their relationship is romantic, but in the end it won't be anything canon, just suggestive moments.

I don't think Aidairo will have enough courage to put a romantic relationship between canonical brothers???? I doubt it, I would challenge her if I could, because I definitely don't believe she would put that on! Because it would be very brave of her to do that!!

Neither the romantic relationship between the twins nor the relationship between three. Tsukasa will probably disappear, Nene will stay with Hanako for a while and Amane will disappear too, Nene (if she survives) will be sad for a while and then forget.

It will be?

Everything is still hazy, I'm wandering between the two paths, do they love each other romantically or is it just Aidairo's joke?

I have no idea the answer, because the evidence is getting stronger and harder to ignore….

Anyway, remembering that I don't ship the twins and I'm not saying that this is what will happen, it's just an analysis based on their behavior.

[crystallinestars]

Wow, it’s such a relief to find people who don’t like Haikaveh either. Was really disappointed when I read Sethos’s voiceline.. I am bisexual and I think that Haikaveh (along with many other pairings) is queerbaiting and some type of fetish. I’ve made a long written analysis on why I think it is and how I think it’s offensive, simply because I find it interesting and enjoy analyzing things. Really love their duo and they’re great parallels but they fit a sibling / platonic soulmate duo better than a romantic one 🤦‍♀️ It’s getting annoying at this point and I wish Hoyoverse would stop, but it earns them attention and money so why would they? Just want to enjoy my favorite character without him being used as an accessory for another. Disappoints me that other gay people don’t notice (or care) that they are being stereotypical themselves and that Hoyoverse is basically using our sexualities for accessories and money. Haven’t looked into the translation thing with Sethos’s voiceline but if it’s true it was more neutral in CN, then that’s interesting. The same Haikaveh defenders will yap about how “CN is the original!1!1!1” but if you bring something like this translation up they lose it. Hoyoverse has never been a “gay representation” company, it’s a queer-baiting one. 🤦‍♀️ But at the same time, I don’t really even care. I’m not a gay person who cares much about my sexuality or others, but things like this are frustrating. Wish there were more people who understand my view on why I think their presentation is harmful.

- 🪷 / 🪽

Hello 🪷/🪽 Anon! (Let me know if you want to go by both emojis or just one) Welcome to our small club of not being into Haikaveh (or most Hoyoverse queer ships).

I agree with you that Kaveh and Haitham have a very sibling/platonic dynamic. In fact, their bickering reminds me a lot of my younger siblings’ bickering, so I view them as brothers, as well. It’s just unfortunate that the fandom rejects any interpretation that’s not romantic.

I also wish Mihoyo would stop, but they’re obsessed with tossing ship crumbs, and only to the most popular ships. As you said, it makes them money, so they have no reason to stop.

There is definitely some queerbaiting in Genshin, but I would say it’s not as bad as in HSR. HSR sometimes made me very uncomfortable with the fetishization of some of their ships, and I wondered if a man wrote it for a straight male audience…

Mihoyo has always had a history of wanting to include same-sex pairings in their games. Honkai Impact 3rd has a confirmed lesbian MC, and also two other female characters who canonically kiss (but due to updated laws in China, they had to remove that scene).

It doesn’t surprise me that they want to do similar things in Genshin and HSR, but they never commit to the ships. They only tease and hint at them, ala “There might be something between these characters, but also not really, but what if…?” and this is pretty much exclusive to same-sex pairings. This teasing and hinting makes the fandom so much worse to be in. Lots of other gacha games don’t do this, but for whatever reason, Mihoyo does.

I suspect some of the employees working on the game may be queer or have a huge interest in BL and GL (though it’s probably a mix of both), which is why they make all these ship crumbs. There’s nothing wrong with having queer relationships in games and other media, but the way they go about it feels… fetishizing, I guess? It doesn’t feel genuine. I can’t quite put my finger on what feels so off about this. You would know about this far more than me since you analyzed this already, so if you have interpretations you want to add, I’ll gladly hear you out.

It sucks because they market their games as being for all audiences, but then do things with a heavy bias for certain ships. It makes it so difficult to enjoy characters the way you want when the developer and fandom constantly shove in your face that your favorite character has an implied relationship or some other such thing.

Regarding the Sethos voiceline… my friend in China, who also dislikes Haikaveh, complained to me about it the other day. She said the original Chinese text felt like it was implying something between Kaveh and Haitham. Of course, that is just her personal interpretation, and some people don’t see a deeper meaning behind the words. However, it goes to show that even the Chinese audience can tell something is up with the voiceline, so it might not be as neutral as we hoped.

I’m all for more media having queer rep, but Mihoyo doesn’t do it right. I really wish I could just play their games without having ship teasing slapped in my face, but alas, they won’t ever change. At this point, it’s better to not play any of their games (though maybe Tears of Themis can stay) and ditch the fandoms for your peace of mind.

[forkaround]

This post is an extension to this post about what can be classified as a BL. I'd rec you read that post first.

I woke up in the morning with this in my notifs and I just....

Anyway, let's break it down:

Does a QL simple mean that the main characters are queer and you go in knowing that?

First of, in my post I say BL is where you know "Boys are kissing boys and girls are kissing girls." If there is no romance (thus the reference to kissing), the show becomes irrelevant to the conversation.

But to answer: What's wrong with that?

That makes literally *anything* centering queer people and queer love a QL

Great! It's QL.

I've seen this pointed out multiple times have these people wondered why they don't want to call something they think is good a QL? What is wrong with the title of QL?

and that imo is somewhat belittling of queer people's existence as in their presence in society as a a given is inherently 'genre'

Yeah, and Pride and Prejudice is a 'straight genre'

If that doesn't make sense, well, that sentence didn't make sense to me. Does making crime shows make the lives of cops and criminals in to a genre??? It's such an absurd statement. Or maybe I'm just sleepy....

this is very different from thinking QL is 'bad'--you'd never call anything with an expected straight romance in it 'romance' by default

Yeah! That's how it works! Romance is romance. Romance is a genre. It's literally the biggest genre there is. There is more romance written, published, made into animation or live action than literally any other genre by a huge margin.

Romance can and is often combined with other genres. Doesn't change that it is a romance.

you'd call it whatever genre it is; when you meet a series of fitting tropes you'd call it a rom-com

What does rom stand for again?

Romance is often used with other genres, from action to horror to contemporary to fantasy to sci-fi.

This I think primarily comes from people not knowing how genres work. It's not a Boolean (as one would say in computer science). It's not a True/False thing where if it's action it can't be romance. If it's romance it can't be political.

As they say: It contains multitides.

shouldn't queer stories be afforded the same discretion?

Moonlight Chicken, Kinnporsche, Old Fashion Cupcake, Bad Buddy, Love in the Air, Not Me, 180 Degrees, GAP the series, HIStory 3: Trapped, About Youth, Mood Indigo, Cherry Magic, I could go on. You don't have to go anywhere else for it. BL already has it all.

So I'll ask again: Why do you feel that 'BL' is a bad word?

Other people have wrote about this with better sources and much deeper understanding so I'll try my best to convey it here:

As I understand the situation, something got lost in translation when yaoi travelled from Japan to the US and people started understanding yaoi to be a 'dirty' genre, that did not depict honest queerness despite it being made up of majorly queer people. It became the genre that was 'for straight women by straight women'. If you look at US the same phenomenon can be observed when people talk, or at least talked, about slash fiction. Mix in some cultural context and yaoi goes from a fun escapist genre to the bane of queer existence genre. Fiction is enjoyed differently in different parts of the world. Nothing wrong with that. Hell, nothing unique or special with that statement either. It's a fact of life. If Shakespeare can't be universal, as many like to claim, we should not expect the same of anything else.

And let's never forget how westerners think their version of queerness is the only real version. I've had personal experience with this and I can say: People need to open their minds and understand that not everything is from their perspective. When I encounter any American thing in a show or book, I simply slide past it because I'm not American. I've never been to America. It doesn't change the story itself, so why bother, what would be the point. If people applied that approach instead of analyzing every detail and expecting it to fit your world view then we would all be happier.

(It turned sappy at the end there. I'm sleepy.)

[wen-kexing-apologist]

How are you so cool and write so much cool meta?? Sometimes I find myself not agreeing to it, but that makes it more cooler ig. (Like what are you doing with life if your meta posts don't have a lil potential for controversy and make people second guess.)

I don't really have anything to ask rn but your latest Step by Step meta post about homelessness and hidden relationships and bridges was really, really good, so just Take my love! <3333

(and keep on writing, please!)

Omg thank you this is so sweet!

How am I so cool and write so much cool meta??

It’s a combination of being gay, mental illness, and a theatre degree I think!

But actually I write cool meta because other people write cool meta and other people share their thoughts and opinions and talk to the internet about them, and talk to me about them, and sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t and sometimes something they say makes me think about a scene differently or a show differently or a character differently and without that I wouldn’t be here, writing meta until way too late in the evenings.

My cool meta would not exist without people like @absolutebl, @bengiyo, @colourme-feral, @dribs-and-drabbles, @emotionallychargedtowel, @ginnymoonbeam, @kyr-kun-chan, @liyazaki, @lurkingshan, @neuroticbookworm, @respectthepetty, @ranchthoughts, @shortpplfedup, @so-much-yet-to-learn, @solitaryandwandering, @waitmyturtles

and so many many many many many more people who have made posts or come into my comments, or my DMs, or my inbox to talk to me about the things they’re seeing, about the things they are thinking, about the questions they have.

it starts small, it builds over time. I started by seeing @respectthepetty’s index of BL tattoos and BL t-shirts and sending her examples I’d seen that she didn’t have, and then I followed her, and then she started posting about colors, and then I started to thinking about colors instead of just watching the show in front if me, and then *I* started to post about colors, and then about scenes, and then about body language, until my brain was trained, primed, and ready to instantly make a connection between queer people finding safety among other historically disenfranchised communities.

not all of my meta has been cool, some of my meta has caused people to stall on shows they were enjoying because I got over excited, because I was still honing my analysis brain, I’ve been wrong before about colors, about theories, about everything and I keep posting anyway (I just don’t include those failures on my master post lmfao)

All of this to say, cool meta is subjective and cool meta can take time to get right. My meta does not exist without other people behind the camera, in front of the camera, and on the internet putting their own time and effort in to creating something, analyzing something, sharing something that I can connect with, reflect on, and respond to.

all of this to say I write cool meta because other people write cool meta and I am all the better for it. So this is my call to action for more people to start feeling empowered to POST! THAT! SHIT!

post it if you feel it strongly, post it if you agree, post it if you disagree, post about colors and numbers and shapes and the significance of blow jobs and tattoos and tropes. Post the best kisses and why, post the categorizations, post what you are comfortable with

but be respectful!

don’t jump down people’s throat on main, engage in discussions not debates don’t post just cause you feel like you have something to prove. I have disagreed with many people I tagged here, honestly I’ve probably disagreed with all of them at one point. Disagreed about actors, about editing, about story structure, about significance. But I listen, I understand that everyone has lenses through which they view the world, the way they view media and I take those as learning opportunities. I’ve disagreed with everyone here at some point, and even in the midst of those discussions I take their points. I can understand why they don’t have the same hangs ups, or have different hang ups, or like something others don’t, or don’t like something others do.

I consider a great number of the people I tagged to be my internet friends and we’ve remained that way for the last…4? months that I’ve been posting meta because we can shut up and listen just as good as we can ramble and write.

tl;dr i write cool meta because others write cool meta and you too should write cool meta

[opuestocomplementario]

When Boss said that the way the characters kissed should be different from the start in the relationship to the end, I took it VERY personally and decided to roll with it and analyze every kiss scene I see in BL because HE IS RIGHT. Kisses are another way to show the development of one character or a relationship and should tell a lot about them and their story. And it also applies to sex and touching. 

With that being said, can we talk about how Pai and Sky kissed? When Pai was dreaming about Sky, that kiss…dear lord, the intensity, the want, the need to have Sky was very obvious. Pai kissed Sky like he couldn’t get enough of him and he wanted to almost eat him. It was intense, and deep, and craving, and hot and sexy and everything in between. Pai’s kiss in that scene shows how much he craves Sky and how much he wants to have him, in body and soul. 

While Sky, when he is kissing Pai, is short and sweet and almost unsure (I am talking about his pecs after Pai helped him and took care of him). Sky still is hesitant to give Pai his all and the way to show him that he still wants him is toward small gestures. Sky kisses also have little to no sexual or sexyness implication (at least for me) for now; they are short kisses, like saying “I like you” but not quite “I want you” like Pai. Is not until later when Sky kisses get deeper and more intense and eager because he can not have this play go on for longer and Pai has shown him he is not playing with him; so Sky can let go of his hesitancy and open himself a little more to Pai. Even when they are having sex, Sky kiss Pai in a really soft and intimate and short way; kissing his forehead and his upper lip and touching his face. Is a different type of want and different approach to the touches of the scene in EP8. He doesn’t want to take anything from Pai, on the contrary, he wants to give him something. Either his heart and body, or a part of them. 

Even though Sky has shown to not be very fond of touching because of what happened, I still think he does like most of those touches. Like, Sky smiles when Pai touches gently, or approaches him and tries to make contact, but always goes with a boundary in mind. I also talked about it but Sky does tend to have romantic sides and while kissing and sex seems to be, now, a way of “payment” for him, I do believe he considered these things a show of affection. Sky doesn’t necessarily need to initiate any type of body contact with Pai because Pai has made it clear, but even then, Sky wants to give it to him. In the book, the scene where they had sex after Pai cleaned his house, at least for me, was like Sky was indeed “paying” with his body, but in the show they made it clear that Sky was the one who still wanted to have Pai. 

I think the biggest doubt in Sky's mind is not what he can give to Pai but how he can make him stay, and therefore what is worth it enough for it. In EP11, we can see that sex is not a primar motivation for any of them. Pai does not only want Sky for his body, and Sky wants to open up to him. That’s why I love the approach of the food and the taking care of it. Even if you care for someone it takes so much time and energy to actually be there for them and not expect something in return. Pai has already said he wants to be there for Sky and he means a lot to him, peridot. Nothing else. It is as simple as that. And it is completely understandable that Sky does not believe it. But I still think Sky is as simple as Pai. Sky wants someone who would be there for him and someone who can enjoy being around. He still wants the fairytale that started in EP8; a guy who is not an asshole to him and would cherish him. 

So yeah, I love how even after showing us that sex is not a primary thing in their relationship, is still part of it. It shows how it is normal to want to enjoy someone and be with them in a physical way. I really appreciate how this drama balanced those aspects, showing how normal sex is in a relationship and how it can be approach in different ways. 

[waitmyturtles]

Okay, okay, omg. My wee brain is at max at the moment. I’m on a work trip at the moment, so this will be shorter than usual, but also, I’m far too overwhelmed with the discovery about the Bad Buddy x ATOTS crossover that will take place over two weeks starting next week, so like -- my itty heart is like, whoa whoa!

AND THEN THERE’S OUR DINING TABLE, that comes in like the cutest machete in the world, being awl like, yeah gurl, we are going to just take you down once and for all, all while you’re all already emotional and shit. GREAT!

No, actually, no complaints. I’m insanely excited for Pran and Pat to come back, and deeply thrilled that Our Dining Table continues to best out the current competition. Best episode yet. Our Dining Table, episode 8, thoughts:

Again, continuing to be such an empathetic show to dear Yutaka, who really needed this entire episode to process everything that was happening to him. I loved that last line of the episode: “How am I going to deal with these things?” IT WAS SO HONEST TO HIS PROCESS FOR THIS ENTIRE EPISODE.

I really liked how Minoru DIDN’T panic at Yutaka’s needing time and quiet to understand what was happening. 

Besides the use of silence, which continues to be so important to this show -- all of the solo scenes with Yutaka, in his house, in his office -- something that actually moved me was the bright music of the scene where Ueda-san, Minoru, and Tane are outside, throwing the ball. Around Tane, guess what? The adults have to continue adulting and living.

I have to say. As a parent. That’s really hard. If I were Minoru, I would want to curl up in my bed and stay there for days.

With a little kid around, you can’t. (Quick tangent: little baby Tane’s flip-out in the park, when he was laying down, wanting to be picked up? And the ladies were saying, “poor boy?” Come AWN. That was NOTHING. If Japan thinks that was a big freak-out by a toddler, COME TO MY HOUSE AND MEET MY KIDS, sheesh.)

Anyway, ha. With a little kid -- you cannot retreat. I love that when Minoru came back home the second time in the episode, the first thing he asked his dad was -- where’s Tane? That’s parental thinking. The kid comes first.

So I really want to emphasize here, and Ueda-san knows this, too -- Minoru has spent his last few years putting other people first. I think that’s what’s happening between him and Yutaka, too. He kissed Yutaka, for sure, but retreated -- and allowed Yutaka to then set the pace. With Yutaka needing the time to process, Minoru withdrew fully, apologized, and is processing on his own.

He’s in pain, but Minoru is also empathetic to Yutaka’s position, because Minoru has gotten to understand people, at a far younger age than your usual adult, because of the parenting he’s done with Tane. It’s all full circle and SO BEAUTIFUL to me.

@respectthepetty‘s tribute to Ueda-san is so perfect in this moment. Ueda-san is just THERE, and loving, and is a keen parent to know that BOTH his sons need his parenting in this moment.

And. We got to see another angle of the kiss. @troubled-mind -- did you know that it was a side kiss from the manga? I had no idea!

I wish I had more time to deeply analyze this episode, but so be it for this week. That we get this show WITH the BBS and ATOTS reunions -- we are IN THE MOMENT IN BL, FRIENDS, IN. THE. MOMENT.

[ranchthoughts]

Hello everyone! I am back with another GMMTV Multiverse update, and a reorganization.

Starting a new post because the other one was getting so long and unwieldy. Also I wanted to lay things out in a way that was perhaps more readable for other people.

Shout out to @iamdarthbader @abstractelysium @algaeelegy @chalkrevelations @philologique @waitmyturtles for noticing things I had missed/adding details - it is always appreciated!

This is part of my ongoing project to calculate and organize the breath of possible universes within the GMMTV slate of shows. I am mostly focusing on BL at the moment, with an eye to expand into the other GMMTV shows (QL and not) eventually.

The previous thread can be found here, and here is the previous diagram.

I have analyzed 15 shows now:

A Boss and a Babe (ABAAB)

A Tale of a Thousand Stars (ATOTS)

Bad Buddy

Dark Blue Kiss (DBK)

Enchante

Fish Upon the Sky (FUTS)

He’s Coming to Me (HCTM)

Moonlight Chicken

My School President (MSP)

Never Let Me Go (NLMG)

Not Me

Star in My Mind (SIMM)

The Eclipse

Theory of Love (TOL)

Vice Versa

A few establishing notes:

Bad Buddy and ATOTS are part of the same universe, as confirmed by the Our Skyy 2 crossover episodes

MSP and The Eclipse are part of the same universe, as pointed out by @philologique here

The show Vice Versa contains two universes - the one we start in and the alternate universe they travel to, henceforth referred to as au!Vice Versa

The universe the show MSP is set in and the universe the Our Skyy 2 MSP episodes are set in are different; the Our Skyy 2 version will henceforth be referred to as au!MSP

No other show thus far can take place in the au!Vice Versa universe as that universe doesn’t have normal paper, as irregular croissants, has marriage equality (amongst other changes) and no other GMMTV show to date shares these traits (side note: there is an au!Enchante that does share this universe, as we see Akk and Theo on their wedding day, but I’m leaving it out of the analysis)

Bad Buddy is a TV show in the MSP/The Eclipse universe, as Tiw recommends Tinn watch it. Bad Buddy, ATOTS, and HCTM are TV shows in the au!MSP universe, as the characters reenact those stories for a music video. TOL, along with 2gether and SOTUS, are TV shows in the Vice Versa universe, as famous lines from those shows are used as secret passwords. SIMM is a show in the ABAAB universe, as there is randomly an episode playing in the background of a scene in ABAAB.

Methodology

@kattahj reminded me I forgot to mention - Drake exists twice in the Bad Buddy/ATOTS world (as Korn and Rang respectively), but I operate under the assumption that he is the only one who can do that in the GMMTV Multiverse ...for my own sanity. (Shout out also to @fiercynn for detailing how Nanon also exists twice in Bad Buddy, as Pran and as the singer Nanon)

In other words, I am operating under the assumption that each actor can appear once in a given universe (there are some exceptions, like Drake playing two separate characters in Bad Buddy/ATOTS and Gun playing identical twins in Not Me, but for the most part this is my definition of universe)

This is how I've chosen to identify and narrow down universes, as other markers (crossovers, mentions of other characters and stories in shows, etc) are few and far between. It also is just easier on me to have mutually exclusive categories

Who can and can’t share a universe?

Actor(s) noted in brackets are the reason the two shows cannot exist in the same universe

A Boss And A Babe (ABAAB)

Cannot be in the same universe as: Enchante (Book, Fluke Pusit, Force), TOL (Mike), SIMM (Mike)

Can be in the same universe as au!MSP, Bad Buddy/ATOTS, DBK, FUTS, HCTM, Moonlight Chicken, MSP/The Eclipse, NLMG, Not Me, Vice Versa

Bad Buddy/A Tale of a Thousand Stars (ATOTS)

*confirmed in the same universe by Our Skyy 2 crossover episodes

Cannot be in the same universe as: au!MSP (Aun, Fourth, Gemini, Lotte, Mark, Prom, Satang), Enchante (Aun, Jimmy), FUTS (Mix, Satang), HCTM (Love, Ohm), Moonlight Chicken (Earth, Fourth, Gemini, Khaotung, Mix), MSP/The Eclipse (Aun, Fourth, Gemini, Lotte, Mark, Prom, Satang), SIMM (Satang, Winny), TOL (Earth), Vice Versa (Jimmy)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, DBK, NLMG, Not Me

DBK

Cannot be in the same universe as: Enchante (Gawin), FUTS (Neo, Phuwin), HCTM (Gunsmile), MSP/The Eclipse (Neo), NLMG (Phuwin), Not Me (Gawin), SIMM (Mek), Vice Versa (Neo)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, au!MSP, Bad Buddy/ATOTS, Moonlight Chicken, TOL

Enchante

Cannot be in the same universe as: au!MSP (Aun), ABAAB (Book, Fluke Pusit, Force), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Aun, Jimmy), DBK (Gawin), MSP/The Eclipse (Aun), Not Me (Gawin), Vice Versa (Aou, Jimmy)

Can be in the same universe as: FUTS, HCTM, Moonlight Chicken, NLMG, SIMM, TOL

FUTS

Cannot be in the same universe as: au!MSP (Satang, Winny), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Mix, Satang, Winny), DBK (Neo), HCTM (AJ), Moonlight Chicken (Papang), MSP/The Eclipse (AJ, Louis, Neo, Satang, Winny), NLMG (Phuwin, Pond) Not Me (Papang), SIMM (Satang, Winny), Vice Versa (Neo)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, Enchante, TOL

HCTM

Cannot be in the same universe as: Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Love, Ohm), DBK (Gunsmile), FUTS (AJ), NLMG (Chimon), Not Me (Sing)

Can be in the same universe as: au!MSP, ABAAB, Enchante, Moonlight Chicken, MSP/The Eclipse, SIMM, TOL, Vice Versa

Moonlight Chicken

Cannot be in the same universe as: au!MSP (Fourth, Gemini), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Earth, Fourth, Gemini, Khaotung, Mix), MSP/The Eclipse (First, Fourth, Gemini, Khaotung), Not Me (First, Papang), TOL (Earth), Vice Versa (Aou)

Could be in the same universe as: ABAAB, DBK, Enchante, FUTS, HCTM, NLMG, SIMM

MSP/The Eclipse

*confirmed in the same universe by this post

Cannot be in the same universe as: au!MSP (Aun, Fourth, Gemini, Lotte, Mark, Prom, Satang, Winny), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Aun, Fourth, Gemini, Khaotung, Lotte, Mark, Satang, Winny), DBK (Neo), Enchante (Aun), FUTS (AJ, Neo, Satang, Winny), HCTM (AJ), Moonlight Chicken (First, Fourth, Gemini, Khaotung), NLMG (Pawin), Not Me (First), SIMM (Satang, Winny), Vice Versa (Neo)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, TOL

NLMG

Cannot be in the same universe as: DBK (Phuwin), FUTS (Phuwin, Pond), HCTM (Chimon), MSP/The Eclipse (Pawin), SIMM (Pawin)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, au!MSP, Bad Buddy/ATOTS, Enchante, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, TOL, Vice Versa

Not Me

Cannot be in the same universe as: DBK (Gawin), Enchante (Gawin), FUTS (Papang), HCTM (Sing), Moonlight Chicken (First, Papang), MSP/The Eclipse (First), TOL (Gun, Off)

Can be in the same universe as: ABAAB, au!MSP, Bad Buddy/ATOTS, NLMG, SIMM, Vice Versa

SIMM

Cannot be in the same universe as: ABAAB (Mike), au!MSP (Satang, Winny), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Satang), DBK (Mek), FUTS (Satang, Winny), MSP/The Eclipse (Pawin, Satang, Winny), NLMG (Pawin), TOL (Mike)

Can be in the same universe as: Enchante, HCTM, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, Vice Versa

TOL

Cannot be in the same universe as: ABAAB (Mike), Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Earth), Moonlight Chicken (Earth), Not Me (Gun, Off), SIMM (Mike), Vice Versa (exists as a show there)

Can be in the same universe as: au!MSP, DBK, Enchante, FUTS, HCTM, MSP/The Eclipse (as long as Vice Versa is not), NLMG

Vice Versa

Cannot be in the same universe as: Bad Buddy/ATOTS (Jimmy), DBK (Neo), Enchante (Jimmy), FUTS (Neo), TOL (exists as a show)

Can be in the same universe as: au!MSP, HCTM, Moonlight Chicken, MSP/The Eclipse (as long as TOL is not), NLMG, Not Me, SIMM

I will do another breakdown of the possible universe iterations later, but for now I wanted to get the data out there!

[giraffeclass]

my personal thoughts about the whole queerbait discourse regarding the daddies that are buddies

So. Do I think Buddy Daddies is queerbait? There's two things to analyze there. First, is the marketing of the show geared towards grabbing a BL audience? I'm not japanese nor speak the language so it's impossible for me accurately make a judgement on that.

But at least regarding the show itself, I don't think so. Like, I don't think the show is promising anything it isn't delivering? It's very straightforward about Kazuki and Rei having a strong partnership as roommates/coworkers/friends, and both being Miri's dads and the three of them being family and that's it, it never hints at anything else, never goes "wink wink nudge nudge are they a couple~? ;333"

Like in episode 4 for example(the daycare episode) it would have been so easy to sneak in some bait-y jokes, have a teacher assume they're a couple and then show Kazuki denying it getting all nervous and blushy, but they don't do that. They directly say "Yes, we are both her fathers" and no other characters in the episode question that or make any suggestive comments. What you see is what you get. It ends up being pretty refreshing how easily accepted it is.

Basically I think the show is like... non-hostile to a queer interpretation while also not feeding any false hope I guess?

And of course there's a lot of subtext, whether that subtext is accidental or not. Just the premise itself is already inherently queer. At the end of the day, this anime has a message of acceptance for non-conventional families, which is very queer-positive, whether intentional or not.

I started this show genuinely thinking it was gonna be generic bait and so far I've honestly just been pleasantly surprised? Like I just don't feel like they're dangling something in front of me or whatever. idk I'm just enjoying the ride lol

also here's the thing. I actually tend to really enjoy the more ambiguous/subtle kind of relationship writing, the kind of stuff that blurs the line between friendship and romance, and so I gravitate towards a lot of stuff that people would usually consider queerbait lol. I just love the concept of two people who have this deep and unspoken trust and love for each other and don't need precise words to define it, or don't know how to define it, or are not emotionally honest enough yet to define it, but the love is clear as day. Like I love it when two characters refuse to even call each other "friend" but you know they would die for each other lmao.

Best example I can think of is G/ood Omens(the show, haven't read the book yet). Lots of queer people complained that they never kiss or outright say "I love you" or anything like that, meanwhile I was there like oh shit, I actually really loved the way their relationship was portrayed in the show and wouldn't change a single thing about it

I do understand the feelings of people who want something that leaves absolutely no room to be interpreted as platonic, and I think we need more of that always. But also I feel like the discourse has lost a lot of nuance, idk. anyway I got off topic oops

[emotionallychargedtowel]

Utsukushii Kare master post

With Utsukushii Kare: Eternal becoming available on streaming in Japan and rumors of international streaming distribution on the horizon, I thought this might be a good time to do a roundup post of all of my meta writing on the series so far. There's quite a bit of it. Between the complexity of the psychological themes in this series and my capacity for hyperfocus, I ended up with a lot to say.

In case it doesn't go without saying, this post is subject to change as I continue to post on this topic.

The psychological paradoxes of Utsukushii Kare

This is a series of posts (the current plan is to write three installments) about what it says on the tin: paradoxical psychological dynamics in Utsukushii Kare. These are things about the characters that may seem contradictory at first but can be accounted for by digging deeper into some psychological concepts. These posts are focused on the series (both seasons) but will draw from the movie and from the novel and related stories when they illustrate points about the series.

Part 1: Covert grandiosity and finding status through idealization - A pretty deep dive into 1) the subtle ways Hira shows that while his self-image can be highly negative in some ways, in other respects he feels superior to others and 2) how by elevating Kiyoi’s status and humbling himself in comparison, Hira attains a different kind of status.

An addendum of sorts to part 1: Hira's parents and his self-defeating tendencies - Some guesswork about how Hira's parents could have contributed to his self-defeating personality, with some further discussion of specific self-defeating strategies he uses in his relationship with Kiyoi and elsewhere.

Utsukushii Kare through the lens of pursuer-distancer dynamics and related psychological concepts:

The pursuer-distancer dyad & how it applies to the world of BL - a primer on this psychological concept and how it applies to BL generally, with a brief reference to how this concept applies to Utsukare (also touches on Semantic Error and talks in detail about an example from To My Star 2). This one isn't super focused on Utsukushii Kare but is pretty de rigeur for understanding my UK posts on this topic.

Paradoxical roles; or, I think I finally figured out the pursuer-distancer dynamic in Utsukushii Kare - This post comes after some of the posts listed below but I recommend reading it first as this is really where (I think) I cracked the code on this aspect of the story.

Pursuer-distancer roles & attachment style in Utsukushii Kare, Part 1: Hira - In-depth discussion of Hira's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Pursuer-distancer roles and attachment style in Utsukushii Kare Part 2: Kiyoi - In-depth discussion of Kiyoi's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Re-evaluating pursuing & distancing in Utsukushii Kare season 1 - super detailed post working out my thoughts about pursuing and distancing in season 1

On the way Sakai Mai (the series' director) uses seme left, uke right framing and its significance in BL and other Japanese media:

Using an example from the s2e1 with the girl who hits on Hira at a party (via a reblog of a gifset from @nanons)

On the way Sakai flips Hira's and Kiyoi's position in the frame in two versions of the same scene and what it tells us about its significance

How the persistent/cute trope plays out in Utsukushii Kare season 2, plus related overanalyses of the big season 2 finale kiss:

The persistent and the cute (how "persistent" and "cute" are code words with specific meanings in BL/yaoi/other drama and manga genres/Japanese culture more broadly)

Analyzing the season 2 finale kiss in light of seme left/uke right framing and the persistent/cute trope (in a reblog of a gif post by @nanons)

Reblogging @bl-bracket to lobby for the season 2 finale kiss, with more overanalysis

Fragrance nerd discussion:

This bittersweet fragrance - on the significance of osmanthus/tea olive in Utsukushii Kare season 2, with additional information on the possible significance of the fragrance of osmanthus and perfumes that are either osmanthus soliflores or feature prominent osmanthus notes

Posts on specific season 2 episodes:

initial thoughts about S2e1

Additional (informal) thoughts on s2e1

S2e1 rundown

Hira's incongruous/misaligned affect at the end of s2e1

S2e2 rundown

on S2e2, including pursuer-distancer dynamics and seme left, uke right

Utsukushii Kare S2E4: “face me straight on” (mostly discussing relationship dynamics pointed out in topic-specific metas)

on Utsukushii Kare: Eternal:

Kiyoi and Anna: on Kiyoi’s friendship with Anna and its significance for his personal growth

[mikuni14]

Love For Love's Sake - Ep 7-8

Korea delivered again.

I watched these episodes a few hours ago, but I'm only writing something now because I have so many thoughts in my head. I don't know what to write anyway, my thoughts and feelings are a mess. I don't even know if I understood everything correctly. But it doesn't matter because I vibe with this series so hard 🥳 I cried through both episodes, and I spent the end of the finale in an incredible euphoria, as if I was high. This series is pure art because it can reach the depths of your heart, make you feel the story told deeply, and finally experience catharsis. And what's important - all your feelings turn out to be important, each of them meant something, none of them were wasted (which sadly happens to me often in BL series, especially lately, like, why do I get so invested, when in the end it turns out that it was for nothing..).

I was genuinely curious how the series would overcome the fact that it is a game and in the end I rate the result and execution as 10/10 for innovation and professionalism in breaking my heart. Also a special award for creating the character of a "god", who, like all gods, is a dick who enjoys tormenting ordinary people and putting them through some werid, difficult, harsh trials to make them "better" (why is it never a form of a gentle therapy, only kick in the balls and "learn from it" lol)

Myung Ha went through hell in this life, after going through hell ending with suicide in his previous life, becoming some kind of mythical, biblical figure in his suffering. This is a trope that I have never liked or accepted (growth through suffering), but I accept it here because of a) a very good execution that really moved me b) a happy ending 🙂 I won't analyze Myung Ha more because others will do it definitely a lot better. I just want to write how much I love this lonely, broken, kind man. How much I felt sorry for him when he did everything for Yeo Woon and nothing worked and he despaired because he didn't understand what he was doing wrong. Because, keeping your problems and fears a secret from your loved one, keeping him at a distance to protect him, making noble sacrifices, never asking for help, is an expression of love, right? RIGHT? Oh my poor summer child, and my poor heart 💔💔

I love Yeo Woon for how honest he is with his feelings. When he is happy - he talks about it, when he is unhappy - he also talks about it. I love how he says precisely what he likes and doesn't like. How he sets boundaries - even if he crumbles in the end, panicking when he might actually lose Myung Ha. Yeo Woon has his own demons, his own problems, his own fears of being alone and being abandoned. But I really like how hard he tries and how much he wants their relationship to be equal and how he NOTICES THAT IT'S NOT. I liked it so much that he didn't ignore what Myung Ha was doing after he collapsed. That he confronted him because he had spent the whole day looking for him, only to find out that he was sick and in the care of someone else, and his "rival" at that. How else could Yeo Woon feel other than hurt, rejected, jealous and not worthy of being Myung Ha's carer?

There were so many scenes in these episodes and each deserves a separate analysis, a separate post, but I don't even know where to start, I have so many thoughts in my head! What a series, WHAT A SERIES.

Hmm, what could be easier to write? For example, how many tropes were used in this show, like the hand-holding, dragging by hand, running through the city and on the beach to your crush, sexy drinking from a water bottle, going to the beach with friends together at the end 💯

Final kisses: what can I say, it must have taken a lot of practice kissing, right Yeo Woon? 🤭 Korea often does this thing where the first kiss is stiff and in the next kiss the guys go to town lol

Sang Won deserves a special mention, he's just a great character. And the actor playing him is incredibly hot.

Each of these boys was 10/10, the series is 10/10. The series perfectly balanced comedy and tragedy, a beautiful and romantic love story with difficult and heavy elements, also feelings of joy and sadness in the viewers (at least in me). I love this series because the main couple was always present, their love was constantly visible, they still had lovely scenes together even when everything around them was falling apart. The series did something amazing when the surprising plot twist in the form of what actually happened to Myung Ha DID NOT DOMINATE the finale. That it became its important, but not the most important element, and the finale itself brought only smiles and joy. I didn't expect that a BL series could again make me feel things as The Eight Sense did, but here we are 💖

I plan to rewatch the entire series again. And I'm very saddened by the choice of distribution method of this series, if it were aired every week, it would probably have the same popularity as The Eighth Sense - but now, after a week, it's over...