#cherry sugar

[prismstonearchives]

ミラクルベアれもん - Miracle Bear Lemon

[lovertm]

pop-tart light-switch & outlet covers by Zen Creations

[lanitashiddencrackstash]

[dreamtreat]

cake from @geminicakedesign on ig

[fullcravings]

Vegan Black Forest Dessert Cups

[absolutebl]

MY BEST & WORST BLs of 2024

My Top 10 BLs of 2024 are (in order)

1 Cosmetic Playlover

Japan Gaga

I love this little show. It's a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss.

It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What fun!

Already in hard rewatch territory.

2 Love For Love's Sake

Korea iQIYI trigger suiside

KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. Like many queer narratives, this show is actually about self worth, trust, and found family, and it is VERY on the nose. But I don’t expect subtlety from my BL and I enjoyed it's truly lovely redemption arc and earnest performances. The narrative tension is tight, and the pacing is killer.

That said, I did find the flow a touch disjointed with overworked filming angles and poorer than average captions, but the consistency of tone, script, and immersion is spectacular, beyond the norm for BL (even KBL). You will drown in this show and like it that way. The leads have fantastic chemistry and it's ultimately highly rewatchable and utterly charming, which counts for a lot.

3 Unknown

Taiwan YouTube

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable.

When it dwells in intimate family drama, it's stunning. It's slightly less successful when it leaves the home and goes gritty. It's few flaws are the result of curtailed length. It could have used more breathing room to deal with side plots, characters, and companion character development. The editing was occasionally choppy and packed with flashbacks that broke the emotional tension. Still, those are mere quibbles for me. This is an excellent show based on one of my favorite old school BL tropes that I know I'm going to be recommending for a long time.

4 We Are

Thai iQIYI

I unabashedly loved show. It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6!) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial.

Essentially, this was a series of vignettes covering one year of uni for a queer friendship group finding love, new friends, and laughter. It’s not being harsh with us or it’s characters the way some offerings of this ilk have been (side eyes Friend Zone and Only Friends) nor did it tumble into Gen Y chaos. In fact, this reminded me more than anything of a refined Love Sick - just with older characters and occurring within a genre that has matured over this last decade. It has that close queer friendship group meets earnest gentleness that made me adore Love Sick and Make It Right so much.

In other words, this was Thai BL at its finest, finding it roots again 10 years on, but also stretching upwards and showing us what it could do with that original seed. So? I adored it. Did it blow my mind? No. But it left me smiling and made me belly laugh quite a bit.

5 Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Thai grey

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up).

Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stands strong.

I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew (who may be my favorite OG branded pair still in operation). Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Highly recommended.

6 Wandee Goodday

Thai YouTube

Such a FUN show. A charming quintessentially modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL.

It’s a delight and I enjoyed (almost) every single moment of it. With out question it's best traits are active positive representations of green flag boys, communication, and grown-up relationships but the chemistry is ALSO on point. I personally can't (and don't) ask for much more than this from my BL.

Highly recommended as one of 2024's best pick-me-ups.

7 The Sign

Thai YouTube

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was.

Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not.

Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing.

I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired.

Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN.

Emphasis on balls.

8 Century of Love

Thai Gaga

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she?

I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and shizz. I like this pair (it’s not DaouOffroad’s fault I didn’t enjoy their first series.) Daou’s wushu is snazzy and we got a unique meet cute. (Erm… Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?)

Ultimately, this is I Feel You Linger in the Air + First Love Again, rather than (as one might expect) Until We Meet Again or The Director Who Buys Me Dinner.

The leads turned in great performances, although Daou outclassed everybody else on that screen by making us really believe he's over 100 years old.

It’s a good story and a great BL and I can’t find any major faults with it beyond a certain level of camp that is sadly endemic to lakorns. I’m going to give it credit as the kind of BL that one could safely recommend to lovers of melodrama and historical romance, without having to qualify it as “good for a BL.”

It was, to put it succinctly, a VERY ENJOYABLE show.

9 Sugar Dog Life

Japan grey

This is a phenomenally charming and adorable little romance about a forlorn university kid and the police officer who adopts him. They are relentlessly kind to each other, in fact it’s an extremely kindly show over all (everyone in it is so nice to everyone else including us) so there’s very little tension. But what it lacks in drive, angst, and complexity it makes up for in earnest acts of service and simple affection.

These two are basically boyfriends from the get-go, it’s just one of them acts like it and doesn’t realize it and the other one realizes it and has to figure out how to make it a reality. It’s incredibly sweet and incredibly wholesome, nourishing but delicious.

Everybody who can, should watch this show. It will make you feel better about life.

10 The Rebound

Thai iQIYI

I am well aware that objectively this show was, erm, NOT good. But this was a sports romance Thai BL pulp with everything I could have asked for given this sub genre. More, actually, since MeenPing are both great basketball players and the team component really did form part of the connective tissue of the show (vital in a sports romance IMHO since these are band-of-brothers narratives).

Meen has his shirt off within the first two minutes which is all I needed but he's still pretty great as the sullen secret-keeper against Ping's cheerful survivor - childhood sweethearts torn asunder and now reunited. Then Frank sweeps in to give everyone a bad case of second lead syndrome.

I always try to judge BL for what it is AS BL, and what it’s trying to do within its own territory and purview. This did exactly what it claimed on the tin: gay boys play b-ball and fall in love. That was all I wanted from it. Sure there was random kidnapping and a light bought of mass murder, but what’s a BL in 2024 without a touch of the mafia? You do you little pulp, I’m disposed to be pleased.

These BLs all got 9/10s from me. Unlike in 2023, I did not hand out any 10/10 to any BLs in 2024.

The 13 BLs That I DNFed in 2024

(no particular order)

7 Days Before Valentine

Bad Guy My Boss

Bad to Bed

Beside You

Close Friend 3 Soju Bomb

Happy of the End

Kiseki Chapter 2

My Universe: Refund Love

Ossans Love – Season 2 (5 years later)

Playboyy

The Hidden Moon

The Whisperer

Time the series

You can consider these my "worst BLs of 2024." I am no longer a BL completest, too many aired in 2023 and it broke me. I now DNF all whenever I feel like it.

Codicil

I only carefully track/watch Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Other countries are not fully represented.

2024 - My Numbers

So my spreadsheet chronicled 109 BLs that finish airing in 2024 (down substantially from 138 last year). Japan has increased production slightly (length and consistency), Taiwan stayed steady, but Korea cut back - as did Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand.

73 = watched & reviewed (almost 30 less than 2023! I fell off the wagon in a big way)

3 = I'm still thinking about watching/finishing (4Minutes, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days, Spare Me Your Mercy)

20 = CNF (could not find)

13 = DNF (which accounts for how few very low scores I handed out, I just stopped watching). Speaking of which...

Ratings spread

(# of stars. & # of BLs given that rating)

0 (see DNFs instead)

1 - IT'S DEPRESSING they killed the gay, save yourself

1 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT

3 - FATALLY FLAWED but still basically BL, however… do we want to support this kind of behavior?

3 - WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO but don’t expect much, it’s a total hot mess

9 - WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED probably around the ending or in narrative structure/cohesion or censorship

24 - RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS i.e. isn’t quite BL, convoluted, not strictly HEA, too short/long, or chemistry issues

22 - RECOMMENDED some concerns around tropes (like dub con) or story structure but still satisfies as BL

10 - ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED probably a few pacing issues or one flaw

0 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED faithful to tropes, happy ending, good chemistry, few flaws, high rewatch potential

Favorite 2024 call out?

The Sign's nod to UWMA

Most adorable meta moment of 2024?

Wandee Goodday

Most stunning execution of a traditional trope in 2024.

Began Beginning (the shoulder lean)

(source)

[black-salt-cage]

ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊˚

[fallofthecelestial]

[emaadsidiki]

New York Botanical Garden 🍂🌲🍁🗽

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

∼ John Burroughs

[gingerbravecookie]

[prismstonearchives]

ハッピーセーラーグリーン - Happy Sailor Green

[mintaikk]

Anyways, list of all the confirmed queer or implied queer cookies in Cookie Run

Silly me gets super excited when I find out a cookie is nonbinary or doesn't fit the gender binary, so I was planning to make a list on all the Nonbinary/Gender-nonconforming cookies. Long story short, I made it all cookies. I'll try my best to keep this in alphabetical order :'). Also, if I say pride merch, plz know I mean pride art. I mix up the words when referring to pieces of media. Also, for anyone saying, "That doesn't mean their queer!" None of the characters are confirmed to be straight or even cis either, so stfu and let people have fun.

Amber Sugar Cookie: Was shown in Pride art for Cookie Run Ovenbreak, so could possibly be queer

Angel Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Ananas Dragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Aurora Candy Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Avocado Cookie: Was shown in Pride art, so it implied to be queer

Banana Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for CROB, so is possibly queer

Blackberry Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly queer

Black Garlic Cookie: Has been shown in Pride art, so could possibly be queer

Black Lemonade Cookie: Was shown in Pride art with Shining Glitter Cookie, so is possibly into women

Blue Lily Cookie: Implied to be a lesbian and has a crush on Lilybell Cookie (No they are not sisters, yes Lilybell is an adult. She is just short)

Butter Pretzel Cookie: Has been shown in pride art, so is possibly queer

Cauliflower Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for CROB, so is possibly queer

Candlelight Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Candy Diver Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Captain Ice Cookie: Has been shown in pride art foe ovenbreak, so could possibly be queer

Carrot Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly be queer

Cheesecake Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly queer (she has "rich lesbian aunt" vibes, but that's just me)

Cherry Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly queer

Chili Pepper Cookie: Was shown in Pride art with Rye Cookie, so is possibly into women

Cinnamon Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by he/him, they/them, and it/it's pronouns

Cloud Haetae Cookie: Confirmed to he nonbinary

Clover Cookie: While nothing has been confirmed, he was shown in the pride art for CRK

Cotton Candy Cookie: Implied to be a lesbian (all her crushes are women or nonbinary)

Cream Ferret Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Cream Unicorn Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary and gender-nonconforming and goes by they/it pronouns

Dark Enchantress Cookie: confirmed to be genderqueer and goes by she/it pronouns

Dark Choco Cookie: Gender-queer and goes by He/they pronouns

Devil Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary and goes by they/it pronouns

DJ Cookie: Nonbinary and implied to be bisexual (their shirt is literally the bisexual flag 💀)

Dr. Bones Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Electric Eel Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by he/they pronouns

Espresso Cookie: Was shown in Pride Art with Madeleine Cookie, so is possibly into men (with the way they tease us with Espresseleine, I wouldn't be surprised)

Fig Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Fire Spirit Cookie: Has been shown in Pride art for Ovenbreak, so could possibly be queer. He admires Wind Archer Cookie, so it is possible there could be attraction there

GingerBrave: Nothing has been confirmed, but he was shown in the Pride art (same link as Clover Cookie). However, this could just be because he is the mascot (I do headcanon him as aroace tho-)

Goblin Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Granola Cookie: Confirmed to be genderqueer and goes by they/she pronouns

Herb Cookie: Was shown in the pride art with Sparkling Cookie. Judging from the game, he could possibly be gay

Hydrangea Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly queer

Ice Juggle Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by they/she pronouns

Icicle Yeti Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Lilybell Cookie: Implied to be a lesbian and has feelings for Blue Lily Cookie

Lime Cookie: Implied to be pansexual, as one of her outfits has the pansexual flag. Also has a crush on Orange Cookie

Longan Dragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Lord Oyster Cookie: Genderqueer and goes be he/they pronouns

Lobster Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Lotus Dragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Lychee Dragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Madeleine Cookie: Was shown in Pride Art with Espresso Cookie, so is possibly into men

Mala Sauce Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly queer

Mango Cookie: Was shown in a pride art piece for CROB, so is possibly queer

Milk Cookie: Is canonically gay and has a celebrity crush on Dark Choco Cookie

Mocha Ray Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by she/they pronouns

Moonlight Cookie: Yet to be confirmed but is HEAVILY implied to be a lesbian, and I'd also in love with Sea Fairy Cookie. Was also shown in pride art with her <3

Nougat Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by he/she pronouns

Orange Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for Ovenbreak, so could possibly be queer

Pancake Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for ovenbreak, so could be queer

Peppermint Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Pinecone Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Pitaya Dragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Poison Mushroom Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Pomegranate Cookie: Lesbian with a massive crush on Dark Enchantress Cookie

Pumpkin Pie Cookie: Nothing has been confirmed at all, but she was shown in the pride art, so she could very much be queer

Pond Dino Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Pudding Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Raspberry Cookie: In Knight Cookie's dream (or nightmare lol), Raspberry Cookie offered to marry the Princess (Princess Cookie) in order to bring honor to her house. Has also been shown in pride art for CRK

Roguefort Cookie: Is confirmed to be nonbinary and queer, having an attraction to and flirting with Cotton Candy Cookie

Rose Cookie: Has been shown in pride art before, so is possibly be queer

Rye Cookie: Was shown in Pride art with Chili Pepper Cookie, so is possibly into women

Sandwich Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by she/they pronouns

Sea Fairy Cookie: HEAVILY implied to be a lesbian and is head-over-heels for Moonlight Cookie. Was also shown in pride art with her.

Shining Glitter Cookie: Was shown in Pride Art staring at Black Lemonade Cookie, so is possibly into women

Snake Fruit Cookie: Nonbinary and goes by they/it pronouns

Snapdragon Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Snowflake Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by she/they pronouns

Snow Sugar Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Sorbet Shark Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Space Doughnut: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Sparkling Cookie: While nothing has been officially confirmed, he was shown in the pride art. Considering what we see in game, he could possibly be gay

Spinach Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for CROB, so is possibly queer

Squid Ink Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Strawberry Cookie: Was shown in Pride art before, so is possibly queer

Strawberry Crepe Cookie: Confirmed to be nonbinary

Timekeeper Cookie: Genderqueer and goes by she/they pronouns

Vampire Cookie: Has been shown in multiple pride art pieces

Whipped Cream Cookie: Has been shown in multiple pride art pieces

White Choco Cookie: Implied to be queer (and is canonically a lesbian heart throb lol). Also dressed as lady Oscar, a confirmed bisexual character

Wind Archer Cookie: Has been shown in pride art for CROB, so is possibly queer

If I missed anyone or anything, please let me know!

[lanitashiddencrackstash]

Lindsay Lohan 2006

[cg-blight]

very late valentine's day art

[fullcravings]

Black Forest Brownies

[absolutebl]

Best 24 of BL 2024 - Quirky Awards

ONLY shows that ENDED their runs in 2024 are up for awards.

SHOCK & AWE AWARDS

1. Biggest BL surprise of 2024:

Cherry Magic Thailand. TayNew's version was truly a lovely experience and very much its own take on the original, an adaptation rather than a remake. I'm so relieved and grateful that GMMTV managed to pull it off, and sad it wasn't more widely available.

2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:

Meet You At the Blossom from China. From start to finish it is exactly as it claimed to be, wuxia BL, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming (dubious consent to the point of rape) and actual kisses, wife language, floaty sleeves, you name it. FROM CHINA!!!

3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:

Up & Poom in My Stand-In. I mean, WHERE did you two come from and how did this happen? Holy smokes. My goodness are we grateful!

4. That studio did WHAT now? award:

Youku putting Unknown out wide and easily avaiable on YouTube (for most of us). It's just really rare for a Taiwanese BL to get any kind of distribution. And to do that with arguably the best TaBL of the year and not some sad little mew mew? Amazing.

5. I’m sad you were ignored award:

Sugar Dog Life - such a charming JBL, so hard to find. I'm so sad it didn't get distribution. It's charming, one of my favorites of the year, worth tracking down if you can.

6. 2024 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?

I gotta be honest, it was The Sign. I was such a chaotic mess of a show but never once was I bored. It was the only one that drove me into memes and captions and silliness.

I did go a bit feral for a while over Love for Loves Sake and Wandee Gooday not to mention The Only One (until it went tits-up).

NARRATIVE AWARDS

7. Best story 2024:

Cherry Magic (Thai remake). I know, but it worked just as well in another country, if not better. I always enjoy this kind of magical realism concept (after all Color Rush is one of my all time favorite BLs) and despite the increased length, the pacing was solid on this one... even from Thailand.

8. Best narrative structure 2024 award:

Love For Love's Sake. A KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. I drowned in this show and liked it that way.

9. Best 2024 dialogue (script) award:

We Are, it was just so much fun. And so FUNNY.

10. Favorite scene 2024:

Like anyone needed to ask. Unknown, of course.

11. The most rewatchable BL of 2024 award:

We Are

It's just all the couples are so cute and the core friendship group is so charming and endearing.

ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS

12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role:

no award this year, yeah the whole damn industry should be thoroughly ashamed of itself

13. Best pining 2024:

The Time of Fever. That feeding him orange while lying on the floor scene ALONE.

14. Best wingman 2024 (The Namgoong Award)

Yai in The Sign.

15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!

SailubPon from Pit Babe & This Love Doesn't Have Longbeans, from the softness of one to the health code violations of the other. Sure their shows are bonkers, but man are these two good at bonkers (and bonking).

With a nod to BigPark from Monster Next Door.

16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:

OffGun. There were rumors that Off was out at the beginning of 2023. And then they came back with 2 shows in 2024 (Cooking Crush and The Trainee)!

17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:

I dithered a lot (Babe's damn waist and OMG The Sign's sex scenes hawt), but in the end it had to go to GreatInn. They were just so good at showing their characters having FUN together. There is a lot of beauty in enjoying sex and another person's company. It's so rare to see that portrayed in a BL (and it shouldn't be rare).

18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

I'm actually giving it to OffGun. Ya know, where others falter, these two just keep going. It's kinda amazing.

RANDOM PICKS

19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2024:

The general flirtatious banter from Last Twilight.

20. Biggest disappointment of 2024:

Addicted Heroin (Thai version). Some of the very best original material + one of my favorite Thai actors (who I've been waiting eons to see in a BL again) and THIS was the result? They could have fixed China's worst BL mistake, instead the made everything worse. I'm gonna be bitter for a really really long time.

I gotta sat The Only One comes a real close second tho. And I'm still mad about Last Twilight, too.

21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023

Meet You At The Blossom - I love a pretty boy pissing contest over who has the biggest sleeves. Twirl you beautiful bastards, TWIRL!

22. Best Queer Rep 2024

Again, not great this year. I loved the fun sex and play in Wandee, but there were precious few femme characters, and in general it felt like we took some steps back from queerness this year. So I'm gonna give it to Deep Night, because at least they gave us honest poly for the first time.

23. Best Meta Trope call out

Love for Love Sake - Korea taking to task the Dead Fish Kiss when they are often the worst offender was...... amusing.

But Deep Night having male sex workers having to act like they were in a BL for a couple chicks...... literally gay for pay depicting gay for pay and just, well, that's frankly a gut punch. There was some sarcastic clapping on my side of the screen.

24. Well aren't you getting all Live Action Yaoi retro with your bad self?

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave gets my vintage af award. I flipping LOVED it. Would I recommend it? Only if you, yourself, are a bit vintage.

Final question: which of the 24 was the hardest for me to pick?

20 Biggest disappointment of 2024. Look I had some pretty high expectations of some returning pairs, some great ideas, and some intriguing remakes. 2024 was full of disappointments.

2022's Version of the Quirkies

2023's Version of the Quirkies

Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2024.

(source)