#i know my account is to be a bl account but I am on a danmei binge lol

[alihelles1997]

🚨Urgent help is needed for my family🚨

✅ Verified campaign – please check the end of the story 🔍📌

Hello, I am Ali. I appeal to all the varicose veins. I appeal to every person who has a conscience and has a heart that looks at us with mercy. My family, their situation is very bad, and I thank every person who stood by us in the past days. You help the children. They are exhausting themselves and do not have any of their childhood rights. I ask you to help them, if only a little. Of the money, food and hygiene are returned to them. Please do not leave them alone. All thanks to you, and we hope for you.

They send messengers to you and talk to you and tell you what is going on. It is difficult.

Need.https://gofund.me/36240bc1

Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #133 ) Vetted here by @90-ghost

Besides being vetted by gazavetters (no 133), this campaign has also been shared by 90-ghost: https://www.tumblr.com/90-ghost/767331497235628032

@90-ghost

😭😭😭😭😭😭

Please do not leave our families alone. We thank 241 for standing beside us. We hope that every person who has a heart feels for our children, and we hope for you to do so, even if it is only a little. All thanks to you.

@gazanarchive

This is my old personal account, if you are interested in looking at us with mercy and compassion

[incorrectbldrama]

Jingyi: So are you two dating now?

Shizui & Jin Ling: Yes.

Jingyi: Why?

Jin Ling: I happen to find Shizui very appealing.

Jingyi: Yeah, I can understand that.I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Shizui.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese BL Starter Pack

It’s been awhile since I dropped a rec list, so I am here today to share one that is very near and dear to my heart—a Japanese bl primer for those who are new to the jbl game. I created this for @neuroticbookworm to help her on her journey when she decided she wanted to start getting into Japanese works. The fandom (on Tumblr and generally) tends to focus primarily on Thai shows because they are the easiest to access for international fans, since Thailand is working its way toward world domination via ql media and wants us all to be able to watch. But there is a lot of great stuff to watch beyond the easy access Thai channels, and Japan is the country where this genre originated, so its shows are important for anyone who considers themselves a bl fan. Japan doesn’t cater nearly as much to the international audience so tracking down the shows sometimes takes some ingenuity and can-do spirit, but that’s part of the fun!

And so, the list! Bookworm is about halfway through it and having a ball, so I figured it was time to stop hoarding it and share it with anyone else who would like to dip their toes into jbl and isn’t quite sure where to start. A few notes: 

I am not here to teach you about the deep roots of the jbl genre or give you a primer on yaoi manga. I am by no means an expert and there are other places to find that information. Start here with this great post by @nieves-de-sugui and then maybe wander over to @absolutebl to read up more on the evolution of the genre.

This list is by no means an exhaustive accounting of every important Japanese bl ever made; it is simply a nice sampler platter of the cream of the crop among various styles you will find in jbl. Watching through this whole list will not only expose you to some fantastic shows, but also give you a sense of what makes jbl unique and how the country’s style differs from others, and point you toward the types of jbl you’ll like most (they tend to put shows in pretty specific style and tone lanes and once you find the ones you like there are lots more where that came from). 

If you’re coming to this post as a jbl lover and you don’t see your favorite here, I promise it’s not because I don’t love it very much; I simply had to make some choices to get this down to a reasonable shortlist. Feel free to leave extra recs for others to find! 

I’m putting these in a loose suggested watch order that will take you through the various jbl lanes in a kind of popcorn style, because I always think it’s good to change it up so you don’t get too stuck in one mode, and it works its way up to most of the extremely Japanese stuff (you will know what that means by the time you finish). But do what’s in your heart and change up the order if you want, friends, I am not the boss of you! 

Cherry Magic (Crunchyroll or grey)

gif by @liyazaki

I believe everyone on Tumblr is pretty familiar with this one, which is not a coincidence—this is one of the most accessible jbls. Not in terms of actual access to watch it, mind you (we’ve all jumped through shady internet hoops to watch it) but in terms of its content and style. Cherry Magic is a classic workplace romcom with a magical twist, and it is charming af. It’s a great exemplar of Japan’s light and zippy comedy lane for bl—a lane in which, importantly, the romances stay chaste even when the actual plot is about sex, or lack thereof. My friend @waitmyturtles would kill me if I didn’t make sure you know that Cherry Magic also has a lovely follow up film. And bonus: there is now a Thai remake airing so if you watch the original you can get in on the discussion about the different adaptations between countries. This is pretty easy to find these days in all the usual places, but I strongly recommend watching it here.

Old Fashion Cupcake (Viki)

gif by @liyazaki

Moving on to a slightly more mature workplace romcom. Old Fashion Cupcake, another Tumblr favorite, is an age gap boss-subordinate romance, and it’s both very adult and somehow wholesome af at the same time. Sure, there is a lot of carnal desire going on here, but there is also a lot of wooing via fluffy pancakes. It’s a tight five episodes and a fantastic example of what Japan, with its extreme technical precision in writing, directing, editing, pacing, and acting firing on all cylinders, can do in two hours. There’s not an ounce of flab on this thing and you’ll want to watch it over and over again.

Utsukushii Kare (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Time to get a little weird! Weird is a key feature of Japanese media, and lots of jbls explore unusual relationship dynamics rooted in complex psychology. This is the first show on the list that will likely feel very Japanese if you’re new around here—my advice is to lean into it and finish the show, even if you get uncomfortable along the way. In Japanese media, discomfort always serves a purpose. This is a high school story with a twisted relationship at its center, and I’m not saying any more than that. Don’t spoil yourself and go watch it! This one also comes with two sequels—one short second season and one movie—that continue from the original story. They are less essential but still excellent.

I Cannot Reach You (Netflix)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Next up, another high school tale, but with a totally different vibe. This show is kind of a revelation in its willingness to tell a story about overwhelming desire—including sexual desire—with young protagonists. It’s rooted in a classic but often misunderstood trope, friends to lovers, and takes the angst of it seriously, giving us a low stakes story that feels extremely high stakes to our leads. It’s also gorgeous and uses a classic Japanese visual style (bokeh) that you’ll be dying to learn more about. 

His (Viki)

gif by @gabrielokun

Time for a break from high school, and we’ll sprinkle in a movie for some added flavor. His is a jbl film featuring a second chance romance between a stoic, introverted man who moves to a remote town to start over, and his ex-boyfriend who follows him there unexpectedly, adorable child in tow. Importantly, this movie does not take place in what we often refer to as the “bl bubble” where homophobia doesn’t exist; the leads’ experiences of being gay men in a homophobic society are hugely important to the plot and themes of the story. It’s a beautiful film and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. @bengiyo would surely also like me to tell you that this film follows a brief prequel show called His: I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love about the characters originally meeting in high school; I do not think it’s really necessary to watch it but completists can start there.

The Pornographer series (Gaga)

By now you should be ready to get into some classic Japanese fucked up psychosexual material, right? Right! The Pornographer series is told in five installments in this order:

The Novelist, a six episode miniseries

Mood Indigo, a six episode prequel series

Spring Life, a 15 minute short

Pornographer: Playback, a two hour film

Spring Life Continued, a 15 minute short

Confused by that distribution model? So say we all; sometimes Japan likes to make us work for it to make sure we really appreciate its many gifts to us. The story across these installments is about a very difficult to love protagonist, what makes him the way he is, and the also-unhinged-but-in-a-different-way man who finally gets through to him. It’s an extremely satisfying love story and one of the best character arcs I have ever seen, full stop. For this one, you’ll want to just pull the word problematic out of your pocket and store it in a drawer; nearly everything that happens in this story is problematic and that’s the point. Lean in! All of these installments except for the film are on Gaga, if you get that far hmu and I will supply you with the final puzzle piece.

Our Dining Table (Gaga)

You could probably use a break after those last two, so it’s time to shift over to a heart-tugging twofer: family trauma mixed with the cutest shit you’ve ever seen. ODT is an example of another classic type of Japanese show: the food drama (you will see the GOAT in this category at the end of this list). In Japanese culture, food is love, and the act of preparing food for your loved ones is a common path to romance. You’ll love this story about an isolated office worker who meets a pair of brothers, learns to cook as a way of connecting with them, and begins to heal from his own trauma as a result. The image above is a scan from the manga, which @troubled-mind curates to make extremely cool comparison sets like this one. Many jbls are faithful adaptations of yaoi manga source material, so it’s good to have a bit of familiarity with them.

Minato’s Laundromat (Gaga)

gif by @liyazaki

Japanese media loves to explore taboo, and often manages to do it in a way that is surprisingly light and chaste. This is an age gap romance between a teenager and his adult neighbor that explores internalized homophobia, emotional repression, and falling in love across seemingly impossible social chasms. It’s also a great example of old school yaoi seme-uke dynamics that still show up across the bl genre. Also, take my advice: end your journey with this one with the first season and just pretend season 2 doesn’t exist.

Eternal Yesterday (Viki)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Remember what I said about weird? Time to do that again, but with a heaping dose of grief and pain on top. It’s not a spoiler to tell you this show involves a major character death; a major character death is, in fact, the root of the entire story. This is a magic realist tale of first love turned tragic, and it will hurt and heal you. It is one of my favorite dramas of all time.

Restart After Come Back Home (Gaga)

And now for a break for your poor exhausted brain. This film is basically the jbl version of a Hallmark original movie, about a city boy who goes back home to the country and falls in love with a total sweetheart while working together on a farm. Enjoy it, bestie, you’ve earned it! 

Tokyo in April Is… (Gaga)

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

You’ve probably noticed by now that emotional repression and failed communication are big themes in Japanese works. This second chance romance has plenty of both, and it’s a great example of a kind of muted emotional style that Japan does so well, where the surface of the story seems almost placid and calm even as deep emotion roils underneath. This one (and Eternal Yesterday above) are part of a special line up of jbls on Japanese channel MBS called Tonku (Drama) Shower. The shows air one after another in the same time slot on Fridays (in Japan, perhaps Thursdays for you depending on where you live) and you truly never know what you’re gonna get, but they’re all interesting. Warnings on this one for sexual assault and trauma. 

The End of the World With You (Viki)

Time for sexy and weird again, but even more so! This has to be one of the most unique bls ever made; it goes to some truly divine and strange places, and it feels incredibly queer while doing it. Made by the same screenwriter/director of the Pornographer series with a lot of the same sensibilities, but in a more heightened apocalyptic setting. This one has existential angst, a road trip, a redemption tale, and a variety of interesting side characters in the mix.

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Gaga)

gif by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the list and your reward is watching one of the best bls of all time, and a perfect slice of life food drama to boot. WDYEY now has two seasons (along with a couple specials and a movie that fall in between) because the universe clearly loves us. You can now get it on Gaga for easy access but I’m partial to the versions over at @kinounaniresource for better subs. Wherever you watch, settle in to get cozy with Shiro and Kenji and make sure to always eat before you hit play.

[waitmyturtles]

I LOVE 4 MINUTES.

I love it! GAAAAAHHH, I love it. While Be On Cloud’s KinnPorsche was so BL-referential, I just love this juicy Dr. Sammon-mystery genre that takes us out of trope-land. Queer murder mysteries, my beloved.

I have no theories, per se, about where I think this show is going, but I am going to jot down some observations for my own posterity and memory. After reading some theories on Twitter (including one that Dr. Sammon herself retweeted), I went back and fast-forwarded through all the episodes so far, so here are my notes (and these VERY WELL may have been repeated in the tag, so I apologize if I’m just pooping what we’re already assuming here).

1) This Twitter account noted that Tonkla saw his cat in episode 1, after what-we-assume-to-be present-day boing with Korn. Tonkla sees this AFTER Korn rushed off after getting off the phone. After this week’s episode, we seem to be informed that said cat had died in the past.

We also know that Tonkla has a habit of lighting up after sex and during times of duress.

There might be more than just tobacco in those cigarettes he’s lighting up, I’m not sure, but we also know he hits the shabu, pipe-wise.

Besides Great being in what I assume to be, and what I call, a fever-state, or better phrased, a cardiac episode, I am assuming that Tonkla is transcending his own lines of reality through drug use.

1a) [(A quick aside: I just wanna say that I will be VERY. CURIOUS. as to how Tonkla’s drug use is positioned alongside his predilections for unprotected sex, and if I think there will be public health commentary in this. Drug use is, of course, generally not recommended by medical professionals, and at the same time, it’s a culturally important element of many facets of queer culture that many physicians who work with LGBTQ+ patients are trained to be aware of; for example, using poppers to ease the process of preparing for intercourse. I don’t know if the show means to indicate that Tonkla, vis à vis being on PrEP and meth at the same time, is an automatically unsafe person…but he also might be a murderer�� so yeah, I will be curious about this underlying public health messaging.)]

1b) (Speaking of public health, yo, we needed those Durex bottles in episode 4, YOWCH.) (😬) (ANYWAY.)

2) So, speaking of Great and Tonkla living in their own realities, I also want to posit that Tyme has created his own sense of delirium by literally not sleeping.

Homeboy is on his shifts, he’s working out, he’s solving mysteries, he’s kicking literal ass, he’s investigating and courting Great, he’s following Korn. He’s doing a lot! We haven’t caught him sleeping yet, again, literally.

I wonder if this may be Dr. Sammon commenting on the culture of insanely long shifts for doctors, which impacts their mental and physical well-being. We’ve also separately learned that Tyme is driven by revenge, and by a need to support his grandma and save Nan. But how can he do all of that, if he’s physically depriving himself of the ability to rest? I don’t know if this is going to go anywhere, but I do notice the camera work, whenever Tyme is scrubbing out of a shift, re-centering from a tilt, which makes me wonder about what these shots are telling us about his mental state (and we saw comparable camera work when Tonkla thought he saw Dome).

(I’m also not forgetting that the show shows him stabbed at the very start of the series, and I’m constantly wondering about that.)

3) Finally, I want to offer that Korn, Great, and Tyme are not out. At least for Great and Tyme, does that contribute to a delirium mindset (and maybe even Korn, too) by way of the stress of holding in secrets? (Please note that this linked article is from 2004 and does not have fully updated terminology.)

I don’t know if this theory holds for Great, because a popular theory for him at the start of the series was that he may not have realized he was gay until he met Tyme. I don’t know that I saw that in my very-fast rewatch except for his surprised looks during the stitches moment in the hospital. Great’s comfort with Tyme in the car after the claw machines makes me think he knew more about his sexuality, and his physical separation from his family at the dinner table in episode 1 also makes me wonder if he realized his preferences were always going to separate him from his nuclear family. I’m not sure, but I’m chewing on this.

4) So, where I’m gonna go entering into episode 5 is that there isn’t a centered or accurate “present day” for anyone….mayyyybe except for Korn, who is certainly living his own fever dream of being stuck in a reeeeeeally bad job, but maybe isn’t being subjected to mental delirious psychoses (just, you know, the general stress of hating your work thoroughly). But I could be wrong there, too, because we know that Korn is driven by greed, filial piety, and a desire to take over the family business. So maybe that’s creating a delirium of his own, one that takes him away from his boyfriend for weeks at a time.

4a) (By the way, isn’t it interesting that we are not seeing NC scenes with Korn and Fasai? I know, I know, Be On Cloud does queer/BL content, but. I think it’d be interesting if the show ran the gamut of intimacy. Just a thought.)

Anyway! This show is so good, it’s making me babble. I absolutely love it, and it is the comeback that Bible Wichapas deserves.

[exo-raskreia]

As a GojoHime shipper, what do you think of SatoSugu?

⚠️🚫 SS shippers DNI 🚫⚠️

Oof... Well, first things first, everyone has different preferences & BL is not my cup of tea. Fujos are also a toxic breed so I have no interest in engaging with them either.

In regards to zigzag (a lovely nickname given to this ship by many 🤪)... I find Get0 unappealing in general & am mostly neutral to his character. I don't get why he's so popular, lol? I personally find it almost offensive that ppl ship him with someone as handsome as Gojo. 💀

They are canonically best friends & nothing more (reiterated time & again by Gege & his affiliates). Their views didn't align in the end, hence they parted ways & became enemies. Despite this, Gojo still saw him as his best friend, a huge part of his "springtime of youth," & regretted not being able to help him back then. Get0 was also the cause for Gojo's identity crisis about being the strongest & was jealous of Gojo's strength, but certain ppl conveniently forget that 😒.

Zigzag would've been just another ship I don't pay attention to. Thank their insane fandom, especially the Get0 stans, for being the major cause of my intense dislike for this ship, however. Their toxicity towards other shippers (esp my fandom), misinformation, & misinterpretations of Gojo's & Get0's characters have solidified this ship as a MAJOR NOTP for me. I can't stand it with every fiber of my being. 😬

This meme encompasses that:

They act like they're canon when they're not. There's literally NO canon evidence to support their ship. Everything they claim as evidence has been debunked & has a shounen-esque explanation for it. They choose to ignore it, however, & it doesn't help that big accounts on Twitter, Tik Tok & other platforms use zigzag for clout & spread lies 🙄. All they really have are the three M's: mistranslations, misinformation, & misinterpretations 💀.

They can ship in their own lane but these freaks go out of their way to harrass others, even fanartists of other Gojo ships & neutral translators. Then they go & victimize themselves when they get called out 🙄. They like to act innocent & blame others but everyone knows it's always them who start things. It's no wonder they've made enemies of every corner of the JJK fandom. They may have the numbers but they're surely in the same boat as the rest of us shippers ��‍♀️. We're all in Delulu Land.

They hate Utahime for no reason other than that she's shipped with Gojo. You might not believe the insane things I've seen them say about her. Despite her being a minor side character, & her only screentime has been to help others, esp Gojo, they hate on her as if she was the main villain. Heck, not even Sukuna gets this much hate from them 💀. They spite-ship her with her bestie Shoko or even that bum Kusakabe just to "get her out of the way" of their mid ship but they don't actually care for either ship. They even drag Gojo thru the mud when hating on GojoHime, mischaracterizing him by saying things like he hates women 💀. They hate on GojoHime as if it was the worst ship anyone could have in JJK.

They cannot stand how popular GojoHime is, especially in Japan (according to Pixiv, they're the most popular M/F ship & #6 overall in JJK 👀).

They also have the audacity to claim they care more about Utahime than us GojoHime fans do. They say we mischaracterize her & how dare we ship her with a man she hates? Like?? Where is their Utahime content, like fanart, headcanons & theories? When do they ever talk about her unless it's to hate on her & try to discredit our ship? I've heard they even villainize her in their zigzag fics, make her OOC 💀. But they understand her better? 🙄

It really comes to show that they genuinely see Utahime as a threat 🤣. But why, tho, if they claim that GojoHime has nothing to stand on? That it doesn't make sense? 👀 Why are they so insecure if they're "so canon"?

They also feminize Get0 & have made some very disturbing posts, yet they hate on female characters? Those that "get in the way" of their non-canon mlm ships? Even Gojo self-shippers hate on Utahime but are okay with Get0? 🙄 I know this word gets thrown around a lot but these ppl are misogynists...

Zigzags should go read actual BL instead of self-queerbaiting with a battle shounen manga 💀. They're as delusional as Naruto & Sasuke shippers (and those 2 had at least a better written dynamic than Gojo & Get0 💀. Even Gojo & Sukuna had a more interesting dynamic than them imo 🤣).

It annoys me when even some GojoHime shippers include past/implied zigzag in their fics, & worse without tagging. I ignore the properly tagged ones & immediately drop the ones that aren't. I'm always on alert when I click on a fic & won't relax until I know it doesn't have any zigzag. 😕 It shouldn't be like this...

I'm also like?? You're ok with having Utahime be second choice in a GojoHime fic to a non-canon mlm ship?? I get it's the multishippers but still. 😒 Please tag them so I can stay far away from them 🙏.

Sorry for going on a full rant, haha. I really cannot stand that ship nor its shippers. This post is not about the sane shippers, btw, only the crazy ones. 😅

Anyway, Gojo likes older women & that's FACT. 😌

[chronicoverthinker]

So uhm since people are talking about my tiktok I’m actually kinda upset about two things :

1-them saying that I’m accusing mokmoklen of queerbaiting when I’ve literally put a GIANT red disclaimer saying that I am in no way accusing the author since the story it’s still ongoing and I was just going to make a rundown of what the author has done recently that has made many upset with the recent chapter

2-that after reading my 30 slides all they’ve got was me saying that the queerbaiting is because Yoshiki’s ancestor is a woman WHICH IS NOT THE CASE AT ALL.

What has actually upset many , me included with hikarugashindaupdates as well who’s a dear friend of mine , is how mokmoklen has been backtracking from the original idea of the story and is now trying to erase all the subtext and implications of their feelings for one another.

When the story first started it was advertised as BL and horror , and the kind of dynamic she wanted to develop for Yoshiki and Hikaru was way different compared to what we got now (I talked about this in detail in my video so if you wanna know more look it up).

Around the beginning of volume 3 a shift happened. It first started with mokmoklen deciding to remove the BL tag , which tbh at that time still didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Especially to me , I’ve always felt like the story didn’t need to specifically be categorized as BL for Yoshiki and Hikaru’s feelings to shine through.

But then she started to make clear how “Hikaru” CANT whatsoever feel or understand human love.

Now this is where the first problems start , because in the first volumes you can clearly see that THIS is not the case AT ALL.

And it’s not proven only by his overall behavior in the story , but also from the art she used to post.

To be fair I wouldn’t even been mad about Yoshiki’s ancestor being a woman if you told me in volume 1 , because to me it was clear that Yoshiki and Hikaru loved each other.

And fundamentally speaking , since the story is still ongoing , I know that Yoshiki’s ancestor being a woman doesn’t really take anything from the possibility of Yoshiki and “Hikaru” still ending up together. But what truly upsets me about this it’s the intentions and the meaning behind this choice.

Plus the fact that mokmoklen made it clear that now Yoshiki doesn’t feel anything for “Hikaru”. It also worries me how she still hasn’t made Yoshiki open up about his feelings for the real Hikaru either. It’s as if what was so clear to us in the first volume is now being precluded to us for whatever reason.

Hikaru and Yoshiki’s love for each other and their homosexuality is one of the main points that makes them who their are and why they act in certain ways. Their struggles to accept their orientations in a closeted and homophobic village are what makes them such layered and complex characters.

And I literally concluded by saying that I do NOT believe that if this ever turns out to be queerbaiting she ever intended for any of this to happen since the beginning. Something is going on in her life because she has delated most of her BL works on her private accounts

[shamera]

March-April manhwa reccs

In the vein of my last few reccs, here is the latest instalment in Shams-reads-too-much (I know it's only mid-April). This time, I'm back to the top 3 format but with a list of Honorable Mentions because oh boy, the readin' don't stop!

3. The Guild Member Next Door [30 chapters so far]

How is no one talking about this one? The first BL series to make it on my top lists, this is an online gamer meet-ugly cafe story that had me cackling through every chapter. It will brighten your day (threat). The story of an office worker slash secret gamer who starts playing the MMO Illusion and tries to join Poseidon guild only to immediately get PK'ed and accused of being a stalker's alt account, and in his revenge he befriends the entire guild as an FU to his attacker, only for his attacker to in-game propose to him to troll him in return. An adorable and hilarious story following the two as they purposefully step on each other's toes all the way until they're friends in-game, never realizing that they actually know each other IRL!

2. Martial God Regressed to Level 2 [one season]

Let's just say in chapter 1 all of humanity dies, so we already know how this story's going to go. Another OP protagonist whom I really enjoy, starting from scratch in hopes of saving the world. It's Seong Jihan's relationship with his family that makes this series hit different, as he not only uses his knowledge to try and prevent humanity's tragedies, but also does his best this time around to save his niece from her downward mental spiral and become a good role model for her after her father walks away. With little to lose now that he knows what's to come, the MC is more than willing to make enemies out of everyone to ensure they step up their game before the real fight for humanity begins.

1. SSS-Class Suicide Hunter [3 seasons]

This was already on Honorable Mentions back in December, and I know my recc list is meant for new reads, but I had to slap this down again after the PHENOMENAL season 3 ending. We've already seen Kim Gongja's crazy fights to ascend the tower, but the sheer hope. The belief in a better world that these characters have, and their determination to make it so, brought me to tears at the end of season 3. The story of a hunter with negative survival instincts, and a power that allows him to regress to a day before he dies every time he dies... it's not the type of story that I expected to see such delicate beauty within suffering, but here we are, with an MC ready to delve into storybooks to empathize with and relieve the suffering of the characters within, no matter what it takes. I'm so excited for season 4 and the next storybook, I am vibrating.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Raising a Sacrifice

This series is impossible to describe and impossible to put down for long. This is the ultimate fantasy time-loop transmigration system apocalypse god-maker BL I have ever read? It's what happens when the apocalypse keeps resetting and you can never escape that last year no matter how many times you die, and the toll on one's mental state when you start trying-- everything. Murder. Genocide. Madness. And falling in love, again and again and again. And being alone again, after every reset. Thousands and millions of times until you lose all hope, until one day... the MC wakes up with memories of being murdered by his faithful knight, and now there's finally two people with memories beyond one timeline.

Medical Return [complete!!]

The story of a surgeon who led a pitiful life, only to return to his childhood once more by the grace of the gods-- and this time he's determined to not lead the same life again! Now if only the world got that hint, as he seems to be continuously steered back onto his original path, while trying to dodge the tragedies in his life and save just one more person others gave up for dead. This time around, he has a little outside help to finally uncover just why his life went so wrong at every turn the first time and help him retain that inherent goodness without being taken advantage of once more. With an MC with a deposition truly befitting a good doctor, this is for all fans of hospital dramas, and is complete!!

Kill the Villainess [complete!!]

The only way to return home is to play the role of the villainess, Eris, who is condemned to death after attempting to kill the heroine. There is no way to escape that fate, as Eris can't even succeed at taking her own life before she completes her part in the plot. The story of a villainess trying to die to change the story, yet unable to as she continues to uncover backstory beyond the original novel to find the reason why her soul was stuck in this world and unable to leave, while attempting to bypass paths that would trap her in the novel forever. At what point will her actions make her a true villain, and just what is she willing to do in order to return home to the real world?

Little Mushroom

...my cheat this month, with me using the novel cover and everything. (Please read the books, there are only 2 novels and the prose is breathtaking.) The manhua is absolutely gorgeous beyond compare, and the story covers a sentient mushroom post-apocalypse who is journeying into a dangerous human settlement trying to find the spore that was taken from him. In a world where threats to humans loom at every corner and shadow, drastic measures are taken to protect those who survive, employing "Judges" with absolute power to kill if they suspect a being of not being human. It's the story of a non-human and a Judge finding themselves and each other by navigating the active end of the world.

My Darling Signed In [complete!!]

Cute?? Adorable???? Another online gamer couple who meet in real life, this BL story is genuinely all fluff as the MC is found to play a beautiful female elf online, yet their beau falls in love either way as it was the same charisma and personality that drew them in. A green flag couple with turns that surprised me every time with how wholesome things are. It's 2 seasons and complete, featuring them from collage to work space through their ups and downs, navigating their relationship and growing as people all the while continuing their game. Do you need a cute read with a guaranteed happy ending? Here it is!!

Zero Day Attack [1 season done]

Another BL on the list?? This month is full of surprises, as this time it's about a hacker who had to go into hiding after being exposed and is now a barista by day while working to find the man who betrayed him by night, all the while running away from both the organizations he hacked and his old colleagues who are looking for him. Things get complicated when a man who shows up at the cafe he works at won't leave him alone, and blurs the line between his search for revenge and the fake life he's currently living. This one eked its way above Netkama Punch for the mystery and intrigue (as well as having a main couple who is obsessed with each other without wanting to bring harm to the other).

I Will Change the Genre

A transmigrater meets a regressor, and suddenly the novel plot is going very, very awry! In the novel, Judith Maybaum is the hateful aunt of the main character who betrays her nephew and dies for it, yet "Judith Maybaum" isn't actually the same character now, and her nephew is also acting very odd when the story starts rolling. She's determined that her nephew will not go through his lonely and sorrowful life this time around, even if it means giving his custody to the Duke Winterwald, yet for some reason the protagonist clings to her and calls her 'mother' when the Duke comes to take him away! A touching and funny story with, once again, a green flag couple as well as an adorable aunt and nephew pair, both with foreknowledge of the future in different ways as they mess things up and unravel a story that neither of them knew.

GOOD ENOUGH I READ EVERYTHING: -Netkama Punch -The Bromance Book Club [complete] -The Live [complete] -I'll Be the Matriarch in this Life -Reincarnator -Dark Mage Returns to Enlistment -The Main Characters that Only I Know -My Lucky Encounter from the Game Turned Reality -The Archmage's Restaurant -I Tamed a Tyrant and Ran Away -I Created an Urban Legend -The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

[scarefox]

I love that the thai BL industry moved over from fake-relationship fanservice to letting their actors just be silly and wilding on tiktok & insta.

Still as a task / homework / testing area requested by the producers obviously. But it feels more natural and free in most cases. In that setting the cast can still do fanservice if they want to but it's closer to in-character acting and simple teasing than whatever ''maybe we are dating maybe not'' they had going in the past in interviews & promo events.

imo it's more obvious playing around and having fun from the actors sides (tho there are still delulus who can't differentiate between acting, joking, reality and wishful thinking). It's more fun for us to watch. I rather witness my beloveds being silly or thirst trapping on their own accounts, doing what they want with whom they want from the cast. It's neat.

Like best examples atm are the casts from Pit Babe, The Sign and Playboyy (the only 3 I follow, it's probably more hopping on that trend. I know some other companies are in on it too).

Specifically noticed with the Playboyy cast: the fixed actor duos are all very different in how they use tiktok in their ship constellation. Some are more flirty, some more silly, some are more into acting stuff out, some just do cute dancing or memes, some barely do any of the couply stuff. It's up to them, which is fine.

And then we still have tiktoks with different / all cast members doing stuff together, not just the pairs being highlighted. That's new too and nice to see.

Anyways I am fine with whatever they want to give, as long as they have fun and it's not fake relationship or fake friendship. If they don't vibe with eo personally then so be it, don't make them act outside of their job and boundaries.

AND if there are close friends within the cast who are not a ship but still like to do stuff together publicly SO BE IT (looking at Nut and Sailub from Pit Babe).

[yannig]

I watched Koisenu Futari, and it was grandiose!

It's a Japanese show about two AroAce characters who try to make a life together and support each other in the face of society's expectations. My first post here and my second one there.

By the way, thanks a million @guzhufuren for including it in your guide to the best queer Japanese shows!! I would not have discovered it without you <3

I was in love on principle because, you know, AroAce rep?! On screen?!? As the main plot!?!?!

But it was also really good and I love it and I will rewatch it and make it my entire personality!!

Anyway, first of all: actual canon labels. By which I mean, I am not the one taking characters who say they aren't interested in romance or sex and calling them AroAce. They both explicitly label themselves as such. And while characters just, living their life, can be good (like, half of the BL don't even use the word gay), for an identity that is so often ignored, having actual text to back it up feels great!

Also, watching Sakuko find the aroace label after wondering if she was broken brought me to actual tears from sheer joy and relief. And that hadn't happen to me in a while!

By the end of the show, my dearest Sakuko and Satoru are living what basically accounts for my absolute dream life! I, too, want to move to the countryside to become a farmer and have the kind of relationships where we call each other too cook together and also live in the other's house even when he's moved out.

And I want aspec friends! Like, my whole friends group is queer, but still allo. That aspec meeting looked great! They even had little flags!!!

Also props for all the allo characters who also struggle with amatonormativity.

Overall : great show, great characters, splendid exploration of aroace tensions and facings with amatonormativity. 10/10, no notes (so many notes), will watch again.

Side note: it had been a while since I watched a Japanese show. It always feels good to go back, I love the musicality of the language.

[yinwaryuri]

Fuck this, I wasn't tagged by anybody but since y'all are making me insane sharing your lovely faves on my dash I gotta join the fun!

10 BL People That I Want Carnally

Just so we're clear, I'm immediately not limiting myself to 10. I'm bi. You think we have limits? (Tumblr says yes, but that's why I'm on desktop for this instead of mobile)

Night from Dirty Laundry

Are we surprised? This awakened a whole thing in me. I was constantly yelling from the rooftops about my love for this man in the cheapest drag you ever saw. This is my JAM. I'm already trying to calm myself down making the first entry on this post. GOD. And his whole committed-to-the-bit romancing a mafia leader and then robbing her because he needs money, but really he's a wee romantic who just wants to write exciting stories like all of us bitches on AO3? Honey I am FREE at 5pm on Saturday. Also, shush, I know it's not a BL, I'm counting it as part of the Midnight Series as a whole :P

Yok from Not Me

PAINT ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR POLICE OFFICERS. We already have matching tattoos babe. He isn't perfect but he's a well-intentioned mama's boy and has swagger.

Maya from Laws of Attraction

Listen, I don't think much explaining is necessary here. I'm a woman but she can call me "pretty boy" any day. Is she just Silvy Pavida with a MILF wife? Yeah. That's the point. I'll join. They would let me.

Speaking of Laws of Attraction, Nawin

I deserve an insane golden retriever boyfriend. I deserve a man who can't spell his ex's name but can get a pilot's license. He deserves someone who will enable his silliness, even when there's trouble with the accountant. *kisses all over his wing tattoo*

Togawa from Old Fashion Cupcake

Mr. Hamster Cheeks my love <3 The dates would be so good. And so would the food. And the food naps afterward. I'm a good snuggler, he's tall and there's a lot to snuggle. Win-win.

Ink from Bad Buddy

I know many of us are weak for Milk Pansa, but like, there's a reason for that. She gave us the ICON for lesbian side couples. Please, girl, scare men away from me when they mistake a boner for full-fledged love. Make me feel welcome and important and pretty and like I'm the specialest girl alive. Be taller than me ;)

Wen Qing from The Untamed

She didn't die, actually, we just eloped together, haha. I just think as someone who studied medicine, she'd have a lot of good tricks up her sleeve and I don't mean acupuncture needles.

Saifah from Enchanté

Yeah. I needed to use this gif. Get that record deal my man. Live your dreams king. I also love that he's both the old man and woman here. Impeccable. We deserved more of him.

Uea from Bed Friend

Gimme this catboy realness right now. Also, I just love him so much. He owns his narrative despite all the shit he has suffered and gets everything he deserves for it. We could be besties even. We could be...no I shan't say it.

SamMon from GAP

I just want whatever is going on right here. Let me join. Simple as that.

Tops and Marwin from Ingredients

I'm this guy. Except I think they'd be sad to see the other with someone else so I gotta have them one at a time. Tops, who's a shy cutie who can make yummy foods. And Marwin, who is basically Jeff Satur just pumped with extra himboisms.

Todd from Not Me

All principles out the window. He's evil, he's sexy. I know exactly how much that specific hotel room costs to stay in for a night. It would be luxurious.

Rain from Love In The Air

I know most people would say Phayu, and for Boss, yeah I understand, I am all there. But something about the way that little guy can fuck kinda makes me dizzy, I'm owning that. He doesn't have to be smart, he's just gotta be given compliments. Plus, my bed sheets match!

VegasPete from KinnPorsche

They altered me chemically once and I'd let 'em do it a second time and many more after that.

Tagging @kissporsche @thisautistic @omegaphobe @shubaka @risu442 @khathastrophe @loveable-sea-lemon @fawndlyvenus @viva-yas-vegas @first-kanaphan @wherelanguage-ends @xxatlasxx @adanima @snake-and-mouse @scarefox @scattered-stardust @callipigio @sparklyeyedhimbo @jdotsodomite @futureexmrsmalcolm @suzteel @jeffsatyr @coconuts-mafia

[alans-snz]

Enjoy this C/el/ls A/t W/or/k drabble short fic inspired by @dsnzfb 's wonderful snzario from the other day. I initially wrote a bit of it and wanted to turn it into a drabble, but it turned instead into a mini fic, so here ya go!! Enjoy!! And I am going to bed now since it's after 4 am. But this man put in this scenario was living rent free in my brain so much I had to write this before going to sleep!!!

Snz'er: Wh/i/te Bl/o/od C/el/l U/-1/14/6 (my beloved, shown here)

Minor spoilers for C/el/ls A/t W/or/k season 1. Continued below the cut.

Giving a gentle sigh, U-1146 finished his usual patrol around the body. Although things had been peaceful lately, being a part of the first line of defense meant he always had to stay alert. Regardless of how "normal" things might seem, he could never be too wary of any antigens possibly invading the area, whether it was through a breakage in the vascular endothelial cells, a viral infection, or anything foreign that dared cross paths with him, for that matter.

Today, everything seemed almost...too peaceful. When he experiences such a quiet day like this, especially when it comes to such a sensitive place like the epidermis, he always is extra careful and pays more attention to his receptor. After all, its job is—

"Da-ding!"

46 spun on his heel and frantically looked around. Complete silence except for the occasional hustle and bustle of red blood cells. Hm...how odd...

Speaking of, as he searched for the culprit his receptor was detecting, he noticed AE3803 taking a break on a bench nearby to stock up on more glucose. She looked up from her ice cream, smiled, and waved to him, before slowly lowering her hand, looking confused at his sudden search. He decided it would be good to head over there while he tried to sort out the current situation. Besides, it's possible she may have seen something he missed. No harm in asking! On his way over to her, he subconsciously rubbed his nose lightly.

"Snf! Red Blood Cell. Good to see you again," he stated with a nod, carefully holding his hat as he softly nodded as a gentle greeting.

"White Blood Cell! Same to you!" 03 piped up and smiled once more, but it didn't last long, as her expression and tone turned concerned quite quickly. "You seemed to be searching for something, and I noticed your receptor is up. Is everything okay?"

46 carefully nodded and turned slightly. "It seems an antigen is hiding somewhere nearby. Actually, that's why I came over here." He turned back to her, his expression determined, yet still sweet and calm. "I wanted to ask you if you'd seen anything odd." He stood there patiently while Red Blood Cell thought for a moment. However, after a short silence, she only ended up slowly shaking her head. "I see," 46 continued simply. The two of them stood there quietly while 46 eyed the surrounding area once more.

Eventually, 03 narrowed her eyes and looked down at her ice cream as if in deep thought before eventually breaking the silence, "You know, I've been meaning to ask...How do you go searching for hidden antigens anyway?"

46 couldn't help but crack a smile. Seeing he always expressed interest in Red Blood Cell's job, it was always fun to explain his own tasks to her as well. "Well, it's all in this," he said simply, pointing at his receptor. "Any time something is hiding, it's often easier to detect by taking into account when it does and doesn't react." He paused and sniffled softly.

03 gently nodded. "That's so fascinating. I'd love to hear more about how it works!"

"Sure! So when it stops reacting, I...I..." Suddenly, 46's train of thought became occupied elsewhere. He could feel a prickling sensation swiftly building in his sinuses, feathering so quickly through them that he automatically scrunched his nose, his mouth fell slightly agape, and his brow furrowed.

"...You...?" 03 asked in confusion, seeming very intrigued on how this worked and very confused on why 46 suddenly stopped speaking. Little did she know, this reason would become obvious very quickly.

"...I...hh-have t-to...sne—hehh!—sneeze!" He quickly brought his wrist to his nose as his eyelids fluttered and he inhaled sharply. "Heehh...! Hiht'TSSschyuu! Hah'AS—shuu!" His shoulders shook with the force, and although they didn't sound too intense, he struggled to keep himself from bending forward slightly from the intensity. He paused, shook his head, opened his eyes, and sniffled harshly from behind his wrist, seeming to consider whether any more sneezes were lurking in his sinuses before daring to bring his wrist down from his face.

"Snrf! O-oh no, hhiih!..." That sniffle instantly riled his sinuses up even more, and he quickly found himself gasping behind his wrist and snapping his eyes shut yet again. "Haaah'YTsSchhyuu! Hih!...iht'KSSs—chuu!—uungh..." This time, both sneezes made his whole body quiver violently, and he let out a soft groan after the final one. He rubbed his nose vigorously with the back of his wrist before letting out another sniffle. "Snf! Urgh, 'scuse me."

"...Is that usually a part of your process?" Red Blood Cell asked in confusion. White Blood Cell chuckled in response and gently shook his head as he lowered his hand. He also took a mental note that his receptor had gone down afterwards, similarly to that other day when he first learned his receptor will react shortly before he sneezes.

"Not usually, but sometimes, yes." He disconnected his receptor and held it in his hand. "I always have to take my receptor's reactions very seriously and jump into action, regardless of what I'm doing at the time. Since it also tends to detect when something is bothering my nose though, it can be frustrating to start searching for an antigen, then find out I just had to sneeze." He couldn't help but laugh a bit at the idea. "Though silly, it's a welcome change of pace to realize everything is still peaceful in this body, and my receptor just wanted to alert me to my body's irritants too." He smiled softly.

While incredibly odd and unusual, it was in fact relieving for White Blood Cell to experience this situation again. While peace in the body is refreshing, having false alarms from his receptor being affected by his own body as well is one of the unusual trade-offs he would happily take if it meant he could keep this body and all his fellow cells safe!

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: KinnPorsche, and Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist Edition (Part 2)

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

Top of the morning (or whatever time zone you're in) to ya! Yesterday, I ruminated on KinnPorsche's foundation in regards to how the show wasn't as innovative as newbie members of the Thai BL fandom, like myself, may have thought in 2022 -- but was rather a great example of a show that derivatively used a lot of excellent past Thai BL influences in order to make a newly stylized show that I think, for the most part, worked well.

Harkening back to the outline for these two pieces that I laid out yesterday, this post will concentrate on:

3) How I think KP has impacted how other studios approach, market, and write Thai BLs now, and 4) A quick passing thought on BOC's own continued influence on the Thai BL genre and industry since 2022, particularly by way of Dead Friend Forever.

Before I get fully into point 3, I wanted to take a second to offer one more thought on an element about the KinnPorsche series itself that I didn't unwind on much yesterday, and one that'll connect with point 3 in a second. I mentioned yesterday that I personally (in my own opinion, I am accountable here) don't think that some of the VegasPete elements of the show helped the show's flow and continuity at all times. After my rewatch, I think the show could have stood for more episode editing to better its flow. I very much know how beloved VegasPete are in much of the KP fandom (thanks so much to dear friend @wen-kexing-apologist for the conversations about this during my rewatch!), so I don't want to pooh-pooh very hard, because at the same time, I think Bible as an actor was valuable to the show regarding Vegas's interactions with Porsche -- that side storyline offered intrigue and depth particularly into Porsche's mindset at the end of the series. At the same time, I think the VegasPete scenes contained enough questionable takes on trauma and attraction that I think now contribute to the show's legend and status as a uniquely heaty drama, but (in my opinion, people, I own this!), I think some of those takes could have been removed, smoothed, or tamped down for editing's sake, vis à vis those questionable takes in particular.

Taking VegasPete's trauma-and-kink-driven storyline, and KinnPorsche's romps and unravellings, into consideration, along with the show's excellent use of comedy as a plot driver: I think that KinnPorsche has clearly had an impact on how subsequent "heat" BL dramas have been created and marketed since KP's run. I'm thinking in particularly of some big ones (heh heh), including 2023's Only Friends, and 2023-24's Playboyy (which I did not finish, FYI).

Heat -- and the increasing use and management of it -- has long been an important element of the Thai BL industry. Like I said yesterday, MaxTul (my beloved) were pioneers of it in Together With Me and Manner of Death, and MAME consecrated episodic heat in 2019's TharnType, and even introduced enough of it notably in 2018's Love By Chance by way of those awesome spicy AePete scenes. And the WONDERFUL Lovely Writer offered meta commentary about the dependence that the Thai BL/Series Y industry has on heat in order to drive in fans, oftentimes to the detriment of more interesting and/or fulfilling and/or emotionally complicated plots.

KinnPorsche's lengthy marketing, from its Filmania days in 2020 and 2021, to its eventual 2022 premiere through Be On Cloud, certainly helped to drive interest and intrigue in the show, from the debut pairing of MileApo, to the clear use of heat that the show was promising before its airing. (Red Peafowl could never.)

Looking at the moment we are in right now -- early spring of 2024, with the ability to look back on the conclusions of both Only Friends and Playboyy -- I see the influence that KinnPorsche had on these shows being HUGELY marketed as cutting-edge-entrées to a high-heat and high-interest slice of Thai BL, particularly for Only Friends, which was GMMTV's own first step into really high-heat territory.

Both of the shows ended in meh territory (and both shows were written by the same writer in Den Panuwat, who may very well have a monogamy kink). Both shows ended up putting pure monogamy on a pedestal, and seemed to judge extra-monogamous sex as a "mistake" that was worth rectifying through "true," i.e., monogamous, love.

I posit, and I'm glad, that KinnPorsche did NOT go this route. Extracurricular sex wasn't even in the show's genes anyway, but -- the heat that KP marketed at the time of its premiere was solely associated with the centralized romances of the two main pairings. KinnPorsche didn't have to get extra-monogamously messy in its bones (huh huh) in order to be hot -- and it makes me curious to wonder why shows like Only Friends and Playboyy felt the need to promote relational messiness as a way to hype up their heat, all of which kinda putzed out in the end run of both of those shows.

Of course, we've still had heat in many other shows since KP's premiere, including in directions that roundly surprised the larger fandom, such as Pit Babe's take on omegaverse, and maybe even the vets Earth and Mix getting hot and heavy in Moonlight Chicken, a direction that Aof Noppharnach has been known to not take for the sake of keeping the ratings on his shows kid-friendly. But I do find it interesting that the heavy promotion of Only Friends and Playboyy led the fandom to think that these shows were going to have progressive takes on sex and sexuality, when they ultimately did not (I'd even argue that both of these shows ended up being judgemental of sexual experimentation). And while I don't think KinnPorsche's takes on heat were necessarily progressive, I do think the marketing of their actors getting into that, particularly as compared to Apo's previous career path in leaving acting for a while, was notable -- and as well, the care that the show took to depict heat scenes with excellent cinematography makes many of those scenes so memorable today.

I want to make one final note about KinnPorsche's and Be On Cloud's general influence on the Thai BL industry, in that I'm impressed by their investment in generally good-to-great writing and directing. As I overviewed yesterday, KinnPorsche heavily featured veterans from across the BL landscape, and Be On Cloud's latest serial offering, Dead Friend Forever, continued that trajectory, having an OG BL director in Ma-Deaw Chookiat partly take the helm of that show. Very importantly, Ma-Deaw Chookiat has been the screenwriter and director of a number of seminal Thai queer films and shows, including 2019's Dew, and more impactfully, 2007's The Love of Siam, which is considered a harbinger of the television Thai BL industry, and a film that has notably influenced important Thai BL creators, especially New Siwaj, who doesn't hesitate to include references to LoS in many of his shows, including Until We Meet Again, My Only 12%, and more. Chookiat has also screenwritten and/or directed three shows written by the notable Thai Y novelist, Sammon, in DFF, Manner of Death, and Triage. Sammon has been on a tear recently, as she will be the screenwriter for BOC's upcoming drama, 4 Minutes, as well as Spare Me Your Mercy, the hugely anticipated BL drama starring Tor Thanapob and singer Jaylerr.

Going back to my thoughts earlier about big marketing of big BLs: we've seen some duds recently from shows that were marketed at a big tip, from OF, to Playboyy, to Idol Factory's The Sign. From what I've gathered from the Tumblr tag regarding The Sign -- it seems that show suffered mostly from a lack of editorial context and plot sensibility and tightness, and that there could have been a good show, if the show had spent less money on CGI, and more money on the script.

Be On Cloud seems to mostly be putting its money where its pen is. I say "mostly" as a caveat. Was the ending of DFF fantastic? No, and I totally admit as much: while the show mostly stuck to its slasher genre conventions (thank you so much to @lurkingshan, my genre guru, for explaining this to me), the show seemed to poop out in the end by giving us a PheeJin BL ship, instead of Phee's and Jin's gruesome deaths. Womp womp. The pull of BL, and the need for clean-ish endings for the fujoshi crowd, may still be too economically enticing for studios, including Be On Cloud itself.

But I'm optimistic for BOC's upcoming shows, with the talent and money they're putting into scripts and directing. And we know that BOC's first film, the non-queer Man Suang, was an important artistic point for the studio as it continues its investment in MileApo and experimental content to market within and outside of Thailand. It was important enough that Dead Friend Forever, emanating from the Thai BL world, took on an entirely different genre instead, and literally presented that back to BL fans on a silver platter. I hope 4 Minutes can tread similar experimental territory. And I'm glad to see Be On Cloud being able to invest in high-quality writing and directing after the publicly major obstacles the studio experienced last year during the Build Jakapan scandal.

From the time I discovered Thai BLs in 2022, to now: I would not have expected KinnPorsche and Be On Cloud to start such a journey in my personal drama fan life. As well, considering how many damn shows I've now watched from Thailand, I also didn't expect this rewatch of KinnPorsche to be so much fun. AND, I truly didn't realize I had this much to say about it -- but there was a lot of say, especially by way of how referential the original KinnPorsche series was, which touched my little nerdy BL heart.

With that, I say ta-ta to my entrée to this fun world of Thai BLs, and move on to the next one!

[OKAY! We are kind of back of the grind, although my ability to watch dramas has really been hampered by real life obligations and schedules. BUT: I'm trucking along through War of Y, and I have some fun rewatches coming up in The Eclipse (my first-ever GMMTV BL), as well as two new-to-me dramas in GAP (the first GL on the list, WOO!) and My School President, which I can't wait for.

I've made a few tiddly adjustments to the list below, including adding Dead Friend Forever as an important addition, and I'm deep in my giggles with 23.5, which I am LOVING. ONWARDS! For more details about the ongoing list, please checkity-check here!

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

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

37) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 38) The Eclipse OGMMTVC Rewatch to Reexamine “Genre BLs” and Internalized/Externalized Homophobia in GMMTV Shows  39) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 40) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 41) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 42) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) 43 La Pluie (2023) (review coming) 44) Be My Favorite (2023) (tag here) (I’m including this for BMF’s sophisticated commentary on Krist’s career past as a BL icon) 45) Wedding Plan (2023) (Recommended as an important trajectory in the course of MAME’s work and influence from TharnType) 46) Only Friends (2023) (tag here) (not technically a BL, but it certainly became one in the end) 47) Last Twilight (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as Thailand’s first major BL to center disability, successfully or otherwise) 48) Cherry Magic Thailand (2023-24) (tag here) (on the list as the first major Japanese-to-Thai drama adaptation, featuring the comeback of TayNew) 49) Ossan’s Love Returns (2024) (adding for the EarthMix cameo and the eventual Thai remake) 50) Dead Friend Forever (2024) (thoughts here) 51) 23.5 (2024)]

[heesulovebot]

ik there's the contentious topic about categorizing things as bl and making the distinction between bl and queer media, and i do think there have been valid points in the discourse about how bl is changing and its going through a sort of r/evolution now that bl is getting pretty big (and i'm talking exclusively about asian bl here btw, so in this context it would be the globalization of asian bls). but i also think that it's important to not disregard history and bl's roots.

bl was created by women for women in the 1970s in japan. although from a feminist perspective, bl challenges gender and sexual norms, bring capitalism into the equation, and we're getting the fetishization of gay relationships for (predominantly) straight female consumption.

idt it's a "right or wrong" situation. i believe two truths can exist: bl is a capitalist venture that oftentimes perpetuates harmful stereotypes, but bl can also be liberation for a lot of people. especially asian bl—as a bisexual woc, seeing nonwhite queer media is so so important to me. and i am not asian, but i know it's especially been revolutionary for my fellow queer asian brothers, sisters, & enby siblings.

i read somewhere that the directors instructed juntaek to not watch (korean) bl when studying for his role in the eighth sense. i found this reeeeally interesting, since i've also seen people mention that the eighth sense is not a bl, but queer media. i also think it's important to point out that one of the directors/writers is a white european man, and i'm pretty sure he was the one who told juntaek to watch things like skam or call me by your name instead of kbls—i haven't seen skam but cmbyn is white queer cinema (also problematic, but i digress). in the past, there was also that british bl heartstopper (sorry besties i still haven't seen it i probably should), in which the author expressed that they did not want to label it as bl, but there was backlash as, at least the show, clearly drew inspiration from asian bl.

as a historically asian genre, how does this distinction (bl vs. queer) perpetuate the western hegemony of queer thought? usually when people make this distinction, i don't think they take into account that race plays as much as a part as queerness (intersectionality is so important). but on the other hand, i also understand that bl has clear tropes and narrative structures that make it a bl. we wouldn't call moonlight a bl, or the handmaiden a gl. but also, films are a different medium with less restrictions (if you've seen a korean film vs. a kdrama, you get me lol).

i definitely don't have an answer or anything. the eighth sense is filmed through such a queer lens and it touches on the nuances of the queer experiences in a way i haven't really seen in bl, but i still i find myself wary of proclaiming that it's not bl, ja feel? is the eighth sense (along with bls such as bad buddy, old fashion cupcake, to my star, etc.) a marker of the r/evolution of bl? i guess i just wanted to open up the conversation to hear people's thoughts, especially from my fellow queer pocs.

at the end of the day we're all here to be entertained, but i'm glad to see discourse and think it's fruitful in the long process of decolonizing our mindsets.

[mephistopheleswasrobbed]

My two cents on the Ossan's Love Thailand pilot trailer

Disclaimer: 1) I have watched the original Ossan's Love (S1, LoD, Returns; AU Season and specials are on my list) and liked it a lot. 2) I am an EarthMix fan so I might be slightly biased.

Overall my reaction to the pilot trailer was one of relief. While I definitely noticed some areas for improvement, all in all I am now more hopeful than ever that GMMTV will do this justice.

What I really liked: - Krit Shahkrit seems like a very solid choice for the Boss. I have not previously seen him in anything but what we saw of him in the trailer has me sold. He is younger than he could have been, they are playing it a little safe here possibly, but the age difference is still big/noticable enough that I don't mind at all. - The choice to make Mo a long-time friend of Heng instead of a recent new colleague feels appropriate. Mo moving in with Heng after barely knowing each other might have not worked in a Thai context. (Also EM chemistry is too strong to sell them previously not knowing each other without the excuse of love at first sight they had in ATOTS and MLC) - They actually let Earth be funny in a BL! - On a more serious note, most of the comedic moments landed right on point for me. (The scene where Heng tries to hold Mo back by his collar as he runs away is what fully cemented it for me that this will work) Earth is a great (but severely underutilised) comedic actor and Earth and Mix as a duo have great comedic chemistry. - Earth being the younger one in a potential romantic relationship is a breath of fresh air. He's got good chemistry with P'Krit. I don't think this will actually happen (GMMTV will prob play it safe) but I could see them going for more of an actual conflict in regards to whom Heng will fall for unlike the original where it was pretty clear from the beginning that Haruta had only platonic feelings for Kurosawa. - Earth is doing great with the awkward moments. He is clearly not an actor who is afraid of being the idiot and that's very important for this character.

What I think needs to be imroved: - They need to decide how much they want Earth to imitate Tanaka Kei's style of physical comedy and then stick with it throughout. This felt a little inconsistent to me in the pilot trailer. - Mix needs to get a little more confident when facing off agains P'Krit. His performance felt the weakest in these scenes and I'm pretty sure that's because he wasn't yet completely comfortable getting in this veteran actor's face. I have no doubts that this will get better if Mix gets the chance to practice a little more with P'Krit. (I'm assuming there was not much prep work done before filming the pilot trailer because Mix was quite busy finishing his degree in recent months) Leave the respect for your elders at home, Mix!

Other thoughts: - I hope they move Mo's initial confession back into the shower. Haruta's nakedness really added to the scene in the original and Earth is no stranger to taking his shirt off for the camera so I don't see why they would have to change this. (My hope is that they changed it for the pilot trailer because they didn't want to waste time covering up Earth's tattoo(s), they could potentially seem out of character for Heng) - It seems Choko got replaced with a daughter. That's a shame. I liked her a lot in the original and I felt that she and her relationship with Maro were an important part of the story, especially on the thematic side. I'm willing to see where they go with this, though. - Thor as Ten who I'm assuming is the thai Takegawa is also a bit younger than the original, we didn't see much of him in the pilot trailer so I'm reserving judgement on this decision. - Kapook who, I'm assuming is taking the role of Chizu (though it seems that some of her advisory function might move over to Mo on account of him also being Heng's long-time friend) felt like a perfect fit - Champ has at this point become an EarthMix staple. MLC being the only of their shows he wasn't in. I'm here for it. We haven't seen much of him but I'm sure he can do Teppei justice. - The accidental hand touch while hanging up posters was not convincing. I'm reminded of the slightly awkward hand-interlocking as Jim and Wen stood in front of the soon to close diner. (Am I the only one who notices that every time I see that scene?) - I wonder if they will actually change the wedding scene to have Mo interrupt or if this was done to make the pilot trailer more concise. It would be a shame to loose this classic example of a JBL run. (They did the run in CMT, they should do it in OL!) - If I remember correctly the forhead kiss was in the original as well, but it also works as a cute call back to the atots airport scene.

TL;DR: Earth can do comedy, I'm glad he gets to finally show this in a BL. EM chemistry is chemistrying as usual, this time with more crack energy. Issues I had were probably mostly caused by limited prep time and limited shooting time for the pilot trailer. I think it's gonna be good and that makes me happy.

[absolutebl]

Heyo! I have a friend I'm trying to get more into BL. She's watched KinnPorsche and I recently got her to watch 3 Will Be Free (I know, not BL). She's somewhat picky about the romance she likes to consume, so I thought I'd ask you which BLs you think would be best to get her started with the genre. Her specifications are 1) a good, solid plot (any type is fine); 2) slow burn; 3) and good chemistry. She also loves sci fi and fantasy. My initial thoughts are MoD, Not Me, and AToTS. Any additions?

BLs with: 1 Good Story, 2 Slow Burn, 3 Good Chemistry, 4 PNR elements if possible

I have not one specific list for you, but several! Many of these not updated so likely to recommend pre the 2023 madness. (Imma rag on some of your choices briefly: KP & MoD only satisfy one criteria - chemistry IMHO.

I did give you a final list of winners at the bottom tho!

1) BLs with the best stories:

2) BLs with best slow burn:

3) BLs with the best chemistry:

(by my definition)

4) PNR BLs (paranormal, sci-fi, or fantastical elements)

P'ABL did the math:

BLs that do or should show up on most of those lists:

Dear Doctor I’m Coming for Soul (Thailand) - the first one I thought of that satisfies all criteria. Good story, great chemistry, PNR & slow burn. By your friend's accounting, this should be the perfect BL. I'm a fan of this show and I have a full review here BUT I don't actually rec it often. Why? My quibble with DDICFS is that for dyed-in-the-wool BL or romance fans the ending may not satisfy, BUT that seems to be the one thing your friend is NOT - so this should be perfect.

Triage (Thailand) - good chemistry, frustratingly slow burn, def PNR, and good story. This was my second pull. It suffered at the time of airing from distribution issues and (perhaps more sadly) being up against KP. It's really good tho. A “correct the past” Groundhog Day plot, that has narrative baggage I normally do not like but is so clever about time loops, I have to forgive it my hang-ups. About a doctor who must save a boy to fix reality, but not in the usual way. 

Until We Meet Again (Thailand) - GREAT story, decent chemistry, very PNR, but not slow burn. It’s a perfectly executed fated mates reincarnation plot, fantastic well-seeded twists & reveals, and the only BL I would love to see adapted by other countries or read professionally translated. 

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan) - slow burn, great story & chemistry, no PNR. This is a deceptively simple office romance that actually has a lot to say about life, love, maturity, and pancakes. It’s charming but also deeply moving and loving in its exploration of what it means to give up, and how connection can bring with it second chances. It’s also beautifully filmed and acted. 

Seven Days (Japan) - slow burn, great romance plot, good chemistry, no PNR. This is a pitch perfect elegant little YA romance that stays completely true to its yaoi roots but neatly avoids all the flaws of the genre. The story is deceptively simple but allows for angst and miscommunication to develop with VERY good reason, and is almost worth studying because of that. As a romance, it is elegant. I can see why it got stolen adapted.

1000 Stars (Thailand) - solid romance, very slow burn, okay chemistry, no PNR. All BL is romantic, but not all BL is a modern romance in the literary sense of the term, but 1k* is just that, an absolutely glorious slow burn gay romance that nods at BL but isn’t behooven to it. It’s just a really well executed linear romance story.

HIStory 3: Trapped (Taiwan 2019 Viki) - not PNR and maybe not exactly slow burn but aces everything else. (This was MY KP when it aired.) Taiwan often struggles with story because their BLs aren’t always long enough to really get stuck in, Trapped is different. It has a baby murder investigation that promotes conflict between the leads, so the romantic tension is between plot and character, it’s so smart. The leads did a GREAT job of showcasing mature chemistry. The side dishes in this series are wonderful too. The main couple has an amorphous ending, but like with Dear Doctor, that shouldn't rank under these specific circumstances.

My School President (Thai 2023 YouTube) - great chemistry, very slow burn, okay story, no PNR BUT you have to like YA. I know not everyone does. This is very youthful. GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORE this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? Possibly too slow burn for some, we wait many eps for that pay out, and Tin's pining is NOT quiet, but it defines dorky and earnest, so when the payout comes? Lovely.

About Youth (Taiwan 2022 Gaga) - exactly the same criteria as MSP just Taiwan's version. A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth. I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. A weak seme/uke dynamic but tons of BL tropes (both rare in a high school setting but common for Taiwan) makes this one feel both sweet and colored by an almost real world queer authenticity and grit. Full review here.

See You After Quarantine? (Taiwan 2021 Viki) - it's short there isn't a ton of story development, but it's a nice nugget introduction to Taiwan's style. Great chemistry, def slow burn, and CUTE. This under-appreciated gem is Taiwan’s answer to Gameboys and is just as charming and adorable yet still quintessentially Taiwanese. It features a Japanese love interest and the cutest most confused disaster gay. Slow burn because the two have almost no actual screen time together and yet manage some truly amazing chemistry. How does Taiwan do it?

Why no KBL?

Fascinating but despite the fact that KBL tends to earn the highest ratings from me and occupies the most slots in my 10/10 BLs of all time, because they are so short they tend to fall... erm... short in the arena of story and slow burn. Also, until recently, not a lot of great chemistry.

So here are a few others I considered but ended up eliminating for not containing enough of your required elements:

He's Coming to Me (Thailand) - review here

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) - this has a 12th Night meet Cinderfella feel to it, plus some great story tricks like a plot that requires a historical setting (I love it when narrative elements are codependent). 

Our Dining Table - It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. Possibly too slow for some but definitely high up there for me with the best of what Japan can do, it’s only flaw (if I dare say such a thing) is that it is not really “romantic.” Lovely & sweet but the romance beats are being used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy, it’s OK with me, but not totally BL.

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan) - full review here

Ghost Host Ghost House - if your friend likes horror and culture immersion this might be a winner. Boys shack up with ghosts and each other. The story is weak but everything else is on point and it has some of the best slow burn HOT chemistry ever to hit our screens. No... really. The THIRST is real.

Semantic Error (2022 Viki) - Simple story, no PNR, not slow burn, but for Korea it’s some of the best chemistry the traditional studios have ever managed. It is flawless BL. Truly, perfection for the genre. If your friend doesn't like this, BL is probubly not the right genre. Full review. 

Light on Me - def slow burn but story is a little weak and while there is chemistry, it's not really acted upon. Also v YA and a little stiff. I love this BL unreasonably.

KP not tagged to protect me from the fandom. Don't troll me and prove my point. Remember I can has ban hammer and am not afraid to use it.

(source)

[kexing]

pokes you gently :)

as I am a bl fan whose ass is BROKE and therefore cannot buy subscriptions, what would you recommend I watch, and what platforms are they on?

(piracy is a-ok with me, [what who said that- on the piracy positive website??? no way] i just am not a huge fan of crunchy video quality if avoidable!)

hi! 🥰🥰🥰

some bls you can find on youtube. like on gmmtv channel you can find wandee goodday, enchanté, not me the series and many others. they used to have bad buddy and my school president available everywhere but those you can watch somewhere else now, if you haven’t already! and idolfactory channel has the sign which is a very good bl too!

you can always search other bls on youtube as well. just in case someone has uploaded them there!

as for those you really can’t find easy access, i recommend kisskh and dramacool. there’s nearly everything in both. but you didn’t hear it from me akdkskdk

my highlights of the year so far are love for love’s sake, century of love, knock knock boys, 4 minutes, monster next door, sugar dog life, jack and joker is currently airing and it’s really good!

last but not least, i have a mydramalist account where i keep track of all the dramas i watch, mostly bls. you can sort thorough by scores and even click on the dramas and read about them/reviews.

let me know if you want anything more specific! but hope this helps! 💕