(another unfinished post i found on the way to glasgow - that was the longest train ride in my life - I'm sorry in advance)
When Ice finally passes away, at the age of 73, in his sleep, Bradley moves Mav into their house the same day.
He gets the call in the morning, while trying to simultaneously cook Jake's breakfast and try to make their daughter put on a rain jacket. It's not Mav, but someone from the hospital. Jake doesn't know this — Bradley's face twitches only for a second and then he's back to the nagging, relaxing tone and telling their daughter it's raining and it won't stop. Jake only finds out when he comes back home from the school drop-off and Mav is already there on their couch. Jake doesn't even get the full explanation until that night, just a quick, "Ice passed away overnight."
There's only their three youngest living with them at the time — their 18-year-old daughter who attends UC San Diego, and their 15-year-old son who is still in high school, and their 7-year-old daughter — so Mav takes one of the vacant bedrooms.
The first few nights, Bradley sleeps in the same bed with him. Neither of them looks like they get much sleep. They don't really eat, either, just drink coffee and nibble on the crackers.
The kids start coming back home, and their oldest helps Jake arrange most of the things for the funeral, at least for the first few days. Mav is... numb, not really there, and Jake understands — he would, too, if he woke up one day and his husband died in his sleep next to him. Bradley is silent, mostly, the way he usually rambles to fill out the silence, the way he hums, the way he sings at any given time when there are no words spoken, it's all gone and Jake doesn't know how to fill out the silence either, how to ask, how to make it better without asking.
Bradley doesn't cry, or at least not the way he knows Mav does — he can see Mav's red eyes every morning — but there's something empty in his gaze, in the way his eyes follow Mav and in the way he melts whenever Mav is around, always close, always brushing against him. Mav spaces out a lot, doesn't talk much, doesn't—well, doesn't do much. Every time he tries to help with something, paperwork, the funeral arrangements, the hospital bills, even just sorting out the kids' school leave or Jake's own work leave, he fumbles a bit, not really able to focus on anything for long, and it's like his mind is completely scrambled. Jake doesn't know how to help him — doesn't know if they even can.
The kids, well, did not take it well, as expected. The oldest two try to be brave and help Jake with everything, keep the house going, but their youngest daughter doesn't really understand why her pops isn't back, the middle kids don't understand why now — Ice was in remission, in good health, would go hiking with them once a month, play with them in the backyard, talking about plans for the future with them, nothing that would tell them to expect their pops passing away. Mav and Ice had taken care of all of them for years, while Jake and Bradley were still deployable, and helping out as much as they could. Ice was a huge part of their lives, since the very beginning.
Bradley is certainly not doing any better but one couldn't be able to tell if they didn't know him well enough. He's always been more for packing his feelings into a tight neat box, compartmentalizing until there is too much and it all overflows in some explosive way. His focus is mostly on Mav and the kids, trusting Jake to take care of anything he can't.
Jake can't even ask him how he's doing until the night before the funeral.
Mav tells Bradley he wants to be alone that night and Bradley lands in their bedroom.
He acts normal — checks the kids are in bed, checks on Mav, prepares stuff for breakfast in the morning, has a shower. Only when he sits down in their bed, their dress blues, cleaned and pressed sitting on the hangers hooked up on their wardrobe, right in front of him—only then he freezes, a blank stare still on the uniforms.
Jake sits down next to him on the bed. "Talk to me, Bradley."
"I knew it was going to happen at some point, I just," "I just thought we would have a few more years."
Bradley sleeps curled up on his chest — he sleeps the whole night, soundlessly, and Jake is almost settled.
Almost. Mav is a couple doors down, alone.
Ice's been—had been retired many years now, but he had been high enough in the ranks that the Navy still insists on making a military funeral. Jake tried to take away as much of the flashy bullshit as possible, but there are still things leftover — the sailors with the flag, the flyover. But there's no one who wasn't close with the family at the ceremony, there's no speeches, and no one tries to hand either Mav or Bradley a flag.
The wake has an even smaller amount of people, all packed in their house — Mav hasn't been at his own house since — and thanks to Slider, mostly, and his 'the bastard wouldn't want us to mope around', it's less sad and quiet.
Mav eats two slices of cake, which is the most Jake's seen him eat since, and even laughs at some stories about Ice people are exchanging.
Ice had a good life. A big family. A big happy family that loved him.
But life goes on without him. Jake goes back to work first, then the kids have to go back to school, then Bradley has to back to work. After a couple of days alone at their house, Mav starts bringing up moving back to his own house.
He's not really doing great. He's still quiet, still spaces out more often than not, still forgets himself sometimes, still freezes whenever he tries to say something and the we he uses is one person short. He's—lifeless, for a lack of better word, and seems like he's noticing it now that Bradley isn't with him most of the waking hours.
"That is our home," Mav tells them. "I can't abandon it forever, I'd be abandoning him, too, if I—"
Jake—Jake gets it. He doesn't like it, but he gets it.
Bradley's been fielding off any suggestions of Mav moving out but he's pretty sure that soon Mav is going to pack his stuff and up and leave without asking for permission.
"If he wants to move back home, we can't exactly hold him here. against his will."
"Jake," Bradley says. "I feel like—if we let Mav go back there alone, he's going to die of a broken heart and I won't have either of them anymore."
"Sweetheart—"
"I know it's selfish," he interrupts, "but I can't lose him, too. Not now."
Jake can't make Mav stay with them — so he finds the best solution he can and instead, they all move in with Mav. Hell with it, he's going to try to get everyone to live their lives to the end. They'd done it before, Mav, Ice, Bradley, Jake and their two kids under one roof, when their oldest two were their only two kids.
The two of them and two of their youngest; two of their kids move into their house so they don't have to sell it.
Mav lives on. They try to occupy his mind by throwing their youngest at him — ask him to take her to school, pick her up from school, take her to her gymnastics class, do her homework with her, teach her how to play piano. The other kids pick up on it, too, and their high schoolers would wrap Mav into doing math workbooks with them, or ask him to drive them to their friends' house, and the kids that have moved out ask Mav to go to lunch together or call him to ask him things about car and house repairs that don't exist.
Mav gets brighter every day. Never as bright as before, but no longer so numb.
Their daughter ends up never moving out and so do they.
They all get older but Mav holds up pretty well. He does break his hip when trying to wash the windows, had a limp and terrible back ache ever since, had to stop driving because he can't see shit, had to stop piloting even sooner, and his memory is also shit, but Jake is pretty sure his cholesterol is lower than his own and he has better blood pressure than Bradley. Bradley and Mav are the ones cooking after all, Jake is the one eating all the tasty but not healthiest food, and Mav's life revolves around spoiling his cute great-grandkids and Bradley's is filled with the constant stress of managing Navy's top flying school.
For his ninetieth birthday, Mav flies a fighter jet as a passenger, the oldest person to ever do that — his youngest granddaughter is the one to take him up in the air, a junior grade lieutenant herself. They have a birthday party held at their house, Mav falls asleep in the armchair, Bradley makes fun of him and promptly falls asleep on the couch, too. Jake loves them both so much and still kind of can't believe he has this — house full of grown-up kids and grandkids of his own, his graying husband of over thirty years, his father-in-law coming to an age he wanted to see his mother at.
They're cleaning up, their two daughters who still don't have kids and didn't need to go home helping, and Mav tells them he's going to get some fresh air on their veranda. "I've got a terrible headache," is all he says.
Half an hour passes, they've packed all the clean and dirty dishes, and Bradley huffs to himself. "He fell asleep on the bench again, didn't he," and goes outside.
Bradley shouts for him in less than a minute. The ambulance is there in eight. Within the half-hour and a CT scan in the hospital, the neurologist tells them Mav is too far gone to survive the day. Within six hours, every single person from their family has come to say goodbye. When they pass the seven hours mark, Jake stands up from the plastic chair behind Bradley — he's not about to tell Bradley he should rest, but he's been holding Mav's hand since the minute they admitted Mav to the ward and hasn't eaten or drunk anything all day. He tells him he'll go grab them a coffee and bagels and gets a little nod and a smile.
Jake comes back twenty minutes later and Bradley doesn't even look up from where he's gripping Mav's hand.
"Can you get the nurse for me?"
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Hi, Queen! I'm on bedrest after a surgery I had last week and is currently watching QLs all day. I'm flying through some high heat ones atm and loving every minute although I'm physically uncomfortable. To some it may be controversial to say this, but I connect more with the high heat stuff than the romance because that's who I am irl too.
Anygay, I think I've seen you write about high heat shows before and was wondering what your favorite sex scenes in QLs are?
I'm only about 100 QLs into my journey after almost a year of watching. Most of them are Korean before I found Thai QLs and then Japanese, Taiwanese, and some Vietnamese. You have watched many more than me so could you give me your best tips? My favorites so far are everything in Bed Friend and the one at the hotel/motel in the Pornographer movie. What are yours?
I hope you have an amazing day!
Hi, @whatevenisthishellhole (and the three Anons who sent me similar asks when 4 Minutes was airing)!
Excuse my late reply. I've been super busy throwing paint at canvases a la the boys in I Saw You in My Dream (not quite, but similar). I've also been battling with this post for a day or two since I had to remove a lot of the gifs and videos I originally added to this post to get it unflagged. But, here we are!
First, I hope your surgery went well and I'm happy that you're having a great time even though you're uncomfortable.
Second, it's not controversial to say you like the high heat stuff! Unless you're a child. But neither you nor I am.
I absolutely get where you're coming from. As someone who prefers sexual relationships over romantic ones, I also prefer the high heat shows/films (even though I also watch shows/films that don't include sex). We're all different, just like it's supposed to be. And since you and I both seem to like the high heat stuff, let's talk about it, shall we?
Also, even though we often talk about heat levels regarding QLs, what we consider high or low heat is very individual for all of us. So, I've chosen to include scenes that I personally rank mid to higher heat levels to give some range. And I've chosen scenes that show different ways of having sex because I like variety.
And, btw, thank you for writing "sex scenes" and not "NC scenes" because I have beef with the latter term (which is super weird considering I'm a vegetarian. But, anyway...).
Third, I don't get triggered. So I suggest that you (and anyone else reading this) look up possible trigger warnings before you dive into most shows in this post if you're sensitive to anything in particular.
Fourth (and the last one before we get into the good stuff, I promise), I've watched 350+ QL shows/films in about 14 months (it was my escape last year as I tried to survive some grief, which is why the number is so high) and I have a terrible memory. There's a chance I've forgotten most of the ones I liked. But I will try to remember (lol).
With all that said, let's finally dive into my list (which I've gathered in no particular order)!
My Favorite Sex Scenes in QLs
Mike and Jack in Twins (Thailand)
To be honest, the heat level can be discussed here. But! I wanted to include this scene because Mike and Jack were everything to me when Twins was airing (and had I been on tumblr at the time, I would've screamed about these two) because they were friends with benefits who stayed that way without getting into a romantic relationship (which I want to see more of since romantic relationship aren't the be-all and end-all for everyone).
Ryou and Anda + Thee and Jet in Love Stage!! (Thailand)
I couldn't find a gif of the scene I like, but it was in the 6th or 7th episode or something. It's the sequence where Ryou and Anda's sex scene is interwoven with Thee (Anda's brother) and Jet (his secret boyfriend) also having sex.
Phat and Saengtai in La Pluie (Thailand)
I missed this when it was airing in 2023 but watched it earlier this year instead. And I loved it so much (one of my absolute favorite shows I've watched this year). One of the reasons is the chemistry and sexual tension between Phat and Saengtai, which is on fire when they almost have sex at Saengtai's apartment, when Saengtai sucks Phat's dick, and when they have sex at Phat's apartment.
All three of those scenes are great. But I particularly love the scene at Phat's apartment because, now that Saengtai feels ready, Phat gets to give Saengtai pleasure too.
Rak and Mahasamut in Love Sea (Thailand)
Of course I'm listing Mut fucking Rak's face on my list because that scene was iconic! (I couldn't find a gif of that particular moment, but this one is from the same scene that leads up to Mut fucking Rak's face:)
Charlie and Babe in Pit Babe (Thailand)
Honestly, this scene was almost omitted from my list because the racing cutting into the important shit every fucking second is driving me nuts (lmao!). But Charlie's gaze and Babe's facial expressions convinced me to add it anyway. So, here we are.
Alan and Jeff in Pit Babe (Thailand)
Their first time was good, but their sex scene in the last episode was great. The way they were looking at each other, the way they were kissing and touching each other... I loved it.
Thantatch and Lomnaw in 2 Moons: The Ambassador (Thailand)
If I remember correctly, I thought most of this show was meh, especially in the beginning. But! I remember I was surprised to see sex scenes in the 2 Moons series because there hadn't been anything beyond kissing and removing shirts in the previous ones.
The two scenes I liked most in this one were the ones where Thantatch and Lomnaw suck each other's dicks.
This is the lead-up to the first one where Lomnaw sucks Thantatch's dick:
And this is during the second one where Thantatch is doing wicked shit to Lomnaw under the blanket:
To be honest, these scenes are a bit sweeter than savory for me, but they still make the cut because the acting felt very natural, and, again, I was pleasantly surprised with these scenes (and the other sex scenes in this show).
King and Uea in Bed Friend (Thailand)
Just like you, I loved Bed Friend. Mainly for the chemistry between Net and James.
Honestly, you can't make me choose which sex scene I liked most because I loved them all. Even King's jump up on the bed.
But I just want to say that the lighting was immaculate in this particular scene:
(It took me ages to try and find a gif of this before I gave up and went with a static screenshot instead, lol.)
Mangkorn and Yai in Big Dragon (Thailand)
I don't necessarily vibe with Mos and Bank's cutesy stuff, but I love them when they throw high heat at me like they did at Mangkorn's place in Big Dragon.
Sailom and Namnuea in Wedding Plan (Thailand)
The moment when Sailom could finally be himself around Namnuea, after all those years of hiding himself because of his family and to protect his best friend (Yiwa), was everything to me. Sailom was starving, and Namnuea was more than willing to let himself be devoured.
Nueng and Anueng in Blank (season 2) (Thailand)
As someone with a biting kink, this scene was made especially for me. And I appreciated every fucking millisecond of it.
(Sidenote: I would let Faye do whatever she wants with me.)
Ji and Achi in To Be Continued (Thailand)
Their first time (in the past) was great (up until the point where misunderstandings and miscommunication happened, but let's forget that for a moment, lol). They both wanted it so bad that it was palpable. And I loved this scene just as much as I loved these two miscommunicating idiots.
Kawin and Pluem in Ghost Host Ghost House (Thailand)
If I remember correctly (which I might not), I think we only got two sex scenes in this show, and I loved them both. So I'm obviously including both.
First, we have their first sex scene, which has a build-up that's amazing (this video is longer than the scene in the actual show, btw).
Then we have the scene after they reunite in the last episode (I also think this one is longer than the scene in the show).
Jom and Yai in I Feel You Linger in the Air (Thailand)
Since I'm an ice queen who has a hard time crying, I tend to get obsessed with things that melt my ice and open up my floodgates. This is the first and only time that I can remember having cried while watching a sex scene. That's partly why I love it so much.
It is beautiful and emotional because Yai knows that he will eventually lose Jom. That grief hit me so hard (which is why I cry every time I rewatch this show) even though Yai hasn't lost Jom yet. It's just so beautiful and one of my absolute favorite sex scenes.
Gao Shi De and Zhou Shu Yi in We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd (Taiwan)
Heat level can be discussed, but this scene is filled with so much emotion, angst, and desperation that I can't help but love it.
Chen Yi and Ai Di in Kiseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan)
Heat level can be discussed, I'm just here for the chemistry and the neon lights, because both are amazing (and I'm such a slut for neon lights).
Tharn and Phaya in The Sign (Thailand)
I loved their chemistry and I loved all the neon lights in this scene (have I mentioned that I'm a slut for neon lights?).
Aob and Puen in Playboyy (Thailand)
This tattooed daddy and his baby were everything to me in Playboyy. Aob had some solid walls around his heart, but when it came to taking care of his baby, he delivered with a solid handjob.
Sky and Prapai in Love in the Air (Thailand)
Their first time is great (the neon lights in that scene are gorgeous). But the sex scene I like the most with these two characters is the one in the special episode where Prapai fucks Sky on the conference table at his office. I mean, Prapai unbuttoned Sky's pants with his fucking teeth. That boy was hungry.
Sun Bo Xiang and Lu Zhi Gang in History 3: Make Our Days Count (Taiwan)
Let's forget the ending of this show and just focus on these two for a moment because their first time was such a spur-of-the-moment thing (in the gym after lockdown, btw) fueled by a desire that went from 0-100kph in less time than a Ferrari would. I loved it!
Tan and Bun in Manner of Death (Thailand)
I can't make a list of my favorite sex scenes without including Max and Tul in MOD. I mean... Max is fucking fisting his hands in Tul's hair. And sucking lips.
And they're plant dads! What more could I want? (Transplant. That's the more I want.)
Mingmueang and Namning in Be Mine Superstar (Thailand)
I can barely remember anything about this series except Mingmueang and Namning. Their chemistry was on fire. And there's just something about Jo (who plays Namning) that pulls my attention to him. I can't take my eyes away. Pairing him with Bosston (Mingmueang)... I'm still hoping their spin-off will see the light of day. Pretty fucking please!
The Novelist/Pornographer + Mood Indigo (Japan)
I'll be honest and say that I love every scene in this whole series from the first show to the last short (I have a sweet spot for the darker and more complex Japanese stuff). And that includes the sex scenes.
If I were to pick my favorite one, though, I would agree with you, @whatevenisthishellhole and say the hotel scene is fire.
(Also, as an advocate of safe and comfortable sex, I especially love the scene in Mood Indigo where Rio is stretching his anus to prepare himself for penetrative sex.)
Kim Sung Min and Yoo Joo Hyuk in Love Class Season 2 (Korea)
This scene is iconic to me when it comes to Korean BLs. I can't remember if I've ever seen anything like this in a Korean BL before (but, again, my memory is fucked, so feel free to remind me of how wrong I am). I've seen this and more explicit scenes in one or two gay films, but not that I can remember in any Korean BLs.
Anyway...
I love the buildup of the scene, which starts on their date, and all the way throughout this scene. It feels real, the chemistry is amazing, and it has a more mature vibe (as in, two adults who are confident, comfortable with each other, and know what they want). I love it so much.
Jao and Wayu Two Worlds (Thailand)
I'm sorry Max and Nat, but these two stole this show for me.
Let's forget for a moment that Jao has been badly wounded, had a fever, and that, apparently, sex can heal everything (especially if it's sex on the floor of an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods). Because let's be honest, this scene was great in every sense of the word.
It was beautiful, it was raw, the lighting was gorgeous (I have to include the visuals as the artist I am), the way they were looking at each other, the way they moved. I mean, fuck me, this was a great scene.
Kinn and Porsche in KinnPorsche (Thailand)
I can't make a list like this and not include KP. And, for me personally, the pool scene is the best Kinn and Porsche sex scene.
Vegas and Pete in KinnPorsche (Thailand)
And since I love toxic little shits (Vegas being one of my favorites) as well as KP, I obviously had to add Vegas and Pete's sex scene as well.
Also, I'm such a slut for the neon colors in this one!
Korn and Tonkla in 4 Minutes (Thailand)
Say what you will about Korn's performance (or lack thereof) but Bas and Fuaiz acted the fucking shit out of their scenes. My favorite sex scene with Korn and Tonkla was the one in the first episode because it said so much about their dynamic (sugar daddy/sugar baby, Korn's needs taking priority, Tonkla wanting more, etc.). It was everything I wanted and more (the more being Bas's ass).
Great and Tyme in 4 Minutes (Thailand)
I mean... Great got his ass eaten...
Shin, Neo, and Miw in 3 Will Be Free (Thailand)
I'm a sucker for poly and would love to see more of that in our beloved QLs. So I ate up every single crumb of the little I got from this group in 3 Will Be Free (but I'm still starving, lol).
That's the end of the primary list of my favorites.
Looking back on it now, I wish I had more GLs on my list. Unfortunately, the ones I've watched are either too cute (which I don't vibe well with), too tame (for me at least) or don't include sex at all, or I probably haven't watched it yet (I've watched less than 20 so far). If you have any recommendations of great GLs, then, for the love of everything holy, send them my way! I'm starving over here, lol.
Others
I have a few more sex scenes that aren't my personal favorites (which is what you specifically asked for) but they're still good:
Ritsu and Masumi in The End of the World With You (Japan), all their sex scenes were very close to being on my favorites list (especially with Ritsu's laser focus on Masumi) but they don't feel as real to me as most of the others on my list above.
Rain and Payu in Love in the Air (Thailand), specifically the sex scene after Payu raced against the asshole (can't remember his name, lol).
Kita and Nathee in Beyond the Star (Thailand), their chemistry is amazing but I think I was too bored by the whole show to care, lol. These characters are played by Willi and Focus who are also in Battle of the Writers (which is currently airing) and they have even more amazing chemistry now.
There were some great sex scenes in For Him (Thailand) as well, but the production lost the story (and me) somewhere in the middle/end.
DIY
Sex doesn't need to be had with a partner (or several) either, so I want to highlight some solo parties too:
Yai in Big Dragon (Thailand) has a good time while looking at a photo of Mangkorn's hands.
Atom in The Rebound (Thailand) is thinking about Zen as he's masturbating and gets emotional.
Almond tries out a dildo in Knock Knock, Boys! (Thailand).
Miyata in Love is Better the Second Time Around (Japan) jerks off in the shower while thinking about Iwanaga.
Army in The Warp Effect (Thailand) also jerks off in the shower while thinking about his past love interest Joe.
Mut in Love Sea (Thailand) is also jerking off in the shower, but Rak decides to help him.
I'm pretty sure I've seen more masturbation scenes, but I can't seem to remember any more right now so these will have to do.
Other QLs that Highlight Sex in Different Ways
Before I hit publish on this post, I also want to share some QLs that highlight/talk about sex in different ways (besides the ones I've already mentioned throughout this post).
Knock Knock, Boys! (Thailand)
I know that you already know about this one, @whatevenisthishellhole. But, for anyone else wanting to watch a show that openly talks about sex and pansexuality in particular, this is a great one.
Let's Talk About CHU (Taiwan)
To be fair, this is primarily a straight show but it does have a gay pair that I absolutely love!
It also highlights sex from different perspectives and angles. For example, there are different age groups (from the youngest daughter in the central family to the parents in the same family), different types of relationships (fwb, creditor/debtor or gangster/gambler, two marriages whereby one has lasted 30+ years), and, as I mentioned, both straight and gay relationships.
(Fun fact: Helena Hsu, who plays Gao Shi De's mom in We Best Love, is also in this series.)
The Warp Effect (Thailand)
This queer show has a diverse set of characters (queer and straight) and a diverse range of relationships. It also highlights sex from different perspectives and the effects and consequences sex can have. It also includes some of the best female characters I've seen in queer shows from Thailand, and I love them so fucking much.
Final Words
Those are all the scenes I can remember at this point. I'm sure there are several that I've missed and some that I will remember as soon as I hit publish on this. But this will have to do for now.
I hope you find something you like.
And, thanks for your ask!
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