#is this about be my favourite or triage?

[ablazenqueen]

“I can fix him.”

— the magical being about to toss some unsuspecting asshole into a time loop

[nineteenninety-six]

Could you write abbot x daughter when daughters childhood best friend dies during pittfest and like she was there but fine without a scratch which makes it all worse for her which leads to her on the roof cause she knows her dad and the hospital , and she goes up just brushes part there alone after hearing time of death and like Jack finds her and he’s approaching like she’s a scared animal and she hasn’t even realised she’s on the wrong side cause she’s sobbing

Okay love you thank you!!!

── ⟢ ・⸝⸝ Roof Ledge

Pairing: Jack Abbot x Daughter!Reader

TW: mentions of Pittfest. mentions of suicide of the shooter. death. etc

AN: Sorry I did change it slightly but I hope you like it regardles. Also this is short so I apologize.

Your ears ring as you hear the doctor call time of death, scribbling it on the wrist chart before stepping away and hurrying toward another critical patient.

You only get one last glimpse of your friend's face before a sheet is pulled over them and then moved away. Once they've disappeared out of your sight, the ringing faded and the noise of the hectic emergency department floods your ears and overwhelms you. Your legs tremble as you search for a place where you could get some fresh air, you turn to the ambulance bay before remembering that it's being used as a triage spot along with the countless vehicles arriving from Pittfest. Then you remember about your fathers favourite place in the hospital, the roof.

You stumble out of the emergency department knocking into people as you try to rush towards the elevator. Once you stagger into it, you mash the buttons for the top floor and fall into a crouch, unable to support your own weight anymore.

Tears and sobs escaped you as you cried into your hands and the t-shirt you were wearing quickly became soaked with tears as you tried to wipe your tears to no avail.

The fresh cool air greeted you when you stepped out onto the roof and it calmed you slightly. The chill breeze cooled you down and the fresh air helped you regulate your panicked breathing.

Automatically, your feet take you to the edge where your dad frequently visits and you slip underneath the safety rail and sit down, your legs dangling off of the hospital.

Your tears of sadness turned into tears of anger. You were so angry, so so angry. You just lost a friend, a friend you had known your entire life and now they were gone- dead and she wasn't the only one.

No doubt there were more people who died at the hospital but there were countless more that died at Pittfest on the field. Some instantly, some who couldn't get medical attention in time, some who were crushed in the rush to escape...just so many lives lost needlessly.

You were so lost in your head that you didn't hear the roof door open until your father called out your name.

He stood halfway across the roof, his hands held up as if he was dealing with a wild animal.

"Hey kid" Your dads voice was soft, "I heard what happened... Do you wanna talk to me?"

You only sob in response, the sound echoing around the empty roof.

"C'mon kid, step away from the edge for me please." Your dad begged, "Come talk to me over here"

"It's not fair! Why her at all people?!"

"You're right, it's not fair." Your dad agrees. "She didn't deserve it nor did anyone else who died."

"A- and I-" You gasp and stutter, "I'm fine! I didn't even sprain my ankle, I'm fine and she's gone."

Your dad joins you on the edge after realising that you were not moving anytime soon. He wraps an arm around your shoulder, "I'm sorry kid, I really am."

"Do you have to tell her parents?" You whimper.

Your dad shakes his head, "No. Robby will do that."

"They'll never forgive me" A fresh set of tears streamed down your face, "I' m the reason she's gone."

"You are not the reason" Your dad corrects, "The person-the man who did this, is the only one responsible. Not you, not me, only them."

"Do they know who did it? If they found him"

"They found him, he killed himself", Your dad scoffs and shakes his head, "He killed a swathe of people and killed himself…"

You scoff, "Fuck him, fuck this, fuck everything."

Your father doesn't say anything and there's a few minutes of silence as the two of you watch over the Pittsburgh skyline, listening as the cars drive past nearby and sirens in the distance.

"Do you want to see her? Say goodbye?" Your dad breaks the silence.

"Can I?" You hiccup.

"Yeah c'mon, let's step away from the ledge." Your dad stands up, offering his hand out for you to pull himself up with.

Your legs almost give up beneath you as you stand up but your father easily supports you as you walk over to the door and return to the hospital.

"You're alright kid, you'll survive this. It may feel like you're drowning right now but we will take it one day at a time."

[heresmyfiddlestick]

the promised Mundy Flynn recap + Belinda connection

Mundy Flynn first appears in Boom trying to get her patrol switched with a guy, Canto, who is clearly into her. She awkwardly mentions the romantic tension between them, but later confesses to Splice that she was just joking about that. She is clearly pals with Splice, and her first question is to ask where her dad is. Splice who is in the war because her dad "got special permission to bring her".

Halfway through the episode Mundy appears again, having followed Splice to the crater. She takes no shit from Ruby or the Doctor and is suspicious of them holding John Francis Vater's remains. She hangs up a call from Canto again, insisting that he doesn't even like her.

She is uncomfortable about the Doctor asserting that she's fighting a war against nothing, and rejects his appeal that he is a "complex space time event" - she's Anglican and doesn't have time for Time Lord-y mumbo-jumbo.

(NB The Doctor calls himself a Time Lord, and there is no obvious reaction from Mundy to that - either recognition or confusion.)

In all of this she exhibits a no-nonsense attitude to the situation: she can't feel sentimental for the Doctor because she has triaged the situation, to her he's dead already. But then when things get too big for her worldview she freezes up. Ruby is able to take her gun, and Mundy only follows her after once again checking in with Splice.

Mundy fucks up. She suggests Ruby shoots her, and it's in this very moment that Canto shows up and shoots Ruby. As Ruby is dying and Canto is trying to figure things out, she once again triages and pleads with the Doctor to help save them.

[Mundy's internal body count tracker: 1]

She remains obstinate, insisting that the Doctor *proves* that there are no Kastarions. She's scared that her worldview might turn out to be grounded on nothing. This is not someone with a lot else going on in her life, and this whole affair has, quite understandably, shaken her.

So she sheepishly opens up to Canto. In her own, guarded way. When he compliments the tattoo she did on Posh Graham, she pushes him to tell her why she checked it out, why he even came out to the battlefield, why he was looking for her... does he like her? She has a cute little smile when he insists that of course he likes her. This is the smile of someone who has not been told that someone likes her before. When Canto asks her if she likes him back, her expression is unreadable; again, this is not something she has any experience with and it's scary. But she is vulnerable and caught off-guard by the Ambulance killing Canto.

When she realises Canto has died suddenly, she is crying. When Canto's hologram reveals that she is his "designated favourite person" she is weeping. The tears roll when she hears "I love you, and it's okay that you don't love me back" - this is someone with regrets about not letting Canto (and others) in until it was too late.

"It was my fault. I distracted him," she says, clutching his corpse to her breast.

[Mundy's internal body count tracker: 2]

Of course, the Doctor quickly lets us and her know that it was nothing to do with her. She becomes a model companion and asks the Doctor "what's happening" so he can tell us. When the Ambulance AI gets the upper hand against John Francis Vater, she takes Splice by the hand, once again protecting her even in her lowest moment. She is crying again when she learns that John has been deleted.

The Doctor tells her and Splice to run when the mine begins to fail safe, and she sits down, resigned, "we would never get far enough." Anyway, she's not leaving without Splice.

While the Doctor is celebrating, Mundy moves over to comfort and check in on Ruby. Another little move towards caring for the vulnerable people around here.

Cut to the end of the episode. Mundy is holding Splice's hand, standing, looking out on the beautiful sunrise with the Doctor and Ruby. She picks up on the Doctor telling Splice to "keep the faith." She has no reaction to seeing a police box in the middle of the battlefield, and doesn't even look back when it dematerialises. I don't remember how familiar the previous Anglican Marines we've seen were with Time Lord tech, but I can believe that this is part of their basic training in the 51st century.

And finally, the closing lines of Boom: We all melt away in the end, but something stays. Maybe the best part. [A sad old man once told me,] what survives of us is love.

Semi-relevant gif as a way of delineating the Mundy recap and how it relates to Belinda.

Belinda also doesn't have a lot going on in her life. Her roommate doesn't even know her name. She hasn't got a partner, and in The Robot Revolution she insists to the Doctor that she is nobody.

She's just as obstinate as Mundy, not putting up with the Doctor's mumbo-jumbo. However, whereas Mundy spends much of Boom collapsing in on herself from guilt, Belinda in The Robot Revolution insists that Sasha's death is not her fault. I bring up guilt because in Lux the Doctor calls his Vortex Indicator a Vindicator - a word which refers to something that proves someone not guilty.

Once Al is defeated, the robots bring the Doctor back his TARDIS, and we have a curious line from Belinda. She says "I saw that box in space." The shot changes to an over-the-shoulder shot so we can focus on the Doctor making out with his box and Belinda says "is that your" - cut to a shot of Belinda and a slight pause for emphasis "TARDIS?" - we're not going crazy, folks, this was shot and edited in such a way as to emphasise the fact that she knows that word. The Doctor previously just referred to his "spaceship." Something screwy is up. She doesn't know about the dimensional transcendentalism, though.

Or the fact that it's a time machine.

"This is a time machine?"

"Boom."

And the Doctor reveals that there is something connecting the two of them already: he's met Mundy. Belinda is charmed by the idea of her descendant, but is suspicious that they are identical, and drops the c-word:

Coincidence.

Now, what does this mean? I don't know for certain. It could be that Mundy is just simply a descendant of Belinda and we have a Gwyneth/Gwen thing on our hands. RTD has admitted that there wasn't a plan to keep Varada around when they were making Boom, so any connections would be backloaded onto Belinda and there won't be much to gain from a close examination of Boom.

But I think there is something there about them both being obstinate in their own self-perceptions. Mundy is convinced nobody could like her, Belinda is convinced she is a nobody. They're both proven wrong, and it throws them for a loop, but they have the capacity for faith. It may be a stretch that Belinda's faith is in being a nurse and caring for people, but she's done it in both episodes so far. And I think having the ability to keep a grip on your own perception of reality might become important in The Reality War

[lurkingshan]

2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@troubled-mind and @my-rose-tinted-glasses brought this back, so here is mine! I can't believe some of this stuff happened this year, it feels like it's been 84 years.

January:

most popular - Deep character analysis of Phaya from The Sign

favorites - The birth of Japanese QL Corner, Breakdown of the Last Twilight finale (siiiigh), love for I Became the Main Role in a BL Drama and Gyeongseong Creature, and this list of some of my fav non-BL jdramas

I was a busy little bee in January! Not surprising, as I tend to hermit at home in the deep winter and do nothing but watch dramas and post too much. JQL Corner became my big project of the year, and I can't believe there wasn't a single week that I didn't have Japanese QL to talk about. I Became the Main and Gyeongseong were both surprise delights that ended up among my favs of the year. I’m still holding my LT grudge, in case anyone had any doubt.

February:

most popular - Praise for Dead Friend Forever's mystery arc

favorites - Appreciation for Love for Love's Sake's ending, every single LITBC book club post that I either wrote or read, my final review of Cooking Crush

The original run for the LITBC book club that @bengiyo and I led! What a great time reading a fantastic book, chatting with besties, and making new friends. I also stand by that praise for DFF's mystery arc--that was the strongest part of the show; the things I took issue with were elsewhere in the story. I have just been thinking I need to rewatch LFLS and this post reminds me why (I remember when it first ended me and @wen-kexing-apologist were like, we're going to watch it again immediately! And then realized we were in no way emotionally prepared for that LMAO). Cooking Crush remains a fav and I may or may not be rewatching right now.

March:

most popular and favorite- An actual love letter to TsukuTabe, my beloved

other favorites - Analysis of Unknown ep 6 aka The Turning Point and big love for Cherry Magic Thailand after the finale

Wow, three of my very favorite shows of the year all happening at once. What a blessed month this was. Also, this is not a specific post, but this is the month when I read Da Ge and then spent weeks with people coming into my DMs to get their own copy of the translation, which was a top fandom experience for me because I met a bunch of new people, some of whom stuck around to talk about Unknown, and it made me feel like an illicit dealer which was very fun.

April:

most popular - The boopening

favorites- A breakdown of the pseudo-incest trope and this list of my favorite friends to lovers dramas

The boopening was a once in a lifetime whimsical tumblr event, and I am so glad I was able to participate fully. I also really like these other two because I feel strongly that all tropes have their place and can be enjoyed when executed well and I love talking about that.

May:

most popular - Love for Oyei and Cher from Wandee Goodday

favorites - Trans Allegory in Cupid's Last Wish, co-authored with @wen-kexing-apologist and @so-much-yet-to-learn and this cdrama rec list.

I spent much of May watching and posting about shows I did not end up liking much in the end, but that is also the month I finally watched CLW with my friends and enjoyed it more than expected, in part because WKA had us watch it through the lens of trans allegory, which totally worked.

June:

most popular - Class disparity themes in Love Sea

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Triage, celebrating Thai marriage equality with @my-rose-tinted-glasses, praise for Marahuyo Project

What a fun Pride month with the start of Love Sea, Knock Knock Boys, Marahuyo Project, The Trainee, and me finally watching Triage.

July:

most popular - Teaching the youths about face fucking and power dynamics in Love Sea

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Oppan and The Miracle of Teddy Bear Saved the Gays with @twig-tea

More great shows. I'm so glad me and Twig ignored the rumors and watched Teddy Bear because it's one of my favorite Thai dramas of all time.

August:

most popular - Cheering on the defeat of noble idiocy in Love Sea

favorites - Praise for Knock Knock Boys and this spicy JBL rec list and this other quality JBL rec list and calling out weird fandom attitudes about JBL

Another good month, and the busiest by far for QL Corner. There were so many JQLs airing this summer! What a time to be alive.

September:

most popular - Documenting Wang's behavior in The On1y One

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding, clocking Doku Koi as a fav early, this high school bl rec list and this BL romance rec list

I'm filled with so much bitterness reading that Wang/Tian post. I'll be taking this grudge to the grave!

October:

most popular - Moar boops

favorites - Analyzing Dohoe in Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo and celebrating the first two episodes of Love in the Big City and the creation of the LITBC Drama Book Club Round Up

Two moody Korean shows with complicated gay leads dropped in my birthday month, the book club band was back together, and I got to do Halloween themed boops. I WAS THRIVING IN OCTOBER.

November:

most popular - On fandom as a life saving force

favorites - This list of some of my trash favs for @happypotato48 and getting my feelings out on Young and Gyuho and Hirukawa and Minase and final thoughts on the LITBC drama

I was having a lot of feelings in November.

December:

most popular - Democracy in Squid Game 2

favourite - QL superlatives and grievances, this round up of my fav dramas of the year and being so very normal about Hirukawa

This write up really helped me appreciate that I had good stuff to watch and write about every month this year. There were some disappointments, but also a lot of shows I really loved and it was fun to remember some of the things I wrote. Also, i got to make so many fun rec lists! If you were tagged here, or if you just see this and want to join in, consider yourself invited to do your own!

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.

[absolutebl]

Because your opinion means a lot: Any chance you feel like sharing 5 upcoming BLs you're most excited about and why? And maybe as a bonus, something you think many BL watchers will love but that you will hate?

Ooooo, how exciting what a fun one. You sure you want this from me? I have very odd taste.

The 5 Upcoming BLs I'm Most Excited About

(this forced me to put together the 2024 Announced BLs list which is coming soon)

1 Spare Me Your Mercy

Increased rates of deaths in terminal patients has a police captain investigating the palliative care doctor with whom he's fallen in love. Their relationship deepens but the mystery persists, driven by mistrust.

Why? It's adapted from the novel Euthanasia by Sammon (Triage, Manner of Death) but more important, it stars some old guard BL actors: Tor Thanapob from Hormones as the doctor and (fuck me YES) Jaylerr from Great Men Academy and goddamn Grean Fictions as the captain!

2 Wandee Godday

GMMTV and AllThis Entertainment producing a very pulp offering with new pair, GreatInn doing high heat, boxer meets surgeon. It features a one night stand, fake relationship, and all the cheesiest of tropes. Also features Drake, Podd, and Thor+ pretty boy (be still my heart).

Why? This is totally my kind of BL even if it isn't GMMTV's style of BL, and it's GREAT, so I'm in.

3 The Next Prince (ZeeNew)

Domundi brings us more ZeeNew in a fantasy/historical set in a palace where Zee plays a knight and Nu a prince - YES PLEASE.

Why? I did not expect this pair to stick so I really hope this happens. Give us the Little Pink Riding Milk BL we deserve!

4 Lover Merman

Fantasy BL about a man who falls in love with a merman.

Why? I don't think it will be good but I LOVE merfolk.

5 Me and Who

Domundi for WeTV brings this adaptation of Wickedwish’s novel of the same name. It depicts a young man who dies and is reborn into the body of a billionaire heir. The heir happens to be engaged to a handsome man.

Why? I flipping LOVE this trope but I never expected to see it drive a BL.

10 I am cautious of but VERY intrigued

JAPAN'S Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

From YTV releasing 1/11 about Soga, who, after a divorce and relocation to Osaka, seeks solace in dining at 26-year-old Sakae's restaurant. Unbeknownst to Soga, Sakae sees him as more than just a regular customer.

TAIWAN's Love For Love's Sake

Based on the Manhwa Love Supremacy Zone by Hwacha, this will star actors Lee Tae Vin, Cha Jun Wan, Oh Min Su and Cha Woon Ki. The plot of the drama is based on Tae Myung Ha, a young man who is dropped into a game based off of a novel that he knows. His mission is to make another player, Cha Yeo Woon happy. Cha Yeo Woon is Myung-Has favourite character in the novel. But then the game starts going completely different from the novel.

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn

Star Hunter started filming this 12/23 about an actor falls in love with a programmer and the narrative intends to “explore the ramifications of being public figure in the social network era who must endure critics, bullying, and defamation.” Looks like another Lovely Writer, Call It What You Want sort of thing.

My Stand-In AKA My Stand In

Chinese IP ALERT! Adapted from the novel Professional Body Double (职业替身) by Shui Qiang Cheng (水千丞) stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please).

OMG Vampire AKA OMG! Vampire (LeeFrank)

Frank and Lee Long Shi are back only vampires now. So many vampires.

The Rebound (MeenPing)

VIU Basketball based romance staring Meen (a national basketball player, so yay for that).

We Are (PondPhuwin)

GMMTV's university friendship Bl featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawin - basically ALL in the good kind of messy friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is gay. I'm IN! Trailer here.

Love Upon a Time (NetJames)

Domundi announced for 6/7/2023 then delayed to 2024. NetJames in a historical BL! Also feat Tonnam (Dr Sing from Triage).

Jack & Joker (YinWar)

DeHup brings us be gay, do crimes. Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces doing Leverage but gayer. Yes, thank you, I will have that.

My Love Mix-Up Thai Remake (GemniForth)

GMMTV. Hum, well I do love this pair and I did like the original and maybe this time these characters will actually kiss? I'm actually fine with this pick-up. I kind of enjoy seeing different countries remake the same IP. Especially if it's IP I'm mostly unfazed by.

[boyfhee]

moot game! who was your first moot(s)? who was your recent moot(s)? who inspired you to write? your top 10 moots? your fav work(s) of your own? your fav work(s) of someone else?

first moot — i don’t remember & it’s most likely they have deactivated already

recent moot — @chrrific, @bambisnc, @manariee i think yes !

who inspired me to write — i have always been passionate about reading and writing ! although, working as the editor of my school magazine really pushed me to start writing on a public platform ><

top ten moots — not in order ! @isoobie, @okwonyo, @yuons, @bywons, @tzyunaes, @sjyuns miki come back the kids miss u @imaluvsj7, honourable mention @maiverie my og i miss u 🙁

favourite work of mine — how to get back with your ex, fair and square, married under twenty-five to mention a few. i like all my works :3

favourite work of someone else — triage by @maiverie, anything by jayflrt, second chance by @isoobie, and my all time fav 14 steps to a better you by orpheyeux but camille is no longer on tumblr :(

[guzhufuren]

hellooo hope you're doing well!

can I pls get some recent korean/thai bl recommendations from you? something angsty but with a happy ending pls 😭🥺

sure bun. shows i will mention have angst that i enjoyed a lot, no dead dove warning level kind of stuff, and only happy endings

🇹🇭 THAI:

My Stand In

a body double/stuntman falls for a nepobaby asshole

Moonlight Chicken

a chicken diner owner and and a customer have a one night stand, age gap

Bed Friend

office coworkers, one night stand, friends with benefits

I Feel You Linger In The Air

period drama; a man who travels back in time becomes a servant of a young master

You're My Sky

ensemble of sports major students, 3 love stories: highschool friends to lovers, cheating, and a fluffier one

I Told Sunset About You

coming of age, two ex best friends become friends again, high school, pining

Love Mechanics

cheating, university setting

Triage

time loop, crime drama, a doctor has to try to save a guy over and over again

Theory of Love

unrequited love; best friends to lovers; film majors; this one might be frustrating to watch in 2025 but it's still the best and most faithful execution of pining for your best friends that i have watched so it's in this rec list too

🇰🇷 KOREAN:

Boys Be Brave

a guy become roommates with his secret crush, high school sweethearts exes on the side

Love for Love's Sake

a man gets thrown inside a video game to help his favourite character and gets healed in the process

The Eighth Sense

uni setting; a first year student and a recently discharged senior start developing feelings for each other

To My Star 1 & 2

a popular actor and a chef, part 2 is full of angst and pain

You Make Me Dance

a poor dancer and a loan shark who the dancer is in debt to

Blueming

uni setting; a deeply insecure guy and a "perfect" popular guy

Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

two teenagers in a small town befriend each other, reconnect as adults again

🇹🇼🇨🇳🇯🇵 if i might throw in some other countries just in case, for the good angst:

Unknown

adopted brothers, a lot of angst but a happy ending. the older boy is a teenager and the sole provider for his baby sister, finds a boy in the streets and adopts him

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

two young artists, and a deaf guy and a teacher with an age gap on the side

Stay With Me

high school, unconventional/found family, enemies to lovers

Tokyo in April is..

office setting; heavy trauma; middle school friends reconnect as adults and become lovers

Our Youth

high school, an abused boy and a repressed boy find each other

I Hear The Sunspot

uni setting; a deaf student and a cheerful classmate who volunteers to take lecture notes for him

My Personal Weatherman

non-negotiated kink, roommates

Kiseki: Dear to Me

a high school student and a gang member; side couple is two boys who were adopted and grew in a gang together, one has feelings for the other one

here are lists with gifs of most of those shows, fuller descriptions and links on where you can watch: Thailand 1 Thailand 2 South Korea all

[sweeter-than-teafood]

My MC!

Character design via this picrew

Name: Phoebe Clarke

Age: 27

DOB: 24/10/1997

Heritage: Solomon’s Lineage came from her mother’s side. Her mother was a proficient healer, who used her powers on her weakest patients, to give them a chance at recovery.

Nationality: British, but lived in South Korea for the first 10 years of her life

Childhood; Phoebe was a rather shy individual growing up, often hiding behind Minhyeok during social interactions. They were very close friends, but had to part ways when her parents moved to England for their careers. With hardly any close friends, she threw herself into her studies, often becoming the victim of various bullies.

Adulthood; Her hard work in school paid off, and she got accepted into university to study medicine, just like her mother. She bumped into Minhyeok, who decided to study abroad in England. They continued their friendship, as if they never parted in the first place. They got a cheap apartment together, to save on the costs of uni life.

The incident; During one of their study sessions in the library, Phoebe recieved a phone call from her parent’s neighbours. They had been brutally murdered in their home, though nothing had been stolen. This news caused Phoebe to become detached from her studies. She dropped out in her fourth year, staying in the shared apartment while Minhyeok balanced his studies and caring for her.

Solomon’s Awakening; In the months leading up to her journey in the war between heaven and hell, her eyes began turning purple. Her hair also began to change, although slowly; strand by strand. She would dye her hair regularly to cover up the purple hairs. She tried to cover her purple eyes with contacts, but found them too uncomfortable. She began to give off an aura that attracted people to her, and this caused her to put up a rude facade to deter anyone from staying too long.

The Fall: In order to keep Minhyeok from worrying about her, Phoebe took up a part time job working in Data Entry. It was dull, and left her with a need for something more fulfilling. This lead to her discovering porn, and soon she had some form of escapism from her otherwise boring lifestyle. That is, until Gabriel showed up one day, and thus began Phoebe’s delightful time in Hell.

—————————————————

Favourite Nation in Hell; She loves Gehenna, it reminds her so much of England, with its pubs and quiet natural landscapes. She doesn’t mind all the boisterous citizens, they make her think of the excitable football fans back home; all united in their love for something that means everything to them.

Sin that she commits the most: Gluttony. Over indulgence is her main distraction from life’s woes, whether it be porn, sex, food, alcohol, it’s all good in her books.

Things she does in her spare time: Due to her knowledge in medicine, though not fully qualified, she offered to assist in Paradise Lost whenever she can. She hasn’t got the hang of using any healing magic that she may have inherited from Solomon, so she helps with the basics, like triage and wound care.

Idiosyncrasies; Cardiophilia, Being tied up, Praise.

Devils that she gets on with the most;

Gehenna; All of the nobles, they’re family to her.

Tartaros; Valefor, Eligios

Abyssos: Another nation of homies, if any of the nobles are free and she’s in the area, it’s official; they’re partying hard.

Hades: Foras, Barbatos, Glasyalabolas

Paradise Lost: All of them, they’re her work colleagues, so she looks up to them.

Niflheim: Andrealphus, Beleth, Gusion.

Abaddon: Ronové

She gets on pretty well with the Kings too, aside from Leviathan, who she still is incredibly wary of after the kidnapping and threats of death. She’s trying to forgive him, though it may take a lengthy time.

————————

Some alternative outfits, based on countries in Hell;

Gehenna;

Tartaros;

Hades;

Abyssos;

Paradise Lost;

[diazsdimples]

Loving the frostpunk AU and would love to hear more about it 💕

Ahhh Frostpunk au! It's probably my favourite AU I've written, just because it's the only one in a completely fictional world. I was hoping to have it finished by the end of these holidays but I fear it won't be 😅 in the meantime, have a snippet!! This is from Buck, Bobby, Tommy, Sal, and Eli all prepping to go out looking for Eddie.

“You okay, kid?” Buck shrugs as he chains his crampons to the bottom of his boots. “Yeah, tired is all. That last mission took it out of me.” Bobby nods in acknowledgement, giving Buck’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “Maddie’s promised to take us off missions for the next week as an apology.” “Assuming we make it back from this one,” Buck replies stiffly, tightening the chains so the crampons won’t slip off. He’s lost too many pairs in the snow before and it’s only in the last couple of missions that Bobby hasn’t knelt at his feet and checked them himself, a faint echo of how he used to help Buck with his shoelaces when he was a young boy. Bobby chuckles and ruffles Buck’s hair. “Stop being so dramatic, we’ve survived longer missions and on much less sleep. It’ll be fine.” Tommy makes his way over to the pair, his crampons clicking against the wooden slats of the street as he walks. “What’s the plan, Cap?” he asks, leaning against the wooden crate Buck’s currently perched on. Bobby gestures to Sal and Eli, who slouch on over, and he huddles them in close, like a coach prepping his team before a match. “All I’ve been told from dispatch is that they received a distress call about 30 miles north of here, unsure exactly how many people we’re expecting to find but we’ve been told to triage if needed and bring back as many people we can. Eli, you’re going to be working with the med kit, same as me. Buck, Tommy and Sal, you’re going to be the muscles. If anyone needs carrying, you’re it. We’re taking two stretchers with us just in case.” “What if we get separated at any point?” asks Sal. “Forecast is clear for the next three days with no signs of any blizzards or snow so we should be good. If we need to separate when we find the people, we’ll talk about it when we get there.” Bobby looks at the four men with a fond look, one Buck recognises well because it’s the way Bobby looks at him every day as he works alongside Buck. Like he’s proud of him. “I know we just had a rough one and didn’t get much rest between, but I want to say that I’m grateful you guys are sticking with me here. There’s not many men I would rather be out there with than you boys.” “Aw Cap, going soft in your old age?” Tommy replies with a cheeky grin, elbowing Sal and Bobby grins in response. “Happens to the best of us, Tommy. Alright, if we’ve got all our gear we may as well move out. Anyone need any last-minute checks?” There’s a chorus of “no’s” (although Bobby goes over Buck’s gear once more anyway) and the five of them make tracks, turning off the main street and beginning to push through the snow, following the makeshift path all scouts use to get them to the base of the jagged cliff that shields their city from the brunt of the cold.

Tagging some friends that also asked about Frostpunk

@dangerpronebuddie @kitteneddiediaz @exhuastedpigeon @cal-daisies-and-briars

[craziestfangirl98]

All the BL series I've watched in 2024

I started watching BLs properly on 11th Dec 2023. About a 13ish months now. I have been planning to make this list forever now but have only now finally gotten to it. I cannot believe that I have watched close to 70-ish series in total (more if you consider special episodes and our sky episodes as their own).

Although many were watched as part of catching up with all that is there now, those in bold are ones that I watched at least a little bit episode by episode. I had so gotten used to binge watching things that finally, when I did watch series giving it's time, it is scratching an itch that has rarely happened in a long time.

Anyway, without further ado here's a list of all the series I've watched over the past year.

Most of the ratings, is obviously purely subjective and doesn't have a rhyme or reason for the scoring. It's mostly a matter of vibes, rewatching and how memorable I found the show to be. I haven't really rated the special episodes separately. Anyway, that's about it I guess.

Thai Shows

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us 9.5

A Tale of Thousand Stars 10

Ai Long Nhai

Bad Buddy 9.5

Bed Friend 8

Between Us 8.5

Big Dragon 7

Cherry Magic Remake 9

Cooking Crush 8

Cupid's Last Wish 8.5

Cutie Pie 7.5

Cutie Pie 2 You 7

Dark Blue Kiss 8

Don't Say No 6.5

En of Love: Love Mechanics 7

I Feel You Linger in the Air 7.5

I Told Sunset About You 9.5

Jack & Joker 10

KinnPorsche 7

Kiss Me Again: Pete-Kao 7.5

Knock Knock Boys 9.5

Love In the Air 8

Love in the Air: Special Episode

Love Mechanic 8

Love Sea 7.5

Moonlight Chicken 10

My Dear Gangster Oppa 7

My School President 9

Never Let Me Go 7.5

Not Me 9

Only Friends 8.5

Our Skyy 2

Our Skyy 2: A Tale of Thousand Stars 10

Our Skyy 2: Bad Buddy 10

Our Skyy 2: My School President 9

Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go 7.5

Our Skyy 2: The Eclipse 8

Pit Babe 7

SOTUS 7.5

TharnType 7

TharnType 2: 7 Years Of Love 6.5

The Eclipse 8

The Rebound 8

The Sign 8.5

The Sign Special Episode

The Trainee 9

Theory of Love 8

This Love Doesnt Have Long Beans 7.5

Triage 8.5

Until We Meet Again 8

We Are 8

Wedding Plan 10

Wedding Plan Special Episode

Japanese Shows

At 25:00, in Akasaka 9

Cosmetic Play Lover 7

Love in the Air Japanese Adaption 8.5

My Personal Weatherman 10

Old Fashion Cupcake 10

Perfect Propose 8

Tokyo in April.. 8

Korean Shows

Cherry Blossons After Winter 8

Choco Milk Shake 8

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo 10

Love For Love's Sake 9.5

Our Dating Sim 10

Semantic Error 9

The Eighth Sense 10

The Time of Fever 9.5

To My Star 9.5

To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories 9

Unintentional Love Story 7.5

Where Your Eyes Linger 8

Wish You: Your Melody From My Heart 7

Taiwanese Shows / Movies

Kiseki: Dear to Me 8

Marry My Dead Body 8

The On1y One 10

Unknown the Series 10

We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd 9

We Best Love: No. 1 For You 9.5

Your Name Engraved Herein 9

Out of the entire list, the only series I haven't finished and will probably not come back to it any point later is Naughty Babe

I know I'm like suuuper late to the lists and didn't manage to make one for anything other than the bl superlatives but.... I'm planning to make two other lists by the end of this month hopefully (at least the first one for sure)

Favourite characters

Most memorable watches.

Anyway, the portion underneath are series I'm currently watching/keeping up with.

Currently Watching: Two of these I've heard great things about but only just managed to get to watching them, so probably will be binge watching them. The other two, I've been having fun watching them and am super excited to see where they go.

Caged Again

Century Of Love

Thame - Po 

The Heart Killers

[rolameny]

2024 WRITING REVIEW

tagged by @burins, ty!! tagging @tearitar if you haven't done this one yet! o/

number of stories posted to ao3: a whole six!!!!! these exclamation points are sincere.

word counted posted for last year: ~20k, i'm not fully sure of the exact count because.... as soon as i updated my current chaptered wip in 2025 ao3 moved its whole count over to this year.... 😔

fandoms i wrote for: cj cherryh's foreigner series, BOTW/TOTK, transformers one, turtles.

pairings: bren cameron/machigi (confused cheering from audience), megop (much louder cheering from audience)

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: i think i got the strongest reception for What Are You Playing At?, the megop fic that started as a joke about stoplight system bdsm in places where it doesn't belong. AND WHY WOULDN'T IT. ROLEPLAY: YOU'RE AT THE DMV (SEXUAL) (CAR ROLEPLAY) (YOU ARE TWO CARS)

work i’m most proud of (and why): i think it's Hand Over Hand just because it's the first fic i finished and posted this year. thank you TOTK for frustrating and compelling me enough to break my years-long dry streak! in this fic, link and zelda meet ganon's new baby incarnation in gerudo town; it's about feeling trapped in gender roles and social positions in hyrule.

work i’m least proud of (and why): not applicable, i'm proud of having written anything. i don't think i absolutely crushed the execution on any of my fics, but i was prioritizing done over perfect. so it goes.

share or describe a favorite review you received: not one in particular, but Bedroom Diplomacy (the Foreigner fic) got the most "oh my god nobody is writing fic for this book fandom let me meticulously articulate my feelings about these characters that i've been saving up for a decade" paragraph responses i've ever had. god bless them. me too.

a time when writing was really, really hard: come here. look at my ao3 stats page. look at where the numbers fall into a hole.

writing has been hard! getting anything done has been a miracle.

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: i don't know, i feel like all my fics this year are very Fics By Pell? oh of course i'm writing fealty pwp/thinking about gerudo gender/getting briefly obsessed with OCs made up on the spur of the moment just to flesh out a scene. what else would i do.

i'm just gonna give this one to the OCs Speedrun and Triage in Can I Do Less?, my fic about ratchet in tf1 being Transformers Cis. i think they're fun.

a favourite excerpt of your writing: this bit from A Short, Sharp Lesson, my future megs meets baby megs transformers fic. i like the rhythm i hit; i like the seeds it sows for future megs within baby megs's viewpoint; i like the stupid little wordplays that i carefully do not flag at all, which are imo a huge hallmark of my fic just because i can't resist slipping in jokes literally wherever possible. later in this fic i describe a Cybertonian earthquake as a "geological segfault." get fucked.

Cybertron's crust shifts constantly. Mineshafts open and close at unpredictable rates, petrified energon rising and falling with the motion of the planet's internal mechanisms.

The miners all have their own theories as to why. The secular transformists talk about stellar phenomena. The devout talk about Primus: our god is an uneasy sleeper, they say. The Prime Mover isn't like us, hooked up to a charge cable on our sprues and runners in the locker room between shifts. Our god is the One True Infinite Motion Machine, the First Generator who brings life-giving minerals to the surface for the faithful and who keeps Cybertron's magnetic field active for His children.

D-16 knows there's more to it than that. Primus is testing them on their every shift. Are His children smart, fast, determined, lucky? And every shift of his life so far D-16 has answered yes, yes, yes, yes.

how did you grow as a writer last year: POSTING WORDS LITERALLY AT ALL thank you.

how do you hope to grow this year: mmmmm i'm worried about the quality of my prose! getting words down is good but i'm concerned that i only remember how to write very plainly. i miss the poetry of my older work.

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): oh god lol i really don't have an answer. thank you to my friends who have cheered on my incomprehensible obsession with transformers and turts because it's what got me to start writing at a faster clip again. shout out to tanya whose sniperspy manic phase has been an inspiration. 🫡

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: i mean yeah but come back with a warrant

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: i have 1.5 chapters to go on my current TMNT fic and i'm looking forward to knocking the rest out over the weekend! it's been so much fun working at a fast pace again. this TMNT fic is mostly people talking, and i'd like to do something with more plot/action. i was reminded recently of how much i like writing fight choreography! more of that sort of thing.

i have two wips on the go for TF1: one "what if we stopped the underlying tragedy of megop with the power of physical comedy" that's about 1/3 drafted, and one "what if the underlying tragedy of megop got worse with timeloops" that's outlined and not drafted.

[twig-tea]

A question for you because you seem like one of those people who has watched everything: how did you get started watching bl, and what are your ultimate favorite shows?

Double-barrelled! I'm honoured.

How did I get into BL?

The short answer is that ~2016 the YouTube algorithm served me up Lovesick and I immediately went EXCUSE ME WHAT IS THIS and looked up everything else available and watched literally everything I could get my hands on (which at the time was easy because there was only a handful compared to today, but it still felt like a wealth of content to enjoy).

The longer answer is that I used to be really involved in GL (I was the secretary at the first Yuricon in North America in 2002 or 2003) and then BL manga fandom (was in a scanlation group for awhile) through ~2006? so its extra hilarious that this wasn't my route in; I apparently took a break right before they started making live action versions in Japan. But when I got into Thai BL it was fun rediscovering these tropes in a new medium and through the lens of a new-to-me culture, noticing how they differed and how the genre had matured (and how it hadn't), and on catching up on the stuff out of Japan, seeing some of the manga I read over a decade ago come to life! So I mention this history because it's definitely a part of why I stayed (and probably why the algorithm found me relatively quickly).

I only started tracking things in a spreadsheet in 2020 (and it's not nearly as comprehensive or useful as @absolutebl 's), but I did try to backfill the highlights of what I've seen and I have over 550 rows on there, fwiw. I'm a completionist so I do try to watch everything, though that's getting more and more impossible these days.

Ultimate Favourite Shows

This question is so hard. I know you didn't even give me a limit but you have to understand @lurkingshan, I can't choose favourites, I have a draft top ten list that has been blank for 3 years because I can't commit. Okok. I'm just going to list shows as they come to me (not in any particular order):

Thailand: Until We Meet Again, He's Coming to Me, Diary of Tootsies, WhyRU, Ingredients, Not Me, Secret Crush on You, I Told Sunset About You & I Promised You the Moon, Triage, You're My Sky, Make it Right, La Pluie, My Ride, Bad Buddy, My School President, Laws of Attraction, Moonlight Chicken, Dear Dr I'm Coming for Soul, To Sir With Love/Khun Chai, The Eclipse, Midnight Museum, Lovely Writer... Grey Rainbow [ducks, hides, runs away]

Japan: Doushitemo Furetakunai (no touching at all), Kinou Nani Tabeta (What did you eat yesterday?), Our Dining Table, Takara-Kun and Amagi-Kun, Old Fashioned Cupcake, 7 Days (mon-thurs & fri-sun), His (miniseries & movie), I Want to See Only You, Kieta Hatsukoi/My love mix-up, the Cherry Magic Movie, Life~Senjou no bokura/Love on the Line, 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us, Given (anime is my fave version), Tokyo in April Is..., Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, Utsukushii Kare/My beautiful man

Korea: Our Dating Sim, Semantic Error, The Lover [BL side], Color Rush, Blueming, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Love Class 2, Made on the Rooftop, Discipline Z, Light on Me, To My Star (yes both seasons), Strongberry (faves are Long Time No See, Confidential Coffee Break, and A First Love Story), Sing My Crush, Just Friends?

Vietnam: Goodbye Mother, Hey! First Love, Nation's Brother, You Are Ma Boy, Follow My Sunshine, FOOLs, Tien Bromance: My Small Family, Love Bill

Philippines: Gameboys, Gaya sa Pelikula, Boys Lockdown, Cheat [warning: horror], Your Home, Better Days

Taiwan: Be Loved in House, My DNA Says Love You, We Best Love (1 & 2), HIStory (Crossing the Line is my fave, and second fave is...Make Our Days Count [ducks, hides, burrows into ground]).

Other: Summerdaze (short from Singapore), Stay Still (Hong Kong), HeHe and He (Hong Kong, final season in progress but s1&2 are so funny) and the bromances/difficult to categorize: Scumbag System, Word of Honor, The Untamed, Guardian, Coffee Prince, Bromance (Taiwanese), Great Men Academy, Mr Queen, Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, SCI Mystery

*deep breath* ok I'm stopping lol narrowing it down any less than this gives me pain so I won't try. Also I'm sure I forgot something obvious (and Tumblr was eating drafts of this at various points). All I can say about this list is it's under 100 and that's the best I could do.

Thanks for the ask, and to anyone who made it this far thanks for reading!

[gyuuberryy]

ady! hi how've u been :3 icb we got teeth pt 2 before gta 6 haHAHAHA i'm so glad ur back tho!

also i see ur posts for enhypen recs. i was gonna suggest the jake fic from @/chogiwow but sumbody alr did! you should check out this jay fic by the same writer!

(https://www.tumblr.com/chogiwow/775929545643704320/its-not-a-metaphor-this-ache?source=share)

its sooooooo good i felt so achy reading it we all need a man like jay 😳🥺🥺

alternatively, are there any fics you'd like to recommend? i'm looking for more to read! take care ady!

HIII i’ve been good, how about you? fr it was sitting in my drafts for ages, i finally released it from the dungeons😭😭😭 so happy to see you again tooo🫶🏻

omg thank you for the rec!! i'm reading their jake fic rn, and itis SO GOOD. i love their writing, so i definitely need to check this jay fic out we really do need a man like jay, sigh...💔

one of my favourite fics is this one by @/maiverie i've re-read it atleast 6 times💗💗💗 and her other works are SOSO GOOD too! (roommate!heeseung x downbad!reader): https://www.tumblr.com/maiverie/673678893012680704/youre-so-talented-at-this-i-had-to-finish-the?source=share this is another one by her that i love(nerd!heeseung x reader): https://maiverie.tumblr.com/post/676889900807831552/triage-a-lee-heeseung-series-masterlist-you

and this jay fic by @/asahicore is AMAZING plspls read it (enemy!jay x reader): https://asahicore.tumblr.com/post/764857486008352768/fast-forward-pjs there are many other fics too, you could check my reading blog out if you want to @gyuuberriess !

take care<333

[absolutebl]

I'd like to specify a request for good Thai shows that just finished. They're my favorite for many reasons, and I also enjoy getting to learn more Thai words.

Good 2023 Thai BL That Recently Finished (to Binge!)

(I actually held off answering this one until a few had ended this week because I didn't have many for 2023. It's not been great year for Thai BL so far IMHO. Now South Korea is KILLING it. So is Japan.. in a different way.)

My School President

9/10

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 ADORED this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being re-executed perfectly. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? This show was fantastic, it’s only flaw was the singing (and that’s my baggage).

My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL. (YouTube)

Step By Step

9/10

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one.

This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. And that authenticity added tension to the narrative and character development (how novel). Now that might be because it has western source material, or it might be because it is actually kind of old-fashioned (it’s been years since I worked as an office grunt). I also really enjoyed the brothers’ relationship, and kinda wished they hadn’t attempted (and failed) to give said brother his own side BL.

(Gaga & YouTube & Viki)

La Pluie

9/10

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL.

By activating + examining the soulmates trope this show is challenging a foundation of romance: the idea that there is one person meant to be your one romantic partner all your life. This means that we, as viewers, spend much of the show worried about it having a happy ending, and that’s the source of both its brilliance and tension: would the narrative have the strength to truly challenge its own romantic core?

But, ultimately, all this elevated complexity was executed in a somewhat shaky manner with the narrative derailing into some serious pacing issues and characters manipulated by miscommunication. However, with good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn a 9/10.

I enjoyed it even as it made me think. (iQIYI)

Make a Wish

8/10

PNR (from Sammon: Manner of Death & Triage) about a doctor who can see the dead and strikes a bargain with a wish-granting irreverent tree angel - naturally they fall in love.

Stars Fluke Natouch opposite not-Ohm, but who cares bc Fluke has chemistry with everybody. Once again the Thai afterlife is incredibly bureaucratic but I enjoyed the premise and the unfolding of the story (it’s not predictable but still satisfying and with nice little twist). I like that the doctor is just gay af and has a fag hag bestie and everything.

The cast is excellent but the comedic stylings are too overblown and tonally off. It had sad parts and did make me cry but is ultimately happy with a great sex scene, good smiley kisses, and all the agency. (grey)

Moonlight Chicken

8/10

I enjoyed this complicated little show, even though it’s spectacularly messy gay with lots of shrapnel and authentic pain.

I thought EarthMix turned in their most compelling performance to date. But it was GeminiFourth who stole my heart.

That said, the most interesting central relationship was that of Jim & Li Ming, their father-son angst mixed with evident affection made me tear up.

This was more slice of life than it was BL, but it ended happily so I’m not mad at it. (YouTube)

Never Let Me Go

8/10

Bodyguard romance where poor boy must watch over rich boy for family obligation reasons. Simple premise well executed with a few bumps that made it feel like it was trying to tackle too much (when it wasn’t).

Still, an enjoyable show that benefited from being handed to PondPhuwin who did a stellar job with their roles and chemistry. Is it going into permanent rewatch rotation? No, but a solid GMMTV offering. Of GMMTV passing out new series to established pairs this has been the most successful IMHO. PondPhuwin were about 10000x better in this than FUTS (and that's FUTS's fault, not theirs).

It's typically Thai in that its a bit bloated and has a confusing plot, but at least it HAD a plot and the central relationship is solid and loyal. Their Our Skyy 2 follow up is great. And very much adds to the cannon in a fun way rather than feeling superfluous - making this show ultimately 14 eps rather than the usual 12. (YouTube)

Destiny Seeker

8/10

A darn near perfect pulp featuring 3 likable grumpy/sunshine pairings with uncomplicated iterations of enemies to lovers. At least one half of each does a decent amount of pining and there’s good chemistry, classic tropes, and communication rep. It’s fun and full of linguistic jokes.

Sublimely cheesy but a good rainy day offering with tons of rewatch potential. (WeTV)

Bed Friend

8/10 (Triggers include: child abuse, attempted rape, family abuse)

Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship that is built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly longing eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged (ALL THE TRIGGERS).

NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth, unfortunately the story ultimately failed them. Had the show had the strength of its convictions and kept to a tighter, darker, harsher 8 eps it would have been the first high heat to earn a 10/10 from me, but once they fussed with it, it dropped to a solid 8/10.

Could have been great but was overworked. Still if high heat is your thing, this one will not let you down. (YouTube)

Between Us

8/10

Featuring the hugely popular side characters from 2019′s Until We Meet Again, Win Team (played by Studio Wabi Sabi's most popular, and commercially viable, pair BounPrem - Long Khong, You Never Eat Alone, Seven Project, Even Sun), adaptation of the y-novel Hemp Rope.

It’s a serviceable series about hot swimmers flirting and dealing with family drama in a sweetly earnest manner, but ultimately it squanders the talent in play. I would’ve preferred a cleaner narrative arc, less angst and more plot, fewer couples, and a shorter series.

That said, there’s nothing objectively wrong, sub-standard, or off-putting about this show. And it has lots of consent and other good qualities.

It’s fine. Watch along here. (iQIYI)

This list dated July 16 2023, not responsible for anything that came after, that'll probably be in end of year wrap ups.

[jjsanguine]

Rules: list 10 of your comfort shows and then tag 10 people

Tagged by @bengiyo . I actually don't rewatch shows very often, or at least not the same ones every time, but here's some shows I've watched a lot of in no particular order.

Alien Biospheres. This is a YouTube series but I've watched it a lot. If you watched James Cameron's Avatar and don't care about the plot but would watch a documentary on how they designed the creatures + plants this is the webseries for you. If you like spec bio then I would also recommend Serina.

Cherry Magic. I write songs for fun and my life is too boring to be great inspiration, so most of them reference scenarios in shows I'm watching that I find funny or just stick with me for some reason. Kurosawa's personality inspired one of my best ones.

Coffee Prince. This got me into kdrama + so much of it still holds up. Like, remember how homophobic the 2000s were? That's a feat.

The King's Affection. This is like the best girl disguises as a guy kdrama since Coffee Prince, and I watched a lot of them before I figure out I was nonbinary. I was glued to my seat. My writing project @the-prince-is-not-a-woman was partially inspired by me watching this so many times.

Mortel. It's like this show was made for me. Vodun, found family, polyamorus subtext, mystery, despising someone but having noone else to turn to, trauma, comedy, banger music. It was made by Netflix though, so of course it was cancelled on a cliffhanger.

Power Rangers 2017. This film is objectively goofy but I love it so much. Billy was the first explicitly autistic character I think I saw ever, and he set my expectations for canonically autistic characters high.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Apart from being a good show, Attorney Woo is the only other character on my list of canonically autistic characters that I like, which is funny because both attorney Woo and Billy were played by allistic actors.

The Path. I enjoyed seasons 1 & 2 but I've rewatched season 3 many times for my baby Caleb. I talked about a pastor's son and he's like the perfect example. If the show hadn't tragically been cancelled I would have loved to see what they did with his character, because after leaving his family for his boyfriend and by extension his boyfriend's daddy's apocalypse adjacent cult (which is a positive if you can believe it) socially speaking he was essentially in the same position he started off in, minus worrying about homophobia. He could have blossomed or spiralled, who knows. That's quality side character creation. This show also inspired the list "cheating on your girlfriend with your wife" which has to be the best of my lists of niche tropes.

Triage: time travel and time loop stories can so easily swerve into being terrible when there isn't enough thought put into the time travel mechanic but when they're good they're really good.

Shelter 2007: so many of the queer films I watched as a teenager were depressing, I could have given up on ql entirely if I didn't watch this heartwarming film.

Honourable mentions:

Be My Favourite. It finished airing literally 2 months ago so it really hasn't had time to gain the status of old reliable but yeah. I've watched episode 1 probably 10 times at this point, because I would pore over the whole show waiting for the next episode. I was writing essays.

Nowhere Boys: I love forced proximity + conspirationality. It's one of the reasons I love Mortel. It's a quality teen drama.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir, aka Miraculous Ladybug. This show is my Riverdale. It's ridiculous and I don't recommend it and I can't watch the english dub because I'd cringe too much so I watch it in French, but I started watching when I was like 15 so I'm locked in forever. It keeps dragging me back.

Going to try my hand at actually tagging people so,,,

@anotherlovr @writerwithoutsound @dudeyuri @irritablebovinesyndrome @gillianthecat @threezoz @sparklyeyedhimbo @respectthepetty @one-ghogh@heretherebedork

[kattahj]

The next half-dozen queer Thai shows I have watched! This time around, it's not just boys' love, but also girls' love and polyamory. Also, there's a lot more action-adventure this time around, with three plot-heavy, rather violent shows! Those are the ones I like best of the bunch, btw. :) And don't worry, they still have happy(-ish) endings!

Manner of Death

What's it about? City doctor moves back to a small town and immediately gets involved in a murder mystery. Also, the prime suspect is really hot.

Genre: Crime drama

Watch if you enjoy: Plot-heavy stories with twists upon twists upon twists. Seemingly nice towns being dens of corruption and vice. (Shit gets pretty dark!) Speedrun romance – no need to wait until the end for a kiss here!

Gayer version of: Somewhere inbetween Blue Velvet and L.A. Confidential

Recommended? Yes! Just make sure you can stomach onscreen murder and offscreen rape. Truth be told, I was a little iffy on it at first, but then it ate my brain, and now it's among my favourites.

Watched on: Dailymotion

Trailer: https://youtu.be/a4b-d_XyLV0

I Told Sunset About You

What's it about? Teh and Oh-Aew are childhood friends, but their love for acting causes some friction when they're competing first for the same part, and later for the same university position.

Genre: Coming of age

Watch if you enjoy: Low-stakes drama. Heavy focus on the central pairing and its romantic complications. Genuine, emotional acting (lots and lots of crying). Characters making foolish, selfish decisions that nevertheless make perfect sense for them to make. Very nuanced secondary love interests.

Gayer version of: My So-Called Life

Recommended? Yes, but I actually ended up NOT wanting these two to be together.

Watched on: Dailymotion

Trailer: https://youtu.be/KIylNdQuR-w

GAP the series

What's it about? Mon idolizes Lady Sam and is thrilled to start working at her company. Her dreams are soon crushed, though, when it turns out that Sam is a cold and demanding boss. The truth is that Sam is under pressure from her grandmother to uphold the royal image.

Genre: Melodrama

Watch if you enjoy: The grumpy one loving the sunshine one. Supportive girl gangs, including a butch lesbian hottie. Tentative attempts at a first relationship. Gossip mills in action.

More lesbian version of: Starts out as The Devil Wears Prada, quickly moves into Young Royals territory.

Recommended? Kind of? It's nice to see some lesbians for once, and the leads have good chemistry. I also really like Sam's catty girl gang. The story is a bit weak at times, and I wasn't always convinced that these two were right for each other. The humour isn't my style either. So it's a bit of a mixed bag, but definitely worth the effort if you want some girl loving!

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://youtu.be/f7Kso0QOaiE

Together With Me

What's it about? Best friends Korn and Knock have a drunken one night stand. Afterwards, they try to forget all about it. After all, Knock already has a girlfriend. Meanwhile, their friends have relationship troubles of their own.

Genre: comedy (mostly)

Watch if you enjoy: More MaxTul after Manner of Death (but in a vastly different genre). Lots of double entendres and also single entendres. Bitchy girlfriends and sassy girl friends. (Yiwha and Faii ftw!) An ensemble cast where everyone makes terrible decisions and no one has even heard of boundaries.

Gayer version of: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Recommended? I would say it is highly entertaining trash. :) It takes a while to kick into gear (but no time at all before sex), but then becomes kind of addictive. Just be aware that every single person in this is some flavour of Problematic (tm).

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://youtu.be/lxX9UkhTCO0

Triage

What's it about? Young doctor Tin finds himself in a time loop. In order to make it stop, he has to save the life of a specific patient. His only help is an annoyingly cryptic angel.

Genre: supernatural mystery/medical drama

Watch if you enjoy: The same writer as Manner of Death. Plot-focused show. Lots of tense medical situations, and even tenser interpersonal situations. Social issues. Assholes learning to be less assholish (except the ones who are just irredeemable). Romance that is simultaneously slowburn and speedrun, and also folds in on itself.

Gayer version of: Russian Doll

Recommended? Yes! More for the plot than the romance, though. Also, if you're anything like me, you'll need tissues for episode 10. (Knowing things will turn out okay doesn't prevent the sad stuff from being sad!)

Watched on: Dailymotion (search for Triag3)

Trailer: https://youtu.be/QeXnXV3FStg

3 Will Be Free

What's it about? Male sex worker Neo has been sleeping with the wrong woman – namely, a mob boss's wife. Now he's running for his life, along with club hostess/pickpocket Miw, who has killed a hitman by sheer instinct, and the mob boss's son Shin, who... well, he just happens to like Neo better than his dad, is all.

Genre: Action/thriller

Watch if you enjoy: Canon OT3. Nuanced trans representation on the side. Chased by the mob. Very high death count. (Don't get attached to any guest characters!) Moral greyness all around, and some sympathy even for the bad guys.

More polyam version of: ...I can't currently think of a chased-by-the-mob film that isn't a comedy, and this is very much not a comedy.

Recommended? Yes! With a warning that all the cliffhangers makes it hard to stop watching, so you may just as well pause in the middle of episodes. (Sidenote: the YouTube comments are more annoying than usual.)

Watched on: YouTube

Trailer: https://youtu.be/ct9fPlMJSDw