#jun romance

[simpxxstan]

strangers to lovers with junhui

this is part of my 550 followers celebration event! find the rest of the members' headcanons in the event too as i post them through this month!

warnings: mentions of one night stand. very mildly suggestive tones, rest is only fluff!

thinking about strangers to lovers with tour guide!junhui who's your designated guide for your first overseas trip to singapore

it's a twelve-member group for the tour, but you're the only one who's travelling solo and of age less than forty. perhaps this is why junhui is naturally drawn to your side. ever since you got off the airplane, junhui has been tagging near you, although he doesn't forget the other members of the trip as well. he's a professional tour guide after all- only five star ratings in the last year. he's not going to make slips in his work just because of a pretty passenger.

and yet, he's oddly drawn to you. he's not staying at the hotel the group is put up at, and he's not even supposed to be there at the dinner for that night. and yet, he does go. he goes, wearing his best shirt, even as the rain pours on, and he makes sure to sit at your table. you look even more lovely after resting post that long flight, and jun knows, that he's lost it even before the trip has begun.

the first day is scheduled for the tour of the gardens by the bay. "i'm so excited to see the flowers! i really like flowers. i have my own garden, you know. well, it's not too big, but i try." you're wearing a blue sundress, and jun thinks you look like a flower yourself, but he can't say that. instead, he grins. "i've seen them so many times on account of these trips, and yet the charm isn't lost on me."

thankfully, the group isn't a very taxing one. everyone seems to be happy sightseeing on their own, as long as jun remains close at call. and jun takes full advantage of this to stick to your side. he maintains a healthy distance at the start to ensure you don't get uncomfortable, because the last thing he'd want is for you to think he's a creep. but then, you specially seek him out during lunch and sit on the bench next to him, the edge of your sundress fluttering and brushing against his body, and jun feels slightly more hopeful of reciprocation.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who's just what you need for your tired heart when you whimsically decided to go on this trip after an extremely exhausting month at work

not only is he excellent eye candy, but also so sweet to you. you're suspicious of his oddly cute nature for the first hour or so, but then you realise there's no point in suspecting him. you've been betrayed enough and you have nothing left to lose.

he's also an A class guide. you've never been on a guided tour before, so you don't have a metric for comparison, but he's certainly way better than what you had imagined him to be like. he's extremely friendly, and under all those silly jokes, he's very knowledgeable and good at his job.

for example, he takes you to a beautiful photo spot where you can get a perfect view of the entire city of singapore, but it's not half as crowded as the designated viewpoint. he knows the best restaurants and cafes to eat at, hidden away in alleys you can't spot even on google maps. he knows what's the cheapest rate at which you can buy souvenirs, and he helps you bargain too.

you don't know if this is behaviour towards all his guests on all his trips, but a fanciful part of you thinks he is slightly partial towards you and you want to relish that. it's been long since you've had the attention of anyone. and it works wonders for you and your mental health.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who sees you wear even prettier dresses and makeup from the second day of the tour

he wonders what may have brought about this change. perhaps it's your mind unconsciously reflecting the beauty of the city? there's so much he wants to ask you, but he cannot, because he's a professional. but no one can stop him from picking up observations.

for instance: he sees no ring on your finger, and you're travelling alone, and there's no one calling you at all. so it's highly likely you're not in a relationship, although he can't rule out the case of a very secure partner who doesn't call through the day and only calls at night, even if time differences are wild.

he hears you talk about the fact that you work late often and that's why you often don't have time to go out and wander as you'd like to. so it's same to assume you're employed and perhaps a corporate job (if the exhaustion in your voice while talking about it is anything to go by).

he hears you talk about family, but only in passing, not like you're close to them. he doesn't want to assume anything, but he can only hope you're not lonely. because then his heart would break ten times over.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who deviates from the trip schedule and takes you out to a night market to enjoy street side delicacies

"you mentioned once that you prefer street food to restaurants." he tells you while the two of you walk to the market. you gasp a bit, quite taken aback by the fact that he remembers. no other words come to your mouth except, "i do. thanks for this, junhui."

jun shows you all the delicacies of the market, and you make sure to try each. it's a whole lot of fun going around with him, because even though he may be shy, he's a great conversationalist. especially because he doesn't intrude or ask personal stuff, but is happy with conversations that flow naturally like two friends catching up after a long time.

"where do you live, jun?" "umm, near the outskirts." he runs a shy hand through his hair, "about an hour away from here." "an hour! it's already eleven and we have to leave for sentosa tomorrow at eight am! how are you going to rest!" he smiles in embarrassment. "it's fun going out with you. i have no one to go home to anyway."

because of the crowd in the market the two of you end up standing very close to each other. so close that you can see the exact spots of his moles and the way his front teeth are slightly jagged at the edges. his smile looks like the most beautiful thing on earth, further warmed by the stars in his eyes and the short brown bangs that curl around his pretty face. if you tiptoe just a little bit, you could kiss him.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who knows he missed an opportunity to kiss you last night

it's a six-night-six-day tour and it's already the fourth day. and while jun should be distancing himself from you, because he can very well see how this is going to end in a crushing heartbreak for him, he cannot find the strength to do it.

because there's something that you're doing that keeps dragging him in. perhaps it's the way you lightly clutch his arm while navigating through crowds. or the way you spot that he's left a seat next to you on the tour bus and you take it. or the way you let him have a bite out of your ice cream last night.

you're just friends. friends can share food. friends can share bus seats. friends can touch sometimes. and jun needs to keep reminding himself of this.

but it's oh so hard. "junhui? do you think this hat suits me?" "junhui, do you wanna go on this ride with me? it's a haunted house ride, and it's embarrassing but i'm a tiny bit scared." "junhui, we can share the umbrella, and you can give your umbrella to mrs myers. she needs it more than you do." "junhui, can you take a photo of me?" "junhui-"

he's sick of it, the way you're playing his heart along. but worse, he's sick of the way he's responding to it, like a loyal dog. because he can't help it. he will regret this closeness when he watches you leave, but he will regret not getting close to you too and taking a shot at destiny when he had the chance to as well.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who doesn't turn up for dinner on the fourth night

you wear your best dress that night, and even heels. but jun, the rascal (endearingly), the damn brat (even more endearingly) just doesn't turn up! not just that, he doesn't even text you or anything. just leaves you sitting at the restaurant, alone at your table for two, while the rest of the group enjoy their dinner. it's like a date that dumped you, but it's not his fault at all.

it's totally your fault for thinking you could even have a date with a boy you'd met three days ago and fallen for immediately. for all you know, he may have a girlfriend (even if there's no one waiting for him at home), he may have a doctor's appointment (although doctors don't generally work at night), he may be a criminal (pretty sure he'd lose his job then) or he may be a practiced playboy (but he's too shy for that)!

you barely eat anything that night. mr and mrs myers, an elderly couple enjoying their second honeymoon, ask you if you're quite well, because you look distraught and lost. "no, i'm perfectly fine! just not much of an appetite, i think i'll just sleep early tonight." mrs myers adds, "oh. have you heard from jun? funny that he didn't turn up tonight." "yes, well, no. i haven't- no. not heard from him. but why would i? like, he'd text in the group, right? not me personally?" she smiles in that mysterious way that only older women can do. "i thought he'd like to inform his girl. well, this is the tragedy of youth- no sense of timing."

thinking about tour guide!junhui who's confused at the way you're maintaining distance from him on the morning of the fifth day

is it because he didn't come last night? he has a perfectly good reason- his brother turned up suddenly, and he couldn't really desert him when it's been a year since he's seen him.

so, when jun finds you alone staring at the penguins displayed at the singapore zoo, he takes the opportunity to read your mind. "how was dinner last night?" you jerk a bit at his voice, but quickly mask your surprised expression. somehow, you look especially good today. the pale green shirt makes your skin glow, and jun is suddenly jealous of whoever your future partner will be.

"good enough. enjoyed the nasi goreng that they served us." he's feeling a bit bold, so he asks, almost too softly for you to hear. "did you miss me?"

you don't immediately reply, but he sees the way your shoulders freeze. jun's mind panics and he immediately covers it up by rambling no no that came out in the wrong way i didn't- " i did. i did miss you." your words shock him to no end as you turn around to face him. there's an equal vulnerability in your eyes that reflects his own state.

"really? i'm sorry, i am. my brother arrived last night. he was supposed to come next week but he said-"

and then you lean in and kiss him. kiss him on the the mole that's on his cheek. "y/n?" "you have a brother." another kiss on the mole near his eyes. "yes, but-" "is he like you?" another kiss on a mole above his lips. "not much, we're step-" "did you have fun with him?" another kiss on the mole nearly on his lips. "yeah, but y/n, what are you doing right now?" "i missed you, junhui."

thinking about tour guide!junhui who you're going too fast with, but you can't help yourself

not with the way you crave for his touch all morning when you finally see him after... twelve hours. it's a little concerning, how hard you're falling for him. to be honest, you've never experienced this. is this love? or is this just you being infatuated?

"y/n, you go home tomorrow." "i do, but i couldn't stop myself. is this wrong? do you not want this? have i read you incorrectly?" "no. i do want- fuck, i need this, y/n. but i don't know if i can have you, so i can't continue." "we can just have one night together."

fuck. that's the wrong thing to say, clearly, because jun's face immediately changes from a constrained elation to a dejected puppy. "is that all you want? a one-night stand?" "jun-" "because i don't want that. so it's best if we don't really do anything about this because you'll be leaving tomorrow."

you can hear the way jun's voice breaks towards the end of his sentence, and you lean forward to kiss him again. "i don't want just a one-night stand with you, jun. you're wonderful and all i've been looking for, and honestly? fuck one-night stands. i want to have a house and kids with you. but we know that can't ha-"

jun giggles, and breaks your stream of thought. you pause, smiling at the cute way he's giggling. "what?" "house and kids?" you blush, averting your gaze, but jun's hand cups your cheek. "you're so bold, y/n." you gulp, "i'm just being honest." but then jun stops laughing. "but you know we can't. even though every cell of my body is aching to touch you after knowing that you like me too, i... i can't. we live in different countries. we've known each other for not even a week. we can't do long distance, it won't work."

you place more of your face into the cup of jun's palm. "you don't need to remind me of it. i've spent all night thinking about it. i really like you, but it feels cruel to know i can't do anything about it. that's why... i want to spend these two days with you. just you. i didn't want to deny my feelings anymore. not when i'm leaving tomorrow and i have nothing to lose." you smile, a bitter, sad smile. your heart aches with each word of truth you utter, but it's your only option left.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who kisses you next, a warm, soft kiss that makes you forget your surroundings

the guard near you interrupts your kiss and asks you to keep your pda private, because this is a zoo for kids, and the two of you double over with giggling. "sorry!" jun says, before he whisks you away towards a secluded spot for bird-spotting and kisses you more.

his hands rap around your waist, and he thinks, he'd rather die here than live without you. because everything you're even better than what he's imagined. the way your soft curves mould into his hands, the way your chapstick tastes like honey, and the way your shampoo smells of vanilla. you're a dream, a cloud melted into reality for him, and he wants to do nothing but hold you close.

"junie-" you moan into his kiss when he bites your lower lip, and your body clings to his even more. it's an exhilarating sensation, and jun craves it. "do you wanna come home with me tonight? meet my brother? eat dinner i make for you? i'm a good cook i swe-"yes! don't have to convince me, jun. yes, it's always a yes."

so he does. after the day's scheduled trip is over, he comes up to your hotel room, and sits with you on the couch as the two of you drink coffee and he helps you back your bags. it's a constant ache in his chest- the reminder of you leaving the next day. but it's too domestic and fulfilling a feeling for him to not take part in it. after that, he takes you home, where you meet his brother, who thankfully hides into his room soon after, so that he can get you completely to himself.

thinking about tour guide!junhui who cooks authentic chinese food for you, things you've never tasted before because your entire knowledge of chinese food is through takeout

perhaps it's the newness of the fond, warm feeling fluttering in your chest, perhaps it's the way the two of you eat from one plate as junhui shows you how to pair side dishes and even feeds you from his chopsticks, perhaps it's the way he cooks for you from scratch, or perhaps it's just the deliciousness of the food itself. but you're pretty sure that this is heaven, and nothing can beat it.

later in the night, jun and you sit on his sofa, curled up under a blanket, as the two of you make mindless conversation, sip beer and play games on his phone. it's only after midnight, that the initial happy vibes die down and the melancholy takes over. "we could be pen-pals," he says, spooning you from behind, as the two of you fit tightly into his sofa. "we could do video calls and texts and all..." "you said you didn't want a long distance relationship. and frankly, neither do i." you turn around to face him, and your heart breaks at the way his eyes water up slightly. seeing him, you break into tears as well, and he pulls you into his chest.

"i know. but i can't bear thinking that you'll be gone tomorrow. forever. that this is the end." your sobbing only increases at his words, and you can feel his tears fall on your forehead too, even though your eyes are shut.

"let me take you back to your hotel now-" "no. let me stay. please, jun?" your eyes are red with the crying, as you look up at him. and he presses a kiss to your forehead, and keeps his lips lingering there. "whatever you want, princess."

thinking about tour guide!junhui who wakes up to the smell of coffee and an omelette getting overcooked

he finds that you're no longer next to him on his sofa where you both had cuddled and fallen asleep last night. instead, you're in his kitchen, feeding breakfast to his baby brother, who's chatting with carelessly, as if today isn't the day of the apocalypse.

"oh, you're up! morning, jun." you walk over to him and place a kiss on the spot between his eyebrows. "i made breakfast. do you like tea or coffee? i didn't know, sorr-" "y/n? you have to get back to the hotel." "huh? no, i - i actually got my stuff sent over here. the hotel valet were so kind." "what?" "yea-" "i know i said the airport's close from here but you're supposed to leave with your group, you know." "eh? don't bother about all that, let's just eat breakfast now. good that your fridge is so well-stocked!"

jun's brain goes into overdrive because he's still sleepy, so he escapes to the bathroom to freshen up. "how did you brush your teeth?" he asks you when he comes out of the bathroom. "i used my finger." "finger? eww." "hey, it's better than using your brush!" jun grins and sits down on the kitchen counter next to you. you hand him a bowl of cereal with chopped fruits, and an omelette. "how did you know i like cereal?" "because your brother told me, dummy."

and for a few minutes, jun is in bliss. the two of you sitting on the counter, dangling your legs, eating cereal and slurping milk, and stealing kisses in between. but it's soon ten-thirty on his watch, and his heart rings out in alarm.

"y/n, you should leave soon. your flight's at noon, isn't it?" you look up from your seat, where you're eating the last piece of mango from your plate. "umm, so. i cancelled my flight." jun's plate almost slips and falls. "you what?" "yes, you heard me right. i cancelled my flight." "why?" "because i need time to think! i want at least two more days with you, so that we can figure out stuff. whether us shifting to one city is possible and-" "what? y/n? really?" jun's eyes are as wide as saucers now as he stares at you. you smile. "well, it was the only way out for me to make peace in my heart."

and jun kisses you. because it's the only way he can rein in his heart which is dancing with joy at the prospect of merely two more days with you and you even considering shifting to one city as a couple. "are you even real, y/n?" "i ought to ask you that!" "i love you." you smile, a little shocked, but it's a sweet smile. "i love you too, junhui."

[catpriciousmarjara]

Every single day I'm grateful for that time I stumbled on the SVSSS headcanon that while Bingqiu is considered highkey confusing and lowkey cringe in the demon realm, Moshang is known as the Power Couple™. They're the demonic love story. The 'It Couple'.

Just generations of demons sighing over the dramatic and bloody love story of the Northern King and his right hand man plus spymaster, yearning for one of their own filled with such glorious violence and betrayal! A classic childhood friends to lovers narrative filled with ups and downs and copious murder and gore! Love at first sight! The story of the loyal spy who rose up the ranks of the brutal Northern Court, culling his competition while providing vital intel to his liege, all the while infiltrating the most powerful cultivation sect in the world and eventually even becoming a Peak Lord! The slow burn of all slow burns! All kinds of spicy complicated power imbalances! Sexy, unexpected age gaps! Years of heavy plot! Decades of passionate courting! The pinnacle of inter-species forbidden romance! The tale of a man who swore eternal loyalty after falling violently in love at the very first meeting, calling a mere Prince His King in his desire and determination to see his beloved's ascension to the throne that was his birthright, and the Demon Prince who was unexpectedly presented with fierce loyalty in a life that had until then been rife with treachery and grabbed it with both hands and never looked back!

...and there's Junshan and the weird human he keeps around. Somewhat interesting if you're into that teacher-student thing I guess. There were very few deaths. Some bland murders. The trial arc and the self destruct thing plus corpse hoarding was interesting but overall very vanilla. Unseasoned. Not even a proper decade of drama. Kinda boring. And Junshan's half human so they're like Walmart version inter-species romance. But whatever the Emperor's into I guess. His dad was kinda weird too but at least his relationship with that human woman had some kick to it. The new generation just doesn't appreciate a long drawn out painful romance tsk tsk...

Like infinitely grateful to whoever first spawned that headcanon. Never fails to make me laugh. Honestly the most hilarious thing I've ever seen in this fandom. Hope your pillow is always cold and you never stub your toe.

[mangachi]

Jun Waidan (純猥談)

[zegalba]

undercover autumn/winter 2017

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

A thousand little kisses.

Only Friends

Our Skyy 2

Be My Favorite

Tokyo In April Is...

Jun & Jun

Dangerous Romance

House Of Stars

Why R U Korea

Hidden Agenda

Only Friends

1000 little kisses (2/?) as part of my favorite bl-tropes collection, in no particular order.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

True love is possible only in the next world. For new people. It it too late for us.

(Redraw for @pakhnokh's DTIYS post!)

[save-the-data]

Meet You at the Blossom | S01E12

Chinese Drama - 2024, 12 episodes

Episodes | GAGA |  YouTube | iQIYI | WeTV | Viki | Youku | Catalogue

Native Title: #花开有时颓靡无声

A: “Hua Kai You Shi, Tui Mi Wu Sheng” (花开有时, 颓靡无声)

Genres: #Romance #Historical #LGBTQ+

Tags: #Adapted from a Novel

Cast: #Li Le #Wang Yun Kai #Li Jun Liang

[shoujo-dreamland]

[kateknowsdramas]

You were right. For the first time in awhile, I like myself a lot.

[zhaozi]

the wind was a paid actor

[existingingrey]

The genre has always been romance.

He really said he is having 2 romances one with CNG (kinda) and another with NSC.

GJ: I like Yohan a lot. But I think Yohan likes me more.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

modern AU where they meet again at the fast food place Xie Lian works at and Hua Cheng has to figure out how to romance a customer service employee

[absolutebl]

TOP 10 BL Trends of 2023

This is just me with my analysis hat on. 

1. 2023 = the year EVERYONE went outside their lanes

Everything went topsy-turvy this year in BL. 

For example, Korea gave us agonized yearning and outright queerness (The 8th Sense, The New Employee) while Japan served up soft office workers and tender family (Our Dining Table). 

The BL world went askew for a while, especially in the spring of 2023. 

Not that we still didn’t still get Korea’s soft angsty bubbles or Japan’s “what are you doing and why does it hurt?” kink-fests. But there were quite a few BLs that made us chronic watchers sit up in confusion and wonder if Korea was dabbling in Taiwan’s territory or Japan in Thailand’s. Then they fudged the kisses and we were like... okay, back in familiar territory. 

In contrast, Thailand stayed course-correcting for the damage they’ve done in the past with tropes (2022) and self referential meta criticism (2021), but also almost aggressively returned to their BL roots after last year’s series of shockers. Certainly, they are reexamining those roots, transplanting some, aerating others. But they really went back to classic Thai university and high school BL and pulps in a big way in 2023. 

Taiwan is always difficult to gage because they produce so few but they seem to have stuck with what they do best with no deviation while producing more this year than they have in ages. I’m happy for that, why change a good thing? But there is a tiny part of me that really wants them to hit it out of the part with a quality piece soon. For me, We Best Love still reigns supreme, but I would really like the HIStory franchise to give us that level but longer - like a happy version of Your Name Engraved Herein. I think Taiwan has the chops to give us something as good as The 8th Sense or Old Fashion Cupcake but in their style, and I would like to see them exercise their talent for good rather than just profit. 

I know, what a very odd thing for me to say. But if any BL is going to break into the mainstream American market, I genuinely think it’s most likely come from Taiwan. 

Vietnam and the Philippines are falling behind, in general. They just didn’t bring out very many shows in 2023, and what the brought out tended to fub the endings. This is forgivable in Japan (because of their style and quality) but not what watchers want in the lower production value propositions. In other words, if you do a pulp, you can’t mess up the ending (by romance standards). that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon. 

2. The Office Romance Dominated

After years of Thailand serving us an endless (and slightly bland) buffet of university (and a few high school) BLs, this year Korea was basically like...

Ofiice. We like the Office. It’s cheap to film we can use grown up actors, acting (mostly) their actual age. 

And yeah... it totally worked. 

To be fair, Japan has always given us office live action yaoi from the beginning (they had the source material) but this year everyone else, including Thailand, seriously started playing in this setting. 

3. Boys Danced with Boys

The darling @heretherebedork​ was a big fan of this one, and I rather like it myself. Prior to this boys dancing together was very very rare in BL, but this year we got way more than our fair share. It was lovely. 

Never Let me Go

My School President 

Bed Friend 

The Day I Loved You 

Step by Step

Be Mine Superstar

Tie the Not 

Dangerous Romance

I think there were a few more. These are the ones I remembered to write down. 

4. Getting (even more) Meta With Tropes 

BL has been getting more and more meta over the past few years but this year they really focused in on tropes specifically. Calling out their own biggest and most favorite tropes in a massive way, especially Thailand and especially GMMTV. 

Like they tunneled in on damaging tropes with Bad Buddy and the like over the past 2 years, and now they are just having fun with us. 

I mean they just started the dancing trope and already they are calling it out? That’s like rapid-fire regurgitated meta there, GMMTV. 

5. Cameos are the norm now 

Taiwan has always loved cameos but in the past the other countries have been show and steady with only one or two a year. (Unless Japan does a parody.) 

This year Korea got in on the game.

Korea rarely starts trends but they do adopt smaller and lesser known existing ones and make them super popular. 

This year they did that with cameo couple appearances, even borrowing a few of Thailand’s pairs (TutorYim and MaxNat traveled north). They did it so much I stopped tracking. Love Class 2, Why R U?, and Jun & Jun were the heaviest hitters. 

Taiwan, of course, came back swinging. Kiseki was the gum-ball machine of pair cameos. (In Taiwan mafia = gay.) 

6. We are entering the cross pollination age

The number of remakes picked up or started this year was startling, not just countries revisiting their own content (Thailand, Japan) but countries revisiting OTHER countries stuff.

Lemme explain...

Korea has started remaking Thai content (Why R U?) alongside cameo'ing Thai pairs.

Thailand is doing Korean IP (My Dear Gagster Oppa) and has 2 Chinese ones slated for next year. 

GMMTV acquired a lot of Japanese IP (Cherry Magic, Ossen, and My Love Mix Up) - and then had problems distributing it. 

This is probably the most surprising trend for me. Especially the Japanese stuff. I would have thought these properties well outside of Thailand's price range (even GMMTV's) not to mention Japan’s legendary IP issues (I swear I typed this pout before the pulled TayNew’s excellent Cherry Magic). 

Also why not option some of the older popular manga instead? Bet that's much cheeper. (I did see a NEW Thai translation of Finder into Thai, which is 90s yaoi, so I have my fingers crossed on that front.)

I shouldn't be too surprised. 

Thailand is running out of y-novel content. Their publication industry is just not robust enough (I was just talking to a friend about this at length recently). But I didn't think they had the funds to option, especially from Japan. 

Perhaps the option deals are for peanuts?

7. Korea got cheeky

I’m not sure quite how else to put this. 

After finally figuring out boys can kiss, Korea started to do not just higher heat but playful higher heat, with more aggressive word play and linguistic innuendo, like they are entering their racy rom-com teenage years (Why R U? Love Class 2 and Jun & Jun in particular.) 

I guess: Welcome to your BL teens, Korea? 

It’s cute of them. I am very much enjoying it. 

And now that comedy is warming them up, we get to see them play with actual queer burgeoning physicality in shows like The 8th Sense. 

It’s nice. I like seeing Korea stretch its wings. They still stick to their bubble, but that bubble seems to be expanding. 

8. The Amnesia Trope is back

And I, for one, would prefer to forget about it. 

9. BL got trendy 

I’m not quite sure how to articulate this category but basically we started seeing a lot of “modern” romance trends out of the west (like a/b/o) show up in our BL. Not a ton and sometimes quite small, but there has a been a steady rise of things like: no seme/uke, femme gay, out gay, condom use, messy gay. 

We also got an increasing range of sub genre frameworks (like mafia, office setting) that’s moved BL pretty firmly (even in Thailand) out of school and into the workplace, whether actual working is involved or not. 

It’s not to the point where it feels like we get more non-school BL than school BL (if I include all countries in this assessment).

Japan, in classic Japanese fashion, quietly started moving in the opposite direction. It’s what they do. 

10. The Vampires are coming 

This is an announcement trend, which I don’t usually report on but it’s so CLEAR. 

So last year we had a spate of announcements of possible Omegaverse (2 from China, 1 from Japan, 1 from Thailand - the only one that’s happened). 

This year we got 5 Vampire (or vampire-esk) Thai BLs announced including one from GMMTV. 

Whether all 5 will actually get made is unlikely, but having had (basically) none prior to this (Kissable Lips), I’m pretty confident that we will get at least 2 of them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one other country made one as well. (Side eyes Taiwan with interest.) 

Final thoughts

It feels like we are also seeing a decline in BL (both by quantity and quality) from Vietnam and the Philippines. As you all know, I don’t track or really watch either of these two very closely. But it feels like, now, no one else is either. 

I think we have likely seen the BL heyday already in both places and their industries are now on the decline. 

We might be witnessing a thinning in the players in the BL field. 

FYI we had approximately 

136 BLs in 2023

Previous Years

2022: 117

2021: 95

2020: 62

2019: 40

2018: 30 

2017: 44 (China’s last gasp)

2016: 27

2015: 17 (50% micro)

2014: 17 (50% micro)

And that’s it! Let me know in the comments if you’ve spotted any additional trends you want to call out.

Last year, 2022′s trend report

2021′s Trend report

Last Year’s Stats & Predictions

(source) 

[mangachi]

[estelle-sim]

The wedding night

[zegalba]

undercover autumn/winter 2017