#kidnap the series ep 9

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

You're not fighting this battle alone anymore.

[hughungrybear]

I just realised, depending on how good the soundproofing of their new home, Mhen prolly gained a new trauma listening to MinQ's sexy times 😅😂😂😂

Edit: Whelp. LOOKS LIKE HE DID HEAR THEM 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[lurkingteapot]

look, I now realise that the way Min and Q wake up in ep 9 is probably supposed to indicate some mutual oral action the night before, but what my mind jumped to immediately was a scene from British queer movie "Beautiful Thing" (1996) and that one camping scene from Merlin season ... 3?, both of which assess that sleeping top-to-toe is the least gay way to share sleeping space.

so you can see why I was a little confused.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Boyfriend Era is a Go

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

NOV 2024 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - I have to say it, the heist stuff is stupid and all the sidekicks are idiots to the point of annoyance. But Yin and War are truly stellar at these parts. And in general in these roles. Can’t knock 'em. It’s been a year of some very good kisses and this has to have been the best. So this show is top of the standings this week for that kiss alone. Like srs boys? I mean to say, BOYS! How dare. Breaking the internet like that.

Honestly, let's be clear, these two have had killer chemistry since the En of Love and we all expected great things. And now, here we sit, suffering great things from these kings. Thank you, Sirs, may we have another?

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 8 of 15 - I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. The Per Win story arc never interested me in 2014 and I’m not enjoying it now either. But Mick and Ohm are better in 2024. Nong Mick is a standout character, and a brilliant glow up in this version and he’s a confident little shit (affectionate). The mains are good too, but Phun and Noh always were great characters, and these actors are quite good. Possibly better than the original. 

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 10 of 12 - More bf era delightful diabetes. They are the best boyfriends and the cutest family in the entire world. No exceptions. Next week is definitely doom tho. 

Every You Every Me (Thai Mon Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Talk about making consent and communication sexy! *fans self* Whoah! That was unexpectedly great. The blatancy of the lust in this one was fun too. And the general casual switch nature of the relationship = delightful.

I like the little acting course we're getting from these tw. They are both quite good. I’m not sure I really enjoy the stories that they’re telling, but I do like how they are telling them.

Fourever You (Thai Thurs YT) ep 6 of 16 - Hill is the premier torch carrier of this year. My goodness. He sure nursed that crush. While I really like this main couple, I’m happy to have some of the others start to creep into the narrative at this juncture. Alone HillTer are a bit intentionally miscommunicative and saccharine. But the screen-time distribution amongst couples seems a little strange. That said, couple 2? No thank you. I really don't like North as a character at all. I find him incredibly unappealing. Ordinarily I'd be on his side because....... blackmail trope renders Johan automatically a complete arse. But at least this is 2 unlikable characters being jerks to each other?

Perfect 10 Liners (Thai Sun YouTube?) ep 2 of 24 - Say it with me Thailand: negging is NOT romantic. Frankly, Arc is just an asshole and a bully with anger issues. But…… Yay cute sides! PondSand they funny. (Book, to me = never very funny. I don’t think comedy is his bailiwick. Look, comedy is HARD ya’ll and usually not in that way.) 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 1 of 11 - They’re doing some interesting stuff with the framing (both filming style and narrative) that makes this extremely old-fashioned feeling (like Takumi-kun level). I keep saying that this year, but it feels like BL is doing a lot of rediscovering its roots right now. This one even had a goldfish. And abuse. (The two, oddly, often go hand-in-hand in JBL ) And overall...... it’s a bit weird. Which I don’t mind from Japan. Japanese BL can get weird in a good way. Oh I like it. Bully meats smart loaner, total opposites attract, both are lonely and broken and NEED each other, and all that.

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 4 of 13 - Oh dear, our poor little rich boy is very broken indeed. The sides are utterly ridiculous.

My Damn Business (Korea Sat YT) eps 6 of 7 - I don’t normally like a love triangle, but I kind of like this one since it gave our uke a bit more depth and agency. And charm, quite frankly. So far he’s been a very dower character.

Eccentric Romance (Korea Weds Viki) eps 9-10 of 12 - Okay boyfriend era is a go. Goodness but they sure are adorable. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 7 of ? - The slow burn is really very slow. To the point of frustration. But I'm still enjoying the show, just not as much as I was.

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 8 of 10 eps - Even Japan is going through a bf era rn I see. How unusual.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I’m slightly less annoyed by this one than the original (but I was VERY annoyed by that). I think mame is being tempered by a few things:

There’s so much less time spent on the back-and-forth, because this is a much shorter show, so I have less time to be frustrated by it and the utter uselessness of 75% of these characters.

Also, there's that innate Japanese awkwardness of portrayal & social interaction, which makes the unpleasantness of the characters' behavior and touch more understandable.

This, in turn, is married to the natural kink factor of JBL.

There’s a clearer Dom sub from the get go with this version, makes the blackmailing a little bit more tolerable because it's clearly Play. (negotiated or not) Simply put, daddy wants his brat to beg. And honestly? So say we all.

On a completely different note, the wardrobe for this show is terrible. Like truly bad BAD.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun iQIYI) eps 3-4 - Well I guess that’s that disability dealt with. Meanwhile, competitive bullying art students? I am very amused. Zoo date was cute. This is unquestionably a BL (I’m even more scared now). Still, the gay boys dealing with the straight dude’s crush was truly hilarious. So much "our gay drama doesn’t have time for your het bullshit." Classy move, I smell some Taiwan in this show.

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (Korea Thurs Gaga) eps 4-8 end - I was reliably informed this has an HFN end so I decided to watch. Noble and self sacrificing with both of them taking the blame.

My thoughts are...... mixed.

High school student Do Hoe lives with his brutal father who runs a Taekwondo gym. When cheerful Ju Young arrives to train, they fall in love. An unexpected incident forces them apart, they reunite over a decade years later. Essentially this is a brilliant narrative about finding love at the worst possible time, surviving chronic abuse, and the way we process mental, emotional, and physical trauma overtime. Yes it’s also a romance, but that’s not primarily what this story is actually about. I can recognize its genius, but this type of narrative is not for me. I’m reminded of bittersweet painful shows like To My Star 2, or The On1y One, or even Not Me. Is this BL tangential or is it some other genre entirely? Am I questioning my own taste because I did not like its content, or because I do not like its genre? And if it’s not BL should I even render judgment? I think I have to lean into the way I approached some of those other shows, which is to say: it is not for me but I recognize that it is of an extremely high-quality that is certainly for someone else.

Recommended, but only if you like masochistic cinema. Under those circumstances 9/10

(but know that if i were rating for my personal taste? 7/10 I’m never re-watching this, and there is a small part of me that wishes I never had) 

It's airing but......

Love for Loves Sake got some kind of special supposed to air 11/9. Not sure what, why, or where. Only the rumor that it...... is. I'll believe it when I see it...... literally.

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) 10 eps - I've been reliably told not to bother, so I won't.

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - I DNF'd at ep 7, I couldn't make it. I am weak. Life is hard enough right now, this show is making it harder. It’s not what I want from my entertainment.

Bad to Bed (Taiwan Sat YouTube) 10 eps - This is a little too low production value even for me. And just very very odd. DNF

In case you missed it

Uncle Unknown finished its run on YT. Censored Chinese BL with paralytically bad production levels. But certainly BL. Boys reunite after a break up only to discover one of them is the step-Uncle of the other. Much to my own shock and surprise I watched all 12 episodes of this. Fortunately, each episode is about 5 minutes long. Under those circumstances is it worth it? Maybe. It’s bad. But not offensive. So that's a win. And you know me, I love a weird take on the stepbrother’s trope and incest taboos. 5/20 watch it only if you have nothing better to do

Next Week Looks Like This:

Gosh there's a lot on right now.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

November BL:

11/15 Caged Again (Thai Fri Gaga) 10 eps - Penguin escapes zoo by turning into a human. Gets trapped again and a panther falls in love with him.

11/17 Your Sky (Thai Sun iQIYI) 12 eps - A naive freshman and the campus’s popular senior agree to pretend to be a couple - but their fake deal begins to generate real feelings.

11/20 Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai Weds YT) ?? eps - Criminals who meet in prison fall in love

11/20 The Heart Killers (Thai Weds YT iQIYI) 12 eps - Jojo directs FirstKhao & JoongDunk in an action romcom about assassin brothers (Khao & Joong) who meet a tattoo artist ex-booster (First) and a mechanic (Dunk). I'm highly amused that Joong plays the older brother to Khao and that we have a take on the Taming of the ShrewBL. I like that everyone is morally gray. This has all GMMTV's best chemistry in one BL and some fresh concepts that I've only seen tackled in m/m romance novels (check out Amy Lane's Racing for the Sun, thank me later). I'm excited. My only quibble is Jojo, I like his style but his characters can get unreliably messy so…... this gonna be interesting.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

The insane level of his babygirl heart eyes.

Just, have mercy.

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[flwoie]

LOVE IN DISGUISE — PARK SUNGHOON

SUMMARY Secrets are meant to be kept. Sunghoon never keeps secrets though, well except one—his friends being members of a super secret spy team. He finds out on the night he gets kidnapped and is rescued by them. That night, his friend offers him to be a part of the team to stop an organization, SPY-DER LILLIES, from destroying their campus and agency, I.R.I.S (International Resource for Intellectual Spies). And like the goofy goober he is, he joins for a jetpack and to impress his longtime friend and crush, the black cat agent, in order to win her heart before the spiders come crawling up his back.

TUNE IN TO WATCH THE SERIES OF SUNGHOON LEARNING HOW TO BE THE WORLD’S GREATEST SPY WITH HIS FRIENDS AND HIS JETPACK!

STARRING spy! sunghoon x spy! f! reader (WITH txt’s beomgyu, loossemble’s yeojin, lsfm’s kazuha, nwjns’ minji, kiof’s belle, xdh’s junhan)

GENRE smau + written, romcom, episodic, friends to lovers, college au, spy au, characters inspired by my friend group, heavily inspired by that one spy kickin’ it episode (s3, ep 21)

CONTAINS 15+, profanity, light violence, brainrot😭, spy terminology isn’t fully accurate, also 50% of the chapters in here are not even spy related, incorrect timestamps (pls ignore) (chapters will specify warnings)

STATUS airing (whenever i feel like it @ 5PM CST) | july 9, 2024 - …

SOUNDTRACK

TAGLIST IS OPEN ✧ SEND AN ASK OR COMMENT UNDER MAIN MASTERLIST

🗯️ GUYS IK IVE BEEN DIPPING SMAUS BUT TRUST ME, I WONT DIP THIS ONE….

📻 : “I.R.I.S. TEAM 5 REPORTING, OVER…!”

MISSION #001 — PILOT IN DISGUISE

↳ sunghoon joins his friends’ spy team

one : jetpack joyride [0.9k]

two : the haters be hating [0.3k + smau]

three : my tall american friend

four : cuz im a sigma…👻

five : theres many girls in the fish

six : chicken butt

seven : when there's a screen, ao3 must be seen

eight : im gonna touch u lil bro

MISSION #002 — PARTY IN DISGUISE

↳ the boys throws a boys-only party in the lair while you’re out of town

nine : back early [0.2k]

ten : w rizz amirite

eleven : fake gucci pants..

twelve : H H HELL NAH🤦‍♀️ [0.5k]

thirteen : like the roblox game?

fourteen : the hell is spoogle images [0.7k + smau]

MISSION #003 — ENEMY IN DISGUISE

↳ the team keeps tabs on an I.R.I.S spy-in-training, who’s possibly a part of the SPY-DER LILLIES

fifteen : and ur dumb

sixteen : hide ur ladies🤫🥱

seventeen : luh luh loserrr

eighteen : what an ugly pepperoni […]

ninteen : PAUSE…

twenty : btw calc is short for calculator […]

twenty one : diss me diss me now u gotta kiss me

MISSION #004 — GAMES IN DISGUISE

↳ when the team is sent on a mission to defeat a tech team of SPY-DER LILLIES, they get transported to the internet world

... to be added

MISSION #005 — WITNESS IN DISGUISE

↳ the team joins a witness protection program after witnessing a fight between two canadian spy organizations

… to be added

MISSION #006 — CRUSHES IN DISGUISE

↳ in order for sunghoon to pass his final spy assessment, he needs to get over his crush

... to be added

MISSION #007 — CAMP IN DISGUISE

↳ the team is recruited to be camp counsellors for I.R.I.S spies-in-training

... to be added

enhypen masterlist

[marvelstars]

There´s always a price to pay

Anakin Skywalker

Anakin didn´t have an attachment problem before his mother died. In fact Anakin became attached because his mother died and that lead to his fall in ROTS when he tried to keep Padme alive by any means neccesary. Anakin didn´t get his balance back until ROTJ.

I see a lot of fans, especially anti-anakin fans talk about how his "attachment" problem was the main reason why he could never be a good Jedi, they usually go back to George Lucas commentary about him being fearing for Padme in ROTS because he was attached but if this is their inspiration they are unaware or forget Lucas comments about Anakin on EP I and EPII.

Because Anakin pretty much had to "let go" of his mother in slavery on EP I when he was 9 to become a Jedi. At 9 Anakin wasn´t just compassionate, he was self- sacrificical as well, he did that out of love for his family and for his friends. His only problem was the he loved too much(acording to lucas) and to the Jedi Order eyes.

Anakin was asked to leave his mother behind and never contact her again as the price to become a Jedi, that was what he was asked to do, to truly become a Jedi and he did it.

Anakin wasnt "attached" to his mother, Anakin LOVED his mother just like he loved Padme, that´s different but Jedi teachings didn´t approve of love, you can have "compassion" (even when I can´t remember any Jedi in the actual movies made by Lucas having compassion for anybody in particular, except Luke and Anakin) but you can´t love, that always has been part of their beliefs and fandom needs to remember that, because that´s central to the story.

EP II: Anakin discovers that this singular action of doing everything the Jedi way cost his mother her life, because he wasn´t there to protect her, she got herself a loving family for herself but she was left vulnerable to Tatooine´s dangers while her Jedi Son wasn´t allowed to contact her for 10 years. THIS was the beggining of Anakin´s "attachment issues" THIS was also the beggining of Anakin´s fall to the darkside when he killed the tusken raiders who kidnaped and tortured his mother for weeks in revenge.

Acording to Lucas commentary this singular event unbalanced Anakin for the rest of his life right until Return of the Jedi.

Because from Anakin´s perspective being a Jedi lead to him abandoning his mother and letting her die, that was a mistake he wasn´t willing to allow again. He became fixated on keeping Padme, Rex, his soldiers, fellow padawans, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Palpatine, whoever was under his care alive by any means neccesary and he no longer cared about being the pefect Jedi because being that killed his mother. Still a lot of his efforts were not enough to keep them alive especially during the clone wars, which convinced him he needed to become more powerful to keep them safe, which was the trap Palpatine put to make him fall "Help me destroy the Jedi Order and I will teach you how to save you wife and keep the galaxy at peace, we will have peace" It was a faustian exchange and Anakin agreed, just like he agreed to leave his mother behind so many years ago.

In both the clone wars series and official novels, other characters including Sith like Count Dooku made the comment there was a growing darkness in Anakin post EPII and the reason for this was because he was already using the darkside at the time of the clone wars but he didn´t fall fully into it until ROTS, he used it when he tought he needded it to protect his loved ones or end more quickly a battle in the clone wars.

You know how Lucas enjoys making his narrative ryhme? and both Luke and Anakin stories were made to ryhme.

Luke was presented with this same choice, stay, sacrifice your friends lifes and become a Jedi or leave to rescue your friends. Luke choose to rescue his friends even if it cost him his hand, promising he would come back. Because he feelt more free to do so as a young adult than Anakin at 9. Luke wasn´t the perfect Jedi in Yoda and Obi-Wan´s eyes because he cared for his friends and family but for Luke that was alright because that was the right thing to do.

Luke was presented with another choice, kill your sith father and his master the Emperor to truly become a Jedi. Luke choose to save his father and have compassion for him because for him doing the contrary was cruel and a sure way to fall to the darkside.

This doesnt mean Luke didn´t have doubts or darkside temptations, remember when he force chocked Jabba´s guards and told Jabba he was going to kill him? remember when he almost killed Vader to protect Leia? he was using the darkside to save his loved ones, just like his father did at his age. The difference was that having friends around who supported him unconditionally, not because of duty but because of love, helped to ground him. This gave him the idea that if this worked for him, it could work for his father as well, if only anyone showed him compassion again, not because of duty, not as a quid pro quo but because of plain unconditional love.

This action was enough to awake in Vader himself the desire to have compassion and love again, for his child and for the galaxy, this was the reason why he became self-sacrifical again, just like when he was young and he was willing to throw away his life and the last person he loved, the Emperor, to their deaths if it meant Luke´s Jedi ideology survived everyone. He could not let that die.

So if the fandom is going to talk about how Anakin was "evil" from the beggining and twisted using Lucas arguments about the difference between attachment and love, it would be nice if once in a while they didn´t erase the commentary Lucas made about the real origin of Anakin´s attachment.

[azaharinflames]

Curently 911 is filming episode 11 & 12, and Lou is working on another project. There's no way he's working on 9-1-1 at the same time. LA traffic alone wouldn't allow it.

I thought I have prepared my heart for the possibility of Bucktommy not going back together again. But a new affirmative sign like this still hurts me a little 😔.

Hi, Nonnie!

Listen, I get it. But in my honest opinion? Lou was never gonna come back in the first eps of 8b. We know 9&10 are mostly going to deal with Maddie’s kidnapping and Tim has teased the end of ep 10 changes everyone’s life. Now, you can choose to be a bit skeptical about that part. I know I am.

Either way, we know post ep 10 there is a time jump. My personal theory is that it won’t be a super big one, rather it will be a natural time jump (to make it so what happens in the series happens at the same time as we watch it), and the first couple eps will be to establish some SLs.

Personal theory? We will see the rebound for Buck that Tim teased. I do believe it won’t last more than a couple eps. And then we’ll probably have Buck exploring or trying to get to know himself better. Boring and overused, but if they go in any other direction I will be genuinely surprised.

If/when Tommy comes back… honestly I don’t think it’ll be any earlier than at least midway through 8b, if not in the last couple of eps or even in the last one. Mostly so the audience is hooked for the next season but also because it wouldn’t make sense to make the audience go through the bs of 806-808 if things were going to be fine a few eps later.

We have to remember Tommy is not a main. Most likely, if Buck and he manage to find each other again, it will be something to mostly happen off-season, imo. As in, we will have a cute reunion on screen, then the season will end, then (perhaps based on the reaction idk) we’ll start the next season (if we get one) already with them having worked through their issues.

I know the idea of it sucks a bit but hey. They had Tarlos say their ILYs off-season. So. I wouldn’t be too surprised lmao.

(Also if he does not come back for this season, I honestly think he will only come back if they need a HEA for Buck once the series ends and Lou is available for that. Because imho they are not finding a LI that works better than him any time soon)

As for Lou’s filming schedule, I wouldn’t put too much weight on it. Mostly because we don’t know it. We don’t know if he’s mostly done with the sketch show, or if he only has to shoot 3 days a week, or what. Nothing tells us shooting that and shooting 911 is something impossible to combine.

And I don’t want to pretend I know something will happen, or give anyone false hope. I’m the first person who truly expects nothing from this show anymore and who knows chances are we will be disappointed, because the show has shown us we can’t trust it. Just wanted to point out some things ;)

Anyway, my inbox is open for venting, ranting, and giving your opinions! Physical therapy has been kicking my ass this week but I’ll try to be more present (don’t tear your meniscus, babes. I highly do not recommend)

Take care <3

[staydandy]

The Lost Tomb (2015) - 盗墓笔记 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Wu Xie is an antique shop owner who comes from a family of tomb raiders. As he continues the family trade with his team of tomb raiders, he finds lost treasures of the Warring States as well as the answers to the tragedies of his family’s past. With the help of his grandfather’s notes and his team – his experienced Uncle Wu Sanxing, San Xing’s loyal helper Pan Zi, the quiet Zhang Qiling, and the resourceful Pang Zi – Wu Xie sets out to find the lost treasures as well as the people responsible for the massacre of his family. (MDL) AKA : Grave Robbers’ Chronicles | Grave Robbery Note

Whumpees : Wu Xie played by Li Yi Feng (center forefront) • Zhang Qi Ling played by Yang Yang (2nd from left) • High Shao [Wu Xie's friend] played by Leon Lee (not pictured) • Pan Zi played by Wei Wei (3rd from right)

Country : 🇨🇳 China Genres : Action, Adventure, Mystery, Supernatural, Bromance

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from novel 1 of "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" (盗墓笔记) by Kennedy Xu (南派三叔) • My favorite episode is pink • Suggested watch order of series (not including movies & spin-offs) : -- 1. Mystic Nine (2016) >> 2. The Lost Tomb (2015) -- 3. The Lost Tomb 2: Wrath of the Sea (2019) -- 4. The Lost Tomb 2: Explore with the Note (2021) -- 5. The Lost Tomb 3: Ultimate Note (2020) -- 6. Adventure Behind the Bronze Door (2024) -- 7. Tomb of the Sea (2018) -- 8. Reunion: Sound of the Providence (2020) -- 9. Reunion: Sound of the Providence 2 (2020)

Related Lists : The Lost Tomb 2: Wrath of the Sea (2019) - Full List • The Lost Tomb 2: Explore With the Note (2021) - Full List • The Lost Tomb 3: Ultimate Note (2020) - Full List • Adventure Behind the Bronze Door (2024) - Full List

Episodes on List : 8 Total Episodes : 10

*Spoilers below*

01 : Wu Xie shot in the arm … punched in the stomach, collapses … High Shao tied up & mouth taped

02 : Wu Xie & High Shao head pain from sharp noise, Wu Xie entranced, kicked into water … Pan Zi attacked & bitten by flesh-eating bug, bug flung onto Wu Xie, bitten … High Shao pukes … Zhang Qi Ling cuts his own hand, collapses … Wu Xie hit in the head & knocked out, nightmare.. Zhang Qi Ling exhausted from blood loss, sleeping.. carried/helped to walk

04 : Pan Zi attacked by corpse-eating bugs, heavily bitten up, helped to walk, bug dug out of a wound (ewww) … Wu Xie attacked & bit (by human)

05 : Dizzy, passes out, was poisoned by bite, given temporary fix … High Shao kicked to the ground … Wu Xie unsteady, helped to walk … dizzy, passes out & falls from a great height, caught … punched, choked, coughing, neck bruised, unconscious

07 : (near end) Head pain, falls

08 : … continued from previous ep. ... Falls, wind knocked out of him by the landing, Zhang Qi Ling cuts his own hand … High Shao tied up … Wu Xie dizzy, passes out

09 : (near end) Tripped

10 : High Shao hit with batons … knocked out with a injection, Wu Xie knocked out with chloroform.. Wu Xie & High Shao kidnapped & tied up.. mouths taped

More Whump Lists for this show: love-me-a-lotta-whump

[becauseimanicequeen]

(I'm writing this after painting for almost 9 hours, so it might not make sense, lol, but here goes...)

Reading some thoughts/theories about My Stand-In the past couple of days has been equally entertaining and frustrating.

Some made me laugh because they matched my usual delulu theories (and I love delulu theories). (The whole reason I started my tumblr almost 5 months ago was because I wanted a space to share my delulu theories on DFF, lol.)

But, some of them were just... No. No. Fuck no!

And I'm writing this as someone who was raised on soap operas, Days of Our Lives in particular (which is weird because I'm not even American). Characters being kidnapped, possessed, dying and coming back to life is just a normal Tuesday for me. And I've mentioned earlier that I won't mind ridiculous shit happening in My Stand-In for this reason.

But...

If it turns out that Joe steps out into the light and magically travels back in time to a moment before Joe 1.0's accident so he can stop that from happening... I will riot.

Fortunately, I'm pretty sure they won't do this (even though I've been wrong about story progressions before).

But if they do, it will completely erase all of Ming's progress. Even though I know how fucking painful it can be to lose people you love (and add his guilt for being a part of Joe's untimely demise the first time on top of that), that was a big part of why he was so willing to sacrifice everything for Joe this time when he got a second chance.

(Yes, Ming is still a brat and all that, but it doesn't change the fact that he also gave up his anonymity/privacy to make sure Joe would find him, put up boundaries Tong wasn't allowed to cross, made an effort to be with Joe which Joe also noted was different, blackmailed Tong and his own family to be with Joe, was ready to trade places with Joe in the latest kidnapping, etc. All of that is progress.)

Sure, My Stand-In isn't really about Ming. It's more about Joe. But the same goes for him.

Stepping into the bright light (which is often a symbol of death/near-death experiences, even though the Master said it would break a cycle, so it might not even mean that he will pass on) to end his suffering doesn't feel like the choice the character I've seen in 11 episodes would make.

Joe will come back because, to me, he does the right thing rather than what's easy. If he's convinced it's the right thing to do, he does it (sometimes without thinking). He's shown it several times throughout the series (he even helped Tong, of all people, in ep. 11 because he knows what it's like to grow up without parents and didn't want the same for Tong and May's child).

Furthermore, there is no way Joe will leave when he still has unfinished business (especially with Joe 2.0's mom).

(I mean, come on, she's had a huge fight with her son twice now. Both times right before he was hospitalized. Cut her some slack!)

Having Joe travel back in time will fall flat for me, even if he decides to seek out Joe 2.0's mom and help her care for her son.

Again, I fortunately don't think this is the way they're going with the show. Instead, I think something will stop Joe before he walks out through those doors and steps into the light.

He might hear something (possibly Ming), he might see something (perhaps the flashbacks they included in the teaser for ep. 12), or he might just change his mind because he realizes he still has unfinished business (and love for Ming) and chooses life.

Or, he steps into the light (to break the cycle), but instead of passing on, he sees everything that happened after his first accident, realizes he's no longer a stand-in (at least in Ming's eyes), and is then faced with the choice to wake up from his coma or not.

Either way, I need Joe to choose. And I need him to choose life. Because he's coming back in one way or another. Of that, I'm sure.

(Just don't make him travel back in time. Pretty please, don't do this to me, lol.)

[miss0atae]

BL fashion in Kidnap the series (EP 9):

It's been a long time I haven't done a BL fashion, but thankfully the latest episode of Kidnap the series was here to help me find something to write again in this tag!

I'm glad to see the return of the transparent glasses. I loved them on Q in the first episode and it's nice to see them back. I wish he was wearing them more.

If you've already read one of my BL Fashion post, you must know how much I like printed shirt and this one is no exception. It's not the easiest one to wear, but even if it's not in Q's usually fashion style (after all he was playing a role) it works well.

This episode was putting an highlight on glasses. Here you have Min with orange tinted sunglasses that works well with his white t-shirt. Funny how he was wearing Q's favorite colors: orange and white. Min can't lose any chances to show how much crazy in love he is with Q.

I would never recommend to wear this glasses (they look too plastic), but it was quite funny and paired with his lovey-dovey expression and a nice printed shirt you can actually look good too with them.

[mikuni14]

Dead Friend Forever - Ep 9

(I wanted to eat a cake when the episode started and I ended up sitting through the entire first scene holding it in front of my open mouth like a 🤡, it was so embarrassing when I caught myself doing it. Yep, DFF everybody! I was so invested that I couldn't watch and chew at the same time)

This is the 9th episode of this series that I rated 🔟, this series is really something else. There are still 3 episodes left, the series is devoting more and more time to what is happening in the present time and I'm starting to worry whether... 3 episodes is too much? Won't the endings get dragged? Will it stick the landing? My anxiety is 📈.

I love how this series is run, how natural it flows, how it jumps smoothly in "time and space" without being chaotic and incomprehensible. The narration, editing, pacing are 10/10. (But unlike the plot, my thoughts are very chaotic, as seen below lol)

It's amazing how everything that happens can be described as the butterfly effect. How Top's stupid smashing of the camera set off a chain of events that ended in the destruction of the entire family and a heartbreaking tragedy. I like how sharply focused Tan is (I'll just call him Tan, I'm lazy), how he's fully willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING, how he makes sure that Phee doesn't desecrate Non's memory with a new relationship.. It seems to me that Tan doesn't tell Phee everything because 1) someone stretched the wire that killed Deng 🤔 2) he doesn't seem particularly concerned about Por being dead 🙂

I like how in Phee's relationship with Jin, Tan makes Phee feel guilty, treating him as Non's boyfriend and how Phee does it to himself too. I once heard someone say in regards to romantic relationships, that it is impossible for new feelings to be born without the death of old ones. And this is another thing I love about DFF: they show the complexity of human feelings, including something as complicated as the fading of an old love and the emergence of a new one, the feeling of guilt associated with it, the feeling of having to hold on to the flame of memory and feelings towards the old love that has not ended normally, that could have been hurt, that could have been a victim, so these feelings are somehow "obligatory" for that old love, plus a sense of guilt and agony, because there is a probability that the new love could have once hurt the old love…

We can also say that the series explained why it all took 3 years. As predicted, it turns out that they couldn't get anything out of the boys, who usually just cut off their conversations and left. Then they all finished school, Phee and Tan had no results (because they're also, only boys, Tan couldn't do anything on his own, and Phee, well, he was distracted) and they simply went away to their studies, maybe different universities and the catalysts that accelerated the events now were: 1) the traumatic death of Tan's parents, which left him with nothing to lose, he probably also went a little crazy 2) Jin leaving the country 3) a unique opportunity of gathering everyone in one place

What I also really like is the realistic approach to the tiring, old trope that lying to loved ones "for their good" or for some "secret mission" that is supposed to bring happiness to everyone actually ends badly - unlike some series I have watched recently 🙄 DFF approached it realistically and clearly showed that people lied to by their loved ones, suffer a lot and feel betrayed to the point of not wanting to continue contact with someone who "wanted only good for them."

Questions: Photo of Non and Keng - they are in the clothes from their kidnapping, so the photo must have been taken then and only now given to the press/corrupt police to mislead, or it is photoshopped. Anyway, these are not new photos, and Keng looks safe and sound, the photo is taken from the back and he doesn't look like someone after a car accident. How did Tan get into school? After all, a student has some papers from the previous school, no one suddenly appears at a school and starts going there??? The series shows Tan under the influence of his psychedelic drug, with him having blurry visions and acting obviously drugged. However, when they are in the house and also under the influence of drugs, they act quite normal and only have clear visions, and surprisingly everyone has similar visions (except Jin, who also sees Keng). But apart from that, no psychedelia, strange colors or blurred image. And why would White also have a vision of the masked killer?

Finally, two comments: The sex scene - my jaw dropped, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect them to go all the way. This scene (as well as the entire series so far) shows how incredibly compatible and harmonious Phee and Jin are. (Now there are no more excuses that a decent sex scene can't be done in other BL series lol) I'm vibrating seeing how Tan is happy with what's happening even with Por's death. This is real, pure hatred, I hope they won't fuck it up and Tan won't "convert to goodness, love and brotherhood" and become "good" and "forgiving" and "a better person than them". I like how the show shows action and reaction and sticks to it. The entire logical progression of events is shown, from that stupid camera through Non's fall, the tragic deaths of Non and Tan's parents, ending with Tan standing with a smile over the chaos unfolding before his eyes. And yes. Including the fatalities. I'm vibrating.

My favorite moment, no surprise 😍

Forgive the quality of the photo, but Ta has such a great body, muscular, but in a natural, casual style 😍

[kissorkill16]

Me: *pulls out a long list* We're gonna be here a while.

First of all, I was thinking about stepping into Nicky's life a little more. I'd like to explain why he acts the way he does before/after he got kidnapped, why him and Delroy hate each other so much, and what he thinks and how he feels about his friends.

1. I came up with this multi-part series called "When We Were Once Happy", a story before Trinity moved to Raven Brooks. Bubba is present in this story, Aaron, Mya, and Lucy were Nicky's first friends, and Mr. Peterson is a genuinely nice guy. We could add some flashbacks to Nicky's life before he became the "town weirdo".

2. If you read some of @fazbearedits 's fanfics, you'll learn that they came up with the idea that Lucy and Mya are the Shadow Man, the incarnation of Nicky's fears. How they were the ones that mentally broke Nicky during his time in the basement and forced him to play games with them. I actually loved that idea, and I added onto that they were angry at the world for letting them die so early, and they were especially angry with Mr. Peterson because they thought he was the one responsible for their deaths. However, Lucy was the one who wanted revenge, Mya just wanted to be with her mother.

3. I'd write about how Trinity even found out about the Golden Apple Amusement Park in the first place, because in S2 EP 1, she just...knows. Like how did she find out that Golden Apple Amusement Park was a thing? Did someone tell her about it? Was it a scrapped scene that we don't know about? If I was writing the series, I'd actually take the time to show how she even finds out about these kinds of things and people.

4. @fazbearedits really went all in with their fanfics to show how much of a potential bitch Finch is. Read "Back To School" and "This Is Halloween", and you'll see what I'm talking about. The girl scout literally took a picture of his mental breakdown, printed it all around school, made everyone at the school laugh at him, and lied about it to the principal. Then she comes to school dressed as Nicky in an unbuckled straightjacket.

5. I'd expand on Finch's bitchiness too, but I'd also give her a redemption arc. Where she's threatened to apologize for her actions, and Nicky says she can make it up to her if she helps him and his friends out with the whole Crowface mystery.

6. Screw it, I'd give everyone who's a dickhead in this show a redemption arc. Except for the Forest Protectors, the Forest Protectors deserve death.

7. I wrote some fanfics about how everyone's starting to treat Nicky nicer after his kidnapping and mental breakdown at his house, and how Jay and Luanne promised to actually be there for him when he needed it.

8. In some of my fics, Mr. Murtaugh is like a 50/50 kind of villain. He's Nicky's therapist while at the same time, he's a Forest Protector. But as he keeps up the weekly therapy sessions with him, he starts getting a little attached to him.

9. After the second trailer for Season 2, I noticed that she's become a little hard on her friends, with all of the weight on her shoulders and how she's gotten more questions than answers. She starts ignoring her friends protests or how they tell her that she's going too far or working too hard. Then after she locks Nicky in the basement, she begins to see the errors of her ways and promises to be a better leader.

10. While I don't completely like the parents in WTRB, I think they could be good people too. With Jay and Luanne being neglectful to Nicky and Donald and Amanda (that's what I'm calling Mr. and Mrs. Bales) not being able to trust their daughter, I'd want to fix that too. After Mr. Peterson's arrest, Donald and Amanda promises to try to trust Trinity more.

11. I know some people think that Franklin is The Guest, and that could end up being true, but I also like to think that The Guest is just an evil crow demon that possesses Aaron Peterson.

12. Remember this from the pilot?

It'd be a big part of the story, it'd control the weather and be the entire source of the Forest Protectors power. Nicky would have it, having no idea what it does, but still holding onto it, because he knows whoever wants it is not to be trusted.

13. For the finale, I'd write a fic of how all the kids are at the Golden Apple Amusement Park, riding the Rotten Core rollercoaster, trying to get away from The Guest. The Guest dies in the end, Mr. Peterson burns his remains, and we move onto the next villain.

The Shadow Man.

[hughungrybear]

Why must Title bring chaos to every GMMTV series that he is in? 😅😅😅😅 At first, I thought Q is being unreasonable with his sudden jealousy (well, he is) but James (Title) confirming that there is probable cause for jealousy is ascending me 😂😂😂

[viscerawrites]

fearing what the light finds •/ a casual intro

genre •/ contemporary, eventual portal fantasy

overall goal •/ a series of connected short stories, currently planned to be posted on ao3 as written.

part of •/ project mixtape

target age range •/ 18+

tw •/ kidnapping, captivity, sexual assault, murder, attempted suicide (and ongoing suicidal ideation), depictions of trauma and mental illness, highly complex feelings around abusers, disordered eating, poor self-image, self-blame, generally dysfunctional behavior.

---

author's notes.

this series of short stories is part of a bigger project that i, for now, am calling mixtape - where i create a character and use the discography of a specific band to "document" the character's life story (or generally significant personal story).

fearing what the light finds is based around the discography of the band Spiritbox, and is currently planned to encompass all their songs up to their ep The Fear of Fear. any new music they release may or may not be added to the series; we will see!!

---

the gist of it.

fearing what the light finds follows the character of Eden Jade Heller. Kidnapped at the age of 19 and held captive for 9 years, Eden Jade is 28 years old when she murders her tormentor and attempts to end her own suffering, only to be saved by the faceless entity who comes to her in her dreams. Believing that it is there to guide her into death, she finds herself shocked and in disbelief when she wakes up in a world that is nothing like her own.

---

taglist: none yet!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - So Many GREAT Kisses!

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

(Please notice I am now using 6 dots in all ellipses because according to Taiwanese BL that's how we queers roll. Who am I to argue?)

Sept 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - A most excellent glow up. And it’s still a great show. And I cannot wait to see the many different faces of War. Bring on the Leverage of One action-packed mess. I'm waiting.  

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 9 of 12 - I’m gonna say this because it drives me crazy. Why are boys in BL, when out and about the countryside, always dressed inappropriately for Thailand? If it’s hot, takeoff your damn jacket. I don’t mean to be crass or crazy or whatever. But don’t wear a jacket when it’s 90° with 90% humidity. In Thailand, jackets are for malls. Meanwhile, I’m an extrovert and that still seemed like an exhausting trip. Although, I suppose they didn’t show all the drive time in the van, when everyone is asleep.

Meanwhile, why are the sides so frustrating in this show? Authentic friends-to-lovers is always a slog. Finally a kiss! And a decent one.

New character? Aw! Hi Yu!!!! Gosh Putter is so cute.

Where were we? Oh yes, Beer is now heartbroken. Always the great fear in F2L that the friendship will be destroyed as a result. And it’s a decent fear. 

On a completely different note, I cannot help but wonder when somebody’s chue len is Beer, if that is because beer was involved in their conception. Like, it’s the name you give your "oops baby" from that drunken night at the club. Don’t mind me. I’m just over here in the corner being crass.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 8 of 12 - That was one of the cutest wake up sequences ever depicted. Utterly adorable. And now he’s blind again? Oh my God this is such a soap opera, I can’t even. Meanwhile, wicked ice prince finally made his move. Gah! Why aren’t we getting more of this couple? I always love the sides best with this production house.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I love a hard fraught game of badminton. Even though we actually didn’t see play. YoIng claiming was so cute!!! And their shower kiss was v hot. Yay little show! Also cute use of the punishment trope!

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - The weight upon the shoulders of our idiot good guy kidnapper continues to pile up. So does the affection. The dude playing Q has sanpaku eyes. Cool. He’s not a particularly good actor though. Rough because everyone around him is giving their very best.

The problem is. I'm noticing. I shouldn't be noticing all the talent trying so hard. That usually means there is something wrong with the story, or there was something wrong on the set.

I don't know what to say at this juncture except I have the sinking suspicion this might not actually be a good show. (Covers head and cowers. Don't hate me.) I'd loved to be proved wrong, but my faith is GMMTV is only about 50% these days. And it probably should be lower.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 6 of 10 - I was so confused by how we suddenly got on a trip together, that I went back and re-watched the previous installment. And it still isn’t explained. So I have no idea why our leads are on a trip but apparently that’s the next trope to hit. I also have no idea how they're suddenly boyfriends. I’m just generally confused by this episode. It’s like an alt reality. We skipped over all of the stuff where they actually got into a relationship. In general I wasn’t wild about this episode.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 12fin - The most realistic thing about this show is that everybody is everybody else’s ex on any given set. I feel that in my bones. Or do I mean boner?

Frankly, both actors look better after a glow up and I guess pretending to be more their actual ages suits them? Considering what was actually done to invoke youth (a lot of the shine and gloss) aging them was an anti-glow up. A great mattification? Well...... this was a somewhat lackluster finale. (Thank you, thank you, the pun was unplanned. It's a gift.)

I don’t know. I guess I wanted to see Jane suffer? Work HARD to get the kid he abandoned back? I would’ve liked to have seen Ryan a little bit more competent and capable and his job. Maybe dating someone else. But I also do not want any more episodes. This was more than enough. So instead no separation, just boyfriends and a montage of their lives together, getting new and better jobs, moving in together, being supportive and sweet, etc... LOOK: It’s never a good sign when I immediately want to rewrite the show that I just saw.

In conclusion:

A story about a group of interns at a commercial video production company. While I genuinely love OffGun, I’m not convinced this was a good vehicle for them. Is it terrible for me to say, I miss their PickRome days? I don’t think they’ve ever had rolls that suited them better. Still, theirs was the best storyline in this ensemble piece masquerading as a BL, although they still fumbled the ending. Thus, I enjoyed about a 1/3 of it as much as possible, and 2/3 of it less than conceivable. 7/10 and I seriously considered dropping it to a 6/10 so don't push me.

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 15 - Not gonna lie I was very skeptical. But I like it fine. Better than I expected because it’s been changed just enough. But it does need to stay changed. I don’t know what I’m trying to articulate here but…... I guess we’ll see.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 3 of 5 - It’s cute in a weird disjointed way. I’m enjoying it enough, I guess. I do like how forthright and direct Kla is. 

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Ah. Bully romance. My old frenemy. Of course making this office based means +10 for workplace harassment. Well well well. This will be red flag party town I see. How VERY old school yaoi. It’s all very Cdrama CEO = dudes in suits walking on parquet (minus all the gay sex of course.) The jumping around between times and unfinished scenes is very strange. Is this Starhunter chaos only applied to a timeline?

Imma say this so they hear it at the back. YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE HAIR. If you do time jumps: change. the. hair. It's the easiest and best clue if you aren't going to apply a filter or other cinematography tricks. JUST CHANGE THE DAMN HAIR STYLE.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 9-10 of 12 - And now we all start using six dots in our……? A new coded way to indicate that one is into BL? I did think we were in a slight mire with ep 9, too much teacher filler. Not enough time spent with our boys. Meanwhile, sports day. Pouty Baby utilizing the power of Ge, in front of all of the classmates who do not realize how hard he is flirting and activating babygirl = one of the greatest things ever to happen on my screen. Essentially this was a version of the claiming trope, only nobody knew it but the two of them. Fucking genius. Yes, I watched it multiple times. Then babygirl is injured, the carrying and the flirting!!!! Gah!

I don’t mean to trivialize the show, but this is me and I can trivialize everything even something as brilliant as this. But that conversation about history at the beginning of ep 10...... Was that about topping and bottoming? Because it sure seemed that way.

And then...... Possibly the best only one bed trope twist ever?

This show is so fucking amazing.

And I am so worried about the end.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 7 of 10 - I love the kinkyness of our baby boy’s fantasy. Where he is the gift and his boyfriend is in uniform. Very nice. Thank you Japan. Never one to let kinky dogs lie. Also, the premise continues: one half thinks that they are already boyfriends and acts like it, and the other half is still trying to become a boyfriend. It’s absurd in that way that only Japanese miscommunication extraordinaire can be absurd. Also could Kyosuke be any more under his boy’s thumb? 

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 1-2 of 10 eps - Shiba is a top lawyer, angular aggressive bespectacled workaholic cat-type (Kitten? Babygirl? Tsundere? Some unholy combination of all 3?) I am reminded I should be more considerate of my potted plants. OMG the teasing and the little tongue sticking out. Haruto is such a flirt. I love this dynamic. What fun! Manic pixie dream boy but MAKE HIM EVIL! Or very high? Or a grifter? I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. But I’m enjoying it. It’s very...... very

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Oh! Good kiss. Smart to have the younger character initiate. I also like that he put a stop to it and then went and had a long conversation with a friend about it. Cautious boy. Also shows how in control of the situation Sea is becoming. It works for this BL since he has the stronger personality. I don't care what the characters say, this is about Sea becoming a rock for Neil.

But the secondary couple is actually winning this show. I want so much more of them. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 8fin - I’m not sure that blackmailing and entrapment, especially of your ex, necessarily justifies cheating. Plus I never like it when it’s gays against gays. But what did I expect from this show? This whole series was basically Korea’s version of messy gay. If you liked Only Friends you’ll probably enjoy this bullshit. And they were quite pretty. I, however, am monumentally displeased. 4/10 FATALLY FLAWED but still, basically, BL, however…... do we want to support this kind of behavior?

KOREA PLEASE GIVE US A NEW PROPER BL!! WHERE ARE YOU? WE ARE SAD AND LOST WITHOUT YOU.

It's like now they discovered boys can kiss they can't be happy.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. DNF 

In case you missed it

I FINISHED Meet You at the Blossom (China). I ate crow, binged the fucker, and live blogged the experience. I enjoyed it a lot and got quite witty (I think) there are also puns (warning). But if you don't wanna slog though it, here are my final thoughts:

This was undeniably a wuxia and most definitely a BL. Evil stunning princely Cheekbones meets and falls in love with the bisexual disaster Dimples of his dreams. There’s a lot of floaty fighting, tangled plot, and overworked emotions. From start to finish it is exactly as it claims to be, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming (dubious conscent to the point of rape). I’m not wild about the wuxia genre, but I will tell you what I do like: Very pretty men in flowing robes + eye makeup + hair ribbons wafting about stabbing and kissing each other plus ridiculous soap opera machinations. I also like cheekbones and dimples. AND I love a stupid gay sleeve, okay? There was also truly epic levels of stink-eye, and that too is to be lauded. This show left me grinning like crazy. Was it great? Not really, but it was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely. 8/10

4 Minutes (Gaga) Ended - Spies reported in to say the ending was not-exactly-unhappy and mostly lackluster. I'm torn over whether to watch. My natural disinclination to binge, meets my dissatisfaction with wishy-washy, is going up against my love of high heat and pretty men. Oh the age old struggle between art and lust.

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke finished and it’s reported to be solid. Age gap treated with respect. I'm curious, so I'll check it out if I can get hold of non-G-drive subs.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Still Coming Sept 2024:

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love love love this execution of the punishment trope. What's Ai going to do to you, Yu? Ride you to death?

I Saw You in My Dream indeed.

Sigh. This show. (Addicted Heroin)

All praise one of BL's best-in-show glow-ups. Nicely done, Jack.

James, on the other hand. Never needs a glow-up. Still the prettiest. Has been since Oxygen. (Battle of the Writers)

He's playing the role of Saint in this show, thank you very much. Speaking of which, wouldn’t that be just the most gorgeous pairing in the entire universe? Saint and James? I’ll be in my bunk. 

Taiwan giving us a boop! Reminds me of Be Loved In House I Do, right up there with TharnType as chronic boopers.

Why is he SO GOOD in this show?

All Frist Note.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[beesmygod]

JJBA PART 5, VENTO AUREO IS THE UNDERBAKED MESS I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT FIXING...PART 2

FIX 1: MORE KOICHI FOR THE MASSES

koichi! we love koichi, don't we folks? i know i do.

who's koichi? oh shit, that might be hard to explain.

pictured: koichi, in his dormant, yet most powerful, form.

if you DON'T recognize this little gremlin above, his appeal might be totally lost on you, and his appeal is necessary to understand if i'm going to convince you of what a fucking missed opportunity his narrative purpose could have been.

that's koichi hirose, the short king of morioh. i didnt think i would like him at all after realizing he was being set up as the deuteragonist and companion to the titular jojo of part 4, josuke. like, who the fuck was this little dork? get outta here! im here to see the joestars kidnap children and have homoerotic adventures. i am not here to be subjected to the trials and tribulations of a friendless, spineless, standless dipshit. i assumed he was going to be the designated joestar hypeman for the chapter, a role usually carved out for precocious children.

wrong! koichi gets hit with the stand arrow (the arrow the gives you stands, remember this) early on and gets dragged into a frightening battle of good versus evil right in his own backyard. the arrow and the responsibility that comes with it acts as the main catalyst for his transformation from nottie to hottie. in contrast to the bastardly joestars and their ilk, koichi is a genuinely kind, empathetic, and honest person; he's intended as a foil to the mischievous josuke. he brings to the table the platonic ideal of an every-man who rises gallantly to the challenges thrown at him because its the right thing to do. the series folds koichi as a main cast member to the point where he is one of the very few people on planet earth to draw a smile and praise out of jotaro kujo.

who's jotaro kujo? uhhh.

hmm. i'm getting to my point. but it might require a chart:

POINT: jotaro kujo, the man who probably has with the strongest stand in universe, who appears in 4 chapters out of a total of 9, and who is probably one of the most recognizable and beloved characters in manga history, trusts literally one person on the entire planet: koichi hirose.

SO:

when koichi shows up in part 5 right from the jump to act as the part 4 connective tissue, there is absolutely no reason why he can't stick around for longer than he does canonically so that he can satisfyingly fulfill his role as official vibe checker. let him be important!

---

oh my god, i can hear jojo fans groaning as they scroll through all that shit. so what?! did you make me read all that just to say "there should have been more koichi?!"

look, i need to make sure "we're" all on the same page and understand the perspective i'm coming from. "we", in this case, being the audience of both jojo fans this is primarily aimed at and fandom rubberneckers (greetings friends) who shouldn't have to comb a wiki exhaustively to decode my unhinged ramblings. it's essential background info that koichi is a fan favorite both in canon and in fandom. we gotta understand the role he wound up playing in the overarching struggle of good versus evil in his hometown to understand his narrative role in part 5.

YES. there SHOULD have been more koichi! but not just because we like to see him! he provides an established, trusted moral backbone for the audience. his reputation as a reliable guy is such that jotaro sends him on his own to investigate a young man who may be related to the dreaded bisexual nemesis of the joestar bloodline, dio brando. this is a big fucking deal. if dio has a kid that's really bad. how many backup plans did this guy have (answer: dude you have no idea).

---

ugh! part 5 koichi! if you really want to scream look up how he looks in the rohan spin off series.

in ep 1 of the "golden wind", koichi arrives in italy looking for our new jojo, giorno giovanna (who sucks, but that's a whole kettle of fish we can only barely touch on now). koichi, who has the street sense of one of those dogs that gets carried around in a luxury purse, instantly gets robbed by petty street criminal giorno in a rare burst of personality never seen again after this initial story-line.

okay whatever. after skipping a few eps, giorno and koichi team up to defeat the first stand together after drawing its ire during giorno's weird mafia test. the stand, black sabbath, stabs its victims with a stand arrow (the arrow that gives stands), causing them to either die or gain powers. this might be controversial, but its my personal opinion that its probably not good for a mafia to have a factory that creates jerks with super powers and its right to try to shut that down. after the fight, giorno reveals his dream to koichi of joining the mafia with the explicit purpose of reforming it from within. koichi promises not to report to jotaro about the fact that there's ANOTHER STAND ARROW until after giorno is initiated into the gang. god. jesus christ.

first of all, this GANG-STAR thing is the silliest shit anyone has ever heard. this is literally his for real goal throughout the entire story-line. which could have been great! but people within the fiction should react to this like hes telling them he's going to invent the first bicycle for fish instead of looking at him with the kind of wonder and glory you reserve for jesus christ himself. this train of thought leads to too many thoughts about giorno's lack of personality, so let's set it aside for now. i think giorno should maintain this insane goal, but he should actively have to convince people that he is capable of doing something that fucking nuts.

second, no way would koichi agrees to this absolutely braindead truce lol. koichi doesn't know giorno from adam; the sense we're supposed to get is that koichi innately senses that he's a good guy from his little speech and we, the audience, are supposed to take his word for it. but there is nothing convincing or authentic in how the situation plays out. there's a level of naivety/stupidity applied to the characters involved for this situation to work at all: i dont know why telling jotaro in florida that there's a stand arrow in italy would impact giorno's mafia standing at all. especially considering the arrow breaks and no longer functions shortly after giorno's initiation. koichi should find giorno's dreams and desires spurious and continue his investigation for jotaro, both to impress him and because its the right thing to do. he should also be like "heh, i took care of a stand arrow for you mister kujo". let him have another win. fuck it. why not.

third, koichi doesn't know that the stand arrow is destroyed and i have a hard time believing that he, a victim of said arrow, would do anything other than raise serious alarms over the proliferation of objectively evil stand users in italy where dio's son coincidentally happens to live. the following arc in which giorno and his new team mates go on a hunt for a hidden treasure should have been a series of demonstrations to koichi that italy was being cleaned up by a joestar (as opposed to the danger of being exploited by a brando) and was ultimately in good hands. this would require giorno to get some wins in during this time so he would actually have to do something for a change.

keeping koichi around long past where he does in canon could and should have given giorno a chance to demonstrate a different form of heroism to contrast the pure-hearted pursuit of justice championed by koichi. in eventually winning over a familiar and trustworthy character, giorno would have proved himself to be more than just "dio's son", a fact which should have hung over this part like a dark cloud.

but that's. that's next time.