#lgbtq web series

[wbywebseriesreviews]

Underrated LGBTQ+ Web series to Watch

Beck and Clem

Gay Mean Girls (1 & 2)

Project Green Gables

Four Pals and A Dog

Hamlet The Dame

REPRESENT: A Webseries

Five Reasons to Hate Christmas

Rome & Juliet

Away From It All

Brown Girls

[eortvofficial]

Eortv - Watch LGBTQ & lesbian Web Series,Tv Shows & Movies Online

India's first lgbtq oriented OTT platform offering a wide range of genres, including Romance, Love Stories, LGBTQ, Gay, lesbian, and many more. Install now @

[pigswithwings]

On Being Trans: We Have Always Been Here. We Are Here, With You.

Sources (top to bottom, left to right): The First FTM Contingent at San Francisco Pride 🏳️‍⚧️ Derek Mahon "Everything Is Going To Be Alright" 🏳️‍⚧️ @/ghostcauliflower 🏳️‍⚧️ Paul Eluard "No More Alone" 🏳️‍⚧️ DannyLaiLai "Hands" 🏳️‍⚧️ Buttons by Xanthra Mackay and Mirha-Soliel Ross 🏳️‍⚧️ Carolyn Rodgers "Such Beauty from Ashes"

[ineffable-opinions]

A Banned BL Series and A Banned BL Sub-genre

GaoGan (High Cadre, 高干) is a sub-genre of danmei, unique to BL from Mainland China. It involves characters who directly hold high position within the Communist Party (be it the political wing or the People’s Liberation Army) or are related to such characters.

Works belonging to this sub-genre was fairly common in the first decade of 2000. Now it's a banned sub-genre and we will get to the specifics of it and how that works.

A little bit about the society in which this sub-genre was created. Back then both Communist party members as well as military members could get away with pretty much anything. Society back then was a little bit more open to such practices and consequences for their actions were very limited. There was very little civilian oversight, so to speak. This meant that not only sons and daughters of high cadre but relatives including extended kin, held positions of power.

Naturally, it became a problem. For the State, I mean.

A lot of leaders now are kids of leaders from the past. They also hold in immense sway in all fields, both business and bureaucracy.

They can bag tenders and participate in those public private partnership projects and reap profits while outsiders would struggle. Laws could be bent and broken and no one could do anything to them. People suffer because of that. But you cannot really go to the police against them. Yeah, pretty messed up.

It is in this context that Addicted (你丫上瘾了) by Chai JiDan (柴鸡蛋) was first serialized. But it is in no way an extreme or a quintessential gaogan danmei. It's basically campus story in the first half with basic coming of age elements, highschoolers falling in love and lot of it is smut too.

But the threat of what their futures hold because of who they are especially Gu Hai, being the only son of his father who is a General, looms large even in first part. This is underplayed in the series compared to the novel.

Gu Hai grew up in that environment of power and reach. A lot of his rough nature is a product of such unbridled power that followed him from the cradle. His father is domineering. He is similarly domineering but with a holier-than-thou “kind” heart. He rebels against his father’s nature. He doesn't want to be the kind of person his father is. He is at the risk of becoming the monster he is fighting. He is extreme in his means, just as his father (and his late mother) and a bunch of other people such as Gu Yang and Gu Hai’s maternal uncle.

It is contrasted with how gentle and amicable Bai LouYin’s father and stepmother are, and how their lives are completely different. They don't really take any extreme steps and always pave path to reconciliation.

While Addicted sort of shows the contrast, it is not the highlight. There are novels which were written in the beginning of the millennium that showed extreme versions – focused on showing how bad it could get - be it of people getting away with that they should not get away with ideally and all sorts of bad things happening to people who have no control over their lives when it comes to people with power.

Corruption, nepotism and exploitation of power clearly are not good practices. The critique in Addicted is not on the face. It's very subtle. You need to understand what exactly is going on to understand the politics of Addicted. It is not just a random parent being despotic parent. It is because of very specific social setups. Gu Hai can coax, coerce and buy his way into changing public schools in the middle of semester, get Bai LouYin’s father a good job, treat officers on lower rungs as his personal servants and get things to work in his favour all because of the power he holds by just being General Gu’s heir. No one would dare to report his overreach because no one wants to offend General Gu lest he is less favorable to them in their time of need. Bai LouYin can avail benefits of switching schools and such since he is Gu WeiTing’s step-son.

What would give Gu Hai more power than being General’s son? Being a high cadre member himself. But doesn’t want that. From the beginning of the novel, Gu Hai rejects the military environment he grew up in. He doesn’t want to pursue his father’s footsteps.

Bai LouYin learns this when he pries into what Gu Hai wants to do with his life. Gu Hai makes it clear that he wants to pursue business. Bai LouYin dedicates his life to make that possible for Gu Hai. He does so by means joining PLA and thereby becoming his step-father’s protégé. In exchange, Gu Hai is free to live a free life. When he sets up his own manufacturing business, it is directly linked to supplying to the military and thus the exploitation of his connections that gives him a definite edge over his competitors from less privileged backgrounds continue – now as Bai LouYin’s brother too. So, he actually gets to become a rich man at a young age in his own right. It's not just Gu Hai whose business flourishes thanks at least in part to influence. Gu Yang and Gu Hai’s uncle (who seems to be powerful in his own right) too benefits from their connections.

It's something that Chai JiDan explores in a lot of her other works too, even though Counterattack and Advanced Bravely live action adaptations removed gaogan elements from turning characters into civilians.

That brings us to the de facto ban on gaogan. State doesn't want to encourage such kind of practices. It totally doesn't want it to be an aesthetic or a glorified romantic trope, especially in danmei.

Danmei actually have a mixed history with the State. Chinese government is notorious for crackdowns, jailing authors, shutting down websites, forcing self-censorship and purges that throttled danmei production and distribution. (More on this here.)

Lesser known is the part where State benefited from it. There was the shipping of real-life high cadre politicians.

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao and former Premier Wen Jiabao were shipped by fans. (source)

There were also the Little Pinks - groups of presumably (some critics argue that it is just a presumption) young women who are nationalistic verging on jingoism, who would endorse Chinese government and its policies on various platforms. They are called so because their brand of rhetoric first started in the danmei forum of JJWXC, a popular web-publishing platform. Little Pinks started out on this platform, scolding authors and readers who wrote what they didn’t agree with. They have pervaded other social media sites and are compared to the Little Reds of Cultural Revolution. Little Pinks captured public attention. They became quite an eyesore for the general public and other BL fans. But State machinery, especially its media, have showered them with praise on occasions.

State of things have changed over the years and there have been understandable public anger against the sort of behaviors high cadre politicians and their kin engaged in as well as the unfair advantage they enjoyed. The State had to curb nepotism and accumulation of power in the hands of those from political families. Exploitation of power couldn't explicitly depict or endorsed on media.  

The new rules are imposed through censors, self-censorship and editorial overreach and what not. Compared to earlier days of danmei, today’s BL production space looks very difference since sites have disappear. There used to be revolutionary potential, not just in terms of furthering the rights of the queer community but also in many other aspects of society. It has disappeared over the years through purging and authors growing tired. Popularization and commercialization of danmei actually did not benefit the way one would imagine. As BL fans’ grip over what they could say disappeared, a lot of new authors came in who from the very beginning were willing to adjust to these demands from the State and were writing to accommodate, if not outright support, what the State willed.

So, before the ban on gaogan, there was period where fics were written praising the high cadre and highlighting their goodness, generosity and patriotism while being perfect gentlemen, paragons of virtue, upright citizen who valiantly fought enemies of the State, both internal and external.

When it aired, Addicted was fairly popular. By his own admission, Andy Lau was watching it. While exact reason for the ban is not known, there is a lot of speculation. One of the most cited reasons is simply its popularity and how that attracting attention to queer people (through the pairing of a very masculine men who were unlike the stereotypical “sissies”) and queer rights.

Another was the substance abuse related words in title and ship name such as shangyin and hailouyin which is another topic that State scrutinizes. But then A Round Trip to Love had multiple criminal elements including spiking, confinement and sexual abuse that aired.

It's not like gaogan genre just died. Authors went interstellar on their stories. So now when you open Addicted in LCRead you will be greeted by an intro page which claims that the story is not set on Earth and is set in another galaxy blah blah blah. Lot of later authors actually decided to pursue the safe, sci-fi route and decided to stick to lanes that would let them tell these stories without actually irritating the State.

This work around method will last while it can.

Quite frankly, Addicted couldn't have been made in other countries with its very specific political setting. Its essence lies in Bai LouYin joining PLA to help Gu Hai forsake the path laid out for him and Gu Hai repaying with devotion while alternatively sinking and floating in high cadre life as son, brother and husband. This won’t work in countries with mandatory military service or where military and politics interweave in a dangerous manner.

Honestly, I am not knowledgeable about Thailand to interpret what it means for Hero to walk out of ror dor (army cadet) exam (thank you @pharawee for the explanation). Also, Thai government is fully dedicated to their plan of using BL as a soft power tool. I am not sure how to feel about the Thai adaptation, Heroin the series, given the production chose to situate the beginning of the story in 2018* (four years after 2014 coup d'état). Addicted becoming a propaganda tool in favor of military at the hands of any State is a disturbing scenario to say the least.

*There is a eight year break in the relationship between the main couple in the original novel.

Seems like second season isn't happening. Makes me wonder...

-

Link to novel translations.

[save-the-data]

Pit Babe | S01E10

Thai Drama - 2023, 14 episodes

Episodes | Gaga | Viki | YouTube | iQIYI | WeTV | Tencent | Catalogue

[jordanmilleraj]

[pokimoko]

Hey if you’re up for it, could you maybe do a trans coloured creature with an aroace sunset flag? No worries if not :)

I think this lil' guy counts as a creature. Enjoy!

[heartsoftitan]

Are you excited for our web series Hearts of Titan?✨

HoT is a queer comedy about aliens, sci-fi magic and found families. We're currently working on a fully animated trailer set to release next month!

Shares mean the world to us: LEARN MORE ABOUT HEARTS OF TITAN HERE

Website | TikTok | Youtube | Instagram | Twitter

Illustration by our wonderful lead concept artist: @zomibom

WE’RE LOCKED IN! 💥MAY 23RD!💥

What is a Prelaunch? 😳

A crowdfund prelaunch is the tool used before launching a campaign! It’s how we can stay in touch with interested backers! An email list is crucial to having a strong crowdfund launch.

Who should sign up? 👀

Anyone can! You don’t need an account to follow us, just an email! For those interested in helping to fund Hearts of Titan. Or for those who are uncertain and want to stay up to date with our campaign.

Any support helps us immensely! As we get closer to the project’s launch we will be sharing content more frequently here! We have a lot of plans in store! ❤️

[austin-friars]

'poem about bishop getting railed' OH MY GOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH. YOUR WORDS. YOUR WORDS. I love religious guilt and religion-influenced poems so much....PSOJDGPDOSJGHXSD thank you so much for answering my prompt❤️ You fed me enough for 100 years, but let's see:...'Deicide' maybe?

Thank you so much <3. Yes, I have such a thing for catholic religious imagery/religious figures in my works. Especially dripping an extra level of queerness and erotica; that adds to the guilt and confusion, but eventually an interesting type of love. it's why im really into catholic priests/protestants during like...the reformation or whatever or even before with the lollards. drama ensues. And you are so welcome, thank you for sending it. That said, I hope you don't mind if I make this one a prose - it's actually taken from one of my works! This is a little nsfw. But not too much.

Decide - come to a resolution in the mind as a result of consideration.

Hope you enjoyed! And I am always open to make more poetry based off of a one word prompt <3.

[100money]

[pigswithwings]

On Being Trans: Vengeance

Sources (top to bottom, left to right): Adolph von Menzel, "After the Torchlight Procession, Extinguishing of Torches on the Dönhoffplatz, Berlin" 📌 Philippe de Champaigne, "Saint Augustin" 📌 grocerystoretrip, "my own private nonexistence" 📌 rosebud-poet 📌 James Sant, "Courage, Anxiety and Despair: Watching the Battle" 📌 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, "Joan of Arc" 📌 Leopold Pollak, "Judith" 📌 Sade Sky, "the rebirth of a king"

[twitwir]

[save-the-data]

Pit Babe | Official Teaser

Thai Drama - 2023, 14 episodes Airs: Nov 17, 2023 

~~ Adapted from the web novel "Pit Babe" (พิษเบ๊บ) by _alittlebitch (also known as alittlebixth)

Upcoming 2023 Asian BL’s Q4

[jordanmilleraj]

[maybemockingbird]

Since my cozy horror, paranormal boys love romance web novel The Night Farm's first season is finally done on both Patreon and Tapas, I wanted to share the full wrap (small changes pending) to the physical edition with cover art by the amazing K. Lynn Smith! This series is perfect for fans of Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, and other cozy slice-of-life games and webcomics/manga, titles like Welcome to Night Vale, Gravity Falls, and Love Tractor. Pre-orders will open for the public on the 17th and include a small pre-order discount, a bundle of fun goodies, and you can upgrade to a coffee mug bundle, too!

I'm SO excited to share the physical edition with everyone, and I urge you all to check out the series on my Patreon (the book is available for $1 a month and season two will be coming along shortly) or my Tapas (on a several week delay). I ONLY sell my books through my website, so you'll have to buy directly from me if you want a physical copy, but I ship quickly and send goodies with every package!

[ann-planet]

Food in she loves to cook and she loves to eat (2022) • Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (2022)