#me? posting meta about a show that ended in 2014?

[arshipweek]

AR Ship Week - Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

This is the last weekly post in the lead up to Alex Rider Ship Week. Only one week left!

This week we have a guest post by @icebluecyanide​ about the differences between Scorpia in the book and TV canons.

Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

After two seasons of ominous statements and mystery, series three of the TV show finally dove deeper into the criminal organisation known as Scorpia, and the way their history intertwines with Alex’s. But what is their backstory, and how does it differ from what we see in the books? 

In this meta, I will be diving into some of the changes in how Scorpia is presented in the book (Scorpia) and the TV show. Since this is a rather broad topic, and could potentially lead to me listing every single difference from the book, I will focus specifically on the Scorpia backstory and on the structure of Scorpia as an organisation.

I’ve used book quotes throughout this meta, including page numbers. The page numbers refer to the 2014 Walker Books (UK) edition.

Scorpia 

Let’s start this off by taking a look at how Scorpia is described in both the book and the show. I’ll first give an overview of Scorpia in the book, then move on to the TV show and do a comparison.

Scorpia in the book

Scorpia was all over the world. It had brought down two governments and arranged for a third to be unfairly elected. It had destroyed dozens of businesses, corrupted politicians and civil servants, engineered several major ecological disasters, and killed anyone who got in its way. It was now responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism, which it undertook on a contract basis. Scorpia liked to think of itself as the IBM of crime - but in fact, compared to Scorpia, IBM was strictly small-time. (Scorpia, p. 39)

In the book, Scorpia is a criminal organisation that has its roots in the early 1980s, during the last decade of the Cold War. As we learn in Scorpia (2004), it was founded by people who were involved in the Cold War as spies or assassins or secret police for various governments, and who realised that as the Cold War came to an end, they would be able to make more money going into business for themselves.

It was a fanciful name, they all knew it, invented by someone who had probably read too much James Bond. (Scorpia, p. 38)

The name of Scorpia is taken from their four fields of operation: Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Asassination. They will take on any client that is willing to pay them, and don’t care about who gets caught in the crossfire. They’re a powerful organisation, and as Julia Rothman mentions, sometimes even the intelligence agencies make use of their services for jobs that cannot be traced back to them. They operate very much as a business, and they don’t make things personal, but they also are ruthless in getting even and don’t make hollow threats. Scorpia don’t forgive and they don’t forget.

Scorpia is led by an executive board consisting of the original founders. Of the original twelve, only nine remain at the time of the book, including Julia Rothman (the only woman on the board) and Max Grendel (the oldest executive). The executives on the board are equal partners, but for each project one of them is assigned as the leader, in alphabetical order. (It’s unclear how this works for The Australian, who in some editions doesn’t have a name.)

At the time of the book, the project that Scorpia is focused on is Invisible Sword, and the executive in command is Julia Rothman. There is a client, who is offering a great deal of money for Scorpia to break the special relationship between the UK and the US, and most of the Scorpia board seem unconcerned about the principal target of the weapon being children. The only exception to this is Max Grendel, who is old and has grandchildren of the same age, who has enjoyed getting rich working for Scorpia over the years, but who now wants to retire and not be a part of the new project. Sadly, his retirement gift is a suitcase full of deadly scorpions, so his retirement is rather brief.

Scorpia are an international company, with offices and people all over the world. However, Alex first runs into them in Venice, where Mrs Rothman has a large mansion on the grand canal that is referred to as the Widow’s Palace. On the island of Malagosto, near Venice, Scorpia also has a school where they have a training and testing facility for their assassins. This is where John Rider and Yassen Gregorovich were tested and trained, and it’s where Alex also takes part in lessons. 

Scorpia in the show

Blunt: At that time, we already knew that SCORPIA were the single most dangerous emergent threat since the Cold War. (3x07)

At first glance, the Scorpia we meet in the TV show appears to be from a canon divergent AU where the organisation was all but destroyed around the time when Alex was just a baby. This is a fascinating change, and also makes intuitive sense, as of course the third series of the show came out twenty years after Scorpia (2004) did. From the start, we get hints that Scorpia in the show is different from the one in the books. 

We first learn of the name Scorpia at the end of s1, as Mrs Jones and the rest of the Department realise that Yassen Gregorovich was behind Ian’s death, and that he is still alive. Going by the descriptions we are given, Scorpia was as powerful in the past as they were when Alex met them in the book:

Smithers: I know the file, of course. At one point, they were responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism. 

Crawley: And political assassinations, personal vendettas. All available to the highest bidder, without remorse or compunction. (1x08)

In 2006, Scorpia was taken down by the Department, in a well-coordinated operation based on the info John Rider was able to gather. Alan Blunt was in command as all over the world, the bases and known locations of Scorpia were raided. In the chaos, some members of Scorpia went missing and managed to escape, such as Julia Rothman and Yassen Gregorovich, but when they failed to resurface in the five years that followed, their files were closed and they were assumed to be dead.

After this, Scorpia seem to have retreated to the shadows, and operated almost entirely in secret. While they no longer have the same presence in the world, they still have both funds and technology to continue their work. They have no problem spending several millions to fake the payment for the assassination of the US president in season 2 at Yassen’s request, and they have a system set in place with a phone line that can be reached only with a specifically assigned code, or else the number will be disconnected, as we see when the Department pretend to call as Martin Wilby to determine who he got his orders from. In the first two seasons, Scorpia took jobs such as helping with Dr Greif’s plan at Point Blanc, and Damian Cray’s Eagle Strike plan, and they still appear as ruthless as in the book, not caring about the deaths those plans would cause.

At first, we mostly encounter Scorpia in the scenes with the Department, where Scorpia (through Yassen) have turned Martin Wilby to pass on information about the Department and got him to lure Ian Rider to his death at Yassen’s hand. Interestingly, Ian appears to be the only person still looking for Scorpia:

Crawley: I don’t think they ever went away. I think they just got better at hiding. And we were so confident we’d finished them. Only Ian was still looking, of course. (1x08)

Ian seems to have been aware of Yassen’s survival, and presumably who he works for (“Oh Martin, you have no idea who you’re working for.” - 1x01), but none of the rest of the Department have any idea until Alex mentions having seen Yassen at Point Blanc:

Blunt: Scorpia.Mrs Jones: It explains everything. The sophistication, the global reach, and Wilby. Given our history, of course they would target us.Crawley: But we finished them.Blunt: Well, clearly not. (1x08)

In season three, we see Alex (together with Tom and Kyra) actively looking for Scorpia by visiting old locations mentioned in the files on Smither’s phone (that Kyra stole). These include Berlin and Venice, where presumably Julia Rothman had her Palace like in the book. They end up finding Julia in Malta, where she is from. This is a change from the books, where she is Welsh. We meet Nile, her apparent second-in-command, and Max Grendel, who apparently also survived the takedown.

As Alex is pulled into Scorpia, we also learn that they are planning an operation called Invisible Sword. Unlike in the book, this is not a job they took on for a client, but something Julia Rothman came up with personally. As the season goes on, we discover that while she explained it as a way to demonstrate Scorpia’s power and boost their reputation, the real objective was to take revenge against the Department for the blow they dealt Scorpia seventeen years ago.

Scorpia Leadership

Let’s narrow in further for a moment on the question of who is in charge in Scorpia. There do appear to be some changes in the leadership of Scorpia in the TV show, and part of these can be explained by the canon divergence, while others suggest that perhaps this has always been a different Scorpia. Firstly, it’s good to note that instead of talking about an executive board, the leadership are referred to as council members:

Nile: I wondered if perhaps one of the other council members decided to push their luck. (3x01) 

In general, the show appears to have less of a ‘business’ vibe compared to the book. It may be that this is a change that only came with the new Scorpia, but this may also always have been different in this universe. Similarly, we hear that Julia Rothman was elected as leader, which suggests that also the way of picking a leader isn’t the rotated schedule from the books. It appears that Julia Rothman has been elected after the failed jobs with Dr Greif and Damian Cray, in an attempt to bring Scorpia back to prominence.

Razim: We elected you because you promised to restore our influence globally. And so far, we have seen nothing. (3x01)

Speaking of Razim, we get another change from the book. The name Razim is a reference to one of the new board members brought on in Scorpia Rising in the books, and he wasn’t present in the original Scorpia book. It makes sense that with most of the organisation taken down years ago, they will have filled their ranks with new members. However, there is some suggestion that perhaps Razim was actually part of Scorpia leadership before Julia:

Julia: Razim’s always resented me. He thinks when Nicolai died, inherited my place at the table. (3x01)

Julia Rothman

Max: And besides, we both know you earned your place. (3x01)

It appears that unlike in the books, Julia Rothman was not a founding member of Scorpia in the show. This also matches up with what we learn about her from the Department file on her, where it states she ‘possesses broad knowledge of Scorpia Operational Structure and is being groomed for command’. She was most likely part of the inner circle through her husband Nicolai, given the comment about inheriting her place.

Nicolai Rothman/Mrs Rothman’s husband definitely appears to have been alive and married to her for longer in the TV show than in the book, although in both she is eventually known as the Widow.:

Mrs Rothman’s multimillionaire husband had fallen to his death from a seventeenth-storey window. It had happened just two days after their marriage. (Scorpia, p. 45)

Also an amusing detail is that in the book Nicolai Rothman is a multimillionaire, while in the TV show he’s referred to as a billionaire. Julia Rothman is canonically richer in the TV show!

Malagosto

Let’s take a moment also to look at the differences in how Malagosto is portrayed in the two canons. In both the show and the book, Malagosto is a training facility for Scorpia operatives, but that appears to be where the similarities end. The location is different in the two canons, with it being on an island near Venice in the book, and on Malta in the show. Specifically, we discover that there is a Scorpia base located underground in an old Cold War listening post on Malta. It might be that the original location had to be abandoned after Scorpia was raided, but the fact that The Department show no recognition to the name later suggests that they have never heard of it before. Definitely, the base in Malta was not known before. 

This raises some questions about whether John Rider actually trained at Malagosto in the show as he did in the book. We do have the following quote from Julia Rothman, which if taken literally suggests that he was on Malta with Alex:

Julia: Twenty years ago, your father stood where you are now. Ready to join Scorpia. (3x04)

However, if John trained at Malagosto, it is strange that this location wasn’t known to the Department or raided in the operation to take down Scorpia. So perhaps the quote should be taken metaphorically, with Alex being about to join Scorpia as his dad was, and perhaps John never trained with Scorpia. After all, in the book, he was likely only tested rather than trained, so he may have been tested elsewhere and simply put to work.

THE STUDENTS

Another difference related to Malagosto concerns the students or recruits who are present when Alex is there. In the book, d’Arc (the principal or headmaster of the school) mentions that there are usually around ten to fifteen students. Most of them appear to be people who were either part of the intelligence world or soldiers who have defected:

Alex knew all of them by now. There was Klaus, a German mercenary who had trained with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Walker, who had spent five years with the CIA in Washington before deciding he could earn more working for the other side. (Scorpia, p. 174)

They are people similar to John Rider, who already have had training of some sort that makes them suitable for Scorpia. In this sense, the school is firstly a testing facility, where Scorpia checks if people have the right skills to become part of Scorpia. Alex himself is an exception due to his age, but as d’Arc and Mrs Rothman discuss, he already has experience from both his missions and his uncle’s and MI6’s training. The other students are all older, but treat Alex surprisingly well and are friendly to him.

In the show, the recruits are all orphans and likely closer in age to Alex himself. There is no indication that Alex himself is an outlier in terms of his age. The other recruits also don’t appear to have had prior training if we take Alyona and Oleg as examples. They seem to have been children without families, either taken from orphanages or similar. Some, like Oleg, may have shown a propensity for violence which drew Scorpia’s interest, but they were not the trained soldiers or intelligence agents we see in the books.

This change could perhaps have been a result of Scorpia needing to operate from the shadows. While in the books they could recruit rather blatantly and without worrying about being noticed, they have tried to keep a low profile in the show. Perhaps they have shifted to training teenagers into operatives instead, as they have ‘No baggage, no background. It helps.’ (3x04).

It’s also noteworthy that there are only four other students aside from Alex present at Malagosto. Again, this is easily explained by Scorpia having shrunk in size and operating in more secrecy, and no doubt it made it easier for them to make the commitment of training teenagers. Sadly for Alex, they are not as nice as in the book, and he gets beaten up for being seen as weak on his first day there.

THE BUILDINGS

Another change seems to be in the buildings themselves. As mentioned, Malagosto in the show is located in an old listening post dating back to the Cold War, and that’s reflected in the lack of natural light and the bare, metallic and industrial vibes of the interior. The listening post also appears to be on a remote part of the island, but all that’s visible on the surface is a few abandoned buildings, and Scorpia seem to keep their presence low-key. 

In the book, we see the same outside appearance of abandoned buildings, as Scorpia has retrofitted an old monastery for their needs. The appearance is deceptive, however, as the insides have been modernised and Alex’s own room is much more luxurious than the one he gets in the show:

They left the main building and walked over to the nearest apartment block that Alex had seen from the boat. Again, the building looked dilapidated from the outside but it was elegant and modern inside. Jet showed Alex to an air-conditioned room on the second floor. It was on two levels, with a king-sized bed overlooking a large living space with sofas and a desk. There were french windows with a balcony and a sea view. (Scorpia, p. 164)

Alex was left alone. He sat down on one of the sofas, noticing that the room had a fridge, a television and even a PlayStation 2 - presumably put in for his benefit. (Scorpia, p. 165)

The other buildings are similarly updated, and students can train outside as the island is sheltered by trees and away from the mainland. It makes sense that in the show this is less of an option, because Scorpia are much more motivated to keep their presence hidden from the authorities. In the book, they have a legal reason to be there, as they bought the island on a lease from the Italian government, but in a world where Scorpia is assumed to be destroyed, they would need to be more careful. This explains why we only see the students go outside once for training, and that was during a night incursion exercise.

THE TEACHERS

Malagosto is a training facility, and a training facility needs instructors. This plays a larger role in the book, where we are introduced to several of the teachers at Malagosto in Alex’s time there. There is Gordon Ross, the technical specialist who teaches about weapons and explosives, Professor Yermalov, who teaches martial arts and practical skills, and Ejijit “Jet” Binnag, who teaches Botany (focused on poisonous plants). There are classrooms and textbooks and lessons as if it were a real school, but also more practical lessons such as diving and gun practice.

In the show, it’s a bit unclear who normally teaches at Malagosto. We only see two people acting as instructor – Nile and Yassen – and Yassen appears to have been assigned to Alex as a tutor rather than having general teaching duties. Nile appears to take on the role of instructor, but we also see him running around taking care of things for Julia Rothman outside, so he can’t be a full-time teacher. Perhaps we simply don’t see other instructors (much like how we don’t see the catering at Malagosto), or the training is handled more informally, with students working on their skill individually as we saw Syl doing in her first appearance.

One other thing related to the teaching at Malagosto is that in the book, John Rider is mentioned to have been an instructor there. During this time, he was also in charge of Yassen’s training for a while. This isn’t mentioned in the show, and while we get Alex asking if John trained with Yassen, we never get an answer. As Malagosto wasn’t known to the Department, as mentioned before, John was probably not a teacher in this universe.

Since we already touched on him briefly, let now take a look at John Rider and his mission to dive deeper into some of the changes.

John’s mission

Blunt: The intelligence John gathered during that time enabled us to strike at the very heart of Scorpia. Within months, we’d dismantled their entire operation. (3x07)

Based on what we are told, John’s mission is largely the same in both the book and the series. We learn that John was a decorated soldier who was in the Parachute Regiment and had seen combat before (in Afghanistan and Iraq in the show, Northern Ireland, Gambia, and the Falklands in the book). But everything seemed to go wrong for him when he killed a man in a bar fight, and was sentenced for manslaughter. 

He goes to jail for two years in the show, while in the book Mrs Rothman claims he was there for less than one, and there is some ambiguity about whether he went to jail at all:

“Everything Julia Rothman thought she knew about your father was a lie.” Mrs Jones sighed. “It’s true that he had been in the army, that he had a distinguished career with the Parachute Regiment and that he was decorated for his part in the Falklands War. But the rest of it — the fight with the taxi driver, the prison sentence and all that — we made up. It’s called deep cover, Alex. We wanted John Rider to be recruited by Scorpia. He was the bait and they took him.” (Scorpia, p. 347)

Scorpia took the bait, and John was recruited by Scorpia. In the show, we learn that John spent three years embedded in Scorpia, learning names and details about the organisation, including their long term goals and ambitions. In the book, the timeline is fuzzier, but we know he spent several months in the field as an assassin before working as an instructor at Malagosto. We are simply told that he ‘had told [MI6] as much as [they] needed to know about Scorpia’ (Scorpia, p. 348).

The reasons for breaking off the mission were similar then in both the show and the book. The risks were increasing, John had discovered most of what he set out to discover, and Helen was pregnant with Alex and John wanted to be with his family. In the book, we also specifically learn that there was a risk due to Julia Rothman, who had fallen in love with him. 

This is a point where the canons seem to deviate slightly, because the show is more explicit about John being asked to get close to Julia Rothman. The file on the Widow (Julia Rothman’s codename) mentions that a Department operative Hunter (John Rider) was assigned to develop a relationship. Julia Rothman herself told Alex that his dad was a ‘very close friend’ of hers, and showed him what are clearly love letters describing John’s feelings for her (3x03). 

Now, some of this is also in the book. Julia Rothman tells Alex she was very attracted to his father, and that he was a handsome man. And one of the letters from the show is taken straight from the book: 

My dearest Julia, A dreary time without you. Can’t wait to be at the Widow’s Palace with you again. John R. (Scorpia, p. 151)

Interestingly, we do see that Julia apparently went by her code name despite the fact that she and John became close enough over the years that she passed him information about Scorpia. John himself was known as Hunter to the Department rather than this being his Scorpia code name like in the book (although the code name isn’t mentioned in Scorpia itself). He signs the letter with his initials JR in the show, and she clearly knew him as John Rider.

It’s well possible given the way Julia Rothman doesn’t mention Alex’s mother in her initial story to Alex about John, that she was not aware at the time that he was married or that John was already with Helen. In the book, she specifically mentions that while she was attracted to him, he was married to Alex’s mother, suggesting that they never acted on the attraction.

The story of John’s capture is roughly the same, there is a trap set for him (on Malta in the book), and he is captured. A few weeks later, Scorpia kidnap a senior British civil servant (or his son, in the book) and MI6/The Department make them an offer to return John Rider to them in an exchange. This takes place on Albert Bridge in the book, while in the show it’s on another bridge somewhere. John’s death is faked, and the idea is that he will be given a new identity along with Helen and Alex so they can live quietly and without Scorpia knowing he was actually a spy.

This is the point where we get the biggest divergence in the backstory, as in the show the information gathered by John’s mission is enough to take down most of Scorpia. The operation is largely orchestrated by Alan Blunt, which is part of why Julia Rothman’s plot in the show is also aimed at him:

Mrs Jones: I’ve been looking at how we brought down SCORPIA 17 years ago. Really was an astonishing operation. Dozens of agents. Coordinates across three continents. Forty-seven key figures, dead or arrested. The entire SCORPIA hierarchy decimated overnight. You waged a private war against Scorpia, made it your mission. (3x06)

It’s not specified whether the take down of Scorpia happened before or after John and Helen’s plane was blown up by a bomb. Blunt tells Alex that ‘within months’ they were able to dismantle Scorpia’s entire operation, while Julia Rothman took six months to track John down. It seems more likely that Scorpia was taken down first, as this would give the Department an extra reason not to suspect Julia Rothman as being behind the bomb on the plane. Blunt’s reaction to Alex’s suggestion that it was Julia Rothman suggests that they didn’t have a clear suspect for all those years, which makes sense if Scorpia were believed to be defeated and not heard from again (aside from the bombing of the plane itself). WIth Scorpia gone, it also makes sense that perhaps someone became too careless in hiding the fact that John Rider is alive, as there would have been less reason to worry. 

In the book, we are first told merely that there was a bomb on the plane, which exploded and killed John and Helen and the pilots instantly. Mrs Jones and Alan Blunt seem to have no doubt about it being Julia Rothman, who had discovered the truth, although they are not clear on how she learned about it. MI6 learned valuable information about Scorpia through John’s time as an undercover spy, but they either don’t know enough to take Scorpia down for good or they don’t act on their information. 

In a way, the book takes a more cynical approach to the relationship between Scorpia and MI6. Scorpia are too large to take down completely, and any half-hearted effort to destroy them will lead Scorpia to seek revenge. And if you can’t beat them… As Julia Rothman herself points out, the secret services may nominally oppose Scorpia, but they are not above making use of their services:

The secret services can’t do anything about us. We’re too big and they’ve left it too late. Anyway, occasionally some of them make use of us. They pay us to do their dirty work for them. We’ve learnt to live side by side! (Scorpia, p. 132) 

Wrapping it all up

So what does it all add up to? As we’ve seen, the show’s portrayal of Scorpia shows an organisation that was nearly brought down seventeen years ago, and that has been operating in secrecy ever since. This single divergence explains most of the differences that we see in the present day structure of Scorpia, from younger recruits to the new leadership. However, we also saw that some aspects have always been different in this universe. The code names for both Julia Rothman and John, as well as the fact that John never mentioned Malagosto show that the backstory in the show was different even before Scorpia was taken down.

In the end, Scorpia is a different organisation in the book and the show, but in many ways it is also still the same. They are a group of people who are ruthless in their pursuit of power and money, who have no compunction about killing and even enjoy it. Scorpia may have been brought to the brink of destruction in the show, but even while hidden from the world, they have been able to keep up their activity for seventeen years. 

Until they encountered Alex Rider, that is… :) 

[fantastic-nonsense]

hey i saw your answer to the ask about alfred making damian robin in battle for the cowl. while i 100% agree that is not what happened in bftc, outside of that comic i think alfred has a lot more involvement. im not sure if this is a post-crisis exclusive blog, but in secret origins (2014) #4 we see alfred's feelings on damian and his conclusion that damian would listen to no one else except his father. so alfred forges a letter from bruce that asks damian to be robin. the end of the comic shows that dick knows alfred forged that letter but imo leaves it pretty open-ended as far as dick's decision. if you ask me, i think dick talked to alfred about damian being his robin or alfred picked up that things were going to way and decided to pull this to make that transition easier for everyone. sorry is this is weirdly nitpicky or contrarian im just really a sucker for alfred and damian's relationship.

[referencing this response on how the transition from Tim to Damian as Robin was handled]

Preface: I am not a post-Crisis universe exclusive blog (far from it), but since 1) the New 52 era's attempts at dealing with the Batfamily are a mess and a pain to deal with for a variety of reasons, and 2) the post-Crisis universe was and remains the definitive interpretation for most of the Batfamily's history and the basis for their interactions with each other, it's what I tend to default to when writing meta...especially in cases where the events under discussion originally happened in post-Crisis continuity. The exceptions to that tend to be characters introduced post-Flashpoint (ex: Duke), who have no previous continuity bogging them down, and characters who have had the majority of their stories and development take place post-Flashpoint (ex: Damian).

That being said, while I am aware that Secret Origins (2014) and particularly that story exists and have read it, I tend to default to ignoring it for a few reasons:

One, it's a story whose events make little sense within either post-Crisis continuity or post-Flashpoint continuity as they otherwise exist; minimally, the timeline doesn't match up in either case.

More specifically for the purposes of writing a meta about the transfer of the Robin mantle from Tim to Damian, it rewrites Damian into the pre-Reborn era Batfamily very awkwardly by pretending he was always there. It shows a League clothes-clad Damian taking on Victor Zsasz and Professor Pyg (which he did not do until he was already Dick's Robin) while pretending that Bruce had time to try and connect with him before he "died" (which, he didn't; Damian appears in two stories prior to Battle for the Cowl—Batman & Son and Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul—and his interactions with Bruce are fairly minimal in Resurrection).

It is a clumsy attempt to integrate Damian into the pre-Batman R.I.P timeline that ignores all of the ways in which Damian's early relationships with his father and the rest of the Batfam (particularly Dick and Tim) are directly informed by the fact that he wasn't there during that time period:

[Alfred, Dick, and Tim watch The Magnificent Seven in Wayne Manor in the immediate aftermath of Bruce's death. Damian is not present, as he was still living with Talia. An empty chair between Dick and Tim marks Bruce's usual 'movie night' seat] -Nightwing #151 (2009)

I thus find it very unhelpful to use in any capacity when discussing and analyzing interactions between those characters in the aftermath of Bruce's death.

Two, while I have no love for Battle for the Cowl, Tomasi effectively ignoring it completely beyond "Gotham was in chaos following Bruce's death" doesn't sit right with me either, especially since it was referenced (even obliquely) in several other New 52-era books.

Three, I love Alfred and Damian's relationship. I think it's one of Damian's most important relationships and we should talk more about it. But I also love Alfred and Dick's relationship, so I'm not particularly enamored with a reimagining where Alfred is the one who orchestrates Damian's takeover of the Robin mantle largely unilaterally. That's not his call to make beyond a suggestion to Dick that it might be good for him. I also think it takes a lot of agency away from Dick in the one transfer of his mantle that he canonically actually has control over and undermines a big aspect of Dick and Damian's relationship development to take those decisions out of Dick's hands and give them to "Bruce."

Four, and probably most importantly: that story is never referenced before or after that issue. That origin for Damian is long gone. Its portrayal of his childhood was revamped in Robin: Son of Batman. Its reconceptualization of Damian's entrance into the Batfamily has not been acknowledged since. DC's larger refusal to acknowledge Dick and Damian's time as Batman and Robin beyond subtle references ended during the Rebirth era. New 52!Tim quite literally wasn't Tim Drake and was only restored to being himself again post-Rebirth, so 99% of the interactions between Tim and Damian from 2011-2016 have been effectively discarded as non-canon. And whenever Damian becoming Robin is referenced after Secret Origins #4, it is nearly always referenced as Dick choosing him as Robin rather than him becoming Robin "at his father's request." So there's little incentive for me to acknowledge it given that it generally appears to not be canon beyond the scope of the New 52 era of post-Flashpoint continuity.

I'm sorry that this probably isn't the answer you wanted to read, but I hope this gives you a better idea of why I specifically choose to stick to post-Crisis and post-Rebirth continuities when discussing the transfer of the Robin mantle from Tim to Damian.

[explosionshark]

Your turn!

It's halfway through the year! Got any favorite albums/books/tv shows/whatever to recommend?

thanks to you @badwolfwho1 who both asked me!

music:

right off the top i'm gonna recommend 3 pop albums bc i almost never have this many TO recommend. but tei shi's valerie, empress of's for your consideration, and shygirl's club shy EP have all been on constant repeat for me this year.

big year for metal also - in particular crypt sermon, job for a cowboy, darkest hour, gatecreeper, aborted and tzompantli were all incredible. i feel like between seeing them live and the release of cure, this is the first time erra has really clicked for me and i'm loving it.

for post-hardcore i've loved the debut LPs by with sails aheads and your ghost in glass. the EP lonely people by love rarely was on repeat for me for weeks also - really great stuff.

i got heaven by mannequin pussy slaps too. and i also really, really want to recommend you could do it tonight by couch slut - if you love the queasy, depraved noise that chat pile make, you absolutely should be listening to couch slut.

i threw a couple little playlists together to roundup some of my faves:

(extended version here)

honorable mention: as was really apparent from my charts this year, i spent A LOT of time listening to the saosin s/t again. but also got really back into grouper this year - especially her 2021 album shade, which i missed entirely when it came out.

books:

okay for music i focused mostly on 2024 releases but for books i won't be so strict.

shirley jackson: a rather haunted life by ruth franklin was REALLY good and provided a lot of great insight into jackson's work and also just had some really interesting history in it. really enjoyed it.

hit so hard by patty schemel a rock music and addiction memoir by the drummer of Hole. very dark and upsetting at points, but compelling. was very illuminating re: the 90s seattle music scene and the drug culture around it, provided a lot of context and detail to some stuff i thought i already knew about. really great stuff.

penance by eliza clark - this is a fake true crime book that REALLY got under my skin. it's a meta commentary on true crime as a fandom and an industry and the exploitation inherent in it. it's a mirror to make you stare at your own internal biases. it's SO fucking 2014 tumblr. i've gotten like three other people to read it and they all went insane like me. highly recommended.

hex by thomas olde heuvelt - very late to the party on this one but i loved it. translated AND localized from dutch, with very interesting results. almost goofy to start and ends up totally bleak. i adored it.

magic for beginners and white cat, black dog by kelly link - REALLY falling in love with kelly link this year. read these two and currently re-reading stranger things happen and i just adore her style. weird but SO heartfelt, surreal and dreamy, as often horrifying as it is sweet. she's so talented, i'm really excited to read the book of love later this year.

between two fires by christopher buehlman - FINALLY read this and i loved it. absolutely deserves the hype. kinda wild that dark ages horror isn't more of a thing? i re-read buehlman's the blacktongue thief too and really loved it, definitely cemented it as one of my favorite fantasy books. i'm reading the daughters' war now and enjoying it a lot.

i also re-read the golden enclaves by naomi novik and had such a great time with it.

tv shows:

finished my buffy re-watch! been watching a ton of xena with @holdsteady and @nataliving this year too - we just finished s3 and it was insane and i loved it soooo much.

i watched under the bridge and thought it was very good, but i'd recommend people learn a little about the real reena virk case before engaging.

hacks season 3 was INSANE it made me crazy i loved it so much.

haven't watched much tv aside from that!

[violivs]

NMTDaily: And So It Begins

- Beatrice’s first vlog! What an opening line, I love it lol. I remembered the hand wave on “hello, people of the Internet” having a wider arc across the screen than it actually does, funny enough! Glad I didn’t specify the wide wave when I referenced this line in MARRIED, the fic I posted on the 25th.

- “I’m not too old for Halloween”, girl after my own heart!

- Always thought it was interesting that Bea’s mother is American. I wonder how/why they decided that. It’s the kind of super specific detail that makes Bea feel so real, because who would make that up? It’s also interesting that it means Bea and Ben’s families are both somewhat international. Another parallel for them, another thing they have in common.

- I bet the Aunties’ wedding was the cutest thing ever, imagine Hero and Leo standing up with them! That’s probably the last time all of the Dukes were together before the story starts.

- I’m surprised Bea’s parents moved because her dad got a promotion. I would have assumed her mom did, because we get the impression of her as the high-powered businesswoman. But good for Bea’s dad. Is it canon that he’s a university professor? (Promotion = tenure?) Or did I make that up for fanfic and/or confuse him with Ben’s parents being professors in canon? Listening for that. Maybe Bea’s dad was actually also a business person all along and that’s how her parents met. Who knows.

- Bea says Australia like I say Indiana, lol (no hate to anyone from Indiana though! Just another of those inborn rivalries with the neighbor, like the Oz/NZ one.)

- “A great science program” I forgot Bea was a science person!

- I always loved the set decoration in this room, I remember it’s Hero’s room, and it’s so artsy and cozy and pretty. Love the wall art.

- “Leo and I are in charge of the house for the next six months” Excuse me, does this series really only take place over six months? Well, it ends in the first week of November, so that’s seven full months. I think it felt like it lasted a whole year when it was airing though. Time slowed down during a certain arc for sure.

- “in-joke with myself!” Classic. I kind of love that the text on screen saying “good one Beatrice” is Bea talking to herself again in-world, but out-of-world it’s kind of the Candle Wasters talking, interacting both with their own main character and with the audience. Meta.

- “Sorry my life is so boring” are like, THE famous last words for an LIW protagonist. Honey, you got a big storm coming!

- I was always so incredibly impressed with Beatrice’s independence, her comfort with leaving her parents and essentially being on her own before she even finished high school. I was alone in a college dorm hours away from home when I first watched this, second semester of freshman year if I’m not mistaken, and I could barely believe I’d managed it. I couldn’t imagine doing that any earlier than I had. I thought she was so brave and cool. I think Bea actually shows more hesitation and nervousness than I realized she did in this episode, both because she’s not used to vlogging yet and because being in a new place is nerve-wracking, but I still think she’s so brave.

- It’s so interesting that in a reversal of the play, it’s our Beatrice who comes from away to Messina to start the story, instead of Benedick and the other men returning from war. Of course, we’ll see how the boys’ arrival on the scene is modernized soon enough!

- Harriett does such a great job making you care about Bea and like her right from the start. You just want to keep listening to her talk. I can’t wait to do just that over the next seven months.

- The Benedict Cumberbatch crush is a stroke of genius, but what are the odds that there happens to be a super famous guy named Benedict that you can reference who is at peak relevance in the exact year your MAAN modernization premieres? Truly, this series as it exists could only have happened in 2014. It was the perfect time and the perfect people. What luck.

- Oh, this is the wider arc hand wave I was remembering! It’s just at the end of the video and not the beginning. Funny!

- Covering the camera with her hand and ducking out of frame at the end of her first video is a direct parallel to what Bea and Hero do in their final NMTD video, sliding out of frame and all. Love that.

- I can’t believe how much there is to talk about even with these early episodes. These posts are gonna get so long they’ll have to go under a cut for the later episodes!

💖🦩🥭

[esther-dot]

why do ppl keep saying sandor was sansa’s sexual awakening? it’s so weirrrrrd

This is something I'm aware of, but I hadn't read the theories, so I found a couple, and I'm gonna share some quotes and links so you can read the full metas if you want, but with the understanding that y'all are gonna come and bitch in my inbox, and not try to argue with any shippers about this, ok? ok!

Decide if this is something you actually want to expose yourself to or not, anon. 🙃

So, here's one of the earliest places I see that statement (2014) in a reblog to a post:

My point is, Sandor is intricately tied with her sexual awakening (for lack of a better word) in a way that Petyr is not. Petyr is actively trying to be a part of that, which can qualify as sexual abuse, whereas Sansa herself is associating, at least on a subconscious level, Sandor with these various instances I mentioned above. (link)

And I'm guessing it's an evolution of this post/others like it from 2013:

That said, Milady has to declare that, speaking as a clinician with knowledge of real life mismemory cases, GRRM’s depiction is messy and makes bloody little sense! Sansa’s mismemory doesn’t resemble a mismemory as much as it resembles a sexual fantasy. And Milady would go even further and contend that GRRM has taken an utterly typical and comprehensible teenage first sexual fantasising and passed it off as mismemory for narrative purposes. [...] There are dozens of distinct variations of this experiment, and all of them show the extent of human memory’s fallibility and unreliability, nothing else. But bear in mind that for a mismemory to be considered as such, it has to come out of the mental realm into the realm of reality, otherwise it’s fantasising, pure and simple. Thus, as far as Sansa’s imaginary kiss remains in her thoughts, it’s only her imagination at work. We cannot say yet if GRRM will decide that it will develop into a permanent mismemory or will be dispelled either by herself or Clegane, but we do know that the developing of her sexuality that started with it hasn’t finished yet, and her fantasy has already started to disconnect from the Blackwater, moving on to another stage where sexual dreams take place, dreams that have the purpose of rehearsing attachment-related scenarios during sleep, to process affective and mental content from daytime life, and that, were this not fictional, should be already explicit at this point. (This post is simply too long and technical for me to relay it all so I will share the link if you are morbidly curious--but again, I'm trusting y'all. Let's keep our feelings in-house!)

Here is another long meta from 2016:

I do not in any way negate Sansa being attracted to men and boys in aGoT before this erotic fantasy of aSoS. Infatuations, puppy love, a crush, admiration, limerence and love can befall elementary school aged children. Children can experience chemistry and attraction. I do not deny that Sansa is subconsciously sexually drawn to a man, such as Sandor, before this Loras daydream. What I do point out is that there is a marked alteration from the (prepubescent) romantic fantasies of Sansa in aGoT to those of an explicit erotic nature in aSoS. Her menarche at the end of aCoK was the physical evidence of adolescence, while the Loras fantasy is the mental evidence of it. And it is very peculiar that it happens for the first time, right in the middle of that particular song, on which GRRM puts that much emphasis by writing it in capital letters. It suggests a link between Sansa hearing the song to the sexual maturation of Sansa to a new level, literary or effectively. Definitely most interesting though is that lo and behold, in Sansa II, just one chapter later, we first learn of Sansa’s invented unkiss about Sandor, exactly like we learn a chapter after Dany being kissed by a bear to have re-awakened sexual desires. [...] Fundamentally, both Loras’ kiss and Sandor’s Unkiss are fantastical in nature here. The maiden Sansa is not exposed to an actual kiss from either a knight or a bear yet (unlike Dany). It is one of song only. The immense difference is that with Loras she is conscious of it being imagined, while Sandor’s kiss is a false memory she believes has actually occurred. [...] The bear-maiden song’s appearance heralds Sansa’s sexual maturation into that of the erotic fantasy, which is set not long after her menarche, most likely around her ovulation time, and therefore is reminiscint of the masculine maturation where the first ejaculation archetypically coincides with an erotic wet dream. (link)

I'm not sure the year for this, but it's from the "Pawn to Player" (fandom famous) essays:

Sex: Sandor is in between a menstrual pain and her first period. I have a hard time thinking this is a coincidence. With the events and dreams that come later, this is symbolic of Sandor’s part in Sansa’s sexual awakening. In this case, he is literally in the middle of it. [...] Sex: Where do I even begin? Well, let’s start by location. It takes place not only in Sansa’s room, but on her bed. The bloody cloak is another obvious symbol. A bloody sheet is often a sign of girl losing her virginity. A cloak works just as well. In a slightly disturbing example, after the song, Sandor’s tears are described as wetness that was not blood. I’ll just walk away from that double entendre. [...] But more importantly, she doesn’t seem to feel like a victim. She adds in the unkiss and later has erotic dreams about him. (link)

So, you get the idea. I believe it was sansxn shippers who originated/popularized a more sympathetic reading of Sansa and the idea that she would learn from LF and become a political player—something people still won’t accept—hence that “pawn to player” thing, so I appreciate that, although the direction they went with that is just, not one I can agree with. They also have very sympathetic readings of the Hound which means we get a twisted version of “the unkiss” and that made some reinterpret the assault? And then all of Sansa memories of it? I find it an easier thing to conclude that Sansa can’t quite accept that the man who at point saved her intended to rape her, so she remembers something far more manageable, (the unkiss), but they, sometimes in an effort to give her agency, say imagining she was kissed is a sign that Sansa wanted the Hound to kiss her. The problem with that is that this quickly becomes victim blaming, and I’ve had Sansxns in my inbox in the past arguing the Hound didn’t intend to rape Sansa and didn’t assault her—so apparently, it also leads to full fledged denial of what was happening in that scene.

If you imagine the Hound as a misunderstood hero, rather than a violent man who brags about killing women and children, their interpretation is easier to understand. But that ignores that there is a reason Sansa is frightened by him, and it isn’t merely his appearance, it’s because he is dangerous. Back in AGOT he rode down a little boy and murdered him, remorselessly. I actually argue that the Sansa under the Hound's cloak is a callback to that, it is a damning indictment of him, not romantic, so again, we just interpret the ideas behind their interactions very differently (link). In that post, I also point out, she thinks positively of Tyrion and LF too, not because she's in love with them, because this poor girl has been surrounded by enemies for so long that their moments of intervening on her behalf are all she has to cling to. Anyway, what seemed to be the refrain was the significance of “the unkiss” and that it means actually, Sansa is attracted to the Hound instead of him just being a perv who traumatized her/threatened her life repeatedly. So, apparently, that’s what they mean by calling him her “sexual awakening.”

[byebyelemonpie]

byebyelemonpie's december 2024 recommendations

My december top 5 movies:

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024, dir: Merlin Crossingham, Nick Park) [First time watch] Best film of the year, I don't care. Wallace unleashes a new wave of robots who become evil thanks to the criminal Feathers McGraw, and our best boy Gromit takes it upon himself to restore peace in the town and save Wallace's name. This is a great commentary on how AI or newer technologies could never take the place of art, and work better if used as tools. I loved it. -

Paddington and Paddington 2 (2014 / 2017, dir: Paul King) [Rewatch after 5 years] This is a perfect duology, and I'm still waiting to see the third one later this month. Paddington is a lovely funny talking bear who finds a family, but keeps his home country in his heart the whole time. It's genuinely joyful. And the prison sequences are amazing. -

The Wild Robot (2024, dir: Chris Sanders) [First time watch] My gosh, this literally made me sob. If you've been reading these posts, you might already know how sappy I get when the story is about different characters who find each other and create a family out of just them. It's everything to me. So you already know this lonely lost robot, this lonely baby duck, and this lonely lone fox are absolutely everything to me by the end of this film. -

Ammore e malavita (2017, dir: Marco Manetti, Antonio Manetti) [First time watch, AKA Love and Bullets] This is a musical!!! It's a crime comedy set in Naples, about a mob boss trying to quit the business, a hitman who meets the love of his life, and what all of them need to do to find a way out of that shitty murdery business. It's also very fun, and the songs are mostly in Neapolitan, which is a very lovely language. -

That Christmas (2024, dir: Simon Otto) [First time watch] I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. It was a very lovely fun movie, with some cute scenes and a classic Christmassy feel.

Favourite series in december:

Interior Chinatown (US, 2024) [First time watch] This was really cool. A series which is tagged as a comedy but it delves more and more into meta, almost as a Truman Show heir, to end in an existentialist question the audience has to ask, together with: "What the hell just happened?" I was glued to the screen the whole time. Absolutely recommended. -

Hanno Ucciso L'Uomo Ragno - La leggendaria storia degli 883 (Italy, 2024) [First time watch] When 883 were at the top of their fame I didn't even exist, but I was always aware of at least some of their songs (Music teacher who made us play "Hanno Ucciso L'Uomo Ragno" and "Nord Sud Ovest Est" on the flute, I salute you), so when this series came out and everyone was praising it, I decided to give it a watch and I was really surprised at how fun it was, and - even though not everything in the series has exactly happened that way - it was interesting to see how a slice of the Italian music industry looked like at the time. -

The Devil Judge (South Korea, 2021) [First time watch] As with every show I've seen from S. Korea, the cinematography of this is absolutely gorgeous. This is specifically about a dystopian future in which the government decides to trust a Judge hosting his trials on live television, and letting the audience be the jury by choosing on their phones if the person on trial is innocent or guilty. The high society will not be safe for long, though, as this Judge is trying to get revenge. -

Junior Taskmaster - series 1 (UK, 2024) [First time watch] The original Taskmaster show is absolutely hilarious, and a comfort show for me. This junior version, though, sees 25 children as the protagonists of a tournament who will try to get high scores in several tasks, judged by the Junior Taskmaster. It was an absolute blast seeing those kids being hilarious and really smart!

[byebyelemonpie's 2024 recs]

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

I watched WOT because of you!! Show fan only although I adore all your meta posts. I really am enjoying it a lot and hope Brando doesn’t get to touch scripts (his complaints about the finale worried me) because I love how it is written and the focus on all of the kids/characters vs hearing my (male) acquaintances talk about “the big three” as just the dudes. But anyway. I am having a great time thank youuuuuuuu for the nudge!!!!!

YES YES YES YES YES WE GOT ANOTHER ONE LADS!!!!

This makes me so happy I’m so glad you enjoyed it ❤️❤️❤️

I know for a fact that some people straight up read those books by skipping all the pov chapters of the women which contributes to how we end up with so many book fans who only care about the ta’veren boys. Jokes on them! You can’t just skip all the girls’ scenes and have it make sense!!!

If Brandon Sanderson keeps talking shit about the show I’m gonna burn his house down be so annoyed about it. I have always disliked the choices he made finishing the books, idk why he thinks his opinion on the show is important. If you don’t want your name associated with it then stop being a producer Brandon!!!!!

Anyway again very glad to hear this, if you wanna talk about what you enjoyed in the show or know anything specific from the books or that the show didn’t explain fully yet hmu (and i will try to remember I haven’t reread them since 2014).

Adding another mental tally to my list of mutuals I’ve persuaded to wotch wot 😎

[amtrak12]

Hey hi! I read your Helena Wells meta earlier, from ten years ago, and I found it so interesting and spot on, and at the end you were so sad that you felt like you didn't have a good grasp on the character - do you feel that has changed, since then? And if so, how? Or, what do you think of Helena these days?

(the meta you posted and linked here: https://www.tumblr.com/purlturtle/736985181321314304/your-helena-tangent-got-me-thinking-and-yes-this )

Oooo fun and deep questions! :D Thank you!!

Obviously, that was 2.5 high schools ago so I had to reread my original meta to refresh my memory. My first thought is: OMFG LEARN PARAGRAPH BREAKS!! O_O But then, as I kept reading and saw how many spaces were missing after periods and how the sentences after the missing space read like a new paragraph -- my second thought is, I think Tumblr did me dirty at some point in the last 10 years of formatting changes and I actually did use appropriate paragraph breaks originally. Rude. -_-

But on the point of your actual questions! lol

I don't remember writing that exact post, but being nervous and uncertain about my Helena characterization does ring a bell. I was DEFINITELY more confident in analyzing/meta-ing Myka or Pete (if it was in relation to Myka). HG made me nervous and that was only like 10% because she's British and I'm American.

Some of my uncertainty probably came from my lack of historical knowledge (which has not improved. Fun fact: this is why I nearly never invented an artifact for fic). A not-insignificant portion of my uncertainty probably also came from how confident the rest of the fandom spoke about Helena. It seemed like she was meta-ed more often and by more people than Myka was. (Which makes sense as -- in general -- Helena was/probably still is the more popular character in the B&W ship.) I don't remember ever feeling like someone was way off base or out of character with Helena, but I do remember reading meta/fic sometimes and struggling to decide if I disagreed with a character trait/action that the person assigned her or if it was an accurate aspect of Helena's character that I hadn't internalized yet.

Basically I had Opinions about how Myka (and Pete for that matter) should be written and definitely noticed when a fic disagreed with me. But figuring out HG was like the wild west to me and I could never pin her down with firm barriers on who her character is and isn't.

I am very, very rusty on my Warehouse 13 knowledge because it's been nearly a decade since I was deep in my analyzation of the show. So, I wouldn't say I have a better grasp on Helena's characterization today than I did in 2014. But there are some aspects I feel like I could understand better if I took the time to rewatch and meta.

Loss of a child -- look I don't have children, but I do have niblings now that I adore. I'm also raising a dog who taught me I do not have the energy or anxiety coping mechanisms to raise a human child, because worrying about her almost does me in on its own. And I'm in my mid-30's now and seem to have a better understanding of parent-child relationships (or I'm at least way more interested in exploring them now, both from the view of the child and the view of the parent). So, exploring Christina's death and just how much that affected Helena would absolutely be on my list of deep-dives. I never ignored this before, but I'm certain I could pull more out of this backstory today than I could've in 2014.

Helena's guilt -- I started rambling at the end of that post about which things Helena felt guilty about and whether she felt guilty at all. As far as I remember, I usually wrote her as feeling some measure of guilt for her past actions. (Although I was also usually writing full AU settings so it was a moot point.) But I also wasn't wrong when I pointed out how she didn't show any obvious signs of regret over her S2 actions, unless it was something that had hurt Myka. If I was going to go back and meta WH13, I would explore this topic deeper for sure.

Interestingly, it's not something I could've explored deeper prior to 2022-ish. But now I've watched the series Lucifer which deals entirely with guilt and has a protagonist with shut down emotions who doesn't regret things and then, through incremental changes over 6 seasons, opens up, learns to feel every emotion again, unpacks a lot of shit etc. And I have been FASCINATED by how the writers pulled that off, because on the surface it is not a show (or a protagonist) that I should care about. (And if I had watched it from ep 1.01 instead of completely ass backwards, I wouldn't have cared about him.) BUT I DO CARE! And I want to know how they pulled off Lucifer's character arc. And then I want to use some of the techniques they used to explore guilt and pain and apply them to Helena to see what emerges in her character. Because I think it would be really interesting.

And then finally, I'm not sure I have anything new to bring to the conversation around what Helena's future with the warehouse and/or happy ending looks like. But I could also never make up my mind on what would work best for her. Does she return as an agent? Does she become a regent? (Probably not, but you never know.) Does she just become the live-in inventor who doesn't venture into the field unless absolutely necessary? I have absolutely no idea what her future with the warehouse would look like if a romantic relationship with Myka is her happy ending. (Which is my personal goal obviously lol).

Because -- and this is where my Opinions on Myka come into play -- our girl Myka Bering is not leaving that warehouse. Ever. She is the new Artie. She will take over as the lead agent when he retires/partially retires. And then she will die there. In South Dakota of old age (because I refuse to let her die on a mission). Pete? Oh, my boy Pete will meet an awesome lady and retire to be a stay at home dad. He'll walk away one day. Myka? Absolutely never. You're burying her at the warehouse. Which means Helena will have to have some kind of relationship with it again, and I would have to figure out what that looks like because both today and in 2014, I can't decide what option fits her best.

I hope this answers your question! It was so deep and I love it :D I just don't have new thoughts on WH13 yet because I haven't looped back around to a full blown obsession with it yet. (It will happen. Round 2 of BERING AND WELLS ARE THE BEST THING EVER will absolutely happen at some point in my life because that's how I roll and they are.) So this is less meta about how my thoughts on Helena have changed, and more about how my approach to her character would change given the experience I've gained in the last ten years.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ASK!

[fortuna9]

EXPLAINING MY 2010S DR MORE!

☆ Nicknames I have: Barbie, Bunny, Ellie, Ali

☆ Most popular songs: Cruel Summer, DDU-DU DDU-DU, Run away with me, Genie, Something like a party, Shooting Star, b2b heartbeat, Vroom Vroom, Tattoo, Boom Clap etc

☆ I'm the face of Thierry Mugler

☆ Other endorsements: Mattel, Sanrio, Sailor Moon, Nintendo, Toidoki, Dolls Kill, Versace, H&M, Jeremy Scott for Moschino, Blumarine

☆ I have a reality tv show that runs from 2010-2016 (so ages 15-21) (I also scripted that it won't be too hectic so I can have decent teenage years)

☆ I also am THAT girl, the it-girl to end all it-girls it's so serious

☆ There will be a Barbie doll line made inspired by me, and I will also have a cameo in the Barbie movie dressed as one of those dolls (the meta of it all)

☆ I also have cameos in movies I'm on the soundtrack for (Catching Fire, Dork Diaries, Percy Jackson and The Titan's Curse, The Great Gatsby, Barbie etc.)

☆ I also scripted that the Percy Jackson movies weren't dookie and that Dork Diaries got 3 films.

☆ I want to live that Nikki Maxwell lifestyle, so I also go to North Hampton Hills (on scholarship), I won Valentine's Sweetheart, I won an Ice Skating competition, I ran my school's newspaper's advice column, I write in my diary a lot.

☆ My rise to stardom came from my win on a talent show in 2009/2010 (the timeline here is a bit wonky)

☆ Songs I covered: Together again, Halo, Love Story, Just Dance, Umbrella, Fantasy, Loverboy

☆ Original songs I performed: Message in a bottle, Enchanted, I AM, Teenage Dream

☆ I stole Barbie's entire house from Life in the Dreamhouse zxncaskl I just scripted that no-one questions my endless closet (Elektra Crystal...yeah of course we don't know when her closet ends...makes sense)

☆ I scripted 6 albums so far (7 if you include the songs from the talents show). I scripted a trilogy (2010-2014), UTOPIA (2019), and The Phantom Pulse duology (2022). I'll post about them soon!

☆ I have two singles (Really Bad Boy released in 2016 and DDU-DU DDU-DU released in 2017). I also have a few songs I did for ads specifically (Peek-a-boo for a Halloween themed pizza commercial, Speed Drive for a Barbie ad and ICONIC for a Nike ad)

☆ I also did the soundtrack for a Nintendo game I scripted in (Odyssey), released in 2021.

☆ I'm considered the best performer of my generation.

☆ I had a mega tour from 2015-2017, bigger than the Eras tour. It was a cultural phenomenom, and the demand lead to the tour being extended.

☆ I also scripted that I know everyone's secrets cause I don't want anyone playing with me I will END your career.

☆ Still questioning if I should script young coriolanus in...I could write style about him...save me blonde tom blyth...save me..

Anyways that's all for today, that's for tuning in, you're shifting today, hope you know ♡

[theladysherlock]

Talk Shop Tuesday: how many fandoms are you a part of? Are those different than what you create for? Which one is your favorite and why?

The Leviathan Trilogy will always be my favorite until the end of time I think. I've been obsessed with those books since 2012 and they aren't going anywhere. But the fandom is perfect, honestly. We've all been around for so long that we all know each other so it definitely feels like a proper community. The Leviathan fandom is consistently lovely and it's an honor to know them.

I'm also somewhat active in Lockwood & Co., definitely more so between 2014-2018 than now. The vibe shifted after all the books were released, and then it shifted again when the show came out, so I'm not nearly as involved in that as I used to be. (I think of myself as a L&Co. curmudgeon, honestly, which I admit isn't very fair to some of the new fans)

As for other fandoms that I'm in, my involvement tends to be inversely proportional to its popularity. For bigger fandoms (Percy Jackson, Star Wars, ATLA, etc.) I tend to reblog art and meta posts and shitposts but I don't make anything myself. For medium-to-big fandoms (Dimension 20, NADDPOD, etc.) I might draw a thing or two or make a meta post / shitpost myself but I'm not necessarily trying to build community with anyone there. I've been the most consistently active in small fandom situations, where it's just me and a handful of other people having fun. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but it's probably something about drama being easier to navigate when there are fewer people involved.

[buds-and-baubles]

(agent grayson 2014-2016 issue #4)

so i finished issue 4 and i have thoughts about it and issue 2 seeing as i will not be doing a seperate post for it (but have obviously read it before issue 4).

for issue 2, i did not like midnighter being with the god garden at all. i had to actually research what it is on a wiki and think the concept of it being an orbital space station run by the gardener is a blatant ripoff of bendix's stormwatch. that, and the mere fact that the gardener oversees tons of dangerous experiments and is responsible for the creation of midnighter?

that's.. literally what henry bendix did. the god garden still existing (not responsible for midnighter's creation) but instead showing midnighter's growth in his response to possible manipulation could've been a unique opportunity of where this time he chooses to stay with his friends and family when faced with that.

that is how i would've handled the god garden and its presence in midnighter's journey for this. he'd still be in his whimsy scary grinning gorey violence and downtime with friends and family but would also be working to track down the meta bio-weapons alone and with his loved ones while they help him against the god garden.

or interesting idea: the god garden is targeting apollo instead and it's his plot against it. he shows off his inner strength and how he is unable to be manipulated away from his friends and family and gets a plot of him absolutely dismantling every shred of the god garden. i almost prefer this second idea more as it would've given apollo more time on pages.

issue 2 for me described by a more sleep deprived and less pained version because of meds version of myself was 'stinky' so no 'icky' garden. also, i think tom king utilizes cannibalism in far too many plot lines and they are never well done. i'm not saying it shouldn't exist in media, just that it shouldn't be written by someone who doesn't know how to write it (or women for that matter).

as for issue 4, i genuinely had to take a break from being angry due to the sexualization of dick grayson. having a woman take pictures of him shirtless without his consent to show to other women made me grind my teeth. when they then were suggesting finding his room to do a 'man-ty raid', i actually screamed and had to skip ahead to the page for midnighter and go back to finish reading later.

the unfortunate cherry on top of a seeley written cardboard cake covered in toothpaste as frosting was making dick flip around and the women who were sexualizing chase after him and continue to do so. and what happens? dick is punished for it. the one who took pictures to invade his privacy and treat him like a piece of meat got extra credit in hadrian's school. just. ugh.

as for midnighter's presence, he was limited to a page this time and he wasn't alone! andrew aka the dc version of apollo was there for the first time i've seen since my impromptu reading of stormwatch vol 3.

midnighter is interrogating someone regarding another meta bio-weapon in the form of 'the heart' by dangling him over the edge of a skyscraper when apollo arrives stating the man he's threatening 'doesn't know' and that he (midnighter) did his part. that it was time to come back to stormwatch and him. also, to let the guy go.

midnighter does exactly that by allowing him to fall which andrew– sorry, apollo states he has to go catch him which midnighter agrees and says 'you know i'll be gone by the time you get back'. page ends with apollo flying down to catch the falling guy while calling midnighter 'so. damn. stubborn.'

oh, they still do not understand you, (sun) king. they would not have survived your original self so they had to alter you. shame. unfortunately for those who didn't have the guts to do it, i'm doing it anyways!

so stormwatch/stormwatch prime still exists in my transfer idea but it's the one run by jackson king and christine trelane with the original roster and newer people (winter, fahrenheit, fuji, hellstrike, etc.). what're they doing post-transfer? beats the fuck out of me. someone whose primary focus is stormwatch can go wild with it, i'd love to hear what someone would do.

as for how i would've handled it for apollo and midnighter? whether i have the plot be focused on the original like midnighter or apollo for the god garden, they're still juggling both the 'organ race' of meta bio-weapons in the forms of organs on top of the god garden. knowing them, the god garden was actually probably only present for a single issue as apollo and or midnighter brought it crashing to the ground in an ashen heap.

they would've gone there to interrogate the man regarding the missing meta bio-weapon in the form of 'the heart' crashing somewhere (which midnighter was tracking). midnighter would be dangling the man over the skyscraper and when the man looked at apollo to perhaps convince midnighter not to drop him, he found a smile that was a mix of sympathy and something matching in midnighter's outstretched grin.

when the man is dropped from the building, the two simply talk about the whole dropping a penny from a skyscraper debate while comparing what happens to the penny versus the falling man. they then chat about what they're gonna do for dinner, about what jenny q. and the rest of the authority are up to before they kiss.

a kiss with midnighter clinging to the skyscraper and apollo hovering from the sky, distant text below the building saying something like 'splat' as the man hit the ground.

[bearballing]

lol 2 birthday cake memory posts showing up on facebook. forgot that my sister had to make the one in 2018 because I was like 2 weeks post meta (i always make my own cake)

and the one from 2014 showed up too. that was the year i lived by myself and was trying uni again. i was like dangerously suicidal in march that year and was this close to checking myself into some uhhh not psychiatric ward but like. some kind of recovery type house. in london. the only reason I ended up not going was because I got sick and didn't want to travel all that way and make myself worse. then I dropped out of uni, moved back home (having the landlord company on my ass for a while because student housing is predatory as fuck), and getting a job as a cleaner which sucked shit.

kind of wild how bad that year started compared to how it ended, with me starting to date my friend in the usa (who is now my wife) and about to start a training course for admin roles in the nhs (which would end up with the only job I didn't quit after a few months and actually liked).

and now 10 years later it's like. night and day. i am taking a couple of days off work where everyone likes and appreciates me and where i am very good at what I do and earn "above average", will chill in my house that I own with my spouse in a place that never Really gets cold, inlaws had a surprise party for me last night which was fun as hell, and me and aforementioned spouse will be going on a 3 day trip in a couple of weeks as like a bday present to myself.

I'm so glad I'm about to be 32 and not 22

[daenerysstormreborn]

BNFs are people who post a lot of metas and answer a lot of ask and ended up kinda shaping the fandom's perception of some things with their theories (a big one that gets brought up often are the various theories about Tyrion Dany and Jon as the three heads of the dragon ending the series with heroic sacrifice) . They were more Active in 2014-2016 and now only a few remain so I think so the concept is often confusing for people newer to the fandom. There are a lot of bad takes and misinformation about them bc both sides of the discourse perceive them as biased as a whole against their side even when its not necessarily true (obviously some of them as human beings did have biases)

Mmm okay gotcha gotcha. Thank you for the ask!Back during the end of when season 7 on the show was airing is when I started to get into it and engaged with other fans somewhat since I went to comic cons and cosplayed Dany. I heard a lot about the three heads of the dragon and the notion that Tyrion may be a secret Targaryen and that Jon would kill Dany to bring forth lightbringer. I remember seeing a lot of political Jon theories too. But I didn’t really touch any of that because I didn’t want to imagine Jon killing Dany 🤡. During the season 7-8 break I actually went to a comic con with a Jon cosplayer and someone wanted to take some footage of us. We jokingly did a little bit where he fake stabbed me with Longclaw to turn it to lightbringer. We both ended up looking back on it like

(I still hold firmly in my position that I would be fine with mad queen Dany if well-written, but it was rushed in the show)

[virgoiscariot]

Richard saying he left Wisconsin because he didn’t love Emma anymore was such a bullshit cope lmao

He said he looked at her and “felt nothing”, but I imagine he was very depressed and outright suicidal after returning home with both the trauma of war and disfiguring/disabling injuries. So his initial thought was apathy towards life and towards his sister, and his feeling about that thought was shame. Reminds me of this quote from Slaughterhouse-Five:

She upset Billy simply by being his mother. She made him feel embarrased and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn't really like life at all.

After all Emma had done to keep him alive, to tend to his wounds, to feed him, to keep him safe and healthy as she could, he didn’t want to live. he didn’t care about her or himself or anything, and he was overcome with guilt over those feelings(or lack thereof). that’s why he left.

and regardless, every sad, blithe thing Richard has to say about love and relationships is directly contradicted by his actions. he immediately forms a close bond with Jimmy, he dreams about Odette, he still reads all the books Emma sends him even though he says he doesn’t like them anymore, he keeps a little scrapbook with pictures of happy families and couples, he cares deeply for Margaret and the children, he lets Angela see his bare face and cries when she dies, he is FIERCELY loving and protective of Tommy, he falls in love with Julia at first sight… “the basis of fiction is that humans have some sort of connection with each other… but they don’t” yeah right you fucking sap keep telling yourself that. you fall helplessly in love with everyone you meet

[shesnake]

@1995lahaine tagged me to post 8 shows to get to know me 🤔 I'm only going to do shows that have ended which I think are worth revisiting. tagging @akajustmerry @anthonysperkins @summoneryuna @sonyarebecchi @toraks @a24thegreenknight @holly-mckenzie

Utopia (2013-2014) created by dennis kelly. beauty is terror we quiver before it etc etc oh this show is so violent and beautiful and so deeply human I explode every time I think about it. you know cristobal tapia de veer from the white lotus soundtrack but that is Nothing compared to the work he did on this.

Bojack Horseman (2014-2020). as someone who loves movies this show is truly the best meta fiction out there about Hollywood that isn't afraid to throw punches. hilarious and brutal. the animation format and animal absurdity allows them to tell real unrestrained narratives that I don't think live action could ever achieve. Raphael bob-waksberg will never get his foot off my neck

The Bisexual (2018) despite the title I genuinely think desiree akhavan made the greatest lesbian story of all time with this. short, sweet, and soul crushing precarious fleabag type miniseries. also she's sooooo hot oh my GOD

Mr. Robot (2015-2019) it's a shame people forgot about this show towards the end and stopped watching because it is truly theeee speculative epic of all time speaking to issues of capitalism and identity and rebellion. between this and the lazarus project it's like a spiritual sequel to Utopia in the way it explores how much of yourself you have to sacrifice to escape from All This. probably got my favourite needle drops of all time.

The Hour (2011-2012) can you believe the bbc cancelled a show about a bbc show trying to be cancelled? between this and the newsreader yeah I'm obsessed with dramas about people who don't get to tell the truth

Les Revenants (2012-2015) are you sure. are you sure you're not a ghost?

Cowboy Bebop (1998) of course.

Westworld (2016-2022) I hate this show so fucking much there's so many things wrong with it that get my blood boiling but it's also one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. the only thing that makes me feel human is the way I'm treated. I choose to see the beauty. motion picture soundtrack. ramin djawadi is everything to me.

these are my mains but I also highly recommend (other than the obvious succ/yj/iwtv/etc) :

WE ARE LADY PARTS

SORT OF

Mythic Quest

Black Sails

The Third Day

The Lazarus Project

The Newsreader

The Great

Glitch 2015

Better Call Saul

Rutherford Falls

Ghosts BBC

Luther

The Thick of It

Brave New World 2020

Moriarty the Patriot

Elementary

Miss Sherlock

Tuca & Bertie

Some Girls 2012

Misfits

Community

Mad Men

True Blood

Lost

[absolutebl]

BL Foundations Syllabus

This is it. My BL master post to end all master posts. The culmination of my journey & obsession. 

Basically I constructed this to be: 

BL 101 Film Course - An Introduction to the Genre 

I got to thinking, if I were to teach a full course on BL? What would I pick and why? So I constructed this list of 30 core BLs which represent a tasting menu of BL trends, styles, and themes from source countries. I chose what I chose for reasons of history, establishing taste by country, and representative range in story structure and filming technique. 

The idea is that if you’ve watched these 30 shows, you should have a good grasp of the history of BL as a cinematic tradition through time and space. Also know why the different countries produce different kinds of BL and what distinguishes them from each other.  

Please ASK questions if you have them. 

THE WATCH LIST 

These are not the 30 best BLs, but they are the 30 BEST REPRESENTATIONS OF BL. 

JAPANESE BL

1. Takumi-kun - 2007 

2. Boys Love - 2006 

3. Junjou Pure Heart - 2010 

4. Seven Days - 2015 

5. Cherry Magic - 2020  

6. Restart After Come Back Home - 2020 

SOUTH KOREAN BL

7. Just Friends? - 2009 + A First Love Story - 2021 

8. The Lover (BL cut) - 2015 

9. Wish You - 2020 

10. Light on Me - 2021 

CHINESE BL 

11. Like Love - 2014 

12. Addicted - 2016 

13. The Untamed - 2020 

TAIWANESE BL 

14. Pair of Love - 2012 

15. HIStory Obsessed + Faded - 2017 

16. We Best Love - 2021 

17. HIStory 4: Close to You - 2021 

THAI BL

18. Love of Siam - 2007

19. Love Sick (BL cut) - 2014 

20. SOTUS - 2016 

21. 2gether - 2020 

22. Love By Chance - 2018 

23. Until We Meet Again - 2019 

VIETNAMESE BL 

24. My Sky - 2017 

25. You Are Ma Boy - 2021

26. My Lascivious Boss - 2021

PINOY BL 

27. 4 Days - 2016 

28. Gameboys - 2020 

META BL 

29. Lovely Writer - Thailand 2021

30. A Man Who Defies The World of BL - Japan 2021 

I arranged the watch list by country for trend and influence reasons, but you could also watch these in historical order if you’re a chronological loyalist. Only the final two, which are both self-reflective commentaries should be consumed at the end. 

What’s Not Here?  

There is some early BL from Hong Kong. I haven’t included because they just have so few offerings, less than one a year. Cambodia has recently started producing BL as well, but really recently. 

Also, as this is BL, while I’ve included some queer cinema (film produced with a queer lens for a queer audience) I have not included most of it because historically isn’t that much influence between the two genres (this is changing as of 2021). BL is mostly produced with an indifferent lens and a straight(ish) audience in mind. 

I also haven’t chosen any stand out BLs that were noted exceptions (like I Told Sunset About You from Thailand or Udagawachou de Matteteyo from Japan or Your Name Engraved Herein from Taiwan) because while they may be unique and impactful on a broad scale, they didn’t necessarily have reverberating impact on the BL genre itself. So I think of them as exceptional exceptions.

THE BL SYLLABUS

In which I go into what to watch, together or apart, why this order, why they’re significant, and what to take away for a solid understanding of the genre.  

JAPAN 

Japan is the origin of yaoi manga and yaoi is the origin of BL. So Japan is basically responsible for everything. You can read about the history of Japanese live action yaoi (what would come to be called BL) here. 

DAY 1: Double Bill - Japanese Roots & Story Bifurcation 

 Takumi-kun 1 (2007) & Boys Love (2006)

I chose Takumi-kun 1 to start because it was one of the very first true live action yaoi and, to be fair, it is a faithful adaptation of the source material (which is, erm, not good). By all measures Takumi-kun 2: Rainbow Colored Glass (2009) is better. It continues the story but has a superior cast. Either way, this show represents Japan adapting their light yaoi (AKA yaoi with more romantic elements that ends happily). Initially, these live action yaois were produced as “made for TV style movies,” sometimes in multiple installments. Japan hasn’t done BL multi-episode series until recently. 

What to note when watching it? The chaotic nature of the story comes from a lack of concrete narrative structure combined with themes of miscommunication and secret pasts, all common to the yaoi genre and Japanese BL to this day. It’s a highly typical BL seme/uke archetype couple. A dominant and caring but obsessed and aggressive seme chasing and owning a weak, delicate, fragile (damaged but saved by the other boy’s passion) uke. Also the beginnings of the blushing maiden trope. 

The bright clear filming style and staging of scenes comes directly from manga, as does the crazy hair. Also the use of a high school setting and uniform is typical of the genre as a whole. Also we can see with Takumi-kun many of the tropes that are most seme/uke dysmorphic. 

On the other hand Boys Love (2006 or 2007) represents the other side of Japanese BL: the dark side. The side that Thailand chose to ignore and, since they came to dominate the genre, it’s Thailand who dictates modern consumer taste. So this kind of BL, although still around, is rare in 2021 and mostly comes from Japan and Taiwan. 

Watch Boys Love knowing that BL can be very very very dark indeed (don’t push Japan, believe it or not they've gone even darker). In fact most Japanese BL stil runs at about 50/50. This kind of BL is depressing, deals with highly triggering content/tropes (obsession, the murder gay, suicide, mutilation, rape, incest, abuse) and almost always ends unhappily with at least separation if not death of one or both characters. Boys Love 2006 hits up pretty much every single element. Lucky us. China picked up this style and ran with it for years and Taiwan is still working out this kinda damage on screen for us. This style of BL may be less common, but it still exists. 

Yaoi manga set up this story style bifurcation in Japan (people often forget how dark the early erotic yaois were) and that’s why Japan produces BL of both kinds in equal measure. Stuff like Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese and the Pornographer series pretends to be queer cinema but really is just live action yaoi erotica in its modern form - pushing kinky and high heat boundaries in an explicitly Japanese way. 

Industry wise, it’s also interesting to note that the Boys Love duo might be considered the first example of a committed acting pair in BL. Which is to say actors who do BL as a couple playing different roles. Thailand is the main proponent of this now. Japan also has a history, in its early days of pigeonholing actors into gay roles because of BL. They don’t much anymore (now they mostly just do this with heat levels - see Takezai Terunosuke) but Thailand, China, and (possibly) Korea also have a history of slurring actors in such a way that it becomes difficult for them to get roles outside of the BL genre. 

DAY 2: Double Bill - Japanese Traditions & Filming Bifurcation 

Junjou Pure Heart (2010) & Seven Days (2015)

I chose these two BLs because they show the evolution of Japanese live action yaoi filming style from Takumi and Boys Love and into two traditions of cinematography and setting - which Japan latches on to and continues to produce to this day. 

FOR CLARITY: 

Japan has 2 BL story styles: dark & light. 

And also 2 BL filming styles: manga & atmospheric.  

Junjou is an atmospheric hard fought dour romance, featuring grown up tortured characters with complicated backstory and tons of introspection. It’s handling themes if miscommunication and cohabitation - ones that Japan will pick up and explore again and again. It’s emo BL filmed with a soft lens and sweeping shots (which owes a lot to classic Japanese cinema, e.g. Kurosawa) and very little of its framing or staging reflects manga. 

Japan will do this style emo BL a lot, especially during the 2010s. They trade sharp focus and graphic linear styles of yaoi for this intimate fuzziness. They use adult characters, one or both of whom are salary men, and lots of apartment and office scenes. 

On the other hand, Seven Days is one of the few to come out during this time that stays true to its yaoi roots. It features high school students and teenage angst with a relatively simple story of misunderstanding that is well acted and executed. It keeps manga filming but trades out dark history, secret sorrows, and a mysterious past for more “ordinary” teens with mundane problems. You can trace this filming style from Takumi-kun to Seven Days to Utsukushii Kare (My Beautiful Man) which is airing as I write this. 

Japan will pick up light yaoi style BL again after Seven Days but not until... 

DAY 3: Double Bill - Modern Japanese BL 

Cherry Magic & Restart After Come Back Home (2020)

(alt: His the movie 2020) 

These are examples of the best of what Japan can do with BL now, but both remain quintessentially Japanese. We don’t get this kind of BL from any other country. 

Cherry Magic gave us a pitch perfect live action yaoi, but with this mix of slapstick and acting chops (not to mention production quality) that we’d never really seen before, not to mention a solid magical realism story that was really a journey of self actualization. It’s elevated yaoi using the same style started by Takumi-kun but with superior story structure. 

Restart, on the other hand, uses all the best of Japanese sweeping atmospheric cinema combined with the yaoi deprived archetype of jaded salary man but elevated by family drama and self discovery. Sure there’s still a little dark mysterious past, miscommunication, and self worth issues, but it wouldn’t be Japanese BL if it wasn’t a tiny bit emo. 

SOUTH KOREA 

Korea has been in and out of BL for almost as long as Japan, but with a distinctly different take on the genre. You can read about the history of Korean BL here.

While Japan will push boundaries, especially in the area of high heat, kink, and cinematography (and hair), Korea does not. In fact they’ve gone the opposite direction, establishing a strict sandbox, and then stayed inside it like good little children. Their BL now is almost all bright, clean, and slick (no, not that kind) with excellent but workmanlike production. However, they didn’t start out that way.

DAY 4: Double Bill - Korean BL Roots & Strongberry 

Just Friends? (2009) + A First Love Story (2021)

Just Friends? was Korea’s first true BL and I paired it with a recent offering because these two go together so well (A First Love Story could be the prequel for all it came over a decade later). While Korean BL is no longer really like Just Friends? with its gritty queer-friendly realism and higher heat levels (that’s now Taiwan’s purview), Strongberry is still producing BL of exactly this type, frequently and well. So it is still coming out of Korea, just in very short form. 

Which is something to note. Both these dramas are SHORT. That is something Korea will stick to and has not altered. While they consistently produce long form het romance Kdramas (12-16 episodes of 45 min each), they have yet to give us anything BL with real meat to it. Instead, they tend to produce BL in shorter from with a total run time of about 2 hours. 

DAY 5: Korea Gets Pretty Prudish 

The Lover BL cut (2015) 

One of the only long form offerings from Korea during the 2010s (there were a LOT of microfilms), there is a distinctly Japanese feel to this BL, especially in the slapstick humor. Korean dramas will move away from this comedic style in general in the later half of the 2010s. It also starred former ballet dancer Lee Jae Joon opposite Terada Takuya, Jpop idol, who was to be the first in a long line of idols in KBL. 

What’s distinctly Korean about The Lover (of which the BL is a shared plot in this 4 couple series) is how drawn out and slow burn the romance is. It showcases Korea moving away from the higher heat of Just Friends? that only Strongberry really continued into the modern age. The leads in The Lover didn’t even get to have a kiss, but it still is a romance. This BL established a president for Korean sexy: slow burn, low heat, maybe a smooch near the end, and rarely anything more than that. 

These boys are awful pretty though, which is another thing Korea likes a lot in its BLs - pretty. There is a reason, with the recent rise in BL production, that Korea keeps casting idols: Korean BL has an AESTHETIC. That also started with The Lover. 

DAY 6: Double Bill - Korea Finds Its Stride 

Wish You (2020) & Light on Me (2021) 

Let’s be clear, To My Star (2021) is better, but Wish You was first. But they are both absolutely typical modern Korean BLs. Korea has settled into this style of short form intimate romance that applies BL tropes strategically but doesn't depend on them. Modern Korean BLs exist in a “gay safe bubble” fantasy world and produced to further Hallyu, they are a product.

The characters are soft with each other, the story structure is simple, and the casting is sparse, but the acting is on point and production levels are very high (beat out only by Japan). Physically, the actors tend to be slightly stiff with each other, but these BLs are so well made and easily digested that they continue to rise in popularity despite somewhat questionable chemistry. There is usually little/no coming out drama (one or both are self actualized gays, see the bubble) and when featuring adult characters a seme/uke dynamic is rare.  

On the other hand, when Korea adapts something set in high school (and now college) or a manwha, they let themselves dwell in yaoi traditions. A traditional manga (comic book storyboard) filming style is applied as well as seme/uke dynamics and teen messiness, see Light On Me (or Color Rush). Korea still stays very clean (especially in the arenas of color palettes and staging), relatively short, and quite pretty, but these offerings will feel more traditionally yaoi then (for example) Thai BL.

Light On Me is a prime example of the very best that Korea can do, and it also highlights a Kdrama romance’s speciality... the love triangle. It also picked up and showcased quite a few BL tropes that owe their popularity to Love Sick and Thailand’s BL traditions (the field trip, symbolic gift exchange, shoulder sleeping, boys on phones, significant hand hold). Showing that (as we would expect from Hallyu) Korea is PAYING ATTENTION to what other countries are doing best in BL and why. 

Korea is seriously clever and strategic with their trope use, probably the best in the biz. If Light On Me is too long, check out Semantic Error (Viki) which is pretty much the best of the best. 

CHINA 

Chinese BL started out with most of its early stuff owing its style to the dark side of Japanese BL. Not quite as high heat but they were definitely into gayness as a tool for punishing characters with obsession, murder, suicide, mutilation, and death. Much of their early stuff explores very depressing themes and those very few times Chinese BL got fluffy it was hella weird. 

A note: I have personal and professional issues with Chinese BL so I do not cover it here on my blog as much as other BL, but I do think it’s important to know that there WAS an established relatively vibrant BL tradition in China before the government started seriously repressing homosexual representation in 2016.

A history of Chinese BL is here.  

DAY 7: Chinese BL Before Censorship, Story Style 

Like Love (2014) 

Like Love (AKA I Love You If You Were a Man) exists in 3 parts, only the first 2 are really of interest, and sadly all of it is hard to find. For a good alternate try Irresistible Love: Secret of the Valet (2016) which exists in two parts with two different endings (a sad one and a happy-ish one). Both these offerings showcase how high heat China was once willing to get. These BLs deal with obsession to the point of ownership (and the whipping boy trope) as well as masculine aggression in the arena of consent (there is none). Like Japan, they often pushed that dub con into destructive behavior beyond rape into murder, suicide, and mutilation. These shows almost always ended amorphously (we aren’t shown what happened to the characters at the end, or they are separated) or with the death of one of the leads. They’re DARK. 

Like Love is China’s first real BL, it features a rich kid obsessed with a poor kid plus a bit of jock/nerd. China loves this power play dynamic and puts it into most of its BLs in some form or another. Chinese BLs (and bromances) also tend to be somewhat seme/uke with the seme character being taller, emotionally repressed but more aggressive about pursuing a relationship, while the uke character is usually very tsundere about the whole situation. 

Apart from the high heat content, China carries the story traditions and ambiguity established with these early BLs (and companion archetypes) through censorship and into their wuxia bromances to this day. 

DAY 8: Chinese BL Gets Censored 

Addicted (2016)

With both the critically acclaimed and much beloved Addicted Heroin and the much less well known Advance Bravely (2017) we got to witness the direct impact of Chinese censorship on BL. Addicted was shaping up to be a classic Chinese BL with higher heat levels but such excellent acting that it could have been China’s SOTUS but... The quality of the production, its popularity, and the great chemistry of the leads caught the CFA’s attention and Addicted was was abruptly cancelled, and its actors (particularly the one playing the uke character) pretty much blacklisted because of it.

It was a mess.

Advance Bravely was even messier. It was clearly filmed as a relatively high heat pice, but because of what happened to Addicted it got chopped up and cut down and edited (read: mutilated) into something that would pass censorship, but which most people watch with a profound feeling of betrayal and confusion. 

Both these shows have what amounts to cliff hanger non-endings. And Advance Bravely would pretty much mark the end of the heyday (such as it was) of Chinese BL. China went through a phase in 2017 & 2018 where they still produced some uncensored stuff (well, the boys kissed) but these had to end badly for the characters (punish the gays trope) a hallmark of homophobia in film. Since then the contemporary Chinese BL arena is dominated by extremely censored bromances, mostly around competitive sports teams (like Precise Shot) and... Wuxia adaptations. 

DAY 9: Wuxia Long Form Bromances (Danmei)

The Untamed (2020)

I prefer Word of Honor (2021) but Untamed was the one that broke the media world. Both of these LONG shows are bromances in the new sense of the term, by which the BL universe means: 

coded gay acting, but censored dialogue, and negligible physical intimacy

Everyone in China pretends these shows aren’t actually gay and everyone outside of China pretends they’re a whole lot gayer then they are. It’s a little game we play. 

Technically speaking, I think you could cite Guardian (2018) as the beginning of this style. It is almost (but not really) wuxia but definitely a bromance and definitely LONG. But it was Untamed that put the eternal pining sexless soulmates front and center. (And by sexless I mean they aren’t actually allowed to have it, not - as Kdramas seem to think - it doesn’t exist at all.) 

These 30+ episode series are to be watched for the pining, for that one tiny touch every 6 hours, and the lingering glances that never stop - don’t expect any pay out. It’s all a tease. They will never kiss and there is a very good chance they won’t end up together, either. In China the gays don’t get happy endings, not in this lifetime. But they will be impossibly beautiful and high production about it - gorgeous flowing sleeves will be cut with all the euphemism that entails. 

In fact, everything will only ever be alluded to. Chinese BL now dwells in graceful traumatizing euphemism, lodged and slowly drowning in a mire of lotus flowers. 

Pretty pretty censorship is still dangerous and deadly. If you’re queer, keep a tight hold on your psyche with these dramas, they can do real damage with their messaging. 

TAIWAN 

On the other hand, fighting for the title of queerest BL producing country is Taiwan. Technically speaking Taiwan’s first queer movie to even approach BL was in 2006′s Eternal Summer, which means they started as early as Japan, but it owes absolutely nothing to yaoi and is more a commentary of masculine struggles with identity around intimacy and romance than anything else. It’s very high heat though, so I guess Taiwan comes by that habit from the start. 

However, it would take a decade for Taiwan to pick up the genre and really start playing with it. 

Still, this tiny island comes by its BL honestly and produces it with a genuine affection that comes off as less market savvy and Machiavellian than Thailand or Korea. Taiwan is the only country in Asia (as of 2022) with marriage equality and queer rights, and their BL will not let you forget that. Nor should it. 

As a result, Taiwan has worked itself around to producing some of my favorite BL. It also remains very attached to the questionable tropes and darker sides of BL that China adores and Japan started - probably because of its intimate cultural connection to both those countries. Also it has a marked preference for muscled BL. It’s all a matter of taste. 

Because they are so small (both by population and film industry standards) they also do not produce very much BL, but here’s Taiwan’s history with the genre. 

DAY 10: Taiwanese BL Has Questions 

Pair of Love (2012)

Taiwan is my favorite BL producing nation but it is all over the map story-wise, for good reason. Its closest political and trading partner is Japan, but its closest cultural/historical connection is China. Also its thriving queer community and high seat at the global tech and corporate table that have resulted in active (intentional) westernization. All of this plays into its BL and it all can be seen in Pair of Love. 

The only BL on this list that also contains a GL couple, Pair showcases the grittiness and the honestly queer nature of Taiwanese BL, a realistically harsh story, and also its generally indecisive choices around happy endings. (One pair ends happily, the other does not.) 

Taiwan has a near constant back and forth dialogue over the nature of what their BL should be and so does this offering. Combine that with very few shows at all (to even establish a pattern), and Taiwan manages a signature style but its BL trope use is inconsistent, and again we see that in Pair of Love. 

DAY 11: Double Bill Taiwan Has Answers 

HIStory Obsessed + Faded (2017)

The hotly debated HIStory franchise actually started with 3 hour-long offerings, from which I chose Obsessed because it showcases the most classic tropes, specifically those favored by Chinese BL. In fact, Obsessed could be a kind of short form remake of Like Love but with an interesting twist on story, and a softness to its heat that allows it to end far more happily than its BL heritage might suggest. Also it’s much more honestly queer about it, and gentler with its leads (despite the obsession theme) so watching this after seeing Like Love, it makes for an excellent contrast. 

You can see, with this pair of actors, the thing Taiwan becomes justifiably famous for: higher heat and fantastic chemistry. Korea shies away from gay kisses, Taiwan embraces them. Only Thailand ever comes even close to what Taiwan can do to burn up a screen. Also watch for the crash into me trope which is, without question, Taiwan’s favorite trope - they will slot this into EVERY BL. 

In short, Obsessed manages to cram in most of Taiwan’s favorite BL tropes from China as well as a seme/uke dynamic that’s quintessentially Japanese, highlighting the two traditions Taiwan draws from the most, but with Taiwan’s unique brand of realism (if not realistic) story and signature chemistry. 

DAY 12: Double Bill Taiwan Goes All In And Does it All 

We Best Love & HIStory 4: Close to You (2021)

The 1st installment of We Best Love, WBL: No 1 For You, is a short run university set BL combining the best of Thailand’s modern take with Japanese light BL traditions (and a touch of Thai uni BL-ness). The 2nd season, WBL: Fighting Mr 2nd, moves into the office, and employs darker Japanese and Chinese BL style in terms of setting, obsession, and mature concepts. 

WBL thus successfully managed to pick up and combine some of the most popular aspects of all BL right now. Couple that to the insane chemistry from the leads (Taiwan’s speciality), and I consider WBL one of the best BLs of all time, cooking to a recipe I doubt anyone else will ever be able to replicate since only Taiwan is this flexible. It manages to showcase all the things Taiwan is best at: higher heat, chemistry (again, it’s their THING), interesting (if short) story structure, excellent acting, and some seriously old school yaoi derived tropes. Plus there’s that gritty little edge of darkness from China’s obsession with... obsession. WBL is supersaturated with BL roots, however it’s ALSO openly queer AND mature with its concepts. 

If you want something similar but easier to get ahold of still demonstrating Taiwan’s versatility, Be Loved In House: I Do is almost as good but a lot softer. 

If We Best Love represents the best that Taiwanese BL can be, HIStory 4: Close to You represents what it actually still is, the questioning reality. H4CTY is two strongly contrasted storylines and couples: 

One a soft friends to lovers office setting, slightly absurdist, fake relationship romance full of saccharine sweetness reminiscent of lighter Japanese yaoi, it’s even filmed that way on occasion (not something Taiwan often bothers with). 

The other is a darker story of stalking and obsession, seriously fucked up family dynamics, using the always contentious stepbrother trope that owes a lot to early Chinese BL. 

H4 is, in a way, Taiwan’s internal dialogue with its own style of BL and where it wants to go. Whether it is willing to go up against Korea in the arena of shorter run strong concept but ultimately bright and happy new wave BL, as it did with Be Loved In House, or whether it wants to continue down the shadowy path of amorphous endings which risk a discontented fan base but garner critical acclaim as they did with HIStory 3 and Your Name Engraved Herein.

I suspect this is a back and forth we will see play out on screen from them for a while longer. Taiwan, it seems, refuses to pick a lane. 

THAILAND 

The juggernaut of BL, Thailand now produces 20+ BLs a year and does not seem to be slowing down. Their tradition is for bright cheerful BLs with guaranteed happy endings that owe very little to yaoi roots and more to their own literary tradition of y-novels (and therefore the romance genre). 

Because they produce the most BL by a landslide and are readily accessible online, their style dominates the genre (and watcher expectations). Most new watchers enter into BL via a Thai series (e.g. Love Sick, SOTUS, 2gether, TharnType, KinnPorsche), and so the Thai style is coming to dictate taste more and more. You can read about the history of Thai BL here. And I have a master post talking all about watch lists etc.. here. 

DAY 13: Thailand, the Juggernaut’s Sad Beginnings 

Love of Siam (2007)

This is a beautiful piece and one of the earliest BLs we have from Thailand. It has more in common with Love Sick and I Told Sunset About You than what we think of now as typical Thai BL. It’s darker, sadder, and much messier. There are lot of genuine struggles around being a teenager and coming out as well as family drama, complex friendship groups, and an amorphous, in this case quite sad, ending. Oh no one dies, but it’s not happy either.

Thailand would never really dwell in darkness the way this (and their few other earlier pieces) do, but they would also never be as gritty or as realistic again, either. Still there are tropes in Love of Siam (post-it love notes, sleep cuddling, head touching, and singing of feelings) that hint at what Thai BL ultimately becomes - but it would have to produce Love Sick before really developing the industry. 

[It behooves me to point out that the first time we see a lot of Thai BL actors on screen together is in Grean Fictions (2013) but while it features some gay characters it is not, in fact BL. While a complicated interesting piece of Thai cinema history, Green Fictions is has numerous issues. It seems to have started the unfortunately grand (and enduring) tradition in Thai BL of punching down humor with regards to femme and trans characters. So there’s THAT.]

DAY 14: The BL of All BLs 

Love Sick BL cut (2014) 

Love Sick is, to this day the Thai BL with the longest run time that I know of. It got two full seasons and that second season was crazy long. It was insanely popular in Thailand and is single handedly responsible for the beginning of Thailand’s mass production of BL. It is the BL that spawned a hundred high school set BLs, most particularly Make it Right. And Make It Right would spawn the Thai BL pulps - lower production value, non-adaptation, poor quality BLs that now make up over half of Thailand’s BL production. 

Love Sick is a messy messy soap opera, complete with cast changes (same character different actor), that centers around a musical club in an all boys school. The lead singer falls in love with another boy but things are complicated by the fact that they both have girlfriends. So yeah, we have two sublime origin disaster bis plus the faen fatale archetype (plot device character, often female, who exists solely to drive a wedge between the main couple). 

It’s the charisma of the leads and well written dialogue that carries this show, and it does end ultimately happily. Also, it established many of the tropes that Thai BL loves the most: sponge bath, field trips (both beach and forest), symbolic gift exchange, feeding each other, drama in the water, shoulder sleeping, boys on phones, significant hand hold, faen fatale, sing your feelings, and so many more it’s hard to keep track. (And is why I started this blog.) 

Love Sick is also responsible for something we rarely see in BL outside of Thailand & the Philippines (although it actually can be traced back to Takumi-kun) the secondary BL couple, AKA the side dishes. Thailand now almost always has at least one secondary pair, and will include multiples in one BL, because they have the cast (big, cheap talent pool) and length of time to do so. 

DAY 13: The BL That Launched A Thousand Ships 

SOTUS (2016)

If Love Sick started it all within Thailand, SOTUS took it international. The first in a (seemingly) endless series of y-novel adaptations, this show made Thailand production houses (particularly GMMTV) realize they had a cash cow on their hands if they could just get the formula right. 

SOTUS established a few BL tropes particularly germane to university set BL: pink milk, the engineering student is gay, haze the one you love, gear symbology, and also started to perpetuate romance tropes common to many Asian countries like under one umbrella, forehead kisses, eating together, and so forth. (Also clumsy product placement.) 

SOTUS had a clean sharp story and much higher production values than previous Thai offerings, with grown (or at least not teen) characters/actors and an enemies to lovers traditional romance foundation that pushed it to perform well outside of Thailand, becoming popular first in Southeast Asia and then northwards, eventually hitting Europe and the Americas. But it would take it a few years to spread that far. GMMTV posted and hosted SOTUS on YouTube for years and that was a genius move, eventually Netflix picked it up. 

It helped that the leads were willing to provide fan service (pair branding) in a way that hadn’t before been seen in BL (or indeed fandom) that would eventually do far more damage than it would good in the arena fan expectations, parasocial relationships, obsession (fan feelings of ownership) and IRL shipping. But probably did substantially increase its popularity. 

Thailand would latch onto this, their best shows are almost always y-novel adaptations written as traditional romances (and owe very little to yaoi story traditions except with certain archetypes like seme/uke). 

DAY 14: The BL that Broke the Internet 

2gether (2020) 

If Love Sick started it and SOTUS pushed it forward, 2g made Thai BL a phenomenon. It represents peak new BL of the kind that Thailand is famous for. 

It’s gentle with its characters, 

provides service seme/uke (by story if not appearance), 

has low heat but good couple chemistry and nice kisses, 

uses a traditional romance foundation (fake dating) with a comedic bent (but punching down humor), 

has miscommunication and BL tropes as narrative drivers, 

is in a university setting with fun friendship groups, 

and everything turns out charming in the end. 

It released at exactly the right time (lockdown) to the right platform (YouTube) for an international audience (mostly trapped at home) and it was HUGE. A sensation. With this series BL became a soft power for Thailand. It’s likely single-handedly responsible for more fans discovering BL than all three of its core predecessors combined. It’s still one of the most popular Thai BLs (by the YouTube watch numbers and MDL reviews and ratings) than any other. And possibly the most popular BL of all. 

This is not the first time we see it, but 2gether is also a heavy hitter in the arena of product placement and sponsorship deals. Featuring leads with model training and model looks, BrightWin skyrocketed their couple brand into major marketing deals. It should be said, however, that the kings of BL pair marketing to beat were MewGulf (TharnType series) who caused an absolute sensation and crashed websites with their shoots. However, OffGun (Puppy Honey, Theory of Love, Not Me) and MaxTul (Together with Me series, Manner of Death) remain the eternal kings of co-branding, with years of endorsement deals based on their comfortable working relationship as a pair. 

Still, it was 2gether that really got called out for its admittedly egregious product placement. 

Filming wise, 2gether showcases the Thai BL standard - sparse, brightly lit, lots of tropes, and a warm color palette. It has GMMTV’s mark on it in terms of higher production values (for Thailand, this is no Korea), although that is not to be expected from Thai BL in general. But that saturated, bright, open, almost airy feel is typical of Thai BL as a whole and its unique stamp.  

2gether isn’t perfect by a long shot (I openly struggle with it’s punching down humor), but it is Thailand’s solid gold money-making industry standard. And represents the magic they are constantly trying to reproduce. 

DAY 15: Thailand Struggles with Origin Yaoi 

Love By Chance (2018)

TharnType is the one I talk about the most, but Love By Chance came first and it certainly had its issues. AePete as a central couple were great, and very Thai BL of the Love Sick style, softly subversive seme/uke, gentle and eager, struggling with self worth issues and identity. But they were surrounded by seriously problematic tropes in all the many side dishes from stalker behavior, to stepbrothers, to dubious consent statutory rape, making this, ultimately, a difficult series to swallow. 

Mame, the y-novel author responsible for this series (and now many others) has a history of using some of the most problematic yaoi story traditions and tropes (she must have grown up reading manga). She also has a history of inconsistent characters portrayed by great actors, higher heat levels, and is, in general, a mixed bag. But her stuff does showcase what happens to Thai BL when it remembers it came, originally, from Japan. 

DAY 16: Thailand Gets Sophisticated About Story 

Until We Meet Again (2019)

One of the things that distinguishes Thai BL above all others (except maybe some Pinoy stuff) is the length of treatment. Started by Love Sick, Thailand is willing to spend 10-17 full 45 minute episodes on a story (although its kinda settled on 12 these days) with a full cast and multiple different couples. (Possibly because it’s comparatively cheap to do so in Thailand, as opposed to Japan or Korea.) 

Thailand production houses are also willing to give 2nd seasons (thank you again Love Sick), spin off series featuring side couples (thank you Mame), and specials (thank you Our Skyy & GMMTV), in a way that, is pretty rare in the BL world and largely vested in Thailand’s ability to raise additional product sponsorship on the back of a first season’s success.

But because they are adapting from novels (half the time), Thailand can also get more sophisticated with story and narrative structure in long form than any other country (except maybe the Chinese bromances). UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN PERFECTLY HIGHLIGHTS THIS. It is a masterful piece of long form story telling, with twists and reveals, loop backs and discoveries between past and present that also manages to link (and make necessary) it’s side dishes. 

Good story can’t be expected from all Thai BL, but it can be expected from at least half a dozen every year. And that’s pretty darn good in this industry. 

VIETNAM 

Very new to the BL scene Vietnam nevertheless has its own flavor and is doing interesting things with the genre already. I don’t have a history of Vietnamese BL post, because there isn’t much, but I do have a master post here. They have an SEO issue, their stuff is often hard to find because their naming conventions are odd and inconsistent between episodes. Also they are not yet listed on MDL (as of 2021). I dithered over putting them after the Philippines because of this, but style-wise they bridge Thai and Pinoy stuff.  

DAY 17: Vietnam’s Difficult Launch 

My Sky (2017) 

AKA BẦU TRỜI CỦA KHÁNH

With a really very odd ending, this is nevertheless a good insight into how Vietnam started it’s BL journey (triggers on homophobia, abuse, possible incest, humiliation). You can see some things it will become known for: home settings, slightly messy staging, and a sweetly combative core relationship. Also Vietnam uses real people, or actors that look real, and doesn’t have as strong an aesthetic preference as Korea or Taiwan. In this, Vietnam more like early Chinese BL or current Pinoy stuff. In fact, this piece has a distinctly 2013 Chinese BL feel to it, which is a direction Vietnam will quickly abandon. 

You’ll notice this BL feels immature. This has to do almost entirely with production values. Vietnam just doesn’t have a strong studio system in place. This is VBLs lack the background talent (editors, sound engineers, lighting technicians, wardrobe, makeup props dep, stagers, etc...) Production in general started out low quality with My Sky and remains what we can expect from this  industry. 

Also the limited cast, home setting, and sense of family life started here, and are elements that VBL will preserve throughout its offerings. Domesticity is by far their strong point. However, their acting is earnest and honest and tender, and the physicality can be sweet and authentic in a way that Taiwan can do, but tends to push a lot harder and more aggressive. VBL has a lot in common with the Thai pulps, but generally their acting is less stiff. 

DAY 18: Double Bill - Modern Vietnamese BL

You Are Ma Boy & My Lascivious Boss (2021)

EM LÀ CHÀNG TRAI CỦA ANH YAMB and ÔNG CHỦ, ĐỪNG ĐẾN ĐÂY MLB 

These two are good examples of the current state of VBL, and you probably don’t need to watch both if you don’t want to (also you could go for Mr Cinderella if you want to meet Bah Vinh current reigning King of BL - he has starred in the most of any one actor). 

These exemplify Vietnam’s marked preference for a home setting and the authentic domesticity that goes along with this. I keep using the word “authentic” and I think that’s what like about this BL tradition. VBL feels homey and real and warm - a bit cluttered and clumsy and awkward. Even if it can get a bit... odd, and the story structure is simplistic at best. 

VBL is also getting better at femme, trans, and cross dressing rep without punching down (as Thailand is prone to do) which is, again, a lot more like Pinoy stuff. In fact, Vietnamese BL forms a pretty tidy bridge between Thai BL (at Korean length) but with Pinoy sensibilities. So let’s touch on that tradition next. 

THE PHILIPPINES 

Also new to the BL scene. Because of its background as a Spanish and then American occupied nation, the Philippines offers up a distinctly different flavor of BL. Let’s be blunt shall we? Catholicism has made its mark. Combine that with a language that is now wrapped in and around English, the Philippines has culturally incorporated western concepts, words, and ideology around queerness that permeates their BL, and simply does not exist in other BL producing nations. Only Taiwan even approaches it. What this means is that Pinoy BL feels the most western to many international watchers. 

But, it is a young industry so extremely messy in production and awkward with story, while being gritty and realistic with performance and setting. I don’t have a history of watching Pinoy BL because I don’t enjoy any of these aspects. And because they (now) tend to produce long form and don’t always end happily, the buy in is high to watch all of them. 

DAY 19: The BL Bridge 

4 Days (2016) 

The first Pinoy BL that I know of is high school set Geography Lessons (AKA Lisyun qng Geografia) from 2014 which is a nostalgic little microfilm that actually has a lot in common with early Japanese BL in content if not style. It’s not dark, but it doesn’t end happily either. 

University set BL 4 Days is similar, with a happy ending, so it’s the one I suggest to get a taste of early Pinoy stuff. You should be able note, at this juncture, that it feels a little like the early Chinese or Taiwanese stuff in its grittiness, but is not as dark. It’s almost a one act play, in that most of the content is the two leads in their dorm room together. It’s a simple friends to lovers concept with a disaster bi archetype (the Philippines likes these two tropes a lot and will constantly reuse them), but you’ll notice the unformed staging and lighting and inconsistent sound. 

Pinoy BL has not yet outgrown any of this, it’s sort of sweaty and sticky and homey feeling. BL from the Philippines always feels homemade. The acting is usually better than Vietnam or the Thai pulps, but the story structure is even more raw. Some Pinoy stuff can just drift into complete soap opera narrative nothingness - like the  worst of the Thai BL pulps. 

DAY 20: The Indoor Kids 

Gameboys (2020) 

Alternatively you can also watch Like In The Movies AKA Gaya Sa Pelikula (2020), a great offering. Both these showcase Pinoy BLs’ move towards more queer affirming narratives. Also they both prove that the Philippines can handle story (just not very complicated ones), but likes to stick with the home setting. 

(The only major offering not of this type, with any legs, is my favorite Pinoy BL My Day. But My Day is one of those that seems to be more of an exception than a rule, and is basically the Philippines trying to do Thai BL.) 

Back to Gameboys. As a quarantine project, this was well suited out the gate to the Pinoy BL style. And they did it first as a result, breaking ground and getting known because Gameboys got wide distribution and the international audience liked the realistic feel (and forgave amateur production values because we are used to that in a queer narrative) when married to the zoom-style reality of a C19 setting. (Thailand and Taiwan would both go on to produce quarantine projects like Gameboys, unquestionably inspired by it.) Also the characters were endearing awkward self affirming honest queer kids, played with charming authenticity by a wonderful cast. When Pinoy BL gets it RIGHT, this is were it excels. 

SELF CRITICAL BL 

Lovely Writer (Thailand 2021) 

Lovely Writer is an excellent BL in the classic high quality Thai BL style, but it is ALSO Thailand examining what 7 years of BL fandom has done to them and their industry. It tackles adaptations, writing BL, and the pressures of the y-novel industry on creatives as well as actor issues and stressors, not to mention obsessive fans and disgusting shipping practices. It’s meta and there would go on to be many more BLs of this type. Call it What You Want (2021) does this as well, only it’s even rougher going. Lovely Writer is kind about it, no triggers, CITWYW is bitter. 

This idea of self analysis and reflection is not, however, unique to 2021. The Effect a Thai BL from 2019 takes seme/uke and obsessive love to task in a big way. It’s seriously traumatic and I don’t recommend watching it as essentially it is a BL that stands up and decrees: if people really did act this way in real life, these are the consequences. And do we really want our little fantasies shattered like that? No, we don’t. 

Lovey Writer self reflects without breaking us or its characters. It is thoughtful about what it means to be a BL in Thailand, without punishing the watchers for their love of the genre. Just, perhaps, encouraging all of us to think about our behavior as fans. 

A Man Who Defies The World of BL (Japan 2021) 

AKA Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko

If Lovely Writer was about the BL industry, Absolute BL is about the BL narrative, or more precisely, the tropes and archetypes of origin yaoi. It’s Japan 2021 bringing us back around to the origin of everything, and then ruthlessly trotting that everything before us and poking hard core fun at it. This show will not make sense at all if you don’t have a familiarity with the genre, or it might, but it won’t be as funny or insightful. It’s a work of parody gold and genius, and I love it more than is strictly reasonable. 

Is it a good BL? Not even a little bit. But after going through this syllabus you should know why. 

But that is also NOT THE POINT. 

Instead, this show is the perfect cap stone to the journey that the 30 BLs on this list will take you on. Because you will finally understand every moment and every nuance it’s highlighting and it will, I promise, blow your mind in that regard. This show only could have come from Japan, and only Japan could have executed it so well. The only way to fully understand why, is to have watched the other legacy shows that came before it. 

Absolute BL was made for us, for the fans, and only for us. Absolutely no one else could possibly understand it. It was a thank you gift (and friendly mockery) from the ones who started everything. And that is the reason I would end on this gem. 

If you want a country-by-country breakdown and direct comparison which highlights the strengths and weakness of each (in terms of both story and production) that’s here:

BL Breakdowns by Country

BL Master Post 

(includes what you can now expect from BL produced by each country)

BL Docs & NonFic Resources on YT

BL History

Strongberry on BL (Korea)

Thai BL

TED Ex BangKok (growing up gay in Thailand)

Chinese masculinity

Perth on working on a BL show (Thailand, Aussie perspective)

(source)