#my year with bl

[guzhufuren]

2024 is the year of men kissing in hanfus and wigs

[shanblackrx]

Yes the slamming against the wall, yes the push onto the couch, yes the pulling the underwear with his teeth, yes the nod of consent. Absolutely!! They're very deserved popular highlights of a scene that is perfect from start to end.

But as someone who had rewatched it on loop for days, can I offer you some more? It`s not like we have achieved full insanity with this scene yet. There`s more potential to it. There`s infinite potential to it.

So here are my personal highlights:

Joke's smug grin before kissing Jack

Jack's indentations on Joke's torso

The force with which Jack threw those pants,, (and Joke. And Joke's little expectant expression for the cherry on top)

Joke wetting his lips before kissing Jack again

Jack grabbing Joke's chin to pull him back into a kisskjdfl,kmnd,lmddf (this one made me Especially insane)

Joke biting his lips AND Jack once again grabbing Joke's chin like THAT I swear to god I fully expected a small slap after it I think I'd have instantly passed away if it happened

Am I the only one who lost their mind for these extremely specific and small details? No? Good.

[gunsatthaphan]

ayan 🤝🏻 bison if you like it put a pin in it 💫

[absolutebl]

Best 24 of BL 2024 - Quirky Awards

ONLY shows that ENDED their runs in 2024 are up for awards.

SHOCK & AWE AWARDS

1. Biggest BL surprise of 2024:

Cherry Magic Thailand. TayNew's version was truly a lovely experience and very much its own take on the original, an adaptation rather than a remake. I'm so relieved and grateful that GMMTV managed to pull it off, and sad it wasn't more widely available.

2. The “that country did WHAT?” award:

Meet You At the Blossom from China. From start to finish it is exactly as it claimed to be, wuxia BL, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming (dubious consent to the point of rape) and actual kisses, wife language, floaty sleeves, you name it. FROM CHINA!!!

3. Biggest casting whoa! where did you come from? award:

Up & Poom in My Stand-In. I mean, WHERE did you two come from and how did this happen? Holy smokes. My goodness are we grateful!

4. That studio did WHAT now? award:

Youku putting Unknown out wide and easily avaiable on YouTube (for most of us). It's just really rare for a Taiwanese BL to get any kind of distribution. And to do that with arguably the best TaBL of the year and not some sad little mew mew? Amazing.

5. I’m sad you were ignored award:

Sugar Dog Life - such a charming JBL, so hard to find. I'm so sad it didn't get distribution. It's charming, one of my favorites of the year, worth tracking down if you can.

6. 2024 BL That Actually Made Me Lose My Mind Award?

I gotta be honest, it was The Sign. I was such a chaotic mess of a show but never once was I bored. It was the only one that drove me into memes and captions and silliness.

I did go a bit feral for a while over Love for Loves Sake and Wandee Gooday not to mention The Only One (until it went tits-up).

NARRATIVE AWARDS

7. Best story 2024:

Cherry Magic (Thai remake). I know, but it worked just as well in another country, if not better. I always enjoy this kind of magical realism concept (after all Color Rush is one of my all time favorite BLs) and despite the increased length, the pacing was solid on this one... even from Thailand.

8. Best narrative structure 2024 award:

Love For Love's Sake. A KBL isekai about a man who must win a game by convincing a reserved teen outcast to fall in love with him. Of course, that teen represents himself and his own unhappiness. I drowned in this show and liked it that way.

9. Best 2024 dialogue (script) award:

We Are, it was just so much fun. And so FUNNY.

10. Favorite scene 2024:

Like anyone needed to ask. Unknown, of course.

11. The most rewatchable BL of 2024 award:

We Are

It's just all the couples are so cute and the core friendship group is so charming and endearing.

ACTORS & CHARACTERS AWARDS

12. Best performance of a queer actor in a leading role:

no award this year, yeah the whole damn industry should be thoroughly ashamed of itself

13. Best pining 2024:

The Time of Fever. That feeding him orange while lying on the floor scene ALONE.

14. Best wingman 2024 (The Namgoong Award)

Yai in The Sign.

15. Biggest OMG I LOVE you boys together, YAY!

SailubPon from Pit Babe & This Love Doesn't Have Longbeans, from the softness of one to the health code violations of the other. Sure their shows are bonkers, but man are these two good at bonkers (and bonking).

With a nod to BigPark from Monster Next Door.

16. Most unexpected return of a BL pair? award:

OffGun. There were rumors that Off was out at the beginning of 2023. And then they came back with 2 shows in 2024 (Cooking Crush and The Trainee)!

17. Well aren't you two just the prettiest? award:

I dithered a lot (Babe's damn waist and OMG The Sign's sex scenes hawt), but in the end it had to go to GreatInn. They were just so good at showing their characters having FUN together. There is a lot of beauty in enjoying sex and another person's company. It's so rare to see that portrayed in a BL (and it shouldn't be rare).

18. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

I'm actually giving it to OffGun. Ya know, where others falter, these two just keep going. It's kinda amazing.

RANDOM PICKS

19. Favorite Linguistic Moment of 2024:

The general flirtatious banter from Last Twilight.

20. Biggest disappointment of 2024:

Addicted Heroin (Thai version). Some of the very best original material + one of my favorite Thai actors (who I've been waiting eons to see in a BL again) and THIS was the result? They could have fixed China's worst BL mistake, instead the made everything worse. I'm gonna be bitter for a really really long time.

I gotta sat The Only One comes a real close second tho. And I'm still mad about Last Twilight, too.

21. Best Wardrobe/Prop Use 2023

Meet You At The Blossom - I love a pretty boy pissing contest over who has the biggest sleeves. Twirl you beautiful bastards, TWIRL!

22. Best Queer Rep 2024

Again, not great this year. I loved the fun sex and play in Wandee, but there were precious few femme characters, and in general it felt like we took some steps back from queerness this year. So I'm gonna give it to Deep Night, because at least they gave us honest poly for the first time.

23. Best Meta Trope call out

Love for Love Sake - Korea taking to task the Dead Fish Kiss when they are often the worst offender was...... amusing.

But Deep Night having male sex workers having to act like they were in a BL for a couple chicks...... literally gay for pay depicting gay for pay and just, well, that's frankly a gut punch. There was some sarcastic clapping on my side of the screen.

24. Well aren't you getting all Live Action Yaoi retro with your bad self?

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave gets my vintage af award. I flipping LOVED it. Would I recommend it? Only if you, yourself, are a bit vintage.

Final question: which of the 24 was the hardest for me to pick?

20 Biggest disappointment of 2024. Look I had some pretty high expectations of some returning pairs, some great ideas, and some intriguing remakes. 2024 was full of disappointments.

2022's Version of the Quirkies

2023's Version of the Quirkies

Remember I only pull from shows that were completely finished by the end of 2024.

(source)

[babybison]

2024 bl favs

[tortibomb]

The Heart Killers | Fadel & Style

Nothing stings like betrayal from the one who witnessed your vulnerability and promised to protect it.

[khaopybara]

no matter how bad my past was, i just want to be a better man for you now.

FIRST KANAPHAN as KANT PATTANAWAT episode 5 of THE HEART KILLERS

[clairedaring]

Tew. How did you get here? I followed you.

SPARE ME YOUR MERCY | 1.08

[oddishblossom]

Hirano Taiga & Kagiura Akira from SASAKI TO MIYANO: GRADUATION (2023)

[usertoxicyaoi]

"You know I'm not a kind person, and I don't listen to others. How do I make you mine, and mine alone?"

TAIKAN YOHOU (2023). EPISODE EIGHT.

[immortallaughter]

You know how cat eyes do the thing™? Hear me out. (inspired by a conversation with @baldurstaint and friends)

[khaoray]

2024 WATCHLIST

I promise that I won't let you be anyone else's stand-in anymore. My Stand In, thailand (2024)

[pharawee]

—Who are you looking for? —Er... I'm looking for my boy– ... er, I mean, the president's secretary.

JJ Rathasat Butwong as JULADIS & Fong Bovorn Kongnawdee as CHAN

—SUNSET X VIBES · Episode 2

[gunsatthaphan]

how it started // how it's going

[absolutebl]

struggling to give thanks?

Thailand dropped teasers for 5 vampire BLs in 2024

My Golden Blood (GMMTV)

Vampire Project (Wabi Sabi)

OMG! Vampire (who tf knows)

1000 Years Old (Feel Good Bangkok)

The Hidden Moon (MGY)

[babybison]

It's been a dream of mine to see the Northern Lights in Iceland. If we're lucky, maybe we can go together.