#pseudo bl

[chibipandaao3]

I have this fic in the works that essentially a Pit Babe AU where Jeff and Charlie find the X-Hunters through a less stalking more “I got an internship and this is my self sacrificing older brother, please look out for us” kinda way. Because I love nothing more than to make my favorites suffer…

Anyway, if I can get a couple chapters deep I might post some this weekend 🤔

Although, my sister is in town and I really need to be a bit more productive irl…I say while working….okay yeah bad habit….

[madeinkorea-blbambeyond]

MADE IN KOREA

Series: Heart Stain (The Finale)

KIM JI OH

HA MIN

[kelvintimeline]

kinnporche’s novel got licensed for an english release, so the cover was released, and i gotta say… no drawing or rendition can ever beat the live action casting

like truly the sexiest, most fitting men were cast for that. cant be topped.

[cryptotheism]

A love spell, from a Pseudo-Aristotelean treatise (Dhakhira Iskander IO, BL Islamic 673)

[ignoranxed]

@lurkingshan while i do agree with your point about cheum being a criminally underwritten character, i can’t help but wonder if that is to some extent intended on jojo and cos part. to me her character’s only purpose seems to be to highlight the ephemerality of this friendship group in that as long as it’s good, its all fun and games, but if one doesn’t get one’s way or if the friendship interferes with things that actually matter, nobody and nothing is important. for her their friendship seems like a matter of convenience rather than purpose so when it clashes with the things she does hold dear (her studies, april, atom etc.) she goes ballistic. (while this might be true for the boys as well, it’s really the only dimension we get to cheum’s character).

this is also why i’m not surprised by her reaction to atom when he confesses his lie to her because family is permanent. even if her brother did do wrong, the fact that he hurt someone she couldn’t care less about anyway drastically reduces the gravity of his wrongs and therefore the depth of her reaction.

to me, her character within this friend group is sort of branded by that thing she says in ep1, something about covid and pm2.5, not just in living like there’s no tomorrow but in that if she feels like it, she does it. no thoughts, head empty.

do share your take on this :)) i’ve been trying to keep up with you and the rest of the #ephemerality squad‘s notes on the themes of ephemerality/permanence in OF and would love to know your thoughts!

Just saw your tags on turtle’s post and would love to hear more of your thoughts on Cheum

Oh, boy. Okay, I guess we’re doing this. So, when I think about Cheum I am usually making this face.

And embodying Oprah what is the truth.gif, because I think she is incredibly underwritten to the point of incomprehensibility. I think the term I used with @so-much-yet-to-learn to describe the writing for Cheum was "a void of characterization.”

By which I mean, I don't understand anything about her. I don't know what she wants or what she cares about. I don't know anything about her relationship with April. I don't know why she is friends with these guys or which she has real bonds with, if any. I don't know why she does things or whether I am supposed to see her as a neutral observer, a voice of reason, or another chaotic shit stirrer. I've seen some confusing messages from the creators about her that don't track with what I'm seeing on screen, so I find it hard to parse their intent versus the impact of what she is actually doing in the story.

But what I can tell you is that based on what I've seen, I don't like or respect her, and I certainly don't see her as in any way better or above the other characters in this story. Let me sum up what we've seen of Cheum over the course of the story:

She is mean to her friends, making lots of catty, passive aggressive remarks that dig at their sore points and taking sides against each of them on a whim

She pushes Mew to date Top and then to forgive him for cheating, to the point of ignoring Mew's stated wishes to conspire to help Top get back into his space

She somehow makes Ray nearly getting arrested all about her and in general gets overly involved in the boys' drama before turning around and berating them for causing her stress

She is judgmental and shaming about gay sex, making Boston out to be a predator for having a lot of sex and leveling a homophobic attack against him by claiming he took advantage of her "straight" brother

She lacks grace and humility and doesn't admit it or apologize when she is wrong, sticking to her bias against all evidence

And we have seen precious little in terms of positive attributes to balance this. We haven't seen her show up for any of the boys as a true or loyal friend. She seems reasonably good at school and conscientious about the hostel project, but we don’t get much there either. She's not even fun! Her function in the story is to be an antagonist to each of the boys in turn, even as the narrative seems to sometimes be suggesting that she is outside the drama.

It all reads very confused to me, and I can't say with any certainty how much of it is intentional and how much is just failures of writing and editing. She's not getting enough screen time for a confident read on who she is, and what she does get feels half-baked. At this point, I think it's safe to say Cheum is just a poorly executed character who has little purpose besides being the token lesbian in the friend group.

[respectthepetty]

Sometimes, I watch a show that is so blatantly color coded that I feel I don't need to write anything about it because I don't want to beat a pseudo-incestuous-and-toxic horse when it's obviously dead color coded; then, I get three messages in my inbox asking if I'll be writing about Moon and Dust, so since I need bare minimum encouragement to write about colors, I guess I'm supporting the gay wrongs and writing about color-coded (not) brothers in love!

We have Song Qi and Song Li giving us a light x dark dynamic, and they are in love.

Song Qi is the Black Brooder, and the Dust in this duo. He is powerful, he is protective, and he is batshit crazy. But he is also in love with his older brother, which can be seen in the white that is blended into his scarf, and the white cardigan he wears under his big ass black coat.

It can also be seen in the way he stares longingly at his almost naked brother outside of his brother's window late at night.

This is Song Li. He is a Heavenly Human and the Moon that lights up the dark sky. He is innocent, he is kind, and his is also in love with his younger brother even if he doesn't say it, which can been seen in his sweater turning gray.

Because not only does he turn gray when it comes to taking care of Song Qi, but he also gives his younger brother his color when he cares for him.

Which is why I think Song Qi turned dark since Song Li protected him when he was younger from their abusive father, which probably caused Song Li to inherit that darkness so Song Li no longer had to be burdened with it.

But Heavenly Human Song Li still carries the weight of heavy emotions when it comes to seeing Song Qi in pain, especially knowing his younger brother is injured because of him.

Yet this Black Brooder tries to bring a smile to his Ge's face by doing what most gay boys in a BL do — he bakes and he bites.

Paging @lukaherehelp because The Little Prince with his rose has entered another queer love story in the shape of a birthday cake.

So Song Li gets his sweet treat and Song Qi gets his kinky version of a sweet treat. Win-win!

And we are going to see how both boys incorporate the other's color into their wardrobe to show how they love each other.

And, I will apparently be here to write about it.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Jbl drought is officially over, with announcements falling out of the sky one after the other. I'm in bl heaven. Warmer weather is here and I cannot believe June starts tomorrow. Pride is upon us. As usual, spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇰🇷 Ball Boy Tactics [4/8] - I love Kwon Jungwoo. His facial expressions are so good, and of course Jiwoo is such a cutie. I did not see this show coming, and I'm loving it. I need all the episodes now!

🇹🇭 Boys in Love [9/12] - I need more of the teachers. The kids are cute but I'm wondering when the real conflict will come because it seems too calm right now. Mon's mum is a bit overbearing but her intentions seem good.

🇯🇵 Even Though We're Adults [5/12] - I'm enjoying the weirdness. The tone of this show is so different, and I have absolutely no clue where this is going but I'm enjoying the ride. The characters keep doing exactly the opposite of what I'm expecting but it's not boring.

🇹🇼 Fight For You [11/12] - So probably no side couple, I'm okay with that. One more time, a bl grandma saving the day. I can't believe we'll have a full episode of boyfriend era, although this is Taiwan, so either some random act of violence or a wedding. My money is on the second.

🇯🇵I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama S2 [1/6] - Chaos is back and with even more chaotic energy. I missed Akafuji's insane internal monologue so much. This is gonna be fun.

🇹🇭 Knock Out [6/12] - It's getting a bit repetitive and honestly kinda boring. The episodes are too long without much of a reason for it. I hate the pseudo triangle but at least there's no doubt about who Keen likes. I wanna more about Mawin and Ait, I like their dynamic but really wish I knew how it all started.

🇹🇭 My Sweetheart Jom [3½/12] - I feel asleep during episode 4 and haven't gone back. which is not a good sign. I might catch up at some point but I'm in no hurry.

🇹🇭Reset [3/10] - I still think this was a second reset, and in the first it was Thada remembered but now Armin is the one who does. The chemistry is on point and Pond is doing amazing.

🇨🇳 Revenged Love [4/24] - Unhinged, everything and everyone. The tone swings wildly, but it's so fun. I love the snakes.

🇹🇭 Suntiny [2/10] - I still can't believe I'm watching a bl where the entire set up is about erectile dysfunction. But hey, it's not boring. And I'm loving seeing a new side of Max and I can't wait to see Earth. There's something definitely deeper here and I'm wondering if they'll explore it well.

🇰🇷 Sweetheart Service [6/12] - The parents scene was a riot. They are delightful and I really don't miss the sides when they don't show.

🇹🇭 Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist [10/11] - I don't even know what to say anymore. Individual scenes are good, and Mark is trying his hardest, but the show just never found its footing and now it's too late. I feel like this was a wasted opportunity for Mark.

🇹🇭 The Bangkok Boy [8/12] - Damn that was a lot for one episode. The paint scene was really well done. The desperation, the red paint, the cuts with the fighting scene, it all spells doom. This show keeps surprising me every week. And we got a new player in town right when two bodies hit the ground. This is not looking good for any of my guys.

🇹🇭 The Ex-Morning [4/10] - I still like it a lot but...

🇹🇭 The Next Prince [7/12] - Well this is getting a bit boring now. They get separated by force, and then they get put back together. Khanin is happy, Khanin is in danger, we have to lock up Charan. I'm a bit annoyed by this. But no one does repressed yearning like Zee. It's incredible to watch. I really like Ava, so I'm happy we got more of her, but I also wanted more of the other couples. Oh well, I guess I'll wait another week.

QL - Finished

🇰🇷 Business as Usual - Final Thoughts.

🇹🇭 My Golden Blood - Warning. I didn't like it. The ending felt very anticlimactic. We got way too much of the main couple. Nakan's death landed with zero impact because we barely knew anything about him. He'd mention this grand past love a couple of times, so I was expecting at least some kind of flashback. Instead we got nothing, and his death just fell completely flat. His whole character could've been so much more interesting if we'd gotten any real insight into who he was. Tonkla not coming back is a betrayal I won't soon forget. And honestly, all of this could've been avoided if they'd just bothered to discuss turning Tong earlier in the story. The main love story felt like it existed purely because the script demanded it, there was no real foundation, so I felt absolutely nothing.

🇰🇷 Something's Not Right - I have no words. What a complete waste of time. My ending.

🇹🇭 Top Form - This show isn't perfect and has some script hiccups, but it's still a really good time. Honestly, Boom is half the reason I enjoyed it - he's absolutely fantastic, though I wish his character wasn't constantly in tears. The guy cannot catch a break! But he's just so damn charming. The intimate scenes are actually well done too, good editing and they feel like they serve the story. It had some interesting commentary about the industry, although I think that storyline got a bit messy toward the end. I'd definitely recommend it, just with a few caveats.

QL - Dropped / On Hold Dropped - 🇹🇭 Eye Contact | 🇹🇭Loy Kaew First Love

Non QL - Finished

🇰🇷 Resident Playbook

Upcoming - June 02/06- 🇹🇭 Reset MDL | Trailer 05/06- 🇰🇷 Ball Boy Tactics MDL | Trailer 13/06 - 🇯🇵 I Became the Lead in a BL Drama 2 MDL 16/06 - 🇨🇳 Revenged Love Trailer 17/06 - 🇹🇭 Suntiny MDL | Trailer 20/06 - 🇯🇵Depth of Field MDL | Trailer 20/06- 🇹🇭 Memoir of Rati MDL | Trailer 25/06- 🇹🇭 Whale Store xoxo [GL] MDL 26/06- 🇯🇵 Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! S2 [GL] MDL | Trailer 27/06 - 🇹🇼 The Promise of the Soul MDL

That's all for now. Will update if there are more announcements. My inbox is always open. Happy watching!💜

[doctor-yaoi-phd]

Confessions of a Rotten Girl MV References to Fujoshi and Yaoi Culture

0:13 In the background of Miku’s room we can see dakimakuras hung on the wall, as well as a poster of a bara esque character wearing a face mask. Dakimakuras, or body pillows, are a common piece of anime merchandise.

0:17 All of Miku’s speech bubbles within the video are stylized like manga bubbles, even using the same font (wildwords). Also, the object she’s holding behind her is a yaoi paddle, a long pine wood paddle that were sold in the mid to late 2000s as decorative props, but were also used by some convention goers to spank others as a prank. While they typically read ‘Yaoi’, ‘Seme’, ‘Uke’, or other similar terms, hers reads ‘sinner’.

0:24 We get a better look at the manga she’s buying in this scene. The illustration is of a man getting his pec grabbed, with “Knockers” written up at the top. The text on the front reads “The best ever.”, and is subtitled “Time to see some old man hole”. The character seems to be one of Hokawazu’s, an NSFW artist who appears to have drawn this image, or at least been referenced by it. Additionally, the cover advertises a free CD that comes with the manga. BL CDs are a form of media in the yaoi genre in which the story is constrained to an audible form. Audio dramas that can be either explicit or safe for work in their content.

0:34 The cream on their faces is a reference to the trope of frosting/cream being used as pseudo-semen to imply a sensual undertone to images that may otherwise be SFW (I believe, the aprons might also be a reference, but I’m not sure as to what). Also, Yuuma and Len are the only two of the five without frosting on their faces - they’re also the only two who aren’t sexualized throughout the MV, presumably because they’re Miku’s classmates and therefore high schoolers and most likely underage.

0:36 Lemon slices float upwards, referring to the Citrus Scale, an older metric of labeling explicit fan works. ‘Lemon’ in this context indicates that the work is erotic or explicit in nature.

0:40 Example of classic seme/uke dynamic. Note Kiyoteru’s smaller and less muscled frame, as well as his more pointed jaw as compared to Gakupo’s square chin. Gakupo’s lanyard reads ‘Soft Seme’, and the camera effects imply Miku is recording all of this. Additionally, the lyrics and the outfits the characters are wearing imply that they are students and faculty members at Miku’s school, which means she’s shipping real people, as Fujoshi’s are often criticized for doing.

0:43 This whole image is a Given reference.

0:44 The lyric “Just watch! Look beyond the smoke and mirrors” refers to shipping culture, and how some fans with theorize that their pairing would be canon if not for an outside acting force such as management, producers, writers, etc. The most popular example I can name in reference to this is the Johnlocke conspiracy.

0:47 Luka is scribbled out and labeled ‘Delusional’ by Miku, in reference to how female characters and actors tend to be treated poorly by some fans for ‘getting in the way’ of slash ships.

0:51-0:57 Kaito, Kiyoteru, and Gakupo are bound in bondage ropes, except for Gakupo, who is bound with jump ropes because he’s the gym teacher.

1:03 Miku is holding a Death Note, except it’s not a Death Note, it’s a ‘Yaoi Note’. May be a reference to Lawlight, a popular Death Note ship.

1:06 “The lord sayeth “halt thy child, don’t give into sin”” is a reference to how some Fujoshis have referred to yaoi as ‘sin’ in the past, and the act of engaging with it as ‘sinning’.

1:15 Omegaverse referenced on the chalkboard next to bananas and donuts; bananas referring to penises, donuts referring to assholes. Anal sex.

1:27 Rotten tomatoes, as are thrown in disapproval at a poor performance. At first I thought this was a Hetalia reference, but figured that might be a bit too deep of a cut. They’re also used in reference to the ‘rotten’ in ‘rotten girl’ (“rotten girl” is a translation of the word “Fujoshi”), rotten tomatoes for a rotten girl.

1:38 This whole segment is a Danganronpa references, a fandom with many popular slash ships.

1:43 Top left and right of the chalkboard are Ao3 symbols, specifically the ones for Explicit, M/M, Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, and Completed Work.

2:00 Most of this is obscure to me, but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the fruit is referencing forbidden fruit (as brought up earlier in the song), the ping pong paddles yaoi paddles, and the tarts the desserts the boys were holding earlier.

2:10 MikuMikuBeam in the bottom right corner. Not yaoi, but a cute reference to another of Sawtowne’s works.

2:13 She’s using some website on the computers in the back, but the pixelation makes it hard to tell which. I’d guess maybe a manga reading website? But none I’m familiar with.

2:21 Refers to a trend on TikTok where the speed at which the circles are moving implies the speed at which the corresponding character is having sex (top or bottom).

2:25 Another reference to the Citrus Scale.

2:33 Penis in the reflection of her glasses.

2:52 And finally, slowburn is a fanfiction trope.

I probably missed a few, but these were the ones I was familiar enough with to speak on! Please stream Confessions of a Rotten Girl by Sawtowne :)

[sombredancer]

Recent visually beautiful and generally watchable Russian fantasy movies

(because I start forgetting they exist at all) Ironically, all of them are adaptations of books/comics.

I Am Dragon / Он — дракон (2015) This movie is a very free adaptation of the novel "The Rite" / "Ритуал" by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko (Марина и Сергей Дяченко). It's a reinterpreting of an ancient tale about a maiden, a hero and a dragon. I don`t like the novel because it's very postmodern, wracks the typical fairytale plot and hurts my escapist feelings by ugly reality, but the movie is pretty fairytale-ish and nice. Firstly, it is visually beautiful and represent Slavic pseudo-medieval lore the way it should have always been in Slavic fantasy.

Secondly, as a love story between a monster and a maiden, it has got A PLENTY of tropes I'm usually looking for in Chinese dramas, so I understand very well why it was pretty popular in Asia.

Thirdly, when I said it's visually beautiful I wasn't joking. The main hero is played not by an actor, but by a male model, who is shirtless all the time (and sometimes pantless) and has a very fit and good-looking body. It's something unbelievable that someone in Russia made a movie to please women's eyes! Really, it's insane!

The folk-rock band Мельница wrote an insanely beautiful song "Обряд" (The Rite) for this movie (more matched to the book plot, though), but it was never used as OST, which is a shame. The song is about a black sheep girl, who is denied by society and asks a dragon to come for her and to take her away, because the dragon is denied by this world just like her. You can listen to it here. The band also has a song "Змей" (The Wyrm) (based on Lev Gumilev's poem), which is more accurate to the plot of the movie: the wyrm kidnaps maidens to make them its wives, but they are all dying during the flight; at the end of the song a hero-knight is ready to shoot it in order to stop it. Listen to it here.

It ends with HE, which is better than the book's obscure ending, so it is pleasure for me to rewatch it till these days.

Major Grom: Plague Doctor / Майор Гром: Чумной Доктор (2021)

It is an adaptation of Russian comic series "Major Grom" by Bubble comics. I am traditionally not very happy with the source material, but it is very good reworked to be the screen play of this movie.

It's very beautifully made in terms of director's, cameraman's and screenwriter's work, which is a rare thing for Russian movies. Also, the actors are young and handsome, especially the villain, which is a rare thing not only for Russian movies, but for the current Western movies, too. It has got a lot of allusions to Russian reality and a lot of beautiful views of Saint Petersburg, the second capital of Russia and one of the most beautiful Russian cities. And it has got some unusual visual solutions that turn it into a comic it should be.

The plot revolves around a mysterious serial killer (kinda bad Batman), a black sheep police officer and Russian Mark Zuckerberg (kind of). Mark Zuckerberg is the best guy of this movie and I like him a lot! Серёёёёжа! 🧡🧡🧡

This movie wasn't popular in Russia because of political situation in the country by the moment of its release (the both sides found out in there something insulting for them and banned it), but even if it has something like that, I honestly didn't pay attention to it. It's just a nice blockbuster with a tragic and handsome villain. The villain also has got his own BL-drama (in the comics they are really lovers, it`s as obvious as it could be shown in a Russian comic).

By the way, the villain is hot, insane, ruthless, sensitive and suffering. How does he contain all of this character treats in one personality? you may ask. He doesn`t. He has dissociative identity disorder, I would answer.

I don`t know if it works by now, but some time ago you could watch this lovely movie on Netflix.

The Master and Margarita / Мастер и Маргарита (2024) This is a loose adaptation of Russian classical novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. I genuinely hate this book, but the adaptation reinterprets it, divides it into very interesting layers and makes it understandable and beautiful.

It`s layered, so it will probably be hard to understand what layer are we currently on if you are not familiar with the original story. The first layer is an ugly Soviet reality, the second layer is a plot of the novel that the main hero is writing, a story within a story. The third layer is the insane intertwining of the first two layers. On the reality layer the Master loses his job and freedom because of friend's denunciation and becomes star-crossed lovers with a married woman. On the novel level he meets devil, who visits Moscow by chance, and the devil gives him and his woman opportunity to live their lives being free from everything that usually tortures people IRL. Somewhere among those layers is a little plot about Jesus and Pontius Pilate.

The movie is visually beautiful. Although it feels pretty anti-Soviet, Soviet visuals of the movie are gorgeous. There were used the Stalin-times concepts of Moscow of the Future, the CGI buildings in frame came from the real architecture projects of those times. The Stalin Empire architecture style and views are typical for Moscow (but as I know, ironically, this all was shot in Saint Petersburg). It seems to me that this movie is heavily stuffed with visual allusions to the Western works: devil's escort looks like bunch of Pennywises, Margarita is Enchantress from Suicide Squad I, the scene of blood dripping is from Blade I etc. Usually, when I see it in Russian movies, it feels like plagiarism because I can recognize the reference but there is nothing except for these references . But here we have got the plot, so the allusions work as allusions and don`t irritate me.

The movie is dark, disturbing, uncomfortable. It really makes you feel as if you watch devil and his escort marching around you; they ravage, kill and destroy everything and you can only breathlessly, helplessly and in fear watch them. The German actor playing devil is insanely good. He stole the movie and I understand why it should have been named Woland (the devil's name) instead of the current movie's name. You may want to watch it, because it's very unusual in terms of plot and visuals experience, especially when you are not familiar with the book.

[izartn]

What's good about KnH is (besides its main char and bc of Maomao) the way it manages the power dynamics and what life was as a woman without falling into utter pessimism and powerlessness or full romanticism; which is a reason I usually avoid like the plague historical/pseudo-historical fiction with female leads.

Usually I'd be super skeeved out by the power Jinshi has over Maomao but the way the series presents both of them, their personalities and their agency (limited as it is for Maomao but it's there and it counts very much) it brings out all the best and interesting parts. I trust this series to get twisty with them bc it establishes so well Maomao own character and understanding of her situation and the ways Jinshi can and does or doesn't take advantage of his power over her.

Like. It's presented as a problematic element, but also unavoidable given their social situation and the world they live in, so I can trust given everything else this show has done when solving the mysteries and presenting us the situations of other women, that the romance will be treated with that same weight.

Honestly if you've read over what I like to read/watch in my tumblr you'll notice that twisty and even toxic/unhealthy dynamics are very much within my favorites, but it needs to be told in a certain way. And I'm much more difficult to satisfy when talking about het romance.

So to watch KnH, notice it's primarily about Maomao life and the various misteries/medicines/palace intrigue and the romance is playing second fiddle riffing on all the themes presented on the plot? And it's complex, and plays with messy power dynamics of gender and class, but never loses Maomao her personhood? Wow.

Also. Jinshi is so BL chara coded omg XD like, he's very clearly based on a kind of shojo ML prototype (hello tamaki suoh!) but it also pulls from BL in his case (nothing to do with their romances but I think of Yan Xiaohan re:his relationship with the imperial power, from Golden Terrace lol)

And yet his romance with Maomao wouldnt work near as well for what is trying to say if they weren't a man and woman (which I love in their case, is what has me fascinated). Yes~! Get into the meat of how fraught it is for a man and a woman to be together when the man has so much power over her. Get into it!!!!

He's so so messy and fun as a chara too. Sheltered and not at the same time, you really notice all the things he misses by way of his privilege of being a noble born man (and specifically royalty, last ep (19) left that very clear he was doing a ritual probably by proxy for the emperor and also bay exchanges people. Maomao noticed and buried that thought far far below her subconscious but we all now who he is lol). Like. The way he fumbles and ends up essentially harassing Maomao at the start sometimes, which is both played for comedic effect and also upsetting. Mmm.

Like I said, I like complexity.

Also that part when he buys Maomao contract and he goes to collect her and she's all dolled up, and the clear implication by everybody but our mains (who clearly prefer to live in willfully blind land although for Jinshi I think the subtext of what he's doing lands when he sees her) is that in any other case she'd be his concubine/side-wife. It's not their situation wight now, and she's put to work as a live-in maid and apothecary and put to study (he wants her to assist him in politics lol I love that, but also he's so so lonely) but it's very much what the palace rumor mill says.

LIKE. I love the messiness! It could go soooo badly, but it also could not and there's Maomao living at the edge bc despite herself and what she says, she wants more from life, but also as she says the rear palace isn't all that different from the high class brothels and ugh. That tension. She has to depend on the favor of a man as a women of low class but she also could lose her head! GAH. And then there's feels involved! Aaagh.

[firstkanaphans]

i'm so tired of seeing posts of people are asking for the downfall of cps. cp marketing works so no sane company is going to ditch a working concept. i am also tired of people acting like gls are superior to bls when in reality there are simply way more bl shows/cps to pick from compared to gls. if we had as many gls as bls those numbers would even out a lot more and i say this as someone who adores gls. i just do understand why everything always has to be a competition idk

I truly, honestly, deeply do not understand the hatred for CPs. I've seen people say the CP system makes shows predictable because you always know the two leads are going to end up together at the end—even though this is true for all romances as it is a requirement of the genre. I've seen people say production companies (or really just GMMTV specifically) are editing their scripts so that their CPs appear more likable—even though most of these shows are based on novels that are already fully written and also the directors and scriptwriters usually don't work for the production company anyway. I've seen people say CPs are stripping the queerness from BLs—even though that is literally impossible because all BLs are queer media.

If you want my honest opinion, I think what the dislike of the CP structure actually is is a dislike of the fan culture that surrounds it. Some people like to interact with media on a purely academic level, which is fine, but believe it or not, fangirls (gender neutral) are capable of critical thought, too. A lot of the pseudo-intellectual arguments I see in fandom boil down to a certain segment of fans thinking they are better than the other simply because they choose to interact with the source material differently.

Regardless, CPs have become an integral part of Thai BL and they aren't going anywhere. So if CPs are a deal breaker, Thai BL is probably not for you.

As for the GLs, I understand why you're frustrated—especially if you're spending any time on Twitter because the GL fandom over there is not friendly to BL watchers...and that's putting it mildly. But I'm actually not sure I agree with your statement that GL viewership would go down if the market was as saturated with GLs as it is with BLs.

Yesterday's episode of Pluto pulled higher engagement numbers than 2gether back in 2020 when the BL market was less saturated. That's insane. One thing I think it may be hard to understand unless you're a queer creative who's been around for a while is that we've been told for years and years and years that sapphic media isn't being created because it doesn't sell. That men and straight women won't watch it. Thailand is proving them wrong and I'm very excited to see where this takes us, not only within Thailand, but internationally.

I do agree, though, that I wish everything wasn't such a competition. I would love to see more melding of the BL and GL genres, but every time a company tries, they get huge backlash from the GL side of Twitter who don't want any men in their media at all. They're like the radfems of QL and I wish it would stop.

[ellsieee]

Moon and Dust premiers on May 23rd.

Trailer subtitle: Brothers, pseudo-orthopedics

LOLOL. Remember that when you see the word orthopedics in a Chinese bl: 1. It's auto-translated 2. Scroll to the bottom of this post for what it means in this context.

[yume-fanfare]

today i learned that sena izumi's seiyuu masami ito is the ceo of a footwear company and a stage play director that has worked on the umineko adaptations. and well he does the enst pseudo bl in his free time

[waitmyturtles]

Hello Turtle,

What do you think of the Sky-Nani phenomenon? People seem to be crazy about them ^^ Do you think it's because they aren't officially a pair (even though that could be discussed since they are doing events and fan meeting together)?

Thanks

Hi Non! I'm sorry I missed this over the holidays.

There's a lot of theories out on the internet explaining the popularity of SkyNani. I didn't watch High School Frenemy, so allow me to first surmise (and hope) that these two just acted really well together.

I've thought about the SkyNani pairing a couple of times recently in the course of thinking about the present and future of the Thai Series Y genre (here and here). The western QL scholar, Dr. Thomas Baudinette, surmised in a tweet (.... that I am having trouble finding, forgive me, when I find it, I'll link it here) that SkyNani were popular particularly in Thailand because of the "authenticity" of their fan service -- their being realistic bros, as opposed to unrealistic pseudo-boyfriends. (My guess is that Baudinette gleans this information from Thai forums such as Pantip, but that's only a guess.)

In the two links I included above, I myself surmise that the SkyNani pairing is popular particularly among ultra-conservative and conservative Asian markets that still consume QLs or queer-coded media, as a means of fans being able to consume media that is not having an in-your-face conversation about queerness and queer themes. I propose that this is intentional on the part of GMMTV wanting and needing to serve markets (such as China, Malaysia, and Indonesia) that do not allow for in-person fan meets of consecrated queer-coded BL pairs, and have only welcomed solo fan meets from GMMTV artists.

(I don't know if other studios have bucked that trend. I see that ZeeNuNew have done fan meets in Hong Kong, but I'm not sure if other huge ships, like DaouOffroad and so on, have been able to conduct fan meets in mainland China.)

Being part-Malaysian, I want to note that Malaysia outright bans homosexuality, and the promotion of certain QL/BL artists in Malaysia and Indonesia never include public mentions of their QL series.

Yet, these are big markets for QL's growth, especially given the economic power of these fans to buy merchandise, streaming subscriptions, and concert tickets. So I surmise that GMMTV diversifying its pairings to include "bro-ships" is, for them, a good business decision.

It's concerned me, and other QL devotees here on Tumblr, that this trend could lead to a watering-down of queer themes in major QL productions. At the same time, I personally think that this won't be a universal trend -- because shows need to differentiate themselves from each other, and try out different queer themes and perspectives so as to set themselves apart from others in the wider market. At least, I'm hoping that's the case, and only time will tell.

Finally, some other rumors about SkyNani's popularity are that they're filling the "just friends" shoes of the OhmNanon ship that busted last year. This explanation doesn't quite fit for me, considering the very in-your-face queer conversations that Bad Buddy had. But I think it's interesting that the SkyNani promotional materials lean so heavily into the "friend" terminology that Bad Buddy created, and that GMMTV likely wanted to continue pursuing.

To be honest: I'm kind of curious about High School Frenemy, considering that I loved Fon Kanittha's work in 10 Years Ticket. But I am so behind on shows that it would take a lot for me to make time for HSF. However, I'm likely going to add it (without watching it) on the Old GMMTV Challenge list as a harbinger of the style of ships that GMMTV is playing around with in Series Y's second decade of existence.

[blrecs]

08/50: bizarre love triangles ("secondo piatto," "close the last door")

I used to joke that every bl generation gets the "Banana Fish," and specifically the Yut Lung character, they deserve. Perhaps every generation also gets their own version of "Close the Last Door." It's an irresistible setup: the main character has an unrequited crush on his straight best friend, makes a mess of himself at the straight best friend's wedding, drunkenly hooks up with another (male) wedding guest who is in love with the bride, stuff happens, happy ending as the two leads learn to move on and love each other. In "Close the Last Door," it is Nagai who is in love with his younger, bubbly coworker Saitou. After the wedding, he finds himself ranting to Honda, who reveals that he was the bride's ex. They get drunk, sleep together, and begin a friends with benefits relationship that is complicated when the bride elopes with another man just one day into the honeymoon. In "Secondo Piatto," Hyunwook is forced to grapple with his childhood friend Heesun marrying his police academy classmate Minseok. At the wedding, he discovers that Minseok's childhood friend Wonyoung has been in love with Minseok this whole time, and, well, they get drunk, sleep together, and begin a friends with benefits relationship.

The similarities in premise (if not plot) between the two series makes it easy to pick out what could be genre (manga vs manhwa) or generational (early 2000s vs 2020) differences. "Close the Last Door" is guilty of many of the critiques one could lob against early 2000s bl as a genre. The characters deny being gay (or bisexual) and, if pressed, would likely describe themselves as only gay for each other (or, in the case of main character Nagai, gay for Saitou and a victim to a lethal combination of Honda and alcohol). The character designs are generic, the seme dark-haired and the uke blond (though not frail or weepy or feminine). Much sex happens while the two mains are intoxicated, and there is a sexual assault scene (but not between Nagai and Honda!). Nagai and Honda manage to bumble into pseudo-marriage and cohabitation without so much as a "what are we?" conversation, and even a year into their relationship are still unable to be honest about their feelings for each other to each other, much less to other people.  The two women in the series (Saitou's ex-wife Remi and Nagai's ex-girlfriend Ryoko) are reduced to catalysts for the main (gay) romance, and Ryoko in particular can come off like a harpy (though Yamada Yugi can't help but imbue her with a feisty charm, the curse of a good author). There is even a spin-off featuring an incestuous relationship (!) between Honda's two older brothers, who appear in "Close the Last Door" volume 2 as confusing side characters if you did not read their dedicated volume.

In contrast, "Secondo Piatto" is enlightened, woke even, at least by 2025 standards. Wonyoung is openly gay and identifies as such, even to Minseok. Hyunwook begins the story self-conceptualizing as straight, but tries hard to grapple with his sexuality when he begins sleeping with Wonyoung regularly. The pressures of homophobia feature in "Secondo Piatto"; it is a story that definitely believes gay people are real, as opposed to just a function of the plot requiring two men to fall in love. Where Ryoko cannot move on from Nagai and also has an interrupted tryst with Honda, Heesun is steadfastly into Minseok and is perfectly correct about why she never married Hyunwook. She is a blameless, charming character whom you could hold nothing against. Hyunwook and Wonyoung talk openly about their relationship and negotiate their boundaries, while Nagai and Honda are petty, scrappy, and constantly allowing Saitou to upturn the fragile balance of their relationship. Hyunwook gets the "fully smitten top who would do anything for his partner" treatment. His yearning is explicit, emotionally healthy, and mature, full of demonstrations of his commitment to Wonyoung and his explicit, emotionally healthy expectations for what a relationship with him would look like. Honda, on the other hand, tolerates Nagai's antics until they both reach a breaking point, after which he has a mental breakdown where he can barely express his feelings, gets embarrassed, and then gives Nagai a blowjob before sending Nagai back to deal with Saitou. I am not joking when I say this is how "Close the Last Door" volume one ends.

I grew up in a world where there weren't many bl dramas or movies and the biggest gay ships were largely noncanonical (even, as in the case of Supernatural, the noncanonical status became more and more strained). We called shipping two male characters in a noncanonical gay relationship "slash." This allowed us to differentiate it from yaoi or shounen-ai or boys' love/BL, where one could still ship a noncanonical relationship (the losing side of a love triangle, for example) but it would never be dismissed out of hand as impossible simply for being gay. Even after all these years, I am used to, even more comfortable, living in a space where I read canon against itself, where my pairing fights the story somehow, where every love story is by definition a struggle. I chafe at being handed an easy happy ending, even if I know that's the bargain I struck with the author when starting a story. I know, I know—I should probably be in therapy.

It is easy to see why Hyunwook and Wonyoung would fall for each other and end up together in "Secondo Piatto." Their romance is so very legible to the reader, the main takeaway of the story. Wonyoung yearns to be transformed into someone completely new who will fall in love with a completely new stranger, and together they will become two strangers who are in love with each other and have absolutely nothing to do with Wonyoung's past and Minseok. But love is honest, love is kind. Love means knowing and accepting the other for who they are, which is what Hyunwook offers. He sees Wonyoung, all of Wonyoung, and doesn't turn away. Minseok could never see Wonyoung as he really was—but then again, Wonyoung never let him. As for Hyunwook, he has to learn that love is something to fight for, instead of an inevitable reward you are given for standing silently by. You can learn lessons on healthy communication from "Secondo Piatto." It is a good manual for what to want in a relationship.

But what can we say about Honda and Nagai and "Close the Last Door?" They truly feel like two people who happened into a circumstance where they needed each other, who never dig themselves out of that hole. In a way, "Close the Last Door" has the air of the slash fanfic. You could easily see a world where there was some main canon featuring Saitou and his wife, and Yamada Yugi got it in her head to ship two side characters (Saitou's doting coworker and his wife's ex-boyfriend) and ended up writing a whole doujinshi about how they get together. They butt heads, they struggle, they seem to be fighting against the genre's expectation that they should end up together. Their happy ending is not the point, because it was never the plot. It is so besides the point that Yamada Yugi even keeps Saitou around for much, much longer than you would expect. After all, he has main character energy. By volume two, Saitou is fully a third wheel in the Nagai-Honda household, to the point where Yamada even pulls out the classic "if the two of us were dangling off a cliff, who would you save?" test. (The answer will delight you, if you're a sicko like me.)

Which is to say, I love "Close the Last Door." Don't get me wrong; I liked "Secondo Piatto" a lot too! The strength of Hyunwook and Wonyoung's interactions, their open communication with each other even in uncomfortable situations, made it a refreshing read, and there are some moments of such sharp writing about the weight of longing and codependency that I took many, many screenshots. But "Close the Last Door" is so messy, so human, so full of bad decisions and characters tolerating bad behavior from each other. Honda and Nagai argue and have sex and sometimes have sex while arguing and it makes me clap like a seal every time. If "Secondo Piatto" is about drawing boundaries, "Close the Last Door" is about greed and not having to confront your choices. Nagai wants everything. He wants to have his cake (be in a relationship with Honda) and to eat it too (love and pamper his idol Saitou). He does not want to put other people's feelings first.  He doesn't want to have to choose, and above all, he doesn't want to admit to Saitou or Honda that he's chosen Honda.

This has always been Yamada Yugi's sweet spot: vivid, human characters who are messy and bad with their words, who never quite say "I love you" but who find ways to make themselves understood. In the world of Yamada Yugi, it is better, sometimes, to let things go unsaid. In Bonus Track 3 of "Close the Last Door" volume 2, Honda has to tell Nagai about his brothers. (This is literally Honda fulfilling his destiny of being a side character in another canon!) But through it all, he is vague and elliptical. "So they're really like that?" Nagai asks. "Probably, but I haven't confirmed it," Honda replies. His brothers' relationship is something Honda has never asked about, will never ask about, but fully understands. He begs Nagai to keep it a secret and act like he doesn't know.

In the conversation that follows, Nagai and Honda manage to say "I love you" over and over again, without actually saying anything of substance. And this is how the main story of "Close the Last Door" ends, with Nagai and Honda bickering and getting suckered into little jealousy games by Saitou and still bad at having an honest conversation with each other and still being so, so in love. Maybe that's toxic and a red flag in 2025. But "Close the Last Door" works for the same reason slash fanfic works, because its creator wrote a story just because she wanted to see these two particular characters in love. As Mary Oliver might say, you do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles to show you're a green flag or a world class yearner. Sometimes, it is enough to let these two characters love what they love, and that is each other.

"Close the Last Door" (and the spinoff "Open the Door to Your heart") was once upon a time licensed by DMP's imprint June. Some places still offer a way to buy the print versions. "Secondo Piatto" is available through Manta. I read the explicit version here.

[lurkingshan]

2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@troubled-mind and @my-rose-tinted-glasses brought this back, so here is mine! I can't believe some of this stuff happened this year, it feels like it's been 84 years.

January:

most popular - Deep character analysis of Phaya from The Sign

favorites - The birth of Japanese QL Corner, Breakdown of the Last Twilight finale (siiiigh), love for I Became the Main Role in a BL Drama and Gyeongseong Creature, and this list of some of my fav non-BL jdramas

I was a busy little bee in January! Not surprising, as I tend to hermit at home in the deep winter and do nothing but watch dramas and post too much. JQL Corner became my big project of the year, and I can't believe there wasn't a single week that I didn't have Japanese QL to talk about. I Became the Main and Gyeongseong were both surprise delights that ended up among my favs of the year. I’m still holding my LT grudge, in case anyone had any doubt.

February:

most popular - Praise for Dead Friend Forever's mystery arc

favorites - Appreciation for Love for Love's Sake's ending, every single LITBC book club post that I either wrote or read, my final review of Cooking Crush

The original run for the LITBC book club that @bengiyo and I led! What a great time reading a fantastic book, chatting with besties, and making new friends. I also stand by that praise for DFF's mystery arc--that was the strongest part of the show; the things I took issue with were elsewhere in the story. I have just been thinking I need to rewatch LFLS and this post reminds me why (I remember when it first ended me and @wen-kexing-apologist were like, we're going to watch it again immediately! And then realized we were in no way emotionally prepared for that LMAO). Cooking Crush remains a fav and I may or may not be rewatching right now.

March:

most popular and favorite- An actual love letter to TsukuTabe, my beloved

other favorites - Analysis of Unknown ep 6 aka The Turning Point and big love for Cherry Magic Thailand after the finale

Wow, three of my very favorite shows of the year all happening at once. What a blessed month this was. Also, this is not a specific post, but this is the month when I read Da Ge and then spent weeks with people coming into my DMs to get their own copy of the translation, which was a top fandom experience for me because I met a bunch of new people, some of whom stuck around to talk about Unknown, and it made me feel like an illicit dealer which was very fun.

April:

most popular - The boopening

favorites- A breakdown of the pseudo-incest trope and this list of my favorite friends to lovers dramas

The boopening was a once in a lifetime whimsical tumblr event, and I am so glad I was able to participate fully. I also really like these other two because I feel strongly that all tropes have their place and can be enjoyed when executed well and I love talking about that.

May:

most popular - Love for Oyei and Cher from Wandee Goodday

favorites - Trans Allegory in Cupid's Last Wish, co-authored with @wen-kexing-apologist and @so-much-yet-to-learn and this cdrama rec list.

I spent much of May watching and posting about shows I did not end up liking much in the end, but that is also the month I finally watched CLW with my friends and enjoyed it more than expected, in part because WKA had us watch it through the lens of trans allegory, which totally worked.

June:

most popular - Class disparity themes in Love Sea

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Triage, celebrating Thai marriage equality with @my-rose-tinted-glasses, praise for Marahuyo Project

What a fun Pride month with the start of Love Sea, Knock Knock Boys, Marahuyo Project, The Trainee, and me finally watching Triage.

July:

most popular - Teaching the youths about face fucking and power dynamics in Love Sea

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Oppan and The Miracle of Teddy Bear Saved the Gays with @twig-tea

More great shows. I'm so glad me and Twig ignored the rumors and watched Teddy Bear because it's one of my favorite Thai dramas of all time.

August:

most popular - Cheering on the defeat of noble idiocy in Love Sea

favorites - Praise for Knock Knock Boys and this spicy JBL rec list and this other quality JBL rec list and calling out weird fandom attitudes about JBL

Another good month, and the busiest by far for QL Corner. There were so many JQLs airing this summer! What a time to be alive.

September:

most popular - Documenting Wang's behavior in The On1y One

favorites - 10 Things I Love About Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding, clocking Doku Koi as a fav early, this high school bl rec list and this BL romance rec list

I'm filled with so much bitterness reading that Wang/Tian post. I'll be taking this grudge to the grave!

October:

most popular - Moar boops

favorites - Analyzing Dohoe in Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo and celebrating the first two episodes of Love in the Big City and the creation of the LITBC Drama Book Club Round Up

Two moody Korean shows with complicated gay leads dropped in my birthday month, the book club band was back together, and I got to do Halloween themed boops. I WAS THRIVING IN OCTOBER.

November:

most popular - On fandom as a life saving force

favorites - This list of some of my trash favs for @happypotato48 and getting my feelings out on Young and Gyuho and Hirukawa and Minase and final thoughts on the LITBC drama

I was having a lot of feelings in November.

December:

most popular - Democracy in Squid Game 2

favourite - QL superlatives and grievances, this round up of my fav dramas of the year and being so very normal about Hirukawa

This write up really helped me appreciate that I had good stuff to watch and write about every month this year. There were some disappointments, but also a lot of shows I really loved and it was fun to remember some of the things I wrote. Also, i got to make so many fun rec lists! If you were tagged here, or if you just see this and want to join in, consider yourself invited to do your own!

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.