#ql top lists

[becauseimanicequeen]

My First Year of QLs (Roundup + Top Lists)

This post is, most likely, only interesting to me. But...

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of my falling into the Asian QL series rabbit hole. So I thought I would write down some statistics from my Notion database and plague myself to do some kind of roundup of my favorites. So, here goes.

(I'm not very well-versed in the genre conventions of QLs, so I want to point out that I have included some shows that others (who are more knowledgeable about this topic) don't necessarily see as conventional QLs, like Not Me, Manner of Death, DFF, etc. I've also included queer/gay films I've watched in the past year.)

Some Numbers

This first year, I've watched 322 QLs:

51 shorts (less than 1h)

59 films/special episodes (1h+)

212 series

(Even if some series are short enough to pass as films, I've included them in the series category if they were released/I watched them as a series.)

I watched most of them last year because I went through a period of much-needed escapism the whole second half of 2023 (I've "only" watched 89 QLs so far this year). But that also means that my fucked up memory can't remember a lot of them (which is why I'm glad I at least added them to my Notion database).

Also, the statistics above don't include the 75 rewatches I've done, where 8 were rewatches of films/special episodes and 67 were rewatches of series.

Some Firsts

The first Asian QL I watched was Roommates of Poongduck 304 (Korea). This was the series that started my journey down this rabbit hole. Then I just continued to explore.

Since I've mostly watched QLs from Thailand (135), Korea (70), Taiwan (38), and Japan (38), these are the first QLs I watched from those countries:

Thailand: Cutie Pie

Korea: Roommates of Poongduck 304

Taiwan: Stay by My Side

Japan: Candy Color Paradox

My Top Lists

Now, let's see if I can do a roundup of my favorites (because I like to torture myself, lol).

I thought about doing my top 3 QLs from each of the countries I've watched most from (the ones I noted above), but then I remembered my taste is bad (and by bad, I mean trashy). So, I'm making two lists. One that's my top 3 of the trashy QLs from each country and then my top 3 of the non-trashy QLs.

(Btw, trashy doesn't necessarily mean unwatchable in my way of using it. These shows might use problematic themes, sometimes not in a good way, they might not be the best written and/or edited shows, or just be pure crap but they were still very enjoyable for me to watch.)

Let's start with the trashy top list and then move on to the ones that are great because they're great (in my humble opinion).

My Trashy Top Lists

These are not recommendations, btw. Proceed at your own risk, lol.

Thailand

In no particular order:

KinnPorsche

Only Friends

Playboyy

Well, I lied that I would only do a top 3 list (I've watched too many from Thailand to only stick with 3), so here are a few more:

Big Dragon

Pit Babe

Dead Friend Forever

Check Out

Taiwan

I can only remember two that I liked that were trashy:

HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count (I'm probably the only one who liked this even though the ending was shit)

HIStory 4: Close to You

Korea

I honestly can't remember any, which is weird because I'm sure there are some trashy Korean QLs I've watched as well...

Japan

In no particular order:

The Novelist (all of them including Mood Indigo)

The End of the World With You

Dangerous Drugs of Sex (film)

My (non-trashy) Top List

As I mentioned above... I have watched a lot of QLs from Thailand, so I'm extending the list to include more than 3. Also, I often vibe with Korean media for some reason, so I've added a few extra to that list as well.

Thailand

In no particular order:

La Pluie

Lovely Writer

Wedding Plan

Not Me

Manner of Death

I Told Sunset About You (+ I Promised You the Moon)

I Feel You Linger in the Air

Taiwan

In no particular order:

We Best Love (1 and 2)

About Youth

Unknown

Korea

In no particular order:

Semantic Error

Once Again (this is such a cry-fest and I get obsessed with the stuff that makes me cry)

The Eighth Sense

Love Class (season 2)

Our Dating Sim (the second BL I watched after Roommates of Poongduck 304)

To My Star (season 2)

Light on Me

Japan

In no particular order:

At 25:00, in Akasaka

My Beautiful Man (1, 2, and 3 Eternal) (some would call this trashy, I don't always agree, either way, it's always on my top lists)

His (film)

Current Favorites

Lastly, I want to add three shows I'm currently watching but haven't finished yet (so they're not included in the numbers in this post). These are shows I'm sure (and very much hoping, if they don't fuck up the ending) would make it onto my top list if I'd be able to finish them already. And those are:

My Stand-In (Thailand, 1 ep. left)

Knock Knock, Boys! (Thailand, 4 eps. left)

The Rebound (Thailand, 6 eps. left)

My Stand-In has made me cry. For an ice queen like me, that's a hard feat. And, if a show can make me cry, I get obsessed with it. It also has a darker vibe that I'm usually drawn to in shows. Also, it has Up Poompat and Poom Phuripan being fire on screen and hilarious behind the scenes. I loved them separately before. I love them together now. And I will keep loving them (both separately and together) until the end of my days.

Even though I love My Stand-In with every fiber of my being, Knock Knock, Boys! is everything to me at the moment. I love the four main boys so much, and Jane and Lukpeach as well. I especially love Latte. I need a Latte in my life (and I'm not talking about the coffee because I drink enough almond lattes already, lol). Latte is my everything.

So far, The Rebound is everything I want in a sports QL. It's the best series I've seen from Meen and Ping as a pair so far, and it has Frank (which is a plus for me). It's still too early to tell how this will end, but I'm relentlessly hopeful that it will end as well as it began. (Pretty please!)

That's it from my first year of exploring old and new QLs. Now, onwards into my second year!

[zhouxiangs]

SASA'S TOP 5 QLS OF 2024

Love for Love's Sake 연애 지상주의 구역 / My Stand-In ตัวนาย ตัวแทน / The Time of Fever 내 손끝에 너의 온도가 닿을 때 / Century of Love ปาฏิหาริย์รักร้อยปี / Spare Me Your Mercy การุณยฆาต

[pigglepiephi]

My Top 10 Series 2024

My favourite series out of the 62 QLs I watched over the last 12 months.

All these series - despite their sizeable flaws in some cases - burrowed their way into my heart this year! ♥️

1. Love for Love’s Sake

2. Cherry Magic Thailand

3. Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo

4. Love in the Big City

5. Our Youth

Yes I know this ends in 2025 but I’m putting it here ok 😁

6. Takara’s Treasure

7. Only Boo!

8. Happy of the End

9. At 25:00 in Akasaka

10. Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

Shoutout to all the gif makers! 👏🙌🙏

[hotasfahrenheit]

my top 10 ql shows of 2024

we're a week into the new year already so i guess i should finally get this list posted 👀👀👀

to make this list, i kept an ongoing note in my phone all year of all the ql shows i watched, and then i sat down a couple days ago (*cough*a week ago*cough) and rearranged them to figure out which ones were my favourites. i didn't have any kind of ranking system going through the year (besides being very sure by the beginning of february what was going to be my absolute favourite of the year- and i was right) so this was all based on the vibes i was feeling about all these shows as i made the list, thinking back on them over the year.

i had JUST finished one of these shows so that's part of why i wanted to let it sit for a few days- make sure my ranking wasn't skewed by the feeling of having finished a show then immediately making the list right after while it was fresher than anything else. a week on, i'm still solid on these. i think. i keep looking at this list and being like "wait, did i really love that show more than this other one? did i? how is that one not in the top 10? wait but the ones above it are also just so good" and if i don't just post a list then i'll never stop fidgeting with it, so here we go!

10 - 4Minutes

was 4Minutes perfect? no, but i enjoyed the twisting layers of narrative and the speculation and discussion around this show so much. there were multiple times i thought i had things about the story figured out, and i kept being close to correct, but it kept finding ways to surprise me anyway.

9 - Love Is A Poison

this show was an unexpected delight in so many ways. it was funny, it was smart, it was wild, it was bonkers, i hope they get to make more of it.

8 - Jack & Joker

the longing, the heists, the shenanigans, the friendships, the everything about this show. it got a lil shaky towards the end but on the whole it was such a fun time, and it's still so incredible and such a triumph that they even got this show made, and i love it forever.

7 - Meet You At The Blossom

ANOTHER TRIUMPH OF A SHOW. so pretty. so splendid. so many long sleeves being waved around. so much nonsense and adventure. a fantastic pairing of characters, a fun side couple, just all around perfection.

6 - Love Sea

does this show get a biased boost in the ranking because i love Fort and Peat so much and even an imperfect show with them in it was going to be something i loved? maybe. possibly. probably. Peat spent the whole time looking expensive and pretty, and Fort spent the whole time looking like he was going to devour him, and they're just so good together. sorry not sorry.

5 - 1000 Years Old

this show gets two gifs, because they're my gifs, and i loved it SO MUCH. definitely a weird little show, but it had so much heart, and the way the story built was incredible, and it was just such a warm, beautiful show about found family and embracing your weirdness and being yourself and also love. all about love. the deepest love, and patience, and being willing to try again no matter how many times it takes. also soup, and so many umbrellas.

4 - My Stand-In

(this gif is from this set i made)

this show. THIS SHOW. the acting, the story, everything about it was absolutely insane and was all-consuming especially towards the ending of it. i love stories with complex, nuanced characters, and i love actors who can make you angry with how good they are at playing terrible people. this show had me shouting in the group chat all the time and it was just such a wild ride. an EXPERIENCE from start to finish.

3 - Love In The Big City

an absolutely stunning work of art. i watched the first two episodes with @poetry-protest-pornography when it first released then we both got busy with life for a bit; i listened to the audiobook at work the last week of December and immediately slammed through the rest of the episodes compulsively. i couldn't stay away. i had to inject it into my being. i'm aware that i interacted with and experienced this story differently than a lot of people i've seen talk about it on here because it didn't resonate with me in all the exact same ways as i am a straight person, and i saw a lot of people talking about how deeply it spoke to them about the queer experience, but the themes of loss and loneliness and searching for purpose and meaning and love were universal enough that this show did a number on my heart and soul and still is echoing in me now.

2 - Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

another stunning, emotional show. this story had me in its GRIP from the first episode and has still not let me go. it was a rollercoaster and was such a deep tale about forgiveness and finding ways to just live life and how it's never too late for a new beginning. about how sometimes you can't let go of people, and you shouldn't. about being able to find and keep love and joy even through the darkest times and places.

1 - Love For Love's Sake

aslkdfjhalsfkdjhafd obviously. obviously this was my number one. an absolute powerhouse of a story about love and acceptance and being willing to not only help other people take second chances on life, but allowing yourself to as well. about being willing and open to loving and caring for others, and loving and caring for yourself. about taking control of your situation and writing your own future. about love, for love's sake.

THAT'S THE LIST.

everything here is obviously my opinion, if there's a show you're curious about that you loved that you don't see here, comment and i'll tell you where it ended up in my longer list (unless it's something i didn't get to this year!) and let me know how my list compares to your faves!

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Bonus round: honorouble mention - Knock, Knock, Boys!

listen, as much as i loved all the other shows here, i considered making this a top 15 list instead of 10 because i loved this show so much and it didn't feel fair that it wasn't included. it was goofy, it was heartfelt, it was fun the whole way through and i really loved it a whole lot. 15 would have been too many tho, so this just gets an honourable mention at the end instead.

-------------------------------------

any gifs in this post that don't have credit under them are ones i made! i don't have the time or energy to make new gifs for every show so i just pulled from things i'd already made and had on my hard drive, or used ones made by others where needed. thanks to the other gif makers whose stuff i used!

[unpopularopinionbydemand]

Top 10 BL Series of 2024 !

Another list nobody asked for, but I'm bored, so here we are.

Overall, I saw 39 series this year (lower than it ever has been before, but I was not on my zoom for the first 6 months of 2024), and what I've noticed is that it has steadily gone down ever since I've been watching since 2020.

Previous years:

2020 - 60 series

2021 - 44 series (not sure what happened here??)

2022 - 68 series

2023 - 46 series

Even still, with 2021 and 2023 also being pretty low, I still can't believe that I only managed to watch 39 series within a year.

Ratings of 2024:

10 stars - 3 series

9 stars - 8 series

8 stars - 10 series

7 stars - 10 series

6 stars - 4 series

5 stars - 3 series

4 stars - 1 series

1-3 stars - 0 series (if i think it's that bad, then what's the point of watching...?)

I think with this year, I scored a lot differently than I did in the past, and I let the overall flaws or critics of a series overpower my overall enjoyment of it, which kinda stinks, but that's okay.

My Goal for 2025:

I can't really predict what I see and if I'll like it or not, but I'd like to at least rate 6 series with 10 stars.

I wanna pay more attention to the music and OSTs in series! I basically rate music between 5-7 because I never care to pay that much attention to it, and really only rate it a 7 if it was something I can remember. This time, I'll try to not skip through the intro and be able to remember the OST/Music.

And Lastly, my biggest goal that I have zero effing idea if I'll be able to do or just completely fall straight on my ass: watch at least 60 series this year. We'll see...

Anyways, getting into the actual point of this post, my top 2024 BLs! This list is as predictable as any other list seeing as I only watched what was popular or most talked about instead of going off of my usual list. I still haven't even watched a couple of the standout BLs of 2024 like My Stand-In, The Curse of Taekwondo, 4Minutes, Love in The Big City, or Monster Next Door (I will be on it this year 🫡).

From Most Favorite to Least Most Favorite: I will link my review for each series through the title (Potential Spoliers!!)!

1. Anti-Reset (9-stars)

I know, it shocks me too, but the reason it's my overall number one series of 2024 is because it was able to get me out of my very occasional BL slump. I desperately needed something new, something that wasn't a bunch of uniforms or office jargon, and this series was just perfect. It's the first in the BL genre (to my knowledge) that takes on the robot/human trope and I ate every single second of this series up.

Now the story isn't perfect, but it provided me with everything I usually love in a series, and all of it was wrapped in a pretty bow and left on my depressing door step.

2. I Became the Lead in a BL Drama (10-stars)

With only 3 episodes, each about 45 minutes long, IBTLIABLD hits hard in all aspects, specifically making me laugh my ass off, but also hitting you in the heart where it hurts. 

The leads' dynamic was so heartwarming to me. The perfect height difference, the perfect balance of cheeky and cute, portraying moments that made me pause so I could laugh, or moments when I had to pause so that I could regain my composure and not cry. A truly lovely pairing, played by some really fantastic actors.

3. Takara's Treasure (10-stars)

How can one be so perfectly handsome and incredibly endearing simultaneously? I'll tell you who, Eito, the mastermind behind the character Taishin who's an all-around cutey that I wanted to put in my back pocket. But besides how adorable he was, I thoroughly enjoyed this JBL. It balanced out the actual story plus romance very well, and I watched this without being bored or skipping through or wanting to scream at my laptop.

Taishin and Takara's relationship is my cup of tea. The stoic seme and the bubbly uke, urgh, they were perfect. And again, what added just the perfect cherry on top was Eito, who's the prettiest, cutest, most handsomest man I've seen in BL in a while, and he can also act!

4. Century of Love (9-stars)

I'm amazed at the amount of focus I had while watching this BL. I was able to watch it thoroughly and throughout without getting bored, or skipping past, or fast-forwarding. The entirely of the plot flowed perfectly, it never strayed into unwanted or unnecessary side arcs, it all was told in favor of the main couple, and I loved it. 

San as the man that waits 100 years to be back with his love, and Wee, the uncanny Ms.Wad reborn. This had my name written all over it. It reminded me a lot of the Korean series "First Love Again" which I adored for the longest time, and this trope has made it's way up the ranking of things I hope to see more of.

5. Two Worlds (9-stars)

I'm so happy that I decided against my better judgment and decided to watch this series because, in the end, I actually really liked it. Some parts give you a run for your money, and others I'm not so sure about, but overall, this series has more ups than downs, and tells a story interesting enough to keep me engaged.

Some of the best NC scenes in BL, and I don't say that because they were naked and we saw everything (and I mean everything), but because there was so much love poured into the way it was acted out, and you can tell it was genuine and organic. Great job to Max and Nat.

6. My Love Mix-Up! (7-Stars)

Had I been discussing the first 8 episodes of this series, I would've told you it was an amazing, jaw-dropping, brilliant series. Except, they went on for 4 more episodes and it completely plummeted on its face after that. What could've been a really neat and tidy 8 episode series was stretched to fill that usual GMMTV 12-ep series, but in reality, it should've just stayed 8 episodes.

Then you ask, "why is it in your top 10 of 2024?", because I loved Half and Mudmee more than I can explain in words... literally. There was one point I was specifically watching for purely only them, and even skipped through some of the boring stuff between Kong and Atom. Even though by the end of the series, Half and Mudmee are done terribly wrong, it doesn't matter cause that's just how much I stinking loved them.

7. This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (9-Stars)

They executed this series so well, and it's seriously why I love this production company so much. They don't do the unnecessary long stares or dragged-out conversations or irrelevant side plots. They stick to the story, going from point A to point B, and everything that we see in the series happens for a reason. The conversations are all what they need to be, and the story flows with little to no unnecessary bumps.

They took their NC scenes to a completely different level, one that I don't feel like I see often. it's obviously well acted out, and the actors were comfortable enough with one another to execute such amazing scenes. But even with the jaw-dropping sex scenes, my utmost favorite part of the series is Oab holding Wan accountable for his actions and them having an open and honest conversation before getting back together. Lots of time the plot can be lost for a quick resolution between two characters, but the writers ensure to the audience that it's going to take much more than that, and that made me happy. 

8. We Are (7-Stars)

I actually really enjoyed this a lot, initially. The set up of the characters, their dynamics, the start of their relationships, I really really enjoyed it. However, once you get past the 11th episode, with some little hidden gems in the latter, this series falls completely on its face.

Tan and Fang. They were everything to me. The stoic uke and bubbly seme, literally my favorite trope ever, I absolutely loved it down to pieces. Aou, hands down, played the best out of all the characters. His personality doesn't waver, he continues being supportive and protective and clingy, and I loved him. There the reason this series makes it into my top 10.

9. Cherry Magic Thailand (8-stars)

The few first episodes were the best out of the entire series. The building of the characters and the setup of the overall plot was golden. I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout it all, feeling so intrigued with Achi listening to Karan's thoughts, the connection between Achi and Jinta, the office relationship, and the overall pleasantness of the series. I'm glad they kept the iconic elevator scene and they executed it perfectly.

Junior (Jinta) was by far my favorite actor/character. He took this quirky role and made it work perfectly in this remake. His conversations with Achi, his reactions to MIn, his way of analyzing and thinking and reacting, all of it was legit perfect. It was also so nice to see Mark (min) again since Sky in Your Heart. He did an incredible job in this -- showing how versatile his acting is compared to his character in SIYH. Their setup was nearly perfect, and their continued build-up was so good that I was rooting for them more than I was for Achi and Karan at one point (even though their story was a bit upsetting).

10. Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun (8-Stars)

In the first couple of episodes, I was immediately hooked on the story. Toki, a delinquent falls for his PE teacher who is everything opposite, and it starts the tale of a wild, hilarious, and rather touching romance story.

There are some parts that hit the nail on the comedy, and while this series is heavily overexaggerated, that is probably my favorite part. Rinataro as Toki plays up the dramatics so perfectly in this, it's insane. From his facial expressions to the way he talks, to his body language, I loved all of it. 

very VERY excited to see what the new year brings us. A few of my most anticipated series of this year (in order) that I'll most likely do episode reviews on:

Happy Ending

The Next Prince

Boys In Love

Burnout Syndrome

I'm the Most Beautiful Count

Thanks for reading all of this :)

[babyangelsky]

BL Boys I Wanted Carnally in 2024 💖✨

Welcome to Babyangelsky's 2024 Wrap Up! To commemorate my second year of watching QL dramas, and my first year of actually talking on my blog, I've compiled a series of lists to celebrate all the QL things I loved this year!

Please feel free to take my categories and make lists of your own and tag me in them if you do!

💜 All the lists can be found here! 💜

Remember this game? I'm bringing it back!

MERRY CHRISTMAS LET'S LOOK AT BEAUTIFUL MEN

♡ Fort Thitipong as Mahasamut (Love Sea)

I wrote a whole post about how badly I wanted to eat this man with a spoon and how stupidly fucking attractive he is because I could not keep it to myself. I WANT TO EAT EVERY LAST BEEFY GOLDEN INCH OF HIM AND THEN I WANNA DO IT AGAIN!

♡ Furuya Robin as Takashi (Love is Better the Second Time Around)

I see Hiro. I understand Hiro. If this man made this face at me, I would also go have a really good shower.

♡ Ngern Anupart as Arthit (Fourever You)

THEY MADE HIM A FOOTBALL PLAYER AND COVERED HIM IN TATTOOS I NEED PART 2 LIKE I NEED AIR *SCREAMS INTO A PILLOW*

♡ Great Sapol as Yoryak (Wandee Goodday)

He's my blog header and blog title for a reason. Putting this beautiful giant ass man in bunny ears and a tail was a gift *specifically* for me. A gift for which I am eternally grateful, bless you thank you P'Golf.

♡ Mark Sorntast as Pie (Battle of the Writers)

I would like to once again thank the cameraman for this very slow pan up Mark's body and I would also like to thank whoever decided that Pie should strip for Ozone because they really blessed us all.

♡ Top Piyawat as Namping/Sian (Every You, Every Me)

I want them both in very different ways which, once again, all the credit in the world to Top both for Looking Like That and for having the skill to portray these two characters so differently.

♡ Pond Ponlawit as Hill (Fourever You)

I don't ever not want Pond carnally when he is on my screen. He was also great and attractive as Third in Century of Love but he didn't get enough screen time and also they didn't show him to us like this:

♡ Joong Archen as Fadel (The Heart Killers)

Style's just like me fr because I would absolutely RUIN my life for this man. I would ruin several lives for this man. I'd beg, borrow, and steal for this man.

♡ Frank Thanatsaran as Atom (The Rebound)

Atom is too sweet and too good and too damn fine not to have gotten his happy ending. I would do so right by him. He'd get a happy ending and then some.

♡ Nagumo Shoma as Arashi (Love in the Air Koi)

No one has ever been more perfectly cast in anything ever than this man. Shoma was made to be the Japanese version of Payu. The daddy dom energy just drips off of him. AND THAT SHOT OF HIS BACK? STILL NOT OVER IT.

♡ Big Thanakorn as God (Monster Next Door)

He's just so unfair. The sweetest, greenest flag of a man ever and built like a goddamn tree it's NOT FAIR!

♡ Lin Chia Yo as Johnathan (See Your Love)

Peace and love to Xin Jia he's just a baby gangster trying his best but I would NEVER let Johnathan leave that bed whether I remembered how we got there or not. NEVER.

♡ Sailub Hemmawich as Oab (This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans)

The long pretty eyelashes and the fuck me eyes and that body I just--ONE CHANCE JUST GIVE ME ONE CHANCE OAB PLEASE

♡ Yin Anan as Jack (Jack & Joker)

HE HAS A NECKLACE OF MOLES AROUND HIS NECK! HE HAS A MOLE JUST BENEATH HIS SHOULDER BLADE! DO YOU GET IT DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

♡ Jaonine Jiraphat as Latte (Knock Knock Boys)

Of course he's on this list. Do you know how many of his gym thirst traps I've posted on this blog since this show aired? I would like to personally and very sincerely thank whoever styled Jaonine in this show.

♡ Max Kornthas as Tai (Two Worlds)

I'd get distracted too if he was looking at me like this while I drew him. Doesn't matter which version of him it was, I would let him do anything to me and if it was the scarface version, I could fix him.

♡ Poom Phuripan as Joe (My Stand-In)

The way I would give Joe anything he wanted just to see that beautiful face smiling up at me. Congrats to Ming for being rich and everything but he could never treat Joe as right as I could. I would babygirlify that man to within an inch of his life just like he deserves.

♡ Honorable Mentions ♡

I am going to break my own rules a little bit because this is my list and I can so I'm going to include:

Kevin Chang as Ever4 (Eternal Butler)

Like I know the show just started and thus doesn't meet my criteria but I can't NOT include our new favorite daddy dom robot butler because...

...reasons. If I do a list like this for next year, best believe he's gonna be on it again.

Nike Nitidon as In (180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us)

This breaks my rules even more but I watched this show for the first time like a week ago and it immediately landed itself on my list of favorite BLs ever because everything about it is like heroin to me and I NEED this man to be in another BL so desperately like you don't understand giVE HIM BACK TO ME.

[negrowhat]

Fave Kisses of 2024

Continuing on with the handful of prompts I chose to do from @babyangelsky 's 2024 QL Wrap Up!

JackJoke's First Kiss from Jack & Joker. Oh it was like the tension pot had finally started to boil. Just bubbling and brewing and steam was finally escaping...whistling even. Jack had returned home full on ready to finally confess and Joke, who already KNEW, was sitting there ready to receive his blessing. Oh Joke was so ready for that kiss that he practically climbed into Jack's lap to keep it going. You could see the hunger in Joke's eyes and Jack's eager but gentle approach to the kiss. 10/10.

Dohoe and Juyeong's Snow Kiss from Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo. Something about the way they kind of lost themselves in that kiss. I was shocked Dohoe kissed Juyeong out in the open like that, but he was in a different place in his journey so maybe it's not so shocking. Juyeong's hands around Dohoe's waist??? Oh it was my favorite part and my heart all but stopped when Dohoe suddenly came to his senses and pulled away.

GreatTyme's Guitar Kiss from 4 Minutes. That soft ass dream kiss from Dr. Tyme's 4 Minutes had me absolutely OBSESSED. Idk it was just so romantic and so sweet and so perfect. I could just feel the warmth coming from the bubble Tyme was dreaming about. Tyme's 4 Minutes is still my absolute fave part of the whole series.

Huai'en and Xiabao's First Kiss from Meet You At the Blossom. I've talked about it and talked about it and talked about it some more. None of y'all are surprised to see this kiss on this list. I don't even need to explain why because I'm sick of explaining lol. Go watch our first ever Uncensored Wuxia BL. Nothing is implied it's all there. Go watch it now! MYATB is from the same writer of My Stand-In if that helps.

Sickly Phaya kisses Tharn from The Sign. That man woke up from a coma (that almost supernaturally killed him), snatched out his IV, and escaped the hospital. And where did he go? Not to go check-in with his lil granny and baby sister! NO! He went to his man's house and shoved his tongue down his throat. Man was white as a sheet and all he wanted to do was get his dick wet. And Tharn just let him. I loved that kiss and the makeout session that followed.

YakDee over shoulder kiss from Wandee Goodday. Pretty certain it was from their last love scene because they were kissing. I don't even remember how the scene went exactly (they fucked so much) but that lil peck over the shoulder was so gorgeous. Yak had his chest pressed to Dee's back and the 'YY' necklace was displayed so clearly. 100/10.

XNamping's High Heat Encounter from Every You, Every Me. That little peck right before things started to heat up. Just a quick lil lip touch to gauge the temperature...y'know see if it's what they both really want. It is. I know X was FREAKING out, couldn't believe he was finally being intimate with his long time crush.

SanVee's final night kiss from Century of Love. I'm a huge fan of the soft cuddly kisses we got from SanVee and that snuggle session we got right before San's last day was my fave. The way San holds Vee to his chest so tightly as they share gentle kisses. The impending doom hanging heavy over their heads. It hurt so fucking good.

RyuZen's Shower Kiss from The Rebound. One thang MeenPing gon do is kiss in a shower and do it right. Meen's giant ass does a great job of making Ping look smol and when you add water to that it is just so visually pleasing. I don't remember much else about the kiss except Ryu was all over Zen and Zen almost couldn't keep up. If we get another MeenPing series I hope it can sit at the top next to Gangster Oppa.

2J Bathroom Kiss from CityBoy_Log. The most recent volume of CBL was really good for 2J. They had just made up after Jihan ghosted Jaejun and IDK how Jihan conned Jaejun into helping him bathe but they do wind up in the tub together, fully clothed though because Jaejun said he was just going to help him wash his hair. And the next thing I know Jihan has Jaejun pressed up against the shower wall. 2J's kisses tend to be very audible and this one was amplified and my gawd those boys can kiss. And when Jaejun slams Jihan against the other wall and they finally share their 'I Love You's I was clutching the pearls. I'm realizing I enjoyed CBL more than I thought.

SunJunior's First Kiss from Caged Again. Oh it was so sweet. Love that they were hiding under the covers. I love that Sun had finally told Junior about him being a panther. That's a big secret to share and it did give me Malec vibes which could also add to my love for the scene. Love that Junior smiled at Sun the whole time. It was a great first kiss during a vulnerable moment for Sun and Junior. Loved how warm and secure it looked under that cover.

To my mutuals, please forgive me if y'all have multiple mentions from this one post...

[twig-tea]

2024 BL/GL/QL Round-Up Post

Since I did this last year, I thought for posterity I'd post another reflection on everything I watched that completed in 2024. For me, that means anything that started in 2023 but the last episode was in 2024 is on this list, but anything that was still be airing after 31 December 2024 11:59 my time (EST) is not on this list, even if the bulk of the show did air in 2024.

A few stats:

[The image is TL;DR for what follows lol]

I watched ~150 discrete pieces of new QL content in 2024 (series/films) that I tracked [It gets complicated with specials and split seasons but I did my best to be consistent]; plus 10 things that I would consider "adjacent". For contrast, I listed 110 pieces of discrete content in 2023; that's a 45% increase year over year!

This clocked in at an est. 900 hours of new BL/GL and adjacent content (up from ~600 in 2023--which also tells us that the content I tracked was a little longer overall because that's a full 50% increase in terms of hours spent).

The new content I watched came from 9 different countries [same as 2023]: (Cambodia [1], Philippines [2, down from 3], Hong Kong [1], Japan [32, up from 18 in 2023], Korea [20; was 19], Myanmar [2, up from 1], Taiwan [12, up from 6], Thailand [75; up from 56], Vietnam [4, down from 7]), China [5], and then 3 joint effort productions from Thailand/Korea [2] and Thailand/Taiwan [1]

This means just under ~47% of the content I watched on this list is from Thailand [close to the 50% in 2023]

So many more shows had multiple or varied distributions this year, but like last year ~85% of my content was on 3 platforms: YouTube [38%; down from 40%], GaGaOoLaLa [30%; up from 23%] and iQIYI [17%; down from 21%] Note: I'm in Canada and my access routes are sometimes affected by that.

As unbelievable as it sounds with all that, I did actually drop shows this year! I dropped 9 shows, which is I think more than I've dropped in my entire previous 20+ years watching queer asian media combined (that might be an exaggeration but I do really hate dropping shows); 4 Thai, 3 Filipino, 1 Taiwanese and 1 Japanese (listed at the very bottom of this post if you want to be messy). I didn't track any dropped shows in 2023.

And if you're wondering how many shows there are in the world in total, I am aware of an additional 11 shows I just did not have time to even start (2 from Cambodia, 4 from the Philippines, 3 from Thailand, and 1 each from Korea and Myanmar). That does not include the vertical short reels that I didn't track this year--see @ellsieee 's tracking post for these--as well as several GL shorts from JPC media YouTube channel and Sastra film app YouTube channel that I just have not had time to try or even keep track of, though I do peek in on them to see if there's anything that looks particularly good, and I do always link these folks in my GL round-ups.

All of this doesn't include re-watches or catching up on old shows, or non-QL queer media, or non-queer media (the hets sometimes do deserve rights); but does include films as well as shows.

I hope you all appreciate that with this much content, and with my general brand of being unable to make decisions, I really struggled to narrow down a top 10 list. What follows is the best I could do lol

Top 25 QLs I'd Recommend From This Year:

[Links are self-indulgently to what I thought was the most relevant post I'd made this year relevant to that series/media, mostly spoiler-free pitches]

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat S2 (Tsukutabe) [GL]

Love in the Big City

Love For Love's Sake

Tadaima Okaeri [anime]

Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka (Oppan)

Marahuyo Project

Knock Knock Boys

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo

Love is Like a Poison (Doku koi)

Ossan's Love Returns

Twilight out of Focus [anime]

At 25:00 in Akasaka

Cooking Crush

Cherry Magic [anime]

Cherry Magic Thailand

Takara no Vidro

Soul Sisters / Twin Rabbits [GL]

Perfect Propose

Unknown the series

Paradise of Thorns [film]

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

The Secret of Us [GL]

Mr Mitsuya's Planned Feeding (Mitsuya-Sensei)

The Time of Fever

A Man Who Defies the World of BL S3

I tried to put these in some kind of order but honestly if you asked me to rank them the numbering would change all the time and I would combust. The ones I liked best are closer to the top of this list. I also debated back and forth on whether Paradise of Thorns counts as QL so many times. But in the end I decided the main character was queer and queer romance of a sort was at the heart of the drama, so I've left it in this list even though technically it should probably sit with the 'adjacent's.

Worth noting that though only ~20% of the content I watched was from Japan, ~45% of my favourites were from Japan.

+5 notable pulp offerings worth mentioning:

Bagan Beginning (Myanmar)

City of Stars (Thailand)

Gym Affairs (China)

To the Ex Who Hated Me (Korea, GL)

Under the Oak Tree (Vietnam)

I think I'll do a top 10 GL post separately since we had enough content to warrant a top 10 (yay!) but this is already long enough. I just want to take a second to acknowledge that this year was so much better than in 2023 when I didn't feel like I could recommend any of the new GL shows. Thank you content creators for better and more GL in 2024, please keep that energy for 2025!

Bonus: Not a QL but worth calling out:

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thai film)

I saw both this and Paradise of Thorns in theatres during the Toronto International Film Festival and they were both so powerful! Extremely different tones but they surprisingly hit on similar themes, and very beautifully filmed. HTMMBGD was a complicated film filled with very rounded and complex characters, and I still think about it all the time. Very excited for more folks to have access to both of these soon.

Sidenote: The fact that I watched 45% more shows in 2024 than I did in 2023 and still managed to keep my rec list to 30 (*cough1cough*) does seem to back up the general feeling that though we had more content, we didn't have a proportional rise in good content. I do want to crunch those numbers in another post.

Double Plus Bonus: Best Older QL Content I watched for the first time in 2024:

Life as a Girl / Joshi-teki Seikatsu (Japan, 2018; I'm so sad I missed out on this one for so long due to misinfo, it is fantastic! Thanks to @so-much-yet-to-learn for helping propel me to this one)

Iron Ladies (Thailand, 2000; thank you for the rec, @happypotato48)

Nacchan's Secret / Himitsu no Nacchan (Japan, 2023; thank you @furritsubs for making this watch possible)

Can I Buy Your Love From a Vending Machine / Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasuka? (Japan, 2023; thanks to @nicks-den for making this watch possible)

I Fell In Love with the Villainness (Japan, 2023; watched because of a convo with @pilanthitasanilaphat)

Doi Boy (Thailand, 2023; this one I had on my list and just had to work up the energy to watch, but it was a beautiful film and I'm glad I did)

BL Metamorphosis (Japan, 2022; another thank you to @furritsubs)

Dear Dad (India, 2016; thanks to @neuroticbookworm for the rec!)

Salty Blue / Kakenuketara, Umi (Japan, 2023, thank you again @nicks-den!)

[I can't believe I forgot this at first] The Miracle of Teddy Bear (Thailand, 2022, thanks for going on that journey and writing great meta with me and for calling me out for forgetting @lurkingshan!)

There is so much good content in the world and despite my best efforts I haven't seen everything! So grateful to the fansubbers and people who write about past shows so that those of us who missed them the first time still get a chance to see them.

In terms of my output based on all this input, I continued not lurking this year, and have enjoyed it very much; see my Top 10 posts from 2024 here as well as the content I linked in my recommended shows above--going through the process of adding those links really highlighted to me how much more I've written this year, and how much more motivated I am to write about shows I love. It's no surprise I had dedicated posts for most of my top shows! To highlight a few specific projects this year that I'm proud of, I participated in the Love in the Big City Book Club read and watch-alongs organized by @lurkingshan, which was such a fun project that I am grateful for, and I started my GL Odds and Ends posts (tagged with #gl recs) that I am still feeling out but am really enjoying seeing the impact whenever someone watches a show because they found out about it through one of my posts. I also made an appearance on several episodes of @the-conversation-pod and had an incredible time trying out different things in a quarterly 'Dispatch' and having some really rich conversations with @bengiyo and @shortpplfedup. I love this corner of tumblr that we've carved out for ourselves as a QL watching community, and I just want to say to everyone I've interacted with in 2024: Thank you, and wish good things for you all in 2025!

Full list of 2024 shows under the cut for anyone curious! [Mostly in order it completed but may be slightly off--if a special aired immediately after the final episode I only list them as one thing and count the airing of the special as the end date, for example].

Bagan Beginning

Love Senior the Series

After SunDown

VIP Only

Twins the Series

Last Twilight

Night Dream the Series

My Universe

Bake Me Please special episode

Sahara Sensei to Tori Kun / Mr Sahara and Toki-kun

Love for Love's Sake

7 Days Before Valentine

Happy Ending

PitBabe the series

For Him the series

Cooking Crush

The Sign

Chaser Game W

Playboyy the series

Perfect Propose

Ossan's Love Returns

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna S2 / She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat

Cherry Magic Th

Dead Friend Forever

Sukidoya / Although I Love You and You / Sukiyaken kedo dou yaroka?

Healing Thingyan

Love You in Every Multiverse

Cherry Magic (anime)

Please Teach Me

Anti Reset

Jazz for Two

Blank the Series

A Secretly Love

To Be Continued the series

Love is Better the Second time around / Koi wo Surunara Nidome ga Joto

City of Stars

Sea You Soon

Human Too

Man Who Defies the World of BL s3

Gray Shelter / Gray Currents / Grey Current

Gym Affairs

1000 Years Old the Series

Love is Like a Cat

To the Ex Who Hated Me

Lady Boy Friends the series

Deep Night the series + Special Episode

Unknown the series

Memory in the Letter

You are My Star

Lonely Girls

Boys Be Brave / Roommates / I Can't Confess

Blossom Campus

Two Worlds

VIP Only special episode

Pray In Love

I Fell In Love with My Male Best Friend

Friend With Benefit

Stay By My Side special episode

23.5

You Made My Day

Living With Him

City Boy Log pt3

Anti-Reset special episode

The Time of Huan Nan

Xiao Xiang Yi Jiu

Inverse Identity

At 25:00 in Akasaka

Only Boo!

Tadaima Okaeri

Love Bully (Club Friday)

Blank the Series S2

Marahuyo Project

The Two of Us

Blue Boys

OMG Vampire!

My Stand-In

We Are the series

Ossan no pantsu ga nandatte ii janai ka / Oppan

Wandee Goodday

Under the Oak Tree

The Rebound

Love Enemy

Love in the Apocalypse

Bad Guy

My Marvellous Dream is You/ Dream the Series

Century of Love

Knock Knock Boys

Be Your Star

Meet You at the Blossom

BOYTOY

The Secret of Us

Ayaka is in love with Hiroko / Ayaka-chan wa Hiroko-sempai ni koi shiteru

My Love Mix-Up!

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans

Love Sea the series

Cosmetic Playlover

City Boy Log s4

Sunset Vibes

Mr Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

Takara no Vidro / Takara's Treasure

Paradise of Thorns

I Hear the Sunspot

The Time of Fever / when your temperature reaches my fingertips

4 Minutes The Trainee

Twilight out of Focus

Happy of the End

The On1y One

Live in Love

Heaven'sxCandy

The Two of Us s2

Addicted Heroin

I Saw You In My Dream

Monster Next Door

Our Golden Times

Affair

First Note of Love

Battle of the Writers

Reverse 4 U

Unlock Your Love

Chaser Game W s2

Let free the Curse of Taekwondo

Uncle Unknown

The Hidden Moon the series

Love in the Big City [the series]

Smells Like Green Spirit

Red Whisper

Eccentric Romance/PT is Love

My Damn Business

Apple My Love

Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave

The Nipple Talk

Kidnap the series

Every You Every Me

Jack & Joker

People Come Later

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

The Loyal Pin

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2

Love is Like a Poison / doku koi: doku mo sugireba koi to naru

Bad Guy My Boss

Haunted Hearts

Seoul Blues

The Renovation

Love Sick 2024

Love in the Big City [the film]

Spare Me Your Mercy / Euthanasia

Soul Sisters / Twin Rabbits

My Hot Butch Roommate

Whisper Me a Love Song / Sasayaku you ni koi wo utau

Boys' Christmas

Bonus: FuFuKnows bi-weekly shorts [every other week they post a short film, almost always a QL storyline; there were 23 in 2024]

And those QL-adjacent shows I mentioned [these are all adapted from QL media or starred QL actors or were part of a QL franchise but did not have a canon queer romance at the core of its storytelling]:

The Spirealm

Close Friend 3 - Soju Bomb

How to Make a Million Before Grandma Dies

Man Suang

High School Return Of A Gangster / I, a Gangster, Became a High Schooler

Kimi to Yukite Saku: Shinsengumi Seishunroku

Hoshikuzu Telepath

A Balloon's Landing

Peaceful Property

My Strawberry Film

The shows I dropped:

Time the series

Beside You

Sugar Dog Life

The Whisperer

Kiseki in Tokyo

Q18

Sky Valley

The Fate Trap

Dear Miss Becky

And as a shout-out in penance, the shows I had on my list to get to but haven't yet watched:

A Blue Sky (Cambodia)

Ending Friend (Cambodia)

Pretty Boys (Philippines - requires an access fee on VivaMax+)

Oh My Boo (Philippines)

The Perfect Heartbreak (Philippines)

Where I found You (Philippines)

My_ the series (Myanmar)

What's In My Bag (Korean GL - requires an access fee on Vimeo)

Complicated (Thai)

Club Friday: Hot Love Issue (Thai)

2nd Chance (Thai; not to be confused with Second Chance, this was a smaller 3-episode short series from this year)

Thank you for reading!

[lurkingshan]

Bestie @my-rose-tinted-glasses sent me an ask but tumblr is being a weirdo and won't let me publish it, so let's try it this way. The ask:

Wonderful day in Thailand. but now for the important questions. Of all the ql thai couples, which wedding would you like to be invited to and why? Rose💜

So let's talk QL weddings!! First of all, I would like to give a shoutout to a few excellent weddings already depicted in Thai QL:

And I would have liked to have been personally invited to every one of them, thank you very much. I'm a very fun wedding guest! I drink like a fish, I'm a happy drunk, and I love to dance, and on top of that I'm a mom friend and consummate problem solver who will absolutely take over and handle shit if the wedding planner is incompetent.

As for the weddings I would still like to see, oh I definitely have a list:

Oyei and Cher, Wandee Goodday: This is within the realm of possibility in the very near future and I will be lighting all my candles and manifesting hard for the next month.

Ten and Prem, Cooking Crush: Those were definitely engagement portraits on the wall in that epilogue and I would like to see it! I feel strongly that if I don't see at least one pair of OffGun characters get married onscreen I will simply perish.

Patts and Tai, La Pluie: You just know Patts is gonna be so extravagant and Tai is gonna be such a drama queen about it. To restore balance to the universe, Tien should get to throw a tantrum and make Tai's wedding all about his latest fight with Lomfon.

Tian and Jiu, Khun Chai: I just think Tian deserves it!!!!

Every couple in The Warp Effect: We can make it a dorky group wedding if we have to, whatever it takes to see all those beautiful queer people lawfully wed to their chosen partner.

Phumjai and Yang, Love in Translation: They are business partners in love, they should get to have a wedding with a silly photoshoot in the aisles of their store.

Any pair, Knock Knock Boys: Stay with me now, I think the bl boys should get to partake in the time honored het tradition of getting drunkenly married on a bender and regretting it.

Khanin and Charan, The Next Prince: If this show does not deliver an extravagant royal wedding, what are we even doing here??

I recognize that some of these shows are long over, but I see no reason why we can't have the things that we want. Happy endings and wedding specials for everyone, I will pay!

[guzhufuren]

Queer Love Shows I Am Grateful To This Year

2024 was special for me because there were 4 dramas in this year that finally made qls enter my personal top of all time favourite tv shows, the list that no qls ever actually managed to break into before, in all my 5 long years of watching them

Love for Love's Sake

thank you for healing my decade and a half of suicidality, horrible depressive disorder and defeatism and giving me eternal abundance of hope for life. thank you for fixing me like nothing else was able to. this show is the best most precious thing to have ever happened to me and i can never thank it enough

Meet You At The Blossom

thank you for making my 4 year long dream of having an uncensored gay chinese wuxia come true. and thank you for catering to my taste perfectly, even adding all the things that i love the most there as a bonus: crossdressing, excellent romcom and toxic yaoi

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat

thank you for giving me my biggest comfort show, the coziest story to lighten a bad day and bring a smile on my face, showing me a story full of kindness and sweetness about normal everyday people, and thank you for giving me my first gl beautiful enough to add to the personal treasury of favourite qls

The Spirealm

thank you for giving me one of the most incredible and coolest shows i have ever had the honor of watching, defying the chinese censorship, bringing inspiration to the industry and most importantly wonderfully unlocking my biggest kink i didn't even know about

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

QL Things That Made Me Happy in 2024

It's the end of the year, and people are doing a lot of cute things with superlatives and such, but with my limited bandwidth, I'm gonna keep it simple. Those who follow me know I am here to have a good time, and I like to focus on what brings me joy. 2025 is going to be a rough one, and I know I'm going to continue to need the QL space to help me emotionally cope, so if you'll indulge me, I want to just roll around in the good and the happy for a bit.

(Note, there is also a ton of 2024 content I did not have time to watch, so this does not capture everything good that happened this year!)

Diversity of Genre

Every year we're breaking a little bit more new ground! I'm particularly excited to be seeing more mystery/thriller, for both our BLs & GLs. Robots, vampires, animals turned human, and hopefully soon, mermen. We're getting weirder and wilder, and I am here for it.

Baby Steps in Representation

I know, I know, we all want it to get all better right now, but as someone in my fifth decade of life, I've also seen how small step after small step over the years can lead to huge changes. And in a world where a lot of people are trying to drag us backwards, it's important to keep pushing forward, and celebrate each successful step, even when it feels like it's not enough. (And keep advocating for more, of course!)

Continuing to Give Friendship Its Due

Amazing friend groups are fortunately a QL staple, and this year was no different. We got so much good friend representation this year!

Japan Being Japan

The very top at efficient story-telling, whether it be hitting your heart or tearing it apart.

Taiwan Being Taiwan

Never change Taiwan. Just keep feeding me, pretty please.

Acting Highlights

Wow, did we get some incredible performances this year. Way more than I can list here, but here's a few that came immediately to mind.

Special Mentions

ie stuff that didn't fit under one of the above categories.

A year of TayNew

Step one, be the absolute most in the cutest shit ever. Step two, queer up a found family story. Step three, celebrate owning 2024. (And we get more of them in 2025!)

Big getting his due

We've been chomping at the bit for a Big Thanakorn lead role for ages, and our man delivered! And we're gonna get more next year!

A win for creative independence

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so fucking proud of Yin and War. They did something incredibly difficult at great personal cost, and made something genuinely unique. Jack & Joker had a lot of layers, including a lot of cultural depth, along with social commentary. That kind of thing is always going to alienate some people, but that's part of what impressed me so much. If they wanted to make something to appeal to the most generic possible audience, they would have done it. They swung big, and made an impact, and I hope it opens up so much more opportunity for them.

When talent grows exponentially

One of my favorite things about having been into QL for a while now is getting to see actors grow and develop past their initial roles. Often the raw talent is there from the beginning, but as in all careers there is a benefit from experience, the right kind of support, and the right opportunities.

2 Moons 2 was a largely forgettable series that managed to land some unforgettable talent, and both Joong and Pavel were highlights. They've both done so well, but in this particular case, I need to rave about Joong's growth in his performance as Fadel. The entire cast is rocking it in Heart Killers, Dunk is also doing incredible, but I have such a soft spot for the boy I immediately fell for way back in my first year of BL, and seeing him steal scenes from some of my all time favorite GMMTV actors. Well done, bebe, well done.

In summary

This doesn't remotely encompass everything (I didn't even get to all the delightful spice from this year!), I am limited by time and image restrictions per post, but as always, I am so grateful to have discovered this arena of media and this space in which to squee about it, and I am endlessly grateful for the people in this space who bring positivity, nuance, grace, compassion, caring, open-mindedness, humility, and curiosity to my dash.

Happy New Year, y'all.

[becauseimanicequeen]

Since today marks the real start of the Olympics with the opening ceremony, I won't watch 4 Minutes until after midnight or something.

If I find some time over the weekend (between all the sports I'll be watching), I might post about the first episode in the coming days.

Delayed watches and posts will basically be my new normal for the next few weeks + keeping away from the spoilers (which basically means keeping away from tumblr).

I mean, as a former swimmer and handball player, I've got priorities.

Sorry, Bible. I still love you very much.

[impala124]

Random QL Superlatives: 2024 (Mostly) Horny edition

My viewing list isn't as comprehensive as I'd like it to be, so please refer to the lists from @lurkingshan , @bengiyo and @happypotato48 for some good show recs and hilarious superlatives.

Line that would have me folding like a lawn chair: Min's from Kidnap

Definitely not the most original of lines, but having Min look at me with his big, beautiful and expressive eyes would make all the difference.

Favorite kiss that made me believe that they wanted each other carnally: Jack & Joker takes the cake for this one.

This was a highly anticipated one and came after the midway point, but they still managed to exceed my expectations.

Favorite character I'd be willing to go to law school for to defend their crimes (if any) in court: Reese from First note of love.

This is probably a cop out because the man wouldn't get in trouble with the law. But, if he did, I'd be ready to defend him.

Favorite character for whom I would be willing to unalive someone: Gyu-ho from Love in the big city

My baby boy has never done anything wrong in his life and put his heart into everything he did.

Favorite character with the most diabolical line: Dohoe from Let free the curse of Taekwondo. His 'Did you dress up for me?' to Juyeong in this scene still makes me scream into my pillow.

Ep 6 sexpot Dohoe, you'll always be famous for trying to fuck away your problems, no matter how unsuccessful you've been.

Favorite love confession: Ryoma and Haruto from Doku koi

My favorite legal couple. What more can I say about them? A con-man who fell for his own con and a lawyer who used to believe that love is a poison (and a distraction). The earnestness of this confession and the vulnerability they express in this scene catapults them to the top of my list.

Favorite horny moment I'd like to observe from a distance: Mahasamut licking Tongrak's palm in Love Sea.

I knew FortPeat could bring the heat because I watched Love in the air, but man, watching it play out was definitely an experience.

Favorite sex scene: Great and Tyme banging in the real timeline in 4 minutes.

Say what you will about the show, but their chemistry was fire.

Favorite naked back: This category was made just so that I could mention Arashi from Love in the air koi.

Blame it on recency bias, but his sweaty arched back has been on my mind a lot.

Favorite couple my eternally single ass would probably kill: Muenfah and Teerak from Your Sky. It's an ongoing series, but I feel fairly confident as to where they are going to end up.

Don't get me wrong, I love them, but being near them while single would be a nightmare. I feel very represented by Lee just being so over their extremely real fake-dating.

[baseballmomlesbiandad]

Random QL Superlatives/Favs 2k24

I've been shuffling around these QL streets for a few years now but I typically stay in the shadows and lurk on everyone else's wonderful meta, gifsets, and discussions. This year, I thought I should take a step into the light and reveal a little bit of my heart for y'all. Thanks for keeping me laughing and crying throughout 2024!

Top-tier cuddling award

OonMay, Pluto the Series

May’s neck is the perfect spot for Oon nuzzles. I get her, I wouldn’t ever want to move from that spot, either. For a series that has the first meeting between the leads start with a passionate kiss, it isn’t totally surprising to me that they can rock a cuddle but the sheer amount of time these women spend in May’s bedroom gives us many an opportunity to see them comfy in bed together. Namtan and Film seem so comfortable with each other and I’m really looking forward to seeing them in more GL’s in the future (give me Girl Rules NOW).

Runner up: At 25:00 in Akasaka

Hayama and Shirasaki didn’t have the opportunity to share a bed much in the show (well, as much as OonMay) but when they finally got together and cuddled in the afterglow, I was gobsmacked by this shot. I think ‘Tattoo it on my eyelids’ was my specific response.

The year of tattoos, the best and the worst

Best: Reverse 4 You/4 Minutes

I’ve gotta make this a tie because while Bible’s thigh tattoo in 4 Minutes is particularly popular throughout the community (and I agree!), I went weak in the knees when they showed Christine Gulastree’s tattoos during FourWa’s first hookup. That line all the way down her spine? Idk about y’all but I immediately started drooling. Wa you are so lucky. Christine, are you free this thursday

Worst: The Heart Killers

Oh Kant. Buddy. The tattoo near his wrist was literally smudged. Please, y'all. 

Honorable tattoo mention: Jack & Joker

Listen, most of Joke’s prison tatts are ridiculous but luckily for me, I’m into that shit. I will be getting at least two of Joke’s tattoos permanently placed on my body. No regerts. You’re welcome to guess which ones.

Best kiss

Hotae and Donghee, The Time of Fever bedroom kiss

A year filled with great kisses! But I know from other lists that I'm not alone with this pick. This show was my most anticipated of the year since Donghee and Hotae caught me hook, line, and sinker in Unintentional Love Story. The moment that show ended, I wanted more of them. And then they did give us more (and premiered it on my birthday, no less) and they didn’t disappoint!! Especially by giving us the bedroom make-out with that immediate change of tension in the air when Hotae fed Donghee the orange and touched his lips; Hotae fully shaking with desire and begging to be kissed again; a heater in between them!! the breathing sounds!!! Won Tae Min is such a delight to watch, a great actor in all of his projects and Do Woo is so pretty and holds his own against Tae Min. I love them. I still want more. Give us the sequel to ULS, cowards!!! 

Best almost kiss

X and Namping, Every You, Every Me

Though later in this list I continuously sing praises about Top Piyawat's beauty, the reason why I'm so hung up on this almost kiss really goes to Mick Monthon here. X wants it sooo bad. He is struck stupid by being this close and held this tender by Namping and if I were him, I would simply perish on the spot. I truly loved this show while it was on, had complete brainrot about it, and this storyline in particular fucking ended me (affectionate).

BL Characters that shove me back down the Kinsey scale a la Jin Guangyao at Carp Tower

Tharn from The Sign

via @guzhufuren

IRL I typically self-identify as a lesbian (but like *shrug*) however, every now and then I become infatuated with one of these BL boys and Tharn really did a number on me. I mean c’mon. Babe babygirl Thanatat playing this tiny, feisty, sad, gorgeous man. The mole(s). A snake princess of indiscriminate gender. She is everything to me. He was the moment. Remember when he was so horny that he tried to smother Phaya to death? Obsessed with everything about him. BillyBabe continue to torture me. I don’t think I need to explain further, many of y’all were right there on the crazy train with me.

Namping from Every You, Every Me

I thought no one could tempt me like this after Tharn but then Top Piyawat came in with the steel chair that was Namping in episodes 3 and 4 of Every You, Every Me. What I loved particularly about this show was the dominance swapping between storylines and there’s something so sexy about someone being able to lean into both his feminine and masculine qualities so masterfully (Mick does a good job with this, too). Namping was BEAUTIFUL, his shoulders and slutty tops made me absolutely weak to my knees. I have rewatched these eps multiple times even though they make me snotty cry bc I just can’t get enough of X and Namping. And in the next eps the way Top had me thirsting over him as a fuckboy musician who never wears sleeves? He should be in jail for that. Anyway, Top, will you be my wife.

Most Sensual Pasta Making

At 25:00 in Akasaka

This show had me by the throat while it was airing and I can’t fully explain why other than I tend to feel this way about certain Japanese BL’s with a blonde and brunette pairing (Candy Color Paradox was not a great show but I was obsessed and still don’t know why)—having two nickels, etc., etc. Anyway, the gnocchi making? It was hot, what the hell. As someone who moonlights as a fresh pasta vendor at a weekend farmer’s market, this scene was specifically made for me. As an aside, I didn’t watch My Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans so if they sensually make pasta in that and aren’t just violating OSHA regulations all over the kitchen then I’m sorry!

screenshot via @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Silliest character that had me in stitches of laughter

Shiba Ryoma in Love is Like a Poison

The amount of times this man had me laughing out loud is in the 100s. It’s the stark contrast of his straight-laced, deadpan, almost robotic personality with his silly quirks and impossible-to-hide reactions, especially as Haruto comes onto him more and more as the series progresses. Highlights include every time he has a ‘gay seizure’ as @guzhufuren coined, his knees buckling when Haruto starts sweet-talking his plants, throwing the napkin in ep 4, literally every single thought that crosses his mind eps 1-4, when he tries to make AI Clippy be his 101st partner, the PICTURES, and so much more. The actor who played him, Shogo Hama, gave me everything and Haruto and Ryoma as a couple had me crawling up the walls, particularly in the first few episodes.

Runners up: Ishida in Mr. Mitsuya’s Planned Feeding and Qian in Unknown (Chris Chiu!!)

GL woman I would follow around on my knees for the rest of my life if she asked

Pat, Unlock Your Love

Cake Nawanine. A beautiful brat who knows exactly what she wants, which is that hot soft butch tattoo artist, and will fight all of her evil ex-girlfriends to prove her love. Deane is truly wild for continuing to fumble this absolute goddess of a woman, but what can I say, Deane is basically the Thai equivalent of a ‘hey mamas’ lesbian. Even so, their make-out scenes together were scorching and Pat’s flirting game was top-tier. I had a lot of fun with this little show and will continue watching series with B Mine and Near if they keep making them. And Cake! Please come back to my screen, I love you, I WILL treat you right. 

Thank you @khaopybara for sustaining my lust and love by being one of the few people making beautiful gifsets of my girl.

Most surprising chemistry between an already beloved pair

JoongDunk in The Heart Killers

Hear me out!!! I enjoyed Joongdunk in Star in my Mind and Hidden Agenda and I even thought their intimate scenes and sex scenes in both were pretty good. I was not prepared for The Heart Killers though, like I am really blown away by them as Fadel and Style and they are quickly rising to be one of my favorite branded pairs. I’m sorry it took me so long to recognize real!! As someone (probably a few) mentioned on here, I came to The Heart Killers mainly for FirstKhao, my loves, but am sticking around to see JoongDunk and what else these absolute psychos have in store for us.

Most used show tag that automatically populates first whenever I make a new post on tumblr dot com

The Sign the series

This makes sense because I was unhinged about this show and Babe, in particular. Thank you Saint Suppapong for giving us feral idiots exactly what we want, which is total nonsense, hot hot hot chemistry, and beautiful men wearing dresses. I’m glad I spent the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 with this show and I feel very much the same way about The Heart Killers for this year.

Blorbo(s) from my show(s) i.e., characters I have imprinted on like a duckling

I already gushed about Namping, love of my life, will not elaborate more or we’ll be here all week.

Hayama from At 25:00 in Akasaka. I love a quiet yearner, that’s no surprise, but something about Hayama in particular really resonated with me. It’s the LWJ effect, I think, someone who seems to not emote at all on the surface but is really a storm of feelings underneath and Kiita plays it so quietly and intensely. His backstory episode was so good I watched it again immediately after finishing it the first time. Hayama’s friend telling him that Hayama has so many walls up that even he himself doesn’t know what he’s thinking or what he wants? Ooof that hit right where it hurts. 

Mole Goddess possessing the teacher in Caged Again. All of the actors that get to play the Mole Goddess look like they’re having so much fun but her in particular had me rolling with laughter when she was first introduced, looking at herself in the mirror and practicing scolding students to get into character. What a diva. Who is this actress?!

Way from Pit Babe. I know this show started in 2023 but I binge-watched the show a week leading up to the finale in February and was assaulted by the purest pathetic energy of anything I’ve ever seen radiating off of Way. My morning commutes were hell until i took on this endeavor and it was one of the best decisions I made this year. I could not control my laughter on those crowded train cars, I did not care how crazed I looked. Way, you are everything, RIP to the realest (bc allegedly only Way’s lookalike is coming back in season 2?!). Thank you, Nut <3 

Style from The Heart Killers. Again, this is another one that i don't need to explain. I am similar to Fadel in that I like his cockiness...and his lips. Also Style is named appropriately bc i want, nay NEED, his entire wardrobe (and dorito looking ass body).

Other shows this year that have left a mark on me:

Takara no vidro, Ayaka is in love with Hiroko, Fangs of Fortune (not a BL but queer as hell), Love for Love’s Sake, Love in the Big City, 23.5, Cherry Magic TH, Deep Night, Wandee Goodday, Monster Next Door, Let Free the Curse of TaeKwonDo, The On1y One, See Your Love, Dead Friend Forever, Twins the Series, Petrichor

Shows I didn’t watch/finish but have on my list

The Trainee, The Affair, The Loyal Pin, My Stand-In, and probably a lot more, there was so much this year and I'm still catching my breath. If you have any recs for me, i welcome them!

Special shout-out to those who probably see me pop up in their notifs always, particularly @absolutebl, @heretherebedork, @guzhufuren, @respectthepetty, @waitmyturtles, @negrowhat, @yinwaryuri, @lurkingshan, @bengiyo, @spicyvampire, @pharawee and many more. thank you for all you create for little ole fans like me!

Looking forward to what 2025 brings us!

[telomeke]

MY 2024 TUMBLR TOP 10

Yes I'm really late with this (totally on-brand for me 🤣) but that is the downside of waiting for 2024 to end before posting about it – and then taking too long to complete the task. Still, better late than never!

I was tagged to do this by @he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle at this post here. Thanks dearie! 🥰 (And if you'd like to play along too, there's no need to trawl through your posts manually, thank heaven. Just go to this website – Jet Black Code – and it'll list your Top 10 Tumblr posts in seconds. 👍😊)

So my activity on Tumblr (particularly writing about Thai BL) took a serious dip in 2024 (especially the latter half) for a number of reasons:

Work has ramped up in the post-COVID era, with work projects now coming onstream fast and furious. This has left me with a lot less time outside of work, which translates to less time for QL-watching, and (obviously) also less time to post about it.

My favorite queer auteur Aof Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon has decided to step back from writing and directing (see these posts here and here), and in his absence I'm finding that non-Aof QL offerings are (perhaps unsurprisingly) disappointingly patchy in quality, which has turned QL-watching into a bit of a crapshoot (and less of a draw). With my short attention span I frankly need a show to be arresting in some way to stay committed – although I must add here that I don't need it to be highbrow art, just entertaining enough without being unduly insulting to the gray matter. So even a trashy series is fine as long as it's made clear to us we have to leave our loftier expectations at the door (memories of KinnPorsche flashing in my mind here – which also tells me my gray matter can handle quite a barrage of insulting if a show is entertaining enough 🤣). I was momentarily heartened by the promise of Khun Aof helming the GeminiFourth vehicle Ticket to Heaven in 2025 (such a beautiful trailer, a lush mini-movie almost), but I've come around to thinking this is more of an activist statement by him (commenting on the mainstream Christian/Catholic position vis-à-vis LGBTQ+ issues, remembering also that Khun Aof has a Catholic background). With this as the context, there's a high chance this show will never get made due to various sensitivities (but I live in hope nonetheless!):

With Khun Aof taking more of a backseat, my main feed for BL – GMMTV – seems to have pressed the pause button on more thought-provoking fare in favor of shows that are more formulaic and mass-market (read: vehicles for their branded couples, squarely aimed at the less discriminating and freer-spending sectors of the squealing teen audience). I've written more about it at these links here and here. And it's tough to keep watching GMMTV series when the plots don't deviate much from a well-worn template, rehashing narrative tropes because the formula is a proven money-spinner. A case in point: Kidnap the Series – never thought I'd give up on a show brimming with episode upon episode of a macho, shirtless, simping Ohm Pawat, but all that radiant manflesh still wasn't enough to keep me interested, which simply goes to show how dire the situation is. 😬🤷‍♂️ And with GMMTV enticing me less and less, I've been posting even less about BL as a result too.

Anyway, this explains why I have more original posts in the first half of 2024, while the latter half was mostly reblogs of other people's posts (and in keeping with the dictates of the game I'm only listing my own posts here, for what it's worth).

So after all that, on to my Top 10 for 2024:

✨NUMBER 1✨

My most popular post of the year was about a mysterious monk who inexplicably kept popping up in various Thai BLs: 👀

Appearing in Bad Buddy, KinnPorsche and The Sign, he was also sighted in non-BLs Pee Nak (still LGBTQ+ friendly), The Cave, Hemimeta, The Believers and The Murderer, resolutely a monk in all but the last one.

So working collectively, the BL fandom somehow managed to track down and identify the actor who plays everyone's favorite BL-friendly monk – he's Werawat Jumroensarn, not actually a monk in real life but nonetheless still a highly-religious Thai Buddhist who adroitly brings a sagely, monastic vibe to all his roles. The Thai BL fandom salutes you, Khun Werawat! 🙏💖

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✨NUMBER 2✨

This post was an explainer for the sudden flood of videos and GIFs on Tumblr showing Babe Tanatat all dressed up in traditional costume finery and performing a ceremonial dance somewhere outside Bangkok, while Billy Patchanon flapped about him gaily and garudaesquely in decidedly more normcore and less flashy garb.

The event turned out to be a worship ceremony put on by Idol Factory in faraway Nakhon Phanom, to honor the Great Naga of the Mekong even as The Sign deployed naga and garuda mythology in its storytelling, making waves here on Tumblr for fusing Thai supernatural beliefs with BL.

It was a highly respectful gesture from Idol Factory, thanking the nagas for allowing a representation of their story to be told as part of The Sign. Also respectful was the decision to have Billy abstain from the performance, probably because he was playing one of the garudas (who are mortal enemies of the nagas). All of which goes to show just how much belief in the spiritual and supernatural is woven throughout everyday life in Thailand. 👍

Babe, Heng and Songjet's little dance video at the link above is also breathtakingly beautiful. If I were the Naga being worshipped I'd certainly feel very honored indeed. 😍

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✨NUMBER 3✨

Ooh. 😵 This was one sex-drenched post, all about the visual rhetoric surrounding Tharn and Phaya's first time consummating their forbidden love and lust for each other (at least in their current reincarnations) as portrayed in The Sign:

So hot was the subject matter that despite my clinical descriptions and focus on the art direction, Tumblr's wonky algorithms (or possibly just some overworked backroom staff? 😂) decided that it was all too... too... (swoons into a deathly faint here) unseemly for the delicate constitution of the average Tumblrina in the BL fandom. (Yeah, right. Did no one survive KinnPorsche, Pit Babe or Playboyy??? 🤣)

And so they BLOCKED IT. Not once, but TWICE, which sent me scurrying to Admin with a flurry of appeals and explanations (that finally succeeded in getting the post reinstated, thank goodness). 😬

But really, all I was doing was noting how the lighting, colors, props and cinematography were working together to echo the breathless sensuality throbbing onscreen, when our two protagonists gave in to primordial desires much greater than themselves and attempted to unite their bodies as much as they could to counterbalance the heavily pre-ordained intertwining of their souls.

I think Idol Factory did a great job all around with this scene (both the players in front of the lens as well as those behind it). But was my post really all that raunchy though? I'll have to let you decide. 🤔

(above) The Sign Ep.7 [5/5] 19.47 – Phaya hungrily tops a gasping Tharn, even while a hard-working lamp from the Austin Powers range of home furnishings tries its best to do double duty : casting a sexy magenta light on everything while clumsily censoring any possible glimpse of Nagaruda penis and buttcrack 🤣

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✨NUMBER 4✨

Ah. Hmmm. 👀 Oops! Well, well...

I assure you, gentle reader and fellow BL fan, that I am not wholly possessed of a one-track mind – and yet somehow the next post here has also managed to turn all sexy and magenta while winking slyly at unspoken meanings hidden between the lines. Again. 🤣

Taking my Number 4 spot is a light-hearted post about Wandee Goodday nodding tongue-in-cheek at some legendary Thai porn, and this sideways jokery also shone as an example of WDGD's early charm, wit and intelligence. There was so much to look at and write about in the series, and I was especially taken with the lighting and art direction (all that yellow and magenta, standing in for Yoryak and Wandee) that I wrote reams about it.

But then… I decided not to post any of that, when the latter half of the show began to wander woozily about, punch drunk and semi-directionless, leading to an ending that turned out to be quite a letdown.

They squandered the obvious chemistry between the two leads and allowed a promising sexbuds-to-soulmates love story to meander to an unsatisfying conclusion. So many clever elements, but all set free to run wildly in a plethora of uncoordinated directions. This one disappointed me in the end, and it makes me sad to think of what might have been. But its fun moments were fun indeed, so I guess it's not a total loss. Inn Sarin really needs to start dialling back on the plastic surgery though. 😂

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✨NUMBER 5✨

Oh thank goodness there was 4 Minutes for us to lose our minds over collectively in 2024. Sleek, shiny, sexy – and that was just Great's car collection (the show itself, even more so 🥰).

Ah the mystery of it all! So convoluted was the Sammon plot that I found myself churning out post after post (work deadlines be damned) trying to guess at the underlying logic coursing beneath the spooky narrative onscreen, adding to the roiling cauldron of fan theories on Tumblr aiming to explain it all.

In the end Be On Cloud chose a more middle-of-the-road resolution, but there's no denying 4 Minutes captured the imaginations of so many. I remained impressed through to the end, and I will say it again: Director Ning Bhanbhassa Dhubthien is one to watch, especially if her sure hand is allowed to rein in the excesses of Khun Pond and Dr. Sammon's wilder imaginings.

But my most popular post about 4 Minutes wasn't anything to do with the screenwriting, cinematography or directing though. 🤔

As usual, a pithy take (only nine words!) is easier to like and reblog on Tumblr, and all I did was point out a cute detail about the merchandise – when you place the black and white cat plushies (standing in for Great and Tyme) side-by-side, the random color blocks on the side of each, marring the individual symmetry, form a perfect and symmetrical heart when it's cats à deux:

And of course this is signaling how each completes the other in GreatTyme's unconventional, multi-pronged love story. Big AWWWW here 💖, but then again let's not forget how DARK it all is so let's go in with a black-and-white color scheme to remind us we ain't in Hello Kitty World, but also let's not get too dark so it's soft soft kitties all the way, but oh dear that's too cute so let's give them grumpy, frowny faces and make them look as malevolent as can be. Oh! But how then did we end up with MALEVOLENT cat plushies, spawn of brooding kittenish evil, pets and pride of Chucky? Then again, why not malevolent cat plushies for the win? 🤣

I can't help thinking the constant push and pull between commercial considerations versus artistic vision in Thai BL will always follow a similar trackway, though Be On Cloud seems to have done a better job with 4 Minutes than GMMTV on most of their offerings, is my take on the subject. 😍

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✨NUMBER 6✨

OK, so I'm not watching The Heart Killers, nor have I ever seen The Taming of the Shrew (that one episode of Moonlighting and 10 Things I Hate About You don't count), but nonetheless it tickled me no end to see Shakespeare credited as a co-creator on My Drama List for this series, and my Number 6 post was a signal boost for that:

This wasn't just some editor at MDL having a lark, though I do approve. Willie Shakes is also credited on other Asian productions there (As We Like It and The Banquet) and he now has his own MDL page too. 😂👍

Anyway, credit where credit is due! 😍 (Move over Mr. Kaewpanpong, a new William has joined the BL fold. 🤣)

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✨NUMBER 7✨

If you've ever been mystified by the vagaries of romanized Thai spelling and pronunciation, my favorite Thai (and Canadian) chef Pailin Chongchitnant has a nifty little vid that goes some way to explain its complexity, linked in this post:

Prior to this, I had so many questions: 🤣

Why does Pat in Bad Buddy spell his name with an 'h'? Why does Google Translate spell his name with an 'r', and why does the Google lady pronounce it Pat-tara?

Still in BBS, why does Pran's mom call him (to my ears) Bprrraan when Pa calls him Bpaan? (Like, where did the 'r' go?🤷‍♂️)

What's up with the 'l' in Tul Pakorn's name sounding more like an 'n'? WHAT DO YOU MEAN Suvarnabhumi is pronounced more like Suwannapoom!? 👀😂

I now have a better understanding of the linguistic (and socio-political/cultural) contortions going on behind the scenes here after watching Pai's video, and I hold her encouraging words to heart (as dear @recentadultburnout reminded me in a comment on the post 🥰): "Whatever you do, it's just all various degrees of wrong." 🤣 Not a put-down, simply Pai letting us know that the language is far more complex than can be summarized with the puny 26 letters of the English alphabet. 👍🤩

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✨NUMBER 8✨

A little out of character for me, but this post has no images. And then it starts out with "There are no words..." when the post is all words. 🤣

It's really a short post about the whiplash we all went through when the arguably milk-and-water Last Twilight aired its episodes on the same day as the sex-forward Omegaverse-inhabiting Pit Babe. Really, there are no words that can do the experience justice. 🤣

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✨NUMBER 9✨

Are we descending into a pattern here? 🤣 Post Number 9 consists of a single image and no text (except for the subtitles):

Well I did caption it in the ALT Text though: 🤣

Wandee Goodday Ep.6 [4/4] 8.06 – Yoryak references the night it all began, when he rescued a trashy pile of a doctor outside a convenience store

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✨NUMBER 10✨

And rounding up my Top 10 was a signal boost bit of BL reportage, linking to the GoyNattyDream in-car interview on YouTube with Mew Suppasit and Tul Pakorn, BL royalty and officially a couple in real life:

Mew and Tul had soft-launched confirmation of their romance in the months preceding with tons of social media posts showing them hanging out and holidaying together, but from what I can gather this was the first time (or if not the first, at least one of the earliest times) they out-and-out confirmed their relationship, and candidly spoke about it, on the record. 💖

A big step for Thai BL, that paradoxically has to operate in an industry where people in positions of influence can sometimes be homophobic to actors who are (or even suspected of being) queer in real life. 👀

Congratulations to the happy couple, and congratulations to you too, dear reader, if you've read this post all the way down to here!

Not much else to do but tag others – although this is so late I figure everyone's already done it. But since I've not been on Tumblr much I've missed who's done it and who's not, so I'm just going to tag people at random, and if you've already done this please link me to your post so I can read it. 🥰 And even if I've not tagged you but you'd like to play please do so (and tag me too, so I can read your post)!

Onward tagging:

@bengiyo

@neuroticbookworm

@dribs-and-drabbles

@solitaryandwandering

@airenyah

@grapejuicegay

@waitmyturtles

@twig-tea

@rythyme

@respectthepetty

@relativelydimensional

@wen-kexing-apologist

@colourme-feral

@ranchthoughts

@chickenstrangers

@callipigio

@kattahj

@non-binarypal7

@starryalpacasstuff

@shortpplfedup

@hughungrybear

@pandasmagorica

@visualtaehyun

@inventedfangirling

@recentadultburnout

@dimplesandfierceeyes

@dudeyuri

@lovelyghostv

@dc-alves

@fiddlepickdouglas

@hapiestupid

@yinwaryuri

@writerwithoutsound

@randompens

@nihilisticcondensedmilk

@syrinth

@naniskys

@delesaria-blog

@narcissusneverknewme

@pokomumee

@suni-san

@belladonna-and-the-sweetpeas

@aroceu

@italianpersonwithashippersheart

Tagging @lurkingshan too – I already read and reblogged your post (linked here), but if you think there are others I should check out please do let me know! 💖

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[stormyoceans]

MONICA'S INCREDIBLY BIASED TOP 5 GL SHOWS OF 2024

1. the loyal pin. a period piece QL with a (believable) happy ending and a fairytale-like quality to it that was able to charm me from the very first episode. while the pace of the story can definitely be slow at times, i was personally just too absorbed in the world that this show created to mind it. the display of traditions, customs, and food from thai culture, along with the beautiful cinematography and the colorful cast of characters, all helped to achieve this fully immersive experience, giving the perfect frame for anin and pin’s romance. becky as anin was also a revelation.

2. ayaka-chan wa hiroko-senpai ni koishiteru. I ADORE THIS LITTLE SHOW WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL. i admit that, as a bisexual woman myself, i found the bisexual erasure pretty maddening at first, however i am willing to forgive it in the face of how bright, lively, sweet, and at the same time deep and full of emotion this series is. it’s an age difference office romance that actually addresses the generational gap between the leads by exploring how society’s view on queerness changed throughout the years, and it does so by being funny, delicate, and unapologetically lesbian.

3. reverse 4 you. this is where my bias comes through, because while this show is far from perfect, i have the biggest soft spot for it. in general i tend to really enjoy stories that feature any kind of time related powers, but compared to others the true strength of this series is the familial bond between wa and vi, which shines as much (if not more) than the romantic relationship between wa and four. i do feel like the story needed at least one more episode to wrap up the loose ends more neatly, as some things kinda left me baffled and pretty confused, but my love for this little family of three makes me willing to overlook everything else.

4. pluto. if my meter of judgement to make this list had only consisted in chemistry and performance, then this show would have definitely landed in the first three spots, as namtan and film are incredible in it (the bridge scene in episode 11 is one of the most memorable of the year for me), however some of the plot points don’t sit quite right with me, and the execution of others was a bit lacking, so i unfortunately had to detract a few points. still, i enjoyed the show a lot: it presented a unique story in an interesting way, there was never a dull moment, and not once i skipped the intro because the OST is just amazing.

5. the secret of us. this show being so low in the list doesn't sit quite right with me, but at the same time it doesn't have the originality or the effectiveness in storytelling that other ones have. what it has, however, are ling and orm showcasing fantastic chemistry and very natural acting, which elevated a plot that im not usually particularly fond of (exes meeting again years later) and gave a lot of personality to their characters. the happy ending also feels earned, and some of the side characters are very memorable.

+ honorable mention (because once again, im a cheater)

23.5. i wanted to do a quick shout-out to this show because i feel like the fandom tends to give it a way harsher judgement than it deserves. while the second half did have a few things that bothered me, i still find this show a very accurate representation of teenage emotions, and the way it depicts young queer love healed the part of me that didn't have this kind of series growing up. all in all, it brought me a lot of comfort, and im incredibly grateful for that.