#the only het couple with rights TO ME

[iotsketches]

truth is a shard of ice

[authorhjk1]

Read the one on how each snsd member would react to a big cock. Can you write one for Red Velvet?

Irene

Irene bites her lip as you take off your underwear. She is kneeling in front of you, hands on your thighs. When you told her you had a big cock, she gave you an amused chuckle.

"Guys always say that."

But now she is silently starring at your dick for a couple of seconds, before looking up at you.

"Oh, wow."

Irene moves a little closer to kiss your tip as she wraps one of her hands around your base. Then she positions herself right underneath it, basically letting your cock rest on her face.

"You weren't exaggerating. You're huge."

Before you can respond, Irene moves back a little and then wraps her lips around your tip. Her other hand joins the first. The sight alone has you completely hard. Irene kneeling in front of you, both her hands holding your cock while she tries to fit it into her mouth.

Seulgi

The look on Seulgi's face is priceless. After you ate her out, she wanted to return the favor, so she moved to the end of the bed and let her head hang off the edge. Now she's starring up at your cock in disbelief, eyes wide open.

"H-Hold on a minute. That can't be right."

She reaches upward, placing her hand flat on your abdomen. Her eyes grow even wider when she sees your cock right next to her forearm.

"You want to fuck my face with this? Do you want me to pass out?"

"Why not?"

You chuckle, trying to make a joke.

Seulgi looks up at you. Then she focuses on your cock and them on your face again. As if she can't decide what to do next.

"A-Alright then. But go slow at first."

Seulgi opens her mouth, waiting for you to feed her your cock.

Wendy

Your third date with Wendy went really well. You took her out to dinner and a walk in the park afterwards. Now she's lying in your arms as the two of you make out in your living room.

"I want you."

Wendy whispers between kisses.

But your excitement doesn't last long.

"I'm not safe though."

And you didn't buy condoms. Because you never thought you'd have a chance to sleep with Wendy this early on.

"I guess there's only one thing we can do."

Wendy's suggestion makes you hesitate, but when she stands up to remove her clothes, you can't say no.

"Have you tried this before?"

"I have."

She moves to undo your pants as she straddles you.

"Anal is so much better than normal sex anyway."

Her words make your blood rush to your cock. And when she finally takes it out, you see her eyes growing wide.

"Oh my god."

She wraps a hand around your cock.

"I've never tried it with something this big before though."

"Is that okay?"

You asked, hoping that it's not a deal breaker.

To your relief, Wendy nods.

"It's gonna take a while for me to take all of it. But damn, it looks like it's gonna be amazing."

Joy

Time seems to have come to a hold. You don't know how long you and Joy are already standing in the bathroom without moving. Judging by the phone in her hand, she must've walked into the men's room by accident while looking at it.

Now her eyes are glued to your cock, her mouth wide open. She seems to be unable to form words, her mind blank while she's staring at your cock.

"Oh my god."

She finally whispers in disbelief.

To your surprise, Joy takes a step closer.

"C-Can I touch it?"

You expected her to apologize and leave. You always dreamed about sleeping with Joy. But if that is what is going to happen now, it's already surpassing all of your expectations.

"You're so big..."

She whispers, almost talking to herself. You groan when she lets het fingers dance along your length.

"Y-You can stroke it, if you want."

You try to sound nonchalant, but you doubt she missed your excitement.

"I-I shouldn't. I have a boyfriend."

But she's still staring at your cock, not even attempting to leave.

"He doesn't have to know."

You know you're pushing your luck, but this is a once in a life time opportunity.

Joy lets out a shakey breath when she tries to wrap her hand around your base.

"He is gonna know. If you fuck me with this, I'm never gonna feel his dick again."

You know she's exaggerating, but just the thought of ruining her pussy makes you even harder.

Yeri

Because the flu is going around among the SM employees, Yeri offered to help out with dance practice for the trainees. When she walked into the practice room this morning, her eyes immediately clung to you. Being taller than average, you always stuck out a little, but when Yeri stood right in front of you, she noticed how she barely even reached your chest. The hight difference made her think about things she shouldn't think about. Especially since you're just a trainee. But Yeri couldn't help herself. While one side of her brain focused on teaching, the other side dreamed of you throwing her around in the bedroom.

But she wasn't the only one thinking about your height difference. You too couldn't stop imagining yourself carrying Yeri around the practice room while making her bounce on your cock. After daydreaming for too long, you could feel how you were slowly hardening underneath your sweatpants.

When Yeri glanced at your crotch at one point, dreaming about how big you are, she noticed your bulge. She started to stutter while she was speaking, her eyes glued to your clothed cock. When she finally stopped talking, she looked up at you again. Your eyes met and for a second, you could see how shame and embarrassment coloured her cheeks. But she must have noticed the same look in your eyes as the one she has right now too. The look of pure lust.

Yeri bites her lip. Slowly. Almost like a signal. A silent message, telling you that you'll be getting lucky today.

[llatimeria]

I feel so resolved right now bc I've been getting a little frustrated with the Instagram reels I've been seeing that's mostly het women complaining about how their husbands don't share the mental load of housework - which is absolutely justified, ofc. everyone needs to partake in taking care of the home as close to equally as is reasonable.

the thing is this mostly takes the form of people making fun of how their husbands say things like "Yeah sure I'll share the load :) Just make me a list!:) just tell me what to do! :)" when that's kind of defeating the purpose -- if your partner's making lists of chores for you, you're still basically offloading a ton of mental effort onto them, which doesn't actually help the problem.

however I know from experience that I am that husband lol. and I'm sure a lot of these men are just kind of inconsiderate, but from my perspective as a disabled neurodivergent person, I reflexively try to offload things like Making Lists or Asking To Be Told What To Do onto my (overstressed, often panicking) partner because I'm scared that if I make decisions about what I need to do, I'll focus on something my partner didn't even have on their radar and waste all my energy "fixing" something which they didn't consider broken, leaving me with nothing to help solve the problems they actually care about.

I'm not trying to be a dick or deliberately being lazy, I just need to know what's bothering them the most so I can start there instead of starting on a random side quest that doesn't matter to either of us. considering how many of these people I've run into are in nd4nd relationships, I'm pretty sure I can't be the only "inconsiderate husband" out there who's having this feeling, and it's a little frustrating to see it being completely attributed to a moral failing and not, like, a possible symptom of their partner's own mental health issues. (like we definitely can't pretend like misogyny never plays a part in the Just Make Me A List type of behavior, but I know relatively certainly that is not where it's originating from in my own personal relationship, and I'm not that unique)

just when I was about to just make a kind of grumpy post about this problem and offer absolutely no solutions, I fuckin run into a reel where someone actually tells people how to bridge the gap between offloading mental effort and actually knowing what your partner wants you to do- literally just. offer a couple of observations to them instead of hoping they'll do everything for you. ie - instead of "just tell me what to do!!", say "I see the dishes have to be done and the trash has to be taken out, so I was gonna do the dishes then take out the trash, unless there was something else that needs my focus first". this tells your partner that you are taking on some of the mental burden, but still offers them the opportunity to point you in the right direction if you're WAY off.

it just makes so much fucking sense and I never would've thought of doing that on my own. genuinely an extremely useful video to just algorithmically be provided to me. it's actionable advice instead of just telling people "share the loaaaddd" without providing the scaffolding someone needs to do that when theyre unused to it (whether that be due to neurodivergency or growing up as a guy in a misogynistic society).

and its just like. God damn it. this is bullshit. I can't believe the stupid camera app is helping me in real ways. maybe the mental health gurus and internet therapists have a goddamn point sometimes. fucking hell

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Meaty Post Since It's All You're Getting for a Bit

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

*** This blog will be on mini hiatus for most of May 2025. Not dead just busy. You'll be fine without me. Don't burn down this hellsite anymore than normal while I'm away.

April 2025 Week 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stubborn (Sun iQIYI) ep 1-2 of 10 - Mflow's latest high heat office romance involves best friend's younger brother, boss meets intern, bit of a love triangle, GL crumbs, and few other tropes.

It's... raunchy.  And it's giving me Deep Night vibrations. So to speak. Similarly cringe but still fun to have on our screen. I don't mind a "teach me daddy" trope. The leads are serving up BossNoeul in LITA and the other pairs seem decent too. It’s messy gay but it’s low stakes high melodrama soap opera messy gay so I guess I'm okay with that style. Shall we call this "sloppy gay"?

I'm not mad about it.  

The BangkokBoy (Thai Sat Gaga) ep 1 of 12 - Action, crime, and revenge meets gangs, street fights, mafia, and more. Oh my. Intriguing premise. Not a bad beginning in terms of acting and family strife set-up. The terrible dubbing is sending me. The terrible fight scenes are sending me even further. They better give us some BL within the next two episodes or I don’t know if I can take this level try-hard.

Sweet Tooth Good Dentist (Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 - I am so happy to have Jimmy back on my screen. I can’t even tell you. No additional thoughts, only Jimmy in glasses.

Top Form (Thurs WeTV) ep 6 of 10 - this time I reminded myself going in that this is based on Japanese IP. But I still couldn't take it. I fast-forwarded through most of this ep. I knew it was coming but I still couldn’t stomach it.

Akin better get everything tested. And some counseling.

Boys in Love (Sun iQIYI ) ep 1-2 of 12 - Our only true high school BL from GMMTV this year and it's fresh faces for the youths and old favs for the teachers. I want to like this (and be surprised by it) as much as My School President in 2023 but so far that is definitely not the case. I do love the teachers (shocker) and I like the sides but I’m not sold on the main couple. With a kiss already in ep 2 the pacing is off. If this were Japan I would 't be worried, but this is GMMTV messing with the formula and that could be rough for all of us.

Side note... how does Papong look so daddy in Not Me and do damn ingenue here? Best chameleon in GMMTV's stable? I think so. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Heesu in Class 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 9-10 end - omg they are ridiculously cute dancing round each other. Please just kiss! Bah, this did take too long to resolve. I was worried about that.

The people (aka me) want more BL in our BL! Rah rah rah.

I also wanted more Heesu advising others and less of the hets hetting about the place. Sad we got not kiss but also no time to develop it.

Conclusion

What started out with a great core concept (KBL version of Sex Education) rather lost its way getting mired in the slowest of slow burns which effectively turned the BL storyline into a sub plot for multiple het dramas should have just added flavor. The acting was sweet all round, and sincere, and the lead character of Heesu very engaging. There was even some chemistry with his love interest, rare from Korea. The extra length (so rare in KBL) turned out to be just enough for them to hang themselves with. Should we be shocked that Korea didn't have enough faith in the queer romance thread? No, but I had hoped for better. This was almost great but missed the mark by simply not being gay enough. 7/10 

I will add the handling of the coming out sequence was... deft.

I think I need to go rewatch Light On Me.

Business as Usual (Korea Thurs Viki) Ep 4 of 6 - Gah this is so sad. They like each other so much and made such stupid mistakes! i guess Jin Hwan won't let it stick? Honestly I'm kinda glad this is a short one.

Something Is Not Right (Korea Weds Viki) ep 2 of 8 - The library scene made me laugh.  Every single on of them is such a drama queen. It's awfully angsty but i like it. 

Fight for You (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 6 of 12 - Oh this is getting kinda good. That fantasy was lovely. The rest of the story is rough. But the chemistry is great.

Exclusive Love (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 12 end - Pretty much just a wrap up episode with lots of sex and a double wedding (never a good idea). But all of it was very pretty. 

Summary 

Taiwan gave us this weird premise of funeral home + mafia + secrets, yet somehow no excitement or real tension because they then slapped it with a pathetic excuse for a plot. Everybody in it was pretty, but the chemistry really wasn’t what I’ve grown to expect from Taiwan. The suits were nice, i guess? Ultimately, given the initial concept, this is remarkably forgettable. 6/10 

It's airing but......

Sashes and Hearts (Pinoy YT) 13 eps - Philippines is doing Drop Dead Gorgeous only all gay boys queening their asses off. Doesn't interest me, not sure if it's BL.

Last Meal Universe (Thai ????) 8 eps - An alien who has come to destroy earth instead falls in love with Thai food and then the Thai boy who cooks it - realistic, actually. I got a link to watch but it still wouldn't work for me, so I guess I'm waiting to see what happens.

Lost in the Woods (Weds Gaga) 7 eps - Not my thing, dropped at ep 2.

Secret Ghost (Thai Sat Viu) ?? eps - The trailer dropped and it looks so bad.

My Golden Blood (Weds iQIYI) 12 eps - dropped at ep 5. Recent thought process as follows: Oh, I think I would have loved this if it were OffGun.

What a thing for me to think.

Still, I'm not wrong.

The Rewatch BLigade!

Jazz for 2. I wasn't sure about this when it aired and I'm still not sure about it. I think I like it. But how much do I like it?

Cherry Magic Thailand. Still very enjoyable but there are more slow and lagging episodes than I remember. Lots of fast forwarding through the slow bits. But TayNew still deliver like only they can. Now I kinda wanna do a Deep Blue Kiss rewatch.

Wandee Goodday. I fast forwarded through everything that wasn't YakDee on screen together. Solid choice. I love them so much, and I suspect they might be the healthiest sexual relationship we have ever seen depicted in a BL. (On Viki these days)

Unintentional Love Story. Yeah a regular rewatch for me. I put it on to check something, and then just ended up running through the whole series. Will I ever recover from Gongchan's eyes? Not in this lifetime.

Your Sky. Yeah I finished the 3 ep special and then immediately rewatched the whole darn show. This is my 3rd or 4th time. I love it, totally my type of so bad it's good, so sweet it hurts, BL pulp. I don't ask for much from my BL. This show gave me exactly that much and no more.

Mr X & I - Us Against The World. One of those obscure shorts I love, this one from China pre 2016 crack down. Yep. Still love.

I'll be doing a ton of rewatching over the next month because of all my travel. Wish me luck!

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming in May

5/2 Pit Babe The Series 2 (Thai Fri iQIYI) 13 eps - More conspiracy and struggles and past coming out to play but even less omegaverse.

5/3 The Next Prince (Thai Sat iQIYI) 14 eps - Hotly anticipated 3 yr production featuring ZeeNewNu in a fantasy/historical set in a palace where Zee plays a knight and Nu a prince fighting for his right it inherit. Plus Jimmy with a new partner. Should be pretty and hot if nothing else.

5/16 Knockout (Thai Fri WeTV ) 12 eps - A low quality less fun/funny version of Wandee Goodday?

5/19 I Promise I Will Come Back (Thai Mon WeTV) 10 eps - A Thai Taiwanese colab. Stars two Thai actors and Taiwanese identical twins from H3. However the lead and co-producer Tontae is actually a very good actor, so this could be good unless it's oen of those mostly intended to be a tourism advert for the Thai countryside. We shall see!

5/16 My Sweetheart Jom (Thai Fri YouTube) 12 eps - I admit I wasn't sold on this one from the trailer but Saint is back and I'm disposed to be intrigued by the kind of script that would pull hm in. But it is certainly not my kind of script.

May? Season of Love in Shimane AKA Ai no Kisetsu: The Season of Love (Thai) - Sequel to Kiseki Chapter 2 which I intensely disliked, must we?

May ? Sweetheart Service (Korea Gaga) - Strongberry is back with a fake dating trope?! After being pressured by his family to get married, Min U proposes to Yu Ha to pretend to be his fiancé. As they spend time together, feelings begin to develop between them.

2025 Line Up

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2

20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About

GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Lap sit kiss teaching sesh with this boy you kinda hate who is now also kinda your boss... sure, why not?

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[silviakundera]

when it comes to subtext-only couples (romantic couples in TV/film that are not explicitly canon), there many reasons that these ships can very appealing to watch and can be compelling & fulfillingly romantic for the viewer, despite no overt sexual contact and no out-loud declaration of a relationship....

but one of the biggest draws for me is all of the effort put into communicating what cannot be said. all of the work put into saying without words or an on screen kiss, we are in love! You as the viewer need to be made to FEEL that love. There are no shortcuts or easy way out. They can't just tell without showing.

When a writer, an actor believes in that unspoken love and build it into their performance, when people work together to create a subtext ship, when they put thought into it and pay attention to all the details.... 👌👌👌👌

This can apply to many ships that aren't permitted explicit canon expression (including het ships that aren't Approved™ but the actors and script writer believe in)... but of course what comes most to my mind lately are the censored chinese gay dramas and how the creative team is putting their whole pussy into it like SIR. WOW. THE DEDICATION TO ROMANCEEEE

The Spirealm is the latest example where I keep thinking holy shit, the devil works hard but these actors are working harder. They are so fucking good at portraying a love story without saying it's a love story. It's like The Untamed for me all over again.

It's how everyone is working together: the writer included those beats & that allusion, the actor used that microexpression & body language, the director used that blocking and created the space for it, the editor included all the right shots and pauses on the actor's attraction/affection/love so it isn't lost in the shuffle of the plot. It's a symphony of a ship that's performed in concert.

This is something every quality romantic drama needs to include, but when you're working with subtext it's 50x harder and takes so much more care & consideration.

[theheightofdishonor]

GL Recs Masterlist

I've watched a couple hundred gls now and so I thought i'd put it to good use and help other people find some. There's not enough gl rec lists anyway

First things first, I'll like to direct you to https://mydramalist.com/list/1xrpwdW3 which is a gl rec list on mdl with more than 200+ titles + links. It's an EXCELLENT resource, kept up to date and even tracks upcoming titles.

Now for stuff that I've watched and thought are decent. I'll link all of these to their mdl page and the links to watch the show can usually be found in the comments. If you're new to gl, be warned that a lot of these are pretty short, ranging from 1-30 minutes.

1 in 10,000 (2018) Korea. This is a soulmates piece told in 3 parts following two girls through different parts of their lives. I think this got more confusing as it went on but I really liked Act I and I think it's worth watching. It's beautiful and angsty and a bit artsy. I'm pretty sure it has a happy ending but don't quote me on that.

Afraid of (2019) Korea. A short film about a girl struggling with her sexuality. Yeah, I know, there's a THOUSAND of these but I do like this one. It's beautifully shot and there's a lot of heart.

Am I the only one with butterflies? (2018) Korea. A girl blogs about falling in love with the manager at her new job. I like part ii better than part one but it's just cute and the pining is very similar to het kdramas.

Anonymous high school girl (2022) Korea. A low stakes love triangle. Good chemistry, low budget, awful kisses.

The Beauty of the Law (2023) China- If you're not familar with chinese gls, I think it's certainly something to get used to. This is like in the top 1% of the category. It's an ad for Adolph Shampoo and i'm going to let you know that they're going to appear often on this list because they make excellent gls. It's a historical about a female unlicensed lawyer trying to help a woman escape her abusive marriage. Makes great points about gender imbalances and women's historical lack of legal rights in China. (f you like this one, Sheng Wei, one of the actresses stars in 50%+ of all chinese gls, check her out)

Beguine (2018) Thailand - It's if the school dancing scene in My School President was a 30 minute sequence with two girls. No plot but adorable.

Cat in the eastern palace (2020) China - Watch this just to have the surreal experience of seeing like 3 whole cdrama arcs which normally take 20ish eps executed in a 7 minute timeframe. Also because it stars laoji who's in the other 50% of chinese gls. As for plot, it's about a cat spirit and a girl pretending to be the crown prince.

Clasper (2021) Thailand - And they were roommates! I liked the production, the dialogue and the acting was pretty decent.

Couple of Mirrors*** (2021) China- Wait to watch this because it will ruin you for everything else. This is like typical thai bl length, like 12 45~min episodes. It's a historical mystery about a wealthy woman who finds out about her husband's affair with her bff and the photographer she enlists to help her. If you watch one thing out of China, watch this.

Dear My Girlfriend (2021) Korea - A group project ft love triangle. It´s pretty classic. A girl starts dating someone who likes her only to realize she might instead be in love with her best friend. The editing is cute. It's a touch angsty as love triangles are and pretty well done.

Dear Uranus (2021) Taiwan. Another school love triangle. Does feature an adorkable female character, you know a bit awkward, a bit cutesy, if you hate this archetype, ignore this one. Personally I think the chemistry for the lead couple was lacking (genuinely shocking considering taiwan tends to be great at this) but both the love interests are hot and I am not immune to hot women

The Demonic lord and the virtuous cultivator (2021) China - Avoid this if you don't like toxic yuri. I personally love it so this is 10/10 for me. Orphan gets taken in by a benevolent benefactor who turns out to be her parents' killer and eventually....you know what go watch it.

Encore Martha (2021) Taiwan. One of the few gls about older women. A tomboy reunites with her first love. This one's only available on gagaoolala so you'll either need a subscription or sometimes they promote it for free. If you can find it though, it's worth a watch.

Family Plan (2016) Korea. This is a bit of an odd one to describe. The first half is two high school girls who are dating. And then the second half is their relationship as adults where they marry guys and use it to have a kid that they raise as theirs. I liked how this examined how two gay people would go about their relationship in in a world where they can't freely be with each other.

Favorite Girl (2022) Thailand. Very standard plot about a girl suffering from a breakup and her roommate but something about it stuck out to me.

Five steps to accept farewell (2016) Korea. Warning for unhappy ending. This is all pure angst, a 9 minute snapshot into a breakup. I like how it's done and the messiness of the situation.

Fragrance of the first flower (2021) Taiwan. A beautifully shot, beautifully acted, slightly too short show about two ex-lovers reuniting ft. all the angst about living in a homophobic society. It stayed in my head for weeks after I first watched it.

Girls Blood** (2014) Japan. A movie about 4 "girls" in an underground fight club. warnings for rape, trauma, domestic assault. One of the main characters is a trans man. There are sex scenes. It's very queer and I highly recommend.

Girls Love** (2016) China. Pre-censorship China had some very wonderful queer work and one of them was this movie It's about a girl who falls in love with her hot butch roommate ft all the tropes AND we get to see them function in a relationship instead of the movie ending when they get together. Warning for both characters being forcibly outed at the end. (nothing bad really happens to them after though). Also do NOT watch the sequel. If you go to mdl, everyone else will also tell you not to watch the sequel and I foolishly did not listen to those people because I liked these girls so much and I suffered for my mistake.

The Girls on Rela (2016) China. It's an anthology of short, I wouldn't say stories, more like moments, sponsored by a lesbian dating app. Each one's really short but the acting and scripts are all pretty good.

The Girls on Rela Season 2** (2016) China. This is sponsored by the same company but it's a totally different format. It's one long show about two girls cohabiting. Pretty well executed if a bit slow.

Graduation, Present + Propose (2021) Korea. A short about a high school girl giving a graduation present to her crush. What it does it does well. It's pretty.

The Handmaiden (2016) Korea. Historical set movie about a conman and thief girl who plot to steal a heiress’s fortune. I make it sound boring but that's only because it's a pretty popular movie and everything to be said about it has already been said.

Happy to have you here (2021) Thailand. Two friends have a sleepover and figure out their feelings. This is definitely in the top 20% for this trope, even though they rushed just a tad into the kiss.

Hello, spring is coming (2019) Korea. I'll let you read the synopsis for this one. What you need to know is that it's pretty, well acted, has good chemistry and is as brightly colored as a lollipop. It's a bit disorienting, parts of it doesn't make a lot of sense but it's a fun time.

I broke up because of you (2023) Korea- A bartender and their client catches feelings for each other. The dynamic is nice, the kiss less so but it can be forgiven.

I’m her weapon (2022) China- It's kinky, it's angsty, it's 3 minutes long and still fits in a separation arc. I would pay money for an extended version.

Kanojo no Kuchidzuke Kansensuru Libido (2022) Japan - two girls fall in love in a hospital. I like the tone of this one.

The L Bang** (2015) China- Another Rela production. It's a 4 episode comedy about a bunch of lesbians + (1) gay man who live in the same apartment complex. It's got queer friendship, queer acceptance and queer love. It's just wonderful. It feels like 2000s American sitcoms but queer and Chinese.

Led Astray by Love (2022) China- Fairly long for a cgl. A girl gets transported to a manhwa and falls in love with the ruler. Sunshine/grumpy. This baby is 52 minutes long and covers like the same amount of plot as word of honor does in 30 something episodes.

Legend of Yunze (2021) China - A human and a half demon vanquish demons from a village. It has a second season and a special that I haven't watched yet.

The Lost World** [Xia Ye Zhi Dao Feng De Tian] (2023) China - After watching as much cgl as I have, I was shocked to see Laoji in a modern piece. This is a college setting running-into-a-childhood-friend trope. The pacing and chemistry are both pretty good. It's one of my favorites from her.

Love in the Tinder Age** (2019) Korea- A black comedy about a bullied lesbian's failed suicide attempt ft psychics, ghosts and a teacher/student relationship. It's not really a gl because the main character doesn't get a romance BUT it's really fun so you should watch it anyway.

Love of Secret** (2022) Thailand- More of a slice of life than a love story but it's cute and fluffy and the main character very much is in a relationship. The actual plot is about a med student who's hiding both her relationship with her best friend and her dreams to be an idol. I found it positively charming.

Lover’s Concerto** (2002) Korea- Calling this a gl is a stretch. It's more just queer? The girls were most likely in love but they don't end up together and the movie itself doesn't really have a happy ending. I did find it beautiful though.

Mayfly angel (2024) Korea- Classic discovers-feelings-for-bestie-after-a-breakup plot. Warning that this is angsty and they don't end up together. But I found it realistic and I liked that they felt like two real people. Take that how you will.

Miss shen and the woman warlord (2023) China- a woman cross-dresses as another young woman's fiance and they fall in love. Despite how i describe it, there's a decent amount of plot and some political commentary.

More or less than 75 celsius (2019) Korea- A tea master and her supervisor fall in love. It's sparse and short but cute.

My Dear (2021) Thailand. A drunk girl confesses to her friend and luckily for her, it's mutual. It's 5 minutes long but it uses its time well and the acting is nice. It feels a bit like gmmtv's confessions. If you like it, the production company ShakeShoulder makes TONS of gl shorts and i'd recommend checking them out.

No distance left to run  (2022) Hong Kong. a 15 minute short film about how fame causes issues in a pop star's relationship. Unhappy ending. The song's a bop though and it's well done.

Nü er hong** (2023) China. I forgot to mention but this one, the legend of yunze and the lost world are all produced by the same studio. They do a lot of fairly long chinese gls. The story is about these two beings from an alien world who crash land on earth and are hunted. One is a healer and the other is a killer, they're in love, the killer goes insane so her lover kills her. Unbeknownst to them, they're immortal so the killer wakes up with no memories 200 years later. The pacing is better than some of their earlier stuff but it's not quite perfect here yet. It is one of my favorites from the studio though and it ends happily.

Our relationship ended before it began (2022) Korea. A barista falls in love with her manager at a coffee shop ft gender roles, miscommunication and the classic "cool one picks on the nice one to show affection" trope.

Pyramid Game** (2024) Korea. This is more gl adjacent like Devil Judge and Beyond Evil. There is a secondary gl couple that's more explicitly canon though. If you've watched other kdramas about school bullying, this is pretty similar except it's an all-girls school and everyone is so gay. It's got so much heart and is one of my favorite shows of the year.

Really, Lily? (2019) Korea. A 6 minute short about two girls who visit a cafe and beats up two men who were making homophobic remarks about them. It's surprisingly comedic and the coloring is bright to match. Features a pretty decent kiss. Watching it, I wished it was longer but what's there is still good.

Secret of us (2024) Thailand. The only longform thai gl that i've liked enough to finish. It's about an idol who comes back to win over her doctor ex. It falters from ep 6 onwards but until then, the show is really good at showing the emotional thought processes of the characters and the way they construct the story is compelling, even though I don't even like second chance romances.

Shackles (2023) China. Another one from the Chinese shampoo ad. The pairing itself is not my favorite but it's so cool that this is basically a warning against nuclear pollution AND features chinese mythology that's used in the brand's marketing. Like a 3 in 1. It's so interesting.

She Makes My heart flutter (2022) Korea. Baby lesbian finds out her aunt runs a lesbian bar and starts working there. It's so goddamn cute but it has this weird relationship with homophobia where everyone in the show is apparently 100% ok with queerness but a lot of the aunt's actions is so driven by her being a queer person in an unaccepting society. A bit like how Moonlight Chicken deals with Jin and Li Ming's different attitudes towards being queer except they don't dwell on why the aunt is the way she is or what she's been through. Anyways, it's worth a watch.

Sleep with me (2022) Philippines. A 6 episode series about two girls who are disabled in different ways fall in love. One of them can only sleep during the day and the other is in a wheelchair and the show does a pretty decent job at showing how these disabilities affect their lives and their relationship

Soshite, Yuriko wa Hitori ni Natta** (2020) Japan. If you follow me, you may have seen me talk about this show earlier this year because I found it and promptly fell in love. It's not quite gl but Mizuki's actions are all driven by the fact that she's in love with Yuriko. It's queerer than you would expect, less queer than you might want. It's a supernatural-adjacent school horror about a girl who's new school has a weird thing where every year, a girl named Yuriko becomes "Yuriko sama" and rules the school while everyone else in that year with the same name mysteriously dies. Yuriko's best friend Mizuki plots to make the sweet innocent Yuriko the newest Yuriko-sama to save her life. It's weird, there's plot holes everywhere by the end, it definitely vilifies it's gays and the ending is weak but it's such a compelling watch.

Stand-in love (2023) Philippines. 2 best friends have a ‘stand in’ relationship where the straight one helps the lesbian one learn how to court someone but they end up falling in love with each other. Like 20 min long and I love it.

Ti Shen** [The substitute] (2017) Taiwan. The mdl synopsis can describe the plot better than I can but it's a romance between an idol and a normal girl that's split into two parts. The first half is about them meeting in high school, the second is when they reunite later on a movie set where one of them is the other's stunt double. I think the first part could've been a bit longer but it's a great movie.

Transit Girls (2015) Japan. Stepsisters. Happy ending though and it's fairly long. I liked this mostly because I like Japan's moody stuff. I also liked how they handled the male love interest.

Truth or Dare (2022) Korea. A 10 minute short about two girls who like each other playing truth or dare. It does a great job at building tension and revealing things without saying it.

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna** (2022) Japan. A woman who loves to cook comes to an arrangement with her neighbor who loves to eat. Japan does food-centered dramas better than everyone else and this is no exception. The romance itself is slow and you watch how their dynamic changes through this and the season two that came out this year.

The Twelve flower gods: Camelia (2020) China. A xianxia romance about a girl falling in love with a flower but it's a minute twenty so I promise you're not watching for the plot. You're watching to witness the ridiculous amount of innuendos that they manage to fit in under two minutes.

Twin souls of destiny (2023) China. Xianxia romance between two elves, one who is made from the memories of the other's past life. I want someone else to watch this so we can discuss whether or not this is selfcest. The color combination is interesting because I very rarely see lovers in red and purple. The time travel is confusing but it's a good time and laoji is in it.

Until Rainbow Dawn** (2018) Japan. Movie about two deaf girls falling in love ft homophobic parents. The director is a deaf lesbian herself so the movie does a wonderful job in how it depicts deafness and their relationship. It's really well done

When the light pours (2022) Korea. A girl's boyfriend wants her to sing him a song so she enrolls in guitar lessons and ends up falling in love with her teacher. The girls don't get together and I really wish they had! So if you watch this, don't watch the ending and pretend that they did end up together.

[sourszt]

𝟏:𝟏𝟗 𝐚𝐦 | 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 — jack delroy x fem!reader

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 — nsfw, p in v sex, reader helps jack ‘relax’, slight coercion/convincing, unprotected sex, on a counter/table ? LMAO, rough sex lowk, cant think of any other tags, except its not proofread!

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 — this takes place right before the halloween special lol, def might be ooc jack but idgaf!! this took me two days to write i lowkey forgot how to write smut ?? discovered i was a lesbian and forgot how het sex worked my bad yall! anyways enjoy cuz i have yet to see a fic about this man.

the studio was buzzing with excitement when you arrived. crew members blew by you from every direction, barking orders and carrying pieces of halloween decorations that would be strewn around the night owls’ set within the next hour. tonight was the halloween special that was expected to bring jack’s show to the top, and he’d said he wanted you there to see it.

you’d only been there a couple of times — jack advising against you visiting him too often in case people started suspecting things about your relationship.

it was his first since madeleine had passed a year ago, and he wasn’t quite ready to go public yet. especially if it meant it would hurt any chances of the show not beating johnny carson’s tonight show.

afterwards would be your time, he promised you.

you hugged your coat closer to your body as you tried to navigate the set yourself, skimming over the panels beside every door until a familiar face came into view. you sighed, instinctively grinning when you spotted leo fiske, the show’s producer.

his stress-lined face shifted the moment he saw you, greeting you with a kiss on the cheek and a brief hug. “how are ya, sweetheart?”

behind his sunglasses, he looked you up and down and hummed softly. you flashed him a tight grin and pulled your coat shut. he was charming, sure, but sometimes he was more direct than you liked. something told you that he knew about you and jack, and probably threatened the latter with it, but if he did he hid it well.

“i’m alright,” you kept the atmosphere light with a laugh, “where’s jack?”

the mention of his name made the man roll his eyes and scoff. “jackass has been locked up in his dressing room for the past half hour.” you pouted, realizing how much pressure he must be feeling. “end of the hallway to the right. i’ll slide you a fifty if you can untwist his panties, alright?” leo joked, gently patting your shoulder before brushing past you. you watched him go for a second, watching him beckon a female crew member over for something.

you hurried down the hallway to the door leo had directed you to, relieved when you saw jack’s name next to the door. knocking gently, you waited for him to call you in. “jack?” you called out when he didn’t reply.

boldly, you cracked open the door and stuck your head inside, finding jack sitting at his makeup vanity while an artist stood poised at his side, patting powder onto his forehead.

she startled when she heard your entrance, and flashed you a curt smile before returning to jack. he noticed you only when the woman had paused for too long and gestured you inside.

“give us a moment, will you?” he murmured to the makeup artist, who nodded and left the room.

you waited until the door was shut and her footsteps had gone quiet before sliding your arms around jack’s shoulders from behind. “how’re things going?” you asked with a coy grin, pecking him on the cheek.

he groaned when he saw a faint mark from your lipstick and realized he’d have to get another touch up later. “as great as they could be.” he replied rather bitterly, making your smile falter slightly. you gave him a curious look in the mirror, and that was his breaking point. his head lulled into his palm, paying no mind to how his fingers ruffled his gelled hair. “i swear to god, fiske thinks i can’t fuckin’ do it. he doesn’t think i can pull it off tonight.”

you hovered beside him for a second, unsure of how to console him. “what do you mean? tonight’s been all the talk for a week now, it’s gonna do great, baby.” you tried to reassure him, gently shaking him by his shoulders in his seat.

this seemed to ease his nerves just a little and he sighed, sliding a hand up to grab your hand. he found your eyes in the mirror and smiled for the first time that night, then looked down at your outfit.

you’d picked his favorite red dress, pairing it with the little devil-horn headband tucked away in your purse. it was shorter than you liked it to be, often having to tug the glittery fabric back down the curve of your hips, but jack loved when you wore it. tonight was a special occasion, so you figured he’d appreciate it.

“i just don’t know what i’m gonna do. what if he’s right?” jack continued to ramble. “you know, he keeps tellin’ me christou’s gig isn’t gonna gain enough traction to get us up. gus was tellin’ me that he’s called an act in last minute and he hasn’t run it by me yet — i swear to god, if it’s that jackass carmichael—” he huffed and stopped when he realized he was getting too worked up.

he hadn’t realized you had peeled yourself off of him and was tossing your coat onto the couch beside him. “hand me a smoke, won’t ya sweetheart?” he pointed loosely to your purse, knowing you were carrying some.

you two smoked the same brand, so he often stole yours. you didn’t mind.

you handed him a cigarette and he leaned in for a light. he sunk back into his chair as he blew out a puff of smoke, the tension steadily chipping away.

“baby, you need to relax, alright?” you cooed softly, stealing a quick drag of his cigarette. “you’re gonna do great. you always do.” your lithe fingers gently rubbed at his shoulders, smiling as his eyes fluttered shut and he melted under your hands.

“c’mere.” he grabbed your wrist and tugged you around his chair, steadying you with his hands on your hips before him. his eyes raked down your body and he sucked in a sharp breath. “relax, huh?” jack’s voice was low now, deeper. it made your breath hitch in your throat.

“jack, i…” your eyes flickered over to the unlocked door and you took a step back. your ass bumped into the edge of his vanity. a startled cry escaped you. “you’re on soon.” you whispered with an uneasy grin. although, he wasn’t live for another hour or so.

as much as your stomach fluttered at the look in his eyes, you feared the embarrassment if someone were to walk in on you two. especially if you weren’t public yet.

“c’mon, sweetheart,” jack groaned, chasing you out of his seat. his hands caged you in against the vanity, one reaching out to smash his cigarette out into the ashtray beside you, and his body pushed against yours. he practically forced you on top of the counter, a few bottles and trinkets toppling over in your little scramble. jack took the chance to nudge his knee in between your legs, humming with satisfaction at the small whine you tried and failed to keep inside.

you ducked your head shyly, but he moved with you, coaxing you into looking up. when he had you, he could tell there was no going back. your lips parted as you glanced down at his.

“that’s it.” he whispered with a gentle smirk before he kissed you. you sighed into it, feeling his urgency as his tongue slipped past your teeth. your fingers wrapped tightly around his biceps, your legs threatening to give out underneath you.

they instinctively parted when you felt the tip of jack’s finger trail up the top of your thigh. your skin dimpled with goosebumps and you shivered. he had such a feathery touch until he reached the hem of your dress, stealing a quick glance at how it bunched up at the fat of your hips and revealed your red panties.

then his hand dipped in between your thighs, his fingers prodding at your clothed cunt. you whined, a little too loudly, and jack flashed you a warning look.

“can you be quiet for me, sweetheart?” he whispered. you hardly had the mind to nod, let alone comprehend what he was saying. your mind was fucking spinning trying to get a grip, and it didn’t help that jack’s middle finger was lazily circling your clit over your panties. “what’s that?” he taunted, chin lowering with expectancy.

“mhm, yes, yes i can,” you eagerly nodded, words stringing together in a barely coherent murmur.

“good girl.” jack groaned. he slipped his hand into the waistband of your panties, a smirk dancing on his lips when he felt how wet you were. “you wanted this, huh?”

you hadn’t entirely realized that he was talking to you, too busy working your hips against his heavy fingers. your body felt like it was on fire. you desperately pleaded for him to hurry up, for both of your sakes.

he looked down at your clumsy fingers as they tried to unbuckle his belt, but it was like it was welded around his waist. frenzied whimpers filled the room until jack finally helped you, almost taking pity on your incoherency. while he worked at the zipper on his trousers, you quickly slid your panties down your hips and around at least one foot. the thin lace dangled from the toe of your heel when jack captured you in another fervent kiss.

you feel the tip of his cock catch just below your clit and your breath caught in your throat. one of his hands slid to the small of your back, pulling you to the very edge of the counter. your legs widened for him, waiting.

he granted you relief, easing himself into your tight cunt. he groaned into your neck, stilling so he didn’t cum on the spot. “god, you’re so fuckin’ tight.” his voice shook.

he went until his hips were flush with yours, watching how your face contorted with pure ecstasy. your lips parted in a high cry and your eyes squeezed shut, and your head lulled back. jack stole the opportunity to latch onto your neck, adorning your skin with kisses and licks. you pulled him closer with your arms around his neck.

“shit, jack,” your fingers raked through his hair, neither of you caring about how pissed hair and makeup were going to be with him. long, dark strands fell over his forehead and tickled your skin. “jack.”

he loved how his name sounded in your mouth. how he always managed to get you like this, though for some reason it was quicker than usual that your face flushed and your eyelids drooped with arousal. it stirs something deep in his stomach and he slams into you, setting an unrelenting pace. he didn’t care that it rocked the vanity mirror back into the wall with a hollow thud.

your thighs hug his waist and your ankles meet behind him, silently pleading for more. “greedy little girl, aren’t you?” he whispers with half a grin. he draws a strained cry from you with each deep thrust, your cunt clenching in fluttering pulses around him.

“fuck,” he hissed, knowing he wasn’t going to last much longer. he knows you wouldn’t either. your cries were growing louder and louder and more frequent. the mirror kept tapping against the wall and things kept rolling off of the counter and onto the floor. tears gathered in your eyes, painting your eyelashes each time your eyes squeezed shut. though each time you did, jack would remind you to look at him. he gently shushed you at first, then used his mouth when you weren’t listening.

your back arched into his chest as you came with a cry of his name, jack murmuring into your ear, “good girl, that’s it.” your body seemed to melt in his arms, going near slack as you came down from the high he was fucking you through.

it was only a few more thrusts until he came, barely managing to pull out before painting the insides of your thighs. he knew you would be pissed that it got on your dress once you realized, but he didn’t care.

after a minute of blissful silence, jack checked his watch. “shit, fiske’s probably lookin’ for me.” he rolled his eyes as he buckled his belt, praying to god that his beige pants were relatively stain-free.

if push came to shove, he’d tell him that he spilled his drink in his lap. he gave you room to get to your feet, watching with quiet pride as your knees wobbled pretty noticeably.

you tugged your dress down your hips, absently searching for a tissue box. a smile crossed your lips when you looked up and you lifted yourself onto your tip-toes to press a kiss to his lips.

“knock ‘em dead, baby.”

lowkey surrounded this smut based on the “secret relationship” trope and the last line. lowkey ass and rushed but enjoy!

[yingdu-lover]

Right now, I can't cite those sources, I'll paste the link when I find them.

Rambling time!

Omg, I have always thought about this! Cheng Xiaoshi is

1. Tall, tanned and handsome (fork in the kitchen, surprise!)

2. Talented singer, so much so that Lu Guang closes his eyes and then sincerely compliments with a solemn expression. (ref - ep 8, season 1)

3. Skilled basketball player, athelete

4. Also skilled in martial arts

and something, SOMETHING even I misinterpreted very much, and this is coming from Li Haoling himself,

5. Cheng Xiaoshi is also academically gifted. Lu Guang and his first meeting was in high school and after qualifying university entrance examination, they got into the same tier university. Haoling describes Cheng Xiaoshi as someone who will perform badly in class, getting 60 or something in class tests and will pull an all nighter before exams and score 90 or above.

So the kind of 'good for nothing' image of Cheng Xiaoshi (ik not all but there are people) is not true. He is truly a multi-talented guy with a charming and cheerful personality (I mean come on his mbti is ESFP).

About his popularity and having friends...

I have always headcanoned that Cheng Xiaoshi chose Lu Guang one day and just never let him go. His choice to spend time with Lu Guang is an active choice and not out of his status of being 'friendless'. I have no one so I'll hang out with lu guang because he only tolerates me/gives me 'patta'. Nope.

The host asks Haoling why Qiao Ling said that before Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi didn't have any friends...and Haoling replies with,

"There is a difference between ordinary friends and true friends, Qiao Ling is referring to the latter. The kind of friend you would open your heart to, embrace with your body and heart, show your most vulnerable core..."

So Lu Guang is that to Cheng Xiaoshi.

I mean, yes, people have different interpretations but I have always been very uncomfortable with that discourse which undermines the intimate bond Shiguang share, it's very underwhelming.

It's both psychological and physical. Season 1 is full of these moments. For Lu Guang, I can say he is the kind of person who just doesn't care about people (I think people might misinterpret it. let me explain. I am not implying he is a sociopath, he is responsible, he manages a lot of things and he considers a given situation with due seriousness BUT he is never actively trying to discuss his extremely personal judgement with anyone EXCEPT your name is Cheng Xiaoshi. He is rational, aloof, respectful towards others as it is a general decorum he follows; all of these have an avalanche breakdown while interacting with Cheng Xiaoshi. I can tell you ( as a fellow introvert scorpio who almost shares his mbti, he judges, I prospect) Lu Guang will probably never curse anyone who is not Cheng Xiaoshi. Decorum and etiquette gives away when he is with him. He does not care about what kind of impression others get of him, but his otherwise solemn demeanour just deliciously fails- he gets angry, frustrated, extremely angry, he (sharply) mocks, he calls him names because he can. Cheng Xiaoshi can install all those feelings in him which he never really publicly displays. Throughout season 1, we often forget that we witness extremely intimate and private Shiguang moments. The stories of the clients progress as it leaves room for Shiguang to interact. The way Lu Guang straight up yells at Cheng Xiaoshi sometimes when he doesn't seem to understand something is so relatable lol. There are fools who allude to that chibi episode where Cheng Xiaoshi asks Lu Guang with hopeful™ eyes " do you think I am handsome?" and Lu Guang goes like "😨🤢🤮" and try to argue that Lu Guang is het 😭 man. Get some IQ. Lmao, Shiguang bicker like an old married couple, and tbh I would react similarly if I had a partner like that.), he cares about Cheng Xiaoshi's morals and perceptions. He seems to be very possessive of Cheng Xiaoshi but Cheng Xiaoshi being Lu Guang's Cheng Xiaoshi does not mind it.

I can't fucking forget that scene when inspector Xiao Li approached Cheng Xiaoshi for Emma's case and Lu Guang just grabbed his wrist and straight up said to the police inspector with all seriousness,

"Before talking to him, you have to talk to me."

I mean- bro-

Cheng Xiaoshi is an adult goddamnit. Lu Guang has no interest in negotiating or discussing the case, and no that is NOT the behaviour of a business partner/manager.

Yingdu episode 1 : Normal friends do not move into your house as an act of apologising. Lu Guang went - I was the reason you were injured, I apologise, I will stay with you (as compensation?). And the conversation escalated to the point where he said "I'll never leave."

heh?

And in ep 8, season 1, he is telling Cheng Xiaoshi to sleep on the couch 😭 bitch it is his house.

(ok, while writing I just suddenly teared up thinking that Lu Guang's Cheng Xiaoshi died. We will never see their original interaction, the Cheng Xiaoshi Lu Guang probably imagined his future with...there was a violent separation and everything stopped altogether. This Cheng Xiaoshi-ok ok it's too painful to think rn I can't )

um, I might have had a shiguang meltdown and I can't continue this rn. will edit later

hi, I came back

so,

about lu guang, we get to see 50 shades of lu guang only because cheng xiaoshi is there.

on the other hand, cheng xiaoshi...

I can't stop thinking about the earthquake episode. Cheng Xiaoshi slapped lu guang. Then hugged him while crying. Then lu guang calls him 'silly melon'. Can you fathom this level of emotional intimacy with someone? what level of intimacy would you need to achieve to let the very person hold you gently and intimately and call you by sweet nicknames who offended you in the first place? it's huge. Cheng Xiaoshi's trust in lu guang is beyond comprehension and no it's not just portrayed in life and death situations, rather shown in vignettes of everyday suffering.

[angelmachines]

teru & socialization

i've posted about this before but something ive been thinking about a LOT is mp100's themes of loneliness (and eventual connections). i think this is an aspect of teru's character (in particular) that gets left out because it's not as explicit but i've been wanting to do a deep dive on it for a while and i finally sat down to do it. just a warning, this post is gonna be LONG.

these two panels are from chapter 16 of the manga (which i'm using for my evidence because i. dont want to scrub through the anime LOL). initial sentiment: teru uses his powers to cheat having friends/a good social life and wouldn't have that if he tried earnestly. this is a fair interpretation of the scene. with what we know, at this point of time (as in within the teru-mob fight) teru would not be able to connect with other people earnestly, due to his mindset. which i think is a fair interpretation, HOWEVER:

(from chapter 17 ^^) the first panel shows teru's expression to be strained and the second is visibly unhappy. this puts the first set of panels into a different context, that maybe underneath all of this, teru doesn't WANT any of this life that he's built. keep in mind that i'm analyzing this with teru's possible autistic tendencies in mind & you dont have to believe he's autistic, im not your dad, but i do find this a pretty meaningful indication of masking if he were

(note: yes, the strain can definitely be read as comp-het, and i would agree but that's not relevant so go read this post on that instead)

even if the rest of these panels show teru content with his life, i think these expressions are pretty vital to how we read his life especially because we know so little of it. think about it, if you were a kid desperate for affection because you couldn't get it anywhere else, especially not in a way that would come off as "mature" or "unaffected", wouldn't you also look for validation in your popularity? even if it aligned you with people who you consider fundamentally different to you? my point here is that teru can't not stand out-- it's in his nature-- and we are shown how he tries to blend in & receive attention in the only way possible to him; which is to say that he molds himself into something that is palatable, likeable, and superior to other people. if he's nothing, like mob, he has spent his entire life covering up for it. if he fails socially, like mob, he has to be good at everything (even if he cheats to do so) so that everyone else can look past it.

(side note for my teru angst enjoyers: this is a panel of his mom. the mom who he hasn't seen in years. doesn't it make sense that, if he hasn't heard his mom say he's proud of him for literal years, that he would overachieve in response? not related to the autism thing i just have the teru bug. also don't be misogynistic in my notes both his parents suck we just get a singular mention of his mom)

so if teru couldn't meaningfully have friends before mob, that could very easily be because of his past mindset, right?

...except, we don't.. really... see him make other friends afterwards.

but, the awakening lab, right?

(ok i lied to you sorry there is one anime screenshot and thats because it stood out to me while i rewatched it earlier this month. sorry.) id like to bring attention to this screenshot during the cultural festival because the awakening lab can definitely be seen as a direct contradiction of this and i'd like to point out a couple things:

1) in this scene the shiratori brothers are in another room 2) them and the other three are friends with ritsu (or at least close enough acquaintances to want to see him).

considering this is one of the only times they appear together for Fun i am more inclined to believe this is an encounter where they went together because they all would've gone separately anyway. this isn't to discount the possible bond that these characters might have, but thats the thing. we... aren't really shown that they're friends and enjoy spending time together outside of this screenshot, where two out of six of the members are not even present. not to mention that teru is still placing himself in a role separate from his peers. despite stripping the superiority away, teru is still the awakening lab's mentor, not friend. teru still views himself as fundamentally different in a context where his psychic powers don't make him that way.

...except with mob. i bring this placement of power up because where he is the awakening lab's mentor, teru declares mob to be his rival, or, in other words, teru is just like him. he is accepting that mob and him are the same. (and if we view mob from an autistic lens... so on and so forth)

as if to hammer in that point even further-- in the summer vacation omake, teru explicitly states that "summer break is just a super long, super boring stretch of alone time." i'm not sure of the timeline here, but guessing from the hair, we're at least post season 1. which gives us explicit confirmation here that teru is spending the break alone despite his relationship to the awakening lab. his connection to mob is a lifeline here because mob is one of the only people who can intuitively understand teru's isolation without judgment

(also, on that point of teru's autistic tendencies: teru does and says a LOT of things that would raise other peoples eyebrows and doesn't seem to notice.

here we get teru actively admitting to his home life, right in front of reigen, WHO COULD CALL CHILD SERVICES ON HIM? this genuinely made me rethink this character entirely. teru's filter is... minimal. he isn't constantly volunteering information and generally minds his own business, but if you ask? Well.

teru is a social person, but to say he is proficient in understanding social situations seems... wrong. teru views his loneliness as boring because, despite being fairly open, does not actually allow himself to think about his own feelings and how they affect him. this loneliness is boring because he doesn't have enough of a reference to realize its not

if we are taking pre-mob teru to be a version of himself who is masking, or at the very least someone who is faking a lot of stuff in a less autistic sense, the fight with mob changes teru to the point where he no longer hides himself. in the same way that mob was able to shake teru's fragile superiority complex i think the change in appearance marks the end of the self teru had built up. from this point on we see him become a lot more... Him. his appearance and his fashion choices are, presumably, completely normal to him and we get no indication that he believes otherwise despite the reactions it gets-- which is... well, i wouldn't be writing this post if i thought it was one of his most neurotypical traits.

in fact, he seems... pretty oblivious to what other people think of him. which is an interesting distinction to make considering the intelligence we Know he possesses (which is not to say that you are unintelligent if you don't pick up on social cues, just that its common for media to depict it that way.) these traits are made pointedly, even if unintentionally, separate, ESPECIALLY when you note the amount of characters who Do ruminate on or stare at teru's appearance.

some examples. i don't even think this is all of it-- case in point.)

[ayy-ayycaptaiin]

Truly funny how the only way dickbabs shippers could ever “win” is by having the bat writers trying to remove and retcon how much Dick loved Kory, and even then the ship is still garbage compared with dickkory. Such a hollow and embarassing “win” lol.

Trying hard to be objective here. While i dislike DickBabs with all my being, i must disagree that they're garbage. They're far from it. I truly believe they could still be a good ship without shaming and retconning characters left and right. The keyword here being could. Dick and Babs themselves aren't safe from the retcons either, lol.

I've read DickBabs' famous runs. Nightwing 1996, BoP 1999 (i love this BoP era btw), Nightwing/Oracle Convergence, Taylor's NW run, etc. They have cute banters, supportive relationship, deep connections with each other, and love that transcended disability. Those are good qualities to have in a ship, no? but it's just not enough for them. Writers just had to retcon Dick and Kory's romantic past (and other characters too, but that's for another post). What got me pissed off too was how they had to put down other women (Kory, Helena, Shawn Tsang, and Bea) to uplift DickBabs. Even their so called best writers like Simone, Dixon, and Taylor had to bring up (and down) Kory to make their ship look good. Do debate me on this, but has there ever any occurence where DickKory in their relationship had to put down beloved characters in order to make their love work? 😭

Even Batman himself wasn't safe from the retcon, too. Remember the infamous alien xenophobic remark he made for Kory? When that very man genuinely supported Dick's relationship with her in NTT run? Or that he has a best friend called SUPERMAN?? Y'know, the friendship dynamic that has been one of the biggest parts of DC since the dawn of time? Yeah the story got retconned and the entire thing is no longer canon, but hey i'm not surprised, it's always about retcons with DickBabs.

Their shippers like to debate that writers change and characters change with the flow of time. Retcons are normal within the comic medium, yes. But, there are good retcons and bad retcons.

They ALWAYS like to reference PeterGwen and PeterMJ in their defense. Since y'know, Gwen was retconned, she was never supposed to die and MJ was never meant to be Peter's love interest originally, cmiiw. But here's the thing, despite originally not planned to be together, PeterMJ is widely beloved by the global population because their story and relationship work naturally and are written better. Comic readers and general public LOVE THEM. Yes there are retcons for PeterMJ, but PeterMJ and DickBabs are never and will never be apple to apple in this discussion. Their impacts are not the same and will never be 😭

Don't even get me going with their recurring themes of Dick's "it's you, it was always you" and "all the best parts of my life, you were there". Those tropes aree soooo disrespectful towards his past with Kory. As if during his time with Kory, he loved Barbara more than his time with her. Newsflash, Kory and Dick had significant impacts towards each other. Do they forget that Kory was one of the reasons why Nightwing even exist? Do they forget how he helped Kory navigate het life on earth, or how when Kory helped Dick to avoid being Batman 2.0 in his development? (No hate towards Bruce and Babs, i love them, i truly do)

Dick and Babs only work when they grew from their trauma and past in Nightwing and Oracle mantle. The whole Robin Batgirl childhood mutual crush is harmful towards their respective characters AND other characters. They're the best as Nightwing and Oracle. Never before that time.

If i have to be honest, i would ship DickBabs had only their mutual romance was developed prior to DickKory. I think it's a good ship with revolutionary tropes in disabled character. But sadly, their rival ship is DickKory—a globally beloved couple originating from a comic book run that was SO popular and iconic, that it rivaled X-Men back in the day and saved DC from bankruptcy ❤️

This is just my personal take. I understand that people can interpret comic books, especially ones that have existed for decades very differently. People are very welcome to correct me if i wrote any misconceptions or mistakes in my post. I'm always open to discussion 🥰

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch (SOTUS) 3/5

I'm making my way through the blacklisted shows I was supposed to watch during Pride. I already watched Love in the Air but paused The Untamed so I could deal with my sworn enemy, SOTUS. I'm watching it in five parts (first, second), so now I'm starting on episode seven and have decided 1) Kongpob x M are the perfect ghost ship, 2) this show feels much older than 2016 due to the language and style, and 3) this is a story of a masochistic dom looking for a sado sub.

Since I can't remember anything about this show, I'm actually excited to see all the ways Kong seeks out punishment warmth from P'Oon in the second half of this series.

Prem and Wad aren't going to be a couple, are they? I want them to be because Prem going instantly soft after they fought another faculty together and now being worried about Wad's wounds is the whole purpose for men to fight! Punch each other, then kiss the bruises!

I have no Photoshop skills, so I would never criticize someone else's work, but there are times when I see that this show was made with a budget consisting of two pennies rubbed together, and this is one of those moments because who added those people into the scene?! And why are they layered ON TOP of each other?!

For the people who hated Tae and Mee in The Trainee and the sports day episode in The On1y One, those people would be pissed watching episode seven of SOTUS because it's focused on the hets, capturing the flag, and nothing else. Someone could've at least passed out on that field, so this could be entertaining for me and the juniors, damn.

The man who played Deer has only acted in one other show, and I'm mad about it. The fact that a senior has to be on that field to answer these ridiculous questions from the freshmen is nonsense, but at least I get to see this man with his gorgeous hair.

Arthit says everything to Kong in the gayest way possible in front of all his homies and God without any sense of irony.

And Kong matches that energy every damn time! I'm already sick of them.

Forming a circle around Arthit to say thanks is kinda creepy to me, which is why it makes perfect sense that this was Kong's idea since these two continue to declare their love for each other indirectly while making everyone within two miles witness.

But this moment reminded me of Lisa's "Rockstar" music video, so Thailand stays consistent.

Kong is begging to be punished! Asking Arthit if anyone else knows he cries and likes pink milk is not small talk, and I know Kong just wants to feel like the most special boy for knowing all of this, but I also fully believe he wants Arthit to slap him.

M came on this trip so he could make heart eyes at Kong, and I will not be convinced otherwise. If I forget May exists, my ship is untouchable. M loves Kong, and it's canon to me.

Arthit is a Ken! He made all the boys go out to the water, so he could make the girls listen to him play a song on the beach. Someone needs to ask Greta Gerwig if she has watched SOTUS. Greta, if you're in the room with us right now, blink twice.

"If I tell you to die, will you do it?" YES! What the hell do you think this kid has been trying to tell you?! He wants you to choke him? He wants you to slap him? He has been instigating a fight with you since the first day because he wants your hands on him in the most violent ways. Baby is a masochist and needs to be kept!

I stand by the claim I made in an earlier post that the crew doesn't seem to like Krist because these title cards in-between parts of the episode do him sooooo dirty. There is no need for this to be the image, but here we are. This is rude.

I could never hate M. He is so kind and so dumb. I love those qualities in men.

And I love these qualities in women! (Sidenote: Let Jan kiss more homies, GMMTV!)

GMMTV's 2024 Outing, is that you player?

Since Love Sick and Addicted Heroin have been remade, when SOTUS is remade, M and Kong should be the main couple, and May should ship them while also trying to date Prae. Friends-to-Lovers, fifteen episodes, and make New and Singto play the characters again.

This is the biggest "hell nah" from me because I would not have that many people WALKING ON ME barefoot as some form of initiation. Walking on people is reserved for sex stuff! Just walking on people to walk on people is not normal, and should stop immediately!

I can see the wheels spinning in Arthit's head, but the pieces are not connecting for him. Your man likes when you yell at him. Kong likes when you get upset at him. The kid likes pushing your buttons because then he gets all your attention. Now say it with me, "Kong is a masochist"

Kong is practically begging to be slapped, and if Arthit doesn't do it soon, I will.

This scene hit me so hard I had to pause because it woke me up like I was sleeper agent. I NOW REMEMBER THIS SHOW! Nine episodes in and I finally remember this damn show!

I am white-knuckling my way though this show now because Kong is dressed for a date, Arthit is late and looking like a mess, and Kong is telling Arthit he will do whatever Arthit wants him to, he will like anything Arthit wants him to like, and he will be anything Arthit wants him to be. I do not know how Arthit is experiencing all that Kong is throwing at him, and not realizing that Kong wants to be his pet.

"Call Me by My Name Number: A Boy's Journey to Become a Pet" Where's Mame when you need her?

And now Kong is eating a meal he didn't want, AGAIN, simply because Arthit told him to eat it! I'm not even joking anymore; this shit is kinky, and in this exact moment, I don't hate this show solely because of this reason.

Fuck going to sleep! I'm staying up and watching episode ten, NOW!

[lesmisshippingshowdown]

Round of 32 Wrapped!

To tide you all over until the next round begins (although I hope you're all keeping busy getting started on your fanworks to steal some votes!), let's have fun with some statistics about the Round of 32 :)

Poll with the most votes overall: Combeferre/Courfeyrac vs Turnchetta (1,554 votes) What else could you expect from a contest between a veritable fandom juggernaut, inescapable as both a main couple and background couple on Archive of our Own, a true bedrock of fandom heritage... and Combeferre/Courfeyrac?

I jest. But it's great to see people turning out in honour of the great fandom tradition of getting a little silly with it. The question remains - how far can a novelty ship like Turnchetta (one could call her the Jedward of this competition, and I of course mean that with the utmost respect #JEPIC) make it in the bracket?

(It's worth noting that Turnchetta also takes home the prize for Round One's Biggest Giant Killing, defeating AO3's 4th most popular Les Mis ship by published works despite not a single fic coming up when I click their relationship tag on that website.)

Poll with the least votes overall: Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta vs. Bahorel/Éponine (546 votes) Again, perhaps this was unsurprising. J/B/M is a true staple of the fandom, and one of only 6 ships in the bracket with over 1,000 tagged works on AO3 (and that's not even counting individual pairings within the throuple!). Bahorel/Éponine, on the other hand, has only 46 tagged works and I wasn't even able to find fanart for them on a sweep through Tumblr tags. This was not a match up that necessarily spurred on hard fighting and intense propaganda, and turned out to be one of the round's most resounding sweeps.

Will J/B/M nation be forced to turn out in greater numbers for round two, or will they be able to rest on their laurels against a - once again - comparatively niche ship like Courfeyrac/Grantaire? And will Bahorel/Éponine's fandom turn out to be small but mighty when given a chance for redemption in the Great Round 2 Steal-Off?

Closest battle: Combeferre/Éponine vs. Enjolras/Marius (47.5% vs 52.5%) I'll say this outright as the bracket's resident infamously unbiased Enjolras/Marius shipping mod - Combeferre/Éponine shippers, I seriously underestimated your game. In a poll where most of Éponine's het ships fell dramatically at the first hurdle, you guys held your own against me constantly reblogging my own posts to yell "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE" in increasingly undignified ways. You stood behind Éponine's right to date a really nice nerdy man, and I'm very excited to see what you guys pull out of the bag in the Round 2 Steal-Off. I suspect this may not be the last we see of Combeferre/Éponine in this competition.

Biggest whitewash: Courfeyrac/Éponine vs. Cosette/Éponine (4.1% vs 95.9%) As Les Mis's most iconic relatably lovelorn everygirl, Éponine based ship wars have been a fandom staple probably since the actual 1860s. Whether she's battling for Marius's affections or accidentally playing a pivotal role in very, very 2013 discussions about queer erasure in fandom, when there's a ship war to be had in the Les Mis fandom our girl is normally at the scene of the crime. This match up, however, showed none of the fire of its predecessors. When asked if you'd rather see Éponine paired off with Les Amis' lovable centre or patching up her longstanding and complex relationship with Cosette, you overwhelmingly voted in favour of lesbianism. Got to respect it. Happy belated International Women's Day.

Winningest multishipping target: Enjolras (5 out of 6 ships progressed to the Round of 16) For a character who is canonically uninterested in romance to the point that I've seen large swathes of this fandom headcanon him as aroace, you guys LOVE it when Enjolras gets around. Not only did he have 6 ships entered into this bracket (for the mathematicians among you, that means 18.75% of the bracket involves Enjolras in some way), but he won almost every first round contest he was involved in. The only losing Enjolras ship in round one was Enjolras/Éponine, so I guess that's settled*. He really didn't know there was such a thing on earth as woman.

(*It is not settled. If you don't think we're getting a special Enjonine vs E/R face off at some point you don't know me)

Losing-est multishipping target: Éponine (1 out of 8 ships progressed to the Round of 16) Speaking of Enjonine, the other half of that ship suffered basically opposite fortunes. Poor Éponine appeared in a whopping 25% of all ships entered into the bracket, but only one - Cosette/Éponine, her sole femslash pairing in the contest - made it as far as the round of 16. It seems that homosexuality has mutually won out for both halves of 2013's most controversial het ship.

Other stats for the interested:

The average number of votes cast per poll was 770.5 - not bad for a first round! Can you up that number by encouraging your friends to pokémon go to the polls for the round of 16 next week?

In the Round of 32, the balance of different relationship types (going by characters' canonical genders) was as follows: 56.25% M/M, 34.38% M/F, 6.25% F/F, and 3.12% Multi.

In the Round of 16, the balance will be as follows: 68.75% M/M, 12.5% M/F, 12.5% F/F, and 6.25% Multi. I would say "I'm sorry, women" but to be fair both the yuri ships did sail through their respective match ups. Really, I'm sorry heteros. Especially Éponine's hetero ships. I know I keep saying this but it was a rough ride for her.

All of AO3's top 3 Les Mis ships (by tagged works) are still comfortably in the game - as already established, Courferre was this round's biggest loser. Could the Round Two Steal-Off, where the creation of fanworks is crucial to success, offer them a chance at redemption? Tune in next week to find out!

[avelera]

It sounds so self-obvious when you say it aloud, but the key to writing romance is that the characters need to be into each other.

I've seen so many so-called "romances" in mainstream movies and shows that somehow fail to achieve this very simple principle. Usually they're het romances but not always. I've also seen established lgbt+ couples who we're told are married but who never show any particular interest in one another to confirm this supposed love in a show-don't-tell manner.

Below the cut I want to explore how to write love (romantic or otherwise), what makes it work in fiction, and the important difference between why characters fall in love vs. why they choose to pursue or stay with the person they fell in love with, because those distinctions matter.

Let's quickly touch on failed fictional relationships before moving onto functioning ones. Because the thing is, it's important to flesh out relationships and romances if they are written into the story even if they aren't the focus of the story or they are doomed to fail as part of the plot.

I see it a lot of times in fictional relationships that are clearly plot points and so the author doesn't bother to invest in them. If a relationship is established with the protagonist just because this current partner is going to break up with them, thus launching our actual romance plot, then there's a temptation not to fully flesh out that doomed-to-fail relationship.

But to skate over the failed relationship is a missed opportunity for a writer. Relationships reveal a great deal about us, as do failed ones. Even if the relationships don't work out, we get the chance to learn what the protagonist is looking for in a relationship, what didn't work in the failed one, and we get to learn more about their love language. This also requires that we see these romantic partners are into each other, or were into each other, and how, before it went sour. Even if it's one sided and doomed to fail, we need to see what the infatuated side of the pairing was into about the other person. Even if it's just physical, that too is revealing.

Romeo was in love with Rosaline before he fell in love with Juliet. But we don't skate over what he loved about her. We learn that Romeo frequently falls in love, he's often impetuous in love (which we will see carried forward later in the famous balcony scene with Juliet). We learn that he is poetic about that love. We learn how much he loved Rosaline, and whether or not we believe he was in love or think that love is wise, it is important for establishing later, when he meets Juliet, the order of magnitude difference between his love of Rosaline and of Juliet. One left him broken-hearted when he lost her, but he quickly recovered. But Juliet? He was willing to die for love of her. The love of Rosaline set up the contrast in how Romeo loves that would be massively important to the impact of the story later.

I bring up this example because many years ago in a high school lit class, the teacher said that Shakespeare never explains why characters fall in love, and so writers don't have to explain why characters fall in love.

It didn't quite sit with me right, because I think it's only half true. The full maxim, and what writers today can learn with regards to romance is:

You don't have to explain why characters fall in love. You do have to explain why they stay together and/or pursue that love.

Actually, it's often better to not explain why a character fell in love. It's ineffable. It just happens. How often have we met or been introduced to someone who is, on paper, perfect for us with similar interests and compatible families or lifestyles, only to not feel any sort of spark? How many grand romances, in contrast, are about people who on paper are terrible for each other but just can't seem to quit one another and keep being drawn back together?

This doesn't just have to apply to romantic love, by the way. How many people are inevitably drawn back to toxic or abusive parents, even though they know this person has a negative impact on their life? How many people stick it out for friendships that damage their health and self-esteem, all out of love?

Again, you don't need to explain why someone loves, but you do need to explain why they pursue it or stick with it. The reasons can be societal, they can be because of guilt, they can be because of adrenaline, or because of long history together, or if it's a successful romance, it can be because they don't just love each other, they also really really like each other!

Now, this might seem somewhat inherently self-contradictory. I'm saying you have to show that people are into each other but that you don't have to explain why they fell in love??

But showing that people are into each other is actually about why they pursue it and stay with the person. The falling in love itself is simply the gravity between them, the magnetic bond, what draws them together. In fiction, we want that to be powerful, overwhelming, inevitable. If the story is about love, we need to see why these people can't walk away, or can't walk away for long, or are miserable when they do. They are drawn to each other, powerfully, destructively or gloriously.

But you can be drawn to someone without having a single conversation or knowing anything about them. We initially fall in love with our image of a person, what they mean to us, what we think they will be in our lives. Real love is about learning who the real person is and continuing to love and to like that person. Real long-term love is loving that person even when they change from the one you first met, and they love you too as you change. But the opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy. The love is the pull.

Why characters are into each other, or why they like each other, is the force that makes them continue to pursue that person. The love itself can be the thing they're into, by the way! "I can't get this person out of my head, I can't put it in words, but they haunt me and I'm into them for that," is a totally valid way to build a romance or character relationship without any other things that they like about each other!

But as said, it can and probably should be more than that in a successful love story. The construction of the love and like of the relationship can also be Love + Long History + Physical Attraction + Deep Understanding. Gomez and Morticia Addams love each other, they'd love each other if the other was unconscious, they'd love each other to the grave and beyond. But they're also into the fact that they're both incredibly extra romantics who love demonstrating their fascination to each other, in ways presumably no other partner could keep up with. They waltz at odd hours, engage in thrilling sword fights, raise a family together based on their shared worldview, and stare deeply into each other's eyes at every opportunity. They don't suffer one another, they adore one another's presence and quirks and foibles. They are seriously whackadoodle into each other and we see it in the joy they take in one another, how much they like each other in addition to that love.

Characters who are in love should be obsessed with something about the person. Remember, these aren't real people, I'm not giving real world relationship advice. This is fiction. You can write a tepid relationship but it will be sort of boring to read. That might be the point! The tepid relationship might be in contrast to your protagonists, for example!

But my point is that in all fictional relationships there should be something in which the characters are each other's biggest fan. In mother/daughter familial love, they might love one another's outspokenness on what is important to them, we can see their eyes shine when the mother or her daughter gives that big important speech, filled with love and pride for them, and encouraging their outspokenness at every turn, inspired by it.

If the love is between two brothers, related or otherwise, we might see that love in darker times. A brother has to pick up the other from jail. It is painful, heartbreaking, but he can't turn away, he can't not do it. That's love. But, maybe the brother he picked up cracks a joke on the ride home, makes the other laugh despite himself, and suddenly, he remembers the good side of the love too, that his brother can always make him laugh. This is important because it shows us not just that these brothers love each other, but why they continue to interact with each other despite the pain and disappointment. That might actually be tragic rather than happy. One brother might not be able to escape because of the other's ability to make him laugh. That too is love, not just the magnetic attraction of it but the reason it continues to draw them together inevitably, that ability to understand one another and make the other laugh, when he really should probably walk away for his own sake.

The reason so much slash shipping exists in fanfiction is because very often, platonic love is fleshed out in the mainstream more often between two same-sex characters with greater depth than romantic love. A mainstream show might present us with a couple who we are told are attracted to each other and from there the writers assume that is enough to explain why they got together. Nothing deeper. No spark of liking one another in addition to wanting one another.

But in a buddy cop film, the buddy cops are usually obsessed with each other. They stand up for one another when the chips are down, they save one another in moments of peril, they look into each other's eyes and discuss what is important to them in life, like solving the mystery they're working on, and in doing so find understanding with one another's worldviews. That is infinitely more satisfying as a love story than simply telling me that a beautiful Barbie and Ken of main characters have slept with each other and therefore are dating and "in love".

Obsession is key. But don't get too bogged down in how the love exists. It exists because that's love. And we are fascinated in fiction by powerful love of all sorts. We love characters who don't just suffer each other but are into each other, ludicrously, obsessively, even tragically. Turn up the love to the whackadoodle maximum and break off the knob and I guarantee, you will at the very least have characters that people will watch with interest. We love characters who are obsessed with something, or someone. Their love reveals to us what is lovable about that character or thing, it makes us love them.

And then, because love alone is not always enough, show us the joy that keeps them coming back to each other. Show us some good times mixed in with the bad, tragic as they might be for how they prevent the cutting of ties that maybe should be severed. Show us why they can't give up and walk away. Show us too why they like each other. That is what draws a good love story together.

[straightbaittournament]

may the best bait win! propaganda under the cut

brienne and jaime:

[major spoilers for the show] homoerotic as hell. for some reason. from what i've heard this seems like a rare case of buried straights. jaime i believe dies right after they get together. the first time they have sex jaime says he's never done it "with a knight" before. literally most of my knowledge about this ship comes from bait: a queerbaiting podcast (one of their "straightbait specials"), which i'm officially suggesting as propaganda i'm only up to s4 but i feel like they should be hereThey def have already been submitted but I'm getting in early on the #BraimeSweep They're soulmates 4real :( <33 "Brienne caught him before he could fall. Her arm was all gooseflesh, clammy and chilled, but she was strong, and gentler than he would have thought. Gentler than Cersei." "The swords kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. Jaime's blood was singing" "Jaime's golden hand cracked him across the mouth so hard the other knight went stumbling down the steps. His lantern fell and smashed, and the oil spread out, burning." "You are speaking of a highborn lady, ser. Call her by her name. Call her Brienne." "In this light she could almost be a beauty, he thought. In this light she could almost be a knight." Come on. This het couple has no right to drive me (a lesbian) crazy. If they don't get together I'll explode.

kathryn and chakotay:

Janeway is the Captain of a Starfleet ship lost so far from home it will take decades to reach. Chakotay is the Captain of a Maquis (rebel) ship also lost there. They decide to work together to get home and combine their crews when the Maquis ship is destroyed, and Chakotay becomes her second-in-command. Because of the seriousness of the situation, Janeway feels that she cannot afford the distraction of a romance and so they never get together. They have NO personal space and look longingly at each other quite often and one episode has them forced to abandon ship potentially forever and they live together in a little house and he builds her a bathtub because she complains about not having one and they share a romantically charged massage where he tells her a made up story about a warrior and the woman who inspired him which he openly admits is made up and actually about them. Also he holds her while she cries about their chance of going back to the ship being destroyed. In a different episode she “dies” and he cradled her body while weeping about it. They also have candlelit dinners regularly and she lent him a copy of the book her ex-fiancé gave her, and every time the show conspires to make one temporarily unaware of the other, they flirt hardcore. An episode designed to show how they wouldn’t work as a couple only makes more people ship them. Also a young version of Janeway meets older Chakotay via time travel and asks him if they’re together in the future despite her being engaged at that point. He declined to answer directly.they have a lot of Tension thruout the series & a very deep relationship, but Janeway has someone waiting for her back home & Chakotay ends up in a romance plot with another person in the last season (that I personally felt came from out of nowhere but whatever) I rooted for them! I rooted for a str8 couple! I did not care that Janeway had someone waiting for her back home even tho I usually do! but I did not care! they deserved to fuck!

[dramalove247]

Having Feels a 🐠 Dori rambles post

I should probably stop obsessing and repeating myself, but putting together Favorite Things for Heesu In Class 2 is giving me some big feels and I am back to rant. This is one of those series that I love the more I think about it. For every moment I instantly loved, it also gave me lots of moments that made me feel disappointed with the realness it often shoved in our face. So my love for these moments only came with time and perspective.

The series had a lot going for it. It looked great. Delivered a solid story with complex, real characters and great themes. And the acting was really good, especially Ahn Ji-ho who played Heesu. And every good story needs some angst and pain. Still, I had not expected this series to give me so many feels and watching Heesu struggle with his queer existence was often uncomfortable and hurt. And even though these scenes often left me disappointed and unhappy, those same moments are what ultimately made me respect and love this series.

My anger was never at the story, but at the truth it laid bare

Throw their privilege in their Het faces!

Kat and I already said a lot about our love for this series in our post and shared some great perspectives by other bloggers in this post. And there is a lot more I could say. But there is one scene that I really need to talk about. It felt like a slap in the face and I want to hate it, and part of me does, but I also love it because it felt like the ENTIRE POINT wrapped up in one scene.

It was the final scene. The "happy ending". After showing us a couple of cute moments of Heesu and Seung Won together as a couple, the final moment we got was one where we see Heesu panic only for Seung Won to say they can just play it off as bromance.

Seriously?!?

Yes. Seriously. That is how they ended the story and as much as it annoyed me to admit, it was perfect. There were so many layers to this series, but it fundamentally wanted to show the contrast between het and queer relationships in a conservative setting and this scene pulled no punches in driving that final point home. As the het couple gets to walk casually behind in a mirrored posture with none of the risk, none of the fear or hesitation, their privilege and the inequality of their situations was directly called out for the audience. As much as this scene rubbed a nerve they had already made raw during this entire story, I'm also grateful they were brave enough to give us this painfully real, bitterly honest ending.

There was a lot I loved about this series and a lot of moments I am grateful for. But in this moment, in my feelings right now, I am most grateful that this series threw het privilege in peoples' face and asked them to sit with it. And for that reason, I love this ending even if I could have used a little less reality in my happy ending.

[musicalmoritz]

this is a silly question sorry if you already answered it but why do you ship aoinene? any canon material you especially like that make you ship them? i like to hear (in this case, read) people talk about their (fav?) ship and see their reasoning ^_^

Omg hi!!!! Thank you for this question, I love talking about this kind of stuff. I know I’ve made a few posts on TikTok about it but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it on here. So let’s get right into it!

The first reason is a little silly so I’ll go ahead and get it out of the way. I have a major femslash bias. This doesn’t mean femslash ships are always going to be my favorites (I have plenty of favorite mlm and het ships as well), but it’s very hard for me to dislike a wlw pairing or to flat out not care about it. Take Bungou Stray Dogs for example, when I was writing for that fandom I was heavily invested in Dazai and all his ships, but Higuchi x Gin (a wlw couple) still ended up being my second most written for pairing in the fandom. And so before I even watched TBHK, when my sister told me Aoi and Nene were best friends and that people shipped them, I knew I was going to be a fan of the ship. However, I never expected it to become my favorite

I had quite a journey with what I deemed to be my “favorite” TBHK ship. At first I was saving that spot for Mitsukou, but the anime made me really adore HanaNene. It was also Sakuhiko for like a day, and I briefly anticipated AoiAoi would take the throne. It’s a little funny to me that before I got into Aoinene, I was so fascinated with their main rival ships. Aoinene became my favorite purely by accident, because of the femslash bias. This is how I accidentally get invested in many sapphic pairings that don’t have much basis in canon, lesbian content is a huge comfort for me and so I end up seeking it out the most in fandoms. Even before Aoinene became my favorite, it was the main ship I was reading fan fiction for. I was also searching up edits and fan art for them far more often than any other ship

Don’t laugh, but I do think it was the fanfics that solidified Aoinene as my favorite. Which is funny to me because nowadays I have a lot of problems with the way they’re typically written. But I still have such fond memories of fall of last year, staying up late every night and burning a candle whilst reading Beecalm’s Aoinene fics. It was one of those times in my life when everything felt right, and so I associate the ship with a lot of positive things

But fanon isn’t the only reason I like Aoinene, far from it!! I have plenty to yap abt with canon Aoinene as well

My favorite ship trope ever is friends to enemies, and though Aoinene only had that arc briefly, it’s still my favorite part of the manga (not just Aoinene, Grim Reaper arc as a whole!). I love the built up resentment between them, how they both hide so much from each other. Aoi wants to tell Nene who she really is, and Nene wants Aoi to talk more about herself, and yet they’re both too conflict-avoidant to realize they want the same thing!

That brand of friends to lovers has always been my favorite, when there’s so much unresolved tension between them wrapped up in a history that both of them feel tied to. They can’t walk away from each other, but they can’t quite stay together unless they talk about things. It puts them at a standstill. Many fans use this as a reason to hate Aoinene but for me it only makes me love them more, that miscommunication is so delicious to me. When it happens with Aoi and Akane we get a little bit of resolution as soon as Aoi lets it all out, whereas with Aoinene that resolution is dragged out more (and their development is expressed through smaller details). Don’t get me wrong, I love Aoi and Akane’s development too, but the subtlety of Aoinene’s conflict makes it sm more interesting to me. Like c’mon, don’t be shy. Tell me moooooooooooore

I also strongly feel that their type of conflict is unique to female friendships. I have had so many relationships like theirs, where you share a whole life together yet you know nothing about each other beyond a surface level. It’s interesting to me how women can just sorta cling together like that, how willing we are to fake it ‘til we make it just to keep our best friends in our lives. I like to joke that some female friendships act like old married couples who are bored of each other but don’t want to divorce. It’s very codependent by nature which is an element I love to see in ships (for the toxicity ofc, if I like a ship for its healthiness I don’t want to see them that way). And female friendships are so layered, the line between platonic and romantic is very blurred. There are women who have fully made out with their female friends and still identify as straight because that was nothing serious or romantic to them. On the other end, there are women who never got o kiss or hold their female friends but were still deeply in love with them. A woman might say her best friend is like a sister to her and then later realize she was misplacing the root of that intimacy. I have had friends go from “she’s like a sister to me” to “we’re best friends” to “when did she get so pretty??”. And that kind of complexity is exactly what draws me to sapphic ships like Aoinene

I like that Aoi so desperately wants to open up to Nene about her true personality, and in fact she makes multiple attempts to throughout the manga. But she’s so terrified of Nene hating her that she can’t bring herself to fully do it. Similarly, Nene does notice that something is going on with Aoi, but she brushes it off because she’s too overwhelmed with her own problems to pay too much attention to what her friends are doing. She also has a highly romanticized view of the world that causes her to see everyone in an idealized light. Aside from Aoi she also does this with Kou, Teru, Akane, and Mitsuba (briefly). There are times when she empathizes with certain characters- she saw right through Yako and Sumire, showed a deep care for Mei, and makes an active effort to understand Hanako. So her selfishness is a lot more nuanced than people think. But when it comes to the people she’s familiar with in her every day life, they become part of a routine. It’s easy for her to develop expectations for how they behave because she spends more time with them. Whereas with Yako, Sumire, Mei, and Hanako, she doesn’t really know what to expect from them. This allows her to approach their problems with a more unbiased view and- okay now I’m rambling

After the Grim Realer arc, Aoi and Nene are still lying to each other. Nene still hasn’t told Aoi about her lifespan, Aoi hadn’t told Nene about her hand. It’s likely Aoi hasn’t told Nene the extent of her problems either, tho they seem more comfortable around each other after their chat in the firework chapter. It seems to me like they’re working through things bit by bit, but they still have a long way to go. Their combined character flaws (Aoi hiding her true self vs. Nene being blind to other people’s true selves) make a recipe for disaster. And as much as I really want to see them struggle with that, I also want to see them overcome their problems together and develop a stronger friendship

I also want to add that I love how Nene interacts with new timeline Aoi. This is an Aoi that doesn’t hide herself; she’s forward about what she wants and her attentiveness towards Nene seems very genuine in comparison to OG Aoi’s fakeness. What makes me hopeful is that Nene really seems to like this version of Aoi!! She looks at her with interest and indulges her clinginess by going to the festival with her, giving her the kind of reassurance OG Aoi needs (actually OG Aoi needs wayyyyy more reassurance but it’s a good start). They seem to be much closer in this timeline than they were in the OG so I am very excited to see where their relationship goes from here. I’m hoping this leads to development for OG Aoinene

One of my favorite things about Aoinene is how they fall into the hero x damsel in distress trope. Nene has had to watch Aoi die so many times, it’s insane. First the Misaki Stairs, then the Picture Perfect arc, then the Grim Reaper arc where Aoi actually was fully dead for a while, and she had to grieve her in the Ghost Hotel au too. I understand why a manga with so much going on doesn’t have time to unpack all of that but I do wish we had a few more scenes addressing the trauma Nene is sure to have from watching her best friend die over and over again (MadoHomu core?). From the way she reacts to seeing Aoi again after watching her die, it’s clear those memories do impact her. And I love love love how protective she is over Aoi as a result. Nvm my favorite parts of the manga are when Aoi gets kidnapped by a supernatural and Nene sets out to find her. They are so classic fairy tale coded (yes I do have a fic about this…technically two…technically three…)

That makes it even more interesting when their hero x damsel trope turns into hero x villain. Ughhhhh the panel of Aoi throwing Nene into the pit is so famous to me, I really wish antagonist Aoi had lasted longer. Her fakeness leading up to the betrayal!!! The ultimate act of her faking her personality, and Nene still doesn’t notice because she never noticed before!!! Rahhhhhhhh they make me ill. There is a reason the Grim Reaper arc is my favorite and admittedly a lot of it is of Aoinene (other elements too tho, I love everything about it). I did not know the “damsel becomes the villain” plot line was something I need it but reading it in TBHK was so mwah mwah mwah, 5 stars I need to see that a million times again

Another thing I like about Aoinene is all the cute details we have about their friendship in the manga. Their character designs complement each other so well, I can’t help but feel that was intentional (like Gojo and Geto). There are so many official arts of them in matching outfits or just doing cute things together. They canonically go to the beach together every summer. They canonically do karaoke together. Aoi canonically buys snacks to share with Nene at school. They are at the forefront of so many AUs, namely HKOM where Aoi tells Nene she loves her. They have been friends since middle school. Aoi initiates physical affection with Nene a lot which often makes Nene stunned or flustered. Aoi shares all her rumors and ghost stories with Nene. We’ve seen Aoi cry in front of Nene and Nene comfort her. I like how panicked Nene gets when she’s trying to comfort Aoi, it’s clear she’s not good at that sort of thing but still makes an effort. I like that Aoi can be passive-aggressive with Nene at times. I just like. Man. I love every single thing about them

Given the Hanako possession scene, I would say the yuri fan service with them is intentional (that scene as gross but it was still very much fan service). The fact that AidaIro have thought of their relationship that way makes me so giddy…I just wish they could fan service them in a way that wasn’t lesbian fetishization and SA but ig beggars can’t be choosers. Ultimately tho idc if this ship has implied moments, as I said it’s just fan service and it’s never going to be canon. It does seem to me like Aoi might have been intended to have a crush on Nene at the start of the manga with the whole “I missed my chance to tell her” thing, but if that plot line was ever considered it’s clearly been scrapped. I don’t need my pairings to be canon in order to be happy, the fun of shipping is getting to make shit up!! And I have so much fun reading into their friendship and fleshing things out. These two have become one of my favorite ships of all time. Possibly my favorite. I am so unwell about them

Anyways, sorry this took me months to answer. I had typed out part of it and then got lazy and let it collect dust in my drafts for far too long. It feels good to finally be replying, I’ve been looking forward to posting this one. Hope this response satisfies your curiosity!!