#we can get so much gay rep

[alphaclxwn]

w w w what if i wrote an alenoah wt fic, right? but neither of them win?? like, i’d get one of my silly baby blorbos and make them win instead and everyone goes ‘how the fuck did that happen’ ya know? and i don’t want that blorbo being carried either. that blorbo is the carrier while also being unassuming enough for the audience to hopefully never figure out who it is until we get to the final three??

would people read that orrrr???

[p0sitivelyemerald]

I’m obsessed with David and Brad in whatever format they’re presented to me, but I do wish they could’ve had a work and play relationship so badly.

I thought Anna was extremely interesting, but with the limited time we get in each season I still think Brad x david could’ve been actually built upon in a way that made sense. A friends with benefits not actually unrequited loved that’s never really resolved?

[summer-sapphic]

Hi I'm mad

[icarrymany]

i figured id just make this its own post to avoid yappin so much in ppls tags

[thirsty-lakedream]

Acting Natural

Damn it, I really didn’t think this through.

Sure I was pissed at my DL hookup for never appreciating me and acting like I don’t exist, but my revenge is getting out of control and I don’t know how much more of his life I can take. Let me back up.

Some months ago I matched with this guy on Grindr and we hit it off, but when I met up it turned out to be Josh Foreman, star of our college’s wrestling team. He wasn’t out of the closet and even had a girlfriend but still wanted to hook up on the down low. Now I wasn’t complaining, getting his 10 inches with no real commitment was good for a while. But eventually I realized he saw me as nothing but a bootycall. My last straw was when he invited me to his fraternity’s big semester rager just to embarrass me and belittle me in front of his meathead friends. After that night I was done with him, but not before I came up with a devious plan.

I had heard of bodysuit technology. A small syringe filled with a solution to turn someone into a wearable skinsuit, with an accompanying one to turn them back. The plan was to prick Josh with the serum, wear him and parade him around like an idiot. Maybe record a video of him jacking off to some gay porn then leak it to the whole school. Then after, I would simply turn him back then and let him deal with the aftermath! It was perfect!

After spending a good 24 hours in his body making him look like a complete fool, I was ready to return him then dump him off at the front of his frat house. But when I opened the box, the reversion syringe was broken! The mysterious blue serum that would have changed him back to a regular person was spilled and dried on the sides of the cardboard package.

Now It’s been 2 weeks since, and I’ve been stuck living his life. I tried to order a replacement, but the stupid company that makes the serums is apparently backordered and I haven’t heard any word of getting a new order of the reversion syringe! Unfortunately for me, I know if one of the schools star athletes suddenly disappeared, there would be chaos, so I’ve had no choice but to continue the charade of being Josh since. All I can do is act natural and pretend to be him so no one is the wiser of what I did to him.

The only problem is though I outwardly present as him, I am nowhere as physically strong nor have the endurance as him, which is what is really being used.

“Foreman! Focus up, you are really struggling! 20 more reps then we start skirmishes” The head coach barks at me.

I try to hide my intense out of breath demeanor. Our school has a big match on Friday, I’m just hoping I can acquire that syringe by then, or else I’m in real hot water.

[maichan808]

Americans, our democracy is under threat.

Do you reject fascism and oppose the Trump-Musk coup? Want to do something, but aren’t sure what you can do to make a difference? Keep reading for ways big and small you can fight back:

Attend a Protest New to protesting? Here’s a primer for first-time protesters and a schedule of upcoming national days of action:

Mar 1st and ongoing (Tesla Takedown) Website | Find an event

Mar 4th (50501: 50 protests, 50 states) Website | Find an event

Mar 7th (Stand up for Science) Website | Find an event

Mar 8th (Women’s March) Website | Find an event

Search for future protests at /r/ProtestFinderUSA and join the mailing list of grassroots organizations like Indivisible to be alerted to future actions.

Put Pressure on Congress Want your elected officials to stand up to Trump-Musk and push back against the unconstitutional executive orders, disastrous DOGE cuts, and illegal funding freezes? Already calling your Reps and Senators daily using 5calls.org?

Then it’s time to escalate to in-person action. Visit their websites, join their mailing lists, follow their socials, and call their offices to find out when the next local event will be and make your voice heard. 

Applying pressure to congress works, and we are already seeing the results of constituent push back. House Democrats recently voted as a unified block against the Trump-sponsored billionaire tax cuts, with members breaking maternity leave and leaving the hospital to fly back to Washington just to cast their votes. And on the Republican side, negative town hall blowback has the GOP running scared.

If your congressperson is hiding from you, stage a protest event and put their cowardice on blast. For more information on how to implement these tactics, see the Indivisible congressional recess toolkit.

If your congressperson is already fighting the good fight, then make sure to thank them and provide encouragement to continue opposing the budget cuts. Courage is contagious, and vocal public support will help spur congress to fight that much harder. 

And finally, regardless of where you live, you can sign up to phone bank and reach out to voters in red congressional districts.

Get Out the Vote Did you know there are Special Elections as soon as April 1st that could flip control of the House back to Democrats? We simply cannot wait for the 2026 midterms, we must take action now! You can help get out the vote for Gay Valimont (FL-1), Joshua Weil (FL-6), and Blake Gendebien (NY-21).

In addition, the Muskrat is spending millions to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Phone bank or write letters to keep a MAGA extremist off the high court and protect Wisconsin elections from future gerrymandering.

Fight the Broligarchy If you own TSLA stock, or *gasp* an actual Tesla vehicle, drop it like a scorching case of herpes, then join the picket line at your nearest Tesla showroom. 

On socials, delete your Nazi-infested X and Meta (Facebook, IG, Threads) accounts and join the open source BlueSky. If you must remain on Meta, at minimum change your account settings so Fuckerberg can’t profit from your data. 

Stop using Google search/Chrome and install privacy-focused alternatives like DuckDuckGo or Firefox. As a bonus, in the DuckDuckGo browser you can permanently hide AI garbage from your search results.

Show your monetary support for companies that have renewed their commitment to DEI programs (like Costco and Apple) and boycott those who have not (like Target and Amazon). Also look up how other corporations score on the democracy scale and adjust your spending accordingly.

 And last, but not least, pledge to join the General Strike!

Stay Informed Corporate media has capitulated to Trump. From the cancellation of minority-hosted shows on MSNBC to the Bezos takeover of the Washington Post editorial pages, MSM cannot be relied upon to provide unbiased coverage of the Trump-Musk regime.

Support independent journalists and media and follow AltGov accounts on Bluesky to stay informed as to what is actually going on in Washington.

Get to Know your Community Authoritarians want you to feel helpless and isolated because they know we the people vastly outnumber them. Get to know your neighbors and join a group/team/club - anything that gets you interacting with your local community whether it is political or not. 

Under Trump-Musk, federal programs like SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, and even Social Security are in danger.  We will need to increasingly rely on our own communities to have our backs. Visit mutualaidhub.org to locate resources and learn how to start your own network.

And finally, remember that resistance is a marathon, not a sprint. So be sure to stop doomscrolling and simply enjoy life as AOC reminds us:

[alphacentaurinebula]

wot relationship status: it's complicated

I have been agonising over Siuan's death pretty much nonstop, but I have come to a sort of detente with it and I want to share my thoughts in response to some of the common fan responses I've seen.

Was Siuan's death simply for Moiraine's character advancement? No, I really don't think so. Her speech was a beautiful, powerful scene. I have seen fans who feel she was dehumanised and denied dignity and that it was a degrading death. I really don't feel thats what we saw on our screens.

Yes, Siuan was subjected to dehumanising treatment; yes, her killers tried to degrade her and remove her dignity. But she was not bowed; she was not broken. She did not beg for her life, or try to appease her captors, or do anything to suggest that they had succeeded in their attempts to remove her dignity. Instead, she fought back. She stood proud, despite their treatment (treatment that reflected much more on them than it did on her). Her strength and bravery made them into the villains even in their own eyes, and her into a hero and a martyr.

The thing I haven't seen talked about is that she almost won. Deposed, stilled, sentenced to death, she still managed to almost talk the Hall down. She managed to instil fear and doubt in Elaida, a woman who never doubted herself a day in her life. We didn't get to see the Sitters present and their stirrings of doubt (I imagine mainly for production reasons so that they can be cast next season) but we absolutely see it on Elaida's face. The only person unaffected is Alviarin, who can see power slipping through her fingers, who can see that any moment the Hall is going to change its mind, which is why she acts when she does.

I liked that Siuan talked about Moiraine - that was part of her being able to finally tell the truth after all these years, to claim Moiraine publicly as she'd never been allowed to do. Anyone who's spent time being forced to hide a queer relationship will recognise the joy and relief she felt in that moment, which I could certainly see on her face. And I don't think the fact that she spoke of Moiraine, the fact that Moiraine gained a desperate determination from her death, means that her death was simply to serve Moiraine's story. I think to only see Moiraine in her death robs Siuan of the dignity and heroism she displayed, and of the triumph of her character.

But that's my in story world response. Do I think they should have done it? Fuck, no. The writers live in the real world; this show is being watched in the real world. I don't think all queer stories should have to be happy - they shouldn't be limited by previous failures in representation. I don't really feel this is a bury your gays moment, not with so much other queer rep on the show. But we all need happy queer stories. Especially right now, in this moment of dire attack on queer and trans rights. Goodness knows I watched the episode at a terrible time in the UK - literally the day before, a horrific court ruling attacking trans rights was announced, the latest in a series of attacks on trans lives in this country. I needed my happy queer WoT world, and my happy queer WoT fandom.

And whilst there was nothing racial about her death within the world of the show, once again we are living in THIS world, and in this world, it feels problematic at best. (though I stand by my point above that Siuan's role was NOT just to further her white girlfriend's story)

I've seen multiple responses, including from the showrunner, saying that Siuan's plot in the books after the coup was a step down for the character. And whilst sure, I can agree that many elements of her plot are shit - they could simply have changed them. NO ONE needed Gareth Byrne, fuck that entire situation, but the writers could simply have changed that. She could have been in Salidar briefly and then gone off to rescue a doorwayed Moiraine. The writers are the ones making the decisions. They could have made different decisions.

I do think that her death will make Egwene's time in the Tower even more meaningful and triumphant; I do think it will make the Salidar storyline feel more poignant; I do think it will haunt Elaida for the rest of her reign; I do think Siuan as a martyr will add to the narrative tapestry of the rest of the show; I do think they're going to kill Moiraine permanently not doorway her and that this makes more sense with Siuan already dead. I just don't feel any of that is enough reason to lose her from the show.

I also understand the production considerations. I am professionally familiar with tv production - I know how crucial cast availability is, especially with a production this size and with the budgets involved. If it was me, I would simply have had Elaida send her off somewhere to be imprisoned. They could have kept her off screen until she was available/could become relevant to the plot.

Does this mean I don't want to see the "end game" that the writers have planned for Siuan and Moiraine? I ABSOLUTELY want to see it. I want them to make this better. I want my fishwives to have as close to a happy ending as they can get. Life is a dream from which we all must wake, and I want them to have time together in that waking, and for us to see them get it right, to see them happy as they have absolutely earned. Whether the show will manage to get that ending right? I have no idea. But I really want them to. I really want to see it.

So basically - I'm still angry, sad, and very very hurt. But I also don't want this to ruin my love of this show. Sometimes I feel we are the harshest to those who actually try. The show is flawed, but it does have a large and diverse cast, people of colour in many key roles, queer people of all varieties, a mix of talent in front of and behind the camera. It might fail sometimes but at least it tries.

I want the show to continue. I want to see my other favourite characters live their stories. I want to see Egwene come into her own, I want to see Nynaeve be the badass she is, I want to watch Elayne figure out how to do things no one had done in 3000 years, I want to see where they are going with Show Min, I want more of perrin, I want Mat to sleep with a dude, pretty please.

I think I'm most angry that this has stripped a lot of the joy of fandom from me, and caused so much pain to so many people. I wanted to be shouting about WoT from the rooftops at the moment - I wanted to be campaigning for renewal. But whilst it has robbed me of that fervour, I still want to see the show survive and thrive. I do want it to be renewed. And I do want my Siuriane end game.

[hunter-the-sad-skeleton]

I'm gonna say it.

Some of y'all need to stop saying a character is Aroace when you probably just mean Demi.

"But Aroace people can get into a relationship!" Not every fucking aroace person does. Stop erasing aroace rep that doesn't get in a relationship.

"You're preventing representation for others!" Then why are you erasing our rep.

"But the gays!" YOU HAVE A LOT ALREADY.

"But that's boring!" Suck it up.

"But these two have good chemistry!" They are very clearly friends. Do not delude yourself.

"But-" There don't need to be ships everywhere.

"But you're erasing gay rep!" YOU DON'T HAVE TO COUNT ON YOUR DAMN FINGERS FOR REP, KNOCK IT OFF.

"But what can you even DO with an Aroace character?!" Not make it a big thing? It's not a big deal? Just don't ship them with other?

TL;DR stop erasing our fucking representation. Most don't have to count on their fingers for rep, WE DO. Y'ALL ARE GETTING SO MUCH REP NOWADAYS AND WE'RE GETTING GODDAMN TABLE SCRAPS AND JUST. THE WORST PEOPLE KNOWN TO GODDAMN MAN AND I'M FUCKING SICK OF IT. I'M FUCKING TIRED OF THIS BULLSHIT AND WANNA SEE MYSELF IN A CHARACTER THAT ISN'T EITHER A CANNIBAL, AN EVIL SCIENTIST, OR LIKE. THE WORST POSSIBLE HUMAN BEING.

[sharkboywrites]

It would be great if we, collectively as a community, stopped throwing other lgbt people under the bus to talk about our own issues. It’s really not that necessary.

Like to would be great if we talked about transfem problems without randomly throwing in “yeah because transmascs have it so easy!”

It would be great if we could talk about the issues that come with being a certain sexuality without complaining about lesbians, or bisexuals, or gay men, or polyamorous people and how we think everything is about them (newsflash: its not and they have their own issues because being any type of queer is hard)

It would be great if we could let other lgbt people have representation and be happy for them, instead of turning it into complaining about how others don’t have as much representation. You know you can talk about wlw shows getting cancelled without making mlms feel bad for getting another season of heartstopper right? It’s not their fault and it’s good that they’re getting rep.

We can talk about our issues without making other queer people out to be our enemy, because they’re not

[absolutefilthimsosorry]

The waist touch photo got to me last night and I just need to be sappy for a moment.

The thing about the thEY toUcHed!1!111!!! thing for me is that it’s like queer representation in tv and film. It shouldn’t be a big deal to see queer characters portrayed on screen but it still is, it gets to me every. single. time, because I lived through a time when I could count the queer representation I’d seen on screen on one hand. Likewise it shouldn’t be a big deal to see Dan and Phil touch but it is because I lived through a time when they were so afraid of being outed that they avoided touching each other to a degree that was abnormal for even a purely platonic relationship.

In a time where we have mainstream shows like heartstopper, having queer representation in bridgerton shouldn’t affect me but it did. In a time when dnp are making explicit gay sex jokes, them touching shouldn’t affect me but it did.

So sure, it shouldn’t be a big deal but the context makes it a symbol of progress, a sign of something in the world getting better for queer people, an indicator of wider acceptance. And that is something worth getting excited about. Something to celebrate. A light in the darkness. So dnp can tease us about it all they like, seeing them relaxed and feeling safe enough to touch in these casual ways is still going to give me a tiny burst of joy every damn time. In the same way getting queer rep in mainstream shows still makes me kick my feet and grin like an idiot.

And I suspect deep down they understand this because they, like me, grew up queer in a time when it was less accepted and much less talked about. I’m sorry that their relationship has become so tied to the defiance of societal heteronormativity, that must be so weird for them, but it has and that means that their current actions mean so much more than they would in a vacuum.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Actually a pretty fab line up right now

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

NOV 2024 Week 5

Ongoing Series - Thai

Love Sick 2024 (Sun iQIYI) ep 11 of 15 - This is where the teen awkward comes to grab me by the throat. No other Thai BL does this better than Love Sick (except maybe Make it Right). And it’s always a challenge to watch because Phun is so ready to come out and Noh is so not. I love what cramming 3 eps into one (and better side BL couples) did for the tension and pacing in this particular part of this story. The new version really is excellent. I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. 

Your Sky (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - They are so awkward and I love them so much for it. They are terrible at faking romance, yet Fah want’s Rak so bad. This is moving so slowly but that’s part of it’s charm. I'm not frustrated instead I’m getting Oxygen vibes from it. Or perhaps it’s is more just I feel the way I felt when I was first watching Oxygen. Which is to say, I’m totally addicted and I keep re-watching new episodes. 

Spare Me Your Mercy (Thurs iQIYI) ep 1 of 8 - Gah! JJ grew up so pretty. I love these leads. (No one is shocked.) I love the lawful good paired against (we’re not sure yet but possibly) neutral evil. I love our very sus very flirty very gay doctor. A lot happened in this first episode. I’m getting Manner of Death flashbacks but there’s nothing wrong with that. Bring on the chili. 

Incidentally, if you're interested in true crime, here's the IRL version of this story. How a Nuclear Lab Helped Catch a Serial Killer from the Science Vs podcast.

Jack & Joker (Mon IQIYI) ep 10-12 end - I got the go ahead on a safe ending, and thus I watched the last 3 eps all as one. I love how defiantly verse these two were. I also really enjoyed the final episode. I do like a finale that ends on a bang (yes, both kinds). 

Final thoughts

I enjoyed this show a lot. A caper BL starring two of Thailand's best and focusing on class struggles, corruption, and poverty, was always gonna appeal to me. But I’m not sure, ultimately, whether I liked it because it was good in it’s own right, or because YinWar were so good in it. I do wish it had been a little more Leverage and little less chaos, Dr Evils, and "watch War cry." It was a great vehicle for YinWar, and for them to prove that BL can defy its own tropes. To that end, this goes comfortably into the Manner of Death category more than anything else I’ve encountered befor (although slightly less unhinged). It's good, but it loses the plot, the side couples, and it's own mind a couple of times, and YinWar were definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Thus I feel an 8/10 is fair, especially considering I'm unlikely to rewatch.

The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 2 of 12 - Dunk is illegally pretty in this show. I gotta say I covet his skin care routine. (I love YinWar as much as the next person, but THIS boy should be the spokes-BL-rep for Laneige.)

Manwhile..... FirstKhao might be GMMTV’s best flirters. It’s a pleasure to watch them just inhabit these characters and bounce off each other. I do keep saying “what tf are they doing?!“ with this show. In this instance, it was the dancing in the bowling alley. What is going on? is it meant to be a Pulp Fiction reference?

Also this gd soundtrack is bonkers. I *can’t!* with the 70s orgy porn music and the very bad not quite metal intro music. And then, I remember, brain must be turned off! (That’s really hard for me OK?)

All that said, both the sauna and the jerk-off scenes were much appreciated. It’s nice to see this kind of visceral physical attraction depicted in a BL, we get it so rarely.  

On a side note, I entirely support Thailand’s one country agenda to put all the cute boys in crop tops. Keep it up. And up. And up. 

Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 9 of 16 - I just don’t get the (new) main couple. They don’t work for me. I like the surprise gamer boys side crumbs though. They are v cute.

Side quest: Genius move anytime Hill comes on screen to basically have Pond make love to the camera. He v good at it. Break down everyone’s fourth wall, baby. Take no prisoners. 

Caged Again (Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - That exchange! “Are you worried about me” (attempted flirtation) vrs Junior’s response “yes I am.” Just utter frankness. It’s very sweet. All in all this show is very sweet. Somewhat incomprehensible world building, but sweet. And the head lift into the lap was next level adorable. Sun’s shy smile is everything. 

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT?) ep 5 of 24 - This show is very silly. I love the sides so much I can’t EVEN. But I think it was a big mistake putting Tay into this show. Never let an OG out of the bottle like that. He gets all our attention because we think he’s gonna grant all our wishes. By which I mean, all I could think the whole time he was on screen was WHY IS HE SO FINE?

I’m not joking, I had to watch his scenes 3x because I kept getting distracted and losing the plot. Not that there is much plot to lose. Just Tay’s mouth. I’ll stop now, but seriously tho LOOK AT HIM!!! 

Every You Every Me (Mon Gaga) ep 8 end - Honestly I’d like to see this pair handed something much more meaty. Like a Japanese adaptation? Tokyo in April is… for example. I think they do a great job with something like that.

Conclusion

This was supposed to be a linked series about reincarnated soulmates, but ended up being more like a Y-Destiny grab bag BL with no rebirth through line, just the same acting pair. The leads were excellent. And I must praise this show for representing things I always want in my BL (and rarely get), switch, verse, communication, and safe sex. It’s just that this format with the same actors but no unifying theme (despite the pitch/packaging) made for a disappointing viewing experience. Some of the installments I enjoyed, and the visuals are on point, but I was ultimately let down by style and execution, if not acting. 6/10 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 4 of 11 - “I won’t fall in love with you” is an easy promise to make if you’ve already fallen. I love this show SO MUCH. “Infect me just a little.” Holy fuck. This BOY. Also, so much for “not kissing.” This BL is fantastic. I’m so worried about where it’s going. Japan could very much hurt me with this. I didn’t expect to fall in love so hard.

Man, JBL...... when it gets you it really gets you (then it locks you in a basement and gets kinky). We are not safe but we must sit back and suffer enjoy it. I hate this. I love this. What a rush. 

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 13 - I think this show has a “crash into me” trope in every single ep. This ep alone had 3, plus a flash back to the first one. Still, their damn date was so flipping adorbs!!!

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 10 of ? - I couldn’t be less interested in the stuff with the mean girls. I’m annoyed we spent so much of this episode on them. Fewer bullies more smooches.

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - Arashi as the doting bf was cute if sudden, also holy musical montage BLman.  Kai is my favorite character (as was Sky) but I'm still not wild about the blackmail sex start to this relationship. It does seem a little bit more like Kai went after a one night stand, also bit more switchy, which is better...... I guess. But not by much because the chemistry with these two isn't as good as the original.

I remain suspicious.

It's airing but......

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues ????) 11 of 12 eps - My source hasn’t yet uploaded 11. So…… I wait. 

Secret Love (? YT?) 13-?? of 81 eps - I don't know what's going on either.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun Viki) paused at eps 9-10 of 12 - I got the "stop" on this one as it's gone (no surprise) dark. Being China can not be relied upon to HEA. So I'm on pause until I'm told it's safe. If it ends sad/bad I will dnf. But for now I wait......

Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai Weds YT) ?? eps - Criminals who meet in prison fall in love. I did find it on YouTube, initially unsubbed, then subs happened by which time I got distracted. The first episode seems to be only six minutes long. It is very pulp. But it is intriguing. For now its to the wayside until someone tells me what it whats to be and if it's headed in a safe direction. Occasionally Thai pulps want to be edgy and it's not a good look on them.

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - I DNF'd at ep 7, I couldn't make it. I'm weak. Life is hard enough right now, this show made it harder. It’s not what I want from my entertainment. Ends tomorrow.

Bad to Bed (Taiwan Sat YT) 10 eps - This is a little too low production value even for me + just very very odd. DNF

In Case You Missed it - GMMTV 2025 Line Up

There have been a ton of hot takes already, including mine.

Here are the titles and links to MDL for you (confirmed full BLs only), these are organized in order of the ones I'm anticipating the most at the top.

Dare You to Death - trailer

Boys in Love - trailer

Memoir of Rati - trailer

My Magic Prophecy - trailer

Me and Thee - trailer

A Dog and A Plane - trailer

Cat for Cash - trailer

That Summer - trailer

My Romance Scammer - trailer

Head 2 Head - trailer

Ticket To Heaven - trailer

Burnout Syndrome - trailer

Melody of Secrets - trailer

Only Friends Dream On - trailer

Love You Teacher - trailer

Next Week Looks Like This:

End of year drops:

12/4 0.5D (Japan ????) 10 eps - Sales ace, Sada, has a secret that only his junior, Daiki, knows. He has pretended to have a gf for years, resulting in him being a virgin. But now Sada has fallen in love. Confused, Sada seeks advice from his junior. I sense another queer Cyrano De Bergerac. Info here.

12/6 Be Moon - Falling for my enemy's son (China ????) movie from HBD Studio - Not much on this one just a trailer, looks intriguing...... if it's from/through Taiwan, but if it's all China, I'm wary.

12/13 ThamePo Heart that Skips a Beat (Fri YT) 12eps - A boy band member and his documentarian start a forbidden relationship. I LOVE Est and am delighted to see him at GMMTV. This was my #1 pick for 2024. I've been waiting for a Blinding Lights style idol romance and this looks like it might be it (Korea and Japan have systemically disappointed me). Bring it, boys.

12/14 & 12/21 The Renovation (Thai mini One31) 2 eps - Writer turns his blossoming romance with holiday resort owner into a novel.

12/29 Sangmin Dinneaw (Thai ????) ??eps - trailer Childhood friends (Thai & Korean) reunite after being apart for ten years. As the boys reconnect, their bond matures and feelings of romance begin to develop, in Thai.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

His smile. (Caged Again)

Look at them!

Look, I don't mean to tell you your business, but THIS? This is peak Thai BL. This is it. This is What They Do Best. Sure they dabble with silly kinky crimey-whiney fashizzal, but Thailand's true BL power is right here, in the sweet awkward school-set first love arghhhhh. Yes I said, school. Bite me. (Love Sick... damn it, 10 years later and it still has me in a choke hold.)

Hey all you idiots who thought (or think) there is ever a green flag in any Mame ever, this character if for you. This boy, THIS ONE. This is what a walking talking ACTING green flag energy actually looks like. You wanna date a dude? Find you one like him. Okay, peaches? sheesh

Meanwhile, this, this is not a green flag. This is GMMTV thinking they are being clever by calling out Thai BLs' worst behavior to make a character who has 'slightly less than worst behavior' look better. Sigh. When meta is used for ill gotten gains.

This, on the other hand is meta being cleverly deployed.

And this is language play. P'ABL's favorite.

So endeth this lesson.

(last week)

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[you-little-arsonist]

sooooo, i haven't read everyone's takes yet but. my expectations for a buddie hint in the finale were higher than i realized and i'm not Great At Emotions so i had to kind of sit with my disappointment for a while bc i felt upset, and i felt kind of stupid for being upset. but after i turned it off, logged the fuck out for a few hours, got some sleep, and talked it out a little with a pal, i feel a lot better and things seem clearer

everyone's feelings are valid, feel however you feel about it, i am not here to be all toxic positivity. to anyone. i was really disappointed. after the ryliver press tour, the kitchen scene, and all the callbacks that made me think they were going to drop a buddie hint, it sucked when they didn't. am i way too invested in the gay firefighters on the gay firefighter show? probably i guess

but. i don't think it's as bad as it felt last night. like, we didn't get an explicit reference to buddie, but we didn't get nothing, either. we have actually gotten quite a few significant things in the episodes leading up to the finale. lots of feelings!! buck thinking about his feelings for eddie, eddie letting him know he needed him when bobby died, those things are not nothing. they're small steps toward a big thing. it's going to take a lot of small steps to get there

just some thoughts

eddie and chris are back in LA, and eddie back in LA means buck has to physically look him in the eye after now having been asked about his feelings for him. that's going to have to be addressed

sure buck is looking for apartments but why is he doing so in the most pitiful, meow meow way. his bestie is home, you'd think he'd be thrilled, but no he looked sad in a way that wasn't tied to bobby. personally i feel that there's something there that's going to have to be addressed

not to keep going about GA this GA that but as a friend pointed out, for the queers the slow burn might have started in season 2, but for those GA viewers, the slow burn hasn't even started yet. the seed was only just planted by tommy and maddie. we're going to have to show the general audience the YEARNING, it's about the PINING. do you see the vision

as for the queerbaiting allegations, those feelings are valid and i stand by that, but personally - for me - i don't feel truly queerbaited by a show that has so much queer rep and partly run by queer ppl (i know it can happen, i saw teen wolf happen but i don't think that's what's happening here) and for myself i feel like maybe it's okay to lean on that a little and trust it. maybe i will get hurt again, but i do have more trust in this show than i did for say, a prior unnamed show where the writers were actively homophobic

basically tldr i don't think it was queerbaiting, i still think they're doing buddie slowburn, they're just doing it slow. and you want slow, even if it feels unbearable now, so they do it right. there wasn't time in this episode to do anything justice, and i see that now that i've put down the ryliver cocaine and slept it off a little

which, final point - if you are doing a queer slowburn, turning the ryliver chemistry hose on full blast on a press tour before the finale is shitty but actually a smart strategy to keep the ratings up and the queers occupied going into hiatus without giving the GA whiplash, no matter how it makes me feel personally. yeah it's an underhanded, show business-y dick move to do it before the finale but i don't think that automatically makes it queerbait or means they won't do buddie. just my unpopular opinion i guess

[catnippackets]

disclaimer: as a sex-repulsed aroace person myself--

on one hand, there is definitely a bit of a double standard when it comes to handling canonically queer characters like, from what I've seen in the circles that I frequent (if you've had different experiences then great but I'm just telling it how I see it). for example, you're morally reprehensible if you ship a canon lesbian with a man or refer to a canon bi character as a lesbian. people will be so angry with you. and it's understandable, since there's so little queer rep in comparison to cishet rep that when there IS a rare actual queer character, the unofficial rule is "don't take that away from them when you add more headcanons to them". like, respect that this one is REAL and NOT just a headcanon. I think it makes perfect sense to feel upset when people take that away, even if it is just fiction and not even canon to the original source. and yet, whenever there exists a canon asexual character suddenly it's all "oh well asexual people can still have sex so it's fine if we headcanon THIS canon sexuality as something different". it makes me feel so genuinely heartache-y and depressed to see ppl ignoring that aspect of a character.

and by "canon" I'm also including characters that were never specifically referred to with a label but are very obviously coded as something, because those characters will still get the "even if it's not stated it's pretty obvious!!" treatment when it comes to showing attraction to the same gender, but not when they DON'T show attraction to any gender. like aro and/or ace coding just doesn't count. I understand that it's kind of hard to represent an absence of something, especially when you're only implying it and not even directly showing it, but it's not impossible. there's a lot of characters that you could argue are aroace coded the same way you could argue a character is gay coded. obviously to a degree every queer identity gets disrespected in fandom and it's something you just kinda have to deal with, but it's easier to notice when it's something you personally relate to. I don't think it would bother me as much if we didn't have that unofficial "respect the canon" rule and everyone just went wild with whatever, but the double standard does genuinely hurt me, especially when I see people I thought were cool about this stuff participating in it. so whenever I see someone fiercely defending an asexual character it really makes me feel good, like I'M being defended, not a random fictional character that I might not even recognize the name of. I feel safe, like that person will respect ME.

THAT BEING SAID,

AS a sex-repulsed aroace person who enjoys thinking about the entire spectrum of intimacy and where a character may fall exactly on that spectrum, ALSO as a person who is aware that "asexual" simply means "does not experience sexual attraction" and not necessarily "is violently repulsed by anything sexual", sometimes I DO want to play out scenarios for my own enjoyment. sometimes I DO want to think hm I wonder where this ace character's line is, compared to a different ace character. I wonder if there is anyone who would be an exception for them, and how they could go about dealing with that exception. I wonder if they're favourable, neutral, or repulsed. if those aspects of their character aren't explicitly stated then what's to stop me from playing around with them and working through my own issues in a controlled and non-canon environment? if they have the same identity as me, I am way more likely to want to play around with them like a doll and perhaps play out scenarios that I might have thought about before but don't actually want to do for real. I'm not taking away their identity, after all; I'm just, in this scenario, imagining this ace character as an ace that might have sex on at least one occasion for whatever reason. either just to try it, or because they do have someone they'd make an exception for, or if they got bored enough, whatever the reason. it isn't quite disrespecting their truth unless it's explicitly stated either in canon or by word of god that it's something they're uncomfortable with. and to be honest, if I see another asexual creator headcanoning a character as somewhere on the asexual spectrum and depicting them in sexual situations, it makes me almost happy, to know that they're still acknowledging that character's canon identity and accepting and exploring the nuance that could come with it, even if I personally believe that this specific character would be repulsed instead of neutral or favourable. there's this understanding of "I'm doing a character study exploration thing", and not "I don't care I just wanna sexualize this character"

but I literally feel GUILTY when I want to write what is essentially a thinkpiece disguised as a fanfiction or original story on asexuality and take an asexual character (canon or coded) and involve them in sexual situations to explore different avenues of the spectrum. I feel like I'm betraying everyone who's like me and is frustrated with how aroace characters are treated within fandom. I'm like "am I being just as bad as those other people who will disrespect a character's canon sexuality just because they think that character is hot and want to ship them with someone? do they do the same thing with other types of queer characters? how does this reflect that person's view of people, if they're explicitly told someone feels a certain way and decides to ignore it for their own amusement? or is it just because they're fictional and not real people and I'm being really sensitive and thinking way too much into it? am I not doing the exact same thing? do I have more credence to explore scenarios like this because I am aroace and sex-repulsed myself and therefore have a pass to do whatever I want and it won't come off as a little weird the way it might if someone who's allosexual did it?"

and these two opinions are at war in my mind constantly. like both of them can and do co-exist but I still struggle to accept that lol

[anxietycheesecake]

I'd like to ask you a very fair question: now that they no-homoed nandermo, now that we know for certain we aren't getting any gay relationship, what makes wwdits so high quality rep over other shows that have gay sex jokes and throw a coming out in an episode? Is it because they're actually having gay sex? Because it's still just played for laughs and treated as less than the canonical straight relationships (also "haha they're pervs who'll fuck anyone" isn't peak bi representation, that said as a bisexual who is a perv who will fuck anyone). What did wwdits do that other similar shows haven't done decades ago to earn that queer media��� recognition and be packed with OFMD and good omens, two actual extremely queer shows with gays having feelings beyond horny?

Not to say I didn't enjoy the episode because I absolutely did (queerbaiting aside), and it's amazing if you find this resolution satisfying. I do too, to some extent (as a start rather than an ending, tbh). But after so many years calling out how they teased a queer relationship they never intended to portray and then hit us with homophobic "let guys be friends" rethoric (you don't have to be homophobic to say homophobic shit) and getting absolutely dragged for it... was it all worth it? Don't you feel a little TJLC? Aren't you kind of mad that nothing has really changed since the days of Sherlock and Supernatural? Or, even worse, that now showrunners can point at characters, go "haha these bitches be gay af" and get awards for queer representation?

I love wwdits, even when I hate it. Nobody forced them at gunpoint to write season 3 and 4 like that, or be purposefully vague about what they were going for, or teasing the possibility of nandermo all over the marketing. If things have continued to go like in season 1 and 2, I'd be more than cool with this ending. If they had gone "holy shit, we didn't want to make it seem like it'd actually happen, we just thought it was funny that they acted so gay" and course-corrected after season 3 instead of doubling down, I wouldn't even call it queerbait. Sometimes people making media don't know how it's going to be received and that's okay. It becomes bait when you refuse to clarify and after pulling all that shit you act like fans are insane for noticing.

So by all means, continue to enjoy wwdits. This show means so much to me and if it had remained a plotless sitcom without character development that is just meant to make me laugh, I'd call it one of the best comedies I've ever watched. It's just that, in retrospective, they took the show in a direction that made no sense for them, ran with it for far too long and then asked why people expected so much from a show that wasn't meant to have any depth, despite all the times they tried to make it look like they knew where they were going.

[hatosaur]

tlou hbo ep.4 & its queer rep

i feel like it's pretty easy to get swept up in the gay representation of tlou hbo and i, like, understand that but i just can't jive with it when everything surrounding it is flawed at the base?

dina's character is pretty much entirely stripped of her jewishness to make way for this more "exploratory" approach to her bisexuality. with them removing a lot of the worldbuilding and exploration of seattle from the episode, we're not able to get those moments where we get to know dina along with ellie. there's no synagogue scene, no reminiscence, no grounding for the character, save for the bi "exploration". and even then, they don't dwell on the gay landmarks of seattle either (which could've helped solidify this internal struggle? also hence why "exploration" is in quotes; there was no exploring, in multiple ways) so i'm left wondering why did they decide to make this change in dina's character? because it is a fairly deliberate one to make, to change her from the assured queer character to one only just able to express her attraction.

beyond her explaining her feelings on it, is there going to be more? coming to terms with your sexuality is a pretty big step, especially on a revenge mission across state lines, and now it's a part of her character arc so will there be follow-through? will there be commitment? if not, it feels as if it was just tossed in to say, hey this is how the bi experience can be for some people, to the accolades of people who are fine with queer narratives just being THAT.

they didn't need to make one aspect of dina win out over another. she's jewish AND she's bi and both of these things matter greatly to her character and yet writers chose one at the end of the day.

and it's not like i have all bad things to say about episode 4. like yes i'm glad the sex was more explicit, yes i'm glad the culminating scene about ellie's immunity wasn't phoned in, yes i'm glad ellie makes a dad joke, but they didn't exactly land the plane on the evolution of their relationship.

because they've made such an issue out of ellie and dina's miscommunication that it's disrupted the plot entirely. like this is a problem between the characters that has nothing to do with abby or ellie's quest for revenge; it feels like for the entire episode, we're meant to forget about abby and everything else. none of it is meshing together and it feels like the way the relationship is written suffers from the same problems as the rest of the show:

they are giving too much. and for what?

why was the relationship emphasized in this way? why drag them into a belated start to their romance because dina has trouble accepting her attraction? why did the writers push aside dina's jewishness in favor of her bisexuality? is it all just meant to be a subplot?

i'm tired of queer narratives being introductory courses for straight audiences. i'm tired of US just lapping it up. i'm tired of being expected to be happy that we finally got lesbian sex onscreen, or even just tlou on tv. at what point can we just be queer, live as queer, be seen as normal on tv?

[bassiascoparia]

Properly developing and writing LGBTQ ships.

Ok, but when have we actually SEEN a good LGBTQ ship being DEVELOPED AND WRITTEN PROPERLY?

Like with Percabeth, you can see their development over the course of the series. WHEN HAVE WE SEEN THAT WITH GAY MALES OR LESBIAN FEMALES? I've never seen it (if you have, though, tell me please.)

We almost never get gay characters as major characters. Sure, Piper Mclean is bisexual, but we never knew it until the literal END of Trials of Apollo even though she was a major character in HOO and even starred as a side character for Trials of Apollo. Was her POV in HOO about discovering her bisexuality and coming out? No. Piper's representation is so shoved in that it barely counts, TBH. Though that is just my opinion on this matter-no need to agree with it.

And Nico di Angelo is gay, but his rep was handled terribly. A forced coming out with no closure and being paired off with a random side character to 'prove' his gayness. Also, Will being a terrible partner for Nico (sharing his medical information without authority, and being someone's doctor and boyfriend is problematic for boundaries. Nico could have had another doctor. Seriously, are there no Athena kids in the infirmary, or no trainee Apollo kids?).

I'm just saying that I'm not sure if Solangelo is good representation because we don't really get any development and whatever development there is on Nico's side is somewhat deteriorated. We don't even get much of Will as a character. No development at all.

And with the lesbian couple, Jo and Emmie, in ToA? No development-plus they got kicked out of a supposedly safe space for being lesbians. Very problematic.

And Piper and Shel? NOTHING. No page time. None whatsoever. No development or good writing.

Lavinia and Poison Oak? We're told, not shown. We don't even see Poison Oak.

Fierrochase is the only developed ship, and even then, it's a little rushed. (Just my opinion).