#hate that it's not a given in bl but you all know what i mean

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Mame is fielding one of my favorite shows, what is the world coming to?

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

(This was gonna be ready yesterday and then I realized I'd missed 2. Sigh. I'm doing well.)

Feb 2025 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

ThamePo (Fri YT) ep 10 of 12 - SHUT UP. I love them more than anything. I love how nervous and hesitant Thame was the next morning. Def the younger boy who bagged the experienced older dude. This show makes me go “aww” a lot. I do hate this part of the plot though. Because I loathe parasocial fandoms with every fiber of my being and this is why.

The Boy Next World (Sun IQIYI) ep 6 of 10 - The plot has gone wildly off the rails, like into Days of Our Lives waffle iron territory. It is utterly absurd. But I'm still watching it.

The Heart Killers (Weds Gaga) ep 12 end - I love Style so much. The perfect Brat but he is playing Petruchio not the shrew! Ironic and very kinky twist on the original. I also love how most BLs are like “we’re gonna separate them for 2-5 years in the final ep” and Kant & Style were all “fuck that noise.” 

Summary

Jojo directs this action romcom about assassin brothers (Khao & Joong) meets tattoo artist ex-booster (First) and very flirty mechanic (Dunk) conmen. I dithered over how to rate this. It felt like an 8 show wearing a 9’s britches. There were dropped threads, forgotten characters, and unfinished plot lines even with a particularly long run time. And, for me, it doesn’t have significant rewatch potential. But it was fun (when one applies no expectations or logic) and I enjoyed the wildly unhinged relationships and, weirdly, music. I mean nobody claimed that we needed Taming of the Shrew only with gay Thai hitman, but we really needed it. And no one asked for Petruchio as the gayest brat ever to strut his perfect skin and copped-top across our screen, and yet we loved him for it. Sure it didn’t make sense, was utterly absurd, but it was terribly earnest and sexy about it. IN the end this goes hand-in-hand with all these other absurd crime pieces we’ve been getting since KP, and frankly I like this one the best from Thailand so far. 9/10 but I’m slightly uncomfortable with that decision.

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT) ep 16 of 24 - It’s cute. They were cute. I enjoyed it. But I am still mostly just looking forward to the next couple.

Sangmin Dinneaw (Sun iQIYI) ep 7-8 end - I forgot to watch this one for over a week, goes to show how engaged I am. Anygay, ep 7 amnesia trope is ago. A lot the ep was fuss in hospitals so I went ahead and watched the finale as well. It was fine.

Conclusion

Given its charmingly simple premise and a solid lead pair, this could’ve been quite an tidy little BL, but it went all weird and slapstick and overtly sexual (and I enjoy high heat). It was a little bit like YYY meets modern Thai BL but mixed with early Japanese pinks. All very strange. I ended up being half bored half annoyed half confused half embarrassed. And if that’s too many halves for you, now you know how I felt. 5/10 

Flirt Milk (Sat YT) ep 4 or 10 - Umm plot? Where are you?

Ossan‘s Love Thailand (Mon YouTube) ep 6 of 12 - Workplace harassment, form of... Thai BL. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

When it Rains it Pours (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - Is the live-in boyfriend meant to be perceived as a psychopath or just a controlling monster? I love how blunt Sei was with him. Such and honest little bean. Ah, controlling monster.  Well, I really hope they can resolve this in the final episode. Despite all of the pain I’m enjoying it, it's being true to itself.

This is JBL doing its thing and toeing the Tokyo in April party line. I don't know why anyone would expect anything different. Go watch Eternal Yesterday and drink me later. This is what Japan DOES with BL at least half the time. The more JBL we get, the more of this kind of show we get with it. It's a numbers game - just add bruises.

Heart Stain (Korea Weds IQIYI) eps 3-4 of 8 - I have to admit that the only reason I even tolerate love triangles as a trope is because of K-dramas. But I still don’t like it. That said, I do like all of the honesty and conflict that's built into this story and frankly dealt with because of the trope. And I love how massive Woohyeon is so baby girl. The lap sitting was extremely cute. The teacher finding them lap sitting was also cute. And the handhold drag afterwards was cutest. The whole scene was adorable. 

FC Soldout (Korea Thurs iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 8 - Tiny idiots. Every. Single. One. (@heretherebedork you must be loving these boys.) Give me a sec to talk to a character: Captain. Sweetcheeks. You know there are better ways to exhaust your adorable boy-toy late at night than forcing him to do physical labor, right? Or, at least, not that kind of physical labor.

Eternal Butler (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 9 of 12 - Oooo. emotional Ever 4. Poor baby. I did want to see him kick ass. Hopefully that’s the beginning of next week’s episode. 

Impression of Youth (Taiwan Weds Viki) eps 6 of 9 - Very little happened in this episode. Lots of flashbacks. And stuff we’ve already seen.

Fight for Love (Vietnam YT) ep 2 - Ooo 2 timing? Coils within coils, tongues within tongues, my goodness these boys are getting around. It’s all very messy gay drama llama ding dong but... comedy. It’s a new one on me. But sooner that than Thailand’s Only Friends version.

Exclusive Love (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 1-2 of 12 - Shy aspiring singer inherits funeral business. Nice to have something more from Taiwan to watch. But this is extremely odd, and somewhat extreme behavior, given the premise. That is a lot of personnel and sunglasses just for one guitar-playing influencer. Even if I agree that he shouldn’t be allowed to play. Surreal that it’s a mafia funeral business, although I suppose it makes sense. It’s not creepy, but the creep-factor is high with this show. It's also v thirsty already. I kind of like the sides, but they seem to be in a different BL. So far, mostly whiplash but I'm not mad about it.

Checkered Shirt (Korea YT) ep 2 of 8 - It remains awkward and cute, but a little boring for a short. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 19 of 20 - Today in: how to tell your suicidal stepbro you wanna d**k him out. 

It's airing but......

Gelboys (Thai Weds iQIYI) ep 1 of 7 - I’m immediately terrified by the fact that he’s carrying a guitar around. It’s slow with that dirty gritty high school authenticity thing from OG Love Sick. Which is not my favorite style of any show, let alone BL. I always get Kids PTSD. I think I’m gonna give this show a pass. It’s just too far out of my wheelhouse. I don’t have patience for this right now.

The Last Time (Thai WeTV) trailer - from 2024, not sure about this one, looks dark. Since it's also difficult for me to get hold of I am giving it a pass until I know about the ending.

Speaking of which...

In Case You Missed it

I Will Turn Back Time (China Gaga) 6 eps - Spies report it does not end well. Stepbrothers trope = yeah! but all other messaging = boo. I'm not gonna bother.

End of year wraps are here!

2024 Trend Report

MY BEST & WORST BLs of 2024

Best Kisses (and sex scenes) of 2024

BL's 2024 Quirky Awards

2024 Awards - Quick Picks

Next Week Looks Like This:

2/21 Bali Hai (Thailand ????) no MDL listing, only rumors, unsure on deets.

2/27 Secret Relationships (Korea iQIYI) - Stars Wei's Kim Jun Seo. Adapted by Cradle Studio (Kakao). About clever and resourceful Daon who has worked hard to overcome being poor. His cheap ways annoy his coworker, Sunghyeon but after “an incident” with his parents, Daon grows closer to him. But Daon also has feelings for his former tutor. This has the signs of a classic Kdrama all over it: Office setting, love triangle, lead suffering for his self-actualization. I’m optimistic about a longer treatment.

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

Got nothing. Frankly you're lucky this came in a somewhat timely manner, with any screen caps at all. It's chaos 'round these parts.

(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

[youngirlfrom]

THE WICKED DIE ALONE

ɞ Someone like Y/N Kent has to find her true self, not just with the strength of a hero, but by walking the fine line between the light and darkness within. Because at the end of the day the wicked die alone. And for Y/N to die alone means all of humanity dies with her.

| Richard Grayson x Fem!Reader | chapter 3

Warnings: bl!!d, k!lling, mental health, slightly jason todd x reader, smut, english is not my first language.

Chapter 3 | chapter 2 , chapter 1

The bright lights of Metropolis disappeared behind her shrinking one by one. While the whole city was asleep, a storm was raging inside Y/N. The effect of this dream echoing in her chest would not dissipate.

Seeing Dick's dream… Witnessing his greatest pain, his darkest moment, even if unintentionally…

This was a limit she could not cross. It gave her a great conflict within herself: She wanted to tell him everything, share his burden, but at the same time she knew that she was violating Dick's privacy. She couldn't forgive herself for this.

Y/N had never told anyone about her dreams except her family. How could he say that anyway? How could she tell Damian that she saw his most private moments when he was just starting to respect her?

The clouds hanging over the city skyline were gloomy, befitting the Blüdhaven atmosphere. Blüdhaven was not as gloomy as Gotham, but it still contained a loneliness in the shadows of the seedy streets of the city.

Dick always say this city was worth fighting for. According to him, the city held hope because people were essentially good inside them. Bad men, especially corrupt police, were destroying this city.

Even at this time of night, Y/N was sure Dick would be on patrol. He was always working. He was giving his whole self for the city, for the people.

When she arrived at Blüdhaven, she immediately noticed a figure moving in the shadows. His eyes and movements were familiar. It was a fast, agile and deadly dance as always. But Y/N had known him for a very long time. There was fatigue behind these movements.

Instead of going directly there, she first hovered over the city for a bit. Maybe she should have given up.

But she couldn't.

When Dick stood on the roof of a tall building and started watching something carefully, Y/N slowly descended to the roof.

Y/N said with a slight smile, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at those broad shoulders of Dick. "You look tired, Grayson."

Dick "Fuck!" he shouted loudly and reflexively quickly took out his escrima sticks. But when he looked at the owner of the voice, the expression on his face was mixed with surprise and concern. "Y/N? What are you doing here?"

Y/N paused for a moment before answering. She averted her eyes and bit her lips. Dick knew immediately that something was wrong, so he tried to warm things up as he took a few steps closer to her. "Are you tired of patrolling Metropolis?"

Y/N smiled slightly, but there was still a shadow in her eyes. "I needed to take a breather," she said, sounding more tired than usual.

Studying her face, Dick wondered if she ever slept. The under eyes had become more prominent. "Are you just here to breathe, or did something else happen?"

Y/N stole a glance. "I thought I could help lower Blüdhaven's crime rate a little."

Dick tilted his head. "You know me, Y/N. I can tell when you're hiding something." Y/N hated how good he was at reading people.

Y/N took a deep breath, feeling how the wind cooled the night. For a moment she wanted to tell everything. Dick's past, that terrible night she dreamed of, the pain he experienced as a child… But she couldn't do it. Because if she told, it might shake Dick's trust in her. It was as if she had witnessed his most intimate moments and deepest pain.

"It's no big deal," she said finally.

Dick gently held her chin and made her look at him. "I know something happened." He whispered. "Tell me."

That voice… Should Y/N melt into that soft touch or his voice? It was already hard not to throw herself into his arms.

Y/N looked away. "It's quieter here. Sometimes… it's easier to be alone."

Dick continued to look at her face. "But you don't want to be alone, do you?"

Y/N paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke. "Sometimes you don't realize how the past catches up with you, right? You have a dream or a moment comes and everything piles up on you."

Dick remained silent but then ask. "Did you dream? Was it like some kind of nightmare?"

"Kinda."

Dick noticed how difficult she was talking. He decided that this was not something that could be handled on the roof and he gripped her waist tightly.

Y/N jumped from the sudden contact. "What are you doing?" Before she could say it, she was interrupted by Dick jumping off the roof.

"I'm taking you home."

"You know I can fly, right?" She asked and didn't bother suppressing her laughter when Dick leapt into another building with her.

"You can't deny that you didn't enjoy this." Said Dick as he matched her laughter. "Besides, you don't know where I live."

Instead of paying attention to what he was saying, Y/N was too busy having fun with Dick taking her from rooftop to rooftop. It was like flying on his father's back when he was little.

And soon the dick stopped in front of an apartment. Y/N had wished the little excursion had lasted a little longer but she didn't comment. "Do you live here?"

Dick nodded before encouraging her to walk ahead. "After you, ma'am."

Y/N felt her heart warming at Dick's efforts to comfort her and walked through the door he opened. When she entered, she was greeted with dim lights and deep silence. Dick's house was worse than she thought.

The air in the house was heavy, as if he had been trapped in loneliness for years. The dim light surrounded the room like a ghost; The middle of the hall was collapsed, sheets were scattered everywhere, there were a few old photographs hanging on the walls, coffee mugs thrown in a corner and scattered documents. Dick was using the place not as a home, but as a shelter.

"Do you live here?" she asked, shocked.

Dick sheepishly put his hand behind his neck. "I know it's a bit messy."

He laughed when he saw Y/N continuing to look at him in shock. "What is that face?"

Y/N rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "This is more than a little messy. Does a ghost live here or is it Dick Grayson?"

Dick smiled. "I spend my nights chasing criminals on the street, keeping the house in order is not really my priority."

Y/N rolled her eyes again and snapped her fingers. Purple energy swirled in the air like a whirlpool, and the items began to gather themselves together. The sofa was straightened, the coffee mugs floated into the kitchen, the mess on the floor settled into place. In a few seconds, the room was completely transformed.

Dick watched, fascinated. "Thats amazing."

Y/N glared at him. "Seriously, you could try harder."

"Please forgive me, ma'am, I will make this place spotless until your next visit." he said, leaning down. Looks like he was on his showmanship personality tonight.

Just as she was about to sit on the sofa, a dog barking echoed in the house.

"My god!" Y/N shouted and ran towards the dog. "You had a dog?"

"It's only been a week. I saved her from the thugs on the street. I call her Haley, but she probably won't stay here."

Y/N looked at him mockingly. "We both know that this is her home now." she said, sitting on the sofa with the little dog on her lap. Dick got up to change, leaving the two of them on the couch.

Haley closed her eyes after smelling Y/N's hand. She made a slight growling sound, a sign of comfort and trust. Y/N felt her heart soften for a moment. It felt oddly warming for Dick to have someone greet him like that when he came home. She didn't want him to live alone in this empty place.

She sighed as she continued to pet the little dog. "Man I miss Krypto."

When Dick returned a few minutes later after changing his clothes, he smiled slightly when he saw Y/N with the dog. "I think you're more attached to her than I am."

"I love animals." she said and smiled as if she had just thought of it. "Did you know Damian adopted another dog?"

Dick frowned in horror. "How many animals does he have?"

Y/N shrugged. "I stopped counting after those two cows." When she said that, they both laughed.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Do you have coffee?"

"If you think I'm going to make you drink coffee, you're wrong. You look like the Corpse Bride with those eyes." When he said Haley barked as if to confirm him.

"I haven't been able to sleep lately." she muttered as she settled further into the couch. After pouring water for the tea, Dick sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Are you having a nightmare?" he asked to understand her.

"Stuff like that." When she said that, they both fell silent. Y/N looked at Dick as she hugged the tiny being in her arms. She tried not to get flustered while those deep blue eyes were watching her from the beginning. She felt somehow at peace when she was around him. At that moment, she remembered why she had come here from Metropolis.

One of Dick's fingers, roaming Haley's torso, made contact with Y/N's hand. "Is it your dreams that brought you here?"

Y/N nodded. She felt like a little child. She moved his pinky finger towards Dick's pinky finger. "My dreams are not my own." she muttered.

The way Dick looked at her encouraged her, so she continued. She had come this far, whatever was going to happen, happened. "I can see other people's worst nightmares. Or someone's death."

Dick's expression changed as he tried to fully digest the words. The surprise on his face was replaced by deep thought. His ocean blue eyes were locked on Y/N's face; He was analyzing, trying to understand.

This was something he didn't know. He had heard a lot about Y/N's abilities. She could keep a collapsed building standing. By surrounding her body with a wave of energy, she could block all bullets. But this… this was something completely different.

"Other people's nightmares?" he repeated, his voice low and careful.

Y/N pressed her lips together, suddenly realizing that talking about this topic she had brought up was harder than she expected. Having Dick look at her so intently made her feel a little more vulnerable.

"Yes," She murmured. "It's not just dreams. Past… Future… I don't even know how it works. It just happens."

A muscle moved in Dick's face. “That's why you're here.”

Y/N looked away. She sighed as she ran her fingers through Haley's soft fur. "Yes," she said at last. "Tonight… I saw you."

Dick's body tensed involuntarily. Even at that moment, he was trying to control his reaction, but Y/N knew him enough to notice.

"Me?"

Y/N nodded. "When you were a child… That night."

Dick's pupils narrowed. That night. When that night was mentioned, everyone knew which night they were talking about. In a public arena, in the middle of Gotham's most famous circus, the night that changed Dick Grayson's life forever…

When Y/N saw that he wasn't saying anything, she continued. "I don't know if I should tell you this. I just…wanted you to know that. Because I care about you."

Dick's eyes were fixed on her, but the storm inside his was clearly evident. The first Robin, who grew up alongside Batman years ago, became one of the strongest heroes, but some wounds never healed.

There was silence for a while. Y/N waited for him to say anything, but Dick just turned his face away. He remained completely silent for a few seconds, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Y/N sighed, "If you don't want to talk about it—"

"What kind of dream was it?"

Dick's voice was softer than she expected. When Y/N looked at him, she could see that Dick was still reliving that night in his mind. So she couldn't lie to him.

"There was blood," she said slowly. "Voices… The screams of the crowd… But I remember you the most."

Dick's jaw tightened but he said nothing.

"You were standing in the middle of the stage," Y/N continued, her voice trailing off. "Your legs were shaking, your eyes were fixed on the lifeless bodies of your mother and father. And then, a voice…"

Dick tilted his head slightly, as if reliving that moment in his head.

"When I saw that…I understood you," Y/N sighed. "Why you are who you are… Why you fight for Blüdhaven, every night, every time."

Dick didn't speak for a long time. Y/N realized that he didn't know how to process this. Maybe it was too much. Maybe she should never have told him.

Dick turned to her. "That's why you looked sad," He said with a slight smile. "For me."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sorry for you, Grayson. You are my…"

Her sentence hung in the air. Y/N didn't know what to say. Dick tilted his head as if he understood what she was trying to say.

But then Dick bowed his head and laughed quietly.

"What?" Y/N asked in surprise.

Dick shook his head. "For you to feel guilty about something like that… It's just like your thing."

The familiar smile on Dick's face was back, but this time there was sadness in it. He stared at her for a few seconds, then pulled Y/N close to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

As Y/N felt the warmth of Dick's shoulder, she realized that the storm inside her was slowly calming down. She had finally shared this secret that she had kept inside her for so long, and what she feared had not happened. Dick didn't shut her out, didn't get angry, didn't even run away. Instead, he accepted her existence and chose to get closer to her.

As the silence dragged on, even Haley continued to sleep silently in Y/N's lap, as if realizing the sacredness of this moment. Y/N could feel Dick's breath on his shoulder, steady and calm.

"What kind of talent is this?" murmured Dick at last. "How do you deal with this?"

Y/N smiled, but she had a bitter feeling. "I can't handle it," She admitted. "Seeing people's deepest fears, losses, pain… Feeling like I have experienced them… Sometimes I even forget who I am."

Dick lifted his head a little and looked at her. His ocean blue eyes were shining with concern. "So you didn't share this with anyone?"

Y/N shook her head. "Except for my family… No. Mom and dad know that I sometimes have nightmares, but they don't know the details. "I couldn't tell Jon because I didn't want to scare him."

Dick bowed his head slightly. "And you told me."

Y/N looked at his face. "Yes."

Dick bit his lips to keep from smiling, but eventually gave up. "This made me feel special."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Don't make this a joke, Grayson."

Dick laughed, his voice echoing around the room like a soft melody. But there was something else behind his smile; that slight resentment that he always tries to hide, but never disappears from his eyes…

"I'm serious," he said. "Thank you for telling me this."

Y/N looked at him sideways. "Didn't you find me strange?"

Dick shrugged. "I already knew you are weird. This just added another item to the list." They laughed when he said. As the night slowly passed away, Y/N could feel her eyes closing.

Dick's smile softened a bit when he noticed Y/N's eyelids starting to feel heavy. Watching her fall asleep next to him like that, feeling so comfortable… it felt strangely warm inside.

Haley was curled up further in Y/N's lap, breathing peacefully. Y/N looked at Dick one last time before closing her eyes completely. Her eyes were tired, but there was a little peace in them.

"You can sleep," Dick said in a low voice. "You are safe here."

Y/N opened her lips to respond, but her eyes closed before the words came out. Dick watched her face for a moment. This girl, who was normally used to standing strong, was now completely defenseless and peaceful.

Dick slowly pulled the blanket from the edge of the couch and placed it over Y/N. He smiled when Haley stirred and gently brushed her tail over her little hand.

He didn't want to ruin this moment. But in the back of his mind, what Y/N had told him continued to echo.

"I can see other people's worst nightmares. Or someone's death."

This sentence stirred something inside Dick. Y/N's powers were even heavier than he expected. Witnessing people's darkest moments, feeling their pain… How could she handle this?

He couldn't wait to ask this, but not tonight. Tonight, for the first time, Y/N seemed to feel safe.

Dick slowly sat up, moving a little closer to the couch, careful not to wake Y/N. Her face was peaceful, but her pretty eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if she was still thinking about something even in her dreams.

Dick lowered his head and whispered in a low voice:

"What else have you seen, beautiful?"

Y/N stirred slightly but didn't wake up. Dick sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. No matter what, he wouldn't pressure her. She had to tell him this when she wanted to.

Just the fact that she fell asleep like that was a sign of trust in itself, right?

No matter how hard Dick resisted, fatigue eventually caught up with him. He leaned his head back against the back of the sofa, closed his eyes, and tried to quiet his mind for a moment. Y/N's steady breathing sounded like a lullaby to his ears along with the silence of the night.

There were no more patrols tonight. Tonight Blüdhaven could wait for them, for her.

Tonight Dick Grayson was more at peace than ever.

It was one of the best chapters I've ever written. I told you guys it would be worth the wait.

I love you all, see you next chapter 🩵🩵🩵

[alien-ally]

Now, idk how but here goes a few things that were dragged out of me, as i witness the split opinions on heesu in class 2. let me start out by saying: i'm a fan of the show :) and i know next to nothing about the manhwa. just so it's clear from the get go.

i haven't watched kdramas in a long while, so i suppose i'd been in the bl bubble exclusively for that entire time. i dont prefer kdramas, or uh straight romances very much personally. hence while watching the first couple eps of heesu, i had pretty much the same reaction. annoyance, disappointment, what more, my interest dropped steadily for a bit until i decided i would drop the show entirely if it dint focus more on the queer storyline, essentially our mc's plot more, in the following episodes. I got on tumblr like i usually do whenever i'm watching one of my bls, and boom, instantly more perspective unlocked. 'thematic foil' the phrase that stuck with me the most. a set of characters in a story getting focus and being followed along their journey apart from the mc, to serve as a foil that demonstrates what exactly the mc could be having, or how it usually goes for the majority of people, a majority our mc clearly isn't a part of. Several characters going about crushes in their own ways, what i enjoyed the most is how the show doesn't subtly pin any of them as 'right' or 'wrong', something i was worried they'd do. Heesu is always supportive of his sisters, no matter what errand he's in the middle of running, he always makes sure they're fine first before heading out. and most importantly, the best advice received by one of the sisters, was in fact not given by the mc but by another sister itself, heejeong to heejae. which i thought was really cool.

Admittedly, i wasn't a fan of the sisters in the beginning, but i guess that's just more on my own cynicism towards dating trends in general. as time passed though, they grew on me significantly. i mean, there's a charming sort of integrity to each sister's ways you can't ignore. another thing: the complaints about no kissing. i hardly ever find this argument to be nuanced, probably the most irritating reason people put out to dismiss an entire show as 'bad'. we see the formation of 2 straight high school couples, along with the boys, now had they been shown kissing or even toeing the lines of any other kind of physical intimacy other than holding hands or hugging, i would've extended that expectation to heesu and seungwon. but here, these kids just are not doing that yet. is that such a hard pill to swallow? bruh, it doesn't become straight washing cause the gay couple dint kiss or cause the straight couple got equal (note: equal) screen time. heesu is not a bl, sure. But it IS a queer kdrama. with a QUEER mc and his QUEER pining classmate (soon to be boyfriend) who has TWO moms. the third thing isn't focused on a lot but man i loved that scene in the last episode where seungwon's mom asks how much she should disclose at the meeting. and his reply, 'if you start lying, i'll have to continue it'.

Now. the last scene, which the non-fans seem to hate the most. but in fact the scene i loved the most. heesu looks back at chanyoung and jiyu walking close behind them, watches cy put his arm around jy with something like yearning flickering in his eye, he turns around, blinks it away and goes back to smiling. seungwon notices, puts his arm around heesu and when heesu kinda hesitates, asks him not to worry (about getting outed basically) cause people are just gonna assume they're close friends or some shit. like all throughout history, this has been used to erase queer people and their relationships. why not use it to your own advantage now? my favorite thing about his dailogue tho, is that it's meant to be reassuring. Seungwon is reassuring Heesu that he's proud about their relationship and wouldn't mind making it public. that he's fine with people finding out. how great is that to hear, when you've been shouldering all this turmoil alone for years, like how Heesu has been doing? Wonderful scene. episode 8,9 and 10 were my favorites and i would totally recommend this show to anyone looking for a wholesome little QUEER teen kdrama experience.

[nabi-unveiled]

Nabi Notices (May 28, 2025)

It's been a few weeks since I did one of these. Life got busy.

In funny/not-so-funny things, I got told at a family gathering this weekend that I need to "not take things so literally" and "to look for the meaning behind words". 🤣 And besides internally dying with laughter, I only had one thought....

I'm proud of myself. I didn't say it out loud at least. They obviously don't know me well. I guess it takes more than 20 years😅.

In blog world, I've been having a fantastic time thinking about tropes and exploring tags about older shows I enjoyed. @watchthisqqq and @my-rose-tinted-glasses -> I'm still working on my "Old QL tag game" post. Apparently dates are the detail I DON'T notice, and I've watched BLs and queer media in general for so long that they're all mixed up together in my head. I probably should've just went with the first five I thought of and could confirm were pre-2020 instead of trying to actually pick favorites. I'm never good at rankings.

The Things I Noticed This Week:

I'm watching a mix of currently airing and older stuff at the moment. I definitely have not watched everything that's currently airing, and I'm finding myself binging more lately. Frankly, with the way work is currently, binging or replaying episodes is easier. The fewer decisions I'm having to make in other areas, the better. LOL.

Fabulous Fit

Since it's been a few weeks, I'm going to post a few here.

My Stubborn - Episode 5

I love both of their outfits in this scene. Black tee and jeans is pretty much a sexy staple, but beyond that -> Boat wore it extremely well. Petition to just do casual dress day at the office from here on out. It's not like we're professionals anyways. And the cloud sweater? It pops up frequently, but I want it every single time.

Pit Babe 2 -> Episode 3

Do I love this shirt with it's heart cut out? Do I hate it? I haven't decided. But I KEEP thinking about it which says...something.

Light on Me

We all know I love a good sweater, but pairing it with a fun hat to match? It's a look that brought me joy. We have enough gimmicky country themed events around here for me to know that I'd wear it if the occasion served.

And not really an entire fit, but I loved the fact that Xiao Bai wore BOTH ear cuffs while they were apart in Fight for You. The food symbolism and finger bite in the NC scene were nice bonuses.

Fascinating Find

My main deep dive this past week was into all of the symbols of The Next Prince, because it's feeding my clown car theories. Main summary -> the blue flag has an asterism on it that represents the crocodile king. A figure that is NOT the good guy in Thai folklore. I never fear the snake easily spotted in the open as much as the one hidden in the grass.

Fantastic Frame

There have been a lot of frames I've enjoyed. I will continue to reblog pretty much every variation of the Ramil/Paytai scenes from this week. As many brilliant people have discussed, their scenes feature so much good framing and lighting. It's feeding my obsession with them a wee bit. Not that it was hard to do given the characters' dynamic.

But one that I haven't discussed -> this one in Boys in Love.

The siblings all together embracing each other, because they ARE a unit no matter what problems loom behind them. And while they may have some terrible parents, they are not without support. Their support crew just comes in the teenage variety. Watching over them joyfully in the background. No judgment, just ready to hop in the car if needed and lend a helping hand on their journey.

Fun Flourish

Knock Out easily won this category this week with episode 3. I often save this category for just small, whimsical additions or something random I noticed.

But this kiss through the barrier....

And the incredible use of oil demanded attention.

Between this and IFYLITA, Director Tee knows how to shoot an oil scene is all I'm saying.

Favorite Fragment

I do not think I have ever seen the word "fuddy-duddy" in a subtitle previously, but it's a term my mother uses ALL the time. I was cackling throughout this scene in The Untamed.

I also really enjoyed this bit of dialogue from Two Husbands, One Wife as Mia contemplates what it really means to be in a poly relationship.

It was such a great way of describing that in a throuple, there are three sides that are all connected without any one of them holding more importance than the others.

My Queue for the Coming Week:

As always, this is up to whim and fancy. I'm going to watch a lot of things that are NOT on this list. But here's the ones that I'm fairly certain I'll watch.

My Stubborn (Ep 7)

Two Husbands, One Wife (Ep 8)

The Next Prince (Ep 5)

The Untamed (I've finished through episode 3. I'm just going to chip away a bit at a time on this one. There are SO many episodes 😭.)

Moonlight Chicken (Ep 2)

Love for Love's Sake (Ep 6) -> maybe. This just depends on if I get a big enough chunk of time. I can't do this one while working or doing anything else since I'm liveblogging it.

[popleedelululand]

How many people on twitter do you think I will manage to piss of with that one ?

Edit : for context, some fan were mad when they saw the pics used to promote the worship event (Pavel in front, Pooh behind....bc Thup being the MC, he should be in front, or next to Singha....even MTRD.S had to post to calm thing down....pics in the reblog)

I was so happy and even more exited for the series after the news of Lee being in it....and yet that fucking fandom managed the monumental task of even ruining that....and when i say monumental, i mean it. (I've been an atiny for more than 6 years, i've been through hell (kingdom era) for Ateez and I love both them and the Pit Babe boys the same, they both cames into my life when i needed them and i hope they stay forever. And yet, people in this fandom (PitBabe) managed to do in 6 month what dozen of deadly toxic kpop fandom never archived in 6 years.....make my indifferent to what happens....both the good and the bad....and it hurts ) So let me tell you this, the first thing I learned as an Atiny, almost 7 years ago. To outsider/non fan, fans are the image of the artist, as much as the artist themselves. If the fandom as a bad reputation, the artist will be affected. And i'm telling you this because for the past 4-6 month (if not even before) this fandom and mostly #BabeCats #poohhoopers and #BabeHooPers have not given a very positive image to non fan. You blame the company for the "flop" of Pit Babe the series when it comes to numbers...but have you seen what the # may look like outsider bl fan ? The amount of negativity every single day about every single things ? Do you really think that people will take precious minutes of their life to subject themself to overwhelming negativity just to (re)post a few tweet ??? I know most of you don't give a fuck about non fan....but they are an essential part of a series survival. I'm not saying the company is blameless. They made mistakes and somr questionable choices. But that not something that the majority of viewers cares about, or are even aware of. What they see is negativity upon negativity....and turns away. I know some of only have the best interests of the boys in mind....but if you continue this cycle of negativity, complains and down right whining, you may cause more harm than good. Look what happened today....the author herself had to step up to tell you to stop this madness (and I will lot even talk about the bullshit i saw about SayDarin....gfy) I know that i expose myself to hate and criticism by posting this, but i need to get it of my chest... And if this post make you want to insult me, 1 you're part of the problem i describe and 2....is that really the image you want to give of this fandom, of your artist? I'm not putting everyone in the same bag of course. I often interacted with people who honestly make being on here bearable (i will not @ you, but all of you should recognize themself ^^you and your common senseare more than needed on here)

I will keep on posting on tumblr, bc its fun and i genuinely like interacting with people on here....but outside.....it's so exhausting

[kooktrash]

Fighting heart mc has a little accident at home and needs to go to the hospital (maybe for stitches?) and jk calls her and nurse pick it up and says that she’s in hospital 😌 And of course he got panicked and rushed to the hospital and even after he saw that she’s perfectly fine he can’t help but cry because of the fear and all those ugly emotions (and he thought that something big happened to her) 😭😭 And of course he wouldn’t stop gushing over her and be her ‘yes man’

oooof I missed these two idk. jk has always been the more stressed out one so I could def see him completely losing his shit while oc is like “🤷🏽‍♀️Shit happens” he def makes a bigger deal out of it.

FIGHTING HEART

warnings: mentions of bl**d, oc cuts her leg with glass. jk gets anxiety from it. oc needed stitches 2.4K words.

You never considered yourself a handy man of any sort. You hate getting your hands dirty and you hate doing any sort of hard labor at all—it’ll mess up your manicure, but today you didn’t have much of a choice. You had just been lounging around your apartment all day with Jimin who decided he would come over and keep you company. Your boyfriend, Jungkook, has been stuck training lately because he’s got a big fight coming up and Jin has been really strict on him because of it. Even if he won’t admit it, you know he’s been stressed because if he wins, he’ll win big.

Jungkook has finally begun to really establish himself as a real boxer and right now he’s getting so many calls from just about anyone in the boxing world looking to set a match with him. He’s so close to being the lightweight champion and you know it’s been a lot of pressure on him so all you’ve wanted to do was show him your support and show him he could rely on you.

Maybe that’s why you decided to tackle this issue on your own today.

“You’re scaring me, Y/n,” Jimin said as he watched you stand on your kitchen counter trying to switch out a lightbulb, “If you fall Jungkook is going to kill me.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes as you turned to him with the huge, heavy lightbulb in your hands, “Stop being so negative, I’m very capable of changing a lightbulb, thank you very much.”

Jimin released a sigh, “I mean… if you say so.”

Jungkook was exhausted, his body ached everywhere and all he wanted to do was drive over to you, pull you into a bath with him and hopefully fall asleep after. Lately it feels like all he’s done is train with Hobi and right now he just wants to stop it all and go see you.

Of course he’s thankful for all the opportunities he’s been given in life but right now he just wants to be selfish and hang out with the love of his life without worrying about the newest brand deal—which right now, Calvin Klein has been blowing up Jin’s phone to sign the new and upcoming boxer as a brand ambassador. He thinks he’ll do it but only if he can get you signed on as well, it’s not like they would say no with the connections you have. Maybe he’ll talk to you about it tonight.

“Alright Kook, you wanna rest up tonight because tomorrow we’re doing it all over again,” Hoseok said to him as they walked toward their parked cars ready to end today’s session, “Are you going to see Y/n?”

“That’s the plan,” Jungkook said, already taking his phone out to call you, “I’m thinking we’ll get dinner and after that probably just lounge around.”

They said their goodbyes and once Jungkook was in the privacy of his car, he called you. Lately, he’s been so busy he almost feels guilty for not being able to see you. You’re so supportive and loving and all he wants to do is spend all his time with you but he’s finally doing something with his life and it’s all because of you so he just continues to push himself to his limits. He wants to be with someone worthy of you, no matter how many times you assure him you’ll love him no matter what.

You chose him over anyone else, even when you saw his poor living conditions with leaking roofs and broken cabinets. You stayed with him when you saw him lose control at an underground fight club. You’ve chosen him and he loves you so much that he misses you anytime he’s away.

When the call went to voicemail he couldn’t help but be confused, you told him you would just be home today so he wondered why you wouldn’t answer. Maybe you were sleeping or not around your phone, so he called you again just to be sure.

“Hello?”

Jungkook pulled the phone away from his ear, looking down at the screen to make sure he had in fact called you and not whatever guy was currently answering the phone, “Y/n?”

“Jungkook,” Jimin cleared his throat awkwardly, “Um, this is Jimin.”

He released a breath in relief, “Oh, where’s Y/n?”

“Um,” Jimin bit his lip nervously as he looked behind him. Jungkook waited for him to speak but the longer he stayed quiet the more worried he got. Why did Jimin answer your phone and why did he seem so nervous?

“Y/n can’t really answer the phone right now,” Jimin said, already imagining your overprotective boyfriend plunging his fist into Jimin’s pretty head, “She had an accident an—“

“What?” Jungkook hit the brakes hard, completely forgetting he was trying to drive out of the parking lot, “What do you mean accident? Where is she?”

“We’re at the hospital right now, they’re giving her stitches—“

“Where?” Jungkook’s voice dropped to a low octave as his blood ran cold. He barely listened to the hospital Jimin told him before he was hanging up and speeding toward you. He ran a couple red lights but he didn’t even care. He felt his anxiety begin to spike up to the point where his chest tightened painfully and it was getting hard for him to breathe.

Getting to the hospital all happened in a blur, he went straight to the E.R section and he knew that the nurse behind the counter thought he looked crazy.

He was drenched in sweat from training and his eyes were red, his hands shaky and his voice cracked when he asked what room you were in.

“She’s just finishing up surgery and she’ll be out soon, I’ll take you to where the friend is waiting,” the nurse said and he anxiously followed after her, biting his lip so hard that it bled. The elevator ride felt like an eternity and he ignored the nurse’s warning not to run as he searched for Jimin who sat outside the room with his head down.

“What happened?” Jungkook asked and there was no denying the panic in his voice. Jimin shot up out of his seat looking a little scared by the way Jungkook glared at him. Jimin bit his lip, “We were in her kitchen and Y/n was trying to change a stupid lightbulb and—“

“Ow!”

Jungkook looked to the room, the blinds were closed so he couldn’t even look in and the door was shut, “Oh my god, did she fall?”

Jimin nodded subtly, “Y/n dropped the bulb and I think it s-scared her and she ended up falling a-and, glass was everywhere a—“

“What the fuck were you doing?!” Jungkook yelled louder than he meant to and others immediately turned to him with worry. Jimin’s eyes widened at the way Jungkook grabbed at him and once Jungkook realized what he was doing, he immediately let him go, “I’m sorry, Jimin. Sorry… b-but, if something happens to Y/n…”

“I know man,” Jimin put a hand on his shoulder, “She’s just getting a few stitches and she’ll be out soon. I’m sorry.”

Jungkook sat down with his head in his hands, hiding himself as he shut his eyes trying to get his brain to shut up. He knows that you’ll be fine but he can’t help but imagine the worse. He’s been so busy lately and he told you he would switch the stupid lightbulb for you and just kept forgetting. This is all his fault. All of it.

The thought of you being hurt in even the slightest way made him sick to his stomach. You weren’t supposed to get hurt. He’s supposed to keep you safe and be there for you and he hasn’t been and he feels so fucking shitty because all he can picture right now is your fall. How bad was it? How did it happen? Jimin said there was glass everywhere…

How hurt were you?

It felt like years passed before they were finally let into the room. Jimin stood behind with guilt written all over his face as Jungkook went right to your side, immediately holding your face in his hands, “Baby, tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” you said with a smile as you looked down at your leg, “Just a couple stitches, nothing too bad.”

“Six stitches and a large piece of glass in her heel,” the doctor said as he looked down at his paperwork. Jungkook was hovering over you with his forehead pressed against yours, “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” You asked brushing his sticky hair out of his face, “I’m fine.”

“She did great,” the doctor said, finally getting Jungkook’s attention, “We’re going to prescribe something for the pain and finish up some paperwork. We have a pair of crutches Y/n could use but she should be healed in about three weeks. As of right now, I’d say put as little weight on her foot as possible, it was a big fall and she’s definitely bruised up.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Jungkook said and you looked at him. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you looked down at your boyfriend who lifted your knuckles to his lips and kissed the top of them. You could see his reddened eyes and when he looked up at you it was clear he was crying, this is the second time you’ve seen your strong boyfriend cry and it broke you.

“Jimin,” you looked to your friend, “Can you give us a minute?”

The doctor took that as his cue to go get the paperwork and leave with your friend until it was just you and Jungkook. “Baby,” you called to him once you were alone and he allowed himself to fully break down against your hospital bed, “What’s wrong? Are you mad? I know you told me to wait b-but, I just wan—“

“I’m so sorry,” he cried, tears falling down his cheeks, “I’m so fucking sorry, Y/n. I keep telling you over and over again that I want to be someone you deserve and I just keep disappointing you.”

You sat up suddenly, wincing a little as you shifted your leg and Jungkook immediately looked up with fear, “Jungkook, this isn’t your fault at all. This was an accident, I was being impatient. Even Jimin told me it was a bad idea but I wanted to prove that I could do things on my own, obviously not bu—“

“Baby, you’re so strong and you don’t even know it,” Jungkook said as he sat down on the edge, careful not to take up too much room, “So strong and smart that you can do anything. I just… I should’ve just done it the first time you told me.”

“Don’t blame yourself for this,” You combed his hair back before wiping his tears away with your thumb, “And shouldn’t I be the one crying? I just got six stitches.”

Jungkook sniffled as he leaned forward and pulled you into a tight hug, “I was so scared, baby, so fucking scared that something horrible happened and I just… I just couldn’t get over the fact that I wasn’t around.”

Your eyes met his and to help him calm down, and remind him he won’t lose you, you kissed him. Jungkook kissed you back wantonly, hand in your hair and salty tears on his tongue, “I love you so much.”

The wait for the paperwork took forever and Jimin sat in the corner of the room watching you and Jungkook. He had been so exhausted from his training that when he rested his head on your chest, he fell asleep.

“You’ve got a very concerned boyfriend on your hands,” the nurse said once she returned, “I hear he caused a commotion downstairs and out in the hall just worried sick about you.”

“I’m sure he did,” you said in a whisper, brushing a finger against his cheek that had him waking up slowly, eyes hazy as he looked up at you.

“Alright, well just follow the doctor’s orders, once the numbing block wears off you’ll feel some pain because you sprained your ankle. We’ll do a follow up in about a week, how does that sound? Now I need the one she’ll be leaving with to sign these documents.

“Sounds good, we’ll be here,” Jungkook had your hand in his as he signed the paper with his free hand, there were crutches in her hands and she was motioning for you to try and sit up. Jungkook didn’t hesitate to tuck an arm under your back and the other one under your knees before he was lifting you up.

“No need for crutches?” The nurse asked, watching Jungkook pick you up with ease. Jimin took them from her with a thank you, “I guess not.”

“Babe, I can walk,” you tried telling him as he cradled you in his arms, “I’m heavy.”

“Shh, I’ve made guys bigger than you tap out with one punch,” Jungkook said as he carried you to the elevator with Jimin hot on your trails, “I think I’m capable of carrying my injured girlfriend to the car.”

When you got to the hotel you lived at, Jungkook had yet to let your feet touch the car even once. He helped you to bed using a pillow to rest your leg and making sure you were comfortable as he ran around looking for things you might need.

You giggled, “Kook, I’m not paralyzed, I can walk, just give me some time.”

“I know you’re strong babe but I really don’t want you over exerting yourself,” he said, “Just tell me what you want and I’ll go do it.”

“I still need the lightbulb fixed.”

“On it.”

Jungkook ran out to the kitchen, nearly crying again once he saw the mess on your perfectly polished marble floors. Once again he was reminded that you had probably been in a lot of pain and he wasn’t around. There was blood mixed with thin glass all over the floor and he went to your supply closet to get the cleaning supplies. If Jimin wasn’t around, what would have happened? Would you have forced yourself to stand and call an ambulance? Would you have called him or would you think he was too busy to answer?

The next morning Jungkook did not leave your side one bit. He called Hobi and told him he wouldn’t make it to training and spent his day doing everything he could for you.

permanent taglist: @notmyfaultbutours @rerefundslocals @fandems @sugaluvmyg @guvgguk @kimyishin @libra04 @kooromiwrld @classycreationcupcake-blog @alwaysdreamingnotsleeping @cherrymonlightt @nikkiordonez12 @asking4-sanity @thvlover @saweetspoiled @uwu2rawr @shaybts-blog @babycandy111 @tearyjjeon @joons-uparupa @jeonninja @yellowcupid08 @02010802faves @knudsenheggedel @skzthinker @unnatae @aurorthi @beautywine @95ene @taekookstata @lilliankoo @shescharlie @annenakamura a @lesoleile @burnahtsw @babybella337 @kooloveys @ku-ku @chaelvrx @minnie-mouser22 @Imeneghd @whoa-jo @evajeonsworld @marvelbun @sunnikthv v @kochycooky @heyhowyoudoin3 @acielelyseen @giselleswifeee @jeonjk25 @ilikeitlikethatt @bangmechanpls @lvr2seok @badbyeyoongi @jaerisdiction @watermelonjuice15 @artmsmaid @xyahrinx @angeleen777 @jooniesxbby @brillantdarling

[earthmixsclowderofcats]

Okay but imagine being in ZeeNuNew’s shoes - you’re queer, confirmed dating but haters still pair you with women you interact with or just meet (business or not), tell you that you’re not ‘queer enough’ and your relationship that you confirmed years ago must be fanservice and if you tell something like ‘NuNew likes cold showers, I prefer warm/hot ones and it’s torturous for me’ (Zee has said it recently by the way, like days ago) people still act surprised:/ but I hope it’ll be better for them

It's definitely an interesting situation. Because like, coming at it from an outside perspective as I was, I was confused for a while. Over the top fan service is a staple of the genre tbh. But I think maybe people get stuck on the black and white and forget the nuance.

Like yeah, it can be fan service and they can also actually care for each other. Which is where I ended up. Because they were definitely playing it up, especially at the beginning of the relationship, but you can also see the genuine affection and emotional honesty, and you can see how it shifts over time.

Again, so wild to me that it's like living your own fake dating au. Committing to the bit to the point where it's no longer a bit. It sounds like a bl plot. (I mean DMD is literally doing a bl with that plot right now lol) That's so meta.

I think people are naturally skeptical, and I think that's probably for a good reason, as it's always best to keep yourself self aware when it comes to celebrities. But what's weird is the intensity with which people are either "pro" or "anti."

As if it's a matter that affects them personally. Like, if they are "pro" and proven wrong true love doesn't exist and they were fools all along and if they are "anti" and they're wrong they were hateful homophobic crones. When like. We are not part of the equation. But people are dedicating themselves to their stance so fully. Which is why I think I was going back and forth for a while before just being like ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

They are or are not whatever they are. They're cute as hell and act like a couple so that's the assumption I'm gonna live under.

You know the whole "if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck" thing?

I don't shower with my bros.

But instead of being like "hey, I change my mind once I've encountered new information" people double down in weird and frankly, queer phobic ways.

I can understand the confusion about their label because I understand it's a bit different culturally. Like, in a western sense most people would not consider it a confirmation because it was more of a "make your own assumptions" kind of thing. Which was what tripped me up for a while.

Tbh that would be the best possible response if it were secretly all fan service all along somehow. Because then that would give people the feeling of confirmation they want while still having the deniability of "I never actually said that."

But also, given the untraditional nature of their relationship, labels like that, especially at the time, may have just not been something they were worrying about. Like, I don't think there's a guidebook for this whole situation.

Sidenote: I am so charmed by the epic saga that is them vs showers.

Especially how Nunew likes to tease about Zee's snoring vs Zee teasing Nunew about his bad habit of not showering before bed. (But it's ok if Nunew does it because Nunew is always the exception it seems. Something the besties have in common. Nat is always the exception for Max.)

The shower ghost, etc. it's peak old married couple bickering.

Kind of like for whatever reason what convinced me about earthmix (on top of everything else) was that Mix pops Earth's zits. Like. That's a level of intimacy that simple costars do not have lmao.

When it's not just the cute shit, but also the gross stuff and the every day bickering that makes it feel genuine.

[evilbeepthemeep]

You know after watching James Somerton's dog shit Killing Stalking vid, I don't know how people didn't notice the racism.

He literally just analysed it from a western culture lens and divorced it from the culture it did come from.

As well as refusing to do any research into why it's classed as a romance. Pretending that straight women and the publishers were behind the categorisation of it as a romance. When it was marketed as a Boy's Love manhwa in its native country of South Korea. Meaning the whole point was you are meant to ship the characters together. Plus Boy's Love is a genre for a majority female audience. Who are mostly queer in some way.

He also complained about the sex scenes. Like the sex is there for people to get off to. Because even porn can have artistic merit and be a horror story. Sex and horror go hand in hand after all.

The most egregious thing was him bringing up an interview Koogi did in 2018 while KS was still being serialised to prove it wasn't a love story. Completely ignoring a different interview she did in 2019 once the story was over to confirm Sangwoo loved Bum.

Throughout that god-forsaken video he kept mispronouncing the characters names. Like he kept calling Bum things like bomb and balm while also always calling him Yoonbum, when Yoon is actually his family name and Bum is given name. And forever saying Sangwo instead of Sangwoo unless I'm wrong about that but I doubt it.

His anti Asian racism is so fucking blatant the only reason people didn't fucking say anything because it was hating on a comic that they disliked for being queer in the wrong way.

So if you did like James Somerton and didn't notice the racism, please check your biases. Talk to those of us who are into BL as a genre and actually listen to us when we say it's not straight girls fetishising gay men. It's usually queer people who enjoy our media to be different from what the West has to offer. Most of us aren't white either.

And if you liked the Untamed, I'm sad to break it to you but that was also a BL novel written by a woman who wrote kinky gay sex.

[ticklygiggles]

Lovelynim's tickletober Day 2: Accident

Ichikawa Giichi x Kikuchihara Jin

A/N: Day two! Big thanks to lovely @ppystkposts for requesting these two 😍 I'm so happy this manga got an anime because it's SO GOOD! I hope you enjoy it, cutie MWAH 💕

So far, in the story of my life...

"This time I really messed up!" Jin groaned in despair, looking at the mess on the floor.

This is what he got for taking things without permission. You shouldn't assume that your partner's things belong to you... especially when you know that there are things that don't really belong to them. Like that exquisite limited edition manga he just ruined!

Jin thought it would be a good idea, a very innocent good idea, to borrow the second volume of the bl manga that Giichi had lent him last night. He sat comfortably on the floor with his back leaning on Giichi's bed, the manga in one hand and a can of soda that Rei had given him in the other. Who would have thought that he would fall asleep for who knows how long and that when he woke up he would find that not only had the manga fallen from his hand, but also the soda can and the liquid had fallen on the book, completely damaging it.

Jin didn't even try to dry it, the soda had literally fallen on the manga like a fountain, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fix it with absolutely anything.

Giichi was going to kill him. Worse yet, he was going to break up with him! He could hear him already: 'Didn't I tell you clearly that these mangas belong to my little sister?! Couldn't you just wait for me to arrive?!'

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no- eek!"

"Hi. I'm ba-"

"I am so sorry!" Jin yelled lifting the still dripping book up for Giichi to look at it. "I am so so so sorry! I swear it was an accident! I was dr-drinking some soda and then I fell asleep and- and it was all Rei's fault because he gave it to me! Agh, of course it wasn't his fault, I just-"

"Please tell me that's not a limited edition one."

"... I'm so sorry."

Jin flinched when he heard Giichi sighing heavily, looking up at him he saw him throwing his backpack to the side and rubbing his temples as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry! I'll- I'll get a new one! No matter what I'll definitely get it!"

"Do you even know what 'limited edition' means?"

Jin flinched. Of course he knew... it meant it was limited as in you can't get it anywhere else. He groaned, finally letting the dirty manga fall on the floor.

"I- I promise I'll get it! Punish me, Ichikawa Giichi, but please don't break up with me!" Jin clasped his hands together in prayer, his eyes nearly filled with tears. "Please!"

Giichi sighed again and he nodded. "Fine." Jin flinched when Giichi suddenly fell on his knees in front of him. "Just know that I'll punish you until I think it's enough."

Something fluttered in Jin's chest, his cheeks flushing. No! Why was he getting excited over a punishment?! He nodded, gulping and closing his eyes.

"You also need to clean up this mess."

"I-I will, I prom- ahahaha!" Ridiculous, bubbly giggles erupted from his lips when Giichi suddenly grabbed his sides and squeezed them, tickling him. Jin squirmed, widening his eyes for one second before he shut them tightly again. "W-Wahahahait! Not thihihis!"

He tried to hold his laughter, gritting his teeth and whining, but it was impossible. He has always been terribly ticklish and he hated the day Giichi had found about it during one of their intimate times. He had simply brushed his spine a bit too lightly, and Jin was a giggly mess in seconds.

He should've known Giichi would choose this punishment.

"Quiet down. You're being too loud."

"It tihihihickles! H-How cahahan Ihihi- ahahah! N-No, nohohot thehehere!" Jin was almost sure he heard Giichi chuckling, but with his loud, high-pitched laughter, he couldn't really tell.

Giichi's fingers moved up and down Jin's torso at maddening speed, preventing Jin from getting too used to one spot before jumping to the other. Jin fell back onto the floor and Giichi easily straddled him, finding that horribly ticklish spot on the back of Jin's ribs, very close to his spine. Jin squealed overwhelmingly loudly as he threw his head back and arched his body up, trying to escape Giichi's fingers, but he couldn't, and it was entirely his fault for ruining something that wasn't even his.

He deserved this... but he was still too ticklish and couldn't help but squirm and laugh uncontrollably, blushing up to his ears and feeling tears of laughter running down the sides of his face.

"You're already crying? I'm barely starting, you know?"

Ah, he would definitely never take anything without permission ever again.

BONUS SCENE

"You know...," Giichi said after he finished wrecking Jin. The poor third year was gasping and twitching after enduring the tickling of his life. "That really wasn't the limited edition one. It just has a different cover, that's all."

Jin blinked a couple of times before he lifted his face to look at Giichi, oh that little shit was smirking down at him. "You-! Then why did you- AHAHAHA! Nohoho! N-No, plehehease!"

"Because you shouldn't even grab my stuff without my permission. Serves you right."

Serves him right, indeed.

[rewordthis]

Babanbabanban Vampire:

Rant post after ep.9. Yes, I have watched ep. 10. No, I don’t feel like talking about the episodes per se but more about trying to understand the fanbase…

So to begin, let me say how I hate ep. 9 for how much I laughed—you can’t possibly begin to comprehend my inner turmoil…

Yes— that’s a bolt on his ear. Mad about it!

Look, guys. I had the most. absolute. insane laugh since episode one of these series and the hate it gets actually made me think a lot—like… a lot lot.

But in this episode I sobered up quite rudely and out of the blue, so I’m going to address the slander this anime gets. Just ‘cause. 🤨

Every second dude on reddit, online anime sites and even here has been going “Grooming shit anime,” “Why did a disgusting grooming shit got animated?” “Why put grooming on Netflix?” etc.

And like… stupid-ass question. If anyone bothered to actually watch the thing—even from episode 1—they’d probably get that that’s just how Mori is.

This is a BL anime to be sure and as far as I have watched, there is no grooming whatsoever??? What are y’all even watching? I beg of you… tell me where does that idea even comes from?!

Like, Mori’s come clean from the very start with Rihito’s family about who and what he is and is heavily pointed that had he not been taken in, he’d most definitely left and leave them alone because—and he makes a point throughout the series so far, that—he’s not interested in children or girls. What he finds to love about Rihito is his purity and good nature, something his past lovers also had as a common trait. Thing is, though he’s been an in-house worker at their bathhouse for the past 10 years, because the family insisted on it, and that has most certainly given him the freedom and advantage of being close to Rihito, who he now knows since the age of 5. So actually, the fact is that he is very not subtly portrayed as the ‘danger that lurks close’ which is not lost on me nor should be on you despite the running gags, while at the same time I can’t find where this whole hate springs from…

His ridiculous, overemphasised boners and sexual excitement every time Rihito showcases his purity and airhead-nes is mainly an over-the-top way of conveying his fondness over a behaviour that would otherwise have you rolling your eyes inside your skull—the kid is simply too naive—and Mori’s 7-people-fit-in-this-tent boners are a huge comic relief to counter that. Like, you can’t be seriously comparing him to a groomer. Now, don’t get me wrong, he is definitely gay and attracted to Rihito, but Rihito is 15 already and Mori from episode 1 set that his conviction is to wait until the kid is 18 to drink his blood. Drinking his blood, means that Rihito dies! Btw. In case someone missed this detail…

Because guess what? He is a bonafide PREDATOR—A VAMPIRE! Get that???

His first thought every waking moment is the taste of Rihito’s blood. Not his wiener and not his ass. Plus, he’s already wasted 10 years of waiting for him. For real now…

Every man Mori is depicted to have had as a loved one in the past were all well grown-ass men. Someone that is 450 years old doesn’t become a pedo in one fell swoop. Please be careful of that shit.

Does his fixation on having virgin male blood is weird? Absolutely. Does he go out of his way to make sure Rihito stays a virgin until he kills him? 100% creep all way—not even blinking while throwing rocks at him! But considering it grooming? Grooming??? Really? It’s grooming if an adult eases a child into sexual acts and it’s also grooming when an adult goes around in the background (!) to prevent any sexual activity from ever taking place equally considered grooming? Where the fuck did this came from?

In that sense every fucking thing you’ve ever been taught or eased into even by your family could also be grooming. Get real. Just say you are a homophobe and stop watching the anime. And stop talking about it if you dropped it from episode 1; I am being serious about this one, too—if you have an opinion in something you haven’t bothered watching, listening, reading, NO YOU DON’T! YOU DIDN’T WATCH THE THING SO WHAT OPINION ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? IT’S JUST WHAT YOU THINK IT IS, NOT WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS! This is just your own prejudice.

I also know what Mori said, that Rihito is his masterpiece but I digress it was about grooming. I am sure it has more to do with Rihito being calm and feeling safe around him and having being told stories about Mori’s history, which as he said himself are filled with actual historical events that even secured him good grades in history class at school. Mori has been shown so far to be ‘the supporter’ of the people he has considered his loved ones, so personally, I believe that this is what he refers to. The whole problem, though is only Rihito’s grandfather actually believes Mori to be a real vampire. Like, this is seriously dangerous…

Also, at some point I wondered if having cared for Rihito for such a long time, Mori might actually be considering not killing him like Sakamoto asked, but that prospect was shot down pretty harshly, wasn’t it… huh.

The one thing that is very well buried under the shitload of sexual humour in these series is the fact that what we deal with is a blood-lusting, violent, cunning killer. Wether Mori has any ounce of pity inside him after caring for 10 whole years for Rihito since he was a little child and slowly coming to love him even after settling to feed on him due to circumstances, remains to be seen in the end of the three years-limit he has decided to take Rihito’s life… or the end of the manga, whichever comes first.

So once again I ask, where does this grooming thing comes from??? Genuinely.

Anyway, the anime was all spiced up humour and stupid laughs until episode 9 but now we are starting to see more shit hit the fan. Since the adaptation is the dreadful 12-episodes-long most anime are, though I don’t have high hopes of it concluding on our screens. Which is a shame really, because only the first 4 chapters have been translated by the manga and nothing else. Bummer. 😤

Now, I watched the new episode on Sunday but daaamn~ I still feel shitty about ep. 9… >:ω

I didn’t want Franken to be next, either. I was already very upset over the ending of episode 9 and… to be fair, I wanted to know whether my babyboy was so aggressively trying to find Mori because of that other vampire...

Dude.. I was so bitter over this. It was one of these times that—no, actually you know what? Don’t give me the credits just yet. I feel sick.

He was such a lovely lonely soul, it really hurt to think this was finally the end for him. Grrr~ And it’s not that he ended up that way just because he was a weirdo or because he was ugly or what have you. He 100% was thrown into the hunting thing and then chose this lifestyle out of his own accord in spite of the fact that he was actually cute and good-looking enough for girls to hit on, ok? All for Mori!!! 😫 He was so desperate from the very start and I felt so so sorry for him that I actually felt sad he didn’t get killed by Mori and rooted for him to die as he wished! So funny and cute like.. (◞‸◟)

Sakamoto has such an impact on my heart with the way he is written, it feels awful being tricked like that! Not that I’m not happy about him or that I didn’t thought how funny it was the way the realisation dawned on him but like… the wound was still fresh to get a laugh from me, I guess…

Bite this world! 😤

[bubbipond]

I’m sorry but what was I supposed to get from their mom’s speech? Normally I am able to tolerate parents even when they suck in Asian Bl’s because I acknowledge that cultures are different and how you see your parents will be different based on that. But what exactly was the point of this??

First of all, Yotha saying sorry? Why? What was there to be sorry for? Because he didn’t talk to the woman that abandoned him and then raised his brother and sent him back like he had a return policy??? And I just feel like it makes no sense to Yotha’s character because he is insanely protective of Fai. He was literally pissed that he wanted the lesser bed in the beginning of their episodes, but you mean to tell me I’m supposed to believe he’s just so OK with the woman who very literally is ruining his brother’s mental health??? He and Newton also KNOW that Fai is scarred from being sent back. So I don’t really understand the decision to have Yotha be so apologetic and see her in this new light? So everything is cool in Yotha’s eyes because he’s in fact the favorite? That literally makes no sense.

I realize Newton isn’t a central character but can we discuss how apathetic he looks about all this??? He seemed so unmoved by their mom and like he truly does not care. Which is another form of trauma and ptsd. He is seemingly quite a bit older than Yotha/Fai so even if he is 2-5 years older, that means he was quite an older kid when his mom ABANDONED them. To the point where he has become apathetic towards the entire situation. Except in his personal life where he admitted that he does not try to find love. Oh, and keep in mind he runs a bar, but all he ever does at his bar is drink??? The man is not OK.

Finally, the best character in the entire show was just told fuck you by his mom and nobody in that room flinched. It looks like Newton may have caught it but I can’t be 100% sure. It does appear that he is the only one who sees Faifa literally drowning in tears but who knows.

Fai has been walking around, not fully understanding why he was sent back just to be told that he was basically sent back so she could come back and vie for Yotha’s attention??? Plus a part of him must have known that she actually favored Yotha because he says it before she even explained it. Not to mention, I don’t even understand the whole, “ I wanted to go back” thing from their mom because why not leave them all, and still come back when you could??? What did taking one of them have? If they were all home, you could have still come back.??? I would have given it to her if she acknowledged her selfishness and past mistakes and said that there is no difference between her boys. Hell, I would have accepted her being like , “I was young and stupid and I will do anything to reconnect with all of you”. But instead, she’s like, “ oh yeah, I’m moving to England, wasn’t gonna tell any of you, was going to tell your dad who I’m supposed to hate (????), then book it to England without a word with my actual kids… but this works too” eYE.. Now I am forced to watch 6+ episodes of Fai liking a guy and helping him get with another guy. Please…tell me this is where I die because I hate this whole thing...

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - So Many GREAT Kisses!

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

(Please notice I am now using 6 dots in all ellipses because according to Taiwanese BL that's how we queers roll. Who am I to argue?)

Sept 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) ep 2 of 12 - A most excellent glow up. And it’s still a great show. And I cannot wait to see the many different faces of War. Bring on the Leverage of One action-packed mess. I'm waiting.  

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) ep 9 of 12 - I’m gonna say this because it drives me crazy. Why are boys in BL, when out and about the countryside, always dressed inappropriately for Thailand? If it’s hot, takeoff your damn jacket. I don’t mean to be crass or crazy or whatever. But don’t wear a jacket when it’s 90° with 90% humidity. In Thailand, jackets are for malls. Meanwhile, I’m an extrovert and that still seemed like an exhausting trip. Although, I suppose they didn’t show all the drive time in the van, when everyone is asleep.

Meanwhile, why are the sides so frustrating in this show? Authentic friends-to-lovers is always a slog. Finally a kiss! And a decent one.

New character? Aw! Hi Yu!!!! Gosh Putter is so cute.

Where were we? Oh yes, Beer is now heartbroken. Always the great fear in F2L that the friendship will be destroyed as a result. And it’s a decent fear. 

On a completely different note, I cannot help but wonder when somebody’s chue len is Beer, if that is because beer was involved in their conception. Like, it’s the name you give your "oops baby" from that drunken night at the club. Don’t mind me. I’m just over here in the corner being crass.

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 8 of 12 - That was one of the cutest wake up sequences ever depicted. Utterly adorable. And now he’s blind again? Oh my God this is such a soap opera, I can’t even. Meanwhile, wicked ice prince finally made his move. Gah! Why aren’t we getting more of this couple? I always love the sides best with this production house.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I love a hard fraught game of badminton. Even though we actually didn’t see play. YoIng claiming was so cute!!! And their shower kiss was v hot. Yay little show! Also cute use of the punishment trope!

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - The weight upon the shoulders of our idiot good guy kidnapper continues to pile up. So does the affection. The dude playing Q has sanpaku eyes. Cool. He’s not a particularly good actor though. Rough because everyone around him is giving their very best.

The problem is. I'm noticing. I shouldn't be noticing all the talent trying so hard. That usually means there is something wrong with the story, or there was something wrong on the set.

I don't know what to say at this juncture except I have the sinking suspicion this might not actually be a good show. (Covers head and cowers. Don't hate me.) I'd loved to be proved wrong, but my faith is GMMTV is only about 50% these days. And it probably should be lower.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 6 of 10 - I was so confused by how we suddenly got on a trip together, that I went back and re-watched the previous installment. And it still isn’t explained. So I have no idea why our leads are on a trip but apparently that’s the next trope to hit. I also have no idea how they're suddenly boyfriends. I’m just generally confused by this episode. It’s like an alt reality. We skipped over all of the stuff where they actually got into a relationship. In general I wasn’t wild about this episode.

The Trainee (Sun YT) ep 12fin - The most realistic thing about this show is that everybody is everybody else’s ex on any given set. I feel that in my bones. Or do I mean boner?

Frankly, both actors look better after a glow up and I guess pretending to be more their actual ages suits them? Considering what was actually done to invoke youth (a lot of the shine and gloss) aging them was an anti-glow up. A great mattification? Well...... this was a somewhat lackluster finale. (Thank you, thank you, the pun was unplanned. It's a gift.)

I don’t know. I guess I wanted to see Jane suffer? Work HARD to get the kid he abandoned back? I would’ve liked to have seen Ryan a little bit more competent and capable and his job. Maybe dating someone else. But I also do not want any more episodes. This was more than enough. So instead no separation, just boyfriends and a montage of their lives together, getting new and better jobs, moving in together, being supportive and sweet, etc... LOOK: It’s never a good sign when I immediately want to rewrite the show that I just saw.

In conclusion:

A story about a group of interns at a commercial video production company. While I genuinely love OffGun, I’m not convinced this was a good vehicle for them. Is it terrible for me to say, I miss their PickRome days? I don’t think they’ve ever had rolls that suited them better. Still, theirs was the best storyline in this ensemble piece masquerading as a BL, although they still fumbled the ending. Thus, I enjoyed about a 1/3 of it as much as possible, and 2/3 of it less than conceivable. 7/10 and I seriously considered dropping it to a 6/10 so don't push me.

Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 15 - Not gonna lie I was very skeptical. But I like it fine. Better than I expected because it’s been changed just enough. But it does need to stay changed. I don’t know what I’m trying to articulate here but…... I guess we’ll see.

Live in Love (Sun Gaga) ep 3 of 5 - It’s cute in a weird disjointed way. I’m enjoying it enough, I guess. I do like how forthright and direct Kla is. 

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - Ah. Bully romance. My old frenemy. Of course making this office based means +10 for workplace harassment. Well well well. This will be red flag party town I see. How VERY old school yaoi. It’s all very Cdrama CEO = dudes in suits walking on parquet (minus all the gay sex of course.) The jumping around between times and unfinished scenes is very strange. Is this Starhunter chaos only applied to a timeline?

Imma say this so they hear it at the back. YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE HAIR. If you do time jumps: change. the. hair. It's the easiest and best clue if you aren't going to apply a filter or other cinematography tricks. JUST CHANGE THE DAMN HAIR STYLE.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 9-10 of 12 - And now we all start using six dots in our……? A new coded way to indicate that one is into BL? I did think we were in a slight mire with ep 9, too much teacher filler. Not enough time spent with our boys. Meanwhile, sports day. Pouty Baby utilizing the power of Ge, in front of all of the classmates who do not realize how hard he is flirting and activating babygirl = one of the greatest things ever to happen on my screen. Essentially this was a version of the claiming trope, only nobody knew it but the two of them. Fucking genius. Yes, I watched it multiple times. Then babygirl is injured, the carrying and the flirting!!!! Gah!

I don’t mean to trivialize the show, but this is me and I can trivialize everything even something as brilliant as this. But that conversation about history at the beginning of ep 10...... Was that about topping and bottoming? Because it sure seemed that way.

And then...... Possibly the best only one bed trope twist ever?

This show is so fucking amazing.

And I am so worried about the end.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 7 of 10 - I love the kinkyness of our baby boy’s fantasy. Where he is the gift and his boyfriend is in uniform. Very nice. Thank you Japan. Never one to let kinky dogs lie. Also, the premise continues: one half thinks that they are already boyfriends and acts like it, and the other half is still trying to become a boyfriend. It’s absurd in that way that only Japanese miscommunication extraordinaire can be absurd. Also could Kyosuke be any more under his boy’s thumb? 

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 1-2 of 10 eps - Shiba is a top lawyer, angular aggressive bespectacled workaholic cat-type (Kitten? Babygirl? Tsundere? Some unholy combination of all 3?) I am reminded I should be more considerate of my potted plants. OMG the teasing and the little tongue sticking out. Haruto is such a flirt. I love this dynamic. What fun! Manic pixie dream boy but MAKE HIM EVIL! Or very high? Or a grifter? I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. But I’m enjoying it. It’s very...... very

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - Oh! Good kiss. Smart to have the younger character initiate. I also like that he put a stop to it and then went and had a long conversation with a friend about it. Cautious boy. Also shows how in control of the situation Sea is becoming. It works for this BL since he has the stronger personality. I don't care what the characters say, this is about Sea becoming a rock for Neil.

But the secondary couple is actually winning this show. I want so much more of them. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 8fin - I’m not sure that blackmailing and entrapment, especially of your ex, necessarily justifies cheating. Plus I never like it when it’s gays against gays. But what did I expect from this show? This whole series was basically Korea’s version of messy gay. If you liked Only Friends you’ll probably enjoy this bullshit. And they were quite pretty. I, however, am monumentally displeased. 4/10 FATALLY FLAWED but still, basically, BL, however…... do we want to support this kind of behavior?

KOREA PLEASE GIVE US A NEW PROPER BL!! WHERE ARE YOU? WE ARE SAD AND LOST WITHOUT YOU.

It's like now they discovered boys can kiss they can't be happy.

It's airing but...

The Hidden Moon (Sat WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger). A man is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai being converted into a café. He sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, falls in love with one of them. Was substantially recast. I loved IFYLITA except the ending so I think I'll let this one run it's course you can tell me if it's work tracking down... if they managed to land it. I have my doubts.

Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL and it's exactly as expected. I do not like it at all. And ya know what? There is plenty airing. DNF 

In case you missed it

I FINISHED Meet You at the Blossom (China). I ate crow, binged the fucker, and live blogged the experience. I enjoyed it a lot and got quite witty (I think) there are also puns (warning). But if you don't wanna slog though it, here are my final thoughts:

This was undeniably a wuxia and most definitely a BL. Evil stunning princely Cheekbones meets and falls in love with the bisexual disaster Dimples of his dreams. There’s a lot of floaty fighting, tangled plot, and overworked emotions. From start to finish it is exactly as it claims to be, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming (dubious conscent to the point of rape). I’m not wild about the wuxia genre, but I will tell you what I do like: Very pretty men in flowing robes + eye makeup + hair ribbons wafting about stabbing and kissing each other plus ridiculous soap opera machinations. I also like cheekbones and dimples. AND I love a stupid gay sleeve, okay? There was also truly epic levels of stink-eye, and that too is to be lauded. This show left me grinning like crazy. Was it great? Not really, but it was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely. 8/10

4 Minutes (Gaga) Ended - Spies reported in to say the ending was not-exactly-unhappy and mostly lackluster. I'm torn over whether to watch. My natural disinclination to binge, meets my dissatisfaction with wishy-washy, is going up against my love of high heat and pretty men. Oh the age old struggle between art and lust.

Mitsuya-sensei no keimakutekina ezuke finished and it’s reported to be solid. Age gap treated with respect. I'm curious, so I'll check it out if I can get hold of non-G-drive subs.

Next Week Looks Like This:

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.

Still Coming Sept 2024:

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love love love this execution of the punishment trope. What's Ai going to do to you, Yu? Ride you to death?

I Saw You in My Dream indeed.

Sigh. This show. (Addicted Heroin)

All praise one of BL's best-in-show glow-ups. Nicely done, Jack.

James, on the other hand. Never needs a glow-up. Still the prettiest. Has been since Oxygen. (Battle of the Writers)

He's playing the role of Saint in this show, thank you very much. Speaking of which, wouldn’t that be just the most gorgeous pairing in the entire universe? Saint and James? I’ll be in my bunk. 

Taiwan giving us a boop! Reminds me of Be Loved In House I Do, right up there with TharnType as chronic boopers.

Why is he SO GOOD in this show?

All Frist Note.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

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

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many at-ings.

[ecargmura]

Twilight Out Of Focus Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - Their Red Thread

What do you mean we’re at the part of the season where all the shows are going to end? What do you mean that I have to part ways with Twilight Out of Focus? *sigh* I love but also hate it when seasonal shows end. It’s nice that it ends so that it’d be a nice memory, but parting ways with it also hurts, you know?

Anyways, I do like that the issues Hisamao face in the finale is Hisashi’s growing insecurities. At first, he never really expressed or showed his insecure side, but now that he’s in a happy relationship with Mao and that he’s expanding his horizons as a member of the drama club, his doubts are growing. He’s afraid of losing Mao and his worth as an actor. He knows he isn’t the best actor and that he knows that people will break up over small things in the future. Mao, on the other hand, also has his insecurities. He’s frustrated that he’s passive when it comes to initiating kisses and sex and that he wants to take the lead at times. However, he also wants to be there for Hisashi when he’s vulnerable. I do like that even though they’re happy together, there are still doubts and fears as they’re still young and uncertain of what the future holds. However, Mao has this aura of sincerity in a way that if he declares something, it’ll surely happen. Given how they’re very good at communicating, I can see them lasting forever. They complete each other in a way, you know? Hisamao is essentially a sad boy x sad boy comforter ship that I enjoy a lot.

I feel like they went all out for the animation quality in terms of scenery because the part where they were filming Hisashi was really pretty. The sky looked gorgeous! The sunset was gorgeous too. It did feel like it was a nice way to close things off for the main couple and for the main couple too. I also love that there was a lot of callbacks to the first episode like the three promises and how it begins and ends with the film club filming Hisashi.

I also like that the post-credit scene finally has Hisashi coming out to the film club—he’s the one who tells Mao’s friends that they’re dating. I think it’s a nice closure to all the secrets he’s been hiding since the beginning. From the start, he didn’t want people to know he’s gay because of prejudice and stigma, but being with Mao changed all that as he feels as if he’s comfortable with letting them know. I think it’s good development on Hisashi’s part.

Overall, this final episode is a good way to close off Hisamao and the entire anime as a whole. I guess if I had a complaint, it’d be that we don’t really see an update with the other ships, but it makes sense because Hisamao is the main ship, after all.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I just hope that people’s thoughts about Twilight Out of Focus being a Banana Fish AU died down and that they see it as its own thing. I think that all the Banana Fish comparisons got annoying super fast, honestly. I know that comparisons are inevitable at times, but I still can’t deny it gets annoying too.

Regardless, I did really like this show. It reminded me of my favorite BL anime Sekaiichi Hatsukoi with the three ships format and takes place in one setting and what not. It also doesn’t help that both animes are animated by Studio DEEN. I guess my attachment to this show was that I was looking something to ease my longing for Sekakoi. I do feel like Studio DEEN has improved from its previous BL works, but it also feels like they’re still doing their usual formula when it comes to BL anime and I think it’s a staple for them. I don’t really know if Studio DEEN is considered a big name or if this production is considered high quality.

Twilight Out of Focus was also the reason why Crunchyroll decided to disable comments because weirdos couldn’t mind their own business and had to be jerks about watching a BL anime when they could’ve just pressed the back button. Honestly, the people who get too noisy about watching BL animes are the worst. You don’t see me complaining about having to watch the craziest shows.

One thing I’ve noticed often is that the anime loves using slide panels in a way that it shows off the “film” premise of the show. It’s not as terrible as how Whisper Me A Love Song uses it. It does make the anime feel like more like a moving manga at times, but I get that the studio has a limited budget as they were working on another show that was airing at the same time. Also, it is sort of hard to animate the manga without making it too complicated or too simple, so what they got was pretty good. I was just surprised that they added in the hanky-panky scenes because they usually censor those—they censored the naughty scenes in Cherry Magic and in Tadaima Okaeri…and the latter was also animated by Studio DEEN.

I do like that each ship brings out different dynamics. Hisamao is roommates/friends to lovers; JinGii is enemies/rivals to lovers mixed with roommates; ReiShion is looking for love to falling in love sort of thing. They all give different vibes and not a rinse and repeat of the same tropes. I applaud Jyanome for giving three different pairs within the same setting and making them be different. It would’ve been boring if they were the same three ships.

Speaking of the author, I do like how they write the characters. They’re not too cliche and not too stereotypical in terms of BL tropes. For example, Hisashi and Mao is like the bad boy x nice boy trope, but Hisashi is a bit more vulnerable and delicate compared to the typical BL seme. He gives off an uke feel, yet isn’t an uke at all. Mao is more composed and straightforward, but gives uke vibes as he has to be the one to complement Hisashi. Jin also doesn’t feel like a seme as he’s more sensitive and wimpy while Giichi is bold and confident. Of the three couples, ReiShion give off the most typical seme and uke tropes, but they’re also written in a way that they avert said tropes too with Rei being nerdy and not that physically strong while Shion is effeminate but also super strong and capable of anything.

The voice actors were STACKED. Holy heck. The main cast reprised their roles from the drama CD, but still, it’s a solid cast that would be a huge waste NOT to use. The main couple are voiced by Yuma Uchida and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. They’re BL regulars, so they know how to give out the emotions and the fruitiness. Also, why do I feel like a lot of BL adaptations usually have Uchida in them? Matsuoka is always a solid pick for anything really. He’s very versatile. For Uchida, it’s one of the rare times he’s playing against type and voices a very quiet character, but he did a good job showing off Hisashi’s vulnerability but also the shyness he gets when around Mao. JinGii are voiced by Makoto Furukawa and Masatomo Nakazawa. Furukawa is also another BL regular. I do like that he gives Jin a very pompous and arrogant feel, but also shows off his sensitive sides super well. I feel like I mainly see Nakazawa in BL anime as he was also Haruki in Given, but he’s super underrated and should be in more works, whether they be BL or not. ReiShion are voiced by Takuya Eguchi and Soma Saito, both BL regulars. Heck, getting the most effeminate character to be voiced by the BL Princess (Saito) is practically a golden ticket for a must-watch BL. Like how Uchida is playing against type, Eguchi is also playing against type as he voiced Rei who’s quieter than most of his usual roles. It’s really nice to see these voice actors playing to their strengths but taking it to new heights but also seeing some of them play against type and see how they adapt. Heck, if you think the main cast is stacked, the supporting cast is also stacked with names like Takeo Otsuka and Kent Ito and Gen Satou to name a few. What I’m saying is that you’re likely to see the names of the side characters in various animes because they’re names you do see pop up often. Twilight Out of Focus is definitely a treat for voice actor fans. The English dub cast is good too! If you like Cherry Magic, the English VAs for the Tsugemina pair reunite as Rei and Shion.

While the soundtrack isn’t bad, I do think that sometimes, the music is a bit misplaced. I also notice a lot of repetitive usage of certain tracks, which isn’t bad, but it also sort of does feel out of place. Regardless, I do like the songs. The opening and ending songs could’ve definitely switched, but I don’t mind if they weren’t.

Do I have any major gripes with the show? Well, my major complaint is not with the show itself but with Tumblr. If you don’t know, I also post my reviews on Tumblr but my Twilight Out of Focus reviews never show up there for some reason. I guess I feel like my reviews for this show aren’t as getting as much traction as I want them to in a sense?

Other than that, this is a nice BL shows for newbies and long-time fans of the genre. 2024 has been quite a year with three back-to-back seasonal BLs. Fall 2024 won’t have a BL, but it makes sense as it’s way too stacked to stick one in, but who knows how long it’ll take for them to announce more BL anime. So far the ones we’ll be getting next year are The Summer Hikaru Died and Go For It, Nakamura! Given that BL is getting popular, I do hope that the anime industry do announce and animate more BLs. I’ll be there to watch any of them when they air!

If you watched Twilight Out of Focus from beginning to end, what are your thoughts on the anime as a whole?

[nabi-unveiled]

Nabi Notices (Mar 18, 2025)

It's been something like eight weeks since I decided to stop being a ghost and risk writing up my thoughts on Tumblr. I tagged my first post as "things I might regret", and I still might regret it one day. But today is not that day.

Interacting with everyone has been so much fun. It's enriched my viewing experience, and it's given me an outlet that I didn't know I needed. I'm not new to Asian media or BL by any means. I've watched Asian media for over 20 years and BL since 2017 (plus other queer media prior), but my options for discussing it have been very limited (my brother mostly).

It's just not safe in my family or my community. But man - it really is fun talking about the things you enjoy. There have been some interesting side effects of this venture, but I'll save those thoughts for a future week.

In general, the BL Tumblr community has been so welcoming and affirming. We may disagree on our takes and interpretations. A show one person loves, another may hate. But isn't that the beauty of it? We can actually say those things. We can have conversations about dopamine sprinkles, read too much into symbols and colors, and rant about poorly written dialogue. I continually feel affirmed here.

When I started this blog two months ago, I initially did a "Weekly Wrap-Up" outlining shows I watched and a few thoughts. I really enjoy reading those posts from other people. However, I quickly learned that I don't enjoy writing those posts myself.

I watch a lot of shows during the week - some properly, most as background noise. I'm sporadic at best. My brother calls us human ping-pong balls. In our defense, we only get to talk 1-2 hours a month. There's a lot of ground we need to cover in those calls.

I drop and pick up shows based on my current mood, the nature of my current work assignment, time availability, and if I crash from lack of sleep. Sometimes I binge. Sometimes I space episodes out weeks apart. Anyone who followed me during When It Rains knows I have bouts of hyperfixation. The thought of being "locked into" a show is not for me. After all, the reason I delayed this long in watching the ThamePo finale is personal. It has nothing to do with the show. The typical format of a weekly wrap-up felt like I was setting up an expectation I couldn't keep.

So this made me ponder - what type of "weekly post" would work for me? After much thought, I've decided I'll post my favorite moments of the past week from a variety of categories. The categories may change from time to time. My main goal here is to give myself flexibility and have fun with it. The intro will probably be MUCH shorter in future weeks.

The Things I Noticed This Week:

Fabulous Fit

I love talking style. I love looking at fashion. My phone background changes about every three days and is always a look I liked from an actor or K-pop idol. I still dress in comfy basics more often than not. But this week, the look that caught my eye was this one right here:

My man Eve (Make Up With Mud) is the epitome of dressing how you feel and varying style up. I can't recommend the show, but I'll be watching it to the end solely for this character and his asymmetrical earrings. I fully intend on making a compilation of his looks by the end of my watch. Maybe by then I'll have learned how to properly make GIFs.

Fascinating Find

I go on a lot of deep dives. When a question pops into my brain, I tend to seek out the answer. I've learned a lot of interesting information over the years. Some things I never figure out. This week's fascinating find came from Secret Relationships.

I knew that this move here is referred to as being the black knight/black rose (or dark knight/dark rose). But I wasn't really sure "why" it was called black knight. My search didn't produce exactly what I was looking for other than the black knight/black rose gets a wish from the person they drink for. It's really a different type of drinking game, and you can be asked to do some very embarrassing things if someone drinks for you. It's not really a pure/selfless act in most cases. I mostly knew all that - though we don't see the "wish" aspect itself often in shows. I still found it interesting because...that means Sung-hyun owes Da-on a wish (or does he? Sung-hyun didn't ask him to drink it after all).

Fantastic Frame

I loved this shot in Secret Relationships this week. There's a light on the chessboard in the back highlighting Jae-min's playing games. There's Jae-min wearing pink with his pink plates and making a dinner that looks great just like he looks great to society. But the trash is peeking out from under the counter, because others are beginning to see him for what he is. We know something he doesn't. We are now up high observing him as we wonder what the next move will be.

Fun Fluorish

This category is my "miscellaneous" category. It could be about anything really. Just something that caught my attention. This week it's the name of the bar in P10Ls.

I know that this bar has a perfectly respectable name in Thai. Something along the lines of "village of food"? (my Thai is super weak; feel free to correct). But all I keep seeing is these college boys drinking in a bar that says "Bang On" which in English....yeah. It makes me chuckle every time I see it. I have the mind of a middle schooler at times. It's probably part of the reason I get along so well with my oldest son.

Favorite Fragment

This is the category for a bit of dialogue I particularly enjoyed. This could be dialogue that is serious, humorous, nerdy, etc. It just caught my attention for whatever reason.

I watch Flirt Milk for one reason - Scrappy Doo and his brat tamer (formerly called Swamp Thing). There is SO MUCH wrong with this show and it's definitely a background watch for me, but Scrappy Doo continues to bring me at least one smile (or fun fit) a week so I typically tune in at some point.

My Queue for the Coming Week:

These are the things that I KNOW I will be watching (unless disaster of some kind strikes).

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (Finale)

Secret Relationships (Ep 7-8)

Perfect 10 Liners (Ep 22)

Make Up With Mud (Ep 4)

Love for Love's Sake (Ep 1) (It seemed like this show was on everyone's list during the tag game.)

When Life Gives You Tangerines (Ep 1)

I'll also probably watch the ThamePo finale. I've delayed it long enough. Anything else is up to whim and fancy.

[misterbitches]

I have mixed feelings about the episode!

If I hadn’t have gone online I would have been more of a blank slate. It’s good to know my criticisms are affirmed by others but it doesn’t mean this show is weak because even with the faults this episode was still entertaining at the very least. I feel crazy! Like some of my issues with the social commentary so far are dealt with—not remediated per se but addressed—or tended to.

The whole marriage thing isn’t a bad scenario typical of a BL imo because it makes sense. Patriarchy has everything to do with the hoarding of wealth. You have to make sure a woman has limited options for offspring to preserve a familial/blood line. Marriage is a business practice (it isn’t final or static but marriage and love are not interchangeable and “love” is a very specific goal that is hard to meet particularly if you are poor) and even if Rosé doesn’t want it, that’s how you secure capital…via legacy and literal financial bonds (presented as familial).

Rosé isn’t a good person. As much as Save is a bitch and Hope is…whatever he is (and agree with the user that said they should have kissed there!) the show is telling us over and over that THESE PEOPLE ARE POOR GUYS. THEY HAVE NO MONEY. I don’t know if the audience understands what that means fully. That means that Tattoo’s actions are not the same as Arun’s or even Joke’s; Jack’s poor decisions aren’t the same as Joke’s; Save is being absolutely insane and fucking ridiculous and wow I hate him but even his decision is not the same. You see how much hospital bills are, not having insurance, INSURANCE LITERALLY BEING TIED TO YOUR JOB AND THE NUCLEAR FAMILY. Things these people do not have, nor should not have to have, and the pains you go through to do everything right so the state says and you still get fucked.

That’s why the whole ~dOn’T sTEaL~ would piss me the fuck off! Jenny’s character makes complete sense! I know this is an easy way for us to express this idea of never being able to “get out” but poverty isn’t actually a cycle. Poverty is man made, it is not real. A cycle suggest something inevitable where an underclass would always have to exist, some sociogenetic defect that you just can’t beat and the cure (money) is just too hard to find (as in made up but never freely given). What makes that cycle relevant? Capitalism. This term has bred such reification i swear. It makes it seem like this is something they can GET OUT OF and BREAK on their own volition (with no direct action against the capitalist class/elites like you know…robbing them)

To be wealthy is to inhibit a class position, a social category, in which your livelihood depends on the subjugation of others. It’s obvious that Boss has limited money—and that dwindles—he relies on his boss. He is a manager, an inbetween, a boss but not The Boss. He is a cop essentially (cops have more autonomy tbh) to literally protect private property and collect and give to his bosses. They’re also all landlords and deserve to die.

Anyway there is no cycle as a real tangible thing one can take control of. There are people who choose their comfort and life over others and exploit to maintain, retain, and gain. ANY type of wealth hoarding is immoral. Richness is immoral.

Every single one of these people who suffer are in this position because of rich people. The monopoly was literal and exaggerated metaphor but rich people HATE and i mean HATE they LOATHE they resent disdain the poor. They hate you. They hate me and I’m not even poor! It is not a (referent-less) cycle! These are deliberate choices being made by others to make sure ppl stay poor—women, children queer ppl, darker ppl, the disabled…

If we focused less on the actions of those who have had to work in service of the pillagers and more on the pillagers and why the FUCK these people do this and get to do it, maybe Jack’s choices would make sense. Yes they are frustrating but I don’t necessarily think this is bad writing considering that Jack’s life could be made a living hell if he “got another job” which…ok but where? Who will hire him? How quickly will he make that money? With what skills when he has one very good one that could be used AND this money could be made immediately?

Are these particular choices stupid or do they exist in a broader story that is unfolding? Obviously this is a tv show beyond bl bc this episode was like completely story related and I enjoyed that. There was def some stuff where i was like wow this seems a bit rushed and it does seem like filler but it also technically isn’t…? If I’m thinking beyond what I would like to see with romance. If I think of it as more of s general show that is openly queer but that’s just the life of the show…then was this an outlier or does it fit? Even if it doesn’t I still get to understand more of what they think abt the world…? Idk i liked this episode i go back and forth! But it was a good way to spend my hour.

Also rose’s plan is fucking disgusting neoliberal drivel and insulting lmao when joke threw that all i could think of was bush and that shoe

[slayerkitty]

Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends

So here we are, the finale of Only Friends and not a framework in sight. Would the last half of the show worked better in some respects if we had the frameworks come back? Would we understand more about why Boston's friends hate him? (Did they ever like him? Ray seemed to, but Mew and Cheum...)

I wish we had gotten more frameworks toward the end. I wish the voiceovers had come back for the last episode if nothing else, because I would have wanted one from each character. It would have maybe solved some of the narrative issues (re: Boston).

I also wanted to thank everyone who liked, reblogged, commented or otherwise interacted with me and these posts on a weekly basis. Your feedback, discussions and general love made watching Only Friends an amazing experience each week and reminded me why I love being in fandoms.

Shoutout to the amazing members of the Ephemerality Squad who made this ride fun and thought provoking: @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming, @thatgirl4815, @elizabethsebestianhedgehog

I've gone back and added things to earlier episodes that weren't there before, so make sure to read through the whole list! Please let me know if I missed anything - I will edit this post based on suggestions.

Frameworks:

1. Voiceovers: gives the audience specific insight into a characters thoughts and feelings; also a great way to provide exposition. It’s more of an audio than visual framework, as we don’t always see the character doing the voice-over because it plays over other scenes.

2. “Talking Heads”: The characters talk directly to the camera, interview/documentary style. We get to see exactly how they feel about a given moment because they are reacting to it at that time. Audio and visual. Homage to Love8009 (per P'Jojo).

3. Social Media (ft The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook): Not as insightful as the other two frameworks but does give context and a way for interaction, commentary, and exposition on a given plot. Visual. Probable homage to Together With Me, one of the first spicy BLs starring our kings, MaxTul.

(Side Note: I was re-watching some scenes from Never Let me Go and realized P'Jojo uses yellow text on the screen in it too. So maybe he just likes the yellow text or maybe it means something, idk, idk.)

Episode 1

Framework: Voiceover

Title: What’s Your Role in a Bar?

Narrator: Mew

Visual Moment: Yellow title cards listing everyone’s “roles” as well as the month and days of the week

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank

Episode 2

Framework: Talking Heads

Title: M.F.M. My Favorite Man

Narrator: Everyone

Visual Moment: The talking heads scenes; SandRay smoke kiss; Boston's dark room; Photo Boston takes of Nick post sex; Photo of RayMew from wakeboarding

Audible Moment: The songs Ray plays during his scenes with Sand

End Credit Shot: Ray driving

Episode 3

Framework: Social Media (Twitter and Instagram)

Title: What Am I to You?

Narrator: Nick and Boston

Audible Moment: The thunder rumbling ominously over everyone's bad decisions, Nick listening to the TopBoston sex audio

Visual Moment: Top's Instagram (with all of Boston's comments); Photo strip of TopBoston from their hookup in the photo booth; Photo of the Fab Four in Boston's room; Nick watching TopBoston have sex; Photo of RayMew kissing

End Credit Shot: Nick listening to TopBoston sex audio

Episode 4

Framework: Voiceover

Title: Emergency Contact

Narrator: Ray

Visual Moment: The flashback of RayMew is in 4:3 ratio (meaning it looks like recorded footage versus a memory); yellow text onscreen indicates flashback

Audible Moment: TopMew at the silent disco (both moments of silence but also them singing); SandRay listening to music at the record store

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2)

Episode 5:

Framework: Voiceover

Title: The Extra Hour

Narrator: Sand

Visual Moment: Intro and Outro are animated; black and white (made me think of the Take on Me MV by A-ha but I’m open to suggestions on what this might be referring to), "Ray o'clock/Alone o'clock" appearing onscreen in white letters (not yellow!); TopMew going Instagram official; The blind dining scene

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle

Episode 6:

Framework: None

Title: Happy Fucking Birthday

Narrator: None

Audible Moment: Ray listens to the TopBoston sex audio; Mew plays the TopBoston sex audio for Top

Visual Moment: Top draws Mew sleeping/gives Mew a book of drawings he did of Mew; BostonNick selfies

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty

Episode 7:

Framework: None

Title: After Effect

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Mew setting the drawing on fire; Boston’s sex tape; the “super zooms”

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank (repeat from episode 1)

Episode 8:

Framework: None

Title: Save Me

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Facebook party invite/everyone’s reactions to the invite; Everyone’s costumes at the party

End Credit Shot: Boston looking angsty at the hostel

Episode 9:

Framework: None

Title: The Return

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Boston’s photo of Atom; Top recording SandRay kissing;

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty (repeat from episode 6)

Episode 10:

Framework: None

Title: Redemption

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: The “I will never leave you”/“I will never love you” neon sign; Boston’s photos of Atom; Nick’s photo as Boston’s lock screen; Boeing’s Instagram

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2 and episode 4)

Episode 11:

Framework: None

Title: Move On Move In

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Boston taking pics of NickAtom

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle (repeat from episode 5)

Episode 12:

Framework: None

Title: Begin Again

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Yellow letters indicating the date (NYE); Framed photo of Nick; Framed photo of the Fab Four at the hostel; Mix's entrance; Begin Again montage of SandRay; Hostel sign "Only Friends Stay"

Audible Moment: Begin Again montage of SandRay

End Credit Shot: Outtakes/BTS

Tagging @sandrayy by request

Apologies to anyone I forgot!