#THEY CAME FOR LEE WAN AND SHIN KI TAE

[bl-bam-beyond]

JAZZ FOR TWO (2024, SOUTH KOREA)

Episode 8 The Finale

Tae Yi (JI HO GEUN) shows his love for boyfriend Se Heon (KIM JIN KWON) in both that spicy kiss (you go boys..going after OUR DATING SIM's Kissing Crown) and that look in his eyes.

The way Tae Yi is looking at Se Heon like he's a full dinner plate and he's starving. Dive in Hungry Man. 🫠

@pose4photoml

[pickletrip]

Tag Game - Poll: 5 Fav Characters

Challenge: Make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters, and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite.

Tagged by @thisonelikesaliens & @mikuni14 Thank you so much ✨

I just couldn't pick one character, so here are pairs that are my all time favourites.

It was so hard to pick favs, and after I came up with this list I realised that I picked from Korean and Taiwanese BLs, but that doesn't mean I have any favs from Thai BL. Others I would have loved to put on this list- Ayan from The Eclipse, Boston from Only Friends, Tang Yi from HIStory 3: Trapped Charn from Laws of Attraction and many more.

No pressure tag: @yousaygoodbyeandisay @catatonicrainbow @sammie-lightwood-bane @ellsieee @conscbgb

@telomeke @heretherebedork @lurkingshan @troubled-mind @lukaherehelp @my-rose-tinted-glasses @mysterygrl20 @oyeicher @dribs-and-drabbles @pharawee @lutawolf @ima1ing @respectthepetty and anyone else who would love to play this. Do tag me because I would love to see everyone's favourite characters and click some buttons!!

[twig-tea]

4, 10, 14

ohoooo this is a kind one

4. Long Term Pining

Now. This is very kind of you. You know how I feel about pining. Here's a list of faves in which the pining is significant in length and significant within the story; I'm going to put these in order of length of time. Please notice that we're starting in high numbers, because my men know how to pine (and I probably even missed some because my men do be pining):

La Pluie (Patts: 7 years)

Our Dating Sim (Lee Wan and Ki Tae: 7 years)

Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Wataru: 7 years + years the film spans)

Old Fashioned Cupcake (Togawa: ~8 years)

His (Shun and Nagisa: ~8 years?)

Lovely Writer (Nubsib: (~8 years?)

Minato's Laundromat (Shin: 10 years)

Tokyo in April Is....(Ren and Kazuma: 10 years)

My DNA Says Love you (WenWen: 10 years)

The Warp Effect (Army: 10 years)

Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Tae Sung: ~12 years)

The Untamed (Lan Zhan: 15 years)

Your Name Engraved Herein (Jia Han and Birdy: 33 years)

Something In My Room (Phat: ~40 years)

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Yai: ~60 years/a lifetime? if we count the book as canon, two lifetimes)

Dear Doctor I'm Coming for Soul (Tuapee: ~130ish years [~30 years + additional lifetimes, has to wait 100 years or something like that before they can be in the same reincarnation cycle so I'm assuming that holds])

Midnight Museum (Khatha: ~200+ years)

Guardian (Shen Wei: 10,000+ literal years)

[Ones I wasn't sure of length on offhand so I might be wrong that they're too short for the above list--anyone feel free to let me know if you do: Bad Buddy, Kabe Koji, You're My Sky. Also mentioning Eternal Yesterday here because we see Mitsuru at the end after 5 years still pining but it's implied he'll never stop for the rest of his life]

A couple of bonus GL additions (because the girls be pining too):

Fragrance of the First Flower (~15 years)

Legend of Yunze (~1000 Years)

10. Bodyguard

I answered this once, so I'll go for a GL this time:

You Yi and Yan Wei in Couple of Mirrors. Assassin as bodyguard is only extra if people aren't trying to kill you. You Yi is saved so many times by Yan Wei that I don't care whether it's strictly canon. Also, LOOK AT THEM

I know I keep choosing censored Chinese outings for this prompt but honestly is anyone doing it like them???? My other option was going to be PingXie from The Lost Tomb series. Listen, I did enjoy Where Your Eyes Linger, Never Let Me Go and KinnPorsche, but I'd argue the bodyguards in all of those series were not particularly good bodyguards lol

14. Sunshine/Sunshine

There are some wonderful sunshines in BL! I think all of my faves have been written about so I'm just going to throw the first five that came to mind here and try not to think about the ones I'm definitely missing:

Daisy and Intouch from Secret Crush on You

Mork and Tawan from My Ride

Cake and See Eiw from My Only 12%

Key and Chen from Boys' Lockdown

Aki and Haru from Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru

+bonus GL

Pearl and Alex from Pearl Next Door

Link to the original ask game post!

[kpopotd2]

December Wrap Up

Wow. It has been a whole twelve months since we have started this blog and now we are on the final, official post of the year! A mega-post compiling the top songs of the past year, as well as official departures and disbandments of groups from 2019, will be up on our main blog @kpopsunbae​ (make sure to go and follow us there for more content, although it will be quite a bit different than what we put on this blog). 

As some of you may know, this blog (as well as the previous one, @kpopotd​) are project blogs that end once the year is done. This means that while we will no longer post on this blog it will remain as an archive. We will however be back with a third blog in the future as a continuation of this blog (it will cover 2016 and onwards!). This does not mean that we will go completely off grid once 2019 is done though! 

This coming year of 2020 has a lot in store for us, your K-Pop Sunbaes! We currently have a website to overhaul, an Instagram to properly launch, and of course we will continue releasing podcast episodes! Remember to follow us on Twitter too, our handle there is @kpopsunbaes (updates will be on there and you can interact with us too!). 

On a final note, we are so appreciative for the love that you all have given this blog over the past year. It has been such a fun experience and the three of us have had a blast working together on the blog, having meetings, and eventually completing just under 900 posts. We hope you will continue to support and follow us in our upcoming endeavors. We wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

❤ JR, Min, and Onyx 

NEWS:

December 5, 2010: Lee Young-hee, a well-known social activist, dies of cirrhosis at 81. December 20, 2010: The Republic of Korea Marine Corps stars to hold live-fire drill exercises on Yeonpyeong Island. North Korea responds by saying they will not retaliate.

December 12, 2011: An incident occurs where a Chinese fisherman, who was illegally fishing, is confronted by two SK coast guards. He stabbed them and one died from the injuries. The fisherman was sentenced to thirty years in jail and a fine in April of 2012. December 19, 2012: The 2012 presidential elections were held in which Park Geun Hye is elected as the first female president of South Korea. She would eventually be impeached and removed from office due to corruption in 2017.

Album of the Month 2009 - 2015:

2010 - GD & TOP by GD & TOP

2011 - The Boys by Girls’ Generation 

2012 - Winter Poetry by Shin Hyun Seung

2013 - Miracles in December by EXO

2014 - Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet by EXO

2015 - SING FOR YOU by EXO

DRAMAS:

December 2009: Father’s House (This show was a year end special that brought in over 15% viewership ratings and garnered generally good reviews. It stars Choi Min Soo, Moon Jung Hee, and Kim Soo Hyun.)  December 2009: Will it Snow for Christmas (This melodrama brought in around 10% viewership ratings. It stars Go Soo and Han Ye Seul.)

December 2010: Athena: Goddess of War (This action/spy drama is a spin off of the hit show IRIS. It’s in the same universe as IRIS, but stars Joo Woo Sung, Cha Seung Won, Soo Ae, Lee Ji Ah, and Super Junior’s Choi Siwon. IRIS’s cast also made cameos throughout. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings.) December 2011: What’s Up? (This musical drama stars Lim Joo Hwan, BIGBANG’s Daesung, Lim Joo Eun, Kim Ji Won, and Jo Jung Suk.)  December 2011: Vampire Idol (This sitcom style drama stars Lee Jung, Davichi’s Kang Min Kyung, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Woo Bin, and Hong Jung Hyun. There are also a couple idols as supporting characters including ZE:A’s Kwanghee and Girl’s Day Bang Minah.) 

December 2012: School 2013 (This is the fifth installment of the popular “School” drama series. This iteration stars Jang Nara, Choi Daniel, Lee Jong Suk, Park Se Young, and Kim Woo Bin. It did pretty well, bringing in over 10% viewership ratings.) December 2013: Prime Minister and I (This 17 episode drama stars Lee Beom Soo and Girls’ Generation’s YoonA. The main OST is a song called “Footsteps” sung by SHINee’s Taemin. The show brought in over 5% viewership ratings and won two awards: the Best Couple Award for the main characters and an Excellence in Acting Award for YoonA.) December 2013: You Who Came From the Stars/My Love from the Star (This hit romance/fantasy drama stars megastars Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun. The duo had previously acted together in the movie The Thieves. Dal Shabet’s Serri and Subin, former miss A member Suzy, and former 2NE1 member Dara make cameos throughout. Lyn, K. Will, Younha, Hyorin, Huh Gak, Sung Si Kyung, and Kim Soo Hyun all participated in the OSTs. The show did incredibly well and ended up selling out products that the characters wore, being the highest rated drama of it’s time (not only in South Korea but throughout Asia), and bringing in over 20% viewership ratings.) 

December 2014: Healer (This action drama stars Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young. The show averaged around 7% viewership ratings, but while it only did moderately well in South Korea it boosted Ji’s international fandom immensely.)  December 2015: Remember- War of the Son (This thriller stars Yoo Seung Ho, Park Woo Sung, Park Min Young, Min Namkoong, and Jung Hye Sung. K. Will, Jooyoung, Jang Jane, Jang Han Byul, and Bobby Kim participated in the OSTs. It averaged around 15% viewership ratings, and won a few awards at multiple award shows.

FILMS:

December 23, 2009: Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard (This fantasy/action film stars Gang Dong Won, Im Soo Jung, and Kim Yoo Seok. A 2012 K-drama spin-off was made with the same main character played by Cha Tae Hyun, although the rest of the show’s plot was different. It was the third best selling movie of the year.)  December 9, 2010: Finding Mr. Destiny (This movie adaption of the musical of the same name, stars Gong Yoo and Im Soo Jung. It did well at the box office, bringing over a million admissions.)  December 1, 2011: Spellbound/Chilling Romance/My Girlfriend Can See Ghosts (This rom-com stars Son Ye Jin and Lee Min Ki. It was the 7th biggest movie of the year.) December 25, 2012: The Tower (This disaster movie stars Sol Kyung-gu, Ki Sang-gyung, and Son Ye-jin. The movie did very well at the box office and become the first movie of 2013 to hit five million theater admissions. It was sold to multiple countries and eventually got an English dub with voice actors such as Buba Kachow, Erin Fitzgerald, and Todd Haberkorn.)

December 11, 2013: Way Back Home (This movie, which is based on the true story of Jang Mi Jeong, stars Jeon Do Yeon and Go Soo. It follows the story of a woman who unknowingly attempted to smuggle drugs out of Paris and is caught, and how she eventually got back to Korea. It did fairly well, bringing in just under two million theater admissions.)  December 18, 2013: The Attorney (This law drama, which was inspired by a true story, stars Song Kang Ho, Kim Young Ae, Oh Dal Soo, ZE:A’s Im Si Wan, and Kwak Do Won. It became the 8th best-selling movie in Korea of all time with over 11 million admissions. It won many awards at various award shows.)  December 24, 2013: The Suspect (This action/thriller starring Gong Yoo was a box office hit, bringing in over 4 million admissions. It received praise from various western newspapers and reviewers.) December 31, 2014: The Tenor - Lirico Sprinto (This movie, which is based on the true story of Bae Jae Chul, stars Yoo Ji Tae, Yusuke Iseya, and Cha Ye Ryun. The movie took eighteen months to film and six years to fully complete.)

HAPPY STUFF:

December 12, 2012: Sungah was added to the line-up of Nine Muses. Her first comeback with them would be with “Dolls”.

SAD STUFF:

December 21, 2009: Hangeng leaves Super Junior and files a lawsuit against SM Entertainment. December 11, 2009: Inyoung and Jungah leave Jewelry to pursue solo careers.

December 24, 2012: Trinity leaves GLAM.  December 21, 2013: Sohee leaves Wonder Girls to focus on her acting career.

December 2014: Sunye leaves Wonder Girls and says she will retire from the industry.  December 31, 2014: Jooyeon contract with Pledis Entertainment ends and she graduates from After School the following year.

December 12, 2013: Singer Kim Ji Hoon, half of the duo Duke, passes away due to suicide at age 40.

POST OF THE MONTH:

iKON - Dumb & Dumber

[bl-bam-beyond]

Content Being Boyfriends. Letting the past go. Loving one another.

OUR DATING SIM (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

This will go down as one of my favorite BL's of all time. I never saw that crippling anxiety coming. I mean that was a shocker. Shin Ki Tae (LEE SEUNG GYU) kept so much inside. Once it came out. The vulnerability he poured out to Lee Wan (LEE JONG HYUK) was heartbreaking.

But I still can't blame Lee Wan. I see his side so well. At that time he was facing family bankruptcy. Moving to his aunt's with his noona (sister) taking a risk telling his best friend how he felt. And though it wasn't rejection exactly I can see why he took it that way. Fear enveloped him. He must of thought not only was I rejected but I most likely ruin the best friendship I ever had.

Goes to show split second reactions are a double edged sword.

[bl-bam-beyond]

BL 2023...The Year of Runner

Today watching episode 6 of STAR STRUCK there was a time jump of 5 months...no big deal, right. However in Episode 4 Han Joon confessed to Yoo Jae. Yoo Jae walks away but Episode 5 & 6 reveals Han Joon disappear leaving Yoo Jae behind. And he explains why so well. I tried gif-ing it but didn't turn out great but here they are anyway

Love Confessions Are Difficult Enough Especially when it's a friend. So let's go down the line of actual runners and mental runners.

The Series: The Promise

The Runner: PHUPHA

Phu gets a lot of hate because he ran. Unlike the other people on the list he never confessed before leaving. Phu is reserved he doesn't like to be around a lot of people. He's introverted. Often introverts listen and notice and keeps things in their head. Phu remembered when Nan said he would never date friend. So he shot his shot a different way (at the wrong time) he kissed Nan while he was drunk. In my opinion that was Phu's way of confessing. To open conversation but Nan passed out and forgot. So Phu felt he had to leave. For his own sanity. Was it the cowards way out? That's open to interpretation.

The Series: OUR DATING SIM

The Runner: LEE WAN

Wan took his shot straight forwardly and Shin Ki Tae's initial reaction wasn't favorable. To Lee Wan he took chance and he felt immediately he made a mistake. So instantly he ran. But Lee Wan had no idea Shin Ki Tae immediately came after him so for 7 years he thought Shin Ki Tae was his past until Ki Tae brought Wan back into his life.

The Series: PAST-SENGER

The Runner: BAMEE

Bamee didn't physically run away but he did mentally thanks to real amnesia and fake amnesia. Once he recovered his memories he kept it to himself to keep Kiew with him and he kept running until Kiew tricked him by using Moodaeng to return to the 90's so then Bamee had to stop running. The truth was his only option.

The Series: THE EIGHTH SENSE

The Runner: JAE WON

Like Bamee, Jae Won didn't physically run away from Ji Hyun he instead took the mental run as well. Freezing Ji Hyun out. Pretending like their time together was meaningless although it was all that was on his mind. He hurt himself and he hurt Ji Hyun until he finally chose to be honest and take a chance on love.

The Series: A BOSS AND A BABE

The Runner: CHER aka LAEM

Cher fell for Gun however Gun's mother or parents didn't see Cher as right for Gun. So Cher decided to focus on himself for a bit. To graduate to win his tournament. To make himself believe he was good enough for Gun. To make himself better and to continue so he could not only continue improving himself so that he felt he was good enough for Gun.

The Series: STAR STRUCK

The Runner: HAN JOON

He brought some chocolate for his man and had them thrown back at him. But he never did not love Yoo Jae. After the confession he turned his back on Yoo Jae. But barely thought about himself when Yoo Jae proclaimed he wanted them to be friends again. He just started up again. Feelings still there and Yoo Jae ignoring them until he couldn't. Yoo Jae spent all of Episode 5 & 6 being jealous of Han Joon's "bro" and even the girl in the coffee shop. But with only 2 episodes left and the last with Yoo Jae kissing Han Joon. Seems likely Best Friends will move to Boyfriends.

Now obviously each viewer of these BL Series have their own opinions (which are just as valid) but not every runner is a coward. And it's never wrong to put your mental health first even in front of the one you love most.

So Nan forgave Phu because he loves him

Ki Tae forgave Lee Wan because he loves him

Kiew forgave Bamee because he loves him

Ji Hyun forgave Jae Won because he loves him

Gun forgave Cher because be loves him

Yoo Jae forgave Han Joon because he loves him.

[bl-bam-beyond]

OUR DATING SIM (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

Shin Ki Tae (LEE SEUNG GYU) has achieved his goal to get Lee Wan (LEE JONG HYUK) back in his orbit after 7 years of pining and searching.

Lee Wan learns from his female co-worker that Ki Tae is the one who campaigned for his hiring.

Cute Side Note: Lee Wan is wearing Ki Tae's clothes as he came to a casual dress work environment in a suit.