#The way he looks

[etrevil]

He's always so alive looking at his partner

I'm not gonna fucking shut up about them ever am I

I wanna believe that Dazai never had a moment where he wasn't just breathtaken when Chuuya fights

[arabian-batboy]

Fanart by @/dialm4spooky on Twitter (reposted with their full permission)

He really puts the Ace in menace.

[chalamst]

HOJE EU QUERO VOLTAR SOZINHO 2014, dir. Daniel Ribeiro

[zanephillips]

Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (The Way He Looks) 2014

[itsawonderfulgaytoday]

Some of my favorite gay kissing clips from tv shows and movies that are worth watching. Many of these clips you’ll see me rotate in my blog header but thought I’d put a collection together and identify the clips for those that may be interested in watching.

Something Like Summer (2020)

Akron (2015)

Love, Simon (2018)

Fair Haven (2016)

Love, Victor (2020)

The Way He Looks (2014)

Eyewitness (2016) (US Version)

Shelter (2007)

Heartstopper (2022)

Golden Delicious (2022)

Bros (2022)

Young Royals (2021)

Elite (2018)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022)

Red, White, and Royal Blue (2023)

[queer-media-tourney]

[moramabel]

@lgbtqcreators battleship bingo ▸ media from south america

Leo, If you had ever stolen a kiss from someone, how would you give it back?

THE WAY HE LOOKS (HOJE EU QUERO VOLTAR SOZINHO)

[kizzyedgelll]

MOVIES I WATCHED IN 2023 [12/?] ⤿ Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (The Way He Looks) (2014) dir. Daniel Ribeiro

I'm trying to understand your desire to go so far away. I think it's natural, especially at your age, to want to see other places, meet new people, make other friends. I think it's normal, but I also think it's very natural to fight with your parents. I was like that, too, but it's too extreme to leave the country to run away from the fights.

[smittenskitten]

Giovana! What? Do you see a sweatshirt laying around? No. Are you sure, not even under the bed? Nope, not even under the bed. Leo, I am really sorry I left you alone at school. Are you okay? Yeah!

[xuperjr]

[bengiyo]

I can say with confidence that our collective favorite show, between you and me, is What Did You Eat Yesterday?, the GOAT BL, and an exemplary example of a slice of life drama. What are your other favorite slice of life dramas, BLs and non-BLs?

Thank you for this ask. I have been trying to stay out of a bunch of discussions about this, but it seems that people feel really strongly about how people talk about a mid-tier BL produced by the largest producer of BL content in the world, currently sold as a premium product exclusively on a Chinese streaming platform, and currently receiving almost universal acclaim from its viewership on this platform. So, since I am possibly the only person who has posted publicly how much this show doesn’t work for me, I will continue with my task and clear up some confusion I’m having with the discourse.

We Are…Struggling With Definitions

Thankfully, @lurkingshan provided a good framework to discuss what slice-of-life even means. While I am willing to accept that a strong episodic structure is not inherently required for a good slice-of-life drama, the bite-sized nature of an episode lends itself to enabling clear stories about the complexities of mundane human existence. It’s a very popular genre, especially in anime. As I said in an earlier post, this is a mature genre with a long tradition.

Most of my favorite approaches to slice-of-life are from Japan. When America does slice-of-life, you get it more as sitcoms than thoughtful dramas about everyday life. One of my favorites would probably be Midnight Diner. As Shan defined before, a good slice-of-life drama could go on forever, and in so many ways Midnight Diner has. 

I’m actually currently watching Three Star Bar in Nishi Ogikubo because Machida Keita and Fujiwara Kisetsu are in it.

We Are…Already Familiar With Slice of Life QL

We’ve actually had a few QL projects cover the slice-of-life feeling before.

You and I are both big fans of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a show I loved so much we had to do a whole podcast episode about it.

On the lesbian side of the equation, we have the lovely She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat.

We also had Naked Dining, which I had some mixed feelings about.

There's the gay dads drama from Taiwan in Papa & Daddy.

For people who seem to struggle with non-Thai productions, there’s also Ingredients with everyone’s favorite singer Jeff Satur.

Besides, I argue firmly that Tadaima, Okaeri is the only true slice-of-life BL airing right now. It’s the married gay dads show we’ve been asking forever to get, and it’s even in the omegaverse!

We Are…Possibly Suffering From Recency Bias

It’s surprising for me how hard everyone has fallen for this show, considering the long history of reactions to New Siwaj’s work. He’s been in the genre for over a decade.

I am intimately familiar with this man’s work, and have been a Make It Right Apologist for years. I’ve been with this man since I got into the genre. This isn’t even his first attempt at 16 episodes about boys in college.

Everyone else watched My Engineer at the time, but I watched EN of Love and was not surprised when Love Mechanics got its own full series afterwards. I’ve been with this man working through gay angst in Make it Right, examining intergenerational queer trauma in Until We Meet Again,  fumbling through Between Us, trying for something in Dear Doctor I’m Coming For Soul, hustling in Even Sun, still crying with him over Love of Siam (2007) in My Only 12%, and squandering everyone’s time in Absolute Zero. 

It’s kinda baffling to me that I’m catching strays over not liking New Siwaj works in 2024. It feels weird that the show I’m getting heat over not liking is the least-queer thing I think he’s ever made. I don’t know what that says about current BL tastes. I will say this plainly every time: Queer Truth is Non-Negotiable For Me In a Genre About Boys Kissing Each Other. If that statement bothers you, please swerve on.

We Are…Not the Only Examples of Queer Fun

While we’re here, I wanna talk about how there really is a whole gay world outside of BL. I feel very strongly that Western viewers are extremely rude and often racist when it comes to their disdain of BL. However, there is all kinds of fun to be had in queer cinema if you can handle projects made more than a few years ago. 

If you want silly fun, you can always go to TLA Releasing. They funded an entire gay parody of the American Pie franchise. They’re great for the types who want to see pretty people smile at each other and have sexy times. 

If you’re in the mood for something a bit more serious and heartfelt, you can dip by Strand Releasing. They have one of the best coming-of-age queer films I’ve ever seen. They also picked up a really melancholy Japanese film called Egoist. 

My favorite studio, who shows up repeatedly on my BL Syllabus is Wolfe Releasing. They have my all-time favorite Big Eden (2000), and many others. 

My point is that there is a huge world of queer media out there well beyond the latest mid-tier BL from GMMTV designed to keep the boys working. We also don’t need to argue that some of their shows are more queer than they actually are, especially when Cooking Crush is right there.

Thanks for the ask!

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho Brasil, 2014 The Way He Looks 3 / 3 [1] [2]

[tommydashwood]

[grapejuicegay]

Last Twilight and Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho/The Way He Looks

@my-rose-tinted-glasses has covered a lot of parallels between Last Twilight and Intouchables and now I'm here with Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho

Last week we had a jump scare while watching listening to a horror movie

And these shots that @my-rose-tinted-glasses also pointed out

where the contrast of day and night also have me thinking about this line from the scene referenced this week

vs Day, with the name and the extremely bright coloured shirt being the only thing he could spot from a distance

And this week we had Day and Mhok coming home late to a worried family after not returning phone calls (in both cases the phone was in the bag)

With part of the concern being caused by an injury

And with Day and Leonardo only wanting to be treated like they're normal

I love a good parallel (especially a P'Aof parallel) and I love this film. So I'm having a fantastic time here.

[zanephillips]

THE WAY HE LOOKS (2014)

[privately-andre]

╰┈➤ TEEN GAYS

- Boys (Jongens)

Two teen runner athletes discover their sexualities while forming a beautiful friendship. IMDb: 7.4 My rating: 7/10

- North Sea Texas

Young Pim experiences his firsts with his best friend / next door Gino. IMDb: 7.1 My own Rating: 9/10

Ps: The end scene is incredible ;)

- The Way He Looks

Leonardo is a blind teen. Everything changes when a new boy arrives at school. They form an amazing bond really fast. IMDb: 7.9 My own Rating: 7/10

Ps: the sweatshirt scene !

- Centre Of My World

Phil is a classic twink. He falls in love with the newbie cool boy. IMDb: 7.2 My own Rating: 5/10

Ps: fuck this newbie to be honest.

- Seashore (Beira-Mar)

Two teens travel to countryside just two of them and question their friendship (or their love?) IMDb: 6 My own Rating: 7/10

- Just Friends

Two young men from different cultural backgrounds try to be together without their mothers approval. IMDb : 7.2 My own Rating: 6/10

- Love, Simon

Simon has a secret. He is gay! And he is also in love with an anonymous guy he met online. IMDb: 7.5 My own Rating: 6/10

- Handsome Devil

Ned is gay and he has to share a bedroom with hot rugby player Conor. (They do not become lovers) IMDb: 7 My own Rating: 7/10

- Summer Storm

Tobi realises he is in love with his best friend. This tests their relationship. IMDb: 7.3 My own Rating: 5/10

- Heartstone

A boy falls in love with his best mate in a very homophobic town in Iceland while his best mate falls in love with a girl. IMDb: 7.4 My own Rating: 6/10

Ps: not enough gayness…

- Sublime

Manuel and his friends have an indie band. Then he starts to fall for his band mate Felipe. They are also best friends… IMDb: 6.6 My own Rating: 7/10

Ps: the song used in this movie is so cool also the movie has an open ending.

- Summer of 85 (Été 85)

Alexis’ boats turns upside down when a storm breaks. He is saved by David. Then they start dating. IMDb: 6.9 My own Rating: 6/10

Ps: this movie was hilariously funny to me as a francophone even though it has major character death!

- I Killed My Mother (J’ai tué ma mère)

Hubert is a teen gay and has MASSIVE problems with his mom.. IMDb: 7.4 My own Rating: 7/10

- Prora

Two young boys decide to visit an abandoned Nazi holiday camp called Prora after a great party night. They test their relationship there. IMDb: 7.2 My own Rating: 9/10

Ps: the only bad thing about this movie is that it’s a short film.

- Departure

Elliot and his horny milf mother goes to their holiday house in france after his parent’s divorce. He meets a young french boy there and fucks a carrot. (I know I don’t sound serious :D) IMDb: 6.6 My own Rating: 2/10

Ps: I have no idea why they filmed this it’s so shit. Alex Lawther’s acting is horrible although I love Phénix Brossard here.

- Punch

Jim is a boxer forced by his father. He meets Whetu a gay Māori boy. He discovers his sexuality in the most beautiful way. IMDb: 6.4 My own Rating: 8/10

Ps: Trigger warning ❗️ Rape. (I wish I knew this before watching so I’m warning you)

- As You Are

Set in 1990’s. Young boy Jack falls in love with his new step brother Mark who is a crack head . They become friends with Sarah. These three kids go through rough times. IMDb: 6.5 My own Rating: 5/10

Ps: Acting is good but the plot is not well build.