#This has lead my friends to seeing them having 'enemies to lovers' potential

[themagicalghost]

Chairman sketches (featuring Bumble, a dedicated hater)

[roseykat]

ROSEY’S KINKTOBER SPECIAL

GENERAL INFORMATION

Helloooo! I’m going to be running a Kinktober for the first time next month! I’m excited because I have a lot of ideas and whatnot so please find the list of dates, titles, and concepts below. As always with my content, I post R18 NSFW content so I advise anyone who is under the age of 18 to refrain from reading/engaging with my posts and future posts!

🌹OCT.1 - Car sex - Bang Chan

Same coin, different faces: Despite not being together with Chan anymore, you somehow end up in the back of his car...fogging up the windows.

🌹OCT.3 - Erotic Massage - Changbin 

These hands were made for you: Changbin innocently asks if you can give him a massage but doesn't expect to become so horny and aroused by it.

🌹OCT.5 - BDSM - Felix

Marzipan, Cherries, and Whipped Cream: A BDSM scene that takes place between you and soft dom Felix.

🌹OCT.7 - Voyeurism - Jeongin

Weeding out the Weak: After almost two weeks of Jeongin not allowing you to touch yourself, greed finally makes you cave which only leads you to be caught by him in his bed trying to get yourself off. Despite pleading to Jeongin for him to fuck you, he finds a better solution of only giving you half of what you want.

🌹OCT.9 - Threesome - Minho + Jisung

Eat, sleep, play: This one shot looks into the dynamics of an established polyamourous relationship between you and Minsung, along with an account of what Jisung likes to call ‘play time’.

🌹OCT.11 - Aftercare - OT8 blurb version 

Blanket of Safety: An OT8 blurb version of how each other members take care of you after intense and/or vanilla sex.

🌹OCT.13 - Squirting - Hyung Line Version 

Come as you please Part 1: A blurb version of how each of the Hyung line members reacts to making you squirt.

🌹OCT.15 - Squirting - Maknae Line Version 

Come as you please Part 2: A blurb version of how each of the Maknae line members reacts to making you squirt.

🌹OCT.17 - Freelance - Seungmin 

Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You: Featuring Seungmin as your lecturer's student assistant whose personality is just as harsh as he fucks.

🌹OCT.19 - Hate fuck - Minho 

Venom Biter: The end of a relationship between you and Minho turns as sour as it could ever get. A lovers to enemies trope.

🌹OCT.21 - Top/bottom dynamic - Jisung 

Hell’s Baby: Jisung, who is not a jock but friends with many, comes across as a seemingly dominant person. It’s not until you shatter that facade of his, only to find out that he’s a switch, mainly leaning towards a bottom, wanting desperately to be put in his place.

POWER WEEK

🌹OCT.23 - Dry humping - Hyunjin

Like Throwing Petrol on a Fire: Hyunjin can't get neither his or your clothes off in time for him to fuck you. Unfortunately, he has to resort to and put up with another measure.

🌹OCT.24 - Phone sex - OT8 version

I can’t see you, but I can hear you: An OT8 blurb version of each of the members engaging in phone sex with the reader.

🌹OCT.25 - Threesome - Bang Chan + Felix

Some things are better left unknown: After suspecting your two roommates of potentially being in a relationship, there's more to just that when you discover one of them actually has a crush on you.

🌹OCT.26 - Sensory play - Jeongin

Table manners and Bible Studies: Jeongin, a churchgoer who is also a very sexual person, likes to immerse both you and himself in the realm of sensory play, among other things as well.

🌹OCT.27 - Brat Taming - Seungmin

If the collar fits: Seungmin can't stand brats. But he is more than willing to train one into submission no matter how hard it is for him.

🌹OCT.28 - Cuckolding - Bang Chan

Open Game: This one shot involves, you, Bang Chan, an invitation to an exclusive sex club, and a whole heap of memories that he’s never going to forget.

🌹OCT.31 - Halloween special

Yet to be decided… 

I can’t wait to get into next month so stay tuned for updates or any changes!

Rose xxx

[asterias-record-shop]

Bingo Enemies to Lovers Ethan Landry prompt 3. 

Ethan and the reader have a bickering match every time the group is together. Mostly because he has a crush on her and in boy fashion he teases her instead of acting in his feeling but she’s not one to bite her tongue so they go back and forth. Anywho, he decides he’s going to do something more drastic and scare (or potentially kill. Wherever you want to take it honestly) her. But when he’s chasing her with the knife and he gets her he just can’t do it. She’s like pleading and he gets off on it. He doesn’t do anything at the moment. He leaves and the next couple of times they all hang out he’s more teasing than just arguing, trying to get her back to herself because she’s shaken up. He goes to her house to “check up” on her because she’s been less punchy lately. (In my head she can’t really tell her friends about the ghost face chase thing because they suspect her since she got away unharmed. So when he checks on her she just feels like he sees her and takes comfort in him.) she’s a bit vulnerable so she’s guarded at first. Prompt 3 around here I think. Ethan still either a virgin or has very little experience. I love his nerdy side in the movie. Wheew i nearly wrote it for you. I just want to see how you’d expand it. Love your work. Idk if this can fit in one part but I’d love to read how ever many this turns out to be ❤️

—𓆩[movie night]𓆪—

𓆩[main masterlist]𓆪 𓆩[request/ask me something!]𓆪 𓆩[updated bingo card!]𓆪 𓆩[bingo masterlist]𓆪 𓆩[join the bingo taglist!]𓆪

𓆩♡𓆪 CHARACTER - Ethan Landry x Fem! Reader

𓆩♡𓆪 TYPE - smut, fluff, angst maybe?

𓆩♡𓆪 WORD COUNT - 3.7K

𓆩♡𓆪 SUMMARY - Ethan had a school boy crush on you - it was the best way to explain how he felt about you. He loved the nights of bickering during movie nights, but when he gets told that he needs to kill you because you’re going to get in the way, he can’t. You get shaken up and aren’t your normal self so he goes to check on you, and one thing leads to something he truly didn’t expect to happen.

𓆩♡𓆪 STORY WARNINGS - cursing and foul language || fighting & teasing || attempted murder || slight dubcon(?) || Ethan pussies out || banter is his love language but it’s a bad love language || Dacryphilia || blood kink || blood eating || kind of mean/dom! reader || Ethan is a munch || unprotected sex || multiple orgasms || oral || face riding || creampie || definitely a breeding kink || size kink || SPIT ||

“It’s not me who’ll be dying a virgin.”

Those words wouldn’t have hurt him that much if they weren’t so true. He hated the fact that you had sex with men that weren’t him, good sex obviously from the way Tara always raved about how you and your nightly partner never let her sleep.

“Well… I think that’s it for movie night,” Chad had said as everyone stood up together. “Have a goodnight guys!”

You quickly stand, grabbing your bag and muttering things. “Tara, are you coming with me or are you staying?”

Tara nods, but then shakes her head. “I-I’m going to stay, if you don’t really mind?”

You smiled as you held up your bag. “No, I don’t mind. Got my buddy in here, I’ll see you later!”

You start to walk out, ignoring the buddy rule you and your friends had because at this point, you were truly going to snap and maybe murder one of them. Not in a Ghostface mask though.

You quickly went down the steps of the dorm, humming as you bounced on the sidewalk. As frustrated as you were with Ethan, you really needed to get back into your more happy mindset so your dog Cocoa would know you’re upset because dogs are basically superhuman.

You paused when you heard something clatter behind you, turning around in fear with a deep inhale. Almost on cue, a dark black cat jumped out from the alleyway making you sigh loudly, basically releasing a bit of the tension in your body before you turned back around and kept walking.

You didn’t feel it though, the release of fear, anxiety pooling at the pit of your flipping stomach. You inhaled shakily as you dug through your purse, gasping as you were pushed into an alleyway.

You screamed out, gasping as they forced you to turn around, the white mask making your heart stop. You could feel your knees go weak before they pushed a knee between your legs and pushed it upwards. “N-No, please don’t-”

You could hear him shush you, his gloved hand pressing to the lips of the mask as you looked away, whimpering when a knife pressed against your cheek. He pushed you to the side, forcing you to look at him as you tried to shake your head.

Ethan grinned under the mask, the sight of you whimpering and starting to sob from his blade, threatening to slice you up whenever he wanted. He inhaled deeply as you started to shake your head, his hand shaking against your jaw.

“Please… please don’t do this. Don’t do this, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Oh, whatever he wanted? The thought was appealing, the ability to just cut off all of your clothes, watch you crumble to your knees and force your mouth onto his cock to beg him not to kill you.

He inhaled deeply, attempting to press the blade harder into your skin but your tears made it slide. He flinched when it nipped at your skin, drawing the crimson liquid. He felt his eyes roll back as you sobbed loudly, his hand quickly going to your mouth, muffling your sounds.

You sobbed even louder, finally trying to fight against him before his knee pressed firmly into your pussy and a loud gasp falling from your lips.

“You better behave.” He growled out, his hand tightening around the hilt of the blade and pressing harder into your skin. “Behave!”

You sobbed loudly, shaky hands tugging on the black fabric of his robe. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll do anything you want me to, I promise! Please, please just don’t hurt me.”

He pressed it deeper into your skin, hand tightening around your mouth as he leaned forward. He ducked under the mask, being careful that you didn’t see him as he licked along your cheek, collecting your tears before dragging the tip of his tongue down to the nip he made, sucking on it to collect all the blood from the small cut.

You sobbed even harder as the knife slowly pushed into your collar bone, leaning close to your ear before forcing his voice deeper. “You tell anyone about this, I’ll come back and fuck you with the hilt of my knife, then I’ll kill you with a slit to your throat. You understand me?”

“Yes! Yes, I understand, I understand! I’m sorry!” You sobbed even harder but Ethan could hear voices and footsteps, quickly shushing you. “Kiss me. Kiss me and I won’t kill you.”

Quickly, you leaned up and pressed your lips to his as his hands caught both of your wrists before you could continue slamming your fists to his chest. He groans loudly into your mouth, knee shaking unconsciously making moans leave your mouth as you dig your nails into your palms.

“Just some horny kids. Get a damn room!”

They walked away, Ethan still not pulling back before your teeth tug on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He hissed loudly as he pulled away, laughing as he quickly pulled down his mask. Pressing the blade against your cheek, he tilts his head. “You’re mine, you got that? You belong… to me. Do you understand that? Don’t make me give you a real scar for you to understand that.”

You whined, eyes watering as your head bobbing. No tears were coming from your eyes, there was none left as he started to back away. “Don’t tell anyone, or I’ll come back!”

You weren’t the same. You never left game nights alone, you never argued with Ethan, you just sat there. Your hands were shaking, eyes darting everywhere every moment in time.

Tonight’s movie was It, a horror film Ethan didn’t really care for. In fact, no one really was keen on scary movies, but they wanted a bit of a change. You sat down next to Ethan, hugging a pillow tightly against your chest as he smirks down at you.

“If you get scared, you can hold my hand.”

You don’t respond, your hand quickly pushing into his, shaky fingers and sweaty palms tightly wrapped around his own hand as you inhale shakily. He looked over, raising a brow, but it made sense that you were so scared. He liked it, the thought of the fact that he scared you this much that you’re falling right into his arms.

“Y/N? You alright?” He whispers as you look up at him, gasping when you see the cut on his lip.

“Wh-What is that? On your lip?”

He felt panic settle in as he self consciously licked his lips, humming with a shake of his head. “I was sealing a letter for class,” he laughs awkwardly, shaking his head. “It was… it was stupid, I started bleeding all over the place. But you… you don’t seem okay.”

He was the first to notice, and oh did it make your heart swell and skip a few beats. Your other hand finds his as you lean into his chest, shakily exhaling a breath as he pulls you closer. “I’m not.”

Ethan smiled into your hair before standing up, everyone else easily falling asleep during the movie after surviving through a real life horror film. “Do you want to come to my room? Or go to your house?”

In all honesty, nothing sounded better than going to his room and being fucked so hard that you couldn’t even remember that night. Except, maybe, going to your apartment where you could get railed so hard you wouldn’t remember anything either. Besides, not everyone had to hear you begging for another round when Ethan would surely pass out after seeing your pussy.

“Can we go to my house?”

Ethan nods quickly, hiding his smile as he pulls you out of the apartment after you grab your bag. You held his hand tightly, jumping at every small sound before you both got to the street of your apartment and a black figure made you stop in your tracks.

A whimper fell from your mouth as Ethan rolled his eyes, of fucking course his sister wanted to get rid of you tonight. But, it’ll work in his favor anyway. “Y/N, get to your apartment.”

“What?” It was like you were frozen, your hands gripping his as Quinn starts to make her way toward the both of you and he starts to push you up the stairs.

“Go!”

You do as he said, quickly running up the stairs while calling 911, Quinn quickly stopping in front of Ethan. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

“I’m about to get fucking laid!”

Quinn pauses, taking off her mask. “So that’s why you couldn’t kill her? Because you’re pussy whipped?!”

“Would you shut up?!” Ethan groaned, straightening when he heard sirens coming. “You need to go, but do something so that it looks real.”

“I have no arguing with that, you pussy whipped mother fucker.”

It was just a small cut on his collarbone because Quinn would probably feel bad about it later, but after quick interviews with the police and your hands holding his tightly, it was almost done.

“Can we go now? Don’t you see that he’s injured?” You asked the barraging officers who sigh heavily.

“Is there really nothing else you can think of?”

“No, nothing,” Ethan says, inhaling sharply. “I don’t feel good, though, I want to leave.”

“The paramedics offered to take you to the hospital-”

“For a few stitches?” You scoffed. “I’m a med student, I can get that done here. We’re leaving.”

You were quick to pull him up the stairs and unlock your apartment door, pushing him down onto the couch. “Take off your shirt.”

He was quick to obey, taking off his shirt as you go to the restroom and bring out a large container of what seemed to be medical supplies. “Is it deep? Can you tell?” He looks down, attempting to stare at his collarbone making you giggle. “Not what I meant, honey.”

His cheeks get hot as you kneeled down in front of him between his legs, getting a good view of the cut before taking out a large wrapped gauze. “It’s not too deep, doesn’t need stitches. Let me just clean it up.”

“Y/N.”

“I mean, unless you want stitches I could probably-”

“Y/N.” You looked up, Ethan smiling down at you as he slowly pushed his hand through your hair, pushing it out of your hair. “Don’t worry about me. What’s wrong with you?”

You inhaled shakily as he smiled down at you, his perfect shining smile as you shook your head. “D-Don’t worry about it-”

“Y/N, I’m worried about you,” he says, shaking his head. “I want to know what is going on. You know that I’ll protect you.”

You stared up at him as you finished putting on the gauze, pushing your hands onto his bare shoulders and sitting in his lap. He swallowed as you hugged him tightly, inhaling shakily. “Promise?”

Ethan hugged you back tightly, nodding into your neck. “I won’t let anything happen to you, ever.”

It was a promise and he meant it. You pulled away with a smile, pushing back his hair. “Thank you, Ethan.”

He hummed, nodding as he leans into your touch with closed eyes, exhaling deeply. “I’ll do anything for you.”

“Oh yeah? We’ve gone from arguments to this, darling?” You teased him, curling your fingers in his hair as he nodded.

“Always wanted to be like this with you, just didn’t know how to.” He mumbles into your neck, Ethan’s hands pushing into your shirt as he tugged softly. “C-Can I take it off?”

You hummed, nodding before the words rang back in your head. You inhaled shakily, and it was as though Ethan knew what you were thinking. “Y/N, I promise, I’ll do anything… anything to protect you.”

You nodded, raising your arms so that he could pull off your shirt. His mouth pressed wet, open mouthed kisses to your skin, sucking and biting against your skin as you inhaled sharply, humming. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

He pauses, smiling up at you. “I’m doing good then?”

“Well, you’re kissing really nice.” He laughed as he stood, going down the hall and attempting to open the door. “One more down!”

He quickly moved down again, opening the door before setting you on the bed. He watched as you quickly repositioned yourself, legs wide as you started stripping easily. Ethan quickly followed, his dick slapping against his lower stomach as he starts to crawl onto the bed before you press your foot onto his chest.

“You need to behave, Landry.”

“Behave? Baby, you don’t like it when I behave.”

You laugh as you let your leg fall against the bed, legs spread widely with a brow raised. “Well then, don’t. But you better be good at misbehaving, Ethan.”

He swallowed as you pushed him down so that his face was hovering over your pussy, your clenching cunt that was basically dripping with arousal. “Y-Y/N, I’ve never… I’ve never done this before.”

You tilted your head down at him. “You’ve never eaten someone out before?” You knew he was a virgin, but this much of a virgin?

He shook his head, making you giggle. “I-I can… I can try.”

“You’ve never seen a porno where the guy eats the girl out? Come on baby, I know you have.” You stroke his cheek before pulling him closer, dragging your thumb along your lips. “Or do you want me to do the work and you just take it? You seem like someone who’d like doing that.”

He swallowed as you raised a brow.

“Well, are you going to answer me?”

“I’ll sit back and take it, Y/N,” he leaned forward to lick a firm line against your aching cunt. “I’ll take everything you give me.”

You giggle as you help him lay back against the pillows, humming as you hovered over his face. “You’re going to lull out your tongue for me,” you say, watching as he does as you say with the slight tilt back of his head. “And then…” you move your body so that you could kiss him, sloppy and wet to make his mouth filled with your spit before pulling away. You giggle, kissing his nose before hovering over his mouth.

“You can use your fingers too. I’ll tell you if you’re too rough.”

He nodded, moving his hands to slowly press and rub against your cunt and clit, humming. “Y-You’re not going to sit down?”

You paused, giggling. “Are you… are you sure? I don’t… I don’t-”

He inhaled, shaking his head. “Y/N, darling, I might be a virgin, but I’m not a pussy. Sit down before I do it myself.”

You hummed, raising a brow. “Do what yourself?”

His hands go to your hips, forcing you down into his mouth as he lulled out his tongue. You gasped as he forced you to roll your hips into his mouth, eyes rolling back as you slowly humped against his face. You groaned out as one of his thumbs rubbed circles against your clit as his pointer finger slowly rubbed against your entrance, his tongue flickering and lapping.

You groaned loudly as you held onto the top of the bed frame, whining as you tried to go faster. It almost reminded you of humping your pillow when the thought of a dildo repulsed you, even this time riding his face was definitely better than that. You whimpered above him, throwing your head back. It was mind blurring, pleasure filling your body and making sparks run up your spine and your stomach twist.

You whimpered as he slowly pushed a finger into you, his other hand steadying your hips from shaking as you continued to thrust into his mouth.

He pushed another finger into you, his tongue pushing inside of you with another finger. His tongue laps and sucks against your clit, spit and your slick rubbing against his chin and around his mouth as he forces you to press lower against his mouth before giving a firm slap to your ass.

You yelped, releasing your weight onto him, making him pull you down closer and his teeth graze your clit. Your eyes rolled back as he lifted his head, attempting to get as close as he could to your cunt making a loud whine leave your lips.

Ethan couldn’t stop, not when your pussy was so fucking addicting. That’s probably what made you cum going on four times on his tongue, hips shaking as he forced you to stay on his tongue. His fingers didn’t stop thrusting into you, tongue flicking against your swollen clit as your eyes rolled back, tears falling down your cheeks. Your stomach was burning as Ethan humped the air, the hand on your hip leaving bruises against your skin.

“Ethan, Ethan! Ethan, please!” You were whimpering above him, imprints from the wood in your skin as he pulled away, his nose brushing against your clit before he pulled away.

“What? Do I stop? Am I not doing good?” He asked immediately, almost worried before you laughed, thighs shaking as you started to lift yourself up.

“Ethan, you’ve made me cum almost four times, and you think you’re doing bad?” You quickly flop onto your back, humming as you spread your shaky thighs. “Let’s see if you know how to make your dick work like your tongue.”

He gulped, taking his hand across his mouth to gather the wetness before looking down at his cock, cum dripping out of the tip. You looked down, letting out a soft giggle. “You came from eating me out?”

He smiled. “How could I not when your pussy is that fucking good?”

His words make you blush as he kneeled down in front of you, humming as he pressed his tip slowly into your entrance. Your eyes rolled back, whimpering from overstimulation as he rubbed his head up and down your slit. “Hm, when you want to be, you can be good.”

You gasped as he pushed into you, whining loudly as your hands held his shoulders before he bottomed out with a quick thrust. You were basically knocked out of breath, gasping for air as he leaned down to press a firm kiss to your lips. “Behave, my love, and I’ll give you what you want.”

You nodded, immediately arching your back as he started to push into you, head thrown back. “F-Fuck, I’m going to cum just like this, fucking hell Y/N. Y-You’re still so hot and w-warm, holy fuck!”

Your eyes rolled back, legs wrapping around his waist as you pulled him down. “Holy fuck, are you sure you’re a virgin?” You whimpered into his ear, letting out a soft giggle as he laughed breathlessly.

“Guess it’s good that you’re asking that, right? I’m fucking you good?” He grunted, groaning loudly as his hips snapped forward, thrusts sloppy and rough.

“E-Ethan, stop,” you whimper, shaking your head. “We got time, baby, don’t rush it.”

“W-Was that not good? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he mumbles before you shake your head, pushing back his hair.

“You don’t need to go rough right off the bat, ease into it,” you shakily roll your hips, moaning. “G-Go slow… then get faster.”

He whimpered, nodding. “B-But, what if it’s not enough? I-I want… I want more.”

You hummed, rolling your hips up into his own. “You can get faster, but don’t be sloppy, it hurts.”

He nodded, holding your hips, getting faster as he whined. The thrusts made your eyes roll back, mouth falling open as he kissed against your neck, whimpering. “Fuck, fuck! Fuck, it’s so good, your pussy is so perfect. A-Am I doing good, am I making you feel good? Fuck baby, I feel so fucking good, your pussy feels so good around me.”

You gasped, nails scratching down his back. “Yes, yes! Yes, I feel so good, fuck, I’m close! I’m close, Ethan!”

He grunted, his thrusts getting rougher in a way that wasn’t painful as he lifted up your hips to hit a whole new place inside of you that made your eyes roll back and a loud scream fall from your lips. Your mind blurred, vision going dark as he moaned loudly into your neck, gasping for air as his eyes rolled back.

You could feel his cum spurt inside of you, filling you up in the deepest spots inside of you before he pulled back a bit to watch your tummy start to bulge. He rubbed against your tummy, sitting back on his knees. “Can I go again?”

You laughed, nodding. “Yes, you can.”

He leaned down, pressing his lips against your neck before whispering, “I’m going to protect you with everything I have. No one will ever touch you, no one will ever take you from me baby.”

You whimpered, nodding against his neck. “Promise?”

“I promise.” And he will hold that until his death bed.

omg, I love fulfilling requests ♡ keep them coming for Bingo!!

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© asterias-record-shop

[justafriend-ql]

2024 gmmtv bl + gl predictions/wishlist

okay okay, i know it's only july. but i'm a little crazy, so i'm already thinking about the 2024 lineup. some general observations that are informing my predictions:

the 2023 lineup features 9 bls and 1 gl (out of 22 total series). 2 of the bls are ensemble casts (our skyy 2, only friends). so we can probably expect ~10 ql series next year.

as a general rule, it seems like gmmtv's main pairs will get a series every other year or so, although some popular pairings may be mains two years in a row.

they also seem to give lead roles to one or two new main pairings per year - usually pairs that have been floated as side couples in series that aired the year prior (e.g., milklove, perthchimon)

*please note that this is entirely speculation and i don't intend to start any wars in the notes. also: i will be talking about the pairs from an analytical/business perspective; if that makes you uncomfortable, i recommend you just keep scrolling*

bl predictions (in no particular order)

winny x satang series

rationale: given the success of their pairing in my school president and the many fanmeets/brand sponsorship events they've had together this year (including some solo events abroad), this is almost a guarantee. genre prediction: i'm guessing it will be a romcom with a bit of a darker/angstier edge to it, since winny and satang are great at the enemies to lovers trope and are talented dramatic actors.

2. pond x phuwin series

rationale: since fish upon the sky, these two have been a very popular pairing (particularly in thailand, it seems). along with joongdunk and geminifourth, they're part of the 'new gen' group that gmmtv has do a lot of fanmeets/brand sponsorship events (which means $$$ for gmmtv). their last series, never let me go, aired mostly in 2023 but was scheduled for 2022, so a 2024 series would be in keeping with the every-other-year rule. genre prediction: i think their next series will lean more towards the romcom end of the spectrum, given that never let me go was a lakorn and (regrettably, in my opinion) wasn't as popular as fish upon the sky.

3. gemini x fourth series

rationale: this is another no-brainer, really. this pair is so wildly popular that they're already having a solo concert together. both are very good actors (and performers) despite their young age. gmmtv would be stupid not to capitalize on their popularity and skill. genre prediction: probably still romcom, but with a little more "maturity" than my school president. they're young, but that hasn't ever stopped gmmtv from upping the intensity of the physical intimacy, in particular (e.g., phuwin was 19, about the same age as gemini and fourth, when never let me go was filmed).

4. first x khaotung series

rationale: though these two certainly aren't bound to the branded pair model, they excel when they act opposite to each other. the eclipse garnered a lot of popularity for them, and that's only going to grow after only friends. genre prediction: these two can carry heavy, emotional scenes and dark themes extremely well, so it'd be great to see them in a darker genre (the eclipse, while dealing with heavy topics, still had a lot of lighter romcom moments). personally, i'd love to see them lead a p'aof production, which might be likely since p'aof worked with (and was impressed with) the two of them on moonlight chicken. a period drama with these two would be super interesting.

5. neo x mark series

rationale: these two are the wildcard pairing in only friends and were originally the side couple in cooking crush (before they switched out mark due to overbooking him). this is consistent with gmmtv's tendency to float a couple in a series or two before giving them a series of their own. they're both in the same boat, having been relegated to the "funny side character" role for a while, but they have tremendous potential to do more, and gmmtv seems to recognize that now with their decision of casting them in only friends. genre prediction: hmm this one is tricky, since these two can do romcom and drama equally well. if i had to guess, they'll give neo and mark an "edgy"/"sexy" sereies because they're willing to go there and they can execute it well, which isn't necessarily true of all other gmmtv pairs.

6. force x book series

rationale: okay, i know i said gmmtv usually doesn't give pairs a main series two years in a row. but in forcebook's case, i think it's likely. for some reason that i don't personally understand, enchante didn't seem to resonate with a lot of people, but their popularity has skyrocketed since a boss and a babe and will only grow more when only friends airs. i think gmmtv will go with the momentum and give them another series in 2024. genre prediction: forcebook have done two romcoms already, so hopefully they'll get to branch out into another genre. personally, i think a mafia-type series led by these two would be really sick.

gl predictions (in no particular order)

gmmtv is testing the gl waters with milklove-led 23.5 this year. given the popularity of idol factory's gap the series (which surpassed 2gether's viewing stats by a wide margin), gmmtv will need to invest in the gl market in order to remain competitive. that's why i think there will be at least 2 gls in 2024, rather than just one.

view x june series

rationale: view and june will star in dangerous romance and 23.5 this year, indicating that gmmtv is looking to brand them or at least give them main roles in 2024. they're both talented actresses who have a lot of experience and can easily handle heavier material. it's just a matter of how well they're received as a pair in the series that air in 2023. genre prediction: we don't know what their dynamic will be like in their 2023 series, but i think a lakorn-style, enemies to lovers narrative would suit view and june well and give them a chance to showcase their great acting skills. a sci-fi series would also be really neat!

2. sizzy girl group series

rationale: this one might be more of a personal wish than a likely prediction, since gmmtv hardly gives sizzy the time of day. but! jan and aye have played queer characters before, and ciize has repeatedly expressed interest in doing a gl (even talking to jane about being paired together). they're all great actresses and performers (sizzy concert when??), so it really would be amazing if they got their own series. genre prediction: i'm feeling a rom-com for them. my personal dream is a series about a literal girl group of performers (like sizzy itself) so that there can be original music for each episode like in my school president. bonus points if nanon can guest star as their slaytastic manager (i'm never getting over their love score collab).

ensemble predictions (in no particular order)

given the growing number of branded and un-branded pairs within gmmtv, gmmtv will have to lean more into ensemble series (like only friends) in order to give everyone screen-time.

a light-hearted romcom (like our skyy 2)

rationale: this would be an opportunity to give airtime to any branded pairs that don't have their own series, or more work for popular pairs. a light-hearted romcom with a stacked ensemble cast would be a huge moneymaker for gmmtv with lots of fanmeet/concert opportunities (like my school president). cast predictions: we could see many members of the my school president gang (geminifourth, markford, potentially also aun and prom) here. this could also be a chance to float new gl pairings!

2. a more mature, jojo-style series (like only friends)

rationale: other production companies are ratcheting up the heat of their series; gmmtv will do so too in order to stay competitive. for better or for worse, sex sells, and like only friends, a series like this would attract a lot of attention and excitement on social media. cast predictions: this is where some of their older, more established pairs come into play. we could see jimmysea or offgun here. or even joongdunk or pondphuwin, since these two pairs are being pushed in the direction of higher heat. this could look like a mafia or gang-war style series, or maybe something with paranormal/horror themes.

bonus: things that probably won't happen but i would desperately like to see

namtan, tu, ploypach and/or prim gl (please i'm begging i would DIE; can you imagine a period piece with these four?? the costumes alone would have me on my knees)

joongdunk/pondphuwin vampire series (i don't care if it's cringe; did you see joongdunk's dumdum performance??)

breaking up branded pairs (imagine, for example, if joongdunk/pondphuwin switched partners; or winnysatang/markford; or jimmysea/forcebook)

fluke pusit main series (i mean, come on)

midnight museum season 2 khathadome canon (not brothers, please be serious)

okay, that's it. feel free to add your own predictions/wishlist. remember: these are just my own ideas and opinions! don't take anything i say too seriously haha

[absolutebl]

2022 BL Wrap Up - All The Shows I Watched... rated

I’m not going to talk about everything BL that I watched in 2022, that would be the longest post ever. But still, this is a really long post. Sorry, not sorry. Everything I watched got a pithy little review. 

2022 BL - Watched & Rated

This includes any show that ended in 2022, including those that started in 2021. Alphabetical-ish order.

21 Days Theory (Thailand YT ) 6/10 

Tropes: high school, cheating, secret crush, high angst

Initially I REALLY loved this little show. It reminded me of Blueming + Make it Right (never forget I’m the world’s foremost Make It Right apologist, and the lead even looks a little like Fuse). Why did I like it? 1. GAY UNCLE character giving GREAT advice!. 2. Boys in blue shorts are back! 3. Seme is already pining, uke is tsundere but with reason and conflict is set up and executed well as a result. 4. lots of linguistic discussion and flirting (they made the linguistically fascinating couples post). Everything about this show is in my wheelhouse and this would have jumped high in my rating (even at this length) if they had bothered to finish it like the YA romance it clearly was. But the ending was disappointing. I’m not mad about it, but I’m not happy either.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

The 8.2 Second Rule (Japan YouTube) 6/10

AKA 8.2 Byo no Hosoku

Tropes: secret admirer, food in love, soulmates

Very short BL about a schoolboy who makes magic candy for a series of handsome classmates, questing for a soulmate. Each ep is a new love interest and while the sweets help others, they keep failing to bring him love. Of course h's overlooking someone. The lead was very good and the theme, cooking, and eventually romance were charming, but it is a series of BL vignettes not really a cohesive story, no kisses or anything. Japan doesn’t give us sweet BL this short very often, so it was nice to see them try out the style.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED 

A Man Who Defies the World of BL 2 (Japan Viki) unrated

I consider this show a documockary, not really a BL. As with the first installment I loved it beyond reasons, I tagged the second season review onto the first. Review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

About Youth (Taiwan GaGa) 8/10

It’s truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with classic YA low drama but high angst, I didn’t even mind the singing, and that’s saying a lot. It featured Taiwan's modern take on AePete: popular but painfully lonely rich kid, Guang (complete with evil pressure-cooker tiger parents) meets and is basically adopted by poor nerdy (secret rockstar) Qizhang. HE EVEN HAS AE’S TOTE!!! Side dishes are Guang’s adorable bestie, Ray, and even more adorable (also a rockstar) Jian. Lots of BL tropes but also this is quite queer and very Taiwan with an earnestness depth I haven’t seen since My Ride an almost real world authenticity. Not that I normally like that in my BL, but I’ll forgive Taiwan (and the Philippines) for their sticky almost dirty style if it is this endearing and engaging (see also Gameboys). I wish it had been given a bit more room to breathe, but all in all a great edition to the Taiwanese BL lexicon which was in dire need of just this kind of content. Full review. 

RECOMMENDED 

Ai Long Nhai (Thailand iQIYI) 6/10

Tropes: messy gay, trial relationship, friends to lovers

Look this show was just a typical Thai BL university pulp about a confident gay and a clueless manic pixie dream boy, that had potential, chemistry, and earnestness going for it, but no plot and not enough side dishes. In the end it was boring and you know I always rate boring lower than hot messes. Still it’s better than your average Thai BL, nothing happens but at least the nothing mostly shirtless, the gay dads are the BEST, and that’s about all I can say for it.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED 

Bad Buddy (Thailand YouTube) 9/10

Tropes: secret lovers, Romeo & Romeo, sunshine/tsundere, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, GL side plot

GMMTV’s flagship BL started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Juliet masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. GMMTV, we forgive you. More. Live blog of this one is here. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Behind Cut (Korea, Jan Viki) 8/10

Tropes: grown up problems, finding your dreams, friends to lovers

Better than average chemistry (for KBL) and a unique setting almost pulled this show into the realm of something quite special but it never quite managed to get away from the pacing and story structure issues endemic to KBL’s limited time frame and scope. Still It gets the job done. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Big Dragon (Thailand Gaga) 7/10 

Tropes: player love-rivals/enemies to lovers, rich/poor

This is a decent execution of true enemies to lovers, these two spy on and bully each other, exploring darker themes. The way the leads transition between anger, resentment, titillation, and flirting (and the way, with kinksters, this can all be the same thing) is really well done. This BL pairing proved itself to be a lot more sophisticated than I expected with nods at kink in a more respectful way than Mame could ever dream, plus excellent chemistry, but something was askew around plot, directing, and ending. 

RECOMMENDED FOR THE LEAD PAIR, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE 

Blue of Winter AKA Judo Boys (Korea YouTube) 3/10

Tropes: Bad boy/good boy, mad crush, reunion romance

OMG, is that..? Did Korea give us… a pulp? I do believe they did! The sound quality was poor, lighting sub par, even the filming and staging wasn’t on point (for Korea). Sadly none of that was the problem, this could have actually been good, the cast was excellent, but instead it was just really... odd. Focused on the wrong couple in the triangle and spent too much time on some elements and not enough on... ya know PLOT. Not terrible but not good either. in the end I didn’t know what I watched and neither did it.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Bleuming (Korea iQIYI) 9/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers (sort of), coming of age, self worth and self acceptance, lonely prince, sunshine/tsundere

It’s a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love for BL. I wasn’t into it at first, but both leads turn in solid performances and by ep 5 it got good, becoming a narrative about self discovery, as well as understanding and accepting others people’s flaws without hurting them. Ultimately, we witnessed two characters maturing because of each other and their mutual affection while that affection was never itself the conflict point. Instead, tension was built around other aspects of identity, popularity, and self-worth. While production values were a touch lower than usual, Blueming included decent kisses and other forms of intimacy and a satisfying ending (all rare for Korea) plus there’s judicious and very elegant use of tropes, (which is expected). Full review here.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED

Check Out (Thailand iQIYI) 4/10 

Tropes: office, second chance, high heat

Special episode 0 (prequel) filmed in 2021 was the only good thing about this show. Characters lacked motivation, there was no story, the leads were a fine pair but the sex scenes managed to be both good and boring. I nearly DNFed. Ugh. 

FATALLY FLAWED

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry YT) 8/10 

Tropes: reincarnation, fated mates, paranormal elements

Choco Milk Shake (Korea YouTube) Stongberry gave us a full length BL on YouTube! It’s a BL miracle and an endless delight. It was wonderfully cute, unexpectedly hilarious but expectedly silly, a little too poignant, occasionally gut wrenching and with a somewhat expected weird (but happy-ish) ending. The actors playing the two pets must have had the best time. As, indeed, did I watching it. Jealous Milk made me cackle so hard it scared the actual cat on my lap, Choco was perfectly cast, and the chemistry was ultimately decent. In Strongberry I still trust. Thank you thank you, may we have another, sirs?

RECOMMENDED 

Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Korea Viki) 9/10

Tropes: High school to college, cohabitation, stepbrothers, popular boy/nerd (shy, loner, bullied), orphan protag

Korea took on early Japanese sweet yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette (beautiful pastels, sun-saturated over-exposure), manga framing style, some traditional BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope and it was, in a word, classic. Sophisticated and understated CBAW is not slow, it’s just subtle. It's dream-like and atmospheric, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really. Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s a beautiful pastiche and I loved it for how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience. Full review here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Cherry Magic the movie (Japan grey) 8/10 

AKA Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!: The Movie AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii 

Tropes: LTR, cohabitation, self acceptance, coming out

I liked it, not as much as the original, it lacked the humor. Again no kissing, these actors must be expensive, but some nice domesticity. Still with Thailand bringing the higher heat with such consummate casualness these days (licking ass and taking names) there really isn’t much of an excuse anymore for no kisses, it felt a little phoned in. Even Korea has buckled, come on Japan, grow up. 

RECOMMENDED 

Close Friend 2 (Thailand Viki) 6/10

Tropes: LTR, adult problems, the closet, coming out

It’s basically dealing with two kinds of closet: the one imposed on us, and the one we impose on ourselves. Honestly Pierce and Phoon are very mature characters for a BL couple - the kind of relationship that only OhmFluke could really portray, and they do it very well. That’s almost the problem - it is too well done and thus discomforting. if you don’t like realism in your BL avoid this show. I liked the celebrityhood vs fandom storyline, although I thought it was too generous to those fans. Both pairs did well but I wasn’t wowed by story or content, over all a bit dull.

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

Coffee Melody (Thailand Viki) 5/10 

Tropes: cafe setting, food is love, sing your feelings

Stars Pavel (my love) as a cafe owner (Forth in 2moons2) and Benz as a composer (Call it What You Want). This should have been my kind of BL - on the fluffy end of the spectrum plus honestly queer. Unfortunately, the slow pacing, manufactured angst, odd secondary story arcs, and a selfishly immature unlikeable wet dishcloth main character, Yi, meant its flaws outweighed its charm. Jean (flame on snark fairy) is MINE, I love him so much but in the end neither he nor Pavel in an apron could save it for me. It’s not bad. It’s not good either, tho. Ultimately so forgettable I’ve probably already forgotten it. 

JUST DULL

Color Rush 2 (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: crush, friends to (almost) lovers, paranormal, suspense, murder investigation

In this second installment the plot revolves around Yeon Woo searching for his mother (and, sort of, his probe) joined by Se Hyun, whose sister is involved. We’re right back in gay allegory territory only this time the question is: Can you miss something you never had? Especially when it has to do with your own identity? Also, has Sehyun switched his (supposedly) natural inclination towards obsession onto Yeonwoo? I liked it. I liked Hyuk a lot more than I was expecting too. Like the prior installment, Color Rush 2 was stylish and clever (although not quite as clever). Honestly, in the end, I don’t know what to say about Color Rush 2. Does it work as the second installment of a trilogy? Absolutely. Does it work as the final installment of a duology. Absolutely NOT. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Cupid’s Last Wish (Thailand YouTube) 6/10

Tropes: pining/tsundere, bodyswap, quest, road trip

Win is such an incredibly unlikeable character I really struggled with this show, no skin off Mix’s acting, but holy fucking irredeemable tsundere. Also I really do not like body-swap. The final ep tried (and for some it may have been successful) but combine this with bodyswap (my least favorite trope) and even EarthMix’s chemistry (which has improved since Thousand Stars) didn’t save it.

WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME, BUT FLAWED

Cutie Pie (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: arranged marriage, age gap, secret identity, cohabitation, rich kid problems, he’s in engineering

Very high production and a lot of visual references to live action yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and sappy and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming For Soul (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: PNR, grim reaper, enemies to lovers

This is a romance between a doctor trying to save his patients and a reaper who is both his enemy and (eventually) lover. Basically it’s the genius premise of a gay Doom at Your Service. High concept looks good on you, Thailand. I enjoyed it more than it’s ending deserved, and the best I can say is that it’s not strictly HEA but if you’re okay with Life: Love on the Line, you’ll probubly be okay with this BL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan GaGa) 8/10

Tropes: secret identity, reunion romance, queer family, bisexual awakening, sunshine/broken, healing, quest

While this is one of those series (ostensibly) carried by the sunshine seme character (Taiwan is always weak in seme/uke) and he does a stand-up job, Erek Lin, who plays the love interest, Amber, is luminous. I found the twist entirely predictable, but knowing what would happen didn't spoil this show for me, in fact I think I sympathized more with Amber and understood his behavior better, because I knew. The exact way it’s handled (medically speaking) is a little disingenuous to a queer narrative (AKA they could have just GONE there) but I didn’t mind, because all the characters around Amber act with such integrity. Since this is a queer story arc that other shows have systemically mishandled and made depressing, DNA deserves extra marks for its uniquely upbeat approach. It’s full of queer found family representation and an unexpected amount of domesticity, plus it’s Taiwan, so the kisses are great. The last few eps really are special and life/love affirming - and the ending is big-grin charming. Full review here.

VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED

Gen Y 2 (Thailand grey) 5/10  

Tropes: this is an insane soap opera

Exactly as chaotically messy as expected, possibly worse, as the four main couples apparently each decided they were acting in a different kind of BL. While I do believe that the world demands the excess Star Hunter provides, it is utterly exhausting to watch. No full review because I live blogged this one here.

WATCH IT ONLY IF YOU NOTHING BETTER TO DO

Ghost Host, Ghost House (Thailand YouTube) 7/10 

Tropes: my ghost boyfriend, PNR, domesticity

This is a light horror plus family drama built around a well executed BL trough-line that felt honestly queer with fantastic chemistry from the lead pair. (I hope that we see more of them.) Pluem delivers the softest most seductive krap ever and watching them flirt over noodles is an unalloyed pleasure. Use of I/you pronouns is super interesting and cute. For me personally the surrounding cast, premise, and story didn’t resonate but if you like a touch of gothic in your BL this might appeal.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

The Eclipse (Thailand YouTube) 8/10 

Tropes: sinister boarding school, haze the one you love, suspense, high school setting, coming of age  

GMMTV does gay Blacklist with a good boy/bad boy pairing. Starred First & Khaotung plus the side dish pair from FUTS NeoLouis. This is a good show but the cast was excellent and the leads were absolutely flawless. They gave us a nuanced and multifaceted burgeoning relationship: philosophical (and socio-political) conflict contrasted to moments of empathy; flirtation contrasted to moments of genuine affection. This narrative is less about love than it is about courage and tenderness. However, near the end the pacing was off and the plot frustrating. Still, this is an enjoyable watch, with an ending that features verbal consent and a funny blooper reel. 

RECOMMENDED 

Enchanté (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: childhood sweethearts, sunshine/tsundere, secret admirer with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac and dose of Boys Over Flowers.

Theo returns from France and starts a written flirtation inside a library book (!) at his new uni with the mysterious Enchante. When he and his best friend Akk hunt for Enchante’s real identity, 4 senior boys step forward - all intersted in dating Theo, all with ulterior motives. Can’t fault the chemistry or the classic old school Thai uni BL and Akk (Force) was particularly sympathetic. But the twist over Enchantie’s identity felt disingenuous, manipulative, and unnecessary and the whole narrative was flawed as a result, Theo became unlikeable and irredeemable. GMMTV seems to specialize in squandering great chemistry on shoddy scripts. Honestly it probubly should get an 8/10 by my rating system but I was so disappointed I’m giving it a 7/10 and not bothering to write a full review. Live blog ep-by-ep recap here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Gaga) 2/10

Tropes: my ghost boyfriend, paranormal, kill the gay, dark 

Smart boy in love with zombie incubus, keeps him alive with sex. This prevailing wistfulness between our leads about the future that they know they will never get to have. The way Michan is constantly listening and feeling for his Koichi’s heartbeat for a reassurance that is never going to come.Japan, king of thirst, gives us both that and PAIN: these 2 are drowning in yearning and loss. Careful with this one - you break it, you bought it, and it'll break you... wide open just to see what color your guts are. After watching, you too might be walking around alone, forgotten, and wondering why no one understands your loss. Not only does it not end happily, it ends hopelessly. 

NOT RECOMMENDED (for newer BL fans) 

Even Sun (Thailand iQIYI) 5/10

Tropes: vacation romance, enemies to lovers, sunshine/tsundere

The language is fun in this one (they also use chan/nai so I’m guessing it’s and organized crime thing), the cast is excellent, the boxers mildly interesting and BounPrem’s chemistry is unmatched, but... I still disliked it. It was unequivocally boring.

WATCH ONLY IF YOU’VE NOTHING BETTER TO DO

First Love Again (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: fated mates, bodyswap

A popular novelist who remembers his past lives meets his soulmate who has been reincarnated in the body of a man. This one started out a touch mean spirited, but it pulled itself together and we even got a good kiss (for a KBL). Then they went from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. The confession/rejection scene was justified and the reconciliation and ending was... fine. All in all the pacing felt rushed, and the romantic arc was underdeveloped, but that’s par for the course with Korea’s short form. If you don’t mind a heavy does of melodrama in your BL this one has a solid story with a strong concept that’s well acted and produced, making it a classic KBL with better than average chemistry but ultimately a touch forgettable. (Full review here.)

RECOMMENDED WITH A FEW RESERVATIONS

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! (Japan Viki & GaGa) 8/10

AKA Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss! AKA Mr Unlucky Can Only kiss

Tropes: opposites attract, accidental relationship, cohabitation  

Mr Chronically Unlucky (another adorable chaos muffin) and Mr Always Lucky end up dating after they meet at uni orientation. It’s JAPAN yet they kissed in the first episode. What freaky alt-reality did I enter into? That’s all they kiss tho, over which I was a touch disappointed (I know). Still I spent far too much of my time with this show biting my knuckles and squealing “THEY’RE SO CUTE!” Amusing story: I paused mid the most tooth-achingly adorable first date in the entire universe and Viki was like “something missing?” and I was like “MY HEART YOU BASTARDS” It is very slapstick Japanese style comedic (light) BL reminds me a bit of Kieta Hatsukoi or Cherry Magic. So if you like that style of BL you’ll adore this show.

RECOMMENDED

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Gaga) 8/10

Tropes: office romance, identity theft, cohabitation 

As a BL it kinda isn’t (sorry to say). There’s no tropes dropped and no real romance narrative beats. This is about dishonesty and pride and there is an elegance to the theme. Which is essentially the idea that possession is not love, and therefore, those who love the Writer have to prove their love by letting him go. Honestly, I’m not sure how to rate this show as a result. This is a blog about BL and this wasn’t that. Full review. 

RECOMMENDED (but not if romance is what you’re primarily after) 

Hard Love Mission (Thailand WeTV) 3/10

Tropes: office romance, spoiled celebrity, 

Phenomenally dull Thai pulp about a journalist sent to interview a celebrity who ends up his manager, only 4 episodes and it still could’ve been shorter. It’s a bummer, the concept wasn’t bad. ALSO Chinese censorship got its gross mitts all over it (thank you, Tencent). Do not waste your time.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I’M WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT 

In Your Heart (Mainland China GaGa) 2/10

Tropes: friends to lovers, codependency, amorphous ending

It’s very mainland China BL, which makes me feel a bit like we are back in 2016 being tormented by nostalgia. It hasn’t a single modern sensibility in it (to be fair neither does China’s het stuff). Which I don’t mind, but it felt off? Messy? Sideways? I was surprised that there was some high heat, but I wasn’t surprised that the couple ended up separated. And yet... If you expect to be disappointed, can you still be disappointed?

NOT RECOMMENDED

Kabe Koji (Japan Viki) 7/10 

Tropes: celebrity romance, sunshine/tsundere 

Basically this is A Man Who Defies the World of BL + Senpai This Can’t be Love (as @heretherebedork said) and equally painfully EXTRA. Nakao Masaki playing a sunshine bouncy himbo character is a fucking revelation, I didn’t think he had it in him. This should’ve been my favorite BL of all time (IT’S AN IDOL LOVE INTEREST!), but the tsundere is too tsundere for me, I really hate the stalker photograph thing it’s apparently a trigger I didn’t know I had until BL tried to romanticize it. I kept feeling like there were the bones of good story in this drama, and I got glimpses of it, but then it’s covered again - like tasty steak smothered in Kewpie mayo. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan grey) 7/10 

AKA I Only Want to Keep Looking at You

Tropes: friends to lovers, coming of age, high school setting, introvert/extrovert

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. Gifted and serious Sakura (Kura Yuki from His the series) and outgoing eccentric manic pixie dream boy, Yuma. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you though Korea invented them? oh no). I felt like I was “supposed to like it” more than I did, ultimately I was left feeling like I had seen it all before. So for me it was lovely but slightly unmemorable.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Kiss X Kiss X Kiss - Perfect Scandal (Japan Billibi) 7/10

SHORT 5-8 minutes sample pack micro-romances: 2 featured BL-ish setups. One with idols in a group together and a secret relationship (Idol Kiss) and another featuring a reluctant boss and flirty subordinate (A Sweet Kiss). Both were cute but mostly just, ya know, kissing. (Reminds me a bit of Korea’s early Triple Do You Want). The interesting thing about the idol one, is one of the leads is ALSO in a het installment. He gives great chemistry with both his partners. And I think he’s a good example of an actor being just, ya know, an actor about the physical part of a romance. Which I take about in terms of never assuming queerness based on performance, here.

RECOMMENDED (for what it is)

KinnPorsche (Thailand iQiYi) 7/10

Tropes: bodyguard, mafia, cohabitation, BDSM, he’s a monster but he’s my monster

VegasPete were in one drama; KimChay were in another; KinnPorsche were in each of those randomly but then sometimes in their own extremely slapstick cheese-fest alt-reality + Tankhun. There were clearly 2 directors with 2 distinct and conflicting points of view, who apparently never had a single conversation with each other. Was this show good? Nope. Was it absorbing as fuck? Sure. Was it well acted, absolutely. Were the sex scenes great? Yes. We the fight scenes awesome? Actually yeah (special props to Jeff for the hand-to-hand stuff). Did I enjoy the kinky bits? Certainly. But all that said: the VegasPete universe of KP was the only universe I really enjoyed and would like to revisit, and I only got that 1/5 of the time. Mathematics is working against this one, for me personally. So I guess I, at least, am still waiting for the perfect mafia BL. I think it might be up to Japan at this juncture. As a result of fan fervor meets my own hearty indifference, I don’t really know how to judge this show but I have to go with my heart, and KP didn’t win it. No full review here on tumbr but I did post on to MDL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Kissable Lips (Korea Viki) 2/10

Tropes: fated mates, paranormal, vampire, codified chase/stalker/ seme

Vampire has to decide between killing the boy he loves or living longer himself. Perfectly cast with a sexy, deadly, tortured vampire and the sweet uke prey who managed to be soft and appealing without being weak or inactive (props to the actor). Better kisses than your average KBL did not mitigate the fact that they killed 1/2 of the couple. Ultimately, one of my most disappointing BLs of 2022. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

La Cuisine (Thailand GaGa) 7/10

Tropes: crush, campus star, bully trigger, best boys, soft & sweet,

A sweet and kind of pure show, and like Thai desserts perhaps requires too much patience for a layperson. Because of the pacing and the focus on the bad girl character, I did dock it. But if you like stuff in the Oxygen vein, then this show is for you, and far better than most Thai BL pulps. That said, I suspect that I enjoyed it more than many would. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Love Area 2 (Thailand GaGa) 3/10

Tropes: I don’t know and neither does it

Look, it wasn't as bas as Bite Me, but it wasn’t actually good, either. This started out as Thailand tackles love triangles pulp style, but by season two lockdown had changed everything. Valen & Kaitoon dropped some great kisses but traded off crazy hair and makeup in a scene-by-scene whiplash that was clearly pickups done months after initial filming, and the second lead just... vanished. It was surreal. Side dishes jumped up screen time but tackled mental health... badly. A fantastic new queer side character was randomly introduced, June, who was the best thing to happen to BL linguistics in 2022 but had nothing to do with the rest of the cast, show, or plot. What a mess. Yes tehre was some very good chemistry and June is a GREAT queer character... BUT...  In the end, I was just confused af. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Love Class (Korea GaGa) 8/10

Tropes: university BL, forced proximity, unrequited love, crush, slight love triangle, triggers (outing, bashing, stalking)

This was a fast-moving, bloated, complicated little show with stronger than usual story structure, well-acted if lacking in chemistry, that managed to be very appealing and engaging despite itself. What it lacked in content it more than made up for in pacing. Both bingable and rewatchable.

RECOMMENDED

Love in Spring (Korea grey) 3/10

AKA Spring of Crush

Tropes: historical, soap opera, fake identity, hidden secrets, cross dressing

This drama was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing drama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering is SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, we now know you can do better. Watch Tinted With You or Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding instead. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED, NOT BL

Love in the Air (Thai iQIYI) 7/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers, too stupid to live, stalker/obsession, university setting, grumpy/tsundere, sunshine/tsundere, abuse triggers

What’s it like? Two stories of aggressive player dudes pursuing innocent younger boys. Terrible. Also entertaining and engaging and kinda hot. Like all good dumpster fires. Recommended only if you know you like this kind of thing. Look, you remember in high school drama class where they make you “envision a basket, and put all of your worry, bad mood, and anxiety into that basket, and leave it outside the door”? Well, in order to enjoy this show, you have to do that, only with your morals. Some people have bigger baskets than others. Mame’s creature whipped me into a verbal frenzy, resulting in yet another trash watch. 

RECOMMENDED WITH A LARGE BASKET OF RESERVATIONS 

Love Mechanics (Thailand WeTV) 6/10 

Tropes: messy disaster bi, out gay boy, cheating, drama llamas

My favorite messy cheeky drama-llama boys were back in spades. And initially I enjoyed it more than I should and more than it deserved. This whole series is basically a diatribe against cheating, with the sweet out gay boy reaping all the punishment a disaster bi can enact. YinWar are geniuses at chemistry and good actors, and their new high heat stuff is excellent, but the story was not improved by being given more time to hang itself. Full review on MDL. 

WORTH WATCHING FOR THE ACTING BUT SERIOUSLY FLAWED

Love Stage (Thailand Feb-March YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity

This BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely: boy falls in love with girl as a child, grows up to discover girl is actually a very pretty boy. Although there are some quintessentially Thai changes that mellowed, softened, and extended the romance arc. One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy, and the contrasting kinds of closets. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. A solid and enjoyable show. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Meow Ears Up (Thailand GaGa) 4/10

Tropes: PNR, catboy, broken characters, hurt/comfort

Adapted from the Korean manhwa Hey, Your Ears Popped Out. This is interesting, Thailand doesn’t adapt from outside their own y-novel tradition very often. This is a pretty classic version of catboy trope: a lonely orphan comic artist adopts a stray cat who suddenly turns into a human teaches him about love, chaos, and family. SO CUTE it hurts and I got very “indulgent daddy” vibes from Mr. DD, which I’m not mad about it. There’s surprising depth to this very weird little show. It’s touching and relatable, but I guess it was trying to be too Japanese/Korean about it while the set up was all sweetness and Thai style, because they fudged the ending. For me, that’s a fatal flaw. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Minato’s Laundromat (Japan GaGa) 9/10

AKA Minato’s Coin Laundry AKA Minato Shoji Koinrandori AKA Minato Shoji Coin Laundry AKA Wash My Heart

Tropes: age gap, pining since childhood, 

A high school student pursues the man of his dreams who happens to run a laundromat in this classic age gap BL. Minato’s Laundromat is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will be and overload for some fans, but those of who follow this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do, and there’s not much more I ask of a show than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days. Squee watch along (in lieu of a full review).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: forced proximity, cohabitation, childhood sweethearts, opposites attract, good boy/bad boy, domesticity

Higher than normal production values plus experienced BL actors plus two charismatic smoldering leads with good kissing and comfortable body language make this Vietnam’s objectively best BL to date. Plus we got a fabulously (and quintessentially Vietnamese) domestic ending. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

My Only 12% (Thailand iQIYI) 8/10  

Tropes: friends to lovers, childhood crush, out gay character, jock/nerd, cancer mom, side noona romance 

Neighbors and codependent childhood friends, Cake & Seeiw, have opposite personalities but may be falling in love. Familiar faces include Prem (Between Us) and Peak (Make it Right). This is a complex, nuanced, and well done little BL romance (tailor made for SantaEarth) about holding onto first love and childhood, but it’s buried under waffling family drama and formless side characters so that it took a lot of digging to get at. 

RECOMMENDED 

My Ride (Thailand GaGa) 9/10

Tropes: sunshine/softie, friends-to-lovers, crush, bisexual identity, out gay, rich/poor

BL grew up with this pulp - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA the cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly overworked doctor meets broken hearted dimpled motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. With great friendship groups and family dynamics the support cast is excellent. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story, good friendship groups and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Secret Love the series (Thailand YouTube) 6/10 

Tropes: jock/nerd, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, reunion romance, secret romance, LTR 

Lead couple had a tom/jerry vibe with the uke too stiff and serious and the seme a prankster immature arse - one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean-spirited). They reminded me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike). Other pairs include BearBomb, TimMai and ParkLee (LTR whom use ter with each other). The domesticity with the side couples was somewhat engaging, and the sex scenes were descent, but that’s it. The worst thing about this show (aside from leads chemistry) was that the chemistry of the friendship groups felt off too. Normally, Thailand can handle friendship groups fine. But these two different groups? I didn’t believe they were friends at all. Full review on MDL. 

NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED 

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Gaga & Viki) 8.5/10

Tropes: childhood trauma, phobias, doctor/patient, age gap

It’s not love in Taiwan if one of them doesn’t stumble into the other.

From the producers of We Best Love, earnest dentist hottie with sad eyes who worries too much is smitten with an adorable sunshine neurotic bar owner with serious anxiety issues, they fall in love while courting each other with food, plushies, and naps. Then, shocker, talk about their feelings and try to actually sort out their problems so they can have an adult relationship. Bonus 18 year old poor little rich kid in mad crush with a much older man. I really enjoyed this show, it had a fun premise, killer dialogue, there was a solis lead pair with charming chemistry, soft flirtation, and delightful smiling kisses and stinkingly cute domesticity. All that said, I wasn’t wild about some of the darker themes it explored (abuse, panic attacks, abandonment issues), even though it did a good job with them. And while the crumbs and sides were v adorable they were chronically underused. In the land of May/December, baby boy kabedon is my kryptonite! Why so little of them? Kabedon is My Krytonite = also the name of my indie band’s first single.) 

In other news: I identify WAY too much with the bartender daddy. He pretty much opens his mouth and says what I’m thinking 90% of the time. 

MUCH RECOMMENDED

Not Me (Thailand YouTube) 9/10  

Tropes: enemies to lovers, secret identity, identical twins, goodboy/bad boy

GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring OffGun. THIS IS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience in the BL world - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? Not Me had a lot of BL elements, but in the end that’s not what the show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be. Still an amazing piece of Thai cinema certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily. Full review here. OffGun Eulogy here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Ocean Likes Me (Korea Viki) 8/10  

Tropes: opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, impossible dreams

This is a solid little KBL, with a good premise and cast. Manic pixie dream boy can get old fast but when contrasted with awkward grumpy chef? Tasty combo that elevates both ingredients. Holland is a charming screen presence, baby boy is HYPNotiC. And while I wasn’t entirely sold on the chemistry with these two they gave us some very good kisses. I grinned through most episodes and I even didn’t mind the standard KBL 1 year separation at the end because it felt very true to the characters. Don’t worry they end up back together.

RECOMMENDED

Oh! Boarding House (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: forced proximity, cohabitation, crush, love triangle

Spoiled rich kid in financial straights has to manage a boarding house full of quirky characters including: bratty cousin, wacko writer, adorable bestie with a crush, and the new hot jock (love interest). All in all, this show ended up being A LOT better than I expected. It was uneven in its attempt to reconcile early sitcom (slightly Thai) style with a serious love triangle and genuine romance but the quality of the performances and the kind and honest treatment of the characters make it definitely worth watching. (Full review here.)  

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED, a lost gem esp for Kdrama fans 

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Viki) 7/1O

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, himbo chaos bi, out gay 

This is a very silly show that acts like it comes from a very silly yaoi. Reserved out gay younger assistant (we stan) pretending to be tsundere but is actually just v shy and smitten by his cheerful (seemingly straight) chaos bi himbo artist boss. I think the cross cutting in of old footage with the replacement actor after the re-cast did affect the chemistry with this pair. There was no way around it. Even KBL isn't usually this awkward and repressed. Although this show had the best bisexual awakening sequence ever put in a BL, and I really wanted to love it, I just didn't. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Oh My Sunshine Night (Thailand grey) 7/10

Tropes: university, sickness, fated mates, whipping boy, poor little rich boy, soap opera

Kim, a tsundere musician meets Sun, a transfer student with a weak heart. Also there’s his hot older brother + their household servant, and a couple of fencers for good measure. Initially this pretends to be a normal university, then it slips on wet tiles and falls right on trough multiple shower scenes into ludicrous soap opera territory leaving one with a sensation rather like trying to hold onto soap in a communal shower. Ultimately, everyone seems pretty happy they bent over, but no one actually got clean. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan Viki) 9/10

Tropes: office romance, age gap, employee/boss, food is the love language, coming of age late in life

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review here.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED

Once Again (Korea GaGa) 2/10

Tropes: age gap, childhood trauma, tragedy, time travel, inevitable fate 

JaeWoo lives with childhood trauma and gets a chance to travel to the past to fix it by saving JiHoon. But you can’t change fate. From Moving Picture (studio behind equally tragic Kissable Lips)) this one stars actors (not idols) including Moon Ji Young (also in The New Employee) and is very well performed with a great, but sad, actual PLOT. It was a little bit more creepy than romantic, kind of Gothic and tense, but also strangely amusing (this odd kid just keeps hugging JiHoon - that’s like 1000x weirder in Korea than most places) and more enjoyable than it had a right to be with a really interesting take on the childhood crush trope. Ultimately, however, it kills the gay and is very sad. 

NOT RECOMMENDED 

Our Days the series (Thailand GaGa) 4/10

Tropes: sports romance, messy gays be messy, cohabitation, crush, love triangle, tsundere

Enemies to lovers meets forced proximity (boarding house) in which I couldn’t decide if the unlikable main character was stupid or depressed (story of my life, see also Physical Therapy) but I can’t take yet another emo POV. There was no chemistry from the leads and great chemistry from the ex-friend/second lead. Saint’s dad punishing him, when he doesn’t realize it’s because Saint is gay and heartbroken, really had meat to it as part of a basketball story. But it was such a tiny part of the overall show it felt like eating a meal when all I liked was one ingredient. I’d like to see the actor who played Saint (Offroad) in other stuff but otherwise this one can fade and be forgotten. It was a mess, and not a hot one. Fatally flawed.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Paint with Love (Thailand Gaga) 6/10

Tropes: opposites attract, office romance, sunshine/tsundere, enemies to lovers, wierdo/rulebound

For me the mains were unlikeable and the actors had poor chemistry. So while this offered a lot of what I thought I wanted from a Thai BL - mature characters, office setting, adult themes - I’m wasn’t wild about the execution. I suspect Thai pulps are better when they stick to university/high school. This one felt like a better version of Loveless Society (but that’s not saying much). The side dishes (Yoon & Yacht) gave us more chemistry and a better kiss but had little screen time. It was interesting to see them portray BL actors being shipped and then confessing to actually dating each others I’m not sure how I feel about the handling of it but it was different from Lovely Writer. In the end, this show was nicely grown up but boring and became a matter of endurance for me. I can’t ever see myself rewatching it.

WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME BUT SERIOUSLY FLAWED

Papa & Daddy 2 (Taiwan GaGa) 6/10  

I don’t have a good history with 2nd seasons, and Taiwan really likes to make a soap opera out of their queers. Witness that this one starts with a secret baby trope. There’s a lot of lying to each other and evil parents and, of course, 2nd lead syndrome strikes again. The domesticity was, of course, excellent (I love the gay siblings sharing tips on how to parent) and it was actually kind of beautiful to watch them explore ideas around infidelity, affection, lost love, and rediscovery. However, it lost me at episode 3 and never quite got me back, not even with the delightfully cheesy wedding. All in all, this was a serviceable follow up to the first installment, if riddled by unbearable parents, lack of story, and sappiness.  

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

Plus & Minus (Taiwan Viki) 8/10

AKA Plus and Minus AKA PlusMinus

Tropes: friends to lovers, LTR, office romance, (himbo) sunshine/tsundere, found family, himbo

This is a solid safe little BL about codependent besties of 20 years finding their way into a romantic relationship. A bit cheesy, with lots of domesticity and occasional dumb drama. (But gay boys and chaos bis? What can ya do?) It’s not groundbreaking but it is a solid sweet unassuming little show of a style that is perhaps a bit more Thai than it is Taiwanese but I’m okay with that. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Rainbow Prince (The Philippines YouTube) 6/10

Tropes: disney princess, opposites attract, sunshine/tsundere

This long form MUSICAL BL is fucking LEGEND. Also it’s profoundly not good. The acting is absolutely terrible but that’s not the point, the point is that it’s a cheesy af fairy story. Possibly the gayest BL to ever BL and certainly the most camp and very Disney. Watch it of that’s your thing, otherwise hard pass. (Full review here.)

RECOMMENDED ONLY IF YOU ALSO LIKE DISNEY SHIT

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: rich/poor, boss/employee, enemies to lovers, office setting, cohabitation  

This is a solid little office set KBL about a rich kid who ends up both the boss and tenant of a total sweetheart cutie, and falls madly in love with him. Although the show suffered from KBL’s shorter length, I love the kissable lips pair - they deliver solid all round chemistry despite limited screen time, which is rare from Korea. So I hope they stay branded and we get even more from them in the future. Special extra extended kissing scene.

RECOMMENDED

Secret Crush on You (Thailand YouTube) 7/10

Tropes: stalking, obsession, hottest guy on campus, multiple couples, queer affirming

Previously known as Stalker the series, and you can TELL. Co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces it was pure pulp and... I hated the plot. In fact I was ALL OVER THE PLACE with this show. SCOY drove me nuts and made me bush but had flashes of unparalleled genius. It had a ton of things I really did not like (e.g. the humor was crass and awkward, and the whole stalker thing was extremely CRINGE). It also had things that really worked: (e.g. representation of multiple different kinds of queerness, about which it very Taiwanese - in that there was no doubt that the characters really did want to bone). It was the opposite of sanitized gay. Honestly, if you can make it through the first half, and survive the never ending cringe-factor that IS this show, the second half is entirely unique - content we’ve never seen before in BL.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS, but not the usual ones.

Semantic Error (Korea Viki) 10/10

Tropes: opposites attract, enemies to lovers, bully romance, sunshine/tsundere, teasing & pranks

This is my favorite BL of 2022 won a Blue Dragon award. Korea hits it entirely out of both Parks (pun on the actors’ last names intended) by doing a university set BL with everything we might expect done exactly right, their signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, yaoi style filming, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review here.

HIGHLY ETERNALLY OMG SO MUCH RECOMMENDED

Senpai, Danjite Koidewa! (Japan Viki) 6/10

AKA Senpai, This Can’t be Love!

Tropes: office romance, object of my affection, boss/employee

Adapted from a manga for the same name, it has a similar creepy worship stalking vibe Secret Crush On You. Look, I admit it, this dynamic (super awkward pining uke, rockstar seme) is one of my least favorites - high cringe factor meets navel gazing obsessive. Japan’s weird hang-up around physical expressions of affection in BL which I expect in their slapstick high school stuff, feels cowardly here. They don't leave out end kisses in their het office romances, time to stop desexualizing the gays, too. For a plot about courage, it’s a bummer that the narrative itself didn’t have any. I can’t imagine ever watching this show again or remembering its existence. When Japan drops the balls they drop all the way to the bottom of the well. 

NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED 

Something in My Room (Thailand YouTube) 2/10

Tropes: paranormal, cohabitation, my ghost boyfriend, sunshine/tsundere

Horror BL starring Nut (Oxygen) who was a revelation, still a little stiff but he handled a totally different character from Solo with aplomb. Essentially, this was a well done pulp lockdown project version of He’s Coming to Me (with hints of So Much in Love and Peach of Time) but it was its own creature at the last gasp. I enjoyed it when it got a bit creepy but it was so slow it never had a chance to maintain tension. The two leads were ultimately cute together, but, like Peach of Time, we all knew how this one was gonna end. The narrative never left us in any doubt and I don’t like unhappy endings in my BL. So even though the sad was predictable, I won’t give this drama anymore than 2/10. Don’t kill my gays, Thailand, even when they’re already dead.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Star & Sky: Star in My Mind (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: university set, high school crush, jock/nerd, long term pining, secret crush, reunion

This is (sort of) a lost love reunion arc + freshy hotness contest giving it 2 Moons vibes. Look, this is one of those shows that I shouldn’t really like after 400 BLs. It’s not at all unique, just some classic Thai uni folderol driven by miscommunication (or just non-communication) and yet... I COULD NOT STOP WATCHING. Sure it felt like everyone involved with this show was mostly phoning it in, but it was a REALLY nice phone call. It’s basic BL. But honestly, don’t we all need that plain white t-shirt to wear under our engineering smock... in the end? Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

Star & Sky: Sky in Your Heart (Thailand YouTube) 5/10

Tropes: rural setting, country mouse/city mouse, rich/pour, enemies to lovers

A cheap 1000 Stars knock off about a doctor who goes rural and falls in love with a volunteer teacher. This show managed to be boring, corny, AND cheesy? I don’t know exactly how to write a review of this, as “dull” isn’t in my rating system but, it is a BIG SIN for me. I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective? Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. Also If you want to hear frozen register spoken, that’s what Prince’s maa speaks to tease Fah. Full review here.

WATCH ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan GaGa & Viki) 9/10  

Tropes: high school crush, chaos baby, high angst, classic seme/uke, secret relationship 

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes. Full review. 

TOTALLY RECOMMENDED 

That’s My Candy (Korea Viki) 3/10

Tropes: magical realism, LTR, breakup, amnesia, reunion

KimCop vehicle from Star Hunter, about an LTR between a student Jing (Cop) + nurse Guy (Kim) who have been together for 3 years. Guy is busy all the time so Jing is starting to feel neglected and look elsewhere. KimCop are excellent (no surprise there) but I was not into the story, premise, or concept. Side couple Viking & TamTam stole this one for me but the final ep activates the amnesia trope so even they could save it. Honestly I was left, ultimately with a sensation of: What did I just watch? It was terrible. Full review here.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Tinted With You (Korea Viki) 8/10

Tropes: historical, portal fantasy, time travel

Fun stylish time travel portal fantasy with a likable cast, historical setting, and two actual kisses that mitigate a rough plot and issues around anachronisms. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED

To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories (Korea Viki) 7/10

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort, opposites attract, forced proximity, breakup/reunion

If you like angst, wallowing, and realistic relationship struggles in your BL, watch this. If you prefer fluffy comforting BL, avoid like the plague. For me the pay out was not sufficient to the pain. I enjoyed the performances, directing, and chemistry - the leads’ comfort with each other is unprecedented in Korean BL, but that’s not enough for me to rise above the pain of the narrative. This show is a home wrecking hussy, but like super classy about it. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH SERIOUS RESERVATIONS

Triage (Thailand grey) 7/10  

Tropes: time loop, age gap, medical drama, fated mates

I thought the plot was good if a little redundant and occasionally exhausting. The pairs were all well done, low heat but with decent chemistry and the support characters were likable (or unlikable as required). I feel much as a did with Manner of Death, which is to say: this feels less BL than it does gay time-slip suspense. If anything, the romance arc detracted and distracted from the main plot. But I’m in BL for the romance, and the rewatchability, and this had very little of either. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The Tuxedo (Thailand GaGa) 3/10

Tropes: tsundere seme, enemies to lovers, rich/poor

GMMTV be like, “see us squander glorious chemistry on terrible scripts.” The Tuxedo be like, “oh yeah? Hold my beer.” Watching this was like eating a meal of just spices. the spice profile was great, but it wasn’t ON actual food. The show itself had no plot or story and MADE NO SENSE, but I really hope we see these boys again in something more worthy of them.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Unforgotten Night (Thailand GaGa) 5/10 

Tropes: mafia, BDSM, not much of either 

Adapted from the y-novel Mafia's Bad Love, (originally featured both a gay poly triad and a GL sub plot). Stared Yoon (YYY, Paint With Love, My Ride) as a mafia Dom and Ton (Y-Destiny) as the accountant sub. Kim has a one night stand with a random stranger who becomes obsessed with him. Pretty soon into this I began to think this show should be called Forgotten Kink rather than Unforgotten Night. There isn't any. Mostly there's faucets left on and shower heads used for tie points (don't DO that). But honestly this was just bad. There is a moral to this show but I’m not sure what it is. Don’t combine your BDSM-but-not-really BL pulp with plumbing? In the end, this dumpster fire was extinguished by a garden hose and all we were left with was leaky pipes and the smell of damp trash. The only kinks were in the hose. No full review but I did to a trash watch. 

WATCH IT IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO, BUT I WARNED YOU

Vice Versa (Thailand YouTube) 8/10 

Tropes: alt reality, bodyswap, soulmates AKA fated mates, portal fantasy

Jimmy (Puen the super flirt confident king) is insanely charismatic and takes up all the air in (the proverbial cinematic) room, but I warmed up to Sea (Talay the timid acerbic sweetheart) eventually. As a couple they read as more teasing and brotherly than sexy, but that’s GMMTV’s brand. I enjoyed the concept of this show (I’m big into magical realism and skewed reality - see my adoration for Color Rush) but JittiRain’s plot was contrived and weak (normal for them). I find the “writing on each other” habit quite cute. Look, here’s the thing, flaws and all I pretty much spent this entire show smiling. I didn’t even mind being so obviously manipulated. That said, this is never going to be one of my top rewatch rotations, so I’m calling it for an 8/10. 

RECOMMENDED

Want to See You (Vietnam YouTube) 5/10

AKA Muốn Nhìn Thấy Em

Tropes: whipping boy, disability, secret love

Everyone’s favorite Vietnamese hottie Ba Vinh (O2 Productions: Mr Cinderella etc...) played an arsehole blind man (Jane Eyre feels) who hires a live in nurse and both get taken advantage of by a series of psycho femme fatales characters. The chemistry was okay but not Vinh’s best. Did they serve up prime domesticity? Of course. This is Vietnam, you get what you pay for. But tonally, this show was all over the place, hugely inconsistent in characterization and motivation. No clean narrative through line. Nothing anyone did actually ever made sense, it was mostly just frustrating. 

WATCH ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO 

What If (Thailand WeTV) 4/10

Had promised but was ultimately a complete letdown, not really BL either. It was, in the end, primarily about singing, so you know I didn’t like anything about this. 

NOT RECOMMENDED 

What Zabb Man! (Thailand YouTube) 8/10

Tropes: enemies to lovers, tsundere seme, rich/poor

WZM was better than we have any right to expect with decent pacing and a foodie theme threaded through the narrative as both love language and plot driver. Basically CEO falls in love with a street vendor’s food, recruits him to work in his hotel, falls in love with him, and that’s the beginning. Class struggles! Kitchen drama! Papaya pounding (not a euphemism)! Chef poaching (not literally)! Spicy scenes (yes literally)! It’s all so delicious. Full review here.

RECOMMENDED, especially if you like Thai food

You’re My Sky (Thailand Viki) 6/10

Tropes: sports romance, friends to lovers, jock/nerd meets sunshine/tsundere, cheating

A serviceable college-set pulp that focused on 3 sports romances with high angst, but was ultimately too slow moving for me, and with only one couple I liked (SaenAei). Main couple, FahThorn = basketball jocks, boring. DomeVee = track & field with a disaster bi cheating with your sister’s boyfriend storyline (by FAR the best sexual chemistry). SaenAei = jock/nerd with a younger puppy sunshine seme, best boys. Saen was my favorite character; relentlessly flirty but always clear about with his interest and steady in his regard, but who wants this many eps for one side character?

WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED AND YOU NEED PATIENCE  

Work from Heart (Thailand YouTube) 4/10

Tropes: Romeo & Romeo, office romance

Pulp office drama featuring tons of couples starring Gameplay as rich kid terrible dresser Dee who forms an unfathomable and poorly depicted romance with his internship supervisor. Some nifty linguistic stuff and great lead pair chemistry, doesn’t compensate for one of the worst wardrobes and an ultimately unfathomable plot. 

FATALLY FLAWED

THE DNF/DNW LIST

Shows I dropped, lost track of, never got around to or otherwise failed to complete.

2 Moons: The Ambassador AKA 2 Moons 3 (Thailand grey) 

I hear that it’s pretty banal and I’m just waiting to collect them all and binge. I doubt it will get a high rating from me or monkey with the standings much so I’m not fussed. 

7 Days 7 Boys (Thailand grey) 

No subs and it is also profoundly not good. Do not bother.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (Thailand GaGa) 

8 eps - This is a queer drama not a BL. It’s fine, reminded me oddly of early Taiwanese stuff, a bit slow moving and oddly paced. But I intensely disliked the lead character. He's a brat in the wrong way. Especially as a 20 year old. 

Country Boy 2 (Thailand who cares?)

I barely managed the first installment. No thank you. 

Fahlanruk (Thailand GaGa) 

I found all the characters profoundly unlikeable. I don’t like any of the couples and the fujoshi framing is repulsive under the context of a narrative trying to be this authentically gay. I lost all patience and cut my losses at ep 5. @heretherebedork said it was BohnDuen 2.0 only worse and that’s my least favorite dynamic of all time, so yeah, not gonna bother. 

Fudanshi Bartender no Tashinami (AKA Accomplishment of Fudanshi Bartender) (Japan Gaga) 

BL Express posted a review and it sounds A LOT like another kind of Absolute BL thing from Japan, but focused on the fudanshi side of the equation and I could not be less intersted so I did not watch. 

Gameboys 2

I have no idea what happened - to me or it. But I remember watching a bit, and then just got distracted or something. 

Getaway (Singapore YouTube)

Based on an original story from a gay creator featuring an openly gay cast this vacation romance from Singapore set in Bangkok did nto work for me. The lead was fine but the muscle boy love interest's acting was just bad. Look, I’m the first to admit that there’s a lot of bad and awkward acting in this genre, but for some reason… it feels a lot worse in English. I like how unabashedly gay the show is but (how do I put this nicely, I guess...) if I’m gonna watch English language gay vacay shit – I’d rather watch Fire Island. Still, as one might expect, the heat execution is good (Taiwan still holds the crown, tho). But I eventually just gave up.

In a Relationship (Thailand YouTube)

Thailand’s answer to Gameboys (a bit late, kids). I’m generally not a fan of lockdown romances and this didn’t grab me.

My Roommate (Thailand YouTube)

32 eps of 2 minutes each with such terrible production values I couldn’t be bothered. Def not my thing.

My Tempo (Thailand grey) 

A Thai BL movie about the Thai music industry. Yeah, no thank you.

On Cloud Nine (Thailand YouTube) 

A country-set atmospheric series from MindTrio about afterlife and awaiting loved ones. Def not my thing. 

Physical Therapy (Thailand GaGa)

Milk is basically a Mainland China-style super useless heroine type. He’s, ugh, so totally not cute. I just don’t think emo is sexy (sorry Japan). I don’t understand why anyone likes him: friends, crushes, lovers. And I couldn’t tell if the doctor was faking it or just a terrible actor.

Rak Dao (Thailand grey)

A real sit com that was just too much for me to take. I didn’t even survive the first 2 episodes. And I usually give a drama 3 eps.

Restart(ed) (Thailand grey)

Looked like Top Secret Together meets Y-Destiny but ended up being more like Club Friday. Glimmers of good chemistry and hella queer but even that did not save this from terrible sound and an incomprehensible plot full of completely random characters. An absolute mess.

Scent of Love (Thailand no idea)

Just couldn’t find it. Also it’s the lead pair from My Secret Love so could not be bothered to even try. 

SELF (Thailand YT) 

Is it sad? Worth watching? I don’t know, no one said a peep about this show but I got a bad feeling about the end so I never bothered. 

The Promise (Vietnam YouTube)

Stepbrothers trope, enemies to lovers, high school, reunion romance, grumpy/tsundere. Narrative has a “memoir” framework. Sort of Cherry Blossoms After Winter if they were enemies.

The Miracle of Teddy Bear (Thailand grey)

Surreal drama series with dark elements. Nat's giant teddy bear, Taohu, miraculously turns into a young man but can't remember anything about himself. I found out this has what I COUNT as a sad ending and with it being hard to find i didn’t bother.

The Next Door Crush (Vietnam YouTube) 

Reunion romance or something, I couldn’t be arsed. 

To Sir, With Love AKA Khun Chai (Thailand grey) 

I’m waiting on grey subs for this Thai historical gay soap opera that came outta nowhere. It’s more lakorn than it is BL (soapy) and word is it ends happily. It’s just taking me time to track down. 

War of Y (Thailand Gaga) 

Tropes: industry self criticism, messy gay, general chaos

COPY A BANGKOK brings us 20 episode of Cheewin’s nonsense starring the boys from Y-Destiny and SCOY. My initial thoughts? It was better than any of us have a right to expect but I hated it. I disliked it for the same reason I don’t like rockstar romances... celebrities (and their people) are assholes. This show features a bunch of actors behaving like actors, managers behaving like managers, all of them predators and victims and both. I’ve dropped before for less (Call It What You Want) and I’ll drop again. Then again I loved Lovely Writer - but I think that’s because Sib is meant to be a sinister dick who’s only an actor because it gets him closer to Gene, and i like that approach. War of Y is just a collection of fragile egos easily traumatized by their own desires (and the needs of others) - it’s brutal to watch. BillySeng are killing it, but.... it hurts, and not in a good way. I’m going to save it and binge all at once when I am feeling bored and resilient. Will I watch it eventually? Maybe? Probably not. I think we have an ITSAY situation going on here. Also BL Express was not best pleased, and I while we rarely share taste, in this instance I trust their reporting.

Ones I Could Not Track Down - Japan of course 

Both Me and Him are the Grooms AKA Boku mo Aitsu mo Shinrodesu - Aired March 2022 on KTV & Tver, some see it on Gaga, but not me. This is a coming out drama rama. Ryosuke and Mizuki are getting married but on the wedding day Mizuki finds out that his partner didn't tell his parents, relatives, or friends that he's gay. Catastrophe results: furious outbursts, fighting between the two families, and then Mizuki's ex boyfriend shows up. 

Grand Guignol - a horror, paranormal, high shcool movie that released in Japanese theaters middle of the year. Starred Rio Komiya (Eternal Yesterday) and Ryosuke Sota (Mr Unlucky) among others.

Kamisama no Ekohiiki - body swap, paranormal, country set. Amano Yashiro has a crush on his best friend, Nanahara Kenta. Yashiro died in a car accident after being rejected by Kenta. However, due to God's favoritism, Yashiro was reborn as a female student called Tendo Kagura, and lives a new life. Yashiro decides to make use of his girly look to have Kenta fall for him. While Yashiro and Kenta become closer, they were interrupted by Kenta's ex-girlfriend, Torii Rin, who told "Kagura" to stay away from Kenta. Furthermore, it was discovered that Yashiro's body is still alive. What is actually happening?

Melting Night: Secret Kiss - microfilm part of the Kiss X Kiss X Kiss series, featuring the stepbrothers trope that aired on Tiver. A and B are friends who are secretly in love with each other. They became stepbrothers after their parents' remarry. Even though they acted like family, their feelings overflow and when their parents were gone...

Yes I REALLY want to see this one. 

Sing In Love AKA Miso's Koi Kogare Utae - movie adaptation of a PNR manga released in theaters, but no word on international distribution. About a teacher who encounters a mysterious man from his past, who is strangely obsessed with him. 

2022 BL Announced but Never Aired or Otherwise Confusing 

Eye Contact AKA មើលបានហាមសម្លឹង - Cambodia

Tie The Not AKA Under the Same Sky - The Philippines 

Ghost and I Becoming Family - Taiwan 

God's Military Officer - Taiwan 

Melody In Me - Vietnam 

The Lost Ring AKA The Ring Goes Missing reboot - Vietnam

KOREAN BL ANNOUNCED FOR 2022 BUT NEVER AIRED 

Bon Appetit

Comfort the Boy AKA A Shoulder to Cry On - premiere postponed indefinitely due to actor contract conflict, rated R15+ due to topic & vulgarity

Eccentric Romance - was supposedly in production July 2022. Silkwood’s 2nd Thai/Korean colab but not their last.

Eul's Love

Follow The Wind - supposed to have released in the first half of 2022

Happy Merry Ending

Heesu in Class 2

Individual Circumstances

Jun and Jun - filming Dec 2022

Love Class 2 AKA Love Class Season 2 - filming was to start Nov 2022

Love is like a Cat - supposedly completed filming aug 2022 so I guess stuck in post? stars Mew. 

Love Tractor

Secret Relationship -  was to be adapted by Cradle Studio (a subsidiary of Kakao).

Space Bakery

Two Game Over 

Why R U? Korean remake - supposedly filming Sept 2022 

I am assuming most of these can be transferred to 2023 expectations but am not sure. 

THAI BL ANNOUNCED FOR 2022 BUT NEVER AIRED 

Art Adore En

Bitter Sweet

Boxer In Heart

Buddy Line Y Animal AKA Buddy Line Y(aoi) Animal

Call My Name

Cinderella Boys

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn

Destiny Seeker

Future the series

Heart by Heart

Imado Jinja

Intern In My Heart

Love at First Sight

Make a Wish

Mr. Bad Guy

My Broccoli

My Engineer 2

My Last Love

My Lucky Cat

Nilundon

Past Love In The Future

Past-senger AKA Pastsenger

The Sweet Robot

The Theory series

Trouble Maker

Does not include those announced for 2022 but which have since been officially moved to 2023. Those will appear on the 2023 forthcoming lists. 

(source)

[fictionalfiona]

[Part 1] - Boyfriend Asmr Series Recommendation!!

hii, everyone! I've decided to give you guys some recommendations on my favorite bf asmr series that I love sooo much.

Idk about you guys but its been hard tryna find some good series that don't involve just kissing but have a nice build-up to the relationship!! That's why I find series better than just one-shot asmrs cuz those usually don't have the best character development and depth in their relationships, unlike series which often offer a more engaging and satisfying narrative journey [However I know a few good one-shot recs if anyone want those ^^].

The system i'll be using to give u guys the recs is: Series Overview (Overview of what the series is abt): ❤️ Cuteness lvl : /5

🔥 Spicy lvl: /5

❗ Plot lvl: /5

💕 My Thoughts:

lets get into the recs then! 🏃🏽‍♀️💨

btw to get the links to the series, click on the picture collages

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1 - Best Friend's Older Brother Confesses While Drunk [M4A]

Series Overview: "Your best friend's older brother invites you over again, thinking you'll have the house to yourself. It doesn't last long before you're forced to hide in the closet together. What happens next? (You kiss and fool around, of course.)" ❤️Cuteness lvl : ❤️❤️❤️❤️/5

🔥Spicy lvl: 🔥🔥🔥/5

❗ Plot lvl: ❗❗❗/5

💕 My Thoughts: I absolutely love this series! It was one of the first bf asmrs I've ever listened to and it always gives me butterflies whenever I relisten to the audio series. The first episode is essentially about how you visit your best friend named Alex's house to see them only to find Alex's older brother opening the door to tell you that Alex isn't here. Then Alex's older brother invites you in and you share a drink which leads to unexpected things to be revealed..!! The tension of your best friend potentially finding out about the relationship was REAL and the tension grows even more as the series progresses. PLUS Phasmid's deep British accent is not only hot (😻) but soo relaxing. Highly recommend this series if your looking for friends to lovers, tension, a deep british accent and is a binge worthy series cause this series only has 3 episodes.

2 -Trapped with your Scottish Tsundere Bully [M4A]

Series Overview: "Another busy day draws to a close as you prepare to head to your final class only to be ambushed by David; the Scottish exchange student, Football team running back and the bane of your existence. However, today he seems... off. Something's bothering him, you can tell. And as he drags you through the corridors to speak with you, you have a feeling you're going to find out what it is soon enough..."

❤️Cuteness lvl : ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️/5

🔥Spicy lvl: 🔥/5

❗ Plot lvl: ❗❗❗❗❗/5

💕 My Thoughts: THIS SERIES IS ACTUALLY SO FIRE! David is such a cutie pie and I think of him all the time!! This series is sort of like a sports romance because we follow David who is an exchange student from Scotland (so he has a Scottish accent which might I say: IS SO CUTE JAHSKHSA) who is trying to get better grades so that he can graduate high school and get those football scholarship offers he's been receiving. But the problem is that he has to first graduate but it isn't looking too promising for him until he meets YOU. The class topper and the person he kindaa bullies from time to time... But he asks for your help and u reluctantly help him out. Lemme just say that Pebbles (aka the voice of David) is an AMAZING scriptwriter and this whole series was just so funny but also heartwrenching to listen. PLUS THE VOICE ACTING IN THIS SERIES IS GRAMMY WORTH. There are other voice actors in this series too which is even cooler! AND DAVID'S NICKNAME FOR THE LISTENER IS SHORTSTACK!! SO CUTE >U<! Its a nickname he uses throughout the series and when someone tries to call you the same nickname repeatedly to annoy David...lets say he gets a little overprotective and things go south (can't spoil it for yall 😌) Overall, this series is great if your looking for enemies to lovers, sports romance and DRAMAA

3 -Starline SERIES [M4A]

Series Overview: "Part one of a romance series between the listener and a peculiar alien. After waking up on his ship, you realize that due to circumstances, you are not getting back to Earth so soon. Not before this stranger completes his mysterious job. With a whole new universe you had not even heard of before now just hours away, who knows what to expect? Not a soul could tell you, but maybe your new friend can show you the way. And your new friend. . . Perhaps there is more to him than what meets the eye?"

❤️Cuteness lvl : ❤️❤️❤️❤️/5

🔥Spicy lvl: 🔥🔥🔥.5/5

❗ Plot lvl: ❗❗❗❗❗X100/5

💕 My Thoughts: HEAR. ME. OUT. I know sometimes alien romances aren't everyone's cup of tea and I get it. I was just like you. UNTILL THIS AUDIO SERIES!! Because why is this series so stinking cute and had me at the edge of my seat cause of all the ACTION! THERE WERE TIMES WERE I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA LOSE BRECKETT 😭😭 But feelings aside, this series follows your adventure with this alien named Breckett who...uh...kinda accidentally crashed his spaceship on top of u 😃. Listen I didn't get that part either and how we are still alive but its alr cause he somehow patched us up in his high-tech medical bay aboard his spaceship. Alien technology is wacky shit 😭. Anyways Breckett informs you that you sadly cannot go back to earth just yet because he has a mission he was sent out to do on Mars and other planets so going back to Earth would only make him lose precious time. So now you're stuck with him on this crazy ass adventure with dodging asteroid storms, outsmarting intergalactic pirates and you two will have to FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVESSS!! Overall, this series is sooo funny, soo eventful and if you're looking for a good SLOOW BURN (and I mean slow girl but soo worth it),Strangers to lovers and sci fi vibes then you'd love this series!

4 -Your Childhood Crush Is Kind Of An Idiot [M4A]

Series Overview: "Charlie's first day at Sweet Pete's Pizzeria has been less than great, but when a familiar face pulls up on a familiar skateboard, he has a decision to make! Be a little rat filled with regret, or…apologizes"

❤️Cuteness lvl : ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Xinfinity/5

🔥Spicy lvl: 🔥🔥🔥🔥/5

❗ Plot lvl: ❗❗❗❗/5

💕 My Thoughts: OKAY IF YOU'VE SEEN MY BLOG, you already know how much I'm obsessed with Charlie 😭. But there is a reason okay!!! This series follows your reunion with your old childhood best friend Charlie who works at a pizzeria. You haven't seen each other since graduating high school...until now! When you see each other again old feelings unravel and Charlie now doesn't want to stay out of touch with you anymore so you two decide to meet up at a skatepark after his shift. I can't express how much I love this little rat 😭❤️ He is the epiphany of cuteness and I can't tell u how many times I've listened to the series. I loovee his little Brooklyn accent too!! Also note that Charlie does make little references to this other series that Yuurivoice (aka the voice of charlie) made and you actually don't have to watch that other series to understand this one so dw! Overall I STINKING LOVE THIS SERIES and would actually say its my favorite asmr series I've ever listened too :D. If you're looking for childhood best friends to lovers, slow burn, FUNNY ASS DIALOGUE, wanting to dip ur toe into the yuurivoice universe then this series is 4 u!

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If you stayed this long, thank you! Im thinking of making a part 2 where I have more series to recommend like good mafia,crime and more sci fi series so comment down below if u want more!

[sbbarnes]

Hockey Romances. Why?

So I was taken out of work a couple weeks ago due to ~pregnancy stuff~ (mostly just stress, the baby and I are fine) which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. And as one does, I have been filling my time reading lgbtq+ romance novels. Because I can.

In this time, I have fallen headfirst into the hockey romance novel subgenre, and I ask myself, as I have done every time I see these books advertised, why? I am not a sports fan. One time, my husband was watching football (European), and a team in red kits was playing against yellow kits, and I started laughing because "it looks like ketchup is playing against mustard". His expression was great, but he hasn't taken me seriously since.

So why is hockey of all things such a draw for the mlm romance subgenre? Especially given the NHL's apparent fear of rainbow tape? Why do I now know what the word "celly" refers to and what an "enforcer" is? Why why why?

Here are my answers:

Extremely organic way to set up some of the most classic romance tropes. Forced proximity? Being on the same team takes care of that. There was only one bed? Shared hotel rooms during away games. Enemies to lovers? Rival teams.

Lots of potential for drama given that players lead very transient lives in terms of the constant possibility of trades. In mlm love stories, even more so given that the NHL is so blatantly homophobic.

Perfect level of fame. Fame and wealth as a draw for a love interest are kind of staples of the genre, and NHL players are famous, sure, but not all of them, and they aren't as famous as football stars (either kind of football). They are still filthy rich, which makes great wish fulfillment. You can have the sexy penthouse and the anonymity.

I would go on to talk about how different roles on the team lend themselves to different tropes (goalie = tightly controlled dude who needs someone to help him cut loose; enforcer = misunderstood fighter with a heart of gold; coach for all your forbidden love/sleeping with the boss desires) but that would very quickly reveal my utter lack of hockey knowledge, so let's not. Instead, here's a quick reclist.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. It's a classic in the genre for a reason and it has everything. Forbidden love? Got that, maybe the definitive example. Redemption arc? Got that. Misunderstood bruiser with a heart of gold? Got that. Age difference? Got that. Also really excellent sex scenes, not gonna lie, and satisfying endings throughout - sometimes a happy end will come a little suddenly for me, but these books really delivered, and the nice thing about how romance series are structured is that you get a little peek at what comes after for the couples in the other books.

2. Him, Us and Epic by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. This one surprised me, I don't generally go for first person POVs, but I did enjoy this! Coming-of-age story turned coming out story featuring a budding hockey star and his best friend. Lots of fun.

3. Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. This series is fun in that it doesn't focus on the NHL, it actually focuses on the minor leagues in the southeast of the US, a place almost no one associates with ice hockey. As such, there's a chance to tell different stories about professional athletes who aren't super rich and famous, which I appreciate a lot. TBH the first pairing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I'm glad I kept going because I especially enjoyed the later books, which tackle tough topics (including eating disorders, abuse etc., so content warning for that). These are still romance novels though, so rest assured that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What I especially appreciate is that these books don't have relationship drama, in that the main couples communicate and work together instead of a third act break-up-make-up!

4. Hockey Ever After series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. These are just great. Lots of fun to read, lots of cameos from character in later books, just excellent mood all around. Also features my favorite ever trope (secret relationship, sorry, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for it I just can't help myself) heavily, which is a win in my book. I especially enjoyed book two, "Scoring Position". Is that because Nico is German and I loved him? Is that because Ryan is my new blorbo? We may never know.

Happy reading and please give me recommendations for more books like these, I'm lowkey obsessed.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

In the mood to give my weird, probably biased WOY hot take rn so here it goes: Wander and Hater would not last in a romantic relationship.

Like, I do GET the appeal of them as a pairing? It's enemies to lovers! Everybody loves a good enemies to lovers. Plus, WOY really LOVES doing that thing where they throw a LOT of romance coding into non-romantic relationships(Deathglare gets a lot of this too lmao), and Wander is just like. Weirdly flirty? With Hater especially but also just in general. Like I get the impression that that man fucks. He and Jeff have probably had a one-night stand. But I don't think their personalities are compatible for a long-term romantic relationship.

First of all: they're both really impulsive and flighty. Which I guess could work in a relationship if both partners were completely insync with eachother, but Wander and Hater. Aren't. They are not. Plus, putting two people with short attention spans together with nobody to keep them in check is a RECIPE for disaster. There's also Hater's temper, which I don't think any amount of character development would be able to take out completely, and Wander's penchant for frustrating. Everybody. He is a very frustrating person to be around. And while I don't think a long-term romantic SkeletonDance would turn ABUSIVE, like that is ABSOLUTELY taking it too far, I do think it would be VERY unstable. They have the EXACT wrong traits in common, and the traits they DON'T have in common just straight up don't mesh well. I could see them getting together impulsively, because there is some chemistry there, but eventually the relationship would deteriorate from a combination of opposing values and goals, mutual short attention spans, and Wander getting on Hater's nerves. They'd break up, and depending on the circumstances it could end up VERY MESSY. They work better, in the long term, as friends then as romantic partners.

SO, now to address my biases, because there are a few, and I think it's important to acknowledge any potential flaws in your perspective while making an argument. First one being: I just prefer other Hater ships? Like yall know me, I'm a Deathglare girlie til the end lmfao. They're LITERALLY my OTP, you can see the influence the pairing has had on me in pretty much every other ship I've obsessed over since. But like... I'm also a multishipper, and Deathglare isn't exempt from that. I don't have any alternate pairings for Peepers(because he doesn't really interact w/ anybody outside of the main 4 and Dom for some reason and I don't like him w/ any of them except Hater), but I DO have a pretty big one for Hater, and that's Skullhunter(Hater x Ripov). Idk I just think they're kinda cute! And uh. Also a rarepair. Like there's NO content for them omfg- probably because Ripov only had one episode and there are already much more popular Hater pairings... bUT I'm getting off topic, what does this have to do with my potential anti-Skeletondance bias? Well, both of my Hater ships are VASTLY overshadowed by Skeletondance. Like I think Skeletondance is the MAIN pairing in the WOY fandom, and both of my prefered Hater ships kinda get left in the dust, at least in terms of content volume. I believe that at least part of what leads people to hate on popular things in a desire to have what THEY like be mainstream so it's easier to find a community, and I am not exempt from that. I generally like to believe I'm neutral on Skeletondance overall, but there might be some subconcious jelousy directed towards people who prefer Skeletondance that makes me think the pairing just wouldn't work. Also, I headcannon Wander as aromantic, which definitely influences my interpretation of their relationship akrngosmfmekkfoemfke

So uh, yeah. That's why I don't think Skeletondance would work long term, plus a little dissection of things that might've skewed my perspective a bit! Idk why I made this tbh, I might be going insane-

[kankuroplease]

Uchiha family tattoo shop au hc pls?

They pretty much run the side of the town where Kakashi’s shop is located.

They’re also known for paying off the police, drug kingpins, “pleasure dealers”, loan sharks, rigging fights, etc.. basically you name it, they have a hand in it one way or another.

They play nice with the Hyuga’s, but it general knowledge that their alliance is hanging on my a thread and a marriage.

Madara is their boss/leader and is perfectly fine with getting his hands dirty if he isn’t wining and dining his lovers. Even if he is, he’ll still take a rain check to handle business

He has a problem with viewing his children as an extension of himself and rarely as their own people, which leads to some uncomfortable situations for them

I.e. crashing the birth of KakaObiRin’s first child, using Shisui’s luxury apartment as a safe house, killing his first daughters fiancé for cheating on her, dropping in on Michi whenever he feels like it, etc..

Shisui is busy helping the helpless, pulling strings, and making a gory name for himself to be the next boss.

Itachi is the most straight laced of the bunch and his effective negotiations with the Hyuga and payroll of law enforcement also make him a potential candidate.

He owns quite a few popular night clubs too 💃

Sasuke’s a tattoo artist by day and hitman by night and doesn’t exactly report to anyone, but Madara. He’s not interested in lectures from Kakashi seeing as Kakashi’s fucking an Uchiha who STILL does favors for them

Fugako is a retired hitman. He also played a roll in setting up Tajima for Madara. He’s not proud of that, but he also didn’t want a war with the Hyuga as Itachi was still a baby and his family comes first, ALWAYS

Mikoto is a very wealthy housewife, but was once skilled spy for the Uchiha. She’s also one of Kushina’s best friends and knows her childern well/offered to pay for both the Uzumaki kid’s education.

Izuna is a drug lord and is constantly in Madara’s ear about what should happen with their enemies and expanding their territory. He’s merciless and would kill one of his own if he thought they were testing him.

The only reason he’s not aiming to lead the Uchiha is he doesn’t want to. He’s effectively his own boss, let Madara loss hair and sleep over the group. Izuna has his own path.

Michi is the princess of the Uchiha. Before her marriage to Neji, there were a lot of elders presenting their sons and daughters as possible suitors because the favor she has with her father. Even cold blooded Izuna favors her like she’s his own child.

Obito stays out of Uchiha business as much as he possibly can and only makes appearances when he absolutely has to. He got a break thanks to Shisui, but he’s not completely free of them.

On a lighter note, a lot of them think Kakashi’s name is ‘Bakashi’ because of Obito and will call him that

Unlike the Hyuga, their kids go to public schools as a way to be in the know and show how in control they truly are of their territory (no need to fear when you run it all)

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard

4.25/5. Releases 11/14/2023.

Vibes: childhood best friends to enemies (Iite) to lovers, nerd in the streets freak in the sheets, actual factual social issues, and a very good cat/kitty joke.

This is a retelling of Clueless, which is a retelling of Emma, which in theory sounds very messy but ultimately worked out in a historical romcom I really liked. It touches on some serious problems of the time (heads up: a lot of discussion of asylums and their abuses) and there's a great chemistry between our leads. She's a flighty eye-catching popular type, he wants to hunt for dinosaur bones, and they haven't seen each other for years but have been building up to this since childhood. It's a good mix.

Quick Takes:

--I was honestly a little "why do we need this" when I first understood the concept. Yes, the previous book in the series, Always Be My Duchess, is a retelling of Pretty Woman, which is a retelling of My Fairy Lady (and MFL is a retelling of Pygmalion). But Emma is an Austen novel, and such a clear precursor to historical romance subgenre of today. I was a little worried about how that would work.

But here's the thing. Clueless is very much not a direct retelling of Emma, and you change a lot in the Emma/Knightley dynamic when you switch it up from a girl and her neighbor/friend who's like 17 years her senior and held her when she was a baby, to a girl and her somewhat older former stepbrother (no shade, Emma is my favorite Austen and I adore Clueless). If you like Cher and Josh, that's the sweet spot Vesper and Aspen hit. It's very much that sequence in The Swan Princess wherein Derek and Odette bug each other as kids, then realize as adults that they wanna bang it out--but with a bit more of a friendship slant. In the childhood days. When they're adults, there's an edge added by their years of separation and misunderstandings. And I'll admit, I eat a "childhood friends separated and reunited as adults" dynamic right up. If that's your itch, this book will definitely scratch it.

--Aspen is really into DINOSAURS, and I personally loved that angle. He was nerdy enough for me to call him a nerdy hero (and Vesper does love his glasses) but he wasn't a cliche nerdy hero. Yes, he loves to look at fossils and discourse over prehistoric creatures, but he's also confident, snarky, and quite prone to putting it down. Honestly, I arguably could've used more dinosaur content (though Howard definitely uses it at just the right moment).

--A big part of this book is mental illness and the absolutely horrible was in which it was addressed at this point in time. Aspen's father was confined to an asylum and abused in that asylum--exactly how that happened is a major point in the book. Additionally, its specter hangs over Aspen's head, his father's "diagnosis" (I hesitate to call it legitimate) a potential means through which his own committal could be justified. It's rough, dude.

And I will say, I suspect that some readers will be dissatisfied with the comeuppance the villain of this book receives. For me, it worked--because it was realistic, and because I really couldn't think of any way through which the issue could be resolved without taking away from Aspen and Vesper's relationship. The point of this story isn't really punishing the bad guy--it's making it so Aspen and Vesper can have a healthy relationship without this threat in the midst of it all.

As an added note, Vesper has ADHD, which isn't a massive part of the novel but does figure into her character and journey. I thought it was a nice touch--people with ADHD didn't just suddenly pop into existence in the twentieth century, and the rep is good to see.

--The thing I really liked about Aspen and Vesper's dynamic is that there really was this undercurrent of childlike... knowledge, and playfulness. They've changed a lot, and there are a lot of confused feelings between them; but you still get the sense that at one point, these people really knew each other. And that sense of knowing and affection remains.

I also really loved the moments when the childhood besties jumped out--there's a teasing vibe to the relationship, this sense that they kind of want to kiss each other and kind of want to poke each other (non-sexually). It makes the tone of the book a bit bubblier, which is key, I think, when you're dealing with subject matter as dark as Aspen's backstory could be.

The Sex:

It's hot. These two have a very clear physical connection, and it's immediately noticeable. You get a lot of double entendres in this book, a lot of teasing that goes just over the line--like when Aspen casually tells Vesper she looks like she's just had an orgasm in public. Very normal thing to say to the former childhood friend you're not interested in! At all!

One sex scene in particular was so delightful--the perfect mixture of hot and funny, which sums up the tone of the book pretty well. I mean, this dude is really about his fossils, and they definitely play into the... plot. More than you might think. (Not in that way, in THAT way. Don't worry about it. Read the book.)

Frothy yet not without substance, Never Met a Duke Like You is another enjoyable entry from Amalie Howard. If I'm being real, I think I liked it a bit more than Always Be My Duchess (also a good book). Would recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[purlturtle]

Romance Tropes Bracket, Semi-Finals!

The Battle of the Quadrant Winners!

I'm gonna go into some more detail on the winners (and losers) again, so again I'll put it under the readmore.

Left-hand side

I've said it before, but none of the tropes in the red quadrant really did it for me - and this carries through to the bracket between Second Chances and Holiday Romance.

Holiday Romance is absolutely great and good for what it is, and stories that revolve around it/use it as a basis can be the perfect read I reach for when I feel like it. It can carry familial conflict, for queer stories additionally coming-out-to-your-family dynamics, it allows for interesting exploration of culture and traditions especially if the story is about a cross-cultural couple. And since it's often set in Northern hemisphere wintertime, there are winter wonderland themes that I also truly enjoy. It is fitting that it should advance to the semi-finals - but it is also okay that this is where its run ends.

Second Chances, though. It's not quite enemies to lovers - it's people who have hurt each other in the past, and need to deal with that to find happiness in the now. Or maybe two (or, hell, more!) people weren't the right people back then, but they are the right people now. (This pertains, for example, to my oldest of all ships, Deanna Troi and Will Riker. Mutual annoyance to lovers to ex-lovers to co-workers to friends to lovers? FUCK ME it's so good.) It's about being honest about what you did and how that hurt them, the why's of what you did and the ways you've changed since then, the hope that the other person (or persons) might acknowledge that and forgive you, the work you need to do to forgive yourself - the tentative hope that there might be a happy ending possible after all that? the despair that it might not? Oh it is delicious (and also a big part of my all-time favorite ship, Bering and Wells. They have Second Chances written all over them in big capital italicized letters.)

So, yeah, Second Chances it is.

Right-hand side

This was an even stronger fight: Forced Proximity vs. Friends to Lovers?! How dare this bracket make me choose!!

I'll start with the defeated trope again: Friends to Lovers. I love it. I really, really, really love it. It has so much: mutual trust and affection, the realization that there is something more (and how deliciously long that sometimes take, when the protagonist(s) are just too dense to figure it out, or too scared to even acknowledge it to themselves!), the worry that it might not be mutual, the agonizing about "Do I tell them and risk destroying what we have if they don't feel the same?". And the shining brightness and happiness of "I can have it *all*? I can have friendship AND love? With *them*??!" And if the story continues on, also the way that some dynamics change and some stay the same, the negotiation which the couple (or polycule) wants to change or not, the way that how others see them might change - so much potential, so many things to love. It's both gentle and nerve-wracking, it's such a good trope - and then there's Forced Proximity.

I mean ideally the two go hand-in-hand, right? Have your friends-to-lovers protagonists, still at that "I don't know if they love me back aaaaahhhh I can't risk it!!" stage, and toss them into forced proximity until they *have* to come clean. But, one must win. Only one can move forward! 😭 And I couldn't resist the strength of the impulse to bang my blorbos together and make them kiss (eventually). To put them in scenario after scenario in which they are stuck with each other and nothing else to do but Talk About Their Feelings - Or Make Out. @performativezippers you mentioned that specific queer situation of having confusing feelings for your same-gender friend in your write-up for friends-to-lovers; I agree - and I often find that a Forced Proximity moment can help with that and also can lead to confessing or acting on one's feelings, and *that* part of it, I find so very compelling. The resolution, for which forced proximity is such a good catalyst!

It wins out by the skin of its teeth, by that very virtue of being the catalyst and moment of resolution rather than all that's gone before. Honestly though? Run this bracket again in three weeks and it might win out. They are both that strong.

[missdeepend]

Erza Scarlet and Elsie Crimson

A warning as always: This is going to mention scenes from chapters of the Edens Zero Manga as well as 100 Year Quest. If you are not caught up or have not read these, I highly recommend you do before continuing this post.

Erza Scarlet and Elsie Crimson have always been rather, vague in my heart. I don't mean like forgettable by any means. We all know how memorable Erza's scenes especially are. However, them as characters never quite sat right with me.

I know I'm about to piss off a lot of Erza fans... but I gotta say I don't like her. I mean I do, but she isn't even in my top five. I do have many moments that I enjoy of her and she is one of the funniest characters. I feel like her character has just been downgraded into something of comedic relief or destroy the enemy after some to little trouble. Especially in 100 Year Quest she doesn't have the feeling of the original Erza, though in many cases it is like that for all the characters.

There are moments I do enjoy of Erza. Her moments of seriousness when she takes the lead in team Natsu in plans are great, even when they go awry. Her fight against Minerva and Kagura is one of my favorites and can we just say how amazing Tower of Heaven and her backstory was when it was first presented. I feel though that many of these moments have been stripped away and given us nothing but moments of absolutely bodying an opponent for the sake of "badassery". I will die on the hill that Erza's battle with Irene was absolutely amazing until Wendy was no longer involved.

Then there is Elsie Crimson, oh boy. When she first came out I remember how crazy the fanbase went. Sure we had Plue return from Rave Master and Jellal had a similar person in Rave Master, but something felt... different. In the anime their voice actresses were the same. Their power was almost identical and... it was Erza. I passed Plue for just being a mascot and the same for Happy. But Elsie will always be.... Erza to me.

That isn't to say that there aren't good moments of Elsie. Her moments reminicing with Shiki about when she was taken in by Ziggy hurt my soul and her and Justice had great potential. But that was all it was, potential.

Erza and Jellal are still great in my opinion. Their dynamic is cute and embrace the friends to enemies to lovers that can't really be together. In a way I see it as Erza having honor to hold onto while Jellal has his own honor to find.

Elsie and Justice... I like them... but I can't help but to feel I like them because they are just... Erza and Jellal switched. They have a different backstory of course but its the same structure. To me it seemed like Mashima just used our heart strings tethered to Erza and Jellal to carry Elsie and Justice. Not to mention, while I enjoy Jellal as a character in his many moments, Justice is not a good character. But thats a discussion for another day. I will rant about him eventually. I feel like pieces of their characters work so well as they are, if only the other didn't exist. Elsie works to me because without Justice her scenes (other than that one allowing Ziggy to live) work so well for her. Her character being an unstoppable force high ranking in society that even Valkiyrie struggles against works because she isn't a main character. She doesn't swoop in to save their day unless Justice is involved or Ziggy. We couldn't pray for her return to defeat Drakken or Shura because...it was never going to happen. That is who Elsie is. So the moments where she one shots someone we know are deserved. The fights we see she struggles in we know that person is a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, Erza works because she is like the big sister character, especially in the eyes of Wendy, Natsu, and Gray. She is there when you need to count on her. The reason her fights tire us out or seem unreasonable are because we see her as a main character. She just has main character syndrome attached to her.

If you could take Erza's relationships with people and her good bond with Jellal. It could be the story of Elsie and Justice or her original story and mesh it together with Elsie's perk of being a side character hardly seen I feel it could work wonderfully.

But I'm curious about what you all think about Erza and Elsie. If either got into a duel who would win? My bet is on Erza because the main character syndrome.

Anyways, I'll see you all later in the Deep End!! <3

[miss0atae]

Random thoughts about Two Worlds episode 3 :

It will be easy this time because we spend the entire episode in World 2 ! Yeah !

▪️ Last episode, Khram tried to save Phupha by taking him to World 1 throught the blue moon lagoon but it seem she didn’t succeeded because at the beginning of episode 3, we see him in a cell being tortured by Wayu (Phumpha’s help/friend/employee). They believe Khram was sent by someone to hurt Phupha. Khram can’t really said the truth so he remains silent and let himself be tortured until he passed out. I felt sad for him. Being tortured is no bed of roses. Khram may not seem strong but he has an iron will.

▪️ Eventually he get saved by Thai. Phupha learn that Thai and Khram know each other and get warned he must be careful because someone is after him. Thai takes care of Khram and the way he looks at him so soft and worried, you can’t deny something was going on between Thai from World 2 and Khram from World 2 before the latter died. Khram is not coping well because he couldn’t really do anything to protect Phupha and the memories of their time in World 1 is making him feel more hopeless than ever. Even though Phupha in World 2 shares none of these sweet memories with him, Kram was willing to do anything to save him. He is torn between his love and his helplessness.

▪️ Thankfully, Thai is always ready to take care of him when he sees how difficult it is for Khram to cope. I have to admit, I find his quiet kindness so endearing. Nothing is really said, so it’s pure speculation, but I believe Thai from World 2 was in love with Khram from World 2 and lost him. As he knows that Khram from World 1 doesn’t really know him or share his feelings, he can’t act like he would want with him but he will nonetheless do anything to help him. Thai from World 2 is stuck in the same position as Khram from World 1 when he is with Phupha (from World 2). That’s why he understand him so well.

▪️ Thai will lead Khram to the version of his mother from the World 2. In this world, Khram��s mother is the only remaining member of his family who is alive. His father is dead because of Thai’s father and his mother is blind (I don’t remember if it’s because she became blind or if she was born with blindness). Seeing her and spending time with her, helps Khram to feel better. He also got to see Dueandao from World 2 who is different from the one he knows from his own World. She never met him, but she seems to be a friend of Thai and his mother.

▪️ Phupha will find Thai and Khram again after he was attacked just like they warned him and he will be saved by Thai at the end of the episode. During the last part of the episode, Phupha will pretty much discover the same information the Phupha from World 1 found (fir example who is his real father and his relationship with his mother. I just had one crazy thought, isn’t Phupa’s father also the father of his fiance??? Something is not clearly explained). Again, what really breaks me is how tragic is this whole situation because Khram is crying, holding Phupha and screaming his name and Thai is just seeing himself doing the exact same action when he saw his Khram being dead

▪️ I don’t know how they will manage the love triangle. My usual answer is make them be a polycule but I’m not sure Thai and Phupha can appreciate each other enough to make that happen. Besides, this Phupha from World 2 isn’t in love with Khram. He knows almost nothing about him. No one told him the truth because they believed he wouldn’t be able to handle it. I wonder when he will get to know Khram is from another world where he, Phupha, is not alive anymore. I also don’t believe Phupha from World 2 is as nice as Phupha from World 1. He seems less friendly..

▪️ One thing I really like from this episode is the bickering between Wayu and Jao (Thai’s friend). They know each other and they are not in friendly terms. However, they are perfect for one of my oldest favorite trope, Enemies to Lovers. The potential of their relationship is here in every petty arguments they have together. When they were facing each other so close they could kiss… Let me tell you I was really enjoying it. Since they are supporting characters they don’t get a lot of screen time but I believe we’ll get there soon.

▪️ My only complaint is that the duration of events is not easy to grasp. Many things seems to happen to fast but some would require more time to be believable. Maybe it’s just me who feel this way. I really wonder what will happen in the next episode.

PS: I edit the name of the characters to match the version in MDL but I'm watching the series on IQIYI and they don't write it this way. 🤷

[musingmixtape]

💕

send 💕 and I will tell you some muses of ours I think could work as a ship.

jackie choi & jasmine alcott

i think there’s so much potential in having two chefs together!! maybe jas is participating on jackie’s cooking show, maybe jas is the new hire in this incredibly prestigious restaurant that has jackie as a head chef!! they’re both stubborn and strong enough to have survived in an environment as hostile as the gastronomic world and i think it could also lead to a great apprentice/teacher dynamic. i see heated arguments when one of them takes off her apron and leaves only to get followed by the other, late nights in the kitchen trying to perfect a dish and feeling like no one else cares about the detail as much as they do, secret admiration but also lingering jealousy because the competitivity is in their veins. idk honestly my pitch is: the bear but make it hotter.

vivian amato & steven warhol.

enemies to lovers for sure. steven is everything she hates—yeah, sure, he’s actively running against her family and defends a series of values that oppose them. however, it’s all an act. he doesn’t care about anything other than presenting a perfect image, getting great results in the polls and eventually becoming a senator. i’m thinking of a great one night stand when neither of them knew who the other was, only followed by meeting in some big event and eventually getting involved into this dynamic when they call each other out and would definitely prefer not to work together —or that’s what they’ll say, at least— but they have to, because… having her family win the elections? no fucking chance. they’d be a great case of the dangers of mixing business with pleasure.

tate rossi & gaia turner.

they both have greek mythology verses so if you want to, i’m happy to go there. this is the vibe i’m picturing for them. friends who get each other that well because they couldn’t be more different—where tate is aware of his family’s darkness, the importance of guarding his own back and having to do this he wouldn’t want to; gaia is in constant denial of her mother’s mistakes, usually trying to clean up other people’s messes and trying to solve every trouble by reasoning her way out of them. safe to say they’re exactly what the other needs. the lines have always been a little blurry, though. late night hookups they blame on the drinks they had and soft, quiet touches because they’re tired and needy and ‘hey, that’s exactly what friends are for, right?’. just… casual intimacy taken to another level.

[alectology-archive]

"some day” I said, but I had a burst of inspiration so I typed it up - I’m posting plotlines that I thought were foreshadowed or how I personally imagined them playing out in my mind while I was reading the series. I’m putting them under the cut because it got long-ish:

- Egwene playing a bigger role in the black ajah hunt around the TDR era - she only got a single book of hunting black ajah and she was still a baby channeler then.

- I personally thought Elaida could have been better-written - it would have been fun to lean more into the tragedy aspect of her character. I think I thought she would vehemently oppose the idea of Rand being the true Dragon Reborn until it was too late (which would discredit her greatly with the aes sedai who’d allied with her) which would lead Rand to ally with the rebels.

- honestly I did expect a small-ish group of Aes Sedai to be more opposed to the need for them to follow the Dragon Reborn.

- Nynaeve and Elayne going to Amadicia/Amador proper in book 5 to really hook into and dig up the whitecloak plotline, where they meet Galad. Possible additional black ajah shenanigans. 

- More science from Lanfear! More horrifying acts committed by Lanfear! I can’t say I was completely betrayed because nothing in the books was as satisfying as the scene where she skinned Kadere.

- Asmodean staying as Rand’s toxic best friend who makes him worse quite a way into the series (potentially late book 7/early book 8) but I suppose he had to be killed off because of the establishment of the black tower.

- I thought Asmodean and Rand would join Valan Luca's circus for some reason at one point tho.

- Rand’s book 6 plotline being tackling Sammael in Illian. I thought Dumai's Wells took place during this war and a forsaken would capture him in the middle of it (hence the Box), setting off a rescue sequence.

(I briefly thought Rand would be stuffed in a stasis box) 

- Scenes set in Seandar where we actively get to see how the Shadow/Forsaken manipulate the High Blood with the possible reveal that the Shadow has been responsible for making the Seanchan worser than they already were to start with (a la how they are responsible for the all of the worst institutional rules that are in place in the White Tower). We do technically get a peak of this when we see Semirhage’s undercover scenes with Tuon.

- Mat returning to Caemlyn with Elayne & co and offering the Band to help her with the Succession

- pre-WH I thought Mat and Tuon would end up being either a political marriage or an enemies to lovers kind of relationship minus the circus arc (I think I imagined Tuon arriving at Caemlyn or Carihien, maybe, with an embassy to discuss the war with the Shadow) where they would eventually bond over managing to defeat an army with their combined forces, I guess?? 

- Myth told me about Tuon while I was still reading book 2/3, I think, lol, and I wasn’t really familiar with the Seanchan then and didn’t expect her to be Seanchan either, so I thought she’d probably be a highborn lady from the borderlands who was a skilled military leader.

- Rand confronting Taim/Demandred/Taimandred in the latter half of the series, and I’ll be forever upset about it not happening.

- Nynaeve and Moghedien having more homoerotic scenes + Nynaeve’s books 10-13-ish era plot being all about dealing with her and potentially Semirhage too, instead of being Rand’s accessory.

- The 13 black ajah sisters from TGH being properly confronted and defeated in the books 9-11 era but including Liandrin specifically

- Tuon actually confronting the side of her that could channel, and later being released by Mat when she starts to decide that the empire, as it is, should be destroyed and replaced by another governing body. The books made a point to say that she treated her slaves kindly so I was hoping she was a victim of the empire’s cruelty and conditioning and played along to its rules to protect herself, so I guess it wasn’t very fun to leave KoD knowing that she’d accomplished none of those potential character arcs before returning to her power base. 

I did remember making a couple of posts about how I enjoyed how antagonistic her relationship with Mat was - it just Feels Right that Mat would marry somebody who annoyed him in return which is why I’m a Mat x Elayne enthusiast - so my issue wasn’t really the romance, but her lack of a character arc.

Also I just feel Mat is tragedy’s (unwilling) best friend, so I kinda vibe with the idea that he never gets to be happy happy until later in life - so I don’t really mind the Seanchan plotline RJ had probably planned for him in the outriggers. I just lost my taste for it after Tuon renamed him in AMoL.

- Some sort of council meeting in the borderlands which Rand attends to persuade those nations to ally with him? 

- Rand being actually kidnapped by Semirhage and being taken to the borderlands (I don't know why, don't ask, I assumed RJ would want to worldbuild more and would take advantage of the opportunity by giving her a convenient reason to be there) just before the armies need to start marching to shayol ghul

- Moiraine and Siuan being reunited in the book 12 era and Moiraine being a source of consultation for Rand. I did NOT see the weird Gareth/Siuan romance coming - I always thought she’d stay single permanently.

- I did kind of think Siuan would be re-installed as Amyrlin, honestly. Or that she would play a greater role in advising Egwene.

- The Black Tower potentially being taken over by darkfriends and traitors completely to the point where it became a Forsaken stronghold, maybe.

- me legitimately thinking Mat and Rand would like. Kiss in book 5 or 12, lol. I think this thought occurred to me after the Rhuidean sequence.

- I thought Mat and Talmanes would probably sleep together, honestly.

- I was actually surprised by how homoerotic avilayne was so... no criticisms there, I suppose, but I kind of really did expect Elayne and Min to kiss after their lord of chaos scenes.

- Mat joining up with Rand after book 11 and using his skills to thwart the seanchan forces in almoth plain after promising Tuon that he would meet her on the battlefield next.

- Egwene and Egeanin actually communicating a bunch and Egeanin playing the part of Egwene’s knight, in a way. I learned Egwene would bond her as a Warder in AMoL all the way back when I was reading TSR and was falling in love with Egeanin + Egwene had such a homoerotic relationship with Avi + Egwene’s trauma after she was made a damane set up a great potential for a nuanced relationship.

- Egeanin playing proper traitor to the seanchan and giving up important secrets

[leslie-lyman]

Hello there! Just dropping by to say that Stranger at my Gate is such a lovely fic! So warm and cosy and hot and wonderful! I’ve not watched the film so I don’t know what Pero is supposed to be like but your fic has made me want to seek him out. Would you be able to rec some Pero fics? Fluffy, smutty, plotty or AU - all welcome! I just feel like.. you’ll know good fics ☺️😉

Aww thank you so much anon! The Great Wall is…not a great film, but Pedro is definitely the best part of it. I think it’s potentially worth watching once, just to see Pero.

That said, I absolutely do have Pero fic recs!! Mostly because I have astonishingly talented friends who have blessed us with many amazing Pero fics. Okay, off the top of my head:

@ezrasbirdie just started posting a new modern bodyguard AU that has me utterly fucking FERAL. It’s also been a million years since I’ve read Cherry Wine, her other Pero series, but it’s Birdie so I’d rec anything she writes no hesitation.

@lowlights has a whole masterlist of Pero fics she’s written, both modern AUs and canon timeline, and all are excellent. Her Brujita-verse featuring dad!Pero makes me melt into a puddle of goo every time!

@thewayofthemandalorian also has several Pero fics on offer, but her latest in-progress fic, All’s Faire, is a modern AU featuring Pero and reader in an enemies-to-lovers scenario as they both work a summer medieval faire, and I have been LOVING IT. (Even if, forgive me Gillian, I have been bad about reblogging and telling you as much!)

@oonajaeadira’s whole masterlist is a smorgasbord of decadent delights for all sorts of Pedro boys, but her Pero works have a special place in my heart. Branded is an amazing work of creativity and world-building and chemistry between the two leads. Dulces Sueños took me on a whole-ass emotional journey that I never wanted to end. And Primroses: A Sign of Early Spring made my heart stop in my chest, but only for good reasons!

@writeforfandoms has one of my favorite takes on a time-traveling Pero with her Born to be Wild ‘verse. I especially love the Halloween installment!! And Jen has several other Pero stories and you should read them all, but The Voice is one of the most unique and gorgeous fics I’ve ever read for any character, not just Pero.

@beskarberry has a great list of Pero fics, but Unbridled is my favorite of hers! I dunno if monsterfucking is your thing, anon, but if it is, this one is a fantastic and wild ride (hehe).

@absurdthirst has so many great Pero fics! But I especially love Keri’s take on a modern bodyguard AU with The Client, and because I am a shameless wh*re for the a/b/o trope I always drool over The Primal Prize featuring alpha!Pero.

@littlemisspascal’s Little Red’s Shadow was one of the first Pero fics I think I ever read, and it played such a role in making me fall in love with his character! How I absolutely adore werewolf!Pero.

@chaoticgeminate’s entire Iridescence universe is fucking incredible. Kelly has built a whole fictional universe featuring nearly all the Pedro boys in different fantastical roles, and the Pero series in that universe is Precious Sea Glass featuring dragon!Pero (!!!!!).

@starlightmornings is another fabulous writer with several Pero stories, and since I started this list with a modern bodyguard AU I’ll end it with Kaylie’s canon timeline bodyguard story, Sworn to Protect!

I know I have barely scratched the surface of all the amazing Pero fics and writers we have in this fandom and I am sure I am forgetting people. Anon, you should also check out the Pedro Library run by @littlemisspascal if you haven’t already, Rae does the indispensable work of collecting all Pedro fics in one place, and I’m sure there are tons of amazing Pero fics waiting for you to discover there!

Okay y’all, who did I miss? If anyone has additional recs for anon, feel free to reblog and say so, or drop them in my inbox!