#first time director

[certified-whore]

The 50c Stand

Please look at my movie. Look I’m making a movie. 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-50c-stand-film?fbclid=IwAR0U77AJq1DqbWyctMZhkFdtDVR5eCphzxuu5lgj66XghvKGeM5dBOdG90c#/

We have raised $104. I have $500 to put in, it’s all my savings. 

We need $3500. 

If you have $5 to drop in, you’d be supporting art in a tangible way, helping a student create something, and I would owe you my life. I’ve watched my friends from film school make amazing movies and win awards and I’ve supported them from my little scholarship kid corner, wishing I could do what their parents can help them do. 

If you take a look, I bet you’ll love the movie! It’s a kids heist movie in a church, who doesn’t want to steal from church? We have some amazing perks availible including having your name hidden in the movie, behind the scenes information, and a day on set! (either in person or we can facetime, i gotchu)

Please help me make my movie. I’ve dreamed of this for years and I promise it’s gonna be worth watching. 

[starbuck]

i say i like tragedies and everyone’s all like ‘why do you like sad stories? are you depressed?’ and never ‘how was the catharsis? was the catharsis fun?’

[non-un-topo]

hot guard summer

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 75: onehat

[absolutebl]

BLs with Strong Historical Elements

Costume dramas, historical BLs, and BLs with time travel or flashbacks to historical locations & times.

These are in order of my personal preference, best at the top.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

2023 Thailand

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). It's about a gay man from our time who falls into the past, becomes a servant to a noble house, and falls in love with the heir. It turns out this has all happened several times before. Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but not as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy soulmates BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and as individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding

2021 Korea - WeTV

A boy cross-dresses to take his runaway sister's place as a bride to a shy scholar, turns out they like being married. A historical setting allowed this BL to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes (arranged marriage, evil step-sisters, Cinderfella) but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship & secret identity (drag) plus some cute gay panic. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play. For all these reasons, I adored it.

(the ghat kiss!)

Tinted With You

2022 Korea - Viki

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

Word of Honor

2021 China (censored) - Viki/YouTube?

I don’t rec Chinese stuff often, because I believe in censoring the censors, but this show is one of my favorites of the post 2016 censored bromances. It’s two murder-gay assassins (pining sunshine/tsundere), and they are so insanely gay for two boys who will never be allowed to kiss. Tropes include: wuxia, soulmates, paranormal, historical, and fantasy elements.

To Sir, With Love AKA Khun Chai

2022 Thailand - YouTube?

This is a true lakorn (basically Thai tellenovella or soap opera) with scenery chewing performances, especially from the mother characters. Gone With the Wind + Days of Our Lives but gay. That said? I loved it: A glorious central brother relationship (the best, made me cry), het romances, class divide + gay *gasp* main romance - oh my word, the campy drama of it all! Arranged marriage, rebellion, cut sleeves, over-the-top death with curses and regrets, beautiful if inaccurate costumes, secrets unraveling, cover ups, sparkle murder, sex herbs, coils within coils including snakes and murderous green metallic sequins (is anything gayer on this earth?). It’s a WILD ride but it does end happy for our gay boys. A man cries when he finds DEATH GLITTER. Come on! You haffa watch it. That said, like Manner of Death I struggle to rate something on a BL scale when it patently isn’t a BL. So I ended up giving this exactly what I gave that show, 7/10 I enjoyed it a whole lot, but not as a BL.

The Untamed (Special BL Edition)

2020 China (censored) - YouTube

Censored wuxia bromance, amorphous ending. Probubly the best known BL of its kind out of China and responsible for bring many fans to the BL side.

Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go

2023 Thailand - YouTube

I was nervous to watch this PondPhuwin vehicle but I liked it a lot! Doomed soulmates + paranormal time travel to fix the past. I’m happy for the outfits and the dancing (if not the singing). It’s not a bad premise and it’s nice to see GMMTV lean into its high production values for a change. I'd adore a full historical starring these two and this was definitely the best of the second series of Our Skyy. I don't think you have to have watched the original Never Let Me Go to enjoy this.

Legend of Long Yang: Rebirth

2017 China

Gaga

Whipping boy trope... literally, servant character takes the strap for the prince, who then makes him his bodyguard and lover when he becomes king. Low budget historical, comes off as kind of cosplay wuxia version of Irresistible Love, but we get (in the credits) an actual kiss, and they both live. So yay for small mercies.

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

2023 Korea (historical flash backs)

iQIYI

A new employee at a film company encounters a director who claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. It has a lot of Japanese elements, not the least of which are: an office setting, the fact that every character in this show is unhinged, and a killing of the gays. Featuring a gorgeous & stellar cast, TDWBMD should have utilized them less for melodrama and more for chemistry. This BL surprised me by going there with a lipstick mark AND an actually gay idol. But (you knew there was a but) while it's a unique twist on an office romance it is NOT a unique twist on the doomed red thread trope, resulting in it feeling less than the sum of its parts and ultimately unsatisfying. This might have also had to do with the fact that this was one of those KBLs where I felt how very short it was the whole time I was watching, like I was missing something constantly, in every episode. Worth watching for some but seriously flawed.

First Love Again

2022 Korea (historical flash backs) - Viki

A popular novelist who remembers his past lives meets his soulmate for the third time, only to find she has been reincarnated into the body of a man. This one started out a touch mean-spirited, but we eventually got a good kiss. 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. They go from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. 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.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush

2022 Korea

This show was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing melodrama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering if SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, I now know you can do better. Do better.

Mermaid's Jade

2019 China (censored-esk) - Gaga

Kills the gay.

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

2016 China - Gaga

Kills the gay. Schrodinger's BL, both a BL and entirely not one at the same time.

Diary of Heong Yeong Dang

2014 Korea

Kills the Gay

I was gonna do a top 10 list, but there aren't enough by my metrics, so many end sadly.

This post at the behest of @verymuchof thank you for the idea!

Dated April 2023, includes only BLs that had finished their run by that date. Not responsible for cool costume flix that come after that. But you should check the comments to see if any have been added by others!

I might have missed a few that only have time historical elements since I don't always track those.

Also I would like to point out a decided lack of Japan on this list. My ninja yaoi consuming tiny past self is VERY upset about this void.

WHERE ARE MY GAY NINJAS??!!!

(source)

[starrrbakerrr]

"My heart's far, far away." - "Home" (Beauty and the Beast) "Cause my heart is wherever you are." - "Can I Have This Dance?" (High School Musical 3: Senior Year)

"One of the wonderful things about being a producing/director on a series is that you get to tell a story over time. In the image above (season 2) the steadycam move caught Ricky in the doorway for a fraction of a moment as Gina in the foreground sheds a tear for him. In the image below (season 4) Ricky and Gina, now dance together in the same angle and framing. As a director, I really like book ends and used blocking as a way of calling back to moments without directly referencing them." - Kimberly McCullough (director of 2x06, "Yes, And," and 4x03, "A Star is Reborn")

[smittenskitten]

(+) Elevators Are Gay

Love Mate (2023) The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (2022) The New Employee (2022) Oh! My Assistant (2022) GAP The Series - Teaser (2022) First Love Again (2022) Bad Buddy (2021) Samjin Company English Class (2020) Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (2020) HIStory3: Trapped (2019)

[flareboi]

if youre stilll doing reqs... rocketcule/vicagent angst?

he wanted someone to love him. they wanted a toy

don’t look at me 🏃

[some-pers0n]

I need to like set aside a day to just study Sniper's character because the way he's treated in fandom VS how he's presented in canon material is so different and it's messing with my brain

[43sol]

i can finally go back into the tiger and bunny tag ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜

[jojo-schmo]

Just Admit It- Part 1

I've been playing around with possible friendship dynamics of the Beast Council for fun!! I love imagining what kind of childhood they could have in the Forgotten Land all together.

What if Carol and Sillydillo are the fun-loving extroverts? Leon is the introverted one who's been smitten by Carol for a really really long time but he's too shy about it? And Gori is the friend who is an excellent observer and will bluntly tell you what he thinks (and maybe has a tendency to get grumpy when things aren't easily going his way).

Somewhat of a prequel to this other doodle comic about Leon and Carol- everyone here is still a kid ^_^

Part 2

[numbuh424]

Light's wardrobe in the 1st half of the jdrama (ep 1 - 5) vs his wardrobe in the 2nd half (ep 6 - 11).

[transuncletaylor]

I think we're sleeping on the idea of Sokka getting to be a stage mom during the summers when they take Izumi to Ember Island where she auditions for the Ember Island Players' summer show

[non-un-topo]

Outfits of the Guard from an older fic of mine, Tangerine and Roc. Supposed to be a bit of a mix of styles from Central Asia in the late 15th century as they go about their travels, with a little battle-ready touch.

[gorgynei]

we dont talk about the biologist's violence enough

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

I kind of love this scene at the beginning of Nope where OJ and Lucky (the horse) are on set because it foreshadows the rest of the movie so well: OJ and Emerald explain to the actors and crew how to interact with Lucky — how a horse, even one trained for TV, responds to the world around them according to their instincts — and the crew ignore him. One of them says to "tell the horse we're ready to do one," like he's a human actor who speaks another language and OJ is the translator.

And it keeps happening all through the film. In the narrative of the Gordy's Home, Gordy is treated as essentially another human member of the family, albeit one who can't tell time or speak English (and I've seen some excellent commentary on how Ricky, an Asian child actor, is commodified and exoticized in the same way). But the chimp who plays Gordy is not a person; he, like Lucky, is an animal being exploited by a production company uninterested in and unwilling to accommodate his needs, and so he reacts on instinct — to the sound of balloons popping, to eye contact, to the people around him screaming.

Maybe Ricky survives because the tablecloth kept them from making eye contact, or maybe the chimp would have killed him, too, if he hadn't been shot at that moment. But Ricky doesn't process what happened as an animal reacting on instinct, at least not that final moment. He still anthropomorphizes this chimp as Gordy, his friend from his TV family with whom he has a special connection. And so years later, he assumes Jean Jacket is a ship piloted by sentient aliens. He assumes they trust him, when really all he's done is teach an ambush predator to expect a regular food source —  it's the equivalent of drawing bears to a camp ground because you forgot to put away the cooler.