#here u are (semantic error but not as good and sexy)

[bloody-wonder]

Top five mangas?? 👀👀

thanks i'm gonna include manhwa too tho bc i read it more often :)

semantic error made me unlock hitherto undreamt of levels of fun that can best be compared to the profound enjoyment a hetero woman experiences when watching a really good self-indulgent romcom. i previously thought i'm only into exceptionally fucked up bl but this manhwa taught me i'm not above very basic romance if it's well-written, hilarious and sexy and frames weirdness as something that can be appealing and awaken desires

killing stalking was the first bl manhwa i ever read and what an introduction to the genre it was! it's very good but very dead dove do not it so i wouldn't rec it to just anyone. for me, it was very fun binging the whole thing overnight bc why sleep when you can instead plunge deep into the darkest corners of human psyche while scrolling cartoons

twittering birds never fly has the audacity to maintain that slowburn since *checks wikipedia* 2011?? what the fuck?! if semantic error is a romcom twittering birds is a soap opera with no end in sight - and it has me in a chokehold. yashiro is one of the most characters of all time, i hope he admits his feelings for doumeki sometime before i turn 50 but it's still fun to watch him get into increasingly dramatic situations in order to avoid doing just that lol

painter of the night is just self-indulgent. i don't think the plot is any good at all and i don't particularly like the main character but i'm sufficiently compensated for these flaws by the historical setting and yoon seungho. the joseon period costumes are just so fun to look at - at one point i went down a rabbit hole researching those fascinating gat hats. more bl should be set in the past tbh but it probably takes more time and research for the creators. and yoon seungho is just your classic bad boy you want to fix and do in fact fix. the drrrrama of it tho!

the cornered mouse dreams of cheese / the carp on the chopping block jumps twice is probably the least well-known on this list? this short two volume manga was recced to me by a friend and i really liked it bc it features a protag struggling with his sexuality in a way that to me read very aro. it's also about the quarter-life crisis so. all the themes very near and dear to my heart lol

[absolutebl]

Favorite first kiss?

Favorite First Kisses!

Doozie of a question. Here we go...

1 Until We Meet Again

I mean COME on. How could this not be the #1 best first kiss? It's so gentle and so good and so hot and just... EVERYTHING a first kiss should be in life. A++ romantic

2 Old Fashion Cupcake

THE LONG SHOT. The desperation. The finger bite. The oozing THIRST. A++ quality desire incarnate

3 Why R U? Korea

Korea, scooping in a top spot? It's just the body language, the striding in, dropping the backpack, the surprised MUTUAL response (no flinching), and all the yearning. A++ want

(Foreshadow: This may... or may not... be my top kiss of 2023.)

4 Bad Buddy

Seriously boys, BOYS! You had to make it so beautiful and so painfully heartbreaking at the same time? Thanks for that. A++ pain

(They may have a light kiss before this one, I can't remember. I keep meaning to do a BB rewatch but I have to gear up for it.)

5 Semantic Error

I mean, well, OBVIOUSLY. Just A++ they perfect, no notes

6 Second Chance

I am pretty sure this one got best kiss of 2021. All you KinnPorche stans are sleeping on this little gem = Tong delivering what amounts to BLs best drunk kiss ever. FIGHT ME. A++ confused needy babies

7 About Youth

Speaking of sweet af first kisses from first timers. This one drips in sweet innocence including a rainbow and some smiles. A++ first sweethearts

8 HIStory 2 Crossing the Line

Okay the actors kiss for a dream sequence before this but this is the characters' first kiss, so that kinda counts, right? It's just such a pretty kiss. A++ stay on target, stay on theme, utterly unique

9 My Dear Gangster Oppa

Ya know this show is just so much fun and so solid and this pair deserves more accolades then their previous series afforded them. A++ finally, well done you

10 I Feel You Linger in the Air

Okay it's just all the dialogue and execution around this kiss is great and then the kiss ALSO doesn't disappoint. Plus permission and snark and so much more. A+++ class & storytelling

Also, whaan (sweet) is a really good word to have seared into one's brain in Thailand. Useful when ordering drinks.

Okay they kinda kissed before but this is the one that counts:

I didn't know how else to put this category but I had to include it so I could include this kiss:

We Best Love

The crying bridge-top kiss. I mean COME ON. One of my favorite kisses of all time. I love it when the weep+smooch.

La Pluie

Honestly? All their kisses are good so I can't remember if this was their first but, it great. Frankly, off all their kisses it's not my absolute favorite, but they deserve a mention because... wow boys. Just... wow.

The Eclipse

Because of their dynamic I am pretty sure there was something before this one, but this one lives in my head.

Be Loved In House I Do

I'm not sure this counts as their first because I can't remember the sequence in BLIHID (he through line is a bit wonky in my brain) but it is a killer kiss.

There should be more Taiwan but...

The thing is, once a Taiwanese BL starts delivering great kisses they just keep it up. So unless the narrative puts particularly strong plot intent on the "firstness" of that first kiss, they just get all sexy domestic muddled in my head.

Honor the Crumbs - Sides & Shorts, Best First Kisses

Some More

"You can kiss me, heong."

2 Moons 2 - MingKit

It's just such a sweetly perfect first kiss of the very first time variety. Before About Youth, we had these two.

Cutie Pie - NueaSin

Kissing the kiss that won them their own series. No other audition needed. In the land of amazing kisses, and up against Zee, this ONE stood way out. Very good boys. Very good indeed.

kiss x kiss x kiss - perfect scandal (AKA the office ep)

Look, this is the kiss we should have gotten in Cherry Magic. It's great, both the hesitant "permission given" first part and everything that comes next. Track this down if you can, it's a lovely little short from Japan.

My Secret Love - TimMai

Very minor side dishes but they were all I cared about in this show. They gave me the kiss I wanted even if they didn't get the screen time the deserved.

You're My Sky - SanAi

We all know they stole this show, not that there was much to steal.

Kiss Me Again - PeteKao

Maybe not the best as a kiss, but it was 2016 and this was SO SIGNIFICANT to the fandom, to the plot of the show, to coming out, to EVERYTHING. This is THE TayNew kiss. I will never forget it. Never.

I don't have a good screen cap but MarkOuwen's kiss in the taxi in Love is Science? was also fantastic.

(source)

Kisses as of Dec 2023. Not responsible for great first kisses that come after this date.

Opinion and preferences based on these ideas of good kiss chemistry.

I want you thoughts, RT and add your favorites or leave a comment. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

MORE?

[yakdee]

nonnie here! I like the idea of pen pals! Especially because I feel guilty for taking so long to respond, so the snail mail vibe works for me. But here we go in response to the last one!

S&M by Rihanna for Even Sun, I want to say it's not because it's a sexy scene! It's just really funny and for some reason, that song feels like it could have changed the scene or made it more comical if they'd been able to use it or thought of it.

Last Twilight is definitely a show I would still recommend even if I am disappointed with how they handled the disability at the end. I have rewatched it again just to catch some of the other things I loved and they did get a lot of things right. So I hope people will still watch it. Just know that the ending isn't as good as it could be. It's not terrible it's just unsatisfying to me.

I am now at 87 finished, 5 sitting in the probably not gonna finish bucket (which is hard for me as a completionist) and about 5 that I am working on, most of them slowly because I want to finish them but they are tough to watch for one reason or other, and one of them that I am loving so much I am watching as it drops which I don't typically do, but that one is Wandee Goddday and I LOVE it so much!!! I have also watched a number of shorts and one movie.

I am keeping track in a google doc lol. I really wish I had thought to track it in a spreadsheet so I could mark when I finished each but I am too far in now! But I think I might still make a spreadsheet because I like sheets. We'll see. And I use MDL mostly for finding shows and figuring out what to watch next based on actors. Oh the google doc is sitting just over 18K words, so I have thoughts!

You mentioned the different countries and taking on same shows, like Cherry Magic and Why R U, I admit I still need to find the Japanese CM, but I have now watched both Why R U? and I love both versions, especially because I was able to compartmentalize the Thai one and not let it affect how I felt about the Korean one and I love them both. Just need to find the Japan Cherry Magic because the gifs I have seen look so good.

I still love my old top 4 but I have another 4 that are my favs too that I have to mention which are Semantic Error, Unknown, To My Star (both) and The Eclipse (with the caveat that I had some issues with it and wanted to change a few things but I did love Akk/Aye and the protestors so much!) To My Star hit me in a way I did not expect a BL to hit me, and I found some healing watching it. I am finding that BLs often address very real things that hit me kind of hard, and I am okay with that.

I've also learned that there are not happy ending BLs and I have to say I kinda hate them. But I have watched at least 4? Maybe 5 now, and only one was I okay with the fact that it wasn't a particularly happy ending, although they kind of hinted at something at the end, but it felt like it wasn't enough. That was Kissable Lips, which is the same couple from Poondock that I really liked. I liked the unique play on vampires (I have a thing for vampire shows but I didn't like two western vamp shows or rather I couldn't get into them, they were good but just didn't pull me in like I thought they would) and I know I have some more Vampire BLs I need to check out. Seriously hoping the Boun Vamp show is good, though I like the old name better than the new name LOL

Last but not least, about my cat and The Sign, I have rewatched it again on the big screen to see what if anything draws her attention, and I have to say you're a genius, she seems to like Phaya the most. AND SHE DEFINETLY LIKES HIM IN BIRD FORM!!! How did I not pick that up before?! AND she did like Saint in bird form too, in fact she tried to jump up on the place where the TV is and she fell off. Oh wait...this might mean she wants to eat him...she watches birds out the window like a hawk...it's kind of disturbing sometimes, so maybe she is just hungry and wants to eat them both 😂

Anyways still loving the BL world and cannot seem to pick a genre or a country that's a fav so I love them all, even the ones that pissed me off LOL

Sorry for the late response, my life got kinda flipped upside down and I am grateful for BL because it has given me something to distract me from the not so great thing. I am okay, just some people did some horrible things and I am trying to sort through it. In fact BL is kinda saving my sanity right now.

Thanks again Rae you made my world a better place with the BLs

K 💜

Hi nonnie~ great! pen pals it is! I also feel guilty for taking a while to respond… case in point this reply which I didn’t realize is over a month out orz

Re Even Sun: Ah, I understand. Idk when time will permit (there are so many things to watch this summer 😭), but I look forward to watching it at some point so I can get the full effect of what you’re saying.

Re Last Twilight: Yeah, that was the general consensus for the ending, but I still plan on giving it a chance since I enjoyed gif-watching it while it aired. I know what to expect, so the (potential) disappointment with how things ended won’t be as great.

Whoa, 87 already?! What’s your binging method? I gotta step up my game XD Seriously though, as I said last time, I definitely feel you because I am also a completionist but sometimes we have to take the L no matter how much it goes against our nature. Always remember, enjoyment comes first.

It’s been a month since you sent this. How’s it going with the 5 that you were struggling with? Did your interest pique for any of them?

Re Wandee Goodday: Despite a few plot holes and very questionable moments, it has been quite enjoyable for me too.

Ooo shorts! I’m always in the market for good ones — any recs? And if you are looking for some more to watch, I would recommend Trémulo (YouTube), Summerdaze (YouTube), Private Lessons (Gaga), Some More (Gaga), Love Takes Courage (Hold Me) (YouTube), and Please Tell Me So (YouTube). The last 4 recs are from the STRONGBERRY production house which I still highly recommend till this day. The fandom literally has a tag dedicated to them (#in strongberry we trust) which should tell you all you need to know XD

You can find Cherry Magic JP here — happy watching! I have yet to watch the Thai version yet, but it looks great.

Why R U? is one of my all time faves so I have not watched the Korean version because I know I will not be able to compartmentalize. That might change in the future, but for now it’s a no-go for me lol

Those are great additions to the top of your list. They ranked pretty high for me too and I have to agree with your sentiments about To My Star. K-dramas do melancholy characters/vibes very well which can be quite healing for those of us who can relate. Other dramas that I think do this very well are Blueming, Our Dating Sim, and Sing My Crush.

Same, I also don’t do sad endings. I was caught off-guard and utterly devastated once and wish to NEVER feel that way again lol

The vampire bls that have aired recently are not as dark as I’d like them to be but as you said, Revamp looks promising. There is also My Golden Blood, but I don’t think that it’ll air this year anymore.

For the old title of Revamp, are you talking about My Broccoli? If so, I have to agree. The stories are not connected, but that title would've been a nice call back to Boun & Prem's characters in Until We Meet Again.

Wait! It makes total sense that she would like them in bird form for food purposes! Here I thought she was feeling a level of camaraderie. Either way, my previous statement remains true. She indeed has good taste 😂

Glad to hear that you’re doing well despite what has been going on. I hope that things have gotten better and keep trending that way.

Sending hugs and positive vibes~ Talk soon 💜

P.S. I’ve updated your tag to #nonnie k

[sanstropfremir]

Not an ask but just an lol moment. I usually have blogs assossiated with certain topics in my head so coming to read your queendom 2 review and seeing the KinnPorsche stuff was like getting smacked in the face lmao (even though the crossover of thai bl and kpop fans are pretty big) haha

ALKJGH'ASDFL;JKAASDF ;ALKJASDF;LASDF it was right in the middle of a bunch of queendom posts wasn't it lmao. i know the crossover is pretty high but it's totally fair to not associate me with it bc i don't really talk about any of the tv shows i'm watching here. tbh this is the first thai bl i've watched in probably more than two years; i saw the original original trailer from back when it was under that different production company and was like 'HEY who the fuck are those guys this is insane i HAVE to watch this when it comes out' and burned the title into my brain. and i haven't been disappointed this show is fucking GOOD (with a thousand disclaimers and warnings, i legit don't think i would actually recommend it to anyone)