#but also if someone knows why i can watch the full eps other than on japanese hulu please tell me i want to see the full sky-hi interview.

[sanstropfremir]

i was wondering if you already talked/like the jpop group psychic fever :) idk i feel like you'd like them but if not are there any jpop groups you listen to?

girl i have no clue what is going on with exile tribe i wouldn't even know where to start lmao. i do listen to a few of their units, including psychic fever, but it's mostly ballistik boyz just bc animal is my own personal crack. the occasional jo1 and ini song makes it into my rounds, but i'm mostly a jrock and j...indie? i guess? listener. queen bee and i dont like mondays are two of my mostly listened groups, plus a variety of other artists like taichi mukai, eill, fujii kaze, rung hyang, etc. highly recommend every queen bee song, idlm's black humor and fashion albums, and taichi mukai's the last album. and now im hijacking my own post bc this is now a psa about avu chan's boy group ryugujo!! genuinely fr the only boy group ever actually. highly highly highly recommend literally every song they have and their new ep just dropped last month!

other songs that fucking rip that are not just me linking their entire spotify page:

me linking their entire spotify page anyways:

also highly recommend watching their show 0 year 0 class, bc it is genuinely inspiring and enjoyable to watch someone actually want to teach trainees how to be idols and succeed. and not just how to be idols, but how to be better people as well. k survival shows could never and actually any other survival show could never. flawless 10/10 no notes avu chan i need you to take down the entire survival/audition show industrial complex immediately.

#not kpop questions #i know i was annoying about wild idol and i still think more ppl should watch wild idol but if you have to pick one watch 0y0c. fr. #1) no audience voting. 2) actual challenges meant to test real skills. not just how well u can sing and dance #3) avu chan. this show is a very cool and personal insight into her processes and how she thinks. its incredible #also 4) its on youtube in abbreviated 20min episodes w eng subs. super easy watch #and you dont feel like youre missing anything important from the full 70min eps #but also if someone knows why i can watch the full eps other than on japanese hulu please tell me i want to see the full sky-hi interview. #so fucking bad. pls #also also literally one of the episodes is just avu chan interviewing another producer (sky-hi) abt audition shows and the process #what more could you fucking ask for fr #text #answers #jpop #ryugujo

[evankinard]

You asked so let me lay out the mental gymnastics I have done to reach buddie roomates

1. Not a single bts of that loft. I feel like we were getting loft bts all the time last year (also there were like so many loft scenes last year too so that might be why)

2. Built the biggest most expensive rolling stage thing of all time. I believe either they have to build new sets this year or rent the sets from fox = bucks loft didnt make the cut (pure spec on my part watch oliver post bts of the loft today on his ig takeover)

3. “Giving the fans what theyre asking for” in terms of buddie what the fans have been asking for (at least that I see the most and think the writers would be aware of) is buddie canon, trapped dads (which was mostly just finale spec but I do think could happen in cruise disaster), buck breakdown/therapy, buckley diaz fam content, death to bucks loft/buddie roommates. And buddie roommates not only captures 2 of those but is also my fav of them so my mind went there

4. Buck and eddie closer than ever / knowing each other on a deeper level than before (Im paraphrasing bc I cant remember all 20 devastating ryan quotes rn): from personal experience, you can be very close with someone, but living with them is a whole new experience and you learn things about people you never knew before. One of the most intimate ways to get to know someone imo

5. Kind of like a said with a newish audience, 10 ep season that includes 2ep big emergency and madney wedding, and also the fact I feel the show has never explicitly hinted at buddie (I dont count the s2 stuff tim has said was fan service and 601/612 felt like it but thats it) I dont think full buddie canon is on the table this season. But a great way to explicitly hint that buddie canon is happening at some point would be roommates storyline

In conclusion: there will probably be 30 loft scenes this season and Im dumb but one can dream

everybody take a look at this ask and learn. this is the exact kind of deranged unserious reaching that we've been missing in this fandom lately. I love you and I applaud you anon 🫵

#we'll get that buddie roommates you and me #we wont stop until its in our grasp

[randombrambles]

Okay...going to wade into the Sabezra discussion. May the flying spaghetti monster in sky have mercy on my soul...

I guess you could call me a "causal viewer" because, despite being a life long Star Wars fan, I'd never watched an episode of Rebels before watching Ahsoka. I just never got around to it and I've only watched a handful of eps of The Clone Wars too. But anyway once I started Ahsoka I was like "this show will clearly make more sense if I watch Rebels" so I started. I'm almost done season 3 of Rebels as of writing this post. And really loving Rebels btw. Part of me of like "why didn't I watch this earlier?" but on the other hand I don't have to wait for the next episode and I know the major spoilers already so I'm not going to get the rug yanked out from under me.

So back to Ahsoka and Sabezra...the big questions. Did I see the romance "coding" (not sure I agree "coding" is the right word but whatever, that's semantics) in Ahsoka? Yes. Sabine's actions definitely come across as her being in love with Ezra to me. That said I can also see the platonic angle, especially after having watched some of Rebels, so I'm not going to tell anyone they are wrong for viewing Sabine and Ezra's relationship as platonic. These things are subjective and open to interpretation until anything definitively romantic or definitively not romantic happens on screen. And at this point nothing definitive has happened either way on screen. Nobody has been proven right and nobody has been proven wrong yet. Sabezra is basically schrodinger's cat right now.

Next how did I interpret the "like a sister" line in Ezra's holo. Um...full disclosure the first time I viewed that scene I didn't even register that he'd said she was "like a sister" to him. I'd never even seen Rebels at that point so I didn't know Ezra yet. So as a causal viewer my take away from that scene was Ezra meant a lot to Sabine and Sabine meant a lot to Ezra. And I'd be wiling to bet that that was the takeaway for most causal viewers.

So on rewatch do I think the "like a sister" line means that Ezra truly sees Sabine as a sister? No. On rewatch, paying close attention to the body language, and after having watched some Rebels, I think Ezra is both struggling to find the words to tell Sabine how important she is to him and telling her what he thinks she needs to hear in that moment. The problem is that in English we don't have a word to describe someone isn't technically family but who isn't a lover either but who's also way more than "just" a friend. Sister is the best word Ezra can come up with in that moment but you can tell from his awkward body language and his literal scoff as soon as he says it that its not the right word. And yeah I think Ezra thinks that Sabine sees him as a brother so he tells her what he thinks she wants to hear right before he heads of on what very well could have been a suicide mission.

Do I think Sabezra is going to be made canon on Tuesday's final episode of Ahsoka (of season 1 at least). No, but hold on nobody panic!!! I also don't think that means Sabezra is dead in the water either. And frankly I'm kind of mystified as to why Sabezra shippers seem to think that the next episode is make or break for Sabezra when its clearly not? If there isn't a love declaration or a kiss or both (which is what I'm assuming people would interpret can them being made canon) its not like either Sabine or Ezra are going to marry someone else on Tuesday either. And since much of Ahsoka has been set up, meaning not much is actually going to get resolved in the next ep (Thrawn hasn't even left Perida[?] yet! I fear we are ending on a cliff hanger), we'll be seeing Sabine and Ezra again. There's no rush for them to get together romantically (and I know that's hard to hear for people who've been shipping for years but its true).

And further to the "there's no rush" point I actually have to say I that I think its WAY too soon for anything definitively romantic to happen between Ezra and Sabine yet (and again I get how hard that is for those who've been shipping them for a long time). And I say that as both a "casual viewer" and someone who's also watched a good chunk of Rebels now. For the causal viewer who hasn't watched Rebels, which is probably a big chunk of the audience for Ahsoka, they barely know Sabine, have just met Ezra and have only seen them interacting for ONE episode and don't know any of their history. A kiss or a love declaration would seem out of the blue at this point I think. And as someone who's getting into Rebels I still think its too soon. While I agree that Sabine is very likely in love with Ezra I don't think she's admitted to herself yet (that's why Baylan used the word family when he was getting her to hand over the map thingy imho) no way is she ready to tell HIM. And as for Ezra...dude is clueless that Sabine might might have non platonic feelings for him so no way is he going to risk ruining their friendship by blurting out that he's in love with her. And not only that they've been separated for 10 YEARS ffs. They need to get to know each other again before anything romantic can happen, again imho. I want Sabezra to become canon but I want it done WELL. Sabezra is a friends to lovers ship, they are still firmly in the friends stage right now, it needs to be a sloooooow burn.

And finally do I think Sabezra will become canon? Honestly...I don't know. I'd like it to, it would be really nice to have a non problematic ship, especially after the sequel trilogy robbed us of FinnRey and tried to force freaking r*ylo. But I think Filoni and the other powers that be over at DLF (he is NOT the sole person calling the shots here, keep that in mind everyone) are probably testing the waters right now and waiting to see what the audience reactions are like before they make any decisions. I'd be wiling to bet that by the end of Tuesday's episode the door will be left wide open for pretty much anything to happening shipping wise. So we'll just have to wait and see. Time will tell, it always does.

#sabezra #ahsoka show #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #sabine wren #long post #that was long #sorry

[matan4il]

Buddie 606 meta

This meta is about Buddie, but please let me state how much I love Henren. I adore this ship, I can’t even explain how much as a queer person myself, and this ep dedicated to them was fantastic. It did them justice. And I have to take a sec to point out how much this isn’t to be taken for granted. They are a couple of older gay women of color, four identities that have been largely marginalized in TV land. A lot of shows would barely include them, let alone dedicate a whole ep to them, trusting that the audience will love and embrace it. More than that, they allowed Henren to be sexual, too. This is such an important choice when it would have been easier to show every other wonderful moment between them, but keep them sanitized for the viewers who are less accepting. This is why I have so much faith in 911. I guess that’s also why I believe in the show when it comes to Buddie, that it can be brave enough to let them become canon. ~~

Speaking of Henren’s sexy times (I can’t emphasize enough how much I loved it, kudos to the gay musical choice), when Karen said to Hen, “I don’t have to be serious,” it hit me that she’s saying it with the exact same sort of playful intonation while taking a step in Hen's direction that Buck used when he uttered at Eddie that oh so suggestive, “You wanna go for the title?” in 309 while getting physically closer (kitchen scene, my ‘no het explanation’ beloved). ~~

I loved that Henren’s story does not begin smoothly, they start out antagonistic. Karen has that “are you even worth my time?” attitude, while Hen’s very blunt about calling her out. But the confrontation is full of that sexual tension of two people who, while riled up by the other person, they also realize they have met their match, someone who intrigues and attracts them, challenges them and can help them better themselves, so they very quickly move past the initial friction. Tell me that’s not Buddie in 201, giving each other attitude only to swear eternal loyalty as battlefield boyfriends before the ep's over. Enemies to soulmates who will choose each other again and again, through thick and thin, is why we (in addition to Buddie and Henren) are the ones who never really stood a chance. ~~

Then we have the fact that in both cases, someone from the team was responsible for the match. Chim was very blunt about it with Henren (our short KING!) and I know that Bobby-the-matchmaker is not canon, but it’s hovering so close to that. You can see it in the way Bobby watches Buck’s reaction to Eddie in 201, in the way he pushes them towards each other during that ep, and of course in that classic moment when he “presides” over Buddie’s union when the match proves to be a success (as I tried to show in my humor edit, in cinematographic terms, that moment was staged to look very similar to a wedding, the couple exchanging vows with an officiant in the background, a staging sometimes used to implicitly point to a ship not yet recognizing their own feelings/commitment for each other). It becomes even more of a parallel if you consider that in both cases, the “matchmaker” brings in a newcomer to make things better precisely when a member of the 118 they’re close to has to deal with letting go of a romantic relationship that ended up toxic... ~~

I wrote in my 605 meta that the Henren and Buddie parallels were already on in that ep, and I expected to see lots more this week, but I gotta admit, I thought it would be mainly between Henren’s call vs Buddie during the shooting arc in 413 and 414. So you can already tell I was surprised by how much broader the parallels were. Another one I did not anticipate was Karen’s aggravated reaction to Hen doing the decent thing (hearing Eva out regarding Denny) and how similar it was to Eddie’s reaction over Abby re-appearing in 318 (Buck doing the decent thing and helping her with her new fiance). If you ask me, jealously worried Eddie is confirmed real through this parallel (this is the one gif I made for this post myself, ‘coz I am a dumbass who forgot to type this when I was sending my meta gif requests). ~~

Everything about the call at the lab was exquisite, even the way it kicked off, with Bobby as the voice of the 118 reassuring Hen they will get her wife back to her. It's so much like the scene in 315 where the team had to reassure Buck that they're not giving up on Eddie and that they will save him. *quietly hyperventilates because what even is this parallel* ~~

Don’t get me started on Hen having to watch as Karen collapsed after coming out of the building. Like I said, I knew we’d probably be looking at a lot of parallels with the shooting story arc, but SERIOUSLY. 911, this was SO rude of you. Each one of these scenes separately just ripped my heart out, but the parallel also did me in, ‘coz it emphasized the fact that when Buck is the one to witness Eddie collapsing there, it’s because the show knows it has the same impact as for Hen to watch her (legally married!) romantic partner and co-parent to her child going through the same thing. The insane thing is Eddie officially had a romantic partner at the time! Someone who was supposed to occupy the closest space in his life to what Karen is to Hen, and yet 911 still chose to have Buck there, punching us all collectively in our guts as he watched in muted horror the love of his life collapsing. Utter, gay madness. ~~

Not only did Hen have to watch Karen collapse, she also had to try and revive her, which is so very similar to what Buck had to do for Eddie after physically getting him out of the line of fire in 414. It’s that mixture of love and desperation and hope and teetering on the edge of despair for me that makes the ambulance scenes in both of these storylines so poignant, and the parallel impossible to ignore. ~~

We also have the fact that when Hen watches Karen being carried into the hospital on a gurney, much like Buck watched Eddie being taken in during 414, the next moment when she knows Karen is more or less safe, she can barely hold herself up without help. It’s that combined exhaustion from everything she did to save her loved one, and relief, and the deeply terrifying realization of what was so close to be, all of these suddenly released together into her bloodstream become too much. So Bobby and Chim have to help and physically support her. This just came and slapped me across my face (911 really chose violence this ep, didn’t they?) because it’s exactly how Buck reacted in 303, when he sees Chris safe in Eddie’s arms, and he can’t take everything he’s feeling in that moment, so he has to be physically supported by Bobby and Hen… ~~

Karen refusing to leave when she was supposed to reminded me of Eddie doing the same by cutting his own cord in order to continue helping in 315. I was ready for the shooting arc parallels, I was not for the Eddie Begins ones and my insides are decimated. To be technical, this also parallels David refusing to leave the operation room in 508, subtly linking all the stubborn gays risking themselves when they’re not supposed to while their partners are nearby, yet separated from them and going insane with worry. ~~

I mentioned Henren parallels Buddie in both the shooting arc and Eddie Begins, and nowhere is it more evident IMO than in that moment when Chim lies to Karen, telling her Hen had died, and for one terrible moment, she believes it and you can see her whole world is shaken up and close to imploding. This feels so much like Buck’s reaction in both those storylines, when for a moment there he has to consider that maybe he lost Eddie for good, and the look he gets of utter disbelief, on the verge of devastation, is so like Karen’s. ~~

But if that’s not enough, we also have another theme that connects the three storylines, the one about how an event like that can make people recognize what matters in their lives and consolidate what their dreams are, or in other words, what’s the family that they fight for, which they now fully embrace. For Karen, thinking she lost Hen made helped her accept Denny into their lives, while Eddie, who realized in 315 that he’s fighting to come back to his family, and that Buck IS a huge part of that family, together with Chris, decided to change his will to make them all legally bound together, a fact he discloses to Buck in 414, as the conclusion to the shooting arc. ~~

Something that further reinforces the family-consolidation parallels between the two eps is Karen telling Hen she has to go be with Denny because he comes first, just like Buck stayed with Chris in 414. And again Ana, the actual gf, is right there, but it’s Buck who’s taking care of what matters the most to Eddie, what constitutes his heart: his son. ~~

I have to mention that moment at the hospital where Buck was asking about living without a spleen. With all of his experience as a firefighter responding to many medical emergencies, as well as his love of bizarre trivia including from the anatomical realm, I’m sure he knew the answer to that. What he’s really asking for is reassurance that Karen will be okay. Eddie picks up on that and offers precisely that, which is not just ridiculously tender, it’s also so domestic that it’s their connection that brings about that comfort. ~~

Lastly, the conclusion of this ep parallels Henren and Buddie as well. Hen’s insight from this experience of helping her significant other during a call is that the job she should be doing, that she was born to do, is be a paramedic with the 118. That’s also exactly Eddie’s conclusion in 511, after he helps Buck during a call. Even when he wasn’t physically there, even when it wasn’t Buck’s own life on the line, simply helping Buck on a dangerous call reminded Eddie of where he wanted to be. With his battlefield boyfriend. Canon “Buddie Begins” when, 911?

~~ If you like this content and would like to see more of it, please consider giving this a reblog! Thank you in advance for any show of support. A massive thank you to the astounding @whosoldherout​, who tackles my gif requests every week and creates such perfect and beautiful gifs to demonstrate my thoughts. xoxox

#buddie #911meta #buddie meta #911 meta #9-1-1 #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie gif #buddie gifs #buddieedit #911edit #911 gif #911gif #911gifs #911 gifs #wm #911onabc #911 on abc #911abc #911 abc

[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)

#all the bl that aired in 2022 #no really pretty much all of it #this is MONSTER post #BL post not for the faint of heart #I should probably NOT be using tumlr for this #but I love tumblr #so like BL I am here until the bitter end #Thai BL #Korean BL #Japanese BL #Pinoy BL #Taiwanese BL #KBL #JBL #BL reviews #BL review #best of bl 2022 #worst of bl 2022 #bl 2022 #bl summation #do i do another one of these next year?

[starcrossed591]

KDrama Year in Review 2023

While I watched more KDramas this year than CDramas, none of them consumed my heart and soul quite like this year's crop of CDramas did (CDrama review post here). And I dropped KDramas more readily than I have in years past, in part because there were so many more things to watch than I had time for (also I had to finish my dissertation and graduate, etc etc). Still, there were definitely some that I really, really enjoyed, so here's this year's KDrama round up:

16. My Lovely Liar: Started strong, got boring real quick. Dropped for homophobic murder plot. Still, glad to see that Hwang Min Hyn can actually act (although full disclosure, I did still enjoy him in Alchemy of Souls, wooden as that performance may be). Hoping Kim So Hyun can catch a break and get a role in a drama more worthy of her in the near future.

15. Crash Course in Romance: Excellent performances and chemistry by the ML and FL. Romance between two middle aged people instead of youths is also a treat. Dropped around ep 12 because of the unnecessary, homophobic murder plot. Pass.

14. A Good Day to Be a Dog: Surprisingly stronger than the goofy premise suggests, largely on the basis of Park Gyu-Young's performance as the FL who turns into a dog upon being kissed. Pacing problems in the third act around the origins of the whole dog curse thing. Can't say I recommend unless you're really in the mood for some shenanigans, but largely inoffensive if a little silly. (Also it turns out Cha Eun Woo *really* leveled up his kiss game for this one!)

13. Love to Hate You: Perfectly serviceable rom com. Nothing too special, but a nice weekend binge if you're in the mood for that. Also a good way to see Kim Ji-Hoon's v handsome face and that *hair* without having to deal with everything involved with his rather murderous run in Flower of Evil.

12. Joseon Attorney: A Morality: Perfectly serviceable law procedural/Joseon historical. If you don't like either of those genres your mileage may vary, but I had missed having Bona on my screen, so it worked well enough for me.

11. Welcome to Samdal-ri: I seem to like this one more than literally everyone else I know, and I fully admit that my enjoyment of this drama is more vibes-based than plot-based. I guess I have a soft spot for Shin Hye Sun yelling at people at Ji Chang Wook going a bit unhinged over a woman who ran away from him (see also: Lovestruck in the City).

10. My Demon: Very much enjoying Song Kang as a cranky demon falling in love with a human. Very tropey in the best way, and feels like a return to form for the supernatural romance genre. Remains to be seen if they'll land the ending as of this writing, but enjoying as it goes.

9. Doctor Cha: A contribution to the slate of divorce comedies I watched this year (see also: Strangers Again (KDrama) and Let's Get Divorced (JDrama)), a surprisingly touching story about growing older when you've devoted your life to someone who has not done the same for you.

8. Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow (Part 2): While Ko Joon-Yung never quite managed to replace Jung So-Min as the FL for me, I definitely still enjoyed the closer to this fun fantasy series. Special shout out to Shin Seung-Ho as Prince Go Won and his pet turtle

7. Strangers Again: I didn't see a ton about this one on tumblr as it was airing, but I found this rom com? melodrama? divorce procedural? makjang? story about relationships and why they end unexpectedly profound. I tuned in expecting mindless makjang hot mess, and instead got a thoughtful meditation on divorce. Left me feeling unexpectedly melancholy at the end, but glad I watched it.

6. The Secret Romantic Guesthouse: Very fun sageuk! Probably won't knock your socks off, but it does what it does very well. Bonus points for a B couple as compelling as the A couple. I've also been a big Kang Hoon fan since Little Women, and there are a couple of other actors in here that I'm always glad to see working.

5. Perfect Marriage Revenge: Tour de force makjang. Came out of nowhere and blew me away. Hits all the right beats, and unexpectedly fun (and was a nice break from the heaviness of My Dearest for me). This was a good year for jaded and slightly unhinged transmigrated FL's back for their #revenge (see also: Story of Kunning Palace in CDrama land), and I was here for it. Also features one of the spiciest make-out scenes of the year, 10/10 recommend

4. See You in My 19th Life: Absolutely loved this haunting, melancholy, and sometimes unexpectedly goofy reincarnation drama. I loved the webtoon and had high expectations, and this drama largely met them! The continuing relationship between sisters Ji-Eum (Shin Hye Sun) and Cho-Won (Ha Yoon Kyung) was a special highlight for me, and while Shin Hye Sun is already a never-miss for me, I'm especially looking forward to whatever Ha Yoon Kyung does next. I prefer the ending of the Webtoon to the KDrama, but I'm still delighted this drama exists and am glad I watched it.

3. The Interest of Love: Look, I loved this drama. Even though it seemed on the surface like nothing but *mess* in the interpersonal lives of these characters working at a bank on the border between a rich and poor neighborhood in Seoul, it nonetheless had some of the most searing class commentary of the year for me. I also love an FL who will (spoiler) pack up her things and disappear at the drop of a hat, even if no one else will understand her decision to do so, because she just cannot deal anymore (see also: the FL in Lovestruck in the City, whom I also love but everyone else hated). This drama kept me gleefully coming back every week in a year where not a lot of others did.

2. Call It Love: A revenge slice of life melodrama that I found unexpectedly touching in its deep melancholy. Loved not only the main couple, but the relationship between the siblings and their pharmacist bestie. A lovely character study. (Also I somehow ended up watching this at the same time as Till the End of the Moon and Li Susu as Ye Xiwu's hidden identity/revenge plot, which was unexpectedly stressful! Had a very "it's the same picture" moment despite two dramas in two genres that could not be further apart.) If you missed this one (and since it aired on Disney+, you might have--Disney+'s effects on the KDrama streaming ecosystem will be the death of me), it's worth seeking out!

1. My Dearest (Parts 1 and 2): Kind of feels like everyone has said everything there is to say about sageuk of truly epic proportions, but it blew me away as well. Epic romance? Check. Twisty political machinations? Check. Heartwarming friendships between women? Check. Strong ensemble cast? And my top FL of the year, Lady Gil-Chae, played to perfection by Ahn Eun-Jin. I've adored her since Hospital Playlist, and am delighted that she's getting the attention and the roles she deserves. Namkoong Min also a top contender for ML of the year as Lee Jang-Hyun. Part 2 dragged for me a bit in places after a nearly perfect Part 1, but such a great drama overall.

Favorite Drama of the Year: My Dearest. See above.

Favorite Female Character: I mean, it's gotta be Gil Chae from My Dearest, right? She starts out as such a spiteful, spoiled noblewoman, and then turns out to have a core of pure steel. Turns out all her conniving and strategizing, which went towards causing mischief in the village, really just needed a proper outlet. While I would never want to be in the circumstances in which she found herself, if I did, she's exactly who I would want on my side.

Favorite Male Character: Everything's coming up My Dearest this year, because this one is Lee Jang-Hyun in My Dearest as well. Checks the box for my competence kink, and has a knack for showing up just when Gil-Chae needs him, even at great personal cost. Also a smart-ass, which I probably like a bit too much in a man.

Favorite Secondary Female Character: Cho-Won from See You in My 19th Life. Her relationship with her reincarnated older sister was almost more compelling to me than the main romance sometimes, and really helped develop how the ties that bind us are not just romantic ones. Also she was just super cute

Favorite Secondary Male Character: Could have picked anyone from Team Himbo in Alchemy of Souls, but gonna have to give this one to Go Won, himbo prince of my heart

Favorite Ship: Again, it's gotta be Gil-Chae and Lee Jang-Hyun in My Dearest. Sometimes, there are drama couples that nearly cause me pain when they are apart, and these two quickly became one of them. Though their relationships is hardly functional for much of it, through all that push and pull, they ultimately learn how to show up for each other. Also, their *chemistry* is insane!

Favorite Secondary Ship: I loved Hye-Seong and Sung Joon, the B couple in Call it Love. Seeing the SFL grow more comfortable with herself after a truly shitty ending to her previous relationship was a nice respite from the hidden identity stress of the A couple in this one. I'm also a sucker for a good romance where you start to see someone you've long taken for granted differently. (Close Runner Up: Cho Won and Do-Yun in See You in My 19th Life)

Favorite Platonic Relationship: Gil-Chae, Eun-Ae, and their maids, Jong Jong and Bong Doo, in My Dearest. I loved loved loved the relationship between these women in this drama, and part of the reason the second half of the drama suffered a bit for me is because of how far it moved away from this core relationship. They were ride or die for each other more than the majority of the men in their lives, and I loved that for them.

Trope that Needs to Die: While I find murder plots in rom coms tedious at the best of times, homophobic murder plots are really not it. Quit it, y'all. It's not cute.

Dramas I Missed: Moon in the Day, The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, and Tell Me That You Love Me (grrr Disney+ on this one) are on the list for next year. I'm probably missing others.

Non-2023 Drama Spotlight: Finally went back and watched Do You Like Brahms? for a hit of Park Eun-Bin. A lovely, if also melancholy, slice of life romance that's just as much about what to do when a (career related) dream that you've worked really, really hard for just isn't going to come through as it is about the main romance. Also made me fall in love with Kim Min-Jae and his lovely deep voice, enough so that I also then went back and finally watched Dali and the Cocky Prince, which was also a treat. Recommend both.

Most Looking Forward To: I continue to yearn for a Yumi's Cells 3, and who's to say if that one will ever come through, but I'm putting it out into the universe anyway. More realistically, I'm looking forward to the surprisingly stacked line-up of sageuks coming up, including Captivating the King and Love Song for Illusion.

#KDrama #KDrama Review #Call It Love #The Interest of Love #Strangers Again #See You In My 19th Life #Doctor Cha #Perfect Marriage Revenge #Do You Like Brahms #Secret Romantic Guesthouse #Love to Hate You #Alchemy of Souls #Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow #Joseon Attorney #A Good Day to Be a Dog #Welcome to Samdalri #My Dearest #My Dearest KDrama #Gil Chae #Shin Hye Sun #Ahn Eun Jin #yeah I'm tired of hashtagging #so that's enough of that #KDrama Year in Review #Year in Review #Review

[offside-the-lines]

tell me who i run to (if not you) | anthony beauvillier | Ep 2. Winter

This is a completed series! Read Full Fic | 🧸 Series Cover Page/Masterlist 🧁 | 🎵 Playlist 🎶 << Previous Episode || Ep 2 || Next Episode >>

Chapter Summary: Tito injures his wrist in the first game of 2024, he’s out for 6-8 weeks and then his car breaks down. He thinks maybe he’s cursed. Evie becomes a shoulder to lean on. Barzy gets suspicious.

A/N: You can refer to cover page for the series summary, author's notes, tropes, general warnings and other fun tidbits. This series contains mature themes. Minors DNI. Disclaimer: This series is set in Chicago but does not mention the name of the team.

Word count: 4.4k // 44.5k

Requests (open) | Masterlist & Who I Write For | Join My Taglist

I. Winter

Evie — December 31

In the past few days, her text chain with Tito has settled into a nice rhythm. At first, it was a couple of texts a day: when one of them saw a funny Instagram post or reel, they would send it to the other. 

Things changed on Friday when she broke her usual routine of curling up on her couch with a blanket and book and instead found herself watching Tito's game. Her book lay untouched in her lap as her eyes tracked number 91 across the ice. After the game, she stayed up later than she meant to, eagerly picking up her phone every time it vibrated with a new text from Tito.

So, she concluded, I watch hockey now.

Which is why Evie ends up being late for the New Year’s party that Kelsey had invited her to. She couldn’t bear to leave when she had planned to, watching as the score kept ratcheting up for the wrong team. Her stomach curled every time Tito’s frustrated face is shown. 

To Tito 🌞🏒: i’m sorry about the loss, tito. fucking sucks. i hope you’ll still try to enjoy your new year’s eve?

By the time she gets to the party, she’s glad she can slip in among the partygoers without much fuss; everyone’s already a little tipsy on champagne. She knows she keeps pulling out her phone to check her notifications, but she can only hope she doesn't seem too rude.

It’s almost 11:30 pm when her phone buzzes, and she’s surprised to see it’s an incoming call and not a text. She slips out to the balcony as she connects the call.

Tito’s voice comes through too loud, “Evie!”

She laughs, “Hi, Tito. You good?”

“Yeah, you said I should enjoy my New Year’s Eve, so I went out with some of the guys,” he says, his words slurring ever so slightly. Evie can hear the background noise dim through the phone as if he had also stepped outside.

“New Year’s Eve in Dallas; you living it up?”

He laughs, “Dickie’s taken us to some fancy bar he used to go to. There’s a bunch of the Stars guys here too. Not that I really want to see them right now,” he groans.

“God, yeah. I saw, I’m sorry. That was a rough way to end the year.”

“Yeah, well…” He clears his throat and tries to inject some levity into his voice, “I don’t want to think about that right now. We’re trying to have fun, right? What're you up to?”

“Kelsey— my coworker— she’s also friends with Leanne— she invited me to a party. I’m at someone’s penthouse apartment. I have no idea whose. It’s pretty cool, though— Great view. There’s a lot of people, actually.”

Tito whistles. “A lot of choices for a midnight kiss then, eh?”

“I guess?” she laughs. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Not that much,” he says unconvincingly. Evie can picture him scrunching his face at his own blatant lie.

“Okay,” she laughs, “I’ll have to let you go back then. Get some more champagne in you.”

“Nah,” he whines a little. “No midnight kisses in there. Fuck! I’m going to be even more unlucky next year if I don’t get a kiss.”

It startles a laugh out of her. “Anthony, buddy, I don’t think that’s a thing,” she chuckles, shaking her head.

He hums and doesn’t say anything else.

“Are you making friends at least?” she asks.

“Eh… more like passing time. A party’s a party, right?” 

“Come on, I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“They’re not!” he says a little too loud before repeating himself, “They’re not bad. That isn't what I meant. I just… I don’t know. I don’t really know if we’re friends, so much, just teammates.”

Evie softens. “Jason and Alandra were nice. They seemed to be trying to be your friend, at least. I bet he had to drag you out tonight.” 

“Yeah, he’s cool. It’s just—” He groans. “I think we’re both a little too drunk to try to figure out the difference between a buddy in the league who I’ll spend a couple of months playing with and will almost never talk to again and a friend.”

Leanne catches her eye through the glass and raises an eyebrow in question. Evie sends a small smile back. 

“It’s tough, Tito, to move around. I’m sorry this year has been so fucked for you as well.” She sighs. “Listen, I gotta get back inside. Leanne's making weird faces at me. And you should go back inside, too.”

She hears Tito suck in a shallow breath, voice once again full of false cheer, “Of course, of course. Shit, sorry for being a fucking downer. I promise I’ll go back inside and have a good time.”

“Have fun, dude. You’re a hot professional athlete at a fancy bar on New Year’s Eve. I think you’re not going to have any trouble finding someone to kiss at midnight.”

“You think I’m hot?” his voice genuinely lightens; she could hear the smile lighting up his face.

“Goodnight, Tito,” she laughs pointedly, “Happy New Year.”

She hears him finally let out another genuine laugh, a sound that warms her despite the cold Chicago air, “Happy New Year, Evie. I’m really glad we reconnected last week. It’s nice to have a friend in the city.”

And with that, they hang up, and she slips back into the throng of party-goers. She doesn’t get far before Leanne catches her elbow.

“What was that?” Leanne asks, handing over a new champagne glass.

“Oh. It was Tito.”

Leanne’s eyebrows immediately jump. “Oh yeah? You guys are calling now?”

“I mean, I guess? That’s the first time we’ve called so,” she shrugs.

“Mhmm,” Leanne hums, clearly unconvinced, a smirk lacing her lips.

Evie bumps her shoulder. “Oh, shut up. His team just lost 8-1 on New Year’s Eve. It fucking sucked. Cut him some slack.”

“Yikes. Okay, in the spirit of the season, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

Evie laughs and rolls her eyes, letting herself relax into the drink and the rhythm of the people celebrating around her.

Evie — January 2

To Tito 🌞🏒: shit, just saw the hit. are you okay?!!

Evie sits on her couch and stares at her silent phone, her knee bouncing. She hasn’t been able to sit still since she saw the hit, and it just got worse with each replay, so she turned her TV off. But now, she's just sitting in unsettling silence— I’m not entirely sure that this is better.

She checks her phone again. It has been 15 minutes since she watched Tito skate himself off the ice, clutching his left arm. She calms herself with the thought that his silence doesn’t mean there’s something very wrong; if they were running tests, it might just take a while before he sees his phone. 

She decides to make a cup of tea and pick up her book again. It makes her feel a little settled, but not enough, as she’s still checking her phone every few seconds. If she’s honest, she's just reading the same page over and over.

Finally, an hour later, her phone lights up, and she picks it up so fast it almost flies out of her hand.

Tito 🌞🏒: doc says it’s probably broken. they’ve immobilized it but i have to come home for more tests.

“Shit,” she says to her empty apartment, hitting Dial on her phone. She fiddles with a loose thread on her shorts as the call tone rings before she finally hears the click of Tito picking up.

“Tito,” she says too loud, leaping up from her couch. Her book crashes to the floor, startling her; she sits back down in embarrassment.

“Hey,” his voice sounds tired.

“Hey,” she responds, voice gentler, “Shit, I’m so sorry about your wrist, Tito.”

He sighs, “Yeah. It was so fucking stupid. I shouldn’t’ve had my hand like that there.”

“Hey! Dude, no. This is not your fault. And maybe it’s not the other guy's fault, either. But it’s definitely not your fault. How many times have you done the exact same thing and not been hurt? It’s not your fault.”

Tito’s silent for a bit; she listens to the jagged ins and outs of this breath. Eventually, with a voice so quiet, she’s only able to hear him due to the utter silence in her apartment: “Yeah, I guess. Thanks.”

She feels a lump form in her throat and tries to clear it away. “You said they’re sending you home?”

“Yeah. It’s definitely broken, so I won’t be playing for a while. It’s probably too late for a flight tonight, so I’m probably going to be on an early one tomorrow.”

They're both silent for a moment, letting that hang in the air.

“Can I pick you up from the airport?”

“You really don’t have to do that. The team’ll pay for a Lyft.”

“Are you going to be on pain meds?”

“Yeah. I’m already feeling it, to be honest,” Tito says with a light laugh.

“Are they sending you back alone?”

“Yeah, it isn't a concussion, so I don’t need supervision.”

“Okay. Then, I would like to pick you up if that’s okay.”

“I—” He pauses for a long time, breaths getting heavier. When he continues talking, his voice comes through thick, “I really don’t want to put you out, but if you’re offering, I would really like that.”

“Well, I'm offering, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Text me the deets?”

“Yeah.” She feels something in her chest loosen. “And Evie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

She chuckles, “No problem. Text me. And try to have a good sleep.”

“You too,” he whispers, pausing before hanging up.

Putting her phone down on the coffee table, she lets out a shaky breath.

Evie — January 3

“Are you sure you want me to drop you off at yours?” Evie asks, looking over to Tito in her passenger seat. His curls poke out under the hood of his sweater, and his skin looks pale and clammy. His usually bright blue eyes are dulled, shadowy smudges betraying his lack of sleep. 

He sends her a soft smile before closing his eyes and leaning back against the headrest. “Yes, please.” His voice sounded as tired as he looked.

“Okay.” 

Evie reaches over and gives his good hand a light squeeze before pulling away from the airport. She keeps the drive to his apartment quiet, and she's surprised that she feels less tense than on her drive to O’Hare despite the silence. 

Every so often, she peeks over at Tito, cradling his wrist, eyes closed, and face carefully neutral. She doesn’t feel good about leaving him alone in his apartment, but she also knows that they haven’t known each other long enough for her to insist.

Half an hour later, she pulls into the entrance of a very fancy-looking apartment building in the center of Downtown Chicago. The doorman helps them unload Tito’s suitcase and drags it into the lobby for him. 

Too soon, they're left standing at the curb.

“Thank you so much,” Tito says, his tired eyes warming a little as he regards her.

“It’s absolutely no problem. Please let me know if you need any help, okay? I make my own hours and work from home for a reason. Call me anytime.”

His smile broadens. “Seriously, Evie. Thank you. You didn’t have to come get me.”

“I know. I wanted to.”

Tito leans in for a hug that Evie reciprocates, careful to avoid his broken hand. They stay connected for a few seconds longer than normal, but neither complains.

“Alright, I’ll leave you be then,” Evie says after they disconnect, stepping into her car with a nod.

Tito remains at the curb, one hand in a sling, the other reaching up for a wave as she pulls away. His figure stays in her rearview until she turns the corner.

Tito — January 11

The days that follow the injury become monotonous quickly. Tito wakes up. He does his morning routine. He takes his pain meds. He rides with Foligno and Bedard into the training facility. He gets poked at by some doctors and told to not do anything with his hand. He rides the bike by himself while everyone else gets to skate. He avoids Bedsy angrily pouting in the hallways; not his rookie, not his problem. He goes home and sits on his couch, just clicking play on whatever comes up on Netflix. He eats his microwavable frozen meal plan. He watches the team drop three of four games. He sleeps. 

Rinse and repeat. 

It has only been a week, and he's close to losing his mind already. The only bright spots are his ongoing text conversation with Evie, and his daily FaceTime calls with Barz. The boxes still sit unopened in the corner; well, at least he has a good excuse now. 

Today was meant to be a break in the monotony. While the team is on a short road trip, Tito’s schedule is a little different. No one ever talks about how uncomfortable it is to drive with a broken wrist. The facility is only 15 minutes away, so he figures that he’ll go in to see the trainers and maybe do some grocery shopping afterward. 

The plan was going quite well until he noticed that he had a flat tire on his way to the grocery store. 

He pulls over to the side of the road and just sits there for a minute, fighting the urge to cry. He rests his forehead on the steering wheel, letting out a small scream before he gets out to assess the damage. He mutters a few choice swears when he eventually finds the big nail in his tire. 

He pulls out his phone and texts Evie while he returns to the driver's seat.

To evie 🧁: i told you my year would be unlucky [attachment: photo of his flat tire]

He starts looking for the roadside assistance card, but since it's a new rental, he’s still frustratedly fumbling around when his phone rings.

“Hello?” he answers, not even looking at his phone.

“Tito, what’s going on?”

He pauses his rustling, surprised to hear Evie’s warm voice pouring through the sound system. The familiarity of the French immediately relaxes him. He sighs.

“Oh, um. I was driving to the store. And I just realized the tire was flat. I think the hole has been there for a while, but because of the wrist and stuff, I hadn’t driven since before the roadie.”

“Shit. That’s annoying. Where are you? You wanna drop me a pin or something. I can help you change your tire; you definitely can’t do it with a broken wrist.”

He pauses, surprised by the offer. “Oh! Um… I was just going to call roadside assistance. If I can just find the card…”

“Don’t be stupid. That’s gonna take ages. If you’re close by, I can come help.”

“Um… Are you sure?” 

“Yeah,” she huffs, “I could use a break from the computer anyway. I’ll grab my coat and keys.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. I’m probably not far away because I just left the training center like 5 minutes ago.”

“Sweet, no problem. Drop me a pin, and I’ll be right there.”

In less than 10 minutes, Evie is stepping out of her car in her wool coat, leather gloves, and an oversized winter scarf that cocoons her up to her nose. She smiles and waves as she jogs over to give him a tight hug. Whatever tension was left in his body from the long week drains from his body as her arms wrap tightly around him. 

They remain connected for a few seconds, his face buried in the mess of scarf and hair around her neck; her perfume fills his lungs with warmth despite the cold Chicago winter air.

“Thanks again for coming.”

“Stop thanking me. My god.” She exaggeratedly rolls her eyes as they finally separate. She starts getting all the tools as she says, “I want to help the city’s best winger. It’s a public service. I’ll forward the bill to the owner. Or maybe even the mayor.”

It startles a laugh out of him, relaxed by her light-heartedness. He realizes that he has been kind of down recently, only leaving his apartment for meetings with trainers. 

“Well, I hope you’ll charge them a fair rate, considering the express service surcharge. You did get here very quickly.”

She nods mock-sternly, “Yes, of course.”

With all the necessary tools laid out next to her, she bends down to begin jacking up the car. He fishes out his snow jacket from the trunk and hands it to her. 

“Here. So you don’t have to kneel on the ground.”

She smiles up at him from where she’s knelt, “Thanks.”

The rest of the tire change happens in silence; Tito’s content to let her focus on what she’s doing. He watches intently and doesn't want to acknowledge his embarrassment that, at 26 years old, he still doesn't know how to change a tire. 

As she’s working, it starts to snow lightly. The flakes stand out against her glossy coffee-dark hair that has fallen to curtain her face, and Tito resists the urge to brush it back so she can see better in the overcast dimness. He stuffs his hands in his pockets to have something to do with them.

When she’s done a short while later, she spins around, still kneeling, beaming up at him with pride as she sings, “Voila!” 

At that moment, as she sparkles up at him, their eyes meet, and a snowflake catches on her eyelashes. It hits him square in the chest; this might be the most stunning thing he’s ever seen. The realization knocks into him so unexpectedly that he has to fight through the tightness in his throat to exclaim back in excitement.

“Awesome!” he strains.

“Yep!” Her voice is bright and melodic as she turns back to lower the car. “It’s all done. You’re going to need to get this tire patched or something at a shop, though, and—”

She continues to explain some important details that are totally lost on him as he tries to quash the twisting of his guts. She is indeed beautiful, engaging, and scarily competent, but none of that matters. 

None of that matters because his stay in Chicago is temporary. So he takes that feeling and shoves it down deep. But, he hopes that a transient athlete who is, as it turns out, not very good at his job will adequately fulfill the role of Good Friend.

Being a good friend is something he can do. 

Being a good friend is something he’s good at.

“— groceries for dinner, if you want?” 

He tunes back in just in time to catch the end of what she's saying. Maybe he should also retract the previous statement about being a good friend.

“Um, I’m sorry. I’m feeling kinda out of it. What was the question?”

She laughs and squeezes his elbow sympathetically. “Tito, it’s okay. You’re kinda pale right now. Like, you look like you’re gonna be sick. Look, I know you said you were going to the grocery store, but I really don’t think you should be driving and stuff right now. I’ve got plenty of food at mine. I was probably going to cook pasta or something tonight. Just come over and hang out? It’ll make me feel better.”

He mulls it over, and the dull throbbing in his wrist convinces him to nod. It does sound much better than what he had been doing this past week.

So they do just that. Tito isn't complaining: not about the delicious home-cooked meal or watching B99 again. He didn’t realize he was waiting to watch it with her. They find themselves pausing the show numerous times just to chat about something the show brings up: a memory from childhood, something from her life in Toronto or his life in New York, or just a passionate opinion that they have. 

He's burrowed deep into the opposite end of her couch with the latest cup of tea she has made him, feeling more at home than he has in over a month when he discovers the time is so much later than he thought.

“Oh crap, it’s past 10 pm. I really should get going,” Tito says, finally sitting up.

“Shit, I didn’t even see that,” she laughs. Evie looks out the window. “You know. It’s really late, you’re on pain meds, and the roads look kinda slippery with the new snow. Why don’t you just stay here? This couch actually has a really comfy pull-out bed— my brother Will said so anyway when he visited.”

“Oh,” he pauses, comfortable and heavy-limbed but uncertain, “I don’t really have anything with me.”

“That should be okay. I’ve got a bunch of extra toiletries and some of Brandy and Will’s clothes.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, if that’s really okay with you, I’d love to not have to drive home with my wrist. It sucks.”

“Of course,” she smiles, reaching over and squeezing his knee before standing up and walking into her bedroom.

He figures he should help, so he moves the warm fuzzy blanket she had over her legs and the throw pillows to the corner of the room. He clears the tea mugs that litter the coffee table before pushing it back. He’s inspecting the couch for the pull-out function when Evie returns with a small pile of sheets and clothes and a few pillows.

“Oh, thanks for clearing the space!” She smiles at him brightly. “So, I found you a T-shirt and some sweatpants. There are spare toiletries under the sink.”

“Thanks. You’re truly the best.”

“You are so right,” she winks, laughing softly. 

They put together the couch-bed in tandem, and both take turns getting ready for sleep. Eventually, Evie, in her pajamas, bids him goodnight warmly before shutting her bedroom door, and he's left lying on the pull-out bed looking around at the living room, lit only by the city lights streaming through with big windows. 

Tito — January 19

“Wait, so you’re telling me you’ve been replacing me with this girl, and you haven’t even bothered to introduce us?”

“Okay, Barz, that’s a little dramatic. I have not been replacing you.” Tito desperately pleads with his eyes for Mat to stop talking so loud in this somewhat nice Italian restaurant he and Evie had discovered a few nights ago.

“No, seriously. Why didn’t you invite her? You should invite her. You know what? I’ll do it. Hand me your phone—” Mat makes a desperate grab for Tito’s phone that was sitting face down on the table. 

Tito puts his hand on it and whispers. “Dude, stop it. I’d like to come back here again sometime. The food’s actually so good.”

Mat grins and wiggles his eyebrows, “Oooh, come back here again, like on a date with Evie?” he says, dragging out her name in a suggestive tone.

“No, Barz. Not a date. We’ve been over this. We’re just hanging out- like you and me. We’re friends. That’s it. Neither of us even wants to date right now anyway.”

“Okay, bud. If you say so.” Mat rolls his eyes while taking a sip of his wine. “So, you’re saying if you were both open to dating, you’d be interested.”

“No— Well—” Tito pauses and sighs. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. And it’s not what’s happening, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, come on, Beau. I’ve known you for ages, dude. There is no way— you’re telling me that you’ve seen her almost every single day, for most of the day, this whole month, and you haven’t even thought about it?”

Tito sighs pointedly, clenching his jaw. “Yes. I haven’t thought about it. Because there’s nothing to think about. We text. We hang out. We watch TV and eat food. We—” He cuts himself off abruptly. He knows if he mentions the sleepovers, even though he's always on the pull-out couch, Mat will take it the wrong way. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I get to see you, like, twice during the season. I want to hear all your dumb stories.”

Mat eyes him skeptically but eventually relents. “My stories aren’t dumb. But okay. So, last week…” he excitedly recounts.

The night returns to a familiar rhythm. He misses this: the easy conversation with a guy who’s known you for ten years. There are no awkward lulls or having to explain a joke or backstory. It’s just comfortable, and it feels like home: a warmth burrowed deep in his chest. 

There’s a gaping vacancy that gnaws at him later when he’s lying in his own bed, unable to sleep. It’s almost as if Mat took that feeling of home with him when he gave him a lingering hug goodbye, squeezing Tito so hard it hurt a little.

He stares at the ceiling and thinks about how his favorite sleep shirt— one of his early Islanders t-shirts with a 72 on it— was still at Evie’s apartment. He also thinks about the hoodie that he left there.

The team's about to head on an extended roadie while he remains behind, doing not much. He hates it when he’s the one left behind watching the team play without him. That’s the thing with professional sports. You’re around a team all day, every day, for most of the year. You know everything about everyone. You’re almost never alone. Which makes it all the more stark when you’re with a new group of faces. Or when you’re suddenly stuck at home, injured, and alone.

He leans over and picks up his phone, the sudden brightness of the screen making him squint. 

To evie 🧁 : hey, so on second thought, if the offer still stands, i’d like to stay over this week? totally okay if you changed your mind. just figured it’d be nice to have some company, and you’re much closer to the rink. To evie 🧁: and you still have my favorite hoodie. i want it back.

Series Cover Page/Masterlist || Next Episode >>

Requests / Come chat about this with me!!! | Masterlist & Who I Write For & Taglist

#rox writes #tell me who i run to series #anthony beauvillier imagine #hockey imagine #nhl imagines #chicago blackhawks

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

some ted lasso 3.05 thoughts, tedbecca-heavy as per usual--

this is a dumb point to start with, but the models in the car driving off listening to "wake me up before you go-go!” and being such an obvious homage to the pre-gasoline fight zoolander scene really warmed my heart and soul. FLAWLESS. that is simply what life is like when you are a model.

i think ted and rebecca might be happening. their scene in the hallway caused me to hug a throw pillow and announce to my bf in overjoyed dismay, “if they actually get together i’m going to DIE!!!!!!” he was like, “maybe they’ll die,” to which i shrieked, “NO! i need them to LIVE and FALL IN LOVE!!!!!” i’m a great tv-watching companion. (we might have a slight roy and keeley energy going.) that moment where they were both like ‘psychic? bullying? wtf is going on? why are we so freakily on the same wavelength?’ and i was like ‘FINALLY, YOU FOOLS, THIS IS HOW WE’VE BEEN SUFFERING FOREVER!!!!!!!!’ was just really almost too much for me to handle. that wide shot of them staring at each other in alarm. help!!!!!!!

john wingsnight, coming back with the unexpected shite in nining armor!!!!!!

crying over rebecca welton is actually something that can be so personal, aaaaah. i’m really relieved that i do not think we are getting a pregnancy storyline because i really didn’t want that. i’m looking forward to seeing how the mother thing might happen a different way. i’m being extremely restrained and tactful and not making any more specific predictions than that.

also, rebecca not being able to get ahold of keeley throughout this episode really had me :’(. the emergency contact moment? NO! (what if .......... ted .................)

obviously i need keeley and roy to get back together and i’m in pain, but keeley/jack is def as fun a rebound situation as i can imagine. (bi keeley, overtly confirmed at last!) also, the lamb!!! messy, but cute af.

shandy’s quitting scene was extremely hilarious. what a journey!

roy’s neverending bully revenge monologue ................. astounding.

i really liked that we got a leslie and rebecca chat in this episode. i love them together! i’m also going to believe that the biscuit box being right there open behind the matchbox was an homage to “helping us see something that we can’t quite see ourselves” ........

i know that jade/nate is kind of tricky due to their searingly tense and awkward history, but i like the idea of her really getting a glimpse of nate’s good-heartedness and his sincere love of the restaurant and that being the thing to melt her heart toward him. and i just want nate to have someone he can have fun & laugh with in an end-of-ep montage!

r.i.p. believe sign! (r.i.p., rip, it works on levels!)

ted being done with shame and all that shit!!!!! ted finding his way out of his panic attack!!!! my heart is very full!!!!!!

“where one night out unlocks truths for many”

“where one night out unlocks truths for many”

“where one night out unlocks truths for many” ????????????????????????

(chuckles) i’m in danger!

#dollsome's deep thoughts #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #ted x rebecca #tedbecca

[noemitenshi]

@marrecarandgi

ok so, the mommy issues: he does have them though i don't think they are sexual in nature (which is also why i don't like to call them 'mommy issues'--- theres always a certain… connotation attached (and on top of that it sounds, to me, like blaming the victim. not saying you're doing it! not at all! Just describing my aversion to that particular phrase as best as i can)).

So what that whole thing boils down to is that he never experienced the love of his parents, that's where it stems from. That's part of why he fixates on Madison so hard. BC already in the first ep of s3, moments after he greets madison, he watches her declare her love for her kids and for travis. "do you love him more than your life?" he asks her and the way he looks at her… like that's such a strange thing to him and at the same time he'd wished someone would love him that much. or like even half as much. hell, he'd take a quarter! It's kinda heartbreaking. He's drawn to such a love and jealous too. Of course he is, he never got it. And then he finds out who her son is she got in such danger for and… is angry at him. Angry that he has such love in his life and just--- treats it with such disrespect (=bc he's a junkie and also bc he clearly ran away from his mom). I think it reminds him of the relationship with his own mom, how HE had such love for her and how she had only disdain for him and for his love. And while he can't hate his mom - i mean i think he does. but he also loves her. feelings for his mom are complicated… but with NICK it's not complicated. He can just hate him. So yeah there's a lot of projecting going on. None of it sexual though, I don't believe so. Explains part of his fixation though. AND THEN on top of her apparent love, she immediately turns around and tries to manipulate him. "My, my son, he's out there, somewhere. Alone. I'm sure if you were lost in the wasteland, your mother would do anything to find you" Definitely he loves the way Madison could play his games (the way she did even as she was disadvantaged, even as she was scared), the way she tried to manipulate him AND also the way she loved, those two things drew him to her. Personally I think he was most taken in by the 'she keeps at it even while she's afraid what he'll do' thing she had going on. Pushing onwards despite. Does it remind him of himself? Most certainly. He loves to draw that out of her, that bravery, that opposition. After all, he likes people pushing back it's attention, it's caring enough to engage with him, not just dismissing him… And I think a third aspect in their relationship is that he also wants her to.. teach him, in a way. Because they're pretty similar - both manipulative and clever, wanting to control all others around them and not afraid to do what needs to be done (in their eyes) - but then! She's got a family that loves her. If she could just teach him how she did that… he could have a shot at that too. At long last he could have that, too! If only she could teach him her secret.

So yes, his family did fuck with his head badly, he's certainly got issues. And it comes out as desperate to make connections, as soaking up attention and affection wherever he gets it, no matter how dangerous it is. He knows full well Madison is playing him but he just can't NOT engage, at least in s3. I'm so fucking happy for him he got over that in s8. How heartbreaking would that have been otherwise… And I think the reason he got over it is because he finally got what he was craving - someone that loves him. Not wanting to use him or someone who merely tolerates him, but honestly, truly loves him. First Serena (I assume) and then definitely Tracy.

--

Now about the 180 he did wrt killing Madison - honestly that's just bad writing in my opinion and having everything rushed because they wanted to do too much for 12 eps. That's how it felt while watching haha. (Same btw for Tracy suddenly saving Madison what the fuck come on get out of here with this shit omg). Anyway, what I could imagine is going on here: he knows he's fucked (chances of surviving this and actually getting tracy to safety pretty low) so he does what he thinks will most likely ensure Tracy's safety. Getting on the good side of these people (by saving Madison).

It's still a stretch, I know, but makes more sense than 'he saw into her eyes and realized bla bla bla' come on! Orrrr maybe he realized her dying now, without anything she believes in is no punishment for her. She *needs* to believe in the same shit Serena did so it really hurts her when she dies. She'll feel like she's losing out on something, or whatever. Now it seems like she welcomes death. She even said it to him didnt she. Something along the lines that padre will be safe without ppl like them around. She wants to die. So. He saves her. (Just like she didn't kill him when he begged her back in s3. she just sent him into exile). I kinda see this one as the most likely explanation. Also makes sense he wasn't paying attention to Madison, just worried about Tracy. Because that's his number 1 prioority.

---

Now naming Tracy Tracy still has me scratching my head and calling bullshit. Sorry, no in-universe explanation for it, writers were being stupid. Probably thought 'oh this will show he really really cares about family bc he named her after his mom' or whatever.

#troy otto #madison clark #tracy otto #ftwd #ramblings #fear the walking dead

[ravilson23]

New ep of Helluva Boss just came out and i actually want to talk about that one. I didnt even bother with the third one cause somehow I didnt have any strong feelings about it. Anyway, lets start.

First of course pacing. I was really suprised how fast we got into the main action, it starts literally a minute into the episode. We didnt even get a proper introduction of Andrealphus ( or however his name is written, i will just call him Andre) and its his first offical apperance. Its quite insane honestly. I really think it might have been better to do this in some other episode where plot would be focused on the divorce. It feels like they didnt know how to start this whole assasination businnes.

Also for me he seems... really boring? There isnt anything about him that we havent seen before. I dislike how Stella was portrayed too. She may have gotten a bit dumber than at the beginning, i mean she cares so much about killing Stolas that she isnt even thinking logically. Its a little weird when you consider how loveless their marriage was, it doesnt look like she has strong enough reason to hate him this much.

Another thing, her relationship with Andre seems as normal as it can be in hell. I hoped for some emotional manipulation or other toxic behaviour that may explain why Stella is such a bitch. But hell no, there was nothing super weird about them though it may be because there were shown for like 2-3 minutes in the whole ep. On one hand i am glad he is not ( at least yet) another villain, but still he felt important enough to get a proper introduction.

What also bothered me about pacing was the structure of plot A and B. Especially in the fight scene where they are paralleled. Its not a bad thing per se but it dissolves the tension. It also felt like there was no need for plot B except for keeping Blitz occupied and unable to rescue Stolas.

Now lets talk about characters. First Moxxie, as much as i am glad that he became a badass i cannot help but feel like it should have happened in 3rd ep. Him fighting his dad would be so much more powerful than dealing with three random guys on gus station and fighting Striker with Millie. This change would feel more natural. I am not saying he is weak, but his skills were mostly with guns, not physical violence. But in this ep he suddenly is very capable of that, he is also less anxious and more reliable (which is a good thing, thats the development from ep 6). Despite all that i was still suprised.

Both Blitz and Stolas feel pretty much in character, so i wont talk much about them. I just wanna say that i liked them. I am kinda sorry that i wont sing praises, even though there was some good stuff but there is still much to cover.

So lets talk about Striker. Oh boy, not gonna lie watching him sometimes felt like fever dream. I dont know if its so bad that its hilarious or just hilarious, i really cant say. First his sudden apperance in the middle of a restaurant with a whole crowd of witnesses, than his theme song. THEME SONG. I am crying, its just so ridiculous. Its a pretty cool joke but also so surreal. Like up until now it feels like writers tried to find a reason for adding songs. Be it jingles, intros or full stage performences the songs were always a part of an actual action. However here its more of a montage, and it can be barely counted as sth else thanks to a few lines in a dialogue. As i said, not sure if its genius or just bad. Then we have all the jokes about Strikers ego, its not out of character, but it also feels like he stopped being anything more. At first he was a genuine threat and someone who Blitz could have chose to be. Here he still tries to be, but cant because of all the jokes. The big dick statue went too far for me. Its also becoming too repetitive. However i really liked when he started choking Moxxie, he looked really wild with all the drolling. It made him look feral, which is cool. The harder joke also caught me of guard. Last thing about Striker, he is well animated. It may seem obvious but i feel like its really not, especially not in season two.

I dont have much to say about Millie, Loona and Stella. Really, my only thought is that Stella looks kinda weird in this ep. Her head feels to big, especially when Andre is next her. Fortunetly Loona and Millie look alright.

Short note about worldbuilding, it gets more and more messed up. What at first looked like nice little clues for creating a bigger picture now is more like random stuff mixed together so they can pretend to be whole. Hell looks more and more like a structured society with jails, hospitals, offices and so on and yet it makes it hard to ignore how absolutely insane this idea is. At first hell looked like a total lack of rules, then we got some info that IMP using Grimouir is illegal, then human disguises, lawsuits and even jail which overall makes an impression that there is some law. But what is this, how does it work? No idea whatsoever. Then we have hierarchy with imps being at the very bottom of it. Now it seems like they arent really so different if they can afford places like Asmodeus or restaurants Stella is willing to go to. Blitzo having a bussines was a big deal but nothing really came out of it. Also whats with their sizes?? They can be as big as Loona or small enough to fit in a bag. It gets more and more confusing. I wont even talk about Moxxies dad, an imp being a literal mob boss ( mafia exists in hell???). Its all a right mess.

Another thing thats is a mess is a quality of sound design and sometimes animation. I felt so disconected from fight scene in this episode because music didnt fit at all. The tension that should have been there went and never came back. Though the animation was gorgeous. However its not so pretty in many other moments where anatomy of characters becomes a mere suggestion. Sometimes the problem is in proportions, sometimes in perspective but also how some scenes are connected and how the mood isnt appropriate for the overall action.

But since we are getting to the end of this post, let me tell about some good things. And by that i mean the end scene. Its really good, it made me feel what i have felt while watching first season. It was emotional but in a quiet, honest way. We got some small gesture that was meaningfull in a context. We also got some explanation about what happened after Ozzie (a little too late, but better than never) and in such a way that i can appreciate. I like small clues, that u have to focus on to fully understand whats happening. Its one of the things that got me into Helluva, it was fascinating to use small things to create bigger pictures. I loved that, and i wish there was more of that in this season.

To finish, i think the biggest problem of this season is that it doesnt know how to build up on what was shown before. It got lost with all the characters, dramas and possible plots and in the end lost the core idea that was at the beggining - IMP bussines. Now it rushes into different plot points and mucks up most of them because of that. It also doesnt give us anything new? First ep was a sensation with mixed response, but despite other ones having important moments it never got up anywhere near the excitment that started with 5 ep of season 1. I really miss that feeling but i am losing hope that Helluva will return to its former quality and charm.

If u read all of this, thank u very much. :3

#helluva boss #english is not my native language #helluva disscussion #helluva spoilers #helluva critical

[oatflatwhite]

HI LIZ plz may I trouble you to share any thoughts at all about mota 🎤

OF COURSE

ok so we're only a couple eps in but i am already <333 about so many of the characters. bucky and crosby especially my beloveds. i really love all the comparisons being drawn between bucky/nix buck/winters and crosby/webster but i also love how the mota boys are distinctly their own characters. i don't want to say they're cocky and full of themselves because like... some of the easy boys are too lmao. but it's a very different dynamic between the characters than i'm used to seeing in the other hbo war shows and i am living for it

on that note i was a bit wary about most of our main charas being officers but after 2 eps i don't mind a bit! honestly sometimes it's hard to tell rank with all their goddamn fleece lmao but i love how despite being a literal honest to god major bucky is still so chaotic. bless him. the singing scene took me out, and the bike race when they crashed and he and buck were like pulling at each other's clothes to try and get in the lead before the air raid siren went off..... cinema.

can't believe they called out the heavy petting <3 the raf boys are just like me fr <3

crosby is such a silly goose thank you for the silly goose representation. he really works as the narrator and i love him bc he is genuinely so relatable, my overthinking bestie. also him still being starry eyed over his wife signing her name mrs jean crosby oh my word.......... it's giving harry dragging his reserve chute halfway around europe for kitty's wedding dress <333

i also really love the variety of characters/roles in the war they're showing! there's obviously more scope to do that than in bob but also it's a different television landscape and i am so excited to see ncuti on my screen <3 i hope we get a lot more of lemmons too! i can't remember who made the post but someone compared him to doc roe and i was like OH that's why i liked him so much uh huh uh huh. so true. also NINETEEN YEARS OLD?

i had a hard time adjusting to austin butler in ep 1 but he really pulled through in ep 2 for me and i'm very keen to see where he takes the character! and i have LOVED callum turner since channel 4's glue (which i watched a fucking decade ago but still think about bc of how powerful it was and he was in it) and he is absolutely killing bucky. it's giving nix without impulse control. honestly all the cast are amazing, the only one i really struggle with still is isabel may as buck's gf......... i literally cannot see her as anyone but katie from alexa and katie, so in my mind she's literally still a 15 year old girl. but who knows, she could win me over in the future

the score and title sequence are so good too!!! the pacific still has my absolute fav opening titles and band is second but even though the score is obviously new it still feels a bit... nostalgic, i guess? similar vibes to the other shows and i am HERE for the way it makes me feel <3

there's like so much more but that's all i can put into words rn. cannot WAIT for the rest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#answered #staud #masters of the air #mota #hbo war #(i know it isn't fucking hbo but i'm keeping that tag til i'm cold in the ground)

[technicallyverycowboy]

kinnporsche finale ep 14

this was fun as hell! truly cannot thank @vegaseatsass enough for getting me to watch it less than a month ago. really put in the work there, bb <3

shit i loved about episode 14:

vegas just out here wearing a silk pajamas shirt as a top like some kind of thrifty lesbian. more importantly, he warns porsche! he does care about him! (the alternate interpretation is that he's doing it for pete. honestly porque no los dos?)

the first time i watched the finale i was slightly stoned and upon seeing gun, whispered very sincerely to my wife, "that's how you can tell they're in the past. his ascot is smaller."

i'm so sorry, but the incest fake out is extremely funny to me

the audacity of korn to claim that he lost track of porsche and porchay when they are still living in their parents' house. unless he straight up forgot they existed for the last ten years, he damn well knew.

lol kim would rip chan's throat out with his teeth fiven five minutes.

my hottest take for this fandom is that i think porsche was always in the family, he just didn't know. so going from being totally in the dark at the start to being in a position where he can do something about it is strongly hopeful. gun and korn's fucking around has finally been found out, which means porsche and kinn can start their own fucking around.

my second hottest take is that i don't think it really matters which brother shot his dad. i think the years long captivity of his mom is the much worse thing.

actually it's very hot of kinn when he starts shooting at board meetings. the subtle red stripe to his suit is such a chef's kiss moment. i love that he really hasn't killed a ton of people, which makes this moment a little bit shocking.

what in the bougie ass head camp counselor fuck is this war outfit, gun?

i'm! on! your! side! and that, i think, is why korn has, at bare minimum, not totally won. yes, he is masterful at pulling the strings, but he's dealing with people not puppets and there is inherent unpredictability (and incest apparently) in that.

kinn getting in one last grope in case he dies and this is his last chance. the hug/dance/shooting sequence is a work of art.

the saddest thing about vegas is that kinn has consumed so much of his interior life and kinn doesn't really think that much about him at all. also the panic in kinn yelling "don't" is great for me personally, known enjoyer of hot men suffering.

oh shit we've come full circle and we're running through parking garages again! somewhere in the hospital where big is definitely alive he just rolled his eyes and doesn't know why.

"if i die today, could you be the one to kill me?" DERANGED (positive)

"because i'm hungry"/"are you very hungry" once again my soul exits my body and flies toward the sun. the way vegas's voice breaks on "why did you follow me?"

can you imagine what the other mafia families in the world make of this shit? korn's nephew taking power, also fucking korn's son.

it's actually very funny that most of the time kinn and porsche are fucking it's to the soundtrack of kinn's baby brother singing a song about porsche's baby brother.

i find tankhun sending that photo really fucking pointed and i love that about him

and finally, macau's response of, "i was eavesdropping obviously" is the exact little brother energy i appreciate in this family.

obvi the next step for vegas and pete is getting vegas to understand that someone can be both the most important person in the world to you and also a beloved pet.

#kprewatch2023 #kinnporsche the series #i lied my hottest fandom take is ot4 4 life

[fdelopera]

okay okay so i was re-watching mk with a couple friends a lil bit ago and my jewish friend raised the point of marc sparing harrow because (im paraphrasing here and my memory is sketchy but,) judaism values all lives and the potential that people can change.

and that made me think about marc's relationship to his religion and god. marc having distanced himself from his jewish heritage because of the abuse he suffered and because of the passiveness of his father (and potentially other family members/community) in dealing with + protecting him from wendy's abuse.

tying that in to the deleted scene with wendy—marc deciding not to kill arthur and ammit stemming from reconciling (and/or releasing) the guilt (ammit/harrow) and anger (khonshu) he's held for so long, and in doing so, reclaiming his jewish heritage. (it's clearly something that's important with him given That Scene in ep 5; the trauma and grief surrounding wendy's death being confronted and managed during deleted scene helps him reclaim it for himself?)

i'm not jewish myself so i wanted to ask someone with that perspective about this aksdxjl -khonshoe

YESSSS!!! Yes, exactly. Judaism has no afterlife, and so we strive to always be better and do better here on earth. Life is for living. The goal is to be buried in Jewish soil in a Jewish cemetery, but the dead live on in our remembrance of them, not in a literal, physical heaven or hell, like in the Christian tradition.

In Episode 5, Marc is confused by the Egyptian afterlife, while Steven geeks out about it because he’s face to face with one of his areas of special interest, but neither of them feel a sense of BELONGING in the journey. Even when Marc reaches the Field of Reeds, he doesn’t know what to do with himself there. Not just because he has been separated from Steven, which is of course his greatest source of pain, but also because this is not the way it is supposed to be. Jewish people don’t live on like this after death. Life is where we experience change and growth and redemption; death is not.

Marc finally saying NO to Khonshu is his act of reclaiming his agency over his ability to choose, which reconnects him to his faith. Judaism is a religion that values free will. It is about choice, consequence, and the ability to change. I think that it is no coincidence that Marc is only able to reconnect with this aspect of his faith after he has connected with Steven. Without Steven, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat Ammit (the goddess of deterministic prejudgment).

Remember in Episode 2, when Steven has a full-on philosophical rant to Harrow about the nature of free will and the dangers of deterministic prejudgment? That’s also the first scene where we see Steven become Marc’s emotional protector. I’m writing a whole other essay on that. Stay tuned.

Steven is the one who maintains the strongest connection to their Judaism. Steven is the one who keeps kosher (trust me, it’s so much easier to say to someone like Donna that you’re a vegan than you keep kosher — that’s what most of my friends who keep kosher do). He’s the one who has a mezuzah on his door.

Layla reminds Marc that he has a choice, and indeed he does. He tells Khonshu NO. He chooses not to take another life. And yes, that leaves Jake, the physical protector of the system, to make sure that Marc is never hurt by Harrow or Ammit again, but it does not diminish the fact that Marc has made the choice of his own free will.

This is why I say that Moon Knight is a Jewish show. But you kind of have to be Jewish to know what to look for.

And trust me, I would so much rather have THIS kind of Jewish storyline — a philosophical debate between Free Will and Determinism — than one where a Nazi child killer posing as a Rabbi “gives” Marc DID. Because not only is that insensitive to systems (and also inaccurate to how DID is formed), it is also incredibly antisemitic. After the Holocaust, Jews were accused of allowing the Nazis to rise to power without doing enough to stop them (as if an ethnic and religious minority could have done anything). Yes, Bemis is Jewish by birth (not sure if he’s practicing), but it doesn’t change the fact that this storyline is terrible by any Jewish standards. Because the implication is that Elias and the Jewish community that the Spectors were part of didn’t do a good enough job of rooting out the Nazis in their midst. Which, again, is what Jews were accused of after WWII.

I’m also glad that we didn’t get the storyline where Marc gives up on God and joins with Khonshu (a deity of the Biblical enemy) because Marc views God as being weak for allowing Jews to suffer for millennia. Like, yes, that is a huge Jewish pain point. It totally is. Do I really want the discussion of that pain point in a mainstream television show where non-Jewish people delve into it? Honestly, I really don’t. It is still an incredibly sensitive topic, because Jewish people are still recovering after the Holocaust. One of my uncles was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after the War. The family were in hiding, and so they managed to escape the concentration camps, but because of his mother’s malnutrition during her pregnancy, my uncle has no fingernails or toenails, and he has ongoing major health problems. Do I want a Marvel show delving into that, and getting it wrong? Nope, nope I don’t.

OKAY, I’ve rambled on for way too long now.

THANK YOU for your Ask!

#moon knight #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockley #oscar isaac #khonshoe

[modernchillthings]

Another HotD rant

I hate going on tiktok and seeing ppl complain about Emma and Matt's chemistry. Their dynamic has changed so therefore their interaction would feel different and new.

Idk why people expect Rhaenyra to be the same fiery teen she was back then when it's literally been 10 years. Older Rhae has gone through so much over the years like, she witnessed a death at her own wedding, shes a mother now and just recently lost her lover of 10 years, everyone in King's landing probably talk shit behind her back especially about her children. Plus Emma even said that Rhaenyra tried to conform to what society wants from her which is why she appears more subdued the past two eps until the end of ep 7 where she finds her fire again with Daemon by her side.

Basically, their interaction this ep wasn't meant to be passionate and full of lust but more mature even a bit hesitant because they haven't seen each other in so long along w the fact that they both lost someone they cared about. Additionally, you can see their fire spark again during their wedding scene and hopefully in the episodes to come.

Like I get it, when I first watched it, I wasnt feeling it either. But it was mostly cuz I couldn't see shit. However, after rewatching where I could actually see their facial expressions, I could feel their emotions.

I also have to add that, according to the behind the scenes thingy, ep 7 was the first ep they ever shot of the show so therefore the actors aren't used to each other, they haven't had time to be their characters yet. Plus, Milly and Matt's Daemyra had 5 episode of build-up whereas this is Emma and Matt's first time together.

Also, idk if it's a hot take or not, but while I do love Milly and Matt's chemistry and the whole reason why I like Daemyra in the first place, it just feels weird seeing her who looks so young with someone who is obviously older. Maybe people are more gravitated towards that but it just doesn't sit right with me that ppl would rather see an younger actress be paired up with a 40 year old-man. Like Emma is still 10 years younger than Matt and their characters would still have that age gap but it just wouldnt be physically visible. I like that their characters now don't seem to have the same power imbalance. They're both more mature, toxic as hell, but seemingly more equal now.

I do place the blame mostly on the director cuz those night scenes were ass. There are so many innovative ways to make night scenes where it's obviously night time but it isn't dark as hell. Of course ppl wont feel their chemistry bc no one can see anything!! Facial expressions are so important to an actor. It's such a disservice to both Matt and Emma's performances.

Next two eps will be directed by women so if I notice the difference then I know what the problem was for sure! I really do hope we get to see more of Daemyra next ep and their changed dynamic. I know we'll have another time skip (which is another thing!!!) so I'm kind of worried but looking forward to it nonetheless.

#sorry for the long ass rant #media literacy is both a blessing and a curse #basically I see a lot of ppl talk shit about Emma and I will not stand for that #I've been looking forward to their performance since the start and they haven't disappointed #defending Emma D'arcy online isnt enough I need a dragon #house of the dragon #hotd spoilers #hotd #daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #daemyra #long rant

[crispywizardtale]

La Pluie ep 11

My lovely Tien

At this point I am Tien solo stan and I watch it mostly for him. He is the only innocent one in this story yet he is the one who suffered the most. I will share my thoughts about this episode below.

I loved how Tien finally did something for himself and that was to ignore Lomfon and pair up with someone else. I loved how he escaped the suffocating classroom that he still has to share with his crush who broke his heart. I also love how he didn't hide the fact that he was hurting for anyone in the classroom. Yes they might not have understood why he was like that but he didn't hide the fact that he was upset to himself. He has always hidden his true feelings deep inside and never let them come out so I was really happy to see that he didn't hide them now but I just wish he had better friends...

Even if his friends saw Tien leave like that they just shared confused glances, I haven't seen anyone getting up to check on him. I understand why Lomfon didn't do it but his 3 friends had no excuse. If I saw my friend upset i would be interested in how to help them but nobody went after him or maybe they just didn't show it which i think is a mistake because they could have expanded the story of everyone with that one small scene! And what is even worse his brother isn't interested in his life either...

Tien was zoning out om the couch because of Lomfon and ANYONE could see he wasn't okay just from that and everyone would know that he needed to talk about it and Tai did ask.. He asked 1 question... Are you okay? And that is all... He barley talked to Tien about TIEN'S problems but he could talk about his own..

Tien did respond to his question by confessing that he likes Lomfon. (Mind you this is younger brother opening up to older brother.) What does Tai do? He looks uninterested as well as surprised that Tien likes Lomfon which by the way I find surprising because Tai was the one that Tien has fallen in love with someone! What kind of brother are you?!?! I would want to know if my YOUNGER sibling had someone!

Tien then once again starts his good brother behavior by looking out for his older brother. Tai has no problem changing the subject and talking about himself AGAIN. Because everything is about him and him alone. I will not talk about the fact that HE who messed up is waiting for Patts to contact him.

That conversation on your left hurt me because I have never seen Tai be there for Tien.. The one thing I noticed that could be Tai interested in Tien was in earlier episodes was Tai said that Tien is in love which was also short loved because he left Tien there to process it on his own because he apparently had better things to in his bedroom... Oh and talking about Tai not being interested in Tien's live I have proof for it.. He gave Lomfon his full attention when they met at the cafe, he really did listen to him so I am struggling to understand why can't he pay attention to his own younger brother.....

While I am talking about Tai I also want to mention how incredibly IMMATURE he is. His parents got a divorce but he never tried to understand them he only blamed them, especially his mother for it. I just don't understand how can you be a bad son and a bad brother in the same time. How can't he understand that there are some other people OTHER than him in this universe and that the world does not revolve around him! At this point I hope he ends up alone, miserable and I hope that Patts moves on and finds someone better for himself.

And since I mentioned all of them I shall mention Lomfon as well. I like him I really do, I have liked him since the beginning of the series and I don't really blame him for much except for unintentionally hurting Tien but he was just trying to understand himself and his own feelings and I am very glad that he did finally understand himself after that night. I do wish he kissed Tien instead of Tai and figured out his feelings that way but I can't really blame him either way. I really felt bad for him in the classroom. He kept looking at Tien while the teacher talked about their assignment and tge way he looked at Tien when he left... He really knows he messed up, he regrets that night so much and I know he will apologize to Tien I just hope he will do it correctly and sincerely. I am really rooting for them.

#la pluie #la pluie the series #lomfon x tien #tien x lomfon #suar kritsanaphong #copter nuntapong #asian bl #bl series #thai bl

[sweetescapeartist]

IS GOTEN REALLY A CASANOVA/WOMANIZER?

DB FANDOM: Goten is a ladies man in GT!

REALITY: He's a hopeless romantic who gets dumped quickly all the time.

First, where did this idea that Goten is a ladies man begin? It began when we see the cast after a 10 year time skip. Goten says he had a date planned, but Goku is making him attend the Tenkaichi Budokai instead. That's it. No indication or implication that Goten is a ladies man. Just that he had a date.

However, GT takes this scene, reduces Goten's character, and makes dating girls his only notable quality. And even then, GT Goten isn't good with the ladies.

In DBGT EP 2, Pan says that Goten's new girlfriend will dump him soon.

This implies a pattern. There's initial attraction, but no prolongued interest, then Goten gets dumped quickly. Rinse & repeat. Goten can get 'em easily, but he can't keep 'em.

Many fans have taken certain scenes out of context or may have simply forgot. Or maybe they just watched the DUB that changed a bunch of lines. I don't know. It didn't watch that episode of the DUB because the English DUB was terrible. Anyway...

Goten is a hopeless romantic, not a ladies man/womanizer since he can't maintain a relationship for a long time.

(Full context of the scene)

The girls see him "Sure, I'll date you."

Soon after "We're breaking up."

Valese is the only one we've seen that seems like she might actually stick with him. Although, even in the show, they haven't even dated long. Knowing Goten's track record, the relationship might not last for much longer before she breaks up with him. But, Valese is a sheltered rich airhead, so a girl like her will probably stay with him because she understands so little about the world & Goten can connect better with someone like her. She reminds me of Krillin's ex girlfriend from DBZ filler that he dumped; Malon. (I know most say "Maron." I just spell it differently.) That's the kind of woman who behaves like a ditzy airhead because there's been no reason for her to behave maturely. But for Valese, its the result of being extremely sheltered. She's better than Malon imo.

Why do all of Goten's girlfriends soon dump him? Who knows? Maybe he still behaves like a child and doesn't take the relationship seriously enough? Maybe he goes after the wrong women and has bad dating practices? Maybe it's for other reasons. We don't see enough of Goten in GT to know why he always gets dumped. We just know he gets dumped often & we can only wonder why.

Also, Pan... You ARE a child. Enjoy being a kid, because being grown and paying bills is no fun.

*Looks at Grandma Pan.*

#Goten #Son Goten #DBGT #Dragon Ball GT #DB #DBZ #DBS #Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #ladies man? no. he is a helpless romantic searching for a girl that wont dump him #and Valese might just be the one