Jae Won, still lost for words

Depressed boy is left speechless by country twink - again.

BLs and the "Queer Lens":

One thing that has been around is the argument about how certain shows like moonlight chicken and eighth sense are created "for" queer people and are much more queer compared to the rest. So, we are just going back to the same debate "are BLs queer?"

Listen, I understand that the origin of BLs were for heterosexual women and they were created by hetero women pretty much as a form of escapism and can be argued that it was fetishization of asian queer men. But here comes the first question, if not for this would we get what we have today? The answer is no. Any form of media does go through some rough time (or "problematic" phase) to finally develop into something the mass would happily consume. The same here too. It took time but eventually we got to see lgbtq themes in these BLs (the written work), queer creators and queer consumers increased. Soon live action BLs started and by 2019 we had quality asian lgbtq media in our hands. I have always said this, BLs have come a long way, it has seen a lot of changes in the content and would too in the future. "But what about the problematic tropes?" Don't they exist everywhere? In fics, in books, in your "so queer" shows, everywhere. Also, perspective is very important. I have seen what some people claim to be problematic are relatable and liked by others. At the end of the day we have the choice to watch what we want. Now "queer lens". I will never understand this. Queer lens is defined as a media which successfully represents and puts forward the different realities of being queer . So again we are coming back to the same question, "if a show is not based on reality, if it doesn't have that queer lens, if it's just queer people existing, does it make the show less queer" I don't think so. I appreciate mature themes in BLs, I appreciate BLs leaning towards realism but that will not brush off the other shows. Doesn't matter if it's reality or fiction, queer people in a show makes it queer. There is nothing called "less queer" or "more queer". Even the queer show catering to the hetero audience is queer . It's just the lgbtq people in there are not concerned about their sexuality or it's not the whole idea of the plot. These are great comfort shows. I am tired of people downplaying them just because they don't have that so called "queer lens". We deserve content where for once we are happy. We deserve content where our intimacy is not a substance of disgust. We deserve casual storytelling. We deserve that.

THE EIGHTH SENSE (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

So I may have just sent several Asian ql recommendations to someone IN REAL LIFE for the first time. Someone who I work with. Who is younger than me. That I line manage. (They told me they were poly a few weeks ago, and they're from that area of the world and were curious about the shows, so I figured there was no harm...). I'll report back if I get a response from them 😬

Clingy and giggly Jihyun part 2

As someone whos shut down like Jaewon that scene where hes comforting Yoonwon and (at least my interpretation) realizes she’s been going through a hard time means so much to me. I love this show I love how it emphasizes friendship. Im so glad they got a happy ending.

I have nothing of importance to say other than ep 7 and 8 were amazing. They once again went back to the importance of friendship. We saw Joon Pyo and Ji hyun being very close and we finally saw how deep and important their friendship is. He worked for him, he took care of him and kept up schoolwork for him. The fact that he didn’t even have to think twice about accepting Ji hyun and genuinely being so happy that he finally liked somebody was so sweet. The boss being the second person Ji hyun wants to see is so adorable and once again shows his close relationship with her. Ae ri is also just so great. She doesn’t back down from her seniors who were in the wrong and protects her friend even when he’s not actually there. I think it’s very good that they focused on the friendships more and that they keep their own themes about it that have been shown even in the earlier episodes.

Jae won was going through it but honestly I can’t blame him. He saw the person he cared most for at the moment almost die right before his eyes. Something that seemingly already happened to him once before. His last conversation with Ji hyun was harsh but honestly I didn’t expect anything else. In his head this really is the best thing they can do and in his head he probably thinks he is helping Ji hyun (even though he obviously isn’t)

Also the two headed snake whose names shall not be named because I simply do not have enough respect for them…. I hope you people die in a ditch. Dude snake was WAY OUT OF POCKET and I do not understand how one could joke about something like that. I get being frustrated but I wouldn’t even say something like that to the person I hate most. Girl snake is getting pathetic. She sees how hard he is having it yet only thinks about how she finally has a chance again. It’s not even intimidating, Ji hyun is not scared of her it’s just sad and even if Jae won and her get together it’s wouldn’t be because she won. It would be because Jae won is too broken hearted to be with the one he truly cares about.

Also obviously the cinematography was amazing. The way they almost have you believe that Ji hyun died (they had me clutching my pearls till the therapy conversation) and the colours being all somber. And then when he gets out of the hospital everything is bright and colourful. Also I don’t know how they do it but everytime Jae won appears on the screen all the colours seem to suddenly die out and his expression is just so dead inside it always gives me a little of the chills. Im sure there are people who can go more into detail with this but I do not have the amount of braincells needed to figure all of that out.

i think that that scene in the train was 💫amazing💫 bc the tv show is literally called "the eight sense", they don't need to talk, they just feel each other

Do you have top 3 bl of 2023?

BL as in the BL genre specifically?

Moonlight Chicken

Eighth Sense

League of Nobleman

BL as in canonically queer?

Fellow Travelers

Our Flag Means Death

Good Omens

I THOUGHT EIGHTH SENSE WAS ABOUT LIKE. SURFING AND MOVING HOUSES??

How to be totally normal about a boy: Jae Won edition

So Jae Won returns from the army rather depressed and immediately comes across a cute country boy who stops his fight with a "friend", then asks the boy for a cigarette (do his friends smoke, btw? OR WAS IT ANOTHER PLOT TO TALK TO JI HYUN???), hides (probably!) the fact that he has his own lighter just to enjoy the boy's attention a bit more, then hugs him and offers his friendship without even introducing himself (what an idiot, gosh).

Then he spots the boy in a canteen (he was totally looking for him), thanks him, wipes his lip with his thumb (like any normal dude would, yep, especially when there was NOTHING THERE), asks to call him (HE DOESN'T KNOW YOUR NAME OR YOUR PHONE NUMBER YOU BI DISASTER).

Then he looks for the boy in the cafe and gets upset when he doesn't see him, getting even more upset after talking to an ex. He can't even be happy to see THE BOY afterwards, and Jae Won leaves like the most pitiful meow meow to ever meow.

Then he is surprised to see THE BOY in the coach, sits next to him, insists that they both use his earphones and listen to his music, and his shoulder is a perfect perfect perfect pillow, isn't it? It's pretty normal, he's just fine, so he casually pretends he doesn't remember Ji Hyun's name, then gets upset when he's not rooming with him, then immediately considers changing the rooms :D :D :D Talk about being obvious.

And after all that it's totally fine to show the boy the ropes and the wetsuits (not the ones he can put on alone though, at least it shouldn't look like he can do it alone), to shower him with compliments and physical affection, and you might think Jae Won is becoming normal for real, but no, not today.

He chooses to get off on feeding Ji Hyun and teasing him, then stare at him in the shower, urging him to come closer and stop being shy. What a totally normal behaviour (DUDE, HE'S A FRESHMAN! YOU WERE THE ONE TELLING YOUR FRIEND TO STOP BEING A PERVERT just to become a pervert yourself).

So the next totally normal steps would be to never leave the boy's side, touch him constantly, initiate bruderschaft drinking (100% thinking about kissing the boy afterwards), and lose track in a conversation with his ex immediately after spotting Ji Hyun.

That's so normal, Jae Won.

And after all those things done right and some of the things that were almost normal, he HAS to succumb to his attraction and snog the hell out of Ji Hyun only to leave silently and ignore him afterwards. Because he totally remembers, otherwise he wouldn't have ignored him and would have continued his courting ritual.

What a disaster of a human being. Oh, Jae Won.

How to be NOT normal about a boy, Ji Hyun edition

Relating so hard to Jae Won’s complete emotional deadening and just not caring about anything anymore.

When it feels like you’ve lost everything and you have nothing left to lose, having emotions or getting upset or anxious is totally pointless.

Wow this show is so good.

If they do some kind of "oh he was all by himself, and took the medication" trope for Eighth Sense, I'm yeeting myself off of the nearest cliff.

Because HELL NO!

The directors of T8S will be answering questions through their YouTube channel which is awesome. Questions are still open so make sure you send them through. Also, because YouTube is a terrible machine but does help Indy teams like this get visibility, subscribe to their channel.

I can’t share community posts which is dumb but here is the info. Yay!

THE OSTS ARE SO GOOD IM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND BYE

Little sketch of them being happy before what ever Wednesday brings