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absolutebl · 9 months

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Top 10 Cozy BLs!

Our Dating Sim made me realize we have a new sub genre of BLs happening right now: the cozy BL.

I decided to invent/identify/name this new BL category because... I can. I crowd sourced (here in the hellhole) opinions of how to define it and what should go on it. The collective brainstormed and elected the following qualifications:

low angst

low stakes

high domesticity

a central relationship that is more cute than anything else

extra points for found family

AKA BLs that make you feel happy and comfortable.

These BLs leave you feeling warm and safe, like a hot water bottle. I will list them in order of my personal preference when in the mood for “cozy.”

1. Our Dating Sim

(Korea, Viki)

Did I create this list for this show? Yes I did. It defines this category. It is a very low stakes, high domesticity, extremely warm and gentle second chance at love office romance.

This is a fuzzy blanket of a story that perfectly suited KBL’s short-length tendencies. The pacing is... muuuuuah... chef’s kiss.

2. Seven Days

(Japan, grey in 2 parts Seven Days: Monday - Thursday | Seven Days - Friday - Sunday)

Popular first year Seiryo has a policy of going out with any girl who asks… for one week. On a lark, third year Yuzuru tests to see if that policy also applies to boys. Seiryo agrees that it does. Along the way they accidentally fall in love. Possibly my favorite BL of all time. It’s very gentle with us and its characters while still having that Japanese emo edge to it.

A master class in quite yet riveting cinema.

What, you doubted me? OF COURSE it’s on the list

3. My School President

(Thailand, YouTube)

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORED this, and that’s partly what makes it so comforting. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny?

4. See You After Quarantine?

(Taiwan, Viki)

Be you never expected lockdown to be comforting? This under appreciated gem is Taiwan’s answer to Gameboys and is just as charming and adorable yet still as quintessentially Taiwanese as one might hope. It features a Japanese love interest and the cutest most confused disaster gay. Slow burn because the two have almost no actual screen time together and yet manage some truly amazing chemistry plus sweetly caring and earnest. Honestly how does Taiwan do it?

5. Ingredients

(Thailand, YouTube)

At the time (during lockdown) many of us referred to this as our “emotional support grocery store advertisement.” If all you want is two soft boys being domestic, cooking together, cuddling on the couch, cat sitting, and babysitting - just put this on and be comfy.

6. What Did You Eat Yesterday?

(Japan, grey)

Basically the grown up version of Ingredients. Emotionally repressed, grumpy, salary man shows his hair dresser husband his love by cooking amazing meals. That’s it, that’s the whole show. There some queer fam drama, and blood-fam coming out drama, but mostly is husbands cooking and eating together and it’s great. Is it BL? Not really. Do we care? Not really.

7. The New Employee

(Korea, Viki)

This one is queer comfort, explicitly. If you aren’t queer you might not find it as warm and engaging. A near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also featuring found family and a lesbian bestie. Sweet & innocent (and out) Seung Hyun scores the office internship of his dreams. On his first day at work he gets into it with his cool reserved (and also v gay) boss.

As you do.

But things get romantic pretty darn quickly.

As you gay.

8. En of Love: Tossera & Future the series

(Thailand, YouTube)

Tossera = Younger boy wants to court older boy and does and… that’s it. No really that’s the WHOLE STORY. There is actually no angst, drama, or, indeed plot. But are they the softest bois ever to BL as a main couple? Yes, yes they are.

Future is... exactly the same thing.

Are we mad about it?

Nope.

9. Oxygen

(Thailand, YouTube)

Softest seme in the universe sings his affection to the older boy at the cafe. Let the slow burn courting commence. Oxygen uses every BL trope in the playbook for one of the gentlest lowest angst BLs ever made. It’s a hyung romance (younger boy courts older boy) but very very earnest about it. Am I biased? Sure. This is probably one of my biggest comfort watches.

10. Our Dining Table

(Japan, Gaga)

Lonely salaryman and talented cook gets accidentally adopted by a college kid and his little brother. It’s a quiet cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. Possibly too slow for some but definitely high up there for me with the best of what Japan can do (like Restart After Come Back Home), it’s only flaw (if I dare say such a thing) is that it is not really “romantic.” Lovely & sweet but the romance beats are being used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy, it’s OK with me, but not totally BL.

For me one of the hallmarks of cozy BL is that as a chronic rewatcher I find myself starting to rewatch these ones even as they are still airing. Oxygen was an icon of this (also my first watch-along and the reason I realized I really had a passion for BL)

Shorts

Summerdaze - Singapore & Korea, YouTube

The 8.2 Second Rule - Japan, YouTube

A First Love Story - Korea, YouTube

Some More - Korea, Gaga

Quite a few other Strongberry offerings.

More like this?

Top 10 Most Romantic BLs for Valentine’s Day

Top 20 Softest Couples in BL

Top 10 Cutest BLs

Fluffy Sweet Soft Thai BL

10 BLs Best Enjoyed with Hot Tea & a Roaring Fire

MOAR RECS?

From the blog comments. If I agree I gave it a description.

Boys Lockdown (YouTube) - actually on this list because it go so many votes by everyone else, I haven’t watched it.

My Ride (GaGa) - Thai BL grew up with this pulp - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA a 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 motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story, 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. Full review.

Takara-kun to Amagi-kun (Viki & Gaga) - yes, high school angst but so sweet about it. Review here.

2 Moons 3 Ambassador (grey) - I love this odd little pulp, it’s oddly satisfying for all it’s awkward cheese-fest. Maybe that is why I like it. Review here.

21 Days Theory (YouTube)

About Youth (Gaga) - A truly lovely little coming of age high school BL with a classic YA low drama but high angst and an earnest depth. Full review here.

Ai no Kotodama (Gaga)

Be Loved In House: I Do (Viki)

Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Viki warning dub con) - it’s here because a lot of people (like me) love it, but there are objections. Review here.

Cherry Magic (Japan, indie subbed) AKA Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni narerurashii - the sweetest, fluffiest, most charming bit of adorable ever, full of found family and pastry and serious slapstick, the characters are utter spazzes, but so cute about it. Still that aspect makes me a little tense so I don’t find it as cozy as others do.

Craving You (Viki)

Destiny Seeker (grey) - see 2 Moons Ambassador

DNA Says Love You (Gaga) - particularly the last few episodes.

La Cuisine (GaGa) - 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.

Meet Me Outside (Gaga)

Meow Ears Up (Gaga)

Mr. Heart (Viki)

Mr. Unlucky has no Choice but to Kiss (Viki)

Nitiman (Thailand YouTube) - This Thai BL pulp had sympathetic characters, a solid tsundere uke redemption arc, and a fantastic pining seme who yearned without bullying, grooming, or gaslighting. Plus when they were together, they were ridiculously soft. But it also had a realistic portrayal of university life, bisexual awakening, and friendship groups. Ending is okay but a victim of lockdown.

Old Fashion Cupcake (Viki)

Ocean Likes Me (Viki)

Roommates of 304 (Viki)

Wish You (Korea - Netflix or Viki, you want the movie version) AKA Wish You: Your Melody in My Heart - low stakes high pining romance about a pianist who falls in love with a busker who is on his way to being the next big idol.

There was quite a lively discussion coming up with this list, since everyone defines cozy differently but I am not alone in my top 10 choices, these mostly got the most votes.

(source)

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sitp-recs · 11 months

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Masterlist Drarry Recs - Pt 3

• Angst with a happy ending

• Angsty secret relationship

• Angsty first time

• Addiction themes

• Ace Drarry

• AU

• Bartender AU/Pub fics

• Birthdays

• Break up make up (epilogue compliant)

• Break up make up + arranged marriage

• Forced marriage

• Divorced Drarry getting back together

• Bucolic fics

• Chef AUs

• Dark Draco

• Death Eater trials

• Draco on probation

• Disasters

• Drarry + gossip

• Drarry + mythology

• Drarry coming out as a couple

• Draco is open about his feelings | Hopelessly in love (Draco)

• Oblivious Draco | Self-sabotaging Draco

• Draco takes care of Harry | Harry takes care of Draco

• Dark Academia

• Fics with horror elements

• Esoterics and astrology

• Established relationship with spoiled Draco

• Epilogue-compliant

• Friends to lovers slow burn + redemption arc

• Idiots to lovers

• Harry-centric fics | Different takes on Harry

• Jaded Harry & morally ambiguous Draco

• Odd jobs | Militant Harry | Powerful Harry

• Harry falls in love first | Draco as Harry’s bisexual awakening

• Harry lives in Godric’s Hollow

• Hospitals (setting)

• Hurt/Comfort

• Holiday fics: Christmas | NYE

• Horcrux hunting

• Harry betrays Draco | Draco hurts Harry

• Harry breaks up with Ginny

• Jealous Harry 1 & 2 | Early jealousy

• Homophobia

• Infidelity 1 & 2

• Intense UST

• Intimacy issues

• Melancholy love

• Memory loss

• My favorite romantic fics

• Meet-cute

• Organic and routine sex

• Kink discovery

• Pansy & Blaise as side characters

• POV Outsider

• Physical hurt/comfort | Injured Harry

• PTSD & sex as coping mechanism

• Post-war loneliness

• Power imbalance

• Professors (both)

• Queer themes

• Rainy romance

• Reality show AU | Romcom AU | Sci-fi AU | Cowboy AU | Heist AU

• Religious imagery and symbolism

• Sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll | Sex Magic

• Seer Draco | Seer Harry

• Surviving together

• Soft 8th year | Field trips | 8th year Draco pov

• Sports AU

• Soothing reads

• Step dad Harry

• Successful Draco comes back to Britain

• Toxic family dynamics

• Voldemort Wins AU | War fics

• G and T long fics | Draco-centric

• Plot-oriented M and E fics

• Short fics under 5k

#new masterlist 😱#Sitp archive #Drarry recs

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origamiplushie · 24 days

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Do yourself a favour and read pretty much any fic written by starsdontsleep

Starsdontsleep has 45 amazing steddie fics on AO3. All of their fics are sweet or at least bittersweet and clearly written with a lot of love for their characters and care for the character's feelings. A lot of their fics have managed to distill queer pining down to its core essence. They are filled with pining, feelings realization, accidental confessions and sometimes even unrequited crushes staying unrequited.

I really do think reading through all of their works is worth it, but if you want to hear my favourites, here's a few recommendations to get you started:

one day I'll fall for you

Steve knows that Eddie is in love with him, he's known for a while. But falling in love back? That takes a little more time.

This really is so well written! I think it is a very realistic examination of relationships. Sometimes you're aware your friend has a crush on you and you both just ignore it and go on with your friendship without anyone ever saying anything. I could relate to both Steve and Eddie. But don't worry! This fic does not end in heartache ;D

Cooking With Love

After the Upside Down, Steve realises Eddie is terrible at eating regular meals, so Steve starts to cook for him. But somewhere along the way, Steve also falls for his friend too.

If you're a sucker for happily ever after endings this one is for you! Mutual pining and Steve taking care of Eddie!

Welcome To Our Club

Eddie invites Robin to a gay club in Indy, but as much as she wants to go, she's also terrified by the prospect. Wanting to be there for his best friend, Steve agrees to go with them. But being in a gay club ends up revealing some unexpected things about Eddie, and about himself.

This fic has everything you could want! Steve being a bisexual disaster, Eddie being jealous, fake relationships, and Steve slowly realizing that maybe he doesn't want it to be so fake.

do us a favour

Eddie helps Steve out of a problem and when Steve says he owes him and to name anything and he'll do it, Eddie's mouth works before his brain, letting him ask a very queer question of his straight friend and crush.

Sleepiness makes Eddie be a little to honest when Steve offers to pay him back for helping out with the party for a day. Eddie would be happy with just that favour , but Steve thinks a conversation is in order.

i can be pretty (why don’t you think I’m pretty?)

When Eddie comes out as gay, he assures Steve that he doesn’t find him hot. Steve tells him it’s fine, he even teasingly asks what he should do to change that. It becomes a thing. A way to always make Eddie laugh, blush and relax around him—but as the days and weeks pass, Steve begins to realise that maybe there’s another reason why he cares so much that Eddie Munson finds him pretty.

Starsdontsleep's newest fic! Eddie comes out and reassures Steve that he's not into him. Steve just thinks he want Eddie to be comfortable around him but soon realizes that maybe he wants Eddie to be a bit more than just comfortable. So he sets up a plan to woo Eddie who is very confused by what is happening!

so easy to like you

As much as Eddie tries to talk himself out of his crush on Steve, to convince himself there's nothing between them… there's just no getting around how much he likes him--or how easy it can be to make a mistake.

To be honest, I find an unrequited love fic where nothing comes of that crush very refreshing. Sometimes things just don't work out and it is no one's fault. Bittesweet but lovely!

#steddie #steddie fic #steddie fic rec #stranger things #fic rec #but seriously read all 45

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lionlena · 9 months

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5. Just breathe (PedroPascalxReader) - one shot

The last one shot of one shots week.

Summary: Your new book didn't go down well with the critics. Reading the comments under the critic's rating you get a panic attack... Luckily, Pedro shows up.

Warnings: mentions about depression and taking medicines, panic attacks, hurt/comfort, Pedro is sweet and lovely boyfriend

"Why is Pedro dating someone so untalented?"

"Her latest book is a swamp."

"I died of boredom after five pages xD "

"I would die of embarrassment if my girlfriend wrote a story like that."

The words poured out of the monitor and hit you like needles. This was the comments section under the critic's article which rated your latest book a 2 on 8. You couldn't take your eyes off this. You knew you should have closed that page. But it was stronger than you. You didn't even notice your hands were shaking.

You didn't understand why people think they have the right to make these rude comments. They only saw your smiling picture. They saw Pedro embrace you. They saw what they thought was reality. They didn't understand that you were separated by a screen.

They didn't see the long talks you had with Pedro before you decided to be with him.

They didn't see the medicines you took every morning to keep your mind from drowning in bad thoughts.

They didn't see the sixteen hours you spent writing chapters.

They didn't see you arguing with the editors who thought there were too many queer characters in your book.

They didn't see the nights you spend comforting Pedro when he missed his mom.

And they didn't see you now when you were starting to lose your breath. As you felt your chest begin to tighten. You hated that feeling like you were suffocating, and no matter how deep you took your breaths, there was still not enough oxygen. Your vision went dark and you fell to the floor. You were terrified. It felt like hundreds of hands were coming out of your laptop screen and trying to touch you. You pulled your knees into your chest as much as you could, though it only made it harder to breathe. It was an anxiety attack, you knew it, but it didn't make things any easier.

You didn't even know when big, strong hands were on your shoulders. You immediately recognized who they belonged to. You opened your eyes to meet his warm brown eyes, with worry in them. Pedro began to stroke your arms rhythmically. He knew it would ground you. One look at your laptop gave him a clue as to what happened.

"Y/N, they won't hurt you." He let go of you for a moment to close your laptop and quickly came back to you. "They're not here. Breathe with me. Breathe in through your nose, hold it, and let it out through your mouth. Okay." A gentle smile appeared on his face. "That's right, baby. One more time. Deep breath, hold, and exhale."

His soothing voice and the warmth of his hands made your chest slowly relax. You were finally able to breathe, but then tears came. Pedro changed position and sat down next to you. He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you to him.

"I'm sorry," you whispered.

He immediately hugged you tighter and grabbed your hand with his other hand. "Hey, don't apologize. Never apologize for a panic attack."

"I'm sorry I let you down," you mumbled as more tears left your eyes.

Pedro gently grabbed your chin and made you look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"My latest book was going to be a bestseller."

Pedro shook his head and kissed the top of your head. "If the movie I'm in turns out to be a disaster, will you be disappointed in me?"

"It's not the same" you groaned. "You're not the director, you're not the writer, you're not the cameraman... You're not responsible for the entire film."

"But there will always be a critic who will write that my acting has ruined everything."

"I know you always put your whole heart into your acting."

"And I know you put your whole heart into this book. And a lot of people like it. I love it! Are you going to tell all of us that we're not allowed to like it?" You smiled slightly and rested your head on his chest. "You get so many messages from people saying your book helped them. Don't forget that."

You nodded and began to draw undefined patterns on his chest with your fingers. His hand stroked your back up and down. You sat in pleasant silence for a while, and you felt safe again.

"I bet fame is always bittersweet," you muttered.

"Unfortunately," he replied sadly.

"Would you rather be a little-known actor?"

"Sometimes. You know, I like that now I don't have to worry about bills and that I can lend money to someone and not the other way around, but... I hate the paparazzi. I hate people who think they can judge me. And judge the ones I love." He rested his head on yours. "And you? Would you rather be a little-known writer?"

"I don't know. There have always been people who didn't like what I write. And I used to dream that someone would make a series out of my book, and now... Now I hate it when people judge the actors who play my characters. But..." You squeezed his hand tighter. "I would never have met you."

"I told you everything has its ups and downs."

You sighed heavily, and then something came to your mind. "Aren't you supposed to be at the gym?"

"I forgot my shorts," he muttered.

You rolled your eyes and gasped, "I told you they were in the dryer."

"I know," he groaned.

You started laughing and just went back to your usual life like that, but your laptop was locked for the rest of the day. Just in case.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal and you #pedro pascal x reader #hurt/comfort

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relatableblorbopoll · 5 months

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Round 1 of preliminaries, group 12

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

Propaganda under the cut

Rod (Avenue Q)

"he struggles with accepting the fact he's queer and in love with his best friend. he also feels very lonely at times and really just wants someone to be there for him"

Missi (Vampair Series)

"she was a book nerd who was so obsessed with vampires it led to her becoming one which is also my fantasy"

Lia (The Music Freaks)

"She was a good person who hanged out with an admittedly introverted kid who got bullied for her interests. So she, due to pressure and want to fit in and make friends, and simply be liked by others, became someone she wasn't to please them. Even if it meant becoming a jerk. She later acknowledges this and I believe she's moving on."

Sand (Only Friends)

"tired bisexual with good music taste and is so tired and done with all the messy dramatic people around him. just wants to play music, have some money, and maybe even date someone nice. instead he's gotten involved with the world's worst gay friend group and just deserves a nice day without having to deal with all of this bullshit"

Pa Jindapat (Bad Buddy)

"disaster wlw. her type is anyone who she feels comfortable with and is taller than her. shoots her shot with her brother's best friend after failing to set him up with her. has a full fool proof guide on how to tell if someone likes you and yet does not realize that her feelings are reciprocated"

Sara Murphy (Milo Murphy’s Law)

"Sara is a massive nerd. She loves the tv show Dr Zone (an in-universe show, based off of Dr Who) and is EXTREMELY passionate about it. She talks about it all the time, and knows very obscure details about it. Her t-shirt is a character from Dr Zone. She spends a lot of time on social media discussing Dr Zone with fellow Dr Zone fans. She relates most things back to Dr Zone. Dr Zone is her *entire life*. She is relatable in other ways too. In one episode she goes on a date, and spends the entire date overthinking everything and freaking out (visualised as small versions of her in costumes around her head). She’s also shown to be quite socially awkward. In conclusion, her fandom is her entire life and she is just like me fr"

#preliminaries #tumblr polls #tumblr tournament #character bracket #character tournament #avenue q #rod avenue q #the vampair series #the vampair missi #the music freaks #the music freaks lia #only friends #only friends sand #bad buddy #pa jindapat #sara murphy #milo murphy's law #two polls today because I died yesterday

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buttl0rd · 5 months

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Do you have any Stan headcanon??

i have a few!!!! stan's been one of my favs since season1 and i really love his character. i mostly adopt hcs from other people because i'm not very creative with them, but here are my thoughts

stan's questioned his gender since the cissy episode and he does a lot of experimenting with his gender expression and pronouns in his teens. he identifies as nonbinary but keeps using he/him pronouns and masc expression for a number of reasons (mostly because he finds it hard explaining to people), but when he's in a safe setting with other queer folks he feels more comfortable expressing his gender identity. kyle and wendy are his biggest supporters. cartman rips on him for it but ALWAYS used stan's preferred pronouns throughout his experimentation

stan is a bisexual DISASTER and finds everyone attractive. he's a flaming pussy though so he never scores. he's just like, [person] is super hot, and that's the end of it, he's already moved on. which brings me to my next hc,

his fucking commitment issues!!! stan has a crippling fear of long-term relationships, and this likely sprouted from his depression. he didn't see himself living past the age of 20 so he avoided committing to anything long-term. he most likely went to therapy for it and got a whole lot better. he committed to marrying kyle in the end. good for him

i hc stan as being a music production major or something in college. i like to think he dreams of having a world-famous rock band

we know he has addictive tendencies, it's part of his character. he's canonically seen drinking, smoking, hoarding and spending all the family's money on that mobile game. his addictions start ruining his life so the guys have an intervention and get him to rehab before he fucking dies. he gets better :) might relapse but dw about it

stan's been wildly in love with kyle since the dawn of time. he's always on his mind. the 'thinkin about kyle 24/7' type of love. he's so afraid of confessing to kyle to the point it makes him sick, his biggest fear is ruining their friendship. it's not until highschool kyle starts picking up on it and returning the feelings. there's no big confession, just a passionate and life-changing kiss on stan's bed after school one day. stan cries immediately afterwards because he's so happy

some extra lil silly things i hc:

he likes coffee, the goth kids got him hooked on it

he's cursed with a baby face, keeps any facial hair he can grow to make him look less like a little baby man

chubby.......

goes thru So Many phases of being vegetarian but always misses cheesed ourger and breaks his veggie streak whenever he gets sad

quarterback in highschool???

he's a real heavy sleeper. he snores and drools and tangles himself in blankets. kyle struggles to sleep in the same bed as him at first (light sleeper), but slowly gets used to it

he's kinda creeped out by cats. he's a dog person thru and thru

#south park #stan marsh

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cowboybuckleys · 22 days

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Wait, I'm dumb 😭 Can you explain your Hen and connecting the dots post?

Okay so first off, no that doesn’t make you dumb, just means you’re not rattling around in my disaster of a brain which is probably a good thing in the long run lol.

So do you remember at the end of 6x01 when Bobby told Buck that Buck was the one who had to answer if he was at ease or not? And that when he is at perfect peace and ease, he’d know and then he’d be ready? Obviously, part of that was about not being ready for the aspects of the interim captain job, but a good chunk of that conversation was about Buck himself and how he needed to get to a place where he’s comfortable with his life and his choices because that’s a big part of being at ease.

So when Hen shows up in his coma dream she’s skeptical of this random dude's motives, but still very much our Hen. The voice of reason to his entire dilemma and the only (at the time!) queer character of the core main cast. Buck mentioned her specifically as having not changed a bit when talking to Bobby after he woke up. Everyone else had, but she stayed exactly the same because his subconscious saw her as being in a place in her life where she’s at peace.

And I don’t think 6x11 was the moment where he was like “oh shit I like dudes too” because that’s obviously way too farfetched and I think the kiss was the bisexual oh moment. But I do think that he looked at Hen (and her life with Karen and Denny) and said “yeah, that. that’s what I aspire to have. Someone to love me, someone to love, to be settled and happy with a family.”

And then 7x04 happened. And in the words of Evan Buckley himself “I did maim my best friend” because he was jealous. But then Tommy kissed him. And well… we all saw his face and reaction after.

And this is why Hen needs to be the first person to know and I will die on this hill.

#anonymous #911 abc

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kittanthaloselorashield · 9 months

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Willow Month Day 3 & Day 9 Favourite Episode/Location

for just the wildwood textposts go (here👍🏻)

I'm extremely late (which is very on brand😅), and attempting to cram 10 prompts into 2 days. Let's speedrun this! Okay so Episode 5 - Wildwood really exemplifies the theme of love as a narrative force. It also focuses on Jade’s story and the Bone Reavers. AND IT IS GORGEOUS.

Right from the opening punk music overlaid chase scene, episode 5 is a symphony of the show's artistic form. Also Time For Some Mayhem is a recap of the Bone Reavers history & could basically be Scorpia's theme song. (can this count for my soundtrack day if I'm not done on time🤘🏻)

ALSO LOOK AT THEM SMILING FILMING IT

Willow is an ensemble show, but the plot in WIldwood is propelled by Jade, a queer biracial girl finding family and joy in who she is! CONFRONTING HER FEARS. BEING SO BRAVE. We have characters from the culture we were introduced to as the dominant culture (Tir Asleen) actually being in the wrong! Cue a textpost of Kit being a disaster:

Wildwood establishes very clearly that character growth is happening before they go through the rest of the trials and tribulations of the quest.

To get really personal here, I had a near death experience as a kid and I just have this insatiable rage at narratives that present traumatic experiences as 'level up' character development like achievements. The forty some minutes we spend in the Wildwood, everyone grows (and gets a little high) in a safe healthy environment. This is like textbook good therapy practice. Leading to the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

THE TANTHAMORE ALMOST KISS!!!

Kit and Jade's love confessions are beautiful. Erin Kellyman said it best:

“Having not seen these shows when I was younger, now being able to be the representation that I didn’t have is something that is so peaceful,” she says. “I know that if I saw this when I was a kid, I would have been completely in love with Kit and Jade, and I would have felt a lot less isolated and scared and weird.” - Erin Kellyman (source)

The scenes leading up to the troll snatch were shot on a closed set because the director wanted Erin Kellyman and Ruby Cruz to be able to be completely comfortable in how vulnerable they were to film that moment between Jade and Kit. We see two characters who have loved each other consciously and unconsciously for years decide to completely go for it.

Wildwood has everything: A celebratory lens on the survival of oppressed peoples, sapphic love confessions, ERIN KELLYMAN, fluffy bonding between core characters, ERIN KELLYMAN SMILING (seriously she's literally so beautiful), great soundtrack, beautiful sets, world-building, ERIN KELLYMAN DANCING, and character development so breathtaking I cried. (Also might've cried about how pretty Erin Kellyman is)

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bylertruther · 11 months

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man makes a post specifically about /mike's/ level of comfort to do overtly gay shit, and how often it's /will/ who gets written as the uncomfortable one, people read it on mike and will's ability to do public gay shit /together/ in hawkins. okay

stopppfbshsjsbsbd it's ok 💔 the mike angst jus doesn't hit like the will angst does on bylertruther.edu.gov i guess.. they were going based off of someone else's tags so thts why it steered tht way i think.

one day we will be able to acknowledge that mike's inability to withstand even the most innocent and brief of touches with will specifically and his constant pushing will away and hyperfocusing on el may be something more in the realm of mike struggling with his sexuality and his feelings and choosing to focus on the less scary and more "normal" thing as a means of trying to get control over his situation instead of just.... (looks at the gen tag) assuming that mike is a gay disaster with no depth who is in a relationship with a girl he knows he doesn't romantically love but obviously that's as deep as that goes and there's nothing more to it or troubling about that at all? okay ❤️

mike can't hug will, can't even brush arms with him, but that's just because.... (checks tag again) will is so unbelievably sexy that it melts his brain? ok. mike is in a relationship with a girl he doesn't like Like That or in the Correct way and he STAYS in it even though he feels like shit and tries his best to make it work and worries the entire time over it way more than even she does.... but nah. he's fine! he's got that shit on lock bc he's clearly the king of compartmentalizing and self-acceptance. he'll jump right into that gay shit easy peasy and kiss will on the mouth asap!!

like. jdvdjsnshahajsn. rambling in this ask bc my tummy hurty which is making me feel like my brain is a box of bees tht someone just shook but i just. mike as a character is so endlessly fascinating there's an entire WORLD to explore in him as a queer dude in his precarious position like. it's a wealth of angst it pulls at your heartstrings he feels so much but he can't express it he Refuses to express it until he has no other choice and they're at the literal end of the fucking line he ruins things and then he tries desperately to fix them he knows his loved ones so well that he knows just where to strike and what to say to make it better like he's just . he thought he had to let go of what he loved to be a man he quit holding and touching his gay best friend that he has feelings for and tossed him to the side in favor of his gf who is supposed to resemble him.

i just. HE LITERALLY DOES THAT WITH NO ONE ELSE?! AND YOU GUYS (/gen) THINK ITS WEIRD AND CRAZY AND OOC FOR HIM TO BE HESITANT TO DO GAY SHIT..... TO BE SCARED TO ENGAGE WITH THAT PART OF HIMSELF EYES WIDE OPEN KNOWINGLY WALKING INTO THE LIGHT AND EMBRACING THAT LARGER THAN LIFE CHANGE WHICH IS SO OFTEN A DEATH SENTENCE........ YOU THINK IT'D BE WEIRD OF MIKE WHEN WE ALREADY KNOW HE DOESN'T ALLOW HIMSELF THE SAME GRACE, UNDERSTANDING, OR ACCEPTANCE AS HE DOES OTHERS?

takes a deep breath and plops down on ur dash . i jus have a lot of Mike Feelings okay ...... i see an opportunity to speak on him n i Take it!!!!!!! there is so much to him and his experience and people just don't want to come anywhere near it or any of the possibilities and it Kills me it really does .

#the ppl on tht post were right im not saying they were wrong at all we were jus having diff conversations ❤️#bc although it can be fun to read about Out and Proud mike chasing will ..... i do like to consider the natural continuation of what we've #seen on our screen and the way that mike would approach a romance with another boy. for himself first and foremost #it's such a common queer experience and yet... it gets no love or acknowledgement here #ive said it fifty times but mike couldn't even hug or touch will................. meanwhile he was hugging and touching other dudes.....#the difference? mike doesn't have feelings for those dudes. so the true difference is the homosexuality involved.#laikeeeeeeeeee im just saying............... even will can continue to touch other dudes even the ones he's in love with..........#but mike can't..... and mike is the one that pushes will away and lashes out and gets mean and acts weird....#but somehow the idea of mike not being as enthusiastic or eager as a lot of ppl assume is Weird. ok ❤️#asks

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dungeonsandblorbos · 5 days

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Hello and Welcome!

it's a new year and a lot has happened since the last time i did an intro, including a new campaign starting and me making a new years resolution to indulge my creative side more, so i'd like to re-introduce myself and also say hello to the writblr community!

my main blog is @persnickety-peahen, so that's where all my follows will come from. you can call me any variation of either of my blog names, or just C; they/she pronouns. i'm in my mid-twenties, happily married, queer, and neurodivergent.

i've been enamored with the idea of writing from childhood, but since university a lot of that energy has gotten channeled into TTRPGs due to life circumstances, so now instead of writing i obsess over my PCs and make long, detailed documents full of exploitable backstory content, NPCs, and worldbuilding elements for my DM(s)! :D

yes i am and have always been the designated note-taker in all of my campaigns, why do you ask?

aside from writing and TTRPGs, i enjoy baking, taking wiki walks, and playing Stardew Valley, and lately i've also started teaching myself how to do pixel art. i love the blorbos from my campaigns so much and will impulsively share stories about them to anyone who will listen, hence me making this blog as a place to infodump about my beloveds! content here includes fun stories from the big four campaigns i've been part of, out of context session notes, and especially various kinds of mentally ill blorbo posting, as well as a bunch of reblogs of stuff from the writblr, whumpblr, and TTRPG communities (including pretty dice and dice trays!). someday i might also get around to posting an actual ongoing narrative recap of one of my campaigns, and some of the blorbo-related pixel art i've been making.

i'd love to be more active here, so please feel free to send me asks about any of the characters or campaigns, or even just TTRPG things in general, as i'm always happy to talk about them. i'm also open to writblr tag games, even if they don't fully apply to a TTRPG context—if it gives me an excuse to blab about my blorbos, i will make it work!

see below the cut for a description of my big four campaigns and my player characters from them!

Curse of Strahd Homebrew Status: on haitus but hopefully resuming soon! System: DnD 5e Story: this is a heavily homebrewed version of the 5e Curse of Strahd campaign book (like, we're talking a good 80% or more homebrew) DMed by my husband, @somethingclevermahogony. it's all of your dark queer gothic horror dreams come true! (and also body horror. lots of body horror. and whump, for good measure) it follows a group of naive young adventurers who find themselves lured to and trapped in Barovia, a country banished to its own little pocket dimension in the Shadowfell over 400 years ago as punishment for the atrocities committed by its dread king Strahd von Barovich. here, they encounter challenges and horrors beyond anything they've ever experienced before, including hordes of vengeful undead, capitalist hags who sell hallucinogenic pies made with 'shrooms and children's brain matter, an eldritch not-quite-god and his/their cursed corn farm, a delusional angel who repairs people's broken bodies without care for consent, and, of course, the dread king Strahd himself, as well as his many powerful and loyal followers. all of them seek to manipulate our would-be heroes to their own ends—and unfortunately for everyone, they've been rather successful so far. Main Blorbo: in this campaign, i play a 23-year-old human tempest cleric called Cerris, who is a solid 80% of the reason i made this sideblog. he's my comfort character. he's my bisexual disaster babygirl. he's my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good bad time boy. he's like the dysfunctional lovechild of Clark Kent and Jonathan Harker: a sheltered farmboy of debatably noble birth granted a sliver of divine power by circumstances beyond his control, who just left home for the first time to answer the call of adventure and got stuck here in fantasy Transylvania instead, where he has since become Strahd's new favorite plaything. among other poor decisions, he has 1) gotten romantically entangled with Ireena Kolyana, a fiery though equally sheltered young noblewoman who is unfortunately the object of Strahd's obsessive plans to escape Barovia and conquer Faerun, 2) inadvertently adopted the sweet but chaotic Milo, a halfling boy turned into a horrible monster by Strahd's experiments 400 years ago (the Bagman. Cerris adopted the Bagman), and 3) gotten himself possessed by the angry ghost of Strahd's little brother, Sergei, whom Strahd killed and cannibalized in an unfortunately effective bid to gain godlike power. he has a lot to learn before he's ready to face Strahd, but i believe that one day, Cerris will help save Barovia. Bonus Blorbo: if Cerris is my babygirl, then Milo is my precious little meow meow—hence my tag for him being #meow meow Milo. yes he is the Bagman, and yes he did almost eat my other party member among many other horrible things, but he's also just a traumatized smol bean and i forgive him for everything. if anything happened to him, Cerris would kill everyone in Barovia and then himself.

Ruins of Runet Status: active System: DnD 5e Story: an entirely homebrew campaign also DMed by my wonderful husband! it's a horror campaign at heart, this time focusing more on eldritch and existential horror. once, the world of Runet was just like any other, vibrant and fantastical and full of magic, connected to the vast network of other worlds and planes across the universe. and then, suddenly, the gods all vanished. magic left Runet with them, and the planet's connections to other worlds were severed irreparably. the result was nothing less than apocalyptic: entire peoples and species died out instantly, cities and nations collapsed, famine and disease and war ran rampant. but the survivors adapted, building a new world from the ashes. now, 600 years after the collapse, magic has returned, throwing the world into chaos once again. and though magic has come back, the gods have not. various powerful factions have all launched investigations into this sudden reappearance, hoping to claim the secret of magic for themselves. at the center of it all sits the Church of Divine Repentance, and a millenia-old conflict between eldritch forces known only as the Mother and the Eternal Body, with the people of Runet caught in the crossfire. Main Blorbo: in this campaign, i play a 29-year-old human fighter/sorcerer named Don Ariel Feliciano Rosalio Sentera Alvedes, from the barely unified country of Restitos*. Ariel is an hidalgo, a member of the untitled nobility, and as the youngest of four sons, he had very little expectations of inheriting anything; even so, excellence was demanded of him since childhood. as a result, he's grown up ambitious and hungry, willing to make himself into whatever kind of person he needs to be in any given moment in order to accomplish his goals. he's charismatic and self-assured, and while he can be slimy and artificial (or else callous and abrasive if he feels you aren't worth his time), he is nonetheless noble in character, enduringly loyal, and committed to the values of noblesse oblige. he's also a bisexual, gender-fucky horse girl and (un?)ethical slutty secretary with a daily skincare routine and a cringefail romantic history! :D he's almost gotten engaged but then ruined everything—twice. his only serious long-term relationship was a secret affair with his employer, a married duke who's old enough to be his father (but don't worry, the duchess knew and was cool about it), which ended abruptly when the duke got assassinated and Ariel found his disfigured body the next morning. and then the duke's oldest son informally accused him of the murder and that conversation went so terribly that he fled the country immediately afterwards to avoid being arrested and executed. no, he's not actually guilty, just a convenient scapegoat, stop fucking asking him if he did it. in conclusion, Ariel is such a fucking mess and i love him. Bonus Blorbo: Malva Oriana is Ariel's 13-year-old warhorse, a beautiful perlino Catalencian Pure (essentially a fantasy Andalusian) he trained himself. she's a bold, intelligent, and well-tempered horse, albeit more than a bit spoiled, and she and Ariel are terribly co-dependent on each other in light of the recent trauma they've experienced. *Additional Note: Restitos is largely culturally inspired by post-Reconquista Spain, and since my character ended up being the only PC from that country, i got to help with a lot of the worldbuilding for it! a fact i took full advantage of! so more than likely, any worldbuilding stuff i post here will specifically be about Restitos

Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co. Status: completed System: DnD 5e Story: this was my second campaign with my university TTRPG group, where my husband was also a player. set in the world of Acquisitions, Incorporated, an actual play podcast by Penny Arcade based around the idea of classic adventuring parties but make it ~capitalism~, this campaign was primarily played out of the official Acquisitions, Inc. playbook, with some additional homebrew expansions and a nice little extra homebrew arc on the end that introduced us to the incredible chaos of the D10,000 wild magic table. the story ended up going real hard on the queer found family vibes, and there were several story beats that made us all real emotional together. we played as the Cauldron & Kettle Questing Company, a Phandalin-based subsidiary branch of the larger Acquisitions, Inc. corporation. we also owned a tea shop called the Cauldron & Kettle Cafe, and we had a steam-powered teapot-shaped vehicle dubbed the Tea Trolley which we put to excellent use in combat. the story followed the Cauldron & Kettle Questing Co. as we established our branch and completed increasingly dire quests for our parent corporation that we were not remotely qualified for. and uh, no, we did not really get any special rewards or pay raises or anything after saving the world—twice—but hey, that's business baby! Main Blorbo: for this campaign, i played a 30-year-old half-elf light cleric/bard named Jun Vyardes. having grown up the daughter of a traveling bard, she's great with change, but never learned how to put down roots. when she left Daddy Bard's side and devoted herself to Vestia, a human goddess of domestic fires and revelry, she thought she'd found her home. for some time, she really was content there—but the road still called to her, so with her goddess's blessing, she set out on a new adventure. she's fiercely devoted to her friends and committed to justice, plays a mean fiddle, and has some great recipes for edibles. after joining Acq, Inc. and meeting the rest of her party, it only took Jun a couple of months to realize that her new teammates—along with her one true love Eleni, a fellow devotee of Vestia—were exactly the home she had always been searching for. and she's going to protect that, whatever it takes. Bonus Blorbo: my husband played Tim Cobbletoss, a 34-year-old half-orc barbarian with the temperament of a british grandma on account of being raised by halfings . . . after his human bard father abandoned him at an orphanage because he couldn't take care of two half-human bastard children at the same time. yes, that's right, Tim and Jun are half-siblings! at first they both hated each other because Jun was jealous that Tim got to have a stable childhood with a loving parent who understood proper boundaries and didn't exploit their musical talent for money or use them as an unwilling wingman, and because Tim was jealous that Jun got to have an actual relationship with their father and learn things from him when all Tim got from Daddy Bard was the family signature ginger hair and abandonment issues. fortunately, though, they eventually got over the mutual jealousy and started bonding over parental trauma, terrible workplace conditions, and a shared love of fantasy weed. and now they're best friends and ruthlessly defend each other against Daddy Bard's nonsense whenever he tries to re-insert himself into their lives.

The Orphic Uprising and The Amazonomachy Status: Completed System: Cypher Story: these were two continuous arcs that together formed the first campaign with my university TTRPG group. it was a homebrew story set in the world of Percy Jackson, following a small group of simultaneously inept and hyper-competent demigods from Camp Half-Blood on their various (mis)adventures. out of character, we called ourselves the Confusion Crew due to the sheer absurdity of some of the shenanigans we got up to. it was delightful. in the first arc, The Orphic Uprising, Dionysus got kidnapped and four campers were singled out by prophecy to go rescue him from the Underworld and stop the children of Nyx from taking over Olympus. and in the second arc, The Amazonomachy, set a year later, the mad queen of the Amazons got it into her head (through children of Nyx-related manipulation, it seems) that, just like the titans had been overthrown by the gods, it was high time the gods were overthrown by their own children. so three of us from the last quest, plus two new unlucky campers who happened to be in the wrong right place at the wrong right time, set about saving the Olympians' asses again. Main Blorbo: in this campaign, i played Nina Grayson, a (at the end of the campaign) 19-year-old daughter of Nike, goddess of victory. Nina was an impulsive, reckless, extremely determined little fighter (emphasis on little, she's 5' tall and like 110lbs), as well as a talented gymnast, dancer, and rock climber, who put so much pressure on herself to succeed—because, ya know, literally the daughter of victory—that she was more than willing to fight dirty if that's what it took to win. she was an absolute monster in combat, nigh unkillable with high damage output and multiple debuff abilities. she was also a menace outside of combat because she put all of her points into physical abilities and left nothing for brains or charisma. yes, indeed, she was a badass buff socially inept himbo lesbian and she ruled. iconic himbo acts of hers include solving a puzzle by punching a horse statue in the face, getting set on fire then putting it out by drenching herself in monster blood, solving a locked door problem by punching the lock open, splitting the party to play double agent without telling her friends she was only fake-betraying them, and solving a bitchy goddess problem by punching said goddess in the face so hard it temporarily killed her. at some point she also acquired the nickname Larry and we made all the appropriate three stooges jokes about it, don't you worry. Bonus Blorbo: in the first arc we picked up a funny little grain alcohol demon who looked like if a cabbage patch doll was an actual baby-shaped root vegetable. we named him Hops and fed him illegally acquired beer. he was our mascot and team pet and beloved child, and sometimes my husband's character, a son of Dionsysus named Chuck Hickey, would throw him like a football at enemies and use him like an Entangle spell. other times he'd just carry him around in a baby björn. both activities were excellent enrichment for Hops.

and that's it! thank you for reading and please enjoy my blog!

#ttrpg stories #dnd stories #writblr #writblr intro #introduction post #writeblr #writeblr intro

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lover-of-mine · 6 months

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Comfort character tag game

Rules: list your top 5 comfort characters and include a gif of each!

I was tagged by @wikiangela @giddyupbuck @aspecbuddie @steadfastsaturnsrings thank you <333333

In no particular order:

Stiles Stilinski absolute love of my life

Evan "Buck" Buckley my baby boy light of my life my disaster child 🫶🫶

Robin Buckey for whom I'm ready to give up everything for

My wife Clarke Griffin

and Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker who is everything to me

(if you notice a pattern of disaster queer people who never had a day of comfort in their life no you didn't)

I don't know who has done this yet, but no pressure tagging 💜@chamaleonsoul @ijustdontlikepeople @caramelcalum @ilostyou @pxrxmoore @buck2eddie @vampbuckley @buckleyseddie

#i mean andrew wanted his peter to be bi #theres no way stiles and buck are not some flavor of fruity oskasaosk #but yeah #me? having a type? why would you say that?#tag game

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absolutebl · 1 year

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My Top 10 BLs of 2022

I also chose 22 runners up for 22, but the top 10 includes reviews etc.. These are IN ORDER, which means I made it really hard on myself. Ready?

1. Semantic Error (Korea Viki)

The only 2022 BL that earned a 10/10. Korean hits peak KBL and lucked into killer chemistry. It’s a deadly combination. Sexy older boy discovers pouty younger boy has outed him as a slacker, starts out bullying him, accidentally falls madly in love instead. Korea hits it entirely out of the Parks by doing a university BL with everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. Korea's signature quality executed perfectly with added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full squee here.

All three of these next three actually hold the #2 spot in my heart depending on how I feel that day.

2. Old Fashion Cupcake (Japan Viki)

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits. 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 boss 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 a stunningly filmed late-in-life coming of age/queerness story packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity, love, and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review.

3. Minato's Laundromat (Japan Gaga)

AKA Minato Coin Laundry AKA Wash My Heart! AKA Minato Shouji Koin Randorii AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry

A classic age gap romance where a high school student pursues the man of his dreams (who runs a laundromat). This BL is so steeped in yaoi tropes and archetypes, not to mention a typical romance arc, that it will overload some, but those of who love this genre for its DNA will adore it. It made me very happy because it did everything I want a BL to do - there’s not much more I could ask of a BL than this. It’s the closest Japan has come to perfect live action yaoi since Seven Days (and I never make that comparison lightly). Squee watch-along here.

4. Takara & Amagi (Japan Gaga & Viki)

AKA Takara-kun and Amagi-kun AKA Takara-kun to Amagi-kun

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must learn 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, thirst, & yearning. 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.

5. Cherry Blossoms After Winter (Korea Viki)

Korea took on early Japanese sweet yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production 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 this show. 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.

6. Bad Buddy (Thailand YouTube)

This was GMMTV’s flagship BL and it 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 & Romeo masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Some of the friendship and family dynamics are overworked, but it has great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes. Full review.

7. Blueming (Korea iQIYI)

It’s a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love for BL, but if you want your mind ever-so-slightly messed with and your intimacy hellishly sweet, this BL will do it for you in a coldly distant manner, while bitch slapping you with self worth issues. I wasn’t into it at first, but the leads are solid and by ep 5 it got really good, becoming a narrative about self discovery meets understanding and accepting others people’s flaws without hurting them. Ultimately we witnessed two characters maturing because of each other and their mutual affection, without that affection becoming 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 for Korea, Blueming included decent kisses and other forms of intimacy and a satisfying ending plus there’s judicious and very elegant use of tropes, this is a great BL. Full review.

8. My Ride (Thailand Gaga)

Thai BL grew up with this pulp (the first ever to make my end of year top 10). It’s a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine (AKA a cinnamon roll couple) plus mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede, the story, 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. Full review.

9. Not Me (Thailand YouTube)

GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring the biggest guns of BL, OffGun and THIS WAS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience at the time - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? It certainly has a lot of BL elements, but in the end romance was not what this show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be as a performance piece. Still a remarkable moment in Thai cinema, certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily. Full review.

10. My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Gaga)

From the producers of We Best Love, earnest dentist hottie with sad eyes who worries too much is smitten by an adorable sunshine neurotic bar owner with serious anxiety issues. They fall madly 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 crumbs = 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 solid 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, even though it did a good job with them. And while the crumbs and sides were v adorable they were 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.)

Absolute BL 2, like ABL1 is technically unrated since I consider them mockudramas not true BL. But both are greatly beloved by me and deserve a mention.

22 Runners Up for 2022

DNA Says Love You (Taiwan)

Cutie Pie (Thailand)

About Youth (Taiwan)

Choco Milk Shake (Korea)

The Eclipse (Thai)

Tinted With You (Korea)

Roommates of Poongduck 304 (Korea)

Plus and Minus (Taiwan)

Oh! Boarding House (Korea)

What Zabb Man! (Thai)

Vice Versa (Thai)

Love Stage!! (Thai)

Love Class (Korea)

Ocean Likes Me (Korea)

Cherry Magic the movie (Japan)

Behind Cut (Korea)

Star in My Mind (Thai)

Mr Cinderella (Vietnam)

Mr. Unlucky Can Only Kiss (Japan)

Happy Ending Romance (Korea)

My Only 12% (Thai)

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Your Soul (Thai)

Just a note my average rating for all BLs each year (6/10) - over the years I have been watching the mean has not changed. So for me, at least, Asia continues to produce about the same amounts of beloved, average, and crap. In other words: more BL this year (by a lot) has meant that there is more BL I love (and give high ratings too), but it also means there is more BL I dislike (and give low scores to).

Streaming Platforms

The platform that hosted the most of my top rated 32 shows was, actually, YouTube with 10. Viki was a close second with 9, equal if you add in ABL2. It was Choco Milk Shake that made the difference (a KBL on YT? cray cray).

Gaga scooped (or shared with Viki) many of my top 10 favorite BLs though, so whoever selects and curates over there shares my taste.

Still, official recommendation as of 2022 is that if you only choose one streaming service to pay for? Viki is the best subscription platform for new BL. However, if you can get it there with ads, and really are strapped for cash? Go for Gaga.

(source)

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moonlightsapphic · 2 years

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Y'all aren't ready for this storytime.

So in 9th grade, one of the loudest girls in our class fixated on making me her latest project. At the time, I was still learning to cope with (undiagnosed) selective mutism and was the weirdo in the class. S thought I was chill, and I just needed to socialise a little more: interact, take pictures with people, wear makeup.

As the months passed, we became really close. S was a bit of a disaster: Her family wasn't the most stable, and neither was her mental health. She was conventionally very pretty—curvy with silky waves dyed caramel, sharp facial features and confident poisture. She was a bit outspoken and active for the liking of most guys in our conservative south Asian small town, but just pretty and charismatic and elusive and ✨ deep ✨ enough (even as a teen) for men to overlook that and try to slide into her dms and such. S spent her teen years jumping from toxic relationship to toxic relationship—fortunately with people our own age only.

She was just the type to reel in my chronic empath, neurodivergent ass as well. I loved pleasing S, impressing her, hanging out with her, being vulnerable together, comforting her. She was one of the only people that could keep up with my hyperactive texting, and despite our big differences, we had enough common interests to have something to talk about nearly 24/7.

(Looking back, I can definitely see some neurodivergent traits in her as well.)

When I was deeply crushing on this dumb dude that I thought was the coolest because he played guitar, was good at math and expressed feelings™️ well, I was pretty private about it. S literally emotionally coaxed me into telling her the truth. We were up late texting; she was—unsurprisingly—pretty down and I was keeping her company. She asked, “You know, I consider you to be my closest friend, though I don‘t say it a lot ... Will you tell me the truth? Do you like him?” If I‘d read that in a book, I'd be sure there was some romantic tension between these two characters.

When I had my first weirdly-sexual gay dream at seventeen, I was alone in her room with S later that day and hyperventilating. I was already in a very monogamous (and boring, in restrospect) relationship with that same dude and very happy about it, but that moment truly was the first step in my bi awakening. (It was probably inspired by some of my favourite public figures of the time, like dodie, coming out and talking extensively about it.)

I distinctly remember this one night when my boyfriend (spoiler alert: he’s trash) had been mean and made me cry. I was scared he would break up with me in the morning over this one tiny little mistake I’d made. S stayed up with me all night, and by daybreak I felt a flicker of feelings deep inside, of possibilities.

Unfortunately, as we neared 12th grade graduation, S began to get more conservative. She started to put her religious beliefs above any and all personal principles she once had. Ergo, queer people are sinners and also women should cover up and listen to men plus the country should become a fully "Islamic state" and get rid of all other religious minorities to achieve doubtless true utopia.

Uhhh … yeah.

Incidentally, she seemed unworried about following the same rules herself—her “faith” really shone when she was telling other people what to do, or being bigoted against a certain (religious, racial, ethnic, queer, et cetera) minority group she herself didn’t identify with. It was really just an excuse to feed her ego, perhaps a coping mechanism even, and it was hypocritical.

Let me make it clear here that the beliefs she kept citing are mainly a very specific set of interpretations of Islamic scripture that’ve come to be widely taught in our region at this moment in time. They by no means reflect the beliefs of all Muslims (and, in this case, were very informed by the bigotry of the cis-heterosexual, perverted, greedy old men who historically created these rules to maintain their power). S here absolutely is not a representation of the lifestyle and disposition of every practicing Muslim person.

ANYWAY, she began to make remarks about me posting LGBTQ+ positivity content on my social media, or feminism of the brand she didn't like. In my conflicts with shitty dudes from school, she would only support me if her ~ beliefs ~ allowed it. Additionally, she’d always been pretty emotionally volatile, but it had gotten worse since graduating school—She would get mad or upset with me now for being absent, insensitive, et cetera, asking for reassurance but in intense defensive attack mode. It was behaviour I never encountered from any other platonic friend.

As you can see, S wasn't very good at maintaining boundaries, or being open to other points of view. Her negative approach to many things in life often rubbed off on me as well.

With time and growth I found more friends who were like-minded to myself, whom I didn't have to tiptoe around lest I offend them or set them off, who were far more loyal to me. I’m a sensitive person—and I found a warmer community, much better for my mental health. So in our twenties, S and I organically drifted apart.

When I (finally!) dumped my shitty boyfriend (he’d turned extremely sour over time because he hated that I’d grown a backbone), and began happily dating a woman that I was very much in love with at the end of the year, I realised that having friends who support my queer identity is non-negotiable to me now. Just interacting with the queerphobes from grade school hugely triggered me, and I decided I no longer needed to carefully maintain niceties with them.

And it would all have ended there, except S wasn’t having it. We had drifted apart a while ago, but as soon as she saw that I was posting a bunch of pictures with my girlfriend, she began spreading rumours trying to out the both of us.

(Mind you, we weren’t out to anyone yet at the time. S was purely speculating, but she was spot on—I just couldn’t really figure out why this was the thing she decided to fixate on.)

And then, as if she thought I would forgive her straightaway for attempting to out me, she started hitting me up in my dms every few months demanding I give her an explanation for why I abandoned her. Each time, I patiently told S it wasn’t intentional and I had had mental health troubles. (Namely, ADHD, which she herself had once convinced me was impossible.) If she truly wanted us to keep up with each other, she could just reply to my stories in good humour and ask me how I’m doing instead of repeatedly villainizing me out of the blue. (I never brought up the outing thing, or anything queer-related at all. I didn’t want to give her any more leverage than the bits and pieces of evidence she had dug up herself, conspiracy-style.) However, that would only keep her away temporarily.

Not going to lie, the way she kept coming back to gaslight me into taking her back was an exact copy of what my ex-boyfriend had done for months. It was hilarious, and tragic.

… And (I realised later) kind of gay??

She’s been in a relationship with a really docile (*cough* ball-less) dude who agrees with all her conservative principles since 12th grade. (Honestly, good for them, they deserve each other.) I don’t think S has ever had feelings for me as much as she simply felt possessive of me. She regards it as betrayal that I am happily out and queer, and she can’t tolerate that some other girl has replaced her as my one true ✨ gal pal ✨. She's jealous, but it's hard for me to believe her jealousy is purely platonic. It's like she wanted us to be a pair of suffering queers-in-denial sacrificing ourselves for neurotypical comphet society together, hand in hand, forever. For the greater good.

How romantic.

I noticed a few weeks ago that she's finally removed me from all her social media—around the same exact time that my ex-boyfriend (whom I haven’t spoken to in years) blocked me.

Ah, two breakups that I initiated years ago coming back uninvited, for attention that I literally have zero interest in providing.

So bringing back this post:

Reading this was like a major brain go brrr moment to me, because I was like ??? That’s a queer thing??? No way???

And then I read through the comments and saw that every single sapphic person was like “uhhh yep we never dated though good riddance,” or “ugh yes and we ended up dating and it was so toxic we broke up soon after good riddance”.

For the first time in my life, I actually considered that S might not have been a straight queerphobe, but an incredibly suppressed dumpster fire of a queer person with extreme internalized homophobia.

And … it all fits.

She's always been sultry and glamorous in a distinctly sapphic way; I just never was able to exactly put my finger on it. (In high school, sometimes I'd look her up and down and go whoa.) I can totally imagine a parallel universe in which we forget men and attempt to date each other instead. After the first few months of euphoria, she’d probably get us into an anxious-avoidant trap the same way my ex did. She’d cheat on me with a man because of her internalised homophobia, then dump me and come back crying to gaslight me a dozen times. It would take me much longer to get rid of her than it did to get rid of my dumb man ex—because ✨ shared queer trauma ✨.

I really, really dodged a bullet with that one. My girlfriend is the most wonderful, soft, and nurturing person I know, and she is my soulmate in more ways than one. I am very happy, and this is your PSA to not just date the one other queer person in your vicinity when you know you aren't good for each other. Be like me—run.

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