Behold dear mutuals, and non-mutuals. This is my little late Christmas present for you all. It’s been around 1.5 years I have entered the world of BLs and never once looked back. This is a little map of recommendations of sorts for people new to this media. It’s completely based off vibes rather than specific plots and tropes, I did not feel like revealing too much information about the shows. It mostly links the vibes of one of the western shows you may have followed and gives you an inventory of many BLs that you may enjoy. I could bet money on the fact you may end up loving most of these shows MORE than the original reference, but we shall see.
This is not to say I am comparing the two in a sense that BLs need to connect and relate to western media to be consumed, but I have found a profound lack of people trying to give this side a chance (most being my beloved spn family) and thought to create something that may help bridge the gap.
Of course, the seasoned BL watchers are also welcome to check out the recs and yap with me. And give me more recs!!
Better quality and editable versions below:
PDF LINK:
Adobe Acrobat
GOODNOTES LINK:
Goodnotes app
DISCLAIMER: the shows I have highlighted here just show a few interesting examples of that “vibe”, I don’t necessarily claim they are the best ones or that I personally love and recommend all of them (the ones I love the best are ofc marked with a heart hehe). Point is, don’t come and fight me on what goes where, this is a lighthearted passion project and doesn’t need serious tight boundary definitions.
I am attaching a free pdf as well as Goodnotes links, so you can edit and share this map as much as you want as long as you mention and give me credit for the origins. Let’s please have fun with this, MAKE LOVE NOT WAR :)
This was kind of inspired by the very famous “them gay shows” chart by the dearest @uweiy . I hope you like it senpai <3
Anywhoo, I LOVED making this. And I would like to yap a bit more about my favourites here hehehe. The rest of them, do your own research.
(very looooooooong post coming down don't get jumpscared)
A) Stuff that helped me /heal/ from spn trauma
Untamed: My beloved first long-ass Chinese drama that I will never shut up about. Sit through the first few episodes and let Wei Wuxian’s charm drive you through the rest. It is one hell of a beauty, and despite Chinese censorship it shines. Really tells you a LOT about when the intent is honest you WILL see the results. It wont take you ten minutes to figure out wwx is dean-coded and it will only be the beginning - just this once there will be peace when you’re done. TRUST ME ON THIS, this show will change your life. The story is adapted from a novel “MDZS (Mo Dao Zu Shi)” and you can read it, watch a animated series on it, and also listen (and read the translation) to the audio drama. This gift keeps giving. Oh andwwxhasaselflubricatingholeinthenovelbye.
Heaven Official’s Blessings: MY SHAYLAAAA . Better known as TGCF, this is better as a book since the animation (donghua) is not complete. All I will say is that Xie Lian (the white dude) is both 1000x happier than Castiel and 1000x more miserable - imagine a homeless S9 cas being made to walk the earth for 800 years that is tgcf for you. The sum total remains quite fluffy and wholesome, but the book comes with its own horrors. It is all worth it in the end, because you will see your cas coded character smile and live and love. You also get the biggest simp in history of simps in return, aka Hua Cheng. Once you know them both, you will fight for them with your lives.
B) The Heartstopper-eq Charm
One of my favourite things in the world to watch is HS and not a single person ever came close to the sincerity and love of telling queer stories the way Alice Oseman does. And then I found thee Aof Nopparnach (nicknamed Paof). In this genre, my favourite work of his is
Bad Buddy: The ultimate enemies to lovers, dubbed as a modern day Romeo-Juliet styles drama set in university background (nobody dies here). The performances are stellar, and still talked about to this date. The show carries a lot of heart - you’ll laugh and cry and smile like crazy. Also, being a Thai BL, you won’t be looking at a closet crisis at all.
C) The Quarter-Life Crisis Drug
For anyone stuck in a rut, feeling like a loser, having a work crisis every second day, or for someone unemployed and sulking in my bedroom like me right now, GO WATCH EACH OF THESE. LITERALLY. They will happily give you life. Insert Nick Nelson “I am recharging” GIF.
Cherry Magic: greenest of green flag star employee of the year has a CRUSH on the loser (don’t we all want to be Adachi). Adachi, bless the 30-yr virgin has gained mind reading powers and so he finds out aforementioned information. Watch chaos ensue, get second hand embarrassment and leave realising how much love has the power to make you believe in your worth. Oh and there’s three versions to watch: anime, JP drama, Thai drama.
Yuri On Ice: pretty much the ice skating version of cherry magic. One of the best things to grace the anime scene. I wont say too much about this, but once more it is super wholesome and you’ll feel happy and alive.
His (2020): Enjoy Japan’s aesthetics along with a dose of an adorable kid, a near single dad and his reconciliation with his age old ex from high school. Bound to make you cry a little at least.
ATOTS (A Tale of a Thousand Stars) and Moonlight Chicken: Paof strikes again with two very heartfelt stories with middle-aged characters carrying mundane daily-life struggles. Watch them make space in their heart for love.
D) AO3 Live Action
Semantic Error: The ultimate enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, computer nerds, first kisses and everything you could find in a cozy little fic.
To My Star: the serenity of this grumppppy x puppppy will make you very happy.
E) CMBYN but not creepy
Remember how it felt to watch the beauty that is CMBYN and its cinematography. And then you looked at the age of Elio and Oliver and everything was ruined. This branch has some of thee most aesthetically pleasing BLs and a very emotional plot.
I told sunset about you (ITSAY): A coming of age romance and identity crisis in the backdrop of scenes that feel like paintings. It’ll remind you strongly of cmbyn aesthetics.
Secrets happened on the litchi island: closer in story to cmbyn, but the age gap makes more sense and the relationship progresses over a long time.
Your Name Engraved Herein: prepare tissues and prepare to cry buckets while watching this. It reminds me of 91whiskey a lot.
F) (for Fuck hehehe) The Explicits
Do not go here expecting green flags and sunshine. This is red all over everywhere.
Kinnporsche: This show left a legendary mark on not just Thai media but also worldwide. This was interestingly the entry point for a lot of people. I wouldn’t recommend it for beginners unless you’re an A grade freak. If this was a fic it would have every explicit rating ever (including ofc BDSM dynamics). There are three couples, (I know, wow, is this even real, yeah this is Thai BL world). Enjoy this under a blanket at night. Oh, and there will be a lot of ass.
Shine: the second show from the pair some people consider the BL daddies, this one takes you to the 1960s Thailand where gay = bad so we get not one but two forbidden romances against the backdrop of military resistance. Very “Fellow Travellers” coded.
Revenged Love: Another milestone as this was one of the pioneer uncensored explicitly queer drama from China, and rightfully made the waves all over the world. The show doesn’t belong to a single genre really, and it is a journey to watch it morph from one to another. There will be a multiple of snakes and schemes. And you’ll want to ship all leads into a polycule - know that everyone wants to, and the show comes very close to that.
G) Controversial.
If you have only ever heard of incest in fetishised contexts, these few shows may surprise you. They are all about step-brothers meeting at a later point in life (brothers by circumstance - like parent remarriage or rescue, not birth). They are some of the most emotionally rich shows I have ever watched, especially Unknown. Give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot of heart in this one.
The Only One: If you yearned for a realistic portrayal of school life, this show will hit right into your Asian heart. One of the very few, earnest portrayal of school life and teenage problems made worse by moving in with your parents new partner, and finding home in your step-brother for the first time in life. It’s delicious angst about choosing the comfort of your first abode vs addressing the brewing feelings between you. Um, also - only one season is out and we don’t know if there will be another (there might not). STILL, give it a watch. (I swear i am not sadistic here)
H) Fantasy
Something along the lines of supernatural and shadowhunters, some very majestic mythical worlds with gays.
Khemjira: Another top one of 2025, this show is all about the love at the end of the day. There’s ghosts and reincarnation and a very hot tsundere Shaman (go check him out right now, I urge you) but the real trope here is found family <3 Another show that will heal your spn heart, ask my buddy @butterflywithwritersblock about it hehe. To be noted, this show was SO GOOD that many people had the audacity to hate on it for being a boys love drama.
I) Fuck the System
If you are up for some excellent social commentary on real-life issues, current or of the past, go for this.
J) Representation beyond Queerness
Cross-sectional stories about disability, queerness, gender and society handled with utmost care and reverence. Some of the most emotional BLs out there.
Last Twilight: Paof strikes yet again. Can you tell I am obsessed with this guy. This one is about a man slowly losing his sight meets a man who desperately needs a job and takes up caretaking for him. It’s the softest piece of BL you’ll find.
See Your Love: brat mafia nepo baby meets deaf caretaker who doesn’t take shit from him, but makes him feel seen for the first time in life. They both become each others safe space. Bonus A+ supportive parents that make you cry. 10/10 no notes. My wifey @kwannie-lix would approve.
DNA Says Love You: SUPER UNDERRATED BL. Cannot reveal too much but PLEASE give it a try. It’s a unique story in the land of gay romance and you’ll smell what I mean by a few episodes in.
K) Self explanatory. Not my juice. Angst lovers go attack.
L) Humour
ME AND THEE: the best thing that happened to me this year and possibly the most wholesome show in existence. ITS MY CURRENT HYPERFIXATION. Watch. Excellent buildup, chemistry, humour, beautiful performances. It’s your y/n meets CEO fantasy BUT not the way you may imagine. It’s arguably one of the healthiest relations within this sphere. COMMUNICATION, BOUNDARIES AND CONSENT. There’s also a novel for you to read if you like the show.
A HUGE addition to the J section of this map by the way...
LOVE YOU TEACHER
A story of how Solar, a primary school teacher goes through age regression after an accident and keeps switching between his seven-year old self and adult self, and how he and his long time partner Pobmek deal with it. One of the best things I've seen in recent times and arguably the most conscious and beautiful show made my gmmtv. I cannot recommend this enough. Trigger warnings for parental trauma though, this show will definitely make you cry if you are prone to get emotional over fictional characters... It deals with a heavy topic, but never gets graphic with it... The show is bright bubbly and colorful, but most importantly it is about Hope and Care and Community. I'll bet everything that you will love it so much 🥹🥹🥹🥹
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grace is just like me because if I discovered aliens that didn't have genders like humans and I got to name them and pick their english pronouns I'd make them gay too
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i’m really sorry about my behavior. you see, growing up, my family- *remembers blaming all my problems on other people is really annoying and unhealthy* i mean. i am responsible for all the evils of this world and i bear sins like the sky bears the stars
I need more Ilya out freaking other players when they chirp about his relationship. Some hockey player says "you're just Hollander's little bitch" and he answers "yes we have leash and collar with my name" in such a straight face no one can tell if it's a joke or if he's serious. Or he makes a goal and someone says "does he reward you for being good later" and he says "yeah I'm only allowed to cum when I score".
I mght actually end up writing this if I can figure out better/more examples.
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the wisdom ive learnt is that becoming part of a friend group 1) takes a long time and 2) involves a lot of feeling awkward and left out at first. there’s nothing terrible about this but if you grew up chronically lonely or have any kind of trauma relating to social isolation this likely feels Really Wrong and activates danger signals. but both fortunately and unfortunately it’s just how becoming close to new people works most of the time
another thing that was not intuitive to me as someone who grew up an autistic loner: basically everyone on the planet is starved for connection all the time and almost everything people do is an attempt to reach out to another. most seemingly illogical interactions and behaviours can be explained by this. you have to take as many of these invitations as you can. even if you're wrong you still attempted to bring more warmth into the world
im sure if i move far away from home to somewhere no one knows me my whole personality will suddenly change and everyone will love me and everything will be better im sure im sure im sure
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"Halloween adults are just as bad as disney adults" "Furries are worse than disney adults"
I gotta be real, I thought we were critical of disney adults for aggressive loyalty to a really gross mega-corporation, or refusal to engage with media that isn't for kids, not because people... have hobbies?
