Pandasmagorica @pandasmagorica - Tumblr Blog

Intro/tracking post

Last updated August 9, 2026.

Older queer white cis dude in California, pronoun he.

Love music.

Enjoy QL, mostly Thai, mostly series. To be honest, as you'll be able to tell by my show list, almost entirely BL with only the rare GL. (But if they start getting as good as ClaireBell was, I'll likely be watching more.) Also watch the occasional KDrama.

Here to read and comment on posts. Lack of posting does not represent non-engagment with a series. Reblogging represents engagement, not (necessarily) agreement with a post. Non-reblogging may (or may not) reflect an accessibility issue with the original post or that there is some other reason I don't want it on my blog (even if I like or agree with it).

If a series puts me off in the first episode, I will often abandon it, sometimes within the first few minutes. I'm less likely to abandon midway. If I'm considering abandoning a series I've otherwise liked up to that point, I'll often read the reviews on MDL or look up posts on the series, at risk of getting spoilers, to decide whether to go on with it (and it's gone both ways).

Not a fan of spoilers, but recognize it as a risk of engaging so I don't (usually) spoiler-shame. Please don't put them in comments to me, if you would be so kind.

Okay with sad endings if they're earned or otherwise inevitable. Not a fan of unearned endings, happy or sad.

Incomplete watchlist (which I will update from time to time):

In progress - active/pending

Binge watch: Burnout Syndrome (active), Goddess Bless You From Death (on deck), Wu (pause), Revamp (maybe)

Week by week watch: The Edge of Horizon, Mr. Kill

Top Shows (in order as best I can, ask me on another day and stuff might move):

Until We Meet Again and everything I like better than Until We Meet Again. Expands as needed.

Not Me (best QL series ever for plot, acting, cinematography, and music, content warning for violence) (1 rewatch)

Bad Buddy (lots of fun, new discoveries on every re-watch) (3 rewatches)

Knock Knock, Boys (episode 1 notes with mature content) (episode 3-6 notes without) (sex positive romantic comedy)

He's Coming to Me (heartwarming, delightful coming-of-age work. I didn't care for the library raid part and skipped it once on rewatch and there seemed to me to be some inconsistencies with the ghost rules.) (3 rewatches)

Laws of Attraction (review to come someday, maybe)

The Lie We Lived In (tag link) (hitman botches job when he gets the feels for a cop that shows up mid-job) (content warning for violence)

Cherry Magic (Japanese version, delightful, looking forward to the Thai remake if they ever settle the rights issues) (1 re-watch)

To Sir With Love (could get me to try lakorns)

Semantic Error (enemies to lovers comedy that hits all the right notes)

A Tale of a Thousand Stars (fine series, not sure why I haven't rewatched it, need to rewatch after Our Skyy 2)

55:15 Never Too Late (not QL but has a QL subplot, notable for having an older semi-out gay character, bittersweet ending) (1 rewatch)

Gaya Sa Pelicula (Like in the Movies) (odd couple thrown together, fall in love, hit limits)

Eternal Yesterday (rewatch episode notes) (not usually into high school QL but the plot got me and it blew me away, achingly sad throughout) (2 re-watches)

Wooju Bakery (tag link) (spaceship crash lands into an about to open bakery, chaos ensues, also romance - insanely funny with an emphasis on "insane," provided many needed hearty laughs throughout, don't bring your brain, but I absolutely loved it)

Until We Meet Again (fine contrast between the ghosts of the past and the world of today, deep story, but has a few problematic scenes that I cringe at, theme music got repetitive; content warning for suicide) (2 or 3 rewatches)

Much as I love them, I don't automatically recommend every one of them to everyone. The right rec for the right person!

In progress - on hold

The Eighth Sense (I might get to this eventually, but probably not)

Cherry Magic (Thai) (on long-term hold pending resolution of rights issues - not holding out much hope, though)

Considering

Okay, this is a really long list and keeps getting longer and I'm probably not going to watch all of them, but a fan's gotta dream, right?

Although I Love You, and You?

Awaiting Dawn

Blueming

Boys Be Brave

The Day I Loved You

Deep Night

The Eclipse

For the Boys

Got My Eyes on You

Happenstance

Khemjira (iQIYI binge)

Living With Him

Love in Moonlight

Mama Gogo

Midnight Motel

My Stand-In (iQIYI binge)

My Strawberry Film

Old Fashioned Cupcake

Oh! Boarding House

1000 Years Old

Our Youth

The Player

Pluto

Reset (iQIYI binge)

Revamp

See Your Love

Shadow (although probably not)

Stay Still

Stuck on You

Stupid Boys Stupid Love

That Summer

Therapy Game

Tokyo in April Is...

Vian

Also Completed:

A Cut Above (in alphabetical order):

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Burnout Syndrome, episode 4

This series is seriously witty in a serious way. I continue to be impressed with it. And to squirm.

Good to see AJ getting more mature roles. Hard to believe he's only 25 in this one. And that messy look wears well on him. I suspect he can handle a lead role.

#pandasmagorica #yaoi #thai ql #thai bl #burnout syndrome the series

mewsthumbring

some more thoughts about phob and tin:

“tin chose phob over everything else in his life, while phob chose his dream of an equal society over tin”. it sounds so simple if we put it like that, so clear cut. black and white.

during the years they were apart, tin was basically sleepwalking through life. he did what he was told, attended the parties he was told to attend. he had no sense of purpose in his life. and then phob returned, and he gave him a purpose: being together. so tin is ready to give up his family, his access to wealth, and his job, but what is he actually giving up? a brother who is violent and erratic, a father who’s love has always come at a cost, and one very sweet grandmother. a job he doesn’t like and doesn’t care about. as for the wealth, he has no real sense of what it means to give that up. he’s never been without it, he doesn’t actually understand the reality of it. and let’s be clear: he’s not running away with phob the servant; he’s running away with phob the military captain, who's rented him a big beautiful house with a garden for them to plant cotton roses. he’s leaving the palace for a house bigger than most people’s houses.

what about phob? phob grew up in servitude. even though he had a certain level of privilege because he was granted access to education (granted being the key word here) and was, for a time, treated well, he was still kneeling on the floor next to the royals' chairs, always reminded of his place. he’s been beaten by vasin, attacked with a knife, he’s seen people starving. he actually knows what it means to struggle, and that some people struggle their whole lives while some are sheltered from all of it. his intimate knowledge of unequality means that he has long had a sense of purpose in his life. his education abroad, his career, all of it has meaning to him because it is all in service of his desire to bring equality to his people and to himself be seen as an equal. and of course part of that, at the core, comes from his desire to specifically be seen as equal to tin, but his sense of purpose goes well beyond his relationship with tin.

phob’s greatest sense of purpose comes from his desire for equality, so he chose the revolution. the only thing in tin’s life that gives him a sense of purpose is phob, so he chose phob.

mewsthumbring

Phob didn’t sacrifice Tin for the greater good. Tin was not captured, he wasn’t exiled, he wasn’t harmed. What Phob sacrificed was Tin’s love. Tin’s love, the most precious thing in the world to him, and his greatest source of joy. Phob sacrificed his own happiness.

ks-jins

THE PHOB SLANDER NEEDS TO END

I need people to understand that Tinn feeling betrayed and ending things between him and Phob doesn't mean what Phob did was wrong. The Phob slander I keep seeing is sad because I feel like some people watching the show don't understand the gravity of the decision he made to be a part of this revolution. For a better Siam, for a constitution that benefits all, where people who don't live as nobility have a voice, for change for all.

Tinn may feel used and that is valid because Phob did use their relationship to his advantage (reluctantly) though honestly I feel like the info he did get from Tinn wasn't what helped move the revolution forward though. Anyway, Tinn's feelings are valid but I do think though the tables have turned against the royal families, Tinn will come to understand what Phob did.

It makes me sad when people say he doesn't deserve Tinnakorn and they shouldn't end up together because why would you ever not want two people so irrevocably in love to get their happy ending? What makes Phob unworthy of Tinnakorn, because he was willing to put first the greater good for the people of his country to benefit not just them but himself and free Tinn also from the expectations of his family, so that their love could flourish?

Phob's mother's reaction irks me to no end, because she has never not chosen the royal family over her son, likening him to less because of their status. What Phob has done was to eliminate exactly that kind of system. I understand she is grateful to the royal family for all they did for them and I'll admit they were very kind to them, financing Phob's education (though isn't it exactly this kind of system that prevented him from being able to get an education without royal intervention in the first place?) and encouraging the friendship between the two, the grandma was even fine with their relationship if only to see her grandson happy. And Phob has never been ungrateful to them. He appreciates it all but look at Chat. Embezzling and misappropriating Ministry funds; for people's salaries and pensions. The people on the street with little to no food. If you had the opportunity to exact change that benefitted the many over the few, is that not a noble cause?

I just needed to vent a bit because the Phob slander has been getting to me. In conclusion, Phob's actions are valid and so are Tinn's feelings and I hope these two make it back to each other sooner rather than later. They suffered enough with an 11 year separation.

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That moment when you see you made it to page 24 of the Mr Kill posts.

#pandasmagorica #mr kill

befuddledcinnamonroll

Theory time!

This episode made me a bit more sus of Nop, even though he was barely in it.

Because I very much believe there is a cop involved. And considering Phat's motivation and timeline in becoming a cop, it wouldn't be surprising if another child hurt by the huge scandal also ended up becoming a cop - but maybe with slightly different motivation.

(Also with Kim dying, that strongly indicates someone who has access on the inside, so whether it's Nop or not, I'm putting money on a cop).

But back to my point, Nop did something a bit strange this episode, which was call his suspended boss to come to the crime scene.

Now it could have just been a "we need our main characters to witness this for story reasons". But so far what we've been seeing in this story has been more thought out than that.

This is a major crime scene where you would 100% expect the new man in charge to show up and chase Phat away - and he did.

So why did Nop want Phat there in the first place? What did he need to see in person that he couldn't read in a report afterwards? Wouldn't Nop have the wherewithal to know it could look bad for Phat depending on who came? Phat's already slipping in his emotional control, he publicly attacked a reporter who baited him, and the new boss has already shown a propensity for poking at Phat.

Of course, if Phat has actually proven himself effective at getting close, that's one way to make sure he keeps in trouble and off the case.

But also! Stay with me here - there's clearly an admiration for Kaye's work throughout these crimes. There's a deep attention to detail. You could say it's an attempt to frame him, but if that was the case they could try to lure him close to the scene of a murder as it's happening. For a frame up job, they really don't seem to care where Kaye is or what he's doing. This reads much more as appreciation.

Kaye essentially masterminded these crimes, just in fictional form. And Kim was clearly worshipful of him because of that. Because he took their pain and formed a plan for revenge out of it.

What if Kim wasn't the only one. What if Nop wanted Kaye to come to the crime scene, to see how perfectly he had enacted the scene? To see all the little details, to appreciate how masterfully yet another piece of revenge had been completed?

All that to say, current theory - Nop is our top killer. I don't think Thun is involved in the killing, but I am currently theorizing that Nop is an informant for him, and using him (without Thun fully realizing it) to provoke Phat and lead Kaye where he wants him.

pandasmagorica

I suspect Kitti, but thank you for the interesting take.

As a side question, Nop asked Phat to come, how would he know K would come as well?

(And it's not a great idea to bring K along on cop stuff. Just saying.)

#mr kill #mr kill the series

Burnout Syndrome, episode 3

"You're sleeping with me. Get in bed."

OMFG. No notes.

#pandasmagorica #yaoi #thai ql #thai bl #burnout syndrome the series

Mr. Kill, thoughts before watching episode 6

So in episode 5, K and Phat's sister Praew visit the alleged killer in prison. When Phat finds out, he blows up at K, saying K wants the killings to go on, and calls Praew a brat.

Why does Phat do that?

As always, I am presuming intentionality on the part of the writers. Even though they missed that there would likely be backups of all of Mr. Kill's manga files at the web host.

I can think of a few possible reasons Phat would say what he said:

Phat's boss wants the case to be closed, and Phat fears for his job.

Phat fears for his sister's safety, not wanting her to be sucked in to K's train of thought.

Phat fears that someone will take up the killings and is projecting his fears onto K.

We'll see if any of these come out. Along with K and Praew, I'm betting the killings are not over. Else there would be no need for ten episodes. We are not going to get 5 episodes of trial.

I do think the alleged killer is the actual killer. I do think he acted alone. But he is considered a hero to many and it's not a stretch to expect someone else to take over the killings.

(Update after watching: So it looks like I was wrong about Kim acting alone.)

#pandasmagorica #bromance #mr kill #thai bromance

pandasmagorica

The Edge of Horizon, episode 8

I'm seeing people commenting that Tinn is being self centered by saying that the revolution's success is his fault. I would have thought that except for the post that laid out Tinn knew Phob was in on the plot and chose to keep silent, and Phob knew Tinn knew and chose to not do anything about that. So yeah, he did in fact play a role in the coup being successful. (I'll never be able to find and don't remember who posted it and just discovered that my "#pandasmagorica bookmarks" tag only turns up for searches where I used it in my original post and not when I'm reblogging a post, I'm not sub blogging you whoever you are really.)

My one beef with the episode is that Siri seemed a little too ready to accept Jan's assurances. I know she's whipped for Jan, but still, it's upheaval, she'd be right to be worried.

I'm okay with Tinn mostly being a wimp. He wasn't a wimp where it counted - setting limits with Phob. I do want them back together, but they need to work for it.

And we have three episodes left.

Just hoping we don't have to wait a month after the next to last episode like we did with The Sign.

fluffy13-4

Hi! You may be looking for this post by @nocturnalsoph?

💬 0 🔁 10 ❤️ 40 · Oh, episode 6 completely broke me. Tin 100% knows what Phob is up to, and he’s consciously choosing not to back him into

pandasmagorica

Yes, that's it! Thank you!

And based on his apologies in episode 9, I'm expecting Tinn to eventually confess to his father that Tinn knew Phob was involved and saw the info about the king's whereabouts. This is a lakorn, after all.

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Burnout Syndrome, episode 2

Wait, why is Jira walking around the penthouse with his shoes on? I thought that was taboo in Thailand.

Damn, this series is full of AI angst!

Not much to say about this but it has me squirming in a good way.

#pandasmagorica #yaoi #thai ql #thai bl #burnout syndrome the series

absolutebl

Hi phi. If you dont mind me asking, what are your thoughts/observations about the current gl landscape? Do you observe trends? Do you have predictions, if any? Thanks phi!

Sadly I just don't have the time to watch GL as much as BL.

I do know some GL pairs are getting the biggest sponsor deals and winning major awards, so it is definitely up and coming. I don't think it has peaked yet, so there's more good stuff to come. But I doubt it will ever be as high in quantity (or, sadly, quality) of production (or reach) as BL.

I think it needs some break-out major hits to even really enter the zeitgeist, like we had with Khemjira and Me and Thee recently. Or with SOTUS back in the day.

GL has an audience problem, just like Sapphic lit, and it's a numbers game. I don't know if GL could ever give BL a real run for it's money (in any sense of that phrase). Not that this is a competition. (Except that when financing film, it kinda IS a competition, there are limited production resources.)

Anygay, I blogged about it here.

pandasmagorica

I would have expected ClaireBell to be that breakout as it was so good. As is the Filipino series Sleep With Me.

There's one in the recent Domundi previews that looks to be quite sophisticated. Can't remember the title.

absolutebl

I'm very shy, which is why I took this opportunity to say this: I think your blog was one of the first ones I followed back then (only three years ago!) when I started watching Asian BL dramas. I asked for recs and watched some of them... not all of them, sadly, because there's never enough time to watch everything one wants to watch. Some I loved and some didn't click with me, but thanks to that, I've come to learn my own tastes regarding tropes and characters.

Back then I had started with Japanese and Korean, and now, surprisingly, I've watched more Thai BL. It's been an interesting journey, and I love reading your final reviews, even though sometimes I enjoy a lot of the ones you don't even touch. I also really enjoy your longer posts about genre history and linguistics.

Sorry if I ramble lol

I suppose I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this blog, how helpful it is for newbies like I was once, and how refreshing it is to read an actual adult with very down to earth opinions regarding what happens in the BL fandom sphere 🫶🏽

Awe you are so very welcome, and I am delighted to have facilitated courage through anonymity!

Honestly thanks for writing, it really is nice to know that I'm not shouting into the hellpit here on the hellsite.

pandasmagorica

Image description: BL character saying "Everything is so mushy."

While you and I frequently have different tastes and just as frequently mesh, I have to echo anon's appreciation of your writing. Eventually I have learned to calibrate our opinions and regularly turn to you for guidance on what to seek out and what to pass on. Thank you for your work.

#kudos

junglejim4322

I live a very balanced life of noticing things nobody else does and not noticing the things that literally everybody notices

bioluminescent-fungus

affirmations when opening a stuck jar:

I am stronger than the jar

⁠⁠I know what left and right are

⁠⁠smashing the jar will make a mess

⁠⁠I have strong and dextrous hands

⁠⁠I have opened jars before and I will open jars again

pandasmagorica

If it's a metal lid, pouring hot water on the lid will expand it and let you open the jar more easily.

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Burnout Syndrome, episode 1

I forgot Nuchy directed this one. Looking forward to it!

1 [3/4] 3:50 Jira is being pressured to eat a rare steak. He's not okay with that. I wouldn't be either, although many would be. But it's so hard to watch. I don't normally fast forward through or skip scenes but I might have to skip this one. Obvs consent is not assumed here. Yup, skipped to the end where Jira starts screaming at him.

Strange that I don't skip past violent scenes - watching Mr. Kill ongoing right now - but can't bear to watch someone trying to force his escort to eat a rare steak.

Anyway, interesting and I'm engaged and seated for future episodes.

#pandasmagorica #yaoi #thai ql #thai bl #burnout syndrome the series

Too many riches

Just discovered multiple series that were exclusive to iQiyi, which I don't want to subscribe to, are now unblocked for the US on YouTube. I can only binge one at a time, though.

Wu - I watched the first episode and was lukewarm on it. I will probably watch the others and come back to it.

Goddess Bless You From Death - On Change2561's (guessing they launched in 2018) channel. I thought this was going to be my first choice when I put Wu on pause, but then I discovered...

Burnout Syndrome - On GMMTV's channel. I think this might be first on my list, as I think it will be nasty fun.

There's also Khemjira, but the official Mandee Channel has only 4 episodes. There are other channels with all the episodes (BL Hearts and BLFLIX) but I'm thinking that those might be gray posts, and I want the creators to get the revenue, so I'll just leave the Mandee playlist open in a tab and see if the other eps ever show up. If anyone knows about BL Hearts or BLFLIX, please share.

(I seem to recall folx saying that Khemjira and Goddess cover similar territory and that Goddess is better.)

Also, looks like I can watch Revamp on the GMMTV channel, but episode 1 is missing. This looks like it might be in the process of disappearing - doesn't seem to have gone to Viki - but it's not on my priority list so I might just let it disappear without watching it. (Update: No, it's there, just oddly not on the playlist. Still, low priority, probably after Wu.)

Actually, it looks like a good strategy going forward might be to look for geoblocked playlists of iQiyi series, leave them open in a browser tab, and visit the tab now and then to see if the geoblock has been removed or is in the process of being removed. I caught Wu in the midst of the geoblock expiring episode by episode.

#pandasmagorica #yaoi #thai ql #thai bl #thai bromance #wu series #wu the series #khemjira #khemjira the series #burnout syndrome the series #goddess bless you from death #watch strategy #revamp the series

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