#saifahzon

And there’s this thing that happens when they get to express their crush out in the open. The joy just radiates! Yes, it’s partly just that they’re simps for their man, but for my queer heart there’s an extra layer I read into it. Cuz it’s not just about their man specifically. It’s the joy of being yourself out in the open, of letting your gay affections and effeminate disposition be free and unrestrained without shame.

So much of guilt occurs for queer folks around being ‘too much,’ and for queer folks socialized as boys, that ‘too much’ is around how expressive and emotional you’re allowed to be privately and publicly, especially regarding happiness, excitement, sadness, and affection (anger’s unfortunately chill though). Caring is for sissies. For these fruity semes, all of whom have a kind of masculine physical stature that more easily conceals (but not entirely) their effeminate dispositions to those not sensitive to it, confessing their feelings opens the flood gates to all the big loving feelings and gestures they’ve been repressing. They are given permission to be themselves. It’s more profound than just their love for the person.

Queer joy might be a cliche at this point, but I can’t think of a better phrase to describe what pours out of them. When they realize queer expression is a legitimate option, they can understand how they fit into the world without having to pretend. The communication of their love opened the door, but it seems clear that even if that relationship ended, the door wouldn’t shut. (DO NOT TAKE THEIR BOYS AWAY FROM THEM THO!) being out in the open with how much they care feels too good, too true. They’ve discovered how to stop betraying their own queer impulses.

Jimmy and Tommy.

Starting out slow and gentle ☑

Moving without breaking the kiss ☑

Tongue from both actors ☑

Hand placement ☑

Good all around.

OG here 🩵

Day 10 Most Emotionally Pleasing Love Scene

(might be one or two repeats sorry)

chisoo gitae's second love scene gets two because it's more like three or four scenes lolol

pleasing/devastating....same thing, right?

as if i would leave them out

WOW, 2020 was A YEAR. This was hard ranking these but I'll try my best...

1. Where Your Eyes Linger [Korean] - One of my all time favorite series, I think because I really felt the chemistry between the actors in this one. I love the whole bodyguard sort of trope as well and the writing in this was so well done imo. I loved the tension filled moments and build up between the two. I just wanted moreeeee.

2. I Told Sunset About You [Thai] - Season 2 was iffy but season 1 was AMAZING from start to finish. I felt like I watching a movie. The writing, the scenery, the build up for the main pair... it was all so well done.

3. Color Rush [Korean] - The storyline for this BL is just so fun, I really loved the entire premise of this world. The chemistry between the two was nice and Korea does such a good job of building up the connection between their pairings. I'm sad that season 2 dipped a bit in quality and that season 1 felt a tad unfinished, but I still really enjoyed it.

4. Why R U [Thai] - This was a well done BL that was fun, I enjoyed the chemistry between Saint and Zee and I didn't find the drama or the angst overwhelmingly frustating. Plus it had a nice side ship and I liked the love scenes too.

5. 2gether [Thai] - I know people love this one, and I really enjoyed it too. It's perfect for those with a sweet tooth. There are some really great affectionate/sweet moments betweeen the main pairing. It was also the first BL I ever watched (if you don't count waterboyyy way back in the day lol) so it has a soft spot in my heart. But I do think it was a tad too safe for me. I prefer my BL's to have angstier/hotter moments throughout. The ending kiss made up for things, but it was unreastic to not have a proper kiss beore that. JMO.

6. Manner of Death [Thai] - I saw a gif of maxtul from this on tumblr and it's what originally got me into BL's. It spiked my interest. I see those two as the grandfathers of BL because they have been in so many things together, and their connection is so strong. I enjoyed this one a lot because it was a more mature series, and had it's own vibe/feel to it that I really appreciated.

7. TharnType Season 2 [Thai] - Season 2 wasn't as strong as season 1 for me but it was still enjoyable. I was really into Mew/Gulf and their chemistry when I first started watching BL's because it felt so genuine to me, and T+T was one of the first shows to really push the boundaries with the intimacy. Solid season.

8. Your Name Engraved Herein [Taiwan] - This was such a beautiful movie, with a positive ending, and I really loved watching it. It was depressng at times, but overall I just think it was so well done.

9. Mr. Heart [Korean] - Recently rewatched this series and it was so good! So fun and enjoyable. Loved the storyline, it felt pretty unique. I enjoyed the connection between the main two. What brings it down for me a bit is some of the physical moments in the series, like when one of them would hit the other... not for me. But overall, I could look past some of things because I enjoyed the rest of it.

10. Cherry Magic [Japan] - Such a cute and fun series, and definitely one of the most memorable ones for Japan. I had a bit of an issue with the intimacy stuff (they really couldn't even peck on the lips once??? It felt too platonic to me at times) but that aside, it was well written and a great watch.

11. Boy’s Lockdown [Filo] - This is actually my favorite of all the "quarantine" related series we got after Covid. To me, it was cute and fun and we got to see the main two come together in a nice and organic way. It was a good mix of different content.

12. Gaya Sa Pelikula [Filo] - Some cheesey/annoying moments for me, mostly regarding the sister character, but the rest of the series was nicely done. It also sort of felt like a mini movie. It has a slightly different vibe for me from other Filo series. I enjoyed it a lot.

13. Wish You [Korea] - Not my ultimate favorite series from Korea but it was well done. Wish I had more to say about it haha. But it was good.

14. Hello Stranger [Filo] - Another quarantine related story, and for a "web series" where the characters never really met til the end, it was really enjoyable. It was a great depiction of what students were going through during covid and I liked the way they went from scene to scene and did different interactions.

15. Because of You [Taiwan] - Def. some low/cheesey moments in this one as well but it was the first Taiwan series that I saw, so I enjoyed how different it felt compared to the other countries. Taiwan definitely has it's own style too. I liked that there were three couples in this one, and I enjoyed all three storylines.

Honorary Mentions: I'm not going into details with any of these series, overall I found parts of them enjoyable, but there were things I didn't love overall. But still worth checking out.

Korea: Craving You

Japan:Life: Love on the Line, HIS

Filo: My Day, Gameboys, Quaranthings, Cheat the Series

Thai: Gen Y, Present Still Perfect, Ingredients, En of Love, My Engineer, Saifahzon, My Gear Your Gown

And they show saifah and zon in that list, and I was hit with a brick

Weren't they not the main couple? Or was it fighter and tutor

This is always hard to ask because I need to figure out why you liked Bad Buddy (I know, but not everyone did). Here's what I liked about it:

university setting, 

great acting & complex characters, 

interesting friendship groups, 

enemies to lovers, 

angsty coming out, 

high production values, 

decent chemistry, 

GL side couple (RARE), 

decent queer rep, 

light seme/uke, 

twisted tropes but lots of them 

So I am going to rec based on those criteria. But what I rec isn’t going to be able to tackle everything. (My full ep-by-ep snark fest is here)

10 BLs to Watch if You Love Bad Buddy 

1. Seven Days (grey) 

(what? don’t look so surprised) 

High school setting, great acting & complex characters, not much friendship groups, opposites attract (not enemies to lovers), no coming out (it’s Japan), high production values (hair is cray cray), great chemistry but tame kisses, no side couples, no queer rep, light seme/uke, twisted tropes but not many of them. Also it’s only two movies so much shorter than BB. No triggers. 

One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses. Full review here.

2. We Best Love (WeTV) 

University setting (part one), great acting but relatively simple characters, not much friendship groups, but they are there. Enemies to lovers, angsty coming out for one character (but that’s in the second part), decent production values (it’s Taiwan, they are realistic more than stylized), FANTASTIC chemistry, 2 BL side couples one of which ends happily but not the other, very good queer rep, seme/uke but not really heterosexually dysmorphic at all, lots of tropes but all classically executed. Shorter and faster paced than Thai BL. No real triggers except for some light manipulation and possible dub-con (I will ague about this, tho.) 

Brilliant acting save this show from a messy (pretty classically manga) narrative with a lot of angst. You have to buy in to a yaoi aesthetic with this one, accept that things move fast and occasionally confuse but that everything will be okay. It’s the ultimate pining seme meets the ultimate tsundere uke and WBL successfully manages to combine the best elements of Korean, Thai, and Japanese BL as it exists right now. Couple that to the insane chemistry from the leads, and we have one of the greatest BLs of all time, cooking higher heat to a recipe I doubt anyone else will ever be able to replicate since only Taiwan is this flexible. 

3. Semantic Error (Viki) 

University setting, great acting fun/unique (if not exactly complex) characters, one interesting/fun friendship group, enemies to lovers, no coming out (this is Korea), very high/STUNNING production values, great chemistry, bisexual rep but no side couple, very strong seme/uke, twisted tropes and lots of them. Shorter than Thai BL. No triggers. 

Korea hit it entirely out of the Parks with Semantic Error by doing a university set BL featuring everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. It has Korea's signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. Full review here. 

4. Utsukushii Kare AKA My Beautiful Man (GaGa) 

High school & university setting, great acting and very complex characters, no real friendship groups, not really enemies to lovers this is the whipping boy trope, and that’s a BIG buy in, so this is where it might not work for you. No side couple, no coming out and little queer rep but very high production values (it’s Japan after all). Much better than normal chemistry for a JBL and higher heat content. Twisted seme/uke and twisted tropes but very few of them. Shorter than Thai BL, trigger warning for bullying and stalking.  

One of the best most Japanese BLs to release in the last decade, as weird and as messed up as any 2000′s yaoi: emo af and hella warped, entirely true to itself with no attempt made to modify its POV for modern sensibilities or current BL fandom. It used seriously old school problematic and kinky tropes, like whipping boy, for a truly uncompromising piece that also manages to hit up themes of communication, consent, and self acceptance. It’s a wonderful BL but uniquely dirty and harsh, in the best possible way - Japanese cinema, uncompromising. Full review here. 

5. Blueming (iQIYI) 

University setting, great acting and complex characters, not much friendship groups but some home live (rare in KBL), enemies to lovers, angsty coming out (sort of), high production values, decent chemistry, no side couple, no queer rep, light seme/uke, twisted tropes but not many of them. Shorter than Thai BL but a little longer than other KBLs. 

It’s a tiny bit dark and a tiny bit bittersweet, almost too honest to a university experience and first love for BL. I wasn’t into it at first, but 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, Blueming included decent kisses and other forms of intimacy and a satisfying ending (all unusual for Korea) plus there’s judicious and very elegant use of tropes, (which is expected for Korea). Full review here. 

6. SOTUS (GMMTV’S YT channel) 

The university BL to end all university BLs, great acting and complex characters, fabulous friendship groups, enemies to lovers, angsty coming out (to friends not family), high production values, not great chemistry, lesbian rep but not couple, het side couple. Strong seme/uke btu not as bad as Thailand can get. This the BL that launched a thousand tropes. Same length, style and production company as Bad Buddy. This was their first. 

This is the BL that launched a hundred BLs. No literally, It was SOTUS’s international success that pretty much built the Thai BL industry into the juggernaut it is today. People have baggage around SOTUS, I have nostalgia. Review here. Trigger warning for bullying. 

7. Addicted Heroin (Viki) 

High school setting (university aged actors), great acting and complex characters, weird af friendship group and family dynamics, enemies to lovers, no coming out, high production values, great chemistry, no side couples really, no queer rep (this is still China), strong seme/uke, twisted tropes and lots of them. Same length as the Thai stuff but strongly manga influenced, so yaoi trigger warnings around ROUGH sex, dub-con, and kidnapping for love. 

Unfinished due to censorship but still very good, well acted and shot, rich kid falls madly for the genius poor kid in his class, starts an aggressive pursuit, includes obsession, stepbrother trope, plus some “cheating.” I love this one but it has rough edges. Stop watching right after the make out in baby’s new car. 

8. PeteKao - Dark Blue Kiss (GMMTV YT channel) 

This was actually the first thing I thought of when you asked this question. Here’s a suggested watch order for this one. They have three installments of begin a side couple in Kiss Me Again provided as a BL cut by GMMTV and then their own series, Dark Blue Kiss. You should watch both. 

University setting, great acting and complex characters, one of my favorite friendship groups, friends to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, multiple angsty af coming out, including a long stretch of a secret relationship. High production values, good chemistry, BL side couple, not much queer rep, light seme/uke, lots of classic tropes and some great domesticity. 

It’s a long involved complicated story, but there is one, and I think if you like Bad Buddy this is probubly your best bet. 

9. Why R U? (Viki) 

University setting, decent acting & complex characters, good friendship groups, enemies to lovers, angsty coming out, good production values, fantastic chemistry, two BL couples, okay queer rep, strong seme/uke, all the tropes, soem cheese and soem cringe. Some bully triggers but much lighter than SOTUS. Long Thai treatment but story waffles. 

It’s pretty clear Fighter is hella gay for Tutor and just can’t work his shit out, and that Saifah has a crush on Zon, but it takes them all a while to flirt their way into lovers, so they coudl sort of be thought of as enemies first? The story on this one is messy, but you can’t fault the chemistry, and it is one of the best high heat BL we’ve ever gotten from Thailand in terms of things like consent.

10. TharnType (Viki) 

I don’t rec TT often (here’s why), but it fits the criteria so it made the cut.

University setting, great acting and complex characters, interesting friendship groups, enemies to lovers, seriously angsty coming out, high production values, AMAZING chemistry, multiple BL side couples with all the issues, damaging queer rep, strong seme/uke and husband/wife language, classic tropes and lots of them. I don’t know your triggers, but if you have them, all the trigger warnings on this one (dub con, rape, mental illness, bullying, rough play etc...) Long Thai treatment but story waffles. 

Points in favor:

not a hot mess

Avoids having 10000 way too long scenes with characters we don’t know or care about

MaxNat randomly there again but hey why not

Kim Ji Oh is better than Saifah. Not sure if it’s because Saifah and Zon got cut so much but this actor is doing more with the role.

Jung Lee Won potentially better than Zon tho honestly I find them both annoying

Sunwoo is soft

Points not in favor:

maybe because I like why r u Thailand for the semi enemies to lovers sass between tutor and fighter but this pair isn’t doing it for me

Korea’s fighter, whose name I don’t know yet, is boring? Like he seems nice except for not showing up to his gf’s bday party but he’s not antagonistic at all - that’s taken up by Ji Oh completely

Korea’s tutor aka Sunwoo, while being soft has no sass? He just feels sad. It’s easy for Korean fighter to feel bad for him but what attracts Korean fighter to him? He tells him off when he’s super drunk but that’s all.

I might prefer hot mess that you can fast forward through to this very gray feel.