I Was Today Years Old When I Learned That When You Type “otp: True” In AO3 Search Results It Filters

Every friend group should include...

A himbo,

A mean bisexual,

An even meaner lesbian,

She/theys and he/theys

A token straight that’s on thin ice,

An astrology bitch who has everyone’s birth chart memorized,  

And a short king

my new favourite thing is italian regional presidents and mayors absolutely LOSING IT at people violating quarantine. here’s a eng subtitled compilation for y’all. (the president of campania region; the mayor of messina; the mayor of bari; the mayor of gualdo tadino; the mayor of tutolo.)

Boys I’ve met

These are the boys I’ve met so far during my life colour coded into descriptions. People can be a mix of colours but these are genuinely my thoughts on real people. I wonder if you can relate.

- There are what I call the golden boys. They are the charmers who could insult you without you even knowing. They are the ones who do questionable things behind school buildings that everyone knows about but they never get in trouble. They are the social butterflies that never belong to one group. They are the perfect mixture of danger and excitement that leave you feeling giddy. Them with their silver tongues that entrap you to do bed things. They are a enticing storm.

- Then there are the red boys. Whilst not necessarily arty or eye catching, they are the boys who worm their way into situations without any knowledge how. They are the boys whose names are often followed by an exclamation mark. They are the cause of numerous anecdotes and laugh out loud memories. These are the boys who can always make you laugh and are the cause of any wild and stupid decisions. With their colourful characters and addicting eyes. They are a drug.

- The blue boys don’t have to be musical or arty. They are the ones with the bruises and bony fingers. They are silent, with hair perfect for running your hands through. They are in the background in a muted sense, clothed stylishly but subtly in attractive colours. They are the ones who take time in their apperence but still do not aim for the spotlight. They are slightly mysterious but nether the less eye catching in a unexplainable way. They are reassuringly warm.

- The green boys are all smiles. Whilst they are often more sporty, they are the ones with sun touched skin and bright eyes. They are the ones with easy going friends and are often found amongst their own kind. They are the ones who get easily excited about small things and are often seen smiling. They are often surprisingly intuitive and can read others like books, knowing much more than you know. They are deceptive.

- The yellow boys often lack a filter. They are the ones who just don’t seem to know when to be quiet. They are easy entertainment on grey days. Often triggering rolled eyes or brief expressions of resignation. But they are also incessantly loyal, always there with a attempt of a smile when your feeling down. They are the ones who give hugs like gifts and always try their best. Out of all, they are the ones who make the best friends.

- The grey boys are slow. They are easy going, following the flow. They are the ones who prefer to to do nothing. They are easily influenced and normally become the worst. They are like unpainted canvases and become easily addicted. They are the ones you feel sorry for. The ones who could always do better.

- The purple boys are bubbly. They are the ones no one can bare to hurt. They are like royalty, revered and genuinely liked by everyone. They are sociable and kind, nice to everyone and almost unrealistic. They are understanding and compassionate, always reassuring. But they are also ruthless, taking down enemies quickly and without mercy either by the self or through the use of their multiple friends. It is often unclear wether they are protected or feared. But these are the boys no one would cross.

- The white boys are focused. These boys are often the hardest to read. They are the ones who seem introverted. Usually creative, they have a certain passion, something which makes their head spin. Almost like addicts in a way, they relay on their passion to keep them going through the day. They may seem either cold or rude, but they are often unconcerned with society, preferring to focus solely on their passion. Once befriended, they can seem odd but will constantly amaze you as you slowly unravel their personality bit by bit. They are the most intriguing.

- The navy boys are logical. They are complex like a storm, finding passion in complex tasks and academic work. Often witty, they have a clever sense of humour that most people would not get. They are also the most loyal, following orders and staying true to their morals. This can make them extremely stubborn and headstrong, believing themselves to be smarter which can make them either arrogant or cold. They are the ones who are smarter.

Hello. I’ve created a discord server for MXTX novels discussions as I miss talking about them. Feel free to join here if you’re over 17. https://discord.gg/v7d6GFb5

Pretty boys with their bright eyes and coloured lips.

It’s such a shame that most of them are screaming.

- don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Hands up! 2/2

Jack/ZhaoZi soulmate au

Everyone had soulmate words tattooed somewhere on their body. They were the first words that you would ever hear your soulmate say. Due to this, they were beheld with a certain degree of importance. Society loved the idea of soulmates, frowning on those who rejected or ignored their soulmate marks. Those who were born without marks were often outcasted, viewed as unloveable.

Zhao Zi always trusted his grandma. She had said that his soulmate would be someone who could care and provide for him. Because of this he paid no real attention to his words, preferring to judge his soulmate by their character than by their first words like the romantic he is. This was regarded as unusual. Words were so attached to emotion that Zhao Zi’s indifference often shocked people.

“Why should I pay so much attention to my words?” He had asked when one of his coworkers pointed to the neat letters across his collar bones. “I’m going to meet them wether I like it or not. It’s not like our first exchange is going to determine the whole relationship”. His wisdom made sense and after that people stopped asking.

It was perhaps lucky that he didn’t take his words seriously. Who would have the words “Can I have a bite?” tattooed on their person. Zhao Zi just assumed that his soulmate was a foodie like him. Besides, he could have gotten worse. His best friend, Shao Fei had the word “No” stamped on the back of his neck. It had been the warning of a bad relationship which had lasted for four years before Shaofei and Tangyi got their act together and confessed.

The whole thing had given Zhao Zi way too many heart attacks and emotions. And whilst their relationship was finally healthy with Tang Yi out of prison, they were so lovey dovey that even Zhao zi felt awkward. He genuinely considered himself a happy go lucky type of guy, trying not to let himself get down too often. When his parents left, he was okay because he had his wonderful grandmother. But when his grandmother died, it was Shao Fei who had kept him together. Although he was happy for his friend, he couldn’t help but feel an increasing sense of loneliness and disillusion with the world. His boss’s and AZi’s betrayal had been the icing on the cake.

More and more Zhao zi had found himself alone in his little house eating the type of unhealthy dinners that his grandmother would have hated. It seemed that with every passing day, his house only seemed to get bigger in its emptiness. Not that he let it show. At work he was as cheerful as ever, ignoring the new boss’s scoldings and the comments from the international division. No one noticed if he wasn’t eating as much as usual, or doing any more random acrobatics. He was fine.

So why was he stuck doing another weird undercover?

“Why do I have to be the stripper?” He complained, more like whined, to Shao Fei. They were back stage of the dingy strip club called the blue rose, the floor sticking to their shoes as they blinked in the terrible lighting. ZhaoZi was wearing knee length shorts with a see through white shirt and a stupid police hat. Shao Fei was dressed in a bright pink jacket on top of casual clothes. ZhaoZi had never wanted to swap clothes more.

“Because you’re the only one who can do anything acrobatic”, Shao Fei responded. “And the target likes boys like you anyway. We’ve been trying to get this guy for months Zhao Zi. Please? I’ll owe you”. Zhao zi sighed. He was too nice.

“You’re mean ah Fei”, he pouted, tugging the police cap lower over his hair. Shao Fei grinned, the cute act never worked on him anymore. “Yeah yeah”, he replied. “I’ll have Tang Yi make you some home cooked food. Now I’ve got to go, wait for your signal”. He patted Zhao Zi on the shoulder before disappearing out on to the club floor, leaving Zhao Zi alone backstage.

Trying to quell his nerves, Zhao Zi went over the case in his mind. They had several leads from a murder of a prostitute pointing towards the known gangster and sex trafficker John Smith. It was not his real name of course, but it was what he was known by. The guy had so far evaded them but a source had placed him in the club on routine occasions. Zhao zi just had to get him to lower his guard.

After a while, Shao Fei’s voice came across coms, alerting Zhao Zi of his cue. Gathering his courage, he ducked out on stage. He was glad of the lighting, obscuring most of the watchers from view. The target was visible in the corner, watching him. Zhao Zi shivered and bent forward into a front flip. Grasping the pole with his legs, he pulled himself upwards. Ignoring his surroundings, he concentrated on his dance, spinning around the pole with his body contorted in different ways.

When the que came for them to surround the target, Zhao Zi felt a flood of relief to be away from the blinding lights. He could feel his shirt sticking to him under the heat of the lamps and practically hopped off stage. Trying to keep up his cover, he strutted across the disgustingly stricken floor towards where the target was sat leering at him as the rest of his squad slowly surrounded him.

He didn’t notice the man on the table next to the target until he leant forwards and grabbed Zhao Zi’s wrist. Surprised, he turned to be greeted by dark red hair and a Cheshire Cat grin. The man’s eyes glittered at him as his lips stretched wider. “Can I have a bite?” He asked and instantly Zhao Zi could feel his words heat up across his collarbones. Deciding to deal with the target first, he shook off the hand and held out his badge. “Hands up! You’re under arrest!”

Luckily none of the men resisted and they had them out of the club and into the police van easily. Deciding to let Shao Fei and the others deal with the formalities, Zhao Zi hung back, now nicely wrapped up in his coat. Footsteps alerted him to an approach and he glanced up to face the red haired guy from the club. The lighting hadn’t done him justice. Now, in the light of a nearby street lamp, the guy was handsome and lean. Zhao zi couldn’t help Looking the guy over. Wow! His muscles!

The guy grinned and held out a gloved hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jack”. Zhao Zi returned his grin and shook his hand. “Oh you’re my soulmate. Hi! I’m Zhao Li An But everyone calls me ZhaoZi”. The guy’s hand was nice and warm through the glove.

Jack’s grin morphed into a smirk as he looked Zhao Zi slowly over, from his head to his toes then back up to his eyes. “So, can I have a bite?” ZhaoZi frowned in confusion. “Are you hungry? I wasn’t able to grab lunch and I’m starving but all the shops are shut now”, he saddened at the thought of his pitifully empty stomach.

“You got any food at your place? I can cook for you if you want”, Jack offered. ZhaoZi beamed, grabbing Jack’s hand excitedly. His grandma was right! He couldn’t be more in love. “Really? Then I want egg, and ham, and noodles with chicken broth and orange juice...” listing off all the food he had been craving, ZhaoZi couldn’t help but bounce a little on his feet. “Well I’ll cook for you. Come on”, Jack said as they began walking down the street. Calling a quick bye to Shao Fei, Zhao Zi turned his attention to his soulmate.

“Grandma said you would be a good cook”, he remarked as they turned a corner. “She said that my soulmate would be able to cook and provide for me”. He watched Jack grin. “That I can do”, he stated.

““My grandma also said that you will stay”. Zhao Zi looked up at Jack, face anxious but hopeful. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. “Will you stay?”

He watched as Jack’s face lost its grin, becoming honest. “If shorty asks then I will stay”, he promised as he wrapped around Zhao Zi shoulders. Relaxing into Jack’s warmth, Zhao Zi felt a bit of his loneliness disapate. It would take time, but jack would stay. Maybe he wouldn’t feel lonely anymore.

In Strongberry We Trust

I had a private ask about Strongberry recently so here’s some thoughts.

Strongberry is probably the most established KBL studio, they started in high production shorts/microfilms (as, indeed, did all of KBL) and still specialize in them. They also do some GL. They tend to have very good chemistry, work with professional actors (not idols), and will go high heat. They are now a division of Matchbox, and have been around and steadily producing content since 2017. The CEO is adorable. As of this post (Nov 2022) they are airing a new BL on their YT channel Choco Milk Shake.

Fandom slogan?

#InStrongberryWeTrust

For the fact that they pick odd premises but always seem to execute beautifully. Their stuff is either on YouTube, Gaga or pay to play on Vimeo, and they do move it around so my links might not always still be working. Vimeo earns them the most money. They are a small, struggling, queer-friendly studio, please support them and their content by not pirating or watching illegally. 

Here’s my ranking of Strongberry’s offerings.

1. A First Love Story

2021 YouTube short in 2 microfilms 

Tropes: childhood friends to lovers, home setting, soft tone, grumpy/sunshine pairing

Strongberry are true masters of their craft and yet A First Love Story is still one of the best things they have ever produced. It’s the only microfilm every to make one of my year end top ten list. It’s two episodes of about 8 minutes each that manage to perfectly portray the sweetest friends-to-lovers confession ever. It’s joyful, and gentle with its characters, and a little hot. How on earth do they manage to leave us yearning for more yet completely satisfied at the same time? It’s like the perfect amuse-bouche, that one finger food at that one cocktail party that you will never forget. You are a ridiculous human if you haven’t spent 16 minutes with these two boys. Go watch it now. Or go watch it again. It’s time VERY well spent.

2. Long Time No See

2017 Gaga KBL length series (total 1.5 hr, some places packaged as a movie)

Tropes: secret love, enemies to lovers, secret identity, assassins, catfishing, mafia, higher heat, grumpy/sunshine pairing 

One of Strongberry’s few longer pieces and I often wonder whether this is strictly BL. It’s about assassins on either side of a terf war who fall in love not knowing they are on opposite sides. Or do they? Good fight sequences, mature characters, high heat, very suspenseful, AND an HEA. If you like KinnPorsche you will LOVE this one.

3. Some More

2018 Gaga microfilm

Tropes: friends to lovers, hyung romance, self acceptance, countryside setting, soft tone, age gap, country boy/city boy

One of my most favorite of Strongberry’s shorts, about a city boy on a bike tour who gets injured and rescued by a taciturn, but (as it turns out) very gay, farmer. Mentions of pride, adorable supportive cousin. SO CUTE with excellent chemistry and featuring tropes I can never get enough of. 

3. Private Lessons

2019 Gaga microfilm

Tropes: student/teacher, jock/nerd, hyung romance, obsession, crush, university setting, May/December, age gap  

Given it is age gap and teacher/student (AKA P’ABL’s catnip) it should rate higher on my list, but the chemistry is slightly off. Stil I do love this one for the dynamic. Certainly worth watching especially if this is one of your fav yaoi tropes.

4. Step For You

2018 Gaga microfilm

Tropes: friends to lovers, sports, university setting, crush, jock/nerd, soft tone

About a reporter from the student newspaper who has to interview an older dancer and falls in love with him. This may not have been my first Strongberry, but it’s the first one I remember watching. 

5. Please Tell Me So

2021 YouTube microfilm (AKA That’s My Mr.Right!) 

Tropes: crush, obsession, cafe setting, sunshine/sunshine pairing 

Cute barista (played by Han Hyun Jun star of Love Class) has a crush on his customer, musters up the courage to ask him out. 

6. My Pistachio

2018 Gaga microfilm

Tropes: friends to lovers, crush, hero worship, hyung romance, university setting, play within a play, grumpy/sunshine 

7. As if You Whisper

2019 Gaga movie

Tropes: friends to lovers, self acceptance, music industry setting, grumpy/sunshine pairing

8. Confidential Coffee Break

2021 Vimeo microfilm

Tropes: mature romance, long term relationship, self acceptance, university setting, one act

It’s a monologue piece about two closeted older gay professors discussing changing times and the nature of acceptance (self and others) in modern day South Korean academic environment. 

9. Hold Me

2021 YouTube microfilm

Tropes: friends to lovers, self acceptance, high school setting

10. Sweet Curse 

2021 Gaga short

Tropes: horror, paranormal elements, ghost story, possession, obsession, gay friendship group, everyone wants that one boy, bad/good

This is a low-gore atmospheric horror, with some very high heat. I’m not saying it’s in the top 10 just because of that, but I am saying when Strongberry does high heat it v good and v gay. 

OTHERS

My Personal Trainer - 2019 short Gaga. It v silly and v gay. Influencer has crush on his personal trainer. 

Secret Roommate - 2020 short Gaga, Cohabit, self acceptance, home setting, family, coming out 

Fingers After - 2021 microfilm Vimeo. Cohabit, morning after, home setting, pining, sunshine/tsundere pairing. 

Secret Spectacles - 2017 microfilm Gaga. Very silly again, friends to lovers, paranormal elements, university crush.

Table Manner - 2018 microfilm Gaga. Cohabit, self acceptance, home setting, long term relationship 

The Summer Pasta Recipe - 2021 short YouTube, reunion, self acceptance, grumpy/sunshine.

There my be a few more I don’t know about, MDL doesn’t seem to have a sort function for production company. 

Choco Milk Shake 

2022 YouTube KBL length series (total 1.5 hr) 

Tropes: cohabit, F2L, paranormal elements, home setting, soft tones, sunshine/tsundere. 

Two pets, a cat and a dog, reincarnate as humans to visit their old owner.

Two Other KBL shorts worth checking out:

Just Friends? 

2009 Gaga short 

I consider this one of Korea’s first actual BLs. Boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out and their future together. Bonus for out gay director and queer activist. 

Being Me 

2018 short Gaga 

A summer of love for two long term besties who have basically always been boyfriends, but when a girl tries to date one of them, they finally realize it. Beautifully filmed and a STELLAR ending kiss. 

(source) 

can you believe that we have fanfiction. that we have websites dedicated to fanfiction. that there is a place that you can go and read tens, hundreds, thousands and thousands of pieces of writing that strangers have made. people who are not "writers". people who come home at the end of the day and have feelings and say, i am going to put that into words. i am going to share those words. short, long, sweet, sad, horny, funny, wonderful words. we are all just human and we all love to make and remake and share that with others. can you believe that.

this whole "job thing" is rlly starting to get in my way. i need to watch made up people falling in love on tv, and then i need to read more extensively about it online. why is that so hard to understand

JUNG HAE IN and KOO KYO HWAN for W Korea (September 2021)