#the eighth sense episode 6

[wen-kexing-apologist]

EIGHTH SENSE THEORY

(content warning: I will be referencing suicide attempts and vomit in this post)

I saw other people speculating that Episode 6 might be some sort of medication misuse psychotic break on JaeWon's part and honestly? Having just watched it. I definitely think this man is hallucinating.

I'm not entirely sure if this was something that came from the nature of watching this episode not on Viki, but so much of the episode seemed too bright, too blurry. The way the light hit the JiHyun's white jacket made it look like he was reflecting light, like he was heavenly or angelic in a way.

Like when they are in the car in the beginning:

Or eating on the bench:

Or arriving at the beach:

And something I noticed while watching these scenes, admittedly coming in to it having already seen discussions of a possible mental break, is that JaeWon rarely makes eye contact with JiHyun and they do not physically touch until 12 minutes into the episode.

Not until we have seen them walk up the stairs once already.

First set of stairs:

Second set of stairs:

But crucially here, it's windy, and JiHyun is gripping JaeWon in a way that might equate the force you feel from a strong wind.

Other hints that JaeWon might be hallucinating?

Same food order at the same time, something cute if they actually did that, but something that could also be explained if only one person was ordering food.

JiHyun taking his food with him when he goes to the bathroom but leaving his drink. We saw him take a bite out of the food, so if that food was real and he left it on the bench, we would have seen evidence that food had been eaten. But we never see JiHyun take a sip of his drink AND we never see JaeWon or JiHyun buy that drink. Meaning it is completely feasible that JaeWon ordered two drinks and set that one down for "JiHyun" even though he isn't actually there.

And of course, there is further evidence, in my mind, for this being a hallucination or mental break of some sort due to the many, many instances throughout Episode 6 of JaeWon's face being blurry.

For example, here:

And here:

And here:

And...ok you know what? I'm going to stop these examples here

The morning they wake up on the beach seems fake, again it feels too bright, too heavenly in a way:

And the kiss scene is so interesting to me for a few reasons, and is also why I am leaning towards hallucination/imagination. First of all, they are in public, there are other people around on that beach. When JaeWon was holding JiHyun's thigh in Episode 4 and JiHyun's best friend came out on the roof, they slid apart real quick.

And it's not like their attraction to one another hasn't been obvious, and it's not like JaeWon hasn't literally kissed men in front of people before. They aren't completely opposed to being openly queer, but this is a huge, undeniable, and extremely public kiss.

I am also just so in love with the choice the production team made to cut out all sound when they are playing in the water. Because that silence can be interpreted so many ways, the main two for me being: intimate and insidious.

"To cause you trauma," is an excellent response to JaeWon asking why JiHyun kissed him. Because water is, presumably, a very traumatizing thing to JaeWon. I don't think he said how his brother died, but his microexpressions to JiHyun referencing water torture definitely lead me to believe that JaeWon's brother drowned (learning to surf perhaps?) and JaeWon finds both comfort and pain in returning to the sea as a way to feel connected to his brother but also to punish himself for failing him.

Then we get the bed scene. Now, I don't want to presume anything about JiHyun, he's totally allowed to be a slut, but...this show has continuously established this boy as naive and innocent. Like, totally unaware of the implications of asking JaeWon if he wants to "eat ramen".

So to go from not understanding innuendos and still not being entirely certain that JaeWon kissed you intentionally that first time or if he was just drunk, to full on make out sessions and getting dicked down? I am all for JiHyun testing out his slut era, but I don't think that is the case here.

And I'm citing the background music as part of my evidence here. Because the background music is the song "I Can't Lose it All" and comes in at the last verse of the song, BEGINNING WITH THE LYRICS:

"I'm losing my mind

So darling just call

Tell me everything's alright

I don't want to slow

I can't lose it all

Make me feel like I'm suppose to go

Tell me what you thinking about me when I'm gone."

--

Which honestly, makes me believe JaeWon is imagining all of this intimacy with JiHyun as something that he craves but can't let himself actually seek out. Therefore he is letting himself have it all.

And I just want to give a shout out to this shot:

The way the waves are washing over their feet, in this room that we didn't see them rent, when they were only supposed to stay there for one night and now are apparently on night two in a fancy room instead of camping on the beach. It's a beautiful shot, but also some beautiful foreshadowing to the tragedy at the end of the episode, with the water rising up to meet them.

My final piece of evidence that this entire episode has all been in JaeWon's head?

This shot at the end where JaeWon is sitting by himself, looking at his hand in the sand because I'm pretty sure this shot comes chronologically before JiHyun's drowning. I think it's what any outside observer would actually see if they were to look at JaeWon, and I think the image below, in the brighter light, holding JiHyun's hand, is the hallucination that JaeWon is having.

Which meanssssssssssss............

If we believe the trip itself to be real, but JiHyun's presence on the trip to be false...

JAEWON IS THE ONE WHO IS DROWNING/DROWNED.

If we take this entire trip to be imagined/a dream then he hasn't actually woken up from binge drinking the night before and in that case I would say that he could be aspirating on his own vomit at the end. Either way, I feel like next episode might start with JaeWon waking up in a hospital.

Personally I think the greater tragedy would be JaeWon had a mental breakdown, disappeared without a trace, wound up at the beach here, and drowns, alone. With the resolution being that he is rescued, revived, possibly involuntarily committed or something for a possible suicide attempt...

...which now that I think about it, this could straight up be a suicide attempt of him trying to overdose on his medication, and like the alcohol result above, the drowning could be him aspirating his own vomit from overdosing on pills.

ANYWAY

All of this to say, I think JaeWon maybe took his therapist's question "why not make the relationship deeper?" very much to heart, and imagined a world where he was comfortable confiding in JiHyun and being entirely honest with him.

And also all of this to say that I believe there will ultimately be a happy ending for this show with JaeWon almost dying resulting in JaeWon finally cutting his shitty friend out of his life, JaeWon's Dad possibly being less aggressive after realizing he almost lost both of his sons, and JaeWon and JiHyun admitting their feelings for each other and being boyfriends in love surrounded only by supportive friends. I think JaeWon will end up graduating with his business degree but maybe pursue photography as a career or something at the end.

And I'm tagging @bengiyo, @shortpplfedup, @chicademartinica, and @respectthepetty because I want your THOUGHTS, I want your FEELINGS, I want your THEORIES and also tagging @lurkingshan because as I was scrolling through tags to try to find the original post about the possible medication induced psychotic break that started my theories rolling, I noticed you point out a lot of the same things I mentioned here so I also want your thoughts, feelings, and theories, or at the very least say that you are not alone in thinking that this was fake.

#the eighth sense #the eighth sense episode 6 #t8s #cw: suicide #cw: suicide attempt #cw: vomit #jaewon x jihyun #jaewon #jihyun #GOD I NEED TO STOP WATCHING SHOWS BECAUSE MY FUN LITTLE MINDLESS ACTIVITY HAS TURNED INTO A CONSTANT NEED TO CRANK OUT MASSIVE TEXT POSTS

[singularityinthemirror]

I am not going to recover from the last scene. This scene is not about Ji Hyun. I'm sure he is really hurt or somethings but it's not a life or death situation. What happened in detail to him does not really matter. For him, it's just an accident. It will have consequences but at the end, he will lives.

You know for who it's a life or death situation? Jaewon. For him, the boy he loves the most, the most precious person to him, is life threatening situation. This scene is from Jaewon perceptive. It is dark, stormy, the ocean is violent. He is in distress. His world is falling down once again. The person he loves and cherish the most is leaving him, once again. He is relieving his trauma. He finally feels secure enough to let somebody close to him, to love someone and to be loved by someone. And still, he ends leaving him in the most brutal way possible.

It's not life turning point for Ji Hyun, but it's for Jaewon.

This scene is not about Ji Hyun. This scene is about Jaewon.

#the eighth sense #The eighth sense the series #ji hyun x jae won #Jihyun #Jaewon #The eighth sense episode 6

[starburstfloat]

the water kissing scene needs to be addressed because that progression from playful water fighting to kissing each other as a little game to then full on makeout session was top tier! all at the backdrop of the ocean crashing around them to acknowledge the tumultuous waves of push and pull that they're engaging in!

#the eighth sense #t8s #korean bl #the eighth sense episode 6

[maxescheibechlinichacheli]

#the eighth sense #jae won x ji hyun #deleted scene episode 6 #korean bl #bl drama #bl series #maxine gifs #I'm still not over them #one of the best shows of 2023

[sollucets]

THE EIGHTH SENSE | EPISODE TWO

#the eighth sense #jaewon x jihyun #oh juntaek #lim jisub #rowan gifs #this little moment lodged itself in my brain. i watched this series in a fever haze of all 6 episodes at once yesterday and of all of it #this in particular i just. thought about so much #its so visually nice. it's so.... character #yeah :') #i had fun coloring it too. most of it is nothing too drastic but i like. the pink :')

[blmpff]

The Eighth Sense (2023) 1x6

#the eighth sense #favorite shots #episode 6 #blmpff

[bl-bam-beyond]

THE EIGHTH SENSE (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

Jae Won (LIM JI SUB) has a lot on his mind about a tragic loss that obviously still plague him.

He needs an outlet and that outlet his freshman Ji Hyun (OH JUN TAEK) someone he cares about and someone that doesn't know him well...yet.

But that ending?

#POST: BOYS' LOVE #THE EIGHTH SENSE #SOUTH KOREAN #My GIFS #MYGIFSET #KISS #BEACH DATE #FEELINGS #WEIRD ENDING #REFLECTIONS OF... #REMEMBERING #MEMORIES #EPISODE 5 & EPISODE 6 #MyGIFedit #SOUTH KOREAN BL SERIES #PAIN IN HIS HEART #SADNESS

[taikanyohou]

yeah i need like a lifetime to recover from THAT.

#episode 6 KILLED me OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. #the eighth sense #faiza talks #AND THE SIBLING THING?? GOD I KNEW IT I KNEEEEW IT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT JUST GAVE ME SUCH HUGE #BETWEEN US AND TEAM VIBES MY GUT WASNT WRONG!!!

[lurkingshan]

The Eighth Sense 5&6

Two of my meetings got canceled so I high-tailed it to Viki to watch this and OH MY GOD. If you have finished the episodes PLEASE COME TALK TO ME I AM LOSING IT. And if you haven’t yet get off tumblr unless you want to be mega spoiled.

- YES Ji Hyun and Ae Ri besties era has begun

- Yoon Won is such a nice senior but Ji Hyun and Jae Won totally had plans for a date, didn’t they

- Seeing Ji Hyun come into his confidence is so lovely

- Introvert/extrovert friendships are so funny, Ji Hyun looks at Ae Ri like she’s an alien

- Jae Won not wanting to waste his first call to Ji Hyun on a quick info exchange/errand is honestly very sweet

- Ack their cute little smiles after talking to each other

- Tae Hyung really has an inferiority complex about Jae Won, doesn’t he. And he just said Jae Won is “luckily” an only child, but we know he has (had?) a brother. Does Tae Hyung know that? Just trying to figure out if he’s a standard jerk or an unbelievable asshole of the highest magnitude.

- The instinctive thigh grab!! That just speaks volumes, doesn’t it.

- I am living for Ji Hyun and Ae Ri negging Tae Hyung. Yes, bully that man!

- Welp the angst has arrived. Ji Hyun is handling it admirably well so far.

- Anyone else noticing that the little brother kinda looks like Ji Hyun 😬

- His pain over Jae Jin seems very raw. I wonder how recently he lost him.

- Ah he feels responsible. And his dad is “aggressive.” I hate this.

- Ji Hyun is Jae Won’s place to rest 😭

- Jae Won attempting to get a larger volume of pills makes me very nervous. As does his affect in this car ride.

- What are folks making of this bright light and soft focus filter at the start of episode 6? I thought it was meant to convey something about Jae Won’s state of mind, but it’s present even in the scenes he’s not in.

- And what’s with this light-hearted music? What is happening. Is this a dream or something?

- Jae Won corrected the guy in the store that he’s with a boyfriend, where Ji Hyun didn’t. And store guy recommend a trot mix for a gf and fireworks for a bf.

- Okay this must be some kind of altered state we’re in with Jae Won. Everything about this is out of step with the rest of the series - the lighting, the music, the tone. And Ji Hyun keeps trying to get him to open up, which is maybe something Jae Won wants.

- Ji Hyun has water trauma from childhood and braved going back into the ocean for the first time just so he could connect with Jae Won.

- Jae Won, where are you going with this Ae Ri stuff? He seems like he’s kinda teasing, kinda sincerely jealous, kinda flirting with that self-destructive thing of pushing your loved on toward another.

- Even this night scene is brightly lit. And Jae Won just magically pulled a pair of hiking boots out of his little cart. I don’t know, this just doesn’t feel real.

- Yes Ji Hyun why do you suddenly have all this camping gear?? Even the characters know something is off.

- Ji Hyun is the same age Jae Jin would have been…

- Jae Won wants to be asked about his brother and is also unable to talk much about it. Which is striking ten years after the loss.

- And now this sleeping scene feels more like the show we know again.

- And we’re right back to the dreamy overexposed light in the morning.

- The physical intimacy escalated quickly! I didn’t expect high heat in this show.

- Omg. Was this a memory instead of a dream?? Or is it a fantasy version of this day in Jae Won’s head? I knew something was off. I’m losing it, y’all.

#the eighth sense #spoilers all up in this post #watch shan figure out in real time what was happening in episode 6 #shan shouts into the void

[pose4photoml]

OK~ as far as I’m concerned this is how that episode ended 😉

#the eighth sense #what was that ending #nope I choose this moment as to when this episode ended #😉 #episode 6

[carmenlire]

you know what i also want to talk about touch as a love language. i swear to god i had tears in my eyes over the way Jaewon and Jihyun touch each other. from their first meeting to episode two when Jaewon sits next to Jihyun on the bus and has the audacity to take out Jihyun’s earbud and replace it with his own music. Jihyun falling asleep on Jaewon and Jaewon finding it cute.

Hello??? all of episode six???? THE SCENES of episode six?? the aftermath, the next morning, them in their wetsuits on the beach and the way their hands touch ever so delicately. Teasing but settled. The quiet ease they’ve always had with each other. It’s so beautiful like i want what they have so bad. 

The contact in this show felt so solid, so real, like it was anchoring these two together, like all the spaces they touched were sacred, like they’d happily commit blasphemy just to be so close.

#idk whatever man #it just all felt so real #like their touches were grounding #like all the points of contact between them were speaking a language no one else could ever understand #and g o d episode 6 #fuck off fuck off!!!!! #the intimacy the vulnerability the playfulness the fucking desire just soaked #into every fucking frame of that montage #i want what they have...... #the eighth sense #me #fic ideas

[doorajar]

The Eighth Sense, Episode 6

What ??

#the eighth sense #episode 6 #what ??

[singularityinthemirror]

With episode 5 We could see Jae won is at his breaking point. I'm ready when he truly breaks down, because it's going to really hurt.

We are slowly going into the point of view of Jae won. The only moment we have with Ji Hyun this episode was interrupted by Jae Won in some sort of way (the phone call is the perfect example). We are starting to see his true self.

And his true self is hurting. More and more everyday. The only thing that bringing him joy is hurting him too because, for him, this precious boys is going to abandon him, to leave him at some point. I'm sure he is preparing himself for this.

That's why Jae Won seems a little hesitant with Ji Hyun. He is not playing hard to get. He is not having trouble with Ji hyun being a boys. He is not having trouble with Ji hyun being a freshman. He is having trouble with the fact Ji hyun is not something permanent in his life. One day he is going to leave or reject him because that what everybody does. His dad treat him like shit. His friend treat him like shit. His ex-girlfriend never truly loves him because she cheated on him. So why Ji Hyun would be any different in his mind?

But he can help it. Because he has hope and faith in this precious boys. He wants to believe that he deserves this precious love. Because he sees he is not like everyone else. He sees the way he took care of him. He sees the way Ji Hyun can see behind his mask. He wants to let down his guard with Ji Hyun.

And that what happened in episode 6. He let Ji Hyun in. But at the end, Ji Hyun still ends up leaving him like everyone else. And it's hurting real bad this time

#the eighth sense #The eighth sense the series #ji hyun x jae won #jae won x ji hyun #Jae won #Ji Hyun #We are going to say with Jae Won perceptive for a little while #AND IT'S GOING TO HURT REAL BAD #I don't want to see this precious bean being hurt #Please Ji Hyun takes care of him #He needs it #I could talk about it for hours #Tomorrow I will take about it more when I finish episode 6

[yiskahrabbit]

Me, every wednesday at noon, when the eighth sense's episodes drop on viki:

#the eighth sense #the eighth sense series #kdrama #kbl #boys love #and they break me everytime #episode 6 WHY

[absolutebl]

Best & Worst BLs of 2023

My Top 15 BLs of 2023 are (in order)

1 Our Dating Sim

Korea Viki

Nerds in love, deadlines, gaming, teasing, pining tiny idiots, casual affection, linguistic oops, ADORABLE. If you haven't watched this, it's a must. A perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy.

I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL. It lives in my rewatch pile and you know what’s best about it? Every single episode is in that pile. There’s no skipping with this one, it might be good natured and calmly sweet but it’s tight and the pacing is excellent.

Also recieves my 2023 award for best giggle.

2 I Cannot Reach You

AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Japan Netflix

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen.

Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way.

This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

Also wins the best thirst award.

These were the 2 BLs that got 10/10 from me in 2023. The rest of these got 9/10 from me.

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. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL.

Received the Namgoong award for best wingman 2023.

4 I Feel You Linger in the Air

Thailand grey

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework. Steeped in history and family drama this is an elegant and classy BL. The main couple (both as a pair and individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. It's a marker of how great it was that it's so high on my list despite the ending which was very much not what I wanted.

Additional accolade, sexiest moment of 2023 - (the oil scene).

You could try to fight me, but you'll have no grip.

5 Kiseki: Dear to Me

Taiwan Gaga & Viki

The plot is totally ridiculous and slightly unhinged. There’s a gum-ball machine of cameos, elder gay rep, great chemistry from all pairs (everyone is queer), and a KILLER side couple. It involves all the tropes under a very offhand framework of gay mafia gangs + food = love. As a result Kiseki is a poster child for Taiwanese BL, and I happen to love Taiwanese BL. Bonus? They also managed to END IT WELL, which we cannot expect from Taiwan.

Best side couple 2023!

(thank goodness Taiwan made this list!)

6 Jun and Jun

Korea Viki

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. With a snappy (sometimes even raunchy) script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching.

Best flirting 2023.

AKA "the tongue knows" award

7 The Eighth Sense

Korea Viki

This one is a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it has a glorious ending and that counts for a lot.

2023's most likely to appeal to non-BL watchers.

8 Unintentional Love Story

Korea iQIYI

The lead, Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT, who carried this show. He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, which he used to carry a killer plot and challenging role. Forced into a totally understandable betrayal, falling in love despite himself, put into a corner he can't get out of, the AGONY, the eyes EMOTING at us in PAIN. Driven by external conflict, social tension and pressure this story seems simple but it's actually refined and quite complex. I loved this show.

Best story structure 2023.

9 My Personal Weatherman

AKA Taikan Yoho

Japan Gaga

This is classic yaoi of the kind that really only works from Japan. Basically: boys who fell in love in college end up living together but both are so repressed they actually don't realize they're in love. It's high heat is well done, but it leaned into the "why don't they just talk for fuck's sake?" which is exacerbated by the fact that they're already fucking. Sure is sexy tho.

Best use of props 2023 for the shower of sheets.

10 Our Dining Table

AKA Bokura no Shokutaku

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. It's lovely & sweet with the romance beats used to build a family relationship, not just couple intimacy. Special.

First prize for domesticity.

11 Laws of Attraction

Thailand iQIYI

This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. It’s tons of fun and I had an absolute blast watching it.

Charn wins my favorite character of 2023.

12 La Pluie

Thailand Viki

This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination. It’s about how faith in destiny before choice diminishes the authenticity of emotion, relationships, and connection. This is a high concept to examine through the lens of a BL. With good chemistry and decent acting all around, plus some excellent high heat and representation of consent and a few other rare tropes, this one has to (like it’s sibling show My Ride) earn high marks.

Most interesting concept 2023.

13 The New Employee

Korea Viki

So good, SO QUEER, so soft, a near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also found family and a lesbian bestie. This is what I wanted from this new crop of office set KBLs ALL ALONG. Rainbow rice cakes forever!

Best overall queer rep from Korea.

14 Step By Step

Thailand Gaga & YouTube & Viki

This was Thailand’s answer to The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one. This was an office romance between stern boss and sweet subordinate that felt more authentic to an office environment than previous Thai BLs of this ilk which added tension to the narrative and character development.

Chot wins best queer character 2023.

15 Love Tractor

Korea iQIYI

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed = all my favorite silly tropes.

Biggest "he so pretty" gasp of the year award.

10 Worst BLs of 2023 (that I watched)

My Blessing

My Universe: Casanova Begins

Boyband the series

Cafe In Love

Chains of Heart

Hit Bite Love

Only Friends

Senior Love Me

The Luminous Solution

The Promise

Yes, you read that right. I know I'm against the flow but I really did not like Only Friends. Everyone's taste is different.

However I DNFed faster and more BL's this year than ever before, so that means my 10 worst probably aren't quite reflective...

10 Probably Actually Worst BLs (I dropped 'em)

My Story

The Day I Loved You

Beyond the Star

Crazy Handsome Rich

Dinosaur Love

House of Stars

Mr Cinderella 2

Love Bill

Stormy Honeymoon

The Star Always Follow You

Codicils in General

I only carefully track/watch Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. Other countries are not fully represented.

My Numbers

So my spreadsheet chronicled 138 BLs that finish airing in 2023.

101 = watched & reviewed

2 = still in the docket (WDYEY2 & Love Syndrome III)

15 = CNF (could not find)

20 = DNF (which also accounts for how few very low scores I handed out in 2023 as opposed to previous years, I just stopped watching). Speaking of which...

Ratings spread

(# of stars. #of BLs given that rating)

0 (see the DNFs instead)

2 - IT'S DEPRESSING they killed the gay, save yourself

7 - I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM WATCHING AND NEITHER DOES IT

7 - FATALLY FLAWED but still basically BL, however… do we want to support this kind of behavior?

9 - WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO but don’t expect much, it’s a total hot mess

17 - WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED probably around the ending or in narrative structure/cohesion or censorship

14 - RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS i.e. isn’t quite BL, convoluted, not strictly HEA, too short/long, or chemistry issues

30 - RECOMMENDED some concerns around tropes (like dub con) or story structure but still satisfies as BL

13 - ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED probably a few pacing issues or one flaw

2 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED faithful to tropes, happy ending, good chemistry, few flaws, high rewatch potential

(source)

#Best BLs of 2023 #Worst BLs of 2023 #Top 15 BLs #Our Dating Sim #Korean BL #I Cannot Reach You #Japanese BL #Kimi ni wa Todokanai #My School President #Thai BL #I Feel You Linger in the Air #Kiseki: Dear to Me #Taiwanese BL #Jun and Jun #The Eighth Sense #Unintentional Love Story #Our Dining Table #Bokura no Shokutaku

[ppeonppeonhan]

The Sexiest 2023 BL Scenes

I think we can all agree that there is an art to executing a sex scene -- and not everybody's an artist. This year, we (and, by that, I mean you) gif'd a couple of masterpieces that range from romantic to...educational. Here are the ones that live in my head rent free, in order of PG-13 to NC-17:

BEST ROLE-PLAY SEX: Bed Friend

If you had told me last year that incorporating cat ears into foreplay would result in one of the hottest scenes in BL, I would've given you bombastic side-eye. But James, the actor who plays Uea, pulled it off, and is probably responsible for a lot of Amazon orders till this day. (Episode 6)

BEST BEACH-SIDE SEX: The Eighth Sense

This entire sequence was so beautifully lit in golden tones, with soft touches, and romantic moments. It almost made you forget about the depression plot. Almost. (Episode 6)

LONG-AWAITED SEX: Hidden Agenda

Joke yearned for Zo in a way that was borderline comical. From the moment Zo kissed Joke like he was trying to give him CPR and then promptly shoved him out of his apartment, I knew every kiss after that would have to come with a parental warning. I'm surprised Joke didn't move in. (Episode 8)

DO-OVER SEX: Love Class 2

The music for this sex scene was so perfectly matched with the caressing and hand closeups. And the fact that it happened after the initially-ghosted Joo Hyuk got Sung Min to reconsider made it even sweeter. (Episode 9)

BEST WET SEX SCENE: Kiseki: Dear to Me

I may have enjoyed Ai Di and Chen Yi's love story more, but Fan Ze Rui and Bai Zong Yi were helping us all live out our tall boy fantasies. When he mounted him with a soft bounce, I knew the gif Gods would giveth. (Episode 7)

BEST EUPHORIC SEX: Only Friends

Ray looked like he reached nirvana when he made love to Sand in that sardine can of trailer, so of all their sex scenes, this was my fave. (Episode 9)

BEST INSECURITY-INDUCED SEX: Only Friends

Say what you will about Boston -- and the fandom has said a lot lol -- but if you had to choose a cast member to get you off, you'd choose him in a heartbeat. And yes, this scene was grimey. He f*cked his friend's potential boyfriend in the backseat of his car after manipulating him into believing he was cheated on, but can you blame him? He was probably tired of always having to give and never receive. Plus, Top did this vibrating move that made me wonder who told Force to do that... (Episode 3)

GIF by wanderlust-in-my-soul

BEST CENSORED SEX: Wedding Plan

I'm still mad that this scene wasn't in the Youtube cut. It paints an entirely different picture of their dynamic and their personalities. But thank God for the gif'ers, otherwise I would've missed how ravenous they were when they weren't...wedding planning. 😳 (Episode 6)

BEST WHIPLASH SEX: Be Mine Superstar

To be clear, WE were the ones getting whiplash. One minute, we were watching a sweet love story between an innocent college kid and his idol crush, and the next minute we were watching a masterclass on how to bang your one-night stand (consensually) until he agrees to date you. It's like...Sir, I'm on the train. Could you give a bitch a heads up? (Episode 8)

***

While I am generally envious of every single one of these experiences, I'm even more envious of everyone's knee strength and flexibility. I could never. Rollerblading has ruined me. If I tried half of these positions, I'd have to get physical therapy. 🙃

#bl drama #bl series #thai bl #thai drama #korean bl #kdrama #bed friend the series #king x uea #the eighth sense #jae won x ji hyun #hidden agenda the series #joke x zo #love class 2 #joo hyuk x sung min #kiseki: dear to me #fan ze rui x bai zong yi #only friends the series #boston x top #ray x sand #wedding plan the series #namnuea x lom #be mine superstar #namning x mingmueang #bl gifs