Yeah, so don't expect me to make sense, I just need to gush my entire soul out about the dramas that kicked butt for me this year. Also gifs.

oooooh, EXCELLENT question!!

If we're going via "these men are in love but [CENSORSHIP SIREN RINGS LOUDLY]" then I'd go for

Guardian: semi-modern sci-fi/fantasy featuring a chaotic bisexual detective and the all-powerful god-like uptight professor he bothers into loving him. 10/10, bonkers CGI and ridiculous side characters only add to the enjoyment

2. Sound of Providence/Ultimate Note (really any of The Lost Tomb series but these are my personal favourites). Three idiots that call themselves The Iron Triangle (said idiots are a genius, a wiseguy, and a semi-immortal amnesiac) and their various tomb-raiding adventures!

Also has iconic side characters, might I add. The chronology of this whole series is so baffling and ridiculous I may have to make a video about it, but these two series hold a special place in my heart - they came out within weeks of each other, but in one the characters are in their 40s and in the other they're like... 22? at most? ICONIC, BEAUTIFUL, SHOWSTOPPING-

also the genius and the immortal amnesiac are in love, and the wiseguy is basically their third, it's a whole thing

3. Under the Skin

modern day crime series, featuring a detective and an artist. The artist is a SAVANT who can basically draw ANYTHING he puts his mind to, but in the past it meant he accidentally got an undercover cop killed without knowing. A few years later, he decides to become a police sketch artist as repentance. Said cop was our detective's mentor, and he's still salty about it but OH LOOK, THEY'VE BEEN PARTNERED UP!

4. WORD OF HONOR

my favourite of the fantasy homoerotic dramas, and the one that inspired me to start writing a video essay about them. Two soulmates meet who are destined for nothing but misery - one is trying to destroy the entire martial arts world for revenge and the other is an ex-assassin who's chosen to die slowly as penance for his murders. Through each other (and their idiot adopted son) they find happiness, kinda. This show is part of why I liked Mysterious Lotus Casebook so much - very similar found-family vibes, except they start out as enemies in MLC, whereas in this they start out as reluctant allies.

non-extremely-homoerotic recs:

Love Story Between Fairy and Devil

Evil being who has been trapped in a magical prison escapes said prison by accidentally body-swapping with an innocent fairy, but even after they swap back, he's tied to her (feels pain when she does, etc.) and so has to keep her around against his will. Enemies to lovers gorgeousness.

2. 19th Floor

fantasy/sci-fi drama where a group of strangers get thrust into an AI world (in a good way, the way AI ACTUALLY MEANS) where if you get hurt in the game, you go into a coma in real life. Every level has a different extremely fucked up mechanic to solve, and the cast are an absolute delight, also the main male lead is played by one of my favourite actors, so I'm slightly biased. Extremely cuntslay show.

3. My Journey to You

A group of female assassins go undercover in a kingdom to apply to be wives to the royals in order to take them down from the inside but OH NO, MIGHT THEY ACTUALLY FALL IN LOVE WITH THEIR TARGETS???? Also the female assassins are weirdly sapphic with each other, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Esther Yu is one of the hottest women to ever exist and you may quote me on that.

gif from here: https://talistheintrovert.tumblr.com/post/730663645629054976 because it wouldn't let me do it properly (credit: @xiaolanhua )

4. You Are My Glory

dorky romance between two of the most stunningly beautiful people I've ever seen in my life, seriously, it's ridiculous. Their chemistry is good, the story is easy, and it's generally a fun, romantic watch.

5. Love You Seven Times

two gods(?) forced to live seven different lifetimes together because of a mishaps, it's glorious, it's gender envy, it's enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to friends to lovers excellence.

6. Till the End of the Moon

Did you like Love Between Fairy and Devil? then you'll LOVE this show, which has functionally the same plot, except that the female lead KNOWINGLY tries to seduce the future evil villain in order to either assassinate him or stop him from becoming evil, it's a coin toss for her. A brilliant show with fantastic performances and some of the best costume design on this list (which is a high bar, the costumes in all these shows serve unbelievable amounts of cunt).

I hope those are enough to keep you going for a little while! I'm always here to answer rec asks fr, it's one of my favourite things.

(dramas with gifs are excellent/great and actually worth watching in my opinion. The others are not, watch at your own risk)

My Boss (2024)-There were a couple of turns in this drama that I wasn't crazy about. But they were cute when they were cute. The cases made no sense.

Fake It Till You Make It-realistic romance. Almost to the point where he's kind of unlikeable. But it's kind of hot too.

My Piggy Boss-cute mini. Loved it.

Have a Crush on You-another mini. fun

Secretary Bai Wants To Resign Everyday-a mini. He's so hot.

Admist a Snowstorm of Love-he had serial killer eyes. That's how much he loved her. FROM FIRST SIGHT. If you want a mature romance where Leo was all over her every CHANCE he got. Here's the show. Boring ass billards aside. The skinship was top tier.

My Special Girl-forgettable tbh but not bad.

Just Spoil You-mini kinda fun.

Golden House Hidden Love-that ending pmo. He's so fine though.

Love Me Love My Voice-high production quality. Cringey like love020 but easier to sit through. Better acting too.

Story of Kunning Palace-couldn't stand this female lead. She sucked. And I don't know what she saw in SML. She was stuck on him forever. When the ML was right there morally grey and HOT.

Love is Sweet-rewatch

Only 4 Love-she was big LIAR towards the end for no reason. And they gave Dylan no reason to be liked.

The Substitute Princess's Love-eh

The Legend of Shen Li-Made me cry in the first 6 episodes. He became a little annoying once they weren't on earth. But happy ending and still pretty good.

Born To Run-TEARJERKER but beautiful story. The mom on the right deserved a worse fate.

Blossoms in Adversity-Mature FL and flawed but strong quiet ML. Really strong storyline and comfortable romance.

I May Love You-he didn't like that girl. And when he did I didn't care. Love Miles though usually.

Falling Into You-although they ignore a GLARING mental illness moment. The skinship was PEAK. The romance was good when it happened and they remained strong. Anyu looks super young here but she doesn't look as old as people make it seem. I loved them both.

Men in Love-so bad I didn't finish. Most wishy washy FL ever. She really pmo bad.

Moon Love-mixed feelings. Because low budget but sweet and sad at the same time.

Meet Yourself-long winded and boring in a comfortable way. But that's the kind of dramas she does. Very slow slice of life. Sweet. Worth it.

Wonderland of Love-Mr. And Mrs Smith levels of insane chemistry but he loved her way more than she loved him and it was obvious to the point where it made it not fun. She was kind of self centered, he came second and usually third.

You are My Secret-I didn't like the way she took things that happened at work out on him.

The Unexpected Marriage-cute enough

Love Scenery-cute time passer.

Are You the One-chemistry was so good. I know people hate the lying aspect but I'm sorry it makes sense. These two deserved. One of the best of the year. Need them in another drama together.

Melody of Golden Age-I enjoyed this. Really made Ding appeal to me on another level. I think the ending was stumble-y but I enjoyed for the most part.

Fateful Love-it was okay for the first like 30 and then... eh not bad.

19th Floor-one of the top of the year. It's this year's Reset. It did get a little shakey towards the end but that because it had so many episodes. Still great.

Love Like the Galaxy-I DID NOT like this and Idk how anyone else did. But it has plenty of fans, it wont miss me. She "settled" for him and he loved her to the point of insanity. Idk what he saw, she kind of sucked. He had to watch her love someone else for waaay too long.

Forever and Ever- I didn't watch the prequel show because I didn't want to put myself through the sadness. This could be considered boring but it was a comfortable boring. I enjoyed it. She LAID THIS BOY DOWN EVERY CHANCE SHE GOT. lol

As Beautiful You-It was okay. The business parts are so long and boring. Xu Kai was so fine.

Miss J-Fun, quirky, and charming.

In Blossom-I enjoyed it. Idk why people complain about Fl's acting. It was fine.

A Journey to Love-sigh I gave in and watched it because of the chemistry that oozed off the gifsets and I wasn't disappointed. These two need another show together that ends HAPPY.

I mean…

Year in Review/ My Top C-Drama's of '24

The Double

You Are My Secret

The Spirealm

The Story Of Pearl Girl

Blossom

Snowfall

Blossoms in Adversity

Derailment

Are You The One

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

19th Floor

Honorable Mentions:

Everybody Loves Me

Yong An Dream

The Unexpected Marriage

Melody of Golden Age

In Blossom

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Shows I’m still working on ( So many shows, too little time 😭 ):

Amidst a snowstorm of love

Will Love in Spring

Guess who I am

Hard to Find

Best Choice Ever

Fox Spirit Matchmaker

The Dangerous Lover (Mini)

Practice Daughter

Lady Revenger Returns From the Fire

Follow your Heart

Beauty Strategy (Mini)

As beautiful as you

Love of Nirvana

Fateful Love

Kill Me, Love Me

Dashing Youth

Fangs of Fortune

Brocade Odyssey

Step by Step Love

Young Babylon