Our knees hurt and the music is too loud. Ben, NiNi, Shan and friend of the pod Turtles talk Gelboys and Heesu In Class 2.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction

08:36 Gelboys: A Portrait of Modern Youth

17:32 Gelboys: Technology, Loneliness and Distraction

30:58 Gelboys: Our Not-So-Fab Four

40:30 Gelboys: Perspectives On The Ending

44:28 Gelboys: Final Thoughts and Ratings

53:17 Heesu In Class 2

01:00:41 Heesu In Class 2: The Story Is Storying

01:09:55 Heesu In Class 2: Friendship, Family, Queerness and Acceptance

01:24:57 Heesu In Class 2: On Seungwon

01:28:06 Heesu In Class 2: The Galloping Disk Horse, Final Thoughts and Ratings

01:38:31 Outro: Things Are Dire

Senior Prom Square Dance

Prestige TV is gay now! Historical bottom dementia is on the menu as we tackle two different era-spanning toxic romances. Ben, NiNi and friend of the pod Captain Hands talk Interview With the Vampire and Fellow Travelers.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/793786744931762176/american-toxic-yaoi-interview-with-the-vampire?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction

02:25 Interview With The Vampire

12:27 IWTV: The Vampire Mythos

17:28 IWTV: The Best Bits

21:35 IWTV: Claudia

26:55 IWTV: Queerness in the Story

36:19 IWTV: Gay Paree

41:24 IWTV: Final Thoughts and Ratings

51:16 Fellow Travelers

01:04:44 Fellow Travelers: Hurt People Hurt People

01:13:22 Fellow Travelers: The Saga of Hawk and Tim

01:21:20 Fellow Travelers: Final Thoughts and Ratings

01:28:38 Outro: More Toxic Tales Please!

American Toxic Yaoi

FINALLY SOME GOOD GL. Ben, NiNi and Twig talk Fragrance You Inherit and Fragrance of the First Flower.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/792516512083771393/scent-of-a-woman-fragrance-you-inherit-and?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction

03:16 Fragrance You Inherit

08:34 Fragrance You Inherit: All About the Relationships

17:46 Fragrance You Inherit: Sakura's Coming Out

21:50 Fragrance You Inherit: On-chan

24:21 Fragrance You Inherit: Final Thoughts and Ratings

29:08 Fragrance of the First Flower

37:14 Fragrance of the First Flower: A Friend and a Foe

45:22 Fragrance of the First Flower: Life Life-ing Is Good Drama!

52:49 Fragrance of the First Flower: Final Thoughts and Ratings

57:04 Outro: Lesbians!

Scent Of A Woman

In Part 2 of our Untamed discussion, Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk our love for Jiang Cheng, our hatred for Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao, and why we will always hold out hope for more Chinese BL.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/785534648888541184/the-untamed-episodes-the-second-life?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Intro: More Notes From The Future

01:45 The Second Life

09:23 The Second Life: The Fallout of Wei Wuxian's Choices

16:52 The Second Life: Meng Yao's Dastardly Deeds

26:52 The Second Life: The Tragedy of Wen Ning

32:35 The Second Life: Two 'Fools'

37:41 The Second Life: Various Random Musings

48:18 Page to Screen (and Audio, and Anime, and Stage, and...)

56:59 Afterlife: The Impact of The Untamed on BL and Fandom

The Untamed Episodes: The Second Life

It's 'the biggest goddamn BL in the world', and we're finally going to talk about it. Ben, NiNi, Shan and Bookworm talk The Untamed. In Part 1 of our two-part episode, we talk censorship, the journey from MDZS to The Untamed, and the first half of the story.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/784910987347247104/the-untamed-retrospective-part-1?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction

03:55 Censorship in Media: A Global View

12:37 The MoDaoZuShi Phenomenon

24:33 The Big Picture

33:36 The First Life

40:07 The First Life: Thoughts and Impressions

46:21 The First Life: WangXian and Other Fucked Up Love Stories

01:01:17 The First Life: Various Random Musings

01:11:02 Outro: Notes From the Future

The Untamed Episodes: The First Life

It’s our 3rd Annual Very Important Internet BL Awards and we’ve changed up our whole shit! Ben and NiNi talk the best things we watched all year.

Episode transcript available here.

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Introduction: It's Awards Season Once More

02:09 Acting!

08:00 Ships Ahoy!

16:31 Immortal Technique

29:05 Top Tings

41:43 Special Class Awards

43:11 Special Class: Honourable Mentions

47:36 Special Class: Mark Pakin 6th Man Awards

51:13 Special Class: Standout Queer Narratives

01:06:00 Outro

The 2024 VIIB Awards

It’s our holiday special (because it's a holiday somewhere in the world)! Ben, NiNi and assorted friends of the pod look back on 10 years of BL as a genre and talk 10 shows that define the genre for us.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/774131636077019136/the-diamond-league-fan-favorite-bl-classics?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 Celebrating the BL Canon: A Retrospective

02:08 Blueming (2022) | KR | dir. Hwang Da Seul (Megan)

07:35 Dark Blue Kiss (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Shan)

13:59 He's Coming To Me (2019) | TH | dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol (Captain Hands)

17:00 His (2020) | JP | dir.  Imaizumi Rikiya (Twig)

21:12 Light On Me (2021) | KR | dir.  Lee Yoo Yeon (Kyra)

25:40 Make It Right (2017) | TH | dirs. New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul and Cheewin Thanamin Wongskulphat (Turtles)

33:29 The Miracle of Teddy Bear (2022) | TH | dir.  Paajaew Yuthana Lorphanpaibul (Pluem)

39:52 Theory of Love (2019) | TH | dir.  X Nuttapong Mongkolsawas (Bookworm)

46:15 The Untamed (2019) | CH | dirs. Steve Cheng and Chang Ka Lam (Shan)

51:42 We Best Love (2021) | TW | dir. Ray Jiang (Twig)

57:59 Ben and Nini's Drive-by Faves

The Diamond League

Ben, NiNi and Shan discuss a weird year for QL and look ahead to 2025.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/773491356894150656/year-in-review-2024?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

00:55 2024 Headlines: Industry Consolidation

06:49 2024 Headline: Self-Censorship

13:52 2024 Headlines: Vertical Format Micro-BLs and Other Shit We're Anti

20:14 Festivus Airing Of The Grievances

36:51 2024 Fan Awards

55:49 QL Resolutions

01:04:45 Affirmations and Hopes for the Future

Year In Review 2024

Korea swung big at the end of the year and hit it out of the park on both the queer romance and queer life drama fronts. Ben, NiNi and Shan talk Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo and Love In The Big City.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/772853406715068416/hallyu-let-free-the-curse-of-taekwondo-and-love?source=share]

00:00 Welcome

01:15 Introduction: Let's Talk Hallyu

06:01 Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo

12:36 Taekwondo: Themes and Patterns In Hwang Da Seul's Work

21:54 Taekwondo: The Separation

33:28 Taekwondo: The Reunion

38:22 Taekwondo: On Hyeon Ho

44:57 Taekwondo: Final Thoughts and Ratings

52:33 Love In The Big City

58:46 Love In The Big City Part 1: Mi Ae and the Film Adaptation

01:06:50 Love In The Big City Part 2: Umma and Young Soo

01:17:05 Love In The Big City Part 3: Gyu Ho and Kylie

01:28:31 Love In The Big City Part 4: Habibi and the T-aras

01:40:28 Love In The Big City: Final Thoughts and Ratings

01:48:25 Outro

Hallyu

More takes on the office romance, now with bonus miscommunication! Ben, NiNi and Ginny talk Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko and At 25:00 In Akasaka.

Episode transcript available here. [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod/772234368150339584/lost-focus-and-had-a-consensual-workplace?source=share]

00:00 Welcome
01:16 Intro
02:52 Ayaka Is In Love With Hiroko
10:45 Ayaka: A Split Narrative
17:20 Ayaka: The Negatives
24:25 Ayaka: Final Thoughts and Ratings
29:08 At 25:00 in Akasaka
35:34 At 25:00 in Akasaka: It's the Characters for Us
43:18 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Hayama and Shirasaki
49:05 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Filmmaking and Production
53:25 At 25:00 in Akasaka: Final Thoughts and Ratings
58:45 The State of J-BL

Lost Focus And Had A Consensual Workplace Relationship

The Conversation is a podcast all about Asian BL/GL/QL (and sometimes other queer media), coming at you from a film crit perspective. We swan in every other week-ish to shoot the shit on faves, flops and trends, artistry and industry nerdery, and also crack and simping, because we contain multitudes. You can find us and reach out on Tumblr: @the-conversation-pod [https://www.tumblr.com/the-conversation-pod]

Credits:

NiNi (@shortpplfedup [https://www.tumblr.com/shortpplfedup]) is our editor and producer. Ben (@bengiyo [https://www.tumblr.com/bengiyo]) is our creative director and content manager. Shan (@lurkingshan [https://www.tumblr.com/lurkingshan]) is our associate producer. Twig (@twig-tea [https://www.tumblr.com/twig-tea]) is our correspondent. Our theme music is Dedication by Ron Gelinas Chillout Lounge [https://open.spotify.com/artist/03JYfsI9Ke7JFuxHD239m2] (Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com [https://www.free-stock-music.com/])

Ben and NiNi

Shows