To satisfy my queer heart (historical/costume edition)

classic queer cinema. the actor was even an out bisexual man. unfortunately he later killed himself in part due to the homophobia/biphobia that he faced. This film is a legendary performance by Leslie Cheung. 

cw: abuse, rape, animal killing (on-screen), persecution, homophobia 

gay such beautiful gayness  wlw

written by Chan-wook Park

mlm (likely gay x bisexual)

this used to be THE recommended queer film back in the day just because there wasn't much else around

cw: infidelity

mlm

cw: homophobia, suicide (attempted and framed), murder, court politics, hunger due to poverty, sexual abuse, pimping, idk probably more

mlm

cw: murder, violence, attempted sexual assault, implied infidelity, homophobia

mlm subtext it has a little more romantic feel to it than your typical action movie, but not by much. 

It has about as much interpersonal depth as your typical big budget action movie, so not much development except via tropes. Because of the kinds of tropes they use, this could be read as mlm subtext, but I think this one is reasonably debateable. However, because it seems to be made of the same material as Painted Skin: The Guo Jingming Edition, which has more obvious mlm subtext, then this one might actually be intentionally mlm subtext. If I had not watched Painted Skin, I would not have put Wuliang on this list though.

mlm The romance is not at all at the center of the story and it's mostly subtext, but very good.

Some have also interpreted characters as aro/ace due to their lack of interest in romance and unmarried status later in life.

Wuxia

We got mlm subtext where the leads frequently refer to each other as soulmates. In addition, they are raising a child together. Cute domestic things.

This is a particularly bold drama. Riding on the success of The Untamed, China has been purchasing the rights to danmei (aka bl) webnovels, and this is part of that. AvenueX has a video where she explains some of the choices made by the creative team that were changed due to censorship, but not erased (the video is about lip reading). This is probably one of the last queer shows that will come out of China for a while. 

Wuxia

bisexual antagonist. Not sure where she is on the trans spectrum to be honest.  AUGH THE HEARTACHE

Wuxia

cw: homophobia, transphobia, rape

crossdressing shenanigans except the MAIN CHARACTER is actually wlw uh hello that never happens on k-broadcasting for full-length shows

cw: a dash of internalized homophobia, a bit of transphobia, we got murder and a manipulative relationship, teacher/student relationship

wlw

there's some sex scenes between women. this is apparently based on the same story that Painter of the Wind is based on, except the female lead isn't actually gay in this which ?!??!??! im so confused. i need to read the source material now because??!/!./?! wtf?!?!? is she gay or not?!?!?!? 

I'm not sure how to explain... this is the most straight gay thing I've ever watched. The chemistry... non existent. Ah... what a shame. 

MLM and cross dressing

mlm

script could have benefited from being workshoped a bit

wlw 

this honestly feels like an outline instead of a finished story. It's nice getting more representation but I kind of wish people would raise their standards for producing these kinds of short stories. Flesh out the writing maybe idk thats just me. like they could have written a short intimate story instead of an outline you know? idk maybe people who work in film don't read short stories. Summerdaze is a good example of a short film written as a short story. 

this turning into an ad gave me a chuckle

wlw

cw: none that i can think of. fainting? does that count? idk

basically everyone is wlw. there's only one character who we don't really know the preference of.  this is cute! Just so you know, this feels less like a drama and more like a webtoon.

a cute and short wlw story with surprise crossdressing! kinda wish this was like a teaser for a series tbh. want it to be longer T_T 

cw: wuxia violence and court schemes

wlw

cw: fantasy violence, suicide, rape (implied)

wlw

cw: death, fantasy violence

wlw 

cw: v stalkerish behavior and manipulative (portrayed in a romantic way)

wlw

This was cute. Meh. The ending was a bit refreshing compared to everything else in this niche, but other than that.... 

cw: terminal illness

wlw

wlw

cw: murder, robbery

wlw

not bad. i think they're complying with the censorship standards of no xian, which is why the alien plot showed up here. Took me by surprise though.

cw: blood, poison

wlw

cw: none? i think?

wlw

so this one I actually liked because it didn't feel rushed. It felt like a short story, which is what it's supposed to be. Plus I liked the clever wording towards the end. I recommend the music video that accompanies this as well for some more fluff and skinship

wlw

im getting really tired of drama writers getting crammed into miniseries. short stories are an awesome format and they should be written by people who actually care about short stories, and aren't just writers who don't have a budget for their big ideas cuz their story is gay. i want to see a wlw c-historical miniseries who actually cares about short stories. im tired of this.

cw: suicide

wlw

cw: none that i can think of

wlw

wlw

cw: i cant remember

wlw

very skinshippy

cw: blood, suicide (the assassin kind where they get caught so they bite some poison in their mouth), torture

wlw

Bonus content for Led Astray By Love. A xianxia tale!

cw: poison

wlw

wlw

cw: suicide, murder, strangulation

wlw

this is another C-film that feels more like an outline than a short story. 

cw: fantasy violence, a little blood

wlw

wlw

no plot and didnt try to have any. pure vibes, gurl looked like she was about to eat her up

wlw 

cw: uhh fantasy violence i guess

wlw(?)

ok so why the question mark. the other lead dresses as a man and leads life like a man. This could be butch behavior, this could be crossdressing to gain rights in a society that favors men, or it could be trans rep. The subs at the end would imply they both ID as women, and these projects within context would likely not be going for a trans vibe, but I left the question mark up for some interpretation if anyone was looking for that. I will say though, that this had much higher masculine energy than most of these other GL projects. But again, that doesn't have to read as trans.

they get married!!!! 

wlw

This is heavily inspired by the (VERY GAY) story from the 1600s called Fragrant Companion by Li Yu. If you ever find a fully translated version of the opera for the love of all that is good in this world please share it with me me. Anyway, back to this story. So, Two Belles in Love is very much inspired by this opera but has some major differences. First of all, a lot of the story has been cut out, and the story has two parallel narratives. One is told through opera and the other is what the director calls the "realistic" version. The ending of the story is also altered. If you want to learn more, I recommend translating the description under the YouTube video. 

cw: i cant remember, breakup maybe? dooes that count? i think ive counted it before.

mlm

cw: non-consensual 

cross dressing shenanigans with ppl questioning their sexuality. I think two bisexuals/pansexuals if I remember correctly (wlw and mlm)?

mlm

It's not entirely clear how many of these characters are actually queer. Although our protagonist kisses a man, he is definitely straight for example. Probably. Anyway, but there are also some men who seem to fit the "gay by circumstance" myth, some who could be interpreted as either gay or simply ambitious, and still others that are definitely gay. Regardless this was way gayer than i was expecting for a reverse harem movie.

mlm and wlw

so many mlm, but a lot of them are offscreen. There's a few onscreen mlm characters and relationships, but they dont take as much screentime as they did in the other live action adaptations. 

cw: murder, suicide, abuse, sexual assault, rape and attempted rape, infidelity

crossdressing and body swap shenanigans where its implied the lead went through an "am i gay phase." ngl its kind of queerbaity.

cw: thinks that gayness is "something wrong with me", fantasy violence

wlw or mlm??? not clear because of magic. possiby bigender but it's not really explored too deeply. But also, this is a very straight man who could simply be considered trans?

the main character enters the body of someone he does not share the gender of (she is what we can assume is a cis woman,  and he is a cis man, making our lead a trans man); however as time goes on, it seems like parts of the two mix with each other which could open up room for interpretation of a bigender character. Similarly, I think we are meant to assume that both souls of this body were straight, which makes the newly formed hybrid person bisexual. it feels a bit queerbaity to me but idk

cw: typical court politics stuff, suicide, homophobia, internalized homophobia depending on how you interpret it

cw: suicide attempts (yes that's a plural), attempted murder, typical action sword-swinging violence, archery (and lady looking fineeee as hell doing it), non-consensual attempted kissing (imagined)

There are some gay-esque (mlm) things that happen in the show, but it's on that fine line of "but there's an excuse why it's not gay." It all happens towards the end of the show. Apparently the book is more gay though. idk I haven't read it yet.

edit: okay correct me if I'm wrong, I might be confusing this with Ashes of Love, but I think this is also like.... okay HUGE SPOILERRRRR but the antagonist is gay for his God of War and so in order to be not gay, he forces the God of War to reincarnate into a woman???? I vaguely remember this???? I would rewatch it but I am forever scarred by Shi Feng's name being shouted while he pours buckets of blood from his mouth and... no lie... I learned how to say "you lied to me" in Mandarin because of this show, I cannot do this again. Sorry bruh, just comment if you watched this and let me know if I'm correctly remembering the show. 

magically trans?

ok so some context (aka SPOILERS) here, the FL ends up with this thing that makes it so she can change her appearance, sometimes switching to a man. From one other scene, we can assume its not just her face that has changed, but also her body. Her latest appearance she wears throughout a whole chunk of episodes. If we assume she's cisgendered, then when the magic spell changes her, she then becomes a trans woman. When she stop hiding her identity, she then goes through the equivalent of magical cosmetic surgery to return to her feminine appearance, but it's explained that the magical item that turned her into a man is still in effect. I will say, she doesn't experience any dysphoria for those of you who believe that's an essential part of the trans experience.

mlm

toxic relationship lets be real. Thought it was interesting that they had the whole "have a wife for your family" discussion. I hear this irl but I don't often  hear it in dramas.

cw: murder, manipulative relationships, homelessness, date rape drug, rape, homophobia, torture, poison

mlm

cw: poison, genocide, infidelity

mlm

so this isn't technically a costume drama i think? but since it's inspired by The Butterfly Lovers and there are several scenes in costume despite the whole story actually being modern, I'm gonna count this here anyway

Also, I watched this so you don't have to. If you are in desperate need for a twisted love story and don't care how badly it's made, then I guess this is for you, but otherwise this is a skip.

cw: self-harm, suicidal ideation, stalking, hidden camera, workplace harassment, manipulation, blackmail

mlm

I think there's a season 2 but I didn't watch it. This seems to borrow heavily from Scum Villain's Self-Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (who is also the author of The Untamed).

there's some mlm flirting in a military bro style. there's no mlm romance though.

mlm but specifically referred to as "gay boy," which through a series of interviews within the movie seems to be an umbrella term encompassing crossdressers, trans people, gay people, and bi people? 

Takes place in I believe the 60s? Its the era of the Beatles, drugs, sex, and rock & roll. 

cw: strobe effects, incest, self-mutilation, gore, murder, suicide, drug use, forced removal of clothes (in a party environment as part of a game)