Tag Game: 10 Favorite QL Performances!
Tagged by: @usertoxicyaoi one of my absolute favourite humans on this webbed site!!!
Rules: Post 10 gifs of your personal top 10 QL performances you've seen, the one's that drilled into your heart and took over your brain. This is low pressure. Add words if you want, but the gifs are the only requirement. Then tag 5 friends to hand out their tumblr awards.
It doesn't specify this year, and while I watched a lot of shows this year, there weren't actually that many stand-out performances to me and my picky hyperfixating ass, at least not the kind that took over my entire brain and made me start chewing through the drywall, so I'm gonna diversify. 5 from 2025 to wrap-up the year, and 5 Of All Time. Outside of that, this is in no particular order because I couldn't rank these bitches if I tried.
Zhan Xuan as Guo Cheng Yu in Revenged Love
I know I said I'm not ranking these, but if I was, he's my number one from 2025 babeyyyy. Guo Chengyu is kind of the platonic ideal of chaotic neutral. He does really noble things for selfish reasons (potentially murdering a piece of shit to protect the guy he fancies), he does manipulative things for noble reasons (protecting his best friend from the fallout of his past relationship by taking all the blame), and he spends most of the time flirting with everything that moves, and then falls in love with a Doctor who claims to hate him (because he's traumatised from a past experience) and goes out of his way to not only figure out what that trauma was, but to help him through it. Zhan Xuan's performance was so layered and interesting and I would watch him watch paint dry, and actually ended up watching a really heterosexual cdrama JUST to watch his bromance sideplot in it, and he was great. He's a bitch, he's a Good Man, he's a little devil, he's a genius, he's a bastard, that's my WIFE!
2. Huang Xing as Hua Yong in A/B/O Desire
This man is the king of code-switching. He is a manipulative, powerful, cunty enigma, who spends half of his time onscreen pretending to be a pathetic waif of a man who needs to be saved by a big strong Alpha. And the moment he has that Alpha in his clutches, he's never going to let him go. He wants to get that man pregnant, and he succeeds!! And then gets jealous of his own child for taking his husband's attention!! He's an absolute nightmare of a human being and Huang Xing's performance was so goddamn compelling. GET HIM BACK ON MY SCREEN!
3. Kim Kang Min as Choi Si Yeol in My Bias Is Showing?!
This show was weird, because I really liked a lot of it, and it's in the top 3 kBLs that came out this year for me (in a year that was very much bereft of good kBLs) but it also feels like it barely made a ripple to anybody else. I also read the manhwa, so a lot of people's frustrations with the show weren't a problem for me. But Kim Kang Min's performance really held the show together for me, ESPECIALLY when it came to aspects of his character from the manhwa that were simply not in the script - he did a really good job of conveying those things with his acting despite being handcuffed and I just think it was genuinely impressive. He's supposed to be an impassive, cold-seeming idol who rarely ever emotes, and that can be VERY easy to fuck up, but he really held his own. I also had a meltdown to my friends about finding this man attractive in the same way as that one superman rant "oh you find the tall, conventionally attractive man playing a kpop idol hot? stop the presses". Kevin also did a great job in this show, I just liked Kang Min's acting a little bit more.
4. Sea Tanwanin as in My Magic Prophecy
It is difficult to make a character who cries in every episode not feel one note, and there are other shows I love that do not clear this hurdle, but My Magic Prophecy did it really well and that's almost entirely down to Sea. Sea's panicked crying feels different to his emotional breakdowns which feels different to his frustrated tears and it immerses you so deeply into Inthu as a character. He is defined almost entirely by his trauma, and it informs everything he does, but it's through meeting Thap and confronting that trauma head-on that he manages to carve out a future for himself that isn't defined by his past. He's also good at doing the snarky, endearing thing, which makes me EXTRA excited for "I Will Save You" this year, because I can't WAIT to see him being an absolute terror to Jimmy. He's so good at playing on Little Shit energy in a way that makes me want to punch him in the shoulder and I adore him.
5. Namping Napatsakorn as Khem in Khemjira
I was SO torn between Namping, Keng and Firstone for this, but let's be real Namping absolutely bodied this role. He managed to portray somebody who is meek but not a pushover, endearingly awkward enough for you to totally believe how quickly Peem falls in love with him, and who has been so stressed his entire life that the stress almost gives way to a weird kind of calm in a way that anybody with c-ptsd can understand. He also portrays a version of Khem who is possessed and evil, AND his friend Jet, in a way that is completely immersive. His version of Jet, in particular, was scarily accurate and watching the behind the scenes of him and Firstone practicing it was so cool. This show was a powerhouse of actors and I can't wait to see what all of them do next.
If you'd like my opinions on other great performances from 2025 you should just read Faiza's list because I share most of the same thoughts and honestly what is the point in repeating something (but worse) when the original is well-written and compelling and it's right there?
Okay, now let's finish with my 5 of all time:
6. Joong Archen as Fadel in The Heart Killers
Once again, this is a show I could have picked all four main leads from to gush about their acting, but I've been on the Joong Archen train since 2Moons2 and he's FINALLY being given his fucking flowers by the wider community. The last few shows he's done have been fluffy rom-com type shows that are perfectly fine, but which don't show off his range at all, because gmmtv KEEPS casting him as an unexpressive love interest, and to an extent they did this again in The Heart Killers, except this time he really got to let loose. Sure, he's stoic, but as I've said a hundred times to act stoic WELL without coming off as one note or wooden takes a phenomenal actor (which is probably why they keep making him do it) and it doesn't take long for the wheels to come off anyway. Fadel is impassive as a shield, but beneath that he's miserable and lonely and softer than he'd admit, and despite his clear attempts to school his feelings you can see him slowly fall for Dunk's Style (another peak performance) until he's at war with himself over what to do, and he does it so masterfully it makes me want to lie down on the road in the rain. He's an assassin. He's a diner line cook running said diner on his lonesome. He's a metal enthusiast, make-up included. He's obsessed with a crop-top wearing mechanic, and the first time he realised that, he literally went into into the middle of the night to dig his own grave. I'm going to kiss him on the mouth. Also Joong is finally playing a charming flirt again in Dare You To Death and it's fantastic - LET HIM BE FUNNY GMMTV!!
7. Nakata Keisuke as Kusakabe Ritsu in The End of the World With You
This man should be so fucking unlikable. I should be screaming at the screen for Masumi to ignore him or run screaming in the other direction. I am on record as HATING forgiveness arcs.
For the most part I think they're stupid and damaging, but very rarely a show or a book will come out that handles these things CORRECTLY, and The End of the World With You is one of them. Both the manga and the show portray this man's shittiness, and then his realisation that he lost something good through being shitty, and then his desperation to get it back once a timer is put on his opportunities to do so, really fucking well. And Keisuke's performance sells it so much. He's obsessed with Masumi, both in a selfish "the one that got away" way, and in a totally selfless "i want to fix whatever i broke so you can be happy" way. He's full of self-loathing. He's suicidal. He desperately wants to sleep with Masumi but not at the expense of his well-being, both mental and physical. His eyes never leaving Masumi's face in every sex scene is one of my favourite acting choices ever - even back when he was fuckboi number one when they were having sex he was SOLELY focused on Masumi's pleasure, and that's a fantastic character choice.
8. Lee Taevin as Tae Myungha in Love For Love's Sake
The fact that Lee Taevin actively campaigned for this show to be made, and to play this role, means that I owe him my life. King, if you ever wanna get coffee and talk about your artistic ambition, I am free literally whenever you want. Tae Myungha is a man who gets isekai'd into what seems like a parallel world to his own, set somewhere in his own past, and he's given instructions to alter things like a video game in order to change the fate of the people involved, but it becomes clear very quickly that it's a bit more complicated than that. Myungha is so full of so many emotions all the time, but he's desperately trying to suppress them in front of everybody else, and actually he's successful a lot of the time but that almost makes him MORE compelling. He makes friends, he falls in love, he builds a life for himself, but he's willing to sacrifice it all for the people he loves most, not realising that they need him more than any sacrifice he'd be willing to make. He's unbelievably suicidal in a way that punched me directly in the throat. He's also one of the most human characters ever put to film, and Lee Taevin portrayed him impeccably.
9. Nanon Korapat as Pran Parakul in Bad Buddy
oh you thought my boy Nanon wasn't going to appear on this list? you though Pran Parakul my absolute beloved wouldn't make an appearance? Nanon, never get plastic surgery baby, your hyper-expressive face is your biggest asset and I adore it beyond words!! The amount of face journeys this man goes on in one series is hysterical. He's suffering from one-sided love in a way that absolutely K.O's me every time I watch it. The yearning alongside the acceptance of his fate (for it to never be reciprocated) is so palpable, that when he DOES get what he wants, you totally understand why he runs in the opposite direction. He's funny, he's smart, he's empathetic, he's a great friend, and he's the only person in the world who can go toe to toe with Pat and win. He's the master of "affectionate annoyance" which is something that we do not see portrayed well onscreen a lot (it often steers too far into actual annoyance, or not far enough and comes off as saccharine and cheesy). He's so good at being heartbroken, but he's also so good at being so happy his dimples could replace the sun. He's the love of my life.
10. Lim Ji Sub as Seo Jaewon in The Eighth Sense
Is it concerning that a huge portion of my favourite characters are actively suicidal? Anyway- Seo Jaewon is somebody that is PAINFULLY relatable to me, and Lim Jisub plays him in a way that truly makes me believe this is a real guy. His mannerisms, the emotions bubbling below the surface in every scene, and the way he portrays total breakdown and dissociation are genuinely masterful. There's an ease to the way he behaves around Jihyun and Yun Won that is so different to the way he is around every other character, and that ease is even different between the two - with Yun Won it's like he's hanging on for dear life and she makes that easier for him, but with Jihyun it's like he's catching his breath for the first time in a long time and realising that he doesn't have to struggle so hard anymore. He means everything to me.
+bonus from 2025 that isn't TECHNICALLY a QL, but is one of the best performances to come out of this year: Park Jihoon as Yeon Sieun in Weak Hero Class 2
The fact that you can tell this man is smiling from just his eyes is frankly BONKERS. Park Jihoon is one of the best actors currently alive, and as somebody who has been invested in his career for the last five years, I just want to scream about this performance a thousand times over. Season 1 was fantastic and his total breakdown was obviously lauded, but the softer, quieter acting moments in this season just absolutely floored me. Also he's in love with his best friend and when he sees him awake for the first time in the finale of season 2 and ACTUALLY smiles, I was extremely normal about that (me when I lie).
Special Mentions:
The entire cast of Revenged Love
Both of the leads in Thundercloud Rainstorm
Hao Yi Ran as You Shulang in To My Shore
Both of the leads in 10Dance
SkyPrapai in Love in the Air
Zhu Yilong in both Guardian and Sound of the Providence
YinWar in Jack and Joker
Putter Phubase as Yu in I Saw You In My Dream
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams in Heated Rivalry
tagging @hazmatilda @spicyvampire @thisautistic @mejomonster @toddisawarlock @poetry-protest-pornography @slayerkitty and anybody else who wants to do it! i presume most of y'all have done it by now, because i take forever to get to tag games lol
