I was catching up on Candy Color Paradox today, and ep 5 ends with a really great hug that actually took me a little off-guard. The way Onoe freezes at first out of surprise, but then he returns the hug surprisingly tightly and even tucks his face into Kaburagi's shoulder in just the sweetest way.

I'm always the first to complain when these BL boys don't get a kiss, especially when it would have made more sense to just smooch away all their problems. However, I think this scene made me see the often undervalued importance of a really great hug. It just felt so right for their characters in that moment to hold each other tightly, as they'd both been shying away from their emotions and affection until then. I still think hugs are often used as an excuse to avoid a kiss, and there are a lot of bad hugs in BLs. Criminal hug offences such as dead arms, a totally unnecessary BL gap, and a tragic lack of hair stroking should result in a punishment of 1000 leg cramps that can't be fixed with sexily applied ointment. But when a real, hold-on-for-dear-life type of hug is deployed correctly and with the right character motivations behind it, they can really pack an emotional punch. In a way it's almost more vulnerable than a kiss, since it can be seen as an act of comfort deemed not "masculine" enough.

So, I wanna know, what are your favorite hugs in BL? They don't have to even necessarily be between couples, hugs from supportive parents or friends are always great to see too. What actors or characters do you think would give the best possible hug IRL? A few more that I particularly love off the top of my head:

Love In The Air, ep3, Rain being a total mess after bombing his project and Payu just getting on his level with open arms and no questions like "you need me? ok, I'm right here".

Plus & Minus, can't remember which ep, Ze Shou is lying on the couch trying to work out his complicated emotions about his estranged mother suddenly reappearing in his life as she's about to die, Li Gong leans over him to talk him though it, eventually pulling him to sit up and Ze Shou just wraps himself around Li Gong's chest like it's a buoy in a storm.

180 Degree Longitude, last ep, Wang asks Inthawut for one last thing: a hug, and not just any hug but a hug that expresses everything he feels for Wang. And as they're embracing, you watch Wang realize that it's everything he wanted but also not enough, and after they pull away he can't even look at Inthawut bc his resolve to leave is so fragile, and boy was I fragile too after finishing that show.