When Lezhin Gives You Lemons

I’m a girl living a Lucky Vicky life so it is only natural that such a lifestyle has led me to owning 2 Lezhin seasons greetings without even trying particularly hard.

For the uninformed, seasons greetings are essentially calendars and other assorted goodies. I love a seasons greetings (SG) set with a diary and that is why I bought 3 different kpop SGs for 2025. Lezhin doesn’t include diaries but you get a poster and a photocard set of their current faves.

As a Kpop fan, naturally I love photocards. What could bring more joy to a consumerist hog than a glossy piece of card with a Kpop idol’s face on it? Webtoon artists are capable of drawing characters as beautiful as any idol but I can’t say that the photocard sets from the Lezhin SGs I’ve won make me equally happy.

I’d actually say it is a like for like experience with buying an album for a group that you are admittedly a solo-stan for. Is liking only one member of a Kpop group a crime? No? Not even when you only care for 1/11th of the group? Well, why was I constantly punished by NEVER pulling my bias’ photocards throughout my time following the group? Opening the Team Lezhin and Lezhin Office of Investigation SGs was like that for me.

Like, the art is gorgeous. You really can’t fault the artist but you also are aware of what could have been. What if the photocard simply had a different face on it? How lovely that would be.

What I’m curious to know is whether the ‘tops’ in all these Lezhin published stories are all so popular enough to justify them being the only ones to get the spotlight in a calendar/poster/photocard set.

Now, I’m not a fan of the strict top-bottom binary pervasive in BL but I’m not stupid enough to even hope it will go anywhere. These are all made up stories. Anything is possible! Unfortunately for me, most of the time, the ‘anything’ happening is some soft-bodied, uncomfortably young looking guy is paired with a muscle-bound bastard. Fine. That’s just what sells, it’s what people like. But does everyone reading these titles see the stoic sex criminals who don’t consent to obtaining consent as their favourite characters? I really don’t think that’s the world we live in.

Even if we argue that these BL readers don’t hate the tops for being rude/mean/evil/rapists (delete as applicable), can they really be the favourites? There’s only so much aloof condescension a girl can take before she’s begging one of the other characters to just kill that guy. At least, that’s the case for me.

If I sat down to really think about it, I’m sure there’s tops I like. Little A? Love that guy. Bongchun? Who doesn’t love a kind-hearted himbo?

Okay, fine. I like crown prince Lee Hyo from Gale of the God but it’s for a good reason. In fact, I like him for the same reason as all the bottoms I like.

(Okay, double fine. There are a bunch of tops I like if we’re talking about titles like Spinach Bouquet, The Path of a Star, You Get Me Going, Red Thread Quest, Sugar Trap, or Killer Crush, but they aren’t the guys making it to Lezhin’s main roster when I can see it. Alright if we’re talking about tops who have made it to SG status aside from Lee Hyo, I’ll give you the guy from 1 to 10, the guy from Melting Point, uhhh maybe there’s someone else. Either way, the lineup is stacked with characters I don’t vibe with too well.)

Why are so many characters I like bottoms? It isn’t anything to do with them being doormats who suffer beautifully so some awful guy can whisk them off their feet. It’s because they tend to be a lot more expressive.

Seo Doram in Gale of the God? I would lay my life on the line for him. Jihwa, a minor antagonist in Painter of the Night? Watching him lose his mind a bit but never lose his grip on humanity and cowardice is perfection. Damyi in Steel under Silk? He’s trying his best with the situation he’s in. Yeonjo in Steel under Silk? Breathtakingly beautiful and the world should bow down at his feet. Gunjoon in 1 to 10? He’s got a pretty twisted way of looking at the world but his reactions more than make up for it. Baek Nakyum in Painter of the Night? He’s definitely too kind for his own good but if there’s one thing he’ll do it’s make sure we all know how he’s feeling. Kim Dan in Jinx? Well. He’s cute but I hate to see a guy falling into the same old traps.

I’m not saying that Joo Jaekyung (Jinx), Kwon Heeryang (Steel under Silk), Yoon Seungho (Painter of the Night), and whatever his name is from The Ghost’s Nocturne only have one facial expression but their emotions are much less endearing. Yes, yes, you’re smirking. Oh and now you’re clenching your jaw. Very good. I don’t recall that guy from Limited Run but I can’t bring myself to like him either.

I know that merchandise exists for all sorts of characters in all sorts of BL webtoons so I could just specifically buy that instead of complaining. I have my eye on the 1995 청춘 레포트 photocard sets but… let’s just say my bank account isn’t on the same page as me there.

Anyway, when the 2026 Lezhin SG is announced with Little A (Mr A’s Farm), Hwang Mokyeon (Borderline), Lee Yeon (Red Thread Quest), Ryu Ian (Melting Point), and Lee Hyo (Gale of the God) in the lineup you bet I’ll be ordering that whilst squinting through all the egg on my face.