Lovely Writer

Reality vs Expectations ...

Wow this drama was really well done.

This was a journey, an experience, that will forever stay with me. I absolutely loved this series. The cinematography, directing, production level, acting, story - marvelous, beautiful and stunning. This series is a fiction, subtly yet un-subtly, calling out all the problems and flaws in the BL industry from toxic tropes, stereotypes, overcontrolling script writers to the cruel treatments of their casts, amongst other things. The story is about Gene, a professional BL writer, desperate to break out of the BL genre and try writing something else, but his publisher refuses and instead practically coerces him into writing another BL following his last successful one that was being produced into a series called 'Bad Engineer The Series'. Sitting through the audition for Bad Engineer is where he meets Nubsib, who's apparently a sheep in wolf's clothing. Nubsib is auditioning for the series and manages to snag the main lead role. It seemed to be Gene's and Nubsib's first meeting, but it's not because they met when when they were children around 14 years ago. They've got history, but it looked like Nubsib's the only one who remembers.

I would say... If you are looking for a realistic bl with all the sweet moments, tough times, challenging situations and a whole load of fluttering GENUINE MOMENTS ... THIS IS THE SHOW FOR YOU.....!!!

This drama really touched on the difference between reality vs expectations.. in life and the fact this drama was more based on an adult theme as opposed to your normal school / university theme.

The only Con I had with this drama was the last episode, why oh why did they turn it into a cartoon character, the sleeping beauty/Shakespeare/ cinderalla? that was highly annoying and probably the reason I am only giving it a 9star.

Overall: It was a well worth watch and everything was excellent.

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Sweet tender love story

I was already overwhelmed by the trailer of lovely writer the series but it contains so much more then I thought It would be. Every episode was just perfectly produced. All of the episodes contain different emotions and that makes it more exciting to watch.

I went from happy to sad to angry and to overwhelmed in this serie. It’s absolutely well made and I want to thank everyone that worked on this series. You did a amazing good job!!

The storyline is also very simple, exciting and loving
I finished the whole series with a big smile and a warm heart ❤️

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Respect your BL-Actors....

I really wanted to like this series because I liked the premise. That toxic fans are a problem in the BL scene, as well as the widespread "shipping" should already be known from this series.
So actually this is a series with the important message to respect the privacy of the actors and not to force them into a fictional relationship.

While the first Episodes are more fluffy and lighthearted, the dramatic scenes, later on, are all the more convincing. Especially the dramatic coming out scene, but also the press conference are outstanding.

Unfortunately, the story sometimes gets lost in the typical BL-Tropes and just follows old familiar patterns, like the prescribed roles of the shy "Bottom" and the overprotective and possessive "Top".
As a result, I can't take the series as seriously as it deserves with its theme.

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Who needs character depth when we have… announcements?

Probably my opinion regarding Lovely Writer is going to be a bit unpopular, because what I have seen in other reviews and in comments is that the vast majority liked the series, I in particular did not like it that much, but let's explore a little that it was this series for me.

As for the plot, it seems to me that it is fine, prior to the series I already knew its development, so more or less I knew what to expect, even so the series has many holes in the plot that I think are the element that does not It allowed me to never enter into the dynamics of the series and therefore I could not enjoy it as I suppose if it happen to other people.

In the first place, I have many doubts, I understand that the whole issue of their shared childhood (which is not very innovative) is something very important for both characters, but I think that with Gene I did not feel that impact, the series tells us this story and In the character of Sib we can see it since it is the root of his love/obsession but in Gene there are no signs that this has been so significant in his life until he finds out who Sib really, we see no signs that this friendship child influence something in his life, at least not clearly.

The humor of the series did not please me in many points, I think the relationship between Gene and Sib was tried to take more seriously and focused all the moments of "humor" in the secondary characters especially with Tum, but they were rare and eschatological at times and did not make sense within the tone of the rest of the series or the rest of the characters.

My biggest conflict with the series and what I feel I need the most to elaborate on is with Aey, as an individual, it seems to me like a disaster on all levels, in the plot of the character or his personality or the things he does does not make sense, but let me delve deeper a little in this, to begin with they put him as a main character as he is basically the antagonist of the series, but we do not know anything about him in the least, he is in a fight with his family we do not know why, he has a problematic relationship with Mork we do not know because (and don't even make me talk about this character because that guy was less than filler, I don't know what they wanted him for in the series if they weren't going to give him any dialogue), he's in love with Gene we don't know why, and a host of other things that we do not know and that are not clear.

Having a character whose life itself is a mystery to the viewer can be very good when it is well managed, but in this case it is not like that, the background is important because the series itself never treats him as an antagonist totally, there are moments that the intention is that we be empathetic with him and what he feels, but it is impossible to feel real empathy for a flat character and without background, they tried to make it very relevant and tragic but they did not show me any of that, at least if it had been a manipulator that enjoy doing it would make a bit of sense, but no, everything in the video where he exposed Gene and Sib's relationship does not make sense, he does it and then he spends his time suffering and also took the decision to do it for nothing, what was his damn objective? And the worst of all is that even at the end of the series the character does not evolve even a little bit, he has no development at all and the flat character that we see in the first episode is exactly the same that we see in the last.

There are other areas or characters where the series had a very poor development; Sib, let's talk about Sib, we don't know anything about him other than that he loves Gene, we don't know his interests or passions or anything, basically everything that isn't Gene is not relevant, are we okay? It is no longer time for us to think that people who live and breathe for others is romantic, in addition the character does not change anything, does not evolve, does not develop, nothing, first episode: cool boy, trusting, in love with Gene; last episode: cool guy, confident, Gene's boyfriend, they don't give him any depth anywhere and it only serves as a catalyst for Gene to “move forward” in his story, at least romantically.

Now, Gene, as a character it seems to me that he is the most interesting of all, we are getting to know his past little by little and he is the one who the series pays the most attention to, so that we understand how he feels, how he relates to other people, his fears and his goals itself, is the deepest character in the series and also the one who has evolved the most, although beating the other characters is not much to say either, because even if he evolves in more romantic matters or in the acceptance of his sexuality, there is still habits in which the series does not let him advance; for example: his evolution as a writer since chapter one is suggests that Gene wants to write other genres to explore new horizons but this ambition is something that the series always leaves aside (be careful, I am not saying that writing romance novels of the BL subgenre is a bad thing , far from it, I'm a fan, only that as a writer, Gene has the desire and the right to explore other genres), another thing is that from beginning to end Gene is a coward, even in the end if it weren't for Sib looking for him again, perhaps he would never have had the courage to go after him.

Let's talk about the performances, Up does it quite well, yes, the series revolves around this character but even in moments where he is not the main focus of the series he continues to take all the spotlights, his tone is well achieved, when he is sad, happy, shy, you feel his emotions genuinely and his chemistry with Kao is good, as for Kao although I don't think his acting is bad, if I think he is more limited in certain scenes, I don't know if it's because of the direction or just the script or the shallow depth of the character will prevent it from being more convincing at certain key moments. With the rest of the cast at least the secondary ones, a similar thing happens to me, I do not think they are bad actors but I do not think that their performance is very immersive, of the rest of the characters nor let's talk they present so little and have so little relevance and dialogues that it is impossible to say anything about his performance.

As for the music, it is fine, it does not seem anything outstanding, the main song is not exactly the OST that I like the most of a romance series, but it is not hateful or something like that, the production is also well achieved is the standard that they give us in general the Thai series so on that side well, what if I would like to comment is that it has the most cynical advertising and commercials that I have seen in a long time, it is how to hide it a little.

Anyway, for me this series is not outstanding in many aspects, but it seemed entertaining at times, but it does not go beyond that, if the series enchanted you or is your favorite, it is very good I do not intend to offend anyone, It's just what the series left me, even so I hope later to be able to see other works by the actors, especially Up because I think that with other deeper characters, perhaps another direction could give us something very good.

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Insightful and Entertaining!

(There will be very minor spoilers that are unrelated to the plot)

Where do I start with this show... I feel like I liked it more than I should.

It wasn't anything special nor did it have great aesthetics or music. It is your normal Thai BL.... so what makes this show worth watching?

It was everything together blending almost perfectly that made this show enjoyable for me. It started off cliche, one of the lead's acting was amazing while the other's was a bit off, both were eye candy and the plot didn't seem all that great. But as the story progressed, one can clearly see where it is heading.

Though it was nothing too deep, the plot had a very significant meaning that exposed the toxicity a fandom can hold. It was a healthy diss to the BL community as a whole and I loved the way the script of these arcs was written! Gene's acting was top-notch, changing from an introverted writer who was in a slump to an introverted writer who fell in love. The humor was where we needed it and there was no extra drama or over-dramatic characters (except for one... *sigh* that character had so much potential). It had enough of everything.

But the most important aspect of the drama that I must talk about, and I am sure every review out there is pointing it out, is the healthiness of the relationship between NubSib and Gene. NubSib is your typical 'dog gong'. He caters to Gene's every need and it's not limited to only when he's pursuing him, but also emotionally accommodates him and actually speaks to him about everything. Gene is also portrayed to be very mature and I love how non-toxic and healthy their relationship is, not only compared to its BL drama counterparts but all dramas as a whole.

One major issue I had throughout the show was the music and sound effects.... what did they make it so dramatic for? The music was beautiful, but the editing of it and the sound effects into the drama were overdone and could have been toned down a bit. There were also quite a few plot holes that were not addressed or filled even in the last episode and though it's not disrupting the main story, it is irresponsible of the scriptwriter to not take care of them. I love most of the side characters and their stories, but almost all the side characters either didn't get enough screen time or lacked some charm or depth.

This drama had a LOT of setbacks. It could have been MUCH MUCH better. But I am willing to overlook all of that because of how much I enjoyed watching it despite the problems. And the fluff in this drama is super cute :')

If you are someone looking for entertainment, this show will provide you with a lot of that and more.

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Golden cast, golden message

Side note: this kinda gave me Romance is a Bonus Book vibes with its focus on writing/publishing. This was definitely better though.

I love the subtle messages that this drama infuses in the cute romantic plot line. I feel like they were trying to highlight so many issues, from hypersexualization of lgbtq+ relationships within the lit/entertainment world to generational trauma tied to homophobia.

I'm not gonna lie, when I first started to watch this I thought it would be just another overused trope. I couldn't understand why certain characters already seemed to have feelings for one another and I thought things were moving way too fast to follow. Without spoiling, I'm just gonna say this... EVERY THING WILL MAKE SENSE EVENTUALLY. Stick around til the end! I promise it is so worth it.

What drew me to Lovely Writer was Kao from UWMA (the BEST bl if I do say so myself). His acting here is so enchanting and convincing, I genuinely felt like Nubsib was INFATUATED with Gene. It's the little things like the way he would look at him and how he would act when he missed him. I actually felt jealous!

Anyway, watch Lovely Writer.

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A BL That Subverts Expectations

So I won't lie. The first episode of this series I was like... this is okay? However, by the fourth episode I knew this was a special show. Full of subverting expectations, really important lessons, such sweet moments it made my face hurt. A heavy emphasis on consent in this which we STAN. It's got a lot of really really amazing stuff in it. Though I think episodes 11 and 12 kind of took it down in rating for me. But we'll get into that more.

So lets start with how much I love the love scenesssss lol. There was so much skinship in this and passionate kissing that I lost track. Like the intro song says at the beginning "I wanna kiss you!"They weren't lying lol. I think also the director wanted to poke fun at other series lacking on that aspect in their shows? Or showing subpar kissing? That's what it felt like anyway. Kao as Nubsib was gorgeous and the best you can get in a man literally. He did such a good job playing the ideal role and yes I got sucked in. I've loved him since UWMA and I shall continue to love him in anything he does! Up as Gene was really good too. Though his character frustrated me later on, the acting was great. Gene is such a mess sometimes and awkward, Up did a really good show portraying that appropriately. Then put these 2 together and you have some of the most solid chemistry I've ever seen in LGBTQ content let alone BL content.

The story doesn't really start going until Nubsib actually moves in and they start "practicing' for material in Gene's book and Sib's acting role. That stuff was hilarious and a great gateway into exploration between them. That entire scene with Gene being drunk off his a** and Sib rescuing him from the bar was stellar. Not only in acting, but in representation of consent dude! So important to show that even if Gene appears to really want Nubsib in that moment, he cannot consent if he's that drunk ya'll and Sib knows that and respects it. I freaking loved that scene. Moving onto Sib and Gene having a history. I thought it was fine, though the child actors don't look the ages they are meant to portray. Which confused me, but it was well done. Gene didn't have to get so angry, but I get Nubsib was technically lying to him about stuff. However, trying to understand goes a longgggg way.

Fast Forward to them FINALLY getting together. Which was...lit lol. The interaction with coming out to the family was something else! So proud of Gene and his brother for sticking up to the dad. Acceptance from the family is what matters most. You don't need it but it's so important. So I for the most part was okay with how it was represented. Though Nubsib's family talk I'm conflicted about. It wasn't very "accepting" to me since the dad clearly cares more about reputation than his son or else he wouldn't of brought that up. Also wtf does his son being in a gay relationship have to do with reputation? Its annoying and I wanted so badly to be in that room and set him straight. Damn right you can't stop him from being an adult and living his life stupid. It works out in the end but that kinda irked me.

Before we get to the slight downfall of this series, I wanted to talk about side stuff. Aoey's character was interesting to say the least. I'll talk about his demise at the end, but his character was so interesting and I wanted to see more of his backstory danggit! Hin I didn't care for at all. He was annoying at the beginning, gets slightly better because he has less screen time and just doesn't do much. Tum and Tiffy were cute, however I don't understand why Tiffy straight up assumed he was gay? Wtf was that about? That was some stereotyping if I've ever seen it and she of all people should know better! She's a bada** girl who doesn't give a crap about labels and she's gonna do that? Unless I missed something. Didn't vibe, but together they were okay.

Time to move on, to the dreaded 11th episode f*** up. First thought. They couldn't chill secretly until the end of the series shooting!? Gene had to end it!? I get he thinks doing it for Nubsib's career or whatever. But what a load of crap. You know that's not what he wants! Why have this show make fun of cliches and then do one that sucks this late into it!? So hear me out and let me elaborate. Legally Sib's company CANNOT under any circumstances force their actors to do anything in their personal relationships. Unless it's part of a contract, which its made clear its not they will catch a lawsuit! Nubsib and Gene are not slaves to the system. So that entire boardroom scene was nonsensical. Look at this from an outsider perspective too. It reeks of homophobia without the context of it being for a BL show. So that wouldn't fly either! Then followed up with Gene wimping out again got me aggravated to say the least. This show should've not done the obvious thing and had them fight it together. Because a breakup is cliche at this point. You can't dictate who people date and Tum's sister is the biggest b**** ever. By then Aeoy was cancelled too because he escalated the situation by garnering sympathy from fans during the livestream. Really bad move dude. Very reminiscent of a real-life situation that happened between 2 BL actors...if you know you know.

Immediately I was like Nubsib better cancel his contract with these people. I would've on the spot, however if he doesn't after he's nuts. These people are unethical and how disrespectful you have to be to try and decide for an actor of yours how important his relationship is to him. With his partner RIGHT THERE!!! Holy crap I wanted to throw that woman out the window! It's not for his benefit girl, its for yours don't lie. The reporters too, why do you feel the right to dig into someone's private life like that? Though realistic I suppose, that's none of your business and disgusting. I live for the scene of Nubsib hugging Aoey though out of nowhere and being like "see? I can act too" oof that was a win.

Past all that nonsense. We get to more nonsense lmao. The show becomes the butterfly effect for a hot minute, with Gene living through his memories again. It seemed like they were gonna have him live in the past unhealthily for material and I was like really? That's what we're doing!? Then out of literally NOWHERE Nubsib shows up at the house and kisses him like THAT. All is forgiven? WHAT!? I appreciate the cuteness and that skinship scene with Gene afterwards had me in a flutter. But me and my friend watching this thought it had to be a dream because of how outlandish it was. But nope! It actually was happening! No resolution or talk about it. No redemption of Gene bailing out after lying. No big stick it to the man scene of them coming out as a real couple to crappy stans. NOTHING. What a disappointment. I guess at least Tum said screw you to his sister and made his own management company. That was nice. I can also say Aoey's ending was surprisingly dark though and I'm 50/50 about it. He's left with noone, Tiffy abandons him and his love interest moves on. All he has is gifts from fans and their support online. I feel like he even ate a flower from the bouquet at one point (fact check me) because he's lost it completely and is finding validation from consumption. Dark stuff and idk how I feel about it. I appreciate the thought process behind it, but I think he deserved redemption too. Maybe in another season? I doubt it heavily but damn.

As lackluster as those last 2 eps were. The role-playing genderbend recreations of Snow White, Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet were funny and cute! I didn't need to see another lover die on top of Kao via a gunshot wound, but those scenes were cute. We get a wink fourth-wall-break at the end that was clever, which ends with a kiss of course. The ending meta thing with the author of the books we didn't need and it was hella confusing. This series overall was still fantastic! Idk what it is though with series failing during the last few eps. We need to figure out how to fix that guys! Watch this though, you won't be overall disappointed with the results!

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A pretty decent BL for the Thai industry!

May 14, 2021

Lovely Writer is definitely a strong drama. Although, I did have some troubles with the plot and the execution. It was still a good series regardless. First of all, I JUST LOVE HOW THEY EXPLORE CONSENT AND THREW SHADES to the industry. With the number of shows I have watched, consent is so rare to see and it's so sad. Often the ML is always pushing themselves to their partners and that makes me want to drop a series.

I really love Gene and Nubsib's chemistry and they were hot. Like certain scenes got me running laps. I was a bit uncomfortable with the age gap during their childhood scene. But yeah, I guess it was just me...

Anyway, there are certain parts where I was shocked. Like damn, the plot twist was very shocking.

Now onto my rant:
If I am being honest, the plot was a bit messy and draggy and predictable. I really love the idea and concept but I think the execution was just a literal pain. AND as for a show, I thought that was gonna break the BL stereotype, I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED that they followed the typical route for episode 11. As for the music, I was a bit irritated cause some of the choices did not fit in with the scene. It was more of a nuisance if you know what I mean. Also, how can the series turn into the very thing it was calling out in the beginning. Like the first half was about calling out the BL industry and then suddenly in the second part, it starts following the cliche plots???!!!!!

Also, WTF WAS EP 10-12 I LITERALLY SKIMMED THROUGH IT CAUSE I WAS BORED AS HELL. THOSE EPISODES WERE A LITERAL 5/10. HONESTLY, IT COULD HAVE ENDED ON THE FIRST HALF OF EP 9 AND I WOULD BE TOTALLY OKAY WITH IT.

ALSO YALL WILL LOVE TIFFY AND TUM. Their sidestory was so cute and they were my motivation to continue the series. Even though they had least amount of screen time. I love them so much. If it weren’t for them, I would probably dropped this series at this point. Cause I was just literally dissatisfied with everything....

Anyway, make sure to watch this series as it's still pretty darn good!! I hope my rant didn't ruin it for you heheheh

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Give it a try, you won't regret it.

To me, this is one of the best BL series of all time. From the story, acting, directing, theme, and message, everything is great. The relationship portrayed here is healthy and full of CONSENT. It is entertaining and educative, without being patronising. Give it a try and it will give you something more than just entertainment. It's a bit slow at the beginning but it's totally worth it. Especially if you finish til the end, there will be amazing surprises for you. Don't forget to watch behind the scenes too. The director gives insight on the making process and about the message they try to convey.

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obsession

Okay, this is going to be one of my less objective reviews, just because it is subjectively one of my favorite boy love series EVER. One I came into this series not expecting to like it but I enjoyed Kao in UWMA so I was willing to go through it for him. However, I ended up loving the series, Up, and all the other casts. Everyone in the series is wonderful at acting. KaoUp are truly perfect at playing the parts of their characters. Up and his character Gene don't even look the same to me, is how in character he was able to get. And as a 26 year old man Kao was able to properly portraying a 20 year old.

One thing I absolutely HATE in series is when drama drags on and on and on and is CONSTANT. However, Lovely Writer did an amazing job at handling each of its issues QUICKLY and in HEALTHY ways. Other series can't relate. Nubsib and Gene were amazing characters and honestly I enjoyed their storyline so so so so much.

My problem comes with side characters and their storylines. They seemed deadset on making Aey a villain and unredeemable (even though he's still very redeemable imo) and dragged on making him suffer for no reason??? Mhok really didn't need to be in the series ??? (maybe it was chap's schedule with y-destiny was a bit conflicting but idk) Tiffy and Tum were cute at first, but then it got weird with her questioning his sexuality and becoming really mean to him for no reason?? I HATE nubsib's parents. Gene's parents are on thin ice. I LOVED the brothers though and would have liked more of them and Hin throughout the series. Bua annoyed me and I didn't really enjoy any scene she was in. ALSO NUBSIB DESERVED MORE SCREENTIME. Truly I get it was Gene pov mostly, but random side characters had more screentime from their points of view than one half of our main lead.

Gene and Aey were my initial favorites in the series, and I still love both of them. But after finishing the series and being able to analyze Nubsib I have fallen for him. Anyways the cast is full of talented pretty tall bitches. Stan lwts.

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