BL Drama Lovers Club

I completed We Best Love: No. 1 For You Special Edition and now I'm watching We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd Special Edition. All well and good so far. If not for the fact this sequel is really emotional and stuff.

I gave the prequel a 8.5 and probably gonna give this one a 9 and finally finish it.

Also, I caught up with Fake Fact Lips and The Lie We Lived In. :)

Watched one episode each of Lost to You and Journey with You.

That's about all, my report for today.

Indie Art Girl:

Tina:

Journey with You.

Do you have a first impression of this drama?

It's a bit like Kill to Love, but it probably doesn't end the same.

I like it enough to watch it so that says something. Palace politics intrigue and a lot of scheming involved.

It's uncensored C-BL so they're really placing the NC scenes in it. I'd say it's worth a watch, if you want to see all of the above. The main pairing is cute together too.

Indie Art Girl:

Or maybe the directors/writers think it adds to the mature theme of the production?

Yes, I suspect that's a good part of it, combined with the fact that, unlike in European countries where the smoking rate tends to be pretty similar among men and women, smoking in Asian countries seems to still be viewed as very much a male/macho thing. China is an extreme case of this (44.4% smoking rate among adult men compared to 1.4% among adult women), but this cultural effect is also pronounced in Japan (26.5% vs. 9.1%). However, the trend in Japan has definitely been downward, so I'm surprised so see it portrayed so heavy-handedly.

Today's updates

Double Helix: Tomorrow is the last episode so I had to make sure to watch today's episode. I'm still really liking this, but I wonder in what order they shot the scenes because some episodes they have mad chemistry and others they seem a little flat. Is it just me? 🤔

A Winter Sun: Watched 2 episodes and I'm intrigued. The scenery is so beautiful. I lived in 2 state in the US that also had beautiful scenery like this and both have a big hiking and backpacking community. My entire watch I just wanted to grab my supplies and disappear for a week. 😆 Reminded me of Lost in the Woods. I also love the main leads so far. The second couple I'm still feeling out.

Love Upon A Time: I have a bit to say about this one. When Klao first goes back in time it takes a couple of episodes but he comes to the conclusion he's there to solve the case of the original Klao's father. My issue is how this is portrayed and ended up making feel like it was a side quest instead of the plot. Until we get to episode 6 or 7 (cant remember) in which Klao drowns and finally hears his past self's dieing wish. And then I understood why they didn't have this scene earlier because this is also the scene were he realizes he IS Klao and it's okay to be with Phop. That being the case the last 6 episodes are great. I genuinely love this drama despite how the beginning made me feel. I believe when I do a rewatch of this drama I'm going to love it more.

Anyone else frustrated by BL dramas always bouncing around on episode length? I swear I can watch a 45min episode one week and the next week's episode is 90 min. 🤦‍♀️

High School Frenemy : Someone in a review said, "High School Frenemy is the most non-BL BL series that ever non-BLed," and I completely agree. Sky and Nani have great chemistry.

The character I will miss the most is Chatjen. I loved him so much 😍

I really enjoyed this drama, especially the friendships. It was fun seeing so many familiar faces together in one series. I also liked that the focus wasn't solely on the students; the professors got meaningful attention as well.

If I had to mention one downside, it would be that the story felt a bit repetitive at times.

8.5/10

I'm really busy this week-end but I will try to watch the first episode of Winter Sun tomorrow morning and maybe Fake Fact Lips since it's short.

I just finished watching ep 1 of Ticket to Heaven. It's so nice to see Fourth & Gemini in a more serious series in more mature roles. Right out of the gate they both are killing it. It's also unmistakable how much Gemini has grown as an actor.

I will add that I'm having a LOT of issues with the Catholic religious dogmas and speak in this series. I was worried I would have so much of an issue that I might find it difficult to watch without crashing out (I was right lol). I was already getting frustrated and pissed off at certain points. I was really trying not to let it derail my enjoyment. I was raised in a Catholic family and went to private Catholic school all the way through to high school. Having grown up in this environment, I'm deeply familiar with how this is all being presented in the series. I will hand it to GMMtv, they are VERY accurate in their portrayal of the Catholic church and the roles of each character in this story so far in this type of religious environment.

I have a LOT to comment about on this aspect, so you can read on if you want. I'll be referring to certain scenes in my commentary below, so I'll spoiler mask my text:

I really do not like the grooming and indoctrination via weaponization of grief and other things by the church, especially toward young children for managing their trauma. In regards to young Tanrak, in his flashback as a child, telling a 7-yr old that they will see their parents again "if" they are good or some other conditional requirement to obey or serve, is unconscionable to me. This turns his deepest psychological fear into a lever for compliance and introduces an existential anxiety that if he isn't possibly good enough, he might not ever see his parents again. The amount of guilt this thrusts upon anyone, let alone a child, is just terrible. If something goes wrong in their life, they most likely will internalize it as being punishment or some other personal spiritual failure rather than just an unfortunate event. If they experience a crisis of faith later in life, they don't just lose their religion, but they risk re-traumatizing themselves by "losing" their parents all over again.

Rather than being mindful of a little kid's emotional development and providing safe coping mechanisms that help children accept reality and navigate their pain and build resilience, that hard emotional work is replaced with mystical magical thinking and essentially halts that grief process.

And this is the part that I see that is already established early on in the storyline and will be a core thread of the storyline for Tanrak in this series. This is now Tanrak's ENTIRE world view since he was a child in the church that night using the incense crying over the loss of his parents when Father Arnon finds him. In the ensuing conversation in his attempt to comfort Tanrak, no matter how well-intentioned, says "If you're a good person, you'll get to be with them in heaven one day." Then Tanrak says "How many good deeds do I have to do before I can go to heaven and be with them?" Then Father Arnon again "Do you want to come live in God's house? So God can take care of you. And so you can wait to see your parents in heaven again." This scene especially frustrated me. The systemic effect of this type of indoctrination leverages a child's vulnerability when they are last equipped to defend themselves intellectually or emotionally. The Catholic church does this relentlessly, as do many other denominations.

Tina:

I completed We Best Love: No. 1 For You Special Edition and now I'm watching We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd Special Edition. All well and good so far. If not for the fact this sequel is really emotional and stuff.

I gave the prequel a 8.5 and probably gonna give this one a 9 and finally finish it.

Also, I caught up with Fake Fact Lips and The Lie We Lived In. :)

Watched one episode each of Lost to You and Journey with You.

That's about all, my report for today.

I LOVE THIS SERIES! This is one of my longtime favorites that I have rewatched often.