greysweater

The lack of explicit declarations led me to the completely opposite conclusion that the attraction was not isolated and was just normal. If you see a show where a heterosexual character has a crush on someone of the opposite gender, do you need them to declare they're straight to know it? You claiming it's not a genuine expression of "queerness" is actually really shocking. There are lots of queer people who choose not to identify with a specific label-- are they not "genuinely" queer to you?

I'm not saying the drama is immune to criticism. I'm saying the criticism it is receiving makes no sense because it doesn't actually apply to what the drama has shown us.

But he's not "only gay for one person," that's my point. There's a very big difference between "only gay for one person" and "the first person I've ever crushed on is same-sex." Does that make sense? You're making the assumption that this drama is doing the 1st, but actually the show points to it doing the second. For both leads.

Jin Woo: is shown as a serious person whose first significant crush *happens* to be another guy.

Gi Seop: Is shown as a people pleaser who because of trauma and harsh words has come to believe that he is incapable of liking anyone. But it turns out he just didn't know how to recognize when he liked someone. He could totally have liked some of his exes and just not realized it.

Your critique is valid generally, but it's not valid as a critique of this specific drama.

Also, there are bi and pan people who tend to crush more on one gender than the other. I know I tend to be that way-- it doesn't make me any less bi. And just looking at the second leads makes it even more clear that the drama is not "Depicting same-sex crushes and relationships as situational or temporary suggests that gay relationships are somehow less genuine or committed than straight ones" as you write

The information available in eps 1-4 never pointed to "only gay for you" trope. You would have to make a lot of guesses and assumptions based on what you feel rather than what's actually in the show to get to that conclusion from those episodes. In fact, I actually wanted to post about how confused I was about those kinds of comments because I couldn't see where the heck in the drama people were getting that information. The initial criticism is not valid because it's based not on the show but on projections and assumptions from certain viewers.

It's not unusual for someone to like a lot of people of the opposite sex before they have a same-sex crush (that's how it happened for me too) and the claim that it's not true bisexuality because we mainly saw Gi Seop's ex-girlfriends or because the first person Jin Woo has a crush on is a guy is actually deeply problematic and queer-phobic.

Because the drama frames the sexualities of all characters as something so "usual" and "normal" that it doesn't require declarations, people are mistaking the normalization aspect for "I'm only gay for you" trope. The characters are very clearly queer, with the leads likely being bi. How does it make sense that all the characters are queer but people want to claim the drama is chasing a trope? (And yes, the queerness of the characters was clear from eps 1-4, so this is not something I'm saying based on 5-6).

I understand people being disappointed because they wanted to see more of a spectrum (which the show never excluded and more concretely showed in later episodes), but you can just say that instead of claiming the show plays into a trope it doesn't. It's really annoying because this is one of the only dramas I've watched where the leads don't even think about being anxious about hiding their relationship/societal worries etc etc. but people are making disparaging claims about something the drama doesn't even engage in

Right! The people hating just don't like the plot. They wanted a show where the main lead falls for/has a love triangle with people of various genders I guess, but this is not that.

They should just say they don't like the plot or the characters and go instead of claiming nonsense about a show that's actually doing a lot right

Report report report; quite loser-ish to hate just because of sexuality. Grow up

I think you're going to have to eat your hat after ep 5/6. From the episodez we clearly see that, yes, Gi Sub DID have ex-boyfriends and it comes up that the ideal type checklist was a tool Jin Woo used to try not to like Gi Sub. Also, Gi Sub is literally the only crush Jin Woo has had (or has been insinuated to have in the drama)-- how is it problematic if the only person he crushed on is another guy? I didn't have a same-sex crush until I was nearly in college and it was someone who I never would have guessed I'd have a crush on. It seems more like you just don't like the storyline because you wanted it to go a different way

I'm so glad for this episode because so many comments like yours were claiming a bad depiction of bisexuality when 1) none of the characters ever claim to be bisexual, and 2) they also never claim "I'm not gay, I only like you." Literally you have to make a lot of leaps and assumptions as a viewer to claim those points

In fact, this drama does such an amazing job of treating queerness as "usual" as heterosexuality. And does an equally amazing job of normalizing liking/dating people of various genders

Call me crazy but I'm convinced Jin Woo's aesthetic is directly inspired by Sung Ho from His Man Season 2-- the adorable mullet, the penchant for giant scarves, even the damn eye mole Sung Ho had in the first episode!

A lot of comments have been claiming the show plays the "I'm not gay I only like you," but it has never claimed that. And in ep 5 it also shows that Gi Sub in particular has ex-boyfriends in addition to ex-girlfriends. It's annoying to see so many comments about something the show is not even doing, when we could celebrate the fact that the show frames being gay as something that's natural (feels like pretty much every character is queer!).

I cannot believe he really got that mole tattooed-- Ki Sub is all over the place for real!

I cannot believe he really got that mole tattoed-- Ki Sub is all over the place for real!

I think he's no longer in a coma! At the end of ep 10, it shows the news in the future changing from "Ryu Sun Jae Attacked, Suspect on the Run" to "Eclipse Releases 5th Album, Destiny." I think that means the future was successfully changed for the time being?

But there's also 6 episodes left for things to hit rock bottom-- idk how they're going to fill the remaining 6 hours but I am scared it's gonna get miserable from episodes 12-14

edit: ahhh! I just saw from the other comments that Eclipse became a three person band. Hopefully Sun Jae is still involved, maybe as a songwriter or maybe he became an actor. Really hope he's not still in the coma TT . TT

I like how she writes ML and SML where they're kinda silly and end up being friends

Lowkey Im Sol was doing more damage to Sun Jae's heart than anything else-- so glad that's over and done with!

I got the feeling she lost interest in Cheol Hyun once the occupations were revealed. I think. most of the women were more attracted to the men who had more stable sounding occupations :(

I was not aware at all, thank you for sharing. I'm also not believing in anything without proof but to be honest I had suspicions that line up with what is in the post. Ever since the episode where Ji Won came in I have been cooling off of Young Woo. Some of the things he said in that episode surprised me so much that I felt he was someone completely different from how he was portrayed before.

I felt the same from the dinner date in Singapore (how hard is it to say, "Everyone in the house is nice but I feel most interested in you, which is why I kept messaging you even when I went on dates with other people."?). It felt like he was purposefully putting up blocks to slow ChoA down, but all ChoA wanted to know was if he was legitimately interested in her. It's a good thing that ChoA is cautious by nature since it seems she picked up on that and is adjusting her view towards him.

I'm not really put off by the job thing (producers often push contestants to fluff up their resume to seem more impressive), but the stuff about his potential intentions and connect in the influencer industry does make me a little more careful as a viewer.

Me too honestly. I think it was when Ji Woo entered the show that I started to think they don't actually fit that well as a couple (from a viewer's perspective). Their dinner talk really spalshed water on the flames-- Singapore is looking rough

Terrible terrible drama. The 10 episode extension was the final nail in the coffin-- show couldn't even end well. If 99% of the show is villains ruling over everything, 1% is the final "revenge." Flat and anti-climatic ending

I am not even excited at this point, I just need closure! My god, so many painful months-- we're finally here, one. more. episode

Oh Jiwon's a goner for real-- her eyes are shooting hearts!

I'm not too sure on the timeline. It looked like it could have been around that time but I don't remember if they clarified if it was before or after the accident. My memory is already fuzzy, maybe I need a rewatch haha

Also, I just remembered that Hae In dropped a necklace when she got attacked and he kept it all the way since then.

The funny thing is, I think exactly what you said (copying from the same person) happened with a Chinese writer. But I think they were author instead of screenwriter and the shows were based on their books. The Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms controversy