TexanTitan

Ok, but here's my problem. I don't think this series is actually "exploring" anything. That scene seems to have been just tossed in there to establish Chi Cheng as a morally bad character.

Does Chi Cheng wrestle with the weight of what he's done? Is he going to be held accountable for his crimes (Like in History series)? Does that human who was gang raped show up later in the series to get revenge? Where is the exploration?

I am basing this on what I saw in the first few episodes and the novel spoilers that people posted, as well as the million fan vids that keep showing up in my feeds, but I don't see Chi Cheng soul-searching and trying to atone for his past. What I see is him grabbing another dudes butt and telling him he has a fat ass (and I am pro fat asses).

My other issue is the condescension. I see it here in these comments. "Oh, well, some people just don't like complex characters! If this isn't for you, we understand."

The implication here is that you, the people who like this series, like complex characters, and others of us who don't want to watch it, we only like "simple characters".

Friend, let me ask you, have you ever watched Angels in America? The Color Purple? Your Name Engraved Herein? Parasite? These pieces of media are full of complex characters.

But showing a character doing something awful and never having that character reckon with what they did or face consequences is not, in my opinion, exploring anything. It is using violence for shock value.

Also, I recognize that this trend exists in straight media as well. I'm thinking of the rise of series about serial killers. That series You on Netflix where Penn Badgley murders people because he's in love with a woman.

I even remember Zac Efron, the famous actor, played a serial killer, and then in an interview later, he said that he was disturbed by all the people sending him fan mail, telling him how hot they found him as a serial killer.

I also remember how people lost their minds when *spoiler* Teh in I Promised You the Moon kissed someone else and cheated. This double-standard is hard to understand.

I certainly don't think enjoying a series where characters do bad things makes a person bad. But I do think that series are written by humans, and creators of media have a responsibility to do justice to the themes they introduce. And using gang rape and trafficking as a quick way to make the main character seem a certain way and then never exploring this again (which is my understanding of what happens) does not seem to me like "exploring dark themes". It seems like an inexplicable decision, and to be honest, cheap.

Ok, so I debated with myself about posting this because I know I'm probably about to piss off everyone in these comments, but I really want to know.

So, back in like the 1st or 2nd episode, Chi Cheng has like a snake battle or whatever with the other dude, and the other dude loses. Chi Cheng "wins" an actual human as part of the bet and it is heavily implied that this person is being passed around for sexual purposes and the Chi Cheng will be having sex with this person.

In the next episode, this human tries to get away from Chi Cheng, but gets caught. Chi Cheng directs his men to rape this person but not kill him.

Then...everyone on the internet just...is ok with this? Like, people love this series. It's highly rated, I can't escape it. On every BL group, or similar, people are raving, in love, with this series.

I am sooo confused. People are really cool with watching 24 episodes about a man who is complicit in human trafficking, sexual assault, gang rape, etc... falling in love with some other dude?

I even asked about this in this comment thread back when those episodes came out and people were like, "Oh, if you don't like gang rape, don't read the novel...it's even worse!"

So, my question is, are people genuinely ok with an MC who has done these terrible things, and based on my understanding of the plot, never has redemption arc? Never feels bad, apologizes, tries to fix it (as if that would even be possible)?

I know 10 people are about to comment, "Don't like it, don't watch it!", so to be clear, I am NOT watching it. But at this point, for me to avoid it, I would have to delete my reddit account, leave every BL group on facebook, completely change my youtube, IG, and tik tok algorithms, etc....

So I am here and asking, because I can't understand. Why are people ok with this?

Yes, that is exactly what I said. I am the main character, you are an NPC and everyone has to do things exactly the way I do it.

Yeah, it was meh.

Totally agree. If I'm behind on a series, I don't read the comments. If I haven't watched this weeks ep of Ru Paul's Drag Race, I don't go to the Drag Race comments and then get mad that they say who won....

This is definitely my favorite series that Saint has ever been in.

To me, he's cuter than before haha. I like my man thick 😍😍😍😍

ok, serious question. I support people in their journey to make their bodies look the way they want. Do you think Saint's face filled out like that as he got older or do you think he got filler? Just a reminder, I am supportive either way, so don't come for me for body shaming haha.

Alright, this is what I am watching this series for! Ep 6 gave me exactly what I wanted, 10/10!

So cute, so fluffy! Great ending, all the good feelings! All the actors did a great job, this show was like a warm hug every Sunday morning. Also, after this series, I have sweater envy! I live in Texas, so we don't really have too much of an opportunity to wear sweaters but I really want the pink flower one that Kim wore a couple of times. So cute!

Ok, I love this series, but ep 11 was a total nothing of an episode. You can tell they were just trying to get to ep 12.

Damn.

The plot looks just as bad as the last two, although it seems less complicated. They are both cute with good chemistry, but god the writing on their shows is always *terrible*

Good start, it's much better than 23.5 already! It's nice to Milk and Love playing roles that are their actual age haha.

oooooh, those kisses! 😍If their acting careers don't work out, they should become intimacy coordinators...

Bestie, I already did 😁

I am only about 5 minutes into the first episode, but Max's Rice University t-shirt is killing me haha. As a Rice University alumnus, I endorse this brand placement hahahahaha

It's gonna be a hard pass for me.

So...the main guy with the snakes won another human as a sex slave from a snake fight, then when the sex slave tried to run away the snake guy left him to be r*ped by all of his men (but kindly asked one of them to make sure the sex slave didn't get killed during the r*pe)??? Not sure why I care about this guy's romantic prospects...

That's why I like it! But sometimes, you want sweet romance and other times you want a raunchy sex comedy, good thing there's both, right?