BadPenny

I will roll with you there. Both Zee and New did a better job acting this week. In Zee's case, I think it's because the director suddenly okay'd Lian to have facial expressions.

look, I am never watching any of this mess after next week, so I don't ultimately care. But in case you do, I've made my prediction.

After this next week my buddy watch obligations are over and I am free. I will write my exhausted roast of this rotten potato, and then I will work on something more enjoyable.

Right now it's mother's day, and this little queer is off to make their daughter cook them a nice brunch. La!

Schrödinger's script. A paradox of causality where in a single episode the script both existed and didn't exist.

Pfft.

Hahahah! The idea that this isn't going to resolve itself next week will haunt you for the next seven days...

I don't think the Comments section has a requirement for the criticisms to be constructive.

But, that being said, constructive criticism takes many forms. We tend to think of it only coined in polite, sterile tones where fault is meticulously laid out details devoid of judgement.

But that's not how everyone approaches it. I am a professional comic script writer and artist and I've had a lot of feedback over the years that was constructive and subject as well. And all constructive criticism really is, is feedback that directly addresses faults and if you're lucky, gives an analysis of that observation. Tone is irrelevant. Curse words and insults don't matter. What makes something constructive is if the tools are provided to see the faults and possibly a way to improve.

And while I have numerous times referred to this show as a raging trash fire, I often have also explained in detail exactly where the faults lie and I've given an analysis of why those faults matter so much. Sometimes I even make note of how things could have been handled better.

I'm queer. And I am a fan of queer media. Or even media that represents to some degree, queerness. That doesn't mean I have to give blanket support to any drama that represents LGBT peoples. Especially when this isn't even good representation. BL's in specific are known for not just representing gay themes but representing numerous toxic stereotypes of gays as well. So I reserve my approval and support of a story based on its merit.

Thailand has LOTS of actual gay media. Which BL's aren't. BL's are media created for straight women who fetishize gayness. And the essence of gay culture is often stripped completely away. Stories told by queer creators for queer audiences throughout Asia are quite different, and those I actually do cut a bit more slack in order to support queer creators. It's very possible to support positive LGBT representation in media in Thailand while also being selective. Picky even. As Synchonicity pointed out, at this point we can afford to be choosy. And I "Uplift" such works in S.E.A. and E.A. as I feel merit it.

As a queer creator myself, I encourage everyone to support the projects that touch them. No viewer owes it to the LGBT community to support any project they feel is lacking.

I have to agree that JKR is abysmal at plotting. I abhor her writing. So much so that I didn't even actually like the HP universe until someone put me onto a longform, multi-book fanfiction arc by a very skilled amateur writer who literally fixed the universe.

However I have to disagree on the merits of this show. And while yes, BL dramas as a genre are fun and have an interesting influence on social issues, I have to disagree that we have to support dramas we feel are lacking, just because they're BL's. I spend a great deal of time and even no small amount of money supporting Thia and Vietnamese BL's including donations to food services for actors, donations to actors themselves and projects that needs funds, as well as donations to production companies making works that appeal to me. I directly support what I enjoy. I am not obligated to get behind a project I dislike just because BL's play a part in normalization gay themes in S.E.A. They also play a part in normalizing toxic stereotypes about gays.

And no, not everyone watching is entertained by Cutie Pie. I initially stuck with it in order to make sure I had all pertinent data for roasting it in final review. However, even that wasn't enough and I gave up watching several episodes ago. But I have watch buddies who dearly wanted me to continue to watch it with them. So I indulged my friends. And that is literally the only reason left that I watch Cutie Pie. I'm taking one for the team.

If you like the drama, great! That's entirely cool. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing here that we find great fault with the drama.

I felt this could have been a magical series, if the writers and producers had been fit to design the course of the plot.

Because yeah, the actors have the chops to pull off a better drama than this.

Yes, when I was watching I was very tense, thinking Diao wouldn't tell Kuea.

Yi did the unthinkable and instead of allowing Diao to make a choice of his conscience, Like an adult, he interceded on Lian's behalf. Which was really hypocritical of Yi. Essentially Yi acted against his lover's desires in service of his best friend. But it was to stop Diao from doing the same thing--from helping his friend in spite of what Yi wanted.

In the end, Diao did the right thing and I was so glad. We could just call it "bro's before ho's" at work. But I think it's deeper than that. I think Diao has had enough of Yi's deceptions that the idea of being forced to participate in one rankles. Plus, imagine being told you have help perpetuate a lie involving your best friend. Yikes.

Fucking A+.

I have honestly never seen two character who are less prepared to be in a relationship. Therapy boys. Lots of it.

ROFLMAO!

Oh I agree I wish we had seen more of Kuea's teeth. But I also think he's been floored by the upheaval. His entire world view just got tilted. Finding out all of this was bad enough. That would make a person feel off balance. But to find out it was hidden also cuts at a person's sense of self worth. And that erodes trust.

And he gets no time to process it before Lian is dropping a proposal in his lap.

So I get why Kuea refused. But I could wish that Kuea had told his mother "no, I'm not going to behave. I'm an adult and I'll decide how best to react to all of this."

I'm not wanting to fight. But I'd like to disagree. And this is just my observations.

I think it's Lian's responsibility for the upset at the birthday party. As early as the day before he knew their relationship was having major upsets and that Kuea was unsure about his ability to trust Lian. And Lian knows very well that there are still more things between them that need resolved before their relationship can be whole.

He's known about Kuea's secrets all along, holding onto them and using elements in Kuea's environment to manipulate him as Lian works in the background. This has left Kuea pretty unstable as all the secrets start coming out in a short cycle. And even as the secrets unveiled in the least favorable turns of events, there was an emphasis laid on Kuea's need to "behave". This is a stress inducer on a major level.

Kuea's entire view of his family's status and his understanding of the world around him gets upended. Without any sure sense of security in any part of it. Including trust in Lian. Lian had time to come to terms with Kuea's secrets for a long while and none of Kuea's secrets affect Lian personally. But Lian's secrets all effect Kuea's life very deeply and Kuea has been granted no time to process them as they unveil.

And amid all this Lian plans a proposal--at an event full of people Kuea doesn't know, at a time when Kuea isn't feeling secure or sure about many parts of his life. Public proposals are always a risk, and to pull one off requires the people in the relationships to have real trust. They must really know each other. And Kuea has no idea yet of exactly how much Lian does or doesn't know, and that's on Lian. He could have told Kuea that he actually knows and loves all parts of him. BEFORE asking Kuea to marry him.

And Lian had to know Kuea wasn't ready to commit to the marriage yet, given the things going on around Kuea. So the only possible reason to propose in such a large venue was because it put pressure on Kuea to comply. And that's a dick move. All in all, the failure of the moment is in the hands of the person who planned it.

Again, just my opinion.

I might hang on for a season 2 for Nuea/Syn as well. That kiss was so cute! And I never thought I'd say that. It's only been recently that I even liked Syn and I think half of it is that the rest of the show is so awful my mind made a "safe space" out of the moments when Nuea and Syn are on screen.

The rest is so badly written. And the characterizations are unstable. So latching onto Nuea and then later Syn was kind of all I could do. It was a last resort.

And thank you for the pronouns. Mine are actually they/them. Though I accept she/her. I know, it's confusing because my username says "girl" in it. But this is my professional pseudonym and for pro purposes It's easiest to present myself to career peers as cis gender. Maybe one day my career path will be easier for nonbinary peoples, but for now it's not. Ah well.

All that aside, I really resonated with your observation that Diao is essentially the wisest and most emotionally smart of the 4 main characters. Which is wild because he seems the youngest by appearance.

I'm not going to bite you. Unless you really want me to. LOL

But I will say I think the childishness is cultivated by Lian. On his own, Kuea maintained a secret home, his school and a music career with layered aspects to it. These are the signs of a competent adult.

But Lian stepped into his arena, took over his life and basically guided Kuea into the dependent and off balance, childish person he became. In all honestly, I feel Kuea refusing the proposal was for the best. Not that I think that will ultimately change things. It's a romance story, after all. But I could wish that the story ended here, for Kuea's sake.

You nailed it. But more concisely than me.

Except I disagree on the OST. I think the main theme is meh. The rest of the OST is pretty good only because most of it is covers.

I hear you. At this point we'll take what we can get.

Usually, when I criticize a show, there are a balance of really good elements to comment upon while pointing out the areas at fault.

However, this is one of those rare shows where there's almost nothing to compliment and none of the good points redeem the overall mess. I mean, Unless I just want to say "hey, the Nuea/Syn kiss was kind of cute, even if it happened in the middle of a GD bar". But I can't compliment how the plot was handled. I certainly can't complement the pacing of the show or the context in which the relationships are framed. So what does a person do? Just be honest about it.

So this drama has consistently thrown me for a loop.

Baby, no need to apologize. I mean, they never apologize for blaming the haters.

The thing is, it's neither Kuea's fault, because he's not real, not our faults, because we were right. ROFL.

It's the fault of the writer, editor and producer of the program. And I'm all for blaming them.

It was a cute kiss.

Yes. Yes to all of this.

This plot needed coherent direction to take, and characterizations that were consistent. The writer and producer are to blame. The director did his job, which was taking the plot and making it happen in a visually appropriate way. But I could smack the producer for their part in okaying the script and the script writer/editors for creating this mess.

I write scripts and it's not that hard to work from scratch. And this writer had a book to go from. How hard is it to take a story that has already been written and break it into an adaptation? Or maybe it's the source material. How bad was the book that this is the mess that came of it?