BadPenny

Ow wow! Fake empathy/sympathy as a form of thinly veiled insult! With shallow scolding too! Oh goodie! I haven't seen that in ages. Bravo for hauling out that relic. I usually only run into that one when I travel down south. It's right out of the Southern Woman's Handbook on How to Hate and Smile Doing It.

No wonder you like this show. Lian is just your kind of folk.

Here, lemme hand you a fake tissue to dab your eyes with. If I recall what the handbook recommends, I think I'm supposed to tilt my head thoughtfully, smile and go "Well bless your heart."

It doesn't matter if there is a difference between constructive criticism oand will nitpicking or not. The board is open to it all. Even people nitpicking about other people's posts, which I'm sure you're very glad of.

because obviously you don't solely like to focus on things you enjoy, or you wouldn't be reading and responding to my posts--since you seem to dislike them so much. :D

Hahahah! I love all those. I can't argue!

Don't sweat it, Ben. The "swamp for haters" thing just means they didn't like that we came to voice our opinions at all.

Yeah Lesson probably not learned though. I'm sure they'll show up somewhere spreading lies again. Not sure why SB was targeting me today. I mean, I don't know that I've ever even responded to them on a board before. Until today when they were lying about me.

Like JDJ said, why would they even waste their time?

*"What some people are actually enjoying is the very clear power imbalance between Lian and Kuea; alongside the fact that Lian is very clearly taking advantage of the situation and of Kuea's lack of autonomy."*

PREACH sister!!!

Man this resonates. You nailed everything important about the problem. I feel like I want to pull my hair out when I see Lian/Kuea referred to as having cute BDSM dynamics. No. They don't.

I've been thinking of asking friends of mine in the local BDSM community to watch the show and then come on here and explain the fuck out of how NOT BDSM it is. Because I was unwilling to even tackle it. But you did an amazing job. Succinct and on the nose.

And now I don't have to ask any friends to sit through this mess.

Oh yeah. It's just... It gets to me! What is your favorite song of theirs?

I am in accord with this.

You've been reported. Might want to just go on ahead and delete the post.

Yup! You said it perfectly. I don't want to have to read the book to decode the plot.

I was on Discord watching it with my GF's and we were all WTF. It was just...bad. In so many ways. And I've consistently been sad because Zee is a gifted actor and he's awful in this role.

I'm with you on this. I don't cringe most of the time, though. I end up making indecipherable noises of disbelief so loudly it brings my family running to check if I'm okay. LOL

Fuck I forgot my babies are in this! I do NOT think it's going to be enough to make me like the ep. But at least there will be the sweet, sweet moment when I get to see them on screen.

Hahahahahha! OMFG! This made my day. Especially since I just ranted the fuck out of SCOY's Nuea just yesterday. People who thought that ep 7 shit was cute are still blocking me. So I felt this post SO much.

I also actually felt bad for Yi. He's emotionally vulnerable all over his bestie and the motherfucker tosses him out so he doesn't spill the beans.

This drama is going to give me an ulcer. But man, your post made me smile.

What Starsappear said. Don't waste your time watching this.

Diao's body language does scream fear. But at least they are finally showing some structure to the problem that could eventually lead to some positive change to thier dynamic.

Lian and Kuea? Nope. And yeah, the infantilism isn't even the worst part. You're very correct.

It is sad. But I also think it's a problem that is getting enough attention that it will get better gradually. Both the youth violence and the lack of marriage equality.

The problem with the youth violence is in part institutionalized as much as the lack of LGBT protections under the law. And the way administration of schools is done has to change as well. But hell, here in the US our schools are fucked too. So it's not like I am passing judgement. Just giving info.

Ultimately, I think Japan will be the next place to pass gay marriage in Asia. I hate using the term "Asia" as a grouping, as though it's a homogeneous culture. I should say they will be the second country in East Asia to pass marriage equality. Though their legislative branch has not put it in place yet, last year the restriction on marriage limiting it to only a man and a woman was ruled unconstitutional. So before long there may well be put in place a solid ruling passing marriage equality legislation in Japan.

Oh hell! It's so nice to meet another fan! When I read your post I keyboard smashed. LOL

I think my fav song of theirs is "Bangkok Winter". But I have to say their new song "Until Then" is really winning me over to that one.

Uh, I've never been banned. Nope. That is actually a lie.

I have had several people block me. But never at all have I ever been banned from MDL. Also, I've only ever been active in the comments sections of 4 dramas. So if you count that as "A lot" then sure. I get around.

I don't care if you sit around all day and whine about my posts but don't make shit up. That's just bullshit.

First, please excuse the length of this. Second, I've pointed this out in review form but it's sometimes hard to get past my shtick when I make a review to see core valid points. So here I'm going to set aside the "persona" I use when reviewing and explain a bit further.

And I'm not disagreeing with you about Kuea needing to stand up for himself. BUT...

We see a lot of Lian controlling the narrative of Kuea's "opening up" and we see what might "appear" on the surface as softening of Lian's nature. But I have consistently noticed that Kuea seems less "himself" the more Lian takes control of his life and tries to force him to be more himself. And it's because what Lian is doing isn't really trying to get Kuea to be "himself". What is happening is called erosion. It refers both to the abuse and its effects on its victims. Kuea is being eroded, undergoing a gradual diminution of his personhood through careful and strangely masterful manipulation.

The insidious thing about erosion is that it's not always overtly aggressive as it is with Yi's behaviors. At times emotional toxicity is clearly identifiable as abuse. However, most of the time erosion injuries inflicted are gradual and almost below the radar. This kind of abuse is some of the most difficult to recognize and hard to overcome because this toxicity, while no less damaging to one’s personhood, often times results in the recipient being labeled too sensitive, over-reactive, spineless, weak, a "pushover" or worse.

I have noticed a fair number of people calling Kuea these sorts of names and I thought I'd step in and share my observation.

That doesn't mean Kuea isn't responsible for reclaiming his agency. He totally is and I wish he would. But it's sort of written into the show that his erosion is a good thing. So we'll never see him be really himself again because as one poster pointed out, this is just a nasty BL version of "Taming of the Shrew". So Kuea's submission is meant to be considered romantic when in fact it's gross and unfortunate.

This all just means I'm pretty compassionate with Kuea's current situation. This whole bag of behaviors from Lian is geared to leave Kuea feeling defenseless and unarmed and I can hardly blame Kuea for the fact that it's working since it's been the training of his entire life.