I agree wholeheartedly. this is the third time they use this cheap tactic. people who can not adapt a written…
Yeah, I know they are rookies, but all it does is show that you are a terrible screenwriter and director, LOL. "Show not tell" is like storytelling 101 and they absolutely could have shown it with a better script and better direction. It's admirable that they want control over their own IP and are doing so many things themselves, but I really think they should have hired a pro for the screenwriting.
I don't think Domundi are as strict as GMMTV about only using their own artists. At the time they started this Boun should have been with Wabi Sabi still. And Boss is with Me Mind Y.
The opening episode is to show the cruel nature of Chi Cheng and Guo Cheng Yu and throughout the drama this cruel…
You're comparing apples and pears just because they both grow on trees. I've already told you that I have extensive experience with both reading and watching danmei/BL and with various people's experiences of queer culture irl. You don't have to assume that I'm ignorant and talk down to me simply because I don't agree with you. And Chai Jidan's danmei novels being realistic descriptions of real life queer relationships or culture is the most ridiculous thing I've heard this month. They're very entertaining but also over the top, absurd, and completely unhinged stories full of toxic people written by someone who had very obviously no personal experience of gay men at the time of writing. They are very much fiction, extremely so. If you can't even understand the difference between absurd genre fiction and reality, I really don't have any interest in continuing this discussion with you.
The opening episode is to show the cruel nature of Chi Cheng and Guo Cheng Yu and throughout the drama this cruel…
I'm not describing Bad Buddy? That's a competely different plot with completely different characters in a completely different setting. I'm talking about Revenged Love. I'm not seeing what you are seeing, and I don't think that's because I don't know anything about Chinese culture. I'm honestly kind of baffled by your take on RL about WSW being groomed and forced to give up himself and being in an abusive relationship, and especially about him "turning into a woman".
I have watched (and read) a lot of BL from different countries, not just Thailand, and I've also watched many Chinese dramas. I'm familiar with most of the BL tropes and drama tropes in general. I also know queer people from different countries IRL, and have had conversations with queer people from Asia online. I do understand that queer culture is not the same everywhere. While I can't claim to really understand the culture of any country I haven't grown up in, I also hope that I have at least a slightly better idea than most people in my part of the world. May I ask if you're Chinese?
The opening episode is to show the cruel nature of Chi Cheng and Guo Cheng Yu and throughout the drama this cruel…
The linguistic terms for familial relationships do reflect the Chinese cultural views on family and marriage, but it doesn't necessarily have any bearing on how queer people view themselves and their relationships. Or if it does, it doesn't necessarily mean that the people involved see themselves as becoming "female" simply because they are bottoms in the relationship, or are submissive in the bedroom (being a bottom also doesn't necessarily mean having to be submissive, FYI). Just because the terms are gendered doesn't mean they have to interpret themselves as 100% aligning with that gender.
Your argument that Chi Cheng "allows" WSW to hold the purse strings and run the company *could* be due to perceived gender roles in the relationship, but it could also be because he has the money but wants WSW to feel that it's a true partnership. Let's not forget that WSW came from a poor background, and would probably feel very unequal to CC if the latter kept control of the wealth and WSW had to ask for money or was given some kind of allowance by him. And it's also a sign of trust from CC towards WSW. Also, CC's investment in the company is financial, while WSW brings the artistic skills and the design process. Without his skills and talents there would be no such company. CC merely made it possible by providing the funds and the industry contacts that WSW was lacking due to his background. He's a co-founder of the company, and yes, he did it to help out WSW, but it's in reality more WSW's company, because he is doing the actual hands-on work. So is it "man versus woman", or rich versus poor? I don't feel the need to assign irrelevant genders to gay relationships simply because society or genres of fiction tend to do that. And what people's preferences are in the bedroom doesn't necessarily have any correlation to their power dynamic outside of it. It's sex. Why do you have to "compensate" for those preferences? I haven't read the novel, but I'm told that WSW found himself enjoying their bedroom dynamic, and that seems to be the case in the series too. It's not something he is forced to do against his will. The fact that CC won't allow WSW to top him doesn't mean that WSW isn't also enjoying being topped. As you say, many people have no strong preference and could take either role. The fact that WSW initially was reluctant had more to do with societal expectations of masculinity, and people who, like you seem to do, equate being a bottom with being weak and submissive and effeminate. He had a self-image moulded by societal expectations of what "a real man" should be (strong, assertive, heterosexual, etc...even though he hadn't really succeeded at most of those expectations even before he met CC). Once his feelings for CC grew strong enough to make him want to be intimate with him regardless of the sexual position, he could start letting go of that social conditioning and be open to new experiences. I don't see that as him being forced into an unequal relationship any more than anyone else who is in a relationship with someone who doesn't have the exact same background, status, physical strength or size, or personality (or sexual preference, for that matter). And yes, women (and bottoms) can be dominant in a relationship in or out of the bedroom, and men (and tops) can be submissive in the same respects. But it's also fine if they're not, as long as they are genuinely happy. It doesn't make them any more or less of a woman or a man.
The opening episode is to show the cruel nature of Chi Cheng and Guo Cheng Yu and throughout the drama this cruel…
Okay, this is going to be long, apologies for that. But I think that you are making a lot of inferences that aren't there.
Yue Yue breaks up with WSW for several reasons: he's let himself go, he's become complacent and unambitious, he's financially unsuccessful and stingy, and she's never actually loved him, she's just seen him as a convenient piggy bank. (It's not about being the provider for a family, it's about him not spoiling her with expensive gifts and designer clothes and fancy expensive gestures—basically, she's a gold digger.) They don't even have a good physical relationship. WSW is sincere but a bit naive. That doesn't make him a "woman" or "emasculated". In fact, from the point where YY breaks up with him and he sees her with CC and (mistakenly) believes that CC is targeting him (much like the previous guy, who keeps bashing WSW's head in with bricks), WSW starts reinventing himself and becoming a stronger, smarter, more ambitious (and more handsome) person. His reasons for this are at first petty revenge against YY and CC, and it's his new friend Jiang Xiaoshuai who helps him with this. But the fact remains: with Yue Yue, WSW was weak-willed, unambitious and complacent, and being used without getting anything much in return, not even affection. He was with her because of societal expectations tied to his identity as a typical, heterosexual man. This process of change starts *before* he gets close to CC. But later on, when he is close with Chi Cheng, he's getting opportunities to show his competence and talents and starts blossoming. The fact that he becomes submissive in bed is neither here nor there.
The "auntie" scene isn't about WSW being a woman. It's because familial terms in Chinese are both highly specific and highly gendered (and also reflect the very patriarchal family structures in China, where the family name is carried on by the sons and women marry out of their birth family and into the husband's family; Chinese even has different terms for "getting married" depending on whether you're a man or a woman). So the term for your mother's brother's partner is female, there's no term for that family position in relation to you that can make the position male. WSW was claiming the position of Chi Cheng's partner, not changing his identity to female. Later on, during the scene when he visits his parents' grave, he talks about Chi Cheng as their "daughter-in-law". This is also because the term for the person who is married to the son of the family is female. This doesn't mean that he thinks of Chi Cheng as a woman either. They're just terms used to describe the nature and status of the relationship.
I also don't see any of the "grooming" you're talking about. If anyone is guilty of that crime, it's actually WSW. He is hell-bent on seducing CC out of revenge, and he pretends to be attracted to him, puts on an act and manipulates him in order to do that, so he can later on hurt CC by betraying and abandoning him. It's a naive idea, and a silly, ridiculous plot, and it's not that deep. Realistically, it shouldn't be working. But for some reason, CC finds WSW incredibly cute and sexy, and a weird kind of push-and-pull relationship develops, where WSW pushes and then pulls back when things start getting too real. Chi Cheng is a dangerous bastard, but he's actually being pretty sincere and straightforward with WSW all along. At first he just wants to have sex with him, and he's pretty clear about that. Later he gets interested in him as a person, and there's a scene that very clearly shows the point where he is falling in love. He starts helping and supporting WSW from this point onwards. He genuinely believes that WSW is into him at this point, and those actions are genuine too. And WSW starts realising that CC is actually very good to him, and that he doesn't mind the sexual advances as much as he used to *because he's also starting to fall for CC*.
Chi Cheng the character is written as a very dominant, cold, dangerous, extreme dedicated top type. This is a typical BL trope, although it's also a romance trope in general. I wouldn't rule out that there are such people irl. But all Chai Jidan's tops are ridiculously dangerous, dominant and overpowered. Chi Cheng is dominant in bed, in more than one sense, and if you want to get into bed with him (which WSW eventually does), you have to accept that and adapt to it. But outside of bed Chi Cheng treats WSW as an equal partner. He lets WSW be in charge of the company they start together, he even lets WSW be in charge of their economy at home. So yeah, I don't see the "grooming" or "emasculation" that you're talking about.
The opening episode is to show the cruel nature of Chi Cheng and Guo Cheng Yu and throughout the drama this cruel…
"The first time is painful" is unfortunately a very common trope in BL, and one that makes me smh every time because it's completely unnecessary. But I also think Wu Suowei was being a bit of a drama queen about it. Later on he's very obviously into it.
I don't agree with you about WSW "having to give up his identity". He's just expanding it. He discovers new things about himself and sure, that may lead to realisations about your previous "identity" but that's not the same as giving up your self. Many people have identities that are not in fact based on their true selves but on social and cultural expectations and conditioning.
2 
I have watched (and read) a lot of BL from different countries, not just Thailand, and I've also watched many Chinese dramas. I'm familiar with most of the BL tropes and drama tropes in general. I also know queer people from different countries IRL, and have had conversations with queer people from Asia online. I do understand that queer culture is not the same everywhere. While I can't claim to really understand the culture of any country I haven't grown up in, I also hope that I have at least a slightly better idea than most people in my part of the world. May I ask if you're Chinese?
Your argument that Chi Cheng "allows" WSW to hold the purse strings and run the company *could* be due to perceived gender roles in the relationship, but it could also be because he has the money but wants WSW to feel that it's a true partnership. Let's not forget that WSW came from a poor background, and would probably feel very unequal to CC if the latter kept control of the wealth and WSW had to ask for money or was given some kind of allowance by him. And it's also a sign of trust from CC towards WSW. Also, CC's investment in the company is financial, while WSW brings the artistic skills and the design process. Without his skills and talents there would be no such company. CC merely made it possible by providing the funds and the industry contacts that WSW was lacking due to his background. He's a co-founder of the company, and yes, he did it to help out WSW, but it's in reality more WSW's company, because he is doing the actual hands-on work. So is it "man versus woman", or rich versus poor? I don't feel the need to assign irrelevant genders to gay relationships simply because society or genres of fiction tend to do that. And what people's preferences are in the bedroom doesn't necessarily have any correlation to their power dynamic outside of it. It's sex. Why do you have to "compensate" for those preferences? I haven't read the novel, but I'm told that WSW found himself enjoying their bedroom dynamic, and that seems to be the case in the series too. It's not something he is forced to do against his will. The fact that CC won't allow WSW to top him doesn't mean that WSW isn't also enjoying being topped. As you say, many people have no strong preference and could take either role. The fact that WSW initially was reluctant had more to do with societal expectations of masculinity, and people who, like you seem to do, equate being a bottom with being weak and submissive and effeminate. He had a self-image moulded by societal expectations of what "a real man" should be (strong, assertive, heterosexual, etc...even though he hadn't really succeeded at most of those expectations even before he met CC). Once his feelings for CC grew strong enough to make him want to be intimate with him regardless of the sexual position, he could start letting go of that social conditioning and be open to new experiences. I don't see that as him being forced into an unequal relationship any more than anyone else who is in a relationship with someone who doesn't have the exact same background, status, physical strength or size, or personality (or sexual preference, for that matter). And yes, women (and bottoms) can be dominant in a relationship in or out of the bedroom, and men (and tops) can be submissive in the same respects. But it's also fine if they're not, as long as they are genuinely happy. It doesn't make them any more or less of a woman or a man.
Yue Yue breaks up with WSW for several reasons: he's let himself go, he's become complacent and unambitious, he's financially unsuccessful and stingy, and she's never actually loved him, she's just seen him as a convenient piggy bank. (It's not about being the provider for a family, it's about him not spoiling her with expensive gifts and designer clothes and fancy expensive gestures—basically, she's a gold digger.) They don't even have a good physical relationship. WSW is sincere but a bit naive. That doesn't make him a "woman" or "emasculated". In fact, from the point where YY breaks up with him and he sees her with CC and (mistakenly) believes that CC is targeting him (much like the previous guy, who keeps bashing WSW's head in with bricks), WSW starts reinventing himself and becoming a stronger, smarter, more ambitious (and more handsome) person. His reasons for this are at first petty revenge against YY and CC, and it's his new friend Jiang Xiaoshuai who helps him with this. But the fact remains: with Yue Yue, WSW was weak-willed, unambitious and complacent, and being used without getting anything much in return, not even affection. He was with her because of societal expectations tied to his identity as a typical, heterosexual man. This process of change starts *before* he gets close to CC. But later on, when he is close with Chi Cheng, he's getting opportunities to show his competence and talents and starts blossoming. The fact that he becomes submissive in bed is neither here nor there.
The "auntie" scene isn't about WSW being a woman. It's because familial terms in Chinese are both highly specific and highly gendered (and also reflect the very patriarchal family structures in China, where the family name is carried on by the sons and women marry out of their birth family and into the husband's family; Chinese even has different terms for "getting married" depending on whether you're a man or a woman). So the term for your mother's brother's partner is female, there's no term for that family position in relation to you that can make the position male. WSW was claiming the position of Chi Cheng's partner, not changing his identity to female.
Later on, during the scene when he visits his parents' grave, he talks about Chi Cheng as their "daughter-in-law". This is also because the term for the person who is married to the son of the family is female. This doesn't mean that he thinks of Chi Cheng as a woman either. They're just terms used to describe the nature and status of the relationship.
I also don't see any of the "grooming" you're talking about. If anyone is guilty of that crime, it's actually WSW. He is hell-bent on seducing CC out of revenge, and he pretends to be attracted to him, puts on an act and manipulates him in order to do that, so he can later on hurt CC by betraying and abandoning him. It's a naive idea, and a silly, ridiculous plot, and it's not that deep. Realistically, it shouldn't be working. But for some reason, CC finds WSW incredibly cute and sexy, and a weird kind of push-and-pull relationship develops, where WSW pushes and then pulls back when things start getting too real. Chi Cheng is a dangerous bastard, but he's actually being pretty sincere and straightforward with WSW all along. At first he just wants to have sex with him, and he's pretty clear about that. Later he gets interested in him as a person, and there's a scene that very clearly shows the point where he is falling in love. He starts helping and supporting WSW from this point onwards. He genuinely believes that WSW is into him at this point, and those actions are genuine too. And WSW starts realising that CC is actually very good to him, and that he doesn't mind the sexual advances as much as he used to *because he's also starting to fall for CC*.
Chi Cheng the character is written as a very dominant, cold, dangerous, extreme dedicated top type. This is a typical BL trope, although it's also a romance trope in general. I wouldn't rule out that there are such people irl. But all Chai Jidan's tops are ridiculously dangerous, dominant and overpowered. Chi Cheng is dominant in bed, in more than one sense, and if you want to get into bed with him (which WSW eventually does), you have to accept that and adapt to it. But outside of bed Chi Cheng treats WSW as an equal partner. He lets WSW be in charge of the company they start together, he even lets WSW be in charge of their economy at home. So yeah, I don't see the "grooming" or "emasculation" that you're talking about.
I don't agree with you about WSW "having to give up his identity". He's just expanding it. He discovers new things about himself and sure, that may lead to realisations about your previous "identity" but that's not the same as giving up your self. Many people have identities that are not in fact based on their true selves but on social and cultural expectations and conditioning.