lovely

i agree that some people are taking heteronormativity too far. usually people use the height difference in a same-sex couple as an excuse to call the short one the "woman" in the relationship and the tall one the "man." i've already seen people roping haebom into the role of "weak bottom" simply because he's more timid and is quite short. to those people: just let him be, he's been through a lot :( he's 18 and doesn't need to be sexualized just because he got down in the manhwa.
tbh tho as a gay person i just think it's funny how short haebom is and how tall taesung is despite them being the same age. it's adorable, and i know some others feel the same way. i had a girlfriend much shorter than me and i honestly thought our height difference was cute lol. i don't see it as anything beyond that tho.

i agree, but also it's totally possible to make a beautiful story with a limited amount of time. i've seen fleshed out, profound 5 minute lgbt short films with a low budget that make more sense than this show. it all just depends on how experienced the writer/production team. i think they were a little too ambitious and rushed what little plot they had, although i appreciate their efforts nonetheless. and i of course acknowledge that it's going to be hard to have an amazing script when not many people are willing to work on LGBTQ media, though it's possible. you just have to be creative :))

which character did he play?

he's defo a stalker, and normally i would call it out, but it doesn't seem like a big deal in this tv universe? obviously this is a romcom, but for some reason it didn't come off all that creepy. obviously if he did this in real life i would straight up call the cops, but given the setting and how the show literally does not take itself seriously, it just gives me a lot of 2nd hand embarrassment but in a kind of endearing way. don't know how else to say it.
i definitely don't condone stalking/non-con pics but idk. i feel like saint was aware of that and made the show super ridiculous/comedic to tone down any seriousness. it worked imo. but don't take pics without consent y'all!! life is not like a tv show.

this is being marketed as a gay drama and is not a mainstream drama (clearly didn't get enough funding because it's LGBTQ media), so rest assured that it's not gonna be one of those blatantly homophobic reincarnation dramas where they try to justify it as "technically" a straight romance. based off the low budget and the trailer, it's gonna detail the MC coming to terms with the fact that his lover is a man and that he still loves him no matter what. there's really not enough runtime for them to spin it into something straight while keeping all the wholesome scenes from the trailer, anyway :)

i believe they wrapped up filming y'all! it will probably come out by march :)

totally agree, this is a gorgeous show with really natural acting and chemistry. i can tell the real drama hasn't even started yet and i'm so excited!! the relay runners have my attention, i love their story the most.
i don't understand why this drama is rated so low either. it's an 8.5 at the lowest.

very well-said! your take on the director getting us to think and debate characters’ moral choices is very interesting. i never thought about it that way, but having the audience actively engage with the material makes for a great show.
and like you said, if we are going to be seeing SA/violence/etc (which is probably inevitable given the subject matter of the show) then it needs to be clearly portrayed as wrong and not as a plot device. we need to see the characters react to it without brushing it under the rug. if there’s a good reason to include something like SA and they don’t normalize it, then there is nothing wrong with it being in the show. that being said, those with triggers should probably wait a few episodes in to see if it’s ok to watch.

???

i have and YES i agree!! tbh dobby ALSO has antihero vibes in it and hyunsuk has confused protagonist vibes again 😂

making a bl in korea is a huge risk…like bl actors commonly get death threats. it’s ok if you don’t like the show or the quality but it’s incredibly ignorant to say that they did this for profit. no one sane attempts any lgbt media in south korea just for fame/money because it’s so homophobic there, which means you’ll barely get any funding and you WILL get lots of backlash. they’re doing this because they want to. plus, jun is an idol, which means acting in a bl is twice as dangerous because he already has a fan base and is in the public eye for his music.

ikr! this has me thinking that we need to put out more behind-the-scenes footage from these dramas so these complainers can see exactly how much these production teams are slaving away to make these dramas work. i appreciate them so much honestly.
and like it’s ok if you don’t like the drama but don’t even try to come at them by saying “they’re just doing this for profit” (i’ve actually seen comments saying this), especially if you’re watching illegally, like hun…what about “homophobic country” do you not get?? the risk is so high for producing these dramas and it’s SO HARD to find investors. no one sane would attempt any sort of lgbt media in south korea “just for profit” since the process is grueling and the homophobic backlash + death threats are REAL.

to my star had more funding than this drama. it’s not easy to recreate that quality. also, the actors in this drama are not young, and the actors in to my star aren’t old (kangmin is actually very young).
i completely understand what you mean, but it’s just not as easy as you think. to my star was a rarity so we can’t compare all of these dramas to it. again, this is an lgbt drama so less people will want to act in it or help produce it. covid restrictions make it hard to film, and if one person on set tests positive then they have to shut down the whole thing so everyone can get tested. it’s very hard to make a drama these days, especially when you don’t have much funding.
and yes this drama could be higher quality, but i’m proud of them for doing the best that they can :) it’s not easy for idols to take on lgbt roles so it shows how brave jun is for doing this. to my star doesn’t have any idol leads, save for jinkwon, so there was less need to worry about negative reactions from the fandom and such.

it's definitely a pity, but there's just not enough funding for that to be possible, and south korea is so homophobic that investors are scarce :( i wish it didn't have to be this way.

viki doesn't make the dramas. they are a means of distribution FOR production teams, as they are a streaming website. them using viki doesn't automatically make it a low budget production. besides, it's an LGBT drama, which means there is a smaller pool of actors for the casting director to choose from since there are very few people willing to act in them. and there are also very few people willing to help produce it, resulting in this "low quality" you're talking about. let's just appreciate the hard work of the actors and staff instead of talking about how it's low budget :)

exactly! any k-bl page i go to on here is filled with comments that are disappointed with the runtime, like...we get it! we're all frustrated! but we're also GLAD that we can even get these web dramas at all, cause you know it was probably HELL for the production teams to get together enough funding for these 10 min episodes.
can we just appreciate their hard work and maybe not watch the episodes illegally? in the future, it will be more common to have episodes longer than 10 minutes, and as a gay person, i truly can't wait for that day! but for now, let's be conscious about how the majority of south koreans are homophobic and that it's amazing that these dramas were able to come into fruition. let's look at the positives, y'all. it's a disservice to the staff and actors if all we do is complain about the runtime.

well, good thing there's nothing to understand about them. they're just hateful for no reason.

the entire season of sotus has great acting and chemistry, but it normalizes the hell out of homophobia and is honestly hard to watch. i was pretty disappointed.

i wouldn't say korea is disappointing when it comes to BLs, unless you mean the amount lol. but yeah, there aren't a lot, but i'm grateful for the gems we've gotten like "where your eyes linger" and "to my star," among others like the short films from strongberry.

thank you :)