AffinityPanda

You don't earn trust by forcing someone to move in with you, consistently going behind their back to manipulate your environment, and doing all the nasty stuff Lian is doing. And regardless of how we feel about Lian's actions and whether they're forceful, Lian admits he's trying to force Kuea.

And Lian smiles when Kuea almost lets thing leak because he's pleased his manipulations are taking effect. There's a whole tone with Lian aside from his treatment of Kuea, where he seems to be enjoying the manipulations on their own. Which is not good.

Kai, you're amazing! I'm totally fan-lolling over here.

Oh wow. You got the attention of that noxious person I saw over on the KinnPorsche page. I am so sorry, Kai. Their opinions seem to be 80% vitriol and aggression and 20% missing the point. Which is odd in itself. But you're probably better off blocking LykeItRuff. What they really want is just for someone to pay them attention.

By the way, I agree with all your points and your overall take on Cutie Pie. You have for more patience than I do, to stay in the debate as long as you have.

Me too. Just here to see how far out this messy thing can get. I don't know if I'm even going to bother making it my first official review. I kind of think I want to make my first review a show I actually liked.

How does that even make sense? I don't think anyone has trouble sleeping at night over whether consent is the sexy part of an encounter.

Though I agree that consent can be incorporated into the experience in all sorts of fun ways that are sexy. Especially since every person finds different things to be sexy.

Since you don't find consent to be sexy, ever, then that suggests you find non-consensensual sex to be more to your taste? Not touching that with a ten foot pole. But even if you were right and consent can't be sexy, the acts that follow establishing consent can be VERY sexy.

Yes. And I recently binged to catch up. As a flow of episodes it looks like Lian does it purposefully, to keep Kuea off balance. And that's as you said, shady.

It doesn't matter what the novel was like. I have no exposure to the novel.

What I care about is the drama's content, and I didn't like it, at all. Some people do. And that's fine. But some people don't and that's fine as well.

I think that's the biggest value of criticism. Plus, it's just okay to say we didn't like something.

Very cringey. Whether you want to call it toxicity, bullying, meanness... Those relationships aren't great. Except I get the feeling we're supposed to think they are.

yeah, that's where I am. The story is not well enough written to take seriously.

I've only just come to it in the last week. I watched it to catch up and by about episode 5 I was ready to come over and see what everyone was saying and leave my own views on it. And not great. Probably not the worst, but not great.

I've not seen TharnType, but from what I've read, it was actually abusive. Not seen History 4 either.

But outside of that, I shut off my brain to stuff like editing snafu's or sloppy setting details or costumes that don't really work. I tend not to unplug from plot probs. But every person watching comes for something different. Eye candies are less important to me than a decent story and characters I can like without mental gymnastics.

I cannot recall where, but it's suggested he has an unholy amount of social media presence. And someone mentioned that in the books he brought in the fat bucks that way. And we know he makes music content for platforms like Youtube. Not to mention his gig at Gemini. So, he makes his own money. His parents are paying for the officially approved college kid life. So far as I understand it, Kuea's other pursuits are paid for by him.

I don't feel like Kuea owes his family a say in his choices. It would be nice if he felt they were receptive to who he is, so that he didn't have to hide, but he's not obligated to live by their law just because they're paying for his education. Certainly not if their rules included things that stifled him as an artist or in other meaningful ways. He's a person, not a pet. They are his parents, not his owners. Paying for a child's education does not entitle a parent to decide how their child conducts their life.

I lived at home until I was done with my undergraduate degree. A degree they paid for. A degree I chose. I chose my hobbies. I didn't tell my parents anything about what I got up to, or the girls I was dating. They knew what my grades where and that was about it. Because paying for my education did not entitle them to have control over me once I became an adult.

And it's suggested he has enough of a social media following that he is making his own income doing his music for platforms like Youtube,

Of course he's hiding from his parents too. I never said he wasn't. And it doesn't matter what his bloodline is. He is an individual with a right to be who he wishes to be. He shouldn't have to fit. The box is what's wrong, not Kuea's lifestyle. Which is what lead to hiding his recreational and educational life to begin with. He had a right to live the way he wants and furthermore, he has a right to hide it if he wants.

The problem isn't with Kuea's choices, it's in the people he's dealing with. His parents are a real problem because you don't force a child to fit a mold. YOu encourage them to explore what they want to become. And Lian's no better. His expectations are just different Kuea's parents. Not better.

Lian has said precisely that he's trying to force Kuea to tell the truth. That's tearing down walls with force.

This is something I've come to as well. There's no reason Kuea should feel he has to tell his parents the truth. Lying in general isn't great, but of all the people in the show who do it, Kuea is the one just doing it to protect something. Either his self or his freedom. Unfortunately he's had to give that up anyway.

In a perfect world, Kuea would have felt his parents would approve of whatever made him happy. But instead he's taken the parts of him that would be rejected and hid them. And it's actually sad. But I get it.

And it IS similar to being in the closet. (I wasn't out until about a year ago) We hide the parts of ourselves from our parents and loved ones that can cause us to be hurt or not accepted.

And I don't think the "living Doll" Kuea was bad. Honestly, there are people out there who are genuinely like that and they deserve love too. Who Kuea is when he's behaving isn't unlovable. Just not all there is to him.

It reads a bit like abuse. And I think it might be. But I think Yi looked to be having some kind of mental thing going on. I don't know if it's trauma or what. And it doesn't excuse the way he acts. But I feel like he needs some help and no one has noticed or encouraged him to get it.

He is pretty. But his character is making me feel ick. So I am having trouble looking at him and seeing the sexy. Maybe he needs to take his shirt off and flex.

Might still not be enough but I would be ever so grateful.

I don't know if we will see. All that seems to have been ignored. I wish the plot was dealing with their choices along the way. It would make it easier to see some kind of progress. Right now it's just messy.

Kuea presents any number of truths to the world at large about who he is. His friends, his school, his home location, his name, etc. He just very selectively shares his interests and aspirations.

It's not a second persona. Those are complete other identities. Different name, different family history, second spouse, etc.