BougieBourbonFlower

I'm not trying to blame Heng, but he does have some culpability in that he never admitted to his mother that Mo was his partner, not Chicha. He flat out said he would tell her like 3 times, then didn't. For some people, myself included, actions like that are damaging. And yes, maybe I sympathize more with Mo because I relate to him more - I see a lot of myself in that character. I am a people pleaser and have a hard time standing up for myself, especially when it comes to the people I care about most. Fear is powerful. Mo was very straightforward with his family, and given how often Heng has said he cares about Mo, I can see where, when Heng didn't immediately introduce him as his boyfriend, doubt crept in and kept growing with everything Heng's mother said. Is Mo far more responsible for this mess? Absolutely. But Heng is not entirely blameless.

The back and forth, to me, feels like they are having a hard time believing it. Hoping it's true, but both being broken, they are doubting because they've become accustomed to being wrong or overlooked. Trauma causes weird shit in the brain, man.

Honestly, I can see both sides.
Mo has liked Heng for so long, and the way they actually started dating was a little spur of the moment on Heng's part. It felt a little, "Oh, OK, yeah, I want you around so we can date. That's fine. Cool." A bit blasé. So his insecurities, to me, are totally valid. Then on top of that, Heng's mom is all about children and girlfriend and expecting the heteronormative lifestyle for Heng, and Mo feels like he's ruining what a mother hopes for her child. It doesn't help that he already knew Chicha likes Heng, and now knowing that Heng previously liked Chicha, he's spiraling in doubt about how right it is for him to be the one with Heng. Should he speak up and have a conversation to set things right? Absolutely. But then we wouldn't have the drama lol.
And Heng is just so naive. Mo is the one who started the lie about Chicha being Heng's girlfriend, so he's trying to appease Mo's desire. But not finding time to come clean with his mother is spineless. Heng is very childlike in his demeanor, so it's not really a surprise that he doesn't know how to navigate relationships well, but he also needs to learn to communicate better. Not just with Mo, but with everyone. That boy needs to find his voice! Even with Boss, he never got a word in edgewise, which led to Boss thinking Heng liked him back, and all the highjinks that ensued. Stand up for yourself and your love, Heng!

I'm not saying it was. It was messy, but not difficult. I'm just saying that the show should be able to stand alone from the book and not be a requirement for nuances or comprehension of plot lines.

It shouldn't be a requirement to read the book in order to understand the show. Good writing would allow both to stand alone.

With the name of the show being The Boy Next World, parallel worlds existing is not what I would consider a plot twist. The problem I have is lackluster cohesion in the plot line that prevented the story from being something truly unique. Again, I enjoyed it, but as a whole, it was too messy to be a truly great show.

I understand and agree with all of that, I'm just saying Mame should have chosen one or the other to keep a better and tighter plot line. Trying to do both the parallel world and Cir's mother being a psychopath was too much, and it made the whole plot a mess. If she had focused on *just* the parallel world aspect, it could have been fleshed out better. We could have had answers about ponytail Cir, and the Cir that was in the holding room, and why Phu was the one to make every Cir a better version of himself. It could have been explored more about the connection between them in every world. But no. We got a hot mess that felt rushed because he had to have a crazy mother and a forced fiancée on top of the parallel world aspect. Personally, I would have loved to explore why Phu is that person to Cir, not just have holding room Cir say it once and we're just supposed to take it at face value. I enjoyed the show a lot, it had a lot of good in it, I just think it could have been better, so I'm a little bummed with how it wrapped.

I'm not trying to be contrary about this, but that's not necessarily true. I had never been kissed at 20, and I didn't have the same chaotic schedule he did since he went to international school, college (double major, apparently), as well as being in the entertainment industry since he was like 11 or some insanity. Actors get far fewer choices in how to act or move than what we perceive. I genuinely think it's because New, and whatever intimacy coordinator was part of it, chose for it to be like that. And because New likes weird angles and chaste kisses for all kissing scenes. Phuwin had better kisses in Never Let Me Go because it was directed better.

I feel like this missed the mark a bit. I enjoyed it, and BossNoeul definitely brought their A game, but it's almost like it needed to be one or the other. It's either an issue with parallel worlds and the chaos that would entail, or it's a truly horrible malicious mother who wants to own her child's life as property and, after finding love, he rebels against her. But trying to do both didn't work out for me. Having one issue, it could have been fleshed out better with more realistic results than the rushed ending we received. Again, acting wise, I think they delivered extremely well for the script they were given, it's just the story being a bit too jumbled because Mame couldn't decide between the two main issues. Also, I need whoever was the costume designer to drop the info on all of Phu's cardigans!

I genuinely think Fai is expecting Wine to leave him. Like, he doesn't want him to, obviously, but given his childhood and the mom admitting she chose him not because she loved him, but so that she would have a reason to come back, etc., Fai is just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which is gonna break my heart almost as much 💔

I really really hope we get at least another special episode that is a happy ending. I mean, I know in reality not all stories are happy endings, but dayum, I want Jack and Joke to have one! Having the ghost wedding is proof to me that their love is boundless, and especially after all the shit they went through in the series, they deserve it, dangit

-I'm so ready for Faifa's back story! Like, the dinner at Arc and Arm's place, Yotha said he didn't think Fai knew how to love, and then there was a cut to another scene - I straight up thought it was going to be back story, and was so sat for it. I also think Yotha meant it in a way that was more, "he doesn't know how to love one person because he's so kind and generous with literally *everyone* he doesn't know how to focus his attention on the one special person." Though, obviously, we can see the progress of that, Yotha just doesn't know it yet.
-"Not everyone might be born out of love, but everyone deserves beautiful love." Dayum, Gun hitting hard with that line.
-Sleepyhead and quirkyboy! They have nicknames for each other and I'm grinning like a fool!
-Not having English subs on 4.4 was hella frustrating...
-Seeing Faifa want to reject people to change and grow because of Wine is such fantastic character development! Even if he's having an existential crisis about it lol.

Yes! This! It looks horribly cringey to western eyes because it's not something we're familiar with, but Jack ensured Joke would never be alone, even in the afterlife, and it's beautiful. Terribly sad, obviously. But beautiful in it's intentions.

So I know the marriage looks cringe, but the intention behind it is beautiful. It's a Chinese minghun ceremony, or ghost wedding, so that their souls are tied together even if one or both partners have passed. Basically, Jack ensured Joke would never be alone, even in the afterlife.

I can totally see how the western ear finds it odd, but I've gotten so used to Thai nicknames sounding odd to my ears I don't even question it anymore lol. Also, the names Thame and Po were chosen to go together because it is a play on the word tempo. Which I think is so clever ☺️

They are not, no.

Po definitely knows the slang, though - I feel like he knew exactly what he was doing lol

They really made Pepper "Dr. Pepper" during the concert 🤣🤣

I knew I would love this, but I didn't know how much. Top notch on all counts. I am impressed beyond what I expected with not only the story, but the acting, the chemistry, the cinematography, the music, just everything. It will absolutely be something I re-watch on the regular.

First, I would point out that he is being directed on actions and expressions - all actors are interpreting both the script and the directions being given by directors, acting coaches, intimacy coaches, dialect/speech coaches, etc. And since the director wrote it, he is bringing her version to the screen first and foremost.
Second, I can totally understand why you would say that, but for me, it's a lot of microexpressions more than anything else. After being used in such a horrible way by his ex, there is so much trepidation and hesitation. I would probably be the same, honestly. Wanting it all to be real, but fearing that the same thing will happen again. Wanting to trust, but fearing it's all in his mind. For me, he's mostly just extremely shy and introverted. Which makes Thame's boldness that much more over the top lol. But dayum, when ya boy cries, though 😳 Est brings it hard when he cries.

Another person made it a Google Doc and shared it here a while ago, though I don't remember who, unfortunately. Hopefully this link works ☺️

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DWsxA58iyZqZNC2U7DP3h7URwlpMAI9i/view?usp=drivesdk