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No problem! Honestly much as I love slap/kiss (while still acknowledging the issues behind it), my favorite part is the period where the pra'ek (because it's usually the male lead of course that does all the bad) is suffering for all the things he did. You know, it's the part that never happens in real life. Talk about fantasy fulfillment lol

The ml rapes the fl. Again though, this is according to the novel after things go to heck in the latter half.

In lakorns, the nang'ek (fl) is never raped by anyone but the pra'ek (ml). It's...a thing.

Well, the thing about Thai drama (lakorns) is that you have to consider the culture. It doesn't make it okay, but a lot of the times, rape exists as a way of either creating a pregnancy out of wedlock or binding the leads together, since traditionally, once a man and woman sleep together they're considered essentially married (the pua/mia dynamic).

Generally rape of the lead only occurs in the slap/kiss genre, and even then not *all* slap/kisses have it. But that genre is based around high dramatics and dark storylines (usually involving revenge). It does happen outside of the genre, but no where near as often. There's also "r to willing" (or "rawr to willing"- rawr being rape for the oldschool lakorn fans), where the pra'ek starts out with an assault, but stops and the nang'ek willingly sleeps with him.

But all that being said, if you're watching modern lakorns, it's super rare these days. About 2016 or it really dropped off, but romances can still be really intense and dark, and they might have assault that doesn't end in a full on rape.

If you want to see a great example of a modern slap/kiss that avoids this though, I HIGHLY recommend the remake of Huajai Sila from 2019. It's fantastic and completely subverts the original (which was r to willing).

And this is a whooole other discussion, but rape culture in Thailand is indeed a huge issue. These stories aren't necessarily completely unrealistic, except for classics like Jam Loey Rak and Sawan Biang, where it's just an outright fantasy.

That all beings said...things are improving a bit, but it's gonna take a lot more work. The Judgement is a great drama that actually addresses this in part.

Well that part is also willing in the novel. The assault doesn't happen until later, but I would still be very very surprised if they keep it in. Maybe R to willing at the most? It's rare these days, but I've still been surprised a couple times in the past few years.

I'm really not sure it's fair to add the "rape" tag when we don't actually know if they'll keep that in or not. I mean, yeah, it's possible, but lakorns have REALLY been getting away from that lately.

So far I'm enjoying it. It isn't quite as explosive and intense as I was expecting. The leads have a pretty bizarre dynamic that I wouldn't exactly call consistent. Lots of slap/kiss tropes here. Definitely your typical forceful, jealous pra'ek that will likely turn on the nang'ek once he knows the connection to his stepmom. If you don't like problematic, controlling, completely constructed of nothing but red flags leads, definitely steer clear.

p.s. absolute shout out to the music of this series. Pimmy's voice is gorgeous and incredible even when she's singing live in some of the scenes. I actually don't get tired of the songs, which is pretty rare for these types of lakorns.

Oh wow, the acting was so bad and the scenes were so awkward just in the trailer that I stopped it before the horror element showed up, which...good, I guess? Unfortunate, because I do appreciate that there is a girl/girl couple. For all the progressiveness you see in BL and GMM dramas, you really don't see much of any of that still. It's an issue.

Buuuut there is no way I can sit through these performances lol. I hope others are able to enjoy it! I've just seen way too many quality Thai actors to be patient with this.

I mean, honestly at this point, it isn't about intimacy so much as just a cultural gesture of love. Think of it like butterfly kisses, nuzzling, or blowing raspberries (on a baby/kid) in American culture. These days, I see actors doing either or pretty freely.

Okay like 2 million years late for this (or 2 years lol), but it probably says that because it's a direct translation. In Thai, that's their saying for "falling for someone".

Wait, but promoted as a BL by whom? GMMTV? Because I didn't see them calling this Y (BL) specifically, but I might've missed it.

And even if it is Y/BL, you can rant about anything you like, but just because it's BL does not mean it has to have a happy ending with the characters together, unfortunately.

That's Phillip, friend. Eric is The Little Mermaid's Prince! (in the Disney movies, at least)

Nadech can absolutely act, but I do agree that the mastery and subtlety to match a powerhouse like Ken is hard to come by. The younger actors that come to mind who I think could come close are Mark, Push, or Mario. They're all quite good at eliciting empathy even when doing terrible things and going from negative 3 to 11 at the drop of the hat, which is what is required to really bring Kawee to life.

No, it's still 22. You just choose which 22 you want to watch. The beginning of the eps are the same, it's just the latter half that is totally different. If you go to the subbers site, you'll see that the alternate (or as I call it ONLY REAL ending lol) is right after the original ending. I DO NOT recommend watching the original ending at all. It's just super unsatisfying and unfair. Only watch it if you enjoy tragedy and disappointment!

Oh yeah, I do think you're right. They've added her now though, yay!

There's this weird thing men do where they love and emotionally support each other without it being sexual or romantic. It's called friendship, I know, shocker.

Man, I don't see Benz Monchanok anywhere on MDL so I (or anyone) can add her to the cast. That's a shame. She's doing a great job as Ran!

Hold up, I specifically said a strong male same-sex AKA BL/Y relationship for a reason. BL is a literal genre. If you want variation in loving relationships, AWESOME, but BL is only one variation, and at this point it isn't remotely rare in GMM works. BL is its own genre.

People aren't complaining about the lack of lgbtqia+ characters and their romances, they're complaining specifically about their unfulfilled BL fantasies. THAT'S why I have a problem with it.

Look a couple comments below this for a spoiler marking. Hanadya posted the link. It's the same place the original subs by neko were done! Please make sure to leave her a nice thank you for all her hard work!

I did, and...now I don't see it??? Maybe it hasn't been approved or got buried lol.

Anyway, agree! I got anxious about how the story was going and dropped it to wait for it to end, lol, so I fortunately never saw the original after I read comments about it and was so heart broken! I was really impressed with the redo though. That was like 20 minutes of new material! I thought they'd just tack on a little epilogue to reverse things, but nope! And all that ending skinship! A little contrived to get there, but well worth it. So happy the Thai people complained as much as us international fans and got us a real resolution for our beloved couple <3

Okay, so I LOVE THIS DRAMA NOW. Was the solution for the alternate ending a bit contrived? Sure, they had to do it to work around things and still have the resolution between Risa and Gaet, but WOW I did not expect nearly 20 minutes of new material! Pong really got to have some closure and they even discussed the age dynamics, the fact that Gaet would be Risa's mother-in-law now, lol, and TONS of adorable skinship in that last scene! Now I feel like it's mostly a well-rounded drama where characters get mostly what they deserve. (Gaet should be in jail though lol). Either way, I'm happy the Thai viewers saw how unfair and prejudicial the writing was at the end, and the channel decided to give us better. It is absolutely worth the watch! Nune is always amazing, and I am so stoked for Joss and how he gets more roles in the future!

If you haven't watched this drama yet, just watch the alternate ending! DON'T bother with the original one that I will forever consider super fake lol. More below!