FreshKicks

So much love for this series elsewhere but on here everyone’s so salty lol

It’s in Thai for me too. So relieved! I’m thinking I should probably delete my comment about the subs now since it was a false alarm.

Amen to that!

I agree with so much of your comment! Although I do think Soo Ah was essential to the series. She is one of the best villains in any series I've seen, and I was disappointed when they gave her a gimmicky "redemption" plot at the end. Like you, I don't think she deserved redemption, and the way Kyung Sok kept giving her the brush-off was so enjoyable. (One of my favorite moments is when Kyung Sok says to her, 'Congratulations. I never thought I could hate someone this much.' He looked so menacing!) I think it would have been truer to the Soo Ah character if she'd just ended up transferring to another university and started over with her plotting and scheming. Her sudden contrition just didn't ring true.

As for Mei Rei, the core theme of the series is about her coming into her own after years of self-loathing and rejection. To her, getting attention from Soo Ah and being accepted by her other schoolmates required overcoming a lifetime of being judged negatively. I think she had suspicions about Soo Ah early on but talked herself into thinking differently, either out of a lack of confidence or a wish to maintain ties to a person who is naturally beautiful.

I *really* appreciate what you say about the Yoo Eun character. I loved her -- her beautiful smile, the way she always supported Mei Rei, and her friendship with Jung Boon. (One of my favorite moments with her is early in the series, when Kyung Sok drinks the shots on Mei Rei's behalf during the 'impressions' drinking game. Jung Boon whispers to Eun, 'There really must be something between them!' and Eun smiles and whispers back, 'I know, right?' I'm sure that moment passed unnoticed by a lot of people but my immediate thought was how much I'd love having a friend like her.)

I too wish she'd had more screen time.

I've seen a few comments here about Lin Yi's acting being "stiff". Similar criticism was leveled at Cha Eun Woo for his performance in "My ID Is Gangnam Beauty".

In this series Lin Yi is playing a character with a particular set of personality traits. As an actor he didn't just show up on set one day and decide that he'd perform this character a certain way. Rather, what we see on-screen is the result of collaboration between him, his costars and the director. They likely workshopped the scenes for weeks before filming.

The world does contain asocial, emotionally distant people, and I enjoy the dramas that include such characters. I think that too often, audiences perceive only flamboyant, overtly emotional performances as "Acting" with a capital A. Creating a character who is reserved and conveys emotion in more subtle ways, and who undergoes a transformation over the course of a series, is difficult. It might just look easy because we relate more to the characters who emote more conventionally.

Your answers to 1 through 3 have to be right. It seems so clear now! >__<

I guess I was too used to there being no continuity between episodes. I didn't even consider that these scenes took place very shortly after the end of the previous episode. Nice catch.

Ah, I just looked again myself and I see it was clipped to his jacket. I'll make the correction.

The reason I know that the old Yu Huai is on a comeback at the end of the series: he shaved before going to meet Geng Geng in the Late Autumn Highlands. :)

Also, that ear to ear grin kinda says it all.

No. I'd say it's hopefully happy.

Questions and Comments on Episode 5 (or 9 & 10) ....

1. That opening scene with XYG in the classroom -- I assume he is waiting for Hao-ting to walk him home?

2. A little later, when Hao-ting apologizes to XTG outside the gym, is it because he didn't show up at the classroom? I think that's the reason, but why didn't he show up?

3. Was he upset for the same reason that he didn't show up? We never find out. It's too bad, too, because it was an opportunity for his character to show some vulnerability and depth.

4. As Hao-ting's friend comes running into the classroom to say that XYG has been summoned before the school master, when he pauses to catch his breath - that was pretty corny acting. (But I'm fascinated by how in Asian countries schools can discipline students for behavior outside of school hours and off school grounds.)

5. I guess the way to say "gay bar" in Chinese is "gay bar". :)

6. When the guys say "gay bar" so loudly, the other students in the classroom don't react at all. Maybe they haven't learned that term in English class yet? :)

6. Speaking of which - the guy who faked the photo - before that confrontation scene I thought that character was gay.

7. Hao-ting looks damn sexy in a sleeveless shirt or track suit.

8. The way XYG ate that apple slice ... so appreciative and tender, and nicely contrasted with Hao-ting just popping the whole thing into his mouth.

9. What was XYG's Christmas gift in the pyramid-shaped box?

10. The "Love Love Love" streamer clipped to Hao-ting's jacket sleeve - I really love that. :) I need to go back to earlier episodes and see if that was its first appearance.

11. I'm also curious to see Sun's chest tattoo. It looks pretty big.

12. Although I have to admit that Couple #2 is less and less interesting to me.

13. My favorite moment was when Hao-ting showed up at XYG's apartment to bring him breakfast. That hug hello was everything.

I think Trapped and Obsessed might get an R rating but I think PG-13 is more likely.

If a movie doesn't show anyone's naughty bits and keeps the swearing under control, it gets a PG-13. If they show any naughty bits, including women's bare breasts, then it gets slapped with an R.

For NC-17 the movie has to border on porn, like the one where Shia LaBeouf is shown naked and hard. NC-17 is rarely used, probably because standards have loosened so much but also because filmmakers avoid getting it. They don't want to limit the audience for their films so radically. (They also try to avoid R ratings so that teens are allowed to buy tickets.)

I've always assumed they do, otherwise it wouldn't be true to the theme of the anthology. Plus, why go through all that angst if it isn't for the high stakes of love.

BL series just love to work the "stepbrother" trope but one thing I've noticed in the dramas I've seen that feature it, the stepbrothers rarely kiss romantically. So, my theory is that the stepbrother theme is a tease intended as a riff on actual brothers getting together and, given that, the writers think that physical intimacy on-screen would be going too far.

So, in 'Stay Away From Me' the kiss that happens between the stepbrothers is one-sided rather than mutual, and rebuffed by the recipient. Later when they've both admitted to romantic feelings (romance is only a subtext, I guess) no kiss occurs.

And doesn't it feel awkward that there isn't one? In any other drama a kiss would seem to be a requirement, almost instinctual. So I think the stepbrother theme causes everyone to hold back.

I liked how he was able to defend LZG against XHT's attacks but then let LZG know that he was out of line too. He didn't play favorites, he expressed what he felt about how both guys were behaving.

Great analysis. I'm with you on the lack of continuity and resolution, especially between episodes. Like, when Hao Ting says that he's been studying with Xi Gu ... makes me wonder if the days are passing quickly but we're not being properly shown that by the writer and director.

I was happy that Hao Ting actually spoke of apologizing for what he did to Xi Gu in making him miss the exam, but we still don't know the impact on Xi Gu's hopes for a scholarship.

Like you I was struck by the contrast between the nice things that Hao Ting's sister said about his character and how cold he was in the breakup scene. It's okay to break up with somebody and still have compassion for them, no matter how superficial or strained the relationship might have become in the end.

I'm feeling less and less invested in the second couple. I think in another series I'd be more into them but the stakes with the primary couple are so high that when the story goes to the other guys I feel impatient.

Still, I do love the show and it's my #1 follow right now.

I'm loving it too, all quibbles aside.

One good thing about the couples getting together earlier in the series is we'll get more kisses and fluff. Thanks for finding that!

Please upload!

I think Xi De is the twin who is attracted to Yu Xi Gu. (Just noticed that both he and his brother use their real names as the names of their characters...)

It's fun to speculate about what's going to happen there.

Xi De was clearly taken aback and displeased to see Yu Xi Gu leave with Hao Ting to eat lunch. (I loved the shock and drama when Hao Ting walked boldly into the classroom, and how he was even going to stay there to eat with Yu Xi Gu, if Yu Xi Gu hadn't run away in embarrassment. Hao Ting is not afraid to show where his affections lie even if they're with another boy.)

While it's possible Xi De would try to interfere somehow and break up the new couple, I think it's more likely that his loyalty to his friends will win out and what we'll see is him avoiding the gang entirely, just as he did during the latter part of this week's episode. He won't make a fuss, but for the sake of his own feelings he'll decide not to be constantly confronted with everything that's happening. They will take notice and someone (maybe his brother) will go to him about it.

One thing that disappoints me about with the longer "double episodes" is that when a new one starts they don't resolve the cliffhanger from the previous one.

For example, after Hao Ting made a scene at the bar and pulled Yu Xi Gu outside, I was really interested to see how he'd respond after Yu Xi Gu dropped to his knees to beg him to stop interfering in his life. At the start of the next episode we don't get any of that, though. Instead we see the scene with Hao Ting's sister.

Similarly, after Sun phones Lu Zhi Gang in the car, demanding that he get out, LZG actually does get out(!), presumably so that Sun can catch up to where he's standing, but we never get to see what happened there.

Right. With LZG, SBX started out as infatuated, not in love, but he's too inexperienced to know the difference. It's interesting to put him with someone who's become jaded due to love that went wrong.

I suspect that LZG will become more nurturing and affectionate toward SBX as the series advances. He'll come out of his shell in a similar way to YXG coming out of his.