I've been obsessing: Phob never did answer Nut's question as to what stage his cancer is in, he said something…
The lamest BL resurrection I can think of is MY BROMANCE 2, with We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 22nd or whatever the hell it was a distant second. It's hard to out-do faking your death for five years and then showing up like it's all good. lol
I've been obsessing: Phob never did answer Nut's question as to what stage his cancer is in, he said something like "what I do know is I can take good care of myself. " Yeah, uh-huh. When Nut asked what kind of cancer it was, was it Osteosarcoma? Nut replied "umm." Well, that's specific. He never said WHERE he was going to be treated, nor where he HAD been treated, I believe. So what's up with all this vagueness regarding an extremely serious and potentially deadly situation? I also find it odd that both parents died LAST YEAR but he didn't say how and Nut didn't ask, which was lame writing. Phob never explained why or how having cancer, even if it was all four years, would prevent you from contacting your dear friend.
So...WHAT IF...there is no cancer at all and it's some kind of bizarre cover story for something else entirely. Don't ask me what; I have no idea. And Phob is being vague because he doesn't want Nut knowing where to do some research to find out if the story is true or not? The parents are still alive but he doesn't want Nut contacting them. Regarding Pat, why was she in touch with Phob but not Nut? And since when is it OK, except in BL Land, to answer other people's phones without their permission? Is this something young people do. Nut DID immediately tell the guy that it was him and not Phob, but still...from Phob's perspective, if you're trying to cove rup a fake terminal illness, you might think about keeping your phone in your pocket at all times.
By the way, I had an awesome flip-phone in 2002 also. :)
On the other hand, if Phob DOES have cancer, it is exceedingly lame to show up after years, just to let your beloved friend fall in love with you again and then, you know, die. Bone cancer is a nasty one, not one you can just throw a little chemo at and call it a day. This plot could still get really, really good if it takes unforeseen turns, but so far it doesn't feel nearly creative enough to do that. I have enjoyed more the way the story is being told than the story itself. So far the script is relying on too many BL weak spots like people not being curious enough about very curious things, and being way too eager to take back someone who has disappeared without a trace and then shows up again. Why/how could you ever trust them again? Nut is already a nervous wreck every time he wakes up if Phob isn't right next to him. If I were him and I still didn't have some answers, I'd hand-cuff the guy to me.
It was okay that the complete episode focused on Phob and Nut, but unfortunately it felt like two different persons…
I would definitely demand an answer, that's for sure. But I actually bought that at least for this first night reunited, Nut was so happy to see Phob and so full of feeling and love and affection and joy to be held in his arms again, that he didn't dare push too hard, things TO HIM felt too delicate, as if if he insisted on an answer Phob might dissolve before his eyes. I think the beach scene is where he would have insisted on an answer, but the dumb script, with that bottom-boy, post-coital shy/coy/prude thing going on, kept him dodging sex remarks from Phob.
A small thing that isn't really a small thing: With lighting design we are right back to elementary-level BL here, where every room is lit up like a supermarket, even at night. Apparently everyone in Thailand has like, 35 recessed light bulbs in the ceilings of their bedrooms. And then they also leave on the lamp on the bedside table. In ITSAY and IPYTM both the lighting design was so much more realistic and dramatic, especially in night-time scenes. The result was a show with a lot more emotional depth lent by the way things were lit to emphasize the action. In this episode, the Phob/Nut bed scene, where once again poor Nut was doing all the talking, would have been SO much more effective if we saw them laying in each other's arms in dim light that emphasized the edges of their faces and bodies; enough to let us know how they were positioned, but not a whole lot more than that. I've seen pillow-talk scene where you could just make out the contours of the faces and the light reflected in their eyes, and it is incredibly moving.
This is a really good series so far. I'm just going to mention the positives for the time being, because I do…
Love your comment. I'd like to add that yeah, I worry that anytime we get the introduction of the "BIG C" in a plot we know where we're headed and it's not to the malt shop. Agree with that. Not sure why, but I have the feeling that we WILL learn why Phob disappeared for four years without a trace, as part of the overall developing plot, but...what I don't like are scenes like we had here with Nut pouring his heart out to Phob once they were back at his house, asking first tentatively and then more directly where in the hell were you and why didn't you contact me, and from Phob we get...NOTHING. And then Nut lets it go and keeps yammering. I would have been like "Ummm...I just asked you a question. What's the answer?" Instead Phob remains silent and maybe raises his eyebrows and looks empathetic and concerned, but that's it. It's not the way people talk or act. The questions Nut asked, and actually I was surprised to hear them so explicitly stated, were once again never answered. Another way in which this show veered back into lesser BL territory.
It annoys the hell out of me when BL characters agree to meet on the phone, but never say WHEN, what time? Or they'll say "I'll pick you up, bye." Well....OK, WHERE and WHAT TIME? Nobody ever says. They just hang up. Or people are asked direct questions and they don't get any kind of an answer...and the dialogue continues from there. wtf?
The parcing for me was better in this episode. For the record, I think most people don't like the overextended…
Well, here we go again this week...lol. No, not really, actually. :)
This week I agree with you on the overall pace of the episode being too slow, but for me it came from a different source, and this is an old BL bugaboo of mine: long, drawn-out silences between phrases of dialogue from one character to the other that don't feel organic, or like the character is pondering what to say; to me it sounds almost as if they are struggling to remember their lines. lol It's an old, horrible BL cliche that I have whined about many times in lesser shows, so I'm really sad to have to say it about this one. I don't mind visual pans that don't seem to have a distinct purpose I guess, as I don't remember noticing that during this episode. What I DO remember is looooooong, slow dialogue in which the pacing is deadly and it goes on forever. People talk in fits and starts most of the time. The endlessly slow dialogue is highly unrealistic.
Totally agree on the lack of a different feeling between the two of them the morning/day after they did they deed. Each time Phob referred to it I thought "well, maybe it was handjobs instead of a full-out, butt-banger so they're not as self-conscious as they would be otherwise. lol I really like the way you described the rest of what was lacking from their physical interaction the next day. I felt I was over in some other, much lesser BL again, as I did with the slow dialogue, where as soon as the couple does the nasty the "bottom" suddenly becomes shy and prudish, coquettish and coy about anything physical or sexual, recoiling with blushes and changing the topic at the mention of what went down the night before, let alone the idea of doing it again and again.
And you're right: One of my most-detested BL tropes: Lovers who apparently get up during the night after making love and put all their clothes back on. It's bad enough when they put their undies on again, which I will shamelessly say I've never seen be the case in real life, but they put on undies, shorts, shirts, sometimes sweaters. I'm ASSUMING from the number of times Phob mentioned it, that the nights lovemaking was not confined to delicate kisses, but you wouldn't know it from their attire in the morning, which there shouldn't be any of. :) I miss MAKE IT RIGHT, where the lead woke up in the morning and the first thing he said was "my butt hurts." lol "Was that fourth time really necessary? I can hardly walk," would have worked well in this case I think.
I bought the delicate kiss they shared in bed because I assumed afterward, after we were panned out of the room, things got heated, but yeah, I think we should have been shown some of that. This is the first episode in which I've thought perhaps Mean cast the leads a little too toward the young side, given the years-long period this series will cover, and the fact that they still feel like high school kids to me rather than Doctorate-level age young men.
BTW, I watched History: Obsessed yesterday for a second time. Low-budget for sure, but man, those two leads had everything in the way of chemistry, heat and passion that we are missing here.
lol You don't feel like answering because you don't have a leg to stand on and you know it. One and a half paragraphs is a "rant?" I see. Go get your Disney Channel subscription and leave the BL to those of us not-quite-so-delicate souls.
"...we're getting rid of the sexual assault trope that dominated the early titles." Who's "we?" Do you see sexual assault in this series? Why should sexual assault be gotten "rid of" any more than the murder, robbery, kidnapping, rudeness, blackmail, extortion, adultery, conspiracy, money laundering, gambling, addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, and a hundred other "tropes" we see in series and films across the board, gay, straight or otherwise? All of those "tropes" are also time-honored plot devices used to tell thousands and thousands of stories in fictional drama for centuries. Do you want them all gotten "rid of" from plays, musicals, books, poetry and art as well?
Do you feel compelled to repeat in your own life the actions of fictional characters in BLs or gay films or is it just the sexual assault that gets your attention?
thank you for that comment now i know im not gonna watch it, you saved my time
THANK YOU so much for this comment. All the SJWs here who watch BLs for their legal and moral instructions on life LOVE to spit and spew in comments about good, dramatic, passionate, dark/light shows like this. The only reason I can think of that these people watch BL is because they secretly get off on the things they pretend to be "offended" by.
So, these two actors have one of the best chemistry in a BL I've seen (and I've seen quite a lot o.o), so... can't…
The obsession is what made the story...and made it real and passionate and full of powerful emotions. Sometimes people ARE obsessed by others and it can end in a lot of ways. This one ended well. I love it.
So...WHAT IF...there is no cancer at all and it's some kind of bizarre cover story for something else entirely. Don't ask me what; I have no idea. And Phob is being vague because he doesn't want Nut knowing where to do some research to find out if the story is true or not? The parents are still alive but he doesn't want Nut contacting them. Regarding Pat, why was she in touch with Phob but not Nut? And since when is it OK, except in BL Land, to answer other people's phones without their permission? Is this something young people do. Nut DID immediately tell the guy that it was him and not Phob, but still...from Phob's perspective, if you're trying to cove rup a fake terminal illness, you might think about keeping your phone in your pocket at all times.
By the way, I had an awesome flip-phone in 2002 also. :)
On the other hand, if Phob DOES have cancer, it is exceedingly lame to show up after years, just to let your beloved friend fall in love with you again and then, you know, die. Bone cancer is a nasty one, not one you can just throw a little chemo at and call it a day. This plot could still get really, really good if it takes unforeseen turns, but so far it doesn't feel nearly creative enough to do that. I have enjoyed more the way the story is being told than the story itself. So far the script is relying on too many BL weak spots like people not being curious enough about very curious things, and being way too eager to take back someone who has disappeared without a trace and then shows up again. Why/how could you ever trust them again? Nut is already a nervous wreck every time he wakes up if Phob isn't right next to him. If I were him and I still didn't have some answers, I'd hand-cuff the guy to me.
It annoys the hell out of me when BL characters agree to meet on the phone, but never say WHEN, what time? Or they'll say "I'll pick you up, bye." Well....OK, WHERE and WHAT TIME? Nobody ever says. They just hang up. Or people are asked direct questions and they don't get any kind of an answer...and the dialogue continues from there. wtf?
This week I agree with you on the overall pace of the episode being too slow, but for me it came from a different source, and this is an old BL bugaboo of mine: long, drawn-out silences between phrases of dialogue from one character to the other that don't feel organic, or like the character is pondering what to say; to me it sounds almost as if they are struggling to remember their lines. lol It's an old, horrible BL cliche that I have whined about many times in lesser shows, so I'm really sad to have to say it about this one. I don't mind visual pans that don't seem to have a distinct purpose I guess, as I don't remember noticing that during this episode. What I DO remember is looooooong, slow dialogue in which the pacing is deadly and it goes on forever. People talk in fits and starts most of the time. The endlessly slow dialogue is highly unrealistic.
Totally agree on the lack of a different feeling between the two of them the morning/day after they did they deed. Each time Phob referred to it I thought "well, maybe it was handjobs instead of a full-out, butt-banger so they're not as self-conscious as they would be otherwise. lol I really like the way you described the rest of what was lacking from their physical interaction the next day. I felt I was over in some other, much lesser BL again, as I did with the slow dialogue, where as soon as the couple does the nasty the "bottom" suddenly becomes shy and prudish, coquettish and coy about anything physical or sexual, recoiling with blushes and changing the topic at the mention of what went down the night before, let alone the idea of doing it again and again.
And you're right: One of my most-detested BL tropes: Lovers who apparently get up during the night after making love and put all their clothes back on. It's bad enough when they put their undies on again, which I will shamelessly say I've never seen be the case in real life, but they put on undies, shorts, shirts, sometimes sweaters. I'm ASSUMING from the number of times Phob mentioned it, that the nights lovemaking was not confined to delicate kisses, but you wouldn't know it from their attire in the morning, which there shouldn't be any of. :) I miss MAKE IT RIGHT, where the lead woke up in the morning and the first thing he said was "my butt hurts." lol "Was that fourth time really necessary? I can hardly walk," would have worked well in this case I think.
I bought the delicate kiss they shared in bed because I assumed afterward, after we were panned out of the room, things got heated, but yeah, I think we should have been shown some of that. This is the first episode in which I've thought perhaps Mean cast the leads a little too toward the young side, given the years-long period this series will cover, and the fact that they still feel like high school kids to me rather than Doctorate-level age young men.
BTW, I watched History: Obsessed yesterday for a second time. Low-budget for sure, but man, those two leads had everything in the way of chemistry, heat and passion that we are missing here.
Do you feel compelled to repeat in your own life the actions of fictional characters in BLs or gay films or is it just the sexual assault that gets your attention?