Italophilia

No, ML and FL are not related by blood.

The trailer is intriguing, different from the previous adaptations. I'm looking forwarding to watching this show.

End of ep 4 broke me a little. I got all choked up. I mean, 2 years later and he's still preparing two servings of the meal, still sad, still reminded of Joe, still living at their place just waiting.

I think he was doing that to put a barrier between them and deny his own attraction to her. But she keeps proving to him that she's far from a little kid with her actions, maturity, creativity, responsibility.

If you mean my communication with my spouse, it was our therapist. She taught us how to effectively listen to each other, how the Golden Rule doesn't really work for us, how there's such a thing as the Platinum Rule: to treat others how they wish to be treated. It required us to pay better attention to our differences and preferences and respect those in each other. Together 35 years, married 30 years.

Best Choice Ever, Missing Crown Prince, Lovely Runner

I was thinking the same.

Because she's taking care of so many people, she doesn't have the luxury of breaking down and has become very stoic. His job is even worse. He has to become the emperor's dagger, devoid of feelings. I saw their silent tears and felt the sadness in the pit of my stomach.

When will this be available via streaming?

I was busy with other things today. After a while, it also seemed pointless to continue. I didn't think I could anything else to this discourse. Just because I reply to a comment, I don't expect to forever to be beholden to it.

Laws, by themselves, will not be enough to change discrimination. It's a start, but it will be an on-going battle.

"the BL series contribute with their silence."

So is this really your point for being on this thread? Are you trying to dissuade people from watching BL?

I understand, but don't discount that this is the closest they've gotten. It was passed by 400 of 415 of lawmakers present. I think that's huge. Even if the law eventually passes, there was never a claim it's a cure-all. But it's a step in the right direction.

We saw huge changes here in the USA. No, attitudes didn't change overnight. But, the fact that our same-sex couple friends could get married and be protected under the law was a huge relief for them and for us. That both their names could appear on their children's birth certificate and many more legal coverage extended to them eventually became the norm. That was just in June 2015. The state I live in started issuing marriage licenses in 2004, but they were eventually deemed void. These fights often go on for decades, and we celebrate every success. To say that 9 months is too long to wait when success could very well be around the corner, I don't understand that way of thinking. It's not that the work of trying to change people's attitude stops in the intervening 9 months. There will always be closed-minded people, so that work continues.

With regards to your question about this sentence from the article: "It will cement Thailand's reputation as a relative haven for LGBTQ+ couples in a region where such attitudes are rare." It's not LGBTQ+ couples that's rare. It's them have a relative haven that's rare.

They're heading in the right direction.
Thailand moves to legalise same-sex marriage https://bbc.com/news/world-asia-68672318

"when kissing comes as a mandatory fact"
It's not mandatory. There are some very good shows without kissing. You can have romance and great chemistry even without kissing. Some examples off the top of my head:
- A Tale of Thousand Stars
- The Untamed
- Word of Honor
- Stay with Me

After the break-up, there was a bleep on Gao's sports band at midnight, so I think something happened between them. He soon followed Chen to England.

"Bonus points for the under the radar BL couple" I was thinking exactly this. Glad I'm not the only that thought it.

Episode 6 is when it turned around for me. From that point on, this drama became my fastest binge-watch: 56 episodes in 5 days. I liked that the characters were flawed; they weren't purely good or purely evil so they became interesting and less predictable.

Here's a comment I made a while ago in reply to someone's rant about Yuan Yi:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/162ixl0/comment/jxyiwte/

Doesn't really bother me. IRL, I have met so many couples with even a 14-15year gap, including my Dad and stepmother. There are more important things than age, like compatibility, core values, maturity. As long as one isn't a minor (under age 18), I'm not generally bothered by age gap.

20-21 I think. She said she started college at age 15, add 4 years for undergraduate. She's finishing her Masters and is in 2nd year, add 2 years. So, closer to age 21.

She finds him pitiful so she forgives easily and says things about him don't bother her. Personally, they would bother me but I'm not her. But I hear you. It's likely why I can't rate this show higher. This usually brave, confident woman loses her confidence and sense of self when dealing with him. I realize she's very empathetic towards him and this is what he needs, but I don't like how it has changed her. I'm on episode 38, and they're just starting to communicate better. I really shouldn't judge. It took many years before my spouse and I could communicate well.