Skye

Saaaaamesies. The first two episodes were mildly interesting, but took me over a month to finish the last two—like two minutes ago. Even the dudes shirtlessly smooching barely held my attention. I feel slightly bad because the production company tried to do something different. Just not my cup of tea in that format.

I understand Fah and Tle to be a couple who are both cheating on each other for reasons not yet completely explained.

Also, I'm not getting the vibe that Prince and Sher have ever been a thing, but we're only two episodes in.

I thought it was pretty well communicated that not only does Prince get slightly irritated at Sherbet for constantly making people misunderstand their relationship, but also Sherbet is heavily commitment-adverse. Have people really been questioning this?

"I think the strength of this show (and why I kept coming back) is because Prab’s love comes off as very genuine. The slow build-up of their relationship over the episodes as people who really care about each other as people before anything else is really effective. It’s just kind of pleasant and sweet watching Prab care for Chol each episode with genuine love. I loved that Prab genuinely helps Chol work through his feelings and deal with situations in a positive and mature way throughout the show. No manipulation, no toxicity- their relationship is built on such a positive foundation."

I've been trying to figure out why I liked this show so much considering all of the flaws/cons, and I do believe you've hit the nail on the head here! 👏👏👏👏👏

I haven't seen either of those movies, but I fully agree about Western male emotional toxicity, and that isn't even contained to the big or small screens. I unfortunately see it in real life as well on the reg. It's really amazing the behaviors some people still think are okay.

Also, I think I might be using this conversation to psychoanalyze why the end of that bed scene bothered me so much compared to way more intense stuff like TharnType or Sei no Gekiyaku. Regardless, I have appreciated your responses.

I think part of my issue is how these scene would be viewed if it were het and set in a Western country. A dude pushing a chick onto a bed after she protests to being kissed on the ear and then telling her to stop playing hard to get while she says no and struggles to escape from under him? That dude would be the villain of the story. Again, it's probably a cultural difference, or even perhaps a translation issue, but I definitely cringed at the end, lol. Which is kinda crazy since Type's homophobic rants were what made me cringe while watching TT, not the dubcon.

You are certainly correct that many BLs are starting to change course and I'm excited to follow along!

Rain, the 80s/90s called and they want their hairstyle back. LOL

Did all of the budget go toward Phayu's sweet 'do? Poor Rain really got the short end of the stick there.

Oh, Don't Say No. So much wasted potential. I hope those two actors do another series together because they were so adorbs (except for the repetitive, oddly clinical sex scenes, lol!)

"I'm more pissed by those bottoms playing hard to get. It's not cute, it's childish. Rain seems to be pretty dumb. It's just not fun if two characters are on a different level."

This. Drives me crazy and not in a good way. Not saying Rain was necessarily going that route in the first episode, but their dynamic makes me think it could happen after the initial consensual kiss/coupling/what have you.

The playing hard to get trope involving a character saying no while the other character essentially says yes with their lips and hands is still something I have a hard time wrapping my brain around. It's one thing for the aggressor to wear the pursued down with sexiness, but when one party is actively saying no, stop, I don't want this... Ehhhhh, I just don't get the trope at all or how any character could find such a reaction sexually incentivizing unless it's an agreed upon roleplay. And I'm totally not picking on Mame as this seems like a fairly popular trope, particularly in written BLs.

As for dubcon itself, I'm fine with it as long as both parties seem to be enjoying themselves in the moment. That's the kicker for me. Heck, the step-brothers were my favorite couple in HIStory 4. I think I even barely blinked at Tharn's actions.

And I was into the bed scene in Love in the Air, until the last bit when Rain started squirming and looking uncomfortable at the hand under his shirt. I fully agree that Payu, and most BL series characters in general, as protagonists, are not truly rapey. We also know that Rain is attracted to Payu, otherwise he wouldn't have been gushing over the hot biker guy and staring at him (and presumably sexing him up down the road). Not sure I would label his actions as throwing himself at Payu, lol, but unconsciously flirty? Definitely.

But even so, watching a character be physically uncomfortable being touched by the other and struggling to break free crosses into cringe territory for me.

Glad you find the series palatable! I'm waiting for the entire thing to air before I just speed my way though the last few episodes. 😁

Picked this up again after putting the series on hold at episode 7 a few months ago, and just finished it out. Aye from The Eclipse has had me doing a doubletake, so I wanted to (again) see him in earlier stuff. Unfortunately, CYMB really missed the mark for me. I loved, LOVED Make It Right, even the second season (but not the beach special, haha!). Throw SOTUS and the TinCan part of Love by Chance into my positive pot as well.

Parents bullying their children with no immediate consequences to themselves is one of my pet trope peeves. I know East is very different from West in the filial arena, but it's still difficult for me to watch.

Gotta say Green impressed me in this one. Not only did I fail to recognize him at first as the dude from The Tuxedo, but I was blown away by his ability to portray a high schooler at his age.

Right??

As a general rule, I fall in love with (and obsess over) characters, not actors, but the dude who plays Rak makes throwing caution to the wind sound like an excellent idea.

The only IG I couldn’t help but momentarily stalk after almost a year of going down the BL rabbit hole:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CGFJW44nyn6/

You’re welcome. 😜

I meant the pimp-like dude enjoys watching, and maybe Nine is into being watched since he didn't seem to have a problem with the pimp-like dude hanging out while Nine was getting frisky with the boy toy. But, hey, that's just a theory. 😜

Well-said! 👏

I laughed at the ab comment, but then realized that’s not an exaggeration. Literally the only reason I made it to episode 9. 😩

I assumed that the pimp was maybe Nine’s sometimes bedmate who either brought a boytoy along because he likes to watch or is actually a pimp… who likes to watch?

This might be the first BL that I’ve struggled to watch because all of the characters are so unlikeable. Like every single one. If they aren’t just straight up unpleasant, they’re snooze-level boring. I actually stopped watching after the boat scene in ep 9 and haven’t been able to bring myself to return, lol!

If even the sex causes one such as myself to run away, well… there’s very little hope. 😁

Hey, you never know. I’ve found some gems (and some just simply entertaining shows, total personal preference) amongst the wreckage as labeled by MDL comments sections, i.e. Make It Right, Rak Diao, Secret Crush on You, Brothers.

Sadly, this is not one of those diamonds in the rough for me. Still debating whether to continue on from the middle of ep 9 just to see it through.

Just finished seasons 1 & 2 back-to-back, and I'm so confused who thought the second season's writing was good enough to plop on-screen. The dialogue was so stiff that the actors seemed to cringe along with me as they spoke. Half the time, it felt like I was watching wooden dolls waiting for their cues. And I know the issue was not with the actors.

As much as I appreciate what the story was trying to say, most of the script just ended up being an incredibly preachy, jumbled, tear-filled mess with an annoying ending. Plus, why would a BL feature an extended straight/het pre-sex scene with one of the main dudes as a participant?? I understand the context of the scene for their relationship, but the length was unnecessary just to convince us viewers of jealousy abounding.

Final complaint because there are too many of lesser priority status to list:

They managed to film both seasons without the leads once kissing on-screen. To clarify, I mean on the lips. There's plenty of neck, shoulder, forehead, and nose kissing, but not ever visibly on the lips. Change my mind.