I get why it might feel odd at first, we’re conditioned to connect actors to their off screen identities. An…
We are marginalised, and through most of my life queer actors have had to stay closeted to get any kind of role, so yes, I take issue with casting non-queers in queer roles, generally. An actor like Taecyeon being cast as queer is understandable though. He’s a really extraordinary character actor. When an actor can bring something really exceptional to a role it’s time to reserve judgement of a casting until you’ve seen the performance. If he phones in his performance, or can’t play queer convincingly, then I’ll admit I’m wrong, but I really don’t think he will. It’s the mediocre straight actors playing queer roles that really are homophobic, given the queer talent available to producers. I wrote an article about this a few weeks ago:
I wonder if Minato would have indulged if Shizuma hadn't shown up. No one wants to be the parent in the relationship.
I feel like he’s lived in a spiral for a while, and wouldn’t stop on his own. Eventually he’ll get worked over so badly he’ll end up irreparable. Right now he’s clearly tempted to accept his own lovability, but keeps self-sabotaging when his faith in Shizuma wavers. It’s so frustrating to watch. I’m similar, but I sabotage things much earlier, before it’s going to really hurt anyone, and I don’t endanger myself the way Minato does. Abuse has made me self-isolate, but not taken away my sense of self-preservation. Minato’s situation when Shizuma turned up after the calf delivery was headed towards major damage. My knee-jerk reaction to that is really strong. If he ends up getting wrecked by creeps like those he was drinking with I won’t be able to watch this. I need for Shizuma to win in the next episode, and pull Minato out of his pit.
It’s gone from a healthy arc of emotional repair to a total nosedive. Minato is the walking example of self-sabotage, despite having found a total green flag. I just want to kick him in the shins.
How is it Jack's fault that his annoying fans invaded the place unannounced and uninvited?
It’s not his fault. It’s his responsibility. They aren’t the same thing. He has to take the blame because his insisting on being there is why it happened. He and his management are responsible for any problems stemming from that. It’s a liability that comes from inserting yourself into the running of someone else’s business. His management would have liability insurance to cover financial fallout, but the good will is what he’s had to fix personally, in order for his contract with them to go smoothly.
yeah, I'm leaning towards it's a dramaland thing :)
It felt symbolic to me, as though he’s the rockstar of Likay. It felt like the director wants us to see that he outranks Jack. The negotiations with Ja, and Ja’s annoyance at Jack’s upstart behaviour built on that. I think it’s important to render Ja as the established star, and Jack as the rising star, right from the start for some reason.
please repost this with the spoiler tag so that people don't get unwanted spoilers 💗💗
Splitting hairs. I was really careful with discussing book stuff only under spoiler tags for Khemjira, and a good thing too, as everything I ended up talking about showed up in the show. Please add spoiler tags.
Zaleng is so pretty it’s distracting. I love that his brother is a Likay artist. I’m reserving judgement on the drama, but I like the likay context. It’s a lesson in Thai culture, which makes it worth watching for now.
I have a feeling about how this might play out. I’m really enjoying it, but I’m not sure if it’s on that basis, or for what I’m actually seeing. Either way, the writing and acting a more naturalistic than a lot of Japanese romances I’ve watched so far, and I’m loving that. There are fewer of the !!! moments where characters get all shouty and overreactive, which I’ve come to expect. Up until a few years ago I watched Japanese film, but not TV, and even then only their samurai and gangster films, so the cutesiness and stylised nature of TV romances is something I’ve had trouble with. This is more my speed. It feels more real, despite being in a SF/fantasy context.
So are you saying he is not a good actor for this role he is portraying.I just want to know because I have not…
Since this is not made in China I’m excepting it from my mainland boycott, and it’s a ride. you need to be able to take on board the humour, because it’s quite dark. For a debut it’s a stonkingly intense role, but he’s pretty fabulous in it. The character is a sociopathic one, as well as a very broken one, and he grasps it with both hands. He’s a walking red flag and drops triggers for the first few episodes at least, but check it out at some point. If you’re boycotting Chinese dramas in a blanket way, save it for another time. If you’re okay with Chinese series off the mainland, make it sooner. It’s like watching a very beautiful, slow motion demolition job.
https://0.nz/2025/11/24/queerly-played/
This is my current comfort watch. I’ll re-binge it in the future.