PoetryInMotion

Look, I'm not trying to argue with you, because I'm genuinely emotionally exhausted. But maybe you should go back and read people's comments again. These issues have been discussed with a great deal of nuance ever since the start of the show. Some of the generalisations you're making here, and the sweeping conclusions about the people commenting you draw from them, are really unfair.

In the first scene of EP1, it's Tae Kyung wearing the bracelet! So I think Da On gives it back to him at some point, but Tae Kyung doesn't attempt to pass it on to anyone else. I feel like the item that's significant to Shin Woo's storyline is the keychain.

EP9 had two of my favourite scenes so far, one being Namgoong's impromptu rooftop therapy session, the other the conversation between Da On and Shin Woo.
I adore Shin Woo. He has such trouble expressing his own feelings, yet such empathy for others, and a quiet selflessness. It's one thing to be kind where people will see and appreciate it, but quite another when you know your efforts will go unrecognised, especially when you're sacrificing something. My heart breaks for him.
At this point, I can't even muster up the energy to be angry at Da On anymore. I'm just exhausted and so, so disappointed. Not one, but two people bared their souls to him this episode. Shin Woo in an act of pure selfless friendship, Tae Kyung with one of the most touching, simple yet heartfelt confessions I think I have ever seen. And Da On can't match their energy ONE. BIT. He's been putting on his act for so long that he's a shell of a person at this point. He has zero access to deep, authentic emotion. There's no way he could have left like that if he did. I had my worries about him, but this, while less cataclysmic than what I imagined, is somehow worse. He's empty, and it makes ME feel empty watching him.

This! I'm a bit scared of how Da On might act in the upcoming episodes. I have my issues with him, but I can still sympathise with him and root for him so far. But depending on how he handles Tae Kyung's feelings, that might change. Especially because he knows he is Tae Kyung's first friend, and how important that is to him.

Yeah...I'm disappointed, but not surprised. It's always the way that female characters in BL (and anywhere, really) need to be perfect little angels to get even a fraction of the appreciation and understanding that male characters receive, and even then I've noticed that the praise comes overwhelmingly from specifically queer women.

So Hee has her flaws, she's possessive and overbearing and rude, yet in this comment section her greatest crime seems to boil down to wanting a relationship with Da On. The concept that you can't make anyone love you no matter how hard you try is one that even some adults struggle with, yet this teenage girl, who's likely going through this song and dance for the first time, with all her teenage hormones and not-yet-developed coping mechanisms, gets labelled as irredeemably evil for not dealing with it in an ideal way.

In Theory of Love, Third also has an unrequited crush on Khai for 3 years, with even less of a reason to believe that things might work out for him one day, since Khai is significantly less attentive to him than Da On is to So Hee and also straight for all intents and purposes. Yet people find it within themselves to sympathise with Third and not call him pathetic and desperate, despite the fact that he too gets jealous and sometimes takes it out on Khai's girlfriends.

All the characters in this show have some pretty glaring character flaws. Da On can't be authentic to save his life, Shin Woo is antisocial, Namgoong takes nothing seriously and annoys people for fun, yet people manage to see their good sides and root for them, meanwhile So Hee is despised to the point of having bodily harm wished on her. The double standard is especially glaring with Shin Woo, because he is starting to get possessive over Tae Kyung despite Tae Kyung not yet showing any signs of returning his interest, and people cheer for him for it.

Basically, as soon as a female character in a BL dares to pursue one of the male leads, it's over for her. If you watch Golden Blood, as an example of a show airing right now, the female characters in that are about as innocuous as possible. Juno's biggest flaw is that she's a little clingy, and Toktaeng literally does nothing wrong except like one of the MLs without even hitting on him, and people call them annoying.

I'd ask you why any of that is, but we both know why.

Oui je l'ai vue, et celle d'aujourd'hui aussi :) Je suis fascinée par les personnages. Il ne se passe pas beaucoup en ce qui concerne l'action, mais je ne le remarque pas du tout parce que l'observation de ces caractères occupe toute mon attention. Chacun a des traits qui m'énervent et d'autres qui suscitent une énorme compassion. J'ai déjà décidé que je vais re-visionner la série entière quand elle soit conclue. J'ai l'impression d'observer un puzzle en formation et je veux voir la progression et apprécier chaque détail sans devoir attendre et potentiellement manquer ou oublier quelque chose :D

Et toi? Qu'est-ce que te préoccupe avec ces dernières épisodes? :)

I'm also just proud of him for putting himself out there. His approach isn't perfect, but going after a guy semi-openly again after (presumably) being bullied for it must take a lot of courage - and he must really like Tae Kyung a lot to be motivated to overcome that fear.

It's amazing how much of an effect Tae Kyung already has on these people. Did you notice how after Shin Woo missed his first chance with the band-aid, mans is now R E A D Y with everything from stomach medicine to handkerchiefs? :D

Fantastic comment. Your analysis of the dynamic between Da On and So Hee is incredibly insightful. Thanks for opening my eyes to that particular aspect :)

Authenticity is truly the greatest gift you can give yourself. Tae Kyung, lucky little bastard, does it effortlessly. It means that your people will find you, it means that your people will know you appreciate them back because you can show them freely, it means your decisions, even if they don't lead to the desired outcome, will never be something you have to regret because you made them with all your heart.
At this point, I almost feel like no one deserves Tae Kyung quite yet. But I can rest easy because I have confidence that Tae Kyung will find a way to do what's right for him.

Take care of yourself first and foremost. Lord knows we get invested, but at the end of the day it's a tv show and the experience should be enjoyable <3

Yes, well, if I have to finagle everything with a VPN, I can have SOME advantage trying to watch these shows from Europe :D But I feel you with regard to Light On Me...did NOT expect that show to take over my thoughts the way it has. And the comments section over there is getting scarier by the hour xD People are seriously invested...but I guess that's a good thing :) I'm just way too old for shipping wars.

I ship everyone with some self-growth and possibly therapy! Except Namgoong and Tae Kyung, you guys are doing great! Other than that I'm not touching that particular discussion with a ten foot pole lol.

Glad to see that my fear that things were slowing down didn't come to pass. Lots of things happening in ep8! I particularly liked that they brought up the discussion of people not being objects to own. You HAVE TO respect a person's autonomy, especially where relationships are concerned. That's why I didn't appreciate Shin Woo trying to control who'd get the "privilege" of treating Tae Kyung's wound. First of all, shouldn't the first concern be that the wound gets treated, and no matter by whom? And second of all, you're not going to improve your relationship with someone by impeding the way they interact with others. Your relationship needs to grow on its own. Though I can empathise with where the impulse comes from, I wasn't happy with Shin Woo in that regard.

Interestingly, how Da On will act going forward is a variation of the same theme. If he lets his people pleasing and conflict avoidant ways lead him to backing away from Tae Kyung because Shin Woo has made his interest clear, even though Tae Kyung clearly communicates that his relationship with Da On is important to him, that would make me lose respect for him. It would feel...is infantilising the right word? Need to meditate on that further. Also, you'll TRY to be more honest in future??? I just....anyway. Let me shut up lol.

Overall message remains the same, kids: Communicate clearly and treat other people's feelings with care! It will make everyone's life easier! That's all.

Cute episode this week! I'm having a lot of fun with this. Whoever came up with the idea to schedule this for a Wednesday broadcast is a genius because it's the perfect show for this time of the week – you're already over it, the weekend is still painfully far away, and you need something to watch that's entertaining but allows you to leave your brain at the door.

Sky and Sun are slowly but surely getting somewhere and the taking care of one another dynamic they have going on is sweet. I was pleasantly surprised by that moment of emotional depth they created around Sun's loneliness as an orphan and Sky's wish to fill that void. Also, Boat was wet a lot! Win!

Pitch and Bank have my heart. That's an iconic power couple right there. I hope they get together really soon, I have a feeling that them being a couple will bring up the entertainment level of their teasing dynamic up another few notches. And they, too, were wet! Both at the same time!

Ah, but Toktaeng! Why must you break my heart so? On top of everything else, she can play the guitar, too? How much closer can one person get to being the perfect woman? I thought last week there were hints she was into girls, but alas, those hopes were crushed, at least for now. I just hope she knows my arms are open once she's done pining after Sky.

Lastly, one thing that annoyed me – I'm pretty sick and tired of shows (and this show in particular, because it happened 3 times in one episode) blueballing (bluemouthing? kissblocking?) me with these bullshit almost-kisses. With Sky and Sun, I can at least understand where the hesitation comes from, but you can't tell me that Bitch wouldn't have full-on made out in that pond if this weren't BL dramaland where things must be as drawn-out as possible.

Oh yeah, the misogyny of the writers is definitely a big influence! When I think of internalised misogyny in these contexts, it's purely about how the (largely) female audience judges female characters far more harshly for the same kind of behaviours they defend in the male leads. When the male lead doggedly pursues his love interest, he's passionate and dedicated. When it's a girl doing it, she's evil.

I continue to be fascinated by the conversations these shows spark. At the risk of sounding cliché, reality is sometimes stranger than fiction, huh. If it's at all helpful, I think the only way you could avoid having lingering regrets is dying young, and that's not really a great alternative now is it :)

Probably! :) I just hope that whatever Da On does will not make me want to straight-up murder him. If he plays with Tae Kyung's emotions or if he decides for him that he should be with Shinwoo out of some misguided attempt at chivalry, I'm gonna start breathing fire. And I hope that if Tae Kyung and Shinwoo end up together, it won't feel as though it only happened because things with Da On didn't work out. That would make me sad, since Shinwoo already cares so deeply.

Yup! The amount of messaging that teenage girls get, from all types of media to some well-meaning parents, that tells them you just need to be patient and consistent to get someone to like you is overwhelming. I remember I had friends in high school who actually acquired boyfriends like that. Mind you, those relationships didn't last, and the behaviour itself remains manipulative and toxic, but I can't help but feel that one factor in the sheer amount of dislike for So Hee is (internalised) misogyny.

Absolutely give him leeway for that! All I'm saying is that I can be annoyed with certain behaviours that I feel are wrong while at the same time recognising that the person displaying them is not irredeemably terrible. Those things are not mutually exclusive.

To your second point, I hear you. I will say, I don't think male and female sexuality are terribly different in that regard. I think the issue, or one of the issues, might lie in the fact that romance stories are just that - stories. I remember I once read a book on creative writing where the author stated that in romance, your main job as the writer is to keep the two leads away from each other for as long as you can manage. While I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule, I find that a lot of good romance follows this concept. Which works in fiction, of course, otherwise your book would be really short, but it's not a reflection of real life where people usually make it happen pretty quickly if they like each other.

In the realm of BL, the way it is now, you have added layers of weirdness because a lot of the time the source material doesn't acknowledge queer reality at all. If you wanted to have a character who has dated girls and is now into a boy, there's this really neat thing we have called bisexuality! It is real! You can write about it! Or, y'know, just have a character who's into men and is in possession of at least semi-regular eyesight so that he can determine if he is attracted to someone from a distance farther than 2 inches. Thankfully, I feel that the genre is growing and developing in that regard. It's for the characters' benefit too - the amount of times these poor ukes need to endure sex without lube makes me feel like I need to call some type of authority.

Point taken about different kinds of shyness. I'm still not sure that that applies to DaOn though. He states openly that he's not direct in certain situations because he doesn't want to disappoint/cause hurt feelings. Personally I don't classify that as shyness, but I guess that's up for interpretation.

About the date thing - I'd agree with you if these people were, say, 25. Then I would expect them to be a lot more relaxed in these situations. But they're teenagers. They're at a function where the declared purpose is to meet someone for a romantic relationship, they express their interest in developing one with DaOn by giving him their phone number, and he accepts. You can't blame these girls for believing that things are headed in a certain direction.

And lastly, about Sohee - you're really preaching to the choir when you list all the ways in which her behaviour is weird and wrong. I'm not defending her at all. The only thing where I'm inclined to give her a minuscule amount of leeway is the fact that she's a teenager and you would not BELIEVE the amount of ways in which teenage girls are told that if they're just patient enough and showcase a commitment, the boy will fall for them. Still bad and weird though. Not sure if stalking is the appropriate term, but it's unequivocally wrong behaviour.
(Also, just to answer your question, I think I know that he didn't text her because, storytelling-wise, the confrontation/explanation face-to-face would have been moot and/or a potential text message would have been mentioned in that conversation.)

The part where, in my opinion, DaOn needs to be concerned and where I want him to be concerned, is his own communication. Instead of "hey, let's meet in the council room later" even though he has no interest in doing so, it should have been "hey, I'm busy today". Also, she's so obvious in her interest that it seems hard to believe that DaOn is unaware of it. If she's expected to seek out a direct conversation about it, why isn't he? By not addressing it, he's acquiescing to her behaviour. While he's not responsible for her, he is responsible for his own reaction.

You'll notice that all my comments about him boil down to that - please communicate openly and honestly, the way you're doing it right now is not ok. He's not evil or irredeemable by any stretch of the imagination. But he does have an area of his personality where growth is necessary. People don't do him, or anyone, any favours by ignoring that.

No no, don't worry, I was really just asking!! Maybe "brought it on himself" comes across as a bit accusatory. And he didn't choose the circumstances that made him the person he is, maybe that's what felt harsh? Anyway, it's cool, don't worry :)