Queer story for a mainstream audience
A wonderful drama and an excellent attempt to create a mainstream product for a mass audience in the form of a queer story, which includes, but is not limited to, a gay romance. The content was 99% successful – yes, there could have been less of Chan Yeong and Ji Yu, but all of these subplots (including the sisters' love lives) also reflected various aspects of queerness (the fear of coming out publicly and facing judgment and scrutiny, leaving home because of unaccepting parents, constant unrequited love, etc.).
However, in terms of delivering the product to the audience, it was a bit of a disappointment. The drama sat on the shelves for two years before being quietly released on streaming. While it didn't receive an R rating, meaning more people could watch it, it did receive its fair share of "yuck" from a segment (as usual, the most vocal) of the BL drama lovers community.
Unfortunately, I encountered this discourse right while watching, and it seriously ruined my enjoyment. I was even initially worried that the main characters Lee Hui Su and Kim Seung Won wouldn't get a happy ending, and would be left with their unrequited love, as opposed to the happy hetero couple. After all, only something like that could generate such negativity, right? No, it turns out that BL fans simply prefer their typical trope-slop, which checks as many boxes as possible, to a full-fledged drama with queer leads, about queer life and relationships, in which the hetero couples serve as a subplot and the kind of plot crutch that the rare queer characters in mainstream dramas usually serve. Well, this will teach me a lesson - I need to continue avoiding fandoms and their nonsense.
However, in terms of delivering the product to the audience, it was a bit of a disappointment. The drama sat on the shelves for two years before being quietly released on streaming. While it didn't receive an R rating, meaning more people could watch it, it did receive its fair share of "yuck" from a segment (as usual, the most vocal) of the BL drama lovers community.
Unfortunately, I encountered this discourse right while watching, and it seriously ruined my enjoyment. I was even initially worried that the main characters Lee Hui Su and Kim Seung Won wouldn't get a happy ending, and would be left with their unrequited love, as opposed to the happy hetero couple. After all, only something like that could generate such negativity, right? No, it turns out that BL fans simply prefer their typical trope-slop, which checks as many boxes as possible, to a full-fledged drama with queer leads, about queer life and relationships, in which the hetero couples serve as a subplot and the kind of plot crutch that the rare queer characters in mainstream dramas usually serve. Well, this will teach me a lesson - I need to continue avoiding fandoms and their nonsense.
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