any_anka

Yesss, you are right. I didn't even think of Tian Yu's reaction after waking up, but now when I read your comments - spot on!

With everything summed up in one place, I think it's pretty clear and I agree that if it was two people of different genders interacting in the same way, most people wouldn't even question their romantic feelings - if anything, they'd be crying how tragic it was that they didn't even get a chance to confess 🙃

I feel there is also one thing that those who complain abt lack of physical intimacy miss. Let's not forget Tian Yu is literally on a journey to end his life. The only reason why he comes to Taiwan is because he wants to go to that mystical place, where one can find paradise and do it there. Otherwise, he'd do the "deed" while still being in HK, we see him almost go there...

So, I think it's a fairly natural development that neither Tian Yu, who is suicidal at the moment, nor A Xiang, who is focused on doing everything to stop him from dying, don't immediately jump each other's bones. I mean, there's something called mood? 😋

So, basically what happens is: Sheng Wang is slowly realising his feelings for Jiang Tian are more than just brotherly love/good friends type of a thing. It's becoming quite evident to him arnd ep 10 and he gets an epiphany in ep 11, when he no longer can deny his feelings.

There is a bit of a phase when he is thirsting over JT etc. and this part is really fun ;) You can stop watching here, to spare yourself the pain that comes after...

Which is:

SW wants to control what he's feeling desperately bcs he think it's unrequited (plus they're "brothers"), so he sabotages himself on a big test in order to - according to new school rules - move classes in an attempt to put some distance between JT and himself. He also lies to JT that he didn't do it on purpose.

Now, there was some debate between people who thought that what happened wasn't a big deal, and those like me, who thought it was a big deal, because of what his actions entailed...

I will not be giving you my interpretation before you even watch it, though ;) So as not to suggest how you should feel :>

I don't know how much spoilers you are ready for 😋

Well, first of, yes, it is possible to read the novel after finishing the drama from the point onward where the drama ended (I think it's arnd chapter 60). I've seen quite a lot of people in the comments here (or reddit/YouTube etc.) doing exactly that. Some decided to read from the very beginning - there are slight differences, but not that many. Those who decided to just continue had no problem following the story. I personally read just bits of the book, because in the end I decided I prefer to wait for season 2 and didn't wanna spoil myself too much.

Now, for spoilers... I will include them in the next post below - you still have a chance to decide not to read ;)

"But since it's two men, heterosexuality is assumed to be the default and the rest is just 'queerbaiting.'" - this! I wish people who accused this movie of queerbaiting realised what their outrage was really based upon...

Also, yes to the mutual nature of the protagonists' feelings. I'm confused seeing some comments saying the interest is unrequited (?). I think both men's reactions to the accidental-almost-kiss, Tian Yu inviting A Xiang to watch fireworks together (basically, what would've been their first date 😎) when earlier he didn't wanna be a third-wheel to A Xiang and Xia Xia, or even more so A Xiang's behaviour right before that date when he was about to approach Tian Yu quite strongly indicate their shared attraction. I mean... who the hell checks if they smell nice upon walking up to their bro and proceeds to look longingly at that bro in question if they're not romantically/sexually interested in them?

Fandy Fan outdid his performance in Copycat Killer with this one. For me, it's his best yet. It's so interesting to see this guy's constant improvement since the days of History 2: Crossing The Line.
Terrance Lau is so effortlessly good... but I didn't expect anything less from him.
This is so well acted and beautifully filmed, with a tint of magical realism to it. I'm happy reasonable people are starting to watch it ;)

Captain > Commander >>>> Leader (meh)

Seems like it ;) I assumed it was some glitch on a website or maybe a supply issue, but I didn't even dare to think they sold it out and had to re-stock. That's good news :)

What has been filmed and aired so far is more or less half of the book this drama is based upon. If (and that's an "if", but with some backing from the director himself who wants to film it) we get a second season - yep, you will get a happy ending.

At this moment, episode 12 ends in a somewhat open ending. There is a hopeful element to it, but to some people - me included - that episode was quite heart-breaking.
It's still a beautiful drama, so you might consider watching it anyway (I personally would recommend it). Or watch it until last 25 minutes of the final ep ;)

You were complaining how annoying it was that Han Su - previously being hell bent on finding the guy - now didn't even wanna meet him, and I tried to make a point that what she was truly hell bent on was *proving her worth to a successful lawyer dude who according to her assumption was her father who abandoned her*.
Which is why it wasn't that important to see her meet her real dad who turned out not to even be somebody who wanted to abandon her.

Ok, now even I think that I'm looping and repeating the same stuff, so I'll stop here :)

I didn't really pay much attention to the fan meet details, because there's no way I'd go, but I think I came across some info that the ticket sales were paused because there were some issues with international purchases... They supposedly fixed it already.

Have you heard of anything like that? Or am I just making things up 😋
If that were the case and it was paused, then the sales don't look so totally grim...

Yes, I'm aware of the petition :)
But it's sweet of you that you decided to spread the word :)

Glad to be of help :) Hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did.

Still, if I were to make a bet, I'd say that Luo Ma has 10x more chances to ever get with Han Su than Gao Peng 😋

It was clear Han Su was attracted to Luo Ma, she just wasn't in a place at the moment to get into a relationship and the boy was pushing way too hard (in my opinion).

As for Gao Peng, she was putting up with his "courting", because he was her client (plus, maybe somewhere in the back of her head she was considering the possibility/toying with the idea if maybe it'd be better for her if she decided to advance her own career by having a rich "supporter"), but there was never anything more there.

And I don't think he suited her personality. Han Su was attracted to capable, hard-working, ambitious men. Gao Peng, while doing fairly ok with his family business never had that drive. It's clear when he tells Zhinan he's coming back to his research facility.

She thought it was a different guy: a successful lawyer, who abandoned her and her mom. That prompted her to strive hard in her career, so that she could stand proudly one day in front of him. It wasn't just abt finding him, it was abt showing him a symbolic middle finger.

When it turned out that it wasn't him, but instead some mister who got himself in debts and didn't really abandon them per se, the situation turned totally different. Could they show her meeting her long gone dad? Sure, but it wasn't really so important anymore. That wasn't the core of her life story.

What was important in that plot was that now whatever Han Su was doing for her career, how hard she worked, was all for herself and not to prove her worth to a father who abandoned her.

I finished watching it and I can honestly say this is the best contemporary cdrama that I've watched. Good writing, compelling story, vivid, multilayered characters. Even the bad guys, including the most despicable character Zhou Bin, weren't just paper-thin, but had a convincing psychological profile. Qu Yi Peng genuinely made me pity him, even though he definitely deserved every ounce of "misfortune" he brewed for himself.

Main characters (and by that, I mean the girls, as they were the main protagonists of this story by my standards) were all easy to sympathise with and cheer for. As irritating as He Zhinan could be (she made me nearly rip my hair out while I was watching her actions on screen) was still a well written character, with all her flaws, immaturity, double-standards, mistakes and s**tty decisions... somewhat balanced out by her good qualities (mostly as a good friend, as whom she really shined the most). In the end, I was still happy for her happy ending. She got the best guy in the entire show, after all :)

My personal favourite was Han Su. I loved her story - from the collapse of her relationship with Qu Yi Peng, her trip to Hong Kong, wholesome bond she formed with Uncle Zhong, to the shift in her personality in the ending, when she finally was pursuing her career for herself, unburdened by the need to impress her "father" who "abandoned" her.

Cdramas tend to get draggy in the middle, with unnecessary fillers and looping topics, but that was never an issue with In Between.

All in all, a great watch!

Interestingly, I have a completely different impression of their relationship. Go Young is a king of self-sabotage, which is why when he is in a relationship where the other person gives him more security and attention, he starts to look for flaws. Ofc it's not always exactly the same. With the first guy (forgot his name) he wasn't that much invested, so he just discarded him quickly. With Gyu Ho he cared more, so was willing to try harder, but ultimately still ended up sabotaging himself.

Yongso to me was a perfect example of a toxic relationship, with typical hot and cold treatment to keep the other person confused and in a state of constant imbalance, so that they become dependant on you. Now, I'm not saying that Yongso intended to be toxic, nor that his internalised homophobia didn't affect his behaviour (it sure did, to a great degree), but suffering from it doesn't exclude a possibility of a person just being a bad partner. Go Young was indeed clingy to him, but I always saw it as a two-folded situation. One, he clearly was veeeery physically attracted to Yongso. And two, when you're in never-ending cycle of self-sabotage, you tend to attach yourself to people who wouldn't give you a sense of stability. Yongso was that kind of unhealthy relation. I also feel that Go Young's extreme behaviour after the break-up was an after-effect of being completely worn down by their relationship (with that incredibly painful, terrible ending).

But that's just my take on their relationship.

I don't know if I have the answer to your question, but I might have some idea (?)
Japan is conservative, but in a different way. They stick a lot to tradition etc., but when it comes to issues surrounding... matters of intimacy, they're quite liberal, actually. You'd notice it even when watching a lot of their "regular, straight" dramas and the topics they touch upon. I assume it's probably somewhat similar if we talk about a person's orientation.
Another things is, Japan is the actual birth place of the BL genre (sure, it was first targeted at straight women, but still... it's been present there for a long time).
Aside from that, gay characters were appearing in other mediums, e.g. anime, for years... I mean, original Sailor Moon anime (aired first in 1992) already had a gay relationship portrayed in its first season (granted, amongst villains, but still) and later on, an actual lesbian relationship between two recurring, important characters. (I remember vividly, bcs I grew up on that show).
So, my take is... they're kinda used to gay characters being present in fiction? Like, it's not considered a big deal by anyone.
Also, Japan doesn't really have this division between "BL actors" and "actors", that's somewhat noticeable in some other markets.

" I found it very long and tiring, it wouldn't need 36 episodes" - Yeah... I often find myself losing interest with a lot of these contemporary cdramas because they're always sooo long, with a lot of dragging in the middle... Most times (not always) one could remove half of the number of episodes with the benefit for the show. With Only for love, however, I just didn't vibe with it in general. I didn't even get to the dragging middle part yet and was already tired 😋

I'm thinking of watching Cupid's Kitchen. Dong Qin seems to have a bigger part there and the sneak peaks I've seen look like the show could be quite funny.

I think he tried to go to Bangkok to sort of confront himself/convince himself he was over Gyu Ho or - maybe more accurately - get a sense of closure. But what it did in the end was made him realise he actually messed up and missed out on real love.

Thanks for the advice 🙃

Yeah, something weird was going on with it yesterday, I think...
It was showing the product being "out of stock" and it basically disappeared from the lists of bestsellers/popular items completely. Now it's back, so I don't know if it was a glitch or a genuine problem 😋