hereforlolz

Whelp, my opinion of this show is slipping more and more. Not much happened this episode. The Ramil/Paytai relationship is really off putting to me. I can't remember the last time I skipped a kissing scene, but I skipped theirs in this episode.
Also, wtf were those white CGI birds or whatever flying around in the outdoors scene? That really threw me off. Like are we actually in a fantasy world? I thought it was just alternate reality.
I was looking forward to this show and now I'm just sad.

Yeah, I guess I'm thinking of more like western aristocracies where women have been able to be queen for centuries. And even if there's a tradition of male heirs, they wouldn't straight up say "women are lesser." It's not a major issue with the show in general, just a nitpick on my part.
As far as the relationships go, they have a lot of work to do for me to be happy with them, that's all I'll say at this point. I saw some concerning comments defending the master/slave relationship *as it is.* That's what bothers me. It could evolve into something healthy, but the current state is not something people should romanticize.
I hadn't really thought of Khanin not dating or having a social life. Didn't he ever think that was strange? lol. Still, jumping straight to "I'm going to make you do what I say" is not... great.

So it's a modern aristocracy that still believes women are less than men? In the year of our lord 2025? That little subplot bothers me more than it should. Ramil and Paytai's relationship is not what I was expecting. I know his dad is an ass, but taking his anger out on Paytai makes him just as bad as his dad. People shouldn't see this relationship as sexy right now, it's quite toxic. Hopefully we see some character growth. Consent is important, and right now Paytai isn't in a place to give it.
Speaking of growth, hoping to see some from Khanin sometime soon. He's being too pushy. Again with the power imbalance! It's funny to see the comments all mad "BL fans only want fluff!" Um, this show is LITERAL fluff. It's not like we went into this expecting anything dark, lol.
Anyway, I'm sticking around because I'm curious to see where the plot is going. What about Khanin's dad? How far will the grandpa go to keep Khanin from knowing the truth?

It's more about the fact that Paytai has no choice, that's what bothers me.

Okay, I thought you meant there was a scene where Ramil tells Khanin that his dad abused him, and that his lover is being tortured. But I went to that part of the episode and all Ramil says is that when he was a kid he felt pressured. Nothing was said about the dad.
And at this point I thought Paytai is just a whipping boy, not a lover... yet. I mean, we know Ramil feels bad that he's being beaten, but beyond that is just guessing. Anyway, thanks for responding, I've been worried that I'm accidentally watching the cut version and maybe there was a whole scene that I missed, lol.

"But then in that last episode, when he talked to Khanin about What he went through as a kid—an abusive dad, getting constantly humiliated even as a prince, and worst of all, being mentally tortured by watching his lover be physically tortured"
When did this happen? I just went and rewatched episodes 3 and 4 and I didn't see any of this.

I can't tell which version I'm watching, is there a difference so far?

Does anyone know if there's actually two versions of this show, a cut and uncut version? I'm watching it on iQIYI and I think there's just one version on there.

I see people saying the actors are getting hate, but I no issue with them. They're very watchable, especially compared to some other series I've seen lately. The plot is interesting, I'm mad at the grandfather/king for being manipulative. My only complaint right now is that many shots are wayyyy too long. I understand that they must have spent a lot of money to go on location, but okay I got it. It's a pretty building. No need to spend five minutes walking down stairs or whatever.
Anyway, hopefully once the palace intrigue really gets going, there will be less of those shots that don't really do anything.

Be careful, anything other than rave reviews here will get you yelled at. I'm halfway through episode two and will be dropping it. Not sure how people can seriously defend the acting, it physically hurts me to watch. There's legit good actors in this, but I guess they couldn't overcome the plot, script, and directing.

Why would you think I wanted to hate it, I went into this show really hyped, based on the comments I saw. You say you're in the acting community, so you should understand the importance of honest opinions, both positive and negative. Maybe people are afraid to say something negative since anything other than a glowing review gets attacked. If people are allowed to like this first episode, then they're also allowed to not like it.

Read my comment again. Did I say they were related, or that Tong is underage? No, I didn't. I find it extremely icky for an adult to watch a little kid grow up and then sleep with them. I guess lots of people are fine with it, but that doesn't make my feelings less valid.

I agree, Gawin was not the right choice for this role at all.

I saw all the people raving about the first episode and after watching it I wonder if we saw the same show? Do people only care about a guy with his shirt off? Because that's the only nice thing I saw. The plot is cringe, and the actors are actually worse in this than their previous roles. Fluke (are we calling him Gawin?) was so much better in Not Me. I was honestly shocked because I know he can act. But I'm not seeing it in Golden Blood, lol. I could forgive the bad plot if I at least had decent acting.
Also, nobody's going to mention that Joss's character watched over Fluke (Tong) as a literal child? I'm not talking about age gaps, I'm specifically talking about a grown man taking care of a child, watching him grow up, and now we're supposed to be okay with them getting spicy? I know this happens sometimes in real life, but that doesn't make it less creepy.

If it's helpful, since 2020 a law was passed in California so that formerly incarcerated firefighters CAN get jobs with fire departments. Felony convictions don't disqualify them. I agree the program is problematic, but it's far from the worst part of the California fire situation.
Anyway, try to unplug a bit. Making yourself sick from stress won't help.

I dropped this in episode six, where they can barely manage to hold hands like normal humans... You're telling me two episodes later they sleep together??

I dropped it in episode 6 when the FL is freaking out about the perilla leaf thing and throwing a tantrum "only look at me!" Waste of time show.

I feel the same way. I watch a few episodes and then something happens and I lose interest. I'm trying to force myself to get through episode 8 right now, and the FL is annoying me a lot. I don't get why she's being so mean to the ML. They're getting "progressive" wrong, by making it seem like an after school special. Like the whole poly thing. It was introduced like I was reading about it in a text book. Struggling to continue this show.

"But if you want lukewarm, yeah, avoid it." I assumed lukewarm was being used negatively, was I wrong? We both liked A Man Who Defies the World of BL and Old Fashioned Cupcake, which I'd say are lighter but still good quality shows.
I've lost the original purpose, lol.

Ah, I see. No I don't like dark shows, meaning sexual violence, cheating, psychological manipulation, etc. Just because something is dark and edgy doesn't mean that it's automatically good. A show can be good quality without including those themes. If you didn't like Not Me then we can agree to disagree.