ichiboi

Oh, it's interesting you mention those sniff kisses and their place in Thai culture. Interesting because in the Philippines, those exact sniff kisses are given by grandmothers and aunts to babies and toddlers. School-age kids too, but they'll try to evade as they grow older haha.

Hello. I'd like to direct everyone's attention to the "Getting To Know Ian and Pao" video released by the studio last July 30, 2020.

https://youtu.be/B1yOppAVZew

Ian and Pao's answers are reassuring, particularly in the wake of... other people interviewed. I sincerely hope the show lives up to Juan Miguel Severo's advocacy.

If I understood your point correctly, then I agree with you. I think Sarawat and Tine, despite a year of being a couple, don't seem to have 'lived in' on their relationship.

Now, to be fair to the actors, I don't think they're phoning it in, in fact I think they're doing exactly what the showrunners want. And their success and popularity validates their approach. They're here to make money, first and foremost, and it's high time people come to terms with that. That's one of the differences between a mainstream vs an indie production.

2gether and Still2gether came with a boatload of product endorsements, and all the strings attached to those products. On the other hand, a show like Gameboys only recently got sponsorships after a lot of their episodes had been released already, so they had freedom to say what they wanted and the sponsors had to decide that they were okay with the brand association.

The ideal show would have the courage and sensibilities of an indie combined with the consistency, quality and reach of a mainstream. Maybe one day we'll get there.

"Oh no they still haven't inhaled each others' brains out through their mouths the world is gonna end!"

If we plot BLs in a scale where one end is shounen-ai (think Lisa Frank notebooks) and the other end is yaoi (think pixelated Japanese porn), 2gether definitely skews toward the former. It's perfectly fine if you prefer one over the other, so I think what's going on here is an issue of managing expectations.

Orion is causing Otep's "spider sense" to tingle, and for good reason.

Orion told Tau that "shuai ge" means 'big brother' when it actually means 'handsome boy'. And the line Orion spoke in Mandarin "I thought you mean boyfriend" while facing Otep, knowing full well that Otep wouldn't understand.

(It would be such a plot twist if Tau was an unreliable narrator all along and had been lying to everyone, including the audience! But they'd never be that audacious, would they? Naaah.)

Alright. I just saw Ep 1 and right off the bat, I like how the show made it clear that Juju and Rocky are of different socioeconomic statuses but they didn't turn it into poverty porn nor did they rely on tired stereotypes. It's "real", but it's not "too real" (does that even make sense?).

(okay, like, in "too real" world would you really fall asleep on a shirtless Royce Cabrera's lap while getting a head massage? SERIOUSLY? hahaha)

Oh it's the other guy from Fuccbois :D *watches*

I'm getting the "A for effort" and "at least they tried to be different" vibe from the comments here. I tried watching the pilot several weeks ago and all I remember was a disorganized cringey blur. It looks like it hasn't improved in the interim. Maybe interactive series with procedurally-generated meta plots are too avant-garde for this time?

Hmm, the comments here aren't very encouraging. Should I try this out or wait for Gaya sa Pelikula (Like in the Movies)?

This is confusing, so there are two "Pangs" here (Ian and Paolo), then In Between also has the "Pangs" loveteam? Pangs everywhere! hahaha

Are you the type of person that liked the pain of wiggling your loose tooth as a child? lol

You might like this compilation of reactions to "the confrontation" scene:
https://youtu.be/u89CtlR2ucw

"On average, people spend about $1,500 on dimpleplasty".

https://youtu.be/GeArqr0EoaA

Now that I'm not so emotional about Ep. 12, I noticed a few things on re-watching, ranging from what's printed on Wesley's shirt to the fact that the entire fight was a long take/continuous shot.

And also, I shouldn't be surprised at Elijah and Kokoy's acting chops since they've had more harrowing roles in their previous indie films. I'd prefer raising the bar to satisfying the lowest common denominator any day :)

Bukidnon's not just on the other end of the archipelago, it's a land-locked province filled with mountains and a plateau. It has two cities, and is an agricultural powerhouse, known for pineapples and bananas. Quite the opposite from Manila's megalopolis.

For a show called "Gameboys", it's the furthest thing from "fun & games". I want to sue for false advertising hahaha!

Seriously though, I'm concerned with the story "budget". A no holds barred shouting fight in the penultimate episode? How can any of this be resolved in the last episode without it feeling forced/rushed, unless the last episode acts as a set-up for the movie? Personally, I believe a series should be self-contained and not function as a lead-in to its movie spin-off.

The acting, though. I think everyone can agree that the acting by the leads is top-tier. It's the sort that makes you say "Alright, I'm going to follow this actor's career beyond Gameboys."

MDL needs a status that says "Too cringey to watch while sober". I'll probably binge this when In Between is complete.

EDIT: Probably via reactors like Revil so at least I can laugh.

So of course Ronin and Makisig had a "2Moons" backstory of being Mr. Uni and the 1st runner up :)

Destroys my mental construct that TauTep are the "hot" couple while Pangs are the "cute" couple.

You want problems for them? I got some :)

1. Tau's parents don't know about them yet. Then Tau had to say the magic words "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." That never happens in series! Drama incoming hahaha.
2. Otep has these split-second looks of uncertainty. There's something there. Maybe ever since he realized how vulnerable he was to Tau (ref. breaking up with him so he moves to the US), he's more guarded now.
3. We still don't know who Orion is and what his deal is.
3.a. Is he Mr. Mondragon, Tau's boss? Notice in the preview for next week's episode, Tau was laughing on the phone and Otep shot him a laser-sharp glance.
3.b. Is he Makisig's boss? I just feel like "Shuai Ge" would really fit Makisig, not just in translation of a Mandarin term to Filipino, but visuals-wise too.

In my opinion, they had to choose between two plot points that are opposed pacing-wise. Either they focus on:

1. Processing the grief from Cairo's dad's death, which takes a long time
or
2. Deal with the urgency of Cairo's family's moving to Bukidnon

If they go with #1, we know that grieving is a long process. Either you spend several episodes to treat it with dignity and sensitivity (time which the series doesn't have), or you do a timeskip that propels the narrative but is callous and tone-deaf.

So that's why they went with #2 I think. Their grief will be there for a long time, but they can process their grief off-screen and pay attention to the business of living instead.

"Someone's gotta do the dishes."

My take on the whiff of heteronormativity is that Tau has work, whereas Otep's on vacation. And Tau's a "guest" in Otep's house. Actually, I'm not sure if Otep is gainfully employed, so I could excuse a bit of domesticity on Otep's part. It's probably give-and-take, and hopefully they depict domestic!Tau too.

Putting it into perspective, Tau & Otep are nowhere near the seme/uke or husband/wife tropes we see in other BL series.