jaydeejay

Of course laughing at something silly your partner does is fine, yes. However, seeing how obviously insecure Toh is, laughing at someone like that who's stepping out of their comfort zone to try something new isn't the best. Nuea could've laughed, apologized and explain himself, and have Toh try again since Toh seemed quite adamant about it the whole episode.

I don't even like this couple at all, but if they had gone the direction of attempting a verse relationship, that honestly would've been kind of groundbreaking for a BL.

I agree!!
Taking lead can be very intimidating and embarrassing for some people, so laughing at them and/or coming off as though it was a joke isn't great. I also wish Nuea tried and maybe even instructed him a bit.

SkyJao and IntouchDaisy were THE best this episode!!

The SkyJao slow burn is killing me, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. As someone who grew up chubby and is still chubby, having someone say they're gonna lift you is a big deal LOL And I love that Sky is willing to try with Jao, especially knowing how insecure Jao is about it. It's honestly very sweet!

Another VERY cute moment was the part where Touch seemingly referred to Daisy the way he refer to himself. According to the translation note, anyway. And WOW that's honestly amazing, *especially* since we very rarely see feminine gay men get serious romances in BLs. I'm SO excited to see more of them!
Also loving how forward Touch is!

Also, please.....KonkwangFonSom......I'm still on my knees begging. I have been since like what? Episode 1??

Agreed! It was very cute, but felt like it was copied and pasted from a completely different BL. At this point, I'm not sure what else they could do with these two.

I live in the US. And no, I'm not some old whippersnapper with some aged thoughts LOL

See, I'm also an artist! Not much of a writer, but I do make art and like to think up stories, if anything. I do agree that the degree at which murder and overall violence can absolutely be a bad thing. There's layers to it too, like how racism that tends to be tacked onto it with gang violence for instance. And a lot of the times, just like with r-pe/SA, murder and whatnot, these things tend to be glorified/not taken seriously/very poorly framed in fiction

But anyway, that was my very long 2 cents.

And hey! That's perfectly fine. You don't have to comment or rate if you don't want to. And even if you were sex crazed and loved watching/reading bland plots with great sex scenes, that's also fine. I couldn't tell you the psychology behind why people do it instead of just watching porn, but it's definitely a thing. Maybe the bit of set up that these stories have is better than the ones in porn? Or maybe because watching porn is usually so demonized in a lot of societies that in their minds, consuming PWP BLs is better and not as perverted? I'm not sure.

And I agree! A great story with great sex is much desired.
And honestly, I would love that for KP. Like I said previously, the first episode was fantastic.

I mean...you are correct. At the end of the day, people will write whatever they want however they want. However, just like how they can do so, I can do so as well. If my comments criticizing these actions makes someone change their mind about how they consume certain types of media, then fine. If it doesn't, then also fine. I'm still going to comment either way, just like how you're free to comment how you want. I'm not going to try and stop you.

It is possible to consume media without purposefully being ignorant of what it is you're consuming. I just choose to be mindful of what I'm watching, and, believe it or not, it is possible to dislike one aspect of something but enjoy other aspects of it. I can't stand the main theme/pairing of Cutie Pie, but that doesn't deter my opinions about the acting, visuals, and how they're handling other pairs in the show. So I still watch it for those things, if anything.

Also, if you feel like reading this explanation (you really don't have to): the reason why I use sexualize/romanticize this way is because majority of the time, BLs do both things at the same time: they both sexualize and romanticize negative aspects of stories. No, I don't think they're the same thing; they very clearly are not.

Also, your last statement: I have been approached very creepily by some people who genuinely thought their way of approaching was okay because of yaoi they've consumed. Not to say harmful viewpoints in BLs/yaoi are *absolutely*, 100% of the time going to cause people to act inappropriately. Definitely not. But to act like there's a 0% chance that it won't affect some people is a bit much, in my opinion.

I, for one, have absolutely no problems with sex in stories. Sometimes I much prefer a good 'ol PWP over drawn out plot.

What I mean by "unfortunately sex sells" is that in a lot of cases, media prioritizes sex over anything else because they know this. For example, they know they could put out a bland story, but if it has good sex in it with hot actors, then it's fine. I thought that was obvious when I stated it, though I should've specified further, I suppose.

N'ah, none of that bottom half is true, actually.

Also, in case you or anybody don't know: when saying something is sexualized/romanticized, it's all about framing and tone. For example, you can get a clip of someone eating a sandwich, which has nothing to do with sex, and sexualize it by doing stuff like focusing on the lips, adding specific sound effects and music, so on and so forth. You can also have a clip of someone having sex or getting SA'd and make it so that it has a cold feeling to it. So that it's not sexy/romantic at all. That's what we mean when we say that.

By all means, go ahead and watch Cutie Pie. It has some decent stuff in it, and there are others who thoroughly enjoy it, which is perfectly fine. I couldn't care less.

Also, I spell it out that way in case it gets automatically flagged. So, yeah.

I was expecting this too. Maybe it's thanks to Nuer that Lian *finally* begins to change. Which would still be some level of shitty, but it would've been something interesting if anything.

Right??

But also, unfortunately, sex sells. And the romance genre as a whole has warped so many people's minds into believing that SA/r-pe/etc is sexy. And since that's what seemingly most people like/want, then that's what the producers will give them if it means they can get money out of it...even though they're the ones that started the problem in the first place.
I watched this one drama recently that marketed the hell out of a sex scene making it seem like it's a steamy sex scene, only to find out that it was a r-pe scene where they played sexy music over it. Ughhh I hated it SO much. But that happens way too often (looking at Cutie Pie).

Yes, I've come across *far* too many BL live actions dramas, anime, comics, etc that loooove sugarcoating these scenes (long drawn out scenes, soft lighting, romantic/sexy music, acting like it wasnt SA at all, etc). I actually stopped consuming BLs for a couple of years because of it.

I have a friend who read the original story and told me the same about the director and the original author. In some cases, directors don't really have a say in what can or can't be added in their stories; their producers do. So I'm hoping they had more free reign and are able to frame these scenes appropriately, even if they don't actually show anything.

If they do so successfully, this will honestly be a BIG deal in the BL world.

I'm aware of the gross stuff that happens in the story, but I was still very much looking forward to this show because the inner Film Art Director nerd in me thought this show looked AMAZING. And the first episode did not disappoint with the visuals!! Color grading, cameral angles, wardrobe- it was all very good.

I was very surprised, however, how they handled the overall tone and seriousness of the story. I don't mind when stories feature unhealthy/toxic things such as r-pe, SA, fake BDSM, etc. However! Those things *have* to be handled carefully and framed in a way as to not sexualize/romanticize/normalize them. Most BLs don't handled these topics well at all, so I have very little hope KP will. But I'll keep watching just in case. Who knows, maybe they'll surprise me.

I know make out scenes in BLs tend to have people suddenly forgetting about everything in the story.

But I wanted to point out how *great* it was that Diao was leading the make out session. Sure, it was Yi who kissed him first, but Diao feeling brave enough to put his hand on Yi's lap and moving it is actually pretty significant.

In my opinion, when dealing with a couple in a BL story whose relationship is unhealthy, but in the end the couple stays together and they want us to accept/love the couple, two things gotta happen:

1) The abuser must show signs of change and willingness to do so. If we're made to believe that they regret the things they're doing, then we *have* to see that. The earlier in the story that we see these things start, the better.
2) The victim basically grows, realizes that they don't have to deal with any of this, and they realize their worth and autonomy. We see them beginning to push back in a variety of ways and reclaim their agency.

Please note: I specified "in a BL story" for a reason. BLs are *notorious* for normalizing and sexualizing unhealthy behavior without there being any repercussion and have been doing so for decades. Something like 95% of the time, either or happens and they try to explain away what is essentially abuse by having the characters have sex/a steamy make out scene. They basically state that sex and kissing can make all your worries go away and magically make you a better person- which isn't true.

But anyway, with Yi we have been getting small details here and there of his progression, which honestly has been nice to see. It makes sense his progression is slow because of the trauma they both went through, whatever it may be, and him seemingly being the only one who remembers it.
With Diao, he has had the steadiest progression between the two. He went from being a nervous wreck to still being anxious, but pushing back. The part with the bicycle where he kept shooting down Yi's suggestions and then voiced what he wanted was *great*.

If they had it where it was Yi who was suggesting sex during the make out session, then that would've been a big problem. Yi is the toxic one and the one with the upper hand in this situation and making him push for sex while both he and the audience are unsure if Diao would even be okay with the suggestion would've been very gross. But having *Diao* do it is all the more powerful.

I also loved that they had Yi step back at the end of it. I felt it was too early for them to have actual sex, so I was glad they stopped it when they did.

But yeah, I wanted to throw out my two cents on the matter.
I'm at a point where I simply don't care for LianKuea anymore. I gave them a chance, and it was ruined. But I'm glad they haven't tried doing the same with YiDiao, and at this point, I'm only watching to see how this pair will progress and see if they'll actually do right by them.

PWP = Porn Without Plot. A story that's either just sex scenes or it has a bit of plot that's used to build up to the sex.

I find them to be the most interesting because their doing with them what they should be doing with LianKuea. Unless the point of Lian is that he's meant to be an asshole the whole time. But even then, they're doing a poor job at showing that.

But anyway, I feel like they've done a decent job showing that the mean character doesn't quite mean what he's doing/saying and seems like he's going to start making some actual changes. Like him becoming a *student* at Diao's job was interesting. And the other character is slowly, but surely standing up to him.

Apparently someone made a post saying that people who "complain" about the show only talk about the same stuff over and over again. I'm not pointing this out to address OP directly.

However, those of us who critique the show usually say the same thing every week because this show doesn't do anything new, especially with LianKuea. Even I'm getting tired myself of mentioning how toxic Lian is.
All this episode did was attempt to sugarcoat the ever loving fuck out Lian's gross behavior. I am thankful that they do show Kuea being weirded out by his very sudden switch in tone, but then they juxtapose it against these overly drawn out make out scenes. That and Lian saying something along the lines of "I'll try and make him open up" are VERY telling. Far more than some people are willing to acknowledge.

I *STILL* have no idea what the point of Nuer and Syn is. I do love when BLs have side couples that're off doing their own little thing, but these two feel immensely disconnected from the rest of the show. Their conversation felt like it's own little world. It was so odd it felt...pointless?
Don't get me wrong, I loved that Syn wants to protect his friends, and Nuer saying Syn was cute was, well, pretty cute. But they should just have their own show. I'd watch it, to be very honest.

We got more YiDiao this week. I have been loving how bold Diao has been becoming each episode. He definitely wouldn't've talked back to Yi and say things like "You still didn't answer my question". And him grabbing Yi's thigh?? I was actually shook. Their make out scene didn't actually bother me, and I did laugh when Diao reached down and grabbed Yi's ass.
However! Yi needs to fucking open up and talk to Diao. Diao seems very willing to talk, so just talk to him, ugh.

Next episode looks like it's going to be a headache...Oh jeez.

I still have no idea what their point is. None, whatsoever. Their scene felt like it was a part of a different show altogether.

LOL I actually really liked WayuThanu, so it's not jinxing to me.

And I really like Phai too! I havent seen the new episode yet, but I'm very curious about his attitude. Plus I do like a grumpy character once in a while haha