jpny01

Same - I can't think of anything you've ever said that I've ever found anything but interesting and perceptive, even if I disagree sometimes. There have been a couple of times when you've changed my mind.

I think that argument doesn't work at all (fantasy vs reality). Even fantasy with dragons and unicorns needs to have human characters that behave like humans, even if it's in the context of a world that has magic, or lasers, or whatever. It's always character-driven drama that's what moves people.

Westerns used to be one of the most popular genres - but it ended up a big bag of tired tropes and was racist as f#$%, and the genre died.

So is that what people want for BL? Use the same small bag of tricks that were used in manga 40 years ago, especially the ones rooted in homophobia? Why not just give up the homophobic ones and occassionally come up with something new?

What's a trope we all hate? The toxic female character, right? Why? Because it's tired, and it's blatantly misogynist. So do we keep it because "That's what BL is"? Or do we move on? Likewise, why is it necessary for BL to be about romance between straight guys? Does it detract from the experience at all if it's gay guys, or some other flavor of LGBTQ+, or guys who don't know who they are yet? If it makes no difference, then why not stop having it be what many people perceive as homophobic?

You are relentlessly rude and hostile. A spoiler is giving away a plot point because you've seen something and other people haven't. As what was being discussed was not mentioned in an open post, your point makes no sense. I think it's best if we just block each other as I really prefer to talk to people who can be nice.

That's true. I guess we'll have to see.

Thanks! I was afraid it was too dated a reference for anyone to get.

It's not a spoiler - I'm speculating and have no knowledge of what will happen.

I have no idea what's going on. But I like it. Kim is so adorable, but they need to give him something to do.

Maybe a more relevant issue with your analogy is that SciFi has evolved over time, BL hasn't. You, I, and the entire audience could map out every step of Li Cheng & Mu Ren's relationship from the first 5 minutes of the first ep. The formula robs the genre of opportunities for dramatic effect.

We know that if there's an effeminate gay or trans character, they'll screech and paw at attractive men. That's the same as blackface. This isn't 1980s Japan, it's a 21st c global phenomenon.

Maybe they'll surprise us and reverse it - or better yet, take turns.

I mean the stressful restaurant scene that went on forever and Bas' digestive issues. The latter was at least part of the plot, but too much of the ep was consumed in being difficult to watch and not enough to moving the plot forward. There are only 6 episodes, so this struck me as self-indulgent and time-wasting. We got the point - it didn't need to be belabored.

The cringe-inducing nature of the Fish Upon the Sky. Going from that to this even more cringe-inducing ep was a lot of stress.

It's very easy to wrap your mind around it. The same 5 cliches over and over is boring and lazy. That's the objection. Also, you need to get over the idea that you own BL - nobody does. It's like saying Austrians own Mozart.

I thought it was the lighting, especially when Xing Si was in the bedroom.

I would love it if they reversed it, but they won't - Li Cheng/Mu Ren so far hasn't strayed at all from the formula.

It's not the History4 comments sction without someone making a weird and irrelevant comment about Yong Jie, even though he wasn't even the episode.

That a disingenuous argument. Marginalizing and exploiting oppressed minorities is not acceptable in the SciFi genre, so why should it be here?

Beyond that, it's stupid and boring to do the same unrealistic thing over and over and over.

I would answer you by saying, if you want the same thing over and over, then just go rewatch SOTUS every day and let BL progress beyond the same 5 cliches.

When I was that age I could - a little less so now. Regrettably alcohol tolerance declines with age. Not so much the ability to handle it, but the likelihood of hangovers. At 30 I could drink any amount and not get sick or hungover. Now I still never get sick, but I don't feel so good the next day.

In any case, I never had the BL vomit-fest followed by total amnesia after having a sip of beer.

That was pretty realistic - I think BLs in general make alcohol 10 times more potent than it is. A six-pack of beer is equivalent to 2-3 glasses of wine, and a bottle of wine is about 4 glasses for a total of 6-7 glasses. That's enough to get drunk, and maybe hung-over if you don't drink water before going to bed, but not the usual BL vomiting all over and totally forgetting everything that happened.

So this ep was mixed for me. I really like that they have drunk people behave realistically - Mu Ren was great here. Those two were really making out - that was not faked at all. But I was thinking, "uh, maybe brush your teeth first."

Also, Li Cheng and Mu Ren have great chemistry when they're sparring, but less as a romantic couple. BL writers don't seem to be able to do two guys in a relationship - they always default to a very traditional man-woman dynamic that forces one of the two to undergo a personality transplant, in this case Mu Ren, who is suddenly boring. Even his clothes were dowdy this ep.

On the other front, I think I called that Dad already knew about Xing Si - and once again, Yong Jie's plans worked. I think there must be easier ways to achieve the same goals, but he does get results...

I was missing the ability to adjust speed on Viki - the endless scene of Mu Ren standing on a balcony was tedious - in general this ep was boring, and coming after last week's also dull ep, I'm hoping next is more eventful.

I assume the perpetrator behind the video is the disgraced VP.

Either the digraced VP or Yong Jie - he said he would help Li Cheng get Mu Ren, and it worked. He's sort of the Wile E Coyote of romance - unnecessarily complicated plans that result in lots of collateral damage. The VP's motive is obvious.