jpny01

Well, it's hard to disagree with very much of that. There are only two points that strike me - one is that I don't think it's important to flesh out the mother thing - to me it's clear she's dead. If I'm totally off about that, then there's a problem with the writing. But sometimes series go way too much into backstory and it detracts from what's important. Sometimes it's better left vague.

Second, Hong Seok muscled his way into living with Shi On because he was in love with him. You can criticize the character for abusing his leverage, but I don't think it made no sense - that worked fine for me.

The rest I have to concede - I understood why the boss required him to move to VN - she wanted to separate him from Shi On. That was also the reason why Hong Seok went cold and left Shi On - he was afraid CEO would have Shi On harmed. Fine. But what didn't make sense is why she suddenly changed her mind for no apparent reason. I did notice that was jarring when it happened, but I let it go. THANKS FOR RUINING EVERYTHING! Just kidding.

I think the acting is good, though. Not spectacular but better than the average Thai BL. I was painfully aware that Shi On isn't a dancer (I was a music major, incidentally, so to me Hong Seok playing the piano was even more fake. You can't play the piano when your fingers are cold, for one thing.)

I am not enjoying Lovely Writer, although the last ep was a big improvement for me - I just really don't like Gene at all - his explosion at the end of the episode previous to this week's was never resolved, which is lazy writing and hateful on Gene's part - a huge apology was needed. There's a lot of great ingredients, but it's not coming together for me. I get that the sound effects are parody, but that doesn't change that I have to mute the sound and just read the subtitles so I don't break something. Also, I know that people come to terms with their sexuality at different rates in individual ways, but a lot of that process has to do with exposure - I grew up in a small conservative town before the internet where there was no contact with any gay imagery or models, but my first week at college was all it took and there was no going back. Here we have a man living in an urban area WRITING GAY FICTION and he has no idea about his own sexuality? That's almost as unbelievable as two 20-something wedding planners (History4) being clueless, but at least they're cartoonish idiots - Gene isn't. I'm not dropping it because I still have high hopes for the show.

I don't think History 4 will work because of the dissonance between a cartoon plot and a serious and dark one, but I do like both stories individually. (Ex: beating up a helpless boy is not romantic, it's horrible, and appreciating it makes Mu Ren horrible too. If the brothers plot were as cartoonish as the other one, it wouldn't have been an issue.)

But I love Brothers. I don't understand why anyone would rip on it. Sure, it may not have the gravitas and quality of ITSAY, but it's so f$%ing cute and charming how can anyone dislike it? The acting isn't Oscar-worthy, but it's consistent and the two leads stay convincingly in character. And are so f#$%ing cute. I'm usually annoyed by people even liking shows that are about nothing other than cute boys being cute to each other, but here it just works. Especially with all the teen awkwardness.

I'd just be content to know whether or not Shou Yi feels that way so I can understand what's going on - it's not like he has any chance of ending up with Shi De, right?

Agreed. Maybe not a bad enough slap in the face to make him drop dead, though, lol.

Those are all really good points. My only addition is that I would not see it as someone caring for me if they beat up someone helpless, I would see it as sociopathic or egotistical and be very seriously turned off by it. I'm not holding it against any of the characters - I'm just concerned the attempt to combine a purely comical storyline with a dark and serious one isn't working and won't work.

We'll have to wait and see. My interpretation is that it already looks questionable that Tae slept with Nite II immediately (not that I wouldn't have in his place!) and his refusal to kiss is more about still having feelings for Nite I. There wasn't a real reason to announce it unless it's a plot point - it's not like any of us would assign any particular importance to a lack of kiss given we rarely get one in any BL. It's already fairly risqué by BL standards that Tae woke up shirtless in bed with someone he obviously had a one-night stand with - you don't see THAT every day, for sure! Or at least not a fully consensual one-nighter. Sigh.

Also, as FreshKicks mentions, the last time Tae kissed someone, he disappeared in a puff of pink smoke and never returned - he may be a bit skittish.

I'm not at all discounting your wishful-thinking theory - that's hard to avoid if you're a BL fan, right? Tee is 20 and Nite II actor is 24, so there aren't any under-18 issues at play, so we'll see next ep!

I am often surprised (well, not really, I'm getting used to it) at how violently people react when you don't like the same shows they like or have a different opinion. I'm delighted when people have a different opinion, because it can improve my understanding of the show. Sometimes I miss things or misunderstand them - and probably sometimes other people do and maybe I can help them enjoy something more. It should all be friendly.

On the other hand, I think we should all try to be against things that are objectively bad, like starting a romance with a rape with no consequences. That might be OK in an adult drama clearly labeled as an adult drama, but this occurs in series aimed at general audiences which I think is reprehensible, and it's usually misogynist or homophobic as well - somehow being raped is better than enjoying bottoming (because "you're not really gay unless you bottom", a horrendous surrender to homophobic sensibilities). Same with straight romances - it's somehow not OK for a woman to want and enjoy sex, so she has to be forced to legitimize her participation. Sorry, that was an off-topic rant, but it's way to prevalent in this genre.

I think spending the night in your employer's room is probably considered breaking the rules, regardless of what happened - and I would think his mother would be angry if for no other reason than its putting her job at risk.

Yes, the contrast is rather stark. Nite I is cute, but Nite II is way more charming and a much better actor. It might have been the way Nite I was directed, but his behavior was stiff and hard to connect with except just before he left, apparently to never return.

Yes, most likely. The Que actor's girlfriend is probably asking him why that guy's foot is where it is.

You lack imagination. Nite I should get 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, and Nite II should get 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. XD

The older episodes averaged 37 minutes, the last few 34, so shorter, but not by much.

The Nite II actor is Pak Chavitpong Pusomjitsakul:

https://kisskh.at/people/51987-pak-chavitpong-pusomjitsakul

https://www.instagram.com/pakchawittt_fcperu/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/pakchawittt

He'll also be in My Ride. They're probably thankful they had him around to step in.

The first episode was the worst, and I think it got much better after that. The pacing never really speeds up, but the product placement is mostly tourism-related, so you can fast-forward through all the walking around and looking at attractions if it bores you - some of it is actually quite beautiful. The plot does move and I think it has a lot of charm and qualities you don't see very often, like a main character who is unabashedly gay and a strong female lead, an absence of formulaic tropes, and people behaving rationally and actually discussing conflicts instead of letting the plot rely on implausible failures of communication.

The production does appear to have been severely affected by COVID, so it does take an abrupt but interesting turn about two-thirds of the way through.

I personally really enjoy it, but it's not for everyone.

I totally understand why you feel that way, but for purposes of science, I was researching whether or not Tae's body had changed since the beginning of the series, and the length of the episodes is fairly similar - they range between 34-37 minutes. They should probably just make them three-parters, because splitting into four can make them seem shorter, especially in eps where the last part is particularly short like this ep.

It looks clear that something interrupted the production and they had to re-tool it - the time of year is different and Tae's hair is blond and much longer now than it was at the beginning. COVID seems to get in the way of a lot of things.

Really? I'm sort of having the opposite reaction as Nite II is so much better an actor than Nite I. Now that it focuses entirely on him and Tae some of the clunky qualities of past episodes are obviated. Namwhat was depressed because Que dumped her in a really awful way, but as a strong character she moved past it, especially when she discovered he was gay. It was important to the plot, because Que was secretly seeing Bhu, who was Tae's original crush.

I think the production got interrupted by COVID - you can see Tae is visibly older and has totally different hair now. They probably couldn't get a lot of the actors to be in the latter part of the show due to health concerns. But to me Tae is a lot more than cute, so it's enough to keep me going. Nite II is awfully cute too.

The plot seems to drag sometimes because they tried to integrate the product placement to make it seamless. It is, but the product placement is all for resorts and tourist attractions, so it involves a lot of people wandering around pointing out things, like ceramics, hotel amenities, temples, and perfume.

I think he seems stalker-ish because they've seriously violated the formula - a major character showing up like this at the end of a series is almost always a villain, but if we were following the formula it would be Nite I's ex-gf.

Nite II is aggressive but has never really pushed Tae into anything and seems to be completely honest and forthright, albeit a (large) tad corny. He doesn't insert himself in an insidious way, he announces his intentions, which I think is supposed to tell us he's genuine.

On the other hand, he could be a jealous gnome about to push Tae off a cliff - not sure why that story was discussed.

I undertook the painful task of rewatching all the shirtless Tae scenes from Ep 1 and Ep 10 over and over again (for science), and I can see no difference in his body shape - he was fairly muscular from the beginning. His hair is blond now and about 3 inches longer, plus it appears to be a different time of year as the weather is much nicer, so it's clear time has passed in the filming. Bhu's hair is longer too and he's put on a bit of weight. Tae does certainly get hotter with each episode, but I think it's the clothing and attitude - he was wearing conservative button-down shirts in earlier eps, now he's in more sexier outfits (including no outfit, which is my personal favorite). He's also gone from being confused (by having a god show up) and pursuing someone unavailable to being a strong silent-type who someone else is pursuing, so that probably increases his appeal. He looks more manly without the schoolboy bangs hairstyle, too.

It is starting to seem strange.

I think the no-kiss might just be there so it doesn't look like Tae is too "easy". Tee doesn't strike me as a big star with leverage - if he had a problem with kissing, he'd probably be asked "Do you ever want to work again?" He doesn't seem to be all that shy in this regard.

I'd be curious to see a mini-doc about the making of this to see what happened - it feels a little like Why RU - the abandonment of everything but Fighter/Tutor and exiling them to a resort where they hung out for five episodes with no plot movement.

My theory is similar to yours, but I'd need to know when they filmed this - was it a year ago and they were interrupted by COVID? It seems likely given the totally different hair for Tae. Maybe Nite I's parents wouldn't let him out after lockdown. Tee's age is listed as 20 and so is X, but Nite I did seem a big younger. Nite II is not in any of the marketing materials - and weirdly there's a photo with everyone wearing weird suits that has a completely different guy that we haven't seen. Maybe there was a lot of conflict in the casting department or something.

In any case, they should have just cast Nite II from the start, because he's 100 times more charming than Nite I, 1,000 times better an actor, he's and cuter too.

I feel like I miss things due to the language barrier, although I've learned to pick up how respectfully people address each other with the khun and p' things, lol. Apparently Thai humor involves a lot of wordplay (so maybe in that case the language barrier is a good thing, because puns make me groan), and there Namwhan made a comment in an early episode that Nite spoke with a strange accent - I don't don't know if he's a foreigner, or it's just the speech impediment caused by his braces...

This was a better episode than some of the past ones. The production quality is still poor - inexcusably poor - but the acting is some of the best you'll ever see in a BL.

There are still editing problems. The prayer scene was long, but in this case it was appropriate - Damon's uncle was having them say a Rosary, which for anyone who didn't grow up Catholic involves reciting 53 Hail Marys interspersed with 6 Lord's Prayers and a few other things - I haven't done it in decades but I still remember, if that tells you anything, so the repetition is a plot point, and I love that the script seems to indicate that even divine beings regard it as ridiculous judging by Angelo's teasing during it, and Damon's ability to recite while unconscious, which was all adorable.

The scene of Angelo trying to resist kissing Damon (or trying to make himself kiss Damon?) was excruciatingly long and looks like the editor just took the dailies of all fifty takes of the scene and left them in the final edit. Way, way too long.

But the acting is so good that it makes me sad to think that with a competent production this could have been the most epic BL of all time. Even with the horrible pacing, abysmal sound, incompetent cinematography, directing, and editing, even with the occasionally trite and preachy dialogue, the acting is so good that I'm generally in tears all the way through this. Enzo is excellent, but Kaleb Ong is a revelation - It's really hard to believe he's acting, he's so authentic and powerful. I feel every ounce of his despair and love. Kaleb has great legs - I didn't notice that until he had them wrapped around Angelo (that sounded sexual but it's not - it's super-cute).

I'm a little mystified at Damon's illness - judging by the phones this is set today, but nobody that's not mired in poverty dies of HIV like this anymore, and he's clearly getting proper medical care. I think they should have set this 20-30 years ago and it would make more sense.

Possibly unpopular opinion: I think there are way too many trans characters in Filipino BL - really all BL. The reason I feel that way is not because I don't think they deserve representation, but because they're used as filler and often unfunny and offensive comic relief, and to have them just... there minimizes the real suffering of their existence without giving them important roles and agency. The only exception I can think of at the moment is in Stranger's Kiss, where a trans character plays a crucial and meaty role. In other words, let's integrate them into the stories more and have less tokenism.

Did they have sex, or just sleep together? If they were trying to convey sex, it was too vague - neither were naked when they woke up - Andre even had a shirt on.