jpny01

I was bothered that last week was 95% about a man pursuing a woman in a BL, but this week I enjoyed it. I don't find the step brother cringe af - he's a complex and maladjusted person in a complicated situation - it's interesting to me. I actually find the clown couple more cringeworthy, but I've gotten used to them and accepted they're cartoon characters so it doesn't bother me anymore.

I feel the same way, although I'm confused by the constant mention that Muren is hot or handsome - I think he's aggressively unattractive, both physically and in personality, but Li Cheng is clownishly cute. And nice to look at.

What do you mean by "basic instinct mess"? (I don't want to have to go back and watch the film!) It was strange, but I'm not sure it was unnecessary - it did cast a lot of light on the relationship between the brothers.

Totally agree about fetishizing gay men - it's disturbing to me, and I'm not sure how it's better than men objectifying women. It seems worse to me as a gay man, because if I can't rely on women to support me, who do I turn to?

But in this case I don't think there's any danger of the plan actually working, is there? Mei Fang correctly sensed that the two boys like each other and is encouraging it, and I think we can all see how it will end up.

And they haven't romanticized the stalking, fortunately - it's clear he's psychologically maladjusted and the situation is dangerous.

But I do agree this whole series feels dated - but at least it's better acted and produced than most of the rest of the dated dreck that's out there these days.

There's really nothing realistic about that storyline - I think it's meant to be a live-action cartoon, so I just roll with it.

I'm not sure any of the previous stories were particularly nuanced, but some of them were definitely better written - although half of this doesn't pretend to be anything but a live-action cartoon, 4th wall breaking and all. The other half is plenty nuanced, isn't it? It might not be to some people's tastes, but it's definitely complex. I'm curious to see where it will go.

It isn't necessarily packed with harmful tropes - the cartoon half isn't likely to harm anyone, because there's no chance Mei Fang is ever going to be hurt by the situation, and she's painted as a strong person who is not going to let herself be victimized. The worst thing that can happen to her is she can get annoyed.

I don't see any particular moral objection to the "incest" - they're not blood relations and can't reproduce anyway. Remember that to a lot of people, it's self-evident that any gay relationship is morally wrong. To me, any consensual relationship is nobody else's business and is perfectly fine if it isn't harming anyone. In this case, it's questionable whether or not the situation is harmful, and due to the large age difference I have consent questions, so it's not morally black and white to me, unlike the Thai show Brothers, where you have to squint awfully hard to find a problem with the relationship. I may very well be disgusted at how they resolve this, but I'll wait and see.

Likewise, if Mei Fang falls in love with Li Cheng and turns into a clingy psycho I'll light something on fire.

Really? I didn't like last week's episodes, but this won me over - I love Xing Si/Yong Jie storyline and I was happy the other pair were in a background as comic relief. Before I was put off by almost the entire ep being about a man pursuing a woman, but now that story has shifted into BL territory. I still don't buy that two men in their mid 20s who are WEDDING PLANNERS could be that clueless about their sexuality, but they're both so clueless in general it nearly works.

I'm not judging or criticizing, but I'm genuinely puzzled why stepbrother storylines bother people so much. They can't produce mutant children or anything, and in this case its the younger one pursuing the older one. If it were the other way around there would be a consent problem due to the power relationship, but here it's just weird rather than disturbing (to me). And the vaguely forbidden aspect makes it kind of hot to me, plus their interaction is so sweet.

And cue the freak-out. 3... 2... 1...

That was really wonderful until that horrifying kiss at the end. It looked like they were holding guns to the actors' heads - so awkward and unwilling. I would have preferred a hug or a high-five to that squirm-fest.

Who is the super-sexy guy in the yellow tank top? I've seen him in something but I can't recall what it was.

The preview makes the series look really straight - I wonder if the LGBTQ+ label is for lesbian characters. It's probably for the best - asbestos is illegal where I live.

Well, it could just be that the actor playing Shou Yi thinks Sam Lin is hot and it bleeds into his acting - I'm not sure I could control myself... :)

I think it's a lot more than that, and Zhen Xuan pretty much explicitly spelled it out this ep. I thought it was very obvious Shou Yi was in love with Shi De in S1, and it seems even clearer now.

Would he be the first person who's into his cousin? It's not that weird - it's pretty common.

Just because something's legal doesn't mean it's societally accepted. Taiwan might be more accepting than the mainland, but that doesn't mean parents want their children to be gay.

My problem with this series has always been the poor connection between it and S1. Both are brilliant as independent works, I just don't think they should have called this series a continuation of the previous - it would have been better just to make this a totally different story. This ep went some way to repairing the problem, to the point that the almost comical plot holes don't bother me too much - but the way this was handled left me pretty cold to the previous episodes.

This is in every other way top notch - I love love the costume design, the acting is great, I even love the "villain" (basketball to make him taller!), the cinematography, set design, directing, everything.

I was intensely disappointed by this episode, and I wasn't at all moved by it when I know I was intended to be, but it's not like I'm going to drop the serires - I'm hoping it gets back on track, but the problems set up in this ep don't seem like they can be resolved in the time left and leave any room for the kind of interaction between Tian and Pha that have made this show so special. Maybe they'll wrap up the messes from this ep faster than I'm expecting - we'll see!

I agree with all of that - I guess objectively it's not great, but by BL standards it doesn't seem that bad, especially with the larger volume of lesser-quality BL out there these days. For all its flaws, this show has some heart. And I do really love that EVERYONE is gay. I keep thinking Prab's mother should keep a close eye on her husband. Certainly don't let him attend any parent-teacher meetings at that school without her presence.

I'm so amazed at the ubiquity of this objection (to the "incest") that I wonder if there is a totally different system of values at play, but there seems to be a generational move toward more puritanical thinking. Maybe parents have come on a bit to strong with the "bad touch" speech.

I know - but that's the second time he happened to be in Bangkok at just the right place and moment.

The line about forcing him to play basketball to make him taller was a classic.