jpny01

Oh I agree - I don't want all the questions answered, but we didn't need any more raised before they started on the previous ones! Lack of communication is indeed a real-life problem that ruins relationships, but there's a point where communication failure is totally implausible and inconsistent with a character, and becomes contrived.

Shu Yi would have confronted Shi De, not run away and sulked - remember that in the first series Shu Yi was the one who aggressively claimed Shi De - screaming his love on a public bridge. And Shi De would not have left the situation unaddressed for four years - that's just not who he is.

Shu Yi was over the top, though - it's been five years, four since he saw Shi De with the woman. If you're still burning with that much intense hatred, there's something really wrong with you - that's nearly sociopathic. Pain doesn't last that long in normal people. He should still be hurt and upset, and seeing Shi De again could aggravate that, but not the point of acting like a maniac and being totally irrational.

Shi De doesn't know that Shu Yi saw him with the woman - from his perspective, Shu Yi abruptly dumped him and refused to discuss it - I don't see how he's in the wrong in any way. He's trying to talk it out with Shu Yi, who keeps hitting him in the face.

That could be handled with poachers or a natural fire - I think too much energy is taken up by the villain, when the interaction of the main characters is complex and interesting enough to drive the series.

In any case, my only real complaint about the villain is that it's way too predictable. Because I knew what would happen so far in advance, it colored my viewing of the rest of the episode, and it robbed the actual event of its impact for me. I even pointed to my screen and said "cue the fire" at the right moment.

I don't hate that there's a villain, and it doesn't really diminish my love for the series, I could just do without it, or at least if his motivations were more complex and less cartoonishly evil.

I didn't mean that Pha doesn't know his own feelings, I meant he's clueless that Tian is also really into him. His cluelessness isn't about his feelings, it's how to act on them to get what he wants, and it's a facet of his character.

I was not saying that there's anything that doesn't make sense - it all does, and the realism and consistency of the characters is what makes this series so powerful & special.

I love that Pha isn't a standard BL "I'm not gay, I only love______" characters - he's more or less explicitly gay and actively (but incompetently) pursuing Tian.

The default when you're signing up on this site is "female" and there's no way to change it. I put in a ticket but got no response.

I didn't say the entire series is a parody, I said the exaggerated sound effects are. You're making a huge number of assumptions about my positions that I did not say, which calls into question your analytical skills.

Not that they are in evidence much in your analysis if you think silly sound effects are supposed to be a window into Gene's mind - that would make this a cartoon aimed at children.

I think it's unquestionable that the trope most harmful to LGBTQ+ and by far the most prevalent is the predatory gay.

We see the pathetic/aggressive older trans "comic" relief character all over BL, which is really, really offensive - but it goes much further than that.

We're discussing someone's objection to the "incest" in this story - but I'm not seeing an objection to 90% of BL, the plots of which are almost all that a gay boy (or often "not entirely hetero" since the g-word seems to be anathema to so many productions) pursues a straight boy until he turns gay - even though he's in a straight relationship with a girl (who is almost unvaryingly evil in a regressive and anti-feminist way). THAT is playing into the worst fears of homophobes.

If anything, we should praise this show, which doesn't go anywhere near that - in fact it's comical that the entire student body and faculty are apparently gay. Notice how even the bullies never make a homophobic comment? I think that's progress, frankly.

Me too. I'm not sure Chon is sophisticated enough to be trying to make Prab jealous, and I'm not sure he even understands his feelings for the tutor - but I do really like how they annoy each other like people that age would, and the way Prab takes his role as older brother so seriously is really cute and touching.

I understand your point, but the trailer makes the plot clear, and as I mentioned before, "brother" has a broader meaning in Thai culture, which is more or less anyone of a similar age (within a few years) that you're close to.

I would agree that the English title is poorly chosen - maybe "The Stepbrother" or something would be better. The synopsis above's first sentence is problematic, but it haven't found it in any of the actual advertising, so it may be that it's just a poor choice of whoever wrote it, and not really fair to blame the production. If the producers did write it anywhere, then that's a bad choice.

The student isn't actually of age unless he's 18. While the age of consent is 15, it's 18 for relations with someone over 18. But I agree, that isn't really the moral issue, it's the student/teacher relationship, which creates a power imbalance that makes consent very questionable - especially when the student is visibly uncomfortable and ominous music is playing.

If it were Chol & the tutor, I wouldn't mind because the tutor has no power over him - in fact he's actually the "subordinate" in the relationship as a service-provider.

No, I was speaking generally and amplifying what you said, which I agree with. I stuck in a parenthetical comment that I was not referring to you, but I should have put it at the top.

I agree, where there's a power imbalance (which is fine in bed, but not outside that), consent is very dubious - so Tar & Tum is problematic because of the age difference and huge power imbalance, plus the younger one is very damaged, so it would be bordering on evil for his brother to act on his feelings.

I also agree on the cultural bias, which is related to the biological issue, and I don't have a problem with that - but as we've discussed, it's hard to feel that when they're both in their late teens and have just been thrown together by circumstances. I don't get even a teeny bit of "eww" from that.

The word "brothers" has a much broader meaning in the context of Thai culture than it generally does in the West. People use it to refer to good friends, cousins, et. al. in addition to their actual siblings. Similar to the American "bro".

I really like it too - it's a bit too ambitious for their production abilities, but the story is interesting and different. TBH, I'm shallow and could stare at Wade wearing his vacant expression (his arsenal is "vacant" & "vacant and slightly sad". And also "vacant and shirtless", which is best of all) 24/7 and be happy.

I try to keep in mind that productions like this have almost zero budget and have to film with COVID restrictions, so I'm more tolerant of problems than in a larger production. At least there are not roosters crowing non-stop like in most other low-budget series.

The seem to be releasing the episodes gradually on YT about a month after they air - if you like this series, I'd bookmark it and come back to it in a couple of months when you can watch it for free. It would probably be more enjoyable that way as the episodes are so short. It's really good IMO and worth it. The main character's acting is... not great, but you may have noticed what he looks like and I'm shallow.

But I mean that the story is good, not just that.

It's not too interesting to listen to a voice over of preachy dialogue from the previous episode and then watch Angelo watch Damon sleep. That's all that happened for the first 8 minutes of ep 3. Damon being embarrassed about being seen showering was a cute idea, but that was a longggg scene. It would have been better for him to paused for a moment, then shrug.

I'm not sure if I'm watching a BL or am at Sunday School. Kaleb and Enzo are both great actors - Kaleb is able to convey his sadness, loneliness, and longing very effectively. Enzo, on the other hand, is stuck with some pretty bad material - he's doing about as well as anyone could with that script.

I'm thankful that the hug didn't have that triple-take thing BLs do at all the emotional high points that drains all the life out of them, but I suspect they only didn't do it because they don't know how. The technical side of this show is really, really bad. The scene where Damon is talking to his uncle was so incompetently shot and directed that it feels like they're deliberately trying to be bad.

And would someone PLEASE explain the roosters? Why do all Filipino BLs have roosters constantly sounding off in the background? Even in urban settings. Are there THAT many roosters everywhere?

I'm sorry, but this is dependent on a failure of communication that is so implausible that it's hard to take the show seriously. It makes absolutely no sense. This isn't 1900 where you have to sail across the sea to talk, or try to do it by telegraph. They really needed to give a good explanation and they didn't. In fact almost nothing happened in this episode and all the questions were left more or less unaddressed.

So disappointing after how wonderful the first series was. I did like the really weird CTO, and I liked it when Shi De had his shirt off, but that's about it. I didn't really feel Shu Yi's acting - not at all convincing, although Sam Lin is still delivering.

TBH, the fire was so predictable and cliche that it made my eyes roll, although it was very well done. This episode I had a sudden realization that Longtae is really attractive - I hated Tonhon Chonlatee so much that nothing about it appealing, but here...

You know, I don't think Earth is all that sexy in this role. He's absolutely gorgeous, and skin that perfect should be illegal (and that's not even addressing the body), but his character is so emotionally clueless and incompetent at flirting that he's really not sexy.

So it's 100% his acting. His performance in this is a masterpiece of subtlety and intensity. That first scene in the hospital - yow. I suppose his physique probably helps him use his body expressively with a character as tightly wound as Pham, so maybe 99% acting and 1% hotness.

Well, ITSAY II hasn't aired yet, but this one is tough to top.

I'm pretty sure it won't be. The one they tried to make us believe is coming next episode will be aborted. I think when it happens it will be what we're all looking for.

I could completely do without the evil guy storyline - it's totally unnecessary and way, way too predictable. Did anyone not see that coming? I'd rather spend more time on the main pair. And I hope they're not going to make this the "faint of the week" for Tian - these are two men, not a man and a 14-year old Victorian virgin with consumption.

Anyway, when we say "he's a good actor", for most BLs we mean "he's good by BL standards" (which, let's face it...). But Earth is just a plain good actor. The scene at the beginning in the hospital - you could not pack more emotion into a scene with that much subtlety than he did. Mix is doing a good job, but Earth is putting in a performance that would rocket him to stardom if he was American.

The intensity of his longing for Tian is just scalding. The hand scene (both of them!)... if that were me and he was doing that with that tight, tight t-shirt on, I'm not sure I would have been able to control myself. And Earth is not just playing himself - he's totally different in real life. He's got his character nailed - it's 100% convincing. Every subtle expression or gesture is exactly what Pha would do.

Pha is so clueless - Tian is pretty much saying "take me now!" in every scene and he still doesn't get that his feelings are returned. And BTW, Earth is also doing humor very well - like when Tian didn't go with him to town.

I completely forgot that was the reason. Good catch, but seriously, THAT is the most unrealistic thing you're finding in this? How about that the entire student body and faculty are gay? So far there hasn't been one straight male character with the possible but unconfirmed exception of Chon's father, and if I were his wife, I wouldn't let him attend any parent/teacher conferences unaccompanied,.