Lys

Yeah, I'm not sure who switched it to 10. When I set it up, I wrote that it was 12, which may have changed. Supposedly today was the 12th and last episode. Not sure if that's accurate now, since I haven't started watching yet.

I was the one who created this page (on my other account), and it was listed as 12 episodes when I did it. Someone changed it to 10, maybe "adrien" who has 19 edits on the page? I don't remember where I saw the original amount, but I'm not sure why they switched it to 10. According to the info I put down, today should be the last episode.

Wait, wasn't there a bit more info here before? I know it wasn't much, but I could have sworn it had more people/details.

Haha, right? First needs a happy ending, damn it.

Haha, right? First needs a happy ending, damn it.

That's part of my motivation for this comment. XD

I'm really excited for this, but I've recently noticed First's history of BL pairings and how they always seem to end in him dying or being betrayed/dumped. Really hoping that isn't the case here.

I honestly don't care that he went after Eugene when she was Black's ex. That's complicated, but if they both liked each other from the start, it would be tolerable despite being a pointless spot in the show. What I do care about is that he didn't stop when she wasn't into him and that he wasn't being a friend to her, he was trying to get something from her. Even when he spoke to her later, he was "willing to wait," but she already expressed not being interested. Then the narrative twisted it so he could get her, and that irked me even more.

I'm gonna have to assume based on your feelings regarding him being manipulative or not that you're not a girl. I may be wrong, or you may be afab and indeed know what this is like, but so many of us have had friends who were only after romance but masqueraded it as kindness. Guys like Gram prioritize women they want to get with, and they do whatever they can to get it. It may be subtle to someone who isn't used to it, but my female friends and I all had a very visceral reaction to the moment when he revealed he liked her. It changed the context of everything he did so far. But that's more of a personal response, which isn't the only thing behind my reaction.

Ultimately, my issue is that they created weird, uncomfortable, straight drama with a canon bisexual character. They erased any representation of his actual sexuality, when it would have been easy to leave it and still have him go after Eugene if they insisted on it. They toyed with something they knew the fans would want and hope for, only to dash it with a big smile, like we would change our minds in favor of something that was, and in some places still is, the norm in queer media--straight-washing things or adding "no homo" vibes to a show, which is definitely something Not Me did in many ways (but they made up for it with the ongoing, casual affection and what not, so I'll forgive them). I don't know who they were doing this for. I don't mind het stuff sprinkled into BL (even though there are TONS of het shows so I hate time being wasted on it in my comparably fewer gay series), but they did this very poorly. The show made Gram one-dimensional and dull, straight-washed him, then gave him qualities that clearly weren't MEANT to me manipulative "nice guy" stuff but managed to come across that way. If they intended for him to be a creep, that would be preferred, because my main frustration is that we're clearly supposed to see Gram as a great guy.

What it boils down to is, the writers don't see how he's coming across. They expect us to like him and support him, to like and support what's happening here. I want Eugene to be on her own or with someone better. The fact that they took a cool character and made him into this is upsetting for me, and I hate him now. If he'd started out like this, and they'd never played with viewers' expectations or hopes, I would just shrug and ignore him. Like, as nice as Gumpa is and all, he hasn't made much of an impact on me. If this were somehow a plot with him instead, and it never hinted that he liked Black just to trick viewers, and he was never presented as bisexual in the novel, and he was never canon-dating Black in the novel, and he was just some dude in the background who was nice to a chick because he has a big crush on her, then fine. I had no expectations with Gumpa going on, and if he'd been in a similar het scenario, it'd be easy to ignore it and move on. But that isn't the case, and this is a complicated issue that plays on a lot of problematic content in the history of different types of media. If Gram were a real person, I would just roll my eyes and ignore him. The issue isn't with Gram in that sense, it's what the writers did and the implications, both intentional and unintentional, that come with it. It hit a sore spot for a lot of us. I wish I could just get over it, but they waste more time with it than they needed to, and I can't stop feeling frustrated over all of this. It has nothing to do with him not getting with Black. I'm just finding more that I have no tolerance for LGBT show runners who don't seem to understand their audience at all. They always insert some big, glaring thing that seems to annoy people more than anything, and as someone in the industry herself (albeit western, but still), I just can't wrap my head around the strange arrogance that goes into making such weak decisions.

Anyway, it's early in the morning and I'm exhausted, but I'm mostly just too frustrated by having a show I love tainted by something really irritating like this. I suppose Gram's biggest crime is just being a huge disappointment, while the people who made him that way stand there and drool.

Lmao. XD To be fair, it's more nuanced than that for most of us, though. My issue with Gram isn't with what he did as a person. If Gram were real, it wouldn't be the same. My issue is with the way the writers handled him and the clear intentions of the roles. Todd is supposed to be complex, a bad person who does bad things but isn't a black and white character. Gram is clearly supposed to be a great guy, but they painted him as a self-serving "nice guy" type by making all of his motivations in the entire show around a girl who isn't into him, or wasn't until magically she is. Great message, guys. Just never give up, and that girl you upset two episodes ago will want to dance with you five minutes later! The narrative is oblivious to how Gram is coming across, and since I liked Gram at the beginning, I'm frustrated to see him straight-washed and watered down in such a boring way. They did Gram and Eugene dirty. They both had so much potential, but they were reduced to this shallow, irritating trope.

I understand that that's what they were going for, but it didn't hit the mark for me. As my best friend often says, fiction has to make more sense than reality. Lots of things that happen in real life don't translate so simply onto the screen. There's sticking to your message, and then there's heavy-handed preaching and lazy morality tales. I didn't find the portrayal satisfying, and not because I disagreed with the ultimate message. I'm all for having a character burned by their own hubris, but the execution was too clumsy for my taste.

My problem with Gram is that they took this character, set him up as a nice person, suggested he had feelings for Black, then had all of the nice things he was doing for Eugene be because he just wanted to get with her. Then, he refuses to take no for an answer when she isn't in to him, then he gets all possessive like, "Don't touch my girl!" when Black returns, and it just took what could have been a cool character and interaction and reduced him to some creepy "nice guy" who had an agenda the entire time. I also hate that Eugene, who is an awesome character, can't just exist on her own. And I don't care if Gram and Black don't get together, but don't tease the audience or suggest it if you're going to make it not only straight, but a toxic, straight love triangle. It's just tone deaf on the part of the writers.

I wish Eugene would get with a guy who doesn't play games with her, and I feel like she isn't allowed to just be this cool person on the show. She has to be a love obstacle, something for the guys to fight for. Gram's intentions took a completely different tone the moment it was revealed he had been after Eugene the entire time. It made him come across as manipulative and opportunistic, and I think most girls who know what it's like to have a concerned guy friend who really just wants to bone you know how much it hurts and how disgusting it feels to learn the truth. He even says "I can wait" to her when she isn't into him, as if there's no possibility that she just doesn't want him at all and just needs time. Then the narrative said, yep, that's exactly what it is, confirming whatever weird direction they were trying to push.

Black and Gram were supposed to be close friends, but they don't even interact with each other until the love triangle confrontation. It's just such a waste. Plus, it also feels cheap in a world of queer-baiting that they brought that into a gay show. It's so bizarre. There are so many things they did with Gram's character that just ruin everything with him. I wanted to like him, and now I hate him. I also hate the creators for making a canon-bisexual character straight and for throwing in more nonsense that we see in straight crap all the time.

If this were some random, dumb, high school romance fluff, it wouldn't have mattered. But they took something that could have been different and subversive, then took a part that didn't fall into the straight-guy bullshit thing and MADE IT the straight-guy bullshit thing. It's like if this were a het romance with a strong, independent woman in the book, then the show version made her a weak woman who sits around all day waiting to be saved. Why use refreshing content to create something overdone and frustrating?

Anyway, I'm really worked up over it and can't think as clearly as I'd like, so I may revisit the topic eventually.

MDL defaults to that when a date is set but no episode announcement has been made. It won't be one episode.

That has nothing to do with what content is in a show or whether or not someone is making false advertising. We're pointing out the '90s because gay media was heavily censored back then, so gay content usually came out through hints, etc.

Haha, all I could think during their tense little confrontation was how they're gonna be brothers-in-law someday. XD

I love Sing so much. I don't think he gets the attention he deserves. He plays such a great bad guy because he seems sweet and innocent, or at least harmless, in every role he takes on, and he has such a great emotional range when he gets to show it. He seems to be the goofy side kick more than anything, though.

Any time a random caption pops up on the screen when no one is talking, you can just assume it's a censorship move. Much like them blurring Todd's cigar, they have to put warnings up when certain forms of violence occur. I've seen it a lot with gun violence, implications of suicide, and in some not-so-cool moments like when a gay kiss was blurred on a show once. That one was pretty depressing, a reminder of how far Thailand still has to go in social growth.

They said they were hoping they wouldn't fight for Eugene, as in fighting over her. So they're saying they hope it doesn't turn into a huge rift because they both want to bone Eugene. And I hope it doesn't turn into that either, because at this rate, who freaking knows.

I mean, I know friends can do these things, but it looks like they were at a place where they were sharing a bed, and Todd knows what kind of underwear Black wears (which is something I don't know about my best friend I lived with despite both of us sitting around in our underwear in front of each other for years). There are obviously feelings between them, might be platonic, might not. But I'm with you, there was at least one drunken night. You can't convince me otherwise with the way Todd looks at both Black and White and touches them and such.

Haha, oh my god, thank you for cheering me up a bit with this comment. XD And seriously, I didn't consider it until you said it, but at this rate, I'd rather have ToddBlack. They're both crappy people in different ways, and I liked the idea of them being exes, but he really is the only person we've seen so far who seems like he could actually handle him. It would be an insane move on the show's part, but it's not like they've been making good choices with the love lives of any characters outside of SeanWhite and DanYok.

That's what I mean, though, that they're just dragging on the same old stuff, which is a sign of weak writing. When it comes to the political and social stuff, this show is god tier, but it feels like the romance and interpersonal relationships are actually pretty shaky. If the goal is to ride on a cliche, then yeah, it's fitting, but I don't think that's their intention, so it's sad to see it devolve into that. They really set this up poorly. There were so many opportunities for them to create tension without falling back onto these tired tropes, so it's pretty irritating. But whatever, I'll wait and see. Maybe they'll still pull it off in a way that doesn't annoy me as much as I thought it would.