Honglou Meng

So many puns come to mind:

They were sowing their wild Oats.
Don't rock the Boat if you can't swim.
Oatmeal for breakfast?
A rising tide lifts all Boats...

Someone stop me.

I get the feeling that much of the BL fandom would rather see the “sex” removed from “homosexuality” altogether in their BLs.

Now, if only there was a word to describe such an aversion to gay sex…

Now waiting for the opportunity to say: Right in front of my “Oat” salad?

Nice to know that Thai BL has finally hired writers from gay porn…

Yeah, I’m an outlier on Hidamari. After the non-kiss and the increasing presence and dominance of Maya, I became so upset with it that I wrote a long review to vent my anger. To this day, it remains my least popular review. Lol.

I loathe Love Simon, so there is that.

“A lot of the gay themes and issues are tempered down and breezed over quickly. Most of the romance is with the straight couple. I doubt we will get to see the gay couple as an actual couple, the finale might be a kiss.“

This is a devastating indictment. And very helpful. Thank you.

Okay, I am now more persuaded to give Beyond Evil a go than this. I don’t like the air sucked out of the central romantic relationship between gay couples under any pretext whatsoever, least of all by other straight people. I’m still angry about Hidamari… :)

Lol. That’s an indictment!

Awww… that’s so sweet. Thank you! I’m afraid I’m not watching any BLs at the moment, but if you want me to take a look at something, let me know!

A perfect encapsulation, as always. I loved the first few episodes, and the intimacy of the final scenes was wonderful to behold. But amidst all the attention they lavished on cinematography, they forgot to hire a scriptwriter, and the director didn't know what to do with the show. It clearly aims for the atmosphere and emotional pull of Call Me By Your Name -- but James Ivory wrote the script here. Here, there is no writing to speak of.

Pity, it's so gorgeous and the actors seem genuinely good!

By straight-washing, I mean anything that contributes to gay erasure by prioritising its straight content... such as emphasising the straight romance at the expense of a gay one (esp. if the audience is led to expect primarily a gay romance), more visible intimacy between straight characters than gay characters, meticulous avoidance of the word "gay" or the implication of such, etc.

But you really seem to like the show, which is one point in its favour! Thanks for the reply!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how straight-washed does this show feel?

I haven't seen it yet, and the comments below (and elsewhere) make me very hesitant about giving it a go.

Thank you! I was sitting on the fence about whether or not to watch this. You've helped me make my mind up!

It’s on my profile page.

Lol. Your description of Bank's character reminds me of something you wrote about another such passive character: "the uke'est uke who ever uke'ed."

Also, I love being called "daddy" by a younger man, and love calling an older man "daddy", but call me "Dad" and my boner's instantly calling an uber. Yuck. Just yuck.

What a strange, brilliant, and unexpectedly moving film. I've never seen anything like it. It offers some genuinely profound insights about the nature of film, about acting, about personae, about stories that move us, and about the reality of fiction. I'm saddened by how unknown it is, and shocked at how badly rated it is. Have people's attention spans diminished so much? Yes, it is very slow, but it was far from boring. Or if it is boring, it is boring in the most interesting way possible...

I agree entirely. But then, I suffered through Takara no Vidro just for Iwase Yoji, and the image of his beautiful face is imprinted in my brain, and nothing else. So, maybe it was worth it? Lol.

Lol. You're welcome! I'd gladly finance and watch the series!

My friend, I have bad news for you. Did you see that they are not making a S2 after all? It's something I predicted all along, though people wanted to murder me when I said so in the comments. But it's never a good idea to fill a series with bloatware hoping you get a second season.

I liked many of the same things you do, and generally don't mind tropes -- if done well, and are fun. So, as you see, I didn't mind the first half of TOO at all. But the sports day episode was where they lost me.

The director evidently seems talented, and I'm with you on the cinematography and the direction. But he either picks the wrong scripts, or has such internalised homophobia that he can't leave his happy gays alone. (He did "Your Name Engraved Herein" as well, with an ending that is also a heinous crime, as you put it.) Either way, the show wasted an awful lot of talent in the end... Sigh.

"Index finger skipping"! 🤣 I'm so using that epithet. I thought I was the only one! I think I have RSI on my right index finger from watching bad BLs.

I tried to watch this for the so-bad-it's-good camp value, but it quickly became so-bad-it's-bad. Love the hot men, even when it seems they can't even button up their shirts. But what on earth was the rest of this show?