Honglou Meng

Hmmm. I can’t remember the last time I wanted to go back and watch the first episode of a BL again.

Maybe Old Fashion Cupcake?

No, thank you!!! Given the near universal praise on MDL, I knew I was sticking my neck out -- ready to be beheaded -- by writing this review, which of course might still happen once the show finishes airing. But as you see below, we are far from alone in thinking this version atrocious, and I'm always happy to hear another dissenting voice! I watched it at 1.25x myself, but 1.75x sounds more appropriate. But even then, I couldn't last beyond Ep. 3 without wanting to take a hammer to my screen.

Awww… Thank you! This made my day.

Yes, I usually presume most people won’t read or like my reviews because they are slightly longer than average. Yet when people do and leave comments like this, I feel chuffed. ❤️

You know, I’m not sure… Love In The Big City, which is the last show I remember being this excited about, was clearly LGBT to me. It was a group of people who identified as ‘gay’, and their lives were shown refracted through that identity. Here, I doubt that they’d let the boys even use the word ‘gay’ — how many Thai (and worse, Korean or Taiwanese) BLs do? — and I don’t know that identity would be at the heart of how the show relates their experiences. In that sense, I should put it under BL rather than LGBT, if that makes sense.

Well, I’m married to him, and we’ve been together for 10 years! So, worry not!

How old are you? You sound quite young to me. Either way, don’t worry. It’ll happen. It’s an exhilarating, and often very painful, experience. I’ve fallen in love more times than I care to count. And it always catches you flat-footed.

Lol. That's fucking brilliant! Urgh, why did we have to meet online *after* I left England?

It reminds me of the time when a guy with whom I was chatting online wasn't sure of my ethnicity, and kept probing in order to put a label on it. In the end, I went and got a copy of Dulux colour chart, took a picture of my skin next to "Blanched Almond", and sent it to him. I was giddy with excitement. He then promptly blocked me.

Thank you! 😘

Oh my darling! I am a true romantic, one that no BL could hope to capture. :)

Let's see... I once took a £250 flight somewhere, just in the hope of running into a guy with whom I had a very fulfilling 2 week affair, and I wanted more. How does that sound?

Gosh, I can’t remember the last time when I enjoyed a Thai BL — or any BL (qua BL), for that matter — so much. So full of charm, joy, freshness, levity, delight…

Here’s hoping they keep it up.

Thank god I’m not in the Truman Show and I grew up without social media. You would have died of second-hand embarrassment. :)

lol. I was still mildly amused that one of them wore a jumper. But hey, at least they are not wearing cardigans and three-piece suits!

But I am astonished by how good the writing has been so far. It reminds me of the embarrassing things I did as a teenager. That scene where he asks the friend whether his crush is single — I cringed — because I did exactly that!

It was a joke, Carla. Just a joke.

Haven’t got that far yet. I was just counting the number of ads in the subway station…

Mind you, I’ve done worse for a guy. Or better, depending on how you look at it!

Damn. How much of this show did Sam(e)sung pay for?

What’s this I see? A Thai BL with nary an engineering student in sight, actually decent music & soundtrack, a realistic (if censored) appearance of nudity, a teenager behaving like a teenager (and not like a constipated Mr Darcy or a Victorian heroine on a fainting couch), good writing, and a production/direction that’s actually competent?

Have I died? Am I in heaven?

And I’m only 10 mins. in!

Fair enough. But can't she catch them the second or third time around? I'm perfectly fine with that. It's the cockblocking of the first kiss that I can't stand.

Lol. Will do!

Alright. I need the gay-first-kiss-interrupted-by-the-straight-girlfriend trope to be retired... now... for good.

Heaven knows we've fought long enough for our right to kiss, and even longer to see it on screen. Let them kiss in peace! And let us watch it in peace!

I'm sorry. I don't know who writes these storylines, but no self-respecting gay man would throw away valuable wardrobe just because it belonged to an ex -- least of all out of jealousy. No, we'd wear it ourselves, and then strut around in front of that ex -- you know, just to show who's the new boss. (Not at all speaking from personal experience.)

To be honest, as a gay man, it often is! 🙃