Lovely Writer (2021)

THIS is how a main lead should act

I think I like the dramas that show the backside of filming or writing BLs because as audience members we don't see that whole filming process, all we see is the final product and we don't understand that some actors just don't have natural chemistry with each other like in this series, Aoey and Sib don't have that connection like Sib does with Gene so everything is uncomfortable and that's how it is in reality, It may look like they have perfect chemistry but truth is, not everyone has that connection nor do they fell comfortable with everyone. Yes its a job and a career that they love but we have to remember that these are people, and I think this series shows us that not everything is black and white like we see on the screen.

Nubsib - He is the best character, not only in the BL universe but also in the world. Sib is so gentle with Gene, ever since he saw him at the auditions, he always had the sweetest eyes toward Gene. Sib's touches toward him are so soft and gentle like he doesn't want to hurt him, his voice is soft and slow so it doesn't seem like he's yelling at him. Sib also jokes around with Gene but does it in a way that isn't inappropriate or in any mean way. He also understands that Gene is confused and he doesn't try to force his feelings onto him or make Gene do or say anything at makes him uncomfortable. The drunk scene in episode 4 was the best-drunk scene out of any BL I have ever seen. Sib never forces himself onto Gene and most drunk scenes end up being spicy or lead to a makeout session but all Sib wants to do is take care of Gene and make sure he doesn't do anything he would regret in the morning/sober.

Gene - Up is the love of my life so naturally so is Gene, I love him. he's just a confused BL writer who doesn't understand why BL is so popular and why it needs so many NC scenes. He also likes Sib from the beginning, you can tell by his eyes but is confused and doesn't know what these feelings he is feeling mean. He also doesn't know what to do because Sib is so gentle with him that it's making him fall for him.

Aoey - I couldn't stand him, he knew that Gene and Sib had feelings for each other, and instead of backing off, he tries to manipulate them and make Gene uncomfortable. I wanted to be like, can't you find your own man?

Episode 5 - I think this episode was uncomfortable -for me at least - because I love Gene/Up and to see him being uncomfortable and upset because Sib had just confessed he liked Gene in the previous episode and then we get slammed by Aoey telling Gene to back off, made me so sad because Gene was finally realizing that he has feelings for Sib. Also, the whole scene they were shooting was uncomfortable because it was giving Ae and Pete from Love By Chance and that's all I was thinking of.

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Wasn't sure what I was going to say...

I read a very positive review before writing this because, I wasn't sure how to approach this series. We do get a sense of timeline based on the length of stay Nubsib is going to be a roommate. But, I still had to wonder why they had to make Gene's character so continuously abrasive. If more people would have reminded him to back off a little or, to apologize when mean - it would have been easier to connect with him earlier in the series.

This series is pretty well written. Because it is mentioned so much - without looking to the credits - I have been trying to guess if this was written by a woman or, a man or, a collaboration. I can usually tell it is a woman when they have the gay character make it sound like they are gay just for one person and are deciding at that very moment. There are so few BLs out there that show that those feelings and whom you are drawn to start at a very early age - whether in the closet or, not. Anywho.

Overall - well done. Love the detail. Love the uncomfortableness some episodes create. Love the reality. Love that many types of LGBT personalities are represented. This is one series where you will watch several of the episodes repeatedly. I would have scored it higher if they would have given the director's and Gene's manager less screen time - both of them are so irritating. LOL

What you will notice in this series is a lack of character development. Instead of spending more time to get to know everyone - we have to sit through meaningless boring, time consuming scenes that almost mean nothing. Great - they go to a temple before the series shooting begins - that could have been covered in a flashback conversation. And, the day to day scenes weren't strong enough to hold up on their own. In other series - those hanging out together moments show true friendship and bonding doing normal things. Here - it can clearly be seen as time filler - even though the episodes are so short. It's okay - that is what the fast forward button is for.

Let's look at the characters:

Nubsib - the kind of guy both women and men would love to have. Caring, patient and honest.
Gene - in the closet only because he has kept himself isolated most of his life - not daring to even see where his feelings lie.
Tum - an appreciated character - assumed gay because of the world/career he is in but, feet firmly planted where he knows who he is. Refreshing that he never gets as angry as Gene does when people "assume".
Aoey - my least favorite character for all the reasons we see. Even though Nubsib goes out of his way to avoid him - he still feels he has a chance at a relationship with him (sad but, with that character's personality - I can understand it). We needed this character to represent that large segment of the LGBT population. Happy he was part of the series.
Loved Korn's character - always left you wondering.
The director and Gene's manager hold the place for typical over the top annoying characters. There were several times when the director was speaking that I yelled at the TV for him to stop talking. Gene's manager is pretty awful. If I were Gene - when it came time for contract renewal I would ask for her replacement or, move to a better company.
Tiffy - pretty cool character - loved her transformation.
Hin and Mhok were cool - would have loved more time with them.

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Like or dislike it, but it's something new. At last something new!

The story of the two mains is barely there in episode 1; highlights for episode 2 reveal a little and it seems that in this BL events move faster that it is usual. Whether it’ll develop into something really good – remains to be seen, but that’s not why I’m writing a review after watching just the first episode.

It’s the setting of the series that’s really interesting. You’re making a BL series? Let’s set it on … the set of a BL series! You know those “behind the scenes” specials that supposedly reveal how a series is produced? Forget about them; we’ll show you the real “behind the scenes”. In episode 1 it worked great – and it doesn’t matter if you take this part seriously or as parody. The whole casting part, with YouTubers showing up, with Kaownah and Turbo as a famous shipped couple forced to do fan service (and clearly tired of it), the comedic casting scene, the later meeting and discussing who’s really gay and what the producers of a TV series can support and what goes too far – all of that was well done, interesting and new. Even the first encounter of Gene and Nubsib was used to mock BL productions – when lights went out, spotlight hit the two mains and Nubsib began his over-the-top performance, Gene was almost shocked by the surrealism of this scene. BTW: all of that showed that the series has a lot of distance to itself and to the genre as such – which is a good thing. But where episode 1 shined for me was Aey’s bathroom scene. Unlike all the other scenes, which are comedic, the bathroom scene is played not for laughs, but completely straight. The cheerful music ends and the tone shifts to sober. Lack of dialogue and focus on Aey’s face only add to that. The hesitation, the frustration, the struggle to keep smiling even when he’s alone: thanks to that you can see cracks in a sycophantic, phony façade he forces himself to put on. Aey just might be truly relatable (unlike other characters): a lonely person trying to stay strong in a world were likes and comments on social media are how success is measured. The tonal contrast between this scene and the rest of the episode makes it stand out; I watched it 3 times before continuing with the rest of the episode. A little gem.

I cannot decide whether “Lovely Writer” is meant as a parody (as some have assumed), fiction, social commentary, criticism of BL’s or a blatant attempt to exploit BL fans by supposed criticism of what they love and uncovering fake secrets of the industry. I cannot decide and I’m fine with that – I’m writing this after watching episode 1 and it would be weird for me to know the above. Maybe later episodes will explain that – I don’t know. What I do know is that it was much more entertaining and interesting than any episode 1 of any BL series I’ve seen.

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"Awful prediction" after watching episode 2: Nubsib was coaxed into "becoming sexual" with Gene (possibly a package deal: Nubsib gets to star in the series based on Gene's first novel but has to get involved with him) by Gene's publisher to make Gene's next novel hot & steamy. Eventually Nubsib will fall for Gene, but the truth will get revealed - much to Gene's horror, creating the necessary BL drama. I'm rather dumb, slow and drawing conclusions isn't my forte, but I came up with that "awful prediction" after the last moments of episode 2 - I think it was Nubsib's voice saying he didn't want to open his eyes while kissing Gene, as he was afraid of breaking character. That was my clue and I concluded that Nubsib is playing a role, pretending to be interested in Gene.

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After watching episode 5: Aey has several times more backstory and stuff to work with than Gene. Aey's character might actually have some depth. The way the story of Gene and Nubsib is told, seems conventional (with something weird about Nubsib and things he's hiding), while the story of Aey is told in a different manner (and there's much more of a story to tell). Him and Mork? I'd vote for that!

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No tension and weird pacing

The premise was pretty interesting so i thought this would be good. On top of that it's BL meta, so i felt like it'd be hard to mess up.

I was wrong on both accounts.

I just don't want to sacrifice my time watching a series that doesn't adequately hook me by episode 3. Not to say nothing progresses but there's just nothing that leaves me wanting.

I don't want to hear "it gets good by episode 6" or something because that means suffering through 2 more to get there. It's not worth it when there's shows I've already found that are painless.

Either because of writing, acting, editing or cinematography, but the feelings of the main characters just don't come across onscreen. Because i don't know what they're feeling at any given movement, as a result i don't feel anything. The music felt out of place too.

I watch romance to feel something and this show just didn't do it for me.

You can't tell "character a likes character b" because of their feelings, only because of stereotypical actions which come across with no emotion.

There's also a small flashback they waited too long to reveal. The timing should have been way sooner.

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Personal opinion

I was looking forward to watching this series since it had such a hype. However, it's starting to rub me the wrong way since I started following it.

For instance, it may seemed like the series is exposing what's happening in the entertainment industry but it only seemed they held themselves at a higher standard than the rest yet they are infact doing exactly the same thing as the rest. Shading while at the same time trying to make a profit from what they're shading? Distasteful. Also, its never a smart move by putting others down just to make yourself seem better.

Additonally, they also implied that BL shouldnt just focus on steamy scenes yet they're using their own steamy scene as the main edit in their promotional videos. How contradictory is that? Their actions doesn't match up to their words.

What I genuinely wanted to say is, it's okay for this series to want to seem like they had it better. But actions speak louder than words and they aren clearly not practising what they preached.

Needless to say I'm disappointed. Maybe thats how they can get people talking about the series and create cloud. But I won't be recommending this series on my review blog.

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It was so cute series!♡

This series was rly cute and funny but I did't hype so much for this. I think it's more people who are lil bit new in bl drama fans! But I would rewatch it still heh♡! THE STORY IN MY BRAINS: Professional writer named Gene tried writing different and new genre wich was BL. His writingwas so successful, so it gets adapted into BL drama. Gene was invited to see the actors so he could say wich was the best actor for the main role. All of them were bad until Nubsib came (Called "Sib" too). Sib get the main role but he doesn't have place to stay, so he is going to stay with Gene in Gene's house.

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Enjoyable

I'm on the 3rd episode. The storyline is interesting, light, smooth, and fun. This is basically romcom with a little bit of problems related to BL industry. Both of the main characters have grey characters (honestly, they're kinda cunning but they aren't villains). I think you need to take a look at this series if you like something light and A LOT of fan service lol.

However, you will know that there will be conflicts with fans if you watch the trailers. They would be something serius in real life, but I think this series wouldn't go that far with this kind of story. I don't mind something realistic (read: big problems caused by fans) but I think this series will keep the story as fun as possible. Enjoy!

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Did the writer change mid season???

Amazing start and then story just …

Loved how the show was able to show the behind the scenes aspects of a typical BL series. However, all of that is dropped after episode 5-6. Good actors can’t really save mediocre writing. I really believe they changed writers mid season.

Some aspects of the show were so good in the beginning. The first time I saw the request for product placement scene (within the show within the series) and then the actual product placement I laughed out loud. Absolutely brilliant I thought but by the 4th time I was struggling to find it funny.

The whole aspect of having sex scenes in the book and the show as that is what sells and the writers struggle to write them were great but then they have the actual setup scene for the first time sex between the main couple that was one of the most bizarre juvenile things I have ever had the misfortune of watching (I fast forwarded though it, it was so cringe).

I feel that while there wasn’t a whole lot of character development for sib he was one of the best written characters in the show (well acted as well considering the dialogue/script). The poor actor playing Gene however was left portraying someone with an IQ of 70 looking dazed and confused all the time past episode 6 (with some limited infrequent scenes showing him in better light but majority of the times I was screaming MORON). Completely incongruous with a PUBLISHED author and not of just romance genre as he is supposedly a fantasy writer.

The whole you didn’t tell me who you were reaction from Gene was also ODD as heck. It made no sense and then the turn around for it was so sudden as well. The writing needs a LOT of help.

Pacing was so good till episode 6 and then it was very uneven.

Too many side stories that were added just to pad the story. I felt they could have ended the show at 6 episodes and we would have been much happier.

The initial reaction of the parents was portrayed so well and then Sibs’ parents’ scene with the bonsai tree were done well. Don’t understand how it went from that to we care about our reputation more and if you get us this deal we will “look the other way” of your deviant behavior. The attempt at levity was so poorly handled.

Gene’s parents behavior had the same problems. They needed better handle on the writing. There was a scene after Gene’s dad tells him they are okay and the boys meet where Gene asks Sib what will he do if Gene’s dad doesn’t agree to let them be together. Clearly 2 drafts were made and editing was at fault for including an earlier scene.

I am still going to try and finish the series but I have been really really disappointed. Such a waste of good talent. Camera work is amazing , majority of the actors are really good and parts of the dialogue/script are really good.

Update:

I finished the series and I am still disappointed, the show did highlight problems with shipping actors and the effect it has on the real actor's real lives but the stakes weren't actually high enough for the characters chosen for this. Neither one of the main characters is lacking money. Gene is already a successful writer and his relationship with Sib will have no impact on his bankability in fact it should actually improve it. For Sib he has no interest in acting anyway as it has been established that he became interested in this only to get close to Gene.

I also found other issues with the last few episodes. Aey's arc was left dangling and Tiffy's character was completely ruined for me. Tiffy not accepting Tum initially and then doing an about turn and then dumping him really was strange at the very least. It could have been a sweet story of love blossoming between co-workers but it wasn't done justice.

I actually had no issues with seeing the writer inside her own show as I think writer do need to be recognized. It did however, have an unfortunate effect of trivializing the character's struggles as being fictional (a show within a show). If they hadn't included the last scene of the writer writing at her desk it would have been much better IMHO.

I really want to see all the actors in a better made series.

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Honestly I was looking forward to their kissing scene but it was so bad? Very awkward I must say. Comparing to my fav kissing from LBC, it was bad. I mean who kisses like that folding in their lips???

Maybe its too early to tell since but my expectations were high hence the contrast in what I find lacking.

The story was kinda copying Why R U too with G being a BL writer. Also, I kept getting a TT vibe from LW? It made me felt like nothing in this series is a little bit original? Well no BL series is anyways so that i shall overlook.

I hope in later episodes i would see more chemistry from the actors. So far liking the visuals but the acting felt really stiff and made me want to drop it.

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Episode 1-4

The first episode and I love the story line, it looks at actors behind the scene with fans interactions, I thought that this was an amazing idea since fans can get to much and believe what is on the drama.

Things are going slower compaired to other Thai dramas I have watch, but really like where it is going at the moment but it got confusing for me at some points in the drama.

I like the main actors and the connection with each others so far and liking forward to the rest of the episodes.

Have not seen that much of the other leads yet, hopefully we can see them soon.

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BORING BL BUT GOOD ACTOR

Honestly, I am not happy with this series. The plot just meh. The actor is alright. I don't really like the main actor. I only watch because of Up. Such a shame why he didn't pair up with Zee for this series. The lead is very amateur and he squint his eyes A LOT. It's so cringe. Honestly, the side pairing is not that bright either. I am disappointed with this series because Up's actor is top notch and we could see the difference between his acting and other..

Cinematography is alright but still, slight cringe comparing to 'Cutie Pie'. can we normalize having good camera angle for BL series instead of cringe zooms in and zoom outs? I don't know how people love this series cause for me it's just okay. The plot is cliché and i kind of see it coming. Honestly, I just don't like the cast except for Up. He has potential and he should have be in actual GOOD series.

What a shame.

Overall, 5/10 because of Up's acting is good. Other than that, not at all my cup of tea.

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