Ah, yes, quality content.
It was a pleasant surprise, to be honest. I've seen so many dramas already that I'm kind of used to (and a little tired of) seeing the same tropes repeating over and over again, so you can imagine how my mood took a turn for the better once I noticed that the story was opening up to new content. One in every twenty dramas turns out really good!You know what? I watched this right after TharnType 2 and, honestly, anything you watch after that mess is going to look glorious in comparison. But I promise I am not being bias here. I genuinely, from the bottom of my heart think this drama was a very much needed change in the BL genre and I'm very content with it.
~Story:
Captivating. You got me hooked up once you showed me this wasn't going to be set at an university, so that's a good start. Some of the characters were still studying, but the story itself didn't touch upon that side of their lives. The biggest highlight about it is how realistic and relatable it felt compared to what you may be used to. Either the author/writers had personal experience, or they did their homework very well because this is, to me, the most relatable series so far. We had plot twists that left me shook and a triggering reality that I never understood why people make such a fuss about it. Why do people get so mad to the point of making a scandal when an idol is confirmed to be in a relationship? Probably one of the pettiest things to be upset about and my gay ass will never make an effort to understand people like this because they are not worth anyone's time.
By the way, whatever the hell drama they were recording within the drama was terrible. One part of me thinks the author was trying to make fun of all those dramas that are the same damn thing and, if that's the case, I love her. Get them, Jade!
~Cast:
What is this? Professionalism!? IN THIS ECONOMY!? The audacity!
I always wonder: if you can find actors this good, why do some dramas hire such horrible ones? Make it make sense! Let's go through the main cast, though:
~Gene/Nubsib: From the promo image, I knew Kao was going to do a good job. His performance in Until We Meet Again was pretty damn good and, even though I was left traumatized back then, he didn't disappoint me in the slightest. Up was also very good. A little too much some times, but he didn't let down. The chemistry was excellent between them.
The only time when I felt it was too much is on the episode he got really angry. It was a very petty reason that didn't require such level of anger, to be honest. I think the feelings would have been expressed better if he had just straight up punch Gene.
~Aey: I. LOVE. THIS. ASSHOLE. SO. DAMN. MUCH! This character was so well written and with a solid personality that you could tell exactly what type of guy he was going to be. Bruce did a very good job, specially with his facial expressions that unveiled more about the inner emotions of Aey. There were some things here and there that were missing, like, we needed to have a little bit more of his story to figure out why he did certain actions. For example, I had no clue what were his intentions with the livestream scene.
The episode with the family dinner was so good. I just love how good this drama was at building tension and then making it explode. Props to the director.
I related the most with him because, I mean, I am this character. I already saw my future and I can't complain because I probably deserve it hahahaha!
~Tiffy: Honorable mention because she's so unbelievably beautiful. I love a character that's unique and she definitely was something that you don't usually see often.
~The author: Girl, i just knew it as soon as I saw her. It was probably the most wholesome moment in the series and for some reason I was so close to crying. First of all, she's absolutely adorable and there's just something about her looking at her babies from across the room that felt so touching. I can only imagine the pride one could feel by seeing your characters that you spent so much time working on being brought to life by two amazing actors.
~Editing and Pacing:
I am not a big fan of hour-long episodes, but this one is an exception. Some things were dragged for a little too long and that is the biggest downside of this drama. The editing was good and consistent making the story flow nicely and even. I do wish, though, that they didn't focused on their past on just one episode. I would've preferred if we had bits and pieces through the episodes and then connect those with the moment, but that's just a preference of mine.
Mama this show has everything: Good plot, excellent cast, plot twists, trips to the past, truths and lies, male titties, dat bitch, absolutely horrible haircuts, petty scandals by petty fandom, brushing your teeth without wetting the paste first. I mean, what else could you want? I highly recommend this drama, specially if it's your first time or if you're bored by the copy paste that most BL dramas are lately. This one is genuinely so good.
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Very good and could have been excellent.
First, let me start by saying how much I admire the makers of this series for taking on dealing with the ugly underbelly of the industry they work in. And then balancing this darkness with what is largely a light and lovely love story, with actors that are just right for their parts.It should have gotten a 10 stars from me, and it would have if it was 10 episodes instead of 12. As much as I enjoyed watching the bad guy crying and sulking, at one point there was just too much of it. The whole series could have benefited from better editing and a tighter pace.
Still, the series was very good and I've never seen a happy ending as spectacular or unique as the one they gave us!
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definitely the best thai BL i've watched!
this has a really really nice story, i love it. all the characters were really well written and i liked how in throughout the series, it subtly points out flaws and problems in most BL series, it shows that what you see on screen is not everything that happens behind. in the end BL actors are still actors, the character they play are just fictional, etc. i liked how it shows problems that happen in the entertainment industry, and as well as the in the lives of those who play LGBTQ+ characters/people who ARE in the LGBTQ+ community. the writer did really well.the cast were amazing, all the actors did really well and the series was well-directed. the actor who played aey really did well, he made me want to punch him in the damn face every time he appeared LMAO. and props to all the crew who helped made this series, all did very well. overall, i love it, and i definitely recommend this :)Was this review helpful to you?
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Must Watch !
Since I don’t have enough time to write a long review yet because of time constraints. I’m going to put in some of my main thoughts on Lovely Writer The Series.I really did like Lovely Writer for what it stood for even if it lacked some things. The two major things that bothered me were:
Some of the Scenes were just so unnecessarily long. They did not need to show us them staring at each other for 10 minutes where they 2 or 3 sentences. We get it. Halfway through the show I started fast forwarding these long crying scenes or staring scenes making the ep take 40 minutes instead of 1h 20m.
“Wolf in sheep’s clothes” was it? By this metaphor I felt like we were going to get… more I guess. With all this mystery and dark aura around Nubsib, I expected more than him hiding the fact that they knew each other. But hey, at least nothing ground breaking.
- Aoey just annoyed the shit out of me. Kudos to the actor really. For me I always find the praise for antagonist actors a bit too much. Because it’s very easy for me to dislike someone and it’s also very easy to be mean. So acting out a bad character isn’t ground breaking for me. But Bruce did so well with Aoey that I really just hated the character to my bones. I think the way it ended with Aoey is pretty good because well, realism thank you. It’s not because you have a bad family background that you can ruin other people’s lives.
- Tiffy did bother me with how much she did not want to be stereotyped but was okay assuming things about Tum and stereotyping him. They never really explained what was happening there but I’ll let it slide.
I am letting any plot holes slide just because what Lovely Writer stood for is kind of revolutionary and maybe even paved the way for others. If you think about it, Lovely Writer took a risk with what they showed, they showed us the reality as much as they could.
I truly think Lovely Writer is a must watch, not for the love and romance plot but for everything else. From toxicity, social media, abuse of power, money, family, personalities, lies, gender norms, sexuality, hopes and dreams, hard work, identity, dangers of shipping and personal life.
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Fresh, New and Just An Amazing Experience.
Starting with the story, this has to have one of the most well written plots I have seen in BL and trust me, I have seen a lot, some of the plots were good but the relationship was toxic and IM SO GLAD THIS SERIES DID WHAT IT DID.THIS IS GOING TO CONTAIN SPOILERS SO ALL I FAN SAY IS: I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
I loved all of the characters, even the antagonists and the depth that each character had made them so much more charming to me. Aoey was such a pathetic and pitiful character, I just had absolutely no way I can hate him, the entirety of the fact that he's a bad person and he KNOWS how horrible he is both breaks my heart and makes me like him more.
I adore how this series tackled some very sensitive topics that are barely talked about and how it simply called out the hypocrisy of the BL industry, from the management and system to the fans, as a BL fan, this opened my eyes so much and I'm so happy it did.
The fact that they addressed how harmful NC scenes are?? Made me so happy, I have never liked NC scenes and honestly I don't think anyone should. The entire bit of "My Engineer" was too real... Really really too real, That shows how harmful those kinds of shows are.
On a random note, I love how Gene commented on BL being "just a fantasy", That was so true on so many levels and it drives me crazy.
Also, Gene's dad is Bisexual? Damn, that's just.. it's amazing, I swear to god, this representation was top notch, I was so happy to see a bisexual character and the coming out episode just made me cry.
ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT TIFFY AND TUM?? THIS TYPE OF REPRESENTATION, THIS TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP WAS ALL I EVER NEEDED IN LIFE. I just completely adore their relationship, one thing I have a problem with is Tiffy's audacity to just assume Tim's sexuality ??? I didn't like that, BUT WHEN HE RAPPED-
As much as I loved this story, I will have to admit that there were some pretty.. boring scenes and stuff that felt like they were empty, I haven't skipped almost any scene but there were some parts that felt empty and kind of unnecessary.
Now for the casting, I LOVED IT. The characters were so perfectly alligned with the actors, I loved every actor and I swear, only like 2 seconds in did I comment on the actors' visuals.
Kao's visuals will never fail to make my jaw drop, He is so incredibly handsome and I honestly loved his acting too.
And Up, Up is so adorable and I just couldn't get enough of his astronomical acting skills.
The osts were also super catchy but I didn't like them as much as I would usually like most osts, REGARDLESS, I loved this show.
AND THE ENDING, THE ENDING MADE ME SO EUPHORIC OH MY GOD I FEEL LIKE IM FLOATING. I swear I was crying not long before the ending, The way the characters broke the fourth wall was so SMART, the creativity of the writer of this show is amazing.
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extra cute
OK SO the plot idea is so great and storyline progressed so well!! i literally LOVED every character's story!! it's extra extra rare for me to feel this way towards a drama, especially BL. I LOVE SibGene, TumTiffy, even Hin's story! every character has depth and their relationship is so HEALTHY. that's a freaking big point right there. At first, i really felt weird towards nubsib bc he seemed to be so stubborn and pushy, but he actually was not :DDtoo bad that aoey didn't get his happy ending tho :( ik he made a real big mistake but baby boi had been thru a lot too :(( he just wanted some attention, but why didn't he just accept mhok's love then... this one is confusing tbh, maybe it's bc of the lack of backstory to aoey's past..? i'm guessing that the author has another story that'll e focused on them..
The casting....... NO COMMENT, kao and up's acting was off the charts! they literally did a super great job acting as their character as well as a couple in love. Their love scenes from pick-up lines to steamy kisses were not awkward AT ALL. i was actually quite surprised because there were A DAMN LOTSSSS of kiss scenes but every scene rlly looked superrr natural!!
the other actors and actreeses did a very good job as well!!
Cinematography and filmography was pretty good. the graphic designs was also cute. the ost was actually a bit catchy, but i don't really like it. Literallhy the only flaw it has, i guess?
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A real eye-opener
From the behind the scenes in the production for BL series, to the mutual respect for people's private lives, Lovely Writer delivers a message that was long needed when it comes to the industry and the parasocial relations that follow.Everyone did an amazing job with their role, but for me personally I found Bruce, Up and Kao to be the powerhouses for carrying all the way through. Their development, growth and expressions from beginning to end were excellent. Acting is strong in this show in general. Furthermore, as stated previously, there are a lot of messages in this show which also act out as callouts. I am surprised at how much they gave these issues the spotlight, as it was much needed and there is that glimmer of hope where people will recognize the rights and wrongs, and hopefully respect people that work in this industry because in the end, we are all people. Another plus is how almost every character plays an important role to the story. Most of the side characters/pairings develop in different ways which also add onto how the plot progresses. There's a variety of different walks of life, personalities and more that aren't the "carbon copy" support characters. And of course, Gene and Nubsib's relationship was wonderful to watch. From the ups (haha puns for days), to downs, the understanding, to setting boundaries, their relationship is one of the most natural I've seen in a show. I mean hey, having picture perfect characters would be boring, right?
The story does have some plot holes that I do wish were covered properly or at least given more time to understand, but for the most part it was well done.
In the beginning there might be people who will find the sound effects annoying (I'm on the bandwagon for that) but please give the show a try, there's more to it than quirky noises. Majority of scenes don't have them.
Overall, a really good series that does a good job at pointing out the main problems while also maintaining separate relationships and growth.
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The Quiet Moments and Serious Conversations
11/10! That's my actual score. (It would have been 12/10 but that scene with the toilet humor just took it too far. Just the idea of..., no thank you.)I haven't been in love with a Thai show since the second season of SOTUS. I am thoroughly impressed. Crazy thing was, I didn't have any expectations when starting the series. I just watched it because someone mentioned the couple reminding them of another guy/guy couple. Eventually, the show grew on me. The characters and creative direction grew on me. I feel like, if I had more time to wax poetry about this show and not do my coursework, then I most definitely would. Just a highlight of what I loved from this show:
1 - Gene and Sib and their developing relationship through honest communication. (Sib took a while to be honest, but once he did he never lied or hid anything from Gene again.)Their backstory, reunion and ending was well-rounded and I'm happy with their conclusion. I didn't leave the series wanting more because it was lacking or wanting to forget what I saw because it wasn't worth my time. No, all's well that end's well. Everyone got a just ending it seems (Aoey too!) and it was fitting. No issues there.
2 - The music and sound direction. I love the quiet moments in the series. The moments where minimum to no dialogue happens and there's only nonverbal communication and visual interpretations of the emotional atmosphere at that moment in time. The first time it happened after Gene and Sib kissed and the white fadeout screen and Gene writing out the scene for his novel and the audience seeing the kiss happen through that as a memory and flashback was surprisingly creative but unique. So I love it. There's more moments in the series when its quiet and intimate for the people on screen. (Tiffy and Tum were very awkward and hard to read at the beginning of the series but as the show continued they made more sense to me and their interactions held more meaning the more the viewer got to know them. )
3 - The acting! The acting was everything for me. Gene is quite lovely. The actor fits the role perfectly, I think. He was mean, quiet, nonchalant, nervous, naive, shy, serious, silly, mature, kind and complex. He was relatable as a human and I liked that it was easy to understand how serious Gene took his writing and his career. Sib was a firecracker and I loved him for it. He followed through on whatever he said he will do and was so brutal and blunt that it was refreshing to see against Gene when Gene gets shy and polite in public. They mesh well together in that aspect.
The meeting near the end of the series, before the Press Conference was my favorite scene of Sib. Everything he said to Tum's sister was true! All of the side characters were memorable too. Loved Hin and Tum! They suffered too and their pain and struggles were just as gut-wrenching and sad. I had tears for them when they were sad and abused and joy for them when they were happy and successful. I appreciate the attention to detail for their stories and character depth as well. This show really felt layered and more complicated than I originally thought and I love it. (I said that already but it's true.)
4 - The social commentary and serious conservations. The moment in the later episodes of the family dinner after the main couple admits to themselves that they want to be together but they're not sure about coming public with it yet - was tense but realistically harsh and necessary. The conversation concerning the toxic nature of the entertainment and BL industry as well as the political ideology of those of the older or more conservative background have on the topic of gay men and their human rights was a reality check in such a fantastical show. The show didn't go into the debate of legalizing same-sex marriage in Thailand but it did raise some interesting questions about how people in Thailand see BL as just an entertainment phase and not a prelude for more legal rights granted to LGBTQ+ members living in Thailand. (Almost as if some people think that it's all fun and games until someone actually is gay. Props to Gene's mom for being the first to come around and leading the other parents to broaden their horizons so they don't miss out on their son's lives.)
There's more! Oh there's more but this is something I can see myself rewatching over and over again. Plus, that last episode and the last 30 minutes of the romantic scenario scenes were the metaphorical cherry on top! I was smiling so hard the whole time! Gene's outfit looked like it was tailored just for him. I saw the costume interpretations of Snow White, Juliet and Cinderella on Gene and started to clap out loud. My neighbors probably hate me but whatever! They broke the 4th wall in that last episode and the true ending was so touching. So happy for Gene, Gene & Sib and Ms. Rose - who wrote Lovely Writer??
Just brilliant. Take all of my money.
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“The TV station needs to use sweet moments between Nubsib and Aey to promote the series, so as to gain viewership.” aka the tale that exposes how even the people behind the BL industry know the quality of the content they create is not good enough to gain the viewers, so they can only rely on cheap tricks attracting delusional fans. Lovely Writer had a great beginning and the end, with a rather mediocre middle part. Exploring the romantic relationship between Gene and Nubsib in the context of the BL industry was interesting, but the moment the focus moved from that to a childhood connection, it lost the appealing aspect that made me invested in the story.
Gene was also quite a frustrating character. One would think by episode 11 we would witness some character development, him standing up for himself, not being so easily swayed and manipulated. Sadly, that is exactly who he was till the end of the show.
Nubsib was rather one dimensional. Everything about him revolved around Gene. All his goals and motivations were related to Gene. Each decision he made was influenced by what he thought would get him closer to Gene. Sure, their scenes together were extremely cute, they were an adorable couple, but I always wish to see the characters not only as a part of a relationship, but also as their own individuals.
Many character developments happened in the last episode, and I was questioning where most of it came from? We had a 4 month time jump, so I guess all the self-reflection happened off-screen.
I have to say, after I picked this drama again, I started to appreciate the fakeness of Aey more. His “I’m fine, I’m not sad about Gene and Nubsib” live was truly iconic. Him trying to manipulate the situation left and right was simply entertaining to watch. He was the definition of a professional victim.
One thing I for sure appreciated was how the comments fans were making in the show truly reflected the nonsense some fans are saying in real life, for example “How can prime minister allow this” - I’m sorry, but what does prime minister has to do with 2 young gay dudes dating?
It’s nice to see a BL drama drag the problematic aspects of BL industry, even if the topic was addressed only at the beginning and the end of the show. Discrimination happening during the production, the lack of personal freedom for actors, the overbearing and intrusive delusional fans and many other issues that go even beyond the industry itself.
That said, some things missed the mark for me. Lines like “I might look gay, but I’m straight” - I get the good intentions, pointing out that liking feminine stuff does not make one gay, but framed in such a manner it suggest there is in fact something like “looking gay”.
The thing that bothered me the most was the introduction of the past/kids story. It was borderline inappropriate. While just the scenes did not really cross the line, how they were framed was a problem. Adding music typically associated with romantic scenes, Gene saying they will reignite their past affection (if they were not romantically involved, there would be nothing to reignite) and how salty he was simply because a child from his past did not show up to say goodbye. How Nubsib kept saying he was already in love with Gene back then. All that context made it borderline wrong. Gene was a teenager, Nubsib was a child - it did make me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Acting wise, Up delivered what he was asked to deliver and what the audience might want to see. I loved him in the role of Gene, even if at times I felt frustrated with the character. Kao… looked nice? For sure he can sell the confident flirty look, but sadly, I was not convinced by more emotional scenes. Overall, the whole cast did well. My favorite ones were definitely Up and Zorzo.
Overall, Lovely Writer has some amazing elements that were truly refreshing to see in BL. It falls back into some stereotypes and cliché bits, but at the end of the day, it was quite an enjoyable watch.
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So well written and acted
I went into this drama not quite sure what to expect. The synopsis was interesting so I thought I'd give it a try and it did not disappoint. So let's dive into it.First things first - I am a newcomer to the world of BL. As a queer person myself queer media is important. BL however is not a good representation usually of what queer life is really like. I know this and accept it. I just go about my way and enjoy it for it's entertainment value and try not to get too wrapped up in the other things. Obviously there are some hard no things for me - SA is a hard no for me. Certain questionable plot devices I can overlook because they're not super annoying.
Storyline:
After enough engineer University BL to kill a large herd of elephant the storyline of this BL is unique. There may be an engineer university involved but it's used only to provide that the plot is overused in the industry. Who hasn't seen this plot over and over again and isn't tired of it? When first meeting Sib he seems like any other BL actor (either written or acted) but over the course of the 12 episodes and the growth of both the actor and the character we see that this is not just a story about a writer falling in love with an actor but of flawed individuals coming to term with their own realities and the world around them that is trying everything in their power to destroy their lives. In this mix we see the high price paid by actors in the industry when trying to live private lives while still having to promote in the toxic fan service ship culture. Gene is in such denial of who he is in the beginning that the dinner with his friends causes so much pain that he has to numb with enough alcohol to drown that pain. Over the course of this series and these character lives only the surface of what these actors have to deal with on and off screen is explored. I feel like there were areas that weren't dealt with more in-depth due to the fear of alienating the audience who would rather live in that fantasy of these actors having real life relationships offscreen. The end of this series made so much sense with the actors disappearing and only the woman writer left because at the end of the day characters aren't real, series end and actors go back to their real lives. What a beautiful way to tell people that what they see on screen is not real.
Acting:
I have one word for this - BRUCE. My god can that man act. Every scene of his, every smirk, every lip wobble, every word, every tear he sold that role with his entire soul. I hated that character so much I wanted to reach into the screen half the time and throttle him. The character got exactly what he put out into the world returned to him 1000% but in the end it was so painful to watch. I wanted him to grow out of this behavior but he was so damaged that it was impossible at that time. I see nothing but good stuff for this actor in the future. Please someone give him some main roles where his acting skills won't be wasted. As for Kai, I saw so much grown in him between UWMA and this role and I'm so happy to see it. I enjoyed him in UWMA but he didn't sell the character to me in the end. However, in this series he sold this character so much better. He stumbled in the beginning but once he got his feet under him and began to really mesh with Up and the storyline his acting got better and better. Up as Gene was enjoyable to watch. I didn't see him as a breakout actor in this series as he seemed to have two emotions - blank faced or crying his eyes out. There wasn't much else to his role and I would have liked to see more. Nu as Gene's father was a standout as actors who play parents. So may parents in these BL are just no entities; they exist just as a way to try to stir emotions in the audience. I felt the anguish his father went through having deny his own homosexuality as a young man. I felt the fear that he had for his own child. I didn't feel that the character loved Gene's mother any less because he was bisexual and that's because Nu could act well and showed that depth of character.
Music:
Nothing special about the music; it was basic run of the mill BL music so nothing stuck in my head.
Re-Watch Value:
While this was an enjoyable series it's not something I would rewatch.
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It has really unique story plus amazing ending!!
I dont write reviews at all !but this one forced me to do so !So as title lovely writer i must say script and caste are really lovely ...its rare to see unique stories and i was sick of seeing university stories ! this one was totally different type ! well better than my expectations for it ! I dint expect much from it but it really nailed it !
First thing which is best about this series is that its just so cute ,heart fluttering and worth watching totally for those who are beginner in bl (just like me ) , the way the couples bicker is so cute and funny !
Second is the role of nubsib its just so amazing i totally fell in love with the ml after this because i had seen his other drama "until we meet again " And i dint like him at all because he was just so stone faced dint smile at all expression less but in this one i must say he had such an great role even though its just acting but i could find it very realistic and trust me his character will make one smile all the time ! Role of gene is amazing as well !
Third this series is really unique showing all dark sides of bl industry eg toxic fans , family issues and what not but it proves that at end love is winner noatter what gender !
Over all its cute , light and ofc amazing drama which is totally worth watching till end !
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Bold but flawed storytelling
Things I liked about the series:- I was so excited to see this series when I heard that Kao from Until We Meet Again was the main actor. I loved him as Kao, so I was looking forward to seeing him again. Since we’re already talking about Kao, let’s dive into his and Up’s acting and chemistry. No surprise, both actors were superb. I was so used to seeing Kao with Cooheart that I wasn’t sure how if I’d be able to picture him with Up. Surprisingly, Kao and Up seemed to suit each other a lot better than KaoEarth. As the show progressed their chemistry grew, and I loved their interactions. Playing someone like Nubsib wasn’t easy since the character had a lot of layers and personality to him, but Kao managed to play him amazingly. Same for Up and his role as Gene. Gene was so cute and adorable with his many facial expressions and his annoyance with Nubsib’s antics. I love this pairing so much.
- I want to dive into Up’s character more for a personal reason. Gene is an author who wrote his first BL novel—which was in the process of becoming a BL series—and was also writing another one due to popular demands. I’m also an author who wrote gay romance novels in my career, so I was able to relate with Gene on a deeper level. The subtle jabs at writing a BL novel—romanticizing sexual harassment, oversaturated NC scenes, concern if fans like a book for the plot or for the sex scenes—were all things I’ve experienced in my career, so it really hit home for me. Romance genre in general is notorious for romanticizing things like sexual harassment, nonconsensual advances, rape, etc, and the raunchier the book the more popular it becomes. It isn’t just the BL/MM industry, but the entire romance genre. Sex sells and we as authors are made to believe that we need sex scenes for a book to be a hit, even if we feel the plot doesn’t need it. It’s a very unsatisfying feeling when you don’t want those kinds of scenes in your book, but you have to put them in for fans to read them.
- Let’s also dive into Nubsib because I feel like this character has been getting a lot of unnecessary hate from fans and reactors. Part of that reason is the show’s misleading depiction of Nubsib being “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Many people read that and believed that Nubsib was a bad guy who could possibly hurt Gene or manipulate him. The reality of Nubsib being a wolf was that he was Gene’s childhood friend, and honorary brother to Gene’s family. Both their families are neighbors and have regarded each other as family. They separated years ago when Gene went to study abroad. Years later, Nubsib heard about Gene’s book becoming a novel, so he pretends to not know who Gene is so he could try to make Gene fall in love with him without Gene looking at Nubsib as a brother. That was it. There was no malicious intent, or using Gene to get what he wants other than him wanting Gene as a boyfriend. Many people don’t understand why Nubsib would lie to Gene about who he was, so let me give you an insight. In Asian culture, dating someone you consider family, even if they aren’t related by blood, is highly frowned upon. So with Gene and Nubsib being honorary brothers, the odds of them being a couple if Gene knew would’ve been slim to none. So in that sense, I get why Nubsib lied, but it still doesn’t erase the fact that lying was wrong. And I loved that Gene made sure Nubsib understood that. In Gene’s own words, he said that if this was a novel, this would’ve been a sweet moment, but this is reality, and you need to understand that what you did was wrong. I love how Gene made sure Nubsib took responsibility for his actions instead of just sweeping it under the rug. Other than that, there wasn’t anything to depict Nubsib as a bad guy. His motives for getting close to Gene were questionable, but he’s never done anything to harm or abuse Gene. Even when Gene was drunk and throwing himself at Nubsib, Sib refused to take advantage of him. Consent was a big deal for Nubsib, always asking for permission before doing something with Gene, and that makes me love him even more. I’ve seen BL characters who are far more toxic and abusive who fans have excused time and again—like Tharn, Type, and Lhong from TharnType, and Khai from Theory of Love—but with Nubsib, people are looking for every excuse to hate on him. Quite the double standards if you ask me. Nubsib is one of the least toxic BL characters in the industry and doesn’t deserve any of the hate he was getting.
- If we’re going to talk about jabs, then let’s talk about the main topic of this series. Lovely Writer was written as a way to spread awareness of the toxicity of the BL industry and fanservice. Honestly, I felt that we needed something like this, because fanservice is very destructive. Toxic fans have an issue separating fantasy with real life. They see a BL couple on screen and they automatically want them to start dating in real life. When they don’t, their ship sinks, and fans start attacking the same actors they claimed to love. Or if an actor reveals they’re dating someone else, fans will start harassing their boyfriends/girlfriends. To be fair, it’s not just the fans making this a toxic environment. Studios would have the actors play as a couple both onscreen and offscreen as a way of promoting their show, which I do not agree with. Their acting should just be on screen only, and let the actors be themselves off screen. All it does is further feed the toxic fandom which is damaging to an actors mental health. So many BL actors would leave the industry all together because of this. BL fans should understand that these couples will likely not be real couples off their shows. Majority of BL actors are straight, and trying to force them to date their male co-star is disgusting and disrespectful. Please know the difference between fantasy and reality, for everyone’s sake, and if you’re going to attack a BL actor for loving someone else then clearly you’re not a real fan.
- This series has given us a plethora of side characters to follow along, which includes the side character of Tum and Tiffy. I love the dynamic between the two, and I love how they both reversed the gender stereotype. Tum took on the more feminine role while Tiffy was the badass masculine biker chick. I also loved Gene’s best friend Hin, who acted as Gene’s support system. Both Hin and Tum had family dynamic issues; Tum with his controlling sister and boss, and Hin with his father abandoning his mother and leaving their family in debt. For Tum, I was glad to finally see him standing up to Tam in the final episode. As for Hin, he saw how successful Gene’s novel was, and wanted a piece of the action in hopes of getting his mother out of financial debt. Thankfully, the final episode gave him that opportunity.
- If we’re going to talk about family, I want to talk about Nubsib and Gene’s family. They’re all very close. Their mothers go to aerobic classes together, their brothers video chat with one another, Nubsib’s father wanting to do business with Gene’s. But I wanted to talk about Gene’s father in particular. Right away we were shown a glimpse that Teep wasn’t a fan of Nubsib and Gene’s relationship. At first we think it’s the typical homophobia reason, but the show surprised us with a unique revelation. Teep used to have a boyfriend before marrying Gene’s mother. His reason for not liking Gene and Nubsib’s relationship isn’t out of hate, but out of fear. Teep fears what will happen to Gene if their relationship goes public. Public pressure and lack of support caused Teep to lose his partner, and he didn’t want that for his son. We have never seen this concept in a BL before, and I was stunned when this was revealed to us, but I also love this twist. It’s a small yet important role that also helped Gene and his father become closer. When Nubsib and Gene had to breakup while Sib was under contract, the one person Gene could turn to was Teep. This was brilliant and I loved it so much.
- I want to digest the final episode for a moment. A lot of people were disappointed that during the press conference, Nubsib and Gene decided to go along with pretending that their relationship wasn’t real. In a perfect world, yes, it would’ve been nice to see them standing up for their love in front of everyone. However, this show was trying to portray the realistic situations of the BL industry, and unfortunately, that included pretending that no other relationship exists except for the main couple of the series. It’s heartbreaking, but no BL actor has ever gone against their contract. Doing so could result in legal issues. They could be sued, they could possibly never be able to work for another agency again, and their career could’ve ended on the spot. This is why a lot of BL actors wait for their contract to end before revealing their significant other to the world. It’s safer and less expensive.
- Speaking of the ending, those different ending reenactments that Nubsib and Gene did—Snow White, Cinderella, and Romeo & Juliet—were entertaining! But did they really had to do Romeo and Juliet? This was clearly an homage to Kao’s role in Until We Meet Again, which was essentially a Romeo/Juliet love story.
- Also, that surprise plot twist in the end with the actual author of the book “Lovely Writer” was a nice touch. Unexpecting, but genius, and a perfect way to end a series about an author.
Things that I didn’t like about the series:
- This show had a great idea of showing toxicity of the BL industry, but unfortunately, the execution was sorely lacking. We only got crumbs of the BL industry because the show had too many side stories fighting for attention. I wish we had a lot more of it because it is something that needed to be addressed. While I’m satisfied with the last two-three episodes for really showing us how toxic a fandom and shipping can get, the problem was for the most part it felt like an afterthought throughout most of the series when it should’ve been a main focal point.
- What can I say about the writing? It was cluttered and messy, especially the first half of the series. The problem with having so many characters and side stories in a 12 episode series, is that they can at times clash with one another, which creates an inconsistent mess. Some side stories could also get left behind, and I feel that’s what happened with Hin's story arc. His story was compelling, but we had very little to no development until the very last episode. Aey’s side story with his parents and his relationship with Mhok was also left behind with no development, and was completely forgotten about. It’s like the writers didn’t have a clear sense of direction on where they wanted the story to go. Either that, or they tried biting far more than they could chew. There were also a lot of scenes that either lagged for far too long in order to create tension, or scenes that didn’t need to be in the series at all. One example being Tum fishing his phone out the toilet. Why was this put in? An example of a scene lagging for far too long was when Nubsib was trying to get Gene to listen to him, but Sib never says anything. So, it was thirty seconds of absolute silence.
- Since I brought up Aey, let’s talk about his character. This was by far the most confusing character in the whole series. Aey was someone I generally felt bad for because of his terrible relationship with his parents, but much like the writing for the entire series, there was no cohesion with his development or motives. I honestly don’t even know what his motives were at all, or what his goals were anymore. One minute we see he wanted to become a maker and study in France, then that whole thing was nonexistent. Next we see him wanting Nubsib, but then turns around and says he wants Gene. Aey does things and say things, but then says he regrets it the next. What is this character supposed to be about?
- In addition, what was the point of Mhok being in the series? I felt like he was only in the series for maybe two-three episodes, and then was long forgotten. I thought maybe Aey would accept Mhok as a partner, but that never happened. Instead it looks like Mhok moved on with a new series, so what was the point of having him in the show to begin with? We also don’t know anything about him? We know he’s a friend to Aey’s family, but that was it. We don’t know anything of his and Aey’s history, or his purpose in keeping an eye on Aey. Nothing like that.
- I honestly forgot Hin was even in this series until the last 3 episodes. It was like his character was completely forgotten about it, which is unfortunate because I actually liked him. I would’ve loved to have seen more of him and his journey to become a writer.
- I raved about Tum and Tiffy, but even they gave me something to be disappointed in them about. Mainly towards Tiffy and her constantly thinking that Tum is gay. Literally how many times can he say he’s not before she believes it? He’s never even given her reason to think he was! Also, her yelling at Tum when news of Nubsib and Gene’s relationship surfaced. Why? Tum literally didn’t do anything, so why was she blaming her? And the show never gave us a clear reason for why she quit being Aey’s manager, what happened?
- Okay, I’ve defended Nubsib but even I have to admit that his pursuit of Gene is somewhat problematic and stalkerish. Do I think there was malicious intent? Of course not. But yes, I can see the issue with Nubsib always needing to be close to Gene and know what’s going on with him. But again, he’s one of the least toxic BL characters I’ve seen.
Overall Thoughts:
Okay, I think I’ve covered everything I had to say about Lovely Writer. Overall, this was an entertaining series to watch with some serious discussions about the BL industry that was in desperate need of addressing. While the series plot was bold and original, the execution fell a little flat. That said, Kao and Up were an amazing pair to watch and fall in love with. The messy writing aside, I was not bored with this series. It was anything great, but it wasn’t terrible. I think what will make this series pass the test of time is the concept. This series will always be brought up when discussing the toxicity of the BL fandom, so congrats to the writers for making a strong enough impact.
Rate: 7.5/10
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