The plot looked so good it really had the potential to be a hit. It su*ks that it got canceled. It's surprising…
I think there are a lot of things that make this different from western scenarios that seem similar.
Most western fiction turned OC made a point of changing enough (or claiming to change enough) to distance itself from the original. The authors usually also make an effort (or claim to make an effort) to remove the original blatant fanfiction. Western fandoms of individuals tend not to hold the same level of power, and even if they did I do not believe the fandoms have had preexisting issues with the authors.
My understanding (could be wrong) is that the author had clashed with the fandom of the couple pair in the past making that fandom angry at her. There was also active conflict between the actors individual fandoms and any fiction of the pair, so they too would be against an adaptation. I believe the original fanfiction was also still up and maybe actively being updated, behind a paywall. So an adaptation would have actively increased the money she gained despite it being against the rules.
Two other things that may matter(or not). 1. I’ve heard various stories about how slander laws are stricter, that even if the statement is the truth legal problems can arise. So I imagine GMMTV making a show off a fanfiction of real people is opening a huge door for an easy lawsuit. 2. Wasn’t the fanfiction of actors in a Chinese drama that was forced to be a bromance due to censorship laws? Maybe I’m overthinking but to blatantly circumvent this to make a BL show based on the actors from the bromance feels like asking for trouble.
Think it might have been too ambitious for the length. Yeah the guys are hot and I don’t think they are bad actors. But all three have the negative dialed to the max that I didn’t like any of them enough to not want to fast forward. But without even so much as a flashback to happier times or a bit of a motive for the third, it was really just a mean brute, a heartless nag, and the cruel creep who messes with their life because he can.
We can engage with this homophobic content without feigning ignorance of its structural biases/imbalanced narrative…
Agree to disagree. The concept that the other couple got more screen time seems blatantly untrue to me, but until someone sits down with a stop watch there is nothing but competing viewpoints.
(I ain’t quite petty enough to start timing things since I just watched it earlier this year and don’t do rewatches in the same year. But who knows. Maybe on my first rewatch I will)
Also “straight couple with perceived more screen time and better storylines” making this homophobic while other dramas that are trauma porn and/or literally feature r*pe as part of the romance arc being praised is wild to me.
(not saying you praise those shows. I don’t know you. But they get enough praise to be top dramas regardless)
everyone who is dropping this or not watching just because they find out “it’s not bl” is missing out on…
I don’t think that anyone is arguing that it’s not beautiful. There are just other beautiful things that people can watch. Personally I would rather spend my time watching something beautiful and queer or at the very least beautiful, hetero, and hadn’t teased being queer only to (from the reports of a whole lot of people) not deliver.
It’s very mid 2010s western media for me and I intentionally avoid that.
I feel somehow emotional when I think about OhmLeng as this story was originally to be portrayed by them 🥺Don't…
I think it would have gotten a lot of hate if it had the original cast. It started and was already fighting Bad Buddy comparisons. If Ohm was in it it would have been even worse. I can’t imagine the hate a certain group of people would have dealt to Leng if he had been staring opposite. it’s really sad
Look I had the book ending spoiled so I feared how this would end. But to not only give us an ending with no resolution,…
I do get that with the source material they could only have covered so much. But they did not need to introduce all the questions they brought with the seconds couple. they could have given us scenes at the ending. Something to give us a trajectory if there is no season 2.
They gambled and it might pay off but I’ve grown grown to expect better. But also I’ve not watched much Chinese or Hong Kong dramas so maybe this is the norm?
Temper your expectations.Phenomenal show. But an ending that made me wonder if I’m watching Netflix. potential…
Look I had the book ending spoiled so I feared how this would end. But to not only give us an ending with no resolution, slew of open questions, and a combined what…5 minutes of new material with both leads in the same room together? For what? A secondary romance introduced halfway through the season involving a mystery never integrated into the main storyline? A finale should not feel like a backdoor pilot to something else.
Phenomenal show. But an ending that made me wonder if I’m watching Netflix. potential to be great…if there’s a second season. Just anger and disappointment if not.
One of the reasons I moved away from Western shows was to avoid this…
Most western fiction turned OC made a point of changing enough (or claiming to change enough) to distance itself from the original. The authors usually also make an effort (or claim to make an effort) to remove the original blatant fanfiction. Western fandoms of individuals tend not to hold the same level of power, and even if they did I do not believe the fandoms have had preexisting issues with the authors.
My understanding (could be wrong) is that the author had clashed with the fandom of the couple pair in the past making that fandom angry at her. There was also active conflict between the actors individual fandoms and any fiction of the pair, so they too would be against an adaptation. I believe the original fanfiction was also still up and maybe actively being updated, behind a paywall. So an adaptation would have actively increased the money she gained despite it being against the rules.
Two other things that may matter(or not).
1. I’ve heard various stories about how slander laws are stricter, that even if the statement is the truth legal problems can arise. So I imagine GMMTV making a show off a fanfiction of real people is opening a huge door for an easy lawsuit.
2. Wasn’t the fanfiction of actors in a Chinese drama that was forced to be a bromance due to censorship laws? Maybe I’m overthinking but to blatantly circumvent this to make a BL show based on the actors from the bromance feels like asking for trouble.
I think in the first episode he might have mentioned an academy and the other guy mentioned dorms. So maybe he was still learning?
(I ain’t quite petty enough to start timing things since I just watched it earlier this year and don’t do rewatches in the same year. But who knows. Maybe on my first rewatch I will)
Also “straight couple with perceived more screen time and better storylines” making this homophobic while other dramas that are trauma porn and/or literally feature r*pe as part of the romance arc being praised is wild to me.
(not saying you praise those shows. I don’t know you. But they get enough praise to be top dramas regardless)
It’s very mid 2010s western media for me and I intentionally avoid that.
They gambled and it might pay off but I’ve grown grown to expect better. But also I’ve not watched much Chinese or Hong Kong dramas so maybe this is the norm?
Extremely disappointing.
Phenomenal show. But an ending that made me wonder if I’m watching Netflix. potential to be great…if there’s a second season. Just anger and disappointment if not.
One of the reasons I moved away from Western shows was to avoid this…
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