Amaryllis_Flower

Well I really like the series but I don't ever have crazy expectations out of a BL. Is not like watching an Academy award-winning quality movie.

I guess the hype doesn't bother me because I don't watch the busking events and most of the other publicity surrounding the series.

I did watch the reaction videos when they were still doing them. Some were good some not so much.

To me a Zeenunew series doesn't need much more than a love story and NuNew singing to make me happy.

If Zee and NuNew stopped making BL's all together It wouldn't bother me as long as NuNew continues to sing with or without Zee.

I did too. But I think younger people have never been to a protest and so they don't understand that singing is part of one. I didn't even blink when Khanin started to sing. Plus any scene where NuNew sings this is a good scene to me.

Ramil hasn't really spoken to Khanin since the cave scene where he gave him the bracelet and told him they were second cousins.

I'm assuming with the competition coming up there might be some more interaction. But each of the three competitors have been too busy training to deal with each other.

Analysis of Zeenunew sex scenes Cutie Pie versus TNP

The intimacy between Lian and Kuea in Cutie Pie vs Charan and Khanin in TNP couldn't be any more different.

Cutie Pie is the story of a Chinese Thai businessman (Lian) and his arranged engagement to a younger man (Kuea) from a wealthy aristocratic Thai family. Kuea has been in love with Lian since he was a child, but Lian stays distant because he wants to be able to prove that he can become wealthy enough to support Kuea and not be subject to speculation that he married him for his money. So he keeps his attraction under wraps. By the time the story starts Lian is a very wealthy man worth around $300 million USD (10 billion bhat).

Once Kuea moves into Lian's house they can no longer deny their attraction and it doesn't take long until the both of them are falling in lust and love. When they finally give in to their passion it's a no holds barred bouncing off the wall sexual experience. They are both virgins but that doesn't hold them back. And after waiting so long to have sex Lian wants to do it constantly while Kuea is shy and way less aggressive.

In this drama they are living in Bangkok society not a secluded community. And both families are supportive of the relationship. In fact Kuea's grandfather was gay and had a lifelong partner. So there was no homophobia within the family.

Kuea and Lian are not the best communicators out of the sack and most of their problems in the relationship come from that. However in bed they are insatiable. They do it on every possible surface, the living room, the bedroom, the bathtub, Kuea's guest house. They hold hands on the street, Kuea gets piggyback rides on Lian's back. They are free to express their love any way they want to. (And there's more that wound up on the cutting room floor and found its way into the box sets that some fans ordered after the series was over).

This is a huge contrast to TNP.

The background for this story is abuse, kidnapping, a budding romance between different classes of men and one that is not sanctioned by the society they live in. Charan, the Royal bodyguard, is not supposed to be falling in love and having sex with a Prince and so even after they fall in love he is very hesitant and mechanical.

Outside of their differing classes in society Charan was brought up in the ethics of the Emmalian kiss, which bonds those who kiss eternally. Forget about sex, just a kiss does it. Giving his body has an entirely different meaning to him than it does to Khanin who was brought up in London. Charan feels an attraction but suppresses it, duty versus love.

Khanin is emotionally attached to Charan who is the only familiar face in his life after having been kidnapped and leaving everything he knew behind. And Charan being the exquisite physical specimen that he is starts to inspire lust if not love in Khanin, but he's not having much luck in that department.

They finally bond after Charan shares an emotionally traumatizing childhood experience and Khanin's substitute fencing coach tries to poison him. As Khanin lies in a coma Charan doesn't leave his side. Even after all of this Charan is still conflicted regarding duty versus love, but Khanin seduces him.

This leads to sex scene number one in episode 7.

Khanin grabs Charan's hands and places them all over his body until he finally lands them on his groin. Charan is extremely uncomfortable and looks away. This continues even after Khanin tells him he has permission to cross the line and starts kissing him.

One of Charan's trepidations is that he needs to know that Khanin understands that this bonds them forever. He asks Khanin If he remembers the tale of the Emmalian kiss to which Khanin responds, "Always". Even after all of that Charan still feels the need to kneel and ask Khanin's permission.

But at least in the ensuing few minutes there's a fluidity to the scene as they undress each other even if Khanin is more aggressive in removing Charan's pants and underwear with his feet. As an aside, I was pretty surprised to see a totally naked Zee, even if it was blurry and from behind. Charan finally submits while Amp's "Dancing in the Moonlight" plays in the background.

Although it's not specifically expressed it is assumed that Khanin is a also virgin by the way he covers himself up after Charan removes his pajama bottoms. Interestingly enough once Charan makes up his mind he has no embarrassment about being naked in front of his beloved or seeing him naked and pulls the covers away. Apparently Khanin's implied virginity differs from the book which I haven't read and in the interest of no spoilers I won't elaborate here.

As willing a participant as Charan was behind closed doors he goes immediately back to being the Royal guard the next day. He refuses to be affectionate in public, won't hug, won't kiss, won't hold hands. He tells Khanin that their intimate life will have to wait until after the competition.

When Khanin tries to hold his hand during the lantern ceremony in episode 10 Charan reacts like a rabid bat was trying to bite him. It seems that the two of them have switched roles from the ones they played in Cutie Pie where Lian was the aggressor once they'd had sex and Kuea was the one who was shy.

And this brings us to sex scene number two in episode 10.

The protest at the end of episode 8 has energized Khanin to treat his training more seriously. But all the training and studying has left Khanin emotionally and physically exhausted. He wants some alone time with Charan but Charan is not willing to give it to him. This is consistent with Charan's ethic of duty before personal life but it doesn't sit well with Khanin.

The last scene in episode 10 Khanin bursts into Charan's room / art studio in the palace wearing nothing but a bathrobe. He tells Charan he misses him and wants to sleep there, but Khanin also knows that he's not going to be successful if he tries to jump his bones right away. So he asks Charan to paint his portrait.

"Our Night" starts playing while Charan starts painting. The lyrics are his thought process about not only submitting to sex but also their relationship. Unfortunately he has trouble telling Khanin what he thinks and this is why Khanin is worried that Charan doesn't love him as much as he loves Charan.

The whole paint brush as sex toy thing just cracked me up especially when Khanin shoved the brush down into Charan's groin area. All I could think was what are you fishing for down there? I was actually laughing uncontrollably with tears running down my face.

And the "good boy" comment upon penetration was praise that Khanin remembered to breathe this time. Also pretty comical.

All in all this sex scene wasn't sexy at all to me. It seemed like they were trying to make art rather than love. There were some nice moments between the paintbrush and good boy, but overall there was just too much awkwardness. That changed when they were done and they were lying on the couch cuddling. That felt real.

My hope is that before the series is over we get to see the two of them have intimacy where Charan is the aggressor and is capable of the abandonment and joy that Lian showed Kuea in Cutie Pie.

Edit. One final note as if this wasn't long enough. I noticed when NuNew laid down on the floor with the blanket I could see every bone in his rib cage both in the front and on the sides. I hope he gets some rest and gains a few pounds. He looked emaciated.

I like the plot better than the sex scenes. I don't mind sex scenes but they aren't ever why I watch a series.

I thought it was funny. It was the follow-up because he remembered to breathe this time.

First of all I have no argument with someone having an opposing opinion to the singing scene in episode 10. Although I don't agree, it is an actual criticism rather than the usual tripe we get here complaining about the series.

That being said I'm old enough that I did participate in protests in the 1960s and 1970s and I guarantee you that there was singing, there were people with guitars, there were people with tape decks during these protests.

And often there were gathering places at both the beginning and the end of the protest with actual mini concerts and announcements of other protests coming up.

So I didn't find anything unusual about Jay singing a protest song while they were marching for mine safety and clean air. And I also had no problem with Khanin showing solidarity with what are now his subjects.

He's compassionate, he wants to do something about it, and when they were still not calm he sang the song to show his support for the protesters.

Now don't give me 'but, but, but, I'm entitled to my opinion." I never said any person in this group isn't entitled to their opinion but I'm also entitled to mine and I do have the background to know that this sort of activity has happened in real life protests during my lifetime.

Right now I'm actually writing my analysis of Cutie Pie sex scenes versus TNP.

The Cutie Pie scenes were definitely more fluid, but there also wasn't the element of characters from different social classes with resulting expectations, a homophobic king, and a huge amount of abuse.

I didn't mind the first sex scene but the second one was pretty weird. I'll have more later on when I post my review.

And? I don't respond to comments by who wrote them. I don't even remember people's screen names from comment to comment.

I've got a pretty busy life. If I'm here It means it's a writing day for me and I come here while taking a break. Every writer knows that doing something else or writing something else is the best way to get back to your major writing task.

The other times I'm here I'm in my car. I have a driver when I have meeting days which is usually three times a week, and I'll sit in the backseat writing responses while I go from place to place.

But if anything I have more life than I want sometimes and more people in it. This group is my break from all of that.

Not everyone finds me annoying although you are more than entitled to your opinion, and there's not much I can do about being old. There are only two choices and you know what the other one is.

But so kind of you to worry about my personal well-being. ❤️

This is the kind of criticism that just makes me laugh.

Analytical as I am I don't understand people getting upset about my arguing the other side.

I always find it curious when I'm out there parsing someone else's POV and all the sudden they get all perturbed and say, "Goddammit I can say what I want. I'm entitled to disagree with you."

Sure. Anyone can disagree with me. Everyone can disagree with me. I don't take personal offense at that. But it's also very unlikely to a change my opinion and I'll continue to argue it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And PS. I absolutely adore well crafted opposing opinions. And those people usually don't get all bent out of shape when I don't agree with them.

COVID-19 was also part of the reason that I started watching a lot of TV. I didn't leave my house except a couple of times a week for a good year until we had a vaccine. BTW, to this day I've never had COVID-19.

I'm in Alexandria, Virginia. That's right outside of Washington, DC.

So you're sick of me and you enjoy reading my comments. Okay?

I'm laughing as I'm writing this in case you didn't figure it out.

I'm in love with people who don't agree with me, provided they make a convincing argument, or any argument at all for that matter.

It boils down to no group gets a benefit from tantrums and trolls. People who do no critical analysis fall into one of those two groups

I only respond harshly to bullshit comments. A quality critical comment will discuss why you don't like the series, of specific character, or a specific plot point.

For example there have been numerous people who hate the fact that Khanin sang during the protest. And I presented a different point of view.

I'm not harsh, I'm analytical. I'm the only woman I ever met who scored 100% thinker points on a Myers-Briggs test. So I don't do tantrums. I find them comical sometimes and mildly irritating others.

I'm also a writer by profession. I'm now retired and I do some freelance volunteer stuff. People keep on trying to offer me tons of money to write but I no longer want to be obligated to produce a product and I definitely don't need the money.

Anyway I'm here because I enjoy writing, and I enjoy the series and NuNew's singing.

No I won't. By profession I'm a writer. At the moment I'm writing several white papers. One of them is a series on chronic kidney disease in cats. I write everything from entertainment, to politics, to medicine, to analysis of universal healthcare.

I probably spend about 4 or 5 hours every day writing. Over the summer I've spent around 60 minutes a day in this group.

And you have a right to be sick of my comments but at least my comments analyze the series.

And if you don't like the series then tell us why. Comments like I'm bored, I don't like Zeenunew, or the writers suck isn't informative at all unless you tell us why.

Anyway if you don't like me I'm perfectly fine with that. Feel free to block me or ignore me in the future. ❤️

Commenters do not have to like the show to be able to post something. But if they don't write a critical analysis of why they don't like the show then I consider it a waste of space. Just cow poo that I have to step over.

For example today somebody wrote that they thought the mine subplot was a red herring, but in actuality the mine subplot is the entire reason that Khanin decided to take the competition seriously. He now sees a reason why he should be a prince.

There have been several comments I run across that are similar and thought-provoking.

I just wish that people who have nothing to say other than I hate it would just find something else to do with their lives. Doesn't help people who come here to decide whether or not they want to watch the show make up their minds.

I think it would be pretty hard to tell the story in a movie. Never heard of the ballad of sword and wine, but in general I don't read Asian novels. I do have TNP which I'm going to read after the series concludes.

TNP is not perfect but for the most part I've enjoyed it. I found the NC scenes between Khanin and Charan to be rather stilted but I attribute that to the fact that Charan himself is very reserved due to his job and environment.

I've watched a few Chinese dramas, I would probably watch more of them if they weren't 40 episodes long. But if they are 24 and less I will watch one. Last one I saw was Echo of Her Voice, which I really enjoyed because of the music and the flying / fighting scenes. And I'm a fan of Miles Wei.

Only non Thai BL series I've seen have been Japanese. They are very different from Thai series, but I appreciate them all for what they are.

There have been many Asian series that just bored me and so I dropped them. But it's never occurred to me to go into a discussion group and make multiple rant posts about it.

I don't stalk anyone but if I come up on a really dumb comment I will say something. And I will like and sometimes respond to a good comment if I have something to add.

I'm not part of the Zeenunew fandom.

I only started watching Asian dramas around 6 years ago when we had a writers strike in the US.

Started with Netflix and then when they didn't have new shows that I wanted to watch I got also got a subscription to Viki and IQIYI.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as BL when I started watching Asian dramas.

Anyway one day I found Cutie Pie and liked the cover art so I gave it a try.

I had never heard of Zee or NuNew, but I really liked NuNew's voice. So I continued to watch the series for the music and was shocked when in episode 10 (I think) Zee sang a song. I didn't even know that Zee could sing.

Anyway after that I started following NuNew for his music.

Previously I had only had an Apple music account but since most of NuNew's Music is only available on YouTube and possibly other streaming services I don't belong to, I got a YouTube premium account. I now have at least 100 songs on a playlist that I play in my car.

I will watch anything with Zee and NuNew because I know there will be good music. And the series they have been in so far have been nice enough.

I don't follow anybody around on the TNP group. If I see a discussion that I want to join I jump in. Half the time I don't even look at what person is making the comment.

So the next time I come upon a comment that you've made I may respond again and I will not even remember your name or that you got all upset with me.

And PS. Your English is not better than mine, trust me.

The mine subplot is critical to the series. Without it Khanin would never be motivated to take his training seriously.

Don't forget Khanin was kidnapped and forced into a role he never expected. You couldn't possibly think he would embrace being a prince when he never knew he was one and had to leave his prior life in the most traumatic and unwanted way.

I haven't seen any evidence that Khanin hates the king. He just thinks he is a bad leader and not looking out for the welfare of his subjects. And unlike the four princes who have been browbeaten by the king for their entire lives, Khanin has no such fear and says what he thinks. That's what makes him different than everyone else in the Royal Palace.

But without seeing the people's need for better leadership Khanin never would have had that political awakening.