Can someone explain why no one seem to give a flying fuck about the second lead??? They were listed as main roles…
They're alright on their own, LOL, particularly toward the end when the shou takes control and the gong discovers who's in charge in their family.
BUT. You have QingLang and ChangYang in the same episode, and the second CP doesn't really enter the focus at all - because, have you SEEN CY and QL together?
This drama is a show-don't-tell kind. There won't be any extra explanations about what's going on on the screen,…
Context, if it would help, and LOTS OF SPOILERS: QL is a famous prize-winning actor who's making a documentary on tea on some mountain his younger (bio) brother lives on. He has to stay somewhere so he stays at the Xu family's home (the elder Xu brother is his main investor, not lover, though there are some misunderstandings that will be cleared off). The younger (and illegitimate, though it doesn't really matter) Xu brother is his guide/"teacher" on the mountain. ChangYang has a long-time interest in QL and he's just giddy with having him there - you can see it on screen. At the same time, an ex of QL that is also an actor and who made his debut with their BL movie tries really hard to come back into the spotlight by using QL.
The second CP is a pair of newer actors who are in the process of remaking the movie that QL and his ex got famous for. They basically follow the same path - get too deep in the role, fall in love, one of them is trying to use the other for fame. Eventually they find their own way.
The third CP is wishful thinking and I won't describe it here. What needs to be told is that QL's younger brother went to the mountains for solace since his lover, a man, has had an accident and has been in a coma for about three years. QingTian was blamed for it by the lover's parents so he's pretty fragile about it.
Now sit back and enjoy it - you'll love it if you give it enough time.
PS The "bio" mention needs told because they all pretty much call each other "ge" (brother) while not being brothers LOL.
I just watched the 1 episode and found it a bit weird/confusing.. (no explanations, one just serving the other…
This drama is a show-don't-tell kind. There won't be any extra explanations about what's going on on the screen, you'll have to pay a lot of attention.
The whys of how ChangYang and QingLang act like that with each other will eventually come to light. Spoilerish context under the spoiler tag, you have been warned.
So, I liked it. The revenge plot didn't make sense til the end, but I'll take it because the main plot for me was the beautiful relationship between Kajorn and his managed artists. Actually, the whole support cast rounded this up - very much - and made it a nice watch. If they had stayed with the usual big bad guy poses and threats and everything, it would have fizzled, but the side charas filled those spots and made everything interesting.
So all hail Khunnote (Kajorn), Gandhi (Uncle Jo - does anyone else think he looks a bit like Pasin, LOL?) and even Boss (Phakin - I wish he had a line with Sky, but maybe they took closer to the manhwa and didn't inject too much BL in a story filled with BL LOL). The bad guys looked like bad guys too, LOL. But the one I was rooting for the whole drama was Kajorn, who just wanted the best for his boys.
The NC scenes were pretty good I'd say. You could tell they tried to make it look real, and I appreciate the effort. I guess I'll look up the manhwa to see how close they came to the OG story and how much they managed to make it more dramatic/violent LOL.
That being said - wow did I like Toptap. He has the best smile. He doesn't have a lot to do in the drama other than being Big Sugar Daddy (with a twist), but he does well and he fills the screen. I hope to see him again in other BLs. Min was cute even when inexpressive - warranted - but the cutest with that bleached hair. He should play a gangster at least one more time LOL.
Nice OP song, too. Didn't get too attracted to the ED song hahaha~
So, it has to be that someone meddled with his meds. There's basically nobody who had access to them, except for…
One argument against the uncle being involved - even if it got rid of possible witnesses - is that it could have very easily imploded if the police moved faster and caught Kim before all the murders were done. The final one so far is definitely a set up maybe by Kitti but the rest were too many and too easy to mess up.
He does need some quiet before the promotion, would he have risked the serial murders just before then? I think not.
The father seems a bit more likely - he WOULD have known about Nekros from the beginning and had time to set it up, even if he's basically a prisoner in the house. Or maybe he really is in a coma, who knows.
Thun on the other hand know so much info about the victims and has crime scene photos almost as soon as the police finds the victims. Either he has a mole in the police, or he did it. We'll see.
PS I think the meds have to be linked to Kaye's hallucinations because they did insist a lot on them AND it looked like he's entering a fugue basically as soon as he self-meds. At first I thought he takes Ambien, LOL, there were so many stories about strange things people on Ambien were doing, but he doesn't take them to sleep so I guess there should be something else. And that begs the question who has access to those meds - the father if he's not in a coma, maybe the old lady who takes care of him (but why?!), Phat and for a short moment Nop. (What if it's Nop?!) Or someone in the publishing house, but that's already far-fetched and they could never be certain when Kaye finishes his pills. Something like that wouldn't go over the counter even in Thailand, I think.
So, it has to be that someone meddled with his meds. There's basically nobody who had access to them, except for…
I sure hope it's not the uncle. Not that he couldn't have done it, but it's such an obvious switch that leaves all the usual suspects in the clear. The way the murders were comitted was too personal, even if he chose the crazy victim to do them, he HAD to guide him a lot to make sure he doesn't leave traces. And now he'd have to get Kitti Cop to be his accomplice too - he looks stupid but not stupid enough to cover up murders of former accomplices, he should be able to see his future if he's involved LOL.
(Not the mention that at one point they say that Mr. Kim's prints are all over the murder sites then later on they say the killer left no clues at all. Hmm.)
The uncle had a very large base of victims to choose from and he would've had to do a lot of searching to discover Kaye wrote Nekros and then decide to make him a possible serial killer in order to get rid off all his accomplices.
I don't know, I think he's a viable option, but I wouldn't like him as the whodunit. So far, the best ending would be with Kaye as the murderer - but that would make EVERYBODY mad including myself LOL - or his father (which wouldn't be much of a surprise, but oh well. I've seen worse).
I have a gay son. He is very good looking. His entire childhood into college he dealt with this. If the girl couldn’t…
Give him a hug from an internet stranger and tell him his man will come (if he hasn't already - wishing him a CY or QL of his own). Ignore all unrelated background noise from unhinged interested parties.
Okay, caught up to 7. If Kaye's a suspect because he's a victim of the bank case, then so is Phat, LOL. Right…
So, it has to be that someone meddled with his meds. There's basically nobody who had access to them, except for Phat, Nop (that one time he was in the appartment) OR his father who might not be actually in a coma ('cause Kaye is spending a lot of time in that house, working on his manga there, sleeping there from time to time). If his dad is the killer, he'd have had plenty of time to switch the pills and give him something hypnotic or hallucinogen. But also, if it's his dad, then the problem is that he can't be away from the house because Kaye might come visiting. (A solution would be he's just the mastermind, not the actual killer and he does all his stuff from the computer, never leaving the room).
If it's Thun, I wonder how he would access those meds. He does give hints, and it's Off's role, he shouldn't be someone unimportant.
If it's Kaye - well, he is scary when he's "crazy" but IMHO he's mostly hallucinating.
As for the latest victim - the uncle chief about to get promoted and Officer Kitti (LOL) "solved" it by framing Kaye, the easiest pick.
Unless officer Kitti becomes the actual killer (I don't think he's the one, he's too smarmy. Then again, a police officer WOULD have had contact with the victims so he could have chosen Mr .Kim). Still leaves the pills unexplained.
I hope they don't pull the switchiest switch of all times and give PHAT a double personality LOL.
If Kaye's a suspect because he's a victim of the bank case, then so is Phat, LOL.
Right now there are about three rabbits in this race - it's either Thun (most probably), or Kaye (most by-the-numbers suspect) or Kaye's father ('cause why not).
It IS the same song, Manzhi, just another version. I'm not certain who sings it, to me it seems it's still KUN. I don't think it's on the official OST.
It was a prison common talking booth for visitors. There'd be more people there than just the one QL is visiting,…
CY is WenShu's half-brother by their dad's mistress. So he's not officially included in the family but everything else is family-like.
Their dad embezzled some funds, was convicted to prison for life and that's that. CY was never to close to him anyway, and WenShu rejects QL's possible help with it when offered, saying that's life (I guess he isn't too pleased with their dad either).
CY visited his dad in prison before leaving for Hunter School and QL visited him too in the years when CY was away. CY's dad is a doom sayer, tried to separate them (and managed it for a bit), and even now he's not too supportive and still trying to make QL forget about CY.
—Someone pls help me clarify the prison talk scene in the first few minutes ...Why were they cross sitting?…
It was a prison common talking booth for visitors. There'd be more people there than just the one QL is visiting, and there's a police officer to record what's said and guard the prisoner.
"He made you wait for 5 years and you just sat there like a fool". LOL, you tell'im!!
I don't get why Shi YuHao would do that, but oh well, good riddance. He wasn't a totally bad guy, but there was a need for 3 deaths and we definitely couldn't have CY's in place of his.
Loved the coming out. There you go! Tell all of them to stuff it.
CY, you bastard. Come back sooner and DO NOT send messengers like that you stupid. Then again, you're forgiven 'cause QL doesn't care.
I need to be rewatching this when things are quieter. I wish they'd have reused the KUN version of ManZhi...
If you've watched The Prosecutor's Proposal, there's a novel too. Or if you haven't watched it, what are you waiting…
Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu) by Tang Jiu Qing. That is the ultimate answer to enemies-to-lovers, dangerously feisty shou, HEA. It's been TL-ed into English both by fans and officially (all volumes are out by SSE now).
Also, Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai. Short (compared to most danmei), enemies to lovers, both are individuals, no fawning involved, nicely written. There's a fan TL, the official TL is ongoing.
Copper Coins by Mu Su Li. Opponents (rather than enemies) to lovers, very nice progression, there are both an official and a fan-TL already.
Thrice Married to Salted Fish by Bi Ka Bi. It has all the hurt-healing you'd want and then some more. The shou is a little snake, LOL, I love him. Also English TLs by both fans and an official one.
From modern era, I'd say Little Madman's Guide to Acting Good by Li Wen Jiu. This one only has a fan TL, but it's good and well-translated.
And here's a KBL that kind of fits the criteria - I Delayed My Death Because of a Will by SoRim. It's a post-apocalyptic novel about a PTSD-riddled bottom and his relentless top. The bottom definitely isn't looking for romance, but he's the strongest around (one of the very few survivors of a catastrophe). This one's really good, particularly for the main story and less for the romance, LOL, the top is a love-brain.
3 
BUT. You have QingLang and ChangYang in the same episode, and the second CP doesn't really enter the focus at all - because, have you SEEN CY and QL together?
The second CP is a pair of newer actors who are in the process of remaking the movie that QL and his ex got famous for. They basically follow the same path - get too deep in the role, fall in love, one of them is trying to use the other for fame. Eventually they find their own way.
The third CP is wishful thinking and I won't describe it here. What needs to be told is that QL's younger brother went to the mountains for solace since his lover, a man, has had an accident and has been in a coma for about three years. QingTian was blamed for it by the lover's parents so he's pretty fragile about it.
Now sit back and enjoy it - you'll love it if you give it enough time.
PS The "bio" mention needs told because they all pretty much call each other "ge" (brother) while not being brothers LOL.
The whys of how ChangYang and QingLang act like that with each other will eventually come to light. Spoilerish context under the spoiler tag, you have been warned.
So all hail Khunnote (Kajorn), Gandhi (Uncle Jo - does anyone else think he looks a bit like Pasin, LOL?) and even Boss (Phakin - I wish he had a line with Sky, but maybe they took closer to the manhwa and didn't inject too much BL in a story filled with BL LOL). The bad guys looked like bad guys too, LOL. But the one I was rooting for the whole drama was Kajorn, who just wanted the best for his boys.
The NC scenes were pretty good I'd say. You could tell they tried to make it look real, and I appreciate the effort. I guess I'll look up the manhwa to see how close they came to the OG story and how much they managed to make it more dramatic/violent LOL.
That being said - wow did I like Toptap. He has the best smile. He doesn't have a lot to do in the drama other than being Big Sugar Daddy (with a twist), but he does well and he fills the screen. I hope to see him again in other BLs. Min was cute even when inexpressive - warranted - but the cutest with that bleached hair. He should play a gangster at least one more time LOL.
Nice OP song, too. Didn't get too attracted to the ED song hahaha~
He does need some quiet before the promotion, would he have risked the serial murders just before then? I think not.
The father seems a bit more likely - he WOULD have known about Nekros from the beginning and had time to set it up, even if he's basically a prisoner in the house. Or maybe he really is in a coma, who knows.
Thun on the other hand know so much info about the victims and has crime scene photos almost as soon as the police finds the victims. Either he has a mole in the police, or he did it. We'll see.
PS I think the meds have to be linked to Kaye's hallucinations because they did insist a lot on them AND it looked like he's entering a fugue basically as soon as he self-meds. At first I thought he takes Ambien, LOL, there were so many stories about strange things people on Ambien were doing, but he doesn't take them to sleep so I guess there should be something else. And that begs the question who has access to those meds - the father if he's not in a coma, maybe the old lady who takes care of him (but why?!), Phat and for a short moment Nop. (What if it's Nop?!) Or someone in the publishing house, but that's already far-fetched and they could never be certain when Kaye finishes his pills. Something like that wouldn't go over the counter even in Thailand, I think.
(Not the mention that at one point they say that Mr. Kim's prints are all over the murder sites then later on they say the killer left no clues at all. Hmm.)
The uncle had a very large base of victims to choose from and he would've had to do a lot of searching to discover Kaye wrote Nekros and then decide to make him a possible serial killer in order to get rid off all his accomplices.
I don't know, I think he's a viable option, but I wouldn't like him as the whodunit. So far, the best ending would be with Kaye as the murderer - but that would make EVERYBODY mad including myself LOL - or his father (which wouldn't be much of a surprise, but oh well. I've seen worse).
If it's Thun, I wonder how he would access those meds. He does give hints, and it's Off's role, he shouldn't be someone unimportant.
If it's Kaye - well, he is scary when he's "crazy" but IMHO he's mostly hallucinating.
As for the latest victim - the uncle chief about to get promoted and Officer Kitti (LOL) "solved" it by framing Kaye, the easiest pick.
Unless officer Kitti becomes the actual killer (I don't think he's the one, he's too smarmy. Then again, a police officer WOULD have had contact with the victims so he could have chosen Mr .Kim). Still leaves the pills unexplained.
I hope they don't pull the switchiest switch of all times and give PHAT a double personality LOL.
If Kaye's a suspect because he's a victim of the bank case, then so is Phat, LOL.
Right now there are about three rabbits in this race - it's either Thun (most probably), or Kaye (most by-the-numbers suspect) or Kaye's father ('cause why not).
Their dad embezzled some funds, was convicted to prison for life and that's that. CY was never to close to him anyway, and WenShu rejects QL's possible help with it when offered, saying that's life (I guess he isn't too pleased with their dad either).
CY visited his dad in prison before leaving for Hunter School and QL visited him too in the years when CY was away. CY's dad is a doom sayer, tried to separate them (and managed it for a bit), and even now he's not too supportive and still trying to make QL forget about CY.
Let him stay in prison, I say.
QL had a lot of suffer waiting for CY to come back...
I don't get why Shi YuHao would do that, but oh well, good riddance. He wasn't a totally bad guy, but there was a need for 3 deaths and we definitely couldn't have CY's in place of his.
Loved the coming out. There you go! Tell all of them to stuff it.
CY, you bastard. Come back sooner and DO NOT send messengers like that you stupid. Then again, you're forgiven 'cause QL doesn't care.
I need to be rewatching this when things are quieter. I wish they'd have reused the KUN version of ManZhi...
Also, Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai. Short (compared to most danmei), enemies to lovers, both are individuals, no fawning involved, nicely written. There's a fan TL, the official TL is ongoing.
Copper Coins by Mu Su Li. Opponents (rather than enemies) to lovers, very nice progression, there are both an official and a fan-TL already.
Thrice Married to Salted Fish by Bi Ka Bi. It has all the hurt-healing you'd want and then some more. The shou is a little snake, LOL, I love him. Also English TLs by both fans and an official one.
From modern era, I'd say Little Madman's Guide to Acting Good by Li Wen Jiu. This one only has a fan TL, but it's good and well-translated.
And here's a KBL that kind of fits the criteria - I Delayed My Death Because of a Will by SoRim. It's a post-apocalyptic novel about a PTSD-riddled bottom and his relentless top. The bottom definitely isn't looking for romance, but he's the strongest around (one of the very few survivors of a catastrophe). This one's really good, particularly for the main story and less for the romance, LOL, the top is a love-brain.