any_anka

As for the parents, they are not terrible people, but they are not the greatest parents, either. Hence exactly why both boys have reasons to feel abandoned and lonely (and why they can understand each other's emptiness and longing for companionship in life).
Tian's mother also has her own issues. I personally think she feels she doesn't have the right to impose too much on her son's "personal space" out of guilt, because she used to pretty much abandon him as a kid. You will see it even more in her behaviour in later episodes when both boys will have heart-to-heart talks with their respective parents. Which explains why she is just waiting there for Tian until he comes to her himself.
As for Tian, someone on MDL used to liken him to a stray wandering cat and I found that comparison very fitting. Him moving in alone in the middle of the night is not some plot hole or lazy writing. It's both part of the character's typical behaviour/life pattern and and a reflection of his family dynamics.
Finally, this was already answered by others, by I still wanna add: if you have issues with Tian being a pricky emo teenager, he truly is not and he should grow on you in the next episodes. He is a very caring, deep, empathetic individual. However, a lot of his kindness is silent and happens through actions solely.

You seem to have made up your mind to keep on watching (good choice!), but just a couple of final words from someone for whom The On1y One became my favourite BL series of all time (and the best BL series out there - which are not always interchangeable). I will admit that even I was not instantly in love after episode 1. First two episodes gave me an indication that this show will have good acting from at least one main lead and pretty cinematography, so I kept on watching.
The end of episode 3 was when I really fell hard of it.

I think it's easier to imagine DQ as JT because we've already seen him in more roles, contrary to Benjamin whom I've only seen in that music video/promo film for Kiseki (?). I tried to find Cohabitation, but with no luck so far (used to be on Gaga, but not anymore - at least in my region).

A yeah, the cockroach situation... I guess if LDQ played JT, we would've had a fake cockroach used instead of a real one (but maybe not, maybe DQ would be a pro about it and I'm not giving him enough credit 😜)

This is a truly beautiful series, but I have two problems with it.

The first one is a minor one, actually: the very catalyst of the Cream and K plot that puts it in motion feels improbable for me (I mean, time is money and how costly it is to look for a copyrights holder on some random song - just look for another one; I know A-Lin is a big star in Taiwan, but it still did not convince me).

Now, the second one is a big one: in terms of my emotional investment it peaked in episode 7. And by "peaked" I mean, I could not stop crying and dropped the drama for a couple of days before continuing. After getting back to it, despite the show being primarily Cream and K's story, I just could not bring myself to care as much as I did before. Episode 7 and Ke Le's death was just too much of a hit, too much of a tragedy, too much of a tear-jerker for me to feel truly moved by anything that followed.

Still, it's a really nice series, with rgood acting. I started watching because of Fandy Fan being in it, and he did surprise me with his portrayal. Nevertheless, the story of An Yi Qi and Ke Le was the one that really stole (and shuttered) my heart.

At least we have a deadline for that waiting period. Whatever the conclusion...

I plan to wait and rewatch and watch some fan edits and read bits of the novel and probably rewatch again, so I have a pretty busy 5 months ahead of me.

This is just my opinion, but I think ultimately the profits will matter the most. However, every bit of views, ratings, social media buzz, number of signatures under the petition for s2 could constitute an additional argument in favour of producing season 2.
Patrick Liu seems to be especially interested in that IMDB rating (as he mentioned it more than once before), so I suppose the reviews and rating there would matter more than reviews on any other website (?).

Thank you so much for your trouble! 😊
So LDQ is not jus a man of talent, but also a man with an eye for talent 😎
Not gonna lie, part of me would like to see him as JT (or even better, see both of them doing a role reversal). Maybe during that promised (but who knows if ever realized) fan meet?! Fingers crossed.

The thing is, the drama's performance is sth the creators didn't really anticipate. Meaning, they actually targeted Taiwan, HK and Mainland China originally.

According to what I read online (some of the info could be found here), the drama got review bombed in China before it even got released, it was criticised further for not following the novel close enough and in general apparently wasn't much of a success there (the criticism directed at actors you're referring to is probably the criticism they received for not being "good looking enough" for their parts). At the same time, to the creators surprise, the show actually blew up quite much internationally.

So, the way I see it (I would assume, I don't know what they're actually thinking) the creators found themselves in a situation they didn't really account for and are probably thinking right now how to turn the drama's popularity into actual money (as they can't really count on spending power of Chinese fans - which is formidable when it's there, let's be honest).

So, in a way it's an uncharted territory for them, I don't know how much I can actually blame them 😜 The drama alone was fantastic (the reason why we all want season 2), I guess the only thing I used to blame them for was not dealing with full episodes being all over YouTube (but maybe that could count as exposure as well and will bring sth good, in the end; who knows?).

I have a tendency no to have my hopes too up high, just in case, but I can't help myself hoping for a 2nd season.

Ofc, I wish they got to play SW and JT again, this time bringing closure to their story. I also wish Patrick got the opportunity to complete his work (as he seems to be the one really set on making s2) and, of course, I wish for all of us who loved this show, to get a continuation.

Oh wow, where did you read it?

Absolutely!

I personally think some ppl don't give LDQ enough credit for his portrayal, reducing him to the pouty "baby girl Wang", while in fact his portrayal showed us a huge array of different emotions. And yes, the cute pout was there, too, but there was way, waaay more - from confusion, to awe and love, to embarrassment, to sadness, to regret - and he did such a great job. I looked at the guy and thought he controls every muscle of his face to give the intended expression. Plus his eyes and voice are so expressive!

And just to be clear, Benjamin was absolutely fantastic, no doubt about it! But that's generally what everyone is saying already, so I wanted to give some due credit to Dong Qin, too.

No, not CGI, not a fake cockroach model or swift editing... He actually puts his hand on the cockroach (and in the behind the scenes footage you can see him even carrying it briefly, before some lady takes over).
Help~~

I don't think it was his decision... I mean, a director doesn't have as much power as people tend to think he does (unless he's a producer/investor himself).
I read so much about this topic on season 2, so I might be mixing things up, but if I remember correctly (don't quote me on that 😜), he wanted to film the entirety of the story, but the investors were like: let's have season 1 made and see how it does.

I don't know if those people protesting and sending hate to NYS realize that they actually ended up promoting it for free 😜
I wasn't planning on watching any BL for some time (after The On1y One stole my heart and made everything else look blah in comparison) but *now* I am for sure going to watch this one.
Counting down the days to its release, actually.

So yeah, good job, I guess?

Guys, am I the only one shocked that the cockroach scene actually entailed Benjamin for real catching that bug with his bare hand? I've seen the behind the scenes footage from IG and I can't get over it...

It's not officially confirmed. As far as I understand, the biggest issue has been funding all along and the final decision will be made based on the money the series made. That decision will happen within I think 5 months from now (but the filming *could* also start within that period of time, theoretically).

Apparently a lot of gossip can be found circulating online... I even saw people spreading info abt 11 episodes of s2 being filmed already (untrue, the filming for season 2 hasn't started yet) or - on the other hand - ones about season 2 being dropped or the cast changes etc. (also fake, Patrick Liu - the director addressed them). It probably would be best to just follow the official IG profile of the drama or the director's profile, for most reliable news. There's also a Telegram group.

The director went on IG some time ago and answered some questions, here is a post summarizing it: https://mydramalist.com/68995-mou-mou#comment-19025072

And another one, with more updates about s2: https://mydramalist.com/68995-mou-mou#comment-19078420

No problem, I wanted to "promote" some of the series I liked, anyway 😉 I hope you'll like Let's Talk About Chu. I honestly think it's one of the better Taiwanese series I've watched and the BL part is so entertaining, you'll see (I mean, I hope you will).

I'm at ep 10 in PH and the developing love story (so far) feels really lacklustre... I'm not opposed to the idea of a love plot being there, but I just really really don't vibe with this particular pair. Like, in the last ep I watched, we got to know the FL's brother and she had more chemistry with him than her supposed love interest 😜

Still, I'm watching on. And yes, Dong Qin is great.

I haven't watched Cupid's Kitchen yet. I actually had it on my Viki watchlist for a long time already, but always found something else to watch first. Now when I'm familiar not only with Ethan but also Dong Qin from the main cast, I am more eager to watch it and will probably start soon.

A snippet of it popped up on my YouTube today, too. It looked genuinely funny, but DQ's character seems to be a bit of an a-hole, pardon my language 😜

I wasn't the one asked, but let me chime in with some of my recommendations 😊

1. My Tooth Your Love - really decent series, with admittedly some weird developments towards the ending, but overall still on the positive side; the same director as Unknown and We Best Love

2. You Are Mine - campy, slapstick-y, bubbly; honestly, it was my favourite BL series before I watched The On1y One; even though I saw some ppl criticise it harshly for weak story etc., I'm pretty sure I could defend this show against the criticisms if I wanted to 😉 amazing chemistry between the leads + some of the best kissing scenes you'll see in any BL

3. Red Balloon - an older and somewhat forgotten series; bittersweet story with believable portrayal of developing crush between characters; featuring Edward Chen (before he played in Your Name Engraved Herein - a movie which I'd also strongly recommend, if you haven't watched it)

and finally

4. Let's Talk About Chu - this drama is not actually a BL, but one of the storylines focuses on a gay couple and it is really, really enjoyable; it does feature strong language, violence and some explicit scenes (I think it is 18+, bear that in mind!), but the whole relationship between two protagonists has its cute, wholesome and touching moments; the BL story is a highlight of this show for me, but honestly, the entire drama is really good, so I'd recommend watching it, even without skipping other pairings

If kdramas glorify cheating that's a kdrama problem, not my outlook on life or relationships. I never mentioned cheating should be glorified and I myself dislike double standards, in general. But I also don't think that every show talking about cheating (or crime or any other behaviour that's widely seen as wrong) is by default glorifying it, just because they portray it.

Anyway, I simply wrote that I didn't find this drama romanticizing it at all and shared my overall impression of this show (extending it to the fact that she gets her "karma" for both transgressions). You also were the one who mentioned her stealing money in your comment...

The guy she cheated with couldn't care less about her after initial fascination and strong chemistry they had at first. And he turned into a dude who was more into glamourous life than her. While it wasn't technically directly telling her "you cheated, and you got punished", it also clearly showed that it wasn't a good life decision on her part.

I think her husband was an a-hole, so I don't care about his happy ending. However, I also think that people can carry themselves with dignity regardless of who we deal with and the better choice on her part would've been just divorcing the guy, instead of cheating (a divorce attorney would've been a better way to spend the stolen money than buying expensive gifts of her pet-boy, anyway). But this drama shows her making wrong decisions all the time.

And I would have had the same attitude if the show focused on a guy who was stuck in a relationship with a toxic wife, btw.

How was it romanticized? Did I watch a different drama? 😜Did I miss an episode or something? 😜

The young "charming" guy turns out to be a dude easily swayed by money and glamour and the entire relationship turns into shhh. Then she also needs to flee due to legal problems...

I highly enjoyed this drama (I was especially taken by KSH's acting and visuals/cinematography), but I always felt this drama could be - aside from a social commentary - watched as a cautionary tale of what *not* to do. I am surprised seeing people having such different takeaways from this show (it's not just you, I chose to reply to your comment, but I've read other comments as well interpreting it in the similar way).