jaydeejay

I see. Thanks for answering that!
I know it's a very common misconception to think that doing anything remotely sexual to someone who can't fully consent is not assault. But it actually is assault, regardless of the situation and intentions. And Toh manipulating things to this extent to get Nuea to kiss him actually makes his character worse in my eyes. Especially since they already kissed without Toh being drunk.
There are numerous other ways they could have written the situation so that it would lead to them having a steamy make out session. But going about it this way is gross, in my opinion.

Writing-wise, I'm surprised they switched it to mushrooms. Though guess it's a cultural thing?

Thanks for the explanation!

I do understand and have noticed what the screenwriters have been putting down for us to pick up on: that Lian is trying to get the truth from him (even though he already knows the truth) and is also trying to show him that he doesn't have much issues with him being a singer or liking cars and racing. However, what they've failed to explain thus far is why Lian is going about it in a mean, awful way. *That's* what I'd like to know. I understand that it's hard for Kuea to open up to him, but resorting to forcing Kuea to live with him when Kuea very clearly despised the idea is not the best way of going about it- alongside all of the other awful and basically abusive things he has said/done. They still could have written him as attempting to be as understanding as possible and gentle in a round about way with his approach, but instead they wrote him to be an asshole who gives Kuea (and myself lol) immense whiplash with his actions that constantly flip flop and contradict themselves. All of that plus them trying to romanticize a lot of his actions- it all just rubs me the wrong way.

It's interesting because what they've been doing with YiDiao is what they should be doing with LianKuea since the latter is the main couple: Yi actually attempting to understand Diao by getting involved with his hobby and becoming one of his students. I expected to see this with LianKuea, but we got it with the side couple first.

If you have any more thoughts on this way of exploring Lian's character, I'd be down to read about it. Because I'm legit confused by their writing choices.

I still don't like Toh, but the chemistry between him and Nuea is great. The chemistry between their actors is also insane. I would love to see them paired up in another drama. They do such an excellent job at acting out the more sexual scenes. It's pretty rare to see screen pairs in BLs that seem that comfortable around each other.

I still love SkyJao! I love that Sky continues to be body positive, it's so nice to see especially in a BL. Overall, they're very cute and I want way more screen time for them. I'm now very curious about Touch and the eventual TouchDaisy (hilarious pair name btw) that'll happen. I've been saying since ep1 that Daisy deserves his own romance. It's SO rare in BLs to see a very feminine male character who isn't just comic relief and gets a cute romance.

One major problem I have with this episode is that they *really* needed to clarify what the fuck happened with that sex scene. Because they kept saying Toh was either drunk or not actually drunk but kind of like it?? It was very confusing and they made it seem like Nuea had sex with/basically assaulted someone who was drunk/unable to fully give consent. Which is disgusting. I'm assuming, however, that it might have been another one of Toh's raunchy dreams. I'm hoping that the case.

And as always, I love the wardrobe department for this show. The attention to detail and individuality is SO AMAZING.

Ep.5
I've already talked about how toxic and gross Lian and Kuea's relationship is and how awful it is that they're trying to make it cute. So I won't go into that yet again.

Instead I'll state how surprising it is that they have yet to give us a good hint as to why Lian is like this and doing all of these things. Unless I'm missing something here, but it just feels like he's an asshole for no reason whatsoever. Which just makes everything about the relationship even worse.

Unlike Lian, they have given us some good hints as to why Yi is the way he is. They've even done a decent job at showing us that he does certain things but doesn't quite seem to mean it the way it comes off. At the end of the day, the stuff he has done and said were gross and basically inexcusable, but we can at least see there's something else past the aggressive behavior and that it might be the fear/anxiety that's making him this way and not because he's this way for no reason. This pair is the only pair I'm interested in for now. Yi is still on thin ice for me, but at least he isn't drowning in freezing water like Lian is.

I still don't quite get the appeal of Syn and Kuer, but that's probably because next to nothing has happened with them. Kuer's actor is hot, I will say that much LOL. I do like the trope of awkward/weird guy with cool and handsome guy, but I don't know yet what's going on with these too.

I used to like Foei, but them using him as a representative of how the audience thinks and feels has me disliking him. He gushes over Kuea and Lian, but I can't relate to that at all, so now I don't find him all that interesting anymore.

The highlights for me this episode was seeing Diao with that adorable Golden Retriever, and Perth (Jay's actor) in that shirt. He looked SO good in that top, WOW.

This! Also compounded with the fact that toxic traits have popped up so many times in BL dramas and comics that it's no surprise at all that a good chunk of the audience unfortunately views these traits as sexy and a good thing. They're so sexualized and glorified that a lot of people think there's nothing wrong with these actions, and that is worrisome. I used to think this way and it took me quite some time to unlearn these dangerous views.

Yes!! I also expected an enemies to lovers thing with those two!

I'm hoping for a little more with Saifa because his character turned out kind of...........anticlimactic.

And I was very curious about Aou. His acting was pretty good in this show, but I also felt like if given an even better character, he'd do a amazing job.

I thought he was the creepiest at first. And then Natee showed up and he took the crown. And then Wayo attempted to get Theo drunk, and HE took the crown after Natee LOL

I did think Sun showing up would make for a great little plot twist! I had this idea early on where Sun would pop up and then Akk would get jealous. But then my friend pointed out how it'd be better if Theo was the one that got jealous, and I agree! He sees Sun and Akk having a great time and it makes him realize that Akk could very easily leave him at any point and not deal with his Enchante nonsense.

I thought Sun was his friend? The guy he spoke to on the phone when he was in France? And again when he was back in Thailand and telling him about Enchante?

Oh, I thought he was Sun? When Theo was video calling Sun.

I agree with the 2nd half!
I had this theory very early on that maybe Saifah was there because he had a crush on Wayo and wanted to get closer to him by joining in. Eventually Theo and Akk find out and they help him out, and in turn Saifah helps Theo out with his eventual confession. This was way before Wayo's reveal, though.

And as much as I love some slo mo scenes where the characters gawk at each other for what feels like 10mins, I do agree that there were one too many scenes like that. It began to feel like they were just trying to fill up time. It hits different when we know from the very beginning that the characters like each other and will end up together. It starts feeling very redundant and repetitive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show! It was a little slow at the beginning, but it was a great watch and it was fun trying to figure out if any of the 4 guys were manipulators, and if they were, how bad they were.

This show is written using the formula where the audience already knows the ending; they already know that Akk and Theo are going to wound up together. In scenarios like this, it's about the journey, not the destination. And I felt like they were doing a pretty good job with the writing so far!

However, I do find it disappointing that it was Theo all along. It makes *a lot* of sense that it's him, but because the journey matters the most, I feel like it would've been great to have had it be Akk all along instead. Akk utilizes the book as a way to awkwardly get close to Theo, but eventually realizes that he doesn't need an excuse to be with Theo. And we see this exploration where Theo realizes he's had a great friend all along and could break out of his shell and get closer with Akk.

But instead we learn that Theo knew basically the whole time Akk liked him, and he likes Akk but instead of approaching Akk himself, he kept up the charade until Akk finally confessed. I've never been a fan of the trope where both characters like each other, but Character A knows that B likes them. But A thinks B(always the top or the man of the relationship in het couples) *has* to be the one confessing. Why can't either of them confess? Why put the other person through all of this heartache when you can just confess yourself? I never understood why this was a popular trope in romance stories to basically drag someone around like this.

I actually wish they further explored Theo's loneliness and odd entitlement he had at times. I always found it interesting that he hates being treated different because he's rich, but then he'd turn around and say/do some things that a typical rich person would say or do. Especially since they seemed to constantly highlight the fact that Akk doesn't come from money like he does. So I was expecting so much more from about this issue.
And I suffered through loneliness as a kid to my late teens, so I actually related to Theo quite a bit at first. The whole thing where you have someone right beside you but you still feel alone is very real. Instead they had him be a manipulator and do all of this. And I understand that for some people, their loneliness can make then say and do shitty stuff. I'm just saying they could've had more interesting character exploration rather than what they ended up with.

It's just...weird. Seeing, in hindsight, Theo get (understandably) mad at Natee, Phupha, and Wayo for manipulating things and using him when in turn he like...*basically* does the same thing. Obviously what he did was not as bad as, say, Wayo's case. But still. Weird.
EDIT: Actually, you know what? Even though what Wayo did was awful, he has a valid explanation, and it's that he has an addiction. Addictions are very hard to control, so him going this far makes sense. Phupha has an abusive mother where he has to use his own money to keep them afloat. So him doing this is understandable- not excusable, but we get it. Theo, on the other hand, doesn't actually have anything going on that excuses or explains why he did what he did. Sure, he was lonely, but the problem is that the writers never really explored that side of him. If they did so appropriately, then his actions would've been understandable, in my opinion. Instead, he basically comes off as entitled in a way.

I will say though, I was glad that Saifah did not turn out to be a creep! I was actually worried he would end up just as wild as Natee or Wayo.

And I do think both Book and Force's acting were very good! All of their acting is very good.

Now, what in the world are they going to do with the last two episodes...?

Isbanky (left) is the one who sang the main song and a couple of the other songs. I don't recall the other actors name, but he plays as Daniel, the kid who looked up to Pok and won the medal that Pok would've won if he wasn't beaten up by Saendee's thugs back in S1. I believe we only see Isbanky show up in S1, and Daniel briefly in S1 and S2.

I'm glad you liked my review! Haha

As much as I don't mind this type of stuff being used in stories, I'm always iffy about it being used in BLs, to be very honest. Because at the end of the day, BLs (in any form of media) almost always prioritize the kissing, sex and teasing moments and place the story at 2nd or 3rd place in the list of importance. And what happens in cases like this is when they present something that should be handled with care, it very rarely is. So while I'm willing to give this series a chance to wow me with Lian's story, I honestly expect next to nothing in terms of it being handled carefully. It would be a great surprise if they did. And I do like how they handled the car scene a lot; I admit that it shows some potential for the show.

And your comment about control and abuse: I 100% agree! I have a close friend who's mother was very controlling and abusive. Which is why a lot of the things Lian does and says is stomach churning for me. Even the stuff Diao says where he seems to genuinely believe that Lian loves Kuea is also something that happens to abuse victims where they end up defending the person to some degree.

I think them *finally* having this moment with Yi somewhat early on was a very good idea. Because now we're willing to give him a bit of a chance. I think they should've had a similar moment with Lian so that if the point of Lian's character is that it's not really his fault that he's an asshole, then giving the audience a good hint of that early on would've worked out. Most of the audience would be willing to give him a chance, but instead most people (at least here on MDL) hate Lian to a degree, and he makes the show hard to watch for a lot of people- myself included.

And that's interesting about Sin! I'm not too familiar with Thai culture, but I'm very curious about his character in relation to it. My friend who's more familiar than I am did not like him at all LOL

And YES about Jay! The moment I saw the face he made when he signaled Lian to take very drunk Kuea home, I didn't like him from that point on. And then he got progressively worse. I'm mostly disappointed because I like Perth, his actor. And I expected him to play a nice guy, but NOPE. However! I think the idea that just about everyone around Kuea is awful is *very* interesting. Sad, but intriguing. So I don't mind that Jay turned out to be mean, too.

But YEAH, I'll keep on with this show for a little while longer. We'll see!

Has he seen him doing weird stuff? And by weird, I mean the whole collecting stuff.I know he's seen Toh get all nervous around him, but I honestly don't recall a single scene when we see Nuea watching him collect his stuff. Toh waits until he leaves (and we see Nuea leave the scene) to then continue his gross behavior.

There's even a moment in episode 2 when Nuea was giving Toh water and the bandage and Toh was acting very weird. If you recall, Nuea made a grimace as he left.

The only time I can think of when Nuea saw him collecting something (and this was recently confirmed by Nuea) was the orange incident in ep1. However, seeing someone remove a gift from the garbage after being harshly declined isn't that weird, in my opinion.

Oh man, where do I even begin?

Well, I've noticed the past one or two episodes that we've been getting less and less Creepy Toh scenes where he steals stuff that Nuea has touched. And that coincides with the fact that the two of them have gotten closer recently. In episode 5, for example, we had one small scene where he collected the straw Nuea used. Still creepy and cringe as hell.

I fear that they might be trying to eliminate the stalker/collecting thing altogether without properly and appropriately acknowledging the Major Red Flag that is Toh's obsession. I say this because they gave a quite a few, dare I say, cute NueaToh scenes in episode 5. The bed scene alone made me forget that this was a show about a gross stalker, and I actually found myself enjoying the scene.

Which is a major problem.
This is one way romance stories try undermining serious issues in their stories: by swiftly, but secretly, brushing the problem(s) under the rug as to not face the issue directly as they should. And the rug is usually cutesy, funny scenes.

However, at the same time, I still somewhat hold out a bit of hope that they address Toh's bullshit behavior. It's pretty obvious at this point that Nuea isn't aware of That Side of Toh. And we've gotten to see some good conversations between him and Sky. And the writers did a pretty damn good job at addressing Jao's body image problem. So with how they've tackled both of these things, I think they might be able to address Toh's problem.

Maybe.
Hopefully.

Speaking of Jao: the part where he and Sky talk about his body image problem was amazing. I actually nearly teared up! I've been dying to see more variety in body types in BLs, and while Jao's body type isn't anything crazy, it definitely is for a character who's a bottom. Bottoms are "supposed" to be thin and dainty, easy to pick up. So seeing Jao who's a little on the chubbier, definitely bulkier side was refreshing! And I absolutely noticed that Sky is thinner than him.
So in my head, they have a moment where Sky unabashedly cuddles him and showers him with kisses. But I honestly didn't expect to see anything like that happen in the show.

Until Sky approached him about it and said all the right things. Especially when he said that he'll help Jao lose weight if he wants to, but that it's also fine if he can't change himself. I almost died.
95% of the reason why I'm watching this show is for this pair. The remaining 5% is for all of the characters- except Toh. I can't bring myself to care about Toh whatsoever. But I like all of the other characters and wardrobes and set designs.

This episode was great for a lot of reasons, but also bad for a lot of reasons.

I'll start off by saying what I've said before: I have no issues with writers utilizing toxic behavior and whatnot in their stories. The problem stems from *how* they use it.

This episode really bumped up the creep factor like crazy. It was really sad seeing Kuea attempting to wiggle free from Lian's grasp, only to fold so easily. He more than likely did because lets be real here, he doesn't know how to navigate his life without someone or some people controlling it. So for him, it's easiest to try and figure out Lian's secrets while being forced to live with him rather finding out his secrets from outside. It's depressing. So much so that I have *no* idea how they're going to turn everything around and make Lian seem like a decent person in the end.
I feel like if they hadn't gone this far with the whole controlling thing, then there *might've* been a chance to redeem Lian's character.
I try not to skip scenes in shows, but MAN was I tempted as hell to do so during the Lian and Kuea scenes.

Surprisingly, and thankfully, Yi doesn't appear to be as bad as Lian. I mean, his controlling nature is still awful regardless, but still. I don't think I would've been able to have two characters with the same exact level of creepiness as Lian, fuck no.
It seems as though something terrible must have happened to Diao that's made Yi overprotective and controlling now. I'm still mildly curious about their past.

Sin weirds me out, but I really liked seeing him attempting to defend/protect Kuea. But him getting flustered over the very obvious shitty character? Sin, you could *absolutely* do better.

Jay gave sound advice, but he's still an asshole.

Diao riding his bicycle was the best part of this episode. He looked so adorable.
I will give the production crew kudos for using the right tone and music during certain scenes this episode, but especially during the car ride to Lian's house when Kuea was crying. The cinematography and locations/set designs are still very good.

MarkKit Recap Episode:
https://www.iq.com/play/gen-y-the-series-season-2-12th70d7uck?lang=en_us

ThanuWayu Recap Episode:
https://www.iq.com/play/gen-y-the-series-season-2-118jsekft5w?lang=en_us&sh_pltf=4

Exactly. I did find a comment by the author (I posted what it said above) saying the adaptation will have changes. Which is to be expected, since it'd be very hard to make a PWP BL drama. Though, according to the trailer, it doesn't seem like they're going to change the noncon/drugging stuff.

This is great, thanks! I was trying to find a good translation of the TWs.
For those who don't have a wattpad account, this is what is shown in the Prologue:

The person who translated it took a screenshot of the conversation with the author where the author says it has violent content, use of aphrodisiacs, "semi-consensual" sex (aka noncon*), "Characters behave inappropriately sometimes", and "70% of the novel's content is PWP Porn without plot Comedy Erotic something like that". The author points out that the drama adaptation will be modified. They don't specify in what ways, though.

* - this is my personal note, not the author's

You can check out the source material here:
https://www.readawrite.com/a/271f89a9b47f9b175f1d63e4613a5549

NC typically stands for noncon.
It's originally meant to be a PWP story. But seeing as they're making it into an actual drama, I can kind of see them making some changes to the SA stuff? But since it's BL, I'm not really expecting them to change it.