Jiang Junior

Where was this filmed/where does this take place?

I don't understand why Hua Yong kept playing captive for so long and to this extent. I'm sure Sheng Shaoyou would have been willing to be topped by Hua Yong at this point had Hua Yong played his cards right, if not for himself and how Hua Yong's hormones affect his body, he'd do it for his father's sake... but he keeps leaning into being the defenseless submissive omega role, even going so far as to say he's willing to remove his glands? That doesn't make any sense, Hua Yong is just as much of a top as Sheng Shaoyou, if not more, and as in love as he may be, he is just as unwilling to bottom, otherwise he would have done it by now.

I think you misunderstand me, as a socialist, when I say communist propaganda, I say it teasingly, but not as an insult or critique. In fact my critique is the opposite: this series is much more nuanced and realistic than the idealised films about the 1920s-1930s that were made during the 1960s-1970s, which isn't a bad thing in of itself, however to ultimately go back to praising fillial piety and to be so forgiving of landlords are pre-revolutionary ideals that I do not allign myself with and did not expect from a series with this synopsis. Yes, the landlords would've felt it an injustice for the work of their ancestors to be redistributed without compensation, however the feudalist system is wrong, and it was inhumane for children to be left to starve, the shift had to be made.

I was watching this for the communist propaganda, who let Confuscius take the reins?? It is good to acknowledge the inevitable imperfections of grassroots movements and the difficulty of mobilising groups of workers who have not had the privilege of accessing literacy, it is true that these people were and are sceptical of the intellectual class. It is also good to criticise landlords not by dehumanising them, but holding them accountable for what they owe their renters, and setting them on equal footing as their countrymen by acknowledging they are driven by the same things we all are. However to go so far as to have Ning Xuexiang forgiven by his daughter who was left to be gang raped by bandits for merely some land deeds?? Are we not swinging the pendula too far in the other direction?

I know I'm late to the party but gosh I wish women's bars like Anthea Bar were real 😭

The world of omegaverse is not quite a world of humanity, it reinvents and instrumentalises very animal characteristics and very human social class dynamics. It is neither a reflection of modern values, future values or even past values. It creates new rules and breaks those too.

The novel is literally tagged Yandere, Mpreg, Black Belly, R*pe, Kidnappings. If you want to read eloquent critiques of romanticised depictions of SA in female-targeted media, those exists and I highly recommend you read them, in fact, check out the history of the BL genre, there's a reason why BLs so often have such dark themes (and yes, it has to do with religious and patriarchal violence imposed on women). However if you come to this comment section shocked or feeling betrayed in any way, that's on you. ABO Desire did not at any point advertise itself as fluffy moralist kweer romance. It belongs to a genre, in fact it is a quintessential example of its genre and correctly panders to its audience, you are just not that audience. I personally morally oppose romanticised depictions of Sexual Assault, just as I'll morally reprimand the relationship depicted between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. However I find there is a point in the exercise of a faithful adaptation of a novel belonging to such an impactful genre (as it has not frequently been done before). This was made for an adult audience, and at no point concealed where it was headed.
I'm not gonna run around and scream "the youths are turning into prudes" because that's not what this is. The younger audience has a very radical and unconstructive way of banishing problematic media, which isn't great, but the offense done by the drama, which they have determined in the spirit of a great knee-jerk of feminism, is that rape and its glamourised depiction is Bad. This is a good thing, in a word of free online pornography, we are in desperate need of more primitive feminism. However what is also important is that this generation learns to manually regulate the content they consume in accordance to what is appropriate. Teenagers need go stop clicking on those "Yes I'm over 18" buttons and younger people need to be accepting of the fact that most people are not young for most of their lives and a lot of media is not suitable or enjoyable for consumption at a young age.

7.4???! Now this is just too harsh. Yes the main character takes a while to grow a spine but it's a very real case of women being too tolerant of their boyfriends misogynistic abusive behaviours, it doesn't make her character flat or the story defeatist or negative (especially when you think of how few shows address this kind of mistreatment at all). Matter of fact the entire cast is very colourful, the acting and chemistry is great even among the side couples. Sol and Jiwan's love story is for now still the best GL romance in a kdrama in fact it's the only mainstream one other than The Handmaiden even 4 years later. All side characters are brilliant and funny. The art school set is believable. The cinematography is very pleasant... This should at least rank above 7.5

4 dramas and 2 movies this year and we're only in August, when does this man catch a break?!

For the record, the only reason I'm putting myself through this again is for the lesbians. Close the clincs, I can barely watch when the filler addict is on screen.

I'm glad to see Tawan back in uniform... I won't hide the fact that I think the writing is absolutely atrocious, but I had a moment of clarity today which was that if I could have seen a GL like this when I was a young teen I would have been so much better off. When I think back to the quality, the lack of budget GLs used to have... I feel the need to be grateful nonetheless

I am all for having wider representation that normalises same sex love and relationships, as you put it, nor do I have any objection to lesbian media attaining a family or male audience. I'm beginning to think you're intentionally missing my point to avoid it: my issue lies with the incapacity of media to portray women who hold jobs like Tawan authentically because they expect an unwarranted social outrage at the sight of a woman who is anything less than perfectly feminine. If I may make some assumptions about you as you have made of me, I'd liek to imply that you really do not care much for the lesbian community nor for womankind at large if you believe such a critique was not to be expected/has no place here.

1) How many men do you think watch the family network on prime time? 2) Do you genuinely think a lesbian series would be just as appealing to a lesbian as it is to a man?? Fact is, practically all GL watchers are women, so much so that when it is not the case it in incriminates the series to be inauthentic. Tv networks know this, and if they don't they should. These are not national channels, they aim to get the biggest bang for their buck. AS A LESBIAN WOMAN, I find it very disappointing to see that something that was marketed to me, turns out to be inauthentic and objectifying.

not especially no

As you can see in the tags, it is not enemies to lovers but it is 'slow-burn' the characters only start showing interest in each other half-way through.

25cm height difference is crazyy

The first episode was so good, why does the quality diminish with every episode? 😭 That being said I'm so glad Tawan will be back in uniform next episode!! Give the people what they want!!!

I'm very confused about what age I'm meant to perceive the characters to be. I feel like Jiang Li must have still been a teenager, but surely Xue Fangfei is not a teenager anymore... she, Shen Yurong and the Duke seem older than the other students (including Ye Shijie and Zhou Yanbang). So is Xue Fangfei perceived as a teenager or not?

I really enjoyed the first episode of Only You, it was so charming, I've been waiting for years to see a story like that adapted by a GL series. The characters felt real, Orm and Lingling's acting really improved. Nevertheless, I can't help but be disappointed by the styling choices. This is a GL. Have we forgotten the target audience is women and lesbians? Why is a female bodyguard wearing her hair loose, with earrings and stiletto heels? These are all restrictive, not to mention safety hazards! We've been complaining about this with female superhero characters for over a decade! Why are we so terrified of women being anything but perfectly feminine? As a lesbian woman, I want to see other strong women in uniform who can comfortably stand with both their feet flat to the ground! Only adapting stories without tomboy characters is one thing, but could we at least value female characters for something other than just their runway fashion once in a while? Please put Tawan back in uniform!!! Get her a good suit. It feels like the crew has completely forgotten the target audience!

#GetTawanBackInUniform
#RememberTheTargetAudience