Review: 2gether

Hello, friends! Bashful bi is here 2day 2 give you my thoughts on 2gether, specifically on the first season. While I'm usually not super into a series at the beginning, it tends to grow on me as it goes along, but, unfortunately, the first season of 2gether had the opposite effect. It was amazing from the beginning until Sarawat asked Tine to be his boyfriend, and the rest of the season was just unnecessary drama based on petty miscommunications.

Summary (official):

Tine is a very handsome student and cheerleader in college, while Sarawat is one of the campus’ most popular guys and is also in the soccer and music club. When Tine is chased by Green, who he does not reciprocate feelings for — he ends up begging Sarawat to fake date with him in order to chase Green away. Somehow, just like the tale as old as time goes — pretend somehow starts to turn into reality. However, before a "happily ever after" there is the process of falling in love, and the slow realisation that somehow they aren't pretending anymore. Somehow, they do not want to.

My thoughts:

I thought this was the funniest BL I've ever watched, honestly. The whole situation of Tine attempting to set himself up with a fake date to deter Green is absolutely ludicrous, but that's exactly what it was treated as in the show, with awkward, pained smiles and panicked eyes on Tine's part, over-the-top indifference on Sarawat's part, and Green serving more attitude than a single person can provide. The whole premise was absurd, but that the show didn't pretend otherwise made it funny. I laughed a lot, and definitely had a good time... for the first half of the show.

I may have used this idiom before, but after Tine and Sarawat got together (sorry, kind of a spoiler, but this is a light BL so was anything really spoiled?), the entirety of the plot was just stirring the drama pot while sprinkling in ex-girlfriends that show up out of the blue, secrets gone awry, and ridiculous misunderstanding that would have been avoided if excessive jealousy was not a vice. 

Also, Tine and Sarawat's reconciliation just sucked.

SPOILERS

A high five is not how you make up with your boyfriend after a fight. A high five is the bro zone. And I am not here for a bromance. I felt like the entire point of the five episodes of season 2 (Still 2gether) was an effort to atone for that sin (I can almost forgive the scriptwriters because of the kiss at the end of Still 2gether, but this is a season 1 review so that's irrelevant). So yeah, the ending seriously did not deliver, especially on top of the fact that Sarawat's random ex just rolled up and Tine flipped out over a hug. (A hug is really gonna make you go cry in the stairwell and fraternize with the guy you rejected several times?)

The fact that this series had two (2) kisses, both in the first half of the series when Tine and Sarawat were not together yet, was kind of sad. Sarawat drunk-kissing Tine was cringy (besides being not okay because there was no consent on Tine's part. Y'all, you gotta ask before you do these things in real life, please), and I don't even know if the snack game kiss counted at all. Do people even play that snack game beyond middle school? I didn't. (If I'll ever play again, I'll suggest we use pocky like Tine and Sarawat instead of pretzels, because pocky are better.) While I do get that not all couples are mushy, BLs are a place I go when I want to consume romantic content. If I wanted to watch something with a non-mushy couple, I'd watch a documentary on radioactivity featuring Marie and Pierre Curie (honestly, I have watched a documentary on their research and it's absolutely fascinating).

Let's take a moment and talk about Green. Too often, gay gays who express themselves in a more traditionally feminine way are portrayed in BLs as nothing more than comic relief--their only function is to be funny, and their funniness is their only personality trait (refer to the Angel Gang in 2Moons2). While Green certainly suffered by the hand of that trope, especially at the beginning of the series, we eventually learned that he had a believable personal reason for the way he acted. And the scene where he beats the crap out of the guys Tine sent to antagonize him? Absolutely legendary, even regardless of how much it defies the aforementioned stereotype. In season 2 (Still 2gether), he has several moments where he acts like a real friend to Tine, and I think the decision to allow him to be a more full character in the show, rather than just a plot device for the Sarawat and Tine ship, was definitely a good one.

The one character I didn't get was Tine's brother. I got the vibe that he was genuinely annoyed with Man's advances on him, and that not for a moment was he faking his "go aways." But then he told Man he missed him and stuff? I mean I guess people can be like that, but that development kind of threw me.

On an almost completely unrelated note: there is a hilarious FMV on YouTube where a segment of it features Sarawat playing guitar with an audio overlay of "Bust Down Tatiana" to make it look like that's what Sarawat is playing/singing. I lose my shit every time I watch it; for some reason, I think it's the funniest thing. I suggest you go look for it.

I do have to say that I liked the second season better than the first. The sources of conflict weren't meaningless, and it was less annoying to watch the stories unfold between seemingly more mature characters. Although I do have to say the romance aspect of Mil and Phukong's relationship developed a little abruptly--I was definitely feeling an exclusively bro vibe from Mil directed to Phukong up until SWERVE and I didn't. But I guess they are kind of cute, even though I still dislike Mil from the first season.

Overall:

Rating: I'm going to rate the first and second half of this show separately, since I felt so differently about them.

     First half? 10/10

     Second half? 4/10

     Overall? 7/10

Flavor? Vanilla

Watch again? I've already rewatched the first half, and will probably rewatch the first half again.

Recommend? Yes

A commentary on healthy relationships

Hello, friends! Bashful bi's task today is to briefly share some important content about healthy relationships. What does this have to do with BLs? The fact that things that are not healthy relationships are sometimes shown as things that are in the genre.

Don't get me wrong--I agree that a perfectly smooth-sailing relationship would be pretty boring to watch for a whole season, and I'm not actually saying that unhealthy relationships shouldn't be portrayed on TV at all. They happen in real life, and therefore appeal to many viewers because of their relatability. What I mean is that they shouldn't be portrayed as something good.

Before I go any further, it makes sense to define what a "healthy relationship" is not. While most people should already be familiar with this, according to youth.gov, a website maintained by the US government to help promote youth health, aspects of an unhealthy relationship include:

- Control. One dating partner makes all the decisions and tells the other what to do, what to wear, or who to spend time with. He or she is unreasonably jealous, and/or tries to isolate the other partner from his or her friends and family.

- Hostility. One dating partner picks a fight with or antagonizes the other dating partner. This may lead to one dating partner changing his or her behavior in order to avoid upsetting the other.

- Dishonesty. One dating partner lies to or keeps information from the other. One dating partner steals from the other.

- Disrespect. One dating partner makes fun of the opinions and interests of the other partner or destroys something that belongs to the partner.

- Dependence. One dating partner feels that he or she “cannot live without” the other. He or she may threaten to do something drastic if the relationship ends.

- Intimidation. One dating partner tries to control aspects of the other's life by making the other partner fearful or timid. One dating partner may attempt to keep his or her partner from friends and family or threaten violence or a break-up.

- Physical violence. One partner uses force to get his or her way (such as hitting, slapping, grabbing, or shoving).

- Sexual violence. One dating partner pressures or forces the other into sexual activity against his or her will or without consent.

These are all, unfortunately, aspects of a romantic relationship that show up for many people at least occasionally. It's hard to completely avoid these things, because we are human and we do make mistakes. Where BLs sometimes go wrong in portraying these actions is when a couple happily moves on from one party's outburst of any one of these without any apology or acknowledgement that it was a bad choice to make. For instance, I feel like it's wrong to cut from a scene where one character is attempting to push his love interest off while pinned against a wall to a different scene where the two are happily cuddling with half of their clothes gone (Love by Chance). The implication of a cut is often that there was no critical plot between the scenes preceding and following it, such as the provision of consent and an apology for not asking for it before. This can send the message that unhealthy aspects of relationships can lead to happiness, which risks setting unrealistic and, frankly, dangerous expectations for people with little personal experience in romantic relationships, i.e. me. Those of us like me are already plauged with the notion that kisses just magically happen through telepathetic communication--it is high time for that to stop, because asking to kiss someone (or anything else) should not feel as weird as it does.

This goes beyond BLs. While most people are blessed with critical thinking skills, allowing them to undergo the same thought process as described above, we're surrounded from an early age by media, and we do ultimately learn at least a few things from it a la "monkey see, monkey do." That's just how brains work--imitating those around us is a survival mechanism. Though portraying realistic navigation through unhealthy aspects in a way that would actually lead to a happy outcome would likely not fix everything wrong with every couple in the world, perhaps it would help people have more accurate expectations regarding dating, and maybe aid people in having happier, safer relationships.

A commentary on color palates

Hello, friends! Bashful Bi is becoming aware that my interest in BLs has grown beyond seeking self-validation through LGBT+ representation into an actual interest in film. I've never really gotten involved with any communities that create or review film, even as a hobby, but I have nonetheless accumulated some thoughts on a particularly artsy aspect of TV--the color palate that is predominantly on the screen, and what it means for the show.

Vibrant, dark, muted, or pastel are all words that came to mind after watching a few episodes of different shows. After noting these different characteristics, it became clear to me that they were part of the story the show was trying to tell. The most salient example I can think of are the bright, saturated colors that pervaded My Engineer vs the softer, less vibrant colors of Love by Chance. Seriously, My Engineer has the greenest trees in the entire BL genre (see below):

A still from My Engineer

A still from Love by Chance, for comparison

See what I mean? The trees in Love by Chance are a more yellow, less rich green. The entire scene has softer, lighter colors. The contrast between these two screenshots, I think, is actually quite representative of the contrast in the colors for the rest of the show.

This may totally be a stretch aggravated by recently having to write many literary analyses, but I do believe these different colors underscore the dynamics between their respective show's characters. In Love by Chance, the relationship between Ae and Pete, the main couple, seems very soft and delicate--they have many quiet, slow conversations, and dote on each other to express their love. In My Engineer, on the other hand, Bohn and Duen, as well as many of the other ships, spend much more time teasing each other and getting into comical situations, leaving to a more lively and fun atmosphere. Therefore, my thesis: soft color=soft character dynamics, lively colors=lively character dynamics.  I guess I should be planning for a PhD in English, not in neuroscience; alas, I want a job when I grow up. But that's irrelevant.

Another example: Until we Meet Again. That show has a lot of dark scenes, both thematically and visually. While they didn't go as far as finding a way to make scenes basked in daylight less bright than they are, there are a lot of plot pieces that occur in rather dark spaces, in comparison to other shows.

  

There were a lot of dark scenes in Until We Meet Again

It may be confirmation bias, but I'm pretty certain that there were more scenes in dark rooms in this show than in any other.

Color palatte is certainly a detail that takes some deep thought to craft intentionally, althouh it's often kind of intuitive. It's an extra thing to worry about when doing set, costume, and lighting design, as well as post-production, on top of the heaps of other decisions that have to be made about that. But the visual input of color for a viewer as they're watching a show is like breathing--you're usually not consciously aware of it, but it is enormously important. Color is a critical aspect of subconsciously underscoring everything that is happening on screen, in BLs and beyond.

Review: Great Men Academy

Hello, friends! Bashful Bi is back, and today I'll be reviewing a show I just watched--Great Men Academy. Not gonna lie: this show is kind of weird. There's gender swapping, a magical unicorn, a school principal that's a statue, and a projector-type device that spews lovelorn ghosts. Still, even though I'm usually not super into that kind of stuff, I ended up liking this show way more than I thought I would, probably thanks to some really good characters.

Summary (official):

Love has always been a fan of the popular guy Vier of the famous Great Men Academy but has never had the chance to meet him. One day, she sees the mystical unicorn rumored to fulfill wishes and wished for her love for Vier to get a chance. Unfortunately the unicorn interpreted her wishes in a different way and Love wakes up to find herself... as a guy?

My thoughts:

As with many series, I was not super into the beginning. Love is just way too obsessed with Vier, who is a total stranger to her. Maybe it's just me, who's never had a substantial celebrity crush, needs heaps of emotional encouragement to develop any feelings, and lacks femininity in everything besides gender identity, but I just could not buy Love's obsession. I mean, I've met people like her in real life, but I don't quite understand them either.

Soon, however, when Love turns into a guy and actually moves forward with her plan of realizing her love for Vier, every relationship in the show begins to get much more complex, and everyone gains more and more depth until literally the last episode, which really kept me hooked. Love turns out to be more than a ditsy girl inexplicably fixated on a stranger, Vier turns out to be more than just the perfect guy, Tangmo, Vier's best friend, turns out to be waaaay more than a character foil to Vier, and even Love's dorky brother, Good, turns out to be more than a nuisance. Pretty much every character gets a multidimensional personality, even Love's two twin friends to some degree, despite the fact that twins are frequently presented as one entity on TV whose sole purpose is to be twins. I'm no expert on acting and actors' skills, but each of the actors' portrayals, combined with a solid storyline, definitely made this one of the most believable BLs I've seen, despite the slew of strange supernatural elements.

Also, allow me a moment to gush about Tangmo: he's literally everything I aspire to be and more. He's perfection incarnate. He's the perfect balance between laid back and determined, allowing him to achieve incredible heights without fraying his nerves in the process (albeit because of his incredible talent). He doesn't get overly competitive with his best friend and is not fixated on achievement, allowing him to thrive in the face of challenge. And yet he still seems like a real person in spite of all of this. What can I say--an absolute masterpiece of a character portrayal.

SPOILERS:

The one thing about this series that made me sad was the story of Rose/Sean. She/he is another of my favorite characters. While Tangmo stole my heart, Sean (not Rose, though) lured me in to give it to him. There seemed to be something mysterious about him since the moment I first saw him that somehow made him stand out from the rest of the Great Men. And even after his last appearance on screen, I was left feeling like Rose/Sean remained an enigma yet unsolved. I desperately wanted to know more about what went on in her/his mind throughout the entire show. I think it's because of Sean's eyes--something about the way he looked at everyone always drew me in. Perhaps it's a testament to the skill of the actor who played Sean, because I didn't feel this way towards Rose at all. In fact, I found myself kind of annoyed by her at time. Perhaps it's because I tend to have zero tolerance for lovesick BS, which is a frequent character trait of girls in BLs. But anyway, Rose/Sean (especially Sean) deserved better than an unhealed explant to the friend zone and a move to Germany. While it made sense, it made me sad.

Something I found really funny in this series was the contrast between Love's "female sensibility" and the "typical behavior of teenage boys." While it's definitely a stereotype that teenage boys are much more prone to do something gross in terms of hygene than teenage girls, I hate to say that, sometimes, it's not unfounded, and it's something I've experienced first-hand. Love's horror at the sink overflowing with dirty dishes and the trash on the floor was relatable to me. While I'm definitely not a neat freak, drinking out of someone else's used mug is straight-up disgusting (especially during this Coronavirus pandemic).

I surprised myself at the end of the show by actually feeling kind of bad for Vier. While it was a horrifically asshole move to allow his best friend to be outed as gay by mass media the way he did, I guess I do understand the internalized pressure he had to deal with to be the Greatest for the third year in a row. I remember I told someone I was willing to sell my soul to ensure that I maintain my all-As record during the first semester of my senior year, when I was applying to college, and that's sort of equatable to Vier's situation. I, too, had overbearing parents and an environment that unconsciously stacked expectations on me for a really long time. Additionally, feeling threatened by my best friend being better than me is not an entirely foreign feeling, although I'm proud to say I've always managed that much, much better than he did. Basically, can Vier's actions be explained? Yes. Excused? Absolutely not. But perhaps Nuclear was right in the last episode, and Vier is human and can make mistakes, so therefore should be forgiven. That was one massive mistake to out your best friend like that, though.

Overall:

Rating? 9/10 (the supernatural stuff is not something I vibe with; otherwise it would be a 10)

Flavor? Vanilla (that one kiss was so worth it, though)

Watch again? Sure thing!

Recommend? Heck yeah!