#YNEH HAD IT TOO. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

absolutebl · 2 years

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Thanks bunches for the response! It's incredibly sweet of you to take the time to do this for a random ass person online. Hope you know you are loved and appreciated! :)

Firstly, with your point on Cherry Magic and Old Fashion Cupcake, I agree! They were so close to being perfect, with everything, including all the conflicts and narrative beats being nigh on perfect in execution. They just failed to deal the deal for me.

Hence why I put them in the close enough list. Only the first 6 shows I mentioned nailed the landing for me.

Regarding your reply to my second question, do you see any way to resolve this issue regarding the post-honeymoon phase for the viewers? Is there any way it could be presented engagingly without going full WBL2/Tharntype 2? Are there any BL's that actually attempt to linger on a couple **in** a relationship and the problems they may phase in the first season itself?

As for if I grew up watching much anime, not really lol. I got into BL in my early teens and that was my first exposure to Japanese media via Yaoi/Shounen-ai manga. After a while, I had to reconcile with my new found queer identity and BL, which (back then) was not very queer affirming. [This isn't just Japanese stuff, I read a lot of Thai Y Novels with the help of Thai friends who graciously would let me in on group reads and translate for us while we translated Japanese works for them]

In general, the structure of anime doesn't tend to bother me much. I enjoyed Given a lot and had fun watching Sasaki to Miyano without too many qualms (except the singing in Given cos I hate BL and signing together).

As for Disney stuff, it's real hit or miss imo. I tend to not like it that much though so yeah. Tangled is my exception though. I love the movie. That and Beauty and the Beast.

Youa re spot on in saying that I don't like the classic structure of romance plots unless the final conflict is something that has long been established and has been creeping up at the couple. What you say about Korean stuff sounds VERY unappealing to me. It kinda sounds like WYEL territory which completely lost me with its ending. Not that I was head over heels for it anyway.

Regarding 1000 Stars, I've watched it, but found it to be kinda drab and dull fornsome parts in the middle to the point where I struggle to remember much of it. Hell I don't remember much of that show AT ALL. Only the touching scene where Mix counts the stars, vague flashes of the airport, and then a **very** hazy vision of their reunion. Nothing else. The show felt truly meh for me. Mainly due to the compete lack of chemistry to me between Earth and Mix. I sincerely just couldn't see it at all. That, and Earth's acting leaves...a lot to be desired. His "deffo-real-beard" was HILARIOUS though. The narrative itself seemed decently paced if a touch long winded from my recollection. Then again, I can't recollect for shit so I should probs rewatch. Also, PhuPha is quite literally the SOLE cause of ALL conflict in the show and I hate him for it.

Thanks for the recommendations on Moddy Arthouse stuff. I do love me some of that!

I've already watched YNEH, TCMDOC, and the Pornographer. I haven't gotten into Vitenamese stuff because My Cinderell was so clearly underfunded, it suffered hugely for it. And that is still held up as peak Vietnamese BL. I'm watching Want To See You now and my god is it extra. It is truly CAMP. The way the women are portrayed, golly.

This is to ask if Goodbye Mother is good.

As for the rest,

- L:LOTL because I cannot STAND Akira lol. His decision was close to irredeemable for me and I hate the way the denouement is done in either version. This is why I prefer His the Movie. It got to take it's time to unpack the singular issue between Shin and Nagisa and give us some form of satisfactory resolution to the conflict. Here's me on reddit ranting in an exaggerated tone about L:LOTL, where I'm left to fight in the TRENCHES for defence. (I really shouldn't have tried to be comedically exaggerative in the post lol. I got FLAMED.): https://www.reddit.com/r/boyslove/comments/vgae27/am_i_the_only_one_who_didnt_like_life_love_on_the/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share [WARNING: This isn't a good look for me lmao], and Here's a comment where I defend my hypocrisy for liking His but not L:LOTL if you care lmao: https://www.reddit.com/r/boyslove/comments/vlfens/my_review_about_the_japanese_movie_his_2020_share/idv9hud?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3

- Not Me I felt was sorta shallow and faux deep. While I appreciated the attempts to highlight systemic failures in governance that lead to the corruption ridden systems that take hold in large parts of South and South East Asia, allowing for moguls to rule with impunity, I felt that the politics lacked nuance and self awareness in action and most importantly, it failed to show consequence, which is truly where the large majority of the injustice lies. The romance and stuff was fun I guess. Gun KILLS it this time aswell! Love him as Black. Wish we got more of that Gun instead of White Gun imo.

- Manner of Death is a show that I enjoyed watching, but never finished because I love bringing a series and this series in particular felt unbingable. I'd get through a few epsidoes, get bored and quit. Then a few months later, restart, catch up, watch one more episode, feel fatigue, and quit. Rinse and repeat. I'd love to finish it though.

- What Did You Eat Yesterday is something I've heard of a lot. I know the manga is in my to-read list. Will get to it.

- Isnt Great Men Academy body-swap? No thanks if so.

Now finally for the bromances, I'm simply not brave enough to commit to 300 million episodes of content, only to potentially deal with het fuckery AND not get ANYTHING out of it. I know some of these things are supposed to be implied and queer coded but to what extent? How explicit is it? How shrouded is it? Cause I'm sorry but I'm not watching a 30 episode buddy cop type dynamic series as a substitute for good BL.

Jesus I type too much. I need to touch grass.

[Had to send this as an ask because character limits. Dear lord.]

Do you see any way to resolve this issue regarding the post-honeymoon phase for the viewers? Is there any way it could be presented engagingly without going full WBL2/Tharntype 2?

Many experienced and brilliant romance authors have tackled this one with mixed results. The nature of romance as a genre makes it very difficult.

I think, the conflict in the second season needs to be external and set up by the narrative and world building to work successfully. So, for example, even though I know it was a toss away because the actor refused to return, I didn't mind Color Rush 2 removing Yoo Han, because it total made sense he might be kidnapped, trapped by his family, or otherwise messed with given the sinister nature of the CR universe. I'd even be fine seeing a different actor portray him in a 3rd installment, again because plastic surgery or on-the-run visual shift works for the story, (so long as the new actor could convey the same kind of physicality as Hwall).

Another example:

I would have had TMS2 take Korea’s homophobic culture to task with a plot that had paparazzi exposing Seo Joon as gay and then the extreme public fall out. I would have had Ji Woo totally unable to deal with the negative fame (because of his past trauma and shy retiring personality) and flee for THAT reason. This would have made both characters more sympathetic (and still pining for each other), just torn apart by circumstances beyond their control. And I would have ended it with Seo Joon tragically having to give up his career but happily shacked up with Ji Woo in increasing obscurity in a countryside restaurant and small community that has learned to accept and protect them (ah la His the movie).

Are there any BLs that actually attempt to linger on a couple in a relationship and the problems they may phase in the first season itself?

You mean they get together like halfway through? Hum. Well Secret Crush On You, any BL where one half of the party has a super important secret or that tackles the fake relationship trope. Because of it’s style (that you specifically said you probubly wouldn’t like) any 4 act structure (or show that borrows this pacing style) so Chinese bromances and some stuff out of Korea, will do this, but still inject dumb break up conflict in the final quarter.

Also any BL that is more soap opera-ish will do this, like Japan’s Ossan’s Love, the Takumi-kun series, Pornographer series, or China’s Irresistible Love. Thailand’s Love Sick, Make it Right, Puppy Honey (in many of these the couple is apart at the end of season 1 tho).

I do have a statistical analysis of 2nd seasons (from before Korea started getting in on the game).

Second Seasons I Think Are Actually Pretty Good

In that they use external conflict to drive the couples apart rather than angst or internal conflict.

SOTUS S is my first pick. I like the conflict in both the 2nd season and the Our Skyy special. It’s around coming out in the workplace and separation due to being at different life stages. You need to buy into KongArthit’s dynamic though. If they didn’t work for you as a couple in SOTUS, the rest of the series won’t work either. But they satisfied me by moving from a college setting to a workplace setting and I really enjoyed them a lot.

I actually don’t like Present Perfect, but I think you might. If you haven’t seen this 2 part movie series (Thai + Japan production from a queer arthouse director) you might enjoy it. It’s a little slow, but maybe? The conflict is internal but believably based on personality, so a little like TMS2.

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feuqueerfire · 2 years

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Red Balloon Live Blogging

Apparently this is angsty and heartwrenching and I'm not super sure I'm in the mood for that right now but might as well give it a try. At least it ends happily. Also this is Taiwanese but reminds me of kBLs with the 8 10-minute episodes

Ep 1 (Jul 19)

I knew there were teenager and adult versions of the characters but I didn't expect it to start with the adult versions, thought it'd be more like YNEH where it's teenage years and then time skip

Speaking of Your Name Engraved Herein, hello actor who also played Birdy in that

Also slightly reminds me of His The Movie because there's a divorce + a young daughter. The vibes are quite different though, doesn't have the touch of aching and nostalgia but rather just harsh reality

lmfao "Ma'am, your husband is just extremely boring"

"How long has it been since? 13 years?" "13 years, 5 months, 6 days"

Ep 2 (Jul 19)

I wish they'd translate the written stuff. Gaga didn't do it for DNA Says Love You either, that one also had writing that I'll just not know the meaning of. Also, why does GagaOolala not allow you to fast forward or rewind with the < > buttons

lmfao Zi Chen's father is part of the mafia?

I keep getting confused who is who. So our main character played by Birdy's actor with the wife and kid is Zhi Chen? And Xiang Wan is the one with the camera?

I read the summary for the show on MDL finally and I'm guessing the fact that Zhi Chen is the son of the school board and mafia mans is gonna come into play. I was just startled when I first saw it like lol what's this doing here

Ep 3 (Jul 19)

In YNEH, Birdy is the one who's carefree and a troublemaker, so seeing his actor play a character who's the rule follower and tempted into tomfoolery by the other character is interesting and kinda jarring lol

Why am I unable to care about or connect with these BLs? I mean it's just been DNA Says Love You and 3 episodes of this short show but still, I wanna be invested but I kinda don't care much. Maybe VegasPete has too strong of a grasp on me right now?

Ep 4 (Jul 19)

Damn, his father having memory problems?

Naurr not the teacher giving the bullies a light punished + admonishing the bullied gay boy that he should be like a boy and consider what it is about him "that people cannot bear"

oh yeah Xiang Wan's ex the school teacher comes up sometimes

Zhi Chen keeping Xiang Wan company while he's going through it but also bringing his books along to study under his flashlight because he's got a test tomorrow lol

bro they didn't sub what Xiang Wan said after "You're weird" but then proceeded to stare at each other with background music, so am I supposed to interpret it as "You are weird but I still like you" or smth lol

Ep 5 (Jul 20)

Omg they replayed that scene and he said "You are weird but I like it" I see

Xu Yang's story of being bullied for being gay isn't new or innovative but I'm somehow freaking invested. The bullies giving a fucking hard time and the director being useless vs that closeted/DL guy giving him advice and the girls standing up for him.

lmfao this random 10 second total scene of the swim team + Zhi Chen saving miss girl Chu Qing? Will we not acknowledge it? I guess Zhi Chen's cold is the most important

Ep 6 (Jul 20)

This is years before Covid but the coughing everywhere willy nilly is

rip Xiang Wan saying his parents simply ignore that he likes boys while Zhi Chen saying if he liked boys and told his father, he'd kill him.

"Why don't you accept her?" "Why ask when you know the answer?" "Oi! You're saying that I have a chance?"

Ep 7 (Jul 20)

Nearly all the episodes start with ending of the previous episode, I wish it was just one movie or smth. Although finishing each little piece makes me feel I'm getting through it faster than one 1.5h movie

both of their expressions are really good in this scene with the "Oi! You're saying that I have a chance?"

It's making me very nervous that they're in Zhi Chen's house all alone because his father's gonna come at the most inopportune time or smth lol

lmfao and there he is. Hello father. don't kill Zhi Chen please

Zhi Chen saying his greatest regret of the summer is that he couldn't give the bullied kid's letter to his father... does not bode well

bro fuck hope we get a more conclusive ending for the bullied kid Xu Yang's story than just that he got beat the fuck up

wait no nevermind nevermind I don't want a more conclusive story fucking fuck is he gonna jump off the roof

fuck

Ep 8 (Jul 20)

last episode but at least it's 2x the length of a regular episode, hope they manage to fit things well

oh whew, he lives! and in his own Sailor Moon costume!

ah fuck "Xu Yang lived. He became a warrior whereas I became the hostage" It's interesting that Zhi Chen's father became soft enough to get the principal to look into the Xu Yang matter and properly punish the director + bullies but cruel enough to punish Zhi Chen for liking boys

this letterrrrrr

seeing the 2010 version of Zhi Chen's father forgetting things like who his son even is, the fact that his wife died, etc but still being homophobic enough to constantly ask if Zhi Chen's seeing that boy because he has to save face. fucking fuck

The balloons in the present-day Xiang Wan's bike

aw, ending scene of Zhi Chen and his ex-wife being friendly. Although, where's their daughter?

I definitely see what people meant by wishing we got to see older versions of Zhi Chen and Xiang Wan more. I liked the side story fine.

It was good enough, fairly typical LGBT youth exploration halted by society then finding each other again type of ordeal. I know Your Name Engraved Herein was released after this one but they're both similar in that sense. Although in this one they're definitely gonna be romantically involved + they met much younger.

I'm not really attached to the characters and wasn't super into any aspect of the show, so it's just fine for me. I think the fact that it was neither a longer series nor did it have the uninterrupted flow of a movie lessened its impact. Good enough but I don't think I'll ever think about it again.

Rating: 6/10

#ep by ep commentary

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zhuhongs · 3 years

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Ever since I watched Your Name Engraved Herein two weeks ago, I have wanted to talk about Jiahan as whole but in particular this scene right here that starts around the 40 minute mark.

CW’s: discussion of religion, internalized homophobia, violent homophobia, choking, and lack of consent. Generally, the same cws as in the movie.

Read more bc it’s uh.. 2.7k

all images are described in alt text

As soon as I watched this scene I just knew it had to be really significant and now rewatching YNEH, I realize that this is a major ideological turning point for Jiahan as a character. From this point on he slowly begins to accept that he’s gay and starts to consciously act on his feelings for Birdy. However, I must first add some context and insights on Jiahan’s prior behavior before I dive into this scene as a whole. At the beginning of the movie, we see that while Jiahan feels different from the rest of his roomates, he still sneaks out with them when they go hook up with girls, despite not showing any interest in the girl he’s with. He feels very different from the rest of his friends, but still goes along with them due to peer pressure. Later, he tries to dissuade them from violently hazing the gay student, Xie Zhenhong, (his name is never said in the film but it says so on his uniform shirt, and that what I’ll refer to him as for the rest of the post) but is reluctantly influenced to gang up on the student as well. He closes his eyes while he’s about to strike the bat down on the student, until Birdy rescues the student-- and Jiahan in a way-- from what is about to play out. After this, his friends accuse him of being in the same stall as Birdy (which he was) but he denies it, not wanting to explain why he was there and the ensuing taunting from his friends.

While its obvious that Jiahan has feelings for Birdy, he isn’t confident enough to pursue them outright. Birdy is the more confident one in both their friendship and in his sexuality, not caring about how anyone perceives him and does what he wants regardless of the consequences. Jiahan is the one worried about societal stigma and goes along with things he doesn’t want to do. However after this encounter with the gay underclassman pictured above, Jiahan become more brave and honest about his feelings towards Birdy. Interestingly enough in the scene directly after this, Birdy begins to conceal his true feelings for Jiahan and pursue a straight relationship with Banban. He doesn’t do this hurt Jiahan, as he does reciprocate Jiahan’s feelings, but to discourage him from coming out and becoming a social pariah for being gay. Birdy himself doesn’t mind being an outcast, but he does not want to see the same thing happen to the one he loves. So instead of letting Jiahan do that, he tries to discourage Jiahan from ever pursuing him by getting a girlfriend and suggest Jiahan does the same. In the same day, both Jiahan and Birdy come to opposite realizations about their feelings for the other, thereby changing their dynamic for the course of the movie. Someone else has picked apart Birdy’s scene in their own post. If you haven’t read that analysis, please go read it, because its really good at explaining Birdy’s character since most of his story isn’t directly revealed to us. We must read inbetween the lines and piece it together, which can be confusing on a first watch.

Anyways, now we can focus on Jiahan. At this point in the movie, Jiahan is trying to understand why he’s upset that Birdy is showing interest in a girl in their band while dealing with his own internalized homophobia and denial over his sexuality. He then turns to the only out gay person he knows -- Xie Zhenhong, who he sees in the cafeteria with new bruises on his face. He looks at Jiahan with a smile. This makes me feel like Zhenhong probably picked up on Jiahan and Birdy’s feelings for each other since last year, when he saw them exit the same stall in the bathroom. Having been the Distinguished Out Person in a group before, I can definitely relate to the way Zhenhong reacts to Jiahan. It the typical “oh honey, you don’t realize it yet, but I know you’re gay” reaction.

Jiahan waits outside the cafeteria and calls out to out him from behind. At first Zhenhong ignores him as we can see that he smirks a bit when he first speaks. He definitely heard Jiahan but doesn’t answer him until he repeats himself a few times. Zhenhong purposely stops when the two are in front of the stained glass window, away from others. Jiahan’s word choice towards Zhenhong is also interesting as he addresses him as “學弟” which is a term for an underclassman. To my understanding, it’s not overly formal nor is it overly familiar, however it is the nicest way that anyone has addressed him all movie. Jiahan than asks him who gave him those bruises, showing concern for his well being. He then reveals why he stopped Zhenhong saying “Actually I want to ask you, when did you start liking boys?” This really seals the deal to Zhenhong that Jiahan is talking to him to try and sort out his own feelings towards Birdy. While his suggestion that Zhenhong perhaps “see a doctor” or “consider getting a girlfriend” read as a microaggression to most viewers, Zhenhong himself can tell that Jiahan is asking him this in good faith. And perhaps, this might be the most understanding anyone has been towards him since Birdy helped him out prior. Before he responds, he looks up at Jiahan and fixes his bangs. This all stumps Jiahan whose eyes dart around, speechless. Zhenhong then circles his arms around Jiahan’s neck, a very intimate gesture, and studies him for a moment. We cannot see Jiahan’s face at this moment but he does shuffle slightly, his body language nervous and confused, but not upset. After looking at him, Zhenhong then goes in closer, assumedly to kiss him. At this point, Jiahan physically stops him and grabs him by the throat. However, Jiahan’s face doesn’t seem to be angry, if anything, his face looks more scared and confused-- akin to a ‘what are you doing?’ moment.

Initially Zhenhong’s choice to kiss Jiahan read very...strangely to me. Why would the screenwriter, as a gay man that grew up in the 80’s, choose to include this? What was there to gain? To me it seemed like it was reinforcing the stereotype of gay men being overly flirtacious and viewed as predators. Why show a nonconsentual attempted kiss at all? I thought about it a lot, both for this scene and the following one with the old man and later between Jiahan and Birdy because it seemed?? Odd to me?? Isn’t that a disservice in representing gay men? I don’t fully have the right answer but I feel like by writing the scene like this, it goes to demonstrate how Jiahan still isn’t fully comfortable with being gay. And also that lgbt people, especially teens, aren’t always going to be good rep. Liu Kuang-hui wasn’t writing the movie to be an perfect, morally uplifting, santized gay narritive. He was writing something that spoke to his real life experience as a gay man in 1980’s Taiwan. In real life, people do questionable things and good narratives are supposed to make you question characters and their actions and judge for yourself whether what they did was right or wrong. The narrative isn’t looking to condemn Xie Zhenhong for doing this. Xie Zhenhong is ultimately a victim of violent homophobia, that will not hide himself or his sexuality despite the violence he faces. He isn’t perfect, nor is Jiahan, nor is Birdy, nor is anyone in the film.

Although now having rewatched this scene upwards of eight times in writing this, it feels like Zhenhong didn’t assume this action to be without consent. Of course, no words were explicitly exchanged about kissing, and I’m not trying to make the case that it’s okay to kiss someone without their consent, that’s harassment. However, Zhenhong did gave Jiahan time to express his discomfort before proceeding. Zhenhong first got close to Jiahan by brushing his bangs, Jiahan did not say anything or look visibly uncomfortable. He then put his arms around Jiahan’s neck, and stared at him for a good ten seconds. At this point, Jiahan had time to say he was uncomfortable. As we know it, consent does indeed entail a verbal, understood yes from both parties. However given the context, I can understand why Zhenhong thought that Jiahan was consenting at that moment. However the moment Jiahan revoked his consent Zhenhong stopped trying to kiss him. Zhenhong shouldn’t have gone in without getting verbal consent, and Jiahan could’ve done something other than grabbing him by the throat. They were both in the wrong. Violence shouldn’t have been the reaction, nor should’ve kissing someone without their verbal consent. The lines were very blurred, and proper communication could’ve resulted in a better interaction but like I mentioned above, I don’t think the writers wanted to portray the scene in that way. The intent was not to say that Zhenhong’s actions were romantic or something to emulate. It was very purposeful in showing to interplay of homophobia, gay desire, and religion.

The scene is set up like a religious confession. Zhenhong purposefully leads Jiahan to the stained glass, a metaphor for his religious guilt. He doesn’t look Zhenhong in the eyes, his voice is hushed, and body language nervous, and troubled-- it communicates to Zhenhong that he thinks he may be gay and wants either reassurance that he isn’t or acceptance that is. Regardless, it’s a very vulnerable and intimate moment. Jiahan is facing him like ‘hey, I know my friends were bullying you and I wanted to save you but was too much of a coward and almost took part in harming you. I’m sorry. I know you saw that me and Birdy were in the same stall together, and that you saw me just telling him not to talk to the girls, and neither of those are heterosexual things to do. Please, help me.’ He’s asking Zhenhong to pass judgement on him, is he gay or not? By virtue of even asking that question, they both know the answer -- Jiahan is in love with Birdy, but whether Jiahan can accept that or not is up to him. In a way, Zhenhong is testing Jiahan to see how honest he can be with himself. By approaching him like that, he’s testing to see whether Jiahan can accept being intimate with a man or not. It’s not a good or ethical test, but it sure is effective. Because in his head, Jiahan is coming to realize that he doesn’t mind a man being close to him in a romantic way. Although, he isn’t fully there yet. He still grabs Zhenhong. But as Zhenhong stares at him despite the hand around his throat, Jiahan really has to think about his actions. Is that what he really wants to do, or is that what he’s been taught to do? It illustrates his internalized homophobia perfectly. Jiahan is literally staring gay desire in the face, rejecting it, while in front of his religion. Zhenhong finally answers Jiahan that “he has always loved boys since he was little, it’s never changed.” Upon hearing that his grip loosens and he pulls away. And the fact that we can hear him well means that Jiahan was never choking him, his hand was there, but not gripping. Zhenhong pulls him in closer and tilts his head, and says “and it never will.” Zhenhong’s words are very deliberate. It’s as if he anticipated this might happen and knew exactly what to say. He wants to carve it in Jiahan’s brain that no one chooses to be gay. They always are and no amount of denial, like the kind Jiahan is showing, will change that. He then finally lets go of Jiahan, who is speechless, he thanks him, and leaves. Jiahan, however, stays there for a second, processing everything that has happened, and breathes heavily before the scene cuts to later that day.

Finally, I would like to examine exactly what Zhenhong’s “thanks” even means. Why would Zhenhong be thanking Jiahan? On the surface, it lookslike Jiahan waited for this guy to finish eating, then asked him invasive questions about his sexuality and suggest he should get help and then almost choked him. This should count as a microagression at best and an attempted hate crime at worst. But, as I just dived into, this wasn’t a bad faith jeer by Jiahan in order to bully Zhenhong, this was a genuine cry for help made by a deeply confused teenager. I feel like the “thanks.” at the end of the scene was perhaps just as puzzling to me as when I thought about why the staff would have that scene play out like that in the first place? I think his thanks is conveying many things. Firstly, thanking him for not actually hurting him and allowing him to have a semi normal interaction with a student of the same gender. As far as we know, many, MANY different students have tried to hurt him in the new semester alone. Hell, we literally do not even know his name as everyone refers to him by the q slur or some other derogatory term, which speaks a lot to how he is treated. He also may be saying thanks for actually asking him about his sexuality. While Jiahan still followed it up with a suggestion he see a doctor, he still genuinely wanted to know why rather fully assume he has something wrong with him. Also, I feel like he might be thanking Jiahan for being brave enough to actually confront his sexualtiy and ask Zhenhong for help in the first place. Zhenhong really seems to be alone as the only gay student at the school but now knowing that Jiahan is realizing thathe’s gay as well, might make him be hopeful that things may slowly begin to change. Sadly, this interaction is the last time we see Xie Zhenhong all film which sucks because I really liked him. And I feel like it would’ve been really nice to see him after the time skip or at least have Jiahan mention him because this moment was one of the things that really made Jiahan start to accept his sexuality. A cut scene with Father Oliver also contributed, but I really wish Xie Zhenhong got more narrative than being the only out student that was then violently bullied. But, I acknowledge that MANY scenes were cut from the film for length so I can’t complain to much.

Oh god, that was a lot to say about a scene that was literally a minute and thirty seconds long. In conclusion!! I just had a lot of things to say about this scene and the scenes surrounding it. I think Jiahan is just a very painfully relatable character for many LGBT viewers and he was incredibly relatable for me which is why I felt the need to spend my day off writing this as opposed to doing homework. This scene is incredibly rich on many levels and I really appreciate YNEH as a whole for not spoonfeeding the viewer information and letting us interpret and question the scenes on our own and come to our own conclusions about the characters and yea. There’s so much going on and a lot of nuance and idk how to properly convey a lot of my thoughts but I tried really hard bc i really do love this movie. I really was puzzled by this scene at first, but now having examined it, it is my favorite scene in the movie. If this scene was changed in any way to make it more palatable, it would’ve been nearly as impactful which was a hard decision to come to, but I stand by it. I don’t know if I feel the same about other scenes but I will be reviewing YNEH as a whole in a different post. I have much more to say but my thoughts on this scene were far too long to not make it a separate post of its own. In essence, YNEH is about growing up and accepting yourself in all ways. Not all of those things are pleasant but if you cannot accept those things about yourself, you’re doomed to be miserable until you can live life unburdened by your own and societies limitations. Goodnight, my fingers hurt.

#i think im like . the only one thats ever refered to that student by name on tumblr dot com.. that ive seen #your name engraved herein #刻在你心底的名字 #chang jiahan #long post #🐌.pdf #also i rewrote and reworded this sooo many times to get it to sound the way i want fjvjdjdjs bc this movie has so much to talk abt and word #it right bc like yea.. yk... bc like... yea #its 1am... gn

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