Lovely Writer (2021)

Bold but flawed storytelling

Things I liked about the series:
- I was so excited to see this series when I heard that Kao from Until We Meet Again was the main actor. I loved him as Kao, so I was looking forward to seeing him again. Since we’re already talking about Kao, let’s dive into his and Up’s acting and chemistry. No surprise, both actors were superb. I was so used to seeing Kao with Cooheart that I wasn’t sure how if I’d be able to picture him with Up. Surprisingly, Kao and Up seemed to suit each other a lot better than KaoEarth. As the show progressed their chemistry grew, and I loved their interactions. Playing someone like Nubsib wasn’t easy since the character had a lot of layers and personality to him, but Kao managed to play him amazingly. Same for Up and his role as Gene. Gene was so cute and adorable with his many facial expressions and his annoyance with Nubsib’s antics. I love this pairing so much.
- I want to dive into Up’s character more for a personal reason. Gene is an author who wrote his first BL novel—which was in the process of becoming a BL series—and was also writing another one due to popular demands. I’m also an author who wrote gay romance novels in my career, so I was able to relate with Gene on a deeper level. The subtle jabs at writing a BL novel—romanticizing sexual harassment, oversaturated NC scenes, concern if fans like a book for the plot or for the sex scenes—were all things I’ve experienced in my career, so it really hit home for me. Romance genre in general is notorious for romanticizing things like sexual harassment, nonconsensual advances, rape, etc, and the raunchier the book the more popular it becomes. It isn’t just the BL/MM industry, but the entire romance genre. Sex sells and we as authors are made to believe that we need sex scenes for a book to be a hit, even if we feel the plot doesn’t need it. It’s a very unsatisfying feeling when you don’t want those kinds of scenes in your book, but you have to put them in for fans to read them.
- Let’s also dive into Nubsib because I feel like this character has been getting a lot of unnecessary hate from fans and reactors. Part of that reason is the show’s misleading depiction of Nubsib being “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Many people read that and believed that Nubsib was a bad guy who could possibly hurt Gene or manipulate him. The reality of Nubsib being a wolf was that he was Gene’s childhood friend, and honorary brother to Gene’s family. Both their families are neighbors and have regarded each other as family. They separated years ago when Gene went to study abroad. Years later, Nubsib heard about Gene’s book becoming a novel, so he pretends to not know who Gene is so he could try to make Gene fall in love with him without Gene looking at Nubsib as a brother. That was it. There was no malicious intent, or using Gene to get what he wants other than him wanting Gene as a boyfriend. Many people don’t understand why Nubsib would lie to Gene about who he was, so let me give you an insight. In Asian culture, dating someone you consider family, even if they aren’t related by blood, is highly frowned upon. So with Gene and Nubsib being honorary brothers, the odds of them being a couple if Gene knew would’ve been slim to none. So in that sense, I get why Nubsib lied, but it still doesn’t erase the fact that lying was wrong. And I loved that Gene made sure Nubsib understood that. In Gene’s own words, he said that if this was a novel, this would’ve been a sweet moment, but this is reality, and you need to understand that what you did was wrong. I love how Gene made sure Nubsib took responsibility for his actions instead of just sweeping it under the rug. Other than that, there wasn’t anything to depict Nubsib as a bad guy. His motives for getting close to Gene were questionable, but he’s never done anything to harm or abuse Gene. Even when Gene was drunk and throwing himself at Nubsib, Sib refused to take advantage of him. Consent was a big deal for Nubsib, always asking for permission before doing something with Gene, and that makes me love him even more. I’ve seen BL characters who are far more toxic and abusive who fans have excused time and again—like Tharn, Type, and Lhong from TharnType, and Khai from Theory of Love—but with Nubsib, people are looking for every excuse to hate on him. Quite the double standards if you ask me. Nubsib is one of the least toxic BL characters in the industry and doesn’t deserve any of the hate he was getting.
- If we’re going to talk about jabs, then let’s talk about the main topic of this series. Lovely Writer was written as a way to spread awareness of the toxicity of the BL industry and fanservice. Honestly, I felt that we needed something like this, because fanservice is very destructive. Toxic fans have an issue separating fantasy with real life. They see a BL couple on screen and they automatically want them to start dating in real life. When they don’t, their ship sinks, and fans start attacking the same actors they claimed to love. Or if an actor reveals they’re dating someone else, fans will start harassing their boyfriends/girlfriends. To be fair, it’s not just the fans making this a toxic environment. Studios would have the actors play as a couple both onscreen and offscreen as a way of promoting their show, which I do not agree with. Their acting should just be on screen only, and let the actors be themselves off screen. All it does is further feed the toxic fandom which is damaging to an actors mental health. So many BL actors would leave the industry all together because of this. BL fans should understand that these couples will likely not be real couples off their shows. Majority of BL actors are straight, and trying to force them to date their male co-star is disgusting and disrespectful. Please know the difference between fantasy and reality, for everyone’s sake, and if you’re going to attack a BL actor for loving someone else then clearly you’re not a real fan.
- This series has given us a plethora of side characters to follow along, which includes the side character of Tum and Tiffy. I love the dynamic between the two, and I love how they both reversed the gender stereotype. Tum took on the more feminine role while Tiffy was the badass masculine biker chick. I also loved Gene’s best friend Hin, who acted as Gene’s support system. Both Hin and Tum had family dynamic issues; Tum with his controlling sister and boss, and Hin with his father abandoning his mother and leaving their family in debt. For Tum, I was glad to finally see him standing up to Tam in the final episode. As for Hin, he saw how successful Gene’s novel was, and wanted a piece of the action in hopes of getting his mother out of financial debt. Thankfully, the final episode gave him that opportunity.
- If we’re going to talk about family, I want to talk about Nubsib and Gene’s family. They’re all very close. Their mothers go to aerobic classes together, their brothers video chat with one another, Nubsib’s father wanting to do business with Gene’s. But I wanted to talk about Gene’s father in particular. Right away we were shown a glimpse that Teep wasn’t a fan of Nubsib and Gene’s relationship. At first we think it’s the typical homophobia reason, but the show surprised us with a unique revelation. Teep used to have a boyfriend before marrying Gene’s mother. His reason for not liking Gene and Nubsib’s relationship isn’t out of hate, but out of fear. Teep fears what will happen to Gene if their relationship goes public. Public pressure and lack of support caused Teep to lose his partner, and he didn’t want that for his son. We have never seen this concept in a BL before, and I was stunned when this was revealed to us, but I also love this twist. It’s a small yet important role that also helped Gene and his father become closer. When Nubsib and Gene had to breakup while Sib was under contract, the one person Gene could turn to was Teep. This was brilliant and I loved it so much.
- I want to digest the final episode for a moment. A lot of people were disappointed that during the press conference, Nubsib and Gene decided to go along with pretending that their relationship wasn’t real. In a perfect world, yes, it would’ve been nice to see them standing up for their love in front of everyone. However, this show was trying to portray the realistic situations of the BL industry, and unfortunately, that included pretending that no other relationship exists except for the main couple of the series. It’s heartbreaking, but no BL actor has ever gone against their contract. Doing so could result in legal issues. They could be sued, they could possibly never be able to work for another agency again, and their career could’ve ended on the spot. This is why a lot of BL actors wait for their contract to end before revealing their significant other to the world. It’s safer and less expensive.
- Speaking of the ending, those different ending reenactments that Nubsib and Gene did—Snow White, Cinderella, and Romeo & Juliet—were entertaining! But did they really had to do Romeo and Juliet? This was clearly an homage to Kao’s role in Until We Meet Again, which was essentially a Romeo/Juliet love story.
- Also, that surprise plot twist in the end with the actual author of the book “Lovely Writer” was a nice touch. Unexpecting, but genius, and a perfect way to end a series about an author.

Things that I didn’t like about the series:
- This show had a great idea of showing toxicity of the BL industry, but unfortunately, the execution was sorely lacking. We only got crumbs of the BL industry because the show had too many side stories fighting for attention. I wish we had a lot more of it because it is something that needed to be addressed. While I’m satisfied with the last two-three episodes for really showing us how toxic a fandom and shipping can get, the problem was for the most part it felt like an afterthought throughout most of the series when it should’ve been a main focal point.
- What can I say about the writing? It was cluttered and messy, especially the first half of the series. The problem with having so many characters and side stories in a 12 episode series, is that they can at times clash with one another, which creates an inconsistent mess. Some side stories could also get left behind, and I feel that’s what happened with Hin's story arc. His story was compelling, but we had very little to no development until the very last episode. Aey’s side story with his parents and his relationship with Mhok was also left behind with no development, and was completely forgotten about. It’s like the writers didn’t have a clear sense of direction on where they wanted the story to go. Either that, or they tried biting far more than they could chew. There were also a lot of scenes that either lagged for far too long in order to create tension, or scenes that didn’t need to be in the series at all. One example being Tum fishing his phone out the toilet. Why was this put in? An example of a scene lagging for far too long was when Nubsib was trying to get Gene to listen to him, but Sib never says anything. So, it was thirty seconds of absolute silence.
- Since I brought up Aey, let’s talk about his character. This was by far the most confusing character in the whole series. Aey was someone I generally felt bad for because of his terrible relationship with his parents, but much like the writing for the entire series, there was no cohesion with his development or motives. I honestly don’t even know what his motives were at all, or what his goals were anymore. One minute we see he wanted to become a maker and study in France, then that whole thing was nonexistent. Next we see him wanting Nubsib, but then turns around and says he wants Gene. Aey does things and say things, but then says he regrets it the next. What is this character supposed to be about?
- In addition, what was the point of Mhok being in the series? I felt like he was only in the series for maybe two-three episodes, and then was long forgotten. I thought maybe Aey would accept Mhok as a partner, but that never happened. Instead it looks like Mhok moved on with a new series, so what was the point of having him in the show to begin with? We also don’t know anything about him? We know he’s a friend to Aey’s family, but that was it. We don’t know anything of his and Aey’s history, or his purpose in keeping an eye on Aey. Nothing like that.
- I honestly forgot Hin was even in this series until the last 3 episodes. It was like his character was completely forgotten about it, which is unfortunate because I actually liked him. I would’ve loved to have seen more of him and his journey to become a writer.
- I raved about Tum and Tiffy, but even they gave me something to be disappointed in them about. Mainly towards Tiffy and her constantly thinking that Tum is gay. Literally how many times can he say he’s not before she believes it? He’s never even given her reason to think he was! Also, her yelling at Tum when news of Nubsib and Gene’s relationship surfaced. Why? Tum literally didn’t do anything, so why was she blaming her? And the show never gave us a clear reason for why she quit being Aey’s manager, what happened?
- Okay, I’ve defended Nubsib but even I have to admit that his pursuit of Gene is somewhat problematic and stalkerish. Do I think there was malicious intent? Of course not. But yes, I can see the issue with Nubsib always needing to be close to Gene and know what’s going on with him. But again, he’s one of the least toxic BL characters I’ve seen.

Overall Thoughts:
Okay, I think I’ve covered everything I had to say about Lovely Writer. Overall, this was an entertaining series to watch with some serious discussions about the BL industry that was in desperate need of addressing. While the series plot was bold and original, the execution fell a little flat. That said, Kao and Up were an amazing pair to watch and fall in love with. The messy writing aside, I was not bored with this series. It was anything great, but it wasn’t terrible. I think what will make this series pass the test of time is the concept. This series will always be brought up when discussing the toxicity of the BL fandom, so congrats to the writers for making a strong enough impact.

Rate: 7.5/10

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Claiming it as one of the best this year!

Writing this review literally just a few minutes after watching the finale. I AM IN LOVE with this series. It was enjoyable for me from beginning to end.

The plot is something new for me (BL-wise). Plus points already that they are not in a school setting. As soon as Gene said that the non-consent is not romantic in the first few minutes of the first episode, I was sold. They gave us a view of the realities of the BL production down to the craziness of the fandom world. It definitely made me open my eyes to these happenings behind the scenes. It gave me a better perspective. But at the same time, I'm happy they didn't go through a documentary-ish route that focuses on that drama because it would've bored me. I loved that even though it exposes the downside of the whole BL genre, it still managed to give us butterflies with the main story arc. Another thing I liked is the constant emphasis on the importance of consent which definitely threw lots of jabs to other BL stories out there.

As I said, I enjoyed this from beginning to end but there was some scenes that were unnecessarily extended. Like with Tum and his sister. Their scenes can literally be scraped off. I was not on board with Tum and Tiffy ship from the very beginning (although their visuals as a pairing would be fire). They also gave us a whole Aey back story in one episode (and even made me cry for him) and forgot about that arc afterwards. On the other hand, I was happy they gave justice to the Hin's story as an aspiring new writer.

Acting-wise, Up played Gene to a T. Gene is way too relatable. I don't know if that was what's really in the novel but Up definitely embodied that role and made me root for him. Kao has million miles improved in here compared to his last series (although he didn't really have much to work with in UWMA). Chemistry-wise, it was explosive! I feel so single when I see them together. My heart goes to an endless somersault because of them and I think it's unhealthy already.

The OST is also an instant mood booster. If it was in some other show it would've been annoying have an overplayed OST but this one is definitely an exception. The songs in the melo parts were also really good.

Overall, this is rewatch worthy and definitely recommendable to other BL fans out there.

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BEST BL DRAMA OF THIS YEAR

the best bl of this year...the actors, script, plot twists not to say even the OST is so catchy and one of the best I have ever seen. To say this drama also exposes the whole BL industry and ofc showing us the illegal sex scenes and kisses in many other BL's. I am a person that never writes reviews but I couldn't hold on when it came to this one..and last not least the whole crew must be given applause for giving out such a good drama with no assaults, no laggings, cheesy lines. This drama has got into my top 3 best BL couple list just within 2 episodes..and of course, I really recommend u to watch it and the chance of rewatching the series is a lot more than any other BL series.

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this is so good

I thought this was gonna be just like the majority of thai bls out there so I had plans to watch but I was so wrong. So I decided to watch this drama on a whim when I came across a tweet that mentioned sibgene being an unproblematic bl couple & how their relationship was the healthiest.
I enjoyed it a lot & it goes to top of my 2021 fav list & not just 'bl' list. It's completely different from most bls out there & is on a whole league of its own. What I liked most about this series was the way it sort of exposed the capitalist machinery driving the bl industry & the toxic fan culture. The way fans ship two leads of a bl & the stuffs the actors are forced to do in the name of fanservice always irked me about the bl industry & I hope people watch this series & learn something.
Ofc it's not a perfect drama & has its flaws but it gave me so many feeeeeeelings. It's well executed & performed & it hardly had any boring moments. Also I've realised that I had a smile on my face most of the time while watching it.

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So far, so good. Cant wait for the next episodes!

The storyline is fast paced, which I liked. It is refreshing to watch cause they didn’t start by hating on each other.. The characters were introduced really slowly, like their stories are not fully explained yet. I just love the actors, all very handsome great casting. Kao really improved and i think Up is really cute and have great acting.. I am impressed. The music was really too much, but i am used to it now, they could tone it down a bit maybe. Let me be honest, rewatch value is really high. I think i have watch each episode about 3-5times each, all in different days ofcourse. :) will be updating this review every 3 episode :) happy watching!! :)

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THE FEELINGS DOES MATTER , NO MATTER OF GENDER ! SO NEVER GIVEUP ON FEELINGS .

I started watching lovely Writer drama with no intention of a strong content . I just picked up randomly in trend but as I travelled across the episodes I started witnessing the great work of both the leads and emotions conveyed actually satisfied me BRINGING OUT THE STRONG CONTENT OF DEEP FEELINGS FOR A PERSON . NUBSIB did great in that .

Nub sib could've let go his feelings for Gene since he was young when he started building his feelings but nub sib didn't let go and hold on to it and that made him reach to gene. That is the point I loved the most in this series .

Throughout the series GENE's innocence and lovely nature made my heart melt for him. Its not that men being innocent and kind are supposed to be gay natured ..and Gene proved it wrong by taking the lead for confessing his and nub sib relationship to both of their parents. I loved his manly move on that situation.

When it comes to NUBSIB , he was manly from the start and never gave up on his feelings for gene , he protected his feelings and as well as gene and was able to build a strong relationship of theirs .

I just watched episode 9 today, and I am waiting how their parents will react to them , I hope they could set an example for modern age parents and Gender doesn't matter if one can find a person who can protect him and stand for him .
I would also like to appreciate the supporting cast who made the drama more colorful.

This is it for now , for the guys who read this , I would strongly recommend you this series !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The best show I've ever watched

I really loved how Gene's character was a writer. I don't think I've ever watched any show or movie where the main character was a writer. The storyline was quite unique and I loved that about it. As someone whose dream is to one day become an author, this show really fueled those creative juices. Writing is one of my biggest passions; I'm actually working on a BL novel currently.
Usually in BLs I see the "top" being portrayed as this really aggressive and selfish guy who can't control himself. But in this one, Nubsib is an extremely lovable and caring person who actually cares about Gene's feelings. Whenever Gene felt uncomfortable, he'd stop himself from going too far. And also he always makes sure Gene is okay, like when he was understanding about Gene hurting after their first time. On the outside, one might assume that Sib is exactly like the other LIs we often see in BLs, but on the inside he's a very wholesome and caring person who wouldn't hurt a fly.
This show got me feeling all of the emotions; I laughed at the funny parts, I cried during the sad scenes, and I got all giggly and euphoric during the cute and romantic scenes.
One thing I found quite hilarious (I still can't get over this) is that in one of the earlier episodes; during one of the photoshoots, they were showing the pictures being used for inspo and one of them **laughs inside** was a picture of WWH Jin XD. And not just any picture, it was the FREAKING CONCEPT PHOTO FOR THEIR ALBUM "LOVE YOURSELF: TEAR!"
here's a link so you can see for yourself: https://ibighit.com/bts/eng/discography/detail/love_yourself-tear.html (scroll go to concept photo R and you'll find it there)
I mean I can't really blame them, he's Worldwide Handsome after all. I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out in the comments, but afterwards I couldn't stop cracking up.

Ok anyways, here's a list of some things I loved abt this show:

1. Consent between Gene and Sib
2. How they constantly exposed the entire BL industry
3. They defied a lot of BL stereotypes
4. When Sib kept making sure Gene was ok with them having s3x
5. The perfect balance between wholesome and mature/sensual
6. The incredible chemistry between Kao/Sib and Up/Gene
7. How they made the s3x scene more of "making love" than intense s3x
8. That "Eat Me" shirt which cracks me up even just thinking about it
9. The theme song which slaps so hard that it's managed to stay on my "On Repeat" playlist on Spotify for quite a while now
10. The amazing acting and how there were no cringe scenes throughout the whole show
11. Bua's character who always managed to make me laugh because of how thirsty she was all the time
12. The sound effects which add so much to the comedic side of the show

And here's some things I didn't like:

1. Aeoy (he's an a**hole)

Alright, that's all! Thank you my fellow BL fans for reading my review and I really hope that you'll check this show out, it's definitely worth the watch. (It's on YouTube fyi)

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A Generally Pessimistic Review of One of My Favourites

I love all the characters except Aey, his crying became excessive to the point where I would dread not just his singular scenes but any one that involved his story arch. I feel like he could have definitely been written better, especially with the influence of Mhok and Tiffy by his side. I loved Hin as a side character as he always brought something to the scenes he was in, he was a passionate friend and writer who didn't need to end up with someone to feel fulfilled as a character. The last episode really brought this over the top, I felt like the pacing and longing was just enough to keep me wanting to watch. This also highlighted the toxicity of the BL industry including its production, audiences, actors, etc. while still finding time to give us a strong and heart-warming story arch and back story for the main couple with obstacles from within the industry or their families rather than over-done cheating accusations or crazy misunderstandings. I LOVE this series, it will definitely go down as one of my favourites!

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Karma is real

The storyline wasn't given the perfect justice it deserves. The flow of plots is messy. I'm quite confused how Nubsib could fall in love that hard to Gene at the early episodes. One might think that Nubsib fall in love at first sight. They could've shown fragments of flashback in the start, little by little, to intrigue the watchers. That's my major issue in the series.

I am very proud that they made a right arrival to the ending. First, Aey being unhappy and loved by fans. One lesson that sticks to me upon finishing this series is "Karma serves you right". Although he knows that someone really cares for him, but still, he chose the losing game. He chose the countless yet hollow love rather than love with genuine intentions. And the last, the happy ending of the main characters. Gene's reminiscing of their past at the near end is the best moment in this series. Indeed, it was quite short, but nonetheless, it was the most satisfying ending for the storyline of this series.

I can't say that the casts lack the portrayal of their roles. From my observation, the character development was not founded firmly. The fault is in the plot and script. I like most of the kissing scenes here. It felt so real and cute. I like also Tum-Tiffy duo. Tum-Tiffy relationship entertained me a lot.

The soundtrack is quite catchy and gives me the emotions. Some sound effects are too annoying.

You could give this a try. Quite watchable but doesn't have the must-watch value.

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The base story is definitely nice and the presentation was also very good but there are just some things that don't properly match/ go with the series.
* The acting by the actor playing "Nubsib" is just too sweet/sugary for most of the series.
* "Nubsib's" character's dual nature is too much in the extremes.
* The series feels like it was directly adapted from the novel and no alterations were made to adapt it to a series.
* Side stories are not presented properly.

To be frank, other than "Nubsib's" character, I found all other characters were portrayed perfectly by their respective actors.
Loved the acting of the actor who played Gene but not of the one who played Aoey.

I like how this series presented some things like a straight man quite experienced with makeup and clothes but at the same time I didn't like the fact that they just discuss bottom men as fem or women.
How can one person forget so many memories of a person that was so important to them at one point in their life.
I don't like the fact that in conversations they just said that in BL series the female lead is replaced by bottoms.
Like seriously dude!

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poderia ter sido melhor.

Essa serie trouxe historias muito interessantes e lados da indústria de BL que já estão sendo bastante abordados, assistindo da pra sentir não só raiva mas muita empatia pelo antagonista, o casal principal combina muito, porém algumas das ideias foram executadas de uma forma não tão interessante. A produção é ótima, a ost é boa, a atuação em geral e a historia são boas também, mas eu esperava algo inovador, esperava que alguns plots tivessem sido melhor trabalhados não só na historia mas também na execução, enfim é um drama muito bom mas não é memorável. Pra quem ama pegação tem bastante e pra quem ama uma historia que se perde e fica sustentada só nessa linha do casal principal se beijando esse drama é perfeito, pra quem não, eu acho que ele é meio.... enfim, dá uma preguiça de assistir.

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