Ah, the BL drama series saga continues. Let me tell you, the available titles are seemingly endless, so prepare yourself for many, many more in the future. I honestly can’t get enough. Perhaps this is my version of soap operas. Sometimes they come across that way, but for those moments I just grin and bear it and anticipate the good stuff.
The next BL series to make the cut was spinoff series, Don’t Say No. It features that snake, Fiat, and his best friend, Leon. While the two finally admitted they liked each other by the end of TharnType’s second series, this delves more into their newfound transition from friends to lovers. We even get treated to a more official “asking out,” featuring some hella supportive friends a lots of basketballs. Yes, they are known for basketball, but similar to Tharn’s love of music, it really doesn’t get featured a whole lot over the course of thirteen episodes.
Anyway, Leo and Fiat are actually quite sweet with one another, and somehow this relationship actually makes Fiat shy. For a while at least. I think he’s too afraid to mess anything up that he sort of hides what he really wants. And poor, sweet Leo is a little too inexperienced to read into what Fiat is not saying. For a time anyway. As they were best friends since childhood, they were still able to tell when something was off with the other. For the record, Leo is a saint. Fiat comes with a whole crap ton of baggage, but he’s willing to let the past be the past as long as Fiat’s only got eyes for him now. And Fiat genuinely does. In fact, he’s the more jealous of the two, I’d say.
But, let’s get into some of that baggage of Fiat’s I was talking about. He hates his father and stepmother and half sister because they are the reason he can’t see his real mother. Turns out his real mother has some severe mental illness and abuse problems. I don’t like that they made her seem quite sinister, though what she did was serious, it’s also untreated mental illness. They eventually righted that ship in the end. Fiat was also pretty promiscuous in his past, so of course a bitter ex or two was going to make an appearance. These people are vengeful! Luckily, Fiat and Leo have some really good friends who help them along the way.
While there were plenty of sweet moments between Fiat and Leo, I always felt a little awkward watching them do scenes with any intimacy. They just weren’t smooth. Behind the scenes photos and videos kind of refute that, but it was stiff in the final product. I felt the better chemistry came from Leo’s younger brother, Leon, and his eventual boyfriend, Pobphan. Their romance was a slow burn, but they were so freaking cute together. I bought their chemistry. And I am thrilled to learn that a series featuring the two of them is in the works! I didn’t at all like how they ended up by the end of the series and in the special episode, so I’m hopeful that this new spinoff series will rectify that.
All in all, not my favorite, but I enjoyed exploring the lives of characters I’ve known in other works a bit further. I seems that the actors playing Leo and Fiat have a number of other projects together, so I’m sure I’ll be checking those out sooner rather than later.