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gillianthecat · 2 years

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I wrote this Sept 2nd and apparently never posted it? And somehow missed it last time I cleared out my drafts? Anyways, here it is, hopefully it makes sense. It seems to be a mix of a review, my reactions while watching, and some musings on Cheewin.

After two episodes of Why R U? I gave up and ended up fast forwarding through everything but the Fighter/Tutor storyline. Which was absolutely the right decision for me, Cheewin and I don't have the same sense of humor. And as far as I can tell it worked perfectly well - it seems like the the two stories are completely separate plot wise (I did try to watch the Hwahwa parts because they seemed relevant) so I don't think I missed any important information. So if you're trying to watch Why R U? and can't handle Cheewin's nonsense, I recommend this approach.

spoiler-free tldr: I loved it! With only a few exceptions of Cheewin, what the fuck? moments. And WOW chemistry. That was hot. Zee and Saint are brilliant.

extensive thoughts and wild raving below the cut (contains spoilers)

I loved this customized version of Why R U? ! The story itself is pretty simple, but the actors make it very rich. Saint and Zee were both amazing, as their individual characters and in the chemistry they created together. Wow. I see why this is considered one of the highest heat and best chemistry series around. Wow. Oh my god. That was so fucking HOT. Ahem. Anyways.

I just loved Vee's depiction of Fighter so much. His confused pigtail-pulling crush. The pure want dripping off of him anytime Tutor was near. The way he looked at Tutor, like he just couldn't help himself. How his eyes kept slipping to Tutor's lips.

How flustered he got whenever Tutor indicated any sort of attraction to him. Just, like in that scene after the rain when they're taking off their "wet"* clothes, how confident he is showing off his body, but when Tutor strips his shirt off he immediately crumbles into a flustered mess. Anytime they were making out and Tutor took charge he just instantly switched from confident to overwhelmed.

*come on BL producers, I'm willing to suspend disbelief, but can you at least try. This is even more obvious than "wet" hair.

And I loved how constantly visibly overwhelmed he was by his own feelings, and how that never changed, even as he grew more secure in them, and in the relationship. Just to want someone so much, to love them so much, that it keeps knocking you off your feet... yeah... that was very wow. As I said about Blueming, I just love a seme with a crush. And this was even more of a crush.

The sex scenes went further and both showed and indicated more than most BLs I've seen so far. But I think the reason it feels so high heat is that both actors were phenomenal at conveying desire. Zee of course is absolutely phenomenal at this, and is Fighter's consistent characterization. Tutor as character was more reserved in showing desire (he was the uke, after all, even if the seme/uke dynamic wasn't super strong), but Saint also did this amazingly well when it counted. I also really liked the way they touched each other. It changed over the story as they grew closer they grew more and more comfortable in their touches, and in their sex scenes, it looked they were touching each other like they wanted each other. I've seen many pairs where the actors looked at each other like they wanted each other, but didn't have the touching down and that part felt awkward. So Kudos to Zee and Saint for making that work.

In general, I really liked Tutor as a character. He was the uke, but he was no blushing maiden. And Saint was so good. I'd heard good things about him, but looking at his baby face I was skeptical. This baby-faced boy who could pass for 16? He's the one y'all are saying is part of one of the highest heat pairings? But he was amazing and fully beilable, and sweet when the charactor needed to be sweet and lusty when the character needed to be lusty. Because of the nature of their characters he was a little less showy and obvious than Zee, but I suspect he may be the better overall actor, or at least one with a broader range. I need to go see others of their works now. I've started Love By Chance at least twice now, and gotten bored within the first five minutes, but Saint is making me want to check it out.

Their plot was slim, but generally held together. There were parts that didn't really make sense, but still worked because of the actors' skill at creating coherent characters. And probably because my expectations were already low given the Cheewin-ness of it all.

In general, the evolution of their relationship made sense. You could see Fighter's immediate attraction to Tutor at their first meeting, and how he was knocked off his feet by that (have I raved enough about Zee yet? Because he conveyed that so quickly and clearly). He was the embodiment of that "get out of my school" meme. Was it immature? Yes. But it made sense for this closeted young gay college student, under a lot of pressure to live the life his father wanted. I even liked the way they handled his relationship with Hwahwa - he was a dick to her, but not so much of a dick that I couldn't forgive him for it. (I do wish she'd been allowed to be more of a coherent character of her own rather than a plot device.)

Below is what seems to be my reactions while watching.

~ So I really enjoyed the push pull of their early relationship, and the slow growth of closeness over time. Fighter was wildly inconsistant in how he treated Tutor, but that made sense.

~ And I really like how Tutor responded. He wasn't a blushing innocent, he could tell that Fighter was attracted to him. And he knew that he was attracted back. His uncertainty was around understandable things - the fact that Fighter was sort of dating someone else, especially since that someone else was his good friend. And primarily the fact that Fighter refused to admit that he wanted him. Every time that Fighter kissed him and then said, oh I'm just teasing, it wasn't that Tutor was hurt because he believed he was teasing, he was hurt/upset that Fighter wouldn't admit it. I generally prefer ukes who understands what's happening and who's reluctance makes sense.

~ So not a blushing maiden - even when he's telling Fighter, no, we have to study first he's unbuttoning Fighter's shirt. If you need to jam a character into the uke trope that's the way to do it - make it clear to both the audience and the seme that he's actually interested. I don't know if it was the actor(s)' decision or the director's, but it was a good one.

~ I really liked all the scenes with Tutor's sister. At first I was afraid they were going the jealousy route, where Fighter sees them together and misinterprets, and I'm really glad they didn't do that. But I loved their heart-to-heart, and her conversation with Fighter at the airport, she seemed realistically and genuinely supportive.

~ Fighter's switch midway through from being afraid to admit his attraction to being all in on the relationship wasn't really explained. It didn't exactly need to be - Zee carried it off so it felt plausible. And Tutor was always on the edge of tumbling into full on love, so it made sense emotionally. It would have been nice to explore that more, though, because it was an interesting part of the character. Probably if I'd had higher expectations for the show I would have been disappointed.

~ Did Fighter rent out the whole damn resort? They fucked and/or slept in so many places, including some very public ones. It was hot, but a little funny. (Outdoor bed, Beach, Indoor bed, Outdoor bathtub, Possibly a second indoor bed - I wasn't sure, Public(?) sauna, Public(?) outdoor pool... am I missing any?)

~ Fighter's dad is... I was going to say surprisingly subtle, but actaully it seems like Cheewin can do subtle villains, I thought Koon in War of Y was actually a fairly nuanced depiction

~ Tutor's boss!! <3 <3

~ tutor trying to break up with Fighter and breaking both their hearts. And mine too! This was a really well done version of this scene. F realizing what was happening but not wanting to to be true. Although I don't think we have enough explanation of why tutor is giving into the dad's demand. It's plausible that he would I just don't understand the specifics of why. But that was possibly one of the most heartbreaking breakups. And Fighters response. I don't understand what's happening but I see how much you're hurting so I will do what you ask and let you go. The way he touched tutor as if trying to memorize him one last time. Tutor breaking down sobbing after and fighter falling apart as he walked away. Just the honesty of their faces through the whole conversation.

~ That scene on the escalator! (Cheewin is so confusing! How can he shoot wonderful stuff like this and then stage complete nonsense?)

~ And speaking of nonsense. Cheewin, what the fuck! What is with this sexual assault. It feels so out of character for fighter and completely unnecessarily ruins him. That drunken kiss was one thing. But Fighter has thus far being characterized by his respect and adoration for Tutor. He's not going to change because he's furious at him. Furious I would believe. Yelling at him and demanding explanations yes. But not sexual assault.

~ ok, thankfully brief and back to breaking everyone's hearts

~ i don't even mind the way they do tropes! the collapse into his arms, the wash him with a white towel. because the actors really commit and make it feel natural to thier characters. i really did think fighter was going to discover that tutor was still wearing his necklace though, cause i'm pretty sure i saw it peaking out from his collar in the building. but then he wasn't wearing it during the sponge bath? a continuity thing i guess, i would guess the building scene was shot later?

~ i'm not even mad about how fighter finds out. he's not snooping, really. and he's got to be so confused and desperate for an explanation that tutor is hiding from him

~ i think i'm ok with this version of the 11th episode break up. it's externally motivated, not random miscommunication. and its at least somewhat believable, although i have a hard time believing that tutor sees fighter's heart breaking this much and doesn't give in. but perhaps there will more explation of why tutor gave in to the father's demands later...

~ ok, maybe dad isn't subtle exactly, but he's a lot less over the top than i expected. yes! call out the homophobia specifically. one of the things we can love Cheewin for. This lean that Fighter does against his father! such an amazing moment. what body language (I keep dunking on Cheewin, but my guess is that was Zee's idea, given how stagey cheewin can be. but maybe not, maybe that's mostly with supporitng characters. leads often have good body language. although there are only 4 actors that i....) (I have no idea what I was planning on writing here)

~ fucking called it!!! I knew Fighter would show up in that room. why else did they keep such a tight framing? (and why else would Zon be so insistent that he come?) Anyways, this isn't relevant to anything, but i was proud of myself.

~ It seems like Cheewin doesn't really like showing the work of changing. This wasn't as bad a War of Y: New Ship, which skipped over pretty much everything, but it did skip a bunch. Why did the dad change his mind? What did Fighter do to make him willing? Was that argument enough? What is dad thinking now? Maybe we'll get more from him, but i doubt it.

~ ok, the toothpaste commercial was kind of cute, and more or less fit the vibe and the characters. but who hands their boyfriend acne powder at a beach campfire. 'you're looking a little dull.' bitch, you can barely see his face in the firelight, wtf are you talking about.

~ I wonder why Cheewin put these two very tonally disparate stories into one series, given that, as far as I could tell, their plots were barely connected. Do they provide counterpoint for each other in someway? Would it make more sense if I actually watched the rest of it in full? Or was it merely efficiency to put it all together?

~ I find myself really confused by Cheewin, actually. His group scenes often feel awkwardly staged and so over the top. And then when it's just the main couple it can be so subtle and wonderful. I'm thinking of the scene where Tutor is getting his bags from the trunk after their beach getaway. The camera stays on Fighter in the front seat, and we see his eyes following Tutor in the mirrors, first looking up at the rearview mirror, than at the side mirror, than turning to the window as he sees Tutor walk up. It's so subtle and wonderful at conveying Fighter's adoration. And the same thing with War of Y and Secret Crush on You, there were all these moments between the main couple that felt so real in a way that the rest of the story didn't.

~ Is this stuff coming from the actors? But it's not just acting, the director had to decide how to stage and film that scene. Cheewin confuses me.

~ Tonally this mostly was not annoying. There was minimal use of "comic" sound effects. They were kind of funny, actually, because the actors were clearly not acting with over-the top sound effects in mind. There were several triple take edits of dramatic kisses. Which I think I just need to get over my visceral dislike of those, because they're not going away. And I did like how they used them for other non kiss, platonic moments, actually, like the goodbye hug with the sister at the airport - providing equal gravity to these other emotions and relationships.

#why r u?#why r u? the series #why r u #why r u the series #fightertutor #clearing out my drafts #gillianthecat reacts to bl #reaction by gillianthecat #kind of like liveblogging #the ubiquitous university elevator

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ilargeicontradictmiself · 1 year

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Why r u , finishing ep three i think now, first of all, i like it, in a weird way, i think if they'd cut or even just changed the whole fanfic about my brother and his friends thing this wouldn't have many other problems other than the stuff that mandee just likes to do. Its been a weird day for me so im not jumping up and down a lot but i wouldn't be watching it if I didn't really like a lot of the things they do, i get how this could be like a comfort show

Zon , during literally everyscene as far of the show I've seen: Gay Panic, Gay Panic, No homo, Gay Panic, No Homo No Homo No Homo No Homo (him literally just noticing gay people now is funny)

Still cant believe his sister's doing this but it was easier to watch the second time , without the shock of it,(watched the first three eps again) , cant believe she asked permission from cutiepieguy , like she cares, good god

The whole "lowkey bullying cause i like you" was hard to watch in cutie pie, if they do it with them here too, while tutorfighter are already somewhere on that spectrum , that mightbe too much for me, at least when they short of went there (with the 2nd cutie pie dudes) the others called it out, it just brought back cutie pie feelings, both good and bad ( i like seeing them though, i like that they're here and i really want them to have more screentime)

Fucking mandee

They're kind of touching on Fighter dealing with his internalised homophobia and i expect they'll do more of it , i think it would be interesting to see Tutor kind of ,you know its just.... Zon's panic phase is usually around Tutor, Saifai just laughs it off and doesn't take it seriously but Tutor doesn't, he tells him to calm down and i just think it would be interesting to see kind of how this whole atmosphere around queerness is affecting him , cause he seems a lot more comfortable than everyone else with it up to this point and there's the added layer of his friendship with Hwahwa while fighter flirts with him

Hwahwa and Day are adorable and i like her, the DRAMA of FighterHwahwaTutor WAS AMAZING, ESPECIALLY IN THAT SCENE WHEN SHE TELLS TUTOR THAT SHE AND FIGHTER HAVEN'T EVEN KISSED the three of them are decent actors and they're really making this whole thing work

(edit: Im enjoying the casual relationships , Tutor and Zon being friendly but not besties, the existence of various friend groups with varying degrees of familiarity, feels realistic and im loving it)

Im ignoring everything plot related for obvious reasons but im not skipping anything (football club-cute boy stuff)

Once again wondering if the cutie pie spinoff being a sequel, which means a whole season of the same problems they already kind of worked on, would be better or worse than a parallel story, literally the whole thing all over. Cutie Pie jumped between "i like it, i love them, miscommunication and all, if they make sad face ill start sobbing i just want them to be haaapppyyyy even though the drama is fun" and "i swear to god ill fucking kill them" a lot and im...short of seeing how this could go a little bit that way and mentally preparing for the spinoff.

#why r u #cutie pie

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