Having read a bit of the book I can tell you that in general it is WILDLY different lmao. The basic character set ups are more or less the same and they took inspiration from a lot of stuff in it but the number of differences are too many to even begin to get into. It was wild to see how much it was truly an ~inspired by~ situation.

But yes I love Yak😭 I’ve been a fan of Great in the other things I’ve seen him in, so it was really fun to see him do something a little different!!

SIMM……you’re right about it taking an archetype and actually working it into the story, it’s a cool thing to do. Idk I’m just weirdly into the dynamic in that show which I don’t think is entirely JoongDunk since I can’t get myself to feel the same way about Hidden Agenda fhdjkdfkgj.

I totally understand anon, don’t worry haha. There are other reasons I really liked the show, namely that they are adults with careers that are important to them and that they have ambitions for, and they are fully capable of achieving them alone but are able to do it better with each other’s support which was so nice.

There’s a joke about how most tops in bls have no personality or desires other than “want hole” which was something this show really didn’t do also! It felt novel to me to have a show that genuinely gave equal weight to the characters in the main pairing haha.

I’ve only watched a couple of episodes of The Rebound so far but that doesn’t surprise me re: how it’s being told. Golf works mostly with the same writers and other production crew so that would track. It’s funny though that you mention SIMM Kluen—I love SIMM more than is reasonable tbh! But Kluen is in a lot of ways a character archetype we’re kind of familiar with, namely the stoic BL top who isn’t great with expressing emotion. Dee is an interesting character bc he’s both very friendly and personable while also being very reserved when it comes to his deeper feelings and I feel like that’s less common, especially in the character who is for all intents and purposes the “main” character. I was saying earlier that I think more scenes with Kao especially in the second half might have been good, but I’m wondering if they might have had scheduling issues or something since Drake isn’t with GMMTV anymore.

And in all fairness I tend to like characters like Dee anyway haha. I love a person who simultaneously acts very affectionately but then tries to deny it or does something silly to undercut it. Me like PUT HIM IN A SITUATION!!!! MAKE HIM DEAL WITH SOMEONE LOVING HIM!!!

You aren’t being rude! Look, not every show is going to work for everyone and that’s totally fine. WGD is a show I’d have loved to get my editing hands on for the reasons you mention, even if I love it. I think perhaps part of it might be that it’s simply more interesting to show the boxing arc rather than the getting a medical scholarship arc and so esp the second half of the show shifted a lot to Yak.

The writing and the show I think expects you to make your own connections about Dee based on what we’re shown rather than having a scene where he talks about it—I think P’Golf might just like that kind of storytelling bc it was something I felt (negatively) when watching The Eclipse. It’s definitely not how most Thai shows are written or directed—they love to make things very explicit, which I think is why they use flashbacks so much! (and now that I think about it, WGD doesn’t really do that, except if they’re showing something from a different POV.)

That kind of mismatch in storytelling technique within the same piece of media can be really off putting bc it feels like they aren’t getting the same narrative weight or value. In this case, I feel like it was meant to be representative of they deal with their problems. Externalizing Yak’s problems that way is so in line with how his family deal with stuff head on when they finally get to it, and Yak in general likes to deal with things very directly. We kept joking during the finale about how he has to punch death in the face but genuinely for real he’s someone who has to fight or confront his problem head-on to solve it.

Dee isn’t like that—he is kind of confrontational in the immediate aftermath of Ter’s rejection, but Ter is right when he calls Dee on acting out of character even if he sucks lmao. Dee’s very buttoned down emotionally, and I do agree that the reason for that could have come earlier! We could have been given more during the scene when he brings Yak with him to the graveyard, for example. One thing we do get is his “make every day special” philosophy which tracks towards his putting on a good face for everything as much as possible.

For me, Dee’s emotional journey was a lot about observing his behavior rather than anything he said. I felt like we were given enough clues to understand what his hangups were early on, and while his deep backstory information did come late, to me that told me it was something he kept buried really deep and so it needed the time to get drawn out of him, and up until that point I could at least surmise from what he said and did that he had abandonment issues if not the root cause.

As for Ter and Japan—I think we read that whole situation differently! To me, Dee seems supremely uncomfortable and unhappy with how that situation plays out. He’s trying very hard to be professional despite everything Ter is doing because the scholarship is important to him, and he wants to do well on the presentation they have. I think also that even if he is unhappy with Ter on a personal level, he still deeply respects Ter as a doctor, which adds a complicating layer on top of the fact that they were friends who worked closely together for eight years, which isn’t nothing. His willingness to just drop all that to fly back to Thailand to comfort Yak was to me the big sign that Ter was cooked lmao.

All that being said, you also simply might not like how Dee handles emotional conflict or him in general, and that’s also fine! Sometimes a character hits enough notes of things you dislike that you can’t gel with a show, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I totally get finding Dee frustrating as a character even if I don’t feel the same.

No bother at all, anon! I'm happy to give you some recs!

Old Fashion Cupcake, available on Viki
This is a Japanese show about a salaryman about to hit 40 and is having a midlife crisis about where he is in life. One of the employees under him offers to help him find the joy in life again, which involves eating a lot of delicious and beautiful food.

Moonlight Chicken, available on YouTube
A one-night stand between Jim, the owner of a chicken and rice restaurant, and Wen, a mid/late twenties office worker becomes more than just a one-night stand when Wen decides to pursue him, which is complicated by both of their romantic histories. The b plot centers on Jim's high school-aged nephew and his relationship with a deaf boy his age.

My Tooth Your Love, available on Viki
Restaurant-bar owner/chef Bai Ling has a severe phobia around going to the dentist until he meets his sister's friend Jin Xun An. As they grow closer, they help each other overcome past traumas.

Cherry Magic, either the Thai or Japanese versions; Thai version is available on some illicit sites and last I knew the Japanese one was on Crunchy Roll.
A salaryman turns 30 and discovers that an urban legend about gaining magical powers if you're still a virgin at 30 is true when he hears the thoughts of his seemingly perfect coworker--who it turns out has a crush on him.

Wedding Plan, available on iQiyi
Nuea, a top wedding planner, is thrown for a loop when he is asked to plan the wedding for his ideal man, Sailom, and his fiancee Yihwa, who doesn't seem that invested in the wedding--especially when Lom starts to show interest in him. (no actual cheating involved.)

Plus & Minus, available on Viki and Gagaoolala
Two childhood friends who have both become divorce lawyers at the same firm find their relationship changing; a single father dry-cleaner owner gets involved with a young, popular bartender from the bar beneath his shop.

Wandee Goodday, available on YouTube (still airing, but finishes next week)
After a harsh rejection, doctor Wandee ends up hooking up with professional boxer Yoryak, which turns into a friends with benefits arrangement, and then a fake-dating scheme.

Some others:
The Sign, available on YouTube: fantasy thriller about a special investigation team
Our Dating Sim, available on Viki: a young artist gets work at a small game company to find his best friend from high school, who he once kissed, works there as well
Roommates of Poongduck 304, available on Viki: an office worker has his spare room taken by an undercover chaebol heir who works at the same company as him.
Unintentional Love Story, available on iQiyi: a young office worker on the verge of losing his job is given the opportunity to save it by hunting down a reclusive ceramicist admired by his company's CEO.

I’m writing this answer now before episode 11 so here is how I have taken him over the last few eps.

Wandee is actually a very guarded person. He’s very personable and friendly and charming when he needs to be, but he has very few friends, one of whom was Ter who he pined after for eight years. As of episode 10 we’ve gotten a bit more insight into why that might be the case—it was clear early on that he had unresolved trauma related to his parents’ death, but we finally got to see how some of that actually impacted him, whether it was being bullied for being an orphan or how, because he was so young when they died, he has no real concrete memories of their love to hold onto as comfort and has lingering uncertainty about whether they ever really loved him.

That second part seems important to what we know about his romantic history. At the very least, Dee has not had serious feelings for anyone until Yak—I doubt he’s gotten past the talking stage with anyone and that’s at most, given again his pining for Ter. His grandma’s comments about him not having a partner feel more significant in light of all this—while it comes off as typical family member nosiness at the time, I think she has real concern about how Dee has shut himself off from romance. It seems to me like he has this uncertainty about what it is he wants and what it is to be loved.

Coming back to the Ter of it all, while in some ways I think Ter was more of an ideal of who Dee thought he should be with, I do think he had real feelings for Ter, and I do think if things had panned out differently he would have tried to be in a relationship with him. He took Ter’s behavior towards him as evidence of love, and then got pretty brutally rejected followed immediately by Ter trying to manipulate his feelings in order to advance his own career—it obviously threw him for a loop given how he reacts. Dee isn’t as obviously needy as Yak, but he needs reassurance several times that Yak is actually enjoying having sex with him that first time, because he’s just come off an experience where what he thought he understood as love was nothing at all.

That, I think, is why he’s been so hesitant to fully commit himself to Yak. While Yak has demonstrated and thankfully said out loud that he loves Dee, he still has this fundamental fear that he is unlovable. Ter being an asshole and coming onto him certainly didn’t help—while Dee mostly viewed it as a nuiscance, I think it also messed with his head in being able to accept that what Yak was saying was real.

The first step for Dee was admitting that he cares about Yak—that was what the kiss was for, and the admission to Ter that he is comfortable around Yak. It’s pretty notable actually how different and unrestrained Dee is around Yak! And while Dee has said as much to Kao, saying it to Ter and also to Yak means he is truly acknowledging it.

But even so that didn’t fully resolve his fear. He goes back and forth with being uncomfortable with Yak directly expressing desire or affection because I think he doesn’t know how to accept it and is simultaneously afraid of it disappearing. It took seeing Yak with his family for him to finally open up to Yak about his parents—until then, I’m not sure how much Dee had even admitted to himself! He seems to keep that part of him really boxed up. His flashbacks to it appear in situations where he gets rejected—when Yak beat him in the ring, for example. But once he told Yak about his fears, Yak made a point of seeking out those answers for Dee—and I think it was a combo of knowing that he was truly loved by his parents and that Yak gave that gift of knowledge to him that made Dee crack at the end of episode 10. That last scene was him, to my understanding, finally letting go of his uncertainty and accepting that Yak loves him and that he loves Yak too.

A CHALLENGING QUESTION! Every country has their own style and tropes, and right now the genre seems to be in a huge growth state so there’s always new stuff to see. That being said, here are some I’ve either watched more than once or plan to watch again:

Semantic Error
Korean, available to watch on Viki, 8 episodes about 20-30 minutes each

Tropes: enemies to friends to lovers, college students, whoopsie-ing yourself into a crush

Quick Pitch: Jang Jaeyoung, a popular and talented art student, has his graduation plans spoiled by Chu Sangwoo, an antisocial perfectionist computer science major. In revenge, Jaeyoung sets out to annoy Sangwoo as much as humanly possible.

Chemistry: 10/10
Kissing: 8/10 (docked for having very minimal kissing)
Spiciness: mild

Notes: A very grounded show with a small cast that nevertheless feels very lived in. A good starter show!

Old Fashion Cupcake
Japanese, available to watch on Viki, 5 episodes about 25 minutes each

Tropes: age gap, secret crush, coworkers

Quick Pitch: Nozue is a salaryman approaching his 40th birthday and feeling a little purposeless and listless. His younger colleague Togawa begins hanging out with him as they try living carelessly (and eat a lot of delicious desserts).

Chemistry: 10/10
Kissing: 7/10 (while there isn’t much, what is there is good)
Spiciness: mild with a slight kick

Notes: Another good starter show with a very small scope. Personally I just to see a show where everyone is a full adult, and I love the dynamic of “person who doesn’t think they’re desirable” and “person who is absolutely feral for them.”

Never Let Me Go
Thai, available to watch on YouTube, 12 episodes about 50 minutes each

Tropes: bodyguard romance, high school students

Quick Pitch: After Nuengdiao’s father is murdered, his mother has Palm, the son of their bodyguard, move in and attend school with Nuengdiao as an unofficial bodyguard.

Chemistry: 8/10 (Palm’s actor sells it better imo)
Kissing: 10/10
Spiciness: medium

Notes: There’s some school stuff at the beginning, but most of the plot focuses on the attempts against Nuengdiao’s life and the power struggle for his family’s business. I think this is a good starter Thai show—there’s some cringe stuff, but overall it’s lighter on the melodrama imo. I also appreciate that it’s a school about teens that doesn’t pretend teens aren’t horny.

*Until We Meet Again/Between Us *
Thai, both available on iQiyi, UWMA also on Viki, UWMA 17 episodes and Between Us 12 episodes about an hour each

Tropes: college students; uwma: soulmates, reincarnation; between us: teammates, fwb to friends to lovers

Quick Pitch: Until We Meet Again: Dean and Pharm have always had dreams about In and Korn, two star-crossed lovers. They meet at college and discover they are the reincarnated couple.

Between Us: Team joins the swim club and enters into a complicated relationship with Win, the club vice president.

Chemistry: 8/10 (it varies)
Kissing: 7/10
Spiciness: uwma: mild; between us: medium

Notes: I’m bundling these two together because they are companion shows. UWMA is a melodrama with family drama and more about homophobia and intergenerational trauma. Between Us is also about overcoming trauma, but is more romcom-y with multiple couples. These both lean more into style tropes of Thai dramas (slo-mo, sound effects, Thai college life). I would suggest watching UWMA first.

Love in the Air
Thai, available to watch on iQiyi and Viki, 13 episodes about 50 minutes each

Tropes: college students, enemies to lovers (kind of), life changing ons

Quick Pitch: Best friends Rain and Sky are freshmen architecture students who get involved with, respectively, Phayu, an architect, part-time mechanic, and occasional motorcycle racer, and Prapai, a rich playboy who also races.

Chemistry: 10/10
Kissing: 10/10
Spiciness: hot!!

Notes: The first half focused on Rain and Phayu, who have a series of misunderstandings that lead to Rain wanting to defeat Phayu, which, uh, backfires. Sky and Prapai start as a one-night stand that results in Prapai pursuing Sky, who is hesitant because of a previous abusive relationship. Sky’s storyline involves discussion and some depiction of sexual violence, so please be careful with yourself! My favorite Thai BL bc of its focus on the relationships and how the plot twists feel earned. Also the best sex scenes I’ve seen, in that I feel they serve the characters well and are intimate and well-choreographed.