I struggled on if I should write this. I feel it’s going to stir up debate because even in the community we don’t always agree. So I’m going to do my best to keep it to things that we usually do agree on. As usual, don’t come at me, always open to discussion though.
There are concerns on if there will be a D/s element to Kinnporsche in the series concerning Kinn and Porsche. I honestly don’t know how they can skip it considering how much a part of the book it was.
I was surprised to find that some don’t think of Kinn as a Dom. I’m really confused as to why? Is there the assumption that a D/s relationship always has a master element? It doesn’t. A Dom/sub relationship doesn’t have to have whips and chains. Though I’m hoping we see the full BDSM element with Vegas and Pete. A D/s relationship can simply be in the bedroom with the sub being a sexual sub. What this means is that the Dom controls the sex. Generally this still leaks into every day life some and generally speaking there is an additional kink but that is not necessary to having a D/s relationship.
But Luta! That’s just regular sex, someone always leads. A Dom wants control, needs control but they also care and protect. The sub literally (consensually) gives up power to the Dom, regardless of if there is bondage and discipline in the relationship. It’s more than someone just taking the lead because in that relationship there is still a balance that you won’t find in a D/s relationship.
I will say that the trailer had me thrown. Kinn is rocking the switch element. So I reached out to my fellow Kink Community Bestie who knows nothing about the series and she’s like, nah Kinn is a Dom and sensualist. At which point I did a forehead slap.
I hope you enjoyed this and found it helpful. Again, don’t come at me but please feel free to share your thoughts.
[semantic error] seoham vs jaechan’s cuteness, ft the long-suffering director’s “cuteness ban” — an interview collection
aka
no one:
seoham: jaechannie is so cute, have you seen how cute he is—
T/N: the term consistently used throughout is 귀여워 하다 which ive variously translated as “cute” “affection” “fond”. 귀여움 금지령 might be more accurately translated as “being fond of jaechan ban” but it doesn’t have the same ring lol. It’s hard to convey exactly, but as you can see from context, it’s a ban on seoham not on jaechan 귀여워 하다 transliterated is “to find cute”. It is translated by the 3 dictionaries Naver offers as “love; make a pet of; be affectionate to (esp younger person or animal)”. “love, adore, dote on” “ love, pet, fondle, make a pet, hold ((a person)) dear, be attached to, treat ((a person)) with love[affection]”
Q: what was something about the acting that you found difficult?
Jaechan: Sangwoo’s way of speaking is very direct and lacks emotion. So I had to practice a lot to show his emotions through his facial expression.
Seoham: you’ve(?) talked a lot about jaeyoung’s coolness/charisma. That’s not really my style so I had to really think about what it meant to be “cool”. Also Jaeyoung’s emotions change throughout the series. He gets to like Sangwoo after initially harassing him, and because this couldn’t be filmed sequentially I had to keep thinking about his changing feelings and it wasn’t easy to act. And also Jaechan is a particularly cute person so it was hard to act like I was bullying him. The director said “look, I know Jaechan is cute but you’ve got to stop treating him so affectionately”
Q: so there was a “cuteness ban” because you had to immerse in your characters?
Jaechan: hyung would hang out with me (& indulge my antics) and then say with a very serious face “you are not cute” and start his acting
Seoham: it’s not like he was necessarily trying to be cute but more like he was trying to make the other person laugh? that kinda thing
Park Seoham says that Park Jaechan is a “person who is cuteness personified”.
“Jaechan himself is really just a cute person. So it makes you want to dote on him. So in scenes where I was meant to be bullying him, it appeared that I was actually being fond of him. Also, while filming, it we ended up jumping around between dynamics a lot for various reasons - from being angry to affectionate to love - so it was hard to act out the wildly changing feelings.”
“Eventually, the director told me, ‘come to a cafe,’ so I went there, and they were like ‘you’re being too fond of Jaechan. stop.’ and implemented the ‘Jaechan cuteness ban’. But Jaechan (didn’t pick up on this issue ‘눈치없이’ and) kept being as cute as always. So I eventually ended up going through this mantra before filming: ‘you are not cute. you are not cute at all’.” (he says 주문을 걸었다 which is so funny lol it’s like trying to make yourself believe something, literally ‘casting a spell on yourself’)
Seoham: If Jaechan acted cute on purpose then I don’t think I would’ve found him cute, but when he naturally has aegyo when he’s just sitting there grumpily (뚱하게). That’s what I found so cute. And after the ‘cuteness ban’ I’d look at Jaechan standing in front of me doing aegyo, and even while I was saying “you’re not cute!” I’d find myself starting to smile.
(this interview is rly sweet - it’s where seoham talks about jaechan supporting him & taking him to meet his parents around lunar new year. i might do a full translation later (lmk if one alr exists))
Q: director, please explain the “ban on cuteness” in detail from your perspective
Director: I implemented the ban many times ^^; because the two are so close and seoham is very fond of jaechan/thinks jaechan is very cute, that fondness was in his eyes from the early episodes. so I laid down the ban many times like “stop looking at him with such a soft expression.” “please stop going near him and touching him”
Seoham: But I think it was unfair. When I got the ban I said to jaechan “you really are not cute at all”. And then he did aegyo in front of me like he was saying “not even if I do this?”
Jaechan: when coming back to set after hanging out during the breaks, seoham would tell me very seriously “you are not cute” and that made me want to prove him wrong.
Director: We were rehearsing the scene in episode 6 where they’re having an argument in an alleyway, and the tension just wasn’t there. seoham was already too fond of jaechan so he couldn’t deliver the lines with appropriate bitterness. i ended up telling him to step out for a second and stopped the rehearsal. i told him that i know you’re fond of him, but those emotions just don’t work in this scene. also, the same thing happened when we were filming the second episode, where they’re in the french classroom and jaeyoung is wearing the red clothes, at the peak of his bullying of sangwoo. at this time seoham and jaechan’s friendship was blossoming. seoham needed to show that jaeyoung was enjoying tormenting sangwoo, but the look in his eyes was just too affectionate. i told him to look at sangwoo like he was a cute puppy or a cat *laughs*
“The two actors got closer as the episodes progressed. in the early episodes, there are a lot of scenes where jaeyoung is harassing sangwoo, so I had to put a lid on park seoham’s gaze. I remember often saying things like ‘stop doting on jaechan’ ‘stop looking at him so fondly’ ‘please stop looking at him with hearts in your eyes’,” said the director (Kim Sujeong). “But the actors dubbed it a ‘cuteness ban’”, she laughed.
Apo comes across as SO queer… it’s not even about which gender he prefers to have sex with..
It’s just his experiences…him being told not to be himself… him not knowing himself…and then feeling like you’ve lived a fake life…being unhappy when he came back…it feels like a regression
I know in Asia we just can’t speak against our elders, it takes SO much courage and unlearning and heartache to even admit that yes our parents could have been wrong….that yes the elders in our lives, the ones we looked up to and trusted could do something wrong…that they are also human
Trust me I know…in my 30s in India and still living with my parents…it took SO much to acknowledge that I want different things than my community…that i don’t have to do what others are doing…that I’m different and okay..and yes when I moved back in with my parents i really felt that all my progress has been erased…it was such a difficult time
BUT! we’re still here and we still move forward no matter what
I’m very proud of Apo and I’m very happy that he’s feeling better in his own skin and being himself given his surroundings
I felt his struggles a little too personally…and ain’t that a queer trait lmao
Happy Pride month to all of us and happy birthday month to me
People are out here complaining that KinnPorsche is too sexualized, but I think that’s one of the things they did right. They didn’t do that husband/wife, uke/seme bullshit that straight people love because they find the binary comforting and familiar. They gave us two masculine, physically capable men who like to fuck. That is a way more realistic depiction of a gay relationship than fade to black chaste kissing, though having seen straight TikTok, it doesn’t surprise me that’s what they’re into.
i think rich ppl should stop buying mega yachts and mansions and other boring shit and instead they should funnel money into their own production companies to make quasi-pornographic gay romance shows starring themselves as the leads
Okay, breaking may not be the right word. He’s leaning against it. Please take a look at this very important shot.
Kinn is following Porsche as he gets escorted out of the room, then he averts his eyes and looks directly into the camera.
I’d like to point out that this is the second time Kinn has done this. The first time happens just a minute before this shot, when he orders Porsche to be locked up.
First rule of filmaking: Don’t look into the camera.
Looking into the camera is the most common form of fourth-wall breaking, often for comedy (see: Yok giving Porsche advice earlier in the episode). Kinn’s Meaningful Stare is neither a cheeky nor obvious takedown of the fourth wall, but he is toeing the line. Why?
He’s not just looking into the camera; he’s looking into us. He holds our gaze for a good nine seconds, and each carries so much weight.
Kinn is begging to be seen. The only person who has ever come close to seeing him, he has to push away. Kinn has no one to turn to.
So he turns to us, the only people who can extend him some modicum of empathy. Kinn is asking for a lot here. He just said he trusts no one, yet he is asking for ourtrust.
Kinn is trying to tell me that he has a plan. I don’t know what it is, but gdi this is the man that has gone out of his way to protect Porsche not once, not twice but three times. He throws himself into the line of fire for Porsche, takes a bullet for him, lets him see all the hidden pieces that Kinn has buried so deep he isn’t even sure they exist.
Fuck if I don’t trust him to do right by Porsche’s love and loyalty when he is asking so earnestly. Yes, I trust Kinn.
