Casting Announcement: Fool In Love (Adapted From My Beloved Fool)
I haven't seen anyone talk about this yet, so let me put this here first.
This will be the 2nd Thai adaptation of one of the 188 novel series by Shui Qian Cheng, the first being My Stand-In. Plot wise they're unrelated but all the novels in the series do take place in the same universe. For more info, some have talked about the series here and elsewhere. I've also talked about it a bit but not in much detail.
I admit of all the novels Thailand would choose to adapt, I didn't think they'd touch My Beloved Fool/In Love With An Idiot. It's one of the earlier 188 novels, written in 2011 so you can imagine how rough and unpolished the writing might be. It is one of the most popular works in the series though, mostly because of the main character and the manhua adaptation, which recently finished. It also has multiple audio dramas, an audio book and many fanworks (in Chinese). It's a big IP and more importantly the plot, characters and relationships are very messy, even messier than My Stand-In.
The reason why I'm interested in this project and reserving judgment until a trailer comes out, other than just being a general 188 fan, is that My Beloved Fool is what got me into the series in the first place. I mean the main character is my current pfp lol. The way I'd describe the appeal of this BL is how trashy it is that it becomes entertaining. The main characters are so flawed and deeply unlikable but also so human (and funny to be honest), that some of their actions will make my jaw drop at the sheer audacity then laugh out loud when their reactions or ensuing actions loop right back to being entertaining.
If I had to guess, the Thai drama will probably soften the characters quite a bit, which is a concern for me. One of the best things about this BL is the main character, Jian Suiying/Ing. He's an unconventional MC, openly gay from the beginning, is a top at first but then bottoms for the love interest, rude, violent, vulgar and is just an all around asshole. He's also super hot, and he knows it. The story and any adaptation lives or dies by Jian Suiying and I can't really think of a BL MC quite like him. The closest equivalent I can think of is Brian from Queer As Folk (slutty, an asshole, has a questionable relationship with a high school student).
So, we'll see I guess.
