SojournHeart11

Ben's proposal to Michael was so romantic.

Giotto

it really was and Ben must have put a lot of thought in it.. he sure had to plan a few things ahead for the wedding there

libertyavelife

Heartbreaking, and still relevant. Guys I know still confront difficult decisions about how to handle dating partners who are HIV +.

I have watched the entire series about 5 times and am selectively re-watching now. I may watch the episode when Michael discovers all of Ben's pills at his apartments (back in the days before one pill per day). I believe it ends with just the sounds of cars and a bus passing by outside with no music.

It made me wonder how many and which episodes end with no music. I think I'll make that a new post!

libertyavelife

Amazing work! Thank you Giotto!

Giotto

There were a few episodes that faded out with the original sounds and no music, and all had a dramatic theme..

the one with Michale finding all the pills

the one where Justin threatens Hobbs with the gun

Babylon bombing

are teh first that come to my mind, and in my eyes it is a brilliant way to keep the feeling of that episode alive.. music would not really have fit there and they did a great job noticing that

thanks for pointing this out, Jim

with Ben entering the gang as a sexual active part (with Vic we already had a positive guy, but he wasn't a potential thread to anyone of the gang) was a very emotional thing.. you could understand both sides.. Debbie, knowing first hand that it could mean the worst and being scared of her son.. I totally see where her behaviour came from.. as accepting you are, the fear of your child getting hurt in any way makes you act this way.. but the question if it wouldn't happen if Michale was straight? I absolutly could, cause straight people are not better or different.. not all are faithfull ith their partners or monogam.. and HIV can be transfered on differnt ways too.. so I really don't get the fuzz about blood donors or other things.. that in my eyes is absolutly stupid..

Michales friends being concerned is also understandable..

the only one telling the honest truth was Bian.. he told Michael the only thing he shouldn't do is fall in love, cause he will lose Ben sooner or later.. as hard as it sounds it is the truth, but with the medications getting better, that threat got lesser, thank god. What I absolutly love is that the gang didn't ttreat Ben different in any way because of HIV..

I'm Brian Kinney, FFS!

I'm trying to have a more open mind about Michael/Ben this time around. It's kinda working..but I'm still not the biggest Ben fan. It looks like we put rants in spoiler tags, so I'll do that.

♥ Gale's Fragile Beauty ♥

I really love Ben, but not THAT much. He's a good looking guy but not my type. There's a LJ account who has a whole journal dedicated to Michael and Ben. They were her favorite in the show.

I'm Brian Kinney, FFS!

Oh wow, I was such a little fanforumer when I wrote that. Haha. But I still feel similar. I guess I just find him kinda meh. I can see that he's good for Michael, mostly. I do agree with some of his Zen philosophies, too.

cherrypie12345

Add me please

SojournHeart11

Ben could be kind of of mean when he was unhappy. That's what becomes apparent anytime one watches the steroid arc or the book rejection arc from season 4.

I'm Brian Kinney, FFS!

I only really liked Ben in the VERY beginning. Every single watch I try to like him more, but I always end up failing as soon as he acts like a jerk.

Also, everyone always says he's supposedly super hot. Not that I'm the best judge, but I don't see it.

Giotto

Yes he is ating like a jerk from time to time, but who doesn't maybe it is cause he was made so "perfect" that it makes it so drastic..

what I absolutly like is, that he accepts Michale the way he is, and not wanting to change him. he accepted his life, his friends and so on. ..

and yes he is good looking.. he isn't as good lookníng as others, but he absolutly is in the upper region of good lokking guys to me..

Conner , on the other side.. I still don't get how they could compare him to Brian

I'm Brian Kinney, FFS!

I understand that perspective, but I think for me it's just that I don't like Ben enough to excuse him acting like a jerk, and it happens multiple times. (Also, we never see Michael being a jerk to him.)

I'm not crazy about the fact that he didn't tell Michael he'd slept with Brian, but my favorite Ben moment is probably when Ben says how they've loved people before and it doesn't mean they can't love each other. That is very sweet.

That's funny because I actually find Conner's actor pretty attractive. I just don't see it with Ben/Robert.

Giotto

It's been a while we visited this thread so I drop this one here and reply late



I have to agree here Michale never treated Ben in a negative way, no matter how hurt he was. He doesn't always agree with his ways he looks at life or other people ( just thinking about Hunter at the begining) , but he doesn't go to the extreme...


really?? I can't find anything attractive on that guy at all.. I would prefer Ben over him without thinking twice if I had to choose

I'm Brian Kinney, FFS!

That is a sweet pic.

Haha, I was just thinking last night I needed to find this thread. In my personal watch I just remembered another reason I can't ever ship Ben and Michael... Ben's jealousy over Michael's success with Rage. He's such a jerk about it in the beginning, and he's even a jerk to Brett Keller. I think his jealousy is realistic given that he's just experienced another rejection for his book, but c'mon. If you can't support yo man...maybe he shouldn't be yo man.

Glad you agree. It just always seems so uneven to me. Michael's definitely in the "feminine" role, and just kinda puts up with Ben being a jerk sometimes, even though he's never one to him. I suppose that's kind of a consistency with Michael's character...he just kind of takes ***** and then is quick to forgive...but I hold grudges on his behalf.

And haha, I don't think Conner is like HOT or whatever, I just think he's not a bad-looking guy. (But I am not a great judge, either. ) And yeah, still don't find Ben attractive at all.