Bad Buddy Series - Blog Posts

Coming to tumblr to see everyone absolutely losing their shit since the our skyy 2 trailer release is hilarious.

It's too funny, you guys are all too funny, it's also going to be scary how many theories are right. *laughs nervously*

Have you ever said to yourself, "I'm okay. I moved on", then somebody posts something bad buddy and suddenly you're like "man, I think I need to rewatch this scene." 😂

*cries in bad buddy

Just a random day missing Pat & Pran

BAD BUDDY (2021-2022) | insp by @miscellar

patpran's notes to each other (cr. @ohmnanoned)

P'aof adding to the collection..

A small Bad Buddy meta

After much reading and rewatching I just had to say...

We see pat use the four signs on ink and then see pa use it too. What stood out for me was that while they thought they were using it to test the other person's feelings, they were unwittingly using it on themselves. And we see the dichotomy so clearly, because pa confirms her own feelings in the process while pat doesn't respond to those signs himself. I've seen a lot of y'all say how he wasn't too disappointed when ink didn't react but note he didn't react either and he must have realised that. That the feelings he once felt weren't exactly the same and we see him wonder a bit as to what changed.

He's contemplating this when he's at the instrument shop and pran arrives and automatically realises. Here we see him use the signs not on pran but on himself! It just shows how he understood that the signs are better when used on oneself because only you truly know how you feel about someone, whereas the other person may not openly react to your signs. And this is proven by how pran nor ink reacted when the signs were used because they were both repressing and hiding their crushes, obviously they are not going to let on that they have feelings, they were anyway finding it difficult to do so(pran in the hallway when pat gives him his guitar...his face was such a giveaway and ink at the restaurant with pa ..again her face after pa helped her with the dirt in her eye was telling)..so both have their guards up.

So here pat notices how he himself reacts to pran in the context of how their relationship has been going and it sort of falls into place. It explains not just his behaviour but also pran. Because pran could easily cut him off and not associate at all with him, he could have moved out of the form if he actually wanted to..the only reason he is staying then and keeping up their secret association must be because of something pat is just coming to put his finger on. Its here he realises that they shouldn't even be friends with the way their families work and now he questions..what exactly are they? And we see that so beautifully communicated at the end of the episode on the rooftop.

Coming back to pat noticing him response to the four signs...he notices his feelings now and the only reason he hasn't so far was because he probably didn't think it was possible.....for him to like also like boys and for that boy to be pran. But that's why we get the flashbacks and all the things they went through in high school to show that pat always did like pran but he never got a chance to explore those feelings and because he never expected them. What is so amazing and one of the highlights of this show, is that he doesn't for one moment grudge himself his feelings. He doesn't beat himself up or question it, he accepts that sexuality is fluid and understands that he can like whoever he wants. This says so much about his character and it was at this point at which we all fell for pat (cause by then we were all already gone for pran) and it was after this that the "walking green flag" posts started showing. The way in which they portrayed Pat's character arc was so true to a realistic experience of understanding fluid sexuality, I cannot stop applauding.

BBS EP12: The Small Moments (or Attack of the Parallels)

I’ve now watched this perfect episode half a dozen times and keep discovering these small, quiet moments that P’Aof sneaks in between the bigger ones. P’Aof is so adept at layering his narrative; he’s like a puzzle maker revealing small pieces at a time that seemingly don’t fit only for it to form a full and complete picture later. It reminds me of those i-spy/hidden picture books, there’s just so much to look at that you miss out on the tiny details that make the whole thing just sing. He’s also great at crafting the series as a complete journey with many call backs to previous scenes. 

We open with Pat waking up and brushing his teeth. He takes several beats here to stare wistfully at his toothbrush. The first time I watched this I interpreted this as him remembering Pran putting toothpaste on his toothbrush for him. BUT on rewatch, I re-interpreted this as Pat missing Pran and wondering if he’s awake and going about his morning routines too. Then we jump to Pran doing that very thing. It’s a nod to the opening sequence of EP2 where we see them each getting ready for their morning classes. This seemingly small detail is so well done.

In the high school flashbacks we are shown that PatPran have always been looking at each other and still are years later. Pat finally got his man’s attention after so much pigtail-pulling antics, but it’s only more recently that he learns he’s always had it.

When Pat opens the door and reveals Pran, we can see him visibly swallowing like he has to catch his breath or stop himself from reaching out and grabbing Pran. Such a great small detail by Ohm.

The micellar face wiping scene needs no explanation. And that line you’re still the cutest, put your face on my palm I am lit from within every time I watch this scene.

Pran’s I hate you from EP4 compared to Pran’s I still hate you in this episode. We know both times it’s him saying the opposite and Pat knows it now too.

Pat’s come here when he shows Pran the memory board. Another great call back to EP5′s come here. Same words, same intent but different delivery.

Pat kept most of Pran’s emoji lights because he misses him and simultaneously wanted to recreate their college ‘love nest’. He even kept all their post-it notes, what a Pran thing to do.

Their entire duologue about being rivals (this guy with the fierce eyes is Pat/This guy with the dimples is Pran) while standing in front of the memory board is a call back to their first reunion in EP1. Then we see the young versions of themselves standing in front of their respective houses in the same way the grown versions do in both the end of EP11 and in this episode. Magnificient parallels.

The running gag of Pran forgetting his earbuds case and Pran ‘scenting’ his friend/unfriend shirt for Pat. It’s comforting that years later Pat still isn’t over Pran’s smell.

The fake enemies walking towards each other on campus only to hook pinkies as they pass is a great nod to EP7′s “the bet” when they secretly held hands at the bus stop.

Pat bundled in a comforter with Nong Nao in his arms rushing over to Pran’s for a sleepover. Such small yet so complete detailing.

The return to the noodle stand in front of their dorms where Pran orders an extra wonton for Pat to steal. What a sweet call back to EP3 and the hilarious chopsticks duel. Also note that Pran lines up his chopsticks to make sure they’re even. This show is so amazingly consistent with its characterization.

Pat asking Pran when he’ll get to enter his house normally like other people and Pran’s response that’s for other people and Pat isn’t one of them and why would he want to be? Pat has special access, for life. What a simple, perfect response.

In Pran’s room, PatPran sing “Just Friends” to each other while Pran’s parents are downstairs. Such a great juxtaposition to his parents walking in and disrupting their Christmas performance of the same song but now with different results. I can’t get over Dissaya’s quiet smile here and Dad knowingly placing his head on her shoulder saying I’m proud of you honey. I’ve said it before but it’s worth mentioning again, this was my favorite non-PatPran scene of the episode.

The string-can telephone scene on the balcony- how they had young PatPran dressed in the same color scheme and style as their older selves is such a small detail but man does it stick the landing.

Pat singing Same Page when he kisses Pran during their nighttime picnic on Pat’s patio. So many sweet moments in this scene calling back to their competitiveness.

Pat knowing that the first song Pran ever learned guitar chords for is from the band So Cool is such a great call back to EP5. Something Pran probably doesn’t go around broadcasting, but Pat is adorably proud of himself for knowing this about Pran that nobody else does.

PatPran engaging in foreplay and chasing each other in the bonus credit scene was perfection and also is a big nod to their race to their dorms in EP3. 

The background music in this episode was on point. They used so many recognizable songs from the series creating this feeling of nostalgia and warmth, it never feels overdone or formulaic- just cozy and familar, like coming home.

I may go back and do these small moments and parallels for each episode at some point, maybe. In the meantime, you can find my intital reaction on my first viewing of EP12 here.

bad buddy really did go farther than i ever expected.

like okay, my initial reaction was that it seemed like a fun dynamic, and a fun story. and it is! but i didn't expect much more than that. tbh, when i figured out pran already had feelings for pat so early on in the show, i thought it'd be a story where they slowly became friends, then made the bet, and pat would slowly realize he had feelings for pran too, and they would both hide behind the bet and secretly hope the other would fall for them until some kind of confession. i didn't even really think about how it might end. either in some "love will save the day" cheesy way or a sad ending tbh. i thought that IF there was A kiss, it MIGHT be in the last episode, and might be awkward and stiff, like they so often are in this genre. and i was fine to go along with it because i was laughing so hard, and impressed by the acting, and was enjoying the story anyway.

and then episode 5 happened and blew all of those assumptions into the water.

i still haven't recovered tbh. i can't believe we've gotten all of this. such a well rounded story with well rounded characters, with chemistry like i've never seen, and intimacy treated as normal things. small acts and domestic details that show love like normal people, like real people. a parent storyline that didn't depend on heightened drama or the expected "they used to date" trope, but instead was a story about betrayal of friendships. it felt real and made every piece of the puzzle fit together in ways that make it so you can dig more meaning out of the whole series than you could at the start. the way everything ties to the title, enough so that people were making jokes every week about who the real "bad buddy" was all along.

we got lovely, supportive friendships between wlw and mlm. we got a wlw relationship on the side, with a well fleshed out story and characters to root for. it wasn't tossed in at the end, it was built up and it was beautiful. we got discussions of sexuality. discussions of stereotypes. and the friends in this show, whether or not you like them, are not cookie cutter perfect, or perfectly boring, people, but all add their own spark to each dynamic. they feel like real people with their own feelings and choices and better yet they are feelings we as an audience can still understand, regardless of screentime or if we like their actions. other side characters like uncle tong and junior, and even their old high school teacher, felt like real people as well, with their own lives and agendas. the ones that came into closer contact with the plot didn't push their stories onto the main characters, but rather gave them the tools they needed to build their own. such is life. it was...very human!

no characters "shipped" the mc's to their face. no fetishization was thrown in on screen for us to be forced to watch, as i have so often seen before in this genre. nothing was treated as extraordinary, which of course is what made it so. there were no gender roles the characters fell into, neither was more masculine or feminine than the other, and neither was more dominant than the other. its a relationship of equals, shown in both big and miniscule ways, and it's a relationship between two men! on that note - there was no homophobia!!! at all! not once did someone have an adverse reaction to the idea of same sex relationships, from their parents, to their friends, to the theater group, to strangers at the beach. no one batted an eye. and yet the metaphors for it were sewn in everywhere you looked. it was refreshing to see a show that tipped into similar stakes, without it actually becoming a consequence on top of everything else.

the ending itself was a metaphor. the glass closet pat and pran kept their relationship in was a homage to queer people everywhere living their truth despite the world or people around them trying not to allow it. they lived their lives on their terms, told the people they wanted to tell, had that support group, made memories with the people they could be themselves around, and didn't let their parents take that from them. they held their happiness between their fists and didn't let go, and slowly their environment changed to suit them, rather than the other way around. it was a realistic ending. it wasn't a perfect ending, where they got this perfect life and everything worked out instantly, but things don't have to be perfect to still be happy, and sooooo full of love, and to show that hope for the future?? im in awe.

okay and the pacing of this series was so excellent. only 12, 1-hour-long episodes, and a complete story with a hopeful ending? that alone is noteworthy to me. conflicts and storylines rose and were solved within the same episode or the next. every ep was a step further in the characters' individual growth as well as their relationships. nothing felt like it was there for no reason, despite literally being a slice of life show. everything served its purpose!

and my last big point is that this really is, at its core, a gay story told for gay people by gay people. p'aof knew exactly what he was doing with this series, everything was very intentional, and i'm forever grateful to him and the crew and the cast for the amount of love and hard work they put into this. i'm going to miss the soonvijarn recaps so much too, it was incredibly healing to watch a group of older gay men react to this show every week and then discuss it with the director afterwards like that was just so rewarding, not to mention gave me so many laughs. like i can't find a way that expresses my gratitude enough for the people that made this show a reality.

this is becoming an extremely long ramble but truly? and ive said this before, but, i thought this would be a show where two people who hated each other learned to love each other. instead i got a story about love that already existed, and trust that was grown.

everything about this show felt warm and comfortable and real. rewatching it still makes me feel everything i felt the first time. my heart still races, i laugh just as hard, and i still cry. it really has been such unexpected fun and all i can say now is that i know it's going to be a part of me for a very, very long time. and that i'm grateful for it, and all that it did.

All my life, I’ve been told not to be friends with this one guy.

BAD BUDDY October 29, 2021 — January 21, 2022

“it’s like we were living a double life until graduation.”

Two more days guys! In the meantime, a mini analysis for you all!

The Romeo and Juliet act where they commit suicide is actually represented in Bad Buddy!

Remember this scene? aka the only moment we get to laugh in this curse ep?

Here me out. So we all now Bad Buddy is somewhat based on a modern version of Romeo and Juliet.

[Pat is Juliet. Fight me.]

So. In the ending of that tragic play we have the iconic sequence in which Juliet supposedly drinks a poison that kills her, but in reality just makes her appear dead. Then Romeo follows killing himself for real, and then, Juliet stabs herself, and the whole thing is a mess of non-communication.

So let’s compare, shall we?

1. We have Pat, “throwing away” his cellphone chip. Aka, Juliet faking her death.

2. We have Pran, doing the same right after Pat. Aka, Romeo actually following Juliet.

A this time we’re all like. Shit. They really did that.

But THEN

3. “Haha, you dummy!” Aka, no, Romeo, Juliet was not really dEAD! Pran really threw it out? He really actually killed himself?

4. Haha! You thought! Of course he didn’t! And then this:

“Do you really think I don’t know you?”

Here’s WHY I think this scene heavily shows a representation of the suicide scene in Romeo and Juliet:

Let me start with a question. How many of you would simply get rid of you’re phone number? Throw it away into the sea without a care? Throw away your whole life, cause FACE IT. It IS your whole life. Your family? Your friends, a huge part of yourself?

Exactly. You’d have to be in a lot of pain to do that right? Commiting suicide is the very last stage of indescribable pain. Throwing away the “heart” of your phone could be thought of as throwing away your life.

But they didn’t. Here’s where it obviously goes differently. Pran knows Pat to a point where he knows he would never do that. Pat knows Pran to a point where he knows Pran would never believe he’d do something like that.

Here’s where it doesn’t end up tragically. They both live.

Because they know each other. They understand each other. They communicate. They love each other too much to ask the other to take such risks.

And I think that’s beautiful.

Thanks for reading!

– But do you even know him that well? Do you know what he’s like? – Your brother? He’s so picky.

They went to the beach, because Pat thought he needed to take care of Pran, but in the end Pat was the one who needed taking care of, and Pran just did that softly and silently.

3 words. 8 letters.

"i love you."

“you happy now?”

PAT and PRAN in BAD BUDDY (2021)

“why do you like me?”

All my life, I was always told not to be friends with this one guy- but we all know that forbidden fruit is always sweeter. From two people who can’t be friends, without knowing it, we became two people who couldn’t just be friends. I wrote this song for him.

what a wonderful way of seeing things!!!

“what an honorable answer.”

But of course..

honestly speaking bad buddy is like....a slap to even western queer representation. im not even kidding. as someone from a queerphobic country, who got introduced to their first queer character at 14 through nico di angelo, who had to deal with queer identity being used for queerbait through stories like sherlock, who knew of the dumpster fire of queerbait that was supernatural, who rarely ever saw sapphic rep, who found shadowhunters and malec but the awkwardness in all those initial seasons (i wont talk about the books cause...yeah)

bad buddy is like a cure to all of that. this asian show did what western shows are so cowardly to do, unless they want to make it a pat on their back or showcase themself as revolutionary. no, bad buddy gave us a queer romance, told us love is genuinely blind to gender, told hs that sometimes girls do only like girls and nothing will change that, told us that queer people aren't a one in a thousand occurance. queer people exist everywhere, we just don't have the same stages and same spotlights to live out our love like non-queer people.

and bad buddy is what we'd get if we did. the family fued would've been a credible issue even if it was a girl and a guy. and thats why bad buddy feels so special.

this is recompence for suffering through awkward western queer rep, for always having to watch traumatic coming outs as if you can't have a love story without them, for suffering some disgustingly fetishistic pieces of media, for always having to read between the lines, the subtext, for having to make do with blurry lines and deal with "oh nah theyre just friends, you people can't let people of the same gender be friends without wanting a romance".

bad buddy showed that a girl and a guy could be good, even best friends without being in love with each other and still cheat the other. it showed that a guy who once liked a girl could definitely have feelings for a guy and accept them both as part of him. it showed that girls do have their niche set of problems navigating sapphic relationships (felt you there pa). it shows that queer or not, family can still be traumatic, as it has been. it showed that a coming out scene can be "i like a girl" / "oh cool okay" over bowls of noodles.

this is actually what we've ever wanted. we love normally, go through normal conflits, have friends, talk about stuff everyone else does. our sexuality or identity isn't our whole personality. we do music, play sports, slack off or do well at school, have rivalries.

and i gotta thank this show for giving me that.

A translation of this IG post of P’Aof’s, by sanspeur14 on Twitter.

And they both won!

OKAY BUT THE PROGRESSION OF PRAN SILENTLY CRYING ALONE AND NEEDING PAT SO HE TRIES TO CALL HIM

THEN SUDDENLY PAT IS THERE AND PRAN’S TEARS IMMEDIATELY START FALLING FASTER NOW

TO FULL ON SOBBING IN PAT’S ARMS

THE ABSOLUTE DISPLAY OF TRUST AND SHELTER AND DEVASTATION IS SO RAW

AND PAT, HEARTBROKEN AS WELL, TIRED AS WELL, BUT HOLDING PRAN FOR DEAR LIFE THROUGH IT ALL

hearing pran's teacher report as "a serious, hardworking child, though he doesn't have many friends" in the same ep as "you raised me like this, and that's why i'm not like other kids" has actually torn my heart from my chest and showed it to me still bleeding