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Patpran - Blog Posts
“Do you think your mom will ever forgive my dad? If you were her, would you? We can’t change what happened. We can just live with it. If you want to, go ahead. I will not live with it. What are you going to do then? Run away to a place where there’s only us. Do you think they will allow that? Our parents won’t. But some people might.”
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.
“Fine. It’s a yes.” BAD BUDDY (2021)
Let’s get away from here. BAD BUDDY THE SERIES (2021)
And we expect nothing less anymore
PatPran scenes as Taylor Swift songs.
Watching Bad buddy episode 1 hurts more knowing what we know now. Knowing that fight was the first time they saw each other after 3 years; knowing that was the first time that Pran played music again and he did it with Pat; knowing that Pat first instinct was to find a solution to end the beef between their friends in order to protect Pran; knowing that Pran first thing to do after seeing pat was to put on the watch perhaps because all his feelings came back; knowing that they both missed each other.
I just can’t... my heart hurts too much just thinking about it. How could they love each other so much since episode 1? I mean was episode 1. I’m not crying, you’re.
patpran being the healthiest relationship to ever relationship
bad buddy episode 9
what really strikes me about each of those scenes where pat is comforting pran is how pran responds to them. whenever pran gets upset over smth pat can't fix, pat makes himself vulnerable, offers him some cringey goofiness in hopes to cheer him up and each time pran's made sure to answer him, to show him his gratitude, to tell him it works.
bc it's so easy to just push someone away when ur hurt, to brood within ur own angry shell, esp for someone like pran who's always dealt with his emotions on his own. and he knows pat would understand if he did that, if he needed space pat would move away eventually, stop and leave him alone. but pran doesn't want that, he doesn't want pat to leave, he needs him there. he'd probably prefer silent company in some of these moments, but he knows pat's different, that pat needs loud affirmations and louder actions, that pat's doing this bc he loves him and pran might prefer quiet but he prefers pat more, so he returns the gesture, be it wiping his face or doing some mortifying dance. when he can't do that, when his hurt has worn him out too much, he still makes sure to smile for pat, to express his gratitude.
in reciprocating his gestures, pran is making sure none of his efforts go down the drain, he's making sure pat sees how it lightens the weight on his heart, he's telling pat he's grateful he goes to such lengths only to make him smile, he's grateful to have him here with him. he's encouraging pat's behavior by showing him how much he values pat's presence, how much all of pat's small efforts mean to him.
what really hits me thou - is that this started after the bet, before they'd fully opened up to each other, but once pran knows pat wants him, that pat likes him and is a reality he can have. before when he overheard what pat's dad said, when he was upset about the bus stop, when they'd kissed and he was devastated - pat chased relentlessly after him all these times, but pran adamantly pushed him away. it's how he's used to dealing w emotions - alone, in the confines of his own torn mind. it's how he thinks things will be better, if he tackles them on his own.
even then, pran had paid attention to how far pat was willing to go to ease his burden, to make him happy. in ep2 he even told pat that he enjoyed it, having pat indebted to him, implied he found solace in pat's guilt. but back then was when he thought he'd never have pat, or later that he could not. back then was when everything pat did confused him, tore him apart further till he didn't know what was upsetting him anymore - the initial trigger, or pat's misleading behavior.
now pran knows. it still surprises him - the extent to which pat's willing to go to make things right for him (re: offering to say he was dumped to fix things w their faculties). but now it doesn't devastate him anymore, does not break him to wonder whether it was just a friendly gesture or more, does not scare him w the idea of nursing a shattered heart later. now he feels everything pat intends for him to - mollified, warm, safe. so now pran too puts in effort to show him he knows why pat's doing this, that it makes him happy, that pat's efforts do and have always paid off.
this is how they've become each other's safe space, by plucking the courage to expose their soft underbellies to the other, and having that effort returned, rewarded and treasured.
The thing that has been stuck in my mind is the way you can literally see the moment when Pran realized just how much Pat loved him. I mean sure from all the things that Pat has already done for him, it should already be evident enough but still, you can see the look of realization in Pran's eyes when Pat suggested that he would post the status stating that they broke up just to make it easier for Pran. He's so taken aback from this idea because this is one of those telling moments where you see just how deep his love is.
As someone who has had feelings for one person for so long, them liking you back is a shock and you're always second guessing yourself and their feelings. There's always a constant fear that maybe one day they'll realise that you're not enough and they'll move on to someone better. But I think this is "THE MOMENT" where Pran understands that there's definitely no going back from this. Pat is as invested in this relationship as Pran, if not more.
He sees a man who's ready to be portrayed as the "heartbroken one" or "the one who got dumped" and does not give a damn if people make fun of him or tease him, just so that his boyfriend could get back with his friends. Pran, at this moment, finally gets it and that's why he reciprocates his feelings through Pat's love language, i.e. physical touch.
i haven’t seen anyone talk about it so i will: i adore how insignificant they made who played kwan in the play. they didn’t use it as some dumb jealously arc which we all know would’ve been dragged out if this was any other bl. and for patpran it was insignificant bc they trust and care and love each other enough to know that pat was only doing the play FOR PRAN and that there was absolutely no reason to be jealous over his acting partner. like, the guy who played kwan didn’t even have any lines. instead they focused on the patpran moments like trying to write to what riam was feeling and running the lines together while kwan was gone. it’s just so refreshing
Bad Buddy Ep. 9: Tiny PatPran Kisses
“Maybe I’ve liked men for a long time, but I just realized it.” BAD BUDDY (2021)
i’m sorry but with pat and pran constantly going “we need to talk” in eps as early as 1 and 2 when they were supposed to be “rivals” should’ve told me that they were gonna have the healthiest fucking relationship out there when they started dating
The little conversation about saying boyfriend instead of husband and wife is darling because it's so sweet and soft and honest but also because it brings into mind that heteronormativity that comes from those words and how unneeded it is.
Boyfriend is enough.
healthy 📢 relationships 📢
#bl tropes who? #the lgbt energy in this building is astronomical!
we've moved on to greener, murkier pastures but im still so in awe of pat actually using Pa's four signs on himself.
I think that's a thing you could do if and only if you're that emotionally intelligent. Everyone would assume you's use these four signs thing to test it on other people. Never youself.
So for Pat to actually take a step back, and watch and observe how he acted around Pran, to connect each sign to each action he just did, to realise it by himself- that requires a startling lack of ego.
because it shows the depth that pat has. he's playful, cherry, laid back. he's fierce, doesn't get possed off easily but he's scary when he does (still thinking about how he's 'cold' and even scares the seniors but we see him with pran and realise he changed).
so him being all these light hearted things pulls the wool over our eyes about just how emotionally intelligent he is. he didnt go "oh i'll test this out on pran". as you would suppose he'd do. but no, he tested it on himself, realised that it wasn't ink he liked but pran. and it always had been.
why had be been oblivious until then if he was so good at knowing his own feelings? loads of reasons- the patriachal atmosphere of his house. expectations. carrying the knowledge that pran was probably just putting up with the guy who got him sent off to boarding school. but recently pran confused him, with how soft he seemed when they were alone. and so he starts becoming more conscious.
and the second he shifts his perspective slightly boom! it all makes sense! and he doesn't struggle with it beyond the slight disbelief of never never having realised this.
no he starts struggling when he sees wai. not jealousy. its hurt. hurt that despite all their shared history and pain, and the joy he knows they both get from each other, he can't be close to pran so openly. he can't even look at him without people thinking he's picking a fight.
its just how startlingly in tune pat is with himself and that just blows up when he's actually allowed to talk to pran. the conversation at the beach. the bet. the confession through the play. the whole of ep 8.
hes a well written character and its obvious with how much care and attention he has been written and acted.
I just cannot explain how much I adore the minute subtleties in Bad Buddy that makes it feel so natural and realistic. Like, yes it's yet another cliché modern revamped Romeo/Juliet story designed as a BL but the improvised acting, the storytelling and the minor details add so much flavour to it. I'm talking things like Pat's connection breaking in their balcony phone call causing Pran to repeat things sometimes; a detail so minor you won't even notice it but it made the phone call seem so natural. I'm talking stupid running jokes like "Can I pay you to be less confident?" "Sure here's my QR code." I'm talking Pat telling his sister about the five mosquito bites he got. I'm talking Pat screaming and punching his pillow after Pran flirted with him. I'm talking regular boyfriend banter like Pat teasing Pran with the Nanon & Sizzy song and Pran fondly nagging him to turn it off. I can keep talking and talking cause there are so many little things that make this show feel so real. It hits too close to home.
best boyfriends
Bad Buddy (2021)
i know we all know how much pat considers pran's feelings and needs with their new relationship.
but the first thing i noticed when the curtain dropped and they had to face everyone in the theatre is that once pat processed what was happening, the first thing he did was to look at pran to see how HE was processing it all.
his first thought was to know how pran was feeling, how he is reacting so that he'd be able to know how to act himself.
i love that throughout the entire episode, we saw once more how this is a give and take relationship from both sides. they're both fairly new at this yet they try to understand the other, prioritize the other, they COMMUNICATE.
pat knows how much more difficult it is for pran to process their relationship (mostly because of their families and friends) although pran wants it as much as pat does.
i just thought it was a really nice detail that just showed once more how much of a walking green flag pat is and mostly how important pran's feelings are to him.
Still not over how that scene was improvised ..
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