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Pranpat - Blog Posts
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.
“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!
PAT and PRAN in BAD BUDDY (2021)
“what an honorable answer.”
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.
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.
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.
Bad Buddy Ep. 9: Tiny PatPran Kisses
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!
best boyfriends
Bad Buddy (2021)
pran + 😊 in ep 8
Bad Buddy Ep. 8: PatPran sleeping with the Nong Nao Doll
#imagine being this in love.
Just give up. You say it first. No, you say it first. You say it first. You do it, babe.
Bad Buddy (2021)
“I want to clean it for you.” “I can do it myself.” “But I want to do it for you.” BAD BUDDY (2021)
i think nanon deserves an oscar for his face expressions in general but specially the sleepover scene (ep 4, 4/4). like damn- he- hes an actor he acts,, hes too good ‼‼ ugh the glassy eyes god he made my heart ache so much in this scene
-bonus: his expression when pat told him he likes looking at his face (when he loses) literally made my life so far worth living
look at him ! oh god hes too gay to function
Pran has a plan and that plan is foolproof because his friends are fools and they fell for it.
Bonus - It's not all a lie
Are you guys friends? BAD BUDDY (2021), dir. Backaof Noppharnach