#PAT POV BECAUSE HE WILL BE STRONG FOR PRAN

[fondofeveryprickle]

My AO3 Wrapped 2023

Welcome to my AO3 Wrapped 2023, where I take a look at some of my favourite fics from 2023 (one bookmark per month). 

There were so many amazing fics in 2023, so many new people and friends I met because of fanfic <3 So here’s to a very good 2024, full of words and worlds!

Let’s go to the fics:

January-

The Fine Line Between Hormones and Home by seekingmoonscapes (Bad Buddy: The Series)

In an almost canon universe where the only difference is that it is omegaverse, Pat is an omega, and Pran is an alpha. And during one of his heats, Pat is at home, and decides to ask Pran for a shirt with his scent to help with his heat. But instead, he asks Pran for help in other ways. Fic where the porn IS the plot, everything is super consensual, and sexy and hot. Alternating POV, so on Pran’s pov we get to see all the pining.

February - 

If Never Again, If Every Day by gallifreyburning and takiki16 (The Old Guard)

This fic was wonderful from beginning to end. For reasons, 2021 Nicky goes back in time to Jerusalem and his first death at Yusuf's hands. Meanwhile, 1099 Nicolò goes forward in time to 2021 and meets Joe. It's heartbreaking and loving and funny and so full of love. Nicky and Joe miss each other even when around their younger versions. But the love they feel for each other is stronger than that. Wonderful story, happy ending.

March - 

Wooing the Water Tribe by lenaballena (ATLA) @dameferre

Sokka has been living in the Fire Nation as Zuko's second in power and his best friend and everything. When Katara comes to visit, Sokka thinks Zuku is courting her. And he realizes he is also in love with his best friend. Lots of pining. There's absolutely no courting of Katara. It's also really funny. My heart broke for Sokka at some moments.

April - 

The Grand Unified Theory of Shen Qingqiu by 00janeblonde (SVSSS)

WIP - This story is all fluff and no angst, like the tags say, slice of life and it's wonderful. SQQ dies at Maigu Ridge, and is offered to acquire the Game Plus, where he can go back to the past with his cultivation and memory intact, and try again. Doing that he discovers that he is actually the real Shen Jiu reincarnated, and he can try to recover memory markers to be able to restart the "game" even before than when he first "transmigrated". His friendship with YQY becomes strong, LQG also becomes his friend (it's really sweet how he wants his friends back). Everything is very soft. Absolutely great teacher SQQ.

May - 

but for me, there is a storm by Authoress (Haikyuu!!) by @kiribakus

An epic pacific rim au. Hinata and Kageyama are both cadets who want to be Jaeger pilots, but they cannot get along. So they work really hard because they are their last hope to pilot a one of a kind Jaeger - a Kaiju/Machine hybrid. They solve their problems in the beginning (and then later they have more problems). Hinata and Kageyama are not the only main characters, other characters are also very important and have their own storyline and pov. This story is heartbreaking as well. There's MCD, and it made me cry so hard I got puffy eyes. It's a wonderful read, and very well written.

June - 

The UA Analyst Kid by RogueVector (BNHA)

Izuku meets the UA teachers before getting OFA and they see how good his analysis is, so they start to train him (together with some other heroes). But some things don't change and Izuku still meets All Might and gets offered OFA. This story is funny, sweet and with amazing relationships. Izuku is OP with his intelligence and training. All the teachers and heroes are so supportive and good. A really feel good story.

July - 

Deku? I think he’s some pro… by Clouds (BNHA)

After All Might told Izuku he can't be a hero, he finds himself in a forum used by some underground heroes and offers his analysis to them, since he can't be a hero, he will help them. The underground heroes think Izuku is some kind of retired pro when they ask for help analyzing some villains and all, and when they finally meet face-to-face they all decide to practically adopt Izuku and teach him to fight so he will have a chance to be a quirkless hero. It is amazing! Also, the relationship between Izuku and the underground heroes is more like friends than teacher-student, and it's amazing that way. (some All Might bashing - be warned)

August - 

Mobius by Foxquills (BNHA) @fox-quills

WIP - I love this story so much!!! Third-year Izuku is sent to the past because of a quirk accident, to the time both Shouta and Hizashi are third year students at UA. Problem is, according to Nedzu, time is constant, or a loop, so he can’t change anything in the past, and everything that has happened, will happen again. He becomes fast friends with both Shouta and Hizashi, and starts crushing on them as well. Both Hizashi and Shouta also start crushing on him. It is lovely. There’s pain. It’s awesome. (also omegaverse).

September - 

Factory Settings by Anonymous (Good Omens)

Post season 2 au, because Crowley follows Aziraphale to heaven. Things happen, and instead of Crowley, there is Raphael, without any memory of all the time he's lived as Crowley. Heaven and Hell are at it again. Aziraphale has no idea what to do, and he misses his Crowley. Muriel is a sweetheart. Both Aziraphale and Crowley/Raphael povs. Great story, feels very much canon.

October - 

Justice in Defiance by Foxquills (BNHA) @fox-quills

WIP - Aizawa is a hero turned villain who kills both heroes and villains alike. And one day Izuku finds him right after he kills someone. They fight. And now Izuku needs to know more. What made Aizawa turn????? To do that, he will also need Hizashi in his corner. Absolutely lovely story!!!! The povs are amazing. The feelings and pining are perfect.

November - 

If I Must Starve (Let it be in Your Arms) by Igneum807 (The Witcher)

So think about the softest story involving Jaskier and touch-starved witchers, and this is the result. During his travels alone, when he and Geralt go their different ways for a few weeks, Jaskier meets Geralt's brothers, who are just as touch and companionship-starved as Geralt was before meeting Jaskier. It's super soft and tender.

December - 

Cultivate: Slow Life on a Monster-Infested Mountain by NeonGhostCat (SVSSS) @neonghostcat

When SY transmigrates, the System tries to put him on SQQ's body, but SQQ is aware and is able to stop it from happening. The System then gives SY his own body, but something goes wrong with the system and SY is decided to not get involved with the plot, or with Cang Qiong Sect, and specially SQQ. He finds an abandoned mountain, with an abandoned house there and decides to stay there until he is strong enough if SQQ finds him and wants to kill him. Obviously things cannot be that simple. Now he is stuck on the mountain he can't get out of, every full moon night there are monster attacks and one day LQG appears on the Mountain, how can he get out of helping with the plot now? Shen Yuan is absolutely perfect on this fic. I love how he deals with the mountain and its beasts and plant-life. Liushen is the softest you'll see. Slow burn, super domestic, feel good story.

~

Enjoy your readings!

[inventedfangirling]

i should probably wait for tomorrow's episode to get the full picture and closure and the promos might have misled me into thinking we have lesser of Patpran than there actually is BUT P'Aof ive got a bone to pick with you.

He literally created a brand new problem (Pat jumping to help Pran without letting him do it on his own) something that wasn't an issue in the OG show but it now is (which makes sense when you think about it especially given their impending separation because of singapore and both of them needing to learn to be separate individuals) and then solved another that didn't need to be solved, like wth was that about Pat "admitting" that he can't live without Pran, as if its brand new information, as if its something that he's insecure about, as if he's worried that its only him and that Pran won't feel the same way?

we're literally talking about the guy who was ready to throw away his family and friends and halt his entire education just so he could run away and live with you in a zero waste village away from all that he knew and was familiar with?? the same guy who said "i can be anywhere as long as im with you", the guy who has always been there alongside him, fighting WITH him, FOR him...Pat KNOWS that...and Pran knows that Pat knows that....thats what the whole ep11 was about! Them being the most SOLID, in love, 'if he goes down i go down with him', we're a team couple-couple there ever was! Both of them know of how much the other loves them, how their love is so strong it can withstand anything! they know that, their lives, their words, their actions, their choices have proved that!! so the grand declaration in this episode is basically the same thing we already know, we got NOTHING new.

at the same time the conflict that was actually relevant, that Pat thinks Pran needs his help when really Pat needs Pran to need him, he wants to always be the one to help him and Pran's need to do things on his own and prove to himself that he could do shiz by himself like he had all through his life before Pat and him met in college again. Pran needed to do things alone for himself and Pat needed to take a step back and let him do his own thing knowing that he got this. That was the conflict and that's what should have been addressed and instead we got a whole episode of unnecessary confusion and separating the two couples and i cant believe the realest 2 convos happened when Pat and Pran weren't even in the same premises.

and don't even get me started on Pran feeling insecure that Pat was the one sacrificing the most like hello? they both have sacrificed equally, its just Pat is the more vocal and ever ready to express affection with words and very obvious actions so from an outsiders pov Pat looks like he's carrying the relationship which he is not and YET like hello Pat is the one who feels that he can't admit that he cant live without Pran? the same guy who yelled out his love in front of the entire architecture branch? the same guy who wanted to flaunt their whole relationship on social media? the guy who from the day he discovered that he had feelings for Pran has almost made his entire personality about being in love with Pran Pat? that Pat?

but also that scene of Pran just looking on as Pat tries to put on the remedy cream bruh aint no way yall playing me Pran would NEVER watch on like that for so damn long without taking a single effort to help like aint no way hello who the hell was calling the shots, was P'aof even around cos if so sir HOW COULD YOU !?

ep 1 was underwhelming but ep2 had so much going for it but then ep3 was so meh and actually sorta undermines the OG by pretending that this "i can't live without you" is a HUGE thing when WE ALL KNEW IT, like WHY P'Aof, WHY YOU DO THIS TO US? Why to Pat & Pran? And pls the way this episode did next to NOTHING for phupha & Tian, its actually insane.

Despite today's disappointment i do (semi) trust P'Aof and i hope he ties it all up as clean as possible tomorrow and if nothing happens i will pretend this whole special was an AU and move on with my life. that being said we better get that finger sucking scene cos baby i didn't watch this special for ALL of that. Except for that scene in the house that withstood the "shake", the whole endeavor added NOTHING to the story of Pat-Pran and i will be mad about this. It's like they made the Taj Mahal and then decided to pour blood all over it and like yeah the blood can be washed away but why tarnish the glorious monument in the first place!?? for whomstttttttttt

[trilliastra]

love that makes me tear up

[pat x pran. POV outsider. just pran’s mom having thoughts and a glimpse into the future of pat and pran.]

-

Every time Dissaya sees one of Ming’s family members around town, she always dreads the awful coincidences of life. It is a big town, so it shouldn't be this easy to see one of them at her favorite grocery store or at the market buying fish. 

When it isn’t Ming or his wife, it’s one of the kids and Dissaya never knows if it’s better or worse. When their eyes happen to meet, the girl is quick to turn around and avoid crossing paths, the boy - he is defiant. His eyes always shine with questions, accusations that make a fire burn inside her.

The more he grows, the more she sees Ming in his stance. Not the adult, but the boy she grew up with, loud and bright, a man she thought she could trust, a friend who became a traitor.

When Pran told her about their relationship, she remembered being seventeen and bright and full of expectations, and she wanted to take her son and run away. Because Ming’s falseness, though devastating, could never be as tragic as a lover’s betrayal.

-

She sees him at the mall, six months after Pran’s graduation. The girl walking with him is beautiful and when she fumbles with her bags, he offers to carry them for her. They laugh together as she shows him something on her phone and he throws an arm over her shoulders as Dissaya watches them walk away.

She thinks about Pran, locked in his room at home, working on his resume because he’s thinking about applying for a job in Singapore, remembers him coming home at the weekends alone and always avoiding her questions about a new love interest.

Dissaya might not know Pran as well as she thought she did, and that is a feeling she’s still struggling with, but she knows one thing - a love like he felt, a love so strong he’d risk lying to her, that love does not easily go away.

-

The next time she sees him at the mall, he’s having a meal with his sister and the girl she saw with him all those months ago. Sitting outside the restaurant near one of Dissaya’s favorite shoe stores, they don’t notice her watching them curiously, gasping softly when the girl and Pat’s sister share a soft kiss.

Surprised, Dissaya finds herself staring at the empty spot next to Pat and imagining it should’ve been occupied by another man, a man who reminds her a lot of her own son.

It does not make sense, she tells herself. It shouldn’t feel like this, she shouldn’t feel guilty or - or sad that Pat is alone. She shouldn’t regret not giving them a chance. It is too late now, more than a year has gone by, Pran is about to move to another country, they - they could have been and yet -

They aren’t.

-

This time, she hears his voice before she sees him.

“You’ve been in Singapore for two months and you miss our snacks?” The voice asks. “I feel betrayed.”

When she peeks from behind the shelf, he sees Pat stuffing his shopping cart with extra hot Tao Kae Noi. The person he’s with on the phone says something and Pat laughs softly, reaching for a different flavor. “Alright, alright.” He says. “I will send them today.” The whispered I love you, too, is fond and Dissaya’s heart squeezes painfully inside her chest.

It’s not as surprising as it should be and though she feels deceived by the lie, the hurt is quickly replaced by a deep regret and an uncertainty about the future and her relationship with Pran. Their lives have always revolved around a lie and with a shaky breath she realizes she doesn’t know how to have an honest relationship with her own son.

-

They don’t talk about it and she spends a long time wondering how long it has been. Months? Years? Have they ever actually broken up?

“Does it matter?” Her husband asks and she concedes the unexpected truth.

It doesn’t.

-

She tells herself Pran is an adult, his love life doesn’t concern her anymore. Pran comes home for Christmas and she pretends to be imagining the soft moans that come from his bedroom late at night.

Before he leaves, she hugs him tightly and makes him promise he is happy. His eyes shine with unshed tears, but he hugs her back just as tightly. “I am.” He says.

Dissaya notices him watching the neighbor’s house sadly as the taxi takes him away, and when she looks up, Pat is by the window, watching the car disappear in the distance.

As she brings a hand up to wipe her own tears, she notices Pat doing the same.

-

“Will you ever be able to forgive him?” Her husband asked one night.

“I don’t know.” She answered.

“Ah,” he chuckled. Upon her curious stare, he kissed her softly and added, “a few years ago you would’ve said no.”

-

Pran has been back in Thailand for the entirety of two months when Dissaya walks into the store and stops next to him.

Another coincidence, she thinks. All she wanted was to buy a gift for her mother and here he is again.

“Do you need help?” She asks, holding back a smile when Pat startles, eyes widening. She holds his gaze, defiant. 

“I -” he tries, clearing his throat, ears burning red before finally admitting defeat, “yes?”

“Good.” She declares, expression softening when she notices the rings he chose. “Are you getting them engraved?”

-

*Tao Kae Noi is that seaweed snack they advertise at the beginning of the episodes. Pat and Pran also had it at the beach on the 11th ep.

[jojotichakorn]

regardless of the preview and the break up + time skip (which can all agree doesn’t make any sense) I’m kinda disappointed in the way they handled the whole pran wanting to go back home like i kind understand to a certain extent his feelings but I expected the two of them to communicate more about this.

I also wish more attention was given to pat’s pov in a way like that boy was hurting so much at the start of the episode but we never really saw him openly talk about it.

Also if going back home meant breaking up then it makes it even more heartbreaking the fact that pran wanted to go home while pat already thought about staying there forever as long as it meant that they would not be separated. Idk maybe I’m just confused and by rewatching I will see that I’m wrong or maybe my expectations were too high.

What upsets me the most it that all the good moments are kind of “ruined” (maybe that’s a strong word but yk) because of this situation in the background.

Ps: I still can’t believe that they didn’t ask each other when they first fell in love

i agree.

the way pran was basically narratively guilt-tripped into feeling wrong and like he must return (by literally showing him an example of a MANIPULATIVE SELF-CENTERED MOTHER, holy shit i feel like i'm going mad just writing that out). they didn't talk nearly as much as i wished they would - instead of focusing on them sharing their feelings with each other and being entirely transparent, it was basically an episode dedicated to showing why they must return to their parents with some cute moments between them thrown in here and there. this might also be controversial to say, but i feel like at this point pat just keeps sacrificing what he wants for someone else, instead of doing exactly what he wants for once. i think they both knew them going home meant things ending, especially closer to the end of the trip, and it truly just reads exactly the way you said. and i absolutely felt this uneasiness about it all - even during the cutest moments, also because some of them felt really empty because there were some empty words and promises? maybe it's because my autistic brain takes everything literally and doesn't understand how you can say something so loud without actually meaning it, but all the talk about not giving up and fighting together, not being able to live without the person you love, being ok with staying anywhere as long as you are together - what was all that about, if this is where we end up?

[petekaos]

Omg Rahul the recent episode of bad buddy truly blew me away. I’m so glad we’re finally getting more Pat POV. Definitely my fave character and one reason is cos Ohm’s such a great actor. I feel he’s so underrated. Hopefully he gets more love and recognition after this series. Also, I enjoyed the Pat-Pha-Ink scenes this episode. Hoping we get more with this trio. Hope you have a lovely day ahead :)

hiii nonnie! oh 100% agreed! it's so fun how we can automatically tell that this is pat's pov and how strong the dissonance between both of their povs is. seeing pat's view of things (things i already suspected and have been talking about but it's nice to have them explicitly confirmed) just makes it all the more painful because pat doesn't know pran's side of things and pran's entire shtick of 'we're not friends' and 'stay away from me in public' can be really hurtful. but obviously, because WE know pran's side of things and why he's inclined to say things like that (trauma from losing control over his life because his parents randomly ripped him away from his school and from pat), it's all the more painful for US.

i know everyone's been on the pran train from ep 1 and, you know, same, but pat's character has intrigued me since ep 1 and i think he's my favourite character too! although honestly it's pretty much 50/50 with this show. ohm's acting is brilliant and you can really tell how much he's immersed himself in this story and this character! i do think ohm is fairly popular actually for a gmmtv 00s actor. he's done a lot of bls which obviously gives him some semblance of fame but i do think he and nanon are gonna shoot to fame during and after this series bc gmmtv bls just do better than other gmmtv shows (we don't have to get into how unfair that is and how little they promote women for example bc that's a whole other can of worms). both ohm and nanon are pretty well-established actors with other shows under their belt like he's coming to me and the gifted and they're really bringing that experience to the table here!

pat and pha and ink are such a lovely trio, i really adore them. normally i don't expect any sort of wlw rep or well-written women characters from bls bc these shows are just not about them and i'd rather get my fix of strong women from shows ABOUT women and not just WITH women, but i have the inkling that pha and ink could maybe become a thing. especially considering that p'aof has this reaction channel with his friends who also picked up on some potential and p'aof didn't dispute it, so ... we'll see how that goes. but yeah, the pat-pha-ink dynamic is lovely! i also really like the pat-pran-ink dynamic and the pha-ink dynamic too. they're all so cute!

[nowwatchingstuff]

i really did think about this being his sole reason for pushing pat away in this one episode. it felt so hard to read pran outside of his POV yk. it does have strong points actually. also points refuting it. at the end all i could fully be sure of is it's in both those scenarios. he has his fear internalized but the vocally strong point he was keeping in the front was related to pat's relationship to ink in his view.

true pran changes his whole demeanor after hearing pat say he doesn't like ink. but also seconds before when he said "focus on your business" and was playful with pat in his reply he could have meant that he wants pat to speak first. both valid. true that the story he told to his friends was about his crush being with someone else, still it can be argued how his confession practically stops at the point pat told him he liked ink. because the way he says it hurts is like a voice to his feeling back then.

what i'm trying to say is while this hold very reasonable doubt it also casts a different shadow on how pran would be viewing pat which i don't think is there. pat never actually left his side after the kiss, and before it he was so weird to him, his jealousy, it all must have made sense for pran internally. also the !smile! he had on his face after the kiss. it can't mean anything else.

so my midline theory is that pran sees all of this but doesn't want to believe it maybe at this moment? because he wants to continue running? his internal fear is there. it's actually beyond his control, he even vocalizes it to wai. but this fear manifested by shutting down the rooftop feelings he got from pat and prioritized the "i like ink". pran was afraid of both feelings tbh. that pat liked him and that pat liked ink. he didn't want to hear any.

but with time passing it was sure evident it's the first option. and also as i said his fear manifesting in some other form than what is truly is did lessen its burden and his refusal? by the minute. he got enough time to get familiar maybe to this feeling but he still wanted it verbally. because the "mind your business" was a throwaway invitation for pat to accept however he would interpret it.

but i really like you idea of how pran could fear his feelings being in the open and known to pat. so this also is interplaying in the narrative. in the end, though it's lots of things but somehow it's easier to crack than just him fearing his family and focusing on the hurt. his love is being given a space to affect him better.

Pran's Family/Friends Weren't What Was Holding Him Back

I spent the whole of episode 6 thinking that the main thing holding Pran back from Pat was their parents and friends.

But that doesn't make sense.

Calling it a bet isn't gonna get their friends and families on board if they get caught and Pat didn't remove either of those obstacles. The only thing Pat did was A. inform Pran that he didn't hate him and B. tell Pran that he doesn't like Ink.

We know that Pran was planning to write another song for the competition (presumably about him and Pat) and then he simply played his old one. I believe this was Pran starting to give up on his feeling for Pat, which explains his statement in Ep 5 (You've got to stop doing this to me). Then Pat and Pran kissed and we see Pran lock up.

When Pran gave Wai his guitar and said "Why start it if you know how it ends?" he wasn't talking about their relationship. He was talking about the conversation. He thought Pat was gonna tell him the kiss was a mistake if he gave him the chance. He thought it was best to move on with his original plan to let him go.

It makes sense. Their relationship has always been complicated. As far as Pran knew, Pat's jealousy centered on the song, which itself is complicated-it's a representation of their relationship and the catalyst for an event that affected both of them greatly-Pran getting sent to boarding school.

I don't know how much they are planning to tell their friends about the bet or even when they actually start dating but I think the reason Pran was really terrified in episode 5 was because he thought that Pat was gonna tell Wai that the song was actually about Pat and that Pran had been in love with him since high school. (I think this is also why Pran didn't become lively with Pat in the bet discussion until after Pat revealed he thought Pran was "confused about his feelings" instead of head over heels for him. He thought Pat knew everything already and, until that conversation, thought that Pat was gonna turn him down. In my last post, I mentioned that Pran purposefully said "No one likes you" to see if Pat would bring up Pran's actions. The first thing Pat would have said-if he knew-was "I got you to write a song about me way back in high school, didn't I?" )

A kiss can happen for a lot of reasons. It could very well have been Pat's confusing emotions about their confusing childhood combined with the alcohol. It's also not the first time Pat's done something flirty or suggestive and, even if Pran thought Pat had any vague attraction to him, it doesn't change the fact that Pat looked him dead in the face mere days ago and said he liked Ink. And, of course, Pran wasn't gonna face that conversation head on, now was he?

I'm not saying Pran won't want to keep them a secret but that's not what made him lock up on Pat this episode. His main struggle was his belief that his feelings were both known and unrequited. I might be reaching but I feel like if he's willing to make this bet, he'd be willing to date Pat (at least in private) if he was confident his feelings were reciprocated.

I found it weird that Pran asked Pat if he hated him, even though he'd been the one pushing him away this whole time, the one who'd actually said he hated him. I wonder if Pran ever entertained the idea that Pat knew how he felt AND was being cruel on purpose, especially in episode 4.

Can y'all tell its finals week? Lol.

[jojotichakorn]

Man, you got so many asks with different theories, that this is the second morning in which I cannot read all of them...

Anyway, I've been thinking about the bet a little too hard maybe and it just doesn't make sense at the moment. It is just not adding up.

If Pat is to realize shit in ep 5, where the fuck in the timeline does the bet go?? Pran knows his feelings and I'm once again convinced Pat does too, but is uncertain in both himself and Pran (tho, u gotta be blind to not see his heart on his sleeve, but still). So, if they both know about their feelings and Ink has already rejected Pat, it leaves us with the scenario in which they're both extremely stupid and make that bet out of pettiness and being extremely competitive. Lemme elaborate, I've been thinking that maybe, just maybe they make the bet for them. Meaning that they compete on who is to fall in love with the other first. Cuz like, they think they have simple crushes on each other... cuz stupid.

I'm probably very far from the truth tho and it's going to be something extremely complex that none of us was expecting, but still, gotta give my 2 cents on this.

And let's be real, something like that would be totally in character for them... xd

i can see why the bet doesn't fit into your way of seeing things because all my anons i've discussed it with before and i do think that pat doesn't know about his feelings yet and do see it as impossible for pat to know about pran's feelings at the moment. but i will try my best to entertain your pov and see if it could fit into what i've initially laid out in this post, which is the theory i stick to the most right now.

so i started with pat realizing he is in love with pran - in your case, we are already past that stage, so i suppose it would sound more along the lines of pat accepting his feelings. still works.

you say that pat is uncertain in both himself and pran, which i will shift more into he is uncertain in pran, which is why he will suggest that they become friends. he doesn't confess right then and there because he doesn't want to get rejected, so 1) it's better to be friends than enemies or strangers with someone you are in love with, 2) he can sort of test the waters if they are friends, and become a little more sure of what pran is feeling.

they do agree to be friends, and then they make the bet. which, kind of rephrasing what i said before, on the outside, they pretend that it's one of their usual competitions (which have always been common in their relationship - their competitions are not mean either, they are just a cheeky bit of fun), but the real reason why they make that bet is for pat to continue testing the waters and really see how pran feels about him by going unhinged with his own feelings and seeing how he reacts, and for pran it could be more or less the same reason or - as one wonderful anon pointed out in this post - it might be his way of trying to get over pat in a romantic way, while still having him in his life (because at the end of the day - even though this is not at all what's happening and the feelings are very much reciprocated - if we were in the situation, where pat doesn't love pran back, which is exactly where pran thinks he is right now - i do think he would rather try to move past his romantic feelings and try to be friends, because they are incredibly important to each other in a very big way).

so hopefully that makes any sort of sense here? i feel like i'm on the debate team trying to prove a point i disagree with, but i tried to line up my theory with your pov as much as i could.

as for the whole having a crush vs being in love thing - i have been wondering about this for a while. what american movies and tv shows taught me is that in american culture there is a very strong line between having a crush on someone and being in love, and the whole "i love you" thing is an actual step in romantic relationships. in my culture, however, a romantic relationship beginning automatically implies that the two people are in love with each other, and though we do have a distinction between liking and loving someone, it's not as strong and there can be a question of whether you like or love a person you've started liking recently, but if you are sure you want to date them or are dating them, that just means you are in love, no discussion there.

now, the reason why i went on this whole tangent is - as we can see - there are very different ways of perceiving this whole love thing in different cultures, and i, unfortunately, don't know how it goes in thailand, so i don't know if the distinction of "yes, this is a crush, but we aren't yet in love with each other" is that strong, and therefore i don't know how much this is possible. however, if they will just make a bet on who falls in love first after already both admitting they have a crush on each other, then the bet is the most lighthearted fucking thing in the world, and will basically have no consequences. ok, one of them will admit he is in love first, but they already admitted they like each other, so it doesn't matter as much.

as for your last point, i have had someone suggest that it might be a flashback before, but i don't think so - they look very much like uni patpran, not high school patpran, and i actually don't think that they ever got close enough in high school to even make such a bet.

[jojotichakorn]

Hi again,

Yep, now that you've pointed it out, i can see how my theory in regards to it being alternate endings doesn't somehow connect things, guess i just wanted them not to suffer too much 😩

So, i was rewatching the trailer again, this time with new perspective and i noticed few things, maybe it has been pointed out or discussed, and wanted your opinion on it. So, the time skip, (someone had pointed out it being in pat's pov. Got me thinking and questioning. So they broke up...they still have few years in college right? I'm thinking pat moves/transfers somewhere else, why? Because in the trailer where he is talking to korn, it seems like korn is catching him up on what he's missed on, like korn and wai etc...if he were still around, wouldn't he be in the know (also it could be that kornwai kept it a secret and were confessing to pat) does this then mean that when he was away, he didn't keep in touch with his bestfriend? Then i thought, maybe he cut pran off too? Like not even messaging, even though the breakup was mutual and were in goodterms and they still loved each other... which brings me to my next theory... what if pat just left without even letting pran know? I say this because, in the trailer when pran shows up, is it me or does he look abit angry? (I don't know if that's the correct term to use here) but, it wasn't like a long time no see (hence why i thought maybe pat left without him knowing and didn't keep in contact)

Well, this ended up being too long, hopefully i make sense lol, what do you think?

heyyy again!! sorry to rain on your parade, i also wish they didn't have to suffer, but i'm just pointing out what i see.

as for your theory on pat moving elsewhere - i think it makes sense. i think it could even be possible that the entire family moves, since pat's father is at fault for the initial feud, and now that the cat's out of the bag, maybe they'd want to just leave it all behind them. as for the rest of it, i think the boys wouldn't be allowed to be close in any capacity - it was never about just the dating part, it was about them being around each other in general, connected in any way. so with the decision they made, it only makes sense that they would cut ties. and that's why i think pat will also distance himself from everyone else - even korn. so he wouldn't be reminded and wouldn't be tempted to step into pran's life, even if in a small way (like for example asking korn how he is doing). pat's reasoning for the decision they made is very different from pran's, so i think he is the one with fewer obstacles on his way to saying "fuck it", but because he realizes he can't say "fuck it", he has to create those obstacles himself. however, i think letting go of each other entirely will be more of a mutual decision, and at the end of the day, it doesn't make sense for pran to blame pat for cutting him off either way. i am not the biggest expert on nanon's acting, but that moment in the teaser seems more like pran is experiencing a lot of very strong emotions upon first seeing pat, and is trying to hold himself together and seem more reserved and calm. just my opinion though, obviously.