#fell first pran?? heart eyes pran?? love song writing pran??

[dudeyuri]

the thing ticking me off is that squandered potential rankles more than just a bad story. you can argue (successfully probably) that ANY Fucking Up of PatPran is sacrilege squandering but I mean an interesting story WAS THERE. THEY HAD IT, flaws and all. the characterization grew wacker and wacker sure but before that THEY SOWED, OKAY!!!!

There was a chance to interrogate Pat's helpfulness-verging-on-selflessness, Pran's taking advantage of it and subsequent realization that maybe he shouldn't. There was a chance to interrogate what it might be like if they weren't always by each others' side, if Pat wasn't "always there for [Pran]" if they weren't "neighbors" anymore--like, they manifested this in such an extreme way, with Pran and Tian and the kid lost in the woods, and then turned it into a wild goose chase. There was a chance to utilize the parallel between PhuphaTian's conflict and theirs to reach a resolution (and goddamn it they ALMOST HAD IT in the fourth quarter). (There was a chance to connect all this to Pran going to Singapore for two years but that wasn't even on the table, truly we are asking too much). They didn't have to set ANY of this up but they did and twas not reaped let me tell you!!! I'm not crazy, right? This was there, right??? And is the squandered potential in the room with us right now??

It makes me really curious about the circumstances in which the script was written because WHAT

I'm taking the goofy holiday special too seriously I don't know how to have fun yes true BUT LISTEN we can't even walk away from this silly special (spun off from an entry in the romance genre might i add, lest we forget, IT BEARS REPEATING APPARENTLY) with cute fluff because, honestly, call me greedy, but we were denied that too!!

[charthanry]

I saw your last ask and it reminds me of how I’m always confused as to why people think Pat fell in love first because don’t you need to know that it’s love you are feeling to have fallen in love? That’s not saying Pat wasn’t always drawn to Pran but I don’t think he properly fell until episode 5. Then he looked back into his memories and realised that it was romantic love. Had he actually fallen as a teen he wouldn’t have dated people and would’ve noticed Pran writing songs about his feelings for Pat and pursued him. But I’m so confused and probably wrong!

For those who missed it, this is in response to a separate ask on who I thought fell first between Pat and Pran. You can read my answer to that ask here.

Hello anon! I think this is a valid question, one that I'm sure you're not the only one confused by. You're not wrong! We've said repeatedly that Pat is an emotionally intelligent person so how is it possible that he completely misses that his feelings for Pran are less than rivalry-fueled and altogether more than friendly? It seems unfathomable, right? He's a smart guy and highly observant with an innate talent for reading people. He's proven this consistently throughout the series. So, what are we missing?

My simple answer? Pat is that much of an idiot when it comes to his own feelings. He needed his LITTLE SISTER to help him figure out if someone was into him. She literally has to spell it out for him, well, count (ON HER FINGERS because apparently Pat needs the VISUAL??) and list it out for him step-by-step. He's that much of a doofus, sadly, when it comes to relationships. He's been tricked and scammed by girls in the past, so I'd say when it involves himself and a love interest? Pat is Steve Carell's character in the 40-year-old virgin, only WORSE if you can imagine it. 

So, Pat being an idiot, goes through his adolesence alongside Pran, thinking he’s fun, the rilvary is harmless so long as they both report to their parents what they want to hear, they’re left to their own antics. They both know the script by heart and can play their parts automatically – satisfying the parents is easy and routine at this point.

Through the years, Pat learns that if he pokes at Pran, he’ll get a reaction and inexplicably finds pleasure in it. After all, he’s annoying his rival and that's all this is about, right? Pran is amusing and Pat likes seeing him smirk back at him – every once in a while he even gets a bemused head shake that ends in a genuine smile. It sometimes makes his chest do this weird flippy thing, but that’s probably because he slept on it wrong or needs more vitamins or something. He should probably see his pediatrician about it. No biggie. But that can wait, because right now Pran is about to pull out his guitar and show off to the other kids in class and Pat can’t let him get away with it. He eyes the classroom broom and decides that Shakira’s right, hips don’t lie and he’s going to let them do the talkin’.

Like I said, he’s an idiot. What do you even see in him, Pran? Run before it’s too late for you. Save yourself.

But jokes aside, I do think it's possible for someone like Pat to have feelings and not recognize that it's love. He's never experienced it before, how could he know that's what this is? I don’t think what he’s experienced in the past could even be considered dating. Girls would flatter him and get him to buy things for them and because Pat is generous with EVERYBODY he does, only for the girl to ditch him once she gets what she wants. There’s no way Pat would equate any of that with love. Even Pat has more self-respect for himself than that.

We already know what he feels towards Ink is comradery. Here’s a girl that he enjoys spending time with, who doesn’t want him to buy things for her, she’s nice and easy to talk to, maybe this could lead to something more? It should be that simple right? Shouldn’t you want to be friends first? Only, none of Pa’s love signs work on Ink and if Pat is honest with himself, he’s not feeling it work on him either. Ink, as it turns out is Pat’s female-Korn, only nicer to look at, infinitely smarter, and less likely to get Pat into shitty situations.

So, Pat being oblivious, may not recognize that what he’s felt for Pran all this time is romantic love. We see it in his look of complete bewilderment in the music store. We see it in his agression with Wai. Why does Wai get to be next to you? That's my spot. That’s always been my spot going all the way back to grade school. Who does Wai think he is to slot himself in my place? And why are you letting him?! 

And again on the roof when it finally clicks into place for him. He loves Pran. That's what this is. And if Pat is honest with himself, which he always is, that's what this has always been. He realizes it now. He knew Pran wasn't an option then, so he teased and poked to make sure Pran's eyes never looked anywhere else but at him. Maybe Pat was subconsciously biding his time. And maybe, just maybe, the timing is finally right that Pran can be an option now. Well, he'll just have to kiss him and find out.