#i've been obsessed with this particular trope/dynamic(?) for DAYS

[atlantis-just-drowned]

He couldn’t hold his tears back. His hand laid on their cheek – they looked at him almost the same way they always looked, their expression cold, neutral, if it wasn’t for the discrete, practically unnoticeable tension of their features. Sorriness. They were sorry. He could feel it as if it was his own heart tightening in his chest.

Oh, how bad he wished to tell them they didn’t have to be sorry. That it wasn’t their fault. But he couldn’t let his mind linger on the feeling without addressing every other hurt. There was so much to say. And no words to describe the loneliness and despair stabbing at every part of his body and mind. It was cryogenic liquid burning his insides. Pressing against his lungs until he would choke. And it was imprisoned in his core, chained to his soul and wrapped in satin-like silence.

What was there to do, except to shed every tear he possessed? He couldn’t imagine any single way to describe it. He could only cry and scream for all of eternity in a desperate attempt to relieve the monster clawing at his heart. But even then, his eyes would dry up and his breath would go missing before the ache would subside. And it would never be enough.

He wondered when did they stop crying. He wished he has known. He wished he has been here for them sooner; before they grew used to it. But he knew even then, he couldn’t have fixed it. Just like he couldn’t now. There was no escaping it.

“You’re…” He started before choking up a sob. Looking up at them and to the ground again as he felt himself tremble and struggled to articulate the words. “You’re in… so… much… pain…!”

Two hands came up to cup his face and tilt it up as he kept crying and crying. He couldn’t stand so much sorrow. How could they? How had they been able to keep going when their chest weighted heavier than a cold star?

When he looked at them again, a smile lit up weakly on their face, and inside of him, he felt the tiniest warmth spark – so small compared to the cold and the darkness that tried to engulf it, but so, so powerful. His gaze was frantic, desperately searching for a way to keep this relief – or was it love? – alive. For a way to make it grow big enough to eclipse the hurt forever. But there wasn’t such thing. There would never be.

His face twisted into a pained frown as he felt both of their thumbs wipe away his tears – trying to reassure him, trying to keep the misery at bay, to hide it away from him – and their eyes bore into his.

“Hush.” They smiled gently. “No reasons to cry. There will be brightness forward.”

They said it with this distant, hesitating hope that they were right. Like they refused to believe it too much. In case they would be wrong.

With all the grief and ache of their pierced heart, they looked at him like they were going to make things better, and they whispered.

“The past is behind us. We need to keep moving. Otherwise we won’t see the beauty ahead.”

And oh. He loved them. More than ever, he loved them.

[twig-tea]

It is such a wild time to be watching QL, there is SO MUCH every day. And a lot of it is really good?!

Today I watched EIGHT different shows, and of them, I was really happy with the episode for all but one. Here are a few words about the ones I had a good time with today:

Addicted Heroin Thailand crossed the first hurdle of adaptation by including the kidnapping scene. Looks like they're continuing to stay true to the source. I appreciated that this scene in particular retained the emotional core while toning down the SA threat (though Hero's desire is still very much present). This is a solid adaptation so far!

Reverse 4 U is using the powers so well, and I am loving the sister relationship, especially how they tease one another around their powers. It's also building to the relationship turn between Four and Wa in a believable way, which I'm really enjoying.

Peaceful Property is delightful and as @lurkingshan already articulated so well, I love what is being set up re: inequality. Plus this show is just so funny! it's balancing these two threads really well and doing a good job maintaining the haunting-of-the-week energy so far.

Love is like a poison had an incredible first episode, I love the effects and cutaways in this show, and the way it is making fun of its protagonist is so much fun. Ryoma is a dork with main character syndrome and I am obsessed with him. Curious how they're going to turn around this setup into a romance!

I Saw You In My Dream was a baller episode, @my-rose-tinted-glasses wrote about how great it is to see a conversation like this between friends as well as between lovers; all of the conversations in this episode were good (between both couples, between the besties, and between the parents). I really appreciate how, as many folks have said, everyone in a relationship in this episode wants to have sex, and the barriers to having sex are real and discussed openly. Big fan of everything in this ep. We've really departed from the dreams, which I think we need to get back to, but this ep was worth the deviation.

The On1y One continues to be incredible; Thank you in particular to Faiza (@usertoxicyaoi) who has been giffing like mad to capture every important conversation in this episode which was so many of them. The one about moving to the dorms together made me misty fr. I love when youths who did not get a chance to have a childhood get to blow bubbles.

Unlock Your Love also started today, I really enjoyed the very pulpy and trope-filled previous show this team put together (Lucky My Love) so I've been excited for this. We have a workplace GL filled with canon bisexuals, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic with a history from college, and a playgirl. I'm so seated.

I don't usually do a roundup post like this but it just hit me how much good television I got to watch today, and how rare it is that I have this good a time with almost everything I'm watching, and I needed to capture the moment.

Tomorrow, all 6 episodes of A Time of Fever drop on iQIYI, as well as How to Make a Million Before Grandma Dies on Netflix, and that's in addition to the episodes of The Onl1y one, The Two of Us, Monster Next Door, Twilight Out of Focus, and probably Seoul Blues that will be dropping too.

I'm really having trouble keeping up with everything airing, everything I want to write about it, and everything being said about the shows on tumblr. It's the best possible problem to have!

[hephaestiions]

author reclist: toomuchplor

a few months ago, when i was coming back to fandom in earnest, i came across this post from @sitp-recs. explorations of faith, divinity and worship are some of the tropes i find most furiously compelling, so i had to jump into o come, all ye faithful as soon as possible. i did, only to fall headfirst in obsessive, wide-eyed, awe-inspired love. @toomuchplor writes a desire that's both slow and heady, relentless and gentle, all-consuming and a rest stop to breathe easy. i couldn't help but read through (most of) their catalogue in a matter of days. this author's thematic range is astonishing, their characterisations lead to delicious stories where two headstrong, wilful and perennially longing men crash, fumble and rush into achingly sweet love and burning lust.

what always spools me in with plor, though, is their use of circumstance, especially in longer fics. every fic has a premise iron-clad in its fascinating, inventive, raw and exciting potential. more often than not, i've found them doing something i haven't encountered before in fandom at all, or reworking a popular trope in ways that make you go, 'oh. oh, i never thought about that happening, how did i never think of that happening?'

i've loved everything i've read from them, but here's a selection of some of my absolute favourites that i'll be going back to, over and over:

i've got a beautiful feeling (everything's going my way) (E, 3.5k)

“I’ve got such a boner,” Harry says, voice scratchy, just slitting his eyes open now, turning his head on his pillow to face Draco. “Oh, lovely, good morning to you, too,” Draco says.

a slice of life like the plush inside of a ripe mango— a love that's mature, constant, beating like a strong heart. the filthy, hilarious, gorgeous portrait of harry and draco's married life— the familiarity of sex, the rush of wanting each other as much as ever.

o come, all ye faithful & all the angels cry amen (E, ~22k total)

In which Draco finds faith in the church, and Harry finds faith in Draco.

an achingly tender rumination on faith as love, and love as worship. one of the most heartbreaking and realistic depictions of the reckoning it would take for harry potter to accept he has found refuge and rest in draco malfoy's arms. i loved the non-chronological, dual timeline storytelling— that particular form works so well when there's a taut, twinging thread holding both narratives together, and harry and draco's gravitational attraction to each other, fraught in parts and at peace in others was the perfect anchor.

time and too much don't belong together (E, 23k)

A Malfoy family heirloom gets triggered in a raid, binding Draco Malfoy to Ron Weasley; neither of them is too chuffed about this.

a masterclass in revelations. the reader can tell, from the outset, there's more here than meets the eye. the reader can also guess, from the beginning, what the dynamic in the shadows is. tense and breathtaking writing, you know what's coming, but every time you're fed a morsel you cling to it with both hands. one of the most inventive takes i've seen on the lust potion/spell trope in this fandom, and done in a way that makes you want to see it over and over and over again.

polar night/midnight sun (E, 54k)

Harry travels to arctic Norway on the trail of dragon egg poachers, only to find he's been assigned to work alongside the only NorMagPol Auror north of sixty: one Draco Malfoy. It's been ten years since they crossed paths, and Malfoy isn't exactly what Harry expected or remembered. For one thing, he wears a lot more hand-knits? When a sudden winter storm strands the pair, unable to use magic to rescue themselves, they take shelter in a one-room Norwegian hytte.

exquisitely atmospheric. uses extenuating circumstances in some of the most delicious ways. builds character and interpersonal dynamics through those small little elements of storytelling (draco in knitwear! brynjar the dog! the mundane pillowtalk! the quirks of their miscommunication!) that go the longest way in having characters leap off the screen into your personal space. also the sex in this is absolutely mind-blowing, i was hooked on every glorious word.

truth to materials (co-written by lately) (E, 58k)

In which Harry learns to appreciate art and other pleasures of the flesh.

decadent. in premise, in language, in characterisation, just absolutely decadent. this version of harry, bewildered and captivated by draco's out-there artistry is one of the funniest and most endearing i've encountered in fic, ever. his head, so full of determination and good intentions and terribly flawed and completely believable thinking, was such a brilliant place to set this fic. and draco— lord. you know that moment of transition, that click, when a piece of art goes from something untouchable and distant to a soulful thing you keep close because you recognise it as a cultural, emotional response? this fic felt like a literary project trying to capture that click, except it's a shift in perspective about a person. draco— the cool, untouchable, subversive artist who becomes irrevocably, warmly, achingly human.

probationary action (E, 63k)

As part of the terms of the probationary contract, DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY shall submit for inspection his WAND on the last day of every month, such inspection to be carried out by a duly registered and fully qualified AUROR in the employ of the MINISTRY OF MAGIC, and such inspection to include a PRIORI INCANTATEM spell to ensure that no PROHIBITED MAGICS as heretofore described have been practised by the aforementioned probationer.

*incoherent screaming*. a fic that starts with a premise so lighthearted and filthy that you think it's going to be a long, kinky fic about two rather hilariously perverted men getting it on, except it also gets into some of the most resonant discussions of post-war revenge tactics and human rights neglect i've ever read. the dynamic between harry and draco is simultaneously so light and so weighted, this is a fic that holds you down and keeps you there till you're done.

in conclusion: an entrancing author, a gift of a writer. i can't wait to see what else they have in store for this fandom.

[kattythingz]

For the ask game: ❌ 🎶 🤡

Ask and ye shall receive!! :D

🤡 - what's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Ooooooh, excellent question! I do fancy myself a little funny in my banter, ehehe, and yeah I'm a loser that laughs at my own jokes sometimes. There's this moment in particular from another wip of mine (brownie points to anyone who can guess what it is. Hint: it's a revamp) that really gave me a kick:

“So glad that’s settled!” Ed yelped. “I’ll be going now!” “Oh, no, don’t rush on our accou—” “FUCK OFF AND DIE SINGLE!” Ed should’ve kept his mouth shut. While Mustang spluttered with satisfying indignation, Darius and Heinkel howled with laughter in mortifying tandem with everyone else, and Teacher made a horrible, horrible noise of understanding that had Ed’s feet stumbling before he picked them up to speed-walk faster than he ever had in his entire life.

🎶 - do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Music while writing is a MUST on most days; I do get the rare case of being overly distracted by the music and thus writing in silence. As for what I've had on loop—Pricey by Kam Prada, oh my god. The song is SO painfully edgreed-coded (and greed overall), it was on the SPOT. I heard it ONCE and was obsessed. My Solaris playlists can't handle anymore additions, plz. (They can. If anyone has recs absolutely send them my way.)

❌ - what's a trope you will never write?

Omegaverse. Fucking OMEGAVERSE. Extremely sorry to my followers that enjoy it but I absolutely despise everything about this trope. From the social dynamics to the heats to how there never seems to be any nuance to them—all of it pisses me off to read. It's the first tag to get yeeted whenever I scroll through ao3. Again, super sorry to the enjoyers, but it's just not for me. It's really not.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[cryingforhyo]

i guess it's safe to say that I'm one of your old readers in this fandom. 😅 I've been a reader since you drop Push and Pull out on that holiday night.

I read most of your fics too. there's only one or two fic that I haven't read in the past year because life is a bit hectic now.

this is not a subtle request btw, but I'm curious if you have a 'verse focused about coming-out or realizing one's sexual orientation. I don't exactly remember every detail but, iirc, most of your fics' characters have implied sexuality which are lesbians.

It will be cool to know how you guys write about the experiences of coming out from your time period. ( I don't mean to make you feel so old 😭 but I know you two are in your 30s and are wiser and more experienced than we are (early 20s) ) I remember reading a post that it was really a different social scene compared to now.

maybe I'm also curious how you two became friends, then roommates *cough* *coughhhhh* and then wives because tbh I'm surrounded by hetero couples irl that reading about you two fascinates me.

I'm sorry for this ramble. feel free to ignore it too if it's borderline invasive. and sorry if you'll see this on a Monday morning

first off, thank you dear reader for being with us for so long! time surely flies when you're having fun, because wdym push & pull is approaching its 3rd anniversary??? creating for this fandom has been such a joint delight for the both of us, and we're just happy to share the journey with friends like you :) take your time re the new fics, esp if they're wips! we're working on them relatively slower, because life has also been hella hectic hereabouts.

onto your second query: i think this question is very interesting, actually! to address it head on, for this particular fandom i don't think i've written a 'verse where the specific challenge for any of the characters is coming to terms with their sexuality. i quite like living in this fantasy world where people are simply as-is-where-is lesbians haha. for example in our childhood best friends to lovers stories, when someone realizes their attraction, the realization is not so much about falling in love with another woman, but about falling in love with this specific person.

this way, it's the characters' shared context and history that makes their dynamic compelling, instead of the much more global milieu of lgbt relationships existing alongside all these issues and history, etc. which i also think are interesting stories to tell! but for purposes of this fandom in particular, which i think exists in a sociopolitical context that is beyond my expertise--i leave those stories to better-positioned storytellers :) in the true spirit of creating in this era, i do not want to get anything so egregiously wrong it will detract from the reader's experience.

but seriously, i have been obsessed about writing coming out/ coming of age stories for the longest time, mostly for my original work, which are set locally with local OCs. they were all i wrote about back in the day, so i guess for fanfic i figured i could instead try all the other tropes that weren't so close to real life, where coming out can be fraught and complicated. it's for the same reason that i don't write compulsory heterosexuality (comphet) or i avoid writing men as third parties in general... i've already spent a significant chunk of my writing life writing /that/ story, or at least that’s how it felt like.

but you make a good point! i'd love to try revisiting that coming out/coming of age trope and give it some aged-up flavor. let's see about that :)

on a personal note, many times when i look at today's digital landscape, I often go, thank god [this or that] did not exist just yet back in the day [or at least not in this manner] when i was figuring my shit out, because oh boy. the clout i could have chased and cancellations i could have booked haha.

suffice it to say i'm happy the digital footprints of past egregious mistakes are now buried with the deaths of old platforms. we were very lucky to have lived and loved and lost in an age where the internet could still afford some measure of forgetting.

(i know there's probably no going back to that kind of landscape, but i hope it's not too late for us to be a little kinder to each other, and definitely more forgiving of ~youth and elderly~, given how fast information cycles around these days and how wide the age range of users concurrently using the same digital spaces right now can be. it's NUTS.)

that said, c would like to clarify she is still in her twenties! hahaha. i confirm this. i also confirm that you're right to say i (k) am already out of my twenties haha.

we actually became friends through fandom! we met on tumblr lmao because that's where you met other wlw back in the day (idk if that's still where people are, istg i would not survive the current dating landscape either!) so i would not be exaggerating when i say fandom brought us together, and we're still cycling through fandoms together, having been to various ones in the past handful of years. that said we look forward to more fandoms to add to our list lol.

thanks for this ask - it's actually the PERFECT thing to see on a monday morning, in fact. hope your week goes well!

[izupie]

I got tagged in this like a bazillion years ago but I only just now remembered about it aaaa - thank you for tagging me @microsuedemouse I do love answering these sorts of things <3

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1. three ships: ok here we go

Destiel (Dean/Castiel) - don't boo me I'm right - it's the angel/hunter frenemies to friends to lovers pipeline. theyre cute theyre messy theyre besties theyre fighting theyre risking it all to save each other again. *chefs kiss*

Albether (Albedo/Aether) - boyfriends with secrets and emotional scars find comfort in each other. the quiet one with the bubbly one dynamic. plus they just look cute together im sorry

Izuocha (Izuku/Ochako) - pure fluff. supportive and adorable. theyre uncomplicated to me and make me smile

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2. first ship ever: oooooh !! let me cast my mind back.... back...... oh no why is this so far back........ okay!

The first time I can remember wanting two characters to be together is probably when I was a teeny tiny Izupie watching Sailor Moon while I was in primary school, maybe year 3/4 I think? (UK school system - I have no idea what the equivalent would be in the US) (I could google it) (but I don't wanna)

I was obsessed with Sailor Moon every morning on tv. I watched the dub though - back when I had no idea these things were even dubbed over at all. I loooooved Serena and Darien - I'm sorry I know their dub names can give people hives, but I have so many fond memories of them I'll love them even if nobody else does asdfghjk

the whole he's really secretly tuxedo mask thing broke my tiny little mind and I was like gaaasssppp ! and I wanted them to be together even more - their initial I like you/you annoy me dynamic probably informed a lot of my ship preferences going forward

Every time there was an episode focusing on their relationship I would get so invested. they were my first real 'ship' for sure

3. currently listening: I'm not really listening to any particular music rn - I listen to the radio a lot though! Just a popular music station that plays all the latest hits

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4. Last movie: I can't believe this is legit going to be Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings lmaoooo - it's a comfort film and I needed some cheering up after a long hard day at work last week, so I booted up disney plus and on it went. Literally the lowest stakes you can imagine, just lots of pretty visuals, sparkly wings, fairies, upbeat pop songs and a happy ending. ultimate comfort film.

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5. currently reading: soooooo much fanfiction. so. much. fanfiction. a shameful amount of fanfiction. but it's sooooooo good.

Destiel has the most fics on AO3 guys. there is so much to choose from. it's glorious. if you can think of ANY trope you enjoy there will be pages of fics for it. I am so spoilt for choice and I'm having so much fun with it

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6. currently watching: *looks at the screen like I'm in The Office*

SUPERNATU*gunshot noises*

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7. currently consuming: nothing right now but I'm hungry and I'm going to make some dinner soon. I've been snacking on a lot of the chocolate I got for christmas recently ahaaaa

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8. currently craving: a hug. which is bizarre because I would describe myself as not-a-huggy-person but I had a dream that I hugged someone the other night and I woke up like. I WANT A HUG. but like. not just a hug. I want a HUG. rib crushingly tight with an even tighter squeeze thrown in there. chins over shoulders. noses in necks. closed eyes. breathe deep. step apart but still holding on. That's a HUG. that's what I want.

Universe - get on that please.

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here's the Tagging part, but I'm not sure I want to tag anyone at the moment - so this is a ~free tag~ to anyone reading this that just wants to answer some fun questions! yes, you there!

[kongthapatom]

12 Reasons Why Bad Buddy Broke The World With 12 Episodes

(Updated) I made a list of my favorite things that this drama gifted us to remember and cherish forever. In no particular order:

1. It's a Romantic Comedy (With a Twist!)

Romcom is a genre you cannot go wrong with and the world of queer media needs more of. Bad Buddy is filled with smiles and laughter and just the right amount of melodrama that doesn't let it turn too depressing anywhere (in retrospect even episode 11 was brilliantly written and served the purpose). It has become the comfort show that lifted our spirits for 12 weeks and will continue to have a high rewatch value. That’s what any good show must be like, easy on the heart to return to. By injecting the story with the star-crossed trope in the background, they have achieved a flawless balance between fluff and angst. It is a relatable love story that you smile, yearn and weep for, a true masterpiece whichever angle you see it from. 

2. OhmNanon's Acting

Ngl I did not see this coming even after the trailer. With every episode that came out, I was shocked by their natural chemistry that climbed to the stratosphere of romance and how they felt more like a real couple than any couple we've ever seen in a queer drama. Whichever show nails the casual touches and kisses has already won the lottery and OhmNanon served us the entire range. From childhood friends to rivals to lovers who gave us the bickering dynamics of an eternally married couple, the effortlessness with which two people who have known each other their entire lives fall in love, the passionate lovers who grow up to take a stand and everything in between. This casting was godsent. 

3. PatPran's Partnership

In my opinion, this is Bad Buddy's greatest strength for why it is the best BL drama we’ve ever seen and closest to true love we’ve ever gotten in a modern day queer love story. We rarely see a couple like PatPran who are partners in everything and fight the world together all while being entirely wholesome, utterly positive and totally unproblematic. At the heart of it, Bad Buddy is about two people being in love and the extents they will go for their love to survive. We see both of them being there for each other, communicating with each other, taking care of each other, sweeping each other off their feet & fighting for each other- that's love! Love is partnership and no one is more than the other. Love thrives in equality. Majority of shows fail to understand that and only focus on one character's love for the other. But Pat and Pran are two sides of the same coin and we are so lucky to witness such a well-written story come to life.

4. PatPran are a Power Couple

No story understood the assignment like Bad Buddy did that we like to see stories where both the protagonists are on an equal standing in every sense; where they are equally badass, equally obsessed with each other, equally devoted in love and supportive of each other. They're also leaders of their respective faculties, super smart, music lovers, rugby players and rivals in life and love. They radiate the magnetism of two yin yang personalities and soulmates inevitably attracting. The story itself was structured in a way where them being equal was pivotal to the romance and the whole competition is an exciting ploy on the surface because there are only winners in love. (This equal dynamics in characterization is something I've only seen so far in Chinese BL dramas like SHL/CQL so I am absolutely giddy to see it in a modern day setup!) These 2 reasons are why they are being hailed as the healthiest couple in BL history.

5. It Successfully Captured The Queer Experience

This show really nails the fact that queer people have entirely unique experiences in love and there is zero need to base it on/reference straight romance in the process of telling that story. BL so far hasn't been able to ditch outdated tropes that were carried over from het romance. You simply cannot change the female lead's role to a male one and call it a brand new gay/sapphic love story when it still feels like the characters are operating on het dynamics of the pursuer and the pursued.

Bad Buddy hammers in that there are no fixed husband/wife roles or top/bottom dynamics in a queer relationship (there shouldn't be in a straight relationship either but that's not my fight lol) and that you can't apply straight models of storytelling to a queer romance without rendering it inauthentic in some way. We have different experiences in navigating love which needs to be explored more. (Just ask Pa who thought Ink didn't like her back after listening to her straight friends complaining about their het love lives.)

6. InkPa

This is self-explanatory but I was so impressed that a BL drama had passed the Bechdel test when I saw 2 female characters interacting at first. I didn't in my wildest imagination think they will become the secondary couple in the show and the first ever side couple in a BL drama whose scenes I didn't want to skip over! Ink & Pa's love story has been a magnificent leap for sapphic representation especially for what it did within the limited screen time. All because Aof knew he wanted to kill the cliche of female characters only existing to cause problems in a BL story. You see, they have much more important things to do like falling in love with another girl!! Mad respect.

7. Queerness as a Spectrum

To me, this is where this show broke out of the genre of BL and ascended to something more universal, when I realized it was using every resource possible to tell a queer love story where their queerness is completely incidental to the fact that they love a certain person. I lost my mind when 4 characters, who all happen to be queer, sat down together to casually discuss how sexuality can be fluid over dinner. It is a ground-breaking scene that defies all expectations you might have had about their romantic labels. It celebrates love unconditionally, as we always should.

8. Domestic Boyfriends

The chokehold PatPran have had over us all this while is partly due to the fact that they are so endearingly in love with each other and we got to see so many moments of their sweet domesticity, that for some reason, Bad Buddy's predecessors have not given enough screen time to. Because sometimes you just want to watch a dumb love story about two boyfriends basically being partners in life, going on dates, grocery shopping together, cooking food for each other, consoling each other after a bad day without being slapped in the face by homophobic reality. And Bad Buddy is exactly that type of show.

9. Grand Gestures of Love

What Bad Buddy has done and done right is it has used the the template of fake enemies to lovers to tell a love story that shows you the extraordinary through the vehicle of ordinary. It stays true to romcom genre with abundant swoonworthy moments, like Pat showing up to save the day in episode 7 and uttering beautifully cheesy lines like the real life romantic hero that he is, or confessing his love to Pran in front of the entire faculty who hold witness to their mock engagement. Or more subdued moments that are still stunningly soaked in romance like the classic balcony phone call, the idyllic honeymoon getaway and Pran serenading Pat with the most romantic song about their life in episode 11. These are all epic moments that celebrate love and have been achingly missing from queer romance.

10. Absence of Homophobia

One of my favorite things about this show, is the fact that it takes place in a universe where homophobia, and thereby the queerness of the characters is not the ultimate conflict they have to overcome. Fleshing out the the family feud and emotional trauma while also spinning it as a metaphor for homophobia was very well done. We still get inherently queer dialogues like, "What can we do? We were just born this way," and "We just like each other, does anyone have a problem?" without the usually triggering drama. The fake family reunion montage in episode 11 made all of us sob because we know, "What if our families weren't enemies?" is a direct echo of "What if our families weren't homophobic?" Congrats to PatPran on fooling everyone from their parents to the audience and proclaiming that their love is a force that bows to nothing in this world. It proves queer stories can come across as being rooted in serious reality while still prioritizing the romance above everything.

11. P'Aof and BBS team

This goes without saying but as the audience, I could really feel the love, sincerity and commitment with which a queer person helmed the BBS team to create such a pathbreaking love story that made the future of BL genre look brighter, healthier and happier with just 12 episodes. They knew what they were doing from the very beginning when they sought to create a love story that shatters stereotypes and simply gives the gays everything we want. It is evident he has listened to our feedback from the previous projects and wanted to do better for all of BL. (I distinctly remember the fandom begging him to make EarnPear canon when we found out he's directing Still 2gether and look where we are with InkPa now!) Thank you indeed, legend. This proves we need more queer people behind queer storytelling to change the game. 

12. A Complete Series with Complete Subversion

To make note of all the ways in which Bad Buddy has challenged the expectations of queer and casual watchers alike deserves its own post. The show has risen beyond the confines of BL to essentially set everything right that was fundamentally wrong in queer storytelling so far. To name a few, this includes everything from watering down the enemies to lovers trope to support the romance better, highlighting the ambiguous fluidity of PatPran's relationship, the best kiss we've ever seen happening already in episode 5 instead of the finale, to doing away with the episode 11 curse, subverting the hiding your relationship trope to an emboldened choice you make and ending the series with PatPran's astronomical chemistry that is the first of its kind to walk the gay romcom genre anywhere in this world. You can rewatch the show and still find something new in these 12 beautiful episodes that contradicts contemporary queer storylines for good reason.

It is truly a complete series like they told us it'll be because how often do you get to see a romance bloom from childhood to young adolescence to adulthood without inventing more troubles for a new season? When every episode is considered chronologically, you can see the careful planning and pacing that went into documenting every stage of their evolving relationship. When viewed it its entirety, Bad Buddy becomes an astounding history-making love story that sends the message love will always find a way.

So where does that leave us? All of it is of course owing to the fact that this show had its queer audience in mind every step of the way. It came into existence to remind us happy endings do exist for queer people and we can become the protagonists we want to be.

Thank you PatPran for changing our world with your love story. I don't ever want to forget how inspired and invincible you made me feel and I'm so relieved this show now belongs to us to rewatch, smile, cry over and hold on to for dear life.

I hope we all remember it for what it was, a reminder that sure, maybe the queer life will always be a fight against many aspects of the world but we can still rewrite our stars and it need not always be a nightmare. Because surely, if PatPran can find a way to create their happy ending against all odds, you can do it too!

May we watch and scream about this gay masterpiece for the rest of our lives!