#pran's friends

[greenteadumplings]

I think there r not enough fics about pat finding out that pran's been in love with him for soo long. I mean I wanna read him thinking that Pran is joking and have his grin fall out when he realizes the sincerity in his words. I mean I kinda wanna see it happen in bet era (although if it did happen during bet era I definitely don't think Pat would have been able to continue the bet any longer). I want Pat to wait until the full meaning of it set properly and I want realize the pain Pran went through. I want him to pamper Pran like never before. I mean I know he's already gone man for Pran but I want to see him completely loose it with this information.

[waitmyturtles]

Pain, Suffering, and Narratives in Some Asian Dramas/BLs (An Utterly Un-Scholastic, Highly Personal Big Meta)

I’ve been meditating on the topic of pain and suffering in dramas over the last few weeks, as conversations across Tumblr have been taking place regarding the success (or not) of the Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars episodes. I can’t help but connect these thoughts to some of the fabulous older shows I’ve been watching in my Old GMMTV Challenge watchlist project, where I’m catching up on older Thai BLs in order to better understand the fabulous works that we’re seeing airing now. This Big Meta in part comes out of my having just watched He’s Coming To Me and Dark Blue Kiss, but I was also very deeply inspired by a Japanese BL that many of us here have fallen in love with, Our Dining Table, that features a poignant moment recognizing that feeling pain is a necessity in feeling love for another person -- that accepting pain and suffering is a part of the life we decide to live, from an Asian cultural perspective.

I’m using some big generalities here, so let me explain where I’m coming from. During certain large portions of my life, I’ve explored either becoming a Buddhist, or at least practiced Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism. While the world of Western capitalism has unfortunately taken up the majority of my current time/life, I do still have a desire to learn more about the history of Buddhism and try to incorporate some kind of practice in my daily life.

The reason why I offer that caveat is that a core of teaching in at least the spaces of Buddhism that I’ve been privy to, is the recognition of pain and suffering in one’s life. Suffering is a core tenet of Buddhism, one of the Four Noble Truths, and one that a human being does good deeds or makes merit in light of (as we see quite often in our beloved BLs) in order to receive “good” karma for a happy existence in this life or the next. (Again, mad generalizations here, but you get the point.)

I’ve been thinking about this because I often wonder if us Western viewers (I count myself as one, as an Asian-American) are too demanding for linear, clean, direct, and/or happy communication, narratives, and endings, particularly in the realm of Asian BLs, in regards to either romantic love and/or love from one’s nuclear parents/family. I think about this very much in the context of the Asian BL genre, where queerness -- as accepted, OR NOT, in Asian societies, friend groups, and families -- may indicate an existence that is not necessarily a happy one. 

There are other issues by way of demands from fans that often determine the outcome of a BL script, such as shipper demands for overtly sexual content. What I’m proposing here is that, in my opinion, some of the best dramas/BLs from Asia are rooted in a reflection and acceptance of the tenets of suffering as a natural part of Asian life and, subsequently, Asian art. I further propose that because of that acceptance of suffering, that we — Western viewers — are often left potentially feeling unsatisfied or unfulfilled by a particular ending of a drama. I posit that the linear/binary/clear outcomes that Western audiences so often demand are limiting in comparison to the non-binary, non-linear journeys and conclusions of art that Asian filmmakers can reach in their work, vis à vis à general cultural understanding that pain and suffering are a part of daily life.

Before I give a drama example, let me use one from real life, that is so very often reflected in art: filial piety. I wrote about filial piety quite a bit in my reviews of Double Savage, a non-BL from Thailand that focused on the plight of a discarded son who was judged by his father as a jinx.

When I try to explain to Western friends that Asian parental love is very often conditional (I myself have experienced it, and my experiences mirror those of my friends), I experience a lot of denial.

“There is NO WAY your parents don’t love you.”  “There is NO WAY your parents will ever give up on you. Even if they treat you badly, they love you.”  “In the West, we ALWAYS end up loving our children. That’s what society demands of PARENTS. We’re CONDITIONED to be like that.”

A major cultural competency issue that Western therapists face with Asian clients is when Western therapists say to Asian clients who are having family issues, “why don’t you just talk to your parents about what you’re feeling?” Talking to Asian parents about a child’s feelings, in MANY instances, is not realistic. The language of that kind of emotion may not even exist. AND, there are unspoken social boundaries AGAINST children having those conversations with their parents in the first place. To have those conversations would very well ROCK the foundation on which Asian families are structured.

My parents may love me — the dad in Double Savage mayyyy have loved his son? — but an Asian parent like that, so rooted in their JUDGEMENT AGAINST an offspring, will often not budge. Time and time again, my Asian friends and family will talk about how they felt unloved as a child -- especially if their skin was darker, if their siblings were more successful in school, if they were a middle child, etc. VERY often, our Asian parents don’t know what us children do by way of work -- my parents don’t know anything about my work, for instance.

The Western perspective and social demands for a STYLE of loving one’s children in a very particular, involved, and empathic way -- those cultural expectations don’t necessarily exist in Asia. So we see parents like, say, Non’s father in Dark Blue Kiss; or Korn’s father in Double Savage; or ESPECIALLY Uea’s mom in Bed Friend, a fantastic example of an Asian parent who takes PERSONALLY every aspect of her son’s social and sexual “differences,” blames him for those differences, and accuses him of ruining HER life vis à vis how he was born to be the way that he is.

And yet, at least for Korn and Uea -- we see those children, for the majority of their dramas, continuing to devote themselves to their parents. Because filial piety -- the Asian cultural and social demand for RESPECTING one’s parents above all else -- is existent and EXPECTED of almost EVERY living Asian, no matter where you live on the continent or your various diasporas. 

The equation is: even if you suffer at the hands of your parents, even if you don’t receive unconditional love and empathy from your parents, you must sacrifice in order to respect and serve your parents. You can imagine how much therapy even one individual would need to process that -- if that individual even ALLOWED themselves to think about what was happening, which oftentimes doesn’t even happen. 

I’m not saying that filial piety EQUALS suffering. What I’m saying is that the practice of filial piety will almost always ASSUME a level of suffering that one must undertake to participate in the practice of honoring one’s parents.

Where I felt this *assumption* most strongly and recently was in my viewings of three Aof Noppharnach shows: He’s Coming To Me, Dark Blue Kiss, and Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars, but I think Double Savage and Bed Friend also fall into this category as well. Very quickly:

1) HCTM was rooted in storytelling around the practice of Thai-Chinese Buddhism. Thun’s suffering was apparent: he was fatherless, he was gay, and could see ghosts. AS WELL, Med’s suffering was that he didn’t know how he had died, and why he was being held in purgatory before moving on to his next life. 

2) Dark Blue Kiss was rooted in internalized homophobia. My big review of DBK is coming next week, but quickly, between the two main couples (PeteKao and SunMork), you had internalized homophobia playing various roles of emotional INTERPLAY, that AFFECTED the external emotional demonstrations of the character -- particularly in Pete, who was viscerally working on becoming a calmer person, but was triggered by Kao’s internalized homophobia to not be open about their relationship, and Pete’s jealousy subsumed him. DBK is the only show I’m mentioning here that has a clean happy ending for all couples involved, but more on that in a second.

3) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS, on the Pat and Pran side, was rooted in a clear but indirect conflict between Pat and Pran about openness and independence. If Pat and Pran had been open about their relationship (à la Pete and Kao) -- would Pat have needed to sound tough to his engineering friends that Pran *depended* on Pat to close loops? And on the Tian and Phupha side -- there is plenty we don’t know about Phupha’s past to make judgements, but I think it’s safe to say that he grew up in such a rural environment in Thailand as to make him assume that coming out and meeting his partner’s parents was an non-reality for the majority of their relationship, until the end of the OS2 series. The journey to get to the point of the ring was a tough one, particularly for Tian, who wanted more openness.

4) Both Double Savage and Bed Friend seem to end happily, especially for Uea and King in Bed Friend. But: Uea loses his parent. Yes -- he NEEDED to lose his mom, because of how toxic she was. But from an Asian family structure perspective -- he only has his sister by the end of that traumatic journey, which is not necessarily an IDEAL or complete ending. The bonds among Korn, Win, and Rung are permanently affected by the behavior of Korn and Win’s dad in Double Savage. The ending is a copacetic one -- they have survived, and will learn to survive together, after all the trauma they have lived through. But it’s not necessarily a HAPPY one. Both of these endings do not necessarily reflect the holistic ideal of the Asian family structure.

I emphasize all of this because, as I said earlier: I think a Western demand to CLOSE LOOPS in Asian dramas is unrealistic.

In Asian life (big generalization, but let me roll with it): you are angry at your parents, and you process it internally, very often without any help, and after a couple days, things go back to the way they were. The children do not demand change from their parents.

In OS2 x BBS, what I DIDN’T SEE -- and, from this framework, what I argue that I DIDN’T *NEED* TO SEE -- were any clarifying conversations between Pat and Pran about how either of them would CHANGE for their relationship. The biggest confession we got was Pat telling Pran, “without you, there is no me,” and Pran quietly agreeing (thank you to @lurkingteapot and @dimplesandfierceeyes for the incredible post on the improved translation of “I can’t live without you”).

But throughout the episodes, we saw their existence together, and arguably, their conditions -- how each of them has organized himself to comport to the other’s immediate needs. How Pran’s larger burden of keeping in the closet to keep his nuclear family structure stable kept them from being totally out, and how Pran designed fibs to be able to have at least one public demonstration of love between him and Pat on stage. They know they cannot solve intergenerational trauma in the span of a series. They’re still closeted two years later. And throughout all of this: how Pat digests Pran’s needs, and keeps his (Pat’s) own needs for openness at bay. We know he feels pain, too, when he makes his confession to Pran in Pha Pun Dao. We know he’s watching Pran as Pran hesitates to put on the bruise cream.

I feel that Pat’s acceptance of this existence is both heart-rending and utterly beautiful from the perspective of seeing Aof’s work as *Asian* art. I feel like, as an Asian, that I KNOW, that PAT KNOWS, what Pran has to lose. Pran has A LOT to lose. And so, Pat -- instead of demanding for outing and openness -- will hold what Pran needs him to hold. He knows when Pran is grumpy, and needs to be grumpy. And Pran’s got a lot to deal with. He’s got so much that he’ll need to go to Singapore, likely to get separation from his mother -- and that will result in him and Pat being separated (and I’m intentionally not analyzing Pran’s need for space from Pat here, but I think we can safely argue that, too, as Pat’s helpful attitude may smother Pran at times) (and there’s also the issue of the nuclear pain that Pat himself may feel at losing trust in his father for his father’s past foibles). 

After the OS2 episodes, I didn’t need to know THE REASONS, the stark REASONING for why Pran needed to go to Singapore -- because, indirectly, it was already very clear to me that these young men were already holding tremendous burdens. Singapore, for Pran AND for Pat, could have ultimately been a motivator for growth. But I don’t need to know this. All I know is that they continue to have various levels of pain that they will be dealing with in their nascent adult lives.

While Dark Blue Kiss ULTIMATELY had happy endings -- how it got there was PAINFUL. Kao was ROOTED in fear that he would upend his family’s stability, while being the breadwinner. He was held back by extremely traditional role expectations of an older son. And he had no communication with his mother about straying from those roles. Pete’s dad served as the first -- and, I’d argue, maybe BL’s first -- paradigm-breaker as a parent, being SO open about his son’s queerness as to encourage healthy sex practices. But what I argue in this thesis is that up until the very last, bitter end, Kao was relegated to ASSUME that he would live in pain. His expectation was that Pete would ride with him. Pete couldn’t take it anymore and bubbled over. And Kao was forced to make a decision, for Pete’s sake, literally, to BE open, and to save the relationship. That shit ain’t easy.

Lots of folks who have read my posts on this site know that I appreciate a good Asian drama rooted in family and/or community trauma, like 10 Years Ticket. It’s the way in which Asian filmmakers depict this trauma that speaks very much to my life, my culture, and my viewpoint on what’s realistic in this world, and how that reality can be depicted in art. What I’ve found in watching Asian dramas is... I don’t always want clean endings. I don’t always want loops closed.

Sometimes, Asian kids can’t talk to their parents (Pran, Kao). If you grow up like that, you don’t immediately learn the language of intimacy for your family members, your friends, your lovers (Pran’s struggles after BBS/ep5, Thun’s coming out and not knowing the words for it). It might be EASY, or culturally UNQUESTIONABLE, to not argue with your parents about the ways in which they engage with their children (Korn, Win, Pran). Sometimes, to make a break in order to survive, you need to leave a toxic family member behind, which is NOT an ideal scenario (Uea). 

Sometimes, you lose the love of your life (Ueda-san in Our Dining Table). Sometimes, you fall in love with someone — and you find that you can’t *exist* without them (Pat to Pran). And you have to live with the pain. I might even posit that the risk of that pain makes the love you have, either for the person living or the person passed, that much more meaningful to you.

I watch Asian dramas because I don’t feel like Asian filmmakers are subject to the Western demand to clean up all emotionally questionable loose ends. This is not When Harry Met Sally. Harry and Sally should have only remained friends, and not gotten married -- even Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner knew that -- but they also realized that Western audiences would not accept such an ending.

“The script initially ended with Harry and Sally remaining friends and not pursuing a romantic relationship because she felt that was "the true ending", as did Reiner. Eventually, Ephron and Reiner realized that it would be a more appropriate ending for them to marry, though they admit that this was generally not a realistic outcome.”

If I don’t get clean clarity in Asian dramas, I’m okay with it. My mind switches to the pain POV, that relativity mindset. Everyday life in Asian cultures can handle the weight of the painful and sufferable unknown. And that’s why I love these shows. 

And, OF COURSE, not ALL Asian dramas are like this! Cherry Magic ended wonderfully. Old Fashion Cupcake ended beautifully. KinnPorsche ended sexily, if not a little confusedly (are they related? kinda? or not? whatever?). Minato’s Laundromat ended happily -- although we’ll see their relationship pain points in the upcoming second season. And we see relationship pain points in the ongoing drama of Shiro and Kenji’s relationship in What Did You Eat Yesterday -- all while they share their happy nightly meals together at their kitchen table.

Life is complicated. I posit that Asian dramas, for my taste, satisfaction, and cultural relativity, do a much better job at depicting that complicatedness than the West can ever do, and that’s why I stand so often on my soapbox to encourage Western viewers to understand these Asian cultural touchpoints more -- to learn about how we’ve accepted pain and suffering as an automatic given in our Asian lives, from our cultures, our spiritual practices, and from living amongst each other.

[buried-in-autumn-leaves]

Same Person Different Font

Same Person Different Font

Same Person Different Font (In a less obvious secret third way that's only understandable to me)

[thegayneurodivergentagenda]

Ink: *obsessed with Paa (respectfully)* *ignores Pat when Paa is there* *flirts* *is possessive for her attention*

Pat: THIS is exactly how friends are??? I think about my friend, Pran, in the exact same way??? So fun and friendly! ! !!

Ink: What the fuck?

[loveable-sea-lemon]

Challenge: Make a poll with five of your all-time favorite characters, and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favorite.

tagging myself bc it is fun :3

tagging (if you want): @glamgoblin @fiddlepickdouglas @saturnskyline @winnysatang @ilegalname ♡

[ranchthoughts]

"I don't have to tell you I love you. I fed you [pancake]"

Aof is trying to tell us something...

[bevioletskies]

bad buddy’s one-year anniversary | one scene per episode ↳ episode ten (original air date: january 7th, 2022)

“Everyone wants the truth. Now that you all know, why can’t you take it?”

[inventedfangirling]

why is "only friends" the fourth show im watching First acting in and yet why is it only now that i'm realizing he has dimples!?!?!??!?

deep prominent dimples that elevate his already gorgeous face so much like hello!????? how oblivious can one person get!?!??

it even features in this most favourite scene of mine from the show like helloooooo how did i miss it!??!??

and how much more do i get to see of it in the show 😭

bring his smiles back 😭

[grapejuicegay]

Thai BL Favorites List Tag Game

I was tagged by @feralmuskyscentedhoepran @casualavocados @waitmyturtles (look guys! I'm actually getting to a tag game relatively fast this time!)

Favourite bl:

Could it be anything but Bad Buddy? It's my first ever bl, it changed my life, I met some of my favourite people on here because of it and it just destroys me every single day just be existing. It got me with a flying kick in the chest and I have never let go since

Favourite pairing:

I joined at such a great time in bl and I've had an absolutely wonderful amazing 2 years with so many great pairings. But I love Ink with my whole entire heart and I love both of them and just their very existence as a pairing is Such a Big Deal in the industry as a whole that it can't be anything but

My girls!!!! I have nothing more to say

More underrated actor:

I think it's a toss up between Sing Harit and Aou Thanaboon. I'm excited every time Sing has any sort of role in any show I watch. He's brilliant and SO good. Just like with Neo, he's great at comic relief and effortlessly funny but also SO GOOD in a serious role. And Aou just showed up like a year ago and maybe I'm biased because I'm obsessed with Mes and I love him as Max but I just want to see more of him.

Favourite character:

Feral. Musky Scented. Hoe. Baby Boy. King of Repression. Menace. Dimples. Pran Parakul Siridechawat. I love him so much.

Favourite side character:

Wat "you are what you eat. what you take builds who you are" Wasuwat. Just making movies and looking out for his friends and being their voice of reason in the face of the impossible pressure on all of their shoulders.

Favourite scene:

The Eclipse ep 6 beach scene!

Not just because it's such a good scene but also because it's the reason @casualavocados and I finally started talking after months of lurking around each others' blogs. Julian ily never forget the big meta 💖💖

Favourite line:

I've already yelled with @dribs-and-drabbles and @dimplesandfierceeyes how absolutely insane "I'm tired of pretending to hate you while your face has taken over my heart" is.

But also, "I can't change the world but the world can't change me either"

It's such a powerful line delivered in the sunniest of settings. It's validating and empowering and comforting. It's as big a hug as Uncle Tong gives the boys when they say goodbye.

Most anticipated bl and why:

Only Friends and 23.5 Degrees. I don't think I need to explain

Healthiest relationship in a bl:

They snipe and snark at each other constantly but the only reason it works is because they know each other inside and out. They look out for each other, they fight but they figure it out, they talk about everything. They love each other not despite of their flaws but because of them (it's literally canon!). They make me want to tear my hair out with how much they love each other.

Most toxic relationship in a bl:

I've been very very lucky so far to have watched only great to average shows. I know they exist, but not for me they don't 🥰

Guilty pleasure series:

I don't think I really have any?? Largely because guilty pleasure is usually assigned to shows that are cheesy and/or pulpy shows that you don't like to admit to enjoying because you don't want to admit to watching them at all. I just enjoy enough objectively bad media (fast and furious franchise my beloved) to not really feel guilty over anything I like anymore.

Bonus! Most underrated series:

Agreeing with both @casualavocados and @waitmyturtles on Triage and He's Coming to Me. Both of them absolutely fantastic and DEFINITELY need more attention.

This was fun! I don't know who to tag that hasn't done this already! I guess I haven't seen one yet from @dimplesandfierceeyes @respectthepetty @lost-my-sanity1 @jemmo. If anyone else wants to do this, consider yourself tagged too!

[itwoodbeprefect]

bad buddy (2021) & he's coming to me (2019).

aof looking at ohm: perfect! a man who can play people who do NOT want to do their own laundry

[regulusstarz]

Random things for my Pran OC's <3

I randomly got the urge to write for my dearest wife Pranala. They're very short due to me being tired, but it's atleast something! Hope you enjoy.

Clementine - Movie night

She's so glad once she has Pran back in her life. She was so alone, her heart aching for that beautiful forest boy, and now he's back. She clings to Pran, never wanting her to leave again.

When she had first saw him again, in the same forest, she knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with Pran getting away again. And her dear girlfriend didn't. Instead, she was there on the couch with Clementine, indulging her on a movie night. Clemmie was eating some M&M's she had bought herself the day before, looking at the stupidly overdramatic romcom she had picked out, resisting a laugh when it got silly.

It was so comfortable like this. Clementine looked up at Pran, she looked back into her eyes. This was the woman she'd love for now and forever. Never to leave again.

Koi - Midnight beauty.

Slowly opening her eyes, Koi looked at the bright light of the TV playing. She hadn't had this great of a sleep in a pretty long time. Jeremy was still battling his insomnia, and she just couldn't bare to leave him alone at night. She knew he'd be fine, he had always dealt with this on his own, but still. Koi was sure Jere appreciated it deep inside.

She felt Pran's warm arms around her, having fallen asleep cuddling on the couch before. They had tended to start doing that quite often for some reason, but she didn't complain. Not at all. Why would she, if it was so comfortable?

Koi took the moment to admire Pran's face and hair. This beautiful woman. She was so glad to have her in her life. And that Pran had accepted them into her own life. Koi couldn't have wished for more from her.

She grabbed the TV remote, praying silently not to wake Pran up, and successfully turned off the TV. She readjusted the blanket around them, Jeremy had probably brought them it, and closed her eyes again. It was too comfortable to get up.

Lyra - Work watching

Lyra had been busy all day helping her wife out in her tattoo parlor, watching her dearest work. It was nice, seeing Pran finally do something she loved agzer working for so long. It made Lyra's heart swell with affection. She had made the right choice choosing to elope with Pran, there wasn't a single moment where she regretted being with her.

Pran had finished for the day, closing up the parlor and stretching her muscular body. Lyra had admired them ever since she was 16, those muscles were still eyecatching, even as Pran's body had gotten softer over the years. Her soft, muscular wife. She could watch her all day.

She Immediately ran over to Pran when she noticed she was done with everything, she got a kiss on the lips. Closing her eyes, enjoying the kiss from her loving wife.

They both deserved a break after working so hard today, even if she had to admit Pran worked harder than her, she had to deal with the customers after all. But she knew there was a pretty good chance Pran wouldn't care about that anyways.

[waitmyturtles]

Because I’m me, and I’m always looking at things contextually and collectively, I watched Bed Friend last night while in the heady mindspace of a fabulous conversation with @wen-kexing-apologist​ about The Eighth Sense, addiction, meds, and the show creators. 

And so. I had been seeing the gifs and thoughts on Bed Friend, episode 9 yesterday, but didn’t really process them, so I did NOT realize...

... how freaking HAPPY THIS EPISODE WOULD BE!

I mean! Thankfully! There’s not a lot to say! UEA, WITH KING’S SUPPORT, WALKS AWAY FROM HIS STUPID FUCKING MOM! Pran’s dad gets his ass hauled to jail! Tian’s dad accepts them! King’s MOM comes around (and oh.... I always, always love the whole “call me mom” thing, it makes me weepy as a longtime wifey). Tongkao reconciles with big bro!

Awllll the lovey scenes. The office bathroom scene. The office team and Christmas time. JADE. Mongkol changing. King handing Uea his meds (crying emoji) (what support that shows, omg). King hugging his mom (OH MY ACHING OVARIESSSSSSSS) (I’M NOT HAVING ANY MORE KIDS BUT MEEEEEPPPPP). 

And, if you either know me or my writing or my blog, you might know what also really got me -- the same scenes with Uea, King, and King’s mom. Uea caring for King, cooking for him, comforting him.

Two things there. First off: I loved that in the second half of the show, King NEEDS Uea, not the other way around, as had been the paradigm for the majority of this show (although the show really started with King needing Uea, as King made the first moves). 

So we got to see Uea as a caretaker, cooing and caring for King. 

We got to see....(here’s me being typical)....we got to see them slowly becoming family.

So I think it’s totally apropos that we see a proposal happening next week. Who would have EVER called this by way of the early Bed Friend trailers, but: King and Uea are going to make a family together. That’s why King getting his parents’ approval was so important, and seeing King’s mom accept Uea was also important (Tian’s dad: two for two!). 

It was either @respectthepetty or @wen-kexing-apologist (sorry, I can’t find y’alls’ posts!) who said that they needed to see King’s backstory on how long he’s liked Uea, and I agree, I want that context, too. To manage a whole love journey FROM bed friends, TO boyfriends, and THEN to lifelong committed partnership -- um, King played a DAMN long game, a RISKY one. (Have you ever successfully turned FWB into a relationship? At least for me, in my youf -- definitely not. That shit takes SKILL.)

Knowing King’s love context and history would be so nice, because homeboy was clearly deadset on getting his man, and understanding how he did it, and how he knew so much about Uea in the process, would just be a cherry on the top of this show.

This show: friends, this was an unexpectedly FABULOUS, EXCELLENT, AND DEEP SHOW. Not as cerebral as a Bad Buddy or an ATOTS (since we’re talking about their dads). Not as sophisticated a storyline as The Eclipse. Not as plain dumb as Big Dragon. It was somewhere in-between, but definitely leaning towards the smart side of that spectrum among these shows. 

No side couples. These guys could be idiots and bumbling at times, but: because there were no side distractions of other couplings, à la ATOTS, the show could REALLY give time and light to Uea’s history and development, and to King just falling, falling, falling more and more in love.

Let me not get ahead of myself and end this show already. We’re getting a proposal and a motherfucking YACHT next week, people. A YACHT!

I want to give this show one HUGE hug for DOING THE DAMN THING and wrapping up ALL those messy threads EXCELLENTLY. WOW. What a worthwhile and fabulous experience. 

(@lurkingshan! List this! It’s worth it!)

[mirmoria]

I was sooooo giddy while doing this, you have no clue.

[distant-screaming]

wakes up in a cold sweat PATPRAN SOUNDWIN AU

[castial]

the story is cliché tender enemies to friends but it has very good plot twists, the main characters are SUPER CHARISMATIC and the chemistry is woaaahh amazing

this series and specially THESE TWO made my soul vERY happy🙏🙏🙏🙏 I LOVE THEM FOREVER <3

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Every once in a while, while watching or thinking about a drama set in a school, it occurs to me that the characters are going through all of the nonsense they're dealing with while wearing little blue shorts, and matching shirts with their names on them, or neatly buttoned up shirts that everyone in their major wears, like they all got best friend outfits.

And then I laugh.