#top 0.16%

[luxidae]

I FOUND A SHEEP IN MINECRAFT THAT SPAWNED WITH PINK WOOL NATURALLY LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO

[fromacatastrophe]

Online English Vocabulary Size Test

[metamatar]

One of the world’s top arms exporters, Israel exports annually as much as $7 billion worth of military technology, or 2.2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. An additional 1.35 percent of GDP is dedicated to military research and development, and 6.7 percent is spent on its defense budget— the world’s second largest military budget as a percentage of GDP after Saudi Arabia. All told, 10.25 percent of the Israeli economy is involved directly in arms. Comparatively, for the United States, the world’s top weapons exporter, arms account for around 3.7 percent of its economy. Israel is actually the world’s largest arms supplier per capita, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the World Bank, at ninety-eight dollars; it is followed by a distant Russia at fifty-eight dollars, and Sweden at fifty-three dollars.

These figures do not include the contribution from natural resources exploited under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.50 They do not factor in the service sector’s revenue or general industry and construction taking place in the West Bank. Such figures are difficult to quantify, since many companies operate in the West Bank but have offices in Tel Aviv to obscure where operations take place. Nor does this account for Israeli exports into the Occupied Territories, which are 72 percent of Palestinian imports and 0.16 percent of Israeli GDP. All told, the Israeli economy is deeply involved in a web of expenditure and profit around the ongoing occupation and expansion of settlements.

American military aid supplanting open-ended government grants has had the effect of increasing arms production and diminishing the overall economic reach of the state. No longer is foreign aid and imperialist incentive directly invested in the working class. Israeli workers are now rewarded through the arms economy. This is why, despite the lack of social mobility and the economic degradation of neoliberalism, the working class remains committed as ever to Zionism.

The working class has become dependent on the education, housing, and career opportunities that their participation in the IDF affords them. They have found routes for advancement in the military-fueled high-tech industry, with over 9 percent of workers concentrated in high-tech. And as pensions and real wages are eroded, the cheaper cost of settlement living in the Occupied Territories has become essential.

[wachinyeya]

Native Wildlife Flourishing Again After Another Caribbean Island Rid of Mice https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/native-wildlife-flourishing-again-after-another-caribbean-island-rid-of-mice/

[atobibas]

Who appears the most in Scrooge's Last Adventure?

Alright so I counted this one a while ago, but I never posted it. When I started the counting top 100 stories project my plan was to post this one when I reached it on the top 100. But I've decided not to do that, because I want to post this now... So this is technically an out of order entry in my counting the Inducks top 100 stories.

Anyways, there are spoilers for the story. It's great, you should give it a read!

Quackfaster - 5 (panels) / 0.82% (of the story)

Gus - 7 / 1.15%

Gladstone - 10 / 1.64%

Fethry - 12 / 1.97%

Brigitta - 13 / 2.14%

Gyro - 16 / 2.63%

Daisy - 21 / 3.45%

Quackmore - 23 / 3.78%

Grandma - 24 / 3.95%

Fermies - 40 / 6.58%

Terries - 64 / 10.53%

Beagle Boys - 72 / 11.84%

HDL - 85 / 13.98%

Magica - 112 / 18.42%

Glomgold - 114 / 18.75%

Rockerduck - 132 / 21.71%

Donald - 269 / 44.24%

Scrooge - 299 / 49.18%

(Total - 608)

(My thoughts and additional stats below!)

Interesting how both Magica and HDL's percentages get lower for every part. Also I didn't count Jeeves, he's great but he only appeared in like 4 panels and I was too lazy to count him for everything!

Anyways, let's look at the entry and exit stats!

Beagle Boys - 1 (0.16%) / 608 (100%)

Rockerduck - 6 (0.99%) / 596 (98.03%)

Magica - 11 (1.81) / 347 (57.07%)

Glomgold - 14 (2.3%) / 596 (98.03%)

Quackmore - 24 (3.95%) / 602 (99.01%)

Scrooge - 24 (3.95%) / 608 (100%)

Donald - 26 (4.28%) / 608 (100%)

HDL - 27 (4.28%) / 608 (100%)

Grandma - 181 (29.77%) / 608 (100%)

Quackfaster - 192 (31.58%) / 603 (99.18%)

Gladstone - 197 (32.4%) / 607 (99.84%)

Daisy - 197 (32.4%) / 608 (100%)

Fethry - 197 (32.4%) / 608 (100%)

Gus - 197 (32.4%) / 608 (100%)

Brigitta - 198 (32.57%) / 604 (99.34%)

Gyro - 198 (32.57%) / 604 (99.34%)

Jubal - 198 (32.57%) / 607 (99.84%)

Terries - 355 (58.39%) / 586 (96.38%)

Fermies - 362 (59.54%) / 586 (96.38%)

So very smart Atobibsters might have noticed that I have slightly cheated here. As Magica does actually appear in the background flying in the final panel, but I thought those stats were boring so I didn't count them for the entry and exit stats!

So for a story called "Scrooge's Last Adventure", there is surprisingly little Scrooge. He is still the character who appears the most, but he doesn't even appear for the majority of the story. I still think he is the main character, though, as even when he isn't around he is the main focus of conversation.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The vast majority of the Senate Republican caucus united last week to introduce a bill that would permanently repeal the estate tax, targeting one of the few provisions in the U.S. tax code that solely affects the richest 0.1% of Americans.

Led by Sen. John Thune (South Dakota), the top Republican on the Senate Subcommittee on Taxation and Internal Revenue Service Oversight, 40 Republicans reintroduced their bill to ensure that ultra-rich individuals seeking to hand off tens of millions of dollars — or more — to their heirs can do so completely tax-free. The extremely regressive proposal has been a longtime goal of Republicans, who have already massively watered down the estate tax in past years.

Currently, the estate tax threshold is $12.9 million, and nearly $26 million for couples. Amounts under this are exempted from taxes. This is nearly triple the threshold from 2016 and earlier, as Republicans more than doubled the estate tax cutoff in their major tax overhaul in 2017. The threshold is now so high that it is estimated that less than 0.1% of Americans are subject to the tax.

Evidently, these tax cuts are still not enough for Republicans, who had tried to repeal the tax altogether in 2017. In a press release on the bill, Thune, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) attempted to couch their support of the repeal in efforts to supposedly support farmers — claims that reveal themselves to be a farce when more closely examined.

“For years I have fought to protect farm and ranch families from the onerous and unfair death tax,” Thune said. “Family-owned farms and ranches often bear the brunt of this tax, which makes it difficult and costly to pass these businesses down to future generations.”

Thune’s statement is a misrepresentation of the truth. The vast, vast majority of “family-owned farms” are not subject to the estate tax. In 2020, a mere 0.16% of farm estates owed the tax, according to data from the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is an exceedingly small number of farms. As the Tax Policy Center estimated, only 50 farms total paid any estate tax in 2017, and this research was done before lawmakers doubled the threshold.

The criticism of the estate tax in defense of farmers is disingenuous for another reason, as Inequality.org pointed out in a blog post this week. The tax code “already has provisions that protect the very few families with farms and businesses subject to estate tax,” wrote Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow and senior adviser for Patriotic Millionaires Bob Lord. “If the bill sponsors truly cared about family farms, ranches, and businesses, they could have proposed legislation to expand these protections but leave the estate tax intact.”

In reality, deep-pocketed lobbyists with the Farm Bureau have long been pushing a repeal of the estate tax — and the group’s deep ties to big business and Wall Street are well documented.

Perhaps not coincidentally, repealing the estate tax would complete the loop of tax avoidance for the wealthiest Americans. The bill targets the “die” part of “buy borrow die,” a common tax dodging scheme used by the wealthy to avoid paying taxes; it is part of the reason that the wealthiest Americans are able to pay little to no taxes year over year.

In the practice of buying, borrowing, and dying, the rich first pour their wealth into assets like stocks, building up a large portfolio. Those assets are then used as collateral for taking out large loans with low interest rates — lower than, say, the income tax rate — that become a wealthy person’s spending money. Then, they die, and hand off their wealth to the next generation, maintaining their dynasty for decades to come.

At very few points do taxes come into the buy, borrow, die equation. Buying and keeping stocks doesn’t incur a tax bill. Taking out loans allows the wealthy to claim very low incomes to skirt income taxes. The estate tax is essentially the only guarantee, and even then, the wealthy have come up with extreme loopholes to dodge the estate tax, too. Republicans, then, are hoping to make tax avoidance even easier by legalizing it entirely; Lord has pointedly labeled the bill the “Billionaires Pay Zero Tax Act.”

The proposal stands in sharp contrast to progressives’ views on taxation. Pointing to extreme and growing wealth inequality, progressives have been calling for increasing taxes on the rich and specifically targeting their wealth and stock portfolios, rather than endlessly allowing the “buy” and “borrow” portions of the cycle.

[trivialbob]

Last night I watched some clips from Smokey and the Bandit. As a kid I watched that movie in a theater. In those days I was genuinely sad when movies ended, and we had to leave the theater. Smokey and the Bandit was no different.

No matter how much I begged, my parents would not install a CB radio in our station wagon. They probably never even watched how much fun Bandit had.

This morning I decided I would cross state lines to buy beer that is not available in Minnesota. I donned my motorcycle gear and headed east to Wisconsin: land of cheese, beef sticks, more cheese, deer carcasses on highway shoulders, and--of course--lots of beer.

My destination was Nelson, WI. It's a pleasant 90 minute ride from home. The outside temperature rose as I rode down US 35, along the Mississippi River and Lake Pepin. Since I was hot my first top was the Nelson Creamery for ice cream. This time I didn't drip any on my hands or clothing. The creamery also sells cheese, beef sticks, and more cheese. I selected some items to bring home in my little cooler.

Whenever meat or cheese is priced per pound I examine every package and select the one with the lowest price. They all look the same, so to me I'm just wisely saving money. Here I saved $0.16 with the one in the top of the picture, but there's no way anyone can tell the two packages of string cheese are any different.

The creamery also sells local beer and wine. The Spotted Cow I wanted they didn't have in cans. A small liquor store a block away had those cans.

With cheese, beer, beef sticks and some more cheese on board, I crossed the river and headed for home, going up along the river on the Minnesota side.

[news-3-9]

"A tiny uninhabited island in the Caribbean waters of the territory of Anguilla was almost completely empty but for mice, but has recently been totally restored to a pre-colonial state of biodiversity.

Called Sombrero, the island has joined a number of case studies around the Caribbean and the world on how to completely eradicate invasive species and protect these unique ecosystems."

[lesbianslovebts]

Hmmm I'm not sure what to think about the electronic scooter incident.

I've purposely been avoiding the whole thing because I know people and the media are never normal about anything, but I've seen some of the things that the people I follow have said, so I've looked into it a bit more this morning. To disclose my own biases, I grew up with an abusive alcoholic father whose poison of choice was 80-proof vodka (40% alcohol by volume). He would drive me around while intoxicated and sometimes even brought his drink along for the ride. So, that greatly affects my opinion of people who drive under the influence or while intoxicated.

In my brief research (brief because it was triggering), I learned that Yoongi was driving an electronic scooter that can go up to 25 KPH, which is for all intents and purposes a seated electric vehicle subject to laws regarding driving under the influence. He fell off, was administered a breathalyzer test, and had a BAC of 0.227%. Thankfully, it sounds like he didn't drive very far or fast, and he didn't hurt himself or anyone else.

That said, I do not agree with the "no harm no foul" mentality that I have unfortunately, yet predictably, seen from some of the fandom. Even though I was never in an accident as a child, I doubt anyone would say my father did nothing wrong. That brings me to the question of the severity of the potential consequences that could have resulted from this incident with Yoongi. On a scooter, I think he was much more likely to hurt himself by crashing into something or driving into traffic, but he could very well have hit and injured a pedestrian, too.

Now, I didn't know off the top of my head what level of drunkenness corresponds to which range of BAC, so I Googled it and found some information here:

0.16 - 0.19%: Very drunk – Strong state of depression, nausea, disorientation, dizziness, increased motor impairment, blurred vision, judgment further impaired

0.20 - 0.24%: Dazed and confused – Gross disorientation to time and place, increased nausea and vomiting, may need assistance to stand or walk, impervious to pain, blackout likely

With a 0.227% BAC, Yoongi wasn't tipsy - he was blackout drunk. Even though no harm was done, I've seen a lot of people underestimating the severity of the situation. In trying to find pictures of what kind of scooter he was riding, I saw memes. Memes. This isn't a fucking joke. Yoongi made a very stupid, irresponsible decision. A decision that, if made by some random guy, no one would be trying to excuse. But that doesn't mean I think he should be punished any more or less severely than the average person because he is Suga of BTS.

I just wish he would do better.

And I wish a bunch of you (the fandom) would do better, too.

[incarnateirony]

Do you think given the praise Jensen has gotten for his music, his work on The Boys and Big Sky and how The Winchesters have been names a favorite sci fi show. That people think Jared is the successful one? Do these people still think Jared is winning. Like I’m serious, if he is still winning where are his wins and all the praise for his show and his acting or chemistry with anyone? Where are all the articles about Jared? Just wondering how you feel about this.

It's why they're trying to perform aerobics for his numbers, as are lower quality outlets. EW won't prostate to him but smaller ones like TVL that are desperate to maintain relationships are.

The funniest spin I've seen so far is them using flat rounded numbers to the tenths (0.1, 0.2) and then, rather than using the hundredths to break ties, they bring in audience size, something worth less than monopoly money. Then break out the unroundeds and it's like. Ah. Windy's highest was 0.06 but they rounded that to 0.1. Ah, Walker's running a 0.88 on the year average, even WITH it rallying "big" all the way to 0.12 for once after running 0.8 most of the year.

Then people go WELL WINCHESTERS HIT LOW because they act like context doesn't matter, like Nexstar doesn't know the only day Winchesters ranked that low was when we lost a third major center nobody else lost, and the +3 and +7 still somehow shattered Walker same week. And even with the liberal zones axed for weeks, and TW immediately recovering, TW still averages higher live and 4x in app.

Just because we want to believe a thing, doesn't make it true. I want to believe Kung Fu will survive, but its numbers are perfect mirrors of Walker, so I'm not going to hold my breath on it, even if I CAN argue "it's a later slot, of course it'll go down." That argument may also be Nexstar's, but at the end of the day, we know they're only looking for a few shows, and the top earners are AA, AAH, TW. Like, period. And all are WB/CBS coproduced to make good on their contracts.

Winchesters has been routinely hitting 0.2 in +3 and +7 its entire run. Like, actually hitting, or breaking past like 0.22. I think one week we got 0.19. Meanwhile Walker's best jog put it at 0.16 like once, 0.15 like once, and they're rounding THOSE up NOW, but kept their heads down the half of the season it would have rounded to 0.1. It's. It's embarrassing on a professional media level to watch.

This narrative may convince muggle fans it's worth watching, which is the goal of the spin. It may give idiots on twitter fodder they feel they can fight about, but it's all irrelevant data that's being jogged as LOOK, THE SHOW IS ACTUALLY OK. It does Jared no professional favors in the eyes of people that know what they're looking at, and really looks like the death rallies of a show avoiding cancellation in the perspective of the broader media sphere. If they try REAL HARD maybe they can get more 18-49 up to bring its numbers ABOVE Kung Fu average, to make it WORTH that 8P slot while KF is in 9. If they try REAL HARD they can at least get a renancel. And that's all this is. It's them trying Real Hard to not get flat cancelled by Nexstar.

What do people think Jared was pulled into Dennis' office about a month ago? Get your shit together and your numbers up, son, or it's over. I don't care what you do. We'll target our ads for it but you gotta get monetizable numbers up, end-of-story.

This doesn't even account for CW's live and digital app ad bundling. It doesn't account for the fact that Walker gets about a 5 in app and Winchesters gets like an 18-22. Or AA in the same range. Yeah, AA's gonna be more expensive, but it's running them a 0.3 some days in +7. It's doing double Walker's lives. It's literally worth like 3-4x as much as Walker and has several multiples over of funding sources. It could easily be warranted a renancel while promoting forward Homecoming. If Walker at the same age as AA thinks it can get a renancel, them trying to exclude AA from being above them is fucking comedy. Just look in the gap of ad client quality per show.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Alright I've struggled to find anything beyond one mention of this on the wiki page for fucking CC Beta so it is time to ask here

How the fuck do stage modifiers for enemy stats work???

Let's say I'm doing Pinch-Out Operation and I want to see how buffed up Dorothy can get. So my line of thinking is to just take all of the buffs and figure out how they stack

Anti-Armor I: DEF + 600 Dorothy: Arts Protection Project I: RES + 70 Dorothy: Personal Protection Project I: DEF + 400 Dorothy: Personal Protection Project II: DEF + 800 Dorothy: Physical Boost Project I: HP + 80% Dorothy: Physical Boost Project II: HP + 120% Dorothy: Physical Boost Project III: HP + 200% Dorothy: Skill Boost Project I: ATK + 40% Dorothy: Skill Boost Project II: ATK +60% Originium Zone: Activation I: HP + 60% Originium Zone: Activation II: HP + 80% Originium Zone: Activation III: HP +120% Originium Zone: Stimulus I: ATK + 40% Originium Zone: Stimulus II: ATK + 50% Originium Zone: Stimulus III: ATK +70% Trial: Dream Come True: HP x 3, ATK x 2, Speed +50%

So from my understanding: Buffs from the same group of buffs will stack additive with each other. All of Dorothy's Physical Boost Project buffs will add up to make HP + 400%. This is actually different from Contingency Contract and wow holy shit no wonder it explains how much of a nightmare POO was at high risk. But, the Originium Zone: Activation buffs and Dorothy: Physical Boost Project do not stack additive, they stack multiplicative. So this will result in, to the best of my knowledge (especially since Dorothy just randomly has a base HP of 45,000 lol)

HP: 1,755,000 ATK: 6,760 DEF: 2,400 RES: 70 Movement Speed: 0.75 tiles

But, where I've not seen any great indication as to the math in any direction, is Integrated Strategies. Let's say you're doing some IS4 A15 gaming and you want to see how much the boss of the first ending gets buffed by. First we start off with the scaling buff:

a = (1 + 0.16)^5 a = 2.10

But there are also ascension specific difficulty buffs, and snatching the relevant ones here:

Enemies have their HP and ATK increased by 5%. Enemies have their DEF increased by 10%. Enemies have their ATK increased by 10%. Enemies have their HP and DEF increased by 5%. Enemies have their HP, ATK, and DEF increased by 10%.

Now my guess here is that these stack additive on top of each other, so you end up up a 20% HP buff, a 25% ATK buff, and a 25% DEF buff which thankfully isn't super relevant here. But, my guess is that this stacks in a _multiplicative_ fashion with the scaling buff. So this would result in a boss with:

HP: 604,800 ATK: 2,100 DEF: 1,000

I don't have a lot to go off with this though. I do seem to vaguely remember someone doing the math for A15 Izumik in IS3, but it's been so long that I'm not sure if I made it up.

[ilostyou]

TOP 0.16%???? I’m married to a genius holy shit

ily

[ohthehypocrisy]

Tropius for Pokemon Unite!

-

Season 1

Season 2

Prev: Cradily - Hatterene 

Now, when I say that Gen 3 had a lot of great and unique designs, Tropius is included among them. I mean, a flying fruit bearing tree sauropod? Who else would’ve come up with this design if not for the directors at the helm of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire? If this pokemon was revealed nowadays, it would probably be ridiculed for how outlandish the concept is. And yet, for what it is, it’s probably what’s remembered the most about it. I mean, after three headed ostriches and piles of literal sludge, the bar has arguably been set very low for quite some time now. How can Tropius be any worse than that as a design?

Wait, we’re supposed to be talking about how great Tropius is. Uhh, dinosaurs are cool, especially flying trees. Imagine having one of these as your friend and it gives you free bananas every day. Yeah, that’d be great. I wish dinosaurs were real.

Too bad Tropius isn’t real in Pokemon Unite, yet.

-

Now, these stats aren’t all that bad, it’s just that a Grass/Flying typing doesn’t do these numbers any justice. High HP and decent bulk makes for a bulky pokemon, in lower tiers of play. Yeah, Tropius hasn’t had the best life all these years. I mean, with poor offensive stats and super low speed (seriously, it’s faster than the Regi Trio by 1 point!) this pokemon hardly has an impact on any facet of any situation it’s been in.

It’s better known for being a fruit bearing tree dino, and not even the ferocious kind. With nothing else going for it, I designate Tropius with the role of a...

Supporter

-

Basic Attack - Ranged/Sp. Attack

Becomes a boosted attack after three hits. When boosted, multiple leaves are scattered in a fan formation, reducing the movement speed of the enemy and Stunning them for a bit. Each time a berry is eaten, this boosted basic attack expands and increases its effect on the opposing pokemon. This number resets when the pokemon is KO’d.

At the start of each spawn, your boosted basic attack is a wide ranged leaf attack that reduces movement speed by 5% and Stuns for 0.2 seconds. The speed reduction effect lasts for 2 seconds. After a berry is eaten, the movement speed reduction effect increases by 5% more and enemies are Stunned for an additional 0.16 seconds. Oran Berries are included.

The boosted basic attack count increases to a maximum of 5. When maxed out, the maximum effect becomes; Movement Speed reduced by 30% and Stun for 1 second.

After eating berries and increasing the effect of the boosted basic attack, the increased effect is retained for the next boosted hit. The effect resets after being KO’d and respawned.

The boosted basic attack displays the level of effect gained next to your basic attack icon.

Now, you have to understand that Tropius is defined by its great love for fruits and berries, and that compels all aspects of its gameplay to lean into that. For instance, eating a berry improves how much stronger its boosted basic attack becomes, slowing down the enemy some more, on top of an annoying Stun effect. By itself, the boosted basic attack makes it very annoying to try and chase down Tropius, as the combined effects greatly hinder the enemy’s ability to move forward. So making it stronger by eating berries is sure to give the opposing team a stomachache.

Every time you eat a berry, your boosted basic attack ‘levels up’ and stays that way until you get KO’d, which incentivizes you to eat healthy. It’s also because berries are pretty rare in the late game, so it’s important to stay in tip top shape.

Of course, as a fruit producing tree dinosaur, Tropius actually has an easy time producing its own product to help itself out, as well as its teammates.

-

Ability: Harvest

Activate to spawn a Nanab berry that heals a little HP and reduces damage taken for a short while. Afterwards, the ability goes on cooldown for 30 seconds. Dealing damage to pokemon on the opposing team with your boosted basic attack and eating berries reduces the cooldown of this ability. When Harvest is active and you eat a field berry, the Nanab berry is replaced by the type of berry eaten. The replaced berry gains extra effects when consumed by you or an ally.

The Nanab Berry restores 15% of the HP of any ally who eats it. It will also reduce damage taken by 30% for 7.5 seconds. When activated, it drops directly in front of Tropius.

The ability goes on cooldown for 30 seconds. Damaging an enemy with your boosted basic attack reduces the cooldown by 1 second. Your moves will also reduce the cooldown by a set amount of time, which will be explained as the move is detailed.

Harvest’s cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds each time a berry is eaten, excluding Oran Berries.

When Harvest is ready to use, eating a field berry changes the Nanab Berry to the eaten berry instead. The eaten berry will then be spawned by you when Harvest is activated, and grants the same effects as the copied berry plus restore an additional 15% HP. Oran Berries are exempt.

The type of berry Harvest will spawn will be displayed on your HUD. It will be a Nanab Berry if no additional effects are in play. Otherwise, it can be changed to a Sitrus Berry or a Salac Berry when affected. 

Isn’t there a saying that perfectly describes Tropius’ love for fruit? ‘You are what you have eaten’ or something to that effect? Actually I think it better describes Applin or Trubbish. Anyway, the ability to produce your own food is something very few animals have, like chickens. Am I comparing Tropius’ delicious berries to a chicken’s delicious egg? This is getting out of hand. Moving on.

So, when Harvest is used, a Nanab berry is dropped, as it’s the berry that closest resembles the bananas hanging off of Tropius’ neck. Why is it yellow anyway? Forget about that, being able to make berries from nothing makes you a walking vending machine for your teammates, as its hearty 15% HP recovery and defense boost is a savory snack at any time during battle. Side note, since the Nanab berry is a consumable berry, it can be stolen by Hoopa, the only other pokemon that can ‘make’ berries, so watch out for that crafty little thief.

Tropius is a real cultivar extraordinaire, as it can crossbreed the berry it produces with the ones it eats. And it’s not without difference, as the produced berry gains the effect of both the eaten berry and the Nanab Berry. For example, Sitrus Berries heal a flat 1500 HP when eaten, which is a lot or a little, depending on how much HP the pokemon eating them has. But when Tropius eats it while Harvest is ready, the resulting Berry spawned is a Sitrus Berry that heals 1500 HP plus an additional 15%, along with a very helpful damage reduction buff, same as the Nanab berry. This will also work with Salac Berries, granting a major movement speed buff along with all the extra healing and defense boost the Nanab berry would’ve provided. 

This means that Tropius eating berries not only benefits you, but also your teammates when you use Harvest afterwards. You’re basically doubling a berry and increasing its effect for your team. Provided you’re diligently keeping your team healthy with your spawned berries.

Being able to reliably heal your allies provides the team with a valuable crutch later on in the game, as Sitrus Berries become rare or disappear altogether in the late game. Even so, there are other ways to actually make more berries than through just the Harvest Ability alone, as you’ll soon see.

-

At the start of the game, you can choose between Growth and Leaf Tornado as your first move. By Level 3, you’ll have learned both.

Move 1: Growth (Recovery)

Restores a little bit of HP and boosts your Attack and Sp. Attack by a little bit. Reduces the cooldown of Harvest by 5 seconds. If Harvest is used during Growth, the dropped berry gains the Attack and Sp. Attack boost and additional recovery when the berry is eaten. 10s cooldown.

Growth restores your HP by 10% and boosts your Attack and Sp. Attack by 25% for 5 seconds. It also reduces the cooldown of Harvest by 3 seconds.

If Harvest is activated while the Growth boost is active, the dropped Berry gains Growth’s boosting and recovery effects as well.

Tropius can eat the Growth boosted berry to reset Growth’s boosting effect on itself.

Harvest can spawn a Sitrus Berry or a Salac Berry while Growth is active, combining the eaten berries effect with the Growth boost. The combined effects total an additional 25% healing and an Attack and Sp. Attack boost to either the Sitrus Berry or Salac Berry when spawned.

Berries enhanced by Growth will ‘shine’ while on the field.

The fruits of one’s labor is flavored with the blood, sweat, and tears of the laborer, which makes it all the sweeter when you take that first bite. Yeah, this sounds gross, but we’re talking about a Grass Type pokemon so it’s tasteful, I think.

Growth gives you a simple bit of HP recovery along with an Attack and Sp. Attack boost. It also reduces the cooldown of Harvest a little bit when used, so using it at every opportunity is beneficial to your role as a Supporter. If you pop a Nanab Berry while Growth is powering you up, however, the dropped berry gains extra effects.

Because Tropius is growing these berries for the team, changes to its health and mood affect the flavor of the fruit it produces, and Harvest Berries are no different. If you drop a Nanab Berry while Growth is active, the berry gains extra healing and even an Attack and Sp. Attack boost to whoever eats it. The extra effects total to 25% healing and a 25% Attack and Sp. Attack buff for 5 seconds, which can help an ally turn the tide of a fight very easily.

If you switch the berry out with a Sitrus or Salac Berry, Growth will also add to the berry’s total effects, granting another 1500 HP recovery or a big speed boost, depending on which fruit drops.

Just be careful that these berries don’t get stolen by the enemy team. That’d be...rotten.

-

Move 2: Leaf Tornado (Area)

Creates a whirling vortex of sharp leaves, dealing damage continuously. Enemies will have their vision reduced while within Leaf Tornado. 7s cooldown.

Leaf Tornado affects the designated area for 4 seconds, dealing weak continuous damage over time to enemies and also obscures their vision while within the area of effect.

The vision obscuring effect is an effect of the move itself and not a hindrance inflicted on the enemy through the move. Hindrance protection and clearing will not prevent Leaf Tornado from obscuring the vision of affected enemies.

A simple whirlwind of leaves thick enough to obscure the vision of all enemies within, Leaf Tornado is admittedly a simple move. Being able to set down a short-lived attack is handy in some situations, but it’s not the most impressive attack, especially since it doesn’t hinder the enemy in any other significant way. I mean, the enemy can easily just walk out of the attack, as the move doesn’t deal enough damage to threaten even frail Attackers.

It is what it is, and it’s best not to overcomplicate things here. Tropius is trying their best, ok?

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At Level 5, Growth becomes either Synthesis or Dragon Dance.

Move 1a: Synthesis (Recovery)

You and all nearby allies recover HP, and the cooldown of Harvest is reduced. The more pokemon healed, the more the cooldown is reduced. When Synthesis is used while at full HP, the cooldown of Harvest is reduced even more. While Synthesis is on cooldown, press the button again to switch the type of berry that Harvest will spawn. 9.5s cooldown.

At Level 10, Synthesis becomes Synthesis+.

Increases the area of effect. Also reduces damage taken while the move is on cooldown.

All allies within range restore 20% HP, including Tropius.

The cooldown of Harvest is reduced by 6 seconds. For each Ally that had their HP restored, an additional 2 seconds is reduced. If your HP was full when Synthesis is used, Harvest has its cooldown reduced by 9 seconds instead.

If Synthesis is used again while the move is on cooldown, the next berry made by Harvest will change into a Sitrus Berry. These berries are the same as Sitrus Berries crossed with the Nanab Berries you normally make with Harvest. This effect is reset after Harvest is used.

Synthesis+ expands the area of effect and reduces damage taken by 30% while the move is on cooldown.

A full range healing move is admittedly pretty rare in Pokemon Unite, with the closest example being Clefable’s Moonlight. 20% HP recovery is comparable to a free Potion for all teammates in range, and it also drastically reduces the cooldown of Harvest when used. The more teammates you heal, the bigger the cooldown reduction, which makes you much more dependable as a dispenser of delicious fruits.

Synthesis also has an extra effect where, if you use the move again while it’s on cooldown, you’ll change the Harvest Berry from a Nanab to a Sitrus Berry. Now, that would normally be a downgrade, but this berry is dropped with the same effect as a Nanab boosted crossbreed with the Sitrus Berry. As in, it’ll restore 15% HP, boosts your defenses, and heal an extra 1500 HP. On top of the healing of Synthesis, you can heal yourself or an ally a grand total of 35% HP plus 1500 HP. That’s some very healthy eating!

The upgrade, Synthesis+, expands the range of healing, making it easier to keep the whole team healthy. But it also comes with extra damage reduction while the move is on cooldown, effectively buffing your defenses in the late game. Combined with eating the super Sitrus Berry you can spawn, you’ll have defenses comparable to a Defender.

Of course, you have to keep in mind that your base stats are very low as a Supporter, so don’t get overconfident just because you have a vegan diet (is it still vegan food if it’s made by a Tropius? I’m genuinely asking).

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Move 1b: Dragon Dance (Buff)

Boosts your Attack, Sp. Attack, and movement speed greatly for 7 seconds. Press the button again during the cooldown to switch the type of berry that Harvest will spawn. Also, if Harvest is activated while the boost is active, the dropped berry grants the same boost to whichever ally eats it. 10s cooldown.

At Level 10, Dragon Dance becomes Dragon Dance+.

Increases the boosts gained and the cooldown of Harvest is reduced for each KO you or an ally get while under the effects of the boost.

Your Attack, Sp. Attack, and Movement Speed are increased by 30% for 7 seconds while Dragon Dance is active. Dragon Dance+ increases all of these boosts to 50% instead.

If Dragon Dance is used while the move is on cooldown, the Nanab Berry spawned through Harvest will become a Salac Berry instead. The spawned berry grants the same movement speed boost as the field berry, plus the Nanab Berry healing and boosts.

If Harvest is used while the Dragon Dance boost is in effect, the boosts are imparted onto the Berry dropped, granting you or the ally the same boost. 

Eating the Dragon Dance boosted berry resets the duration of the boost on yourself.

While Dragon Dance+ is active, each KO reduces the cooldown of Harvest by 6 seconds, whether you or an ally scored the KO with the boost.

While Tropius may not look like it, everything about its physiology suggests that it is a dragon. Four legs, long neck, and a set of wings define a dragon, even though it’s lacking a big tail for the most part. Yet, that doesn’t stop it from learning Dragon Dance, which grants it a pretty sizable buff to its Attack, Sp. Attack, and Movement Speed.

However, Tropius is too weak to use these boosts effectively, especially since it’s supposed to be a Supporter. The idea is to instead impart these effects into the berry you drop through Harvest, which grants your allies the same buff to their stats, along with a 15% heal and slight boost to their defenses. If you feed the Dragon Dance boosted berry to a reliable ally, you and that player can certainly tear things apart together and spread ruin, like actual dragons from mythology.

Just like Synthesis, Dragon Dance changes the berry you can make from a Nanab Berry into a Salac Berry. The newly formed berry grants the same boost to your Movement Speed, but also adds in the healing and defense boost of the Nanab Berry. But if you were to do this and then spawn the berry while Dragon Dance is active, you’ll spawn a Salac Berry that combines the movement speed boost, the healing, the defense boost, and the attack boost of all three abilities and berries. Who needs a laboratory to make a super serum when you’ve got Tropius cooking in the kitchen?

Just make sure the berry doesn’t get stolen. 

I should also quickly mention that Dragon Dance+ increases all the boosts as an upgrade but also makes it easier to reduce the cooldown of Harvest. With each KO you or an ally get while under the effects of Dragon Dance+, the cooldown of Harvest is reduced by 6 seconds. In a standard battle, landing a full team wipe is enough to completely reset the cooldown of Harvest, so go crazy with that hearty superfood you’ve grown all by yourself.

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At Level 7, Leaf Tornado becomes either Leaf Storm or Air Slash.

Move 2a: Leaf Storm (Area)

Summon a hurricane of leaves at the designated area, dealing damage constantly for 5 seconds. Reduces the enemy’s vision while they are within Leaf Storm. 8.5s cooldown.

At Level 12, Leaf Storm becomes Leaf Storm+.

Expands the area of effect.

Leaf Storm deals moderate continuous damage over time within an area of effect. Enemies within also have their vision obscured while the move is active.

Just like Leaf Tornado, Leaf Storm’s vision obscuring effect is caused by the move itself and not as a hindrance inflicted on the enemy. This means that Full Heal and other hindrance protection will not stop the vision obscuring effect of Leaf Storm. Umbreon’s Mean Look works in the exact same way. 

Leaf Storm+ slightly increases the area of effect.

While Leaf Tornado was just kind of plain in its damage and effect, Leaf Storm is a pretty beefy upgrade as it more than doubles in size and damage. A massive whirlwind of leaves obscures the vision of all enemies within, which cannot be cleared by hindrance protection as it is an effect of the move itself and not a hindrance inflicted on them. 

While the move is pretty big, it can still be walked out of as it doesn’t apply any other effect to enemies caught in the attack. However, Leaf Storm is a secret counter to sure hit moves, as they require visible enemies to be in range, but Leaf Storm prevents such moves from being used. This is why things like Absol’s Sucker Punch and Dragonite’s Hyper Beam cannot hit invisible enemies like Inteleon or Phantom Force Dragapult as they cannot see the enemy and cannot lock on. If you get the feeling that the enemy will run similar sure hit moves like that, Leaf Storm can be a bigger boon than it may seem, helping your team out.

Plus, the ability to deal continuous damage in a wide area is very useful for securing objectives like Regieleki, especially when boosted by Dragon Dance. Just, remember that Tropius still has pretty low stats, so don’t go thinking you’ll be scaring any Defenders or All-Rounders away with your whirligig lawn trimmings.

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Move 2b: Air Slash (Ranged/Hindrance)

Unleashes a projectile blade made of air in the designated direction, Stunning an enemy briefly. 5.5s cooldown.

At Level 12, Air Slash becomes Air Slash+.

The size of the explosion effect increases, making it possible to stun multiple enemies.

Air Slash creates an explosion of turbulence at the point of impact, stunning an enemy for 0.5 seconds.

Air Slash+ increases the size of this explosion, making it possible to stun multiple enemies. However, the size is not that great and enemies would have to be huddled together in order to stun multiple at once.

The projectile explodes on contact with the first target it hits.

A long range Stun attack is not an uncommon attack in Pokemon Unite. Mr. Mime’s Confusion, Pikachu’s Thunderbolt, and Espeon’s Psyshock all have similar effects, but unfortunately, this is really all Tropius can muster as a move.

It’s not a bad move, per se, it’s just a bit on the underwhelming side. I mean, Supporters aren’t expected to deal big damage, right? It’s ok if a Supporter can do enough by stunning enemies from far away, even if it’s not a unique effect. After all, the surprisingly low cooldown makes it easy to use repeatedly, and the long range means it can be used safely from a distance.

It also creates a lot of turbulence when combined with your boosted basic attack after a few berries. 5.5 seconds of cooldown may seem like so little time, but in the heat of battle, you’re going to be fending off Speedsters and All-Rounders wishing you had just a microsecond of more time to fire off another Air Slash. That’s why, on top of either Synthesis or Dragon Dance, you utilize your boosted basic attack to calm down the entire crowd of enemies in front of you and run off to create some space.

Causing mass stuns and debuffs is one of two sides to the coin that is playing as a Supporter, with providing great boons and healing being the other half. However you play as Tropius, you are playing as a fully realized team player.

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Unite Move: An Apple A Day (Buff/Recovery)

The user eats a Big Apple, restoring HP and resetting the cooldown of your moves and Harvest. After a while, an Apple is dropped to the ground where the user is. When an ally eats this Apple, their HP is restored by 25% and the cooldown of their moves is reset and is prevented from going on cooldown for 4.5 seconds.

An Apple A Day restores Tropius’s HP by 40% and fully resets the cooldown of all of your moves as well as Harvest.

After 10 seconds, a regular sized Apple drops where Tropius is, which can then be eaten by one of your allies. This can be seen as an Apple Icon displayed over your head and slowly fills in like a clock. Tropius itself cannot eat this Apple, as it is too full from eating a Big Apple.

When an ally eats the Apple, the cooldown of their moves is reset and prevented from going on cooldown for 4.5 seconds. Enemies and allies will see this effect active with an Apple Icon over their head.

Enemies cannot eat the dropped Apple. The Apple lingers on the ground for 15 seconds before disappearing.

If you’re wondering why ‘Big’ and ‘Apple’ is capitalized, that’s because this Unite Move is a reference to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. While the items in those games didn’t really restore your HP, they granted a major boost to your stamina, fighting off hunger and helping you stay in the adventure for longer.

However, in Pokemon Unite, An Apple A Day does two different things for Tropius and the team. First, it restores a huge chunk of your HP immediately, as the apple is big enough to completely fill up your belly. Not only that, it resets the cooldown of all of your moves and your Harvest ability, allowing you to get some extra healing if required. However, it’s not a Berry, so it doesn’t affect your basic attack and level it up or anything.

Speaking of Harvest, since Tropius just ate a huge fruit, it’ll make one of its own and drop off a regular sized Apple in front of itself soon after. However, Tropius’ belly is way too full for it to eat again, so it’ll stay there for your allies to take instead. And when they take it, they’ll find that not only does it restore their HP, it’ll also reset the cooldown of all of their moves and even keep those moves from going on cooldown for 4.5 seconds!

Four and a half seconds is a very small amount of time to work with, but it’s just long enough for a teammate to do some serious damage, especially if an Attacker or Speedster ate the Apple. It could also really help out a Defender or an All-Rounder single-handedly win a fight against the entire enemy team, provided you give back up with either Leaf Storm or Air Slash. And don’t worry about dine and dashers, as the Apple can only be eaten by your teammates.

Speaking of which, for such a powerful effect, 10 seconds is a long time to wait for the apple to drop to the ground. It’s not like you can just pop the Big Apple and immediately grants your teammates a 4.5 second round of Fully Fury Mode. The Unite Move has to be premeditated, especially as part of a plan of attack. Depending on who you’ve coordinated with, An Apple A Day can either win the battle, or lose the war.

Nature provides a bounty for those who take care of it, but it cannot be rushed. Protect Tropius, and Tropius will provide for you.

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Achievements

Heal over 5000 HP to your teammates in a single battle.

As a Supporter, Tropius employs healing or self boosting moves along with some disruptive attacks, but that’s all it has. At least, that’s all it would have without Harvest. The ability to create and mix berries together with Harvest is what grants Tropius a unique role in Pokemon Unite, separate from other Supporters.

By dutifully providing berries to your allies and healing them, you are not only fulfilling the role of a Supporter, but also able to sustain yourself. Now, in order to use Harvest liberally throughout the match, you need to reduce the cooldown of the ability as much as you can, as often as you can. And you can do that by eating berries yourself and slinging your basic attack all over the place. 

Mastering Synthesis or Dragon Dance+ is also helpful in reducing the cooldown of Harvest, so this Achievement covers a lot of bases in helping players learn how to play Tropius.

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Holowear

Tropius really loves fruit, and thankfully, so do we humans. There’s a lot of career choices out there for the lovable tree dino, so let’s see what Tropius can pull off in a professional setting. First off, Farmer Style Holowear gives it a frayed straw hat and a checkered flannel shirt under a pair of overalls tailored to its body shape. To actually process the fruits of its labor, Cook Style Holowear dresses it up in a chef’s hat and overcoat, along with a dainty little red ascot. Maybe it can learn to relax a bit and go with Vacation Style Holowear, giving it an undiscerning cap and glasses and a cheeky Hawaiian tee. Perhaps with Waiter Style Holowear, it can serve juicy appetizers in a professional vest and tie, and a platter balanced delicately on its head. And lastly, Fruit Style Holowear makes Tropius resemble a Brazilian dancer with a bright red dress, along with one of those hats absolutely overflowing with fruit, but instead of fruit its berries, since actual fruits don’t exist. Nope, none, especially not bananas and apples. Nuh uh.

However Tropius brings you fruit, it’ll serve while serving up looks. Gotta look fancy and fresh while delivering fancy fresh fruits, you know?

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Strategy

Supporters have one job, and that’s the support the team, either by healing or buffing their teammates or by disrupting the opposing team. Tropius is made by its Harvest ability, the ability to spawn a Nanab berry that can restore their HP and boost their defenses for a short while. These spawned Nanab berries can be crossbred and enhanced by eating other berries or by using them while under the effects of a boost. As such, diligent supporting requires that you master this ability, as I’ve explained before in the Achievements section.

The cooldown of the Harvest ability is a whopping 30 seconds, but it goes down a bit when you deal damage with your basic attack and each time you eat a berry, including the one Harvest spawns. However, those berries better serve your allies than yourself, so you need to be constantly in the fight and save the field berries for yourself to keep Harvest’s cooldown low. At the beginning of the game, Growth lowers the cooldown by a meager 3 seconds, but if the Harvest ability is ready to use, you can use it to power up the Nanab berry Harvest spawns. It’s very useful to power up yourself or a teammate for when the enemy Jungler shows up in your lane.

Because of your passive nature as a Supporter, Tropius reaches its full potential sooner than other pokemon. By that I mean that your movekit is fully loaded at level 7, and the moves are fully upgraded at level 12. But what moves to run will depend on what the team composition of both yours and your opponents looks like. A bulky crew of Defenders and All-Rounders can easily be saved with a well placed Synthesis, and diligent healing cuts down a lot of Harvest’s cooldown time. Dragon Dance, however, is very useful to power up ally ranged Attackers, allowing them to deal more damage from afar along with a mild defense boost for safety. Plus, Dragon Dance+ gives you the biggest cooldown reduction to Harvest when you or an ally KO an enemy while under the effect of the boost, rewarding hyper aggressive offense and pushes.

Leaf Storm and Air Slash aren’t the toughest choices to pick, as neither one is any more effective or ineffective than the other. Like mentioned before, Leaf Storm blinds the enemy team caught in the attack, rendering their sure hit moves useless until they can leave. Air Slash is a long range Stun attack, of which there are already a lot of those moves in the game, so it’s only useful when providing back-up for a melee attacker or Defender on your team. These disruptive moves work very well with your basic attack though, as it Stuns and slows enemies down with each boosted hit. It needs 3 hits to become boosted though, making it really slow, and requires a healthy diet of berries to become substantially boosted as well, but if you know how to stay alive, you can provide some valuable cover fire for your allies with it and Leaf Storm or Air Slash.

The Unite Move, An Apple A Day, is a different beast altogether, as it provides a unique effect of powering up your teammates to an insane level. Firstly, it heals a lot of HP, which can save your butt in the heat of battle, and it also resets the cooldown of all of your moves and Harvest. Combined with Synthesis and Harvest spawning a Nanab Berry, this Unite Move is the first ever instance of ‘burst healing’ (Goodra can also burst heal, but you’d need to deal direct damage to enemies with Dragon Pulse and has to hit enemies bogged down by Gooey, so it sort of doesn’t count, sort of). After finishing off the apple, Tropius will spawn another one meant for your teammates, which also heals and resets the cooldown of all of their moves as well. Not only that, the apple keeps their moves from going on cooldown for 4.5 seconds, allowing them to go absolutely insane with their moves. Speedsters will start zipping around like their hitting the peak of a sugar rush, Attackers will unload shot after shot of high powered attacks, Defenders will start shoving enemies around like a broom on a dusty floor, and All-Rounders will go buck wild with impunity. Of course, it requires proper coordination to pull it off, and you’re putting a lot of faith in your teammates to do what is necessary, but good supporting requires meeting your allies in the middle and expecting them to do their part after you’ve done yours.

All Tropius wants to do all day is eat fruit, but it can help its friends out by sharing its spoils with them. Keeping your friends happy and healthy and providing them with the bounty of nature is what an altruistic supporter aims to do. Take care of nature, and it will take care of you.

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And that’s Tropius for Pokemon Unite! Hey so here’s a fun fact, there was a leak a long while ago about Tropius that might’ve shown that it was coming to Pokemon Unite, but we never got an update on that story. Supposedly, there was data for it to suggest that it might’ve been playable in a future update, but later updates removed it. It didn’t stop me from making and posting this, though I would’ve been very miffed if it turns out that Tropius was indeed coming to the game at a moment where this draft was almost done. Glad I held out.

That’s not to say that it can’t happen. I mean, someone has to like this fruit dinosaur enough that there were plans to put it into the game. Maybe we’ll be seeing playable Tropius next year, or the year after that, who knows.

Anyway, I’ve got other posts to finish. Hope you enjoyed the read. See ya!

[telomeke-bbs]

BAD BUDDY FILMING LOCATIONS 6

This post continues my five previous ones (linked here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5) on filming locations for Bad Buddy. This instalment is loosely about F&B and commercial locations.

One of the filming locations I had thought would be impossible to find was the wonton noodle stall, because it looked so much like an authentic street vendor set-up (and if that were true, looking for it would really have been a haystack-needle quest given that there are more than half a million street vendors in Bangkok, according to this article linked here).

(top) Ep.10 [3I4] 11.50; (bottom) Ep.5 [1I4] 9.20

I thought they had commandeered an actual stall because the attention to detail was just insane:

There's steam rising off that stove (see Ep.5 [1I4] 9.20);

That white Suzuki van is all kitted out with lanterns, Chinese decorations and branding stickers;

There are condiment bottles in baskets on every table and at the ordering counter too;

There is a large menu board that not only has dishes, prices and photos of what's on sale – they also canceled out two items to make it look like they're no longer available (which happens all the time in real life – when something is sold out/not saleable and is removed from the menu).

But I should have known better – because it's all artifice. The wonton loong is also an actor (he was the ice-cream vendor in My Engineer, and can be seen in that series on YouTube at Ep.7 [3I4] 0.16) and the whole stall was set up at the open forecourt of Building 7 (the RSU Library) at Rangsit University (RSU).

The following image of RSU Building 7's forecourt is from Google Street View:

These are the corroborating details in Bad Buddy, with reference to the image above:

The pink RSU Building 7 sign can be seen at Ep.7 [3I4] 3.56, Ep.7 [3I4] 4.47 and Ep.10 [3I4] 11.50;

At the far left you can see the white picket fence palings that are visible behind Ink at Ep.7 [3I4] 5.10;

The little frangipani tree in a dragon urn with a rusted white-frame impact guard all around it (between the tree on the left and the pink RSU Building 7 sign) can also be seen at Ep.7 [3I4] 3.56, Ep.7 [3I4] 4.47 and Ep.7 [3I4] 4.52;

The red-brown ramp with black railings, as well as the banana trees to the right, can be seen in BBS at Ep.3 [1I4] 6.10 and Ep.5 [1I4] 9.51;

The distinctive black and white rainwater spouts at the parapet above the round columns of the white single-story block can be seen behind the vendor van at Ep.3 [1I4] 6.08 and Ep.5 [1I4] 9.06.

Opposite the RSU Library is Building 11:

(above) This image of RSU Building 11 is from Google Street View

RSU Building 11 can also be seen in the background of some scenes at the wonton noodle stall. The following are some more corroborating details in BBS:

The poster on the left (with the slogan "Let's Go Global") is just visible at Ep.7 [3I4] 3.56 and Ep.10 [3I4] 11.50;

The glass façade with its spider clamps, as well as these elements behind it – the wide, white staircase, the round metal-clad column flanked by flags of different countries (Japan, India, USA, Canada, Brunei, Turkey, Indonesia, and Bangladesh) – are visible in BBS at Ep.7 [3I4] 3.56, Ep.7 [3I4] 4.47 and Ep.10 [3I4] 11.50.

For some reason, when I saw this building in BBS it looked like a car dealership to me, and that led me further astray in the hunt to track the location down. 🤷‍♂️ But it was RSU Library's pink signboard that finally pointed me in the right direction.

Although the wonton noodle stall wasn't a real one, the next few locations are actual F&B/commercial establishments. A number of these were easy to find because they're acknowledged in the closing credits, and the buildings they are in were also used as establishing shots – these buildings are The Promenade Mall (587,589 589/7-9 Ram Inthra Road, Khan Na Yao, Bangkok 10230, Thailand) and Fashion Island Mall (Ram Inthra Road, Khan Na Yao, Bangkok 10230, Thailand):

(top) The Promenade (Ep.8 [2/4] 0.17); (bottom) Fashion Island (Ep.10 [3I4] 17.53)

The Promenade and Fashion Island are connected by a covered skybridge that crosses the road separating them – it's really a corridor in the sky and brings the two together into one giant shopping destination.

(above) The corridor in the sky connecting Fashion Island and The Promenade (image from Google Street View off Google Maps)

A must-see location here is the dessert café where Pat had his disaster date with Ink, and it is in reality Gram Café and Pancakes on Level 2 of The Promenade:

(above) This image is from The Promenade's website (linked here) and is a match for Ep.5 [2/4] 1.42 (InkPat's disaster date), Ep.5 [2/4] 5.04 (Ink feeding Pa in front of the sign that says "I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU I LOVE YOU – I FED YOU PANCAKE") and Ep.5 [2/4] 9.46 (Pran catching sight of Ink and Pat at the café)

(above) Ep.5 [2/4] 5.03

Even if you're not a Bad Buddy fan, the fluffy pancakes served in this Japanese chain are legendary and should soothe any dessert-hungry traveler (Gram is so popular it now has outlets all across Southeast Asia and in Australia as well).

The other F&B establishment at The Promenade that was also featured in BBS is Shuushabu, and it was the locale for Ink and Pa's clumsy shabu-shabu meal (starting at Ep.8 [2/4] 0.21), as well as the setting for Pat's dream date with Pran coming true (at Ep.10 [3I4] 17.57 – which was the realization of the wish he made at Ep.8 [2/4] 3.39: "I want to go out and have a hot pot with you" 💖).

(above) This image of Shuushabu is from The Promenade's website (linked here) – Pat and Pran had the first table next to the door, right up front; Ink and Pa's table was further inside, facing the blackboard at the back

Shuushabu's Facebook (linked here) also has this: 😍

Across the bridge from The Promenade, tucked away inside the gargantuan commercial behemoth that is Fashion Island, is the one BBS shop setting here that isn't F&B – Vee Music, on Level 3 of the mall. Vee Music represented PatPran's favorite music store (seen in BBS at Ep.3 [3I4] 2.12 and Ep.5 [2/4] 5.13):

(above) This image dated 1 September 2021 is from Vee Music's Facebook (linked here); corroborating details are the framed chainlink support for the LED signage that says "Fender", the horizontal paneling on the right and left walls (beechwood on one side, pale gray on the other), the white ceiling tracklights at the front of the store, and the illuminated signboard of the Sizzler restaurant opposite, that is reflected below the "Fender" signage

(above) Ep.3 [3I4] 2.55

For a closer look around the interior of Vee Music, check out this video posted by Audy Thailand on YouTube (the signboard outside is different because the video is from three years ago, but the interior looks largely the same):

The last BBS location within the confines of Fashion Island/The Promenade isn't strictly speaking an F&B or commercial establishment, but I'm including it here because it's still mall-based. It's the corridor where PatPran had their confrontation with Ming after they shopped for groceries following their hot pot meal (Ep.10 [4/4] 0.22):

The sign that says "Momoko" (visible in the image above) was the clue to pinpointing this location on plan – it's for the Momoko Bag and Shoe Spa at Level 1 of The Promenade, meaning that this location is the walkway connecting to the car park from Main Street East, just after the corridor turnoff to the toilets:

(above) This plan graphic was adapted from The Promenade's website, linked here

The next location takes us back to Rangsit University (where the academic scenes were filmed). It's Hokkaido Coffee at the RSU Student Center:

(top) The location of Hokkaido Coffee on plan; (middle) this photo taken by วิษณุ วรรณแสวง and dated April 2019 is from Google Maps (linked here) – corroborating details are the standee (seen in BBS behind Pran at Ep.4 [1I4] 16.45) as well as the teapot sticker on the glass door (Ep.4 [1I4] 16.56); (bottom) this interior view dated 4 May 2019 is on Hokkaido Coffee's Facebook (linked here) – the mirror at the back, the Japanese-inspired mezzanine balustrading, the green text "Hokkaido Coffee" below the curved display case, and the artwork on the walls are all matching details

This is the café where Pran saw Ink buying Pat iced milk tea (Ep.4 [1I4] 16.56), where he discussed Pat's charges of gun possession with Wai, Safe and Louis (Ep.9 [4/4] 2.47), and where Ink bought dessert for Pa and her friends (Ep.10 [1I4] 16.59):

(top left) Ep.4 [1I4] 16.45; (top right) Ep.4 [1I4] 16.56; (bottom left) Ep.9 [4/4] 2.57; (bottom right) Ep.10 [1I4] 17.24

We all know that Ink's rendezvous with Pat at Hokkaido Coffee triggered Pran's memory of buying iced milk tea for Pat in high school (Ep.4 [2/4] 0.35). That flashback scene was filmed at the canteen of the Satit Bilingual School (SBS), also on Rangsit University's campus:

(above) The SBS canteen is at the first storey of this block, seen here in an image from Google Street View dated January 2022

Zooming in, you can just make out the back of the Smoothie Shake stall where teen Pran bought iced milk tea for teen Pat (although why a smoothie stall should be selling Thai iced milk tea is beyond me 😂):

(top left) Google Street View, zoomed in; (top right) this image is an old photo from the SBS Facebook (linked here) – the name of the stall is different probably because this image dates from 1 September 2012; (bottom) Ep.4 [2/4] 0.46

The staircase next to the stall is also the one that we see Pat walking up as he calls out to Pran (at Ep.4 [2/4] 0.47). Corroborating details are the vivid orange paneling and black steel framing at the stalls. I can't find a more recent image but there are a fair number of photos with other matching details on the SBS Facebook (linked here).

The university counterpart to the SBS canteen is the RSU Student Center Food Court – and this was the setting for several scenes in BBS: Ep.2 [1I4] 6.04 (Pat and Pran hustling their friend groups away from each other), Ep.3 [4/4] 2.36 (the Archi boys discussing funding to rebuild the bus stop), and Ep.10 [1I4] 13.53 (WaiKorn's wedding – see this link here for an explanation – and the post-wedding discussion about Wai's crush on Pa).

(top left) This image is extracted from a video dated May 2022 by Liu Tangyuyang on Google Maps (linked here) – the poster with a coffee cup below the counter can be seen in BBS at Ep.3 [4/4] 2.57 behind Wai, and the signboard saying "Koffee" can be glimpsed at Ep.10 [1I4] 15.17 behind Pran; (top right) Ep.10 [1I4] 16.51; (bottom left) this image is extracted from a YouTube video ("RIC" Uni Tour 2021, linked here, timestamp 5.50); (bottom right) Ep.2 [1I4] 6.06

There is one more F&B location on the RSU campus that can be seen in BBS, but I can't find corroborating images for it online – this is U Café, and it was in the background of Pat, Pran and Wai’s fight at the base of their student apartment building (Ep.5 [4/4] 1.59), as well as the scene where Pa says to Ink "Anyone taller than me is fine" (Ep.9 [2/4] 3.04).

Google Maps has some images, but they are old (dating to November 2016) and except for the U Café logo they really don't match what we see in the scene beginning at Ep.9 [2/4] 2.13.

(top left) This image of the U Café box signage is from Google Maps (linked here) and it dates from November 2016 – although the logo matches what we see in BBS, the box sign and other details don't; (top right) Ep.5 [4/4] 2.03; (bottom) Ep.9 [2/4] 3.37

Google Maps suggests that U Café is situated at the RSU Faculty of Art and Design (not the College of Engineering as I'd previously thought), but I haven't been able to find enough information to ascertain this and pinpoint a location. If anyone is visiting Rangsit University, do have a look around and let me know if you find anything! 💖

Afterpost Edit: OK, so based on some feedback from @tiistirtipii who went BBS location-spotting in Thailand (thanks dearie! 💖) and after more searching on the Internet, I'm pretty certain of where this location is. U Café is no longer there, but the location of Pat, Pran and Wai's altercation, as well as Pa's height-themed flirty come-on to Ink, is at the end of the road where Pat and Pa drop Pran off after rescuing him from being beaten up by Korn, Mo and Chang (see Ep.1 [3‌/4] 2.05):

(top) The probable location of where U Café used to be on the map; (middle) a zoomed-in screenshot from Google Street View of the location, viewed from 13°57'54.4"N 100°35'08.8"E; (bottom) a screenshot of Bad Buddy Ep.5 [4/4] 2.07 that has matching details

In the Google Street View screenshot above (apologies for the blurriness) you can just make out the air-conditioning condensers mounted between the windows above and a stretch of brick wall lower down, the dark gray doors below the café counter, and the large white uPVC rain water downpipes that bend horizontally to avoid the edge of the floor slab and enter the underground drain one step below – these are all corroborating details visible in BBS at Ep.5 [4/4] 2.07. 👍

‌

The last location for this post (that I've not previously written-up) is food retail but not dining F&B – it's the market where PatPran went shopping for ingredients during the Archi Volunteer Camp, and this was Chatchai Market in Hua Hin, along Petchkasem Road:

(above) Ep.6 [3I4] 3.19

(top) This image of Chatchai Market is from the Tourism Thailand website (linked here); (bottom) this photo of the interior, dated December 2020, was taken by Poomjit Sirawongprasert and is from Google Maps (linked here)

(above) This image is a screencap from the Behind-the-Scenes video at timestamp 0.01 (linked here) – the telephone number on the stall sign at the top left of the image is a match for the number in the image off Google Maps above, and helps to corroborate the location (it's for a dried seafood stall in the market: ร้านเข็มทองของแห้ง by โอ๋")

(top) At timestamp 0.08 in the same Behind-the-Scenes video linked above, we can see Ohm and Director Backaof waiting for Nanon outside Chatchai Market (one of its exits leads to this road – Hua Hin 72); (bottom) this image is from Google Street View at the same road (Hua Hin 72) – the shops are a match for what we see behind Ohm and Director Backaof

So aside from the above, there are actually three other F&B locations that I've already mentioned in previous write-ups. There's no point re-writing them up here, but if you're interested to read more –they're the Jae Si Curry House (actually Nabnuer Meat & Co. Steakhouse at Ek Thaksin Road in Rangsit; write-up linked here), the iced milk tea stall at Pat's faculty (write-up linked here) and the café at Pran's faculty where the Archi gang discussed Pat's gift of khanom thong yod (actually Decons Café at the RSU Faculty of Architecture Building; write-up linked here).

Whew! That's about it for this long post. 😊 But if you're wondering why I grouped all these F&B/commercial locations together in this one monster write-up, I did have a particular reason in mind.

Any BBS fans traveling to Thailand might find it fun to visit the filming locations – but for non-fans the experience could be rather boring if they hadn't watched the series.

F&B/commercial locations, however, should still be reasonably interesting (hopefully) to any dragged-along travel companions. Even if they aren't into BBS as much as we are, they might still enjoy themselves patronizing these places as customers, if not as fans. (OK, this wouldn't apply to the noodle stall location or the canteens, but you can't win 'em all. 🤷‍♂️)

Well I'm hoping this holds true anyway, and I'm also thinking of my own traveling companions in the future here. Heh. 😜💖

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[Afterpost Edit – here are the links to all the filming location posts:

Part 1 – The legendary rooftop, PatPran’s student apartments, their high school, the white arches behind the Engineering Canteen, the Zero Waste Village and various seaside scenes, their honeymoon suite, the hospital where Pat was treated for his gunshot graze, and the high school reunion.

Part 2 – Pat and Pran’s family homes, the Flagpole Bar, the car park fight location, and the Jae Si Curry House.

Part 3 – Various locations at and around the rugby field, including Pat’s photoshoot with Ink, the rugby bleachers, the iced milk tea (and green tea wave) picnic table, InkPa’s photography picnic, the old bus stop and the new bus stop. Also Khun Noppharnach’s pharmacy.

Part 4 – Pat’s Engineering Faculty (in and around Rangsit University’s College of Engineering).

Part 5 – Pran’s Architecture Faculty (Rangsity University’s School of Architecture).

Part 6 – Various F&B and commercial locations (eateries, shops, malls and a market).

Part 7 – Pat’s post-graduation apartment and Pran’s residence in Singapore.

Part 8 – Various campus locations filmed within Rangsit University’s Digital Multimedia Complex, including the auditorium and the Freshy Day Song Contest.

Part 9 – The LogTech Building and Pran’s architectural office in Singapore.

Part 10 – Locations for the Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy special episodes.

Part 11 – The apartment for rent that Pran went to view in Ep.2, the elevator scene with Pat just after the viewing, and Wai’s apartment.

Part 12 – PatPran’s elementary and high schools, as well as the location of Pa’s near-drowning.

Part 13 – Random locations (Pran searching for his lost earphones, the covered car park where Wai spied on Pat serenading Pran with Nanon's Love Score, the airport car park, the SouthTech U Library, PatPran's rainy day ointment interlude, their motorbike and truck rides in Hua Hin, the approach road to Uncle Yod's bar, the filming location for the music videos Just Friend? and Our Song, and Pran's street address in Singapore).

Will update this list if I can track down the hardware stores – the one remaining location still unidentified! 🤣]

[argumate]

Wu Zunyou, top infectious disease specialist for China's CDC, predicted at the Caijing Annual Conference on December 17 that between 10 and 30 percent of Chinese people may get COVID-19 this winter, with a risk of death of between 0.09 and 0.16 percent.

predicting between 126,000 and 672,000 deaths this winter then

[rosieortiz190]

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