#os2 x bbs x atots

[wen-kexing-apologist]

How about your top 5 shared looks in qls this year?

And if they are all of Phaya and Tharn in The Sign, what then?

Phaya and Tharn, The Sign, Ep 2

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Billy is just so good at radiating horniness, I don't know how he does it. The tension is so thick already by Ep 2!!!

Pat and Phupa, Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of a Thousand Stars

gif by @gunsatthaphan

This was so fucking funny, and I really hope they did actually fuck/I have decided they did actually fuck.

Han Ba Ram and Im Han Tae, Sing My Crush

gif by @smileytharn

THE LIFT! THE LIFT! I LOVE THE LIFT! I have been neglecting South Korea on my 5 Best BL Moments lists so far, but this show was so good, and these two are so fucking cute and so good together.

Kenji and Shiro, What Did You Eat Yesterday? Season 2 (aka Kinou Nani Tabeta?)

gifs by @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Literally any and all times that Kenji and Shiro look at each other I die. This is my ghost form writing to you right now.

Day and Mhok, Last Twilight

gif by @taeminie

I love this one on the subway in Episode 3 especially because you can see how visibly nervous and flustered Day is. That boy has been harboring a crush on Mhok since very early on and he just let himself get distracted by August.

Alternatively, I really liked the end of Episode 7 when Day's vision goes dark, cause like someone else said: disability doesn't stop for romance and I really appreciate Aof letting this play out.

ASK ME MY TOP 5 OF ANYTHING BL 2023

#the sign the series #sing my crush #kinou nani tabeta? #what did you eat yesterday? #last twilight the series #os2 x bbs x atots #ask game #best in bl 2023

[idlesugarpuff]

Forever 💚❤️

PatPran, and the Architecture play..

A3, charcoal.

#bad buddy #fan art #our skyy 2 #os2 x bbs x atots #fanart #ohmnanon #patpran #pranpat #our skyy x bad buddy #talvi draws

[malepresentingleg]

THAT WAS NOT ON MY OUR SKYY CHECK BOX BUT I'LL TAKE IT

#skdjfhsdkfjsd #i'm gong batshit INSANE here #leg is live blogging #(maybe death blogging idk if i'm surviving this) #leg is watching os2 #os2 x bbs x atots #os2 #bad buddy #our skyy 2 #kornwai

[telomeke-bbs]

OUR SKYY 2 x BAD BUDDY x A TALE OF THOUSAND STARS – A REVIEW AND PARTIAL ANALYSIS

Yes, I'm well aware that it's been more than two weeks since the Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars 4-ep closer for OS2 aired, and I'm far behind the bandwagon in posting this.

Thing is, I've had to take some time to gather my garbled thoughts on how I feel about the mini-series, and I have many. Also, the longer I dawdle, the more others have posted similar musings, and I then have to edit down my own write-up to avoid repeating stuff that others more knowledgeable and eloquent than I have already made public.

This is like my fourth or fifth re-write, and I've already chucked so much aside. But now the ideas jangling in my head seem a bit more coherent, and maybe it's time to solidify them in the written word.

I think part of the block I was facing had to do with the fact that I was expecting the Bad Buddy portions of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS to be doing more than they did, and when they didn't I was left a little directionless. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the episodes though; I most certainly did. How great was it to see Pat and Pran back in action again? 😍 Even though their dynamic and storyline weren't as deeply resonating as what we saw in the original Bad Buddy, they still managed to charm me no end.

While I certainly wanted more information regarding Pat and Pran's relationship (and we did get to see a tiny bit), what I'd really been hoping for was more of the intellectual gamery that had been so carefully interwoven into the original BBS, that was densely layered with metaphor, allegory and messaging. It was also rich with linguistic wordplay and cultural content, and I was on the lookout for more of the same in OS2 the moment Pat and Pran appeared. But these were mostly missing, even though they delivered callbacks and charisma in spades.

It was only upon re-watching that a number of realizations crystallized for me, chief of which was the fact that I'd been looking for things in the wrong place. The subtextual (and even metatextual) cleverness I was expecting actually was there, but it had been woven more into the ATOTS portions instead. And while I like the original ATOTS, it didn't inspire in me the same kind of obsessive love that Bad Buddy had done, so I have never gone in for a re-watch or examined it in greater detail, and thus wasn't paying as much attention to the ATOTS portions of OS2.

More fool me. No wonder my first watch of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS missed what it did, because I kind of sped through Phupha and Tian's story, when the mini-series was leaning more on ATOTS than BBS to telegraph its messaging.

I really shouldn't have been surprised. We know that the creators of Bad Buddy (Director Aof mostly, but Ohm and Nanon were in on it too) viewed BBS as having told all that needed to be told of PatPran’s story, and this was signified by the apartment door closing on the happy couple’s continued rough-housing at the end of Ep.12.

(above) BBS Ep.12 [4/4] 18.22 and 18.23 – the door closes on Pat and Pran's story (dunno who was swinging it shut though – Nong Nao maybe? 😂)

And this is why OS2 x BBS didn’t show us events post-Ep.12, but chose instead to position the mini-series during the timeskip between Episodes 11 and 12.

So when BBS became the success it did, pressure must have mounted on all sides but especially from the higher-ups to squeeze out a sequel somehow, because it would undoubtedly be a money-spinner. But what more is there to spin out when you, the maker, are convinced that not only is the whole yarn already spun and done, the tapestry you wove from it is pretty much complete as well?

I will go so far as to say I think OS2 x BBS x ATOTS was Director Aof’s escape hatch – instead of trying to spin out more from nothing, he shone a spotlight on a previously unseen section of his opus (letting management and fans know we would be getting Pat and Pran back, but then showing us their timeskip rather than events beyond Ep.12). And a short while later he segued artfully into a related piece, wrangling PatPran into a crossover with ATOTS that would have its message revolve a lot more around PhuTian’s story instead. I'm sure we find out more about Phupha and Tian's relationship too, but I'm not going to go into it in any detail because I'm not as au fait with their backstory as I feel I am with Pat and Pran's; I'm pretty sure though that their story in OS2 was the primary vessel for deeper messaging.

And I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one to pick up on Director Aof making ATOTS do the heavier lifting – see @wen-kexing-apologist’s write-ups linked here and here.

To my mind, Director Aof's bait-and-switch (kind of a hallmark with him) was also signaled at the end of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [4/4], when Pran had to hike up to Pha Pun Dao just as Tian had done in the original ATOTS.

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [4/4] 10.28

Pran found it as much of a physical ordeal as Tian did, and the parallel with Tian's trajectory is unmistakable (while also being oddly illogical, since Pran should still be pretty fit as an ex-rugby player while Tian is a heart transplant recipient 🤷‍♂️).

But in service of the narrative, when an exhausted Pran finally reaches his destination – it’s the waiting Phupha who faints, not Pran-as-Tian. (In the original ATOTS, it was Tian who fainted at the end of the long hike up to PPD and Phupha was the one who caught him.)

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [4/4] 11.28

For me, this signals that a switch-up has happened, and Phupha's story has somehow taken up continuity from Pran's (and we do see him learning from their similar experiences when they talk in the forest in Ep.3). More than just a callback to ATOTS, it also represents the moment when the red thread of the narrative, the coursing of the prana or qi, symbolically transfers from PatPran's storyline to PhuTian's.

So, summarizing the structure of this four-ep mini-series:

Ep.1 was basically a set-up to get PatPran up to the mountains, padded out with lots of gleeful fanservice moments for BBS fans (not that I'm complaining! 💖);

Ep.2 was devoted to setting out the main subject matter at hand and establishing the framework within which it would be discussed (PhuTian’s relationship, juxtaposed against PatPran’s);

Ep.3 – the jungle jaunt – introduced external conflict as the tool by which the subject could be dissected under scrutiny; and

Ep.4 was of course the resolution, drawing matters to their natural conclusion.

And with regard to Bad Buddy, what we see in OS2’s BBS portions is really a kind of compromise. It’s not a sequel to BBS by a longshot, but mostly a flourish of fanservice instead (hence the generous gifting of callbacks and re-creations of iconic moments from BBS, especially in Ep.1 of the four-parter – some scenes, like the one starting at Ep.1 [1I4] 8.31, consisted almost entirely of callbacks).

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [1I4] 8.47

This is not to say we don't see anything at all with regard to growth though. By situating PatPran's storyline during the timeskip between the original BBS Episodes 11 and 12, we were effectively allowed a glimpse into the state and development of their relationship sometime after the heady hormonal rush of their honeymoon period in Ep.11, and before its relative maturity in Ep.12, and there were some choice moments on display.

OS2 called this out at Ep.2 [2/4] 10.29, when Pat asked "Since we’re here in the North, should we make it our honeymoon trip?", which Pran then dismisses with a reminder of their task at hand (getting PhuTian's permission for his play).

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.2 [2/4] 10.51

The honeymoon reference was a callback to BBS Ep.11, in which Pat was wanting to live indefinitely in a sort-of forever honeymoon by the sea (that even he knew was only illusory). Pran's dismissal of Pat's suggestion in OS2 was a reminder that their honeymoon period was over, and it was time for them to be dealing with the growing pains that every couple faces on their journey to a stable pairing.

What wasn't addressed in the original BBS is that PatPran's natural propensity to draw each other into conflict could not have been healthy for their longer-term relationship post-honeymoon, unless they found a way to corral the constant infighting and invent a set of gentlemen's rules that would prevent damage to their bond.

(above) BBS Ep.5 [1I4] 3.19

And I think this is part of what OS2 was trying to show us (however briefly): Pat and Pran moving toward finding a balance between loving each other and punching each other up (emotionally), despite conflict and rivalry paradoxically being the age-old rockbed of their relationship.

The following are some of the relationship dynamics that they explored in OS2:

Transitioning from an individual mindset to a couple-based one (which was highlighted by Pran's solo expedition to the mountains, before Pat managed to catch up);

Adapting to each other's personal styles (Pran's is spikier, and Pat's more embracing);

Learning about give and take, and looking for win-win outcomes rather than keeping score (in OS2, this was illustrated by how their earlier duels – like who gets the auditorium, who gets the HighTem sponsorship – were framed as zero-sum win-lose situations, where a win for one would mean a loss for the other; it was also given a nod in Pran's talk with Phupha at Ep.3 [4/4] 1.19 regarding his insecurities about who gives more in a relationship).

There are possibly others, but these are just the ones I could suss out with my one haphazard re-watch, and I'm not ready to go looking for them. 🤷‍♂️

Now I was originally going to go into these in detail, but I realize it's not what interests me the most about OS2 x BBS x ATOTS, nor do I think OS2 adequately dealt with these (and/or other) relationship issues between PatPran during the mini-series itself (as in, we aren't shown enough of Pat and Pran working together on detangling the knots in their bond for any suggested resolution at the end of the fourth episode to feel logical and satisfying).

It seems almost as though OS2 x BBS x ATOTS was expecting us to believe that PatPran's Ep.3 trial by forest (which they also went through mostly apart from each other) was enough to be some magically purifying crucible, imparting wisdom via its sufferance.

(above left) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.3 [1I4] 15.16 – Tian, Pran and Kampung lost in the forest; (above right) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.3 [1I4] 17.46 – Pat and Phupha on their wilderness search

We do know that PatPran's journey to arrive at a steady-state couplehood will continue unseen beyond OS2 and that they eventually end up on rock-solid footing, with a set of mutually-agreed ground rules for engagement that is acknowledged and respected, because it's obviously what they have in place by the time we see them in BBS Ep.12 (so much so that their relationship could withstand the difficulties of a long-distance commitment after Pran moves to Singapore).

(above) BBS Ep.12 [3I4] 8.15

I'm willing to accept this because I think OS2 x BBS x ATOTS was not meant to be a PatPran vehicle in the main, and so I will take whatever crumbs are on offer and view their forest ordeal as more metaphor than real-time depiction of their actual process to ground their relationship in greater maturity. (If you'd like to look at PatPran's learning track more in detail however, I can point you to the ever-incisive @miscellar's breakdowns linked here, here and here. 🤩👍)

But what I find really interesting about OS2 x BBS x ATOTS is when PhuTian's storyline gets drawn into the mix – and it happens much earlier than you would think on first watch.

One part of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS that stood out for me was all the discourse around the Engineering play, because quite frankly it felt incongruously spotlighted. First of all, why Snow White? And why an entire scene of Pran demonstrating the art of theater to Pat backstage? I now believe Director Aof was doing this to call attention to some underlying significance.

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [2/4] 9.15

Tumblr user @ranchthoughts has very astutely pointed out that the story of Snow White has many parallels with the original ATOTS (e.g., the gallant woodsman; the fragile, privileged damsel who falls in a swoon; the journey through the forest; the misappropriated heart that doubles as proof of good faith – see these links here, here and here for more 🤩👍).

(above) An illustration of the seven dwarfs finding Snow White by Franz Jüttner, from Sneewittchen (1905)

So by bringing up Snow White, Director Aof was already slyly alluding to PhuTian in OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [2/4].

Although it is not a strict retelling of the fairytale, I think that OS2 x BBS x ATOTS also contains elements of Snow White:

Another character (Phupha) swoons into unconsciousness (like Snow White did after biting the poisoned apple);

There is also a journey through the wilderness (mirroring Snow White's abandonment in the woods and finding her way to the dwarf house);

A cast of supporting characters parallels the seven dwarfs (Kampung is one, and this is perhaps why they dressed him in oversized windbreakers, playing with his proportions to make him seem more dwarf-like; this is also possibly why Pat jokingly mentions Korn playing one of the dwarfs in the Engineering play at Ep.1 [1I4] 13.26 – Drake may have been originally envisioned as part of the cast, in character as Rang, up in the mountains);

The magic mirror, that always tells the truth, is actually PatPran, in whom PhuTian see their own relationship problems reflected, and whose truths help them to better their own dynamic (see Phupha's comments at Ep.4 [3I4] 0.53 and 1.05 – "It has to be you two who play the parts" and "No one gets us better than these two" as well as PhuTian's more light-hearted callbacks to PatPran's cheekier moments, e.g., at Ep.4 [2/4] 1.25 and 1.59).

But it's really Pat and Pran's interaction backstage at Ep.1 [2/4] 8.54 that both illuminates and foreshadows some bigger themes to come in OS2 x BBS x ATOTS (when Pran demonstrates how a simple bench can transform onstage, depending on how you frame it for the audience via the narrative).

(above left) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [2/4] 10.12 – Pran shows Pat how a bench can be a dining table; (above right) BBS Ep.3 [3I4] 9.01 – Pat shows Pran how roleplay can spark a creative bus stop design

On the surface level it's a parallel and callback to PatPran's roleplay at BBS Ep.3 [3I4] 8.38 (although flipping the roles with Pran turning educator doesn't quite gel, given that Pat was fully aware of how to use the power of imagination at the bus-stop).

It's also a tip of the hat to theater legend Peter Brook who famously said "I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be engaged", which invokes the same kind of metamorphic magic that turns Pran's bench into a mirror, a dwarf dining table and a glass coffin. (Peter Brook also passed away just a few months before the Our Skyy 2 trailer aired, which lends a poignancy and weight to this moment.)

(above left) Theater legend Peter Brook; (above right) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [2/4] 11.03 – PatPran roleplay Snow White and the glass coffin

The bench as glass coffin is also a metaphor for the constraints that PatPran must face living their relationship in a glass closet – open to view yet limited on all sides by expectations (remembering that they've officially broken up but still have to interact in public on school matters).

And of course it's unmissable that both Snow White's glass coffin and PatPran's relationship are a metaphor for queer lives in the closet. (PatPran leaning in for a kiss on that bench only to be interrupted by a uniformed security guard, is also a tongue-in-cheek reminder about how higher authorities can and do impinge on the freedom of queer people to love freely.)

However, in the context of BL and of Our Skyy 2 as a BL anthology, OS2 x BBS x ATOTS is also a metatextual comment on the telling of queer love stories in the media. The entire four-parter can be seen as a metaphor (or more correctly, an allegory) regarding the commodification of LGBTQ+ love by the BL industry itself, if you will, as well as some of the issues this stirs up.

In OS2 we have:

PatPran turning PhuTian's love story into a drama for public consumption;

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [3I4] 7.00

The emphasis placed on consent for that story to be used (in the words of Ajahn Pichai at Ep.1 [2/4] 12.15, 12.31 and 12.38, and PhuTian's exchange at Ep.2 [1I4] 16.30) and the comment that partial consent is not enough (from Pran at Ep.2 [1I4] 10.18 and 20.22);

(top) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.1 [2/4] 12.38; (middle) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.2 [1I4] 16.32; (bottom) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.2 [1I4] 20.22

Phupha's objection to being portrayed as a one-dimensional love interest, reduced to only his romanticized and/or sexualized self (Ep.2 [1I4] 18.35), instead of being seen as a fully-realized human being in his own right (Ep.2 [1I4] 18.25);

(top) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.2 [1I4] 18.35; (bottom) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.2 [1I4] 18.25

Pran detecting Phupha's self-doubt and commenting at Ep.3 [4/4] 0.58: "Why do I feel like you’re just insecure and not sure if you’re good enough to tell anyone that story?";

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.3 [4/4] 0.58

Phupha finally giving permission for PatPran to dramatize his and Tian's story, with the proviso that Tian and he be played by PatPran themselves (Ep.4 [3I4] 0.48).

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [3I4] 0.48

The parallels with the BL industry are striking. (I'm sticking with BL as the established industry here, but you could perhaps apply the same points to the nascent GL as well.) No disrespect to allies, but Director Aof is pointedly saying the following:

Queer love stories are constantly being dramatized in Thai media (by cishet-dominated parties and largely for cishet consumption) – but this is often done without the LGBTQ+ community having much say, let alone any consent, in the matter;

The commodification of queer love (especially in the BL industry) has resulted in most productions forefronting the romantic and/or sexual aspects of the narrative (understandable, because these are romance-driven), but this also has the unfortunate result of reducing the queer characters to pretty vessels for love stories, deified and/or fetishized, and with limited room for more to be said about other aspects of their queer lives;

Perhaps because of discrimination, people might still be carrying the idea in their heads that queer stories are somehow less valid than the cishet ones that dominate media (remembering how SOTUS had to break the mold for BL, and InkPa for GL) – and the call sometimes even comes from inside the house, when queer people feel that their stories may somehow be unsuitable for mainstream channels (as echoed by Phupha's insecurity, called out by Pran at Ep.3 [4/4] 0.58).

Not only are queer stories that exist beyond the romantic/sexual dimension worthy of being told in a more expansive arena (Pran's Architecture play, and its reception), the LGBTQ+ community should be mindful when control of how these stories are told and who gets to tell them is not in its hands (echoed by "neutral" Ajahn Pichai's reminder about consent, and Phupha's insistence on having a trusted couple incarnate his and Tian's story).

But remembering Director Aof's leanings toward LGBTQ+ activism in his work, it's also possible to read the drama in OS2 x BBS x ATOTS as an allegory itself for real-life situations, beyond this BL anthology's metatextual comment on the BL industry. I think that this is the ultimate message with PhuTian's story being the finale for Our Skyy 2 (landing not coincidentally during Pride Month and all).

With the metaphors in Pran's theater class backstage and the BL allegory as a launchpad, OS2 x BBS x ATOTS (and Ep.4 especially) is also allegory for queer life in a broader context:

In wider society, the narrative for queer lives has for so long been dominated by the cishet majority and dictated by it (just as the queer romances in BL have had to respond to cishet impulses).

So many queer people have to live their lives with varying degrees of (in)visibility, subject to unseen but still suffocating constraints (Snow White's glass coffin, standing in for the proverbial closet).

Queer lives often take on a performative public face and people have to pretend to be less than their whole truth (Pran's bench, actually so much more than meets the eye).

Queer individuals' self-worth and self-acceptance are influenced by the views of those outside the community, whether coming from family or larger society (Phupha's insecurity, called out by Pran at Ep.3 [4/4] 0.58).

Remembering how Heart in Director Aof's recent (and also mega-important) work Moonlight Chicken was sequestered away by his parents because he was different (i.e., he was a Heart who did not fit what they perceived as "normal"), there is also a parallel in OS2 with Tian whose heart is one step removed from what is considered the norm by wider society (being a transplant from Torfun in ATOTS).

(above) Moonlight Chicken Ep.5 [4/4] 12.23 – Heart weeps in silence at his isolation

Tian's heart often causes him pain, and he is often enfeebled or constrained by it, but even so he loves with his heart just as hard as the next guy (maybe even more, seen not just in his relationship with Phupha but also in his compassion for his students and especially the lost Kampung).

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.3 [3I4] 2.57

We are shown that Tian is not willing to be held back by his difference, and expects to live his life to the fullest. It's just that he needs to live his life a little differently, and indeed he thrives when he is given the right circumstances (controlled exertion, and the right sustenance/medication) and freedom to do so. And all this is of course a metaphor for queer people, whose hearts also love differently from the cishet majority's, and who are simply asking for the freedom and space to live their best lives.

So in a sense – just as PatPran were a magic mirror to PhuTian – OS2 x BBS x ATOTS is also Snow White's magic mirror held up to its audience, reflecting truths about queer life back to all who are watching.

But as is typical of Director Aof's work, Our Skyy 2 also suffuses its message with hope, so it's not all hard truths, raw and unvarnished. The series draws to a close on an uplifting note, and as an allegory it hails on behalf of the queer community the hope of a positive future that is presented as not only attainable, but also deserved.

Homophobia is not shown to exist in this universe (as was the case with BBS and also ATOTS). So when Phupha meets up with Tian in Bangkok, they're surrounded by a supportive network of family, friends and allies who were working together to make Phupha's attendance at Tian's birthday celebration a reality.

(top) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [4/4] 3.06 – Tian's birthday celebration with his parents, best friend Tul and surprise guest Phupha; (bottom) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [4/4] 4.32 – Tian's parents give Phupha their blessing to marry Tian

Tian's parents also giving joyful, proud and formal blessing to their union, as well as Tul and Yod's cheerful assistance, all signal the aspirational message that a better, more accepting world is possible for the LGBTQ+ community.

And of course that super-romantic wedding proposal caps it all off:

(top) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [4/4] 8.46 – Phupha kisses Tian's hand after placing the engagement ring on his finger; (bottom) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [4/4] 12.16 – Phupha and Tian's post-engagement kiss by the pool

But it's not just trumpeting support for marriage equality, the cause célèbre that BL series have been championing over the past few years. Noting that Thailand is expected to legalize LGBTQ+ marriage in the coming weeks or months, queer people in the country are now daring to look to the future with much more hope in their hearts. 💖

With this as the context, Phupha and Tian's engagement in the present, with matrimonial union set for the future, can also be seen as symbolizing the hope of even better days to come – when members of the queer community will finally be afforded equal rights in all respects. And I think this has given Our Skyy 2's last episode a rainbow flourish truly worthy of Pride Month 2023. 😍

‌ P.S. Not to take away from the importance of Director Aof's vision, but this is a Bad Buddy blog after all, so I will close this write-up with a bit of a rewind back to PatPran. We didn't get to see a whole lot of information regarding their relationship growth in the four episodes of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS, but there is an Easter Egg hiding within the layers near the end. One of the issues that Pat and Pran had to deal with as a new-ish couple was how to move away from scorekeeping in their constant, competitive jostling. Their first few contests that we saw in OS2 x BBS x ATOTS were win-lose ones ("if you get it, it means that I won't", e.g., the use of the auditorium and the HighTem sponsorship), and that kind of dynamic would only have been corrosive for their couplehood in the longer term. What we see in OS2 x BBS x ATOTS is that in the end they somehow arrive at a win-win instead (just as their Ep.6 Beachside Bet in Bad Buddy sidestepped a black-and-white win-lose outcome and gave them both the winner's prize of being in love). I don't have proof that it's intentional, but Director Aof and his team are certainly clever enough to have planned it to be so. For if ATOTS really is a version of Snow White, both of them got to stage their plays (and share in the sponsorship) since Pran's play (ATOTS) is also Pat's play (Snow White). OS2 x BBS x ATOTS winks at this with Pat – an Engine boy – playing Snow White/Tian, and by showing Wai and Korn in cahoots backstage (why should Engineering student Korn be helping with the Archi play anyway?). 😍

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [3I4] 6.55 And then PatPran are of course forced to kiss onstage (celebrating their union in more ways than one).

(above) OS2 x BBS x ATOTS Ep.4 [3I4] 7.13 Another sly little wink from OS2, they're lovers pretending to be enemies pretending to be lovers, which in a way is also emblematic of OS2 x BBS x ATOTS's deeper message, told matryoshka-style with layers of allegorical meaning. 💖

‌

#bad buddy #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots #phutian

[letgomaggie]

We know P’Aof is a creative genius and his use of literary references are very purposeful and never in vain. I was struggling to see the point of using something like Snow White -- a very happy fairytale -- as a play reference, especially against ATOTS, which is intertextual and meta and lines up so well. Of course, of course it wouldn’t be that easy right? So, I have a few thoughts on how the Snow White allusion will play out. 

1. The first and most obvious one to me was about, again, perspective. (It’s always perspective with P’Aof I swear). We have with us yet again, two tales, and two perspectives. One is a classic Western tale that’s always been up for revision. The other is a native text, that ponders the act of revision and retelling itself. 

I think a lot of this is referential to their futures and their present. @chickenstrangers talks about queer temporality and queer futurity here. Let’s remember that the events of BBS EP 12 are still in the future - yet to happen - for OS2 PatPran. We know the destination - and this is what makes this version very obviously a happy story. But Pat and Pran are still walking the path to this destination. I think we’re seeing them at a point in their relationship where they are not in complete sync with each other. They’re still walking the same road, they’re just not in step with each other. And that’s okay! 

It’s also important to look at who is bringing forth what to the table. The engineering faculty is the one which has chosen Snow White. Architecture is choosing ATOTS. One is Western, far removed from Pat and Pran’s lived realities -- it is instead a dream, a fairytale. It’s also bold about love, where differences exist but love exists alongside it. The Prince and the Princess didn’t have to fight with the world to love each other, they only had to find their way to each other. (I’m recalling Pat’s realisations about his feelings for Pran, the blind optimism he brought to the table, the way he kissed Pran and felt good vs the way Pran approached the kiss -- with despair, sadness, guilt, fear. Please look at this wonderful exploration of the kiss here.) Pat was in a romcom! His optimism bleeds through -- he still wants to be able to love Pran openly, he’s got a charade going -- the charade of death! Snow White! -- but he’s hopeful of living without the charade in the future. (look here as well!) For Pran, he’s very much living in the present. ATOTS is a real, lived story of queer love and struggle. He too wants to live without the charade, but for him, the nuances of the struggle are much more pronounced. 

One is an old story, and its simply a story. One is a new tale and its a lived reality at that. We’re exploring hopes and dreams in the face of reality and imagination baby! Pat and Pran want to chart their own course, and they need to find a way to blend these two outlooks together. 

They’re both trying to explore the question of “If they can, why can’t we?” but they’re looking for hope in different places. Considering the open ending of the BBS storyline, and the fact that one of them goes abroad while the other stays with his family business -- the future they end up choosing is the one their partner looked at first. They’re still learning from each other, and they continue to grow together. 

P’Aof, let me kiss your forehead PLEASE. 

2. We’re addressing underlying themes of patriarchy! We know that P’Aof’s shows are genre aware as well as time aware. We also know that retellings for him are heavily about subversion, among other things. I’m focusing on the subversion right now because it’s not just any story -- Its Snow White, a classic Western fairy tale, that is well known for its revisionist retellings! Retellings and fairytales (especially the Grimm’s) go hand in hand. Retellings are, in the postmodern context, about unmasking the ideologies inherent in the story and then flipping it. 

Early on, we establish that Pat is the so called prince and Pran is the so called princess in need of rescue. Or is it? Pran has been the one leading Pat this time on divergent and creative thinking. It’s Pran who is taking risks, doing things on his, going after what he wants. It’s also Pran who gets lost (with Tian) and needs rescuing. Pat is part of the rescue effort. But who ends up rescuing whom? 

A sidenote to this point: Pran is also hurt and exploring his independence from Pat while being in a relationship. The fight they have seems petty on the outside and they are certainly mature enough to try and find a way of communication that best fits them i.e. the bet but Pat is the one who needs to apologize and relearn this time. It is clear that there is a modicum of hurt on both ends. They are trying to solve their concerns on their own, as well as together, as well as with the help of others. So, who is rescuing whom and where? Is it Pat rescuing Pran? Is it Pran rescuing Pat? Is it Pran rescuing Tian? Or is it Phupha rescuing Pat? Or is it any other way around? We don’t know yet, but the whole tiger thing makes me think this will definitely be alluded to, if not addressed. 

3. Mirrors! Mirrors in older gays! Mirroring each other stories! 

The first mirror is again, related to perspective. Pran is the one showing Pat how to look at the wooden bench as a mirror for the Snow White adaptation. I also read it as Pran holding up the mirror of reality for Pat -- atleast, a foreshadowing of this, because Pat wants to be open and Pran is more focused on the reality of it all. That they address this in a fantasy situation where anything can veritably happen is so interesting because I think it hints at how BBS EP 12 ended: the future they live there is still happy, and its all a lot of careful planning. Planning, I think, that took place in the time period we see in OS2. They’re figuring it out, laying all the what ifs out and seeing how it goes. 

But they’re still young, and they’re still kids, so Pran gives into a little pettiness and leaves Pat at the bus stop. Pat follows anyways. 

Onto Phupha and Tian: they’re messy y’all. They’re able to see each other in Pat and Pran, and this has been discussed elsewhere. 

Here’s a few posts that examine mirroring/elements of it in the OS2 episodes: here, here, here. (These are the three that stood out to me the most but there’s a few more out there.) 

 Overall, we have been able to see these two episodes address crossovers, the metatextuality of ATOTS, and parallelism across the two shows - of each other AND of themselves. 

 Phupha - Pat and Tian - Pran is genius mirroring in my opinion, and the fact that they examine peril in these pairings is going to be interesting. 

The most important thing jumping out to me is the whole: I see him in you but I also see myself in you. I’ve been here before. I want to be where you are. Literally, pick one of the four and they fit all of these simultaneously. It’s so potent, I cannot shake the fact that this is really going to be super important soon.

I’m not expounding too much on mirroring right now because we have two episodes more to go, and I have also linked all the places this has already been touched upon. We must wait for further insights.

4. The setting. We move from the city to the forest. The city is where ATOTS wants to be. The forest is where BBS wants to be. One show desperately wants to address reality and move out of the liminal space it exists in (ATOTS). The other has been grappling with reality for so long that it seeks the safety of the forest, where reality cannot touch them if they don’t want it to (BBS). BOTH shows have couples that are seeking to strike a balance in their relationships. 

Although we are yet to see Phupha and Tian come down from the mountain, the trailer for OS2 seemed to imply they will. With BBS, we have seen them move already. Even though they are seeking the independence the setting provides them with, let’s also remember that Pran is trying to put on a show based in lived reality. And so, they continue to call each other buddy here -- they can’t shake it off. Even in front of an older queer couple -- who they know have seen their fair share of trials and tribulations and will be safe around -- they keep to their reality. I think an echo (mirroring!) may happen with Phupha and Tian when they descend the mountain. 

Other implications of the forest include: isolation, independence, freedom and fear. The City vs The Forest in OS2 is simply about finding your place in the world. Snow White moves from her life of luxury to a life of daily toil that she does not resent. She moves back to royalty at the end of her story, but her stay with the dwarfs was formative for her. BBS x ATOTS x OS2 is investigating movement and change.  

Tian has made the choice to move from his life of luxury to the forest with Phupha and its not a choice he regrets. That’s been made clear for us. He however, does wish to strike a balance. He is okay with new things in a way Phupha is not. Phupha finds the city a place he does not know his place in. He’s afraid of what it means to not have his duty define him first and so he sticks to what is familiar to him. (hmm who else do we see this in, I wonder.) Pran and Pat are living in a glass closet and its stifling. Each time they try to ‘escape’, its to places that are very far removed from their reality, and where they can only be guests. They yearn for the freedom these places -- Zero Waste Village, Chiang Mai -- provide. Pat immediately wants to recreate the honeymoon, and he goes so far as to pitch a tent in their house to bring in a sense of that freedom. He’s thinking about their time in the Zero Waste Village as an ideal he would like to have for them permanently. Pran is not comfortable evading reality. He’s scared of what the relationship might do to everything else that he is and has. (Ahem, this is such a clean mirror guys, what did they use to get this shine?) I can continue to ramble about fear of loss of control, what does freedom really mean, change and adjustment in relationships, growth etc. etc. but I want to see what P’Aof and co have in store for us. 

5. Someone gets injured. They have to, its implied heavily and also -- Snow White. It could be literally any of the four or it could be the kid. The whole rescue thing is also about returning from the point of no return. (Death in Snow White, I don’t know what in OS2?) A little bit more on the death motif here by @chickenstrangers .This is also in conjunction to my point on who saves whom (point 2). This is one I really think the next two episodes will shed better light on, so I’m simply jotting it down here and hoping for the best.

Anyways, this was me holding a sermon in the town square, thank you for listening. Come Wednesday, P’Aof and co will come strolling in to the square, drinks in hand, and say “see you looking, catch it, here’s your cola” and dump all their soda all over me. And you know what? I will welcome it. 

A small biblio of bad buddy meta and other posts I have been reading and thinking about, and posts I think in some way or another talk about the things I have mentioned here: 

Growth and Aging of Queer Relationships by @moonlitfantasyblr and @waitmyturtles 

They Love Each Other! by @gracefulnosplinters​

Nong Nao Mask by @lurkingshan​

A Full Circle by @jemmo

#bad buddy the series #bad buddy #a tale of a thousand stars #BBS #ATOTS #OS2 x BBS x ATOTS #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #our skyy 2 x a tale of thousand stars #pat jindapat #pran parakul #pat x pran #phuphatian #tian sopasitsakun #phupha viriyanon #bad buddy meta #bad buddy brain rot #the brain rot is terminal #there is no other show #bl drama #i love p'aof and his mind #i really do #this took me ages to post because i spent way too long trying to find posts to link and kept getting distracted by other meta #apologies my friends #hope this makes sense to everyone i cannot proofread this pls

[mineonmain]

Ok, since no one is gonna talk about it, I will.

Hey PatPran, you fucking exhibitionist freaks.

Were you fucking?? That night in the forest?? A night after Pran had spent maybe over 24 hours awake traipsing through an unknown forest lost with a drunk emotional toddler and an actual child, and would be exhausted out of his mind?? A night when Pat is surely getting some kind of blood infection after he was bitten by leeches and not properly treated, and has a limp??? A night where, you are sleeping on a rocky ground, in a tent, that you are sharing with previously mentioned actual child?????? HUHH??? WERE YOU FUCKING?????

Because otherwise, what the fuck is the explanation for this. I demand to know.

#our skyy 2 #bad buddy #bad buddy series #ATOTS #a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots #patpran #pranpat #ohmnanon #ohm pawat #nanon korapat #pat napat jindapat #pran parakul

[telomeke]

I had several theories why Pat was bunny-hopping on stage but pretending to be one of SNOW WHITE'S SEVEN DWARFS was NOT one of them! 😂

#bad buddy #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots

[gennianydots]

I JUST *HAVE* TO SAY:

I PREDICTED THAT PHUPHATIAN WOULD SLOPPILY MAKE OUT IN THEIR HOME/APARTMENT (LIKE PATPRAN AT THE END OF BAD BUDDY) AND I WAS

👏🏼 FUCKING. 👏🏼 RIGHT.

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT.

THANKING YOU VERY MUCH GOODBYE 👋🏼

#im never right #i screamed watching my predication come true #i literally said in my tags for that post that it was never going to happen #lol i never should have doubted myself #im a genius #i cant believe it #i cannot believe i guessed this correctly #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #our skyy 2 x a tale of thousand stars #os2 #os2 x bbs x atots #late night post

[manogirl]

P'Aof knew DAMN WELL what he was doing when he put the Chief (EARTH) in that motherfucking suit and I don't think you can convince me otherwise. You can try, but I think you will fail.

#in p'aof we trust #bbs x atots #os2 x bbs x atots #our skyy 2 #chief phupha #Earth in a motherfucking suit y'all

[appleswithhoneyarethebest]

The Last episode

And we did'nt have a master crossover (like i was expecting)

Well anyways, It's over and now i guess the series i'm more interested in watching is home school.

Gmmtv making random merchant out of their series is peak capitalism ���️i love it✨️

The paradox that is Phupa's tattoo that disapeared like pure magic🧙‍♂️

I diying out of curiosity!!! What are the conditions??? And what Tian in traditional clothing has to do with it???

Oh they went to watch the bomb, i mean the piece😀

And with InkPa crumbs🥰

I KNEW IT gmmtv would'nt pass June without making the gays propose at least once!

What an lovely end, well That's it the end😉

#thai series #bl series #asianlgbtqdramas #gmmtv #thai drama #gmmtv 2023 #thai bl #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #our skyy 2 x atots #os2 x bbs x atots #bl drama

[dribs-and-drabbles]

The Thai Communal Wardrobe™ strikes again.

You're My Sky (ep 7) | Our Skyy 2 ATOTS (ep 15)

You're My Sky (ep 7) | Vice Versa (ep 5)

(with thanks to @respectthepetty for the yms screenshots)

#you're my sky #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x atots #our skyy 2 x a tale of thousand stars #vice versa #these two I recognised immediately #I knew the first one was worn by tian in os2 because it's similar to a shirt pran wears in bbs #the brown looks slightly different because of the filter the productions used #but I'd bet it's exactly the same top #and my hunch of the second being worn in vice versa proved correct straight away #thankfully #I did not want a repeat of the 'eat me' shirt #although I trust this fandom would have found it for me anyway #but I've spared you all the trouble #the thai communal wardrobe #thanks pet!

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Top 5 biggest losers in BL (interpret as your heart desires)?

Oh wow! What a completely unanticipated, out of the blue question ;P

When I call a boy a loser, I mean it with the upmost affection. Loser friendships, loser fist pumps, loser boys. They are the nerdiest of the nerdy, the simpiest of simps, the ones without any fear of embarrassing themselves. SO!

Akafuji in I Became the Main Role in a BL Drama (aka BL drama no shuen ni narimashita: crank up hen)

screenshots from @sparklyeyedhimbo

Akafuji is so desperately obsessed with his costar and is trying so so so desperately hard to be normal about it that it is actively fucking hysterical. He looks constipated constantly because he's so stressed out about acting not normal around Aoyanagi. And he's swooping in right at the end of the year to claim this title.

Im Han Tae in Sing My Crush

gif by @dramascene

He's so in love with Han Baram it's embarassing, and he doesn't know it for so long. This boy got in a fight with Han Baram, stormed out of their shared apartment saying he'd never be back, cried over a bowl of noodles at his mother's house, and returned to his apartment within 4 hours. Look at him. He is a loser. I am obsessed with him.

Ten in Cooking Crush

I think this is the first comedy I've seen Off in and he is very fucking good. Ten is such a fuckin' loser he's having animated hallucinations about food he thinks tastes good, and he decided the best way to show Prem he wasn't interested in him romantically was to agree to go on a date with him.

Yai in The Sign

gif by @raypakorn

He got shoved by a perp and was down for the count, he trips people and knocks them over for his bestie, and he is way too involved in getting his friends to fuck. The only way he could be more of a loser is if he spent time with two dolls with Phaya and Tharn's faces on them and made those kiss. Which is essentially what he is doing with the real life versions

Phupa in Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x A Tale of a Thousand Stars

gif by @gunsatthaphan

This man is a Forest Ranger, he is trained in using fire arms, he is got bullied so hard by one college kid, and so thoroughly seen by another that it broke his internalized homophobia in like...three days.

ASK ME MY TOP 5 OF ANYTHING BL 2023

#ask game #best of bl 2023 #i became the main character of a bl drama #sing my crush #cooking crush #the sign the series #os2 x bbs x atots

[airenyah]

this might be a very austrian thing for me to say but uh. not pran nearly dying on a strip of path that actually looks fairly flat

#dgmw i hate hiking and my stamina is terrible #but yeah that area right here just looks like a sonntagsspaziergang (sunday walk) to me dfjkgjkdf #like!! these are the strips on a hike that i'm actually looking forward to!!! when i'm being dragged up a mountain!!! #those are the opposite of the Death Zones™ #our skyy 2 #os2: aofverse ep1 #adrm #atots x bbs #os2: aofverse #airenyah plappert #suddenly having a flashback to that one time a few weeks ago when i was videochatting with my thai friend #and we were talking about the topic of hiking in austria bc he wants to travel to europe next year #and i told him i'd ask my hiking loving friends for recommendations where to hike in austria #and at the end my thai friend awkwardly went #''uhhh.. just so we're on the same page.... not AUSTRIAN hiking yeah? alright?'' #''nothing too challenging. please?'' #it amused me very much #and i was like yeah obviously i would have asked my friends for hiking recs that even i could easily do without dying #BUT UH. IF THE ABOVE ALREADY KILLS A THAI MAN THAN MAYBE I NEED TO RECONSIDER THIS CRITERIA AHAHAHAH

[malepresentingleg]

#listen i'm not really bitter bc it's os and i didn't have that high of expectations with the whole ohmnanon situation but STILL #our skyy 2 #os2 #os2 x bbs x atots #os2 aofverse #bad buddy #atots #patpran

[telomeke-bbs]

OUR SKYY 2 x BAD BUDDY x TALE OF THOUSAND STARS – CHAOS GREMLINS ON SET

OK, so whether it's at sea level or in the highlands, Toto absolutely cannot hold his drink: 😂

(above left) Bad Buddy Ep.6 [4/4] 2.24; (above right) Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x Tale of Thousand Stars Ep.2 [3I4] 5.38

But the scene in Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x Tale of Thousand Stars also looks like it has some covert pranking going on: I think Nanon ad-libbed Pran stopping to check if drunken Au was still breathing (sticking a finger under his nose), because it isn't at all necessary for the storyline, and would have been overly distracting if it hadn't been so brief:

(above) Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x Tale of Thousand Stars Ep.2 [3I4] 5.37

And Ohm follows it up by tweaking and twiddling Au's nose as he runs past: 😂

(above) Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x Tale of Thousand Stars Ep.2 [3I4] 5.39

The two menaces saw their chance with Au immobilized for the narrative, and wasted no time in capitalizing on it! Just a couple of seconds' worth, but for once our two gremlins' epic tomfoolery has been caught on camera. 😂

And trouper Au played along, didn't break character, and pretended to swat flies away instead in his drunken stupor:

(above) Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy x Tale of Thousand Stars Ep.2 [3I4] 5.41

But it was pests of another kind! No wonder Chang Yod looks so nonplussed. 😂

#bad buddy #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #os2 x bbs x atots #ohm pawat #nanon korapat #ohmnanon pranking au kornprom #au kornprom niyomsil

[letgomaggie]

okay here’s the thing. that’s standing out very loudly to me in the OS2 x BBS x ATOTS episodes. So we remember the happy face-sad face decor that Pran’s dorm was infused with? And the meta analysis that it all been about choice, about choosing happiness, about choosing joy for yourself, about learning to look at things in a new way (through each other’s eyes and therefore GROWING) right? Happiness and sadness are two sides of the same face! They co-exist! But you can choose -- you can choose to see the happy in the small things, you can choose to let yourself feel the joy you do feel. It’s in how Pran takes those sticky notes out and LOOKS and thinks and then chooses, purposefully, to place it happy side up. It’s in how Pran came out and chose to change his door knob card to the happy side. 

RIGHT OKAY SO. In Pat and Pran’s shared home, we see so much of natural light (like literal natural light filtering in and brightening up the space when their dorms were naturally dark and again, light was a choice aka artificial light) and we see framed pictures of them together (previously their dorms had very few pictures and we see the shared pictures come in as cork board collages or set up on string aka temporary. framed pictures are permanent, THERE). What else do we see? When Pat goes to open the door for Pa and Ink, the back of the door that faces the house, the home, has only smiley faces on it. Multiple, and permanent (i think one of them is screwed in if i’m not mistaken). 

The smiley faces are for them, and only them. Behind closed doors, they are happy. They are naturally happy. They made the repeated choice to choose happiness and now they’re sticking with it. They’re now happy by default. It started with choices, but happiness comes naturally to them now. 

(It’s also about opening their home up to people, because the happiness is private and it for the inside of their home. Only if you enter the house will the door shut behind you, and then you will become part of the happiness. And only their most trusted seem to have such access to their home - Ink, Pa, Wai. (I’m guessing Korn as well, even though we don’t see him inside their home.) They are choosing to share their happiness as well!) 

#bad buddy the series #bad buddy meta #pat x pran #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy #OS2 x BBS x ATOTS #listen i cannot shake the door from my head #bad buddy brain rot #its so real guys #someone PLEASE come talk to me about this #i need to yell about this with another person