If it weren’t for a killer urban legend, Tina and I would celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th
Honestly, I was enjoying a bit of human company after several hours of driving alone, four years ago. Correction. I was trying to enjoy human company. I couldn't identify what was out of sync about Ernestburgh and its inhabitants so I wrote it off to me being picky. I am picky. That's why I was looking this far away from home for the location of my much needed warehouse. I wasn't about to spend the money demanded for run down buildings in my hometown. My odometer assured me I was 114 miles from home. In Ernestburgh. Which isn't in my GPS or on any online map I called up.
Cindy the gas station cashier dropped the cash into my hand and wished me a happy day. Then, haltingly, as if going off script and unsure about doing so, she asked, "What brought you here?"
"Good question," I said, jamming the change into my jacket's inside pocket, "I'm in the market for a warehouse, around 1,000 square feet. Anything like that in town?"
"Let the young lady be on her way," a deep voice boomed behind me. My stomach jumped, although I think I remained calm on the outside as I turned around. A tall, muscular man was nodding at Cindy and me. "Don't mind her, Miss, sometimes we forget our manners here, being we all know each other. You know how that is." He chuckled, although his eyes never smiled. To me, he looked smug. I didn't appreciate that.
"Where are my manners?" I laughed, sticking my hand out to start a handshake. "I'm Lydia from the next town over. And you are?"
He stared at my hand for several seconds before taking it in a quick handshake. "Name's Hopper, Miss Lydia, good to meet you. My wife Cora tells me I need to socialize more and work less, but, you know how it is, I'm sure." He released my hand.
He sounded like he looked, smug. Part of me wanted to egg him on. But I took a breath before speaking and told him I was looking for a motel room for the night. His demeanor softened. "The Deu Lake Inn just reopened after renovations. Go right from our parking lot, left at the second stop sign. Ask for Room Number 103. It overlooks the Lake. Hope you're an early riser. Sunrise over the Lake is unforgettable this time of year!"
Ernestburgh didn't have street lights so the stop signs were a little hard to see but I managed to find the dirt road that ended at Deu Lake Inn's parking lot. That clicked for me. If I landed MoonDoor's warehouse here, the Inn and the entire old school vibe of Ernestburgh would be an easy sell to increase tourism. Especially to boomers.
Annie McIntosh greeted me at the front desk and offered me 10 % off on my stay, which I gratefully accepted. Annie called in Enzio Morton to take my 'overnight bag' to my room and make sure the air conditioning was working. I said I wasn't worried, since it was February 9 and I would rather the room was heated. Annie's response was the a/c was just installed and it being such new technology, staff needed to make sure it worked. I chuckled a little then noticed she probably wasn't joking so I stopped, rather awkwardly.
Annie busied herself with paperwork and actively avoided talking to me after that. Knowing that someone named Enzio had to accompany me to my room, I checked out the only photo on the wall. It was a black and white photo of a man who looked eerily familiar. He wore an odd white bucket hat with the brim pushed away from his face. He had dark hair with full, choppy bangs, eyebrows raised over large eyes opened wide, a nondescript nose and mouth open as if he was either talking or gawking.
It hit me: That was Bob Denver, when he was Gilligan from Gilligan's Island, a 1960s sitcom.
A document attached to the photo frame was titled "Official History and Lore of Our Founding Father". It explained 'Captain' Johnny Ernest spent his entire life in Ernestburgh. His parents raised him on their local farm, before the town existed. Deu Lake Inn was built over his family's farm property. He was orphaned at the age of 11 and lived alone for the rest of his life. He spent 25 years building the earliest homes, post office and stage coach station for what became known as Ernestburgh. Since his death, he returns every year to eat the living being he names. The town would not and could not exist without him, according to the document.
What the hell.
"Miss Annie," I asked, unwilling to be taken in by a local prank, "is that all there is to this story?"
Annie lifted her head, smiling widely. "Yes," she said brightly, "that's our Founding Father, Captain Ernest. Once a year he returns, eats whatever living being he names, then he returns to his beloved lake until the next February 10th."
'Eats whatever living being he names.' I felt fear without knowing its origin, something I don't often experience. I turned to face the Inn's entrance so I could avoid both Annie and Captain Ernest. Enzio appeared soon after. He got me to Room 103, confirmed the a/c was good, and I was left on my own for the night.
I opened the sports bag of spare essentials I always left in my vehicle. It stems from having to be prepared to run for my life when I was younger. Some habits are hard to break. It allowed me to change into a t shirt for that night. I grabbed the remote and jumped into bed.
Covers up to my neck, horror movie marathon playing quietly in the background, I was ready to relax. That's when I remembered my odometer. Part of my being picky is me recording my mileage at the end of every journey. My odometer registered exactly 114 miles from home to Ernestbugh. Based on memory, I'd travelled mostly westbound from home. And online maps clearly showed a large, well-known city 40 miles west of my place. Seems likely I would have noticed that city, had it been in my way during my travels.
Also, traveling no more than 50 miles per hour, my trip should have taken two and a half hours, three tops if I slowed down, got stuck in traffic jams or stopped a lot. That wasn't how my drive went at all. I left home at 10 a.m. and drove non-stop until I arrived at Ernestburgh nine hours later, just before 7 p.m.
Once again, what the hell.
I called up my dashcam footage and fast forwarded through the day's journey. There was scenery I recognized, close to home, then about five hours of static, then scenery that I recalled driving into Ernestburgh. The first time I watched it, I didn't believe it. Had to be a technical glitch. The third time I watched it, my muscles tightened for fight or flight. As much as I wanted to leave immediately, I realized I'd do better to wait until morning. I set my phone alarm for 6:45 a.m. and plugged in my phone to recharge, then spent a long time staring at the ceiling.
My alarm rang a bit too early for my liking and I didn't remember setting the ring tone to 'growls and groans'. The time on my phone was 5:45 a.m. so it wasn't my alarm. For a second I attributed the noise to the horror movie marathon I'd selected for the room's TV. Nope. TV must have shut itself off while I was asleep.
I heard it again. A growl, thunderous and a bit muffled, coming from the back of the Inn where my window faced. Expecting an incoming thunderstorm, I opened the curtains a bit and stared for a second or two at a huge bubble sitting on the lake. A face smiled at me from inside the bubble. A face. In a bubble. On a lake. Smiling at me. So much wrong.
After the fastest shower ever, I shoved all my gear into my sports bag and threw on my coat. I ran to the back of the Inn with all my gear and my phone (charge cord still attached, alarm shut off) at the ready. The beach, such as it was, was about a two minute jog from the back of the Inn and extended for quite a bit before meeting the water. There was a large bubble sitting on the water's surface, a significant distance from the shore. This was the same bubble I'd seen out the window. It kept getting larger, as did the face in it.
I was trying to focus my phone's camera when I heard someone speaking behind me. Annie, the front desk clerk, asked if I was ready to check out.
"Um, Annie, do you see that?" I said as gently as I could, pointing at the bubble. As soon as I looked at it, I couldn't look away. Annie didn't answer my question but she did keep talking. She said check out prior to 11:25 a.m. was fine but I had to pay now. I asked her how much and she didn't answer, which prompted me to look directly at her.
The growling started again. Of course it was much louder than I'd heard in my room. Annie frowned but stood firm, hand out, palm up. I looked back at the lake and the bubble had moved much closer to shore, almost touching dry land. It was huge, and the face now had a full body with arms and legs. Still smiling, it pointed at me with its left arm.
My blood ran cold. I heard Annie's voice but couldn't understand the words. The bubble drew ever closer. The growls were so loud, I clamped my hands over my ears but still couldn't stop staring at the face. It seemed so familiar.
Annie might have stopped talking, I don't know. All I could hear with my hands on my ears was muffled growling. I knew she was still there because she had grabbed my right arm with both hands and pulled fiercely. Even so, I kept staring at the bubble that had stopped rolling when it made land.
The growling continued.
Annie tugged until my right hand fell away from my ear. She screamed it wasn't her time as she released my arm. At that time I didn't know if she stayed or left because I was still watching the bubble.
A crack formed, splitting the bubble in half vertically. Within a blink or two, the bubble split open and the growling changed to a low, gravelly human voice. "Annie! Annie McIntosh!" the being said. Its finger no longer pointed at me, but to my right. I felt compelled to glance beside me and sure enough, there was Annie. Her hands were balled up into fists, pushing on her temples. She was crying and shaking, and I felt genuine terror just looking at her.
"Annie McIntosh, it is your time!" the being announced as it took two steps towards her. I'm ashamed to say I felt a brief moment of relief that the being wasn't aiming at me before I realized it appeared to be hellbent on getting Annie. She was now screaming wordlessly, seemingly unable or unwilling to run.
In that moment, two things occurred to me. The being was an exact replica of the black and white photo of the town's founding father. And if the urban legend was correct, 'Captain' Johnny Ernest can only eat one person per year. He names that person before eating them. Since he'd already named Annie, I figured I was safe at least for that year, and tried to distract him. Maybe Annie could escape and live another year.
I screamed at him, "Captain, you're dead, you don't need to eat anymore!" It was the best I could think of at the time. I put my hands on Annie's left arm and tried to drag her away with me. No luck, she felt like she was cemented to the spot.
Meanwhile, Captain Ernest continued to take huge steps towards us. I'm used to living with and around weird things, but this went beyond weird. Gilligan wanted to eat someone and he seemed focused on Annie.
Something in me broke. I screamed I was sorry to Annie and took off at a full run. I didn't stop running until I got to the back of the Inn. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was morbid curiosity, but I had to take one last look back.
Captain Ernest was still at least two of his steps away from her when he grabbed her.
She was still screaming when he dropped her into his mouth.
I folded two ten dollar bills under the phone on the Inn's front desk then jumped into my car and peeled out. When I got to Ernestburgh's main street I turned left. A right turn would have taken me back to Ernestburgh and that was a huge nope for me. As soon as I saw something resembling a freeway, I took the eastbound route and didn't stop until I was home.
The trip home took two hours and added 114 miles to the odometer. My dashcam worked just fine that whole time. The previous day's footage came up as 'corrupted' when I tried to access it. I spent the next four days in bed, waiting for Tina to return from her mother’s.
Tina's mother recovered quickly and Tina came home on day five. She asked me to retrace my steps with her in the car. No matter what we did, we couldn't find Ernestburgh. I searched for obituary notices about Annie McIntosh until Tina said I might be reaching unhealthy levels of 'need to know' when, in fact, I don't need to know. And she was right.
But every February 9th and 10th since then, she and I spend those days together, at home, without guests. We stay in bed, watch our fav horror movies and eat whatever we want. It's our customized version of Valentine's Day.
Author's note: Find me at LG Writes, Odd Directions and Write_Right

There's been much talk about BL's potential as a driver of tourism. And it's evident, as some of you have shared your stories here in this sub, while others have asked for help planning upcoming trips. But there still appears to be a lack of easily accessible information for people visiting Thailand for the BL. Here's an attempt to remedy that, with this guide to visiting Thailand for BL fans. I've taken the liberty to incorporate suggestions from several previous threads here, as well as various other sources, so thank you to everyone who's contributed to the discussion.

First things first

This will only touch on things specifically of interest to BL fans. For the other aspects of your trip, including most basic planning stuff, please consult the usual travel resources.
That said, firstly you'll want to consider the purpose of your trip, and how much of it you want to dedicate to BL stuff. Do you just want a regular vacation, with a side stop for some merch, or are you here to relive the all the scenes from your favourite BLs? It's very possible to come up with a weeks-long itinerary of nothing but BL locations, and you could spend as much time mall-hopping to catch artist appearances, but Thailand also has a lot of other things to experience, whether you want to stick to the major attractions or go off the beaten track. It's all up to you.
Also, this probably goes without saying, but if you want to attend a specific event, be sure to plan around it and make travel arrangements accordingly. Concerts and fan meetings usually have tickets go on sale a couple of months in advance at most, so you'll want to have flexible options if you book your travel and accommodation before then.

Destinations

Most of the BL-related things you can do will be concentrated in Bangkok, so it's where this guide will be mainly focused, but there are also several provincial locations that have featured in BL, especially Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the north and Phuket in the south, all of which are major tourist destinations in their own right. Series have also spent time at plenty of beaches and resorts (particularly around Hua Hin and several towns in Chonburi province) as well as other popular excursions, most of which are short trips from Bangkok. Further out are the island resorts of Koh Samet, Koh Tao and Koh Lanta. The north-east Isan locations are rather off the tourist trail, but could well be worth the experience if that's your style of travel.

Getting immersed

Arriving in Bangkok, one of the first things you'll notice as a fan of Thai BL (or Thai dramas in general) is that you're surrounded by familiar faces everywhere, on banners and billboards and the back of tuk-tuks. Although BL actors aren't that well known among the general public (a surprise to some), the better known ones have a ton of brand endorsements and appear in ads for all sorts of products. Even if you're not planning your trip around BL, spotting actors you know in ads and fan projects can be an entertaining pastime.
Head into a 7-Eleven and you're pretty much guaranteed to see faces you recognize, perhaps on products you're already familiar with from all those series sponsorships and product placements. If the advertising worked and you're dying to know what that bottled green tea or that seaweed snack tastes like, this is your chance to give them a try.
Speaking of tasting, you'll probably be sampling plenty of Thai food while here, so why not include some of the food and drink items from the series you remember, be it som tam from What Zabb Man, the traditional desserts from UWMA, or the famous pink milk, known here as nom yen?
Meanwhile, if taking public transport, spend some time watching the people and see how BL imitates real life. Do you recognize the colours of the school uniforms? Or the university students in their white shirts and black slacks? You might even come across some engineering students in their workshop overshirts.
If you miss hearing the Raikantopeni disclaimer at the beginning of shows, be sure to turn on the TV to catch it as they air live. Be aware though that following shows in Thailand will be more difficult than at home, as they won't have subtitles on TV or on most local streaming services, so you'll likely need a VPN.

Merch stores & fan hangouts

This might be a bit of a letdown, but apart from GMMTV's, there aren't really any physical stores for official merchandise. But since you'll be in the country, you could check with your accommodation to see if they can arrange to accept local package deliveries for you, so you can place some online orders and avoid the international shipping fees. Be sure to check the processing and delivery times - this might be tricky (and won't work with pre-orders, only in-stock items).
GMMTV's shop is not a traditional giftshop as one might assume, but more like a kiosk at their office on the 30th floor of the GMM Grammy Place building - there's just a small product display and a cashier window. Apart from buying products, there's a good chance of running into some actors when visiting, though you're not allowed to linger and there's nowhere to hang out apart from some cafés on the ground floor. You will likely spot some fan-project displays (as mentioned above) outside and in the building, and the cafés will often have cup-sleeve giveaways by fans. Here's a very helpful guide by u/snuffles005: How to visit the GMMTV building and shop
Elsewhere, there's Wab Cafe' and Friends, by the Studio Wabi Sabi people. It's a café, so you'll be buying drinks there rather than merch, but it's very much a space created for fans, and there will often be something going on like fan projects and giveaways, or maybe mini-events with actors making an appearance. It's in RCA, Bangkok's main clubbing neighbourhood (and home to studios where many productions hold their workshops), which takes a bit of an effort to get to, but it's also probably the most dedicated hangout space for BL fans there is.
From Star Hunter, there's Hunter Village, a studio space (mostly used for dance classes) in MBK Center, one of Bangkok's most popular malls. It's a mostly open space, so you'll be able to see if there's someone coming in or something going on, but I'm not sure if it's really somewhere you can hang out at.
Other than that, quite a few actors have their own cafés or some other business, which you might want to visit to support them directly. Clothing and fashion items (perhaps from brands with your faves as presenters) may also be something you'd want to go shopping for.
For manga and anime (including BL/yaoi) there's an Animate store (the specialty chain from Japan), also at MBK Center. In addition to imported works, they also have an extensive Thai section, with both translated and original works.
If you want to observe the Thai novel scene, just walk into any major Thai book store, where you'll likely find rows, maybe entire shelves, of BL novels, prominently displayed - BL has very much gone mainstream in the Thai publishing industry. You'll also find glossy magazines featuring actor photoshoots here. You'll have less luck finding English translations, though, as most translated works are e-book only. For English-language (and Japanese) books in general, your best bet is Books Kinokuniya. They do have Japanese and Chinese translations of some Thai BL novels, as well as the English manga versions of SOTUS and Manner of Death, at international prices.

Catching events

Seeing actors up close (or at a distance) in real life will probably be the BL highlight of your trip for many of you. And unless you're ultra specific as to whom you want to see, there are ample opportunities to catch these actor appearances.
The biggest experiences will of course be the major events - concerts, fan meetings, and the like - that you'll have to buy tickets for. As mentioned above, you'll have to plan around them if you want to attend (which also limits how long you can plan in advance), and make sure to actually get those tickets. They're usually announced very publicly, so it's hard to miss them if you follow the usual news update channels. If you're around when one takes place but can't attend, it can still be worth dropping by if you want to get hold of the merch or just check out the crowds.
For more casual fans, you'll still have plenty of chance to see actors at smaller events, as there's pretty much always something happening somewhere, though there might not be much choice on who you get to see. These events vary a lot in scale, and can be anything from product launches to movie premieres. Most artist's agencies will announce them on their social media channels, usually on a weekly basis, and fan accounts may help share and/or translate them. You'll have to follow them to keep updated.
Most of these events will be held in Bangkok's plethora of malls. The biggest ones are mostly lined along the BTS Skytrain's Sukhumvit Line, so if you plan to do a lot of mall-hopping, whether for events or just shopping, consider getting accommodation with easy access to the BTS for convenience. Here's a great post by u/BumblingWombat that describes the experience in detail: What it's like to go to BL events in Thailand (Oh yeah, there are also top-spender events, which I won't go into, as I don't know anything about them. Those who're aiming for them probably won't need this guide anyway.)
Aside from these specific events, there are also annual book fairs that are partially or directly BL-related, where actors from various agencies may make appearances. The mainstream National Book Fair and Book Expo are usually held at the beginning of April and some time in October. Since last year, BL novels and publishers have had a large presence there, and GMMTV actors made daily appearances with fan gatherings in the car park. There are also smaller book fairs directly focusing on BL: Y Book Fair in July, and International Novel Festival at the end of November. They also feature actor appearances, but can also be worth seeing just for the atmosphere if you're interested in experiencing the literary BL scene here.
On the other hand, to experience more of the community side of the fandom, you might want to check out some fan-held events, such as the birthday projects that fan clubs often do, which may be in the form of café galleries or mini-gatherings. Info will mostly be on Twitter, though it may not be readily translated.

Visiting filming locations

If BL inspired you to make the trip to Thailand, no doubt you'd be interested in visiting some of the filming locations yourself. But while some of them are traditional tourist attractions in their own right, most aren't normally on the radar for general visitors, so it'll take a bit of investment (in time and travel) to include them in your trip.
If there's a single most iconic location to recommend, it must be the Rama VIII Bridge over the Chao Phraya River, which shows up in more BLs than anywhere else. So far, it's been seen in SOTUS, SOTUS S, Gen Y, Tonhon Chonlatee, I Promised You the Moon, My Ride, Enchanté, Cutie Pie, KinnPorsche, Even Sun, 2 Moons: The Ambassador, and Boyband. It's not really a tourist attraction, but it's a major landmark of modern Bangkok that everyone knows, and isn't too hard to get to. It's a bit of a walk (some 15 minutes, or just take a tuk-tuk) from either the Phra Athit or Thewet Pier if you're coming from the main riverside attractions and use the Chao Phraya Express (or Tourist) Boat. If you're into financial history, the Bank of Thailand Learning Center and museum is right next to the bridge. Otherwise, Suan Luang Rama VIII Park by its base is also nice, and also a filming location. The bridge itself is most photogenic at night, but make sure you have transport back if you stay late. Consider one of those dinner cruises if you want to experience it from the same angles as KinnPorsche and Cutie Pie.
For other locations, you'll need to do some research. If there's a specific series you want to follow, try searching to see if someone has already compiled a list of locations, which is likely the case for the more popular series. Most info will be on Tumblr or Twitter.
Filming locations may be public places, shops and businesses, private establishments, or purpose-built or converted studios, so remember to think of their ability to welcome visitors. Dress appropriately for the venue, take care to respect their regular functions, and be considerate to other people. Some of the most familiar locations are university campuses, and the grounds will generally be open to the public, but they're not usually equipped to deal with large numbers of visitors. So if you do visit, have fun reliving those memorable scenes but make sure not to disturb the real students who are there for class. Meanwhile, cafés, bars and restaurants would surely welcome your patronage, but please do not snoop around private offices or people's homes. It all boils down to following common sense, really.
A lot of the locations will be quite spread out and some distance away from downtown, so you'll have to plan carefully if you want to hit more than a few. You might want to hire transport for the day, but also take the traffic into consideration.
If you've always wanted to sleep in the same room that your favourite characters lived in (or at least an identical one), you might be in luck. Some of the apartment locations may have rooms available for daily renting, so check with them. As above, though, their location can be rather inconvenient transport-wise. On the other hand, you might want to opt for the hotels and resorts that featured as locations, which will be better equipped with tourist facilities.
For houses specifically, I have a post on The houses of Thai BL. Most of them are private property rented out as studios, but some will be happy to accept visitors (for a fee) on their off days. Contact their management to see if a something can be arranged. Or if you're serious about it and ready to pay, just rent the place at full price for your own personal photoshoot. If you try it either way, do let us know how it turns out. On the other hand, Wawa House (To Sir, With Love) has a café for visitors, Slōlē (Golden Blood, Bite Me, Enchanté, The Tuxedo, The Eclipse) is a real-life café when not filming, and Red Brick Kitchen (Not Me, KinnPorsche, War of Y) features a chef's table dining experience (reservations only, 4 persons minimum).
If you're just looking for some usual attractions that happen to have BL appearances as a bonus, here are a few (very non-exhaustive) suggestions for Bangkok:

• Temples & shrines
  • Wat Arun (KinnPorsche)
  • Wat Kanlayanamit (KinnPorsche)
  • Rong Kueak Shrine (Our Skyy: Pete-Kao, Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go)
• Museums & art galleries
  • Warehouse 30 (Theory of Love)
  • Bangkok Sculpture Center (Vice Versa)
• Historic buildings
  • Hua Lamphong Railway Station (Theory of Love)
  • So Heng Tai Mansion (Our Skyy: Pete-Kao)
  • Neilson Hays Library (Enchanté)
  • The House on Sathorn (functions as a restaurant) (KinnPorsche)
• Zoos, aquariums & other activities
  • Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World (UWMA, IPYTM)
  • Flick Skate Park (Cutie Pie)
• Themed markets
  • Asiatique The Riverfront (Why R U?)
  • Kwan-Riam Floating Market (My Engineer)
  • ChangChui Creative Park & Plane Night Market (Vice Versa)
• Bridges & Parks
  • Rama VIII Bridge & Park (see above)
  • Memorial Bridge (& Chao Phraya Sky Park) ('Cause You're My Boy)
  • Bhumibol Bridge (& Lat Pho Park) (Not Me, KinnPorsche, LITA)
  • Chong Nonsi Skywalk & Canal Park (Chains of Heart, Bed Friend, The Promise)
  • Queen Sirikit & Wachirabenchathat (Rotfai) Park (Cutie Pie, My School President)
  • Benjakitti Forest Park (Vice Versa)
  • Suan Luang Rama IX Park (Vice Versa)
  • Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park (Vice Versa)

While Bangkok's malls are very much major attractions by themselves, I didn't include them as their appearances are quite too numerous to list.
Outside of Bangkok, each series will mostly feature locations relatively near each other (except Cupid's Last Wish, which went all over the country), so I'll just list the series by destination without going into each location's detail.

• Chiang Mai: Manner of Death, Triage, Dew, Grey Rainbow, Sky in Your Heart, On Cloud Nine, 180 Degree Longitude, A Tale of Thousand Stars, everything by Wayufilm
• Chiang Rai: A Tale of Thousand Stars, The Love of Winter
• Lampang: Bed Friend
• Khon Kaen: Love Mechanics 2022
• Chachoengsao: Remember Me
• Chonburi: KinnPorsche, Star in My Mind, Never Let Me Go, Moonlight Chicken, Cutie Pie (Bira Circuit), My School President (Institute of Marine Science)
• Koh Samet (Rayong): Hard Love Mission
• Amphawa (Samut Songkhram): Together With Me
• Kanchanaburi: UWMA
• Hua Hin & nearby (Prachuap Khiri Khan): Bad Buddy, My School President
• Koh Tao (Surat Thani): Even Sun
• Phuket: ITSAY
• Koh Lanta (Krabi): Why R U, Why You... Y Me?

Further resources & suggestions

The Let's Talk BL podcast hosts talked about their experience in Thailand last year, covering a lot of the above points over several episodes at the beginning of season 3. Be sure to check them out if you want all the details, especially S3 EP3: Tips & Tricks for the perfect BL experience in Bangkok. Some of their main tips that I didn't mention above are not to overstretch yourself trying to go to everything, and to use a map to plan your days.
Colourme-feral on Tumblr has an incredible Google Map that plots locations from several series, and more in their blog, which a lot of the above is sourced from. For Bad Buddy specifically, Telomeke-bbs on Tumblr has a series of posts that analyse the locations at an insane level of detail.
I'm sure I haven't covered nearly everything in this post, so please feel free to add your suggestions in the comments. (I'll try to expand the locations list as I get around to digging for more series.) If you have questions or need help identifying a specific location, feel free to ask! (Though no guarantees there.)
For full disclosure, I'm receiving no compensation whatsoever for writing this. Any biases or omissions are purely unintentional.

I grew up in a very tumultuous house. Not doing enough was bad. Too much time idle was bad. Plus I am neurodivergent so everything I had issues with doing was also bad because I was extremely intelligent and independent from a young age. I grew up walking on eggshells and ran away to study in a different country to get away from it.
My neurodivergence got the best of me and I failed miserably. Plus living alone makes me susceptible to depression.
So I came back and sought respite in someone who love bombed me and had severe emotional issues. I would spend weekends with him and live at home to work during the week. I once got physically assaulted at home for working two jobs and not having the time to clean my bedroom. Meanwhile I was dealing with adult tantrums on the weekends. I recently watched a video on tiktok of a girl making dinner for her partner and he beginning to scream at her for not putting the plate where he wanted and for his vegetables touching the other food. He screamed at her for a good few minutes until she broke down. That was my relationship for 7 years.
So it's weird for me, fast forwarding to today, where I'm working full time and overtime and loving my job and my bedroom is a mess, but it's cluttered not dirty. And no one cares. I know I'll get to it and make it nice.
And my male roommate is wonderful. I come home and no one expects me to do anything and I'll happily even do his dishes and clean the common area but it's not expected of me. If I don't get to it, he will. We live separate working lives and chill on the couch in the evenings and laugh about things. He's on a health kick and started cooking at home instead of eating out because he saw how healthy I eat, we regularly discuss the nutritional benefits of different foods and he started going to the gym again in January because of me.
5 months ago he noticed that I wasn't tying the garbage bags on properly, so he just asked to show me how to do it and calmly explained what I'd done wrong. No shame, no anger. Just mutual respect.
It's not like he's perfect. I had to clean up a mess he left on the carpet on the weekend and it was mildly annoying, but i just did it because it bothered me, and then I just did not mention it.
I just didn't know it was possible to live with another person and have so little conflict. I didn't know you could come home and mentally rest. I didn't know you could build a positive relationship with someone you live with over time and just feel happy and satisfied.
It's not ideal. I have my own issues I deal with every day and make mistakes. But I don't have to worry about living in constant stress or having every mistake magnified. And it makes me feel like maybe it's possible to find a romantic partner that makes me feel the same way. A slow and steady entrance into mutual respect and eventually love and intimacy.

This is the fourth track from the Beach Boys’ twenty-third album, L.A. (Light Album). How do you feel about this song? What are some of your favorite lyrics? How would you rank it among the rest of the band’s discography? How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)?
Studio version
SUGGESTED SCALE: 1-4: Not good. Regularly skip. 5: It’s okay, but I might have to be in the right mood to listen to it. 6: Slightly better than average. I won’t skip it, but I wouldn’t choose to put it on. 7: This is a good song. I enjoy it quite a bit. 8-9: Really enjoyable songs. I rank them pretty high overall. 10: Masterpiece, magnum opus, or similar terminology.
Rating Results 1. Good Timin': 2. Lady Lynda: 3. Full Sail: 4. Angel Come Home:

I’d booked a stay in the mountains for just me and my young kids for the long weekend. We live in an urban area, and I decided to make the 4-hour drive to a small town, where most people camp. I got us a family-friendly air conditioned home with a hot tub and barbecue and big backyard to run around in. Kids are pumped.
We get there and immediately notice the house is nothing like the listing. My daughter excitedly shows me 2 large dead bugs in her fists that she grabbed from the dining room table. There is a strong musty/moldy odor. The lawn is over a foot long, mosquitoes everywhere. Not clean. I decide to look past it for the kids. But after being there for an hour, it was hot, like really, unbearably hot. I go to the air conditioner thermostat and it says it’s on, but it’s not on.
At this point I message the host. He tries to control it remotely, asks me to check the unit outside etc. There’s some back and forth and after another 45 minutes, I decide we cannot stay here. My preschool aged kids are fanning themselves in the living room, the bedrooms are stagnant-hot. Thermostat is actually going up, at 85 when I decide it’s time to go.
I loop in support. Luckily the host was cool, had no issue refunding me, apologized etc. as I was only there for 2 hours. All good there.
Support says, before we actually cancel you, we want to help you find another place to stay and will cover the difference. Wonderful. I’d been at work all day, packed, unpacked, re-packed, driven 4 hours. The kids are cranky and tired. It’s late. The man asks me to find him 3 comparable listings, and because I’m on a remote mountain top with my kids in the backseat, and it’s 9pm, he will call and message the hosts directly. Sweet. I’m sitting in a dimly lit gas station parking lot with a dwindling battery. He calls all three. One answers and says no, the other two don’t pick up. Support guy says it’s the end of his shift and he’s got to go, but no worries, another person has been filled in on the situation and will be jumping right in.
I stay in the parking lot 20 mins. I call in again as I haven’t heard anything. They promise to call back. They don’t. I speak to 2 different people, both of whom say “don’t worry, we can approve the refund!” I explain- “no you’re misunderstanding the issue… please help me find a place to stay. I’m on a remote mountaintop and my options are very limited.”
Support girl is assigned to me and tells me to send her some options. I send her 5, and these are reaches. Most an hour away. She tells me I need to be messaging hosts and calling them, and even if it is an “instant book” she needs me to get written confirmation of availability and calculate the price difference “and daily breakdown” for her on each option. I FINALLY get one host to answer me, he says the house is ready right now. To set the scene: i take a medication that makes me sleepy and I’m doing the best I can to stay awake. It’s past 10, one kid is loudly crying, the other is sleeping. I’ve got a little pencil and paper and am using my dome light. I tell support girl about the house available now, she says she will check in on all these and get right back to me. She warns me not to book, because they will give me a “coupon” and not a refund. I tell her the situation I’m in, she understands and will push this to the front of the line. “PLEASE help me, I don’t want to sleep in my car with my kids, but there is literally nowhere to go.”
Guys, I waited an hour, called back (and couldn’t get an answer), then slept on the side of the highway with my kids.
When I got up a few hours later. I had no missed messages or calls from Air BnB. I started driving and called them and demanded an answer on the property that could take me right now. I told them I could not get off the phone until I had an answer. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and there was none available. I was exasperated and told them I was going to book the property and just hope they could refund me the difference. My house had costed $1200 for three nights. The only place that was available and could affirmatively take me and my kids was $1600 for two nights. At this point, my frustration was more about how I was being discarded by the company rather than how much money I was out.
I attempt to book the house I told AirBnB I was going to book. There is now an “error” that prevents me from booking, I am blocked from making a booking on the website. I’ve had my account for 5 years and never had a problem. The host says I can book outside of AirBnB, and I do so. (Silver lining: The house was lovely and the host was so accommodating and kind, and I salvaged the weekend with my kids!)
At around noon that day, after being at the house for 6 or so hours, I finally get a response back from Air BnB, saying they fixed the booking error with their website. Also, that they could not accommodate me in any of the places I’d listed out, because the nightly rates from where id originally booked were too far apart. (Strangely, support guy #1 had actually proposed and called a listing for me that was $2100 for two nights. I digress)
They offer me 3 options, all 2.5 hours away from where I’d originally booked. Two were top-floor apartments, and one was a studio cabin with no air conditioning.
They apologized and gave me a coupon for $33 towards my next booking 😭 Top-notch customer service.

Good morning, Dodgers!

• Team Website
• Wikipedia Article of the Day: Category:Los Angeles Dodgers scouts - Wikipedia

⚾ Dodgers vs. Yankees ⚾

First Pitch: Friday, Jun 2, 2023 7:10 PM Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Starters

Team	Starting Pitcher	IP	K/9	BB/9	H9	ERA
NYY	RHP Luis Severino	11.1	7.94	3.18	0.79	1.59
LAD	LHP Clayton Kershaw	62.1	10.83	2.31	1.16	3.32

Team Offense

Team	G	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	AB/HR	G
NYY	58	.239	.309	.422	.731	22.13	4.71
LAD	57	.242	.330	.460	.790	19.95	5.60

Top Performers

Yankees	Pos	OPS	Rank	OPS	Pos	Dodgers
Aaron Judge	RF	1.089	1	1.008	1B	Freddie Freeman
Anthony Rizzo	1B	.881	2	.931	DH	J.D. Martinez
Gleyber Torres	2B	.784	3	.872	RF	Mookie Betts

On this day in 2018...

Dodgers @ Rockies, LAD 5 COL 4, top 7, 1 out, Matt Kemp facing Bryan Shaw... Matt Kemp homers (9) on a line drive to left center field. Yasmani Grandal scores. VIDEO
Win Probability Added: 19.1

MLB Upcoming Dates

• End of the 1st Half - Sun 09 July 2023
  
• All Star Game - Tue 11 July 2023
  
• Start of the 2nd Half - Fri 14 July 2023
  

Questions of the Day

1. Bermuda Warwick Long Bay Beach
   
2. What’s your grossest bug story?
   
3. If you were given unlimited resources, how would you lure the worst of humanity into one stadium at the same time?
   

Have a great day, Dodgers.

hi everyone! my sister (20f) and i (22f) will be travelling to Split, Croatia in mid-july. We will stay there for a total of 7 full days. I managed to plan something for the 5 first days, but i feel kind of stuck for the last 2, and that’s what i’d need help with! Here’s what we have planned as of right now:

• day 1: late arrival in the city, just going to sleep
• day 2: marjan, the beach and the mestrovic gallery
• day 3: green market, old town and fine arts museum
• day 4: day-long boat excursion
• day 5: Varoš neighborhood, archeology museum, froggland
• day 6: visit of trogir and beach in the afternoon
• day 7: ?
• day 8: ? (our flight leaves at 9pm so we still have a full day)

we don’t want to be stressed and have to hurry to see everything we want to see, which is why the days aren’t packed with a ton of sights to see and activities. as for the last two days, we won’t have access to a car so we can’t go really far, and we don’t have the budget necessary to go to the krka national park (damn entry fee), or to do anything too expensive (we’d like an activity under 30€, transportation included). let me know if you have any suggestions!:)

These are not in order.
1- When young Smurf tried to make young Baz jealous by going into a room with one of the young guys he invited to that party. I know he was not her son, but I genuinely wanted to puke. She was unbelievable!
2- When Smurf was checking on J whether he was sexually satisfied and whether his gf is doing what he likes in the bedroom. I was like WTF are you guna do about it, GRANDMA?!
3- When Smurf told the stranger teenager who found her daughter shaking and sweating after doing drugs for the first time on the beach where she could've died to go talk to someone who cared and simply hung up. I know she is a fictional character but did that woman care about anybody ever?!
4- When Julia yelled at young Baz: so that's it?! after he saw her pregnant for the first time and he said nothing and left.
5- EVERY SCENE of Baz with Lina after her mom died
6- Baz killing scene. I just hated that she killed him off. A part of me didn't expect that even Smurf could stoop so low
7- When J killed the lawyer, I was like this boy is too evil man!
8- When J killed that poor secretary, again, TOO EVIL! he literally didn't have to, he was fleeing the country with a fake passport man, you could've just left her be
9- When Smurf told Pope to kill Cath
10- When Pope killed Cath, funnily enough I was feeling bad for Pope as much as for Cath. Smurf fucked him up too bad, man
11- When Amy was kicking Pope out while he confessed to her that he killed Cath because he was feeling guilty and she kept giving him hope that all sins are forgivable, yet not his sin. It was heart breaking how guilty he felt and how much he wanted to repent.
12- When monster Baz told Pope who would wanna have a kid with you. Literally broke my heart for him
13- When Pope kept repeating to Baz that he wasn't a weirdo, knowing that Baz always thought he was the normal son Smurf didn't have, for Baz to get away with the job and for Pope to be the one getting caught after. One thing I hated passionately about Baz is something Smurf said, he always thought he was smarter than he really was. Even when his own brothers kept calling him smart I was like NO HE'S NOT SHIT lol I just wish he was the one getting caught then, Pope WAS WAY SMARTER than Baz was ever guna be
14- When Lucy went right away to steal Baz's suitcases while he was fighting for his life in that OR. What a bitch, that's all I could say every time she claimed she loved him after he died.
15- When Andrew was actually relieved to be talked to by a professional after his psych eval, and for selfish J to snitch him out of there just before he gets to be talked to again (I know Andrew could've spilled everything then which as guna be harmful for everyone) but that's something I could never get over with Pope, if only he could talk to someone when he started needing to, I just know he would've turned out to be way less problematic individual, was so sad to watch how many times Smurf made sure he never does, starting with the church and the priest, how she even sent Baz to his bible study to make sure he doesn't share too much, selfish bitch
16- When Billy was inviting Nicky to try heroine for the first time (that's what he was doing right?) I was literally yelling for her to stay away
17- When Deran said that he liked Craig high, waiting for him to fall off the wagon, made my blood boil
18- Literally when NOBODY encouraged Craig to remain clean, not even cared that he got clean. Was so sad to watch
19- Almost all Ren's scenes ever since she had the baby haha. Sucha destructive personality and awful AWFUL mom. I mean child protective services should've taken Nick from her LONG TIME AGO
20- When Pope was trying his best to be a good dad, it broke my heart, he tried so much! more than Baz was ever going to
21- When Smurf made fun of Pope taking care of Lina, doing and saying everything to make him feel like he didn't know what he was doing. That one broke my heart because its like she fed on that tactic, and always managed to make him question how capable he was without her around. Awful human being.
22- When Smurf took Pope to his family's (1. without even telling him he had one) for him to sit there all confused and irritated, then to start a shooting battle with the gang while having a death wish not caring that he was guna be a causality during, just because she believed he couldn't live without her so she simply decided he should die without even telling him. Could she be any more disgusting?!
23- Pope's confusion and embarrassment after he tried to kiss Julia and Julia looking at him like a weirdo for the first time ever which made him feel even worse, while he was living in a sick boundries-less house where his mom is getting WAY TOO COMFORTABLE around him and his ''supposedly'' adopted brother, while Julia sleeps with Baz, and then he's the weirdo?! the guy was obviously mentally challenged and nobody ever explained to him what's normal and everything around him was everything BUT, and then he's viewed as the weirdo? that was so tough to watch
24- This one was a bitter sweet one, its the episode where one call from the only girl that ever liked Pope back (Amy) put him in such a good mood that he made a whole breakfast for the skaters and wanted to sign J's non profit paper from weeks lol how he went to the restaurant beforehand because a stranger told him he had to make sure it had not so loud music, that was so heartbreaking because I knew he had so much love to give but somehow he just will never be lucky enough to get it, just like the scene when Baz yells at him for leaving flowers for Cath just because he knew Baz never gets her any and even though she didn't choose Pope he'd still be the guy who gets her flowers. So heartbreaking.
25- J not only abandoning his uncles but telling on them gutted me like no other scene in the show. We all saw it coming, him ripping their money off, but again, that kid was so spiteful that he wanted them caught, killed even. J gave me the same feelings Smurf always gave me, heartless psychopath. I know they lived in poverty in comparison, but I thought that after the time he spent amongst them, he was guna realize that they were spoiled at best, not malicious or even the reason why his mom ended up the way she did and maybe that'd be enough for him not to want them dead the way they ended up to be. What a monster, man
26- It's not a secret by now how much I loved Pope's character, so the last one shouldn't be any scene but Pope's death. It just was tragic, for him to make it out of jail and still to die at his house because of a wound was just part of Pope's continuous bad luck. It was like that man was not destined to be happy, even temporarily, I hated how worse he always had it among all the boys, I wished him a semi-normal life, with someone who genuinely cared about him till the very last episodes, I hate that he never stood a chance.
Those are mine! what about you?

We have a 2 bedroom apartment, we leave the blinds shut 24/7, lights off. I try not to use the oven much but I have to cook all my meals at home so it’s hard. We set it to 72* because I have heat intolerance but it cuts on and off so often that condensation is building up and we can hear it trickle into the drip tray. We have fans on in every room, 2 in some. What else can we do? It’s only going to get worse, we live in the south and this is spring, it’s going to get even hotter until September.

For a 7 day average how bad is this? The pm 2.5 can spike quite high 80-100 regularly several times a day. This is in a bedroom with no windows open ever and a Levoit vista 200 purifier. I’m not sure what else I can do to get the pm 2.5 levels to be good. It seems like the only time it is good when no one is home for a while.

Hello!
I am sorry if there was a post about this before or if this is not the right sub. I wans't able to find any related post or the "right" sub. I am from Korea and have been thinking to teach in Canada and just had couple of questions!!!
Information
Thinking of moving in the next 3-5 years
ME

1. Korean
2. BA in business administration
   1. Will have my Masters before we go
3. Teaching experience 1 year (will have more before we leave)
4. English Level - Native

Fiance

1. Korean
2. ECE + TESOL (BA in international Studies) - Online Uni
3. Teaching experience 2 years (will have more before we leave)
4. English Level - Intermediate

​
Questions about teaching

1. What province do you live in?
2. When did you start to teach? (With what degree?) - What was your starting salary? (Before and after tax)
3. How much are you making now? (Before and after tax)
4. With the salary, were you able to live a comfortable life? (Not worrying about rent and such)
5. From what I know so far, every city has different requirements for teaching. How or where can I look up the requirements?
6. How do you find teaching jobs? (any recommend websites?)
7. Is it hard to find a school where they would accept my fiance and I in the same school?

Questions about living

1. Any recommendattions for where to live? (Probably somewhere thats affordable)
   1. What is the average rent for two people? (1 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom, 1 Living room) - possibly looking for a house, not an apartment.
2. Would I need a car? If so, how much does second handed car normally cost?
   1. Is it better to rent?
3. How much do you spend monthly? (Rent, food, and etc)
   1. How much are you able to save up monthly?
4. How much do you pay for health insurance?
5. Is going to hospital in Canada expensive?

​
Again, I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask! Also, sorry for the long post. My fiance and I are struggling to find direct answers to the questions above.