Thanks @benjamin
I try to avoid head slap moments, but this is one. I should have known I can call a template from within another template.
Until now, I have only been using the template tag in its shortcode version to call templates from html, often from inside a BB posts module, custom layout. That’s also why I define the current “post id” because when you call a template from inside a loop not driven by L&L, it doesn’t seem to know the current post id.
interestingly (for anyone else following this) the solution to this post also involved passing the post Id as a variable
In the instance you referenced, I showed my standard language when it wasn’t necessary.
Ultimately, I’d like to get rid of BB Posts modules completely!