#Blame Jollibee for this.

[wyvchard]

Vow

(If you know, you know. I'm not sorry.)

Phoenix attends a wedding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Normally, EOD operatives aren't privy to the movements of several former Zoraxis employees. However, this was one of the few exceptions.

Dr. Zor has no idea I'm here, and neither does the agency. It can't be helped. I even had to lie to HR to make this happen.

I sat on my seat in one of the pews, watching the small intimate ceremony.

There I saw Commander Solaris, face scarred from the Death Engine, standing near the end with a gentle smile on her face. Her blonde hair was neatly tied to avoid it covering her face.

The hall was decorated with the style you'd expect from a fashion icon. As expected of the Fabricator.

Speaking of...

There she is.

A dress she for sure made herself as the flowers matched the color of the theme fluttered as she walked slowly down the aisle. Her hazel eyes were shining as her dark brown hair perfectly framed her face. A subtle flush was on her cheeks as she walked down the aisle as the soft music played.

"Wouldn't it be fun if you shared the same last name as her, Fabby?" I smiled as I leaned on her desk, alcohol bottle floating with my TK.

If looks could kill, I would be six feet under hours ago. "I'm only tolerating you for Prism's sake."

"You'll love me eventually, Fabby."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the many things I had to train for as a secret agent was to look at other people.

I was often dragged along by Dr. P to spend time with her and I often see The Fabricator and Commander Solaris where she's staying.

It was easy to know just what was going on with those two. Solaris' eyes always wandered towards them.

The way she passes the tools to Fabby without a word, the gentle lingering touches. The acts of service.

She had always been a doer, never really a talker. Much like me, I suppose.

Which was why...

... I wasn't really surprised by the fact she never said a word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fabby walked past Solaris and finally went to Roxy in front of the altar.

However, it was painful to watch as both women glanced at Solaris who was standing a few steps away.

Memories of Roxy and Solaris talking badly about Zor resurfaced in my mind as I was there when they whispered plans to get Fabby out of there.

It was quite... a challenge to pretend I was asleep. But I heard everything.

I remember how they knew I was only playing along with their schemes to get her and even making my own moves.

To this day, I still don't know what brought Fabby and Roxy together. Although, the bond between coworkers in a very horrible place can lead to that, as seen how quickly I got attached to Ollie.

I held back a sigh as I watched the ceremony between two souls when I know it should've been three.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why didn't you say anything?" I placed down the glass in front of her as I drank from my own. "Then again, if I were in your situation, I would find it hard to ask. I mean... sometimes, I felt like you already had an unspoken agreement between the two of them."

I looked in front at the reception and saw the two share a cake while both of us stayed at the back.

Solaris merely looked defeated as she finished her drink quickly.

"... Do you want me to tell them?"

She tugged on my sleeve to drag me back with her and shook her head.

I dabbed the handkerchief on her face to wipe away her growing tears.

"... Alright. I guess I'm staying with you."

"Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This took a while to write. Please excuse any character inaacuracies.

References to @icecreampizzer's A Toast to Grief

@neurotonic, does this count as a "Triple Threat" fic?

@the-valiant-valkyrie, here's a bit of Fabbylaris angst if you wanna read it.

There is hope for the three to get together. All they had to do was talk.

[alhaith4ms]

went to the grocery with my roomies and 5kg of rice costs 320 php⁉️⁉️ my roomies and i had to suck it up and buy it but our wallets were in tears

[firehouse-subs-fr]

FIREHOUSE HELP why do i feel like you and subway have a love hate child

i swear i don't know where i saw it but there was a firewaysub blog claiming to be your child

i might be delusional help- i think i saw it in a dream maybe um

you might have to put me back into the leech box *sob*

--@jollibee-real

p.s i blame phub if i'm so wrong about firewaysub exisiting

WHAT THE FUCK

That's a horrible name and also WHAT THE FUCK

I hope you're just being delusional because I'm not ready to raise a child ESPECIALLY WITH MY NEMESIS WHAT THE FUUUUUCK

[kairiscorner]

TANGINA KINILIG AKO SA MGA HCS NI NOIR /pos 💗 CGE PA REQUEST NG MODERN HCS

ANG SARAP MAKARINIG NIYAN PO <333 SURE THING ANON HUHU

okokok, now imagine...

he'd play "panalangin" for you two. he'd dedicate his time and energy to learning the chords and how to sing it just right in his vocal range, HE HAS A BASS VOICE, he can rizz you up so easily when he opens his mouth like.......... ginoo <;333 (fuck off miggy this ain't about you noir sings better change my mind)

he really, really respects his elders. like your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and even great grandparents--just anyone who was older than him, he never fails to say, "po", "opo" or call them "ate", "kuya", "tito", "tita", "lolo", or "lola". he finds filipino culture so respectful when it comes to the elders and how endearing the "mano po culture" is. he hopes that if he has kids one day, they'll be as polite as you, so he tries his hardest to follow your example AND UPHOLDING THAT TO A TEE.

he loves entertaining the elders at family gatherings, especially as cover for you if you family asks too many questions, especially personal or uncomfy ones towards you. he'd direct the conversation in another direction, and cast you sideways glances as he reassures you whenever you need it through simple gestures, like holding your hand underneath the table, picking up the convo when it's dying out after a dry response, and getting you more water or something when you don't feel like getting up.

also, he knows it's not very polite, but he disregards politeness when he overhears or witnesses you being kinda harassed or being treated uncomfortably by a family member. you know those types, making fun of your insecurities to mask their own? yeah, no, he'll step in for you and answer them for you even if you never asked him to. he'll retort every criticism they have of you, your body, your academic life, your personality, your habits--he does not give a shit if they're "doing it out of love", if he sees you uncomfortable, he'll give you real love and get you out of there and defend you all the while.

your family thinks he's spoiling you too much... and he might be :> BUT CAN YOU BLAME HIM, HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH?????

when asked when the wedding will be, he always chokes on air.

he's very good with kids, HAVE YOU SEEN HIM WITH PENI????? if you had younger cousins, he'd entertain them. i feel like he would've been overwhelmed at first when the kids were crowded around him, yk filipino parents sending their flock of kids to ask for mano po from their elders.

"oh bless kayo kay tito peter", he sees a shitton of kids, "well guess my favorite hand's gonna fall off".

ngl when he gets called tito, it warms his heart because, he has a soft spot for kids and has this innate urge to spoil them, so when he's called tito it's like all his spoiling and love and hard work has paid off even it's just in the kid's nature to call every adult not related to them "tito" or "tita".

HE'D TELL YOU EVERY TIME AS WELL THAT HAPPENED, "mahal! i was called tito by your pamangkin (nephew/niece)!" /proceeds to spoil them with chocnut, jollibee, or whatever else.

oh yeah, he also puts off on swearing, but he can't help himself so when he gets accustomed to tagalog, there are tendencies when he uses tagalog curses BUT he doesn't go through with it. so parang: "PU...SANG GALA", "ANG GA...MO-GAMO MO."

i like to think that when he's speaking to you, it's mainly in english/taglish. but when your family members catch you guys in conversation, they'll whisper to themselves, "uy, di marunong magtagalog jowa niya, lokohin natin," and try to get him to call himself mabaho or something, but when they talk to him, HE SPEAKS IN FLAWLESS TAGALOG, HE UNDERSTANDS WHAT THEY'RE SAYING.

also... he calls you aking sinta :> HE KNOWS IT'S OLD FASHIONED, HARDLY ANYONE USES IT IN MODERN TIMES UNIRONICALLY, but he loves calling you his "sinta", bc you are his one and only :>>>

"aking sinta, mamahalin panghabang-buhay.. i'll love you forever, my dearest." HE SAYS WITH THAT CUTE SMILE, THE DIMPLES SHOWING, THE CURVES OF HIS LIPS ACCENTUATED AS HIS EYES SOFTEN UP AND GET A LITTLE SMALLER AS HIS NOSE BRUSHES OVER YOURS AAAAAAAAAAAAAA /namatai

a/n: SANA KILIGIN KA RIN DITO ANON <333

tags !! @thecoolerdor

[shadowredfeline]

Two in One Post

For his One This Day Post of the Wattersons Swapping Clothes.

Yeah I remember this pic before. Like I was wondering how Gumball, Darwin and Anais wanted to Swap clothes together to see what happens. Normally Gumball and Anais would feel naked when wearing like Darwin and Anais' attire. Even for Darwin since he never wears clothes. And I know I commonly remember seeing Gumball naked a couple of times. I couldn't blame anyone for Gumball, because I know Bugs Bunny always walks around Naked. I thought that's how Gumball keeps getting censored by the crotch area. Very common indeed.

Response to my friend.

That's nice how you might get a Chick-fil-A in your country. But if you still don't have any luck, you can always visit my country to get the chance depending if the place doesn't get too crowded. But I'm sure you'll get your chance of getting one in your country. And also, my brother and sister were thinking of planning to try out your common restaurant in your country, Jollibee. Since there's only one in my State since I found one in Vegas too, but I never got a chance too. Normally I explained to my brother and sister the food they had at Jollibee, and I thought about trying out their fried chicken or hot dogs and fries or a Sundae or any good meal they have there, especially if they can both have their rice as well. And I think that can be fun for me and my siblings to try out your restaurant as well. Even if my brother, sister and I visited your country too.

[nonamem9]

All 5 people (students) in front of me order chicken fillet/cdo ulam burger thing

Ordering and waiting my Jollibee chickenjoy while my dad just eats his own order that I don't know

I struggled to communicate my order on that 22 pesos small red cup thing

Tony Khan movie director is here and apparently also directed the Smosh movie, both were shit but somehow was blamed onto the titular people instead of the director (this tiny sudden bit took place back in our old bedroom when we lived in the slums of Mandaluyong)

Dad and staffer had a Convo until another employee came in to talk the cashier that's out of the cashier bay

My right index finger got wounded and bleed by the spring in my water bottle

Woke up 3:22 AM, bruh

[creative-ideas-to-post]

BEST FRIEND

January 5, 2023.

I smiled upon seeing the date today. It is my best friend’s birthday! I got up from bed and do my morning routine to get ready for that day. I am so excited because I would be able to visit my best friend again. I wasn’t able to meet her last Christmas vacation because my family and I went on a vacation. Kaya pagkatapos kong mag-ayos ay agad na akong bumaba para mag-almusal. Naabutan ko si mama na naghahanda ng pagkain. “Good morning Ma!” Masiglang bati ko rito at hinalikan siya sa pisngi bago maupo. Kumunot naman ang kaniyang noo dahil siguro ay ayos na ayos ako ngayong araw. Kaya bago pa man siya magtanong ay agad na akong nagsalita. “Pupuntahan ko po si Tine ngayon Ma. Birthday niya po.” Napatitig sa akin si Mama bago dahan-dahang tumango. Napangiti naman ako at nauna ng kumain ng breakfast at pagkatapos ay nagpaalam na ako na aalis. Bago dumiretso kay Tine ay dumaan muna ako sa Jollibee at umorder ng mga paborito naming. I ordered fries, coke float, burger, and chicken with spaghetti. Pagkakuha ng order ay dumaan din ako sa may bakeshop para umorder ng chocolate cake na pareho rin naming favorite ni Tine. Bumili rin ako ng candle numbers 2 and 1 dahil 21st birthday ito ni Tine. Hindi ko rin nakalimutang bumili ng white roses kasi favorite niya ito. Nang makitang okay na ang aking binili ay nagpara na ako ng trycycle para magpahatid kay Tine. Pagbaba ko ay ramdam ko na rin ang init ng araw. Medyo mahaba-haba pa ang lalakarin kaya kinuha ko ang payong ko bago naglakad papunta kay Tine. Napangiti ako ng matanaw ko na siya. I excitedly run towards her and greet her a happy birthday. Naglatag na ako ng picnic mat at agad inayos ang mga pagkain doon. And of course, I took my phone to take a photo as a remembrance of this special day. Sinindihan ko ang kandila bago siya kantahan ng happy birthday. Natawa ako dahil pagkatapos ko siyang kantahan ay umihip ang malamig na hangin na siyang dahilan ng pagkamatay ng kandila sa cake. I greet her again a happy birthday before starting to eat. At syempre hindi mawawala ang kwentuhan habang kumakain. Ang dami kong chika sa kaniya dahil nga matagal kaming hindi nagkita. Hindi ko namalayan kung ilang oras na akong nagkukwento. Basta ang alam ko lang miss na miss ko ang best friend ko kaya hindi ko na pinagtuunan ng pansin ang oras. “You’re here too.” Napatingin naman ako sa nagsalita at nakita ko si Eman. Tine’s older brother. Malungkot ko naman siyang nginitian bago ibinalik ang tingin kay Tine. “Of course! It is her birthday. And I miss her so much.” Hindi ko na napigilan ang pagpatak ng aking mga luha. I didn’t stop myself from crying. Eman remains silent beside me but I know that he feels the same. I know that he also misses her sister. It’s been 2 years since Tine died. But the pain is still the same. And I still blame myself for not being at her side during those times. If only I was there! Sana pala lagi ko siyang kinukumusta. Sana pala lagi ko siyang dinadalaw. Sana napansin ko na agad na nahihirapan na pala siya. Sana natulungan ko siya. “I know that you are blaming yourself until now. Because I also feel the same. But I know that Tine wouldn’t like it. Let’s be happy for her. I know that she was guiding us.” Pinunasan ko ang luha sa aking mga mata bago tumitig sa lapida sa harap ko kung saan nakaukit ang pangalan ng best friend ko. Tine, are you happy now? Do you miss us too? I am trying my best to live my life happily because I know that it is what you want us to do. Tine, I really miss you! Your family miss you too! Wherever you are, please be happy. I felt a bold wind embrace me after saying those messages in my mind. And I feel at peace. Maybe it was Tine. Assuring me and her brother that she is fine and that she’s always at our side. I smile at that thought. “Happy birthday Tine! Please know that we love you so much!”

[kyriiee]

My Autobiography

My name is Khyre Gabrille Lozano I was born on October 23 2006 in Tarlac City General Hospital I have sister her name Is Angel Erika My mothers name is Elvira we lived at baranggay Bentigan Cuyapo Nueva Ecija I have a nephew his name Is Tyler Blu fun fact did you know that my nephew name was originally caught to the Rio Movie the Protagonist there he’s name is Tyler Blu Anderson so that my sister adopt he’s name because when I was a child my favorite movie is Rio so that the name of his son Is Tyler Blu If you can see my nephew he’s so cute as a bug ear. We’re only 4 in our family I’m the youngest one. The meaning of the first letter of my name which Is Khyre is “Peaceful Person” then the second name is Gabrille which means “God is my strength” actually my second name is a mistake because It’s have an E after of I in my Gabrille Because my mom said that I’m her strength, but the nurse have a mistake on It instead a Gabrielle the outcome is Gabrille but I’m still very Thankful because I have name. I am (Independent, curious person, active, Social Climber (HAHAHAH) and also loving, caring, kind, etc) because for me in the age of 16 I need to be a Independent person because I'm about to go to college, I’m a curious person, I am active person because for me this is the best personality that one people have of it, I include social climber because for me I’m so active on Online shop when there’s is have a trend I buy it but if the item is so pricey I can’t buy it Because for me wasting too much money can harm to our mental I’m loving person, caring person, kind person, because for me all of us deserve to treat well and deserve to be loved so that all of my love , I’m always caring them and loving them because they deserve It. I would compare my self as a clock because for me like a clock there’s no ending, because like a clock if the battery of it is lost theres always a replacement of it, cause for me even though I feel drained, feel sad, feel that I want to give up, there’s always a people always by my said helping me and caring me.

My family Is special to me because they are the one who give me life, they are the one who supporting me since when I was a child. They give me perfect life in this misserable world. For me my family Is like a super heroes because when I bullied In my school when I was In elementary there are the one who always by my side no matter what. I have a pet her name is milktea she’s so adorable like my crush and soft, when I always sit down to the floor his always beside me she’s always in my lap because she want a tendernes. I have a separated family since I was a baby I didn’t see my father so that my mother is the only one who raised me and I’m so proud of her because even though I don’t have a father she’s always by my side. Seriously I’m so mad to my father because he does not fulfill his obligation to me and my sister. But I can’t blame my father because If he’s not exist I’m not here, I always said to my self that. Everything happens there’s a reason. I have a friends but not have a best friend because for me best friend is always there for you, always here by your side. But that’s the reason thats why I don’t have a best friend and nothing is permanent. But when I’m with my friends I feel the love that they give to me but I know ine day there’s no permanent In the end I’m the only one who stay. The first memorable in my childhood Is when I was a 5 years old my mother buy a fried chicken in the Jollibee she gave me one of it but after that my stomach is aching she didn’t not see that the chicken is not cooked well so that we went to the hospital and I confined. My mother said to me that I was 50/50 because of that chicken, so after that incident she always see the chicken if it’s cook or not. When I was on Elementary grade 2 we went to Mall Of Asia with my uncle, my uncle is “Balikbayan” from UAE so that he treated my whole family, I was so excited because that is the first time I went to Manila and Mall Of Asia, we buy to the ice cream store and my shirt is dirty because I’m so messy so that he buy me a Bumblebee Shirt I was so excited because that’s my favorite character in Transformers. After that we went to the sea side of Mall Of Asia and I see the different rides I’m so excited so that we went to the carousel and ride on it but the most memorable is when I was In s big ball and I was inside of it and my Cousin we play 1v1. When I was in Highschool the most memorable is when we have a Pilgrimage I see the different churches in the Nueva Ecija and that’s so beautiful and that’s so memorable because after that Covid 19 was started, and all over the world affects of it. The memorable event in my life is when I was on grade 2 that is Christmas break my mother Is working in Manila she taken me there for celebrate Christmas and New Year. And there’s a lot happened when I was on Manila we always go to the place that so attractive and tourist spot there and there’s a lot peoples walking and many vehicles on the road. And at night we went to the rooftop I see the stars winked at me.

The sports that I want is volleyball, badminton but I’m not expert of it I just want to play it because for me when I play it all of my stress is vanishing and I feel strong because volleyball and badminton help me to reduce my fat. My Talent is singing when I was a child I to like to sing until now I still singing I do covers but I didn’t release or post it on my social media accounts because I have fear that no one wants to like it. My Hobbies is playing online games when there is have a pandemic I played axie and that’s my source of income, I play also a Mobile Legends. And cleaning the house because I don’t want a dirty house. And I like to collect some markers or school supplies stuff because for me It’s so attractive when you organize It on your table. My favorite food is Sinigang, Adobo, Monggo, Pakbet, Carbonara, Chicken Curry Buro but the smell of buro like the smell of muffins welcomd as inside. My favorite movie is the Avengers, My Favorite songs is Getaway Car,Style,Back To December, Cruel Summer,Exile,August,All too well,13,Malibu Nights, Sad, Happy for you,Is there someone else, Call out my name, Happier than Ever Huling Sandali, Bunalik kana sakin etc. My favorite song artist is Taylor Swift, The weekend, Lany, Billie Eilish, Silent Sanctuary, December Avenue, Keshi etc. My favorite color is Black and White sometimes blue and red. My goals is first I want to graduate to Senior Highschool second I go to college to pursue my dreams and i want to graduate in college with latin honor and hopefully I will passed to the board exam this is my goals in life because I want all my mother's sacrifices back And I will give her the dream house that she wants since I was a kid. Third is buying my wants since I was child/teenager because I promise to my self that one day I will have the things that I want when I was a teenager. Lastly having my own family because for me I don’t want to be alone, that’s why I choose my dream first because that’s why I don’t want my family will starving and I want our financial is stable and goods also I give the funds to my children’s if I have one in the future. I have so many dreams in life first I want our financial is stable my mother will have a good income, all of us in our family didn’t not sick. My dreams is to be a Teacher or a Seaman, seaman was my original dream because one of my dreams is to travel to different countries but I wonder if my mom can afford it because it's expensive so that I choose teacher but if I become a teacher in the future my second thing that I will do is pursue my original dream, teacher Is going to be my experience in work but everything can change just trust the process. For me my dreams is like a clock with a specific time because few steps I can reach my dreams. I hope in 10 years I look at the mirror and thinking all my sacrifices when I was still studying and all of it has a good outcome I hope in 10 years I have a good work, good health, good financial, and I hope that my mother is still alive because I know she’s already old because I want her to experience all the sacrifices that she made have all a good outcome. And I hope in 10 years our world will be a better place. Because now we’re all facing climate change that have a greatly affects in our everyday lives

Always remember.

”When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.”

[snugsodium]

What Affects the Philippine Inflation Rate?

Have you felt it? The lack of rising wages amongst the outrageous spike of food prices, gasoline, and for the local real estate investor, a pre-selling house and lot and the housing market? Or, if you got the better end of the deal, the rapid rise of money coming into your bank accounts? This was caused by no other than the rise of the Philippine inflation rate.

What you need to know about the Inflation Rate Philippines

Inflation is a measurement of the rising prices of goods and services in a country's economy. If a positive spike in inflation occurs, this leads to the rise of prices of basic needs such as food, water, and electricity, leaving society, especially those in the poor sectors, on edge and in stress.

Usually, when basic commodities get priced highly, almost everything else will follow--from a pre-selling house and lot to your spouse's lipstick to Jollibee meals. Its absence normally causes wages to rise. Unfortunately, even in healthcare such as hospital bills and medicines. And what is more alarming is that even when the economy has recovered from its previous inflation, businesses tend to not go back to the original and lesser price of their products.

Inflation is a major concern because the money we work hard on saving can have a lesser value in the future. Even as early as tomorrow. This is because, as what was derived previously, it affects the purchasing power of people, and even the lives and mental health of people. Instead of kicking back, and relaxing, people now have to double their efforts and work more years.

What Causes Inflation

[chuuyrr]

i wanna reqs hehe chuu my beloved, imagine scarlet witch! baby fushiguro! reader wanting to visit philippines because of boracay she want to see nemo and fishes, riding banana boat, kayak and of course foodies especially in Jollibee also jjk students, and papa toji is there din diba tapos they tried riding jeep.

jjk characters & scarlet witch! baby fushiguro! reader goes to boracay/philippines for vacation

jujutsu kaisen x reader

masterlist of the series

╰➤ CW(s): jjk characters might be written ooc, mostly headcanons because almost everyone is in it, fluff

╰➤ PAIRING(s): platonic! jujutsu kaisen x child! reader (gojo satoru, fushiguro toji, jujutsu tech students, nanami kento)

before you read: hi, in case you're new, you're megumi's younger half-sibling, and while you don't have cursed energy, you do have scarlet witch's powers and abilities! aside from that, as a special scarlet witch variant, you also have the ability to travel across the multiverse. how chaotic! furthermore, like your half-brother megumi, you are being cared for by gojo satoru, who also serves as your adoptive father. for more info, please see the masterlist.

you didn't know much about the philippines until you heard about it from your uncle nanami and adoptive father, gojo. the philippines was mentioned because gojo was looking for a vacation spot, and you were overjoyed to hear how the philippines had this island called boracay, which meant fishies and boats, as well as this well-known fast-food restaurant called jollibee.

you asked immediately gojo to take you there as soon as you heard about it (and everyone else including toji).

it didn't take long for gojo to clear everyone's schedules and buy flight tickets for a couple of days in the philippines, and honestly, gojo seemed more excited than you were because by the time he woke you up for the flight, you were still a little sleepy and irritated due to the time, but gojo was already dressed for the beach. the classic polo with hawaiian design, shorts, and sunglasses

anyway, after gojo woke you up and dressed you, you both went to the airport with your luggages, where you met a very sleepy and still yawning tokyo jujutsu high students; maki and nobara were leaning against each other while clutching their luggages, yuuji and megumi were still yawning, and inumaki and panda were drinking some of the beverages that nanami and toji got the kids. you were still too sleepy to process everything, so you slept even after everyone else boarded the plane.

the plane ride to the philippines took between ten and eleven hours, and you almost didn't get any sleep because toji and gojo were arguing about who you should sit with.

you were upset with them, so you didn't choose any of them to sit and sleep with. you chose to sit beside your uncle nanami, who shared a seat with megumi and yuuji because he was quieter than the two. both of your fathers were completely betrayed to see you lean against nanami and slept. gojo and toji also ended up sitting next to each other and grumbled and blamed each other the entire flight.

fast forward to the philippines, where you arrived at your destination, boracay, and everything was forgiven with toji and gojo because you were no longer irritable and had gotten a good night's sleep, but the huge difference struck you as soon as everyone got their luggage and stepped off the plane.

"it's so hot here," you exclaimed, and your brother and his classmates agreed, but a smile instantly lit up your face as you took in the sight of coconut trees, white sand, and how blue the ocean of the luxurious hotel resort gojo had booked, "but very pretty!"

"ahh! i can't wait! we should get to our rooms so we can change and swim!" nobara exclaimed, jumping up and down with yuuji.

"i wanna go see nemo and the other fishies!" you cried out, tugging gojo's and toji's hands.

"you will, angel," toji chuckled softly, reaching out his hand to ruffle your hair as gojo nodded and smiled down at you.

you were all guided by the staff to where you and everyone would be staying, and to be honest, you were annoyed when the said staff seemed to be... checking out gojo, toji, and nanami, but it was fine since your father and uncle weren't paying attention to her anyway.

the rooms were assigned as follows: you and gojo, megumi and yuuji, nobara and maki, panda and inumaki, and nanami and toji. you dressed up in your favorite swimwear and wore matching heart-shaped glasses with nobara, and as soon as you were all dressed up, you all went off the beach first instead of yours and everyone else's private pool because you wanted to go to the beach.

"look at how white the sand is! it's like snow!" you exclaimed softly, sprinting away from the others who were chasing you as you picked some up in your hands.

"there are also some seashells! look, [name]-chan!" yuuji picked up a bunch of pretty shells near the shore and showed them to you.

"fishies! we have to see the fishies next!" you exclaimed as you dropped the white sand in your hands and dashed into the ocean, almost squealing as the cold yet refreshing waters made contact with your skin, "the water's cold!"

"oi, wait for us!" gojo yelled, laughing as he chased you down, only to laugh again when you splashed him with water, "kikufuku! you little rascal!"

"take that!" you exclaimed, splashing water on gojo as he chased you and the tokyo jujutsu tech students in the waters.

and just when you thought it was over, women and even men were staring at your entire family, and it wasn't just because panda was with you; they were practically gawking (and drooling) at gojo, toji, and nanami at most.

but don't worry, your family was overprotective of you the same way you were towards tjem when little boys your age started talking to you and giving you seashells and seaweeds. gojo and toji were not having it and were not prepared for boys chasing after their precious kikufuku/angel! they may or may not have shooed them off on purpose.

anyway, for the most part, gojo, toji, and nanami had done the majority of the talking and explaining to you and everyone because of their fluency in english due to their works or previous work, as in the case of toji.

you honestly didn't understand much of what the kids you spoke to said either because you weren't fluent in english or tagalog.

regardless, you still had a good time at the beach. you splashed everyone and everything, collected seashells and seaweeds with yuuji, inumaki, and panda, and may or may not have scared the living hell out of everyone when you dove into the waters while everyone else was about to go snorkeling.

toji, gojo, and nanami nearly died as they dove into the waters after you, only to find you swimming just fine with the help of your chaos magic. you got to see a lot of fishes and, surprisingly, nemo, as well as some jellyfish and turtles, just like you'd always wanted to.

"there weren't any sharks like bleghh though," you frowned as you and everyone resurfaced.

"kikufuku, i think it was best that we didn't see any sharks at all or else we would have probably gotten eaten..." gojo's sweat dropped, along with yuuji, nobara and megumi.

in addition to swimming and snorkeling, you also got to ride banana boats, which you thoroughly enjoyed. you enjoyed the salty sea breeze as a guy in a speedboat dragged all of you on a banana boat around the ocean's surface, and then you were all yeeted straight into the ocean.💀

the kayaks were also very nice, especially the clear ones. nobara and gojo were in awe of the men rowing the clear kayaks because they really know how to take social media-worthy photos and videos of their passengers.

after a long day at the beach, new and fresh clothes and a good bath were insufficient. you were starving; everyone else was starving.

"daddy, papa, i'm hungry! let's find jollibee and buy there!" you exclaimed, your [color] eyes brightening as you remembered the fast-food restaurant you were looking forward to visiting.

"[name]-chan is right, we should have jollibee! i've read that it's as good as kfc, if not better," itadori said, to which nobara and maki agreed as they researched the said fast-food restaurant with inumaki.

"... kfc huh?" gojo muttered upon hearing yuuji, his sweat dropping as he recalled something.

"there should be one, but it's on the main road," maki pointed out, displaying the location on nobara's phone to everyone.

"i'll book as an uber ride. oh, wait, they don't have uber here. apparently, it's grab car here in the philippines," gojo muttered, his eyes widening as he looked at his phone and yanked his black round sunglasses down.

when you were getting your jackets and leaving the hotel to get a car and head to the nearest jollibee, a strange vehicle caught your eye from afar and looked like a mini-bus of sorts.

"hey, what's that?" you asked, pointing at the said vehicle as you sat on gojo's shoulders.

"i'm actually not sure.." gojo furrowed his brows.

"what if we ride that mini bus thingie instead to get to jollibee instead of a car?" you suggested, eyes lighting up with excitement, "it looks fun!"

gojo stopped booking a car, as you suggested, and instead, all of you went up to the mini-bus and had nanami talk and ask first about the mini-bus if you guys could actually ride it to jollibee.

"well? what did he say?" toji inquired as nanami returned to all of you.

"that mini-bus is a public transportation service here in the philippines, and it's actually called a jeepney—jeep for short," nanami explained, to which all of you nodded in understanding with a wonderstruck gaze at the vehicle. "there's a fare to be paid individually, but it's cheap."

"well, then, what are we waiting for?! let's ride the jeep!" itadori fist pumped the air.

you cried out happily with hands in the air, "yeah! let's go! let's go!"

riding the jeepney was an something. passengers were staring at you and everyone else, especially toji, gojo, and nanami who were gripping the handle in the ceiling of the said vehicle, wondering why (hot) foreigners and a walking panda were riding in a jeep when you could all have taken a car. sure, it was a little humid because there was no air conditioning, but it still was a fantastic experience.

after the jeepney ride, you all hopped off and made your way to the jollibee fast-food restaurant. when you saw the mascot statue outside, you couldn't help but zoom away from them and squeal with delight.

"JOLLIBEEE!!" you screamed, practically clinging onto the statue, "IT'S REALLY HIMM!!"

gojo couldn't stop laughing as he took out his phone to take pictures of you clinging to jollibee. you were eventually joined in the picture taking by megumi, yuuji, nobara, and the second years. after marvelling at the mascot, you all entered the restaurant, where you were greeted by friendly staff and some people who were once again staring at your family, particularly gojo, toji, and nanami.

"ooh! it's the chicken joy! let's order a bucket!" itadori exclaimed, pointing at the menu.

"and some fries too," nobara said, which itadori nodded in agreement with.

"how about you, [name], what else do you want?" nanami asked, gently picking you up to show you the jollibee menu.

"i wanna try this one.. it's called, uh, palabok?" you tested out the foreign word on your tongue as you picked, "and the peach mango pie!"

"hey, i want peach mango pie too!" gojo suddenly ran up to you and nanami, grinning.

"are you [name]?" nanami narrowed his eyes.

"hmm, how about we order a little bit of everything so we can try different foods besides the chicken and fries?" megumi suggested, "the palabok sounds interesting, as does their peach mango pie."

"megumi's right, let's just order a bit of everything," toji agreed with biological son.

with nanami, toji, and gojo, you and everyone were able to order all of the meals you had been wanting to try. you all chose to eat at the restaurant for the experience too. you all first tried the chicken joy and fell in love at first bite.

"oh my god. that's really good! it's crunchy!" itadori proclaimed, taking another bite.

"salmon tuna mayo," inumaki nodded.

"it really goes well with the gravy too." maki agreed with inumaki.

after that, you, megumi, and nanami tried the palabok. you were in awe as soon as you mixed the thin rice noodle dish with the sauce with shrimp, pork, and sliced boiled eggs and took a slurp of your food.

"this is amazing!" you exclaimed, taking another slurp of the palabok dish using your fork.

"[name]'s right, it's savory," megumi said, a small smile on his face, "i expected it to be somewhat sweet, but it's actually just right."

"really? let me try!" nobara inquired, to which megumi slid his own plate towards her, allowing her to take some and try it for herself, "you guys weren't kidding. it is good! really, really good!"

you then tried the peach mango pie with gojo and the tokyo jujutsu tech students and nearly died because the filling was so hot, but it was sweet and the pie was crunchy, which perfectly contrasted the viscosity of the peach mango pie filling. you and gojo liked it so much that he ordered an entire box just for the two of you.

gojo had taken out and paid for another bucket of chicken, along with some fries, palabok, and yum burgers at the end of your food trip in Jollibee because you, megumi, nobara, yuuji, maki, panda, and inumaki wanted more of it to eat back at the said hotel, and all of you rode the jeep again instead of a car because you wanted to ride one again on the way back.

maki and nobara combed and tied your hair after you took a shower and dried your hair with the help of toji and a hair blower, and you couldn't help but think of something very important as everyone gathered around you and the table of takeouts sitting comfortably in the living room of the hotel gojo booked.

perhaps you should magic a jollibee restaurant back in japan, you thought as you munched on your crunchy chicken joy drumstick. yeah.

[commanderserwin]

masterlist.

hi, hello, how are you? below is my growing list of writings! hoping you all enjoy it and thank you very much! ♡( ◡‿◡ )

this is updated: 2020.11.15 — thank you again for reading ♡

LEVI ACKERMAN

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: relationship with him

hcs: dating someone taller than him

hcs: first time

hcs: seeing him shirtless for the first time

hcs: upset and ignores him & pushes her emotions onto him

⁂ — fluff

hugs and kisses. 

modern AU: levi playing animal crossing 

taking care of him. 

levi giving his son a haircut. 

questions and questions.

names for him & you.

falling freely. 

thousands.

stubborn.

heart says? 

soulmate AU: here, now. (slight angst?)

⁂ — angst

teas and pastries. 

love again. [with erwin smith]

comfort. 

woe. 

half a heart. 

modern AU: lights.

maybes. 

falling freely. 

rooftop wish.

muscle memory.

with love.

morning view. [bedsharing]

lights.

week 21. [with fluff, nsfw, and everything in between.]

⁂ — smut

skins. [foursome with: erwin, mike]

payback!

two ways. [with erwin]

somnophilia. 

⁂ — prompts

chasing someone’s lips after they pull away & peppering their face in kisses. 

accidentally knocking your head on someone’s chin.

*accidental* chest bump.

a hug after not seeing someone for a long time.

“darling, i love you and all, but please step out of the kitchen.”

“you just threw four years of our relationship out the window.”

“you took all the pillows, so i’m using you as one.” & “you’re an idiot.” “but i’m your idiot.”

“i’m sorry, do i know you?”

“i’m pretty sure they’re my soulmate.”

“i haven’t seen him smile in months.”

“can you please just hold me?”

“you’re lying to me again. why can’t you just tell me the truth for once?” and “i can’t lose you.” “you already did.”

“you are my family.”

ERWIN SMITH

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: relationship with him

hcs: first time

hcs: comforting his s/o with chronic migraine

hcs: comforting his s/o during a panic attack

⁂ — fluff

he’s a family man!

catching on.

put your head on my lap.

modern AU: starting over again.

demands.

modern AU: one of us.

just like him.

patch me up?

mafia AU: same space.

blind date.

“can you take this?”

hooked.

rainfall.

class day. [with levi ackerman] 

“with your name on it?”

colors.

⁂ — angst

jealousy. 

love again. [with levi ackerman]

catching on. 

don’t worry. 

soulmate AU: lucky.

⁂ — smut

skins. [foursome with levi, mike]

two ways. [with levi ackerman] 

put your head on my lap. 

ungodly hour. 

modern AU: blame game. 

rumors.

⁂ — prompts

smiling into a kiss.

confusing handshake into a fist bump.

wiping someone’s tears & tugging on the bottom of someone’s shirt.

“you’re everything i could’ve wanted and more.”

“stop moving and let me braid your hair.”

“you are literally crushing me.”

“is that my shirt?” “you mean our shirt?” & “darling, i love you and all, but please step out of the kitchen.”

“you promised.”

“i never knew i can love this much.”

“you started drinking again, didn’t you?” and “you promised you’d stop drinking.” “and you promised you’d wouldn’t hurt me!” and “leave.”

“this is all in my head. it’s all happening in my head.” and  “let me go.” 

“could you say that again?” “were you not listening?” “no, i was, i just like hearing your voice.” and “is this really the time for jokes?” and  “are you flirting with me?”

“you’re everything i could ever wanted and more.”

EREN YAEGER

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: seeing him shirtless for the first time

hcs: first time

hcs: how he is as a brother with a little sister that survived the breach

hcs: having a little sister that drives him crazy

⁂ — fluff

feel a way. 

magic pill — one, two

college AU: one text message. 

deal!

modern AU: “we should’ve stayed in bed.”

truth or dare?

⁂ — angst

again.  

“come and get you.” 

clear.

call of silence.

better days. [with armin, and mikasa]

⁂ — smut

[smut that is written for eren is eren aged 18+]

can i do something? 

college AU: teach me. 

tender. 

⁂ — prompts

chasing someone’s lips after they pull away.

giggly cuddles & the biggest, warmest hugs & a hug that some might consider as too long.

“i told you to take care of yourself.”

“you’re everything i could’ve wanted and more.” and “come back to bed, please.” and “hey, look at me. focus on me all right?” and “don’t let go.” and “you’re safe now. i’m here.” and “take my hand. just trust me.” and “have you been sleeping?”

MIKE ZACHARIAS

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: first time

hcs: being in a relationship with him

hcs: comforting his s/o with chronic migraines

hcs: comforting his s/o during a panic attack

⁂ — smut

skins. [foursome with erwin, levi]

⁂ — prompts

tugging on the bottom of someone’s shirt.

HISTORIA REISS

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: sleeping with their s/o for the first time

⁂ — fluff

family morning conversations!

waves.

⁂ — angst

shower day.

⁂ — prompts

“is that my shirt?” “you mean our shirt?” & kissing someone’s forehead.

YMIR

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: falling for a pure, innocent girl

hcs: proposing to her girlfriend

hcs: first time

hcs: pregnant s/o

hcs: comforting her s/o who is sad

⁂ — fluff

day offs! 

cuddles! 

“i have to tell you something.” 

JEAN KIRSTEIN

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: relationship with him

hcs: kissing & cuddling

⁂ — fluff

chefs in the making.

“race you!”

REINER BRAUN

⁂ — fluff

on the run! 

cuddlebug.

⁂ — angst

believe me.

ANNIE LEONHART

⁂ — headcanons

hcs: nsfw 

⁂ — prompts

interlocking pinkies.

ARMIN ARLERT

⁂ — fluff

someone.

drabble: foster mom & young armin.

better days. [with eren, and mikasa]

college AU: study day! 

⁂ — prompts

kissing someone’s cuts/bruises/scratches.

MIKASA ACKERMAN

⁂ — fluff

massages!

MISCELLANEOUS

— veterans 

hcs: first times

hcs: their embarrassing secrets

erwin & levi’s “ideal” s/o

levihan drabble

eruri: food war (jollibee & mcdo)

— 104th kiddies

dinner time! 

— others

match-ups

— fic recs

— interactions

[rrasado]

Butler Jollibee is now haunting me and I blame @eggy-melancholy

[bluu-m0on]

ok but what if i came by your inbox every once in a while to ask you oddly specific and random questions so i can get to know you more? 🥺👉👈

FIRST ONE WOULD BE:

would you rather have street food or fast food right now?

✨✨✨HAPPY TRAIN NOISES ✨✨✨

fun fact: despite being a filipino, i actually havent tried a LOT of street food. granted the street food outside my past highschool was hot and filthy as all hell, I don’t really blame myself for not eating. My college didn’t have street food until the evening, and even then, there were still a lot of affordable places we could eat dinner at if it wasn’t full, or we just took take outs; i didn’t want to stick around dinner usually, and my mom still picks me up from my uni to our apartment nearby. THAT or i just go straight home right after my classes bc i’d rather be in my bed already 😂

NOT EVEN ISAW, KWEK KWEK, MARUYA, OR ISKRAMBOL 😂.

The only thing ive eaten that counts as street food is fishballs, since it was the only stall that looked relatively safe and “clean enough” 😂

so by default, fastfood. preferrably Jollibee, KFC, and if I have some cash to burn, Burger King. Mcdonalds is aight to me as long as its the saver meals ✨

[leonaesque]

Poetic Injustice: On Ateneo and Negotiating Complicity

To be a successful comprador is an art. Tony Tan Caktiong knows this. Given the scale at which multinational corporations influence Philippine culture, at this point, who are we to refute it? And how? Profit-seeking forces itself on us; to be recognized. Every mass-produced item of clothing featuring the pattern of an ever-smiling billion-dollar bee is indication enough: Art is execution. In fact, being the recipient of foreign capital requires deliberate hands able to maintain thousands upon thousands of labor-only contractual workers, despite their having worked at the same establishment for years on end. These workers produce what no middleman can. Yet a company will still view being bought-out by an industry giant as the ideal exit strategy. Each moving part makes for one striking image of monopoly– worthy, one might insist, of being featured in a gallery.

Jollibee Foods Corporations (JFC) acquires stakes or ownership of restaurant chains in order to expand, as it has done over the course of many years with local and foreign brands. Their current roster includes Greenwich, Chowking, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King PH, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Panda Express PH. The company also runs businesses internationally, such as Smashburgers in the United States, and Yonghe Dawang or Yonghe King in China.[1] Of course, the face of this massive undertaking remains the once tiny Magnolia-inspired ice cream store, Jollibee, now every business-oriented insect’s wet dream.

Ernesto Tanmiantong, brother and successor of Tony Tan Caktiong as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jollibee Foods Corporation, is the latest former Chairperson of the Ateneo de Manila University Board of Trustees.[2] One can even find his name, along with his wife’s, gracing a first-floor exhibit hall of the Ateneo Art Gallery, found inside the university’s so-called creative hub, the Arete. In the months before the start of the first semester of S.Y. 2018-2019, Tanmiantong’s adorable, marketing-committee-approved buddy in white gloves and a chef’s hat took a trip to the then-newly inaugurated art gallery for a photo-op. The mascot then posed with several installments and paintings, a couple of which depicted farmers and workers.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), JFC is one of the most notorious businesses with regards to the perpetuation of the practice of contractualization.[3] Contractual workers are, according to law, not employed by– and, therefore, not the responsibility of– the company they provide labor to. Because of this, these workers do not receive benefits or compensation, are often subject to abusive working conditions, and are vulnerable to the shameless practice of mass termination. No doubt, the Public Relations stunt with the Ateneo Art Gallery was ill-timed; right at the height of protests against the corporation, in the midst of its non-compliance with the DOLE’s order to regularize upwards of 6,000 of its workers– there was Jollibee: tone-deaf and taking pictures to post on his Facebook profile, The Atenean Way.  

Ironically, as the statement by Ateneo’s School of Humanities Sanggunian (which condemned the incident) pointed out, perhaps even the person inside that oversized blinking head of the Jollibee mascot was a contractual worker, posing in a space that he might never have been able to enter without the cartoon-bee-mask of his exploitation.[4] Surely, it does not matter whether or not the institutional faux pas was an intentional case of art-washing. At least, it should not. Is there such a thing as art for art for art’s sake?

---

There is this poem entitled “The Doomed” written by Mikael De Lara Co. A friend of mine recommended it to me once after a workshop session because my piece, he said, reminded him of it. I do not think my friend meant to insult me. Unless he did.

“The Doomed” is a poem about writing a poem, wherein the poet-persona is aware that, while he is writing poems about lilies, there is violence somewhere, which he is both physically and socially detached from. This violence is manifest into the shooting of Liberal Party supporter and candidate, Hamira Agcong, in 2010, as well as the infamous Ampatuan Massacre that occurred in 2009, where 58 people were kidnapped and killed.  

Where do poems fall under in the realm of social praxis (if at all)? “The Doomed” ends with the lines “I want to find beauty in suffering. / I want to fail.” Yet, the poem’s aestheticization of the murders via tone and imagery is blatant. The declarative rejection of an ideal like beauty or portraying beauty betrays the poet’s pretentiousness in what can only be his underlying conservativity. There is no attempt to avoid it. With lines like “You sit at your desk / to write a poem about lilies and a clip of 9mm’s / is emptied into the chest of a mother…” and “… a backhoe in Ampatuan crushes the spines of 57 / – I am trying to find another word for bodies”, it sounds as though these killings are more poetic material than actual, politically motivated deaths. Tell me, is the reader to blame for reading what is on the page? Mikael De Lara Co fails in failing, making the poem and its project a useless endeavor.

Despite the pointedly crafted grief into the persona’s voice, “The Doomed” does nothing to grieve the circumstances which brings about its dramatic situation. Why are people “doomed”, if not for the bureaucrat capitalists that viciously plot to stay in power? Could the poet not have addressed that, instead of weeping about his writing process? I do not believe that the poem would have failed that, at least, because all language inevitably fails in the face of social reality. That would be lazy, if it were not bullshit.

But I suppose that is why “The Doomed” fails, most of all: The poet believes it is fine to write speeches for a leader who allowed farmers and indigenous people to be harassed, as long as they could be tagged as members of the New People’s Army, the armed faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines. A text speaks, though the words are not on the page. So, the poet dooms.

Mikael De Lara Co has won many awards for his writing and translations, including the prestige-inducing Don Carlos Palanca Award for Literature. He graduated BS Environmental Science from Ateneo de Manila University, where he was once an editor of Heights, the school’s official literary publication. He has been published in many other magazines, literary journals, and the like, where his author’s notes proudly indicate all these accomplishments and more, such as having, himself, worked for the Liberal Party and once been a member of the former President Benigno Aquino III’s staff under the Presidential Communications Operations Office. Ergo, ghostwriter, alongside a number of other Ateneans who were also once part of Heights.

“Noynoy Aquino was a fascist” is a phrase that does not get said often enough. The Aquino administration, with its neoliberal policies the color of dehydrated piss, is credited with the starving thousands of farmers to death. Unsurprising, I suppose, for a family of landlords to inherit a disdain for the very hands that feed them. Corazon Cojuanco Aquino passed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) during her regime, and her son amended it with an extension and reforms (CARPer), making it even easier for land owners not to have to redistribute their lands at all.

For all its “Kayo ang boss ko” and “Daang Matuwid” pandering, the Aquino administration did not skimp on its counterinsurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, which heavily drew from the U.S. Counterinsurgency Guide.[5] Here, it was farmers and Lumad, some of the most vulnerable sectors of Philippine society, that were tagged as rebels, terrorists, communists, etc., simply for knowing and standing for their rights, as the government failed to decimate actual armed revolutionaries in the countryside.

The massacre that took place under the Aquino administration occurred in Kidapawan, Cotabato on April 1, 2016. According to reports, among the group of 6,000 protesters that was mainly composed of farmers and activists, 116 were injured, 87 went missing, and 3 were killed.[6] Perhaps the lilies in “The Doomed” were a metaphor for De Lara Co’s beloved Noynoy.

---

Speaking of Ateneo: For an institution that makes yearly claims to combat historical revisionism and uphold the memory of the victims of human rights violations under the Martial Law era, this university loves to slurp on major Marcos ass. In 2014, President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ drew flack for having rubbed elbows with the iron butterfly herself, Imelda Marcos, at an Ateneo scholars’ benefactors’ event.[7] The mere thought of Imelda posing as a charitable, bloated cockroach in a wig that feasts on all that is lavish and garish, while the university welcomes her to do so is nearly comical. I imagine the blood.  

In 2019, a similar incident ensued[8], this time with Imelda’s daughter, Irene, whose art connoisseur lifestyle she lives second-hand. It was during the inauguration of the Arete’s amphitheater, named after Ignacio B. Jimenez, a crony of the corrupt family themselves.[9] Community backlash forced the building’s executive director, Yael Buencamino, to resign and for University President, Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ to issue a statement in response to the instance.

Yet, despite the triumph of Ateneans in demanding accountability for having the Marcoses at our literal and metaphorical dining table, there are also the Camposes, the Consunjis, the Lorenzos, and other local elite whose hands are stained with generational blood, that have established their presence in the campus with no near hopes of showing them out. Students could also be as loud as they pleased about the violations on workers’, farmers’, and national minorities’ rights that these families are frequently attached to, with only the answer of a warning that school organizations may lose sponsorship opportunities. What else can we expect? Of course, the names that line the halls that one studies in are the limits of academic freedom.

---

A few semesters ago, I wrote a poem to be workshopped by my co-English staffers in Heights as part of our membership retention requirements. It was not a good poem, I know. It was about my experience of integrating with the striking workers of Sumifru, a multinational Japanese company that produces fruit, whose union was called NAMASUFA (Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Suyapa Farm). After struggling to get word out of their plight and facing violent dispersals and harassment, 200 workers came all the way from Compostela Valley to Metro Manila via boat and plane, despite the difficulties of travel due to the imposition of Martial Law throughout Mindanao. Their objective was to pressure the DOLE and its Secretary, Silvestre Bello III, into action; that is, to be firm in enforcing Sumifru’s compliance to regularize their workers, which the company refused to do even though the DOLE had legally recognized them as their workers’ employer. The workers set up camp in various places, such as Mendiola, Liwasang Bonifacio, and beside the Commission on Human Rights inside the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, and often welcomed students who came to learn about their cause.  

During the workshop, the discussion began with a silence and an awkward laugh. Political realism was how my poem was diagnosed, for obvious reasons. However, the main critique that I remember was that my use of language– the words multinational corporation and bureaucrat capitalists, in particular– did not induce the feeling of the struggle that the workers went through. It was not the language workers used or would use. I refuted this claim, saying I had talked to the workers. That this is exactly what they say. No, it is not poetic. It is real.

I agree, though, with the verdict that my poem was not good, if the basis were form. I agree because I do not think poems need to be good to say what is needed. If the basis were factors other than form, I still do not think the poem is good. I mean, either way, it does not change the fact that, ultimately, I only wrote a poem for a workshop, despite any intention of bringing awareness to NAMASUFA. Is a poem going to save them their jobs? Does that make a difference? Did it make a difference?

The Sumifru workers returned to Mindanao last July, 2019. I have left Heights as well.

---

Within the Ateneo campus, a tarpaulin overlooks the red brick road that the entire Loyola Schools population traverses. The sign merits a purposeful, impossible-to-miss position on the old Rizal Library building, immortalizing the critique: “We find the Ateneo today irrelevant to the Philippine situation because it can do no more than to service the power elite.” Nothing could be more fitting, in my opinion. The Ateneo de Manila University’s commitment to performativity deserves to be blasted in our faces, if at least once a day.

This declaration was taken from the “Down from the Hill” manifesto published by The Guidon in November of 1968. The manifesto was written by a group of five students, namely Jose Luis Alcuaz, Gerardo Esguerra, Emmanuel Lacaba, Leonardo Montemayor and Alfredo Salanga, all of whom actively campaigned for an anti-imperialist orientation to nationalism.

I want to talk about Eman Lacaba. Throughout the Marcos regime, he was a student activist– a radical, so to speak, as disapproving administrative bodies might now label him. Presently, he is known for being a poet, revolutionary, guerilla, and a martyr during the Martial Law era. One of his most often discussed poems is “An Open Letter to Filipino Artists”, a piece that finds itself into syllabi like a de-fanged snake. The poem is a detailing of his experience as a cadre of the New People’s Army; the provinces he visits, his process of proletarianizing from a burgis boy to a communist rebel, and so forth. The epigraph of the work, a quote from Ho Chi Minh, affirms his praxis– “A poet must learn how to lead an attack.” The poem is the revolution that Lacaba takes up arms for. I guess now that he is dead, Ateneans can wholeheartedly claim him as one of their own.  

After the Martial Law era, Ateneo decided to create a body dedicated to the integration of its students with various disenfranchised sectors of society, as encouragement for their middle to upper-middle class youth to become more socially aware and active. The Office of Social Concern and Involvement (OSCI) is the current iteration of this. Their programs, from first year to fourth, require students to be socially involved enough to pass their Theology units. Commendable, no? Still. You can almost get sanctioned for so much as lighting candles for state-murdered farmers on the sidewalk by the gates outside of campus if it is not an Office of Student Activities-approved event– something I learned the hard way. I was not aware that bureaucracy was a key principle in Catholic Social Teaching.

So, does this mean the opposite of active non-violence is that which is inactively violent? The areas that OSCI allows their students to immerse in are carefully chosen, the interactions are prepared for in advance. In fact, they do not want to use the term “immerse” lest they be misconstrued with the damn leftists that climb mountains and “brainwash” unsuspecting poor people. You know, the ones that dare challenge the status-quo? Ateneo, or at the very least, its administration, will recognize the necessity of political action, but only to a certain extent. Nothing like Eman, the warrior-poet, whose militance is much too red to aestheticize.

The contradiction between what is said (marketed, poeticized, apologized for, etc.) and what is done should be scrutinized, instead of convincing ourselves that our interests are not merely our own. The dominant culture of a society will expose who supports those who hold political and economic power.  

[1] Cigaral (List: Brands operated by Jollibee Foods Corp.)

[2] (Leadership)

[3] Patinio (Jollibee tops list of firms engaged in labor-only contracting: DOLE)

[4] SOH Sanggunian (The Statement of the SOH Sanggunian on Jollibee's PR Stunt)

[5] Karapatan (OPLAN BAYANIHAN For Beginners)

[6] Caparas (WITH VIDEOS: 3 dead, 87 missing, 116 hurt as police fire on Cotabato human barricade)

[7] Francisco (Ateneo de Manila 'sorry' over Imelda's visit)

[8] Paris (Irene Marcos was invited to Ateneo, and students are up in arms)

[9] Rappler.com (Ateneo hit for art ampitheater named after Marcos 'dummy')

Works Cited

Caparas, Jeff. “WITH VIDEOS: 3 Dead, 87 Missing, 116 Hurt as Police Fire on Cotabato Human Barricade.” InterAksyon.com, 1 Apr. 2016, web.archive.org/web/20160402013745/interaksyon.com/article/125901/breaking--security-forces-open-fire-on-cotabato-human-barricade.

Cigaral, Ian Nicolas. “List: Brands Operated by Jollibee Foods Corp.” Philstar.com, The Philippine Star, 24 July 2019, www.philstar.com/business/2019/07/24/1937490/list-brands-operated-jollibee-foods-corp.

Francisco, Katerina. “Ateneo De Manila 'Sorry' over Imelda's Visit.” Rappler, 6 July 2014, www.rappler.com/nation/62549-ateneo-manila-imelda-marcos-apology.

Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights). OPLAN BAYANIHAN For Beginners, Karapatan, 2011.

“Leadership.” Leadership | Ateneo Global, global.ateneo.edu/about/leadership.

Paris, Janella. “Irene Marcos Was Invited to Ateneo, and Students Are up in Arms.” Rappler, 8 Apr. 2019, www.rappler.com/nation/227702-irene-marcos-invited-to-ateneo-students-protest-april-2019.

Patinio, Ferdinand. “Jollibee Tops List of Firms Engaged in Labor-Only Contracting: DOLE.” Philippine News Agency RSS, Philippine News Agency, 28 May 2018, www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1036679.

Rappler.com. “Ateneo Hit for Art Ampitheater Named after Marcos 'Dummy'.” Rappler, 21 Apr. 2019, www.rappler.com/nation/228633-ateneo-ignacio-gimenez-ampitheater-marcos-dummy.

“SOH Sanggunian.” SOH Sanggunian - The Statement of the SOH Sanggunian on..., 2 July 2018, www.facebook.com/sohsanggu/photos/a.157891440898864/1893103380710986/?type=3.

[grifhinx]

Zekrom Yamamoto (Pokémon gijinka concept)

A tweet from the previous month wanted to picture members of Pokemon's Tao Trio, Zekrom and Reshiram, as two stocky men in dress shirts. Gijinka, pretty much, in its most minimalist form.

I had a bit of a run-in with the... art form, a few years ago. A renewed interest in Pokemon brought me to ideas of cosplay of such ideas, but in human form (potentially the opposite of a furry, but I am here to neither propose nor decline that statement).

Project Umbreon:

Crew cut hair

Red tinted glasses

Black leather jacket with gold accents

Grey inner top

Dark blue denim jeans (with yellow front pocket seams)

Predominantly black half-cabs with yellow/gold accents

Black mechanic's rag with yellow corners 

- me, February 24, 2015

I got curious with the Zekrom character in particular. I like black more as a color option, especially with clothes. As the great Yohji Yamamoto (of course we're gonna quote him; * points to post title *) once said:

“Black is modest and arrogant at the same time. Black is lazy and easy - but mysterious. But above all black says this: "I don’t bother you - don’t bother me".”

- Yohji Yamamoto

This wouldn't be the first attempt at this exact Pokemon in making a Gijinka, I was sure. Any quick Google Image check is gonna bring you loads of interpretations to the same Pokemon, spanning page numbers of search results.

Image by Shadowfollowed

I, meanwhile, had next to zero intention or vision into what I was gonna do with it. Ironic, given the almost detailed "night rider" biker vibe I went for in the Umbreon idea. But somehow, I just wanted to try.

Having gone thru the core four classes of D&D (twenty or so subclasses therein; thanks, Wizard and Cleric) to design modern takes, I came out having a really strong interest in outerwear. So it's no surprise that this would be my target here.

Image from pokemondb.net

There was an interesting challenge of interpreting the look at the back portion of the Pokemon itself, with that... Electro-Goth Jollibee realness going on over there. Majority of the gijinka interpretations seemed to have done away with it, and I can't blame them for it (kinda wanna call them cheating, even if it isn't lol), because not only does it possibly pose a three-dimensional concern for the final design, but it also creates issues color-wise for being pretty much the only part of the Pokemon to have a color of light electric blue, suggestive of this Pokemon's type.

First sketch

Rough sketches may have presented a solution to the first concern - a kind of double split tail at the back of the coat to visually represent and reference the insect abdomen-like feature.

Second sketch, front

Looking back at the reference image, there was a kind of effect (perhaps lighting) that caused strips of electric blue to appear on edges and corners of specific parts of the look, distributed namely on the black "scales" of the Pokemon. I followed suit and wondered if this wa of distributing the color would do the trick in making things more cohesive.

Second sketch, back; please ignore the coloring mistake at the one sleeve

I wasn't entirely convinced that this would be the look I was searching for. But then again, I wasn't really aiming for anything. What I might think tho is that there could be a darker gray better suited for this design, something much closer to the Pokemon's gray.

Second sketch, side

I felt like the expanded heightened back was perhaps necessary for visual effect and maybe even support in case this idea is brought to construction. I felt insistent and eventually happy with the chest are and even the double split at the back, which I would be excited to see a sample of someday.

[best-bois-of-kny]

My church is hosting homeless people for a week and last night my family and I came over to eat dinner with them. Me and this little girl were drawing and I was drawing Zenitsu. She looked over and said "That guy has french fry hair!" And now Zenitsu is officially french fry guy.

She's not the only one who thinks so too haha

We have this mascot from the restaurant Jollibee named Popo, and his hair is made out of French fries as well! (Or at least it looks like French fries) That's how I got the resemblance of Zenitsu's hair looking like it's made of fries

But nonetheless, I don't blame her for thinking that way, I sometimes call Zenitsu the "Soggy French fry boi" (since he cries a lot) 😂😂