#Flowers of Tapei

[waste-it-on-something-useful]

“If you consider film as an art form, a film is like a classic. It’s value is not determined by the audience. It’s determined by time. Not of the moment, but over the long term. It’s there. Waiting for you to mature.”

Tsai Ming-liang in Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema (Chinlin Hsieh, 2014)

[glitch-the-artist]

TAPEY THE FLOWER!

she is here to help you lighteners learn your abc’s! Don’t get her questions wrong though! Or else your hp will drop to zero! HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

(I’m sorry i just cant stop making chapter 3 predictions, it’s just habit at this point)

She is a incarnation of a vhs tape that had some children’s show on it that kris used to watch as a kid. She also is a incarnation of the flowers the toriel thew away too, which explains why she is referencing flowey. she basically a insane flower who wants to teach kris on how to deal with their “lack of freedom”. She also fights you by using her friendly pellets as bullets she shoots at you.

[pashtunology]

Women constitute the backbone of Pashtun society and social organisation. Their role is not only limited to home management, they have played a significant role in all fields throughout history. They have stood in the battlefield with men to defend the motherland and if we look into Pashto literature we find a significant contribution of women and their role in society.

Landey, Tapey and Naarey are three forms of unwritten Pashto folk literature, more than half of this fine and heart-rendering poetry is the work of women.

Landay is a traditional Afghan poetic form consisting of a single couplet. The most enchanting landey have been sung by Pashtun women in battlefields and during episodes of love, such as:

پاس په کمر ولاړه ګله!

نصیب د چا يې؟ اوبه زه در خې��ومه

Oh flower on the mountain peak,

It is I who water you, God knows who would own you.

Pashtun women also used landey in the battlefield. We come across events in our national history where the singing of a single landey by a woman has proven to be more effective than weapons.

In the battle of Maiwand, when Pashtuns prepared to fight for their country, a Pashtun maiden proudly sent off her lover to the battlefield and dispatched this message to the commander of this patriotic war:

پر ایوب خان مې سلام وایه!

دا دئ جانان مې کومکي در ولېږنه

Convey my greetings to Ayub Khan,

I have sent off my lover to lend a hand.

When the young Pashtun returns triumphant from war, his lover greets him as such:

د خېره راغلې! په خېر راشې!

چې د دښمن په مخ کې خړ نه شوې مئينه

Welcome! Welcome home, thank God,

You were not humbled before the enemy.

[See photos for more landeys]

Other parts of folk literature are Naara in stories and Gharra in the national dance called Attan and Sundarey (songs) recited in weddings. Most of the Naaras and wedding songs have been authored by women. We’ll look into those in future posts. Stay tuned!

Artwork by minnamamik

Source: Prof Habibi articles

Pashtunology

[ohnoiyo-yoyle]

TPOT 1 SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!

So! First off, tpot was soooooo goood like oh my gosh I didn't expect it to be that good and the intro was SO well animated and the character interactions and just aaaaaaahhhhh!!! Okay, maybe I'm overhyping it a bit but that's just how I feel. TPOT reignited that spark for BFB that was starting to kinda fade for me. Since Battle for BFB is more comedy based and silly I was starting to get a little bored with it, so it's nice to finally get started on a more, I guess serious? show that focuses on character interactions/relationships and development/arcs and all that. But anyways, ONTO THE HIGHLIGHTS!!!

So time passes in the bfdi world the same way as it does in ours. Good to know

Happy Flower

2 is a cryptid confirmed. Always there, always watching

Oh!! The Yoyle Needy is like, fallen over. Along with part of the mountain

How did that happen???^^^

“It’s time for Cake at Stake!” “What?” “I SAID IT’S TIME FOR CAKE AT STAKE!!!” “Get them up for me Nickel!!” “Huh?”

WOO NEW CONTESTANT YESSSS!!!!

OH!! THE ORIGINAL CAKE AT STAKE INTRO IS BACK!!!

I will admit, I will miss the epic™ remix, but it’s also nice to be back with the original! Feels nostalgic!!

The doodles!!! Omg I love them!

THEYRE SO CUTE WHAT THE HECK THEY REMIND ME OF THE REQUEST DRAWINGS WHEN THEY SIGN STUFF

“Oh! Now I remember!” “Good for you” *pauses, looks at camera* “So-”

Purple tomato (toe-mah-o)

Pen being positive and cheering up the newbie

Thanking the voters: Speedrun Edition

“Looks like it’s curtains for......” “Looks like it’s curtains for....” Ō—Ō

“Don’t you trust me Clock?!” “Uh, of course NOT-” “Well prepare to get over it!”

Ah yes, my favorite: Cammy, Blendy, and Onigiri...y....

Pencil >:(

awwww Foldy misses him so much

OH NO TAPEY!!!! I VOTED FOR THEM :((((((

NOOOOO TAGGY NOOOOOOOOOO

Well at the very least Winner won. I’d rather have an actual character be in the game instead of, y’know, nonexisty?

MmM! Tasty

*GASP* PRIME NUMBER!?!?!!!

Anime expression activate =͟͟͞͞(ō_ō)

Waaaiiit a minute....are they gonna

“We’ll have to add someone instead!!” PLEASE DONT GIVE ME FALSE HOPE AND ADD NONEXISTY AMD THEN IGNORE THE CONTESTANT’S PROTESTS OF THERE STILL BEING AN UNEVEN AMOUNT OF PEOPLE JUST FOR THE SAKE OF A JOKE PLEASE DON’T

41 + 0 = 41 OH MY GOSH IT’S ACTUALLY GONNA HAPPEN THEY’RE ACTUALLY GONNA ADD TAGGY

YYEEEEEESSSSSS YEEEEESSSSS YEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! OMGOMGOMGOMG YEESSSS!!!! THEY ADDED THEM HSJFBSHAKGNFBJK!!!!

They have such a cool gimmick with their face being emoticons and text!!!

At first I thought that Price Tag was a girl and Winner was a boy (based on their voices) and thought “Oh cool! The gender balance stays even then!” But now I know that they’re both non-binary and I’m thinking “Oh cool! The gender balance still stays even AND there are two canon non-binary characters!!!

The bfb/tpot crew really be out here, continuing to give to the lgbt+ community and I am all for that

“I take back all the things I said about Winner while I was down there!” H-honey? What did you say???

“You do equal 1 right?” “I can if you want me to! :D” “*gulp* $1”

Well at least 2 isn’t like the previous hosts where they shove the eliminated contenders into a tiny cramped space and give them sometimes less than the bare necessities. These guys get to chill in what’s pretty much a nice hotel (tho they might be locked in)

“Cool! So you wanna stay on the same team? ‘:D” “No :)” “oh.. okay. :0”

Donut and BarfBag frienship solidarity

W.O.A.H BUNCH RETURN!!!!! W.O.A.H. BUNCH RETURN!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Who the egg is that?”

Oh??!!?!?? Loser backstory?!?!?! In THIS SHOW?!!?!? It’s more likely than you think

Chicken nuggets

Clock is a Loser stan

OH NOOO CAKE NOOOOO

YAYYY CAKE AND NAILY FRIENDSHIP!!!!!

GOLF BALL AND TENNIS BALL FRIENDSHIP!!!! AND SHE EVEN SAID SHE APPRECIATES HIM!!!! THATS SO SWEET!!!!!!

Ha. Balls (as in actual balls. Not whatever you’re thinkin about, ya nasties)

Yay Pen and Eraser friendship!!! They’re finally on the same team!!!

Either you prevent death, or you’re a murderer. There’s no in-between

“Did someone say h8ers?!!!” She sounds like a skater kid

Blocky is no longer with us. We shall miss him greatly

OH NOO BASKETBALL SHE DIDNT MEAN YOU Oh oh well i- there she goes I guess

Two moms and their son

So can they actually see those logo things or what??

Aww Rocky actually wants to be with them!!! And he’s taking initiative!! Way to go buddy!!!

Awww noo Book!!!! She’s trying her best but ultimately, they’re right!!! She needs to leave them be and get some new friends!!!!!

Please don’t tell me she’ll be the next Leafy. But so far she seems to be heading in the right direction

Uhhh Pillow?? What are you doing hun?

Yeah!! Clock and Icy alliance!!

Zigzag crew woo!!!

AWW NO LIGHTNING!!!

“Don’t worry Lightning! You have me!l “I don’t really..want you.” oooooh!!

Epic™

This just.....this ^^^

THEY’RE SO CUTE TOGETHER WTF I LIVE THIS FRIENDSHIP SO FAR

And there was even the little beeping cashier sound when Price Tag changed faces omg I love little details like that!!!

Snowball: Gets owned. Me, @ Naily and Price Tag: Good for them

NO! Marker!!!

Corporate needs you to find the difference between this picture and this picture: An egg and a ball.

Basketball: They’re the same picture

“I thought you were gonna collect me! Ha!” “Ha...haha......ha”

Cloudy’s secretly a kidnapper 0_0

DeathPact be ruining Bottle’s good time and she having non of that

Pillow doesn’t know how to read

The >:3 intensifies

She’s trying.....so hard...to make friends

Yay!! Lightning turning over a new leaf!!

“Well, I’m sure whoever it is, they’re gunna be just f-huueughh....,”

Continues in Part 2!! Which will be out sometime tomorrow cause these things take long to make

[blogueoparagentetriste]

Películas LGBT+

Ya que estamos en nuestro mes creí que lo más correcto sería investigar un poquito más allá de las mismas cinco películas gringas que nos venden siempre y generar una lista más amplia, enriquecida de distintas culturas, países, idiomas, épocas, etc. para variar un poquito la gama y además dejar de rendirle culto a esa hegemonía.

Aquí va la lista, si tienen más sugerencias dejenlas abajo.

Moonlight (2016): Un joven de familia humilde que vive en Miami en la época en que los cárteles de la droga libran en la ciudad una auténtica batalla, tiene problemas para aceptar su homosexualidad. Mientras madura en un ambiente hostil, experimenta la alegría, la ira, el placer de la belleza, el éxtasis y el dolor. Todo lo conocerá y de todo aprenderá.

Saving Face (2002):  Una lesbiana asiática americana reprimida y su madre lidian con amores secretos que desafían los tradicionalismos de su cultura.

Ah-ga-ssi o The Handmaiden (2016): Sookee es una joven que, en la Corea de los años treinta, es contratada para servir como doncella en la casa de una rica heredera japonesa. Hideko, que vive recluida en una gran mansión bajo la influencia de un tirano, desconoce que, en realidad, la doncella está involucrada en un complot para estafarla.

The World Unseen (2007): En Sudáfrica, en la década del 50, la dueña lesbiana de un café se enamora de una ama de casa frustrada.

Pariah (2011):  Una adolescente de Brooklyn se enamora y vive su sexualidad sin demasiados rodeos. Aunque, por el momento, no haya pasado por el momento de presentarse como lesbiana ante su propia familia.

Rent (2005): Artistas, drogadictos e inadaptados enfrentan la pobreza, enfermedades y sida en una comunidad al Este de Nueva York.

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995): Tres travestis refrescan la vida de los habitantes de un pueblo del Medio Este cuando se dirigen a Hollywood.

Paris is burning (1990):  Este documental se centra en travestis que viven en la ciudad de Nueva York y su cultura, la cual proporciona un sentido de comunidad y apoyo para los artistas extravagantes y artistas rechazados por la sociedad. Grupos de cada casa compiten en elaborados reuniones que se basan en el mundo de la moda. También se tocan temas como el racismo y la pobreza, y el filme presenta entrevistas con un número de renombradas drag queens, incluyendo a Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija y Dorian Corey.

Happy Together (1997):  Una relación romántica ocurre entre dos hombres homosexuales de Hong Kong que viven en Argentina.

Tangerine (2015):  Después de enterarse de que su novio la engañó mientras estaba en la cárcel, una trabajadora sexual y su mejor amiga idean un plan para darle una lección.

The Watermelon Woman (1996):  Una lesbiana negra, aspirante a cineasta, investiga la biografía de una actriz negra de los años 40, a quien llamaban la Mujer Sandía.

I Can't Think Straight (2008):  Al acercarse el día de su boda, una novia alegre se enamora de una tímida mujer musulmana que también sale con otro hombre.

Nunca vas a estar solo (2016): Tras un violento ataque a su hijo adolescente gay, Juan, un retraído administrador en una fábrica de maniquíes, lucha entre pagar los exorbitantes costos médicos de su hijo Pablo, y un último intento por convertirse en socio de su jefe. Callejones sin salida y traiciones inesperadas lo harán descubrir que el mundo que él creía conocer estaba listo para ser violento también con él. Juan ya ha cometido muchos errores, pero su hijo aún puede salvarse.

The half of it (2020): Una joven y tímida muchacha de la escuela secundaria ayuda a un amigo a escribir una carta de amor para una persona que ambos desean.

阿莉芙 or Alifu the prince/ss (2017): Alifu trabaja como peluquero en Tapei. Como el único hijo de un jefe aborigen, él se encuentra entre la realización de su transición a mujer o heredar la posición de jefe que su padre le puede entregar.

Fathers (2016): Phoon y Luke, una pareja de hombres gays, adoptan a un niño llamado Butr. Sin embargo, debido a las leyes en Tailandia, solo Phoon puede ser nombrado padre de Butr formalmente. La situación se torna aún más tediosa cuando el niño comienza a ir a la escuela y presiones externas interfieren en sus vidas familiares.

日常對話’ or Small Talk (2016): Documental donde la directora Huang Hui-chen intenta revelar y conciliarse con el doloroso pasado compartido con su madre A-nu, una sacerdotisa taoísta lesbiana.

Circumstance (2011): Una adolescente iraní inicia una relación lésbica mientras que su hermano se obsesiona peligrosamente con el fundamentalismo islámico.

Elisa y Marcela (2019): En 1885, Elisa y Marcela se conocen en la escuela donde trabajan. Lo que comienza como una gran amistad termina en una relación amorosa que tienen que vivir a escondidas.

Heart beats loud (2018): Frank está pasando un mal momento: se ve obligado a cerrar su tienda y su amada hija se va a marchar a la universidad al terminar el verano. Para disfrutar el tiempo que les queda juntos, padre e hija empiezan a grabar música juntos.

The wound (2017): Como cada año, Xolani, un obrero solitario, participa junto a otros hombres de su comunidad en un rito iniciático tradicional para jóvenes que están en los últimos años de la adolescencia: serán circuncidados y luego preparados para la vida de un hombre de verdad.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994): Tres artistas drag queen atraviesan el desierto australiano, desde Sídney hasta Alice Springs, para hacer una actuación en un hotel. 

My beautiful laundrette (1985): Johnny, un joven punk londinense, y Omar, un inmigrante paquistaní, unen fuerzas para restaurar una lavandería y profundizan la amistad que los unía cuando eran estudiantes, generando una relación que escandaliza a sus familias.

Empana de Pino (2008): Una mujer y su sirvienta se dedican a vender en una feria empanadas hechas con carne humana.

Te prometo anarquía (2015): Miguel y Johnny se conocen desde la infancia y pasan el tiempo patinando con sus amigos en las calles de la Ciudad de México. Venden su propia sangre y consiguen donadores para el mercado negro. Pero una transacción grande de sangre termina mal.

Habitación en Roma (2016):  Dos jóvenes mujeres comparten una noche de pasión en Roma.

Bara no Sōretsu (1969): En una versión japonesa de "Edipo Rey", un hijo homosexual mata a su madre y se acuesta con su padre.

Dracula's daughter (1936): Una vampiresa condesa busca ayuda de un psicólogo para deshacerse de sus deseos vampirescos.

Rebecca (1940): Una joven mujer se vuelve la segunda esposa de un hombre viudo, llegando a vivir en la sombra de quien fue alguna vez fue su esposa. Mientras lidia con los secretos que su esposo le guarda, tendrá que también lidiar con el recelo de la ama de llaves quien no la acepta como la nueva dueña de casa.

Beats per minute (2017): París, comienzos de la década de 1990. El grupo de jóvenes activistas Act Up lucha por conseguir una mayor visibilidad e implicación del Gobierno y de las farmacéuticas en la lucha contra el sida.

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (2019): Marianne es una pintora que recibe un encargo muy especial: retratar a Héloïse que acaba de salir del convento y va a casarse. Este retrato de bodas tiene que realizarse sin que ella lo sepa.

Mosquita and Mari (2012): Dos estudiantes chicanas, Mariy Yolanda, inician una relación que a veces las confunde.

Esteros (2016):  Dos amigos de la infancia, ahora adultos, se reencuentran y exploran sentimientos que han sido reprimidos por mucho tiempo.

Mi mejor amigo (2018): Lorenzo es un adolescente que vive en la Patagonia argentina. Un día, el hijo de una familia amiga, llamado Caíto, se muda con la familia de Lorenzo. Luego de algunos años, Caíto le cuenta a Lorenzo por qué se mudó.

En la gama de los grises (2015): Bruno, un arquitecto con una gran vida, es contratado para construir un punto de referencia icónico; mientras trabaja con un profesor de historia homosexual llamado Fer, un romance inesperado e intenso comienza a florecer.

4 lunas (2014): El amor y la repugnancia se construye entre cuatro hombres de diferentes generaciones mientras ellos enfrentan sus conflictos y temores.

쌍화점 o A Frozen Flower (2008): Drama histórico situado en la dinastía Koryo, enfocada entre la relación del rey y su guardaespaldas.

Pink Flamingos (1972): Notoria criminal de Baltimore y figure underground, Divine, lucha contra Connie & Raymond Marble, una pareja sucia que intenta humillarla y quitarle su nombre en los periódicos como “La Persona Más Sucia Viva”.

Laurence anyways (2012): La historia de un amor imposible entre una mujer llamada Fred y una mujer transgénero llamada Laurence, quien revela su deseo profundo de convertirse en su verdadero ser.

[afuaama]

Sooooo,the result of two/three days of tutorial watching, messing around in programs, and testing...and hiar pulling. I managed to “succesfully” convert three TS4 accesories to TS3. The body chain, the diadem, and succulent crown. How come no one told me texturing would be the worst part ;___;?? Then again, my remeshing isn’t stellar either (as seen in the kinks in the chain at the neck) and I THINK my bone assignments are what’s screwing up that clipping o_O Ugh bones assignments are hard T^T The head pieces are mostly ok though, the diademt being recolourable and the flowers somewhat retextured/not recolourable. Both I got to work with hat slider though!  ^_^ I’m now pretty comfortable with static meshes and will be trying out how to add recolours next. There are def some TS4 fantasy ears that need my attention. I still may be crappy and duct-tapey at converting, but my half-assed attempts suit my photoshoots-only playstyle, heh. (SN: As a reward for my efforts, I also played around with one of my favourite base/fantasy sims :3 Enjoy the beachy theme)

[cabaltera]

The Girl from Bauko

a short story by an Ilocano writer.

BAUKO IS a remote mountain town up in the wilds of the Cordilleras. It is some five thousand feet above sea level, and thick fog covers the towering mountain slopes every day, even in mid-summer, and the golden sun hardly be seen at high noon.

Of all stories - love stories - worth remembering my Father told me, not one can surpass the poignant story of a ravishing and winsome mountain lass by the name of Maila.

Maila was a Kankanay, one of the principal tribes of mountain Province. Indeed, Maila was a bundle of unsurpassed pulchitrude and vivacity, possessing a pair of bewitching dimples in her rosy checks, deep as the ravines surrounding her father's luxuriant mountain clearing up in Bauko.

The epic story of World War II would be incomplete and colorless without this beauteous mountain lass Maila, Father would tell me with a sparkle in his eyes, because Maila was everything to him during those dismal , difficult years of enemy occupation.

Father was a guerillero during the war. He was not a professional soldier, he repeatedly told me, since before the outbreak of the Pacific War he was still young, vibrant and innicent, and was bent on his studies at the U.P. in Padua Faura.

Those days were the golden days of the Commonwealth under the tutelage of the charismatic political leader, Manuel L. Quezon. Padre Faura then was quiet and shady with giant acacia trees, branching towards the sky on both shoulders of the street, affording cool shades for the boisterous groups of colegialas heading towards the big and spacious corridors of the State University and the Ateneo.

Father joined the army probably because of compulsion of maybe he was afraid of those slit-eyed Japanese soldiers. In the mid-thirties, the cream of the Filipino manhood was called to undergo compulsory five-and-a-half-mo the training in a care all over the islands; Father was among them, although he opted to take summer infantry training in Camp Murphy, the premier army camp I those days.

Prewar trainees and cadets of the ROTC units of Manila's colleges, were on the list of the Japanese Empire and sure death was the penalty for being one of them.

Why and how bphe came to Bauko, he did not tell me, but guerilla rose in those difficult years lived anywhere in the wilds of Northern Luzon.

Perhaps the dense mountain growths of the Cordillera ranges provided safe sanctuary for them. They were wanted by the Japanese forces for sure and once the were caught, they were herded like animals to a monkey house with grills and baked under the burning sun to be skinned alive or tortured to death by all kinds of painful methods as by bayonet thrusts, merciless clubbings and by water cure. Japanese soldiers were no better than barbarians in Marco Polo time.

"I had a co-guerillo by the name of Lacuasan," Father would recall. "This man Lacuasan was as my age and was a native of sturdy Kankanay stock. Most of the time he wore a g-string and was armed with a hatchet and a spear. He had a perfect physique, with bulging muscles throughout his whole anatomy -- easily he could have competed with Charles Atlas or Henry Liederman.

Lacuasan was a runner, a courrier, of the famed 66th Infantry, the guerrilla outfit composed of mountain tribes -- fierce-looking Kalingas and half-civilized Bontocs and Ifugaos, much-feared headhunters of the mountain provinces. Lacuasan was fast moving in spite of his size Climbing treacherous and slippery trails like a deer, he knew every bend and waterhole in the vast plateaus of Bauko.

The 66th Infantry was commanded by a greying American officer, Major Parker Calvert, a West Pointer, who refused to follow the surrender orders of General Wainwright following the fall of Corregidor.

It was Lakuasan who invited Father to his mountain clearing atop a lonely knoll in Bauko. The hut he owned was a small one, surrounded by a wide swath of camote patch; around the hut were chayote vines laden with fruits. Below the clearing was a picturesque valley where a meandering river curled it's way with water sparkling with foam and the pine trees roared when the north wind passed by.

"I believe you feel sad and lonely," Lacuasan told Father. Although Father carried a higher Rankin their outfit, Lacuasan simply called Father by his nickname, Andy. Father liked it that way.

There was evening when Father and Lacuasan spent their time keeping away the seeping cold and wetness of Bauko weather by sipping tapey, the homemade rice wine of the natives.

This liquor was made with fermented rice, sweet varietals of the upland strains, sprinkled with binubudan, powdered rice with crushed ginger and yeast. Some was fermented and brewed using sweet upland corn.

"Have you ever visited our ulog before, Andy?" Lacuasan asked, his eyes sparkling like two tiny stars. Father shook his head, his curly hair waving in the cool breeze like young bamboo swaying with the wind in an August storm. Father at the time looked like a Robinson Crusoe, marooned on a lonely island in the South Pacific. He had gone a year without a haircut and was looking shabby with a long beard that covered the contours of his mouth.

"Come," Lacuasan said, "let's pay a visit!" The ulog was a square matchbox construction of bamboo, wood, and cogon with no opening except for a door to one side and reached by a movable staircase used by the maidens of Bauko every night. Here these young unmarried girls would sleep. Young boys, barely in their teens, frequented the ulog in the evenings to express their love to the maidens whom attracted them the most. If the young girl favors a relationship, she'd invite the boy to come up where they'd sleep together using a common pillow made of hardwood as big as the girl's thigh.

Sexual contact was strictly forbidden and a boy had better think twice before making ungentleman like advances towards the girl he loves. Bauko's young men are well disciplined so that mashing and even kissing and petting are absolutely taboo.

Lacuasan had to brief Father before an encounter with the girl he planned to date overnight. At first, Father was uneasy because he was completely ignorant of the customs of the places. But, with much tapey in his blood, he regained his courage and bravado.

Young Filipinos, they say, are fast lovers and Father did not find it hard to start. That was how he came to meet Maila. To him, Maila appeared a different breed from the rest of the girls; she was clean and neat and properly dressed in the native costume. Her hair carried a special scent like the ilang-ilang flower nipped as a bud, and a carnation petal adorned her way brownish hair. Her skin was flawless, reddish-white, and she looked like a goddess standing atop a boulder caressed by the sweet mountain air.

Maila was a half-breed, American blended with Igorot blood. Before the Great Wr she was a senior in a high school ran by Belgian sisters in Baguio. She spoke English fluently with an accent, and it was not long before Father learned that this mountain beauty was indeed very bright and intelligent. Father also found out that she was a student writer, the editor of her school paper, The Baguio Breeze.

Father was deeply impressed during the first meeting with Maila. From the start, Father enjoyed her company because, besides being a good conversationalist, she was adept at literature and could recite pieces of classic poetry from Walt Whitman to Tagore. Father fell in love with Maila on that first evening, their very first encounter.

Maila laughed loudly when father proposed to her. "You're a lowlander," she said. "I hail from a land above the clouds. How can that be possible? Shal, I stoop so easily li,e a giant from the sky to love a man from a civilized world? I'm of Igorot stock, looked down on by you lowlanders."

"No, we can never meet, " she signed heavily. The dimples in her cheek sparkled like bonfire and were very attractive in my Father's sight. "You forget that we come from two different worlds, two different spheres."

A big lump in Father's throat rendered him speechless. He knew he loved Maila and nothing would keep him from loving her more He was the type who never ran from a fight. He came from a family of hardworking peasants, unafraid to face adversity or anything that taunted his pride, courage, and honor. Now was his chance to try his luck in love. Maila was the answer to his dreams and imagination.

"Love has no boundaries, Maila," Father replied, "No, not even gaps in culture, origin, heritage, creed, skin or social status are barriers to it." Maila stared at Father hard and long. She smiled shyly and Father understood that Maila loved him too. She then stood up and muttered, " Andy, here in Bauko, we possess a priceless tradition of honor. If a suitor defeats a girl in a selected competition then she is conquered. Tomorrow, as soon as the great sun rises in the east, challenge me to a race. We wil, run uphill." She pointed to a treeless hill not far from where they stood.

"I gladly accept your challenge, Father replied, his voice a little louder than usual.

The early morning was murky in Bauko. Thick fog enveloped Lacuasan's hut atop the knoll. All around, there was an endless sea of mist. In high spirits , Father trodden the dewy grass like a colt prancing in pasture. The sun shone metallic dull and it's faint beams peeped through a thin veil of mist in the eastern horizon. He stared at the sunflowers and carnations scattered in abundance over the slopes of the Bauko mountainsides.

Maila appeared suddenly at the base of the barren hill where the race was to be held. Lacuasan was to draw the starting line. Pulling his pistol from a leather holster tucked in his waist, he advised the competitors to be ready and with the bark of his gun they were to climb the hill as fast as they could.

When the gun barked, Maila darted towards the summit like a frightened deer, her legs appeared like rapid clogs spiking furiously upwards. Meanwhile, Father sped up like a jet hitting fist-sized boulders with lightening ferocity. Father knew he was exhibiting now his prowess in the century race back in his high school years when he romped away with a gold medal in the pre-war national athletic meet in Manila. The Bauko beauty gasped for breath but she was no match for the lowlander, this soldier of fortune who had drifted up to the Bauko highland to hide from Japanese hounds.

"I surrender to you, Andy," Maila calmly admitted, breathing hard. "I didn't know you were a sprinter for the first caliber." She knelt down to catch her breath.

"And so?"

"Of course, the jog is up and I am now yours," was the curt reply. That was how Father won the the heart of Maila. Gasping for breath, Father walked slowly towards her. Clutching her by the shoulders, he gazed into her eyes. They held hands as they ascended a promontory. At the summit stood a solitary pine tree casting it's shade over a clean boulder. Here they sat together.

The sun now shone clearly and resplendent. The flowers around them bid a joyous celebration. Lacuasan followed them and congratulated both victor and vanquished and to Father for winning the heart of the fastest girl in Bauko.

IN EARLY DECEMBER, a runner from Volckmann's headquarters up in Kapangan visited the two guerrilleros. He handed Father a field order instructing them to report to headquarters for further duty as the forces of General MacArthur were fast approaching the beaches at Lingayen. In January, the liberation forces tangled with the Japanese army everywhere in Luzon. The Allied Forces surrounded the enemy in the mountain provinces by placing the infantry divisions to route Yamashita's forces holed up in Kiangan. Father and Lacuasan returned to their respective outfits to join the bloody encounters with Japanese soldiers in Bessang, Lepanto, and Kayan, the last being but a stone's throw from Bauko. In late August, the Americans issues an ultimatum to Yamashita's forces to surrender. That after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where thousands of Japanese were killed by atomic bombs. Yamashita had to surrender unconditionally.

The GIs boarded the jeep with Lacuasan at the wheel. Father waved at the Bauko beauties as the jeep moved away. Maila and the others waved back. He caught Maila's eyes supplicating. She had not stopped crying since their hands parted in a muted farewell. Looking back once more, he thought he saw Maila's lips, parted, imploring him to return. But the jeep made a sharp turn at the fork in the road and they were met by a strong wind from the vegetable fields lining the road, accentuating the fact that the poblacion was already behind them.

With the surrender of the wily Tiger of Malaysia and his forces, after the last prisoners of war were settled in camps in the lowlands, Father and Lakuasan hurriedly left for Bauko for a brief respite. Maila and her friends arranged a homecoming celebration for the two soldiers. That night the moon was big and round and the cool Bauko air hovered over the schoolhouse where the lively event was to be held.

On a clear Sunday morning, after the sun had dissipated the thick fog enveloping the Bauko skyline, Maila and her friends stood in front of the schoolhouse to bid Father and Lacuasan goodbye. The two GIs had a new assignment somewhere in La Union.

"Of course, I shall return," Father calmly told Maila, clutching her cold hands tightly. His lips quivered and Maila, shaking with grief, placed a lei of fresh everlasting flowers over Father's neck. She was sobbing so hard as Father consoled hee by lightly patting her back.

This short story is authored by Yolanda V. Ablang taken from Ilocano Harvest (a collection of short stories in English by Ilocano Authors). Edited by Pelagio Alcantara and Miguel S. Diaz. Published by New Day Publishing, 1988, in Quezon City.

Photos are not mine, but taken from the Internet, including australianmuseum.net.au

Additional editing done by myself.