#In a way that being Malay will likely never be

[thetruearchmagos]

Been watching a lot of Xiran Jay Zhao recently, and boy is it the sorta thing that makes me reflect on what, exactly, I 'am'.

[dyemelikeasunset]

would you be able to include flag country names for the dom&mor characters lineup? ty!

(i love how diverse all your art and characters are, i wish i could read thru all about your ocs and stories like browsing through a wiki in an autism way)

THANK YOU!! In fact I can do you one better and write little blurbs for everyone! Including our leading ladies too of course Under the readmore:

Mor's side

Morgan: Jamaican American Lesbian. Mor's parents came from Jamaica but she was born in the US, where she grew up with her mom in Boston before moving to NYC. Mor went to university for a BA in Graphic Design and met most of her friends there. She works from home these days. Mor doesn't really realize she's the resident Pretty Girl in her group of friends (she has bad self esteem)

Lexi: American Nonbinary Lesbian. Lex met Mor in high school when they both played on the softball team, and they both came out to each other. They've been able to stay friends all these years cause their tastes in girls are wildly different. Lexi belongs to a different group as the rest of Mor's friends since they didn't go to the same college, but they're Mor's very annoying ride-or-die

Panos: Greek Ethiopian and Bisexual. Panos met Mor through their shared degree and has been a mentor and big brother figure for her since. They help onboard her to a lot of projects, and the two of them rely on each other professionally. He never really stops talking about his wife and daughter-- it's the price everyone has to pay, since he's so reliable and understanding and helping everyone all the time

Ryan: (Sansei) Japanese American and Gay. Out of Mor's art friends, Ryan is the one who's most practical about his job. Instead, he puts his energy into being a menace in his dating life. He loves to gossip about his and Mor's very messy love lives and is convinced Morgan is just as much of a heartbreaker as he is behind her innocent facade. She has unfortunately told Ryan all her dirty laundry so he teases her relentlessly every chance he gets

Barjis: Malay Trans and Bisexual. Barjis came to the US with their boyfriend to pursue their degree and also start their transition. They have a surprisingly cute illustration style and work with Panos and Mor often. They love to talk animated movies with Morgan, and it's one of the few things that gets them to talk a lot. Very skittish and tired all the time, and has a bit of a fear of "normies"

Elsa: Norwegian Lesbian. Elsa is Mor's unwitting rival in love because they always crush on the same girls (Ryan loves to tease her about this). Elsa is currently losing (Mor: 7, Elsa: 2) but she's not bitter, just single and sad. She's currently working in web journalism even though she wants to publish her novel. Friendly and considerate, but awkward

Dom's side

Dominique: Korean/Chinese and Asexual. Dom was born in Beijing but grew up in Seoul with her mother. She started working as a model at 16 and moved to the US alone when she was 18. She's currently coming back into the modeling world after a 2 year hiatus. She's charming and good at socializing, but she doesn't really know how to make friends, which frustrates model coworkers who want to be closer to her

Farid: Afghan French and Gay. Farid became a model in his late father's footsteps, so he's often accused of being a nepo model. He's fussy and annoyed easily, but he can never refuse helping people. One of Dom's only real friends, he's a bit like a little brother to her and relies on her a lot. He has a bad habit of dating married men and acting like it doesn't matter to him (it matters. A lot.)

Maithili: Indian Canadian and Pansexual. Maithili is breezy and easy-going, but behind her dreamy facade is a very level-headed personality. She works with Dom often for body diversity shoots, but she'd really like to do more high fashion. Very flirtatious, calls Dom and Farid her "work boyfriends" all the time

Wynter: British Trans woman. Wynter started modeling a little later than her peers. She was scouted after a big transition point, so modeling has brought her a lot of euphoria. She's one of the more mature personalities in Dom's life, and looks after her and the other models a lot. She lives with her boyfriend and is hoping he'll propose soon

Evita: Argentine American and Bisexual. Evita started as a social media influencer and has been able to make her way to the runway as a petite model. Despite their nonchalant persona, they work very hard and are very passionate about their job. Her current romance hangup is how oblivious Dominique is, and she knows she needs to move on

Inessa: Russian (and no fruity business). Inessa met Dom backstage at a Fashion Week while having a breakdown that Dom helped her through, so she's been attached like an inprinted duckling ever since. The type of straight girl who is obsessed with pretty women in a platonic way, so she really wants to get to know more about Dom's cute new girlfriend

[cadet-aviator]

Mess & Household training (4)

The toughest part of this Mess & Household training I had been ordered to follow was, however, the serving. It was not entirely new to me: during my weeks in Elite Camp I had had to serve drinks and dinner to the officers in their mess every night, and then I had to be on hand afterwards as they sat on the porch in the evening cool, chatting and laughing. That had been very tough, not because of the activity itself, but because the hours of serving came after a long day of gruelling marches and drills (and I wasn’t even 15 at the time). My preparation there had been only very basic.

This was, again, a whole new level, and it proved fiendishly difficult to get to terms with the finer details of being a Mess servant. It was worse than what went on in Downton Abbey. 

We were taught, first of all, to lay a table, which knife went where, which fork; we were taught what a normal menu in an officers’ mess was like, which dish followed which dish, and what the menu would be on a special occasion, and what was expected for those menu’s when it came to setting a table.

We were taught how to fold a napkin. That took hours and hours. So many ways you can fold one (and so many ways to get it wrong).

How to hold a plate of soup or an plate of rice (different technique).

We were taught how to ‘deliver’ a plate or a glass with a minimum of intrusion, and how to remove a plate or a glass unnoticed. The same for pouring wine or water, or opening a beer.

We had to learn how to carry trays (angle of 90 degrees in front of us, not touching our stomachs).

We were taught how to polish glasses (and then to polish them again, and again).

Of course we were also instructed how to stand, when no direct action was needed; how to keep a straight posture and not move your head but at the same time keep a sharp eye out for anything that needed attention.

This is not a skill you pick up in a few afternoons. It’s a proper profession, like that of top waiters in top restaurants, or professional butlers. But in the Malay military it was a specific branch, these Mess & Household servants, you could have a full career like that (and never see a battlefield or hold a rifle).

My little group of obedient cadets was assumed to be gearing up for such a career, and we had to get to grips with, well, everything. I had a quick brain, I was a fast learner, but as I was now getting accustomed to the superiors just piled on the tasks, the information, the challenges. No let up, no mercy, always that 100% perfection.

I had noticed during Camp that officers when they were not on alert would really take their time, sitting down for lunch or dinner, and so serving could take hours, sometimes well into the night. During training, this was copied – but then without the actual dinner guests. So it took hours of physical stress, just to stand quietly with a tray with a pitcher of water, staring ahead, trying to see if this or that person had emptied his glass, and was ready for some more – or not (we were not to ‘intervene’ when it was not called for).

I coped, I guess, because I quite liked to be in the presence of older officers. I liked the style of their mess rooms, their uniforms, the old-school (British-colonial) atmosphere of the thing. 

Actually, that was exactly why I stuck with it. I wanted to be there and serve.

(All images are AI-generated)

[hyunverse]

high school sweethearts ʚ♡ɞ han jisung

han jisung x reader. genre — fluff. about — in which you and han jisung are polar opposites. note — wrote this to motivate my han biased friend to do her fucking assignment. @ariesfiey love u. also this is set in malaysia!!!

han jisung is insufferable.

for one, he doesn't know how to shut his mouth up. he babbles and babbles, to the point where you'd feel like plastering his mouth together. he chirps every morning he walks into class, all toothy-smiled. it makes you sick. how could someone be so handsome happy to go to class?

he greets everyone a good morning — in a sing-song tone specially for you. every morning you'd give him the same response. something along the lines of: "my morning is ruined because of you." he never takes offense — simply sticks his tongue out at you and skips away.

he won't stop bothering you. he bothers you for answers of yesterday's mathematics homework, to back him up for being tardy, to let him copy off you for that one important malay language test. jisung asks you all of these while waving a lollipop in front of your face — "this is all i have right now but i promise i'll treat you to one plate of roti canai and a mug of grape-flavoured extrajoss after school."

sometimes jisung texts you late at night to ask you for the homework. it doesn't matter how long you ghost him. he will spam you until he sees "y/n is typing. . ." at the top of the screen.

he can't seem to quit it with his ridiculous jokes either. he'll repeat a knock-knock joke over and over until you laugh — or at least crack a small smile. he's the cutest most annoying when he receives a reaction out of you too — he'll turn smiley and overly happy for the rest of the day.

he wouldn't quit the staring. the boy would stare at you with googly eyes in class, spacing out while he admires the side of your face. he'd think about how pretty you are, not realizing the teacher calling out his name until a chalk flies and hits him on the forehead. he'd sheepish smile then, muttering an apology and pretending he didn't notice the deathly glare you'd send him.

han jisung is insufferable, but he's your favourite insufferable person in the whole wide world.

the raven's a polar opposite of you. you, the class rep, the honour student — and han jisung, the class clown, the tardy boy. many people would say that the combination of you and him doesn't make sense but your classmates would disagree. you compliment each other, like the way stars would decorate a dark sky.

you're always early to class. the first one to enter, when he's the last. though that's how it works with the two of you, you always find a surprise under your desk the first thing in the morning. jisung makes it a routine to slip a note, a bar of chocolate — anything under your table everyday before he leaves the class.

your seat's at the front while his is at the back, making it hard for him to poke your waist with a pencil all the time but it's okay. he uses it as an opportunity to stare at you or to fly a paper airplane to you. jisung has mastered the art of making paper airplanes — learnt how to make it fly straight to your direction. he has a pink pen in his pencil case too — specifically to write notes on the paper airplanes for you. there are times when he'd simply pass a note around until it reaches you. it's risky — there's always a potential the teacher will catch him but again, it's okay. it's okay as long as he gets to catch a glimpse of a grin on your pretty face.

you're constantly the victim of his antics, and it's embarrassing. it's embarrassing how he'd show off the passport sized picture of you in his wallet. he'll flip open his leather wallet and showcase the picture around the classroom like some type of trophy. everytime he puts his phone on his friends' table, he ensures his friends will see the polaroid of the both of you in his phone case. the action would earn whistles and you'd turn beet red, mumbling for him to stop. how could he when he merely wants to show off his pretty darling?

han jisung is insufferable, but at the end of the day, he's your high school sweetheart.

taglist (send an ask to be added!) — @zoe8stay , @starlostseungmin , @bakugossanity , @hwajin .

[zedecksiew]

Tone Is Bullshit

Terrifying.

"Bridewell", the Curse-of-Strahd-but-good adventure that Nova is currently writing and playtesting, features:

unsettling puppet people;

druids who practice bloody sacrifice, Wicker Man style; and

child-brutalising werewolves.

It also features Padru, a forest god shaped like a giant cuddly red panda.

10/10, full marks, no notes. When I encountered Padru during playtests, I was instantly charmed. It was a moment of wonderful relief, a ray of sunshine through cloud cover. In that moment I saw what the fog-ridden, werewolf-infested forest could be. Hope and tragedy.

If Padru didn't look cuddly---if she was all thorny and dark like a death metal album cover---she would've been predictably, boringly in genre, and I would not have cared about her at all.

+

Tone is bullshit.

The film review I dislike the most is the kind of review that docks points for "tonal inconsistency":

"The tone of this movie is all over the place, the characters quip too much, breaks the mood, is this comedy?"

Why be boring? Why not be both?

I wonder whether this has anything to do with being in my context, growing up with horror comedy movies from Hong Kong and Malay-language cinema like "Zombi Kampung Pisang" and "Geong Si Sin Sang". But terrifying monsters are very much A Real Thing, where I live---so entertainment needs the relief of laughter. Maybe this is just personal aesthetic preference.

+

In tabletop game design, especially for games that emulate genre (the horror RPG, the noir RPG, the dark fantasy RPG), there is a strong inclination to go:

It is important to design systems and mechanics that set up consistent tone and mood.

Respectfully: I disagree.

Mood rarely survives contact with players. Unless:

players / the GM are theatrically skilled; AND

your table is strict about enforcing a social contract of The Mood We Are Trying To Create For Each Other.

Gods know I'm ass at both the above. And I am willing to bet that a fair slice of TTRPG players are like me, if we aren't actually the majority.

The thing I consider more important than tone, that never breaks, is meaningful worldbuilding. Concrete details that feel true. Characters and geography that responds in living ways.

Padru is concrete. Our characters could touch her fur. Her soft autumnal red in a drab, monochrome landscape has purpose: she is designed to offer a glimpse of what the forest used to be.

Tone is bullshit. Contrast is where it's at.

Showing me a full reality outside horror makes the horror hit harder.

[hokuukukhaos]

Hi,there. I'm quite new here so I'm gonna ask you a question and your opinion? What do you think of projek high council actually? Because im trying to spread the fandom around to some people actually and it has potential to grow as a fandom everyone no matter what country they are enjoys it,also do you have any headcanons about projek high council if so please tell me what the headcanons are.

Hi!!! i’m so glad you asked! sorry for the late reply.

I apologise if i don’t sound cohesive in this post 🙏

i’m

What do i think of it? I think it paints a good message about the private school culture in malaysia, i’ve never been in one since i go to public school(plus being sporean). But when i had done the research for the show to understand why it was created and the reasoning, i found so so so many posts and reddit discussions about the toxic environment that Malaysian private schools have.

And i feel like the show spreads awareness to how the environments in that school are.

I also felt like it tackled some sort of generational trauma, and not to mention the fantastic writing it has for a malaysian show. Lemme get this straight, i myself am a malay, i have watch my fair share of shows and when i say this blew me away, it blew me away.

The show itself handles topics in a mature way, and it made me cry for 3 episodes straight. Fakhri and Naim hit close to home for me, and their entire arch was written beautifully.

I’m not sure what else to say besides high praise for it, it’s mature, it’s gritty, it’s not scared to send a message or tackle things other shows are scared to. And the way it’s written feels not just tied as a just malay show i genuinely felt like if other people were to watch it they would enjoy it to the max like the rest of us.

That’s all i have for the show

Hc’s? i have one only (i’m basic and i apologise for it) Kahar used to act like Ejoi (from kisah cinta Pheobe dan Ejoi) before the toxic school environment got to him

atleast, ill keep that hc until Projek Kahar comes out.

[zzzzzluv]

Hi,there. I'm quite new here so I'm gonna ask you a question and your opinion? What do you think of projek high council actually? Because im trying to spread the fandom around to some people actually and it has potential to grow as a fandom everyone no matter what country they are enjoys it,also do you have any headcanons about projek high council if so please tell me what the headcanons are.

hi!

omg same! im also a new user lol

i like the show A LOT. idk how to say this but the show feels like a place to me to vent? like i understand what those characters were feeling because i also had gone pretty much the same thing (maybe not 100% the same but kinda similar). and oh my god the characters dude. THE CHARACTERS. im in love with corruption trope, like im obsessed. you see, fakhri was playing a hero at first, but then slowly acted like kahar. isn't it ironic that he became something that he hate before? talking about kahar, im really curious about his backstory! thank god there will be a movie about him (IM FUCKING EXCITED). ayam is a mood, i love every time he appeared on the screen. okay this is getting long lol im so sorry. anyways, i was expecting a sad ending due to the show being so depressing (i thought naim was gonna die wtf pls dont do that again) but im glad that we got a happy ending! (im a sucker for happy ending lmao) overall, i really like the writing, it's really well done. the pacing is perfect, good casts. i don't really watch a lot of Malay dramas so i cant really compare. but PHC is one of my top series now hehe. though im not sure if everyone knows this but this show might seem a bit unrealistic cuz the higher ups being involved and like there were a lot of things going on, it's actually real. it happened and is happening right now. hell, even in the public university, they still apply this high council shit.

if the producers decide to air the show globally, it could reach some international audience. maybe not a lot, but im pretty sure some people will be more invested.

hm my headcanons?

i don't remember which ep, but it was the one where kahar accidentally pushed (or kicked? im not sure) ayam and led to ayam be in a coma. they did show kahar got traumatised by that but not enough for me lol. so yea, i imagine kahar doesnt dare to look himself in the mirror because he almost killed someone. yea sure, he bullied a lot of people, misusing his power, but he was never a killer. he still has that humanity in him.

and i also imagine him having a rough childhood due to how his dad treated him. you know, constantly being compared to his brothers, thats not very nice. so kahar just swallowed the hate to idk make himself felt full? my headcanons are pretty weird i apologise

and also, since naim and fakhri are on the good terms now, im pretty sure they are awkward around each other at first. cmon, they were on each others' throat, didnt wanna breath the same air. NO WAY theyre gonna hold hands and scream "yay we're a happy family now!" like no. i know damn well that most of the time they don't even talk, but then something random happens and that will be their topic. like fakhri doesn't know how to decorate, then naim will make fun of him or saying something like "ish kau ni, benda senang pun tak boleh buat ke?" naim doesnt mean anything, it just becomes a light banter? so sorry for my bad eng and the fact that you have to read all this...

ohhhh and hakeem! it's actually funny how hakeem is the closest friend to kahar lol. i think they became friends in an unexpected way, but because of that, they became even closer. and it's actually comforting when theres someone who's willingly to become a friend with kahar without any malicious intent!

ahh thank you for the ask! im sorry for making this ans long 🙏 have a good day!

[noxstrages]

If it's not too much to ask, could we know a little more about your bug guy? Their design is sooooooo cool, I absolutely adore it! :D

auUaHGhHGhGh MAN I DID NOT EXPECT SOMEONE TO ASK ABOUT HIM SO SOON GHGHHG THANK YOU AHHH I DONT KNOW WHERE TO START

He's from a collaborative RP group I'm in! He's based off a coconut rhinocerous beetle and his outfit is based off WWI/II Pilot Uniforms. His ethnicity is filipino/malay, even though the world he's from isn't really parallel to ours exactly (Whole different continents, mythos, history).

If you ask him what his name is, he'd reply with "Knocks" or "The Wanderer", but this is because he doesn't know his real name. He was Vincent Marcus Catacutan, so you'll see me tag pieces with him as Vincent or Knocks, but they're the same character in two very different stages of his life.

Vincent is pre-[REDACTED] and is a bit of a bitch, but really smart, head of weapons research and development for his country. I typically draw him with long hair, but you can easily tell it's him by his horns/antennae/eyes, which are all brown/black, or a usually dour or maniacal expression.

Knocks doesn't know anything about all that though. He just knows he has an affinity for building machines and making potions, and that he was in a war. He's very jovial and friendly, making silly jokes and naming things weird things, but there's definitely a mean streak to him and he doesn't take social cues very well. That being said, he's undyingly (or, dyingly) loyal, which he shares with Vincent, and he has a big heart and boobs (also like Vincent, but he'd never admit it). Even though they're the same character, they're so different from each other in a lot of ways that he occupies two different spots in my mind. Maybe I can explore this some more if y'all/you're interested :>

Here's a portion of the page I posted earlier with colors, as thanks for reading all that if you did! I'm sorry for rambling, it's hard for me to summarize things, though I'm always eager to answer questions!

[liamthemailman]

Lieutenant Ace

Call of Duty OC Info

• General Info •

Rank: Lieutenant

Alias: Ace (Formerly known as Mad Dog)

Nationality: N/A

Age: 35 years old (as of 2023)

Gender: Masc

Birthday: 27 February

Language spoken: English

Other languages: Malay

Sexuality: Bisexual

• Appearance •

Height: 5'2 feet / 159 cm

Blood type: B Pos

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Dark brown

• Personality •

Introverted - Ace has some trouble approaching people, and with his resting bitch face doesn't make him any more approachable either. He doesn't speak much but only because he doesn't have much to say.

Problems - Ace is practical. He sees an issue, he fixes it the quickest and most effective way he can. Ace doesn't like to spend time sitting around when there should be things to do. There's never a time on missions when nothing is happening.

Straightforward - Ace says things as he sees it. He gets the point across as fast as possible. Ace has gotten several complaints for being abrasive but he's not one to sugarcoat.

Emotional - Despite the above, Ace isn't all that much of an asshole, believe it or not. He'll take the time and effort to hear out anyone for their woes and worries, just listening to those who need it.

Down to earth - Outside of work, Ace is generally a laid back person. If actually approached, he's more than able to hold a conversation and is surprisingly really chatty.

• Bad Habits •

Bottling - Despite knowing there are trustworthy and competent people who are willing to help, Ace would rather drop dead than ask for help with generally anything. This then leads to being frustrated silently, but Ace works on it. Tries to, at least.

Anger Issues - This only applies to missions. Ace has difficulty working with people due to his tendency to snap. Be it a snarky comment or directly yelling at someone. Even when things were looking positive, and god forbid someone makes an avoidable mistake.

Mean - Being someone as quiet as Ace, he is not above being a mean bitch, his actions speak louder than any word could ever express. Gives nasty side eyes through with his eyewear but no one can see them.

• Skill set •

Weapon - Long range and/or knifes

Combat Style - Usually sticks to long range guns. Good with close combat, Ace is very nimble and agile though it comes with the downside of larger weight classes going against him.

Special Skill - Breaches through any security systems and can intercept rigs of explosives and traps that use electronic signal triggers. Ipad Kid on the field.

• Trivia Facts •

Sneaking

Ace startles just about everyone when he seemingly appears from nowhere. He swears he's not doing it on purpose, he's kind of below most people's line of sight, and it's not like he'd want to stomp around the base either.

Goggles

Unintentionally glares at people. Ace has tired looking eyes and spaces out a lot, which leads to a lot of misunderstandings. So he settles for goggles.

Hair

Has been nagged to keep the back of his hair short, and as much as he really tries, it grows back within the week. It doesn't get any longer than it usually is so they just let him keep his very short mullet.

Daisies

Ace loves daisies, and also loves to fuck with people. Ace will make daisy chain crowns and/or bracelets and gift them anonymously to people around the bases he's on. It's been driving everyone crazy. No one has caught him yet.

Dumb Shirts

Under his hoodies, jackets and gear, Ace is wearing those novelty shirts with nonsensical words. He thinks it's hilarious and it's fueled by Johnny giving him more dumb shirts to wear. Ace got caught by a rookie at 2.30am, making tea and wearing one of those shirts. No one ever believes them whenever they try to share their experience.

Favourites

Drink: Earl Grey with one cream and two sugars

Food: Oranges

Animal: Cats

Hobby: Writing short stories, feeding the stray cats on base

Song: Aces - dkj

Colour: Dull, desaturated colours

Flower: Green thumb, Ace loves all flowers

• (B)romance •

Johnny 'Soap' MacTavish was the first to approach Ace after his transfer into the 141. That means he's the first to form a connection to the dark and broody shadow and discover that he just has RBF™.

They become quick friends, one was never present without the other. Like they were attached to the hip.

Word got around when a rookie saw Lieutenant Ace wearing an oversized jacket that belonged to Sergeant Soap, and said sergeant wearing one of Ace's dumb shirts. It was quickly shot down, no one believing the outlandish claim.

Ace just enjoys Johnny's company, nothing more and nothing less.. is what he claims when asked. So what if Ace only drinks the tea Johnny brings him, only he knows how to do it right. So what if Ace lets Johnny sit on his lap despite being so much larger, there's no other seats. So what if Ace and Johnny held hands under the table like a pair of juvenile lovebirds-

• Background •

Alias(es)

- Mad Dog

Former and unofficial nickname rather than actual callsign from when he first enlisted. He used to be a loudmouth that talked back to his superiors, yelling his arguments and being reckless and near uncontrollable on the field.

He was compared to that of a dog barking madly, and thus, the nickname stuck.

- Ace

He's mellowed out, somewhat, compared to his rookie days. Ace earned the name Ace from his former team for being the go-to for intelligence and gathering intel for missions, giving his team a great advantage over enemies.

Former team

Task Force Cards was a small group consisting of four. King, Queen, Jack and Ace himself. They found comfort in each other, coming from different countries and backgrounds, all of them strangers to a foreign land.

Unfortunately, the team had to be disbanded after his fellow team members went rogue on mission.

Scar

A result of a brash action Ace made while trying to reason with his rogue team. While arguing with them, Ace had stepped forward in anger to grab the collar of one of them. A physical altercation broke out.

While the slash was barely skin deep, it hurt Ace seeing them too far gone in their own heads. The wound stung as he testified against them.

Family

Ace had run away from home and enlisted shortly after. He hasn't had contact with them ever since he was 17. As much as he wanted to, Ace knows contacting them again was a pipe dream.

[yinyuedijun]

hi miss mao. i read the aventurine fic and ouagdjckkekcjcns. oh your brain…………. physically im sitting on my chair, mentally im face down in a pool because i feel like ive just had my doors kicked down and gotten grabbed by the throat for one of the greatest psychological reads of my life ??? /pos

aven’s relationship with avgin………… oh he just like me fr. i too cannot lie in my mother tongue (strange to call it that honestly, because i’m terrible at speaking it, but it’s the language my people speak and the ones who came before so it’s mine, my mother tongue, my mother’s tongue, mine) because for life reasons i was raised an english speaker, made to speak it because it’s the best way to ‘succeed’ and other fun post-colonial things. english is casual and everyday to me so the part where aven thinks about how he can’t say “i love you” in avgin because it feels too raw and too real and too honest is so,,,,,,, LAHSHDHDKSJDJD MISS MAO IM GOIGN INSANE /pos

and that dream sequence……….. is it crazy to say that ive dreamt the same? and that part about kakavasha actually listening and changing because he never had to become aventurine in this beautiful dream and he can be genuine and truthful OHHHHH MISS MAO you are making me, woman lover 9000, soggy about a man /pos

arghhh this is such a disjointed ask sorry but i just needed to spill my guts about it a little alsjcjkdsod as an apology i will leave u w a little linguistic gift; in malay, the phrase ‘i love you’ is said (formally) as ‘saya cintakan awak’. ‘cinta’ is perhaps our stronger word for ‘love’, but what i feel is the best part about ‘cintakan’ or the suffix ‘kan’ is that it denotes a current action. therefore, while ‘saya cintakan awak’ can be translated as ‘i love you’, it also can mean, in full, ‘i love you and i actively choose to love you’ :))

SEV.... I'm grabbing you by the shoulders im shaking you u don't know how much this feedback means to me 😭 when I wrote this I was so curious about how you'd find the fic because of our prev interactions where you'd mentioned being one gen away from colonialism, and how you'd be interested in a fic about cultural loss. I really didn't want to disappoint you and it makes me so happy that the fic resonated with you !!!!! thank you so much for sharing your experiences w me, I loved hearing about how you related to the fic.

I also will say. I find it very funny that you relate to the dream sequence because I based it on my experiences!!! the more I forgot my language the less I dreamed in it, and now I almost never do. but on the rare occasions where I do, I'm always in the context where the language was dominant in my life - as a child, with my family. I had always wondered if this was just a me thing or not LOL so it is very interesting that you relate !!! maybe it is a thing with all bilingual speakers. (ALSO I'm sorry for making you care about a man 💔)

OYUYGGGHDMSHS THAT FACT ABOUT MALAY 😭😭😭 I love hearing about the ways that "I love you" translate to other languages. it hits so different depending on which one you're functioning in. it occurs to me that if you contextualize the fic that way wherein the Avgin version is so specific and intentional, like Malay, it's no wonder that aventurine can't bring himself to say it....... o-(--<

[adamsandlermealplan]

Every Meal is Shared With You Now and Forever

Bún Bò Huế at Tương Lai (Cabramatta) | 1 August

It's nothing new under the sun to write about how love and food are entwined. How preparing a meal, the deliberate act of taking someone to a restaurant that you enjoy, the times when the scent of a familiar flavour sends you into a wave of emotions... A humanity that has been forever. It's what really made me want to start writing more, although I fear reproducing half-baked diaspora musings. But maybe that's why I do want to record it, precisely because of its eternal and intrinsic nature that transcends time and fuses communities together.

My grandma passed away on Sunday, and food has not tasted the same since. She was my third parent, and my constant. Until the last day that she could stand she would cook lunch and dinner for everyone. After school and work, the first thing that she would ask is whether I was having dinner. Almost without missing a day, she would cook for us. My gut wrenches from remembering the times when I declined and said I would eat later. The times that I've told her I was going out for dinner and her subsequent dejected mood. More than anything, I had declined her act of love. I deserve to feel this terrible, brokenhearted remorse.

She grew up learning to cook with her eyes and her nose. Being the fourth daughter of a Chinese immigrant in British occupied Malaysia, she was prohibited from getting an education by her father. She was basically illiterate, bar the few Chinese characters and basic English words she had to teach herself. I had always considered myself fortunate to be able to indulge in a cuisine many had only later been introduced to. A cuisine that was an almagation of Indian immigrants, Malay locals, many generations of Chinese-Malays and even the influence of British and Portuguese colonisers. She would pound her own spices for curries, cook herbal soups when we came into flu season. So much knowledge through simply absorbing the world around her. Learning the only way she really knew how. I loved her sambal which she would use on a variety of dishes. Nasi lemak. Fried okra. Fried fish. She really loved golden, deep fried delicacies. She introduced me to what Westerners would consider more "challenging" foods. Liver, blood jelly, tripe. I feel so lucky to be able to appreciate these foods. When I had a 2 year vegetarian stint, she would take the effort to cook me a separate dish with no meat. I'm honestly glad I started to eat meat again so I could taste her original cooking before it was too late. I should have known that through her cooking and her hours of preparation, her commitment to make sure we were fed were all intrinsic acts of love. I will never be able to taste it again. I will never be able to repay it.

I ate this bún bò huế after visiting the temple where my family and I have now decided to place her ashes. I had been crying until my eyes had become swollen, and looked bee-stung. I was weepy, still, when they brought this soup noodle out. While it was delicious with its spicy tang and careful notes of fermented seafood, like most of the meals I've had since, it was dampened by the flavour of grief. The thought of being unable to share this with her dulled the usual melody of aromas I would get from that first taste of the soup. If she were with me, I would have asked for a separate little bowl for her to try the silky noodles and bits of Vietnamese ham. Now and until forever, I thought, I could not ever return those acts of care to her. So from that day I promised that every meal is shared with her. I will think of her in every bowl of noodle soup, every bite of curry, even whatever bland work lunch I may have. Tonight is the 7th day since her death, so I poured us a glass of her favourite beer (Guiness) and we served her a little plate of our dinner on the makeshift altar in her room and I feel a little better about it all.

[sujantim]

John Rai And The Locals.

I have probably seen multiple live shows in person. After a long time, I felt like I had never heard or seen this kind of magical performance for a long time. It was the live show of the band "The John Rai and The Locals." The lead vocalist was John Rai, and there was Steve Rai for electric guitar, the bass guitar by Manu Rai, drums from Jasper Rai, and beautiful flute and acoustic guitar from Sudarshan Thapa. The show was electrifying and full of emotion and craziness. Everyone was enjoying the show and was full of energy.

John Rai and The Locals are known as the Nepali Pop Rock band for their electrified live performances. This band became very popular in Nepal recently, with some of the raw vocals and an original pre-recorded version by John Rai. The band was initially formed with classmates and neighborhood friends. Backstory: They were a small local band who used to jam and play some during the twenties. After some, The lead vocalist moved abroad for his undergraduate studies. After being abroad, he was not satisfied with anything, neither his studies, work, or the culture. The lead vocalist left the country without completing his studies. He formed a band with his friend Manu and his friend's brother Steve, and they formed the band with the other members and started releasing songs. They were not so popular at that, and they used to perform in the local bars and restaurants. Slowly, some of the raw version songs of the band started getting popular. The raw version of the "Hawa jastai malai" song was a massive success. They started doing live performances. In the larger mass, they were known for being the best performers and new faces in the Nepali music industry.

The live from March 8, 2024, in Pokhara still reminds me of those moments. That wasn't any tour show or grant show. It was a typical show with 1500 people. Whenever there is a live show in my hometown, I usually go to watch the live show. The biggest advantage of watching shows in my hometown was that I didn’t usually need to buy the ticket because I used to have a connection with people who were event organizers, or I would find a way to enter the venue through bouncers because somehow I or my friends would know the bouncers. Or We find an other way to enter to see the show. The show was organized by the  NYC Ratnachowk Club on the day of Shivarattri. Shivarattri is a tradition of a Hindu people who follow the god Shiva. On this occasion, people smoke marijuana and stay all night doing bonfires and enjoying. It is the only day in a year when marijuana is legal. Usually, nonsmokers also try, and most people are high on marijuana this day. I was enjoying my day in the Shivaratri at the bonfire, and I got a call from my friend to go to the show  1 hour before the show. We didn’t have a ticket for the show, and it was already too late to call someone who had access because none of them answered the call because they were busy. The show was at the junction of a road surrounded by a big border from two sides of the road (entry and exit point) and between the two sides of the house. Luckily. One of my friend's houses was there where we could enter the house through the back door, and we could directly enter the event through the front door. We were successfully able to access the show. I know this sounds crazy. This was a new experience for me. 

I saw them for the first time. There was also a massive crowd of people watching the performance. The whole road intersection was blocked for the concert. Most of the people could see the show from the balcony of their house. There were a lot of people in the window of the house.  The show starts with the beautiful electric guitar and bass guitar drums. The vocalist entered the stage, and the whole audience started cheering. The scenes started to be crazy. The show started with the all-time favorite song, "Hawa jastai malai." This song reminds me of inner freedom and flying like air. The other song, "K Garu," an unreleased version, starts with a beautiful melody and flute. In the middle of the show, the light went off. But the audience didn't stop for a moment and instead continued singing with their phone torchlight on. Most of the audience was crazy high that night due to the chemicals, so they didn’t need a big speaker and electricity because most of the people knew the song's lyrics and had a mobile torchlight. After some time, the electricity comes, and the show continues show with Songs: Nihit , K Garu, Vanana Matra, Farkhana hola, Samaya , Sadhana and ends after midnight.

That's why they have one of the greatest audiences and one of the greatest live shows I have seen, and it is the craziest night. Definitely, A Night to be remembered!

[cadet-aviator]

Discipline choices (1)

This event affected me more deeply than I realised at the time, perhaps. I think I was mostly impressed and a little proud, that the Admiral knew me and wanted to talk to me, and not to any of the other cadets. Of course I was also very pleased that my appearance had been in order and that I performed that awkward bow well. I also felt the kind of boyish satisfaction of having achieved that all by myself – without the guidance or even support of my parents. 

I’m not ashamed to say (now) that when I got home, I got on my knees again and repeated my new little drill routine. It made sense – I was trained to obey, and being on my knees felt like the epitomy of obedience.

Like before, I never felt that any of this was strange. I was a cadet and of course I would be taken in by real military men. All my drill training and all those hours ironing my shirts and polishing my shoes had been for that: to be allowed to belong.

But I had not considered joining the army, any army. I was a good student, I felt most at home in things like history and languages, on the rare occasions when I was asked what I wanted to do after school I usually said something like Law, or International Relations – in line with what I knew my parents did. 

So that was confusing. Joining that Elite Cadet Camp would mean a serious involvement in military training. Other cadets were quite keen to go. They saw it as a first step towards a military career, a place to get noticed, if you wanted to be selected for the Military Academy. That was not what I had in mind. Besides, I wasn’t even a Malay national. Joining a foreign army could compromise my citizenship. 

Immediately, I received a colourful folder in the mail – the ins and outs of that Elite Camp. Three-week courses and Six-week courses. Stuff to make boys into men, and all that. Adventure, the great outdoors, lots of discipline and rules and regulations and potential demerits, but a solid programme, by the looks of it. Truly ‘Elite’. 

But was this something I could turn down? I was a cadet, and so technically subordinate to orders. Could the Admiral force me? If I declined, would that damage my school grades?

I talked about it to Dad. 

He was kind, as always, but also suprisingly straightforward about it. ‘You don’t have to do this, son, even though I can see it’s quite a thing, to get a recommendation from His Excellency.’

He could see, of course, that I was seriously confused by this. He seemed to hold my own cadet-arrogance against me, in a subtle way, as if to say: ‘We’ve had to put up with this bizarre love of uniform of yours for months now, so I think you need to put your money where your mouth is, and go and play soldier for a few weeks, see if you like that.’

He didn’t say that, but that’s what I heard anyway. 

What he really said was: ‘I can’t tell if you’re really meant for a military career, but everything you’ve done so far seems to indicate that there are lots of aspects of the military that agree with you. I guess you’ll have to see for yourself if there is a next step for you.’

 ‘You have been invited to go to Army Cadet HQ and get a briefing on what this camp is all about. Perhaps you should just go and hear what they have to say?’

Which was reasonable. And I did as he suggested.

(All images AI generated)

[shefanispeculator]

Her collaborators noticed a change instantly. “We had anger, we had sadness, we had flirtation, we had sexy, and now we’re madly in love,” Tranter said. Stefani described the shift with one of her frequently used terms — “crazy!” — and added, “Never in my wildest, craziest dreams would I ever have seen this coming.”

Stefani, unguarded and reflective, spoke quickly in torrents of words, pausing only to sip tea from a cup that, like most of her décor, was black and white. She thought back to her childhood in Anaheim, California, where she presumed she’d one day lead a happy family like the one her parents had built. “I literally was so sheltered and naïve, and that’s a lot why I think I got myself into so much trouble, in a way,” she said. She lamented that because of her split from Rossdale, she now has her sons 50 per cent of the time. “It’s like, the most unjust, unbelievable system,” she said, adding that the “blessing” in it was she had time to heal and write. Atop her work table sat a book of photos from her youngest son’s first year, two pairs of sunglasses, her journal and a tin of Dr Martens Wonder Balsam.

Sessions for the band’s first album in 11 years, Push and Shove, followed, and Stefani wasn’t brimming with ideas. “The LP failed to take off commercially, and when the band returned to the studio — this time with collaborators including Sia, Greg Kurstin and Williams — Stefani got pregnant for a third time. “That’s when I started to really find my faith again,” she said. “It’s like a miracle, at my age.”

Weeks after giving birth to Apollo, the offer to become a coach on The Voice arrived, and Stefani found herself relishing her new role as mentor. “I needed so badly to do something different, and I needed so badly to be in a different role, a giving role.” Freshly inspired, she felt the urge to make music and mulled a solo album. “I started to think, well, I’ll just curate a record, and I’ll do it like every other pop girl does.”

This was the first time Stefani had dipped a toe into the new pop economy, where ace songwriters for hire shop tracks from artist to artist. “Every song that people would write for me felt like me 12 years ago, me 10 years ago. And lyrically they could never touch my heart, ever.” She recorded a full album, but decided to shelve it once sessions for Truth took off.

Considering how much the pop landscape has changed in a decade, Stefani is incredulous about her ability to continue recording. “I don’t even understand how I could possibly have had this long a career, or a career at all,” she said. “And that anyone cares, and that I’m relevant or anything, it just blows my mind.”

Tranter said Stefani’s sweetness and humility aren’t put-on. “At first I thought she was just being polite,” he said. “And then I was like, oh, she actually doesn’t realise the lives that she’s changed. She has no clue.” Describing Stefani’s appeal as “that amazing combination of extreme fabulousness and extreme honesty,” he noted the 1995 No Doubt album Tragic Kingdom “defined one whole era of music, and then she did it again as a solo artist, which is very rare.”

Janick said the longevity of Stefani’s career is one reason the label is confident in her new album’s viability. “Obviously there’s a lot of people that have grown up with Gwen over the years. Her being on The Voice, what she does in fashion, she’s all over all the magazines. You can say it’s a grown-up pop record, but I feel like it touches on all different things that people can relate to of all different ages and sexes.”

Stefani, who sometimes reminds herself “Wow, I did do that! I wrote those songs!” to boost her own confidence, said singing about being happy is “so fresh” to her. “I needed something new to happen. And not just in my career, in my life. Something had to change.

Gwen Stefani climbs back from the abyss with new album | Malay Mail

[lostinatrainofthoughts]

A month plus ago, someone randomly slid into my dms claiming they knew me from primary school.

He finally said his name was danial K (oh boy, not another danial 😂). Funny enough, this was the last person i would think to ever try to connect with me? He was one of the popular ones back in school and i was surprised he knew me. we would sometimes see eachother in passing but we never acknowledged the other’s existence. So i was caught off guard he even recognised who i was. A little back story, him and his sister were well known in school because theyre half white in a sea of purely malay kids intrigued by the exoticness of an anomaly.

He told me he wanted to get to know me better and be friends? He was apparently very close to (probably seeing?) my bestfriend at the time so he mentioned that he knew me from her i think. Or observed? He said we looked tightknit (we fought often btw but she did give me a hamster) and he says if shes nice then i must be nice too. I dont know if hes trying to replicate what he had with my friend with me bc our conversations always somehow involved her. And i feel like one way for him to reconnect with her was through me? I lost contact with her agesss agoo, and shes off the grid. So i dont know how i felt about this whole thing.

Then as we got to chatting, the more wariness i felt about him being a douche lessened. He was notoriously known to be a player. He told me he peaked in primary and was bullied violently in secondary. He told me people made fun of him being short (i didnt know this) and name-called him saying he looked like megamind (this i knew). There were awful rumours about his sister too that she leaked her nudes (which apparently i bought in at the time and he said none of it was true). It wasnt just the name-calling, it was physical abuse too. I felt bad because of what he went through. he wasnt the type to fight back and hes super patient, which is admirable. It dispelled my initial perception of him and i really fed into the rumours. He really did peak in primary as he mentioned how much he enjoyed his time there (i hated primary). he also has broken English eventho his father's white.

so after all the conversations of good ol times in primary (of his). he started to text me every single day. he would ask me what I ate for lunch, breakfast, dinner and repeat; asked how work was and wished me good luck for work, repeat. now it was getting a little exhausting when conversations were like this. since he asked if we could be friends, and i said sure why not. but he was taking this label very seriously, like something he had to prove himself worthy of. he started calling me "bestie waina" and with every single breath. he always without fail, mentioned that I was his "bestie" and striving to become the "best bestie I ever had". He was becoming borderline obsessive about being my best friend. he refers to himself in third person;__; (ex: "danial is going to work", "danial misses my bestie waina") or "oh I love working offshore, you [sometimes he would also call me "you"]" + "i only think about 3 things when I'm away: myself, my family, and my bestie waina". he asked me once whats a green flag in a bf. so at this point i haven't expressed me being uncomfie bc I'm a ppl pleaser and an avoidant, so when he pulled that qn i was like oh this is my time to shine! so i told him "besties don't always text each other every time, only when they have something to say, they give space, and being bestfriends takes years :) " he reads my texts as soon as it was sent. no matter the time of the day, even at ungodly hours, hoping he wasnt gonna reply bc he was asleep - he still did! like girl............... but after that particular text, he opened it 16 hours after lol, and said he will tone it down. it didn't last. it took 5 days for him to resume his routine of asking me what I ate again.

it was getting out of hand because he said things like "where are you? what are you doing? i would teleport to where you are if I could" and it was just plain creepy. so I lied and I said I'm seeing someone I matched with on tinder. he replied "I support you my BFF waina" so I started to think, maybe he does only want to be friends. but then he pulls "thanks for telling me you're going out w a guy" and I was like huh?????? I didnt say it because I felt obligated but I said it so that he would back off. again, the male species fails to understand these things. But I knew it tipped him off, bc he replied over a day later. to add, he also said he wanted to save "kr8" (as in credit, yes he types like he's stuck in the early 20s) because the wifi wasnt stable so he's gonna log out and stay in touch in April (before knowing he was like this, I said yeah we could meet up :") ) so we stopped texting.

but it doesnt end thereeeeeeeeeeeee.

i told this ordeal to my cousin 2 weeks after who said I should block him. she convinced my avoidant ass by saying I don't owe him anything. I like the idea of running away from my problems, thinking it would solve itself so I did! at the time, ig didn't give me the option to "also block new accs they might create".

oh boy, two days later, he made two different ig accounts to text me...... . i knew it was him because one had a similar username as his old one. i immediately disabled my ig for 3 days bc I was so damn frightened.i only opened it back because everyone was telling me to communicate.

Both DMs from those two accs were sent at a 15 min intervals. one was a cryptic ominous "You". The other was a long text message about how he was upset and he didn't get why I did what I did (I felt bad of course, bc again I didn't say anything instead my people-pleasing ass was just going w the flow until it all became too much). then he started victimising himself, said things like he'll heal on his own, he will stay strong. he even gaslit me and said "he forgave me" lmao. he said he didn't see the point of ig anymore (the ig he used to contact me was a burner account. i was the only mutual) so he disabled all three accounts.

his final text was him giving out his phone number if i ever wanted to talk to him. so although all his accounts were disabled, i could still text these accounts from laptop (glitch). so i lied and said i had a bf (bc ya... i didn't want the blame all on me) and that this "bf" wasnt happy w me talking to other guys so i did what he told me. i told denial i was sorry repeatedly. that he deserved a meaningful friendship with someone else. because the guilt ate me alive. he's sent his phone no. before on 3 diff occasions btw. the first one, I told him I was uncomfortable w sharing. so in that final text to him, I made it clear that i was NOT gonna text him through whatsapp (that's just asking for it). i told him this already. then consumed by anger, i retorted saying that i mentioned friends give each other space, but he chose to ignore that. and also "please don't create any more new accounts to text me. it makes me feel unsafe." the end

[thistransient]

Ah, a perfect illustration for me to muse about KL.

- For some reason I expected KL to follow a similar flow; after all, I was also going back after ten years (and thereby redoing a somewhat malcontent experience with the ex). However, I made many tactical errors here. I did not make solid plans, I waffled and faffed about, unable to decide if I was staying here or going there (inevitably, I stayed as it required the least effort), I had no real meaningful social interaction, I stayed in a hotel with no breakfast, I was bereft when faced with description-less menus in down-to-earth local establishments ("what do you recommend?" or "which is your favourite?" to the server is a very dangerous question indeed). I feel somewhat remorseful that I did not commit to a bit, either complete sloth and hipster cafes, or truly dedicated tourist-ing. I also stayed directly on Jalan Petaling, and found in a strange way (okay maybe I'm really stretching for a complaint here) it detracted from the fun of going in search of the place to be if you're staying smack in the middle of it.

- When I went to Seoul I did research. I had plans. Things to see! Places to go! I stayed at a guesthouse and had some friendly interaction with the host, and daily provided breakfast. Most places I ate at had picture menus for wayward foreigners, or at least I was familiar enough with Korean food and Hangul to figure things out. It was suitable weather for rambling around. I was having a bittersweet life transition ending Chinese class, and revisiting Korea after ten years!

It was also not the weather for extended trotting about outside (I did eventually partake in the time-honoured tropical tradition of walking around the giant multi-storey AC'd mall though).

- This is not to say I didn't enjoy the hipster cafes and art spaces (once I actually got out of bed). Or staying in a hotel room bigger than my own apartment, with nice bedding (even if I never figured out how to turn on the hot water in the shower). But in hindsight it feels kind of a coagulated blur. When I was there, it was an elastic eternity, and now that I'm back, almost as if I never left. Perhaps I simply wasn't in the right frame of mind, or perhaps I was just somewhat brainwashed by the blaring music from the bars across the street until 3 or 4 AM my first few nights there.

- I will say though, I had a very heartening experience being gendered unequivocally correctly around 99% of the time. One thing about Chinese is that with no spoken gendered pronouns and a formal "you", it is very hard to tell how people are perceiving me in Taiwan until they are trying to redirect me to a different bathroom, which is really not the optimal situation in which to find this out. Malaysia is very into the sir/ma'am honorifics. I suspect there is also some effect had by a more conservative, illegal-homosexuality sort of culture where clothes and styling are great determiners of which box one gets sorted into, vs Taipei where it's fair game to assume that maybe you look like that cause you're just really, really gay?

- The metro escalators in KL go much faster than I'm used to an escalator going (I'm not complaining). The metro in KL is also disjointed and confusing and the ticket machines are uncooperative for wrangling.

- I don't want to judge a group of people on a whole based on their hospitality personas, so I'll just say at the least, Malay Malaysians working in customer service are very charming and friendly.

- I really intended to eat a ton of fruit and then I just...didn't, maybe because I am used to buying fruit whole in multi-kilo volumes and eating it at home, but the hotel was not conducive to that at all (no mini fridge, no knives).

- Every time I go to Singapore/Indonesia/Malaysia I come away wanting to learn Malay/Indonesian because it is just so delightful to look at the stack of languages in one piece of signage and have no real idea which word matches up to which in English. (Well, that's not entirely correct, I can recognise some basic things à la "saya suka makan pisang" after those two weeks couchsurfing in Sumatera some years ago. But then, I'm always torn because if I want to learn an Austronesian language I should really just go for Filipino so I can actually understand half my tumblr dash- I cracked open a teach-yourself sort of book at a hostel in Cebu once and my brain simply refused to unlatch its death grip on Chinese at the time, but maybe there's room for another grammar system in there now?)

- On the plane back there were (or so it sounded) at least two children who threw a fit and screamed bloody murder at full lung capacity (I am really not exaggerating here, it was impressive) when we experienced turbulence during takeoff and landing, but I had already put in my hotel earplugs, and simply smiled to myself thinking of how I'd learned, through a visit to Teotihuacán one year, that when the Aztecs sacrificed children to the rain god, the more they cried the better the rains were expected to be.

- For the first time ever at Taoyuan Airport the immigration officer examined my passport in minute detail (even some kind of little magnifying glass thing?) and asked how long I was staying, which reminded me a) I forgot to make myself look presentable and b) I claim to live here but I actually have zero guaranteed right to it at the moment (sleep deprived and not having eaten since breakfast, this threatened to send me into an emotional spiral until I reminded myself of those compounding factors and decided to save that thought for after dinner). I said I was leaving on the 19th (because that is the date for which I still have an unused exit flight). The officer seemed pacified and stamped me in for another 90 days. But maybe it is time to finally put some effort into reestablishing my formal alien residency.

- Last but not least, maybe I should have stayed in KL cause apparently Taiwan is having a heatwave and it's gonna be 39C tomorrow, and KL will be a chilly 31 or so.