#Maria Clara Infantes

[skrimblo]

FILAY JUMPSCARE

[mikariissodone]

THE WATERMARK IS MY PINTEREST also live laugh Noli

[brokenborb]

The Guardia Civil: 👹

The Friars: 👺

Literally everyone wanting to capture them: 👽

Them:

[janigmatic]

[magomo]

Not Harry Potter-related post. This will be in the Filipino-English with lots of modern slangs. It may not be legible to my friends/ moots here 😆

MARIA CLARA AT IBARRA

My own take on this fantastic series, especially on Fidel’s character. “Maria Clara at Ibarra” is a teleserye or a tv series in the Philippines based of Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, two novels of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. It’s about a Gen-Z Filipina being isekaid to the world of the novel. This may be a long post. Cuz I’m just gonna be ranting about my theories and my thoughts

I initially did not watch the first few weeks of Maria Clara at Ibarra properly. I watched it syempre pero kapag yung scenes are parang pinupush together si Klay and Ibarra, di ko pinapanood. It did not sit well with me. Ibarra was known to be faithful and for him to fall for another girl named Maria Clara was such a major OOC and I didn't like it. So sabi ko since di ko bet di ako manunuod coz I don't like talking bad about actors who are actually good at their jobs.

But then! Turns out that was just Klay's kalandian era. Buti na lang nagbalik loob ako. Sinabihan ako ng kapatid ko na lalabas na character ni Sisa and that got my attention! Sisa has always been a character na madalas i-dogshow ng mga tao. Pag nasabihan ka ng "Si Sisa ka ba?", it meant "baliw ka ba?". But we knew there was so much more to her character. Anong nangyare sakanya? Bat siya nagkaganun? How is GMA going to execute Sisa's tragedy? Dami kong tanong. So ayun nanuod na ko ng maayos. And grabe!!! As in grabe! Andrea Torres! Yung chills! Potek grabe yung chills ko sa mga eksena mo mamsh! Literal chills tapos naiiyak ako kase shet! Ang galing mo Ms Andrea Torres! Yung pagportray niya as Sisa was seriously superb. Sisa was more than a baliw! Pinakita nya na people who suffered so much in life, kahit gaano sila kalakas, masisiraan talaga ng ulo. Lalo na nung may mga vultures and nakita niya remains ni Crispin. Grabe yung iyak ko. Sa totoo lang I can't even explain it well. Nagwoword vomit na lang ako kase honestly speechless talaga ko. All I know is ang galing galing ni Andrea Torres.

And then there was Fidel. The greatest mystery of the MCI Universe. Trailer pa lang sabi ko sino role ni David Licauco (bebe quoh)? Eh crush na crush ko pa naman si David since Mr Chinatown (lande mo gagu). So that got me thinking. And I think lahat naman tayo. There was no Fidel in the books. So sino ba siya? Nahook tayo sa character niya kasi wala nga siya sa books. He got us watching kasi gusto natin siya makilala. We want to know who he is, what he is like, what his role is. And honestly speaking, the mystery of Fidel's character was actually the basis and the heart of many theories sa MCI. Nagresearch pa ko, pero wala talagang Fidel. Akala ko nga nung una original character din si Fidel. Like, his character was made up to compensate Klay's lack of romantic partner. Kase I was sure na hindi bibigyan ng ibang leading lady si Ibarra, si Maria Clara (Julie Ann San Jose) lang tlaga. And nacurious na din ako paano magiging flow ng kwento kase nga andun na si Klay so may mababago at mababago talaga. Andun na din si Fidel, na wala naman sa book so pano ba makakaapekto yung role niya sa story. Because of that, nagpile up lang theories about sa story. And ganda lang ng effect nun, lalo na sa youth! They even bought physical copies of the book 😭 sobrang nakakaproud. They were curious too kung paano na magiging flow nung story. And because of the theories, it got all of us thinking. We were analyzing all of their actions, we were theorizing their characters, we were trying to predict ano na mangyayare. In a way, nadevelop yung research and investigative skills natin. What I really commend about MCI was that it remained unpredictable until the very end. Last night na ngayon and we still don't know kung ano mangyayare. It got us hyped from start to finish. Yung antics and quirks ni Klay makakarelate ka din. Tawang tawa ko sa shenanigans niya pati yung paggamit niya sa mga modern slangs. And yung FiLay!!! FiLay nation make some nooooise! Yung enemies to lovers samahan pa ng slowburn at belligerent sexual tension then mutual pining is *chef's kiss*. Anlaptrip ng bangayan nila, yung pang aasar nila sa isa't isa. Bardagulan era at its finest 😂 lagi silang highblood pero grabe yung kilig.

Ako naman my own theory was that Fidel was a minor character of the book but he was a Tabula Rasa, a blank slate. He was like the Daphne Greengrass of Harry Potter. Her name was mentioned pero yung story niya was blank. Kaya nga fanfiction writers are fond of her kasi she doesn't have her own story so writers make her stories on their own. I thought Fidel was like that. Ibarra and Maria Clara's story was already written from start to finish. Their stories were predetermined. Kaya nga kahit anong gawin ni Klay, namatay pa din sila because that was how their roles were written. The only difference was the way it happened. In Klay's version, Maria Clara died protecting her man. Clarita was also so much stronger here than in Rizal's version. Ibarra died, not alone, but surrounded by his friends. Also, both of them died in Klay's arms. Kaya siguro nag-hold on si Klay sa pagkabuhay ni Elias. He was supposed to die sa first book. He was proof na kaya ni Klay baguhin yung kwento. This was the case with Juli as well. Pero siguro, di talaga pwede for our main characters. Anyway, back to Fidel. As I've said he's a blank slate. His story was not predetermined kaya hawak niya yung destiny niya. He can choose what path to take without it interferring with the story. Feel ko nga kung sumama siya kay Klay sa modern world, the first time she went back, okay lang. The story would go on kahit umalis siya sa book. Pero may plothole. Unlike Daphne Greengrass na may pangalan at least, si Fidel wala talaga. I thought maybe iba name niya sa book. Pero I don't know kung sino. So kahit ako, I doubted my own theory. Inisip ko na lang baka totoo yung theory na galing siya sa real world. Basta para siyang si Haru of Extraordinary You (July Found by Chance). Diba nameless extra siya tapos biglang nagkaron ng role? Parang ganorn.

And what a plot twist! Ang ganda and ang galing! Naisip talaga yun ng writers. I wouldn't have thought about it. Pero shet napa-palakpak ako nung nalaman ko essence ng character niya and legit naluha ako. That was brilliantly written. Very fitting and mapapasabi ka ng "HOW COULD WE FORGET ABOUT THEM? THEY DESERVE TO BE RECOGNIZED TOO!"

In a way, tama din pala yung theory ko. Fidel was a minor character in the book na "hanggang dito" lang yung role. And iba nga yung name na ginamit! His role was too minor na yung palayaw niya lang or yung pinangkukutya sakanya, Albino, was used and not even his real name. His character had no notable scene nor significance as his role supposedly started and ended as “Crisostomo Ibarra’s playboy friend who used to attend the Seminary”. He was only in at least one scene and was only mentioned a few times. That was it. Pero dahil sa entrance ni Klay sa book, nagkaroon siya ng maayos na papel sa kwento. If it weren't for Klay, he was gonna remain the playboy he was and magiging boyfriend ni Victoria. Dapat yun na yun. But because of his arguments and confrontations with Klay, nagkaroon ng color yung character niya. His involvement with her gave depth to his character and a bigger role. Fidel was initially a misogynist, who hated Klay's straight-forwardness and her being too opinionated. Yung ugali ni Klay na di nagpapatalo infuriated him to the point na ang tawag niya kay Klay ay bruha ("witch"). However, due to her influence, narealize ni Fidel na napaka narrow-minded niya pala and there's more to Klay than the annoying palasagot Binibini na di mapigilan ang bibig. He found her kakaibang ugali, morals, and ideals to be intruiging. He was attracted to her just as much as he hated her. This was why he gravitated towards her. Ang ganda ng character development ni Fidel. He was just a privileged and entitled man na walang pakialam sa kahit ano prior to Klay but because of her influence, he actually saw kung ano pinaglalaban ni Klay and he did not only fall in love with her, but with the country as well.

*simping* I love him, your honor. 😍

Because of this development, Albino evolved from just being a side character, who was not even given the chance to use his own name, to being Fidel Delos Reyes y Maglipol, Ibarra’s best friend, Klay’s greatest love, and a symbol of the revolution. Because of Klay, the not-so-important side character Albino became the very significant main character Fidel. He became more than just a letter, more than just a word in a book. Because in the end, he was so much more. He was meant to be so much more. He symbolizes the unsung heroes of the revolution. Those who contributed a lot but remain unnamed to this day. THE WRITERS WERE WAVING THE HINT IN OUR FACES AND WE DID NOT KNOW ANY BETTER! He was "unnamed"! That was the clue! He was one of the unnamed heroes na madaming nagawa sa bayan pero they were never acknowledged.

Wag ka na iyak, bebe quoh 😢

Kaya nakakainis yung nagsabi na nalihis daw kwento ng MCI kase nagfocus na sa loveteam. Sinasabi pa na wala naman si Fidel sa book bat naging important bigla. I was like ???? what the hell are you saying? FiLay moments were literal crumbs! Crumbs! Fans were licking crumbs kase sobrang onti ng mga scenes nila together. We were thirsty for such moments! Akala siguro nila puro loveteam na lang kase di naman sila nanuod talaga. And maingay kase FiLay fans sa socmed. Puro fanedits lang naman napanood ng mga taong yun. They did not watch until the end kase ni hindi nila alam kung anong essence ng character ni Fidel! Kung gaano ka-deep yung significance and yung symbolism ng character nya. And galing ng move ng GMA na bandang ending na nireveal kung sino Fidel. It kept us on our toes, anticipating kung anong mangyayare, or kung sino yung may tamang theory. Yung pagbuild ng character niya was slow, which was a good thing. He was unlikeable nung simula. He deserved that slap from Klay! Dasurv mo yun Fidel, dapat nga isa pa eh! Even as he was falling for Klay, he was still prejudiced. Madami pa din backhanded comments from him (that “langit ako at ikaw ay lupa” will always be gold lmao). Pero yun yung kagandahan dun. Unti unti nating nakita yung pagbabago sakanya. And ang natural pa ng execution. Hindi yung porke nainlove eh bigla na lang nag 180 degree turn yung ugali. He was not like that. Kasi in real life, hindi naman talaga bigla nagbabago ang isang tao. The process was slow pero nung namulat na si Fidel, he became a key member of the revolution. ("Ang namulat, hindi na pipikit" *ehem* sorry not sorry *ehem*). Also, Fidel's character saved Klay's character from almost becoming Ibarra's "kabit". We don't tolerate third party in this community. Yung pain ni Maria Clara nung akala niya na kerida ni Ibarra si Klay. If you have been cheated on or kahit hindi but your partner made you doubt your relationship, magegets niyo si Maria Clara. She had to stop herself from seeing Ibarra kase that was what was proper that time while Klay was kasakasama niya sa bahay and kahit saan man. She was the fiancée and napaka unfair nun sakanya. Buti na lang, the magkatukayo were given the chance to become best friends to the point na sobrang minahal ni Klay si Clarita and that was ultimately the very reason why she decided to go back to the book, to save her.

Anyway, eto muna for now. Babu!

SAME DAY EDIT!

TANGINA! TANGINAAAAA! ANG GANDA NG ENDING SHEEEET

Mr Torres is a book keeper/traveler. And was that Ate Helana I saw? Another minor character in the book, with Mr Torres, in the real world, most probably with memories. AND FIDEL!!!! BEBE QUOH 😭 May pocket watch din siya! Does that mean book keeper din siya? Or maybe one of Mr Torres's alitaptaps or isa sa mga tao niya? Pero bakit sila Ibarra and Maria Clara walang memories? OMG Barry x Clarisse! MAY BABY PA!

Okay theory time! So my take here is siguro the minor characters in a story are the ones who are capable of book travel. Pero once nasa book na sila, in-character na. So nakakalimutan nila na taga real world pala sila. Kapag tapos na ang story saka lang nila maaalala na taga real world pala sila, and then either back to the real world sila or pupunta sila sa ibang story, kung saan may emergency at need ng intervention ng isang book keeper. And yung role ni Fidel, kung ano lang yung role ni Albino sa original novel, hanggang dun lang siguro siya supposedly and mawawala na siya dapat after niya mafulfill yung role niya. However, due to his interactions with Klay, napatagal siya sa book and mas lumaki yung papel niya sa kwento. For the main characters naman, I think they were never in the book to begin with. Kase diba sa books, there was never a mention of their physical descriptions. Nasa imagination natin yun. So siguro the main characters take on the image of real life people, preferrably yung malalapit lang pala satin. And whatever their role is, whether they survive or not, whether they have a happy ending or not, kelangan nila mafulfill yun or else the story won’t end. Kaya walang memories si Barry nor si Clarisse.

Another theory is maybe napili ni Mr Torres si Fidel na maging book keeper. Kase the last time they saw each other, nakikita na ni Fidel si Mr Torres eh dati hindi. And siguro may some kind of test. Siguro he has to prove himself pa as a book keeper bago siya makabalik kay Klay. I call dibs na galing siya sa Mga Ibong Mandaragit, a novel by Amado V. Hernandez. The novel acts as a sequel to Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo after all. Or baka siya yung dahilan ng emergency sa Mga Ibong Mandaragit lol.

So Fidel is not a counterpart. He is still himself. He is the same Fidel that Klay met and fell in love with with. The same Fidel we all fell in love with. Our Pambansang Ginoo. Hanggang dulo ang ganda ng plot twist! Literal goosbumps! Figuras Cabalisticas now makes sense. Pero di ko na i-eexplain dito kasi the subject is too complicated and mahirap ipaliwanag without my usual word vomit. And magiging mahaba na tong post masyado haha.

AND GRABEEE! MGA KA-SAKLAY! WE WON! FiLay ENDGAME! NAHANAP NA NI FIDEL SI KLAY! WALA NANG BABU! 😭 And alam niyo yung maganda sa ending? There were no words exchanged. They were just looking at each other and smiling. Kase di na kailangan pa ng mga salita. Antagal nilang hinintay ang isa't isa. 13 + 7 years kay Fidel jusko talk about faithfulness! Dude the longing! The yearning! Pano niyo kinaya grabe. They finally found each other and this time, there will be no more goodbyes. They have a long life ahead of them.

What a journey! Kudos to GMA! To all the actors and staff! You all did very well! Salute to Dr. Jose Rizal. Isang pagpupugay sayo. 🙇🏻‍♀️ Tanda ko nag cutting class pa kami sa Rizal class namin back in college as we didn't see the relevance of the subject sa Civil Engineering, just like how Klay didn't see its relevance to Nursing. Sorry po 😞. Pero kung i-isekai niyo ko, dun din sa may Fidel plith thank you pows huhu.

I will not stop raving about this series. Ending na pero pinag iisip pa din tayo. Andami pa ding ireresearch. Dami pang theories. And that's the reason kaya ako magrerewatch at magbibinge watch neto from the start! WALANG MAGPAPAHINGA SA FANDOM NA TO!

YAKAPIN ANG KULAY! MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS! MABUHAY ANG MGA ANAK NG BAYAN!

I'm going to miss everyone so much 😭 8pm weekdays will never be same again

[iris-sistibly]

Since I'm rewatching Maria Clara at Ibarra on Netflix, at dahil may time ako for today's bidyow I'm just gonna give my two cents on this comment:

I think we can all agree that Maria Clara did NOT deserve to suffer the way she did, and yes she deserves to be happy with the only man she ever loved. But Maria Clara's story is the story of many women who were oppressed, and abused by priests during the Spanish era and sadly, this reality STILL exists even up to this day. And as much as I fucking hate to admit this, there are still many untold stories of women (even boys and young men) who were sexually abused by these disgusting hypocrites who call themselves instruments of God, and what's more painful is that the victims are silenced and the abusers get away with it because *coughs* ✨the Church protects them✨

Don't get me wrong, I was baptized and raised as a Catholic myself, but I refuse to ignore cases like these which thankfully in the modern times are being addressed and taken actions of, but I'm not sure how many of these mga sugo ng Diyos are actually punished for their crimes (*clears throat* Church is still quite influential af even in the 21st century 🙃).

Ibarra is a good man with good intentions for San Diego, yet he was framed and accused of being a heretic and filibuster by [again] these fugly Church peeps because they wanted the Filipinos to remain indios: uneducated and poor af. Juan Crisostomo Ibarra is the image of those people who only wanted to help their fellow Filipinos, yet are the ones who are being punished for the most nonsense reasons, and the very people who called themselves his friends and supporters are the same people who turned their backs on him because they were afraid of suffering the same fate as Crisostomo (and Don Rafael) .

In the show, I saw myself in Klay (except that I passed my Noli, El Fili and Rizal lessons 🤣) my only drive to read Noli and El Fili was to pass my Filipino subject. I did not have a full grasp of the lesson that Rizal was trying to teach. The moment I passed my subject, I was like "Oh good! Finally!" but I didn't take those learnings by heart. And I said the very same thing Klay said in the earlier episode, "What's the point of studying Noli and El Fili when I can't even apply it on the course I'm taking or my job when I graduate?" And I admit, history wasn't my favorite subject, I found it boring. I missed the whole point of what my teacher was teaching me.

I could go on and on about the characters of the novels and the show but to sum it all up, every character and events are the very images of every Filipino, their struggles, and the truth about what was really happening in our country. Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo weren't the kind of novels you expect them to be, it is not a stereotypical love story, and it wasn't written to make the readers OR the audiences happy. These novels are here to teach the Klays like you and me not only about our history but also open our eyes to the reality of how this cancer of the society still exists and if we, the Filipino people don't do something to "cure" this, our country will NEVER progress.

As much as I wanted Ibarra and Maria to have a happily ever after they both deserve, I am glad that GMA 7 actually didn't stray away too much from its source materials, because now I understand why I had to learn those books. I understand now why Rizal was named national hero, his novels paved the way for the Filipinos to finally stand up and fight the oppressors.

However, as much as it pains me of how tragic Rizal's novels are, at least in the show, they got a happy ending. Just in a different timeline and universe but still, happily ever after.

[teecupangel]

What do you think would happen if Desmond was sent into the show Maria Clara and Ibarra? Just curious

Is… is Maria Clara at Ibarra even available in other countries? I know it isn't available in Netflix Canada :( so it might just be Netflix Philippines exclusive. The episodes are available in youtube though but without English subtitles.

Here’s a trailer with unofficial English subs:

The main plot is Klay (full name Maria Clara), a nursing (working) student with an abusive stepfather, a kind but doormat mother and an uncaring ‘money solves everything’ biological father, gets into an argument about how important Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere would be to her course and her future. Her professor decided that consent is over-rated and Truck-kun’ed her to be isekai’ed into the novel using some kind of magic book version of Noli Me Tangere where she only knows the first three chapters of the book so she’s not a typical OP isekai protagonist.

The Noli storyline gets screwed up by her…… sorta for the better? Sorta… it’s… um… not fully a happy ending but it’s a more bittersweet ending than what the original novels (Noli and El Fili) got, that’s for sure.

It’s quite entertaining and does show the past and current struggles of the Filipinos and the Philippines as well as be entertaining to those who like isekai storylines and… those who sorta kinda remember the required readings of Noli (and El Fili). Also, the set design is sooooo good. They really went out of their way to make every scene feel like they're around 18th-19th Spanish ruled Philippines.

NGL, the Spanish sprinkled here and there reminded me of Assassin's Creed and I can just feel myself going 'where's the subtitles, fucking give me subtitles, Animus! My Spanish is worse than my Pilipino!'

Annnyyywwaaayy.

So for this crossover, Desmond wakes up in some unknown place after using the device to save the world. In this scenario, I think Desmond won’t realize he’s in a novel. Why would he? The only way for him to have read Noli was if he was into like foreign books and such or maybe someone from the Farm was of Filipino descent or maybe even his mother? His mother is a blank slate at this point so she can be whatever we want her to be.

But I think it would be fun if Desmond doesn’t know the novel at all.

So when he meets up with Klay after he got his own ‘backstory’ dealt with (Italian noble vacationing in the Philippines and let us all thank Ezio for knowing Spanish), he only realized Klay is stuck in the ‘past’ as well when she starts saying words that he recognized but know shouldn’t be available at the moment.

For their meeting, it would be fun if he becomes buddy-buddy with Ibarra’s aristocrat friends and be in the same table as Fidel when Ibarra was treating Klay to food. Desmond would be curious about Klay’s lack of ‘manners’ (while he’s doing well because Ezio’s Bleed is saving his ass) but he tries not to say anything because he’s playing a role but he’d been slowly making his own information gathering ‘guild’ on the side because he’s trying to find a way to find Ratonhnhaké:ton’s descendants in the US, that’s his main objective right now, so he had heard of the ‘meztiza de sangle’ that one of the most prominent convents had been looking for so he can put two and two together. It’s only when Klay starts speaking English and telling Ibarra and Fidel off that Desmond realized that there’s something more to Klay than some ‘meztiza de sangle’ as people call her.

So, in this scenario, Klay gets interrupted from her Ibarra stalking because Desmond talked to her in English and asked what university she’s from.

The fact that she’s a woman that’s studying in a university is a big red flag and Desmond says enough words for Klay to realize that he’s not from this time as well.

With English being their main form of communication, Desmond found out that he’s not in the past, he’s stuck in a novel. Klay doesn’t know any Desmond Miles or any Solar Flare but if we consider the following information we do know of Klay: she’s about to graduate in the year 2022 and nursing degrees usually take four years or so she’ll be 21~22 when she graduates. This means she was born in 1999~2000 and would have been 11~12 years old during that time. This would probably make Klay think that she didn’t hear about it because she wasn’t interested in news at that time yet.

So they decide to join forces to try and get out the novel:

This does lead to Klay pushing Desmond to becoming Ibarra’s friend instead and Ibarra is a bit wary of Desmond Sartor (it wasn’t like he could use Auditore as his last name, that would be pointing a huge red arrow at his back for any Templars… did this novel even have Templars???) but Ibarra warms up to him because he can see Desmond is kind to Klay (and maybe let’s her get away with a lot of things but what a master does or does not do to their servant (which is their backstory) is none of his concern)

Desmond doesn’t talk about Abstergo because he doesn’t really liked talking about his past. If he had… he would have learned how Klay has no idea what Abstergo is.

Fidel and Klay still have their own thing. Desmond isn’t touching whatever is happening there with a ten foot pool. Nope. His Eagle Senses are telling him that it would just give him a headache if his appearance causes any misunderstanding.

Let’s be honest, Desmond would take one look of Elias and his people and be like “I can train them” and the whole Elias and revolution subplot would take a very different Assassin Brotherhood-esque turn, that’s for sure.

Desmond’s inclusion to the story does change more than Klay did because of his skills as an Assassin, the knowledge he gained from his Bleeds and his questionable status as an Italian noble.

Sisa gets a happy ending. Fuck it. Give Sisa a happy ending!

Sooooo… you know how Padre Damaso and Padre Salvi got ‘better’ endings in the series? Well, Desmond would make sure they have the best ending in this one. XD

Once Klay returns to the real world after the end of the Noli part, she tries to look for Desmond, thinking he’s returned with her but got transferred to the US or somewhere. When she google-search Desmond’s name, she learns of Desmond Miles from the videogame Assassin’s Creed.

Klay researches about Assassin’s Creed because, what the fuck, and she realized that Desmond is a videogame character that got isekai’ed to the book. So when it was time for her to fuck up El Fili’s plot, she hoped Desmond was also there so she can… uuuhhh… talk to him about his actual real situation? Klay didn’t really think that far ahead, okay, she’s trying to save everyone at this point, damn it.

The Brotherhood in the Philippines is now under Elias and they’re planning something big and Klay meets Desmond a few weeks (months?) later since she first came to the El Fili book because he had been in America looking for Ratonhnhaké:ton’s descendants.

Desmond learns of his ‘real identity’ after Klay tells him plot points Desmond and his team should only know about. But then things… get even weirder.

Because there is a Brotherhood in America. He's met with Ratonhnhaké:ton’s freaking descendants, for fuck's sake. Hell, there’s a Brotherhood in Spain and they're helping out Elias and the others so Desmond is pretty sure that this is his world and not a novel which doesn’t make sense.

For now, they try to focus on helping the ‘characters’ of El Fili get their happy ending.

Then Sir Torres finally appears towards the end and Desmond recognized him immediately. It’s Tinia of the Capitoline Triad.

To be more exact, Sir Torres is Tinia who managed to successful evade the Solar Flare of Desmond’s world by being transported into another world: Klay’s world. Sir Torres’ Noli and El Fili books are actually his experiments in recreating Isu tech in a world where the Isu never existed in the first place. It is based on Jose Rizal’s books but, to recreate it, Sir Torres accidentally created a pocket world of some kind and Desmond was transferred to it for some unknown reason (Tinia’s guess is that Minerva had done it as a last ditch effort to save him and it had randomly plopped him into Tinia’s experimental pocket world).

Desmond’s inclusion to the world where he starts to ask questions about things that were never included in the books destabilized the world so much that it latched into a singularity point that held information that would stabilize it: Desmond himself.

So America? The Brotherhood? The sudden Templar presence in El Fili that had been absent in Noli? That’s the world latching onto Desmond’s genetic memories, developing the world and the characters in it.

In other words, Desmond’s inclusion to the world of Noli and El Fili?

It caused what is called a ‘Crossover Event’ (and Klay would be on the side thinking ‘like a fanfiction???’) and Desmond is the singularity point where everything is centered around (Klay going ‘like he’s the main character???’)

Annnnddd… I have no idea how to end this.

Choices for the Ending:

El Fili ends on a happy-ish note with Klay and Fidel going to Klay’s original world with Desmond going with them. This would have the ‘hopeful’ ending of Desmond and Sir Torres joining forces to find a way back to their actual real world using Desmond’s ‘favored child of the Calculations’ title.

El Fili ends on a happy-ish note with Klay and Fidel going to Klay’s original world and Desmond stays behind because, as Sir Torres explains it, the novel world of Noli/El Fili had become an almost exact replica of Desmond’s world which means that Desmond could make a difference this time, prepare for the inevitable Solar Flare of 2012 and take care of Juno. As Klay stressed, the people of this world are real to them even if they were born from the pages of a book so… Desmond wants to save them if he could. Also, this pocket world would have POEs if it’s a replica of his world and that might help him contact his old world… Sir Torres is doubtful on that part.

El Fili ends in a happy-ish notes and Desmond follows Klay and Fidel to Klay’s world BUT ends up getting isekai’ed to a different world by himself because that's how we show our love XD

If you’re curious about Jose Rizal, here’s the puppet history episode XD

[scl-ana]

the plan here is for the cheese&crackers + the roses to be linked charms

wip

[angelicapingal]

Fidel x Klay

[elegantsparklyllama]

The Case for Klay Infantes x Placido Penitente

Maria Clara at Ibarra came into my radar when I was obssessed with El Filibusterismo and the works of Jose Rizal in general. When I first read the twitter post announcing the new historical portal fantasy, I was a bit skeptical. Maria Clara at Ibarra is about a Gen Z who is also named Maria Clara, nicknamed “Klay” who time-travels into the time period of Noli Me Tangere to learn about nationalism, patriotism and all that jazz. 

By the time the show tackled El Fili, viewers noticed the lower episode count compared to Noli and the some glaring exclusion of scenes from the book. Despite the lower episode count, I’m surprised by the impact a lot of the scenes had on me as a viewer. In my opinion, the writers did a fine job adapting the parts of El Fili. I’ll go as far as to say the lower episode count benefits El Fili for me as a viewer. This is mostly personal bias but I found a lot of scenes in Noli to be a bit dragging at times. The lower episode count demanded writers to be more careful with their time. However it can still feel rushed in some parts.

One of the significant changes in the adaptation is the absence of Placido Penitente’s character. From a plot perspective, even for someone who liked El Fili, Placido Penitente is almost a useless character. Rizal added his character for symbolism. Readers remember Placido Penitente for standing up to Padre Millon but beyond that, the character disappeared after teaming up with Simoun and the readers know little to nothing beyond that.

I’m not mad at the show runners for excluding Placido Penitente in their adaptation. The writers of Maria Clara at Ibarra are free to write whatever the hell they want. Instead, I want to make my case for the ship of Klay Infantes and Placido Penitente and why I think not making the 2 characters meet or even interact is a missed oppurtunity. Think of this meta as a thought experiment or speculation. Because Placido Penitente never happened, the meta will be based on not only the original El Fili and MCI but also on lots of speculation. I’m not going to hate on Filay. I think Filay is cute but I’m also a sucker for possible ships beyond the canon ones and how it can narratively impact the story. 

Now on with the meta...

Maria Clara “Klay” Infantes, The Gen Z Fighter

Klay, the main protagonist functions as the audience’ self-insert. She is the Gen Z character stuck in the world of Rizal’s novels. As the audience self-insert, she says the things the audience is thinking in their minds as they watch events unfold. I like that her status as a self-insert is informed by her present characteristics. Klay being outspoken is part of her character along with her fierce love for her mother and brother. There were times her outspoken mouth grates on my nerves as a viewer especially when she preaches feminism seemingly out of ignorance of the systems that oppressed these women in the first place.

To the world of Noli and El Fili, she is a peculiarity. A woman who speaks her mind about women being as capable as men? That is preposterous. (sarcasm)

Since her real name is technically, “Maria Clara,” she is also a foil to the Maria Clara of Noli. Maria Clara and Klay are almost opposites in terms of characterization. Maria Clara’s meekness and quiet nature is there to contrast with Klay’s more outspoken nature.

Another important thing about Klay is her background. Klay defined herself by her struggles even before she came into the world of Noli.

She is a struggling working student who aspires to graduate from Nursing to support her family without her stepdad. She is not the person to back down in the face of adversity especially when her loved ones are at risk. Because of it, she has to create an outer shell to cope with the burden of studying in school and being the breadwinner of the family. She is a girl from a broken family who cries when no one is around because she has to appear strong for her family. Her outspoken nature came from her intolerance to injustices.

At the start of the series, she can’t bring herself to care about the lofty ideals of nationalism as a Filipino because of the struggles she faces everyday. Like the audience, the narrative pushes her to care about her country more and to open her eyes to the injustices that many Filipinos experience. Over the course of the story, she begins to call out the systems that oppressed the Filipinos and pushes for reform and change in the town of San Diego.

By El Fili, she is determined to change the fates of her friends to prevent the tragedies that will befall them in El Fili. She also grapples with the mystery of the fates of the other characters such as Elias and Fidel.

Placido Penitente, The Ordinary Filipino In the Olden Times

I think Placido Penitente is one of the most relatable characters in all of Jose Rizal’s writing. Every teacher would point out Placido Penitente means “Silent Suffering”. Placido Penitente is a poor Indio who was able to attain education in Manila and at UST no less. The narration mentions he is very focused on his studies to the point of not having time for other past times his classmates normally have. He is considered one of the most intelligent by both the characters in the story and the narrative.

As said by his namesake, he silently endures the discrimination of the Dominican priests in UST. His mother instilled to him the value of meekness because of their poor status despite his intelligence. To his classmates, he is very silent. They wouldn’t expect him to stand up for himself. Deep down, anger boiled within him as he endured the taunts of the priests and the mindless lessons he is forced to learn.

To a lot of readers, the struggle is relatable and understandable. If you ever encountered the El Fili fandom, Placido is a sort of fan favorite. I enjoy scrolling through Tumblr to find a lot of content on him and how many fans could relate to him even in the modern age. There are moments in life when we silently suffer to not disrupt the peace of other people. Rizal used Placido Penitente as an allegory for regular Filipinos during the period of the Spanish era. If Placido’s anger is a Filipino’s anger, his suffering is a Filipino’s suffering.

Placido didn’t exactly start out with patriotic ideals or even the moral framework to correct the injustices he sees. I’d argue he also represents the apathetic Filipino. He cares about injustice when he experiences injustice. He didn’t study to become a lawyer out of a sense of justice, rather he did it out of obligation to his parents. Whenever I read chapters focusing on his point of view, I notice a selfishness within them. He quits school because his intelligence is not appreciated. He doesn’t like being insulted and humiliated. These traits were never shown in relation to his relationship with other marginalized groups. Unlike Isagani, Placido is a pragmatic, not an idealist. I’ll even go as far as to say he is apolitical as Klay was in the beginning of her story.

Same Struggles, Different Timeline

It baffles me when people say El Fili is more boring than Noli. My old tutor said she preferred Noli over El Fili. El Fili has a much darker and more political tone than Noli but as a student, I find El Fili more relatable than Noli. El Fili is not only a dark political novel, it is also a novel that places emphasis on the youth characters than Noli did. While Simoun plots to take his revenge, the college students plan to establish a Castillian Academy. I don’t like that MCI lessened the emphasis on the youth characters which I think would’ve been as relevant to Klay.

Now why Klay and Placido? They’re more similar than you think. They’re meant to be relatable characters to their respective audiences. It baffles me when people say the texts of El Fili and Noli are not relevant to the struggles of today’s generation. Klay and Placido are both struggling students. Klay may not have the intelligence of Placido and Placido may not have Klay’s selflessness but in them, I see a similar grit that almost mirror each other.

Although their situations are not the exact same, the issues remain. Placido may not be a working student but he is actively disrespected by the Dominican teachers in his school that more often than not tested his patience. He is in a position where he can’t speak up for his rights out of losing his education. His mother even pleaded him to go the priest’s way despite the humiliation Placido was put through because of them.

Klay doesn’t experience this situation in school but in her everyday life before the events of MCI, she is pitted against authorities that try to belittle her at every opportunity. This is exemplified in her part time job when the café owner forced her to pay for the food the customers didn’t pay. She lost at least 3 days of wages because of them but she can’t speak up.

Placido and Klay were in a situation where they are encouraged remain meek and quiet by their society and peers. And their mothers want them to employ said traits for survival. They are the characters written to be relatable to their audience. If the characters meet, perhaps the audience of MCI and Klay herself may discover that the past rhymes with the present more than they think.

Finding connections and similarities between the past and the present is one of the main themes of MCI. By looking at the past, one can better appreciate the present. This is also the main reason why the professor forced Klay to live the experiences of Noli. A character similar to Klay in terms of situation and struggles can be an eye-opener for Klay herself and the audience.

Yes, I’m kinda salty that MCI didn’t include Placido Penitente in the final product but the writers are put into the position of fitting all of El Fili in like 20 episodes when Noli had 70+.

A Potential Enemies to Lovers Pair?

Hot take: the pair has as much enemies to lovers potential as Filay. An enemies to lovers pair as defined by a lot of people is the pairing of 2 equally strong-willed and proud people unwilling to back down. From the previous parts of the meta, it is clear that both Placido and Klay are proud individuals who suffer the brunt of unfair authorities. What elevates the pair for me compared to Filay, is their similar characteristics and backgrounds. I’m sorry I can’t think of a ship name…

I admit Filay is cute and even an endearing ship. As a viewer, I didn’t expect them to get together but they worked. Their dynamic started out with a sort of rivalry wherein Klay argues with Fidel about gender equality. Over the course of the show, they begin to form a bond which eventually evolves into a full on romantic relationship. That’s cute. It is the ideal progression of enemies to lovers.

Like Filay, I imagine Placido and Klay to have an enemies to lovers dynamic. Placido will find Klay annoying because of her impulsive mouth. She goes against what he was taught since he came to Manila. Seeing someone speaking their thoughts freely for Placido can trigger a nerve in him. The same could also be said for Klay but in an opposite manner. Klay may despise Placido for his arrogance and his quiet nature in the face of the enemy. Similarly, this also goes against her core belief to stand up for what is right.

Placido can be quiet to a lot of his peers but he is also a raging teapot ready to burst. He will sass the hell out of Klay and Klay will bite him back. There will be times he can be the same brand of misogynist as Fidel because of the time periods but I don’t think that should be the main impetus of their rivalry like Filay.

To me they already have a compelling reason to be the bickering lovers: their similar backgrounds and different approaches to dealing with them. Fidel and Klay have different backgrounds with Fidel hailing from a rich family and Klay hailing from a middle class family. Fidel, a rich Ilustrado doesn’t face any social discrimination as Klay does (I meant this in context of the Spanish era). An enemies to lovers type ship with Placido and Klay will have the added dimension of them coming from similar backgrounds. It is not that similar because of the time periods but I think it is close enough.

The tension in their dynamic will stem from their ideologies when dealing with the problem and the conclusion should have them ultimately relate to each other and support one another in their struggles. Speaking of development…

Klay and Placido’s Development

Enemies to lovers implies character development from one or both parties. Part of the appeal of the enemies to lovers ship of Filay is Fidel’s growing awareness of the injustices around him. There is a great tumblr meta made on Fidel’s character development here. Filay also pushed Klay’s development as well. She learns how to be vulnerable in front of others especially Fidel. And she also learns the value of patriotism through her experiences in Noli. By El Fili, she seemed to have already completed her character arc. She comes back to the world of MCI to prevent the tragedies that will befall on her friends.

Once she is in the world of El Fili, she will meet the new characters in the book. One of those characters will be Placido Penitente. The interactions of Klay and Placido would be for Klay, a reintroduction of her past self before the events of MCI. As established, at the start of MCI, Klay considers herself as an apolitical figure. If we follow the same path as the show and Klay comes back to the events of El Fili with newfound knowledge she learned from Noli, then meeting Placido will be meeting her past apolitical self again.

Most of the development will be on Placido. Placido seemed to be the more flawed one in the pairing. Even to the average viewer, his development is obvious. Like Klay, he will learn how to care for fellow Filipinos and gain a new sense of patriotism for his country. Klay can also teach him how to use his voice by example as what happened for the other characters around her in Noli. Their bickering and arguments can force Placido to reconsider his single-minded point of view. At the end, aside from gaining patriotism, he can comfort Klay in her struggles even if he doesn’t understand them fully.

I have to admit, Klay’s development in this pairing is tricky because of Filay. Aside from a technical standpoint of her witnessing the life of ordinary students like herself during the Spanish era, it is almost hard to find a point of growth she could gain from interacting with Placido. For the most part, Klay seemed to be done in her character arc after the events of Noli. When she comes back to El Fili, she does it with the intentions to prevent the tragedies that will befall her on her friends. As she comes to El Fili, I think she also brought with her the idealism and patriotism she had from Noli. She is no stranger to calling out the bigoted men of the past on their narrow-mindedness. Since Placido is a lawyer and said in the narration to be one of the most intelligent students, I think he can meaningfully challenge those views with her.

The Possibilities of Fanfiction

I have to reiterate we are in fanfiction territory and those 2 characters never actually meet in canon so their story can go multiple ways. Ideally, I would want Klay and Placido to develop feelings for each other that is why I wrote this meta in the first place. Despite this I can also see a version of the ship with Filay still being the endgame. For their dynamic to be effective, the show should’ve dedicated more episodes to El Fili. As I write this meta, I composed a series of events and a couple of what-if scenarios of a longer El Fili or even a separate season dedicated to the book.

One of those plot points would be the audience and Klay not knowing where Fidel is so the audience has no choice but to follow Klay as she witnesses the events of El Fili first hand. I’m also a sucker for long winded suspense so in my ideal version, she wouldn’t meet the relevant Noli characters at all. She would’ve met Placido Penitente by accident in Manila while searching for Basilio. I find it strange that even if she supported Ibarra’s efforts of free education for all, she doesn’t seem to care about the characters’ plans to build a Castillian Academy like Ibarra once done in El Fili. Basilio is one of the supporters of the academy so she might have to interact with the student activists (e.g. Isagani, Macaraig) to meet him. To be fair it can be a repetitive plot but with good writing and more time, it can work as a parallel to the events of Noli. 

On an additional note, I would’ve also expanded Placido’s role in the novel especially on his collaboration with Simoun. 

Ultimately, the show is a work of fanfiction itself. We should be free to do whatever the hell we want with the source material but at the same time we should respect the message of Rizal’s original works. Again, I didn’t write this meta to downplay Filay but rather explore the possibilities of what could’ve been in the El Fili canon of Maria Clara at Ibarra. I’m glad Maria Clara at Ibarra encouraged young people to read the books and pay attention to the themes of Rizal’s novels. Feel free to think of ship name for Placido Penitente and Klay Infantes.

[kirxtenico]

So I wrote this Basilio x Isagani poetic fanfic. Hope y'all take time to read it.

Title: Sa irog kong gabi,

Canon Compliant, Pure Filipino, a bit on he poetic side

Ship: Basagani

Words: 2,109

[skrimblo]

babu *finger guns*

[deadecorem05]

I just posted the 1st chapter of a FiLay fanfic. I hope ya'll like it. This is my first time writing smthn so please be nice :3 Preview:

Sa Casa ni Kapitan Basilio naman, nabatid ng apat na taong naghahanap kay Klay na siya'y umalis na. Nagpatanong sila sa isa sa mga indio kung siya'y nagpakuha ng karwahe't umalis ngunit napagtanto nilang naglalakad lamang siya.

Agad na bumilis ang puso ni Fidel sa kaba at pagaalala. Nararamdaman niyang gusto niya tumakbo at hagulapin ang binibini kahit na alam niyang walang saysay ang paghabol nito lalo na't mukhang kanina pa umalis ang binibini. Napahinga siya ng malalim sa pagasang siya'y kumalma ngunit ito'y nakatulong lang sa pagbawas ng kagustuhan nitong tumakbo at magsisisigaw sa kalye ng parang sintu-sinto.

"Dios mio! Sa ganitong oras ng gabi?" Wika ni Tiya nang may bahid ng gulat at pangamba.

"Mahal ko, ano ang ating gagawin? Delikado para kay Klay lalo na't magisa siya." Nagaalalang tanong ni Maria Clara kay Crisostomo.

"Batid ko'y maayos lamang ang kalagayan ni Binibining Klay ngunit wag ka magalala, irog ko. Tayo'y magpapatawag ng karwahe at agad siya na susundan at hahanapin." Pagpapakalma ni Ibarra sa kanyang novia at Tiya nito. (At siguro pagpapakalma na rin sa kanyang amigo na nakakapagtakang tahimik lamang).

Agad na naghanap ng karwuheng masasakyan sila Sir Ibarra nang masundan ang kanilang kakaibang kaibigan. Magkasama sa iisang karwahe si Maria Clara at Tiya Isabel. Samantalang sina Señor Fidel at Crisostomo sa isa pa.

[brokenborb]

Noli Me Trio WIP

Guess whos the angstiest challenge

[unofficiallymikaela]

Fidel and Klay ❤️💙

Finally made a fanart of them. I know. I know. I am late. 😅

[brincandocomsophiavictoria]

Sophia Victoria e Maria Clara Ensinam o Alfabeto com Personagens Infantis

Tem vídeo novo no canal! 🩷🩷🩷