#She was also SAed by her father and went to a community different from her own

[the-white-soul]

*He smiles brightly at Chara.* You. *Man, he didnt even have to think about it!* I wouldnt marry Dess. And Kara is awesome, but if there's anyone I’d want to be stuck with forever, it���s you, Chara. We’d marry platonically, and then you can still talk to Monster Kid or whatever you want!

If I had to really marry someone with kissing and all that yucky romantic stuff I guess I'd do the same thing, but… I’d rather choose someone who's not here. *He laughs and pretends not to care.* Not that I'd want to kiss anyone at all! Even with the other person! That's disgusting. Eww.

Next! Kara, what’s the longest you've gone without a shower?

(Kara) "What's a shower? Jokes aside, yeah I have a shower every other day. I've heard that having one every day is bad for you!"

(Noelle) "So that's why you always smell better than 95% of teens."

(Chara) "Dess I'm sure wants to do way more than just smell."

(Noelle) "If you don't stop talking about my crush with Kara I'll make fun of you for crushing on Monster Kid."

(Chara) "Okay."

(Noelle) "Fuck, I thought that would scare you away!"

(Chara) "I've been made fun of way too much for that to have any effect on me. Also Flowey I bet if you had a human soul it would be the kindness soul since you're so freaking sweet!"

(Kara) "Yes, that's why he's been my BFF!"

(Chara) "*Whispered* If you would like to tell me in private who that is later, please let me know. I don't have any reason to make fun of it."

(Kara) "Anyways I have a question for everyone as well! What's everyone's favorite book! For me, it's Animal Farm or 1984. I love dystopian books."

(Noelle) "Probably Harry Potter. Loved the magic system and the characters. Though if I could punch JK Rowling in the face I would. Fucking anti-trans girl."

(Chara) "Mine is The Color of Water. It's about a girl who leaves their abusive family to live their own life and ends up marrying a black person and being an outcast in a black society. Yeah, it felt so relatable it was unreal! What about you Flowey?"

[random-chaos-and-stuff]

Fourth actually drawn Wings of Fire OC here guys! This is Hemlock, a Leafwing/Icewing hybrid!

She’s a bit more simplistic than some of the others, but I like how her face turned out.

Just like always, backstory and lore, abilities, the no background and the outline, and the generation method I used for her under the cut!

Hemlock is a hybrid, her mother being a Leafwing and her father an Icewing. She is often seen as cold or rude, but in all reality that is just how she was raised, and towards those that gain her trust she is very supportive and loving. She grew up in the poison jungle for the most part, with occasional trips to the icy outskirts of the ice kingdom. Her mother was a poisonwing Leafwing, and very protective over her only dragonet as a result of the harsh environment of the jungle, training her how to hunt and be self sufficient from a young age. She is also rather adventurous, loving to explore new places, often coming home with stories and trinkets to share with other dragons. 

She has a reputation for being dangerous and powerful, one that is well deserved, with her Icewing sharp claws and unusually sharp for a Leafwing spines, and the spikes on her tail. She can withstand fridged temperatures, though not as well as her father, and is an excellent climber. She got most of her build from her Leafwing mother, but alongside the traits mentioned above her Icewing side shines through in the indented webbing on her wings and the end of her tail, her pale coloration, and her grey-blue eyes.

She is also, surprisingly enough, an animus. It is believed that her father carried the long dormant gene, passing it down to his daughter, where it for some reason became active. She often uses this ability to help herself and her community, with a special love for one young hybrid, Cactus, who has eagerly deemed Hemlock her best friend, despite Hemlock being a grown adult. Hemlock also used her magic to give herself an ability. She had hatched without leafspeak, or any real abilities other than her magic, and often longed to have something like it. So, she gave herself a new ability, similar to leafspeak, allowing her to grow plants wherever she pleased, including the fridged arctic where they should have frozen solid and died, as well as manipulating the ice to grow like plants with leafspeak. She also once used her magic to imbed into her face, three on each side under her eyes. The rubies had been a gift from her father, a higher ranking Icewing in the ice kingdom, as a symbol of status.

Yeesh, that was a long one, but at least it’s properly spaced now to an extent. I named her for her colors, and the fact that Hemlock can grow in cold temperatures, and is a poisonous plant. I had trouble with the name for a while, until I basically rubber ducked at @spookys1fan for a name, and some research on cold growing poisonous plants, thank you for tolerating my yapping messages!

She is a good example of why I like drawing hybrids, because I can play with the features more, and pick and choose how I want different features from each dragon to interact.

Here is the no background version and the outline, as promised!

Tumblr fried the quality on these, so click for better quality and all of that. I went at this with a basic idea for her colors, but it took me a bit to get them just right and make them interact well.

And finally, as promised, the generation method I used! I used a generator sheet made by HoneyBeest, which is really fun, and really helps when I get art block and want to make a new OC.

Reblogs are appreciated, but please don’t repost on other websites without credit! Also, feel free to use her/draw her if you like her design. Writing, drawing, ect. as long as you give me credit as her original creator.

[papaver-decervicatus]

Headcanons- Simon "Ghost" Riley

Sorry in advance, these are the least organized by FAR and the longest because Roach is my all time fav COD character so a lot of Simon's is just "this is how I would put roach in the story :)" and I also love tattoos and piercings so

Birthday December 22nd, 1993

Early life

The calculation used for his birth year was that he would have been about 29 during the events of MW2 (he enlisted at 17 in 2001, so in 2013 during MW2 he would’ve been about 29.) Therefore, 2022-1993 would be 29 years old during the MWII campaign.

Born in a small rural village outside of Manchester, but moved to the city when he was 10.

His mother, Meredith met his father, Paul at a music festival in Manchester and became pregnant shortly after.

She had Simon at 17 and married Paul, 23, at the urging of her devoutly Protestant parents once they found out she was pregnant.

His father was a construction worker, and was terribly abusive to his family, his mother never had a job or a way to escape because she was practically abandoned by her family after Simon’s birth.

Tommy was 4 years younger.

Undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder. Mostly manifests in masking, sensory issues, unwillingness to break schedules, etc. 

I consider most of the Ghost comic canon, except moved up to the appropriate time. 

Specialty Section: Roach

I can't wait for this all to need a rewrite in November

Grew up with Gary Roach Sanderson. Some headcanons about Gary include

Is not deaf, but both of his parents are so he almost exclusively communicated in BSL as a child. 

Simon was one of the “weird kids” from a combination of his autism and abusive home life. The two got put together on a project once and were inseparable ever since. 

Gary definitely always had more energy but Simon was the more outgoing of the two. Simon used to be a very outgoing, casual flirt to the point that Gary would have to drag him away from parties. (The personality of MW2 Ghost, very talkative.)

The two are like brothers. They enlisted at the same time.

Simon and Gary got into some minor teenage shenanigans, drinking, smoking at school, playing truant, etc. they both were definitely the sort of kids that went under the radar, nothing special. 

Gary got his name Roach from escaping various explosions relatively unscathed, which led to the joke “only a nuke could kill Roach”. 

Unfortunately, this was not the case. Roach lost both his left arm and leg in an IED explosion of which he was the only survivor. He retired from combat after this and now works remotely as a radio technician and software engineer for the SAS in Manchester. 

Ghost genuinely considered retiring to help take care of Roach, but Roach wouldn’t let him. He knows Simon can’t really live in a civilian setting anymore. 

Ghost lives with Roach when on leave and not doing other things. He the only person outside of the army he really considers a friend that knows his full story.

Brief and nonspecific timeline

As a private, was under Price’s US friend for a few missions. Put in a good word and had him and Gary sent to Price. 

Met Price as a corporal, at the time he was charismatic, flirtatious, and generally outgoing after he got over his initial month or so of shyness. Was in Price’s squad for a mission along with Roach. 

Went back and specially trained with prices US sniper friend. This is where Simon met Alex as well. 

 All of her Snipers got names based on “pest animals” (affectionately named “Pest Patrol” or “The Critter Corps” by graduates and Price.)

Gary got Roach for being able to bounce back from any explosion

Alex got Cotton Mouth because he casually picked one up and broke its neck during training once

Simon got the name “Possum” because he was incredibly skilled at “playing possum” or playing dead. Survived multiple really tight missions for his ability to blend in with corpses. 

Went to a different squad, gains his Lieutenant rank

Roba happens, Ghost is born. 

Captain Price pulls a lot of strings for Simon to make "the Ghost" a tenable position. This makes Price a lot of enemies out of higher-ups but he doesn’t give a damn. 

Ghost and Roach are put into a squad together not with price. Work together for three or so years before the IED that wounds Roach. 

Roach retires. Ghost bounces around positions because he’s legally “an asset” and not a man anymore. 

Task force 141. Knows Gaz for about a year before he meets Soap in Las Almas.

General

He is triggered by Christmas and the holiday season, he found his family massacred on his birthday so neither Christmas or his Birthday are a positive association anymore. 

The only person who’s given him a birthday or Christmas present since the massacre is Gaz, which didn’t upset Ghost like he thought it would. Mostly because Gaz didn’t know and Ghost couldn’t have expected him to. 

Does not have any technology besides a cellphone and a computer he is required to for his job. The only three non-work related numbers in his phone are his tattoo artist/piercer, Roach, and his therapist

He genuinely enjoys gardening and baking but doesn’t do them frequently because of his life status. 

Has a terrible, terrible, terrible sweet tooth, when he can get away with it. When no one is around this man is putting 5 heaping tablespoons of sugar in his tea, but no milk. Never milk. 

Doesn’t like hard or sour candy, but does enjoy chocolate and biscuits. 

He can, and will, and frequently does, eat all three meals in one sitting. He will eat 400 grams of protein in 4,000 calories in 20 minutes. He eats alone in his room because this shit terrifies people.

Endothermic body build, he’s built like a rugby player. His musculature is not “lean and mean” he is built like a discus thrower.

VENUS DIMPLES

When in public only wears a black surgical mask so as not to frighten others 

It’s specifically to cover his Glasgow smile and lip scarring, which is prominent on his lower face

Jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, trainers, the occasional football-themed jersey or cap, nothing special 

He has a fake civilian identity that not even Price knows the details of for anonymity's sake.

Has a full sleeve of tattoos and also a patchwork arm sleeve

He's actually famous in the Manchester tattoo scene as a lot of apprentices' first human canvas, under his fake civilian name of course.

Originally he got the war sleeve after his first deployment but went back after he became Ghost to get a tattoo over Roba’s name that was burned into him

The first tattoo artist asked him what tattoos he wanted on the wall and he said “All of 'em.”

His current tattoo artist is a scarification expert, she helped him design a piece to cover Roba’s name on his left hip, it’s a memorial piece to his family with the names “Merideth, Tommy, Beth, and Joey” held on a scroll by an Angel with the massacre date in Roman numerals

He continues to go back to this artist whenever he wants new ink, she is also his piercer. He does not care about his body and the ink on it, so she tries to schedule apprentices with him as their first because he can sit well/is not picky about his ink.

She sends him various pieces of body jewelry for his piercings at random under the guise of “let me know how this goes, wanna know if I can recommend it” etc but it’s really because she cares about him but also knows he won’t let her get him gifts for no reason. 

A massive picture of his pierced nipple is in her shop as an example of her work

Has a shitton of piercings including but not limited to:

Quadruple lopes

Two conch

Rooks

Helix

Flats

Industrial (left only)

Bridge (taken out, since healed)

Tongue

Smiley

Lower lip (taken out, since healed)

He’s missing his left nipple, so he has both a vertical and horizontal nipple piercing on his right 

4 Jacob’s ladder

Prince Albert's

Ghost wanted a married life and a family before Roba but does not anymore. He intends on dying in the field, he does not think about kids or retirement or alternative careers or dating. He loved Joseph and Tommy and Beth and his mum with all his heart and was a little jealous of the happy companionship they'd found for themselves, he stopped wanting it when he realized how quickly it could be taken away.

Typically avoids attachments because he knows how “loose ends” can end up harming loved ones. He has failed at this, very very very badly.

Ghosts most toxic trait is that he is falsely cynical. He will tell himself til he's blue in the face that he doesn't really care, it doesn't really matter, he doesn't really deserve love, that it's just not important when in reality he cares deeply. Caring is a liability so he tries very hard to cut that part of his brain out, he works out, he doesn't socialize, he avoids attachments because he is convinced he will ruin it for others. He doesn't even know what it is, until it's too late, just like how it took Johnny in Las Almas almost dying for him to open up to him.

Talents, special bonds, ETC

Trained to be a butcher in high school, before he and Roach joined the army. He retained his butchering and knife skills from this time.

Phenomenal aim, he can throw even the least aerodynamic thing and it will hit it's target.

He is a great baker, but a terrible cook besides grilling. No one knows its him, but he will leave trays of fresh baked goods in base rec-rooms.

Surprisingly, he is the softest on recruits when they mess up. He has an uncannily calm ability to diffuse most any situation and turn it into a learning experience, he also will not tell Price if he doesn't think it's that bad.

The inverse of this is if it's bad, his explosion about it is fucking bad.

Kids gravitate towards him and when push comes to shove he is great with kids. He is not terribly comfortable around children but kids love him. Its bittersweet because they remind him of Joey.

Is incredibly close with both Gaz and Soap but in different ways. He sees them both as reflections of him and Roach. As much shit as he gives them, he could not see himself without Gaz's quiet and calm understanding helping him remember how to be human or Soap's loud and explosive personality helping him remember just what being alive feels like.

Price may see Ghost as an equal, but Ghost does not see Price as one, he considers Price very far above him in every possible way. He does not know what Price sees in him.

[brokenqueen0526]

Nickelodeon Ridiculousness Pt. 2

Jennette, I have finished reading the book. I didn't want to stop reading. Every time that I would turn the page and be like alright, I'm going to finish this chapter then end of chapter came, and then more chapters, next thing I know I've read for roughly 2 hours straight, not even wanting to put it down then. Girl, you are strong. Everything that you put up with and everything you had to deal with. When your mom passed you had no idea about so many things because she always pushed her idea of what she would have been on you. You wanting to see her smile because of something that you did. Wanting to fix your family's financial problems. I know that you love your mom, and I mean no disrespect regardless. That also shows me a lot about how your mom was raised. Once I started reading about your grandmother and how she did all of that manipulation to get her way I was like yup just as I wondered. Being a parent is so hard, but there is a huge part of being a parent that isn't that hard. Having unconditional love for your children. Your grandmothers love for your mother was dependent on how she succeeded the same way your mom was with you. Conditional love like that always comes at a price, a price that the kids and others around them suffer. For that, I am very sorry that you went through all of that as a child. My own personal experiences have involved some conditional and unconditional love I would love to hang out with you at any point in time. I was wanting to know if you have had any further communication with your biological father. You deserved so much more, and just to be listened to. Cannot wait to see what you write next if you plan on continuing the writers' adventures. I wish you the best in life, you are an amazing person.

Dan Schneider is suing the producers of the 'Quiet on Set' documentary that brought out lots of talk about how really working with Nickleodeon was for a handful of child stars from Schneiders past shows (All That, Josh and Drake, All That Reboot, The Amanda Show, Sam and Cat, iCarly, etc.). He claims that he was defamed making it seem like he was in on or knew about what Brian Peck, Jason Handy guy, or the other guy.

Schneider said in a statement, "I have no objection to anyone highlighting my failures as a boss, but it is wrong to mislead millions of people to the false conclusion that I was in any way involved in heinous acts like those committed by child predators." (I got this statement from The Tennessean Jordan Green of Memphis Commercial Appeal)

There is also talk about there being an executive that had a lot if not all to do with getting Dan Schneider hired on at Nickelodeon. I want to continue to see what comes about with this Executive individual who also had strange behavior around some child stars. Going to do more diving into this Executive situation.

From my point of view watching the 'Quiet On Set' Documentary, was that this man made a very unsafe environment for children to be working in. He may not have flat out done things with...(which there is rumor that he possibly got a child star pregnant and made her get an abortion.) He had employees that were SA 'rs(even if he didn't know. There wasn't an extensive background check), yet as long as guardians are on property they didn't have to perform background checks on employees. My mind cannot figure where the logic in that was. That never seemed suspicious to anyone as to why people actively working with children of different ages didn't need some more looking into them. He put very innuendo sexual references in many of his shows, shows that were made for kids. I understand there is innuendo in a lot of things, and rewatching a lot of my childhood shows, and I was like I can't believe these things were in these shows. At the age I was watching these shows, I didn't see them that way. Dan Schneider made a similar remark about the jokes in the show. Not exact wording, he stated that the kids seen them as funny. They didn't know it was a bad thing then. What does that say about the environment? Were the shows meant for kids, or for adults?

If someone higher up did push for Dan to be hired at Nickleodeon, was his intentions to groom employees and child stars? So many questions unanswered and the more that comes out the more pieces to this puzzle pop up. The truth needs to get all out there so appropriate changes can be made to better protect all people in the industry writers, men, women, actors (all ages), coaches, directors, etc.

I guess with all of the NDA's going around being signed all of the time now. (my personal opinion NDA = Noone Deserves Answers). NDA's are to protect a person with confidential information and any others that have access to said information. One or both parties have a task to make sure they do not share the information outside of the ones involved. Especially privacy related, dependent on the company. I can totally understand how companies need to protect themselves from people who doesn't care what they say or anything. The problem is, when something very serious (example. the Nickleodeon situation, obviously) happens that definitely needs taken care of, there shouldn't be any document that stops a child or adult to speak on things that were done wrong to them regardless of NDA's. The studio is only worried about protecting themselves in the matter. You can find other producers, writers, directors, adults any and all day long. Children are the future for all of us currently in adulthood. Why hurt kids, they are the innocent in all of this.

This isn't the end of it, new things whether the truth or not will probably come to light. More to come. Thinking about renaming it from Nickelodeon ridiculousness to NDA=Noone Deserves Answers

[lucy-verse]

God bless this post, you hit the nail on the head.

I honestly don’t understand how anyone can listen to this song and come to the conclusion that it’s victim blaming. It’s like they don’t understand the meaning of satire and, you know, context when it comes to the characters.

It’s made very clear from the start that trying to intervene directly or approach the situation with sympathy only makes Angel defensive and withdraw into himself even more. He was furious with Charlie for turning up to the studio and lost his temper with Husk when the former tried to talk sense into him. He doesn’t want sympathy. He doesn’t want to be “saved”. He doesn’t want to be reminded that he’s a victim. This isn’t at all uncommon with how some people react when it comes to facing their trauma; they don’t want to get people involved, either out of pride, fear of repercussions, or the risk of anyone else getting hurt. Admitting vulnerability can feel like a loss of control.

Husk realises this after Angel’s outburst. A sugary heart-to-heart chat isn’t going to get through to him. So, he settles for communicating with him in a way Angel understands: crude humour. Angel doesn’t get it at first, which is why he responds negatively to begin with. But as the song progresses, he catches on to what Husk is trying to say and joins in.

Because Husk isn’t literally calling Angel a loser - he’s saying they’re both losers in the eyes of society. Addicts and sex workers are constantly demonised, ostracised, and abandoned, while SA victims aren’t taken seriously and face constant victim blaming - both in the show and in the real world. They’re looked down upon as worthless, broken, sinful, constantly judged and blamed for their situation, even if it was completely out of their hands.

Husk knows this, and he knows there’s little to no chance of bias ever changing. So he says, “fuck it then, we’re losers. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, so let’s embrace it. We can be “losers” together.” Almost like he’s reclaiming the word to empower them both.

Husk is not making the situation about himself. He fully acknowledges the trauma Angel is going through, and simply tells him that he’s not alone in his situation. Sometimes, having someone who understands can be the first step to healing. Part of Angel’s suffering is that he feels like he’s all alone and Husk is telling him that’s not the case. And he communicates it in a way that doesn’t make Angel feel like he’s some sort of damsel in distress.

Yes, the song pokes fun and uses demeaning language - but sometimes dark humour is a way people cope with stressful situations, myself included. When I was SA’d, my friend turned to me and went, “snap!” That may be crude to some people, but she knows me and knew that sort of thing would help put me at ease, and make me more comfortable opening up about it. Another of my friends constantly jokes about her dead father to help her process his absence. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a coping mechanism just like any other.

Husk never once says that he and Angel’s circumstances are the same. His very words are, “I know what it’s like to regret the choices made and knowing you can’t take it back.” This is referring to Angel’s decision to sign a contract with Val, which he blames himself for (“What’s the worst part of this Hell? I can only blame myself.”) Husk knows that trying to convince Angel it isn’t his fault is pointless at this point in time, because Angel simply isn’t ready to accept it. So, instead he tells him that he understands his mindset. Husk also made a decision that resulted on him being on the end of a leash, and while the circumstances are vastly different, the pain and regret are similar.

Angel and Husk are the perfect examples of two different kinds of addicts. Angel’s addiction comes as a result of his downfall, a way for him to cope with his terrible situation. Husk’s addiction, on the other hand, is what caused his downfall; he flew too close to the sun because he was unable to stop himself, and ended up losing everything. And now they’re both in the same boat; under the control of psychopaths who treat them like objects for their own amusement.

Part of what makes “Loser, Baby” such a beautiful song is that it shows how Husk was actually listening to Angel and taking the time to understand his way of coping.

“We’re both flawed, we’re both broken, we’re both in shit situations that we can’t get out of - but we’ve got each other for support and we shouldn’t hate ourselves for being victims.”

In Response to Criticism of Loser, Baby

According to the yt comments under prime's upload of Loser, Baby, apparently some folks are taking offense to Husker comforting Angel by telling him he's a loser and to get over it and somehow framing this lovely lovely song as victim blaming??

the media literacy bar really is in hell

I do think the song plays out far better in the context of the show, and isn't really made to be a standalone piece of consumable media, though I will be treating it as such in the coming days by endlessly looping the video

anyway, this is a song that brings comfort and hope to both characters thanks to who each character is and what situation each is in. These are vital pieces of context that are important to understanding the message of the song. It's important to realize one method of comfort is not going to work for every situation-- the particular method in Loser, Baby works because of what the characters are looking for in the moment.

Husk confronts Angel on his self-destructive tendencies, to which Angel responds that drugs, sex, and immediate dopamine hits are his escape, and that, even in the worst case, even if he destroys himself, it'd be better than the situation he's currently in (a suicidal, scary thing to say)

In the previous scenes in the show, we've seen that Angel takes an almost comedic level of pride in his work, eager to drag the gang off to sex dungeons and show them his porn tapes. He delights in how uncomfortable his world makes them and constantly does bits, putting on a character that's hypersexual, that seems like he's in control and wants to be doing the sex work he's doing

This is very clearly an attempt at masquerading a level of power over his life that he doesn't actually have; in reality, he has no choice but to be sexually exploited, but if he acts like he chooses it, it almost feels like he owns his life. Or, really, it almost looks to others that he owns his life. It's all about performance and perception with Angel; he hates the idea of looking like someone who needs saving, hates looking like a victim, and hates being seen as powerless, so he tries to act like he's none of those things. Of course, he can't really lie to himself, so he resolves that inner turmoil (suffering that he completely internalizes because he doesn't want to break his facade) through drugs, sex, alcohol, and even pain as distraction.

Which is why "Loser, Baby," is so fucking wonderful! Husk is telling him, over and over, that he's not fooling anyone, that his little character he's sacrificing so much to play isn't worth it, that Angel's a loser and everyone can tell. If you take his words at face value, it's cruel and unkind and could make things worse--- that is, if this wasn't Husk and he wasn't talking to Angel.

It's freeing. Angel is being told that he doesn't need to do his bullshit performance, that he can be a loser, and that everyone at the hotel's a loser too, so no one's gonna judge him. It's a song about accepting where you are in life, about stopping Angel's denial of reality and refusal of vulnerability.

Most of all, it's a very kind gesture on Husk's part. It wouldn't have worked if Husk hadn't also loudly called himself a loser and opened up about his past mistakes. It's a wonderful song about mutual vulnerability and accepting imperfections and mistakes and accepting that you're in a shitty place so you can finally stop self-destructing and start finding solace in other people also in shitty places.

also it's gay soooooo not too much on my beloved huskerdust

[troubadour-tadhg]

Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan (a book review)

 “Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan” is one of the most promising books written by Bob Ong. It was a 2010 mystery novel in the genre of horror and suspense. Published by Visprint Inc., it tackles how far a person can be faithful to their religious beliefs when unimaginable calamities confront the way people live. 

The protagonist of the story, Gilberto “Galo” P. Manalansa is a 16-year-old student who lives with his aunt. He always writes journals of his daily life, supposedly for a school project. He constantly dreams of a creepy old woman, but he doesn't know who she is. One day, he was informed by his aunt about the sudden passing of his father, who was in the province with his grandmother, Susan. He was devastated by the news and decided to visit his late father. When he stepped foot on the island and breathed its air, he reiterated the memorabilia living in the place. He made his way to his grandmother’s house, but he noticed the changes in the house: there were different statues and sculptures, and his grandmother’s reader’s digests were already gone. He was reminded of how his grandmother acts; it seems that she has her own world. Galo feels a temporary freedom away from gadgets and unhealthy living. During his stay, he met Niko and Jezel, the children of the pass-helper of their house, and they became close to each other. Through them, he gradually figures out the mystery of the community and the role of his grandmother in a cult. 

The novel is all about how a certain belief and perspective on the world change the personality and approach of other people. For instance, Grandma Susan was once a caring mother and a teacher. It was stated in the latter part of the story that everything changed when she was left alone by her loved ones. Similarly, Galo was left with his aunt while his parents were working to support his education, but this affected his mental stability, making his life a bit miserable. 

Furthermore, the book emphasizes the different societal issues faced by all the people in the community. Bob Ong compared life with and without the reliance of people on technology and without the stains of advanced development. Galo lives in a city, and oftentimes in the first chapters he uses different technological materials to live, but as he went to his grandmother’s province, he figured out the different style of living, wherein it is more simple and relies solely on organic sources provided by the environment. “Iisa ang relihiyon namin, edukasyon, pamahalaan, at ekonomiya. Ang kaunlaran dito, nasa puso. Nasa pagkatao. Wala sa kagamitan”. (“We have only one religion, education, government, and economy. Development is in the heart and in one’s personality, not in innovative things.”) This shows that not everybody is in favor of the drastic change of the world, and it is insignificant to center everything into the technologies. It was also discussed the issue of teenage pregnancy and how careless young generations are in terms of decision-making. 

The story used a first-person point of view. It was written in an epistolary format, which is presented in the form of a diary by the antagonist Galo. This works very well in presenting the overall story since it creates a sense of immediacy or makes the readers involved in the story itself. It vividly projects how Galo became hopeless in terms of love, money, and family. The language used is Filipino, and it utilizes informal terms to fit in with the format of the story. The characters were well-written; in every chapter, it is evident how each develops, which adds to the depth and dimension of the book. 

[thewhizzyhead]

a non-filipino's guide to trese: ep 1

So some of my mutuals decided to check out Trese aka the Netflix adaptation of the Filipino horror comic book series that I keep rambling about here and then since well um most of my mutuals aren’t from the Philippines fshfs I decided to make a long-ass post that basically consists of me rambling about the cultural context present in Trese with fun little tidbits about Filipino folklore. I’m not an expert on Filipino mythology so um I just typed out the stuff that I know and the stuff that I looked up on Wikipedia so um take this with a grain of salt aaaaa I’ll save the extensive google scholar research ramble on folklore present in Trese for another day.

I’ll try to find the sites where I got some of the information from cause um yea I kinda had a bit of a hard time finding the other shit so um once again, take the stuff here with a grain of salt. Also, feel free to add more info if you guys got any!

SO ANYWAYS ENJOY ME RAMBLING ABOUT EPISODE 1 OF TRESE WOO

+ MRT and LRT (Manila Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit) are train systems in NCR (the capital region) and yea them suddenly stopping and malfunctioning in the middle of the goddamn rail is a daily occurrence and we have been trying to deal with this bullshit for years but alas, corruption and negligence are sweet sweet drugs.

+ When the MRT broke down, you'd see a red bee in the flashing billboard right? Well that's Jollibee and that's probably the most well-known fast food restaurant chain here heck there are even branches of it abroad!

+ According to many youtube comments along with other social media posts that I am way too tired to link here, the opening theme is an Ifugao ethnic song called Balluha'd Bayyauhen but with modern accompaniments and I think the song is about a fruit called a balluha that the character in the song tries to it but cannot swallow. (someone please correct me if I’m wrong here fjkfs)

+ The first um monster that we see Alexandra interact with is the White Lady of Balete Drive. White Ladies or “Kaperosa” are a type of female ghosts typically dressed in ghostly white dresses or similar garments. According to legend, she died in a car accident while driving along Balete Drive (a two lane street formerly lined with Balete Trees which are said to be a home for spirits and mysterious creatures) in Quezon City while other accounts say she died waiting for the arrival of her lover; others also say that she was a teenage girl who was run over and killed by a taxi driver at night and then buried around a Balete tree while another variation of the tale claims that a student from the University of the Philippines was sexually assaulted and killed by a taxi driver nearby and so said ghost haunts the street in search of her murderer. There are many other variations but according to local rumor, the legend was fabricated by a reporter in 1953 in order to make an interesting story. What remains consistent in many variations is that apparently taxi drivers would be stopped by a beautiful lady asking for a ride and if one would look at the rear window, they would see that the white lady in question is bruised and drenched in blood.

+ There are a lot of mentions about "lakans" and stuff in reference to Alex and her father right? In precolonial times, the term is used to refer to the paramount ruler or the highest-ranking political authorities in Tagalog communities (so um NCR and some parts of Region 4). In Muslim communities, they are called sultans while communities with strong trade connecitons with Indonesia or Malaysia called them Rajah. Datu is umm the more generalized term though when it comes to discussing the leaders of the precolonial Filipinos.

+ So, Alex’s mom is a babaylan and back in the pre-colonial period, each barangay (which a native filipino term for a village or a district; said term is still used today to describe um divisions in municipalities like) had them and these are basically Philippine shamans and they specialized in communicating with the spirits of the dead. To my knowledge, the role of babaylan went to women and yea people assigned male at birth but then identified as female were also allowed to become babaylans and they would be treated with the same respect given to any woman back then (honestly I dunno much about lgbtq+ stuff back in the precolonial times but all I know is that precolonial Filipinos were much a lot more welcoming towards trans identities bUT THEN THE SPANIARDS CAME AND UM ERR RUINED THAT); also the writing Alexandra's mom did in that one scene with the dagger is in Baybayin - preHispanic Filipino script. I dunno what she wrote down though. .

+ Also I kinda find it funny that the people here esp those who were at the White Lady scene are um,,, not at all surprised? Like yea quite a number of filipinos have their own superstitions and beliefs and all that but um yea the people in Trese seem very used to the bullshit,,,which in retrospect, isn't at all inaccurate fsdfd I MEAN WE DEAL WITH UNSURMOUNTABLE AMOUNTS OF BS ON A DAILY BASIS SO I DON’T THINK DEAD GHOSTS WOULD EVEN FAZE MANY FSKJDS

+ The one that appears right before Alexandra talks with the duwende (the one in the manhole) is called Laman Lupa (which i guess translates to um "What is in the earth"? just um YEA THEY ARE DIRT CREATURES). normally this is an umbrella term for duwendes and nunos but in Trese they are servants of these aforementioned creatures.

+ Duwende (which came from the Spanish phrase "dueno de case" which means "owner of the house") or dwarves in Filipino folklore are known to be mischievous and magical environmental guardians. They are believed to reside in trees or under earth mounds (those that live in the latter are called nuno sa pundo or old man of the mount) which is why quite a lot of Filipinos say "tabi tabi po" or “excuse me” when wandering around a forest or earth mounds as a sign of respect and in the hopes the duwende won't torment them. If the person is friendly, the duwende can also be friendly in return and will bring that person good lucl; otherwise, those who destroy their homes by stepping on them will face their wrath in form of heartless curse and predictions of ominous and disastrous fates. A duwende's color also depends on their budhi or conscience: to my knowledge, white duwendes are kind, red ones give protection amulets, green ones are firnedly with children and the black ones give nothing but trouble.

+ Chocnut aka the snack Alex bribes the nuno with is a very yummy chocolate snack made of coconut milk, crushed peanuts and cocoa powder. They are umm about an inch in length and maybe half an inch in width so it's fairly small; that being said I WANT THE CHOCNUT THAT ALEXANDRA HAS CAUSE HOT DAMN THAT'S A BIG CHOCNUT

+ In Trese, the creatures in the MRT scene and in the warehouse Alexandra visits after she talks with the duwende are called "aswang". In Philippine folklore, it is an umbrella term for any kind of monster so um an aswang in Luzon would be very different from the aswang in Mindanao. According to what I saw on wikipedia, they can be classified in 5 categories: the vampire (self-explanatory um they drink blood), the viscera sucker (the manananggal, i'll get to that next time), the weredog (cats and pigs are also possible but um yea they target pregnant women), the witch (self-explanatory boom curses and stuff) and the ghoul (they gather near trees in cemeteries to feast on human corpses). Aswangs are often described to have a long, hollow tongue, sharp claws and sharp teeth, although they do also have human forms.

+ To my knowledge, Ibwa, the leader of the aswangs in the warehouse, is a creature from Tinguian or Itneg mythology (they, like the Ifugao, are an indigenous ethnic group in northwestern Luzon) though I could be wrong about this dksfsf Ibwa seems like an ethnic filipino term tho wah I can't remember where I once read that. But anyways, Ibwa often stalk sthe house of a dying person to steal its body. In order for the ibwa to NOT succeed in that, some people burn holes in the garments of the dead and put a sharp iron object on top of the grave since those are most powerful weapons against aswangs which is what Alexandra uses to subdue the Ibwa and kill all the other aswangs (the knife alex uses is named Sinag which means "ray of light".)

+ ALSO I AM SO SO GLAD THEY KEPT THE FILIPINO SWEARS IN THE ENGLISH DUB YES YES THIS IS A VERY GOOD JOB so lemme discuss the versatility of tangina-

+ Also umm Bossing is a nickname of Vic Sotto - one of the three pioneer hosts of Eat Bulaga! which is the longest running Philippine noontime variety show. Over time, most probably due to the show's popularity, the term "bossing" then became um slang for "boss" or "chief"

+ Translation of what Alex says when she's stirring the eye inside the cup: “In the eyes of others, secrets will reveal themselves.”

+ Sidenote: The English dub's pronunciation of many of the tagalog lines are um yea they r pretty good but they could use a bit of work but then again I'm really not that good in speaking in Tagalog so who am I to judge gkdkf sorry po guys conyo po ako-

+ Maria Makiling is arguably the most famous of all the diwatas (ancestral spirits, nature spirits, or deities) in Philippine Mythology; she is associated with Mount Makiling in Laguna as the guardian spirit of the mountain. Mount Makiling is said to resemble a profile of a woman and people associate the profile with Maria herself. She is also known as a goddess by the name of Dayang Masalanta and people would pray to her for safety and to stop storms and earthquakes. That's the goddess Alexandra's mother mentions right when she tells Alex to hide. (Translation to what she said there: Maria Makiling, goddess of the mountain, bless us.)

+ ALSO YEA THAT MAYOR IN THE MRT STATION IS UMMM RATHER REMINISCENT OF MAAAANY POLITICIANS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS HERE LIKE BELIEVE ME I CAN THINK OF SO MANY NAMES RN. THEY WOULD FLAUNT THEIR MACHISMO AND PROMISE THAT THEY THEMSELVES SHALL PUNISH THE PERPETRATORS HARSHLY BUT IN THE END THEY DONT MEAN SHIT AND ARE IN OFFICE TO SERVE ONLY THEMSELVES AND TO SHIT ON THE REST ESP THOSE OF THE POORER SECTORS AND *NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT*. WE LIVE IN HELL OKAY. also hmm how the police are represented here is umm,,,interesting,,, like i know there are sOME good police officers like the ones alexandra assists but like,,,our current sociopolitical climate + the many cases showcasing the corruption in the police force + tHE SHEER AMOUNT OF POLICE BRUTALITY HERE would ummm beg to differ. but um anyways-

+ Also Mang Inasal posters can be seen in the MRT station backdrops and um it’s a very famous restaurant chain here and they serve lots of barbecue and other filipino stuffs and i miss them a lot God their halo halo is very yummy

+ Santelmo - oki so this is the fire face thingy that Alexandra summons inside the ruined train. This is the shortened version of the term "Apoy ni Santa Elmo" or "St. Elmo's Fire" - this is a weather phenomenon wherein plasma is created from an electrical discharge from a rod like object in an atmospheric electric field. This phenomenon was used to warn of imminent lightning strikes or storms (there is a chapter in Noli Me Tangere where Pilosopo Tasyo talks about that bUT I'LL SAVE THE NOLI ME TANGERE RAMBLES FOR ANOTHER DAY). But according to Philippine folklore, santelmos - which are said to be souls of people lost as sea - are balls of fire that appear where accidents or big arguments happen. In Trese, santelmos (alex's santelmo being "The Great Spirit of the Binondo Fire") can be called to assist in supernatural investigations

+ Translation of what Alex says when she draws the circles to meet with the purple ghosts: "Souls, where are you off to? I'll be entering too, so please open the door."

+ Remember the scene at the train with all the purple ghosts and the woman in a veil? Yea the woman is an emissary of a goddess named Ibu and she is the Manobo (again, another indigenous ethnic group but this time they're from Mindanao; fun fact we have around 134 ethnic groups) goddess of deceased mortals and the queen of the underworld; she also serves as a psychopomp and guides the newly deceased souls to the other side (having an MRT be the ride to the underworld isn’t in the legends tho so fkkjsf)

+ The aswang in the top hat is called Xa Mul and according to the Isneg/Apayao people (yay another ethnic group but this time in northern Luzon - the Cordillera regions to be specific), they are an evil spirit known to swallow people whole.

+ Alex has two henchmen right? Yea they are named Crispin and Basillio and No I still don’t know who’s who and I'm really sorry about that fsfjs so anyways the names Crispin and Basillio are actually those of two brothers featured in the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo novels (Crispin is younger and Basilio is older) which are basically the national novels here cause um yea written by national hero Jose Rizal as sociopolitical commentary about the Spanish regime here. I don't know if I want to spoil this cause I kinda want other people to read the novel too fskfs BUT ALL IN ALL, ONE OF THEM DIES IN LIKE THE 10TH OR 11TH CHAPTER OF NOLI ME TANGERE (and the novel has 64 chapters btw) AND UM YEA-

+ OKI SO TO ADD MORE CONTEXT TO THE SQUATTER STUFFS MENTIONED IN TRESE (we r gonna use the tiny font here because holy shit this rant is long): So,in the Philippines, especially in the capital region, there are lots of slum areas called squatters. These are dense urban settlements made of compact makeshift housing units that aren't really officially recognized by the government. This is um very reflective of the poverty situation here and there are maaany factors that come into play here and if i were to go into depth about this topic, that rant would probably turn into an academic paper so for the sake of brevity, let's just say that Things Are Fucked Up Here. Oftentimes the poorer sectors are being ignored and left to their own devices despite tons of campaign promises to make things better and easier for them. The communities that live here are incredibly vulnerable to floods, fires, and the like and afaik no concrete solutions have been in effect to protect these people and their settlements. There have also been many times where squatter areas are dismantled or demolished despite protests of people living in those areas and yea I understand the need to make space and the need for renovation but the people should still be offered some sort of temporary settlement or financial compensation thingy that doESN'T fuck them over but alas, we have an anti-poor government. That being said, I really like Trese Ep 1's portrayal of governmental negligence, but I also have some thoughts, especially in regards to the mayor being arrested THAT FAST which um believe me, NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS BECAUSE MANY MAYORS AND A LOT OF POLITICIANS HAVE THE POLICE IN THEIR POCKETS SO UM ERR YEA JUSTICE IS RARELY A THING HERE BUT UM ANYWAYS YEA THE GOVERNMENT LIKES TO SHIT ON THE POOR WOO LET'S SAVE THE USE OF SOCIOLOGICAL LENS ON THIS MATTER FOR ANOTHER DAY

+ The news channel reporting the arrest of the mayor is ABC-ZNN WHICH IS AN OBVIOUS REFERENCE TO ABSCBN aka the top media conglomerate here (that has been fucked over by the government so many times to the point that they had to shut down operations last year which is all sorts of unfair so seeing them being referenced here kinda made me happy gksfks)

[awolfnamedluna]

Since I never talk about Elise MacCallen, I’ll tell you some stuff about her.

She’s Sim’s twin! She claims to be the older one by 5 minutes because she’s the one that takes care of him more, but they really don’t know and occasionally argue over it. Neither will know the answer because their mother died during childbirth and their father never told them (and if he did, they don’t remember).

She’s always been keeping her eyes out over Sim because she knew early on something was wrong when Sim was in a lot of pain for unknown reasons. It got worse when they were forced onto the streets. Elise did all the heavy lifting for their father both when he was alive. After he passed away, the twins had to figure out how to survive. They found a balance where Elise would make supply runs during the day and Sim would do food runs at night. They also guarded one another, with Sim sleeping during the day to avoid headaches and Elise sleeping at night.

They were basically inducted into a family, who was also homeless. The parents didn’t like seeing two 8 year olds running around alone, and chose to help them up until they were teenagers. They were taught how to read and basic math skills just so they had a chance if they ever tried to find a better life.

At some point, Elise found her way into a job as a clerk when she was a teenager. Rather than spending the money on food and supplies, the two saved it up to send Sim to community college. They considered sending Elise, then decided against it when she proved to be more versatile at stealing regardless of the time of day. Plus, they were aware of sexism in the workplace and figured Sim had the better shot at earning the money necessary to get them out of their situation because he’s a guy.

Sim went to college for two years then joined an arena/military which promised them a better opportunity. Elise continued to live life alone but after months of hearing nothing from her brother, decided to go searching for him.

She’s still searching for him, two years later…

wow that is so interesting and random fun Fact!

Evelyn (Alpha) and Rose were on the streets at a younger age. Eve was 7 while Rose was 4.

If they are ever in the same universe as Alpha and Rose I think they would all benifit from it and boost their survival percentage up (did that make sense?)

Frostbite would definitely be a help with scavenging since she knows how to hunt and if very good at it and knows how not to waste food.

It would be good if they met Ash and Jackson at the time where she just left home since Cameron unofficially adopts her and takes care of her. It would be a good help to all of them. Also if they all manage to survive they would make the best team again whatever terminators come after them.

I wonder if Elise would ride with Ash when she goes to Cam's gas station for food and stocking up?

I'm also wondering what exactly would happen if my canon plays out.

my canon for when Ash first meets Arnold is actually not really face to face or meeting him at all really, Cam gives her a heads up that a big guy is looking for her and she stealthily sneaks out of the gas station and heads to her bike with Jackson. That is when she gets away from her first Terminator which funny enough is the one who came to protect her.

She then heads to her dead hideout and stays there for a bit until she feels it's safe to go home. She then goes home on a different street that what she usually takes since someone is looking for her. But alas Arnold shows up at her house at dusk and Ash tries to get away but fails and ultimately gets to her grumpy self since she has to be "babysat" by Arnold. Her words not mine.

so I wonder how that would play out if Elise is with her. Since they are both-along with Sim- being searched after by both terminators to protect (Arnold) and kill them (whatever terminator is hunting them)

I swear I just wrote a fucking chapter of a book my god I can talk. anyway that's just what I'm thinking but it's cool to learn more about Elise!

I think Rose and Elise definitely work well together meanwhile Evelyn not so much. It could be that Evelyn will go feral if someone hurts Rose. I also think that after Dominic and Rose, Evelyn might fully disconnect from Elise and Sim. it would be a twist is Sim shows up at the same SAS base where Alpha is.

Whoo boy that is going to get complicated real fast.

[teamrawr]

Reflection of the Neglected Reality

MacArthur is a novel with a combination of comedy and neglected reality here in the Philippines. A group of friends named Cyrus, Voltron, Jim, and Noel. All of them are deprived and not wealthy. Cyrus is the youngest member in the group, and he is good at stealing, doing strategies and has a lot of criminal records. Amadeus Denver Kantuyan, better known as Voltron is the skinny robot-looking person in the story and has suffered a lot compared to the other members. Jim is the oldest member in the group at the age of 23 years old. He has a family to feed. Noel is a college student that came from a middle-class family and stopped studying due to financial problems. The struggles of Filipino youth in dealing with the issues of today such as drugs and vices, unemployment, education, and family expectations. The novel is notable for applying a bold and realistic look at life in a Philippine community. Roberto “Bob” Ong, is a contemporary Filipino author born in February 1975 in Quezon City. He was known for his pseudonym “Bob Ong ” that came from a follower of his satire website from the ’90s called ‘Bobong Pinoy’ that mistook him for a certain ‘BobOng.’ Bob Ong. BobOng Pinoy, it was uncanny, he stated. He was also known for his conversational writing technique, creating humorous and reflective depictions of Philippine life. In 2001, Bob Ong published his first book entitled “ABNKKBSNPLAKO,” it is said to be the book that closely states his life story as he frankly retells his student days in a way that could make any person laugh while reading. After 16 years, he has published nine outstanding and insightful books entitled – “Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?”, “Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas”, “Alamat ng Gubat”, “Stainless Longganisa”, “Macarthur”, “Kapitan Sino”, “Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan”, “Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin”, and “Si”. There is no such thing as right or wrong decision, it already depends on how other people perceive it, is the main concern of MacArthur. This can be observed throughout the novel with how the main characters made their decisions in every struggle they encounter.

Given the scenario when Noel stole Lyla’s stethoscope. Lyla was wearing her uniform, then she couldn’t find her stethoscope. Lyla knew that Noel had stolen it. Noel stole the stethoscope because he wanted to sell it to buy drugs for his vices while Lyla needs it for her nursing course. In the following few parts, it is shown that both Noel and Lyla are arguing and choosing their decision because of their situation. Before she said the quote, Noel’s mom kept calling him to eat because it was almost time for lunch, but he still hadn’t eaten breakfast. In front of Noel’s room was Lyla’s. She was already wearing her uniform and getting ready for school. Lyla then noticed that her stethoscope was missing and immediately knew that Noel had stolen it from her. Lyla started banging and shouting at Noel’s door, forcing him to return it back to her, but he denied stealing the stethoscope. Lyla went through Noel’s bag, and it turns out Noel had already sold it. “Kinuha nyan ang stethoscope ko.” (argument between Noel and Lyla). The reason why Noel took the stethoscope and sold it was because of his situation, Lyla on the other hand, needs it too for her studies. In their eyes, it is the right decision to argue so they will be able to get what they need. Everyone has priorities and things that are important to them which cause them to make decisions that seem to be the right choices, even if a part of their decision would not result in any good outcome. These choices satisfy them and let people live their lives the way they desire it to be.

“If I had only been given the chance to change my life.“ The group of four friends wanted to change their life, but they lacked hope. Their habits cannot be changed since they have chosen their path. Education is not the answer to a successful life. There are many educated people, but not everyone was given a chance to live a good life. Cyrus mentioned having a new life with his friends, but one of his friends disagreed since he had already tried and failed to change his bad habits. Cyrus wondered whether his life would have been different if he had only been given a chance to study. Would he and his grandfather live a happier and better life? Then Noel answered that not everyone who has studied has a successful life. Jim had thought of selling movie discs as their business after their conversation. To improve their situation, they all agreed that selling movie discs was a good idea. The friends celebrated their success in selling their movie discs. They were at the same place where Voltron’s mom was drinking alcoholic beverages. Aling Seding was the one who was talking about the child that she had sent to study. Her dialogue "Etong si Denver , tong batang to pinag- aral ko dati, sa sabungan naman pala tumutuloy, sabi ko huminto ka na lang wala ka namang pakinabang! hahahahaha!” is an evidence in which the thesis statement that was formulated by the students were connected. Denver was given the chance to go to school but he still chose to go to the cockpit. This proves the thesis statement itself that the choices people make will affect the situation they are in. The future of oneself depends on the person. If the person does not want their life to succeed, their choice will lead them to their end. No matter how hard the person forces themselves to study hard, if the person is not determined enough, they will not be able to achieve success. Being successful is not based on education. It is the person’s will and devotion that will lead them to victory. It is always the person’s choice that will lead them to the path that they have decided.

Voltron was last seen having a conversation with Edwin and his colleagues. Voltron died due to being beheaded, and Edwin might be the one behind this. Edwin is a popular hoodlum known for offering illegal tasks that were so cruel that no one can imagine. The jobs he offers are for those who want to earn large amounts of money quickly but darkly. During that time, Voltron needed cash to survive his daily life. So to obtain what he needed, he sought Edwin for help. This suggests why Edwin was behind all of his death. Knowing Edwin’s capabilities, Voltron primarily did not want to seek help. However, his problems seem to lead him back to Edwin. “O,” kumuha ng higit limang libong piso si Jules sa mga perang pinapatungan ng telephone directory sa mesa. “Pamasahe!” “Hehe!” abot tenga ang ngiti ni Voltron. “Pasko na!” “(a conversation between Jules and Voltron) In connection to the statement, Voltron sees Edwin as his only opportunity to escape from his complications.

Noel’s decision was the best initial step to start a new life. In his situation at that moment, it was the most applicable decision he could make. It can be noticed that he chose to go home, did not feel bothered with how the community would perceive his decision and the way his father forgave him. Due to being accused as a thief, Noel reacted violently. As a result, Mang Fred or Noel’s father drove him out of their house, so he had to stay in his friend’s house for a short period of time. Noel was the only one left out of the four friends, so he felt urged to go back home. He doubted in the beginning. However, once he stepped home, Mang Fred whispered and invited him to eat breakfast. Which meant at the end of the day, his father decided to forgive him. “Kumain ka na.” By the time he goes out, the individuals around him could criticize how Noel was driven out of the house. It proves the thesis statement in a way where Noel made a decision to go home and did not feel troubled with how the society would perceive his decision. Since Noel was the only one left after Voltron was executed, Cyrus was imprisoned for unintentionally shooting his grandfather, and Jim went home to Bicol with his wife, so that is why Noel chose to go home, wherein his father accepted him again. And that is how the author concluded the novel.

The novel MacArthur educates the readers that there is no right or wrong choices. It depends on how or what one’s perspectives, thoughts, or opinions are. These choices that have been made, the people could not tell if that is a good or wrong decision. All decisions that an individual makes are what he/she is surrounded or influenced by. The environment with a different set of people, set of friends, and the changes in the society could affect one’s decisions. Having more options could lead them to much better choices and realize more about the mistakes that they have made before. Sometimes, they will be making bad decisions, but they will learn from the mistakes they have made. The author shows how poverty truly affects people’s lives and also wakes individuals from the reality of life that he/she must be ready for the ups and downs that will happen. In life, there will come a time that they will encounter unexpected situations. Situations can lead to challenges and may mislead their plans, but the author does not mean that it will fail the individual as a person. It tells the readers that they always have the choice to renew their life or start over again, thinking about the wrong decisions they have made before. Being prepared in life, being prepared for what people are going to conquer could make one’s life better and make his/her plans happen. Plans that a person wanted to happen for their life to make it better. Every decision a person makes could be right. But always remember to consider the decisions he/she has been making. Consider it for about ten times and make sure the choice that one makes is what he/she wants and is fully sure about it. The author wants his readers to reflect that everything happens and comes for a reason. One will always realize and learn from every path they take. This story could also tell the readers that an individual can be successful with his/her own will and determination. How will one be successful without doing anything? It is not that a person should always be on top. It is the way he/she sacrifices to achieve one’s goals. All things should be done with perseverance and not taken for granted. An individual must have patience and determination to make one’s goal happen. Having an educational background is not what a person can call living a successful life. Defining one’s purpose in life is the true meaning of success and it is a realization that the reader should make. A successful life does not mean he/she needs to graduate college and have honors or be on top. Sometimes people become successful in the way they perceive it, other people only graduated high school but those people still believe in themselves. Having determination, motivation and sacrifices could lead a person to what he/she defines success as. Try to push oneself to his/her limits and accept things that happen in one’s life. Always remember that there are no wrong choices, choices would only be wrong if an individual cannot stand them. References: https://soberandtipsy.wordpress.com/2017/09/24/bob-ong-the-phantom-of-filipino-literature/ https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2016/01/10/1541198/how-mysterious-bob-ong-got-his-penname https://bongbongbooks.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/my-thoughts-about-macarthur-by-bob-ong-book-review-53/

[bisluthq]

i think my 1st grade teacher was gay.

looking back, she does give me vibes. as does the gym teacher, which is where things get suspicious. the gym teacher Miss T and the first grade teacher Miss C were sisters. i always thought they had different last names because they had different fathers (Miss C was mixed race black and Miss T was white), but now i’m wondering if they were domestic partners and said “we’re sisters” to excuse their closeness and/or maybe excuse the fact that they lived together (i don’t know if they did or not).

furthermore, about a decade after i finished 1st grade, Miss C was fired under suspicious circumstances. she ended up fighting the “false allegation” and appealed all the way up to the archdiocese school board (it’s a catholic school btw), but her appeal was denied. (of course, back when this all was happening, we didn’t have the bostock decision protecting queer employees, and under hosanna tabor, it’s actually debatable whether bostock would apply to a private catholic school at all, even though we do receive federal grants and thus are covered by title vii and title ix)

Lmao this tracks. 

I am lucky in that I’ve had quite a few gay teachers - and it STILL took a really long time for me to figure shit out so like again, please don’t beat yourselves up about it guys.

The first I can think of for sure was my sixth grade teacher. She was OPENLY lesbian and would bring her wife to events which was pretty rad of her. I was at a day school in primary school so sex ed was done separately (girls and boys) and she got the task of doing sex ed for the girls in the grade and my ultimate moment was we had these government workbooks to work through right like basically “how to not get AIDS” because SA in the mid 2000s right and one set of pages was male and female anatomy. And she did the female anatomy with us, then looked at the other page with pure distaste and went, “Well if any of you really want to know this one day you can always find out. And that shouldn’t be soon, stay safe.” 

And I know a bunch of girlies complained to the school but the school took her side lmao (as did some progressive parents including my mom which, now that I’m typing this, is probably because my gay ass pinged from space tbh like who obsessively asks to be quizzed on Ashton Kutcher to impress their ‘friend’ like that’s fucking GAY but also she indulged me) and I LOVE THAT FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED TBH. 

Then at my high school two teachers were married and they were DADT about it but they lived together and came to school together and one was butch and one was femme even. 

And like I say if I lived in a metropolis with a HUGE gay community and gay rights enshrined into the constitution in its own separate subpoint and had OPENLY queer teachers or DADT queer teachers and parents who love me no matter what and I still found it hard I can’t imagine how hard it is for people who don’t have those things in place and so I am sending love to everyone who is out, closeted, or questioning this Pride month.

[loverandservantoftheahlulbayt]

🍃🕊 Fatima bint Assad (sa) 🕊🍃

🍃 The Mother of Imam Ali (as) 🍃

One of the exemplary women in the history of Islam was Fatima bint Assad (sa), who got many honors in her blessed life. Her father was Assad, son of Hashim. Her life is worthy of note from different aspects, because the virtues that Allah had bestowed on her were so great that no other woman, before or after her, could be her equal in that respect.

Allah willed for reasons He alone knew that the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) should be away from his parents. After Abdul-Mutallib, the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) became his uncle, Abu Talib's charge and thenceforth he and his wife, Fatima, nurtured him. The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) always lauded the personality of this great lady and appreciated the value of her motherly care for himself. The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) said: “After Abu-Talib she was the best person to care for me. It was a great honor for Fatima bint Assad to be called mother by the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P). Abu Talib was the breadwinner and Fatima always left some food for the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) to be eaten later after the meal was over.

When we gave Halima, the hired wet-nurse of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P), the right to boast about having suckled him for sometime, we should naturally give Fatima such right to take pride in having served the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) for about 20 years as a mother.

🍃 Delivering her Child (Imam Ali) inside the Kaaba 🕊

Many people having read the story of Mary (S.A) marvel at her sublime position before Allah. But when Fatima bint Assad delivered her child inside the Ka'aba, we see that her status in the divine realm was far superior to that of Mary (S.A). Modem scientific discoveries do not negate conception of a virgin without a mortal having touched her and so the birth of Jesus (A.S) might be explained not as a miraculous phenomena. But the birth of Hazrat Ali (A.S) was nothing but a mere miracle. A companion of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) name Yazid ibn Qanab, said:

“Abbas ibn Abdulmutallib and I were sitting opposite the House of Allah. We saw Fatima bint Assad making for the Ka'aba. She was in labor. She was communing with her Lord, saying: "0 Lord! I believe in You, in all Your messengers and in the divine Scriptures. I confirm in what Abraham, the one who built the Beit al-Atiq (the Ka'aba) had said. So make my labor easy, in the name of Abraham and in the name of the child I have in me."

We saw a crack appear in the wall of the Ka'aba. Fatima went through the opening and disappeared into the House. We also made for the crack in the wall, but saw no opening there. We knew it was the will of Allah. Four days later, Fatima came out of the Ka'aba carrying Ali (A.S). There are enough evidence to support this narrative. In comparing herself with other chosen women, Fatima bint Assad said:

"Allah preferred me to all women before me. Assiah (wife of the Pharaoh) performed the acts of worship in seclusion where Allah did not like to be worshipped except in case of necessity. Mary (S.A), daughter of lmran shook the trunk of the palm-tree and ripe dates fell upon her. I entered the House of Allah and ate fruits of Paradise, when I was about to leave the place, I heard the divine call: ' 0 Fatima! Name your son Ali, because he is high and His Lord Most High. I gave him a name derived from my Own name. I cultured him the way I willed. I made known to him the intricacies of My Own Omniscience. He is the one to crush the idols in My House. He is the one to call people to prayer from the roof of My House. He worships Me. Blessed are those who love him and woe to those who are his enemies.'

We know that Mary (S.A) lived in the Masjidul-Aqsa (within the House of Allah), but was not delivered of her child. Fatima bin Assad delivered her child by Allah's leave.

🍃 Acceptance of Islam by Fatima bint Assad 🍃

All biographers of the life of Fatima bint Assad said that she was the first woman, after Khadija, that pledged allegiance to the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) in Mecca. Here we have to mention her noble husband, Abu -Talib, an oppressed figure in history. May it be that his ignorant enemies remember how he who le-heartily and steadfastly stood by his nephew and did not charge him with polytheism. How on earth would a polytheist say:

"Verily the religion of Muhammad is the best of all revealed religions for man...." Or, in a poem of eulogy about his nephew: "A saintly figure, a savior of orphans and widows, a blessed saint in whose name people supplicate the Almighty for rain.

Apart from all such evidence, how could the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) ask for support from a polytheist? After the death of Abutalib, Fatima bint Assad, kept pace with the revolution of the Prophet and was present on the scene on different occasions. After three days from the flight of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) to Medina, Fatima bint Assad, in company with Hazrat Fatima (S.A), daughter of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P), and Fatima bint Zubeir, went to Medina, under the auspices of his son, Ali (A.S). She was the first one who pledged allegiance to the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) for the second time.

🍃 Fatima bint Assad in thc Eyes of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) 🍃

As already said, Fatima bint Assad stood high in the Prophet's favor. One day the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) said that on the Last day, all the dead will rise naked. Fatima said: "What a disgrace!" The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) said he would pray to Allah to let her rise clothed.

Next day she heard the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) speak of the pain in the grave. She uttered: "My Lord!" The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) said he would pray to Allah to make the pain less severe for her.

One day the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) talked to Ammar Yasser about how Fatima bint Assad was kind to him. He said that she had borne Abutalib many sons from whom their parents benefited very much. She satisfied my hunger while her own sons were hungry. She clothed me while they were barely dressed; she kept me neatly dressed, but not her own sons. The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) respected Fatima bint Assad, and always called on her and took a rest in her house. She had narrated 46 traditions from the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P).

🍃 Her Death 🕊

Hazrat Ali (A.S) said: "When my mother died, the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) wrapped her body in a shirt of his and said prayer upon her and said: "Allah is the Greatest" - seventy times. The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) then went into the grave and touched the walls as if he wanted to widen the grave. When he came out of the grave, the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) wept bitterly and addressed the grave to be kind to her body.

When the burial was over, Umar ibn Khattab said to the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) that he had treated her in an unprecedented way. The Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P) replied that he held her in great esteem as one holds his mother. Gabriel told me she was a saintly woman and entered Paradise. Allah had ordered 70,000 angels to say prayers on her dead body.

🍃 Taken from: 🍃

🍃 IMAM REZA (AS) NETWORK 🍃

[marvelheaux]

T’challa’s Outside Daughter (Chapter 6)

T’challa x BlackDaughter!Reader/OC

A/N : Hey guys, I’m terribly sorry of this was rushed and thrown together, but life has been kicking my ass as of lately and I was extremely scatterbrained. But anyways, here’s chapter 6, I hope you enjoy! - Lanna

Description : Zyra is the first born of King T’challa. She moved to the states and grew up with her Single mother with hardly any contact with her father. Queen Mother Ramonda decided that with all the drama and secrets going on, that it's time to bring the family together .

Story Links:

Main Character + Faceclaim

Character List

She met one of her father's  Exes (oneshot)

TOD Prologue , Chp1 , Chp2 , Chp3 , Chp4 , Chp5 

Warnings: Possible Grammar Errors, Angst, Strong Language

Words: 3K

     The lab was busy today, as educational material was being deployed from Wakanda, to both the Wakandan Outreach  Centre in California and the Wakandan Embassy in New York City, back and forth. Shuri was working with her fellow scientists, approving and testing materials, while Zyra decided to lend a hand in assisting in the Air Traffic Control, while some of the staff was on a lunch break.

Pilot one: "Apron it's Q47-452 ready for pushback"

Zyra: "Q47-452 push at your discretion, call ready for taxi"

Pilot one: "452 roger"

Zyra cracked her knuckles and adjusted her earpiece after giving the pilot traffic orders, whilst making notes of who already taxied and who is about to arrive. As she was going through her checklist, she noticed a different jet configuration from the others that just came in.

“SHIT”. She thought to herself. “When am I ever going to get away from him?”

T’challa, controlling his one-manned  jet, coming from a solo mission with the avengers in Switzerland.

T’challa: "Wakanda Molo ngokuhlwa , Q1-1 is out of thirteen six for 1-1 thousand, requesting runway 10."

Zyra: "Q1-1, runway 11, maintain 6 thousand, altimeter 30.05, maintain present heading"

He was slightly taken aback at the rejection of the runway he is accustomed to landing on, which was also reserved for him and the royal family. As he took the coordinates into account, he noticed a strange female voice on the controller, which was unfamiliar because he don't recall a female air traffic controller being on  staff.

T’challa: Eh, may I ask who is controlling the air traffic?

Zyra froze. If she can run away from the air defence command booth, she would. But she had a job to do. She and her father were avoiding each other for the past couple of days since their awkward first time meeting each other in about 12 years. Anxiety crept up on her at a bad time. She potentially have people’s lives in her hands.

“Be professional Be Professional Be Professional.” she thought to herself again and decided to reply in the aviation language.”

“Zulu, Yankee, Romeo, Alpha....Uniform, Delta, Alpha, Kilo, Uniform…….Sir.”

“Oh.”

“Roger that”

T’challa nodded his head in approval and turned off autopilot to follow further landing instructions. He suddenly realised that he has a lot to learn when it comes to his eldest, especially her capabilities. He knew popping back  into her life at such a risky stage of adolescence was not going to be a walk in the park, especially for a girl, but this will be one hell of a ride. And the rejected handshake was an astounding start, unfortunately.

Back in the controls room, it was 2pm, Zyra handed other the controls to the staff who was on a lunch break .

“You look so cute doing the controls” Shuri said. “you look like that girl from the Austin  Powers movie” She was referring to Zyra’s outfit- a turtle neck, long sleeved cropped shirt, tucked into a high waisted flowing skirt with white knee-high boots.

“Thanks mamas! Y’all give me a stylist, to wear these boujie ass clothes in the house, when Wakanda is fucking 80 degrees. Aiight.”

Shuri just laughed along to Zyra’s rant, while they made their way to their quarters, so Zyra can get ready for cheer practice.

“Girl, guess who popped up on the comms when I was in the controls”

“Who?” Shuri cheekily plopped on Zyra’ bed, waiting for her to spill the tea she already tasted.

“His majesty of course.”

Shuri gasped.

“Did he find out it was you? Cause our last female air traffic controller retired a year ago.”

“He asked and I told him! Shyiieet. AND IN AVIATION LANGUAGE TOO! He talking bout summ ‘who’s controllin the air traffic’ ME BITCH! FUCK YOU MEAN!’ “ They both screamed with laughter and high-fiving each other like the partners in crime that they are.

“Oooo mamas! We have to talk about the outfits for the ceremony before you leave for the competition this week”

“Well I-”

As soon as they turned the corner, they ran into the King himself, still dressed in his panther suit. Zyra groaned internally.

“Hey brother! Nice to see you! How was the mission?”

“It was a bit of a challenge but a success” he said handing Shuri some devices, as she makes a run for it.

T’challa looked to his daughter.

“Hi intombazana yakho”

“Molo wam kumkani” Zyra replied awkwardly avoiding eye contact, looking all over the room.

“You don’t have to call me that, eh? I wanted to- “

“HIIII DADDYYYY!” the sound of Sariyah’s voice cut their conversation short. Both Matthew and Sariyah had just came home from school.

She ran into her father’s arms, totally disregarding Zyra’s presence on purpose. This gave Zyra saw the queue to leave the big happy family alone and go about her way. Sariyah smirked at her charms winning over her father once again. Matthew noticed his big sis hurrying out the door.

“Yo Where you going?”

“Practice.” she said dryly to her brother, before bolting out the door.

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T’challa sat up in his bed, relaxing- wearing a fleece coated robe, bedroom slippers and sipping on some peppermint tea, recovering from his winter mission.He used this little downtime to get some R&R before the annual battle for the crown ceremony the next day. As he watched Lord Attuma from Atlantis giving his global warming statement on BBC World News, the door opened swiftly and caught the King’s attention.

“There you are!” Queen Nicolette smiled sweetly when she saw her husband. She crawled into bed, kissing T’challa deeply, before she sat in his lap.

They spoke briefly about the mission in switzerland and other personal ‘married couple’ stuff.

“Are you ready for tomorrow honey?” She said, while playing with the King’s moisturized curls.

“Eh, I think the third time around wouldn’t be such a challenge, plus baba and I need to have some brief words.”

“About Zyra right?”

T’challa eyes wandered off and bit his lip.

“Speaking of Zyra, ah she’s a doll, gorgeous. So sweet and so talented! I always say that she looks

Just.

Like

you.”

T’challa looks at his baby girl cradled in his arms, as she yawns adorably, whilst making cute baby noises.

T’challa shook himself out of his flashback.

Did you know she agreed to be main dancer for the royal family?”

“Really?” T’challa gave an inquisitive look. “We haven’t had main dancer in about 50 years. Not since Princess Gcobisa.”

Princess Gcobisa was the youngest daughter of King Azzuri, and the baby sister of King T’chaka and Prince N’jobu. She was one of the most exciting, ray of sunshine royals in the family. She passed away from a concussion injury during training at the tender age of 18. T’chaka often told T’challa stories about his baby sister, because they were very close and would often say that Zyra reminds him of her, especially for both their love for dance. Hence Zyra’s middle name, Cebisa is close with hers, Gcobisa.

“By the way, how’s communication been working out for you?” Nicolette continued.

“She seems a little tip toey around me, which I understand, at least she’s respectful. What about you?”

“Well….she ran off before I could speak to her when Sariyah and Matthew came home from school...so I guess that’s a start.” T’challa chuckled.

“And she keep addressing me as ‘my king’ , I don’t have formalities with my children.”

“Then TELL HER.”

“I know but you can’t give up on her. Keep trying. That’s your first born, don’t you ever forget that.”

T’challa agreed in silence.

Later that evening…

“ Practice is over! I’m only half way dead..but I did pretty good so” Zyra laughed whilst recording her vlog at practice.

“Look! We got a second package for this weekend’s competition.!”

With short appearances and lots of laughs from her fellow teammates, she started to head home.

“So you’re actually dancing foreal?” Kailee asked her.

“Meh, I’m gonna try summ. I aint no professional doe.”

“My sister gonna dance too, don’t worry about it tho.

They both said their goodbyes and went about their separate ways.

Zyra skipped into the palace with her bare socks on her feet, aided by her personal guard N’ceba.

“Real ass bitch, give a fuck 'bout a nigga”

“Big Birkin bag, hold five, six figures” Zyra rapped the to the song “Act Up” By City Girls, making her way through the palace, with her rose gold solo beats blasting in her ears.

“Stripes on my ass so he call this pussy Tigger”

“Fuckin' on a scammin' ass, rich ass nigga”

“Sa-”

Zyra jumped and cut the rapping short  when she walked into the dining room to find her father, Nicolette and her siblings having dinner.

“Oh hey..Molweni” She gave them an awkward wave.

“Hey hun! How was practice! Come have dinner with us.”

T’challa looked at Zyra nervously, whilst Nicolette gave him the ‘right T’challa?’ look and pinched him on his leg which caused him to slightly jump.

“Ah, Yes, you must be hungry and tired” he cleared his throat.

Zyra thought about it for a moment before making a decision.

“That’s sweet but I’m not really hungry right now, I’ll just eat in my room and watch Netflix, bye!”

She rushed off before T’challa can say anything else.

“She declined food? That’s a first!” Matthew chuckled.

“She’s probably scared of me ...hmmm” Sariyah laughed to herself and continued to eat her food.

“Why would she be scared of you?” T’challa chimed in, looking concerned.

“Why wouldn’t she?”

He side-eyed his youngest, like a white politician asking for the price of vibranium.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m still annoyed about earlier.

I don’t fit into his life.

Not even if I tried.

He moved on with his new family.

Nicolette..she tries to be nice, it seem fake as fuck, but I can’t blame her to be honest. Imagine your husband hiding a child tho...

So does Matthew. He’s cool. As least he wanted to meet me.

Princess.

But Sariyah is such a stuck up bitch...she needs to pipe down before I knock her upside her motherfucking head.

Princess…

What am I even doing here?

Here we go again with the princess shit.

“Wake up my princess!”

“Huh?” Zyra jumped up with her bonnet almost off her head and eyes squinting from the light.

“Good Morning! Your breakfast is ready and the designer’s are ready for your fitting.

She brain did a windows XP start-up and she realised what her attendant was trying to tell her.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

As soon as Bongani left, she plopped right back into bed. She was still sore from cheer practice.

After she freshened up and ate her breakfast, Bongani was giving her a run down about the events that were going to take place at the ceremony and the protocol afterwards, regarding the winner of the battle.

The palace’s glam team worked on her makeup; and  paint designs on her body, did an african style updo and fitted her for her Wakandan ceremonial dance outfit.

She was excited but nervous, she practiced some moves before bed last night and only hope she doesn’t mess up in front of everybody.

As the boats moved along the water, she moved her body to the beat of the drums which orchestrated her natural stage presence. All the other boats with the tribe leaders and dancers joined in. Her astounding talent in dance made the her fellow family members cheer her on and dancing along. She even cheekily dance on N’ceba while she was doing her dora milaje dance. (yemi’s pieces is zyra’s outfit)

“She such an attention whore! Ugh” Sariyah said in Matthew’s ear, and he laughed at her jealousy.

While she was dancing, she spotted someone that would be awkward as hell to cross paths with. Nakia. It’s very weird because it’s literally the same girl that her father used to sleep around with, when her mother was pregnant with her. Also, she happens to be her friend Kailee’s, older sister.

With that, Zyra’s confidence shot up into the air cause she really wanted to show Nakia that  Nakia didn’t want no smoke.

The waterfall celebration was beautiful. So many beautiful black people in a kaleidoscope of colors.T’challa came out and the crowd started chanting his name as he awaited his challenger. He had fought two warriors from Border Tribe and Merchant Tribe and finally one from Mining Tribe. This time he was bigger than M’baku. Built like a Goliath ass nigga.

“Im just letting y’all know that, if we lose, my black ass is taking the first flight back to NY. I’m out this bitch. Period“ Zyra whispered in Shuri’s ear and she giggled.

“You ain’t going nowhere”

“Aite, bet.”

T’challa eventually won the fight but still got his ass beat. He was still the Black Panther & the  King Wakanda.

Amongst the celebration of his win, came Nakia taking over the dance session. Nicolette carefully eyed her out of curiosity.  Zyra was dancing in her own world but saw that Nakia was looking in her direction and the crowd was egging her on. Kailee warned Zyra that she battle the main dancers from every tribe, every year. But she wasn’t bothered by anybody because she’s an athlete, so she’s very competitive. And she wasn't about to let her father’s ex  push her in a corner. So she stepped up.

Nakia kept doing her own thing while her tribe and the audience were cheering her on. Zyra cracked her neck effortlessly as she secured her stance. She looked to the River Tribe crowd of where she saw Kailee and Brandon giving her the thumbs up. Zyra pulled out the dance moves that she have been practicing in the training room for days. With her moves hitting to every solid beat of the drums, even throwing a backflip to an award winning split whilst looking Nakia straight in the eyes, which made the Wakandans clutch their pearls. Showing her flexibility skills with a flawless heel stretch and ended it off with the majorette style death drop. The crowd went wild. The  crowd clearly chose their winner. Zyra knew Nakia can’t top that one. She learned that from her Majorette dance group at Spelman College. She knows that SHE don't know nothing about that.

T’challa looked on clapping for his daughter. He was impressed. But not surprised to say the least. Raechella used to be a professional dancer and a volleyballer in her younger years. Athleticism  definitely runs in the family.

Despite Zyra giving Nakia a shady stare-down and  cocky  hair flip, she decided to extend an olive branch.

Walking up to Nakia , she held out her hand to her.

“Congrats Princess” Nakia says with a bow.

The bow confused Zyra a bit.

Is she mocking me or being respectful?

“thank you.”

Nicolette soon came rushing over with excitement and snatched Zyra  from the conversation ,  which made Nakia  fall back awkwardly .

“oh my gosh!!! I didn't know you had it in you! Did you know your father was watching?”

Who?

“oh ok.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Y’all see this right?”

“Zyra did what she had to do! #PERIOD”

“The fact that Zyra beat her father’s ex in a dance battle is iconic.”

“It’s today’s old that I found out Zyra is african. I heard she got Caribbean fam too!”

“Fuck the dance battle! I was robbed of Zyra challenging her father for the throne. #QueenZyra”

“UGH”

“Zyra this, Zyra that. These idiots don’t get tired?” Sariyah strolled down through black twitter and rolling her eyes at the tweets from the video of Zyra dancing that went viral overnight.

“You don’t get tired hating?” Matthew chimed in as he walked past her open door.

“BOY SHUT UP ! NO ONE IS TALKING TO YOU”

“AND WHY YOU SO DEFENSIVE ABOUT HER ANYWAYS? YOU DON’T KNOW HER! SHE’S A NOBODY MATTHEW!”

Matthew couldn’t believe how his sister was acting. Yeah she is a little boujie and rude at times but she was way too bothered about Zyra being in the house.

“Maybe if you aren’t so jealous, you would get to know her too.”

Sariyah laughed sarcastically.

“Jealous of that thing? She and her mama are clout chasers Matt!”

Matthew didn’t respond to her insults, he just slammed his bedroom door on the way in.

………...

*refer to this fic* At Adam’s house, the gang were hanging out for the impromptu friday game night. Adam and Kailee just finished killing each other about who won monopoly, whilst diving into an interesting story time about Zyra and her encounter with one of her father’s bevy of women he dated over the years. (zyra below)

“Speaking of EXES Zyra…” Chioma laughs while biting into her lemon pepper wing that Zyra wanted to steal.

“Let’s talk about the balls you had dance battling Nakia.”

“I’m not gonna gas you cause you’re my friend, but you killed that shit foreal.” Adam chimed in and kailee started clapping.

“I didn’t know THAT was gonna come out of her!”

“ME NEITHER!”

“YASSS!!”

Zyra cringed uncomfortably and adorably at the slightest compliment. While she is flattered usually, she’s not the biggest fan of praise nor extra attention.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous as fuck, but my momma didn’t raise no pussy.”

“.....”

“I’m not in support of this, but my sister wants to talk to you”

“Ooop” Brandon sipped his drink.

Zyra was shocked.

“Really?”

“I personally think my sister is a hoe, and what she did to your mom was foul but-”

“Did you just call your sister a hoe?”

“Um..she is?? One time, she tried to tell my father about me sneaking out the house to see my boyfriend, and when I told her that he was my man and I don’t fuck other people’s husbands or baby daddy’s, she punched me and we started fighting.”

Everybody in room burst into the laugher.

“Sis was triggered I guess.” Zyra said, trying to recover from laughing so hard.

“In all seriousness...yeah. It’s up to you though.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“...”

“Chioma I know you can’t finish those wings, gimme!”

*SONG FOR THE CHAPTER (YEMI ALADE - YAJI FT SLIMCASE & BRAINEE)

Molo ngokuhlwa- Good Afternoon.

intom

bazana yakho - my daughter

Molo - hi

Wam kumkani - my king

Molweni - good evening

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CHAPTER? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING HAPPEN NEXT? COMMENT !! YOUR FEEDBACK MEANS ALOT! AND REBLOG TO SHARE WITH OTHERS IF YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. - Lanna xx

Taglist: @mxrvelous-bxrnes @kida114 @royallyprincesslilly @randomassfandomwho @jadesid @deansbbysblog @pananegra @jonsnowisthesexiestbastard @janell-r @zacarakillmonger @omgsuperstarg @skysynclair19 @amethyst09 @sisterwifeudaku @bezzywazhere @letrecek @champagnesugamama @maddiestundentwritergaines @bribrisback @oceanscorazon @mufasathatniggatho @raysunshine78 @queennanayaa @fonville-designs @chaneajoyyy 

[sugarbabykendi]

Beginners Luck?

I’m madly new to the sugar world/bowl, I’ve been an observer and admirer for a few years now and thought to myself “why don’t you finally go for it, you technically have nothing to lose”.

Shit, I have quite a lot to lose lol, but I’m so good at this lying to myself thing that I actually believe myself when I lie to others, like when I lie to my parents about where I am going, when I lied to my friend about not pursuing this sugar dating thing and when I lied to myself that I was ready to do this.

I made a profile on seeking arrangement despite the numerous amount of posts that say not to bother due to the number of salt daddies and fake people on there. I decided to try my luck considering I live in a small country and I have a concentrated number of possible sugar daddies to my disposal. I used a fake name generator to come up with a name to go with my fake ass back story — I literally made up a character to portray when sugaring (I know I’m a genius or whatever 💁🏾‍♀️)

Kendi sounded perfect for my South African girl next door character. I wanted my sugar baby persona to be similar to mine but I wanted her to be more confident and literate, I wanted her to show some class and be the girl that turns heads for a reason. Obviously she was a uni student just like me, studying marketing because that’s what I know best, and she was looking for someone to mentor her, sponsor her, spoil her and help make her dreams come true.

One of the first guys that messaged me initiated the conversation about getting to know me and seeing where things could go, we took the conversation off of SA onto kik and I got to know more of him. An accountant/financial advisor, who used to be a lecturer, has a PhD, worked as a cruise manager for years (meaning he travelled for a living). Like honestly I could even possibly have a crush on this guy. After getting to know a bit about eachother I suggested a quick coffee date to talk about what we were both after, we met ten minutes away from my uni campus and surprisingly in a very public area.

Everything checked out and he paid for my food and we parted ways. We didn’t get to discuss money arrangements however, this made me nervous because the whole point of this was to get $$$ and we hadn’t discussed it. I think it’s cause I was really nervous to bring it up, I had read many posts and tips on tumblr about how to bring up the money convo but I just couldn’t do it. So when he brought it up himself and offered to take me out to dinner, you bet a bitch was excited! Unlucky me, we had a communication breakdown and we didn’t go on a date — he left me on read for two weeks 🙄

This Sunday afternoon however was different, we met up a little bit last minute — straight after church for me — and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We shared a small platter and I could’ve sworn I regocnised our waitress from somewhere. We had a good conversation and I was way too worried bout eating like a pig I only ate a little bit. We left an hour later and decided to go back to his place — I know you’re probably thinking “dumb bitch! Why the fuck are you going home with him? He could rape you or hurt you or even leave you stranded! What are you doing?!” I wish I could say I thought the same things too but I genuinely didn’t. I am positive I broke down this mans walls to the point that he’s truely vulnerable around me. I don’t trust him with my life but because he’s a father or really young kids and he’s always trying to make sure I’m okay, I knew deep down that he couldn’t hurt me. I also genuinely did want to see what his house was like, after all he lived up north of the city which is the fancy and rich people homes, houses in the north shore cost over 2million dollars.

We spent time chilling at his home, talking about his kids and things we both enjoy. This was really easy for me, if I closed my eyes and imagined my uni crush in front of me I could’ve sworn I would’ve been ultimately enjoying spending time with this man. Unfortunately he has a major dad bod, is bald and he’s roughly 5’8” meaning he’s not y’all enough for me to even feel remotely attracted to. When he kissed me I could taste the faint taste of cigarettes on his breath and I wanted to die a little bit. I am a good kisser — I have no doubts in my kissing abilities — so I put on a really good show and kissed that man like I actually liked it. His brain is attractive but the rest of him can be recycled. He gave me $300 and I went home feeling a little richer. Now I want to ask for an allowance or else a raise to $500 minimum. Imma tell him I’m quitting one of my jobs which will be hard for me to manage (he thinks I have two jobs and I’m a full time student when in reality I have no jobs and I just study full time).

So yea. That’s the tea on my first sugar daddy and how I’m being a complete fool with him lol. I guess because he’s my first sugar daddy experience and he’s a good guy I can practice on him and get an understanding of who I really want to be in the sugar bowl.

[reshiiii]

Greetings, addressing others and small talk in Slovak

Slovak has two forms of addressing others - “vykanie” and “tykanie”.

VYKANIE

formal form

the “vy” (plural you) is used to talk to adult strangers, older people, at offices, at shops, by children addressing adults, by students addressing teachers...

it´s good to first use formal form, as many adults will tell you “Tykaj mi” or “Kľudne mi tykaj” after a while, meaning that you can use the informal form while talking to them

in some families they use formal form if talking to grandparents or great-grandparents

ONIKANIE is the most formal form that can be, although it is rarely ever used now. It uses the “oni” (them-form) and is used when talking to great-grandparents, older generations used it to talk to their grandparents. You can also see it in church and clergy. It´s something I´d like to imagine you would use if talking to Queen (Elizabeth. Not Freddie. Although he deserves it)

did you know: vykanie is also used by fiancée/fiancé when talking to their in-laws. In Slovakia it´s normal to call your in-laws “parents” (which means that mother-in-law is called just “mother” and father-in-law “father”) but even then they still use the formal form. In “traditional” relationship bride - mother-in-law it is said it´s  “Pretože je ľahšie povedať ty krava než vy krava.” - “Because it´s easier to say (literally) you cow (singular you) than you cow (plural you).”

TYKANIE 

informal form

the “ty” (singular you) is used to speak to friends, family members, children, contemporaries, other students...

!! it´s considered rather impolite to use informal form while talking to elders or strangers

And now, greetings!

Ahoj!, Čau! - Hello!/Hi! but also Bye! Dobré ráno! - Good morning! Dobrý deň! - Hello!, literally Good day! Dobrý večer! - Good evening! Dobrú noc! - Good night! Dovidenia! - Goodbye!, basically See you later! Dovi! - Bye!, short form of Dovidenia Zbohom! - Goodbye! (as in God-be-with-you)

FORMAL COMMUNICATION

Kto ste (vy)? - Who are you (plural)?

(Ja) som ... - I am...

študent / študentka - male student/ female student

Odkiaľ ste ? - Where are you (pl) from?

(Ja) som .... - I am...

 z Ameriky - from America

z Anglicka - from England

z Poľska - from Poland

z Číny - from China

zo Slovenska - from Slovakia 

Ako sa máte ? - How are you (pl)?

Mám sa dobre. - (I) am good.

Aj ja. - Me too.

Ako sa voláte ? - What is your (pl) name?, literally What do you call yourself?

Volám sa .... - I am ... (lit. (I) call myself

Aké je vaše meno? - What is your (pl) name?

A  vy? - And you (pl)? 

In conversation:

Peter (he): Dobrý deň, ako sa máte? - Hello, how are you? Lucia (she) : Mám sa dobre. A vy? - I´m good. And you? Peter: Aj ja. Ako sa voláte? - Me too. What´s your name? Lucia: Volám sa Lucia a som študentka z Poľska. - I am Lucia (Lucy) and I´m a student from Polonia.  Peter: Ja som zo Slovenska a tiež som študent. - I am from Slovakia and I too am student. 

In conversation I translated it in phrases as Slovak has different syntax. For you to see it better, now I´ll translate it literally, from word to word and mark declining and “gendering”.

Peter: Good day, how are you? Lucia: I´m having a good (time). And you? Peter: Me too. What do you call yourself? Lucia: I call myself Lucia and (I) am a student from Polonia. Peter: I am from Slovakia and (I) too am student. 

Peter - typical male name in Slovakia. Pronounced  /Pεtεr/. Lucia - common female name. Pronounced /Lut͡si̯a/.

As I have already said, we like genders. You can see it in študent/študentka (student). Študent is used for guys and študentka for gals. I marked the genderising suffix (-ka) in the convo.  You can also see that Peter didn´t use “Slovensko” but “Slovenska”. That´s because of the declension. I am from... - Ja som z/zo... is 2nd grammatical case, genitive. Which means - Slovensko is nominative, Slovenska is genitive, Slovensku is dative and so on. We´ll get to it later.

Another thing. Slovaks don´t usually ask each other “How are you?”, unless they really mean it. That means you´d ask your friends, family, acquaintances and expected a sincere response, not just “I´m fine”. The only exception are elderly aunties that you´re sure you know form somewhere. Is she friends with your grandma? Did she babysit you? Is she your neighbor? And if you don´t know her. She knows  you. Especially if you live in village or small town. Aunties know everyone. So the small talk with her will look something like this: 

You: Good evening! Auntie: Oh hello darling, how are you? I heard your grandma has sprained her wrist, is it true? And how old are you? Where do you go to school? What year are you in? You know, my son went......*redacted for lenght* and then I met you! So, How are you? You: I´m fine, and you? Auntie: Oh, darling... *after 24635 things that hurt her in weather like this, all her genealogy, two recipes* Have a good day! *that grandma kiss on cheeks* and say hello to your family! At this point you´re just stunned a wave at her, while she goes off to the sunset. 

So, yeah. I didn´t get to informal conversation, but if you want, I can do it next time. Also, is it good like this? Did I explain it in a way, that you understand me? Should I continue?

Anyway, keep it up! 

[awed-frog]

I only just learned that Christine Nöstlinger died last week. It’s the kind of news that leaves you both sad and slightly incredulous, because even as an adult, it’s hard to see someone like Nöstlinger as a real person. To me, she’ll always be a funny, exotic name on the cover of a book - she was one of my favourite writers when I was a young child, and I don’t think it ever occurred to me that those people - people like Roald Dahl, Astrid Lindgren, Bianca Pitzorno or Michael Ende - actually existed in the real world, and did things as mundane as wear pajamas or brush their teeth. In fact, as I was scrolling through a couple of obituaries today, I was surprised to learn Nöstlinger was Austrian, not Swedish (her books were side by side with Lindgren’s on my shelf) and that if her stories were always delightfully subversive, it’s probably because she grew up in Nazi Austria and experienced that reality first-hand. And while I do understand this is a thing that happens - that people have lives, that they must be born somewhere and do stuff and exist in actual reality - as I read of her death I became a child of eight again; what I found myself mourning was that name on my bookshelf - nothing more. I am slightly ashamed of that, of knowing nothing about this person who brought me so much joy, because over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know some YA writers and I now have a new appreciation of how hard they work and how determined they are to make a difference - not only to make children happy, that is, but also to teach them how to think for themselves, to help them engage with the world around them with full awareness. And so, to honour Christine Nöstlinger and her work, I decided to translate a speech she gave to the Austrian Parliament for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen. I couldn’t find an English version of it, and I think it deserves to be more widely read - especially today.

“I was almost two when the Mauthausen concentration camp was opened, and as the last survivors were freed by American troops, I turned eight. For this reason, you could think this is not a subject I remember hearing about or discussing. 

But I do.

I didn’t know the word Mauthausen, but I was certainly familiar with the expression ‘concentration camp’. I would hear it again and again as my grandma grumbled about the Nazis with the dairywoman or at the grocer’s. That’s when someone would whisper in warning: ‘You’ll get in trouble!’, they’d say; or: ‘You keep talking like that, you’ll end up in a concentration camp!’.

One memory is particularly clear and vivid in my mind: my uncle, my mom’s kid brother, is visiting us. He stands in his SS uniform, tall and broad, very close to my mother, and says: ‘Ella, the Jews are all going to pass through the chimney!’. And my mother, who was much shorter than he was, went red with rage and slapped him across the face. I think that was the first and only time my normally placid mother ever hit someone.

Obviously, I didn’t understand what ‘pass through the chimney’ meant, but I could guess it was something really bad. And that was the day I understood that Mr Fischl had passed through the chimney. 

Mr Fischl was a shoemaker, and he’d had a shop in our alley. He’d resole shoes, repair heels and fix the toe caps so that those who couldn’t afford it wouldn’t have to buy new shoes for their growing children. In 1938, shortly after the Anschluss, my mother witnessed a chilling scene as she was coming home from work: a group of SA soldiers had dragged Mr Fischl out of his shop and they were now forcing him to scrub clean the three white arrows some regime opponents had painted on the wall. A truck was parked in the street, full of grinning SA men. Mr Fischl, on his knees, was surrounded by his amused neighbours. My mother, with a heavy heart, moved to the other side of the street and walked on; she later heard Mr Fischl had been taken away that very day. Soon after those events, an ‘Aryan’ shoemaker took over both Mr Fischl’s shop and his apartment. Nobody ever mentioned Mr Fischl again - nobody, that is, except my mother. Again and again, she’d tell my sister and me what had happened to him. She always felt guilty she hadn’t done anything to stop it, and would always justify that choice to herself by saying: ‘If I hadn’t had children waiting for me at home, I would have gone there and sent those thugs packing!’. 

I was a child then, and when you’re a child you need to see your mother as someone who’s big and strong and powerful - especially if your father has been away in Russia for a long time. I hadn’t known then that adults sometimes lie to themselves. For this reason, I was thoroughly convinced that my mother would indeed have saved Mr Fischl if I had never been born. ‘Where did they take Mr Fischl?’ I asked once, and when my mother answered bluntly ‘To a concentration camp.’, I came to believe his death had been my fault.

This irrational sense of guilt started to fade away when I finally noticed that my mother was neither strong nor powerful: she was small and helpless, and definitely not capable of sending anyone packing.

But not being guilty is not the same as not being responsible. Many people have fully accepted this, and have done their best to bear witness for future generations - they’ve tried to explain where racism once led us; they’ve stood up and spoke out whenever the mood was souring against a minority group. 

Now, that’s not an easy thing to do, and many others were simply too uncomfortable to even try. Instead, those people interfered with this effort to remember, pretended they hadn’t known what was going on, complained about what they themselves had lost in the war, and basked in the self-serving idea of a ‘new beginning’. In order to expedite this ‘new beginning’, our post-war governments were not particularly keen to prosecute those who’d been implicated in Nazi crimes. To be perfectly blunt, those people were simply too many to be locked away. Without them, there would have been no possibility to establish a functioning state. Where on Earth would we have found a sufficient number of teachers and civil servants with a perfectly clean slate soon after the end of the war?

Meanwhile, the efforts to welcome back home those Jews and political opponents who’d managed to flee abroad were lukewarm at best. And there was no question of even discussing how to better integrate the Roma and Sinti communities - or, those among them who’d survived. For all of those reasons, my generation and my children’s generation have grown up in a country in which racism, far from being a bad memory, was instead an ongoing, deep-seated conviction passed down from father to son and from mother to daughter.

And today, not much has changed for the better. The only difference is that racism now presents itself under a different guise. Nobody dares to use (and few to even think) words like ‘master race’, ‘subhuman’, ‘Rassenschande’ and ‘final solution’. There is a strong taboo around them.

No, our current form of racism simply rejects all that is foreign. It sees native people as being threatened by an unsustainable wave of immigration; it insists that foreigners have it easy, and what it means by that is: ‘Those people want to live off us, they want to take something away from us!’.

Those who think these things, those who say them openly when they know others will agree, well - they won’t write racist slogans on the walls, won’t vandalize Jewish tombs, won’t insult a veiled woman, won’t beat up black people or set fire to refugee centres. On the other hand, what they do is giving confidence and justification to the people who actually do all these things; the certainty that they’re acting in everybody’s best interest. They are the fertile ground upon which violence grows. 

And the number of minorities against whom people ‘have something’ (in the best case) or ‘do something’ (in the worst) is already increasing. To the traditional victims of disapproval and aggression, today we can add asylum seekers and economic refugees (no matter where they come from); also people with a migration background (no matter whether they’re Austrian citizens or not). And obviously, people whose skin is a different colour. Today, however, unlike what happened in the Nazi era, total assimilation seems to protect from hostility. And I fear that when we’re talking about ‘more integration’, well - to the large majority of the population, what that really means is ‘assimilation’. We do not want to experience and get used to what is foreign and unknown; we want those who only just arrived to adapt to our traditional way of life, and that will rarely succeed. That’s why we are uneasy with living with people from unfamiliar cultures. For a long time now, our politicians’ solution to this problem has been to wait and hope that the issue will fade as those who’re already here slowly become more tolerant and those who have recently moved here slowly learn how to fit in. Often, these expectations have been met; but just as often they have not.

What we need to do is implement concrete measures: for instance, compulsory kindergarten attendance and all-day schools. We need properly trained teachers so that children who speak a different language at home can learn German quickly and efficiently. That way, as they start school, both their language skills and their chances to have a good education will be the same as those of the native speakers. This is the only way to prevent the emergence of parallel societies in vulnerable neighbourhoods. Better schools are also the only viable tool to weaken the deeply ingrained racism of most of our local population. Let’s remember that those who know nothing will believe everything, even the most outrageous nonsense and the most shameless distortion of facts. 

That said, we still need to understand why so many people prefer to believe racists over those who say that it’s perfectly possible to coexist peacefully (if not to truly share our lives with others). Maybe there is a reason; maybe our skin doesn’t have seven layers, as we all have learned, but eight. Maybe this eighth layer is a ‘civilisation skin’. We are not born with it. It appears and changes as we grow up. Whether it’s thick or thin, well, that depends on how well we look after it. If we don’t care for it properly, it stays thin and tears easily. And what seeps from those wounds may lead to consequences that will again cause us to say: ‘No one ever wanted that’.”

Christine Nöstlinger, 2015

[drgreg]

Give Attention To The Family Discovering Freedom From Dependancy Part Dr Gregory Jantz On-line Discussion

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Part 29 of a fireplace chat with Dr. Gregory Denysschen, on the Book of Revelation and its relevance to understanding the occasions we're in. Part 30 of a fireside chat with Dr. Gregory Denysschen, on the Book of Revelation and its relevance to understanding the occasions we are in. Part 31 of a hearth chat with Dr. Gregory Denysschen, on the Book of Revelation and its relevance to understanding the instances we are in. Part 32 of a fireplace chat with Dr. Gregory Denysschen, on the Book of Revelation and its relevance to understanding the occasions we are in.

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