#christmas celebration in philippines | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ouiouimochi · 2 months ago

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hi I noticed that u were pipino hehe... since it's her months already, can I req how the characters react to f!reader basically celebrating Christmas literally MONTHS early

thankyou for requesting anon! I'm guessing you meant ber months? funny thing is I've gotten started on writing something for that prompt already but you requesting it also urged me to finish lmao… it's kind of rushed? but I do hope you enjoy it!

Never too early to celebrate the holidays!

context: so here in the Philippines, we actually start preparing for Christmas(heck even celebrating it) in September or the start of the ber months. now imagine how the defense force reacts to you practicing this

pairing/s: various kn8 x reader

genre/s: scenario type, slice of life, romance if you squint well, comedy, crack

wc: 2k

warnings: some characters may be ooc, not exactly canon compliant, grammatical errors, no beta we die like cattle, character studies just went out the window in this crackfic, careful for whiplash sweeties! huge mood changes

⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*

It was an unusually relaxed day in the Defense Force, free from the hectic stress of kaiju threats and the like. The day was spent training as usual, but everyone can tell that the atmosphere wasn't heavy with the burden of protecting Japan. They just knew, despite their doubts, that it wasn't the calm before a storm— the worry that their respite would soon be ruined by the stupid beasts that had been haunting them since time immemorial.

There was a distinct chill in the air, signaling the start of the crisp season of autumn. The officers of the Defense Force were already used to the drop in temperature, however some were not completely immune.

You were currently surrounded by your fellow recruits, talking about the sudden cold.

“It feels quite colder than last year,” Kikoru mentions, a small shiver running down her body. She rubs her hands together to gain warmth.

“Yeah, it wasn't this bad then.” Haruichi agreed while burying his hands deep into his parka jacket.

The group continued walking through the streets of the city, their batch having been approved for a day off after training.

“Reno, how in the damned hell are you unaffected?” reno my ice ice baby girl- Iharu hounded the mint haired male as he picked at the other male’s choice of outdoor clothes, the latter responding with a raise of an eyebrow and a shrug.

“We should get warm drinks,” you piped up as everyone expressed their agreement at your suggestion.

“I know just the place.” Haruichi pulled out his phone to show the group a cafe located not too far away. Before long, everyone arrived at the establishment with the ring of the bell above the door.

“Hot chocolate would be perfect,” Kafka sighed out, everyone else thinking of what warm drink to get as their eyes scoured through the menu.

“I'll probably have my usual coffee.”

“Maybe matcha tea?”

“Hot milk tea for me.”

“Macchiato.”

“There's no eggnog?” imsosorryidkwhatchristmasdrinktoputlmao a hum followed as the whole group stared at you with varying emotions.

You had a finger to your lip in thought while scanning the menu. You had your eyebrows slightly scrunched in concentration, debating what to get. A few gazes lingered on your face for a bit too long.

Noticing the silence, you looked at your friends and tilted your head. Realization creeps on your face and you cover your mouth with one palm, bowing apologetically.

“My bad, I didn't mean for everyone to wait for my order… I'll get the same as Reno then,” you sheepishly said.

⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ

“Hold on, I think I have to go get my package.”

“Again? That's like the 6th one this month, (Y/n).” Kikoru stopped walking before turning to you to raise an eyebrow while resting her hands on her waist.

You shrugged your shoulders, seeing no problem in buying stuff with your own money coughcoughnarumicanneverjkcough.

“What's wrong with it? It's not like I'm broke from buying stuff from Yamazon, no? Unlike…” you trailed off, letting your blonde friend finish for you.

She sighs in response, dropping her arms to her sides as you two resume walking.

“As much as I want to say a comeback, you're right about my moronic teacher… I swear, he always asks me for money.”

“Oh, Kikoru…” you pat her back, laughing lightheartedly, “but I do gotta wonder how he does that when his paycheck is more loaded than mine…”

Your younger friend shook her head, already done with the conversation. She waved you goodbye when you two had to separate ways.

You hummed on your way to the office where one receives any delivered goods from outside the base. You waved and smiled at the nice lady at the desk you managed to get acquainted with from your recent visits.

She pulled up a few boxes from under her desk, creating quite the stack. The lady sweat dropped when her eyes trailed from the piled parcels to you— realizing that it'd be quite troublesome for you to carry alone.

Meeting her gaze and knowing what she was thinking, you shook your head and pulled a thumbs up.

“Don't worry, I can handle this. I just have to sign here as usual right?”

She only nodded, still a little worried as you started stacking each box carefully in your arms. Her concern only raised when your head was barely peeking out from the topmost package.

“Thank you again!” and you somehow safely maneuvered yourself out the doorway without hitting anything.

You were doing pretty well despite having most of your eyesight blocked, having to rely on your other senses. You gotta be thankful that all that training paid off, but perhaps you may have overestimated your capabilities.

Although, you could've sworn nobody was in the vicinity as you felt no other presence— heard no other footsteps, rustling of clothes, or even breathing—, you still failed to react fast enough when you collided with someone at the next turn.

Your eyes widened in surprise while some of your packages flew upwards. Everything was in slow motion but you felt a faint warmth wrap around your back and waist to catch you from falling.

You focused more on the packages that were about to fall— afraid that some of the items would break— and caught them… except for one that soared a bit too far from your reach.

Thankfully, the person who you collided with managed to grab ahold of the last box. You closed your eyes and sighed in relief.

A deep playful chuckle reverberated in the air. Your eyes opened to be met with the cheeky grin of Vice Captain Hoshina. implayingfavoritesperhaps

You blinked at him before standing up straight and off his arm.

“Vice Captain Hoshina, sir! I apologize for the disrespect, but I am unable to currently salute you, sir…”

The man only laughs and waves it off with a friendly smile, a hint of one of his canines poking out.

“At ease,” he scanned you from head to toe, “quite a hazard to walk around with ‘ya vision blocked, no?” still in his hand was the package he caught for you.

“I was holding up quite well due to your training…” you stared up at him before narrowing your eyes jokingly, “But your movements had no sound at all, not even a rustle of your clothes.”

He hummed before taking half the pile of boxes in your arms.

“Where to?”

You tilted your head curiously at his gesture. Alhough it was not unusual for the vice captain to be kind, he usually didn’t show it in such a straightforward way. Nonetheless, you appreciated how he still left some for you to carry on your own.

You smiled and answered him, both of you falling in step towards your destination.

“So what're these for? Noticed you've had deliveries the past month as well.” The purple haired man queried.

You had a slight skip in your step, quite excited to open up the packages that you received. In response to his inquiry, you smiled up at him with a glint in your eyes, “Just some early gift buying for the holidays, sir.” before turning your head away to hum a tune in your head.

‘Christmas shopping in September?’

Hoshina’s eyes remain trained on your form, processing what you just said, before he shook his head and just let you be. Everyone else had learned to not to question you much no matter how… eccentric you were at times. Your eccentricity was one of your charms anyways.

“Careful with what you buy, don't want ‘ya ending up like a certain captain of the First Division…” He advised, finding the opportunity to poke fun at said person despite their current absence.

You rolled your eyes, finding it funny that this is the nth time today Captain Narumi was slandered. “I'm more responsible with my money than you all think, sir.”

Far away in the Ariake Maritime Base of the JAKDF, a certain two-toned haired male let out a sneeze while he was busy playing on his gaming console.

Hasegawa shook his head, “that's what gaming all night gets you,” the older man chided his captain as the said person only covered his ears, unwilling to listen to another lecture.

⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ

Another yoju drops dead on the concrete ground, everyone’s comms crackling to life.

“Immeasurable amount of yoju bounding to Zone Beta, honju’s whereabouts are unknown,” the familiar voice of Operations Manager Okonogi made itself through the earpiece.

“There's just no end to this!” an officer grumbled as everyone else started bounding to the designated zone.

“Kaiju horde spotted, permission to engage?” You announced into your device while readying your gun, being the first in position. The horde had an average of only 3.6 fortitude level— however, their numbers were what made them problematic. The operations room gave you the signal, indicating that it was something you could handle with your capabilities despite only being a recruit.

You wasted not another moment, immediately pulling the trigger of your pre-aimed gun. A yoju drops as its fellow species trampled over its fallen corpse.

The ground was rumbling with the beasts’ stampede through the open road. Yet again, another shot, another corpse. They were still far from your position, so you continued to efficiently gun down kaiju after kaiju.

You get into a steady beat, unconsciously following a certain rhythm from the back of your mind. You remain locked in, completely washing out most of your surroundings— well of course you are still aware of what's going on around you, just more hyperaware than ever.

“First Division backup has arrived at Zone Beta”

You continued firing away, by now the horde was noticeably dwindling away already. A pair of red glaring lenses watched on, having the pleasure of watching your work first hand as the owner was fastest to arrive.

Captain Narumi only wanted to quickly clear the largest wave of kaiju emergence of the year by far— cursing already how his division had to do a joint operation with the Third. Color him impressed as he just observed how you could clear the horde pretty much on your own. He was mesmerized by the timing and pattern of which you fired your gun—

He narrows his eyes when he realizes something, noticing that it was like you were casually playing a rhythm game with the monsters. Well, that wasn't exactly what made him pause…

‘She isn't shooting them down in the beat of a Christmas song, is she?'

⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ

“Do any of you think that maybe—just maybee—(Y/n) is actually insane?” Iharu randomly blurted out as the usual group of recruits gathered around. You weren't present at the moment since you were called to the captain's office for something.

“You’re the madman here for being brave enough to even question it.” Kikoru stated matter-of-factly.

“We're literally surrounded by unique people, why are you only pointing fingers at her?” Reno raised an eyebrow, ready to defend you anytime.

“I mean… it's only September… and she's already making holiday preparations!” The pink-haired male tried to explain.

“...He does make quite the point.” Kafka nodded along.

“Eh, how are you all sure she's been doing so?” Reno challenged.

The eldest of the group mentioned what he noticed, “Hasn’t (Y/n) been craving and looking for Christmas season food—”

“You've no right to judge a woman's sudden urge to eat something.” Hakua interjected, the tall female always so passionate when it comes to cuisine.

“Come to think of it… Her part of the room’s been unusually cramped with some packages...” Akari’s mellow voice echoed out.

“It's not really our business to pry into how she uses her paychecks though…”

and so the group bickered back and forth— one half providing ‘evidence’ of your weird behavior, the second half making up possible reasons behind them.

“She’s been humming ‘All I want for Christmas is You‘ by Mariah Carey the past 2 weeks for fuck's sake!”

⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*⁠･⁠｡⁠ᴥ⁠༚˳•⁠⁠°. ☆ﾟ⁠˖⁠*

notes: CRYING SCREAMING HOW DO I WRITE HOSHINA TALKING I FORGOT HOW TO WRITE HIM HHHHHHH (too lazy to edit his parts, this has been in the drafts since the start of september… kinda wanna get it over and done with-)

this was hella rushed, isn't it obvious I made different parts at different days? its a mess just like me :P

#kaiju no 8 x reader #kaiju no.8 x reader #kaiju no. 8 x reader #kn8 x reader #kn8 #soshiro hoshina #hoshina soshiro #soshiro hoshina x reader #hoshina soshiro x reader #reno ichikawa #reno ichikawa x reader #kn8 reader insert #kaiju no 8 reader insert #is this enough tags? i think its enough tags

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kayakoto-enterprises · 2 months ago

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🛌 - do you and your f/o sleep in the same bed? if you do, do you have a favorite and least favorite thing about sleeping together?

🎇 - do you and your f/o have a favorite holiday to celebrate together? what is it? do you have different holidays you like celebrating?

🥧 - have you and your f/o tried to bake something together? how did it go? what did you make?

Hai hai wrennnn I'm on lunch break so lemme run through these <3. Thank you!

🛏: Julianne initially bought a bigger bed. She was already hoping she'd settle in with someone while she stayed in Woodbrook. Her persuing Sam only came after they developed a friendly acquaintanceship so in terms of any sleeping arrangements, Julianne was more than ready.

SINGLE METAL BED FRAME😭😭😭 Initially Sam and Julianne just sleep on the floor or couch together because there's no way THAT will accomodate them both so they prefer sleeping over at Julianne's apartment. I dunno. Even into the relationship, Sam has the mindset that they'll eventually end up as an expendature she can move on from. But sometimes you just get so numb and powerless you buy another metal bedframe to connect the other to and she can finally sleep over at your house more.

I get so emotional over beds and sleeping arrangements!! It circles back to Stuffed Animal where Lesley doesn't need to sleep since she's already a doll and The Illustrator does. It's more on tapping into each other's humanity and recognizing that living beings need adequate rest and a comfortable bed to sleep in..for House Guest it's improving those living conditions or having set them already because you care enough for your partner to rest well. Julianne didn't plan on dating Sam on day one but it's probably coinscidence and a pattern she got a bigger bed not knowing how big her partner will be eventually.

Ahh them sleepin together is super comfortable but they have pet peeves about how the other sleeps. Julianne is an active dreamer and squirms, rolls, kicks, or bumps in her sleep. She also sometimes just Doesn't Sleep and starts kneading on Sam's arm. It's especially annoying when they both have work the next day and one ends up with a sore arm and one's barely alive at 2 pm.

Sam is Perpetually Warm and it's great when it's fall or it's winter but it's Bad during the Summer especially around June (for. Reasons.) Around that time she's extra physical and handsy so Julianne who's usually a hot sleeper finds it a bit annoying. Sam also hogs the blankets which would be fine most times but it's bad timing after exercise or during the winter. They both enjoy everything else so nothing here is that big of a deal.

🎆: Ohhh it's between Christmas and this springtime fair Woodbrook hosts!! Christmas reminds Julianne of her home since they like to celebrate Christmas big, and she's just lucky to celebrate Christmas with someone on her first year!! Let alone her crush!! As for the fair, in the Philippines, schools have spring fairs from February to March. One that's prominent is the Antipolo Fair I attend quite often so Woodbrook having a smaller scale version would be fun. I imagine in that one month Sam and Julianne didn't talk, it happened just outside Julianne's apartment. She people-watches from her window, her eyes obviously searching for someone. In the next year they go together as a date!!

🥧: I used to bake a lot during the pandemic lockdown so I think Julianne likes baking but now just doesn't have time. She bakes pies, cakes, some local recipes, but she mostly bakes cookies for Sam during the pining stage. It's fairly easy to do in between work and you can keep the batter in the fridge for days plus it keeps its shape in the oven when refridgerated. They have tried making sourdough together early into the relationship after Julianne attempts it and it goes awry. It's another fic idea simmering because sourdough is such a hard bread to bake and I get intimidated by most bread recipes. I dunno. Maybe it means something somewhere hehe

#house guest 🐈🐻

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kavalyera · 6 days ago

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Christmas Tree, Broken heart and Thinking face, for Florante!

🎄 CHRISTMAS TREE — what is your oc's favorite holiday?

Christmas! He’s Filipino so it’s a sort of month long Holiday that he gets to celebrate with family and close friends by going out together or cooking and eating together. He doesn’t get that anymore considering he’s lost his family and he’s distanced himself from his (human) friends.

💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc's negative traits?

Florante’s biggest negative trait is being vengeful, he has this anger inside of him that comes from the fact his family was disrespected then slaughtered like animals and he couldn’t do anything about it which then led to his embrace. He’s also ruthless at times, something he can’t control. Florante’s always been a peaceful person when he was alive but being a Banu Haqim with a strong desire for revenge, taking it out on anyone who even resembles the people that’s killed his wife and kids. Florante is also really paranoid, he doesn’t know how to trust all that well

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

Florante frequently checks if he can use anything as a weapon. He was apart of the Philippine Navy and is also a paranoid guy so it makes sense for him to survey any place he and his coterie go to if he doesn’t have a weapon on hand. Usually he does, and keeps checking if he can whip his weapon out with ease. He’s constantly checking bullets and ammunition

symbol ask game !

#his entire coterie is filipino #so they call him tito florante #tito means uncle in tagalog #he has a new family🥹#(thats why he’s so protective over them)#marquis asks #oc: florante #vtm #vtm oc #banu haqim

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theinbornartist · 3 months ago

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|| So hi guys—today marks the day of the start of the Christmas season in the Philippines and I just thought of celebrating it by writing a fic. For background: in our country, we have the longest christmas season and it starts September and ends in January. It has been like a custom. Also Filipinos become really excited already when Ber-Months arrive( months ending in ber). Me, I am one of that Filipinos haha. Kidding aside, I do hope you would enjoy this piece I made. Happy First Day of the Christmas Season! ||

ᴡᴀʏɴᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴏʀ, sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ғɪʀsᴛ

She could not sit idly by—when its already around the corner. What was? Well, Christmas but it was only September so what was she giddy about?

Arnoren knew that it was already the start of christmas season in the Philippines. She could imagine the malls already playing christmas songs, households starting to put up the decorations and selected houses playing christmas music the moment the sun had risen on this particular day. Perhaps the news of a coming tropical storm already being present in various stations. The female only sighed. For her, she had missed those moments.

Gotham didn’t have that. It didn’t celebrate the start of Christmas season. So what did she do? Bring it to Wayne Manor. She hurried down the stairs right after waking up. The manor was silent since everyone could still be asleep. The redhead peeked to see if Alfred was present—then she heard what could be pots being moved about at the kitchen. She darted towards that direction and saw that Alfred was already preparing what could be hot chocolate.

“If you don’t mind, Miss Ren. I already started the rice cakes.” He said ever so politely with that posh accent of his that Arnoren oh so dearly had imitated from time to time. Alfred gestured at the pot that was already on the stove top.

“Oh uhm thanks Alfred.” She chuckled shyly. Arnoren had coaxed the butler, sweetly, of this surprise that she had planned out. Alfred was also curious of her customs so he agreed.

She went over to help him with the chocolate.

“Let me just get this over to the top as well to heat up.” She hoisted the pot and ever so slowly walked to the stove and placed it above, turned it on and placed the lid.

“Thank you, miss.” Alfred said.

“No problem, I’ll be back. Time for the second phase of the operation.” She giddily replied before running out of the kitchen then to the living room.

What do you expect of a billionaire in his living room?

—a high end, high tech, sound system right before your very eyes. Arnoren could feel the “hallelujah” generating from this tech. “You are truly a beauty, you know that.” Arnoren pat the object as she was amused by it. She was shaking her head as well. Right after, she took out her phone. The redhead then connected it to the glorious sound system. “It be funny if you spoke the general: the bluetooth iz now connected succezzfally.” She laughed to herself after mimicking that voice over coming from connected devices. Perhaps those voice overs was made by Chinese? When her phone was connected, she opened Topify and searched for the playlist that she had already planned to use for today. Finding it, she clicked it and lo and behold—the sound system was singing christmas songs.

Arnoren felt goosebumps run across her body—the feeling of dear nostalgia was real.

She smiled to herself and nodded.

“Phase two, complete.” Arnoren clapped her hands and then head back to the kitchen to help Alfred.

Meanwhile, a couple of moments had passed and upstairs, things had began to stir. A door had opened and from by who it was—Tim was the first one to wake up. Maybe he was just a light sleeper on this particular day. Or maybe he was hearing noises downstairs.

He checked his phone and didn’t care about the messy bedhead hair he was having when saw it on the phone’s reflection.

“6Am…thats early. Really early for Bruce.” He said, voice hoarse due to have just waken up. “Huh. So its already September.” He also took note of that. Then something caught his attention.Was he hearing things or was there christmas songs being played downstairs?

That was odd. Pretty odd.

Tim was determined to investigate downstairs but just as he had just placed his foot forward, two doors had opened. Jason and Dick got out.

“What the fuck is going on..” Jason yawned.

Dick rubbed his lidded eyes.

“Is that music?” He asked, looking over to Tim who probably was now fully awake.

“I think so.”

“Did Bruce buy a new track?” Jason walked over to the railing to hear what could the music be about.

“Maybe. He has the money. But why play it so early?” Dick now yawned, starting to stretch his body as well.

“Guys, why would Bruce play Christmas music in September?” Tim pointed out.

Jason turned to face Tim while Dick paused the stretching of his beautiful body.

“What?”

“You heard what I said Jay, christmas music.” Tim replied, now leaning against the wall that was near the stairs.

“Hang on, hang on-“ Dick extended his arms out. “Christmas music?”

“Do we have to repeat bird brain?” Jason playfully hit the back of Dick’s head.

“Ow.” The pretty man looked back at Jason while rubbing the back of his head “Take it easy.”

“But yeah—Christmas music is being played downstairs and thats pretty odd…even for Bruce.” The short haired man spoke. Jason and Dick listened to Tim and weighed it about. He was right.

“So could we have intruders at home?”

Dick suggested.

“That plays Santa Baby and Oh come all ye faithful? Nah. Let’s be real, Dick. Those are some lameass villains.” Jason scoffed.

“Alright fine. How about we check if we’re complete.” He said, opening one door. Dick could see Steph and Cass together asleep. Probably they had a sleepover. Jason saw Duke asleep as well. Tim saw their demon of a brother Damian present but once he had checked Arnoren’s room— she wasn’t there.

“So uhm, my girlfriend isn’t in her room.” Tim spoke. Jason and Dick faced him.

“Hostage situation?” Dick stated the obvious. Jason crossed his arms.

“Right, so Ren is downstairs being tormented with Oh Holy Night and God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen.” came Jason’s additional remark.

“Jason,” Tim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, too early for all this shit. He also was clearly done with the christmas jokes and was worried about his missing partner.

“Men we need to focus. We could have intruders in the house and they could have Ren and maybe Alfred. So we have to keep our wits about us. We’re going to use stealth.” Dick spoke, feeling right that he was going to lead this sudden mission.

Jason and Tim looked at each other and then immediately guided Dick down the stairs.

“You first—“ Jason pushed Dick.

“Hey what gives?” Dick cried out.

“Your call.” Tim chimed.

They had finally reached the end of the stairs and walked towards where could the intruders be.

“Alright, so we jump them.” Dick pointed to the kitchen. They clearly heard noises coming out of there. Jason and Tim nodded.

“In the count of three-“

“One.”

“Two-“

“You guys look silly.”

Hearing a voice, all three (brave) men had jolted up and then had themselves in a ready stance only to find a laughing redhead. Arnoren could see the confusion and surprise on their faces.

“Ren?!” Tim exclaimed.

“Hi. And good morning to you all! And Merry Christmas!” She cheekily smiled and waved at them. The three men looked at each other still confused.

“What?” Jason and Dick chorused.

“I will explain…but come come—“ Arnoren walked around and guided the three men into the kitchen.

Dick, Jason and Tim could see Alfred cutting out squares from a giant banana leaf. They could also see that there were a bunch of them on the kitchen counter.

“Good morning young masters.” Alfred politely called out. “Miss Ren has prepared for you a special breakfast for today.”

They turned to face Arnoren who was just smiling while there was a stark contrast of the look of confusion in the men’s faces.

“You planned this?” Tim asked her. Arnoren smiled sheepishly.

“Yes.” She answered.

“And Alfred was on this as well?” Dick also inquired, peeking his head from behind Tim.

“Yes.” Arnoren replied again. She made them sit on the chairs.

“I reckoned it was interesting to join in this conspiracy.” came Alfred’s remark.

“Huh.” Dick slumped to his chair after realizing what all this was. Jason watched as the redhead went over to get some mugs for them.

“Whatcha got there, pipsqueak?” Jason looked over. Hearing the nickname coming from Jason, she turned to them.

“Oh hot chocolate. I also have some rice cakes done.” She replied, placing one mug in front of them. Arnoren did see Tim crossing his arms.

“Care to explain?” Tim looked at her. He didn’t look furious but at times, maybe just interested. That wasn’t a glare that she saw right?

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat. “Its already September here and the Philippines—so I thought I’d celebrate the start of Ber-months here.” Arnoren explained, ladling a cup of hot chocolate from the pot that she now held and pouring the ladled contents to the mug. This was something perhaps foreign to the men before her. “Its the start of Christmas season, Tim. Look it up.” She added.

Tim did as he was told and took his phone out. After typing, he searched about and read an article. Being seated in between Jason and Dick, he showed it to the two as well.

“Christmas season starts September huh. Interesting.” Dick said about to take a sip from his mug.

“Wait that needs sugar.” Arnoren cautioned. She then placed the container of sugar on the table. “According to your liking, but yeah. As early as September, we start the christmas season.”

Tim and Jason were watching videos about the topic at hand.

“So that’s why christmas music was playing in the living room. We really thought you were being tortured with We Wish You A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, or Maria Carey-“Jason spoke with a grin.

“But on loop.” Arnoren joined in.

“Nice.” They high fived each other. When it comes to shenanigans—Arnoren and Jason usually gets along.

“Kidding aside,” Dick made sure they heard him. “You had us worried. We thought something happened to you. Tim here…especially.” He added pointing to Tim who was checking the ratio of the sugar for this particular hot chocolate that he has not tasted before. Arnoren glanced at him and went over to her boyfriend.

“Sorry for making you worry.” She cooed, hugging his waist. Tim looked down and ruffled her hair.

“It’s okay just tell me next time, hmm?”

“If the situation allows.” Arnoren replied, giggling, allowing him to mess her hair.

“Meaning?”

“Yeah Ren, why didn’t you tell Tim?” asked Jason, clearly interested.

“I meant to tell him but it be no fun.” Arnoren answered simply.

“Damn.” Dick and Jason chorused. Tim just rolled his eyes and playfully shoved their shoulders.

“Knock it off.” Tim did chuckle a bit.

“Just know that I can handle myself—oh wait rice cakes.” Arnoren then went to get some out of the steamer but Alfred got there first and took it out.

“Here you go, miss Ren.” He said handing the tray to her. Arnoren then noticed that it looked fancy.

“Wow, this is wrapped elegantly.” She remarked.

“I try.” Alfred said proudly.

“Alright gentlemen. This is puto.” She said placing down the tray that the rice cakes. The rice cakes, were purplish brown in color and they were glutinuous or sticky. They were also wrapped in those banana leaves that the three men had seen earlier when they entered the kitchen.

Almost everyone had a different reaction. Tim choked on the chocolate, Dick whipped his head to face her and Jason had an eyebrow raised.

“P-Puto?” Tim stuttered.

“Yes, puto.”

“Puto?!” Dick exclaimed.

“She said puto, dumbass.” Jason hit him in the back of the head as well. Dick glared.

“I-Its not what you think. That’s just a name for our rice cakes. And what you’re drinking is Sikwati, or in other words Hot chocolate. I thought that be the perfect breakfast as a reminder of what is to come during December which is Midnight Mass or Simbang Gabi.”

“I see.” Tim acknowledged her explanation. Arnoren then walked over so that she could explain to Tim what it was.

Meanwhile Dick and Jason tried to say the word: Sikwati. Jason got it on the first try but Dick was having a hard time.

“How can you pronounce it that fast?”

“I read.”

“No fair. You even pronounced that word “habal-habal” in one go!” Dick managed but clearly it sounded still foreign to his tongue whilst Jason,though accent apparent, he did it flawlessly.

“I’m just talented, Dick.” Jason sassily replied.

“It took me weeks to get that you know-“

Arnoren only chuckled watching them. Perhaps she made the right decision about celebrating the start of Christmas season here in Wayne Manor.

“Oh yeah, you guys, we will be hanging up the Christmas decors too!”

“What?” All three of the men chorused.

Later, the other members of the family had gone downstairs only to see that: Dick, Tim and Jason were being rowdy as they helped in putting up the Christmas tree while Arnoren was focused on placing other decorations in place.

“That belongs here.” Jason pointed out, placing a christmas ball on a side of a tree.

“Jay, that place is already crowded. Look.” Tim pointed out. “That place looks bare.”

Dick reached out and took that one christmas ball.

“How about here?” He suggested placing it among the same colored ones.

“Nope.” Jason and Tim, shook their heads. Arnoren glanced at them and came over to help. “Seriously? You can’t even decorate a Christmas tree?”

“What is going on here?” Bruce managed to ask. Alfred came over to them with a plate of rice cakes.

“They can explain, Master Bruce.”

The other members took some of the rice cakes, while actually wondering about the same question as well.

Bruce walked over to the four.

“What are you guys doing?” He asked, his voice clearly holding authority.

Dick, Jason, Tim and Arnoren looked at each other and smiled,

“Christmas in September.”

And I am done! Whew, I started writing this, this morning and ended this afternoon. I was busy hahah. But yeah, I had fun writing this. Again, do please enjoy! See ya guys, soon! 🫡✨🎄

ᴬᵛ2024

#christmas #christmas in september #dc fanfic #dc oc #wayne family #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #oc fic #delulu

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luucypevensie · 16 days ago

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🦔 + Reyna Baccay, please??

@dancingsunflowers-ocs 💖

YAS MY NEW BB GIRL THANK YOU ALEXANDRA! Tagging the moots: @ginger-grimm, @daughter-of-melpomene, @nikosasaki, @thetenthdoctorscompanion, @aliverse, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, @gabbysdawsons

If they celebrate the holidays. What do they do if they celebrate? And what do they do if not? When she was alive, Rey's family celebrated traditional Filipino holiday traditions. Basically, their house was in full on Christmas mode from September to middle of January, and Christmas Eve was a big thing consisting of going to Midnight Mass and having their Noche Buena ("Good Night") feast while Christmas Day is spent with the whole family going to Misa de Gallo ("Rooster's Mass") and visiting her extended family. When she became a ghost, Rey couldn't do any of her traditions with her family, which she was devasted about. As a result, Julie, Flynn, and the boys tried to do some of the traditions with her so she wouldn't miss out on them. Reyna had never loved them as much as she did the first time they partook in that first Noche Buena

If they died today and turned into a ghost, what would they do in the afterlife? Haunt their loved ones? Waste away? Joke's on you, Rey's already a ghost haha! She became a ghost after being murdered while walking home from Julie's house one night, and her time in the afterlife is spent trying to figure out who killed her with help from Julie, Flynn, the boys and her bandmates while also killing it up on stage with Las Mariposas

Their favorite sitcom: Schitt's Creek (Rey LOVES Alexis and the growth she made throughout the seasons)

Their favorite drama movie: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Their current hyperfixation: Does creating lists of why Julie Molina and Luke Patterson, as well as Alex Mercer and Willie, are the OTPs count as a hyperfixation? Because, if so, then that’s it because my girl is crazy and doesn’t have much of a life as a ghost

Their favorite dish from when they were a child: Rey’s father makes an incredible adobo, which is a stew made with meat marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and spices. It’s still her favorite dish, even after she died

How they accessorize: Rey loves to accessorize by layering a couple different necklaces (she has a necklace shaped like the North Star that was gifted to her by her mother, a chain necklace with a Saturn pendant on it that Julie and Flynn gave to her for her birthday one year, and a choker-style bead necklace she made herself around her neck), putting butterfly clips in her hair (she and Julie both love butterflies), and her earrings are usually in the shape of stars (basically, her style is very astronomy-based usually with a splash of butterflies)

If they cry easily: Before she was a ghost, Rey didn’t cry all that often. However, after she became a ghost, the tears did not stop coming (and I mean, who could blame her? She was MURDERED, for god sakes)

What makes them feel secure: Being around her found family after becoming a ghost (Julie, Flynn, Luke, Reggie, Alex, Willie, and her band)

If they could live in another country besides the one they were born in, what would it be? The Philippines because Reyna loves her culture and would want to surround herself with it

#oc: reyna baccay #fic: brutal #tv: jatp #oc asks #dancingwith-sunflowers #THANKS AGAIN ALEXANDRA

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damelucyjo · 7 months ago

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A Fall Guy press update, really.

I've put this update into groups, if you will; Firstly, the interview with Willie Geist. I've added both the podcast and the clip. Secondly is the cruise ship naming ceremony. I've added both Hannah's part in the ceremony, plus a short interview. Then we have the Fall Guy press that has happened so far. And lastly, a few things that were sent to me and the newest episode of Krapopolis ☺️

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist Podcast

Hannah Waddingham on ‘The Fall Guy’ and impact of ‘Ted Lasso'

Sun Princess Ship Naming Ceremony

Godmother Hannah Waddingham Officially Names Sun Princess! | Princess Cruises

Hannah Waddington, Winston Duke & Stephanie Hsu On Making The Fall Guy A Love Letter To Filmmaking

THE FALL GUY Interviews! Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke

The Fall Guy's Ryan Gosling & Emily Blunt Talk T-Swift And Terrifying Stunts! The Fall Guy Exclusive

INTERVIEW - Falling into the world of stunts with the cast of The Fall Guy

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt Cry to Taylor Swift | The Fall Guy Interview

Winston Duke on visiting the Philippines and Hannah Waddingham on NOT doing karaokes.

THE FALL GUY (2024) | Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham and David Leitch

The Fall Guy - On Set interviews with the cast and crew

I've had a few links shared with me, so I've added; Celebrating Sondheim - 2020 Chichester Festival Theatre, Q&A after a screening of her Christmas Special, and a recording of Spamalot (Broadway 2008) (Not the best, but watchable)

MP3s of the songs from Celebrating Sondheim

And episode 19 of Krapopolis

As always, please let me know if there is anything you’d like to share and add to our growing list, or if any of the existing links are broken. Thank you!

#Hannah Waddingham #Hannah Waddingham Masterlist #Hannah Waddingham Media

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maya-chirps · 1 year ago

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Simbang Gabi: The 9 Days Before Christmas

An image of a red parol from Peakpx.com

The Philippines is well-known for its extremely long Christmas celebration that a lot of foreigners often look at with confusion. Traditionally, Filipinos may start putting up their trees, playing festive songs, and counting down to the 25th as early as September in a season that's colloquially called the "ber months" or the "ber months season" (Petrelli, 2021). This period often lasts up until January or February where some houses may still keep their trees and decor pushing as far as March.

Even with this technicality, however, you'd be hard-pressed to find Filipinos truly celebrating from the very beginning of September genuinely ending it by the end of February. Most often, actual celebrations start after Undas, a period encompassing All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the 1st and 2nd of November respectively to commemorate the dead, similar but a lot more subtle than other Catholic countries own Day of the Dead like in Mexico's Dia de Los Muertos and Italy's Giorno dei Morti. This time period is often the start of people doing more Christmas-y things such as Kris Kringle activities leading up to the main Christmas party.

The main markers of the true start in itself is the Advent season, which starts on the Sunday nearest to the 30th in Western Churches like Roman Catholicism and leads up to Christmas ("Advent", n.d.). This is where Catholics would go to Church every Sunday leading up to Christmas to light the Advent Wreath until the final candle on its center on Christmas day on the 25th. As the Philippines is heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism, Filipinos follow the Western start of Advent and most celebrations often fall in the middle of this time period. Even the middle of Advent, however, Filipinos have a waiting period to count down before Christmas - Simbang Gabi.

What is Simbang Gabi?

Simbang Gabi (en. night mass; going to mass at night) is a Philippine Christmas tradition wherein Roman Catholic Filipinos would attend mass nine days every single morning or night before the actual Christmas celebration. Traditionally, the masses were held every morning at 4:00 AM from the 16th to the 24th which would then be capped off by Christmas Eve Mass at night or Christmas Mass on the 25th with its early schedule earning it the name Misa de Gallo (en. mass of the rooster) (Lazaro, 2020). In most dioceses, however, they often have an anticipated mass schedule that start a night earlier than the morning masses (Hermoso, 2022).

Besides being called Misa de Gallo, I had also heard the celebration being called Misa de Aguinaldo (en. mass of gifts) in some places. This shares the same name as the similar Puerto Rican tradition Misa de Aguinaldo which is also a nine-day mass held in the morning, typically at 5:00 AM which is also deeply-rooted in Puerto Rican Christmas traditions (Álvarez, 2018).

History

A vintage greeting card posted by the Facebook group Vintage Philippine Islands 1920-1959 (2020)

Being a Christmas tradition, it is not surprising that Simbang Gabi could trace itself back to the Spanish colonial period.

A common misconception of its origins states that the practice first started in Mexico. Hermoso (2018) states that it started on the year 1587 by Friar Diego de Soria of the Convent of San Agustin Acolman when he requested the Vatican to allow church service to be held outdoors because of an overflow of attendees during the Christmas time. Pope Sixtus V later approved of this request and even decreed that these kinds of masses be held in the Philippines at the dawn of the 16th of December. What this doesn't account for was that the practice of going to church for the Eve of Christmas dates back to even earlier than the 16th century.

The cover for an English translation and compilation of Etheria's writings by M.L. McClure and C.L. Feltoe, D.D. (1919)

The first recorded instance of Christians celebrating Christmas by going to early mass leading up to the actual date was first written by Egeria (also called Egeriae, Etheria, or Aetheria), a Christian Galician woman who first recorded it during her travels to the Levant where she notes the early morning masses and festivities from the time of the Epiphany to the Nativity. She writes in her letters later called the Itinerarium Egeriae (en. The Travel Guide of Egeria; The Pilgrimage of Etheria).

"Octave of the Festival. On the second day also they proceed in like manner to the church in Golgotha, and also on the third day; thus the feast is celebrated with all this joyfulness for three days up to the sixth hour in the church built by Constantine (...) And in Bethlehem also throughout the entire eight days the feast is celebrated with similar festal array and joyfulness daily by the priests and by all the clergy there, and by the monks who are appointed in that place (...) and immense crowds, not of monks only, but also of the laity, both men and women, flock together to Jerusalem from every quarter for the solemn and joyous observance of that day." - Egeria, 381-384; The Pilgrimage of Etheria (trans. McClure & Feltoe, 1919):

The practice of attending early morning masses up until the main festivities of the Nativity was later adopted by more Western Christian communties during the time of Pope Sixtus III when he celebrated what is widely considered the first Midnight Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, not only stemming from the popularity of the Christians from Jerusalem but also the popular belief that Jesus was born at midnight (The Pillar, 2021).

The prayer spoken within the midnight vigil was then called the "mox ut gallus cantaverit" which translates to "when the rooster crows", aptly named because of the early hours the vigil tended to last which then coincided with the crowing of roosters ("Misa del Gallo: origen, historia y por qué se celebra en la madrugada del 25 de diciembre", 2022). The practice was continued by the Spanish with the name Misa de Gallo (also called Misa de Aguinaldo)which later spread throughout the Spanish Empire and could now be seen practiced in countries like Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and of course the Philippines.

There seem to be two variations of this: the nine-day series of masses before Christmas (found in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela) and the single early morning mass before Christmas day (found in Spain and Bolivia). It isn't clear if Spain and Bolivia simply dropped the nine-day tradition or if the nine-day tradition was restarted in these other colonies, however.

In the Present Day

An image of crowds outside a church during Simbang Gabi uploaded to Wikimedia by Erwin Malicdem

Today, the Simbang Gabi continues to be a popular tradtion for most Filipino Roman Catholics, even those who aren't typically as religious most parts of the year. This is given the fact that a popular belief is that when a person completes all of the nine days, they may receive a wish to whatever they desire. This is such a common belief that Bishop Broderick Pabillo, a Manila auxiliary bishop, had to remind people that the point of the tradition is to remember Jesus and his nativity (Punay, 2016). Besides this, it is also a common challenge among Filipinos to try to complete it as is or see how many days out of the nine could they actually attend.

It is not uncommon for churches these days to hold an "anticipated" mass the night before the actual date starting instead on the 15th and ending on the 24th with a Christmas mass, instead of starting on the 16th and ending on the 25th. This newer tradition had come from the reign of Filipino dictator President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. during the Martial Law years in the 70s, when Filipinos were not allowed to go out after a curfew until 4 in the morning (Macairan, 2023). This allowed more people and especially those who may not be able to start their day early or those who may have other obligations in the morning to attend masses at night time, typically at around 6 PM - 8 PM.

The only large controversy that I could remember about Simbang Gabi was back in 2011 when the event was banned from being conducted within the Philippine Center in New York City. The ban came about because of it supposedly violated Canon Law which prohibits religious worship in unconsecrated ground or in other words places that aren't seen as places of worship. In an article by Adarlo & Pastor (2014), Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Marabe, the at-the-time head of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz and a priest-in-residence at St. Patrick's Cathedral where the ban took place, explains in an interview with news site The FilAm:

"It’s not allowed by law to have Holy Mass in an unconsecrated place. Worship should take place in a sacred place. That was an explanation but not a decision. The Archdiocese decides." - Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Marabe, head of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Chinatown, New York (2011)

The ban was later lifted on 2014 after community leader Loida Nicolas Lewis wrote a letter to the diocese to reconsider the ban which led to the return of the almost 30-year-old tradition that year (Balitang America, ABS-CBN North America Bureau, 2014).

Besides being a huge part of current traditions, a lot of Filipinos, and especially Filipino youth, use the event as an excuse to go out during the night to hang out with friends and even go on dates with their partners. It is not an uncommon sight to see a group of teenagers, often wearing maybe less than typical church clothes, by the edge of the Church seemingly attending mass. Whether or not they're actually being attentive is hard to decipher. Either way, this has led to an explosion of memes almost every year just mocking these kinds of people or making fun of their own.

A screenshot of the "Simbang gabi starter pack" posted by user rhapido on 9Gag.com (2022)

Earlier versions of this meme could be seen posted throughout Filipino social media during the early 2010s

A meme posted by the Facebook page FEU Memes (2012)

The barkada (en. friend group) going to Simbang Gabi had been an older tradition that has found a lot more popularity in the contemporary era because of social media. My mother had told me that she used to use it as an excuse herself back in the 80s to hang out with her friends at night time. This may be a continued past time for especially younger people for years to come.

There's also many street foods associated with Simbang Gabi that may not be unique to the event itself but are nevertheless heavily associated with the event due to their widespread sale during this time period. Foods like bibingka, puto bumbong, kutsinta, and other popular rice cakes dominate the scene which definitely satisfy the hungry parishioners who had, most likely, not eaten breakfast or dinner before going to church. With their strong associations with Simbang Gabii and Filipino Christmas as a whole, I might discuss these on a later date.

Simbang Gabi, from my experience

Growing up and living in the Philippines and especially being raised Catholic within a Catholic town named after a Catholic saint and going to a Catholic school named after another Catholic saint, it probably won't shock you that I, myself, had tried to complete the nine days of Simbang Gabi myself. I had attempted it several times with only maybe trying seriously by myself once in my life. It was quite the experience to just try to dedicate yourself into completing a goal to do something for nine consecutive days straight.

My first attempt was when I was in Junior High and it was with my sister and two people who worked for my parents and had helped watch over us. It was something that I always wanted to try doing and especially since I was gaining a lot more independence at the time so what better to try it out without the rest of the family? With adult supervision, of course.

Since we lived quite away from the actual church, the place was already packed even an hour before the actual mass started. There was barely any seats left and even less standing room leading to a huge overflow of people stuck outdoors, only hearing mass from the outdated speaker system that they had erected in place of the old bell tower.

The mass in our church was often done in the dark during the night out of an deliberate and probably aesthetic choice with only the alter being illuminated by the lights. The rest was lit up by the scattered about Christmas decor throughout the church and the church patio. It always felt like going to some liminal space that other nights at church just doesn't give.

Once the mass has been concluded, people rush out of the doors in thick crowds to find their way into the footpaths leading on to the main town streets. Some opt to stay behind to enjoy the food stalls that had pop-up for the night to eat bibingka, puto, sapin-sapin, and palitaw among other things. Some of the teens had decided to raid the nearby small park and playground as a hang-out spot to talk the night away before they rush home for their curfews. Meanwhile others were just rushing to get home as soon as they can, with people lining up to go to the rudimentary parking space that the church created while the others who didn't own their own vehicles forced to compete for the very few commuter vehicles still riding through the night, hunting for passengers.

This was before we had our own car, so we were with the latter crowds of people, trying to peer through the dark streets only illuminated by the scant Christmas lights that still refused to turn off as the night progressed. Every so often, two headlights excite the crowd and a swarm of them start running in anticipation with not care or tact if they would crush children or separate families all to take a seat on the night jeepneys, some the few commutes left after 9.

My sister was an expert in finding her way through it, reaching out to the doors to form a barricade for herself and the rest of us to prevent others from taking our seats before letting herself in. I still think I would've been left behind if it weren't for her doing that out of sheer competitiveness with the crowds.

We settled into our seats and squeezed in tightly to allow other passengers in so we could all go home as soon as we can. It was a tight but otherwise uneventful commute every night with nothing but tired people waiting for their stops and slowly emptying the once packed vehicle. Since we live in the outskirts of the town, we were often the last few and at times, the drivers would transfer us to other jeeps just so they can go home themselves. This had sometimes instead left us to walk the remainder of the way there through unpaved highway sidewalks.

After a few nights of it, I became more and more reluctant to continue because of the frenzy that it had almost every single night and it was extremely inconvenient for my time and the time of those with me. I didn't complete it then and I hadn't seriously tried until 9th Grade, which honestly was more uneventful.

That attempt was mostly my siblings and I staying in Makati City and Taguig City and going to easily traveled to churches that we could walk to by foot, and high-end malls that have annual Simbang Gabi masses for their shoppers, facilitated by the local diocese and the local fancy church. I was able to complete those easily because I was often dragged either by my siblings or my grandmother who used to never miss a day of church when she was still more active.

It was less about the challenge at that point and more of an obligation which isn't a bad thing and honestly is probably closer to how it should be celebrated.

I hadn't gone to Simbang Gabi since 2019 and I don't have any plans to try this year either. Not really because I don't want to necessarily, but specifically because I physically can't. I still think its pretty fun to do and honestly maybe a good excuse to meet with my friends that I haven't seen in a while. Sadly, I just simply cannot do it now nor in the near future.

Maybe one day I could once again go out at those cold December night to meet my friends and maybe eat some bibingka on my way home but I guess I'll just leave every one else to it.

Sources

Introduction

Advent. (n.d.). In Britannica. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Advent

In The Philippines Christmas Eve Includes A Late Night Street Food Feast, Filipino Christmas, HD wallpaper [image]. (n.d.). Peakpx. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-wxdle

Petrelli, M. (2021, December 20). The country that celebrates Christmas for more than 4 months a year. CNBC. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/21/philippines-the-longest-christmas-celebrations-in-the-world-.html

What is Simbang Gabi?

Álvarez, F. (2018, November 22). Una tradición matutina la Misa de Aguinaldo. Primera Hora. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/una-tradicion-matutina-la-misa-de-aguinaldo/

Hermoso, C. (2022, December 15). 9-day ‘Simbang Gabi’ begins on Dec. 16; anticipated masses to begin tonight. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://mb.com.ph/2022/12/15/9-day-simbang-gabi-begins-on-dec-16-anticipated-masses-to-begin-tonight/

Lazaro, J. (2020, December 11). The Christmas tradition of Simbang Gabi: After five centuries, this Filipino Christmas tradition lives on. U.S. Catholic. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://uscatholic.org/articles/202012/the-christmas-tradition-of-simbang-gabi/

History

Hermoso, C. (2018, December 15). ‘Simbang Gabi’ a manifestation of the Filipinos’ strong faith in God, says bishop. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://mb.com.ph/2018/12/15/simbang-gabi-a-manifestation-of-the-filipinos-strong-faith-in-god-says-bishop/

Etheria (1919). The Pilgrimage of Etheria (McClure, M., & Feltoe, C. Ed. & Trans.). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Retrieved on 13 December 2023, from https://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm (Original work published 384 C.E.)

McClure, M., & Feltoe, C. (1919). [An image of the book cover of "The Pilgrimage of Etheria"]. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm

The Pillar. (2021, December 21). What time is Midnight Mass?. The Pillar. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/what-time-is-midnight-mass

Misa del Gallo: origen, historia y por qué se celebra en la madrugada del 25 de diciembre. (2022, December 24). Marca. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.marca.com/tiramillas/actualidad/2022/12/24/63a6c106268e3e7c468b45e8.html

Vintage Philippine Islands 1920-1959. (2020, December 25). A Vintage Greeting Card showing Philippine Christmas… Maligayang Pasko from Vintage Philippine Islands 1920-1959 [image]. Facebook. Retrieved 15 December 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/510513375695362/photos/a.1701322009947820/3595821097164559/?type=3

In the Present Day

Adarlo, S., & Pastor, C. (2014, November 3). Fr. Joseph Marabe breaks silence over Simbang Gabi ban (Part 2). The FilAm: A Magazine for Filipino Americans in New York. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://thefilam.net/archives/16127

Balitang America, ABS-CBN North America Bureau. (2014, September 19). Simbang Gabi returns to NYC after a brief ban. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved on 15 December 2023 from https://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/09/19/14/simbang-gabi-returns-nyc-after-brief-ban

FEU Memes. (2012, December 15). eto yung mga madalas ko makita sa gilid ng simbahan e [image]. Retrieved on 15 December 2023 from https://www.facebook.com/PIYUMEMES/photos/a.210778985704527/317211885061236/?type=3

Macaira, E. (2023, December 15). Simbang Gabi: It’s the mass, not the time. Philippine Star. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/12/15/2318980/simbang-gabi-its-mass-not-time

Malicdem, E. (n.d.) The Bamboo Organ Church or the St. Joseph Parish Church of Las Piñas City in the Philippines during "Simbang Gabi" or Night Mass on Christmas eve. Photo was part of Schadow1 Expeditions coverage of Las Piñas during Christmas season. [image]. Retrieved on 15 December 2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simbang_Gabi#/media/File:Las_Pinas_Church_during_Simbang_Gabi.jpg

Punay, E. (2016, December 19). ‘Simbang Gabi’ won’t grant wishes – Bishop. Philippine Star Global. Retrieved on 15 December 2023, from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/12/19/1654920/simbang-gabi-wont-grant-wishes-bishop

rhapido. (2022, November 30). Simbang gabi starter pack [Screenshot]. 9Gag. Retrieved 15 December 2023, from https://9gag.com/gag/a5Xnzgr

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ablatheringblatherskite · 1 year ago

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random question inspired by my general disdain for The Holidays™: what's Christmas like in the Philippines? I'm extremely fed up with how most Americans celebrate it so I'd be super interested to hear about how another culture does it. :D (if you don't mind, of course!) Feel free to infodump as much or as little as you like :)))

WAAAAA I'd love to!! Also that's totally understandable OOF, but yes I'd gladly talk about it!!!

So I hope this doesn't come as a disappointment but the Philippines is a pretty Americanized country, but of course there are still many key differences in our traditions! For one, which you might have heard LOL, we start preparing for Christmas all the way in September (as in, Christmas decorations start going up already, and Christmas music starts playing in the malls). Generally we don't celebrate Thanksgiving since it's an American holiday and we don't care as much about Halloween, so it's not like a WHOLE THING like it is in America (I was surprised to learn how big of a deal it is over there LOL!).

We have this celebrity who's also a beloved Filipino meme, Jose Mari Chan, who basically is like, the harbinger of Christmas here. Like months in advance we'll have memes pop up occasionally saying stuff like "Ready na ba kayo?" (are you ready yet??) and things like that LOL. Here's some of my favorite examples:

("I'm just warming up")

(explanation and translation: we have a famous Filipino Christmas song that starts with, "Whenever I see girls and boys selling lanterns on the street...", which is what Jose Mari Chan is starting to sing LOL, then the guard is saying, "Sir, seniors aren't allowed to go out." (this was made during pandemic times HAHAHA)

And a personal favorite:

LOLLL

Also since the majority of the Philippines is Catholic that plays a huge factor in it too. Another tradition that's mainly Catholic (so I haven't ever actually participated in it) is called simbang gabi, which is basically nine days of mass before Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve the final mass is called Misa da Gallo. It's basically a way for everyone to prepare for Christmas!

Another big thing about Philippine Christmases (although I'm sure a bunch of other cultures do this too LOL including Americans), we a lot of the time celebrate Christmas with our extended families (both sides during different times if possible!), since, you know, family is very important to us!! Us younger ones will usually go around to the adults to "bless" them, or do "Mano po" (basically press the back of their hands to our foreheads which is like, a traditional sign of respect) to all the adults, and a lot of time we get angpao (money inside those little red Chinese folders) tee hee hee! And a lot of the time we get more specific gifts from our ninongs and ninangs (god fathers and god mothers) (yes sometimes we have multiple no I can't really explain why HAHA). And if we're blessed to have them, all the cousins hang out and do whatever we like while the adults mingle (sometimes we go to the bedroom of whichever cousin's family is hosting the gathering)—I have very fond memories of those times.

But I think one of the bigger differences is that we don't have our official celebration on Christmas morning—we actually celebrate the night before, on Christmas Eve! We like to prepare for our Noche Buena (also a Spanish tradition LOL, it's basically a special Holiday feast) for the whole day, then we wait for 12am to strike, then THAT'S when we start eating and playing games and of course opening presents. It's such a fun time and I've spent multiple Christmases up late until the sun rose reading my new books or something. From what I know most families here stay home during the rest of Christmas day resting and enjoying the time with their own families.

We also do Christmas caroling differently. Idk how it works in America but in the Philippines random groups of kids go around to houses to sing Christmas songs for money. Sometimes they have makeshift instruments, occasionally a guitar and tambourine. They aren't always that good HAHA but they do their best, and they have a lot of fun doing it (my siblings and I did it once!! It was a lot of fun).

We also have a traditional Christmas decoration, called the paról. It's basically these star-shaped paper lanterns, and they're beautiful!

We also may play games like Pinoy Henyo (similar to charades, basically a paper with a word is placed on yours or your teammates forehead and you/your teammate need to help them guess what the word is, answering questions like is it a person?? animal?? place?? etc., getting more specific until you figure out the word), Bring Me (basically you need to be the first to bring the item, for example: bring me a wallet! A lot of parents usually help the kids by giving their own things LOL), and Longest Line (basically you need to make the longest line only using things you're wearing) (yes some guys have taken off their shirts, sometimes people just lie down in the line LOL). It's a lot of fun.

So in conclusion, while, like with any country, we can also be prone to commercialism, Christmas is a lot of fun in the Philippines, at least for me!

Anddd that's mostly it I think!!! thank you so much for this ask!! I was really excited to answer when I got it lol!! I'm sorry it took a while tho, I wanted to let my friends check to see if what I said was accurate (because I am uncertain like that LOLL). I really enjoyed answering it too so thank you and I hope it was interesting!!!

#Little Lotte!#offendedteaspoon #the philippines #philippines #asks #Christmas #filipino #long asterrisks #cultures #christmas 2023

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astro-inthestars · 1 year ago

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*spawns in your inbox* hello if you feel like it could you tell me tales and folklore and traditions from the philippines?

OOH OOH OOH i can do that for sure!! We've got some pretty funky tales around here! First thing that came to mind was the creepy monster folklore we have here though <333 One of the main things people might know about us!! (besides our amazing food <33)

Okay okay SO first up, over here there are things we call Aswang. It's basically like... a category almost, due to the amount of interpretations. It's the typical witch/ghost/demon around here! Sometimes it's seen as a beautiful woman, or a monstrous dog, or a elusive ghost with sharp nails and teeth!

Something that may or may not fall under this category, is one of my favorite folktale monster from over here: The Manananggal! Ohhhh this one is soooo messed up and I love it-

It's a creature that sometime appears like a normal woman, but transforms into a horrific creature, with huge bat wings, sharp teeth and nails, and a longgg tongue! Basically our equivalent of a vampire- BUT what makes this motherfucker special??? This bitch can DETACH its torso from its lower body, and flies into the night sky!! And it usually ain't pretty, with its stomach guts or bloody ripped torso flailing in the wind! Its main prey (or the target audience of this cautionary folktale) are pregnant women. Also!! Fun fact; its name, Manananggal, is from the root word "tangal" which means "remove" and with the prefix "ma" it makes the full word mean "remover" or "seperator," orrrr "one who seperates itself" quite literally in this case <3

Enough of the horrors though! Hmmm, let me tell you some traditions we have, though some may not be "official" traditions, and are just some habits we're taught throughout our life- So much so that I actually had a hard time trying to think of some 'traditions' due to thinking these are all normal... and not knowing if other countries actually did them so. . . aahaha- well anyway!

First most notable one is obviously our signs of respect, AKA the uses of the words 'po' and 'opo' and our (probably?) well-known sign of pagmamano! First of all, 'po' is a word used in sentences that indicate respect, like when you're talking to someone older than you, or someone with notable authority! Like "Excuse me po, can I use the restroom?" And with 'Opo,' it's just the "respectful" version of our "Yes" which is just 'Oo' (when you say "oo" to someone older than you or someone with authority, it's regarded as disrespect or that you treat this person casually or are very close and familiar) And pagmano? Well that's also a respectful gesture, like po and opo! But unlike the phrases, this one is a gesture, and is usually only used for older people! Usually elders, actually. The gesture is you taking the older person's hand and gentle placing their knuckles on your forehead, like this in the image!

And along with it you usually say "Mano po" or just any variation of a greeting!

Oh, here's something more "traditionally" a tradition,a nd one of my favorite ones... guess what??? Us Pinoys? We celebrate FOUR MONTHS of Christmas!!!! THAT'S RIGHT!! We celebrate that shit early <3 It's mostly because the Filipino are SUPER duper religious, but also... CHRISTMASSSSS!! We call them "Ber Months" because for us, as soon as September hits... well? That's already CHRISTMAS BABEY!! Christmas lights UP, trees READY, christmas songs BLASTING, parols SELLING- wait. hold on- DO YOU GUYS HAVE PAROLS???

I just looked it up and CHRISTMAS PAROLS ARE A UNIQUELY FILIPINO THING?? OKAY OKAY parols are basically christmas lanterns! THey're bright and colorful and AWESOME and stalls for them line the streets at Ber Months- HERE HERE LOOK!!!

These are what the big and bright ones look like!

And these are what the smaller and simpler ones look like! They're all made from bamboo sticks and japanese paper!! it's AWESOME!

Okay okay, this is probably wAyyYYY too long already but here's some honorable mentions: -Us Filipinos' daily meal ALWAYS include rice. Unless its snacks or dessert or appetizers, I guess- but every main meal, Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper, we have rice! We cook an "ulam" which is what is paired with the rice! It's like rice is the default, and whatever the food is will be eaten with the rice! Like, fried chicken is ulam! Then we eat it with rice! -We've got impeccable hospitality!!! Like, if ANY stranger comes into a Pinoy's home, they WILL offer to eat with them! No matter who! They'll always tell the guest "Kain po!" ("Come eat!") and usually the person would be modest and decline, but eat anyway! It's truly interesting how hardwired these things are... -Our modes of transportation are WAY different from American ones, I find!! Over here we've got Jeepneys, Tricycles, and Pedicabs! So i don't have to explain, here's what they look like:

Jeepneys, tricycles, and pedicabs respectively! Not much to say about the last two, but the jeepney seems REAL notable- They're from military jeeps, but longer and redesigned for transport. And yes, all jeeps have weird designs and briht colors, and most likely has anime on them. Don't ask, I don't know either. These are our main forms of transport over here!! But that doesn't mean we don't have the usual bus or taxi, of course! -Every region and town here has its own fiesta!! we've got SO many fiestas in this country!! and it all varies from region to region.. They usually span a week long or even a month!! Festivals here are typically held to honor patron saints or to display the region’s primary local harvest!

Well, anyway, that's all I've got a- ......what do you mean it's 1 am.

#astroanswers #suddenly felt an surge of pinoy pride just then #MAN tradition and culture is amazing #crazy how hardwired everything is that makes it strange to find out how different it is from other countries ya know???#well anyways- i hope that was good???#sorry if it got too long-#i wouldve provided an image of the manananggal but-#i think it might be a little too horrific to some people?? you never know!#so if you're curious you cna just look it up <3 #i'm no professional though so maybe not all of this is right or accurate so yEAH

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