#filipino psychology

[kremechihihi]

FUTURISMO ⚡️⚡️⚡️

buwan ng wika already passd but i still wanted 2 draw sum futurism in modernized filipiñana garb 4 funs

[koshehehe]

drew with the concept of the Filipino culture that professional mental help is only for the 'baliw' or crazy. i made the whole design as I go (a trust-the-process method) so I'm open for any interpretation of what the piece is <33

sketch:

[psycholojosh]

Doing In-Person Psychotherapy for the First Time

For the past few weeks, I've been keeping busy with working on my hours for practicum. By the end of this year, I need to hit at least 200 hours of psychotherapy (as well as another 200 for assessment work) so that I can proceed to the next and (hopefully) final phase of my grad school: thesis. When I started practicum last semester, I felt really drained by the difficult learning environment, plus having to do a lot of work isolated from the others (literally and figuratively). I took a break from this semester to regain my mental energy I once had for psychotherapy clients.

Over a month ago, the mental health clinic of our school opted to open psychotherapy services onsite for students wtihin campus. Unsurprisingly, a lot of students did sign up for this and are now receiving their therapies in-person with their therapists (which includes trainees like me). I stepped into this same lane once I began opening this option up to my clients as well. One client has been very keen on seeing me in person as they would prefer seeing another person as they process their problems. I happily obliged to fulfill this request given that I too work much better when I'm not distracted by the quips of remote work.

True enough, the difference in experience was night and day. And I would prefer doing onsite therapy because for a couple obvious reasons. On one end, I get to see my clients (and vice versa) for who they present themselves to be. And I mean this not only in the physical way but also in a emotional way. A lot of what I find missing in remote tele-therapy is the ability to read nonverbal cues and other emotional expressions that a camera doesn't capture. I feel more in the flow with the client and get to "dance" with whatever things they throw at me during sessions. There's also the added value of just trying to be present with the client without making extra efforts to reassure them of this fact.

I also had to take time to ready myself and get comfortable with my clients expressing unpleasant or difficult emotions. I noticed that my clients feel safer crying and feeling their feels once we're confined within the same four corners of a safe space. Needless to say, I find delight - not in their suffering - but in the opportunity to create a safe space for them to just be themselves, feelings and all.

I guess the only con of working onsite is the travel and the summer heat. While I'm proud of myself for being on time for my clients' sessions, I can't help but still feel irritated about the "unpleasantries" of Metro Manila traffic, as aggravated by the summer sun. Inasmuch as I want to present myself as professionally (and also aesthetically pleasing way) for my clients, I have to be smart about what to wear and how to bring my belongings with the hassle of public transportation.

So far, my onsite work has made me realize that I could do therapy -- and that it's something I could develop much more once I get my master's degree. What I am looking forward to is when we fully reintegrate both onsite and remote modalities to interventions. But that's a different avenue of learning altogether. What I'm most excited about, actually, is getting to see a lively clinic again. I get to see more clients and clinicians, and feel that same vibrant energy I once felt in my previous job before the pandemic began.

In the meantime, if you ever see me in campus (if we are in the same school, or you just happen to be there), feel free to say hello.

Take care of your mental health, everyone!

[youright08]

looking for Filipinos who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ Community as respondents (help us graduate please)

Greetings of peace! We are Bachelor of Science in Psychology 4th year students from the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, and we are currently conducting our research entitled: Psychological Distress, Family, and Peer Acceptance among the LGBTQ+ youth: A Correlational Study.

Respondents must meet the following criteria:

➤Age ranges between 18 and 25 years old.

➤Anyone of any gender who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community

➤Must be out and open with their family and/or peers about their sexual orientation

This survey will only ask for a little bit of your time, approximately 5 - 10 minutes. By taking part, you will also have the opportunity to win a cash prize worth 300 pesos to show our appreciation.

Thank you very much!

To access the survey, you may click the link below:

https://forms.gle/wWESbapuWFLrbXad7

[anitosoul]

(via The Psychology of Community and Revolution)

[judyonmindfultrails]

HELP A RESEARCHER

Call for Respondents: Filipino Doctors in the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) Program

I’m a Master in Psychology student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Graduate School, currently conducting research titled "Risk Perception and Help-Seeking Behaviors as Correlates to Mental Health Among Rural Doctors."

If you're currently part of the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) Program, your participation in this study would be greatly appreciated. This research aims to better understand the mental health challenges faced by rural doctors like you.

-Conducted online via Google Forms

-Completely anonymous & confidential

If you know someone in the DTTB Program, kindly share this survey with them. Your support will contribute to this important research.

To participate, click here: https://tinyurl.com/DTTBResearchSurvey

Thank you so much for your time and support!

[qqflxur]

hello, my filipino student ba dito? want to be moots? 👉👈

incoming 1st year ab psych student btw :DD

[pampanope]

~7-11 Lore~

Name: Efren Torres Aldrich

Alias: 7-11, Cerberus, Shadow Company’s Dog (Konni)

Affiliations: Shadow Company, USMC (former)

Age: 34 yo

DoB: May 7 1990

Height: 6’1

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: filipino/white

Born in: Queens, NY

Pronouns: He/him

Gender: cis man

Orientation: panromantic homosexual

Specialty/Résumé

• Former Marines Force Reconnaissance operator

• Deep reconnaissance with qualifications in parachuting and combat diving (MOS 0326)

• Profficiency as a sniper and rifleman, at intelligence collection, mountain warfare, CQB, and small squad tactics.

• Dutiful Shadow babysitter

• Graves whisperer (usually)

Personality

• calm, quiot, generally easy going; speaks in low even tones

• observant, pays attention to the goings on of those around him, and completes tasks efficiently.

• treats fellow Shadows with warmth, courtesy, and long-suffering exasperation. Takes some time before he feels comfortable enough to freely goof off with other people.

• Has a playful side; likes to harmlessly tease other Shadows to a certain degree but is all business when working or on an op

• sees all of Shadow Company as his family; their success and well-being are his top priorities.

• this devotion towards Graves and SC has a possessive slant to it; he’s willing to destroy anyone and anything that threatens his family

Physical Description

• lean, fit overall build

• dark brown hair and dark sleepy looking eyes

• mole beside left eye

• very light stubble

• scars on left arm (IED shrapnel), wrists (rope scars), around fingers (balisong flipping) and upper left side of torso (gunshot wound)

• Usually wears neutral dark colors, mask, tactical gloves, combat boots and baseball cap

Psychology

• the loss of his parents at a young age, years of instability, and military training have led to the creation of a mental coping mechanism that can be described as “a feral hind-brain creature” that views individuals as pack, predator, prey, those who need protection and those who need to be cut down.

• 7-11 understands it’s not normal to look at the world in such a way, nor is it normal to want to sink his teeth into the throats of his enemies or into the flesh of those he cares about, in the hopes that he leaves a mark that they’ll carry even after they’ve gone.

• he keeps this part of himself carefully contained within with the majority of Shadows non the wiser,

Love Language: Touch, Gift Giving

Prefers affection via: Touch, Quality time

_____________________

Strengths

• loyal

• diligent and efficient

• puts his subordinates before himself

• smooth operator on the field

• stays calm under pressure and in the face of unusual situations

• thoughtful and empathetic

• can fall asleep anywhere

Weaknesses

• can be stubborn

• tends to forgo personal safety and care if he thinks it’s necessary

• has abandonment issues

• guilt-ridden

• may be vengeful, especially so on behalf of someone else

Hobbies

• photography

• karaoke

• balisong flipping

• sparring

**• Graves**

Likes

• cuddles and head scritches

• SC gossip

• collecting large, huggable plushies

• napping in warm cozy places

• training Shadows (usually)

• getting ragdolled and tossed around like a salad

• displays of physical strength

• training or games that allow him to hunt down others (or be hunted)

Dislikes

• incompetent and callous leadership

• humidity

• the sun (this boi burrrns)

• watermelons (tastes like sugary wet sand)

• Shadows or Graves getting hurt

• being cornered

• Shepherd

• disorganization

Fears

• Losing everyone and everything

• not being enough

• substance abuse and addiction

Preference

Fave Color: Blue

Fave Season: Autumn

Fave Music: 80’s rock and power ballads, most of 90’s and 2000s

Fave Animals: Crows and cats

Fave Food: savory snacks, burgers, lumpia, kare kare

Favorite Plants: blue orchids and monstera

Coffee or tea: coffee (once a day)

Night or Day: Night

____________________

Idiosyncrasies & Random Stuff

~ named after his mother’s favorite billiards champion (Efren “Bata” Reyes)

~ He’s always had a blushing problem; doesn’t matter what emotion it is, if it’s strong enough, he gets flushed.

~ started out wearing a mask to hide the blushing and hide his expression; it’s fun keeping fellow Shadows guessing

~ likes to make up reasons why he wears the mask all the time

~ eventually realizes that he got so used to freely making silly expressions behind a mask that he can’t school his features without it anymore

~ which is fine, it became habit anyway; he enjoys any rumors among the Shadows about him and why he stays masked when others remove theirs outside of ops.

~ there are way too many benefits to wearing a mask for him to quit

~ Biting is a very valid tactic, on and off the battlefield; as an offensive move and form of affection (but he doesn’t bite out of affection as often as he’d like because he doesn’t wanna scare the other Shadows lol)

~ kinda short circuits a bit when handled roughly

~ Tore a man’s throat out with his teeth on Grave’s behalf; Graves **really** liked that and decided to give him the callsign Cerberus and collared him (it’s a pleasant grounding presence around his neck)

~ will start growling when stress levels are maxed out or if very sleep deprived

~ keeps a cork board of photos in his quarters; photos of Shadows past and present

~is banned from the kitchen(s), no, not just SC HQ or bases.

~ grabs ahold of anyone or anything that comes into contact with him while

sleeping; he’s like a bear trp that way

~ he’s seen the effects of substance abuse and addiction first hand; it’s why he limits alcohol intake, drinks one cup of coffee a day (hence the regularly scheduled naps), and avoids gambling and smoking

~ deeply misses his parents and his childhood; often wonders if they’d even recognize him as their son

- Voice claim: Isaac Clarke (VA: Gunner Wright) (Dead Space games)

______________________

Backstory

7-11/Efren is one of Graves’ most loyal Shadows and considers himself a vanguard of the Company.

After losing his parents at 13 to a vehicular accident (for which he blames himself for) and the subsequent abuse and neglect from his uncle, Efren spent most of his teenage years feeling untethered, numb yet seething with anger and guilt.

He spent his early years working part time jobs to make ends meet while getting into fist fights with the local gangs to release the deep seated fury within.

A final altercation with his uncle drove Efren to seek structure and a place to belong in the Marine Corps.

There, Efren, while excelling at every aspect soldiering, would often be easily goaded and provoked into brawling with other recruits of his cohort.

This led to his first meeting with Graves, a cocky, silver tongued, MARSOC operator in his mid twenties.

Graves issued a challenge to Efren, which ended with Efren being so thoroughly *humbled* that it altered his brain chemistry, quieting his feral hind brain to a dull roar for the first time in what felt like forever.

Fixated on Graves after that meeting, Efren joined Force Recon with the hope of providing crucial intel to support his fellow Marines (especially Graves).

He always kept an ear out for news of KIA personnel; thankfully Graves was never one of them.

After years of serving in Force Reconnaissance, Efren was faced with making a decision whether or not to re-up to continue his service or to move on into civilian life.

As if summoned, Graves appeared after so many years, and whisked Efren away to his new Shadow Company, where he world finally find a new home.

The irony of feeling at peace in a PMC was not lost on him.

Wherever Graves went, he would be his Shadow and support. For Efren, it was the least he could do after the man gave him everything.

((May add more as i go✨))

[psycholojosh]

Hello!

I'm a filipino, too! Almost fresh grad. I plan on continuing my psychology path to clinical.

As of the moment I am at the lost on what the next step is. I am planning on taking the RPm board exam. But after that I don't know where to work or if I should study for a masterals? Can I even work in a psychology clinic as a bs psych grad and a licensed RPm?

When I had my internship, there was no nearby psychology clinic so I interned as an HR. I'm not sure if this will affect my chances at a psychology clinic. I really hope not.

What if I decided not to pursue masterals and not take RPsy? What growth can I have while working in a psychology clinic?

Sorry for the long questions 🤭 i really need advice from this

Hey anon! I can understand the number of questions you have. Graduating ka na, kaya natural lang to worry about the next steps. I was like you when I was in your position. 😊

Since you mentioned wanting to continue your path into a clinical psychology career, the best option is to pursue your graduate studies. There are many excellent schools in the country to train you. It would be helpful to find out for yourself what training and resources (i.e., finances) is needed for you to complete them. As for graduate school application requirements, it would also be good to start exploring what research interests you may have. They will definitely ask for them when you apply (either through an essay or interviews).

Taking the psychometrician board exam isn't necessary to land a job or get into a grad school. But if you want to pursue jobs with mental health or clinical psychology roles without a master's degree, it can be helpful during applications. The RPm license can afford you a legal privilege of conducting assessments under supervision of psychologists. Some clinics or companies will even look for it specifically. But - and I did mention this in one of my older blog posts - that the RPm license can be limiting as well. Because you don't have the same professional privileges as a psychologist, you are less likely to be hired in mental health and adjacent jobs. Plus, there will definitely be a difference in terms of compensation.

Now, regarding pursuing roles as a bachelor's degree holder, there aren't really many options realistically speaking. The mental health industry is still a slowly emerging field in the country. Even if there's huge clamor about it, especially by younger generations, it is still not quite supported well and underappreciated in the Philippines. If you do a quick search on job hunting sites, like JobStreet or Indeed, you may find that psychometricians get paid... quite less and in underwhelming roles. But sometimes, you may also find jobs that pay fairly and require you to do just enough work.

In terms of clinical roles, this is really the needle in a haystack as a bachelor's degree holder - even if you have the psychometrician license. Clinics rarely open roles for those who have yet to complete a graduate degree. And when they do, your professional autonomy is limited. While training and supervision will be given to you, you are less likely to do other core clinical functions, like doing psychotherapy or assessment independently. It is also likely that the pay may not be large enough. In my experience, I was fortunate enough to get a chance to work for a clinic that offers excellent training and reasonable pay. Sadly, this job was cut short after the clinic closed during the pandemic. But after which, it was already difficult to find jobs that had similar advantages. On the flipside, however, landing a clinical role before graduate school helps you with your applications and also your learning as well. And that's the case for me too. In addition, I think that having past internships in other fields, like HR (just as you mentioned), do not set you back in terms of applications for clinical jobs or grad school. If anything, I'd say if you have learned a thing or two AND commit to your passion in clinical psychology, you may find use your experiences in HR to your career development as a psychologist. How that works is depending on you.

But if you are wondering if you could "grow" without having to take postgraduate studies in a psychological clinic, then the short answer is generally no. You will really need to take your MA or PhD studies for you to advance in the field and grow professionally. Along the way, you may also realize certain things about the field that may tickle your curiosity, like specializations and areas of interest.

If I may offer back a question to you, anon: Why hesitate taking an MA or PhD even if you want to go to clinical psychology?

I hope this answers helps! Feel free to ask again. Good luck! 😊🌻

[rinsoap]

˚ ༘ ♡⋆｡˚ ﾐ the big seijoh four's status!

✿²˖ ࣪ ➣ includes : oikawa tooru. iwaizumi hajime. matsukawa issei. hanamaki takahiro.

note : random headcanons lol. it was really fun so i may do this with kuroo, kenma, akaashi, and bokuto if i'm feelin crazy. BTW, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE LATE TEENS-EARLY TWENTIES SO KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN READING!

OIKAWA TOORU:

favourite song/artist/album: he's been super obsessed with 360 by charli xcx him n electronic pop are like this 🤞 he loves likes his rnb girlies so of course kali uchis is his favourite he knows all the lyrics to fue mejor and he doesn't even know spanish! the SZA version of course!!! bc his favourite album is ctrl by SZA the superior sza album

favourite movie/show: he likes psychological horror or classic 2000s romcoms so probably midsommar or 10 things i hate about you. look me in the eye and tell me he isn't a gleek. you can't.

favourite colour: dark blue. he thinks he looks the best in it he would be right

favourite subject/grades: math. he's lowkey good at it? his grades are pretty solid but his fatal flaw is that he gets bored easily unless it's something that really interests him or if it's something he's good at.

tattoos (yes/no): NOT REALLY! him and iwaizumi plan on getting matching tattoos. probably a little doodle of something knight related. he doesn't really want a lot of tattoos other than that.

piercings: he wants a nose ring but he's scaredddd omg. for his eighteenth birthday, iwa n mattsun n makki dragged him to the piercing shop to get it pierced bc he would not shut the fuck up about it 😭

celebrity crush: it changes all the time. he's in lovee with pinkpantheress rn. and also christian bale specifically his velvet goldmine premier look..... god he's so fucking fine sorry im projecting

IWAIZUMI HAJIME:

favourite song/artist/album: he's a casual neosoul enjoyer of course he grew up on it the filipinos love their neosoul n jazz so his favourite song since BIRTH has been on & on by erykah badu. it's between that and sometimes. he was GEEKED to know erykah was on a tyler, the creator song bc that is his favouritee artist real ones know he put suna on it's hard for him to name his favourite album that isn't by tyler but if he had to he would choose channel orange by frank ocean.

favourite movie/show: godzilla. nuff said. he's kind of a jojo's bizarre adventure fan. ok he's actually a huge jojo's fan he just likes to LIE and say he's just a "casual" enjoyer.

favourite colour: green or brown.

favourite subject/grades: literature/academia/history. he's really interested in reading but he can't stand writing essays. his grades are good, everyone thinks he's naturally smart but he did pretty awfully in elementary school until he got his act together lol.

tattoos (yes/no): YES kind of. matching tattoos with oikawa of course. i bet he's got a couple precolonial filipino tribal tattoos too lord he's so fine but other than that, i don't think he's a big fan of tattoos unless they're not very visible at first glance.

piercings: he's got a gold nose stud that he got drunk with mattsun one night and he lowkey regrets it until someone compliments him on it then his confidence is through the roof for the rest of the day

celebrity crush: steve lacy..... he doesn't know if he wants him or wants to be him. OH AND CLEO SOL. she is so beautiful and he is obsessed with her energy.

MATSUKAWA ISSEI:

favourite song/artist/album: he's a slut so his favourite song is probably dreams, fairytales, fantasies by A$AP ferg.... don't shoot the messenger! you cannot convince me that he isn't a crazy frank ocean dick rider. "what do y'all know about frank ocean" is his favourite phrase. he's been in his top artist for spotify wrapped since novacane came out. his favourite album is probably WASTELAND by brent faiyaz because yes i still do believe he is a brent stan.

favourite movie/show: all four of them are really into the spiderverse just ask him where he was when the into the spiderverse release date was announced. his favourite show would probablyyyy be death note he wants to fuck ryuk

favourite colour: pink, purple, and probably some obscure shit like amaranth.

favourite subject/grades: any weird extracurricular that doesn't require a lot of academic knowledge like jewlery making or somethin. it's not that he hates school exactlyyyyy, it's that he finds it soo boring. he has never studied for anything in his life but somehow, his grades haven't gone to shit yet, IN FACT, his grades are pretty good like Bs at worst. the whole team hates him for this.

tattoos (yes/no): YES. he had a tattoo phase for a brief period and he BEGGED all his friends to let him practice like he would PAY some of them. he didn't want to practice on himself at first because his pain tolerence is surprisingly low but hanamaki and oikawa pleaded him to stop being such a pussy because they didn't want anymore shaky ignorant tattoos lol. his phase fizzled out for a little bit and people are shocked that he has this skill because he's not a tattoo artist?? it boosts his ego lol

piercings: he's planning on getting a tongue piercing (and bringing hanamaki too so he can get the vertical eyebrow piercing he's been wanting for a while)

celebrity crush: like i said, he's a slut, so he has a handful... brent faiyaz, alexa demie, dominic fike, jhené aiko, summer walker.... and i get him!!

HANAMAKI TAKAHIRO:

favourite song/artist/album: this mf will listen to anything tbh but he's a fan of alternative bedroom indie music like wallows, rex orange county, and tame impala, so his favourite song is can i call you tonight? by dayglow. but we all know at his CORE, he is a barb... he loves nicki minaj him and oikawa were SO invested in the nicki/meg beef. speaking of, oikawa put him on so much electronic so now his favourite album is CAPRISONGS by fka twigs.

favourite movie/show: him n mattsun watch superbad RELIGIOUSLY do Not talk to meeeee. he will admit fully with his chest that total drama island is 100% his favourite.

favourite colour: pink obviously. sometimes he says vermillion for literally no other reason other than it sounds fancy. he doesn't even know what it looks like 😭

favourite subject/grades: he does not like school so he doesn't have a favourite subject.... he sits in the back on his phone mostly and copies off of iwaizumi and mattsun. oikawa Refuses to let him copy off him because he is STINGY and iwaizumi only does because hanamaki's grades are kind of abysmal 🙏

tattoos (yes/no): definitely. he has some ignorant patchwork on his upper arm and a couple of his thigh, a product of mattsun's tattoo phase. he likes em a lot but he only ever gets them when intoxicated tbh. he almost got a tramp stamp once but iwaizumi finally talked him out of it after an hour of protest. it was oikawa's idea of course.

piercings: LOOK AT HIS FACE AND THEN LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND THEN TELL ME HE WOULDN'T HAVE A SEPTUM. he's been thinking about getting a vertical eyebrow piercing but he's worried it will heal bad.

celebrity crush: his thoughts that are not about dylan minette are about kali uchis. need i say more.

[coolbeansnico]

I've caved. Here's my Avatar The Last Airbender uni au and modern/non bender au headcanons.

Here's what I think the main kids uni majors/minors would be:

Aang: wildlife conservation with a minor in political sciences

Katara: medicine, education minor

Sokka: engineering, polisci minor

Toph: geology with a martial arts minor (changed my mind, education minor)

Zuko: forced to do law & politics by his family but switches to history/anthropology, keeping politics as a minor

Azula: law w a psychology minor

Mai: forced to do politics by family but wants to do art, history minor

Ty Lee: training in acrobatics and performance at a performing arts school and works at the circus

Suki: human relations and activism, martial arts minor

Yue: Dance major (same school as Ty Lee, polisci minor

☆

Living situations:

Katara and Sokka flat together and eventually Aang becomes a permanent resident

Toph lives right across from them, she likes her own space and independence but she'd never want to be too far from her friends

Zuko lives with Iroh above his teashop and works there part time

Suki has a sharehouse with the kyoshi warriors (her hockey team)

Ty Lee and Yue get assigned room-mates first year and became pretty quick friends, they continue to live together afterwards

Azula has her own apartment (of course). So does Mai, but she spends so much time at Azulas she basically lives there. Neither of them would admit it but they much prefer it to having whole houses to themselves.

---

General modern au/non bender au hcs:

(Pretty obvious) Ethnicity n nationality hcs:

Sokka and Katara r Inuit and from Alaska

Azula, Zuko and Mai are all Japanese American

Ty Lee is Japanese and Mongolian

Toph is Chinese and Singaporean (born in Singapore)

Aang is Bhutanese (so is Gyatso), but he grew up in Singapore. Him and Toph were childhood friends

Yue is Inuit and Sámi and her family lives in north-east Canada

Suki is mixed Chinese, Filipino and French-Canadian and live in an island off of Quebec

Have not decided where the uni would be but probably BSSU (Ba Sing Se uni) cause I know a lot of ppl use that as the uni name

I don't know a ton about US and Canadian geography so if y'all have ideas for what states or provinces the characters would hail from (especially what state/city Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee grew up in) I would def appreciate the suggestions

☆

Aang has a Tibetan Mastiff called Appa and Sokka has a Siamese cat called Momo (he found him behind a dumpster looking for food scraps and Sokka knew he'd found a kindred spirit,,, much to Kataras initial dismay)

Aang grew up in a sort of hippie/alternative living foster home that taughtbuddist beliefs, he never knew his real parents but he was okay with that.

I'm a fan of bigcorp ceo Ozai but also political tyrant Ozai works as well so I'm srsly torn on that. Politician Ozai would either have to be a nation ruler or American ambassador because I like to think Zuko and Azula moved around a lot as kids so he couldn't have a job that keeps him in ine place. That's why I like the idea of ceo Ozai. He would still have a lot of political power and it would still mean moving around a lot plus him being super corrupt and exploiting his workers is fun for angst.

Oh and!! Zuko and Azula lived in Singapore for part of highschool and their family visited a lot for holidays. Since Tophs parents and Ozai worked together, Zuko and Azula were around at The Beifongs a lot and entertained themselves by making fun of Toph for hanging out with a "poor tree hugging commoner" like Aang

---

I may add more to this so look out for a part 2

♡♡

I'm currently working on drawing them (and maybe chara profiles with sexualities, pronouns, character aesthetics/how I think they'd dress, interests ect) :] I've done the boys and the (non fire nation) gals are next!!

[venz228]

Crocodile Complex VOL 1

[Animated trailer] [Read here]

Long nails, missing pins, & foggy brass. After an incident up north, lieutenant Plover Capulong and nurse Yago Dimalanta must hike forests with shared dread for a glimpse of peace.

A Filipino psychological drama comic written & illustrated by Venz Rebadulla (venz228)

[appleflavoredkitkats]

don't support here lies love the musical as it comes to bway

my post on here lies love is getting rounds and while i still stand by everything i said on that post, my grievances with the musical has Grown in the last couple of weeks of me researching about it. granted, i still need to do more— i want to do an essay on it in the future because i would hate for it to run on broadway for long, but because that takes time, i thought, at least, i would need to make a post detailing what i find wrong about this musical. even if it's not the most comprehensive, i want more people to be informed about it as soon as possible.

so, have this. ramblings at 5am. i'll try my best to gather sources, but information i have regarding the marcoses comes from a lot of non-digital resources like classes, museums, and physical books. in this case, i recommend the following resources to learn more about who the marcos family is and what they did:

"the kingmaker" by lauren greenfield. native filipinos can watch this free on youtube, but if you aren't from the ph i recommend using a vpn to access it or find a pirated version somewhere else

online martial law museum

if you can buy it, "some are smarter than others" by ricardo manapat, a book detailing marcos' crony capitalism and all his faults

i'd also like to preface: i am not a saint. i am not a historian nor the smartest person who can detail everything marcos did when he was born. i'm trying to do my best with what i know, and i am down to learn more if others want to chime in.

lastly, here's a fresher on the names of people involved, because it can be confusing:

ferdinand marcos — i will try my best calling him ferdinand but most people, including myself, often call him just "marcos" despite the fact that they technically all are marcoses. he was the president from 1965-1986

imelda marcos — i will refer to her as imelda. wife to ferdinand and contributed a lot to his reign of terror. she is still alive today.

bong bong marcos — son of ferdinand and imelda. his name is often shorted to bbm, which i will use. he is currently the present of the philippines

ninoy aquino — marcos' main rival who he indirectly murdered. not a perfect guy tho, just the lesser evil. i will just call him ninoy

now, onto the real deal:

thesis statement, so this can be easy to follow: despite the intentions of the musical being anti-marcos, much of how it is written and presented will inevitably become propaganda to brighten the image of the marcoses. by putting imelda in the forefront, making her entire character do what she does supposedly out of love, audiences will come out of the theatre sympathizing with her and her family. not only is this politically dangerous, but it is incredibly insensitive to native filipinos who have not only gone through the struggle of martial law, but also is suffering through bbm's presidency today.

[rest of the post under the cut]

despite what a lot of criticisms claim, the intentions of the musical is not to be pro-marcos. this is stated in their instagram post:

david bryne also stated these in an article from the guardian:

"The mindset of the Marcos regime and the mindset of disco music to me doesn’t seem all that distant. The hedonistic, escapist feeling of losing yourself and being transported to another world, like you feel on the dance floor and like you feel in a dance club, that’s a means to divorce yourself from the rest of the world, just as Imelda did.

When you’re dancing, you’re in this psychological and sonic bubble, in the same way that powerful people create a bubble around themselves. So I wanted to give an audience a taste of that feeling.

In the first half, when the play is dealing with her childhood, her upbringing and her meeting with Ferdinand Marcos, it’s meant to get the audience to empathise with her and understand what’s driving her and then they’ll understand how that manifests later on."

so, it seems promising: an anti-marcos musical that will make audiences dislike empathizing with her. initially, i really liked the concept of audiences being lost with the music similar to how the marcoses were able to play a lot of their supporters.

but, and a big but, 1.) there's a lot to pick apart from these statements, and 2.) i fucking despise how they presented imelda in the musical.

let's discuss the first point: the instagram post details that the intent of the musical is to dispel disinformation created about the marcoses. first thing's first, if this truly was a musical that aims to educate, then broadway is probably the worst way to do it. while the west and native filipinos could share the award of most misinformed about the marcoses, native filipinos are the ones most affected by it. we just suffered a terrible election last year with constant speculation and reports of vote buying. i've heard accounts from people from the province that bbm would send representatives to bribe those in poverty to ensure a vote. we are suffering in the worst education crisis, with the most corrupt politicians you can think of.

so, if this musical aims to educate, the fact that you can only access it by viewing it live on broadway is incredibly... backwards. how are you opting to dispel information when those most affected can't even access it?

what's worse is the statement that says that modern history of the philippines cannot be told without the usa. it is such a patronizing, surface-level statement that gets my blood boiling. it is true that our histories and present-day contexts are intertwined, especially since the filipino diaspora in the usa is incredibly huge, but that's because this is all a product of american colonization + imperialism. stating like the philippines owes the usa to retell our native stories mirrors much of the savior complex-esque sentiments the usa had when they colonized us.

now, onto bryne's statement. the main problem i have with it is him insinuating that imelda is a victim of circumstance. he wants us the audience "empathize" with her and understand her downfall. this is common rhetoric uninformed people, even filipinos, used to excuse imelda's contributions. that she was supposedly "poor", that marcos put her through hell. but genuinely, and i cannot emphasize this enough, imelda was an absolute ass on her own accord.

no, she did not grow up poor. her wikipedia even states that she grew up in a wealthy family, born into the romualdez political dynasty. my history professor even claimed that she attempted bribing the mayor when she lost one of her beauty pageants. despite the repetitive "i'm doing this for love!" bullshit the musical regurgitates, imelda did not even marry marcos out of love. in ricardo manapat's book, he details how marcos attempted to swoon imelda by showing her his vault of money (of course, possibly stolen). she was enraptured by marcos the moment she saw his WEALTH.

i want to emphasize: imelda is not fucking stupid. much of what marcos did to the philippines was thanks to her. i would recommend watching the kingmaker documentary for all the details, but just know she is still alive and incredibly wealthy. she is well-known for her absolute gaudiness and all of that comes from her money-centric mindset. she does not give a shit about love.

here's some accounts by ricardo manapat from his book. on imelda falling in love with marcos (btw, she had a fiance at the time and didn't tell him she was marrying marcos until said fiance found out on the damn newspaper):

imelda being aware of the wealth she accumulates in politics:

on this note, i'd love to discuss how historically inaccurate the musical is. i'd like to preface that i've only listened to the only available version of the musical which is the 2013 version on spotify. this could have changed, but either way, the general tone of the narrative already reads to me as extremely incorrect, anyway. i'd also love to detail every discrepancy of each song, but again, i'll save that for a future essay.

in general, the musical's plotline follows imelda, a "humble and poor" girl from leyte who grows up and marries ferdinand. she repeatedly expresses she's doing this all out of love. thus, the musical insinuates that imelda is merely a victim of circumstance, and that she didn't become evil on her own accord. and yet, from what i've presented so far, she was very much aware! she was not passive. you have to understand, SHE was the reason both men and women had equal opportunities to become corrupt in our government.

what marcos did was also imelda's fault. the genocide and displacement of indigenous people, the mass torture and murder of journalists and politicians, the stealing of companies and mass wealth, the mass delivery of non-native animals to the philippines. she condoned all that. yes, marcos cheated on her, but she also used that as a means to manipulate him into doing whatever she wanted. they are both horrible people.

speaking of, marcos' song in the musical was also really bad. he could be written as lying for all we know, but his "fear" of japanese soldiers invading the philippines is also up for debate. there is speculation of the marcoses collaborating with japanese troops, which also led to the murder of marcos' father's political rival.

and while i don't know if there's actual dialogue outside of the songs, i don't think this musical actually informs us much of the marcos' faults. the songs, which will be the most accessible thing to native filipinos, express nothing but generic descriptions of what characters feel about certain situations. it's hard to understand or know what these people are actually doing because it's just so vague and ambiguous. how are you supposed to inform when none of the music details, well, anything? the information given is so minimal that i pray, at least, the musical would have more explicit scenes about marcos' atrocities.

and that's my main problem with the musical. with how much they spend sympathizing with imelda in the first act, i don't think everything the marcoses have done can be encapsulated in the second. of course, i'm not asking to give me a detailed rundown of everything they did, but let's be honest, this musical was never about dispelling disinformation. if it was, then they wouldn't spend an entire act and a half sucking imelda's dick. it's not about educating audiences about martial law. it's about humanizing imelda, with martial law and the marcoses' atrocities as a second priority. it makes me sick to my stomach seeing how pure imelda is presented when travelling to meet other world leaders, or how she's seen as the person who insisted that ninoy move away from the philippines.

it was never about education or re-information. in the end, these were such pretentious and performative statements to defend a historically inaccurate musical.

and tbh, that's just the tip of the iceberg of why i hate this musical. another thing is that, holy shit is it obvious that it's written by two white people. they mispronounce "tacloban" (should be tacLOban not tacloBAN). these characters are also just... not distinctly filipino? they're so white in mannerisms. i need more insulting humor, more grit. in fairness, the richer you are in the philippines the more connected you are to western culture, but i would have loved to see that disaparity more in the songwriting. they really peaked (/s) when they wrote these lyrics:

this is... awful, in a cringey what the hell manner. i hope they changed it for the bway production, because this was blatant evidence that the songwriters barely took the time to understand our culture before writing.

if you don't understand what it says, "titi mo" (the correct spelling is tite but i digress) means "your dick". i think imelda is trying to call marcos a dick, but they literally translated dick in tagalog. but tite isn't an insult, it literally refers to a penis. "mo" is the equivalent of "your" which also makes ZERO sense. the lyric literally goes "how can a your penis run the country?", like WHAT.

so you know, maybe there's a reason why many filipinos fucking despise this show on twitter. we are insulted for good reason. they are sensationalizing and glamorizing our suffering for their own gain. we native filipinos and other filipino diaspora who can't access the show have nothing to gain. here lies love is profiting from our struggles that we are still recovering from and experiencing today. imagine if you made a musical about hitler explaining he is a victim of circumstance to disco music. insensitive, isn't it? i'd love to ask the cast of here lies love if they'd ever show the musical to living survivors and families of victims of martial law.

and what's worse, because of course it gets worse, misinformation like this is what boosts the reputation of corrupt politicians in the first place. manapat quotes what leonard saffir wrote about how marcos built his reputation in new york via a biography filled with disinformation. the excerpt is too long but it's quoted from this article by the new york times. and now we are living in an era of another musical based on imelda being shown in new york — time is a flat fucking circle.

what sickens me is that this musical is possibly a lot of americans' first exposure to the marcoses, and what will they think? imelda is just a poor girl, imelda is just a victim, imelda is blah blah blah. that will be stamped in their head. even if some filipinos have come out of this musical dreadful that they sympathized with imelda, not everyone is gonna have the same experience.

^ this an excerpt from one of theatermania's articles. dictators have feelings too, i guess!

objectively, there is nuance when it comes to anyone. but the problem is, we cannot afford to consider nuance in politics. we cannot sympathize with imelda right now when people are dying of poverty under the marcoses' hand. the marcoses are very much alive, very much in power, and very much willing to lend their offspring to other positions of power. they turned the entirety of ilocos into a bunch of marcos dicksuckers, and i'm afraid that this musical can make a ton of their audiences be oblivious to the true extents of the marcos' atrocities. i'm already seeing people on tiktok say that there's nothing wrong about this musical, or that this can exist when miss saigon and evita exist (which in on itself are problematic beliefs, because they are glamorizing other country's sufferings too).

i am privileged enough to be educated about marcos, and while there is much to be done in terms of disability and lgbtqia+ rights, i am lucky to be less impacted by the marcoses compared to other people. but there are hundreds of thousands of filipinos severely affected by marcos. what's worse, is that there are plenty extremely uneducated that they are unaware that marcos is directly contributing to their suffering. my history professor told us that other countries are using the philippines as their model for successful disinformation campaigns. in this era of disinformation, we cannot afford to disinform even more. as sad as it is, the usa has a lot of power and control over the philippines (and the world, tbh), so one wrong step into the wrong direction and we're fucked. this musical fails the message it attempts to preach and i cannot imagine how much more people are going to spread misinformation about the philippines like they did during the 2022 elections.

to end off, i'd like to mention to everyone that imelda marcos has actually listened to the musical. in this new york times article, she says, "i'm flattered, i can't believe it!". i don't know what to tell you— if imelda herself says she likes the musical you claim to be anti-marcos, then what does that say about the musical?

i guess i'll end with, i am willing to change opinions once i see how the musical is being executed. if they emphasize the atrocities done by marcos and give proper information about the timeline of events, then i can be more lenient. but if i still see any attempts woobifying imelda, then i stand by what i say. this musical is insensitive, disrespectful, and just fucking hurtful.

[arkipelagic]

In the early 1900s, almost 1,000 Filipinos – mostly single men – came to work in Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, a sector that remains the state’s largest private-sector employer. They toiled in fish canneries, where they were often the lowest-paid workers and endured impoverished conditions.

In her 1996 book Filipinos in Alaska, Thelma Buchholdt describes how white workers were housed in heated compounds, while Filipino workers often had to put up with living in cramped, unheated spaces without showers or proper hygiene facilities, and were fed meagre meals of fish and rice.

These Filipino communities became known as “Alaskeros” – a term still used today.

Gabriel Garcia, a Filipino-American associate professor of public health at the University of Alaska Anchorage, explains that these men came to Alaska seeking the opportunity for a better life. “Other Filipinos came to Alaska as seasonal workers from California, Washington, and Hawaii,” he says.

They were US nationals, as the Philippines was an American territory at the time, but they still faced discrimination. Filipinos were not allowed to interact with whites – especially white women.

Native Americans faced similar racism and, as a result, Filipinos and indigenous Alaskans were segregated together.

“They worked together to fight against discrimination,” says E.J.R. David, a Filipino-American professor of psychology and history expert at the University of Alaska Anchorage. “Over time, many Alaskeros and Alaska Natives had children together. They combined Alaska Native and Filipino cultures in raising their families, such as making beaver adobo and salmon lumpia.”

Nez Danguilan, a local Filipino community leader and former television host, says many Alaskans do not even realise they are of partial Filipino heritage until they interact with more recent arrivals from the Philippines.

“I have talked to some of my Alaskan colleagues about food of the Philippines and they say, ‘Wait, my grandpa cooked that’,” Danguilan says.

“Many people also don’t realise that a lot of the Asian food they eat was introduced to Alaska by settler Filipino husbands. That’s why restaurants like Jeepney are so popular … For instance pancit [noodles] or Filipino chow mein – they had been cooking it and didn’t realise its Filipino influence.”